MISADVENTURES

Jemma runs her finger along the pristine stainless steel table. The lack of scratches is impressive; she figures they must've bought it special for this lab.

All around her are brand new instruments. She marvels at the quality which is far greater than what the students are allotted in the academy classes. She notices that on one wall there is a screen with clearly 3D capabilities. Jemma suspects that this is where the electromagnetic results will be posted. It's truly incredible, she had no idea such technology even existed at S.H.I.E.L.D. Her hands shake with excitement at the sheer potential of it all (and possibly because she's about to meet her new partner, Leo Fitz).

She's about to open a metallic cabinet in the corner when she hears a man clear his throat. "I suspect that cabinet is packed to the brim with my old tools. The mess of it all might fall on ya if you were to open it."

It's her heart that recognizes the familiar voice first as it gives a quick lurch at the melodic sound of his Scottish accent. Jemma turns so quickly toward the source of the voice that she inadvertently knocks over a tray of differently sized scalpels which scatter to the floor.

"Oh dear!" She cries out, embarrassed, as she drops to her knees to clean it up. "And they were all new too. Not a very good first impression, I think." She hears him laugh nervously and she can barely bring herself to look up. She's afraid of the potential for disappointment, afraid that it won't be him…

"I'm sure they'd get mucked up eventually, Jemma. All those disgustin' creatures you're sure to cut up."

It's that familiar turn of phrase from a video she'd watched more times than she'd dare admit that has her finally looking up. The sharp light of the lab stabs at her eyes and she's momentarily blinded. She blinks and her vision clears as she rises to her feet.

"It is you!" Her voice sounds relieved and excited at the same time.

…

Somewhere deep inside, Leo musters the courage to speak. When he first walked into the room and saw her grinning in amazement at everything around her, unaware that he was even there; he wanted to turn back around. He wanted to tell the man in the grey suit that SciOps wasn't for him, that he'd go to the Sandbox and spend his life hidden away as some ranking agent's lab assistant.

When he sees her gently touching the doors to his tool cabinet, something propels him forward. Raw stupidity, perhaps. But he speaks and he thinks he startles her as she sends a tray to the floor. His heart beats erratically, nervous for her reaction. He thinks she might scream in terror once she gets a good look at who her new lab partner is.

Instead, when she's standing upright, she throws her arms around his neck. Her face buries into his shoulder. "I'd hoped- wanted it so badly to be you," she whispers.

Leo's arms hang at his side, stunned. He doesn't know what to say. It's a reaction he wasn't expecting. Slowly, he moves to wrap his own arms around her, his hands crossing at the small of her back.

It's Jemma who speaks first when they step apart from each other, her words a jumble of emotion. "Did you know I was here? Why didn't you say that you were going here too? Or find me? I can't believe you're here. I mean-" She stops, sucking in a deep breath, her hands press at her cheeks. "Leo Fitz." There's a hint of laughter to her voice. "I've known you for so long as L.F. that it's difficult to reconcile the two names."

"Call me Fitz," he says. "They called me that at M.I.T." It's a lie, but she doesn't know that. The truth is, they'd called him Little Leo, not particularly the most flattering of names and he's certainly not about to share that with anyone anytime soon. The logical side of his brain figures that if she calls him Fitz there's an element of separation; less familiarity, less chance of… getting hurt? He cringes at the thought, and she notices almost immediately.

"Is everything okay?" She reaches for his arm, concern riddled across her face.

He nods his head, pulling his arm away. "Yah, everything's fine." Leo moves toward his tool cabinet. "We should get started on the calibration." His words come out a little colder than he'd intended and he notices her face drop slightly. He makes an immediate decision to keep her at a figurative arm's length.

"Yes. The calibration. Of course." She nods and grabs a lab coat from the coat tree. "Busy, busy, things to do," she mutters under her breath.

…

A month passes and the two scientists have barely said more than a few words to each other. Jemma becomes increasingly frustrated by Leo's silent treatment. Her overtures to drum up conversation go unnoticed and when he does speak to her, he calls her Simmons like she's one of the agents they work for, rather than a girl he's been sending videos to for five years.

When she suggests that he re-calibrate the mechanized influxer on the spectrometer, he practically barks at her, saying that there's nothing wrong with the influxer, it has to be her science. She decides to leave work early that day, figuring that there was no sense in arguing over her inability finalize the data. She thinks that with a slight variance to the calibration, the spectrograph might at least read the radioactive emissions correctly. She tries again the next day to convince Leo to have a look at the influxer and has even less success. He's adamant. The issue is not his tech, it is her science.

The stress of the situation makes Jemma think that she's made a grave mistake accepting the promotion. The Leo Fitz of her memories is not the Leo Fitz that stands across from her.

Jemma seeks out advice from the girls on her dorm floor. It's unanimously decided that the lab is a terrible place to renew their friendship and it's likely the stressors of the lab which cause the miscommunications. Some even suspect Jemma's long time crush on the cold Leo Fitz (although, Jemma denies it, red faced). Against her better judgment, and on their suggestion, she decides to work up the nerve to ask Leo out to dinner. She thinks she plays it cool; she wears her lucky pink blouse, centers her S.H.I.E.L.D necklace at the base of her neck and begs Olivia to curl her hair. But when she finally nervously asks, Leo barely looks up from his tablets, fingers deftly moving from one screen to another.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he says, his eyes never meeting her own. "Work and pleasure should never really mix."

(What Jemma doesn't realize is that Leo can't meet her eyes because he knows she'll see through his lie. It's possible his crush on her, is bigger than her own on him.)

…

It's Jemma's dorm neighbour Olivia that startles Leo from his sleep that night. He's groggy and he can hear it in his own voice as his Scottish brogue is thicker than ever.

"I can't understand you when you talk like that, Fitz!" Olivia shouts into the phone and she's so ridiculously loud that he has to move the phone from his ear.

"What do you want, Olivia?" He repeats with greater clarity. "It's bloody one in the morning." He can hear the beat of techno music in the background and he wonders how so many of the academy students can stand Club Night at the Boiler Room.

"She's in trouble, Fitz." He knows in an instant who she is and immediately he's sitting up in bed, pulling on a pair of sweats. "She's a little drunk… okay, a lot drunk. We can't get her back to the dorms without-"

"The cameras catching her," he finishes. As a former member of the technology division, he knows full well that Jemma would be caught in no time by any number of cameras on campus. Both of them, as underage students, were explicitly warned that they'd be expelled if they were caught drinking. Now, with their higher level clearance, it was likely she could be fired for the transgression. He stuffs his tablet into his satchel and grabs his jacket before pulling the door behind him. "I'm on my way."

…

When Leo arrives at the Boiler Room entrance he finds Olivia holding a very drunk Jemma up. "What happened?" He asks as if the answer wasn't plainly before him.

Olivia gives him a look. "You're kidding right?" Jemma giggles beside her and pushes her matted mess of hair off of her face. Her once crisp pink blouse is riddled with creases.

"Right," he says. "Never mind then."

"You can do this, can't you?"

He nods. "Just give me a few seconds." He pulls out his tablet and lays it on the floor. From the ground, he types in a command and a holographic keyboard and screen appear before them. Jemma coos with amazement as Leo stands and begins to type and swipe on the translucent keyboard and screen, his experience with the technology obvious.

Flashes of amber, red and green light up the dark hallway. He swipes again and types with greater speed. A red vertical light flares along the side of the hologram and turns green.

"Done," Leo says, swiping his index and middle fingers downward, sending the hologram back into the tablet. "I've reset the surveillance videos from here to the dorms. They're playing on loop right now. So you should have at least 10 minutes to get her back to her room before anyone notices." He picks up the tablet and puts it into his satchel.

"What? Me?" Olivia lifts Jemma's arm off of her shoulder and directs her friend toward Leo. "It's because of you that she's in this mess in the first place. She's your problem now." With Jemma leaning against Leo's shoulder, Olivia turns and pulls the door to the Boiler Room open. She gives a back-handed wave and is swallowed up by the darkness and music before Leo has a chance to question her further.

"Where's she going?" Jemma asks with childlike abandon, her fingers clinging to Leo's sweater.

"C'mon," he says, his annoyance with Olivia creeping into his voice. "We've got to get you back home."

...

The walk to Carrey Hall takes longer than Leo anticipated. While Jemma is able to walk on her own, she takes her time, seemingly enjoying the crisp spring night.

"You know, Fitzzzzz..." She slurs his name and points at him, her finger poking into his arm. "Why do you hate me so much?" Her face falls into an exaggerated frown. "I thought we were friends."

"We are friends, Simmons," he replies, motioning her toward the main doors of Carrey Hall.

"Friends don't ignore friends. Also, they're nice to their friends." She stops as they cross the threshold into the building. "You're impossible!"

Leo can't help but chuckle at her definition of him. It's the same thing his own mother had said to him years ago when he was stealing motors out of pencil sharpeners. "I know."

Jemma starts to walk again, leading him down the hallway toward her room. "I wrote you letters. There were so many, my parents said I had a cru-"

"Wait-" Leo interrupts, tugging at her elbow and she turns. "What letters?"

She sighs dramatically, shrugs her shoulders and continues to walk. "I wanted to be your friend. You were so smart. You were my age and-" She pauses, stopping at what Leo assumes is her own dorm room. "You were just so smart, and you made me feel wanted. You made me all those things; they were so cool. I thought we could be friends. I thought we were friends." She pauses and looks at him. "I rather liked you."

Leo opens his mouth to reply, but no words come out.

Jemma digs her hand into her pocket and pulls out her room key. "I asked you out today and you said no," she slurs, her voice highlighting her disappointment. She slides the key card into the slot; the light flickers green and she turns the handle, opening the door to her room.

"Oh Jemma," Leo whispers, ashamed of his own behaviour. Her hurt stings him and he realizes that he hates seeing her so upset and angry with him. "I'm really sorry." He presses his hand against her door to help hold it open. "I've been a bit of pill haven't I?"

She gives a small smile. "It's okay." Her hand drags across his chest, her palm stopping just over his heart. It's an action he thinks she'd never have done without her inhibitions being lowered. "Thank you for walking me home."

Suddenly she's leaning forward, pressing up on the balls of her feet, her hand using Leo's chest for leverage. Jemma presses her lips lightly to his own. The kiss is chaste, but his eyes close, all thought washed from his brain.

For a moment, just seconds, they are simply Leo and Jemma. There are no secrets, there is nothing to hide, no wall between them. They are… friends?

When she pulls back, she blinks dazedly at him. He's stunned and speechless. Jemma smiles and pats her hand against his chest. "See you tomorrow, Fitz."

...To be continued...

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