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What Can Possibly Repair This Day?(My 1st Fanfic)

(Copied from my AO3 account)

What Can

Possibly

Repair This Day?

Mistymay6886

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Summary:

Fitz has had a horrible day and to top it off his car breaks down on his way home. What could possibly fix this day?

*hint, it's a gorgeous mechanic

***Holy crap, this is an actual story I am writing! Look, there's something resembling a plot, and characters, and dialogue and everything! I did not know I'd actually be able to do this.

Yeah, the title is cheesy and I know it's just gonna be light humor and fluff, but still, I am really happy I'm actually posting a real story, no matter how it turns out.☺️

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Notes:

If you've seen any of my other posts, you know I haven't really done an actual story. I do random ramblings, and now I moved onto Plotlines and prompts, but I've never actually wrote out an entire story. This is my very first attempt, so, you know, be nice please

*** I just randomly decided that Fitz and Simmons are step siblings- (like when their parents married they combined their names, So if they say their full name it’s Fitzsimmons, though they don’t say it as, like a day to day thing, if that makes sense?) , still best friends, and inseparable ( like in the first season when characters just refereed to them as Fitzsimmons cause you didn't know which one was which)

(See the end of the work fr more notes.)

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Work Text:

"God Damnit!" Leo cursed as the car rumbled, sputtered and finally gave out hope, coming to a shaky stop on the shoulder of the road. Horns blared as he hastily got out and went round to pop the hood. Really, how could this day get any worse?

He'd overslept and, in his rush out the door, had tripped, sending his phone tumbling down the steps of his building and right into a grate (seriously what the hell?). He'd been late to work and his boss had seen him trying to sneak in, leading to a twenty minute lecture in the ‘importance of punctuality’ ( which, as the main point was that he’s under a rapidly approaching deadline and every bit of time counted, seemed rather counterproductive, to say the least).

He had miscalculated a formula, which had resulted in a huge plume of blue smoke that stained and had a noxious, oddly fruity smell that still seemed to linger even hours later. Something just wasn't clicking with his project and he just couldn't seem to get it right. He'd finally, in a fit of frustration, threw out all his calculations ( having to really fight the urge to light the damn rubbish bin on fire after realizing that it just wasn't going to work and he would have to go back to the drawing board, abandoning a week’s progress). He had finally got out of work and all he wanted to do is make it home and curl up with a nice cup of tea, some food, and a good book, was that really too much to ask?

Apparently yes, yes it was, he thought petulantly, kicking at a rock. He fiddled around, till he found the latch and pulled on the till it gave and he was able to get it opened and the hood propped up. He stared in with a blank look,

I have no idea what I'm doing, he thought.

He'd just filled up last night on his way home, so it didn't need gas, he'd put in coolant recently. Maybe the radiator cap was loose? "OW, ow ow" no, it was not, and it was really hot "damnit, some genius you are" he muttered, glad no one was around to see that little moment of brilliance.

"Well", he groused, "unless the problem is it's out of windshield wiper fluid I think I’m gonna need a mechanic." Remembering his lost phone, he cursed again.

Thinking he vaguely remembered seeing a mechanics somewhere not too far Down the road he took off walking.

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

Funny thing? A trip that's only fifteen minutes by car is a hell of a lot longer by foot. Exhausted and slightly breathless Fitz finally staggered up to the front of 'Mack’s Auto Repair and Body Shop’.

It seemed like a pretty nice place, as least so far as those things go. It looked to have a decent sized garage round back and a small office/storefront type part in front featuring two somewhat large, slightly tinted windows, the bottom half of which was covered in a row of photos showcasing a wide array of classic cars. A brightly painted blue door bracketed by benches appeared, improbably enough, to complete the picture perfectly. It seemed oddly homey and welcoming. Whoever owned this place definitely cared a great deal about it. Despite his day, this made the beginnings of a smile start to form for Fitz. He reached for the door handle.

The door is locked. Really?

Fitz noticed the posted hours are till six and, checking his watch, confirms that it is just a bit after five so, what's up? He briefly wonders if his watch has somehow decided to turn on him too, just like everything else today. Then he notices another sign that must of been fastened to the door and slipped down 'Closed For Family Emergency' Well, hell...

He slowly slumped down on one of the benches, feeling completely dejected and suddenly totally overwhelmed.

He just sits for a bit, trying to get some kind of bearings, he closes his eyes and tries a relaxation technique Jemma always tells him to do when he feels like he’s about two steps away from telling his boss off and storming out:

Closing his eyes, he slowly inhales, holds for a count of five and back out. He repeats the process until he feels more in control.

Okay, he is a scientist, despite what some of the events of today would indicate, he is actually a very intelligent person. He can work this out, he will work this out. He just needs to approach things from an analytical standpoint, rather than his current feeling of wondering what he did to piss off fate, god, or the universe in general.

Just to take stalk: He has no phone. His car is broken down nearly ten miles away, which resulted in his legs feeling like rubber, him being out of breath and, once again, chastising himself for not getting out of the bloody lab and exercising more ( wondering momentarily if he should take Jemma up on her offer to join her for her morning run, and dismissing it just as fast. Who in their right mind voluntarily gets up and out of the house by 6am?). He is currently in an unfamiliar town where he knows no one- He’d been working at the same lab for years, but had recently moved after a bad break up with his then live in boyfriend, Grant- (quickly putting that train of thought out of his mind, he had enough drama to deal with for today, thank you very much, no sense dwelling on THAT again). It was really nice and rent controlled, with an amazing view, but it was nearly forty minutes further than his old place to work and he was still learning the area.

Okay, so one thing at a time:

He doesn’t have his car, but he does have his wallet (he franticly checks he pockets to confirm this, as the way this day is going he isn’t leaving anything up to chance), yes, he does have it, so that’s a step in the right direction. Whenever he can call for a tow truck at least he’ll be able to pay for it

On the plus side, his phone was getting pretty out of date and he actually was due an upgrade, he’d been procrastinating on that for a while, so there’s that, at least.

With his phone currently being located somewhere beneath the city, his contacts are kinda limited: the only ones he knows by heart are Jemma, the lab, and his two favorite take out places. He wonders, for a moment, if there’s a taxi service that goes out this far, but discounts it when he thinks how much that would cost. That just leaves one option, but it’s better than none.

Jemma had been working late for the last month on her project- some strange sensor type thing that looks like a weird, flying, electric jellyfish and is sure to revolutionize whatever industry it will be for. She’d really been in a groove lately, making leaps forward every day- So she was still working when he left, just sending a half wave bye to him as he left. At times she isn’t even getting out of there till close to midnight. He’d hate to pull her away from a project, she can get really snippy when she is interrupted (one of the many, many traits they share) but it is really his only option. Though she may complain a bit, he knows she’ll be there for him in a heartbeat. Since they live across the hall from each other at least it wouldn’t be out of her way.

Okay, so he had to find a phone he can use and call Jemma, and hopefully a tow truck. At least he got to sit a bit so his legs weren’t as sore anymore. He stood up, debating which way he should go. The Garage was kinda by itself, he remembers passing a few little stores and quick stop type places on his way here so he’ll just start wandering back towards his car and hope he comes across somewhere that has a phone.

He starts toward the street, then realizes that he can hear faint music playing, some classic rock kinda thing. He turns to try to locate where it is coming from, slowly wandering towards the garage around the back of the store front. It is definitely coming from this way. The Garage door is open, the place looks fairly clean, a bit haphazard with tools and parts laid out here and there, but fairly well organized, and it seems much larger than he had originally thought. He cautiously wanders in, hoping no one mistakes his for a thief or something. He follows the sound of the music to its source, figuring if the music is playing someone must be around listening to it. He finds it, there is a kinda scuffed steel table to one side of the room with an old, beat up radio or, is that a CD player? wow haven’t seen one of those in a while. He gradually makes his way towards the player, then pauses.

In the center of the shop there is a car up on jacks, even though Fitz isn’t a car guy in any sense of the word, he has to admit, it is pretty stunning. Bright red little thing, some kind of classic convertible, all smooth lines and curves. Even in the dim light of the shop it seems to shine. He reaches out and turns the music down slightly, realizing only now that he can hear other noises over the music. He hears some tool noises and, quietly, what sounds like someone absently singings/ humming along with the music, then it pauses.

“Hello”, he hears, “Is someone out there? Shop’s closed today”. A deep, slightly irritated voice says from what seems like under the car.

Fitz makes his way around to the other side, where he can see part of someone sticking out from under the car.

“Uh, yeah”, he says, cautiously “Yeah, I, I saw the sign, sorry to bother you, I just, well, I heard the music and I don’t know anyone around here and my car broke down and my phone is lost and I just was hoping I could maybe use a phone or something, because it is almost ten miles to my car and I don’t think I can walk all the way back and there aren’t really too many other businesses around here and I couldn’t just go up to someone’s door and ask, I mean, that is like.. like the oldest scam in the book and like the start of a home invasion, and.. and, uh, I’m rambling, and can’t seem to stop so, uh, sorry, I’ll, I’ll go now. I think there was a gas station like a mile up the road, I’ll go there, sorry to bother you”, Fitz hurriedly turned and started to the door.

“Hey, wait”, he heard, “man, you’re a chatty one, aren’t you?”, a bit of a chuckle to the voice. Fitz blushed slightly, “not usually, well, not this bad usually, well, okay yeah, sorry, it’s just been a hell of a day, you know?”

“Sounds like it. Sorry you had such a bad one today. I have a phone, but it’s locked in the office, and I can’t really stop where I am, but if you don’t mind waiting about five minutes or so, I’ll go get it for you.” He said apologetically.

“Oh, yeah, that, that would be great, thank you so much, and I really am sorry about just barging in like this”

“Eh, no problem, man, it’s fine” the Voice said. “I’m Mack, by the way”

“Fitz, well, Leopold Fitzsimmons, but most people just call me Fitz”

Mack laughed, “Yeah, I get ya, my full name is actually Alphonso Mackenzie, hence why I usually just stick with Mac”.

“So you really do get it then, huh?” Fitz joked, then an idea occurred to him.

“Wait, so ‘Mack’ is this your shop” he asked inquisitively

“Yeah, this is kinda my life, built it up myself. Gotta few employees, and a few of my close friends help me out from time to time, but yeah, it’s mine” Fitz could hear the pride in his voice, it made him smile a bit, he seemed like a really nice guy.

“It really is great, I mean, cars and such aren’t really my thing, but it seems really nice and the office and front part looks really welcoming. It seems like it has a lot of really great personal touches that would just make people feel comfortable”.

There was a slight pause, “Thank you, that’s really nice of you to say”, Mack said, he almost sounded shy on that, it seemed really cute, Fitz vaguely wondered what the guy looked like.

“So, cars aren’t really your thing, what do you do?” he inquired.

“Oh, I work in Research and Development at SHEILD, the Tech business down town.” Fitz couldn’t really talk much about his work, a lot of their contracts where military and those that weren’t, well, they had so many nondisclosure agreements that it almost made the military ones look lax.

Mack gave a low whistle, “Wow, you must be some kinda genius then, I know some of the things that have came from that company, they are amazing, that’s awfully impressive”.

Fitz was kinda glad he couldn’t see Mack so he didn’t see how much that made him blush, “Uh, yeah, kinda, I mean I know the rambling doesn’t really show that, but I am actually a genius”, then he rushed out “Not that I’m bragging! I’m not, I just, umm,”

“Whoa, slow down there turbo, you’re good. There’s a big difference between annoyingly shooting off your mouth about everything you can do and simply mentioning you’re strengths, especially when asked. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments, and I’m sure you have a lot to be proud of”.

Fitz was stunned, that was one of the kindest things he’d ever been told (by someone who wasn’t Jem), and he’s said it like it was just a fact. Also, did he just give him a nickname?

“Kay, done here,” Mack pronounced, seemingly oblivious of Fitz’s brain shutdown and reboot, beginning to move out from under the car and standing up and..

Wow..

Just, wow. If Fitz thought his brain had had a bit of a shutdown before, now it was just full on crashing.

Mack was the most gorgeous man he has ever seen. He was dark complexioned, his head was shaved with just a bit of really well groomed facial hair. He was really tall and looked incredibly strong. He was wearing kinda messy work jeans and a-was-once-white tank top, and oh my god! His arms were amazing. So was his smile. Fitz really hoped his mouth wasn’t hanging open.

Mack was wiping his hands on an old shop rag and then looked up at Fitz, well, down, he was a good half a foot taller than him and, again, wow, he had amazing dark chocolate brown eyes. He kinda froze for a second, then his smile got even brighter (which Fitz wouldn’t of thought was possible), and reached out to shake Fitz’s hand.

Fitz took it, and swears he feels an almost electrical spark.

“Hey” Mack says, he sounds a bit odd almost, kind of dazed.

“Hi” Fitz says, somewhat shyly.

Mack just kinda stares for a bit, then seems to kind of come back to himself, letting go of his hand, Fitz instantly missed the contact “hey, so, you said you needed to use the phone, right? Something about car trouble?”

“Yeah, my car broke down a ways up the road, just totally died! I’ve no clue what’s wrong with it, but I barely managed to get it onto the shoulder. I was going to call my friend to pick me up, and then maybe look up a tow company. Would it be okay if I had them bring it here? I mean, it’s just, it’s over half an hour to my house and I really don’t want to be stuck with any bigger bill than I have to and, like, I really don’t want to leave it there too long, it may be a piece of junk, but it is my car. I bought it when I was leaving for college and there is just a lot of me tied up in it, you know?”

Then something occurred to Fitz, “Oh, I’m sorry, it said the shop was closed because of a family emergency, I really shouldn’t impose like this, I hope I’m not taking you away from something important? Is everything okay? I mean, obviously if it’s an emergency it’s not, but I mean will it be okay? Not, uh, not that you have to answer me or like it’s any of my business or anything or….”

Fitz trailed off when Mack turned away for a second, then started chuckling. He wanted to be annoyed at being laughed at, and he was, then Mack looked back at him with a barely contained grin and his eyes practically sparkling with amusement and his mind just kinda went blank again. God, how could anyone be that gorgeous, He marveled, annoyance forgotten. Still, he tried to pull his face into something looking more like annoyance and less like that of a dumbstruck teenager.

“Sorry”, Mack said, still a bit of laughter to his voice, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, “sorry, just man, when you get going you really can’t stop can you?”

Fitz resolutely did not answer that, just tried to continue glaring. Mack got his laughter under control and appeared to seem more serious, seemingly contrite, Fitz was briefly disappointed, “Damn, that really didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean that as an insult, you know? It’s really kind of cu er-endearing. I honestly didn’t mean to insult or offend you”. He looked so upset at the thought of offending Fitz that whatever bit of annoyance hadn’t already, just completely vanished. Also, was it his imagination or did he almost call him ‘cute’? No way. Man, he really needs to go home, that has to be like delusional level of tired right there.

“No, you didn’t, I just have really had a bad day so far and everything is just kinda getting to me at this point, you know?”

“Yeah, sorry again for your day. You can have the car brought here it wouldn’t be a problem. Actually, I have a tow truck out back of the shop, If you want we can go and get your car and bring it back now, then you can just call for the ride when we get back?”

Fitz brightened at that, not only would he get his car picked up, but he’d get to visit with Mack more! He tried to push down the bit of giddiness that he felt at the idea, it wasn’t really working though.

“Really? Yeah, that would be great, thank you! You really don’t know how relived that makes me, like finally this day is going to turn around.” Fitz replied, gratefully, nodding.

“It’s really no problem, let me grab my keys and my phone and we’ll head out. So, was it just the car and the having to walk or…”

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“…And then the stupid thing just sort of exploded! My face was bright blue! I had to wash it for twenty minutes!” Fitz exclaimed, animatedly. Mack had asked about the rest of his day and it had all just spilled out, he did feel better, getting to vent to someone, also, Mack was laughing a lot and smiling almost constantly. That went a long way to improving his day.

“Man, you really weren’t kidding when you said you had a rough day where you?”

“I know, like I was starting to wonder what I could’ve possibly did to piss off the universe so much! Like, every little thing just made it that much worse, you know? And every time sometime something seemed to be turning around, there was just another trip up!” He was really building up steam now, but Mack didn’t seem to mind, so he just plowed on.

“With my phone not only being broke, but currently located somewhere under the city, then the mess at work, and then I finally get out and have some semblance of hope, just getting home and forgetting the day, and the damn car breaks down! Then, of course, sense I just moved not too long ago I don’t really know too much about this area I just remembered seeing the garage on the drive so I thought, if I just went there maybe things could turn around, only, I didn’t realize it was that far from where I broke down. Then I actually make it to the shop and it’s closed!”

Fitz paused when he realized, “Hey, you never answered me before, about the shop being closed for a family emergency? Is everything really okay?”,

At this Mack seemed to blush a bit, “Oh, uh, yeah, everything is fine. I, umm, kinda lied on the sign..”

Fitz raised his eyebrows a bit in surprise, “Okayyy… why?”

Mack ducked his head a bit, looking kind of sheepish, “Well, the car I was working on when you got there? It’s my friend Phil’s. It’s his pride and joy and he’s never let me near it, pretty sure he may have been using the same mechanic since the thing was new, and he finally gave me a chance to work on it. There’s a big auto show this weekend and he wanted to have it detailed and make sure it is in perfect order, and, well, I just wanted to focus on it so maybe it’ll be more of a permanent thing, you know?”

Fitz snickered a bit at that, he seemed so excited about the idea, it was really adorable. “Oh, so, the near braking point of my day was just so you could play, huh?”

“Yeah, man I really am sorry for making your day even worse” he said apologetically

This time it was Fitz turn to laugh “Mack, it’s fine, really, I was just kidding. If anything meeting you has made this day so much better.” Realizing what he said, Fitz quickly backtracked, “I mean, cause, you know, now my car can be picked up and I might actually be able to get home sometime before midnight.”

Fitz hazards a glance at Mack to see if his little diversion had worked. Mack is looking at him, with a slight, kind of soft smile, which makes Fitz’s stomach do a bit of a flip and him have to fight down a truly terrible giddy giggle.

“Well, I’m glad I could help” he said, softly.

Then Fitz spotted his car on the side of the road, “Oh That’s me” he pointed to the car.

They pulled up in front of it and got out of the tow truck. Looking at the dinged grayish olive colored Pinto, Fitz laughed “I hate to break it to you, but it probably won’t be nearly as interesting to work on as your friends car,”

“Lola” Mack added, seemingly automatically. At Fitz’s confused look he elaborated, “That’s the car’s name, think he named it after an ex, his first love”

“Ah, okay, that isn’t weird or anything”, Fitz said sarcastically,

“You don’t have a name for yours” Mack inquired.

“Uh, no?”

“What, come on, you have to have a name for it, how do you refer to it?”

“I don’t know? My car, the weird green thing in the parking lot, that piece of junk? How do you refer to yours?”

“It’s a truck, and he’s name is Bruce”, He said without a hint of embarrassment.

Fitz burst out laughing, “Really? Your truck’s name is Bruce, why? is it like with ‘Lola’, after an ex, er friend or something” (Oh, so he was fishing a bit, sue him!)

“Well, actually,” Mack started, kind of sheepishly, “It’s named after Bruce Banner,”

Fitz’s eyebrows nearly hit his hairline, “You named your truck after the HULK!” As if the guy wasn’t perfect enough, he had a geeky side too!? Fitz was so screwed..

“Yeah, well, you know, it’s a big, forest green classic style 1953 Chevrolet pickup that I completely restored and supped up and it looks really nice, classy, but it can fly when I need it to and it can handle anything I throw at it, so yeah”, Mack was blushing a bit, and, god, Fitz was just gone on this guy and he hadn’t even known him an hour.

He smiled, “That, that’s actually really awesome” he said, kindly.

Mack smiled softly at that, “Thanks.” He kind of stared at Fitz for a minute, like he was going to say something else, then the moment passed, and he seemed to shake off whatever thought he’d had, turning away to face the car.

Mack ambled over and popped the hood, much smoother than Fitz had, and peered in.

“Ah, I see what happened”, he motioned for Fitz to come closer.

“See that right there, the fan belt slipped off, looks like it got jammed up in some of the components under it, that’s why it stalled like that.”

Fitz nodded, “So, you can fix it, yeah?” He asked, hopefully.

Mack smiled, nodding, “Yeah, no problem. We’ll get it hooked up and back to the garage and you can be back on the road within an hour or so.”

“Oh, thank you so much Mack, that would be perfect, you are amazing! I won’t have to bug Jem and I won’t have to try to come up with a ride to work while it’s being fixed. I thought it was ready for the scrap heap, you are a life saver!” Fitz was so happy and distracted; he missed the bit of a blush on Mack’s face, or the kind of shy appreciative glance he sent Fitz’s way.

“So,” Mack proclaimed, “let’s get you hooked up and back to the garage so I get you up and running again.”

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As they pulled back into the garage, Fitz felt a bit disappointed. Hearing that it was an easy fix and that he wouldn’t be out a car for any amount of time had made him elated, when Mack had first said it. Now, however, he was almost wishing it was something more serious so he’d have a reason to see Mack again.

Everything he’d learned about Mack just made him like him more. Not only was he (mind numbly) gorgeous, but he was really sweet and funny with a great sense of humor and really easygoing. He was amazingly easy to talk to and actually seemed to listen to what Fitz was saying, even actually keeping up with most of it, not many could do that. He was really smart, too, actually being able to follow most of Fitz’s ramblings, even when it veered into topics that where about the more technical aspects of his work ( He wasn’t giving away company secrets or anything, okay, just some vague information that would be publicly available, or that you’d encounter in a somewhat advanced engineering class). Even when Fitz went off on a tangent on something, and it was obvious that Mack wasn’t really following all of it, he never got upset or annoyed at it- like many people, his ex included did- just kind of smiled and waited for Fitz to stop for breath.

Mack’d found it ridiculously funny when Fitz had lamented about the irony of being a genius engineer and not knowing much about how to fix a regular, standard combustion engine ( he knew the mechanics, okay, it was just the actual, practical knowledge and skills that escaped him).

He found out that Mack had owned the shop for almost eight years now, and had started it from his home garage- he lived about half a mile down the road, Fitz had actually walked right by his house on his way to the shop- some years earlier and when he got enough business he bought the lot and started his ‘official’ business. He had three regular employees, though they were more like family.

Daisy was one of his closest friends, though he almost saw her as a little sister. She’d had kind of a rough life. When she was sixteen Mack’d caught her trying to steal some stuff from a friends shop, he threatened to call the police but when he learned that she’d just been taking some stuff to eat and she was actually currently living out of her van, he offered he a part time job helping him with his new business. She showed a definite knack for it, and was now just as good as him, Mack said confidentially, with no small amount of pride, he thought she may even be a bit better than him, as she has a really unique way of looking at things that he never would of came up with and a way of working them out that almost seems like magic.

Lance Hunter was Mack’s oldest friend. Honestly, he knew very little about the actual auto repair and body shop part of the business, the one time Mack had had him helping in the garage had resulted in a slight explosion, a shower of ball bearings, two spilled containers of paint, and set Mack back nearly two hours on what should have been a 20 min tops project. He was banned from the garage after that. What he lacked in mechanical knowledge however, he more than made up for in his people skills. He usually ran the store/office, part of the garage. He was kind of the personality of the shop. He was somewhat flighty, but he had a definite way with people, being able to charm them into almost anything (it was really great for getting new clients, and the ones that were too argumentative or indecisive and tended to give Mack a headache.).

While Hunter was Mack’s oldest friend, Bobbi Morse was probably Mack’s best friend. They had worked together at Mack’s old job at a bail bonds ( Fitz got a bit flustered at this information, what? It was interesting, okay). She was the one that pushed him to take his hobby and turn it into an actual career after one too many nights of him complaining about his dislike of the job. She was strong and stubborn and a force to be reckoned with when angered. She really only worked there part time, still working tracking down bail jumpers when the money was good enough (or she pissed enough and needed an outlet.) She could also rebuild an engine blindfolded. Plus, with her around, Mack never had to worry about costumers that were stubborn or difficult, trying to wheedle out of paying, one conversation with her in her office and they were quite a bit less difficult. Mack liked to think that it was because she was so convincing and articulate, but it may have more to do with the fact that she has a conceal and carry permit and three sharp shooting awards on the wall of her office and a tendency to fiddle with her pocket knife when she is talking to them. She also happens to be Lance’s ex wife- that was a disaster, Mack loved them both, and they were great as friends, but as a couple? Yikes.

Mack was working on his car now, leaving Fitz to get lost in his own thoughts; Fitz’s was absolutely amazed by this guy, he didn’t even know how he could be real. He hated the idea that he wouldn’t get to see him again, briefly thinking maybe he’d brake something else to get a chance to see him again. It couldn’t be that hard right? The car was old, it messed up all the time, stands to reason it would need work.

Fitz was pulled from his schemeing when Mack stood back and wiped his hands

“Okay, you’re all set it should be running good again.” He smiled at Fitz, “I did glance around when I was in there just to make sure nothing else was wrong. There was a few loose bolts and the starter needed cleaned.” Fitz tried not to seem too eager about this, “ Don’t worry though, I got it all taken care of, you should be good to go.” Damn.

“That, that’s really great Mack thank you again.” He reached out to shake Mack’s hand again, then silently cursing himself for his awkwardness. Mack laughed lightly and clasped his hand, he didn’t let go right away, “It really is no problem Fitz. I’m glad I could help.”

He still was holding his hand, not really seeming in any hurry to pull away, Fitz didn’t want to seem awkward, desperate, or pathetic, but he couldn’t bring himself to end the contact.

“Oh,” Fitz realized, “I’ve never asked, how much do I owe you?”

Mack seemed confused for a second, then “Hey, you know, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t an inconvenience or anything and I had the parts already, so, it’s really no big deal”.

“What, no I can’t do that! I took up almost two hours of your time, pulled you from, what was essensially your day off, to not only work, but to go out and pick up my piece of junk car and drive me back here. Not to mention listen to me vent for over an hour about my day and ramble on at you constantly, because, apparently, you’re too nice to just tell me to shut up when I get going.. Like, well, like now….”Fitz trailed off when Mack put his hand on his sholder, a bit of a blush forming.

“Hey, Fitz, it really is not a problem. I like to work on cars, that is why I do it. It didn’t cost�� me anything except some time and, well that was okay. I really enjoyed talking to you. You are a really interesting guy: You are amazingly smart, I don’t even know if genius even covers it, and just seem like a really great guy in general. I’m really glad I met you and got a chance to talk to you. even if you do talk more in an hour then most people I know do in a day, but I like it, it’s really refreshing.” He smiled.

Fitz was just floored, this guy, this amazing, incredible, wonderful guy, actually liked talking to him? How is that even possible?

“Number” Fitz blurted

At Mack’s slightly confused look he went on

“I mean, um, can I get your phone number? You know in case maybe I have other car problems or.. or something.. Not that I don’t think that you’re a great mechanic or that I think that you’re wrong when you say that it is in working order or anything. I just, um you know it would be good if I had it cause then if this comes up again I have someone I can call and, uh, well, I’d give you mine, but since, you know, right now my phone is currently in the land of the Morlocks, it really wouldn’t do any good, not that it would anyways if I had car trouble or, uh…”

Fitz was once again cut off by Mack’s laughter. He tried to turn away, but Mack caught his hand and turned him back he was laughing too much to really talk and kind of put his arm around Fitz’s shoulder to steady himself- something Fitz absolutely did NOT mind one bit.

When Mack finally got himself under control he flashed a brilliant, beaming smile at Fitz, up this close it made him slightly dizzy and his knees feel weak.

“Yes, Fitz, you can have my number, just in case you have car trouble, or, you know, anything else, but only on one condition. As soon as you get your phone back from the Morlocks, you need to text or call me so I have your number too, okay?”

Wait, what, what the hell? Did he seriously just say that? It, it sounds like he likes him, like maybe in a finds him attractive maybe be willing to go on a date kind of likes him. No, he must be reading too much into it. He probably just means as a friend; he seems like the type that’d make friends with everyone, Fitz is probably just hearing what he wants. But still, having a person like Mack as a friend would be pretty great, he might feel kind of awkward with his- by now giant- crush, but it could be good. He really loved talking to Mack, he seemed to get him like very few others did; they had found that they had a lot of really similar interests and some things they already teased each other about. This..this could be really great.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll do that definitely”

“You better”, Mack joked.

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

He left the garage with a smile on his face and Mack’s number written on his hand.

What an amazing day,

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