Ward did not know how to take care of kids. At all. So that's why, when the rest of the team was on a mission in Belgium, they suddenly got a call from Ward, frantically telling them to come back and that he didn't know what to do and that Brynn was crying. He sounded positively terrified.

The team captured their targets in less the five minutes, and then raced back to the base, thinking that some disaster had broken out and all their agents were dead.

When they got there though, they were greeted by very calm agents, who went about their business as if nothing had happened. They went into the kitchen, and Ward was sitting at the kitchen table, holding Brynn who was wrapped up in a huge fleece blanket, looking rather pale and green. She had a two thermometers in her mouth, a thermometer sticking out from the left side of the blanket, and three sticking out of the right. She also had an ice pack on her head.

"She's sick, and I don't know what to do," said Ward guiltily. Brynn whimpered and spat out the thermometers in her mouth.

"Seriously Ward? This was it? I thought the place burned down or something." Coulson walked over and plucked all the thermometers from the blanket. "Where did you get all of these thermometers anyways?"

"She was throwing up and her forehead was very hot. I tried to make some chicken broth, but I burned it."

"How do you burn chicken broth?" asked Fitz, rinsing all of the thermometers.

"Apparently it can happen," said Ward glumly, "I needed to make her something warm."

"What did you give her?" asked Simmons, removing the melted ice pack from Brynn's forehead.

"I made her coffee."

"You what?!" Simmons almost fainted. "You don't give a sick child coffee!"

"You don't give children coffee in general, sick or not!" yelled May.

"I didn't know what to do! It's the only thing I can make" pleaded Ward, "She just kept throwing up and coughing!"

Coulson sighed and sat down. "When did this all happen?"

The night before, Ward was fast asleep in his bunk, dreaming of apple pie that tasted like cheese. Suddenly, the apple pie began to reach up and tap him on the head! He awoke with a start, and Brynn was standing by his bed, poking his face.

"I don't feel good," she whimpered, climbing onto the bed.

Ward let her stay with him for the night. In the morning, her forehead was burning up and she was sniffling.

"I need to throw up," she whispered, and tears began to collect in her eyes.

"Please don't cry!" said Ward frantically, jumping out of bed and putting on a bathrobe. He wrapped Brynn in a blanket and ran into the men's bathroom. Then he ran out of the men's bathroom and ran into the women's. A few female agents gawked at the sight of a man in a pink and white striped bathrobe holding a sobbing child wrapped in a fluffy blanket. They quickly ran out. He dropped her beside the toilet and ran to get a cup of water for her. When he returned, she was sobbing against the stall door. In a frantic hurry, he basically dumped the water down her throat and picked her up again, running back to his bunk. A few agents stared. She fell into an uneasy sleep, and Ward sat beside her and arranged some gummy vitamin pills on the nightstand. She slept for about half an hour, and then they had to rush to the bathroom again. While she slept, he would hold a piece of string over her nose to make sure she was still alive and breathing. This repeated for about three hours, and by the time noon rolled by, Grant was still in his striped bathrobe. Leaving Brynn asleep on his bed, he left to go change in the closet. When he came back, she was awake and trying to sit up.

"My head hurts," she groaned, "and my stomach and my chest and my arms and my legs and—"

Ward handed her a cup of water and the gummy vitamins.

"I think these are the pills little kids take when they're sick," he said, "You should probably take them."

There were about five or six. Brynn chewed them all and drank some water.

"I want food."

Ward picked her up and wrapped her tightly in a blanket and walked to the kitchen. He plopped her down on a chair and went to the pantry to look for some canned soup. He only found some chicken broth, so he decided to heat that up. When he returned from the pantry, he found Brynn in a tangle of blankets on the ground, crying again.

"I fell off the chair," she sobbed, "and my head hurts and I can't get up."

Ward had to stop himself from laughing at the pitiable sight. When she wouldn't stop crying, though, he started to panic. After putting ice on her head where she fell and hit it, he called Coulson. Meanwhile the chicken broth began to boil….

Simmons sighed.

"You gave her gummy vitamins?"

"I thought those were the pills that little kids were supposed to take." Ward looked very lost.

"Those are daily supplements, Ward, and they're only supposed to take one a day, not six. When someone's sick, you give them vitamin C and DayQuil or NyQuil. Not gummies." She sighed again and stirred the pot on the stove.

"I've never had to take care of a sick kid before. She won't die, will she?" Ward twisted his hands around nervously, "I've never seen that much throw up come out of such a small person."

Simmons started to laugh. "No, she just has the flu. She won't die. But the coffee certainly made things quite a bit worse. So did the gummy vitamins." She poured the soup into a bowl and went over to the couch were Brynn was laying.

"Here, sweetie, drink some soup."

"No." said Brynn, turning her head to the inside of the couch.

"But it's good for you. You need to eat," said Simmons, trying to pry Brynn's head around.

"I don't want to eat," whined Brynn feebly, "My head hurts and my stomach hurts."

Simmons was at a loss. She didn't know how to make Brynn eat her soup.

"Skye drank her soup when she was sick. Can't you?"

"No."

Simmons turned around to Coulson. "A little help?" she mouthed at him.

He walked over to the couch. "If you eat soup, Fitz will give you candy," he bribed.

"No he won't!" yelled Simmons, "She cannot have candy right now!"

Brynn shook her head.

"I don't want food."

Coulson turned around to Simmons. "I don't understand. Skye was never this stubborn when she was sick… neither was Fitz or anyone else…"

Simmons shrugged. "Maybe it's because Skye's an adult. Try a different tactic."

Coulson turned back around to Brynn. "Well, what do you want?"

Brynn was silent for a moment. "I want to be cuddled," she whimpered softly.

Coulson's mouth dropped open, and he looked at Simmons who mouthed

"Well cuddle her!"

Coulson shook his head furiously and said "I think Mack would be happy to cuddle you!"

"I will?" asked Mack indignantly from the corner where he was standing, "I'm busy. I think Fitz would like to cuddle you."

"Wha-I-I will?"

"No one wants to cuddle me!" wailed Brynn, pulling the blankets over her head.

"Look what you've done!" said Lance angrily coming over, "Now you made her upset! I'll cuddle her!"

He sat down and pulled Brynn onto his lap and promptly began to cuddle her.

"No, no I didn't mean that—" began Mack.

"I do want to cuddle—" started Coulson.

"I would be happy to—" stuttered Fitz.

"Too late!" said Lance triumphantly, "the damage is done. I get to cuddle her."

Bobbi and Skye walked into the lounge and saw four men squabbling over who got to cuddle Brynn, with Brynn sleeping happily in a triumphant Hunter's arms.

Bobbi and Skye looked at Simmons, who just shook her head.

"Well after you, it's my turn!" hissed Fitz.

Coulson carried Brynn into her bedroom and put her down on the bed.

"If you need anything, ring the bell and one of us will come, okay?" he pulled the covers over her and placed a glass of Gatorade beside her bed. He thought she was falling asleep, so he began to sneak out of the room, when she reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Yes, Brynn?"

"Can you tell me a bedtime story? Please?"

"Sure," he replied, climbing onto the bed, "What do you want to hear?"

"Anything."

Coulson thought for a moment, and then began. "There once was a brave little man named Steve…."

May looked cautiously into Brynn's room. Brynn was nodding off to sleep, and Coulson was sitting next to her on the bed, no jacket or shoes and his tie loosed and sleeves rolled up. Then she heard Coulson talking:

"And so Steve Rogers, the once puny man, turned into America's hero, and is the best Avenger. The End."

May smiled to herself and took a picture of the pair. So much for Coulson not reading any bedtime stories.