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Fitz glanced at Jemma one last time, still not quite believing they were actually doing this. Jemma “the rules make me feel nice” Simmons was actually going behind her boss’s back to do a proof of concept using the algae biofuel hydrogen cell they’d designed. And somehow he’d gotten pulled into it. Not that he was surprised at all by the fact he couldn’t resist her.
They were outside of their lab in a neighboring field that was often used for testing things that were too big, or too dangerous, to have in the lab. This qualified as both, and additionally, they wanted it to be as secret as possible until they finished the test, which meant they couldn’t do it anywhere that would be captured by SHIELD’s cameras.
Their professional relationship was reaching new highs, but personally things had been different between them the last few months. The arrangement that had started between them all of those years ago, when they’d first started at Sci-Ops, was beginning to crack and crumble. Jemma had become more distant and they didn’t interact as easily as they once had. He knew it was partly his fault. He was afraid he was in love with her, and that was not at all what this was supposed to be about. It was just physical. A way to relieve stress, be more productive at work...and probably something about biology that Jemma had definitely explained to him at some point.
If it had just been him, he could have handled it. He was just protecting himself after all. She was incredible. And she’d have an actual boyfriend some day. Not just a stand-in who helped her satisfy her urges. But he could feel her putting distance between them as well. And he knew exactly when it had started. The day she had applied to go into the field. His mind flashed back to one of the first times they had talked about going into the field. The image of her beneath him on the couch was burned into his brain. She had promised she’d never go without him...which really left him no choice. She might have been teasing him that day, but he knew he couldn’t really let her go alone. Not that he thought he could actually protect her, but he’d always felt much better with her at his side. He knew she felt guilty about asking him to come with her when he was so uncomfortable with the idea, and that made the distance between them even stranger.
Although...breaking the rules like this might mean the end of SHIELD for both of them. At least then he’d get to keep her all to himself. Until she found someone else.
He checked the fire suppression system he’d rigged up over their test area one last time and checked the perimeter they’d set up using the sensors connected to his tablet.
“No one is within the perimeter.”
“And the biofuel is ready to test,” she said with a smile. That smile, sweet but slightly mischievous, was the one that always pulled him in. He knew what she was capable of when she smiled like that.
“We should get back a safe distance…”
“Of course,” she agreed.
He felt his skin start to tingle as they moved behind the barrier. The testing phase of a project was always his favorite. That was when they got to see if all the theory and prototyping had worked. His design. Her biofuel. The two of them. Together.
Jemma took his hand and pulled him closer, away from the edge of the barrier. He could see the barely concealed excitement on her face as well.
Fitz tapped his tablet and hesitated a second before starting the test.
“Ready?”
“Ready.” She squeezed the hand she hadn’t let go of and then dropped it, taking a small step away.
He started the test and pulled up the video feed. The cell came to life and appeared to be working. They shared a smile, giddy with their success. No one would be able to say that a biofuel-powered hydrogen cell couldn’t be used to power a quinjet now. Their boss had just been short-sighted.
But then something went horribly wrong.
Jemma peeked around the barrier to try to identify the problem just as the ground shook beneath their feet from the force of the explosion and flames licked up into the sky. Jemma fell back and landed on the ground
“Simmons!” Fitz dropped his tablet, not even caring about his equipment, and sat next to her. He heard the fire suppression system engage and figured it could take care of itself while he made sure Jemma was alright.
“I’m fine,” she sighed, trying to sit up. “But our experiment is a disaster.”
Fitz ran his hands over her, searching for any indication that she was hurt. She still hadn’t managed to get into a sitting position, so he gently pushed on her shoulders until she was lying on the ground. His fingers moved quickly over her, looking for signs of discomfort and finally threaded their way through her hair.
“Fitz, I’m fine,” she said again.
He felt panic overtake him and he could see her chest heaving beneath her blouse. Maybe neither one of them was okay. Jemma’s hands reached for him and she lifted herself up just enough to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him down on top of her. He lost his balance as soon as she reached for him and only narrowly escaped crushing her by bracketing his arms on each side of her.
Their lips crashed together, urgent and needy, and it didn’t take any conscious thought to move his lips against hers. She was okay, and she was here, and she was kissing him. Everything was right with the world. Except that explosion, of course. But they could get that sorted later. Even just those few seconds of panic had reminded him that he didn’t want to live in a world without her in it. It didn’t matter if they were just friends, or colleagues, or something more. All that mattered was that she was there. And right now, they were definitely doing something more than friendly.
Jemma’s legs wrapped around his waist and he settled between her thighs, his body responding to her automatically. He groaned into her mouth as her hands started to tug on his trousers. He needed to be inside her as soon as possible and it seemed like she felt the same way. Jemma broke the kiss to moan his name and he started kissing down her neck, nipping at the spot that she told him always made her crazy.
Her hands worked frantically to get his trousers open and he vaguely registered new sounds, but pushed them to the periphery of his mind. He couldn’t analyze that right now when her hands were on him. He honestly preferred it when she was on top. It left his hands free to explore more and find all those places that made her say his name. But what was happening right now was way too good to stop just to ask her to switch places.
The sounds kept getting louder until Jemma seemed to notice them too.
“Fitz?” she asked, breathless and unfocused, her hand somewhere that was definitely not professional.
“I, uh, think someone is coming.”
Jemma gave him a wicked smile and then worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She was really going to be the death of him someday.
“We’ll have to finish this later.”
“Later. Yeah,” he mumbled, scrambling off of her and then reaching a hand down to pull her to her feet. They helped each other right their clothes and he though any remaining dishevelment could be attributed to the explosion.
“Oh, bloody hell.”
“What?” Jemma asked, running her fingers through her hair.
“The explosion.”
He picked up his tablet and checked all the sensors. The fire appeared to be out and the fuel cell had powered down after the malfunction. Everything seemed to be in order.
And just in time, too, since the first person that walked into their line of sight was their boss.
“FitzSimmons,” Dr. Marten growled at them. “I believe I expressly forbade any testing of biofuels. Quinjets don’t run on algae.”
“But it worked --”
“It would have worked --”
“It was just the compression --”
“-- or the propellant burn rate --”
“I don’t care,” Dr. Marten broke in, looking around at the agents clearing the results of their test away to make sure there was no lingering threat. “We will discuss this further in my office after you’ve both been checked out by medical.”
Dr. Marten’s voice had softened a little bit and Fitz looked up in surprise. Maybe Dr. Marten wasn’t as unsympathetic as he had first appeared. It would be nice to have an ally. He had almost forgotten how close they probably were to being fired after enjoying those few moments with Jemma before they had been interrupted.
Hours later Fitz was standing in Jemma’s office, waiting for her to return from the shower. It really was a good thing she kept extra clothes at the office since it seemed like they needed them more and more often. They had been poked and prodded in medical and subsequently explained all of their research to Dr. Marten, who seemed to be very interested in his design as well as Jemma’s biofuel, if they made the appropriate modifications of course. He paced back and forth, stopping to press his hands into the small of his back and stretch. It had been a long day. He wasn’t sure he was up to this type of excitement. What had happened to the days when they could just have a movie marathon for fun, instead of having to sneak around blowing things up?
Jemma entered the room and closed the door behind her with a click before turning the lock as well.
He supposed they might as well get this out of the way. They’d have to talk about what happened. Not the science part. They had done that in Dr. Marten’s office and he was absolutely certain he knew exactly what had gone wrong and how they could fix it. But the part that came after. The part where he had been so relieved she was alright that they’d practically had sex on the ground.
“Jemma --”
“No, Fitz. Let me go first.” She twisted her fingers together nervously, moving closer to her desk. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, that’s alright. It’s nothing.” He waved his hand in front of his face to dismiss her words before she could say anything else.
“No.” She stared at him until he looked at her again. “No, it’s not. I’m so sorry, Fitz. This. Science. What we do together. This is what I joined SHIELD for. Not going into the field. That isn’t worth losing you -- our friendship -- over.”
She kept moving closer to him as she spoke, like she was afraid of spooking him, until they were side by side and he could look down into her face.
“Jemma...you aren’t going to lose me.” He tried to roll his eyes at her, like it was a joke. But it all felt so surreal. Everything that had happened since this morning could have changed their lives. They could have been separated, or fired. Or they could have died. But instead they were here. Still together, and that was so much more important than anything else. “If you want to go into the field… If it’s that important to you, then I’ll go with you.”
And he would. He had always planned to anyway. Not that he thought anyone would take them now.
“Really?” Her smile was bright and she was so close he could smell her shampoo, her hair still a little damp from the shower. Which of course made him think of her in the shower.
“Course I will. But you know we still haven’t passed our field assessments.”
“Ugh, Fitz! Don’t remind me.” But then she smiled and pulled him into a hug. “Together, we are unstoppable.”
Her words were said into his shoulder and he could feel her breath. The friendly hug started to feel a little less friendly the longer she clung to him. He let his hands rest loosely around her waist in case she wanted to pull away, but she didn’t.
“Fitz, I’ve missed you.”
He pretended he didn’t know what she meant. “You couldn't have missed me. I’ve been here the whole time.”
But he knew exactly what she meant.
“Yes, and you’ve been the very best friend I could ever have.” She pressed a kiss to his neck and goosebumps erupted all over his skin. “But I’ve missed the rest of you.”
Fitz didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything at the risk of breaking this spell. So Jemma continued.
“I just...I just thought that if I ended up going into the field, it would be easier to stop things now than to wait until there was an even bigger change between us.”
“Jemma --”
“Just let me finish, okay?”
Fitz nodded. They still weren’t looking at each other, her head tucked against his shoulder, but he could feel the tension in her body. He traced circles on her back with his fingers to help her relax.
“But after today...whatever we end up doing, I know we’ll do it together. Our friendship is more important than going into the field or not going into the field. And when the time comes, we'll make the decision. No need to change anything right now.”
“I agree with you, obviously --” He had so many things he wanted to say, maybe even the part where he was pretty sure he was in love with her, but before he had a chance she had gone up on her tiptoes and their lips were pressed together again.
He breathed her in, putting everything he felt into the kiss. She might never know how he really felt about her, but he wanted to be sure she felt it. The desire, the longing, the love. Fitz tightened his arms around her as he pulled her closer, maneuvering her closer to her desk. He needed something to anchor them in the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling.
But Jemma was a step ahead of him, as always, slipping off her shoes and shimmying out of her jeans. He struggled with his own clothing for a moment before sliding his hands over her bum and squeezing as he pulled her against his erection. He could feel his body throb and she let out a moan before pushing herself up on her desk so she was seated at the edge.
Kissing him again, she pushed her tongue roughly against his as she made quick work of his shirt buttons before turning her attention to his trousers. How she managed to be so coordinated, he’d never know. But when her hand closed around his cock his world narrowed to just her. Not the fact that they hadn’t really talked about what this meant anymore, not that they were at work, and certainly not that they still might get fired for the explosion they’d accidentally caused today. Even if Dr. Marten didn’t seem inclined to let them go, that decision would almost certainly rest with someone higher up.
All that mattered was that she was wonderful and sexy, and she actually wanted him -- Leopold James Fitz.
She stroked her hand up and down slowly while he struggled to remember how to breathe. He finally managed to get enough buttons on her blouse open to tug down the cups of her bra and pinch her nipples. She arched her back, giving him the opportunity to kiss his way down to her breasts.
“Fitz…”
He swirled his tongue around first one nipple and then the other, completely focused on his task.
Her breathing became heavier and he heard his name a few more times before her fingers tangled in his belt loops and she tugged him closer. In this new position he was forced to release her nipple, which he did reluctantly, but then her legs were around him and he was right between her thighs, her perch on the desk putting his cock right against her fabric of her knickers. He moved against her, feeling her heat as she shifted a little.
They rocked against each other and she captured his lips again, replicating their aborted thrusts with messy kisses that left him feeling like he might explode if he didn’t get inside her soon. Her hands clutched at his shoulders and he let his move slowly down her body before tugging her knickers to the side. There wasn’t time for her to take them off and he didn’t have the proper angle or leverage to rip them off. Not that she would like him destroying her knickers anyway.
He was positioned at her entrance, ready to sink into her wet heat when she stopped snogging him long enough to say, “Mmmm...Fitz? You haven’t been with anyone since --”
“No, never,” he said quickly. She had continued to ask him each and every time they’d had sex even though his answer was always the same. As was hers. Something that gave him a tiny bit of hope.
“You?”
“No...oh, god,” As soon as she started to answer he pushed in fully, her evident arousal easing his entrance. “Oh, Fitz.”
He gripped her hips tightly and she used her legs around his waist to encourage his movements. He moved against her at a pace they hadn’t attempted before and he briefly considered why they’d never tried it like this before that thought escaped his mind. He realized Jemma was practically babbling and leaned in to kiss her again. The last thing they needed today was to get caught having sex at work. Then they’d be fired for sure. At least their other transgression had been work related.
Jemma wrapped her legs more tightly around him and used her leverage to help him move inside her the way she wanted. He couldn’t catch his breath, but he didn’t care. Everything felt more intense this time. Jemma leaned back on the desk, using her arms to hold her up.
“Faster,” she pleaded.
He had no idea how he was supposed to go faster. The laws of physics might not even support it. He already felt like he might hurt her the way he was pounding into her. But her new position gave him access to her breasts again, so he leaned down to capture a nipple, shifting his hands beneath her bum and tilting her hips a little bit.
Jemma started moaning and gasping, sounds he recognized well, and at least she was being quieter now. There probably wasn’t anyone still working in this corridor anyway. She arched her back to press her nipple more firmly into his mouth and he nipped her sensitive skin with his teeth before letting go. Jemma tensed, her whole body frozen for a second before her inner walls started pulsing around his cock. The feeling was so intense and so familiar that it triggered his own release and he buried his face in her shoulder so he didn’t yell out loud.
They stopped moving and just held each other like that until he felt like he could breathe again.
“That was...intense,” she finally said, loosening her grip on him but not letting him go.
“Yeah. Probably because we haven’t…”
“Yes, it was probably because we haven’t...released any tension recently. And today was a very stressful day as well.”
Right. That was probably it. And at least if she was blaming it on stress, that meant she didn’t know he was keeping a secret from her about how he really felt.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stressful day and all that.”
Jemma was quiet for a moment and then took a deep breath. “I suppose we should get dressed. You are probably starving.”
His stomach took that opportunity to let out a low rumble and Fitz blushed. “Maybe just a little hungry.”
“Fitz! I know how you get after exercise.” She finally let him go and he took a step back, taking his time to enjoy the picture she made, breasts spilling out over her bra and legs still spread as she sat on the edge of her desk. But then she started straightening her clothes, and he did the same.
“Pizza?” he asked hopefully once they were dressed again. They had just had pizza three nights ago, but it was possible that post-orgasm, Jemma would be willing to give in.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Fine...but I get to pick what we watch. No more monkeys.”
“Alright.” Fitz knew a good deal when he saw one.
They left work bickering and teasing each other, and Fitz was fairly certain no one knew what they had been up to, which was why it was a bit of a surprise a few weeks later when they were called into the conference room to meet with Agent Coulson. As they walked quickly to the meeting, all Fitz could think about was how they were going to meet one of the best agents SHIELD had ever had and get fired all in the same day. But he didn’t care. Jemma was definitely worth it.