It brought the wet hand to its lips and swallowed the drops of water, finally allowing its eyes to close. Immortality.

But seconds after it allowed the body to rest it started shaking. What was happening? Was it the water?

It couldn't believe it. The body was rejecting the water.

And that was only for a few drops.

It had thought the host could take the transition, with a being as powerful as it was ready to control it. But the body was fighting it.

As long as the body made it, it would be fine. It just needed to start taking full control. If it could take control, absolute control, then it could command the body to accept the immortality water. It just needed to act quickly.

Then it heard that word again, and a thrill of fear coursed through it. Because it felt something once the Kree word was spoken. Something that meant the humans had actually done it.

It felt itself being dragged out of the body. It fought with all it had, trying to force the body awake once more and use its power to destroy the stone, but it only worked for a second. Then it was losing its control over the body, being pulled back into the prison.

No! It thought as it went. It was so close!

That was the perfect host!

It held on as long as it could.

Then it was forced back into the stone, with only its own mind.

And it was once more imprisoned.

She was in a dark place, unable to move. The presence weighed down on her, trapping her.

Then it was gone, the weight lifting off her shoulders. What should she do? She tentatively reached out, expecting to be forced back into the dark place she had been imprisoned in. But nothing like that happened.

Instead, she was paralyzed as information rushed to her. Her half-conscious mind woke up fully. All of her memories came back to her clearly, unlike the hazy ones she had had recently. And there were other memories.

Painful memories, of her doing things she would never do, but had.

It was too much to handle at once, especially with the force of the onslaught. She blacked out.

When she woke up, she realized that she was actually awake, physically. It only lasted a few minutes, and she had no significant thoughts during it. She had no control over it. Then, once her body was resting again, she once more reached out, past the dark place. This time no being forced her back, no information paralyzed her. She was free.

She found her way through her body again, reclaiming it. It had been violated by that being, but she could fix it.

She could find herself again.

Fitz brought Jemma to the medical center and set her up on a bed, giving her fluids and oxygen, monitoring her vital signs. He allowed Coulson to help him, but wouldn't leave her side. Not for a second.

Coulson brought Skye in and put her on the bed next to Jemma, but she woke up quickly. She was annoyed at being knocked out again, but when she saw Jemma she stopped talking.

"Is she gonna be okay?" she asked.

"Yes." Coulson said. "But she'll need time."

It was twenty-four hours before she stirred. And then she woke up only for a few minutes, blinking slowly and looking very confused; very blank.

A few hours later she woke up for longer. Fitz had gotten rid of the oxygen mask and only had her on minimal fluids.

She stared blankly ahead.

"Jemma." Fitz said softly.

Her head whipped around, her pupils dilating with fear. She drew her knees up close to her chest, locking her arms around them.

"It's okay." He said. "You're safe."

She kept looking at him, the fear slightly fading from her eyes. But she refused to speak.

So he sat with her silently, holding one of her hands after she reluctantly let him take it.

The next time she woke up she recognized him faster, actually taking his hand instead of waiting for him to take hers. He got her to drink water and eat something. He thought she looked like she might speak, but at the last second she seemed to decide against it, leaning back and closing her eyes, her hand still firmly gripping Fitz's.

That was when the nightmares started. Though she'd made progress when she was awake, sleep made everything worse. The first time she had a nightmare, she had woken Fitz with a strangled scream.

He snapped awake when he heard the scream, jumping up. Jemma was tossing her head side to side on the pillow, whimpering and saying "no, no!". She was awake, though she seemed to still be in her dream, not realizing where she was or that she was safe. He climbed onto her bed, wrapping his arms around her. "Shh." He said. "Shh, it's okay. You're safe."

He tightened his grip on her and rubbed her back soothingly, holding her. She willingly sank against him. "Shh." He said in a soft voice. "I've got you Jemma. I won't let go. You're safe."

She seemed to realize something wasn't real, and cried into him for a few minutes before seeming to regain control. She quieted. A few minutes after she stopped he moved so he could see her and found her fast asleep, tear tracks still visible on her cheeks.

He decided that if he moved, he might wake her, so he repositioned slightly and closed his eyes, settling in for the rest of the night.

She was quiet in his arms.

The first thirty-six hours were extremely tough.

Fitz never left her side, not for more than five minutes, and only then to change his clothes or get food and water; refresh himself.

Her nightmares continued, but she was able to take them silently. She had to sleep a lot to replenish her energy. She would wake up whimpering and crying, but after that first time she didn't scream again. Fitz continued to comfort her whenever she had nightmares.

Two days after the entity left her body, she spoke.

"Fitz." She said.

His head snapped up, his eyes only on her. "Did you just - ?"

She smiled tentatively. "Yes."

"Jemma, I'm so glad!" he said, wrapping her in a hug. "I was so worried when you didn't talk."

"I wasn't ready." She said. "Now I am."

"Are you okay?"

"No." she said immediately. "But… I'm getting there."

"Just tell me how to help you." He said. "I'll do anything."

"You're already doing it." She said, squeezing his hand.

She left the medical center after four days, cleared by Fitz and Coulson. They locked the Kree stone in a thick metal safe, and then Coulson sent that somewhere he told no one on the team. Fitz didn't care where it was, as long as it was gone. It had caused enough damage.

He stayed with Jemma all day after she was released from the medical section. They went to the lab, walking hand in hand.

She was acting normally by this point; at least, the new normal. She was talking to Fitz a lot, though she was definitely more timid.

"It crushed me." She confided to him as they entered the lab, after a brief silence. "When it took me into the stone, it crushed my resistance. I didn't have a chance."

He just listened, sensing that she had more to say.

"Did I?"

"Of course not." He said. "It would have happened to whoever the stone took in."

"I was barely aware of anything after it took me in." she said. "I was locked into a small part of my mind, half-conscious. But I could remember pieces. And when you got it out of me… everything came rushing back, everything that was me and all of the things that had happened since… you know." She looked at him. "But if I had fought harder in the first place, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad!"

"Jemma, listen." He said. "One, you said the rock started controlling your thoughts immediately, right? So you couldn't have fought back any harder. And two, if you could have, it might have done more than just shove you to the back of your mind." He looked down. "It might have done something more permanent."

She shook her head. "I just… everything happened so quickly. We were talking, and then…"

"I know." He said.

"Did you analyze that water yet?" she said, keen to change the subject.

"It's gone." He said. "Coulson must have dropped it at the scene."

"That's alright."

"We had something more important to take care of." He said, looking at her.

"I wonder if it actually does grant immortality." She insisted.

"I doubt it. It only hurt you."

"Maybe there's a process you have to go through before drinking it." She mused. "Maybe it only works if you've been prepared for it."

"Either way, it's not our business anymore. You're mortal."

They were quiet for a moment. Then Fitz got out the project they had been working on, almost two weeks before. He was asking her something without verbalizing. She nodded, and they were back.

They worked the rest of the day, taking it slowly and lightly. Then, after dinner, Jemma decided to turn in early. Fitz walked her to her room and watched as she closed the door, hating the feeling it gave him.

He stared at her closed door for a moment before sighing and starting to walk away. She must be ready to be on her own, he thought.

Then he heard the door open and stopped walking, still facing away from it.

"Fitz." She said. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

He smiled, turning around. "Of course."

She lay down on her bed and he closed the door, walking over to her. "How do you want me to do this?" he asked.

She looked at him with those brown eyes, completely genuine. "You could lie next to me."

He nodded once and moved to be next to her, easing himself onto the bed. Immediately she nestled against him, sighing and closing her eyes. "Thank you." She whispered to him.

He looked at the ceiling, swallowing. "No problem."

So Jemma healed. Fitz spent a few nights with her, and then she found that she was ready to sleep on her own. At least, she forced herself to be ready. After all, she couldn't rely on his presence forever.

She was scared to be on her own for too long, but she knew only time could cure her of that fear. She was hesitant around her team members too, especially Skye, but they were nothing but supportive. They did everything they could to help her feel like herself again.

And then, one day, she remembered something.

"We were meant to go out to dinner." She said.

Fitz looked up at her and blinked. "What?"

"The day I was taken." She said. "We were supposed to go out to dinner."

"Yeah." Fitz said. He looked down at his work.

She kept her gaze on him. She couldn't believe she had forgotten.

"Do you still… want to?" she asked.

He set the paper he had been staring at down. "Do you?"

"Yes."

"I do too."

Quiet for a second.

"Well, then let's do it!" Jemma said, smiling.

Fitz studied her. "Are you sure? You're ready." He questioned.

She walked over to him, slowly. "I've been ready for a long time, Fitz. I was just too stupid to realize it."

He stood up, not saying anything.

"I'm tired of pretending to be okay with our relationship. Seeing Hunter and Bobbi… it made me realize what we could have." She said. She reached up and brought their faces closer.

"I want to be with you." She said softly, and a second later she pressed her lips to his tenderly.

When they separated, their eyes were locked again, both blushing. "Can I be with you?" she asked.

He kissed her again, passionately, and when he let her go she laughed. "I'll take that as a yes, then?"

He grinned. "Definitely. Yes!" he said.

She felt lighter than she had in a long time; happy. The look on Fitz's face was perfect, his blue eyes shining like she had never seen before. She imagined she must look like he did.

"Just let me freshen up." She said.

"No, don't." Fitz said quickly. "Last time we planned this, it didn't end so well."

"Nothing's going to happen Fitz."

As she said it, she realized she actually believed it. She was still nervous, but she felt her confidence slowly coming back to her. Her room didn't pose a threat.

"You don't have to anyway." He said. "You look perfect."

She felt a smile bloom on her lips, a sort of breathless excitement rising in her. "Then what are we waiting for? We have a date to go on."

He smiled back at her, as if not really believing it was finally happening. He repeated it with wonder. "We have a date."

A/N: That's it! The final chapter of The Barriers That We Face! I can't believe it's over!

It's been a great ride. I just wanted to explain a few things, in case I didn't make them clear enough in the story. The entity in the rock usually takes a host just to kill Inhumans. That's it's primary goal. But I figured that it bonded so much with Jemma it would want to stay with her. Enter immortality!

The water failed, and the entity was forced to leave Jemma. I put in that the entity killed the last host it had been forced from, but I figured it wouldn't want to kill Jemma. It wanted to stay with her, so that's all it tried to do. She was a perfect host for it.

And I had to end with some Fitz-Simmons romance. I couldn't resist!

Thank you for all your support, guys! If you liked this, check out my other stories for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., including my Fitz-Simmons drabble series Partners for Life! My next story: The Corrupted Shield. Thanks again!