Chapter 54

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners.

AN1: Thank you so much for the support. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.


It has been a few days since the mission in Malta and ever since then Daisy has been learning more from her mother, so that she is more prepared next time she is in a dangerous situation. It's about midday and Daisy is sitting on her computer in the living area of the Bus,

"OH, COME ON, THAT'S CHEATING!" Daisy yells at her computer.

"Is there a problem, Daisy?" Phil asks, walking towards her.

"Yeah, I'm playing an online shooting game with Peter and Uncle Clint, and Uncle Clint is beating all the records. He's so cheating, and Pete agrees," Daisy explains, as she is also talking to her little brother on a separate chat window.

"Probably not," Phil answers. "What made you, and Peter, think playing a shooting game against the best marksmen in the world would be a good idea?" he asks curious.

"We thought it would be fun, and neither of us have seen Uncle Clint in a while so we thought this would be a good compromise," Daisy admits, looking down. "I'll beat him," Daisy responds, sounding determine. "Did you need something Uncle Phil?" Daisy asks curious.

"Yes, if you're not too busy with your game I'd like it if you could help your mom and I with something," Phil explains.

"Sure, Uncle Clint's beat me fifteen games in a row, I could probably use a break, he can beat Peter for a while," Daisy admits, closing her computer. "What's up?" she asks curious.

"Somebody's stealing millions of dollars in diamonds. They've found a way to crack the security systems. I want you to figure out their exploit," Phil explains.

"Sounds fun," Daisy says, with a grin, a grin that in Phil's opinion makes her look a hell of a lot like her mother.


A little while after Daisy and Phil's conversation Phil, Daisy, and Melinda are in a subway car in Stockholm, Daisy feeling very much like her mother is doing a SHIELD version of 'Take your Daughter to work day'

"Yesterday, twenty-five men, all military, were hired by one of the largest gem brokers in the world," Phil explains. "They dressed the men in identical outfits, gave each one a randomly assigned briefcase, and sent them along twenty-five different routes here in Stockholm," He reveals, "No one knew which briefcase contained the diamonds but they were still stolen," Phil explains.

"Why the Kabuki theatre?" Melinda asks.

"They were afraid because somebody's targeting diamonds, an armoured car in Milan, a safe in Monte Carlo, and now this, over thirty million total," Phil explains, "Each theft occurred despite heavy security," Phil explains.

"They sound like inside jobs," Melinda notes.

"A lot of people share that opinion," Phil comments.

"You don't," Daisy says, being able to tell that, "CCTV cameras catch any of the action?" Daisy asks curious.

"Fitz-Simmons is checking," Phil admits. "The system went dark for an hour. They think it was hacked," He admits.

"It was the same thieves each time?" Melinda asks.

"Yes, but it was just one thief, a woman, and she did it all with her eyes closed," Phil explains.

"Eyewitnesses ID her?" Melinda asks, and Daisy watches her mother and Phil going back and forth, feeling like her mother suspects something, she doesn't, but she isn't sure what.

"Black, athletic build, late 20s, early 30s," Phil explains.

"So, you asked about she could have cracked the system. I have a pitch, but it's way out the box," Daisy admits.

"I live out the box," Phil says.

"So lame," Daisy says, with a fond smile, knowing perfectly well that Phil has always been amusing, but that's who he's always been. "Look, all three of us know from firsthand knowledge that there are people in this world with powers, what if this woman has ESP or something?" Daisy asks, looking between her mother and uncle, both of whom give her less than impressed looks in return.

"Daisy there are no credible studies that support, precognition, telepathy, or extrasensory perception," Melinda explains to her daughter.

"Okay, so science says 'no', but this women knew impossible things, and why did she close her eyes?" Daisy asks. "That's either random or totally important. Was she listening, or was she reading minds?" Daisy asks, putting her hand to her head, and once more Phil and Melinda give her less than impressed looks. "I'm gonna go play with my phone now," Daisy says, walking over to one of the seats and sitting down.

"Why does HQ want us to investigate these heists?" Melinda asks Phil, getting the feeling that there is something he's not saying, in fact she would bet good money on that.

"They don't, I picked this op," Phil says, causing Melinda to frown. "Any luck?" Phil asks, looking at Daisy.

"Yep. I'm getting full bars, which means if I was down here and twenty-five guys were in scary red masks, you know what I would do? Instagram," Daisy explains, showing her mother and Phil her phone.


A little while later Phil, Melinda, and Daisy are back on the plane in Phil's office, looking at all the images that were taken around the time of the heist.

"It's amazing, every year this part of our job gets easier," Phil comments, remembering with perfect clarity how hard things were when he and Melinda started out. "Between Facebook, Instagram and Flickr people are survelling themselves," Phil explains.

"With many filters to choose from," Daisy says. "You know this tech is awesome, there are so many people who would kill to be able to tag and search like this," Daisy admits, knowing that people will often kill for her father's tech, but she isn't going to mention that as both her mother and uncle know that.

"Which is exactly why we're the only ones who have it," Phil reveals.

"Do you want me to run facial-recognition software on the photos, cross reference them with our criminal database?" Daisy asks curious.

"You don't have to," Phil says, recognizing someone. "That's the thief, her name's Akela Amador," Phil reveals, and Melinda recognizes the name.

"You're certain?" Melinda asks.

"I should be, I trained her," Phil says, saying what Melinda already knows, but Daisy doesn't. "Akela Amador was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent," Phil says, as he, Melinda and Daisy turn and head out of the office. "Seven years ago, she led a raid on one of Vanchat's gulags," Phil explains, "Everyone believed that she and the two other agents on the mission were killed. I had my doubts, so I sent in a second team, just in case," Phil says, as he, Melinda and Daisy walk down the stairs. "They found a lot of carnage but couldn't confirm that any of it was Amador, left the possibility open,"

"That's why you chose this op, when you heard about the heists," Melinda realises.

"There are only a few women in the world who could pull of something so impossible, since you're on the bus I thought it had to be her," Phil explains, and Melinda nods as if to say, 'sounds about right.' While Daisy just looks at her mother impressed and Phil walks into the command centre, followed by Melinda and Daisy.

"Swedish customs confirmed that Amador left the country using an alias on a Swedish passport," Ward explains. "She flew into Belarus, bought a train ticket to a town called Zloda," Ward explains, "I've also put together a list of individuals who could fence that many diamonds," Ward explains, as something beeps. "There's been no contact or activity,"

"Maybe she's saving them for a rainy day, buying something special," Phil suggests, "Let's focus on finding Amador," He instructs.

"I'll let HQ know she's alive so they can assist with the manhunt," Melinda says.

"I'd like to hold off on that, until we know more, contact Belarus authorities, find us a place to park the bus," Phil says, looking at Melinda, "Put together a list of inns, hotels, and pensions near Zloda, they're can't be many of them, we'll find her," Phil says, and once he does Melinda and Ward leave.

"Don't do that to yourself Uncle Phil," Daisy says, recognizing the look.

"Do what?" Phil asks.

"I know that look, you're blaming yourself because you trained Amador, but what she did isn't your fault," Daisy says, knowing that. "Uncle Phil I know you would have done your best to teach her, so if she went to the dark side then that's on her, not you," Daisy says, before leaving the command centre, leaving Phil to his thoughts.

After leaving Phil and the command centre Daisy heads to the cockpit, so that she can talk to her mother. Once she gets to the cockpit Daisy sit down in the co-pilots seat and doesn't say anything as she tries to figure out how to say what she wants to say.

"Did you need something Daisy?" Melinda asks, being able to tell that Daisy wants to ask something but is hesitating.

"I'm worried about Uncle Phil," Daisy admits.

"There's no need, Uncle Phil's fine," Melinda says, though she knows that he is taking this case personally.

"Is he?" Daisy ask, sounding disbelieving. "It seems like he is blaming himself for what this Amador is doing," Daisy admits, it being more than clear that she is concerned, and so Melinda puts the plane on autopilot and turns to look at Daisy.

"Uncle Phil cares, Daisy, you know that," Melinda says to her daughter. "Amador was his student so if she has gone bad he'll keep wondering what he could have done differently, he'll want to try to save her," Melinda explains.

"That sounds like Uncle Phil," Daisy admits, smiling slightly. "How can we help him?" she asks curious, "How can I help him?"

"There's not really anything you can do," Melinda admits, though she is going to keep Phil from doing something stupid. "But you can just be there for him," Melinda suggests, and Daisy just nods, feeling like she would like to do more.


A while later Daisy, Phil, Ward, Fitz and Simmons have travelled to a town in Belerus and while Phil and Ward are looking for Amador Daisy, Fitz, and Simmons are still in the van that the group were traveling in.

In the van Fitz, Simmons, and Daisy have found a strange signal in the area and so the three of them are trying to find out more.

"I can't stabilize it," Fitz reveals. "There's an encrypted local signal competing," He explains.

"Mirror it over," Daisy requests. "There's a couple of exploits that I know of that might work," She explains, planning on using a few things that her father taught her, and Fitz does just that and so Daisy types on her computer for the next minute or so, feeling close to her father like she always does when she does computer related stuff. "One last thing, ta-da, and you're welcome," Daisy says, as the new signal starts to play on both Daisy's computer and the screen Fitz and Simmons are looking at.

"What kind of TV show is this?" Fitz asks, asks he, Daisy, and Jemma see an image of something getting closer to a van. "That looks a bit like our van," He realises.

"What are we looking at?" Daisy asks, hoping her suspicion isn't correct as the image changes to what looks like x-ray vision, as Fitz gesturers.

"Us," Fitz says, and seconds later the van is hit.

"Let's get out of here," Daisy says, hurrying to the front of the van, but she can't reach the peddles. "Oh, stupid tall person," She comments, as she looks out and recognizes the driver. "Call Uncle Phil, get the gun, it's her," Daisy explains, as Simmons hands her the gun. "Just breath, Daisy," She says, thinking about what her Aunt Natasha and Big sister told her before she squeezes the trigger, firing four shots at the van coming towards them, but it seems to do nothing as their van is knocked over, and everyone, and everything, inside of it are thrown around.

"FITZ! DAISY!" Simmons's voice yells seconds later.

"I'm okay, Jemma," Fitz says, getting to his feet. "Are you?" he asks, concerned, helping her to her feet.

"I'm fine," Simmons assures him.

"Me too," Daisy confirms, sitting up as while she feels a little sore she doesn't think she's hurt. "We should get out of here, we're too vulnerable," Daisy says, as she picks up the gun and puts the safety on.

"We can't drive the van," Simmons points out.

"So, we walk," Daisy suggests. "I just think we should get out of here," Being pretty sure that that's what either of her parents would recommend doing in this situation.

"I agree," Fitz says, as Daisy finds her phone. "Let's go," He suggests, and the three youngest members of the team climb out of the van, Daisy making a call as she does.

"Daisy?" Phil asks, answering the call.

"Amador was here. She attacked us," Daisy explains.

"Are any of you hurt?" Phil asks concerned.

"A little banged up, but okay," Daisy assures him.

"Ward and I will be right there, if it's safe stay with the van, if not we'll find you," Phil tells Daisy.

"Okay," Daisy says, nodding even though Phil can't see, before she hangs up. "Uncle Phil and Ward will be here soon," She explains.

"Good," Fitz and Simmons say, both of them sounding very glad about that fact.


A little while later Daisy, Fitz, Simmons, Ward, and Phil walk back onto the bus, where Melinda is waiting on the platform, it being more than clear to Daisy and Phil that she is more than happy, and while Phil and Ward head upstairs and Fitz, and Simmons head into the lab, Daisy waits near Lola, and her mother walks down the stairs to her, past Phil who she is clearly not happy with.

Once she is close enough Melinda hugs her daughter, tightly, before they finally break apart,

"Are you alright? Are you hurt in anyway?" Melinda asks her daughter concerned.

"I'm fine," Daisy answers.

"Maybe you should let Simmons run some tests," Melinda suggests, showing her protective side, as she has always been protective of her children.

"Mom, really I'm fine, there's no need to do that," Daisy assures her mother. "But um, what do I do with this?" Daisy asks, pulling the gun from the back of her pants.

"I'll take it," Melinda says, as she does exactly that. "You used it," she realises.

"Yeah, didn't slow down Amador though," Daisy admits.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Melinda asks, knowing there is no point in pushing Daisy and so she makes the offer.

"It was hard, but I knew I had to do it," Daisy admits. "Which is exactly why I want to work to figure out exactly what was going on with that signal, maybe even figure out a way to track it,"

"Are you sure you're up for that?" Melinda asks.

"Positive," Daisy answers. "Today was scary, and pulling that trigger was hard, but I'm okay, Mom, really," Daisy promises her mother.

"Wǒ jiānqiáng de xiǎo nǚhái," Melinda says. (my strong little girl)

"Mom," Daisy says, drawing out the world, looking embarrassed, knowing exactly what was said as all of the Stark-May children were taught to speak fluent Chinese (mandarin, Cantonese and the dialect from where Melinda's parents are from) and Italian, and enough Russian and Sign Language to get by. "Aren't I getting a little old for that?"

"Never," Melinda informs her daughter, before once more hugging her and it is clear from the hug that Melinda doesn't want to let her go, but she finally does.

A little while after breaking apart from her daughter Melinda heads up to her bunk, and once she is in her bunk she pulls out her phone and makes a phone call.

"Hello," Tony says, answering the phone after a few rings.

"It's me,"

"Is everything okay?" Tony asks concerned.

"Normal mission stuff," Melinda answers, "Daisy fired a gun," She reveals.

"What! Why? Is she okay!" Tony asks, sounding terrified for his daughter.

"Yeah, she's okay.' Melinda assures her husband.

"Good, that's good," Tony comments. "When can you come home? Even if it's just for a visit?" He asks curious.

"I'm not sure," Melinda admits. "We're busy at the moment," She admits, a level of sadness to her voice, "I miss you and Peter, so much," She says, also missing Bobbi, but Bobbi's not home with Tony and Peter either.

"We miss you too, and Daze," Tony responds. "How much longer can you talk?" he asks, assuming that it will not be long

"I can't, I just wanted to tell you what was going on," Melinda admits.

"Okay, I love you," Tony responds.

"Love you too," Melinda responds, before hanging up.


A little over an hour later everyone who is on the bus is down in the lab as Daisy has found something.

"Something's wrong. It's the same feed that was watching us in the van," Daisy reveals, honestly wishing she could get JARVIS to check it out as something is extremely odd. "Put it on the big monitor," She requests.

"Maybe the lens broke when the van rammed us," Simmons suggests.

"I hope she broke more than that," Daisy mutters.

"It's a mirror," Phil realises. "Are we recording this?"

"Uh, we are now," Daisy says, pressing something on a tablet, knowing that JARVIS would have been recording automatically which is just one of many reasons why she misses him.

"Whoa," Fitz says, sounding amazed.

"How are we seeing this? Where's the camera?" Phil asks, as everyone watches as a screw driver comes straight at Amador's eye.

"It's her eye, she's the camera," Melinda realises as the image changes.

"It switches to backscatter when she closes her eyes," Fitz says.

"You're a robot, can you do that?" Daisy asks, looking at Ward with a teasing smile, and in response he just gives her an annoyed look, and both Daisy and Melinda, even though neither of them completely understand the technology they know it's a big deal thanks to Tony and Peter.

"Who has tech like this?" Ward asks, knowing the answer perfectly well, but not wanting that to be public.

"We don't, not like this," Fitz reveals. "Not this small and internal. That's at least a decade ahead of anything I've seen," Fitz reveals, "Though, now that I've seen it, I could maybe approximate it, the backscatter x-ray, a micro-transceiver that somehow doesn't fry her brain, an internal power source…" Fitz starts to say.

"All miniaturized," Simmons finishes, "Honestly, it'…,"

"That's genius," Fitz and Simmons say.

"We have to bring her in," Phil says.

"We have to take her out," Melinda corrects. "She's a weapon. I'll call H.Q, see if we can bring a task force in to help us," Melinda informs Phil.

"Our team can handle this," Phil says, and once he does Melinda walks over to him, and stands right in front of him, Daisy pulling a face at that, as she recognizes what is going to happen perfectly well, Phil and Melinda are going to fight, as this won't be the first time she sees it.

"I get it. you feel responsible, maybe you pushed her too hard, but she tried to kill three members of our team," Melinda says, it being more than clear to Phil that she is angry about what happened to Daisy.

"If she wanted us dead, we'd be dead," Phil informs her.

"We got lucky," Melinda corrects, "You want to risk our lives again?" she asks.

"You told me that you were ready for combat, that you had my back," Phil reminds Melinda, and as he does Daisy is pretty sure this won't end well.

"Don't ever doubt it," Melinda says, sounding angry. "But you are defending this girl at the expense of the team," She points out.

"Because we protect our own," Phil responds.

"With all due respect, sir, she's not one of our own," Ward says, honestly feeling bored with Melinda and Phil's fighting, though he takes notices of everything being said, just in case he wants to use it in the future.

"Guys," Daisy says, putting an end to the glaring match going between Melinda and Phil, and everyone turns to the screen to see Amador asking for permission to sleep.

"Why does she have to ask for permission?" Simmons asks.

"She's not being watched, she's being controlled," Phil realises. "We have to find her. We'll take shifts watching the feed. Sooner or later she'll look at something that will clue us into her location," Phil realises.

"I'll take first watch," Melinda says, knowing it's the best way she has to protect her team, her daughter especially, and Phil nods and leaves.


A little while later Daisy, who has been watching the feed with her mother, has headed up to Phil's office where she knocks on the doorframe, causing him to look up,

"I just wanted to give you a quick update," Daisy says, walking into Phil's office. "She's still at the hotel, so… that's the update," Daisy says. "Pretty weird day, huh? I actually pulled the trigger on the gun and it was like we were trapped in a van-shaped piñata,"

"That should never happened," Phil says, meaning both of those things.

"It's okay, it wasn't nearly as terrible as watching you and Mom fight downstairs," Daisy admits.

"That shouldn't have happened either," Phil admits. "I'm sorry you had to see that," Phil says, knowing that would have been hard for Daisy.

"It's not the first time," Daisy says, shrugging slightly. "You and Mom try to hide it but I can always tell when you're fighting," She admits.

'You can?" Phil asks, sounding surprised.

"Yep, Peter, Bobbi, Antoine and Sharon can too," Daisy confirms, talking about the 'kids' of the family. "You both give each other these looks when you think the others not looking, Dad and Uncle Clint calls them your 'Philinda is super pissed off look," Daisy reveals, with a grin, as she is pretty sure that her father and Uncle make jokes of it so that it doesn't seem like a big deal and thus no one one worries.

"Really?" Phil asks, once more sounding surprised.

"Yep," Daisy confirms, and Phil thinks he and Melinda, when they're not angry with each other, should talk to each other and then decide if they should talk to Clint and Tony. "I take comfort in the fact that you always make up," Daisy reveals, causing Phil to laugh a little. "'Look Uncle Phil, I trust your judgment, and I know you're an excellent judge of Character, so if you think this woman deserves a second chance then we should give it to her," Daisy admits.

"Really, you think so?" Phil asks.

"Yep, because I trust you," Daisy admits. "Thought I she did try to kill me so I want to kick her ass for that," Daisy says, and Phil gives her a look. "What? I'm my mothers daughter," Daisy says, with a proud look before leaving the office, leaving Phil with a lot to think about.