Author's Note: I do not own any characters created by Marvel. I only created Hayden, Cole, and Macy (whom you shall meet later). Read and review, please.
To Cole, it always seemed like he was the bearer of bad tidings. I'm the new guy, he thought. Why should I be the one to break up the fun?
After running into Coulson this morning in the hall, Phil quickly said he wanted Cole to round up everyone into the command center by noon. This meant stopping any and all fun the team rarely got for a meeting in exchange. Great.
He started with whom he assumed would be the worst: May. "Hey, Agent May," he said.
She was in the middle of her daily tai chi in the gym. "What do you want, Cole?" If there was an upside to Melinda's personality, it was the fact that she got straight to the point.
The young agent gulped. "Director Coulson would like everyone to meet in the command center at noon and told me to inform the team."
She glanced over at him while moving into another position. "Okay."
Cole was shocked by her simple answer. "That was easier than I thought it would be," he mumbled.
"Oh, I'm the least of your worries."
His heart dropped. "Great." He quickly left so that she could be in peace. Twisting and turning down the labyrinthine halls, he found his way to the garage. "Hey Mack."
"Let me guess," the older agent said while working under the hood of the SUV. "Meeting at noon?" Even though he was just a mechanic, Mack was surprisingly good at reading people.
"Yup, in the command center," Cole said and walked back out and towards the lab.
He knocked before entering, but it was no use. Cole could tell that FitzSimmons were too busy bickering about something to notice the soft noise. He opened the door and expected anything but these words to come out of Jemma's mouth. "For the last time Leopold William Fitz, we are not getting a bloody monkey!"
"Can we at least get a dog, then?"
"Not right now, Fitz."
"Not even if he's named after a Disney dog? Like a Dalmatian named Pongo? Or a Cocker Spaniel named Lady? Or even a mutt named Tramp?"
"That's not fair! You are purposely using adorable Disney characters against me!"
Cole needed to interrupt the childish argument. "Uh, guys?"
Both turned their heads simultaneously. Wow, been here for almost a month and still not used to that. "Hello, Agent Baker," Jemma spoke sweetly. "Sorry you had to hear that." Her nose scrunched up.
"Yeah, we apologize," Fitz said. Jemma elbowed him. "I apologize," he corrected. These two need to stop being adorable.
"It's fine. Didn't hear that much of it anyway," Cole lied. "Just wanted to tell you two that Coulson's calling a meeting for noon in the command center." He turned back the way he came, but at the last second he added, "Oh, and Jemma?" She raised an eyebrow at her name. "Just call me Cole. It's kind of confusing with two Agent Bakers here." She smiled as he walked out the door and down the hall towards the bunks. He tried Lance's room first. No answer. He knocked on Bobbi's door.
He heard some muffled sounds, rustles, and then the click of the lock. Bobbi swung open the door, with tousled hair and a nervous look coming from the calm member of the team. Cole peered over her shoulder and spied Hunter's foot out of the covers on her bed. He dared not to say anything, fearing that Bobbi would personally beat him with her batons until he could not recall any of the scene. "Coulson wants a team meeting at noon in the command center. Pass on the information to Lance for me?" Cole tried to seem oblivious. Bobbi nodded her head quickly and slammed the door in his face.
And then there were two, and where one was, the other was bound to be close. Since he and Cole joined SHIELD, Hayden had hardly left his secret crush's side. It was mostly because of the hidden attraction he felt towards her, but within a week he found that they actually had a lot in common. Take their tastes in movies for example. After their breakfast together one week in, they had a Disney movie marathon for the entire weekend. As Cole strolled into the red room today, he found them spread across the couch with a bowl of popcorn between them. Today's movie of choice: Jurassic Park. From the looks of the popcorn strewn across them, they'd had a popcorn war. "Whatever you do," Skye began, "do not watch this movie with Jemma. She talks through the entire film about how completely biologically inaccurate it is."
Cole tried to get their attention "Guys?" The two turned towards him while pausing the movie.
"What's up, Baby Bro? Fitz catch something on fire again," Hayden joked.
"1.) Please stop calling me that. 2.) No. And 3.) Coulson's calling for a meeting at noon in the command center." He backed out of the room and back towards the garage to help out Mack. I deserve something for that, he thought. Not much. Doesn't even have to be a gift card or anything. A freaking gold sticker would make me happy, right now.
Skye turned towards Hayden before playing the film. "'Baby Bro?'" she questioned.
"What? I've always had that nickname for him."
"He obviously doesn't like it. Go a bit easier on him, okay? I think he's still adjusting to the team. I mean, it's not like he's made a new best friend since joining like you."
Hayden furrowed his brow. "Best friend, huh?"
Skye nudge him in the arm. "Well, I'd like to think that people who watch at least five movies a week and eat early morning breakfast together are best friends." Hayden simply smiled as she started the movie again.
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