Another 4,722 Hours

Afterglow – this was the first word that popped into her mind as Jemma rested her head on her best friend's bare chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Though best friend did not sound right, now that they have finally crossed the "event horizon" - she smiled to herself. She found it hilarious that Fitz used science words as a medieval bard – clearly not comfortable with calling things what they were. She decided to let it go for now. There would be many opportunities to tease him mercilessly about this.

Instead she leaned over to kiss him softly on the lips. His eyes were a deep blue pool; on the bottom stirring with strong currents of emotions which made her dizzy, but the surface was smooth and smiling, like clear water on a sunny day. He gently caressed her hair, ran his fingers light as feathers tracing the lines from her ears to her fingertips. She closed her eyes revelling in the sensation – his warmth, his skin, his smell – all very familiar, yet at the same time exciting and new.

The buzz of a phone jerked her back into reality.

"We should start moving" sighed Fitz as Jemma tried to find the phone in the pile of their clothes discarded on the floor.

"Is Fitz back?" she heard Mack's exhausted voice through the line. "Are you guys ready to move?" The urgency in his voice reminded her of the reality.

"Yes, he got back not long ago. We'll be there in 15 minutes." she replied. They needed to get back to their work, the situation was dire. Still, she was happy they finally decided to just roll with it. The past years taught her that it was futile to wait for a perfect moment, which may never arrive. Ever since the Hydra takeover of SHIELD, their existence has been precarious. Little moments (forever existing and inevitable in Fitz's mysterious fourth dimension) like shiny white pebbles were scattered around their path. It took them long enough to realize that they had to lay claim to them and use them as best they could.

Well, in truth Jemma understood Fitz's hesitation, his anxiety, his nervousness. She took a long enough time to figure out what she wanted, and when she did, their separation and her relationship with Will cast a long shadow between them. They were circling around the inevitable, never until now arriving to the same place at the same moment. She knew she was holding his heart in her palms, just like he was holding hers, with the power to crush it. Thankfully, they were back at a place of absolute trust, different than before, but stronger and again unbreakable.

Jemma's clinical mind has always categorized sex as a biological need, like eating, drinking and sleeping. A handsome face, a symmetrical body and a lack of entanglement provided fleeting, but uncomplicated bliss. With Will, she had learnt a different lovemaking, one that came from a place of complicated emotions of guilt, longing, caring, anger and resignation.

This was still nothing compared to watch just happened. What kind of explosion was needed after a decade of foreplay? But they were both playful, reassuring and so attuned to each other, that Jemma's anxiety quickly dissipated and in the end it was the sweetest, most emotionally fulfilling lovemaking she has ever experienced.

"Do we have time for a quick shower?" Fitz asked.

"Indeed, excellent idea" she smiled at him as they crammed into the little shower together briefly enjoying the hot water.

"This is better than I ever imagined." said Fitz smiling at her and Jemma understood that he was not talking about the shower, but the new place of intimacy

"And it will only get better, boyfriend," Jemma said savouring the word like an exotic fruit she never tasted before. "because perfection requires discovery. And discovery requires…"

"..experimentation" finished Fitz the thought with a twinkle in his eye. "And if there is something we excel at it's…"

"lots of experimentation." finished Jemma leaning in for another kiss.

They dried off quickly putting on clean clothes for the flight back and hurried to meet Mack at the Quinnjet.

"What took you so long?" he boomed when he saw them emerging from the taxi, taking in their changed clothes and wet hair.

Jemma was grateful for the darkness, as she could feel her face turn red. What to tell to their colleagues was one in a series of long discussions they needed to have, but probably would not have time for.

"Hive has Radcliffe." Fitz's voice was now serious. Jemma struggled to refocus her mind back on the job. "And I saw Daisy, she nearly killed me" he finished with sadness in his voice. Jemma looked at Fitz with alarm. With all that happened between them, they did not discuss their mission. "I'm sorry, but it looks like we are going back empty handed."

"I can't believe Daisy would take part in this freak show. There must be something else we can try. Well, let's call it a lucky night, after your run-in with Hive that we all live to tell the tale." Mack nodded towards both of them. "Get inside; let's get this bird in the air."

As Jemma and Fitz moved passed Mack, she heard him mutter "Attaboy, Turbo" under his breath. "I'll go check on the pilot then we'll call Coulson for debrief" he said and left them alone in the plane.

"We've got a lot to talk about" said Fitz as they sat down. "You ran into Hive, Jemma? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, we were kind of busy." Jemma retorted. "It was… " nothing she wanted to say, but stopped herself "…aweful, Fitz. He pretended to talk to me like Will." she finished with a whisper.

"Oh, Jemma" Fitz's face contorted with worry "I'm so sorry – you should have told me.."

"He didn't want to kill me. I shot him, Fitz, just to shut him up." said Jemma, more in control of her voice now. "Now tell me what happened with Daisy."

"There's not much to tell. She threatened me and warned us to stay away." Fitz said, though Jemma could see on his face there was more to the story. "We need to figure out why they took Radcliffe. I feel responsible, we dragged him into this."

Of course Fitz would find an angle to blame himself, Jemma thought and put her hand reassuringly on his. She let it linger there even as Mack returned from the cockpit to call Coulson.