Jump Street Part One
Prompt Ten: Jump Street Part One
When Simmons and Fitz heard there was a mission in England, they beamed. Any downtime meant they could sneak in a visit to their families, something they didn’t get too much time to do. Most missions were based either in the United States or in countries where laws were more of a suggestion then an actual governing body. Simmons and Fitz were in, no matter what kind of mission it was.
That is, until they found out them being in the mission was the whole point.
Amidst their protestations, Fitz and Simmons were going in the field.
Why? Because their accents were native to this region of the world and they both looked young. Especially Fitz. With proper make up and wardrobe, Fitz and Simmons could pass for high school students. And that's exactly the mission they needed to go on.
Jemma had to wear braces, something she never thought she would have to put back in her mouth. The metal wires in her mouth gave her a lisp, and she could no longer prattle off at breakneck speeds. She smiled a lot less with them on.
Fitz was concerned because he had never attended public British schools. His mother had put him in a private school all the way up until SHIELD Academy, when he shipped away to the states. Public school... where the uniforms weren’t as strict and they had such less regard for education. Public school, where you got called out for being too smart. He heard the stories. He knew he would be fresh meat.
Jemma had also never attended public school. Her parents ran a wealthy business, and it was tutors and homeschooling for much of her life. She outgrew her tutors very quickly, as all of them could not offer the answers Jemma needed.
But here Fitz and Simmons were, backpacks stuffed with school supplies and hidden technology Fitz had designed. The mission was clear; to discover who has been recruiting students for Hydra right out of school. And how do they do it? Is it being done in other schools across England? The world? Corruption of youth was an easy thing to do, especially for a struggling teen or one with behavioral problems. Fitz and Simmons had to keep their nose under the radar to not raise flags at their snooping, but also needed to be in places where conversations like this could happen.
"And remember, don't show off in class," Coulson had said, as Fitz and Simmons sat in the back seat of Coulson's car. Coulson was getting a chance to play dad in this part.
Being that Simmons was English and Fitz was Scottish, Coulson had Fitz on board as a foreign exchange student, because brother and sister wouldn't work and also to explain familial relations would be getting too personal.
Coulson pulled in front of the school. Students hung around the campus, playing soccer or skate boarding or standing in circles listening to music. They were a few weeks into the school year, so Fitz and Simmons could easily adjust.
Simmons was the first to get out of the car, she had prepared all week for her debut, but she was nervous. Teenagers could be so brutal. Coulson tasked her with being the social butterfly, which wasn’t a hard task for Jemma if she was talking to people about science. But she knew talking to kids about bioluminescence and Newton’s laws were futile, so she had Skye prep her in all things pop culture. Jemma learned the lyrics to One Direction songs and who was dating whom in celebrity culture. She learned about British soccer stars and their reality star wives.
Poor Fitz was tasked with a different way to infiltrate the school. He had to get on the soccer team.
Now, Fitz was actually quite good at soccer, but that was of course playing against his neighborhood mates. He had never been on a team as his scientific endeavors took up most of his time. When Fitz asked why he couldn’t instead join a robotics club or something like that, Coulson responded the Hydra wanted highly athletic individuals and they needed him to become friends with the British equivalent of jocks.
In the two weeks of mission preparation, Skye had brought up that Fitz and Simmons would climb their social ranks faster if they were in a relationship, and besides it would keep any of the other high school students from trying to pursue them (for the most part). So not only did Fitz have to get on the soccer team, he had pretend with Jemma that they were in a relationship.
Fitz believed he was doomed.
Simmons had been the first one out of the car and she stood at the curb waiting for Fitz to shuffle over and out. When Fitz stood up, Jemma reached for his hand, squeezing it tight. She could feel how tense he was, his shoulders were nearly at his neck.
"It's okay Fitz, uh, gosh I have to remember to call you by your undercover name," Jemma said softly to him. She offered Fitz a sympathetic glance. Fitz paid no attention to her, he stared at the large stone building ahead, as floods of other students walked towards the main doors.
Coulson honked Lola's horn. "Have a great day at school, kids!" he called out with a wave.
"Coulson pretends to be our dad and already decides to embarrass us in the first five minutes," Fitz laughed nervously.
Fitz' undercover name was Connor Fleming, while Jemma's was Lily Devonshire. Fitz thought that using the surname Fleming would help him get into espionage mode, after all it is the surname of James Bond writer Iain Fleming. Jemma chose Lily because she loved the name from Harry Potter. She was trying to channel that characters spirit, and had gotten used to addressing herself with that name for the past week. She would also correct anyone who called her any differently. Fitz hadn't put as much thought in getting used to his name, and had to check his schedule to remember it fully.
Together, Fitz and Simmons walked down the pathway and into the school. Coulson had arranged it so they had three classes together, one in the morning, one midday, and one in the afternoon, that way they could trade notes on anything they found throughout the day, and have different circles of students to search through. Trotting around the halls they eventually came to their first class, and sat at one of the tables together. Not too many students had arrived yet, as there was still a minute or two before class started, so it relaxed them a bit that they could observe and absorb their surroundings.
A group of students came in and immediately gave Fitz and Simmons a dirty look. Confused, the pair wondered why when they hadn't even done anything. Were they easy to see through? Did they not look the part or were acting strangely? The possibilities were endless. Fitz' palms got sweaty.
"You're in our seats," one of the kids in the group spoke up.
"Oh, I am truly sorry, do you know where we can sit where the seats aren't taken? We're new here," Jemma responded a bit too quickly. But nonetheless it worked. She had disarmed the bad blood between the group and Fitz and her.
"That's quite fine, shift over, we'll make room for you," another one said.
Jemma mentally sighed, the teenagers were already nicer then she suspected, a bit rough at first, but they meant well.
Jemma changed seats and pulled Fitz along with her.
"My name is Lily and this is Connor," Jemma introduced. Her hand wanted to jump out to offer a hand shake but she realized that was probably too formal for teenagers.
Fitz said nothing, but nearly slung back in his chair and nodded.
“I’m Sophia, this is Jack, Naomi and Finn,” the girl who had originally told them they were in their spots.
“So, what brings you here,” Jack spoke up. He eyed Jemma in particular.
It was show time.
“My dad is an American in the army and got stationed here. Connor here is actually our exchange student from Scotland. So he goes where I go for a year, which is great considering we’re dating,” Jemma explained. All for the nervous laugh, she delivered on it.
“Your father let’s your boyfriend sleep under the same rood every night?” Jack inquired.
“He doesn’t know we’re dating,” Fitz spoke up, but he looked away, to the teacher’s desk. It was a move he saw Ward do constantly to appear more cool. Fitz hoped it was working.
“I can’t say I’m not jealous,” Finn said, he wrapped an arm around Naomi.
“You’re dad is at the base then, is he away a lot?” Jack took over again. He had a very aggressive personality
“Oh yes, if he’s on duty he’s usually at the base for several days. We just moved in to a temporary house not too far,” Jemma answered. She was trying to see where they were getting at.
“And you’re Mum? Is she home all the time?” Jack again.
Fitz sat up in the seat.
“Her Mum passed away some time ago,” he said.
Jack looked intrigued. Sophia gave him a concerning look.
“I know what you’re thinking, Jack,” Sophia said with a tone of contempt.
Jemma and Fitz were fully vested in this. Jack had something about him that seemed dangerous.
“We can make you a lot of friends the next time your dad is off at the base, what would you say? Is he out this weekend?” Jack said coyly.
Jemma smiled, feeling a bit goofy with the braces, this was too perfect.
“Yes, he’s on duty all weekend. Are you suggesting what I think you are?” Jemma too, could play this game. She was hoping Fitz was on the same page as her.
“Well, it looks like we have ourselves a good banger this weekend,” Jack laughed, pulling in Finn and Sophia, who flanked him on the sides.
Before they could continue the conversation, the teacher walked in and class commenced.
When school let out, Coulson was back to pick the up. Jemma walked up to his window, gave him a very daughterly-like kiss on the forehead.
“How was school sweetheart, made any friends?” he laughed.
“Oh, we actually did. We’re going to hang out with them right now. We’ll meet back up later… at the house. Is that okay… Dad?” Jemma could barely keep a straight face at the words.
“Alright, you go have yourselves some fun, and don’t get into any trouble,” he warned.
Jemma leaned in close to him, “You would have made a great father, Coulson.”
Coulson returned a sad smile to her. He cranked Lola’s engine back on and sped away. Jemma walked back to the group, her hands clutching the straps of her backpack.
Jack and Fitz had talked about the soccer team. Jack and Finn were both on the boy’s team, while Naomi was on the girls. They were going to scrimmage against Fitz to see if he had what it takes to be a new forward for the team. When Fitz had told Jemma this during their afternoon class, she knew he was panicking.
It was a chance to hit the nail on the head. Jemma had gotten them the in with the cool kids, heck she had planned a party out with them five minutes into meeting them.
Luckily, Jemma did know that Coulson was flying back out to the Playground at night, so Fitz and Jemma had the run of the house serving as their home.
“Your dad couldn’t possibly be anymore American,” Naomi said, watching Coulson’s car fade into the distance.
“Oh I know, he ships that thing all over the world,” Jemma responded. The best part was that she didn’t have to lie about it.
As a group they walked to one of the fields, where Fitz changed out of his uniform shoes with Jack, Finn and Naomi. Jemma took a seat with Sophia on the sidelines, while Fitz warmed up with the others. She stared at Fitz because he was sweating profusely and he had only done stretches. Poor Fitz, she thought.
“It’s very sweet the way you look at him, how long have you two been going out?” Sophia said. She had pulled out a notebook and was doing some course work.
Jemma took out her book too; all of the classes had been so easy that she had practically finished all of the work in her head. In fact, she struggled to stay awake in the classes.
“Oh… with Connor? Just two months, he’s been living with us for three,” Jemma replied.
“Only that long, you don’t seem to snog each other endlessly like other couples,” Sophia was very observant.
But she had a point; Jemma had noticed that teenagers in couples had hands all over each other all the time. She saw at least three couples get demerits for being a little too hands on or mouthy in the hallways. Fitz and her had stuck to holding hands. She thinks she may have even kissed his cheek at one point. She had to think quickly as an explanation.
“Well, I literally see him all the time as he lives with me, so I guess there’s not as much… urgency? Plus with my dad not home a lot our relationship progressed a lot faster then say seeing someone only in school and occasionally,” she quipped.
Sophia bought it.
Jack had brought out a soccer ball, and the testing of Fitz’ skills began. Jemma watched and realized it had been a few years since she saw him on a field, and running of all things. He played with a group of friends at the Academy, but that was the last time she remembered. He had been very good, but he was also playing with nothing on the line.
“May I ask what’s up with Jack?” Jemma said. Her mind had zeroed in on Jack because he had such a brash personality. He was testy with teachers, disregarded general authority, and, to be honest a bit of a bully.
“Oh, Jack is Jack. He hits the drugs a little too hard, in my opinion, but he means well. You’re lucky your taken otherwise you would have been prime target for him and he can get a bit insistent,” Sophia said, Jemma recognized that she was a gossiper.
Jemma watched as Fitz out maneuvered Finn only for his shot on goal to be blocked by Noami. He was pulling his weight out there, doing well, as far as Jemma could tell.
The group played for a good half hour, Fitz came off the pitch with a smile from ear to ear. He was sweaty, but now because of the exercise and not the nerves. He sat next to her and Jemma found herself scooting up close to him, the subconscious words of Sophia ringing in her head that they weren’t as touchy as regular teenage couples.
“He’s bloody good, he’ll get a spot on the team for sure,” Jack said, clapping Fitz on the back.
“Thanks, man, you’re alright,” he responded. Fitz was adjusting himself to accommodate Jemma who had laid down on the grass and put her head on his lap. He hadn’t expected her to do something like this. She stared up at him and winked with a smile. He had to trust her, and not let the endorphins rush too fast.
“So, alright, the party on Friday night. We need to get the booze, the blazers and caps. I got you handled on the people, no frets Lil,” Jack said, quite jazzed up.
Jemma could see what he could mean.
“Well, I could get the alcohol,” Jemma said, she was biting her lip. She was going to supply alcohol to high school students; she was treading a very fine line here. And the fact that there were going to be drugs was even worse. What if anything happened to any of them, she wondered. She couldn’t bear to let anything happen. She figured she could chemically alter the alcohol so it wasn’t as strong as it would be, yet the kids still felt like they were getting trashed over it. Yes, that would have to do, she thought. She wondered if she should have Fitz booby trap the house so any kids taking too many drugs would have something bad happen to the drugs. Maybe a window would swing open and flush them down the toilet? She would have to see what Fitz was thinking about this.
It was beginning to get dark, and Jemma thought that her and Fitz should be getting back to the house to plan out these things and compare their notes on what they learned about the students and teachers from their other classes. Plus, Jemma was going to have to remind Fitz to do his homework. She nudged him in the rib.
“Ow, watch it,” he responded, rubbing a hand over the spot. He then patted Jemma on the head.
“We got to get back before my dad leaves,” Jemma urged.
“Oh, oh right,” he responded. Jemma pulled herself off his lap and gathered her books.
“We’ll see you in the morning,” Fitz was already at his feet.
The group bid their good-byes, but not without one last remark from Jack.
“Make sure you’re stocked on condoms, mate!”
Fitz hoped Jemma hadn’t heard that embarrassing statement. But she did.
They walked back the few blocks to the house they had set up. Coulson, Skye, and May were waiting in the living room, like some sort of weird dysfunctional family.
“So, how was your first day of school?” Skye said as they came through the door.
“Went quiet well actually,” Jemma responded, immediately taking out the braces. She rubbed her cheeks.
“Any leads?” May asked, cutting to the serious chat.
“There’s one bloke named Jack who is quite an odd fellow, a bit rowdy, mixed into some bad things. He’ll be on soccer with me so I’m sure I can get more information. He talked about the soccer coach running a tight conditioning ship, so I may want to look further into him as well,” Fitz said.
Jemma nodded.
“Well, keep us posted, we’ll be back on Monday to discuss more. If your cover is blown, call us immediately,” Coulson said. He grabbed his briefcase and motioned for Skye and May to follow him out.
“Oh, and, dinner is in the fridge, kids,” Coulson added.
Skye hugged them good bye, commenting on Fitz’ stench. After they left he trotted up the stairs to shower while Jemma heated up her own dinner, Coulson had picked up several orders of Cheeky Nando’s to bring back, having heard that was all the rage in England at the moment. Jemma had to laugh at that sort of thing. Thankfully, he also stocked the fridge with a few beers.
Jemma had changed into loungewear and was digging into her plate when Fitz came back down, freshly showered, shaved, and wearing a t-shirt and sweats. Jemma saluted her beer at him.
He smiled and went and got his own meal and drink out of the fridge. They had been in the house for three days, preparing it with ‘homely’ touches. Skye had photoshopped family pictures of Jemma and Coulson, and there were even pictures of a woman in them, Jemma’s ‘mom.” There were a few American touches to reflect that Jemma was supposed to be half-American. There was a stocked pantry, a tea set that looked well used, and other classic British amenities.
Jemma and Fitz both had their own rooms, to which they got the chance to decorate them, as they would think their teenage personas would. Fitz had his favorite local Scottish soccer teams merchandise and Jemma went for a quaint, but still girly look, adding in a One Direction poster for good measure.
“So what was that back on the field with you laying on me?” Fitz asked, taking a swig of his beer.
“Sophia had been telling me that we quite tame as a couple, she found it rather odd. Sorry to lay it on you like that but, we got to blend in with the cool kids yet fly under the radar, you know,” she said, her cheeks blushed.
“Oh right, yeah, those kids seem to snog each other’s faces off,” Fitz added. He hadn’t read into it as much as Jemma had.
Jemma’s fingers curled around the edge of her chair. She was nervous about what she was going to present to Fitz.
“Fitz, if we don’t commit to this, they are going to know something is up,” she began.
Fitz drank more of his beer and made a sound of accordance.
“And? We did a pretty great job of it today,” Fitz was rather slow on this.
“Yes, but these teens are more perceptive then I perceived. We have to-“ Jemma started, but was cut off by Fitz.
“Act more like a couple of teens in a relationship?” he finished her sentence.
“Yes,” Jemma confirmed.
“Well, that do you have in mind?” he was either blind about the conversation or was avoiding it.
“Sophia had brought it up to me that we didn’t seem very…very… well… like a couple. We need to display a little more then hand-holding, if you get what I mean,” the words barely made it out of Jemma’s mouth.
Fitz set his beer down, and swiveled in the barstool, as well as inching his plate a few inches inward on the counter.
He leaned his elbow and forearm on the table.
“So, you’re telling me, we have replicate what we see the other teenagers doing?” he repeated.
Jemma nodded, looking down at her plate.
“Well, I don’t suppose some practice could hurt,” Fitz said, nonchalantly.
Jemma looked up at him, and before the words could fully register in her mind, Fitz had closed the gap, first with his hand on the side of her face, and then with his lips pulling her into a kiss. It began slow, with the sweetness of getting to know your partner, but soon developed into a more passionate one. Fitz stood up from his stool and leaned onto Jemma, her back supported by the counter. Fitz pushed the plate of food she was nearly dipping into aside. They were definitely beginning to mirror the rowdy teenagers, maybe even inspired by them.