I really appreciate that you are taking the time to read this, so I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. I'm sorry this is so late, my schedule is getting a bit busier, but I will still try and update weekly although future chapters might also be a bit late.
Please leave reviews, with either positives or feedback and I will answer any questions here. Any ideas for the next chapter or recommendations for other fics are also welcome :)
For the purposes of this fic, Coulson knows about his death and May is level 8(so there are no secrets between them). I will also not be completely following the show-I might skip episodes and characters.
Disclaimer -I do not own Agents of Shield but I love it very much and have watched it multiple times.
Recap: May was avoiding Tasha's (Black Widow's) phone calls, so Tasha and Clint (Hawkeye) show up on the bus to investigate what is going on. Skye and War are shocked to discover that May and Coulson are close friends with two avengers, and May was once part of the Avengers Initiative.
"Am I actually seeing this or am I delusional," Fitz said to Simmons, Bobbi, and Hunter, who were behind him on the stairs.
"Seeing what?"
"Two avengers paying a social call and gossiping with May and Coulson."
As the other four team members approached the group, May and Coulson exchanged a look, which seemed to convey annoyance as well as deciding who was going to explain.
"Bobbi, Hunter, Fitz and Simmons, meet Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, they will be staying for a few weeks that May is going to get Fury to give us off."
"Sir, I could hardly get a few days holiday when I gave 8 months' notice, I hardly thing May is going to be able to get you a few weeks on no notice."
"She can," he said pointing at May, "she's Fury's favorite."
"No, I'm not," Melinda said exasperated.
"Don't even argue it Mels. We all no its true."
"I can get you the holiday but I'm not a favorite."
"Yes, you are Linda."
"Well, you try joining SHIELD at the age of twelve because your parents were brutally murdered in front of you and come back to me and let me know if it's worth a few weeks holiday!" she shouted, losing her temper at what the others hadn't known was a sensitive subject. She had never told anyone exactly how long she had been at SHIELD, and her friends, although some of them had the clearance had agreed not to pry into her past."
"So, it's true?" Ward wondered at the discovery.
"Shit. I forgot they were here."
The rest of the team looked slightly guilty and felt like they had walked in on something private.
"Why can't the stupid Academy's find something else to gossip about," she muttered under her breath as she walked out the room.
"Why do I feel like the only times we ever hear about her past is when she gets triggered in ordinary conversation and gets upset," Clint mused.
"Not the time Clint," Natasha hissed in his ear after realizing that the whole team was staring at them."
After a few minutes, Phil got up, and went after her, making the silence more awkward.
"This might take a bit longer than we originally thought."
Finding her in the cockpit, he sat down in the co-pilot chair.
"Melinda, I…"
"Its not your fault. You didn't know."
"12. My god Linda. I'm so sorry," He said wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her into his lap.
"I can't be here right now. I need to get away from SHIELD for a bit," she said, leaving with Phil closely following. She dialed a set of co-ordinates into the autopilot.
"Alaska?"
"I have a place there."
"I got the vacation time. Three weeks for everyone here. Maria will be joining us for the second two weeks."
"How the hell did you..." Ward began.
"What date even is it?" Skye asked, confused.
"November 10th."
"Already?"
"I thought it was August."
"Am I the only one that ever pays attention to the date?"
"Yes, I believe you are, Simmons," Skye responded.
"That explains why you got so long."
"Why?" several of the others asked.
"It's not important."
"They're going to find out eventually, Mels."
"The longer the better."
"So where are we planning our vacation?"
"I'm taking Tasha, Clint, Phil and Maria up to my house in Alaska, you six can come if you want, or go somewhere else."
"I think we'll come," Fitz responded, for him and Simmons.
"Me to," said Skye excitedly. "I've never really had a vacation before. It used to just mean that I got returned to the orphanage for a few weeks, on several occasions, permanently."
Everyone was saddened by Skye's statement, so they decided to all go to Melinda's house and spend it together.
"Wheels down in 10, said May's voice through the comms."
As Skye looked out of the window, she saw White fluffy snowflakes blurring her vision and preventing her from seeing more than a few feet away. Her eyes widened as she managed to make out snow-covered field, perfectly blanketed in White, without a single footprint.
"Where are we going to land, Mel."
"You'll see."
A few minutes later, they stopped moving and just hovered 20 ft above the ground, and Melinda left the cockpit briefly and returned with a heavy keyring. It held about 20 different keys, all intricately detailed, several requiring pin numbers to open.
Skye watched in amazement, when a large expanse of snow melted away to reveal a large wooden deck, that turned out to be doors to a large hangar, which proceed to fold open, allowing enough space to fly the bus in. After parking, she got out of her seat and headed to the cargo bay.
"You have a hanger in your house?" Tasha asked in awe.
"I'm officially jealous," Clint told her.
"How have I not heard about this?"
"I am gradually getting more and more grateful that I elected to come with you guys."
Each carrying a bag of belongings, they headed off the bus and into the hangar, which was almost as large as the one they had parked the bus In at the sandbox. Tucking her keys into the top of her bag, she opened the door with biometrics and led them along a wooden walkway. Much like the hangar doors, the path melted the snow a few feet before they stepped on it, exposing the uniform planks of tinted wood.
The snow had cleared away slightly, and the whole house was visible. Standing 4 floors above ground, it was cabin-style mansion built in an orangey wood. The balcony had ornately carved railings and dormer windows had intricate beams supporting them. Mosaiced sandstone wrapped around the bottom story, climbing a small tower on the side of the building, and forming an elegant spiral staircase. Tall wooden pillars supported the building, making way for a large veranda which held a two-seat wooden bench-swing and several tables. It had the appearance of a large fairytale cabin, further added to by the extensive grounds and think layer of snow on the roof.
While the others stood on the walkway, staring at the house in awe, Melinda walked up to the door and opened it.
"Are you going to come in or are you just going to stand there with your mouths hanging open like goldfish."
Looking slightly sheepish, the team followed her into the large hallway. A grand staircase led up to the second floor and the interior was lined with the same orangey planks. The floor was smooth stone slabs with Persian rugs filling the floor. It was lit with two large chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.
"Just leave your bags by the door," Melinda said as she walked towards the stairs.
"Wait there." She added, before heading up the stairs.
When she reached the top of the carpeted stairs, she walked along a corridor on the second floor.
"Anna!" she shouted down it, before heading back towards the stairs and walking down, towards the team.
"You have two houses?" Coulson asked, inquisitively.
"This is technically a holiday house, one of a few I inherited from my parents when I was eighteen."
"A few!" Skye asked, eyes wide.
"One in Tenerife, one in Hong Kong, one in South Africa, this one, the big house in Arizona and my flat in New York."
"Are they all this big?" she asked in wonder.
"I've only been to this one, Hong Kong and New York. We don't get much vacation in this line of work, so I don't really have a use for them."
"Miss May?"
"Oh, Anna, good to see you," she said with a wide grin, something she rarely did since Bahrain.
"It's been a while."
"A while! Anna, I haven't seen you since I was twelve," she said, embracing her.
"Anna, this is my SHIELD team, and a few other friends, Natasha, Clint, Skye, Bobbi, Fitz, Simmons, Hunter, Ward and my finance, Phil.
"Wait you two are engaged!" Natasha said in shock.
"What?"
"Oh shit. I said too much."
"So, you're still doing that. It never ceases to amaze me that for someone who talks so little, you have such a hard time keeping secrets."
"Anna, I am a level eight SHIELD agent," she said trying not to laugh.
"And yet you failed to remember that you hadn't told your best friends about your engagement?"
"My friend Maria will be joining us next week."
"Which bedrooms do you want?"
"I think we can all fit on the third floor, Bobbi and Hunter in room one, Fitz in two, Simmons in three, Skye in four, Natasha and Clint in six, Maria in seven, Ward in eight and Phil and I in nine."
"What is in five?"
"You can go anywhere you want except for room five, Anna will bring your bags up shortly," she said, heading upstairs, ignoring Skye's question.
The corridor was long and wide, with large rugs on the hardwood floor, matching the design of the stairs. She pushed open the door to reveal her room. It was familiar in so many ways, but different to how she remembered it, as if she was seeing it from a different perspective. It was a large room, with glass sliding doors leading out onto a balcony. A Double bed was set in the middle of the room, and stone fireplace was laid into one wall. Against the fourth wall was a small sofa, facing a flat screen TV that had not been present when she was younger, and had presumably been installed by Anna. Opening the glass doors, she sat down on the edge of the railing, looking out onto the untouched snow.
After the group had eaten, most of the group headed up to their rooms, while some of them headed out into the snow to walk around the grounds. After changing her clothes and grabbing a black satchel, Melinda walked out onto the balcony and climbed down the back of the house, heading through a patch of trees, into a clearing with a large frozen lake. The lake was hidden fairly well, being surrounded by trees and quite far from the house, so she sat down on the snow and laced up her boots. Leaving her coat and bag in the snow next to a tree, she skated out onto the lake, feet gliding over the ice. The air was icy, and snow was falling slowly but she didn't really notice.
After she, Bobbi and Hunter left the house, they walked around a bit, until they found a small path that ran away from the house, into a picturesque forest. Skye was relieved that she had elected to put on her warm coat- black with a shield logo on the front, and her purple beanie hat when light snow started to fall. The fluffy flakes started to fall harder, settling on top of the already deep snow, making it harder and harder to walk. They were just about to head back when they saw a clearing in the trees up ahead. Pushing through the trees, to see a person skating on the ice.
"Is that May?"
"She can skate?"
"Is there anything that woman can't do?" Hunter asked in frustration
"Cook."
"What?"
"On our last day off. The mess in the kitchen. Coulson tried to get us to make cookies and we ended up teaming up on him in a food fight because we are both equally useless at cooking."
They stared at her as she sped up, before losing contact with the ice, doing a triple spin, and landing flawlessly. She then glided over to the edge of the lake, put her coat on and began unlacing her boots.
"How on earth did you find your way back here?" May asked curiously.
"The forest is pretty, and we figured that the trees would provide a bit of shelter from the snow. How did you learn to skate like that?"
"I learnt when I was seven and competed in the Arizona state championships when I was 9,10,11 and 12."
"Why did you stop?"
"Its complicated," she replied uneasily, before picking up her bag and heading back up to the house with the others following her. The snow was now falling heavily, and they could only see a few meters ahead, so they followed May, who reached the house and started climbing back up the wall forgetting about the other three agents following her.
"What's wrong with the door?"
"Oh, sorry, old habits. Just follow the wall round until you reach the door. Its already unlocked." She said before pulling herself over the rail of the balcony, only to be knocked unconscious by a flash of blue light.
Thank you for reading. I will update again next week. Please review, it really makes my day