"What the hell."

Fitz had never been in plane before. Nor had he been to America before. And, if he was being completely honest, he wasn't exactly sure why he was in aforementioned private jet headed to America.

So it would certainly be an understatement to say he was nervous.

"Would you like another drink sir?" The cheery flight attendant asked, her face fell slightly when she saw the state of her passenger. "Perhaps a ginger ale?" Fitz rubbed his face and looked up at her.

"May I actually just speak to the Director? I am still really confused." He put a hand to his mouth and added, "And that ginger ale would be welcome, too."

"Of course, Mr. Fitz." She walked away, hips swaying, as if this were solid ground. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his khakis and smoothed the collar of his plaid, button down shirt. His hair was long, after having gone to Cambridge without the incessant fretting of his mother and grandmother—the latter became too ill to travel—it grew down to his eyebrows, flopping over his face and becoming a general nuisance. But Fitz didn't have time for a haircut, and just opted out of the notion entirely.

"Mr. Fitz," A deep voice beckoned behind him. Leo's seat on the private jet rotated around so he could face the director. "You asked to see me?" A small smile crept onto the director's face, pinching the calloused skin around his eye patch, making him all the more intimidating.

"Uh, yes. I still have questions about… um…" Fitz discovered he could never finish a sentence with this man if he dwelt too much on what happened to the director's eye. "Aliens." Which was, of course, the most logical scenario Fitz had come up with on how the director lost his eye: An alien knife fight, three guys—no, five—and one Director Fury. Long story short: Director Fury only lost an eye. You should see the other guys.

"What about them?" He asked, sitting across from Fitz. The Director was patient. He must do this a lot, Fitz thought.

"Well, I guess the biggest thing is: why don't we know they exist already? If they, uh, threaten our very lives every day and all…"

"Because S.H.I.E.L.D does its job. And now you and Miss Simmons get to be a part of that."

He beamed with pride for a while, reflecting on how his childhood dream of becoming the Doctor seemed to be unfolding. Then he began to wonder about his family. Would he ever see them again? Could he still talk to them? Was he still going to be an engineer? Then, as if Director Fury had read his mind, he said "Don't worry. Your family is being told that you have been recruited by the MI6 to be an engineer. It's better they think that than know S.H.I.E.L.D exists. You'll still be able to contact them; you just can't talk about work." There was silence for a while. "If that's all you need to know, I still have to debrief Miss Simmons. She still thinks she's been asked to speak at the Biologists' Association tomorrow." He laughed.

Leo's mind wandered. He thought about his inventions. The other agents on the plane had described the labs and facilities to him, and Leo was beyond excited to work on his inventions with the technology already possessed by this agency. His mind briefly wandered to the other recruit. Miss Simon? He couldn't remember. He was too excited to think about much else.

"Welcome, new recruits, to the S.H.I.E.L.D Science and Technology Academy!" Fitz glanced at the other new students around him. About twenty, in all, they all possessed an aura of intelligence that Fitz appreciated greatly. There was a cluster of Asian scientist in their mid-twenties off to one side— they had apparently become friends on the jet ride over; two older gentlemen from Germany, occasionally commenting to one another in their native tongue; a group of American women all dressed similarly; a pair of nuclear scientists from Iran; and a girl Fitz's age in jeans and a cardigan, standing off by herself, taking in the view, just as Fitz was. And rightly so, for the architecture and schematics of the facility was a new kind of beautiful to Fitz. The labs were heaven and the tools were ambrosia. The access to any equipment and supplies he might need left Fitz dumbstruck; and by the time he was escorted to his room, all he could do was stare at the ceiling, as he lay in his bed. He pinched a spot on his arm raw, just to make sure it wasn't a dream.

It was not.

When he finally came to, he looked about his simple dorm room. There was only one bed, which meant no roommate, a wooden desk in the corner and matching wooden dresser already filled with his clothes. Leo thought these dorms were oddly ordinary, considering the elaborate décor of the rest of the facility. But he didn't mind. He figured he would be spending all his time in the labs anyway. He hardly slept that night.

His first week at the Academy could be considered uneventful, to a third party observer. He didn't make any friends, for he was too busy learning and taking in his surroundings. He didn't do anything dramatic or invent anything new. He was too busy to be eventful.

The second week, however, changed his life forever.

It started much like the first, though he began to realize that "Alien Psychology" and "Extraterrestrial Sociology", classes he had enrolled in purely to learn more about aliens, were not classes he cared to take, because they involved too much feeling and not enough thinking for Fitz's liking. So, on a whim, he signed up for Cooperative Sciences, and a spot became available in a class he had wanted to take since he arrived here: Holographic Engineering.

Fitz passed by the cafeteria on his way to Cooperative Sciences, not really paying attention to who was walking around him. Which was how he accidently ran into the girl in front of him, then consecutively tripped over her.

"I'm so sorry!" He called, as he twisted over to see his victim. It was the pretty girl from his tour group. "Oh, I… uh…"

"It's alright," She said, her British accent immediately caught Fitz's attention. It was clear and lovely, and reminded him of his mother, who had been British.

"You—you're from England! I haven't met anyone else—" He stumbled for words as he helped her gather her books and papers from the ground.

"Me neither. You're Scottish?" She guessed from his accent. Fitz nodded and grabbed the remaining books from the ground. He looked at the titles of the books he held in his hands: "Alien Biology for the Intermediate Student" and "Advanced, Advanced Chemistry for Advanced Students". She saw him pause before handing the books back. They stood up.

"What are you studying?" He asked, surprised at his own confidence with this girl.

"I'm biochem. I graduated from Cambridge with my second PhD last semester. The Director said they needed scientists for a biotech project. " She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and straightened her books. Fitz just stood there, staring. She was a biochemist. And British. Perfect. "And you?"

"Engineering. I, uh, I graduated from Cambridge this semester, too." He straightened his backpack.

"You do look familiar." She said, quizzically, then glanced at her watch. "Oh, I have to go. I don't want to be late for my next class."

Fitz began to watch her leave, before coming to his senses and following after her. She was going in the direction he needed to go anyway. "What is your next class?" He asked.

"Cooperative Sciences. I figured it would be a good place to start this biotech objective."

"I've just transferred to that class! I was in Alien Phycology before. Too many feelings." She laughed and turned to face him. They were in front of the Cooperative Sciences building now.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Le—Fitz. Just call me Fitz."

"I'm Simmons, Jemma Simmons."

AN: Not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed in the reviewing and reading numbers for the last chapter. Let me know if this story is boring or needs other changes, I'd be more than happy to accommodate. Those reviews don't have to be just positive things. I love constructive criticism, and I would be happy to take your suggestions.

HUGE thank-you to Disney-fied, Jewelz1642, and Cokeer, who reviewed the last chapter!

AND Thank you to funnybia, who did a lot of research for me, and can be credited with a lot of SHIELD Academy knowledge.