"It's not surprising, your mind has created this fantasy; a means of processing the trauma."

"This is not a fantasy."

- Fringe, 3x01 Olivia

-o-o-o-

She sat beside him in the sitting room, watching an old Disney film one of the Koenig's had left behind. It baffled her how there were so many of them. Koenig's, not Disney films, she understood it was an old, very successful company. She understood it because Simmons did... or because Fitz did, she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure exactly what she was.

"What do you call 'em?" The mermaid was asking her fish friend who replied by wiggling his caudal fin. "Oh- feet."

"She reminds me of someone," she kidded lightly and Fitz tilted his head, raising his eyebrows at her in disapproval.

"Really Simmons?" He questioned. "You're making jokes about me now? Do you really think that's appropriate."

"I'm the one who has to be the sidekick fish," she pointed out and he smiled.

That's what she was. She was the one who made him smile. It was harder than it looked, but she thought she was doing a pretty a decent job, all things considered.

"What's the word-" the mermaid sang.

"Burn," they answered together before beaming at each other.

"There you go," she cheered. "You're much better at this than Ariel."

He chuckled at her. "You know, I don't even like this film that much. There's too much umm... too much...," he turned to her, expectant.

"Water," she finished.

"Yeah," he answered, eyes glazing over.

He wasn't smiling anymore and she could feel his frustration, his unhappiness, as if it were her own, which she supposed it actually was. She was him as much as she was Simmons, who she was a pretty close copy of. Close, but not exact.

Close because he knew her, her head and her heart and all the things in between, but not exact because she was still only a memory, an echo of the real thing. Even the best memories were only what was left behind once an experience was over.

So what did that make her? Faux Simmons?

She didn't like that, it made it sound as if she weren't real, which she wasn't, but she tried not to think about that and she wasn't sure if it was because it disturbed her or Fitz or both of them.

AltSimmons, she decided, alt being short for alternate. That sounded much better.

"Why are we watching it then?" She tried, nudging him with her elbow.

"What?" He asked, shaking himself and gazing back at her.

"If you don't like the film, then why are we watching it?" She repeated patiently.

"Because it's your favourite," he explained, as if it should be obvious.

"It's not really my favourite anymore," she replied.

"You should have told me that before we had to go through half of it," he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "Now we've been sitting here like idiots watching a film neither of us wants to see!"

"Fitz," she warned, because he was getting louder and someone might hear him and more than that she didn't want him to be upset.

He snatched the remote and slammed his thumb down on the stop button. "I need to get back to work," he muttered but he remained where he was, staring blankly ahead. "They need me to... to... they need me to..."

"Finish," she said quietly and he turned to her, eyes bright, before he nodded.

"It's OK," she soothed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You just need to-"

"Be patient," they finished together. "I know," he answered, placing a hand over hers.

He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. She loved that smile he had, the one just for her. In the back her mind she reasoned that it was probably because that was what she was programmed for, to enjoy his smile so that she'd actively search out ways to bring it back. The way a dog learned tricks so that it would receive a reward, usually food. On top of that, the smile wasn't really for her, but for the person whose place she was holding, the one who had left.

AltSimmons understood why the real Simmons was gone, why she had chosen to leave and she didn't blame her, wasn't angry. She'd had her reasons.

She wasn't sure how Fitz felt about it though, because he wasn't really acknowledging it to feel anything in the first place, and she wondered why she could think about it, even if he wasn't, if she were him.

Footsteps clapped down the hall, getting closer, and Skye appeared in the doorway, freezing when she spotted Fitz.

"Oh... hi...," she greeted, obviously she hadn't expected to run into him.

He waved at her. "Hi."

"Do you mind if I come in?" She asked hesitantly.

He stared at her for a moment, debating.

"Say you don't," AltSimmons advised. He could use a friend that wasn't imaginary for once.

"I don't," he repeated.

She smiled and entered, crossing the room to sit next to him, almost landing on top of AltSimmons.

Rude. Though she supposed it really wasn't Skye's fault, with her not actually being there and all...

"You're... um...," Fitz fretted but AltSimmons shook her head and moved to his other side. Skye couldn't know he was seeing things, then she'd look at him the way everyone did when he messed up, or when he said things that didn't make sense. She'd look at him like he wasn't him anymore and that hurt because he was him. He was still Fitz, he was just... struggling... a little. "How are you?" He finished awkwardly.

"Tired," she replied. "...you?"

"Good," AltSimmons answered.

"Good," he said.

It didn't seem like Skye believed him but she didn't comment. "What are you watching?" She wondered. "Oh, The Little Mermaid, I love that one."

"I'm not watching it anymore," he told her. "I don't like it, I was going to get... to get back to... to..." He squirmed uncomfortably and AltSimmons could tell he was struggling not to look to her for help.

"Back to work," she whispered, wondering why there was a need for subtlety when Skye couldn't hear her.

"Back to work," he repeated.

Skye was looking at him in that way, the way he didn't want her to and AltSimmons could feel him reacting to it, becoming upset.

"You know... you can take a break, if you want," Skye offered. "We can watch a different movie-"

"I can't take a break, we need cloaking," he snapped, rising to his feet. "I don't... don't... I don't need a break. I was only in here because Si-" He stopped himself abruptly, body icing over, the pity in Skye's eyes killing him because he knew that she knew what he was going to say.

"I need to go," he muttered, stalking out.

AltSimmons followed him closely, deeply concerned. Maybe real friends weren't such a good idea after all.

He stormed into the empty lab, yanking the chair roughly so that the wheels sped across the floor before he thumped down into it. There were tears in his eyes as he tried again to tweak the tiny mechanical parts, to make them disappear.

"Fitz..." she sighed, kneeling next to him. "It's OK." He ignored her. "Can you please listen," she insisted, reaching for the piece in his hand.

"Don't touch anything," he snapped, causing her to quickly draw it back.

'I can't touch anything,' she thought sadly. 'You really don't know, do you?'

He sighed, lip trembling as he placed down the part and turned to her, staring at her as if she were the only thing standing between him and total chaos. Which, maybe, she was.

'Don't do that,' she scolded herself. 'Don't fell sorry for him, that's what everyone else does. You need to do better than that, you're the only one who sees him, sees he's still in there.'

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

She shook her head. "I know how hard this is, how hard you've had to fight and how tired you are. But you're still here Fitz, you're not the person they see, you're the man you've always been, the one you know you are."

He smiled again, sunshine that could brighten away any gloom or fog, and she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You're almost there," she told him. "Just hold on."

He placed a hand over hers. "I know."

She tried to convince herself that she wasn't lying to him, but she couldn't. He wasn't close, if anything he was getting further away, but she had to give him hope or he'd give up. The same way you'd tell someone swimming to shore in a storm that they were almost there, they were almost there. Even if they weren't, even if the waves were sending them backwards, out to sea, because they couldn't stop swimming. It wasn't an option, they would drown.

And Fitz couldn't drown because he was still in there. He knew it, she knew it, and she really hoped Simmons knew it too.

-o-o-o-

"You know, a few years ago I was in a bad way, I couldn't pull myself out. Inside I knew I was somebody else, but there was only one other person who believed that... she saw the man I knew I was, but she was the only one. I mean sometimes you just gotta believe in what you can't see."

- Fringe, 3x01 Olivia

/-/-/

So, first chapter of this story (sorry if it was a little weird haha, they won't all be like this.)

This chapter takes place after or during 2x01 of Agents of SHIELD. I know that at this point they don't need the cloaking anymore but I don't think Fitz knows that.

This is going to be a series of single stories (can I call them oneshots?), each taking place during or directly before or after an episode of the second season of Agents of SHIELD (so 22 in total, in order).
There will be a quote at the beginning and end of each chapter from a co-responding episode of one season of the series Fringe (a science fiction/ drama series that is awesome and I love). So for example, for this one, I could have used quotes from the first episode of season 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 of Fringe and then for the next one I will use quotes from the second episode of any season. The quotes will, as you might have guessed, go with the story.

The quotes here are both from the first episode of the third season of Fringe Olivia. The first one is from a conversation between Olivia and a psychiatrist who is trying to convince her she is the alternate version of herself (the show has multiple universes), known by our universe as Fauxlivia. (Hence, Faux Simmons). Fauxlivia is as real as Olivia is (both still being characters, haha) but Faux Simmons, of course, isn't real. However I thought it would be interesting to write the story from her perspective anyway.

The second quote is from the end of the episode Olivia and is said by Henry Higgins (a taxi driver Olivia sorta, kinda kidnaps a little) as an acknowledgement that he believes that Olivia is who she says she is (not Fauxlivia). He is talking about how his wife believed in him when no one else did and offering to do that for Olivia. I think Faux Simmons is sorta playing this role for Fitz but I don't know how healthy/ helpful a relationship with an hallucination can be.

The stories will probably mostly be Fitz and/or Simmons related, because I have a soft spot for them, but will likely feature and even revolve around the other characters as well because I love them all :D.

The idea for this series of stories came from Amandajbruce's Conversation Hearts, which is awesome and you have probably read already, haha.