Skye sighed.

She looked at the small-ish house with the stereotypical white picket fence that came with living in the Suburbs of America. It looked nice enough, but she didn't spend too much time admiring the house, she didn't expect to be staying longer than a few months. She never did. She picked up the hastily packed carrier that contained what few things she owned, some clothes, a few pictures, books and her most prized possession, her laptop. She shouldered the bag, and walked up the pathway, following her social worker, Nick Fury, who knocked on the front door.

A few seconds passed before the door was opened by a graying man in a pressed suit, who, in Skye's opinion, looked like he had a stick firmly shoved up his ass.

She sighed again, she definitely wouldn't be staying more than a month or two. She had met men like this before, they never stuck around long enough to see past Skye's heavy sarcasm and attitude.

'Agent Coulson! It's been a while.' Fury greeted, much to Skye's surprise. Foster parents and social workers almost never had personal relationships.

'Agent Coulson' stood to attention, as if he were about to march out onto front line.

'It has, Sir, probably since you kicked me off the force,' Coulson greeted, a hint of rebellion behind his tone. Maybe he wasn't so uptight, she thought.

Fury chuckled. 'Really, Coulson, you re still holding that against me? You were shot, god dammit, you cant blame me for not wanting to see you die on duty.' Skye straitened at that, he was shot? What was Fury's job before he came into social work?!

Fury seemed to notice her movement, as his sharp eyes flickered to her, before he said, 'Anyway, that's not why we are here, let me introduce you to Skye.' Fury nudged Skye forward, as Coulson turned his attention to her for the first time, 'Skye, this is your new foster father, Philip Coulson.'

Skye thought she had seen it all when it came to introductions with new foster parents, the overly enthusiastic hugs, the awkward shoulder pat, even the 'desperately trying to seem cool' high five or fist bump, but never had any one done what Coulson did next. He thrust his hand out, and shook her hand. It genuinely seemed like he was treating her with respect.

Coulson took her bag, and ushered her into the house.

'Why don't I show you to your room, and you can settle in, while me and Nick sort out the paperwork,' Coulson suggested. Skye nodded, glad to have some time alone. Despite the front she put up, she always got nervous when she came to a new family, she knew how people could turn, as soon as Nick was out the door. Even though Nick was always the bearer of bad news and a new home, she felt safe with him, no one could hurt her with him around.

Coulson lifted the bag up the stairs with surprising ease, and she followed him down a corridor, till he stopped at one of the doors. He didn't enter, instead, he gave her the bag, and left her to settle in. She was glad to see the door locked from the inside, but otherwise, the room was un-noteworthy. There was a large bed with grey sheets, blank white walls, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, a desk, and an en-suite bathroom. At least Coulson hadn't decorated the room for her, she once had a room with sickeningly bright pink walls, and the dolls had probably scarred her for life.

Skye sat on the bed, and opened her bag. Instead of unpacking, she reached for her laptop, and pulled it open.

'Okay, Phillip Coulson, who are you?' Skye mused, before typing away.

It had become a routine, when ever she started a new foster family. A few schools back, she had met a kid, Miles, he had taught her how to hack, until she could do it better than him. She would always research the people she was staying with.

She didn't find much.

Coulson had no family, except a grandmother somewhere in Mississippi, his wife died 5 years ago. He had never adopted kids before, and had only gone in the system a few months ago. Skye had just began to hack into some suspiciously high security files about his work, when Coulsons voice called her name from downstairs. Setting down her laptop, she stood and went down stairs, to find Fury and Coulson in the hallway, waiting for her.

'Nick has to go now, I'll leave you to say your goodbyes,' Coulson said, before leaving through a door that, Skye assumed, lead to the living room.

Skye nodded, and smiled weakly, not wanting him to leave her with a complete stranger.

'Skye, you know the routine, I will be back in a week, to see if everything is okay. He's a good guy, you'll like him. I promise, just try this time.' Fury seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

Skye nodded again, before hugging Fury. He hugged her back, some what stiffly, before saying in her ear, 'You have my number, call if anything goes wrong.' He let go of her, picked up his briefcase and opened the door. Looking back to say goodbye, he left, the door slamming shut in a finalizing manner. Skye took a deep breath, trying to gain composure of herself, before she followed in the direction Coulson had gone. She knew the talk was coming.

The door in fact lead to the kitchen, which was stylishly decked out, with a large island in the center, which doubled as a breakfast bar.

She tentatively sat down at the island, and cleared her throat, to catch the attention of Coulson, who was cooking something that, what ever it was, smelt delicious. Coulson turned, and gave Skye a small smile.

'So, I guess you probably have a few questions, I sure do. Why don't we trade an answer for an answer?' Coulson suggested, and Skye smiled slightly. She liked the way Coulson worked.

'I'll go first. When's your birthday, and how old are you?' Coulson asked.

Skye shrugged, 'I don't know when my birthday is, I was dumped on the orphanage doorstep, no note or anything. The hospital knew roughly I was 5 months old at the time, so the orphanage just celebrated on the day they found me. I'm sixteen.'

Coulson nodded with a slight frown, before Skye asked, 'How do you know Fury, and why'd he call you agent?'

Coulson chuckled at her question, obviously expecting something more about who he was, and why he was fostering.

'I served under Fury in the army. We were a special unit, thus the 'Agent'. I got shot, almost hit my heart, and Fury let me go, I still keep in touch with him and my old team.'

Skye was a bit stunned. She hadn't known Fury had been in the army, but now she knew, it was almost painfully obvious he was a high rank leader for them.

'So,' Coulson continued, 'How many homes have you been to?

They continued like this whilst Coulson cooked, and through their meal. It had tasted as good as it smelt, and they soon got to know each other better. Skye had been a bit unsure at first, but she felt more comfortable around Coulson. After what felt like hours of the question going unasked, Coulson finally brought it up.

'So, I have a school lined up for you, they want to have a meeting with you and me. If all goes well, you will start in a couple of days time, but we need to talk about what happened at your last school.'

'It was just a misunderstanding,' Skye mumbled, attempting to look even remotely ashamed.

'Skye, ' Coulson said calmly, but with a glint of amusement in his eye, 'You hacked into the school system, and made the fire alarm go off every time you had gym.'

Skye huffed, before replying, 'Yeah, but you have to admit, that school had never had such an efficient Fire exit procedure, with all the practice. Besides, everyone hates gym. Its not like I actually set a real fire this time.'

'This time?!' Coulson almost chocked on his drink, in disbelief.

'It was a small one, and it was an accident. It's not like I purposely set my book on fire in Chemistry,' Skye admitted with a grin. There was no point hiding what she had done, and Coulson would have realized sooner or later that Skye had a 'rebellious' streak.

Coulson sighed. It was a wonder this school would even accept her, but he knew the head teacher.

'Why don't you head up to bed, tomorrow we are going to meet with the head teacher and make sure you have all you need for your first day.'

Skye nodded, stood up, and headed upstairs. She shut her laptop and placed it on the desk, then quickly got changed. Skye was just about to jump in bed, when she stopped, and looked at the door. She hesitated, before going to the door and sliding the lock home, just to be safe. She went back to the bed, and got in, letting a sigh of relief as she felt herself sink into the warm bed.

Skye fidgeted in her seat, next to Coulson, pulling at the cuffs on her sleeves. They were sitting in the waiting room outside the head's office of what would be Skye's school for the next month or so, and she was nervous. For some reason, she didnt want to screw this up.

'How do you know the head teacher anyway?' Skye asked Coulson, wanting to beak the silence.

'She was in the army with me and Fury. We all stuck in the same area after the service was disbanded, we became the family none of us had at home.'

Skye nodded. she, more than most, knew family didnt have to be blood. She was screwed if it did. The door to the Head's office opened, an angry looking student storming off, as a confident brunette held door open. Coulson stood up, and Skye followed his lead, doing the same.

'Sorry about that, apparently the school isn't clear about its rules on the possession of fireworks.' The woman's voice dripping in sarcasm, despite the flat tone. Skye stifled a giggle, as the Head gave a lazy role of her eyes.

'Melinda, it's good to see you. Let me introduce you to Skye,' Coulson greeted. 'Melinda' was a straight faced women in a smart suit, looking very professional, but like she could arrange your disappearance in a flash and no one would notice. She looked at Skye for a moment, as if sizing her up, before she stuck her hand out. Skye shook it, with a firm grip, wanting to get a good first impression.

'I would prefer if you called me Miss May, at school. Please, take a seat.' May gestured to the two armchairs at the side of her desk, and they both sat.

'I understand you have been to 5 different schools in the past three years, a few due to moving around. Understandably, that might have affected your grades, but at Shield High, we aim to bring the best out of each student. We have good teachers, and I'm confident you will catch up. We offer a highly successful peer tutoring scheme at Shield High, if you feel you are falling behind.' The way she was speaking, Skye was surprised that May fully intended to accept Skye into the school, straight of the bat.

Skye nodded mutely, not particularly bothered by her grades. From the look in her eye, May knew this all too well.

'From the written account of your most recent expulsion, I can see you have a... talent, for Computer sciences. We offer a highly rewarding course here that I'm sure you would be well suited. Make no mistake, we do not tolerate incidents like this at Shield High,' Her tone suddenly stern. 'Despite this, I can sense that rebuking your.. talent.. will not be productive. Instead, I think the Computer Science course will help you utilize it, according to the school rules.'

Coulson smiled at Skye, knowing that he had made the right choice in going to May.

'You start on Thursday, at 8;30. Come by the front office before the bell for your time table and any information you need.'

May stood up, and Coulson and Skye followed suit. 'Thank you, Melinda.'

May gave the first smile Skye had seen from the moment she had met her, and replied, 'Anything for an old friend.'

Coulson and Skye headed to the door to leave, before May said from behind them, 'Do you mind if I have a moment alone with Skye, I'll be brief.'

Coulson hesitated, before nodding and leaving the office.

Skye looked at May with an eyebrow raised in question, slightly worried by the confident woman in front of her.

'Don't hurt him. He's a good man.' May started, surprising Skye. 'He's smart, but he trusts blindly. Don't give him a reason to regret it.'

Skye paused, before replying, 'I wont... If he does the same.'

That earned a sad sigh from May. Something told her that Skye had been hurt before. 'That is understandable,' she admitted.

Skye relaxed a bit, before asking curiously, 'Why did you accept me into the school? No others would. You cant owe Coulson that many favors.'

Once again, May smiled, this time, to hide the sadness behind her eyes. 'I was your age once. I was in a similar situation, and someone gave me a second chance. It would seem a bit repugnant not to do the same.'

Skye ducked her head, feeling humbled by May's kindness. 'Thank you, Miss May, for the second chance.' Skye went to the door, and opened it, seeing Coulson waiting for her, a slight crease of worry in his forehead. Skye gave him a reassuring smile, although she didnt quite know what for. Something about Coulson made her want to cheer him up, like he didnt deserve to be worried.

He gave a wave to May, before he held open the exit, for Skye. He didnt say anything, until they had reached his red corvette.

'Is everything okay? Melinda can be quite intense.'

Skye chuckled, 'Yeah, it's all good. She just wanted to give me some advice... I think she likes you.'

Coulson let out a bark of laughter, that Skye would swear sounded a little forced, before he shook his head. 'Melinda's just a good friend.'

Skye grinned, before she popped her feet up on the dashboard.

'Hey! feet of Lola!'

'Lola? really?'

'Shut up.' Skye only grinned.

Hey guys! So this is a high school AU, and we will be seeing some friendly (and some not so friendly) faces around the school. it will be eventual Skimmons and will involve other background relationships later on. Stay tuned for more. I've got some ideas for how its going to go, and I think you will like it.

Give me a review of what you think (even if you think it sucks, I'll take any criticism, if it means i can work on writing better). Thanks.