"So, the book?" Mack started, once Daisy was gone and they were in the air. "We're all ears."

"When I was an intern, I'd overheard the Bauers talking about the book one day. It was something I wasn't supposed to hear, but I didn't take them seriously back then anyway. I didn't think much about it after that. Until I made a stupid joke to Dad while Romanoff was spying on us. I'd unintentionally given Fury a lead. So Fury made me an offer when I went to see him about the gravitonium: If I helped him find the book, he'd give me the gravitonium. But SHIELD went to hell in a handbasket, and the gravitonium's been missing since then."

"Yeah, but what does this book do?" Fitz asked.

"Shows you what you want to know the most, if Fury is to be believed. But it's like dark magic. Literally, it's called the Darkhold. It corrupts the mind or something like that."

"Okay, I'd understand if this came from Mack, but you…"

"I know how it sounds. But, Fitz… Come on! Does a magic book sound so absurd after everything we've been through today?"

"We can't tell the Director," Mack told Fitz.

"That means we can't tell Jemma either." Being in the Director's inner circle, Jemma went through lie detection tests regularly.

Mack looked at her again, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did you take Fury's offer?"

"I did more than just taking. I volunteered to read the book."

"Damn it, Ana! Don't tell me you're still after it!"

"We thought there was a way to cheat it. I'd get the knowledge I needed, use it, and then Fury would erase my memories."

"TAHITI," Fitz mumbled. "The TAHITI Protocol is not that reliable, Ana."

"I know. If we find the Darkhold now, together we can decide how to proceed."

Mack was still skeptical. "Yeah, why do I get the feeling that the moment you get a location on the book, you're going to ditch us?

"What do you think I am?"

"You're the girl who turned Captain America into a criminal."

"I did it because he had a bad influence on my dad! He was too proud to admit it, but he always looked up to Rogers, put himself in danger recklessly just to be like him! And then he got betrayed by him! If the great Captain America had been honest from the start, Dad would've even helped Barnes."

"It wasn't Rogers who made him create Ultron. And don't tell us it was Maximoff either. He'd come up with the idea long before that."

"To protect us all! You don't know how primitive we are, compared to alien civilizations! You've seen the Kree, the Chitauri! And there are countless others out there! We'll never be able to catch up unless smart people start taking calculated risks!"

She knew Fitz agreed with her, but he chose to remain silent. She continued, "Let me read the book. Let me learn what to do to make this planet alien-proof. Then put me through the TAHITI Protocol. We can use BARF, too. If everything else fails, you can put a bullet in my head. I know I don't deserve a happy ending. But my dad does. Please."

A very dark, intimidating look crossed Mack's face. "Yeah, because that sounds like a real happy ending for a father…"

No one spoke to her again until they returned to the Playground.

…

That night, she called her father again. This time, she made a video call. She wanted to see his face.

"Hey, Dad."

"Kid? Wow, I wasn't expecting to hear from you again so soon…"

"Are you complaining?" she joked.

"Not in the slightest."

"Well, I called you, because I made up my mind. I'm coming home."

His face lit up with the perhaps the purest, the most innocent form of happiness, and it broke Ana's heart. "O—okay… Awesome! Do you want me to send Happy to get you? Scratch that, I'll come myself!"

"No, no… Not right away. I gotta help the team with an operation first. They're going to need my… expertise for this one."

He nodded. "Well, they're your friends… If they need you, you should be there for them. Not to rush you or anything, but will it take long?"

"I don't expect it to, but there's not exactly a timetable with these things. You know the drill… We were on a mission today. I got to try out Mark L."

"How did it go?"

"I didn't have to use it much. But it made me look cool." That sounded better than "It doesn't do much against ghosts."

He laughed.

"Daisy was there, too."

His smile was replaced with a look of concern. "Oh."

"She was an ass, but it made me realize I was in no position to judge her. That's actually why I decided to come home. I swear I'd be on my way right now if I weren't needed here."

"I get it. No problem, kid, really. You care about them, and it sounds like they can use your help. I'm so proud of you."

He believed her. He knew she meant it when she said she wanted to come home. It was all that mattered.

Someone knocked on Ana's door. "Ana?"

"Come on in, Mack… Dad, I'll be hanging up now. Say hi to Pepper for me."

"Sure thing. Goodnight, honey. I love you."

"Love you more."

Mack smiled warmly when he realized whom she had been talking to. "You were talking to him?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Ana, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I might have been a bit harsh on you earlier."

"It's cool. You just don't want me to do anything stupid."

"There's something you should know about me. About why I… overreacted."

"Okay?"

"I had…" He swallowed thickly. "I had a daughter."

"Oh." The keyword here was "had." So, Ana decided to be extra careful not to say anything wrong. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Not many people do. And I'd like to keep it that way."

"Understood."

"Her name was Hope. The day she was born was the best day of my life. And the following three days were… They were like a dream. On the fourth day, she died."

Not knowing what else to do, she took his hand. "I'm so sorry, Mack."

"I'd like to think she would've grown up to be like you, or Daisy."

"The two most messed up people you know?"

"Well, maybe not that part. But there's another one: Smart, capable, caring, supportive… Willing to go incredible lengths for their loved ones. But if my daughter had a plan that might get her killed in the end, I'd be wrecked. Not proud, no matter how selfless her intentions were. I know you're going to try to read the damn book, Ana. Don't. Help us destroy it instead. I'm a man of faith. And I know nothing good ever comes from making a deal with the Devil. If you want to give your dad a happy ending, stay alive. And safe."

Ana smiled. That's exactly what I'm trying to do.

…

"Yeah, well, 'cozy' means small, and 'charming' means old… Where did you find this place… And, uh, it's certainly within our price range… Yes, one can, and we did… Yeah, but I'm heading to Radcliffe's… Is it? Eh, I guess so. Trying to figure out a less deadly way to cure our ghost victims. Take lots of pictures. Yeah, I love you, too."

Fitz was talking on the phone with Jemma as he was preparing to head out, but suddenly, he stopped. He must have caught Ana staring at him. Fitz-Simmons were cool and all, but sometimes it was painful to be around them. She was constantly being reminded of the life she could have had with JARVIS.

There's hope now, she reminded herself.

"I'm sorry," she told Fitz quickly. "It's just… Sometimes I can't help but wonder if this could've been me and JARVIS."

"Well, at least you wouldn't have had to worry about finding a place…" He paused, covering his mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like an insensitive idiot."

"It's fine. And you wouldn't have to be so stressed out if you just let me buy you guys an apartment."

"No, no… I told you, we can't accept that."

"Come on! It's just an apartment. Not a bloody castle in Scotland or anything," she said with the best Scottish accent she could fake, which seemed to have horrified Fitz.

"Ugh, please don't do that again… I'm going to Radcliffe's. May is there. Want to come?"

May had been infected with the ghost virus as well, and was now recovering at Radcliffe's place. Ana would like to see how she was doing, but her hands were full with other things. She looked at the results of her own research. "Oh, no. Looks like I'm hanging out with Coulson today."

Speaking of, Coulson had entered the lab. "Ana, tell me what you got."

"Okay, so, I was looking for the former employees at the Momentum Labs. There's this one guy, Elias Morrow. Fury told me about him. He's the one that beat Joseph Bauer into a coma. I don't know if he's connected to the book somehow, but he's definitely connected to something else. This is one of his two nephews: Robbie Reyes."

"Robbie Reyes?"

She looked at his picture on the screen behind her, and sighed. "Believe it or not, this is the fiery skull guy who saved our asses."

Coulson smiled. "Damn…"

"I've also prepared a more detailed debriefing file for you."

"Good. Let's pay Mr. Morrow a visit."

…

"Maybe it should be me," Ana suggested one last time, before Coulson and Mack got into Lola. "This guy is a scientist in prison. I don't think he'll be happy to see a shady government agent like you."

"He'd be even less happy to see a privileged billionaire heiress. 'Shady government agent' is better, trust me."

Yeah, this was what happened when a celebrity tried to be a spy. "If you say so…"

Ana remained in the Quinjet, cloaked under a bridge, and watched the two men speed away in Coulson's beloved Corvette. Well, at least she would be able to monitor the visit. It didn't go well, though. Morrow refused to tell Coulson anything. Ana was keeping herself busy by reading more of the rumors about the "Ghost Rider" of LA on the internet, to see if there were any developments, while waiting for the two men to return when something hit the Quinjet, disabling the cloaking mode immediately. Ana looked out the window, one hand ready to activate the suit, but Coulson and Mack were out there, examining a black… 1969 Dodge Charger? She opened the back hatch, and got out.

"Have you two been chasing someone?"

"Yeah, we got your guardian angel," Coulson said.

"My guard—" She froze when she realized who was in the driver's seat. "You gotta be kidding me…"

"Let's get him inside."

Ana was gaping at them in shock as Mack opened the door and hauled an unconscious Robbie Reyes onboard.

…

She peeked into the containment module. Reyes was still out. Coulson was waiting patiently, and Mack was admiring the Charger. Ana had taken a look, too, but there was nothing that could explain how the car was still undamaged, or how it could emit fire, if the rumors to be believed.

"Damn!" Mack said. "Not even a dent… I wouldn't mind having a superpower like that for a day or two."

"Hands off my ride, man!" Reyes was awake.

Coulson gestured them to stay back. He was going to do the talking. Ana went to stand next to Mack. "The car is safe. Your situation's a little more precarious."

"You really think this thing can hold me?"

"It's contained a lot more dangerous people than you," Mack broke in.

"Is that a dare?"

Mack shrugged.

Coulson continued, "I heard rumors from your part of the world, about a man with a flaming skull. Always seemed like an urban legend to me. You've managed to escape capture all this time."

"And we nabbed you in a parking lot. That's gotta hurt," Mack taunted him.

"We got facts, too: Robbie Reyes, dropped out of Garfield High. Took work at Canelo Auto and Body to help pay the rent."

"A halfway decent driver," Mack added.

"With a few bad habits. Well, one really bad habit of killing people."

"Only those who have it coming," Reyes defended himself.

"From what I can tell, that seems to be true. Which makes you a little more interesting."

"I have a code I try to live by."

"And a penchant for spontaneous combustion, which, I must say, sounds painful. How do you do it? You're not an Inhuman, are you?"

"Why do you guys keep asking me that?"

"Then where does your power come from?"

"I made a deal with the Devil," he replied, and his eyes literally blazed with fire.

"Right," Coulson said coolly. "Okay. Just…"

He came to where Mack and Ana were standing, leaned closer, and whispered, "Ghosts, devils… You believe any of this stuff we're dealing with?"

"I believe in God, so I gotta believe in the other thing," Mack said.

"Well, in my experience, gods usually turn out to be aliens."

That gave Ana an idea. "Or, old family friends…"

Mack frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Coulson, I have a theory. May I test it?"

"Go ahead. He's all yours."

She approached the module warily. "Hello, Robbie. Do you mind if I call you Robbie?"

"No."

"I'm Ana. Nice to meet you."

"What do you want from me?"

"I just wanted to thank you, for not letting me get infected with that… ghost virus the other day. You saved me. You freaked me out, but you saved me."

"You're welcome," he said dryly.

"Robbie… How do you know me?"

"I don't."

"But you do! When you saw me for the first time, you knew who I was. And I'm not talking about the 'I saw your face on the cover of the Forbes' look, I get that one all the time. I can tell the difference. No. It was like you finally met someone you'd heard so much about."

Robbie scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself, chica. I don't know you."

"You said you made a deal with the Devil… What kind of deal was it? Did he grant you these powers, or is he within you, like a parasite?"

"I wouldn't use that word if I were you."

"Okay, I won't. But he's the one taking over when you go… you know…"

He nodded.

"So… How long has the Devil been around?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because the last time I met such an overprotective alien, she turned out to be my grandfather's secret best friend. Maybe this 'Devil' was around, too, while they were building SHIELD."

"The Devil has no friends."

"Still," Coulson interrupted. "I don't think you'd hurt her. Or any of us." He opened the module.

Robbie was a bit hesitant at first, probably thinking it was some kind of trick, but he got out and took a look around until he was convinced otherwise.

"Damn, you all must be straight loco letting me out of my cage like that."

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing," Mack said.

"I light up. I can bring this whole plane crashing down."

"With you in it? I don't think you'll do that. Flying isn't one of your special talents." He looked at Ana's Arc Reactor. "Agent Stark here, on the other hand, wouldn't mind giving us a ride if things went south, would she?"

"Not at all," she confirmed.

"I'm opening a door for you, Mr. Reyes, both literally and figuratively."

"And in return, you want…"

"The same thing you do: Answers. And your uncle Eli has them. That's why you were going to see him. See, I think we're on the same side, but I think you need to prove it to me. Prove that you're not the demon the stories say you are."

"You saved a friend of mine from a guy my bullets went straight through. You're the only one we know that can hurt those things," Mack said.

"So let's help each other. Eli won't talk to us, but he'll talk to you. All we ask is that you let us listen in on the conversation."

"And if I say no?"

"Well, then we open another door for you, but we won't land first."

Ana didn't think it was a good idea to threaten him, but to her surprise, Robbie agreed to cooperate.

…

Eli Morrow was much more chatty with his nephew. He told him about the Quantum Particle Generator, about the Bauers' plans, and about the Darkhold. But then, they received a message from the base, saying they had lost the signal of one of the Inhumans. They had to check him out, make sure he wasn't in danger, or pose any danger to others. Given this one's background, the latter was more likely. When Robbie returned, he wasn't happy to hear about this delay. But eventually, he gave in.

Coulson had ordered Ana to stay behind, saying it was a bad idea to send someone in an armed suit into a building full of explosives. Seriously, who would let an Inhuman with pyromania get a job at a firework shop?

But when they returned to Zephyr One, they had Simmons, the unconscious Inhuman with them… and Daisy. She and Jemma had come to check on JT James, the pyromaniac Inhuman, too, but it had turned out to be a trap for Daisy. James had made a deal with the Watchdogs.

Daisy didn't seem happy to see Ana, so Ana decided to stay out of sight while Simmons took care of her injuries and then Coulson debriefed her. Then Simmons came to the bunk where Ana had been hiding.

"There you are," she said. "Coulson's done with Daisy and Reyes, you can see her now."

"Does she want to see me, though?"

"Coulson convinced her to stay for this mission. We're going to pick up May now, and then find Joseph Bauer…"

"Is he awake?" Ana asked, surprised.

"Yes. But my point is, you and Daisy can't avoid each other forever."

"I'm not the one doing the avoiding."

"I know," she said sympathetically. "But Inhumans get hurt, Daisy blames the Accords, and you signed them."

"Let's just make one thing clear: You believe in the Accords more than I do. Yet she doesn't have anything personal against you."

"If it's any consolation, she pointed a gun at me earlier today, to force me to help her."

"Probably to protect you. You're in the Director's inner circle. Speaking of, how's that going?"

"I have a lie detection test tomorrow… You can't invent something that can help me cheat it, I assume?"

"In less than 24 hours? No. Besides, Mace wouldn't even let me go anywhere near his polygraph. I don't even know what algorithms it uses."

She sighed. "He knows us too well."

"But Simmons… You have to find a way to maintain your position."

"How?"

She thought for a moment. "Do you have anything you can use against the Director? Any leverage? No one's perfect, you must have noticed something by now."

In truth, Ana knew Mace's biggest secret: Project Patriot. He was no Inhuman. The super-strength he had was man-made. Fury had told her, so that she could use it as leverage when she had first joined SHIELD and be excluded from the mandatory polygraph test every new employee went through. It had worked. Mace must have figured out she was here to do Fury's bidding, but he could never guess what it was. Not that it mattered anymore. She had got what she had come for a long time ago.

Still, she couldn't tip Jemma off, otherwise she would want to know how Ana knew.

"I wish I had."

"I'm just going to go see Daisy." She set off to find her.

Daisy and Robbie were in the lower deck, away from everyone, the former still glaring daggers at Ana. She was also nursing a broken arm.

Ana took a seat beside her. "How's your arm?"

"It's fine," she replied dryly.

"Daisy, please. I don't want to lose our friendship."

"That friendship went down the drain the moment you signed the Accords!"

"Oh, please, don't go all Captain America on me!"

"The Watchdogs are hunting us down! And do you know how they find us? They use the list people like you put us on! Either we register, or we're criminals!"

"I've registered, too."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, not everyone is untouchable as you are!"

"That incident in DC? Did you know I was there to ask Ross to give you immunity? Don't you accuse me of being selfish!"

"Is that so? What about everybody who's not me?"

Ana didn't have an answer for that. Daisy had a point, and she had to get this out of her system. So, Ana let her.

"See, that's your problem! You just do what's best for yourself and a handful of people you care about. Screw everyone else, right?"

"Daisy, the Accords were going to happen, with or without my signature. Sometimes you have to play by the rules to break them. You have to play the long game. Why do you think Simmons is sucking up to the new Director? What happened to Ross made people question the reliability of oversight. Sure, this recent blackout was a hindrance, but…"

The Watchdogs had recently terrorized a few cities with mass blackouts, and made it look like the doing of the Inhumans. It had worked. The paranoia was on the rise again.

"Hindrance? Is that what it is to you? Do you even know what it was like out there?"

"I don't," she admitted. "I was on the base."

"Yeah. One way or the other, you're always in safety. So, stop pretending like you understand! You're just a spoiled, greedy rich girl who's always in search of more power because she's too afraid to lose her privileges!"

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just one of the bad guys. Since we have an expert right here, why don't we ask him?" She turned to Robbie. "Do I deserve to be punished?"

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if you did."

"So, trying to kill two Avengers doesn't count? Even if one of them is Captain America?"

"What about having a thing for dangerous artifacts?" Daisy added sharply, showing Ana a tablet, with information about the Darkhold on the screen. "Coulson found some notes about the book in Fury's Toolbox… 'The Darkhold, the Book of Sins, the Book of Spells, infinite knowledge, location unknown, affiliation with the Momentum Labs,' and, wait for it… 'To be used by AMS.' Please tell me AMS doesn't stand for Ana Maria Stark."

Ana knew the Darkhold was one of the things in the Toolbox, so it didn't surprise her to hear that Fury had left such notes for his successor. "I'm afraid it does. But Daisy, I was honest with the team about the book from the start."

At that moment, Robbie's eyes blazed again, his head didn't turn into a skull, but he spoke with that creepy demon voice. "You will not read the book!"

Even Daisy was startled.

"Okay, okay," Ana said. "I won't read the book. It's clearly not worth pissing the Devil off. Just calm down."

His eyes returned to normal, and he seemed as confounded as they were.

"What the hell was that?" Daisy asked.

Robbie sighed, his gaze still fixated on Ana. "I got no idea. But you're right. The Devil knows you."