Chapter 29
AN: Thank you so much for the support. I really hope you like this chapter.
February 13th 2011
Six months have passed since Kora was able to stay for a few days and ever since Kora has been in DC quite a few times as she has checked in on Lincoln more than once who is at med school not overly far away.
It is a Sunday afternoon and Melinda and Daisy are sitting side by side in Melinda's car, but for the first time rather than Melinda being in the drivers seat, Daisy is.
"Just breath, Daisy, you can do that," Melinda tells her daughter, as she can feel how nervous she is.
"Yeah, I can totally do this," Daisy says, almost like she is trying to convince herself.
"Yes, you can," Melinda assures her daughter. "When you're ready I want you to put the hand break down, put the car in drive, and gently step on the gas petal," Melinda explains to her daughter.
"Okay," Daisy says, and still feeling nervous she does exactly what her mother said, and for the first time Daisy drives a car for the first time in her life.
Hours later Daisy having spent most of the last few hours driving with her mother, is having dinner with her mother and Phil in their apartment.
"I was terrified, I was so sure I was going to crash, and I mean we almost did once, but mom saved us," Daisy admits. "It was so different from riding a quadbike, but It was good," Daisy reveals, it being clear that she is excited.
"When did you ride a quadbike?" Phil asks, and Melinda doesn't need her powers to tell her that Phil doesn't approve of her giving Daisy a driving lesson.
"On the island," Daisy answers. "I'm really glad that I'm starting my lessons so early. I think it will help put me in the best position when it comes time for my test," Daisy admits and Phil realises that this is actually a good thing for Daisy.
"If you want, I could help your Mom give you lessons," Phil suggests. "I mean the world doesn't exactly need more people who drive like your mom," Phil teases.
"I drive how I need to drive," Melinda responds, and Daisy laughs.
"I'd like that," Daisy answers, and the trio continue to have their dinner together.
May 27th 2011
Over three months have passed since Melinda took Daisy on her first driving lesson and ever since Melinda, along with Phil, and even Bobbi, Mack, Natasha, and Clint have all given Daisy their versions of driving lessons. Due to the fact that they all have different driving techniques Daisy has found herself being very confused by a few things.
It is a lovely Friday afternoon at Afterlife and Kora is waiting for two arrivals. About five minutes after Kora started to wait Gordon appears with Lincoln and a seventeen, almost eighteen, year old girl who looks very similar to Lincoln.
Without a word Kora and Lincoln walk towards each other and once close enough hug, while Gordon walks away from the group. If Melinda were present she would be able to feel that Kora sees Lincoln as a son and he sees her as a mother.
"It's good to see you," Kora says as she and Lincoln hug.
"It's good to see you too," Lincoln responds as they break apart. "Kora, this is my little sister Amanda, Manda, this is Kora," Lincoln introduces and as soon as he speaks Amanda throws herself into Kora's arms, to Kora's surprise.
"Thank you," Amanda whispers to Kora, feeling beyond grateful for everything she has done for her brother.
"You don't have to thank me," Kora assures her as they break apart.
"Sorry, I've wanted to meet you for so long, Linc talks about you all the time. I kind of feel like I already know you," Amanda admits.
"I feel the same way," Kora admits, smiling slightly, as when Lincoln was learning to control his abilities talking about Amanda helped him. "Lincoln Mom wanted to check in with you when you got here," Kora reveals.
"I'll go see her now," Lincoln reveals. "I'll check in with you later," Lincoln says to his sister, feeling no worry about leaving her with Kora.
"Yep," Amanda says, before Lincoln walks away.
"If you're interested I thought we could start with a tour, and we could talk," Kora suggests.
"I'd like that," Amanda responds.
A while later Kora and Amanda have finished their tour, and Kora has explained a bit more about Afterlife and Inhumans, and the two of them are having dinner of food brought in by Gordon with Lincoln and Gordon. As they eat Kora doesn't need her sisters powers to know that Lincoln is beyond happy to have his sister finally join their world.
July 2nd 2011
After months of driving lessons the day of Daisy's sixteenth birthday has officially come. Just like every birthday other than her thirteenth Daisy spent the day by having breakfast with her mother and Phil, before the two of them took her to the DMV. While Daisy is doing her test Melinda and Phil are sitting in Melinda's car, waiting for her to finish.
"How do you think she went?" Phil asks Melinda curious, as while sitting in silence is nice he would like to talk to Melinda.
"She was nervous," Melinda reveals. "But she has had a lot of practice, I think she's going to do okay," Melinda admits. She really wants Daisy to go well as she has felt how much Daisy wants her license.
"Hopefully," Phil responds, and the two of them drift into silence.
About five minutes later Phil and Melinda see Daisy walking out of the building and towards the car, as soon as they see her both Melinda and Phil realise what must have happened.
"Oh no," Phil says, and as he does both Melinda and Phil walk out of the car and walk towards Daisy. Once they are close enough both Melinda and Phil hug her, and as soon as she hugs her daughter Melinda feels Daisy's disappointment, and pain, and how strong both her emotions are.
"Five marks!" Daisy exclaims, as she starts to cry. "I was five marks off!" Daisy admits.
"I'm sorry Daisy," Phil says, hating that she is so upset.
"We'll help you do more lessons. Help you get ready for your next attempt," Melinda assures her daughter.
"Thanks Mom," Daisy says, though she still looks upset. "Let's just go home," Daisy requests, as the three of them break apart, and Melinda, Daisy, and Phil head to the car.
A little while later Melinda, Daisy, and Phil arrive back at the May apartment, and are walking back into it, it being more than clear that Daisy is still upset.
"Happy Birthday!" Bobbi and Mack yell the second the trio walk in, but Daisy just walks past them and into her room, closing the door behind her.
"She didn't pass," Mack realises, feeling bad for Daisy.
"By five marks," Phil explains.
"Damn it," Bobbi says, feeling bad as she knows how much Daisy wanted this. "We'll talk to her," Bobbi says, gesturing to her and Mack and the two of them head to Daisy's room.
When Bobbi and Mack walk into Daisy's room they find Daisy laying on her bed and her head buried in her pillows.
"You know you shouldn't do that, you'll have trouble breathing," Mack says as he and Bobbi walk over to Daisy. While Bobbi sits on Daisy's bed, cross-legged on one side, he sits on the edge of the other.
"Don't care," Daisy's muffled voice says.
"Daisy, it's okay that you didn't past, a lot of people don't past their first go," Bobbi assures her.
"I should have," Daisy says as she throws herself around so that she is on her back. "I got overwhelmed, and it was like my mind went blank, and I didn't know what to do!" Daisy exclaims. "I should have done better," Daisy says, and she is clearly beating herself up.
"Oh Daisy, that's okay," Mack assures her. "Driving is something compeltley new. When you started learning computer science there were times when you struggled right?" Mack asks, and Bobbi realises what he is doing.
"Yeah," Daisy admits.
"And when you started doing Martial arts, you struggled, and didn't always know what to do?" Bobbi asks her sister.
"Yeah," Daisy confirms.
"They're skills just like driving, it takes time, and practice to develop them," Mack assures Daisy. "I know you're upset, and I'm not trying to diminish that, but I think you should celebrate your birthday, you love it," Mack tells Daisy.
"Come back outside, we'll have fun, and tomorrow I'll give you more lessons," Bobbi assures her.
"We both will," Mack adds, and once he does Daisy looks between Bobbi and Mack.
"Okay," Daisy says, and once she does the three of them head back out into the living room, and despite the fact that she is still feeling disappointed, Daisy manages to enjoy her birthday a little bit.
November 5th 2011
Four months have passed since Daisy failed her learners test and after a lot more practice with her family she was able to take the test again, and pass.
It's early on a Saturday and while Daisy is still in bed Melinda and Bobbi are sitting in the kitchen on the May apartment, sitting at the bench, while Bobbi is drinking coffee May is drinking tea as Bobbi reveals what she has recently done. As Bobbi explains Melinda knows, that if she could, she would be feeling extremely shocked right now.
"You got married," Melinda repeats, and as she has gotten used to the new way Melinda speaks, Bobbi isn't surprised that there is no emotion in Melinda's voice.
"Yeah," Bobbi confirms.
"To someone you've only know a few months?" Melinda asks.
"Well not everyone can move as slow as you and Phil," Bobbi teases, which Melinda decides to ignore, and because she wants to know exactly how Bobbi feels Melinda reaches out and puts her hand on Bobbi's arm. As while she doesn't like to use her abilities to find out the truth of something she also knows Bobbi struggles to vocalise her emotions.
"Are you happy? Do you love him?" Melinda asks the person she sees as a second daughter.
"Yeah, I am, and yeah, I do," Bobbi admits, and Melinda can feel just how much Bobbi loves him, and how happy she is. "I mean, he drives me crazy sometimes, but in a good way," Bobbi admits and Melinda can feel that too.
"Then I'm happy for you," Melinda tells Bobbi as she moves her hand away.
"Thanks Melinda," Bobbi says, as Melinda's approval means everything to her. "So, I thought once Daisy wakes up I could invite him over and you guys could both meet him, and then we could go to lunch or something," Bobbi suggests as she really wants her mother and sister to get along well with her husband.
"How about you take Daisy out to lunch, I have to go into SHIELD and finish some paperwork," Melinda admits. "But how about the four of us, Phil, and Mack do dinner," Melinda suggests, knowing she would include Kora and Gordon in that if they were in town.
"I'd like that," Bobbi admits, and once she does Melinda stands up, walks over to Bobbi and hugs her.
"I love you, I'm so proud of you," Melinda tells Bobbi as when she touched Bobbi's arms he felt how much hearing that would mean to her and because she knows it is how she feels Melinda decides it is the right time for Bobbi to hear that.
"I love you too… Mom," Bobbi says, basically whispering the last word, returning the hug, and after a few moments she and Melinda break apart.
Once Melinda and Bobbi break apart Melinda walks back over to her seat and the two of them drift into silence while they wait for Daisy to wake up.
A little while later Daisy is awake and has been informed by Bobbi about what Bobbi did while on mission in Johannesburg.
"We have a have a party or something," Daisy says, clearly looking excited.
"Daisy we eloped because we didn't want a big deal," Bobbi explains.
"A party isn't a big deal," Daisy explains.
"Were doing family dinner tonight, we'll see how that goes first," Bobbi says, honestly feeling a little nervous because she knows that Hunter's personality can be hard for people to handle.
"Okay," Daisy says, and as she does there is a knock on the door.
"That'll be Hunter," Bobbi says, before heading to the door as both Melinda and Daisy stand up as well.
"You know, I'm not a big fan of waking up alone, Luv," Bobbi's husband, Lance Hunter, says when Bobbi opens the door.
"I had people to talk to," Bobbi explains, letting Hunter into the apartment. "Hunter, I'd like you to meet Melinda and Daisy May, my family," Bobbi introduces as she and Hunter walk over to where Melinda and Daisy are standing.
"It's real nice to meet you both Bob's talked about you a lot," Hunter reveals. Even though Bobbi doesn't talk about herself much he has learnt that she doesn't really consider her biological family to be her family and rather she has a found, chosen, family.
"She has?" Daisy asks interested.
"Yep, all the time," Hunter confirms, Daisy grins, and Hunter notices that Melinda is not smiling.
"I've got to get going, I'll see you all later," Melinda says, looking between Bobbi, Mack and Daisy.
"Yep," Bobbi confirms.
"See you later, Mom," Daisy responds, and once she does Melinda leaves, and Bobbi, Hunter and Daisy spend the rest of the day together.
Hours later, Daisy has had an incredible day with Bobbi and Hunter, and the three of them, Phil, Melinda and Mack are all having dinner together at the May apartment. While it is clear that May, Phil, and Mack aren't sure what to think of Hunter it is equally as clear that Daisy thinks he is awesome, making for a rather interesting dinner dynamic.
January 5th 2012
It has been two months since Melinda, Daisy, and Phil met Hunter and in that time Hunter joined them for Christmas, though while Kora was able to join them too, and met him, Gordon was not able to.
It's early hours of a Thursday morning and Melinda is fast asleep, or at least she is until she hears,
"May," being said by a very familiar voice, and feels a surge of confusion, and confliction.
Opening her eyes Melinda sees Phil standing over her, clearly having used his key to get into the apartment.
"Phil? What's going on?" Melinda asks, her voice actually displaying confusion due to Phil, who is feeling confusion of his own, touching her.
"Can we talk?" Phil asks curious as he removes his hand from Melinda.
"Sure," Melinda says, as even without feeling Phil's emotions she knows it must be something big/important for him to be at her place so early. "Let's talk in the living room," Melinda says, and they both get up and head out into the living room.
Once in the living room, as neither want to wake up Daisy, Melinda and Phil just sit on the couch, Melinda sitting cross legged while Phil sits normally, and have the lamp that is near the window, that is not that bright, as the only source of light.
"Talk to me, Phil. What's going on?" Melinda asks.
"You know how Fury's been wanting to put together a team of powered people for a while?" Phil asks, knowing it comes close to mentioning something that is painful for Melinda.
"Yeah," Melinda says, knowing that, depending on what Phil says, could prove to be difficult for her people.
"Well part of that is working on a way to heal any member of that team that has been fatally wounded," Phil explains.
"Okay," Melinda says, not saying more than that as she knows it's possible.
"For about two years I've been in charge of a project called T.A.H.I.T.I." Phil reveals, even though he knows he is telling Melinda details of things above her clearance level she is his best friend, and there is no one he trusts more. "The project uses Alien DNA, in the form of a serum named GH325, to heal fatal injuries and bring people back from the dead," Phil explains to Melinda. "People have been brought back, but they're experience side effects, becoming unstable. I think the project should be shut down," Phil admits. "It's been suggested that the people can get their memories replaced so that they can live normal lives, and if we do that then I think we should get rid of the host," Phil explains.
"The host?" Melinda asks, having a suspicion about what Phil is talking about.
"Giant blue alien is apparently thousands of years old, not really sure what it's called or where it comes from but know that it's DNA has an effect on Humans," Phil says, confirming Melinda's suspicion.
"It's called a Kree, it's from a planet called Hala," Melinda explains, and out of everything Phil was expecting that wasn't on the list.
"How do you know that?" Phil asks shocked as even though he had interactions with the Kree in the 90s he never knew what they really looked like, or where they were from, so he can't imagine how May knows.
"Because I've been told stories of them my entire life," Melinda reveals. "They've been waring with other species for centuries, and came to earth a long time ago," Melinda says as while she wants to protect Phil, she also wants to help him with his decision. "Their scientifically advanced, and their blood can have unique effects on humans," Melinda explains, trying to be diplomatic in what she says.
"Do you know about people being given Kree blood before?" Phil asks curious, as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on.
"Technically," Melinda admits, as she knows that's what created her ancestors. "What I do know is that using Kree blood on humans can lead to things you can never predict, and that means that there are dangers that can't be predicted," Melinda admits. "But I also know you, and that you have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met, so I know you're the best person to make this decision," Melinda tells her best friend.
"I just don't know what to do May, these people are being heled, but the side effects….. they're horrific," Phil admits, and Melinda can feel his pain as he is feeling it so strongly. "You just said that I am the best person to make this decision, but I'm not, I don't know what you know; May, what would you do?" Phil asks.
"I can't make this decision, Phil," Melinda admits. "I'm not objective," Melinda says.
"What does that even mean?" Phil asks. "May, you mean everything to me, there is nothing you can say that would change that," Phil admits. "I once told you that I'd willingly face any danger for you, and I meant that," Phil informs Melinda, as he reaches out and puts his hand on Melinda's leg.
"I know you did," Melinda admits, and as she does she can feel the familiar love, and support, that she feels every time she is touching Phil, or close enough, but she also feels that he is determined to find out the truth which means if she doesn't tell him he may search for answers on his own. "I know about the Kree, because they created my people," Melinda reveals. "Thousands of years ago when the Kree came to earth they experimented on humans, used their blood, other substances to create a species that came to call ourselves Inhumans," Melinda explains. "The Kree wanted Inhumans to be their weapons, cannonfotter, but they refused. There was a rebellion, the Kree were either killed or driven from the earth. One of those killed Kree is likely the Host you know about, and my people continued on, staying hidden for various reasons including making sure we never came to the attention of the Kree again," Melinda reveals.
"You're not human?" Phil asks, trying to digest everything, and because Phil's hand is still on Melinda's leg she feels that he is surprise, but she doesn't feel any change to his other emotions. Melinda still feels the same amount of love, and support, but she also feels that he is relieved to finally know the truth.
"Not completely," Melinda reveals, and once again Phil's emotions don't change. "My mothers the leader of our people, that's why she knew about SHIELD before I joined up. I grew up in the safe place she created for our people," Melinda explains.
"I'm really glad to know the truth," Phil admits, and Melinda can feel that.
"I'm glad I told you," Melinda admits as by feeling how glad Phil is she knows she made the right decision. "Because you're everything to me too," Melinda admits.
As he hears May confirm what he has been doubting for so long Phil, deciding it is finally time, leans forward and kisses her, and even though it takes her a few seconds to adjust to the overwhelming emotion she is feeling from Phil Melinda responds to the kiss too, and after a few moments they break apart.
"That was…" Phil starts to say.
"A long time coming," Melinda finishes. "Phil, if the serum is working to bring people back, then that could be a very good thing, but if you think the side effects are horrific, then shut the project down," Melinda tells Phil. "I just don't think the Kee should be destroyed because the serum may cause side effects on humans, but that doesn't mean it won't be able to help Inhumans, and my people are sometimes desperately in need of help," Melinda admits, as while she knows it might be rather difficult to get the serum from SHIELD doesn't mean it's impossible and it could be good to have the option if needed.
"I'm going to resign from the project, recommend shutting it down; I won't say anything about the host, I doubt Fury will get rid of it," Phil admits, as he knows that it is unlike Fury to destroy something that powerful.
"Thank you," Melinda says, if she could feel grateful she would be feeling exactly that.
"Melinda, I know you're worried about me, and I don't know all the dangers you've faced, but I still want to know everything about you; I don't want there be to any more secrets," Phil admits.
"It might take me a while to explain everything," Melinda admits. "And won't be easy for me to do so, but okay," Melinda admits. "How about you stay tonight," Melinda suggests, knowing that Daisy won't find anything odd about Phil being there early in the morning.
"I'd like that," Phil admits, smiling, and the two of them get up and head into Melinda's bedroom, while they have a lot to talk about, neither want to have those particular conversations right now.