Drabble 51: Experiments

A/N: Hey guys! I thought of this drabble myself. I could really use some ideas, though, so please give me some! Anyway, enjoy!

Simmons always felt better when she was near Fitz. Just being in his presence made her feel better, and touching him? That made her feel safe.

Just brushing against his side as they sat next to each other, or the back of her hand hitting his as they walked. Anything like that improved her mood.

She didn't know that Skye had picked up on her reaction to being near Fitz. She didn't know that Skye planned an experiment all on her own, with her two favorite scientists as the guinea pigs. At least, she didn't know at first.

"Simmons, can you come in here?" Skye called.

"Just a second!" Simmons called back. She had been on her way to the lab, but she went towards Skye's voice when she heard it. The girl was standing just outside her bedroom; Simmons's, not Skye's.

"What's wrong?" Simmons asked, dreading the answer.

"I went to return the jacket you let me borrow and um… found your room like this."

Simmons felt her anxiety level shoot up and hurried past Skye. The little bookshelf she had was tipped over, the books spilled and in various positions on her floor. A jacket was strewn on the floor.

"That's alright." Simmons said without smiling. "I'm sure it was an accident."

She walked over to the bookshelf and righted it, gently gathering all her books and inspecting them for damage. A few minutes later everything was back in order.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Skye asked. "You looked a little stressed."

Simmons brought a smile to her face. "I'm fine, Skye. These things happen sometimes."

A few days later…

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Fitz asked behind her.

Simmons stepped to the side to let him see. They were standing just outside the lab, and the first thing she had seen was their most recent lab report all over, the pages unorganized. A few of their reference books were thrown around too. How did she know they had been thrown? They were on the other side of the room. Chairs were tipped over and the coffee had spilled too.

"Look at the mess!" she cried. The order she loved had been broken, and she hated that.

Fitz walked past her. "I wonder how this happened."

"I'll get the coffee first, so it doesn't leave a stain. Could you hand me those paper towels?"

He did as she asked and she crouched down, wiping up the mess. After a moment Fitz touched her arm. She felt steady at his touch. "Relax, okay? It's just a little mess. We'll clean it up in no time."

She smiled at him. "Okay."

Then he smirked. "I'll bet I can clean faster than you."

"Oh, you are so on!"

Neither of them noticed the head peeking in at them from the lab door, smiling as her experiment went on. The hacktivist took a quick note on a pad of paper and looked at the scientists once more before drawing back into the hallway and out of sight.

"I won!" she heard Simmons exclaim as she walked away.

Test two she wrote on the pad of paper. She underlined it and then slipped it in her inner coat pocket. Then she opened the cupboard and ruffled around for a minute before giving a shriek and jumping back.

"What's wrong?" Simmons asked immediately.

"There's something in there!" Skye gasped.

"What could possibly be in the cupboard?" she smiled. "Mutant marshmallows?"

"I'm not joking." Skye said, trying not to smile. "Something moved."

Simmons stood up and walked over. "What did it look like?"

"I don't know. I saw something move and then slammed the door shut."

Simmons sighed. "There's only one way to find out what it is."

She slowly opened the door, peering inside with slightly squinted eyes. After a moment she blinked. "I don't see anything."

"Nothing?" Skye asked.

"Nothing at all." Simmons said. She reached in and moved some items around. "There's nothing here, Skye."

"Oh."

Simmons smiled at her. "You certainly scared me for a second, though!"

Skye shrugged. "I guess a bag just fell. Thanks."

She walked out of the kitchen and pulled the pad out from her jacket, and the yellow pencil she used to write on it. She scratched down the work timid before going back to her room, planning part two.

Early the next morning…

Fitz and Simmons were just starting to go over an old lab report when Fitz stopped talking, cocking his head to the side.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He shushed her, and they were quiet, listening. "Did you hear it?" he asked her.

"No." she said.

A second later she did, though. A small rustling sound, from somewhere around them.

"What is it?" he asked.

She listened to it again. "I have no idea, but it sounds like something alive."

He motioned for her to follow him and walked towards a cabinet on the far wall, where they kept the first aid supplies.

"I'll hold the cage." Simmons said. She had a sneaking suspicion one of the lab mice had escaped, and had picked up an empty transport container for them.

Fitz got ready to open the cupboard. "They're fast, so move quickly." He said.

She nodded and he opened the door. Simmons spotted the white mouse crouching on top of a fire blanket and quickly grabbed it, placing it in the container and closing the lid.

"Got it!"

She walked over to one of the tables and set the container down, looking for the bigger cage of lab mice. "Wait." She said. "We don't have any lab mice right now."

"I was just thinking that." Fitz said. "Where did this one come from?"

Skye chose that moment to walk in. "I can explain that."

Fitz and Simmons stared at her for a moment. Skye didn't say anything, just looked at them with a signature smirk. "Can you explain it now?" Simmons asked.

"Oh." She grinned. "Yeah. I was conducting an experiment, and you two were my test subjects."

"What?" Simmons asked.

"I had two trials, each with two stages. The first trial was dealing with a mess and maybe some damage. You went through it alone, in your room," she said, looking at Simmons, "and then a second time, with Fitz in the lab."

"You were testing us?" Simmons asked.

"Mostly you, but yes, both of you."

"So your second trial was how we dealt with a mouse?" Fitz asked.

"I wanted to see how you dealt with a mysterious noise. I couldn't put anything in the cupboard in the kitchen, so the first time I had to just fake it. The second time I used my mouse."

"Your mouse?"

Skye grinned again. "I sort of took him from your last batch of mice. I have a cage for him on my desk. He's not bad company."

While Fitz was asking about the mouse, Simmons was thinking things over. "Why did you experiment like that?"

Skye raised an eyebrow. "Are you angry?"

"Maybe a bit." Simmons said, flustered. "Mostly I'm just curious. What was your premise?"

"Are you sure you want me to say that here?"

Skye glanced at Fitz. Simmons followed her gaze and looked at Fitz too, who met her eyes and said "What?"

"Alright." Skye said, a playful glint flashing in her eyes. "I wanted to see how being near Fitz affected your reaction to things. I've noticed that you seem less stressed when you're with him, more carefree. You also seem to think faster."

"So you created two conditions that were as close to identical as possible but wouldn't make me suspicious before they were done." Simmons said.

"That's actually a good experiment." Fitz said.

"Right?" Skye said with a smile. "But now I've got proof you deal with things better when you're around Fitz. When you cleaned up the books in your room you were slow and methodical. When you cleaned up the lab you were efficient but fast. See what I mean?"

Simmons sent her a smile back. "I do. Thank you Skye."

Skye nodded and left a pad of paper on the table. Then she walked out of the lab, grabbing the mouse as she passed.

"We really do work well together." Fitz said.

"Yes, we do." Simmons said.

They stood looking at each other in silence, and then a blush made Simmons look away. She cleared her throat and then opened her mouth as an idea came to her. "Fitz, why don't we come up with –

"An experiment for Skye?" he finished with her.

Their grins were identical, and possibly a bit evil in their intentions. "Let's do it."