SUMMARY: In which Skye asks the team what they would name their children and gets surprising answers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Surprisingly, I really enjoyed writing this chapter and rooting through the wikis to find appropriate names. The only one I had real trouble with was May, so I had to improvise a tad.

I know that some people wanted more SkyeWard, and someone mentioned something about tattoos, so that should be coming out next chapter, as I'll combine the both of them.

FitzSimmons and Marie the cat is a nod to my fic 26, in which Simmons dobs it that affectionately, and Simmons liking the colour yellow is from Chapter Thirteen of this very story; Still the Same.

Also, I really like the idea of these guys future kids, and normally I don't do those sorts of things, but I think it'd be cool to try experiementing with what I think their children would be like, so let me know if you'd like that.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Colour

"What's your favourite colour?"

"What?" May looked surprised at her question, taking a brief moment to spare Skye a glance, before she turned back to something far more important - flying the plane. As per normal, the Calvary was tucked away in the cockpit, overseeing the controls and flying the BUS. Skye wasn't entirely sure why she was up there, in all reality. She had found herself milling around with nothing to do, and so she had sought someone to talk to. May had been the nearest victim.

"Your favourite colour," Skye repeated, moving forward and flopping herself down in the seat next to May. "What is it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Skye shrugged in response. She moved to kick her legs up, but then realised that May might not appreciate the gesture and pulled her legs up to her chest instead. "I'm bored. We haven't been on a proper mission in.. forever."

"That's a good thing, Skye," May said seriously, and Skye couldn't help but nod, although she wasn't quite so sure. Yeah, missions were dangerous and all, but they gave her something to do and they helped others. What could possibly be so bad about helping others? "Why don't you go talk to Ward, or FitzSimmons?"

"FitzSimmons are busy, and Ward's been on a training streak recently. Every time I see him, he keeps pressuring me to do some more drills or to learn something new. Don't get me wrong, Ward's cool and all, but I've had enough roundhouse kicks to last my entire life," she sighed, her muscles aching at the mere thought of fighting with Ward. Last night they had trained well into the night, and it was Coulson who had stopped them from continuing any further. Lately, Ward had been getting more aggressive with his training regimes, often working her to the breaking point. Skye liked having him as her SO (she would have no other, really) but sometimes enough was enough.

"He's just worried for you," May answered shortly. "No one wants to see you get hurt again."

"It was one time," Skye groaned, rolling her eyes. "How was I supposed to know Quinn was sporting a gun and a target list?" She was joking, but the truth was that the experience had terrified her. You didn't just get shot and bounce back from it, no matter how many times May seemed to act otherwise.

"And that one time almost killed you," May returned sternly. Skye didn't respond, sobering up after that comment. It was May who broke the silence, sighing instead. "White. My favourite colour's white."

"Why?" Skye questioned curiously, everything all but forgotten in her sudden interest.

"It's a clean colour. It's fresh, it means you can.. start anew. Things can stain it and change the colour, but I think every colour uses a bit of white."

"That's.. weirdly philosophical," Skye raised her eyebrows, staring out the cockpit window at the familiar pink tinge of sunset sky.

"Okay. Next question."

"What?" Surprise made Skye whip her head to look at May again.

"Two questions. I'm letting you ask two questions. You just had your first. What's the other?"

A slow smile made her way up onto Skye's features, and she thought for a long moment, simply enjoying the safe silence of May's presence. "What would you name your children? A boy name, and a girl's."

"Children aren't on the plan," May said softly, but Skye was pretty sure she saw something that resembled a smile.

"Why not? I think you'd be a good mom," she replied, and she wasn't surprised to find that she was being honest. While May hadn't exactly been the friendliest at first, she had always protected Skye, and had always been there for her. Besides, she had heard the stories about how the Calvary had soldiered in and beat the crap out of Quinn.

"That's a third question. I only said two," May pointed out instead of answering, and Skye smirked.

"Then answer my second one."

It was silent for a long time as May thought, but it wasn't a bad silence. Skye could almost understand why May spent so much time in the cockpit. It was quiet, and there was something comforting about the way the clouds drifted lazily across the sky and the way the setting sun cast a cheerful glow through the window.

"I don't know," was the final answer.

"Come on, don't tell me you've never thought of the idea before," Skye scoffed, but the silence was all she needed.

"Pick a name for me, then."

"What about.. Minerva, after that Roman war goddess or whatever?" Skye suggested, after a few minutes of pondering. May looked surprised, but she nodded.

"I like that name."

"And.. I don't know, Mars for the boy? If we're going to keep with the Roman theme," Skye shrugged, but to her surprise May smiled.

"Yeah. I like those names."

"Minerva May and Mars May. Consider them if you decide to make babies, yeah?" Skye laughed.

"I'm not planning to-"

"-yeah, yeah. I know. But can you imagine a Mini May, helping you to kick butt?"

"Skye."

"Right, sorry. But still."

...

Skye made her way into Coulson's office without a second thought, settling herself onto his desk with all the ease in the world. The man in question looked up at her with an unsurprised look, seeming more amused than anything else.

"Get off my desk."

"Nope," Skye announced cheerfully. At his reprimanding look, she slipped down and seated herself in the chair with a tiny sigh. Normally she knew that Coulson probably would have shooed her out of his office, but recently he had been letting her off on most things. The whole team had, if she thought about it. Apart from Ward, who did the exact opposite. But she couldn't understand why. Sure, she'd been shot, and almost died. And maybe it was a good thing (she'd been able to convince May to let her sneak popcorn into her bunker the other day), but she wanted to prove that she was strong. Independent. Kind of like May. No one coddled her.

"What do you want, Skye?" Coulson sighed, turning back to his paperwork and scribbling something down. She resisted the urge to pull a face at the sight. Why he still bothered with paper-work, she would never understand (spoken by a true tech-gal).

"I wanted to see the old man," Skye sing-songed, adding a smirk to accompany it.

Coulson merely gave her a look, and she sighed again, propping her feet up on the desk. "Okay, okay. I'm bored. FitzSimmons are being.. sciency, Ward and May are training. There's only so much you can do by yourself."

"Why don't you train with them then?" Coulson suggested, looking back down at his work.

"Dr Simmons announced that I had done too much physical exertion already," Skye said, attempting to impersonate Simmons' accent. Unfortunately, it came out far too posh and almost wrangled, and she had to wince at the terribleness of it all.

"I'm not here to entertain you, Skye."

"Come on," Skye whined playfully. "You should loosen up a little. You can still work, I just want to ask you some questions."

"A questionaire? Really?"

"It's a team bonding thing I'm trying," Skye shrugged, giving him a grin. "Just go with it. I got May to answer already."

That seemed to settle it for Coulson, and he shook his head, working away at his desk. "Go on, then."

"I just want to ask two questions," Skye started off, pulling her feet from the table and tucking them up to her chest. "Just two. That's all."

"I already said yes, Skye," Coulson pointed out mildly.

"What's your favourite colour?"

His answer was immediate, much to Skye's surprise. "Red."

"Red? Why? Not to be, you know, morbid or anything, but that's the colour of blood," she blurted out.

Coulson raised his eyebrow at her. "Not morbid at all. I like it because-"

And suddenly Skye knew just what he was about to say, rolling her eyes and quirking the corner of her lip into a mischevious smirk. "Because Lola's red?"

He nodded as if that was perfectly normal. "Yeah." Skye decided not to comment (for once), instead leaning back.

"Okay.. Next question. What would you name your children, if you had any? A boy and a girl."

"Baby names?" Coulson's eyes narrowed, but he smiled. "What, do I need to ask who the father is?"

"Woah, woah," Skye put her hands up, shaking her head quickly. "No. Just.. no. That is.. I would never do that, AC!" She paused suddenly. "Well, I did come close to it once. But, no! This is not a coversation I'm having with you!"

"It's not a conversation you're going to have with anyone," Coulson said sternly. "Alright? No baby Skye's."

"Scouts honor. I would never.. seriously?" She shook her head repeatedly, trying to ignore Coulson's amused look. "Ugh, mini-me would be so hard to deal with."

"Julie," Coulson said unexpectedly.

"What?"

"I'd name the girl Julie. After my mother," Coulson explained. Skye saw then that his eyes darkened, and she realised that she hardly knew a thing about their team leader. For some reason, that made her regretful. Despite all the ups and downs, she did love the team. Strangely, they had all crept up on her. She was pretty sure she would give her life for any of theirs. She just hoped she wouldn't ever have to, but the chances were pretty slim, seeing as her life had almost slipped away not too long ago.

"That's.. really sweet," Skye mused, giving him a reassuring nod. "And the boy?"

"Roger. After Steven Rogers."

"Oh my God, you are such a fanboy."

...

"H7," Skye declared, grinning impishly at Ward from behind a board of Battleship. Ward was looking at her in poorly concealed confusion, although he still played the game flawlessly (nothing new there).

"Miss," Ward announced, much to Skye's disappointment. She would never understand how he managed to beat her at every single game of Battleship. He claimed that he simply used strategy, but Skye was almost certain that he was cheating somehow. She'd have to have Fitz sweep the area for bugs later.

"I swear, if you sink another ship.."

"Alright, what do you want?" Ward's question pulled her from her contemplating in surprise.

"What?" She frowned at him in obvious confusion as he leaned back and gave her a knowing look.

"You've been avoiding me all week. I know that you're trying to skive on lessons with me."

Skye's mouth fell open, and she peered at him suspiciously. "What? Who-"

"Coulson," Ward answered simply. Skye rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Of course it hadn't been May. The Calvary knew better than to spill details like that. "Now you come to me, suddenly eager for a game of Battleship? What are you looking for?"

"Me? Looking for something? Pfft.." Skye attempted to scorn her way out of the tricky situation, but her lie soon fell flat and she sighed, left with no other choice but to confess. "Okay, it's a.. game I've been trying to do. Ask every member of the team two of the same questions. See what the answers are." She shrugged at his skeptical expression, poking at one of her ships. "Hey, I was bored. I've got May and Coulson already, so you should be a piece of cake. Please?"

He stayed stoic for a long time, but eventually he gave a brief nod, and Skye's features split into a wide grin. "See? I've got you wrapped around my little finger."

"Skye.." He warned, and Skye held up her hands apologetically, although she was laughing.

"Okay, okay, sorry. Jeez, just take your turn and win already."

"G6," Ward answered after a long moment of staring contemplatively at his side of the board. Skye gave him a triumphant smirk and shook her head.

"Nope," she crowed. "Finally. One day I will beat you at Battleship, Agent Ward."

He rolled his eyes, but moved to place a white checker in the right place methodically. Skye had to admit, she found it curious that they had such an old-fasioned version of Battleship. You'd think that a top-secret facility would have electronic board games, but apparently Fury was old-fashioned on that front.

"Okay, just get to your first question before I change my mind and make you do some more drills," Ward responded drily, giving her a roll of his eyes to accompany his tone.

"What woke you up on the wrong side of the bed?" Skye muttered under her breath, leaning back to examine her side of the board. "A8. Okay, first question. Your favourite colour?"

Ward raised his eyebrows, as if her question was stupid. "Out of all the questions.. you ask the most generic one?"

"Sorry for not wanting to delve into your whole life story, Ward," Skye replied scornfully.

She earned a sigh from her SO, and he leaned back in his seat. "Missed my battleship. My favourite colour's blue."

"Blue?" Skye stared at him curiously, plucking a white pin from the tiny pile. "Blue like.. the sky, maybe?" She teased, pleased when he gave her a tiny smile in response.

"No, more like navy blue. F4."

"Why navy blue?" Skye pressed, all while suppressing a groan. "Hit."

"Do I need a reason?" He looked skeptical as he waved the red pin at her. "It's just a colour, Skye."

"Fine then," Skye grumbled good-naturedly, all while muttering under her breath about the ways Ward could possibly have hit her battleship. "What would you name your future children? Both genders."

Ward gave her a strange look, but stopped to think over it. "Children?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "What, the robot doesn't know what children are? Come on, Ward. Even May answered."

"John. For the boy," Ward answered after a long silence.

Skye frowned, attempting to scour her memories for any hint at why Ward might have wanted to name his child John, of all things. She leaned forward and propped her chin on her hands, the game all but forgotten as she searched his gaze curiously. "John Ward. Nice ring to it. But why?"

"My SO," Ward explained quickly, his voice going quiet. "John Garret. He trained me in ways you.. wouldn't believe. Like the father I never had."

Skye felt a pang of sympathy, reaching over to thread her fingers with his on impulse. Having grown up in many foster homes as a child, she couldn't geniunely say she missed having parents. But she did regret not having them. And while she would give up anything for parents, she understood that not all parents were the loving, caring ones depicted in fairy tales and children's books.

"And the girl?" Skye pressed gently.

Ward shrugged, seeming non too bothered to come up with a name for the girl. "Melinda, maybe?"

"May?" Skye couldn't conceal the obvious surprise from her shocked tone, releasing his hand as she stared at him curiously. "Why after May?"

"The Calvary's pretty cool," Ward shrugged, looking not all too sure himself.

"Yeah, well. She's not known as the ice queen for nothing," Skye scoffed good-naturedly.

They both exchanged a startled glance when they heard a familar, "don't call me that," from just around the corner.

...

"So. What are you geniuses working on now?" Skye probed curiously.

Simmons brightened instantly, dropping her attention from her microscope to beam warmly at the hacker. "Well, actually-"

"On second thought," Skye added hastily, tugging the laptop on her lab closer to her. "That's fine." As much as Skye loved the science duo, sometimes they got far too carried away with their meticulous explanations, and quite frankly she never understood ninety percent of it anyway. In fact, she was almost certain that FitzSimmons were the only ones on the plane who actually understood the strange language that Skye liked to call 'science babble'.

They were in the lab (and by they, she meant her, Fitz and Simmons), whiling the afternoon away. FitzSimmons were working on something (she honestly didn't want to inquire what) and she was accompanying them while she worked out stuff on her laptop.

"Hey guys," Skye said suddenly, breaking up the good-natured bickering of the pair without quite intending to. "Can I ask you guys a question? Or two questions, actually?"

"Sure," Simmons said brightly, while Fitz muttered at the same time,

"Well, actually-" at a sharp glance from Simmons, he halted suddenly, "yeah, yeah that's fine. Ask away."

"It's something I'm doing with the whole team," Skye explained, deciding that maybe explaining her random questioning would make her seem a little less weird. "A.. trivia thing. It's like.. team bonding. But with me. You guys are the last ones."

"That's a lovely idea," Simmons smiled kindly, seemingly geniune. "Of course Fitz and I would be happy to participate. Well, as long as it doesn't involve anything out of protocol, because, well, that wouldn't do, and you know how easily I snap under pressure-"

"Simmons," Fitz cut her off quickly, and Skye gave her an incredulous look. Sometimes, she really did ramble on.

"What are your favourite colours?" Fitz and Simmons looked surprised at her question, but answered smoothly.

"Well, Fitz likes green-"

"-and Simmons likes yellow."

Skye gave them a strange look, tearing her gaze away from her laptop to stare at them. "Seriously? You even have matching colours?"

"It's not like we planned it that way," Fitz huffed, but Skye ignored him and gave them a smile instead.

"Aw.. that's adorable."

"Skye.." Simmons began, Fitz bumbling beside her. Skye had to stifle an amused lab, instead focusing back in the screen of her laptop.

"You guys better not pick the same answers for the next question, or I'm going to be seriously concerned. What are you gonna name your children? Like, if you ever have kids."

The lab was silent (a miracle in itself, really) as Fitz and Simmons pondered over it for a while. Skye was almost surprised. Simmons had said herself that she excelled at preparation, so honestly she was rather surprised that the scientist hadn't planned out her children already. She guessed that no one really had much time for those sorts of things when working for an agency such as SHIELD.

"Marie," it was Simmons who answered first, with a gentle grin. "After Marie Curie."

"Oh, Simmons," Fitz sounded appalled, and he rolled his eyes at Simmons. Skye perked up in sudden interest, slamming the lid of the laptop down and leaning forward. After all, watching Fitz and Simmons banter was far more entertaining than any viral cat video. And Skye definitely sensed bickering on the horizon.

"What? I can name my child whatever I wish," Simmons said indignantly, looking highly defensive and as she pulled rubber gloves off her hands.

"Yeah, but you are not naming a poor child after a dead cat. Or more specifically, a dead cat's liver."

"What's this about a dead cat?" Skye switched her gaze between the two in bemusement, suddenly rather confused. She could handle FitzSimmons' SHIELD Hogwarts talk, but right now she was seriously questioning their sanity.

"Tell her about the cat, Simmons," Fitz demanded, waving a lab instrument rather precariously.

"We didn't properly name the cat-"

"-it's the thought that matters, Simmons-"

"-and besides, the child doesn't have to know-"

"-branding the poor child like that, how could you-"

-not to mention that Marie Simmons goes well together-"

"-yeah, well, who said that you'll keep your maiden name-"

"-fine then!" Simmons threw her hands up in the air, abandoning all the science equipment in her exasperation. "I won't name her Marie. Grace Holloway is just as inspirational."

"Grace Simmons," Skye rolled the name around in her mouth, shrugging lightly. "It's not bad, I guess. What about the boy?"

"I always thought Benjamin was a nice name," Simmons announced right off the bat, sounding far too positive for Skye's liking. "After Benjamin-"

"-Franklin, Simmons, you're far too predictable," Fitz grumbled.

Skye stared at the both of them, giving a roll of her shoulders in a half shrug. "I couldn't have predicted that," she muttered under her breath, but no one was listening anyway, the both of them deciding just to plain bicker over her with exaggerated motions and harsh tones that somehow seemed affectionate at the same time.

"Like naming your child after Isaac Newton isn't predictable," Simmons scoffed.

"Yeah, well. Isaac's a.. cool name."

Skye stared at both of them, before clicking her teeth and sliding off the table. She tugged her laptop from the bench and began to leave the lab. "Well, you're officially my last victims."

"Wait," Fitz looked confused, "aren't you going to ask me about mine?"

"Nope," Skye called behind her, barely contained laughter evident in her tone of voice. "You guys are practically a married couple anyway."

...

"Where did you learn to cook this stuff, May?" Skye murmured appreciatively as she dug into the plate that had been placed in front of her. They were all gathered in the main living area, perched in front of a TV (FitzSimmons had forced Doctor Who and a communal dinner onto the team) as a team, something that was almost weird, despite the numerous amount of missions they'd all been on together.

"You learn a lot of things when you're undercover," was May's short answer, one that sent a ripple of faint laughter through the room.

The next few minutes were swallowed by the sounds of cutlery clinking against plates and the sound of British people (and was that a gun shot?) coming from the screen.

"Skye?" Simmons probed curiously.

"Yeah?"

"I know you've asked everyone else this, but.. what would you name your children?"

Skye paused as the team turned to hear her answer. Earlier when she had been questioning the others, she hadn't quite realised just how hard it was to think of a good answer. Just when she wanted a good name, they all seemed to escape from her grasp. The silence was stretched for a long moment, until the perfect names suddenly sprung to mind, and she gave the others a small smile.

"Mike. After Mike Peterson." Her answer was met with approving smiles and heartfelt looks. "And the girl.. Avery. After-"

"-Linda Avery," Coulson finished, and when she looked up she found that he was giving her a proud smile.

"Those are sweet names, Skye," Simmons smiled.

"Probably the best out of all of us," Ward commented.

"You got that right," Skye grinned, turning back to the screen once more. They resumed in silence, until suddenly Skye shot up like a rocket, almost knocking everything to the floor.

"Skye? What's wrong?"

"I've got the perfect name! Natasha, after-"

"-you are not naming your child after the Black Widow, Skye."