A/N: I really have no idea where the idea for this came from, but here it is: the Agents of SHIELD Shadowhunter AU. I plan to update on Wednesdays, but this first chapter is being posted today in celebration of AthenaMay24's birthday. If you're able, please go check out her works and shower her with birthday wishes!
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival." - C.S. Lewis
The photograph was old and faded, with slight wrinkles around the edges that Fitz had tried time and time again to smooth away. Still, he kept it on proud display in a thin black frame on his desk. After all, it had been taken on the happiest day of his life and he loved the way that Jemma was smiling in it. The two of them looked like they had just won the lottery.
He figured that, in a way, they had. Because what were the odds that he and his mum would be in London the same day that the head of the London Institute decided to teach his daughter how to use a glamour, and that they would both wind up in the same park, and that he would wave directly at her?
"Can you see me?" She'd asked incredulously, looking him up and down.
That was a tricky question for sure, because Fitz had spent most of his life pointing out strange things that nobody else could seem to see, but this girl didn't look strange at all. "Of course I can see you. Why? Am I not supposed to?"
The next several hours had been a flurry of commotion, but eventually his mother was convinced to let him stay and pursue his calling as a Shadowhunter. They had commemorated the day with a picture of the two of them standing side by side on the steps of the Institute, both smiling at the prospect of a newfound friend.
"Are you even listening?" Jemma's voice yanked him out of the pleasant reverie.
"Sorry." He said, returning his attention to the blueprints on the desk. "Lost my train of thought."
She heaved a delicate sigh before picking up the papers and flipping through the notes he had scrawled down. "I was saying that deoxygenating the cartridges may be a viable solution, but I can't be certain how the concentration will alter the effectiveness of the holy water."
They'd started work on the holy water gun in the first week of October, just over a month ago, and while the idea was promising, the prototype was proving less effective than they had hoped. Bobbi had said they were overthinking it and suggested just filling a squirt gun with holy water, but this would be much more accurate and far easier to reload. Fitz could tell that they were on the verge of a breakthrough though, and was about to suggest adjusting the delivery mechanism when the door burst open.
"Simmons, we need you in the infirmary now. It's Skye." Trip said before leaving as quickly as he'd come.
"What happened?" Fitz asked as the two of them followed Trip down the long and winding halls. It wasn't as if they didn't know where they were going — they had been conducting their research at the D.C. Institute for two years now — but Trip had a very long stride and it was only exacerbated by his current concern for the Institute's newest member.
"Hydra demon." He explained. "She took two bites to the abdomen before Ward and I could kill the damn thing.
Next to him Jemma was pulling her hair into a ponytail. "How long ago?"
"Almost twenty five minutes."
She fished around in her pocket for her steele as Trip opened the doors to the infirmary, and Fitz could've sworn he heard a mumbled "bloody hell" fly from her lips before Ward's voice drowned out everything else.
"— did you think you were doing, Rookie? You can't just go bursting in without a plan like that and hope for the best!"
Skye's only response was to wince through another shallow breath while the venom oozing from her wound dripped slowly onto her cot.
"You can be helpful, or be quiet." Simmons clipped, shifting seamlessly into medical mode as Ward snapped his mouth shut. Apparently he'd decided on being helpful. "I need a water basin and a stack of washcloths." She said, and immediately Trip and Ward were off to meet her demands. She pushed the hem of Skye's shirt up, carefully revealing two U-shaped wounds that wrapped around her abdomen just above her hip bone and Fitz nearly lost his lunch at the sight. Each puncture mark was jagged and uneven, dripping a grisly mixture of blood and dark green venom.
"Why don't you go get Coulson?" Jemma asked, sensing his discomfort. As much as he wanted to be there to support Skye and to help Simmons, he didn't think he'd be of much use to either of them if he was vomiting everywhere.
By the time he returned with Coulson and the group's tutor, May, Skye was doing significantly better. Apparently she was even well enough that Jemma had allowed Ward to resume his lecturing.
"— completely irresponsible." He was saying as he paced between the rows of beds. "You're lucky there weren't any mundies around or we'd be really screwed."
"Alright Grant, that's enough." Coulson said, adding himself to the small crowd that had gathered around Skye's bed.
"Are you here to yell at me too?" She asked as Trip tried to quell her fever and Jemma drew more venom from the puncture marks above her hip bone.
Coulson took a deep breath, apparently deciding to take pity on the girl. "No, I'm not here to yell at you. I think all the main points have been covered." He said, glancing pointedly at Ward.
"You got lucky." Jemma told her. "If it had been any worse we would have had to call Raina." Asking the local warlock for help was always an ordeal. On top being expensive, Raina was a relentless flirt with a slight flair for the dramatic, always speaking in riddles.
Skye's pale lips pulled up into a smirk. "On the bright side, this scar is gonna be totally badass, right?" Unlike most of the Institute's other inhabitants, the fifteen year old had very few scars on her body, save for a few faded runes on her arms and shoulders.
"It'll be 'totally badass' if it doesn't get infected." Simmons scolded, checking on the wound again. It looked clean, but Fitz knew that demon venom could affect someone for days after their initial encounter with it. "You should be more careful." Jemma added.
"Message received." Skye said, rolling her eyes.
After everything had settled down, Fitz had found himself holed up in the library with a very agitated Jemma. She kept tapping her foot against the leg of the table, fidgeting in such a way that Fitz knew she had something to say.
"What is it?" He asked, setting aside the book in front of him.
She scrunched her eyebrows together in that adorable way that she did when she was worried. "It's just, I keep thinking that things could have gone so much better than they did today. With Skye, I mean."
"What do you mean? You were great, just like always. And you can't reasonably blame yourself for Skye getting bitten in the first place, you know how reckless she can be."
"She just wants to prove herself." Simmons said. "That's not what I meant anyway. The whole time we were in there I just kept thinking about what would've happened if it had been one of us."
"Yeah, well you and I know better than to try to take on a hydra alone. That's why we hunt in in teams, isn't it?" It was a rule that they not go hunting alone, and while the two of them saw less combat than the others, they did routinely join Bobbi or Trip to take out a few targets (and usually test out some new weapons). As of late, Fitz had found himself drawing up more and more blueprints in the training room while Skye and Jemma practiced with various weapons and combat techniques. She'd been increasingly focused on her physical training since she'd had a particularly nasty encounter with a Shax demon about two months ago and he could tell that she and Skye were both benefitting from her newfound determination.
"Yes, but what if we could be more than just a part of a team?" She asked.
"What do you mean?"
She chewed her lip for a moment before responding. "Well, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes for you and I to become parabatai. You know there are benefits. We'd be able to heal each other more effectively, to fight in tandem, combine our strength. I didn't want to pressure you, but it'll be your eighteenth birthday in a few months and after that we won't be able to perform the ceremony."
"I don't know Jemma. It makes sense for people like Ward and Trip, but we're just researchers."
She wouldn't let it go though. "Yes, I know, but we could be so much more than that."
"So you're saying you don't want to do research anymore?"
She ran a hand through her hair. "Of course not, Fitz. I'm just saying that it could be beneficial for when we do have to fight."
He was running out of excuses and she was looking at him expectantly. Thankfully, it was at that moment that the doors burst open to reveal a very annoyed looking Bobbi. "Simmons, I believe I found something of yours."
The confused look was wiped off Jemma's face as a sandy haired young man swaggered through the doors. "I must have the wrong place. I'm looking for my sister. She's about this high," he said, holding a hand just below his shoulder, "clumsy and a bit awkward."
"Lance!" Jemma exclaimed, shooting out of her seat and across the room. He laughed as she launched herself into his arms, swinging her around like she was still the gangly fifteen year old he'd seen off two years ago. "What are you doing here?"
"Mum and Dad sent me to check in on you. They're worried you've fallen in with the wrong crowd."
Jemma rolled her eyes. "I miss one phone call and they're ready to send out the search party."
"They miss you. We all do. The library just isn't the same without you and Oliver Twist here." He said, jabbing a finger in Fitz's direction.
"You do know I'm not actually an orphan, right?" He asked, gathering up the books from the table. "I've got parents."
"You've got a mum you hardly see, and a mysterious Shadowhunter father that you've never met." Lance corrected. "Sounds like the makings of a heartwarming orphan tale to me."
"Have you even read Oliver Twist?" Bobbi asked, crossing her arms and looking at Lance like he were something she'd found stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
"Of course I have, Love. Don't let my devilishly good looks fool you, I'm a properly educated Englishman."
Bobbi was about to respond when Jemma cut in, defusing the situation. "Bobbi, would you mind checking in on Skye for me while I show Lance around?"
"Dr. Morse is on the case." She said, saluting as she turned on her heel and headed for the infirmary.
"Thank you!" Jemma called to her retreating form. As soon as Bobbi was out of sight she turned to Lance. "Do you have to antagonize everyone?" She scolded, smacking her brother on the arm.
"What? She's hot."
His sister scoffed at his excuse. "You are incorrigible. Come on, I'll show you around before supper. Are you coming Fitz?"
"I'll see you at dinner." He smiled, picking up the last book and adding it to the stack in his arms. "Just going to put these away."
She nodded, before leading Lance out into the hall and leaving him surrounded by old books and silence.
One thought echoed through his head as he returned the tomes he was holding: What now?
"You're supposed to be resting."
Skye heaved a dramatic sigh. "But resting is so boring." She whined, dramatically drawing out the O of boring.
"I don't care if it's boring, you need to heal." Bobbi said, plucking the seraph blade from the younger girl's hand.
"Please tell me you aren't here to lecture me. I've had more than enough of that today." Skye said before switching to a deep, masculine tone. "'What the hell were you thinking, Rookie? Pull another stunt like that and we'll be putting you on a pyre before you've even finished your training.' Ugh. And Ward's not even the worst, Coulson hardly spoke to me. He just gave me this look like he was too disappointed to even say anything. I swear, everyone's been acting like I lit myself on fire or something."
Bobbi perched herself on the chair next to Skye's cot. "Believe it or not, it's because we care about you — all of us."
Skye raised an eyebrow, glancing dubiously over at her friend. "Even the T-1000?" She asked.
"Especially him." Bobbi smirked.
"I'll believe that when he proves himself capable of feeling human emotion." She settled back onto her pillows. "So, why are you here?"
"Simmons wanted me to check on you and it sounded better than putting up with her brother for another second, so here I am." She said.
"Jemma has a brother?"
"If by 'brother' you mean an obnoxious, arrogant, British circus monkey."
Skye hadn't known Bobbi for long, but from what she could tell, most things rolled right off her back, She'd never seen her this worked up before. "That bad huh?"
"You have no idea."
"Well, I won't be going anywhere for a while, so why don't you tell me all about it?" Sky suggested.
"His name is Lance." Bobbi started, and from there on out the conversation was pretty one-sided.
A/N: Reviews let me know how I'm doing, so if you have a moment, please tell me know what you think!