"You know," Skye comments, repositioning the bundle in her arms. "It's surprisingly easy to steal a baby."
"Kidnap," Simmons corrects nervously.
"I prefer save," says Fitz, leaning down to inspect the baby in Skye's arms. "I mean those monsters probably won't even notice he's gone. They were just letting him cry and cry," he finishes indignantly.
Skye and Simmons both look tearful at this and Skye hugs the baby a little tighter.
"Oh, he's so cute little," Fitz grins, gently tickling the baby's stomach. "Aren't you, Ward?"
"We can't call him Ward; it's not a good name for a baby!" Simmons protests.
Trip and May come around the corner then and freeze. Skye and FitzSimmons also freeze. Grant starts wailing.
"Where did you get a baby from?" May asks in horror, while Trip rushes forward to see if he can help.
"There, there, big guy, don't cry," Trip gently takes the baby from Skye's arms. He rocks him carefully in his arms for a few minutes, making silly faces and cooing. Skye and Simmons exchange smitten looks. Fitz grins goofily and May continues to look concerned.
"Where did you get the baby?" May repeats her question sternly.
"What's his name?" Trip asks.
"Umm...Grant Ward," admits Skye sheepishly.
Trip's and May's heads fly up.
The kids start talking all at once, their words tumbling at in entangled sentences.
"Well, Fitz said he could build a time machine-"
"It should have been impossible-"
"But, despite both of your doubts, I did, thank you-"
"And when we thought about the one thing we all wanted to change-"
"May, wouldn't you go back and save Ward if you could?"
"No one deserves that, no one-"
"This way we can get to him before his brother does, before Garrett does-"
"Show him what a real family is-"
"Enough." May waves her hand to silence them. "I'm getting Coulson."
She radios him. "Phil, you need to get down to the lab now and see what your kids did!"
"Let her hold him," Skye whispers to Trip, "She won't be able to say no once she's held him."
Trip glances over at May dubiously, "I don't think she wants to hold him."
"How come they're only my kids when they're in trouble?" Phil comments, walking into the room.
May sighs and throws out her arm to point at the kids in frustration, "They invented a time machine and-"
"Wait," Coulson frowns, "Who had a baby? I'm sure I would have noticed if one of you was pregnant."
"Phil." Melinda pinches the bridge of her nose. She quickly and succinctly sums up the time-traveling kidnap of baby Grant Ward.
To his credit, Phil is completely unphased by the time-travel.
The minute May finishes, the kids start exclaiming all at once again.
"Please, AC, please let us keep him-"
"You can't send him back, Agent Coulson, you didn't see what it was like there-"
"He needs us."
"He deserves a second chance in life, Sir-"
Phil holds up a hand and they all fall silent. He walks over to Trip, who is still holding the baby, and looks down at Grant. "And what do you think, little one?"
There is a tense silence as the kids hold their breath.
May looks over at the kids and softens her voice, "I know you want to help him. I do, too. But you can't just remove him from his past; that's not how time works. Who knows what kind of damage you've done to the timeline?"
She winces slightly as she finishes. This is some futuristic science fiction stuff, even for them.
"Well," Skye says, trying to sound confident, "We're all still here, so it couldn't have been too bad?"
"Phil," May turns to look at Coulson. "Tell them they have to put him back."
Coulson smiles down at baby Grant. "I always wanted a kid."
"Phil."
Coulson reaches his hand down and baby Grant grasps his finger with his whole hand. Melinda knows she's lost him when she sees the dopey expression on Phil's face.
"Hi," he grins down at Grant, "Come here," he reaches out and takes him gingerly from Trip's arms. "The kids are right-" he says, all the while beaming down at Grant. "We're all still here. It doesn't seem to have messed up the space-time continuum too badly. And look at his face. Could you condemn him to a life of abuse and pain?"
There is a sad hush amongst the six people hovering over baby Grant. None of them could do it. May shakes her head, lips pressed tightly together.
"Fine." May sighs. "But do any of you actually know anything about taking care of a baby?"
There is a silence.
"I've done some babysitting," Trip offers.
"We can learn!" Jemma says, "I mean, it's just science, really."
Fitz nods.
May pinches the bridge of her nose again and sighs. This might be harder then she thought. They need a plan.
"We need to go shopping. Skye, make a list. We need formula, bottles, diapers, clothes, a crib-"
"Toys!" Fitz pipes up.
May gives him a look and continues, "An infant carrier, age-appropriate toys. We need to set up a feeding schedule, a babysitting rotation, find him a pediatrician..."
"See," Coulson says with that same dopey smile, "We can do this."
"And," Melinda adds, reaching over and carefully pulling Grant out of Phil's arms. "We need to baby-proof the bus immediately. Well, what are you waiting for?"
Phil and the kids scatter.
"Oh, Grant," May sighs, "This will be interesting. Your new family is crazy. But —" she leans closer to him and whispers, "We love you. And that will make up for so many things."
And that is the beginning of the story of how Grant Ward's life turned out completely differently and how he found a new family.
Or rather, how they found him.
A/N: I just really needed something happy for Grant Ward. As it stands right now, this is an oneshot. I may write in this 'verse again someday, but don't currently have any plans to do so. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. :)