Here we go: another start of another series! Although I'm not sure if this plotline that I have planned can technically be called a "series" since I've only got two stories planned, but that's okay, I guess. Anywho, enjoy my lovelies!:)

Phil Coulson stood to the side of his team, silently observing the way they happily welcomed Fitz back into the swing of things. It had been a while since the engineerhad been with the team as a whole for any work-related purpose, between being unconscious and then self-conscious about his changes due to Ward's plunging him and Simmons into the sea. The youngest man on Phil's team had lost the ability to walk beyond the occasional shuffle to the bathroom, and he was left mute to boot. It was frustrating for Fitz, and the entire team, really, but they were grateful that he was alive – and getting very proficient with writing out what he wanted to say.

Now the six members of the team were back together again, and it was time to talk shop.

"We're supposed to rebuild SHIELD, right?" Trip asked rhetorically. "Would you like to tell me what we're going to do that with?"

"We've got this base now – the Playground – and from my observations and discussions with Agent Billy Koenig, it is an entirely functional SHIELD base with both a huge lab and more than enough space for an actual office section, along with four levels of living quarters, made to be functional for at least twenty-eight full-time residents. It's the best start we could hope for," Phil replied.

"You're going to love the lab, Fitzsimmons," Skye said helpfully, jabbing Trip in the ribs with her elbow and glaring at him sideways.

Fitz' eyebrows drew together as he scrawled something on his now ever-present notebook and held it up for Simmons to see from where they sat side by side.

Simmons shook her head. "Not yet; I've been busy."

Fitz rolled his eyes and pointed to his chest.

"Well, pardon me for wanting to stay by my partner's side!"

A smile tugged at Fitz' mouth and he put a hand on Simmons' knee – apologizing, probably.

"I promise you, after this meeting we'll go see the lab together," Simmons said, smiling at Fitz.

Fitz nodded and wrote down something else, holding it up to Phil. What now?

"Now we rebuild. And that needs to start with getting more people involved. Right now we've got our minimal public relations and managerial things matters taken care of by Koenig. Skye's our technological intel, Simmons is bio-chem, Fitz is our engineer, and May and Trip are our best options as field agents. We need more people; the greater range of talents we have, the better. Anyone have any ideas as to who we could trust to join our little operation?"

Fitz instantly jotted down a name and held it up to Phil, so that only he could see it. Phil, upon seeing the four letters, looked to Fitz and replied dryly, "I think we need to have you checked for lasting effects on your thought processes."

Fitz shook his head, lips thinning in frustration before he wrote Best Field Agent.

"Agent May would not appreciate that sentiment, I'm sure."

I'm right. You know it.

"He's a murderer and a traitor."

We're not dead.

"Doesn't change what he did."

You got another chance at the life you had, why not give him the same thing?

"Because we weren't a part of his life, we were a part of one of his missions."

For a dead man. Why not refocus his energy into the good of SHIELD?

"Because every woman in this room would kill him if he stepped into their line of sight."

Fitz looked sideways at Simmons, a skeptical expression on his face.

"He did this, you know," Phil reminded Fitz, leaning forward to tap the wheelchair the engineer was sitting in.

"Are you talking about Ward?" May asked sharply.

Fitz winced, writing down Only following orders like a good soldier – which is what we need. Phil just sighed, and when Fitz realized he was winning his superior over, he added, And he needs a second chance. We should give it to him.

"How is it that you, of all people, are even saying that?" Phil asked in confusion.

Because it's true. Please. Just one more chance.

Phil pinched the bridge of his nose before saying, "I'll think about it – but that's all I'm saying on the subject right now. Do we have any more suggestions?"

"Romanoff and Barton," May said quickly.

"Agent Hill?" Skye added.

"Steve Rogers already knows you're still alive, right?" Trip questioned.

"Yeah, I've thought of him," Phil said.

May snorted, smirking at him when she said, "Of course you have."

"All of them are great candidates." Phil said. "So who do we start with?"

Fitz flipped to the first page he'd shown Coulson and held it back up, staring demandingly at his superior.

Ward

"I'll use his scalp for target practice," May said sharply.

"Boil his eyes and make him eat them?" Skye suggested.

Simmons added darkly, "I will personally cut off his legs."

At Simmons' statement, Fitz tipped his head to the side and looked at his partner a little sadly, gently shaking his head.

We're better than that. It's time to forgive. It's time to rebuild. So let's forgive him and rebuild not just SHIELD, but relationships with him. Even the first church had a Judas in it.

Most of them looked at least halfway convinced when Fitz showed the paper to them all, but May inevitably pointed out, "Judas betrayed freaking Jesus Christ and then went off and killed himself."

Then we're all deities here. If you want to, think of this: If he does get hurt while working with us, you'll get to see his pain.

Fitz looked at May dryly, letting her see the words. He rolled his eyes when a smile tilted at the corners of her mouth and she said, "Now, that I can get behind."

Fitz turned the paper to Skye, arching his eyebrows. The hacker scanned the paper and sighed, eventually agreeing, "Fine."

"You're crazy," Trip informed Fitz. "I'm not saying you're wrong, but I just don't get you. You should be in front of May in the line to kill this guy, and yet you're championing him. If we want to bring him back in, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as being one of Garret's reform- capable goons, but I'm with Coulson on getting you that brain checkup."

Fitz grinned, and Coulson realized that, despite all of the misgivings floating almost palpably around the room, the engineer was going to get what he wanted.