Like every other morning, the train pulled into the station and chimed as the doors opened. Dreary passengers shuffled on and off, a few with cloth bags tucked under their arms for the holiday shopping they were getting a head start on. It was more crowded than the usual commute this particular morning, but that's because the weather was getting colder. Hats and scarves were adjusted as passengers took their seats or settled into a place to stand. The doors chimed closed again as two women ran to the platform, and at the last moment managed to hop onto the train.

Zoned out commuters edged aside as one of the women, Skye, pushed through and found a safe standing space for the both of them. Jemma followed, casually glancing around at the faces of the people in their car.

JEMMA

Dusting snow from her hair, Jemma shifted her laptop bag to protect it against her body. A cursory survey of her fellow commuters gave her the information she was after, though it was difficult with so many bodies in the way. She grabbed the pole for balance while her friend adjusted her bags, and a wash of disappointment seeped through her morning cheer.

Jemma resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't see him today. It was ridiculous that she had managed to get her hopes up again. What would be accomplished by sighting the handsome commuter? They never spoke or acknowledged each other. He was simply fun to look at. A treat. A trifle. She lifted her chin and re-focused on her roommate who appeared to be ready to launch into a rant.

"So May's put me in charge of this Goddamned Christmas party," Skye huffed. "I have no idea what to make the theme."

Jemma tilted her head and smiled in response to the pure frustration on her friend's face. "Are we even allowed to call it a Christmas Party?"

"What do we call it then? A festive end-of year celebration of cold-weather?" She scoffed. "One: that's too long to fit on the invitations. And two: where's the fun in having a generic winter party? It's Christmas, and I want to celebrate!"

"Well Sanjeet might not appreciate it. Or Mrs. Ecclestein."

"Okay, so we throw some candles and menorahs in there too," Skye shrugged. "We don't have to make it only Christmas. The more the merrier. Who else are we missing?"

"Well there are numerous celebrations surrounding the winter solstice," Jemma noted. "Akela may wish to celebrate Kwanzaa. Jennifer may wish to have Chinese New Year represented. Practically anybody might have particular traditions they wish to see incorporated from their native countries. We could poll the office and see..."

"Or," Skye jumped in before Jemma got too carried away, "we could just do the top five celebrations and call it a theme. Winter Solstice around the world," she offered. "Also, how do you already know more people in the office than me?" Skye shook her head with a grin. "I'm the one that got you the job. You've only been here for a few weeks and you already know everyone."

"Skye, please," Jemma rolled her eyes, smiling. "Just because I pay attention when people introduce themselves doesn't mean I know everybody at the office."

"That's right, you still haven't met that guy in IT yet." The train lurched forward as it came to a halt at the next stop. The two women maneuvered themselves in the commuters' dance of letting passengers exit a crowded car. "I still think you two would hit it off," Skye said, grabbing hold of the pole again. "To be fair, he rarely comes out of his cave to socialize with others."

"Hmm, so you keep saying…" Jemma was already tuned out. This topic came up far too frequently for her liking. Besides, she had taken the opportunity of the mass exodus at the last station to peer around once more for the handsome commuter. Just as she was ready to restart her internal scolding, her eye caught the hint of a clump of curls poking out from behind a book. Her mouth dropped open and she felt a flush of blood rush up her cheeks. There he was. Her heart beat audibly faster. She froze, took a deep breath, and focused all of her attention on appearing cool and casual.

"Found him yet?" Skye asked with a sly grin.

Jemma slid her eyes over innocently. "Hmm?"

"The guy you're always looking for on the train. You just saw him, didn't you?" Skye craned her neck, and Jemma swatted her arm to stop her from turning around.

"Shh, Skye, please! I'm not looking for anybody," she gritted teeth that held her smile in place.

"Right. Nobody that happens to be behind me with his nose in a book?"

"There's not-" Skye shot her a look. Jemma grimaced. "It's not obvious, is it? I'm so terrible at this sort of thing."

"It's fine! Look, you should just go talk to him. Introduce yourself."

"And what would be the purpose? There's barely ten minutes of conversation to be had, and if he happens to be unattached and be of a compatible sexual orientation, I don't know how long I'll be allowed to stay in this country if my Visa doesn't get extended."

"Okay, slow down," Skye said, holding up a hand. "You're not marrying the guy; you're just saying hello. And would you stop worrying about that Visa? I told you, as soon as the funding comes in for the new full-time positions, you're a shoe-in. You'll stop working contract and get the job offer you need to extend your work Visa, easy peasy."

"I wish I shared your enthusiasm about it," Jemma shrugged with a pout, watching the train doors open and close at his usual stop.

"Hey, I'm the one in HR. I have the inside track, so just trust me," Skye reminded her. With a weak smile from Jemma, she flipped her hair and turned around to see her friend's view. "Now which one is he? The guy with the…?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, he just got off," Jemma said quickly. "Next time!"

Skye looked at her false smile, entirely unimpressed. "Well we're the next stop anyways," she frowned. "You know what? I'm doing it. Today, I'm going to make up some excuse to have Fitz and you meet. No more of this moping around over some mystery train guy."

"I really wish you wouldn't," Jemma sighed. "I don't need to meet anybody. I'm perfectly happy on my own," she produced her most cheerful smile.

"Yeah," Skye nodded agreeably. "That's what lonely people say."

FITZ

Fitz rushed into the office with his head down. He was late again. How did this keep happening? This morning he'd left with plenty of time to both account for delays and to get his morning coffee. It was the shoppers. The streets were filled with early Christmas shoppers who would randomly stop in the middle of the street to hem and haw over what to get their loved ones. They had no consideration for people trying to be productive members of society. It was for situations like this that the sidewalks should be divided into lanes.

Fitz jumped as his phone rang in his jacket pocket - right as he passed by May's desk. He cursed himself for forgetting to set it back to vibrate. Melinda May, the head of Human Resources at Shield Security Systems, gave him a sour expression. She looked pointedly at the clock, then back at Fitz. He shot her an apologetic smile as he pulled out his phone and walked quickly down the hall to his corner of the office.

"Mum, hi," he spoke as hushed as he could. "It's really not a good time right now. Just getting in to work," he struggled to untangle himself from his bags while holding onto the phone.

"Not a problem, Leo," his mother's bright voiced chimed on the other end. "Listen, I'm just with Aunt Patricia down at the shopping centre." Fitz had just managed to snake the strap of his messenger bag over his head when it caught an edge of his coffee cup and the phone began to slip from his hands. "We've found me a last-minute deal to America for Christmas!"

Coffee splashed against his chest and the phone clattered to the ground. "Oh for Fuck's sake!" He looked down helplessly, then bent over and picked up the phone from the ground, shaking it off. He could hear his mother's voice before the phone reached his ear.

"-n't be using that filthy language with your mother!" Her voice was simultaneously an octave higher and a guttural bellow. He winced.

"Sorry Mum, no," he tried to cover. "I spilled my coffee is all." He sighed, tucked the phone between his cheek and his shoulder and began looking around his desk for some napkins to get the spill. At his mother's silence, he decided the only tactic was to press on. "A ticket to America is pretty expensive from Glasgow still, isn't it? Sure you can cover it? Not that I wouldn't love to have you and all-"

"Don't be silly," his mother huffed. "You're the one with the big fancy job in America, so it can be your present for me this year, yeah?"

"Mum," he winced, "I keep telling you, I'm only in IT. It's not a big fancy job."

"Mhmm." His mother verbally rolled her eyes. "And why isn't it? You should be running that company, the brains in your head. I don't understand half the things you say, you might as well put it all to some use."

"Mum, it's fine. It's not the right time yet, yeah? Can we drop it?"

His mother paused, as if bracing herself. "Well maybe it should be the right time." He waited. These dramatic pauses were never a good sign. "Leopold, I know I tend to coddle you sometimes, but," she let out a determined breath then plowed forward. "I've been reading up on Millennials and what they call empty nesting syndrome. I think it's time for me to clip your wings and show some hard love. You need to reach your potential, and I'm holding you back by helping you out. So," she said calmly, "I've decided that in the New Year, I'll be stopping sending my care packets."

"Stop sending your care packets…" Fitz repeated. Her meaning dawned on him. "Now hold on just a minute, Mum! New Years is less than a month away! I've still got rent and bills to pay. You need to give me more warning than that."

"I'm sorry son, you'll just have to figure something else out."

"Mum, please, can we just discuss-"

"I'll see you for Christmas, yeah?" His mum cut him off. "Just for a few days. It will be nice to see you. Make sure you're getting enough to eat. There's the bus now. Must go!"

The phone bleeped off, and Fitz stared at the screen blinking 'Call Ended.' The hot coffee was now chilled on his shirt and made him shudder. He let out a long groan.

"Fitz, staff meeting in 30," May stood behind his desk. He jumped a little, not having heard her approach. She had a stern look on her face.

Fitz opened and shut his mouth, trying to think of something to say. He had successfully avoided staff meetings for the last six months, and was not keen on breaking his record, especially right now. Typically, they had nothing to do with him anyways. All important news would trickle down through the email threads sent afterwards. But here was May. She had already seen him come in late, and he was afraid of what she would do if he poked the dragon one too many times in a single hour. There was no way out of it this time. He nodded grimly. She stared at him then turned and walked back down the hallway.

Coffee. It was a necessity this morning. Though now he had to go for the office coffee cart, he realized. It was not a pleasant prospect. With its central location in the office and stale-tasting coffee beans, the coffee cart coffee was by far inferior to the coffee he had just lost. The coffee he sought out every morning by getting off the train a whole two stops early to buy. He sighed. Still, it was better than nothing.

Fitz slunk down the hall. When he caught sight of a young woman standing at the coffee cart, he almost immediately decided to turn back and avoid the whole uncomfortable exchange of small-talk. It was his aching head that reminded him a coffee was a requirement this morning, despite the deterrents. He waited patiently for her to finish with the cream, then reached in behind her, hoping to just grab his coffee and head back to his desk quickly.

"Oh!" She jumped as he picked up the carton.

"Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you like that," he mumbled.

"Not to worry, I've got a strong heart," she brought a hand to her chest, and smiled at him. His eyes met hers for a brief instant, and the world went suddenly silent. She quickly glanced back down at her mug, stirring the contents. Despite his comfortable chair calling for him, he found himself intrigued.

"Hey, uh, do we know each other?" He asked before she could walk away. "You look awfully familiar…"

"Well, I work just round the corner in administration. Second week."

He considered. "Can't be it. I don't know anyone here. Never really leave my end of the office."

"I think maybe- that is, I think I've seen you on the train a few times," she continued to stare at her mug. "The green line? Maybe that's where we've seen each other."

"Oh yeah, must be it then," Fitz nodded slowly. Was that a blush? It suited her. "I come in from Main Street area."

"Yeah, I'm in that neighborhood too," she grinned, meeting his eyes again. "Maybe a bit south though."

"Well, small world." They both stood still, neither moving for a solid minute. He tried desperately to think of something else to say, but his brain hadn't caught up to what was happening yet.

Finally, she shifted her feet and gave him another quick smile. "Yeah. So. See you on the train later maybe?" She hesitated for a moment, then gave a tiny wave and took a step back down the hallway with her mug. All he could do was nod and smile with one hand on his waist, the other holding his coffee. It was only when she disappeared around the corner that he realized she couldn't hear or see his response as she walked away. Idiot!

JEMMA

Skye: (10:08) I'm saving you a seat at the staff meeting in 20. Front row, centre.

Jemma: (10:08) Ok. See you there.

Skye: (10:09) How's your big presentation coming? Think it'll be ready for next week?

Jemma: (10:12) It will be ready. My computer's being particularly slow right now though. :(

Skye: (10:12) Buggy laptops suck :(

(10:12) Hopefully it gets better soon

(10:12) Don't want it to screw up your big presentation

(10:12) You should get IT to have a look.

Jemma: (10:17) Maybe. I'm going to try a few more things then concede defeat.

Skye: (10:17) Ask for Fitz…

Jemma: (10:21) This isn't going to turn into one of your schemes is it?

(10:22) …?

Skye: (10:24) Ask for Fitz…

Jemma rolled her eyes and switched her phone to silent. The constant buzzing was pulling her attention from her lack of progress. She had closed most of the background programs, yet the computer still managed to take far too long on the most menial of tasks. Saving a document should not take this long.

Everything was riding on this presentation she was preparing. It had to go perfectly so that she impressed the board. Impressing the board would get her the promotion. Getting the promotion would extend her work Visa. Extending her work Visa meant she could stay in the country instead of being sent home to her parents with nothing to show for her grand little adventure in America. To say she was nervous was an understatement.

Despite her numerous qualifications and abilities, presentations were never her greatest skill. Therefore, Jemma was attempting to get the slides and information prepared ahead of time so that she could spend the rest of the week practicing and preparing with Skye at their shared flat. Perhaps she would pepper some silly quips and jokes in to keep the audience on their toes. On the bright side, the slides were nearly complete. If her computer hadn't suddenly decided to turn to molasses, she would be able to start preparations tonight. A part of her wanted to skip the staff-meeting so that she could continue to attempt to fix it and speed up the process.

Jemma sighed and looked at the clock. She wouldn't miss the staff meeting. Skye had been hinting at a big announcement all week, and though she would never admit it aloud, she loved going to meetings like this. They made sure that everybody was on the same page and knew their expectations. Order and organization were what companies and their employees needed. Besides, the board would be there, and she intended to observe their potential receptibility to presentations. It didn't hurt that a certain person from the morning commute might also be there…

Jemma leaned forward in her chair and took a sip from her mug as the mouse continued to spin on the computer screen. How strange was it that the mystery train man actually worked in her office? She couldn't believe she'd forgotten to ask his name. How had she never seen him here? She was quite certain he had never got off the train at their stop. She would have remembered that. It was actually all a bit thrilling. Now she had reason enough to speak to him on the train. Now she had yet another reason to get this promotion and stay at Shield Security Systems.

Jemma looked at her watch, then stood. She was cutting it close. She walked down the hallway and into the big conference room at the end of the hall. She took a moment to look around the room. There was Skye with her saved seat near the front. The train guy wasn't there yet, so she walked over and sat next to her friend.

"How's the computer?" Skye whispered.

Jemma frowned and gave her the thumbs-down.

"That sucks. You should really just send it down to-"

"Alright, if everyone's here," Coulson stood at the front of the room. There was a squeak at the door as a last-minute addition snuck into the room. Everyone's heads turned to see the curly-haired man try to duck in unnoticed. Jemma tried to hide her smile. He inched around the side of the room and finally settled against the wall, realizing there were no seats left. She cast a sideways glance at him, just as his eyes slipped away from her with a sheepish grin.

"I'm going to turn this over to Skye to get started," Coulson announced. The young woman bounced up immediately, taking control of the room with pleasure.

"As some of you may know, the end of the year is coming up," Skye began. "Which means it's time for our annual Shield Security Systems company party!" There was rustling in the audience which Skye took for the audience's enthusiasm. "I've already signed everyone up for Secret Santa, so no need to put your names in a ballot. It's all automated online this year, so you'll get an email with who your giftee is after the meeting." There were a few audible groans, but Skye chose to ignore them. "Aim for about a $20 gift," she gestured, "and I think that's…" May caught her eye before she could wrap up. "Oh, right," she continued. "Guys, please nothing inappropriate this year," she shook her finger at the room. "The Bieber doll from last year was funny, but we can all agree that getting Woody the Cowboy involved made things spiral out of control pretty fast." There were chuckles behind Jemma, and May closed her eyes, subtly shaking her head. "And I think that's all from me!" Skye took a bow, then hopped back over to her seat next to Jemma.

"Thanks for that Skye," Coulson said, doing his best to cover his grin at the memory of Bieber and Woody. He clapped his hands together and looked around at his audience. "Now for the big news." The room hushed almost instantly. "I'm sure a lot of you have been hearing rumors, and it's finally my privilege to let you all in on the good news," Coulson paused for dramatic effect. Jemma looked at her friend with confusion, but Skye simply raised her eyebrows and nodded towards the front slyly. Coulson continued. "In the new year, our company will be merging with another top security firm," he said. "Alliance."

The tension in the room deflated like a small leak in a tire. A small murmur wafted through the air. It wasn't entirely negative, but it wasn't as positive as Coulson clearly had hoped. He held his hands out and kept the smile plastered on his face. "Now I don't want anyone to be afraid of what's to come," he said. "There will obviously be shifts in the workplace, but we've been working with the team at Alliance and are doing everything we can to make sure this merger is as smooth and painless as possible for all involved."

Jemma balked. No wonder her presentation had been fast-tracked to before the holidays. She was surprised she wasn't told a little sooner, but it all made more sense if they were merging companies. Alliance, while bigger, didn't have quite the same level of resources that Shield Security Systems did. She was being asked to explain how their systems worked, and how they could optimize everything to keep up with coming trends in security measures. As a consultant, it was a great job. But if a merger was happening, she had the opportunity to make herself indispensable.

The importance of Jemma's presentation was now all the more apparent. She needed to go over the slides one last time, and she couldn't do that while it was so slow. She could no longer sit idly by and wait for things to resolve themselves. A professional needed to fix her laptop.

FITZ

"You know what this means though, right?" Trip asked, spinning around in his chair.

"What?"

"Layoffs. Right before Christmas."

Fitz shook his head. "Coulson wouldn't do that," he clicked and opened his email again to go over the written announcement. It was much the same as was in the meeting. More proof that he didn't need to attend these things.

"Maybe Coulson wouldn't," Trip leaned back. "But what about these Alliance guys? Shield's been getting smaller and smaller, so no wonder we've had to merge with Alliance. They're probably going to want to stick with the people they know. And I hear their CEO Gonzales is a real hard-ass."

"I really doubt it will affect our department though," Fitz shrugged.

"Yeah, you think what you like, Fitz," Trip shook his head. "I just know I'm going to start kissing as much ass as I can to keep my job."

"But isn't their IT division behind?" Fitz turned. "We've got far more advanced systems and a more qualified team. There's no way they're going to get rid of us."

"I don't know," Trip had already turned back around and was looking at his own computer again. "Hey, did you check your email?"

"It's open. Why?"

"Who'd you get for Secret Santa?"

"Do we really have to do this?" Fitz grumbled. "This is the problem with automated technology right here. Last year all I had to do was not show up and no one included me in these ridiculous office social things."

"Oh stop being such a Grinch," Trip chuckled. "Who'd you get?"

Fitz removed the email from his junk folder and opened it to humour his friend. "Someone named Simmons. Jemma Simmons. Never heard of her." He closed the email again and turned away.

"Oh Simmons, yeah," Trip thought aloud. "She's new. I think she's friends with Skye."

Fitz shrugged. "Hopefully she likes gift-cards. With my Mum coming, I won't have time to find a gift for some stranger. Honestly, why do they sign us up for this rubbish? We should have the choice of opting out."

"You know, I think this will be good for you, Fitz," Trip laughed aloud.

A soft knock on the side of the wall made them both stop what they were doing. No one ever came down here. "Fitz? Is there a Fitz here?" a woman's voice twittered. Fitz sat up straighter. The voice was uncannily familiar. It couldn't be.

"Yeah, here, Fitz." He moved quickly to the front counter, bumping his leg on his desk. "I mean, that's me," he managed. There she was, the girl from the coffee cart, standing holding onto a laptop. She grinned her thousand-watt smile when she saw him, and he nearly fell back down.

"We meet again!" She beamed. "It seems the world keeps getting smaller and smaller."

"Apparently," he agreed, feeling his brain power screech to an inconvenient halt in her presence. It was pretty unnerving, actually.

"So," she cleared her throat, "I'm here because I'm actually having some trouble with my laptop and was told Fitz was the person to ask."

He nodded dumbly before one of the gears in his head graciously kicked in. He reached and grabbed the laptop from her, clearing space on the counter and opening it up. "You didn't have to come all the way down here, you know. We usually go to you."

"Sorry, I wasn't sure what the protocol was," she furrowed her eyebrows in concern. He had to look away. She was far too mesmerizing.

"Not a bother," he dismissed her concern with the wave of his hand. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, it's just being a bit slow," she explained, leaning in behind him as the computer continued its sluggish attempt to load her slides. "Not a bit, actually. Far too slow. I have a big presentation next week for the board, and I need it to run smoothly. Do you think you could fix it?"

"Yeah, 'course. What I'm here for," he said cheerfully, doing his best not to let the sweet scent of her perfume overwhelm his brain. "First things first. Have you tried-"

"Turning it off and on again?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, of course that's the first thing I tried, but it didn't seem to help any. Just took a half hour to reboot."

He exhaled. "Odd. Did you try going through your hard-"

"Hard drive? Yes." She stepped away from the counter and began pacing back and forth. He wasn't sure if the distance was helping his brain work any better. "There's more than enough disk space and RAM that it shouldn't be running so slowly. I also checked the settings on the drive to see if there were any issues, but everything seems to be working fine. Aside from running like molasses, the computer is in perfect working condition," she shrugged helplessly and stopped behind him again. "I mean, that I could tell. But of course I'm no expert."

"You haven't, ah, contracted a virus, have you?" She glared at him. "Of course you haven't. Sounds like you have enough smarts to avoid that particular trap…" Fitz breathed. "Alright. I'll take a look. I'll send you an update at the end of the day."

"Thank you so much. Really," the coffee-cart girl smiled with relief. "If at all possible, I'll need it back for Monday. Presentation's next week, so I'll need time to prepare. You know how it is."

"Sure. Absolutely," Fitz nodded. "It shouldn't take that long. It's a fairly simple set of diagnostics to see what's really wrong with it, and you've already done half my job." He looked down at his own computer and started to input the ticket into the system. "What's, ah… that is, who do I send the computer to when it's done?"

"Right! Sorry, I'm Jemma. Jemma Simmons." She smiled. He simply blinked at her for a moment. She waited for further response. When it became clear she wouldn't get any, she looked over the counter uncomfortably, then turned and walked back down the hall.

Fitz stared at the space where she had just left. Jemma Simmons. Of course she was.

Trip slowly rolled his chair over and stopped next to his friend. "What was that?"

"Hmm?" Fitz asked, pressing a few keys on the computer.

"You and her. I'm sensing there's something…?"

"Will you shut it? I just met her," he sighed and held the off button to shut the laptop down. "Not everything has to have romantic undertones you know. Two people can just meet and be friendly." The screen went blank and he pressed the button again to reboot it.

"No, you're right, that's absolutely true," the other man held his hands up in defeat.

"Thank you."

"But not here," Trip winked.

Fitz rolled his eyes, then turned back to the screen that had developed a blue glow. "Oh shite-" his eyes suddenly went wide. "No, no. Nonono!"

"What? What is it?"

Fitz stared white-faced at the screen in front of him. He pounded desperately at a chain of key commands but his heart froze for ten heart-wrenching seconds. Deep down he knew there was nothing he could do.

"Fitz?!"

The screen glinted in his eyes, making them a more vibrant shade of blue. It was every IT person's worst nightmare: the blue screen of death.

"It's gone," he stammered. "The laptop. It's dead."