Chapter 62
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners.
AN1:
November 19th 2013
A little while after she slept back down next to her mother Daisy falls back asleep, but Melinda doesn't she just stays awake and sits next to her sleeping daughter.
It is about 7am and Daisy is woken up by a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Melinda tells her daughter, and as she does Daisy realises who it would be.
"It's Dad!" Daisy says, looking excited and wide awake, as Melinda gets to the door and opens it revealing Tony and Peter.
"Tony, Peter," Melinda says, looking between her son and husband.
"Hey Mel," Tony greats, as he and Peter walk into the room, and Melinda closes the door behind them.
"Mom!" Peter says, excitedly, and Melinda hugs her son, as Daisy hurries over and hugs her father.
"It's good to see you," Peter tells his mother.
"It's really good to see you too, Pete," Melinda tells her son as Tony hugs his daughter and kisses her head.
After Melinda and Peter break apart, and Daisy and Tony break apart, Melinda and Tony hug and kiss while Daisy and Peter hug.
"Hey, you hungry?" Daisy asks her brother.
"Yeah, I mainly slept on the plane," Peter reveals.
"Well do you want to come to breakfast with me? Meet the team?" Daisy asks curious, knowing that her parents are probably going to want to talk in private, and the team were going to meet for breakfast anyway.
"Can I?" Peter asks, looking at his parents, who exchange looks.
"Sure. Just stay with Daisy and listen to your sister," Melinda tells her son.
"Will do," Peter says, as she pretty much always does that anyway.
"And both of you be careful," Tony says.
"Yes Dad," Daisy and Peter both say,
"Give me five minutes to get dressed," Daisy says, before hurrying into the bathroom with the bag she brought form the bus.
About five minutes later Daisy is dressed and she and Peter are heading down to the hotel restaurant for Breakfast.
"So, this team breakfast, will everyone be there?" Peter asks curious.
"Should be, Uncle Phil was planning on coming from the plane for breakfast," Daisy explains, "And on that note, no last names from us, okay. I'm going to just introduce you as my brother Peter," Daisy explains.
"Why…. They don't know," Peter realises.
"Nope," Daisy confirms, "And it feels like the kind of thing that if the team should know then it should be Mom or Dad to tell them…. Or Uncle Phil," Daisy explains.
"Sounds about right to me," Peter admits, "Okay, I'll be just Peter," He comments.
"Good," Daisy says.
"So, the rest of the team?" Peter asks.
"Well, there's Ward. He's a specialist like Mom, like Aunt Nat, Uncle Clint, Bobbi, Sharon, Antoine," Daisy explains, "Except he has a personality issue," She explains.
"So, don't take it personally if he's rude or something like that?" Peter asks curious.
"Exactly," Daisy says, though she will be pissed at hell at Ward if he is mean to her brother, "And then you've got Fitzsimmons," Daisy explains.
"That's two people right?" Peter asks, remembering what Daisy has told him before.
"Yep," Daisy confirms, "They're genius's a little older than me. Jemma Simmons is a biochemist, Leo Fitz is an Engineer," Daisy explains.
"Engineer, awesome," Peter says, with a grin.
"You would think that," Daisy says, as she throws her arm around her brothers' shoulders, and the two siblings continue to head down to breakfast.
While their two younger kids are on there way downstairs Melinda and Tony are standing in the hotel room Daisy and Melinda have been sharing.
"Daisy called you," Melinda says, it being a statement, not a question.
"She was worried about you," Tony reveals, taking a step towards his wife.
"She shouldn't have called, you shouldn't have come out here," Melinda says, "You've got work, Peter has school,"
"I can do my work anywhere, and Peter's so far ahead in school that missing a couple of days wont' do him any harm," Tony says, "Don't push me away again Mel, talk to me," He pleads walking over so that he is right tin front of Melinda.
"I see it every day," Melinda says, saying what Tony knows, "But this, this was so much worse," She admits.
"Why? What exactly happened?" Tony asks, as he sits down next to Melinda, and Melinda proceeds to tell him all about using the Berserker staff.
While Melinda and Tony are talking upstairs Daisy and Peter are arriving in the dining area, and as Daisy looks around for the team Peter spots them before Daisy can.
"UNCLE PHIL!" Peter yells and he hurries over to his Uncle, and Daisy jogs behind him to catch up.
"Peter," Phil says, sounding shocked, as he stands up to great the youngest of the Stark-May children, to the confusion of Ward, Fitz, and Simmons.
"It's so good to see you," Peter says, hugging his uncle.
"It's really good to see you too," Phil responds as he and Peter break apart, "What are you doing here?" he asks curious.
"Dad and I flew in," Peter explains.
"Your Dad's here?" Phil asks, looking at Daisy feeling glad as he hasn't seen Tony since he came back from Tahiti.
"Yep. He and Mom are up talking in our room," Daisy explains.
"Okay. I need to talk to them, so I'll head up there," Phil says, very much doubting that Tony and Melinda will come down for breakfast, "It's good seeing you, Peter, Daisy," Phil says before heading out of the dinning area.
"Hey everyone," Daisy says, looking at Fitz, Simmons and Ward, "As you probably guessed by now, this is my little brother Peter," Daisy reveals, "Pete, this is Ward, Fitz, and Simmons," Daisy says, pointing to each of the members of her team as she introduces them.
"It's nice to meet you, Daze has told me all about you all," Peter says as he and Daisy sit down.
"She's told us very little about you," Ward says, wondering if this is his chance to get more information on May and his family, as he already has a couple of questions, he just has to figure out how to ask them in a subtle way.
"I'm not even surprised, it's how things are in our family," Peter reveals, looking completely fine with what Ward said.
"It's lovely to meet you Peter," Simmons says, with a polite smile.
"Thanks," Peter says, "Um, Fitz, right? Daze said you're an engineer," Peter says, looking at the slightly shy looking young man.
"Um yeah, I am," Fitz responds, wondering where Daisy's brother is going with that.
"That's soo cool. I love science and I'm really interested in engineering," Peter reveals, and once he does Fitz grins, and to Daisy's amusement Peter, Fitz, and Simmons all start to talk about science.
After leaving the dining area Phil heads up to Melinda and Daisy's room. When he gets to the room he knocks on the door, and seconds later the door opens to reveal Melinda.
"Phil, come in," Melinda says, inviting Phil into the hotel room, and Phil walks in.
"Phil," Tony says, walking over to his friend, and controlling his reaction as he doesn't want to give away the fact that Phil was really dead, "It's good to see you,"
"It's good to see you too, Tony," Phil responds.
"I'm glad you're okay," Tony says, knowing that is the biggest understatement, but it is all he can say at the moment.
"Thanks Tony," Phil responds.
"How are you feeling? It must be strange to be back in the thick of it," Tony comments, trying to ask the question in the most causal way possible.
"This actually feels completely right," Phil admits. "What about you? I heard you got rid of your suits," Phil comments.
"Temporarily. I'm working on some improvements," Tony reveals, knowing he may still be a little way away from a new working version.
"Good to know," Phil comments, knowing he should have known better than to think Tony would ever seriously hang up the suit, so to speak. "So, um, how's Pepper? I haven't had a chance to talk to her since I got back from Tahiti," Phil reveals, and both Melinda and Tony have a hard time not reacting to Phil mentioning a place he has never been.
"She's good, you know, running Stark, ruling the world, being Pepper," Tony reveals, causing Phil to smile. "You know I'm sure she would love to hear from you," Tony comments, and Melinda has to fight a smirk as she knows exactly what Tony is doing.
"And I'd like to talk to her too, but not over the phone," Phil explains and as he does Melinda and Tony exchange knowing looks. "I spoke to Fury earlier," Phil reveals, purposely changing the subject as he noticed Melinda and Tony's looks.
"Have we already got a new case?" Melinda asks, as she glances at Tony, feeling bad as she was hoping for a chance to spend some time with her family.
"No, the opposite actually," Phil reveals. "I thought, considering we're so close to the UK it would be good to have a few days break, give Fitz and Simmons a chance to spend some time with their familes, I think they both need it," Phil admits.
"Yeah, they do," Melinda confirms. "How much time were you able to get off?" Melinda asks curious.
"Until the twenty second," Phil reveals, and as he does Melinda realises what that means.
"Phil…" Melinda starts to say.
"Fitz and Simmons deserve a chance to spend some time with their parents, and you should get to spend your birthday with your family," Phil reveals.
"Thank you," Melinda says grateful. "We should ask Ward to go with Fitz and Simmons, just in case," Melinda suggests.
"Good idea," Phil says approvingly.
"I have a great idea," Tony reveals, and both Melinda and Phil turn to look at him, and as they do Tony recognizes the look on his wife's face. "Don't give me that look Mel," Tony says to his wife with a charming smile.
"What's your Idea Tony?" Phil asks, fearing the answer, though he wants to stop the bickering between Melinda and Tony from occurring, though it is nice to know that somethings don't change.
"The London house, full on birthday party for Mel," Tony says, looking proud of his idea. "The three of us, Daisy, Bobbi, Peter, Sharon, Antoine, Romanoff, Barton, Pepper, Rhodey, even Hill if we can arrange it," Tony explains and as he does he can tell that Melinda and Phil look hesitant. "Come on, I think this is exactly what we all need," Tony says, thinking that it could help both Phil and Melinda.
"Let's figure out a plan," Melinda suggests, not agreeing to anything yet, and that's exactly what the three of them do.
Down in the dinning area Daisy, Ward, Fitz, Simmons are Peter are all sitting at the able together and just like they have been doing since Phil left them Peter and Fitz are happily talking rather than eating their breakfast. As the two geniuses are so engrossed in their conversation Ward suspects a bomb could go off and neither would notice, something which he is tempted to test but knows better.
"I have never seen Fitz talk this way with someone," Simmons says, sounding amazed.
"What about with you?" Daisy asks curious.
"I'm different," Simmons explains. "Everyone else Fitz is nervous when talking to. It takes him time to feel comfortable, but he and Peter are talking like they have known each other for years," Simmons says, feeling pretty amazed.
"It's because they understand each other," Daisy explains, knowing that as she has seen her brother like this when talking to their father, Bruce, or Ned.
"It's nice to see," Simmons says.
"Yeah," Daisy confirms, feeling happy for her brother. "Are you okay? You haven't seemed okay lately," Daisy says, looking at her friend in concern.
"I'm feeling better every day," Simmons reveals, smiling at Daisy, and as she does Ward notices something.
"Sir? Is everything okay?" Ward ask as Phil walks towards them. To his disappointment Melinda and her husband aren't with him.
"Everything's fine," Phil reveals. "Daisy, Peter, if you two are finished your parents are upstairs, wanting to talk to you," Phil explains, as they decided that Melinda and Tony would fill them in on what is going on.
"I'm done, Pete?" Daisy asks curious and her brother quickly eats a few spoonful's of his breakfast.
"I'm done," Peter says, speaking while food in his mouth.
"You're so lucky Grandma isn't here," Daisy tells her little brother, looking amused, as Ward pays close attention, wanting to get more personal information.
"You talk with food in your mouth all the time," Peter points out.
"I know," Daisy says, as she stands up.
"It was really nice to talk to you Agent Fitz," Peter says.
"Please call me Fitz," Fitz requests, as Peter stands up. "it was good talking to you too. Get my email from your mother or sister, I would really like to keep talking to you," Fitz explains.
"I'll do that," Peter says, before walking away with Daisy. "You work with the coolest people," Fitz tells his sister as he goes, to Daisy's amusement.
"What's going on Sir?" Ward asks as Daisy and Peter walk away.
"I've arranged a few days off for us," Phil explains. "Fitz, Simmons, I thought you could go visit your parents," Phil explains.
"Really?" Fitz asks looking excited, and Phil nods.
"Thank you Sir," Simmons says, looking excited.
"We'll pick you up on the twenty second," Phil explains.
"What about me, Sir?" Ward asks curious.
"Agent May and I thought that you could either go off on your own or go with Fitzsimmons," Phil says, giving ward a look which shows that he knows what he would prefer.
"I'll go with Fitzsimmons," Ward says doing so because he clearly isn't going to be going with May or Coulson so maybe this way he can get some kind of information.
"Okay," Phil says, with a nod. "You can leave whenever you're ready," Phil explains.
"Yes Sir," Fitz, Simmons and Ward says, the former two looking a lot more exicted than the ladder.
Having raced to the hotel room Daisy and Peter basically crash into the hotel room door, and before Daisy has a chance to get her key out the door is thrown open by Tony.
"What are you two doing?" Tony asks, as he looks at his two kids in amusement.
"We were racing," Peter explains.
"Which I totally won," Daisy says, with a smirk as she and Peter walk into the hotel room.
"You did not!" Peter argues.
"If you two want to argue about who won then fine, but keep your voices down your mom's on the phone," Tony explains.
"That's great, see you then," Melinda says, before hanging up, making Tony's point moot.
"Who was that?" Daisy asks curious.
"Bobbi," Melinda answers.
"And?" Tony asks, looking truly interesting.
"She can make it. Sharon and Antoine too," Melinda explains, as they just got back from a mission about an hour ago.
"Make what?" Peter asks, looking confused.
"We've been given a few days off. The four of us, and Uncle Phil are going to the London house," Melinda explains to her children, honestly it feels right that Phil will be joining them as she knows how much all of them missed him when he was dead.
"A few days… does that mean…?" Daisy asks, putting the pieces together.
"Yep," Tony says, putting his arm around Daisy's shoulder. "We're going to have a big family party at the London house," Tony reveals, and both Daisy and Peter look excited.
"Pepper, Bruce, and Uncle Rhodey are flying in, same with Aunt Nat, Uncle Clint and Maria," Melinda explains, as Peter climbs onto the bed next to her, realising that in the last year Bruce has become family too, and she is thankful for that.
"This is going to be great," Peter says, grinning from ear to ear, and because she loves to see her children as happy as Peter is Melinda puts her arm around him, and smiles too.
"Yeah, it is," Melinda confirms as she kisses her sons head.
November 20th 2013
Ever since her father and brother arrived the day before Daisy has been having an incredible time, and has been beyond thrilled, and with every member of her family who has arrived Daisy has become even happier. As much as she has enjoyed spending time with the team, and as much as she feels like she can be open with them, it is nice to be with her family where she can be completely open.
As they are still waiting for a couple of people to arrive Daisy is in the room that has been hers while they are in London, getting ready, when there is a knock on the door.
"Yeah," Daisy says and Bobbi walks in.
"Mom sent me. Nat and Uncle Clint will be here any minute," Bobbi reveals.
"Cool," Daisy says, as she turns to face her sister. "You know you never did tell me if you invited Hunter," Daisy comments.
"Daisy…" Bobbi says, with a sigh.
"Come on Bobbi, this is his hometown its rude not to invite him," Daisy tells her sister.
"Hunter's from Kent, not London," Bobbi tells her sister.
"Same difference," Daisy says, with a shrug.
"Never let Hunter hear you say that," Bobbi says, looking amused.
"Come on, Bobbi. Did you at least call him?" Daisy asks curious.
"I am not having this conversation with you," Bobbi says, as she turns and heads out of her sisters room.
"Come on Bobbi, talk to me!" Daisy requests as she chases after her sister. "You didn't see him in Malta, he still cares about you! And I know you do too!" Daisy explains as she catches up to her sister.
"You're right, I do," Bobbi says, turning to face her sister. "But we don't work, okay. Drop it," Bobbi requests.
"Fine," Daisy says, knowing she will even if it is just for now.
"Good," Bobbi tells her sister. "I've missed you Daisy-Lin, don't make it so I'm annoyed with you all the time we have together," Bobbi says, as she puts her hand around her sisters shoulder.
"Isn't that the little sisters job?" Daisy asks, and the two sisters exchange laughs as they head downstairs, getting there just as Natasha and Clint arrive.
"AUNT NAT, UNCLE CLINT!" Daisy and Peter both yells, and they run and hug their surrogate aunt and Uncle.
"Now that everyone is here I want to make a toast," Tony says, as he picks up a glass. "The last year, hell the last five years, have been hard. There's been a lot of bad, a lot of loss," Tony says, his eyes flickering over to Phil as he speaks. "but this, this family that we are is what's got us all through every single one of those bad times," Tony says, putting an arm around Melinda. "So, to family, to Love, to Mel on her birthday," Tony says, and once he toasts everyone else does, and they all proceed to have an amazing time together; the kind they haven't had in a while.
