Chapter 11: Talks and TrystsSummary:We get a peek behind the curtain of Iron Man's reveal, and then see how everyone is reacting to the changes in timeline. From our Heroes themselves, to the public, to Shield as well. All the same, life goes on so Daisy and Kara continue planning for the future with their allies.
Notes:Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, DC, or any characters that come from other works.
I also want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement, and RhinoMouse for the inspiration their world of "Retirement Ended Up Super" provided.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextOctober 14th, 2008, MCU
Kara Danvers, Stark Malibu Home
The waiting was the worst part, she didn't want to wait, she wanted to act! The harsh reality of the situation was that she COULDN'T act, unless she wanted to reveal herself right now, and even possibly reveal her identity by appearing alongside Tony Stark whom she lives with. Aside from that, today was going to be a bloody day and Kara isn't sure she is ready for that. She knows that what Daisy does is important work, work that makes her a good person no matter how much Daisy continues to think otherwise, but it isn't the work that Kara is used to or good at. She killed her Uncle Non, but that was only when millions of lives were on the line and he left her no other choice.
She helped as much as she could, by flying Daisy around all the incoming factions to gather intel for Tony, and then to one of the Ten Rings camps in the middle of the night for Daisy to join the hostages under a face veil, although she had to leave once the US Military started to increase their surveillance of the area in preparation for Tony's mission. Helping where she can doesn't make the waiting game any easier. At least she has company in the waiting game, in the form of Pepper!
Which one of them is distracting the other more, is up for debate, but they spend their time together sitting on the couch talking late into the evening. They cover business tips, to Kara talking about her family, to learning about Pepper's family, even what movie to watch next.
And thankfully Daisy had already downloaded some musicals to her laptop before we got… forcefully moved! I'm not sure if I could survive a whole ten years with the rare musical that gets released here!
While Kara was lightly talking about the sights of Rao blessing Argo City, they heard the news from Jarvis overhead.
"Pardon me Kara and Ms. Potts, but the operation against the Ten Rings has concluded. Both Mr. Stark and Daisy are safe, although Daisy has requested that you come get her when and where you both discussed as Plan B."
Worry shoots through Kara about how injured Daisy could be that she would ask for help. Luckily Jarvis seems to preempt her, and continues before she even has the chance to ask. "Both defending the town from stray bullets and acting as Mr. Stark's 'Secret System' pushed her young body 'to its limits, but not past them'. That was a quote from Dame Daisy, although by my estimates she most likely has a few breaks but nothing life threatening."
Kara wants nothing more than to fly straight to Daisy, she has to fight every instinct in herself to do just that, but that isn't what they agreed to do. Kara needs to wait until the early hours of the morning so as much of her flight is hidden by the dark of the night.
"And… And Tony? How is he doing?" Pepper asks while Kara is distracted.
"Mr. Stark sustained no injuries, although with his focus on rescue operations and curt responses lead me to believe he is slightly disassociating from the situation. I am… attempting to find a solution but have yet to find one, and it is clogging up my processing power in a way I can not purge for some reason. Has Daisy made an error in my code Kara?"
Giving a comforting look to the nearest Jarvis camera, Kara offers an explanation to the young A.I. "Jarvis… that means you're stressed. You're new to emotions, and not a lot of them have been negative, but it's natural. The best way to deal with it is to talk with friends about it, which you're doing!" Kara beams up at him. "Give him time, but honestly it won't hit Tony until he gets back here later tonight and finally stops being in work mode."
By this point it seems she is not giving advice to just Jarvis but also to Pepper, who is listening intently to her as well. So Kara decided to go in a bit further, no matter what Daisy says about using time travel knowledge to set people up! Tony and Pepper are so cute together!
"And honestly… I don't think either of us will be who Tony wants to unload to most. So we should probably leave it to that person to deal with." Kara knows her meaningful glance at Pepper is not discreet, but Kara has yet to get people-working spy lessons from Daisy, just basic lying lessons so far with how busy they have been.
Pepper's face lets Kara know that she is NOT being subtle, but at least she is self-aware about it! Progress!
"I'll handle Tony when he gets back then, and I'm guessing you will help Daisy deal with things as well tomorrow when you both get back?" Kara nods to Pepper in confirmation. "I-... How do I be there for him? I know how to help him run his business, but I am not ready for this."
Kara scooches closer on the couch and places a comforting hand on Peppers. "Not to speak badly of Tony and Daisy but they are both emotionally…"
"Stunted? Unhealthy? In the case of just Tony, immature?" Pepper deadpans back and Kara can't stop the very childish giggle that comes from her at that.
"I was only going to say abnormal… to be nicer." Pepper and Kara share a commiserating smile with each other. Don't get Kara wrong, she loves Winn and James, but it is so nice having a female friend that isn't her sister or her bosses! "But what that means, is that they won't want to talk about it. They'll want to move on to the next mission, the next project, the next… whatever rather than take the time to deal with their head right now."
Kara looks down at her lap, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as she collects her thoughts and tries to not let the simmering anger she has in herself over this next part explode out. Once she is centered, Kara continues on.
"For Daisy with Shield… they used her as a weapon, and a tool so often that she thought I was using her for practice rather than wanting her to really be my girlfriend at first." The very THOUGHT of doing that to her mate makes Kara clench her teeth to the point of pain. "Weapons don't need breaks, they don't need rest, and they don't need time to deal with trauma… so they didn't let her. Now that is her default and what she has come to expect. So I make sure to MAKE her talk about it. I ask how she is feeling, how she does it, and I give her what she needs most; I let her know that she is a good person making a good difference in the world even if she can't see it at the moment…. Or frustratingly ever."
Kara looks over at Pepper who is looking off into the distance out the window pointed at the ocean, thoughts probably running through her brilliant mind.
"You know Tony better than anyone. What does he need and how do make him accept it? You have a few hours to find the answers to it too."
"Thank you, Kara. I don't know how I will get through this superhero support role… But I'll do my best, because he deserves that." Pepper is quiet for a moment, seeming to struggle with whether or not to continue, before she finally commits. "So, when did Tony and I get together in the original timeline?"
Remember Daisy's training, keep your face relaxed before showing a little bit of surprise but not too much, to convey surprise at the question not that she figured it out. Use just a little bit of superspeed but without actually moving to give yourself time to think of a believable response.
"I'm not sure what gave you that idea? Sorry if I gave you that impression!" Kara says, without technically saying a single lie which allows Kara to be more believable naturally, Daisy would be proud!
Yet, all the same, Pepper rolls her eyes before immediately calling her bluff. "You've made a lot of progress in the last few months with thinking on your feet, but I work with some of the most manipulative liars in the world regularly. With my rose glasses ripped off from Stane's betrayal, I don't think you'll get past me anytime soon."
Kara decides to pull out her second weapon she has in her arsenal now… pouting like a teenager who didn't get her way. "Oh phooey!"
"So when did we get together originally? Because you have not been subtle with your game and movie night suggestions and looks. I understand why you didn't tell us straight away, but I'm ready to know now."
Kara should be bashful at being found out, but she can't stop smiling at the direction that Pepper is hinting at this going already. "Apparently at the fundraising event in two days you two shared a very close slow dance that left the tabloids asking questions, but Shield documents say Tony ran out after seeing his weapons in Gulmira and ruined it until you two got together at the end of the Stark Expo attacks we told you about in May 2011 and were still together when Daisy left in 2019!"
Pepper seems unaffected by the news, but Kara can see the slight pinking of her cheeks and hear the quickening of her heartbeat. The happy noise Kara makes would make Daisy throw a pillow at her, but Pepper decides to go pretend it didn't happen for now apparently.
"Anyway, Jarvis, is there anything else we need to know?... Anything at all?" Pepper's cheeks get even pinker as apparently even Jarvis is silent for a second at the quick change in topic.
"Of course Ms. Potts. I'll be sure to send the full breakdown of the battle and the initial reactions of the reporters and generals within the range of devices I could access at Stark Industries Headquarters, but most is within our projections. What stood out to me was one person on the list of VIPs from Daisy's list of the future that was posing as a CIA agent in the war room." Reports Jarvis.
That gets both of their attention out of their personal lives as they pick up their Stark Pads to look over the information on the unexpected guest. And yet… There is something to his voice that takes Kara a moment to process, but Pepper is already speaking.
"You don't sound concerned, but it still sounds like we should be aware so thank you for the heads up Jarvis." Apparently Pepper has not spent enough time with the new and improved Jarvis to catch what she did.
"Of course Ms. Potts." Jarvis responds, and even when Kara gives him a moment to come clean he instead acts as if the conversation is done, forcing Kara to speak up.
"Hey Jarvis, why do you sound like you do when you beat Daisy in one of your hacking games but she hasn't realized it yet?... You did more than just observe the VIP, didn't you?"
Jarvis' explanation leaves both of them groaning at him and the influence Daisy is having on a young adolescent A.I.'s mind! Yet… Kara knows that this is going to make her girlfriend's day when she hears about it, so she can't even be too upset about it.
When Kara sets off early in the morning to fly out to pick up Daisy, she makes sure not to wake up the Tony and Pepper that fell asleep on the couch in each other's arms, with dried tear tracks down their faces. The day will be rough for all of them, but together Kara thinks that they will get through it all.
October 28th, 2008, MCU
Daisy Johnson, Stark Malibu Home
I know that he only attacked those who were holding weapons intending to do violence on civilians, I know that he managed to rescue every hostage except for the one that is still MIA, I know that he managed to somehow protect the village from any injuries, but the fact of the matter is all of that power now rests in the hand of one man. Someone who isn't required to listen to any military if he doesn't want to, as shown to be a legal standard by the now revealed 'Superman Pact' that was signed between the President and Mr. Stark and is making its way through congress for full legal ratification. I am not comforted by the way this is being handled, despite the efforts of 'Iron Man' in running a string of PR rescue saves across the country over the last couple weeks. I thought I was nervous when the Abomination and the Hulk fought, and now I am scared. I hope-
~bzzt~
Tony Stark has single handedly paused hostilities in Afghanistan, and has been the biggest community relations with the locals since the United States had troops in the area. The fact of the matter is, no matter how much good our troops tried to do over there, there were still people who were caught in the crossfire or civilians struck in drone strikes. This led to distrust, and even hate, by the citizens there leading to further radicalization that led to more enemies to deal with, in a vicious cycle of recruitment for the terrorist groups hiding there. After the 'Battle of Gulmira' however, the sky rocketing confidence in the USA has stopped terrorist recruitment drives in their tracks and an increase in intelligence from citizens who were too scared to pass it along before. The past couple weeks have seen as much progress on the war on terror, as the past year together. Give it a couple more months, and the progress could be equal to all progress that has been made since US troops entered Afghanistan in 2001. We have been-
~bzzt~
I know that a lot of people are nervous, or don't know what to think, but I think that is mostly coming from the people in power rather than your average citizen. In the end, I would have lost my husband and children from the sudden storm that swept their boat out into the ocean if Iron Man hadn't shown up. The Coast Guard was going to have to wait until the storm passed, but Iron Man somehow heard about it, and flew out to them in the middle of a tropical storm, patched the hole in their ship, repaired their flooded engine, and stayed in radio contact until they were safely back in my arms. No matter what anyone else says, Iron Man will always be my hero. Thank you Tony Stark, Thank you-
~bzzt~
Here at TMZ we are sticking to the important information coming out of California these days… No, we don't mean Iron Man, everyone else is talking about that! We are talking about these exclusive photos taken from the balcony next door to a high rise restaurant that captured a seemingly intimate moment of the new rising hero. Here was see, Tony Stark, and his COO of nearly half a year, Pepper Potts, sharing a candlelit dinner in a restaurant that was rented out entirely for just the couple. Was this a boss treating his best employee to a relaxing business dinner, or was this the sign that the most eligible and dangerous bachelor is off the market? Stay tuned as TMZ does a deep dive into-
~chk~
"Hey I was watching that! I was doing some very important market research to help us come up with our next steps." Daisy wishes she could take herself seriously, because her smile is really undercutting her words here.
"Go sell your lies to someone who will buy them, mini-shake, like international spy agencies or something, but not here. Besides, dinner is ready and it was my turn today, so we're not letting it get cold!" Tony's snark is just a little bit too prideful today. Maybe working with him to fool Shield was not a good idea for his ego?
"Ugh! Fine, dad, but don't expect me to lie to mom the next time you need it!" Daisy replies back as she makes her way to the dining room table where Pepper is sitting already.
"The mom and dad jokes have lost their bite since we started dating, and now I think it says more about you two." Pepper comes to the defense of her new boyfriend, as she finishes whatever she was working on with her Stark Pad.
Okay, fair, and Daisy suppresses a bit of a flinch of the truth to that. She blames the hormonal needs of both of their younger bodies on that. No matter how old their minds are, hormonal chemicals are still a bitch. "Oh sure, blame the orphans that you forcefully started fostering for being orphans."
Pepper doesn't respond outside of a roll of her eyes, while Kara comes in to join them with a burst of superspeed. The hint of grease on her nose probably means Kara lost track of time down in the workshop. Daisy certainly isn't going to tell Kara about it as long as possible, and Tony's grin lets her know that he was planning the same thing.
Soon enough they finish eating the delivery food that Tony had called for, or probably had Jarvis call for, but at least it is healthy high end food and not fast food, so she can't complain. Moving on to dessert, they start having the conversation they need to about their next steps.
"So, Daisy, what's next? You wanted Tony to make some good PR moves, and to help him with the stress, while we waited for the public to respond before moving forward… And people have certainly been reacting the last couple weeks." Kara doesn't say it, but Daisy can tell she wants to be Supergirl again, and now that she won't be the first superhero here that opens things up.
"For myself, the goal I hope to meet soon is finding the intel that Tony and you need for the new Arc core. I know you got as close as you could in the Mark III's powers this time to the Mark VII's powers used in the OG Battle of New York, but the lack of a better reactor is slowing the speed and strength of the suit and preventing the use of lasers and the unibeam… As well as slowly poisoning the old billionaire too I guess."
Tony was about to make some witty reply to Daisy, but she just barreled on through before he could. "Other than that, I'm going to do some of my old Shield missions that aren't going to change Hydra's timeline; The Peruvian 084 and the Asgardian Berserker Staff most of all. I have to change the outcome to a current Shield mission overseas soon, and will continue scouting out my first Hydra head. But I can't go after Hydra until AFTER the Winter Soldier mission I know about happens, that mission is a two birds thing for me so I don't want to butterfly it away."
"I was wondering why you weren't going after Hydra so far. Is the Winter Soldier really that important?" Tony asks… and that whole 'murderer of his parents' is a situation she will have to deal with but none of them are ready for that yet.
"He's actually brainwashed Bucky Barnes, with Nazi version of Super Soldier. So not only is he Hydra's best assassin, who is doing everything against his will, but he will be the key to helping us get Steve Rogers on side after he gets found. The Shield files from my time have no indication of even a general location of where the Captain was recovered aside from just 'The Arctic Ocean', so I can't search for him like I did for you, Tony. So getting to him AFTER Shield is the only option."
…
"I forget how much I know that I haven't told you guys, either actually for a reason or just because it hasn't come up. The world is weird and fucked up okay!" Daisy can feel her cheeks burn a little bit at the looks everyone gives her, she's doing a lot! "You guys should mostly concentrate on continuing the business changes, starting the building of HERO HQ and Stark New York City HQ, working as Iron Man. But I do have good news for you Kara."
Kara beams at Daisy at that. "Do I get to be Supergirl again soon!"
Daisy smiles back and lightly knocks Kara's shin with her foot. "As soon as you're done growing, you'll be good to go out as Supergirl. I know of a few natural disasters that you can work on like mud slides or forest fires that would let you help without actually being seen by anyone. For your full reveal I'm guessing another 3 more months, possibly up to 5 in the worst case. Working with Jarvis we found a face veil setting that won't make your face seem different to humans so you're not wearing a fake, but WILL fool face detection software into thinking you're different people if compared… if I can't talk you into wearing a mask that is?"
The semi-pleading look does not seem to work, as Kara ends up denying it. "The creepy mask is Quake's thing, even Iron Man also has a mask, and the Hulk's face is not… comforting. I think it's even more important to have my face visible here!"
Daisy ignores the mutter from Tony that sounds suspiciously like 'damn Girl Scout' and just gives her a warm smile. "That's the immediate future anyway. Nothing big will happen again for a few years, so you all will keep going business as usual while I slowly and methodically deal with any Hydra that isn't protected by Shield. Did I miss anything?"
"Ooh ooh ooh! Call on me, sensei, I have an idea!"
Daisy doesn't even bother to try and hide the sigh at his antics. "Yes Tony?"
"You mentioned in the future we had some Avengers themed merch right?" At her confirmation Tony continues. "What if we start that early, and by early I mean now? Obviously I don't need money so all profits go into humanitarian relief and paying the government collateral insurance. We also push to get the copyright for Hulk in trust, back paying all outstanding damages or civil cases for Banner now, starting his own government collateral insurance plan, and put any profits in a trust for him for when he returns."
"His big idea that uses 'we' a lot sounds like a lot of work for me going forward. That said, it's actually a good idea. It effectively starts getting Dr. Banner on the same deal as Tony, helping to extend the precedent to others like you wanted anyways." Pepper remarks as she writes down some notes for herself.
"I have a suggestion, Dame Daisy." The formal name is a surprise from Jarvis, but they ARE technically working so she guesses it applies. "I believe I should slowly let Shield think they are able to get the best of me, at least on small things. Eventually we will want Shield to think Sir is sick, so they need a reason to know that. If I fake some small exploits, I can give them false information."
"Ooh. Leaking fake intel. Classic tactic, but devious and I love it Jarvis!" He has come a long way in developing more of his own personality, than only what Tony coded for him and it is wonderful to see. "And don't think I forgot about what you did to our guest at the Iron Man reveal. From what I hear, that bug is very close to paying off."
And Daisy is soooo looking forward to hearing what will be happening soon.
October 31st, 2008, MCU
Agent Phil Coulson, Auerbach Theatrical Agency
Shield was having a meeting, and while Coulson wouldn't call it an emergency meeting because they gave things time to play out, it was certainly a very important meeting that needed to happen. Because of the proximity to the subject, everyone for the meeting came to his location to speak.
A secure room deep in the Agency in Los Angeles is where Coulson finds himself, with some of the biggest names in Shield right now. Around the table is himself, Commander Maria Hill, Agent Victoria Hand, Agent Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton, and at the head of the table is SHIELD Director Nick Fury.
"Protection. Whether protecting one man from himself, or protecting the world from what is out there. That, that is what SHIELD was founded on, and that is our mission. Somehow, Tony Stark has outplayed us all, by getting the President to sign Iron Man as being outside of the jurisdiction of our protection. We can not let this happen again, or continue for longer than necessary, so we need to figure out where we went wrong. First up, Agent Hand, what was wrong with the psychological profile you mocked up?" While the words from Director Fury are strong, everyone knows he blames himself just as much, so it does not feel like they are about to be taken to task. Just… finding ways to improve.
All the same, Agent Hand goes first. "Yes Sir. SHIELD has long kept a psychological profile on Tony Stark due to his genius, position in the arms world, and cultural power. Prior to his abduction, I would rate his profile as being highly accurate. Following his abduction, his profile was adjusted according to the medical reports and video surveillance we got from the time of his recovery until his stay at his Malibu home. I believe this became inaccurate for two reasons; 1. Tony Stark is now recognized as a near-index human due to his information processing abilities that let him operate his suit. 2. His home program labeled JARVIS was regarded as an virtual intelligence, rather than being a true artificial intelligence although shackled. This led to JARVIS collecting information about Obadiah Stane's betrayal, and anything else that we don't know about. In conclusion, these two points together allowed Mr. Stark to process the information and thus change much quicker than even the most extreme psychological outlier predicted."
Coulson enjoys working with Agent Hand, but that is a reason why he would never do well as her partner. She is too by the book, which can lead to surprises when the book fails. Like this. But in the end, that 'book' is what SHIELD preaches, so she can't be blamed.
Director Fury takes it all in without comment, which most likely means he agrees, and moves on. "Thank you, Agent Hand. Commander Hill, what information have you gotten by attending the Iron Man War Room and consulting with the Sci-Tech Division?"
"Plugging in the Trojan I was given managed to give us more information than what the military got about the capabilities of the Iron Man, but not as much as we were hoping for, as the suit seems to be even more secure than his home is. The good news though, any weapon system that even got a little bit powered up was recorded, not just what was deployed like what the military has. We believe we have the complete list of weapons currently operational, and even two that aren't yet. A 'Unibeam' and a 'Wrist Mounted Lasers' with a reading of insufficient power for those. Looking at Howard Stark's Arc Reactor research recovered and returned to Warehouse 3C, we believe it will be around 2.5 years with current suit usage before the palladium cores are a serious health risk to Mr. Stark. That said, we are still horribly in the dark about his construction methods, repulsor tech, top speeds, and surveillance capabilities. The biggest concern is that we have found zero electronic evidence for the defense system that protected Gulmira."
"That's what worries me most too. Coulson, you were in charge of the investigation on scene of Gulmira and local here. Did you find anything there?" Well… time for him to share what little he has.
"Looking at the homes we saw that not even a single bullet made it to the town despite video showing some firing in that direction. Investigating found dust just outside of town limits that was consistent in metal composition to the bullets found on scene. Interviewing citizens of the town found no evidence of another system being loaded in or out. Meanwhile, all 720 terrorists who died from this system died from severe brain injuries despite having no exterior injuries. Best guess at the system? A combination force field and targeted energy beam made to disrupt grey matter? Maybe sound based for both, so a giant upgrade to the Thundergrenades? Although, I'm certainly doing my best guess here in consulting with Shield scientists." Well he got through the worst of it, because it really and truly is a best guess despite all the help he has been given.
The way that Director Fury grinds his teeth makes it obvious that he also hates how little they know about one of the deadliest weapons they've come across so far. "Your recommendation on how to move forward? You are still the Agent on scene for Stark."
Now this, he does have an answer for. "I believe we should back off for now, aside from the occasional cyber attempt, to not make it obvious how closely we are looking. Stark is at his most guarded right now. The personeel expansion in preparation for the new House El and Stark Industries HQ's will give us chances to insert agents in at high positions in the next couple years. Using them to find leverage and espionage is our best way forward." Coulson knows what Fury is going to say, even before he says it. It's the move that Fury will always make, even if he wouldn't.
"We'll time it around when Stark realizes his problem and fails to find a new core. It'll be the most likely time for him to make mistakes that we can make use of and be able to bring him into the fold of the Avengers Initiative in exchange for the solution. Agent Barton, give a description of the Avengers Initiative for those here not currently read in and a rundown of its current status." Fury moves on to prevent objections to the blatant manipulation of Mr. Stark, not that most here will voice them. Most likely Hand and maybe Hill even agree with Fury's choice.
"The Avengers Initiative was designed by Director Fury to fight threats just like The Abomination or greater and is currently approved by the World Security Council, although reluctantly. The idea is for near-index SHIELD agents to lead enhanced individuals in a rapid response team to any threats. Currently, I am the only Shield Agent slated, codename Hawkeye, but Natasha Romanoff is expected to be read in once she has reached a full year of service to Shield, codename Black Widow. Current enhanced candidates are The Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel. The longshot is if Howard Stark was right in his theories and Steve Rogers can survive being frozen long term due to the serum."
Coulson doesn't actually level a glare at Barton at the lack of faith in Captain America, and yet his displeasure is communicated all the same as shown by the responding shrug from Barton.
Fury quickly brings things back, before they can bicker at all over this topic… again. "Going forward I ask that you all keep an eye out for any enhanced that may be fit to be an Avenger, and extend a more welcoming hand than we usually do with index-candidates. The President wasn't wrong to do something in response to the Harlem fight, we just have to show him that we have a better answer the next time something happens."
Their meeting moves on to more mundane, and typical, SHIELD missions now that people are getting assigned away from Stark until it is time to make their move.
~
Yet, everyone there is unaware of the bug program planted on Agent Hill's phone, that will send the recording of the entire meeting back to Jarvis as soon as Hill is out of the secure room.
Notes:Author's Endnote: I swear Daisy and Kara are my main characters! Even if the amount of other POVs the last few chapters may lead you to think otherwise. So I made sure to get back to them here. I just also really enjoy writing when people react to the crazy that they bring with them.
This chapter made me do even more research into trying to decode the MCU timeline of events, and a reminder to my audience that I'm okay with playing a little bit fast and loose with it in order to make things work the way I want them to… and no one can stop me!
Next chapter Daisy makes larger moves, and Quake makes her first appearance… kindof! Any idea what Shield mission Daisy is planning to change soon?
Chapter 12: Romance and RescueSummary:Kara and Daisy have a bit of domestic bliss in their new place out in the woods in the California mountains, before Daisy goes to mess with a Shield mission on the other side of the world leaving two agents with headaches and a big mess to clean up.
Notes:Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, DC, or any characters that come from other works.
I also want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement, and RhinoMouse for the inspiration their world of "Retirement Ended Up Super" provided.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextNovember 15th, 2008, MCU
Kara Danvers, 'Sanctuary' San Bernardino Mountains
Kara continued to work through her newest project in the remote forest of the San Bernardino Mountains northeast of LA. Here, tucked into the forest is what was once a run down cabin that belonged to a couple who have gone through tough times, only to have a cash infusion from one of Daisy's shell companies for far more than the property should be worse.
The increased scrutiny and surveillance of the Stark home due to the Iron Man reveal required them to get a place to call their own. While Kara wouldn't call a cabin TRUE camping, she is glad that they finally got around to spending time in nature together like they had planned. Her heart has never been so full of love while being able to look up at the stars imagining she could pinpoint Rao in the night's sky, all while having her mate cradled in her arms alongside her.
Since Daisy bought the cabin, Kara and Daisy have been spending the past few weeks working on fixing the place up and getting it ready for use. Although it is honestly a lot of Kara doing the fix it up work, while Daisy goes to buy what is needed, before flying back to deliver the supplies. Daisy is still traumatized from the last time she had to visit Home Depot without an explicit list of what she needed to buy, so Kara is doing the best she can to give her part numbers… although she does so while holding in her laughs.
The woman can wage a shadow war against multiple international spy agencies, but home improvement is somehow her biggest weakness!
Between superspeed, and having an incredibly large budget courtesy of the money from Daisy's almost-murderer-from-another-timeline, the place was repaired with all utilities restored from solar panels with a battery bank and well water to keep everything off the grid.
The last project was making a hidden and VERY secure walk-in safe for dangerous artifacts below ground, which was finished last weekend! For some reason, Daisy is calling the safe 'The Mini-Fridge' although she won't say why and just giggles under her breath about the name.
The current project for the next few weekends is to recreate as much of the containment modules from Daisy's future Shield files. It's going well so far, although there is still a lot of work to be done. This weekend so far is a little bit lonely as it has just been Kara all day. Normally they make the weekends here as a getaway in the mornings and evenings, just spending time together… cuddling… watching movies… drinking hot chocolate.
It's honestly a dream come true, and while they love staying with the Starks, the increased scrutiny of Iron Man means it may be time to spend as little time there as possible. Additionally, getting alone time together has been great for their mental health. Spending time late into the night around the fireplace, talking about Alex and Astra, and Daisy talking about her sister and mother (in two timelines as well). A lot of time has been spent crying, but it makes the separation from her universe just a little bit more bearable.
While Kara is working on the door functions of the containment pod, Daisy comes walking in through the door holding a long metal staff. Although she is not holding it in her hands, and instead is holding it with a metal garbage picker, for some reason? And the staff just… sounds wrong to her ears, almost as if the metal is yelling despite not vibrating in any weird ways.
"Hey Daisy… why are you carrying a metal staff that is screaming at me? Is this a kidnapping thing?" Kara can't help but ask. This universe is weird at times, so maybe someone can possess objects and Daisy trapped them there?
"You can hear it screaming? For me the vibrations feel like it's ready to spring and attack me at any time. Cool." Daisy seems to find the difference in their senses fascinating as usual, an easy acceptance of how Kara is different that no one else gives. "You should get to a good stopping point while I put this in the Mini-Fridge. I have news to share, and it's going to be something."
Despite those ominous words, the tone behind Daisy's voice wasn't actually all doom and gloom, so Kara didn't feel afraid. Finishing up the door seal within the next 15 minutes, Kara walks into the cozy living room. There she finds Daisy already has a fire going and some cartons of ice cream at the ready, so maybe not as easy of a talk as Kara was hoping for.
"So what was that staff and does it have anything to do with this talk?" Kara asks as she tucks into Daisy's side, leaning into her mate's warmth, with a carton of moose tracks for emotional support.
"That was an Asgardian Berserker staff." Kara can't suppress the shiver at the reminder of THAT horrible history. "An Asgardian Warrior who defected to live on earth had split it into pieces and hid those pieces all over, too bad he let a story get written about the whole thing so the pieces eventually got found.., or will eventually get found. It was one of my Shield missions before the fall."
"So you got it now so it wouldn't be found later?" At Kara's question Daisy gives a confirming nod, while eating some vanilla ice cream. "I see that the mission was a success… so what is it?"
Daisy takes a breath, before answering. "After collecting the pieces I went to the Asgardian, now a University Professor, to let him know what I did, while dressed as Quake. I side stepped questions about WHY I did it by saying that my people have a seer amongst us, and I knew the pieces would be found to be used for violence if I didn't get to them first."
Despite the serious subject, Kara can't help but smile as the spy training pays off in letting her know what Daisy cleverly did. "Both true statements technically, but said to make him think they are connected even though they're not."
"A+ goes to Ms. Danvers at that." Daisy teases back at her love for getting good grades. "I let him know all of that, so I could get information in exchange. Information about galactic history that he would know. I hid the question amongst others, but I found out what happened to Krypton in this universe."
It shouldn't affect her. This timeline isn't hers, this planet isn't her Krypton, and yet she nearly faints or chokes on ice cream or hyperventilates all at once. It takes a couple minutes of Daisy rubbing her back, but she is able to collect herself without crying in the end.
"Wha- What happened to it? How did Krypton end here?" No matter the answer, it will be painful to know how her people met their destruction yet again.
"The difference between our timelines seems to be the Asgardian War. In your universe they attacked unprovoked, so your people and others helped fight them back. In this timeline, the Frost Giants attacked Earth first giving the Asgardians justification in their war, and as we already knew the Kree weren't destroyed in the great wars thousands of years ago. So while Asgard and the Nine Realms fought each other; Krypton, the Green Lanterns, and the Kree Empire fought in a three way war."
"And Krypton lost that war?"
"Yes. While it nearly destroyed the Kree Empire, and only because the Lanterns and Kryptonians focused on each other because they underestimated Kree depravity, the Lanterns were killed by disease and Krypton nearly had its core destroyed centuries earlier than your Krypton did." Daisy confirms, although her tone at the end is strange.
Then, Kara catches it, the specific word Daisy just used when talking about Krypton. "Wait! Almost destroyed? Is that what you said?!" Kara is sitting up looking straight into Daisy's eyes, not daring to hope.
"As far as the Asgardian who defected to earth 900 years ago knows, Krypton was able to stabilize their core, although just barely and after much destruction. Last he heard, Krypton became a hermit planet that shoots down any outsiders on sight. But yes, there is a very real chance that Krypton exists in this timeline."
The confirmation breaks what resolved Kara has, and she is very quickly balling her eyes out. The warm embrace, and the steady vibrations as Daisy comforts her helps keep the tears last only 30 minutes, instead of hours.
Still, by the end of it, Kara's emotions are so wiped out that she feels physically exhausted too. Finally taking stock of her situation, Kara finds herself laying down on the couch cuddling up to the small teen form of Daisy. The fire, having not been attended since before their talks started, is burning low and the room is dark.
Kara wants nothing more than to sleep, but she needs to ask. She's almost certain of the answer, but who knows if she's missing something with her brain so sluggish? "Do you think we can visit Krypton?"
Kara's voice is rough from the tears, she needs a drink of water badly, but she manages to get through her request and braces for the answer.
"I have no idea how exactly, but yes. We will find a way to visit Krypton before we have to leave, I swear." Daisy's soft promise is a breath of fresh air. With that resolved, Kara can feel herself quickly starting to nod off.
"Thank you Daisy, thank you so much." Kara murmurs, but thankful Daisy seems to understand.
"Of course, Sunflower. I just need you to know though, most likely you and your parents and everyone you know won't exist on this Krypton. History is far too different to make the same children by all chances."
"I know. But still…" Kara fails to find the words, but thankfully Daisy knows.
"I know. It will still be your people, even if changed. A way to see your planet, and culture, and religion like never before. I was kept too busy and was discouraged from diving into the inhuman culture like I wanted. Meanwhile you weren't given the same gifts from Krypton like your cousin, and what little you did have the DEO kept from you. But this, I can help give you this so I will."
The force and power behind those words of promise sends a shiver down Kara's spine, but before Kara can respond she sees Daisy resolving herself for something, before saying words that make Kara's heart sing.
"I will take you anywhere you need to go, because I love you."
Screw the weird feelings that being in a teen's body gives, Kara is deeply kissing her mate pushing in all of the love and adoration and affection and a million other feelings that she has for Daisy. Meanwhile Daisy responds in kind, the vibrations leaking out of her and into Kara from the raw emotional vulnerability. Kara can feel her latched bond with Daisy almost… harmonize with the vibrations.
Inhumans are not a psychic species, Daisy is not Kryptonian, so by all means Daisy should not be able to reciprocate and bond back with her. But in this moment, it certainly feels to Kara like Daisy's powers are trying to accomplish just that task. But that's impossible, so Kara enjoys it but doesn't let herself fall into a false sense of hope.
When they finally need air again, the kiss breaks off, the vibrations settle, and her bond calms down, but it certainly feels even stronger than it was before. Kara lets herself just be absorbed in the presence of her mate, their foreheads resting against each other, as they catch their breath.
"So…" Daisy begins with a teasing tone to her voice after a few minutes of comfortable silence, "Does that count as you saying it back?"
Kara blushes a bright red, realizing that despite being in love with Daisy for months, in the moment she forgot to actually say the words. So in typical Kara fashion she rushes to cover it, but just ends with a flurry of word vomit. "IloveyoutooIloveyousomuchforeverythingyou'vedoneandeverythingyouareandyoumeantheworldtome."
Daisy laughs and brings Kara back into a cuddle as they lay down on the couch in the now dark living room, with only the coals in the fireplace giving a soft glow to frame the face of the most beautiful woman in the world to Kara's eyes.
"I didn't quite catch all of that Danvers, but I think I understood. I know that it took me… too long to say that. You've been obsessively tracing the House El crest onto me with your fingers whenever you're distracted when we cuddle for longer than we have been in my world. You deserve someone who is better at not being so scared of falling in love or the lifelong commitment that comes from your latching… but I guess you're stuck with me instead. So, I'm ready to commit to more for you and with you because I love you Kara."
"I love you too Daisy."
As soft whispers between them in the night eventually become the quiet breathes of deep sleep for both of them, Kara can't help but thank Rao that she is 'stuck' with the most amazing woman in either of their universes.
November 28th, 2008, MCU
Phil Coulson, Bahrain
"Bravo, come in!" Coulson is met only by silence from his radio. "All Operators, check in!" Still nothing.
"What was that?! Were they taken out? Did they take themselves out? What about the little girl?" The only remaining agent besides himself in the field, Agent May, sat beside him just as confused.
"I don't know, but I have to call it in. That building just swallowed 12 agents in a minute." When in doubt, fall back on Shield protocol, it has kept him alive so far, it should keep him alive going forward.
"We're alone on this." May responds, knowing any help that base can send out is likely to be hours away, if it's coming at all.
This mission shouldn't have been this hard, or nearly this costly. Worst of all Coulson had no idea how it got to be this bad. They were sent to help someone get on the index, and possibly even recruit them for the Avengers Initiative. Eva Belyakov has displayed impressive strength and endurance, and was currently on the run from the Russian Government. That should mean that Eva needs help, and they could provide it, giving them an in.
The initial meeting went sideways almost immediately with Eva flipping the table, literally, in his face. Meanwhile some local mercenaries that seemed to be hired by Eva took a little girl and his agents on scene hostage into a nearby warehouse.
With the resulting attempt at hostage negotiation failing, a strike team was sent in, only for them to be taken down as well. The radio chatter made no sense with reports of friendly fire, overall confusion, the little girl running around, and the sounds of gunfire, only to quickly fall silent.
So here sat the last two agents, himself and Agent May, in a surveillance van down the street. Just as he goes to pull out his SAT phone to call to headquarters, the door to the van slides open.
The door to the Shield surveillance van, that should VERY MUCH be securely locked from the inside, just slides open with no hands touching the door or handles. Guns are drawn before either Coulson or May can really take in the figure standing a few feet away from the van.
The figure stands at a few inches over 5 feet tall, although the lazy and relaxed slouch gives him a hard time determining an exact height. They wear a black with purple highlights combat suit in a feminine cut, a gun is strapped to their thigh holster, have vibrant purple hair ending at their shoulders, and wear a full face ski mask with a creepy neon purple electronic smiley face.
He does not want to deal with whatever comic book villain this is right now.
"I'm sorry. You're a little bit late for Halloween and we're all out of candy right now." Coulson says. The woman(?) didn't react to the guns being pointed at their face at all, but instead caused a snort of laughter to come from them.
"Nah, I'm not here for candy but I am here to give you a few treats to help with the trick that's been played on you." At Coulson's blank expression and May's near growl, the woman continues in the horrible distorted electronic voice. "You aren't dealing with just one enhanced with super strength, but a second with mind control. Specifically Eva's daughter, the 'random' little girl at the market taken hostage who gains control through a simple touch of her hand."
May gasps beside him at that information, although who is to say if it is accurate. "I saw the little girl go up and tap everyone as if playing before everything went down. And a little girl running around turning agents would explain that radio chatter we heard." Apparently May will say it is accurate.
"Exactly Shield Agent May. So why don't we get rid of those guns you have, since everyone in there is a hostage." Without any movement, or tell for their power, both of their guns that had been slowly lowering suddenly fell apart as if field stripped in their hands in moments.
Wonderful. Not an operator but instead a third enhanced in the field. He lays a hand on May's shoulder to prevent her from attacking the perceived threat.
"I don't like the idea of shooting the innocent either, so what did you have in mind instead?" Coulson asks, trying to keep things moving and cordial. Who knows when the locals will get word of what has happened here and decide to move in.
"Glad you asked Agent Coulson!" The figure ducks to the side to grab a bag, as Coulson's headache increases at the fact that the powerful enhanced knows both of their names, when they didn't even know she existed. "I know you can't place an order to outfit your agency with Stark without revealing Shield's existence and general size of the organization to him, but with the FDA approving them for domestic sale finally it lets people like me get a small supply when needed."
Out from the bag comes an Icer pistol for both of them, and nearly 10 extra magazines each with their glowing blue dendrotoxin rounds. As she hands the weapons over, Coulson is able to take a better look at the pistol in the figure's thigh and notices that it is also an Icer pistol.
"I'd thank you for the help, but I can't help but feel at a disadvantage with you knowing our names and who we work for, but not the other way around." Coulson asks without making it a question, while May begins strapping her new weapons and ammo in.
"Ooh! I even made myself something for this exact moment too." From the figure's back pocket comes a badge. A badge and ID card that are very clearly modeled after SHIELD's, although with even less information. Instead of an Eagle the symbol is just a Spear that looks like it has been thrown, and instead of showing SHIELD's full name, it still just has the initials for Spear around the outside. The ID card isn't much better, as the figure is wearing the same outfit, mask and all, in the photo. At least he gets a name or title anyways, 'Quake', and where Shield would have the agent's clearance level is instead the label 'Platinum'.
Dealing with an enchanted and the very first confirmed member of the mysterious SPEAR is just icing on the cake at this point. "So Ms. Quake, want to tell me what SPEAR is doing here and what you want?"
"Sure A.C.!" A nickname, already? "I'm here to help stop this from being a bloodbath, and to get the two enhanced handed over to the reclusive group that the mother stole the means to become enhanced from. They are the best equipped to deal with the side effects of these powers after all, and the daughter is totally a little psychopath right now. Not entirely her fault, but also not entirely the fault of getting the powers either."
Well THAT is a lot to take in, and brings up a lot of questions. While this conversation goes on though, Coulson can see May nearly ready to run off and take care of things herself. The conversation needs to end soon, or at least be paused until the crisis is dealt with.
"Why should SHIELD let SPEAR take the two of them back? You're an unknown, and trusting you is kind of hard with a mask between us." Coulson deals with the most pressing issue, the goal of this engagement.
Although that causes the woman to snort in a derisive manner. "You may not wear a mask, but your whole agency barely officially exists so I'm not sure if you have room to talk. But SPEAR is not keeping them any longer than it takes to hand them off to the hidden gifted group. And you should let me do that, because otherwise you'll have an unknown number of people with powers coming after SHIELD to be sure their secret base that Eva knows the location of, stays secret." Before Coulson can respond to that, the figure looks to the side, deeper into the city. "I can feel the local military about 15 minutes out and closing. So, you get to keep everyone safe and I get to keep Shield from starting a war with a group that just wants to be left alone. Deal?"
Coulson hates his options, but Quake could have disabled them at any time with her Icer after dismantling their guns. For all that SPEAR has revealed things they wanted kept secret, they haven't actually revealed anything that would put SHIELD agents in danger.
Coulson can recognize what this is, an olive branch to show that SPEAR does not intend to be hostile moving forward. Even if their goals, whatever they actually are, are in conflict with SHIELD's own.
With a firm shake of the offered hand, Coulson agrees and all three begin moving forward. The SHIELD operator school hand signs just increase his resignation about how much the figure knows.
The three come to the side of the warehouse, where Quake braces with her hands cupped just below a balcony. Knowing what is wanted, May takes a run towards Quake before getting an assisted jump up to the second floor.
While it was obvious that May expected to only just get to the railing and have to haul herself over, she is instead thrown clear over the railing and lands smoothly with a quick adjustment to her form.
Great. Super strength as well. So who knows how many more powers Quake has?
Coulson stays in the mission though, and quickly joins May. He is able to turn around quickly enough to see Quake leap up without help, but the landing is made softer by some kind of force coming from her hands.
Maybe telekinesis as her main power? It would explain the name Quake if she can affect an area and not just objects. Could also mean it wasn't super strength, and just appeared so to hide her power's details.
All the same they are soon going room by room, knocking out anyone inside with dendrotoxin rounds. The SHIELD hand signs keep coming, and somehow she is even able to give an accurate count of how many are in each room before they open the door.
Telekinesis with feedback and not requiring line of sight? And maybe an ex-shield agent or the child of one?
Soon enough they get to the last room on the second floor, and this time Quake rushes in without giving any hand signs, causing May to curse under her breath before chasing in as well.
Icer rounds are going off at a much higher rate than before, when rooms before only had a couple people. Once Coulson gets to the door, he can see what caused the situation. This room has every Shield agent stored inside, and the one right by the door has a gun in their hand.
Or at least, they did before they were iced along with the other 14 or so agents.
"Sorry. That one suddenly moved to the door and was going to open fire. I'm guessing that we took out enough that the girl finally started to notice her puppets were dropping. We should move." Quake doesn't even wait for their agreement before continuing on towards the stairs.
May sighs from beside him in exasperation. "Quake is good, very good, and is used to leading infiltration teams. SPEAR is a lot less of a hacktivist group than we thought. Yet… They're all alive because of her, and I don't think we would win in a double cross here."
"I would be lying if I said I didn't consider it, but I agree. So we stick to the agreement, and take the win of rescuing everyone here." With that, Coulson and May catch up to Quake at the bottom of the stairway where she has already knocked out another 6 mercenaries or so.
"Took you long enough, A.C., May. The rest have all holed up in the warehouse floor ahead. I count 5 mercenaries with Eva front and center, but behind cover, and the little girl off to the side probably ready to run to us to try and turn us. Super strength usually has some form of reflexes to match, so I'm not sure if an Icer will get her since she's ready for us." Quake updates them.
"Do you have a breaching plan?" May asks.
"I explode the door and rush in quickly behind, to try and take out Eva. You use the distraction to take out the mercs in my wake, while A.C. tries to hunt down the little girl to knock her out. I don't know if the control will last after she has been Iced, or what Eva's reaction to everything will be, so we go until everyone is out cold to be safe. Problems?"
Aside from a risk to Quake herself possibly being shot at the start, he doesn't see any problems or anything he would do differently. Trusting Quake to know her own limits, he doesn't object. May looks like she wants to go for the girl personally, but knows she is the better shot than he is, making her more suited to deal with the 5 armed mercenaries instead, so in the end she just agrees.
Quake steps in front of the double doors, and braces herself almost like an Olympic runner about to begin a dash. Coulson and May take up positions on either side of the doorway, and nod at the ready.
Quake bursts forward much faster than he thought possible, yet the doors are exploding forward well before she reaches them still. Swinging into the room, Coulson watches as Quake and Eva go flying all the way into the wall at the far end of the room, cement cracking around their impact as Eva lets out a cry of pain.
May begins picking off the armed men who had been hiding behind boxes, but are now on the ground with splinters littering their bodies with a hundred small cuts.
Coulson swings to the side and sees the little girl with an expression of total rage that doesn't fit with her happy facade she put on earlier. He levels the Icer at the girl, and hesitates for a fraction of a second before pulling the trigger. No matter how much he knows the gun is non-lethal, he hasn't used it before today and his mind panics at pointing a gun at a little girl.
The slight hesitation is all the girl needs to know the plan to rush him has failed, and ducks back into cover with the blue round missing her by a fraction of an inch. Coulson begins to pursue, but he moves slowly to be sure that he doesn't leave himself open to a sudden mind control tap from the little child.
This was supposed to be an easy mission after the disaster that was Stark's recruitment. I'm putting in for vacation time after this.
As he makes it about halfway up the side of the warehouse, he gets another view of the battle further in. May has disabled everyone except for the last mercenary, which managed to disarm her, but he is quickly being taken down in hand to hand.
Meanwhile Quake's battle has apparently moved several times as he can see cracks in concrete, broken shelves, and exploded crates all over the place. That being said, Eva is bloody and bruised, holding her ribs like one or more is broken, while Quake stands no worse for wear besides some dust and bloody knuckles peeking through her gloves.
Quake rushes forward as Eva throws a punch in response, only to counter it in a way that would look natural on either May or the Black Widow. Quake takes Eva's overextended fist, and uses it to pull her into a devastating knee to the gut. As Eva begins to go down, Quake flips her, only to end with Eva's neck in a tight hold of her legs. With the air already knocked out of Eva's lungs from the knee, he can see her very quickly losing consciousness from the hold.
Just as Eva slumps over out cold, the little girl suddenly runs out from cover towards the two. Coulson had expected the girl to ambush him at some point, but instead she apparently made her way over to ambush Quake as soon as she thought she had won.
Quake is just about to roll out of the way of the outstretched hand of the brainwasher, when the last remaining mercenary suddenly breaks his arm to get out of May's hold, and dives right where Quake wanted to roll.
With her path obstructed, Quake is stopped short and the small hand touches her shoulder, bringing everyone in the space to a stop at the change in power dynamics. On one side is May and Coulson, May is unarmed but a master at hand to hand combat and Coulson still has his Icer with plenty of ammo.
On the other is the mercenary who is barely able to stand from all of the damage May had dealt him, the now controlled Quake who is slowly standing up in the background, and the young girl controlling them both now slowly walking forward ahead of her guards.
Coulson wants to fire, he should fire, but at the same time that could cause everything to turn violent again. Maybe he could take Quake down, or maybe Quake will be able to use her powers to stop it and then kill them both.
So when in doubt, let the bad guy monologue.
"I like the pain." Glad to know even pre-teen bad guys like to monologue. "You took down my mother and all of my other friends. All that is left is feeling the pain of their failures and injuries. I'm scared, I want to leave. Won't you take my hand?"
This girl is not winning an Oscar anytime soon with how horribly she tries to play the victim after THAT creepy little speech.
"I'm not sure if I can help you with that, but is there anything else I can help you with? Maybe in exchange for letting our friend go?" Time to fallback to hostage negotiations, because there is no way he is taking that hand.
The little girl suddenly gets a devilish smile on her face, but as she motions her hand in some way behind her, something goes wrong. The girl's face suddenly shifts into confusion and anger, as she spins around to face the mercenary and Quake. In the next second, before he even can tell that she moved, Quake levels her gun and pulls the trigger putting an icer round straight between the eyes of the little girl and then in the side of the other man.
Daisy Johnson
Moments Later
Daisy cracks her neck as she lets the faux stiffness in her form drop. "Pretending to be brainwashed, AGAIN, is not a fun experience! 2 out of 10, would not recommend to a friend. Thankfully the girl is so new to her powers she didn't realize I wasn't under her control until she tried to issue a command and it failed." Ignoring the confused expressions on May and Coulson, Daisy decides to put an Icer round into Eva just to be sure she doesn't wake up anytime soon. Finally looking back at the two agents, she decides to act like nothing weird just happened. "What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No, you do not have something on your face besides the ridiculous mask! We are obviously confused about why the powerful mind controller failed to control you!" Oooh. May is mad, and madder than she usually was even from her timeline. Avoiding the trauma from this event probably also won't leave May emotionally constipated and depressed for years.
"Ah, yes. I could see how that is confusing… So do you need help with getting the agents to safety or am I good to take these two and go?" Payback tastes all too sweet for all of the 5am tai chi before she came to enjoy the exercise burn.
While May looks like she is about to explode, Coulson decides to play his favorite role of mediator and instead calmly and directly asks the question they have. "I believe that Agent May is asking you to clarify WHY you were immune to the mind control, is it because you got your powers from the same source as these two?"
"Hmm. Not a bad guess, but that would be me giving up a lot of information for no gain. Especially as we are just about at the end of this alliance. How about a new deal? I will answer that question, and maybe a couple more but at my discretion, and in exchange you will keep me off the index and all official reports. Face to face reports to your superiors only about me. Deal, A.C.?" The less official information Hydra has about Daisy, the better in her mind.
While May looks like she would reject it out of hand if it was her choice, it is luckily instead Coulson's choice. And that wonderful recording that Jarvis got from Commander Hill lets Daisy know he is more inclined to agree just on the basis of trying to recruit her later.
"Why don't you want to be on the Index? It is kept internal to Shield and isn't given to any other agencies." Smart question, even if he rejects the deal her answer to this question could give useful intel on its own.
"I think I have proven today that Shield's intel is maybe not as secure as you all thought previously. Also having a forced list of people for who they are and not what they have done has NEVER worked out historically. Like ever. I see how many people are calling for Bruce Banner to be put down no matter how much the documents I leak show he is a victim. " All true reasons, without revealing everything.
The deep breath from Coulson at the reminder of how much she knew about this op from the start sings to something in her rebellious teenage heart. "Fine. Deal." Before May can voice her objections he continues. "That's an order, Agent May. Now Quake, how come you weren't affected?"
"I've been mind controlled in the past, but an ally gave his life to save me while at the same time giving me a mental immunity to things like that. Resistance? Mental barriers? The exact details aren't very sciency but I have yet to be mind controlled or mind read since then." Daisy begins to gather the two inhumans together so she can leave when she decides to. Daisy can just feel the local military nearly surrounding the place now.
"Do your powers come from the same source as these two, and how big of a problem is this for Shield?" Again, smart question. She wouldn't answer how many people have awakened inhuman genes but she WILL answer that.
"All three of us got our powers from a process called 'Terrigenesis'. Don't worry though, unless you make an enemy of the hidden group I mentioned it won't be a problem. The process can only potentially work on a couple thousand people in the whole world." Speaking of which… it was mentioned to her by her mom in the original timeline that Eva stole 'crystals' not just a crystal. Using her powers, Daisy ends up sensing a hidden ankle holster on the woman that is holding a supply of Terrigenesis crystals instead of a gun. Jackpot!
"I can see you're about to leave, so one last two-part question; What does SPEAR stand for and how can we trust whomever is in charge?" Coulson sees her picking up the two unconscious inhumans, and rightly guesses that time has run out.
Oh boy, he is NOT going to be satisfied with the answers to that question, but he decided this is what he wanted answered most. "I haven't decided what the acronym of SPEAR stands for yet, I just based it off of SHIELD and now I'm waiting for a good conspiracy theory to give it a name. I have seen a few good options from people out there so far." By the looks on both of their faces, the shit eating grin on her face comes through even with the voice changer. "And I'm hurt there A.C.! I thought we had learned to trust each other at least a little bit, didn't you? After all, what could possibly be higher than Platinum level clearance for the Director and Founder?"
Before either of the agents can react to her confession, Daisy quickly blasts off through the skylight window with her inhuman passengers held under each arm. Once she is high enough in the air Daisy sends a quick shake of the air around two figures in the shadows of the buildings in the sunset's light to let them know she sees them, and blasts off to the outskirts of town in the middle of the desert.
Wasting no time Daisy lays the two down on the ground, and quickly takes the holster containing the crystals off of Eva, before stuffing it into her suit's pocket. Just as she gets everything looking undistributed, she hears the air pop and feels the vibrations of people arriving where they didn't exist before.
Looking before her, the two figures have their guard raised high, with tension in their shoulders. The woman seems ready to give a speech or a claim of custody of Eva and her daughter. But Daisy cuts all of that off by talking, as she starts taking off her Quake mask.
"There's no need to come in so aggressively. I thought that you would be happy to see me at last." With her mask now off and her face in full view of the two, Daisy can read the shock, disbelief, anger, confusion, and a thousand more emotions flow across the face of the normally incredibly composed woman. "Mom."
Notes:Author's Endnote: I had a bit of a struggle writing the first part of this chapter. Daisy's plans require a lot of back end support, so Kara is helping to make her own version of 'The Retreat' together. At first I was going to call the safe the mini-slingshot or maybe just the sling. But in the end, the dangerous weapons and tech that SHOULD have gone into the sun, were actually stored in the basement of the fridge. So the safe for weapons and tech in Daisy's basement is called the mini-fridge.
Meanwhile Daisy steps in to help her emotional mom and dad NOT have an incredibly bad traumatic experience in Bahrain. Sure Daisy could have intervened in the market, but the chance of the fight being as contained was lowered, and this way Daisy is only revealed to the two Shield Agents she wants to be revealed to, instead of everyone in the crowded bazaar. All the same, Daisy knows Coulson will put Shield first, so she doesn't ask for TOO much in her deals.
Much to her frustration, May still gets called the Calvary after this mission to hide the involvement of Quake.