Here's the prompt for Day 6: Games. I had a completely different thing in mind before this came out... Hope you like it. This goes through the three seasons.

Please, read the note at the end too. ;)

Thanks to my Beta StarryDreamer01 who helped me edit this.

Our game

They had started playing chess on their free nights after they had found and old wooden set in a cupboard in their dorm's common room. Since the other students didn't seem to even notice it and after finding that it didn't belong to anyone they'd taken it to their shared room and played when they weren't studying.

They soon realised that chess was the most and the least appropriate game for them because they just read each other too well. They enjoyed playing, liked calculating all the possible permutations in the game and loved the mental stimulation of trying to best each other but it always took them ages to get to the end of a game. The last time they had played, it had taken them countless hours of bickering and almost two days (they left the board and pieces on a corner of the table) to declare a tie.

When Fitz had mentioned this to his sister, she sent him an old game to give them something more mindless to spend their free time.

But they never stopped with chess. It was their thing.

-25 years old, The Bus-

Game nights on the Bus became a weekly occurrence whenever the Team wasn't on a mission. Apparently, all the members minus May had some board game packed and they were all stacked in a cupboard in the lounge room to be accessible to everyone.

At the beginning, it had been just Skye and FitzSimmons that would indulge in some good natured competition.

However, tonight, it seemed that selecting the game was particularly complicated.

"Why not Scrabble?" Jemma asked, from her seat on the couch next to Fitz.

"Because you win every time?" Skye retorted with a raised brow. "Did you memorize a dictionary while you were getting all your PhDs or-?"

"I keep telling her that for years," Fitz piped in, munching on some popcorn. Jemma slapped his arm.

"Fitz!"

"It's true! You know the most unusual words-"

"That's called reading!"

"Woah, time out!" Skye put a hand between them before things escalated and Jemma huffed sinking in her seat slightly. Fitz, on the other hand, looked at the hacker with... with that look again.

Jemma tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach as she saw her best friend's interested gaze towards their newest teammate. She tried to see it as a good thing; as a friend she should be happy that he was willing to know another girl, right? Especially if the girl was a delight like Skye.

The clenching in her chest didn't agree.

"Jenga then?" Fitz said. "We could-"

"Nope," Skye shot his suggestion down. "Playing Jenga with you is like Scrabble with Simmons: one-sided victory for the scientist."

Fitz' shoulders sagged a bit. Jemma rubbed his arm in solidarity and he smiled at her.

They settled for a game of Monopoly in the end, with Coulson confessing to having a vintage edition. Their supervising officer won the game despite Skye's attempts to cheat and Ward keeping her in line.

Jemma couldn't help but feel a warm feeling as she spent her time with her teammates. They'd been together for a little more than a month and she had come to like this little family and its different members. She stole a glance at Fitz who was looking at the board with his intense blue eyes and smiled slightly: he seemed to like it here too.

As they all got up, leaving for their bunks, Simmons saw Fitz putting away his empty popcorn bowl in the kitchenette and waited for him. She saw their old chess board peeking through a corner of a cupboard and picked it up: the lacquered wooden surface was wearing off but it was still solid and the pieces were still all there.

She and Fitz had brought it from their apartment in Boston, agreeing that bringing a game could help them pass their free time (if they had any). They had opted for chess rather than other games because they didn't want to seem young. Being child geniuses had always put them in a position where people underestimated them and they didn't want to start their field adventure with that label.

Jemma smiled slightly, recalling how she had packed Jenga with her belongings, knowing that Fitz would love to have a game every now and then and thinking about all the ways in which they could covertly play without having the others see.

He had had the same idea. She remembered how she had found the box of Scrabble on her bed, the week after their mission in Peru. Fitz had been leaning against her door, smiling slightly and she had beamed at him before retrieving the box of Jenga from her cupboard and grinned at his happy expression.

"I thought you wanted to go sleep." Jemma turned around and found Fitz by her side. He eyed the chess board in her hands. "If we start that, we won't know if we're going to sleep."

"My mind was just wandering..." She remarked, tilting her head to a side. "But since we're here-"

"-we could start?" He finished with a grin and she smiled.

They sat on the couch again, quickly preparing the board between them. As she automatically set her pieces, a sudden realisation made her stop and she froze as she was positioning the white queen.

"When did we start doing this?" She asked and Fitz looked at her in confusion.

"What? Chess?" He frowned slightly. "You know that: first year at MIT when we found this set."

"No, I meant... When did we decide that I got the white pieces and you the black ones," She looked at him. "I can't seem to remember..."

"Er..." Fitz looked thoughtful, toying with the black bishop in his hand. "Still at MIT? I think we took turns the first times but then-"

"-we roshamboed, right!" She now remembered the exact moment.

"Yeah and you always won," Fitz rolled his eyes as she smirked slightly. "I think that since you always chose white, we just stuck to having default colours after a while. I also think that we're too busy trying to win a game in a few hours and not days than bothering to little things like who takes the black or white pieces."

Jemma nodded, moving her first pawn and looked at him thoughtfully. He was right: they had decided once and then stuck to that.

He stared back.

"What?" Fitz asked, tilting his head.

"Do you want to switch?" She asked in return and he raised an eyebrow. "For a change? I'm always the one that starts."

"No... I'm fine like this," he gestured to the set pieces. "I'm used to playing black: sort of consider them my army." She smiled slightly. "Besides.. I'm used to you having the first move."

"Oh so you plan your strategy from what I do?"

"Don't we always?"

They played for a while, talking and bickering, adding pieces to their sides when they managed to take a piece and trying to outdo each other.

It was such a normal thing for them -this knowing what move will come next- and it also expanded to everything else they did.

Jemma looked up and saw Fitz staring at the board with a furrowed expression. She failed to suppress a smile and he noticed.

"What's got into you tonight?" He asked, making his move. "You're distracted and, as a consequence, you're distracting me."

"Might be my strategy to win," she teased.

"No way... you're too prim and proper," She made an affronted noise and he grinned. "Seriously... I'm completely sure that you won't try to cheat to win. We've done this too many times."

"We did, didn't we?" Jemma carefully looked at the board, thinking through a few moves ahead before moving her knight. "I'm glad that we can still do this here."

"Makes me think of home," Fitz added softly and she looked at him. "It's nice to have something that feels...familiar."

She smiled, feeling something warm seep in her chest. She'd been terrified that he'd make up his mind at some point and decide that field work was not for him.

She was scared that he'd leave and she wouldn't know what to do. Fitz would never ask her to leave with him but would she want to stay without him if the situation occurred?

She didn't know and she didn't want to know the answer.

"Hey..." Jemma looked up and saw Fitz staring at her. "Everything alright?"

She smiled.

"Yes," she said with a nod. "Everything's fine." As long as they stayed liked this. Together.

He smiled back.

-:-

-26 years old, The Playground-

It was oddly quiet in the common room.

Everyone had gone off to their rooms and the only ones remaining were FitzSimmons and Skye. The three had been sticking closer together ever since they got back from Puerto Rico but it was rare for them to be totally alone. There was usually Hunter or Bobbi hanging around or Mack playing with this video games.

Tonight, it was only them. Fitz glanced at the empty room and thought that it would be a perfect moment for the three of them to talk and understand how to find a way to handle Skye's powers and keep it secret from the others.

But it wasn't the right moment.

The three of them had tried to do something normal and Skye had suggested playing Scrabble after seeing the box in one of the cupboards. It had seemed an innocuous idea at first, but a few minutes into the game they realised that it just triggered memories.

Memories of their old Team on the Bus and of Ward and of who they thought he was. Then it made them think of Trip and how he'd laugh when Skye would make up a word or just look encouraging when Fitz forced his mind to remember a word.

Skye had stood up after ten minutes and had shot them a watery smile, saying that she wanted to check something on her laptop and had sat on the couch in silence.

Fitz had suggested playing chess to Jemma when he caught her staring at the hacker with a concerned look and she had accepted with a small smile. He had hoped that the game might bring her some calm; perhaps, the familiar dynamics between them could soothe her.

He stole a glance at Jemma, who was staring at the chess board between them, eyes less clear and less focused than usual. He fought the desire to take her hand and find a way to comfort her; he'd do it if they were in one of their rooms or if he didn't feel so tense. He didn't want her to notice that his hands were twitching again since he'd barely slept in days and his nerves were strained; he didn't want her to worry, not now that she seemed to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders and wouldn't allow him to share it with her.

He was so worried for her. She was different from the girl he'd befriended so many years ago: the one that loved adventure and wanted to learn more about everything. All their missions, near-death experiences and her months alone undercover in Hydra had hardened her and she seemed to have lost her ability to see the world with curious eyes. The girl that he'd fallen in love with was changing...

He was scared for her: he had heard her talking about stopping the powered people, terminating the alien anomaly...

This wasn't her.

She was scared. And she felt guilty.

He didn't know how to help her...

He'd managed to calm her almost hysteric cries when they'd seen Skye's blood analysis; he'd got her to understand that despite everything that had happened, this was Skye and they had to help her.

But Fitz knew that it wasn't all over. He had to find a way to make Jemma understand that they didn't have to fix Skye but just help her adjust. Just like he did after his brain damage.

"It's your turn."

Fitz looked up, startled from his thoughts, and found Jemma looking at him, her amber eyes warmer than before. She smiled slightly, her lips curving at the corners in something that was a ghost of her usual smile. But he couldn't complain; this was better than seeing her desperate expression after she'd brought back Trip's body.

"Ok," he replied and looked at the chess board. He studied the pieces, his mind slower than usual in calculating all the moves and his tiredness triggering the side effects of his aphasia.

He picked a rook, ready to move it but it slipped out of his trembling fingers; without looking up and ignoring the rush of embarrassed heat on his face, Fitz picked the piece and put it on its spot on the board.

He didn't look up at Jemma, didn't dare to see if she'd notice his slip and quickly gestured for her to make her move.

But Jemma Simmons wasn't stupid and even if she was facing some shattering changes in her life, she would always notice the changes around her.

Her hand moved forward, past the board, and gently settled on his hand on the table. Fitz looked up and saw the soft concern in her eyes; part of him was warmed by it but the other felt irked.

He'd been battling with these two sides ever since she'd left for Hydra and he still didn't know how to adjust to both.

"Are you-?" She asked softly and he withdrew his hand from hers, looking up sharply.

"I'm fine," he whispered quickly and he hated to see how her eyes clouded.

-:-

Jemma bit back a retort to tell him that he was lying and nodded slowly, looking at the chess board. They were both struggling since she came back from her mission undercover and she didn't know how to fix it. Their relationship -both work and emotional- was on thin ice: one wrong step and it would break and they both knew it.

He knew why she had left: she had told him, defying Coulson's orders afterall. Jemma was the only person who had the knowledge and background to infiltrate Hydra's lab and she was the best scientist on base. Fitz, still struggling with the aftermath of being in a coma for days, couldn't go with her and he had begrudgingly accepted it.

Even though she knew that it was dangerous, Jemma would have given anything for both of them to go undercover. She wouldn't have felt so lonely and scared for those three months.

But she knew that he had to stay back not only because he had to help the team but because he had to fully recover. His whole condition, his fighting with the symptoms of aphasia and amnesia were all her fault.

And she was also hindering his recovery. When she'd tearfully told him that, maybe, her leaving might help him recover faster, his first reaction was to retort that it wasn't the truth.

It had taken her the better part of the night to convince him of the opposite. And when she left, she knew that he'd realise the truth behind her words and it pained her heart.

Now that she was back, she was overjoyed to see him, ecstatic to see his progress and at the same time, she wondered if having her here was really the best for him.

She loved him and the thought of being the reason of his pain was unbearable to her...

"I'm sorry," Fitz's hand moved back to cover hers, rough fingertips caressing her skin in a familiar fashion that made her heart warm. "I didn't mean to-"

"It doesn't matter," she whispered back. "I know that- I just shouldn't have asked..."

"Jemma.." He tangled their fingers together and squeezed them. "You can ask. I'm just... We're just stressed out. Everything will be fine."

She wanted to believe him. She truly did but she also knew that their entire world was shifting before their eyes. And they could lose the people they cared about.

Jemma couldn't get the image of Trip's broken body from her head: it brought tears to her eyes and a wave of guilt for not having prevented his untimely demise.

And now, Skye was...

"Why do you always play chess?"

Jemma turned to her side with Fitz mimicking her and they found themselves looking at Skye who was staring at them. She smiled slightly, eyeing their entwined fingers and Jemma failed to hide a blush. She glanced at her partner and saw the red tips of his ears but his hand didn't leave hers; he held her even tighter.

They'd always been extremely private of their relationship, keeping it under the wraps from everyone for fear of any repercussion; mostly their ingrained fear of SHIELD's Section 17 even though their agency and its rules didn't exist anymore. Skye was the only one that actually knew of their relationship since the start, before the rise of Hydra and she'd been surprisingly good at keeping it secret. The others didn't know -or if they knew they didn't voice it loudly.

"Come again?" Fitz asked.

"I asked: why do you guys always play chess?" Skye shifted in her seat, getting more comfortable. "You always spend hours on that board: talking, bickering, moving pieces and then keeping quiet."

"It's a good game," he replied, catching Jemma's eye. "We've been playing since we were kids."

"Well, yeah... I know that it's like the nerd game." Skye's eyes almost shone with her usual mirth and Jemma couldn't help but smile slightly as Fitz scoffed.

"We play because it's something that we've been doing since we first met," Jemma stated. "There's... a familiarity in chess that other games don't have."

"Yeah?" Skye looked at her in interest. "Isn't it always the same thing, though? You should be bored by now.."

Jemma shook her head and looked at Fitz who was staring at her.

"Chess can look as a series of moves that are always the same," she said slowly. "But, if you look carefully, it's actually a permutation of an exponentially large number of moves." Skye looked at her curiously. "The moves and the outcome might be always the same but it's the way you play that makes the difference."

"We've beaten each other a handful of times," Fitz admitted, smiling slightly. "We always seem to guess the other's move."

"Oh.. shocker," Skye deadpanned and they both smiled.

"I think I really like chess because it reminds me of something..." Jemma paused in her sentence, making the other two look at her. "It reminds me of normalcy." Of home. "It's something that we can start and finish even if it takes days or weeks." And if she loses, she can start over without regrets; only with more resolve to do better and without fearing to lose something important. "That's why I like it." She looked at Fitz and smiled slightly. "It reminds me of old times." Times when having different opinions didn't deem to put a wedge between them.

Fitz smiled, squeezing her hand again. Skye just looked at them with a glint of sorrow in her eyes before smiling as well.

"Yeah... It's good to have something that reminds you of happier times."

They fell silent and she and Fitz got back to the game, trying not to notice how Skye's eyes had gone glassy.

When they left to go to sleep, hours later, Jemma stopped Fitz from leaving after he walked her to her room. He'd spent some nights with her, holding her close when the nightmares plagued her mind after Trip's death. He looked at her carefully, eyes asking a silent question and she just nodded. When they both got into her room and slipped into bed, fully clothed, Jemma moved just enough to kiss him softly, trying to convey her feelings in the small gesture.

She didn't know what could happen but she wanted Fitz to know that they would be always together. In one way or another, they wouldn't be torn apart.

-:-

-27 years old, the Playground-

The lab was quiet and Fitz was grateful for his solitude as he slumped against a chair and sighed. He ran a hand across his face as he tried to make sense out of the mess that his life had become.

There were simulations running on the screens of his workspace along with multiple windows with relevant information regarding the monolith, the rams-head cult and Hydra.

On his tablet, he had a few windows open with the information regarding Will Daniels.

Fitz knew that the latter was not necessarily relevant for his work and that it was just pure torture to him but he didn't shut them closed.

He left the photos -his face actually- because he needed a reminder of why he was doing this.

He had been there when Jemma was stranded on another planet. He had protected her. He had given her hope when she had none.

Will had, not him.

And Jemma now loved him.

Her admission had just cracked the little sphere of hope in his chest, making it melt away slowly. They'd argued in the lab days ago, finally venting their feelings: his anger and sorrow and her confusion and sadness.

Fitz knew that Jemma loved him; he knew that his best friend (his girlfriend really but should he still call her that? Would she want him to?) loved him deeply and wouldn't have given up unless she was in dire circumstances.

He should be grateful for Will to have been there otherwise Jemma might have just lost all hope and died if she'd been alone. That thought was what made him be sane and work.

At the same, the thought of him touching Jemma, kissing her and being the object of her affection made him want to wretch.

Fitz got up, fighting the urge to throw something across the lab and walked to the corner of the lab where he had left some of the books regarding the old cult.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw their old chess board on the table, some pieces piled at the corners. He had forgotten that it was there.

When Jemma had started to come into the lab without wincing, he'd suggested setting the board and playing a game, hoping that she'd find the activity soothing. It had worked and he'd been elated when she'd voluntarily came into the lab and sat in the corner, the most quiet in the lab, waiting for him.

They had started this game weeks ago, shortly after she had told him what had happened during her six months on that planet. After she'd told him about him.

They had tried to ignore the elephant in the room and had tried to work on normally, ignoring the true reason of their work. Slowly, they were playing alone: Fitz would move a piece when she was not there and Jemma did the same. And yet, they still played the game.

He wondered if they were only struggling to let go, stalling a moment that was meant to come and holding on to a small thing like-

Fitz stared at the board and felt his chest constrict painfully. He'd been the last to move: his knight was in front of a line of pawns and Jemma hadn't made her move yet.

That had been three days ago and she had been in the lab every day for hours.

He wondered why he was so stunned about this... She had other things in her head, other priorities...Him.

She wouldn't bother to little things such as a chess game. He understood that a man's life was at stake and, even though they didn't know how involved he was with Hydra (or if he was involved at all -Fitz had to give him the benefit of the doubt, begrudgingly), they had to get him back.

Maybe, it was just him that was holding on to that chess board.

They had kissed for the first time since she got back when they had argued. Fitz had meant that kiss to be a goodbye while Jemma had seemed to be wanting for them to go on.

He wondered if she'd realised that despite their feelings, their relationship was too compromised...

The cosmos was against them.

Tears began to form in his eyes and he brushed them away angrily.

They were cursed. No hope could ever withstand that.

With solemn finality, Fitz opened the table's drawer and with a single swipe of his arm, he pushed the board and all the pieces inside.

As he watched the mess of black and white against the wooden checkered board, he wondered if he hadn't just tossed his own shattered heart inside the drawer and shut it away too.

-:-

Jemma walked into the lab very early the next morning. Sleep had been a foreign concept to her ever since she'd gotten back and in the past weeks she could only manage a few hours of shut eye before jolting back awake.

Her nightmares had multiple scenarios: the medpod, the sunless planet and other terrifying places that her mind could conjure. But the characters were always the same. There was Will on the other planet, telling her to flee as the nameless entity attacked him or a gunshot took him down.

And there was Fitz.

Jemma swallowed the familiar lump in her throat as she approached her workspace.

There was Fitz drowning in the sea, ninety feet underwater after saving her life giving her the oxygen; there was Fitz perishing during a mission against powerful Inhumans, his body crumbling to dust under the effect of terragenesis; there was Fitz dying under the hands of faceless terrorists as he tried to find clues to activate the portal (Bobbi had told her and Jemma had never thought that he could have been so reckless and stupid.. and brave and selfless. He did it for her and never told her anything); Fitz dying as he tried to bring her back through the portal, the entity getting to him or, the worst scenario of all, Fitz leaving, walking away from her. Forever.

That nightmare had been the one that made her wake up with a start, his name on her lips and tears streaming down her face.

She knew that he wouldn't leave: she knew him too well. He was too good and wouldn't leave until they found a way to get Will back; he was too stubborn and loyal to abandon SHIELD and their teammates; he was too selfless and wouldn't leave her even if it meant breaking his heart.

Jemma sighed as she rubbed her temple with a hand, easing the constant ache she had as she attempted, once again, to find a solution to all of this.

There wasn't one.

Whatever she did, one of the two men would suffer. She held her head in her hands as she thought that, right now, they were both in pain because of her.

Jemma wanted to cry and scream. She wanted someone to help her find a way to get out of all this without hurting two of the people she cared the most about right now.

She hadn't meant to give up hope but seeing the portal close and the bottle shatter had broken her last strength. She wouldn't go home again; she wouldn't see her family or friends again.

She would never see Fitz again.

That thought had shattered her and she'd lost it. If Will hadn't been there to hold her, she didn't know what she would have done to herself. Hearing Will tell her that she had made him believe in hope by appearing on the planet had made her stop from falling into an abyss from which she would have never resurfaced.

Kissing him had been her only tether for not letting go. She'd lost everything and everyone but she could still have him, be with him on that hopeless planet.

She hadn't meant to love him either... but she did. She couldn't explain the extent of her feelings for the stranded astronaut: affection, gratitude.. love. Yes, there was love too.

And then she was back and there was Leo. No, Fitz. He was Fitz again.

She hadn't called him Leo since she told him the truth of what had happened on the planet. She couldn't bring herself to call him so familiarly -as she used to do when they were kids, only friends, and how she used to after they got together. She couldn't do it without expecting him to be hurt yet again. She was hurting him from the moment she got back and she couldn't stand it...

She loved him more than she could ever quantify. He had been her constant beacon of hope as she struggled to find a way back from the other planet.

She had been talking to his photograph for months, trying to keep his memory clear in her mind, talking loudly and desperately hoping that he'd answer somehow.

He was her hope.

And she'd given up on him only when her last chance to reach him had shattered against a wall of rocks. Yet, she'd given up while he didn't.

"We're cursed."

His words echoed through her mind, the sorrow in them piercing her heart.

Jemma walked away from her workspace, recalling how he'd kissed her: he'd seemed so desperate and almost expected her to recoil from him. It had been the first time they'd truly kissed since she came back. And as he stepped back, breathing heavily and looking as though it would be the last time that they'd ever be that close to each other, Jemma knew that whatever happened, her heart belonged to him.

Her eyes strayed to his workspace and she saw the simulations still running on the screens. He was so loyal and good that he was helping her bring Will back even though he was hurting.

Jemma had kissed him softly, pouring her feelings in the kiss and hoping that he'd understand what she didn't know how to explain in words.

But he hadn't.

"We're cursed."

Her hands flew to her neck, fingertips digging into the skin as she recalled Fitz' sorrowful face, his blue eyes clouded and his voice thick with defeat.

He was losing hope.

Jemma walked to the opposite side of the lab, a corner where they stored some supplies and the books that Fitz had found about the cult. It was also the only secluded and work-free spot where Fitz had set their chess board. He had been so sweet to set it up in that quiet spot in the lab, allowing her to get used to their working environment's hustle without getting nervous.

It was her turn and she'd been meaning to make a move in days but something had always occurred; Fitz or somebody had been around and she couldn't sit there and think in peace. It wasn't only a game for her now; she had a feeling that this particular chess game was linked to her and Fitz. The longer it lasted, the longer they were bound to move their pieces, the more chances they had to talk at some point, and make things right.

They hadn't talked much since their kisses. They'd been briefed by Coulson and done some work together in the lab but their exchanges had been quite impersonal. They were walking on eggshells around each other and Jemma hated it.

She'd do anything to-

She stopped in her tracks and stared at the empty table. She looked around, wondering if some tech had moved it elsewhere but all she could see were file-filled desks.

Jemma was sure that she'd seen the board last night: she had walked past it and it had been there. She clearly remembered the pieces and how they were positioned.

She tried to remember who was in the lab when she left for her room. It was past the usual working hours and the other lab techs had left. Then who-?

Fitz.

She felt something like a punch in the stomach when she recalled that he had been sitting at his workspace, working. She'd bid him goodnight and he'd waved at her.

He had been alone in the lab afterwards. Why did he-?

Had he moved it? Put it away in some other place and then told her about it? Chess was a game, yes, but it was their game. They always finished a game no matter how long it took and they'd always try to outwit each other.

She walked to the table and opened the drawer and she saw the chessboard thrown inside, the pieces scattered messily all over the place.

Jemma had to bite her lip, eyes filling up with tears as she saw how he had thrown everything away.

He was giving up.

Fitz was giving up on the game. On her. On them.

Jemma gasped, tears trickling down her face as she thought of their fight. His face had crumbled when she'd admitted that she loved Will and then he'd started to speak about him, saying that he understood why she'd fall for him. He wasn't even angry: just defeated.

Why couldn't he see himself as she did? Why couldn't he see that he was strong and smart, that he gave her hope when she had none? Why did he think that Will was better and that it was natural for her to fall for him?

Jemma Simmons was riddled with guilt and confused emotions towards a man who had helped survive on another planet and had lived there alone for fourteen years. She wanted to help him come back because she cared for him and she owed him that much.

But despite everything, despite her feelings for Will, Jemma loved Leo Fitz. She would always love him more than anyone and that was one thing she'd always be sure about herself.

Ten years of friendship, years of unknown feelings that they'd both suppressed until they finally decided to admit it and way too many near-death situations wouldn't change that.

Jemma still believed that they'd have their cottage in Scotland... Perthshire, Glasgow... wherever as long as he was there by her side.

She didn't want to lose him. Not now that she'd finally been reunited to him. Not when they were close again.

She'd lost hope once and she swore that it would never happen again.

Jemma wiped the tears from her face and decided to be selfish. She carefully picked the board and put it on the table again.

-:-

Fitz stared at the chess board, completely baffled to find it back on the table when he walked into the lab after breakfast. Moreover, it seemed that it was exactly as it had been last night: the pieces were returned to their exact positions.

Had he dreamed of shoving it into the drawer? He was pretty sure that he hadn't...

He approached the table, trying to understand what had happened when he noticed a difference. Wasn't that piece-?

"It's your turn."

He spun around and saw Jemma standing near a shelf. Fitz swallowed dryly and looked around: the lab was empty.

"Jemma..." He said slowly and gestured to the board. "What...?" There was a thought in his head, something that almost seemed too good to be true -too hopeful- and he didn't give in to it. He wasn't sure if he'd manage to hope again and have everything crushed another time.

Jemma stared at him. He couldn't help but notice that she looked tired: she mustn't have slept last night. Did she have another nightmare? He felt a rush of guilt at the thought that she must have woken up alone and scared after her mind had conjured some horror for her to relive and he hadn't been there for her.

He usually held her during the night, helping her calm down or just holding her close so that she'd sleep peacefully. He had stopped after she'd told him of Will, not wanting to impose...

There was also a part of him that felt ill at the thought that he must have held her close on the other planet too. She'd mentioned that they'd kissed and slept close afterall...

Jemma approached him slowly, hands in two tight fists and she bit her lip in a typical nervous habit. He steeled himself for whatever news she was going to tell him, hoping that he'd be strong enough to not show too much emotion in front of her.

He had to be strong, for her. And for himself. They might not be able to be what they wanted to be, might not be together again (the thought alone made him want to rip his heart out of his chest) but they were still best friends.

It might take time but he'd go back and be happy with having that relationship with her. It was better than losing her completely.

Jemma stared at him intently, amber eyes taking him in and he tried to stay calm under her scrutiny. However, something must have been clearly visible on his face because he saw a flurry of emotions dance in her eyes: sorrow, pain, guilt and then, unexpectedly, resolution.

"I'm not giving up," she said firmly and he blinked. What?

"E-excuse me...?" He stammered, unsure of what she was talking about. Did she mean the chess game.. or..?

"I know that I gave up on you when I was on Maveth," she said softly, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I know that I should have had more faith in you-"

"Jemma, no... you don't-" He approached her immediately, unable to stand her broken tone. "You were stranded on that planet, with no known possibility of whether you'd come back." He couldn't even imagine what she had gone through. "You shouldn't say that..."

"And I know that everything is just so... complicated now," Jemma didn't seem to hear him. She just stared at him as she slowly walked closer. "I... I can't-" Her fingers curled around his wrist, warm against his skin.

"You don't have to," he whispered, looking down. He felt as though they'd gone back to when they were younger. When every touch was cautious and drenched with feelings that couldn't be expressed.

She leaned forward until her forehead was touching his chin and he felt her tremble slightly. Fitz wanted to comfort her. Months ago, he'd have brushed his lips against her face, now he adjusted to what he'd done for years and hugged her. He heard her exhale and was enveloped by the scent of lavender that she always seemed to carry. It reminded him of home.

"Leo..." Her whisper pierced his heart. The familiarity of his name, something that she hadn't been using lately, probably for his sake, made him ache with longing.

"Everything will be fine, Jemma," he murmured against her hair. He hoped that his words seemed firmer than how he'd heard them. He felt her finger tighten against his wrist.

"Don't give up," she pleaded softly. "Please, don't..." She stepped out of his embrace and looked at him with watery eyes.

Fitz stared at her and Jemma's heart thumped in her chest.

Would he listen to her? Would he want to give her -them- another chance despite the pain that they'll surely be subjected to?

Would he still want to go through all of this just for her?

Jemma stared back as he turned slightly, running a hand through his hair. She wanted to kiss him and hold him close, ease the lines of concern from his face with her fingers and share some of the pain he must be feeling.

She'd do anything for him.

Restoring her hope and never giving up again was just a start.

Jemma saw him move again, turning towards the chess table. He looked at it intently and, for a moment, she wondered if he'd just thrash it into the drawer again, telling her that there wasn't any chance left for them and giving her a reason to truly think that they were cursed and never meant to be.

He moved and swiftly picked a piece -a pawn- and dragged it to another box. She watched with bated breath as he studied the board and then looked at her. His eyes were flashing with emotions and he looked on the verge of tears but he managed a small trembling smile.

"It's your turn," he said softly.

Jemma nodded fervently, tears cascading down her cheeks as she moved a hand to cover her mouth, muffling the sob of relief that escaped her.

They were not broken.

Bent, bruised and battered, yes, but not broken.

They wouldn't allow the cosmos to break them.

-:-

-Years later-

"When you said that you wanted to play a game, I really didn't have this in mind."

"Oh, Fitz..."

He grinned as he flopped down on the armchair next to the window and looked outside. It was raining heavily and the cobbled streets of Florence were almost empty. They had meant to walk around and see some shops and go sightseeing before going to the Uffizzi museum in the afternoon. Given the downpour, they were stranded in their hotel room for a few hours.

Fitz was snapped out of his musing when something unceremoniously sat on his lap and snuggled against his chest. He grinned as Jemma draped her legs over his knee and rested her head under his chin.

"Comfortable?" He asked, moving his hands so that he was loosely hugging her.

"Very much," she replied softly, smiling at him and brushed a kiss to his jaw.

"I thought that we were going to play chess," He eyed the board laying on the small table in front of him. "I think that you're the only person in the entire universe who would bring a chessboard in her suitcase-"

"-during her honeymoon?" Jemma grinned, sitting slightly straighter and arranging the chess pieces on the board with one hand. "Did you forget that I-?"

"-excel at preparation? No, didn't forget that," He grinned, holding her against his chest as he sat up. "So you expected a rainy morning and brought our game along?"

Jemma turned to look at him with a fond smile.

"It really is our game, isn't it?" She remarked, caressing his cheek with a hand, skin scraping softly against his stubble. "It has followed us everywhere."

"We never stopped bringing it along since MIT." Fitz looked at the battered board and smiled. They'd played hundreds of games on it.

"We'll have to find a table to set it up once we get a house," Jemma said. "I think a nice wooden table next to the fireplace would be nice..."

Fitz' heart inflated as he heard her words. She'd been mentioning this often in the past months; she talked about their house, a place that they'd arrange to their liking and where they'd live for the rest of their lives. He didn't know when they'd find or live in this place but they'd talked about it.

All they knew was that it would be in Scotland...

Fitz nuzzled against her neck.

"Sounds nice," he whispered and teased her skin with his lips. "Might also have a table where I can demolish you at Jenga." He grinned when she scoffed.

"Careful..." She warned. "I'll force you into playing Scrabble every night and beat you."

"Alright... I'll stick to chess then..." He breathed softly, taking in her scent. "At least, we'll both have a chance to win."

They slowly set the board together as she sat on his lap. Fitz moved the board so that they both could move easily. He gestured for her to start and she nodded.

"I have a little idea for today though..." Jemma grinned at him and he arched a brow. " A modification to the rules so that we'll be done when the rain stops..." She moved forward until their lips were almost touching. "Every time a piece is taken-" She brushed her lips to his. "-the winner gets a kiss."

Fitz grinned.

"I'm game."

"I knew it."

Maybe little changes to their game wouldn't be bad...

In my series, FitzSimmons both find out that Skye has powers after Puerto Rico and try to keep it secret from the Team, they both have different opinions on the matter of powers and Inhumans (like in canon) but they talk more and there's less tension between them.

Moreover, Fitz knew that Jemma was leaving for Hydra: she secretly told him despite Coulson's orders. There will be a fic explaining this: I promise!

Please, leave a review... :)