Protective Father
Coulson was being called in on his day off due to the fact that SHIELD had gotten a lead on the Red Room. He was glad to finally get a lead after six months of dead silence on the program. However, it had come on his day off when the nanny was also off. That meant Coulson was taking a three-year-old to SHIELD on a day that the daycare wouldn’t be open.
(Y/N) bounced excitedly next to him as he held her hand. She was excited to see May, whom she had gotten attached to after May watched her one weekend while Coulson had to take care of a SHIELD mission in Bogota.
“We gonna see Aunt Linda?” She asked as they walked into the building.
“Maybe,” Coulson chuckled. “We’ll definitely be seeing Uncle Nick, though.”
“Yay!” She cried, then practically pulled Coulson along behind her. “C’mon, daddy!”
“I thought I heard you,” Fury smirked as he came around the corner of the hallway. (Y/N) squealed excitedly, racing over to Fury and he scooped her up. She hugged his neck tightly, and Coulson saw Fury wince slightly, unaccustomed to (Y/N)’s enhanced strength. “Good to see you, too, kid.”
“I made you a picture!” (Y/N) announced, then waved her hand to beckon her father closer. “Daddy, give Uncle Nick his picture!”
“I’m looking, calm down.” Coulson chuckled as he dug through (Y/N)’s Little Mermaid backpack. He found the folded up picture, handing it to his daughter who proudly unfolded it and displayed it for Fury. It was a picture of Fury that was very well done for a three-year-old.
“Oh, this is amazing, thank you.” Fury replied, taking the picture. “I’ll make sure to frame it and put it on my desk.”
(Y/N) giggled, “Promise?”
Fury chuckled, “I promise, (Y/N).” Fury then looked to Coulson, his face back to its normal seriousness that Coulson was used to seeing. “I’ll take care of the kid, you get to that meeting.”
“Thank you, sir.” Coulson replied as he handed (Y/N)’s backpack to the director. “(Y/N), be good for Uncle Nick, alright?”
“’kay!” (Y/N) replied as Coulson kissed her head before leaving to attend the meeting.
The meeting had been met with intel on the Red Room. They now knew what they were doing inside of it, and it made Coulson’s skin crawl and his heart ache. Twenty-eight little girls were being trained to be assassins. He couldn’t imagine his own daughter ever having to go through something like that, and he prayed he never would have to.
He was determined to stop the Red Room and to save all those girls, but right now he needed some positivity back in his life. He wanted to see his own daughter, know that she was safe and sound. According to Fury’s secretary, he was down in the training facilities.
Coulson was immediately on high alert when he heard that. The training facilities weren’t made for toddlers, and he couldn’t fathom why Fury would take (Y/N) down there.
Finally, he made his way to the training facility to find that Fury was standing to the side of a blue mat. Coulson’s heart lurched in fear as he saw (Y/N) standing on the mat, hitting a punching bag. There was another SHIELD agent there in a white lab coat, writing down something on his clipboard.
“What the hell is going on?” Coulson demanded as he rushed over to his daughter. He saw they had even taped up her knuckles like she was some kind of boxer.
"We’re testing her strength.” Fury replied calmly.
“She’s three.” Coulson hissed as he began taking the tape off of (Y/N)’s knuckles.
“She doesn’t punch like a three-year-old.” The other agent commented. “She’s going to make a great agent one day.”
Coulson felt rage slam into him like a freight train. “She’s not going to be an agent.” He growled as he finally got all of the tape off of (Y/N)’s hands.
“I don’t think that’s your say, Coulson.” Fury stated.
“You’re right, it’s not.” Coulson snapped as he scooped up the toddler. She was watching the scene before her with wide eyes that were beginning to fill with tears. “It’s hers.” He stepped closer to the director, protectively holding (Y/N) to his side as he glared at his boss. “You didn’t have my consent to test her.”
“She belongs to-“
“She’s a child!” Coulson snapped. “You can’t just treat her like some science experiment! She is a child with feelings and dreams and you can’t just test her when you damn well please!”
"Daddy?” (Y/N) whimpered, looking scared. Coulson sighed, feeling his anger wash away by disappointment in himself. He had been so careful to not let his daughter see him get angry like this, and here he was yelling while holding her.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He murmured as he kissed her head. He shot Fury a glare. “We’re leaving.”
Coulson carried his daughter out of the training facility, grabbing her backpack off a bench before stepping onto the elevator. He stepped onto the elevator, seeing a few tears had escaped her big eyes, and it made his heart ache to see it.
“It’s alright, baby.” He murmured, wiping the tears away. “I’m sorry I yelled, and I’m not mad at you, okay? I’m not mad at you, (Y/N).”
“Are you mad at Uncle Nick?” She mumbled, fidgeting with his tie.
“You don’t have to worry about it, okay?” Coulson sighed. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She replied with a small smile.
Coulson decided that his daughter would not be coming back to SHIELD.