Malcom did hold true to his promise and came round later to see what they had on. Well at least for the men he did. A true gentleman didn't go into a lady's room and comment negatively on their dress! Instead he'd sent Alison to check on them.

Alison had found May wearing a floor length black dress that hung gracefully down on her frame. Her hair was pulled back and pinned in a bun with a silver needle and clasp. Skye was in a salmon pink dress that had a small flower pin on the white ribbon that circled her waist. Both of which she deemed ready for dinner.

Jemma on the other hand had only brought warm trousers, none of which were at all formal. She didn't fit in either Skye's nor May's clothes and she was starting to panic.

"Don't ye worry Ms. Jemma." said the old lady with a smile. "We've still got some old dresses around here somewhere." And without heeding Jemma's words of protest, she dragged the young girl with her to a separate part of the castle. Using one of the numerous keys on her belt she proceeded to open the door to reveal a small room with various wardrobes lining the room's walls, which were covered in floral paper.

"Here we are." Alison said with a smile as she unlocked one of the wardrobes to reveal a large row of dresses. "Now let's see. How tall are ye deary?"

Having asked multiple questions on Jemma's height and other factors, Alison seem satisfied and began taking out some of the dresses, leaning them against Simmons' frame before either laying them on the chair or replacing them.

They had gone through about eleven dresses when finally they found one that fit the bill. It was a deep emerald green which was strapless and closely fit against her body. On top of that was a lace cover that draped over her, leaving her skin as the background of its indicate patterns on her shoulders. Its sleeves finished just before her elbow and the skirt part ended around her knees with a small flare.

"Turn around dearie, let me see ye." Alison watched with content eyes as Simmons turned round slowly. "It suits ye."

"Whose are these dresses?"

Alison's eyes lost their light and filled with sadness. She turned to replace the last dress and closed the wooden doors with a sigh. "It was Leofs mother."

"Mrs Fi… I mean Campbell."

Alison shook her head and smiled. "No you're right dearie. She was a Fitz. She hated her husband's name just as much as she hated the' man himself. Whenever he was out th' house it was 'Oh please just call me Mrs Fitz.'" Alison chuckled "I'm not surprised Leo took on th' habit."

She walked towards the door.

"Now if ye don't mind I need to start getting' dinner prepared. Goodness knows that even with th' extra hired help it's still goin' to be a tough two hours before it starts."

"No of course," said Jemma with a smile "I don't want to get in your way."

"Ye remind me of my English cousin. Always so polite and thoughtful. Don't ye dare listen to any shite Master Campbell has been sayin' about ye and yer country. I fur one know that th' English can be exceptionally kind like yerself."

"I'll be sure to remember that Alison."

Everyone had gathered in the Coulson's room just before the dinner was about to start. Well everyone minus a Scot with curly hair. Ward and Coulson had both dressed in smart suit and complimented the women on their style. Coulson may have denied it afterwards when Skye confronted him, but he had in fact made puppy eyes at May on various occasions throughout the night.

"Now we've seen Mr Campbell's nature," they all refused to call him Fitz's dad "we need to make sure that no matter how provocative he might be, that we keep our heads and emotions in check."

"Exploding in the man's face won't be doing Fitz any favours." said May, her face grave as she looked at the younger team members.

"Fine," sighed Skye "Anything else?"

"That's it for now, but please let's try and keep tension to a minimum." Coulson regarded his team with one final critical glance before turning to May offering his arm. "Shall we head downstairs? I'd rather not get on Campbell's bad side."

May simply smiled and smoothly wrapped her arm around his, allowing him to escort her down into the main hall. The rest of them followed down, all looking to see where there small scientist could be.

"Mr Coulson," came Campbell's booming voice "This is an old friend of mine, served with me in the army. Mr McFarlan, meet Mr Coulson. He is Leopold's boss and heads the team he works in."

Mr McFarlan was a bold man whose nose took up an abnormally large amount of his face. His suit bulged in the middle to make up for his over-rounded stomach, making it seem that his head and legs were much too small to be in proportion with the rest of his body. He took Phil's hand in a strong grip to shake it.

"Pleasure to meet ye."

"The same here." replied Coulson before gesturing to May "This is my partner Melinda May."

"What a stunnin' lady you are! And that is a beautiful dress you're wearin'." His hand grasped hers.

"Thank you." came May's reply, courteous to the untrained ear yet painfully fake to Coulson's.

"This is my daughter Myrna." The man extended his arm to gently drag his daughter forward, indicating that she too should shake their hands.

Myrna had dark hair that in the weak light of the hall seemed black but was actually a dark shade of brown. She lacked all of her father's features but instead was well formed and clothed in a ruby red dress that clung tightly to it, bringing out the shade of her lips and complimenting her hair.

"Now who are these three young ones Campbell?"

"They are Leopold's co-workers."

The three introduced themselves, shaking hands with both McFarlan and his daughter. They were about to head over to the dining hall when he appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Fitz." said Jemma as she looked up at the young man making his way down the stairs his gaze fully focused on the floor or his shoes, Jemma couldn't be sure. Hearing her, the rest of the team turned around, albeit Skye needed to grab the front of Ward's tux and manhandle him to face the stairs.

Ward's eyebrows must have disappeared altogether at the sight of his young teammate.

"Fitz is… he's…"

"He's wearing a kilt!" gasped Skye, finishing Ward's sentence.

And indeed Fitz was wearing a kilt. A blue and green one to be exact, with a sporran hanging in the front, lilting as he made his way slowly down the stairs. The pleats stood draped over his right leg as the tartan fabric fell to his knees. He wore a complimentary midnight blue Prince Charlie jacket and vest and beneath his chin was a small black bow tie. His white socks (which Simmons distinctly remembered Fitz calling Hose) had small rather amusing looking flashes on the side and to all of their surprise, tucked into his right leg was a small knife. The outfit was completed by the addition of the black Brogues, all polished and shining in the candle light.

Only when he'd run out of stairs to look at did Fitz lift his head to look at the others. His cheek immediately heated under their surprised gazes.

"Um…"

"You look good Fitz." May gazed at the young man with a proud smile, and Fitz couldn't help but wonder if that was what a mother's face looks like when it's filled with pride.

"Really?" he asked incredulously "I can't help but feel very, very out of place. I've always hated these. Too much bother to put on, and I…"

"Fitz, you're rambling." said Simmons as she stepped closer to him "and your bow is lopsided." She smiled at him reassuringly as she straightened the offending item.

"Thank ye." Fitz mumbled to the floor. "I'm sorry ye have to sit through this dinner and see me like this."

"Well I think you look rather dashing." Simmons smiled even more upon noticing how much redder his cheeks had become due to her comment. "Oh come on Fitz. Who knows, maybe it will be fun."

Fitz sighed, but didn't agree with her, merely offering his arm as Coulson had done just before.

"Well, I must say I'd rather face an alien invasion any day that this bloody thing." he said "But there's no getting' out of this so let's get it over and done with."

And with that, they walked into the dining hall. Or rather for Leo, into the lion's den.

As it turned out, Mr McFarlan wasn't the only guest invited to that dinner. In fact, the room was packed with people that the team had never seen before which made them all uncomfortable to say the least.

"Leopold! How are ye lad?" cried one of the men as they walked through the door. Simmons was relieved to see that Fitz was smiling at the approaching man clad in a red kilt.

"Clearly this one must be nice." she thought. "Thank goodness for that."

"I'm doin' fine Dr Reid. How's Jack?"

Dr Reid smiled. "Well ye know, went off to get his law degree and started in a firm. They say he's doin' very well."

"Ye must be proud."

"As proud as any father should be lad." He coughed before leaning in closer. "Not that yer dah knows anythin' about that… But who is this dashin' young lass ye have with ye?"

"I'm Jemma Simmons. I work with Fitz."

Simmons couldn't help but blush as Reid gently took her hand and kissed it, his beard and moustache's finely trimmed hairs brushing against her skin.

"If ye work with Fitz then ye must be a scientist." he said with a gleam in his eyes. "Fitz always preferred a smart brain with an ugly face rather than a sponge behind a pretty one. Not that ye aren't beautiful." The man reached into his breast pocket before taking out a small piece of paper and handing it to Simmons. "Here is my card in case ye ever need anythin' and you'd like a tour of a nice part of Scotland, not this hole of devils." he added with a smile before turning to Fitz. "Jack asked if ye could come on up and see him one day. Go have a Haggis or somethin'."

Fitz chuckled. "Jack always did like that drink more than was good for him."

"I can assure ye lad that that hasn't changed."

Meanwhile Skye and Ward had been talking with one of the couples, Mr and Mrs Fotheringham, which apparently were the small town's doctor and assistant.

"I must say ye're a well formed lad." said Mrs Fotheringham with a smile and Ward.

"Thank you. It comes with the job."

"Have to do a lot of runnin' and stuff?" asked Mr Fotheringham. When Ward had replied that he did indeed do a lot of 'running and stuff' the man grinned widely and said "I bet it comes in handy when that pretty lass drags ye around shoppin' no?"

"Oh… we're not together." said Ward "We're just partners."

"Dear god Ward, could you make us sound any more like Fitzsimmons?" she said in an exasperated tone, yet he could see the amusement hidden underneath.

"Oh I do believe it's time we sat down at the table." said Mrs Fotheringham to her husband who began to lead her away to their seats.

Campbell had already taken his seat at the head of the table and he watched as the others spread round the great oak table. Fitz was just about to sit between Ward and Jemma when his father's voice sounded over the table.

"Leopold. What to ye think ye're doing?"

"Um…" Fitz looked at his father in confusion "I'm sittin' in my usual seat."

May couldn't help but notice with sad eyes that Fitz's usual place was quite far away from Campbell. "Probably for the best."

"Don't be ridiculous. You will sit over here next to Myrna."

What hurt the most to watch was how Fitz didn't even complain, like he knew it would only make it worse if he talked back. So with a quiet apology to Simmons he left his seat and went over to sit next to Myrna, merely a seat away from his father.

Before anyone could say anything, in came the extra house maids Campbell had ordered, bringing with them the evening's meal. With steaming plates filled to the brim, they started to talk to each other. The whole team kept sneaking subtle glances in their scientists' direction only to see how due to a rather chilling look from his father, Fitz had begun talking with Myrna. May had even lightly touched Phil's elbow to bring his attention to Campbell and his murderous looks.

"Don't worry," Phil whispered "he won't risk doing anything in front of everyone. Fitz will be fine."

"I still hate the thought of Fitz having had to do this all the time." said Skye since she too had noticed the looks.

"Well then I'm sure he knows how to deal with it." replied Ward.

"So Leopold," began Mr McFarlan, his eyes intently on the young man "what have you been doin' since I last saw you?"

"I went to university, graduated early and then did another two years of Academy engineerin' before joinin' Mr Coulson's team. I'm currently workin' with Coulson and th' rest of my team as an engineer and overall scientist."

"What's an engineer Leopold?" asked Myrna, her eyes fluttering on purpose. But Fitz being Fitz was oblivious.

"Well it's someone who works in th' branch of science and technology concerned with th' design, buildin' and use of engines, machines and structures."

"Oh god he's going into textbook mode." said Simmons, her eyes filled with worry.

"What do you mean?" asked May from across the table.

"Sometimes when he's nervous, he kind of shuts down and reverts to a closed off manner. It you try and talk to him, he'll most likely answer back in a boring and monotonous way. They used to call it his textbook mode back at the Academy."

"So what engines and machines do you make Leopold?"

Fitz didn't even turn to look at her as he answered. "I make devices that allow Jemma and I to collect samples and analyse them…"

"Like little robots?"

Fitz managed to hold in his exasperated sigh. "Yes I do make robots of sorts."

"Ye'll have to show us at some point then." said McFarlan. "Perhaps a private viewing."

Fitz suddenly chocked on whatever was in his mouth and proceeded to swallow the offending piece of food before coughing.

"So what do you say Leopold? Will you let us see?"

Fitz looked at McFarlan and then to his dad, whose eyes were slowly boring holes in Fitz's own.

"Um…"

"I've very sorry Mr McFarlan," came Coulson's voice from the end of the table "but that won't be possible. Company regulations and such."

"Oh…That's ok," replied McFarlan, his obvious anger and Coulson's intervention barely hidden. "I'm sure Leopold could show us another of his inventions."

"I'm sure he could." Coulson's voice replied, icily calm. He gave a curt nod at Fitz's small smile of gratitude before returning his attention to his meal. Not even a minute had passed before there was another voice.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," said Mrs Fotheringham as she looked at Jemma "But I didn't catch yer name."

"Oh, Jemma Simmons."

"My, what a beautiful name." the woman smiled "Who would have thought, an English woman under Campbell's roof. My, this is a surprise."

"She is part of Leopold's team." Campbell's eyes were as cold as his voice when he looked at Jemma.

"Are you now." said Mr Fotheringham "What is it you do?"

"Well I'm a scientist like Leo but I'm a biochemist."

Mr Fotheringham's eyes lit up. "So you're a doctor are you?"

"Well yes when the need arises I give medical treatment to my team. But I mainly investigate more than anything even though I'm chief of medical."

"You're rather young to already be in charge of such a task. Aren't all the other doctors annoyed that they're under the orders of a woman? And a young'un at that."

Simmons flushed with not only offense but also embarrassment at the attention.

"No, nothing like that." cut in May, staring at the insolent Doctor. "Simmons is more that capable of handling herself."

"Yes well, getting 2 PhDs does that to a person I guess." said Jemma with a shy smile.

"Now, now lassie." said Mr Fotheringham "Let's not start lying to try and look good in front of others. You seem to be a smart girl, but if you think that anyone in their right minds will believe ye then…"

"She's not lyin'."

They all turned to look at Fitz who was staring at his glass of water.

"Pardon me?" came Mr Fotheringham's disbelieving voice.

"I said," he turned to face the man "she's not lyin'."

Campbell chuckled heartily. "Don't be ridiculous Leopold. You can't expect us to believe that she has two PhDs."

Fitz turned to face his father, his ears turning pink with anger. "If she doesn't have two PhDs, then I'm a bloody idiot and Irish. Hell, I could be th' king of an alien colony in th' Andromeda galaxy."

Next to him Myrna gasped, looking more like a pantomimic figure than someone in real shock to Skye's eyes. But she, like everybody else was focused on Campbell's stoic gaze that was slowly starting to fill with anger. When Fitz finally broke off the staring match between father and son, he turned to face Mr Fotheringham.

"Please could ye apologies to Simmons." His voice was calm and collected.

Mr Fotheringham opened and closed his mouth in shock like a fish out of water.

"Leopold, stop this absurd behaviour. Mr Fotheringham has nothin' to apologise for."

Fitz ignored his father's words, his gaze focused entirely on the doctor. "Ye taught me manners were important father, so now I'd like to see Mr Fotheringham extended them to my colleague and best friend. Could ye please apologies?"

The doctor turned to Jemma. "I'm very sorry my dear. You have my sincerest apologies."

"Thank you. But that really wasn't necessary Fitz."

Campbell slammed his fist down on the wood, sending tremors through the table and its contents.

"His name is not Fitz so don't call him that! He is my son so he will be called by my name not his Mother's if you all insist on using surnames!"

Fitz merely nodded his head and continued eating his food.

The evening past with mainly the guests especially Myrna and her father making conversation, a vast majority of it revolving around Fitz who answered their questions in a detached and polite manner. It made Skye's spine shiver to see his eyes without so much as a spark of interest or light. No wonder he had left if all he became was a spiritless body to be able to survive these occasions.

Eventually they all finished the meal with full stomachs before moving off into the side room for drinks. To Fitz's disappointment, neither Malcom nor Alison were allowed to attend. Just another way for Campbell to show his son how he was in charge. It hurt Fitz to the core. And to add to this pain, he was yet again made to remain in his father's, McFarlan and Myrna's presence.

"So have you met anyone yet Leopold?" asked Myrna.

"No, I spent too much time studyin' really. But S…" Fitz choked back his words as he caught sight of his father's glare. "But I'm sure it's also that I haven't found th' right person yet." He pushed the fake smile onto his lips.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find that person soon." said Myrna with a seductive smile. Fitz merely said thank you before looking away.

From across the room Dr Reid was talking to May and Coulson over glasses of scotch which the two agents had found a new fondness for. "I'm glad Leo found ye. Ye all seem to be his escape."

"His escape?" asked May, her head tilting to the side with slight curiosity.

"Well, it's his way of gettin' away from his dah really and th' life that he insists Leo has to have. That boy never cared for titles nor glory, he gets it from his dear mother. He'd rather a good book to read, somethin' or other to tinker with and a friend by his side. When he was here it was Alison and Malcom. I swear to god if it weren't for those two I wouldn't have been surprised if you hadn't even gotten to know him. That boy would have probably off'ed himself out on th' moors like..."

He stopped midsentence at the sight of their wide eyes, filled with shock. "One should not speak in such a way in good company, especially in this place."

Coulson and May merely nodded, understanding the discomfort that seem to permeate the house.

"He also had my son Jack for company. Th' amount of times he would just appear at our house and ask if it was ok if he stayed for a while. We never turned him down. I'm sure no one would. Minus his own dah." The bitterness in his tone as he spoke of Campbell was almost tangible. "Then it was university, after that th' Academy and finally ye. Ye're his escape."

"Well now I feel very privileged to have him as part of my team and as a friend."

Reid smiled. "I knew there was a reason Leo spoke highly of his team."

"What is that ridiculous girl doing now?" May said with an exasperated tone as they watched Myrna attempt to flirt with Fitz.

"Campbell's back at it. Trying to get his son married." He turned to the agents. "Ye should have seen th' last girl he tried to persuade Fitz to marry. No brain matter what so ever."

"How long has he been doing that?"

"Since the lad turned fourteen. He came to our house crying after Campbell's first attempt. Said a girl didn't deserve him and that they all just deserved to finish school, go do somethin' with their lives. Of course two years later he joined university so that was an end to th' constant stream of plausible wives."

"Thank god for that."

"Aye. Thank god for that." And with those words Reid downed his drink in one gulp.