Basic new fandom introduction: Hi, I'm bluecinderella4 and this is my first fic in a Marvel related fandom (though I've written a good chunk of fics from shows you probably don't care about). I've noticed when I do write these fics I do try to be funny (key word try); however, I am mostly a hopeless romantic so you can always expect something romantic in my stories to please the other lovers of love.

For those of you who have never read my previous work (probably all of you) I feel most comfortable ripping off movies or TV episodes and fitting it to the canon of the current fandom. For this story I'm kinda doin' that, but not a specific episode. I'll often rip off popular clichés too (from TV and movies). And feedback is important so if something isn't canon, if someone doesn't seem in character, if anything feels off, or if you want to point out a reference please don't hesitate to let me know because as a fellow fan and people pleaser, I really do care- and as a perfectionist I'll fix it til it's right.

Okay so basic plot of this fic: Following the events of 'FZZT', Fitz realizes he has to say or do something to let Simmons know how much she truly means to him; but he's too much of a chicken to tell her to her face so he decides to write a love letter…

…and that's where the story really begins.

Skye usually slept in when it was a lazy day, but following yesterday's events she found herself waking up earlier than usual. "Ugh," she glanced at the nearby alarm clock. "Eight A.M.? Seriously?" Groaning, she got out of bed, got dressed (skipping her usual morning shower), and left her bunk to do something she wouldn't normally do. She headed down the hall knowing the morning routine: Coulson would be in his office, May would be flying the plane, Ward would be in the workout area, and Fitz and Simmons would be in the lab working on some science experiment while Skye slept in until nearly ten (the latest Coulson permitted her to sleep til).

This particular morning, however, the routine was thrown off when Skye noticed something peculiar en route to the lab. Sitting in the lounge looking over some notes was Simmons; or more specifically, Simmons without Fitz.

Simmons seemed to have sensed Skye's presence because she looked up from her notes and offered her a warm smile. "Good morning Skye."

"Hi," with confused hesitation, Skye took a seat across from Simmons. "Shouldn't you be in the lab doing some sciency stuff with Fitz?" She looked around for him. "Where is Fitz anyway?"

"Fitz is in the lab."

"And you're not?"

"Fitz has reserved the lab for himself today."

"Um…okay, I didn't know that. You guys can reserve the lab for just one of you? Like, you know, without the other person."

"Of course we can. You know, Fitz and I don't always do everything together. We do work on our own solo projects from time to time."

"What could he be working on without you?"

"I don't know." After a beat, Simmons sighed.

"You alright?" Skye asked with concern for her friend.

"I'm worried about him."

"Fitz? Why should you be worried about him? Okay, wow, that sounded kinda mean but seriously, why are you? We almost lost you yesterday Jemma, not him."

"I can tell he's been up all night, the poor thing. He's wearing the same clothes, it looks like he was pulling at his hair repeatedly, and his workspace is a total mess. Whatever he's working on is important and he needs help with it."

"But not yours?" Simmons shook her head no. "Why?"

Jemma shrugged. "Maybe I've done something to upset him."

"Upset him?" Skye was visibly upset for what seemed to be no apparent reason. "Seriously? Okay, let's see what you could have done to upset him, shall we. Did you get him infected with a deadly virus? Let him jump out of a plane to what should have been his imminent death? You damage an invention? Bad mouth monkeys? What on earth could you have possibly done to upset him?"

Jemma Simmons let out another, more dejected sigh. "I wish I knew." She leaned back in her seat trying to keep composure.

Skye noticed Simmons had been stung by her outburst so she decided to change topics. "Hey listen, sorry if I seem kinda uptight today."

"I can understand why. Yesterday was pretty…eventful, to say the least."

Thinking back to yesterday's events, the girls didn't say anything for a few moments until Skye broke the silence. "Anyway, I figured you'd be in the lab so I was headed down there to ask if you wanted to get some breakfast."

"That sounds lovely, thank you Skye."

"And since Fitz is busy maybe you and I can…you know…" Simmons gestured for her to keep going. "…hang out?"

Simmons shrugged. "What did you have in mind?"

"I dunno; I don't really hang out with normal people anymore. What do you usually do when you're not in the lab?"

"When I'm by myself I'll read, or waste time on the internet researching trivia while listening to music. When I'm with Fitz we'll play video games or watch movies."

"That sounds like something normal people do. I'm in."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be a sort of girl's day."

Simmons smiled. "I don't think I've ever had one of those."

"Me neither."

"The only person I ever spend time with is Fitz so hanging out with him is probably the closest I've ever come to a girl's day," Simmons then broke into a giggling fit.

"What?"

"I can't."

"What? Tell me?"

"I can't, I promised I wouldn't!"

"Come on! Part of girl's day involves telling each other secrets and mindless gossip. Come on, tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone else."

"Okay," Simmons calmed down and started spilling her secret.

Immediately after hearing the secret, Skye's jaw nearly hit the floor. "No way!"

"It's true!"

"No!"

"Yes!

…

"No!" Leo Fitz crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it aside. He reached for a clean sheet of paper as someone tapped on the lab window. "Go away," the tapping continued. With a growl, he stood up and marched to the window where Grant Ward was waiting. "Lab's closed."

"I need to test that pistol Fitz," Ward told him, "preferably today."

"Fine!" Fitz stomped over to where the Night-Night Pistol rested, grabbed it, and put it in the lab drop's box to transfer it outside of the lab.

"I don't get to come in and get it?"

"Lab's closed. Can't you read the note on the door?"

Ward pointed to the door. "What note?"

Shifting his eyes to the door, Fitz realized that there was in fact no such note. "Dammit!" He cursed himself before he began searching through crumpled paper, unaware that Ward had snuck into the lab. "It's gotta be here somewhere."

While Fitz's back was turned, a curiously suspicious Ward picked up one of the many crumpled balls of paper and examined what was on it. It was when he began chuckling that Fitz finally realized Ward was in the lab. "I can see why you threw this one away."

"Put that down!" When Fitz tried to take it from him, Ward lifted the paper higher and finished looking it over.

"This is what you do with your spare time?"

"How did you get in here?"

"I opened the door."

"Impossible; I locked the door."

"Really?"

Fitz thought about that and soon realized he did not. "Dammit! I knew I forgot something."

Ward leaned against the lab table rereading the paper. "It's a good thing you majored in engineering because this poetry sucks. It is supposed to be poetry right?"

"You can leave now," a humiliated Fitz barely spoke above a whisper.

"Is that what you've been doing here cooped up in the lab? Attempting to write poetry?"

"Please leave."

"Am I to assume that our young Fitz has come down with a serious case of puppy love?"

A now angry Fitz stomped over to Ward, snatched the paper from him, and ripped it up. "I've got work to do so take your gun and go!" Ward folded his arms across his chest and stared blankly at him. "Just go already!" Ward stood still with the same expression. "GO!" Ward shook his head no. "ARRGH!" Fitz kicked some more paper wads before angrily storming back to his workspace.

"You know," Ward reached for another ball of paper and read it over, "I don't think a poem is the best way to tell her that you 'fancy' her."

"How would you know?"

"She doesn't seem like the type of girl who-"

"How the bloody hell would you know what type of girl she is?" Ward seemed taken aback by this sudden change in behavior. "What just because you saved her you think you know her better? Because you don't! You don't know anything about her! So what gives you the right to decide what she does and doesn't like?" All Ward could do was blink in surprise. "You got what you came here for; take it and go!" Ward didn't say anything as he watched Fitz head back to his work space. "I said go!"

"You're in love with Simmons." Fitz froze in his spot. "You're afraid of what's gonna happen if you told her up front." Ward slowly made his way over to the work station and stood across from Fitz. "You're afraid to tell her because you know it will change everything." Ward's response was Fitz trying to look away. "We both know that I'm right."

Fitz finally stared Ward in the face. "I can't run the risk of losing her again." He let out a deep breath and looked at the mess at his usually pristine workspace. "I knew this was a stupid idea to begin with. Honestly, the things I think up at two in the morning."

"You should sleep on this. People don't usually think well when they're sleep deprived. Head on back to your bunk and get some sleep."

"You don't think I've tried? I can't get any sleep! Every time, every time I close my eyes…"

"…you see her fall." Fitz went silent again. "I know you would have gone after her if you could."

"But I didn't. You were the only one who could." He paused. "I never really got the chance to thank you for that."

"No need." There was another moment of silence between them. "I'm right about the poetry thing," Ward spoke up.

"Yeah, I know."

"I may not know a lot about Simmons, or girls, or feelings, crap like that to tell the truth," Fitz made a noise of understanding, "but I was raised to believe that honesty is the best policy. In my experience, women prefer it when men are honest with them."

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying that you should just be honest with Simmons."

"Ward, I-"

"And if you can't tell her in person," Ward reached for a clean sheet of paper and a (preferably not chewed-on) pen, "then tell her in writing." He waited until Fitz took the paper and pen from him before leaving the lab.

"Wait," Ward turned around, "you're not gonna get your gun?"

Ward flashed a smirk. "It's still an ounce too heavy."

…

"Good morning Agent Coulson," Agent Hill greeted at the start of their video conference call.

"Maria," Coulson greeted back. "Is there really any need for formalities here? It's just us."

"Is there any point to this conference call Phil?" she sarcastically emphasized Coulson's first name.

"First off I wanted to congratulate you on your new office and your modestly successful movie date with Mr. Rogers last Saturday night."

Hill's eyes widened. "How did you know about-"

"And second, I'm letting you know in advanced that I will be sending all necessary paperwork following yesterday's events directly to you in your new office; in addition to a little surprise."

"Surprise?"

Coulson shrugged. "I thought I'd send you something you might like to frame in your new office."

"Something like?"

Coulson smirked. "You'll see."

"Well, thank you for the warning. I will contact you when I receive all the necessary files."

"I'd also like your opinion on my little surprise."

"Should I be alarmed?"

"No; it's a harmless little gesture."

"Coming from you, I think I'll stay wary. And for the record: Rogers and I were not on a date. We went to the movies as friends; just friends and nothing more."

"Uh-huh, sure, you tell yourself that."

"It was not a date!"

"I'm sure Steve's aware of my current state; tell him I said hi," Coulson ended the video chat.

…

"…I know I don't make my feelings clear, but I can't be without you," Fitz narrated as he wrote, "I love you. There, done! That seemed easy enough." He practically threw the pen down as he read over his paper. "What does that say?" He squinted at a particular spot. "Well if I don't know what the hell that says then how will Simmons know?" Fitz was about to crumple the paper and start writing again when he noticed a computer nearby. "Maybe if I typed it," he hurried over to the computer and began typing. When he reached the spot he had trouble reading he typed what he thought it said. "That makes no sense," he read it over again trying to determine what it actually said. "Oh!" It took him a while before he got it right. "Oh, that's what that word was! Wow, I was way off." He went back to typing. "And…done. Now we print," he stopped himself before doing anything else. "Maybe I should just e-mail it to her." Fitz was about to choose that option, but he moved the cursor away from that option. "No! No, it's not as personal through electronic messaging." He moved the cursor over the printing option, but couldn't bring himself to click 'print'. Still, he knew he had to do this. Hands shaking, the engineer clicked 'print' three times. This subsequent maneuver printed three copies of his letter. "Okay, that's done." He organized his workspace, shuffling his handwritten letter amongst a stack of blueprints, personal files, research notes, and outlines for new gadgets, and then breathed a sigh of relief. Leo Fitz had somewhat successfully completed his love letter.

Now he just had to give it to Jemma.

Yes, this was merely a set up chapter. As you can see, I'm not revealing much about what happens. The plot does continue as the story gets underway though. I've tried to be sneaky and hide future plot points so if you think you caught one don't be afraid to ask about it.

And yes, May will be in here too. I'm gonna try and give everyone a decent sized part.