Chapter Thrity-One

I stayed in my room for the next week. I moved back into my assigned dorm, since I didn't think I could stand being in the room Grant and I shared, and I pretty much didn't leave my bed.

Grant had gotten an emergency phone and sent me the number, and I had done the same, and I so badly wanted to call him and talk to him, but I was worried that would hurt more. Besides, it might also blow his cover.

Every so often, May swung by to check on me, but she had stopped being the funny, friendly person she used to be. I wanted to help her get past whatever happened in Bahrain, but I was in no shape to do that right now.

At the end of the week, May came in and made me leave my room. Her new no-nonsense attitude was honestly a little scary.

"Get up. Now," she ordered.

"May, I'm really not up for this."

"You haven't been up for anything lately. That changes now."

I sighed and got up, following her from the room. I knew if I didn't she'd drag me out.

"Where are we going?" I asked, shuffling along behind May. We passed a bunch of agents and I knew I looked like crap, but I didn't care.

"To snap you out of this."

That wasn't really a good answer, but I didn't bother to ask for a better one.

Eventually, May went into the gym. I was momentarily distracted from my funk.

"May, since Bahrain you've only trained alone."

"I know. But focusing on your training will help keep you sane. Now let's go."

I walked onto the mat in front of May, suddenly realizing I was waaaaaaay out of shape. Hopefully she was too, or else this would be a quick match.

I made it thirty seconds.

May shook her head. "Again."

"I don't remember you being this much of a drill sergeant," I muttered, dragging myself up.

May didn't say anything, just came at me again.

We kept at it all day. Slowly but surely, I was getting better, holding my own against May longer each time. I was still far from where I had been, but I was getting better. Physically and mentally.

"Go eat," said May finally, "We'll start again tomorrow. Be here by six."

She walked out without another word.

I took a deep breath, then headed to the cafeteria.

When I got there, I didn't look around, just filled my tray and sat at a table in the back where I hoped no one would bother me.

That was my routine for the next two weeks. May and I trained every day, all day, only taking breaks for meals. I ate quietly, alone, and then headed back to train with May. I know it sounds crazy, but I liked it. It was nice not to have to speak with anyone or think about Grant and Phil. All I had to focus on was not getting thrashed by May.

"Good," said May as my back hit the mat for the third time that session.

"You just flipped me. How was that good?" I asked, groaning as I stood.

"Because it took me longer than it normally does."

"Good to know I suck less now," I said, giving May a smile. I was feeling steadily better because of her, and I was hoping I could finally help her with Bahrain, too.

"Break for lunch." I hadn't had much luck with that yet.

I unwrapped my taped hands and headed towards the cafeteria, piling my plate high and going to my corner table again.

I had just started on my chicken when two extremely perky-looking people sat down across from me.

"Hello!" said the first one, a boy with curly brown hair, in a Scottish accent.

"We saw you sitting here and you looked a bit lonely, so we thought we'd join you," said the other, a girl with straight brown hair, in a British accent.

"Uh..." I started, not really sure what to do. Most of the other agents had started looking at me with pity, but these two were smiling brightly like there wasn't a care in the world.

"Is that alright with you?" asked the girl, "We can move if it's not..."

"No! No, that's ok, I was just a little surprised. My name's Samantha Slater."

"I'm Fitz, Leopold Fitz."

"And I'm Jenna Simmons."

"A lot of people call us FitzSimmons," added Fitz.

"That's awesome," I laughed, "So are you guys new to SHIELD? I haven't seen you around before."

"We just graduated from SciTech," answered Fitz.

"We graduated early," continued Simmons.

My eyebrows shot up. "Wow. So you're like super-geniuses then?"

They both blushed and started talking at the same time, brushing off my praise. They were adorable.

"So how about you?" asked Simmons, "How long have you been at SHIELD?"

"I graduated from Ops about three years ago," I answered. It was bizarre to think it had been so long.

"Oh wow! So you've been here a while then?" asked Simmons.

"Yup. I've spent most of my time in the field though."

"I've been longing to get into the field!" exclaimed Simmons, "But Fitz doesn't think it's a good idea."

"Because people die in the field!" countered Fitz,  "It's much safer in the lab."

"Well Samantha's alright," argued Simmons. I didn't say anything because I didn't want her to loose her argument, but I think Fitz could see that I was trying to be quiet.

"Samantha, tell her the most dangerous thing you've done," begged Fitz.

I puffed my cheeks out as I sighed. "The most dangerous thing I've done? Well, just about a month ago my partner and I took on a gang in Silicon Valley. And then about two and a half years ago we survived in Siberia for four months, but I don't know if that's really the same kind of dangerous..."

I looked up to find Fitz and Simmons looking at me with their mouths hanging open. Apparently, neither of them were expecting such an extreme answer.

"And... I mean, obviously you didn't die, but your partner didn't...?" asked Fitz, looking nervous.

"No! No, oh no he's fine. Yeah, he's alive and well. He just got sent on a solo mission..." I said, trailing off when I started to feel the familiar ache in my heart again. Talking to FitzSimmons reminded me that Grant and I honestly hadn't been apart in almost three years.

Was that healthy? I shook my head. I'm sure we're fine.

"Samantha? Are you okay?" asked Simmons gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, snapping myself out of it.

"So were you around for the Battle of New York?" asked Fitz, leaning forward.

"The what?" I asked.

"You know, the battle with the aliens in the middle of New York?" prompted Simmons.

"Oh, is that what they're calling it. Yeah, I was here. Actually, I was on the Helicarrier."

"Oh my goodness! That must have been terrifying!"

I shook my head. "Nothing worse than Siberia. I lost a friend during that fight though, so I don't really like to talk about it."

"Oh! We're sorry!"

"That's ok, you didn't know. So are you guys posted here at the Triskelion?" I asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Yeah, it's so different from the academy," said Fitz.

"It's mostly good different, though," added Simmons.

"I'm glad," I said, smiling. I liked these two. I looked up and caught a glance of the clock, and shot up from my seat. "Shoot, I'm sorry, I have to go. I'm supposed to be training with a friend in a few minutes. Maybe we could meet again later?"

"Of course!" said Simmons happily.

"What time will you be done with your training?" asked Fitz.

"I'm usually done around six," I answered.

"Let's meet here at six fifteen for dinner then," suggested Simmons.

"Sounds good." I smiled and waved goodbye. "See you guys tonight!"

I had to sprint down the corridors to make it to the gym on time, but I was positively beaming. It felt good to have some chatty, perky friends to spend time with.

I realized with a jolt that the loss of Coulson and Grant leaving had almost made me like the rest of the Specialists: extremely serious, rarely smiling, and not very outgoing. I couldn't let that happen. Coulson wold have been furious if he was the reason I stopped smiling, and Grant would feel the same. I was not going to become like the rest of the Specialists.

"Ready?" asked May.

"Absolutely," I said, crouching down and feeling more energized then I had in three weeks.

****************

I held my own against May. I never managed to take her down, but she wasn't able to take me down either. We broke for dinner and May seemed proud that she'd managed to whip me into shape. We were going to keep our training regiment, but now I had something to do in between sessions, too.

I met FitzSimmons at the same table in the cafeteria for dinner.

"Hello Samantha!" greeted Simmons brightly.

"Hey guys!" I said, returning their smiles.

"How was training?" asked Fitz.

"Good! Exhausting, but good. How about you guys? Did you go do mad science in your lab?"

"Well, we've actually been working on a project together for a while. We haven't gotten it to work yet, but we're getting closer," answered Fitz.

"Would you maybe like to come back to the lab with us?" asked Simmons.

"Oh! Yeah, I'd love to! I gotta warn you though, I'm terrible with all this sciencey stuff."

"That's alright! And who knows, maybe you'll learn something."

****************

FitzSimmons were right. I did learn something. I learned exactly why they'd graduated three years early.

They kept explaining things to me, but I would swear they weren't speaking English. And that was after I asked them to dumb it down.

"Guys," I said, finally interjecting when they paused to take a breath, "I have literally no idea what you're saying."

FitzSimmons looked at each other, then back to me.

"Really?" asked Fitz.

"Really and truly."

"I thought we were speaking in quite common terms..." worried Simmons.

"Hey, it's ok, you guys are amazing, and it's super cool to see! I just don't want you to ask me something later and think I wasn't listening," I said, giving them a reassuring smile.

"Well..." started Fitz, glancing at Simmons before looking back at me, "What if we, you know... tutored you?"

"Tutored me?" I parroted. I couldn't help it, I was surprised.

"Yes! That's an excellent idea Fitz! Of course, only if you want to, but then we could take a break from our work for something besides meals and maybe we'd even get a Specialist around here who actually understands some of what we say!"

"That's what I was thinking!" said Fitz excitedly. He turned to me with a frustrated look on his face. "You have no idea how many agents come in here and ask us questions, but just stare or yell when they don't understand what we say."

"You know what? I think that sounds awesome! I'd love to have you guys as tutors! Maybe I'll actually enjoy science now."

"Oh don't worry, you definitely will," promised Simmons, "Maybe we can start tomorrow? Once Fitz and I get a lesson plan together?"

"Sounds great! I'll see you guys then," I said with a smile before leaving the lab. I'd have to talk to May about changing our training sessions, but I was excited! Even though I'd hated school, I felt like science had the most potential to be awesome, like MacGuyver used it. Maybe all I needed to make things more enjoyable were better teachers.