Shots
SHIELD hadn’t changed much in his six-month absence. Coulson was slightly relieved by that. He didn’t want to have to adjust to too many changes at once. Of course, the only big change he noticed as he walked into the New York headquarters was that people were staring at him.
He ignored it, knowing why they were staring. It wasn’t everyday people saw Agent Coulson carrying a one-year-old on his hip as he walked through the lobby. (Y/N) didn’t seem fazed by the looks, opting to play with Coulson’s tie like she always did when he wore one.
“Dada,”
“Yes, (Y/N)?” Coulson sighed looking at the toddler.
She giggled, kissing his cheek. He chuckled as he rolled his eyes while he kept walking. He could see May waiting for him by the elevators. She seemed amused by Coulson’s interaction with his daughter.
“She’s getting big,” May commented as he pressed the button for the elevator.
“Well, that usually happens.” Coulson smirked, then looked to the toddler. “Say hi to Aunt Melinda.”
“Hi,” (Y/N) waved.
May smirked, “Hi, (Y/N).” She then looked at Coulson. “So, you’re taking her to daycare afterwards?”
Coulson sighed, feeling slightly nervous. “I’d rather just keep her with me, but I doubt the director would like that.”
“I don’t know,” May mused, smiling at (Y/N). “She’s a pretty cute kid, you might be able to sway him.”
Coulson snorted, “Yeah, that’ll work.” The elevator doors dinged open, and they stepped inside. Coulson hit the button to go to the medical floor for (Y/N)’s checkup. He noticed May didn’t press a button, and he glanced over at her. “You following me to her checkup?”
“Fury asked me to tag along.” She replied.
“Hope you’re prepared to deal with a one-year-old getting shots.” Coulson replied, noting how May’s brow twitched. “He didn’t tell you that?”
“Nope,” She muttered, looking at the toddler. “She looks pretty happy for a kid about to get shots.”
“She doesn’t know what they are.” Coulson replied, smiling at his daughter. “You ready to get poked by needles, (Y/N)?”
“Yeah!”
Coulson looked to May, “See? No idea.” His amused smile fell into a worried expression. “I…might need some help to hold her down.”
“She’s one, Coulson.”
“She’s not actually human, remember?” Coulson pointed out. “I watched her move an oak coffee table out of the way to get a toy. She shouldn’t have been able to move it.”
May’s eyes rounded slightly as she looked at the toddler. “Seriously?”
Coulson nodded, “Wherever she’s from, they make their kids strong.”
The doors dinged open, and Coulson stepped out. There were SHIELD doctors in white lab coats, nurses in their scrubs, all of them not paying him any mind as he walked through the halls with a toddler on his hip. Coulson went to the front desk, checking in before heading to the waiting room with May behind him. He sat on one of the chairs, sitting (Y/N) in his lap while setting her diaper bag on the chair next to him. May sat on his other side, watching as Coulson made faces at (Y/N) that made her laugh.
“Y’know, it’s weird to see you looking so…domestic.” May noted.
“You get used to it.” Coulson smirked. “You wanna hold her?”
May sighed, holding out her hands to (Y/N). The toddler grabbed Coulson’s tie, not wanting to move. Coulson snorted a laugh, amused that his daughter didn’t want to be held by May.
“I don’t think she likes me.”
“She doesn’t really like anyone.” Coulson admitted with a chuckle. He looked at the toddler. “Right, sweetheart? You just like dad.”
“Dad?”
Coulson looked up to see John Garrett walking into the waiting room. His right arm was in a sling and he had a thick bandage around his neck. He also looked extremely surprised to see Coulson holding a toddler.
“When did you have a kid?” Garrett frowned as he sat across from them. (Y/N) grabbed Coulson’s tie again, burying her face in his chest to avoid looking at Garrett. Coulson wondered what had her so spooked, it wasn’t like (Y/N) to be so shy around someone to this extent.
“About a year ago.” Coulson replied. “What happened to you?”
“Caught in an explosion,” Garrett replied, looking to May. “You the mother?”
May scoffed, “I don’t think so.”
Garrett snorted, “Alright, then who is?”
“She died,” Coulson lied. (Y/N) being from another planet was highly classified, which meant he had to pretend that she wasn’t adopted and was his actual biological daughter. Coulson looked down at the toddler. “Hey, it’s okay, (Y/N).” He patted her back, attempting to soothe her. She peeked up at Coulson, frowning at Garrett for a second before burying her face back in Coulson’s chest. “She’s-uh, she’s shy.”
“I can tell.” Garrett replied, amused.
“Agent Coulson?” A nurse called out.
“Good seeing you, Garrett.” Coulson nodded as he got to his feet. He grabbed the diaper bag, then he and May followed the nurse out of the waiting room.
Getting shots had left (Y/N) in a bad mood for the next hour. Coulson had tried to make her feel better by buying her ice cream in the cafeteria. She had ended up pushing her cup of chocolate ice cream into the floor instead of eating it. Coulson didn't blame her. He was kind of upset about the whole ordeal, too. Hearing his daughter cry like that had broken his heart and he never wanted to put her through something like that ever again if he could help it.
Now they were in his office and (Y/N) was sitting at a small table in the corner with her crayons and paper. She was scribbling on the paper, looking a little less angry at the world. Coulson went over to the desk, seeing that she was drawing something he could actually see was their backyard. There was the large tree next to the small playground he had gotten for her to play on, the patch of flowers by the fence that (Y/N) loved to smell. He hadn’t been expecting her to draw something so stunningly good. Especially from a one year old.
“Wow,” He murmured as he squatted down next to her. “This is amazing, sweetheart.”
“Tanks,” She muttered, continuing to draw grass.
Coulson sighed, “Are you still mad at me?”
“Mad at da doctors.” She scowled at him.
Coulson chuckled, “You needed those shots, baby. You want to grab lunch?”
“Chicken nuggets?”
“Sure, long as you share.” Coulson grinned. The toddler giggled at him, her sour mood quickly leaving her. Coulson was relieved to see her smiling again. “C’mon, let’s get you-“
Coulson stopped as he heard someone knocking on his office door. He sighed, getting to his feet and heading to the door to let the person who knocked inside. As he opened his office door, he was surprised to see Fury there. Usually, Fury had Coulson come to him, so it was odd to see the director coming to Coulson instead.
“Hello, sir.” Coulson greeted as he shut his office door. “Everything okay?”
“Just wanted to see how you were doing on your first day…back.” Fury spotted (Y/N) sitting at her little desk, looking back at him with those big, bright eyes of hers. “You do realize we have daycare, right?” He looked to Coulson, an eyebrow arched.
“She had a rough morning,” Coulson replied. “She had shots today.”
“No like shots!” (Y/N) announced with a frown.
“No one does,” Fury told her. He seemed to be inspecting the toddler rather than just looking at her. Coulson wasn’t sure why, but it made him annoyed and slightly nervous.
"(Y/N),” Coulson went to his daughter. “Come say hi to Director Fury.”
(Y/N) got up from the desk, giving Fury a tentative wave. The way she was looking at him was more inquisitive than anything else. It was as if she were trying to see through Fury, which was an odd thing for Coulson to see from a one-year-old.
“Nice to formally meet you, (Y/N).” Fury kneeled down in front of her and offered his hand. She shook it politely, just like Coulson had taught her. “Last time I saw you, you were just a baby.”
“Like Aunt Linda.” She replied.
Coulson chuckled, “Yeah, just like Aunt Melinda. I guess that means you can call him Uncle Nick.”
Fury scowled up at Coulson, “Uncle Nick?”
(Y/N) giggled, catching Fury’s attention. “Uncle Nick!” She grinned at him, and Coulson could see Fury melting. It was hard to resist a one-year-old’s giggle, especially (Y/N)’s. The kid was just too cute to resist.
Fury sighed, “That’s me.” He got to his feet, looking at Coulson. “Don’t make it a habit to keep her in your office, agent.”
Coulson bit back an amused smirk, “Yes, sir.”
“Can Uncle Nick get lunch wiff us?” (Y/N) asked, tugging on Coulson’s pants leg.
“That’s up to him, sweetheart.” Coulson replied as he scooped up the toddler. She pouted at Fury, her eyes big and pleading. It was amusing to watch the director of SHIELD being swayed by a very convincing 15-month-old.
“Sure, kid.” Fury sighed in defeat.