Drabble 73: Old Tricks
A/N: This drabble was requested by wanderingghost1257. Hope you like it! Leave me a review!
Fitz set the box on the counter and grabbed scissors, slicing them along the tape over the opening. He opened the box, a smile on his lips even before he saw what was inside.
It was a care package from his mother. She sent him one every so often. Inside he found three comic books, a big bottle of orange soda, snack chips, and a bag of homemade snicker doodles.
"I love my mother." He said.
"Did she send you something good?" Jemma asked from across the lab.
"Snicker doodles." He said. "Plus the usual stuff."
"I wish my parents sent me care packages."
"I'm kind of surprised they don't. You talk to them every week."
"You only talk to your mum every two weeks!"
"But she knows I'm safe. And sometimes I write her letters."
Jemma smiled. "Your mum is such a sweetheart."
Fitz looked up at her. "She thinks of you as a daughter, you know."
Jemma stopped. "Really?"
"Oh yeah. I've told her all about you. She always wanted a daughter, and she always tells me to treat you well."
"That's so sweet." Jemma said.
"She asks about you almost more than she asks about me."
"Oh, stop." Jemma said, smiling again.
Fitz emptied the box, placing the contents in hidden spots in the lab only he and Jemma knew about. They shared whatever his mother sent him. But once he'd put the stuff away, he realized there was one thing left in the box.
A Rubik's Cube.
"No way." He said, his voice low.
"What is it?" Jemma asked.
He picked up the cube, smiling in wonder. "She sent me my old Rubik's Cube."
"I had one of those!" Jemma said. She set down her pen and stood, walking over to him.
"It took me forever to solve this thing." He said. "I mostly just studied how it moved."
Jemma took it from his hand and looked at it with an expert's eye. "Let's see if we've improved since we last used them. I used to have trouble as well."
"I'll set up a timer."
It was amazing how that simple cube distracted them so much, but they didn't care; they were having fun.
Fitz went first, and solved it in about five minutes. "I never was very fast at it."
"I never actually solved mine." Jemma said.
Fitz set down the cube. "But you're a genius."
Jemma's cheeks flamed. "Intelligence isn't the same as ability, and in this game my ability is limited."
"Does that mean you don't want to do it?"
"Of course I want to do it!" she said immediately. "Who knows? I've grown a lot since I tried one of these puzzles. Maybe now I can solve it."
Fitz reset the timer and Jemma tried sliding the pieces in various ways. After five minutes had passed she had two completed sides…
"Do you want some help?" Fitz asked quietly, trying to hide his pleasure at having beaten her.
"No, I do not." She said, not bothering to look up. "I know which actions I need to take to solve the puzzle, but I keep losing my place."
Ten minutes later she was down to only one side complete, with three very close. She was seated in Fitz's chair, Fitz standing behind her.
She set it down and groaned, putting her head on the desk. "I can't do it." She said, her voice muffled by her arm.
"So the Rubik's Cube is one of your weaknesses." Fitz said. "You don't have many of those."
"I'm not actually upset." She said, turning her head to face him, sitting up. "Just a bit annoyed with myself. But thank you for that."
He smiled.
"How is the rest of the team at Rubik's cubes?" she wondered aloud. "We've established that between us, you're the master. But who in our team is the best?"
"You want me to defend my title?" Fitz asked.
Jemma thought for a minute. "Yes."
Fitz was quiet, and then he sighed. "Okay."
"You want us to what?" May asked.
"We want to time everyone to see how long it takes for them to solve a Rubik's Cube." Jemma said.
"Why?" Coulson asked.
"We want to know." They said at the same time.
Ward picked up the cube. "I'll go first."
Fitz set the timer and watched as Ward manipulated the cube to restore it to its sorted state. "Done." Ward announced.
Fitz looked at the stopped timer.
"Well?" Jemma prompted.
Fitz nodded. "He did well."
They were quiet for a second. "He beat you, didn't he?"
"By five seconds!" Fitz complained. "Seriously, five seconds?!"
"I guess that's just my game." Ward said, smirking.
Fitz frowned and messed up the cube again, handing it to Skye.
"Never thought that would happen." Skye said as she took it.
"I can do things besides fight, you know." Ward said.
"Don't get me wrong." Skye said, smiling with her mouth partly open. "I like it."
"Well I don't." Fitz said. That brought Skye back to the task at hand.
"I've never used one of these." She said, examining it. "Doesn't look too hard."
"Don't underestimate it." Jemma said.
"If Ward beat Fitz it can't be that bad."
"It was five seconds!" Fitz said.
Ward's face darkened.
Skye looked at Jemma carefully. "You couldn't beat it."
"No." Jemma said. "But can you?"
Skye got serious. "Start the timer."
Skye took fifteen minutes, but she did solve the puzzle. Then May went, and she completed it in sixteen minutes.
"Only one person left." Fitz said, writing down May's time.
"Are you ready, sir?" Jemma asked Coulson.
"Let's have it." He said, standing from his chair and holding out his hand.
Fitz started the timer, and he was off.
They were all gathered in the common room, talking and watching while one person tried to solve the puzzle. But after twenty-five minutes, Coulson still hadn't finished.
"Need some help?" Skye asked.
"Sometimes it just takes a while." Coulson said, studying the cube.
Ten minutes later, he abruptly stood up, the cube in hand.
"Give up?" Ward asked.
"No, I'm gonna beat it." Coulson said. He walked out of the room with a purposeful stride. Fitz looked at Jemma, his eyebrows raised.
"What do you think he's doing?" Jemma asked.
"Only one way to find out." Skye said, standing.
They found him as he was coming out of the lab, a weapon in his hand.
"Where's the Rubik's Cube?" Skye asked.
Coulson lifted the gun and pointed with it. The cube sat on one of the tables; it was the only thing on it.
"What are you-?"
Coulson fired the gun and the Rubik's Cube split into pieces, scattering on the table. He lowered the gun and turned to face them.
"What was that?!" Fitz cried.
"Anger management issues, I think." Skye said with wide eyes.
"You never said how I had to solve the puzzle." Coulson pointed out. "I tried it your way." He hefted the gun over his shoulder. "I like my way better."
"That is so Coulson." Skye said, shaking her head. She and Coulson walked away, probably to tell May and Ward what they had missed.
Fitz walked into the lab and picked up a fragment of the cube. "My Rubik's Cube…" he muttered.
Jemma laid a hand on his shoulder. "We can get a new one."
He shook his head. "I think Coulson would just destroy it."
"Wish I'd thought of that." Jemma muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"Nothing." She said. Then she smiled. "We can tell your mum you liked her care package. Let's open up those snicker doodles, shall we?"