Drabble 40: Valentine
A/N: I did it! I finished a drabble for Valentine's Day. Who needs to go out and be romantic? I prefer writing! So here's a Valentine's drabble, set right before our favorite scientists joined Coulson's team. I hope you all had a great day, and enjoy this! We've hit 25,000 views, which I find truly impressive! Keep it up! Please review!
Jemma was woken up by someone shaking her shoulder, and roughly. "Get up Jemma. It's time for your marksmanship test."
She looked through bleary eyes at her instructor and nodded, jumping up and hastily rubbing away her sleepiness.
"Report to the shooting range in five minutes."
Then he left, and she was alone again. It was very early in the morning, but she had been told to expect her test at the most unexpected moments. This was the first part of her field assessment.
She quickly dressed and left her room, jogging towards the shooting range. She arrived with one minute to spare, and put her hair into a ponytail.
"Well, at least your timing is good." Her instructor said.
Jemma didn't know him personally, but she had heard from others that this particular instructor – Mr. Hayes – was very hard to impress. To pass her field assessment she had to perform accurately in marksmanship, an obstacle course, and some form of surprise at the end.
"Alright, enough standing around." He said. "Pick up your gun and start shooting. Lane three."
She did as instructed, but put earplugs in before she picked up her weapon. It was a small pistol, the kind that was meant to be easy to conceal and draw quickly. She'd only actually fired a gun like this twice before. The first time had been for her pre-assessment.
That had not been a good day. It was her first time using a gun in her life, and she only hit the target sheet once; on the very edge at that. She hadn't known how to keep her aim steady, or really aim precisely at all.
Now she had been shown the proper way of doing it, and felt ready. She held the gun with both hands and aimed carefully, and then fired. Once, twice, three times. Then twice more, rapidly.
She placed the gun down on the counter and took out her earplugs. As she turned to face Mr. Hayes he pressed the button that brought her target sheet to them.
"Your stance was weak." He said. "You're treating the gun like it's not a part of your body."
It's not, she thought.
He must have known what she was thinking. "To accurately use a weapon, you have to think it is a part of your body." He stepped forward and took down her target sheet. She hadn't even noticed that it had arrived. "Out of five shots, you landed two to the vital areas."
She had hit the paper every time. That was at least improvement from her pre-assessment. But even the two shots Mr. Hayes had said were in the vital areas were just barely there. One was on the outer edge of the head, the other the edge of the stomach area. The other shots ranged from shoulders down. Jemma knew that, even if she shot at an attacker and landed these hits, they would most likely recover. And also have time to shoot back at her.
"I can't pass you for this part." Mr. Hayes said.
She felt tears prick at her eyes, but only for a second. She nodded, standing tall and looking him in the eyes.
He seemed to lighten up a bit. "You handle disappointment well, at least. That takes strength."
"Thank you, sir." She said.
"Alright, next is the obstacle course."
At noon that day Jemma flopped onto her bed, groaning. She hadn't passed her field assessment.
Almost immediately there was a knock on her door, and she reluctantly stood and opened it. Fitz was there.
"I saw you walking down the hallway and called your name, but you must not have heard me." He said.
Jemma smiled and shook her head. "I guess not."
"I came by earlier and then found out you took your field assessment. How'd it go?"
She bit her lip.
"Okay, we don't have to talk about that." He said quickly. "I'm sure it'll end up fine."
She nodded.
"I have a surprise for you." He said.
"What is it?" she asked.
He smiled. "Just a little something to help you relax. But it'll be later. Right now we have some errands to run."
She walked back into her room and grabbed her purse. "That sounds great."
He walked with her out of the housing building and to his car, where he drove them to the local convenience store. They walked in and Jemma noticed all of the stuffed bears and red and pink decorations. There was an abundance of long-stemmed roses and boxes of chocolates as well.
"They're really pressing people to buy things for Valentine's Day." She said with a laugh.
"It is Valentine's Day, Jemma." He said.
She blinked. "It is?"
He just nodded.
"Damn." She said softly. She looked at him and heard him chuckle, and she did too. In all her worrying about her field assessment, she'd completely forgotten what day it was.
"Now that you know what day it is, shall we get going?"
"What are we here for?" she asked.
"Fun." He replied. "Watching sappy couples and window-shopping."
She smiled. "Oh, you can be wicked sometimes, Fitz." She looked around to make sure they were relatively alone. "But I do love people-watching. It's so much fun!"
He raised his eyebrows briefly to agree with her, and then they started walking around, strolling really.
About an hour later Fitz's phone rang. "Hello?" he said.
Jemma watched him listen and then hang up. "What is it?"
"I have to go take my field assessment."
"Oh."
She'd almost forgotten about their field assessments. Now she remembered how she'd failed. But she smiled at Fitz. "You'll do well, I'm sure." She said.
He nodded, and they went back to his car, and then the Academy. "I'll come get you when it's done?" he asked as they walked back onto the campus.
"Yes," she said, "unless my surprise has been cancelled."
One corner of his mouth turned up. "It's on, alright."
He left her at her room and went to his test, leaving her wondering what on earth he had planned.
She found out about two hours later. Fitz knocked on her door and she opened it quickly, with a smile. His hair was damp from a shower and he'd changed his clothes; now he wore a different flannel shirt.
"How did you do?" she asked.
"Let's talk about that in a bit." He said.
"Okay."
She figured that meant he had passed, but he didn't want to make her feel bad. But they had to celebrate if he had in fact passed.
"Where do you want to go, to my room or just stay here?"
She thought for a minute. "Let's stay here."
He leaned over, and when he straightened he held a picnic basket in his hand. "I figured you'd say that."
"Fitz, this looks wonderful!" she said.
They walked inside the room, and Fitz put the basket down on the bed while she closed the door. He opened it up and pulled out a laptop, which he placed in the center of the bed, and two bottles of beer. He also took out a long candle and holder, and a small lighter.
"This way we can say we had a 'fancy' dinner." He said as he showed her the candle.
"You're sure you didn't have any other special plans tonight?" she asked.
"This is special." He said. "I'm spending time with my best friend."
He took out sandwiches and a bag of chips. "I see you prepared the finest foods, too." She said.
He dipped his head in a mock bow. "But of course."
"And what do we have for entertainment?" she asked, playing along.
"Only the finest movies and TV shows."
Jemma smiled, and he handed her a beer. "But first let's toast." He said. They opened the drinks and raised them up. "To failing our field assessments."
She was shocked for a moment, but then she touched his bottle with hers and smiled. "To failing our field assessments."
He grinned, and she felt herself relax. This was just like Fitz, to plan something so nice. They quickly got into their typical positions on the bed, laptop open between them and plates of food next to them. Fitz lit the candle and placed it on her bedside table and she turned off her light, so the effect was like a movie theater.
"Thank you for this, Fitz." She said before they hit play.
"Thank you for being my valentine." He replied.
She smiled and threw a chip at him. "You're so sappy sometimes."
He ate the chip she had thrown and smiled smugly. "And proud of it."
She laughed and smiled at him. "Yes, I'd say you are. And I'm glad to hear it."
They proceeded to watch the movie then, and the night passed like so many others for the best friends.
As they watched Jemma kept glancing over at Fitz, and thinking how perfect this day had turned out. She couldn't imagine spending Valentine's Day with anyone else.