The atmosphere of the restaurant was romantic to say the least. The two women sat across from each other, spending the evening talking and laughing. Lily gazed lovingly at Jemma, who looked enchanting in the black dress. Her wavy auburn hair was braided and pinned up nicely, with choice strands falling down, framing her face. Her pink lips were now painted red as Jemma used this as an opportunity to apply makeup. Her brown eyes sparkled in the light of the candles that decorated the middle of their table. Jemma knew that Lily was staring at her, but being her awkward self, chose to pretend that she didn't notice. Jemma stabbed her salad with her fork, as she told a story about a co-worker of hers from the local newspaper that she wrote for.

"And I told Tom, you remember Tom; tall, going bald. Well, I said, 'Tom, you can explain that template to Kathy 100 times, she's still—'"

"You're so beautiful." Jemma blushed at Lily's words and her light brown eyes looked up from her salad to star back into Lily's striking blue ones. As they stared at each other, Jemma's face reddened and she started to sweat from the heat in her face. Lily smiled at her wife's awkwardness as her left hand abandoned her food and landed gently on Jemma's free hand. Almost on instinct, Jemma intertwined her fingers with Lily's. Despite the weird awkwardness of showing displays of affection in public, Jemma smiled at Lily. It was a small smile, but it was genuine and displayed every ounce of love that she had in her heart for the woman sitting across from her.

"I love you so much," Jemma said as she brought their hands up and placed a delicate kiss on Lily's hand. They both forgot about their food in front of them. Lily's smile grew larger as did Jemma's. Jemma was thankful for this nice night out with Lily. Oftentimes Lily's job as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and part-time member of the Avengers meant that Jemma was sitting alone in their apartment, the only company being Jemma's cat, Griffon.

Griffon was a gift for Jemma from her parents the day she graduated college and proceeded to move to New York to work on her writing. Her parents knew that she hated being alone, so Griffon acted as a roommate until she met Lily after the Battle of New York in 2012. While Jemma loved Griffon, Lily did not, and her and the jealous feline often had a lot of disputes. But, because Lily loved Jemma and couldn't bear to make her choose between her or her cat, decided to tolerate the little furry asshole, and Griffon did the same, as if they had an unspoken agreement. But, whenever Jemma wasn't in the apartment, Lily and Griffon were free to get on each other's nerves.

After the two women finished their dinner and split a dessert (even though Lily was full, she knew that Jemma had a weakness for sweets), they left the nice restaurant, hand in hand and smiles on both their faces.

"Do you want to drive home or do you want to take a walk with me?" Lily asked as they walked to the car. Their apartment wasn't too far from the restaurant, so she wasn't too worried about leaving the car, and there was a large park at the end of the block.

"How about we drive home, change into something more comfortable, and then we can go for a walk?" Jemma offered, still smiling. Lily nodded her head and unlocked the car doors.

The cool spring New York air blew, caressing the two women, but didn't make them uncomfortable. The park was empty, save a few other couples who also spent their evening sitting and walking with their significant other. The two women sat together, their hands in their familiar embrace, on one of the many metal benches in the park. The sun had gone down hours ago, and the only light that illuminated the park were its streetlights. Jemma sat with her head resting against Lily's shoulder; the one good thing about being short. Her eyes were closed as she listened to Lily's soft voice as she hummed a little tune. Lily looked down at Jemma's dark hair. She could faintly see the smile that decorated her freckled face as she sat against her. She leaned down, trying not to disturb her, and placed a kiss on her head. Jemma's smile grew, but her eyes remained closed.

Suddenly, Lily stopped humming, as if the song had ended, and the only sounds to fill Jemma's ears were the nightly sounds of active bugs and the faint giggles and conversations of other couples. Jemma's eyes opened as she removed her head from Lily's shoulder. The spot on Lily's shoulder where Jemma's head had been resting felt cold and Lily shuddered slightly at the lack of contact. She looked down at Jemma to find her looking up at her. Confusion and a little knowing was painted on her face.

"What's wrong?" A simple question that didn't have a simple answer. Lily sighed but her gaze shifted from Jemma to the empty space in front of them. She didn't answer right away, mostly because she didn't want to, but also because she didn't know how to proceed with an answer. She knew what she needed to say, she just didn't know how to say it without hurting Jemma.

"Lil? What's wrong? I know something's bothering you." Jemma tried again, desperately trying to get her love to answer her. Worry filled her and started making her anxious. She was already suspecting the worst, that was her go to whenever something serious was happening. Lily sighed again, knowing that she had to get this out before she left.

"Okay. I need you to listen carefully and to wait until I'm finished before you start to freak out. Okay?"
"Okay," Jemma said hesitantly. She was already freaking out.

"While we were at dinner, I got a message from Nat. Apparently there's some trouble happening in Sokovia, and they need my help."
"What kind of trouble?" Jemma asked. She was confused. Surely it couldn't be that bad that the Avengers couldn't handle it. Why did they need Lily?

"Nat told me that an evil robot named Ultron has planned to destroy humanity, and Sokovia is his base of operation. They need extra muscle to stop him, so they called me in. I'm sorry, love. But I have to go. I'm sorry." Lily tried to avoid Jemma's gaze. She knew how much it hurt the young woman whenever she left, especially when she left with the Avengers. She knew that Jemma always spent her waking hours worrying about her whenever she was away. She waited for Jemma to say something, anything. She just wanted to hear her voice, but Jemma didn't say anything. The gears in her head were turning fast as she processed what Lily had said. After a while, Jemma spoke.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"Early or late?"

"Late. I begged Nat for some more time with you," Lily knew that her request was selfish considering the thousands of lives at stake, but in that moment, Lily didn't care about them. As cliché as it sounded, she only cared about the young woman sitting beside her on a cold metal bench. Jemma just nodded, not saying a word. "I'm so sorry, love. I know it's last minute, and if I knew ahead of time I would've told you sooner. I promise I'll make it up to you when I come back. I'll spend all my time with you. We'll have date night every night. I'll cash in all my vacation days and we'll do nothing but stay in bed eating pizza and watching cheesy romantic comedies. We'll—"

Lily's panicked rambling was interrupted by Jemma placing a soft but passionate kiss on her lips. When she pulled away, Lily found that Jemma was now sitting on her lap, staring right into her bright blue eyes. A mix of pride, sadness, and fear swam in Jemma's brown ones.

"I am so proud of you," she said, as her hands caressed Lily's face in an attempt to calm her down. Jemma smiled softly, trying to mask her fear and sadness. "You are the bravest woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. You are a hero, and I couldn't be prouder of you. I know you worry about upsetting me whenever you have to leave, but please, for my sake, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm always fine. I know you'll come back; you always do."

Jemma placed another kiss on Lily's lips before embracing her. Lily couldn't help the tears that fell from her blue eyes onto Jemma's light sweater. Jemma, who nuzzled her face into the crook of Lily's neck, blinked the tears that threatened to spill away. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to cry. I'm not going to cry.

"There's something else," Lily started, wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks before pulling out of the hug. "I talked with Maria and Nat and had them help me set something up. It's meant to be...I guess a life insurance policy. Ever since New York, I've been saving up little by little just in case something happened. Maria has been keeping it safe and locked up with specific instructions on what to do with it. God forbid if I should...you know...—"

"That's not going to happen." Jemma said, a tear slipping down her cheek. She couldn't bear the thought of losing Lily, and she certainly didn't want to hear about it being a very real possibility.

"It can happen, Jemma. There is a huge possibility that I will go on a mission whether with the Avengers or as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and I don't come back. Do you have any idea how selfish it would be for me to leave you without some sort of plan in place? That's all this is; a plan. I'm not planning on leaving you for a long time, love, but we both need to face the fact that we don't always get to choose how much time we get together. I told Maria that if something were to happen to me on a mission, that she would give you the money. That way, you'll be taken care of and won't have to worry about supporting yourself." Jemma nodded, taking in this information and processing it. Realization suddenly dawned on Jemma: Lily has been secretly preparing for her death since 2012. How did I not notice this during the three years that we've been together? Surely there had to be some signs?

She felt horrible that her wife of two of those three years had been keeping this all to herself for fear of hurting Jemma. She beat herself up about it. How could she be so stupid and blind to not see her lover hurting over the thought of her possible untimely death? Once again she wrapped her arms around Lily, except this hug was different. She knew that her wife felt horrible about this and didn't want to break down in front of her. Like always, Lily was bottling up her emotions, which always got on Jemma's nerves. This hug was soft and comforting. This time it was Lily who buried her face into Jemma's neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her freshly washed hair. This time Jemma sat in Lily's lap and whispered kind and gentle things in her ear to soothe her. This time Lily didn't even try to hold in her sobs.

"I know you're expecting me to tell you not to go," Jemma started, filled with a sudden burst of confidence and wisdom. "That the rest of the Avengers can handle this without you. That you're needed here with me. I think you might even want me to say that, but I won't. I'm not going to get in the way of you and your dream job, no matter how worried I am about you. You worked hard to get to where you are now, and you worked even harder to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. They need you. You've been given a great gift, and you need to use your powers to help others. Be worthy of them."

○○○

The rest of the night went uneventful, which pleased both women as they laid with each other in bed watching old reruns of Parks and Recreation, their compromise. Griffon had made sure there was room for him too, sitting curled up in a little ball of orange fur on Jemma's lap, purring softly. Lily's left arm was draped around Jemma's body, resting comfortably on her left shoulder, her hand playing with her long hair. Jemma's head was once again leaning on Lily's shoulder, and her right hand rested on Lily's knee. Her left hand was busy petting Griffon. Other than the sound of the TV, the only sound throughout the entire apartment was the occasional laughter of the two women brought on by the show.

BRRRRINNNNGGG... the loud ring of Lily's phone interrupted the quiet atmosphere of the room, almost breaking the mood. Both Lily and Jemma's head moved to Lily's phone sitting charging on her bedside table. Griffon's head snapped up, startled by the sudden noise, and as if he knew that it was Lily's fault sent what looked like a glare her way before putting his head back down, trying to go back to sleep. Lily sighed and looked over at Jemma, mouthing an apology, and picked up her phone looking at the caller ID. Upon seeing the name of the person calling her, Lily tensed. Jemma noticed her sudden changed and grabbed the TV remote, pausing the show.

"Who is it?" she asked in a whisper, as if the unknown person on the line could hear her even though Lily hadn't picked up yet. Lily didn't answer her though and accepted the call.

"Hey Nat." Jemma's heart beat faster at hearing who was on the other line. Fear coursed through her as she looked at Lily's rigid form. Jemma sat up, leaning her back on the headboard and stared at Lily as she took the call from Natasha Romanoff.

Jemma always had a sort of fear of the ex-assassin. She had only met her a handful of times, but she knew a lot about her thanks to Lily who had practically grown up with her. She knew that this call was important and would pertain to the mission of defeating this Ultron. Jemma knew that Natasha would never let anything happen to Lily, not just for Jemma's sake but for her own as she was very fond of the young woman and thought of her as a sister, but anything can happen during a mission.

"Yeah I can be ready by then. Yeah, okay. Have him text, not call me when the jet gets here. I don't want him disturbing Jemma. Yeah...okay...okay...yeah I'll be ready. Okay, bye Nat." Lily tossed her phone towards the end of the bed and sighed. She leaned her head back against the headboard and ran both her hands through her hair in frustration. While she loved her job and the people she worked with and worked extremely hard to get to where she was, they managed to piss her off a lot. She loved Natasha and Maria like family, hell they might as well be family, but sometimes the shit they pulled drove her up the wall.

"What? What is it? What did Nat say?" Jemma leaned closer to her wife, causing Griffon to move from his comfy spot, and caressed her cheek. Lily sighed and looked into Jemma's eyes. She's gonna hate me.

"She said that the problem has escalated. Ultron plans to enact his decimation sooner than they thought, and they need me now rather than tomorrow. I'm so sorry, but I have to go now." Lily could almost feel Jemma's heart break at hearing that she wouldn't have one more day with her, but minutes. Despite her own pain, however, Jemma put up a front, and gave a little smile, though her eyes screamed sadness.

"Then I guess you better get ready." Lily placed a light kiss on Jemma's forehead before getting up out of the bed and going into the closet. She pulled out a black skin-tight uniform, similar to that of Natasha's, and laid it on the bed, smoothing it out. Despite having "superpowers", she refused to wear a brightly colored outfit that made her look like she had just stepped foot out of a comic book. She wanted her enemies and her co-workers to take her and her abilities seriously, so she decided to go the way of the Black Widow and commissioned the black suit.

As she was readying herself, Lily felt the room spin. The colors she saw became brighter and more vibrant and she felt she was going to be sick. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest, and she felt an intense pressure building up in her mind. Jemma's voice of concern distorted until all Lily heard was a loud monotonous tone. Somehow she had ended up on the floor, her back leaning against the side of bed. She couldn't focus on anything as the familiar scene of her bedroom changed to the outdoors. As her vision cleared and the colors dulled, Lily tried to take in her surroundings and identify her location. Getting visions wasn't anything that was new to her or to Jemma, but Lily couldn't control when she got them or what she would see. And whenever she was lucky enough to receive a vision it was always of a brief instance that often didn't provide any useful information.

The outdoor landscape didn't look familiar to Lily and neither did the person standing beside her. She wasn't an Avenger or an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., she wasn't anyone that Lily recognized. The girl had long brown hair and green eyes mixed with grey and was dressed in dark boots with a black dress and a red leather jacket. Lily was still having trouble focusing as she stared at the young girl who looked to be in her late teens. Before she could even talk to the girl, the building besides them both collapsed.

Dust and debrisfilled her vision, but not the girl. Lily couldn't move, she was frozenwherever she was knowing that this young girl was going to die. That's how mostof her visions went; she would see someone's death or the destruction ofsomething. But for some reason, her heart broke for this girl. Maybe it wasbecause of her age. Maybe it was because of the fear in her grey/green eyes. Ormaybe it was because somehow this young girl reminded Lily of Jemma. But hervision didn't care because Lily was catapulted out of the vision, and the outdoorlandscape faded to reveal the familiar bedroom once again.