Learning to Breathe
Author: @eclecticmuses and @mrsleopoldfitz Rating: Explicit Chapter: 1/? Relationships/Characters: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Bus Team, Antoine Triplett, Lance Hunter, Bobbi Morse, Alphonso Mackenzie, Others Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Season 2 AU, Explicit Sexual Content, Angst, Fluff, Some Humor Summary: In the wake of being dumped at the bottom of the Atlantic, Leo Fitz faces a long road to recovery. Fortunately, he has Jemma by his side for support. But it won't always be easy, and forces from both within and outside S.H.I.E.L.D. seem to be conspiring to keep them apart. The line between the oath they swore to the agency and the promises they made to each other is starting to blur, but it may be too late to escape with their lives before they lose each other for good. A season 2 AU and sequel to Begin Again.
Excerpt from Chapter 1:
The days that followed her rescue from being dumped in the ocean were the worst of Jemma Simmons’ life.
All of her hours were spent at Fitz’s bedside. She refused to leave, not for anything. She was too afraid that if she did, she might miss any change in his condition, for better or worse. So she kept vigil in the cramped plastic chair next to his bed, either holding his hand in between hers and watching him, or reading on her tablet. She was doing all the research she could on the effects of lack of oxygen to the brain, preparing herself for every possible outcome of the trauma Fitz had gone through. If he’d suffered brain damage, no matter how great or slight, she wanted to be ready to assist him through his recovery, armed with all the knowledge available to make it as easy as possible for him.
Skye dropped by as often as she could; she was helping Coulson get the new base up and in running order, and that involved a lot of computer work. At first she tried talking to Jemma, trying to be as light-hearted and funny as she could, telling her about Billy Koenig’s increasingly ridiculous demands per their lanyards, or reminiscing about silly things Fitz had done on the Bus, but she stopped when she noticed Jemma’s eyes glossing over. She wasn’t ready to talk as though Fitz were gone, like they were reliving the memories of someone who had left them. So Skye stuck to giving her updates on the base, and eventually only kept her company, bringing her laptop and working in silence, providing companionship the best way she knew how.
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