A very perturbed Jemma Simmons stormed to her hotel room (which was naturally, RIGHT NEXT TO FITZ), turned off her phone's ringer and decided to take a nice long bath. Her bum was aching something fierce after a particularly nasty impact with the rink ice and a long soak would help her aches and bruises. To her embarrassment, she had managed to pull 'Michael' down also during a spectacular fall and he had just laughed while the two of them had been rather intimately sprawled.

After a long, luxurious bath that Jemma Simmons savored as The Bus' shower facilities were adequate, she wrapped herself into a fluffy bathrobe and removed her makeup. She never wore an excessive amount but a touch here and there.

Barefaced, Jemma Simmons examined herself in the mirror and sighed. "I look like I'm twenty one."

She had fibbed, slightly, and claimed that she was thirty. Michael was in his late forties, at least, as he had made a passing comment about going grey in his early forties. Then again, she shouldn't feel guilty, Anne was thirty and Michael was… lying about his name. Not his career, because a few savvy quips had made her aware of his analytical nature.

Oh well, no doubt she'd never hear back from him again. In her academy days, it had been easier, sex had been for stress relief, second dates sometimes occurred and sometimes they didn't. Post academy first dates rarely transpired, second dates never and… technically he was based in DC and she was based… nowhere on Earth. No, she was based on a plane.

She decided to crawl in her king-sized bed (again so much nicer than the Bus) and against her better nature decided to check her phone as the message alert was flashing. Three from Skye, four from Fitz, one from Ward which she was both tempted and fearful of opening as Ward had no social skills. However there was one addressed to her party planner account from an email that had a user name of RuzzianBluez.

Jemma decided to open that one.

Anne;

Just hoped you made it back to your hotel room safely.

Had a great time tonight, unexpectedly and delightfully. I was just hoping for some decent curry chips, nothing more but God laughed and handed me a cue stick. If you're interested, I could show you around NYC a little bit tomorrow? I'm chained to the data mills until 4, but after that, I'm free.

Let me know time and place to meet. If you're interested, that is and please offer some suggestions on what you'd like to do. Since I'm years out of the social scene, not sure if I'm being too forward or breaking any social mores.

Just had a lovely evening with you.

Feliks Mikhail Vlacic

Feliks Mikhail - Courtesy of my Russian mother which is where the Michael originated. Do you have any idea what it's like being a six year old with the name Feliks? Michael was much safer.

Vlacic which is now Blake ß Courtesy of some Ellis Island goon who couldn't spell my great-grandfather's last name of Vlacic and decided to Americanize it.

A delighted Jemma smiled and responded back with a suggested location and time. After much thought, she signed her name simply as Jemma. That done, she went to bed, and deliberately ignored all her messages from her team.


Felix Blake, Victoria Hand's personal pitbull, was in a fairly decent mood when he met with his boss at a coffee shop near the Station the next day. Those that didn't know him wouldn't have realized that he was mentally skipping but Victoria Hand did.

"Are you smiling?" Hand asked.

Blake put his cell phone on the counter top, and pretended to be texting, instead he was subsonically knocking out any possible 'ears' that were listening to his conversation.

"No, you know that it's been documented that I don't know how to smile. Hill drew a growly face during my last review," Blake retorted while he grabbed his cup from the pickup area. "Similar to the documentation that states you never wear anything less than a three inch heel. Speaking of which, I saw Jasper. He looked terrified. You're wearing your four inch Jimmy Choos, aren't you? "

He looked up at her, as she had a half inch on him in their bare feet, plus the addition of four inches made her stand out. Due to their long association, he knew exactly what those shoes meant. Vic smiled and Blake softened… slightly. "Tell Izzie hello. Maybe we can go out for drinks after you two get caught up tonight and tomorrow night and the night after that."

Vic snorted, which was a sign how much she trusted him in all matters, and then she gave him her marching orders. "Reports of someone's demise has been exaggerated so you might see him today in the office. Find out what you can."

"I am sure it's all booby trapped, any attempts to access will be flagged, however … I know that she moved out of the house," Felix stated, she being the one, the only Melinda May. "Dad had to be involved to kick her out of the basement apartment. No coincidence."

Dad being Director Fury.

"When we get back home, I'll give you everything I have. The team mix doesn't make sense and I need you to review. FitzSimmons moved out, too."

'Moved out' was a term for AGENTS who left the quasi-safety of the office and moved into the field. 'Moving back home' was a derogatory term when Field Agents were sent back to the office due to age or medical condition. Not everyone could be John Garrett; Felix would admit to himself that he was jealous at Garrett's length in the field.

Oh, data analysis had its uses, and no false modesty, he was the best in the business. Due to his analysis he had noticed political undercurrents that he had brought to Victoria Hand's attention. Darky murky currents around John Garrett, Jasper Sitwell, Phil Coulson to name a few. And more worrisome to him, he noticed that Victoria Hand was affected.

However, FitzSimmons was not normally someone on which Felix had to focus. There were easily thousands of SHIELD agents, after all. He knew only hearsay about the legendary whiz kid in the Science Division who had failed his field exam. REPEATEDLY. Was FitzSimmons up to an eighth or ninth attempt by now?

By now it was time just to give it up, kid. It just wasn't happening.

"Wanted out because FitzSimmons thought it would assist R&D."

Felix nodded his head.


When Jemma woke there were now eight messages from Skye, thirteen from Fitz and two from Ward on her phone. She decided to continue to ignore them so they could stew a little longer in her righteous displeasure. After another luxurious bath, she vowed to jury rig a way that she could have a bath on the Bus because really, showers were such a poor substitute. As a trusted coworker had informed her prior to taking the assignment, she also packed up everything for a quick and easy getaway. Just in case.

There really wasn't any excuses left, she needed to read her emails. She perused them with a very jaundiced eyes, Skye's full of emoticons, Fitz was worried that he had upset her and Ward was succinct; she was too much of a babe in the woods to actually know what she was doing.

Bugger him.

And his eight pack abdomen.

She was finding herself intrigued by the older Feliks, his perfectly non-symmetrical face and his eyes. Sharp, piercing and experienced, but which had soften when he had talked about his mother.

She deleted her team's emails and decided what her nefarious plans would be for that night. It had been entirely too long since she had sex (and far longer since she had 'made love') and Michael had seemed interested. He had watched her, smiled appropriately, touched her (but not in the danger zone and the few touches had been carefully placed) and laughed at her jokes.

Plus that kiss had curled her toes and made her warm and tingly all over, especially there.

While he had paid the check at the carnival food place, she had done a brief scan of his body chemistry. He had come up clean, no STDs, no ickiness, his cholesterol was a smidgeon high but after that meal, anyone's would have been sky high. Considering he was a former cop, it wasn't surprising that he wore a Glock and had a knife in his boot. Odd, but she knew Agent Coulson and Ward wore more when they were on furlough. Most importantly, she was on the pill, and if she bought condoms, well everything should be fine.

And if it wasn't, she was leaving the next morning and she'd never have to face him again.

However, she couldn't bring him back to hotel due to obvious reasons, and he probably had the same issue. Hmm… she had to think of a solution.

However, first she needed to go shopping for something cute and sassy.

After she told her well-meaning friends to bugger off because Jemma Simmons intended on getting shagged and she had picked her victim.


Felix Blake arrived early at the park, and sat by the statue. He easily accepted that he was an idiot as there was no way Jemma of no known last name would show. However, last night had been fun, what with her obvious delight at trying new things. His dark sunglasses hid the fact that his eyes were constantly scanning the area, looking for possible attacks, even though he was a desk jockey. You could take an agent out of the field, but never the field out of the agent.

Not until they nailed your coffin shut, and then one would probably rise from the Dead like Coulson had.

Last night at the hotel, he had even half-heartedly researched Jemma's party company just to confirm that it actually existed. There was a website, recently updated, some online reviews, so it seemed as though it was a very small though elite company. No pictures of Jemma, he had noticed. Once he returned home, he'd do a more thorough investigation because it seemed… off… to his analytical mind. Not terribly so, but something was wrong.

Least it didn't scream, 'High Class Prostitution Ring' even though Jemma had seemed too honest, too open to do that for a living.

Nor did it scream KGB, as the website wasn't posh enough.

To his great relief, Jemma with no known last name, arrived. She brightened when she saw that he was there.

"You came, Feliks!" she exclaimed. Then to his complete surprise, she stood on her toes and kissed him.

On the mouth.

In public.

Even as she straightened his scarf. He made a mental note that Jemma seemed to have a scarf fetish, so to continue wearing them whenever they met. Well, until it grew too warm to wear a coat.

"Better," she murmured. "I was thinking horribly bold thoughts last night."

"You were?" he asked, even as he felt his world go off its axis. She hadn't drugged him, chemically, with that kiss, but definitely the sexual sparks had just kicked up a notch.

DOWN BOY! You're TWICE her AGE!

"That after the dinner and the show tonight, I'd take you back to my hotel room." She grinned, a bright smile. "However, my well-meaning coworker is there. I think she'd try to pry, so… do you have noisy coworkers at your hotel?"

"No, I stay at a hotel I found years ago, not what my company recommends," Felix admitted. "By myself."

"Good," she said.

"Are you…" Felix floundered.

"Yes," Jemma admitted. She took pity on his confused expression. "You seem surprised."

"I am," he admitted.

"I'm clean, had all the tests done last month for work. I'm on the pill, and quite frankly… I need a thorough shag." Jemma stated that easily, even while Felix continued to stare at her. After her near death experience in Peru, she had decided to live her life more fully, so she decided to be a little more aggressive in obtaining what she wanted. "Bugger, you're not interested, are you?"

She blushed and turned to run, but Felix blocked her escape.

"Bloody hell, I'm interested," he assured her. "It's just… this doesn't happen to me with any frequency."

"I'm hoping for frequency tonight," Jemma flirted. "Along with quality."

She was the world's worst flirt, which made her quite endearing to Felix. Therefore like a moth to the flame, he willingly went to his demise and her bed.


The next day the team was sent to Colorado to investigate a gravitational issue that a truck and its escort of SHIELD Agents. And if Skye thought that Jemma Simmons wore the blissful smile of a woman that had been shagged into the mattress the previous night, she was correct. However she didn't get a chance to ask Jemma, as a grinning Jemma slept all the way to Colorado.

After all, it had been a rather strenuous night for her.

Sadly for Felix Blake, once he returned back to his home office, his good mood was bombed back to the Stone Age when 'Reality came a calling'. Victoria Hand had located hard copies of the team she had snarkily nicknamed 'Coulson Flying Circus' and she wished him to analyze the data as in her eyes, the team's makeup made no logical sense. She was right, as the setup was completely wrong for a strike team.

Fortunately there was no one in his office when he started the analysis as him choking on his coffee would have been rather difficult to explain.

Because there was no doubt in his mind that the woman he had sex with while he had been in NYC had been Jemma Simmons. The photo showed her shy smile, which he remembered quite well as he had been gifted that smile while he had been unbuttoning her shirt.

Sex with a junior agent, NOT GOOD. However, she wasn't in his chain of command, and it was most likely a onetime fling, so it wasn't as bad as it could be, would be if someone (Vic) found out.

Jemma was actually a Level Five agent, one half of FitzSimmons, who was in fact, two people, who was in fact, less than half his age. In fact, the combined age of FitzSimmons was less than his. In fact, he was so rattled that he was using the phrase 'in fact' in every goddamn sentence.

And she was working for Coulson, who Felix had quickly realized did NOT act like the old Coulson. The nuCoulson was too erratic, too whimsical, too unPhillike. Phil Coulson had also repeatedly been the search criteria of a massive system wide query created by John Garrett… whose protégé was a member of the Coulson Flying Circus.

Bloody hell, he had to protect Simmons because she had no idea how much trouble she was in.

Why was John Garrett so interested in Phil Coulson?