Disclaimer: I own nothing from Agents of Shield or Marvel.

Gravitas

What comes up...

Coulson winced at the timer. 20 seconds. If they didn't give Skye to Raina, Simmons would be compromised. They couldn't afford that. Even if Agent Morse was there to get Simmons out, them being undercover would keep them that one step ahead of Hydra. 15 seconds.

If they let Raina take Skye they could potentially bag Raina, Skye's father, and the Obelisk by tracking them. Even if Raina took Skye, what was she gonna do? She had no combat training and was even smaller than Skye. After May's training there were few agents with the experience to go against her.

Raina cleared her throat and swallowed hard to regain her composure. The swest beading at her forehead betrayed her. "W-Well Coulson, you have ten seconds to bring me Skye, or poor Agent Simmons will be exposed and killed by Hydra."

Coulson sighed. May was going to kill him.

"Okay, we'll take the deal." He held a hand up to his earpiece. "May, let her in."

"We're going to have words after this Coulson."

Coulson grimaced. "I look forward to it."

Skye walked up giving a glare to Raina. "Raina."

Raina smiled and stood. "Skye, your father is very eager to see you."

She smugly winked at Coulson. "Well Coulson, I hate to run off on you but I need to deliver Skye and the Obelisk."

Coulson stayed silent but nodded at Skye.

Raina grabbed Skye's arm and pulled her outside.


"What the hell Coulson?!" May stormed from the kitchen. Hunter pulled up a chair to Coulson's table. "Yeah I rather like Skye, why'd you turn her out like that?"

"Skye can handle herself, you've trained her well. We can use this situation to our advantage, get our hands on the Obelisk, Skye's father, and Raina. We can track Skye by her phone, Hunter get Mack or Fitz on that back at base. May I need you to track them on foot. Stay out of site."

"Aye aye Cap'n." Hunter mock saluted and dialed up Mack. May glared at Coulson and nodded. Marching out of the restaurant.

"Waiter!" Coulson waved his hand. "I'll have the check please!"

May fast-walked out of the restaurant. They had driven up in a Shield vehicle but that was parked around back. Raina had parked up the street so it would take them a minute or two walking there. Just enough to hot-wire a car. There were several cars parked along the street. She chose a small black coupe with tinted windows. A Nissan Altima if memory served her right. Shame she had to ruin it. She smashed the window in with her elbow then ran the leather of her sleeve over the sill wiping the rest of the glass off. May reached through the window and hit the unlock button. She opened the door and wiped the seat clear careful not to sit on any glass. She leaned down and yanked the steering column open.

Hot-wiring the car was easy enough and she had it running in under a minute. May drove into the road headed down the street. There they were. Raina and Skye had just got in. May was careful to drive slowly and keep her face away from the window facing them so as to not tip off Raina. She pulled a U-turn at the end of the block. She was 50 yards from them and was careful not to come too close. It was getting a little hard to see as the sun went down but for now, the streetlights illuminated their car's path.

Raina's car took a right turn and pulled out of sight. "Coulson, I think that Skye's father is local. Raina isn't headed towards the highway, she's actually headed to the inner city."

"Good work May, keep an eye on them."

"I'll keep you posted."

May followed after them and turned the corner. "Fuck!"

"What happened?!"

"I'm not sure, but Raina's was dumped in the street and the car took off with Skye in it."

"Did Skye do it?"

"Not sure, give me a minute."

May pulled up next to Raina who was pulling herself off the pavement.

"What happened?!"

Raina wiped the dirt off her arms. "Some guy just stopped the car and pulled me out! He got in and drove away with Skye!"

May growled. "Coulson somebody took her! I'm in pursuit!"

"No need May. Either Skye took the car from this man, or he's taking her back. Mack says her phone puts her on track with the restaurant. She's headed this way."

"What should I do with Raina?"

"Leave her. We don't need her and I already have confirmation that Simmons and Agent Morse are clear. Once they finish up, they'll be back with us."

"You know we're gonna lose Hunter if she comes back."

"I know. But we knew he was gonna leave at some point. He's a mercenary May; and I have no need for soldiers not dedicated to the cause."

"I'll be back in a minute."

May gunned it puling a U-turn around Raina. "Where are you going?! You can't leave me! I'll expose Simmons!"

"Go ahead." May stared at her. "She's no longer in any danger."


Skye sighed and tugged her arm free. Raina and Skye had never gotten along. Probably because of her involvement in Centipede, Hydra, or threatening Simmons. Any of them could be a reasonable excuse for her to dislike Raina. Both of them walked out and Skye silently followed Raina to her car. A short walk down the sidewalk later, they found a red Maserati waiting at the end of the street. Skye's eyes widened at the stupidly expensive vehicle. Raina smiled as she unlocked it and slid in. "It's nice I know. My newest boy toy has a collection." The Maserati purred to life as she pressed the ignition button. Raina drove out into the road and down the street.

Skye folded her arms. "So where are we going?"

Raina took a right turn into a smaller street.

"Oh somewhere near, not too far. What? Did you think I chose the restaurant for its food?"

Clack

"What is that?!" A small round metal device had come out of nowhere and seemingly magnetically attached itself to the hood of the car.

A small light on it blinked green and then red rapidly.

Whump

The car shuddered as the life seemed to be sucked out of it. The displays shut off and the engine stopped. The car quickly stopped.

There was a long silence as they both tried to make sense of what happened. Raina broke the silence and shrieked in fear.

"What the hell just happened?!"

Raina looked on the verge of tears and repeatedly turned the key desperately trying to start the car. The driver's side door was wrenched open and Raina was grabbed.

"AAAAH!" Raina screamed fearfully. "Please no! I'm getting the Obelisk!" The figure grunted and ripped her out of the car dumping her on the pavement.

The figure then got in the car with Skye who was attempting to open the locked passenger door.

She looked fearfully to the attacker. "What do you want with me? You've got Raina!"

The man closed the door. "For you not to meet Dad right now."


Alex had to admit he was slightly nervous. He'd seen his sister before but this would be their first official meeting. He had gone over several plans with himself beforehand. But really there weren't many that would not endanger their relationship. He needed her to trust him. He needed her to be able to trust that he would keep her safe.

It's not enough to just protect her. To be able to bring his family back together he needed her to trust him and his plan, to be able to have a relationship with their parents. God knows he's gonna have to do a lot of convincing to get those two monsters to reconcile.

"What do you mean?! Who are you?"

Alex sighed. "Dad, is sick right now. He's trying to get better but there's one cure that's just out of reach right now. I came, so you don't have such a bad first impression."

Skye looked at him eyes widened. "... What do you mean Dad? Why are you calling him dad?"

"I'm sorry, I should've explained that first. I'm your brother. Older brother actually. Same skin tone, but I have dark hair and I just got a bit more Dad in me than you do based on height."

Skye just stared at him.

"I-I'm sorry I'm nervous. I'm not usually like this, people and friends are easy but family? Family's hard. You're supposed to trust family and protect them and I promise I'm trying to do that."

Skye narrowed her eyes at him. "You're joking right? I was the only one found at the Hunan Province. Who are you really?"

"I'm not lying. We can do a DNA test and everything, just not here."

"Where are we going?" Skye changed the subject. She just couldn't process this right now.

Alex looked over realizing what she was doing but went along with it. "We're going to a safe house where I can explain everything to you. I also want to know some things as well. I've been watching you and your team for a while. Don't worry I only did it for a week or two."

"No."

Alex looked at her. "What do you mean no?"

Skye looked at him with steel in her eyes. "No. If you want to protect me, bring me back. If you've been watching, you would know that my team is like my family!"

Alex grimaced. "If you are my real family. You need to trust me and take me back. We can talk there."

Alex kept silent looking only at the road. He sighed and yanked on the wheel pulling a U-turn back towards the restaurant.

"Thank you..." Skye nodded but seemed to be unsure as to what to call him.

"Alex, my name's Alex."


The next day. -The Playground

Alex groaned shook his head waking up. He sighed realizing where he was. This better not take too long. Though I suppose after everything they've been through there's no easy way to make them trust me.

He was strapped to a chair with a black bag over his head. They took his gun, his knife, and his phone.

Alex smiled lightly as the bag was taken off his face.

"Thank you Agent Coulson. Sorry, I meant Director."

Coulson marched to the other side of the table and sat down. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Skye can't find anything on you so we can only get information through you. But don't worry, the lie detector we have hooked up to your chair will pick up anything false. Any lies, and you get dumped somewhere nasty."

Alex smiled. "I like you. Blunt and to the point. Very charismatic."

Coulson smiled. "First question. Who are you?"

"My full name is Alexander Zhongli Johnson. I am 28 years old. I am an ex-Seal, ex-Strike, ex-Blackwatch, and I've done a whole lot of other work in the private sector. I am a doctor, an engineer, and a pilot."

"Wow. Geez that's a lot. Any Nobel Peace Prizes to your name?"

Alex laughed. "Not yet but if I get one I'll be sure to put it on my resume."

"Anything else vital?"

Alex shrugged. "I'm Skye's brother."

Coulson deadpanned. "You're gonna have to explain that one."

"Long story short, Dad found me while Shield found Skye. I was raised in the system cause my Dad was unable to care for me but you know it wasn't all bad."

Coulson nodded. "Ok, tell me how you were monitoring us and for how long."

"Oh not that long, I found your base when there was all that ruckus with Carl Creel. After that I was able to sneak cameras in when one of your guys ordered pizza. I had some microbots laying around and I was surprisingly able to piggyback off your service to get live feed. I only did surveillance cause I wanted to learn about you all. I had to make sure my baby sister was running with the right crowd. You're all pretty much good but I'm really blown away by you Coulson."

Coulson tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"No seriously, you're amazing. I haven't seen someone this righteous since I fought Captain America."

"You fought Captain America?"

"Well, it was business. And really it only took like 5 seconds before he put my ass in the dirt."

Coulson smiled. "Okay, last question. Why are you here?"

"Skye. She's my baby sister and I need to protect her. Even if it's from her family. I took her because Dad wasn't ready to see her. He might think he is but he's not. He won't be for a while. He's broken Coulson. And until he heals, I can't let Skye see him. I need him to be better if I want to put my family back together."


The Lounge- at the start of interrogation

"So is this guy really your brother?" Trip broke the silence. They all had eyes for the tv and live interrogation.

"He says he is, and the DNA reuslts came in postive too. I-I wanna trust him. I just don't..."

"You don't wanna be let down." Hunter finished for her. "I know the feeling. I would say go halfway. Be friendly and get close but keep your guard up. If he's ever hesitant on a certain subject, push until he breaks."

"Says the guy who's divorced; try not to advise her into breaking up relationships." Mack chipped in.

"Well at least I have advice. I don't see you blokes helping." Hunter retorted.

"Quiet, he's starting."

"Thank you Agent Coulson. Sorry, I meant Director."

Coulson marched to the other side of the table and sat down. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Skye can't find anything on you so we can only get information through you. But don't worry the lie detector we have hooked up to your chair will pick up anything false. Any lies, and you walk."

Alex smiled. "I like you. Blunt and to the point. Very charismatic."

Coulson smiled. "First question. Who are you?"

"My full name is Alexander Zhongli Johnson. I am 28 years old. I am an ex-Seal, ex-Strike, ex-Blackwatch, and I've done a whole lot of other work in the private sector. I am a doctor, an engineer, and a pilot."

"Damn, this guy has been around a lot; that bigger than your resume Hunter?" Trip smirked.

"Bigger than ours together. Bloody Hell, Skye your brother's John Wick!"

"Wow. Geez that's a lot. Any Nobel Peace Prizes to your name?"

Alex laughed. "Not yet but if I get one I'll be sure to put it on my resume."

"Anything else vital?"

Alex shrugged. "I'm Skye's brother."

Coulson deadpanned. "You're gonna have to explain that one."

"Long story short, Dad found me while Shield found Skye. I was raised in the system cause my Dad was unable to care for me but you know it wasn't all bad."

"Guess you guys have some things in common." Trip said.

Coulson nodded. "Ok, tell me how you were monitoring us and for how long."

"Oh not that long, I found your base when there was all that ruckus with Creel. After that I was abke to sneak cameras in when one of your guys ordered pizza."

They all looked at Hunter. He nervously folded his arms. "Oh fuck off. I don't know about you super spys but us normal people have to eat to survive. God knows the rubbish you have here isn't food."

May rolled her eyes at Hunter's antics.

"Fitz, can we find his cameras?" Mack said to Fitz. Fitz looked at him and off to the side. "Uhhh I umm... Yes but Skye can find them... more." He scratched his head trying to focus. " Better than I can, she can hack into their feeds if they're tapped into the wi-fi."

"I don't know if I can do much of anything right now." Skye slammed her hand on the counter. "I can't even hack into this guy's phone. The level of encryption on this is insane."

"I had some microbots laying around and I was surprisingly able to piggyback off your service to get live feed. I only did surveillance cause I wanted to learn about you all. I had to make sure my baby sister was running with the right crowd. You're all pretty much good but I'm really blown away by you Coulson."

Coulson tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"No seriously, you're amazing. I haven't seen someone this righteous since I fought Captain America."

"Did we hear that right?" Trip pointed to the screen. "He fought Captain America?!" Skye shrugged. "I guess so. There wasn't a lie registered so it was the truth."

"That's so badass."

"You fought Captain America?"

"Well, it was business. And really it only took like 5 seconds before he put my ass in the dirt."

Coulson smiled. "Okay, last question. Why are you here?"

"Skye. She's my baby sister and I need to protect her. Even of it's from her family. I took her because Dad wasn't ready. He won't be for a while. You see something broke him. And until he heals, I can"t let Skye see him. I need him to be better if I want to put my family back together."

"He doesn't seem that bad Skye. He seems like he actually came here with good intentions."

Skye was silent. She didn't dare to hope that it was true. That she wasn't alone anymore and that her brother wanted to protect her.


"Hey guys. This is Alex, he'll be joining us for a while now so please help him adjust. I'm sure you guys have things in common so go crazy. No missions for a day or two." Coulson moved Alex to the Lounge where he introduced him to everyone.

"Alex. You'll have certain restrictions until I decide otherwise. Until then you'll go on missions like the rest of us. You'll need to wear this and you also get a lanyard. Talk to Billy for that."

Coulson handed him a metal wristband. "This will monitor, well pretty much everything."

"Am I good to go Director?" He looked over at Skye. She would need a detailed explanation.

Coulson sighed looking at him and Skye. "Go."

Alex smiled and then walked towards Skye but was confronted by Mack. "Hey man, I'm Mack. I help around with pretty much everything but I mostly do engineering. Can you help us out and tell us where your cameras are and take them down? I'm sure everybody will calm down a bit more when we're not being watched."

Alex blinked. "Uhh yeah sure. I just need my phone."

Skye unplugged his phone from her laptop and got up walking towards him. She held it out. "Here, I couldn't get into it anyways."

Alex smirked. "Don't worry," he shook the phone. "I'll show you all my tricks in time."

Alex easily unlocked his phone and jabbed at it recalling the microbots.

"They should be on their way now" As soon as he finished his sentence there was a plink as a small metal object fell to the ground. It was a small metallic spider with 3 pairs of legs.

It quickly crawled over to Alex who leaned down and picked it up. The spider's legs closed in on itself creating a metal sphere. Alex then easily pocketed the sphere.

Mack picked up another incoming spider examining it. "How do you power these things?" The legs of the spider flailed trying to get free.

Alex held his hand out and Mack gave him the spider. "Their internal battery only lasts about an hour. I've had them tapping power sources to keep them alive, stuff like open outlets, laptops or phones."

Hunter snapped and pointed at Alex who looked at him confused. "I knew there wasn't anything wrong with my cord! Your bloody spiders were draining my phone!"

Alex shrugged. "Sorry, it's nothing personal."

Another spider came through the doorway and on its way to Alex crawled over May's boot. May glared at Alex and stomped on it, crushing the microbot.

May then stalked away, obviously not feeling very welcoming.

Hunter chuckled. "Don't worry about it mate, she doesn't trust easily." He walked up to Alex and shook his hand. "I'm Hunter."

"Nice to meet you. It's fine by the way. I understand."

Mack walked away taking Fitz by the arm who didn't resist. "C'mon Fitz, Hunter. Let's leave these guys to catch up."

Trip followed closely. "I know when I'm not wanted. Don't have too much fun without me ya'll."

They were silent until the others left.

"So tell me about yourself." Skye walked to the liquor counter. Did he like alcohol? Maybe he didn't drink or something. She didn't know anything about him an frankly, it was making her nervous.

"Uum d-do you want something to drink? I know I'm gonna need something to calm my nerves."

Alex slid up next to her. "I would love one. How about I tell you something, you tell me something."

Skye shrugged. "Sure. What's Dad like?"

They both sat down on the couch. Alex winced. "Ooh going for the hard questions already huh?"

Skye panicked a bit internally. "W-Well you don-t-"

"No it's fine. You need to know about him."

Alex took a big swig of his glass preparing himself. "He's very scatterbrained. Forgets things a lot. He's a good cook. He likes sports, his favorite is basketball. He's a surgeon. A good one, he used to run a clinic in China. Most of the time he didn't even charge anything to fix someone up. He was just good like that."

"Wow. T-That's... really different from what I've heard. He sounds like a good person when you describe him."

Alex took another drink. "There's two sides to every story Skye. You would do well to remember that. That being said, he does have a dark side. He gets very emotional which can lead to violence."

There was a long silence until Skye realized he wouldn't elaborate. He decided to change the subject to something a bit more friendly.

"So what was it like for you, growing up in the system?"

"At first?" She turned to Alex. "I hated it. But a while ago I realised something..."


Hours after...

Coulson whistled a tune to himself as he entered the Lounge. "Shhh." Coulson turned his attention to the couch. Alex laid there with Skye on top of him. She was wrapped around him and in a deep sleep indicated by the empty glasses on the table. Alex shifted a bit. Skye was dwarfed by Alex's easily 6 foot frame.

"Wow, she usually doesn't let people in that quick."

"I'm family Coulson. We're supposed to be close. Besides, I have stories about her as a baby." He brushed the hair off her face. "Pictures too."

Coulson walked over to them and sat on the table. "Listen, Alex. Skye doesn't let people in a lot. But when she does she fights for them with everything."

His voice darkened and he clenched his fists involuntarily. "If you do anything to hurt her or do anything to put her in harm's way, I swear I will-"

"I get it Coulson. I'm really glad to know you care about her. Now you listen. I will never never hurt Skye. If I had to choose between the world and Skye, the world would burn every time."

Coulson nodded. "I think I understand you a bit more now." He stood and left.

Once more left alone, Alex ran a hand down Skye's cheek. "Oh Daisy... I can't wait till you transform. It can be terrifying but don't worry, I'll be there for you."


Author's Note: Much like most of my stories this one wasn't planned. But I guess that's how inspiration works. I'm still very gray on this story. I'm not sure if I want to tie it to other stories in the future, or make it a stand-alone. This story centers on Alex and Skye for the moment. No pairings are set I really have an open mind for this story right now. Most of the story will follow the events of the show, but no promises.

-InsaneAuthor050701