This idea was suggested to me by memorysdaughter a long time ago. The objective was to recreate the events of (FZZT) where Jemma was infected with the Chitauri virus. I used the recently information (that Jemma had scoliosis when she was little) and wrote this chapter, slightly basing it on the disease idea.
It also reveals the true reason why Fury was involved in Jemma's adoption, which hadn't been addressed before (MLN asked me that question, and here it is answered)
(Trip is 19, Lance is 16), Grant is 15, Leo is 13, Jemma is 13, Skye is 11 and Avalyn is 5.
"What can you see?" Jemma asked curious, wanting to toss and turn and leave bed, but she couldn't. "Tell me, Leo," she said impatiently.
"Hold on," Leo chuckled. "I found your favorite," he told her whilst still peeking through the telescope. "Wow –"
"I know, I know it's beautiful," she whined, frustrated. "I wish I could see it."
Scoliosis had Jemma bedridden for two weeks now. She hated having to depend on others to do stuff for her, she hated having to lay in bed every day and night, muscles already sore and numb, she hated people being around her, keeping her company, but she also hated to be alone. Luckily, Leo listened to every of her complains but never took it personally. She was bored out of her mind, and he knew it.
Leo put down the telescope and crawled closer to her bedside, "Why is Pleiades your favorite constellation?" he asked, lying face up on the floor, heads under his head.
Jemma, in bed, lay on her side, so that she could look better at him, "You've just seen it. It's beautiful," her grin grew as she explained. "The cluster is dominated by blue, shining stars. Can you imagine how it'd feel like to float around in that vastness of cosmic dark, letting the starlight guide you? It must be amazing."
The teenage boy didn't have time to say anything. There was a knock on the door; a kick on the door, actually.
"Leo, open up the door for me please?" Coulson asked.
He promptly got to his feet and opened the door for his father who carried a tray with Jemma's dinner. Coulson put the tray over Skye's bed that was across from Jemma's, to help the girl push herself up to eat. While the man gently grabbed the girl, Leo adjusted her pillow so that she could sit up comfortably and still have her back fully supported.
"How do you feel sweetie?" Coulson asked whilst he put the tray over Jemma's lap and handed her the cutlery.
"I'm tired of being in bed."
Coulson stroked her hair, "Bear with it just a few more days." He turned to his son, telling him, "Go and have dinner. I'll stay here with Jem until she finishes eating."
Leo nodded and left, leaving the two of them alone.
"Is mom home already?"
"I spoke with her just a while ago. She said it shouldn't take her much longer to arrive. And she said she's bringing someone to see you."
Jemma's eyes lighted up, "Is he really coming?"
"He promised he'd visit you as soon as he found the time, didn't he?"
"He's been saying that for the past two weeks," Jemma pointed out and resumed eating.
"He's a busy man. But now he's here to visit you."
12 years before
Young agents Coulson and May were called to Director Fury's office. They could only imagine that they were in trouble. After their mission in Sausalito, almost two years before, it got harder and harder for them to hide their relation.
It started out as something merely physical; May wound up in Sausalito's bay for five hours before Coulson got a hold of her. She was tired, angry – the commander of their mission sent them without an extraction plan but didn't tell them that – and completely soaked wet. When her good friend showed up and took her to the hotel room, so that she could change clothes, lust got the better of themselves. They woke up tangled in each other, clothes scattered all over the floor, pleased smiles on their faces and minds cleared of any regret. There was, however, the promise that that had been a onetime thing; they didn't want to ruin their friendship and partnership.
They didn't keep up with the promise, and soon enough lust turned into something more. They were in Colombia, under a bullet haze, when he said that if they'd make it out alive that they should marry. They made it out alive and well, but his words were still ringing in the back of May's head weeks after the mission. It wasn't that she didn't love him (they had been dating for two years now), she just had her doubts. Their lifestyle didn't seem compatible with marriage, a family or a happy life. Coulson didn't speak about his proposal anymore; he sensed that she was in a tight spot and he'd very much preferred to keep her as a friend a partner than having to live without her. That was until one day May asked him if his offer was still standing. They eloped. They married in Italy and spent a month in honeymoon, traveling through Europe.
Coulson and May had been married for four months now, and upon knowing that they had been called to the Director's office, they could only imagine that he had found out why they had eloped. They feared being fired, but at the same time, they weren't too concerned with the thought; as long as they were together, they'd be alright. They had already bought a two-story house in the suburbs of New York, had been remodeling it, and were looking forward to have two children occupying the two bedrooms of the house. Work was pushed to second plan, their relationship being their top priority. After long-termed failed relationships (Coulson had dated a cellist named Audrey Nathan, and May had dated a psychologist, Andrew Garner), they found everything that had been looking for in each other. Everything else in life seemed easier to get through and not as important.
"Let's just get it over with," May told her husband as he seemingly froze by the door of the Director's office.
He smiled and strolled after her. Coulson loved how single-minded and brave she was. May opened the door and waited for Fury's indication to walk in.
"Take a seat you two. How was Europe?" Fury asked, looking up from a file.
"It was nice," Coulson stuttered.
"The reason why I've called you here might be a bit ironic, to be honest," he showed them the file he was looking at. "Ruby and Jude Simmons, former SHIELD agents. Died –"
May furrowed her brows, "If this is because Phil and I married and –"
"They died in a car crash a few weeks ago. They left orphaned a daughter, Jemma, thirteen months old. She's my goddaughter."
There was silence; Coulson and May looked at the file again.
Fury continued, "I want to find her a good home. There's no next of kin that she can be given to, so the social services want me to look after her but I can't. So, I'm asking you this, not as SHIELD's Director, but as a friend: look after Jemma until I find her a home."
Coulson promptly nodded his head, "Yes, of course. We'll keep an eye on her while you try to solve this."
"Thank you," Fury honestly said. "I'll leave her at your house tonight."
"Uncle Nick!" Jemma cheered as soon as she saw him walking in her bedroom.
Coulson looked back and stood up, shaking the man's hand, "Jemma was wondering if you were really coming or not."
"I said I'd come as soon as I'd find time. Go on and have dinner," Fury clapped Coulson's shoulder. "I'll stay with her."
"Thank you," the other replied before leaving.
Fury took a seat in bed next to Jemma, "How are you feeling?"
"Bored, tired of being flat on my back. Wish I could be outside, looking at the stars instead. Leo managed to see Pleiades which just happens to be my favorite constellation. Ugh," he huffed and threw her head back, "help me."
"Your father loved the stars too. He used to tell the story of how humanity would come to an end and everyone would pin their hopes on a group of astronauts to go out and explore space and spread human life to another planet. According to him, soon the astronauts would realize that it was just one big cycle because unless humanity is capable of change, the end of humanity will happen all over again, whether on Earth or on another planet. Your mother would laugh, calling him the Great Master of Melodrama, and when you came along, he'd put you to sleep with this crazy story of his."
"Well, but he was right. If we don't change our ways, then there's no use moving to another place. It'll always be in our nature to be humans, both good things and the bad ones."
"If they were alive, you two would melt your mother's brain with these talks," he commented with a chuckle.
"You never told me about them," she said. "How were they?"
"Just look at yourself. You look just like your mother, got her courage, and you've got your father's intelligence and like things he liked. It's as if you've lived them your entire life, as if you've been raised you and taught by them."
"Maybe I have. Maybe my birth parents and my adoptive parents aren't that different."
Fury sighed, pondering on her words for a while, "They are not that different."
Three months after giving Jemma to Coulson and May, Fury was back at their house. He believed he had found a suitable family for Jemma.
"What brings you around?" May casually asked as she opened the door for Fury and let him walk in.
Fury noticed that the TV was on the cartoons channel, there was a pile of tiny clothes over the couch, waiting to be folded, and over the table were, among the dishware and cutlery for the adults, a sippy cup, a small spoon and fork and an also small plate. He gave up right then and there on the idea of giving Jemma to the family he had found. Coulson and May were the family that deserved to keep her.
"Where's Coulson?"
May tilted her head so that he'd follow her. Coulson was out in the backyard with Jemma, tossing her in the air, the baby girl giggling. He safely caught her in his arms on the way down and stopped tossing her, allowing Jemma to recover her breath. The baby looked up at the starry sky and threw her arms up, opening and closing her fists.
"Lil' Be'r," she babbled.
"Yes, that's the Little Bear constellation. How did you know that?" Pointing at the sky, Coulson continued, "See that bright star? That's Polaris, the North Star. If you follow it, it'll always guide you home."
"Dadda," Jemma said with a big toothy smile. "Up! Up!"
The proud smile on Coulson's face and the small, delighted smile that May tried to repress cemented Fury's thoughts.
"You two want to keep her, don't you?"
May's eyes were focused on her husband and the giggly little girl, "More than anything."
Next chapter focuses on Grant, and it will be his departure as well.