I hope you guys enjoy Jemma's back story. :)


The rain poured down endlessly and turned the road into vast a lake of dull, muddy water. Dark grey clouds covered the sky. The windshield wipers were powerless in clearing the intense pouring rain. The sound of the raindrops blended with the occasional whoosh of the breeze. Everything was bleak, gray, and dreary - even the atmosphere; it seemed like darkness had swallowed the earth. Loud, deafening thunderclaps in the distance seemed to rip the sky in half.

Jemma cried in her booster seat, dreading the sounds of the loud roaring thunderclaps and the continuous pouring rain.

"Mummy," she bawled, looking at her mother who sat in the backseat next to her, "Jemma's scared."

"It's alright, sweetheart," the woman said soothingly, tapping her chest gently, "Daddy will get us home soon enough."

The woman's eyes turned to the storm ahead of them. She feared the rain, noticing that wipers couldn't clear the liquid and that her husband could barely see the road ahead of them. Perhaps they should have postponed Jemma's appointment with the pediatrician. They could have put off the excitement of learning that their thirteen-month-old baby girl was gifted with an intelligence that surpassed her age's average. But now they knew: Jemma was different from the other babies.

What she now really wanted to know, though, was if they'd make home safe and sound.


The sky was heavy and grey, and so low that the world felt small and close. The air was thick and warm with the smell of the coming storm. Nothing had a shadow - there wasn't enough light. The wind rose, blowing harder and harder, in big gusts. Soon the rain began to fall, slowly at first, splattering the sidewalk haphazardly. Then it fell as if from buckets, cascading like a waterfall from the heavens. Jemma looked out the window, her forearms propped on the sill and her chin resting over them. Skye played out in the puddles as the rain poured, shrieking in delight as she jumped in the water and caught the drops in her open mouth. The first lightning bolt brightened the dark sky. Jemma flinched and clamped her ears.

She began whispering, "One, two, three, fo - " the rolling boom of the thunder reverberated overhead. Jemma cringed as the thunder sound went on for long seconds.

Coulson opened the door and soon the intense wind rolled in, blowing his hair back and splattering his face with cold raindrops.

"Skye!" he called out, trying to be heard over the blowing wind and pouring rain. "Skye, get back inside."

"Aww," the boys loudly whined as the TV blacked out suddenly.

The man helped Skye to enter the house against the strong wind and wrapped her in a fleece blanket. "You go upstairs and wait. Mom or I will give you dry clothes for you to change into."

"Trip, Lance," May called, rushing into the living room. "Come with me to the basement. I need help."

"Everything's locked up?" Coulson asked before his wife walked out the room.

"Yes," she replied, brushing her slightly wet hair off her face, "I'll just make sure we have everything ready in the basement. There's a tornado heading to the town."

Coulson wasn't able to process the information as Leo proudly said to him, "I've unplugged the TV."

His father ruffled his head, "Very good, Leo."

"Want me to unplug other things?"

"No, no," he spoke, looking around, "I've got that covered. Thank you. But you know, you could get the battery radio and tune in to the NWR broadcast." As Leo walked away, searching for the radio, Coulson turned his attention to the remaining boy, "Grant, can you call Mimi and make sure she's alright?"

Coulson and May valued Mimi a lot; she was a big help for them, and since she lived alone (she was divorced and her only son was in TDY) and they were at the moment facing a low category tornado to hit the town, they wanted to make sure the woman was alright.

"Crap," Coulson hissed, running upstairs, remembering he had forgotten a soaked wet Skye waiting for dry clothes.

"Jemma, get away from the window, please." May said as she returned at full speed from the basement.

"Mom," Leo showed up with the radio, "there's a tornado coming."

"I know, Leo. Go to the basement and stay there with Trip and Lance. You too, Grant," she spoke, looking at the other boy.

"Dad told me to call Mimi. She says she's a bit scared," Grant said, "we should get her to come here, right?"

May nodded her head, leading Grant to the stairs, "I'll go get her. Just go downstairs and take Jemma with you. And tell your Dad and Skye to get in the basement too," she ordered calmly.

She made her way out the door, fighting the strong wind that rose. As she saw low clouds brewing by the horizon line, she sped up her pace to the neighbor's house. The rain was still going strong and chilling her to the bone.

As Leo made his way to the second flight of the house, to inform his father about the coming tornado, Grant tried to take Jemma to the basement. She was frozen in fear, silently crying.

"Mom's out to get Mimi," Grant informed, looking back as he heard his father coming down the stairs.

"Ok. Now downstairs, please," Coulson said, quickly climbing down the stairs, carrying Skye in his arms. Upon reaching the last step, he put the girl down on her feet, "Come on, downstairs. You and Skye."

The two kids walked down to the basement, joining their siblings. Coulson crossed the distance to Jemma, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her off her feet. He knew why Jemma was so terrified: she absolutely dreaded thunder.


"Shh, don't fret baby girl," the man behind the wheel comforted. He stretched his hand back, patting on his daughter's knee as she cried in her booster seat, "we're going to be home soon."

As he turned his attention back to the road, he saw two bright lights coming closer and heard the loud sound of a honk. He had no time to react. The mother unfastened her seatbelt quickly and shielded her daughter's body with her own.

When the paramedics made it to the scene they trampled through the small lake of muddy water. The rain washed away the blood from the couple's and the truck driver's bodies. Upon confirming none of them had pulse they turned their attention to the crying baby that they hadn't discovered yet. They found her trapped in the booster seat, bloodied but not hurt. Her mother's now dead body had sheltered her from any harm.


"It's alright, Jemma. As soon as Mom and Mimi get here, we'll go downstairs. You can't hear the thunder from down there."

She wiped her tears away with the palm of her hand, "I shouldn't be crying. Eight year olds aren't supposed to cry or be afraid of thunder."

Coulson giggled quietly, "Who said that?"

"Those people who write books: doctors, psychologists, scientists-"

"Jemma, it's ok to cry," he whispered, "Who said that those people are experts? That's the one thing I hate about us, humans," he confessed. "We love to label people. It doesn't matter if you're eight and you're scared of thunder. We're not all the same, and we're not supposed to be the same. It'd be pretty dull if we were all alike. Tell me," Coulson walked to the couch and sat with Jemma on his lap, "how many different people can we humans create?"

The girl thought for her second, sobbing every now and then, "In humans with 23 chromosomes there are over 8 million possible combinations of chromosomes, that from just one parent. So, any couple could have over 70 trillion different possible children, based just on the number of chromosomes, not considering the actual genes on those chromosomes."

"How much is even one trillion?" he frowned.

"It's a 1 followed by 9 zeroes."

"That's a huge number."

"Astronomers estimate there are about 100 trillion stars in the Milky Way alone."

"See? A couple can have almost as many different children as the stars of one galaxy. If one couple can-" he stopped talking for a moment upon seeing the bright light of another lightning bolt. He covered Jemma's ears as the thunder roared, "If one couple can have 70 trillion different children, imagine how many different individuals the 7 billion people of the world can create. We are all unique, we all behave differently, we all know different things. I was scared of thunder until I twelve; I didn't walk until I was almost two. According to those people who write books and label people, I'd be different, bad different. I turned out fine, didn't I?"

Jemma hugged her father instead of saying anything else.

"Do you know why thunder scared you so much?" he asked, getting a nod from Jemma, "You were little, barely one year old when your parents died, you know that. But you don't know that they died in a car accident. It was a rainy night, thunder ripped the sky in two, just like today. You are out of the ordinary, Jemma, and you remember the sound of the thunder. You're scared of them because of the accident."

She knew that her parents had died when she was little. However, she didn't know how it had happened, or that she had been with them when it happened. But Jemma didn't have time to react to the recent learned truth. May walked in, completely drenched, along with Mimi.

"We're going to get dry," May said, showing Mimi the way upstairs.

"What were you thinking of going out there with this weather?" Coulson asked, worried, walking to her with Jemma in his arms.

"It's just rain and thunder. I wouldn't die from it."

Jemma's lip pouted and she began crying at that comment.

"What's the matter, Jemma?" the woman asked, running her fingers through the girl's hair.

"I told about her parents' accident."

May glared him intensely, "Couldn't it wait? You thought this was a good moment to tell her about it?"

"It just sort of came out. I didn't plan it-"

"Stop fighting," Jemma begged, raising her hands.

As another rumble of thunder came crushing down, the girl covered her ears and hid her head in the crook of her dad's neck. Coulson and May exchanged a look; she walked upstairs, he made the way to the basement.


Mimi and the kids slept, in the basement, curled up in blankets. Only May and Coulson were awake. She was sitting on the floor, back rested against the hard wall, holding Jemma in her arms. The girl sniffled tearfully, her body still shaking with small sobs even though she was sleeping as well. Coulson was at the top of the stairs, listening to the the wind damaging their house. Eventually he gave up on listening to the howling wind. He sat on the floor, draped a blanket over his wife's and daughter's legs and put his arm around May, pulling her closer to his chest. She leant in, her eyes closing slowly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, causing her eyes to open, "I was really worried to find out that you went out there all alone."

"It's alright," she assured, "I'd react the same way if you did something like that."

"It just… it scares me, you know?" Coulson accommodated, resting his chin over May's head, "We put our lives on the line every day at work, and yet, this petty wind is what's keeping me worried."

"I know. It's the thought of dying at home, not in the line of duty… it's strange." May casted a glance at their sleeping children, "And to think I once wanted to walk away."


"I swear to God, Phil, I can't do this." May yelled, rocking Jemma in her arms, "She doesn't shut up."

"To be honest I would cry too if you were holding me like that."

"Oh yeah?" she walked in quick strides to him and put the baby in his arms, "then do better. I'm done with this."

"Wa – wait! What do you mean you're done with this?"

"I'm done with all of it. We've had this child for two months now. Fury assured us it'd be temporary. And besides it's not like she shuts up with me," she shouted, trying her best not to cry as she looked at the baby in Coulson's arms, who was being slightly more quiet.

"May!" he called as she stormed to their bedroom and started sorting through her clothes in the closet. "Melinda, please. What are you doing?"

She glanced back and stretched her arms. She'd give it a try one last time, "Give her to me. Give her to me, Phil," she insisted as Coulson seemed to be frozen by the door of the bedroom. "She cries again and I'm out that door."

Coulson swallowed dryly, walking with careful steps to her. He gently transferred the baby to his wife's arms, adjusting her arms to cuddle the girl better in her embrace.

Jemma stirred and whimpered, "Shh, it's okay. It's okay," he reinforced, looking into May's eyes.

"It's alright," Jemma hushed as May stroked her hair.

"You can't put her to sleep. I can't feed her properly. We're not supposed to be gifted with every quality in the world. That's why it takes two people to have children."

"I'll put her in the crib," May mumbled quietly, walking out of the bedroom.

She delayed in returning to their bedroom, but Coulson let her take her time to think. May returned long minutes later; Coulson was already lying down in bed, almost asleep. He moved in the bed when he felt her presence in the room and heard her picking up her clothes. She was putting them back in the closet. He smiled, relieved, until he saw her with her hands on her hips, head thrown back, carefully exhaling through her mouth. She acted quickly in wiping away the tears that rushed down her face.

"It's alright, Mel," he said, getting out of bed quickly, pulling her into a hug.

"I didn't mean it. I wouldn't leave."

"I know," he ran his hand through her hair, "I know. You know what do you need? Some sleep. You're tired and stressed."

May grabbed his hand and pulled him to bed with her. She fell asleep with his arms wrapped around her.


"You never told me what made you stay."

"You," May looked into her husband's eyes, "I stayed for you, our marriage, this family that we built. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said. She seemed ready to repeat the apology again, so he rushed to tell her, "You - we both apologized to each other in that night, seven years ago. In all these years we've never went to bed without making up."

"I was selfish," she insisted, "and you had nothing to be blamed for."

"It's alright. I was scared too. We had just been married and already had a child in our arms. We were what, late twenty years old? What did we really know about anything back then?"

"It takes two people to have children," she whispered, "I'm glad we've learned that."


Next chapter is one of my favorites. It has many references to people and situations in the MCU. And Trip finally gets a friend that is about his age. His name is S** W*****. Let's see if someone can crack Trip's friend's name before reading the chapter.