Chapter 1 – I Knew You Were Trouble
Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Till you put me down oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground
"Regan Leonard Fitz!" Simmons screamed at the top of her lungs. The nine-year-old sped through the rows of shelves, each holding dozens of different chemicals as his mother desperately chased after him, securing everything he toppled on his way. Giggling wildly, he took a sharp left and ran out of the room, bumping into no other than Agent Ward. "Sorry!" Regan squeaked. The brown-haired boy looked up and his eyes widened in fright; his godfather's eyes were completely black. Screaming, he ran the way he came and buried his face into his mom.
"What is it?" Simmons asked. "U-uncle W-ward is a demon!" Shouted Regan.
Simmons looked at Ward, whose eyes were back to normal, and he shrugged. Rolling her eyes and mouthing a "thanks" to the weapon specialist, Simmons ushered Regan out of the room. Ward followed a while later, watching as Jewell fixed one of her father's bots. Fitz, as usual, was beside and monitoring her every move, but Jewell didn't need any help; she was a tech genius herself. Sudden yelling drew Ward's immediate attention and he ran down the stairs. Coulson's boys, Justin and Jared, were fighting with each other. Despite being in their late twenties, they still fought just for fun. Ward watched silently as the twenty-eight-year-olds block off each other's punches and send blows into each other's stomachs. They didn't take notice of Ward until he intentionally coughed. The boys gave Ward a small wave before returning to their sparring. A strong push on Ward's back made him stumble but smile. Spinning around, he grabbed the "culprit" and started tickling her. "Daddy, stop!" Laughed the eight-year-old. Ward did just as told, hoisting the little brunette up.
"Did you finish hacking the CIA already?"
Azura gave her father a solid nod.
"Really? I was only away for two minutes!"
They headed into the meeting room where Skye was typing away on the computer, monitoring the downloading files.
"Hey, babe." Ward dropped his daughter and hugged his wife from behind. "Somebody told me it's not professional to flirt at work like three minutes ago." Skye said, still concentrated on her work. "Aww, you're not angry, are you?" Ward murmured into Skye's neck and the hacker turned her head. "No." Sharing a brief kiss and earning an unnecessarily prolonged "eww" from Azura, the couple smiled at stared at each other until Skye spoke. "Did you get the SSD I told you to get from Fitz?"
Ward opened his mouth and nothing came out. "Forgot again, didn't you?" Skye said with a singsong voice. Ward huffed and ran out of the room. Skye laughed and shook her head. Getting back to her work, she started to recall how this amazing relationship started. It all started nine years ago, in the middle of a chilly November day…
She rarely regrets anything she does. But this time, it's different. Tears escaped the brim of her eyes as she stared idly at the little pink cross. Her fist came in contact with the bathroom wall as she started to sob, her anger and desperation dissolving into salty tears. She had her whole future planned out in front of her: assist SHIELD and vanquish the Rising Tide, then quit her SHIELD job and go live somewhere quiet. She craved freedom, but this thing in her stomach snatched the chance away from her. She hated Ward. Hated him!
She gathered the fragments of herself and dragged her tired legs out of the bathroom. "Everything okay, Skye?" Simmons asked as Skye passed by the lab with a glum face. "No." Answering curtly, Skye slid the door of her room close. Simmons frowned and carried on until Fitz and Ward barged in with Fitz saying something like "I'm not your psychologist, I'm just a tech person!"
"What's going on, boys?" Said Simmons idly. Mixed words of "he", "Skye", "sex", "me", "not my business", "pregnant", "damn" and "Coulson is going to kill me" were the replies Simmons received. "O…kay…" Murmured the biochemist, returning again to the microscope.
Fitz threw his arms into the air and groaned, grabbing a tool and hammered on a small gadget. "Fitz, you'll kill that thing." Simmons said, examining the cell under the lens. She tore away from the organism and went to Fitz, her hand sliding automatically onto her very much swollen stomach. Simmons was eight months pregnant but her stomach looked bigger than usual. Whose wouldn't if they were having twins? She grabbed his hand and made him put down the tool. "Stop, it's enough. What is it?" Simmons asked.
"Ward said he might have knocked Skye up and he came to me for suggestions! I mean, how would I even know?!"
"… You did knock me up, Fitz."
"Oh."
"You are what?" Coulson asked calmly. "Pregnant." Muttered Skye.
"Are you sure?"
"I used five pregnancy tests!"
"Okay, calm down… How far along are you?"
"Uh… Three weeks to a month, I guess." Skye cringed. Will Coulson fire her?
"I'll give you a few days' rest, you can return whenever you like." Coulson's offer shocked Skye. "Th-thanks." Said the brunette.
"You know, Skye, I am a father after all." Skye stopped at the doorway. Coulson pulled out a photograph from his wallet and showed it to Skye. In the slightly browning and foggy picture were two boys. One had very dark brown hair with hazel eyes and the other had light brown hair and blue eyes. "The one with the hazel eyes is Justin and the other's Jared." Explained Coulson.
"Who's their mom?"
"Maria Hill."
"Wait, the second-in-command of the guy with the eye patch who yelled at you the other day?"
Coulson's cheeks flushed red. "Yes."
"Oh wow… How does it feel like? Being a parent?"
"I can't put it in words, but all I can say is that… You'll be shocked."
Skye made a sound somewhere between a snort and a huff. "Not so sure if Ward's the daddy to this."
"Ward? He did that?"
"Yes-"
"I'm sorry, Coulson, but I need to talk with Skye." Ward's appearance startled both people in the room. Coulson gave Skye a gentle shove and the hacker reluctantly followed Ward to their usual "chatting space": Skye's van.
"Look, I'm-"
"Sorry?" Skye said through gritted teeth. "Do you know what's laid out before me? Do you know what dream I had? DO YOU?!" Skye's palm came in contact with Ward's cheek. The agent placed a hand to the place where it really hurt and hissed.
"I never would have thought that you'd be my boyfriend in the first place anyway." Skye threw the door open and stomped into the lab. Ward sighed as he watched Skye encounter Simmons and break down into tears, sobbing into the biochemist's shoulder. Fitz came in later and placed a soothing hand on Skye's back. The young technician looked at Ward through the glass and shook his head slowly.