Chapter Two is now up yay! I wanna say thanks for checking it out, and I hope you enjoy. This chapter deals more with Fitz and setting up his side of the story but the next will be back to Jemma and just what happens to her next!
Leopold Fitz, or Fitz, as he more commonly went by opened up the document again. It had been posted online, on the website of The International Association of Science and Related Interests, asking for someone, preferably skilled in a form engineering. Which Fitz was, had a doctorate in it. But yet, he still hadn't applied. It had been posted by Jemma Simmons, someone he had wanted to work with for so many years now, but now he had a chance he was scared to. Something about the job kept putting him of, something about it made him feel nervous. What if he wasn't good enough? What if he wasn't able to help her help her kingdom?
He closed the document, before opening it again. The he closed it again, before finally opening it.
"Still having difficulty deciding if you should go for it?" asked a voice from behind him. Radcliffe. His adoptive father, really the only family had ever know.
Fitz looked up from his computer. Radcliffe had been encouraging him for the past couple of weeks, ever since it had appeared online to apply for it, that what could be the worst that could happen. But Fitz had always dismissed him, replying that he wasn't good enough. And what would Jemma Simmons ever see in him? She was Jemma Simmons, she had two doctorates, masters in both politics and economics. And she was also a princess, destined to inherit Chitauri, a small island nation that was just of the South Coast of England with just about 2.5 million inhabitants.
And who was he compared to her?
"It's still up then I take it?" Radcliffe asked, knocking Fitz from his thoughts.
"The ad? Yeah, it's still up. Thought she would have gotten a lot of requests by now. It's been up weeks."
"Then apply," Radcliffe said just before his phone rang. "Listen, I've got to take this but you should. Be a great opportunity." And with that he was gone.
Fitz turned his attention back to the document that was on screen and sighed, opening up a web browser, and typed in the web address. And once he was directed to that page, he clicked on Apply Now before he could think any better of it.
It was early in the next morning when his phone started vibrating. He groaned in frustration, hating the fact that someone had woken him up early for this. This was one of his few days off from the lab, and he was looking forward to a lie in.
He rolled over, hoping that this was just an exception and they would leave him alone if he just ignored them.
Unfortunately, this did not happen, and despite the fact that he was now covering his head with the pillow, the phone continued to vibrate, and slide across the wooden beside table.
He reached over, scrabbling for it and managed to find it, on the very edge, one more vibration threatening to send it plummeting to the ground.
Unlocking his phone he found that he had multiple text messages from his friend, Mack. Fitz scrolled back, looking through them all, all of which dated back from last night.
From Mack [23:12]: Turbo! Radcliffe told me you finally applied. Keep me updated?
Fitz groaned, he regretted telling Radcliffe late last night that he had applied for the job. Now everyone in the lab would know, and be expecting details.
From Mack [00:17]: I know you're probably asleep right now but check Facebook as soon as you get this.
From Mack [01:12]: Turbo, I really recommend that you check this out.
From Mack [01:23]: It's important.
Fitz felt his heart start to hammer slightly harder, and panic started to settle in. Had something happened last night? Something serious?
From Mack [02:01]: It's all over Facebook, will be for the next while…
From Mack [02:12]: Listen Turbo… It's about her….
From Mack [02:21]: Jemma Simmons.
There were no more, meaning that Mack must have fallen asleep at that point.
His phone vibrated again and he opened up his messages app again, and then it clicked into place. His phone hadn't been vibrating because of Mack's texts (if it had, it would have been vibrating through the night, and anyway, he had his phone on do not disturb mode until this hour, when he normally would be waking up for work) but his news app was reporting breaking news.
Fitz felt the knot of dread in his stomach. Had something happened to her during the night? He dreaded to think of it. He read all her work, followed it, even though their fields were nothing alike, it was some of the most interesting work he had ever read, and there was nothing like it in the world.
He took a shuddering breath, and looked at the screen again. He had a number of notifications from the news app, probably the breaking news that was causing all the vibrations (he really had to turn that off, it was annoying) and opened it up, deciding that the news websites were probably more reliable than Facebook at this given moment in time.
Once it had loaded, he could see that she was the headline article, and the ones that had followed. He bit his lip anxiously. This could not be good if she was taking up most of the main page.
He finally took in the headline
"Princess Jemma Simmons runs away from Prince Will on her engagement night!"
Fitz stared at the headline in shock, and the picture that was with it. It seemed that a member of the press had taken it mid run; she was trying to cover her face, but it wasn't working, tears streaked down her face, her hair falling in loose curls.
Clicking on the article only expanded the picture, and there was another woman chasing after her, Skye, Fitz could only presume. They were always seen in pictures together. She was chasing after Jemma, maybe going to comfort her.
Fitz skimmed through the article, picking up on bits of information. It seemed that there had been a ball, organised by Will's father, Malick, who was the king of Maveth (another island nation) and hoped that Jemma would wed his son.
Everyone knew that had been going on for years now. Chitauri had been facing severe economic crisis, due to an illness that was spreading. Jemma had been trying to help but nothing had been working so Malick had promised money if his son could marry her. Enough money to help the kingdom.
But long term, the money wasn't going to help. If they couldn't help their population, they couldn't help their economy.
After reading a couple more articles, he couldn't read anymore. They were portraying Jemma as the villain here, from running away from him, saying that she was putting her kingdom at risk. They weren't seeing her side of this. It made him sick.
Locking his phone, he got out of bed and made his way to bathroom.
He had spent all day in the library, looking through scientific journals and old newspapers. Even though it was now highly unlikely that Jemma would reply, he still decided to research what was affecting her country.
However, there was hardly any information on it. No one seemed to know where it came from, what had caused it. All that seemed to be known was the effects of the illness. There wasn't even a name for it.
So after that, he moved on to the history, especially in regards to Maveth. The two nations had had a bloody past, and it was only within the last number of decades there had been peace between the two nations.
It was a different way to pass the afternoon, and he somewhat enjoyed it. And it wasn't until a text alert from Mack brought him back to the real world.
From Mack [17:45]: Do you want to go to The Playground tonight?
From Fitz [17:47]: What time?
From Mack [17:50]: I'm done with Radcliffe and will pick you up in about fifteen?
From Fitz [17:52]: I'm at library, meet you there?
From Mack [17:56]: See you there Turbo
Fitz stood up and started to put away all the articles and journals that littered the desk that he had been working on, before leaving the library and heading down the road and around the corner to The Playground.
The Playground was the local pub that Mack and Fitz both frequently visited. They hadn't been there for a while now however, Radcliffe both over-working them the past few weeks. There was a massive exhibition in London in a few weeks, and he wanted both of them there.
"So, what do you think of the news?" Mack asked, as he brought the first round to the table (could it really be a round if there were two people?) and Fitz accepted the pint with a nod of his head.
Fitz thought long and hard about his reply. "It's crazy. All that hates she's getting." Fitz shuddered. "I couldn't imagine having all that publicity,"
Mack looked at him, frowning. "Weren't you the one to get a PhD in engineering at the age of sixteen?"
Fitz shrugged. "But I don't have two masters, a second PhD and I'm not a prince."
Mack laughed at this. And discussion soon turned to different matters.
They left the bar earlier than expected, some sporting event being shown. Neither could drive home (Mack had decided to take a bus instead so that he would be able to have a few drinks) so the taxi was the next best option, though not the cheapest.
Making his way into his apartment, Fitz turned his laptop on, and while it was loading, he made himself a plate of pasta, nothing to big but something to fill him up. Mack was always joking about his love for food, and this was a prime example of it. They had gotten a plate of chips when they had been out but he was still hungry.
Setting the plate down next to the laptop, he slid onto his chair when he noticed that he had an email.
He stared at the icon for a few minutes before clicking to open it.
Thanks for checking out this next chapter and for all the support. All the mysteries about that email shall soon be solved!