Chapter Text
Jemma gave a satisfied nod as she cleaned the last of the glassware from her most recent experiment. This one had just been some routine analyses to finish up her week — specifically as a favor to her boss — but it felt good nonetheless. A glance at the clock told her what she already knew about the time, but it didn’t much matter. All she had waiting for her at home was a slightly wilted houseplant. Honestly, ferns were supposed to be easy enough to care for, but this one was acting like it didn’t get enough attention from her.
But after the disaster of a date she’d had the previous weekend, she’d have more time to devote to her sad, little fern. She wasn’t about to let Daisy set her up on another date. Not after Johnathan. There hadn’t been anything wrong with him exactly. He’d been perfectly agreeable. The date had gone well and they’d had enough to talk about. There just hadn’t been any spark.
As a scientist it was difficult for her to pin her hopes on something so intangible, and maybe not even real, but when she pictured what it would be like to date Johnathan — or even marry him — it would be nothing more than a series of days that were the same lined up one after the other. And she wanted something more than that. Something that would give her butterflies.
Even if that man didn’t exist she wasn’t going to settle for Johnathan. Not when she had so many other things to do. She had science, her friends...and her houseplant. And there was nothing wrong with that.
With one last look around the lab to make sure nothing was out of place, Jemma slipped her coat on and switched off the lights, satisfied with another day’s work. She had almost made it out the front door when her phone buzzed with a message. She smiled, knowing there was only one person who would know exactly when she’d be leaving work on a Friday night — probably because she was still at work as well.
Daisy: I have the perfect guy for you!!
Well, that was quite the opening. But at least she was direct. That was one of the reasons they were best friends.
Jemma: Thank you, but I think I’m done with dating for now.
“No you aren’t.” Daisy suddenly appeared beside her and Jemma nearly jumped.
“I figured you were still here.”
“You’re not the only one who likes to work late, you know.”
“I know. But the reason I work late has more to do with my actual work and less to do with an attractive co-worker.”
“So it has a little to do with an attractive co-worker?” Daisy asked with a smile.
For a second Jemma didn’t know what to say. There was someone. He was so very handsome. Brilliant, though they’d never worked together on a project. And he had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.
But he hated her, so it wasn’t like he was even an option.
“No, nothing at all.” She swallowed a little uncomfortably and hoped Daisy didn’t notice. “How is Lincoln today?”
“He’s wonderful,” Daisy gushed. “We talked at lunch and I slipped him my number. I’m expecting a text any minute now.”
“You finally talked to him? How did you do that?”
“I just walked up to him and started talking and that was that.”
“You make it all sound so simple.” Jemma sighed. Dating had never been as easy for her as it seemed to be for Daisy.
“It is simple.”
“No, it isn’t. It requires attraction and communication. Not to mention chemistry and biology --”
“You’re overthinking it.” When Jemma started walking towards her apartment, Daisy took her arm and guided her towards their favorite bar. She should have known she wasn’t getting a night alone so easily. “C’mon. Bobbi’s waiting for us.”
“Oh, no. No, no, you aren’t.”
“Aren’t what?”
“Aren’t setting me up with someone else. I just had to live through your last idea of the perfect man for me.”
Daisy had the decency to cringe. “Yeah, about that. Maybe my trainer wasn’t the best choice for you. He didn’t really have a chance did he?”
“No...no, he did not.”
Jemma shook her head. Daisy was lucky she loved her.
“Oh, look. There’s Bobbi.” It wasn’t like Bobbi was difficult to spot anyway, but she was perched on a stool by the high top they normally claimed. Bobbi worked in the lab next to Jemma, but somehow she always managed to get out of work on time.
“Hello, Bobbi,” Jemma said with a sigh.
“Did Daisy drag you out again? I told her tonight wasn’t the best time to tell you.” Bobbi directed her words to Jemma while looking over at Daisy as she sat on the stool across the table.
“Yes, well, I had a night all planned --”
“If it involved reading science journals and going to bed early, then I think I’ve done you a favor here,” Daisy responded, while grabbing for the specials.
Considering she wasn’t far off, Jemma didn’t say anything, pressing her lips together instead.
They put in their order and Jemma had a short reprieve while they got caught up on their day and Daisy told Bobbi about her lunchtime assignation with Lincoln.
But as soon as their drinks arrived, Daisy turned back to Jemma.
“So...about this guy. He’s perfect for you.”
“I told you already, Daisy. I’m done.”
“Oh, you don’t mean that. We all know you don’t mean that.”
“I think Daisy’s right,” Bobbi agreed. “All you ever talk about is your life plan and how you want to be in a committed relationship before you’re thirty.”
“I still have time --”
“Of course you do.” Daisy waved her hand before continuing. “It’s just that it seems like no matter who we set you up with, you sabotage it somehow.”
“I’m not sabotaging anything. They just aren’t right for me.”
“Then who is right for you?”
Jemma sputtered. “Well, I...I don’t know. But I’ll know when I meet him.”
“What if I told you I know the perfect man for you. He’s smart and sweet. He’s got a great sense of humor --”
“That’s not enough for a relationship to work,” she tried to argue, but honestly there was a part of her that wanted to say yes. What if he really was the one? Though it was hard to believe Daisy would be the one to find her soulmate.
“We know that, Jemma. But you have to give them a chance if you are going to find the kind of relationship you keep saying you need.”
“Oh, not you too, Bobbi.” Jemma took a fortifying drink from her frosted glass. The sweetness went straight to her head.
“I’m just saying he’s a good guy. You two have a lot in common. And really, he can’t be worse than Johnathan.”
Jemma gave a humorless laugh and shook her head. It wasn’t like she was wrong, though.
“Does this one at least have an IQ higher than his arm measurements?”
Bobbi and Daisy looked at each other bursting into laughter. “Definitely,” Daisy said. “I doubt he’s ever considered the size of his arms.”
“That’s not necessarily --”
“Jemma, just give him a chance. Unless you don’t actually want a relationship.”
“No, I do.” Jemma frowned. “I just don’t want to waste my time with the wrong guy.”
“There’s really nothing to lose. If he’s not the right guy, then you keep looking. We’ll get you signed up to a dating site, go to singles mixers. Whatever it takes.”
Daisy was looking at her expectantly and Jemma knew she couldn’t say no. It was unlikely this so-far unnamed man would check all of her boxes, but Daisy’s suggestion of dating sites and singles events sounded even worse. Maybe she could make the best of it and date whoever it was for a bit.
That was a good plan.
“Fine. Tell me who it is and I’ll call him.”
“Oh, no. Not this time,” Daisy said excitedly. “We’ll handle everything.”
“What’s his name then?”
“You don’t need to know his name. It will just be a surprise. No time to research him or read up on his publications.”
“He does have publications though?” That was a clue at least. Some sort of scientist or researcher.
“Yes, he has publications.” Daisy rolled her eyes as she said the words, but Bobbi gave Jemma an encouraging smile. Or at least she thought it was encouraging. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Bobbi. She held everything so close that Jemma couldn’t always understand her thought process. “But for the rest of it, you’ll have to wait until next Friday.”
Jemma had questions, so many questions, and none of them were being answered. But before she could ask Bobbi jumped in to finish Daisy’s thought.
“He doesn’t know he’s meeting you either. It will be a surprise for both of you. So you’ll have to wait until then.”
“Fine.”
She could do that. It wasn’t like she wanted to meet him anyway. Whoever he was.
“I’m telling you, Fitz, this bird is perfect for you,” Hunter said before shooting his character on screen. Fitz tossed the controller beside him in frustration. No matter how many times they played, Hunter always won. Something about his mysterious past was the only explanation Hunter ever gave.
“If she’s so perfect then how come I don’t know who she is? If it’s someone that you and Bobbi know I must have met her at some point --”
“Maybe...but don’t try to talk it out of me, because I’m not telling. Bob wanted this to be a surprise.”
“I just don’t understand why anyone cares if I date.”
He knew his friends wanted the best for him. Just maybe that wasn’t a girlfriend right now. He didn’t have to be in a relationship to be happy. And the fact that he hadn’t really dated much in the last 26 years should have been a testament to that.
Fitz tried to ignore the fact that whenever he thought about women or girlfriends there was a very specific image that popped into his brain -- a certain brown-haired, brown-eyed biochemist. But she likely hated him if the fact that they’d never even spoken despite sharing several friends and having labs in the same hallway at work was any indication. He was certain they would have a lot to talk about. If they ever managed to have a conversation in the first place.
But he didn’t feel like explaining that to Hunter. Hunter knew all about Jemma from his first days at SHIELD Tech. They’d bumped into each other in the hallway -- literally -- and Fitz had sputtered at her, without a word in his head. She’d given him a look that he didn’t understand. It could have been anger or frustration, or...something else. But after that they’d somehow never found themselves in a position to talk. And the more time that passed the stranger it all got. So here he was two years later with a crush on a woman he’d never even talked to.
He certainly wasn’t going to raise that objection to Hunter. He’d understand. Probably. But he didn’t want sympathy. Hunter and Bobbi were the perfect couple. They teased each other and disagreed, but they always made up and it seemed to make their relationship stronger. Fitz wanted that. He wanted someone he could really talk to, debate ideas, disagree and figure things out with. Together.
And that wasn’t going to be whoever Hunter had found to go on a blind date with him.
“Just say you’ll do it, Fitzy, or the girls won’t leave me alone.”
At that, Fitz’s ears perked up. Girls. As in more than one girl. So this wasn’t Hunter and Bobbi’s idea. Someone else was involved. In that case he might as well just agree. He’d never withstand an assault against more than Hunter.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
And with that he took a long drink of his beer. He was going to need it.