Fitz blankly stared at the computer screen in front of him, bouncing one of his legs up and down rapidly. He leaned forward and groaned in frustration, burrowing his hand into his hands.

He heard a loud tapping echoing through the lab but ignored it, still trapped in his worries.

"Dr. Fitz?"

A tentative voice coming from his right forced him to look up and pry his eyes open. He saw a lab tech, one of their newest, staring at him with slight trepidation. 'Be nice to her,' Jemma's voice echoed in his mind, reminding him that this particular lab tech was one of her favorites. Jemma was always admonishing him for being surly with the lab techs, telling him that it wasn't their fault they weren't as smart as him, and they so wanted his approval they killed themselves to try to keep up with him.

"Yes, uh… uh…" He trailed off, completely blanking on the scientist's name. Well, at least he tried to be nice. What Simmons didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"I'm sorry, sir, I just… Well, I wanted to check if you were alright. If there's anything I, or the rest of us," she said, nodding back towards the group of lab techs hovering hesitantly in the back of the lab, "could do for you."

"What?" Fitz asked, confused. "We aren't working on any projects right now."

"I know that, sir, um…" She trailed off, clearly uncomfortable.

"What?" Fitz repeated, louder this time. He watched as the nameless lab tech flinched. Well, dammit. It looked like Simmons was right again; he was surly. The loud tapping continued, its pace picking up, "And what the hell is that noise!?" He practically yelled.

"Your leg!" The tech shouted back, suddenly leaning forward and pressing her hand down on his bouncing leg under the table. The tapping noise stopped.

Fitz froze, staring down at her hand on his leg. The lab tech quickly yanked it away, stepping back and flushing. "I'm sorry, Dr. Fitz, that was unprofessional, I just… Um, I know that's what Dr. Simmons does when you're worked up like this, and it always gets you to stop. She told me once to help you if she was ever not here to do it."

Fitz remained frozen for another moment, staring at his now still leg as her words pierced through his thoughts. Simmons usually stopped him from getting too 'worked up,' as the girl had just phrased it. But she couldn't do that because she wasn't here right now. Because she was at The Hub. With Agent Triplett. And she was probably happy, off doing sciencey things without him, forgetting that she ever needed him at all. And Agent Triplett was probably standing next to her lab table, arms crossed in front of his chest so that his muscles looked even bigger than usual, smiling at her in the way that always made her giggle when she thought he wasn't around. Trip would probably lean over the lab table, not even caring that he was contaminating Simmons' samples.

"Dr. Fitz!" A voice broke through his thoughts again and his jerked his head up, forcing all jealousy from his mind.

"Yes! Sorry, sorry," he said quickly, standing and nodding at the girl in front of him. "Sorry!" He said louder, addressing the group of lab techs in the back of the room. "Thanks," he said quietly to the girl standing in front of him, still flushed bright red.

The fact that Simmons had specifically instructed one of their assistants to take care of him in her absence squeezed his heart. She was always taking care of him, even when she wasn't here. So now, it was time to man up and take care of her. He didn't care if Trip was with her, the agent's braun was no match for Fitz's brain. And Simmons needed help solving a mystery right now. He had to stay in touch with Simmons - he didn't like them getting separated when everything seemed to be on the edge of blowing up all around them.

Time to install that encrypted line.