Simmons came running up to him, her eyebrows furrowed while her eyes darted around taking in his soaked clothing that hung off him and caused him to move slower than usual.

“Someone thought it would be brilliant to push me into the pool as we were investigating the 0-8-4.”

Lance raised his hands in the non-guilty gesture.

“Hey, I keep telling you, it was an accident.”

The other two just glared at him.

“I’m just gonna go see Coulson.”

Lance practically ran down the hallway from them but he’d call it fast walking.

“Come on, Fitz. Let’s go get you out of those wet clothes and warmed up.”

Fitz’ face flushed slightly at the implication.

Jemma just rolled her eyes fondly at him before grabbing his hand and dragged him down the hallway to the bunks.

Reaching his bunk, he wasn’t sure what Simmons had in mind.

She pushed passed him and into his room, heading right over to his closet and pulling open the door.

“Uh, Simmons…..what are you doing?”

Half buried in his closet, Fitz could barely hear her response.

“I am finding you something more appropriate to wear instead of those soaked mission clothes.”

A few things flew out of the closet.

She pulled back out and looked over at him and frowned.

“Why haven’t you taken off your clothes yet?”

“I’m waiting for something else to change into.”

Simmons huffed.

Fearfully of forceful Simmons, Fitz saw a towel nearby so he quickly shed his clothes then wrapped the towel around his body, trying to preserve his dignity.

“Oh Fitz……”

She returned her attention to his closet for a few more moments.

As cold as he was getting, he couldn’t help that she looked cute trying to make sure he was warm and dry.

Suddenly, fabric hit him in the face.

He grabbed the offending article clothing and noticed that it was a pair of his cotton pajama pants he bought years ago.

Then another piece of clothing came flying his way but this time, Fitz was prepared and managed to catch it.

Simmons turned around and clapped her hands once.

“Alright, now you get dressed Fitz and I’ll go make us some tea.”

Before he could say a word, she was out the door.

He chuckled to himself at the whole mother hen thing Simmons had going on when it came to him.

Once he was dressed in his pants and long sleeve t-shirt, he placed his clothes and towel in his nearby clothes hamper then sat on his bed not sure what to do with himself while he waited for Simmons to return with their tea.

It didn’t take her long to return because Jemma Simmons was nothing if not efficient especially when it came to Fitz.

He had moved so he was sitting with his back against bed’s headboard.

“Here you go, Fitz; a nice cup of tea to warm you right up.”

“Thank you, Jemma. Come and join me so we can both enjoy our tea.”

Her eyes widened when she noticed him patting the space next to him on the bed.

Slowly, she moved over to the bed and carefully held onto her cup.

Fitz looked over at her and smiled softly.

They sipped on their tea silently, just enjoying each other’s presence.

Eventually, Jemma decided that she needed to satisfy her curiosusity.

“How did you end up soaking wet anyways, Fitz?”

Letting out a sigh, he placed his empty cup down on the nightstand.

“Hunter and I had just retrieved the device Coulson sent us out to look for and things were going well; a little too well in my opinion. Of course, I opened my stupid mouth and said so right as we were walking by the edge of a river, not particularly deep but still annoying to get out of. He pushed me in because who knows what goes on in his mind most of the time when he isn’t thinking about Bobbi or drinking.”

Simmons couldn’t help letting out a little laugh at his comment about Lance’s mind.

“I should go get you more tea, Fitz.”

She tried to get off of the bed but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

“I don’t want more, I just you here with me.”

Fighting down a blush, she put her cup down next to his then moved over so she was sitting next to him and was surprised when Fitz moved his hand from her arm and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, noticing the blush but pleased looked that took up residence on his face.

She placed her arm across his waist and shifted around until she was comfortable then placed her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Jemma, for everything.”

He kissed the top of her head causing her to smile.

“Good night, Fitz.”

Simmons shook her head at the pair as she continued taking care of the injury

Coming to stand on the other side of the table so he wouldn’t be in Jemma’s way, Trip was about to say something when Bobbi’s mark caught his attention.

“You’ve got a soul mate mark, Bobbi?”

She nodded her head, twisting slightly so he could get a better look.

“You know….it reminds me of Fitz’ mark; it has to be the same shade and his letter is a ‘B’.”

Bobbi froze at the idea of what Trip’s words could mean.

“Trip….are you saying that Bobbi and Fitz are soul mates?”

“I’m saying that it is possible.”

The pair looked over at Bobbi who hadn’t said anything yet.

“Bobbi, are you okay?”

A smile slowly bloomed on her face at the possibility that she had finally found her soul mate. Now, they just needed to compare marks to see if they were a match.

“Alright, are you done there, Simmons?”

“A couple moments longer, Bobbi, I promise.”

Letting out a sigh, Bobbi tried to not let her impatience get the better of her while Trip looked on amused.

Of course, he knew how it felt to find his soul mate so he could understand Bobbi’s behavior.

“I don’t think you’re going to have to wait much longer, Bobbi.”

The two women looked at him but he just gestured at the doorway where Fitz was standing and getting a pep talk from Mack.

Jemma and Trip smiled encouraging at him.

It took several moments before Fitz slowly entered the lab and over to the table Bobbi was still perched on, with Mack following to support both of his friends.

Fitz was nervous enough about confirming the soul mate bond, he really didn’t need the others standing around and watching them while they did it.

“So….we’re, um….Mack said your mark is the same color as mine….so we’re, yeah….”

Bobbi hopped off of the table and moved so she was standing in front of him.

“Mine’s here on my shoulder, take a look.”

Turning slightly so Fitz could see her right shoulder, Bobbi started to get worried because Fitz didn’t seem as excited about the prospect as she did.

Fitz looked at the blue ‘L’ that was in front of him and he couldn’t resist reaching out and tracing it with his finger. There was no doubt in his mind that she was his soul mate because it was the exact shade as the ‘B’ that was on his hip.

“So, where’s your mark at?”

Fighting not to blush because Trip, Simmons and Mack were still watching them, Fitz undid his belt then pushed down the top of his pants on the right side so the mark was visible to everyone.

Bobbi leaned down to get a closer look at his mark, forgetting the low cut of her neckline but Fitz noticed and his eyes widened at the view.

Trip and Mack tried to hide their laughs with a cough when Simmons hit both of them to try to shut them up.

It finally sunk in who exactly was Fitz’ soul mate and his mother’s words came back to him:

This person will make you want to be a better person and you’ll love this person more than anyone else.

He suddenly felt like the he was back in the box at the bottom of the ocean because this was all too much for him to handle at the moment.

The audience just exasperated it.  

Bobbi stared in concern, noticing the tense way he was standing and his shaking hands.

“Hey, how about we go somewhere quiet and talk? Just the two of us.”

“Yeah, that’s good—it’s a good idea.”

It took them a few minutes to find somewhere quiet to talk that would make Fitz feel comfortable but they found it on the empty Bus.

Fitz sat down on one of the couches and when Bobbi put space between them when she sat down, he moved closer so they were almost touching which made her smile.

“I never thought that you’d be my soul mate.”

After the words left his mouth, Fitz realized how that must have sounded.

“Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s a great thing really. I mean, I like that it’s you and not a complete stranger and yeah…”

Bobbi reached over and squeezed his hand.

“I get it, we’re quite different from each other but that’s a good thing. My mother said that the concept of soul mates was a balance thing.”

“Then how would she explain Skye and Hunter?”

Bobbi laughed.

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”

Fitz gave her a small smile as he started to relax and he had to admit, he liked the sound of her laugh.

Playing with the edge of his sweater, he wasn’t sure what to say next, or rather, how to say what he was thinking.

“It’s just….you’re this amazing—I’m not, you deserve a better soul mate.”

“You’re kidding me, right? Jemma has talked about you and everything you’ve done, from your academy days up to now.”

Fitz blushed.

“That’s just—Jemma is nice like that.”

Seeing the blush on his face, Bobbi made a note to try to make it happen often. She really liked how it looked on him.

“And don’t even get me started on Mack. With the way that he goes on about you, I honestly thought you two were soul mates.”

At that comment, he smiled.

“Mack’s a good friend, has been a very good friend.”

They sat in silence for a couple minutes before Fitz worked up the courage to ask something.

“Is it okay—can I kiss you, Bobbi?”

She smiled at him.

“I’d like that.”

Moving so he was close enough to lean in and kiss her without straining his neck or back, Fitz took a couple moments to prepare himself.

He brought his hand up to her cheek and stroked it lightly as he leaned in so he could kiss her.

Bobbi’s lips were soft and he found himself thinking that he could get used to kissing them.

It was a slow and soft kiss as Fitz wasn’t sure of himself.

Then one kiss turned into two, into three kisses.

Oh yes, he could definitely get used to this.

Bobbi moved so her face was buried in his neck then wrapped her arms around him.

“Um, what are you doing?”

“You’re not much of a cuddler, are you?”

“I haven’t had much experience.”

“You will now.”

Rolling his eyes, Fitz leaned back, taking Bobbi with him, so they’d both be more comfortable.

They still had a lot of things to talk about but for now, he was more okay with this.

“You know, I’ve always liked Scotland more than Britain.”

His mother smiled at him before kissing his head.

“Like a best friend but more. This person will make you want to be a better person and you’ll love this person more than anyone else.”

He scrunched his face at the mention of love because girls have cooties.

Though, as he grew older, Fitz started to understand what his mum was trying to tell him even though people said he wouldn’t completely understand until he met his soul mate. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to.

xxx

At seven years old, Bobbi discovered a blue ‘L’ on her shoulder and she was excited. It meant that one day, she was going to meet her true love, her own prince Charming.  

“Oh Boobi, you’re so lucky that you have your soul mate mark.”

“Hey, yours will come when it’s meant to.”

Her friend frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Come on, you’re my best friend. You can tell me anything.”

“I’m scared that you’re gonna ditch me when you meet ‘mark-boy.”

Bobbi hugged her friend.

“You’re my best friend, I’m not ditching you and he’ll have to deal with that.”

The two girls return to Bobbi’s house for a sleepover and come up with different scenarios of how she’ll meet her prince and what he would be like.

Of course, at the time, she hadn’t realized what it meant to not have a mark when she was born but to have it appear later in her life. However, she would learn in time and eventually accept it.

xxx

The first time Fitz gives his soul mark any thought is when he’s in the science division of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy and he meets one Jemma Simmons. She is friendly, kind and the first person to be on his level intellectually that likes him. Of course, he’s a bit smitten with her but there’s the small problem of her name not starting with the letter ‘B’. Fitz had hoped that Jemma was a nickname or a middle name that she chose to go by but his hopes were extinguished one night.

Simmons and Fitz had gotten to know each other well over their time at the Academy so she felt reasonably comfortable bringing up the topic of soul mates and soul mate marks.

“Hey Fitz, what do you think about the concept of soul mates? That there’s one person out there meant for you?”

He placed his tools down on the table top and looked over at her as he considered the question.

“I haven’t really thought about it much, been too busy with other things, science things to worry about some stranger. Though, me mum once said that my soul mate would make me a better person.”

Jemma’s eyes widened at his words.

“By the way that you phrased that……does that mean you have a soul mate mark too?”

There was a spark of hope inside him at the question.

“Yeah, I do. It’s a blue ‘B’ on my hip. What about you?”

Jemma rolled up her sleeve and showed him a yellow ‘A’ that was on her wrist; it reminded him of sunshine.

The hope that she was his soul mate fizzled out now that he had undeniable proof that her soul mate was someone else.

When Jemma met her soul mate three years later, Fitz was genuinely happy for her and it made him really want to meet his soul mate for once. Though, he could do without Trip’s whale jokes.

xxx

Bobbi honestly thought that Lance Hunter could be her soul mate. It was an honest mistake and she hadn’t really thought about soul mates and her mark when they first met. He was her mission and that was that. What she failed to take into consideration was the chemistry that they had when they were together.

The moment that she realized that they weren’t meant to be together was one night when they were in bed and sober for once. Of course, Lance noticed the blue ‘L’ on her shoulder.

Bobbi was just drifting off to sleep when he spoke up.

“So…..you’ve got a soul mate mark. When were you going to tell me, Bob?”

Turning over onto her side, she looked at him for a few moments without speaking.

He traced the shape lightly with his finger.

Bobbi sighed.

“I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

“You didn’t know how to bring it up? Are you kidding me? You’ve seen mine so that would have been the perfect time. Bloody hell, Bobbi.”

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the green ‘S’ on the right side of his chest.

For what it’s worth, she did fall in love with Hunter but all the fighting made it clear that they weren’t good together; not like they’d be if they were with their soul mates.

xxx

It was inevitable that Fitz would meet his soul mate given the luck that his teammates had in finding theirs. He remembered the moment that Skye and Hunter discovered they were mates and he was there for Trip and Jemma. Not to mention, Coulson had let it slip that Agent May was his soul mate.

However, he hadn’t expected the person who was his soul mate to actually be his soul mate.

It had started when he was working with Mack in the garage and Fitz had raised his arms up to grab something from a shelf which caused his shirt to reveal the lower part of his stomach and the top of his hips. Fitz was in the middle of telling Mack something when suddenly, Hunter appeared out of nowhere and manhandled his clothes.

“Bloody hell, Hunter. What do you think you’re doing?”

Fitz tried to smack his hands away but Hunter was stronger than he was. So he tried appealing to Mack who just raised his hands and backed away.

“Oh no, Turbo. I don’t get involved when he’s like this.”

Sending Mack a glare, he returned his attention to Hunter.

“I think I’ve seen this before, this color soul mate mark.”

The other two men in the garage shared a look before Mack crossed the garage to join Fitz and Hunter.

“You can’t just—that’s not what you say—don’t say that, Hunter.”

Hunter ignored him as he pointed the mark out to Mack.

“You’ve seen it too, Mack.”

Mack kneeled down to get a better look then his eyes widened in shock when he realized that Hunter is right.