A Birthday Wish,
Written by WickedSong.
Disclaimer/Note: I do not own AoS. So this is for Tiff because it's her birthday today and I really wanted to make/write something for her because she's the cutest and you should all go wish her some birthday love! :) This is just a kind of quickly put together oneshot featuring our two favourite science nerds and a birthday (I hope it's not completely terrible), because I like to be themed. Hope you like this, Tiff, and I hope you have a nice day and that the next year (and beyond) is good to you! 3
Leo Fitz celebrates his twenty-fifth birthday on a flying circus he never really wanted to be a part of in the first place.
He thought that the fact they were constantly on the move, constantly on the search for things new and alien and constantly risking their lives for said new and alien things, would mean it would slip past unnoticed this year. He's another year older and he doesn't really feel he has to broadcast it.
Of course, that would mean underestimating Simmons. He knows by now he shouldn't do that. After all, she does excel at preparation.
The banner on the door of his bunk is the first sign that she was in here while he was sleeping. The other sign is in the shape of the monkey lying at the end of his bed that wasn't there when he went to sleep. Not a real monkey of course. Director Fury wouldn't even let them have a fish tank (and he and Simmons have long argued the pros and cons of having an actual monkey in the lab with them). It's a cuddly monkey – it reminds him of the one he used to be unable to sleep without as a child – with a permanent smile on his face.
There's no pressing crisis today and so the day is spent on the plane, flying towards their next destination – wherever Coulson may decide that is. Simmons has obviously filled the rest of the team in on what the day is and so when he exits his bunk to a chorus of Happy Birthday led by a very enthusiastic Jemma and Skye (backed by a less enthusiastic Coulson, Ward and May) he's both touched and slightly embarrassed by the effort.
Back home his mother had doted on his birthday. She had always wanted it to be the most special day for him and every one was filled with memories of the two of them. He hadn't had many friends (any friends really) and so he hadn't had many parties. He had some extended family who would visit when he was younger but as time got on that seemed to occur less and less. Before he knew it he was off to university; away from his mother and his home.
His first birthday at the Academy had fallen shortly after his first year had started and, as he had grown accustomed to during his time at university; he celebrated alone with his blueprints and designs in a dimly lit dorm room.
And then Simmons had happened. Suddenly he wasn't alone anymore. She was there for every birthday; even the ones he got to spend at home in Scotland. By his side the whole damn time.
She stands there now, in front of him with everyone else, holding a birthday cake and smiling at him with the purest joy. It's the kind of smile he knows she reserves for her great breakthroughs and he feels happy that he's managed to elicit that from her in some small way. He's grateful that she's always been there; smiling along while he walks beside her, just happy to feel some of that glow. But in a way it's more than grateful; he's glad because he can't remember a time she wasn't beside him and he can't imagine a time she won't be.
"Make a wish, Fitz," she says to him, while Skye laughs in the background. Fitz looks up and sees that even May is cracking a small smile his way.
He thinks for a second, shakes his head almost stupidly, but then blows the candles out anyway. They cheer for him, and he meets Simmons' smile with one of his own.
She'll ask him later what he wished for (even if she doesn't believe in the actual idea of wishes and magic – especially from candles on a birthday cake of all places) and he'll refuse to tell her.
"You really believe it won't come true if you tell me, Fitz?" Her response will be sceptical; the same as always.
He'll shake his head. He doesn't really believe in birthday candles either.
He wishes for the same thing every year anyway; to just have Jemma in his life and in his world for the year to come.