Child's Lead
A/N: Hey guys! This a new short story that I started to write. Hopefully its not that bad *crossing fingers* I've pretty much got the whole story mapped out already so yeah. Hope you enjoy!
BTW: I haven't completely forgotten about Discarded Bear I will get back to it I promise
Chapter One – Young To See
It had been six years since she had last seen him, angrily walking off the BUS, bags in hand. Both of them steaming from their last argument.
He had been offered a job with Tony Stark, a once in a lifetime opportunity and he had been willing to take it at a moments notice. It was still with SHIELD and he had pulled strings to get her a job as well, not expecting her to want to stay on the BUS with the rest of the team. They'd both been hurt, angry and frustrated with each other, resulting in a huge blow out between the two.
They had parted hurt and furious.
They hadn't spoken in six years; the only contact directly between them was an invitation for the team to his wedding. A wedding she hadn't attended, neither had May but the rest of the team had, returning to the BUS with wonderful compliments about his new wife Sarah, she was sweet, gentle and kind. No one had anything bad to say about her, even Skye who was hell-bent on hating her.
She was smart, beautiful and the really kick in the teeth was that she was also British and a biologist. They were the perfect couple, everyone loved them. Even she had to admit that she was right for him.
It had been over 4 and half years since she had heard through Skye that Sarah had given birth to a baby girl. She was premature born 2 months before she was due; all she had known was that something had gone wrong.
It had been 4 years, 4 months, 8 days and 16 hours since she had heard the news that Sarah had died, due to complications from the early birth. She should have gone to see him after hearing the news but pride and the realization of how they parted held her back. That and the little girl that he was left to look after, the little girl that wasn't hers, the little girl that he loved with all his heart.
It would be 5 minutes till she would be faced with her ex-partner, Doctor Leopold Fitz with his newest Ph.D, evaluated field status.
And his daughter, his 4-year-old daughter Chloe.
When the newest orders had come through for the next mission a 0-8-4 technology, who better to send to help the team than SHIELD's top engineer who specialized in alien technology.
Who also happened to be cleared for active duty on the field.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught Skye moving impatiently from foot to foot struggling to stay still as they waited for the SUV to arrive. Her hand was clasped around her son's as he waited more patiently than his mother.
5-year-old Phillip Fitz Ward waited more patiently than his mother, but she could still see the excitement on the boy's face. He was excited to have another child on the BUS even if it was only for a couple of days, he had grown up around adults his whole life and probably needed another child around. Growing up on the BUS wasn't something that she necessarily wanted for the child, believing that he would have a better life outside of SHIELD.
But his mother was a still unidentified 0-8-4 and they didn't know if it was hereditary, so on the BUS he stayed with his aunts and uncle that spoilt him rotten.
"When are they going to be here?" Skye looked over at Coulson who stood leaning against Lola.
"Patience, Skye, patience is a virtue…."
"But unfortunately not one of mine" finished Skye finishing their well-known jibe.
The sound of an SUV made everyone look up, including Ward who had for the last 20 minutes had been ignoring his wife, buried in a book in the lab. The SUV pulled up next to the ramp, stopping and an agent in a suit stepped out. Ward stood straighter and moved to stand next to his wife a slight smile on his face. The agent moved towards Coulson handing over a file before another hopped out of the car and opened the door.
One leg appeared before another and soon Jemma Simmons caught sight of a face that she hadn't seen in years. He looked exactly the same, a little older but still the same. The same bright blue eyes, the same curls, and the same smile.
With a slight smile at the assembled team, he turned back to the car, gently lifted a young girl out and onto the floor. Chloe Fitz stood next to her father grasping his hand as he thanked the agent that was grabbing the gear out of the truck. Ward moved first, stepping forward to slap the engineer on the back before grabbing the toolboxes on the edge of the ramp and hauling them into the lab.
Skye moved forward letting go of Phillip's hand to wrap her arms around Fitz in an energetic hug. He stumbled slightly before laughing and hugging her back. He let go of her and turned to look at his daughter.
"Chloe this is Skye, she's the one I told you about" he knelt down next to the child and looked at her.
Chloe turned and looked up at the woman in front of her, she scrunched up her nose in an expression that was all Fitz "The one who has the bad taste in music?" she questioned her blue eyes wide, she had a slight Scottish accent, less than her father who had retained his accent all these years but it was mixed with a slight English accent.
Skye's eyes widened, and she gently slapped Fitz on the shoulder "My music taste is not that bad"
"I'll confirm that with Ward" he smiled and turned to Coulson "Sir" he nodded
"It's good to have you back Fitz," said Coulson smiling and turning to Chloe who still held onto her father's hand. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, young lady"
Fitz looked down at his daughter expectantly, Chloe held out her hand "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Agent Coulson" she said
Coulson raised an eyebrow, taking the smaller hand "I think for now you can just call me Coulson"
Chloe nodded, before grasping her father's hand again. May was next and as she walked up to the pair, Simmons watched the little girl with baited breath. Chloe simply blinked and smiled as May moved to greet Fitz and then turned to her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms May" said Chloe
May gave a rare smile before nodding her head "Pleasure Chloe"
Simmons moved forward knowing their greeting was inevitable, she sighed and moved forward to stand in front of her old partner. Fitz smiled at her, and she before she could stop herself she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. Fitz let go of his daughter's hand to hug her back, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
She looked him in the eye and smiled "I missed you"
"Miss you too Jems" said Fitz hugging her tighter "It's been too long"
"Too long" she agreed
"Daddy?" came his daughter's voice
"I didn't forget out you Princess" he said crouching down "Chloe this is Jemma Simmons, Simmons this is Chloe"
Simmons moved and crouched down next to the child, holding out her hand. "Hello" she said, smiling warmly. Chloe moved forward to look the older woman in the eyes; she rested her hands on Simmon's bent knees and gave her a shy smile "You're very pretty"
Simmons grinned at the girl, her eyes sweeping over the golden curls and the bright blue eyes. In simple she was a splitting image of her father right down to the light dust of freckles that covered the bridge of her nose. She looked nothing like her mother, she noted, Sarah had had brown eyes and dark brown hair, in short her daughter looked nothing like her mother. "You're very pretty too, you look exactly like your daddy"
Chloe grinned, "You look exactly like Daddy's pictures do," she whispered.
"Uncle Leo" came a demanding voice
"How could I forget out about you Teddy?" said Fitz moving to hug the little boy that waited shifting foot from foot till his uncle noticed him.
Though Simmons knew they had only actually meet each other a couple of times, she defiantly knew that Phillip or Teddy as he was better known, Skyped his uncle every week. Those nights she locked herself in her bunk, trying to ignore the Scottish accent.
Fitz finished greeting his godson before turning and motioning Chloe to move forward. Chloe let go of Jemma's hand and slowly walked up her father, taking his hand in hers.
"Teddy, this is Chloe Fitz, Chloe is this Teddy Ward"
Both children stared at each other for a second, before they both grinned.
"What kind of name is Teddy?" asked Chloe
"What type of name is Chloe? My real name is Phillip but since we already have Phil, Uncle Phil, I got a nickname, because according to Aunty Jemma I was barely bigger than a teddy bear when I was born. You got a nickname?"
Chloe shook her head "Nope, Daddy calls me Princess but that's not really a nickname"
The adults in the room smiled as the two children kept on chatting, their mouths running a mile a minute as they both realized that they may have just met someone else that could keep up with them.
Chloe looked up after a couple of minutes "Daddy we left Shiloh in the car"
Fitz looked up and back at the open door of the car. He whistled sharply and a golden retriever jumped out of the car and ran up to the group congregated on the ramp. He obediently stopped to wait at Chloe's feet, his head towering over her smaller form.
"You're going to have to say goodbye to him now Princess, Shiloh can't come with us" said Fitz kneeling down rubbing the dogs ears.
Chloe frowned as she hugged the golden retriever giggling as he licked her face. "Do we have to leave him?"
"We already had this conversation, Chloe, Shiloh won't like it on the plane, he likes it on the ground"
"Shiloh will like it, please Daddy," said Chloe, her voice quieted "He's my only friend, he doesn't judge me"
Fitz's face softened and he gently pulled his daughter into a hug. Simmons saw the expression on Coulson's face change, she knew the rules, everyone knew the rules. Pets weren't allowed on the mobile BUS, it would cause too much hassle to have an animal. But the look on Coulson's face was one of concentration; she'd seen it years before when SHIELD wanted to take Teddy away.
"Fitz, Shiloh can stay," said Coulson simply before he and May left the rest of the team on the ramp.
Chloe smiled into her father's shoulder as he picked her up, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "You happy now" said Fitz hugging her close
Chloe nodded "Love you Daddy"
"Love you too Princess"
Simmons watched as he headed up the stairs, Skye following behind with Teddy leaving her, Ward and Shiloh down on the bottom level. Ward patted her on the back "It's good to have him back"
Simmons smiled slightly "Yeah"
Ward gave her one last look over his shoulder before he headed back up the stairs, leaving her alone in the Lab.
Simmons looked around the lab taking in the newly replaced tools that littered the lab. In short it looked exactly like it had 6 years ago, half her side, half his side. But this time it felt like there was a huge gap between them. Things said that couldn't be taken back, shouted at each other. Resting her hands on the lab table surface she stared at the skin metal, giving her a distorted view of her face back.
He had a daughter now. He had a life.
It would be over in 3 weeks, 3 weeks he would leave to got back to his lab in Scotland and she would remain on the BUS.
She felt a wet nose push into her hand and smiled at the golden retriever who had rested his head on the on the bench.
"Three weeks Shiloh, three weeks"
The golden retriever looked up at her with brown eyes before licking her hand. She smiled gently scratching the dog behind the ears. Taking one last look at the lab she exited, Shiloh on her heels.
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at Shiloh "You're not meant to be in the lab buddy"
Shiloh sat for a moment before bounding up the stairs. Simmons smiled as she followed him up the stairs.