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If you asked Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz if they had a Christmas wish a week ago, they would have said no— that they had everything they could ever wish for.
Post-SHIELD, Jemma and Fitz had taken some time off to get Alya settled and reconnect with their families. They had set up their home base near Boston, but also had purchased a small cottage in Perthshire for when they wanted to spend time in the UK.
After nearly a decade of transience and having the pressure of saving the world on their shoulders, it felt good to put down roots and just spend time with their daughter.
A year in though, Jemma and Fitz had to admit, they were a little bored with the quiet lab and decided to build a lab to start researching and creating things again. They were publishing and freelancing a bit. Being the geniuses that they were, a bit of a buzz started to build.
When they got the opportunity to keynote a big conference and share their latest project on a global stage, they couldn’t turn it down— even if it was right before Christmas.
So they reluctantly decided to leave Alya with Enoch for the days leading up to Christmas and booked their return flight for Christmas Eve morning.
Fitz and Jemma were sitting at a cozy table in the hotel bar after the conference had concluded on the 23rd. The keynote had gone extremely well and the pair were enjoying a well-earned drink after a long day of networking.
Jemma scrolled through her phone, “Looks like it’s supposed to snow tomorrow. Maybe we should try to get an earlier flight home.”
Fitz peered over Jemma’s shoulder, “It says right there that the snow isn’t supposed to start until mid-afternoon and our flight takes off at 9. That should give us plenty of time.”
“I guess…” Jemma said, though she didn’t sound convinced. “I’m just nervous. We’ve just never spent a Christmas away from Alya.”
“And we’re not going to start now. We’ll catch our flight tomorrow as planned and it’ll be fine.”
The next morning, when they woke up, everything was not fine.
Jemma wandered over to the window. Pulling back the curtain, she exclaimed, “Oh no!”
“What’s the matter?” Fitz asked, getting out of bed and joining her at the window.
The problem was obvious— the storm had hit early. Overnight, New York City had been turned into a winter wonderland. A thick blanket of snow was covering everything.
“There has to be a foot of snow out there,” Jemma wailed, looking pointedly at Fitz. “I told you we should have left last night. That taking a flight home on Christmas Eve was cutting it too close.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” Fitz apologized, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Let’s hurry up and get to the airport, so we can try to get on a flight before they shut everything down.”
The pair hurriedly finished packing and checked out of their hotel. Despite the conditions, the bellman managed to hail them a cab with minimal fuss, but when they got to the airport, it was even busier than a normal Christmas Eve. It seemed like everyone had had the same idea as them, as the lines at the airline check-in desks were already snaking through the terminal.
Before Jemma and Fitz could even get in line, a woman came over the intercom, “Due to worsening conditions and poor visibility, all flights are grounded until further notice. Please contact your airline for rebooking information.”
Groans echoed throughout the terminal.
Jemma turned to Fitz, “What are we going to do? We promised Alya we’d be home for Christmas.”
“I don’t know, Jem. But we’ll figure it out together, just like we always do,” Fitz reassured her. “We’ll find a way to get home in time.”
“We could call Mack,” Jemma suggested, hesitantly. “I bet he’d send a quinjet for us.”
“I really don’t want to involve SHIELD, if we don’t have to,” Fitz said stubbornly.
When Fitz & Jemma made the decision to leave SHIELD, Fitz had been adamant about making a clean break from the work side of things. Jemma, on the other hand, was a bit more flexible. She even consulted with Mack & Daisy on occasion. But after all they had done (and lost), she understood why Fitz didn’t want to risk getting pulled back into that life.
“Okay. No SHIELD,” Jemma agreed. “In that case, we should call Enoch and Alya first and let them know what’s going on. Then we can come up with a game plan.”
Fitz gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, “Sounds good to me.”
Jemma fished her phone out of her purse, hovering over Enoch’s contact for a second before hitting the FaceTime button. As the phone rang, Fitz positioned himself over her shoulder.
“Mommy! Daddy, Hi!” Alya answered the video call excitedly. “I miss you guys SO much!”
After spending the first four years of her life literally never out of earshot of her parents, Alya sometimes struggled with separation anxiety.
Jemma plastered a smile on her face, “Hi sweetheart! We miss you too.”
“Are you coming home soon? You said you’d be home for Christmas and that’s tomorrow!”
Fitz chimed in, “That’s what we’re calling about, monkey. Where’s your Uncle Enoch?”
The chronicom entered the frame, “I am here.”
“So, unfortunately, we’re stuck at the airport. The snowstorm blew in early and grounded all departing flights.”
“You’ll still be here for Christmas though, right?” Alya asked in a small voice. “You promised you would be.”
“We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure we’re there, monkey.”
Alya looked at her parents, eyes brimming with tears, “Why can’t you just catch a ride with Santa on his quinjet?”
While they had been living on the Zephyr, Jemma and Fitz had felt it was important to give Alya as many “normal” childhood experiences as possible. Santa was one that they were able to manage— with some minor tweaking, of course.
Jemma sucked in a steadying breath, trying to keep her own emotions in check, “Alya, you know this is Santa’s busiest day of the year. He has to deliver toys to millions of kids— he doesn’t have time to bring us home.”
“You’re right, mommy.”
Fitz chimed in, “Now, why don’t you give the phone to Uncle Enoch and go play? We’ll see you later.”
Alya looked at them warily, “You promise you’ll be home to watch me open presents?”
Jemma and Fitz shared a look. Making a promise like that— especially since they had little control over the situation was probably ill-advised. But looking at their teary eyed daughter, they both knew there was only one answer.
“We promise.”
Once Alya had left the room, Enoch said, “I looked at the weather and travel conditions while you were talking with Alya. The probability of you finding adequate transportation to get home by tomorrow morning is extremely low.”
“Enoch, you should know by now that Fitz and I will always defy the odds. Especially when it comes to our daughter. We’ll find a way,” Jemma said determinedly.
“You have demonstrated a talent for overcoming seemingly impossible situations,” Enoch agreed.
“But in order to do that, we need to start calling around and trying to find a way to get home. We’ll keep you guys posted, okay?” Fitz said.
Four hours later, the situation was looking grim. Predictably, every rental car at the airport was booked.
They also had looked at taking the train, but all of the Acelas from New York to Boston today were full.
In a moment of desperation, Fitz had researched the viability of taking a Greyhound bus, but apparently, they also had stopped running due to the storm.
So, now they had expanded their search and were calling all of the rental car places in the tri-state area. Jemma had pulled together a spreadsheet and the pair had already reached out to over 25 different locations, hoping that they might have cancellations not reflected on their websites.
“No, okay. Thanks for trying,” Jemma said dejectedly.
“No? Got it,” Fitz shook his head. “Merry Christmas to you too.”
Jemma put her head in her hands, “Well, that’s it. Everything with an engine in the tri-state area is either grounded or booked up until after the 25th.”
Fitz sighed, “Are we really going to miss Christmas with Alya? We promised her.”
Jemma shook her head, “Fitz, I think it’s time to reconsider asking our SHIELD friends for help. It’s the obvious solution to our problem.”
Before Fitz could respond, Jemma’s phone rang.
“Or maybe SHIELD will just call us,” Jemma said, holding up the phone to show Fitz Daisy’s name and picture on the screen.
Jemma answered the phone, “Hey Dais, Merry Christmas! How are you? I didn’t realize you were planetside.”
“We got back last week. Restocking and refueling before heading back out in the new year,” Daisy said. “And, doing better than you and Fitz, from what I hear. Snowed in at the airport? On Christmas Eve?”
“How did you know?” Jemma asked.
Jemma and Fitz looked at each other and said in unison, “Enoch.”
“Actually, no. It was my goddaughter who called me very upset that her mom and dad might miss Christmas,” Daisy corrected. “She said that Santa couldn’t pick you guys up in his quinjet, because he needed to deliver presents. But apparently she remembered our quinjet ride and thought I might be able to pick you up instead.”
“She’s too smart for her own good,” Jemma said, the pride in her voice apparent.
“Her parents are the two smartest people I know, of course she is,” Daisy teased. “Though I did need to talk with Enoch to get some of the finer details. Speaking of which, do you think you can get to the roof of your terminal?”
Fitz was caught off guard, “Wait, you’re already here?”
“Yep, Daniel just put her down. Ready whenever you are."
“ Sousa’s flying the quinjet?” Fitz said dubiously.
“He’s actually gotten pretty good at it,” Daisy boasted.
Jemma and Fitz gathered their things and scanned the terminal. They needed to get up to the roof without drawing the suspicions of the TSA. Fitz nodded his head at a door marked roof access.
Jemma opened it slowly, half expecting it to be locked or alarms to sound. But finally today, luck was on their side and it swung open silently. Moving quickly up the stairs, in case, security had caught them on camera and were on their tail.
On the roof, the quinjet decloaked and opened its cargo bay door.
Daisy greeted them on the entry ramp, “There are the weary travelers.”
They both laughed as they hugged Daisy tightly.
“It’s so good to see you. Thanks for coming to our rescue,” Jemma said.
Daisy smiled, “How could I say no to my goddaughter on Christmas?”
“That’s a good point.”
“C’mon, let’s head up to the cockpit,” Daisy said.
“Hey Sousa,” Fitz said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Merry Christmas! Appreciate the ride.”
“Happy to help. Getting to see you guys on Christmas is just a bonus,” Sousa commented.
Jemma looked out the windshield and saw a wall of white, “Oh wow, they weren’t kidding about poor visibility. Are we really okay to fly in this?”
“Don’t worry, this thing can handle a little snow. It’s been through much worse,” Sousa reassured her.
“Oh, I remember,” Jemma confirmed. “But it sounds like guys have a lot to catch us up on the way home. I want to hear about all your latest adventures in space.”
About an hour later, Daniel set the quinjet down in their backyard.
Alya came rushing out the front door, Enoch trailing behind her.
“Mommy, Daddy, you’re home!” Alya said, flinging herself at their legs. “You made it in time for Christmas!”
Fitz scooped her up in his arms and the three of them shared a family hug.
Jemma tapped her on the nose lightly, “Of course we are, monkey. We promised you we would be.”
Fitz carefully set Alya back on the ground.
Satisfied that her parents were here to stay, Alya turned her attention to Daisy and Daniel.
“Aunt Daisy, are you and Uncle Daniel going to stay for Christmas? We’re decorating cookies for Santa now,” Alya exclaimed.
Daisy looked back at Jemma and Fitz, not wanting to commit without their approval.
Jemma smiled, “No pressure, but we have plenty of room and would love to have you.”
“I’ll even share my cookies with you,” Alya said solemnly.
“How could we say no to an offer like that?” Daisy grinned.
“Yay,” Alya cheered, grabbing Daisy by the hand and dragging her into the other room. Sousa trailed close behind.
Jemma and Fitz found themselves standing alone in the foyer.
“I like how Alya’s already forgotten us with Daisy and Sousa here,” Fitz shook his head.
“She’s just excited. With them off-planet, she doesn’t get to see them in person very often,” Jemma said. “I’m just glad we made it home in time for Christmas, after all. It was a close call.”
Fitz grimaced, “I know. I promise never to doubt your mother’s intuition again.”
“I’m glad you learned your lesson,” Jemma said, as she snaked her arms around Fitz's waist and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
But before they could deepen the kiss, Alya called out, “Mommy, Daddy, where are you? You have to come look at my cookies!”
Jemma shook her head and laughed, as she broke the kiss off, “Duty calls, I guess.”
“A call I’m always happy to answer,” Fitz grinned. “Getting to spend time with you and Alya is the best Christmas gift.”
Jemma and Fitz walked hand-in-hand to join their family in the other room, happy to have made it home in time to celebrate the holidays together.