10 years ago….
"Fitz! Stop dragging me about. I'm going as fast as I can. The punch bowl isn't going anywhere!" Jemma said exasperatedly, racing after Fitz as he basically sprints to the snack table.
"I'm just trying to get some of the punch before it runs out. I heard that this year May prepared her famous punch; I heard people call it the Cavalry because once someone drank it and he ended up jumping off the roof into the pool with a stolen goat in his arms!" Fitz exclaimed.
"Okay, I understand that Fi- wait what?! You want to consume something that potent?!" Jemma said in disbelief. "Sometimes I just don't understand you." she mumbled under her breath. "At least you can stop-" Jemma started to say only to run into someone while being dragged to the snack table. Sticky, lukewarm liquid ran down the front of her dress, ruining her favorite outfit.
"Hey! Watch it!"
"Oh no! I'm so sorry! Ugh. not my dress!" The two voices said simultaneously. Jemma looked up to see if the other person was okay, only to find that the assailant was none other than Grant Ward.
"Oh not you again! I thought the last time I would be seeing you was at the Academy, but here we are." Ward grunted, obviously not excited to see Jemma.
"Hello to you too Ward. I see you haven't changed much since the Academy." Jemma sighed as she sized up Ward while discreetly checking him out in the process.
"And what is that supposed to mean exactly, Simmons?" questioned Ward as he stood a little bit more defensively, stung by Jemma's words.
"I'm just saying that I've managed to observe that you're still the same arsehole you were back at school!" Jemma said; her English accent becoming more and more pronounced the more frustrated and angry she gets.
"Oh I'm the asshole?!" Ward said pointing to himself. "You're the one who can't seem to find a way to stop running into me!" Ward exclaimed, pointing to Jemma in the most angry way he could while getting in her face.
"That's preposterous! I would never purposefully go out of my way to ram myself into you because I know you'd find a way to make it all about you!" Jemma protested, getting more and more riled up by the second in Ward's presence.
"Hey, hey, hey. Why don't you two knock it off." Fitz exclaimed, coming between the two to break them up. "Jemma, I'll go get some napkins so you guys can clean yourselves off, and Ward, be nice. You two, try not to kill each other while I'm gone. You guys are like two kids fighting over who gets the last cookie. Jeez!" Fitz told them as he walked off to go find some napkins.
-
"Ah! Here they are!" Fitz said as he picked up a handful of napkins to take back over to the fighting pair. "I swear, they act like an old married couple those two" Fitz thought. As he started walking back to the mess, his best friend, Mack, called out to him.
"Hey Turbo! Come over here and say hi!" Mack called out, waving Fitz over. Fitz made his way through the crowd and over to where Mack was sitting and saw that he was also with Hunter, Bobbi, and Trip.
"Hey Fitz!" the three of them exclaimed, happy to see their engineering friend.
"How are you enjoying the infamous S.H.I.E.L.D. New Year's Eve party, mate?" asked Hunter before downing a bottle of beer.
"Probably a little less than you Hunter. I see it looks like you're having a ball." Fitz said sarcastically, observing the drunkenly state his friend was in.
"Yeah, cause you all know parties are my kind of thing." Hunter sarcastically stated back.
"Especially when you're betting against some guy who we all know is a rookie, and then complaining when he loses a game of beer pong to a three-year champion." Bobbi pointed out.
"Hey! I like to have some hope in some people and he looked promising!" Hunter cried out, trying to defend himself.
"Or when you try and gather us up for karaoke when you're deep in your "fun" phase of being drunk and wanting to sing "Wannabe" while dancing your routine you made up for the song." Trip said, getting a laugh out of everyone.
"Okay, first of all that's a good song; who doesn't want to sing that song? Second of all, when did you guys decide to gang up on me? Is it "gang-up-on-Hunter-day or something?" Hunter asked, feeling beat up by his so called "friends".
"You know we love you Hunter!" said Bobbi, giving him a one armed hug to make him feel a little bit better.
"Yeah, yeah. I know I wouldn't have gotten any sympathy from you, my ex. You always seem to find a way to remind me why I divorced you!" Hunter proclaimed
"You mean why I divorced you!" Bobbi counter argued.
But before they could argue any further, Fitz spotted a girl, about mid height with shoulder length auburn hair as deep and rich as the darkest chocolate ever made with scatters of light golden brown streaks cascading down the front of her dress. She had hazelnut eyes and tanned skin while wearing the most beautiful shade of red Fitz has ever seen, a blood red knee length dress that hugged every curve of her body. "This must be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen" Fitz thought. He didn't realize that he was staring at her until Mack nudged him, pulling him out of his daydream.
"Fitz, this is Skye. Skye this is Fitz. He's the friend I told you about." Mack said, introducing the pair.
"Ahh! You're Turbo!" Skye exclaimed, using the nickname Mack gave him. "It's nice to meet you! Oh and nice shirt shirt by the way; I love Boba Fett!" exclaimed Skye, fawning over Fitz's shirt that his behind his dress vest.
"Thanks! He's my favorite character! I loved him ever since I read the Boba Fett book series. Since then I've been obsessed with him. Did you know that after the Sarlacc Pit fight in Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett survived being eaten?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah! I loved that battle, especially when Luke or Han threw a guy off of the barge and the guy did the Wilhelm Scream. It was so funny!" Laughed Skye.
"Oh yeah-Arghhh!" Fitz yelled, imitating the scream while flailing his arms around as if he was falling.
"Ahh! That was great!" exclaimed Skye.
"Sorry to interrupt your geek fest, but Skye, can you pass out the drinks?" Mack asked as he tried reaching out for the drinks.
"Oh sorry about that; I completely forgot!" Skye said blushing for how nerdy she got. She can't help it, she finally found someone who knows just as much Star Wars as she does. Plus there's the fact that she's never met someone as nerdy as she was and it helps that he's cute as hell; I mean who turns down a guys with an a smooth Scottish accent? She definitely noticed him staring at her when she walked in. It was cute and was grateful that he wasn't a creep that would stare at her like she's normally used to.
Just as she was getting into her "Fitz trance", Mack nudged her, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"That reminds me, I have to get these napkins to Jemma before she kills me. Actually, I might already be dead because I left her with Ward so long" explained Fitz just as he was turning around to leave.
"Who's this Jemma I keep hearing about?" Skye asked.
"I'm surprised you've never heard of her." Bobbi spoke up. "She's like the best doctor to ever walk out of the Academy."
"Yeah! And she's had two Ph.D's since she was 17!" piped up Hunter.
"Man is she cute!" Trip said while whistling.
"Trip's fancied her ever since he laid eyes on her. It was love at first sight!" Hunter said mockingly, throwing a wink toward Trip's way.
"Hey man, who doesn't. Who can resist a smart, beautiful woman with a beautiful accent." Trip wooed while trying to defend himself.
"Another person with an accent! Is S.H.I.E.L.D. just plucking people from the UK or something?" Skye asked, surprised by how many of these agents have accents.
"Hey! Don't make fun! You're just jealous that you don't have an accent.!" Hunter drunkenly yelled, pointing at her with a beer in his hands.
"I'm just saying. No need to get riled up, Lance." Skye teased, stretching out his name.
"Hey! You know not to call me by my first name, Mary Sue!" Hunter mocked back.
"You know what Hunter…" Skye started to say, but Mack pulled her back, putting some distance between the two.
"I have and idea," Mack suggested. "why don't you go with Fitz and meet Jemma, while the rest of us try and sober up Hunter, alright?" Mack continued to nudge Skye over Fitz's way so she won't beat up Hunter.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" said Fitz. "I'm sure Jemma would appreciate someone else to talk to other than Ward. C'mon!" Fitz said enthusiastically, grabbing Skye hand, pulling her away from the scene.
It may have been the alcohol coursing their veins or the exciting atmosphere hanging over their heads, but both Fitz and Skye felt a spark as soon as they touched. It might have sounded a little chlicé, but both of them went with it in hopes that it might turn into something more...