Once upon a time, after a stormy and passionate night, (it was a good thing that Alya was such an understanding baby girl), Leo and Jemma Fitz-Simmons woke-up as one and said:
"Ok, what are we missing?"
The absenses mentioned here were more metaphorical than literal, for by now Leo and Jemma got to be quite good about detecting anything absent or missplaced, and knew when to put it back, and when - not so much, so all was good, yay! Only now the absence seemed to be more spiritual instead, and that was something else, something that they weren't as good as handling (at the moment).
"I am not certain," Leo continued to Jemma, (once it became obvious that they didn't need to speak in stereo - when they were on their own, it felt just weird and unnecessary). "We have put everything away last night, Alya seems to be in good health and spirit, our house is well-stocked and supplied-"
"Leo!" Jemma said suddenly. "Can it be that we have become so self-sufficient that it is beginning to influence our lives in new and unexpected and not exactly welcome ways? Have become so self-sufficient that we don't need our friends anymore?"
"Jemma, don't be ridiculous - friends are there to be needed, friends are there to be friends!" Leo shook his head. "Why, we-"
A knock on the door cut-off Fitz's rumblings, (to the relief of both him and Jemma - they so didn't want to go into unknown waters and on their own right now). Tentatively, the young couple opened the door-
"Trip! Raina?" the duo exclaimed in stereo, sounding authentically surprised upon seeing the other couple - the latter were supposed to be dead, after all.
"No, I was able to survive, but it's a long and painful story, so not now," Raina shook her head, even as she adjusted the scarf on her neck. "And Tripp here was never dead - Fury got him to be S.H.I.E.L.D.s guardian angel for a while."
"You were S.H.I.E.L.D.s' guardian angel for a while? Man, you sucked then!" Leo said brightly. "You sucked-" Jemma elbowed him, cutting-off abruptly the end of the sentence.
"Yes, which is why I am not the guardian angel anymore, not on a regular basis anyhow," Tripp shrugged, as he and Raina got inside, shaking and wiping the snow off of their clothing and shoes. "Anyhow, we're here with gifts to the youngest Fitz-Simmons of you all-"
"Don't you mean the littlest-?"
"No, Fitz, I'm talking about your daughter, not you-" it was Raina's turn to elbow Tripp now.
"Anyways," she spoke in an exagerratedly loud and bright tone of voice, "here are our gifts for the young Alya!"
"Play-doh?" Fitz frowned. "Isn't Alya too young-"
"She's a Fitz-Simmons - she is more than intelligent enough for this, plus you and Jemma can help her with the more physical stuff," Raina shrugged, as she and Tripp put the two boxes onto the table - a mini ice cream parlour and a mini dentist's set.
"Cool!" Jemma said brightly, before checking herself. "I mean, this could work, we were wondering as to what to do with her lately, and by that I mean we don't know what new toys we can get her - everything is closed from the virus and all-"
"Americans," Fitz added with a rather disdainful sniff; (the FitzSimmons were originally from the U.K., after all, and sometimes it showed).
"Yes, well, it's going to get even more intense - a snowstorm is coming, and it is going to be a bad one!" Tripp said with an atypical sharpness. "We've also come here to offer you a choice - you can stay on your own with Alya, or you can come with us over to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s kindergarten-"
"Isn't it this super-secret place-?" Jemma blinked.
"I used to be S.H.I.E.L.D.'s guardian angel-"
"My brother and his side of the family are on good terms with Petersen these days, and Petersen is one of the adult agents who is running this place these days," Raina said at the same time. "Plus, it isn't about any of us, but about Alya, though the choice is yours."
There was a pause.
"Well, ok," Fitz began to speak, but Jemma interrupted him:
"We'll take it!"
"Jemma-"
"Leo-" the FitzSimmons squared-off and stared at each other in their manner, until one of them gave, (cough, Leo, cough).
"We're going," Jemma said, once the face-off was finished, "and Tripp, Raina? Thanks for the coming-over and the gifts - we could, and we certainly will, use them...alongside Alya, of course..." she paused and added, somewhat less confidently: "It's an ongoing process, you know?"
"Mmm," Raina nodded in understanding. "So, if we're all going to visit S.H.I.E.L.D.'s kindergarten, let's get going - the weather won't improve this week at all!"
The adult FitzSimmons blinked, looked at each other, looked at the weather outside (through a window), looked at the weather forecast, (on their cell phones), and both they and their visitors began to rapidly pack. Fitz and Simmons may've retired from the active S.H.I.E.L.D. duties for now, but they weren't quite down and out just yet!
End.