The next morning Fitz was woken up by the Sun hitting his face. It was a nice sensation as it's been a while since he'd been woken up by anything other than his alarm clock or a really bad nightmare. But that night was the most peaceful one he's had in months. As he slowly started to remember the events of the previous day and night, he finally realized he was in Jemma's room, on the base and several meters underground where there wasn't a window. For a few seconds, he had the silly notion that maybe he was so happy that it made the Sun shine underground ... until he realized that it was just Jemma's lamp mimicking the sunlight.

So nothing quite so magical really, although the sight he was greeted with when he turned around was probably the closest thing to magic he'd ever seen. Jemma was all curled up against him, her hair spread out on the pillow partly covering her face but he could still see the small smile tugging at her lips as she slept. Almost like she could feel that he was looking at her, she moved even closer to him, entangling her leg with his and he couldn't help sighing in contentment.

It seemed that Jemma wasn't far from waking up because that small sound was enough to slowly make her open her eyes as well. It took her a few seconds to focus but when she met Fitz's adoring gaze, she gave him a wide sleepy smile and though he always loved seing her smile, Fitz thought this specific type of smile might become his all time favorite.

"Hi" She said, her voice still sleepy as well.

"Hi" He said and he leaned in to give her a light kiss on the lips, wondering if he would ever get used to that.

"I was afraid last night was all just a very nice dream ... I'm really glad it's not" She said, moving closer to him and he almost automatically put his arm around her shoulder so she could rest her head on his chest. It wasn't the first time she'd done that but it was definitely a first without a single layer of clothes between them and once again, he sighed contentedly. His heart might burst any second at how utterly happy he felt and it didn't bother him one bit.

"Me too" Was all he was able to vocalize, as sleepy as he still was, even though he felt like "glad" was really quite the understatement of the century.

The sensation was so nice that they almost fell back asleep but there was a question at the back of his mind since the previous day and he had to vocalize it.

"Jemma?"

"Yeah?" She answered against his chest and her warm breath sent such a delicious shiver all over his body that he almost forgot his question in favor of bringing her lips to his.

"What do we tell the others?"

"What do you mean?" Jemma answered, looking up at him with a confused expression on her face.

"About us? I don't know ... should we make it ... official?" He said, wincing at the term he used and she smiled fondly.

"Well obviously Hunter knows so it won't be long before every one else does I guess ... But honestly I don't think we have tell anyone anything, they'll just notice that things changed and make their own conclusions ..." She said matter of factly before another type of smile made its way on her face. "... I'm way too content to think about anyone else right now" She added as she started to draw aimless patterns on his chest with her fingers.

He smiled widely at this and he thought he must have been mad for not kissing her at this moment but he had to go to follow his train of thought. "What about Coulson? Isn't it against some kind of regulations?" He said vaguely gesturing between the both of them.

"Oh ..." She said frowning. "I honestly didn't think about that ... We've been waiting for eight years, I wasn't gonna let some rules keep us apart Fitz ..." She added and somehow it felt like the biggest declaration of love he's heard from her. She did tell him she loved him the previous day -several times- but hearing this from the woman who'd always loved rules more than life itself, felt strangely elating. And this time he had to kiss her. It was soft and sleepy but full of love and it left them both grinning like idiots.

"And SHIELD is not the same anymore ... I don't think Coulson will care as long as we keep working well together" Jemma added after a few seconds of gazing at each other.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah ... but let's not worry about this now. I don't plan on seing anyone else today anyway, I want you all to myself" She said with a seductive smile as she turned around to lay on her side.

"Well funny you should mention it ..." He started, smiling back. "... because I was thinking the exact same thing about you ..." He finished, snaking his arm behind her back and suddenly pulling her to him so she ended up on top of him, grinning even wider.

"I don't know what you have in mind Fitz but I was mostly thinking along the lines of watching DVDs, maybe going for a walk in the park or ..." She started but he interrupted her by leaning up to capture her lips in a searing kiss. He was now fully awake and he was well decided on starting this day the same way he finished the last one. From the way she sighed when he let his hands roam over her body, she wouldn't be too hard to convince.

"You make a very compelling case" She said breathlessly when they finally broke apart. "I don't have any interesting dvds to watch anyway!" She said and they both giggled. Fitz couldn't even begin to make a list of all the reasons he loved her but if he really had to, one of the first lines would probably be about how they've always been so comfortable around each other. They were always there for each other in bad times and in good ones, they shared pretty much everything and nothing ever felt awkward. And if he was glad of one thing, it was that this bond they shared naturally adapted to this new side of their relationship. When he started realizing his feelings for his best friend had changed, one of the things that probably stopped him from admitting it was that he thought it might be strange to date her. But they haven't even been together for a day and even though he felt like he would never get used to it, in the best possible way, it also felt like it's always been that way.

"God ... I love you so much Jemma!" He almost cried out, looking deep into her eyes and her giggle turned to a soft smile.

"I love you too" She said and kissed his jaw. "so" and then his cheek "so" his nose "so" his other cheek "much" and finally pressed her lips against his. Her kiss was such a perfect mix of passion and tenderness that he felt himself drowning into the sensation. But just as their kisses were getting more urgent and definitely starting to turn into something more, they heard a knock on the door.

"Jemma are you there? You ready for our training session?" Skye said through the door and they looked at each other with the same thought written very clearly all over their face.

-0-0-0-

"it's not the universe Fitz, it's just Skye!" Jemma said with a slight roll of the eyes before he could say a thing and even though he let a loud frustrated sigh, he couldn't help grinning a bit at how well she read his mind.

She very reluctantly moved away from him and off the bed in search of her panties and the closest tee shirt she could find. When she turned around, he was sitting against the headboard, the sheet low on his waist, just barely covering his most private parts and looking at her with a wide smile.

"What?" She asked with a small grin of her own, wondering if he knew the effect he had on her, casually laying naked in her bed.

"Nothing just ... I don't think I'll ever get used to seing you like this ..." He said, keeping his voice low to make sure Skye wouldn't hear him. This, combined with the small flirtatious grin on his face made the sight before her just that much more appealing.

"Well I certainly hope you won't ..." She answered, blushing prettily. And she would most likely never get used to him looking at her like that. She didn't know if it was the amazing night they spent together or something else that gave him such confidence, but it certainly looked really good on him. "Okay I'll just tell her I'm too tired to train with her and then we can go back to ... our own training session" It was his time to blush and she couldn't help leaning in for a small kiss before going for the door with the firm intent of getting rid of Skye as fast as she could.

"Coming Skye ..." She cried out through the door as she tried to compose herself before opening. She opened it just enough so Skye would only see her and nothing else -well no one else actually- in her room.

"Hello Skye ..." She said with a small smile, trying her best to look and sound sleepy like Skye had actually only interrupted her sleep and nothing else.

"Hello Jemma!" The young woman answered, sounding strangely cheery and fresh considering how early it was on a Sunday morning.

"I'm sorry Skye, I didn't get much sleep these past few nights and I completely forgot about this. Do you mind if we reschedule for another time?"

"Oh that's too bad. Did you have trouble sleeping? You should try herbal tea before going to bed" Skye answered. Cheery on a Sunday morning and not the slightest sexual innuendo when she was serving it to her on a silver platter, something was definitely wrong.

"Yeah I'll try that, thank you Skye ..." Jemma answered, trying to close the door but Skye stopped her with, again, an innocent smile.

"We could do something else if you want. We could watch DVDs in your room, it's been a while since we've done that ..."

"Actually, I was kind of planning on going back to sleep for a bit and ..."

"Oh really? But you're the one who always says it's a waste of time to sleep late ..." Skye answered, trying her best to hide the small grin that was tugging at her lips. She knows, Jemma told herself. She didn't know how, maybe they weren't as discreet as they thought when they got out of base, maybe Hunter told her but whatever it was, she knew. It was the only explanation for her actually being up so early and so insistant on actually getting into Jemma's room.

As she was thinking about what would be the most efficient way of getting rid of Skye to get back to Fitz, she heard a rustling of sheets coming from behind her. She assumed that Fitz got out of bed to try and find his clothes in case Skye somehow managed to get into the room until she felt his arms encircling her waist from behind and her own eyes widen in surprise. God, she hoped he actually found at least some of his clothes.

"Hello Skye!" He said in a casual tone, like it was a completely ordinary situation.

"Fitz" She answered, her grin now threatening to split her face in two.

"Jemma actually has other plans for today if you don't mind" He added, snuggling his head into Jemma's shoulders and as he got even closer to him, she could feel that he only had his boxer shorts on. Well, that's something I suppose, Jemma thought and she was much too distracted by the nice feeling of Fitz's warm body against her and Skye's delighted smile to actually speak a single word so she just let him deal with it. And he was just too sexy when he was all cocky like that for her to stop him.

"Sure, no problem. I understand. So I guess your date went well last night?" Skye answered with that slightly annoying grin.

"Very well indeed. But how did you ...?" He started but she cut him off.

"Oh you know, there were a few subtle signs like looks you've exchanged, you looking at your watch all day or you know ... you two making out in the middle of the street!"

"Oh ..." They both said in unison.

"Yeah ..." Skye answered. "Also you should know that Koenig saw you on the security camera so if you wanted to keep this a secret, well ... too bad. But the good news is Coulson knows and he couldn't care less!"

"Oh ... well ... hum thanks for letting us know Skye ..." Jemma answered, trying her best to fight the blush that was probably taking half her face now at the idea that someone saw their rather heated kisses from last night.

"Okay then I'll let you get back to sleep" Skye said as she started to walk away and just before she turned the corner, she looked back with an appreciative grin towards Fitz. "And Jemma, maybe you'd better train with Bobbi anyway ... she really knows how to get people in shape!"

-0-0-0-

"She really does!" Jemma said, turning around to give Fitz an appreciative once over before locking her hands behind his neck once she closed and locked her door.

"Yeah ... well you really don't need to get in any other shape than the one you are in right now" He said, holding her even closer and she giggled happily. Fitz flirting might be the most adorable and delicious thing she's ever witnessed.

"So about those plans for the day ..."

"Oh yeah ... almost forgot ..." He said affecting a casual tone as he detached himself from her. For a second, she was a bit disappointed to think that maybe his plans didn't involve them being so close but then he proceeded to lift her from the ground and carried her to the bed bridal style.

After they both toppled into bed laughing, he turned around so he was hovering over her on one of his forearms. His tone was incredibly soft again when he said: "You know ... we might be living in the most dangerous times we've ever known but I think I'm happier than I've ever been so I'm just planning on enjoying every moment of carelessness we can have together."

"That sounds like a really good plan" She said as she brought him down for a tender kiss. It was true that they were living dangerous times and they would probably have to face trials both in their relationship and as agents of SHIELD, but they would always have each other. Whatever might happen, Jemma knew now that the love they'd been sharing for eight years would always make them come back to each other in the end. Even when they'd been stubborn enough to actually let SHIELD separate them, they found their way back home and it only served to make their relationship even more beautiful.

As she lost herself in his arms, she thought that whatever Fitz might have to say about it, she would forever be grateful to the Universe for bringing young, shy, brilliant and overall wonderful Leopold Fitz in her life eight years ago.

And that's it for that story! I hope you liked that last chapter and the whole story! Thanks to everyone who followed it and for all the nice reviews. Now I'm back to writing my Valentine's day story and maybe I'll try another longer story during that very long AoS break !