The cat was quickly becoming a menace. He wasn't even back home yet, and he was pretty sure his feelings were already headed in that direction.

After that phone call, Mum had cornered him at the kitchen table. To her credit she did not verbally press, just sat with him at the table, head tilted just so, waiting and watching until he inevitably caved. And he did.

He felt like he was all of seven years old again, hands folded at the kitchen table with a guilty coat of grease and bits of the neighbor's scooter lined up in the nearby alley. He had to find out how it worked. And that scooter never ran so well as after he put all the bits back together.

Instead of censure, Mum had praised him for the thoughtful gift that his ears still burned bright red with the memory. She even requested a whole slew of pictures to coo over.

After they opened presents the next day, Mum had gotten her wish. Simmons had already taken a bundle to send off to her family. In exchange, Simmons wanted to see him open up her gift via Skype.

Simmons had the kitten hauled up onto her lap, nosing tiny whiskers into the lens as he opened up the meticulously wrapped box, shiny red foil with silver ribbon tied into an intricate bow.

He frowned, trying to figure out how to best unwind the knot. It seemed a waste to slice open the ribbon and tear through the paper.

"Oh, Fitz," she sighed, tugging Steve back off the keyboard and onto her lap. "Just open it."

Beneath another layer of tissue paper, lay three ties that no doubt matched the assortment of shirts that Simmons had pressured him into after graduation.

She smiled brilliantly, lifting her finger towards the camera. "Did you see the designs on the ties?"

The edges of his lips lifted unconsciously as his finger traced over the designs: star charts, a Higgs Boson particle, and a circuit board. As he pressed against the fabric, he felt a DVD case below it. He pulled the case out, not surprised to see the familiar Tardis Blue. But the silver signature did come as a shock.

"Simmons! How did you manage to get this?"

She grinned, cuddling the kitten a bit closer on her lap. "I have my ways…"

Fitz leaned back in his seat, swallowing back against a fresh wave of turbulence. He was anxious to get back home and working on his projects again with Simmons. Seeing Mum was a nice change of pace, but it got a bit...boring after a while.

He was so attuned to a normal routine of near constant mental stimulation with Simmons at his side that her absence only made his dependence on that level of engagement stronger.

Even with the kitten, it seemed she was a bit lonely too. She had called nearly every day of the break, and more than once in the day on at least one occasion. It took nearly two full days for the local plows to break through the near-constant snow, so of course she needed as much social interaction as possible.

His Mum had only smiled as she walked past the door of his room, but her silence spoke volumes. That first semester she had been nearly ecstatic when he had mentioned his partnership with Simmons. She grew more quiet as the years wore on, but that knowing smile only grew bigger.

He sighed, massaging the tension from his temples. He couldn't remember how many times he had to remind her that Simmons was only interested in a professional relationship. Besides, he could hardly even keep track of the number of his scientific colleagues that pointed out their successful collaboration was incredibly rare.

That is where everything mattered. Even within the Academy and Sci Ops, few could keep up with him in terms of understanding as Simmons could. Few could understand the tremendously lonely road of the a child prodigy, and that understanding and empathy which paved the way for them to both become fast friends.

Once Fitz had managed to get her attention that is.

But it was that empathy that was the primary concern now. Jemma caught him by phone just a few hours before he was set to go to the airport. She was very worried about leaving Steve in the apartment alone for the 12-14 hour days they typically put in.

It was her words that now haunted him: "I've spent quite enough time alone and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, let alone a kitten."

Fitz frowned. Simmons definitely seemed attached to the kitten, but changing their work schedules was next to impossible.

He was completely at a loss for what to do.