Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Coulson was up early. It was a big day for everyone. He made breakfast, then walked back upstairs. He opened the door to his room.

„Melinda, wake up! Breakfast is ready.” he said to the woman still laying in bed.

„Great! I’m hungry.” May answered. „But don’t tell me what to do!” she added while getting up.

„You’re the boss,” Coulson answered jokingly. „I’ll go get the kids.”

In a few minutes Coulson was in the kitchen again putting eggs on eight plates and the plates on the table. The rest of the house’s population started coming down. May was the first one to come down. She poured a cup of tea and sat down at the end of the table. Daisy came down next with Deke on her tail. Deke was talking enthusiastically about another theory of his and Daisy was ignoring him. Daisy sat down and Deke sat down next to her. For a moment Deke stopped talking when he heard the next two arguing on their way down. Deke continued since anyone could tell that Jemma and Fitz won’t stop arguing any time soon. Jemma sat down next to Daisy and Fitz in front of Jemma. Yo-Yo arrived soon after the arguing twins. She didn’t say a word, just sat down next to Fitz.

„Yo-Yo, where’s Mack?” Coulson asked.

„He’s too tired to move at normal speed. He was up all night. Said he wanted to finish what he was making.” Yo-Yo answered.

„I’m sure he’ll think twice next time if I go up to get him,” May said angrily and stood up.

„Don’t be so hard on him!” Coulson said. May didn’t answer. Soon she was back with Mack. They both sat down.

After they all finished breakfast, the chaos continued. Now the chaos and the noise didn’t come from arguing. It was everyone’s first day in a new school. May and Coulson were transferred to New York from Washington at their work. It was a new beginning for everyone. Even the house was new. They moved there a few days before. The loud chaos was broken by the doorbell. The kids continued preparing as quietly as they could. May went to get the door. A man was standing there.

„Can I help you?” May asked.

„Melinda May?” The man asked back. Coulson walked to the door too. He told the kids to get out of earshot. Fitz and Jemma continued their conversation about the topic of their morning argument in the open kitchen while making tea to take with them to school. The others went upstairs to get their stuff. Yo-Yo went for her earphones, Daisy grabbed her gloves that helped her not hurt herself, Mack grabbed the toy car he made last night, and Deke put his stashed snack in his bag. May and Coulson were at the door during that.

„I am Clint Barton,” The man at the door said. „I was ordered to pick you two up and take you to work.”

„It’s early for that, isn’t it?” Coulson asked.

„It’s better early than late,” Barton answered.

„I’ll need to take the kids to school so they won't get lost on their first day,” Coulson said. „I’ll find the place on my own. I’ve been there before.”

„You sure?” May asked.

„Yeah.”

„When are we leaving?” May asked, turning to Barton.

„As soon as you’re ready,” he answered.

„Let me grab my things!” May said then went inside. She was back quickly and left the house. Before she left, she shouted inside so everyone would know she was leaving early. After that, the ones that went upstairs came down too.

„I’ll give you kids a ride,” Coulson said. „I don’t want you to be late on your first day.”

„Please tell me we’re not going with Lola,” Fitz said, referring to the old car.

„What’s wrong with Lola?” Coulson asked.

„It’s old,” Fitz answered with a whining tone.

„Hey genius, we won’t all fit into Lola,” Yo-Yo said.

When everyone was ready, they got into the big family car. Fitz, Yo-Yo, Jemma, and Deke argued about who sat in the passenger seat next to Coulson. Daisy quickly ended the argument by sitting down on that seat, while the four of them were arguing. When they arrived, Coulson didn’t let them go immediately. He turned back and tried to look at all of them, which was a challenge.

„Mack and Daisy are in charge. Please look out for the others so they wouldn’t cause trouble.”

„We’ll do our best,” Mack said.

„Yo-Yo, don’t use your power!”

„Fine,” she replied and growled.

„Deke, don’t get into trouble!”

„When did I ever get into trouble?” Deke asked back. Everyone looked at him quietly, not sure where to start the list.

„And Fitzsimmons, don’t correct the teachers! They are the ones teaching you, it’s not you who teach them.”

„But what if the teacher makes a serious mistake?” Jemma asked.

„Yeah, like ...” Fitz started but was cut off.

„I don’t want an example. Just don’t correct them!” Coulson said.

„Fine,” they said in unison.

They all got out of the car and walked towards the front yard. They could hear Coulson driving away. Coulson took them there early so he could get back to the house, and switch to a smaller car. They decided to stay outside till the bell rang. They found a big tree. They climbed up and sat on the branches.

„So what did you learn?” Yo-Yo asked Fitzsimmons.

„You two were eavesdropping?” Mack asked.

„No,” Jemma answered with an innocent voice.

„We just stayed as quiet as we could so we could hear what was going on,” Fitz said.

„Exactly.”

„Well, since you already did it, you could tell us what you heard,” Mack said, giving in.

„A man came to pick them up,” Jemma started. Daisy took a pen and notebook out of her bag and wrote it down.

„His name was Clint Barton,” Fitz added. „Dad also said he’s been to the new workplace before.

„They didn’t mention anything except the name,” Jemma said. Daisy wrote down everything, then put away the notebook.

„We’re going nowhere with this thing,” she said. „We need to take some drastic steps if we want this solved.”

„Whatever that step would be, it needs to wait,” Deke said. „Classes start soon.”

The kids went to their classrooms. Jemma, Fitz, and Deke walked into the classroom. There were still two minutes till the class started. Deke took a seat in the very front. The twins looked for untaken seats. They found two at the back of the classroom. They sat down next to each other, Fitz next to the window.

„You’re the new kids?” a boy next to Jemma asked.

„Yeah,” Jemma answered. „I’m Jemma and he’s Leopold,” she said, pointing at Fitz. „He doesn’t like to be called that though, so everyone calls him Fitz.”

„I can introduce myself, Simmons,” Fitz said.

„I’m Flint.” the boy said introducing himself. The bell rang and the teacher walked in.

„Please class, turn down the volume of your speaking!” the teacher said. „Preferably to zero,” he added more quietly. The kids sat down and stopped talking, some of them with evil grins.

„Thank you,” the teacher said. „Now class, we have three new students. Just to avoid any confusion with the three of you, I am Enoch. I’ll be your mathematics and history teacher.” the teacher said. „Now, let’s begin the lesson!”

While the lesson went on, a wet ball of paper hit the board. Enoch turned to the class.

„Who was that?” Enoch asked. Two kids started giggling. Fitz leaned closer to Jemma.

„Was it just me, or did he seriously have no emotion in his voice?” he asked. Enoch looked at the laughing pair. He saw some water on one of their tables and an open water bottle.

„Ms. Heil, for your actions, I will think of a fitting punishment,” Enoch said. „Please put away your water bottle!”

The blonde girl put away the bottle and looked back at her teacher. Anyone could see in her eyes that she doesn’t think highly of him.

Yo-Yo went into the classroom. She looked around. She found a seat in the middle. A guy was sitting next to it. She confidently walked up to the seat. The guy sitting there was talking with a girl and a boy sitting before him.

„I’m sorry to interrupt. Can I sit here?” Yo-Yo asked. The guy looked at her.

„Sorry love, this seat is for people who can show off something really cool,” he answered. „So unless you have something cool, this seat is taken.”

Yo-Yo closed her fist. Someone touched her shoulder.

„Leave him! That seat isn’t worth getting detention.”

Yo-Yo looked at the person. A girl with really short, dark hair was standing next to her.

„Keep telling this to yourself, Piper. We all know you’re just saying that so you wouldn’t have to deal with the fact that you're a loser.” the guy said.

„Come on! I have a free seat next to me.” the one addressed as Piper said to Yo-Yo. They went to the other side of the classroom. They had seats in the middle.

„He’s a jerk,” Piper said looking at the guy.

„Yeah, I got that clearly,” Yo-Yo answered while sitting down. „I’m Elena. My friends call me Yo-Yo.”

„I’m Piper.”

„Shut up and sit down!” the teacher gave away his presence by shouting. Everyone sat down and stayed quiet. Yo-Yo straightened her back.

„As you might’ve seen already, we have a new student. But nothing will take away time from learning. You can introduce yourself after class.” the teacher said.

„Hars,” Yo-Yo whispered while leaning closer to Piper.

„Yeah, next to him you learn how to whisper or shut up,” Piper replied. The lesson went down quietly. The students only talked, when they were asked. While everyone seemed to fear this teacher, he didn’t seem so cruel to Yo-Yo.

Daisy walked into the classroom, slowly walking through the desks to see where was a free seat. She suddenly heard the voice which was the last voice she ever wanted to hear.

„Sky, great to see you. I have a free seat.” said the owner of the voice.

„Forget it, Ward!” Daisy answered, looking in his direction. „I wouldn’t sit there if it was the only place to sit in the entire school.” She said angrily. She kept on going.

„Sorry, is this seat taken?” she asked as she reached the end of the classroom.

„No, it’s free,” the guy answered. Daisy sat down. She looked at him.

„It troubles you?” the man asked, referring to his skin color.

„No,” Daisy answered quickly. „It’s just, you’re the first person I’ve seen here who has dark skin.”

„Yeah, not everyone likes that. That’s why I’m always sitting alone.”

„That’s just cruel.”

„I’m Mike.”

„Daisy.”

„But Ward called you Skye.”

„Yeah. That’s a nickname he gave me when we were younger.”

„I guess I don’t have to talk about how big of a jerk he is.”

The teacher walked in. Daisy looked him over. He seemed slightly depressed.

„He’s Professor Radcliffe,” Mike said. „When he looks like that, the class usually sucks even more than a normal math class.”

„Great!” Daisy said sarcastically. The teacher didn’t teach anything new, just gave them some work from the previous lesson. He sat down at his desk and didn’t care about anything else.

Mack went inside the classroom. The first thing he noticed was a guy sitting in the very back of the classroom by himself. Even the desk didn’t have a pair.

„That’s Hunter,” a woman sitting next to the door said.

„Why is he sitting all alone?” Mack asked.

„He’s punished. The teachers are hoping that if he sits alone, he’s not gonna do so many class-disturbing things.”

„Is it working?” Mack looked back at Hunter.

„No.”

„Is this seat taken?” Mack asked, pointing at the chair next to the woman.

„It’s all yours.”

Mack sat down.

„I’m Mack.”

„I’m Bobbi. That’s a name usually short for Robert but in my case Barbara. Which for me is worse.”

When the class ended, everyone left the classroom.

„Are you into mischief?” Yo-Yo asked Piper as they walked.

„Are you kidding? I and a friend of mine are two of the biggest mischievers in the school.” Piper answered. „I’ll introduce you to him.”

„We’d need to find him first,” Yo-Yo said.

„I know where his next class is going to be.” Piper replied. „We memorized these things so we could find each other easily and we’d have more time to hang out.”

„Maybe I should do the same with my siblings.”

„How many siblings do you have?” Piper asked.

„Four. Plus our cousin lives with us,” Yo-Yo answered.

„How do you deal?”

„I managed.”

„Do you ever wish you'd be alone?”

„Not really. I’m good with my older brother and sister. Our cousin and the twins are trouble sometimes.”

„They’re annoying?”

„Our cousin, Deke is sometimes. He’s a nice guy though and we get along when he’s not driving me crazy. And the twins, Fitz and Jemma are often arguing which gets real unbearable real quick. Do you have siblings?”

„No. I'm an only child. Also we arrived.”

Piper looked inside the classroom. Her friend noticed her immediately. He stood up and went outside.

„Piper, I thought you’d never come,” he said as he got out.

„Great to see you too,” Piper replied. „This is my new classmate, Yo-Yo,” she said pointing at Yo-Yo.

„I’m Davis.” he said and shook her hand.

„Great to meet you,” Yo-Yo said.

„So why is your name Yo-Yo?” Davis asked.

„It’s a nickname. My name is Elena.”

„Why is that your nickname, then?”

„If you guys aren’t judging…”

„We don’t judge.” Piper answered.

„And we hate those who do,” Davis added.

„I’m inhuman,” Yo-Yo said quietly. „My power is that I’m super fast, but I always bounce back to the same spot like a yo-yo.”

„That’s cool,” Piper said.

„Do you have any idea what kind of pranks we could pull with your powers?” Davis asked. He was way too excited about it.

„I like how you think,” Yo-Yo said with a grin.

„Yo-Yo?”

The trio looked in the direction of the classroom door.

„Hi, Daisy!” Yo-Yo said when she looked at who said her name.

„See you’re making friends already,” Daisy said looking at Piper and Davis.

„We were just talking about how great things we could do with Yo-Yo,” Davis said.

„Is that so?” Daisy asked, looking at Yo-Yo.

„Don’t act like my mother! We haven't even planned anything yet.” Yo-Yo said.

„I’m not acting like your mother, I’m acting like your older sister,” Daisy replied.

„Older by a year.”

„Never mind,” Daisy said. „I’m gonna get back. I have my own new friend to talk to.”

With that, she left.

„So she’s the older sister?” Piper asked.

„Daisy,” Yo-Yo said.

Fitz and Jemma were walking in the corridors. They were talking through the mistakes they noticed with the answers of others when a familiar face walked up to them.

„Well, well, well. Look who it is. The nerd twins.”

„Ward,” Fitz said the name. He looked like even the name scared him.

„Great to see you again,” Ward said with a smile. Anyone could hear in his voice that he didn’t have friendly intentions.

„You know, I met Sky earlier. Turns out, she’s my new classmate.”

„Poor Daisy,” Jemma said with an emotionless voice.

„You really are the nerd twins. Even dress like nerds.” Ward said.

„Hey! You have a problem?” Deke asked out of nowhere. Ward turned to him.

„And who might you be?” he asked.

„Someone who’s not afraid of kicking your ass,” Deke answered while looking into Ward’s eyes.

„Oh, the show is on,” the girl earlier addressed as Ms. Hail said. „May I join?” she asked with a creepy smile. Ward looked at her.

„Sure,” he said with an uncertain voice. Hail took her place next to Ward. The fierceness disappeared from Deke’s face.

„Okay, I said I’m not afraid of kicking your ass, but with her on your side, that might lead to compilation,” Deke said. Jemma walked next to Deke, facing Hail. Ward punched Deke in the face. Deke fell to the ground.

„That came out of the blue,” he said as he got up.

„HEY!” a hard shout came before anything could happen. Fitz, Jemma, and Deke recognized Yo-Yo’s voice. She, Davis, and Piper ran up to Deke and Jemma. Ward and Hail were now seriously outnumbered.

„You better take off, before things get messy,” Yo-Yo said looking deep into Ward’s eyes. Ward walked away slowly. Hail walked in front of Yo-Yo.

„Looks like you’ve won this battle. But this war isn’t over.” she said then took off.

„And you guys thought I would pick a fight,” Yo-Yo said more calmly after Hail left.

At the end of the day, Daisy, Yo-Yo, Jemma, Fitz, and Deke were sitting on the same tree they were at that morning. They declared that as their meeting tree. They were waiting for Mack who had one more lesson than the others. When he left the building, he went to the tree. The younger ones climbed or jumped off the tree to face their brother.

„We should go home,” Mack said.

„Yeah, we didn’t figure that out by ourselves,” Daisy said sarcastically. The group started walking out of the school territory and down the street.

„We should figure out that ’drastic step’, as Daisy called it,” Jemma said as they were walking. She and Fitz were going in the back. Daisy and Yo-Yo in front of them, and Deke annoying Mack in the front. Even Deke stopped talking when Jemma said those words.

„What do you have in mind?” Yo-Yo asked.

„Nothing specific. That’s why I suggested it.” Jemma answered.

„There should be no ’drastic steps’,” Mack said. He was always too cautious. He didn’t want to risk being caught.

„Yeah, drastic would be too attention-drawing,” Daisy said. „We need a subtle move.”

„We could sneak into their room,” Deke suggested.

„How is that subtle?” Fitz asked.

„I could get in and out. They wouldn’t even know I was there.” Yo-Yo said.

„That wouldn’t work. The air you move while using your speed would give away that you’re there.” Jemma said.

„What if they didn’t have the chance to catch us?” Mack asked.

„What are you thinking?” Daisy asked.

„What if we get into their room when they aren’t home?”

„That’s a brilliant idea,” Deke said.

„How are we going to achieve that?” Fitz asked.

„Well, we better figure out something and fast,” Yo-Yo said. „Preferably before we get home.”

„Chemistry,” Jemma said realising the answer.

„Science isn’t the answer to everything, Simmons,” Yo-Yo said with an annoyed voice.

„It is the answer in this case,” Jemma replied, still excited. „Fitz, Deke, and I have chemistry tomorrow. We could create something that would make one of us sick.”

„You want to poison us?” Mack asked. His voice was worried.

„No! Well basically yes. But it wouldn’t be anything lethal, just make one of us sick enough to be sent home.”

„And that would give that one enough time to look inside the parents’ room. Genius, Simmons!” Fitz said.

„Not genius, dangerous,” Mack replied.

„It’s our one chance to look inside that room,” Deke said. „Come on, bro! You know we're right.”

„Their right Mack. It’s our one chance.” Daisy said. They arrived at the house. Coulson and May were already home.

At dinner, Deke started talking about his amazing day.

„Today, I protected Fitzsimmons from some bullies,” he said.

„What do you mean you protected them? If I wasn’t there, you would’ve gotten beaten up.” Yo-Yo said.

„I thought I was pretty specific about not starting a fight,” Coulson said.

„We didn’t start the fight. Ward did.” Yo-Yo answered.

„Yeah. The best part of this place so far, Grant Ward goes there.” Daisy said sarcastically.

„Great,” Mack replied.

„We shouldn’t let some idiot like Ward ruin our night,” May said, seeing the faces of the kids.

They talked about more positive subjects for the rest of the night. After dinner, they all got showered and went to their rooms doing their own stuff. 

After bedtime, Daisy couldn’t fall asleep. She turned on her lamp that was placed on her nightstand. She sat up, pulled out the top drawer, and took out her notebook and the pen laying next to it. She looked through the pages. The things written in it had no order whatsoever. Some things were bigger, some smaller, some had different handwriting since Daisy wasn’t the only one writing into it, there were even some that were written in Spanish, because Yo-Yo was the one writing them. Almost everything written down was written on a different date. There were mentionings of cities where the parents’ workplace operated an office. They mentioned an acronym. They wrote a question mark behind it as they did with everything they weren’t certain about what it could mean. Daisy turned a page. The first thing written there was „rat”. Fitz’s thoughts, that the place might have rat problems were under it. Fitzsimmons were the ones writing personal thoughts most often. On the same page, there were two words that made Daisy very curious: the Cavalry . Coulson and May were talking about work once. Daisy needed help. Fitzsimmons were really annoying her and she couldn’t get them to shut up, so she went to ask for May’s help. She accidentally caught a few sentences from the conversation.

„That situation was risky,” May said.

„Yeah. Good thing the Cavalry was there .” Coulson replied . They stopped talking when they noticed Daisy. After May helped her, Daisy went back to her room and wrote the words down. She couldn’t get it out of her head. She kept thinking about it. It was clear that the Cavalry was a person, but who? Daisy knew that she wouldn't figure that out under those circumstances, so she turned the page. The rest of the words or sentences just raised more questions in her. She closed the notebook and sighed. She put the notebook and the pen back in the drawer. Seeing the word „Cavalry” woke her up, she felt like she couldn't go back to sleep even if she wanted to. She wanted answers and she wanted them as soon as possible. She got up and went down to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She turned on the lights and walked to the counter. She took out a cup from the kitchen cabinet. She noticed a piece of paper on the counter. She picked it up and read it. Report at the Triskelion at 9 am. Agent Hill will give you your orders. Daisy recognized May’s handwriting.

„Triskelion?” she asked out loud. „And who’s agent Hill?” Daisy looked at the stairs.

„I should get up to my room before she wakes,” she said thinking out loud. She looked down at the paper and back up at the stairs. She ran up the stairs and to her room as quietly as she could. She took out the notebook and the pen again and wrote the names Triskelion and Agent Hill down.

„Agent,” she started thinking out loud again. „What is this Hill the agent of?” Daisy underlined the word “agent”.

Chapter Text

„Does that mean they’re agents of some organization too?” Simmons asked. They were sitting on the branches of the tree again. They had some time before the bell rang and Daisy told them what she found.

„I suppose. If this agent Hill gives mom orders they must work at the same place.” Jemma said.

„Did you write it down?” Yo-Yo asked Daisy.

„Yeah, last night,” Daisy answered. „Then I put back the paper.”

The bells rang soon so they had to get inside.

Fitzsimmons and Deke were on chemistry. Deke would’ve preferred to be in the front, but he wanted to help Jemma put the compound she wanted together. He was mostly annoying her. While Jemma was working, Fitz made sure she didn't get caught. At the end of the class, Jemma sneaked the vial out of the classroom. She, Fitz, and Deke went to the place they discussed with the others earlier. They were all there already.

„Do you have it?” Daisy asked. Jemma nodded.

„The question is, who goes home feeling sick?” Yo-Yo asked.

„I volunteer,” Daisy said. „I’m clearly the most careful of us all.”

„Who told you that?” Yo-Yo asked jokingly.

„I agree with Daisy. She should go. And she’s old enough to take care of herself, so Mom and Dad won’t feel the need to urgently go home to her.” Mack said.

„Well, that depends on how sick will that thing make me,” Daisy replied.

„Nothing serious…” Jemma started. She wanted to list the things it would cause, but Daisy cut her off.

„Please don’t start listing! Just… Will I be okay enough to stay home alone for a while?”

„Yes,” Jemma said with a certain voice. „I think,” added on a less certain one.

„That is very disturbing,” Yo-Yo said. They had no more time to discuss it. The bell rang. Jemma gave Daisy the vial and they all went to class. Jemma’s uncertainty made Daisy question if the plan was really safe. She held the vial in her hand and her hands on her lap.

„What’s that?” Mike asked.

„It’s… It’s nothing,” Daisy said.

„I haven’t seen anyone looking that uncertainly at nothing,” Mike replied.

„It’s part of a plan me and my siblings created. But the one who should be certain about it seems the most uncertain.” she said, giving in while Mike sat down. Moments later, the teacher walked in. A few minutes into the lesson, Daisy took a deep breath and when the teacher didn’t pay attention, she drank Jemma’s compound. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but not this. Nothing happened. She felt okay. She looked back at the teacher to make sure he didn’t notice her not paying attention to the lesson. Soon the compound started working. Daisy started to feel sick. She put the vial in her bag. Before she finished the movement, the teacher spoke to her.

„Looking for something?” he asked.

„Just my water bottle. I’m not feeling well.” Daisy said.

„You should go see the nurse’s office. Can someone escort her there?” the teacher asked, turning to the class. Ward immediately volunteered, but he had a bad reputation in the school so the teacher assigned Mike instead. Mike took Daisy to the nurse, who told Daisy to go home and asked for her parents' phone number to call them. Daisy gave Coulson’s number to the doctor who told him that Daisy is sick. Nor Coulson nor May could go pick her up, but Daisy swore she felt well enough to walk home on her own. The doctor still asked Mike to go with her. Daisy didn’t want help but stayed quiet about it. She and Mike walked quietly next to each other until Mike got tired of it.

„So the plan you made with your siblings was to get you sick? For what reason?” he asked.

„That’s a secret,” Daisy said. She wanted to make something up in case Mike doesn’t drop the subject.

„That is not an answer,” Mike said.

„That is an answer. Just not the one you were waiting for.”

„I’m not going to drop it, so you better answer. Or I could wait around at your place and tell about your plan to your parents.”

Daisy sighed.

„Fine,” she gave in. „We want to figure out what our parents are hiding from us and if I would be home, I could look around in their room.”

„So you willingly drank that stuff that made you sick?” Mike asked, surprised.

„That was the plan,” Daisy answered. „My sister made a compound in her chemistry class that would make me sick.”

When they arrived at Daisy’s place, Mike offered to help her. Daisy insisted that she was okay and didn’t need help looking inside her parents' room, but the truth was, she didn’t feel fine. Mike saw it on her, so he went in anyway.

„You should get back to the school,” Daisy said.

„I’ll say you were feeling very bad and I waited till your parents got home,” Mike replied.

„You lie much?” Daisy asked.

„If I have to.”

They put down their bags in the antechamber and went up to the floor. Daisy led Mike to her parents’ room, but when she tried to open the door, she couldn’t.

„It’s locked,” she said.

„Let me!” Mike said. Daisy stepped aside and let Mike there. He kneeled down.

„Do you have a hairpin?” he asked looking at the lock. Daisy was a bit surprised by the question, but then she realized what he needed that for.

„Hold on a sec,” she said and ran off to get one. When she came back, she handed the hairpin to Mike who started picking the lock. Soon enough, he got the door open.

„Here you go,” he said as he pushed the door open.

„You are full of surprises,” Daisy said as she walked into the room. She actually didn’t believe she would make it this far, so she didn’t plan on where she would look for answers. The shelves in the room were mostly full of Coulson’s vintage artifacts and books. Both his and May’s desk were arranged.

„Where do we start?” Mike asked.

„I don’t know,” Daisy answered, staring at the room. Then she walked to Coulson’s desk and pulled out the top drawer. Mike walked to May’s desk on the other side of the room.

They looked through every drawer and shelf, they even opened the wardrobe, but they found nothing. They were about to leave the room when Daisy noticed something on Coulson’s desk. A file was laying open on top of it. Daisy asked herself how she didn’t notice it, then she walked to the desk. She closed the file holding her finger at the page it was open.

„Classified. SHIELD clearance level 7 required.” she read out loud.

„SHIELD? Is that where your parents work?” Mike asked. Daisy didn’t answer. She turned a page and started reading.

„Are you sure you should be reading that?” Mike asked.

„It’s the only thing that might contain answers about my parents’ workplace,” Daisy answered.

„It’s something called ’the gifted index’,” she said.

„What’s that?”

„I don’t know, but by the sound of it, it’s listing gifted people.”

„Like the Inhumans?”

„Inhumans aren’t the only people with gifts, but yeah.”

Daisy pulled her phone out of her pocket and started taking pictures of each page. She would read the rest of that stuff later. When she finished, she left the file there as she found it. The two teens heard voices from downstairs. Daisy recognized Coulson’s voice.

„Quick, get out!” Daisy whispered to Mike.

Coulson recognized one of the backpacks laying on the ground, but the other one was new to him.

„Daisy?!” he shouted the name so it could be heard even upstairs.

„Upstairs!” she shouted back. Coulson went up.

„Is everything okay? I thought you were still in school.” Coulson said.

„Yeah, I wasn’t feeling alright,” Daisy said.

„Who’s your friend?” Coulson asked, referring to Mike.

„Mike Peterson, sir,” Mike said introducing himself. „I’m Daisy’s classmate. I was asked to escort her home.”

„Which was unnecessary. I could’ve come home on my own.” Daisy said.

„You go get to bed! You’re sick.” Coulson told Daisy. Daisy growled and left for her room.

„I’ll be going then,” Mike said after Daisy shut her door.

„Nice to meet you,” Coulson said.

„You too, sir,” Mike replied.

That night the kids held a meeting. They would hold meetings every once in a while. Usually, it was to discuss a way to get out of a problem they didn’t want their parents to find out. They would usually hold these when May and Coulson weren’t home, but this time, they made an exception. It was almost midnight. Since Daisy wasn’t feeling right, they held the meeting in her room.

„How are you feeling, Daisy?” Jemma asked as she walked in.

„Simmons, quiet. We’re gonna get caught.” Fitz whispered behind her.

„Sorry,” Jemma whispered back. „How are you feeling, Daisy?” she asked again, whispering.

„Better,” Daisy said (whispered). Jemma sat down next to her sister, on the side of the bed. Fitz sat down at the end of the bed, Mack stopped at the door and leaned against the wall, Deke sat down on the ground, and Yo-Yo pulled the chair from the desk over to Daisy’s bedside.

„Did you find anything?” Fitz asked.

„Yes. I found a file. I read it over in the afternoon.” Daisy said.

„You stole the file from Mom and Dad’s room?” Yo-Yo asked. She was surprised and proud at the same time.

„No. I took photos of the pages.”

„Yeah, that makes more sense,” Fitz said.

„I found out the name of… Whatever it is they’re working for. It’s called SHIELD. I googled it and found nothing.”

„And what was the file about?” Deke asked.

„It was about a list of gifted people. Mostly Inhumans. They monitor them. There was also something about the assessment and intake process, or whatever. I didn’t find much about that. What I did find is a list of the biggest stories about cases with gifted people. And on top of that list is a case that happened in Bahrain, and the person mentioned there is Melinda May.”

„Mom,” Jemma whispered.

„They’re working with gifted people?” Mack asked.

„I don’t know. This is all I found.” Daisy answered.

„Well, at least now we know the name,” Yo-Yo said.

„What kind of name is SHIELD?” Fitz asked.

„It’s an acronym. I didn’t find what it stands for.” Daisy said.

„Alright. If this is all we have right now, everyone should get back to sleep,” Mack said. „If we get caught, no more investigation.”

With that, they all left the room. Daisy took out her phone again. Melinda May. Why was her mother mentioned at the top of that list? What happened in Bahrain? Daisy set aside her questions and went back to sleep.

One of her classmates caught Daisy’s attention. She was learning the names slowly, but she knew his. Robbie Reyes. He was weird. He never really talked to anyone and sometimes acted weird around some people. In the meanwhile, Fitzsimmons and Deke had their own weird guy. Well, girl. The girl addressed as „Ms. Hale” on their first day. As they later learned, Ruby. She was incredibly strong and fast, she wasn’t afraid to stand up against even the most feared teacher, and she had excellent targeting.

They discussed these kinds of things at their tree but didn’t pay much attention to it, except for Daisy. She decided that she would find out Robbie Reyes’ secret. One afternoon, she finished earliest. Most of her classmates went home, some stayed and talked with others, while Robbie went to the backyard. Nobody went there at that time. Robbie stopped between two trees, leaned against the tall fence, and took deep breaths as if he wanted to calm down. He closed his eyes so he didn’t see Daisy approaching him, but he could hear her shoes crushing some dry leaves laying on the grass. He got scared, opened his eyes, and pushed himself away from the fence.

„It’s alright. I come in peace.” Daisy said when she saw Robbie’s reaction.

„If you want the hiding spot, you can have it,” Robbie said and started walking towards a different group of trees.

„I don’t want your spot. I’m actually here to talk with you.” Daisy said. The curious boy stopped and listened.

„You have a secret,” Daisy stated. „And I want to know what it is.”

„You go straight for it, don’t you? Sorry, but I’m not revealing my secrets to the new girl who just walked up to me.” Robbie replied.

„Are you Inhuman?” Daisy asked.

„What gives you that idea?” Robbie asked back.

„Almost every time I see you, you’re trying to stay calm, it’s clear. Also, you’re hot.”

„Excuse me?” Robbie raised an eyebrow.

„Literally, I mean,” Daisy said. „You’re literally warm. I can feel it whenever you pass by me. So are you Inhuman?”

„I’m not an Inhuman,” Robbie said, short but serious. They suddenly heard Mike calling Daisy’s name. Both of them turned there.

„Daisy, get away from him!” Mike said in a commanding voice.

„Why?” Daisy asked. She didn’t understand why Mike would want her to get away from Robbie. Robbie however had a history with Mike. A history no one knew about.

„What are you doing here, Peterson? I thought we agreed, you keep out of my area.” Robbie said.

„Daisy has recently shown interest in you. I came to make sure she keeps away from you.” Mike answered.

„Excuse me?!” Daisy asked. Mike looked at her.

„This guy is dangerous,” Mike said firmly.

„It’s up to me to decide what danger I’m running into,” Daisy replied. She was just ready to continue arguing with Mike when the three of them heard footsteps. Four people turned around the corner of the school and made their way towards them. Daisy immediately recognized her tall brother and two of his classmates, Hunter and Bobbi. The fourth guy walked up front with a cane, but neither of the three recognized him. They all guessed he was Mack’s classmate too.

„Told you they’re here. I saw them.” the fourth guy said while all four older students stared at the younger ones.

„Thank you, Sousa,” Mack said. Daisy already knew he was going to talk to her next.

„What the Hell are you doing back here, Trumers?” Mack asked. Daisy sighed and rolled her eyes.

„You’re not my father, so stop acting like it,” Daisy told Mack.

„You’re right, I’m not your father. I’m your brother who was tasked by your parents to keep an eye on you.” Mack replied.

„For God’s sake! I’m not 16 like Fitzsimmons.” Daisy said.

„Come on!” Mack said firmly. Daisy growled and started walking towards Mack.

„You too,” Bobbi said looking at the rival boys. „No one can be here without teacher supervision,” she added.

„Oh, Bob! Really? You have to live out your mother nature on the smaller kids again?” Hunter asked. That was the first time either of the younger students heard him speak. His accent surprised Mike a bit. Robbie didn’t care about it, he just wished he would’ve stayed hiding. Daisy’s classmates started walking after her.

„Stay away from Reyes,” Mike told Daisy before heading for the exit. Soon Robbie left too. Hunter and Bobbi went to say goodbye to their classmates that were leaving. Sousa went to the building and leaned against the wall. His bag, which he brought there earlier, was lying beside him. Daisy decided to go talk to him while she and Mack were waiting for the others. She leaned against the wall next to Sousa.

„So you’re Mack’s classmate?” she asked.

„Yeah,” Sousa answered. Daisy didn’t actually know what to talk about so they stood next to each other in silence.

„Have you heard about this anti-Inhuman proposal?” Sousa asked suddenly, finally finding a topic to talk about.

„No, I haven’t actually. I usually hear about Inhuman things.”Daisy said.

„You like Inhumans?” Sousa asked.

„Yeah.”

„Well, if this ATCU thing succeeds, they might not be around for long.”

„What does that mean?” Daisy asked, getting worried.

„There’s an organization that says they can cure Inhumanity.”

„I’ve heard about the ATCU, but… How do they even cure Inhumanity?” Daisy didn’t feel comfortable saying the word ’cure’. Sousa noticed that.

„Sounds like you don’t agree with that,” he said.

„Sounds like you do,” Daisy replied.

„It’s not that, I’m just interested in why. I haven’t talked about this with anyone that didn’t agree.”

„Inhumans aren’t a disease to be cured. They’re normal people like everyone else. And yet they are most likely to be the victims of hate crimes these days. Which is unfair. They are our friends, our co-workers, our sisters.”

„Deep thoughts. I simply just think they should be accepted as everyone else.” Sousa said.

„Skye!” Ward shouted from the fence. Daisy looked there and Ward waved.

„You know him?” Sousa asked Daisy.

„Unfortunately. We went to the same school when we were little. Then his family moved here. He nicknamed me Skye saying I was like the sky beautiful and if I’m upset I’m dangerous like a thunderstorm.”

Ward motioned Daisy to go there. She just crossed her arms and shook her head.

„And why did Mack call you ’Trumers’?” Sousa asked.

„It’s… a family thing. Inside joke.”

Sousa nodded. Ward, seeing that Daisy is not going to go to him, decided to go to her instead.

„What’s up SSR-guy?” he asked.

„SSR-guy? Really? That’s low, Ward. Even for you.” Daisy said. Ward looked at her.

„Everyone needs a nickname, Skye,” he said. “Dani-boy here is obsessed with this old military organization called the SSR.”

“Whatever. Would you leave us alone? I've told you, I'm not interested in being your friend again.”

”Come on! We both know you're just playing hard-to-get.”

“No, Ward, I'm not. Now leave me alone!”

“You heard the lady. Leave her alone!” Sousa stepped closer to Ward.

“Is there something wrong here?” Mack asked sternly. Ward turned to face him.

“No. Just having a chat with Skye. That's all.” Ward tried in an innocent tone.

“Is that what you said after you and that Hale girl almost beat up Fitzsimmons and Deke?” Mack snapped. “Stay away from our family!”

“Geez! So angry.” Ward said.

“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you're a douchebag” Daisy chimed in with her arms crossed.

“Fine, I'll leave. But I'm not giving up on us.” Ward said to Daisy before walking away.

“There is no us , Ward!” Daisy shouted after him.

Chapter Text

Daisy lay awake in her bed. The Reyes boy was on her mind. She didn't understand. He said he wasn't Inhuman, but he was certainly gifted… Or cursed, in some way. Some gifts felt like curses. Her own felt like that after she went through terrigenesis. Even now that she was used to her powers, she could hurt herself. There was no greater pain than feeling her own bones shatter, even though she was rarely pushed to that point. She also had a hard time getting a grip. At first, whenever she'd get nervous or angry, the whole block could start shaking. Maybe that's why Robbie stayed alone all the time, trying to stay calm. His unnatural body heat suggested some sort of fire powers. If those got loose, that really would be bad. What really helped Daisy during her transition was her family. Being around people she loved helped and motivated her, she got support from them. Yo-Yo described the same after she transitioned. So why did Robbie have such a hard time? Did he have no loving family to help him? Did they even know? Daisy sighed. Based on how Robbie acted, he probably didn't tell anyone. Not his family, not his friends. Though the more Daisy thought about it, the more it seemed like Robbie didn't have friends to tell it to. He was always alone. No one tried to draw him into conversations or tried calling him to hang out after school. “ He needs to know he isn't alone ,” Daisy determined. “ He needs support .” Driven by a sudden idea, Daisy got up and grabbed her laptop from her desk. She was always good with computers and knew how to find information. It took some digging, but eventually, Daisy found some information. Robbie did have family, just not too good. His parents had died. Daisy didn't really want to dig into that. Just knowing that it had happened was rattling enough. She couldn't imagine how Robbie must've felt. It was his uncle Elias Morrow that had custody over him and his little brother, Gabriel. His attitude suddenly seemed different to Daisy. That trauma could have caused Robbie to push away from people. That's why he didn't have anyone to talk to about his abilities. Whatever those were. Daisy started wondering. If the gifted index really was a list of people with powers, was Robbie on it? Suddenly Daisy's eyes widened. “ Am I on it? And Yo-Yo? ” Daisy felt like a dagger was stabbed in her heart. If she and Yo-Yo were on the list, their parents must have known about that. Why did this SHIELD even keep a list? Were they with the ATCU? A thousand questions bolted through Daisy's head and each one of them took away a little bit from the love and admiration she had for the man and woman she called her parents. She needed answers, and she was running out of patience.

Both May and Coulson noticed how awfully quiet Daisy was the next morning.

“Any idea what's up with her?” Coulson asked as they were driving to work.

“She's closer to you, you know,” May answered simply to cover for the fact that she had no clue.

“Yeah, I don't know either,” Coulson said, reading his wife.

“Could be something in school. Maybe Ward.” May tried.

“I hope it's just that and nothing more serious,” Coulson said while staring out the window.

“ More serious ? Like what? A boy?” May asked jokingly.

“Come on! You know I'm not that kind of father.”

May just smiled, amused by his reaction.

“We're almost there,” May stated. “And you should talk to Daisy when you get home. She might open up to you.”

“ Monday. The beginning of a new week. It's the perfect opportunity to start things you set out to do .” Daisy was thinking on her way to her classroom. The previous night she set out to do two things. Get to know Robbie Reyes and find out more about her parents and SHIELD before she lost all her patience and barged in front of them with all of her questions. Currently, being in school, she could only do one of these. But how was she to get to know someone who wanted nothing to do with people in general? Daisy decided that the best way might be to address him directly. As she walked into the classroom, she stopped at the door and looked around. She found Robbie sitting in one of the back corners, alone, as always. She took a deep breath and walked up to him. As she stopped beside the desk, he looked up at her.

“Mind if I sit here?” Daisy asked. Robbie looked at her but didn't say a word.

“Cool,” Daisy mumbled. Robbie sighed before removing his backpack from the chair next to him, so Daisy could sit down. Daisy smiled a little as she sat down. She didn't expect Robbie to actually let her sit next to him. She could see some weird looks from the others in the class as they saw Robbie Reyes not sitting alone. Even the teacher looked at the two of them stunned for a second before beginning the lesson. Robbie wasn't stupid. He knew Daisy had an intention. So during the class, he slid a note over to her.

“What do you want ?”

“ Nothing. Just needed a place to sit .” Daisy answered quickly.

“ You usually sit with Peterson .”

“ Are you stalking me? : )”

“All I can do in this cursed classroom is watch others. ”

“ Cursed? That's rather harsh.” Daisy looked at Robbie and could see it on him that he had no idea how to reply. The words seemed to cut deep and he seemingly regretted writing his comment in the first place. Daisy took out a new paper and wrote on it.

“ Sorry. I didn't mean to push. ”

Robbie just sighed and looked at her. They exchanged a few words the other day, but this was the first time they made eye contact. Daisy saw something in Robbie's eyes. There was hurt, sure, but she was prepared for that. But now looking into his eyes, she saw longing. He was longing for a friend, for actual human connection. Robbie, looking into Daisy's eyes, saw caring. He didn't understand why. Outside his household, no one seemed to care. And he didn't want people to. But just now, seeing Daisy, looking into her eyes, seeing that she truly cared, it was like that was gone. He wanted to get to know her, to be her friend. Both Daisy and Robbie were pulled out of their thoughts by the teacher´s voice as it cut through the otherwise quite quiet classroom.

“Hey, Lovebirds! How about you pay attention instead of flirting with your eyes?”

Daisy and Robbie tore their eyes away from each other and looked down at their notebooks. As the teacher turned back to the board to continue her lesson, Daisy sent another message to Robbie.

“ What's the deal between you and Mike? If you don't mind me asking. ”

Robbie took a bit to answer. He clearly didn't want to talk about it. Which was why it surprised Daisy that his reply included an actual answer. Even if just a vague one.

“ We got into a fight and he got hurt. The burn marks on his face… ”

Robbie watched carefully as Daisy read what he wrote. She seemed shocked for sure, but she didn't seem scared like Robbie expected.

“ Why do you care? About me? Why do you want to know about me? ”

Now Daisy was the one taking her time to answer. She wasn't sure how to put her concern for him into words. Especially since she didn't know him.

“ I'm an Inhuman ,” she wrote finally. “ I had a hard time with my powers. And I know you said you're not Inhuman, but I know you have powers. And I can tell that you're lonely. I just wanted to help… With whichever I can. ”

Robbie, once again, had a hard time figuring out what to reply, but what he wrote surprised Daisy a bit.

“ I've heard a lot of bad stuff about Inhumans. Never really knew what to believe… But you don't seem so bad. ”

Daisy smiled.

“´ Not bad´ enough to give me a chance before shutting me out? ”

Robbie looked at Daisy. He let out a long breath before slightly nodding his head. Daisy smiled victoriously. Robbie turned back to the paper for a second, before sliding another message to her.

“ Peterson´s not gonna like you around me .”

“ He's not the boss of me. ”

Robbie was hesitant to admit it, but he liked Daisy. Just the fact that she wanted to get to him was appealing. And if she was Inhuman, he might not be that dangerous to her.

“So how was school?” Coulson asked Daisy. They were alone in the kitchen as Daisy agreed to help Coulson cook a few days before. At first, she regretted it, but now as she was there, she was glad she kept her promise.

“It wasn't bad. Same as always. I made a new… acquaintance.” Daisy answered Coulson's question.

“That was uncertain,” Coulson remarked.

“Well, he's not exactly a friend. But we're getting on pretty good terms, I would say.”

“Glad to hear that.”

Coulson wanted to ask about Daisy's behavior that morning but wasn't really sure how to bring it up.

“Dad…” Daisy addressed him as she saw him stop while stirring the food.

“Hm?” Coulson looked up.

“What is it?” Daisy asked him. She trailed off in thought and believed it would be a good opportunity to try and bring up her thing.

“Is it work?” she asked carefully. “You and Mom never really talk about it.”

“No, it's not work,” Coulson said while moving from the gas stove. “It's… You seemed a little troubled this morning.” He turned to her. “Just wanted to know if everything was okay.”

“Everything's fine.” Daisy knew her father wasn't an idiot, but she couldn't talk about what was troubling her with him and May. And after all those suspicions about the index, she didn't feel comfortable telling him about Robbie´s powers. Seeing as neither of them would tell the other what was truly troubling them, they returned to cooking. The rest of the time went by in a more uncomfortable atmosphere.

Daisy snuck out of her room. Taking the immediate left turn towards her parents´ room.

“What are you doing?” she heard someone whisper. She only recognized it was Yo-Yo by her accent. Daisy turned to face her.

“You're sneaking around,” Yo-Yo stated. “And since you stopped sneaking sweets into your room a while ago, I have to assume that your destination is Mom and Dad's room.”

Daisy couldn't lie. Yo-Yo already had her figured out, there was no point.

“They´re lying to us, keeping things from us,” she said as an explanation.

“I know, and we agreed to find out what it is together. You going rogue is just going to expose this operation.”

“Yo-Yo, we're not going anywhere with overheard conversations. It's not giving us any real information. All we have is city names and more questions than we originally had.”

“You are not sneaking into that room on your own,” Yo-Yo stated. Daisy raised her eyebrows at what that statement was implying. Yo-Yo just walked past her and Daisy followed her to May and Coulson's room. They opened the door and peeked in to make sure their parents were asleep. Daisy placed her finger to her lips, signaling Yo-Yo to stay quiet. Yo-Yo nodded then pushed the door more open. The two of them went in. Yo-Yo signaled Daisy to check Coulson's desk while she herself moved to May´s. Looking through Coulson's desk, Daisy found a file. It had the same folder, the same SHIELD symbol as the one she found a few weeks before. This one had a lower clearance level requirement. As Daisy opened it, she gasped. Right on the first page, she saw two pictures. One of them she recognized as Raina, her old classmate. Right next to the girl's picture was another one. Daisy assumed it was still Raina, but this time covered in thorns, her face was rather deformed, and her eyes were orange. Daisy's eyes swept through the information the page was filled with. She spotted the word ´terrigenesis´. Raina was Inhuman. She also noticed a section. She only read into it, because right before it she spotted the words ´mentally deteriorate´. The file said Raina had gone crazy after terrigenesis. She lost all of her self-confidence and had multiple attempts of suicide. Daisy was shocked. She didn't necessarily like Raina, but she knew her quite well and the Raina she knew was not like they described in that file. Daisy caught a glimpse of the last sentence. It described that Raina was kept locked up at the New York facility for the safety of others.

Daisy left the room in defeat, but not Yo-Yo.

“What are you smiling about?” Daisy asked as they were walking back to their rooms. Yo-Yo just lifted a piece of paper holding it in between her pointing and middle finger. Daisy took it as they stopped before her door.

“ New York base address, ” she read. Daisy's eyes went wide.

On Saturday, May and Coulson both got called into work at the last minute for an emergency. The kids were used to it by then. It happened sometimes. It was pretty much the one constant about their job that the kids knew. They sat in the kitchen, having a meeting.

“Where did you get this?” Mack asked, staring at the paper.

“Mom and Dad's room,” Yo-Yo answered, clearly proud of her finding that piece of information.

“It might just be the biggest information we've ever had,” Deke said with wide eyes.

“So what? We just go there?” Fitz asked.

“It might be the only way to get any real answers,” Daisy said.

“We can't just go to this place. We don't even know what's waiting for us there.” Simmons argued.

“Not to mention, it's wrong,” Mack added quite angrily.

“No, Mack. What's wrong is keeping your whole life from the children you are raising. They´re hiding their work. All of it. The gifted index. Yo-Yo and I could be on it, monitored. Raina is on it. She's also locked up. And who knows how many more secrets they're hiding, lies they're telling? We all started this investigation because we agreed that we wanted answers. Now we have an actual lead, and you're saying we shouldn't pursue it? Make up your mind, Mack!”

“Daisy is right. Minus the yelling.” Yo-Yo agreed.

“I hate to admit it, but getting answers really is why we started this back in D.C.” Simmons chimed in.

“I'm with Daisy,” Deke said simply.

Mack looked at Fitz for help.

“Well, I mean if the others agree… We´re outnumbered anyway. Plus I do too want answers.” Fitz said, somewhat afraid of Mack's reaction. Mack sighed in defeat. About fifteen minutes later, they were on their way to the address on the paper. The plan was that they would split into pairs. If a group of six teenagers was seen like that, it might raise suspicion, especially for their parents. Daisy went with Mack, Fitzsimmons together, and Yo-Yo with Deke.

“Any idea what we’re going to find here?” Mack asked Daisy.

“No clue,” Daisy answered. “Hopefully some insight into what this SHIELD is.”

“Other than that?”

“Well, if we find nothing, at least we’ll have this address.”

“Not exactly looking on the bright side, Trummers.”

They stopped on the sidewalk, across from the huge building. From the outside, it was just an office building, but the kids knew there was more to it. There had to be more to it. They knew their parents worked with gifted individuals. The kids made a group chat on Messenger after they started the investigation.

“ Guys, I have an idea. I could use my speed to look around. ” Yo-Yo wrote into the chat.

“ That sounds like a bad idea ,” Jemma replied. “ You could get caught. They could catch you on camera. There are a great number of variables that we can’t even think of .”

Yo-Yo didn’t even wait for a reply. She kind of just wanted to let the others know what she was going to do. She waited until three men walked up to the front door. One of them opened the door and held it for the others. Yo-Yo acted. Everything slowed down around her. Everything and everyone froze in place, including the open door. Yo-Yo ran to the door, she carefully pushed past the other men and went inside the building. Inside a huge hall greeted her. She saw a huge eagle symbol set up in the middle. As well as printed on the wall. “ Little overdo ,” she thought. On the wall, around the symbol, she could also read what the acronym SHIELD stood for.

“ There is no way I'll memorize that all .” Yo-Yo kept looking around. She saw a wall inside the hall, made of some smooth, white stone. On top of it was the symbol again as well as a thousand times more. Under each symbol, there was a name. Agents. “ A memorial ,” Yo-Yo realized. “ What kind of place is this ?” Yo-Yo kept moving. She didn’t have much time before she had to snap back. She ran up a flight of stairs. People were moving up and down. Some carried a briefcase, many had guns. Once Yo-Yo got up, she looked around. To her left she saw what seemed like a meeting room with huge, half-glass walls. In there, she spotted May and Coulson. She hurried there and entered the room. On the huge table in the middle, she saw an opened folder. She looked at the folder itself. It read ‘case file’. Yo-Yo read into it and was quite surprised, terrified. She felt her power pulling her back. Her heartbeat of time, ending. She put the folder back the way she found it and left the room, closing the door behind her. She snapped back and was once again right next to Deke, where she started from.

“What did you see?” Deke asked as soon as he realized Yo-Yo made her trip. She just looked at him, still terrified.

Chapter Text

The kids were sitting in Yo-Yo’s room. She had told them what she saw and even drew the eagle symbol into Daisy’s notebook along with writing down some of the names she could remember from that wall.

“And you’re sure?” Mack asked, just for precaution.

“I know what I saw. That wall was clearly a memorial and the case file said something about weapons and an extraction plan. Plus you don’t put the words ‘strategic’ and ‘enforcement’ into your name if you’re not some police agency or something.” Yo-Yo was quite harsh, but also rightfully worried.

“Well, that would at least explain why Mom and Dad never told us about it. Clearly, they didn’t want us to worry.” Jemma said, trying to look at the bright side.

“Or they feared we’d leak out secrets,” Fitz said, staring at the floor.

“Fitz, they gave us no reason not to trust them,” Jemma said.

“They kept this from us.” Daisy argued. “Even if they themselves aren’t going on these missions, they lied, just to keep their agency's secrets.”

“I get that this is a big secret, but Jemma is right,” Deke said, taking the side of his favorite cousin.

“I mean, we might be able to keep secrets now…” Jemma started.

“Not Deke,” Daisy cut in.

“All I’m saying is: we weren’t always able to keep secrets. I can understand why they wouldn’t tell us.”

Daisy thought for a second. She wanted Jemma to be right so bad. She wanted to trust her parents.

“Daisy, where’s my mat?!” May shouted from upstairs one morning.

“It’s in my room! I used it! Sorry!” Daisy shouted back. It’s been several days since Yo-Yo snuck into the SHIELD base. After that, just like in the mission file, May and Coulson announced that they were called for a few days to Puerto Rico for work. They came home two nights later. It was late. All the kids pretended to sleep, but neither of them could. They were worried. They were all relieved when they heard they were coming home. They heard them quietly talking in the corridor. They mentioned nothing new. They were sent to stop a weapons sale between some high-risk threats.

May entered Daisy’s room and quickly spotted the gray yoga mat carelessly thrown into the corner. She also spotted that the top drawer on Daisy’s nightstand was half open. She went to close it, but then she saw the notebook Daisy kept in there. May stopped for a second. She figured it could’ve been a diary. If it was, it might have helped her figure out what was up with Daisy lately. She didn’t want to reach for such measures, but Daisy had shut off. To both her and Coulson. May felt like she had no options. She took out the notebook and opened it. Her eyes went wide as she realized what was in there. She recognized everything. The names listed, the questions written down in there. There were base names, people, phrases, SHIELD terms, cities that May recognized SHIELD had bases in. There was a rather detailed list of places with dates, which May recognized as missions she, Phil, or both of them were sent on. As she turned the pages she found the most recent notes about the index, Barton, Hill, Raina, her and Coulson’s latest mission they just got back from three days ago. They had even written up Bahrain underlined and with a question mark. May felt like her worst nightmare had just come true. As she heard footsteps approaching, she put the notebook back, closed the drawer, and quickly grabbed the mat before putting on a fake smile and leaving Daisy’s room. She pretended like everything was fine all morning until she and Phil were in the car. Coulson was driving, and May just sat in the passenger seat silent, staring at the road. Coulson glanced at her before looking back ahead.

“Melinda, talk to me. What’s wrong?” he asked eventually.

“Daisy knows,” May said. The words came out slow and hard. She never thought she’d ever have to say them. She turned more towards Coulson.

“She has a notebook, Phil. With notes. Notes of us. She must have overheard conversations. She has notes of people we work or worked with, people that were targets. There is a thorough list of a lot of mission locations along with dates that we went on. They have base names, names from old SSR agents, and even HYDRA threats. They know that the organization is called SHIELD. They know about the index. Phil, they had more information about our latest mission than the others. They knew it was to stop a weapons sale. Even had some of the names of the dealers in that notebook.” May was worried. She didn’t try to hide it.

“ They ?” Coulson asked, glancing at her as often as driving allowed him to.

“It wasn't just Daisy’s handwriting. There were five separate others. There were drawings and we both know Daisy doesn’t draw.”

Something dawned on Coulson.

“The gust of wind we felt in the office during our briefing. It was Elena. They must’ve followed us or gotten the address somehow and she must have run in.”

“Phil, this isn’t good.”

Coulson just grimaced. May frowned at his reaction.

“You think this is good?”

“I don’t think it’s bad. Not necessarily. I mean, they’re grown now, not the irresponsible kids they once were.”

“Except Deke,” May mumbled, leaning back in her seat.

“All I’m saying is, we can trust them. They can keep secrets. And if we explain, I think they'll understand why we didn’t tell them sooner.”

“First of all, they noticed enough on their own to piece things together and actually find out a big chunk of what we’re doing. Even if they understand, they won’t forgive us for lying just yet. Second, we agreed that we would keep them away from this. This life. It’s cost us enough already.”

Coulson pulled into the parking lot and stopped the engine. He turned and looked at May.

“I know,” he said. He saw the fear in his wife’s eyes. “But… They already know about this. They’re already in this life. And we don't know how long they have been in it.”

Tears started forming in May’s eyes. Coulson placed his hand over hers and rubbed it gently with his thumb.

“Melinda, we can’t lie to them anymore. That ship is long gone. I know we wanted to protect them from this, but maybe the best protection they can get now is for us to come clean. Tell them. And sure, that will just make it even harder to stop them from choosing this life, but they kind of already have. Daisy and Yo-Yo will always want to use their powers to do good and Fitzsimmons will never stop trying to use science to do the same. But this isn’t a case out of hand, like Bahrain. This we can deal with.”

May nodded slightly. She used her free hand to wipe the tears that managed to fall. Coulson gave her hand a squeeze before turning to get out of the car.

The kids were in school. Sometimes it felt like they spent all of their time there. Yo-Yo had a lot of fun getting into trouble with Piper and Davis, and Fitzsimmons became good friends with Flint. Mack befriended Bobbi and Hunter long before and was kind of their only sane friend. Daisy always had a good time with Mike, but she also made sure to spend an equal amount of time with Robbie. She liked him. He was kind. Only intimidating on the outside, but a real softie on the inside, as Daisy came to know. He was still closed up, mostly, but every day he warmed up to Daisy more. He had a desire to talk to her. He knew she would listen. But something held him back. Fear. He was afraid of opening up, letting people see who he is, because who he believed himself to be, was a monster. Deep down he knew he wasn’t one, but knowing and believing are two very different things. He was amazed by Daisy, though. The girl was herself. She didn’t seem different when she was hiding her powers (which Robbie found very cool and impressive) nor did she seem to feel different from the rest for having them. He knew there were dangers to her powers too, serious ones. She could take down a forest, bring down buildings, tear continents apart if she lost control. Using it too much also hurt her, which Robbie found unfair. He found all of it unfair. Why have those powers, if they have so much potential to hurt those who have them and those around the gifted? Daisy was a walking natural disaster and Robbie could burn a city to the ground. He felt that power within him. And why was there so much prejudice? What did the gifted do? Sure, some did horrible stuff, but how does that justify people immediately fearing, hating everyone with powers? Robbie realized that he hadn't really thought of these things before he started hanging out with Daisy. She had an effect on him. She did talk about her hate for Inhuman and gifted prejudice a lot which made Robbie think about it. He was actually glad that he knew Daisy. It really helped with his perspective on the topic. If he had started thinking about it because of someone else, he might have ended up fearing gifted people himself. He certainly feared himself.

After school, he and Daisy sometimes hung out at Robbie’s hiding place, just talking, as they did that afternoon. They were just talking when Daisy fell silent and into her thoughts.

“What is it?” Robbie asked, snapping her out. Daisy looked away. She didn’t want to ask the question that was on her mind, but she knew she had to. She couldn’t take it anymore. She worked up the courage and looked up at Robbie.

“What are you so afraid of?”

Robbie looked down. He knew exactly what she meant.

“You want to know what my power is. What it is that is so powerful and scary, that I would push everyone away just to keep it from them.”

Daisy didn’t answer. She knew what it was like to be scared of what they could do. She’s met all kinds of Inhumans with all kinds of scary powers. She figured Robbie had some sort of fire powers, so it was understandable he would be afraid. But Daisy didn’t want to scare him like that. She could hear the hurt in Robbie’s voice. That he didn’t want to reveal whatever powers he had. To her surprise, Robbie looked up at her. Daisy could see he was scared. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out for a second.

“Not here,” he said finally. “Meet me at Randy’s, the car repair warehouse about three blocks from here. 11:00 PM.”

“You want me to sneak out?”

“Didn’t you already do something similarly crazy when you drank that thing to pretend to be sick?”

Daisy’s jaw dropped. Surprise was written all over her face along with a hint of pride.

“Stalk much?”

“You weren’t very subtle that day.”

“Randy’s. 11:00 PM. Got it.”

As Daisy said that, the two of them heard footsteps nearing. They looked towards the sound and saw Bobbi Morse arriving. She raised her hands in disbelief.

“Really, you two? I don’t even have to ask myself if someone is here anymore. How many times do I have to tell you, you can’t be here without…”

“Teacher supervision.” Daisy and Robbie finished in unison. Bobbi just sighed and looked at them. The two of them pushed away from the trees they were leaning on with a mischievous smirk and started walking towards the front yard. Bobbi shook her head and followed them.

“We should probably find a new hiding spot,” Daisy said quietly, so only Robbie would be able to hear him.

“Nah. Why would we give up our spot?”

Daisy was ready. At 10:30 PM, everyone had already retreated to their rooms. Daisy figured some of them would still be up, but their parents mentioned that they needed to go in to work early, so they went to bed by then. Daisy opened her door slightly and looked out into the hallway. It was dead quiet. Daisy pulled her head back and closed the door. She grabbed her jacket that she had sneaked into her room earlier. Walking to her bedroom window, she slid it open. Jumping out the first-floor window would’ve caused a challenge for most, but not Daisy. She sent down a quake blast beneath herself which helped her land safely. After that, she just needed to get to the discussed spot. She found it more easily than she thought she would. Smiled brightly as she saw the big Randy’s sign by the light of the street lights. She climbed through the fence and walked around the warehouse. her smile widened as she spotted Robbie.

“You’re early,” she stated. Robbie turned to her smiling.

“So are you.”

Their smiles faded quickly as they remembered why they sat up that meeting. Daisy looked down for a second then back up into his eyes.

“You know you don’t have to do this.”

Robbie nodded his head slightly.

“I want to. I trust you. You’re one of the few people, trust.”

Daisy nodded in acknowledgment. Robbie broke eye contact and took a few steps back. Daisy felt this pull to follow him but fought it. She knew he didn’t want to hurt anyone and respected it. Robbie started taking deep breaths. Daisy could feel the heat rising around them. His face started to be laced with orange spots as if he was about to explode. What really happened shocked Daisy even more. The flesh from Robbie’s face burnt away until there was nothing but his skull on fire, staring at her. At first, it was shocking and scary, but then as Daisy looked at him, she just found it cool.

The next morning, Robbie was waiting for Daisy at the entrance. She was surprised, he usually didn’t do that. She waved to him happily. He was reluctant but returned the gesture.

“Who is that? Your boyfriend?” Yo-Yo asked with an amused grin.

“He’s a friend. We’re in the same class.” Daisy replied, slightly annoyed.

“Sure, Trummers!” Mack responded.

“Okay! See you guys later!” With that, Daisy picked up the pace and joined Robbie, the two of them walking to class together.

“You got home okay yesterday?” Robbie asked quietly. It was still a foreign concept to him that Daisy saw what he can turn into and what the Other Guy could do in that state, and still wasn’t repulsed or scared.

“Yeah. It was no problem.” Daisy answered the question. Silence set in. Daisy noticed some of their peers looking at the two of them as they walked by. Nobody paid attention to Robbie much, but to see him in the company of a girl as they walked to class together was enough to get people to look. Both of them knew the assumptions that must’ve ran through everyone’s heads. Most people, especially teens, often believed that the only reason a guy and a girl would hang out is if they were together. They didn’t care, though. People thought what they wanted to think.

Both Daisy and Robbie’s mood was ruined when Grant Ward showed up and stopped them near the classroom.

“Hey, Skye!” he greeted Daisy cheerfully. He then looked over at Robbie with a disapproving look.

“Don’t get any thoughts, ALF! Skye here is taken.” he said coldly.

“No, I’m not. Now get out of our way!” Daisy replied equally coldly. Ward turned his attention back to her.

“You can’t hide your true feelings forever.”

“Cool.” With that Daisy pushed past  Ward and entered the classroom. Robbie followed her example wordlessly. He took his seat beside Daisy with an amused smile.

“He’s really trying to get with you, isn’t he?” he asked.

“Ever since we were little. It takes all of my restraint to not quake him out the window.” Daisy then looked at Robbie. “What was that thing he called you? Don’t think I heard that one before.”

Robbie’s face dropped.

“ALF. Short for ‘Alien Life Form’. My most popular nickname.”

“Well, he can go to Hell with that one,” Daisy said plainly. She smiled at Robbie, then extended her pinkie.

“Us Alien Life Forms stick together.”

Robbie smiled back at her and wrapped his own pinkie around hers.

“So was that a reference?” he asked. Daisy looked at him puzzled.

“‘Us weirdos have to stick together!’ is an iconic quote of this series I saw,” Robbie explained and Daisy saw how what she said could be seen as a reference.

“Guys! Family meeting!” May shouted. Heads immediately started poking out of the rooms. The kids went downstairs and gathered around the kitchen table. May went into Daisy’s room and grabbed her investigation notebook. She set the notebook on the table before taking a seat. The kids were speechless. They looked at each other, trying to figure out just how much trouble they were in. Before anyone could say anything, Coulson spoke up.

“We know about this investigation of yours,” he started, not at all helping to ease anyone’s nerves.

“No one’s in trouble,” May said, reading the room. The kids had a hard time believing that.

“So as you figured, Melinda and I work for an organization called SHIELD,” Coulson continued. “It’s a secret government organization. Which was the number one reason we didn’t tell you guys about it.”

“Number two is the index?” Daisy asked coldly.

“None of this is about the index,” May said.

“But you kept this from us for a reason,” Fitz said.

“We kept this from you because we didn’t want you to get into the kind of life that comes with being an agent of SHIELD,” Coulson replied. “As you probably figured, it’s dangerous. Especially for a field agent, like me, or a specialist, like Melinda.”

“It also changes you,” May added in a quiet voice. “You see things you never wanted or thought were possible.”

“And even if you can handle that, it comes with secrets. From anyone.”

“Even us,” Mack said. May and Coulson nodded.

“So you both just agreed to keep your life from us?” Daisy asked coldly.

“Daisy-”

“And what about the index? Ha? Were you going to tell us that you monitor Inhumans? That you monitor us ?”

“You and Yo-Yo are not on the index. We made sure of that.” May responded, keeping her cool.

“So with that, we’re all just supposed to be cool? Hell, nah!” Yo-Yo chimed in. “Daisy is right. You guys lied to us. This whole time.

“You heard them. They had good reason.” Jemma said, trying to calm her sisters down.

“‘It’s a secret organization’ and ‘We didn’t want you in this life’ aren’t good reasons,” Fitz said coldly while staring at the table.

Chapter Text

Over the next 2 weeks, Phil and Melinda gave time to the kids to take in what they learned. They told them in more depth about SHIELD and the work that they did. The kids became divided on the matter. Deke and Jemma understood their parents’ reasoning and Mack, while grumpy about the whole lying thing, was willing to forgive. Yo-Yo, Daisy, and Fitz on the other hand, didn’t see things that way. They felt betrayed. Daisy most of all. The three of them became withdrawn, only interacted with the rest of the family when absolutely necessary. For Coulson and May, this was a nightmare, but they gave them space. Fitz and Yo-Yo were ranting to each other a lot about how unfair it all was and everything. Sometimes it felt like they themselves weren’t sure what they were mad about. But slowly they mellowed out. Daisy on the other hand didn’t. Two people, in particular, noticed that she was angrier than usual. These were Mike Peterson and Robbie Reyes. It was hard not to notice. Other than the constant, easily irritable state Daisy was in for two weeks, she was also closed off. She had much less fun with any activity or conversation with either of the boys. And she didn’t tell either of them what was up.

Robbie was rather surprised when Mike walked up to him in between two classes. The boy looked up at his rival waiting for whatever he wanted. Mike gestured for them to go out to the hall. While outside there were more people, it still made sense. In the classroom, it was quieter and it was a more enclosed space. In the hall, on the other hand, people were constantly moving and it was noisy. So whatever Peterson wanted, it was safer to say in the hall. After they exited the classroom and stepped away, mike Turned to Robbie, stating why he wanted to talk.

“You need to talk to Daisy,” he stated. Some anger toward Robbie was simmering in his voice, which Robbie picked up on, but he also sensed that Mike’s concern for Daisy was his driving force at the moment.

“You’d trust me with that? Why not you talk to her?” Robbie asked.

“I may not like you, but Daisy does. Better than anyone else in the school. If she’s going to tell anyone what is going on with her, it will be you.”

Robbie nodded slightly. Frankly, he didn’t get why Daisy liked him so much, but if it meant she would confide in him with what’s been troubling her, he took it.

That day, their physics teacher had called in sick at the last possible minute, and the substitute they managed to send was so knowledgeable in physics that she was an art teacher. The two miracles combined resulted in a lesson where the class was allowed to spend it however they wanted with the only rule being that they were quiet. They were of course not fully quiet, but the teacher managed to demand enough respect so that the noise that they made didn’t surpass any noise they would otherwise make during a class. Daisy immediately pulled out her phone and started scrolling through social media. She was sitting with Mike that day but didn’t really engage in any conversations. Mike didn’t push. So now they just sat in silence. That’s when Diasy’s mindless scrolling was interrupted by a chat head popping up on the side of her screen. The red bubble marking messages quickly went from ‘1’ to ‘2’. Daisy recognized Robbie’s profile picture and was curious what he wanted in the middle of class. She opened the chat and saw a link, followed by a message that read ‘ You said you’d check it out ’. She opened the link which took her to a website where she could watch The Owl House, a cartoon Robbie had mentioned before. Daisy did actually say she’d check out the series. Seeing the poster, it seemed silly. But at the moment she had nothing better to do so she fished her earbuds out of her bag and started playing the first episode. It was charming. The characters were fun and much more relatable than most heroes of the media. The show then reached its halfway point and the tone grew somewhat more serious. Previously the episode had been the main character, Luz, discovering the magical other world and some wacky hijinks. Then Luz realized that her new companions, Eda and King, were weirdos like her. Then the episode progressed and one part in particular caught Daisy’s attention. “ King and I don’t have much in this world, other than each other. So if that dumb crown is important to him, it’s important to me. Besides. Us weirdos have to stick together, ya know. ” the crazy lady with the owl theme said to the girl. Daisy at that point shifted her gaze to the chat head still on her screen and the black charger on it.  Robbie was cruel to use a cartoon to try and get her to talk to him. She knew what this was about. She didn’t exactly hide her recent behavior. She finished the episode and saw why Robbie liked the series. Other than being fun and colorful and interesting, it clearly had a strong motive of weirdos, outcasts, acceptance, and looking beyond appearances. She closed the website for the moment, then wrote to Robbie, letting him know that she got his not-so-subtle hint and that they could talk after school. Robbie wrote back saying:

“ I don’t mean to push, and you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want ”

“ I just wanna know you’re okay ”

“ And let you know that I’m here if you do want to talk ”

“ And I’m pretty sure Peterson is the sme ”

“ *same”

Daisy and Robbie, after school, went out to their spot in the backyard, for once not with the sole purpose of pissing Bobbi off.

“Just so you know, there’s nothing to be worried about,” Daisy said right as they reached the spot. “It’s just that there’s some drama that went down at home and I’m pretty pissed at my parents right now. That’s all.”

Robbie nodded wordlessly. Daisy studied his face.

“That’s it? No pushing for answers?”

“It’s clearly not my place.”

“Your eyes are betraying you, Reyes.”

“‘It’s not my place’ doesn’t mean I can’t be curious about it. Especially that you never really talked about your parents.”

Daisy paused and looked away, pretending to check if Bobbi was coming to bust them yet.

“Ours is a complicated family.” She then looked back at Robbie. “You don’t talk about your family either.”

“Ours is a tragic family,” Robbie responded copying her answer.

“And that’s not even taking into consideration our powers.”

“I think it’s an understatement that we have some issues.”

Silence set in for a minute. During that minute, Bobbi arrived to bust their party. Daisy and Robbie both decided to go home.

Daisy took a breath and walked downstairs where her parents were getting ready to leave for work. “ At least I know where they’re going ,” Daisy thought. May and Coulson, in their effort to regain their kids’ trust, started being honest about where they were at all times. If they were given a new mission, the kids knew where and what it was.

Daisy caught them just in time before they were about to let the kids know that they were going.

“Mom, Dad,” she addressed them. May and Coulson looked at her with surprise in their eyes as she has not addressed them this directly since they came clean about SHIELD.

“Yeah?”

“Can I go over to a friend’s place after school?” Daisy asked. She may have been pissed, but to go to someone’s place without letting her parents know first seemed much to even her rule-breaker ass.

“This friend’s parents know you’d be going over?” Coulson asked. Daisy just nodded.

“And we will do our homework and I’ll be home before 10. I know the rules.”

May and Coulson shared a look before turning back to Daisy.

“Yeah, you can go,” May concluded.

It had been a few days since Daisy watched the Owl House pilot and it was now Friday. During the week, she watched the second and third episodes and after some nagging, she managed to convince Robbie to get together at either his or her place so that they could watch some episodes together. Seeing as how Daisy still had parent drama going on, they agreed that Robbie’s place would be better. Once they arrived, they were immediately greeted by Robbie’s uncle.

“You must be Daisy,” Eli said to the girl.

“Thanks for having me, Mr Morrow!” Daisy said politely.

“Eli is fine. And it’s our pleasure.”

A boy, a few years younger than Robbie, appeared in the doorway. He was sitting in a wheelchair and smiled warmly at Daisy. Daisy assumed that he was Robbie’s brother.

“Hey!” he greeted the newcomer.

“This is Gabe. My brother.” Robbie informed his friend. “Gabe, this is Daisy.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Daisy! I heard a lot about you.” Gabe said with a smile. Daisy raised her eyebrows with amusement as she glanced at Robbie who looked somewhat embarrassed at his brother’s remark.

After a bit of chatting with Gabe and Eli, Daisy and Robbie retreated to Robbie’s room. As promised to the adults, they did their schoolwork. At least they would be free of it on the weekend. After they were done with that, Robbie set up his computer to watch Owl House, during which he failed to cover his excitement. The episode they would be watching was titled The Intruder. Daisy absolutely couldn’t understand what Robbie must’ve loved about it so much. It was only the fourth episode of the first season, exciting stuff didn’t usually happen that early on. Silence set in as the episode started. It started casually. The main character, Luz, and her new friend, King, had some fun interaction before they realized that it was going to rain. Despite the warning from King, Luz went outside only to see the first drop of rain completely destroy a flower. Eda, the ultimate strangest mother figure in the history of media, ran toward the house, dragged Luz along and the two of them crashed into a pile of objects inside the house. Then the intro started.

Over the course of the episode, several things happened that Daisy did not expect. For starters, the episode laid down the foundations of a stable magic system. Then the story turned into a mystery situation as something turned off the lights, busted the door, and knocked out the house demon, Hooty. In all honesty, that bird-tube freaked Daisy out a little. As Luz and King checked on their which-mom, they found her gone. The two of them quickly got separated too. When they found each other again, King already knew that the previously assumed demon did not cause their problem. In fact, it was Eda herself that did all the damage. She had turned into some sort of feathery monster with black eyes. When the creature busted through the door and faced the kids, Daisy heard Robbie suck air in. She looked discretely over at him and saw hurt in his eyes. She then realized why he must’ve liked this specific episode. He related to Eda and her transformation into that monster. Daisy looked back at the screen to see what happened next. She kind of hoped this development in the character’s story would provide her some opportunity to help Robbie with his inner demon.

The monster problem had an interesting solve. Luz found her own way to do magic, as she could not do magic the same way witches did, and used a light spell to disorient the monster. The next they saw, it had turned back to Eda. Eda explained to Luz and King that she was cursed and that owl-like monster was the reason they referred to her as the Owl Lady.

Daisy and Robbie watched several more episodes together. They had some intrusions from Gabe who also stuck around for one of the episodes. At the end of the day, Daisy thanked Eli for his hospitality and got a ride home. Once home, Coulson greeted her and asked if her afternoon was good. She just responded with a “Yeah,” and went to her room. There, she thought about Eda and her curse again, as well as its similarity to Robbie and the Ghost Rider. Unfortunately for Robbie, there was no magic elixir to help him, like there was for Eda. But maybe there didn't need to be.

Chapter Text

Fitz mellowed out after a week and was close with Simmons again. They were on opposite sides of the family war that was going on, but they couldn’t really stand being against each other for long. They did however gain a whole new reason for arguing. Simmons often tried convincing Fitz that he shouldn’t be mad at their parents and Fitz defended his, Daisy, and Yo-Yo’s side. This was always painful for Coulson and May to listen to. It was their lies that tore the entire family apart. Fitzsimmons even had arguments in school which got the attention of their mutual friend, Flint. The boy had been their friend from the beginning. As for the family drama, he mostly stayed out of it. Fitz and Simmons gradually stopped the arguments on that front. There was no reason to continue. Neither one would change their mind. They just made passive-aggressive comments to each other.

One afternoon, Fitzsimmons were out with Flint. The three of them decided to go to some kind of fast-food restaurant after school. They ended up in burger king, just talking. As time went by, Flint glanced outside.

“Hey, guys!” he called to the science twins while turning back. “Those clouds are gathering real quick. I think we should go home before we get caught in the rain.”

Jemma and Fitz looked outside and saw that dark clouds were indeed rather quickly covering the sky.

“Yup, good idea!” Fitz declared. The three of them finished up, gathered their things, and left the building. Outside, the wind was blowing rather hard and the last bits of Sun were disappearing. The three classmates had to go in the same direction for a time and only separate later. Before that happened, the rain started. Simmons, always prepared, pulled out a collapsable umbrella from her bag. Flint did the same while Fitz just cursed lightly. Simmons smiled and held her umbrella over the both of them. Fitz hooked his arm around hers and they were ready to go on.

“Did you guys hear that?” Flint asked out of nowhere.

“Hear what?” Fitz asked. Flint started moving towards a nearby alley. Fitz and Simmons just shared a look before following. Nearing the more and more wet alley, the twins heard it too. Something was definitely meowing. Likely a cat, as Simmons pointed out. In the alley, they did indeed find a cat. It was hiding from the rain in a turned-over cardboard box that already seemed damp. The cat’s gray fur was blackened by dirt and stuck together at multiple spots. It scooted further into the corner of the box when the students walked there. Simmons immediately brought herself and Fitz to a halt and pulled him down until they were both crouching.

“What was that for?!” Fitz asked angrily as he almost fell from Jemma’s efforts. He got shushed by both Jemma and Flint. Flint too was crouching. He looked back at the frightened animal. It was staring back at him with big yellow eyes. Flint carefully got closer to the box while whispering comfortingly. He extended his umbrella over the box and its surrounding area. The cat was dumbfounded. Flint slowly reached out with his free hand, making sure to keep it low, trying not to scare the poor creature any further. When his hand was close enough to the cat, he stopped and let the cat smell it.

“It’s okay. We won’t hurt you,” he whispered to the animal. Flint then carefully but swiftly wrapped his hand around the animal’s body and lifted it up. The cat got scared and tried to free herself. Flint quickly extended his umbrella toward Fitz who took it into his own hand, holding it over his friend and the dirty animal. Flint quickly adjusted his hold on the cat, using both hands now while whispering to it, trying to get it to calm down.

“It has no collar,” Simmons observed.

“And it seems skinny. It definitely has been on the streets for a while.” Fitz added.

“We gotta get her out of the cold,” Flint said with certainty as the three of them stood.

“Our place is closer,” Fitz said.

“Let’s go!”

The trio started walking again, now forming a wall as they tried to share the two umbrellas they had. Fitz swore that he’d never go without an umbrella anywhere again. On the way the cat settled down and so Flint’s hold on her loosened, though still holding firmly.

After a short walk, they arrived at Fitzsimmons’ place. As they walked into the threshold, Daisy emerged from the kitchen to see who had arrived. Not that there were a lot of options. There was a plastic box in her hands and a fork that remained frozen in her mouth as she saw the partially wet twins and the two guests, one of which was an animal.

“Hi, Daisy!” Simmons said cheerfully. “Mom! Dad!” she shouted.

“This is our sister, Daisy,” Fitz said to Flint. “Daisy, this is our friend Flint.”

“Hi,” Daisy said, finally managing to speak despite her surprise. Soon, Melinda appeared at the top of the stairs, making both Fitz and Daisy look away for a second. The curiosity of the situation however proved stronger than the family drama.

“What’s going on?” May asked as she started down the stairs. Simmons started to explain, while Coulson too joined the group standing on the now wet, tiled floor.

“We found her out in the rain. She seems ownerless and she definitely hasn’t eaten properly in days. We couldn’t leave her there.”

“Also, this is Flint from our class,” Fitz added.

“Good afternoon,” Flint said awkwardly while holding onto the cat that was now frightened once again. Melinda sighed and mumbled something in Mandarin.

“Okay, first things first, get those umbrellas somewhere where the water won’t keep dripping all over the floor! Daisy grab a mop!” Fitz and Daisy were gone in seconds. Coulson then looked at May. May just nodded and Coulson turned back to the kids.

“Okay, the cat can stay for tonight. Tomorrow, we can take it to a vet or something, see if she has an owner or not.”

“I’ll find something we can give her to eat,” Melinda said, then went to the kitchen.

“Poor thing needs a bath,” Jemma said.

“That surely won’t help her calm down,” Flint responded.

“The bathroom is just down the hall,” Coulson instructed Flint who was instantly led by Simmons.

“Wait for me to get there!” Coulson called after them.

After managing to clean the cat, they gave her some leftover meat. She was reluctant to take it, but once making sure it was safe, she ate it all. She seemed to be comfortable around Flint. Deke, Mack, and Yo-Yo had been informed of the creature’s existence and they quickly came to adore the thing. Mack and Yo-Yo quickly noticed that it was too crowded for the cat, Deke on the other hand had to be pealed away. They all sat in the living room, so they could all be around the cat without overwhelming it. Phil and Melinda cherished this moment of nobody being at anybody’s throats that they hadn’t had since the SHIELD reveal.

“She looks young,” Melinda observed. “I don’t think she’s fully grown yet.”

“Maybe. It’s also possible that she was just born premature or something.” Jemma responded.

“I don’t think human biology applies to cats,” Daisy said.

“The vet will probably be able to determine that too,” Coulson said. He then looked at the clock on the wall and back at Flint.

“It’s getting late. Flint, do you need a ride home?”

At the mention of the time, everyone subconsciously looked at the first time measuring device they could think of.

“I wrote to my parents earlier. My sister’s coming to pick me up. She should be here in a bit.” Flint informed. Phil nodded in acknowledgment.

“If she’s gonna stay here, we need her to be comfortable with us. Either that or you Flint can take her home for the night.” May said.

“I don’t think my parents would allow that,” Flint said.

“I bet she’ll like to be with me,” Deke said ever so confidently.

“Deke, we can barely stand you, let alone that cat,” Daily said.

“I think Simmons should try. If anyone can get an animal to like them, it’s her.” Mack offered his insight. Sure enough, the animal seemed to like Jemma, though not as comfortable as with Flint.

In a few minutes, the doorbell rang. The cat got scared and tried to run away but Jemma managed to catch her in time and tried to calm her. May went to open the door. A young woman stood there, with curly, black hair framing her face and warmth radiating off of her.

“Is this the Coulson house?” she asked. May nodded in response. “I’m Tess, I’m Flint’s sister.”

“Come in.” May stepped aside and Tess went in. Melinda led the girl to the living room.

“Flint?” she called out. The boy looked up from where he was trying to pet his new cat friend. Tess was a little taken aback by the number of people that now looked at her. She kept her eyes on her brother.

“Come on! Let’s go!” she said to Flint briefly. Flint said goodbye to the cat before getting up. He thanked the family for having him and helping with the animal on his way out. Fitz retrieved the boy’s umbrella before they all forgot.

The rest of the night went in a similar way as before. Now with the guest gone, a bit of the family war coldness returned, but the mutual love for the gray cat kept them all in one room without killing each other for a while. Simmons managed to convince her parents to let the animal sleep in her room under the condition that she is responsible for cleaning up if the cat makes a mess. During the day, the kids still went to school and the adults went to work. Flint got permission to go home with Fitzsimmons and go with them to take their cat friend to the vet. In the afternoon, Fitzsimmons, Flint, accompanied by Coulson, went to the nearest vet. There they learned that the cat was malnourished and ownerless. She was otherwise fine. They took her home for the time being. The teens expressed how they didn’t want the animal to end up at a shelter because what if they treat her badly or if she never gets a loving owner? Coulson, already attached to the cat, understood what the kids were truly pleading for. Not that he had any idea where he could even find an animal shelter.

Flint went home later in the afternoon and Fitzsimmons were playing with the still unnamed cat while Phil and Melinda locked themselves in their room to talk things over.

“We both know what they really want,” Phil stated.

“We have a bunch of teenagers here that can barely take care of themselves. You really think they’d be able to handle a cat?” Melinda responded. She too liked the animal, but there were bigger things to consider than that. “They might be glued to it now, but they might get bored. Then what happens?”

“Mack certainly wouldn’t let her die. At least we can be sure about that.”

“Mack isn’t the one that wants to adopt this cat. Jemma and Leo are. They should be the ones to take care of it.”

“So we make sure they know that. That everyone knows that.” Coulson suggested. “If they don’t take care of her, no one will.”

Melinda stood in silence for a second. Phil could see in her eyes that a decision was made there.

“I say we keep her here for a few days,” Melinda said finally. “If they still want to adopt her, we can. FitzSimmons are in charge of her. The cat isn’t met with her needs, she has to go.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“We should give her a name,” Yo-Yo suggested. She, Daisy, and FitzSimmons were watching the animal play with an old ball they fished out of the bottom of a closet.

“Yeah, we can’t just call her ‘the cat’ forever,” Daisy agreed.

“Mum and Dad probably won’t even let us keep her. So what’s the point in getting more attached to it?” Fitz said coldly.

“You could be wrong,” Jemma offered. “Besides, at least she’d have a name.”

“Well, I don’t actually have an idea for a name,” Yo-Yo said.

“Zari,” Daisy said almost immediately.

“Why Zari?” Fitz asked. Daisy looked up from where she was staring at the cat.

“No reason,” she said after a beat of silence. Simmons reached out and touched the animal’s back carefully while calling out the suggested name. The cat was startled a little but when she saw it was just Jemma, she calmed down.

“How would you like to be called Zari?” Jemma asked on a singsong voice.

“It’s a cat. It’s not gonna answer.” Fitz reminded her.

“She doesn’t seem to dislike it,” Yo-Yo observed.

“Zari it is,” Jemma declared. Daisy raised her eyebrows, not believing she actually got away with naming the animal after a series character.

May and Coulson came downstairs eventually and stopped for a moment to look at the four in the room. All three looked up at them expectantly, waiting for an answer to the question they never technically asked. May especially was taken aback a little. She and Phil have not seen  Daisy, Yo-Yo, or Fitz without the “You lied to us and I hate you” look in their eyes in weeks. Now while waiting for the answer to the cat situation, that was gone entirely. They both knew that it would be back. For now, they enjoyed this moment of child-like unease in their kids’ eyes as they told them their decision. The four were overjoyed. Coulson went and let Mack and Deke know as well.

A few days later, the decision was finalized. Jemma and Fitz were allowed to keep the cat. They were restless all night and the following morning, unable to wait to tell Flint. It didn’t occur to either of these geniuses that they could just message him. The animal’s official name became Zari and only after did Daisy explain why.

Chapter Text

November slowly ended and December rolled around. This meant several things. Other than the approach of winter break awaited by all students, classrooms slowly started to fill with Christmas decorations. But most importantly for Daisy, they got their names for Secret Santa. She never understood why schools have to do this. Usually, it just resulted in empty gifts from people you barely knew. If you did get a gift from someone who actually liked you, it was as a result of switching names with others.

Their homeroom teacher had the names of the class in a bag on his desk and instructed each of them to go to his desk and pull one.

“Cause that is so much easier than having the bag go around the classroom,” Daisy mumbled. Her dislike for the thing grew even more when she read the name on the piece of paper her fingers caught. “ Grant Ward ”. Daisy let her face fall, but didn’t express just how much she hated what she got until she got back to her seat. She grumbled and let her head fall to her desk.

“That bad?” Mike asked beside her. Daisy handed Mike the paper with a grumble.

“Ouch!”

“I’m guessing you don’t wanna switch?” Daisy tried, turning her head toward him.

“No one’s gonna want to switch with you.”

Daisy sat up.

“And if I give Ward any kind of gift, he’ll think it’s because I’m so madly in love with him,” she said annoyed.

“Guess you’ll just have to remember the spirit of the holiday,” Mike tried.

“No spirit of any holiday could make this better.” Daisy sat back and sighed. “Who’d you get?”

“Not much better,” Mike said, he too sounding annoyed all of the sudden. He showed Daisy the paper and she read the name on it. “ Robbie Reyes ”.

“Lucky bastard!”

“Maybe in your eyes.”

“Right! You two have that feud.”

“It’s not a feud, it’s reasonable distrust,” Mike insisted.

“Guess you’ll just have to remember the spirit of the holiday,” Daisy said with a smug smile.

Mike sat back in his chair annoyed and Daisy had a triumphant look on her face.

—

“So who did you get?” Daisy asked Robbie while they were outside, not on forbidden ground for once.

“I’m not supposed to say,” Robbie said simply.

“Didn’t take you for a big Secret Santa player.”

“I’m not. Gabe is.” Robbie said, slightly annoyed. “He’ll kill me if he finds out I’ve cheated in any way. That includes telling others who I got and attempting to switch with others.”

“So I guess I can’t convince you to switch with me,” Daisy concluded.

“Sorry, no. Why, who did you get?”

“Ward.”

“Eesh!”

“Which means I either have to find someone that doesn’t hate him or deal with his insistence on my gift-giving being out of love for him.”

“Good luck!” Robbie said, rather unhelpfully.

—

Daisy got home and grumbled loudly upon her entry to alert her family of her displeased state and get some sympathy.

“Something bothering you?” Coulson’s voice came from the kitchen. He was quieter and more careful than he usually would have been. As she walked in, Daisy found her parents and Simmons in the kitchen, preparing dinner and Simmons working on papers that Daisy didn’t even want to know what they were about.

“We’re doing Secret Santa with the class,” she informed.

“Those are fun,” May noted sarcastically.

“Well, this gets better. I got Ward.” Daisy earned some empathetic looks. “And pretty much everybody hates him. So the chances that I’ll be able to switch with someone are equivalent to zero.”

“Well, to know the actual probability we’d need much more information,” Simmons said.

“Yeah, that’s not helping,” Daisy shut her down. “So now I’m gonna go and scream in my pillow. Then I’ll find out what is the least meaningful thing I can give to Ward.”

With that, Daisy off to her room.

“Notice how that’s the most she’s talked to either of us since SHIELD,” Coulson remarked.

—

Robbie arrived home. Gabe and Eli greeted him as he got inside. Gabe was in the living room and looked at his brother and his helpless face.

“You good?” Gabe asked as Robbie dropped his bag by the door.

“What kind of gift do you get a girl?” Robbie asked, rather annoyed by his own helplessness. Gabe raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

“We’re doing Secret Santa again. I got Daisy.”

“What to get a girl is not a question you’ll get an answer to in this household,” Eli remarked. Robbie looked at his uncle, then his amused brother, and concluded that Eli was right.

“At least you know Daisy,” Gabe tried.

“Doesn’t make me any better at giving gifts,” Robbie said while plopping down on the couch.

“Sure you’ll figure it out,” Gabe said, patting his brother’s shoulder.

—

“What should I get him?” Mike asked Daisy as she sat down beside him. It took him two full days before he turned to this option.

“Well, you sure gave up fast,” Daisy remarked.

“Come on! You’d do the same if you were in my shoes.”

“No. I would’ve asked you way before now.”

“You’re the only one that actually knows him. What does he like?”

“Cars,” Daisy said in a thinking tone. “The Owl House.”

“The what?”

“It’s a… never mind. Cars. He likes cars.”

“Cars? That’s all you’ve got?”

“Well, he also very much loves his brother, but I doubt that will help you. And despite whatever you’d believe, he likes sweet snacks. Get him some M&Ms.”

“Gifting someone snacks for Secret Santa is probably the most generic thing one can possibly do,” Mike said.

“I don’t see why you’re complaining. Food is a good way to win someone’s heart.”

“We’re not reconciling.”

“Figured that much. Don’t see why you’re putting so much effort into this if you hate him. Like, just buy him something simple and call it a day. You both don’t like each other, so it won’t matter.”

“Is that what you’re doing with Ward?”

A mischievous smile appeared on Daisy’s face. “No. I decided on a new tactic. I will give him a meaningful gift. The meaning being how much I hate him.”

—

“You have got to wear something else for Christmas,” Daisy remarked, looking at Robbie’s jacket. The Jacket he has not taken off since she’s first seen him.

“Why would I have to? Besides, it’s only a school Christmas,” Robbie argued.

“Scared, Reyes?” Daisy asked playfully.

“Of what? Festive clothing?”

“So why won’t you wear them?”

“Because it’s ridiculous.”

“What if it were a contest?” Daisy asked.

“Contest how? Who can wear an uglier sweater?” Robbie asked back.

“Yes. But it wouldn’t be against me.”

Robbie looked at the girl confused.

“Against Mike ,” she informed. “Is your pride or feud with Mike the stronger? Cause I have a feeling it would be the latter for him.”

“So what? You asked him to do this too?”

“Not yet. But if he agreed, would you?”

Robbie thought for a moment before turning back to his friend. “If he’s in, I’m in.”

Daisy ran up to Robbie before she left school only to let him know that “Ugly sweater contest is officially on!”.

—

May looked at her daughter with interest when Daisy walked into the house with a black gift bag in hand that read “fuck you here’s a present” on it with big white letters.

“Ward?” May asked simply.

“Oh yeah!” Daisy nodded with an evil grin. “Now I just gotta fill it with stuff that he hates. That’s why I got ginger tea in my bag. I still gotta get toffee and maybe some stuffed panda or something.”

“Don’t spend too much money on the hate gift,” May warned as the girl walked up to her room.

“I’d spend a fortune if it meant giving Ward all the stuff he hates,” Daisy called back.

She went out on a shopping trip to acquire the dreaded snack that was toffee. Daisy had no clue what Ward hated about them, but he hated them and that’s all that mattered. On that same trip, she also found a collection of Christmas sweaters. She had bought the ugliest one she could find. She challenged the boys to a competition, but why should they be the only ones to wear sweaters? Armed with a piece of her gift and her choice of clothing for the school Christmas day, she now just needed one thing. A stuffed toy. The cuter the better. Ward hated stuffed toys. He believed they were childish and from the ripe age of 5, he denied any and every stuffed toy. Luckily for Daisy, she could kill two birds with one stone as most stuffed toys were animals and there were animals Ward disliked. Like the giraffe, as Daisy remembered upon spotting the tiny, fluffy, pink, stuffed giraffe with sparkling eyes.

—

The homeroom teacher sighed when Daisy walked into the classroom with a gift bag that’s most noticeable quality was the giant “fuck you” written on it. He hoped he’d get a normal student for once, but the new girl just proved him otherwise.

Daisy spotted Mike and Robbie at their usual seats. When seeing her enter, Mike got up and they both made their way over to Robbie. Daisy looked at Mike and then Robbie.

“You two aren’t going to kill each other?”

“Not in here,” Mike said.

“We’ll handle that outside,” Robbie added. “Loving the bag,” he said pointing at the bag in Daisy’s hands.

“It’s the best!” Daisy declared while lifting it into full view.

“Is your Christmas theme cursing or something?” Mike asked referring to her sweater, which was green, covered in boas, ornaments, bells, and bows, with the words “merry fucking everything” on it in bright red.

“Yes,” she answered proudly. “It also displeases my parents and the teachers. So that’s a bonus.”

“I think you win the sweater contest,” Robbie said.

“Nah. That was for the two of you. And we need an objective judge.”

The two boys grumbled. Daisy turned away and shouted across the classroom to get a friend’s attention.

“Hey, Trip!” Half the class stole glances toward Daisy. Trip excused himself from his company and walked over, looking with interest at the trio.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Can you settle the guys’ ugly Christmas sweater competition?”

Trip looked the boys over, studying both their choice of sweaters. Robbie wore a black sweater covered in mistletoes, bells, and snowflakes, with a reindeer in the middle, with its antler covered in string lights and Christmas ornaments. Mike’s sweater was similar. Also black, with snowflakes and red lamas and the word “lama” as a pattern in the background. In the middle was a white lama rocking a Santa hat, sunglasses, and string lights wrapped around its neck. Trip pointed casually at Mike’s sweater.

“Lama. Automatic ugliest,” he said casually.

“HA!” Mike screamed in Robbie’s face, who stood defeated.

—

The class had begun the gift exchange pretty soon. Daisy was excited to give Ward his gift, having accepted that even if Ward somehow takes the gift as a gesture of love, she still said the biggest “Fuck you!” she could. She was also curious to find out who got her name and what she’d get. She knew she’d probably get some empty gift from someone that doesn’t even know her, but the anticipation was still there.

Robbie was nervous about his gift as he had no idea if Daisy was going to like it or not. And he was nervous about who got his name. Not all people hated him outright, but he had gotten straight-up malicious gifts before. All it took was for some bully to get his name and he was bound to get something bad.

They moved in alphabetical order. The person had to get up, give their gift to whoever they got, the receiver politely thanked the giver, then they both sat down. The teacher didn’t force anyone to open their gifts in front of the others if they didn’t want to. Some did though.

When it was Daisy’s turn, she got up with an evil smile and her fuck-you-bag in hand and walked over to Ward. He stood up and smiled at Daisy.

“Merry Christmas, Ward!” Daisy said with an “I’m gonna kill you!” look on her face as she handed Ward the bag.

“Thank you, Skye!” he replied actually genuinely, amused by the bag. Daisy wordlessly turned around and walked back to her seat, catching the teacher shaking his head at her choice of bag. Ward was one of those who decided to open his gift in front of everyone. Daisy watched with a triumphant look as Ward’s face fell in disappointment while he revealed the tea, snacks, and toy. He was clearly displeased but smiled nonetheless. He was starting to accept the fact that Daisy hated him, but he sure as Hell wasn’t going to let her have her ultimate victory by showing how much he disliked his gift.

Daisy didn’t pay attention much until it was Mike’s turn. Mike walked over to a rather surprised Robbie and they heartlessly exchanged a polite Christmas greeting and response. Robbie chose to open his gift later.

Anticipation grew in Daisy more and more as she watched her classmates give their gifts and none of them being hers. That was until they got to R in the alphabet. Robbie’s name was called and he reluctantly got up with a wrapped present. Daisy could hear a few murmurs about Robbie around her and she was sure he could too. He smiled at him encouragingly. She did not however expect for him to walk up to her of all people. She stood up to meet him and held back her excitement as much as she could. Robbie smiled as he handed Daisy her gift.

“Merry Christmas, Daisy!” he said quietly.

“Thank you!” she responded politely. daisy signaled to the teacher that she’d open her gift later. Then both she and Robbie took their seats again.

—

Robbie was actually quite glad with Mike’s selection of Christmas socks and pack of M&Ms. His expectations for a gift were low. He just wanted it to not be malicious.

Daisy excitedly opened her gift after the full exchange went down and everyone was back to hanging out with whoever they wanted. Robbie joined Daisy and Mike, both boys having agreed to a truth for the day. Robbie watched nervously as  Daisy unwrapped her gift. The wrapping paper came apart to reveal several chocolate bars and two keychains. One had a replica of Leonard Snart’s cold gun, while the other of Zari Tomaz’s air totem. Two of Daisy’s favorite characters from the CW show, Legends of Tomorrow.

“This is awesome,” Daisy declared. “I don’t care what anyone says. I’m gonna hug you.”

That statement took Robbie by surprise, however, the girl was not lying. She got up and gave him a hug which he was reluctant to return at first.

“Great minds think alike,” Daisy said, after breaking away from Robbie. She knelt down beside her desk and started going through her backpack.

“I got you both something,” she said as she handed each boy a small gift bag. Inside it was a keychain for them each. Baseball patterned for Mike and his love of baseball, and one of the Owl Beast for Robbie and his strange relation to the creature. She also added a personal holiday card for them both. They both thanked her. Daisy fished out her keys and put on her new keychains while the boys read their cards, she then reached for a chocolate bar.

They spent the rest of their day talking and playing various games with the boys’ feud only surfacing a few times.

Chapter Text

“Daaaad!” Daisy marched down the stairs causing both Coulson and May to look up from their respective reading materials. Daisy slowed down and became somewhat awkward as she entered the living room and saw her parents.

“‘Dad’? I thought I was ‘Coulson’ forever,” he said passive-aggressively.

“Phil!” May berated. Daisy wanted to have a civil conversation prior to that moment but that was all gone now. She crossed her arms and stared down her father with a challenging look. Coulson sighed.

“What is it?”

Daisy stalled before speaking. “I found a hand-made Waverider replica online and I was wondering if you could take me to get it.”

“From that show of yours?” Coulson enquired.

“Yes. I have the money to pay for it. It’s just that it’s a six-hour drive and I know you two would never let me go alone. Even though I didn’t do anything to make you distrust me.” Daisy added her last comment with a bit of spite.

“All six of you snuck out and into a government facility,” May interjected.

“Well, we wouldn’t have had to if you two were just honest with us. Anyway, if Dad’s not too busy with a mission for SHIELD , will he take me?”

Coulson looked at May to get her opinion.

“It’s just a road trip,” May said. “Plus you’ll be there.”

Coulson nodded and turned to Daisy. “Yeah, I’ll take you. Just get me the info and we can go hopefully over the weekend.”

“Yes! Thank you!” With that Daisy was gone. Coulson dropped his book beside himself and sunk further into the couch with a sigh. May placed a hand on his arm in encouragement.

“I knew it would take time but it’s been two months,” Phil said.

“We lied to them for half their life,” Melinda pointed out. “The betrayal they’re feeling… Would you be able to get over this fast?”

“I hate it when you’re right.”

“We should try and talk to her. And the others.”

Phil turned to look at Melinda.

“Weren’t you the one that said to give them space?”

“I was. And we did. And now I’m saying that we pissed of a group of teenagers and half of them seem fine, the other half still hate us. And neither half is communicating. We agreed that in this family, communication would be key. We can’t model them that if we aren’t willing to communicate. They had time to digest and think and now it’s time to communicate, get on the same page about how exactly they’re all feeling about us. You said I’m always right. Well, this is my judgment.”

—

“I think it was rather reckless of Eda to be putting herself on the line like that. Luz and King needed her,” Daisy voiced her opinion on the latest Owl House episode she managed to watch as she and Robbie walked to class.

“Yes, but you’re forgetting that she didn’t see it that way,” Robbie pointed out. “In her eyes, it was only a matter of time before both of them left her for their real families. It was better to potentially get arrested or lose her life than have to deal with that.”

“Okay, I’ll give her that.”

“You wanna come over this weekend? We could watch some episodes together,” Robbie suggested as they entered the classroom.

“Can’t. I’m going on a road trip this weekend.”

“To where?” The two settled into their seats.

“Rochester. Somebody made a Waverider replica and I managed to buy it. But they don’t ship, so I gotta go get it.”

“I saw a 60s edition Chevrolet Camaro collectible available there,” Robbie said. But instead of the excitement that would usually live in the voice of a car lover over such news, he said it merely matter-of-factly.”

“Are you gonna get it?” Daisy asked to try and coax more information out of him. Robbie looked at her genuinely surprised by her question.

“I would, but I don’t want to burn gas on it. The collectible itself is reasonably priced but the trip would cost extra. Someday.” He smiled at Daisy to ensure her that he was used to that kind of stuff and wasn’t upset about it.

“If it’s still available, I can ask my dad if you could come with us,” Daisy offered.

“No, I wouldn’t want to be a burden.”

“Please! If I don’t ask him, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Robbie stared for a second, not knowing what to say. “I’ll ask Eli,” he said eventually.

“Awesome! We’re going road-tripping!” Before she even finished, Daisy already had her phone in her hand, Messenger opened, to contact Coulson. As predicted, Coulson accepted immediately, with the condition of Eli agreeing of course. Uncle Eli took longer to reply but by the end of the school day, Robbie had officially been given permission. They gave each other their caretakers’ numbers just in case.

—

On Friday, as discussed, Robbie went home with Daisy. He found himself nervous. He’s heard of this family, he’s seen some of Daisy’s siblings in the hallways, but has never met any of them. Not to mention whatever feud was making Daisy hate her parents. Needless to say, he had no idea what to expect. All he could hope was that no one would be teasing him over going on a road trip with Daisy like Gabe had done.

Upon entering the home, there was an immediate buzz that hit them.

“We’re home!” Daisy called as she ushered Robbie in. He entered awkwardly and hung his coat. May emerged in the meantime. She smiled warmly at Robbie.

“Welcome! It’s great to meet you, Robbie!”

“Likewise. Thank you for having me!”

“Come on inside!” May turned to Daisy. “Phil will be back soon.”

The girl nodded, then turned to Robbie.

“You can put your bag down in the living room.” She didn’t even finish speaking before she was off in the living room direction. Robbie followed.
“Meet Fitzsimmons,” Daisy introduced the youngest as they entered.

“Hey!” Robbie greeted.

“Hi.”

“Hello! We’ve heard a lot about you,” Jemma declared.

“Likewise,” Robbie smiled. Daisy tossed her bag near a wall. Robbie followed her example, albeit more neatly.

“You seriously talk about us to your school friends?” Fitz asked Daisy as the girl flopped on the couch.

“It’s impossible to say anything about me or my life without bringing you guys up. Are you saying Flint didn’t know about any of us until the Zari debacle?”

“Of course not!”

“What’s the ‘Zari debacle’,” Robbie asked as he took a seat.

“The twins and their friend found a cat and brought it home,” Daisy explained. “We named her Zari. Should be here somewhere.”

“You named her Zari?” Robbie asked for clarification, knowing full well where the name came from. Daisy grinned childishly and signaled him to stop talking.

—

Coulson arrived home shortly after Daisy and Robbie had. He found the two in the living room with Fitzsimmons chatting. He leaned against the doorframe and just took it in for a moment. Eventually, he spoke up.

“It’s staggering how long one can stand here without being noticed,” he teased. The kids all startled.

“Dad! Sorry! We were deep in conversation,” Jemma scattered to excuse themselves.

“It’s fine. You must be Robbie,” he aimed at the boy.

“I am. It’s nice to meet you, Sir,” Robbie said politely.

“You too. And ‘Coulson’ is fine. I see you’ve met the masses.”

“Most,” Daisy chimed in. “Thankfully, Deke hasn’t emerged from his room yet.”

“Well, Robbie, I hope you haven’t regretted coming along yet.”

“Give it time,” Daisy joked.

“As long as it’s not at home with Gabe teasing me.”

“What’s he teasing you about?” Daisy enquired. Robbie stalled for a second.

“A non-existent crush,” he answered with a half-truth.
“The only person who will be teasing you on this trip is Daisy,” Coulson said. “Speaking of our trip, we should get going soon.”

Daisy checked the time on her phone. The plan was that they’d all arrive at the Coulson residence before 5 in the afternoon and leave as soon as they could, hence all had pre-packed bags. They would arrive late at night and have their entire Saturday to do what they needed plus whatever else they had the time for. And then back home on Sunday in a timeframe that wouldn’t get them home too late so everyone had proper sleep for Monday.

The tree said their goodbyes and set out on their road trip. Not five minutes into the trip and Daisy was detailing the forms of entertainment she’d brought along with snacks she’d stolen out of the kitchen pantry. She quickly opened a pack of chips.

“Hope you know our bathroom breaks will be sparse,” Coulson warned.

“I’m not gonna piss myself from a pack of chips,” Daisy argued before holding the bag out for Robbie. She offered some to Coulson as well who decided to delay until he got out of the city.

The three sat in the car relatively quietly for a time before Daisy and Robbie initiated a game where they had to spot various things like road signs and birds. That went on for a while before it died down due to dying interest on both sides and quiet set in again.

“So what’s the deal with your family, anyway,” Robbie asked out of nowhere to break the silence.

“How do you mean?” Coulson asked. He couldn’t be sure of whether or not Daisy told him about their arguments and it also slipped his mind that their family dynamic wasn’t exactly the norm.

“I mean all of you, like that, as one family. How did that happen?” Robbie clarified.

“Fostering, mostly,” Daisy said nonchalantly.

“Yeah. Melinda and I started a while back. Over time, it became much more than just taking care of kids in need. Those five stayed especially long in our care and eventually, we decided to adopt.”

“Wait, five?”

“ Deke isn’t technically adopted,” Daisy explained. “Nor was he ever in the foster system. Lucky him. He had run away and came to crash with us all. We were the only ones he knew, sort of, on account of being Simmons’s cousin.”

“And you guys called Fitzsimmons ‘twins’ before?”

“They’re really close in age. Plus they’re glued to each other’s side.” Coulson smiled.

“Wait, that means Deke is living with you all illegally?” Robbie circled back.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Daisy jokingly shushed him.

“Deke’s not with us illegally,” Coulson assured him. “Not now, anyway,” he added.

“You all are insane,” Robbie noted.

“Yeah, well, a wheel-chaired kid, a goth, and their weird uncle isn’t exactly a normal family dynamic either,” Daisy jested.

“Hey! Eli’s not weird.”

“You live with your uncle?” Coulson asked.

“Yeah, and my little brother.” Robbie turned to Daisy. “And just what makes Eli weird to you?”

“I don’t know. He just has this vibe to him. Like, in another life he could be a supervillain. Are you sure he’s not secretly a serial killer or trying to become a god or something?” Daisy joked.

“I’m pretty sure I’d know about that.”

“You never know what your loved ones might be hiding,” Daisy sat back, turning her gaze pointed at Coulson.

“Daisy, this really isn’t the time or place,” Coulson reminded her.

“Right, you all have some argument going?” Robbie asked carefully, not wanting to cross a line.

“It’s hardly an argument,” Daisy spat.

“Well, it can’t even turn into one, seeing as you won’t talk to me or your mother.” Coulson glanced back at her through the rearview mirror.

“You’re gonna lecture me about not talking? As I recall it was you and mom who failed to communicate with us the entire time we had been in your care.”

Robbie sat back, feeling now guilty for having started this, yet recognizing that he accidentally popped the seal off a long-needed argument.

“Your mother and I kept the truth from you because it’s dangerous to know about it,” Coulson retorted. “What do you think could happen to you or any of the others if someone were to find out you know about SHIELD? You think you’d be able to walk away from that?”
“Does safety excuse lying to your children ?!” Daisy argued.

“We’ve almost lost you once, Daisy! I get that you’re mad and you have every right to be, but after what happened with Johnson, I was not going to take that risk again! If that meant I had to lie to you and your siblings for the rest of our lives, I would have done it!”

Daisy was stunned silent. Coulson had never snapped like that. For a moment she feared his rage might cause a driving error and he’d blindly drive them off the road.

“Whatever,” she mumbled to keep up appearances then angrily started rummaging through her backpack to find her earphones. She, as fast as she could, put on the loudest, angriest music she could find and stared out the window. Coulson huffed and resisted the urge to pull the steering wheel out of its place in his anger. He glanced at the back seats through the mirror and saw one very much startled and very much confused Robbie watching his classmate in no subtle manner. Coulson took a few deep breaths before addressing the boy.

“I’m sorry you had to witness this.”

“It’s alright,” Robbie said sheepishly looking at him now. “Seemed like you needed it.”

“To yell at each other?” Coulson asked kind of jokingly.

“To talk,” Robbie answered with all the seriousness in the world. Coulson remained silent for a moment.

“There will be a food place in about half an hour. Daisy and I can both let out some steam then and hopefully continue this trip in better spirits.” Robbie nodded acknowledgment. “Feel free to plug your ears in until then.”

—

They eventually arrived at the fast-food restaurant where Daisy quickly opted to drown her emotions in the unhealthiest-looking food on the menu. Once they were done eating, Coulson headed outside while Robbie ran to the bathroom before they set off again. After leaving the building, Daisy found her dad by the car. She was reluctant to approach him. The sheer implications of what he had blurted out earlier combined with her still-existent anger kicked up wild emotions that made everything complicated.

“What did you mean you almost lost me?” Daisy eventually asked. “Did- did Cal do something?”

Coulson sighed. This story had been one he and May held onto for years.

“Yes. It was just after we started processing your adoption. Cal found out where we lived. It was just you and Fitzsimmons in our care at the time, which made the whole thing even scarier. Yo-Yo and Mack would have probably fought back.”

“...Fought back?” Daisy repeated.

“Johnson broke into our house and tried to take you. He had to flee as Melinda managed to put a few bullets in him. You might remember it as the night of the robbery.”

Daisy remembered that night. She and Fitzsimmons were all woken to the sound of gunshots and glass shattering. A robbery, they were told and thanked the heavens that May owned a gun. According to their at the time foster parents’ account, the robber didn’t take anything valuable. As soon as the adoption process was finalized, they moved. Daisy stared at Coulson.

“Cal was not in a good mental state. Still isn’t,” Coulson continued. Daisy nodded, fully aware of his statement. “You and the twins were already terrified and we didn’t want to put more on your plate by telling you it was your father or planting the idea in your head that it could happen again, so we said it was a robbery. Over the years, the lie merged with the one about SHIELD.”

Daisy took a heavy breath, trying to release the cavalcade inside her.

“And Melinda and I both aware that lying about SHIELD wasn’t a good call either. At the time, it was strategic. You were all children or pre-teens when you came to us, you didn’t need to know about all that we did. The kills, the aliens, the 0-8-4s, it’s all too much for children. Or so we deemed. Later as you got older, the conversation shifted. To enemies of SHIELD or even SHIELD learning that you know and trying to find out just how much you know. And we feared you all would want to choose this life, which neither of us would truly recommend. Eventually, the lie grew bigger than we planned and we feared there was no going back. I’m not making excuses.  Your mother and I, we both see how we went wrong. But this is the reality of the situation. And if you let us, we want to earn your trust back.”

Daisy listened to every word, her arms crossed, processing it all.

“I suppose I wasn’t fair with you both,” she said eventually. “But you did lie. For year! That will take recovering from,” she warned.

Coulson spread his arms in surrender. “And I’m here to take it one step at a time.”

Soon Rovvie returned, relieved to find his friend and her father breathing the same air and not ripping each other apart.

“Hey! How we doing?” he asked carefully.

“Good to go,” Coulson answered.

“And not currently at each others’ throats,” Daisy added. “Although that might change,” she jested as she moved to get in the car.

“Good,” Robbie concluded, getting in his seat.

“Sorry about earlier,” Daisy said to him.

“Nah, it’s fine. Lived my fair share of family arguments.”

“Yeah, Gabe definitely looks like the argumentative type.”

“You have no idea!”

The trip continued in fairly good spirits, with conversation kept light. By the planned time, they arrived at their lodging at the planned time and got straight to bed, waking up the next morning, ready for their day.

Chapter Text

“You’re a Harry Potter fan?” Coulson asked for clarification as the trio walked down the street. After acquiring their respective items, they went around the city, got dragged into an arcade by Daisy, and now, as it was nearing the evening, they decided to get food. Daisy was leading them all to a Chinese restaurant she saw a good review of online. Somehow, the conversation shifted from the proper technique to hold chopsticks to wands, and Robbie had managed to clarify why some spells in Harry Potter are cast without wands while most are cast with them.

“More Fantastic Beasts, really,” Robbie answered the question.

“Wooow!” Daisy jested.

“What’s wrong with Fantastic Beasts?”

“It’s the Hobbit of the Harry Potter universe,” she answered simply.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not good,” Robbie protested.

“The Hobbit is good too,” Coulson agreed as they turned onto a crosswalk.

“Okay, so what’s next?” Daisy asked, turning back to Robbie. “You’re gonna costum purchase your wand?”

“Eyes forward!” Coulson instructed. Daisy, out of spite, just growled at him and turned all the way around, walking backwards. She had practie walking backwards, this was nothing. Coulson wanted to step in but felt protesting would push Daisy further. They were almost across anyway. Robbie was watching everything behind Daisy so he could act if something or someone came up. Yet the thing that caught his eye came from the periphery of his sight. A speeding car was rushing toward them. Whipping his head to the side, Robbie quickly concluded that whatever drove the car to be speeding toward a red light and a crossing, it wasn’t going to stop. Time almost froze. Robbie could almost hear his own heartbeat. Turning back to his friend, he quickly concluded that she had no idea what was coming. Robbie felt his body move to rush between Daisy and the incoming vehicle. The last thing he remembered was turning back toward the car as the world faded away and his brain blacked out.

—

The world slowly fuzzed back into existence. Robbie felt the burning pain as his flesh regenerated its last bits on his face. He looked around and saw a few terrified faces as they ran away. He looked around and found that he was in a junkyard. Good to know the Rider feels at home at these . Robbie thought sarcastically. There were burn marks and crushed piles around. The Rider definitely got into a fight. Robbie looked himself over. Luckily, he wasn’t covered in blood. At least there was a chance that he didn’t kill anyone. Plus this way he could find Daisy and Coulson without looking suspicious. Unless someone recorded his initial transformation. He did transform in the middle of a busy street after all. He couldn’t remember why exactly. He remembered being overwhelmed with fear and worry. He remembered Daisy on the crossing and- THE CAR! It was going to hit Daisy.

Robbie looked around and spotted a fence. The edge of the yard. He didn’t want to find the entrance. That could have people, maybe the same ones ho had seen him. He could easily climb out, and that’s exactly what he did. He walked further away before stopping and checking his pockets for his phone. Nothing. That’s not good . He needed a way to reach Daisy and Coulson. If they’ll even talk to him after whatever he’s done in that state. He had no idea what he’d done, how long it’d been, or most importantly, where he was. He stood on the street for a while turning in directions, trying to figure out what to do next. When he lost himself near home, at least he knew the city enough to find his way home. He was six hours from there now. Reality quickly set in: he was lost.

—

Coulson and Daisy sped down the streets to get to where Daisy believed Robbie, or the Rider, to be.

“I tracked the Rider to this area. He dropped off the grid after that,” she said as she pocketed her phone.

Coulson came to a halt. “The Rider? Daisy, did you know about this?”

Daisy turned back to look at him. “Are you going to lecture me about secrets now?” she challenged.

Coulson huffed.

“I found your files, I saw the one of Raina, I know about the Index. My friend came to me in confidence with something that might not be Inhuman but certainly something that would get him locked in some SHIELD black site. So yes, I knew, and no, I did not tell you. Or Mom.”

“Daisy…”

“SHIELD can’t know about this, Dad,” Daisy said with desperation.

“You saw what that thing could do,” Coulson tried to reason.

“Yes. It saved my life. And underneath Ghost Rider is a kind, fluffy, hurt, boy who loves cars and Harry Potter, apparently, and who is my closest friend. So I’m not letting you and Mom report him to whatever SHIELD higher-ups so he could be locked away somewhere, never to see his brother or unkle again.”

Coulson paused. “SHIELD will already know. I understand you don’t want Robbie taken away, but the news of this will spread. If not as news, but on the internet. SHIELD will know.”

Daisy visibly panicked. Of course, SHIELD would know. She could not protect him from this. She should’ve just listened to Coulson instead of trying to cross him. She should have just crossed that damn street like a normal person.

Coulson easily read the distant look in his daughter’s eyes.

“Daisy, this isn’t your fault.”

Daisy looked up at him like he had just said the most ridiculous thing ever.

“He turned because of me.”

“He turned because of that car that was coming at you at full speed for whatever reason.” Coulson put a hand on Daisy’s shoulder. “This is not on you. For now, we have to find Robbie. Then we can deal with the rest.”

“Is it even possible to deal with the rest?” Daisy asked hopelessly.

“I don’t know,” Coulson admitted.

—

Robbie walked up to a kind-looking lady.

“Excuse me!” he addressed her as kindly as he could. The lady looked at him.

“I’m sorry to bother you but I got separated from my friends and I lost my phone in one go. I was hoping I could borrow yours to call my friends. I would be quick, I promise.”

The lady grimaced lightly but started going through her bag anyway.

“Thank you!” Robbie said as he was handed the unlocked phone. The lady visibly relaxed a little when he didn’t run off with it but actually started dialing a number.

Robbie dialed Daisy and waited. He feared the reasons she didn’t immediately pick up. He didn’t remember anything after moving between her and the car. Maybe his efforts were in vain, and she was lying in a hospital somewhere. Maybe her phone was busted. But then she answered.

“ Hello? ”

“Daisy, it’s Robbie.”

“ Robbie? ” There was no small amount of worry, relief, and surprise in her voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got myself lost,” he tried to describe his situation without letting the woman know what it truly was. He looked for a street sign and gave his location to Daisy.

“ Alright. Stay there! We’re on our way. ” Daisy reported. She quickly ended the call, and Robbie could almost see her start running. He handed the phone back to the lady, thanking her again. The woman walked off, and Robbie remained under the street sign and waited anxiously. Daisy and Coulson quickly appear around the corner. Robbie hoisted himself away from the wall he was leaning against. Good thing too, as Daisy came immediately running up to him, wrapping her arms around his body. She let out a relieved breath. Robbie returned his embrace, equally relieved to see she was alright.

Once they let go, Robbie spotted Coulson eyeing the both of them from a few strides away. He seemed unsure about his reaction to everything that just happened. He turned to Daisy.

“What did I do?” he asked with no small amount of fear and pain in his face.

“You saved me,” Daisy said simply.

“But after that. I lost control. I need to know what I did while the other guy was in charge.”

“You don’t remember?” Coulson asked. Robbie hesitated to respond.

“I usually do. The Rider doesn’t take over all the way. But sometimes, when it’s big emotions that trigger it, I black out. I don’t remember what I did.”

“Not too much damage, luckily.”

Daisy checked her phone. “It’s been almost four hours,” she concluded.

“We should head back to the lodging,” Coulson suggested. “Warm up, calm down, see what we can find.”

“I can get started on covering this thing up,” Daisy volunteered.

“How are you gonna do that?” Robbie asked.

“No one who hasn’t seen this with their own eyes will believe it. I can add fuel to that fire,” Daisy answered proudly.

“And I’ll call SHIELD, see what they can do,” Coulson said.

“Bad idea.”

“We’ve been over this.”

“It’s still a bad idea,” Daisy mumbled as she started walking. Coulson waited for Robbie and put his arm around the boy’s back, hoping to be comforting. It was clear that Robbie was beyond shaken by this situation.

They all made it back to their lodgings. Coulson ordered Pizza as everyone had skipped out on dinner, then went outside to make a call. In the meantime, Daisy was furiously arguing people online over whether the recorded flame-headed guy was real.

“You don’t have to do this,” Robbie said to her casually. Daisy looked up at her friend. How calm he seemed about it scared her. Not really calm, actually, more used to the situation. He described it as rare, but it’s clearly happened enough that he was not surprised by it. Mike’s burn marks flashed into Daisy’s mind.

“Has the Rider ever- killed anyone?” she asked carefully. Robbie nodded.

“Plenty. Its thing is penance. Most of the time, I can fight it. But when I lose myself like today…”

There was a beat.

“You should know, SHIELD tracks powered individuals. Coulson is calling them now, and they…”

“They’ll lock me up, won’t they?” Daisy’s eyes alone gave the answer. “They should,” Robbie said simply, much to Daisy’s horror.

“No,” was all she could say.

Coulson eventually came back in with a troubled expression. Robbie and Daisy were sitting on their respective beds, staring ahead, Robbie devoid of emotion, Daisy full of anger. The Inhuman immediately looked at her father as he entered.

“SHIELD will cover this up,” Coulson said. “Whoever remains that saw the events with their own eyes, not many will believe them.” He turned to Robbie. “Two turned up dead,” he said quietly. Robbie nodded, still emotionless, but Coulson could see a glimpse of the pain behind his eyes.

“They said we can go home, but they will come, and Robbie will have to be taken in.”

“No!” Daisy exclaimed.

“Daisy…”

“They should take me in!” Robbie raised his voice. “You might not wanna see it, Daisy, but I’m dangerous! You heard him! Two are dead! And that’s just today! Heaven only knows how you’ve never ended up hurt by me! Or Eli and Gabe! SHIELD should lock me up! At least that way, people would be safe from me!”

“ You did not do anything! That was the Rider! He is dangerous! You are not! And you do not deserve to be locked in some government facility!”

“Clearly, that is not up to any of us!”

“Not if I can help it,” Coulson declared, earning both kids’ attention. “There is no way we’re letting them take you, Robbie.” Robbie tried to protest, but Coulson spoke before he could. “You can argue all you want, but I’m not letting it happen. And more importantly, Daisy is not letting it happen. You’ve had plenty enough time with her to learn that she isn’t going to let up on this.”

Robbie glanced at his friend. Coulson was right. Neither he nor SHIELD had a chance against the girl. Whether he liked it or not, and he really didn’t, she was going to fight for him. And one way or another, she was going to win.

—

Two days later, Robbie was home, as was Daisy, and the hard part had started. Coulson and May both stood in Victoria Hand’s office, Coulson furiously arguing while May stood back as quiet but terrifying support to her husband.

“This isn’t just some Inhuman or Enhanced individual, Coulson,” Hand argued calmly, but those who knew her saw beyond the disguise. She was pissed. “This thing is a killer. If the stories are to be believed, it’s not the first time it’s killed either.”

“Yes, the Rider is a killer, but its host, Robbie, he’s just a kid. He’s in high school. We can’t just take him away from everything he knows and detain him!” Coulson argued back.

“Yes, we can. And that is what we are going to do. Because that is SHIELD policy. I’ll send someone for Index Asset Evaluation. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take that up with the Director.” Hand thought she had played the ace, but the way May and Coulson’s faces both shifted with silent realization, she realized she had made a mistake bringing the director up.

“Coulson,” she tried warning him away before May cut in.

“We’re fine here!” she said simply, moving toward the door. “Phil! Come on!”

Coulson tore him away from the meeting room.

“So, we’re talking to Fury, right?” he asked as they walked away.

“Yup.”

“You can’t expect me to bend the rules every time you hit a problem, Coulson,” Fury said from his desk.

“Can I- enter, at least?” Coulson asked from the door. Fury looked at him with his usual death glare. Coulson came in, May behind him. They both acknowledged Romanoff in the room, although neither was happy about her presence.

“News travels fast within these walls. I knew about this Enhanced killer of yours before you even got back,” Fury answered the unasked question.

“Can we set the record straight first?” Coulson tried.

“Two personalities,” Fury stated simply. He opened a drawer and pulled out a file.

“Roberto Reyes. Lives with uncle Elias Morrow and brother Gabriel Reyes. That thing he transformed into is called Ghost Rider. I know all there is to know, Coulson.” Fury laced his fingers over his desk, staring at Coulson in front of him, challenging him to make an argument he hadn’t before to convince him. Crossing their lines of sight was May and Romanoff’s quiet staring contest, both serving as the scary dog backing their men. Coulson knew he wasn’t winning this fight.

“Sir, I made my arguments. I know you’ve heard them from Hand and Sitwell. I don’t have anything more to say. Robbie deserves to remain free and with his family.”

“And can you guarantee that the Ghost Rider won’t be a problem again?”

“...No. I can’t. Robbie doesn’t have total control over it. He can fight it, but not always. And no, I don’t know if he can be gotten rid of either.”

Fury didn’t dignify that with a response.

“Sir?” May spoke up more softly than any in the room would have expected. They all turned to her. “Could he at least be evaluated at our place? His family doesn’t know about the Rider,” she requested. Her voice was quiet. There was something in it that revealed that while she was the quiet resilience this entire time, she was truly shaken by everything that happened and what seemed inevitable. Fury’s expression softened slightly. There was silence.

“Robbie or Rider,” Natasha spoke up this time, “you have let killers go free before.” Fury switched his attention to his greatest spy. Previously an assassin. Fury looked back down at Robbie’s file in front of him. Suspense filled the room once again. He then looked up at Coulson.

“Do you have anyone who can vouch for Mister Reyes’ character?” he asked. Hope lit up in both Coulson and May.

“Yes! Our daughter, Daisy. She’s been friends with him for quite a while. She knew about the Rider, too, before the accident happened.”

“And does she understand why all of this needs to be kept secret?”

“More than you know,” May answered.

Fury nodded slightly.

“The boy is your responsibility,” he looked at Coulson, then May. “He will have an assessment and be put on the Index. I want reports. And rest assured, if this Ghost Rider gets out of hand, we will get involved. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes, Sir!” the two answered in unison.

“Good! Now get out of my office! You have a kid to check on.”

Coulson nodded, and he and May both left the office, finally letting their masks of composure down.

“Why do this to them?” Natasha asked, amused.

“It’s fun to see them sweat a little,” Fury answered.

—

“Wait, so Robbie gets to stay?” Daisy asked for clarification. She had immediately assaulted her parents when they got home. Robbie was also there, standing in the back, waiting for the verdict.

“Yes,” Coulson confirmed. Daisy squealed with joy before wrapping her arms around Coulson, much to his surprise. Daisy let go just as quickly and went to hug May, too.

“This might not be permanent,” May reminded. She looked at Robbie. “If the Rider gets too out of hand, they will come for him. You.”

Robbie nodded.

“Until that happens, if that happens,” Coulson added, trying not to focus on the worst-case scenario, “we’ll be checking in regularly. SHIELD will want updates, but that shouldn’t be too much trouble, I hope.”

“Thank you both,” Robbie said genuinely. He has done some thinking since their time in Rochester and concluded that as much as he feared his actions as the Ghost Rider, he did not want to be locked in some government facility, never to see Gabe, Eli, or Daisy again, never to argue with Mike, or piss off Bobby ever again. It wasn’t easy to admit. His fear was greater than his desire. Daisy encouraged him to look at the now, this exact moment, saying that’s what she has done after terrigenesis. The only thing that proved stronger than her fear of her own powers when it came to identifying her wants and needs was the here and now. And in the here and now, Robbie felt genuine gratitude for the agents for keeping him out of a holding cell.

Chapter Text

That day was coming up. That day that could bring fun for the Adopted Household, but just as much aggravation as well. Valentine’s Day. Yo-Yo and Daisy would usually find ways to mess with people, Fitzsimmons couldn’t go two minutes before getting into a rant about what Valentine’s Day was originally about, Mack would find a way to give a gift or card to every living soul, and Deke would somehow end up trying to pursue a new crush every year.

The painful part was Grant Ward. In his delusion, he tried every year to have Daisy as his date. And every year Daisy would have to find more and more elaborate ways to ditch him since they were kids. And after a short break from all that, it was coming back again. The moment their homeroom teacher first uttered the words “Valentine’s Day is approaching”, Ward was at it again. Mike even joked that Daisy’s Christmas gift clearly failed at its job.

The worst part was the Valentine's event that the school was always hosting. It wasn’t a full-on dance, of which fact there were mixed opinions. It was more of a fundraiser event. A few classes each year would be tasked with sales. Valentine’s cards were sold every year, but each class would somehow find a way to bring something else too, like decorations or cookies. There was also a delivery service, wherein one could, for a price, have a card or gift delivered by the assigned class, thus allowing students to give each other anonymous declarations.

This the siblings were stoked about, and quickly started making plans on what to do with it. They were less excited to find out, however, about the unwritten tradition that existed only among the students. A tradition to find an official date for Valentine’s Day. It didn’t sound like much, until the siblings, and all other first-time students, were explained that news you might not even say out loud travels fast, and to not have a date for Valentine’s Day was like a death sentence and a major blow to popularity. The tradition went so far that every class had an assigned person whose job it was to find and photograph every pair in their respective class. The school bulletin board would then feature a “Valentine’s Most Memorable Dates” section for a week. And of course, the dateless ones would be spoken of long after the fact.

May was quick to point out how the school managed to turn the holiday of love into a reason for bullying, after the kids all took turns cutting each other off trying to explain the rules. Fitzsimmons were nervous about the whole thing. They did not want to be Dateless Ones and picked on. Ruby Hale was already on them all the time, and of course, they were the science kids, smarter than their class. Yo-Yo was convinced she could easily get a date, as was Deke. In reality, only one of them was correct about such confidence. Mack didn’t really care about unspoken rules of popularity. Fitz, however, pointed out how he was big and scary and would never become the subject of mockery even if he were a Dateless One. Lastly, Daisy was more concerned about having to dodge Ward again than some popularity-based date contest.

She did, however, get an idea the following day while in class. So she turned to Mike.

“So, if I get a date for Valentine’s Day, news of that would spread and get others to lay off, right?”

“Yeah,” Mike answered after a pause. He wasn’t sure where this had come from, but wasn’t entirely surprised Daisy would be interested in the date popularity.

“That could either get Ward to back off or get pissed at me,” Daisy thought out loud. Mike located Ward with his eyes.

“I vote for pissed.”

“Either way, it would communicate to him that I am taken. At least for Valentine’s Day.”

“I take it, he’s extra annoying this time of the year.”

“He’s annoying all times of the year, but yes. He somehow manages to crank it up during the holiday of love.” Daisy was clearly annoyed. “I have long concluded that a boyfriend might be the only thing that might deter him.”

“But you’ve never had a boyfriend.”

“None that he’s met,” Daisy clarified.

“Well, then, I suppose a Valentine’s date is what you need.”

Daisy cocked her head. “Are you giving in to the peer pressure? Or are you letting yourself be targeted by the bullies?”

“Daisy, I’m black and I have a burn mark over my face. The bullies already target me. I couldn’t care less what they think about me not having a date.”

“Solid argument. Fitzsimmons had the opposite conclusion. And now they’re in a panic because there’s no way they could get dates before Valentine’s Day.”

“Sounds tough on them,” Mike sympathized. “They’re not the only ones either. Plenty of students at the bottom of the school’s hierarchy go through the same thing. Some ask each other to be dates, most are too scared to.”

Daisy felt truly bad for those students, the bottom of the food chain, picked on or overlooked by the popular students, not even able to avoid shame on this day. Suddenly, her mother’s musings felt heavier. Those students had nothing and were about to have even less, while no doubt, the Most Memorable Dates would be the popular kids’ pairings.

—

Daisy walked up to Robbie at his locker.

“Hey!” Robbie greeted somewhat melancholically.

“Do you have a date for Valentine’s Day?” Daisy asked right out of the gate, causing Robbie’s brain to short-circuit.

“What?” was all he could ask.

“It’s not a difficult question, Reyes.” Daisy took pleasure in his expression.

“No,” Robbie managed to answer, not sure if he wanted to know what would follow it. “Why?”

“I’m doing a survey,” Daisy declared. “There’s plenty of kids in this school, and any school, for that matter, who might want but can’t get a date. And in this school, specifically, it got turned into a contest. A game of shame and respect.”

“Right. So you’re trying to find out who the targets of bullies will be after Valentine’s Day?” Robbie questioned.

“I’m trying to make sure the bullies don’t have anyone to target. If I can gather those who want dates but can’t get one, I can set up a service where they can find dates in each other.”

“I see. Must admit, I’ve never seen anyone think of something like this. Glad to see you recognize me as the bottom of the food chain, though.” Robbie remarked. “It shockingly hasn’t harmed your reputation yet.”

“Even if it did harm it, I would not split from you. You’re stuck with me!” Daisy joked endearingly. “So, wanna help me find the rest of the bottom?”

“Might not be the most socially accepted person in school, but I’m happy to help however I can.”

“Cool! You can start by clarifying if I should put you on this list,” Daisy said eagerly. Robbie paused, mulling over his options. Then he sighed.

“It would be nice to avoid another year of being a Dateless One.”

Daisy was almost too excited to write his name in her notebook.

—

Daisy trotted back into the classroom and took her seat next to Mike again.

“I talked to some of the people, and the others are going to collect as many names from their classes as they can,” she reported.

“You’re really doing this.” Mike looked over the papers, recognizing some of his classmates' names.

“Yes, I am,” Daisy declared. “I’ve seen too many social hierarchies and I have been left before on the bottom. You think becoming this cool came out of nowhere?” she joked. “I’m not letting this school turn what is supposed to be a day for love into a popularity contest.”

“Dating everywhere is for teens is a popularity contest,” Mike pointed out.

“But we can still make sure people aren’t left in the dust. The ones that can’t get dates are already bullied. Why not give them a chance to avoid this whole situation?”

“In that case, you’ll want Triplett on your side.”

Daisy located the boy with her eyes, casually chatting with some guys.

“The students trust him, he’s easy to talk to. Students will confide in him more than the new girl.”

—

“Trip!” Daisy called out to the boy after school.

“Hey! Got another ugly sweater contest that needs judging?” Trip joked.

“I wish, but no. My request, however, is no less of a noble vein.”

“Okay.”

“I am trying to cut down the number of kids that will get bullied for being Dateless Ones this year and I was hoping I could ask for your help to find who might not have dates but would want one.”

“Here for a few months and already trying to change the school. Impressive,” Trip said with genuine admiration. “Of course, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is to find all who want dates but wouldn’t be able to get one by just walking up to a person and asking them. And then they could all find dates among one another. Might not be romantic, but they could have official pairs and avoid the Dateless Ones ruling, thus letting them be free of the shame that would normally follow for them. I’ve got help, but I feel like I’d get further with you. You’re easy to confide in.”

“I like it. But might I suggest something even better?”

“Better how?” Daisy tilted her head.

“I’m the photographer this year for our class,” Trip explained, “and as such, I will be part of the discussion about the Valentine’s Most Memorable Dates display after the fact.”

“It’s the photographers doing that?”

“Yup. I’ll talk to the other photographers, and if we can get enough of those matches to end up on the display, as opposed to the popular kids, that would not only disrupt the school hierarchy, but turn it on its head.”

Daisy’s eyes lit up. “You’re my new favorite person in the world.”

“Nah! That’s always gonna be Robbie,” Trip said simply. “Anyhow, we got four days to do this. Valentine’s Day is next Tuesday.”

“Six days, if you count the weekends,” Daisy added. “Although I’m not sure what we can accomplish over the weekends.”

“One last suggestion? Gather those as well who don’t want dates, but are willing to help out the little guys. We might get more done.”

—

Daisy dropped her backpack with a quick hello before practically falling into her chair, and pulling out a notebook.

“You’ve been busy,” Robbie noted.

“The list expanded with names from all the others,” Daisy reported. “And I started a separate list, as per Trip’s suggestion, of people who might not want dates but are willing to take one regardless to help this cause.”

“Do these people know why you’re asking these questions?”

“Not yet,” Daisy admitted. “I want to have that be the last thing. Everyone is saying how easily information is intercepted and spread. Jemma already mentioned how her classmate is on her tail for asking around. If the entire plan spreads around school, the very people we are trying to humble with this will likely turn against us and do what they can to shut us down.”

“You might wanna lower your voice then,” Robbie suggested gently. “And let me handle that bit.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow at him.

“When people don’t pay attention to you, you can gather more information than they’d believe. But you can also spread it,” he explained. “I can go around letting people know of what’s happening without it getting to the bullies.”

“Yes! You’re the best.”

“The only risk there is that others might not be that practiced in such things.”

“So this could also be a teaching moment. But maybe we can reduce the risk by not doing that for now.”

“Then when?”

“Friday,” Daisy declared. “Today and tomorrow, we’re collecting names. Friday, you spread the agenda. On Monday the latest, people can pair up. By Tuesday, hopefully our list will be riddled down.”

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan.” Robbie held up his fist. Daisy bumped hers against his.

“Let’s turn the school upside down!”

—

Robbie and everyone who knew him were surprised to see him as excited as he became in the matter of a day. Especially seeing how low he was since he got back from his road trip with Daisy and Coulson. But even before that, he was the student sitting at the back of the class, arriving quietly, doing his work, and going home before anyone really registered it. At home, he was more himself, but the quiet melancholy that came with his school status and the terrifying power lying within him followed him regardless. So when he returned home, rather excited, Eli and Gabe were both curious to hear what had happened.

Some of the students were equally curious to know what happened when Robbie walked into the school building with his head held high and a genuine smile on his face. He didn’t usually let himself take up space. After being cast into the shadows by his peers, and especially after the Ghost Rider, it was easy to stay there and scary to do anything that might draw attention to himself. But for the first time in years, he allowed himself to be visible, even if it was through something as small as a smile. His part of the plan was not in motion yet, but he could always support Daisy. Her, he would probably find somewhere in the halls. They didn’t start their day in the same class.

Sure enough, Daisy was in the halls, near her first classroom of the day, with Ward.

“I’m sure we will make it to the Most Memorable Dates deploy,” Ward mused.

“ We will not, because I’m not having you as my date,” Daisy declared remarkably patiently.

“Come on, Skye! We all know you’re just denying how you really feel about me.”

“I am not denying anything,” the anger started to rise, “I am telling the truth. As I have for years.”

Ward crossed his arms. “Even if that were true, you don’t have a date. You need me.”

“How do you know I don’t have a date?” Daisy challenged, matching his posture. Ward cocked his eyebrow.

“You remember how they were at our old school,” he said with fake concern. “You don’t want to end up there again, do you? Let me help you avoid that fate.”

“Do we have a problem here?” Robbie cut in. He only heard a fragment of what Ward said, but he knew enough of him to know what this was about. Ward and Daisy both turned to him, Daisy in relief, Ward defensively.

“That’s none of your business,” Ward said coldly.

“It becomes my business when you’re bothering my friend,” Robbie said calmly, but no less sternly.

“I’m not bothering her.”

“Yes, you are,” Daisy shot, deadpan. “Now if you could leave…”

Ward looked at Daisy and then at Robbie, sensing that his presence truly wasn’t welcome. He eyed Robbie with as threatening a look as he could master.

“Watch yourself! I don’t like when nobodies but into my business.”

“How does ‘nobody’ but into anything?” Robbie asked simply. Ward paused for a moment before walking off. Daisy turned victoriously to her friend. Robbie’s smile returned to his face.

“My hero. You certainly are a sight for sore eyes.”

Robbie welcomed the comment wordlessly.

“He won’t stop till Valentine’s Day, will he?” he asked about Ward. Daisy glanced after the jerk.

“Bold of you to assume he’ll stop after,” she remarked. “If I actually had a date, that might at least help deter him.”

“You are dedicating the whole week to finding people dates,” Robbie pointed out quietly, but no less excited.

“I see you’re eager about that,” Daisy said with a triumphant smile.

“This is by far the best thing I’ve seen anyone do since I’ve been here. Of course, I’m eager to help see it through.”

“And we’ll ensure a date for you, too,” Daisy promised.

“I’m not sure about ‘ensure’, but I appreciate you trying.”

—

Robbie came over to the Adopted House for the weekend, along with Gabe for the first time ever. Eli was working for the weekend, and Robbie didn’t want Gabe to remain alone at home. He took time to explain the most important things about the family. Mostly their crazy, always chaotic nature, how everyone was adopted out of insane pasts, and that Yo-Yo and Daisy were both Inhumans. Robbie trusted Gabe with that secret. If anyone knew how to keep a secret, it was his brother. And knowing the household, they probably would’ve ended up revealing it anyway.

When arriving at the place, Coulson took time to apologize for the upstairs being unavailable to Gabe. The brothers ended up hanging out in the living room with Daisy, Mack, and Yo-Yo. Deke was out, and Fitzsimmons came and went. Daisy was, of course, engaged in the chats and games, but also frequently responded to notifications, talking with someone. She would then grab a notebook, she kept close, and write some things down.

“Who are you talking to?” Gabe asked eventually. Daisy looked at him and then back down at her phone.

“One moment, please!” she declared before hurriedly writing to the other person and putting the phone down, waiting for a response. Robbie couldn’t help but check the screen.

“Some kids from school,” Daisy answered. “I don’t know if Robbie told you about our little Valentine’s mission.”

“Every detail,” Gabe smiled smugly at his brother. Daisy found that rather amusing.

“It’s important. How could I not talk about it?” Robbie defended himself.

“Anyway, we are currently in the matching people for dates phase of the plan and remembered that online contacts is a thing, so I’m just managing some of that stuff.” Daisy held up her notebook to show the records she was keeping. Then, as if on cue, the phone let out a ding, letting Daisy know there was a response. She picked up the phone, read the message, smiled, typed out a quick response, and then went for the notebook.

“Can I see what we’ve got already?” Robbie asked. Daisy wordlessly handed the notebook over, and Robbbie started going through it.

“She’s been at this all week,” Yo-Yo said to Gabe.

“So has Robbie,” he answered.

“This is important,” Daisy said.

“No one’s saying it isn’t, Trummers,” Mack cut in. “But it’s been a while since you were this into something.”

“Are we ever finishing this game?” Yo-Yo outstretched her arms over the discarded cards.

“I have no idea,” Daisy answered.

“I just have one more question about all this,” Gabe declared. Daisy and Robbie’s eyes turned to him. “Are either of you looking for dates with this?”

Yo-Yo perked up, sensing potential drama. Robbie’s eyes returned to the notebook, but he didn’t read anything. Daisy glanced at him and then back at Gabe’s expectant expression. She understood that teasing Robbie talked about now.

“Well, I need to get one to deter Ward.”

“He’s an old nuisance,” Mack explained.

“The only way I can think of to get him off my back, at least for now, is to have a date. And Robbie is hoping to avoid further bullying.”

“Why not just have each other as dates?” Yo-Yo asked. Robbie and Daisy both looked at her, surprised.

“Exactly what I was going to ask,” Gabe agreed.

“That way, both your problems are solved.”

Daisy and Robbie now looked at each other.

“How did we not think of that?” Daisy asked. Robbie just shrugged.

“We could do it,” he said simply.

“It’s a date!” Daisy held out her hand dramatically. Robbie shook it, and the deal was sealed.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Trip!” Daisy greeted.

“Hey, Warrior of Justice!” Trip said warmly. “How’s the date hunt going?”

“Better than expected. I have an official date now,” Daisy explained proudly. Trip raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise.

“That’s great. Who is it?”

“Robbie.”

“That’s bold,” Trip pointed out, well aware of both participants’ social standing in the school.

“I know what people say about him,” Daisy said seriously. “And I don’t care if this damages my standing in the social hierarchy. Robbie is my friend, and I’d much rather have him as a date than anyone else.”

It didn’t take a genius to see that Daisy had grown protective of Robbie long before now. If what she said could be believed, she was Robbie before. Which made both her friendship with him and her current agenda perfectly understandable.

“It’s good for him to have a friend like you,” Trip pointed out.

“Thanks!” Daisy would’ve upheld the conversation, but unfortunately, class was starting soon.

It was the last day. Fitzsimmons and Yo-Yo were making final rounds to make sure no one was left off the lists. Meanwhile, Robbie and Daisy split up to make matches. Trip remarked that no one in the school would be able to deny that the two deserved a place on the Most Memorable Valentine’s Dates board. The assigned classes were making final preparations for the following day, and the photographers made sure to have enough storage space to take all the best photos.

Daisy was just done chatting with one from her list, when she heard a thundering voice from the hallway.

“Skye!”

Daisy sighed and turned to face a really, really angry Ward. He marched straight up to her. Some students scidaddled and some came closer. The drama was about to start.

“What is this about Reyes?” he asked, failing to contain his anger.

“Robbie? What about Robbie?” Daisy decided to act dumb. She enjoyed having pissed Ward off.

“Don’t play dumb! Why are people saying that he is your date for tomorrow?”

“Ohhh! That! Because he is.” Daisy could see the anger rising in Ward.

“Why him?!”

“Because I actually like him, and would gladly spend the day as his date.” She wasn’t scared of him. He could hurt her, yes, but he wouldn’t do it here, in school, in front of everyone, where the word might even reach his parents. So she stood up tall, and made a mental note to not be walking home alone.

“You could have had me as a date,” Ward spat in response. “I could have saved you from the lows being a Dateless One brings. Lifted your standing. Instead, you went and made it worse by choosing that degenerate as your official date!”

Now Daisy was pissed. She let her anger show, but remained talking evenly and adding an extra chill to her voice.

“First of all, call Robbie a degenarate again and you will swiftly learn why Mack calls me ‘Trummers’. And trust me, that is not something you want to learn the hard way.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

“Second!” Daisy pressed for what she needed to say. “I’m going to put this into terms you can understand. I don’t care about my social standing in this damn school. I have my friends and I have my siblings, and unlike you brainless, insecure, popularity chasing morrons, I don’t need to be praised by a bunch of undeveloped humans to feel good about myself. And what’s even more important: even if I did care about my standing, I certainly would not use you to climb that ladder. I would rather die than be your date or girlfriend.”

“You’re going to regret this, Skye.”

Daisy cut him off. “MY NAME IS DAISY!”

Ward stood wordlessly for a moment. Then he spoke coldly.

“Somehow, you managed to avoid being cast out by these people for being friends with Reyes, but being his date for Valentine’s Day will leave a scar on your reputation that you will never recover from.”

“I wear my scars proudly,” Daisy replied with matching chill.

“Once this is over, they are going to target you, and you will wish you had listened to me.”

Daisy got up as close as she possibly could. “In your dreams.”

Ward had no reply. He stared Daisy down for a moment before turning and walking away. Daisy watched him walk in the same direction he came. Then she looked around at the surrounding students.

“Go ahead and tell everyone,” she told them. “Maybe the gossip of his public rejection spreading will give him an idea of the truth.”

The students all dispersed. Some had the distinct look of drama-loving on their face, off to tell every living soul what just happened. Some seemed scared. Of her or of Ward, Daisy couldn’t tell.

—

To everyone’s surprise, an older student confidently walked up to and came into the classroom. Daisy, Robbie, and Mike immadiatelly recognized Mack who was searching for a surprised but not at all confused Daisy by scanning the classroom.

“Daisy!” he walked up with anger-consealed-concern, trying to keep his voice low. Daisy stood to meet him.

“What did you do?!”

“I set Ward straight,” Daisy said on her regular volume, not afraid to let this spread.

“You pissed off Ward!” Mack tried not to yell.

“I’m aware.”

“So why would you do it? You know what he’s capable of.”

“You might not get it, but I have been living with the nightmare of Ward since we were children. I don’t care how capable he is of fighting. I am, too. I did what I had to to try and get him off my goddamn back for once!”

“He won’t do anything in school, but you and I both know what he’s capable of outside of it,” Mack warned.

“Ward is a danger outside of school?” The two turned to see Robbie had walked up. Mike also stood from his seat and moved around the desk to become part of the group.

“Ward is a danger everywhere where he can't be caught,” Mack explained. “He comes from the kind of family that raises violent assholes with no concern for others.”

“That checks out,” Mike remarked. Mack turned back to Daisy.

“I am waiting for you to finish your day and walking you home,” he declared, not accepting any pushback.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Robbie agreed.

“Fine. But I don’t regret what I did.”

Mack looked at Robbie, then Mike. “You two, keep an eye on her!”

“As much as it is possible,” Mike replied. Robbie just nodded. Mack walked out, satisfied.

“I don’t need to be kept an eye on while in school,” Daisy spat.

“That was pretty stupid, though,” Robbie remarked.

“I can’t help but agree,” Mike said. “Making Grant Ward your enemy is not a good idea.”

“Yeah, well, I’d rather have him as an enemy than the delusional morron following my every step because he cannot take ‘no’ for an answer.”

The boys had nothing to say to that.

“Yeah, well, I fear your brother about as much as Ward, so I’m keeping an eye on you,” Mike said, then sat back down.

“Whatever,” Daisy mumbled before turning to Robbie. “And you?” she asked in an accusatory tone. Robbie just smiled.

“You can protect yourself.” His smile grew. “But after your confrontation, the word on our pairing up picked up.” Daisy was curious now. “People are now debating whether ours is a romantic pairing or a necessity pairing.” Robbie was eating this up. Daisy, too, couldn’t help but smile mischievously. She liked drama, but being part of the drama in such a way, especially after dealing with Ward, felt especially rewarding.

—

“We’re back!” Daisy called as she and Mack walked in the door.

“Who’s we?” May asked from the living room.

“Daisy and me,” Mack answered. May emerged as the two hung up their coats to say hi.

“So, how was school?” she asked, not entirely sure of the energy she’d be met with.

“Daisy got into a fight with Ward,” Mack stated, still very much protective.

“ Verbal fight,” Daisy emphasised. “And did you have to open with that?”

“From what I heard, it was moments away from becoming an actual fight.”

“Even Grant Ward isn’t stupid enough to openly pick a fight in the middle of the hallway.”

“What happened?” May cut in. She grew worried, too. Ward was a lot of things, but safe wasn’t one of them.

“That damn holiday happened!” Mack reported. “Because god forbid Daisy let something happen!”

“My plans for that stupid dating game had nothing to do with this! I wanted Ward off my back. It’s not my fault that his ego and delusions are so large that he can’t accept the truth!”

“Guys!” May shouted.

“Whatever,” Mack mumbled. “You’ve made your bed. Hope you’re ready to lie in it.” He grabbed his bag and went upstairs.

“This isn’t dealing with the conflict, Mack!” May called after him, hands crossed, knowing she’d have to step in later. There was no reply. May then looked at Daisy.

“I made sure that Robbie being my date tomorrow got out and got to Ward,” she explained. “It’s the only way I never tried to try and get him to leave me alone. He got pissed off in a way I wasn’t expecting. I merely told him the truth. I do not care to be his date.”

“What was his response to that?” May tried to assess the situation. Daisy knew May had experience with situations like these, and after the SHIELD revelation, it made even more sense. If she was asking these questions, Daisy did best to answer.

“He said I’d regret not choosing him and that choosing Robbie is going to leave a scar I would not recover from.”

May mulled over those words.

“These are empty threats for now. Ward has a history of violence, but he’s never hurt you.”

“I have also never shattered his delusions,” Daisy pointed out. May nodded in acknowledgement.

“He’s not gonna do anything to physically hurt you in school, that’s for sure. He’s smarter than that.”

“Mike is keeping an eye on me in school,” Daisy rolled her eyes, “and I don’t think Mack will ever let me walk home alone from school again.”

“Good. That will deter him for now. We can only hope that this dies down once Valentine’s Day passes. So don’t fan the flames.”

“I’ll try.” Daisy understood that there was danger. Not that she couldn’t take Ward in a fight. But she’d risk exposing her powers. And he would definitely report her. And even if all that wasn’t at play, her family worried about her.

“If you excuse me, there’s still some time for matches to be made.”

May nodded, and Daisy took off to her room.

—

Daisy trotted happily into school despite the previous day’s events. The school yard was buzzing. In most other schools, this was but a slightly more special school day. Here, dates of all varieties were planning their official photo, talking about who might end up on the Most Memorable Dates display, and talking about who would or would not buy the sold Valentine’s cards.

Daisy quickly spotted Robbie, unusually standing outside, leaning against the wall with a bright smile. He saw Daisy and co enter and waved at them. Daisy peeled off from her siblings and went to join her date instead.

“Hey!”

“Morning!” Robbie looked around. “Finally, you get to enjoy the fruits of your labour.”

“Our labour,” Daisy corrected. “I could not have done half as much without  you.”

“Our labour then,” Robbie agreed. “Either way, today should be historic.”

“I don’t know about historic. But hopefully a little less miserable for the school.”

Inside, in the halls, the sales tables were already set up, and the assigned class was making final adjustments. The delivery people were marked with small paper cut-out hearts strapped to their shirts, lingering by the tables from where they could be commissioned. And of course, there were those who were boasting about the dates they secured or gossiped about who might be the Dateless Ones. Daisy even caught a snippet of conversation about how there was no way that one kid in their class actually got a date. She shared a proud smile with Robbie.

In between classes, the photographers took their photos. As Daisy learned, those who secured dates outside of their class would be photographed twice, by the photographers of both people’s classes. Daisy spent her day lingering by the sales tables and witnessed quite a few photos taken, including Jemma’s, who paired up with Flint. Flint didn’t particularly care about the whole deal but felt he owed Fitzsimmons for convincing their parents to keep Zari, so he didn’t have to say goodbye, and he figured helping them be saved from the humiliation of being a Dateless One would be a good way to repay them. He joined Simmons and talked to another classmate he vaguely knew, Abby, who agreed to be Fitz’s date. She didn’t want to remain Dateless either.

Of course, there were a lot of cards bought, messages sent, and love songs playing from a Bluetooth speaker set up by one of the sales tables. The regular noise of the school was suddenly infused with a different vibe that was all, or mostly, about the holiday of love.

Daisy’s enjoyment of the excitement-enfused chaos was disturbed when she heard Trip call out to her. Locating the source of the sound in the chaos, she spotted Trip and Robbie walking up. They still needed to be photographed.

“It’s time for our photo?” she asked.

“Yup,” Trip answered simply. “You guys good here, or do you wanna go somewhere else?”

Daisy looked at Robbie.

“I feel like here is good. Amid the subjects of all our hard work,” Robbie remarked, smiling at Daisy.

“Good for me.”

“Great!”

Daisy and Robbie stood beside each other, and Daisy rested her arm on Robbie’s shoulder.

“You can’t even reach that high,” Robbie jested.

“Oh, you wanna start that fight?” Daisy threw back.

“Gladly.” They didn’t even notice the picture taken in the meantime. Trip felt the moment of banter captured would make a far better photo than any set-up pose they would do.

“Perfect,” he announced, earning their attention. “What do you guys think?” Trip handed Robbie the phone, and he and Daisy looked through the few pictures taken. Her hand still rested on Robbie’s shoulder, at a much more comfortable angle now.

“These are great!” Daisy declared.

“Yeah,” Robbie agreed, slightly embarrassed that he got caught up in banter, as he handed the phone back.

“Cool!” Trip took it. “Then, unfortunately, I gotta go. I have to find Ward next.”

“Of course he’d find a last-minute date,” Daisy rolled her eyes. “He’d be damned before he were a Dateless One.”

“Today’s not about him,” Robbie said. “You accomplished something big. That is far more deserving of your attention.”

“Reyes is right,” Trip agreed. “I’ve taken pictures of people who have never been in photos before. And you did that.”

“You guys are right. The Ward headache can wait until tomorrow.”

“Alright, well, see you guys in class!” Trip said his goodbye.

“Speaking of class, I have a few very important cards to purchase before class,” Daisy said to Robbie.

“Go ahead. I’ll be in the classroom.”

“See you there!”

With that, Daisy took off toward the sales tables, but Robbie lingered in his place for a moment. He watched Daisy as she walked up and joined the unorganised line by the table. She looked around while waiting her turn and acknowledged some faces she recognised from the past few days. Robbie couldn’t help but smile. Not just the way he had since he truly got to help. It was something different. This one was evoked by the light Daisy radiated and has been radiating all week. Her empathy and sense of justice showing every moment, revealing her quick thinking, her resourcefulness, her leadership qualities. Her devotion to this cause was brilliant. And that same light shone, since the beginning. Befriending Mike, not giving up on him , defending him from SHIELD. Daisy was a good person, with a big heart, an open mind, and enough kindness to heal the world. That light that was shining, and had been on many occasions before, it was radiant. And Robbie could help but smile. He tore himself from his place, but nothing could wipe that smile. Not Mike’s hate, not Ward’s death glare as he walked into class, not class itself, not even Gabe’s teasing at the end of the day. Even if it did die down, all Robbie needed to do was think of Daisy, it would reappear again, just as bright as before.