The Shield is Born

Disclaimer: I own Avery

Spoilers: Turn, Turn, Turn (1x17), Providence (1x18) and The Only Light in the Darkness Promo (1x19)

Grant Ward stood listening with May and the team while Coulson explained their latest mission. It'd been close to four years since HYDRA and Garrett had been taken down and they were back to working for SHIELD full time as their capture team. It'd taken months to earned back their trust but Ward made sure Coulson knew that if it came between the team and Skye, his loyalty would lie with Skye. The team leader just smiled and told him he'd want it no other way.

"We received this footage yesterday from our Chicago HUB, an 0-8-4 that has Fury concerned." He pulled up a video and they saw a young girl in a school yard when gunshots were heard, other children just ran and ducked under things but the girl just sat down and covered her ears. A scream was followed by a sudden burst of blue light before cameras went out. "CS specialists analyzed it and came out with this," he played it back slowly and the light seemed to retreat inside the girl.

"Another human 0-8-4…like Skye?" Simmons spoke and Coulson nodded. "If any of our enemies get their hands on her sir, a fight with HYDRA would seem like small pickings."

Coulson nodded, "exactly, we're to find the girl and escort her to the Central HUB where Deputy Director Hill and Director Fury both assure me that the girl will be placed under supervision at one of the academies." He looked at Ward, "I assume you'll be fine with protection detail?"

"Yes sir."

May and Simmons were tasked with getting information from the school on the whereabouts of the girl. They were directed by the principal to the girl's classroom, agreeing that social services could speak to her in her office.

They found themselves placed before a six year old girl whose brown eyes were lit with curiosity and black hair laid in a single braid down her back. She looked innocent and didn't seem like she could be an 0-8-4. Simmons smiled at the girl and she smiled back instantly.

"Hello there Avery, I'm Jemma and this is Melinda. We want to talk to you about what happened on the play yard yesterday, it that okay with you?"

Avery's smile disappeared, "Mommy says I can't talk about it."

"Why is that?" May asked tenderly, "is she afraid someone will hurt you?"

"She said that the mean octopus would take me away if I ever told anyone. I don't want the mean octopus to take me away, can we talk about something else?"

Simmons nodded, "yes we can, we'll come back to that. Tell us about yourself Avery, you said you had a mummy, what about a daddy?"

"Daddy is hunting bad guys and saving the world, he's been away for a long time." Avery smiled and put her hands together. "I know he'll come home though one day, because Mommy says he loves us very much despite being very busy."

"What do you like to do?" May smiled, "do you like to color or ride a bike?"

"I like to play on the computer and I take karate," Avery sat up straight, "I'm an orange belt."

A knock at the door made them look up, the found the principal in the doorway. "I'm sorry but Avery's mother is here to pick her up. You'll have to talk to her if you want to question Avery further."

"I think we're done." May stood up as did Simmons. "Thank you for talking to us Avery."

"Avery come along, your mother is here to take you home."

Avery waved to them, "bye."

They watched the girl go and immediately made their way to the doorway of the office, watching as the girl ran to a woman in the hallway. Both stopped when the woman turned, taking Avery's bag from her. They'd been searching for Skye for years and in that moment, they'd found her because of her daughter.

May marched onto the Bus, Simmons behind her on a tablet while Coulson looked at them strangely. She marched over to Ward and slapped him across the face before he could ask what was going on, the specialist gave her a confused look.

"I don't know what I did to deserve that…" The Calvary didn't say a word but moved around him and nodded to Simmons, who continued on the tablet.

Coulson walked over, "what is going on in here?"

"She slapped me and I don't know why."

"We have an issue, we can't just extract the girl." May stared Coulson in the eyes, "she's the daughter of an agent."

"An agent? Which agent?"

Simmons smiled, "got it, Skye's programs are making this hacking business very simple."

"Pull it up." May started as Skye's Facebook page was brought up. "Skylar Zale, aka Agent Skye, code name The Shield. We didn't know until we saw her picking up the girl today."

"Avery," Simmons looked at them, "the girl's name is Avery. According to this facebook page, Avery Juliana to be exact and she's going to be six next week." She smiled and scrolled through before stopping, a video began to play instantly.

Skye seemed to be taping Avery practicing karate, "you're doing so good Avery. Have you decided what you want to be for career day?"

"I want to be a superhero when I grow up." The girl stopped and gave a toothy grin, Skye chuckled at that.

"A superhero, but you're already a superhero…my superhero."

Avery shook her head, "no I'm not, I'm just Avery, your daughter."

"Who else are you?"

"Daddy's girl."

Skye chuckled again, "that's right you are, if you could ever talk to Daddy what would you say?"

The five year old let a grin go, "that I understand why he's not playing with me, because he's saving the world."

"What would you play?"

"Superheroes and bad guys." She put her hands on her hips and jumped up and down.

"What else would you tell him?"

Avery paused and put a finger on her lips before another smile graced her face. "That I love him and that he's the best daddy in the world because he protects us."

The video ended and Simmons smiled, "that's so sweet."

Ward pushed off the table and quickly left the room, Coulson looked at May and she nodded as if confirming what the man was thinking. Coulson stared at the image of the smiling girl and sighed.

"All this time we thought she went underground after fighting HYDRA physically but instead she's been a single mother fighting from the shadows." Coulson stood straight and nodded, "it's time we bring them home, to keep them safe."

Skye stood making dinner when a knock was heard on her apartment door, she passed Avery practicing her karate as she was instructed to do both morning and night. Making her way to the door she peeked through the hole to see the last person she expected. Opening the door, she found Coulson and May with smiles on their face.

"You found me…how?"

"Hi Melinda." Avery waved to May and the woman waved back. "Are you going to talk to Mommy about the playground now?"

"What?" Skye turned back to May, "when…"

"Perhaps we should come in." Coulson prodded gently and Skye let them in before shutting the door. "Avery set off an 0-8-4 alert and we were instructed to investigate. May and Simmons went in as social services and saw you pick her up. It was a mere accident but now we have an issue."

Skye turned to Avery, "Avery go get a shower please."

"But Mommy…"

"Avery, I said now." The girl immediately left the room and Skye turned to Coulson. "You are not taking her to the HUB and let some scientists experiment on her."

"Fury has given us orders," he saw surprise flash across her face. "Yes, he's back in change of SHIELD and he's given orders to contain the 0-8-4 but given the situation I'm not going to allow that. The team has agreed that we will protect Avery, she's a part of our small family. Would you be willing to return to the Bus and let us protect Avery from anyone that would harm her."

"She's protected here…"

May put a hand on Skye's arm, "she's exposed herself, how long before someone comes and tries to take her. We can protect her Skye…her father can protect her."

"You don't know anything about her father."

Coulson chuckled, "the cheekbones give it away, we know Ward is her father."

"Ward betrayed us all, I tell her lies so she doesn't feel unwanted like I was but she can never know what he did."

The lead agent folded his arms, "when you left Providence and he realized what Garrett would do to us all, leaving us unable to protect you he surrendered. No gun to his head, no truth serum he just surrendered. When I asked where is loyalties lay, he told me 'I'm loyal to her, to Skye…to The Shield' and in time he earned our trust back. He's now a part of the team again and has been for four years, since Garrett's death and SHIELD's rebirth. He knows serving SHIELD will bring you back to him."

"Doesn't make up for what he did."

"No but he wants to be a part of Avery's life, Simmons managed to break into your Facebook account and he's been staring at video and pictures of her for hours. He told me his biggest regret wasn't believing in Garrett's lies but betraying us all and loosing you and his daughter in the process. He's paying for what he did at this moment and he has been paying for the last seven years."

Skye looked away before looking back, "she has stability here, I can't just uproot her. If you want to protect us than do so from afar. You know where we live, you can tract Avery now but I'm not leaving."

"And Ward?" May looked at the former agent, "what do we tell him about Avery?"

"That I'll continue to post pictures and video but right now that's all he gets." Skye shook her head, "I'm sorry it has to be this way but its Avery I'm protecting now, not SHIELD."

Coulson nodded and hugged her, "you'll always be family, you know how to find us if you need us." He pulled back and looked at her, "we'll get you in contact with Stark's Chicago office, he could use a computer specialist and you could use a real job instead of struggling to pay for her lessons and babysitting just to work."

May hugged her too and Skye pulled back, "you two and Fitzsimmons are welcome anytime. If you get really stuck on something let me know but I can't help more than that."

"You're a good mom, just like you were an agent." May smiled at her, "good luck."

A YEAR LATER

Avery sat in the back of the SUV that Skye owned, she was going to surprise the little girl for her seventh birthday with a family vacation. Coulson had practically begged her for her help on a mission that required massive amounts of code being broken. He agreed they'd be staying in the air until they landed in England where he'd already arranged a flight home for her and Avery.

"Where are we going again?"

Skye smiled at the girl's question, "England, our vacation is on a plane though. It's kind of like a cruise ship but a plane instead. Uncle Phil decided that we should celebrate your birthday and wanted you to come celebrate on his plane."

"Is Aunt Melinda going to be there?"

"Yep and Aunt Jemma and Uncle Fitz." Skye smiled, her daughter's surprise was getting to meet her father so she'd yet to mention Ward.

It'd taken three months before she'd even pick up his phone calls but as soon as they started talking everything seemed to naturally come out in the open. He'd visited her twice a month at Stark Industries and they'd spend time over lunch just talking about Avery and the latest disasters surrounding Fitzsimmons. Her heart ached to love him again but the betrayal went deep, for the moment they were friends. Ward didn't push or demand, he was patient and knew what he'd done had hurt her wouldn't just magically go away. He'd been blatant about still loving her but he'd wait until she was ready to love him and just continue protecting her and their daughter.

Parking at the airport, she found the plane waiting and instantly took Avery's hand while holding onto her bag with the other hand. "That's where we're celebrating my birthday?"

"Yep, it's much cooler than it looks though I promise."

Approaching the ramp she found the team waiting and saw Ward nod to her, acknowledging she could take the first move. Avery threw herself at Coulson immediately. "Uncle Phil I missed you."

"I missed you too Squirt." He ruffled her hair and immediately she moved onto May and Fitzsimmons before looking up at Ward curiously, he bent down to her level.

Avery smiled, "hi, are you part of Uncle Phil's team?"

"I am, I've been wanting to meet you for a while."

"Why?"

Skye decided it was best to tear the bandage off and bent down beside Avery, "Avery I'd like you to meet your Dad. He's here especially for your birthday."

The girl's eyes went wide and threw herself at Ward, who stood and just held her tightly. "Daddy!" Pulling back, Avery smiled and looked at them. "Best birthday ever."

A/N: Should I do a sequel where Avery spends some time with her dad?