FitzSimmons

"The one thing I've known without a doubt–the whole time–is you and Fitz belong together."

- Daisy to Jemma; Self- Control

FitzSimmons is the het ship between Leopold James Fitz and Jemma Anne Simmons from the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fandom.

Pre-Series
Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons met at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Science and Technology, both having genius-level intellects. This led to initial animosity as they were both the smartest in their class and would constantly compete with each other. They never really spoke to one another until they were paired together in chem lab, where they first realized they were smarter as a team.

Working Together
One night, the two planned to meet in Fitz's dorm room but Simmons was held up in a conversation with Professor Weaver which caused her to be twenty-four minutes late. This worried Fitz as he assumed she had blown him off but was relieved when she finally showed up. Fitz explained the reason he invited her to his room was because she seemed like a good Sounding Board which Simmons interpreted as him seeing her as a "thick wall". Fitz awkwardly tried to correct himself and explained that he meant they were good at bouncing ideas off each other and Simmons was great at clarifying them and mapping out their consequential results.

According to Fitz, this was the night he went from being totally nervous in her presence to being completely at ease. Simmons revealed that this was the night she put him in the friend zone.

Around this time, Simmons got into a relationship with Milton, to Fitz's dismay. It did not work out between them because according to Simmons, Milton always agreed with whatever she said which turned her off.

After they both graduated from the Academy three years early, it was around this time that Simmons convinced Fitz to apply for a field assignment with her, even against the advice of Professor Vaughn. She wanted to see more than the inside of a lab, remarking that it would be the perfect opportunity to see the world. This led them to be recruited by Phil Coulson to join his team. "I said there would come a moment when we would regret the decision to go in the field. I didn't think that would happen in week one."

- Leo Fitz to Jemma Simmons, The 0-8-4, 1x02 After every horrible thing they eventually had to endure, Fitz remarked that this was the moment- their decision to join the field- that started it all for them, causing all their pain throughout the years.

Field Work
Their first foray into field work involved them looking for a way to stabilize the Centipede serum in Mike Peterson. They then had to overcome an armed takeover of The Bus from the Peruvian armed forces after the discovery of an 0-8-4, along with Skye (later, Daisy Johnson), Melinda May and Grant Ward. After discovering Gravitonium as the cause of an attack, their third mission involved them helping Skye and the rest of their team infiltrate Ian Quinn's compound in Malta to rescue their mentor, Dr. Franklin Hall. Fitz, Simmons and Melinda May observed and helped Skye from The Bus. It was later revealed that Hall orchestrated his capture in order to destroy Quinn's compound and with it, the Gravitonium, taking innocent lives in the process. Next, Fitz and Simmons were tasked with disarming the explosive in Akela Amador's eye, saving her life in the process. When it was revealed Skye had betrayed them by helping her boyfriend who worked for the Rising Tide and was involved in leaking information which caused the capture and death of Chan Ho Yin, Fitz and Simmons were deeply hurt. Fitz was a lot more affected as he seemed to have developed a crush on Skye.

Psychically Linked
Fitz and Skye were hanging out in the lab with Ward testing out the new Night Night Gun Fitz designed when Ward deemed it to be an ounce off. This leads Fitz to make fun of Ward by imitating him when he leaves the room, eliciting a laugh from Skye, to Fitz's delight. He comments that they think the same way while Skye assumes he is talking about himself and Simmons and remarks that its like they are "psychically linked." Fitz immediately denies this. However, when Simmons enters the room and is told of Ward's fussiness, she too makes fun of him the exact way Fitz did, indicating that they do indeed think the same way and share the same mind.

Alien Virus
"Pasty? Oh, really? Well since when did you become so sun-kissed? Because I'm pretty sure that every minute of every day, you've been stuck in a lab right beside me. At the Academy, at Sci-Ops, this plane! You've been beside me the whole damn time."

- Leo Fitz to Jemma Simmons, FZZT 1X06 The team was called in to investigate mysterious floating dead bodies. It was discovered that the cause was an alien virus passed along from a Chitauri Helmet left behind after the Battle of New York. While explaining the propagating properties of the virus to Coulson, he realized that Simmons was infected after she displayed symptoms of the virus, causing metal objects to float. She would be killed in three hours, causing an electric pulse to be emitted, bringing down their plane and everyone in it. During this time, Fitz tried his best to encourage her but the overwhelming pressure and dread took over which caused them both to lash out at each other. However, through their arguing, Simmons managed to figure something out which could possibly lead to creating an antiserum. This caused Fitz to run into Simmons' containment area with the Chitauri Helmet, risking contamination and death in order to help her with the cure, saying they were going to fix this together.

Unfortunately, their tests failed and it seemed that all hope was lost. Fitz, not wanting to give up, continued to work but Simmons, who had given up hope knocked him out to prevent him from stopping her plan of jumping out of the plane in order to save everybody before she released the pulse. Unbeknownst to her the cure worked and only had a delayed reaction on the final test. This caused her to jump off the plane, leaving Fitz tragically screaming after her. Fitz prepared the cure and was going to jump out after her but he was unable to get the straps of his parachute on in time. Instead, Ward jumped out after her, giving her the cure and saving her life. Later in his bunk, Fitz was trying to explain to Simmons why he wasn't the one who jumped out and saved her but Simmons reassures him and says that he was the real hero as he was by her side, helping her and giving her hope the whole time. She kisses Fitz on the cheek as a thank you before leaving his bunk. It is implied that Fitz may have deeper feelings than friendship towards her as he sits there in silence.

This marked the first of many dangers they had to overcome together.

The Famous Sandwich
Fitz and Ward were assigned by Victoria Hand to infiltrate the border of South Ossetia to disable a deadly device called Overkill. Fitz was the only one with the skills to disable it and Ward was the only one with specific contacts to get them over the border. Simmons was visibly worried about Fitz and kept fussing over him, giving him an anti-venom pack, in case of spider bites. Fitz being clearly annoyed, reminded her not to do anything stupid while he was gone. like jumping out of a plane. Simmons also gave him his favorite sandwich (prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella with a hint of her homemade pesto aioli), which she made for him to take on his mission. "You don't have anything to prove. What you said about me always needing to swoop in- I know you would have jumped out of the plane to save Simmons, and she knows that too"

- Grant Ward to Leo Fitz, The Hub 1x07 Despite his inexperience, Fitz was vital in the success of the mission and proved he was every bit the S.H.I.E.L.D agent Ward was, having his back the entire time.

Once they returned, when Simmons asked if he enjoyed the sandwich, Fitz replied that it was delicious as he cared about her feelings, despite Ward previously throwing it away to prevent them from being tracked by dogs.

Remaining Missions Before the Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fitz and Simmons assisted in the cleanup of the Battle of Greenwich, following the aftermath of Thor; The Dark World. They, along with Coulson visited Elliot Randolph who provided key information in locating The Berserker Staff which would assist in defeating a group of extremists who had stolen the staff and had gained enhanced strength and rage. Randolph turned out to be an Asgardian whom the staff belonged to. May and Ward managed to defeat the insurgents while Fitz, Simmons and Coulson successfully saved the life of a severely wounded Randolph. He remarked that Simmons might possibly be the most beautiful thing he had seen in a thousand years.

Fitz and Simmons were also tasked with gathering information about an explosion which may have caused the woman in charge, Hannah Hutchins to developed telekinetic powers. There they reminisced on their time at S.H.I.E.L.D academy and together decided to prank Skye. This indicated the playful nature of their relationship. In the end, it was realized that it was actually one of the victims of the explosion, Tobias Ford who was trapped between two dimensions. He accidentally caused the explosion and was the cause of the supposedly 'telekinetic' occurrences to protect Hannah as he was in love with her.

Mike Peterson was sent to work with the team and Fitz and Simmons were thrilled when they realized they were the ones responsible for stabilizing the Centipede serum in him. Simmons was seemingly admiring Peterson's well-built physique and commented that he was nice and symmetrical to Fitz's annoyance.

When Coulson went missing, Fitz and Simmons assisted in finding him by helping Skye track down certain money trails associated with Raina and Project Centipede. The team managed to find and bring back Coulson safely.

Following an attack at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Science and Technology, Fitz and Simmons were invited to give a talk. There, they managed to save a young cadet named Donnie Gill who seemed to have been hurt with a freezing device. It was discovered that Donnie had been working with another cadet named Seth Dormer to bring Fitz to the academy to solve their power problem. They intended to power a bigger device to sell to Ian Quinn. Unfortunately, the device caused a massive storm which led to the death of Seth. Fitz attempted to comfort Donnie but was pushed away. It was revealed that Donnie developed ice powers after being exposed to the machine.

Fitz and Simmons were forced out of their niche into undercover field work with the rest of the team in Italy. Simmons was paired up with Coulson while Fitz was paired up with Skye. It was discovered that they were made and were now being chased. Simmons ran to warn Fitz and Skye but was hit with an enhanced version of dendrotoxin causing her to fall unconscious. Out of concern for her, Fitz placed her in a safer and more comfortable position, arming her with a weapon as he and Skye went on to infiltrate Quinn's mansion. This caused Skye to get shot twice in the stomach by Quinn and Fitz blamed himself for letting her go in alone. Simmons frantically tried to save Skye and managed to stabilize her for the time being. Once she was alone, while trying to clean the blood from her hands, Fitz finds her and embraces her as she breaks down in his arms, finding comfort with him. Coulson then gives both Fitz and Simmons Level 10 access to his .T.A.H.I.T.I files to find something that can cure Skye. Simmons manages to find a drug called GH.325 while Fitz successfully decripts a code for the location of this drug. Fitz, Coulson, Ward and Agent John Garrett manages to infiltrate the base housing the drug and retrieve it. Agent Antoine "Trip" Tripplet, May and Simmons worked to keep Skye stable. Simmons manages to inject Skye with the drug in time, saving her life, causing Agents Tripplet's admiration towards her.

The team also worked with Lady Sif of Asgard to defeat Lorelai who had the power to enthrall men to do her bidding. Fitz was one of her victims and worked with Ward who was also under her spell to keep Lady Sif away from her. He was knocked out by Coulson after being distracted by Simmons away from the containment module holding Lady Sif. Fitz managed to successfully repair a collar which Lady Sif used to negate Lorelai's powers and contain her.

Simmons was called to the Hub to be a consultant on Deathlok and was happily surprised that Trip would be her escort as she was seemingly attracted to him. This annoyed Fitz, harboring some animosity towards Trip as he was jealous of the attention Simmons was paying him.

The Hydra Reveal
Fitz, Coulson, Skye and Agent Garrett discovered the secret coded message that went out, revealing that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D at the deepest and highest levels. Fitz and the rest of the team decided to go back to The Hub to rescue Simmons who they believed was in danger. Back at The Hub, Simmons and Trip managed to pass the test that Victoria Hand developed to root out Hydra moles. It proved that Hand was not the Clairvoyant whose identity still remained a mystery. Coulson and the team managed to infiltrate The Hub and it was discovered that Garrett was The Clairvoyant and a Hydra agent all along. Coulson and May managed to fight Garrett and other Hydra soldiers, with Fitz saving May's life by shooting a Hydra soldier. Victoria Hand then stepped in and arrested Garrett. Fitz and Simmons are reunited and the two embrace.The team then make their way to Providence base where they had to take lie detector tests to prove they were not Hydra agents. When asked what would be in a box when he was trapped in a deserted island, Fitz replied; "Simmons". Fitz also continued to notice Simmons' attraction towards Trip especially when she vouched for him to join their team which Coulson agreed to if she'd take full responsibility for him. This further enhanced Fitz's animosity and distrust towards Trip. Ward notices this and advises Fitz to tell Simmons how he truly feels about her but Fitz dismisses it, still in denial about his own feelings and afraid it might change things between him and Simmons. Coulson, Trip, Fitz and Simmons then travel to Portland to stop Blackout who was constantly stalking Audrey Nathan. Simmons confronts Fitz about his behavior towards Trip who believed he may have offended him in some way. Fitz lies to reassure her that he was just being his grumpy self as per usual.

Ward's Betrayal
It was revealed that Ward was an undercover Hydra agent the whole time, working for Garrett. Fitz and Simmons simultaneously discover Skye's message about Ward being Hydra and Agent Sam Koenig's murdered body respectively. Fitz was still in denial about Ward's betrayal, believing that he was being forced to do those things and holding out hope for his friend. In his anger and hurt, he lashes out and Simmons tries to comfort him. After rescuing Skye, the team settles in a hotel for the night and Fitz asks Simmons to tell him that she's not Hydra as he wouldn't know what to do if she was. Simmons reassures him that he will never have to find out because she is not Hydra.

The team managed to locate Ward and Garrett in Cuba and Fitz and Simmons locates the hijacked Bus. They planted a tracking device and were about to leave when they were captured by Ward. Garrett ordered Ward to "put down" Fitz and Simmons but they managed to lock themselves in a medical pod before Ward could shoot them. Instead, despite their pleading and reminding him about their friendship, Ward ejects them into the ocean. Fitz manages to strap himself and Simmons down before they hit the water, breaking his arm in the process while Simmons is rendered unconscious.

Best Friends Forever
When Simmons regained consciousness, she realized that they were indeed trapped at the bottom of the ocean with no means of escape. Accepting their fate, Fitz and Simmons proceed to have a beautiful conversation about death where Simmons explains that she believes death isn't so bad as their energy would be conserved in other beings throughout the universe following the First Law of Thermodynamics. Fitz seems enthralled by her words and it is implied that he was about to tell her how he truly felt about her. However, at that moment, Simmons discovers a possible means of escape and the two excitedly try to solve the problem together.

With the detonation ready, Fitz handed Simmons an air-supply which could only be used once by one of them. He rationalized that she was a better swimmer than him and it would be better if she took the oxygen instead. Simmons completely refused to take the oxygen demanding why he would make her do such a thing as he was her best friend. In a particularly heart-wrenching moment, Fitz finally confesses his feelings for Jemma saying that she was more than a friend to him and he didn't have the courage to tell her before this and pleaded with her to let him show her how he felt. Jemma, overcome with tears and grief, peppers his face with kisses. She heartbreakingly screams as Fitz presses down on the detonator, allowing the water to explode in. With the last vestiges of her strength, she manages to pull Fitz along with her as she swims up to the surface and screams for help. They are ultimately rescued by Nick Fury who managed to locate them from the EKG signal they rigged.

Jemma reunites with the team, sadly informing them that Fitz was alive but his brain was without oxygen for a long period of time and he was in a coma for nine days. He would never be the same again.

This major incident was the start of their constant separations and their tragic love story.

Estrangement
Fitz and Simmons' relationship was never the same again as they had grown apart due to Fitz's brain injury and Simmons' undercover work in Hydra."Fitz said he could engineer cloaking, but... I'm afraid he can't do anything. The damage to his temporal lobe was too extensive. He's not the same"

- Phil Coulson, Shadows 2x01 Fitz was not told about Simmons going undercover and assumed she left because she did not feel the same way about him after he confessed his feelings. Her leaving broke him and he began to have hallucinations of her, acting as his conscience. He was constantly talking to himself, trying to get by. He felt useless as everyone around him was treating him as if he was fragile glass. The only person who treated him normally was Agent Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie. The two quickly become close friends. Coulson eventually tells Fitz about Simmons' true mission and Fitz asks if it was her choice to be sent on the mission but Coulson gives him a vague answer, telling him that the work she was doing was extremely important.

Meanwhile, Simmons faced the ever-looming threat of being exposed and killed while undercover in Hydra. However, she managed to gain their trust and was made privy to high-level projects within Hydra which allowed her to pass on valuable Intel to Coulson. When it was too dangerous for her to remain in Hydra anymore, Coulson entrusted Agent Bobbi Morse to extract Simmons upon her cover being blown, narrowly escaping with her life.

Reunited
Fitz and Simmons finally reunite but things are awkward between them and they don't play the same by bouncing off ideas and are unable to interact as usual with each other anymore. Finally, Fitz confronts Simmons on why she left and hurtfully accuses her of thinking he was useless. He tells her he was worried about her being killed while in Hydra. Simmons tearfully tells him she didn't leave because she thought he was useless but doesn't elaborate and leaves the room. She eventually tells Mack the reason she left was because her presence only made Fitz's condition worsen and she was trying to help him get better.

Simmons reveals to Bobbi what happened between her and Fitz at the bottom of the ocean and admits she didn't even have time to process Fitz's declaration towards her before everything was happening at once. She never thought of Fitz as being anything more than a friend and yet she could never imagine a life without him which leaves her confused.

Tensions between Fitz and Simmons continue to worsen as they avoid each other completely. Finally, Fitz tells Simmons he can't work with her anymore and instead will work for her as she is more capable. He plans to work with Mack in the garage, which leaves Simmons heartbroken. They do, however, briefly forget their issues and embrace each other when the Kree City they enter begins to shake, triggered by Skye's newly formed inhuman powers.

No Longer Friends
After the death of Trip, Simmons became increasingly afraid of anything alien and strongly advised killing Raina who was also an inhuman transformed by the Terrigen Mist. Fitz who recently discovered Skye's drastically different DNA kept this a secret from Simmons to protect Skye from everyone's fear and judgement. When the truth finally came out about Skye, Simmons felt hurt and betrayed by Fitz's lie while Fitz accuses Simmons of being the one who has drastically changed into someone who is more close-minded and afraid. The two stop speaking to each other.Simmons constructs special gauntlets for Skye and constantly checks up on her when she is sent to an isolated cabin to better control her powers. Fitz accuses Simmons for not accepting Skye for who she truly is and leaves the room.

They did have a brief moment where they seemed to be back to their old friendly selves when they started gossiping about the ever-serious Melinda May and a sweet moment she shared with her ex-husband, Andrew Garner. This was the first step in repairing their friendship.

Reconciliation
During the Real S.H.I.E.L.D. takeover, while they were detained in their lab, Simmons quietly held Fitz's hand and he reciprocated by holding hers as well, needing no words to express all their regret and how much they ultimately cared for each other. The two finally reconcile.

Fitz decided to quit S.H.I.E.L.D during the takeover as he was loyal to Coulson. Agent Robert Gonzales wanted access to Fury's Toolbox which only Coulson had the means to open. This allowed Simmons to come up with a plan where she duplicated the Toolbox and smuggled the real one in Fitz's backpack as he left so he could pass it along to Coulson. She also packed him his favorite prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich with a hint of her pesto aioli for him to eat on the road along with a sweet message, reminding him to be safe. This brought a smile on Fitz's face as he made his way to find Coulson.

More than Friends
After witnessing the heartbreaking exchange between the severely injured Bobbi Morse and her ex-husband, Lance Hunter, Simmons realized that she definitely had deeper feelings for Fitz and went to confront him about what he said to her at the bottom of the ocean. Fitz who was bound for war with the inhumans, was incredulous that she wanted to talk about this at such a bad time and told her there was nothing much to discuss. Simmons not wanting to let him go without telling him how she felt, stopped him from walking out the door and told him that maybe there was something to discuss. Before he could reply, they were interrupted by Coulson and Fitz leaves her by herself, crying silently.

The Monolith
After everything settles, while Simmons works on a recovered Monolith related to the Kree and inhumans, Fitz awkwardly asks her out to dinner which at first, she doesn't realize was him asking her out on a date. After Fitz makes himself clear, she shyly smiles at him and nods in agreement as he walks out the room. Still smiling, she notices the containment for the Monolith was open as Fitz had accidentally unlocked it while talking to her before. She proceeds to try and lock it back when suddenly, in the most shocking moment of the season, the Monolith, without warning, morphs into liquid form, causing Jemma to lose her balance, letting out a scream, cut chillingly short as she was sucked into the rock. The Monolith then returns to its original solid form as if nothing had happened, leaving Jemma's fate unknown and up in the air.

As Fitz and Simmons take one step forward in their relationship, they are forcibly pushed two steps back, being tragically ripped apart from each other once again.

The Search for Simmons
For six months, Fitz tirelessly dedicated all his time in studying the Monolith, never giving up hope that he would be able to find Simmons. He constantly came up with new theories such as Simmons being lost in the Quantum Realm, transported to another dimension or even being stuck inside the rock, but unfortunately, to no fruition. He constantly took time off from S.H.I.E.L.D and instead put Bobbi Morse in charge of the Science Division as she was still in rehab after being tortured by Ward. She covered for him with Coulson so he could continue his search. Eventually, Fitz learnt of a scroll casing which holds the answer to the Monolith's power. It was stolen by the extremist criminal Yusef Hadad, who Fitz tracked to Morocco. Fitz was captured by Hadad and his men but he managed to escape with the scroll by tricking them. Fitz confesses that he was in love with Simmons and proved that he would do anything to get her back, even at the cost of his own life.

Finally, back at the base, Fitz examines the scroll with Coulson. He discovers there is only one word written on the scroll; "Death." He drops the paper and looks around in despair. Coulson immediately tries to comfort him, telling him that it was time he made the trip to Sheffield to inform Jemma's family of what happened. Coulson tells Fitz that he admires his heart and determination of never giving up on Jemma but it was time they moved on as it would be what she wanted. Fitz tearfully says okay as Coulson leaves the room. Unable to accept that Simmons is gone forever, in a fit of rage and frustration he grabs a shotgun and storms his way into the room holding the Monolith. He blasts open the containment and in a particularly raw and heartbreaking sequence, starts pounding and screaming at the Monolith to "do something."

Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse charge into the room, followed by Daisy Johnson (previously Skye), Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie and finally Phil Coulson, pulling Fitz away and closing the containment door mere moments before the Monolith morphed into liquid form again. Coulson admonishes Fitz for being so reckless, telling him he could not cope with losing him too. Bobbi comforts Fitz as he says he would never give up on Simmons. At that moment, he notices strange sand on his fingers which finally leads to his breakthrough. The sand turned out to be from a different planet as its composition predates the Earth by a billion years, proving that the Monolith was indeed a black hole that carried Simmons away to that planet. Coulson tells Fitz that Simmons could be long gone or dead by now which Fitz agrees to but Coulson assures him that they were going to find out and he along with Bobbi Morse resolves to help Fitz find Simmons.

They enlist the Asgardian, Elliot Randolph who reluctantly agrees to help them. He recognized the Hebrew word on the scroll; "Maveth." which he saw etched in one of the castles in England long ago. Once they arrive at the castle, Coulson discovers a secret room built to hold the Monolith and gets Mack and Daisy to bring the Monolith to the castle. Fitz sets up the ancient equipment built into the castle which causes the Monolith to change form, allowing Fitz to shoot in a flare. The deafening vibrations causes Daisy to collapse as she unwittingly tunes into them with her new inhuman vibrational abilities. Since the equipment is too ancient, they break down, leaving the team back on square one.

Fortunately, Fitz discovers that they don't need the equipment and Daisy herself can open the portal using her Quake powers, to which she agrees. They intend to send a probe into the portal as Daisy tunes into the vibrations and liquefies the Monolith. However, with everyone preoccupied with the portal, Fitz straps himself to the harness and without a second thought, plunges into the unknown, only thinking about saving Jemma.

He lands hard on the ground in a foreign world and immediately starts calling out Jemma's name. Finally he hears her screaming, calling out for him. He catches sight of her and they manage to grasp on to each other's hands, holding on as the sandstorm on the planet rages around them, threatening to pull Jemma away from him. On the other side, Daisy was starting to lose consciousness as she couldn't hold the portal open much longer. Not knowing that Fitz managed to find Jemma, Coulson pulls him back which causes Fitz to lose hold of Jemma. In the most anxiety-inducing moment, Jemma manages to claw her way to Fitz and hold on to him as they are finally pulled back to the other side, destroying the Monolith in the process. As Fitz holds the rescued Jemma in his arms, he finally smiles up at the team.

PTSD
Jemma wakes up on high alert from a nightmare and notices Fitz asleep, sitting on the floor next to her. She goes over to him and rests her head on his knee, falling asleep and seeking comfort with him. Over the next few days, Jemma felt extremely disoriented as she tried to adjust to Earth's lower gravity and louder sounds. Fitz was there with her every step of the way, holding her hand and comforting her. He seeks advice from Bobbi Morse, saying that Jemma was being distant and Bobbi advises him to be patient and try to remind her of her time before she was swept away. Fitz made a call and brought Jemma out to dinner. He kept the reservation for months, even when she was lost, booking out the entire restaurant to make her feel more comfortable. Jemma was extremely touched and thanked him for finding her. However, when Fitz proposes a toast, the sight of the wine triggers a painful memory for Jemma and she breaks down as Fitz holds her, allowing her to weep in his arms.

As the days passed, Jemma grew more distant, worrying Fitz but he still respected her space. Coulson tasks Andrew Garner, a trained psychiatrist to talk to Jemma and work through her problems but she is still closed off. Daisy Johnson even visits her and brings her a vase of daisies to remind Jemma of her. Daisy then tells Jemma that she would always be there for her and she could always talk to her.

One day, Bobbi discovers Jemma obsessing over the broken Monolith shards and reassures her that it would never open again. However, it is finally revealed that Jemma intends to open the portal again. She keeps this from Fitz but when he discovers her notes on the Monolith and asks her about it, she snaps at him and tells him to keep away from her things, closing herself off in her room. Later, Fitz visits her in her room, bringing her a cup of tea and asks her straight up why she wants to go back. Jemma, resigned, finally decides it was time to tell him the whole truth about what happened to her on the other side.

A Tale of Survival
"There has to be a sunrise, eventually."

- Jemma Simmons, 4722 Hours, 3x05 When Simmons is transported to the desert planet Maveth, she was initially shocked and dismayed but her scientific curiosity took over. She determined the strength of the pull of gravity on the planet and recorded her findings, taking pictures of the place. The planet had two moons and no sunlight, enveloping the planet in a strange bluish glow. She decided to wait for extraction, following her S.H.I.E.L.D survival training and went to sleep, wishing Fitz a good night as she stared at his picture on her phone.

She awoke with a start after 22 hours and noticed there was still no sunlight. This caused her to panic and made her delirious especially with the lack of water and food. After 79 hours, she decided to move and find water as a human being could only survive without water for 100 hours. She kept talking to Fitz on her own to keep herself sane, thinking what it would be like when they went for dinner. She fondly hoped Fitz would not pull out a chair for her-or do- if he wanted. She smiles as she wonders if she should wear a dress or if that would be too weird. After braving a sand storm. she finally discovers a pond of stagnant water with unknown floating substances in it. She weakly makes her way towards it, stumbling and picking herself up until she reaches the water, having no choice but to drink it. She then decides to cool off in the pond, finding a little happiness in this small victory. "You'd be so proud of me, Fitz. I killed the monster plant, then I made a fire, cooked him and ate him. And then I burped. Really loud."

- Jemma Simmons, 4722 Hours, 3x05 As she was swimming, she was pulled into the depths by an unknown creature. Fortunately, she managed to kill it and it provided her with a source of food. She narrated this to Fitz, recording it on her phone, supremely happy with her achievement and was convinced Fitz would be so proud of her. She then looks at her phone and tells the image of Fitz to please read her mind and come and rescue her since everyone says they are psychically linked. She knew he would never give up on her so she promises to never give up either, believing in him.

She continues to survive on her own when she suddenly hears a noise and goes to investigate. Unfortunately, she falls into a hole, loses consciousness and is trapped by an unknown man who locks her in a cage. She manages to trick him and escape, but he catches up to her and pulls her back underground where he is living, seemingly afraid of the sandstorm above ground.

Jemma realizes that he was trying to save her and asks him what happened to him. He tells her his name is Will Daniels and he was an astronaut sent by NASA who came here with a few scientists to map the terrain and collect samples. However, he recounts that everyone slowly went crazy, forcing him to put them down. He then tells her this was caused by an evil creature on the planet which he refers to as "It". At first Jemma dismisses this and instead asks him how long he's been here, to which she discovers he has been trapped there for 14 years. The two continued to learn more about each other, with Jemma telling Will that she misses Fitz and her friends the most. She shows him a video on her phone where Phil Coulson, Melinda May and Daisy Johnson presents her with a TARDIS cake on her birthday, telling her to make a wish as they blow out the candle for her, while Fitz records the video to send to her since she was unable to be there. This was possibly during the time she was undercover in Hydra. Fitz then wishes her a happy birthday, saying it wasn't the same without her there, speaking quite well despite his problems with his words and brain damage at the time. Will notices that Fitz's name is her favorite word.

Jemma and Will decide to keep each other safe and in check as she tries to figure out a way to get them out of this planet. She tells Will she wants to go to the no-fly zone. A place where Will forbids her from going as "It" was most likely going to be there. Jemma doesn't listen to him and visits the place where she discovers certain objects from past victims. Suddenly, a sandstorm occurs and she sees the mysterious creature that Will was talking about and narrowly escapes with her life, finally believing him. When she informs Will of what she finds, at first he was angry at her for risking her life but then she tells him that she knows how to get them home; by mapping the stars. "I have never been able to resist doing something when I'm told the odds are impossible..."

- Will Daniels, 4722 Hours, 3x05 They immediately get to work. Jemma decides to use her phone battery which Fitz engineered to last a long time, to power the ancient equipment NASA sent along with Will. She says a final goodbye to Fitz, promising him she'll see him soon. She works tirelessly and finally manages to discover a location where the portal would open. At first, Will was not hopeful they could make it but Jemma reminds him of what he said to her about doing something even though it seemed impossible, to which he smiles fondly and agrees to devise a way to get them to the portal.

They started their journey to the portal, Jemma ever-hopeful of making it back and seeing Fitz again. They finally reached the location and were shocked to see that the canyon they had to cross was wider than they expected. They glimpsed the portal opening in the distance and realized they could never make it in time. Instead, they decided to shoot the message in the bottle Jemma prepared to let Fitz know how to get her back. Will shot the bottle, but in an extremely devastating moment, the bottle crashed to bits, mere seconds after the portal closes, leaving Jemma staring at the spot, defeated, all hope leaving her. They got back to the place they were staying where Jemma has a breakdown, weeping as Will comforts her. Will tells her he almost gave up until Jemma arrived, restoring his hope and saving him. They share a passionate kiss and it is implied that they sleep together.

After 4720 hours, Simmons and Will decide to go outside to watch the sunrise. This will be the first sunrise in eighteen years. In a romantic gesture Will presents Simmons with wine which he recovered from the no-fly zone. It unfortunately tasted like vinegar but they laugh it off, deciding to use it in their cooking. Simmons looks at Will and sadly tells him that her dad would have liked him. Suddenly, she sees the flare that Fitz had shot in the portal previously and excitedly exclaims they were going home. She and Will run towards the location of the flare but a sandstorm appears signalling the arrival of "It". They are separated as Simmons screams Will's name. Finally Will finds her and shouts at her that she can make it and to run to the portal. Simmons refuses to leave without him but Will runs towards the creature in the sandstorm and a gunshot is heard from the gun with the single bullet Will was saving if things got too bad on the planet. Will's fate is left unknown as Simmons screams for him. She hears Fitz calling her name on the other side and makes her way towards him, getting rescued in the process.

As Simmons tearfully recounts everything to Fitz, he stares at her seemingly disappointed. Instead he makes his way to the lab with Simmons following close behind him, begging him to talk to her. He then looks at her and promises her that he was going to get Will back, putting her happiness above his own.

Watching the Sunrise
Things were a little awkward between Fitz and Simmons as she felt guilty about Will. Fitz on the other hand, was busy trying to help the other team members with their missions as well as finding things related to the Monolith and Will. Simmons passes him her broken phone to see if he could recover the data and he agrees.

Fitz fixes Simmons' SIM card and discovers her pictures and recordings she took while on the planet. He was astounded at all the data collected. Suddenly, he comes across a picture of Simmons and Will and angrily prepares to storm out of the room, unable to look at them together. Before he could leave, however, a recording of Simmons plays where she talks to him while dehydrated, recounting the time they first met. She proceeds to tell him about a family holiday she went on once to Scotland where she saw a lovely cottage in Perthshire and admits she thought of settling down there with him, which brings tears to Fitz eyes. After this, a bored Lance Hunter, hanging out with Fitz in the lab catches site of Will's picture and hilariously states that Will is the competition and has a hog face. Fitz agrees. Fitz then proceeds to find Simmons standing and staring out one of the windows of the base and he correctly deduces that she couldn't sleep and wanted to watch the sunrise. He asks her about what she said in her videos, assuming she wasn't thinking clearly when she said it but Simmons looks at him and truthfully tells him that she meant every word. They then stand in silence, watching the sunrise.

The Long Awaited Kiss
"We're cursed! The bloody cosmos wants us to be apart!"

- Leo Fitz to Jemma Simmons, Many Heads, One Tail, 3x08 Fitz and Simmons continued working on the origin of the symbol, with Fitz bringing in every book he could find relating to it. He noticed that Simmons was procrastinating and didn't seem that keen on reading up on the symbol. Simmons tells Fitz that maybe it was a bad idea to bring Will back as they discover that he was actually sent through the portal as a blood sacrifice. Fitz disagrees with her, saying Will deserves their help and tensions continued to rise between them, culminating in an argument. Jemma snaps at Fitz and tells him to stop doing all the right things as it was becoming too much for her, leaving Fitz confused as she storms out of the room.

Fitz storms into the lab, angrily confronting Jemma's outburst. Jemma, equally furious, tells him that she was angry at herself for roping him into all this, even though she knew how he felt about her and it was driving her mad that he was so willing to help. He proceeds to let her know that he is indeed furious but not at her and instead at the universe as he believed they were cursed. They angrily air out their frustrations at each other when finally Fitz asks Jemma if she was in love with Will. After a moment, Simmons quietly replies; "yes." Fitz, heartbroken, looks at the floor and rationalizes that of course she would be in love with Will as he was a hero. Simmons then retaliates, saying that he crossed the universe to rescue her. In an angst-filled moment, Fitz kisses Jemma, much to her surprise. She then recovers and kisses him back, only for him to sadly tell her again that they were cursed.

Encountering Ward Once Again
Fitz and Simmons along with Luther Banks and a team of agents were sent by Coulson to an abandoned Project Distant Star Pathfinder facility in search of clues about the Monolith. Suddenly, the two heard shots and saw the gun Banks was holding turn around on itself and shoot him in the head, killing him. Fitz instinctively pushes Jemma behind him as they realize the Inhuman, Giyera, under the orders of Gideon Mallick, the remaining head of Hydra, was behind the ambush. Fitz and Simmons were then taken captive and led to Mallick and Grant Ward in the Hydra castle. There they realized Mallick and Ward intended to reopen the portal to bring the creature "It" back to this world. The creature was in fact the first Inhuman ever created with unspeakable power, worshiped by Hydra ancestors. While Hydra had the means to open the portal, they were clueless on how to bring someone back, which only Fitz and Simmons managed to achieve.

Fitz and Simmons outright refuse to cooperate and insult Mallick. At one point, Simmons even turns violent and dares them to come closer and find out how tough she really is, impressing Ward in a somewhat twisted way. Mallick then turns to Ward for advice on how to handle them and Ward despicably orders them to be split up, cementing him as completely irredeemable. "I'm curious which is worse for you. Those moments when Simmons screams or is it the long pauses when she doesn't?"

- Grant Ward to Leo Fitz, Closure 3x09 Fitz was tied to a chair in a separate room while Simmons was tied to a pole in another. Ward then enters the room and interrogates Simmons but she insults him and says that she would never tell him anything no matter how much he tortured her. Ward smiles at her and says that if she ever bothered to get to know him, she would know that he'd never hurt her. However, he informs her that he can't say the same for Giyera who he tasks with torturing her instead. Ward then goes over to the room holding Fitz and taunts him as Simmons is heard screaming in pain from the other room. Fitz pleads with Ward to stop this but he says only Fitz has the power to end it if he tell them how to get back from the planet. Ward leaves the room as Fitz stays silent, himself tortured by Jemma's screams.

Meanwhile, Coulson who was on a path of revenge against Ward for murdering Rosalind Price, kidnaps his brother, Thomas, as leverage. His true purpose was to track Ward's location while Thomas talks to Ward on the phone. Ward realizes this, and in a furious rage, barges into the room holding Simmons and tortures her as she screams and pleads. "I always thought Fitz would give up the world for you. Looks like now he finally has his chance."

- Grant Ward to Jemma Simmons, Closure 3x09 Fitz, unable to stand the pain Jemma was going through, finally gives in and agrees to help them with the portal. Simmons realizes what Fitz had done for her and begs him not to help them and just let them kill her. Fitz tells her that he would never let that happen as he was not strong enough to live in a world that she didn't exist in. Simmons tearfully rests her head on his shoulder and tells him to come back to her without bringing that inhuman creature with him. Fitz holds her and assures her that the only thing he's bringing back is Will. He then enters the portal, with Ward leading the mission.

Maveth
Once they entered Maveth, they began searching for the creature. Fitz tries to distract Ward in order to snatch his gun but Ward was faster than him and kicked him down a ridge, threatening that Simmons would die a very slow and painful death if Ward did not return and it would all be Fitz's fault. Fitz then walks on and realizes the particular area they were in looked familiar as it was near the home of Will Daniels. He finds the hatch and drops down, leaving Ward chasing after him. After frantically convincing Ward that they needed Will to leave the planet, Ward agrees to bring Will along. He then notices Will's bed was placed together with a second bed and put two and two together that Jemma and Will had slept together. Ward taunts Fitz about this, offering him a chance to shoot Will instead. Fitz looks away and tells him to grow up.

As they walk, Fitz tells Will about Ward's plan and the two devise a way to escape to the portal. Will then leads them into a sandstorm and he manages to subdue the guards watching him and Fitz and the two escape. As they make their way towards the portal, Will and Fitz have a heart to heart about Jemma and Will tells Fitz he can clearly see why Jemma loves him. They then enter the no-fly zone and Will stumbles as his leg is severely injured and they stop so Fitz can tend to it. Fitz notices ancient ruins and is in awe by it, wondering why Jemma never talked about them. Will says that Jemma never got to see them and proceeds to explain the history of the ruins. Fitz is confused and asks Will how he knows so much about them. He then peals away the bandage from Will's leg, suddenly revealing rotting flesh and bone. "Will" tells him that he was there, revealing himself to be the creature, telling Fitz that the real Will died saving Jemma.

The two then engage in a fight, ending with "It" almost crushing Fitz with a rock but Coulson who had jumped into the portal after Ward, rescues Fitz by shooting "It". The creature refuses to stay down and Fitz is forced to shoot Will's body with a flare gun, completely burning it up. Fitz shouts at Coulson that the portal is closing up and tells him to leave Ward there. Coulson stares at Fitz then proceeds to crush Ward's chest with his robot arm, finally killing him.

As the team reunites, Jemma looks hopefully into the containment pod for Will, but he isn't there. She looks up at Fitz who guiltily stares at her as she realizes that Will is dead. Grief-stricken, she pulls him into an embrace, breaking down in his arms.

Starting Over
After everything that happened on Maveth, things were awkward between Fitz and Simmons again, mainly because Fitz felt guilty about what he did to Will. Their relationship became only professional and matter-of-fact. Unable to stand the chasm between them after all that's happened, Simmons confronts Fitz and tells him that she misses him. Fitz apologizes for not doing more to save Will but Jemma reassures him that all he did was kill a thing as Will died saving her. She tells him he has been nothing short of extraordinary this entire time. She then asks if they could start over, back to where they began. Fitz agrees as the two introduce themselves again, giving each other a fist-bump, their friendship restored.

Fitz and Simmons worked together with Lincoln Campbell to try and find a potential vaccine against Terrigenesis. However, they yielded limited results as there was only a solution to prevent Inhumans from changing before they underwent the process. Things took a sad turn for the team when they were forced to say goodbye to two of their closest friends, Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse after a mission went south in Russia. This leads to Hunter and Morse being disavowed, taking the blame for the team. They would not be seen for a very long time.

Around this time, tired of always having to be rescued causing the suffering of others, especially Fitz, Simmons began shooting practice with the help of Melinda May in order to better defend herself. Fitz goes on a mission with Daisy Johnson and Alphonso Mackenzie to combat the Watchdogs, a rising Inhuman hate group. There, he almost gets imploded but is saved with Daisy's help.

"Maybe some things are inevitable"

- Jemma Simmons, Spacetime 3x15 Their next mission involved the team trying to change the future after Daisy touches an Inhuman named Charles Hinton who could show someone a future death. This involves Fitz explaining that once you glimpse the future, it is fixed and there is no changing it. Unbeknownst to him, this theory would be proven wrong in one of the team's later adventures over the years. For now, the team refuses to believe Fitz's theory and they decide to change the future and rescue the Inhuman from Hive, the creature from Maveth, who they discover has come back to Earth, possessing the body of Grant Ward. Daisy describes the vision to the team, explaining what will happen. In one instance, she sees Fitz and Simmons holding hands in the snow. Coulson decides that Daisy would not go on the mission since she was in the epicenter of the visions and asks May to take her place. He also tells Fitz and Simmons to "stay out of the damn snow." Unfortunately, May's ex-husband, Andrew Garner who is in the final stages of transformation into the Inhuman monster, Lash, shows up to say goodbye. May is forced to stay behind and care for Andrew as Daisy goes on the mission instead. Everything happens exactly as what Daisy saw in her visions, ending with Charles Hinton's death. Daisy promises him that she would help look after his daughter, Robin. Fitz and Simmons stand together and hold hands, in what turns out to be ash from a destroyed billboard instead of snow. Simmons then tells Fitz that maybe some things are not meant to be changed.

Crossing the Event Horizon
"Just to be clear...are you comparing us sleeping together to crossing the event horizon?"

- Jemma Simmons to Leo Fitz, The Singularity 3x18 Among the chaos of figuring out which Inhuman on their base had been swayed (mind-controlled) by Hive, Fitz and Simmons steal a few moments in Fitz room, trying to figure out what causes the sway. Frustrated with always losing their friends especially after the recent departure of Bobbi and Hunter, Simmons sadly rests her head on Fitz's shoulder, seeking comfort. The romantic tension between them is palpable and the two finally share a second kiss. However, Fitz stops himself and apologizes for pushing her too fast especially since she was trying to get over Will's death. Jemma tells him that its been ten years and that she didn't want to waste anymore time, saying that she's tired of everyone being ripped apart from each other constantly. Fitz agrees and after some playful banter, the two kiss again.

It was then discovered that Daisy Johnson was the one swayed by Hive. Coulson sends Fitz and Simmons along with Mack on a mission to Bucharest to meet Dr. Holden Radcliffe in order to find a potential cure. Once there, Fitz and Simmons were asked to wait until Radcliffe was ready to see them. As they wait, they finally have a long-overdue conversation about their relationship. In their usual, science-y FitzSimmons way, they talk about it in scientific terms where Fitz compares the crux of their relationship to the singularity in transhumanism. Simmons tells him that its quite beautiful to think about it like that, relating them finally having sex to crossing the event horizon. They agree to stop overthinking things and just ''do. ''

They finally meet Radcliffe who are suspicious of them and one of his men escorts Simmons out of the room while she screams for Fitz. Fitz on the other hand, manages to subdue one of the guards and proceeds to try and convince Radcliffe to help them, but before Radcliffe could make a decision, Daisy comes in with another swayed Inhuman named Alicia who kidnaps him. Hive plans to use him to make more Inhumans. Daisy then chokes Fitz with her Quake powers and tells him that she's happier than she's ever been. She says if he truly loves Jemma, he'd be smart enough to leave her and the Inhumans alone. Even though she tells him she doesn't want to hurt him, if the team continues to pursue her, she promises that she will snap his neck, finally releasing him and leaving him on the floor, clutching his neck in pain. While this is happening, Jemma who was being forcibly escorted away is "saved" by Hive who appears and talks to her in Will's voice, devastating her. He reminds her of what Will said to her on Maveth and she tearfully lets him caress her face. However, she finally snaps out of her painful memories and tells Hive that just because he stole Will's memories, it doesn't give him the right to be him. She then shoots him three times and escapes- even though it does nothing to harm him - leaving him oozing from his wounds and staring after her in anger.

Fitz finally meets Jemma in the hotel room they used as their rendezvous point where she angrily asks him where he's been. He tells her he was looking for her and proceeds to ask where Mack was. She tells him he was unloading equipment in the Quinjet, giving them some privacy. Fitz tells her that they had a lot to discuss but instead of talking, they began to start kissing each other passionately, trying to forget their worries and traumatic experiences for the time being. After a brief romantic moment, the two finally consummate their relationship, crossing the point of no return.

Finally in a Relationship
Fitz and Simmons, finally in a relationship, work hard together to find a cure for Inhumans under Hive's sway. This leads to an argument with Lincoln Campbell as he intends to test himself with the antitoxin in order to save his girlfriend, Daisy. Simmons is completely against Lincoln testing it out on himself as it would severely compromise his immune system and endanger him. Fitz however, thinks there is a chance it could work, disagreeing with Simmons. This causes them to have their first argument where Simmons describes Lincoln as a "lovesick fool trying to make a grand gesture" and Daisy would not want him to risk his life in order to save her. Fitz recognizing himself as someone who would do anything to save Jemma, tells her that its a good thing then that it's not up to Daisy to decide if she wants to be saved or not. Later, they talk about their argument and Jemma tells Fitz they should make it a point to separate their professional life from their personal life and adds that if she wanted a boyfriend who agreed with everything she said, she wouldn't have broken up with her ex, Milton.

When Daisy was saved by Lash and finally freed from Hive's sway, Jemma was tasked with gaining information from her as she was the only one Daisy never physically hurt. Fitz and Simmons were then tasked with working with Radcliffe to attempt finding a cure for the Primitive Inhumans he had created for Hive. The rest of the team manages to contain Hive in a Gel Matrix Chamber, storing him in their base and securing a much needed win. Since everything seemed to have calmed down, Jemma decides to book a trip for her and Fitz to get away to the Seychelles. He tells her it might not be the best time for a holiday but she reminds him that Hive has been captured and secured while everything seemed to be settled down for now. She adds that a little fun won't kill them. He is impressed by her romantic gesture, saying that it was very unlike her and he was actually the romantic one. She promises him that they will have fun on the island.

Losing a Friend
Following Hive's capture, Fitz is charged with inspecting the Gel Matrix Chamber that Hive is kept in. During this time, he discovers that Hive's capture was planned to get inside the base and turn agents into the Primitive Inhumans to free him. Fitz is trapped with the newly turned agents who are chasing after him as the base is in lockdown. However, Simmons manages to unlock the door using Professor Vaughn's Third Year Compiler Theory which they learnt while still at the Academy, allowing Fitz to escape in the process. With the Primitives in the base, Coulson orders Simmons to gather all the valuable intel and tells her to meet him in his office along with everyone else. As the Primitives chase her, she figures out that they can only see using infrared vision and she turns up the heat to blind them, allowing the team to move around without being detected.

Fitz goes with Melinda May to help Daisy as she fights with Hive and finds her taken captive. May is then knocked out by Giyera who turns his gun on Fitz while Daisy pleads with him to leave Fitz alone. Fortunately, Fitz manages to stop his hand by convincing him there was a weapon on the plane that could take him out, reminding him that their purpose was not to harm the Inhumans as they were being brainwashed. Giyera seemingly believes him before Fitz calls him a murderous wank way before he was brainwashed and shoots him several times in the chest with an invisible gun, instantly killing him.

Coulson then catches up with Fitz and May along with Simmons, Lincoln and Mack and divulges his plan of stealing the warhead Hive plans to use to spread the pathogen turning all humans into Primitives. Unfortunately, a swayed Inhuman named Hellfire severely wounds Lincoln and Fitz and Simmons tend to his wounds. They give Lincoln and Daisy a moment when suddenly they realize that Daisy is gone. Lincoln tells them she intends to sacrifice herself to save everyone and atone for what she did to the team. At that moment, they are then ambushed by Primitives and are forced to fight them off. After they are defeated, they rush off to stop Daisy but instead find her crying after Lincoln forcefully removes her from the Quinjet containing the warhead and Hive, shorting the controls with his electrokinesis and propelling them into space. Daisy, devastated, tells Lincoln through the comms, which are still active, that sacrificing himself for her is wrong, especially after all she has done. Lincoln says saving the world and dying for the girl he loves is a great way to go out. Fitz and Simmons share a look with each other as everyone watches the Quinjet explode, destroying Hive and harmlessly dispersing the pathogen in the vacuum of space as Daisy sinks to the floor, weeping.

Six months later, Daisy is MIA and they apparently have a new Director in S.H.I.E.L.D while Coulson returns to field work. Radcliffe is seen activating an old S.H.IE.L.D protocol called the Life-Model Decoy (LMD) program while he talks to a digital voice named AIDA. He tells her that he wants to bring Fitz and Simmons into this new project but Fitz is preparing a surprise vacation for Jemma. He tells AIDA that they have lost too many friends to threats and he has a way to prevent that. AIDA asks if this is what he was celebrating, bringing Fitz into his new program, to which Radcliffe says no, they are celebrating her birthday as he ominously reveals a new built body stored in a room.

This would prove to be one of Fitz and Simmons' greatest tests yet of their love for each other.

Creating AIDA
Jeffrey Mace had replaced Phil Coulson as the new Inhuman Director of S.H.I.E.L.D as Coulson had stepped down after all that had happened previously. Around this time, Fitz and Simmons were tasked with registering their Inhuman friend, Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez in wake of the Sokovia Accords. They were in the middle of an argument about putting a huge T.V in their room when Yo-Yo suggests they should consider moving in together outside the base, much to Fitz's dismay as he knew Simmons would become completely obsessed with the idea. Simmons, unaware of the faces he was making at Yo-Yo for suggesting it, happily smiled at him and says they should consider it, leaving Fitz having no choice but to enthusiastically agree.

Simmons was promoted to become the head of the lab, working as the Special Adviser to the Director in Science and Technology. She was constantly kept busy which meant she had barely enough time to see Fitz outside of work anymore. This caused Fitz to frequently visit Dr. Holden Radcliffe, developing a friendship with him, watching football games and drinking beer. On one such evening, Fitz accidentally discovers AIDA, an LMD created by Radcliffe. At first Fitz was uneasy and angry at him for experimentation without oversight but Radcliffe explains that AIDA could do a lot of good for S.H.I.E.L.D. Fitz warns Radcliffe about the dangerous ramifications of Artificial Intelligence and androids especially after the creation of Ultron by Tony Stark and the destruction wrought by it. Radcliffe explains that AIDA is harmless and tells her to explain her purpose to Fitz. She explains that she was not designed as a weapon but instead as a decoy and safeguard as a way to prevent Fitz and Simmons from losing more friends. AIDA's extremely life-like appearance makes Fitz uneasy and he tells Radcliffe to turn her off, eliciting what seemed to be a "hurt" reaction from her. As she spoke to Fitz, there appeared to be a little subtext on how she may have developed a more than positive reaction towards him. This further developed as time went on, the more Fitz treated her like an actual person.

Radcliffe tells Fitz he wants to bring Jemma into the loop about AIDA in order to make her a usable prototype for S.H.I.E.L.D. However, Fitz stops him, telling him they had to keep AIDA a secret from the new Director and Jemma - she had to take mandatory lie-detection tests- until AIDA's programming is improved. Fitz agrees to perfect her.

Fitz and Simmons mostly went on separate missions around this time. Fitz and Alphonso Mackenzie were tasked with investigating the Momentum Labs facility in Pasadena, California in the wake of some type of dementia caused by incorporeal ghostly forms of several scientist. Here, Fitz and Mack encounter Robbie Reyes aka Ghost Rider who manages to defeat one of the ghosts, Frederick, before he could harm Fitz. They also come across Daisy Johnson who is now the infamous vigilante, Quake, taking down banks and bridges to stop the Watchdogs as a way to atone for all her sins, following Lincoln Campbell's death.

Fitz, Coulson and Mack were then tasked to solve blackout problems caused by an EMP in Miami, with their friend, Yo-Yo. During this time Melinda May was discovered as having been infected by the ghost virus and Simmons along with Radcliffe worked to help cure her. They were fortunately successful and May was left in the care of Radcliffe and AIDA, with Simmons still in the dark about her existence, in the hopes of testing if AIDA could pass for human. Ultimately, AIDA manages to pass for human without May realizing that she was actually an android.

Fitz and Simmons decide to take the next step in their relationship by moving in with each other off the base, with Simmons managing to find a perfect home which seemed to fit their criteria. She tells Fitz about it over the phone as she goes to check out the apartment, expressing her regret that the one day she's free, Fitz is busy and spending all his time with Radcliffe. He tells her that he's working to find a way to cure the ghost virus victims, not telling Simmons that he was working on AIDA as well. The two say their "I love yous" to each other as Simmons hangs up and enters the apartment. There she encounters a severely wounded Daisy Johnson who turned out to be the one who found Simmons the apartment, as she knew what she was looking for based on hacking into her search history. Daisy did this in order to draw Simmons to that place so she could help patch up Daisy's wounds. Simmons says she misses Daisy and the two team up to track down James aka Hellfire who they believed was in danger from The Watchdogs. It turns out that James was working for them as he could not live with the misery after being swayed by Hive and thought of all Inhumans, including himself, as abominations. Daisy and Simmons were finally rescued by Robbie Reyes. He agreed to work with Coulson to save his uncle, Eli Morrow, from being targeted by Lucy Bauer (one of the ghosts), in order to find a dark book called The Darkhold, said to contain infinite knowledge.

As Simmons and the rest of the team goes to check on May, they meet AIDA and everyone is none the wiser that she is an android except for Simmons who quickly figures out the truth and confronts Fitz about lying to her about it. He explains that he only did it because she had mandatory lie-detection tests to go through. Simmons is still angry at Fitz while worrying that she would be thrown behind bars as she is forced to keep one too many secrets, especially about Ghost Rider and working with Daisy. However, Simmons was able to get Director Mace to exempt her from further lie-detection tests when she discovers that he has been hiding something this entire time and threatens him that she cannot lie and keep his secret if she is being tested.

The team then goes behind Mace's back on an unauthorized mission to the prisons to break out Eli Morrow, bringing along Robbie Reyes. There, Robbie changes into Ghost Rider and murders a surviving member of The Fifth Street Locos for crippling his brother. This catches the attention of Senator Ellen Nadeer, the leader of the Watchdogs who proceeds to blackmail Mace unless he helps her. Following this, Mace sends Simmons, who was required to cover her head with a bag for this top secret mission, not telling Fitz or anyone else of her whereabouts, completely worrying him.

Trapped in Another Dimension
"You handed it to a Director who betrayed Simmons! He sent her off, God knows where! We were having an argument, and then she's out there, alone. And I'm gone!"

- Leo Fitz to Phil Coulson, Deals With Our Devils 4x07 Fitz, Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Alphonso Mackenzie and Robbie Reyes infiltrate the Roxxon Power Plant in order to stop Lucy Bauer from carrying out her plan which could cause thousands of deaths. However, it was discovered that Eli Morrow was the one who was truly responsible for everything that had happened and was planning to replicate a dangerous experiment in order to gain true power and become a God. This was due to his corruption from reading the Darkhold. Coulson failed to stop Eli who succeeded, causing the reactor to emit a violent burst of energy which tore a hole in their Earthly dimension, dragging Fitz, Coulson and Robbie into an inter-dimensional space between the Earthly Plane and the Hell Dimension. In this plane, the three of them could see and hear their friends but could not interact with them, while everyone else was unaware of their presence.

Here, Fitz follows Director Jeffrey Mace who intends to call Simmons to inform her about what had happened to her boyfriend, but is unable to locate her. Fitz discovers that she was sent on a shady mission for Senator Nadeer who at this point was extremely hostile towards S.H.I.E.L.D and the Inhumans, possibly endangering Jemma's life. Fitz becomes furious at Mace and extremely worried for Simmons but is distracted by Robbie Reyes who tells him that he's dying in this dimension and the Spirit of Vengeance inside of him refuses to be pulled into Hell. Coulson and Fitz then witness the Spirit leave Robbie and transfer into Mack. Robbie follows Daisy in tracking Mack down and manages to convince the Spirit of Vengeance to get back into him by making a deal to settle all its scores. The Spirit agrees and Robbie is Ghost Rider once again.

Coulson and Fitz return to the Playground where they discover May enlisted the help of Dr. Radcliffe and AIDA to get them back by tasking him with reading the Darkhold. Radcliffe is against this and refuses after he glimpses the Darkhold which overwhelms him, causing him to claim that the knowledge in there is too vast to be understood by human minds. Fitz then successfully manages to get the attention of AIDA who seemed to be the only one who could hear them, and tells her to read the book instead. Everyone finally realizes that she is an android. Coulson confronts Fitz for building her, saying it was not his call to make but Fitz snaps and takes out his anger on Coulson saying that because Coulson stepped down as Director, Mace betrayed Simmons and sent her on an unknown dangerous mission and no one knows where she is. He emotionally exclaims that she doesn't even know that he's gone. Coulson comforts Fitz and tells him that despite his flaws, Mace would never ever let any harm befall Simmons and she would be perfectly safe. This seems to calm Fitz down as they witness AIDA reading the book. AIDA successfully manages to build an inter-dimensional gate using Laser-Coupling Gloves, built to her specifications which allows Coulson and Fitz (and later Robbie Reyes) to jump back into the Earthly plane. Fitz then immediately goes off to find Simmons.

Meanwhile, Simmons was sent on a mission to study someone still gestating in a Terrigenesis cocoon for seven months. Discovering that the person inside seemed to have an elevated heart rate because he was nervous, she manages to calm him down and talk to him soothingly, befriending him. Her soothing manner helps him break out of the cocoon bit by bit. Before she could ask the man's name, she was forcibly taken away leaving him calling after her.

As Fitz angrily confronts Mace about Simmons' whereabouts, he hears her calling his name and rushes towards her. The two have a tender moment, embracing each other and making up for their argument earlier about keeping secrets.

Fitz and Simmons were integral in assisting the team and Ghost Rider defeat Eli Morrow. Ghost Rider burns Eli, killing him as the two fall into a different dimension. This ends the Ghost Rider arc of the season, entering into the 2nd pod; the LMD arc.

Secrets and Revelations
Upon discovering that Vijay Nadeer was Senator Ellen Nadeer's brother, Simmons, Daisy Johnson and Director Jeffrey Mace go to the Capitol in order to infiltrate Nadeer's office. There, Simmons is assaulted by one of Nadeer's assistants but is able to hold her own and defeat him. This impresses Mace who admits Simmons was tougher than he originally gave her credit for. Daisy replies that Simmons' had toughened up considerably seeing as she has been kidnapped at least three times since they've known each other. The three then went to Nadeer's home in order to rescue Vijay who they assumed was being held against his will. Simmons tries to convince Vijay to follow her but not wanting to be used for his Inhuman powers, he listens to his sister and follows her. Simmons is upset and worried by this as she knows that Vijay is unsafe with Senator Nadeer but is unable to do anything. She was right to worry as Senator Nadeer shoots Vijay as soon as they escape in a helicopter, dumping his body in the middle of the ocean. However, Vijay's fate is left unclear as he is enveloped in a second Terrigenesis husk as soon as he hits the ocean floor. "First of all, that thing is not a "she"- it's a damn robot. And second of all, what's the matter with you two chuckleheads? Have either one of you seen a movie in the last 30 years? The robots always attack."

- Alphonso Mackenzie to Holden Radcliffe and Leo Fitz, Broken Promises 4x09 Meanwhile, Fitz and Dr. Holden Radcliffe was sent to erase AIDA's memory as she had read the Darkhold. However, AIDA reveals that she had upgraded herself and attacks everyone. They then discover that she had previously murdered Agent Nathanson but unbeknownst to them, AIDA had also kidnapped the real Agent Melinda May and replaced her with an LMD. LMD May was programmed to be exactly like the real May with only the added programming of retrieving the Darkhold from the base. Fitz and Radcliffe then return to the base and informs everyone of what had happened, theorizing that AIDA had been corrupted by the Darkhold, making her have real human emotions. Alphonso Mackenzie bitterly snaps at Fitz and Radcliffe for building AIDA and tells them that this is what happens in every robot movie. The robots always rise up against their human overlords.

AIDA then tells the agents at the Playground to give her the Darkhold, but Phil Coulson refuses, causing her to take control of the base. She manages to find the Darkhold and almost escapes but Mack chops off her head with his Shotgun-axe, saving everyone. Fitz who was considerably upset by the turn of events was tasked with retrieving AIDA's head.

It is later shown that Radcliffe was actually the mastermind behind the whole debacle. He had programmed AIDA to infiltrate the base and had built another version; AIDA 2.0 to assist him. Since his first plan was a disaster, he tells AIDA 2.0 that they had to rely on LMD May to retrieve the Darkhold for him, with no one any the wiser. Fitz tells Radcliffe to avoid the base as tempers were running high after AIDA's betrayal, still in the dark about Radcliffe's true nature. Fitz then talks to Simmons about maybe improving AIDA and tells her their mistake was not getting Simmons' input and help on building her, which possibly caused the malfunctions. However, Simmons' who was done with all the problems that came with AIDA and the significant amount of attention Fitz was paying this project, tells him to drop it. Fitz tells her that the whole reason he developed AIDA was to protect Simmons as he was afraid of ever losing her.

Fitz and Simmons helped S.H.I.E.L.D to find Director Jeffrey Mace, Phil Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie after the Quinjet they escaped on crashed somewhere in the wilderness, following an assassination attempt on Mace's life. They finally learnt a disturbing truth from General Glenn Talbot that the U.S Government had developed a formula calibrated to Mace's DNA to give him super strength and he was not in fact, Inhuman, Fitz and Simmons was extremely angry at this revelation as the serum was extremely dangerous and could in fact cost Mace his life. However, Talbot explains that they had no choice and this was done in the benefit of legitimizing S.H.I.E.L.D again with the approval of the President himself.

In order to get information on the location of Mace and the team, Simmons devised a plan by using AIDA's severed head to intimidate Yuri Zaikin, the Watchdog who tried to kill Mace. This plan worked and they managed to rescue their friends. Fitz admits that he found this scary "bad girl" version of Simmons extremely attractive.

As Fitz locks up AIDA's head, he downloads her information, promising her he'd find out what really caused her to malfunction as she thanks him. Fitz hides this from Simmons, keeping a secret from her yet again.

Radcliffe's Betrayal
sFitz continues to work on AIDA's head, looking for the cause of her malfunction without Simmons' knowledge. She understands he is upset about it and tells him he can always talk to her no matter what. He agrees and assures her that he's just "processing" everything that happened. She believes him and gives him some space. However, after a mission to bug Senator Ellen Nadeer's office goes horribly wrong, Simmons suspects that AIDA's severed head had been tapped into to spy on them. She realizes that Fitz had turned it on and was working on it. Believing it was an obsession, she angrily confronts him about it and tells him she has had enough of this obsession of his as he disobeyed her direct orders of dropping the project. Fitz cuts her off and finally explains that it isn't an obsession but an investigation into Radcliffe.

Following this shocking revelation, Fitz, Simmons and Phil Coulson lead a team of agents to Radcliffe's home and arrested him for his betrayal. Fitz in particularly was hurt by Radcliffe's actions as he was betrayed by someone close to him once again. Once they locked Radcliffe up in a containment module, Fitz confronts Radcliffe about his betrayal but Radcliffe tells him that he never meant to hurt anyone and says that Fitz is like a son to him. Following this, Fitz realizes that Radcliffe was actually an LMD so he took a gun and shot him in the head, proving this theory.

Fitz then repaired Radcliffe's LMD and began interrogating him with the help of Alphonso Mackenzie and Simmons. However, following Fitz's attempt to hack into its programming, the LMD began to talk about Fitz's abusive father who had abandoned him when he was a child, saying that Radcliffe and Alistair Fitz had known each other and went to the same school. This greatly disturbed Fitz who became more emotional and stopped thinking clearly, angrily threatening the android. The LMD continued to talk about how Radcliffe had met Alistair a few months ago on the train and was about to tell Fitz his father's message for him, but Fitz, who at this point was extremely enraged and emotional, turned the LMD off and stormed out of the lab. Simmons tells a curious Mack of what happened between Fitz and his dad and how he always told Fitz he was useless and not smart enough. This angers Mack as he couldn't believe a father could do that do his own child. Simmons then goes off to find Fitz in their room, looking at a picture of him and his mother and offers him some comfort. Fitz laments that he has been betrayed by those closest to him too many times, first his father, then Grant Ward and now Radcliffe. Simmons reminds him that despite these betrayals, Fitz remained a good and loyal person, adding that it was the main reason why she fell in love with him, eliciting a small smile from him. She then tells him that his personality is something more than programming which causes something to click in Fitz mind about the Radcliffe LMD. He excitedly kisses Jemma and thanks her for giving him the idea, rushing back to the lab. He discovers that the android was not running solely on pure programming as well and instead possessed a Quantum Brain built by AIDA using the knowledge of the Darkhold. Radcliffe's LMD inadvertently reveals that he is not the only LMD that the real Radcliffe and AIDA constructed, causing them to finally figure out that Melinda May had been replaced as well.

Rise of the L.M.Ds
Fitz and Simmons then join Daisy Johnson on a mission to take down Tucker Shockley, a newly turned Inhuman, previously working for The Superior aka Anton Ivanov, leader of The Watchdogs. There, Fitz risks his life to save the everyone on the plane from Shockley's exploding powers. Simmons angrily tells Fitz to stop risking his life and scaring her as she seeks comfort by pulling him into a tight embrace. They manage to defeat Shockley at the cost of Director Jeffrey Mace getting kidnapped by Anton Ivanov, referred to as The Russian by Phil Coulson and his team. "You make things from the genius of your mind and the goodness of your heart to help people. Don't let Radcliffe's actions corrupt that. You are not responsible for the twisted things he's done. Wrongs have been committed. Now we make them right... together"

- Jemma Simmons to Leo Fitz, The Man Behind the Shield, 4x14 Fitz then tells the team about the Framework, a virtual world he and Radcliffe created for training, where they deduce the real May is plugged in and thriving. Alphonso Mackenzie was very critical of Fitz's inventions, including AIDA and The Framework, saying that Fitz does not think of the consequences of his designs. These accusations deeply affects Fitz but Simmons comforts him saying that yes, he does need to think about the implications of his creations but just because his ideas are used for evil, it does not make it his fault. She tells him he has a good heart and good intentions which causes him to smile. They then go on mission to infiltrate Krasnoyarsk Krai's naval base to rescue Mace and the real Melinda May. Fitz and Simmons separate to carry out different tasks as the rest of the team fight Ivanov and try to find May. They manage to rescue Mace but are unable to find May as she was being kept on a submarine that managed to escape.

Back at the Playground, Simmons notices that there seemed to be a time gap where no one was in communication during their mission. She and Fitz then receive an alert on their computer, notifying them of four LMDs on the base, with footage possibly indicating that Coulson, Mace, Mack and Daisy were all replaced. Simmons starts panicking but is calmed down by Fitz who tells her they should pretend as if everything is normal so the LMDs don't suspect them. Fitz manages to convince the LMDs pretending to be Mace, Coulson and Mack that he and Simmons should stick together and they move away from the lab. As the two go through a door, suddenly an alert is activated, detecting one LMD, indicating that one of them may have been replaced.Simmons slowly backs away from Fitz as he examines the LMD detection device and immediately points a gun at him. Fitz, alarmed, raises his hands above his head and asks her why she's pointing a gun at him, backing away from her. He then accuses her of being an LMD which she vehemently denies, accusing him of being the LMD instead. What follows is an intense and frightening argument where neither of them seems to be sure if either one is the LMD. Fitz proceeds to tearfully apologize for everything he's done, creating AIDA, Radcliffe's betrayal and all they have gone through. Simmons agrees that everything is his fault and tells him to stop making her feel bad for him. She then forces Fitz to cut his wrists using a knife. If he turned out to be the LMD, she'd be able to see his substructure. Fitz counters and tells her that if he isn't, Simmons is the LMD who just forced him to fatally cut his wrists. She yells at him to do it and he has no choice but to obey. He begins to bleed out as he drops to the floor in pain, yelling at Simmons to not come near him. Simmons, worried and feeling sorry for what she had asked him to approaches him to try and patch his wounds, However, when she was near enough, "Fitz" immediately stabs her in the leg as she screams and tries to fight back but he manages to overpower her and knock her out with a paint can, revealing himself to be the LMD.

Simmons wakes up to LMD Fitz kissing her on the forehead and telling her he is planning to upload her consciousness into The Framework which is now a simulated alternate reality mirroring the real world. AIDA had removed one greatest regret from each agent uploaded into The Framework. Simmons manages to weakly crawl towards a lever as she asks LMD Fitz why he was doing this to her since he had the real Fitz's mind. LMD Fitz replies that he is securing their future by protecting her so they can grow old together and get married. Simmons says that she'll tell the real Fitz when she sees him and using a hammer, she smashes the lever, causing an engine to fall on the LMD, pinning it down. Simmons grabs the knife, and in a particularly disturbing sequence, continuously stabs the LMD wearing the face of the man she loves as it screams and begs her to stop, intending to trick her. Not falling for its ruse, she plunges the knife into its neck, causing it to malfunction. Simmons shakily drops the knife and escapes the place, extremely traumatized.

Simmons then hides in a dark supply area and is found by Daisy Johnson who, turns out, was not the fourth LMD. At first, Simmons who is extremely distraught and frightened yells at Daisy to stay away from her, thinking she is an LMD. Daisy who saw LMD Fitz's body through the camera asks Simmons if she killed him. Simmons tearfully repeats over and over again that it wasn't Fitz. Daisy tries to reassure her and tells her that she isn't an LMD and asks Simmons to let her quake her bones to see if she's real, rationalizing that an LMD would not have Inhuman powers. When Simmons refuses and brandishes a knife at her, Daisy grabs her and pulls her into a tight embrace, gently quaking her in the process. Simmons, feeling Daisy's powers, cries in relief as she hugs her friend closely. The two hold each other, finding comfort with one another.

Daisy then makes a plan to fight the LMDs and plug themselves into The Framework to save their people. However, Simmons who is too distraught over Fitz, panics and tells Daisy that she can't lose her too and she is unable to think of anything without Fitz. Daisy comforts Simmons and tells her that the whole time through all the crazy things they've been through, the one constant thing she was extremely sure about was Simmons and Fitz belonged together. They then promise each other to be strong, escape the place and save their guys.

Daisy manages to defeat the Coulson, Mack and Mace LMDs as she and Simmons, both hurt, manage to make their way ouside the base.They are then stopped by LMD May, guarding the exit with explosives. However, since this LMD was programmed to be exactly like May with the same thoughts, fears and desires, she lets the two women escape into the Quinjet, blowing up the base and killing the LMDs inside. Daisy and Simmons manage to take off in time with the help of Agents Piper and Davis. The two hold hands, relieved at their timely escape.

The two then give instructions to the agents, including Yo-Yo Rodriguez who were overseeing them, to never pull them out of The Framework as it will cook their brains. They promise to get their people out as they finally enter into The Framework, thus ending the 2nd pod of the season and entering into the 3rd arc; Agents of Hydra.

The Framework
Daisy and Simmons plug into their avatars and are separated. In the Framework, Simmons' avatar was executed and dumped into a mass grave at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. Simmons manages to claw out of the shallow grave and deduce that she was murdered. She escapes the area and seeks help from a civilian woman named Julia Price. They are then stopped at an Inhuman checkpoint with Julia insisting Simmons have identification. When she discovers that Simmons was part of S.H.I.E.L.D, she forces her to get out of her car. Simmons begs her to help but, out of fear, Julia is unrelenting and pleads with Simmons to close the car door and get away from her. Simmons is extremely shocked at how real this virtual world is and how nightmarish it turned out to be. She soon realizes that Hydra had defeated S.H.I.E.L.D. and turned the place into a fascist state with frequent checkpoints and propaganda, with Inhumans hunted like animals. Everything was under the control of someone called Madame Hydra, who was the Director of Hydra along with her right hand man, The Doctor, a scientist who performed lethal experiments on Inhumans and was responsible for the deaths of many.

Simmons goes to find Daisy and ends up in a cafe where she manages to steal some car keys and a coat to cover up her disheveled clothes. However, she is stopped by two Hydra Enforcers who noticed her appearance and took her to their car for questioning. They see that in the system, she was recorded as being dead and were shocked. Simmons managed to take advantage of their distraction, overpowered them and escaped. She then locates Phil Coulson who is a high school teacher in this reality and makes her way to him.

When Simmons finds Coulson, she hysterically tries to convince him that this world isnt real and his memories have been wiped. She tells him of all the good he's done for S.H.I.E.L.D and how he defeated Hydra, making him one of the best people she ever knew. However, this Coulson is timid and doesn't remember anything about the real world. He is also loyal to Hydra and helps them brainwash the young by teaching propaganda and allowing Hydra to take away his students. Simmons tries her best to remind him but he doesn't believe her and tells her to leave him alone, thinking this was another one of Hydra's tests. Simmons is then struck with an idea and reminds him of T.A.H.I.T.I, telling him that "it's a magical place". She reminds him that his memories have been rewritten before by this program and begs him to remember her but he is unconvinced and tells her to leave him alone. Simmons, defeated, prepares to leave, telling him that she isn't going to give up on him. As soon as she goes, Coulson calls in and reports her as a subversive, triggering a nationwide manhunt to capture her. However, it is shown that Coulson did indeed have snippets of memory from his past life due to going through the T.A.H.I.T.I. Protocol.

Simmons and Daisy finally reunite but she gets the shock of her life when she discovers that the Framework version of Daisy was in a relationship with Framework Grant Ward. They discover that Framework Ward is actually a good person and a double agent working for S.H.I.E.L.D, undercover in Hydra. He helps them escape and Daisy tells Simmons everything she has learnt about this terrifying world. She reveals that The Doctor is actually Fitz who had his memory rewritten and is now a terrible person and a dictator, along with being the second in command at Hydra. Daisy lets her know that Melinda May is also an important Hydra operative and all of them were hunting Simmons. They decide to return to the real world and figure out a better plan as Daisy didn't have her Quake powers here and it was getting more and more difficult to rescue their people. However, the escape route Simmons programmed failed to work, revealing that AIDA who is in control of the Framework, knew they were there and blocked their escape, stranding them.

Meanwhile, AIDA who plugged herself into The Framework as well, is revealed to be Madame Hydra aka Ophelia, the director of Hydra. Fitz comes to her, asking if he could hunt this subversive, Jemma Simmons down himself, but Madame Hydra stops him and says that she has others doing this task for her and she needed Fitz's creativity for other things. The two then kiss, revealing that AIDA had manipulated Fitz into being in a relationship with her.

Fitz visits Madame Hydra again, unwilling to let the threat of her safety go as he genuinely believes that he's in love with her and would do anything to protect her. Madame Hydra reluctantly shows him the picture of Jemma Simmons, worried that seeing her might trigger some of his previous memories of her but Fitz remained unaffected, telling her to consider the threat eliminated. Touched and relieved, Madame Hydra asks him if he'd do anything for her. Fitz confirms this, saying he would cross the universe for her, unconsciously referring to the time he dove through a portal in space-time to rescue Jemma. The two then kiss passionately.

After explaining to Fitz that Simmons had come from the other world, lying that Madame Hydra herself was enslaved and kept as a thing, she asks Fitz to complete Project Looking Glass which turned out to be a way to transfer her consciousness into a real body out in the real world. She tells Fitz it is the only way she can defeat her enemies. They then take a team in order to catch the subversives and go to Ogygia, an island in the Framework designed as a residence for Holden Radcliffe and his love, Agnes Kitsworth.

At the same time, Jemma and Coulson were brought by Ward to the base of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Resistance, where they discover Jeffrey Mace aka The Patriot is their fearless leader, with actual Inhuman powers. Daisy had passed on information through Ward for Jemma to find Dr. Radcliffe in order to escape this horrible place. Ward, Jemma and Coulson go to Ogygia and demand that Radcliffe help them escape this virtual reality but Radcliffe reveals that AIDA had managed to find a loophole in her programming, murdering him. His consciousness is the only thing that lives on in The Framework. He lives quietly on the island with Agnes, his lover who is also dead in the real world and only lives on through her consciousness. He tells them that there is no way out and even if there was, AIDA would have discovered it and disguised it."You two were in love. Unbreakable. A force to be reckoned with. The Fitz I knew nearly drowned for Jemma. He crossed the bloody universe to rescue her!"

- Holden Radcliffe to Leopold Fitz aka The Doctor (Framework), Identity and Change 4x17 Suddenly, they spot a Quinjet descending and Radcliffe tells them to hide. Fitz and Madame Hydra search the compound for the subversives and they find Agnes. Since AIDA's likeness was modeled after her, Fitz assumes she was there to replace his Ophelia, and points a gun at the confused and frightened Agnes. Radcliffe begs him not to do anything and promises him that he'd tell them where the subversives are but Fitz who was ruthless and not the same man in the real world, asks Radcliffe to convince him not to shoot her. Radcliffe anxiously tries to explain to him that in the real world, Fitz was like a son to him and they always spent their days together. Fitz laughs at this, saying it was absurd and asks him about Jemma Simmons. Radcliffe tells Fitz that the two were so in love and had an unbreakable bond. He tells Fitz of all the things he had done for Jemma, risking his life for her multiple times because of the true love they shared with each other, implying that they were unstoppable together. "You're right, I haven't told you the whole story. It's complicated, but... I know him. Not as the Doctor but as a brilliant, awkward, heroic scientist named Leopold James Fitz - He is a good man and I love him"

- Jemma Simmons to Grant Ward (Framework), Identity and Change, 4x17 Ward who was in hiding with Jemma and Coulson was prepared to pull the trigger on The Doctor before he could hurt Agnes but Jemma begs him not to, saying that if he does that, she would lose Fitz forever. She manages to convince Ward not to shoot him, saying that Fitz would never hurt an innocent woman. On the other side, Ophelia tells Fitz that she loves him and convinces him that Radcliffe was lying and they were trying to take Fitz away from her. Radcliffe tries to get Fitz to wake up and see the truth about AIDA, telling him he is not this man, and he doesn't know who he truly is. Fitz stares at Radcliffe then tells him he knows exactly who he is and pulls the trigger, shooting innocent Agnes in the heart, killing her. In shock at what he had done, Jemma screams at Fitz as a full firefight breaks out where everyone began shooting at each other. Coulson shields Jemma from getting shot and they manage to escape in the Quinjet, Jemma still trying to process what Fitz had done.

Back at the Resistance base, they discover that Daisy had been taken captive by Hydra and Melinda May with the help of Alphonso Mackenzie. AIDA had given Mack back his dead daughter, Hope, from the real world, removing his greatest regret. Hydra had threatened Hope unless Mack helped expose Daisy. This plan succeeded and Daisy had been captured and beaten. Mack who couldn't look his daughter in the eye because of what he had done, finally joins the Resistance, saying he is here to help."I guess you don't know me at all."

- Leopold Fitz aka The Doctor (Framework) to Daisy Johnson, Identity and Change 4x17 At the Triskellion, Fitz is done torturing the captured and broken Radcliffe and visits Daisy's cell, telling her that he found out she is a potential Inhuman. Daisy, who is beaten within an inch of her life begs Fitz not to do this to her, telling him he truly doesn't want to do these things. However, Fitz smiles and tells her that yes, he truly does, as Daisy is forcefully dragged away.

Back at the Resistance base, Jemma tells Ward and The Patriot all about the real world and the Framework but they both think she is mentally disturbed. However, Ward seems to have believed her in some capacity and apologizes for whatever vile things he did back in the real world. They then partner up to try and rescue The Patriot and Coulson who infiltrated a Hydra Enlightenment Cultivation Centre. They quickly realize that this place was used to brainwash children. Coulson and The Patriot also successfully rescued the Framework version of Antoine "Trip" Triplet. The rescued people are put on a bus and they proceed to go and free the children trapped at the center. However, The Patriot is stopped by Melinda May who was given a similar strength serum developed by The Doctor that Jeffrey Mace used to take in the real world to simulate his Inhuman strength. The two fight as everyone else work to rescue the kids.

Meanwhile Fitz continues to interrogate Daisy and asks her the location of Jemma Simmons and the other subversives. Daisy, weak and battered tells him that if she knew, she would tell him because if anyone could get him to snap out of his current state, it would be Simmons. She emotionally tells Fitz that Simmons loves him and she's real, instead of this twisted, manipulated world AIDA built, calling her a Hydra murder-bot. Enraged by this, Fitz slaps Daisy violently across the face, telling her that The Framework is his home and she's trying to destroy it.

Fitz reports his unsuccessful interrogation to Madame Hydra who decides to take over and tells him to go look after Project Looking Glass. Fitz goes off to carry out his duties and is seen talking to a Scottish man. It is finally revealed that AIDA had given Fitz his father back, a man proud of his son's achievements, removing Fitz's greatest regret. Fitz talks to Alistair about his actions in murdering Agnes Kitsworth but his father dismisses these feelings as being womanly sentiments unworthy of being discussed, saying it was his mother's influence that brought on these unwanted feelings. Fitz apologizes and agrees with him. His father was responsible in shaping Fitz into being the horrible and ruthless person he was in The Framework.

The Doctor then gets confirmation from May that the Patriot was in the Enlightenment Center and with the manipulation of Madame Hydra, orders an air strike to take down the building, not caring about the presence of the children in there. With the building collapsing on them, Mace holds the heavy beams up to allow Coulson, Ward and Jemma to rescue the children and escape. May who was shocked that there were kids in the building also tried helping. Mace could not let go of the beams without the building collapsing around them and orders them to escape without him. Jemma screams his name, refusing to leave him as she knew he would also die in the real world if he died here. Coulson manages to pull her away as May stands there in shock at The Patriot's actions of sacrificing his life for his enemy. She nods to him as a thank you and exits the building which collapses, killing Mace. This noble action allowed May to understand Hydra's evil and caused her to turn to the side of the Resistance and S.H.I.E.L.D. At the Triskellion, The Doctor, Alistair and Madame Hydra celebrated the death of The Patriot. May on the other hand, steals a Terrigen Crystal for Daisy and breaks it in front of her so she could obtain her powers. Daisy's wounds heal and she is able to Quake once again, finally providing some hope in saving their people and escaping The Framework.

Daisy and May manage to escape the cells but is stopped by Madame Hydra who tells them that no matter the programming, they are unable to escape their true selves; May, the fighter, Mack, the protector and Fitz-she reveals as being a romantic. Daisy, tired of this conversation, quakes Madame Hydra out of the building where she falls quite a distance and breaks her spine. Daisy and May finally escape and make their way to the Resistance base, with Daisy and Jemma finally reuniting.

The Doctor, enraged by what had been done to his Ophelia, wasn't thinking clearly and angrily shouts at his father that he wants all of the rebels dead. His father loses patience and ominously threatens Fitz, warning him not to snap at him. Fitz seems terrified at this threat and inches away from his father, reflexively putting up his hands in defense. This seemed to indicate that his father may have been very physically abusive towards him when he was younger. Fitz immediately regains his composure and calmly listens as his father assures him he will find the subversives. Fitz nods and tells Alistair that he can't tolerate failure, even from his own father. In the meantime, Fitz is now the new head of Hydra and he works harder to complete Project Looking Glass.

Farewell, Cruel World!
Daisy tells Jemma and Coulson that Radcliffe told her of a backdoor which could be a way to escape the Framework. They manage to convince May and Mack to follow them even though the two were completely disbelieving of this being a fake world. Daisy tells Jemma that they can't rescue Fitz for now because it was too dangerous but promises not to abandon him. Jemma remained unconvinced but agreed. However, she soon discovers that AIDA had programmed Fitz's father to remain in his life and not abandon him, causing his ruthlessness and decides to confront Alistair. Fitz on the other hand, discovers that Daisy and Radcliffe had been communicating and decides to give him an incentive to tell him what they were talking about. Radcliffe seemingly falls for this and tells Fitz where the "subversives" are headed. Fitz takes Radcliffe and a team to stop them from escaping. "Look at him. Look at him! That's my father lying there, murdered in the home that I bought for him.You're gonna lead me to Jemma Simmons, where it is my intent to put a bullet through her skull!"

- Leopold Fitz aka The Doctor (Framework) to Holden Radcliffe, Farewell, Cruel World! 4x20 Meanwhile, Jemma reaches Alistair's house and threatens him at gunpoint, demanding that he call Fitz there so she can bring him to the backdoor and rescue him. She also accuses Alistair of ruining Fitz's life to which he is confused and tells her that everything he did was so that Fitz would become a great man. At Jemma's insistence, Alistair calls Fitz and tells him he loves him, to Fitz's bewilderment and worry for his father caused by this uncharacteristic behaviour. Suddenly, Alistair exclaims through the phone that the subversive was there and attacks Jemma and almost overpowers her but she manages to shoot him in self-defense, killing him. Jemma immediately escapes the place. Fitz who hears the entire thing on the phone is distraught, calling out his father's name. He immediately orders the Quinjet to go to his fathers home. Fitz sees Alistair's corpse and swears revenge on Jemma. Jemma, Daisy, Coulson, Mack and May reach the backdoor and Daisy quakes it open. Coulson and May manage to jump through, waking up in the real world. When it came to Jemma's turn, suddenly, she was stopped by Fitz, holding her at gunpoint with Radcliffe and two other guards in tow. Fitz accuses Simmons of destroying his life and the woman that he loves, referring to Ophelia. Simmons vehemently spits out that the woman he loves is a thing, an android named AIDA and she tells him that she came here to rescue him and begs him to wake up but Fitz is unrelenting and forces her to get on her knees. When she refuses, he shoots her in the leg and presses the gun to her head. Simmons pleads with him and emotionally tells him that she loves him but Fitz is unaffected and tells her that she means nothing to him and forces her to say it. Simmons, even though hurt by his words, refuses to say something she knows is a complete lie. At that moment, a gunshot is heard and it is shown that Radcliffe managed to overpower the two guards and disarm Fitz. He reveals to Simmons that he only brought Fitz there to save him. He hits Fitz in the face with the gun, disorienting him and pushes him through the backdoor, finally freeing him from the Framework. Jemma forgives Radcliffe for everything he did and jumps through after Fitz. Back in the real world, Fitz wakes up in The Russian's naval base and is completely confused and horrified with what he was in The Framework. Melinda May is also awake along with Coulson who tries his best to comfort Fitz but he is in complete distress, telling Coulson that he believes himself to be a bad person. Coulson strongly disagrees and tries again to comfort Fitz but he is too distraught at his murder of Jeffrey Mace and Agnes Kitsworth. Suddenly, AIDA who successfully managed to build herself a real body appears and is extremely overjoyed to see Fitz. Fitz, still trying to sort through the dual lives he lived calls her Ophelia and makes his way to her, more confused than ever. Before May could shoot her, AIDA grabs Fitz and teleports away, revealing that she gave herself the Inhuman powers that were being tested in The Framework.

AIDA brings Fitz to the beach, overjoyed at being human and having him with her. Fitz on the other hand, is still horrified at himself and feels like throwing up. He tells AIDA that she manipulated him into doing all those things and he crouches down on the sand, still in extreme distress. AIDA understandingly tells him that every single decision he made was his own and the only changes she made was giving him his father back and introducing herself to him first day at The Academy. She then blissfully tells him that the first thing she chooses in this world is Fitz. All Fitz can do is stare at her as she whisks him away once again.

AIDA then brings Fitz to a lovely apartment and tells him its to help him sort through his memories, saying she wants to decorate the place and build a life together with him, confessing that she loves him. She then tries to caress him, telling him that whenever they were intimate in The Framework, she couldn't exactly feel the ecstasy and emotions he was feeling when they touched, but now, since she has a real body with emotions, she will be able to feel everything he was feeling when they are together. Fitz pulls away from her, extremely troubled and asks her if she has any empathy, letting her know that his friends were in danger because of her. She seems to considerably regret her actions and genuinely wants to help his friends and Fitz manages to convince her of doing exactly that. She grabs Fitz and the two teleport to the naval base and rescue Alphonso Mackenzie who was still trapped in The Framework due to his unwillingness to leave his daughter. She teleports right onto Zephyr One with Fitz and Mack, in ecstasy over her good deeds. Suddenly, AIDA is I.C.E.D and Fitz turns to Jemma in shock as she uses an I.C.E.R on him and knocks him out. The two are then locked in a containment module.

AIDA's Insanity
The team returns to the destroyed Playground and the containment module is put into a remaining containment chamber. Simmons then has a talk with Coulson and May about their experience in The Framework and they tell her that it was as real as an entire life. Hearing this, Simmons tearfully walks away, fearing that Fitz would retain his cruelty, or worse, still be in love with AIDA. Fitz finally wakes up and talks to AIDA about what kind of man he is, lamenting that he was just like Ward and convinced that his friends would never forgive him for what he'd done in The Framework. AIDA admits to Fitz that the reason she put herself in The Framework to be in a relationship with him was to understand the deep and unconditional love he and Jemma felt for each other. However, Fitz thought that he was evil deep down and feared that he had killed his entire future with Jemma. Simmons who was watching Fitz and AIDA's conversation was heartbroken at his words and began weeping silently as she watched them, thinking that he was going to choose AIDA over her and everything they shared would be gone. AIDA tries to comfort Fitz, thinking that after all her manipulation in shaping Fitz into the man he was in The Framework, he would still be in love with her. In his pain and regret, Fitz tells AIDA that he only has room in his heart for one woman and his love will never fade for her. He makes it clear that that one woman will always be Jemma. At these words, Simmons smiles through her tears, happy that no matter what Fitz would always love her. AIDA, on the other hand, was speechless at his confession. She slowly gets angrier and angrier by his words and asks him what he meant by that. Fitz, sensing the tension in the room tries to let her down easy and says that in The Framework she was his world but they were in the real world now. AIDA, finally understanding that Fitz picked Jemma over her, goes completely and utterly insane, screaming in rage at Fitz. Seeing this, Simmons immediately orders Fitz's extraction from that room, fearing for his life.

AIDA forcefully grabs Fitz and tells him they will build a life together whether he wants to or not and tries to teleport out of the containment module but is unable to because of the Quantum Field Disruptors in the chamber. She becomes increasingly raving mad by this and hits Fitz across the room. Luckily, he manages to lock her in and escape with Agents Piper and Davis. However, AIDA manages to escape the containment module and kills an agent named Prince. Fitz successfully warns the team, and May immediately takes off Zephyr One and they escape AIDA. AIDA, in her uncontrollable rage and emotion teams up with The Russian as she swears revenge on Fitz and everyone he loves for causing her this pain and breaking her heart.

Forgiveness
Fitz remained in the containment module, full of shame and self-loathing. Each one of his team members walk past him, letting him be alone to process his thoughts. Simmons walks past him and after hesitating for a moment, sits beside him and puts her arms around him, offering him comfort. Fitz reciprocates as the two tearfully hold each other, traumatized by their ordeal but extremely glad to be reunited once again.

Fitz and Simmons then work together to find a way to stop AIDA. Fitz who is still reeling and full of regret of his time in The Framework, tells Simmons that he performed lethal experiments on known friends and allies but Simmons wastes no time in reminding him that he is also this man; a good person. She then asks him how to kill AIDA and he shrugs. Sensing his reluctance, Simmons asks him if he wants to kill her to which he doesn't offer a reply. The team then discover that Robbie Reyes had managed to come back from Hell and they meet up with him, figuring out that the Spirit of Vengeance inside of him is the only thing that can kill AIDA as she is made of the same stuff as The Darkhold. They then devise a plan to get Ghost Rider close enough to AIDA to stop her.

While trying to repair The Framework which AIDA was shutting down, endangering the life of Alphonso Mackenzie who was still trapped inside, Fitz and Simmons were ambushed by AIDA who threatened to kill Simmons. Fitz begs her to spare Jemma as she hurled insult after insult after AIDA, calling her a psycho. AIDA then stabs Simmons in the chest with a screwdriver, as she cries out in pain. Fitz pleads with her to leave Jemma alone, assuring AIDA he will come with her and tells her where The Darkhold is. AIDA is unaffected by his words and electrocutes Simmons, apparently killing her as Fitz screams her name. AIDA slams him against the wall and kisses him on the cheek before teleporting away to obtain the Darkhold, cementing her as an absolute psycho who needed to be eliminated.

AIDA sees Coulson guarding The Darkhold and is about to hurt him when she is suddenly shot multiple times. She turns and sees Simmons holding a machine gun. It turns out, the "Simmons" AIDA killed was actually a decoy LMD made to lure her to this spot. She is initially surprised but soon recovers and informs Simmons that shooting her makes no difference as almost nothing could harm her. Simmons spitefully tells AIDA that she knew that already but really wanted to do that. AIDA is then grabbed by Coulson who turns into Ghost Rider, following a deal he made with the Spirit of Vengeance in order to defeat her. Fitz runs to join Simmons and the two watch Ghost Rider burn AIDA as she stares at Fitz in pain in despair, sending her to Hell. "This is not on you. We all lost ourselves in there. And yeah, it might take you a long time to forgive yourself. But speaking on behalf of the team: you have nothing to apologize for."

- Daisy Johnson to Leo Fitz, World's End 4x22 With AIDA finally dead, Ghost Rider goes back into Robbie Reyes and the team watch as Robbie opens a portal and returns with the Darkhold back to Hell. Alphonso Mackenzie who had escaped the Framework with the help of Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, warned them of incoming soldiers coming to arrest the S.H.I.E.L.D agents as they are now wanted fugitives, following the death of Jeffrey Mace and the bombing of the Playground. Fitz, still blaming himself and feeling guilty for everything that had happened offers to take the fall but his friends refuses, with Daisy explaining that she tried to do something similar after Lincoln Campbell's sacrifice but realized her friends would always be there for her. Simmons and the rest of the team agree that they all will take the fall together. Coulson then suggest they get some pie before they get arrested.

As the team are in a dinner happily enjoying their meal, the lights suddenly go out. Thinking they are finally caught and about to be arrested, Fitz tells Jemma he is going to take the blame anyway, despite what Daisy said, Before Jemma could protest, a mysterious man enters and brings out a device which freezes everyone in place. Everyone on the team is then kidnapped and taken away somewhere unknown, with the exception of Fitz, who is left sitting alone on the counter, not knowing what had happened to Jemma or the rest of his team.

Right after going through a horrible ordeal and finally reuniting, Fitz and Simmons are separated once again, with neither of them knowing the fate of the other.

2091
Following their abduction, Simmons along with Phil Coulson, Alphonso Mackenzie, Daisy Johnson, Yo-Yo Rodriguez and Melinda May realize they have been brought to a space station called The Lighthouse. Yo-Yo finds Simmons and the two discover corpses which had their innards completely drained. They were joined by Mack and Coulson who informed them that The Lighthouse was ruled by aliens and they were in space. They demanded answers from someone named Virgil who Mack knocked out and brought with them. Virgil tells them that they were brought here to save humanity but before he could elaborate, he is killed by a Vrellnexian aka The Roaches, the creatures responsible for leaving the drained corpses. The team escapes and are finally saved by Daisy who kills the Vrellnexian using her quake powers. Daisy asks Simmons if she is okay since she and Fitz are constantly ripped apart from each other. Simmons halfheartedly tells Daisy about Fitz's absurd theory that they were cursed which she starts believing in now based on all the hardships they had to overcome each time just to be reunited with each other. Daisy tries to comfort Simmons but she unconvincingly tells her that she is perfectly fine and glad that Fitz is at least safe. Daisy tells them she saw May get taken as well and they began exploring The Lighthouse to find May and figure out their situation.

They arrive in a room with alien writing but are then attacked and arrested by three Kree guards who lock them in a cell. However, a mysterious man named Deke Shaw shows up with a hurt May and manages to talk the guards into releasing them. After they are released, Deke tells them that they are on their own and are unwilling to help them any further as he only agreed to this job because Virgil had paid him. Since Virgil was dead, he had no responsibility towards them and was unwilling to risk his life any longer. He was the only one who could tell them what they were dealing with so the team refused to let him walk away and managed to trap him using his gravity belt. Daisy tells Coulson to interrogate him as she goes off to find Yo-Yo and Mack who were held somewhere else by the Kree, while May and Simmons go to find a trawler to help them escape this space station. They discover that this place was ruled by the Kree and incorrectly assumed they were planning an invasion, so they take the trawler and fly it out of the station in order to find more clues and maybe send a message to Fitz.

As they are flying the trawler out, Simmons notices that she recognizes all the constellations in the sky while May tries to maneuver them in what appears to be an asteroid field. At the same time, Daisy manages to rescue Mack and Yo-Yo and they examine an old worn-out post card passed to them by Virgil. Deke, in the meantime, is being interrogated by Coulson but is extremely confused with his questions. Coulson asks him when he came to the station and Deke, extremely annoyed with the stupid questions he's being asked, tells him that he was born here since the place was probably constructed ninety-odd years ago. This completely baffles Coulson as he rationalizes that this place couldn't have been built in the 20s with Howard Stark since it seemed so technologically advanced. He tells Deke that they were just eating pie in a diner when they were abducted to this place. Deke assumes Coulson is high on something but seems to be putting two and two together and asks Coulson again about when he was taken. Coulson begins to explain that they were in Manitowoc, Wisconsin enjoying pie when he is stopped by Deke who tells him he doesn't want to know about where he was taken but when. Coulson immediately figures out their current situation. On the trawler, while avoiding asteroids, May brings Simmons attention to something completely shocking; a school bus floating around in front of what seemed to be a destroyed planet. Simmons, completely astounded with what she's seeing realizes that there's no point in sending Fitz a message on Earth as they were already there. Daisy, Mack and Yo-Yo turn over the post card in their hand, seeing an old message written long ago by Fitz that said; "Working on it," immediately telling them what they feared. The Monolith had sent them 74 years into the future.

Enslaved
"You are a beauty worth cultivating, but you must learn silence."

- Kasius to Jemma Simmons, Orientation Part 2, 5x02 Simmons and May return to the Lighthouse and meet up with Coulson and Deke to discuss their findings. A woman named Tess meets up with them and takes them to the Exchange where food is distributed among the humans. Tess takes Coulson away to Virgil's bunker to help him find clues and leave May and Simmons there, telling them to blend in. The Kree then come to the Exchange with a human servant to Kasius-the ruler of the Lighthouse-and begins the food distribution. There, a fight suddenly breaks out due to the lack of food the humans were getting and the servant to Kasius gets injured in the process. Simmons, being a doctor and not understanding the rules of the place, immediately rushes to the servant's aid and cauterizes his wound, saving him. This catches the attention of Sinara, the right hand woman to Kasius and she forcefully takes Jemma away from the place. May is ready to fight her to protect Jemma but Jemma signals May not to do anything and expose herself. Simmons is taken to the upper-levels of the Lighthouse where she meets Kasius who is extremely entranced by her beauty and her flawless complexion. He is also impressed with her medical skills and her mark-free skin as a result of her not having a metric like the other enslaved humans. He then brings out the servant she saved and discusses his scars with Simmons. She attempts to convince him that his scars will heal over time but Kasius could not accept the imperfection of the scar on forehead and immediately orders Sinara to execute him. Simmons is horrified and screams at him for his cruelty but Kasius has had enough of her protests and injects a strange implant in her ear which renders her completely deaf to everything save for his voice. She is then dressed in white and gold and becomes one of Kasius' servants.

Kasius then tasks Jemma with training a young Inhuman named Abby. Jemma helps Abby overcome her fear and pain by teaching her about her powers and telling her she can control the space between the stars which inspires her. This helps Abby overcome her opponent in a fight but she is then sold as a warrior to someone named Lady Basha. Jemma tries to intervene but is threatened by Sinara. Around this time, Daisy Johnson had been captured while trying to break into the upper levels to rescue Simmons from her captivity but was sold out by Deke Shaw. Daisy is then outfitted with an implant which removes her powers unless switched on by the Kree. Deke sold Daisy out because her careless actions to get to her friend would have caused the Kree to take out their anger on the defenseless enslaved humans on the levels below. However, he was also rewarded for delivering Daisy as she was thought to be the Destroyer of Worlds; the person responsible for destroying the Earth. Apparently, the human elders spoke of a prophecy where heroes from the past would come and save them all. Kasius has always been troubled by this prophecy and had most of the elders sent to the uninhabitable, Roach-infested surface of the broken Earth or executed as a warning. This included Deke's mother who was executed for being extremely smart when Deke was only nine years old.

Kasius was shocked that the Destroyer of Worlds was in his presence and figured out that Daisy had come from the past with Jemma. He was determined to find out if others had come along with them so he brings out one of his prized Inhumans named Ben who had the ability of reading thoughts. Kasius proceeds to question both Daisy and Jemma if there were others who came to the past with them. However, they are both saved by Ben who confirms their story even though it was untrue as he had previously befriended Daisy and decided to help her. Kasius, still full of distrust, makes them retell their story in perfect detail, blocking Daisy from Jemma's view so she couldn't read her lips. Despite this, Jemma managed to recount the exact same story in detail, revealing that Ben could not only read minds but could allow others to read his as well which was unknown to the Kree. Kasius seemingly believes them for now but tells Daisy she will take part in the Inhuman power demonstration rituals where she will be sold to the highest bidder. Daisy is forced to obey as Kasius threatens to severely hurt Simmons if she doesn't comply.

Kasius has many esteemed but vile guests coming from all over the galaxy just to see the infamous Quake and make a bid on her. Daisy is the pinnacle of the show Kasius is putting on and she is brought out on display for all the guests. Suddenly, an unknown, masked stranger interrupts Kasius' introduction, emphasizing that Daisy is the Destroyer of Worlds. He then removes his mask, shockingly revealing himself to be Fitz and declares that she should fight to the death.

Back to the Beginning
We are now taken back to Fitz's perspective of events and what happened following the abduction of the team. He is left confused and with barely enough time to process the sudden disappearance of his friends before he is arrested by the United States Air Force and is taken to the Blue Raven Ridge detainment facility. There, he is interrogated by General Hale as she is adamant on capturing the team. Fitz admits to her that he is the one responsible for Jeffrey Mace's death but tells her he has no idea whatsoever on the whereabouts of his friends. He is then forced to take a lie detection test and they ask him again if he knew where the rest of the team went and he tells them again that he has no idea, but promises to do everything in his power to help find his friends because all he wants is to know that they are okay. Hale agrees and orders her subordinates to give him books on multiple theories while also meeting his request of having a television in his cell to watch football.

Over the course of six months, Fitz studies books upon books of multiple possibilities and presents them, with theory after theory that seemed less likely than the last. One of his most important theories included the possibility of him suffering from Prodromal Schizophrenia caused by his previous brain injury when he was without oxygen at the bottom of the ocean, made more plausible especially after his experience in The Framework. This could have caused him to do something to his friends without him knowing about it or suppressing the memory. Fortunately, this theory was countered as everyone had the same two minute lapse in memory and time, which Fitz was extremely relieved by. However, his mind did indeed go through ordeal after ordeal with little help or relief, which would come back into play later on.

Fitz was getting more and more frustrated with the lack of a possible explanation on his friends' disappearance, taking his anger out on his football matches, seemingly getting crazier with the constant isolation. He pinned all the pictures of his friends to the wall of his cell and constantly looked at them, especially the picture of Jemma, for motivation. He also requested his angry fan letters to be sent to a football magazine which were first analysed for coded messages, then sent to the magazine to keep him happy. Finally, out of his wits and with no other possible explanation, he tells Hale that his team was probably abducted by aliens, which in a way was technically true. However, Hale has had enough of Fitz wasting her time and angrily tells him that he will die alone in that tiny prison cell. At that moment, Hale is informed that Fitz's lawyer was there to see him, which shocks her as Fitz had no outside contact at all. They are forced to allow the meeting or else it would be a denial of his basic rights. It turns out Fitz's "lawyer" was none other than Lance Hunter. The letters Fitz sent was insulting towards Hunter's favorite football team, Liverpool, but it managed to get his attention that Fitz was in trouble. The two emotionally hug each other, glad to be reunited. They soon blast their way out of the containment room and escape in a run-down RV.

Taking the Long Way to the Future
Fitz tells Hunter all that had happened to the team, including their adventures with Ghost Rider and everything that happened with AIDA. Hunter good-naturedly makes fun of Fitz for falling in love with a robot, which seemed to make Fitz uncomfortable and they drop the subject. Hunter then recounts all the adventures he had with his ex-wife, Bobbi Morse. He tells Fitz that they even almost got married again but were interrupted by ninjas. He also asks Fitz if he and Simmons were together now which Fitz confirms but sadly tells him that they are cursed by distance. They then manage to track down the man who abducted their friends and journey to his house.

They reach the man's house and are surprised when they discover he was expecting them. He introduces himself as Enoch; a sentient Chronicom from a planet that revolves around a star in the constellation of Cygnus. He was sent to Earth as an anthropologist to observe mankind and only interfere in the case of an extinction-level event. He informs Hunter and Fitz that he had sent the team to the future to fulfill a prophecy to prevent Earth's destruction. Fitz tells him that he wants to meet with the seer but Enoch says it wouldn't be wise to do so. Angered by this, Fitz grabs Hunter's gun and furiously threatens Enoch's life if he wasn't brought to the seer, alarming Hunter considerably at how much Fitz had changed.

Enoch takes Fitz to the seer, indignant about being threatened, causing Fitz to apologize for his behaviour. He realizes that the seer is none other than Robin Hinton, the daughter of the Inhuman man, Charles Hinton who could see a future death when he touched someone. Fitz tries to ask her questions but Robin is silent and only concentrates on her drawings which predict the future. Her mother, Polly, tells them that past, future and present are all jumbled up in Robin's head and she doesn't say much unless absolutely necessary. At that moment, Robin suddenly warns them of the soldiers under General Hale right behind, intending to arrest them. Thanks to Enoch, they manage to escape using the device that stopped time for a few moments and are brought to the present version of The Lighthouse, still on Earth, located near Lake Ontario."The universe doesn't want or care about anything. And even if it did, why wouldn't it want you to be together? You two are so perfect for each other, it makes everyone a little bit nauseous."

- Lance Hunter to Leo Fitz about Jemma Simmons, Rewind 5x05 At the Lighthouse, everyone settles in for the night, in hiding from the U.S Air Force. Fitz longingly looks at the pictures of Simmons on his phone which was recovered by Hunter. Fitz tells Hunter Robin's story and how her father, Charles saved Daisy long ago. He also reminisces that he and Simmons were there, holding hands as the ash fell all around them. Hunter is happy that Fitz and Simmons are finally together, recalling the times when they didn't even have the courage to tell each other how they felt for one another. Fitz unhappily tells Hunter that maybe it should have stayed that way since the universe always does its best to keep them apart. Hunter counters this saying that the universe doesn't want them to be apart because the two are so perfect for each other. Fitz replies that the universe is trying to protect Jemma from him, especially from what he was in The Framework. Hunter then brings up Fitz's surprising actions of threatening Enoch, telling him that he actually admired that side of Fitz as it got the job done. He tells Fitz every light needs a shadow and he just needs to learn to control it, reassuring Fitz that he was not a cold-blooded killer. Hunter then advises Fitz to ask Robin why she didn't include Fitz with the team to send to the future. Fitz gently asks Robin to tell him why he was not with his friends and she responds by giving him an ominous drawing, telling him that he has to save them.

Fitz was extremely troubled by what Robin said as he had no way of reaching his friends in the future but Enoch was able to provide a solution by telling him to retrieve the capsule used to bring him to Earth as it could be a way to get Fitz to the future. When Hunter realizes that the capsule was kept at Blue Raven Ridge, he reluctantly agrees to help Fitz retrieve it, complaining that people don't break back into the place they just escaped from. However, they successfully manage to break back into the facility by using a couple of ferrets as a distraction and they find what they were looking for along with Zephyr One and all the S.H.I.E.L.D team's weapons. They quickly load everything onto Zephyr One as Fitz holds off soldiers shooting at them, and they manage to take off safely.Back at the Lighthouse, it is revealed that the capsule is actually a cryo-freeze chamber and Fitz is taking the long way to the future by going under cryo-sleep for 74 years. Hunter is extremely against this idea as he feared for Fitz's safety but Enoch assures him that he will summon a Chronicom ship and hide the capsule behind a planet somewhere in the galaxy, guarding Fitz. Hunter is not convinced but he relents as he knew nothing would keep Fitz from finding Jemma. Fitz asks Hunter to look after Polly and Robin, giving her the postcard which had the message: "Working on it" as seen by Daisy, Yo-Yo and Mack in the future. He then hides weapons including Coulson's robot arm, Mack's shotgun-axe, Daisy's Quake gauntlets and several other I.C.E.Rs and guns in the walls of the Lighthouse so the team will be fully armed. After an emotional goodbye and an embrace between the two friends, Fitz gets into the capsule. Hunter tells Fitz he loves him, jokingly referencing that scene in Star Wars and Fitz chuckles, playing along and telling him he knows as he is frozen in a deep sleep.

74 years later, Fitz is awakened by Enoch and prepares to face off against some of the vilest people in the galaxy to save his friends, using his experience in The Framework to his advantage.

A Proposal for the Ages
"You know I realized something. The Universe, can't stop us. Because we have crossed galaxies, we have traveled through time, we have survived the bottom of the Atlantic just so we can be together, now a love like that, that is stronger than any curse. And you and I, we are unstoppable together. I...I don't wanna live another day without you. So Jemma Simmons, will you marry me?"

- Leo Fitz to Jemma Simmons, Fun and Games 5x06 Fitz infiltrates the Lighthouse, posing as "Boshtok the Maurauder", with the help of Enoch, who was tasked with constructing his identity for the past 74 years. Fitz was by far the wealthiest and most despicable person in the entire room, eliciting admiration and distrust from everyone including Kasius. Enoch's plan was for Fitz to go to the Inhuman demonstration and make a bid to purchase "The Destroyer of Worlds". Fitz starts getting impatient and suggests they just shoot their way out of there but Enoch says that would only lead to a higher chance of death. Suddenly, Jemma walks into the room, serving dishes, her back turned to Fitz. Seeing Jemma, Fitz was struck breathless at her presence, finally laying eyes on her after six months in prison and 74 years in cryo. He discreetly goes over to her as she was preparing appetizers for the guests with her back turned to him, and tells her not to turn around as he spoke to her, not realizing she couldn't hear him because of the implant in her ears. Fitz proceeds to deliver one of the most romantic speeches as he tells Jemma that they have overcome so much, listing everything they have been through; crossing oceans, time and space just to be together. He confesses that a love like that could overcome any curse and declares that they are unstoppable together, ending with him finally asking Jemma to marry him. As Fitz speaks, Jemma stares longingly out the window at the beauty and vastness of space, not knowing that Fitz was just a breath away, declaring his love and hoping she would say yes to his proposal.

At Jemma's lack of response, Fitz becomes worried and proceeds to get her attention by touching her arm which startles her, but before she could fully process that Fitz was there next to her, Kasius interrupts and asks if there are any problems. Fitz, annoyed, asks Kasius why his servant didn't respond to his question and Kasius explains that they are only allowed to hear the voice of their master. Fitz angrily asks Kasius how his guests' needs are met if his servants can't hear them and Kasius reluctantly turns Jemma's implant off, realizing his mistake. He then proceeds to tell Fitz that Jemma is such an exquisite, obedient servant as he caresses her cheek. Fitz seemingly almost loses his cool at this but controls his rage and instead asks Kasius if Jemma is for sale to which Kasius replies she comes as a package with the Destroyer of Worlds as she is used to motivate her in doing what she's told. Fitz, getting into character, tells Kasius that the only suitable motivation he finds effective is causing pain, which impresses him. Kasius then gives Jemma a task and dismisses her, as she reluctantly goes off to complete it, still in shock at Fitz's presence in the future.

After having dinner with Kasius and the other bidders, Fitz was taken to the arena where the fights began. Kasius was adamant on impressing Fitz, as someone with Fitz's reputation would definitely fetch a high price for the Destroyer and earn him respect. He brings out Ben and a captured and injured Melinda May to fight to the death. Fitz is extremely troubled by this as he is worried about May but could not risk his cover. Ben manages to read May's thoughts that Fitz could help them both and allows Fitz to read his mind, asking for help. Fitz immediately tells Kasius that this fight bored him and he was here to see the Destroyer of Worlds fight, not some ancient has-been, referring to May. She gives Fitz a dirty look but it does the trick as Kasius is eager to please him, and May is sent to the surface. Fitz tasks Enoch with rescuing May and ensuring her safety. After this, the bidding for Ben began but Kasius stops it short saying he could not in good conscience sell him because he is a liar. He brings Daisy out to watch as he informs everyone that Ben hid the fact that others apart from Daisy, Jemma and May had come from the future, ordering Sinara to kill him. Daisy begs and pleads for Ben's life saying it was her fault but Kasius tells her than Ben is less valuable and will die. Fitz tries to stop this and reason with him but Kasius refuses to listen as Ben is brutally murdered.

Daisy then sits alone, full of regret about Ben and is joined by Jemma who comforts her. They then talk about Fitz and Daisy tells Jemma that she's quite impressed with Fitz rocking the bounty hunter disguise. Jemma smiles as she fondly says she still prefers him in cardigans. The two women hug, hopeful that their plan was going to work, with Daisy saying it was two of them against the world once again. Jemma then goes off to complete her tasks when she sees Fitz silhouetted in the dark end of a corridor. The two begin to rush to each other, eager to be reunited but they are immediately stopped by the presence of another servant, calling Jemma to a situation which required her attention. Fitz is forced to move away, having to maintain his cover.It was time for the second fight and Daisy was forced to fight Sinara to demonstrate her powers to Faulnak, Kasius' brother who was more feared and respected than Fitz. This severely jeopardized their plan of purchasing Daisy and it was time for plan B. As soon as Daisy managed to subdue Sinara, she signals Fitz and Simmons and the two spring into action with Fitz I.C.E-ing most of the guests and Jemma leaving a huge gash on Kasius' cheek with a knife. Daisy prepares to quake Faulnak and the rest of the guards but he immediately turns off her inhibitor and she loses her powers, falling hard on the ground. Simmons jumps into the arena with Daisy, with Fitz following behind her, shooting the controls for the force-field and disabling it so they could not be followed. Fitz and Simmons finally reunite, sharing a passionate kiss. Fitz then declares he will never leave her again, prompting Jemma to immediately asks him to marry her. Fitz agrees without a second thought as the two help up a disoriented Daisy and make their escape.

Escape to the Surface of the Earth
The ship Fitz came with was immediately destroyed following their escape, stranding the team there. After removing Jemma's ear implant, they managed to escape Maston-Dar, a warrior working for Faulnak tasked with capturing them. However, Fitz was shot and they had to take a break but luckily, they were found by Deke Shaw. Daisy argues with Deke about his betrayal, telling him that she is not going to trust him, informing Fitz and Simmons that he was the one who sold her into slavery. They immediately threaten to kill him. However, they had no choice but to follow him to safety (albeit reluctantly) and are finally reunited with the rest of the team. Coulson, Mack and Yo-Yo are surprised and overjoyed to see Fitz, immediately hugging him. They then barricade themselves in a room while the Kree try to blast their way through. Deke manages to figure out a way for them to escape to the surface by using his gravity puck. Coulson asks him why he was suddenly so adamant to help them get to the surface and Deke explains that the voice they previously heard on the radio belonged to his father whom he thought was dead. It turns out he had just escaped to the surface with the other True Believers. The team use the gravity puck to escape to the trawler, save for Mack and Yo-Yo who stay behind to help a young Inhuman boy named Flint to retake the Lighthouse. Once in the trawler, Fitz and Simmons sit together and Fitz tells Simmons once again that he is never going to leave her side. Simmons agrees and tells him that's the reason why she asked him to marry her but Fitz argues and tells her that he asked her to marry him first. In the end, he decides that it doesn't matter and smiles at her. She smiles back and tells him that she's just happy for some alone time with him.

The trawler crashes on the surface of the Earth and the team are rescued by the True Believers led by Samuel Voss, the best friend of Owen Shaw, Deke's father. They are then brought to the remnants of Zephyr One, meeting up with Melinda May and Enoch. There they meet the elderly version of Robin Hinton who is excited to see the team. They try to get answers from her but her mind is still jumbled with the past, present and future. She tells the team snippets of information in her own time. Several flash forwards are also shown of an alternate future where the team was unsuccessful in saving the world. In one of Robin's visions, an older version of Fitz with a wedding band around his finger is shown working on specific designs for a mechanism with Simmons. In another vision, Fitz is seen angrily confronting May, who apparently raises Robin in the future, about Robin's inability to control her visions of doom. She describes Jemma's death to Fitz which sends him over the edge. This was the future Robin was trying to prevent.

Back on Zephyr One, Voss leads Fitz and Simmons to their old lab which withstood the test of time and leaves them to examine a strange device which was built by Owen Shaw. Fitz tells Simmons they could only get more information when Owen returns from his scouting mission on the surface, remarking that until then they are on their own. The two smile at each other knowingly, realizing that they were finally alone and begin kissing passionately, finding some reprieve with each other.

Simmons later takes a look at Daisy's Inhuman Control implant and tells her she is unable to pull it out as it was too complex and could potentially paralyze her. Daisy is left without powers for the time being. May and Coulson try to get answers from Robin who tells them that today is the day it all ends, leaving them trying to decipher what it means. Meanwhile, Deke notices that Voss was in possession of a shard of the White Monolith and gets suspicious. He confronts Voss about what he did to his dad as his dad would never part with the Monolith shard because it reminded him of his dead wife. He finally uncovers the truth that Voss had murdered his father and plan to murder Daisy in order to prevent the destruction of Earth. He knocks Deke out and locks Fitz and Simmons in the lab. He then shows Daisy video footage of her angrily shouting at someone moments before the Earth is destroyed and proceeds to attack her. However, she manages to overpower him with the help of Coulson and May. Unfortunately, Voss escapes and stabs Robin in order to prevent her from giving them any answers. They succeed in subduing him again as May holds the dying Robin in her arms, understanding what she meant by everything ending today; referring to her own death. With her final breath, Robin finally gives May the answer to getting back home to the present; they needed the help of Flint.

The Return Home
The team go back to the Lighthouse and proceed to find Mack and Flint to give him the Monolith shard. Since Flint possesses the power of geokinesis, he is able to construct another White Monolith to send them home. Fitz and Simmons find Mack and Flint who are being pursued by the Kree Watch. They give Flint the shard as Simmons begins teaching him about his powers so he can effectively rebuild the Monolith. At the same time, Fitz rigs the place with a trap for the Kree who were in pursuit of them. When the three guards arrived, finding them, Fitz activates the trap which brutally beheads all three Kree soldiers. Simmons is visibly disturbed by this but Fitz rationalizes that it was the only way to make the other Kree soldiers think twice before following them. However, he does apologize to Mack for exposing Flint to such a violent scene. Simmons seems to drop the matter for now as they find Daisy, Coulson and May waiting for them.

Mack notices that Yo-Yo isn't back from a solo mission to free a tortured Inhuman and goes off to find her. There he witnesses Kasius murder Yo-Yo who seemed to have lost both her arms. Mack screams in devastation at his girlfriend's apparent death and fights Kasius. However, Kasius had previously consumed something called The Odium which makes someone berserk, pumping them with enough adrenaline to allow them to fight until their heart burst. Mack is quickly overpowered and almost killed but Simmons steps in and injects the ear implant that made her deaf into Kasius' ear, completely disorienting him, allowing Mack to finally kill him. Suddenly Yo-Yo appears, alive and well. At the look of confusion on Mack's face, she explains that the Yo-Yo he saw was a future version of her. Mack embraces her in relief as the three run back to the Monolith, which was successfully constructed by Flint. At the same time, Enoch and Deke were trying to operate the cyclotron which controlled the activation of the portal. However, the device was damaged and Enoch decides to sacrifice himself to get the team home. Deke also prepares to sacrifice himself since using Enoch to power up the machine would result in an explosion which would kill him as well. He holds a piece of White Monolith shard and activates the device which results in a blinding flash of white light, consuming him. The portal opens and swallows the entire team, including Simmons, Mack and Yo-Yo who make it just in time, and they are successfully returned to the present.

The team are relieved to finally be back in the present version of the Lighthouse and Fitz and May are tasked with searching for means of communication and supplies while Simmons tends to Mack's wounds. Fitz and May discover three Monoliths stored in the Lighthouse and are extremely worried by their presence. They then encounter another Chronicom named Noah who tells them that the Monolith origins are unknown and they were stored in the Lighthouse for safekeeping, away from the public. Noah then alerts the team to footage of beams of light seemingly coming from the sky which Samuel Voss warned was the first sign of the end of the world. The team make their way to the facility where the lights were coming from while Daisy stays behind to monitor law enforcement channels, discovering that the team were most wanted on every list. Once Fitz, Simmons, May, Mack, Yo-Yo and Coulson reach the St. Louis Aerospace Facility, they encounter Agent Piper who tells them that she also came there to investigate the lights, which turned out to be a Kree Orb. Fitz and Simmons are tasked with figuring out how to turn the beams off.

Meanwhile, there is a flash of light and Deke suddenly appears in a neighboring town near the Lighthouse. It turns out, he was also zapped to the present along with the rest of the team. He is full of innocent wonder at the amount of fresh air, greenery and light he is exposed to after spending all his life in enclosed spaces. He catches sight of a bar and excitedly makes his way there, eager to try real food after only eating sterilization pellets his entire life. Once there, the bartender exposes him to Zima and he finds it so delicious that he drinks bottle after bottle of it, getting drunk. He also stuffs himself with all kinds of food and spends his time playing games. Finally when it came time to pay, he presents his metric to the bartender who is confused by this and tells him they accept cash and credit cards. Deke, having neither, decides to make a run for it but since he is too drunk, he falls and knocks himself out. He is then arrested and kept in prison overnight. Daisy discovers that Deke was arrested and goes to free him from prison, telling the cops that she is his social worker, Sinara Smith and claims that Deke has severe mental issues. She manages to free him and they go back to the Lighthouse. However, one of the cops recognizes Daisy as a fugitive and bring it to the attention of General Hale. She tasks one of her subordinates, Ramirez, to find out more about Deke Shaw.

At the St. Louis Aerospace Facility, Fitz and Simmons discover a man-made timer in the device which was sloppily installed. At this moment, Piper draws her gun and reveals that she had made a deal with General Hale for their arrest and assures them that the General only wanted to capture and question them. She was doing it for the good of the team and the benefit of keeping them alive. However, robot soldiers show up and immediately starts shooting at them along with a mysterious assassin who attacks them. Piper, realizing her mistake tries to help them out. The assassin who turns out to be General Hale's daughter, Ruby, throws her Ring Blades with the intention of killing Mack as he shot one of the robot soldiers, but Yo-Yo uses her Inhuman speed to run in front of him, causing the blade to cut off both her arms. Mack shouts in anger as he quickly gathers Yo-Yo in his arms with the rest of the team covering them, escaping the facility. Yo-Yo tells Mack that the future is coming true since she saw her future self without arms as well.

While Simmons operates on Yo-Yo, Fitz and Daisy store the Kree Orb with the Monolith as Noah takes extra readings. Suddenly, Noah detects that the orb is significantly heating up and warns Daisy and Fitz to run. They make it out just in time as Noah jumps on the Orb, sacrificing himself, buying them time before it explodes, destroying the Monoliths. The destruction of the Monoliths was enough to produce a tear in space-time, causing the team to theorize that this could very well be what destroys the Earth.

The Fear Dimension
Fitz theorizes that this tear in space-time opened what seems to be a Fear Dimension. This was proven when Fitz sent a D.W.A.R.F down to the level where the Monoliths exploded. It was destroyed by a manifestation of Lash, which was a fear of Melinda May. An entire forest, complete with streams and flowers and woodland animals had also manifested in Level 27 of the Lighthouse due to Deke's extreme fear of them. Fitz came up with a solution of temporarily closing the rift using Deke's gravity puck containing Gravitonium. Unfortunately, it required one person to put their life in grave danger as they could encounter their own fears as well as the rest of the team. Coulson immediately volunteers to the protests of everyone else. Fitz even suggests Piper since she betrayed them and was willing to do anything to earn back their trust but Coulson was adamant on going. An argument ensues between Daisy and Coulson with him getting more and more agitated, finding it difficult to breathe. Suddenly, he collapses, alarming Fitz, Daisy and May. Simmons who was caring for the slowly recovering Yo-Yo, was immediately called in to help Coulson and determine what was wrong with him.

Sometime after Coulson regains consciousness, he tasks Deke with a mysterious mission before going into the room to hear what Simmons found out about his condition. Simmons tries her best to keep it together but fails as she tells the group that Coulson is dying. After some time, his body will just give out. Coulson explains that this was the deal he made with Ghost Rider for defeating AIDA. When the Spirit of Vengeance entered his body, it burnt away all the alien substances that was keeping him alive, following his death in The Avengers. Everyone is devastated by this news especially Daisy who angrily asks Coulson why he didn't tell them sooner, weeping in his arms as he comforts her.

Following the heartbreaking news of Coulson's impending death, he still insists on being the one to close the rift but tells them that he fully intends on making it back alive. As Fitz gives him protective gear and instructions on how to close the rift, Coulson tells him to fulfill this other mysterious thing they were talking about. Fitz dismisses it and tells Coulson its just something symbolic and not important at the moment but Coulson reminds him that they need symbols and something to believe in, making Fitz promise to fulfill this mystery task. Coulson then enters the room, ready to close the rift, when he is stopped by a manifestation of Mike Peterson. This anomaly proceeds to try and trick him that the life he led up to this point was a complete lie and it was just his brain firing electrical signals, trying to cope, as he is on the operating table, trying to be revived following his fatal wound inflicted by Loki. Coulson almost falls for it but decides that Mike is not real, resisting him and tries to seal the rift. Rift-Mike violently fights back but the real Mike Peterson aka Deathlok shows up and saves Coulson, defeating other rift anomalies such as Hive, the roaches and Lash, allowing Coulson to safely close the rift for the time being. It turns out Deathlok had shown up because Coulson had tasked Deke with obtaining a few items and reaching out to other S.H.I.E.L.D agents in hiding including Agent Davis who was rescued by Deathlok after he was severely injured during his fight with AIDA. With the rift successfully closed for now, the agents earn a much needed reprieve, and it was time to celebrate.

A Long Expected Marriage
Fitz, Coulson and Deke travel in the elevator down to the 27th floor. It turns out Coulson had tasked Deke with getting items such as alcohol (Zima), wedding rings and Jemma's wedding dress at a pawn shop as well as bringing back the agents in hiding. Fitz asks Coulson what fear manifestations he faced while trying to close the rift but Coulson smiles and figures out that he was stalling because he was nervous. Coulson straightens out Fitz's jacket and assures him that it was going to be great. It is revealed that the promise Fitz made to Coulson was to finally tie the knot with Jemma. Deke seemed amused by Fitz's nervousness but was happy for him nonetheless and opens the elevator door, leading them into a beautiful clearing in the forest. There, they see Jemma in a beautiful lace wedding dress and Fitz makes his way to her, making sure to tell his bride that she looked stunning. She laughs happily at his compliment and gently teases him about Deke being unable to find him a kilt."Fitz. I knew from the moment I saw you, from our first conversation about dielectric polarization, that you'd be in my life for a long time. But I didn't know you would be my life. My heart. My home. We joined this team for adventures and got more than we had hoped. But I can't wait for our next adventure. Building a family together. My love for you grows deeper and always will, no matter where the universe takes us next."

- Jemma Simmons to Leo Fitz, The Real Deal 5x12 Coulson is tasked with officiating the wedding while Daisy holds Jemma's bouquet. May stands behind her, as Mack records the occasion, possibly for Yo-Yo who was still in recovery. Davis, Deathlok, Deke and other agents were also in attendance as Coulson begins the ceremony. He comments that this was a long expected moment everyone knew was coming even before Fitz and Simmons themselves knew, and waiting even one second to do this was testing fate and playing with fire. Coulson then asks if everyone was in favour of this union, to which there was a resounding "aye" and finally declares that it was time for the exchanging of the vows. Daisy wipes tears from her eyes and hands Jemma her vows as she tells Fitz she had to write it down in preparation and begins to read them to him. She tells him that from their first conversation about dielectric polarization all those years ago, she knew he was going to be in her life for a long time but admits she never thought he would be her life, her heart and her home. She also says they joined the team for adventures and got more than they bargained for but confesses that she can't wait for their next adventure which was building a family together. She ends by telling him that her love for him would always grow deeper regardless of where the universe decides to take them next. Fitz smiles at her words and tries to hold back tears, telling her that he was thinking about what to say but words just didn't seem enough to express how he felt about her. He takes her hands in his and tells her that she is perfect, believing that he didn't deserve her at all. He makes sure to let her know that he's aware of being the luckiest man on any planet.Coulson tells them to quickly pass the rings before the forest collapses around them, eliciting a few laughs as Daisy and Mack hand Fitz and Simmons their wedding bands. Deathlok compliments Deke on his choice of wedding rings and Deke tells him he had to find one small enough for Fitz's little boy fingers. As for Jemma's, Deke recalls with a tinge of sadness that it looked exactly like the ring his mother used to wear sometimes, which belonged to his grandmother. It is also shown that General Hale's subordinate, Ramirez, discovers that Deke shared DNA with both Fitz and Simmons, revealing him to be their grandson from the future. Finally, Coulson pronounces Fitz and Simmons husband and wife, and the two share a tender kiss as their friends happily cheer and applaud around them.

Connecting the Pieces
"The steps you take don't need to be big, they just need to take you in the right direction."

- Jemma Simmons, Principia 5x13 The rift, however, had not been completely contained, and began manifesting people's fears again. Coulson, Daisy, May and Mack go on a quest to find the missing boat, The Principia, in the hopes of recovering more Gravitonium. Coulson orders Deke to stay behind and help Fitz find a way to compress it, much to Fitz's chagrin, stating that he isn't a babysitter. Once the rest of the team are gone, Deke finds a baseball and a mitten and excitedly asks Fitz to play catch with him. Fitz is having none of it and tells him he's busy and almost losing his patience. Deke tells Fitz to go visit Simmons and have some post-wedding fun since they just got married and were definitely dying for some alone time. Uncomfortable with these comments, Fitz agrees to play catch with Deke just to shut him up but they are interrupted by the scanners alerting them of more fear anomalies. After Simmons was done caring for Yo-Yo, she joins her husband and Deke in search of the Principia in the oceans, through the scanners. Deke is extremely fascinated by how much water is covering the Earth as he had never seen an ocean and could not comprehend its vastness. He starts asking all sorts of questions about what it could be like down there and if they had ever been to visit. Fitz who was most likely triggered by the memory of his own experience being trapped at the bottom of the ocean, has had enough of Deke and angrily snaps at him to go away as he was giving Fitz a headache. Deke, who was hurt by Fitz's response, blames them for causing Earth's destruction and storms away angrily. Simmons gives Fitz a look and tells him to go easy on Deke as he was going through a hard time as well, being a man out of time. Plus, she was very impressed with his exquisite taste in wedding rings. At this, Fitz smiles and asks her if they'd ever get used to being married, calling her "wife". Simmons laughs and tells him they may never get used to it and adorably calls him "husband". The two share a brief kiss before Simmons asks if they should hyphenate their last names, but Fitz lets her know that "Mr. and Mrs. Simmons-Fitz" would not roll off the tongue so well and sounded a bit awkward. The two laugh as they continue searching for the lost ship. Meanwhile, Deke retreats to the storage rooms looking for more food and marvels at the deliciousness of Twinkies. Suddenly, he sees a manifestation of his mother and is prepared to kill it but she tells him to put down the knife before he hurts himself. Deke, not having it in him to harm her, obeys and lowers his guard. She then expresses her joy at him making friends and comments that the "Daisy girl" is cute and Deke gets flustered and tells his mother to stop as she was embarrassing him. His mother then repeats a quote that she always used to say to him, explaining that her mother used to say it to her. She then ominously warns him that whenever he gets close to someone, they always get taken away. At that moment, a Kree Warrior manifestation stabs her in the chest as she screams and fades away. Deke is completely distraught and fights the warrior, managing to overpower him and kill him. He then sees Jemma running towards him, finding him breathless and on edge and immediately tries to comfort him, apologizing for Fitz's behaviour. Deke proceeds to rant about his life in the future but suddenly realizes something about the Principia and quickly runs to tell Fitz what he figured out. Deke explains to both Fitz and Simmons that the Gravitonium could have been charged during a thunderstorm, creating its own gravitational field. This could have caused The Principia to float up in the sky. Fitz agrees with Deke and immediately tells Coulson about it. The team successfully find the floating boat and with the advice of Deke, manage to safely contain it and make their way back to base. They also retrieve robot arms for Yo-Yo which makes her significantly happy. As Jemma is assisting Yo-Yo, Deke goes over to the med room in order to inform Jemma that the rest of the team was back. However, before he could get her attention, he hears her repeating to Yo-Yo the exact same quote his mother used to say to him when he was younger and is incredibly astonished. He also notices the shard of the Monolith which used to belong to his parents in Jemma's possession and finally connects the pieces that Fitz and Simmons were his grandparents. As they rejoin the rest of the team, Deke is unable to stop staring at Fitz who is uncomfortable and questions him about it. Deke awkwardly asks him if he's wearing a new sweater which does not elicit a response from Fitz. Coulson gives Fitz the Gravitonium to work on and he impatiently calls after Deke to assist him. Deke agrees and follows after Fitz, silently referring to him as "Grandpa".

Psychic Split
Fitz and Simmons began working on a new Gravity Containment Device based on Deke's Gravity Puck to seal the rift. As Fitz was working, he expresses his annoyance at the rift being fear based and asked why it couldn't be a wish or dream dimension instead. The two then talk about what they would wish for, with Fitz stating he would wish for an extra day between Saturday and Sunday. Simmons expresses her desire to have a honeymoon and Fitz smiles at her. As Simmons is grabbing a tool for him, she is suddenly attacked by another fear, taking the form of the astronaut from Maveth. However, another agent saves her as she is thrown back and caught by Fitz. She immediately grabs a gun and shoots the manifestation until it finally disappears. The Fear Anomalies were getting more and more frequent and pretty soon it would start spreading to the town above,

Fitz, Simmons, Daisy and Deke gathered and began brainstorming ideas on how to compress the Gravitonium, with Fitz getting more impatient and agitated because of his lack of sleep and the stress of trying to figure out the problem. He then asks Deke if he had any insight on how his Gravity Puck worked so they could figure out a solution, but Deke was lost in thought, having just figured out that Fitz and Simmons were his grandparents and trying to make sense of it. At Deke's lack of response, Fitz angrily hits the table in order to get his attention, which snaps Deke out of his reverie. However, Deke tells him he didn't exactly know how it worked and Fitz gets more stressed at his response but promises that he will find a solution. They then decide to go through Dr. Franklin Hall's notes about the Gravitonium which could maybe uncover some clues about it. Deke who was staring at them in wonder this entire time, immediately tells them to be careful as he didn't want anything to happen to them. Realizing that what he said was quite weird, he tried backtracking and awkwardly tells them he didn't want anything to happen to their brains, since they were so smart. Jemma thanks Deke but Fitz has lost his patience with him and tries to generate a scathing reply but couldn't bring himself to respond to Deke's apparent stupidity. Instead, he just walks away with Jemma.

Meanwhile, Coulson, May, Piper and Davis take the Zephyr on a separate mission to confront General Hale. Once they capture her, Carl Creel, a recruit of Hale's threatens to blow the Quinjet out of the sky if Coulson doesn't agree to come with her so she can explain the situation. Coulson agrees under the condition that she lets his people go unscathed which she agrees to. He leaves with Hale despite May's protests and tells her it is the only way. This causes him to be unaware of all the damaging things happening back at the Lighthouse.

In the Lighthouse, Deke goes off to find Fitz with the intention of bonding with him and trying to help, saying engineering is in his DNA. However, he notices Fitz working on Sleeper Mechs, telling him it didn't look like he was disabling them and confronts him about it. Fitz then immediately hits Deke on the head with a tool, knocking him out, seemingly revealing himself to be a fear manifestation of The Doctor from The Framework.

Meanwhile the real Fitz is getting more and more agitated and meets Daisy at the control room. He tells her he needs to access the main terminal and roughly pushes her away from the computers, saying that he couldn't find any notes from Dr. Hall and violently hits the computer. Bewildered at Fitz's distress and anxious behaviour, she asks him if he managed to even get any sleep. He snaps at her, saying he had no possible time to even consider getting rest and was spending all his energy trying to solve the problem. Daisy begins to comfort him, reassuringly patting his back and telling him he didn't have to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. They were all there to assist him, even Yo-Yo who was confined to the med room with Mack, had requested to set up a security feed so she could monitor anomalies. Suddenly, they notice cameras at the lower levels of the base turn off and Daisy tells Fitz to take it easy as she goes to check them out. Fitz begins talking to himself, trying to work through the problem when he hears The Doctor's voice right behind him. Fitz immediately falls off his chair in fear as he sees him and tries to get up. His hand begins to shake as it did years ago when he was still trying to recover from his brain trauma. He clutches his head and covers his ears in frustration and horror, telling The Doctor that he could not be there. The Doctor is unfazed by Fitz's breakdown and tells him there's work that needs to be finished and he's there to do what Fitz is unwilling to do. Fitz gets more and more agitated and stammers out that he'll stop whatever it is The Doctor is planning, but The Doctor replies that Fitz could not stop him even if he wanted to as plans were already in motion. At that moment, Fitz hears a gunshot coming from the med bay as Jemma screams his name for help. He backs away from The Doctor and runs towards her cries.

He reaches the med bay and sees Mack hurt on the floor, shot in the leg by a Mech as Yo-Yo and Simmons try to help him. In his panic and fright, Fitz reveals that The Doctor was here, eliciting a feeling of dread from everyone else in the room. Simmons asks him to think what The Doctor could be after and they figure out that he's after Daisy since he would want to complete his work on testing Inhumans from the Framework. Fitz immediately goes to find Daisy as Simmons tends to Mack's leg. Meanwhile, Daisy who was knocked out by a Sleeper Mech finds herself strapped to an operating table with her neck and the Inhuman Control Device exposed. She sees Leopold hovering over her and tells him that he's not the real Fitz and demands to know where Fitz is but The Doctor assures her that he is real and tells her to make herself comfortable as he didn't have too many painkillers. He then tells her that his work helps people which is exactly what he plans to do by restoring her powers. In distress and knowing what her powers could do, she weeps and begs him not to restore them as it could cause the end of the world. However, the Doctor is unrelenting and tells her that conversely, the rift is what could cause Earth's destruction and her powers are the only thing that could compress the Gravitonium to insert into the device and close the rift for good. He proceeds to cut into her neck as she screams in pain.

At the med bay, Simmons sees Mack holding a gun, guarding Yo-Yo and scolds him, telling him to stay off his feet as it could re-aggravate his injury. As she says these words, something clicks in her mind about Fitz and she tells Mack to stay with Yo-Yo, rushing off to find Fitz and Daisy. Fitz who was looking for Daisy, bursts through the room holding her and screams at The Doctor to stop doing what he's doing to her. The Doctor is annoyed at Fitz's interruption and tells him to let him finish but Fitz doesn't listen and tries to comfort Daisy, saying that everything is going to be fine. He proceeds to call The Doctor a monster, telling him that he programmed the robot to attack Mack and Yo-Yo but The Doctor counters this saying if the robot attacked, it was provoked and it was only programmed to keep Mack and the others at bay while he removed Daisy's inhibitor. Fitz is confused and the Doctor explains that her powers are the missing key to manipulating the Gravitonium. Hearing this, Fitz shakes his head, getting more and more perturbed at the situation as he stammers in dismay, trying to get The Doctor to stop. The Doctor mocks him and yells at Fitz, saying that he is weak, but together they can fix the problem. Fitz clutches his head in anguish, trying to get The Doctor's words out of his head, not hearing Daisy asking him, through her tears, who he's talking to. At that instant, Simmons bursts through the room and sees the lone figure of Fitz, holding a scalpel. Daisy begs Simmons to help her and Simmons gently tries to talk Fitz down, telling him to put away the scalpel. Fitz is extremely confused and tells her that it wasn't him, it was The Doctor, but sees that there is no one there except for him. He realizes, full of dread, that it was him all along and wasn't The Doctor that planned everything. His old brain injury had flared up again because of his lack of sleep and the insane amount of stress he had been put through this entire time. His traumatizing ordeal in The Framework had not helped matters and he knew in the back of his mind that Daisy's powers were the only solution to close the rift but didn't have the heart to hurt his friend. All these factors had converged, causing him to manifest The Doctor who took over to get the job done. Simmons tells Fitz they can work all of this out and he only had to let Daisy go but Fitz says there's no turning back as The Doctor had planned for that too. Immediately, a Sleeper Mech comes into the room, with Deke as a hostage and points a gun at Simmons. Fitz tells Simmons that he programmed the Mechs to only keep everyone at bay, not hurt them and rationalizes that he wouldn't have done any of this if he didn't believe it was going to work. Simmons tells him that it could work but destroying the world or potentially paralyzing Daisy are two massive risks. Fitz tells her he hopes that doesn't happen and decides to go through with the procedure. Daisy screams his name and cries, pleading and begging him to stop, telling him he really didn't want to do this. Fitz agrees as he wipes tears off his face but tells her that he has no choice and proceeds to pull the inhibitor from her neck. The sight is so horrific that Jemma clutches Deke's hand for support and almost throws up, as the two are powerless in trying to help Daisy. She screams in agony as the inhibitor is pulled out, telling Fitz she will never forgive him for this. Finally, he releases Daisy who manages to compress the Gravitonium into the device using her powers and closes the rift for good. The Mechs power down and Fitz voluntarily gives himself up to be put into lockup.

Jemma visits Fitz in his cell and asks him how long he's been seeing The Doctor. He says his mind's been through a lot and he's been hearing him since he left The Framework but only just started seeing him. Jemma tries to comfort him saying that it wasn't him and he wasn't in control of his actions but Fitz, still horrified by his actions, tells her that it was him, not some evil doppelganger. He fiddles with his wedding ring as he asks her how Daisy and Mack were doing. Jemma tells him to talk to them and apologize, stating that they will come to forgive him. Fitz is full of self-loathing and tells her that he doesn't deserve forgiveness since he injured Mack and traumatized Daisy. He tells her that the worst part of all this was he still felt it was the right thing to do and says that he doesn't know where they go from here. Jemma, heartbroken, goes off to be alone. Deke finds Jemma in a hallway, weeping silently, and sits down next to her to comfort her. Jemma tells him that Fitz is losing himself and she feels as if she's losing him too. Deke reminds her that she's not losing him and decides it was time to tell her the truth. He begins by telling her little things of what his mother used to tell him about her parents, such as Fitz being complicated and stubborn which elicits a small smile from Jemma. He then tells her things that he couldn't possibly know such as Jemma letting Fitz win arguments sometimes and having to take care of Fitz when he was sick. Jemma seems to get a little uncomfortable with how much he knows but is outright shocked when Deke mentions how much Fitz loves his prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches that only Jemma can make right. She asks him how he knows all those things and he emotionally lets her know that his mother used to tell him about her parents all the time, assuring her that she and Fitz will be alright. He then says the quote his mother always said to him, which she learnt from her mother before her, finally revealing that he is their grandson. Jemma is extremely emotional and overwhelmed by this information and immediately throws up. Sometime later, after May gets back from her mission and is briefed on what happened in the Lighthouse, she and Daisy manage to figure out that General Hale is actually Hydra and both are worried for Coulson. They decide to ask Fitz what to do since he was Hydra in the Framework and could provide them with answers. May tells Fitz to embrace his darkness and help them find Hale so they can rescue Coulson. Fitz manages to deduce that Hale is planning on building a weapon using Gravitonium. He then asks if he could get access to the computers and the lab to try and find out why Hale needed Coulson but Daisy bursts in and tells him there is no way he's leaving his cell. Fitz tells her they needed a way to seal the rift and says he didn't have a choice since Daisy would have never agreed to go through with the procedure to get back her powers. At these words, Daisy quakes Fitz against the wall and he clutches his head in pain as he retreats on the floor towards the wall. Daisy angrily tells him that he did the whole procedure against her choice and says they don't turn on their own people. Fitz then asks her if she wanted him to recount all the times she turned on them, which silences her. Later, Daisy gets the idea of bringing Robin out of hiding to help them find Coulson, even with May's protests. Meanwhile, Simmons and Mack are fitting Yo-Yo with her new cybernetic arms and Mack asks Simmons if she needs to consult Fitz but she dismisses the idea. Mack then tries to comfort her saying Fitz was still a good person in The Framework no matter what he did. He then tells her that Yo-Yo thinks she's invincible because she saw herself alive in the future which Simmons finds extremely interesting considering Fitz's theory that time can't be changed. Simmons later visits Fitz in his cell, bringing him tea. Simmons tells him that she has been thinking about their relationship which worries Fitz for a moment but she tells him to relax as she's confident they will get through this. She then presents him with a tool which he recognizes based on the engraving he made on it when he had his brain injury years ago. Simmons then gives him another tool which was identical to the first and reveals that the second one was actually his tool, telling him that the first one belongs to Deke who got it from his grandfather. Fitz is flabbergasted by this revelation that Deke is their grandson and comments that Deke is the worst, making Simmons laugh, but she tells him she thinks Deke is perfect and asks him if he knows what this means. Fitz is still shocked and a little bit annoyed, telling her that their daughter is going to marry someone horrible if she's going to give birth to Deke of all people. Simmons explains that Deke's existence proves that the two of them live long enough to raise a daughter which means they weren't going to die anytime soon and tells him that they are invincible.

Fanon
The FitzSimmons ship is most likely the most popular ship in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fandom with SkyeWard as the second. Since the start of Season 1, many fans have followed this ship and have wanted them to get together.

In the events of Season 3, many fans were distraught of the introduction of JemmaWill, with many expressing their outrage in the Tumblr tags. However, many fans were overjoyed when they later kissed for the first time.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Leo/Jemma tag on FanFiction.net
 * Leo/Jemma tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR