Chapter 2
Chapter 2
In the days since her return to the Lighthouse, Daisy spent her time exercising her enhanced abilities. Between the various exercises Jemma had her do in order to log the differences against her prior numbers and pushing herself to her limits, she kept herself busy. She’d approached Mack with the idea of reinstating the caterpillar program, something that both she and Elena Rodriguez were on the same page about. When the director gave their idea the go ahead, the pair began training together and though things weren’t nearly as friendly as they once had been, they were working on it.
“What are you doing?” Yo-Yo asked panting, attempting to catch her breath. She’d just finished sparring against Daisy, though the other woman didn’t appear to be any worse for the wear. While she stopped for water, Daisy began setting up their targets in random positions in the open grass before the lighthouse.
“I thought we could try something different,” Daisy said, still setting up the targets.
Yo-Yo frowned, looking at the set-up. “It looks no different than our last exercises,” she denied.
Daisy nodded. “Yes. I know we’ve already tested the time it takes to get through all of the targets, but I thought we could see how well you do when I’m shaking the ground beneath you.” She knew that the shaking could be jarring, but if Yo-Yo trained enough, she’d be able to move just as fast as normal, potentially giving them the upper hand if they faced a larger threat.
“And it won’t compromise the base?”
“Mack and I have checked the blue prints. We should be good.” She would absorb the shock and release it into the atmosphere after every attempt.
“Okay,” Yo-Yo said, standing up. “Sounds good to me.”
“You ready?” Daisy asked. If her teammate needed more time, she’d give it to her.
The Spanish woman nodded. “I am.” Something told her that it would take a couple attempts before she even found equal footing.
With Piper running a stopwatch to time them, it took three attempts before Yo-Yo was able to take down the first target. By their tenth attempt, Elena made it half way through the field. After every quake, Daisy remained alert, ready to absorb everything before it could create any last damage.
When a SHIELD issued jet landed behind them, Daisy didn’t think anything of it. Davis had left earlier with a couple agents that morning to bring Mike Peterson to the Lighthouse, the latter offering his help when his sister disintegrated. When no one immediately join them, she figured they wanted to watch Elena’s progress from a distance. Eager to catch up with Mike and his son, Ace, she decided to wrap up their training for the day. “Let’s do it one more time and then we can head in!” She called, watching as Elena nodded before moving to her starting position. Moving into position, she rested her hand on the grass. “Ready?” She asked, Piper.
Piper started the clock. “Now!”
The earth immediately started shaking and Elena was off.
Daisy watched as Elena managed to hit seven targets before she began absorbing the shock. Pushing herself off the ground, she flew into the air and released the shock before falling back to the ground, landing on her feet.
“She’s getting better,” Piper said.
Daisy nodded.
“That was impressive.”
The pair immediately turned to the unfamiliar male voice, both surprised to find the Avengers standing there.
“Oh, uh-th-thank you,” Daisy said, tripping over her words when she realized that the words came from Thor. Her eyes traveled around the group, momentarily meeting Steve’s gaze before forcing her eyes elsewhere.
“Sorry to just drop in on you, but we have it on good authority that Phil Coulson is still alive and in charge,” Bruce Banner said, stepping forward.
Daisy immediately shook her head in a negative. “I’m sorry, but Coulson isn’t…” She trailed off, unsure of how to finish her statement.
The lone female Avenger stepped forward. “There’s no point in lying to us, we know that Coulson is alive. I don’t know why he felt it necessary to let us believe he was dead, but I’m sure that if you tell him we’re here he’ll agree to see us.”
“You misunderstand us,” Piper immediately denied. “Yes, Coulson is alive, but he’s…”
“He’s in a medically induced coma,” Daisy finished quietly, waiting for them to process her words. By then Elena had joined them, remaining silent as she did so. “These are Agents Piper and Rodriquez,” she introduced, pointing out each woman. “And I’m Agent Johnson.” She turned to Elena. “Can you run ahead and let Mack know we have company?”
Elena nodded. “Already done, I sent him a text before I joined you,” she said quietly before turning to the visitors and speaking louder. “If you guys would like to follow me, I’ll take you to meet the director.” Taking the lead, she made her way inside.
Having decided to wait to round out the group, Daisy watched when Piper sidled up next to Thor, her eyes still wide with disbelief. Out of the corner her eye, she noticed Steve shuffle his feet, not bothering to walk on with his team. It wasn’t until Clint Barton, the last person, was a few feet ahead of her before she looked at Steve again, gesturing for him to go first.
“So, Agent Johnson, huh?” Steve said quietly, so as not to gather the attention of the others. Upon departing from Daisy that morning at the hotel, he returned home and spent the remainder of the day lost in his thoughts. By the time he regrouped with the team, he was back to business, not bothering to mention that night. If anyone was curious about his brief disappearance, no one said anything.
“Guilty,” she admitted with a small smile.
He returned the gesture with one of his own.
“I didn’t go there looking for you,” she said after a moment. “But when I saw you at the bar looking worse for wear,” she sighed. “Well…” Daisy shrugged, not finishing her statement.
“It wasn’t until I was already home when I realized you mentioned Fury by name with a sense of familiarity,” he admitted after a moment. “I guess now I know why.”
“I’m sorry if any of my words offended you that morning,” she apologized quietly, turning to look at him.
He nodded once. “You were right,” Steve told her in an equally soft voice. “I may not have wanted to listen to you then, but you had a point.” Honestly, if he hadn’t been feeling so horrible that morning, he probably would have argued against her observation.
No further words were spoken between the pair as the group made their way inside the base and into a conference room. Mack and Jemma were already waiting for them in a large conference room. Daisy, rounding out the group, closed the door behind her. She waited as Steve joined Tony Stark, Clint, Bruce, Natasha and Thor and an unfamiliar black man. Once everyone else was seated, Daisy claimed the vacant seat to Mack’s right.
“I’m director Mackenzie,” Mack began. “You’ve met Agents Piper and Rodriquez. This is Deputy Director Simmons and Deputy Director Johnson,” he introduced.
“Two deputies?” Clint asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Fury would have never done such a thing.
Mack nodded. “Deputy Director Simmons helps take care of things on the home front while Deputy Director Johnson is in charge of any field ops and training,” he explained. “I believe I speak for my entire team when I say that we’re familiar with just about everyone here, except for you,” he said, turning his attention to the black man sitting to Tony’s left.
“James Rhodes or War Machine, but I usually go by Rhodey,” the man replied, nodding towards the agents.
Mack returned the gesture before turning to face Steve Rogers. Once upon a time, Captain America served as co-leader with Tony Stark and he went on with the same line of thought. “What can we do for you?”
Steve cleared his throat. “We would like to open a line of direct communication with you, SHIELD. We recently fought a mad Titan.”
Mack nodded. “Thanos,” he supplied the name. “We’re aware.” Upon revealing the knowledge, several Avengers responded with narrowed glances, but no one immediately said anything about it.
“We…lost,” Steve admitted, “and with that loss, most of our associates disintegrated.”
“When we returned to the states, we saw what happened in Chicago and when we realized that Coulson and SHIELD were still very active, we decided to seek you out,” Natasha chimed in. “We were hoping to have a sit down with Phil, but your agents explained that he is in a medically induced coma?”
Mack nodded.
“We can no longer afford to remain completely separate entities,” Steve tacked on. “None of you know us the way Agent Coulson did, but we’re hoping that you would at least consider keeping an open line between us.”
“What exactly is it that you’re looking for?” Mack asked, knowing that while the Avengers may have sought them out, they would never agree to be placed in the same position they’d formerly been in where SHIELD was concerned.
“We need all the help we can get,” Tony said, speaking for the first time. “We thought there may be an opportunity for the two of us to come together, share resources, work as a team,” he made sure to stress the last word.
Mack cast a quick glance from one Deputy Director to the other and when neither woman appeared to have any reservations, he nodded at Tony. “I believe we can do that,” he admitted. “However, we do have a pressing matter that we’ve been working on that needs to be taken care of.” He wanted to make sure he declared that information so that the Avengers were aware of just how important it was to them. “A team member of ours is out in space and we need to bring him home. He’s an engineer and other than Deputy Director Simmons, the smartest person on our team, probably in this room. You want SHIELD’s help and we’re prepared to step up in whatever way we need to but retrieving him comes first.” He waited, watching as Steve and Tony exchanged a significant look.
“Understood,” Steve vocalized. “Is there anything you need on our end, Director Mackenzie?”
Mack looked at each visitor before settling his gaze on the Asgardian. “Actually, we could use your knowledge,” he admitted, before looking back from one leader to another. “If you witnessed the events in Chicago then you saw the space ship.” He waited for their acknowledgement before continuing. “The president entrusted it to us, we’ve been attempting to repair it for space travel. I’m a good mechanic, but I’m out of my depths on this,” he admitted.
“We could also use a crash course in alien languages so that we can read the control panel,” Daisy added.
“Which brings us to story time because we have a few questions,” Tony said then. When he felt Natasha dig her elbow into his side, he exhaled a dramatic sigh. “And I’m sure you have a few as well,” he tacked on.
“Of course,” Mack acknowledged.
Clint leaned forward in his seat then. “Before we begin, I just have to ask. Coulson?” He’d been looking forward to reuniting with his former handler and had been completely thrown when Agent Johnson said he’d been placed in a coma.
“Deputy Director Johnson can take over from here. She and Jemma were part of the original group. It may be easier to wait until she’s finished before you guys ask any questions,” Mack answered.
Daisy, who’d been content to remain silent, startled when she realized she’d been put on the spot. Quickly gathering her thoughts, she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table, she laced her fingers together. “Some time during the 1990’s, SHIELD dealt with Kree aliens, which granted them access to Kree blood, and even though the vessel was dead, he was hooked up to a machine that kept the body preserved. Using that blood, SHIELD derived a serum that was designed to bring someone back from the brink of death and even death itself. They called it GH-325, after the building that housed the deceased Kree. The idea worked…in theory,” she allowed. “However, latent side effects made it very clear that it was more harmful than helpful, and the idea was shelved. Fury never intended for it to be used unless absolutely necessary, such as the death of an Avenger. When Coulson died before the battle of New York, Fury had SHIELD scientists administer it to Coulson and he was brought back from death. However, there were a few memory modifications done as well. Coulson was told that he did die, but only for a few minutes. He had no idea just how serious the situation was, and he had no memory of any of it happening.”
“I’m sorry,” Bruce interrupted. “I know you said no interruptions, but I don’t understand how this Kree blood is able to do such a thing,” his mind had been grasping for some understanding as to how such a thing was possible.
“The Kree are a humanoid race and resemble the human race with the notable exception of their blue skin,” Jemma explained.
Thor nodded. “They have advanced strength and are able to adapt to various environments. They also have potent regenerative capabilities. And though they do resemble humans; their biology isn’t as simple as a humans, so while a serum can be derived from their blood, they could never use it on one of their own,” he tacked on, helping explain things.
“Like Asgardians, they are able to live thousands of years. We’ve heard the Kree describe it as blood of the eternals,” Daisy tacked on. “A year and a half ago, we dealt with a robot that was, well, she was unstoppable. In an attempt to take her down, Coulson made a deal with an associate of sorts in order to gain the ability to bring her down. However, we didn’t know that as part of the deal, the GH-325 that made it possible for Coulson to return from death was severed. He’s been dying ever since. After the events of Chicago, he wanted to step away and spend the last of his time on his own terms.”
Natasha took a closer look at the Deputy Director. Coulson had wanted to go off and what? Die on his own? But then, that couldn’t be the case if he was in a medically induced coma. “But you didn’t do that,” she surmised.
“No,” Daisy replied, meeting the other woman’s gaze steadily, refusing to feel guilty for her decision. If all went well and they were able to find something to heal him, he could live the rest of his angry with her, but at least he’d be alive. “Agent Melinda May and I devised a plan that would hopefully buy us enough time to come up with an alternative. Yes, he’s in a medically induced coma, but he, as well as May, are hooked up to computer simulated world.” Inspired by Ada’s version, though on a much small scale, minus Hydra, she’d attempted to give him a nice world to immerse himself in.
Tony arched an eyebrow. A computer simulated world? How did they come up with that idea? Who wrote the program?
Natasha pursed her lips and nodded once in acceptance. “Where does he think he is?”
“Tahiti. When he was being brought back from death, along with parts of his memory being taken away, he had been given false memories of spending time there. And his desire was to actually go there.”
“So, he has no idea?” Clint asked.
Daisy shook her head in negative. “He doesn’t, no. But May knows the truth. I know that more than likely, Coulson is going to be angry when he realizes the truth, realizes that the decision was taken away from him…again… but I’ll gladly accept that anger if it means he has a chance to live.”
“You mentioned earlier that you were aware of Thanos,” Bruce said when the room fell into silence. “How? And if you knew, why didn’t you offer any assistance?”
When no one on her team offered to speak up, Daisy realized she was still the elected official to speak. However, she also knew that it would be a longer explanation that contained a lot of facts. Casting a look at Mack, for permission to speak with complete candor, she waited for a nod of approval before she spoke again. “That’s a story within a story, within a couple stories,” she told them.
“We’ve got time,” Clint said in response.
Daisy nodded at him. “Before I was affiliated with SHIELD, I was a member of Rising Tide.” Only Natasha and Tony appeared to understand the significance of the name. “It’s a hacking group,” she tacked on for the others. “And I was on a one-man mission to expose all of SHIELD’s secrets.”
Tony looked her over then, she seemed so young, but she obviously knew what she was doing. She must have been the one to create the computer simulated world she spoke of. It was impressive…until he realized what she’d said last. “Huh, so you’re one of those,” he arched an eyebrow at her.
“One of what?”
“Those entitled Millennials. You know, one of the ones that think the world owes them something, simply for existing. Like the ones that insist they know everything and get all bent out of shape when authority figures try to be in control…”
“I’m afraid it was bit more personal for me,” she said then. “Long story short, I grew up in an orphanage. I had no knowledge of my biological parents, nothing to work off. After a couple of years searching for information; I only found one document, though I suppose ‘document’ isn’t the correct word. It was one page, a single redacted SHIELD page. I started taking advanced computer classes and when that wasn’t enough, I started surrounding myself with hackers and I learned from them.”
“SHIELD was alerted to her because she was attempting to hack them directly,” Jemma added.
Daisy spoke about her first interaction with Coulson’s team and his decision to bring her on as a consultant and agreement to look into her past before assigning her to the specialist on the team for training. She mentioned a couple of their earliest cases, with Jemma periodically chiming in as well. Daisy shared the story of Franklin Hall and gravitonium while Jemma provided the scientific facts, putting things into perspective for the Avengers. “And it remained at the Fridge until Hydra liberated everyone and whatever items they wanted, the gravitonium included.”
“It was years before we had to deal with gravitonium again,” Jemma said, letting them know that they’d be coming back to it.
“An ongoing situation we faced those first few months was with someone claiming to be ‘The Clairvoyant,’” Daisy said, moving the conversation along. “Coulson was kidnapped by The Clairvoyant’s people, they were trying to discover how it was that Coulson survived New York. We managed to save him before they could learn anything, but that was when Coulson discovered the truth about what happened to him. He contacted Fury, learned about the GH-325 and that those memories of Tahiti had been planted. It was then that he started looking into the serum, though no one else on the team knew about it. He’d also been looking into my file, surprise, it’s an 0-8-4,” she said with false cheeriness, attempting to ignore the pitiful expressions on Natasha and Clint’s faces.
“While we were tracking down a person of interest in one of our cases, Daisy was shot twice at close range,” Jemma took over again.
Upon hearing the words come from the English woman’s mouth, Steve’s gaze fell on Agent Johnson…no, Daisy. Instead of looking at any of them, her attention was on the table. Daisy, like the flower. Such a simple name, pretty, but simple. How could he have forgotten it?
“We managed to get her to a SHIELD hospital, mind you, this was all prior to Hydra. They…there was nothing they could do, it was then that Coulson went looking for the GH-325. He managed to save a single dose before the building was blown up and it brought her back from the brink of death.”
“After dealing with Hydra’s ‘coming into the light’ crap, Fury stepped away from SHIELD, passing the mantle of director to Coulson,” Daisy spoke once again.
“Maria Hill has been an employee of Stark Industries since she left SHIELD,” Tony said. “How could she have hidden this from us all this time?”
“To be fair, she may not have known,” Jemma answered. “She assisted us on a mission once, I believe it was after the events that occurred at the Triskellion,” she said, attempting to give them a timeline. “She was very firm when she spoke to Coulson about SHIELD’s falling and not reassembling.”
“Once the dust settled from all of that, Coulson began to incessantly carve a specific design. He carved on any and every available surface and it was always the same thing. It was a side effect of the GH-325.”
“You mentioned latent side effects,” Bruce recalled. “So, at that time, you weren’t affected by them because not enough time passed?”
“Yes and no,” Daisy shrugged. “I never had that desire to carve, but it was for a very different reason. Coulson looked further into the GH-325 and learned about the trial run and his involvement in it. It was one of the memories that was stripped from him.”
Jemma nodded. “We managed to track down those surviving test subjects and discovered that the carving was a map of an ancient alien city.”
“And then we found out that Hydra was also after the city,” Mack spoke for the first time since Daisy started the story. “It was a race to see who could get there first, but it ended up being a tie.”
“I ended up getting trapped in a room with a teammate and one of Hydra’s associates. There was an alien artefact in there that was activated releasing a crystal which then exploded, releasing a mist. Hydra’s associate and I were cocooned in a thin layer of stone. By the time we emerged from it, my team mate was dead and there was an earthquake bringing everything down on top of us. It was later I realized that I had been the one triggering the earthquakes.”
“Daisy is an Inhuman,” Jemma said then. “The Kree visited Earth thousands of years ago. They genetically modified a group of humans, giving them various abilities. Those individuals went on to have children and that gene was transferred to every new generation. The gene itself is dormant unless triggered by a terrigen crystal.”
“After we dealt with the robot-”
“Why do I get the feeling that you skipped something?” Clint asked, interrupting her.
“Because I have, a couple of things actually,” Daisy admitted simply. “But it has no bearing on our conversation right now. After we dealt with the robot, we went to a diner to treat ourselves,” Daisy said, moving the story along. “I know it isn’t fancy, but we figured it was only a matter of time before the government came looking for us and we at least wanted one last meal. While we were in the diner, we were abducted by an alien-” She was stopped by a snort of amusement.
“You realize how this sounds, don’t you?” Tony asked.
“You fought a giant purple guy and that’s where you drawn the line between fact and fiction?” Piper asked.
“His name was Noah, he was a Chronicon,” Daisy said before anyone could respond to Piper’s words.
“I thought they mostly observed?” Thor interrupted then.
Jemma nodded.
“He discovered an extinction level event was going to occur and stepped in. We were sent seventy something years into the future,” Daisy finished. “There’s an Inhuman with the ability to see…the past, present and future and it was through her that he made his discovery.”
“That is…”
“Hard to believe,” Mack finished for Natasha. He nodded. “Yes, we felt the same way when we discovered where and when we were.”
“There’s a group called the Confederacy, they are compromised of various alien races, beings that didn’t fit in with their own kind.”
“The Confederacy?” Thor parroted. “But they’re…harmless.”
“They may have started off that way, but they aren’t in the future,” Jemma denied.
Steve looked to his teammate. “You’ve met them?”
“Once,” the Asgardian admitted. “They are as Lady Daisy said, misfits of their own societies.”
“The Kree make up a significant portion of the Confederacy,” Daisy tacked on. “When we arrived in the future, we learned that Earth was destroyed, cracked in half and the remaining humans were living here, only the Lighthouse was in space. Sometime between Earth being shattered and our arrival, the Confederacy stepped in to help them. However, instead of helping those humans, they took control, turning humans into slaves while the Kree remained in charge. They began dosing the food so that the only way children were conceived was through scientific methods. Inhumans were engineered and forced to fight in arenas, gladiator style. The winners would then be auctioned off to the highest bidder.”
“We found a way to liberate the humans, helping them regain control of the Lighthouse and then we were able to return to our time where we’ve been working to change that outcome,” Mack explained.
“How was the planet destroyed? Was it Thanos?” Steve asked, looking from Mack towards Daisy, watching as they both shook their heads in negative. “Then how-”
“News footage was captured and kept aboard the Lighthouse. Everyone thought it was me, that I responsible.” When every single Avenger began giving her an appraising look, she fidgeted in her seat. “It wasn’t,” she tacked on petulantly.
“Upon our return, we discovered the government issued wanted posters of us,” Mack said, moving the conversation along.
“But it wasn’t so much the government as it was one Army General, that ended up being the newest head of Hydra,” Jemma insisted.
“After the events in New York, Hydra managed to get their hands on a communication device and they began interacting with the Confederacy,” Yo-Yo chimed in for the first time since sitting down. “General Hale reached out to Coulson, wanting to broker a deal. She…didn’t like the idea that her predecessors had invited a group of aliens to Earth.”
Daisy nodded. “She willingly gave over the gravitonium, wanting me to infuse myself with it and then fight off the Confederacy. It was then that we realized that it was my powers strengthened by the gravitonium that cracked open the world. Coulson refused, and she ended up turning on us. While we were dealing with all of this, we were also trying to find a way to heal Coulson. We referred back to something we dealt with years ago called the Centipede Project, super soldier serum. A friend of Mack’s ended up locating one last dose. Using that and the DNA of an Inhuman with the ability of longevity and youth rejuvenation, Jemma created a serum for Coulson.”
“Through the years we’ve had a love/hate relationship with the US Government and an Army General named Glen Talbot.”
Rhodey nodded then, recognizing the name. “He’s a good a man.”
Daisy nodded. “He was, yes.”
“Was?” He repeated.
“During the months that we were in the future, Hydra managed to get their hands on him,” Daisy said softly. “He’d been recovering from a gunshot wound to the head and his already precarious situation was made worse when Hydra put him under a behavioral conditioning. He ended up turning on us. Coulson managed to subdue him and when he realized what he’d done and how powerless he was to stop it, he…”
“He infused himself with Gravitonium,” Jemma spoke up. “And it drove him insane.”
Daisy thought back to her time on Quovas’ ship. “The Confederacy mentioned Thanos and his intent to come to Earth and Talbot was convinced that he needed to help you all, but that he needed more gravitonium first. He discovered some deep underground in Chicago.”
“Chicago,” Natasha said, thinking about the fight. “Where you had your showdown….”
Daisy nodded. “What we didn’t realize was that Coulson never took that serum. Instead, he hid it in my gauntlets and when Talbot tried to kill me, using the gravitonium, I discovered it. I injected myself with it, which enhanced my abilities and I was able to beat him.”
“So…when you went into the future, there had been no serum?” Banner asked, attempting to put the pieces together.
“We can’t say for certain,” Mack said. “But we think that in that timeline, there was a serum and Coulson did inject himself with it, so when Daisy confronted Talbot, she wasn’t strong enough to overcome him. He managed to gain her ability, but not her knowledge of how to control it and he broke apart the world.”
“And this team member in space?” Clint asked.
However, before anyone could answer, there was a knock on the door. Daisy looked up to find Davis. Tuning him out, she focused on the forms behind him and began beaming when she spotted Mike and Ace Peterson. “Mack,” she said quietly. “Would you mind if I excused myself and helped them?” It had been years since she’d last seen Ace Peterson in person and was eager to reunite with him.
“Sure,” he replied.
Daisy excused herself from the table and began walking towards the father son duo.
“Skye!” Ace exclaimed.
“She goes by Daisy now,” Mike reminded his son. “I told you that.”
Daisy shook her head. “You can call me whatever you want,” she told the boy, though she supposed he was more of a young man more than boy. “Wow, look at you, you’ve grown so much!” She said, gathering him in her arms. “Hi, Mike.”
Mike Peterson smiled at her.
Ace returned the hug, but when he noticed the group gathered in the room he gasped. “Woah. Are those the Avengers?”
Daisy nodded and pulled away from him. “Maybe you can meet them later?” She suggested....if they would still be in the facility.
Ace nodded. “Are you going to save the world?” He asked. “And bring all those people back?”
Being careful with her words, Daisy nodded once. “We’re gonna try,” she admitted. “I’m so glad you’re here. I need your help with something,” she changed the subject.
“Okay.”
“Do you remember when your dad was taken and before you went to live with your aunt that you stayed with us for a while?”
Ace nodded.
“Well, we have a girl here whose mom disappeared with all those people, so she’s been staying with us. And I need your help with her.”
The younger Peterson frowned then. “You want me to babysit her?” He asked, the distaste apparent in his voice.
“Not babysit,” Daisy denied easily. “But she’s surrounded by a bunch of adults and you know how unfun that can be. I need you to be her friend.”
“Okay…” Ace said, not thrilled with the idea at all.
She smiled at him. “I was going to bring you two topside tonight and do s’mores,” she started, narrowing her gaze on him. “But I can see you’re too cool to do that. It’s okay, I’ll find someone else.”
“Ace, if you don’t want to help and do s’mores, I’ll gladly volunteer my services,” Mike said.
Ace rolled his eyes. “I never said I wouldn’t do it,” he reminded both of them.
“That’s the spirit,” Daisy said brightly. “Come on, I’ll show you to your rooms.” She kept pace with Mike as they began walking through the corridors.
“So, the Avengers, huh?” Mike asked after a moment. “It’s bad isn’t it?”
Daisy nodded. “I assume so,” she said softly. “We were in the middle of what Tony Stark called ‘story time.’ I left before we could hear their side of things, but…the fact that they reached out to us…” It didn’t bode well for any of them.