Chapter 52: A Part Of Both Worlds
One Year Later
"Arrested, are you kidding me? Did you seriously get us arrested?" Daisy screeched hitting Grant on the arm hard causing him to flinch. "Okay, first… ouch! Second, its not that big a deal. Just chill." He said as the pair was currently sitting side by side in chairs next to each other, both handcuffed to their respective chairs.
"Not a big deal! You are on probation! You cannot get arrested. You moron!" she yelled slapping his shoulder repeatedly. "Hey! Stop hitting me! Don't worry I got this covered with Coulson. Nothing bad is going to happen."
"I cannot believe you! We were supposed to meet my dad who by the way hates you, but oh Noo lets take the scenic route which by the way is nowhere near my dad's place and then you had to pick a fight with a police officer over a broken tail light, are you a god damn idiot…... wait! When did you talk to Coulson about us getting arrested?" she said finally zeroing in on what Grant had said earlier.
"Before we got arrested." He said with a shrug. "Are you say that you got us arrested on purpose?!" Slapping his shoulder again. "Okay, would you stop slapping my shoulder. "No! because you are a fuckin moron. Who gets arrested on purpose?" she hissed and hit him again.
"Do you know what today is Daisy Mae?" Grant said. "Umm, the day I'm going to kill you and possibly Coulson." She hissed.
"No today is the day we met, 11 years ago to be precise and if you had paid attention you would realize this is the exact police station that we got arrested in." For the first time Daisy seemed to realize where they were. Raking her eyes over the structure as her lips parted in surprise.
"Wait! You got us arrested because of an anniversary?" Another slap to the arm. "You are insane. Most people take do fancy restaurants, but god forbid you do anything normal."
"Actually, I didn't do this because of our anniversary." Facing away from him annoyed she glared at the wall, "Then why exactly did you do this because I am not amused, and I don't need dad to hate you anymore than he already does." She said turning back to face him only to freeze. Nestled in his hand was a black box, staring at the object she looked up into Grants eyes and could feel the tears starting to well up. Slowly opening the box, she gasped. An engagement ring sat nestled in the box, a diamond emerald cobra snake intertwined around itself and Grant had somehow managed to get to the floor despite being handcuffed.
"Daisy Louise Johnson, would you just shut up for one minute and let me propose to you?" Nodding slowly, she put her hand to her mouth to stop the sob that was threatening to come up.
"The day I met you was the happiest in my whole life. I was a broken man and even if it was just for a second you shed some light in the darkness that threatened to consume me, I…"
"Grant Ward? Daisy Johnson?" A voice said breaking him from the proposal and he turned to glare at the police officer. "Do you mind? I am trying to propose to my girlfriend. I have been planning this for wee…" Trailing off he looked at the officer with a frown.
"Have we met before?" he said studying the older man. Daisy Glanced up at the older man with a frown as well. "Yea, you look very fam…. Oh my god. You're the arresting officer. The officer that arrested me 11 years ago, you also told me about my mom's lawyer and then I told you my mom didn't have a lawyer because she was a prostitute." Daisy saw the moment recognition flashed through the officer's eyes. "Oh god" he groaned, "You arrested me too and then you were the one who told me that there was someone here to see me." Grant said laughing.
"Oh my god, you're the reason me and Grant are together. He was just about to propose, you should stay and listen, by the way what's your name? you kind of look like a bob." Turning back towards Grant she nodded for him to continue.
"Where was I?" Grant said trying to regain his train of thought. "Something about darkness." Daisy supplied nodding her head. "Oh right, when I met you I was…"
"Actually, fun and then Garrett got ahold of you and turned you into a stick in the mud."
"Are you going to let me finish or would you like to continue."
"No please, do go on. This may be the most romantic proposal ever. I mean you got us arrested just to propose." Squealing, daisy grabbed his hand and smiled.
"Wait! You got arrested on purpose just to propose." Bob said looking between the pair. "Yea, its romantic. Isn't it?" Daisy said grinning at Bob. "or certifiable, what you couldn't just propose the normal way?" the pair ignored him, and Daisy nodded for Grant to continue.
"When we met Daisy, you were sitting in that chair and I was sitting in this one. I was arrested for arson, you were arrested for breaking into a car and that's when I knew you were the one…"
"You did not!"
"I did too, I was just to stupid to realize it at the time."
"Yea stupid enough to go with Garrett"
"Are you really going to hold that over my head for the rest of my life?'
"Yes!"
"Your infuriating, now shut up and let me finish the damn proposal" He said. Rolling her eyes, she waved her hand at him to continue.
"And that was the last time I saw you for nine years, but during those nine years apart you were always with me. My brother hit on you and you had your back to me, so I couldn't actually see you…"
"Don't forgot that I was kidnapped by my step dad and taken to the very forest that you spent two years in, barely missing you by a few hours. I found the carving of your initials and carved mine with yours." Smiling softly at the memory.
"And then I went to a safe house with Garrett and it turns out the cabin had just been abandoned only a few hours before."
"And then you went to see my stepdad who directed you to my mom"
"And then I killed your mom after she told me to give you a message and I carried a photo of you for years for some reason." He said wincing.
"Yea, I'm still pissed that you killed her, but your just lucky that she and I weren't very close upon her death."
"And then the oracle showed up and gave me a weird warning"
"Oh yea, whatever happened to her?" Daisy asked.
"I have no idea, but then a lot of shitty things happened after that like going through terrigenesis and then getting a ride from Logan who it turns out also gave you a ride too, and then after that years passed and before I knew it, nine years had gone by and we were very close to meeting again." Daisy smiled at the memory of them meeting for the first time in nine years.
"And then we met and tried to kill each other" Daisy said. "To be fair it had been nine years since I had seen you. My memory of your face or you in general was pretty fuzzy and nonexistent." Daisy could agree with him there she had hardly remembered him as well. The only reason she had was because he had called her by the nickname that only he had ever called her.
Squeezing his hand, she smiled never having felt so happy in her entire life. Apart from first meeting him this may be the happiest day of her life.
"Wait, you two tried to kill each other?" Bob said looking between the pair as if they were crazy. "Yea, but its not like he knew who I was so I forgave him"
"I called you Daisy Mae, and then you remembered me." He said grinning which caused her to punch him in the shoulder. "That's because you're the only person who has ever dared call me that." She huffed glaring at him.
"After that we went through a whole string of problems, me coming after to kill you, us getting trapped together in the snow. Personally, I think that's when we really bonded." Daisy grinned.
"I called you delusional when you confessed your love for me and then you got captured by centipede and brainwashed."
"You didn't know it at the time and when you came to rescue me I shot you and my dad in the chest. After that I fell apart and I couldn't deal with all the pain in my life and I just wanted to forget, so I erased you from my life. That was the worst mistake of my life Grant and I never want to abandon or leave you again. I promise I will never leave you." She said gripping his hand tightly in hers.
"Well your kind of stuck with me now" smirking he brushed her cheek softly.
"I haven't even said yes yet."
"Let's not kid ourselves Daisy, your going to say yes" He had a point, but it still didn't mean that she didn't want him to ask.
"Then you forced me to remember. I was stubborn, and you dragged me all over trying to find some place that would help me jog my memory, but it was never about the place. You were selfish, and you just wanted me shield or hydra be damn and that wasn't the Grant that I fell in love with, so I left to help my family and then you killed Garrett. The one person other than me who actually meant something to you and that's when I realized that I could be capable of loving you and all the memories came back after that."
"And then I was on trial for my life and I shoved you away because I couldn't have you wasting your life on me, but I realize that I might as well be dead because if you're not in my life then I have no meaning Daisy and now here we are and here you are waiting for an answer to a question that has been 11 years in the making."
Holding her breath, she smiled as he took her hands slowly, "Daisy… flowers, will you marry me? I don't want to live another day apart from you and even if your dad kills me I know that you and I are fated to be so, what'll it be?"
A smile stretched across her face, "Yes!" Throwing her arms around his neck she crushed her lips against his in a bruising kiss. Just being this close with Grant sent her body on fire and she didn't think she could be happier than she was now.
A cough sounded to the right and the pair turned to see Bob standing in front of them. His face pale and ghostly like he couldn't believe what had just happened. "Don't worry Bob your invited to the wedding."
"Can we not invite Tony" Grant piped up slipping the ring onto Daisy's finger. "What? Are you kidding me? Of course, my dad is coming we are not kicking him out of C
"Are you sure? I mean we could just elope." Grant said eliciting a hit on the shoulder from Daisy. "We are not eloping."
"You two are insane and my names not Bob, its Tom."
"Really? You look like a bob anyway see you at the wedding Bob" Daisy said waving as Bob turned away. "I expect you to be there" she yelled to the man who had high tailed it out of there.
"So, how much longer do we have to be in these handcuffs anyways." Daisy grumbled rubbing her wrist. "Coulson said he would be here at 4"
"Its 2:50…. Wait are you saying that we're going to have to wait an hour and ten minutes just to get free!" Daisy screamed thrashing against the cuff.
"Relax sweetheart, I'm sure Coulson will be by soon and then we can get out of here."
"Except for the fact that my dad is going to be pissed when we are late for dinner. You do realize it's the anniversary of when I first met my dad and every year without fail something comes up and I end up missing it and it's not just this I miss Christmas too and every other god damn holiday you can think of too. I am not missing it this year so help me god grant." She growled and grabbed his collar to glare at him menacingly.
"You mean to tell me that you missed Christmas with him for 11 years… wow you are a bad daughter…. Ouch! Would you stop hitting me woman!? Is this what we're going to be like for the next fifty years, you getting mad at me and then hitting me."
"Oh, darling if we don't get out of here in the next five minutes there won't be fifty years because I am going to kill you myself." She seethed.
"I'm not the one who missed 11 Christmas's or basically what constitutes for a second birthday"
"That is not my fault okay, my dad was kidnapped for three months and then a left for along time to train to become a shield agent, and then after that for five years shield became my life and I just preferred being there than anywhere else. I think my dad knew that shield was an escape for me. I hid away from the world and threw myself into what I was good at. I was hiding away in this bubble to escape the real world because I don't know how to be the normal daughter that he wants that will have that white picket fence and 2.5 kids, with a stable job, coming home for the holidays and I boyfriend… fiancé that isn't a former terrorist and that's why I can't disappoint him, I have to be there. I don't want to miss another crappy holiday, or another event and I want to be the daughter that he wants I tried for so many years, but I'm just…"
"An adrenaline junkie, face it daisy you love the thrill of the adventure, the near-death experiences. The white picket fence life bores you and you feel guilty that it does which is why you always avoid coming over for the holiday's and why you rarely see your dad because you don't want him to look at you and see a disappointment and trust me on this daisy you are not a disappointment."
"How would you know?" she mumbled resting her head on his chest softly as he ran his fingers throw her hair which had grown to her shoulders in waves.
"Because I'm the disappointment, I've always been the reject, not you. You were always perfect just the way you were, you just didn't have people who saw it, Cal, Jiaying or whatever her name was. They didn't see what I see when I look at you. There was never anything about you that needed changing your perfect the way you are Daisy." Bringing his lips softly to her cheek she smiled at the soft caress.
"Your perfect too Grant, maybe you don't see it, maybe nobody does but maybe you just needed to find people who saw it, like me."
"Well you would be the first."
"Your forgetting about Tripp and Fitz and maybe over time that list will grow, but just know that I will always stand by you."
"Well you always were secretly a blonde" A smack sounded followed by a shout "hey" Chuckling, he smirked. "Relax, I'm only teasing… mostly." Heavy breathing sounded in front of them and thy looked up to see Coulson out of breath.
"Hey, your early." Grant said glancing at the clock on the wall. "Yea well Tony called me pissed and said if I caused you to miss another important event in your life he would skin me alive and I really don't think he is kidding, but I figured you had enough time to propose by now, please tell me I didn't ruin it by blurting that out." Coulson said his eyes flickering between Daisy and Grant.
"Chill A.C. Grant already proposed, and you'll be happy to know that I said yes."
"Like there was any doubt" Grant scoffed as if the idea was preposterous.
"Hey, I can always back out. There is still time and I haven't walked down the aisle yet" "You can't back out when you already said yes" he said rolling his eyes as if the idea was stupid. "Watch me Grant Douglas Ward, you do not want to tempt me." Fire lit behind her eyes and he smirked finding it adorable.
"You know, as cute as your literal banter is the two of you seriously need to go before your father skins me alive" He said quickly unlocking their cuffs and almost shoving them out the door.
"Alright, alright, alright… gees we are going. Hold your horses A.C" Daisy grumbled heading towards their car with Coulson waving behind them.
"Bye, have fun and whatever you do don't get arrested!" he shouted after them.
"I'll make no promises, this one is a wild tigress she loves to get into all sorts of trouble!" Grant called after with a wave earning him a hit on the arm.
"She's got a violent streak too!" Silence. "Ouch!"
Coulson sighed watching them drive away, "Those two are going to kill each other"
Pulling up to the Stark Mansion Grant cut the engine and looked at Daisy. The party had already gotten underway and Daisy was slowly fiddling with her engagement ring. "Maybe we shouldn't tell my dad tonight. He doesn't even want you being here he might kill you if he finds out you proposed." Nodding his head Grant took the Ring off Daisy's finger and slipped it into her pocket.
Getting out of the car they made it up the steps when the door was flung open and Daisy was embraced in a bone crushing hug, followed by Grant who was equally as surprised.
"Logan" Daisy wheezed. Patting his arm to make him let go. "Oh sorry, Jesus kid look at how much you've grown and you to Grant how old are you now." He said looking the pair over.
"I'm 26, guess I'm not that same little girl you knew all those years ago and Grant here is 28" she said.
"I'll be 29 in like a month" he piped up earning a roll of the eyes from Daisy. "Well glad you could make it your dad is about to blow a gasket you were supposed to be here 30 minutes ago" he said shoving the pair inside.
They had only made it into the hallway when Grant was tackled by two small bodies clinging to him, "Grant" A small voice squeaked as he looked down surprised.
"Bill! Ted!" Daisy grinned scooping up each of her brothers, both of them almost two. "You been causing trouble for dad" she said as the twins nodded happily. "Good boys"
"So, you're the one teaching them bad manners" Tony said leaning against the door shaking his head slightly. "Hey dad, sorry we're late, you would not believe the traffic." Passing Ted to Grant they walked into the main dining area where the party was being held.
"Uh huh are you sure this doesn't have to do with your convict boyfriend." Tony said glaring daggers at Grant. "Dad you need to get over whatever issues you have with Grant he's not going anywhere okay." She said hugging him while still holding bill who squealed.
"Grant! Grant help Daisy is smothering me" Bill shrieked trying to get out of her grasp. "Oh great, now the twins like him" Tony groaned shaking his head. "Dad the twins always liked him."
Setting bill down she went to greet everyone else as Grant did the same. "So, how long do you Think we can hold off the engagement before your dad finds out." Grant Whispered brushing his lips against hers as she smiled.
"Your engaged?" Thor boomed his voice suddenly coming behind them. A groan left both their lips and they turned, Thor's voice had carried so far that everyone had stopped what they were doing. The cat was out of the bag now and breaking glass could be heard from the kitchen.
"Tony? Tony lets be reasonable about this you don't need to do anything rash!" A voice yelled from the kitchen as Tony stormed out followed closely by Rhodey who looked terrified. "Run Grant! Run!" He yelled trying to tackle Tony before he could rip Grant apart.
"I love you" Grant said turning to Daisy who smiled, "I know"
"you ready to do this?" He asked searching her face, "For the rest of our lives" That was all the answer he needed as he grabbed her body, pulling it flush to his and dipped her in the center of the room crushing his lips to hers in a bruising kiss which only fueled the anger in Tony more.
Pulling up, he nodded. "So, I'm just going to go hide now" he said nodding his head hurriedly. "That sounds reasonable" she said pursing her lips. Nodding once more he pecked her lips and dashed for the door before pausing, His hand still gripping the door frame. "Oh, and one more thing when I get back from hiding we really need to watch Star Wars" He said.
"It's a date" she said as he ran out the door with Tony close on his heels.
"Sissy" Ted said pulling on her clothing, "Why is Grant running away from Daddy?" smiling softly she ruffled his hair.
"I'll tell you one day when your older" The story of how Daisy and Grant met, of how he started out as a good person but became something horrible, of how they came from the same world and drifted apart over the span of 9 years, of how when they met again they were strangers who grew back into loving one another, of the deceit and the lying, hurting each other over and over again.
Struggling to say I love you, coming back together like pieces solving a puzzle. Ya she would tell their story one day to her brothers, to her kids and maybe even her grandkids about how the man she loved was of the same world as hers until he wasn't and then finally realizing her and Grant were a little bit of both she was a little bad and he was a little good, they were the balance that the other needed.
They were apart of both worlds.
The End…
