Set between 1x11 "The Magical Place" and 1x12 "Seeds"
By the time Christmas came around, the BUS crew truly became a team that cared for and looked out for one another. They all had just worked together to bring Coulson back from being kidnapped by Raina and others working in the Centipede Project.
One day, the younger members were all together in the common area of their flying base. "It's kinda sad that we can't go home to see our families this year," Fitz explained. "Every Christmas Eve, my mom and I would take walks into town and look at all the Christmas decorations."
"That sounds really nice," Skye said. "What about you, Simmons?"
Simmons put down the cup of tea she was taking a sip from. "When I was little, my dad and I would play out in the snow all the time. As I got older, my parents and I would spend the night watching Christmas movies and just enjoying each other's company." Simmons spotted May, Coulson, and May walk in. "What about you guys?" she asked. "Do you have any favorite Christmas traditions?"
"I mean," Ward began, "Christmas was the one time my parents and older brother weren't exactly terrible. My sister was usually with us as well. My mom and sister would spend all Christmas Eve cooking and baking while my dad, me, and my brothers wrapped presents. They always let us open one present at midnight."
"My parents and I always decorated our house for Christmas," May added. "Our Christmas tree would always be decorated with paper lanterns and red, paper chains. They usually symbolize happiness. I would cut out red pagodas to paste to the windows, and our house would be lit up with paper lanterns."
"Wow, that's really interesting," Fitz replied. "What about you, sir?" he asked Coulson.
"Well, my dad died when I was nine, so he wasn't really there for most of my Christmases, but when I was really little, maybe like four or five, my parents would take me to the mall to take Christmas family photos."
"Oh I have got to see those," Skye exclaimed.
"I assure you that those photos will be classified for as long as I live," Coulson said. "The only people who have seen them are May and Nick Fury himself."
"Didn't Nat find them one year?" May asked.
Coulson shook his head. "Clint found them and later showed Nat." Coulson looked down, remembering when his Avenger friends had confronted him about these embarrassing childhood photos they had found all those years ago.
"What about you, Skye?" Ward asked. "Any favorite Christmas traditions?"
Skye's smile quickly dissipated. She just looked down at her mug, mindlessly stirring her hot chocolate. "Um, no, not really."
"Really?" Simmons asked, taking another sip of her tea.
Skye shook her head. "When you were never in the same place every year for Christmas, you don't really get to be a part of anybody's festivities. The orphanage didn't have that great of funding, so not many kids got presents if any got them at all," she explained. "I remember this one foster home I had when I was, maybe, ten or eleven told me to just stay in my room while the rest of the family celebrated, eating dinner and opening presents together. It was that year that I realized that I will probably never have that. I will probably never have a Christmas that works out."
The room fell silent. Everyone's faces fell, looking to Skye with sorrow. They all knew that she was a foster kid and felt lost pretty much her entire life. However, she hardly ever spoke of her experiences in the system. Once in a while, like today, she would just say something that would catch them all completely off guard.
