If I Die Young
Disclaimer:
As always, I own nothing. (Except Adannaya Coulson...And, Charissa Coulson.)
Rating:
T (Just 'cause I'm paranoid.)
Genre:
Romance/Hurt/Comfort/Family
Pairing(s):
Grant/OC (Grant/Adannaya)
Skil (Skye/Phil)
Most-if not all-cannon Twilight pairings
Lyrics Used:
Little Big Town "If I Die Young" (as performed by the cast of Glee 'cause I like their version better)
Summary:
Basically, Phil had a daughter who was killed in the line of duty-or so he thought. As luck would have it, Dr. Carlisle Cullen was there when Shaelynn Coulson was "killed" and took her home with him & turned her into a vampire. A year, later, Shaelynn's back-with the Cullens in tow-to protect her father & his new team of operatives-as well as the rest of the human race-against a rising army of newborn vampires.
Author's Note:
I'm taking just a weeee little bit of creative license to adapt the lyrics to this particular story. (Just changing "Lord, make a rainbow | I'll shine down on my mother | She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors … Ain't even gray, but, she buries her baby" to say "Lord, make me a rainbow | I'll shine down on my father | He'll know I'm safe with you when he stands under my colors … Ain't even gray, but, he buries his baby".
If I Die Young
If I die young | Bury me in satin | Lay me down on a bed of roses | Sink me in the river | At dawn | Send me away with the words of a love song | Uh oh | Uh oh
Lord make me rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother | She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors oh, and | Life ain't always what ya think it oughta be | Ain't even gray but she buries her baby | The sharp knife of a short life | I've had just enough time
Skye stood in the door way of her boss's office as she watched him studying a photo in his hands. It was a picture she'd seen a few times, before. The simple, wooden, frame held a photo of a beautiful, young, woman who bore an eerie resemblance to a young, female, Coulson-or 'A.C.', as she preferred to call him, no matter how much he tried to resist. Every time he tried to insist she call him either 'Agent Coulson' or 'Coulson', she always saw a unique glimmer in his eyes every time she called him 'A.C.'. So, he was stuck with it-whether he liked it or not-though, she was fairly sure, he liked it...at least a little bit. After watching her boss a moment longer, she silently entered the office and strode up, next to him. "She's really beautiful." When Skye spoke, her voice soft and almost reverent. She could tell that, whoever this woman in the picture was, she was important to Phil. As such, she deserved respect. "Who is she?" She wondered, softly, looking up at her A.C.
Anyone else would have been startled by Skye's sudden appearance at his side-particularly, at such a private moment. But, Phil Coulson was a veteran special agent. He was trained to detect the presence of those he couldn't actually see. Plus, as they continued to work together, he'd found himself growing closer to the young field operative-in-training. From the moment he'd first laid eyes on her, he'd felt a strange sensation blossoming in his chest-one which he'd desperately tried to ignore. Phil wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly what that sensation was and it was completely inappropriate for him to harbor those sorts of feelings toward someone so young. Hell, she wasn't that much older than his daughter...well, than his own daughter would have been. "Her name was Adannaya. Adannaya Coulson." That surprised Skye, but, she sensed that her friend and mentor had more that he wanted to say, so, she remained silent. That, and, she was still trying to figure out the meaning behind the tremor in Phil's voice. "She was my daughter." And, now, she was metaphorically bowled over.
"Wow..." Skye breathed, truly at a loss for words. "I-...I don't know what to say...That's a beautiful name...And, she's beautiful...Why haven't you ever told us you had a daughter?" She wondered. However, the moment the words left her mouth, she realized that it could possibly be a sensitive topic and, therefore, one she shouldn't have brought up. "Un-Unless, you don't wanna talk about it...Which is totally fine...I really shouldn't have pried..." She stammered as she tried desperately to backtrack.
Allowing himself a small smile at Skye's clumsy attempt to smooth over a faux pas she hadn't even committed, Phil replied "It's quite all right. And, thank you. She was beautiful. So much like her mother. Actually, it was her mother who picked the name. We had just returned from an op in Africa a couple of months before she learned she was pregnant with Adannaya. The name 'Adannaya' means 'her father's daughter' in Igbo." Phil spoke, ending on a hollow, humorless chuckle. "Unfortunately, Charissa was killed in action when Adanaya was just a toddler. So, she never got to see just how fitting Adanaya's name really was." Skye noticed the smirk that ghosted over Phil's face as he spoke of his daughter. "I just never brought her up, because I've been trying to stay absorbed in my work and in working with you all." Phil admitted. "The truth is, Adannaya was killed in the line of duty-just like her mother was-just over a year ago. Today would have been her twenty-fourth birthday." Skye couldn't take her friend's pain, anymore. For once, she wasn't looking at Agent Coulson or Coulson-or, even, A.C. She was looking at Phil. And, frankly, she liked him. She liked him more than she really should. Especially considering his late daughter would only be a couple of years younger than her.
But, she couldn't bring herself to think about that, right now. Before she really thought about what she was doing, she gently squeezed Phil's shoulder in her right hand as her left applied the same gentle, reassuring, squeeze to Phil's forearm. "I honestly don't know what to say, right now..." Skye admitted, desperately racking her brain for any words that could possibly bring her friend and mentor any form of comfort she could. "But, I'm sure wherever she is, she's seen everything you've managed to accomplish since her death. I'm sure she's just as proud of you as I am." She spoke with a soft smile playing across her face as the last part drew Phil's gaze away from the photo in his hands to her own eyes. "As we all are..." She breathed as she realized their faces were mere inches apart.
"If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river"
Phil and Skye were both startled out of their brief moment as they each registered the soft sound of a young woman singing. Skye had to admit that the voice was rather beautiful-almost enchanting. Meanwhile, Phil was stunned. He knew he'd know that voice anywhere. However, he just never thought he'd ever hear it, again.
"At dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Uh oh Uh oh"
"Adannaya..." Phil breathed. Just then, the voice became louder as Phil and Skye both whipped around to see the woman from the photograph standing before them in the doorway to the office. She continued singing as if nothing had changed as she crossed the room to stand on the other side of Phil, wrapping his arm around his shoulders as she sang directly to him.
"Lord, make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my father
He'll know I'm safe with you when he stands under my colors, oh, and
Life ain't always what ya think it oughta be
Ain't even gray, but, he buried his baby
The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time"
"You were there..." Phil breathed, utterly awestruck by the song that his daughter-whom he'd believed to be dead up until now-had walked into his office, singing.
"She was where?" Skye asked, at a loss as to what was going on. This isn't what I think it is...Is it? She wondered as she was seriously considering that Coulson's dead daughter was actually standing right in front of them.
"That was the song we played at Adannaya's funeral." Phil explained. "She always said it was the perfect description of her attitude toward her job and the lifestyle in general." Releasing a light sigh, he added "She never was afraid to die young in the name of the job."
"Well, you and I both know that's the only way to be any good at it." Adannaya spoke with a small smirk playing across her face. "Right, dad?"
"How is this even possible?" Phil asked, breathless with sheer awe. "What the hell's going on, here, Addie?" He begged, desperate for answers.
"Well, dad..." Adannaya began, choosing her words, carefully. "There's really no easy way to say this-definitely no way to say this without sounding absolutely insane-but...I'm a vampire." She stated, finally.
"I'm sorry..." Skye began, her anxiety manifesting in a bout of involuntary nervous laughter. "You're never gonna believe what I thought you just said...I thought you just said you were a vampire!"
"No, you heard right." Adannaya replied, speaking as if it were perfectly normal. "While I was on assignment in Forks, Washington, something had gone awry and my mission had been compromised. My dad kept insisting that I pull out and return to HQ immediately. But, I was too damn stubborn to listen." She admitted, while recollecting the story of how she'd been stripped of her mortality. I was engaged in a gunfight with the enemy. Unfortunately, the enemy had a sniper in their ranks that I hadn't known about. They stuck a bullet in my chest and left me in the woods for dead."
Skye couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure, she'd seen some weird stuff in her-albeit incredibly short time with S.H.I.E.L.D.-but, that was just...She had no words for what those bastards had done to Adannaya. And, it wasn't just what they did to Adannaya...It was the effect that their actions had on her friend and mentor, Phil Coulson. The young hacker just couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of just leaving someone for dead in the middle of the woods. "Those bastards..." She breathed, before she realized she'd even spoken.
"Fortunately, for me, this man was there in the woods when I was shot." Adannaya paused as a tall pale man with golden blonde hair and matching gold eyes walked into the office, with them.
"Okay, seriously...How many of you guys are there?" Skye wondered aloud.
"Just ten." Adannaya shrugged, as if it were nothing, completely missing the stunned looks on her father's and Skye's faces. "Anyway, I would like you both to meet Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Carlisle, I'd like you to meet my father, Phil Coulson..." Adannaya paused as Carlisle extended his hand to Phil who hesitated a moment before accepting the proffered hand. "And, one of his new assets, Skye." Carlisle then offered Skye the same handshake he had offered to Phil. After seeing Phil accept, Skye followed suit.
"How exactly do you know my name?" Skye wondered, nervously.
"I've been keeping a close eye on my dad ever since I was turned." Adannaya explained. "So, yes, dad...I know all about New York." She added, noting the sheepish look on her father's face. "Remember when Loki literally stabbed you in the back? Yeah. I was there." Adannaya couldn't have stopped the wildly mischievous smirk played across her lips as the seasoned agent's jaw dropped in sheer awe at her revelation. "Oh, don't get me wrong. You never knew it-you weren't meant to. But, suffice to say, that if Fury and the medical team hadn't stepped in when they did, you would have become a vampire like me, that day." As her smirk grew into a full smile, Adannaya finished with "Don't worry. I wasn't letting you go down without a fight."
"But, I digress." Adannaya spoke, again, cutting off any further distractions. "As I was saying, before...Carlisle was in the woods when I was shot. He heard the shots fired and came to see what he could do to help me." The young vampire paused to allow the man who had become her adopted/surrogate father to join the conversation.
"But, one look at her injuries and I knew that there was nothing I-or anyone else, for that matter-could do for her, medically speaking." Carlisle added, recalling the moment he had found Adannaya in the woods. "So, I took her home with me where I proceeded to turn her." Looking directly at Phil as he spoke, he added "It honestly was the only way to prevent her death. Adannaya would have been dead long before she could have gotten the necessary medical assistance."
"It's quite all right, Dr. Cullen." Phil replied, the slightest hints of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "You did what you had to do. I'm just glad to know that my daughter's still alive."
"Well...Not alive..." Adannaya interjected, only slightly playfully. "But, definitely not dead, either." She added, trying to placate her father's concerns.
"So...What are you, then?" Skye asked, curiously. "Undead?"
"Immortal." Adannaya corrected. "I prefer the term 'immortal'." Shaking her head, slightly, Adannaya returned to her original story. "After he turned me, Carlisle and his lovely wife, Esme, took me into their family and...really treated me as if I were their own daughter."
At that comment, Carlisle couldn't fight the urge to shoot Phil a sheepish, apologetic, glance. A glance which Phil simply returned with a small smile, letting the older doctor know that he bore no ill will against him.
"They helped me to adjust to their alternative vegetarian diet which really went a surprisingly long way toward combating my internal battle with my monster complex that I had developed once I fully understood just what I was." Adannaya admitted, her voice more serious then that it had been throughout the rest of the conversation. "It was actually what helped me to gain the confidence to come back and tell you the truth about what had happened to me the day I was 'killed'." Adannaya looked at her father with an uncharacteristically timid smile tugging at her lips. "Though, I couldn't help feeling guilty, at the same time." She admitted, guiltily. "I was the only one of Carlisle and Esme's adopted children who has been afforded the opportunity to tell my dad the truth about me."
"What do you mean?" Skye asked, suddenly fully submersed in this conversation.
"Well, generally speaking..." Adannaya began, searching for the best way to explain her answer. "Humans-such as yourselves-aren't allowed to know that vampires exist. The Volturi strictly forbid it."
"'The Volturi'?" Phil wondered, curiously. "What is that, exactly?"
"Think of the Volturi as..." Adannaya paused to search for the best analogy for the Volturi that a human could relate to. "Well, I suppose you could think of them as the vampire equivalent of a federal government. They make and enforce our laws. And, yes, we do have laws. But, the one that forbids us to reveal our existence to humans is really about the only one that's regularly enforced." She explained. "Anyway, as I was saying...When the Volturi find out that a vampire has revealed themselves to a human, that violation is punishable by death. Well...violation of pretty much any law is punishable by death." Adannaya mused.
"Harsh terms." Skye added as an afterthought.
"No arguments from me." Adannaya agreed with the young hacker. "But, what's even worse is that they don't just kill the vampire. They kill the human as well."
"Damn." Skye breathed.
"I thought you just said that you were immortal?" Phil wondered, curiously.
"We are." Adannaya insisted. "But, even immortality comes with limitations. The only way to kill a vampire is to dismember them, behead them, and burn the pieces." Adannaya paused to take in the simultaneous cringes from her father and Skye. "But, my point is that you guys are affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. And, as such, you are protected under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s treaty with the Volturi which essentially states that S.H.I.E.L.D. associates are allowed to know that we exist without fear of being killed off provided that they don't destroy any vampires." Adannaya explained, slipping right back into her operative mode. "So, I'm the only one of Carlisle and Esme's adopted children whose family is protected by that treaty. So, I'm the only one that gets to be totally honest with my family."
"So, why didn't you come forward, sooner?" Phil asked, his voice coming off more hurt than he had originally intended.
"I wanted to..." Adannaya admitted-dropping all of her professional defenses. "But, I couldn't let you see me as a newborn."
"A 'newborn'?" Phil asked, curious.
"'Newborn' is a term commonly used to describe a vampire during the first year of their immortality." Adannaya explained, her voice assuming her previous clinical tone before she dropped her guard again. "It's...not pretty. In the beginning, I felt like a junkie-always lookin' for a fix. I was always thirsty and I...I just didn't feel completely confident that I could control those urges if I were around you-or any humans, for that matter." Adannaya admitted, hating how vulnerable she felt, in that moment. "I knew I had to wait until I was one hundred percent certain that you would be safe around me. That meant waiting out my newborn year, when I had my thirst under control." She explained, silently praying to whatever deity may have been listening, at that moment-that her father would accept her explanation.
There was a tense silence in the air as they all waited for someone to speak. The tension was becoming increasingly tangible, the longer the silence dragged on. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Phil broke away from his position next to Skye to cross the room, where he proceeded to draw his daughter into his arms as he just savored the sensation of holding her, again. After the indescribably miserable year he'd had since the day he'd lost her, all of Phil's walls came crashing down in the form of the tears that soaked Adannaya's shirt-not that either of them had it in them to care. "Thank you!" He cried into his daughter's shoulder. "Thank you for coming back."
"Like I could stay away?" Adannaya asked in what she hoped was a playful voice while secretly wishing that she could cry the way her father was as she collapsed into his strong and familiar arms. Sinking into the embrace, Adannaya finally felt like she was home-as if nothing had ever changed. After savoring the embrace a few moments longer, Adannaya pulled away with a somewhat guilty look on her face. "But...There's...One other reason I came back..." She added, ominously.
"What's the reason?" Skye asked, suddenly on high alert, crossing her arms across her chest after watching the touching scene that had just played out before her.
Sighing lightly, Adannaya replied "Since I've been watching over you, I know that you're all on your way to investigate a series of strange murders in Seattle." Ever the spy, Adannaya couldn't have stopped herself from analyzing her father's and Skye's reactions if her life had depended on it. "That's why I brought the Cullens with me for my homecoming. We've been following the news reports and we know what's causing these murders."
"And?" Phil prompted, gently, waiting anxiously for Adannaya to complete her thought.
"We believe it to be the work of newborn vampires." Carlisle interjected.
"You make them sound like...little...baby vampires..." Skye mused.
"Well, not literally..." Adannaya corrected, her voice only slightly agitated. "But, in a metaphoric sense, yes." She explained smugly before elaborating further. "As I said before, newborns are-at the core of the matter-essentially like drug addicts. They are complete and utter slaves to their thirst-which explains the sloppiness to the kills."
"Sloppiness?" Skye asked, her voice now full with curiosity.
"What I mean by that is...Had a mature vampire-such as myself or any of the Cullens-committed these murders, you never would have even found the bodies-let alone any indicators to the cause of death. A mature vampire is capable of the clear, concise and strategic thinking required to cover their tracks. Newborns don't have that. They can't think-at least not about anything but their thirst."
"Okay, assuming you're right..." Skye began, processing the information that Adannaya was giving them. "That's still a lot of victims for just one...newborn..."
"You would be correct..." Adannaya conceded, before adding "If we were talking about just one newborn."
"How many are we talking about?" Phil asked, warily.
"An army." Adannaya deadpanned. Watching the horrified looks her father and Skye exchanged, Adannaya knew the full severity of the situation was settling in.
"Get the others." Phil ordered, suddenly switching from 'Phil' to 'Agent Coulson', as he directed the order to Skye who merely nodded curtly before rushing out of the office to get the rest of her teammates.