Hi babes! Here's a beautiful little one-shot that I literally wrote late last night and then all of today. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. This is based off of a mock movie poster that I made (see story cover) that was inspired by a tweet from a friend of mine. Then another friend said how badly she needed an AU fic or gifset, so I got inspired, again, to write this.

Hope you enjoy!

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts together, Grant adjusts his brown suit jacket and hair in one of the front windows of the large office building. He glances down at the time on his watch and then takes a deep breath before pulling open the front door and stepping into the cool air of the building.

He walks directly up to the front counter and places a hand flat on the top of the desk, the other in his pocket, "Hi. I'm looking for Mr. Coulson's office. I have an appointment."

The woman smiles at him, "He's up on the fifth floor, elevators are over there," she gestures to the opposite end of the lobby.

"Thank you," he smiles back. Turning around, he makes his way over to the elevators and stops in front of them, pressing the up arrow on the wall between them. He lets out a breath as he waits eagerly for either of the elevators to arrive.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Turning his head to the side, his breath catches in his throat when he sees a beautiful brunette woman standing next to him. She's wearing a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, a navy blue tank top with a dark red, unbuttoned flannel shirt over top, and a pair of black combat boots. Her long brown hair is hanging slightly waved down her back. She's staring straight ahead at the elevator doors.

"Um, what?" he asks, shaking his head slightly.

She turns her head to look at him and gives him a small smile, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Oh," he nods his head, "right. I'm uh, I'm going up to the fifth floor. I have a job interview and I'm a little nervous about it, if I'm being honest."

"Don't think you can handle the life of working for a big law firm?" she teases.

He chuckles, "More like this is my first really big job interview since I graduated from law school. But I need a job, so here I am."

"Here you are," she smiles.

The elevator dinging pulls their attention away from each other. Grant lets the woman enter the elevator first, stepping in behind her.

"What floor?" he asks her, pressing the number five button.

"Five," she tells him as the doors close.

He looks at her, "Do you work for the Coulson's law firm?"

She tilts her head, "Mmm, kind of. I'm more in the free lancing business, though."

He nods his head, "Ah. Well would you happen to have any tips you can give me for my interview?"

She thinks for a minute, "Um, don't try too hard during the interview. And don't be a kiss up either; he really hates it when people do that. Also, the number one thing, be yourself. And don't be intimidated by his glare and somewhat cold demeanor, he's pretty nice once you get to know him."

"Well thank you," he smiles at her. "Maybe your advice will be spot on and I'll get the job."

The elevator dings and the doors open. She smiles up at him and then steps out of the elevator and starts walking away. She looks over her shoulder at him, "I hope you get the job."

He watches her walk away with a small smile on his face. The doors start to close and he snaps out of his daze, sticking his hand between the doors to keep them open. Stepping out of the elevator, he makes his way to the desk just off to the side.

"Hello," he greets the man behind the desk, "I'm looking for Phil Coulson's office. I'm Grant Ward, I have an interview scheduled."

"End of the hallway on your left," the man tells him.

"Thank you," Grant nods once at him and then makes his way down the hallway, spotting the woman from earlier out of the corner of his eye; she's talking with a small group of people clustered around a desk a few feet away.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he turns to his left and sees the name 'Phillip Coulson' etched across the glass of the door window in gold lettering. He reaches up and makes a fist, knocking twice on the wood.

"Come in."

Taking a deep breath, Grant pushes the door open and steps inside. "Mr. Coulson?" he asks.

The older man behind the desk looks up and gives him half a smile, "That would be me. And you are?"

"Grant Ward."

"Ah, yes. I've been expecting you," he closes the file in front of him, setting it off to the side. "Come in, have a seat," he gestures to one of the chairs in front of his desk and then reaches for a manila folder in a file holder on his desk.

Grant nods his head once and steps all the way inside the room, closing the door behind him. He moves over to the chairs and sits down in one of them, leaning back and casually crossing one leg over the other.

Phil opens the file in front of him, "So, Mr. Ward..."

"You can call me Grant, if you'd like," he offers.

"Mr. Ward," Phil continues, looking down at the file. "It says here that you graduated from University of California, Berkeley School of Law."

Grant nods his head, "That is correct. I was in the top percentage of my class all three years."

Phil nods his head, "Mm-hmm. And for the last four years you were employed by a John Garret."

Grant nods his head again, "I was, yes. He's a friend of my father's so he offered me a job at his firm right out of law school. But I guess some things went down behind the scenes and now he isn't allowed to own a law firm anymore. So here I am."

"I see. And why is it that you want to work here at this particular law firm?"

Grant takes a deep breath, "Well, from what I've read and seen over the years, this firm produces some of the best lawyers and does amazing work. But if I'm being completely honestly with you, I really need a job. I like being a lawyer and helping people who can't necessarily help themselves, and this is the best place I can think of to do that."

"And how much experience did you have with cases while working for Mr. Garret?"

"Quite a lot, actually," Grant says honestly. "It was mostly a lot of corporate stuff, but I quickly became one of the best lawyers there. I'm not trying to brag or anything, though."

"Didn't think you were," Phil says. "I've read the list of cases you worked on, you are very skilled."

"Thank you."

"You won't be starting right at the top here, though. You know that, right? You'll have to work your way up the ladder, just like everyone else. You'll have to prove to me that you truly have what it takes to be a good lawyer. But something tells me that won't be much of a problem for you."

"I'll work my hardest," Grant smiles.

Phil leans back in his chair and eyes Grant for a moment. Then he takes a deep breath and leans forward, "I like you, Ward. You've got something about you that I think can be very useful in this line of work. And given how successful you were at the other firm, I'll think you'll be a great asset here."

"Does this mean I have the job?" Grant asks him hesitantly.

Phil nods his head, "You have the job. Welcome aboard," he stands from his seat and holds his hand out.

Grant stands up as well and accepts the handshake, "Wow. Thank you so much. I won't let you down, sir."

"I appreciate that. Now follow me and I'll introduce you to some of the people you'll be working with while you're here." He moves around his desk and towards the door. He holds it open and allows Grant to step through, walking out behind him and closing the door. "This way," he says, gesturing for Grant to follow him down the hallway and out into the main area. "Everyone," he stops in front of all the desks, "if I could have your attention please." Everyone in the room stops whatever it is they're doing and turns towards him. "Thank you. I'd like to introduce you all to the newest member of our team, Grant Ward. Ward, this is everyone."

"Hello," Grant smiles at the large crowd in front of him. "I'm really excited to be here and I can't wait to start working and get to know all of you."

Phil smiles and then turns to look at Grant, "I guess I'll leave you here to get to know some of your new coworkers. Make sure you fill out the paperwork from Kevin at reception sometime today. And come and see me later today, I'll give you some things to work on for the rest of the day."

Grant nods his head, "Will do."

"Excellent. And once again, welcome to the team," he claps him on the back and then turns to make his way back down the hallway to his office.

"Hey, new guy!"

Grant turns his head to see the small group of people he saw earlier gathered together around a desk. One of them, a tall blonde guy, is waving him over to them, "Come here."

Grant casually makes his way over to the group, both of his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, I'm Lincoln," the blonde guy leaning back against the desk says with a small smile. He gestures to the raven haired woman sitting in the chair next to him, "That's Kara." He gestures to the tall muscular man standing on his other side, "This big guy right here is Mack." He looks to the man and woman standing side by side, "And then you have FitzSimmons, the Dynamic Duo as some of us here like to call them."

"Nice to meet you guys," Grant smiles. "I'm Grant, but you already know that. So, how long have you all been working here?"

"None of us have been here for too long," Lincoln tells him. "But we've all been here long enough to establish ourselves pretty well in this world."

"That's nice. So what can I expect from working here?" Grant asks them.

"Despite his seemingly tough exterior," Kara speaks up, "Phil's actually a bit of a softie. His wife is the no nonsense one around here. You definitely don't want to get on her bad side."

"Duly noted," Grant smiles and nods.

"What I want to know," Mack speaks up, "is if it's true that you were such a big hotshot over at the other firm you worked for."

Grant chuckles and ducks his head. He looks back up, "So you guys heard about that."

"We hear about a lot of things here," Lincoln says. "So is it true?"

Grant sighs and nods his head, "Yes, it's true. I was one of the best over there. But I don't want any of you to think that I'm here to try and step on your toes or anything like that. I just want to do some good in the world and pave my own way here..." he trails off when he sees the woman from downstairs walking through the room, stopping briefly to speak to someone.

"Grant?" Kara speaks up, sitting up to wave her hand in front of his face. "Where'd you go just now?" She sits back in her seat.

"Sorry," Grant apologizes. "I just..." he shifts on his feet. "What do you guys know about that girl over there?" he points across the room. "I met her downstairs and we took the elevator up here together. All I know is that she does some kind of freelance work here."

Mack chuckles deeply, "Oh boy. Here we go again."

Grant furrows his brows, "What are you talking about?"

"All I'm going to say, is that it'd probably be in your best interest to steer clear of her," he stands up and walks away to his own desk.

"What exactly did he mean by that?" Grant asks the others.

"That girl you have your eye on is Skye Coulson," Kara tells him.

His eyes go wide, "Coulson? As in..."

Lincoln nods his head, "Daughter of Phillip and Melinda Coulson."

"Wow," he breathes out.

"Yeah. And Mack is right, if you want to really succeed here, you want to have only a professional relationship with Skye."

"How come?" Grant asks.

"The boss only has one rule," Kara tells Grant. "Do not date, or even try and date, his daughter."

"Wait, seriously?" Grant raises an eyebrow. "That's actually a rule that he has? He didn't say anything about that in the interview."

"He never does," Simmons speaks up. "He just waits for one of the guys here to make a pass at Skye or learn about the rule from someone else."

"The lucky ones though," Fitz continues, "those guys get the pleasure of actually being caught by Phil. Either way it happens, he always seems to find out."

"Lincoln here was one of the lucky ones," Kara snickers. "He looked like a poor little puppy with his tail between his legs after Phil was done lecturing him. It was priceless."

"Shut it, Kara," Lincoln says.

"Oh relax," Kara tells him, gently shoving his arm.

"So you tried to ask her out?" Grant asks Lincoln.

"Correction, I did ask her out. And she probably would have said yes if Phil hadn't interrupted us."

"Sure she would have," Kara teases. "But I guess we'll never know because you're too chicken to ask her out again because you're afraid of what Phil might do if he finds out."

Lincoln sighs, "Can we move to another subject now, please?"

Kara puts her hands up, "Fine, fine." She looks up at Grant, "Grant, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself so we can get to know you better."

"Alright," Grant smiles. "What would you like to know?"

Signing his name at the bottom of the form in front of him, Grant hands the packet of paperwork and pen back to Kevin. He turns around and leans back against the desk, letting out a content sigh as he glances around the room to watch everyone in the office milling about.

He's about to turn to go down to Phil's office when he sees Skye entering the break room on the other side of the room. Taking a deep breath, he straightens out his jacket and pushes away from the reception desk, making his way towards the break room.

"You're the best, Freddie," he hears Skye call out to another guy as he enters the break room.

He walks over to where she's standing at the counter, pouring herself some coffee, and leans back against it, folding his arms lightly across his chest. "So, were you ever going to tell me that you're the boss' daughter?" he asks her quietly, leaning over ever so slightly.

She lets a small smile grace her lips as she sets the coffee pot down, "I was wondering how long it'd take you to figure it out." She turns towards him and holds her hand out, "Skye Coulson."

He accepts her hand, "Grant Ward."

"It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Grant Ward," she smiles at him, dropping his hand.

"Likewise," he smiles back, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. "So tell me, do you always make a habit of not telling new male employees who you actually are?"

She shrugs, "Only the really special ones." She lifts her coffee cup to her lips and takes a tentative sip, smiling with her eyes at him over the rim.

He chuckles and looks down. He looks back up at her, "I wanted to thank you, by the way."

"For what?" she asks him, leaning against the counter with her hip.

"Your advice about the interview."

She waves off the thanks, "It was no problem. A big, hot-shot lawyer like yourself deserves the best, doesn't he?"

"I take it you've heard about me, then."

She nods her head, "Mm-hmm. I overheard my dad talking to my mom the other day about a new guy he was interviewing for a job here. Figured I'd catch you on the way up, see what you were all about."

"I see," he nods his head slowly. "So then you just—"

"Skye?"

They both turn their heads to see Phil leaning in the doorway, one hand resting on the doorframe, the other on the door handle.

"Hey dad," she smiles over at him. "What's up?"

"Your mom was trying to reach you but you weren't answering your phone."

"Oh, oops. It's back at my desk. What does she need?"

"Not sure. But you should probably go find out soon."

"Okay, thanks, I'll be there in a minute."

He nods his head, "Good." He remains in the doorway, not saying anything.

"Um, is there something else?" Skye asks her dad.

He shakes his head, "No, there isn't. Are you making coffee?"

Skye sighs, "We're just talking, dad. Grant had some questions about the company, and I was answering them. That's all."

"That better be all," Phil mutters.

Skye rolls her eyes, "Seriously, dad. Relax, okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just hurry up and get to your mom's office. I don't need her getting more irritated than she already is."

"I got it, I'll be right there."

He nods, "Okay. Thank you."

"Yeah, bye," she gives him a small smile.

Phil looks between the two of them once more before turning and walking away from the break room.

"Sorry about that," Skye looks back at Grant.

"It's fine," Grant assures her. "But from the way you answered him so quickly, something tells me this isn't the first time something like this has happened."

She lets out quiet laugh, "No, it is not. Dad can be a little...overprotective, sometimes."

"So I've heard."

"What exactly have you heard?" she asks him, taking a drink of her coffee.

"Just that your dad's only rule is that none of the guys here try and ask you out. But he doesn't actually tell anyone about this so called rule before hiring them on."

Skye sighs, "Yes, unfortunately that is true. I love my dad, I really do, but he can be a little much some of the time. Well, a lot of the time," she smiles.

"And I take it you don't really like his rule?"

She shakes her head, "Not really. It's kind of annoying, to be honest. It's pretty hard to find a good guy these days, and my dad's rule makes it that much harder, considering I spend quite a bit of time here. There have only been a couple of guys here who have actually had the guts to ask me out after hearing about dad's 'rule', but, of course, dad had to scare them all away."

"Like Lincoln?"

"I see you've met the gang, then."

"You mean the tall blonde guy, the dark haired girl, the big muscular guy, and the Dynamic Duo?"

She laughs and nods, "Yeah. And they're names are Lincoln, Kara, Mack, Fitz, and Simmons. Fitz and Simmons are basically a package deal known affectionately as FitzSimmons or, as I like to call them, the Dynamic Duo. I gave them that name," she smiles proudly.

"It's a good one," he smiles.

"Thanks. But those five are all pretty close and really nice; I think you'll get along well with them. And as for Lincoln," she sighs, "yeah, he asked me out when he first got here. But of course my dad overheard everything and basically read him the riot act. That was the end of that. Not like it matters much anyway," she shrugs, taking a drink from her coffee.

"Well do you know that Lincoln is pretty convinced you were going to say yes if your dad hadn't interrupted?"

"Of course he would think that. But he's not really my type, so it doesn't matter what I would have said at the time. Besides, it's not like he'd ask me out again anytime soon, he's too scared about what my dad will do to him."

"That's what Kara said," Grant remarks.

Skye nods, "That girl is so in love with him and he is just way too blind to see it. It actually hurts my heart sometimes to see the way she looks at him and he doesn't even notice."

"He'll figure it out eventually. And as for you, I'm sure that there's at least one guy here who isn't afraid of what your dad will do to them if they ask you out. You just have to be a little patient," he smiles down at her, taking a step closer to her.

She smiles up at him and takes a step closer as well. "I'm not a very patient person," she whispers. "And my dad can't really control my dating life, I'm a big girl. I'll date who I want to date, even if they work in this very building on this very floor."

Grant smiles down at her. "Well then in that case," he says quietly, leaning down closer, "meet me outside the front of the building at ten after six. There's this really great restaurant nearby that I think you might like." He winks at her before standing up straight, turning around and walking out the door.

Skye just stays standing in her spot, feeling like her heart is going to beat right out her chest. She watches through the glass as Grant walks across the room and then turns to give her a small smile before disappearing around the corner.

So? What did you think? Let me know your thoughts down below.

And before anyone asks, this is probably just going to remain a one off thing. I don't plan on writing any more of this or making it into a full fledged story at this point. I've got a lot of stories I'm currently working on getting ready to publish, so that's where my mind is at right now. I just really wanted to right this and it didn't take me very long. So yeah.

Anyways, thanks for reading. :)

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!