A/N: I don't own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I don't own Iron Man or Marvel. Gosh, could you even imagine?

It was a rare treat to have an afternoon away from the Bus, just the two of them.

"Fitzsimmons," Coulson had ordered, "Take some time off. You've been working yourselves to the bone, and I need you at your best if we're going to track down the Clairvoyant."

"But, sir," Simmons had objected, "Skye's condition is still a bit unstable…"

"Skye's been back on her feet for over a week, Simmons. Ward and May can look after her while you're gone." Coulson checked his watch. "We're stopping in New York in an hour. I need to report to the higher-ups at S.H.I.E.L.D. Central about our latest mission, and during that time, I've arranged a surprise for you two." He directed the last comment at Fitz.

"Sir? Respectfully, with everything that's happened, I don't think I like surprises."

"Not even a private tour of Stark Tower's spy-tech department?" Coulson's eyes twinkled as Fitz's mouth bobbed open like a dumbfounded carp. "They've been in contact, asking to meet with you both."

"With… us, sir?" Simmons' brow knitted together, perplexed. Surely they'd only be interested in meeting Fitz. He's the weapons expert, and brilliant…

Coulson chuckled at her disbelief. "Just promise me one thing - if they try to steal you away, tell Tony Stark I'm coming back to haunt him."

-o-

Stark Tower (the Avengers Tower now, she supposed) was as grand as they'd imagined from seeing it on the telly. The main facade of the building had been almost completely restored after the battle, rising majestically into the sky, mirrored windows glittering like scales on a parrot-fish. The architecture alone was enough to tie their tongues, both of them gaping at the geometric design with its swooping arc reactor as soon as it came into view.

"Fitz…" she breathed.

"I know, Jemma. I can't believe we're here." Fitz glanced quickly at her from the side of his eyes, that small, unpretentious smile creating its usual somersaults in her chest.

Simmons linked her arm in his, shivering in appreciation - at the tower, naturally, nothing more - and faced the vast prismatic skyscraper. "Well? Shall we?"

-o-

Their Spy-Tech liaison, a brisk and cheery woman by the name of Sally Gunter, showed them through the doors of the restricted floor. "We normally don't allow outsiders in here," she winked conspiratorially, "but considering Stark Industries' relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D., and the reputation you two have built, we were hoping to impress you with some of our latest gadgetry."

"Ma'am, I hardly think we're qualified to assess your tech-"

"Nonsense. We've heard all about the pair of you and your prototypes at Sci-Ops. You've been on our radar for years!"

Fitz narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure we should be given access to works in progress? We don't want to violate any clauses protecting your proprietary data."

Ms. Gunter laughed, a short trill in the bustling lab. "Oh, we won't show you anything you'll get in trouble for, don't worry! And the partnership between our two agencies does create a precedent. We merely want you to appreciate the resources at our disposal here at Stark Labs, and the exciting new projects we've been taking on."

Hmm. So they are trying to recruit us. Well, the inventions are bound to be fascinating.

"That sounds exhilarating." Simmons barely had to exaggerate her interest. "Please, elaborate!" Under her breath, she reassured her suspicious friend, "Coulson trusts us to stick with the team. He didn't say we couldn't bring back some ideas to reverse engineer…"

"Wonderful!" Ms. Gunter clapped her hands for attention, a superfluous gesture with an audience of two, and held out a small cup of what looked like yellow foam. "This is Illumination Clay. An agent can hide this in a standard Silly Putty egg or Play-Doh tub, but if he should find himself without a light source," she kneaded the plasticine, which began to glow as brightly as a 100-watt bulb, "Voilà!"

"Remarkable!" applauded Simmons, and Fitz's natural curiosity peaked, his earlier reticence forgotten.

Ms. Gunter's next demonstration was interrupted when she tapped a finger to her ear. "Roger that." She turned to the two young scientists. "I have some thrilling news for you. I've just received word that Mr. Stark himself may be walking through this floor at any moment!"

Simmons looked at Fitz, who seemed ready to fall over. She grasped his bicep to steady him, trying to ignore the hummingbirds in her stomach when she felt hard muscle under his sleeve.

"Stark? Tony Stark? Here with us? Oh, my giddy aunt. Simmons, how's my breath?" Fitz leaned forward and puffed a heavy whoosh across her face.

She scrunched her nose and tried not to cough. "Fitz… did you drink tea today, or-?"

"Bollocks! What if he wants to shake my hand and I've got coffee breath? Oh, this is a right dog's dinner! Have you got a mint?"

Their tour guide turned towards a different table, oblivious to both their panicked whispers and Fitz's halitosis. "Over here, we have our latest iteration of the classic X-ray goggles: X-ray contacts! These are practically impossible to damage and can take heat readings, scan for…"

Rather than listen to her pitch, Fitz was frantically eyeing every lab counter, looking for anything to freshen his breath. Finally, he spotted a package of Wrigley's spearmint gum lying near an open purse. He crossed the intervening space like a bolt of lightning and barely managed to ask "Anyone mind if I take some?" before shoving several off-white rectangles into his mouth.

"Mr. Fitz! Mr. Fitz, what are you doing?!" Ms. Gunter's cry of alarm brought a few members of the lab staff running.

"Just chewin' a piece of gum… Cripes, I can pay you back if it's that important…" Fitz defended himself with a slightly grumpy, mostly embarrassed scowl.

"Mr. Fitz, that is not gum!" Her anxiety was contagious. "It's our new prototype for a comestible truth serum!"

The gum fell out of his mouth with a squishy plop.

"What?!" Simmons' face went slack. "It's - what? Fitz… ingested truth serum?"

"Yes. And this latest batch has yet to undergo human testing."

Simmons' voice rose in dismay. "What about the previous versions? What's going to happen to him?"

Ms. Gunter closed her eyes and seemed to be composing herself through some trick of meditation. "It should be fairly safe, actually," Ms. Gunter drafted her words, plainly trying to salvage the situation without incurring a lawsuit. "It will have a barbiturate effect, of course, so he'll probably become quite groggy. And the main concern is that he seems to have consumed three times the normal dose. I'd recommend observing him closely for the next several hours. But," she continued in soothing tones, "based on our lab trials, he should be able to excrete those concentrations on his own without medical assistance."

Fitz was close enough now that he could hear their conversation. Comprehension blossomed on his face as Ms. Gunter's words hit him all at once.

"I suggest you return to your living quarters and wait for the drug to leave his system."

"Wha- Jemma, what- We have to go?"

"Yes, Fitz, I'm afraid so." So much for our day off,she mused. But considering Fitz needed to be kept under observation, and they were still technically under orders to relax, this might be a good time to finish that DVD box set of Battlestar Galactica.

As they exited the large white doors, Fitz mumbled dejectedly, "We didn't even get to meet Tony Stark."

"Someone say my name?"

The man. The superhero. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Whatever else he was, Tony Stark was standing in front of them. Simmons gulped and heard Fitz do the same.

"Mr. Stark, we're such admirers -"

"- can't believe I'm standing in front of Iron Stark, erm, no -"

"- you've seen the alien biology in person, how I would love -"

"- the reason I became an engineer, I used to daydream your father adopted me -"

"- to have traveled through a portal to space and come back alive; incredible!"

"- if I could just study your arc reactor schematics I'd most likely wet myself-"

"- the way you stabilized the Extremis is nothing short of-"

"- and, I've got your face on my underpants - well that didn't sound right -"

"Don't mind him, sir, he's under the influence of an untested drug."

Stark was looking at them curiously, but impatient, until they fell silent. "I dig it. You kids have a whole Bunsen and Beaker vibe going on. Which one of you should I be looking at? You? Hello, gorgeous."

Simmons' eyebrows threatened to hot-air balloon off her forehead.

"Listen, it's been fun, but I've got a dinner with a very punctual, very angry blonde in about 3 minutes." He shot finger guns at them, preparing to move on. "See Virginia at the front desk for a souvenir; she autographs all my headshots."

"Of course, Mr. Tony Man - dammit! I mean-"

"Wouldn't dream of keeping you, sir!"

Stark's head tilted almost imperceptibly. "Screw it; I like you. Wanna see something cool?" He touched a finger to his watch. "Jarvis?"

Fitz and Simmons goggled against the anticipation churning in their guts. They looked at each other with feral smiles and clasped their hands together, each needing a moment of human contact to ground them in what must surely be a dream.

The Iron Man suit began to form around Tony Stark's arm, accordioning over his chest, torso, legs, and finally his head. He turned a visored mask to them and Simmons yelped as her fingers buckled under Fitz's fanatical clench. Stark retracted the faceplate so they could see him once more, and his face had a look that said I know what you want and I can make it happen. Nothing had ever been sexier. "Selfie?"

Neither of them uttered a word - to attempt speech at this point would only have meant hyperventilating - while Simmons got her cell phone and positioned them in the frame. Her manic grin was the width of a football stadium, Fitz looked like a pug with its eyes about to pop out, and Tony Stark was throwing up rabbit ears over Simmons' head, his red and gold suit massive behind them. Fitz and Simmons had taken many selfies over their lives, but this - this was a selfie to shame all the rest.

A/N:

So, y'all know where I'm going with this, right? I should post the next chapter before too long. Thanks to TheLateNightStoryteller for "no food where you lab" which gave me the idea for how to have Fitz babble even more ridiculously than usual when faced with Tony Stark.

Thanks also to piratesmiley for their awesome description of what a FitzSimmons & Stark selfie might look like, which inspired me to include one here.

I've never felt like MAoS needed Avengers to make it exciting or fun, but it seemed horrible to have FitzSimmons leave without meeting him. That said, trying to write for the king of one-liners Tony Stark nearly gave me a tic. Hope you enjoyed reading! If so, please leave a comment :-)