DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of SHIELD, or Marvel, or anything associated with Marvel.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: During a long drive, Skye promises herself never to take a road trip with the team again. That is, until the drive back.

AUTHORS NOTE: Okay, so I know I already have a lot of stories on my plate, but this one is just a little side project for when I am bored or have some spare time. Yes, I will take requests and prompts, but I can't guarantee that I'll actually do them.

Alright, so for the first little one-shot, I wanted something light and fluffy that would contain the whole team. This was the result, although I'm not sure that I liked how it turned out. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

CHAPTER ONE: ROAD

"We should have just taken the Bus," Skye grumbled, propping her chin on her hand and leaning against the window.

"It was your idea," Ward reminded, turning to look at her. They were in a small minivan, one with the SHIELD logo on the side. It was nice enough, with a clean interior and nice seats. Of course, SHIELD only offered the best for their man Coulson, right? The man in question was driving, with May in shotgun. Skye and Ward were back to back with the two, and across from them was FitzSimmons.

They'd brought various drinks and snacks, but that didn't help to cure the boredom. Is this what it feels like to go on a family road trip? I'm almost glad I was orphaned. Almost.

"Yeah, but when I said road-trip, I didn't intend it to be a five hour trip!" Skye exclaimed, twisting to roll her eyes at Ward.

"It isn't all bad," Simmons piped up, leaning forward to butt into the conversation. "We might get the chance to do some sight-seeing, or maybe team bonding?"

Skye seriously doubted that they would do much sight-seeing in the dusty orange desert that they were currently travelling through.

"Simmons is right," Coulson nodded, looking relaxed despite the fact that he was responsible for driving the team. "We can all get to know each other a bit more."

Skye groaned, reaching forward to grab another soda from the cooler. She popped the lid open, straightening back up. "Okay then. Let's play a game." She lifted her head up just in time to see Simmons frown.

"Wait, Skye. I still remember the last time you tried to make us play a game."

"Yeah," Fitz added suddenly, looking slightly indignant. "I ended up in a closet for three hours." Skye laughed, suddenly recalling the event. "It wasn't funny!"

"I should've locked Simmons in there with you," Skye said meaningfully, blinking innocently at the two scientists. Fitz looked slightly uncomfortable, the tips of his ears turning pink. Simmons remained blissfully unaware, tilting her head back in a cheerful laugh.

"Oh, that would have been a chore."

"It wouldn't have been a chore," Fitz frowned, turning to Simmons suddenly.

"Yes it would. I can almost imagine it.." And just like that, the pair were bickering good-naturedly. Skye rolled her eyes, instead turning to exchange a glance with Ward. She found him staring out the window, and she reached out a hand to nudge him.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing," Ward shrugged, lifting his eyebrows up. "Not that there's anything to do in a car anyway. Are we there yet?"

"Hey," Coulson jutted in suddenly. "We're a top-secret agency, not a bunch of middle-school kids."

"Aw," Skye leaned forward to tease Ward, a playful smirk stretching across her features. "Do you wanna stop and get a colouring book?" And there it was, his rare smile. To Coulson she added, "I'm sure you and May would be good parents, AC."

"I don't handle children," May said shortly.

"No," Skye agreed solemnly, nodding her head. "You handle fully grown enemies."

"Sometimes, they're more or less the same thing," Coulson mused. Skye gripped onto her seat as the car swerved to the right sharply. Something clattered and crashed in the back.

"Fitz! I told you to make sure it was strapped in properly," Simmons accused, throwing behind various glances to the back.

"It was strapped in properly," Fitz retorted, also twisting around to get a better look. "I'm jus' being framed, is all."

"It's okay, there's a gas station up ahead anyway. We can stop, get some things organised." Coulson was right, and when Skye peered out the window she could make out the figure of a dusty building.

"You think they'll actually have gas in there?" She was doubtful, the place barely looked like it was inhabited.

"Let's hope so, else we're staying the night here."

...

It turned out that the place was in fact, in use. It was dusty, that was for sure. Skye highly doubted that the place was safe, but it looked good enough to fuel up. The place was owned by an elderly couple. They seemed excited to meet new people, and Skye almost found it heartwarming. She wouldn't have thought that they'd have gotten a lot of customers.

Ward looked uncomfortable, as Coulson and May filled up the vehicle. Fitz and Simmons were chatting amiably to the couple. Skye sauntered over to him, delving her hands in her jacket pockets. "C'mon, let's go in."

"You want to go inside?"

Skye lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. "Why not?" At his doubtful look, she rolled her eyes, reaching out to tug on his arm. "The dust won't kill you, Ward. Neither will the little old grandparents. Lighten up a bit! All you do is complain. Besides, it'll be fun."

It was with a grudging look that Ward began to move, finally accepting with a nod and a sigh.

"Fine."

Skye grinned triumphantly, already moving off to the store entrance. "Yes! Come on, let's go raid the store."

...

It wasn't long before they were back on the road. May was driving now, and Coulson was frowning at a map. Skye twisted to peer over the seat shoulder at him.

"You know this is the modern age, right? Ever heard of a GPS?"

Coulsom didn't look up, only twisting the map around to peer at it from a different angle. "Yeah, except the signal's patchy around here. And someone forgot to pack the standby GPS."

Skye paused suddenly, a half-smile frozen in place. She cringed inwardly. "Uh, yeah. Whoops."

"If you let me up front, I can wire the internal system to-"

"It's fine, Fitz," Coulson brushed it off, obviously not paying much attention. "I haven't looked at one of these things in forever. Just hope that it's not upside down."

Fitz looked doubtful, but he settled back down and reached for a drink. Skye let out another huff as the van descended into silence once again.

"You guys are boring, you know that?" When all she got was exasperated eye rolls and accepting nods, she leaned forward. "We should do something. You know, team bonding and all that."

"What about ISpy?" Simmons suggested innocently, and Skye groaned playfully.

"I haven't played ISpy in ten years, Simmons. I'm not going to start now. Besides, can you imagine May playing ISpy?" Skye grinned at the sound of collective laughter. She couldn't quite tell, but she thought she even saw a glimmer of a smile from May in the front mirror. "This is the worst road trip ever. Please remind me never to travel with you guys again."

"We live on a plane," Coulson reminded dutifully.

"That's different." Skye waved it off. "There, we have wi-fi."

"Then let's go over our mission again," Ward offered. Skye pulled a face at him, but obeyed, pulling the facts out quickly. They had been drilled into her so many times, it was hard to forget.

"Me and Coulson will go in and distract them. Ward and May will guard and fight their way through, and FitzSimmons will work their magic," she droned, her tone the one of a bored school student.

"Oh, let's not talk about the mission for once," Simmons said impatiently. "We have a full three hours left to plan for that."

"Where are we going, exactly?" Fitz questioned, from his slumped position on his seat next to Simmons.

"We're heading to one of the cabins that they have out here," Coulson informed, twisting his head to look at the others. "They don't know it's us, of course. We're listed as a group of people getting together to mourn the funeral of a man, so don't got blabbing about holidays or secret missions."

"What are our cover names?" Ward didn't look particularly surprised, nor bored. As always, he was what she liked to call a 'tin man'.

"May is known as Wanda Luis, I'm Daniel Herring, Skye is Lily Peterson. Ward, you're known as John Berlin, Fitz, you're Oscar Peters, and Simmons, you are Eden Bell."

"I can live with Lily," Skye mused. She twisted to give Simmons a sly look. "You got that, Simmons?"

The scientist shifted uncomfortably. "I think so." Jemma Simmons was now known amongst the team as a terrible liar, flustering and giving the whole game away. It was safe to say that it was obvious why she had not passed her field assessment.

"So, Daniel," Skye smirked at Coulson, leaning back in her seat. She resisted the heavy urge to kick up her feet, instead diverting her attention to the senior agent. "Do we have any interesting backstories?"

Coulson only shrugged, not seeming particularly bothered. "Why don't you make up your own?"

Skye grinned suddenly, leaning forward. Her eyes glittered in mischief.

Simmons looked slightly suspicious of the hacker. "Skye.."

"Don't worry," Skye assured Simmons, rolling her eyes at her. "I just got an idea, that's all. How about we make up backstories for each other?"

"Backstories?" Ward looked doubtful, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah," Skye nodded as if it was obvious. "It'll be fun. Like.. Let's start with May."

"Skye."

"Don't worry, May. Hmm.. Wanda Luis, an only child with divorced parents," Skye intentionally made her voice overly theatrical, grinning at the others.

Fitz laughed, suddenly seeming more attracted to the idea. Skye smiled encouragingly at him. "She was sour to her mum for breaking up the happy family."

"See?" Skye cheered enthusiastically. "It's not all bad. Besides, it's better than sitting in a car in silence."

Ward shook his head, turning back to the window. "You can count me out."

"Okay then, grumpy. Me and FitzSimmons will have fun, right?"

Simmons looked slightly uncertain, but both had smiles on their faces.

"Anyway, let's continue. Hmm.. Wanda got married later on, but then.."

The afternoon was soon wasted away by a chorus of laughs, jokes and ridculous story telling. Ward softened up eventually, and they even had May joining in a few times, something Skye was still inwardly congratulating herself on.

"Oh, and let's not forget about Eden's crazy sister, huh?" Simmons laughed, and suddenly Skye was struck with curiosity. "Hey Simmons, do you have any siblings?"

Simmons sobered up considerably, although there were still wisps of a smile. "One. She.. she died of leukaemia a while ago."

"Oh." Skye's smile dropped, and she immediately felt guilty that she had probed into private stuff. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Simmons smiled weakly. "I've gotten over it. Life's not perfect."

It was after that little hiccup that all the jokes and playful banter returned to normal. The conversation switched from Ward and Fitz's 'bromance' (Skye) to the effects of various diseases (FitzSimmons) to Corvettes (Coulson).

It was descending into evening when they were finally forced to stop talking. The sky was streaked with pink and pale orange, the beautiful colours of dusk.

"We're here," Coulson announced. The vehicle was winding through a small town, neatly kept but very quiet. It had a nice atmosphere, but it was so small it almost felt like a ghost town. May pulled up at a small wooden cabin, and Skye peered out the window carefully at it.

"This is where we're staying? It doesn't look big enough to house a hedgehog."

"It's only for the night," Ward reminded. He reached over and slid open the door, jumping out and hauling the bags with him. Skye hopped out next, blinking rapidly as a gust of hot air hit her. She was getting pins and needles from the long ride. She stretched out her arms and legs, stifling a yawn.

"Ugh, at least that's over, fun as it was."

Coulson passed her a bag, giving her a smile. "Just you wait until the trip back."