So this was supposed to be a relatively short fluffy story and then I started writing and it turned out a bit longer and my own rather less dramatic version of the whole Aida/Fitz relationship. Turns out I'm quite unable to write something short so this should be around nine/ten chapters long and since a few of them are already written, this should be updated at least once a week, maybe a bit more often if I can manage.

Jemma Simmons initially thought it was a good idea to accept her colleague's invitation to go out that night. They'd all been working together at SciTech for a few months already, and except for Bobbi Morse, her fellow biochemist, she barely knew anything about them and thought it would finally be a good opportunity to change that. The evening had started out quite nicely: talking a bit about work, sharing a few more personal anecdotes and drinking wine. Until Hunter (how ridiculous was it really to insist on being called by his surname all the time? Especially when Lance, his name, was a perfectly acceptable name to begin with), Bobbi's boyfriend came in. From what she gathered from the few conversations they had over lunch these past months, their relationship was complicated, having broken up a number of times and always getting back together. But apparently, things were more than good recently because after ten minutes, they'd somehow disappeared from the bar and Jemma was left politely listening to everyone else, too shy and uninterested by their conversation to take part in it and to her own dismay, no one really tried to make her participate either.

So after an hour, she used the stuffiness of the bar and her own tiredness as an excuse, pretended a headache and quickly said goodbye before going out. With the disappointment that this evening had been, she only wanted to get home as fast as possible, take a very long shower, change clothes, have a nice cup of tea and go to bed knowing she'd be allowed to sleep in for as long as she felt like it in the morning. Then she would probably spend the day reading and finally take the time to start working out again. And as much as she liked that idea, she had to admit that it was all a bit lonely. She always thought herself to be quite friendly and likable but she'd been in New York almost four months now and she hadn't felt any real connection to anyone yet. Given the opportunity she could probably become good friends with Bobbi but for now, she was alone most of the time when she wasn't at work and it wasn't like she had the time to meet people elsewhere anyway.

And that's because she was so lost in thoughts that she didn't pay any attention to the young man sitting on the edge of the sidewalk just outside the bar. That is only until she heard something that sounded a lot like a sob. She turned around towards where she thought the sound was coming from and had the confirmation it was coming from him when she heard what was definitely a second sob and saw his posture. His shoulders were shaking a bit and his head was in his hands, probably trying to muffle the sounds of his crying. Something clenched in her heart at the sight. Science could probably explain how she felt at that moment. Something about maternal instinct or maybe just an instinct to reach out to a fellow member of her species in distress but all she knew then was that this man felt bad enough to cry on his own in the middle of the street and she couldn't find it in herself to act like she didn't notice.

She took the few steps separating them and touched his shoulder as gently as possible.

"Hey, is everything alright?" She asked in a soft tone and winced at the stupidity of her question. Of course it wasn't. He was crying in the street for god's sake.

He slowly turned his face to look up at her. The first thing she noticed was his strikingly blue eyes, red rimed and unfocused under his furrowed brows. Visibly, he was not only sad but also had quite a bit too much to drink. In his intoxicated state, he looked like he was wondering if he was supposed to recognize this stranger looking worriedly at him and if he could talk to her. But once he took the decision, the words started flowing out of him and for a moment it felt like there would be no stopping him.

"Didn't even give me any warning, one day we're happy and then she's-she's ... and I mean what kind of a stupid name is Anton? Can't love someone with such a stupid name and I-I thought I did everything she-she ... what did I do wrong? Maybe I could have-I could I don't know ..." He started but then another sob escaped his lips and he had his head in his hands again, crying. Of course the poor thing was heartbroken, it made sense, there were not so many reasons for a man to end up in such a state. He was much younger that she originally thought he would be judging only by his very elegant suit, maybe even younger than she was, and very Scottish too. But maybe the thickness of his accent was only intensified by the alcohol and the strength of his feelings, she'd noticed that on a friend she'd had back home and the memory made her feel a bit nostalgic and that much more empathic of the young man in front of her.

Without really thinking about it too much, she sat down next to him and tentatively put an arm around his shoulder.
"Hey I-I'm sorry. I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes these things just ... happen" She said softly. Honestly, she had no way of knowing if he did but if she understood correctly, he'd been dumped for someone else without warning and as irrational as it was, she didn't feel like someone with such a soft face could do anything bad enough to deserve that. For a moment, he didn't react at all and as she was starting to believe that maybe, he didn't hear her at all, he rested his head on her shoulder. She was a bit startled for a moment, thinking that maybe she shouldn't let this stranger invade her personal space like that but then again, she was the one who came to him and he looked so miserable and harmless that she didn't have the heart to push him away. So she started to make what she hoped were soothing circles on his arm with her hand until it seemed like he had finally stopped crying.

"Should just give up completely 's just not for me... love, women, all that" He said, his words starting to slur a lot more, making her think that he might be even more drunk than she initially thought.

"Oh don't say that ..."

"Maybe join a monastery or something..."

"Don't you think it's a bit extreme?"

"'d probably shave my head too, hair's a bloody nightmare to take care off anyway" He said and she couldn't help the small chuckle that came out of her mouth. He was really self deprecative but at least he wasn't crying anymore.

"Maybe give yourself a few days before taking your decision?" She said with a slightly teasing tone and he took his head off her shoulder to look at her like he was suddenly remembering there was an actual living person attached to this shoulder. Even looking a bit like a wreck, he really was quite cute up close and it made her smile a bit more. It would really be a shame to shave off such pretty curly hair. He seemed to think about her suggestion like it was a very complex question but then he shook his head.

"Nope! Monastery it is!" He said as he suddenly stood up and she had the confirmation that he was really extremely drunk because it took all her strength and best reflexes to stop him from falling back. He didn't need an actual physical injury on top of his broken heart. He wasn't much taller than she was and quite lean but with all his weight leaning on her, she thought it was still quite a remarkable feat to keep him up.

"Come on, let's get you home! I'm gonna call you a cab. Where do you live?" She asked a bit breathless as she was fighting to keep him from falling.

"Doesn't matter anymore, take me to a monastery!"

"Oh come on ..." She said, slightly amused if a bit exasperated. She would have to use a different approach. "Fine but I don't know where the nearest monastery is. Give me your phone so I can look it up." And he did just that. Fortunately, he was drunk enough not to question her as long as she was playing along with his crazy idea. She opened up google maps in the hope that his home address would be programmed in it and it was. A true hacker she was! It was also really close from where they were. Theoretically less than a ten minutes walk but probably a bit more in his state.

After thinking about it for a minute, she finally started moving. Now that she started taking interest in him, she couldn't let him here on his own, he looked too much like a lost puppy. She could definitely not trust him to go home on his own either, afraid he'd do something even stupider than looking for a monastery. So she decided that a bit of fresh air could actually do him some good and his flat was almost on the way to her own anyway, so she put his arm around her shoulder and her own around his waist to support him better and started walking.

"D'you find the monastery?" He asked, his face really close to her own.

"Yeah ... I'm taking you there"

"Thank you that's-that's ... nice. You're really nice hum ...?"

"Jemma, my name's Jemma" She said, guessing that was why he took a break in his sentence.

"I'm Jemma, nice to meet you Fitz. 's nice name too and nicest person I know ... are you going to stay at the monastery with me?" He asked with a child like tone and she couldn't help giggling a bit.

"I don't think women are allowed to live there ... and I thought that was the whole point anyway?"

"Oh yeah ... smart too ... could make an exception for you?"

"Hmmm sure I'll ask them" She said, amused to see that he was already starting to see the faults in his big plans for a new life of meditation and celibacy.

"Yeah really nice ..." He added looking down at her with a dopey smile she couldn't help reciprocating. It was a bit heartwarming to see him smile even though she knew he would probably feel even worse when he wakes up the next morning and remembers why he was sad in the first place.

-0-0-0-

After fifteen minutes of listening Fitz (if it was actually his name) talking to her in a surprisingly coherent way about a wide range of subjects going from monkeys to androids and actually telling herself he managed to sound more interesting than any of the people she spent the evening with, she finally made it to his building door. Fortunately, someone was going out of it as they were getting there because there was no way that he would have given the code for the door as he was still pretty sure they were getting to the monastery.

"This place doesn't look like a monastery Jemma" He whispered into her hear.

"That's because it's a very recent monastery, very modern ..."

"Hush Jemma, you're not supposed to speak so loud in here, you'll disturb the-the you know with the hands and the ... words and ..." He said, actually speaking louder than she was in a stage whisper voice and wildly gesticulating with his hands.

"Praying?" She said, whispering back while trying to hide her grin.

"Yeah that!"

"Well, let's get you to your flat, I mean cell, let's get you to your cell, okay?"

"Okay!"

After looking for his flat number on the mailboxes, she managed to get him into the elevator and all the way to the third floor.

"You know this place looks kind of familiar ..."

"Oh yeah?" She said as they got to his door hoping she'd managed to just put him to bed before he realized he was home and tried to get out to find an actual monastery.

As she searched for his keys in his back pocket, Jemma wondered if it really was what her life had become. New York was supposed to be a huge city full of exciting new people to meet and after months here, the closest she was getting to a sex life was involuntarily feeling up a stranger's (rather nice and firm) bum through his trousers without him even noticing it.

Once they were inside, she managed to find his room easily and when they were close enough to his bed, he fell on it without her having to tell him so and fell asleep almost instantly, snoring lightly and a small smile crept up her face. He really was quite adorable. She wondered if she should take his clothes off. That suit, as flattering as it was, looked very uncomfortable to sleep in but she would really feel like a creep getting a stranger's clothes off as he was unconscious. So she settled for taking off his shoes, vest and tie (she didn't want him to choke himself with it in his sleep) and opened the first few buttons of his dress shirt. He would have to do the rest on his own if he woke up at some point.

"So what now?" She asked herself. Could she just leave like that? No. For some reason or another, in the half hour since she'd met him, she somehow grew attached to him. Maybe because his sad eyes really reminded him of a puppy dog or because his Scottish accent was kind of soothing after feeling so lonely in a new country for the past few months or simply because she just knew what it was to have a broken heart. Most likely it was a combination of all those reasons but what she knew for sure was that he would feel bad in many ways in the morning. So, since she couldn't reasonably wait for him to wake up, after all she had to take care of herself as well, she thought about she could do for him when he wakes up on his own. First she went to his bathroom in search of some aspirin and then in the kitchen where she found a bottle of water. She put it all on his nightstand and left a simple note saying "take two pills and as much water as you can!" and as she was walking towards his window to close the blinds, he was bound to have a headache and would probably not appreciate waking up with the sun as she did herself, she wondered how drunk he was and how much of tonight he would remember.

After pondering about it for a few minutes, she looked in her bag for another piece of paper, wrote "If you need help remembering last night, give me a call! And in any case, please text me when you're awake, you don't look too good at the moment." and signed with her name and phone number. She just hoped he'd take this as a genuine show of concern and not her "giving him his number", the man had just had his heart broken in quite a brutal way apparently and he needed support, not being hit on, especially by a woman he probably wouldn't even remember.

She put the note on the other side of his bed, next to his phone to make sure he'd see it and closed the door on her way out. Just as she was about to leave his flat, something caught her eye on his desk. It looked like very complex technical drawings as well as several pages of maths equations.

"Now that's interesting ..."