Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Daisy had a lot of fear built up inside of her. Since the day she was born that’s all that kept being pushed. She was kicked down by foster families and anyone else in the world who tried. She was hurt repeatedly, used repeatedly. 

She never really had a chance. Trust wasn’t something that was easy for her to give especially to an alpha after all her experiences. 

But now, now with hydra agents gripping her arms so tight she swore they were one step away from cracking her bones in half. With the power inhibitors cuffs they put her in she had one thought. 

One person on her mind. 

Two people actually but mostly one whose words replayed in her head louder than the bullets and the yelling and running of everything around her. 

The field in front of the cabin was swarming with hydra agents. Daisy watched as shield agents tried to fight. 

Hands gripped her shoulders and her knees dug deeper into the ground. She felt them scrap against sticks digging into her skin. 

She killed for her. She promised. She had promised, she swore with so much sincerity it made Daisy’s stomach turn and vile almost come up. The look in Natasha's eyes said it all, “if anyone touches you, I’ll kill them” and she meant it. She meant every word. 

“Natasha!” Daisy shrieked out. Her throat burned as she yelled till her lungs wanted to give out. 

“Shut up!” One of the agents screamed at her. They knee her in the back, and would have collapsed onto the ground from it if not for the iron grip holding her. 

“Natasha! Help me! Please!” Another kick. “They are hurting me! Wanda!”

“Shut up brat!” The man kicked again. 

Daisy whimpered in pain, tears freely falling down her face but then she saw it. Red light illuminated from inside the cabin. It lit up through the wood and gleamed out the windows. 

Then it burst. 

Glass shattered and wood pulled apart flying as if a red bomb went off. Furniture flew through the air. 

Agents on both sides screamed and ran trying to cover. 

Daisy felt the world still for her though. The pain dulled out as her eyes locked onto the woman in the middle of it all. 

Red. 

It flowed around her and within her. Her eyes glowed bright and beautiful and Daisy could almost swear a crown was planted on top of her head. 

It was terrifying. 

It was a power so big it was a nightmare. One that sent you running and crying your eyes out. She rose in the sky and her eyes met with Daisy’s. 

A heat flushed throughout her, the fear that was twisting, all the terror the scene had brought mixed in with a heat so strong her cheeks burned. 

“Fall back! She’s awake! Fall back!” Someone yelled. 

Daisy was being pulled. 

“No!” She shouted. She dug her feet into the ground as she screamed and cried. “Natasha! Wanda!”

“Shut up!” The agent yelled again. 

But it was too late. They should have known. Should have expected it but how were they to know? How would they have understood what they were doing? Who they were holding and what that meant?

Roughly sometime way way earlier 

“Run! Keep going!” Daisy shouted, out of breath. 

Jemma and Fitz ran faster in front of her. They could get away, she thinks. After all they were more after her than those two. Daisy was special, and as much as she loved Jemma and Fitz they weren’t like her, thank god. They could be safe, would be safe. That’s why when the two slid behind a dumpster she kept running.

“Come back here!” The officer yelled behind her. 

She didn’t dare look back knowing it would only slow her down. She quickly looked around the area. Her options were bleak, her chest was pounding which didn’t help the tingling zapping throughout her. The streets were empty at night from curfew, she should have known better. But they really needed food. 

On queue, her stomach growled. It ate up her insides and rapped against her skull angerly. She swallowed it down, trying to ignore the pain. They’ve starved before, but this has been the longest. She tried her best, and so did they, but three kids on the run could only do so much. 

“Shit,” Daisy cursed hearing sirens blare. The red and blue lights beem flashing behind her, getting brighter and brighter as the seconds passed. 

“The other two split off! Should we go after them?”

“They aren’t like her!”

Her. What she was. Part of her smiled, knowing that she was right. Fitz and Jemma would be safe, as long as they were away from her and out of sight. But Daisy did hate herself for what she was. If she was just normal then none of this would have ever happened. Fitz and Jemma wouldn’t be running with her. Foster homes weren’t safe but they were much better than this. 

Now or never Daisy put her hands besides herself and came to a stop, crouching down and quaking the ground with a jump. She flew up into the air high, her legs flailing unused to the feeling of nothingness underneath her. She blasted towards a roof, aiming the best she could.

“Fuck!” Daisy gasped in pain.

She pushed herself up, wincing from the throbbing in her wrist. She began running again and jumped from the tall skyscraper to the next apartment building. She stumbled on top of it pushing forward to keep going. She went straight for the fire escape running down the zigzag of stairs. 

The alleyway was littered with trash. The perfect place for someone like her to hide, and or be. The dumpster was overflowing, rats and even a cat rifling through the filth. She had to, she probably deserved something like this. She really didn’t want to hide in the trash. Daisy knew better than to keep running. The dogs would smell her, find her without something to mask it, and the trash of the city could mask anything.

Grimacing, she went to the dumpster, opening the lid more and letting herself fall in. She gagged at the smell, maneuvering the bags over her, the pain in her wrist increasing ten fold. She reached back, pulling the dumpster lid down with a silent thump with the bags overflowing the surrounding edges.

She would be okay, she repeated in her head with eyes squeezed tightly. She would make it out of this, back to Fitz and Jemma with their sweet smiles and even sweeter smiles. Fitz and Jemma got away, that's all that mattered. 

Fitz and Jemma were smart, but they were stupid to stay with her. It shouldn’t matter what they were to one another, and even with that Daisy was broken. More broken than the powers she had told. Fitz and Jemma were soulmates, the very definition of it. The two clicked better than puzzle pieces fit together. Mates, destined for one another in this life and ever other.

Now Daisy had a lot of thoughts on that subject. How a lot of mates weren’t good, likes Fitz’s father who was abusive and all the other similar relationships and stories out there. Not an alpha in the world had a kind hand willing to give an omega with a sweet saccharine smile that wasn’t rotten within. But, Jemma and Fitz were different, they made her understand that yes, people could be perfect for one another, and at least once the universe didn’t fuck up with biology when it led the pair into eachothers arms.

Daisy was different. When mates met one another that sweet smell should stay, but for her it flickered in and out. Sometimes it would be so strong she could taste it on her tongue, with stinging eyes that burned. And other times there was nothing. Not even a hint of what the two smelled like. Sometimes, especially moments like these where she was alone, hiding, begging for the two to be safe, she thinks it’s because their love for her was flickering. That the universe knew Daisy wasn’t worth it, and the duo’s feelings were an avalanche waiting to break away from her.It was easy for them to say Daisy wasn’t their soulmate. But she was something, wasn’t she? She had to be, but that bond would break. It should break, for their sake. 

“Check down here! She couldn’t have gotten far,” a deep voice gruffed. 

Daisy held her breath, afraid they would hear. Their steps got closer, she could hear dogs sniffing and barking lightly. Trashed was kicked by feet and ripped apart. They were right there. Her heart was so loud she feared a dog would hear it and go erratic. She needed to breathe, it burned in her face like a fire.

“There’s been a sighting of a girl with a beanie and dark hair two blocks away. Come on.”

“You think she got that far?”

“You saw her before,” the voice yelled, impatient. The other man grumbled but walked away. 

Daisy didn’t move. She didn’t dare try and leave the dumpster. Slowly, she let out a breath. Breathing in and out, the smell stinging her lungs and nostrils. Tears she hadn't noticed smeared her face, they had probably been there for hours. 

She waited, and waited. The sun slowly started to peak into the alleyway. Cars began to fill the streets with the lifted curfew, people allowed to go to their jobs, and start the day. She heard voices, people walking the sidewalks, getting to their places in the world. 

She pushed out, biting her lip from the throbbing on her wrist. It was worse, but Daisy has handled hell over. A little sprained wrist she could handle. She crawled out of the dumpster, falling out with a loud thud and a groan. Her wrist was colored blue and purple, swollen and gleaming at her. 

“God, they're gonna kill me,” Daisy mumbled. 

Rolling on her stomach, she pushed up, using the dumpster as leverage while looking around.. No one noticed her in the alleyway, too busy rushing to their jobs and morning breakfast routines.

First step; she threw her beanie in the trash. Her hoodie was harder to take off, but after a few moments of difficulty she flipped it inside out, thankful that the color was different before putting it on, with the hood up and strings tightened to hide her face. She left her hair stuck in the hoodie, hidden from prying eyes. 

With a deep breath, Daisy left the alleyway, eyes casted down. 

People glanced at her. Tilted their heads or had upturned nose from the prominent stench wafting off her. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and kept walking. Act like you belong, she thought. If you act like you belong somewhere, no one will suspect a thing. All she had to do was get to their abandoned apartment. It had been under construction but when inhumans started popping up, the world froze and some things never started back up.

The sun burned her eyes and each time she passed by someone she tried holding her breath. As if that would keep her safe, as if that would make it all better. But she couldn’t hide, not how she wanted to. That was impossible even if they had access to suppressants, you could still tell what somebody was. Most of the people on the streets were betas or alphas. Every few groups was an omega like her but she worried she would be stopped. 

She looked young, she was young. Sure she was almost 18, she thinks she’ll be 18 in a few months. The days and weeks had started to blend together a long time ago so it was hard to tell. A young omega on the street was someone to be stopped, especially if you looked like Daisy. Some people wanted to play savior, coddle her and pull her in when in reality, obviously they just wanted something for themselves. Thats how the world worked after all. 

The foster homes prepared her for the worst. Showed her the true gravity of the world. The world was always bad, even before hydra took everything over. People like her knew that, even if they were sweet like Jemma and believed people could be good. She thought that would be the worst. All those houses, all those alphas, all the angry people, but she was wrong. Everything can always get worse. 

Something had happened, she’s not sure what but inhumans started popping up. At least that’s what the government has started to call them. Shield at first was with them. They helped, agents were everywhere trying to rangul and take care of the situation, saying they weren’t bad but then…they were overturned. 

The thought made her want to hural. Hydra came from the shadows with fancy weapons and a promise to protect them all from these people with powers. 

Monsters. That’s what they implied. 

So she was running. One night she was normal then a fish later she was in a husk and broke out. She almost killed everyone, the way she shook the earth beneath her and the house, it all came down. Fitz and Jemma barely made it out before they had to run. Jemma and Fitz were both mesmerized being the nerds they were but the parents were terrified. And they should have been, Daisy thinks. She took their house away from them. 

Fitz and Jemma deserved better is all Daisy could think. They weren’t in the system forever, not like her. They weren’t meant to be worthless, they were fully human too so they would be safe without her. It would hurt so much if they left, if she was alone but wouldn’t they be safe? Daisy shook the thoughts away. They wouldn’t leave, and made it clear long ago. 

She kept on walking and was thankful it didn’t take her too long to get to the building. 

She slipped in undetected and made her way up the staircase. She could already hear the hushed and worried voices of her friends. Before it became abruptly silent.

“Hello?” Fitz called out, with a shaky edge. “Daisy?”

“You should be more careful of intruders,” Daisy rerouted, walking into the room on the fifth floor. 

The two of them sprung up. They ran to her wrapping their arms around her so tightly it took her breath away. 

“Don’t ever do that again!” Jemma yelled, pulling back. “We were so worried! It’s been hours!”

“I’m sorry,” Daisy sighed. She pulled her hoodie down and ran her hand through her tangled hair. “The officers were on me. I-I was scared, and I knew they would follow me and not you. I didn’t leave the dumpster-“ once she said it they both backed away quickly holding their hands up in disgust- “till a little after the sun came up. I couldn’t risk leaving at night.”

“Well whatever, you're safe now so it’s okay.” Jemma smiled softly and Daisy nodded. “Are you hurt?” Her brows pulled together in worry, as Jemma finally began taking in Daisy.

“My wrist.” Jemma sighed with the shake of her head. Daisy knew she couldn’t rid the frown on her lips even if she tried. 

Jemma retrieved a small box from their limited supplies. It was all the medical supplies they could scavenge together, not that it was a lot. The items they did have were scarce and far between. 

“How’s your arm from your powers?” Fitz asks.

Daisy had been hopped up on adrenaline for so long she didn’t even notice the pain in her arms until now. Looking down, she found bruises littering her arms in light yellow and blue’s but it could be a lot worse. Her wrist for example, that no amount of creams and pills could rapidly fix. Even if Jemma bandaged her up right. 

The three sat in a circle on the floor, with Jemma directly in front of Daisy. She lightly grabbed Daisy’s wrist with so much care it hurt, as she began to assess the extent of the damage to know how to wrap it. 

“So did you get it?” Daisy asks.

“No,” Fitz mumbled. His eyes flickered between Daisy’s wrist and the floor, guiltily.“We tried but there were too many.”

Their stomachs all growled, as if it knew. And yeah, maybe it did, because they had been so close to getting food. Daisy really didn’t want to scavenge in the dumpster for pizza crust, or stale donuts that had mold growing on them. They needed something good, something better. They couldn’t risk getting sick anymore, not with it becoming winter. She could get them money, at least some cash to get them some food. 

She knew they would tell her no. Beg her not to even, but this was survival. Their lives were on the line, and at the end of the day, Daisy would put Jemma and Fitz above her time and time again. 

“I can…get money.”

“No. Absolutely not! You are not-“

“Jem,” Daisy pleaded. 

Jemma squeezed her good hand. Tears quickly filled her eyes. “No, we can steal some. This-- It’s just a few bad days, Daisy, okay? We’re together and safe.”

“You're starving,” Daisy argues. She looks between the two of them. “You both are starving and I can do this. I have done this so it’s not like--”

“Trauma has lasting effects on the body,” Jemma argued, harder. “You might think you can do it again, and you’ll be fine but none of this is fine.”

“She’s right, Daisy. You shouldn’t hurt yourself for us.”

“Like starving doesn’t have lasting effects on the body?” Daisy raised an eyebrow at their silence. “The more you starve, the closer you are to death and I--” She choked back a cry, swallowing it down. “This way is easier. It worked before.”

“When we didn’t know that’s what you were doing,” Jemma spat. “You could sell drugs for all I care but not that.”

“We could-“

“No, we’re not selling drugs,” Daisy cut Fitz off. She believed with their brains together they could cook something. But if the two in front of her went to jail, or god forbid prison, it wouldn’ be pretty. “I can get a hundred at least for us. Please, we haven’t eaten in so long. I can do it.”

“Daisy, we don't want you getting hurt,” Fitz spoke gently. 

She bit her lip. It didn’t matter what she did. She’s done it before, has done worse before. She closed her eyes for a moment. She gets it, she really does. If either of them did this, she would lose her mind. But Daisy was different. “I’m doing it.”

“Daisy, please. Maybe we could get jobs or-“

“No. You know you can’t as long as you're with me you can’t. Maybe you guys should just-“

“Absolutely not,” Fitz said standing up as Daisy did. “We’re not leaving you. We don’t leave each other.”

“Promise.” Jemma stretched her hand out with her pinky and Daisy laughed. She intertwined it and Fitz did too. 

“We stick together like always.”

“I love you guys,” Daisy whispered. The two grinned, leaning in and wrapping their arms around her. They both kissed the sides of her head and all she could think was that she didn’t deserve them. The light sweet smell that came from them only made the thought echo within her. 

***

The following night they broke into a gym, they had enough time to shower together before a security guard noticed the bathroom was locked and a shower was running. They had to climb up into the ceiling through a panel, and move around the guard before they got free. But overall the night had been a success, she didn’t smell like shit, and they were all clean.

They tried talking her out of it. But after the shower, seeing their bodies and how skinny they all were becoming. They were each visibly starving. She gagged from it, and it burned as hard as the ache inside her. She had to do it again, she had to get money the way she knew how, the way she knew would help the people she loved.

The one thing about the city Daisy liked was how easy it was to hide. She imagined somewhere like the suburbs people would be more suspicious and closer. They used to be in the suburbs, right out of New York City where all the houses looked the same and there were trees that went on for miles.

Sometimes, when it’s silent, she wonders if they would have been better off in the woods. If they hadn’t kept running, if they hadn't found their way to the city before hydra set up inhuman check points. 

She had been to so many places before, so many homes. But she almost always ended up back in the city, sleuthing and hiding one way or another. But it wasn’t home. No, it made her gut turn. It had her on edge and always looking over her shoulder. For more than one reason. Hydra just made that intensify. 

Fitz and Jemma took care of her but they needed food, and so the next night after the gym she had to do what she’s done before. Daisy could not and would not let them starve. This was all her fault after all, so she had to push through it to help them. 

But they were so close. So close. The two mates adopted her as their own with kisses and hugs and everything else Daisy could need. And she loved them, even if they weren’t her true mates, even if one day they would stop loving her. The truth showed in their scents flickering in and out. 

And it’s why she had to do bad things to get what she needed. What they needed. Right now the priority was them, and honestly, if Daisy was being honest, it always would be them. 

Daisy gasped coughing and wheezing falling to her side. She spit out all the contents from her mouth with each gag that had nothing to expel from her empty stomach. It stung worse than the taste in her mouth. 

“Pathetic,” the man growled. He kicked her in her side harshly. “Learn how to swallow, omega filth.” Money fell to the ground and she scrambled to grab it but his hand threaded through her hair. She whimpered looking up at the older man. “Maybe you need a lesson huh?”

“N-Not the deal,” she sputtered. Her throat felt raw and sore as she spoke. She could still taste the sourness. 

“Well maybe I’m not-“

“This is a hydra official agent, I order you to let go of the girl.” 

Daisy tensed at the voice. The alpha let go of her hair but not without kicking her side once again. She gasped for air leaning on the pavement. 

“Get out of here before I change my mind,” the agent ordered to the man. 

She listened for the footsteps to walk away but the agent stayed. He stayed. He walked closer to her crouching and picking up the money on the ground. He counted the bills slowly. 

Daisy pushed past her bodies screaming. “What do you want, Ward,” she bit out, snatching the money from him. She wiped her mouth standing up but not without swaying. She had momentarily forgotten the kicks to her side till it began to hit her full force with blurry vision. 

Ward looked her over. His face was blank as always but he let his signature douche smirk. “I see you’re back slithering in your filth. I’ll be honest, part of me thought you were dead when you hadn’t been showing up begging for any money you could get your omega hands on.”

“What. Do. You. Want,” Daisy said, more pointedly. 

Ward raised an eyebrow, stepping closer. “I would think an omega inhuman like you would treat a hydra official better than that.” Daisy tensed, closing her eyes briefly. “You know what I want. Or do you want me to bring you in? We got some bad people too, all kinds of disgusting vile people and they’re the kind who won’t even give you money for it.”

“Shut up!” Daisy yelled. “I do this for food!” She defended. 

Ward chuckled at her stepping forward. In the end it didn’t matter to him. He was one of the reasons why she stopped. She couldn’t keep dealing with him, letting him dangle her life, and FitzSimmons lives over her head.She quickly shoved the money she had in her pocket, afraid he would take it from her, just to hurt her. 

“Then why don’t I give you some? Why don’t you drop down like an omega or I can call you in. You had quite the search party after you the other night.”

Daisy wanted to whine. She wanted to whimper and scream and run away but he was stronger. He was bigger and had more power and keeping Ward at bay was one of the biggest reasons why she wasn’t taken in already and why her friends were safe. 

It felt more wrong then it usually did but she slowly kneeled down on the ground. He smirked down at her his hands going to his buckle. His badge was clipped to it, the hydra symbol shining in the light. 

“Your friends wouldn’t last a day either. They may not be like you but omegas are omegas,” he continued his voice low. 

“Don’t talk about them,” Daisy growled. Even with all the uneasiness he gave her she wouldn’t dare let him hurt her. 

“Look at me,” Ward growled, shoving his hand in her hair. She fought back a whimper biting her tongue as tears fell down her cheeks. “You're gonna serve me well and then I’ll let you go back to whatever hole you crawl out of.”

“Y-You won’t touch them.” She stared right up at him. Daisy wouldn’t waver when it came to them and he had to know that. 

He leaned down, his breath smelling like some crappy beer from a nearby bar. “A deals a deal. As long as you cooperate, isn’t it?”

Daisy gulped. His hand squeezed tighter, forcing a small cry from her lips. He used his other hand to move towards his pants. 

“What the hell are you doing!” The voice made them both jump. Ward quickly looked but barely had time before a foot (yes a foot) kicked him in the face. 

Daisy was lurched forward from his grasp being tangled within her hair. The woman who had yelled quickly grabbed the back of her hoodie, catching her before she face planted. Daisy gasped, the fabric choking her from the harsh pull. Black dots spotted her vision.

“What the fuck!” Ward yelled, holding his nose, pulling his hand back and looking up. 

Daisy has seen Ward look mad. She has seen him look smug, confident, as full of himself as one can get. But she’s never seen fear. She’s never seen his face pale and his eyes wide to the point it was a cartoon. 

The hand let go of her. Daisy caught herself on her good hand.. Ward shot up and ran quickly down the alleyway. He didn’t look back for a second, he didn’t even scream, he just ran like a mouse fearing a lion. For a moment he was the prey, not Daisy, Him.

Daisy didn’t want to look behind her. Part of her was afraid of who it could be. Who could scare him? Who could make him bolt? Her heart hammered in her chest but she stood and turned around slowly locking eyes with green ones and no…oh no. 

She took a deep breath. 

The second she did she regretted it. It wafted over her, cradled her head, her body, danced around her in a way that was all consuming and overwhelming like every first time you smell that smell. It was enticing, the scent was supposed to be. This is what the trap was, it made you feel warm, safe till you fell in whatever way.

Mate. 

“Hey-“ 

“G-Get away from me!” Daisy yelled, stumbling backwards as she raised her hand. She ignored the omega in her calling out for the alpha. For the warmth and desire the green eyed woman made her feel. 

Fuck, fuck, what should she do? Because the longer she looked, the more everything clicked into place and why Ward had shit his pants. Black widow. The black widow. Red hair, green eyes and the amount of power to scare even hydra agents away. 

“I’m not going to hurt-“

“No!” Daisy screamed. She didn’t even mean to but when she held her hand a quake blasted and the black widow was sent back with a crack into the brick wall. “Shit! I-I didnt-“

She ran. 

She turned and bolted, running as fast as she could. Her sides burned and her ribs felt like they were tightening a vice grip on her lungs.Each breath came with a wheeze, worse than the last.

She ran and ran till she stumbled up the five flights of stairs and collapsed onto the floor of the room with her two best friends as her brain went foggy with black spots and the world turned dark.

Chapter Text

“What the hell,” Daisy groaned instantly. Her head was spinning as she forced her eyes to open. The trickles of light within the room burned as she squinted. One of her arms had a splint, tightly wrapped while the other one was wrapped up to her elbow. 

It made all the memories flood back horrifyingly fast. Ward was one thing. She’s handled him before and if it wasn’t for how last night ended, Daisy wouldn’t allow herself to think on it further. He did what he always did. 

“You’re awake! Here take these,” Jemma said, rushing over with a bottle, opening it with shaky hands. 

Daisy didn’t have time to process before swallowing something, with a bottle pressed into her lips to help it go down. She barely shook off choking, Jemmas gentle hand patting her shoulder with concerned wide eyes. 

Fitz rushed to her side, taking the bottle from Jemma. Daisy’s eyes fluttered shut, taking the small moment of stillness to calm herself in anyway she could. But that wasn’t possible, not when green eyes were floating through her mind. 

“How are you feeling? How are your ribs?” Fitz asked. She felt him lift up her shirt, making her realize the bandages wrapped around her. 

“Shitty,” she grumbled. “Did you buy these?” She asks, worried, looking at her arms. She needed to focus on something other than, well, her . They didn’t have money to spend, so it was easy to hook onto the bandages. 

“Don’t even get me started! You came home, beat up, and collapsed. I'm allowed to spend money to fix you!” Jemma huffed, crossing her arms. Her shoulders were taught, that look on her face that Daisy had gotten sadly used to. The worriedness, the sadness that seemed from kind brown eyes that never should have seen this world. 

“I…I know,” Daisy mumbled. The guilt inside of her was intense. The longer she looked at either of them the more it grew, the familiar scent they gave off whither away for the moment, leaving her alone. “I’m sorry, okay, I-I…” Daisy stopped herself.

She had to tell them. Jemma and Fitz were her something . She did something that could jeopardize them all and it was terrifying to her core. She thought everything they faced was the worst, but of course the universe would prove her wrong. 

Fitz shifted closer to her, his shoulder brushing right up against Jemma with his knees touching Daisy’s leg. 

“What?” Jemma asks. 

“What happened? You can tell us, Daisy. We’re in this together, remember?” Fitz said.

The words stalled in her. Trapped like she always felt. The problem with their world was that it was always bad. Even before hydra, the power dynamics in place still stood very strong. Sure, they got a little worse, but they weren’t far apart. 

Even if Daisy wasn’t living in this world, with these powers that hurt her, bruising her and fracturing bone that never stopped hurting, she would still be terrified of what she just learned. 

So forgetting everything, all of hydra, the powers, of everything was still normal. She was seventeen, an omega, the lowest on the food chain who’s been in foster care her entire life. Finding Jemma and Fitz had been like a sweet candy fallen from the cloudless sky in a land that only burned her. Figuring out Natasha Romanoff, the black widow, was her soulmate was if the devil came up and dragged her down by the ankles. 

“Ward found me dealing… with a customer,” she started. It was the easiest, they already knew about him and before . Daisy’s throat burned, whether that from from the night's activities or feeling like sobbing, she wasn’t sure. “He wanted me to pay up again for his silence.”

“You used your powers on him?” Fitz asked. 

“No,” she said. Daisy didn’t have to look at them to see their confusion. She’s fractured her arms a few times because of her powers, the two had memorized the wounds and the signs of what her abilities could do to her. “I-I met a… my mate.”

“What!?” They both yelled. Daisy’s hand shot to her head that began to pound. 

“Can you both hush!” Daisy shouted, the pain reverberating around her skull. “I-I don’t know. I might have been… seeing things or hallucinating from,” she waved her hand around her torso “but it-it was…it might…” she couldn’t say it, it sounded insane. But they both looked so deep into her eyes, waiting for the name she clearly recognized. “It might be Natasha Romanoff?”

“Are you serious!”

“You're joking! You're bloody joking!”

Daisy groaned even more as her head began to spin. She wishes to everything she was joking. But she could see her. She could see her so clearly in her head she wonders if it was real. 

“I panicked,” she stumbled over her words as the memory played out in her head. It’s too vivid, her frantic heart unrelenting. “She tried getting close to me after saving me from Ward. I used my powers by accident and she flew into the wall.”

“You attacked black widow!” Jemma cried out. 

“We need to go. We need to run. Where do you even run from an ex avenger?” Fitz began to ramble on. 

“No Fitz, she’s her mate! Surely she would understand. Right?” Jemma asks nervously looking between the two. 

“What if she’s our mate!” Fitz exclaimed. “She attacked an avenger! That’s not going to make her happy .” 

“Jem, it’s not like you and Fitz,” Daisy sighed. She winced as she forced herself to sit up straighter. “You both love each other, and have known each other since your first foster home. You’re both omegas and… I-I don’t have the best of luck.”

“But she would love you. Mates love each other,” Jemma mumbled. Fitz winced out of the corner of Daisy’s eye and she knew, he knew, and they both knew, Jemma knew deep down the truth. 

“My father wasn’t good,” Fitz mumbled gently. “And besides the laws to protect age gap mates isn’t a thing anymore. Daisy could get hurt.”

“Stupid hydra,” Jemma scoffed, stepping back. “Taking over and hurting people and taking down laws and enforcing new bad ones.”

“I think we have to leave. Pack what you can. Do we have money?” Daisy asked, hopefully. She didn’t want to feel like a burden if all their good money was spent on her. 

“But you haven’t had any time to heal yet,” Jemma says. She sits forward, taking Daisy’s hands in her own. “We can’t be on the run while you’re hurt.”

“We don’t have a choice. She’ll look for me, you know that. Her skills are way beyond— anyone’s, actually,” Daisy says. 

Jemma opens her mouth. She looks at Fitz with a disheveled expression that quickly turns solemn but accepting. Daisy feels her hands being squeezed before they're brought up to Jemma's lips for a light kiss. 

“Okay, we have enough for a little. I bought some food as well, why don’t you eat first. Fitz and I will pack our bags.”

Jemma walked away pulling a sandwich out of a backpack handing it to Daisy gently. “And… Daisy, no more, okay? Maybe if we go far enough we can get jobs but… no more.”

Daisy swallowed roughly trying to rid the thick lump in her throat but nodded. The two omega mates walked away beginning to pack the little stuff they had to their names. 

Daisy carefully unwrapped the plastic from the sandwich taking a bite. Swallowing felt like pins and needles but it would feel good to finally have something in her stomach. 

She wondered where they would go. They would have to run far away from here. Definitely out of the city, it’s something they’ve never tried before. After all the hydra checkpoints got put up, it became too risky.

She felt…sad leaving this place. They’ve been here since they first ran away and it’s kind of felt like home. They made it home. Their makeshift junk of a home but that didn’t make it any less of a home. If anything, it made it more of one.

But somewhere out there, it had to be better. Some state they could hide out in, maybe some small town that wasn’t at the top of hydras watch list. Daisy didn’t know, but as long as she had them by her side everything would be okay. 

Daisy looked at them packing up everything and smiled. They were her family, they were all she ever needed. They fought for her even though she didn’t want them to. She was so afraid of them getting hurt but they loved her and she couldn’t ask for anything more. In that moment, their scents flooded her nose and it was like the universe was telling her everything would be okay.

***

Three kids walking down the sidewalks might be a little suspicious but no one turned an eye at them. Maybe it was a saturday, they never kept track of what day of the week it was. Whatever day it was, she was thankful no one cared about them. Fitz kept his arm around her waist to help her walk and Jemma stood on her other side. Sometimes her hand would brush Daisy’s arm, as if she was ready to catch her fall. 

They looked normal or at least tried their best to present as normal. They passed by shops and carts on the street that made all of their stomachs grumble. The small amount of food they had yesterday did nothing for them now. That hunger always came bubbling up. 

Daisy ignored it the best she could, but the dizziness in her head from her injuries made it worse. Her body needed rest, but they needed to run. All they needed was to get away from prying eyes, and feel that essence of safe cradling them just a fraction.

“Hey,” Fitz mumbled, tilting his head to a stand. Daisy looked, seeing the cover of a magazine with a picture of her. 

It was when she used her powers to boost herself up into the sky. You couldn’t see her face, thankfully they didn’t have a clear picture of her. It looked grainy, you wouldn’t be able to tell her a part from anyone, but it still sent a shiver up her spine. She was that close to being made.

“We’re fine,” she mumbled back to them. 

Jemma worried her bottom lip, wrapping her hand around Daisy’s upper arm. Daisy nodded towards her, hoping to calm her. 

Walking a few more blocks they came to where they wanted to go. Entering an alleyway, hidden by some well placed boxes and a dumpster off to the side obscuring the street was a manhole cover.

Daisy swallowed down the vomit that wanted to reach up her throat. Fitz gently let go of her and Jemma took the rest of her weight. He searched for something to use to pry it open. It only took a couple seconds. The hard part was opening it. Fitz has always been a small boy, and their malnourishment didn’t help the muscles on his arms.

Daisy watched his face turn red as he dug into the side of the cover. He pressed his body weight down, lifting it an inch. With one final grunt he twisted the bar to push the cover up and one the pavement. 

The manhole cover clanged against the ground when he crouched to push it, scrapping it with effort. “I’ll go first, and then Jem can help you down.” 

Fitzs tossed his backpack down the hole. The bag echoed loudly with a thump when it hit the ground. Daisy shuddered from the splash that came with it. They both moved next to him, as he descended down the rickety ladder. 

“Bags?” Fitz asked. 

“Can you stand for a bit?” Jemma asks her. 

“I’m not that helpless,” Daisy grumbled. She pulled away and ignored how it felt like she was instantly weighted down. Jemma took her bag off and threw it down to Fitz before helping Daisy with hers. 

Getting herself down the ladder was more of an effort than she wanted to admit. But it showed on her face, and sounded through the grunts of pain that slipped past her lips. Fitz grabbed her waist as soon as he could, carefully helping her down with Jemma right above her.

The second Daisy’s feet hit the wet ground, her body sagged into him. His arms were loose, caring, but strong enough to steady her in place. She took a few deep breaths, her head nearly leaning against the rusty ladder. 

This was her fault, wasn’t it? Down to the dot it was all kind of her fault. 

Daisy moved back with him. They both watched Jemma come down easily. None of them bothered with the manhole cover. Hopefully someone would assume some homeless person decided to take a trip, and not the quake and her friends.

“Here, be careful putting it on,” Jemma says with her backpack. They both carefully maneuver the bag over her arms before it can safely settle on her back. 

“I’ve got a torch, hold on,” Fitz spoke, taking his bag off. He turned the flashlight on, shining it down the long and narrow tunnel.. It flickered for a few beats before a steady beam of light lit up the sewer. 

It wasn’t like the movies, that was for sure. It barely fit all of them standing up, Fitz's neck was craned down and the passageway was almost shoulder width of two people. It was better than nothing, though. If they couldn’t fit their whole plan to get out of the city would be ruined with one blow. 

“We should be able to take this to at least the very edge of the city,” Jemma said. She slid her arm around Daisy’s waist.

“I can’t smell anything, is that bad?” Daisy asks after a moment. 

“I hate to say it but I think we’re used to this,” Fitz grimaced. 

“You didn’t get hit in the face, did you?” Jemma asks, gently pushing at the bridge of Daisys nose.

“No, I didn’t.” Daisy swats her away. “I’m sure it’s better than smelling shit,” Daisy joked, earning a small smile from the two. 

“We’re totally throwing these clothes away when done. We still have a few extras.” Jemma’s arm squeezes slightly around her as Fitz leads their way.

“Anything beats something covered in sewer water,” Fitz says, frowning looking down at the small stream of water below them. The small trickle of water wasn’t high enough to seep into their shoes, all they could pray for was that it wouldn’t rain. More than their socks would be drowned in that scenario. 

“All we really need to do is reach Pennsylvania. I think once we reach there we can camp.”

“You? Camping?” Daisy teased Jemma. “What are we going to do, hunt our own food?”

“Well do you have a better idea,” Jemma huffed. “At least then we would be hidden.”

“Definitely less hydra patrol but there are reasons we stayed in the city,” Fitz says. 

“It’s hard to leave,” Daisy sighed. Even if they could get to the edge of the city by the sewers, Hydra had checkpoints everywhere. They needed woods, a large expanse of trees to be forgotten inside of. Somewhere far far away from Hydra officials and those stupid checkpoints. 

At least in the city the small group knew where everything was. They would now be leaving their home, the one place they knew like the back of their hands. 

“It’ll be better though,” Jemma said softly, smiling. “Think of all the stars we could see!”

“Maybe I can get a monkey.”

“We both know they don’t have monkeys,” Jemma rolled her eyes. But Daisy saw the smile on her face that only grew the longer Fitz stayed on her mind.“Come on Fitz, I expect better from you.”

“Dare I say let me dream?” 

“Let’s play a game to pass the time!” Jemma suggests. Daisy rolled her eyes. “Let’s see…eye spy something… brown.”

“Shit? Does it happen to be shit?” Daisy asks. 

“Mushrooms?”

“That can’t be healthy,” Daisy mumbled, spotting them growing. 

“Yes Fitz, good job! Daisy, your turn!”

“I spy something… gray?”

“The tunnel we’re in?” Jemma asks. 

“I know that was so hard for you good job Jem,” Daisy teases. The brunette rolls her eyes but smiles and Daisy couldn’t help smile as well. Playing eye-spy in the tunnel might be dumb, but these two could make any situation better. 

***

“Hey! You got water on my butt!” Fitz yelled, jumping back. Jemma and Daisy broke out into a laugh. 

“Did you pee yourself, Fitzy?” Daisy jokes, holding onto Jemma's arm as she laughs. 

“Oh shut up!” He yelled annoyed. He tried wiping the water away from himself but nothing could be done already. “This is disgusting!”

“Oh we’ve been in worse,” Daisy continues.

“Do you want another pair of trousers?” Jemma asks, already going to open Fitz's backpack. 

“I am not changing in a sewer.”

“Then stay like that poopy pants.”

“Wow.” Fitz rolled his eyes. “So mature Daisy.” 

“Thank-“ Daisy stopped when they heard hushed voices and feet begin to echo. 

“What’s that?” Jemma asks, gripping Daisy’s arm tighter. 

“Turn your light off,” Daisy quickly says, waving at Fitz, who puts the flashlight down. 

“Hello?” A woman’s voice called out. For a moment there is just the tickling sound of water. Daisy’s stomach drops. All they had was back, down here there was nowhere to run. “We know you’re here.”

“We don’t want to hurt you,” a man said. 

The three teens looked at each other scared. Could they run? Where would they even go? There is no way they could be fast enough. Daisy’s ribs still hurt . They stopped for ten minutes at least every hour to give her a break. 

Daisy could collapse the tunnel, but if she did that they could jeopardize giving themselves away to the city above. Every manhole they passed under, they stayed quiet, till the next one. But cars honked, drove past the hole before they walked farther and farther till the next ones. 

Her point, the city was still right above them. Collapsing the tunnel would do more harm than good. 

“You don’t have to be scared.”

“Maybe it’s the truth?” Jemma whispers. Daisy squeezes her, a comfort to quell the shaking in her tone. Jemma can want to believe anything, but at least a part of her still knows the ferocity of this world. 

“But they could be lying,” Fitz mumbled. He shunned his light down the long tunnel. A minute passed, another light began to brim the edge of a corner, shadows encased the wall before the man and woman appeared in Fitz’s light. 

“Stop there!” Daisy screamed, holding her hand up. She didn’t care if her arms were one step away from fracturing, or worse. She would lay down everything for these two. 

“Daisy don’t!” Jemma shouted. “You're going to hurt yourself more.”

“Woah woah woah there,” the man chuckled, holding his hands up. He was clearly trying to elevate the tension but his big frame compared and muscled arms didn’t make Daisy feel better. “We don’t want to hurt you. My names Mack and this is my mate, Elena.”

“You can call me Yoyo,” she smiled at them. Elena took a small step forward. The trio tensed, grasping one another. Daisy felt the vibrations lick her fingers, buzz up her arm with splintering pain, ready to fire. “Are you an inhuman?”

“Why?” Daisy spat. Daisy could smell a trap a mile away. The kind smiles, the gentle approach. Daisy wouldn’t fail . 

“I am, I promise we won’t harm you. Here, watch.” Daisy didn’t have time to say anything, In a split second the woman zipped passed them, and then she was back where she started. 

The trio barely saw her. Didn’t, really. Daisy only knows she went behind them because she felt the wind and something brush against her ever so gently before the woman buzzed right back into a standing place.

“Yoyo,” Fitz repeated, before smiling. “After your powers? That’s really cool. Can you only bounce back? Can you run farther? How fast can you run?”

“Yeah it is pretty cool. That’s a lot of questions. I snap back when my heart beats, so as fast as I can run in that period. What about you?”

“Daisy has quake powers.” The two adults looked at each other. Daisy shot her head to the both of them, sending death glares that screamed “are you insane.” 

Elena and Mack shared a look. Daisy wishes she knew what it meant, but that feeling inside of her never loosened. She squeezed her fist, watching the two closely. If Elena could move that fast, Daisy had to be vigilant. 

“The one in the news? You stirred up quite the trouble a few nights ago,” Mack says. There’s a furrow to his brows, something in his voice that Daisy doesn’t know how to explain. 

“We don’t want any trouble. Just let us through.”

“Neither do we,” Elena quickly responded to Daisy. “If you're trying to get out of the city it’ll be hard. We could help.”

“What… What do you want?” Daisy asks, looking them both up and down. Elena was a beta and Mack was an alpha. She knew that. 

Daisy swallowed hard. Her ribs hurt harder just thinking about it. She wouldn’t let them hurt Fitz and Jemma, whatever these people would want, because people always wanted something. 

“Nothing. We gotta stick together, right?” Elena grinned. 

“There’s a place in Pennsylvania that we’re going to. You're welcome to come with us. It’s an outpost.”

“An outpost? For inhumans?” Jemma asks, peeking up. “I-I didn’t think there were any. Hydra has wiped everything out.”

“Not everything,” Mack grinned. “Shield is still alive. Before all this, I was a shield engineer, but after Hydra took everything down, I was moved to field work. It’s a shield outpost but welcomes inhumans. You’ll be safe there.”

“Do you have a badge?” Fitz asks. 

Mack’s face falls into a grimace with the shake of his head. “Hydra would kill on sight if anyone had a shield badge.”

He was right but Daisy would have liked proof. For all they knew these two could be lying to them. It was a miracle handed to them and that felt wrong. Daisy didn’t have good luck like that. 

Daisy wouldn’t put it past Hydra to make deals with certain inhumans. For all she knows these people might very well lead them right to the bear's dean. But they couldn’t leave . They could try backtracking, but there’s no telling what Elena and Mack would do. They could follow them, or hurt them right here and now. 

“I have powers, why would we hurt you?” Yoyo asks. 

“People have their own gains,” Daisy grits out. She skims her eyes over the two. Mack was strong, clearly. He could be an inhuman but Daisy thinks if he were he would have shown them already. That, or, it was a surprise later on. 

“We just want to help,” Mack says. 

“Maybe we should go,” Fitz whispers in her ear. “They seem nice.”

“I think we should,” Jemma agreed with her mate. Daisy very slowly finally lowered her hand from the two. Very slowly. So slowly that she’s sure if you held your breath you would have choked, gasping for air before her hand was down. 

“Fine, but only because these two trust you. But if you break that, I’ll quake you.” 

“I believe you,” Mack says. “We don’t want to game you. We won’t break that,” he says sincerely. Daisy feels her stomach twist tighter into knots. 

They begin walking. Mack and Elena lead them. The trio stays back, Fitz and Jemma wrapped around Daisy. She likes to think it’s because they know she’ll protect them, but she knows the real reason is because each step she takes is on shaky footing. 

“We wanted to work for shield,” Jemma says, seemingly out of the blue. Daisy glances at her to see a sad wistful look on her face. 

“You did?”

“Yeah, we love tech. I mean I do, Jemma likes biology more. But the foster system didn’t have a program for kids,” Fitz said, frowning. 

“You three were foster kids?” Elena asks. 

“Yes me and Fitz met in our first house! We knew we were mates right away and they could never take us apart!” Jemma said, happily. “We met Daisy shortly after.”

“Well, shield I’m sure would have loved you guys and they will,” Mack says. “I have buddies up in Pennsylvania right now, says the place is safe and secure, has been for months. It’s just hard getting word out.”

“I can’t believe some places are safe,” Jemma says. Daisy couldn’t either. She was on the edge right now. She still didn’t believe it. She wouldn’t. Not till Daisy saw it with her own eyes. As long as these people got them out of the sewers, that’s all Daisy cared about. If they had to run it would be easier to run in the open. 

It would be so easy to lie to them. Daisy’s sure there is a pretty penny for the three omegas with the inhuman quake who’s been “terrorizing” New York City. A few words, special powers didn’t make someone trustworthy. 

You don’t make friends with randoms you find in the sewers. You just don’t. 

“When Hydra took over Shield was forced into the shadows. I’ll be honest a lot of people died. The avengers fought but as you know most of them died in the battle. A lot of Shield didn’t want to hide right away. We’re a spy organization, but we were fighting first hand like a war. What was left of Shield with the news of the Avengers fallen, knew they had to hide.”

The group went silent. Iron man followed by captain America and The Winter Soilder was a close third. Spider kid or whatever his name was went missing. It was like he blipped out of existence. Daisy remembers a rumor about him being the first inhuman but thought that was absurd. 

The hulk came awhile later and had washed up on the shore of Mexico. No one knew what happened but his heart had been ripped out of his body. Whoever killed him really wanted to make sure he was dead. 

Hawkeye was one of the ones that just disappeared. He didn’t have a power and maybe that’s why he chose to go to the shadows. Daisy can’t blame him, look where she was. 

Vision was taken into custody and “turned off” but if you asked people they would all tell you different stories. Some people said they ripped his body apart. He was worth billions of dollars so maybe the government wanted to experiment on him. Some said they took him apart but to study him to build more of him. Others say he just left and flew off world. 

Thor was a question no one asked. He was a king of another world with his brother, Loki, a menace to earth really. At the end of the day he was here for his friends, and without his friends what did a god have for their planet? 

The Falcone had disappeared quickly after Captain America and The Winter Soilder died. Rhodey was a mystery to the public but some say he was taken by Hydra after Iron man died since they were best friends. 

Doctor Strange was dead and so was that Wong dude. The place where they resided in New York had been blown up. An entire block, gone. Obliterated just because of the two people inside it. 

Then there were two. Two redheads and one especially that made Daisy’s mind freeze. 

The black widow. Natasha Romanoff. Trained assassin from the red room. No one knew much about Natasha Romanoff, just what was leaked to the public. Daisy wasn’t even entirely sure what the red room was. Some sort of child assassin ring, where they trained killers since birth and Natasha was the golden prize. 

“Are you okay?” Jemma whispered in her ear. Daisy just hummed. “Do you need more medicine? Or a break?”

“I’m okay,” she said. Jemma didn’t seem satisfied but nodded her head. “Do you know how it happened?” Daisy decides to ask. “How did inhumans happen?”

“It’s a long story,” Elena began.“There was a mission and it spiraled. When you get down to it we learned that the Kree a very long time ago experimented on humans to make weapons.”

“That’s where it comes from, the powers?” Jemma asks, a new fascinating to her tone. Daisy tried to center herself on the girls touch. 

“Yes. They’ve been inactive in humans for a very long time,” Mack says. “The shield mission went south pretty early on. Unknown to the public, we were fighting Hydra, trying to be the first to find the key that would unlock the hidden genetic powers.”

“Did Hydra find it first? Is that why they…?” Fitz trails off, but his sentence gets across. 

“Shield got to it. But under unfortunate circumstances it got into the water supply and there was no stopping it. Soon enough the terrigan , which is what unlocked the powers, was everywhere. 

“There was no stopping it. Shield tried and then Hydra came slithering out of their tunnels,” Mack scoffed. He clenched his hands, his steps having a heavier weight to them. “They acted as the hero's, saying Shield were the bad guys. That inhumans were bad.”

“They aren’t,” Fitz said, defensively. Mack smiled nodding his head. 

“They’re not, which is why it’s so messed up but Hydra has always been messed up. Shield will win this like always.”

Daisy didn’t want to say they already lost so she didn’t. She chose to lean her head on Jemma’s shoulder and keep walking hoping that something would be good. 

Chapter Text

Thankfully the sewers did take them to the edge of the city. It took them father. Which meant a long walk, one filled with semi conversation but still had hours of silence. The woods that greeted them were a godsend, they hadn’t seen this many trees in awhile and to be completely surrounded by nothing but forest was comforting somehow. Even with these people they didn’t know, and didn’t trust yet. 

Mack and Elena seemed to know where they were. They moved with ease, ticking through the forest before three hours in they happened upon a a small clearly nestled against a cliff sided hill. 

“We’ll take a rest here till it’s night. It’s better to move when the suns down than up,” Mack said. He pulled his bag off, setting it down with a thump before pulling stuff out. 

The three stood variously near them, watching Elena and Mack work together seamlessly. “Here, we’re all starving, this is a ration it will help.” Elena took the bars from Mack and handed them over. 

Daisy examined hers before opening it. The package was blank, a shiny gray similar to what a poptart was wrapped in. 

“Tastes like ass,” Fitz coughs. 

Mack laughs, scratching his neck, “well, you ain’t wrong, kid. It’s the best we can do till we get to the ride.”

“The ride?” Daisy asks. She looks at him while he takes a bite of his own ration bar, grimacing to himself. 

“Yeah, gotta get to the hideout somehow. We’ve had to smuggle inhumans across before. It’s our job to save those in need,” Mack says. 

“It sounds scary, especially when the word smuggle is used. But it’s just an RV with a compartment you can sit inside till we pass the border,” Elena says. 

“Right,” Daisy murmurs. She finally opens her bar all the way, taking a small bite from the hard thing. “Doesn’t Shield have, like, real food?”

“We do, don’t worry. This is just when we’re on a mission or hard on supplies.” Elena smiled at her. 

Daisy sighs, she’s tugged down to the ground by Fitz and a Jemma and follows. Soon all of them are sitting in a circle, waiting for the sun to go down. Daisy can’t lie when she says she’s grateful for the rest, everything hurt. Walking for so long hadn’t made it feel any better, anyway she moved there was a sharp pain that ripped through her. 

Daisy kept her guard up, making sure to watch the two strangers for the whole time. Fitz and Jemma talked, at one point Fitz even nodded off on Jemmas shoulder but Daisy would stand her ground. 

When the sun was completely gone they began moving again. The three teens followed the adults silently as they seemed to know where they were going. A path they definitely traveled many times before. It eased some nerves, but heightened them all at the same time. 

They walked for hours, taking breaks for Daisy to catch her breath. Mack had offered to carry her but Daisy gave him a hard no, with a look that stomped his promoting down. 

“Where are we going?” Daisy asked for the millionth time. 

“We’re almost there,” Mack chuckled. 

“You said that an hour ago,” she groaned, leaning into Fitz. Fitz rolled his eyes but didn’t comment on her dramatics just helping hold her up. 

“It’s up ahead,” Elena said, with a gust of wind telling the group she used her power. Mack smiled big at this and they all began to walk faster. 

Daisy’s chest felt tight and she wheezed but pushed forward. The next time she looked up, Elena and Mack were pulling off branches and leaves and a gigantic camouflage tarp from an RV. 

“Oh my god,” the teens gawked. 

“This is Genevive,” Mack grinned, patting the side of the van. “She’s been our trusty steed for a while now. She’s great for smuggling things across state lines.”

“You- how?” Jemma asks. Mack opened the door to the RV and Elena went in first. 

The group was fidgety and nervous as they entered. The RV looked normal. Daisy couldn’t believe how normal it was. Then Elena walked down the hallway and pulled back the carpet pulling up the floor, revealing the true secret of the crappy van. 

“Like we said, we’ve done this a few times.”

Daisy wasn’t sure before but now as she was the first one helped down into the cramped space, she felt even worse. Because they could be lying. And the idea of that kept playing in her head over and over. Because Hydra wasn’t the only bad thing out there. 

Jemma squished in next to her and then Fitz. It took them a minute to situate themselves before Elena closed them underneath and everyone on top was put back into place, hiding them.

“All good?” Mack asks. 

“Yes, go. This shouldn’t take too long. We just have to get past the checkpoint by a few miles.”  

Daisy gulped, shutting her eyes. They would be fine. She had to remember that. Even if it was a lie to herself Daisy had to keep it up. If anything she had her powers. She was not scared of Elena, whether the woman was a human Yoyo or not. 

The RV turned on with a humming and loud vibrating start that didn’t seem to calm as it roared to life. It was bumpy as they made there way out to the forest and back on the road. Each bump felt like daggers into Daisy. 

She bit down on her tongue hard trying to distract herself from the pain. She’s felt worse for a lot longer. This was nothing. 

Maybe if she kept repeating that she would believe it. She didn’t want to voice how scared she was. She didn’t want to voice all the bad things these people could do to them. She didn’t want to voice all her fears and her nightmares because she didn’t want to scare Fitz and Jemma. 

Daisy was so ungodly broken that she knew every way this could go. Somehow, as if they knew, and maybe they did, Jemma and Fitz held onto her. It helped, a little. But Daisy could hear Fitz breathing stop for a moment, she could see Jemma’s wide eyed flickering around with a frown. 

Daisy heard the cars speed past them. The tumbled and honking of vehicles speeding down the road to their destination, wherever that may be. 

Slowly, after a long while, the RV began to slow. 

The check point. 

Daisy held her breath trying to breathe slower and quieter. You could hear every sound around them. The window rolling down, the shuffling and sounds of others cars being yelled to drive on through. 

“Hey how’s it going,” Mack said, faintly. 

“Howard Grief?” The officer asked. 

“Yeah! Weird last name, right? I honestly think my ancestors were some weirdos,” Mack laughed. “Cant believe my wife took it.”

“Sounds like it, man. Who’s on board?”

“My wife and kids. They’re sleeping, you know how early it is. And god forbid I wake them up. Women can start a war on her own, especially with those little monsters.”

“Just give me a minute.”

Jemma squeezed her arm as the silence sunk in. Daisy could feel the vibrations stronger. Her body felt like it was shaking and maybe, just maybe, it was. Jemma held her tighter, and she let out a deep breath, pushing the vibrations away. 

“Alright you're all set, have a good day, sir. Wish you luck with your wife.”

“Thank you, you too.”

They moved. 

Daisy wanted to cry as they passed the state boarder. They did it. How did they do it?

Okay, she thought, one step done. Now all they needed was to get to wherever they were going to be safe and hope these two weren’t lying. 

A few minutes later the RV pulled to the side. They heard Mack’s footsteps and then the floor above them lifted. Mack was grinning widely above them. 

“A war when I wake up? Really?” Elenasks, raising an eyebrow. “Is that what I am to you?” She questions coming into view to help them up. 

“You can’t blame me. You know how you are when woken up,” he responds, giving her a quick kiss. “Come on, let's help you guys out.” Mack let go of her and turned to the kids. 

Fitz was out first then Jemma and the two teens carefully helped Daisy out of the hole. Once everyone was outMack shut it, smoothing down the carpet. 

“We shouldn’t pass another checkpoint. Keep the windows shut and don’t look out them. It should be a few hours before we hit where we need to,” Mack sighed, rubbing his chin. “You guys can rest. Yoyo why don’t you check them for injuries.”

“We’re fine,” Daisy rushes to say. Her friends even gave her a look for that one but could they blame her? Daisy wouldn’t trust these people to see her like that, to try and heal her when they could so easily use that to hurt her or them worse. 

“I promise I don’t bite. We have Shield medical equipment and some killer rapid bone healing pills and pain pills. Which will not be abused,” she added after a moment giving the teens a stern finger. 

“We think her ribs are bruised,” Fitz pipes up. 

“Fitz!” Daisy yells, slapping his arm. The boy frowns rubbing it but doesn’t say anything. “I’m fine, really.”

“Well, why don’t you sit down, and I can check. The pills might help too.”

Daisy gnawed on her lip but listened. She didn’t have much of a choice with Jemma already pushing her to sit down on the couch. Daisy just wants peace, and it was nice not being locked in a hole but trusting someone so openly was not right. 

Elena left the room to the back bunks area and came back with a briefcase. She set it down on the counter across from them, opening it. 

“Alright let’s see…” Elena mumbled, picking out something. “I’m not a doctor but we do have some helpful things. They trained us how to patch things up and know what’s bad and can be lived with.” She held what appeared to be a tablet in her hands scanning it over Daisy’s torso. A beam protruded from it like a laser. “Thankfully all the real work is done with this. You don’t have broken ribs. Definitely badly bruised.”

“I could have told you that,” Daisy mumbled, holding her arms out for the woman. Elena was gentle as she scanned each arm before pulling back. Her eyebrows furrowed in worry but she didn’t say anything. 

“It’s her powers,” Jemma says, after a moment. The look on Elena’s face did not get better. “When she uses them too much it hurts her. Fitz and I have made blueprints for sleeves to protect her but we’ve never had the technology for it.”

“Or any simulation to test it,” Fitz sighed, shaking his head. “It’s all speculation really, but we’re positive they will work. If she just had braces to help control the vibrations.” 

“Maybe at the outpost you can work on it. Here for now just take this medicine. It should help with pain and help your arms heal.” Elena handed her two bottles. Daisy inspected it, deciding that she didn’t have much of a choice and took one pill out of each bottle. 

“So what, we just wait now?” Daisy asks, as she’s handed a water bottle. Elena shrugged, packing the case back up. “How can we do that?”

“I don’t know but just relax. You three definitely need it and you are safe here,” she said eyeing them all. “Mack and I won’t let anything happen to you.”

They stayed silent watching as the woman walked off to the front with her mate. 

“Daisy can’t you try trusting her?” Fitz asked, lowly once she was away. 

“She seems nice! She even gave you medicine.”

“It feels too good to be true. I just…I don’t know, okay.” She pouted at them and the two shared a look followed by a short nod. “People lie, it’s not hard to do.” 

“We trust you and your instincts,” Jemma says. Daisy felt her gut twist expecting a but to be around the corner. Instead Jemma wrapped an arm around her, and kissed the side of her cheek. 

“And if you think they are bad news we will keep our eyes open. But you should sleep.”

“Really? After all this you think I can?”

“It’s exactly why you need to,” Jemma said, standing. She tugged Daisy up slowly and the teen groaned as she was dragged back to the bunks. 

Jemma opened one of the middle ones. It wasn’t bad. Honestly, the bunk was probably the best place any of them would have slept in in months.Daisy still pouted at her with crossed arms. “Not tired.”

“You're always tired,” Jemma replies, a found chuckle falling from her soft lips. 

Jemma was right. On top of it all the day had been exhausting. None of them have slept since yesterday morning by now and Daisy was still recovering. She would be lying if she said sleep didn’t sound like a luxury but fighting her fear was hard. 

She wanted to say she was scared. She didn’t have to, though. They both looked at her with knowing faces that matched her own. They were all scared, they all knew what could happen. 

Reluctantly she crawled into the bunk, allowing Jemma to pull the blankets up over her. The small space felt way too comfortable. The mattress underneath her cradled her wounded body just how she needed and the pillow took her in like a lazy cloud in the sky. It was warm and soft and the vibrations of the vehicle were the only thing keeping her from not freaking out. 

“Good night. We’ll wake you when needed.” Jemma leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. 

“Thanks mom,” Daisy teased, rolling her eyes but Jemma just smiled more. She closed the small curtain to the bunk and Daisy was left alone. 

It would be fine right? It had to be fine, right?

***

Daisy’s eyes blinked open slowly. For a moment she tended forgetting where she was. Memories started to flood back and she sighed. 

Her ribs didn’t hurt as much as they did before. She lifted her head grabbing the ends of her shirt pulling it up to look at her stomach. The bruises were slowly fading. She pushed it back down and let her head fall with a huff. 

“This should work,” Jemma said. Daisy smiled at her voice. Thankfully the two seemed to be okay still. 

She really didn’t want to admit how easily she fell asleep. The days actions had finally caught up with her and almost as soon as her head hit the pillow she was out. 

“The outpost should have supplies. God, you two are incredibly smart.”

“Well yeah,” Fitz responded. Daisy couldn’t hold her snort back, or the flourish of endearment she held for the boy. He deserved a good school, a good life. 

She decided that was her moment to leave the bunk. Before she started to spiral further about things she couldn’t change. Even if she begged the two a thousand times to leave her for something normal. She pushed back the little curtain and carefully left the bunk. 

The movement didn’t hurt as much as it should have. There was still soreness to her side, but it didn’t throb with the movement and make her body jerk. Her arms still ache badly, but not as deeply. She wouldn’t say thank you to Elena, even if what she gave Daisy was real she still wasn’t trusting them yet. Not till they got to this shield base, not till Daisy knew all the details. 

She walked down the little hall and into the more open room. Fitz and Jemma were at the small table booth with a computer in front of them while Elena leaned over them to see the screen. 

“What are you doing?” Daisy asks, making the teens turn. 

“Daisy! We designed more of the sleeves for you! This computer is amazing! It’s shield tech!” Jemma exclaimed, tilting the screen for Daisy to look at. She had this proud excited smile on her face Daisy hadn’t seen in what felt like years. 

On the screen showed some sort of sleeve, data was next to it a thousand words whizzing past. It looked far too complicated for Daisy to understand, especially with how fast the data was moving. 

“Cool, it’ll help?” Daisy asks.

“Yoyo said the outpost should have everything we need. The simulation shows great odds. We can make them and then your arms won’t get as hurt.” Jemma grinned wider, a happy little blush to her cheeks. 

“That’s good.” Daisy looked down, the bruising on her arms had simmered down. They felt better by the minute, as if her body was slowly stitching itself back together. 

“You’ve been asleep for two hours,” Fitz pipes in. “Are you feeling better?”

“You let me sleep that long?” Daisy asks. She looks between all of them, eyeing her mates to make sure nothing bad happened but they look happier, somehow. 

“You needed it,” Jemma says. She puts a gentle hand on Daisy’s forearm. “Especially to actually heal.” 

“You did need it or you’d be cranky like always,” Fitz mumbled. 

“Hey!” Daisy shouted, crossing her arms with a slight frown. Not a pout, Daisy didn’t do that if you asked if. . “I am not cranky! Jemma?”

Jemma bit her lip, not making Daisy feel any better as those soft eyes cracked under pressure gave a sheepish look. Daisy scoffed, falling down into the seat with only mild regret as pain shot through her system. She inhaled sharply, letting it out in a low breath. 

“Betrayed,” she mumbled, hoping neither of them picked up on her pain. They didn’t need to fret over her, there were more important things. “How long do we have till we get there?”

“Well.” Elena scratched her head, looking towards the head of the RV. “Maybe another hour before we pull off the road. There’s a bit of hiking.”

“More walking?” Daisy groaned. Fitz and Jemma mirrored her pain, inching closer to her. “Where is it in the mountains,” sarcasm drips from her tone but the silence that meets her doesn’t distinguish the thought. “Are you serious ?”

“I’ll give you more meds before we start the hike, but it’s the only way to get there.”

“Whatever.”

Elena frowned, nodded and knew best to leave the trio alone. Daisy watched her till she disappeared into the front where Mack was driving them down a fast moving highway. 

Fitz and Jemma didn’t even try to say anything to her. They both just started to talk about the sleeves they were making. Bigger words Daisy didn’t understand from both their sides. She tried to listen to them even if she didn’t understand, she always did but she felt too far away.

She turned her head to the covered window. They had no clue where they were going, what was around them, or what would even happen when they arrived. She hates it. She hates not knowing, but loves the small happiness Fitz and Jemma are allowed to have right now. But there’s this looming feeling that once they arrive it will all crash. 

“How can you trust them?” She eventually asks in a whisper. 

There’s a pause of silence. Jemma's hand intertwines with her, smoothing across her skin with ease. When Daisy inhaled, for a brief moment she could smell that sweet scent that told her they were forever before it was gone. “They haven’t given us a reason not to,” Jemma answers. 

“Everyone can seem nice. You know that.” 

“We have nothing else,” Fitz says. “We don’t have anywhere else to go, and as bad of an idea as this might be this is it or hydra.”

“What if they are hydra?” Daisy asks, voice hushed and on edge. “What if hydra keeps inhumans to use them as brainwashed soldiers or more? We don’t know anything . I know you’re happy about the prospect, and the sleeves but—”

“Daisy please,” Jemma pleaded. Daisy’s mouth slammed shut from the waver of her tone and the trembling of her lip. “I know. I know, we know it’s hard, but please? Fitz is right, this is it. If worse comes to worse I know we can get out. There is nothing if we don’t try. I can’t… I can’t watch you get hurt again. We’re out of the city. If we need to run, we run.”

Fitz nodded in agreement, taking Daisy’s other hand to kiss the back. Daisy can’t bare either of their faces, their eyes, their sunken cheeks or how exhausted they appear. “We won’t allow you to keep harming yourself for our survival—“

“I did what I had too,” Daisy snaps. 

“We know.” Jemma guides her chin, looks at her with such gentle and kind eyes and Daisy hates the feeling it gave her. Because it’s guilty, she’s guilty. For dragging them down to hell. “But we can have other options. That never should have even been an option. Whatever happens next, we will survive without that. A new town, a new start. If we run, we do what’s best for us and that means not hurting ourselves for money.” 

Daisy gulped. They were smart, she trusted them. But she really didn’t trust the people they were with. Fitz and Jemma weren’t even trying to argue that case. They spoke of running, but how could they run if it was hydra? If they were in the mountains? If there was nothing around them but trees? “Give me the laptop.”

“What? Why?” Fitz asked, but turned it around.

“I’m a little rusty at this,” she said, cracking her knuckles. 

“No!” Jemma gasped. “You're going to get us kicked out. Remember when you got us suspended?” 

The memory is a slap of whiplash. Highschool, a real school that was shitty with even worse teachers and students that sucked besides the fair few who just wanted to get it over with. It felt like it had been so many years ago, when Daisy had persuaded her mates to sneak into the office with her so she could change her grades. 

“Okay, they didn’t even know who did it. You just couldn’t lie very well,” Daisy said. Jemma had been flustered, face beat red and stammered on without a question even being asked. 

Daisy shook the thought. She began to type after closing whatever program they had been using for the sleeves. “All I’m doing is hacking into them, and seeing if they are actually Shield and have no ill intent.”

“Daisy this isn’t hacking the school's website to turn all the words into owo and fix failing grades. This is—“ Fitz begins. 

“A government hiding in the shadows that is technically illegal right now?” She asks, quivering an eyebrow at the two. Fitz crumbles first, his eyes meeting Jemma who can’t handle the pressure of both their gazes. 

“Ugh, fine! Just do it quickly,” Jemma says. She sits up straighter in the booth looking behind Daisy upfront. Mack was still driving and Elena was in the passenger seat talking to him. 

“I always do.”

Typing proved a little harder than she would have liked. Daisy was a fast typer but when her arms were fractured and healing, it proved harder and more painful than before. 

There was some program running in the background. It had a password that needed to be unlocked. She was way over her head, trying to crack the code felt like a gamer temple run. It only got harder, jumping over rocks and sliding under logs before she finally got in. 

Relief couldn’t meet her. There were what had to be hundreds of files in front of her, all locked. None of them had names, just numbers and letters to signify whatever code was being used to identify each locked folder. 

“Woah,” Fitz whispered. “Can you unlock them all?” 

Daisy shook her fingers out, feeling the strain and pain pop at her wrists and down the tendons of her arms. Code popped up on the screen as she typed faster, trying to break into any file. All she needed to find was a back door. Or anything really. It was the hardest thing she ever tries to crack, and when she finally does and it opens each of them exhale. 

“Groundhog initiative,” she reads. 

The screen filled with more files and pictures rapidly as soon as she had it opened. Classified was stamped and marked over almost everything. Lines of black crossed out words marking them so you couldn’t see anything. 

But it was there. Marked on every file the shield logo. She sat back in the booth staring at it. Maybe Hydra stole files. She doesn’t think it would be hard, especially after they took over and wiped Shield out. Everything Shield owned was practically theirs now. 

“Went underground, blacked out for a few sentences, something about going dark,” she whispered. Fitz and Jemma lean over her shoulders, trying to read everything she’s seeing. 

She closed some documents and was met with a picture of the avengers. It seemed almost like a family photo. It felt weird looking at it. Picturing them as a family and not a team of superheroes. But they looked like one, smiles on their faces and arms wrapped around one another.

Front and center as always, the billionaire smirk on his face was Tony Stark. To his left crouching on the ground was a young boy with brown hair ruffled from Tony’s hand that was hovering in the air having just come up from his head. Daisy doesn’t remember Stark having a kid, or any of the avengers but maybe it was a secret if that’s who he was. 

A gigantic question mark was scribbled across the kids face. Tony’s face had a grey x over it. Rohedy stood next to him, Stark's best friend with his arms crossed and another question mark over his face. Next to him was Bruce Banner with the same grey x over himself. 

On the other side, Captain America stood proud with a red circle around him. Next to him The Winter Soldier and The Falcon stood with two question marks but a red circle was around Sam. 

On the ground Wanda Maximoff sat with her hands in her lap looking up with the softest smile. Something about her made Daisy want to keep looking. She didn’t, though, not when the next person was Natasha Romanoff next to her. Natasha was standing, but her hand was on Wanda's shoulder, staring dead at the camera with the slightest upturn or her mouth. 

Daisy stared at her for a minute. It was her. The woman from the other night. A secret part of her kept hoping she was insane but she was real. Of course she knew that but a part of her deep down wanted her to be a hallucination . 

She wanted it to be another random red head. Someone not connected to the avengers or anyone else really. Maybe it would all be easier if that was the case. But it was her and she was Daisy’s which meant, to the nauseating fear that she could also be Fitz and Jemma's mate. 

“What is it?” Jemma asks. She had been watching Daisy’s face closely. Daisy swallowed, forced a smile at the girl who clearly didn’t believe her one but. 

“Nothing,” she mumbled, closing the picture. “Just a list of dead avengers.”

“Close it! Close it!” Fitz began whispering quickly. Daisy squeaked typing quickly, closing everything and flipping the laptop to Fitz. The young boy panicked, ranking it towards himself and tried opening the simulation software again.

Daisy looked down in her lap, closing her eyes. They had Shield files, and knew stuff about the avengers, obviously. Whatever the question marks meant and circles or colors, they knew stuff. Maybe if she had more time she could figure out what it all meant. Like what groundhog initiative was or even what going dark meant. 

“We’re making a stop at the gas station. Do you kids want any snacks?” Elena asks, coming to the table looking at them. All their stomachs grumble at the idea of actual food. 

“Biscuits,” Fitz answered, nodding his head. “Sandwiches. If they have any.”

“Get him cookies or crackers,” Daisy answered. 

“That is not the same,” he huffed, crossing his arms. 

“Ooo, cookies would be great! Chocolate chip ones maybe. We could also use some water if that’s not too much.”

“No, of course not. They should definitely have sandwiches. You guys must be starving, I know I am. We’ll get some stuff for the hike as well.” 

On queue the RV rumbled to a stop. Mack made his way to the back and appeared with a gentle grin on his face. “I’m gonna fill up the tank. You three stay here. People are around so don’t open the curtains or look out. Alright?”

“Yes, sir,” Daisy answered with similar responses from Jemma and Fitz. 

“Come on, we need to be quick,” Mack said to Elena. She agreed, giving the teens one last loin before they left the RV. The three waited a few seconds, a minute, before Daisy was looking at the two. 

“So, back to the laptop?” Daisy asks to grab it. 

Jemma is faster, yanking the laptop back and towards her chest. It slams shut, nearly making Daisy wince. “What did you see?” She asks. “The look on your face wasn’t any good, Daisy.”

“It was a bunch of Shield files. You were looking right at them. Something about a groundhog initiative.”

“But you saw something,” Jemma pushes. 

“Could mean going into hiding,” Fitz said. “What else?”

“It also said going dark, that would make sense. So that could mean the symbols say who could be dead and who isn’t.”

“Like Natasha,” Jemma answered, realization hitting her. “You were thinking about her, weren’t you? Seeing her with them made it more real.”

“The avengers are… dead,” Fitz said with a little waver to his voice. “Everyone knows that. It was one of Hydras greatest achievements and the few that are left don’t have anything.”

“But she’s not,” Jemma responds, a look to her gaze. “Daisy saw her. So, clearly, not all the avengers are dead. And she’s—“ Jemma's face contorts, as if the ramifications finally caught up to her. 

“I know…” Daisy wants to say so many things yet nothing comes out. “If she’s ours, I’ll protect us,” she settled on. The dark look on both their faces she hates even more than the taste on her tongue. 

“She fought with the avengers, she…” Jemma tries, really tries but knows better. She can’t take Daisy’s pain, her fear away. Instead she decides to hug her. Jemma's arms wrap tightly around her, just enough to not hurt her and the girl sighs into her neck. “I love you so much,” Jemma whispers. Her lips kiss Daisy’s neck, her jaw, and then her lips right before Jemma pulls back all the way. “We’re with you, no matter what the outcome is. 

Daisy doesn’t want to think about what that means, so she doesn’t. Instead she thinks about Hydra. Hydra was cruel, would they…lie to get what they wanted? The question almost makes her laugh. Because of course they would do that. They wanted the public to both fear and trust them. If the avengers were gone everyone would have no choice. 

“We need more information.” Daisy looks down at the laptop in between them. “We need the truth, and if it’s in there then we have to look.”

“Fine…here, but be quick. They might get mad if we’re caught.”

Daisy beamed, taking the laptop from Jemma. It was much easier to break into the files again already knowing how to do it. It still took time, still made her arms ache more and the moment she had time to breathe she cracked all her fingers. 

Once the documents popped up she tried taking more time to look at them. It annoyed her how much was blacked out. What was even the point of keeping files if you were going to hide everything they said, she thought. 

She closed the file and looked around for something else. All she needed was something that wasn’t completely blacked out. Maybe even a passageway to the shield network. Daisy just needed the truth, in clear view, but all she got was the same old same old. 

Annoyed, Daisy typed faster bringing more stuff up and open trying to find a tunnel. You could hear Mack outside the RV putting the gas in. She sat closer, continuing. Fitz and Jemma anxiously waited, tapping their feet and biting on their nails. 

“Shit,” she cursed. An error message popped up. “Shit, shit,” she continued faster. “Close, please close, come on.” 

“What did you do?” Fitz asked worriedly. She didn’t even glance at him. 

The flashing on the screen, the words, all the data flying by. Daisy held her breath. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. It got tighter and tighter. Each button she pressed felt like she was pulling the rope around her neck. 

Access. 

It flashed bright green across the screen like a goddamn miracle. 

It was beautiful. Words and numbers of code rushed over the screen and then it turned into some sort of browser. 

The shield database. She used a door from whatever server all the locked files were on to hack fully into the shield database. What. The. Fuck. 

The shield symbol spun on the screen with the words authorization required. A little box was under it for a password. She was in, but Daisy wasn’t close enough. 

Daisy had a feeling, and typed it in with shaking hands. She let out a breath when it worked. Yoyo. Of course it was Yoyo. Fitz and Jemma groaned next to her. Fitz's head fell on her shoulder, murmuring something about security and people being stupid. 

“It worked,” she nearly exclaimed. 

“Hey guys, I wasn’t sure what you liked—“ Daisy quickly shut everything off, closing the laptop with a rather loud thump before whirling it towards Jemma. “So I got a couple different kinds.”

Elena walked into the RV coming into view with her arms full of bags filled with more food than the trio had seen in god knows how long. Daisy’s mouth practically watered. 

“Woah,” the group let out. Their stomachs growled in unison, Daisy's hands itched to grab the bags from the woman and eat everything inside them. 

“You can take whatever ones you want. Your cookies should be in there and here, water.” Elena emptied the bags on the table, and went in the other bag pulling out three water bottles for them. All their jaws dropped at the food that flooded onto the table in a wave. 

“Thank you! This is amazing!” Fitz and Jemma both beamed. They were quick to grab sandwiches, making sure Daisy was also given one. Daisy held the sandwich looking it over with glittering eyes. 

Maybe it was stupid if she believed it now. They were Shield. The name worked, they were nice, gave them food. They had to be Shield right? They had to be telling the truth. Daisy needed them to be now more than ever. Because after this, after being fed if they weren’t, she couldn’t prepare herself for the downfall. If this was just their last meal before they met the true devil. 

“Remember not to eat too much. Our bodies aren’t used to it,” Jemma says. She took her first bite and audibly groaned, licking her lips. 

Don’t eat too much. They actually had enough food where they could eat too much. Daisy looked up at Elena. The woman had a sad look on her face but tried hiding it when she realized Daisy was staring. 

“Um…” Daisy struggled, “thank you.” She held up the sandwich in her hand for emphasis. 

“Of course.”

Maybe Daisy had some luck after all. 

Chapter Text

They walked for a really long time. Like, a really long time. The sun had come down, and the sun had come up after they took a short rest. Not nearly as long as anyone would have liked it to be but they had to keep moving. Climbing uphill made Daisy realize she wasn’t as healed as she thought. Shield medicine could get rid of the bruising, but the burning inside of her aching sore muscles being overworked again made it all the worse. 

The water they had didn’t last long. The group was long dehydrated before they decided to hike a mountain, but she felt it now. Her mouth, her lips were extra cracked and tongue felt heavy. Jemma and Fitz helped her where they could. However, it was taking the toll on all of them. They were exhausted, had been exhausted for years. 

“Are we there yet?” Daisy asks for a hundredth time. You can hear her panting, lungs trying to grasp at air as they contort to keep up with what they’re all doing. Fitz slides his arm further around her waist, steadying her as they walk over tree roots and into a very small clearing. 

“Actually,” Mack began to say while stopping to look around. Daisy watched him curiously, still untrusting of the man before her but hopeful. She had to be, she kept reminding herself. “We are here. Agent Alphonso Mackenzie and Elena Rodriguez.”

Suddenly, rocks shifted. Metal and rock scraped against one another in a rather loud unpleasant noise. The teens jumped, wide eyes looking towards the moving mountain wall that seemed to vanish and shift into itself to reveal a metal door with a small keypad next to it. The door was only big enough for one person to get through, and was laid on a downward angle into the ground where the cliff slanted. 

“Authorization required,” a robot voice said. Mack walked to the door, a sense of relief weighing over him as he typed into the keypad. He leaned down, and a small laser shot towards his eye before the door beeped. It took a moment, but the metal door shifted, opening for them. 

“Come on.” Elena smiled, gesturing towards the now opened door and the staircase Mack was walking down. She waited for them, watched the group as they all took a moment to process what was happening. Daisy had a small thought that it would be hard to run if they were underground, but they were in too deep now. She can just hear Jemma's voice in her head telling her to trust this. 

Jemma moved first. And because they were all wrapped around one another for support, that meant they all moved. They couldn’t all fit through the door at once, so Jemma ended up letting go of her to walk in front. Fitz squished beside Daisy, keeping his arm secured around her to steady whatever shakiness she still had. Daisy glanced behind them to see Elena enter, the dim staircase lighting her features in shadows. 

The door shut behind them, locking them in. Daisy’s stomach turned, the uneasiest growing as they reached the end of the rather small staircase where Mack stood, holding a gate open for them all to step onto a platform. The platform was bigger than the staircase, wide enough for a few people to stand, or a lot of people to be squished together. Mack secured the gate shut and as soon as it clicked the floor under them began to move down. 

“It’s a lift,” Fitz laughed nervously, looking around. 

The walls were concrete, and gave a rather unsteady feeling as there was no support to hold onto with just the moving platform underneath them. It went down for a few minutes, Daisy knows Fitz and Jemma probably calculated in their heads how deep underground they were. Daisy didn’t need the answer, she knew with how long the elevator took they were far beneath the surface of the mountain. Daisy took this moment to take everything in. To think about every single thing that has happened and that she’s found. 

Maybe they weren’t Shield. Maybe they just gave themselves to Hydra. Maybe they were lucky. Deep down she wanted it. Was Daisy deserving of luck? She never felt lucky, not even before all of this went down. Not in any of the foster homes, or god forbid Saint Agnes, the hell hole she only crawled out from once they realized she was leashed to Jemma and Fitz. 

They came to a sudden stop, the doors opened with a ding and none of them could hold back their gasps. 

“Welcome to the main shield outpost,” Mack said, confidently. He outstretched his arm presenting it to them. 

He wasn’t lying. They were met with a long hallway and a rush of people. People coming out of rooms or turning down at the end of the hallway. The walls were brick and the ceiling had bright lights going all the way down. The place was alive, breathing and living underneath the surface without anyone knowing. And the most important part was the gigantic Shield logo painted onto the brick wall. 

They were actually Shield. Daisy could cry, she doesn’t know what she did to deserve this peace, to deserve this grace of luck by whatever was controlling their world, but for the two people surrounding her she is so happy they can have this. That they can be safe. There’s a small part of her that worries about that, how safe this place could really be but Elena speaks and stops that thought before she can start. 

“Come on, the boss man needs to see and verify each new person who enters the compound,” Elena says, beginning to lead them out of the elevator. 

“We-We have to talk to the boss?” Fitz asks. Mack gave him a reassuring smile, that didn’t seem to help any of them very much. Even if the man seemed gentle with how he moved, and his actions. 

Some people looked at them curiously, others had paid the teens no mind. The teens however were looking at everything . Taking in all the faces, all the people. Any conversations they could hear. It almost felt like the city, the loud bustling sidewalks that were always filled, how quickly everyone moved from one place to the next. But here there was something about the air, something kinder to how everyone moved around each other. 

“He's a teddy bear, don't worry,” Mack chuckled, still sensing the unease. 

Daisy didn’t know what to think. Her best bet was to just not, and to keep walking. As they passed by doorways they saw a lab with a bunch of scientists in lab coats. That pulled Fitzsimmons interest, their heads craned, trying to get a glimpse of whatever secrets the room held. 

It felt like a maze, all the turns and hallways they walked down. All the rooms. Some people looked normal. Wore normal clothes, others wore suits and some wore lab coats. Some were young, really young to the point Daisy wondered why they were there. Were they like them? Had they been taken here? She recalls Mack and Elena saying they’d gone into the city before, Daisy knows they’ve smuggled people over the borders before. How many people down here called this place a safe haven? 

Finally, they climb up a staircase and begin to walk down a hallway that feels a little more private. They stopped outside a door that looked a lot better upheld than most of the other doors in the hallway. 

“Now look,” Mack says, turning around to the teens. “I know this is scary but we are here to help. As long as you're honest everything will be fine.”

Daisy gulped. She was already nervous, but that statement made it ten times worse. She doesn’t think she’s ever been honest to anyone besides the two standing besides her. 

Elena opened the door without knocking, entering. Behind them, Mack pushed them gently inside to come into the rather large chamber. 

“You’re back!” A man sprung up from his desk. Smiling softly, with rather tired eyes. He smoothed down the wrinkles on his button up, coming around the desk to better look at the group. “And I see why it took longer than usual. Hi, I'm Phil Coulson, acting director of shield.”

“Acting director?” Jemma gawked. She let go of Daisy without thinking. Curiosity covered her features as she took a small step closer without leaving the proximity of her mates. “It’s so nice to meet you! May I ask how you got this position? Is Director Fury dead? I mean- not-director? Ex director?” Jemma rambled.

“That’s classified,” Coulson answered. “But I promise everything’s alright,” he said with a wink. 

“We’re-“

“Actually I know who you are.” Daisy tensed at that. How did he know? Had Mack and Elena told him? It didn’t seem like they had any communication with the man, considering how he greeted them. “You two were listed to be recruited once you graduated high school. You aced all your classes, you made your teachers look like fools. You made school look like a playground,” he laughed. 

“Y-you had tabs on us?” Fitz said in awe. Daisy didn’t feel in awe. That still didn’t explain how this man knew who they were, or that they were even with Mack and Elena. 

“Shield keeps tabs on all young potential.”

“That totally doesn’t sound wrong,” Daisy scoffed. Coulson’s eyes finally met her, and instead of looking like a pissed off old man his grin widened. 

“And you must be the young lady that hacked the Shield serves.” 

“No I didn’t-“

“We are so sorry, sir, oh my-“

“Please don’t be mad-“

“Hey, it’s alright!” Coulson waved his hands to get the teens to stop their frantic apologies. “May I know your name?”

“Daisy,” she whispered. “But didn’t you already know that?”

“That’s a beautiful name. It was noted in your file. You're incredibly smart. What you did, even if it was easier since you had a Shield issued laptop, was a great feat. However, you were so focused on what you were doing you didn’t realize the laptop took a picture of your faces and sent it.” He turns around, and on queue the big screen behind him shows a large picture of all their faces. 

Crap. Well, Daisy never said she was smart. Not like the two dork geniuses besides her who looked like two terrified kids at a horror show. 

“Shield would have loved all of you. Your skills have great potential.”

“We’re not here to be potential ,” Daisy spits out, feeling protective. “And if you really think I have potential, you guys really are desperate.” 

Her entire life the stuff she did got her in trouble. Hacking the schools website for pranks. Hacking for test answers to sell for money. Hacking just for the hell of it because she was bored. Daisy didn’t hack for people. She didn’t hack to help others, but for herself and what she could do. She did it for them. They didn’t count as others, they were a team. Nothing she’s ever done would be good enough for what this man was saying. He was just buttering them up before some hammer hit them on the heads. 

Every time she hacked she was always told the same thing “you're going to ruin your life.” “You’re going to end up in prison.” “You need to be an adult, this is reckless and childish.” Never had it not, even once, been implied that what she could do could be used for something like this. Not once did someone show they appreciated it or saw good in it. 

“Do you want something? Is that why you aren’t mad? You should be mad so what do you want?” 

“Impressed actually. Are you inhuman?” Coulson asks next. Daisy can feel it, a man desperate for people to join a cause. She wonders if they accidentally signed themselves up to fight and what that could mean. She’s been fighting her whole life, she would fight for Jemma and Fitz but what did the big picture mean? 

“Yes.”

“Smarts?” Coulson asks, leaning back on his desk. 

“No, I’m not smart. That’s these two, and they aren’t inhuman,” she says. Coulson's eyes flicker to them but go back on her. He looked her over slowly, his eyes going down to her arms and the way Fitz was holding her up. 

“What can you do?”

“I um… can quake stuff? Make earthquakes,” she mumbled, looking down at her hands. “It, uh, can hurt me, though. Fractures my arms and stuff. I overwork it, I’m not good at controlling it.”

“We’re trying to make sleeves for her! Fitz and I have designed something to help control her powers and help them not hurt her.”

“We were told you had the supplies for that. If that’s okay with you sir?”

“Oh don’t call me sir.” Coulson waved his hand, “makes me feel old. And of course. Mack can show you to the labs later once you get settled. We do have to go over a few things before that.”

Daisy felt it. Felt the talk each foster home had before they were sent to their room. Felt the rules and the scolding and all the bad things and “this is how it’s going to go.” The hammer was about to hit them, she just hoped it wasn’t that big of a hammer. 

“Why don’t we have a seat? Elena and Mack go and debrief with May. I’ll call you back to collect them.”

“Of course.” Elena responded and the two left, sparing the teens smiles. 

 “Let’s have a seat.” Coulson motioned towards the chairs and couch off to the side. 

The teens slowly move to the couch sitting down with Daisy in the middle of Fitzsimmons. Coulson sat across from them. It’s silent for a moment, each person taking the other in. It felt like all those times they were rehomed or sent away. 

“Everyone is normally a little skeptical when coming in. The world outside thinks Shield is dead because Hydra wants it that way,” Coulson begins. “We’re not dead. We aren’t big but just hiding in the shadows. We try to save as many inhumans as we can. We’re still Shield, we’re still the shield,” he says gently, looking at the fearfully nervous looks they each shared. “That means something. Whether the people still believe in us or not we swore to a duty. You are safe here, no one will harm you here. You don’t have to run or hide anymore.”

“How many inhumans are here?” Jemma asks. 

“As many as we can hold. You must have noticed that’s something Yoyo and Mack have done before. We help as best as we can. Save who we can. After this you will be led to a room you three can share. If we had more room we would give you more but-“

“No, that's great,” Fitz said. “We really appreciate this sir- I mean Coulson,” he stammers. 

“Great. I know things are tough right now but it gets better. I need to know a few things before I let you go. If you had any trouble or run-ins with the law and your status.”

“We uh…” Jemma starts looking at Daisy. “Yes.”

“Jemma,” Daisy hissed. 

“He already knows who we are ,” Jemma hissed back. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the answer.” 

“You won’t be in trouble.”

“We’ve almost been caught by them a few times. Daisy was on the cover of a magazine but they don’t know her face,” Fitz summarizes and Daisy wanted to die. They didn’t know this man! How could they just tell him everything? He didn’t know their secrets, he didnt know she was always being chased in the city. 

“Are you sure?” Coulson asks, leaning forward. “They have no idea who you are? Not anyone?”

“Well,” Jemma mumbled. Daisy is going to lose her mind. She adores the girl next to her, but she is going to explode. 

“No,” Daisy said, her eyes widening. Her head snaps to lock eyes with Jemma. She knows who she’s thinking, and she didn’t want that man’s name mentioned at all. Ever. 

“Just his name,” Jemma pleaded. “That’s all he needs Daisy.”

Daisy looked down, pushing her hands into her legs. Stupid Grant Ward. She wonders what he would do with never seeing her again. Would he tell? Would he assume she finally hit the bucket and move on or would he plaster her face all over the city looking for her? 

“It’s for the safety of you and others,” Coulson says softly. 

“Grant Ward,” she forces out so quickly it felt like venom running through her throat. Disgusting Grant Ward. 

“He never told anyone your identity?” Coulson asks. Daisy kept her eyes casted down. 

“He didn’t,” Fitz said. “We’re all omegas, that's it. Is there anything else?” 

“I’ll have you sent to medbay and fill out a form. We will need your name. Daisy, you will have to put your legal name but there is a box for preferred names. As well as date of birth, and it’ll ask other questions,” Coulson stood up from the chair. “I’ll guide you there now, and have Mack and Yoyo pick you up when it’s done.” 

***

“It’s not that bad!” Jemma said to Daisy. She wasn’t wrong. Daisy hasn’t left her fever dream since they ran into Mack and Elena in the sewers of NYC. 

The shield base was… something. People, real people were down here. Hiding, just like they were. With powers just like she had. People with families they could never see again because they either died or were just too far away. Fear kept them away, better to never see them again to keep them safe. Daisy knows if she could trade Jemma and Fitz being absolutely safe she would leave them too, no matter how badly it hurt. 

Right now, as safe as this place seemed, she couldn’t do that. Daisy didn’t trust anyone, not even if it was a Shield base to protect people like her. Her stomach was in knots, she knew it was a bad idea to hack into Shield but she had done it anyway. She knows there has to be another motive behind what Coulson was saying. He didn’t get mad for a reason. 

“Whatever, I’m still iffy.”

Jemma didn’t try to fight back. Instead she curiously looked around the small room that could be a walk in closet. It was better than some places Daisy had been in, definitely warmer than the building they had been hiding out in. There were two bunk beds. They had spent way too long sleeping in huddled piles to ever need them both, but either way Daisy was grateful for the option. 

“I think they seem nice. This could be our chance, Daisy,” Fitz says. He smiled at her, soft and sweet. He’s being hopeful for once, like when he dreams about monkeys and has that stupid sparkle in his eyes. 

“Fitz is right. Did you hear him? He said we could have been recruited! We would have gone to shield academy together and been shield agents!” Jemma all but squeezed. 

And, well, Daisy doesn’t know how to feel about that either. Jemma and Fitz were so young when Shield fell, when Hydra had first risen out of the muck. The idea that Shield watched all smart potential to whisk them right up for their own gain didn’t feel right. And now here they were, Coulson could be scraping the bottom of the barrel for agents to fight. Daisy didn’t want them to fight, she wanted them safe. 

She wasn’t smart, not like them. She was so incredibly far from them. They blabbered on about science and other smart things Daisy didn’t understand. Computers and code were different. Daisy got that but whatever fitzsimmons had she didn’t. She wanted to Shield them from whatever was outside. She wanted to save them, jump in front of the bullet. 

It was probably her guilt. That she was part of the problem. Daisy’s not sure if what she could do would be enough of a trade to stop Coulson from pulling her nerds into fighting, but if it came up she’s ready. Or wherever they went nerds like them. They could help, as long as they were safe, Daisy reasons. But the moment that man puts her mates in danger—

“We should head to their labs and start working on Daisy’s sleeves.” Daisy’s knocked from her head abruptly. She watches Fitz stand up, walking towards her with a crinkle to his brow. “Are you staying?”

Daisy kissed him. Because he’s stupid to even ask her that. They’re in a strange place, and she just needs everything to shut up for one second. For the brief seconds she tastes him, everything’s fine. And then she pulls away, and the world is sour and dull but his smile brightens and the feeling mixes tangy and sweet. 

“Whatever,” Daisy sighed, feigning like she doesn’t care. She cares so much. It hurts.

Fitz pulls her onto her feet and Jemma loops their arms together tugging them out their bedroom door. There wasn’t any kind of lock, which made Daisy more nervous but they’ve grown used to sleeping in shifts. The long hallway consisted of other doors, for other rooms and families or just lonely people. 

Daisy wondered where their group would be right now if they hadn’t met Mack and Elena. She thought about camping with Fitz and Jemma. She thought about making a fire and the two talking about the stars together. She thought about Jemma pointing them out and naming them. 

Sometimes when Daisy thought about Fitz and Jemma she wished what they had was more stable. Their scent wavering in and out made her feel like the universe saw how perfect the two were and decided they didn’t need her. Guiltily, she wants them to need her. As perfect as they are, she loves them with every fiber of her being. She knows without them she would be dead. It’s selfish. It was wrong she knew it was. They were perfect for each other but she wished she could be perfect with them. 

But the universe didn’t think that. She understood why. She wasn’t them, didn’t fully fit what a mate could be and a pack with three omegas would be a little absurd. Sometimes she pretended they were perfect. Living in a real apartment, or even finishing highschool with them was a dream. Walking between classes, holding hands, kissing at their stupid nerd events. Some science fair they both won, or a spelling contest. 

If they never met Mack and Elena they’d be alone in the woods. Camping under stars where nobody could touch them. Maybe then Daisy could have pretended to be lucky. Maybe she could have pretended everything was okay and they were just mates living in the woods. She knows deep down they would have been found. She’s being selfish. She should have more faith in their gut instincts. Jemma and Fitz didn’t want her in danger either. 

The shield outpost was the opposite of peaceful. They’d only been there for a few hours and it was always alive. People ran around, talking or heading somewhere important. Families grouped together in small common areas or cooked food in the kitchen they had. Which was one kitchen, stuffed with multiple people who were once strangers, now something more, making food for the rumble of hungry people and kids who gathered around happily helping or waiting. 

Daisy wondered if time was a thing here. It seemed like one of those places that was always alive like New York City before hydra took over and tried putting in a curfew. She had a feeling, she could come out at what should be two in the morning and it would look exactly the same. The place was its own underground city. 

When they entered the lab some heads turned but mostly everyone ignored them. Fitzsimmons were in awe. Their eyes sparkled in ways Daisy hadn’t seen. They were like kids in a candy store and they took full advantage. 

They pulled Daisy off to a little corner sitting her down. They both did the cutest thing checking to make sure she was settled before rushing off to look at all the toys they had access to. The computers, a fucking hologram table, science junk Daosy had no clue about but had both her mates squealing in excitement. 

They moved in such a synchronized manner. Daisy watched. Watched them, watched the people around them. Shield agents, she assumed, who nearly came over but Daisy glared at every single one of them till they spun around and didn’t dare try. Her fingers buzzed with energy the second one tried to get too close. 

Fitz and Jemma didn’t notice. They were happy, for once. They were living a dream Daisy wanted to taste. They made blueprints, began working through designs Daisy had only heard about that they now got to write down and actually create a simulation for on the Shield computer. 

Fitz and Jemma were the poster models for mates. They flowed, moved, breathed the same air. Had the same thoughts, and if one didn’t the other offered something that helped them both in the right direction. Even when they bantered or got frustrated they somehow worked. Even when their words and abilities overlapped they were beautiful. 

“I wish I could have this,” Daisy said, without even processing it. The two of them didn’t freeze what they were doing or look up but Daisy noticed the small momentary pause.

“What do you mean?” Fitz asked, fidgeting with a wire. He was sitting on a chair, curled up and bent over a desk with some tech scattered around the small area Jemma didn’t claim. 

“The two of you are just so perfect. It’s almost disgusting how perfect you are for each other.” 

Both of them turn just as red as the other. Daisy is even more enamored, wants to squish their cheeks and kiss them till there isn’t anything left. Jemma tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, a nervous little habit she could never seem to quit. 

“You can help us, you know. If you want, of course,” Jemma offers. 

“I—“ Daisy can’t . She would ruin it. “It’s okay.”

“Dais, please don’t—“

Like a bat out of hell a sharp high voice interrupted them. “You weren’t lying! Bobo! Jemma!”

“Oh god, no,” Fitz whispered. It was so cats not even Daisy could react before a small body rocketed into the two from god knows where. 

“Deke! Too tight!” Jemma yelled, pushing back on small arms. The boy didn’t seem to care, smiling wildly with the biggest toothy grin Daisy had ever seen. Daisy doesn’t know who he is, his name sounds familiar but she can’t quite place the memory. 

“He said he knew you,” Mack says, standing a few feet away from the scene. 

“Sadly,” Fitz responded. If it was anyone else but a kid, Daisy would have pried them off but the little boy didn’t seem to be a danger to Fitz. Just an annoyance. 

Deke pulled back, just enough to look up at the two faces. Fitz glared at him and Jemma looked both happy and maybe a little concerned. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were adopted?” Jemma asks. 

“Oh well-“ on que, he sneezed, and light wrapped around him and he was gone. 

None of them said a word. Daisy has seen powers, but never someone using them directly in front of her before. But here was this kid, a child with powers just like her. Being hunted just like she was. 

“Holy shit,” Daisy exhaled. 

“Sorry, he can’t control his powers. We picked him up in New York when his apartment was being raided. Poor kid was abandoned by his parents. When he sneezes he teleports somewhere randomly in a 50 feet radius.” Mack looks around the area, scientists not disturbed by the scene. Or just avoiding Daisy’s eyesight from all the glares she had been sending. 

“Fits him to have a weird power. He’s going to get his snotty little hands all over me,” Fitz grumbled, turning around. 

“Fitz, stop, he looks up to you.” Jemma pats his back, consoling but her words say otherwise. Daisy can’t help but smile at the betrayed look that plasters Fitz's face. 

“He’s a bloody nuisance is what he is. Best day of my life when he got adopted and couldn’t go “what are you doing” every ten seconds.”

“Fitz,” Jemma groaned. “He‘s just 13 now, give him time.”

“Yeah bobo,” Daisy teased. Fitz whirled around, features twisted as Jemma held back a giggle. Her hand coming up to block her mouth the second the first wheeze passed her lips. 

“ You are the reason he calls me that stupid name!” Fitz shouts, jabbing a Jemma into her shaking shoulder. She laughs harder, failing to keep her giggles inside. “Jemma!”

“I should go look for him. Elena will be checking in on you guys later. If you need anything feel free to ask for help.” Mack offers them all a smile with his parting words. 

“Thank you,” Jemma says. Daisy doesn’t respond, instead watches him till he’s entirely out of the lab. “Come on, let’s get back to work.”

“Well maybe I don’t want to now.”

“Daisy’s arms need these, don’t deprive her because of a little boy.”

“I’m doing this for Daisy,” Fitz grumbled. He settled back in his seat, Jemma carding her fingers through his curls once or twice. He leans into her touch, fingers steadying on tools. “You want to help me?” Daisy swallows, shakes her head no but does pull her seat closer to watch what he’s doing.

Chapter Text

One week. 

The outpost was something hard to get used to. The three omegas had lived in a busy city for a while but this was on a different plain. So many people, families, all crammed together in the same area. Daisy quickly learned it was a miracle they had even gotten their own room. 

Deke, the kid that Jemma and Fitz knew shared a room with a few other kids that didn’t have parents. Either they were abandoned, lost, or their families died because of hydra. four walls surround them at all times, and they’re all just trying to survive. She had been right, night time doesn’t exist. People are always out, coming from hallways and rooms Daisy hadn’t even known existed. 

It was sad. She thought NYC was sad but watching people exist in this kind of space. There wasn’t any pretending that it could get better. The atmosphere was filled with knowing it wouldn’t. Some hoped, she knows, because Jemma and Fitz were like that. Some kids were too young to fully understand what was happening. Somehow that’s worse than understanding. 

Daisy felt lost. Like she was more useless here. She couldn’t do anything. Jemma and Fitz had their projects, they were working on her sleeves. The first prototype was almost done and they felt a little tight but she thinks did the job. They were happy, and Shield seemed happy with them enough to ask for little favors. Nothing big, nothing that would harm them. Their minds were just ever expanding, they practically knew everything all the other scientists knew. 

She couldn’t help the scientists, though. Daisy didn’t dare hack Shield since that day on the RV. She knows Coulson would find out as soon as she did it. She had an itch to tamper, to try and take a peak but jeopardizing what Jemma and Fitz had was not something that could ever happen. 

She played video games with the kids. Mostly Deke, who seemed to have just as much trouble sleeping as she did. He loves this zombie game that Daisy didn’t really care much for. It was all gore, jump scares, and shooting guns. It wasn’t enough. It didn’t satisfy the ever growing need to move to do something. To feel like she was keeping her mates safe and protecting them. 

She sat and watched. She’s been their test dummy. But Daisy can’t take it anymore and it’s only been a week inside this place with no way out. She thinks about her fears of Coulson making them into agents, at least Jemma and Fitz but now that Daisy had time she felt like she, herself, had to do something even more. Just to make it all stop, just to see the sky and breathe fresh air not pungent with sadness. 

Daisy doesn’t know if it’s late or early. All she knows is where to find Mack. He’s in the garage, tinkering on a car Daisy has no clue how they got down there. She’s not even sure what she wants to ask. She feels like a little kid trying to formulate to her foster parents that she needs something to do without making them mad. She should be grateful. She’s alive. She had a roof over her head, they would say. Daisy stopped asking for things very quickly. 

“Oh, did you need something?” Mack looked up to wipe his forehead, grease smeared on a cloth he wiped his hands on while setting down his tools. The chair he sits on creaks underneath him, there’s a pile of tools and gadgets that must do something on the table. 

“I—“ Daisy swallows, looks away. Finds other people, real agents of Shield walking around. Her hands ring her wrists, the feeling not anchoring her how she wished it would. “What are you doing?”

Mack blinks at her before he grins and taps the table. “Trying to get this vehicle up and running. She’s a beauty, but boy has she been through a lot.” Daisy nods, eyes finding their way to the beat up car that certainly needed the work. “Want to lend a hand?”

“I’m not really a mechanic.”

“You’re good with computers, though,” he says, almost teasingly. “You know, you can use one of the Shield laptops. Nobody’s going to throw accusations that you’re hacking the Shield servers.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Daisy responds. She knows deep down if she really spent time with a laptop, alone, with enough wiggle room she would hack right back into Shield. Just to see, just to understand. 

What she saw that day, the picture of the Avengers haunts her when everything goes silent. They were all practically dead. But she knows the symbols and circles meant something, she just was too afraid to figure it out. 

“Coulson really is impressed with you. What you did was something a hell of a lot couldn’t do. You may not be a mechanic, but you clearly have a way with computers.” Mack seems nice, but Daisy feels this curling sensation and wonders if the floor is about to rip from underneath her. “Jemma and Fitz have been doing amazing. I’ve heard how helpful they are in the labs. For only being seventeen they really—“

“I want to train,” Daisy blurts. It’s all her messy thoughts put into a cohesive senate ce that still sounds like insanity the moment it leaves her lips. “Jemma and Fitz found their place. They need to stay there, safe and-and inside. But I can’t sit . I need to do something.”

Daisy’s hands clench. The tools on the table rumble. She feels it on her chest, all the way down her arms to the tips of her fingers. Mack’s eyes nervously shuffle to the rumbling and bouncing equipment. She doesn’t mean for it to happen, and the deep breath she takes to quiet the vibrations doesn’t do anything but make it worse. 

Mack doesn’t stand, instead he scoots the chair closer, scraping it across the floor. He hunches his shoulders, leaning his elbows on his knees like he was trying to make himself smaller. Which was laughable, because the guy was big and full of muscle. 

“I know you want to keep them safe. I want to keep Yoyo safe. I used to be just a Shield engineer. I didn’t have much of a choice in stepping up, but I wouldn’t change it because I’m with her, always. But you have a choice , tremors. None of you are agents of Shield. And none of you will be forced to become agents of Shield.”

Daisy swallows thickly. “I have nothing to lose but then. Please don’t make me sit here, because I don’t think I can do it anymore, Sir. And it’s only been a week.”

Mack sighs, his smile sorrowful. “It’s Mack. Just Mack.”

“I-I’m—“

“No, it’s alright. I think I know someone. I’ll have to have a talk with them but by the end of the day I’ll give you an answer. You want to fight, right? That’s what this is? Because I’m sure I can find some nerd good with computers to help you go wild.”

“I need—“ The room shakes, Daisy inhales sharper and it tampers out after a few silent seconds. “I need something tangible.” Like bruises, something she can feel. Something that will make her truly believe she can protect the people she loves. Daisy hasn’t done a good enough job, but she won’t fail. Ever. 

***

Mack had told her that she would be meeting someone in the gym around seven am. It was the first time in a week Daisy actually had to make an effort to know what time it was and be awake. Jemma and Fitz were asleep, had been for a while. Fitz's soft snores match with Jemma’s gentle breathing. 

She stared at them for a while. The soft curves of their faces. The peacefulness they had. How safe and warm they looked. They weren’t cold, or starving. They ate at least one meal a day now, or more depending. it was the best they’ve gotten in a long while. 

So she left the room silently. Slinked down the hallways to the gym Mack had shown her. The lights automatically flickered on the moment she stepped inside. It was five minutes past seven, nobody was around. 

Workout equipment was pushed into the far corners. There were training mats on the ground and a few punching bags. Daisy already knew she was way over her head. Her nerves were skyrocketing, it felt like bees were underneath her skin having been shaken in a bottle. 

Daisy took towards the first punching bag. She’s never hit one before. Doesn’t know how, but clenched a fist and punched into the surprisingly hard surface anyone. It sends a shockwave throughout her, the pain sprinkling up her arm. And yes this was good. That feeling, it made her feel like she was going in the right direction for them. 

It took Daisy a minute of silence alone, or her hitting the bag over and over for an anger to swell up. For a pain to creak the damn she tried so hard to hold back. Ward, everything, it all piles up so high she could scream at the top of her lungs. She punched harder, knuckles hurting with his face pictured on the bag. Her waist ached, some spots were still sore but she burned through it. She had to, she needed to keep moving. 

“You’re going to break your hands like that.”

Daisy jumped, whirling around and finally noticing the older woman leaning against the gym room wall. How long she had been there, Daisy didn’t know. She’s not even sure how long she had been punching, just that her knuckles were split open with new smears of blood. 

“Are you who Mack—“

“Hold your arm up. Keeping them held up is the hardest part. You should wrap your hands as well.” Daisy was too shocked to move. The woman looked like she meant business and moved like it. In seconds Daisy was being held a roll of hand wrappings. 

“I’m- I’m sorry. Mack never told me your name?” Daisy inhaled, looking her up and down and getting mixed signals. Half her mind screamed “scary alpha run away” and the other half revived somewhat of a calming effect. It was weird, made her more nervous and stepped back. 

“Melinda, but you can call me May.” May grabbed her right hand and began wrapping it first. Daisy’s entire body froze, rigid. But the woman wasn’t currently hurting her, so she didn’t pull away. “Coulson told me about you. Daisy, right?”

“Right.” Daisy nodded. She pulled her newly wrapped hands back and inspected them. It wasn’t tight, but it did make her knuckles sting that much more. 

“Are you gonna keep staring at me, or punch the bag correctly?”

“Sorry, ma’am.” Daisy frantically stumbled towards the bag and threw her first punch under the woman’s sharp gaze. 

“What did I tell you? Arms up.”

She was right, Daisy quickly felt the weight in her fists and how her arms would start to fall without her even noticing. When they did May would correct her and Daisy would force them back up.

“Your powers cant save you from everything. Keep your arms up .” Daisy grunts, fixing her arms again . She punched, pulled her hand back and punched again with her other fist. “You don’t need to punch with everything you have. Work on keeping your—“

“I am,” Daisy says. She is, but she does punch harder. Does feel the shock through her nerves and pulls back to do it all over again. 

May grabs her wrist before it can meet contact with the bag. “Let’s try something else,” she says. Daisy twists her hand free but nods. This was training, the woman was just trying to help her. “Have you ever been in a fight?”

“A few.”

“How heavily did you depend on your powers?” Daisy swallows, flexes her hand as May gets into a fighting stance in front of her. 

Practically every time Daisy has fought since getting her powers she’s used them. She doesn’t think that’s a bad thing, even if they do destroy her arms. “They’ve saved me.”

“Mack’s said differently.”

“I didn’t know Mack was the gossip type,” Daisy spits. “Are you going to train me or just ask me questions?”

“I want you to block my advances.” Daisy straightens up, copies the stance the woman is doing. She can see in her eyes how serious she is, like the air has finally left the room. Daisy never thought she would want that, but maybe a part of her needed the floor to be swept from underneath her. 

May throws an attack. Daisy barely missed it, slamming her arm right against the woman’s hand stopping the blow. It hurts but it’s definitely not meant to harm her. May does it again, Daisy blocks quicker now that she’s out of her head. May smirks, swings and catches a punch into Daisy’s still slightly sore side. 

Daisy nearly growls to punch her. Barely managing the whole thing as everything flashes so vibrantly before May steps back. “Blocking, that’s all,” she reminds. Daisy nods, swipes her hand on her head and readies herself to block the next on coming attack. 

***

It was hard. Daisy came back sore. She spent way too long underneath the showers hot pelting spray before she finally trudged herself out. Daisy isn’t quite sure if she’s learnt anything yet, besides the fact her mind feels nicely fuzzy. May agreed to train her more. More so the woman had ordered her to be on time, at seven sharp tomorrow morning. 

Daisy found her place. 

But the second she quietly tried to come back into her bedroom and Fitz and Jemma were on her. 

“Oh my god—“ 

“What happened?”

“Who did this to you?”

“Guys, I’m fine. I’m fine!” Daisy stresses, gently pushing her mates backwards. There is a sweet scent of vanilla in the air. Daisy can’t help but think she’s doing exactly the right thing. 

“You weren’t here when we woke up,” Jemma says, pouting with that cute scrunch between her eyebrows. 

“What happened? Did— Are you—”

“Nobody hurt me,” Daisy says. 

“You come back bruised and battered and expect us to believe that!” Jemma shouts. She gasps, takes Daisy’s hands carefully to inspect her scabbed knuckles. They ache, but it’s certainly not the worst feeling Daisy has ever had. She has to admit this pain is easier to deal with than fracturing her arms when she uses her powers too much. May had a point, Daisy could admit in the sanctuary of her mind.

“Who did this?” Fitz repeats, eyes rather hardened. “We will— We won’t let someone hurt you. Not here where it’s supposed to be safe.”

“Guys, I—” And oh god, Daisy had to tell them. She didn’t think about that till right now. How upset they would be that she decided to go this route instead of being in a lab, or on a computer. “I asked someone to train me.”

“Train you?” They both say, gawking at her as if she lost her mind. 

“Train you for what, exactly?” Fitz asks. He steps closer to take one of her hands in his. 

“To be… I don’t know, an agent, I guess.”

“Are you out of your bloody goddamn mind? We don’t have to fight here, Daisy,” Fitz says, exasperated. 

Daisy wants to whine. She hates the pain written over both their faces. The worry she never wanted to cause but, “I have to do something. I can’t just sit and do nothing. I have to— I have to protect you guys.”

“I don’t agree with this,” Jemma says. Daisy feels something inside her break. But the young girl softened, leaned forward and gently kissed Daisy’s cheek. “If you want to train, if you need this then okay but you have to promise you aren’t throwing yourself into danger.”

“I’m not,” Daisy murmurs. Her eyes flicker between the both of them. “I feel like I’m burning up on the inside and today let me let it all out. I feel— I feel good.”

“Okay. But I want to watch the next training session,” Fitz says. 

“Yes, me too. Just to make sure,” Jemma agrees. Daisy doesn’t try arguing with either of them. If they want to wake up early to watch May try and teach her how to block a punch, then fine. If it makes them feel better, Daisy would do nearly whatever they wanted. 

***

Seven in the morning Daisy found herself in the gym once more. But this time Fitz and Jemma followed right behind her. May was already there stretching out of the mat. “Go sit off to the side,” Daisy whispered, tilting her head. 

Fitz and Jemma gave her both a kiss on the cheek before silently walking to the wall and sitting down. Jemma pulled out a notebook and Fitz untucked the laptop from his arm. She could tell they were nervous, that instinct to distrust their surroundings hadn’t been forgotten. That was good. 

Daisy shook her head, going towards May and sitting down on the mat with her. “So, what are we doing?”

“Stretching.”

Daisy watched, wondering if this really was how they were starting. Without anything else said, she copied whatever stretched May did in silence. It was nice, gave her brain a minute to wake up and try to shake the soreness from her limbs. Jemma had taken care of her knuckles that morning with a first-aid kit that was apparently supplied to every room. 

“I’m going to teach you some basic defense moves. It will be different from yesterday.” May stands, Daisy follows along. 

She spoke with clarity, explaining each move. Carefully grabbing a part of Daisy’s body and demonstrating what Daisy needs to do to escape, or how she should fight back. How to analyze an opponent, how to use their strength to her own advantage. It was all about the flow of movement. Being strong was great, but you could still win if your attacker had more muscle. 

They switched to Daisy punching, and swinging again. The two of them actually fighting, giving Daisy a chance to try and use what she learned in a fight. The hits hurt, but she knew May could hit harder. The woman was trying to show her, more than harm her. 

Daisy threw a punch, May twisted her arm and spun her around. Daisy twisted, yanking out just how May shower her at the top of the session. She ducked away from a hit, spinning around to punch. May caught it in her hand, and used the opportunity to jab Daisy in the ribs. 

“Jesus!” Daisy had cursed. She pulled back, hand clasping her side. “You’ve hit that spot three times!”

“Maybe you should do better at blocking it,” May snarked. 

Daisy practically growled, throwing a punch that was way too out there but the real one came with her other fist that actually landed. Pride filled her body, and off to the side Jemma and Fitz both cheered. She glanced towards them, having forgotten they were there and the smile erupted on her face was so refreshing. 

Then May kicked her. 

“Oh my god !” Daisy shouted. 

“Pay attention. This is important. You need some work. Depending on your powers can only help you for so long.” 

“Jeez, thanks.” 

May smirked at her, raising both of her fists and Daisy followed. The next hour they continued fighting. May correcting her and giving her tips throughout the whole process while Daisy tried not to stumble on her feet. 

And she did. Daisy dramatically fell a few times right on her butt while May corrected her again and again. The hour was draining. Sweat covered her body and she honestly really wanted French toast. Not that she would get it. 

“Focus!”

“I am!”

“No you aren’t.” Daisy grumbled. Maybe May was reading her mind. Maybe the woman was inhuman and Daisy just hadn’t figured it out yet. She was fast, and way too good at combat. “You’re even more off than before."

Daisy hissed under her breath. Her head had started to feel a little faint but she ignored it. Shaking out her hands, Daisy hardens her stance again to continue fighting. May observed her, the woman’s calculating gaze sending a shiver down Daisy’s rigid spine. 

“We’re done. Go eat some food. I want you back here at seven am the day after tomorrow. We will work on the punching bag and some more of what we did today.” 

Daisy steals a glance at Jemma and Fitz who were engrossed in whatever they were making. She had heard the background of them talking the whole session. It kept fueling her to be better. So they wouldn’t have to keep running one day. 

Even though Mack did this for her, she doesn’t know why May is doing this. She could have done one session and left Daisy to the dust. She knows the woman has gotten frustrated at her, Daisy has no clue what she’s doing. 

“Why are you doing this? Is it because Mack ordered you to?”

May slowly unwrapped her hands. She doesn’t even flinch at the question or look Daisy’s way. “Because, you're just a kid with a lot of built up energy. You’re angry. You’re scared. Everyone needs a healthy release and it doesn’t hurt if we get a good agent one day out of it.”

Daisy’s throat feels like it’s closing. She knows that’s exactly what she asked for but hearing it out of someone else’s mouth is just as daunting. She pictures herself doing exactly what Mack and Elena did, saving her and her mates. Smuggling inhumans across the borders and helping people. Daisy bit down on her tongue. May didn’t know half of it and yet here she was still. 

“Let’s get some tea. I think a serious private conversation is in order.”

“What does that mean?” Daisy asks. Her hands shake at her sides. 

“Come on. They can sit on the couch.” Daisy watches dumbly as the woman leaves the room. Fitz and Jemma are still sitting at the side but had at some point begun listening to the conversation. 

“Are we going?” Jemma asks. 

Daisy doesn’t have it in her to say no. “We’ll stay in the open,” Daisy says. Just to be safe, she thinks. They nod, gathering their things and the three quickly follow down the hallway to meet up with May. 

One makeshift kitchen smushed together with a living room, Daisy hovered around the counters. Fitz and Jemma made themselves comfortable on one of the couches, having easy eyesight on Daisy. Some other people mingled in the room, but gave everyone else their space. 

May made tea, a process that looked like she had down a thousand times before. Daisy just looked between her and every other person in the room. All these people had a story. Some had started at Shield before hydra and others found themselves in the fight after. 

She looked down at her hands. She wonders if she just joined the fight, or if Daisy had been in it the whole time. She fought Ward, to an extent. She ran from the police and Hydra agents, but did that count as what Shield agents did out there? She’s not sure if thats comparable. 

Daisy's powers did help her. As much as she hated to say it though May was right. Daisy couldn’t rely on them. She’s ended up extremely hurt in countless situations because she didn’t have a choice. She had to use them, and break her body to free herself, Jemma, or Fitz. Daisy wasn’t good enough. Could never hit hard enough, could never be strong enough. At least not yet. 

“You're good,” May says. Her words break the silence like a shattering window.

Daisy startled as the warm cup of tea was pushed into her hands. “No, I’m not.”

May chuckled, taking a long sip. “You’ve never been trained before but you have potential.”

Her words feel word. Daisy doesn’t think she’s ever been told that before. Definitely not in school, and definitely not after the world went to shit. But here this woman was with a cold gaze and exterior giving Daisy tea and telling her she had something. 

“What does that mean?” Daisy watched the tea swirl around in her mug. She found Fitz and Jemma to quell the anxieties building up again. 

“The way you punched that bag yesterday, it was anger. Anger at hydra, at the world. Maybe even loneliness but you can put that into something. That’s really why you asked Mack to help you, isn’t it? Because you needed to put that anger to good use.” 

“It’s more than anger,” Daisy finds herself admitting. “I’m… I'm scared— I’m scared for them,” she says. Her eyes are still clearly on Jemma and Fitz, she knows she doesn’t have to clarify. “I hate it. I hate that I dragged them into this. I want it to stop. I want to be able to protect them. If it- If it means keeping them safe, keeping them here, then I will be whatever this place wants me to be.” Daisy means it wholeheartedly right now and that’s absolutely terrifying. 

“Becoming a field agent is a big responsibility. Especially now. Give it time. You can be an agent, but you have to take this seriously. I won’t allow anything less.” 

Daisy took a gulp of her tea. It scalds her tongue. She needs it. The burn is good to keep her on the ground. Jemma and Fitz had suffered over and over. It never stopped. She never wanted them to know pain, but they did, because of her. She’s guilty. Hates how sour it tastes in her mouth. But it was the truth. Daisy would be chasing after that guilt for the rest of her life on how to repent. She would make it better. She would save and fix the world for them. 

“I want it. Whatever you throw at me, I’ll do it.” Daisy means it. May doesn’t even know what Daisy is truly saying, but she really does mean anything, Daisy will do it.

Chapter Text

roughly one year later

An armored vehicle was forced to roll to a stop. Smoke wafted up into the sky, and could probably be seen far from the two cars that crashed on the road, one totally flipped over and the other on its side. A man, bleeding and bruised, waved frantically in front. 

“Stay where you are!” A man’s voice yelled from the armored vehicle. The robotic static from the speaker gives the voice far more gravel than it deserves. 

“Please, this girl came outta nowhere!” the man pleaded, holding his arms up in defense. Blood was trickling down his arms, hands scraped red. “She flipped us right over! We didn’t have a chance!”

“On your knees!”

“My wife—“

“I said get on your knees!” The man does stumble down to his knees. The armored vehicle's door opens to reveal a Hydra agent, the patch on his arm a dead giveaway. He pointed his gun at the man while hopping out and walking closer. 

“My wife, she needs help,” the man pleaded. “Please, some-some freak came from the woods.”

“A freak?” The agent looks around, eyes scanning the tree line. “We got a possible inhuman, route 44 backroad,” he speaks into his comms. 

“My wife’s in the car still, I don’t know about the other car but could you please—“

Roughly, the agent shoved his boot into the man’s chest. He coughs, pushed backwards, his knees bending painfully underneath him. “Shut up.” Dark eyes scan the treeline once more, the agent looks back towards the armored car, giving a nod to the other agent in the passenger seat. 

Carefully, he makes his way to the two wrecked cars. He could make out blood, the smell of smoke and rubber. Glass shards were scattered across the ground, the closer he came to the car. 

“Anyone alive in there?”

“Please,” a soft woman’s voice called. “Help— I’m stuck, please, my leg.”

Getting down on the ground and praying into the vehicle he came face to face with a small Asian woman. Her seatbelt had her pinned, forehead cut up, and leg unseeable from his angle. 

“Take my hand.” He extends his arm through the crushed window, breaking what glass he can. The woman takes it and he pulls, listening to her screams of pain and the twisting sound as she’s reached forth from the seat. 

She crawls through the glass, hands pierced and bleeding. She tries to stand up but his fist grabs her shoulder, forcing her back down. The gun weighs heavily in his fist. 

“What’d you see? What did the inhuman look like?” He commands.

The woman paused. Her breathing is labored. Her eyes are staring into the ground, her face reflected in the many shards of glass. 

“Are you concussed? Where did the inhuman run off too?”

“Look behind you and you’ll find out.”

“Huh?!”

It all happened at once. The gun shots. May on the ground in front of this man, kicking his legs out from under him. Daisy ran out from the forest edge where she had stayed hidden. 

“Bitch!” The agent hissed. 

Daisy kicked him from behind, trying to force him further into the glass shards he had May crawl through. The woman never seemed deterred, bouncing up from the ground to sock him right across the jaw. He gasped, spitting blood. 

“We got reinforcements coming,” Hunter yells. Daisy watches him press his back into the armored car, peering around the side seeing two more agents, probably from the prisoners bus make their way around. 

“You go left, I go right,” May says to Daisy. 

“Got it.” Daisy runs to the left. They shoot without a second thought. Her power stalls the bullet in the air and sends it right back towards them. 

They stumble back, the agent next to them rushing up. They get a hit to her side, the pain splatters across her ribs. She blocks the next hit, uppercutting them in the face. The force behind it doesn’t send them stumbling like she would hope. 

The first agent is clamoring forward. The second one, going in for a punch, she uses the momentum to grab their arm and send them flying behind her. Turning and kicking the first agent square in the chest—

May appears from behind him, take the man’s head and slamming it into the car, knocking him out cold. “Watch your back,” May quickly says. Daisy barely missed a punch, fucking down quick. May goes high and the grunt of pain the guy lets put she feels under her skin. 

“Guys, you gotta get the prisoners out of there. Hydra forces are coming in fast. The pick up spot is just off the road to your right,” Coulson voice crackles. 

“On it boss,” Hunter responds. He comes up next to the two, holding his gun at the ready. May and him share a look Daisy is yet to understand. She follows them both, observing her two more experienced team members. 

She was a part of the team now. This wasn’t a moment to think about it, but this being one of the first handful of missions she’s been on still blows her mind. The whole experience does. She doesn’t know how to feel. Her heart is pounding, even with the training May has been trying to teach her to keep her heartbeat in check. 

May and Hunter flank the bus door. Inside, Daisy can hear the scared voices of people. Kids . It shatters a lot inside her. But she was making a change, she was helping and that’s what mattered. She didn’t want someone to ever go through what she has. 

May held up her hand, counting down from three. She entered the bus first, gun held high. Hunter was next, Daisy heard three shots go off. She flinched from the screams growing tenfold. 

“Everyone, let’s move. I know you’re scared, but we’re here to help,” May’s commanding voice overtook the chorus of fear. 

It was quiet. Daisy feared nobody would move and then Hydra would be on them. But, quickly, Hunter was leading the first of the people out. A young girl, barely ten years old clutched his free hand. Hunter's eyes didn’t meet hers, but she wondered if the older man felt her pain as deeply as she did. 

Daisy stayed in the middle, watching everything she could as the line of civilians, people caught up in a war, exited what could have been their death. 

“May,” Daisy called, as the last two people trickled out with May in tow. Daisy spotted black dots on the horizon, coming closer, fast . “We got company.”

“Pick up the pace! Let’s move as fast as we can! Follow the leader!” May shouted. 

They held up the back. Taking turns on watching the line and the ever quick approaching fleet of Hydra cars. Daisy had to squeeze her hands to stop them from shaking. The sleeves Fitz and Jemma made for her were snug, and felt more prominent. She was fine. Hydra wouldn’t have her or them. 

They stepped into the woods, carefully walking over branches as fast as they could. In the distance they could hear it, hell, she could feel it. The rumbling, the vibrations. Then, it all stopped. They weren’t even ten feet into the trees when the car doors began opening. Daisy sent a fearful look towards May. 

She had an idea. It curled violently inside her stomach. May's eyes narrowed, but before she could tell her no Daisy was sprinting towards the tree line. Five cars, two agents from every vehicle. Daisy could taste bile up her throat. She swallowed the burning down. 

This is for everything , she thinks and points her hands toward the ground. The rumbling is instant, each and every single agent fell to their knees. The vibrations tripled, cracking and separating the ground. She could feel something building, her arms aching, and Daisy screamed. Couldn’t help it, couldn’t help release the pain and sorrow. 

“Daisy!” May’s shout pulled her out of it. Her powers came to a trickle and she was being forced back into the trees. “We’re talking about this later.”

Daisy’s stomach violently lurched. She didn’t want to know what that meant. She yanked her arm out of the older woman’s grasp. The alpha's eyes hotly met her own, and Daisy went into a full sprint. 

May was running behind her. She didn’t say a single word, not when they made it to the quinnjet, and not when the hanger door was closing and Hydra agents stumbled into the grass, guns glazing hot with never ending bullets that ricocheted into the trees. 

***

“You were reckless,” May says. They’re in the locker room, Daisy has changed out of the bloody and dirt covered shield field uniform. Her t-shirt hangs loosely on her body, it’s one of Fitz's and smells just like him. She hadn’t even showered, just needed to change and peel off her shit to be drenched in something warm and familiar. May's words ping-pong around her skull. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”

“They were going to catch up to us. I made a decision—“

“It was not the right call. You made a decision based on your feelings. To fulfill something inside of you. We don’t make choices like that here.” Daisy swallows, doesn’t turn around. She can’t, because if she meets that gaze she’ll crumble into nothing. The adrenaline is still pumping through her veins. 

“People are alive, and safe. That’s what matters.” She turns around, avoiding May's eyes. She can see it cooking though before it happens. Daisy’s body goes rigid as the woman’s hand grasps her forearm, holding her impossibly still. 

“I am your commanding officer. If you want this, want to keep going out in the field, then you have to make the right choices. You could have cost the team, those people.”

Daisy bites her tongue. Her chest feels tighter, May's hand feels way too heavy. The woman beside her only waits a few more seconds before she lets her go. Daisy immediately rushes out of the locker room, pushing past anyone who comes in her way to get to where she needs. 

Jemma and Fitz. They’re perfect, they’re still okay. She melts, the nerves buzzing around inside of her, that feeling like the floor is going to be ripped away freezes for a brief second after opening their bedroom door and seeing the both of them. 

“You’re back!” Jemma says. They both jump up and inspect her just as deeply as they have after every mission. Fitz makes sure to kiss her, gentle and sweet as he is. Her body relaxes into them, mind still spiraling. 

“Shit,” Daisy hissed. Fitz had merely brushed against her arm a little too hard. “Sorry, my arms are a little sore,” she murmured as an explanation to their conceded faces. Ignoring it, she tries to kiss Jemma, but the girl pulls away and takes Daisy’s arm. 

“What did you do?” Jemma asks. She’s careful as she peels the sleeves off. There aren’t any bruises, that’s good. Daisy didn’t lie when she said they were sore. Jemma prodded at her arm, a small whine nearly making it past Daisy’s lips but this time she’s prepared. 

“More adjustments,” Fitz sighs. “I wish we could just figure it out already.”

“You guys have done enough,” Daisy says. “The sleeves are perfect. My arms aren’t featured, see?” Daisy wiggles her arms around, moving her fingers and rolling her wrists. “I’m all good! I just fought, I’m gonna be a little sore, right?”

Jemma looks apprehensive, she doesn’t want to accept that as the answer. Daisy loves her for that, same with Fitz and the cute wrinkle between his eyes brows. Daisy throws her arms around them, smushing her lips against Jemma's cheek just to hear her squeak. 

“Gross! You need a shower!”

“Why, wanna join?” Daisy grins dastardly, pulling back to Fitz's eyes bulge out of his head. “I’m kidding. I know, I will. How’s everything here?”

“Alright. Spent most of the time worrying about you. They still won’t let us observe from here. We could be of help on the comms! Fitz has been working on the dwarfs and they’re incredible! They’ll let us tinker around in the lab, but god forbid we put our brains to real work.”

“You are doing real work. Have you talked to Mack about the dwarfs, Fitz?” 

Fitz's face is still a little red. He leans his head on Jemma's shoulder, they’re still a tangle of limbs, not having pulled away from the embrace Daisy had forced them into. “Not yet- but I will. I just, I dunno, he’s such a big man. He knows what he’s doing. And I don’t want to offend him. He does great work for Shield.”

“Fitz, they have about a dozen engineers just like Mack here,” Jemma says softly. There was something unsaid though. The ingrained fear that because he was an alpha, it could all go south so easily. Even though he was nice, Daisy could even say that now. Which was astonishing on its own. 

“My… I thought my dad would like the things I made,” Fitz whispers. It’s so small that if they weren’t inches apart they wouldn’t have heard him. 

Daisy and Jemma share a look. It’s heartbreaking, Daisy feels a rush of anger and hopes he is suffering. For what he did to Fitz, for his mother, who seemed to be a kind woman who loved her son dearly. Who was played a very bad card that she couldn’t run from. 

“I can do it with you,” Daisy says. “If he gets all pissy, or something. He helped me, but I would protect you two in a heartbeat.”

“It’s scary enough having you out there, Daisy,” Fitz replies. “With Hydra, and the guns, with real bullets,” he goes on, voice nearly cracking. “It’s not worth it. They aren’t perfect yet anyway—“

“Yes they are,” Jemma cuts him off. She squeezed Fitz hand, bringing it up to her lips to kiss gently and hold tightly to her chest once she’s done. “We’ve tested them all throughout the base. You worked so hard to get the cloaking just right, Fitz. We looked at schematics for the quinjets for ages.”

“Why don’t you show me?” Daisy asks. She even pulls out her puppy eyes, and pouting her lip to make him agree. It takes only for a few seconds of endless staring for Fitz to agree with a slow nod. 

***

Daisy never doubted either of them for a second. The dwarfs were cool . The size of your palm, easily can slip under doors given enough room and can go invisible. Fitz clutched the control pad in his hands, fingers nearly shaking as he guided Bashful down the hallway. They had squished themselves into the back corner of the lab, which had quickly become FitzSimmons corner over the years. 

Bashful was fast. Barley made any sound. Fitz easily controlled the little guy around people who were completely unaware. Plugged into the control pad was a pair of earbuds, Daisy had one and Jemma had the other. Fitz opted to just control it, not wanting to be die tested by all the voices. 

Quietly, Bashful whizzed its way into one of the debriefing rooms. Which really was just a plain room, with a long table and some chairs. There was a board for planning and a tv screen mounted to the wall.

“Oh, it’s May and Coulson. They’re probably talking about the mission,” Jemma says. 

Daisy swallows, giving the two a weary look. She can lightly hear May who is whispering a little too lowly for her to hear. Jemma reaches for the controller to turn the volume up. 

“We should leave. This is good enough of a test,” Fitz says. But Jemma is holding his hand, stopping him as her eyebrows furrow at the words Fitz can’t hear. 

“It was reckless. She’s reckless. A danger to herself.”

“You wanted to give her an outlet for her anger, and you expect her to not be angry,” Coulson asks. Daisy watched as he laughed, her eyes flickering to Jemma who has this look. It’s not good, it makes Daisy’s stomach knot. 

“I never thought she would be in the field so quickly, Phil,” May hisses. Coulson, the man that he is, doesn't flinch. He’s silent for a while, clearly thinking over what he wants to say. Daisy will never forget the day they let her in the field. It was messy. A mission had gone bad and they needed to send a small group to save them. 

“I didn’t have a choice. You were training her, I’m running out of people. I don’t want to put kids in the field. Finding people and bringing them back alive gets harder by the day. Joey nearly died on his run in Ohio not even a month ago.” Coulson runs a hand over his face. Daisy’s never seen him look so defeated, but he does. The director of Shield is defeated and that is the worst punch to the guy Daisy has been given. 

“What is it?” Fitz asks. His voice is hushed, barely heard over the static of the volume Jemma had turned up to hear better. 

“Did she get back to you? She’s alive, right?” An alarm blares in Daisy’s head. It couldn’t be true. She’s being too afraid. 

“She’s coming back. Should arrive sometime tonight. I’m sure she’ll want a team, a team I don’t have to spare but—“

“It’s worth it, you know it,” May says. Coulson nods quickly. He grabs her hand, they scoot closer together and there’s a hushed tone of something that’s not picked up by Bashful. 

“I’ll make sure Natasha has what she needs,” he says, almost in agreement. “And for the Daisy thing, she needs time. Time we can’t give her. She’s going to make more mistakes than you can count, just make sure she knows not to kill herself.”

“I’m trying,” May grits. “She doesn’t care.”

“You know she cares. And you know that’s why she’s angry.”

Daisy rips the earbud out. Jemma's mouth is hanging open and Daisy feels lightheaded. “What? What did they say?” Fitz asks, once again. He’s looking up at them scared, but trying to drive Bashful back to them without bumping into anything or anyone. 

“Bedroom, now,” Jemma says. It’s quick, clipped. Her tone leaves no room for movement and Daisy practically stumbles over her feet to follow her out of the lab. Fitz trips, still controlling Bashful as they weave through the hallway and into their bedroom. 

The door is slammed shut. Bashful is yet to be back yet but Fitz puts down the device to give Jemma, who is pacing back and forth, his full attention. Daisy can’t help but pick at her fingernails, pulling on a cuticle too far and feeling it sting. 

“We-We have to leave,” Daisy says. She can’t stay here. They can’t stay here. If Natasha comes here, finds them she’s not entirely sure what will happen. Daisy hurt her. “Or maybe I can. It’s good here. You have food and everything you could ask for—“

“I don’t understand—“

“We are never leaving you. Don’t make us have this conversation again, Daisy,” Jemma snaps, coming to a halt to wave a finger at her. “And I knew you weren’t ready for the field no matter how many times you said you were. There’s a reason why they won’t let Fitz and I do anything, because we’re kids—“

“We’re eighteen . And I can handle myself in the field—“

“Clearly you can’t if May thinks you’re reckless and trying to kill yourself!” Jemma shouts, voice broken and eyes full of tears. 

“I’m trying to save us!” Daisy fires back. She steps closer, narrowing her eyes towards Jemma's intimate. “I’m trying to feel like I have power to bring them down. I have to bring down Hydra.”

“Bringing down Hydra is not on your shoulders,” Fitz says. Finding some standing in the conversation as all the pieces are shown. “You have power, Daisy. But you have to know, you alone, can’t stop this. No matter how much you want to.”

“You can’t keep throwing yourself into danger. We have to do this rationally. The same applies to— to Natasha showing up. I am sure she has no clue that you’re even here. As long as we stay in this room, there is no way she should come to find out.”

Daisy takes a moment. She has to. Jemma still looks like she’s going to burst out crying, Fitz is starting to pull on a piece of his hair and Daisy is just as destroyed as they are. Closing her eyes, she tries, thinks of the technique May taught her to calm down. She inhales, slow and shaky, before exhaling and opening her eyes again. 

“She’ll most likely be in Coulson's office. Whatever she’s doing… I want to know.” Daisy moves and picks the control pad up from where Fitz left is. Bashful had been parked in a h walkway corner, safe and sound watching feet pass by. 

“You want to spy on them?” Fitz shrieks. 

“We need to know when she’s going to leave. Coulson said she will want a team. If we’re going to hide from her, we need to see.”

***

They’ve been set up in the room for awhile. Fitz fell asleep, his head of curls smushed into Jemma’s thigh as she ran her fingers through his hair. He snores every few minutes, something deep yet soft. The controller for the dwarfs had been in Daisy’s lap for a few hours. Neither of them left her side, but she thinks they should. She still wants to run, but she’s not even sure how they would. They were on Shields radar now, inside the belly of a friendly beast but one that liked to know where they were. This wasn’t an easy facility to leave. 

“I want to take Hydra down too, you know,” Jemma whispers. Daisy nearly jumps from the noise, having not heard anything for a while. She sighs, leans more against Daisy. She can feel Jemma's breath against her neck before lips gently kiss her shoulder. “I don’t want you to die. I don’t want you to be hurt. More than I know you already are.”

“Jemma—“

“No. Daisy, I need you to know because I’m trying to protect you. Just as you’re trying to protect us. I want to destroy Hydra. I want to tear them to the ground and hurt every single one of them. Ward is in my nightmares. All of them are in my nightmares too , not just yours. I share that anger, but we have to do this right.” 

Jemma is pleading, pleading with her eyes, her whole face contorted into the pain she must be feeling. Daisy has seen her in pain way too many times, hates that she is the reason for it. Cupping Jemma's cheek, “is there a right why?”

“Yes,” Jemma says. “Fitz and I, even though he is asleep he would agree. We both hate how you’re out there but we understand why you’re doing it. But you have to work as a team and listen to what May is teaching you. Otherwise we’re going to be alone. And-And I’ve heard what happens to mates that die. I don’t— I can’t lose you, we can’t. Neither of us would—“

“I’m not going to die,” Daisy says quickly. It’s a bad time to say she would die for them, but Daisy would. If she could cut herself away from them, sacrifice herself to cleanse their world she would. But she loves them, inexplicably. “I promise,” she says. Even if it feels like a lie. Even though her tongue becomes heavy and her throat becomes tight. 

Jemma senses something, she nods too slowly. Her eyes well up with tears that Daisy wiped away. There's a moment where she turns her head into Daisy’s hand to kiss whatever piece of skin she can reach. “I know you never really listen to me when I say that stuff. You’re so… stubborn. Traumatized. It’s not brave to walk into a fire, Daisy. It’s stupid.” 

“What, so, May is my fire protection?”

“ Yes . And the team, whoever is helping you. She’s trying to train you. You asked her for that, the least you could do is listen to her.” 

“I do listen to her. But there were cars and I could do something. With my powers I had a chance to stop them-“

“At an expense for yourself?” Daisy stumbles on her words, mouth gaping. And all too soon, or not soon enough they’re interrupted by Bashful. The little dwarf beeped in their ears only as Coulson's office door opened and two people walked inside. 

It was a punch to the gut. Natasha Romanoff, alive, still. Walking right behind Coulson as she shut and closed his door. Coulson poured two drinks, handed one to the woman as he leaned against his desk. She looked just as Daisy remembered. She doesn’t know why she expected her to look any different. It hadn't been that long, a little over a year. 

Jemma shifted besides Daisy, sat up straighter and took her hand between both of her own. Holding on tightly. She’s not sure if it’s meant to be an anchor for her or for Jemma. She squeezed her hand, can’t bring herself to move further as Natasha looks around Coulson's office, her eyes sweeping past invisible Bashful. 

“I’m unsure if she’s the only one held at the compound. But she is there, Coulson. Hydra can only hide her so well. They can’t keep her powers contained, even if they made her.” 

“I guess that’s good for us,” he sighed. Coulson takes a big sip of his drink. Daisy wonders who they’re talking about. Who would be important enough for Natasha Romanoff to run after? “And you’re sure it’s her?” Natasha, even from the angle Bashful has, looks offended. Coulson immediately puts his hands up. “You know I have to ask.”

“It’s a Hydra base. You still want those taken down, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. But my team, what we have here isn’t— the odds are not in our favor, Natasha. We have to be sure, we aren’t what we used to be. If we play the wrong move, what we’ve built could blow up in our faces.”

“When has that ever stopped you?”

They eyed each other. Daisy wondered if the audio had cut out for a moment because she couldn’t see Natasha's face or mouth very well. But she turned, looked around the room once more making her queasy. Daisy gently, very gently moved Bashful just in case. Natasha didn’t jump, she didn’t notice anything as she focused back on Coulson, taking a sip from her drink. 

“You’ve been doing good and… I’m not leaving her there. I’ve been searching for months. The only reason I knew she wasn’t dead was— I didn’t come here for permission,” Natasha says shortly. Jemma squeezed her hand as the woman’s eyes darken, her complexion sharp, body rigid from a life full of never-ending pain. 

“I get it. You're going to do it either way, and it would go much better with what Shield has behind you. But this isn’t the organization we were. Shield is fractured, we are crumbs. I will give you what crumbs I have but I’m not giving you more than I can offer. I want Wanda back just as much as you do but I can’t send people to the slaughter. I have some good agents, but this is a high level Hydra base and half of them never got official training. If it has her, has the stuff to hold her—“

The name takes a hold of Daisy in an instant. The picture. It’s a little blurry in her head but she can never forget her curiosity for that picture of the Avengers. And this gave Daisy confirmation to something she should not know. The symbols, she didn’t understand them then, but now she knows clearly what the red circle had meant. Alive . One had been around Natasha, and one had been around Wanda. Two of the world's Avengers were alive, but they were not the only ones with that marking. 

So where were they? If Wanda was alive, and captured by Hydra, did that mean the other alive Avengers were facing similar fates? Captain America, he was alive. Unless anything had changed in the past year, he had a red circle around him. He was somewhere, he could be saved and he could help them. But what would his help, and the rest of the Avengers help do when they failed a few years prior?

“Oh please, all they probably did was strap a collar around her neck, taken from the “just incase” blueprints box.”

“Oh, I remember.” Daisy didnt know how the man seemed so calm. Natasha's voice sent shivers down her spine and she wasn’t even in the room. “Our best course of action would be finding her and getting the collar off. Can she handle herself?”

“Are you really asking that?” Natasha asks. Coulson laughed, honest to god laughed and Daisy knew then he had lost it. But had he? Daisy can’t remember much of what was known about Wanda. “She went down protecting me, Coulson. She wouldn’t be there if—“

“Don’t blame yourself, Natasha. We need her, she’s one of us and we don’t leave ours behind. No matter how sparse we are, I wouldn't… I have some good agents who are inhumans that can be of more help.”

Natasha perked up. It was small and maybe wasn't noticeable but Daisy noticed it. Her throat began to feel tight as the woman stepped forward. Bashful jerked in the air from Daisy’s shaking fingers, Jemma whispered in her ear to stay calm.  

“I’m sure you have some great assets but I think it would be best if… not everyone was an inhuman.”

“What? But they could help—“

“The Avengers weren’t enough,” Natasha says. “Powered or not, it doesn’t matter. Hydra showed us that, and I’d rather not have a team of inhumans that would just be taken hostage. Give me your best, Coulson. I’m talking the top of the top. Inhumans or not, this mission requires the best.”

“I can give you the best.” Coulson turned towards the hologram screen behind him, swiping. They watched as pictures of agents appeared on the screen. Documents came with them, whatever information connected to the agent. 

“After this do you have a plan?” Coulson asked. 

“A plan?” Natasha chuckled. She looked down at the ground before looking around the room. Her eyes flickering over Bashful, but there’s no way Natasha could know. Fitz designed him perfectly, no sound, no nothing.  

“What you’ll do once you find her. We could really use you here.”

“Depends.”

“On?” Coulson says to pull more from her, but Natasha keeps her mouth shut. “Mack is a good one, you’ll want him.” Daisy watched Mack pop up on screen, a younger version of him who seemed much happier. Natasha however didn’t look, not yet, her eyes settled on the corner of the room where Bashful was exactly, and she stared. 

“She doesn’t know, does she?” Jemma asks fearfully. Daisy felt like her soul was being stared into. She felt like she might vomit, swallowing it down the best she could. Fitz let out a rather loud snore, Jemma dug her fingers gently into his hair. 

“He mostly does retrieval missions. Sneaks inhumans across the borders. He works with Yoyo, an inhuman with the power to run fast. However it’s only within the time of one heartbeat and at the end of it, she snaps back right where she starts.” 

“I’ll take him. Do you have someone who’s good with computers? We might need to hack in to get through doors.”

“Fuck,” Daisy and Jemma echo one another. 

“It— you don’t even do computers for them. You’re out in the field. There’s probably a hand full of real Shield agents who—“ 

Coulson flipped through them and she saw her face. 

“Stop,” Natasha said and he did. Time froze. For that fraction, for that moment, she watched in horror as the woman stepped closer to the hologram staring at her. Daisy’s heart dropped inside of her. “Quake?”

“Earthquake powers. She’s new, she’s young, but she’s one of our best. Has done a few field missions. Hacked into Shield when we first got her. She’s smart, done a few things for us here and there but she mostly wanted field work. May trained her, she’s a bit reckless but she’s good.”

Natasha’s fists clenched. Daisy was done. Daisy was going to die, and how would they run? Could they run? They still didn’t know for a fact if Natasha was also Jemma and Fitz's mate. She knew where the quinjets were, but how hard would it be to steal one? Daisy has watched May fly them a few times. It’s not enough, she knows that. 

“You have a child agent?” Natasha asked, turning towards him. Daisy heard Jemma exhale a breath. 

“It’s not like that,” Coulson said, calmly. “She came to us about a year ago with two others. She begged to be an agent. She wanted to help. She’s of age, and I needed more people. She had a choice. It’s… not the red room, Natasha.” 

“Not her, we’ll talk about your choices in agents later,” she nearly growled. The sound sent a shiver down Daisy’s spine. Jemma clung to her arm, Fitz being jostled in her lap. 

“Maybe… she doesn’t remember you?” Jemma asked, hopefully. She prayed that Natasha didn’t remember her. But with how her life has been going, Daisy expected the worst. “It was a year ago, I’m sure she’s done so much since then.”

“Would you have forgotten the face of your mate if you hadn’t seen them in a year?” Daisy asks. “Would you?” She asks again, when Jemma doesn’t look at her. Instead the control pad is taken away and Jemma sets it away from them. 

“Do you want to run?” Fitz's voice made both of them jump. Her peered tired eyes up at them both, blinking away the sleep he had gotten from the comfort of them. 

“Yes,” Daisy said honestly. “But I-I don’t think we can this time.”

Fitz sits up, grabs her hand to kiss her knuckles. “Whatever happens, we do it together. We’re smart, all of us. You’ve hacked Shield before, if we need to hack our way out, we can.”

“ Fitz ,” Jemma hissed. The two of them look at her, expecting her to be against it. To tell them no and give them reasons why they shouldn’t. Instead, Jemma nods, “We can pack bags. Well stay in our rooms for more and use Bashful to keep an eye on her.”

“But… you’re happy here.”

“We all need to be happy for something to work,” Jemma says. Fitz quickly nods in agreement. 

“Your pain for our happiness isn’t happening anymore, Daisy. We’ll prepare for the worst.”

“But hope for the best,” Jemma quickly adds.

Chapter Text

Daisy didn’t put up a fight the next day when Coulson pulled her from the field. She saw it coming. May's word, and whatever Natasha might have said. 

It made her glad in a weird way. They could hide away in their room. The first two days, nobody batted an eye. Fitz and Jemma grabbed food for them, and Fitz and Jemma easily occupied themselves tinkering away on the dwarfs or Daisy’s gauntlets. Daisy didn’t dare hack Shield files, knowing the instant red flag it would give them.  

Day three of hiding, Jemma had come running back into the room saying that word was out. Natasha was on base, training in the training room. She ran back as fast as she could, not wanting to risk crossing paths with the woman. 

They stayed together. Didn’t even open the door when Deke came, begging them to play Zombie Stricken with him. The three were used to hiding food, smuggling it away, so that night they stayed in the bedroom. 

“Eventually she’ll leave,” Jemma says on the fourth day. She’s laying with her head on Fitz's shoulder. Daisy sits on the floor, facing the door. “Once she has all the people for her mission.”

“She hasn’t yet,” Daisy replied. 

“They’re making a plan. If they really are infiltrating a Hydra base their plan has to be good. They have to be prepared. That could take days, weeks even.”

“Better bloody hell not. The lab has some tools I’d like to use. Grumpy keeps fritzting,” Fitz says, annoyed. He pushes the little drone off his lap. “It’s no use, they’ll never be good enough.”

“That’s not true, Fitz!” Jemma explains, taking his hand to kiss his knuckles. “We tested them and they work!”

“Well, it’s not perfect.”

“Nothing is ever going to be perfect,” Daisy says. She gets up, and walks over to the two to cup his cheek in her hand. His eyes are so soft looking up at her, and briefly it melts everything away. She kisses him, softly, slowly. Just for a moment. “When she leaves we can show Mack together.”

Fitz pulls away with a grumble. “But what if—“

“No. We’ll show Mack together. Side by side. No what ifs, no nothing. Your work deserves to be seen and is good enough,” Jemma says. “I just know he’ll love it, Fitz.”

Daisy could see he wanted to argue. But when Jemma lifted her head away so they could stare into each other's eyes he softened. She watched them lean toward, hold each other delicately and kiss. Daisy wishes she could always give them that sweetness, till they were both sick of it, if ever possible. She inhaled, just to hold them within herself for a moment. 

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The two jumped apart. Daisy quickly stood up and raised her hand slightly towards their door. It was quiet. Her heart hammered, could it be her? Had she figured out where they were? It wouldn’t have been hard if somehow the woman caught her scent. 

“It’s Elena. Can we talk?”

The group exhaled in relief. But there was still a heady tension in the air. Not wanting to anger her, Daisy went and opened the door. Elena smiled at her, seeming not anger, but that would be decided later. There was a tension in her shoulders, in her face. The way she started was too tight, her face was way too constructed, eyes way too focused. 

“Yeah, what’s up? Did Coulson need us for something?” 

“No. Can I come in?” Elena asked, waiting. 

Daisy glanced back. Fitz and Jemma nodded their heads one right after the other. The tightness in Daisy’s chest thickened as she stepped to the side and let the older woman into the room. 

“You guys haven’t really left your room lately,” Elena said, getting right to the point. Daisy could appreciate that. “Deke is pretty heartbroken. He thinks you're angry with him.”

“Just because we didn’t want to play with him? We aren’t children, you know,” Fitz scoffs. Jemma squeezed his leg, running her hand up and down. 

“He doesn’t have any friends. Be nice to him. We’re all he knows from before.”

“Well that doesn’t mean we have to play with him every day.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Elena chuckles. “But you three have locked yourselves away. If you think Coulson is mad at you, or punishing Daisy for taking her out of the field, he’s not. It’s not meant to be a punishment and you don’t have to hide away.”

“We aren’t doing that,” Daisy says. “We’re just… lounging.”

“Right. Of course. Fitz, Jemma, you’re wanted in the lab. They’d like a new set of eyes on something.”

“Both of us? Now?” Jemma asks. Daisy holds her breath. Jemma was never good at lying, or hiding the truth. Her nerves were written clear across her face, bless her. 

“Can they not handle it themselves?” Daisy asks, side stepping between Elena and the two on the bed. “Aren’t they trained scientists?”

“Trained or not, you know how good FitzSimmons are. Do you want to argue with the Director.”

“No, of course not. I’m not— I’m not arguing with him.”

“Don’t worry Daisy. We’ll bring dinner,” Jemma says. She stands, taking Daisy’s hand and squeezing it. It’s not enough, so Daisy turns around and kisses her. “It’s just the lab. Just the lab and back.”

Her words meant more. Daisy nodded, had to nod and step aside otherwise she never would. Fitz gave her a kiss on the cheek, and left right behind Jemma out into what felt like a very daunting world right now. The door shut, Elena did not seem like she was leaving. There was more, and Daisy understood that she purposely led them to leave. 

“What is it?” Daisy asks. She walks around her, standing near the door. Elena is looking around the room. At their beds. They mostly use one, even if it is a cramped heap. They’ve all fallen off a few times, but none of them really care when it means sleeping together. 

She watches Elena linger on Fitz's dwarves. It takes a lot in her not to hide them. To protect Fitz's creation. His creations were his heart, after all. 

“I’d like to think we’ve gotten to know one another after the past year,” Elena says, her voice even. “When you first came here the three of you were rightfully scared. But you grew. So, why have you reverted?”

“What are you talking about? We haven’t done anything.”

“You aren’t being punished Daisy. You are free to go anywhere in the base. The same is for Fitz and Jemma.”

“I know that.”

“Then what’s wrong? Because since that mission, you haven’t. The three of you have been hiding and it’s not going to do you any good to bottle yourselves—“

“We aren’t bottling ourselves!” Daisy shouts. “What we do is not any of your business!” She regrets yelling as soon as she does it but Elena doesn’t mind. She scoffs, yes, but steps further away from Daisy instead of closer. 

“I know lying. I know fear , Daisy. You’re right though, what you do is not my business. I just would hope if something happened, if you felt scared, you’d trust one of us to talk with.”

She wouldn’t understand. Elena couldn’t be told, because if she did there was no way she would keep it a secret. It would travel. And the last thing Daisy wanted was all of Shield to know she was mates with Natasha Romanoff. And that she was hiding from her. 

“Did something happen?”

“No.”

“If May scared you, she only yelled because she cares. She doesn’t want you dying, Daisy. You have people who love you. Who care about you and— and it’s more than just Fitz and Jemma.” Daisy tore her eyes away. “We all care about you. I think it might do you some good to talk to May. She won’t come to you, but if you come to her then you can work through this.”

“I don’t have to work through anything.”

“Maybe. But it won’t hurt you to try. You could get some training out of it. You haven’t been to the training rooms in a few—“

“I’m not going there,” Daisy hotly says. The second she remembers Natasha going there, she knows it’s a no go zone. It’s the most likely place for her to be. God forbid Natasha picks her scent up from it lingering. 

“Are you sure nothing happened?”

“Yes. Now was there anything actually important? Or did you just want to interrogate me?” Daisy can admit that she hates the look of pain that flashes across Elena’s face. That guilt quickly bubbles in her chest. Which is strange, because she does not feel fear with it. Just guilt. 

“Mack is leaving soon for a mission. We’re going to have a goodbye party for him and the others. It’s… I’m not going to lie to you, Daisy. It’s risky. I think he would really like it if you all were there.”

“Why?”

“Because he does. There will be cake. That should be enough for you teens, shouldn’t it?”

“We…of course we’ll say bye to him,” Daisy mumbled. Elena finally smiled, even if she didn’t believe all of what Daisy said the woman was happy she agreed. Daisy held in a sigh, and solemnly watched Elena leave the room. 

Since joining Shield, as in becoming an agent, Daisy has fought with Elena. She has done missions, saved people from Hydra trucks and the same went for Mack. As scary and daunting as they could be, she couldn’t help but in this moment really understand that their care wasn't anything bad. 

She’s never really had that. Jemma has, with her parents before they died. They loved her with all they had. Her dad even spent nights reading to her after she had surgery and couldn’t walk. Fitz had his mom, and Daisy had them. Two people. Only two people to care for, to be cared by, the idea that more did, care, was terrifying. 

The world taught her a very separate story. A very true story that didn’t disappear just because one person was nice. People could change. People could hide behind masks, she’s seen it happen in foster homes. She’s seen it happen with broken foster kids. Everyone breaks, and everyone makes choices. There was a comfort in knowing what to expect. Daisy didn’t know what was coming towards her anymore. 

Elena cared enough to ask. She noticed and she asked. Daisy slumped down on the bed, hands fisting her hair to try and ground herself. She kept asking why, but there was no answer. Deke hung around Elena and Mack enough, and there was nothing wrong with him besides his personality. He was not hurt, nor being hurt. If he were she knows even Fitz's hatred for him wouldn’t stand. The three would fuck up anybody who touched the kid.

Daisy’s throat feels awfully tight. She fully registers that if she had died on that mission, she had trusted that Fitz and Jemma were safe. She trusted Shield, to some extent, a few minor people, that they would protect the people she loved. 

She was gonna throw up.  

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Elena!” Daisy shouted, her voice was watery. She cleared it, trying to level her breathing, “I already told you!”

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Daisy cursed the woman under her breath, jumping up from the bed, and tore the door open ready to scream that the moment had passed and Daisy didn’t have anything left to say. She already agreed to go to Mack’s goodbye party, what more could she want?

“I—“ Words died in her throat. Her chest froze.

Green eyes soaked her in. Starting from the floor all the way up to her tear smeared eyes and heated cheeks. Natasha Romanoff had a steady expression, and she smelled exactly how Daisy remembered her. She should have smelled her from the other side of the door. She would have, if she hadn’t been so stupid. 

Daisy looked behind the woman, the empty hallway a haunting sight. Daisy’s hand clenched the doorknob, she could feel the metal vibrating underneath her fingertips. 

“We need to talk.” Her voice was raspy. Even, not angry. But Daisy knew much better. Just because she had a cataclysmic realization about Elena caring, and trusting her, didn’t mean shit. “Can I come in?”

Fuck. 

Fuck. 

Daisy couldn’t breathe. 

She had more power, though, right? Who was she kidding, she knew she didn’t. All her training didn’t mean she could beat an avenger. She’s not even fully sure whether the Black Widow has super powers or not. She vaguely remembers a lot of people theorized about it. That she had something similar to Captain America, or was just something else . 

That did not make the pit in her stomach feel better. Her tongue was heavy, cheeks full of cotton and throat restricted. When Daisy finally got a small patch of air into her lungs it sounded choked. 

Natasha moved. Daisy flinched, eyeing the woman’s hands that had been, and stayed, clasped in front of her. The woman had took a slight shift backwards, but maybe Daisy had just envisioned that. She was too far in her head, she had to say something before this turned worse. Or god, before Fitz and Jemma came back. 

Reluctantly she made the decision to move to the side, allowing Natasha into the room. The woman slowly walked inside. Daisy kept her back to the door as she shut it, watching Natasha look at everything. 

“Well, that mystery is solved.”

“W-What?”

“The drone. I heard it. I was worried a Hydra mole had infiltrated the building but had put it on the back burner. I figured they’d turn up before I left.” Daisy nearly lurches when Natasha picks up Grumpy. He’s open, wires detached and hanging from his lifeless drone body. She inspects it thoroughly. 

“What do you want?” Daisy hissed. It’s the only way to not make her voice shake. To hide the quiver of her lip. 

“You’ve been avoiding me. But I guess you knew I was here before I knew you were. Which does not happen often.” She set down the drone with a sly smirk. “The cloaking is top of the line. Did you code for it?”

“What do you want?” Daisy repeats. When green eyes meet here she tears her gaze away towards the floor. She can hear her own heart beat. She wonders if Natasha can, she wonders how strong her scenes are, if she can smell her fear. 

“I’m going on a mission and it’s important you know about it.”

“Why? I'm not going.”

“No,” Natasha replies easily, finally facing her fully again. She walked across the room, and sat down on the bed. Daisy was thankful it just hadn’t been the one they all slept on. Their room would still reek of her for far too long. “But it concerns you. I didn’t… I need to make it clear I had no idea you were here. We were going to go back to the city—“

Daisy didn’t want to ask. We. She knew who it meant. Wanda Maxinoff. It gave her a few seconds to process what was happening. What would soon come out of the older woman’s mouth. Natasha watched her carefully, mouth half open as she stopped talking, sensing or seeing Daisy’s realization across her face. 

Then, the second realization. They were going to come back for her. Daisy tries to take a step back but immediately hits the door with a solid thud. Her hand shot in the air, separating herself from Natasha the best she could. She didn’t have her sleeves, but that didn’t matter. 

“That’s it? You want— You want revenge?”

“Revenge?”

“You can’t touch me here!” Daisy shouts. 

Natasha blinks at her. It’s far more terrifying than when she speaks. At least then Daisy understands. “I’m not mad at you for quaking me. And I’m not here to hurt you, Daisy. That’s not what I want.”

“Don’t lie to me. Why else would you chase after me? You wanted to go back to New York—“

“To save you. I thought if I could find you again, we could take you here. But you did that all on your own.” Daisy would never trust the savior crap. It was always bullshit. Ward was like that. Made deals, to save her from his buddies and hurt her while doing it. 

Daisy clenched her fist. It stopped her from quaking the room. The beds had begun to clatter slightly, the sound much louder in the tension filled room. She wouldn’t win if they fought, she had to stay calm. She inhaled, and it was a mistake. The scent was just as conflicting as looking at Natasha. She wanted comfort in her. An omega drawn to their alpha. 

“What the fuck do you want?” Daisy hissed. 

“I’m hoping to give you time to process, so when I come back you aren’t shell shocked.” Daisy knew what was coming. She figured it out minutes ago but she needed to still hear it from Natasha herself. “Wanda Maximoff is our mate. She’s being held at a Hydra facility for her powers. But you knew that second part, didn’t you?”

Daisy nodded, slowly. Her mind was going a mile a minute. Two avengers. She couldn’t breathe. She has a vague memory of seeing the news when everything with Ultron had happened. Shaky camera footage of a teenage girl on the battlefield with red telekinesis-like powers. 

“You will be meeting her on much better terms than I did. But she can feel scary.”

“You were scared?” Daisy laughs, not believing it for a second. “You could kill me. I’m only alive because you want me that way.”

“You’re right,” a shiver runs down Daisy’s back. That was a confirmation she did not want to hear. It only made the beds shake again, the doorknob graded tightly in her hold behind her back. “She’s very powerful but she’s sweet. She’s a beta. I don’t know how long it will be. Or what she’ll be like once we get her back. Hydra… are not nice people.”

“No,” Daisy whispered, “they are not.” And there is this weird understanding that settles. Daisy is terrified but the confirmation that Natasha would have killed her already seemed to lull into a weird comfort. Daisy knew what was coming, she saw what the horizon would bring her. 

Wanda was just a girl. Near Natasha’s age, a few years older than Daisy but she could still be hurt. She was trapped, and Daisy would never wish that on her worst enemy. It almost made her want to go with them. But handling Natasha like this was much different than allowing the alpha her hand. 

“What’s your plan afterwards?” 

“What do you want my plan to be?” Daisy hates the question. It has to show on her face because a corner of Natasha’s mouth quirks up into a smirk. “Coulson has plans for me I’m sure. We’re not close to ending this fight.”

“So… you’ll leave… with her?” 

“We will keep fighting.” That’s not the answer she wanted. Daisy needed more. Needed what was underneath, left unsaid in the air to choke her. “I was fifteen when I left the red room. I’m twenty-five and I’ve been a child soldier all my life. I never had a choice. Never . I think you have every right to be horrified by me, and afraid of what I could make you do. I understand your thought process, and it’s not one I would wish on anyone. All I can say is that I don’t want to hurt you. The world is at war. I’m not forcing you into anything. I want you here. To stay here. Not doing field missions and living with your two other mates.” Fuck. Daisy’s eyes widened as that sentence hit her like a punch to the gut. Natasha didn’t seem phased. “I’m the child soldier. You should stay where you are.”

“I stopped being a child a very long time ago,” Daisy replies. She hates how her skin feels, too tight, buzzing, alive. “This is my fight as much as it is yours.”

“Of course it is. You’re naive—“

“I’m not—“

“You are trying to put yourself in danger when you aren’t needed. You are in a safe place. I understand how hard that can be to process. Let the people who know how to fight, fight for you. Because this,” Natasha stopped to wave her hand around, “is the best it’s gonna get. You wanted to know what I would do. I told you. Be angry if you want. I don’t care. I want you to see the other side of this.”

There has to be more. Natasha Romanoff was powerful. She was terrifying, and beautiful, and smelled way better than she ever should. Daisy couldn’t believe the trap. She had to pick through the pieces, through the words and carefully constructed sentences. 

She’s just being like him. She's going to hurt you, just like him. 

It wasn’t even just Ward. Daisy had so many examples. Bad adults, bad mates, bad people just in general. Fitz’s father was an awful man. Every foster home she fell into before Hydra took over was not good. Every single one of them. She had every reason, and every right not to trust the woman in front of her, or any person for that matter. 

Daisy could play this game. At least for now. Till Natasha leaves and she has to figure out what the fuck she’s going to do when they both get back. Because they would, Natasha said so. Wanda would have to recover, and Daisy can’t imagine Natasha leaving her after Hydra had taken her. So it would leave her here, with Daisy, and a chasm right behind her ready to eat her whole. 

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. My intention of coming here was just to inform you of what to expect.”

“Was that all?” 

Natasha stood, they did a dance as they walked around one another. Natasha towards the door, Daisy towards the bed where Fitz's drone laid. Natasha didn’t look at her, which felt pointed. Daisy knew how good of a soldier, a spy, and an avenger she was. 

Natasha stopped facing towards the door. Daisy’s hands shook at her sides. If every move Natasha Romanoff planned, why did she plan to stop? Why did she let the silence hang? How did she want Daisy to feel? What way did she want to pull her strings?

“Say it,” Daisy says. Her conviction, how she feels rumbles, and roars. Daisy can’t help but inhale, just a little, and it aches. 

“I killed him.”

Full stop. Daisy feels the worlds buzzing come to a halt. She feels her lungs seize, the scent, the comfort, as small and vile as it may have been, vanished. 

I killed him. I killed him. I killed him. 

“We thought he took you. It never stopped my nightmares, but maybe knowing he can’t hurt anyone again, including you, will help you.” Natasha leaves, gently shutting the door behind her. 

Daisy falls to the ground. She gasps, eyes wide watching the spot she disappeared. Ward was dead. They- Both of them had tracked him down. Meaning Wanda knew about Daisy to some extent, a terrifying thought on the ever growing pile that just wouldn’t fucking give up. 

***

Daisy told Fitz and Jemma everything. It would be kind of hard to hide it from them when they came back and she was freaking out. Grant Ward was dead. Something none of them thought could ever be true. It brought up a lot of questions, some Daisy didn’t even want to consider. She found it a lot harder to not think about things. She still tried it though. They slept, all twisted limbs, and heated bodies. 

The base operated the same way it did before Natasha had arrived. Nobody moved, and if they did she was almost a beacon of light to the people who presumed all the Avengers were dead. It would do her a dishonour to say she was “just a girl” even Daisy knew that. Deke loved rattling on about what the avengers had done before they fell. His eyes would light up and the three mates felt this pit in their stomachs. The Avengers in their time had become sort of the heart of what Shield stood for. Protecting the people. The people were shown their heart was still alive, and they moved on. 

The day of the goodbye party came swiftly, a lot faster than the three mates expected. Fitz and Jemma had been in the lab for the past few days, with Daisy close to their sides. She had thought about meeting with May in the training room but couldn’t bring herself to do it. It didn’t feel like one of her spaces anymore. 

Deke clung to Mack’s hand like a lifeline. Everywhere the man went, Deke followed with a trillion questions, worried about when he would come back. “He’s probably afraid he’ll be left behind again,” Jemma whispered.

The goodbye party was as booming as it could be. Saying goodbye to family members who were about to risk their lives, or agents who had found their family here after they had lost theirs. Daisy sighed, understanding what Deke was feeling. He was just a kid afterall, and she had been abandoned time and time again. The first one sticks with you, knowing your parents didn’t want you. But Deke had been adopted and that hadn’t even been enough.

Daisy shook Jemma and Fitz off to walk towards Mack. He was in a conversation with Hunter, who was being very obnoxious. “Deke, Fitz said he wants to play Zombie Stricken with you,” she lies easily. She can briefly hear Fitz begin to protest a few feet behind her.

“Really! I’ll be right back!” He promises Mack, before sprinting away.

“Well, that’s one way to do it,” Mack chuckles. 

“I--” Daisy’s words get caught in her throat. Now that she’s actually here with his eyes looking down at her. She can feel Hunter staring at her, she wishes he would run off and choke on a beer right about now. She swallows, “You have to come back.”

“Daisy--”

“No,” she begins, clenching her fists. It takes everything in her to stay in control, to not make everything shake and tremble around her. The bees are loud in her skin. “You can’t abandon him. You aren’t allowed to. Not after everything he has been through. He would be just as devastated as Elena. And I know what I’m saying but he-- he loves you whether he can say it or not so you will not break him.”

“You know I can’t promise that Tremors,” Mack softly says. “But I will do my best to return to my family.”

“Good.” Daisy turns around sharply, there isn’t enough air in her lungs to say anything else. It doesn’t feel like enough, though. There is more to be said, and she’s not stupid enough to miss her opportunity. That’s why she had done this for Deke, afterall. As scary as Mack seemed, he fought hard for every person here and stuck out there. “Come back for me too, okay? Fitz would… would miss you and he still has gadgets to show you.”

“I will do my best,” he says once more. 

Instead of going right back to Fitz and Jemma, Daisy sought out through the party where May was. It didn’t take her very long, not to her surprise May was leaning against the wall away from most people slowly drinking a beer. Daisy hesitantly went up to her, avoiding her gaze to lean right next to her in silence. 

She took a minute to herself. She watched where Jemma, Deke and Fitz were through the crowd. Fitz was visibly annoyed, while Deke grinned like a maniac, slamming his fingers against the controller. She inhaled deeply, eyes finding Mack once again, her worried twisting inside of her. There were so many things she could say, so many things Daisy could ask. None of them felt right enough, but that didn’t stop the tension to release everything. 

“You good, kid?” May asks, simple and to the point. She was always like that. Sometimes it made Daisy nervous, but here and now it felt safe to balance against it. 

“Do you trust her?” Her throat tightens, she swallows. “Natasha,” she mumbles to clarify. 

“She’s good at what she does. Mack is in good hands.”

“But—“ Daisy glanced at May, whose eyes are still surveying the crowd. “Is she a good person?” When May looks at her, Daisy has to clench her hands to not look away. She’s never been good at reading May, but thankfully the woman speaks before she can spiral. 

“I think so, yeah. Why do you ask?”

Daisy quickly looks away. She finds Jemma and Fitz again, taking a deep breath to calm the static under her skin. “I’m just… worried.”

“She wouldn’t be here if she weren’t trustworthy,” May says. Daisy’s not sure if that is enough, but she does let the words mule over in her mind. Natasha wanted to keep her safe, to the extent of killing a man for her. That meant something, Daisy knows that. She hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since Natasha told her. “She didn’t earn that trust by being an Avenger. She earned it by righting her past, and caring for the people around her. Coulson and I believe in her, as a person, and as a good fighter.”

“But what if— what if you’re biased? What if you haven’t seen what you’ve needed to?”

“Maybe.” Thats not reassuring, but there probably wasn’t anything that could reassure her. May could detail Natasha’s entire life and Daisy would still have that fear of adults and alphas and powerful people. 

Carefully, Daisy looked at May. The people here at Shield had garnered her trust. She’s seen May fight. She’s watched her shoot men, and throw them to the floor. She’s also seen how she acts with Coulson. The same, but different. He brings something out of her that nobody else can. The man is still Director, he is still at the top, and May does not care or feel inferior to him. She’s proud of him, and the work they do.

“If Fitz and Jemma ask where I went, tell them I’ll be back.” May hums, and Daisy is walking away, her head feeling fuzzy with thoughts. 

Exiting the little party room, she’s surprised but also not that surprised when she sees her. At this point, it’s expected. Maybe she had just followed her smell without knowing it. Now, standing in the hallway looking at Natasha leaning against the wall, she recognized it. Soft, but there. 

Natasha didn’t move, but Daisy could tell she knew she was there. She had wanted to get air from the party, and the universe decided otherwise. She glanced back in the room, at all the agents and family members of agents. With heavy steps, Daisy walked across from her and leaned against the wall. 

“Hey,” she exhaled. The weight in her body felt enormous. Each breath, each shift, being pulled by this invisible force. 

“Hey,” Natasha responded. Her voice was raspy, and even. It made her gulp, wondering how she could be so calm. “Are you not enjoying the party?”

“I needed air. Why… why aren’t you in there?”

“Big question,” Natasha murmured. Daisy watched her, but nothing about her changed. Her eyes were closed, leaning her head back, hair pulled to the side in a braid, with some strands loose. 

Natasha then sighed, her shoulders slumped and her eyes flickered open to find Daisy. It made her breath catch in her throat, hands jerking at her sides. For a split second, Natasha’s eyes flickered to them, clocking the small movement.

“I know you’re not here to say goodbye. What is it?” Daisy has no idea. She wishes she could say something. She had a thousand thoughts, a million fears, and a whole plethora of things driving her insane. She had every reason to run away, but she couldn’t. Even if her hands did begin to shake, she hid them behind herself. 

“Mack… he’s a friend. I-I’d very much like him to come back.” It’s true, but not why she’s here. But it’s all she can give. All she can tell herself to calm her heart, to put herself in the moment and not above her body. 

“Duly noted.”

“His mate is here. Elena, or Yoyo. So you— you have to bring him back.”

“Im not going to make you a promise I can’t keep. But I will do my everything to make sure he comes back.”

Daisy nods, eyes drilling holes into the floor near Natasha’s scuffed combat boots. There was a thick tension in the air. Looser than that day they talked in her room. Daisy wasn’t screaming, and that counted for something, didn’t it? Fear still pumped through her veins, but trying to unravel Natasha Romanoff was hard. She inhaled, the scent drifting through her nose again. 

“Did you mean it?” Daisy asks. She pinches her hand, anchoring herself. 

“What part?”

Everything. 

“I don’t know,” she says instead, which is somehow infinitely worse. Her lungs tighten, her next lungful of breath is just Natasha Romanoff and it is infuriating. She thinks about what May had said. She’s at least known Natasha since she was a few years younger than Daisy, maybe even nearly half Natasha’s life. That stood for something, but she could be biased. “Trust has to be earned.”

“That it does,” Natasha says. 

“I—I’m not going to-to think you’re a good person just because you’re an Avenger. Or because you killed a-a man for-“ for touching me goes unsaid because she cannot bring herself to say it. The memory coils around her throat, before it’s forced away by Natasha taking slow steps towards her. 

Wide teary eyes watch the assassin as she comes to stand a foot in front of her. Her heart beats erratically in her chest. Suddenly, all those agents are way too far away from her. But Natasha stands still, gazes into Daisy’s eyes with something far too human to put into words. 

“Trust is earned ,” Natasha repeats what she said. “I did not tell you that to make you trust me. I told you that to know a nightmare is gone. Do not trust me. It took me a very long time to trust the people I trust now. If you never trust me, I will also understand that.”

Daisy squinted at her. Her instinct is to not believe her. To fight, to argue till her throat hurts and her eyes sting red. “Are you trying to, like, reverse physiology me?”

“ Psychology. And no, I am not. I did not trust Wanda when I met her, and she did not trust me. I did not trust the Avengers when I met them—“

“You didn’t trust the Avengers?” Daisy’s eyes flicker all over her face, but nothing shows that she can tell. 

“I did not. I did not trust many then, and I don’t trust many now.”

Daisy doesn’t know how to respond to that. Fleetingly, she feels as if Natasha is the same as her. But the idea that the strong woman in front of her doesn’t trust people out of fear, for herself, is crazy. Natasha analyzed threats, and people’s motives and how they went about them. Thats where that came from. They were not the same. Natasha made that pretty clear when she called herself a child soldier.  

“You should head back to the party.”

“Why?”

Natasha looks over her shoulder at the door, surveying the people inside before finding Daisy’s eyes. “Because they’re probably wondering where you are.” Natasha isn’t wrong. She still does not like that she knows about Fitz and Jemma, but her other mates might get worried if she’s run off for too long. 

Natasha doesn’t wait for an answer. She turns around and to Daisy’s surprise walks away from where the party is happening. “You aren’t staying?”

“It’s not for me,” she replies. Daisy doesn’t have a good enough response for that. She’s just stuck there, watching Natasha round the corner and leave her alone in the hallway. 

She stands there for a minute longer, thinking. Her mind is going far too fast for herself to even keep up. She doesn’t know where to place her, how to see her, and it makes Natasha far more terrifying. All her words, all her actions, what she is to Daisy. 

Shaking her head, and shaking out her buzzing hands, Daisy goes back to the party. Finding Fitz and Jemma still playing with Deke. She easily slots between Jemma and Fitz, feeling a balm wash over her as she’s sandwiched between the two. She kisses Jemma's cheek, and ruffles Fitz's hair, making him shriek as he tries to kill a zombie on screen.