"I know the joke around HQ is 'only the best for Coulson' but they really weren't kidding," Avery said. Quickly, she pulled her hair back with an elastic and stepped into the room with the three children. "What did you say did this to them again?"

"An artifact. We have it down in the lab." Coulson shrugged. "I couldn't think of anything but magic that could do something like this."

"You're right in thinking that," Avery said, nodding. "Who found it, originally?"

"Ward spotted it," Coulson said. "Then FitzSimmons went to go investigate. After they were... affected, I managed to get it in a container and back up to the lab."

Avery nodded and sat down on the floor so she was closer to the children.

"Fitz? Simmons? Ward? Do any of you remember what happened?" she asked gently, looking between the three of them.

"Nope!" Simmons walked over to her, Fitz following. Ward remained sullen.

"Okay," Avery said. "Fitz, Simmons, can you two sit down? I want to see what happened so I can try to fix it."

The two sat down and managed to hold still for all of five seconds before they started poking each other and squirming around.

Avery sighed and let them, turning to Ward instead.

"Think you can sit still for a bit so I can work?" she asked him.

Ward nodded quietly, watching her. He managed to sit still, apparently content to sit and watch rather than engage.

Carefully, Avery started to pick through the strange magic. She had to admit, it had been a while since she'd gotten the chance to unravel an unfamiliar spell, and she was kind of enjoying it. She worked until she heard a bit of giggling behind her and felt little fingers trying to touch the points on her ears.

"FitzSimmons...?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

They both grinned. "We just wanted to see if they're real," Simmons said, grinning like a little science loon.

Avery couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile.

"Yes, they're real," she said. "Got them from my dad."

"Ooooooh," the two chorused. They were clearly still interested, though, not moving away and peering at her in a little kid-Science way.

Avery let them stare at her, still working on the spell. It was tight and efficient, and it was a surprisingly delightful challenge.

Ward sat still, just letting her work. He did glower a bit at the other two though for being rowdy.

After a while, Avery sighed and stopped working.

"I'm going to need to sleep on this one, I think," she said to Coulson as she stood up again. "This is tight. I need more than what I can do in my head, so I need to do some prep and get a bit of sleep before I keep working."

Coulson nodded. "That's alright," he said. "We've got room on the Bus for you."

"Thanks," Avery replied. She stretched a bit. "I'll cook tonight, if you want. In exchange for the room."

Coulson shrugged. "Your choice," he said. "We can order food if it's easier. Wouldn't be the first time."

"When was the last time any of you had something actually nearly home-cooked?" Avery asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm no gourmet chef, but I can at least put together a passable meal."

Coulson smiled a little and nodded his acceptance of that. "Kitchen is down the hall," he said, making sure to shut the door so the kids couldn't escape.

Avery nodded and headed down that way. She didn't think anyone would have objections to soup and sandwiches for the evening, not with three little kids on the Bus.

Coulson kept part of his attention on her and part of his attention on the rest of the group. He already knew how the Avengers were doing; they got lots of attention from the public, and Fury gave him a weekly update.

"You should tell them," Avery commented softly as she cooked. "At least Barton and Romanov. They should know."