"Count yourself lucky," Simmons told Fitz as she lifted the bag of flour onto the counter with a slight thud. "This is an old, secret family recipe and I can only share it with one other person, one other non Simmons person of course." she laughed. "Because it's a family recipe so obviously..."

"Not just any Simmons though," Fitz clarified cheerfully. He wasn't the best baker but he was happy Simmons had chosen him to share the recipe with.

"No, of course not," she agreed, "only Simmons who are related to my dad. And you of course but don't tell anyone." she held a finger to her lips.

"I won't," he promised, feeling the weight of her trust. "Are you sure you're dad won't mind though? Maybe you should..."

"We better get started then," she interjected, smiling nervously and sliding to the fridge to take out the butter.

Fitz wondered how long she was going to put off calling her parents but he decided to let it go for the moment.

"All right," he said enthusiastically, "What's first?"

Her smile switched from nervous to excited. "Welcome Fitz, to the journey towards the perfect strawberry pastry. Our pastries are blackberry but I think if I add just a bit less sugar it should be more or less the same result."

"Only strawberry," Fitz chirped.

"Yes, only strawberry," she chuckled. "My mum taught me how to cook, but my dad taught me how to bake." she began in her storytelling voice. "He's a chemist remember. When I was little he worked doing research for a toothpaste company and I use to think that meant baking toothpaste. He told me 'baking is chemistry where you get to eat the final product.' At the age of seven, I thought that sounded like a better deal than toothpaste."

Fitz listened contently and grinned as he pictured a tiny Simmons excited about eating homemade cookies. He liked it when his friend told stories like this. Whatever the story was about, her words always made it sound beautiful somehow. Unless, of course, it was about him doing something embarrassing.

"He told me the first step to baking is to make sure you have all your ingredients," she continued. "So I'm going to list off the rest and I need you to find them."

Fitz nodded, "Ready to go."

It was strange being second in command when he was so use to them being on the same level. He didn't mind it though because, after all, this was Simmons' recipe and the end result was delicious strawberry pastries.

She listed off the ingredients for the crust (which were top secret) and he scurried around the kitchen to retrieve them while she took out a mixing bowl, a spoon and instruments to measure with.

Simmons showed him how to put the ingredients together (the order was very important) and how long to knead the dough until it had just the right consistency. He watched her closely, trying to mimic her technique.

"Good job Fitz, you've really got the hang of it," she encouraged, examining his work. "Don't forget the flour though," she added, dusting a layer on top of his blob of dough.

"I'm good with my hands," he reminded her, pleased by her approval.

The dough was finished and they were placing it into the bowl to keep in the fridge while they made the filling when Ward appeared at the entrance to the kitchen.

They exchanged a glance before before striding over to him to block his entrance into the area.

"We need you to stay out of the kitchen for a bit," Simmons told him.

"Just until we finish with Simmons' secret recipe," Fitz insured him.

Ward's gaze darted back and forth between them. "Is that code for something I'm not suppose to know about?" he demanded.

"Not at all," Simmons replied.

"We're just making strawberry pastries," Fitz added. "You can have one once we're done. He can have one right Simmons?" he looked to his partner.

"Of course he can," she smiled at him and then Ward. "Of course you can. You just need to stay out of the kitchen until we make them."

"Why?" he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"It's a secret family recipe." they told him.

"You two are related...?" he wondered, seeming confused.

"No, no." Simmons said quickly and Fitz shook his head. "Fitz is just an honorary Simmons for the moment." she explained.

Fitz liked the sound of honorary Simmons. It sounded as if he'd done something noble and was being knighted for it. He hadn't really done anything though, except be Simmons friend. (And help her save herself from an alien virus, however he didn't think she was going to tell her parents about that.)

"So I can't come in?" Ward said.

"I'm afraid not." Simmons replied, shaking her head.

He sighed and crossed his arms but Fitz thought he looked almost amused. "Call me when you're done," he ordered, walking away.

"You can have some of my snacks," Fitz called after him, feeling a little guilty, "they're in my bunk."

"Thanks Fitz," he called back, sounding less irritated.

"He'll be happier when he tries one of our pastries," Simmons decided brightly, pulling Fitz back towards the counter.

He and Simmons returned to making the filling. She had him cut up strawberries while she mixed together the sugary sauce. The sauce smelled wonderful and she let him taste some of it on fresh spoon.

It was only a small part of the pastry but it was amazing. It may have been a bit too sweet but he suspected that would be counteracted by the tartness of the strawberries.

"This is incredible," he exclaimed and she beamed at him.

"Wait until you've tasted the whole thing," she chirped as he went back to chopping the fruit. "You'll never go back to boxed pastries again.

'Not that you'd ever let me,' Fitz joked to himself but he was looking forward to the finished product.

"All done?" she inquired, when he put down the knife and he nodded.

"Excellent," she clapped, "this next part's my favourite."

"We're going to mix the strawberries with the sauce?" he guessed, wondering why that was her favourite part. The dough kneading had been pretty fun.

She grinned knowingly at him. "Nope, but good deduction. There is one thing we need to do before that."

He tilted his head questioningly at her.

Her grin widened. "We need to taste a strawberry." she told him.

"Oh, ok." he agreed picking up a piece he'd sliced.

"Not like that," she laughed, taking the piece from him. She halved it using the knife and handed him one part. "First we dip them in the sauce," she instructed, "then we need to eat them at the same time. It needs to be the same time, that's important."

Fitz realized now why this was her favourite part. It didn't actually add anything to the finished product but it was a fun extra which made it so that the recipe became something you needed to share with someone. He was glad she'd decided to share it with him.

They dipped their halves in the sauce and Simmons counted down. "Three, two, one." Then they both popped the strawberries into their mouths.

The sauce was even more delicious with the strawberry. It was perfectly sweet now. He saw his delight reflected in his friend's face and decided that this was his favourite part too.

"Almost as good as the blackberry," she joked. "I'll have to make that one with you another time."

"OK," he said happily. More pastries and fun times with Simmons sounded like a good deal.

Together they mixed the strawberries with the sauce and then rolled the dough flat and cut it into slices to hold the filling. Simmons taught him how to fold them so that they were shaped like crescent moons and once their lunar army was finished they placed them on a baking sheet and into the oven. The kitchen soon filled with the pastries wonderful smell and Fitz mouth watered a bit as they passed the time playing crazy eights.

As they waited, Fitz thought about that terrifying day when he thought he was going to lose his best friend forever. He wasn't sure why he was thinking about it now. Maybe it was because he was enjoying spending time with Simmons and feeling grateful that she was still here. He may have also been reminded by Simmons' hesitation to call her family, he wasn't sure. Whatever the reason though he realized that he hadn't properly thanked her for what she'd done.

"I never thanked you," he said, suddenly serious as she changed the suit.

She raised her eyebrows, "For not letting you stuff yourself with poison?" she asked surprised.

"For risking you're life to save everyone, me included," he explained. "That was a brave thing, what you did for us. Stupid," he added hurriedly. "Don't ever do anything like that again! It was terrifying. But it was also very brave and... well...Thank you."

She smiled at him and reached over to squeeze his hand. "I know you'd do the same for me." she said.

He stared at her, taking in the shape of her face and the feel of her hand on his and remembering her smiling, bubbling voice as she showed him how to make strawberry pastries and he knew he would too.

Fun Background

Thanks again to everyone who liked, read or reviewed my other stories. I would bake pastries with you anytime :)

So this part may have been more fluffy than funny (the story is labelled humour) but I hope you still like it :)

The Fringe reference is that Simmons' dad is a chemist who works for a toothpaste company. Walter Bishop was a chemist and, though he actually worked for the US military, his cover was doing research for a toothpaste company.

I made her dad's recipe blackberry because strawberry would be a bit to convenient. (Although just the fact that they have a secret family pastry recipe is convenient enough haha)

I am thinking about adding one more chapter where they share pastries with everyone. yay, sharing!