Fitzsimmons

Babysitting

Quick Note: Probably set during season one, when things were happier...

I STARTED A CAESTRIDGE FIC! Because Fitzsimmons just isn't enough I guess?

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"Fitz, Simmons, I want you to watch Henry here while we track down his parents."

"Sir, I've never babysat a child in my life," Jemma said nervously.

"It's pretty easy. Feed. Entertain. Put to bed. Good luck," Coulson finished, then followed May out the door. They would be out tracking two missing persons that had been involved in an illegal sharing of government files earlier in the week. They had a good lead on the couple, so they estimated it would only take a day, as long as there weren't any unexpected variables. Until then, Henry, the couple's nine-year-old son who had provided the lead, was staying on the Bus with Fitzsimmons.

Henry sat at one end of the table, Fitzsimmons at the other. They stared at each other, both sides evaluating how they would handle the other.

Fitz, the less cautious of the pair, was first to speak.

"Wanna watch a Disney movie?" Fitz asked, folding his hands on top of the table as if he was making a business deal. Simmons stayed frighteningly still.

"Which Disney movie?" Henry said, then mimicked Fitz's serious gesture.

Fitz leaned forward, frantically scanning his mental list of Disney movies.

"Aladdin," he said decisively.

Henry stayed silent. This had to be the most stressful moment in Fitzsimmons' lives.

Henry leaned. back then said, "Sure." Fitzsimmons sighed in relief. Henry swung his legs to the side of the chair, then scooted out of it and walked bouncily to the couch in the common area.

"I can't believe that worked," Jemma breathed out while Fitz made his way to his bunk to pick out the movie.

"So, how is school going?" Simmons asked Henry after Fitz got back.

"Good," Henry said simply, staring at the television screen. Then he added, "My science project got a hundred percent."

"What was your science project on?" Simmons followed up, genuinely interested.

"The effects of amount of protein in foods on the reaction time with hydrogen peroxide," the boy said the mouthful of words flatly. Fitz, who had been putting the movie in, stopped suddenly and turned around in shock. This boy was studying things he hadn't studied until he was in middle school.

"That's advanced, isn't it?" Simmons mirrored Fitz's shock.

"My teachers won't teach me it, so I like to go to the library and read about it. Sometimes I ask my dad to tell me about his work."

"That's very impressive," Simmons complimented him, then tussled his light brown hair. She immediately pulled back, afraid she had crossed the line. She hasn't even thought about it; her hand seemed to have moved on instinct alone.

Henry smiled for the first time since they had brought the poor boy in.

"Want to watch Aladdin now?" Fitz suggested. Henry nodded, then relaxed into Simmons' side. She tensed at first, not used to having children around her, then let her natural maternal instincts overtake her. She wrapped an arm over the small boy and combed her fingers through a strand of hair.

Fitz sat next to her, showing all of his confusion. This was a completely new side of Jemma. He had never seen her be so gentle and compassionate with anyone. Picturing Simmons as a mother made Fitz smile.

They watched the movie, Henry's laughter lighting up the room. After a dinner of microwave Mac-and-Cheese, Fitzsimmons were tasked with putting Henry to bed.

Fitz offered Henry a place in his bunk, which the nine-year-old gladly accepted, but only after they had watched another Disney movie. Fitzsimmons had no idea how children 'worked', so they allowed it. Then he wanted another movie, which they also allowed. Then he wanted cake, which Simmons refused.

"You shouldn't have sugar this late," she insisted. Henry sighed, but did not argue back.

"How about you go to sleep now?" Fitz asked, yawning himself. It was eleven, far past the time Fitz usually slept.

"Tell me a story," Henry pleaded before he moved to sleep.

"We will, we will do that," Simmons replied. Henry smiled sleepily, then shuffled to Fitz's bunk.

After he had been sufficiently tucked in, Fitz began a story.

"Erm, once upon a time there was a princess named... Rose Tyler," he began. Jemma smiled at him kindly then added on.

"She was out riding her horse one day when a mysterious blue box appeared in front of her."

Fitz nodded, then continued the pattern. "A man stepped out of the box wearing a leather jacket. He pointed a glowing device at Princess Rose, and it made an odd noise."

"Rose was terribly frightened. Was the man there to kidnap her? Rose happened to be a witch, as well as a princess."

"A princess witch?" Henry asked with a yawn. He was enjoying the story a lot.

"A princess witch indeed," Fitz assured him. He nodded at Jemma to keep going.

"Rose pulled out her magic wand and pointed it at the man. With a few magic spells, the man became disarmed."

"Next, the man spoke. 'Rude!' he said. The princess looked at him confused. 'I'm the Doctor!' the man said. 'And I came here to save your life, and you just used magic to disarm me!'"

"The princess apologized and explained that she thought the man was there to kidnap her."

"'No! I would never kidnap someone', the man said. 'But tell me, Princess, would you like to come on adventures with me?'"

"The princess said she would quite like that, and so the Doctor helped her into the blue box."

Henry snored all of a sudden.

"I think he fell asleep," Fitz whispered.

"And I was just getting to the good part," Simmons replied, offended.

"I'm sure it would have ended lovely. Has anyone ever told you you would be an amazing mother?"

Jemma smiled self-consciously. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, then stood up to leave the bunk. Fitz closed the door behind them.

"You would be a good father, I think," Jemma complimented him in the hallway.

Just as Fitz was about to reply, the plane shook with the sound of the garage being lowered. The team was back.

Fitzsimmons ran down the spiral stairs, yelling at the team to be quiet because Henry was sleeping.

A blonde woman and a brown-haired man accompanied the team. They were probably Henry's parents. Fitzsimmons felt oddly disappointed they would have to give him back.

"Your son was a delight," Simmons said as they passed to retrieve Henry.

"Thank you for taking care of him," the woman said appreciatively. The man continued forward, determined to see his son again.

"How was babysitting?" Skye asked as she followed the parents.

"More enjoyable than we had thought," Fitz answered.

"I'm sure you did great," Coulson said, patting each scientist on the shoulder.

"We really did," Simmons said, glancing over at Fitz.