A/N: I figured that Fitz would go to M.I.T (what with it being a top technical school) and Simmons to U of Cambridge (what with it being reportedly one of the best science/medical schools in the UK). What I didn't bank on was that they are both technically in a city called Cambridge (USA and UK). And so, this chapter is titled:

COINCIDENCES

Leo Fitz doesn't use the sample of adamantium to improve his shield like he'd told Jemma Simmons he would. Instead, when he gets back to Bishopbriggs he sets to work on crafting something else. He barters for a miniature sander and engraver and takes over a month to save up for the inky patina he plans on using.

When his project is finally complete, he seals it in an envelope that includes a disk of his video showcasing the experimental flying disk and a note that simply reads:

Thanks for believing that I could do it.
L.F.

He resists the urge to sign his full name. For some reason he fears what she'll find when she looks up the name Leo Fitz. He's searched hers and knows that she's the daughter of England's most illustrious scientists, that her father was knighted by the Queen and that her mother works for Stark Industries as an engineering consultant. She's the child genius he knew she was from that article in the Glasgow Times, but something about her internet biography leaves him feeling ashamed of himself.

An internet search of Leo Fitz, he notes, turns up his school's math scores where his name appears at the very bottom. It also reveals that he lives in the poorest part of Bishopbriggs and that his father had died in an explosion at Advanced Idea Mechanics. He doesn't want Jemma Simmons to feel sorry for him. He wants her to think of him as something better. So Leo Fitz becomes L.F.

Without his mother knowing, he forges her signature and secretly enrols into an after-school mechanical engineering program at the University of Glasgow. It's meant for secondary students and it's filled with gifted kids but Leo is quick to earn his place among them. He uses his earnings from repairs to pay for a physics tutor (whom he surpasses in knowledge in little over a month) and by Fifth Year he shocks his mother when the headmaster tells her that M.I.T. has offered him a full scholarship.

"But he's only just 16," she says, startled. "Besides, wasn't he almost failing his courses?" Mrs. Fitz is at a loss. She'd figured the school had stopped calling because they had nothing new to tell her about her son's behaviour and scores. She herself had stopped asking for his class reports and had just assumed the worst.

Instead, it seems, she should've been assuming the best.

"Once he finishes his GCSEs, Mrs. Fitz, they'll take him on at M.I.T. They say his understanding of quantum physics is unparalleled and that his sketches could have a serious impact on the military's understanding of aeronautics and astrophysics."

She's flabbergasted and hesitant, but ultimately agrees. By September, the 16 year old is on a plane to Boston, enrolled in the aerospace engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

...

Jemma Simmons doesn't forget about the boy from the science fair. A few months after her win, a package arrives through the post. Eagerly, she tears into it and finds a CD and an intricately crafted necklace. She fingers the small charm which she recognizes to be shaped like Captain America's shield. Rather than the star at the center, there is an etched and delicately painted S.H.I.E.L.D Academy logo. The silky grey hue of adamantium circles the logo and confirms her suspicions; she knows that the package can be from only one person.

The boy from the science fair.

She digs through the wrappings in search of his name. There is no return address and the stamp is postmarked from Glasgow. Frustrated, she tosses the packaging against her bedroom wall and notices a note slip to the floor. She's careful to pick it up and turns it over in her hands. Jemma sees his words and is stunned, her heart thumps against her chest. There is still no name, just initials.

L.F.

And so, the boy from the science fair becomes L.F.

She watches his video on her computer and laughs when the mysterious, yet familiar L.F. comes in front of the camera and says, "I'm passin' this off to my lil' sister. So don't blame me if all ya see is my knees." She marvels as he sends his disk into flight and applauds when it returns to his hands; his experiment an apparent success.

"I didn't use the adamantium as I'd intended," he says to the camera. "But I think it works fine just the same." L.F. rubs his neck and Jemma smiles, she remembers him doing the same at the science fair. "I made ya something to thank you for your help on the flying disk, so I hope you like it. I thought it came out pretty well, doncha agree?" He snaps his fingers. "Oh! I almost forgot, I was thinking about your disgustin' creatures and I have an idea. So stay tuned."

The video cuts off and Jemma can't help but feel a bit dispirited at the shortness of the video. She thinks she might miss the boy from the video and chastises herself for having feelings for someone she barely knows. She reminds herself that it's just a bio-chemical reaction, like an anesthetic being released in the brain. To quell the rising emotion within her, she decides to write him a letter in return. She knows he'll never receive it but can't help but do so just the same.

In her first letter to L.F. she congratulates him on his creation. She is truly proud of what he's accomplished and thinks that he has a future in engineering. She tells him that the video wasn't all knees and that he should thank his sister for that, because she suspects they would've been nobbly with nerves. And finally, she puts to words how much she adores the necklace and charm. She's a little loose with her words and probably puts too much emotion into the letter, but it's not as though he'll ever see it and truly it is a sight to behold. Jemma promises to wear it every day; it'll remind her of her new friend from Scotland. She signs her name with a flourish and tucks it into an envelope and hides it away in her desk drawer.

A few months later another package arrives postmarked from Glasgow. The Drs. Simmons both raise their eyebrows when their daughter snatches it from the post pile and races to her room. She tears into it and finds another disk and several jars with what look like timers on their lids. Curious, she puts the disk into her computer and launches the video.

"Hey Jemma," L.F. waves to the camera. He's at his desk in what looks like his very messy bedroom. Her heart gives a little squeeze when he tugs at his tie and she wonders briefly if he'd dressed up for the video. Or, for her.

"So I made ya a thing, er- that is-" he clears his throat, nervously. "It's a de-methonizing compartment. Basically there's this filter, sort of like a coffee filter, but it locks in the smell of that disgustin' methanol. The timer on the top lets you know when it's time to clean out the nasty bits. Well, I haven't really tested it properly yet. No mangy animals laying 'round." He pauses and chuckles. "Well, none that I wanted to touch in any case. I figured you're better at that stuff. One day you can let me know how it goes; it should work. My teacher seemed to like it and think it was good." L.F.'s face reddens and he pauses, as though gathering his words. "I saw an article about you in the papers, it'd said you'd gotten perfect on your exams. Nicely done, Jemma. Really, I mean it. Well done." He offers the camera a thumbs up and the video cuts off.

Like with the first package, Jemma writes him a letter in return, filing it next to the first. Over the course of the next two years, she receives the odd package from L.F. and for each she writes a return letter. It becomes a diary of sorts; she puts to paper some of her worries, like her feelings of loneliness. Other times she talks about her successes, like acing her finals. When she accepts her scholarship and begins to pack for Cambridge, she worries whether he'll continue to write to her. Rather, send videos to her. She suspects that knowing a 15 year old who's at the University of Cambridge and studying biochem would be a bit daunting to the average person. Certainly the reporters who interview her about this accomplishment seem to confirm her suspicions and write as much in their respective publications.

She realizes that she has nothing to worry about when her parents forward a package postmarked from the United States. Jemma wonders if L.F.'s family has emigrated and tries to quell the rise of disappointment that surfaces in her chest. In spite of his new location, he continues his tradition. He congratulates her on her acceptance to Cambridge (and let's her in on a secret that he knew she'd go there all along). Some of his packages contain gadgets (there's one that he calls Sneezy and it helps her identify noxious fumes), others ask her questions on what chemicals would best work inside one machine or another (he usually guesses correctly on his own) and then others are simply video letters to her (he even once rants about the Harry Potter series, endearing him further to Jemma).

She watches him grow up before her eyes and notices that there's a distinct shift from the boy she'd met four years earlier. He's still the awkward, wide eyed boy she'd always known, but there's a maturity now to his personality. One that she doesn't notice among even the males in her university classes. She's increasingly impressed by how intricate and ingenious his creations have become. With the embalming jars the mechanics had been simplistic. Within a few short years, however, his creations have improved into complicated robotics that she believes might change the face of science and technology. She tells him as much in her letters, encouraging him to seek out important people at the local universities. She believes in the boy from the science fair. Knows that he could reach the stars or, at the very least, bring an astronaut closer to them.

There's a point in her third year at Cambridge that she notices the videos arrive with even less frequency but she's so busy finishing up her accelerated doctoral studies, that she doesn't have time to worry about what it could mean. When things get especially stressful around finals and she finds panic and uncertainty gripping at her chest, she pulls out her old videos of L.F. and is instantly calmed by them. Her flatmates find her asleep while video 18 is stuck playing on loop (it's L.F. reminding her to wear goggles in the lab because "no one likes a lass with missing eyeballs"). For the next week, they tease her about her Scottish boyfriend in America.

She doesn't try too hard to stop the teasing.

When she finally gets her acceptance letter to S.H.I.E.L.D Academy, she touches the familiar necklace that hangs at the base of her neck and secretly hopes that L.F.'s promise will come true. It'd be nice to have a friend on campus, she thinks, knowing full well that there's likely no other 18 year olds starting at the same time as her. She's the youngest ever admitted in the school's history and the odds are virtually next to none that L.F. would be there as well.

…

What Jemma Simmons doesn't realize is that across the Atlantic Ocean, Leo Fitz has been living an almost parallel life. At 18, he too is graduating with a doctoral degree and has been accepted to the Science and Technology Division at S.H.I.E.L.D Academy.

(Both will later recognize that mathematical impossibilities can still be possible.)

The school sends to Leo's apartment two agents tasked with moving his boxes of creations to the lock-up labs at the academy. He's so busy making sure that the machines are properly packaged and that the agents are carefully loading them onto the truck, that he barely gives a second thought as to whether his friend from the UK will be joining him on the Boston campus.

Later, as the last box is being carried out, it dawns on him to ask.

"I was wondering if you knew whether a Jemma Simmons was a student at S.H.I.E.L.D?" He tries not to be disappointed when the agent tells him that information on other students is classified.

...To be continued...

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