This story takes place sometime during the team's stay at Providence. Agents of shield belongs to its wonderful creators and ABC and Marvel
"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Jemma asked Fitz for the third time that evening.
"I can do it," he replied once again. "Besides I remember the last time you made spaghetti." He shot her a significant glance.
"Oh not this again!" She moaned, "When are you going to forget about that? It wasn't the end of the world!"
"We had to call the fire department!" He reminded her, throwing his hands in the air. One of them held the spoon he was using to stir the sauce and the thick paste spattered on the wall. "You ruined my favorite oven mitts."
"I got you a new pair," she protested, putting down her book, Burlap Bear Goes Into The Woods which was a childhood favourite.
"They weren't as good," he muttered, whiping the wall clean with a cloth.
"They were exactly the same," she argued
"The old ones were softer," he asserted.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. They were exactly the same and she had gone to five different stores before she had found the right pair.
"It was one time," she insisted, annoyed, "and I was trying to do you a favour because neither of us had slept in two days."
She remembered that night, just after their finals at the academy. She'd been completely exhausted and fallen asleep while stirring the sauce. Her hand had fallen onto the stove top and the oven mitt she'd been fortunate enough to be wearing had ignited. Her hand had been spared because Fitz had found her before the fabric had burned through.
"You scared me half to death," he exlaimed. "Imagine your poor arm if I hadn't found you."
"I would have woken up," she objected but her temper was cooled by the fact his concern was now for her over the mitts.
Still it irrated her how stubborn and irrational he was being. How could someone so smart also be so illogical?
"So you're saying I should never make spaghetti again?" She demanded and Fitz knew she thought he was being ridiculous.
"Of course not," he replied quickly, "I just wanted to do it for you this time. I thought it would cheer you up, since we've been through so much lately." He trailed off awkwardly.
Her face softened and she came over to stand beside him.
"You should have just told me that," she informed him, taking a spoon and tasting the sauce. "This is delicious," she added, smiling.
Her smile warmed him to the tips of his toes. He loved everything about her. He loved her courage, her strength, her intelligence and her kind heart. He loved the light in her eyes when she was excited about something and the determination he saw in them when people were depending on her.
Maybe now was the time to tell her. Before something else awful happened. He opened his mouth to say something before he lost the courage to do so.
"Fitz be careful," Jemma cried, startling him as she yanked his hand away from the stove.
He smelled burning and saw the edge of his oven mitt was singed.
"What were you thinking?" She questioned, looking as startled as he felt.
"I'm just tired," he lied, loosing his courage.
"A hazardous thing to combine with cooking," she teased.
He chuckled, " Perhaps spaghetti is a two person task."
"We do usually work better together," she agreed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.
He kissed her cheek. "We do."
Her eyed filled with warmth. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again and instead went to search the pantry.
"I can boil the noodles," she offered, managing to find a bag of them.
"Thanks partner," he joked, trying to sound like a cowboy.
She laughed and got out a pot.
"We'll always be partners right?" She inquired, turning on another burner.
"Always," he promised.
She kissed his cheek. "Good," she said.
Fun Background
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, liked or read my other stories. You guys are great and I would tottaly team up with you to make spaghetti!
The Fringe reference in this story is the book Burlap Bear Goes into The woods which is the story Olivia reads to Ella in 1x16 Unleashed. The book is about a bear who does not believe there is a monster in the woods he ventures into.
I wrote this partly because I don't think I did a good job of portraying Fitz and Simon's bickering in other stories I write and wanted to see if I could.