Promises Kept Part 1
Episode 6: Promises Kept Part 1
September 16, 2018- Present Day
Daisy stayed on the ground for a long time crying. The tears wouldn’t stop, and she didn’t think she had ever been this frustrated before. Resting her head against the wall she didn’t know what she was supposed to do anymore and the only thing she really wanted was to rest. A thought that hadn’t ever occurred to her before.
Growing up in a desolate future after the world had been nearly destroyed. There had never been time to rest or even to have a day to yourself. As a child she had always been on the move. Learning to survive, to fight. It was the only easy she had ever known. She had never thought of herself as weak until now, but maybe she had been hiding the truth from herself all along. Maybe she was weak and everything around her was pretend.
Now more than ever she wanted her dad, but he wasn’t here. Not really in the way she wanted. When she looked at Logan all she saw was an empty look. He didn’t know her and if they fixed the timeline he never would.
“Daisy?” A voice said familiar and foreign at the same time. Raising her head, she felt the tears spring from her eyes. The familiar face coming into view. A face she wasn’t entirely sure she would ever see again.
“Jemma” Getting to her feet she threw her arms around her friend and hugged the girl tightly against her. Glad of the familiarity upon which she desperately needed. Before all the others Jemma had been the first person after her dad that she had considered a friend, the first person that she knew she could trust with her life. “You’re here! Your alive.” Pulling away she examined the scientist for injury’s. Glad that her friend looked mostly unharmed. “Where are the others?” She asked wiping at her eyes. Trying to get rid of the evidence that she had been crying.
“Coulson and May found me and brought me back. Fitz is currently in lockup along with your friend as well.” She said referring to Robbie. “Elena just got back with Mack, but they didn’t find anything useful and Bobbi… her and that hunter guy. They’re not back. They haven’t reported in, but I’m not worried. Bobbi is strong, and I am sure that she is fine.” Jemma nodded, smiling weakly at Daisy for assurance. “I’ve already been informed on everything so, I’m all up to date. By the way I know your dad is here daisy and I am so sorry this must be hard for you.”
Yea, it was hard. But nothing Daisy couldn’t handle before. She was good at shutting off her feelings when the time called for it. No emotions were better than breaking down and getting attached when you know the outcome is just stupid. Staying away from Logan was the best outcome, and possibly Robbie as well. She didn’t like who she was around him. It terrified her.
“Quaker Oats!” The voice behind her started her into jumping around to see Tony waving at her. “That’s Neds Grandfather” Jemma questioned studying the man for any sign of resemblance. Ignoring her friend, she followed Tony who seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. Finally catching up, he grabbed her wrist and proceeded to drag her down the hall at a rushed pace.
“I got ahold of the blonde guy for you.” Tony said yanking on her arm before shoving her towards the balcony.
“Great, just one quick question… What’s a Quaker Oat?” Throwing his head back to laugh at her he grinned. “You save the world and ill tell you.” He said. Not that she cared that much about what a Quaker Oat was she just had a feeling that it was slightly insulting to her.
“Fine, now where the hell is the Asgardian you promised me?” Grinning at her he stepped back and looked towards the sky. Looking up she frowned and didn’t see anything except the stars so, she had no way of knowing what he was even looking at.
“Heimdall, open the bi frost” Watching Tony yell at the sky made her back up. Maybe he was crazy, and this was him snapping. She had seen it before in the future and she wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
“Sorry, Thor is kind of busy right now and he couldn’t come down so, you’re just going to have to go up and meet him” Tony said with a shrug taking three steps back.
“Up? What do you mean…” A wave of energy shot down hitting her with light and the next thing she knew was shooting through the air at lightning speed. Everything flashing by in a blur before she hit the ground. The urge to throw up became apparent a second later and she found herself heaving on the ground. Nauseas and dizzy all at the same time. “What the hell was that?” she weakly said. Resting her head on the floor to shake off the wave of dizziness.
“Lady Daisy” a voice boomed causing her to look up at the beaming face of thor. Judging by appearances he was exactly what she expected.
“Hey there, sorry about the mess” She said waving her hand at the puke stained ground. Which Thor seemed to shrug off anyways. Dragging her down the rainbow bridge.
“Tony said you wished to speak with me traveler from the future. I don’t know the full details, but it must be important if you wished to meet with me.” Stopping, she frowned and rubbed her face tiredly. Thor looked at her concerned, but she just smiled at him weakly.
“I need to talk to your brother Thor. I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important and I know your keeping him locked up here. Please Thor” Running her shaking hands through her hair she looked up at him and could see his kind eyes staring back at her. A memory of a conversation long ago, but really not all that long came to mind along with a promise, but she pushed that thought away for now. She needed to focus.
“I trust you Lady Daisy. I know you would not be here unless it was important especially because you are supposed to be on lock down at the shield base and are technically breaking Fury’s rule. I do not envy you on that.” He said causing her to grin. Thor was exactly how she pictured him from the stories she had heard.
Following the prince, the rest of the way down the rainbow bridge and towards the cellar where they kept Loki in the darkest parts. She found herself reminded of a similar time when she too had been locked in a cage like an animal. Lost in the dark for than once.
Stopping she noticed a row of see through glass cages. “He’s the last one towards the end. He can’t get out so, your safe but there is a guard standing by incase something goes wrong. I’ll leave you alone for now.” Listening to his receding footsteps she walked towards the end until coming to a full stop in front of his cell.
Opening her mouth to say something she froze, and the words would not come to her mouth, caught. Slowly Loki raised his head and their eyes met. A cold darkness burnt into his eyes and she wondered if this was the same man from before.
“It’s been awhile” She said finally finding her voice. Trying to hold back the stinging that was becoming apparent in her eyes.
“Has it? Forgive me. I know I’m old, but I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you and I never forget a face.” He said slowly getting up his eyes never leaving hers like a cat on the prowl.
“Not yet, but you will. Time travel is funny like that.” She said waiting for him to piece it together. She didn’t expect it would take long considering the mastermind she was dealing with.
“You’re from the future” He stated not as a question but a fact.
“Yea, and I’m here to make sure you keep your promise.”
2096- The Future, A Few Weeks Before
Death was inevitable, all things lived, and all things died, but dying down below in a pathetic damp dungeon was not the way Daisy Johnson wanted to go. She couldn’t die, and she couldn’t go back until she found she found a way to save her people. Until she found a source powerful enough to kick start the time machine cable was building.
Now here she waited in a dungeon where she would most likely get sold to hydra and ripped apart piece by piece just as her mom before her and Logan the man who raised her, the man who died protecting her.
Crawling towards the bars she grabbed them tightly and pulled. Hoping they were rusted enough that she could just shake them, and they would break apart. No such luck yet.
“Don’t bother, I already tried that and I’m ten times stronger than you.” A voice said from the dark. Squinting her eyes, she pressed her face into the bars and could just make out a male figure in the cell across from hers.
“Why? Cause you’re a guy” She scoffed hating the man for suggesting she was weak when she could probably kick his scrawny ass.
“No, cause I’m an Asgardian,” He sneered stepping into the light so that she could get a good look at him for the first time.
“Fair enough” She mumbled. Maybe she couldn’t kick his ass after all despite the fact that he had a physique only slightly bulkier than hers. She knew enough about aliens to know that they were usual stronger even though as an inhuman she was slightly stronger than your average human being.
“What’s an Asgardian doing locked up here on earth? I thought you guys were wiped out a long time ago or, so I’ve heard” These were only rumors. No alien has set foot on earth soil since the destruction. Any ties to the worlds beyond her gone as if the universe had forsaken humanity.
“Mostly, we were mostly wiped out. Now everyone is just scattered across the galaxy. With Asgard destroyed and Thor gone. Nobody left to rule the empire, it just fell.” The way he spoke she could almost hear the sorrow in his voice. Reaching through the bars she inched her hand towards his cell but found that her arms weren’t long enough.
“What’s your name?” Silence fell and for a second Daisy didn’t think he would answer her or maybe he was just tired of talking.
“Loki” The answer finally came, and it was not one that she expected. While most of their knowledge of earth was long forgotten the avengers was something that nobody forgot including Loki the brother of Thor. A name that inspired fear and yet here lay a broken man and not at all like the Asgardian that she pictured.
“You’re not an Asgardian. You’re a frost giant. You’re a murderer and a monster.” She said standing up and hating herself for ever feeling pity for this pathetic man.
“So, you know who I am. You humans aren’t very forgiving. I’m not planning any takeover not anymore. You don’t have to worry all I want now is my brother back. An impossible feat really because he’s dead. Guess that’s who I am though always want what I can’t have.” Sliding down the wall daisy found herself laughing at the irony. They both wanted something that was impossible. Cable was never going to get the time machine working and Loki was never going to get his brother back.
“If it makes you feel any better the resistance has been working on a time machine for over a year. I was supposed to find a source to power it, but I doubt that’ll ever happen. Doomed mission from the start.” She muttered.
“Time machine?” Loki whispered sitting up to stare at Daisy. “Actually, I think I maybe able to solve both our problems, but first we’re going to need to get out of here” Brushing himself off he headed towards the back of the cell shuffling around for a minute before coming back.
“How exactly are you going to solve both our problems, and what do you get out of this.” She asked. Grinning, he looked up at her holding a rusted shiv. No idea where he got it he began working the lock using the weapon.
“I help you get that time machine working and you save my brother” The deal startled her. Daisy had heard about Loki through story’s before in the past. None of them good and most of them depicted him as a selfish monster. Not someone who would make a deal to save his own brother.
“I don’t understand. I thought you hated your brother and now you want to save him.” Loki’s door swung open with ease and again Daisy thought he was going to leave her to rot, but instead much to her surprise he came over and began working on her lock.
“You ever hear the expression you don’t know what you have until its gone. Its an earthly expression but it might have been lost over time. I tried so hard to kill my brother for so long and then when he finally died… not even by my hands. All I felt was loneliness and I realized the only person in the world that I had ever cared about was gone. My brother was gone, and I didn’t realize what he meant to me until it was too late, and I found myself alone in the world.” Reaching through the bars Daisy touched his hand softly.
“No one is ever really gone, and no one is ever really alone. As long as there are people in the world you may one day find someone reaching a hand out to you wanting to be a friend. I misjudged you from the moment I knew who you were.” Sticking her hand out she smiled at him. “I’m sorry Loki, but I know that we can fix all this and that you’ll see your brother again, but until then I’ll be your friend I don’t have many anyways.” The door swung open and she stepped out.
“By the way if you had that weapon all the time to get out why didn’t you?” She asked as he dragged her down the hall and towards the exit.
“No point in escaping. Even if I did I had nowhere to go anyways. I was just waiting to die and then you showed up. Fixing this future gave me a reason to live again and hurry up, you stupid mortal.” He said.
“You never have anything nice to say, do you?” She grumbled following him. The hallway was quiet, but Daisy was prepared for a fight to break out at any minute. So far, they hadn’t detected any hydra agents but that could change at any time.
Keeping close to Loki they snuck through the corridor Daisy staying slightly in front of the god when an alarm rang off causing Daisy to look up. “They know we’re out. Let’s go” Daisy said picking up her stride just as two men came from around the corner.
Not wasting time, she held her hand out and emitted a single wake knocking both men into the wall hard rendering them unconscious. “Huh, Mutant?” Loki asked turning towards her as they headed down the hall.
“No, Inhuman. We don’t have time for this.” She said pushing through one of the doors. Making it outside she looked around seeing the desert all around them. “Where are we going?” The wind pushed against them at all direction kicking up the sand and dirt and blowing it into a frenzy like storm.
“An old avenger base it may hold the location of where they were keeping one of the infinity stones” He said, both pushing through the cloud of sand and trying to get as far away from hydra as possible. It was better to put some distance between them and the base.
“Infinity stone? What is that supposed to do for us?”
“The infinity stones hold much power and destruction, and the one we’re looking for can be used to travel back in time. The avengers locked most of the infinity stones up a long time ago. Hopefully they kept the location of where the hid the stones on one of their databases” He didn’t say anymore after that.
Daisy didn’t know where they were going or what direction the base was in, but Loki didn’t seem too concerned and Hydra had already become a speck, so she was pretty sure that they weren’t being followed.
Hours later the heat beat down on them getting hotter than was normal. They had been walking with minimal talk and Daisy was beginning to think they were lost and Loki just wouldn’t admit it. Sweating, daisy couldn’t help but think that this heat was abnormal and was signaling something much worse. Coming to a stop her mouth dry and her skin began to burn she took a deep breath and despite her dry throat she spoke up, “Somethings wrong, its too hot. I think my skin is starting to burn and I’m finding It hard to breathe”
Loki paused and glanced back at her. Pulling off his glove he held his hand out in front of him feeling the heat, “That’s not heat” he said. “Radiation” The second the words clicked in Daisy’s head she gasped, “Oh my god” she whispered before twisting around to the left where most of the heat was coming from,
A cloud came from the distance rolling towards them at an alarming rate. Coming to a stop Daisy squinted before her eyes widened, “Radiation Fog” she breathed. “We need to find shelter now!” she yelled at Loki once he too spotted the fog. Breaking out into a run the fog was coming on them fast. After the destruction of the world, power plants melting, men using radiation bombs, and nuclear warfare which destroyed the world entirely radiation began covering nearly the entire earth as well as radiation fog which was a lot like rain in that it came unexpectedly and without warning. When the radiation got too high in certain areas it would began to congest and then like a cloud it would release all at once and vaporize anything in its path. It was almost as bad as acid rain which was just clouds mixed with radiation that became too full and when the clouds released the rain it became acidic and a lot harder to avoid. During heavy showers death occurred in minutes if you weren’t wearing thick enough clothing.
There weren’t many places to hide and they were miles from any shelter unless they went back towards hydra which would be stupid anyways. Daisy was used to running but she didn’t think she could run forever. “We’re trapped! There is nothing in sight!” She yelled over her own heavy breathing.
“We’re almost to the base” Loki said twisting around, raking his eyes across the barren landscape.
“Really? Cause I don’t see anything but sand! So, do you have any bright ideas oh great god!” She yelled her frustration reaching its breaking point.
“Its here. I know it. The base is around here somewhere” he said.
“we’re not anywhere near any buildings! And now we’re going to die out here!” she yelled.
“Please, I am not going to let a pathetic thing like fog beat me. I’ll throw you to the fog before I let that happen.” He sneered. Both climbing up a high mound of sand with nothing in sight for miles as the fog was growing closer behind them.
Shoving past Loki, she whirled around to face him still walking backwards as she yelled, “God! You are still a stuck up high and mighty asshole, aren’t you? You haven’t changed in the least and when it comes down to it you will always choose yourself. Maybe we were kidding ourselves thinking we can change anything. When a single royal brat can’t even stop himself from being a grade a assho…” The ground fell from under her cutting off anything Daisy was going to say next as a scream tore from her throat surprising both her and Loki who fell as well into the dark abyss below.
Darkness was the only thing Daisy registered when she came to. Disoriented and with a pounding headache she got to her feet and felt around blindly not sure which way was up and which way was down. “Loki” she whispered feeling around in the dark. “Loki”
Lights flickered on a second later and Daisy winced at the harsh light. Loki stood next to a light switch and for the first time was able to take in her environment. “What is this place?” she whispered. Surrounding them was what looked to be a lab. Dusty and unused the whole building buried under layers of sand.
“I was right. This is the avengers building. one of them anyway buried under mounds of sand.” He said smugly at her crossing his arms.
“Well congratulations. Lets just find what we came for and get the hell out of here.” She said pushing through one of the doors. Occasionally sand would rain down from above but for the most part there wasn’t any fear of being buried alive, yet.
Daisy couldn’t believe that at one point this building had been so lively. Full of avengers laughing together, eating together like a family and now here it lay forgotten by time. “Its strange being here” she murmured more to herself even though she was sure that Loki heard her.
“Yea the last time I was here…” Loki paled recalling a distant memory and quickly shook his head. “Never mind” A shadow fell behind daisy and she frowned glancing behind her only to see the empty hallway.
“Come on this place is starting to creep me out” she muttered under her breath. Ignoring the feeling that they were being watched she continued until they found a computer located in the main hub.
Pulling the chair back Loki used his magic to get the machine working and Daisy began getting to work trying to access the files, “Log book?” She whispered. Clicking on the file out of curiosity a video popped up. Buffering for a few seconds the image began to clear and sitting in a chair was a haggard looking man.
“If your reading this then you either have very high clearance or this building has been abandoned long ago. My name is Bruce Banner and for all intense and purposes I am the last avenger. The others are dead, and yet I am still here, alone. Hydra won, and they destroyed the world, but I can’t be killed. We were supposed to protect this world and we failed, earths mightiest…” A click and the video closed looking up startled at the pale hand, Daisy glared.
“Why did you do that? We could have gotten answers.” She yelled.
“No, we couldn’t have. There aren’t any answers for us there in Bruce’s final words only failures. We need to find out where they kept the infinity stone” he said. Looking back towards the screen her fingers scrawled across the key bad typing rapidly until she stopped.
“I found it. Looks like they are keeping it in the fridge. A shield base that houses criminals and dangerous artifacts that are too powerful for mankind to wield” Jumping up she whirled to face the trickster, “This is it! We find this, and we can change everything! We can make a difference. Loki your going to see your brother…. Watch out!!” She screamed as an object came hurtling at them. Grabbing Loki, she shoved him to the side her eyes widening as the object unfurled itself revealing a large green monster.
“Oh my god” Frozen in shock, the creature stood to full height and let out a powerful roar as Loki stood his face going extremely pale, his lips parted softly “Well, we’re going to die.”