Hello! Good morning, evening, afternoon, or whatever time it is when you read this:) Thank you for at least coming this far.

This story is quite simply about the humble misadventures of an intern at SHIELD. I thought the concept was cute, so I just sort of went for it.

Please enjoy (if you can), and reviews are always appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, but I do own Lily.

Day 1

"Ugh, Hello?"

"Hey, Phil? I've been eating a lot of food, and I'm worried that my new uniform won't fit."

"Three in the morning, Lily. Three in the morning."

"I know, and I'm so sorry, but I've eaten two extra large burritos and I'm halfway through this bag of candied pretzels," I rushed out, feeling my stomach expand.

Phil took a good amount of time before replying, "If you're that nervous, I'm taking you to a hospital."

I sighed, "You said it was a good thing to be nervous."

"It's not a good thing to eat everything you own and call me when I'm asleep," he chuckled.

"Don't start pretending that you actually sleep or something," I grinned.

"I get days off."

"Do you spend them working?"

"Pfft, of course I don't. I spend them sleeping."

"Or in Portland, you do that one, too."

"Okay, I'm hanging up now."

"Bye, Phil."

I set my phone back down on the bed and barely tilted my head to the side to see the alarm clock. With only a few more hours left, I rolled myself into a burrito format and tried to find a way to pass the time.

That 'way' didn't turn out to be sleep. I spent the entire time dreaming up horrible scenarios of spilling coffee on the director or being caught in a global catastrophe.

When the alarm finally went off, I showered as quickly as possible and dried my hair in a comparable amount of time.

I ran combs and straighteners and pins through it before I could deem it socially acceptable. My hair's always been an odd mixture of curls and flat out knots.

With a towel around my head, I covered up the bags under my eyes with the lightest foundation known to man.

I needed to go outside more often.

When the uniform was finally on, I felt ridiculous, and one look in the mirror showed how ridiculous it really was. It was painfully tight, but at least it was a slimming black color.

I awkwardly waddled out of my apartment and into the parking lot.

As expected, my fantastic Uncle Phil was waiting in his car, fast asleep. With a gentle tap on his window, Phil woke up and kindly unlocked my door.

"You don't look that fat. Don't worry," he smiled.

I tried not to think about 'that fat' and got in the passenger seat.

"You think I'm ready for this Phil?" I asked, wanting an honest opinion.

"Lily," he started with a light smile, "I wasn't ready either. " The honesty was indirect, but I liked it.

"Thanks for telling the truth on that one," I said shyly. He laughed, but he was worried for her. SHIELD is a dangerous place to work, and he was a bit overprotective.

"I still can't believe you haven't asked where this Pegasus place is," he said with a broad smile.

"I kind of figured you wouldn't tell me anyway…"

"And I wouldn't. I have a smart niece," He ruffled my hair.

"Phil, you are not allowed to play with my hair at work."

With that thought, I looked out of the window of the low-to-the-ground car and noticed the direction we were headed. A farm surrounded by corn fields loomed ahead, but the more important feature ahead was the black plane a little further away.

"Did they really send us a plane?" I asked, letting my jaw slack a bit.

"Why wouldn't they?" He laughed a little, "They have plenty of money to spend."

I've never been good with heights. I've never been that good with people either, but that's a different story.

My hands dug deep into my armrests. Even though the pilot seemed capable, and my uncle trusted him, every single fiber of my being was saying that this plane ride would kill me.

How wrong I was. What really killed me was the look I received from Director Fury once the ride was over.

It's amazing to me that someone with only one eye can have such a piercing stare. He looked me up and down, questioning my existence, before turning to my Uncle.

"Phil, who is that?" He demanded. I could've called him rude, but he had a gun.

"Director, this is my niece, Lily, her internship starts today," Phil smiled. I could tell he was proud.

Fury turned to me. I know that me coming probably lapsed his mind weeks ago. "Do you have your paperwork?"

"Yes, Sir," I said directly.

He only held out his hand.

After the action processed, I pulled the messenger bag off my hip and found the thick manila folder. My hand was close to shaking when I handed it over to him.

He snatched it and flipped through. With a wave of Fury's hand, a soldier came up behind him.

"File these." He ordered. With a "Yes, Sir" the soldier was off.

"Ms. Coulson, as intern, you will bring meals to a list of high-ranking employees and guests. If anyone wants coffee, it's your duty to get it to them. You will also be asked to perform minor tasks around the facilities. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Sir," I said, though I was kind of pondering the coffee bit.

He waved his hand again, and another soldier appeared.

"Take Ms. Coulson to the cafeteria," he ordered.

The soldier looked at me and said, "This way, Ma'am."

Phil patted me on the back, and I smiled. I followed the soldier through two bleach white hallways. Counting doors and signs has always helped me remember things, but the hallways looked identical.

I silently accepted the fact that I was going to get lost in this place at some point.

When we finally made it to the cafeteria, I let out a sigh of relief. The room wasn't as big as I thought it would be, and even with its small size, SHIELD's workforce didn't fill it.

The soldier dropped me off at the kitchen with a little nod. I tapped my fingertips on the white counter a little bit. What I was doing here baffled me. There were no meals set out for me to deliver, and no note telling me where to go.

"Would you be the new intern?" A kind voice asked.

I spun around to face the owner of the voice. It was an older woman, with a very sweet face. She was very short, but still, I wasn't too much taller.

"Yes, ma'am, that's me," I said quietly. She smiled.

"Lily, isn't it? I have the list of meals you deliver." She held out a sheet of paper with a short list of names on it.

"Yeah, it's Lily. And thank you," I read over the names silently.

Agent Hill

Agent Coulson (I smiled a little at this)

Director Fury (I winced a little at this)

Dr. Selvic

Agent Barton

"Isn't Barton-"

" Hawkeye? He won't hurt you. Fury might," she chuckled. "I'm pretty glad you came, Lily. I was getting tired of handing these suckers out by myself." She opened a wall refrigerator and pulled out five different closed trays.

"You do this yourself?" I asked in near disbelief.

"Whenever we don't have interns," she smiled back at me. "Your nametag is on the counter, by the way."

Lily Coulson

Intern

I pinned the tag to my chest in the place where the older lady had hers. When she spun around I read her tag.

May Tomlin

Agent

She caught me looking. "I'm not really an agent," she smiled, "They just do that to make me feel good about myself."

I smiled, and grabbed the first tray.

"Hill?" I asked, hoping she could give me directions.

"She moves around a lot. Best to leave it in her office. It's right next to your Uncles."

"Thank you, May."

If the memories I had of Phil telling me where to find him served me right, he was on the 4th floor.

I passed up a door with my uncle's name, and mentally fist pumped for remembering the floor number. Soon enough, I found a door with the name "Agent Maria Hill" etched in. I knocked lightly, and heard a little grunt, followed by a "Come in."

At the desk was a thin woman with black hair and blue eyes. She would've looked significantly prettier without the scowl she wore on her face.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Lunch," I answered with a light smile.

"You're Coulson's niece?" she questioned, taking the box from me.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you plan on working here soon?" her eyebrows raised.

"If I can make it through internship."

She rolled her eyes a little bit. "Thank you."

Passing by Phil's room, I heard him talking on the phone.

"She's doing fine." Pause, "No, I don't think she wants to talk to you." Pause, "I'm ready to hang up on you, I'm at work." Pause, "Bye."

I kept walking onto the kitchen. Thankfully, I remembered that there were two identical hallways that I couldn't tell apart. That helped me quite a bit.

May wasn't inside, but she left a note telling me how to get to Fury's office and the basement with Selvic and Barton.

Walking back up to Phil's office from the kitchen, I started to take everything in. I was honestly in a SHIELD research facility, delivering lunches to secret agents. This could really make a good TV show.

The elevator dinged lightly. I stepped out of my thoughts and into Phil's office.

"Hey there, Lily," he grinned, "Sit down. Gotta make a call."

I noted the tiny size of this office, and had to remember that he doesn't usually stay here. After the phone call reached an answering machine, Phil sighed a little before stating his business.

"Hello, this is Agent Coulson. I'm just calling to let you know that the Phase Two shipment is on schedule for tomorrow. Call me back if you have questions. Thank you."

"Sooooo, do you have my lunch?" he smiled.

I laughed and handed it over.

"How many times have you gotten lost already?"

"Not even once." I said with a proud face.

"Come on, it's okay to admit it. I got so lost on my first day that I broke down crying."

"Oh my god. You did?" My mouth hung open. I could totally picture something like that happening.

"Yeah. It wasn't good. I figure you've met Maria by now."

"Maria?"

He tilted his head. "Skinny bitch down the hall."

I bursted out laughing. I think that could've been the first time I'd ever heard him insult another human being, other than my parents. Thinking of my parents…

"Who was it that called you a few minutes ago?" I asked, picking apart his expression as I changed the subject so abruptly.

"Eavesdropping on a secret agent isn't a smart thing to do, Lily."

"Mom?"

He hesitated, "She calls me a lot here. I usually ignore it, but I just kind of felt like I should answer today."

"She wants to talk to me, doesn't she?"

"She always does."

"Forget her. I have lunches to deliver."

I took a few deep breaths in the elevator. The next lunch delivery would be to Fury. I groaned. There was no relief.

"Floor 6, workroom" summed up May's directions. I grabbed the box and headed back to the elevator for the 5th time that day. Interning was really hard work. My feet hurt a little.

Floor six was simply a huge open room with 30 some people at computers with headsets. The director was sitting at a desk in the center of the floor, keeping a keen eye on the workers.

"Sir," I said, nodding my head and placing the lunchbox on the desk.

"Thank you, Ms. Coulson. How has your first day been?" The question took me by complete surprise.

"Well, it's been good enough." I said with a weak smile.

"Good to hear. When you're done with the lunch deliveries, Agent Jones wants coffee."

"Yes, Sir."

Agent Jones smiled at me from his desk. "Black, two sugars, please."

"I'll get it to you soon."

I walked out of the room, feeling a pair of eyes follow me there.

Coffee had been delivered to the workroom, and I was ready to rest.

I took a seat on the kitchen countertop, and almost fell asleep there.

"Shit!" I whispered aloud. "I have two more lunches to get out there."

Relying on more of May's directions, I took the elevator to Basement 3.

The setting of "Basement 3" was very different from the rest of the building. The pristine white walls were replaced by a dark grey color, and the agents uniformed in tight black and blue suits were wearing white lab coats.

In the middle of the floor was a glowing blue light. After staring at the contraption for a couple of minutes, I returned to the task at hand.

"Dr. Selvic?" I asked a group of ladies with a smile. They pointed me to the most casually dressed person in the room. Odd.

"Dr. Selvic?" I asked again.

He turned around. "Yes, thank you. I was wondering where lunch was."

"I'm sorry. First day."

"That's fine. May's okay, right?" he asked with a little bit of worry.

"Yeah, she's fine. Do you know where Barton is?" I asked, holding out the other box gently.

"Ha! Knowing him he's in the rafters listening in on our conversation."

On cue, he swung down from the ceiling and claimed his lunch.

"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear."

A little rumble could be heard from the center of the room, making every computer in the room beep and every person in the room turn towards it.

Dr. Selvic got on the monitor and checked the contraption. Thankfully, the screen read in big blue letters, "Stable."

"False alarm. Back to work." Hawkeye said with a booming voice. "Thanks for lunch, Coulson," He added before walking off into a shadow.

I started to puzzle over how he knew my name, but I decided that anyone observant enough could read my nametag.

I nodded at Selvic and walked back over to the elevator.

I needed a nap so desperately. It was only past 3, and we didn't get out until 8.

Part of me wanted to sleep in the kitchen, but I did value my new job enough to keep awake.

Night 1

8 pots of coffee later, my watch read 7:50.

I sighed deeply, and started walking up to Phil's office.

Once there, I noticed that my uncle was in a similar state.

"Are you ready to leave, too?" I asked quietly.

He smiled and made one more phone call that I effectively tuned out.

He sat up from his chair and we locked arms.

"You can press the elevator button, because I know you've barely used it today." he said with a sarcastic smile.

He walked out to the parking lot and pulled his car around.

"Are you really driving me all the way home from here?" my eyebrows rose.

"Nope. I'm driving you to your new apartment."

"New apartment? What?" I turned towards him with my mouth slightly open.

"Come on, Lily. I know how much you hate that place."

"Yeah, I do, but you could've given me a heads up. And who's paying for it?"

"You are. I got a refund on the rent you had paid ahead on the old place. And giving you a heads up would've made you even more nervous."

I slumped back down into the chair. He was right. It wasn't like I had anyone to really say goodbye to anyway. And taking a plane to work every day, as cool as it sounded, was totally impractical.

"Thanks, Phil."

He didn't answer out loud, but he managed a smile.

I took my chance to check out the area I was in. The terrain was pretty stale. Grass was everywhere, and a couple high mountains could be seen ahead.

"Are we still in Colorado?"

"Wyoming. Not that different, but it's still a change."

The states border each other, have the same geography, and even the same freaking shape. At least there wouldn't be too much adjusting.

The drive was shorter than I expected, and only lasted 20 minutes. My complex was plain, but clean-looking. After bidding Phil goodnight, and being told he'd come at 9:30 tomorrow morning, I headed inside.

The apartment was larger than my last one, but much plainer. The walls were a harsh white, and so were the carpets. I didn't have the energy to worry about it though.

I took off a layer of clothing and crawled into the less than inviting bed. One look into the living room, showed where all of my belongings had been stockpiled.

My head got buried deeper into the pillow, until I was lying on my stomach. Breathing was hard, but apart from that, I was kind of comfortable.

My next urge was to roll into burrito format, but I fought it away and decided to sleep.