A/N:Sorry for the giant wait between the last chapter and this one but I was away on my holidays. Back now, though!

I hope you like this chapter, and points for anyone who can pick out the superhero cameo from the comics (without googling- you cheaters XD).

Phil Coulson had never been so confused and terrified at the same time, in his entire life. Ever.

He had been scared, terrified, before. Like the time Bobbi hadn't come home from school when she was thirteen and it had taken five and a half hours to track her down to some out of the way park where she had tagged along with some older kids from the high school. Those five and a half hours had been terrifying, because Phil literally had no idea where to find his little girl, and with every passing minute he had thought of new and horrible things that might have happened to her.

Phil had been extremely confused before, too. When Phil Coulson was eighteen, Melinda May had agreed to marry him. Frankly, Phil will still confused as to why she had said 'yes'.

But despite his separate experiences of both confusion and being terrified, he had never felt the two emotions so strongly at the same time, as he had in the hospital room as his wife writhed around on the bed while the doctor began frantically checking the health of his unborn baby. The unborn child that Phil had had no idea about, until his son-in-law had announced it to the room over the phone.

Talk about a weird morning.

Phil stroked a thumb over the back of Melinda's hand and she smiled at him. The nurses had hooked her back up to some sort of fluids, and after some calming from Doctor Banner and an injection into her thigh, Melinda had relaxed significantly and allowed the Doctor to check her over.

"If I press here?" Doctor Banner asked, pushing down on part of Melinda's abdomen.

She shook her head. "No. Doesn't hurt."

"At all?" The doctor asked.

"At all." Mel said. "Nothing hurts anymore." She squeezed Phil's hand and he squeezed back.

Doctor Banner smiled and nodded. "I know that little episode must have been frightening-,"

Mel scoffed. "You think?"

The doctor smirked. "Sorry if that sounded insensitive. Sorry."

Phil cleared his throat. "It seemed like more than a 'little episode'." He said, looking down at his wife. Her hair was still damp from the sweat induced by said 'episode'. "Mel was really in a lot of pain. And, um, the baby, well, I mean…"

Banner nodded. "I understand you were both very worried. That's understandable."

Mel put a hand on her bare belly but moved it when one of the nurses began squirting gel onto her stomach. "You told me the baby was fine." She said quietly, looking to Bruce Banner.

"I know." He said. "And I stand by it."

She grimaced. "Well, that episode didn't feel 'fine'. It felt like my insides were trying to claw their way out of me."

Phil made a pained face at the mental image.

"Stress is a powerful thing, stress and trauma, especially in early pregnancy. It often causes cramps, pains, phantom discomfort-,"

"I can assure you," Melinda grumbled, "that was anything but phantom."

Banner gestured to one of the nurses and she switched off the lights in the room, leaving the only source emitting from the screen at the side of the bed. Phil watched in fascination as the doctor pressed the wand against his wife's belly and the blurry image appeared on screen.

"Deja vu, huh?" Banner said to Mel. She didn't crack a smile and man coughed and turned back to the screen. "Sorry. Now isn't the time for jokes." Banner began humming to himself, moving the wand over Mel's skin and watching the screen. "Thirteen weeks, perfect size. Great."

"Great?" Phil repeated. He had to crane his neck a little to see the blurry image of his baby on the screen, but in addition to that he had literally no experience with babies in the womb and had no idea what he was meant to be looking for. His stomach tightened. "Great as in the baby is okay?"

"Yeah." Banner said, and Phil felt Mel relax next to him.

She stared at the screen. "I thought the pain meant something, um, something bad was happening."

"Well it wasn't ideal." Doctor Banner said. "And your worry wasn't entirely unjust, but I think it was a physical manifestation of your stress."

Melinda nodded. "So," she said quietly, "the baby is okay? I wasn't having a…" She trailed off.

Banner turned away from the screen and smiled kindly at them both. Phil didn't know the man well, but he had taken good care of himself and Melinda, and apparently of their baby. God, baby. Phil was going to have a baby.

"You weren't having a miscarriage." The doctor said. The word sounded scientific, matter of fact, coming from Banner's mouth, but it still made both Phil and Melinda cringe. "Now we know that the pain was as a result of your trauma and stress, we can take action to make sure that it never happens again, okay."

"Okay." Mel said.

"Good." Doctor Banner said and turned to Phil. "I can only assume that this discovery of your wife's pregnancy was perhaps not idyllic, but I can try to make things a little happier for you."

Phil shrugged. "I don't think the day could get any weirder, might as well try to make it happier."

Mel rubbed her fingers over his palm.

Banner flicked a button, turned a dial, and then the room was filled with the steady thump of his baby's heartbeat, growing inside of his wife's belly. Phil's mouth went dry, and for a second, nothing but that tiny life's heartbeat existed in the universe.

"That's, that's the baby?" Phil asked.

"Sure is." Banner said. "You're going to be a Daddy."

Phil chuckled and grinned at Melinda. She had silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "I already am a Daddy." Phil smiled.

"Of course." Banner said. "I meant a Daddy again."

He kissed Melinda on the lips, bumping her nose with his and wiping away the tears with his thumbs. "You've got a baby in there." He said dumbly.

She sniffed. "I am so sorry I didn't tell you. But it didn't think you wanted another kid, and-,"

Phil kissed his wife again. "You stop that." He said seriously. "No saying 'sorry.' We're having a baby. Mel. "

"You're happy about it?" She asked.

Phil grinned. "So, so happy."

Doctor Banner stopped the sound of the baby's heartbeat, and all at once the room became too quiet with the absence of his youngest child. The baby was still on the monitor though, and Phil smiled at the small grey image of the little one. He watched as the doctor switched the lights back on and began talking about getting a print out of the baby's image for them to take home. Phil only half listened to the advice Banner was giving Melinda, even though he knew he should be listening, but thoughts of Skye and Nat and Bobbi seeing their baby brother or sister like he was, was overwhelming. And then Phil wanted to cry, because Bobbi wasn't there and Nat was probably worried to death outside of the room, and his little baby girl, Skye wasn't with them and she should have been. Skye should have been with them.

His gorgeous little girl was alone in that awful orphanage from which they had saved her. She was gone, and they had promised she would never have to go back there. They had let Skye down. He hadn't been the Daddy he had promised himself to be for Skye.

Phil was pulled from his reverie by the blur that was Natasha barrelling into the room, with Clint on her heels. They both ignored him in favour of rushing to Melinda's sides, one on one side of the bed, and one on the other. Nat nudged Phil out of the way until she could inspect her mother with her own eyes.

"Okay? Everything's okay?" Nat asked, looking from her mother to Banner and back again.

"I'm fine." Melinda smiled, holding out her arms for the kids. Phil was a little surprised to see Clint as well as Nat, cuddling up to Melinda's side. He smiled. Clint kissed Melinda's cheek. He must have really been worried. Mel pressed kisses to Natasha and Clint's temples, rubbing her nose briefly in Tasha's hair. "I'm fine. It's okay."

Clint let her go and shuffled back a little awkwardly to stand by the bed, picking at nothing on his fingers. Phil crossed the room and stood next to him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright?" Phil asked quietly, and Clint nodded. "Good, man."

When Phil looked back over to his wife and daughter, he smiled at Natasha having practically draped herself across Melinda's body, her face pressed into her mother's neck. Mel stroked her hair.

"Are you really pregnant?" Natasha mumbled. "You're going to have a baby?"

Phil smiled when Melinda pressed a kiss into Nat's hair. Legally an adult or not, that little redhead was still just a baby herself, really.

"I am." Melinda said with a little smile.

"And the baby's okay?"

"It is." Phil said. "I've seen. I've heard." He chuckled, still giddy at the memory of his child's heartbeat beating throughout the room.

There was quiet for a few seconds where no one spoke. The nurses left the room and Doctor Banner smiled and ducked out with a quick promise to be back soon, and then it was just the four of them left. Natasha let Melinda gently stroke the back of her neck while the teenager rubbed her fingers over the top of her nose. Phil felt a pang in his chest when the image became reminiscent of Skye stroking her nose while she sucked her thumb.

"Did you tell Skye about the baby?' Phil found himself suddenly asking. Reasons behind her odd behaviour over the past couple of days suddenly began to make sense. "Is that why she didn't want to go to school?"

Mel looked over to him and nodded. "I took some pregnancy tests and she found them. She was the only one who knew."

"What about Hunter?" Clint shuffled his feet and tugged at his ear.

"I have no idea how he knew." Mel admitted. She sighed. "I wanted to be the one to tell you, Phil. Skye and I were going to tell you together."

"Don't apologise." Phil said quickly when Mel's expression changed. He could tell the apology was on the tip of her tongue. "Don't. You don't need to be sorry."

"But I am." Mel said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the baby and I'm sorry for Skye."

Natasha hugged her mother and Phil heard her mutter something in her ear. Whatever it was wasn't in English. The words were Russian, but he couldn't pick out the sounds enough to translate. Even though he knew Mel knew just as much Russian as he did, which happened to be embarrassingly little for having a Russian daughter, whatever Natasha had said seemed to make Melinda smile.

Tasha smiled, too. "I can believe your having a baby, Mama."

"Me neither." Phil grinned. He sat down on the edge of Melinda's bed, frowning a little when his broken ribs panged. He ignored the pain and placed a hand gently on Mel's abdomen. "I can't believe that there's a baby in there."

Clint cleared his throat and when Phil looked over at him he couldn't help but smirk at the look of disgust on Clint's face. "I can't believe you guys still have sex."

Nat practically leaped out of the bed. "Ew. Gross, Clint. We were having a nice moment."

He shrugged. "Sorry, but how pregnant are you?"

Phil chuckled. "Thirteen weeks."

Clint seemed to do some quick maths in his head and then grimaced at them. "That means you had sex at least once in the past three months."

Natasha shuffled further away from the bed. "Oh, God."

Melinda rolled her eyes. "I hate to tell you but we've had sex way more than once in the past three months-,"

"Ah!" Nat clamped her hands over her ears. "Stop, Mom. Gross."

Clint looked a little pale.

Tasha kept her hands over her ears but turned to Phil and Melinda. "Haven't you guys heard of birth control?"

Phil arched an eyebrow at his daughter. "I'll have you know that your mother and I are usually very good. We almost always use condoms."

Nat dry heaved dramatically. "Urg. My dad just said 'condoms'."

Phil turned to Mel who was sniggering quietly at the expression on Natasha's face. "They're adults." Phil said. "We have let those two out on society and they can't even cope with me saying 'condoms'-,"

"Stop saying it, Dad!"

…

Lance Hunter hadn't known what to expect from the visiting social worker coming to their (Tony's) house to asses their readiness to take care of Skye, but of all the possibilities he had had in his head, this had not been one of them. Admittedly, Lance hadn't had a massive amount of experience with social workers, but he had had his fair share, and none of them had been large men in long leather jackets with eye-patches.

Although, Lance thought to himself, that one on Lilo and Stitch was frighteningly similar.

"Hello." Lance said to the man standing on the doorstep. His voice came out a little squeakier than he had intended. Lance coughed. "Hello." He repeated in what he hoped was a deeper and manlier voice. He could practically hear Bobbi rolling her eyes behind him.

"Good morning." The man with the eye patch said. Lance found himself being able to focus on nothing but the eye patch. "I am Nick Fury. The visiting social inspector." Nick Fury held his hand out for Hunter to shake. He did so, and continued to stare at the patch.

Bobbi shook the man's hand, too. "I'm Bobbi, and this is my husband-,"

"Hunter." Hunter cut her off. "Um, Lance Hunter." Mr Fury gave him a curious look and Lance rushed to explain. "Sorry, I didn't mean that in a James Bond kind of way, it's just that most people call me 'Hunter' and so I said that was my name, and then I thought I should be more formal so I changed direction."

Lance glanced at Bobbi. His wife looked like she wanted to slap him. Hunter looked back at Nick Fury. "I like your eye patch."

Mr Fury nodded. "Right."

Hunter opened his mouth but closed it again and instead turned on his heal, going back into the house.

"Don't mind him," he heard Bobbi say, "he's British."

"Ah." Fury said and followed into the house.

Lance watched from beside the sofa as Bobbi expertly got Mr Fury settled in their living room and offered him a drink. The man declined politely and smiled in a kind way that didn't really fit with his whole 'leather coat, eye patch' look.

Bobbi sat down on the couch and took Hunter's hand. He knew he was meant to look comfortable in the house, looks as if he had decorated the place and lived in it day-to-day, but he just didn't feel right. Bobbi tugged on his hand and Lance perched on the arm of the couch. The ceiling above him creaked minutely where Tony was moving around in the bedroom upstairs, supposedly hiding, and a nervous heat rushed up Hunter's neck.

"I'll assume you both know why I'm here." Fury said, looking between them.

"Yes, Sir." Bobbi replied. Hunter just nodded.

"This is all for a little girl named Skye." Nick said, leaning forward and lacing his hands on his lap. "A little girl I had the absolute pleasure of meeting this morning."

"You saw Skye?" Bobbi said. "Is she okay?"

"She's upset." Fury said. "But coping. Well, coping as well as an eight year old in this situation can. But I'm going to cut to the chase."

Hunter nodded and gripped Bobbi's hand tighter. She squeezed in response.

Nick Fury leaned back, settling into the chair like he owned the place. "Skye is a great kid." He said. "She's one of the very few children I have met who has been through such terrible things, and yet, has found a happy place for herself. That little girl is loved in your family."

"She is." Hunter said. He was sure Fury hadn't wanted to be interrupted, but he just had to explain. "Mel and Phil, they love Skye. They do, we all do." Bobbi was nodding along with him. "We just want her to be happy and safe. We can give her that until her parents can."

Nick nodded. "Skye needs to be with her family, that is not being contested here, what is being called into question is whether you two are capable of providing adequate care for this child. That's why I'm here, to assess that."

Bobbi swallowed. "Of course."

"Now here's the thing," Mr Fury said, "I am not stupid." He stared at Hunter. "Do I look stupid to you, Limey?"

Lance faltered a little at the nickname, trying to decide whether he should feel offended or not. "No, Sir." Lance said. "You don't look stupid."

"Exactly." Fury said. He cracked his knuckles then looked around the living room. "Nice house you got here."

"Thank you." Bobbi said, fingernails picking at the edge of her sweater.

Nick Fury stood up and crossed the room to look at himself in the mirror over the mantelpiece. "No pictures on the walls?" He said, looking at Hunter through his reflection.

"We're very minimalist." Lance answered quietly.

"Right." Nick turned to face them both. "And how long did you say you've lived here?"

Lanced blanked. "A while."

Bobbi thumped his arm. "Three years."

"Right." Nick said again. He stepped up closer and looked between Lance and Bobbi with what Hunter could only describe as pity. The man sighed. "Tell me the truth."

Lance hadn't stayed on at school to do his A levels, and so had practically sprinted out of school for the last time at sixteen with most of the other kids from his year group. When he had been at school, Hunter hadn't been perfect, he hadn't been terrible, but he had found himself in the head master's office a fair few times and had heard the whole 'You've let me down, you've let the school down…etc' and the feeling he had felt as a teenager being reprimanded in the head teacher's office, was exactly how Mr Fury was making him feel now.

"We're not lying." Bobbi said, frighteningly confidently.

Fury cocked his head at her. "Yes, you are." He didn't sound mad, just exasperated. "Listen, I have no doubt in my mind that you can take care of Skye. I've spoken to her at length and she obviously loves you, and given your elaborate plan to trick me, you obviously love her, but you overlooked one key variable."

"What's that?" Hunter said and Bobbi groaned next to him.

Nick Fury smiled. "You overlooked the fact that Skye is eight, and so when I asked her where you lived, she told me. The truth."

Bobbi groaned louder and dropped her head in her hands. "We're going to jail."

"You? What about me?" Tony yelled from the staircase. Hunter turned to see their friend walk into the room and flop down onto Fury's previously vacated seat. "I'm the one who committed fraud."

Nick was smirking at Tony, and the billionaire looked up.

"Hey." Tony said, offering his hand to Fury. "Tony Stark, billionaire and soon to be fraud convict."

Nick shook it. "Pleased to meet you."

"We've ruined everything." Bobbi said, her head still in her hands. "For a minute, I really thought we were going to pull it off, make sure Skye would stay with us."

Hunter rubbed her back and swallowed past the lump of dread in his throat. Skye had settled herself nicely in his heart, right beside his little sister all the way back in England. Skye often reminded Lance of his sister, and so whenever he felt for Skye, he felt for his baby sister, too.

Bobbi shuddered. He wanted to tell her it was going to be okay, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

"I don't do my job for the paycheque." Mr Fury said.

Hunter looked up at the man. He was stood with his hands in his coat pockets, his huge stature giving the impression that he was filling the entire room. Hunter made a mental note to never piss off the man, his name was 'Fury' after all. Lance allowed himself a second to be proud over that joke, then turned his attention back to Fury.

"I do this job because I want to help the kids who can't help themselves." Nick Fury looked at them all individually. "Skye is one of those kids, and I promised to help her. Despite your feeble attempts to trick the system,"

Tony grimaced at that.

Nick continued. "I'm prepared to overlook your dishonesties in favour of Skye being placed back with her family."

Bobbi's head popped up so fast that Hunter almost fell off the arm of the sofa in an attempt to avoid being head butted.

"What are you saying?" Bobbi asked. She grabbed Lance's hand again.

"I'm saying," Fury said, "that as long as you can keep up this charade of a happy little couple owning a suburban house and working good jobs, I am willing to award you care of Skye."

Tony stood up as Hunter and Bobbi simply gaped at Fury in disbelief. "You could be fired if they ever found out you knew this was a sham."

"I am aware, Mr Stark," Nick said, "but like I said, I do my job for the children I help, not for the money, not for the state, not for anything other than the best interests of the kids."

Stark nodded. "You're a good man."

Fury smiled. "As are you, Mr Stark. How is Grant?"

Tony blinked. "Um, he's doing very well, thank you. How, how did you know…?"

Nick Fury placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. "A billionaire, unmarried, with a series of past misdemeanours to his name? What kind of social worker would see past all that and find the caring man who could provide a loving family for a little boy in need?"

Tony gawked at him. "You…?"

Fury nodded. "I've never been wrong about what's best for the kids before." He turned to Bobbi and Hunter. "Don't make this time break my streak."

"Yes, sir." Bobbi said.

"Yes, sir." Hunter parroted.

"Fantastic." Fury clapped loudly, and walked over to the front door. When no one made a move to follow, he rolled his eye. "Come on, then, don't you want to pick up your little sister? She's waiting."

…

Clint and Nat sat together in the back of the taxi, huddled close, fingers entwined. Every so often Clint would press a kiss to Natasha's hair, despite the dirt riding up in there, and Tasha rested her head on his shoulder.

Doctor Banner had informed them all that her mother and father were both free to leave the hospital, providing they promised to follow his direct instructions for recovery. Tasha had made the man give her a copy of said instructions so that she could make sure they were taking care of themselves. Her parents had a habit of putting everyone else before themselves, which was admirable most of the time, but now with her Dad in bandages and her Mom pregnant, putting others before themselves was just stupid.

Her father had waved off any worry either of them had, and had told them the best way to help was to go home and get him and her mom some new clothes to bring back to the hospital to go home in. Her and Clint had agreed, although Natasha had explicitly stated her father shouldn't do anything against the doctor's orders while she was gone.

The list of instructions given to her by Doctor Banner was pretty short, mostly 'bed rest and no work' for a while, but Natasha still had the piece of paper tucked safely into the pocket of her jeans, folded around the little image of her new brother or sister. Doctor Banner had said they were only supposed to give parents two print outs of the sonogram, but he had made an exception for them and given her parents five or six to distribute to the family.

Natasha ran her finger over the edge sticking out of her pocket and smiled. As gross and disturbing as the thought that her parents still had sex, apparently often, she couldn't quite get over the feeling of, perhaps not quite yet love, but fondness for the child in her mother's belly.

"Mom said Skye knew about the baby." Nat said to Clint. "I wonder how she feels?"

Clint shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"Not too long ago, I was the baby." Natasha said. She fiddled absently with Clint's fingers. He had a scar on one of them from a fight with his brother that was so deep she could feel the indentation of the tissue. "I was the baby, and now, we've got two more."

"You're still their baby." Clint said and kissed her cheek. "You and Bobbi will still be Mom and Dad's babies, no matter what."

"I'm not jealous." Nat felt the need to clarify. "Just, it's weird. I didn't think I'd get used to being the big sister so quickly."

"That's because you're so good at it."

She smiled. "It's the best job in the world."

For the rest of the journey home Nat and Clint sat in the back of the taxi quietly, both fighting the crippling exhaustion from days of seemingly endless stress. Nat kept moving to check her phone, only to remember both of their phones had ran out of charge during the morning. Having no connection to either Bobbi or Hunter was causing her a little discomfort, but Clint's presence by her side was enough to keep Natasha composed.

"We'll call them from the landline at some point when we get in." Clint said, and not for the first time did Tasha wonder if Clint could actually read her mind.

Nat nodded. "Do you think Skye's okay?"

"I think Skye is a brave little girl." Clint said. "And I think that Bobbi and Hunter are smart."

"They are." Nat agreed. She kissed Clint's jaw. "I believe in them."

…

Like Skye, Natasha had spent some time in St Agnes' orphanage, even if that time had been extremely short, but Bobbi hadn't ever experienced it. When Bobbi was a kid, she had spent four or five years with her biological parents, then had been left with her aunt and her husband. For far too long Bobbi went between her aunt's house and a boarding school until one summer when she returned 'home' to find an empty house and no furniture left. Apparently her aunt and uncle had been gone for weeks.

Having them abandon her had been the best thing to ever happen to Bobbi, because the state had placed her in emergency foster care with Melinda and Phil, and Bobbi had found her family. Despite the abusive home with her aunt and uncle, to some extent Bobbi had been lucky, never having had to experience the trauma of a group home or orphanage like her sisters.

That's why Bobbi really wasn't sure what to expect when she and Hunter pulled up to St Agnes' and followed Nick Fury into the bleak building. Hunter held her hand the whole way inside.

"It's like a prison." He muttered beside her.

Nick Fury led them to a reception area. He nodded. "It's an institution for children." He said. "Might as well be a prison."

Fury spoke to one of the nuns in hushed tones and Bobbi found her eyes being drawn to the plain, dismal décor of the orphanage. "I thought it would be more colourful." She said quietly to Hunter. "You know, like a school."

Lance sniffed. "It's a disgrace. Some of these kids have to live here their whole childhoods." He sighed. "There aren't even any pictures on the walls."

Bobbi glanced at a yellowing poster gracing one end of the corridor. "Not true." She said sarcastically. "There's one to keep the kids happy."

Hunter looked at the poster and scoffed. "The Ten Commandments?" He read. "'Honour your father and mother'. Yep, just what they need on the wall of an orphanage."

Fury returned to their side with a sour face and a stack of paper in his hand. "I've spoken to Sister Margaret." He said with distain. "For a woman of God, she's a mean piece of work."

Bobbi craned her neck to see the nun. The woman was glaring at the three of them from across the room. She narrowed her eyes at Bobbi and turned away to go back into the office.

"My sister punched her." Bobbi said with a little smile and a swell of pride for Natasha.

Nick grinned. "Oh, I know. I was there."

"You were?" Bobbi asked.

He nodded. "I was dealing with another case at the time. Pure coincidence that I was here when she came in." Nick chuckled. "Kid had a mean left hook if I remember rightly."

"Still does." Hunter smiled.

"Good for her." Nick Fury held out the paperwork to Bobbi. "A few things for you both to sign, and then we need to go over some rules."

Bobbi nodded. "And then we can go and see Skye?"

"Yeah. You can take her home."

They signed the papers declaring that they were both prepared to care for Skye until her current foster parents were considered suitable to take her in again, and listened to Fury's carefully worded rules for caring for Skye. The rules were printed onto a wordy document that both Bobbi and Hunter had to sign, too, and a copy given to them. Hunter held the paperwork, frowning at some of the guidelines.

"So," Hunter said, "we can't let Skye see Phil and Mel at all?" He rubbed his stubbly chin.

"Not until it's been approved." Nick said. "I'm trying my best to get this over as quickly as possible, though, so just keep that in mind."

Bobbi folded her arms. "What if I just happen to be in my parents' house, and I just happen to have Skye with me, and she just happens to see them?"

Fury smiled sadly. "I'm bending the rules enough as it is. I'm sorry, but if anyone got wind that Skye had seen them before it had been approved, they'd take her from you and I wouldn't be able to stop them."

Hunter huffed. "Who's 'them' anyways? I don't like 'them' very much."

"No one does." Nick agreed. "The big men upstairs who never show their faces, they pretend like they know what's best for the kids, but they don't know the kids." He sighed. "Follow the guidelines, keep Skye safe, and hopefully she'll be back with her Mom and Dad before we know it."

"That's all I want for her." Bobbi said, rubbing a hand over her stinging eyes. She was running on very little sleep, and the exhaustion was catching up to her.

Lance put an arm around her shoulders.

Fury nodded and led them down the hall. "Skye's in one of the rooms the nuns keep for shirt-term cases. She wasn't too interested in socialising with the other kids here."

Hunter and Bobbi eyed a little boy in one of the common rooms, too old to be wandering around in a diaper with a pacifier in his mouth, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Yeah." Hunter said. "I can see why she wouldn't want to."

Bobbi tried not to dwell on the discomfort caused by seeing all of the unfortunate children that they passed in the orphanage as Nick Fury led them to Skye's room, but it was difficult not to feel a crippling empathy for all of them. She felt Hunter stiffen slightly beside her when a blonde girl, maybe eleven or twelve rushed out of a room to their side and barrelled into Nick.

Fury caught the girl by the shoulders to steady her and she hopped between each foot, rising up onto her toes.

"Shannon-," Fury began but was cut off by the kid.

"I saw you come in and I thought maybe you were here for me." Shannon said quickly. "You said last month you'd be coming back to see me soon, is this you coming back for me? Did you fine someone for me? Is my aunt coming home?"

Nick patted the girl on the shoulder. "Not yet, kid, on either front."

Bobbi's heart broke at the look of pure devastation on the kid's face. Shannon stepped back from Nick and shrugged, quickly recovering from her disappointment and pressing her lips together. "Maybe next time." She said quietly with a little forced smile.

Fury nodded. "It'll happen one day. Don't lose hope." He smiled at her. "You're the best at hope around here."

Shannon smiled properly, looking at Bobbi and Lance this time, too. "Sister Margaret always says I'm too optimistic, but Nicky says there's no such thing as too much optimism."

Lance smiled. "I think he's right, there."

"Yeah." The kid said. "I'll get a family real soon. I know I will." She looked between Bobbi and Hunter. "You two aren't in the market for a cool kid like me, are you? I'm a real good helper with the little kids and I'm taking martial arts at school so I can fight off anyone picking on them."

"Sorry, kid," Nick said apologetically, "they've already got someone they're taking home today."

"That's good." Shannon beamed. "I hope you have a fantastic family with them."

Bobbi smiled at her, and wondered if that was what she had looked like at twelve, turning up on Mel and Phil's doorstep. Shannon reached down to tuck her grubby laces into her shoes and a crude biro drawing of what Bobbi thought was meant to be Captain America's shield became visible on her arm. Bobbi made a mental note to inform her father that his favourite comic book hero was still alive and kicking amongst the kids these days.

Despite the apparent fondness for the Captain, Bobbi had to admit that this kid wasn't like her. She was better, way better than Bobbi had been as a kid. She had positivity that Bobbi had never had as a child. She hoped that Shannon never lost that.

"How old are you?" Bobbi found herself asking, and if the child thought it odd, she didn't show it.

Shannon smiled brightly, standing back up straight. "I'm turning twelve in two weeks." She said.

Bobbi nodded. "I was twelve when I moved in with my Mom and Dad, before that I didn't really have a real family. Maybe this will be your year, too."

"You think so?" Shannon asked.

"Yes." Bobbi said to her. "I really think it could be."

Someone in the room Shannon had come from screamed her name and the girl turned to the voice. "I'm coming."

"Shannon, you said you'd braid my hair." The voice whined.

"I have to go." Shannon said to Bobbi. "It was very nice meeting you..."

"Bobbi." Bobbi supplied. "I'm Bobbi Morse, and this is my husband," she turned to Lance, "Lance Hunter."

Shannon grinned. "Well, it was wonderful to meet you Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter, but I have to go and braid some second grader's hair now."

Nick chuckled. "You're selfless, Shannon." He joked, patting her arm.

"Do tell that to all of the potential foster parents." She said brightly, then turned back to Bobbi and Hunter. "And please tell your friends about the children who need homes here." Her face turned serious. "It doesn't have to be me, but just let them know about the kids who needs families."

"I'll do that." Lance said earnestly. "I won't forget."

"Good." Shannon said. "And you, don't forget the name 'Shannon Carter', because family or no family I'm going to be in the Olympics some day."

"Oh, yeah?" Lance grinned.

"Yep." Shannon said proudly. "Martial arts. I'm thinking taekwondo, but maybe judo. Either one, really."

"Sounds good." Bobbi laughed. "Save me a ticket when you get into the gold match."

"Of course." Shannon said, waved at the all, and went back into the room from which she had come to braid the hair of another kid.

Hunter squeezed Bobbi's shoulder. "Nice kid. I hope she gets everything she wants."

"Me, too." Bobbi said quietly and they began following Nick down another corridor.

The sounds of children gradually became less invasive the further Nick Fury led them into the orphanage. He stopped in front of a nondescript room, smiled, and knocked on the door three times.

Bobbi listened carefully to the sounds of rustling coming from the room, and little footsteps getting closer to the door.

"Who is it?" A little voice asked, and Bobbi clutched Hunter's hand at the sound of her baby sister's voice.

"It's Nick." Fury said. "I've got someone here for you, Skye."

The door opened quickly and Bobbi barely got a chance to register the sight of her little sister before Skye had raced forward and thrown herself into her arms. Bobbi caught her and lifted Skye off her feet, the little girl immediately wrapping her legs around Bobbi's waist.

"Take me home." Skye said into Bobbi's neck. Her little hands gripped at Bobbi's hair and she could feel Skye's breath hot on her skin. "Please. I wanna go home."

Bobbi held Skye tightly, finding herself automatically rocking the little girl from side to side. She wanted to reassure her, to tell Skye that they were leaving that horrible place and she wouldn't have to come back, but instead she just kissed her hair and hugged Skye tighter. It was too difficult to do anything other than hold her baby sister.

Hunter placed a hand on Skye's back and rubbed gently. "Let's get out of here, eh, darlin'?"

"Yeah." Skye sniffled, face still hidden in Bobbi's neck. "I don't like it here."

"Me neither." Bobbi managed to say, voice catching slightly. "I've got you."

Skye nodded but kept her face hidden until they were outside, mumbling a 'goodbye' and a 'thank you' to Nick Fury on their way out. Bobbi carried her to the car, following Hunter, and sat in the back with her baby sister while Lance drove.

"I'm gonna keep holding your hand," Skye said, lacing her little fingers with Bobbi's as the car pulled away, "because I don't want you to go anywhere."

"I'm not going anywhere." Bobbi said, lifting Skye's hand to kiss her fingers. She had little cuts on her hands, presumably from the accident, and Bobbi felt her chest constrict at the thought of her baby sister being left all alone in the hospital after such an ordeal. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Skye ran her fingers over Bobbi's rings, twisting them the same way Natasha had a habit of doing. "I broke my wrist." She said, holding out her cast.

"I know, honey." Bobbi said. "That must have hurt. It must have been scary."

"I don't want to talk about it." Skye said, turning to look out of the window. "I want to go home now, please. I want to see Mommy and Daddy."

"I'm sorry, babes," Hunter said from the front, "but you can't see your mum and dad. Not yet."

Bobbi kept her eyes trained on Skye in an attempt to gauge her expression. The little girl continued to watch out of the window and nodded slowly. "If I can't go home and see Mommy, where are we going?"

"We'll get you some of your things from home," Bobbi said, stroking the back of Skye's hand, "and then we've got a nice house to stay in for a little while."

"Okay." Skye said quietly.

Hunter cleared his throat. "It'll be fun." He tried to sound upbeat but Bobbi could see right through him. This was killing him just as much as it was her. They were keeping a little girl from her parents, from the people she loved. "It'll be like a sleepover, Skye. Like we're camping."

Skye's shoulders sagged a little, and then began to shake. Bobbi's heart broke at the tiny gasps coming from the little girl and shifted in the back of the car to pull Skye close to her side.

"I want my Mommy and Daddy." Skye said through her tears. She looked up at Bobbi, lip quivering. "Bobbi, I want my Mama."

"I know, sweetheart." Bobbi held her tightly and kissed her damp cheeks. "I know."

…

"Hey, Nat?" Clint called from Melinda and Phil's bedroom. He stood by the dresser looking awkwardly at the top drawer.

"Yeah?" Nat popped her head around the door of the ensuite bathroom where she was packing up some essential toiletries for her parents.

"Can you, um, like pick out some underwear for your mom? I feel weird doing it."

She smirked at him and came fully into the room. "You feel weird?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Yes, Natasha. I feel weird picking out underwear for your mother to wear. It's weird enough that I know she keeps them in the top drawer."

Natasha opened the drawer and began rifling through her mother's underwear, throwing a couple of items into a bag laid out on the bed. "Why do you know where she keeps them?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea. Does that make it more or less weird?"

"I'm not sure." Natasha dumped a few things from the bathroom into the bag and zipped it up, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I think that's everything."

"Yeah?" Clint sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him dropped her head to rest on his shoulder. Clint kissed her. "I love you. You know that, right?"

She looked up at him and frowned. "Of course I do. And I love you, too."

"Good." Clint smiled. "Sometimes I feel like I have to make sure you know. Just in case…"

"What?"

He shook his head. "I guess the whole car accident shook me up a little. What if something happened to either of us?" Clint kissed her ear. "I'm nothing without you, Nat. Nothing."

"That's not true." Natasha said.

"It is."

"It's not." She booped him on the nose. "Even without me you'd be great. I truly believe that."

He nuzzled her cheek. "I'm better for knowing you, Natasha."

"I'd have to say the same about you." Nat breathed in heavily. "I always wanted to be independent, to never have to depend on anyone, but that changed with you. I want to be with you forever."

Clint smiled. "We can depend on each other forever." He ran a thumb over her jaw. "I'll propose one day, and then we can get married, have a house that's just ours and a big back yard. You know, if that's what you wanted."

"It is." Tasha grinned at him. "But what if I want to propose to you? Why does it always have to be the guy?"

"Fine." He shrugged, laughing. "Propose to me. Go ahead."

Natasha bit her lip, grinning, and extracted herself from him, sliding off the bed and kneeling by his feet. She took his hand in hers and cocked her head to one side.

"I was kidding, Tash." Clint said.

"I wasn't." She countered, holding his hand tightly. "Clinton Francis Barton-,"

"Could you not with the full name?"

"-would you make me the happiest woman alive," Nat smirked, "by becoming my husband?"

Clint laughed and threw his head back. "You're crazy, baby."

"Well? Don't leave me hanging." Nat said. "Marry me?"

He tugged her back up onto the bed and brought Nat up to sit in his lap. Clint kissed her slowly. "If I say yes to marry you, does that mean I have to take your name?"

She pretended to consider it. "Do whatever you want, I'm not the boss of you."

"Could'a fooled me."

She smacked him playfully. "Marry me?"

"Okay." Clint mumbled against her lips. "You've convinced me."

Natasha made an uncharacteristic little squeak and hugged him tightly. "Did we just get engaged?"

"I think so." Clint laughed. "When should we tell your parents?"

"In about ten years."

He nodded. "Sounds good to me. Worked for Bobbi…sorta."

Natasha shook her head. "If by 'sorta' you mean 'not at all'."

"Well, yes." Clint kissed Natasha once more, pulling her down slightly on top of him as he leaned back on the bed. She kissed him back, running her nails gently over the back of his neck.

Clint closed his eyes, letting one hand trail down Nat's back to rest on her bum, when she stilled above him. He opened his eyes. Natasha sat up and pressed a finger to his lips.

"You hear that?" she whispered, and Clint only had to twitch an eyebrow for her to eye his hearing aids and smile apologetically. "Right, sorry."

"What was it?"

Tasha turned to the door. "I thought I heard the front door open."

Clint strained to hear anything outside of the bedroom, but it was no use. Instead he stayed quiet, sitting up and gauging how to act based on Natasha's reactions. She climbed off his lap and stealthily made her way over to the door.

"Nat?" He whispered, but she waved him away.

Natasha paused, her body rigid, ear pressed against the door. Clint still couldn't hear anything outside of the room, but Natasha must have because her stance relaxed and she turned to him with a smile.

"It's Bobbi." She said. "Bring the bag down."

Clint followed Nat out of the room with the bag. "Coming, dear fiancée."

"You're an idiot."

He smiled. "Your idiot."

"Always."

…

Skye wasn't really sure how she was supposed to feel when Bobbi and Hunter took her into her house. It didn't feel like it usually did when Skye came home, like she did from school. There wasn't the TV on or the radio playing in the background, she couldn't hear Mommy and Daddy talking or Nat and Clint laughing. It was just quiet and empty.

She held onto Bobbi's hand tighter. Home didn't feel comforting without Mommy and Daddy there. She sniffed and didn't bother to wipe away the tears that fell.

Hunter picked her up and Skye wrapped her arms around his neck. Home didn't feel comforting but having Hunter there to hug and Bobbi to give cuddles made Skye feel an awful lot better.

"You okay there, sweets?" Lance asked her.

Skye hugged him tighter because he seemed a sad, too. "Thank you for coming to get me." She told him and Bobbi.

"Not a problem, kiddo." Hunter said.

Bobbi brushed some hair out of her face and kissed her head. "We're family, Skye. We'll always take care of you."

That made Skye feel all warm inside. She smiled a little.

"Nat and Clint must be here." Bobbi said to Hunter and pointed at the two pairs of shoes by the door.

Skye looked around. "Natasha's here?"

"I think so." Bobbi said and stepped further into the living room. "Nat?" She called up the stairs. "Natasha? Clint?"

No one replied, but Skye could hear the sounds of feet moving above them. She tapped Hunter's cheek to get his attention.

"Can I see Natasha?" Skye asked.

He frowned a little and shifted his hold on Skye to be a little tighter. "Of course you can."

Skye nodded, suddenly grateful that she was allowed to be with more of her family. "Just not Mommy and Daddy?"

It made Skye upset to know she wasn't going to be able to see Mommy and Daddy for a while, but what really made her heart hurt was the look on Hunter's face when she asked him. He swallowed so hard that Skye could feel his chest move under her hands, and when he shook his head, Lance squeezed his eyes closed for a second.

Skye watched him breathe out a shuddery breath ignoring the sounds of people on the stairs behind her. "It's okay to cry." Skye told him quietly. "If you want to. I wont make fun of you."

Hunter laughed and kissed her cheek. "You're such a treasure." He said with a big smile. Skye was glad she had made him happier.

"Skye!"

Skye turned in Hunter's arms to see Nat and Clint rushing towards her. She wiggled until Lance put her down, and met the two of them half way, wrapping her arms around Nat's waist and smiling up at Clint. She had missed them. Skye, in reality, had barely been away from them, but she had missed her family so much.

"Why can't everything be like it was?" She asked Natasha. It was a question Skye hadn't really intended to ask, and one she almost wished she hadn't due to the devastated look on Natasha's face.

"I don't know." Nat said, kneeling down on the ground. "I wish I could make everything better."

"Me, too." Skye brushed away Nat's hair from her face like Bobbi did to her, and kissed her forehead because that had made Skye feel better. "I'm sorry you're feeling sad."

Natasha looked over at Bobbi. "Can you believe this kid? She's feeling bad for me." Nat looked back at her and pulled her close. "I'm sorry that you're sad, too, Skye, but we have to try and be happy."

"We do?" Skye questioned. She didn't really feel like trying to be happy when Mommy and Daddy were so far away.

Bobbi sat down next to them. "Mom and Dad want you to be happy, Skye. That's all they want."

Skye rubbed her thumb over her lips. "I don't think I can. I miss them too much."

"But you're good at making me happy." Hunter said. He put a hand on the top of her head. "Skye, you're the best at making other people happy, I'm sure we can find a way to cheer you up a bit."

"Yes." Clint agreed. "What can we do to make you happy?"

Skye thought about it. She looked between the four of them and really, really tried hard to thing of something that would made her feel happy again. The only issue was, she just kept thinking of the same thing, and when Skye felt herself beginning to get upset again she hugged Nat and pressed her nose into her shoulder.

"I just want my Mommy and Daddy."

A/N:Thanks for all the kind words and support you've been giving me. Let me know what you thought. Cheers, loves. xxx