A/N: This story takes place after 2x06 'A Fractured House' and the events of my one-shot 'Secret Keeper'. I wrote 'based on' instead of 'sequel to' in the summary, because while this fanfic is obviously both, it will also be a completely different kind of story. This will be multi-chapter with the focus on Hunter and Bobbi, but the whole team will be included.

You can find Secret Keeper on my profile, but if you prefer to start off with Poison right away, here is a very brief summary of what happened so far:

Hunter seeks out Bobbi in the gym to tell her something about his past he has been keeping from her for years, even during their marriage. He reveals that his intense aversion to secrets stems from the fact that his mother, who died a few months before he met Bobbi, and his father had both been SHIELD agents, who had repeatedly lied to and neglected him throughout his childhood. After learning the truth from his mother before her death, Hunter wanted to get an inside look into the organisation, leading to him approaching Bobbi during one of her missions. While Bobbi is clearly upset about this reveal at first, Hunter assures her that his feelings for her have always been real and were ultimately more important than any curiosity he had regarding SHIELD. When Bobbi finally wonders why Hunter is telling her the truth now, he replies that it's because they're working together again and he hopes that her knowing the truth might actually help improve their relationship, at least from "arch enemies" to "mutually respectful co-workers". Hunter's plan already shows results when Bobbi admits that despite their divorce she still cares for him and thanks him for his honesty. In the end, Hunter watches Bobbi leave, fully aware of his own feelings for her, but also knowing that their relationship cannot be fixed by just one honest conversation.

Poison

Chapter 1: Bad Influence

Lance Hunter was sitting on the ramp of SHIELD's single Quinjet inside the hangar, a tablet in his hand. Instead of working with it, however, he was using its black reflective surface to get a look at the large bruise on his cheek, where one of the Hydra agents they had encountered earlier on a mission had landed a particularly painful punch, almost sending him to the floor in the process.

To his luck, Agent May had had his back in time to prevent anything worse from happening. Yet both his face and his ego would have to live with the damage for a while, the extent of which he was just trying to determine.

"You should really let Jemma take a look at that," a familiar female voice suddenly startled him. Hunter quickly looked up from his own reflection, only to find Bobbi holding a bottle of beer in his face, which he accepted after a brief moment of hesitation.

He took a sip, but then held the cold bottle carefully against the throbbing side of his face, sighing as the pain subsided noticeably.

"Thanks, that's a real life saver," he admitted, ignoring her suggestion to have the injury checked. When Hunter continued, however, he gave his ex a rather sceptically look, unsure about how to interpret her friendly behaviour. "But you didn't have to do that," he finished with what he hoped to be a grateful expression.

Bobbi had been standing in front of him so far, but now she sat down next to Hunter on the ramp and took a big gulp from her own bottle, seeming somewhat uncertain about being here as well. In the end she just shrugged it off, though, as she glanced over at the mercenary, and went on in a casual tone.

"I know. I just figured that since we just had a pretty rough mission, you especially, it might be a good idea to check up on you. That's what 'mutually respectful co-workers' do, right?" she asked, deliberately using the awkward term Hunter had coined for their current relationship during the lengthy conversation they had had in the gym a couple of days ago.

It still felt odd for them to have an actual talk that lasted for more than five words without either of them shouting or at least staring daggers at the other, but the mercenary was certainly glad that things seemed to have calmed down between him and Bobbi after he had opened up to her. For the moment at least. Because if there was one thing in his life that he was absolutely certain of, it was that there were simply too many sparks between him and his ex to be good for either of them. Somehow they were always headed for either spectacular fireworks or a devastating explosion. He just didn't know which one it would be this time.

For now, however, Hunter was actually beginning to enjoy the friendly tone between them and so he replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes, even though his features remained entirely sober.

"As a matter of fact, 'handing out beer' is actually the very first point on that job description," he explained with a smirk. "Directly above 'saving each other's lives' and 'telling the other if they have something between their teeth'." The mercenary tried to grin at his own joke, but flinched as the pain in his cheek became worse from the movement. He could only hope that Bobbi hadn't noticed.

"Alright, I guess I can handle those terms," the agent agreed with a smile of her own. Then she suddenly turned further towards Hunter and grabbed his jaw with a gentle, yet firm hold, keeping him still so she could get a better look at the bruise. "But I think I'd also like to add 'telling your co-worker if they look like shit and should really go and see a doctor about that' to that list, because that looks seriously painful, Hunter."

Even though he knew that Bobbi was simply concerned about him, which a part of him actually appreciated, Hunter swatted her hand away again immediately, a little more harshly than he had originally intended to. As he replied to her, there was already a trace of the old bitterness between them in his voice, making him sound cold and detached, which was about as far away from the truth as possible.

"I'm fine, thanks, but don't you think that line probably falls more under the 'friends' category? And I'm not convinced we're really there yet."

He could tell by the expression that briefly flickered over Bobbi's features that he had somehow managed to hurt her without even really meaning to. However, that look was gone again in an instant, leaving only an unfazed mask in its place, as the agent was far too good at hiding her true emotions to let herself be deterred by her ex's rude behaviour.

"Okay, fair enough. I mean you told me the other day that you don't think we can be friends, but there's actually something else I wanted to ask you about. I just hope I'm not overstepping my 'co-worker' boundaries here."

Hunter took another sip from his beer to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes, but in the end he knew that if he didn't want things between him and Bobbi to go right back to how they had started a few weeks ago, he would have to let her bother him at least a little more.

"Fine, go ahead. What do you want to know?" he asked, already anticipating that this wasn't going to be an easy conversation.

"When you told me that your parents were SHIELD agents in the past, you said I should ask Coulson if I didn't believe you—" Bobbi began, but didn't even get to finish her sentence before Hunter interrupted her.

"And what did he say?" the mercenary wanted to know, immediately convinced that she had gone to the director not long after he had told her about his parents' history. However, Bobbi shook her head, her expression sincere.

"Nothing, because I haven't talked to him about any of this. But I was wondering why you never did. You know Coulson's been with SHIELD for a long time, he must have heard about your parents, or maybe he even knew them. You told me you stopped looking into their past because of us, and I appreciate that that can't have been easy. But now you're working with SHIELD yourself, so I don't understand why you haven't tried to find out more about them."

Hunter remained completely quiet for an almost uncomfortably long moment, while he took another sip from his beer and studied Bobbi carefully. He was trying to determine whether she actually didn't know the answer to that question or if she just wanted to hear him admit it. In the end he decided to humour her either way, though, and replied slowly.

"You do realise why I ended up with SHIELD now, right? Why Coulson's in charge, why we're all working from this one hidden base and why this," he pointed at the plane behind them, "is the only jet at our disposal."

Bobbi looked at him in confusion, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what Hunter was getting at.

"Well, things aren't the way they used to be, obviously. Coulson took over when Fury vanished and we had to make do with what we had after…" she trailed off, understanding finally dawning on her face. "Hydra. Hunter, you can't actually believe that your parents were working for Hydra, can you?"

"Honestly, I have no bloody idea. And I really don't want to know, either. They left SHIELD long before all hell broke loose, but after everything I've heard and seen about those weeks, after knowing just how many apparently loyal agents turned traitor, I have zero interest in looking into my parents' history with SHIELD any longer. I don't want to see their files and I don't want to know about their missions; that's all in the past and that's right where it can stay as far as I'm concerned."

Bobbi just looked at him incredulously in return. "But they're your family, Hunter, don't you want to know the truth? Coulson's right here and I'm sure he would give you everything he has on them. Or you could talk to your father and ask him yourself. I mean, your parents were with SHIELD, you married a SHIELD agent, and now you're practically one yourself, so I just don't understand how that can possibly mean so little to you."

Hunter sighed in frustration and grimaced slightly as he did his best not to start shouting when he answered his ex.

"Bobbi, I know that in your own unreasonable way you're just trying to help, but seriously, this is none of your business. When I told you about what it was like to grow up with SHIELD agents as parents, I was hoping that that would explain a few things about me, not that it would make you go around, starting to ask more questions. And since when have you become this pesky anyway? Usually I'm the one who can't live with secrets and you're the one who's trying to keep them, not the other way around."

"I guess that has to be somebody's bad influence on me then," the agent replied with a crooked grin, actually managing to catch Hunter off guard. Before he had the chance to reply, however, a female voice suddenly cut him short.

"Guys, sorry to interrupt," Skye called out from the door to the rest of the base, her expression grim, "but you better come and see this. There has been another Hydra attack, and it's bad."

Bobbi and Hunter exchanged a brief concerned glance before setting their bottles down and following Skye into the command centre of the base, a dark sense of foreboding already settling over them at the thought of what Hydra could have in store for them this time.

To be continued…