Prompt four- The first time Jemma makes a sandwich for Fitz after returning from the planet
Prompt four- The first time Jemma makes a sandwich for Fitz after returning from the planet
Six and a half long months Fitz went without Jemma's prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich and pesto aioli sandwich. Of course, he went without Jemma too, but his palette had been missing the touch of the most perfect sandwich created by the most wonderful woman he had ever met.
Now, the thing with the sandwich wasn’t like those terrible jokes that misogynistic people crack about women stuck in kitchens making food for guys. No, in fact, that was Fitz’ concern when Jemma initially made the sandwich. He was reluctant to accept it on that behalf alone. The iconic Fitzsimmons sandwich has a history and its quite important to the inception of their friendship.
That story will have to come after, as now we recount the first prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich with a hint of pesto aioli made after Jemma returned from the alien planet.
It had been a particularly difficult night. With Bobbi back in the field after being taken off the disabled list, Fitz was needed even more to assist on missions. The more agents that roamed the field, the more support they needed, identities made, schematics downloaded, codes cracked. Fitz had caught wind of Daisy lifting his dwarf 2.0, and had blabbed it to the whole field agent department who in return all demanded one. Fitz was cracking them out hourly, tying up so much of his time. And with SHIELDS agents numbers steadily growing, the orders were stacked. This was also a testament to Fitz’ quality craftsmanship, as he didn’t trust these babies popping up on a production line, there was more room for error that way, and more room for them to be stolen. In Fitz’ controlled environment, he called the shots.
While SHIELD had gained a whole new class of field agents, in the science department the numbers remained the same. And with Mack on field duty and Jemma still adjusting (peculiarly as well), Fitz found the lab work to be a mountain that never ended. And to throw it in there, his independent research into getting back to the planet, and his secretive snooping into who this Will Daniels fellow was were where he spent a good chunk of his time too. His free time at least.
It was easy to see Fitz had been spread thin. Despite having healed well over time, there were still lingering characteristics that stumped him up at times. Sometimes he would build circuit boards backwards, forget the first half of formulas, and on the rare occasion, his hands would jam up and he would need to take a break. His garbage pail hosted a pile of discarded stress balls.
It was with these particular settings that led to the sandwich. Jemma mostly slept during the day, having become so accustomed to darkness, that nighttime was her key time to be up and mingle. And the Playground was a hotspot for agents up at night, often coming back from missions or leaving to ones on the other side of the world. However, in the science lab, daylight hours were generally the busiest time, and there weren’t too many assisting engineers to help the graveyard shift. Jemma was comfortable being in the lab for longer periods of time. She mostly just sat and read, getting accustomed to the noise of whirring machines and the sometimes chaotic pace. Plus the brightness. She recalled a time when she had submitted her proposals for the new lab to be brightly lit after the one on The Bus was poorly lit. She was biting those words now.
To combat the craziness and because Jemma was a night owl, she often headed to the lab at strange hours, usually two in the morning until six. Around seven the usual cast would begin to roll in, and Jemma slipped out before the rush, grabbing some breakfast and eating in the recreation room to avoid the lines.
Fitz realized the eight hour days weren’t going to cut it, and doing straight 12 or 16 hours took a toll on his brain. He came to the conclusion that a split schedule would be his best bet, and plus he could get more work done at night with less distractions. Well, less distractions except for Jemma.
The first night Fitz did the split schedule; Jemma was already in the lab. He told her not to mind him that he was catching up with work, and she showed him the stack of biology, chemistry, and biomedical journals that had been published during the months she had been gone that she wanted to catch up on. It was an easy months worth of reading. So, while the two of them worked side by side, they worked alone, quietly and without obstructing the other besides from the occasional tea break.
This arrangement worked out smoothly for the first two weeks, but Fitz’ work only continued to pile one, and his hours became longer and his stress reached catastrophic levels. Jemma could read these signs a mile away. After all, it was reminiscent on how Fitz and Simmons initially broke the ice, both having harbors less than pleasant ideas about the other person.
Jemma was always a proactive person, and standing by the wayside wasn’t an option. Although she had promised to give Fitz his space, she knew he was running himself into the ground. Just like his studies did back at the Academy. Fitz was disorganized to a fault before Jemma entered an introduced the wonders of implementing some structure and formality to it.
And she also introduced the sandwich. The ultimate comfort food.
When Jemma was merely enrolled in the Academy, and not yet attending, her parents took her on a massive trip across most of Europe and Northern Africa. They recognized that once at the Academy, Jemma would be a slave to her education, so the three month long holiday was meant to keep her energy and spirits up when her studies would be difficult and stress her out. They first began the trip in Northern Africa, hitting Morroco and Egypt, and then crossed over to Greece, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.
They spent an entire week in Italy, and it was late one night when Jemma bit into a prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich with a hint of pesto aioli Panini. It was magic for her, and, speaking a butchered Italian she asked the waiter to send her compliments to the chef. (The way she said it was more like ‘sandwich good, cook love.’) The waiter was charmed by the young teen’s attempt, and brought out the chef who could speak English. Jemma was able to thank her personally, and the chef was so touched by what she said, that she brought Jemma into the kitchen to teach her how to make it. The chef said she wanted Jemma to always remember the magic she felt in her travels, and that food was the best way to care for someone. So, not only does the sandwich mean a lot to Jemma in that it highlighted a very special experience, but she is reminded of how she can help people with the smallest gestures, and spread some of that magic when she makes this sandwich.
The first time she made the sandwich for Fitz was in the Academy days before they were friends. Before they were even amiable with each other. In fact, she hadn’t technically made the sandwich for him; she had made it for herself.
But, back to the present, where Jemma and Fitz are working late in the lab.
Fitz was at his maximum, swamped with too much work that he had put upon himself. It disrupted his sleep to a point where he would just return to the lab, but his overall tiredness made him prone to mistakes or just work far too slow. Jemma knew this type of Fitz. She read the signs.
Without speaking she got up from her work and headed to the kitchen, asking Fitz if he’d like a cup of tea. He nodded and quite brashly said ‘yeah, okay.’ Typical, Jemma thought to herself.
She raided the fridge and pantry, rolled up her sleeves and worked on making two pesto aioli sandwiches (Panini, as that is plural in Italian), and two cups of tea. Ten minutes later, when she put on the final touches, she loaded them on to a tray and brought them in to the lab, where Fitz was fighting off sleep. The general rule was that food wasn’t allowed in the lab (except for beverages), but being relatively the only people in there, Jemma threw that rule out of the window.
She stepped quietly across the room, not alerting Fitz. He was startled fully awake when she set down the tray, and after rubbing his eyes, he looked at what she had put down before him. Jemma, now breaking the other rule that her and Fitz had put in place to keep their distance in the lab, drew a chair next to him and picked up her plate and cup of tea.
“You looked like you could use it,” she smiled, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.
Fitz stared at her, with a look of astonishment.
“What?” Jemma mumbled, her mouth full of sandwich and a piece of lettuce hanging out.
“Just this, it reminds me of…” Fitz said quietly, looking into the distance with the words trailing behind him. He picked up the smile and served up a reluctant smile before taking a bite.
It reminded him of the first time he had the sandwich. Jemma was burning the midnight oil on a project, and snuck down to the dormitories kitchen to make the golden sandwich to give her a boost. She left it on the counter for just a moment to grab some tea from the pantry. While she had her back turned, Fitz, who also was up late slaving away at a project, strolled in, saw the sandwich, and in delirium picked it took a big bite out of it.
“Oh my gosh,” he said to himself, his mouth stuffed and his taste buds basking in some serious gastronomic glory.