Firsts
Coulson was a little misty eyed as he got out of his car. It was his daughter’s first day of kindergarten, and he was pretty sure he wasn’t ready for it. The thought of her growing up always made his eyes a little watery, and her going to kindergarten was definitely making him tear up.
He opened the back door, and (Y/N) hopped out with a huge, excited grin on her face. She had her Lion King backpack on, her matching lunchbox in her hand. She looked up at him with those big bright eyes of hers.
“You excited?” Coulson chuckled as he took her hand.
“Yeah!” She replied as they walked. “This is gonna be fun, daddy!”
“I know, I’m jealous. I wish I could go to kindergarten with you.” He replied as they walked into the school. “Nap time sounds fun.”
“I’m excited for art!” She beamed.
Coulson chuckled, noticing just how infectious his daughter’s enthusiasm was. He wasn’t a big art buff before, but ever since (Y/N) had become fascinated with any and all art, he had decided to take more of an interest in it. (Y/N) was a huge fan of J. M. W. Turner, and Coulson found that her paintings were reminiscent of his style.
“I’m sure you’ll be the best in the class.” Coulson assured her.
“Maybe,” She shrugged. “I just want to paint.”
Coulson found Ms. Williams’ classroom, leading (Y/N) inside. There were other parents there, dropping off their own kids. The children looked excited, and the majority of the parents seemed upset about their kids now being in kindergarten. He could understand that, he wasn’t exactly thrilled to have his little girl growing up.
Coulson kneeled down, noticing that (Y/N) was looking around at the other kids with curious eyes. Finally, she met his gaze and gave him a big smile.
“You gonna be okay, sweetheart?”
She rolled her eyes, “I’ll be fine, daddy.”
He sighed, “I know, but I still worry. I’ll pick you up at three, but if something happens, I’ll be here as fast as humanly possible.”
“I’ll be okay,” She assured him, kissing his cheek. “I love you, daddy.”
He could feel tears pricking the backs of his eyes. “I love you, too, (Y/N). Have fun, alright?”
“I will!” She grinned, giving him a final hug before she darted over to where the kids were hanging up their backpacks. Coulson got to his feet, feeling an aching pride in his chest. He was proud that (Y/N) had grown so independent, but it was still hard to see her growing up so fast. It had seemed like she had been that little baby just yesterday. Now she was going to kindergarten and soon she’d be graduating, and he just wasn’t ready for any of this.
“First kid?” A man smirked at him. He was standing with a woman who was wiping away a few tears.
“Yeah,” Coulson replied, offering his hand. “Phil Carter.” He used his cover name, seeing as that’s what name he had put on all of his paperwork.
“Mark and Helen Reynolds,” The man replied as he shook Coulson’s hand. “We just dropped our youngest off today. Helen always cries, even after three kids.”
“I can’t help it!” Helen swatted at her husband. She gave Coulson a smile. “I can tell you’re nervous, Phil. Don’t worry, your kid is going to have a great time here. You just have to remember they need to spread their wings and fly.”
“Thanks, I’ll try to remember that.” Coulson nodded as his phone beeped. He tried not to focus on how cheesy Helen sounded as he checked his phone to see that Fury needed him at SHIELD. “I better get going. It was nice meeting you.”
“Nice meeting you, too, Phil.” Mark replied.
Coulson looked towards the large group of kids, finding that (Y/N) was talking with a little girl with the same pigtails as her. She looked up, giving Coulson a wave that he returned before quickly making it out of the classroom before he could cry.
Teaching a five-year-old to ride a bike seemed easy enough. He had even gone out and bought (Y/N) a bike that was her favorite color with matching streamers. She had been thrilled to get the bike, and was eager to learn how to ride it the same day.
Coulson buckled her helmet under her chin, making sure it was secure.
“Alright, remember what I told you?”
“To keep my balance and keep pedaling.” She repeated his instructions. “I can do this, let’s go!” She climbed onto the bike, putting one foot on the pedal. Coulson steadied the bike so she could put her other foot on the pedal. He could see a flash of nervousness in her bright eyes, and he realized he was a little nervous about the whole thing, too. However, he schooled his emotions to be reassuring so she wouldn’t get freaked out.
“Ready?”
“Promise not to let go?” She mumbled as she looked at him.
“Just pedal, alright?” He smiled.
He kept a firm grip on the bike as she began to pedal. Once he began to jog next to her, he let go, stopping to watch as she rode further down the sidewalk.
“You got this!” He called out to her.
She gasped, looking behind her to see he had let go. She turned back around, continuing to pedal. The bike wobbled for a brief, terrifying second before she got control back. Coulson grinned proudly as she continued down the sidewalk. She was riding a bike, and he could feel that aching pride in his chest again. She was always growing up, and he was pretty sure he would never get over it-
(Y/N) tumbled off the bike, rolling across the pavement and into the quiet street. She howled in pain, and Coulson shot off towards her. He kneeled next to her, seeing blood pouring down her leg as fast as the tears on her cheeks.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” He told her as he scooped her up. He ignored the bike as he rushed back to the house, darting inside and taking her to the kitchen. He sat her on the counter and began to asses just how bad the gash in her shin was.
It was a large wound, and he knew from experience that she would need stitches. He cursed under his breath as he pressed a wad of paper towels to her shin.
“Sweetheart—(Y/N), I need you to hold this to your leg, baby.” He told her as gently as he could. He moved her hand to the paper towels that were quickly turning red from all the blood. He carefully picked her up, taking her to the garage and putting her in the backseat. He quickly buckled her in, then got into the driver’s seat and managed to get the garage door open with his shaking hands. He sped out of the garage, heading for the nearby hospital.
“You’re going to be okay, (Y/N).” He assured her, managing to keep the tremor of fear out of his voice.
He had seen worse wounds than this on himself, but just seeing his daughter hurt sent him into a panic. He had been so careful to keep her from getting hurt, even getting her away from SHEILD that wanted to test her every chance they got. Now she was bleeding in his backseat and sobbing in pain.
Finally, they made it to the ER, and Coulson rushed her inside. The nurse who took them into the back was calm, assuring him that everything was going to be fine. Coulson sat (Y/N) on the cot, taking off her helmet while the nurse began cleaning the wound.
“It hurts, daddy.” (Y/N) whimpered, tears staining her cheeks. She had blood on her hands from holding the paper towels, and Coulson wished he could take the pain from her. Anything to make her feel better. He couldn’t believe he had allowed her to be hurt like this. He was her father, he should have done a better job protecting her.
“I know, but it’ll stop hurting, I promise.” He murmured as he kissed her head.
“She’s going to need stitches.” The nurse stated, looking up at Coulson, then looking at (Y/N). “I’m going to have to give you a shot-“
“No!” (Y/N) gasped, more tears pouring down her cheeks as she looked up at Coulson. “Please, daddy, no shots!”
His heart broke at her pleading, “I’m sorry, but you need to get one so they can give you stitches.”
She sobbed harder, trying to get away from the nurse. Coulson grabbed her arms, holding her against him as the nurse grabbed a syringe filled the local anesthetic. (Y/N) thrashed against him, and Coulson grunted with effort to keep her held down. The nurse looked shocked at (Y/N)’s show of strength, but she pushed aside her surprise to help hold (Y/N) down so she could inject the anesthetic. The nurse was quick, and Coulson wrenched his eyes shut as he heard (Y/N) yelping in pain from the needle, then more sobbing that wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Coulson repeated into her hair as he still held her. “It’s almost over, alright?”
The nurse quickly stitched up the gash in (Y/N)’s chin, taping gauze over it and wrapping an ace bandage around it for good measure.
“You did so good,” She told (Y/N). “I’m sorry about the shot, sweetie.”
“It’s okay,” (Y/N) sniffled, clutching Coulson’s tie like she did when she was younger. “Can I go home now?”
“Not without your lollipop.” The nurse smiled, grabbing a red lollipop from a canister. “I think you deserve it, right dad?”
“She definitely deserves it,” Coulson chuckled lightly, smoothing (Y/N)’s hair back from her face. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“Yeah,” She mumbled as she took the wrapper off of the candy before putting it in her mouth. “I wanna go home, daddy.”
“We will,” He promised. “I’m sure I have some paperwork to fill out really quick, but as soon as that’s done, we’ll go home. We can watch the Little Mermaid, yeah?”
She nodded, still sniffling.
A day after the bike incident, Coulson was replacing the gauze around (Y/N)’s shin when he realized that her wound was healing a lot faster than it should be. The stitches didn’t even seem necessary anymore.
Worry filled him as he was once again reminded that his daughter wasn’t a normal child. She was from a different world, a world where kids could heal from wounds that required eight stitches in days.
He had no idea what to do about the high healing factor that his daughter obviously had. She not only had a high healing factor, but she was stronger, faster, and so much smarter than kids her age. It was startling to be reminded that his daughter wasn’t normal, and he wondered how that would affect her as she grew up.
“Is my leg okay?” (Y/N) asked nervously, pulling Coulson out of his racing thoughts.
“Yeah, it’s good,” Coulson gave her the best encouraging smile he could manage. “I think we can even take the stitches out.”
Her eyes rounded in fear. “Is it gonna hurt?”
"Nope,” He replied, grabbing a pair of scissors. (Y/N) gasped quietly, watching as he snipped a stitch, then pulled the thread out. She winced at the sight of it, looking slightly disgusted. “I don’t even think you’re gonna have a scar, kid. Aren’t you lucky?”
She giggled, “Thanks, daddy.”
“How about you go paint while I make a phone call?” He suggested as he picked her up off the counter in the kitchen and sat her on the ground.
She nodded, then went to her bedroom to paint.
Coulson grabbed his phone out of his pocket, dialing Fury’s personal number.
“This better be important if you’re calling me on this line.” Fury stated as he answered the phone.
“It’s about (Y/N).” Coulson replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t too eager to go to Fury for help with (Y/N) considering all Fury wanted to do was turn (Y/N) into a SHIELD agent and test her 24/7.
“Is she okay?” Fury asked, sounding genuinely worried for the five-year-old.
“She wrecked her bike yesterday and I had to get her stitches.” Coulson explained. “I went to change the bandage this morning, and it was already scabbed over and didn’t need the stitches.”
"Sounds like she’s got a high-healing factor.” Fury murmured after a moment. “That’s not something I want to test, Phil.” Coulson couldn’t help the scoff that escaped his chest. Thankfully, the director ignored it. “Keep an eye on her, let me know if you find out any more about her abilities.”
“Thank you, sir.” Coulson replied. “And hey…she’s having a birthday party next week, I think you should come.”
Coulson hadn’t invited Fury to (Y/N)’s past two birthday parties. He had still been upset over Fury doing tests on (Y/N) without his consent. But hearing that Fury didn’t seem to want to test her anymore had him reconsidering his decision to keep Fury away from (Y/N).
“I’ll see you then, Phil.”