I would like to encourage you all to go and read "White Starkling Christmas". It's a little oneshot set in the same universe as this but between Iron Man 1 and 2. And it's adorable. Also, Happy Christmas!

Chapter 37

The auditorium was even wilder than when Daisy left, and she couldn't even find Fitzsimmons. She thought for a moment they had to be getting questioned, until she spotted them over in the corner. Carefully Daisy attempted to make it through the crowd, but she ended up getting pushed and tumbled over the chairs into Delaney's lap.

It could not possibly have gone any worse. Daisy would rather fall on top of one of the terrifying guys from Operations than Delaney who quickly pushed Daisy to the floor. "What the hell!" Delaney cried terror in her eyes. "Why did you just jump me! I didn't do anything!"

Wow, that was oddly tense, even for Delaney. Daisy was about to say so when she noticed the armrest had been crushed. No, not crushed, melted. She looked up at Delaney quickly, but the elder girl noticed Daisy's eyes. "Please, I can't stop," Delaney whispered looking around frantically to make sure no one else had noticed. "I'm not trying to hurt anyone, I just can't stop."

Delaney reached out to grab Daisy's arm, but she pulled away. If Delaney was somehow accidentally melting things, well Daisy did not want to be next. "Whatever device you're using, just crush it that has to stop it."

Delaney bit her lip, and shook her head frantically. "You don't understand Daisy. It's not a machine, it's me! I'm going this, and I don't know how to stop."

It was her. She'd somehow developed the ability to liquefy with a touch. That was so much worse than Delaney just having built some machine, especially if she really couldn't control it. "We can talk to Agent McGee. S.H.I.E.L.D knows about powers, they can help me."

"My mother's job is to kill enhanced out of control," Delaney hissed, grabbing Daisy's arm. Her skin didn't melt, but it was feeling awfully warm. "I might not be able to stop melting things, but I know how to start it. I can't guarantee I won't kill you accidentally, but I know as a fact I can kill you on purpose. Scream and I will."

Daisy didn't doubt it. She'd once seen a bunch of dogs corner a cat, and the cat won. A trapped animal would do anything, could do anything, and Delaney was that trapped animal.

"How do you plan on getting out of here?" Daisy spit, trying to pull her arm from Delaney, but finding it impossible. The girl's workouts were doing something. "We're locked in."

Delaney just kept pulling the two of them through the crowd, not being noticed at all. "Shut up."

Daisy did, and followed willingly. She didn't plan on letting Delaney kill her. If Delaney felt threatened she might just do so. In all honestly Daisy was more worried for Delaney's life than her own. Delaney was in a world of trouble, and locked in with everyone training to be that trouble.

Honestly, Daisy for the first time felt bad for Delaney. She was seriously messed up, and not just because of her newfound powers. "How did this happen to you?" Daisy whispered unsure where Delaney thought they were going. (Locked room and all.)

Delaney wasn't having any of it. "Shut up," she ordered, slamming her first against a chair and melting it. A girl sitting nearby noticed, and her eyes grew wide with horror. Delaney noticed, and promptly melted a hole in the wall causing sunlight to stream through.

Everyone noticed that. A few people screamed, but most just ran towards Delaney who, in turn, melted Daisy's sweatshirt right off. "Take one more step and I'll kill her," Delaney warned, and everyone skidded to a stop. Someone must have run to get the Agents, because they came running into the room full speed. "Daisy will be fine, so long as you all let me out of here safely. And if her life isn't worth enough to keep you from just shooting me, because honesty, it probably isn't, know I can melt this support beam next to me just as quickly as you can pull the trigger. The whole future of S.H.I.E.L.D gone in a flash. Now that would be a shame."

"Now Miss Devont," Agent McGee called, standing still, but his hand close to the holster. "We don't need to make this messy. Whatever you've done so far can be sorted out, but only if no one gets hurt. You know harming a fellow cadet is punishable by life in the Sandbox, there is no escaping that once you go there."

"Life in the Sandbox, life on the Index, what's the difference?" Delaney spit, but Daisy could hear her voice quake. She was scared, so very scared, and not of everyone else, but of herself. "No, Daisy and I are going, and you're going to let us." Delaney moved towards the hole she created, and no one moved to shoot her. "And I want Fitzsimmons as well, because I can't even remember which one is the obnoxious biochemist."

Daisy went cold at that. Her own life in danger was one thing, but Fitzsimmons could not deal with this. Still, they stepped out of the crowd. "Fitz knows nothing about biochemistry," Jemma called, bravely standing out of the crowd despite her shaking voice. "Leave him and Daisy be. I'll go with you and we can sort this out."

"No!" Delaney called, and every hand crept closer to their gun. "All three of you are coming with me, or the next thing I liquefy will be the whole Academy." Daisy wondered if Delaney actually could do that, and really didn't want to find out. "Walk here slowly." Fitzsimmons did, leaning on each other for support. As selfish as it was Daisy found herself glad that they were in this mess with her. The three of them could fix things. The three of them surely would fix things, that was just what they do. "Good, now we're leaving, and you're all going to stand here until then. If I see a single person come out of this building I will level it."

Daisy tripped over someone's backpack as Delaney pulled them out the hole. Her eyes burned from the sunlight, but Daisy didn't let it faze her. She kept walking as evenly as possible when someone is dragging you, and kept her reassuring eyes on Fitzsimmons. They'd get out of this. They would.