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messedupfan · 11 months ago

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Chapter 11

Summary: Reader finally feels comfortable enough to introduce their girlfriend to their faimly.

A/n: There's a LOT going on right now so it might not be my best work but I hope y'all enjoy!

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When October came around you surprised yourself by maintaining a healthy and stable relationship with Daisy. There weren’t many arguments and you were able to focus your romantic energy solely on her and you found yourself happy with the decision to be with her. So, you figured that it was finally time to introduce her to Rachel. In order to do that, of course, you had to start by bringing her to Jean and Anna.

Arranging a dinner wasn’t easy with the busy work schedules and inability to find Rachel a sitter. With school being in session, Kate isn’t available the way she is during the summer since she has a lot to focus on when it comes to her college classes. Leaving it up to you and Jean to scramble to find someone to be with Rachel long enough for the dinner. Until one day when you’re discussing the dilemma with Wanda, she offers to have your daughter over for the night. She made it easy by offering to pick up Rachel from the school when she was picking up the twins. She happened to be getting them on Friday that week because Vision was spending a weekend in New York with one of his classes to observe the architecture in person. After a quick phone call with the school to inform them of this and writing Rachel a note to give to her teacher, it was settled.

Daisy is taking her classes online and caught up on all of her coursework, and Jean and Anna are both able to be home from work at an appropriate dinner time. As soon as you get home from work that day, you shower and get dressed before picking Daisy up. On the way to Jean’s house, you stop at the liquor store to bring a gift and say that it came from Daisy. As you walk the aisles hand in hand with her, you think about when you first met Wanda. And how even through her disheveled appearance, you were struck by her beauty.

Your mind is brought back to reality when Daisy sneaks a kiss on your cheek. You smile and your eyes land on the beverage that you came here for. When the familiar cashier is checking you out, he asks if you want the usual pack of cigarettes. You look at Daisy and then look at the cashier and shake your head. “I don’t smoke,” luckily he catches on and apologizes for confusing you for someone else. Claiming that he’s been meaning to get new lenses. You tell him it’s no worry and you walk out with Daisy, confused by the interaction.

“Babe, I know that you smoke,” Daisy says. “You don’t have to lie about it. I smell it every time we sleep together.”

You frown and sigh, “I’m sorry, I was supposed to quit years ago. But I haven’t been able to kick the habit just yet.”

“Well, maybe I can help you with that,” Daisy offers as she stops you in front of the car. She slips her arms between yours and carefully laces her fingers through your fingers without dropping the bag. “The idea of smoking used to be kind of hot but you know what's hotter?” You hum in question as you smile down at her. “Living a long healthy life,” she beams up at you.

“Oh really? That's what's hot these days?” You ask with a light laugh.

“Oh yeah, baby,” she leans in and kisses you on the lips. The two of you break away and you nod as you look at her.

“Okay, I'll do it this time. I'll quit,” you promise. She kisses you one more time before completely separating.

When the two of you arrive at Jean's house you make sure to coach Daisy all the way from the car to the front door. She listens intently to every tip you give and tries to memorize each of them. She wants this to go well almost as much if not more than you do.

Wanda is making dinner for the four of them when Rachel walks in and asks to help. “Are you sure you don't want to play with the boys?” She asks as she carefully chops some vegetables.

“They just want to play video games and my mom Anna says that too much screen time rots the brain. I thought she was wrong but my brain feels rotten right now,” Rachel says as she observes Wanda.

“Well, I could use some help with the sauce. If you're up to stirring it,” Wanda offers as she thinks of an easy task to give the girl. Rachel happily walks over to the stove to stir the pot but she isn't quite tall enough. “Sorry sweetie,” Wanda apologizes as she steps away from the cutting board to grab one of the stools that the boys use when they help her in the kitchen. “Better?” She asks and once Rachel is standing on the stool she grabs the spoon and then nods to answer Wanda. “Good, now please be careful. The sauce, the pot, and the stove are very hot and I would hate for you to get hurt. Okay?”

“Yes ma'am,” Rachel says as she keeps her eyes on the sauce. Wanda washes her hands before she resumes chopping the vegetables for the salad. As she does, she prays that nothing bad happens to your little girl.

“I must admit, the two of you are cute together,” Jean says as she cuts into the salmon on her plate. “Can I ask, why did you go for Y/n? I mean you're so young and they, well, let's be real. They come with a lot of baggage.”

“Jean,” you say sternly.

“No, it's okay,” Daisy says as she chews her food. She takes a few extra seconds before swallowing in order to find an answer that won't sound like she was just trying to live an old fantasy of hers and ended up wanting more out of it. “I know that I'm young, but as I understand it you weren't much older than me when you found your current wife and married her shortly after.” You clear your throat to hide your amusement as Jean kicks you under the table. “As for all that I'm signing up for with Y/n,” she reaches for your hand and smiles at you as you accept her touch. You smile back. “Well, just because I'm young doesn't mean that I don't come with my own baggage. I have plenty of my own things that others might be put off by. But Y/n doesn't see those things as a reason to not be with me. And I don't see your daughter or the fact that they smoke and can't seem to stop as a reason to not be with them.” Your smile drops at the last part. You know that she was only trying to impress them by showing that she knows you but of all of the examples, you can't believe that she used that one.

“I fucking knew it!” Jean shouts. “I knew you started again!”

You close your eyes and shake your head as you let go of Daisy's hand to rub your face. “Jean-”

“No, don't Jean me,” Jean interrupts. “You've been calling me crazy for years! I can't believe it. Even Anna, my own wife, would take your side!”

“I'm sorry, I know. It's just been a hard habit to kick. I mean, you had a legitimate reason to quit when you got pregnant with Rach. I just, I just, I haven't had a push like that.” You try to defend yourself.

“Oh no, did I say something I… I'm so sorry, Y/n. I knew I shouldn't have -”

“No! See, this is good. We can finally get the truth,” Jean says.

“Honey, please calm down. Why does it upset you so much that Y/n chooses to do this damage to their own body?” Anna asks as she starts to rub her partners back.

Jean tries her best to take slow breaths. “It upsets me because Y/n is Rachel's Baba. My uncle was a big smoker and it nearly killed my cousin to lose him to lung cancer and I don't want that for my daughter. And no matter what they are to me, ex-partner, co-parent, friend, I do still care what happens to them.” She looks at you and you cast your eyes down to your plate, knowing that loss was hard for Jean as well. She loved her uncle. And you thought he was pretty great too. In fact, he's the one who bought your first pack of cigarettes when you and Jean were fifteen after he realized where his cigarettes were disappearing once he caught the two of you and her cousin in his backyard.

He didn't really have a philosophy on children's health and his daughter was a product of that and partially, so were you. He didn't really bust you guys. Instead, he walked away grumbling about something under his breath and left the house. He came back a few minutes later with a few packs of cigarettes and handed one out to each of you. “Don't take mine ever again. You want smokes, ask,” he had said in a raspy voice before walking away. “And stay away from my beers. Y'all are too young, it'll rot ya brains.” The way that he could barely talk without gasping for air or barely walk without coughing up a storm should have been enough to scare you away from the nicotine. But instead, you happily opened that pack and from there started a habit you'd rather hide in shame than quit.

“I'm sorry, I know I should have stopped. And I shouldn't have lied to you as much as I have. I just,” you look at her and remember the broken girl at the funeral and sigh. “There's no excuse. I'm going to quit this time. I promise,” you say as you lay your hand on the table to offer to Jean.

She looks at your hand with a frown and a scowl before putting her hand in yours. “Okay, you better mean it this time.”

“They do,” Daisy chimes in. “I told them that I'd help them quit.” Jean gives Daisy a tight smile because she doesn't want to like this girl for you, but it's getting harder and harder not to.

Wanda is smiling at her phone as she receives a flirty message that was actually cute and not completely sleazy. She starts to type a response when she hears Billy wail in the living room. “Mom! Tommy hit me!”

“Stop being such a girl, you tattle tale!” Tommy shouts next.

“Boys!” Wanda yells as she hurries down the stairs. “What happened?” Wanda says with her hands on her hips. Both boys start to tell very different stories. “Ah ah, one at a time. Billy, you go first.”

“I was trying to pick something that we could all watch when Tommy took the remote from me and-”

“That's not true! I asked first! Mom, he's lying!” Tommy interrupts.

Then the boys start shouting at the same time and Wanda has to raise her voice again to get them to stop. “Time out, both of you. Go stand in separate corners.” Wanda shoos them away. Rachel comes out of the restroom, confused to see the boys standing in corners of the living room. Wanda sighs as she looks at the little girl. In her frustration with the boys, she completely forgot that Rachel was here. She didn't want to embarrass the boys in front of their friend. She has the girl sit on the sofa to pick something on the TV and steps a few feet back.“Boys come here,” she calls them to her and gets them to look up at her. “Please behave and let Rachel pick something. She is our guest and guests get to pick the movie. Okay?”

“Yes ma'am,” the boys say together with frowns. Billy still has fresh tears on his cheeks and Wanda wipes them away before giving her boy a kiss on the forehead.

“We'll talk about this later, okay?” He nods and moves to the couch and she pulls Tommy back to her by the collar on his shirt, making him laugh as she gives him a surprise hug. “You be nicer to your brother, please,” she says as she tickles him. Tommy agrees through his laughter.

The group of you have moved your way to the living room each with a beverage in hand, you opted for water since you still have to drive Daisy home and pick up Rachel after. Jean apologizes for the dramatic moment she had and Daisy waves it off. “Oh don't worry, being concerned for Y/n’s health is anything but dramatic. What I consider a dramatic moment was what happened when we had dinner with my father a few weeks ago.” Daisy laughs at the memory and you cringe at the reminder. “We shared the most innocent Disney channel kind of kiss and my father went on and on about showing respect in his house. I mean, this guy was fifty shades of red every time we held each other's hand or touched shoulders for crying out loud!” Everyone laughs with her.

“I don't blame him,” Jean takes a drink from her wine. “Ugh, I dread the day I find out what kind of parent I am when Rach starts dating. My fingers are crossed tight every day that she's gay.”

You laugh and shake your head and admit, “Mine are too. A lesbian to specify.” You and Jean clink your glasses together. “To the traumas of teen pregnancy!” You say it as the toast which makes her laugh.

“I really admire the two of you for being so close after a divorce,” Daisy says as she observes the two of you.

“Trust me, it gets old,” Anna jokes, making Jean roll her eyes. “I'm kidding. It is nice to see, especially with Y/n's parents being such nightmares you'd think they’d - oh I've made a faux pas, haven't I?” Anna mouths the word sorry to you and you shake your head in a manner that lets her know that it's fine.

“I guess we haven't gotten to the talk about your family past Kate,” Daisy says awkwardly.

You shrug, as you make eye contact with Daisy. “I don't like to talk about it much. Anna only knows because Jean was, as you know, my childhood best friend and she was there for me through it all.” You look at your cup and swirl the water and watch the melting ice cubes knock into each other. But yeah, I had a couple of very clear examples of what not to do when it came to the family I would one day build. My parents aren't terrible people, just flawed as everyone is. I'm closer with my mom because after she had Kate she didn't treat me less than her. My dad however, preferred my step siblings over me. He never said it, but I could feel it. The only big thing he ever did for me was pitch in to get this house when Jean and I got married because he knew how hard it is to provide for a family when you're young.”

Daisy takes a moment to digest the information before scooting closer to you on the couch to wrap her arm around you and lean her head on your shoulder. You kiss the top of her head and Jean smiles softly as she feels better about this pairing. She still doesn't think that Daisy is your forever person. But she's happy that someone is making you happy for now.

Looking at the time you have to call it a night since it was pretty late and you still had to pick up Rachel from Wanda’s house. As you and Daisy are saying your goodbyes, Jean asks to talk to you alone for a moment and Daisy kisses your cheek as she tells you that she'll wait in the car. “I think she's great and if you're ready, I think you should introduce her to Rachel. I mean, the girl is considering transferring to a lesser college to be closer to you. I think she is really committed to you and even to Rachel.”

“Thank you,” you scoop Jean into a tight hug. You put her down and she tells you goodnight and tells Anna that she's going to get ready for bed. You are about to bid Anna a goodnight as well when she stops you.

“Let me start with, I know this isn't my place to tell you this and Daisy is a sweet girl and the two of you make a cute couple. But she isn't for you, Y/n. Your aura's don't compliment each other. There's this energy around you, like you're forcing two pieces of a puzzle that don't fit together. I'm not going to stop you from introducing her to our daughter, but please consider it a bit longer before you do because… Jean is too polite to say this, but what you and Daisy have it isn't meant to be.” She rushes out softly before you're able to get a word in. You aren't ever rude to Anna and her beliefs but you never thought she'd ever say something like this to you. Especially when you're the happiest that you've been in years.

“You're right, it's not your place. Goodnight,” you reply tersely before walking to the car. You take a few breaths to calm down before you climb into the car.

“I think that went well,” Daisy says happily and you don't have it in you to repeat what Anna said although you feel like you should.

“Yeah, it did. Jean agreed to introducing you to Rachel and I don't think we should wait two weeks. I think we should do it tomorrow. What do you think?” You take Daisy's hand in yours and kiss her knuckles.

Her eyes light up and tears rise to the brims, “Really? I, yes! I'd love to!” You kiss her lips before starting the car and drive to her apartment to drop her off.

The drive to Wanda’s house has you fuming as you can't believe what Anna said. You were not trying to force two puzzle pieces together. Maybe at the beginning but things have been easier lately. She can't have known that from one meal no matter how spiritually enlightened she is. You cool off by the time you arrive at Wanda's because you know that Rachel will pick up on it and you don't want to snap at her.

“They all fell asleep,” Wanda whispers as she opens the door before your first could knock on it. “I saw your lights through the window,” she explains to your confused expression and you make a new one to show that you understand. “How'd it go?” She asks as she closes her cardigan around herself.

“Um, good for the most part. Ended kind of weird, but I'll tell you about it later. I just need to get Rach home,” you whisper as you tiptoe into the house.

“Of course,” Wanda says as she carefully closes the door. “Um, can you do me a favor first,” she asks as she looks at the boys sleeping in odd positions on the couch. You look at them and let out a small laugh through your nose as you remember being able to sleep like that without having intense pain for several days after. “Can you help me carry them to their room?” She asks with a pleading smile. You nod and she thanks you quietly as she moves to pick up Billy. You gently lift Tommy into your arms and follow Wanda up the stairs. You carefully tuck Tommy into his bed and watch Wanda tuck Billy into his. She is such a great mom. You feel blessed every time you're able to witness moments like these. She doesn't leave the room without giving them each a kiss on the head.

“Thank you for watching Rachel, I really appreciate it,” you say as the two of you walk downstairs. “I really owe you one.”

“Please,” Wanda waves her hand in dismissal, “consider us even. Vision never helped me put the boys to bed like that. So thank you.” She gives you a warm hug when the both of you are standing at the bottom of the stairs. You take in the warmth that the embrace spreads through your body before separating.

“It was my pleasure,” you smile at her. Wanda smiles back at you and looks at you the way that almost gets you in trouble every time. What you don't see is Rachel being awake enough to witness the scene. She smiles as she lays back down and closes her eyes to pretend that she was asleep the whole time.

The next day, you are running around like a maniac trying to get ready and cook breakfast for Rachel. Daisy is going to come by and introduce herself as your girlfriend. You almost couldn't believe that you're doing this. There was a time when you couldn't see this kind of thing ever happening. You are proud of where you are now. When Rachel wakes up because of all of the ruckus you have been causing you tell her to get some nice clothes on. “Why? Mom’s aren’t going to get mad at you if I’m in my pajamas all day. Besides, we'll probably lounge around in our pajamas after you drop me off.”

“Please, Rach,” you say as you adjust your attire in the mirror. “I have a uh, special friend coming over and I want you to look nice. I kind of have some big news but I want to tell you when she gets here.”

Rachel perks up at the mention of a female special friend. She has watched enough romantic comedies over the years that she knows a romantic moment when she sees one. Last night, she definitely saw one. “She?” Rachel questions in hopes for more information from you.

You laugh and drop your head to smile at the floor for a second then look back at her. “Yes, she is a she. You've even met her before.” This extra bit of information gets her excited. She knew it! You had to have invited Ms. Wanda and the twins over. She was finally getting the big brothers that she always wanted. “Please, go get dressed. She's going to be here any second.” Rachel skips off to her room and you go back to the kitchen to take things off of the stove before they burn. You set the table and once everything is as perfect as you can get it. Daisy is knocking on the door. “Hey you, come on in,” you greet her with an innocent kiss on the lips.

Rachel hears you from her room and quickly finishes strapping on her white dress shoes. She threw on a pretty pink dress with a white headband. When she hears you call for her, she finishes brushing her hair and hops out of the room excitedly. However, her smile drops when she sees the hardly familiar woman.

Daisy gives you a nervous smile and you do your best to be encouraging but you haven't seen your daughter so disappointed. This was nowhere near the reaction you expected. “Hi Rachel, I have heard a lot about you. I'm Daisy, I'm not sure if you remember this but I used to babysit you.”

Rachel looks at you with a confused face, “Baba, why did you make me get dressed if you're going to leave me with a babysitter?”

Daisy's smile drops as she looks at you, feeling a little helpless. “Maybe this was too early, I think we should have stuck to our previous plans.”

You shake your head and whisper, “No, no, this will be okay.” You look at Rachel with a smile, “I'm not leaving you with Daisy, honey. She is the special friend I wanted to introduce you to.” You hold Daisy's hand to show Rachel that you mean it. Unfortunately, she still doesn’t appear to be too happy about it. “Um, I made breakfast,” you say to fill the silence. Daisy nods as she looks between you and Rachel as her worst fears come true. “Let's eat before it gets cold.” You wave to the set table and guide Daisy over. Rachel is still standing in the same spot until you call her over again.

She sits down with a pout and when you serve her, she pushes her plate away. “I'm not hungry,” she crosses her arms over her chest. You frown, you were there for her introduction to Anna and she had reacted in a similar fashion but back then she just wanted her parents back together. When it was made clear that wasn't happening, she quickly began to warm up to Anna. Now, however, you haven't the slightest idea why she had such a sudden switch flip. She seemed excited seconds before you answered the door.

“You know, sometimes my tummy feels funny in the mornings too. But I always find that I feel much better after a good meal like your Baba prepared,” Daisy tries to relate in hopes that it will get the girl to like her at least a little bit. Unfortunately she is only met with a glare.

“My tummy is fine,” Rachel retorts, “I'm just not hungry.” Her stomach growls, contradicting her statement. You make a knowing face and try to lighten her mood.

“Sounds like your tummy could use the food, sweetie,” you try to push the plate closer to her but she just turns her head away. You sigh and quietly apologize to Daisy. You really thought this would be easier.

“Your Baba has told me a lot about you, Rach like-” Daisy is cut off by your daughter.

“Only I can call them Baba! Stop calling them that. And only people I like can use my nickname, I don't like you,” Rachel snaps, taking your patience.

“Rachel Hope Y/l/n, you apologize right now young lady,” normally when you scold her with the full government name she turns into a puddle of tears and apologies but right now, she isn't. “Apologize or go to your room,” you threaten with a stern tone.

“No,” she says while making eye contact with you, unafraid. It only upsets you further that you lack authority over her. It's one thing to be happening now, but what happens when she's older and getting into trouble? A montage of her getting in trouble with the law and having no future, flashes before your eyes and you know that you have to correct this behavior soon before she gets out of hand.

“Room, now!” You point to her room and she stands up without a fight.

Then as she stomps her way to her room she says the three words you never ever thought you'd ever hear from her. “I hate you!” She dramatically slams her door as your heart drops to your stomach. Both you and Daisy collapse in on yourselves.

“I'm so sorry, Daze. I had no idea that she'd be this upset,” you apologize as you hold her hand in yours.

Daisy sighs, “Maybe if she was eased into the idea a little, like we planned? I don't know. I tried not to build expectations but ugh, I really wanted her to like me.” Daisy starts to cry at the end of her sentence and she keeps you away when you try to hug her. “No, you don't need to be comforting me right now. I should go,” you try to tell her to stay as she gets up but she doesn't. “Just take care of her, okay? She needs you more than I do. I'll call you later, okay?”

You nod and kiss her goodbye before shutting the door. You look at Rachel's door and you're not ready to be patient with her yet. So you dump the breakfast that you spent all morning working on and wash the dishes. The alarm on your phone, reminding you that you have to get Rachel off to her mom's soon goes off. You had set it because you thought the three of you were going to be having so much fun and losing track of time. It hurts you because that's not what happened.

You knock on Rachel's door, “Rach, we have to get going.”

“I'm not coming out unless she is gone!” Rachel shouts through the door.

You sigh, “She left an hour ago. Come on, we have to go.” Rachel opens the door and is still glaring at you. “Are you ready to go?” You ask tiredly. She walks past you, bumping you with her school bag, as an answer. The car ride is long. You try to get her to talk but instead of talking she just makes loud noises that irritate you into silence. As you're slowing down to park, Rachel runs out of the car the second she gets to. You try to chase her but her moms open the door before you can and she's running to her room yelling that she hates you as she does and slamming her door there too.

“What did you do?” Jean asks with wide eyes.

“I introduced her to Daisy and she turned into this. I don't know what happened,” you reiterate the events to them helplessly and the two women share a look before Jean tries to bring Rachel to you to apologize and chat. But all you hear is mean words from Rachel and eventually, Jean giving up.

“That is not our angel in there,” Jean says as she returns. “I think maybe you should go. We'll take it from here and maybe we can get somewhere with her.”

You nod, “Yeah okay. I'm sorry, I didn't think this would happen.”

Jean places her hand on your shoulder, “None of us could have seen this coming, sweetheart. But it has happened and we, as her parents, need to come up with a suitable punishment. This behavior is not okay and we need to figure out how to let her know that. I know we joke that she's just like me, but we don't need a repeat of that.”

“Are we sure punishment is the way to go here? I think that she is going through emotions that she doesn't know how to experience and maybe that's why she's acting out,” Anna says as she looks between you and Jean. “Let me try to talk to her. Don't go anywhere just yet.” She says to you as she heads to Rachel's room. You hear the door open, some muffled voices, then a loud crash, shouting, and the door shut before Anna returns with a red face. “Whatever she is going through is beyond our capabilities, I think we should start her on therapy again.”

“What happened?” Jean asks as she puts her hand on her wife's back.

“She threw her cup of markers at my head. She missed me, but I've never wanted to harm a kid more,” Anna admits. “I'm sorry, that was horrible to say,” she says with guilty eyes.

You and Jean scoff at the same time, “No, I get it. When she started giving me attitude, I suddenly realized why I got so many spankings as a kid. My goodness, I was an actual nightmare.” This makes the three of you share a laugh. Then you take a calming breath and look at Jean. “We've really been spoiled with a good kid like Rachel, haven't we?”

Jeans nods and her body deflates as well, “Yeah, we have. I guess it was only a matter of time before we got a blow up like this. She is our kid after all.”

You agree and hug both her and Anna as you start to say your goodbyes. “I'll see you lovely ladies next weekend.”

The week spent with Daisy is awkward. She remains upset about Rachel's reaction, especially since you had talked up how much your daughter was going to love her and the idea that you were finally having the love story that she has always wanted for you. Especially when she started to want siblings. Jean and Anna had already explained to her why it was different and a little more difficult for them to give her siblings. But all you could tell her was that you can't give her a sibling unless you fall in love with someone. So she started to try and help you find someone to fall in love with. For a long time, she wanted you to find someone and now that you have, you're confused why she isn't happy.

One night when Daisy is spending the night, you are cooking in the kitchen and don't realize that Daisy didn't return from the bathroom until you've finished cooking the meal. You turn off the stove and cover the pans before you go looking for her. The apartment isn't big so it's not hard to find her and you get a little upset when you find her standing in Rachel's room holding the digital picture frame that your mom got for her.

“Hey, I know you're hurt and confused but you cannot be in here,” you state calmly. It was a rule. Rachel's room has to be her safe space. If someone is not on Rachel's list, they are not allowed inside.

“I know, I know,” Daisy says as she snaps out of her thoughts. “I'm sorry, it's just. I was passing by and her door was open and then I…” she starts to trail as her focus returns to the picture frame. You frown out of curiosity of what she is seeing. “Who is this woman? Why haven't you mentioned her?” She shows you the picture on the screen and it's a picture of you and Wanda smiling at each other. You look at the picture and sigh. It switches to the picture that Vision’s private investigator took and you wonder if Tommy and Billy sent it to Rachel from their dad's phone. You're curious how they even know about it. Was he looking at it often and they caught him? Did they overhear the conversation where he threatened you with it? You don't know. But you're very curious as to why her slide show was pictures of you with Wanda.

“I have mentioned her, in fact you met her the night you slipped your number in my back pocket,” you say as you shake your head because another picture appears of you and Wanda cooking in her kitchen. “We're just friends. I think this is Rachel's way of messing with us.” You place the frame back where it belongs and sigh. “She watches a lot of those Beverly Dawson's Diaries Tree Hill Pretty Little Glee Gossip shows with my sister Kate. I'm starting to think it's not good for a smart girl like her.”

Daisy follows you out of the room and you close the door behind you but she still seems upset by the pictures. “I'm not upset about the fact that your daughter chose those pictures for her frame. I'm upset that the two of you look like you're in love.” Daisy says and you stop in your tracks.

“What?” You laugh, “That's crazy. We're just friends. I'm not in love with her.”

“It was all over your face in those pictures,” she tries to point out but you can't see it anymore. Wanda knew that you felt a certain way about her and she never confessed feeling the same. So you finally let it go when you decided to introduce Daisy to Rachel. Now everything is a disaster.

“Babe, I love you,” you state as you hold her hands. “Come on, are you really going to doubt me over a couple of pictures?” You try to get her to look at you but you can tell that she is probably spinning in her head. “She watched Rachel so that we could have dinner with my ex to talk about including you in the family. Why would either of us agree to that if we wanted to be together? I don't mean to be so blunt but honey, we’re not in a time where it's some forbidden love. If we wanted to be together, we could be.”

“So it would have been easy for you to jump into a relationship with her? And I had to convince you to even try with me?” She looks at you with pain in her eyes and pulls her hands away from you.

You shake your head, “That isn't fair. I've known you since you were younger. These days that could make me look like some sort of predator. Not to mention I was really good friends with your father. Part of my hesitation was out of respect to that man and I wasn't quite sure what would happen to that relationship once I started dating you. To be honest, it hasn't been good. He hates me now.”

“He doesn't hate you,” she rolls her eyes, tired of hearing this thought from you.

“He can't even look at me, Daisy. Did you know that I used to be able to call him up and ask him for advice or even just to talk? Any time of the day and even at night and he would always answer? Now he sends straight to voicemail. Doesn't even read a text.”

“I am so sorry that I got between you and my precious father! Maybe you two should be together! Oh wait, can't forget about Wanda!” Daisy raises her voice as she moves around the apartment, collecting her things.

“Daze, come on. I don't mean it like that. I'm happy to be with you, I'm just saying that it's different circumstances. Come on, can we please have dinner and not argue about this?” You try to get her to stay. “We've both had long days, and I won't speak for you but I'm a bit delirious, I hardly ate today. Can we please get some food in us before we both say things we don't mean?”

Daisy looks you up and down with a tight expression before sighing and allowing her body to deflate. “Yeah, okay, yeah. I could eat,” you relax a little bit as she sets her things down and follows you to the kitchen. You serve the both of you and the two of you eat together in silence. “That was very good, thank you,” she says after clearing her plate. You smile at her as you continue to eat. Then she starts laughing, “I'm sorry, I don't know why I got so insecure. You make me feel nothing but secure in our relationship.”

You reach your hand out to hold hers, “It's okay.”

“No, it's not. I've been driving myself crazy since meeting Rachel as your girlfriend. I mean, we used to have so much fun when I was just her babysitter. But I guess I can see how this can't be an easy adjustment for her.” Daisy frowns as she plays with your fingers. “And seeing that Wanda slide show clearly didn't help. Clearly she is shipping the two of you.”

You make a face, “Shipping? What's that mean?”

Daisy laughs as she shakes her head looking at you and poking her tongue to her cheek. “You're so cute when you act like you live under a rock.” You make another face and she stops you from saying anything. “Shipping is when a person, for example Rachel, wants two people together and they support the idea of those two people or characters being together. Think, Everlark for those Hunger Games fans.”

“Don't hate me, I still haven't gotten around to watching that stuff,” you confess and Daisy's eyes widen. “What? I figured that Rachel will have that phase and I'll just watch it then. Besides, I've always been more into comics and superheroes. Oh and comedies! I love a good comedy. I watched the Harry Potter movies,” you mention to try and get the shock off of Daisy's face.

“Now we both have some homework to do,” Daisy says as she rises from the table and collects the dishes from the table. “I'll wash these, you go find the first Hunger Games movie and put it on,” she directs and you laugh until you realize that she isn't kidding. You accept it and move to the living room to do as she asked and get comfortable for an impromptu movie night.

Chapter 12

Taglist: @princessprudy @sayah13 @agaymilflover @awkwardmandalorian @bentleywolf29 @thatshyboy1998 @artisannat @thisischaismagic @wqndanat @madamevirgo @likefirenrain @tearsofglitter @feltlikethat @the-writer-arcane @natashasilverfox @karsonromanoff @aloneodi @lovelyy-moonlight @red1culous @jovialsublimecomputer @natasha-maximoff @iliketozoneout @doudouneverte @druggedduck @notbornbutforged @when-wolves-howl @lifespectator @justyourwritter69 @wandaromamoff69 @awesomelygayasf @nekoannie-chan @diaryoflife @wuwu96 @wandanats-goodgirl @sincerely-indi @blueredg52 @sisiwritesfanfics @fuzzyuniversityeclipsefriend @arcturusseer @scarlettwidow34 @chasethemoon @raven-ss @canyonyodeler @sokovianbaby @alexawynters @bittysworld

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x y/n #wanda maximoff au #daisy johnson x reader #wonderstruck #wonderstruck series

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incorrect-transpirings · 4 months ago

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Nat, watching Skye/Daisy: Glad to see Fury’s not the only one adopting strays

Coulson: I haven’t adopted her

Skye/Daisy: Hi dad! Hi Natasha!

Coulson: Not a word

#everyone lives au #marvel #marvel mcu #mcu #phil coulson #daisy johnson #natasha romanoff #natasha romonova #agents of shield #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#nick fury

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daisybeewrites · 1 year ago

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Agents of Shield as ✨DnD Archetypes✨

~Daisy~

Daisy! my baby love girl boss queen… is a sorcerer! She’s smart, she’s fun, she has magic powers from ancient dna in her blood! She’s deeply connected to the natural environment, and is friends with the smallest atoms. She’s cool and everyone knows it.

~Jemma~

Look at her. Look. At. Her. She is smol, she is lovely, she will fuck you up if needed! My girl is a wizard. Her strength may be a solid 10, but she’s got a +10 to all intelligence rolls. She has three PhDs in beating her enemy’s ass. Just imagine her in sparkly robes. Or cool jeans and a jean jacket. Jemma definitely cosplayed as Adaine at some point.

~Fitz~

Our resident nerd is an artificer. Obviously. I feel that I don’t even need to explain this but just in case… he’s a magic engineer. He likes tinkering. Has definitely accidently blown up multiple labs playing with magical items. Duh.

~Melinda~

ROGUE. Melinda May is a rogue. You think you can hear her coming? No. She has sneak attack. She has a 20 stealth and proficiency. My bae sees all. She is Mom, and we all know that nothing gets past Mama May.

~Phil~

This may be a hot take. But. Coulson is a bard! His first instinct is to use charisma before drawing weapons. He may not have many fans (in universe), but you have to admit that people tend to love him. He loves music, he loves jokes, and most of the time he’s more focused on helping out his team than playing the hero. He would be such a good bard!!

~Bobbi~

My lovely Bobbi. Bobbi Morse is a fighter. In every sense of the word. She’s strong outwardly and emotionally; she’s loyal, almost to a fault. She has strong ethos and sticks to her guns. Bobbi watches everyone’s back always, because she loves them. She is the very best fighter there is.

~Hunter~

I wrestled with calling him the clown and calling it a day, however…! I have made the executive decision that Hunter is a ranger. He is great at keeping his distance (derogatory) but c’mon, you can’t stay mad at him. He lays low and moves quickly. I also think it’s funny how caring he is and charismatic he tries to be and literally his strongest trait is dodging all the quips and pillows that are thrown at him. Dex baby! Hunter is (fittingly) a ranger!

~Daniel~

Daniel… my sweet Daniel. Mr. Sousa here is, I firmly believe, also a ranger. Idk. I’m between ranger or paladin, because I feel like yeah sure he’s the boy scout survival guy but at the same time I think he’s the stable, healer type. He has strong morals (square lol) and I feel like that translate well into both ranger and paladin :)

Should I make a part II? ☺️

#daisy johnson #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#agents of shield #jemma simmons #melinda may #phil coulson #bobbi morse #lance hunter #dousy #daniel sousa #dnd #d20 #dungeons and dragons #dnd au

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unholyhelbig · 11 months ago

Note

Around season 4: Skye/Daisy Johnson. Reader is a Winter Soldier like Bucky and has been part of the team since the beginning. Reader’s has always been there for the team especially Daisy, and has a huge crush on her, painfully watching on as she goes out with different people. Now the Reader needs help but doesn’t want it, what will Daisy and the team do?

Title: No Control (Daisy Johnson x Female!Reader)

Words: 2452

Trigger Warnings: Blood, mind control, manipulation, night terrors, talks of death, horrible grammar (Let me know if I should add more)

[A/n: Okay, I may have deviated from the prompt just a little bit, but in my defense, this is technically my first time writing Reader/Daisy Johnson so I had to feel it out a little!]

Main Masterlist | Read my stuff on AO3 | Leave Requests

The rope dug into your skin like a nasty row of teeth, biting at the skin, drawing a flourishing flash of bright blood. The image made you pull harder in a vicious tug of strength. Your jaw ached, tasted thick of metal. If you could just get out of this stupid chair, this horrible cell. It was much too small for your liking.

Quake, Daisy as you knew her, watched you with a lifted eyebrow. Her fingers were curled around the iPad that connected her to the controls of your containment. She grimaced, a wetness building in her stare.

When your struggle against the ropes had proved fruitless, you glanced up at her through wild, unkept hair, chest heaving. “What did you do to me? Why can’t I get out of this? Let me out of this!”

It felt like you were underwater, your chest heavy with discontent, even when you went slack in your binds. The first inkling that something was wrong had been swallowed down, the nightmares that ripped through your subconscious and pulled you from sleep.

For weeks, you’d wake up drenched in your own sweat as you tried to draw any type of air into your lungs. It often ended with you sitting, exhausted and scared, in the kitchen of the compound. First, you’d drink a cup of tea, then you’d pace and drink another, before finally succumbing to exhaustion on the common room sofa.

Agent May had found you the first night, just before dawn. She didn’t’ poke or prod, instead, she gently woke you and wordlessly gestured back towards your bunk. Other agents would be walking in and out, scourging for breakfast and their own fix of caffeine.

Those dreams- those nightmares- would soon leak into your everyday routine. As you sparred with Bobbie, you’d thrown a particularly deadly right hook. It was the color of her eyes, the seafoam dusty grey that you’d always found so endearing flashed and ripped into his gaze.

You’d drawn blood and stumbled back on the blue mat. Other recruits gaped at the two of you, floating by the edge of the training room. Bobbi pulled her fingers from the laceration on her cheek, already forming a bruise.

“I’m sorry,” came your whispered response. You grabbed your bag from the nearby bench, louder this time “really, I’m sorry.”

Bobbi called after you as you pushed open the doors of the training room and shoved through agents until you made it to the safety of your room. Except, it didn’t’ feel much like safety anymore. Your fingers were shaking, and your knuckles had a smear of dried brown blood, Bobbi’s blood, against them.

It had been years, nearly a decade, since you’d first been approached by Phil Coulson with his grandiose idea of forming a team to take down hero-level threats within SHIELD, because after all, everyone needs a backup plan. And while you’d been hesitant at first, that single decision in a Montanna bar changed the course of your life. Changed your isolation tactics, the person you had once been.

SHIELD was your family. They’d slowly ebbed away the distant memories of what had created you in the first place: the brainwashing, the torture, the misguided loyalty was all on the backburner. You’d forgotten just how cold it was.

Something was wrong. Something was wrong. Something was wrong.

Without warning, the icy hand of your captor was closing around your throat once more, but this time, you were surrounded with people who you cared for. The thought of hurting them had you hunched over the bathroom in your room, retching whatever mint-tea concoction you’d swallowed down hours before.

At one point, you blacked out, and when you came to, when you finally pulled yourself from the scent of bile and blood and regret, you were here. They’d moved you to a containment unit and restrained you with ropes that did no favor to your already aching body.

Your fingers were still coated in blood, too much to be from your outburst in the gym. And while you still panicked, while you were still choked with fear, there was a calmness about the situation. If you were in here, you weren’t out there. With them.

“Whose blood is this?” you asked.

“Hard to say,” Daisy replied. “You did quite the number. It’s hard for agents to fight off a super soldier, you know?”

Your jaw began to ache as you pressed your teeth together, peering at her through strands of sweat-caked hair. The rope wouldn’t hold you for long, but the containment unit would. There was an electric buzz from the forcefield strong enough to hold back ten-thousand super soldiers.

Daisy had a tepid stare trained on you that made you squirm. You tested your strength against your binds, pressing and pressing until the frayed edges drew blood, dripped down the tips of your fingers until the floor was puddled with it.

A laugh bubbled up in your throat. You lolled your head, trying to loosen up your shoulders. Everything was weak and fuzzy and above all else, you felt the hiss of someone’s voice in the back of your mind. Eyes seeing through your eyes, hands gripping past your own.

There was a poison to Daisy’s voice “You just leveled a room full of twenty-five agents and you’re laughing?”

She’d clicked off the iPad, set it aside. Daisy stood and crossed her well-toned arms over her chest. God, even in your disillusioned state, you were acutely aware of your feelings for her. They’d been festering under the surface for a better part of the last three years.

“No, no… I just…”

With an extra tug, the mass of rope fell to the ground in a heap of ties and caked blood. You couldn’t distinguish your own from those of the agents that you be felled. Your fingers worked at the lacerations.

“You’ve got a very motherly tone right now. I mean, you’re scolding me, actually scolding me!”

“What do you expect me to do, y/n? What I witnessed in there was one of the scariest, most startling things I have ever seen and you expect me not to scold you? What the fuck is going on?”

Her voice cracked during the last sentence and your heart tugged at the sound. You’d heard it before as she sunk to the floor years ago when Lincon had perished, and when she’d succumbed to the fear of her own powers growing out of control.

The part of you that was still you didn’t want to cause that pain, and most certainly didn’t want the fear to take over. You stood, approaching the barrier. It was the only thing between you both, and it was highly charged.

You’d been tempted to touch it, to place your hand against the electricity save for the pain. Instead, you started pacing back and forth, the length of your makeshift cell. “This is where we held Agent Ward, isn’t it?”

She didn’t’ answer, instead, she swallowed the lump in her throat as you examined the metal frame bed and the cameras that were situated around each corner of the cell. Part of you swelled with pride, being confined in the same spot the biggest threat to the team had been in. You quickly drowned the thought, shaking your head.

“Does it bother you? Watching two people you love fall down the same path?” The words had slipped past your lips before you could quell them. Instead, you tutted “You’re well on your way to a pattern, young lady. One more good-looking sociopath and you’ll collect all three.”

“Don’t,” Daisy snarled “You need to tell me what’s wrong. This isn’t you.”

You stopped pacing, lilting your head to the side as you stared at her. She was itching to leave, and you wanted her to. It would make all of this easier. Your entire body itched too, wanted to give in to the full control. It wasn’t something you were willing to do in front of Daisy.

“Do you know how much control I have to practice on a daily basis, Zee? Just a little more strength than usual and I rip a cabinet door off. I shatter a mug. I punch a co-worker in the face. It’s a constant push between what’s right to do and what I was designed to do.”

“So what? You decided you’re done watching your strength? That doesn’t warrant an attempt at massacre.”

“You don’t get it!” You punched the barrier, reveling in the feel of electricity that moved through your fingertips, your arm and elbow until it dissipated altogether. She flinched but didn’t step back. “When Hydra… why Hydra trained me it was all I knew. I would wake up, follow orders, and be put back to sleep before I could even register what I had done. Who I had killed, what I destroyed.”

This was something you had refused to talk about. Coulson knew the gist of your containment, of your de-programming because that was all listed in your SHIELD file. But the true horrors of your ordeal were a mystery to the entire team. It was behind you. He was behind you.

“A SHEILD team raided one of Hydras bases and I was there. I was willing to go without a fight and Hydra was willing to leave me there to absolve for their sins.” You chuckled at that, shaking your head “There was months of imprisonment, of interrogation and then deprogramming. And finally, finally after years of trying to prove myself to Director Fury, and Agent Hill, they cleared me for duty. Cleared me to join Coulson’s team.”

You let yourself plop down onto the metal chair, suddenly too exhausted to remember why you were fighting so hard in the first place. Daisy clenched and unclenched her jaw. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Two years of deprogramming doesn’t make up for a lifetime of torture, of molding me into the perfect killing machine.” You swallowed hard “I played my part, I ignored the feeling of being watched, the dark thoughts that tried to break through into my new, good, life. I fought every single day to make sure all of you were safe and unharmed and… suddenly, suddenly the people who were controlling me got stronger.”

Daisy shifted, uncrossing her arms “You’re saying you’re still under Hydra’s control?”

“I’m saying I wasn’t strong enough to fight off their hold on me. A few months ago I started blacking out and the nightmares, they got worse. But everyone was finally settled, finally happy. We were happy”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Daisy’s voice waivered “Y/n, one of the perks of having a girlfriend is being able to talk to them, to tell them things. You should have come to me.”

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I thought I could handle it. I thought I could keep things under control.”

Daisy let out a long sigh and lowered herself back into her own chair. Her elbows resting on her knees. She bounced her leg, staring at you with those deep brown eyes that you could drown in. Somehow, her being there, was enough if only for a moment.

“I have to tell Coulson.”

“I know,” you said.

“He’ll know what to do. We’ll get through this, y/n.” Her words were whispered, eyes glassy with emotion. “I love you. We all do. This is just another challenge, okay? We’re here to help.”

“I admire your perseverance, Daisy, but the hold hydra has on me. It’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than us.”

She swallowed thickly “You don’t mean that.”

But you did, didn’t you? Your skin felt like it was on fire and you wanted nothing more than to peel it off strip by strip until there was a new layer glinting under the industrial lights. Anything to stop the uncomfortable feeling of not being in your own body. You’d gotten to complicit under the watchful eye of SHIELD. Hydra didn’t like that, and at this point, neither did you.

It had been so easy, so simple to rip through those agents as they aimed red dots at your center. You didn’t care if they fired their weapons, you hadn’t a care in the world and it was freeing.

It was hard to wager that with the sad look your girlfriend was giving you now. Her fingers were tapping against her knees, hardly a perfect interrogation technique. It was hard not to crave her touch, her mouth hot on yours. Even if you did give yourself up to Hydra entirely, there would always be Daisy.

You lilted your head, narrowing your eyes at her. She’d be just as easy to break; just a little bit of homegrown brainwashing and she’d be by your side again. Both of you dripping in blood. A power like hers, resting under her fingertips, would be invaluable.

Standing, you gently touched the barrier separating you both. There was a subtle electronic buzz that moved through your fingertips and up to your elbow. It was warming, a constant comfort, almost. “Darling, we could make all of this go away. Just the two of us.”

She lifted her hazel stare from the tablet in front of her, reading your vitals like an open book. They were steady, you were sure of it. There was curiosity in her stare.

“Do you remember the house in Vermont we talked about?” You dragged your fingers against the barrier, a blue trail following fast. “The two of us can forget all of this, forget SHIELD and Hydra. We can go there, start a family. Isn’t that what you want?”

You could read it in her expression, it was exactly what she wanted. But Daisy Johnson was no fool. Despite your terse begging and manipulative tactics, she remained calm. One knee was balanced on the edge of the chair, the other foot planted firmly on the floor.

“Rae’s Restaurant… the floorplan that we drew out on the back of a placemat. Two stories, a nursery, and office. A massive backyard. I remember it well.” Daisy stood again, facing off against you with nothing but an electrical panel holding you back. “This isn’t the you I imagined it with. Where is the kindness? The selfless woman that I fell in love with?”

You gritted your teeth. “Gone. Nothing but a fabrication, baby. I’m just offering you one last chance to join me. I have no reservations about destroying you right along with this entire organization.”

Daisy swallowed hard, trying to quell the lump in her throat. She refused to let herself cry. “I’d like to see you try.”

“I do love a challenge.”

#Daisy Johnson #Daisy Johnson x reader #Daisy Johnson x y/n #Daisy Johnson x you #agents of shield #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#Marvel #Request #Winter Soldier au #agents of shield fanfic #reader insert

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skyler10fic · 4 days ago

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The Gift of Time

By Skyler10

Summary: A mysterious Christmas gift transports Carol to a future she needs to see, beginning with waking up in bed next to her superhero-coworker crush on the morning of Christmas Eve!

Notes: In one of many alternate universes to our own, the agents of Shield and Captain Marvel had adventures and lives that are in some ways much the same as the stories we know, but their family relationships and details are slightly different, and a certain witch from Agatha All Along appears! But different. Merry holigays and a happy new queer! :)

(Photo hat tip/prompt credit to the monthly @ficwip 1k image prompt for inspiring this, but the word count is six times that so it does not count for their event. haha)

Read on Ao3

-------------------------------

Cozy and warm in bed, Carol Danvers did not want to wake up. She could tell without even opening her eyes that it was morning, but she felt like it was far too early for that. Stretching and yawning, she wondered where Goose was if not pawing at her face for breakfast to be served. She turned over in the direction of the bedside table with her phone on it, but her arm hit something unexpected.

“Ow,” a female voice next to her mumbled, still half asleep. “I’m awake, geez. Just five more minutes, babe.”

Carol blinked open her eyes in confusion and shock. The woman in bed with her was very much not awake, but still gorgeous even in her disheveled state. Carol’s eyes adjusted to the light, and her brain slowly caught up with her attraction. Wait. She knew who this was.

“Daisy?” With a caramel tint, her hair looked lighter here up close in the morning sun than it had at work this week.

“Mmhm?” Daisy peeked one eye open and did not in the least seem surprised to see Carol.

“What do you remember of last night?”

Daisy smiled and turned on her back to stretch, eyes still mostly closed.

“C’mon, we didn’t have that much wine first. But if you really did forget, I can do it again.” Daisy turned back to Carol and slid a hand up Carol’s shirt suggestively.

“I wouldn’t complain,” Carol said, not giving away that she had no idea what Daisy was talking about. There was nothing Carol’s lust wanted more than to find out what that was, but she had to figure out why her coworker crush, Agent Johnson, also known as superhero Quake, was in her bed, or even in her house, first thing in the morning.

Daisy cuddled into her side and snoozed comfortably as if they did this every day. A flicker of light caught Carol’s eye, and she glanced around the room. The windows were wrong. The decorations were unfamiliar. This wasn’t her room. Or bed. This wasn’t her house at all. Carol tried to keep her pulse calm as her mind raced with what to do next. She knew Daisy’s powers would be able to sense if her body tensed in signals of fear instead of comfort and desire.

“Go back to sleep,” Carol whispered to Daisy as she snuck out of bed. She found the bathroom right outside the bedroom and noted the clear couple’s setup: double sinks, each with a toothbrush and various lotions and makeup and such. Two bath towels, one navy and one baby blue, hung next to the shower. Even Carol herself looked different with shorter hair, parted farther to the side. The mirror was framed with little notes to each other, some in her own handwriting and some in Daisy’s. A few were just doodles of Christmas trees and snowflakes, while others said “Bake cookies for Christmas lunch” and “Saturday, 8 p.m., Shield gift exchange.”

“Oh.” Carol remembered. The gift. The last thing she remembered was opening a mysterious gift…

—----------------

Late on Christmas Eve, she’d received a cardboard shipping box, no message or name but her own, delivered to her house in Louisiana. Inside had been a gold present box covered in glitter with the warning on a gift tag: Do Not Open Until Christmas!

Obviously, she had been too curious, and she opened the gift. In her defense, the glitter and glimmer on the box was very shiny. On top of the gold tissue paper had been another warning: “Not for Use Before Christmas Day.”

This, of course, made her even more curious, and Carol Danvers couldn’t resist a challenge. She was only a few hours early. Surely that was close enough. She pulled out the most beautiful snow globe, with a base of elaborately detailed gold and silver. Inside was a scene of two girls kissing in a snowy village.

Goose meowed and tilted her head.

“You know,” Carol said to her not-a-cat, “I actually have a coat and hat that look like the blonde one. Now if only I knew who the dark-haired girl was.” The mystery girl’s face was partially hidden by the blonde’s mitten on one side and a gas street lamp on the other. Carol turned it around and around, but there was no way to see. She realized how silly she was being. The real mystery was who sent it and who had been the intended recipient. No name tag or shipping label provided any clues.

“You didn’t order this, did you?” Carol asked Goose. The flerkin blinked back in disinterest and sauntered away.

Carol turned the snowglobe over to check the bottom for any note or hint, but the only words there were likely from the manufacturer: “Time to shake things up.”

Out of ideas, Carol did as instructed. She watched in melancholy as the snow inside flurried around. Single and lonely with only her cat(ish) for company was just the stereotype the Christmas rom-com movies started with. But superhero work didn’t leave a lot of room for meeting girls, and she was getting recognized as a celebrity both here on Earth and on other planets, which was awkward in the best of times but nowhere more so than on a first date. And no one would believe her if she signed up for a dating app.

Besides, her heart was too busy falling for Agent Daisy Johnson. Daisy had helped her with some space missions, and they had come back home to Shield together as intergalactic politics and a massive meteor storm in the forecast made it safer to return to Earth. They’d been assigned to the same team and missions, and the more time they spent working together, the harder Carol fell for her. Daisy had seemed potentially interested and vaguely flirty, but then the holidays came and their team rotated off active duty. As they packed up to go their separate ways, Daisy mentioned being set up with a guy while back home and how much it sounded like a Hallmark movie. She rolled her eyes, and Carol laughed.

“I don’t mean to be a bitch about it, though. He really does sound like a great guy.” Daisy had shrugged. “Who knows, maybe he’ll be the one. Or, I don’t know, have a hot sister. Or some other cheesy Christmas movie plot.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Carol had given her a tight smile, wished her luck and happy holidays, then slung her red duffle bag over her shoulder and left before Daisy could ask about her plans in return.

Then, the next night, with only a few hours until Christmas Day, Carol had shaken the snow globe while replaying this conversation in her mind and wishing she had the courage to ask Daisy out. Her eyes drifted to her phone, but the circumstances held her back from texting Daisy right that minute. If Daisy said no, or even if she said yes at first and then things didn’t work out between them, it would make their work together awkward, or worse, even more dangerous. They had people’s lives, including each other’s, in their superpowered hands every day. They couldn’t afford to be distracted.

But still, watching the last faux snowflake fall through the liquid in the glass ball to the sparkling white-painted ground, Carol envied her miniature doppelganger inside the winter wonderland. Her stomach sank as the last flake settled. Then, the glass seemed to glow, but Carol felt woozy, almost like vertigo and being pulled through a funnel at the same time, and closed her eyes.

—---------------

Now, Carol washed her face and held the warm cloth to her forehead, trying to make sense of how she’d gotten from watching the mystery snowglobe in her living room to standing in the bathroom of an unfamiliar home that was clearly her own in this reality, but not the same one she’d had last night.

“Ready to go?” Carol hazily remembered herself asking.

“I know exactly how to get warm,” Daisy’s voice echoed in her head. It was fuzzy, like a dream.

“Hey,” the real Daisy greeted, more awake now, and met Carol’s eyes in the bathroom mirror. “You okay?”

“I don’t know,” Carol answered honestly. She’d seen a lot of weird stuff in her line of work, and anything—from parallel universes to an AI to someone playing mind games with her to literal magic from a sorcerer or witch—was on the table. Or this might all be an ordinary dream.

“This might sound crazy, but have you ever seen a snowglobe with two women that look like us in the middle, um, kissing? In the snow?”

Daisy searched Carol’s expression. “You’re joking, right? Sometimes it’s hard to tell before we’re fully awake.”

“No, I don’t know…” Carol tried to find a way that didn’t sound completely insane. “I guess it was just a dream.”

“Sounds like a good dream to wake up from on Christmas Eve.” Daisy casually kissed Carol’s cheek and continued about her morning routine. “Oh, don’t forget, we have the Shield party tonight.”

“Right!” Carol pointed at the sticky note. “And, uhhh, remind me of our plans for today before then?”

Daisy let out a little laugh. “What happened to Mrs. ‘Drag brunch is our new Christmas tradition!’ hm? Or was that a test? You’re testing me.”

“I just don’t want to be late,” Carol explained, hoping it would satisfy Daisy’s curiosity.

Daisy sighed, and Carol realized she’d hit a sore subject. “Let’s not do this today. It’s Christmas Eve. We’re off work. I promise, even if an extraterrestrial criminal mastermind is roaming the streets of Chicago on our way to the restaurant, we will simply walk the other direction, okay? We will not be late.”

“I trust you.” Carol didn’t know what to say as Daisy turned to her and took her left hand. Daisy slipped a ring on it, and Carol noticed Daisy wore one as well. Okay. So this wasn’t just spending the night with her girlfriend or even just living together. Both of the rings were untarnished, intact, and clean, clearly reserved for their days off. Carol noted the more durable, casual silicon rings in the jewelry dish on the counter. Ah.

Daisy noted her awe and misinterpreted. “I just assumed we’d wear these today…”

“Yes! I do!” Carol said a little too fast. “I mean, I do want to wear these. They are perfect. Just so perfectly us. I love them.” She tried to hide her delighted grin, but she couldn’t help it.

Daisy sent her another “you’re being weird” look and walked out of the bathroom toward the kitchen. “Coffee time!”

—-

Carol played along the best she could during brunch. Daisy drove on the way there, which allowed Carol time to scroll through the phone camera roll of this new-and-improved version of herself. She had learned from the phone that this was Christmas 2027, but luckily, smartphones still worked in essentially the same ways. The photo cloud app told her that she and Daisy were married last spring with a honeymoon in Hawaii. She scrolled further back, seeing coworkers and friends she recognized who were apparently now married or even parents themselves, and some friends she didn’t know. A lump formed in her throat as an unspoken question was answered in two photos: the first of a frame on a wall with a familiar cat collar inside and another of a headstone with an etched image of Goose and an epithet to a beloved extraordinary pet that must have left the engravers thinking it was a prank.

Carol rushed on to the previous months, not wanting Daisy to notice her sudden sadness, but the emotional pendulum swung the other direction to the previous Christmas with Daisy’s family, then an adorable autumn romantic photoshoot, and a summer engagement before that. It struck Carol that to the average observer, they would have just looked like an ordinary couple. Even with no memory of these events, though, Carol could spy little hints of their hero life sneaking through. The sky of the autumn photoshoot, for example, had two white dots in the background and a third larger moon-like circle on the opposite side. It had to be Galadna, home of the most beautiful autumn festivals and plentiful harvest, which they traded for seafood and hydropower from their sister planet, Aladna. Of course this reality’s Carol would have taken Daisy to visit, and gotten Prince Yan’s annulment paperwork and gender-neutral royal succession legislation passed, before their wedding. What else would a hypothetical future with Daisy look like?

It wasn't the first time Carol had seen photos of herself in a life she didn't remember, but this was different. C arol felt like she was cramming for a test as they parked at the restaurant. She quickly swiped as far back as it would go and sent the tiny photo previews flying across the screen until they landed on something familiar: Christmas 2024. Goose in a Santa hat with a displeased expression, followed by photos of her house in Louisiana decorated just as she remembered it, but then there was a series of screenshots she didn’t. She read them as they walked through the parking garage.

Daisy: At the cafe, about to meet up with Mr. Hallmark Holiday Special. ;P

Then a little later: Hm, it’s been 20 minutes and no sign.

Oh wait, just had a text. His ex is back in town and they are meeting up tonight. Of course! I’m not the main girl. I’m the one who proves he’s ready to get back out there. Ah well, just my luck.

A selfie of a beautiful Daisy dressed up for her date and alone in a cozy, warmly lit, holiday-decorated cafe accompanied a Wish you were here!

Sorry if I’m disturbing your Christmas Eve! I’ll stop.

Carol hadn’t replied to any of these, which only added to her questions. Why hadn’t Past Carol responded? Clearly, things worked out in the end, but she needed more answers if this was some sort of vision from the Ghost of Christmas Future or possible alternate reality or message from fate!

Thankfully, the drag brunch crowd was loud and fun, with plenty of entertainment that helped her avoid any more revealing conversations. Carol had a hard time enjoying the performance and food, though, distracted by her need to find the snow globe in this universe/dream world/virtual reality. If it was a portal to somewhere or a magical item or a well-disguised tech device (or even a weapon?), there was one way out. Decades of experience with the weird, supernatural, and extraterrestrial told her the first problem was acquiring the object, then returning to the trigger point. Flying to Louisiana, even if she could manage it without Daisy noticing she was gone, would be pointless without the snowglobe, she reasoned. Of course, if it was an alternate reality without the snowglobe, or a one-way portal, the trigger to reverse it could be something totally different here.

Daisy took her hand under the table as the waitress cleared their plates from the table. “Back to Earth, space girl. You’re a million miles away today.”

“Sorry.” Carol smiled at Daisy and played it off as simple distraction. “What did I miss?”

“Elena was explaining her family’s Christmas traditions in Colombia,” Daisy filled Carol in as the others at the table continued the conversation—Elena’s husband, Mack; Fitz and Jemma, whom Carol knew from Shield back in 2024; Bobbi and Hunter, who had been on one disastrous yet successful mission with Carol and their presence in the friend group in 2027 amused her; and the newcomer, Fitz’s cousin Deke who was visiting for their holidays.

“We’re all meeting in Miami for New Year’s this year at my cousin’s. It’s going to be a big Rodriguez family reunion,” Elena finished and turned the conversation to Carol instead, “How about the Danvers family holidays? What are your old childhood traditions?”

“Oh uh,” Carol scrambled. Finally something she knew, and it was a topic she’d rather avoid. “Nothing much. Just the usual, I guess.”

Daisy jumped in. “We usually do Christmas with mine, but my parents took my mom’s parents on a trip to China this year and we’re on our own.”

“I never really got along with my family.” Carol shrugged. She looked to Daisy to verify this hadn’t changed, but the others took it as a hint that it had something to do with Carol’s orientation. It wasn’t that so much as not being the kind of daughter they wanted. Growing up to be a lesbian teen and young adult in the 1980s had simply been the icing on the estrangement cake. She’d never been their ladylike pageant princess, and besides, they’d been informed by the Air Force that she died in 1989, and they hadn’t made contact in all the times she’d been back to Earth as a famous superhero. Carol wasn’t surprised their brunch friends wouldn’t have known this though. Most people didn’t realize how old Carol really was since she didn’t age like a normal human. Daisy had the same trait, a fact that had kept Carol up at night wondering if it was a sign they were meant for each other. To avoid the age question, it was simply easier to give as few details as possible. That had served her well on a normal day and was proving to be the trick to surviving this weird future too.

Another of their friends, Jemma, spoke up: “They got together on Christmas, you know.”

Thank goodness Jemma’s analysis skills transferred to reading the awkward situation and calculating a smooth segue. Carol mouthed back a silent “thank you!”

Deke leaned forward and insisted, “Tell the story, c’mon, you can’t leave us hanging, Granny!”

Jemma rolled her eyes. “He calls me that because I knit, and apparently 10 p.m. is too early for bed unless you’re a grandmother.”

Carol turned her real question into a teasing one, “I’m still dying to hear the story about the women who got together on Christmas.”

She winked at Daisy and squeezed her hand, hoping she was passing off her information gathering as a game. However, the waitress arrived with their digital checks on a portable payment device, and Carol had to rein in her frustration at the timing. She had to know what she’d done between Christmas 2024 when she’d saved Daisy’s unanswered texts in her photos app and spending Christmas 2026 with Daisy’s parents and grandparents in her hometown, presumably planning their wedding in a few months’ time.

“It’s my favorite Christmas story,” Daisy flirted back as they waited for their turn to tap their phones to the payment device. The design of the thing was different now, but it was close enough to the 2024 version, and Carol had used tech from all sorts of planets in distant galaxies, that she could easily fake her way through using it as if this was her ordinary home world and time.

So she thought. The payment device beeped a clear error tone as she tried to pay for her breakfast and for Daisy’s.

“Hm, that doesn’t usually happen.” Carol blushed. She had the right orders selected on the screen, her payment app had automatically launched as it sensed the device within a few inches of her phone, and it said she had money in her account.

“Oh!” Daisy laughed. “You added mine to yours. One at a time.”

Carol’s confusion must have accidentally shown through. Daisy paused and observed her closely.

“You remember everyone has to use their own card now, right? The new consumer ID tracking laws?”

“Right!” Carol shrugged. “New laws. And tech! Changing all the time! Hard to keep up with all the places we’ve been; everywhere is different.”

She hoped that was vague enough, whether they were back to space travel or not by now.

Daisy added with a half-laugh, “Just like that time in Havana! Ugh, right?”

Carol knew that old Nick Fury code word. She played along, hoping it was a coincidence. Hoping Daisy didn’t know it. Carol finished the transaction silently and passed the device to Daisy, who did the same, but on their way out, Daisy took Carol’s gloved hand and pulled her in the opposite direction of the parking garage.

“C’mon, it’s the last day the Christmas market is open!” Daisy’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and the sudden chill of the air around them mirrored the cold fear in Carol’s bones.

“Honey, it’s freezing!” Carol pled. “Let’s go home. We have that party tonight...”

Daisy led her around a corner into an alley. Carol followed, hand in hand, helpless to resist if she was going to find out what was going on here. An opening in the dark brick of the alley led to an empty brick building with a hole in the wall where a door would normally be and no glass in the steel-framed windows. It looked like it had been…

The thought was cut off as Daisy pulled Carol in close by the lapels of her coat and kissed her deeply. Carol couldn’t think, she couldn’t panic, she couldn’t do anything but kiss Daisy like her life depended on it. She’d been waiting and wanting so long, dreamt of it a thousand times, nearly closing the distance between their lips on dozens of occasions. Now, whether she lived or died here in 2027, she had kissed a version of Daisy Johnson and her Christmas wishlist was complete.

The dreamy butterflies faded as Daisy backed away. There was a glint in Daisy’s eye and tension in her brow that sent Carol's internal alarm bells clanging.

“I thought so,” Daisy whispered.

Before Carol could react, Daisy stretched out a hand and quaked Carol with lightning speed, pinning her against the inside wall.

She demanded, “Who are you? What have you done with her?”

Carol hadn’t considered the possibility that she was the imposter here. “ I’m Carol Danvers. What I’ve been trying to figure out is who are you? What is this place? AI? Wish fulfillment tech? Parallel universe? I’ve seen it all, but nothing as real as this.” She struggled against the harmless but firm quake holding her captive.

A flicker of doubt crossed Daisy’s expression before it hardened. She raised the quake, pushing Carol up the wall six feet, then ten. “I’m going to let go now…”

Again, with no time to speak, Daisy released the quake. This time, Carol knew exactly what to do. She ignited and hovered in place with a cocky smile. “Good. You know I can fly, and you clearly have the same powers here. I’m going to come down now, and you’re not going to crush me into the Earth, okay? Let’s just talk.” Carol floated back to Daisy, who still tensed in suspicion, but allowed it.

Daisy’s voice edged on emotion as she demanded, “Who. Are. You? You look like my wife. You feel like her. But you’re not Carol Danvers. I know Carol Danvers. Better than anyone.”

“It’s me! Daisy, I swear it’s me. Listen, I don’t know how I got here, but you have to believe me.”

“Don’t lie! You called me honey five minutes ago. You didn’t know how to work the tech you were so against, but it wasn’t in protest. You really didn’t know back there, did you? You didn’t remember drag brunch, I could tell you didn’t know any of those stories, and you didn’t sing along to our Christmas songs. You scrolled your phone on the whole way here and barely talked to me. You didn’t recognize your wedding ring!” Daisy was losing control of her emotions and the building tremored the slightest bit, sending a light rumble through the winter air. Carol tried to speak but Daisy couldn’t stop, pleading now. “You don’t kiss the way my wife kisses me. You didn’t remember the snow globe ? If you’re Carol, my Carol, what happened to you?”

Carol’s voice cracked as she answered. “You’re asking the wrong question.”

“What's the right one then?” Daisy’s breath huffed out a mist in the cold air.

The snow outside caught Carol’s eye, falling into place like the puzzle pieces in her mind as she spoke: “It’s not what happened to me, but what hasn’t.”

Daisy started to speak, but Carol took Daisy's gloved hands in her own.

“Just hear me out. The last I remember, it was Christmas Eve 2024, only a few hours to Christmas Day. I asked you first thing this morning about the snow globe because I’d just opened a box with one inside. A snow globe with us in the middle. And, I know this sounds crazy, but I think it brought me here.”

Daisy stared at Carol in awe. “This is where you went that night? Why you didn’t answer my texts? I knew it didn’t take you that long to … Wait, I don’t know how much I’m supposed to tell you. I’ve traveled in time before and things got very complicated. If you’re you from 2024, there’s a lot that you shouldn’t know yet.”

“Actually…” Carol wetted her lips subconsciously. “I think that’s why I’m here, because there were things I needed to know.”

“Like what? A portal sent you through time and space so you could learn how to kiss me like you mean it?” Daisy was trying to be sarcastic, Carol knew, but with their bodies drawing closer and closer in the cold, and consequently, their lips this close together, it sounded like a sincerely tempting offer.

“No, to teach me that I could mean it without the world ending.” Carol dared to kiss Daisy again, but let her take the lead, noting even the slightest movement of her lips and tongue and hands.

“Okay, c'mon then,” Daisy whispered as they parted. She led Carol out the opposite side of the brick building with an identical crumbling hole in the wall as the door they’d entered through.

“Was this you?” Carol couldn’t help but ask as they walked through it.

“Us.” Daisy grinned and pointed up. A series of large scorch marks was clearly intended to be proof Carol had been here and battled something large, aerial, or both.

Daisy led them around a corner and Carol gasped in delight as a winter wonderland stood before them. This was like no Christmas market Carol had ever seen. The snow had piled up over days in the plaza and along the neighborhood sidewalks and storefronts with elaborate holiday window displays. It was falling again now, and shoppers around them bustled around with packages and hot beverages in hand, purchased from stands advertising cocoa, wassail, hot toddies, and more. Every lamppost was wrapped in garland and ribbon, and topped with a wreath, and music began to play as they wandered.

Daisy stopped in front of a faux cottage serving as one of dozens of seasonal gift shops. “If anywhere has a snow globe to replace the one we lost, it’s here.”

“Wait, what do you mean lost?”

Daisy worried her lip and tilted her head. “We don’t know. We put it out every year, but this year, it just wasn’t in any of the boxes. Everything else was there except the decoration that meant the most to us. It was a rough couple of days, looking everywhere we could think of, but it was gone.”

“What makes you think this place would have it? It was pretty unique.”

“Same brand.” Daisy pointed to the sign. “That’s who made the first one.”

A crafter’s logo, a name but so scripted it was nearly illegible, served as a mark of authenticity under the shop name: Shake Things Up.

“Let’s go in.” Carol figured at worst, they would have plenty of time inside to warm up as they shopped.

Inside was an old-fashioned wood cashier’s counter with a grand gold register, behind which the shopkeeper greeted them with a jolly smile. “There you are! It’s Lilia. Lilia Calderu?”

“Hi?” Carol was certain in all the long decades of her life, across civilizations and empires, she’d never met this woman.

All the same, the woman clearly knew her. “Oh Carol, you’ve done remarkably well. Not that I expected anything less from Captain Marvel.”

“Let’s keep that quiet,” Carol said, glancing around. Her identity wasn’t a secret, but she liked to stay low-key where she could and hadn’t been recognized yet by the public masses around her.

“Of course.” The shopkeeper turned to Daisy, somber now. “And you, Agent Johnson, are looking for this.”

Lilia disappeared behind a curtain to a back room and reappeared with a gold glitter-covered box that Carol recognized.

Something about Lilia’s focus on Daisy kept her quiet, however. She watched as Daisy accepted the box and Lilia raised a gentle hand to Daisy’s face, red from the cold.

“Have faith,” Lilia said, as if it was a blessing and instruction. She seemed to snap out of the mystical persona and back into shopkeeper mode. “Now, that’s $55, plus $15 for shipping and handling, and of course, instructions for resetting the clock are inside.” She raised her eyebrows as if they were in on the joke.

“Thank you.” Daisy paid with her phone, and they left the shop without browsing for anything else.

“Whoa.” Carol was certain it had been daylight when they had entered the shop, but now, seemingly only a few minutes later, they exited to a dark, snowy early evening. Most of the shoppers had gone home by now, with only a few wandering from shop to shop, and staff in holiday costumes bantered about their day while closing up for the day.

"We better get home for the Shield party, I guess," Daisy said, checking her phone for the time. "Time really flies by here."

They wandered through the market in the direction of their parking garage and passed through a grove of Christmas trees under a canopy of lights.

“Hey,” Carol pulled Daisy to the side. “I don’t know what is going to happen with what’s in that box, or even how to make it work. Or if it will. I just want to say, today with you has been a miracle.”

“A Christmas miracle?” Daisy smiled. “You were my Christmas miracle. That’s the story Jemma was going to tell. You saw my texts and flew right to me that Christmas Eve I got stood up, and I knew as soon as you walked in that cafe that you were the one I wanted. It couldn’t have been anyone else for me but you. You know, I’d always assumed that you didn’t respond because you were flying, but the timeline didn’t make sense. Now I know. You were here, right now, with this me.”

“So you’re saying, if I get home, I’ll have those texts on my phone waiting for me?”

Daisy shrugged. “If you do, remember, it’s the same the one we went to when we were the Welcome Wagon to that inhuman kid.”

“She was looking for you so she could skip high school and become an enhanced agent,” Carol recalled. “She nearly passed out when she saw us.”

“You know, that Christmas, she was telling everyone in town that she was being recruited for superhero service by Captain Marvel’s girlfriend.”

“And you never corrected her?”

“Maybe I wanted it to be true. And then it was.”

Carol couldn’t resist pulling Daisy in for a kiss. They had been walking side by side, so it was an awkward angle, but they adjusted. Whether they really had a magic snow globe portal time machine waiting for them in that box, or if they simply froze to death in the cold of the Chicago winter wonderland Christmas market, Carol would regret not taking the opportunity while she had it.

Daisy leaned into the kiss and Carol could tell she wasn’t simply teaching, but enjoying. Carol acted instinctively as her lips sucked at Daisy’s, in a move that was apparently just right. The box Daisy was holding shook with a little involuntary quake of surprise and pleasure, and the snow globe inside began to glow.

“Ready to go?” Carol asked.

“I know exactly how to get warm,” Daisy flirted. They parted, intending to walk to the parking garage, but they both felt lightheaded for a split second. They closed their eyes, and the fabric of reality slipped away into darkness.

—------------

Carol woke to the sound of Goose meowing and her phone vibrating on the coffee table with an incoming text. Groggy, Carol saw the snow globe on the table and then saw her phone light up. Who’d be texting her this late on Christmas Eve?

Daisy.

Wish you were here!

Carol bolted upright as she saw the message with the selfie. She knew with unshakable conviction that she was supposed to go fulfill Daisy’s Christmas wish. And that wish would be the Christmas miracle she’d been looking for herself. Carol packed clothes and makeup for a date but wore her supersuit to fly in. At the last minute, she impulsively grabbed the snow globe. Even if this went poorly, she could use the excuse that it was Daisy’s Christmas gift she’d forgotten to give her.

Carol shot through the sky like a meteor, high over the towns and cities of America. The next day, children would tell of watching for Santa long after they should have been in bed, and seeing instead the flight of the Christmas star.

She dimmed herself as best she could as she approached and landed in the back of the cafe, at the delivery entrance. She changed hastily between parked delivery vans, then did her makeup and tamed her hair in the side mirror of one. She stuffed her supersuit in her bag and snuck around to the front of the building. The windows revealed a date-ready gorgeous Daisy with hunched shoulders and an empty mug on the table.

Carol’s heart broke seeing her like this. Daisy checked her phone one last time, and Carol realized by now Daisy knew her date wasn't coming. She was looking for a reply from her. To those unanswered texts. Daisy put her phone in her purse and started to gather her belongings to prepare to leave. Carol knew it was now or never. With a deep breath for confidence, she opened the door of the cafe, which announced her presence with jingle bells.

At the sound, Daisy looked up casually, not expecting the person she locked eyes with. Carol rushed to her table, and Daisy rushed toward her in return, wrapping her in a hug they both desperately needed. Carol tentatively placed the lightest of kisses on Daisy’s lips. “Merry Christmas, Daisy Johnson.”

“You came!” Daisy pulled her in and kissed her harder. By now, Carol's dream-liked memories of Christmas Eve 2027 had faded in the same way ordinary dreams do, and yet, Carol remembered something about exactly how Daisy liked to be kissed. She couldn’t have said how she knew it. She just did. Carol let instinct guide her lips and the cafe began to clap around them.

One older waitress, with a nametag that said Lilia, called out, “She better have a good excuse for keeping you waiting so long, sweetheart!”

They laughed as they pulled apart. Carol remembered what was in her bag.

“I do. I had to be home to open a mystery gift for both of us.”

Daisy’s curiosity turned to wonder as Carol revealed the snow globe.

“How?” Daisy sat back down as Carol placed it on the table, and they watched the snow fall around the miniature versions of themselves. Carol sat across from her and sighed happily.

“Honestly, I have no idea. I just knew it was meant to guide me to you, somehow. Then you texted with that picture, and I thought I’d grant your Christmas wish.” Carol winked, hoping she was reading the situation right.

“I gotta admit, I didn’t expect such fast delivery. Five stars.”

“Does that come with a tip?” Carol pushed. They’d been flirty before, but this held an underlying seriousness that had never been there before.

Daisy considered it, tracing her fingers over Carol’s on the table in light touch that made Carol’s heart race. “It does, actually, one I’ve been saving to share with someone special. But we’d need to go back to my place for it, plus two glasses and a corkscrew. You’d have to stay over though, never drink and fly.”

“Safety first, always.” Carol hardly knew what she was saying. All she could hear was Daisy’s low, sultry voice inviting her over for drinks and possibly more, including a sleepover.

Daisy paid her check, and Carol stored the snow globe back in her bag.

“Ready to go?” Carol asked.

Lilia the waitress wished them Merry Christmas and urged them to bundle up before leaving.

“I know exactly how to get warm,” Daisy said, though Lilia was out of earshot as she tended to the other customers celebrating the holiday together. Carol was the intended audience anyway, and the odd familiarity of the words comforted her. She couldn’t place why exactly, but somehow she knew that by walking out of that cafe side by side with Daisy, this was going to be the happiest Christmas thus far of her long life.

Inside the cafe, a “waitress” who had lived much longer than Carol could imagine, the benevolent witch Lilia Calderu, watched them in satisfaction through the decorated cafe window, knowing that not only would they have a magical holiday this year, but also Daisy and Carol, together with friends and family, would make many, many more.

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jackiequick · 6 months ago

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Reverse Betrayal - Agent of SHIELD….HYDRA? | [ Flipped AU]

AU —— Amelia has been apart of the Inhuman/Brotherhood Of Mutants and Hydra all along, and is working against SHIELD (Why? We will never know..). After she had to reveal her powers to control a handful of soldiers after them while keeping a few in the process, to try Ward, to save the team and complete the mission.

He decided to protect her and hide her secret, not knowing she was a spy. She doesn’t want to be saved or protected, in fear of letting her guard down, choosing to run away but Ward always finds her. The young heroes will always find her.

“I was trying to protect you..”

“So was I.”

“So what are you doing?”

“I took your advice..I stopped running.”

“Look at me, baby, look at me! I won’t hurt you, I promise that.”

“Even after the hell I put you though?”

~~~~

Name: Amelia Rachel Mary Morse

Codename: Tempest

Date of Birth: July 14, 1995

Nationality: Italian-American

Place of Origin: Queens, New York

Age: Varies depending on the timeline

Height: 5’2

Sexuality: Straight (though her loyalty often comes before any personal relationships)

Species: Inhuman/Mutant with the power to control and manipulate emotions

Affiliation: Hydra, Brotherhood of Mutants

Rank: High-ranking operative within Hydra's ranks, trusted member of the Brotherhood

Appearance: Amelia has a striking presence, with expressive eyes that seem to hold a secret. She often wears a confident smirk, giving off an air of mystery and danger. Her attire is sleek and practical, fitting for someone who operates in the shadows.

Abilities:

Emotion Manipulation: Amelia possesses the ability to sense, alter, and control the emotions of others. She can incite fear, anger, or calmness at will, using her powers to manipulate situations to Hydra's advantage.

Mental Resistance: Years of training and exposure to Hydra's methods have given Amelia a strong mental fortitude, making her resistant to telepathic intrusion and manipulation.

Combat Training: Trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat and armed combat, Amelia is a formidable opponent in combat situations.

Background: Unlike the original timeline where Amelia dreamed of becoming a SHIELD agent to protect and serve, in this AU, she was recruited into Hydra at a young age. Growing up in Queens, she always felt like an outsider, hiding her true nature as an Inhuman/Mutant. When Hydra discovered her abilities in the later years, they saw her potential as a valuable asset. However she made it clear to have her abilities used on her own terms and conditions, she wasn't going to be their little toy.

Under the guise of a loyal agent, Amelia rose through the ranks of Hydra, honing her skills and serving their sinister agenda. She became known as Tempest, a name that struck fear or uncertainty into the hearts of her enemies. "Tempest" symbolize her ability to stir up and control emotions, much like a storm can whip up turbulent winds and chaos. It also represent her inner turmoil and the internal struggles she faces as she grapples with her loyalties and the choices she must make.

Alongside her allegiance to Hydra, she also aligned herself with the Brotherhood of Mutants, drawn to their vision of mutant supremacy.

Motivation: Amelia's loyalty to Hydra stems from a desire for power and control. Having felt marginalized and overlooked for much of her life, she sees Hydra as a means to exert her influence and shape the world according to her will. She believes in the supremacy of mutants and is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their dominance.

Relationships: While Amelia may form alliances and partnerships within Hydra and the Brotherhood, her true loyalty lies with her own ambitions. She is skilled at manipulation and may feign friendships or romantic entanglements to further her own agenda. However, deep down, she harbors a sense of loneliness and isolation, knowing that her true nature must remain hidden from those around her.

———

Additional Information:

Deep down, Amelia harbors a sense of loneliness and isolation, knowing that her true nature must remain hidden from those around her. Despite this, she found solace in a relationship with her boyfriend Nikolai, where they shared a sense of comfort, understanding, and love.

When Amelia was assigned by her boss John Garrett, an undercover Hydra agent within SHIELD, to work alongside Phil Coulson and his team, she was hesitant at first. However, she discovered a warmth, confidence, and strong sense of compassion when working with Coulson and meeting the Young Avengers.

Over time, she found herself drawn to them, allowing her walls to slowly fall as she began to desire something more for herself.

During the fall of SHIELD and the revelation of Hydra's infiltration, Amelia's cover was blown along with many other agents.

In a pivotal moment, she betrayed Ward and the team, saving them and herself. Following Hydra's downfall, Amelia went into hiding, forging her own path and rebuilding her guard.

However, she remained on the radar of both the Young Avengers and SHIELD...

~~~~

This was my excuse to make an baddie Mia haha. Now it’s your turn to flip an characters around ;)

Anyways tell me what you guys think!

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @gcthvile @missstrawbs2001 @cherrysft @rickb-chaos @starkleila @infinetlyforgotten @meiramel @parisparker269 @buckysteveloki-me @yetanotherwells @nakiaswg @carellmcu @ximehs @xgoddessoffandomsx

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rainintheevening · 3 months ago

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OG Bus Team and Favourite TV Shows:

Coulson? British crime shows. Any of them. Hates period dramas though.

Grant? Same, but also low-key obsessed with Sherlock. Skye/Daisy makes fun of him for this.

Grant and Coulson's favourites are Murdoch Mysteries, Rosemary & Thyme, and Shetland.

Daisy watches any of the classics (The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Friends) but her real love is cooking shows. Living like she did she never had the chance to learn to cook well, and she would love to be a good cook one day. Master Chef, Julia Child, and Master Chef Junior are her faves.

Melinda watches The Great British Bake Off (with Skye; they bond over this), some obscure soap opera that no one else has even heard of, and K-dramas.

Fitz watched Doctor Who with his mum all the time as a kid, still loves it. Otherwise he's more of a movie guy. One and done. What's the point in dragging the story out? He watches action flicks with Grant, and laughs at Ward's stream of commentary of fight scenes.

Jemma watches Doctor Who with Fitz, but by herself, she really only ever watches nature documentaries. Secretly, she's also a fan of Disney princess movies; they're her comfort films.

#i don't even know most of these shows i'm just going off vibes #phil coulson #grant ward #daisy johnson #skye #melinda may #jemma simmons #leo fitz #agents of shield #headcanons #saving grant ward au

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apocalyptichearts · 2 years ago

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I have so many philindaisy baby daisy au (is that what it’s called?) emotions— like it’s overflowing and i can’t stop drawing them!!

Also I’m obsessed with the idea of May being her usual like intimidating, agent self, ordering new recruits around and what not, all the whilst shes got this colourful, babbling toddler on her hip. Like omg, my heart <3

Oh and Coulson would definitely be that one parent who takes pictures of everything their kid (and by proxy the mother as well) does. Like, when Daisy was little little, May probably had to confiscate his camera bcus he was taking the most godawful pictures of her just absolutely sleep deprived holding an admittedly cute baby Daisy.

all this to say that i’m currently loosing my mind—

#brought to you by my inability to draw coulson #so many emotions #daisy johnson #melinda may #phil coulson #philindaisy #philinda #maydaisy #phildaisy #agents of shield #aos #fanart #sketch #art #mama may #agents of shield fanart #philindaisy baby daisy au

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agenttwinklecreates · 4 months ago

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for @agentmanatee

“Something has been bothering me about these notes though,” Jemma explained. “I’ve noticed that different textbooks say different things about history. It’s like the school itself doesn’t understand its own history.”

“Maybe it is not that the school doesn’t want anyone to know its own history,” Fitz butted in. “But that someone doesn’t want us to know it fully.” _________________________________________________________

Aspiring young detective Jemma Simmons is about to get her hands into a conspiracy theory when Shield Academy goes into lock down mode. Headmaster Nick Fury hands Jemma the case - a student, Eric Koenig, was murdered last night. As Jemma and her friends Skye and Fitz inspect the scene, they end up revealing darker secrets that the Shield Academy has held since it's foundation.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58360093/chapters/148638835

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#bus kids #jemma simmons #daisy johnson #leo fitz #detective au #boarding school au #fanfiction

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messedupfan · 11 months ago

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Chapter 12

Summary: It's the holidays and the kids school is putting on a show!

A/n: Sorry this has taken a bit of time to get out. There is a lot packed into this chapter. Enjoy!

Masterlist | All Chapters | All Stories Taglist

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“Come on guys, no more pictures! We’re going to be late!” Rachel whines, tired of posing for pictures. Jean frowns with her phone covering half of her face.

“Just one more picture, babe. You look so adorable!” Jean says as she waves her daughter back into place.

“Baba,” Rachel looks at you for help. You nod and place your hand on Jean’s shoulder.

“Come on, mama. Let’s get her to school on time. She’s stressed enough, she doesn’t need to be late.” You say as you attempt to reason with your ex-wife.

“Fine, but you’ll regret this when you’re old and decrepit and have no memories,” Jean grouches as she puts her phone away.

“Jean, you'll have more opportunities to take pictures of our little soloist when she's on stage and after the performance. But for now, we have to go,” you say as you open the door for everyone to leave the house. Both of your parents and their significant others are here along with Kate. Your step siblings are spending the holidays with their significant other's families this year. Which allowed your dad to spend them with you. It has been years since he's spent the holidays with you and he even apologized for that as he brought in many gifts for Rachel and even a few for you. Anna's parents, Owen and Pricilla, are also in attendance and they have also spoiled Rachel with presents making the tree overflowing with presents. Jean's parents aren't attending this year because they're spending the holidays with her older brother Roger and his family. Jean is the youngest of five and since the family spread out throughout the country over the years, her parents have had to rotate where they spend the holidays. But since Jean isn’t without family, she is fine not having her parents here.

Even without the Grey’s, Rachel still has a pretty big crowd there to support her. You almost feel guilty for not having more kids for a crowd this size to root for, especially since some kids won't have nearly this many people attending to see them.

The group of ten arrives at the school parking lot in multiple cars. You were lucky enough to get to drive Rachel alone since she wanted to avoid everyone fawning all over her. You help her get to her classroom where all of the students were asked to meet before the performance. It's a big holiday showcase with performances from each grade. Since Rachel is in her last year of elementary school, that meant her performance was going to be the big finale of the show.

“Good luck, munchkin,” you kiss the top of her head before sending her into the classroom.

“Baba, you're supposed to say ‘break a leg’ because the theater is very superstitious,” she says and you smile as you get ready to correct yourself but you get interrupted by her teacher.

“There you are! My star! Come on in, let's get you ready,” the teacher takes her away from you and you go looking for the rest of the people that you're going to sit with.

There are many families that are crowding the halls and are slowly filing into the theater as they find their seats. You're carefully scanning the crowd for a familiar face when you hear your name being called. You whip your head around as you try to find the face and stop when you find Daisy. You shuffle through the crowd to get to her when you feel some tug on your coat. You look back and find Luna smiling up at you. Then you notice Pietro before he notices you.

“Hey,” you greet as you hold his arm. Pietro smiles as he greets you with a hug. “I thought you weren't coming,” you say as you step back to get out of the way. Luna asks to be lifted up and so you pick her up and she gives you a tight hug.

“Yeah, I wasn't planning on it but uh,” he looks around before leaning in close. “Vision canceled on Tommy and Billy and they were taking it pretty hard so, here I am.”

You shake your head. For someone who is so adamant about being the only male presence in his son's lives, he sure has a funny way of showing it. “That's a shame. I know that Billy was really excited for him to see his part.”

Pietro shrugs, “I know, but we're here for him. Hopefully it's enough.” Even though the both of you know that it most likely isn't, you don't voice it. “I should probably get in,” Pietro says as he reaches for his daughter. “Have to find the wife.”

“Crystalia is here? Where is she?” You look around, realizing that she wasn't with him.

“She's with Wanda and my mom. We got here pretty early to avoid this traffic because we recently found out that Crystalia is carrying twins so we wanted to minimize her standing time. Unfortunately for me, this one needed to go potty,” he starts to tickle his daughter making her squeal and squirm in his arms.

The two of you wish each other happy holidays as you go your separate ways and you finally make your way through the crowd to Daisy who has found Jean and the rest of the large family. She arrived separately because she said she had to work. But you believe she has been avoiding meeting your parents and having to sit through a meal with them. You place your hand on her lower back and give her an innocent greeting kiss. “I'm glad that you made it,” you smile at her.

“I wouldn't miss it,” she takes your free hand and gives you a few squeezes. You squeeze back. It has been a rough adjustment between her and Rachel, but Daisy surprises you by trying every day to get your daughter to welcome her.

“Did she get to her classroom fine?” Jean asks and you confirm that she did and throw in that she didn't seem nervous in the least. “She is so brave. It scares me,” she admits. You agree with her as you imagine the many wrong turns that bravery could take your daughter. All any parent can do is hope for the best.

As you finally get through the auditorium doors, your eyes wander and you aren't sure what you're looking for until your eyes land on her. She is standing in front of her mother with a smile as she talks to her. You are curious about what is making her smile as it makes you smile. “What's got you smiling? The kids aren't out yet.” Anna whispers as she nudges you.

You look at her, “I can't be proud that our daughter finally got a solo here?” You notice when she finds Wanda but she doesn't point it out.

“I know! I'm so proud too, she has been working really hard on this,” she says as she squeezes your bicep.

“I'm so glad she let me help her,” Daisy leans in, overhearing the conversation. “She actually called Y/n here tone deaf,” Daisy laughs and Anna joins her. You shake your head. When Rachel came to your apartment raving about the audition she had, she asked for your help but you couldn't carry a tune to save your life and she found it difficult to bounce off of. So, Daisy quietly sang to herself until Rachel noticed and the girl shyly asked for the woman's help. It got to the point that she would ask Daisy to go over to her mom's house to help her practice. You couldn't have been happier and your girlfriend couldn't have been more willing to help.

During the performances of the five grades before Rachel and the twins, you find it increasingly difficult to stay awake through it. The kids certainly are adorable but none of them are Rachel, so you don’t have much interest in watching the little kids struggle to remember lines and sing the lyrics off key. Thankfully, you have Daisy there to wake you up when they announce the fifth grade class. You sit up and look around to remind yourself where you are and as you do, you turn around enough to see your father doing the same thing as his wife wakes him. You would find the symmetry endearing if the two of you weren’t so estranged. You smile at Daisy and put your arm over her shoulders as she snuggles into you in response to the gesture.

Now since there are a lot of students, not every student is participating on the stage. Some of the students are operating backstage and others are managing props. Some even are the props. Like Tommy, he is a Christmas tree as punishment for being difficult in every other aspect of the play. You laugh to yourself as you zoom in on his Grinch green grumpy face and snap a picture for Wanda. Then you start recording the entire stage as Billy leads a group of boys and girls in a musical number. Rachel is crouched and hidden in the middle of the other students. She blossoms as they spread out through the front of the stage. Your daughter sings her little heart out and doesn’t miss a beat. You feel your eyes sting with proud tears as you continue to record her.

“Put your phone down,” Daisy whispers. “I’ve got it. You enjoy the show.” You nod and end the recording. You want to whisper your gratitude but don’t want to mess up the recording on her phone. You experience your daughter's performance live instead of through the screen and watch as she gets her dance moves correct. You don’t even realize how close to the edge of the stage she is until it happens. You don’t think anyone did. Rachel certainly didn’t, not with the big smile she had as she nailed her performance.

“Rachel!” Billy and Tommy shouted at the same time as they both abandoned their positions and rushed to the edge of the stage to look down at their friend on the ground. There was a collective gasp in the audience that made the whole thing seem unreal. You experience a delayed reaction and don’t run towards the stage until Anna and Jean are shuffling in front of you to rush to the stage. The three of you make it after Wanda, who is yelling at her boys to stay put as she assesses the situation.

“Rachel, honey, don’t move okay?” Wanda says as she kneels down beside Rachel but not too close. You get next to Wanda as you watch your daughter struggle to wake up. You look her over for any obvious injuries and notice that her leg is in really bad shape.

“Someone call an ambulance!” You shout as you look at the large auditorium full of people too stunned to do anything. You shake your head and pull out your phone to do it yourself and that’s when a school administrator speed walks over to see if she can avoid causing a big scene.

The older woman’s view is obstructed so with good intentions she says, “Do you think you could carry her out of here? We will have an ambulance waiting outside. I just want to avoid canceling the big finale for the rest of the students and their families.”

Jean and Anna, who were next to you, move out of the way and the woman still tries to ask you to move her. Just as you’re about to say that you don’t think you should, Wanda steps in for you. “Are you crazy? I’m sorry, I would have loved it if this didn’t happen either but we don’t know what internal damages she has! None of us here are trained to properly move her without making it worse. The show is over. Do you understand?” Wanda turns around to shout to the audience but Billy taps her shoulder and holds out his mic pack for her. “Everyone, please stay in your seats until we can get a paramedic to remove Rachel Y/l/n-Grey from the auditorium safely. Her family thanks you for your respect and patience.”

With this announcement, the army that is Rachel’s grandparents rise and make their way to the front as well as they realize the severity of the situation. “I don’t think that was necessary,” the woman says to Wanda.

“Excuse me, my granddaughter is in need of serious medical attention. She isn’t even conscious,” your dad steps in to defend Wanda. “Madam, are you a doctor?” The woman shakes her head. “Do you have any medical experience or knowledge at all?” She replies no and tries to continue after that but your father shuts her down again. “Then you can step away and guide the paramedics to us because that’s all you’re good for in this situation.” You are shocked to see this protective side of your father but you don’t stop him because he’s doing what you’re too shocked to do.

You stay close to Rachel and as much as you want to hold her hand or touch her to let her know that you are there, you don’t. You just watch her chest struggle to rise and fall as you wait for the medical professionals to arrive. It hurts you to see the uneven breaths, but it comforts you to know that she is still breathing. The position of her head and her arm concern you, but you try really hard not to focus too much on the list of injuries she may or may not have. You just focus on the fact that she is alive and help is on the way. You don’t realize that you’ve been holding your breath until Wanda’s touch shocks you back to self awareness. You take a deep breath and look at her as she rubs your back. “She’s going to be okay,” she says to comfort you and with everything in you, you hope that she is right.

Wanda has to move you out of the way when the paramedics arrive at the scene. You finally look away when they start to move her around. She looks so tiny and helpless in their care and you couldn’t stand the sight. Wanda continues to take care of you and you are grateful. You don’t notice that Daisy is standing at her seat until you are following the paramedics out of the theater. She collects her things and follows you out. “I’ll follow behind to give you a ride back to your car. When you're ready, of course,” she says and you nod as you climb into the ambulance with your daughter. Only one parent could ride along and Jean volunteered you without a second thought.

“She needs you, Y/n. You’re better at this stuff and I can’t stop crying,” she said as she attempted to wipe her tears. You gave her a quick hug and promised that Rachel was going to be okay. It didn’t bring her much relief but she held onto the small amount of comfort it did bring.

Wanda is walking at a fast pace as she holds her boys hands to get them out of the school. “Come on boys, I need to get you home.” Tommy stops walking and pulls his hand out of hers.

“No,” he frowns, “I want to go to see Rachel. I have to make sure she is okay.”

Wanda sighs, “Honey, we won’t know that for a while. It will be a lot of waiting.”

“We’re okay with that,” Billy says. “She’s our best friend. We want to be there for her,” he says as he stands next to his brother. Pietro finds the three of them in the middle of the parking lot. His mother is helping his wife and daughter to his car. He was sent to find Wanda to see what she was going to do, and offer to watch the boys so that at least she can be there for you.

“What’s going on here, guys?” He asks as he places his hands on the back of their heads.

“They want to go with me to the hospital to wait for Rachel,” Wanda answers. She looks at her brother for help. She wasn’t sure what she should do in terms of being a good parent but she doesn’t think she can convince her determined boys to go with their uncle. They almost never agree on anything at the same time like this.

“Hey, so are we taking these two with us?” Mrs. Maximoff asks as she joins the group.

“No,” Pietro says, helping his sister make the decision as he looks at his mother, “Tommy and Billy will be joining Wanda.”

“I see,” she says as she looks at her grandsons. “My boys are so sweet. But are you sure you don’t want to come with us to Uncle Pietro’s? We can have ice cream and cake and watch movies.” Billy and Tommy shake their heads and cross their arms at the same time.

“We have to be there for Rachel,” Tommy stands his ground, showing no sign of temptation to his grandmother’s offer. She shrugs and looks at her daughter.

“I’ll join you,” she says.

“Mom, you don’t have to,” Wanda starts to protest.

“No, I’m supporting my grandsons. They want to be at the hospital then so do I,” she states and Wanda doesn’t argue any further. She's in a hurry to get to you. Well, to the hospital to be there for you. And Jean and Anna of course since they're her friends as well.

“Okay, let’s go then,” Wanda says and she says goodbye to her brother as she walks off with her boys and their mother. She drives, uncertain if she should even be there in the first place but knows that if something like this happened to either of her boys, you would be there for her. No question. When she finds you in a waiting area with your family she knows that the news can't be too good. Before asking anything, Wanda pulls you into a tight hug that you melt into. “What do you know?” She asks as she steps back.

“She broke her leg, that's been confirmed. There is a lot of concern for her arm and shoulder and they don't know whether it's the pain that has kept her unconscious or if she sustained a head injury. The paramedics couldn’t tell how hard she might've hit her head but are optimistic that it wasn't too hard since it looks like her leg took the brunt of it. The doctor said that we won't know until she wakes up what kind of damage might've been done to her head. She's in surgery now,” you explain, trying to remain calm and not jump to the worst kinds of conclusions. Rachel is going to be fine. She is strong. Wanda nods as she digests the information. “You brought the boys?” You ask as you notice Tommy’s green face and Billy also still in his costume being dragged to seats by their grandmother.

Wanda turns to look at them and then turns back to you. “They insisted. My mom tried to take them to Pietro's house but they refused. They really care about Rachel.” Wanda stands next to you and the both of you look at her boys as they fight over who gets a turn first on grandma's phone. “Which one do you think she'll marry?”

You snort at the idea, “Hopefully neither.”

Wanda looks at you feeling offended by your answer. “She would be a lucky girl to marry one of my boys.”

You hold your hands up in surrender, “No one is saying she wouldn't be. It's just that Jean and I are both hoping we raised a lesbian. If she's straight, we might have to disown her.” You smirk at the end to show your lack of seriousness and Wanda shakes her head.

“It amazes me that you have a sense of humor in a crisis,” Wanda says.

“That’s my fault,” your mom says as she flips through the outdated magazine from the hospital collection. “I'm not good in a crisis so Y/n learned how to make me laugh from an early age in order to help us both get through it.” She closes the magazine and tosses it back onto the pile. She looks Wanda up and down and lifts her hand in the air as she remains seated. “I'm Eleanor Bishop, Y/n’s mother,” she introduces herself. Wanda introduces herself and your mom makes a face to place the familiarity to the name. “Oh yes, I've heard of you! Rachel talks very highly of you and your boys. Twins right?”

“Right, Tommy and Billy,” Wanda points out her boys to the woman. “They wanted to be here for your granddaughter,” she explains.

“Oh they are so kind,” your mom says. “This is my husband, Derek,” she places her hands on her husband's shoulder. He half stands to shake Wanda's hand as well and gives a polite hello. “I'm not sure if you've already met my daughter, Kate,” she gestures to Kate who is sitting across from her and behind Wanda.

“No, but I have heard a lot about you. Rachel adores you,” she turns to Kate to get a read on the girl but it's clear she's in no mood to make pleasantries. She just wants to know that her niece is okay. Wanda doesn't push and surprisingly, neither does your mother.

“Would you like to take a seat,” you ask Wanda when you realize that the two of you are the only ones standing in the middle of the waiting area. She nods and looks over at her family to see that there isn't a seat for her. But there is one next to you, leaving you in the middle of Wanda and Daisy.

The latter of the two snuggles into your arms and laces her fingers with yours once you've settled in. Something about the gesture comes off more territorial than it does comforting and it makes you uncomfortable. But you don't pull away. You know that she has an insecurity when it comes to your friendship with Wanda, so you do your best to show her that she has nothing to worry about.

An hour passes with a couple of updates and Pietro shows up with some treats for everyone to help them get through the wait. He talks with you for a bit and you thank him for showing up and for being kind enough to bring food for your family. “I can't take all of the credit to be honest. Wanda messaged me to see if I was able to drop some things off.” You look at Wanda who is helping her boys distribute the donuts and coffee to the members of your family who at first declined but after getting a speech from Wanda about everyone taking care of themselves they all realized how much they needed the treat. You can't imagine a better person to have by your side in a crisis.

You look at Daisy and notice that she looks a little off as she stares at her phone. You excuse yourself from Pietro and walk over to Daisy. But as soon as you get close enough she stands while collecting her things and apologizes to everyone as she starts to walk away. You turn back, unsure if you should go after her or stay just in case the doctor sends someone out for another update. Jean tells you to go so you do.

“I wonder what that's all about,” Pietro says as he gets close to Wanda.

“Pietro, please. Now's not the time,” Wanda rolls her eyes at her brother's nosiness. He nods as he drops it. “Do you think we'll be able to convince the boys to let you take them with you?” She asks as she takes a bite of the donut.

“No, but we might be able to convince mom to let me drop her off,” the two share a laugh as Pietro points to the woman who is nodding off in her seat.

“Daisy,” you say as you chase her down the hall to prevent her from leaving but she doesn't stop. “Daisy, please talk to me. What's wrong?” You ask once she's guided you out of the building. “Daisy, come on. I want to be here for you, whatever you're going through, but we need to get back in there for Rachel. I can't be out here for too long,” you try to explain.

“Then go back inside, I didn't ask you to follow me,” she snaps back at you but she continues walking. You shake your head and take a glance back at the building before continuing to follow Daisy. “I can't do this. I'm not ready for all of this,” you overhear her muttering to herself.

“What aren't you ready for?” You ask, confused by her rambling words. Daisy drops her keys and you're quicker than she is to pick them up. She asks for her keys. “Not until you tell me what's wrong,” you negotiate. You really don't understand what is causing this behavior from her. You wonder if it has anything to do with Wanda but you don't want to believe that's the case. You don't know if it'd be fair to the kids to have to cut them out of each other's lives for Daisy. She knows that your first priority is always Rachel and her happiness.

“It was great meeting everyone, despite the circumstances, but my wife just messaged me about some cravings that I should get to her before everything closes. Rachel is a strong girl, she's going to be fine,” Pietro says as he starts to make his exit after engaging in light conversation with your father and his wife and even managed to get Kate to chat after a conversation with Anna's parents. Your mother is preoccupied with reading to the twins and although the pair of them claim to be too old for a storytime, your mom can be quite the storyteller. Pietro walks over to his mom and gently wakes her to offer her a ride home.

She looks at her grandsons and shakes her head. “I think it'll be a good example to stick out the wait with them,” she says as she reaches up and lightly pats his cheek. “Thank you for asking, my sweet boy. I love you.”

Pietro smiles and gives his mom a sweet kiss on the forehead. “I love you too, ma. I'll see you tomorrow,” he says before he walks away. Wanda catches up to him and she says something about walking him out and he smirks. “Who's the nosey one now?” He teases and she shakes her head.

“All of it, Rachel, you, us,” Daisy says as tears start to stream down her face. “I thought,” she takes a shaky breath as she runs her fingers through her hair, “I thought I wanted all of it. I swear to you, every time that I told you I was ready I meant it but… the way she fell. The reality that she could be gone in a split of a second. I froze. I froze when none of you did. I can't be a parent. I can’t be a parent,” she mutters the last part to herself a couple of times and you try to get her to look at you again to keep her from spiraling. “I cannot be another parent to Rachel! I'm not even ready to own a dog or take care of a plant. Oh I've killed so many plants. So many dead plants. And Rachel, she isn't a plant. She is a person and I can't,” you cut her off with a hug to stop her rambling.

“Okay, shhh, shhh. It's okay,” you try to soothe Daisy as she sobs into your arms. “No one is asking you to be another parent to Rachel. She already has two mom's. She doesn't need-”

“That's the thing, she doesn't. She has Wanda too.” Daisy holds her hand up to stop you from denying it. “I know what you're going to say. That it's not like that with her. But Rachel isn't her child and she was the first one to rush to her aid! She fought for her safety and I couldn't stop recording. She has instincts that I don't have. That I don't care to have. Not right now.” Daisy says and you don't know how to respond. You can tell her that you froze too but that won't mean much because you did eventually move. You can say that she's not expected to be a parent but you don't know how many more ways you can say it. “Wanda was able to get her family out here to support you and Rachel and I can't even get my dad here. Because he does hate you and he doesn't support us being together. Let's face it, I don't belong here. You and I… we don't work.” You open your mouth to try and come up with an argument but you fall short. You can't think of a reason for her to stay. This is the out that you were searching for months ago. A piece of you doesn't want this to be the end but it's not big enough to stop it from happening.

“So, this is it?” You say with a frown looking down at her keys and tears burning your eyes. No matter what, it hurts to say goodbye to a relationship that you've managed to maintain for months longer than you thought you could.

“It has to be,” Daisy wipes her face with the back of her hand. You nod and hand her the keys that you held hostage.

“I understand,” you clear your throat. “Thank you for reminding me that I'm still young,” you say as she takes the keys. “And for letting me love you.” Her lips twitch at your words and she gives you a tight hug.

“Please let me know when she is okay but after that… Please don't contact me. I'm going to need the space to get over you,” she says as she pulls away.

“If that's what you want,” you reply. Daisy nods as she confirms it's what she wants. You walk away as she climbs into her car. You don't turn back because the thought of watching her leave is too painful. You don't want to experience the reality of it. Wanda is sitting on a park bench that is near the front doors of the hospital. “Hey you,” you greet as you get closer to her and try to hide the way you wipe your tears. “Didn't expect to see you out here,” she explains that what started as walking her brother out turned into her needing some fresh air as well. “Mind if I join you?” She nods as she scooches over to give you more space.

“Everything okay with the girlfriend?” Wanda asks, sensing that whatever conversation that was had, wasn't a good one.

“Ex-girlfriend,” you correct, causing Wanda's eyebrows to shoot up and eyes to widen. “And everything is good with her. I think,” you look out into the parking lot and think about how scared she looked to be here. “I guess my reality finally spooked her and I don't have it in me to convince her to stay. It's not fair to tie her down to all of this,” you gesture to the hospital where your odd family lives. “Not when she has the option to leave.”

Wanda nods in understanding. “Technically, even if she did marry you and have a kid with you, she'd always have the option to leave,” she states as she thinks back on this evening when Vision chose to take his other family on a vacation instead of staying even one night to watch her boys perform. She knew how important it was for Billy to have his father there. Tommy won't ever admit it but he was also excited to perform for his dad. “People aren't ever without options. We just make choices and learn to be okay with the consequences,” both you and Wanda turn to look at each other as she talks. “Whatever those may be.”

You take in her words and nod slowly. “I never thought of it that way,” you admit. The two of you get quiet as you let the concept sink in. “I heard Vision couldn't make it to the show,” you say conversationally. Wanda nods to confirm but doesn't elaborate on it further. She doesn't want to talk bad about her ex-husband anymore but he makes it so difficult. “Billy was really great on that stage. The kid is wicked talented,” you compliment and it makes Wanda smile.

“Wanna know a secret?” She asks and you answer that you do. “He is named after William Shakespeare. I don't know how to explain it but ever since he was growing in me I had this image of him being wildly successful on stage and even on screen but mostly stage.” Wanda admits and it makes you smile a bit.

“That mother's intuition is strong with you,” you state and she shrugs.

“I don't know how true that is,” she combs her hair with her fingers. “All I know is that you're the first person to see that potential in him. More than that, you’re the first person to get him to see it in himself.” You don't recall how you did such a thing and Wanda can sense your confusion. “When you complimented his dancing that one night, he took it to heart. I've seen that boy hurt himself time and time again to be more like his brother and get approval from his father but I think you got through to him.” She looks out to the parking lot. “I have never seen him happier and more free than I did tonight. Thank you for that.” She looks back to you and you give her a shrug this time.

“I didn't realize I did anything so I won't take any credit for it,” you reply. “But thank you for telling me that.” You sigh as you look back into the building. “We should probably go back in there soon. There might be an update on Rachel.”

Wanda agrees with a silent nod. “I could use a smoke right about now,” she admits and you scoff.

“So could I,” you shake your head and look at the cigarette butts that litter the ground beneath the bench. “But I've been clean for forty-five days and I promised Jean that I'd stick with it this time. For Rachel.”

“Glad to hear you're taking better care of yourself,” Wanda says. You ask if she's doing the same and she nods. “I never really had a bad habit of smoking, I've only ever done it occasionally. I don't think I've even opened the pack you gifted me,” she states as she stands up. “Okay, let's go back inside. We've been out here long enough.”

“Alright,” you make a noise as you stand up and stretch. “Thank you for not asking if I'm okay,” you say with a small laugh. Wanda lets out a bigger one as she pats your back. The feeling of her hand on your back leaves a warm sensation.

“I didn't ask because I know you're not,” she says as the two of you walk into the building together. You find her statement as humorous as she does. The pair of you continue to talk as you walk back to the waiting area. Everyone looks at you when you return and you can tell that they notice the absence of Daisy but no one says a word about it.

“Have you heard anything?” You ask Jean and she shakes her head. You nod and find a seat to get comfortable as the wait continues. As another hour passes with no update, everyone starts to get a little uneasy about what could be going on with the surgery. It didn't seem right to be waiting so long for another update.

Your dad is the first one to start asking the nurses at the front desk for anything but he is told that if there's something to be told, someone will come out. Next it's your mom who believes she can be more persuasive. But she comes back with the same response. Her husband, Derek, who comes from money, thinks he can bribe one of the nurses to get more information but none of them take it and send him back to his seat with a threat that he will be removed from the hospital if he tries again.

Kate is the next person to try and get information but she doesn't let anyone know that. She excuses herself to the restroom but as she walks around, she isn't looking for the restroom. She finds a clean set of scrubs along with a mask and scrub cap. From there, she makes her way to the locker room and finds a badge from one of the interns. She then walks through the operation hall and tries to find out where her niece is. When she does, she washes her hands before slipping in. She'll be damned if she compromises Rachel's health. Kate avoids looking at the table, unable to see her niece in that state of vulnerability, and instead searches for answers of the girl's condition.

There are nurses and interns in the room that she notices are pretty chatty so she makes her way around the room listening closely and charming those that notice her presence. When she is able to get someone to talk about the patient on the table she tries to record it all in a notepad that she found when she was doing her snooping. She jotted all of the information down as if she was going to use it for studying later. But just as she thought she was going to excuse herself for the bathroom to leave, the intern she was chatting with asks if Kate will stay so that she can get a bathroom break. “I, well, um, I don't see why not,” she stumbles. The intern thanks her and walks out. She checks her smartwatch as seconds feel like minutes and minutes feel like hours.

“Somewhere better to be?” The doctor says as he looks up from the table.

Everyone looks at Kate and she plays it off as though she doesn't know who he was talking to. “Me? No, no, I had sushi for lunch. From the gas station around the corner.” Everyone makes a noise as if each person in the room has had this made up experience. “Yeah, I probably should have listened to the warnings.” Kate holds her stomach and shifts uncomfortably.

The doctor nods, “You're excused. Hopefully you don't make that mistake twice.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kate says as she rushes to the exit to really sell it. She does stop at a bathroom to take a moment for herself before she has to sneak her way back out to her family. She looks over her notes again and again but hardly understands a word of it. So she calls Yelena to help her. Yelena isn't a medical student but she is the smartest person that Kate knows. The dial tone only goes twice before her friend answers. “I need your help,” she says before she explains her reasoning for the call.

Together the two young women decipher the information that Kate was able to acquire. “You're a lifesaver, Yelena! I-” she stops herself from telling her friend that she loves her. She used to say it easily but since her feelings have developed further, it's become awkward. Especially after Kate tried to kiss Yelena. Her friend was sweet about it, and she said that if there was a person that she'd want that kind of life with it would be Kate. But as it is, she is asexual and aromantic. It's not something she can’t change about herself, it's just how she is. “I really appreciate the help. Thank you,” she says instead, then she bids her friend a happy holiday. She rushes out of the bathroom to get to the janitor's closet where she left her clothes.

I can't believe I pulled that off, Kate thinks to herself as she straightens out her clothes. Without checking if the coast is clear, she steps out and bumps into a nurse. “That's not the bathroom!” Kate says to cover. The woman doesn't buy it and opens the door to find the scrubs in a pile on the floor. “Huh, I guess sex between the hospital staff isn't just for Grey's Anatomy,” Kate says as she looks at the scrubs as if for the first time. She smiles as the nurse makes a disbelieving facial expression at her.

You are having a conversation with your stepdad about how he likes being in New York City when there is a lot of commotion coming from the halls. It's not until you and your mom and stepdad recognize Kate's voice that the three of you walk out of the area to see what's going on. She is being dragged out by two security guards as she swears that she only got lost looking for the bathroom. “I'll handle this,” Eleanor says as she follows the guards out of the hospital as they carry her daughter.

You shake your head with a laugh as you walk back to your seat. Wanda asks what happened and you shrug and say that Kate must've done something illegal because she just got kicked out. “Are you serious?” Jean asks as she sits up from previously leaning on Anna’s shoulder. Derek confirms it and because the two of you are known for making up stuff at Jean's expense, she doesn't believe either of you until Eleanor returns to grab her things talking about how she has to take Kate home because they won't let the girl back into the hospital. Everyone has a laugh because they don't quite understand what has transpired in order to get Kate banned from the hospital for the foreseeable future.

Eleanor leaves and it makes some of you laugh harder. It's clear that the stress of the situation has gotten to their heads but it's nice to have the moment that isn't overwhelmed by worry and fear.

The moment is cut short, however, when the doctor clears his throat and addresses the room requesting the parents of Rachel Y/l/n-Grey.

Chapter 13

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