Six
"Nice ring you have there," Clint remarked as he jogged alongside Emily the following morning. She nearly rolled her eyes at the tone of his voice. Considering he was there to keep an eye on her while being away from his family, she understood his annoyance. She'd taken a risk in getting together with McCoy again. After everything that happened between them, she understood why Clint was so annoyed with her actions. "I'm assuming it's McCoy's?"
"Relax, Barton," she brushed off his concern, knowing full-well he would never be happy with the way McCoy treated her. Truthfully she was worried over what would happen if she was suddenly given a new assignment. The thought had occurred to her from time to time; working for the agency meant that there was always a chance she would be reassigned just when they were getting comfortable with each other again. "Leonard and I have already talked about how we would handle the next couple of years at the Academy. Neither of us are ready for that step yet."
Even if that was what McCoy wanted. She knew from his body language that he wanted more. Yet she didn't feel ready. There was a part of her that wondered if she would ever feel ready. She found it ironic considering that was what she longed for when she was younger. As time moved on and McCoy chose Pamela over her, she realized there was more to life than getting married and starting a family. That topped with the fact that she had so much more to learn didn't help.
What hurt the most was knowing that he had chosen Pamela over her even after they talked about getting married months prior to that mess. He felt guilty enough for what happened between them, but the fact that she didn't feel ready made it worse. She wanted to know what it was like to have that sort of life… Clint and Laura had given her a small taste of it, but she wanted to experience it herself. Domestic bliss at it's finest.
"You do realize I'm not the only one who's annoyed with him, right?" Clint reminded her with a pointed look. Emily's brows furrowed together at the unveiled threat in his voice. It took a lot to piss him off, but once he was pissed off it also took a lot to calm him down. "Coulson's already threatened to have his sorry ass arrested on more than one occasion, and frankly, I don't blame him for feeling that way."
"Then he'd have to arrest me as well," Emily retorted without missing a beat. Clint threw her an incredulous look when she brushed off his threat. She knew it was more than that, and she understood why he was so concerned for her well-being. He'd seen her at her lowest point, and he was there to pull her out of the hole she dug. The last thing he wanted was for her to go through that again. "I know that you, Tony and Papa will never be happy with the choices I've made. But I'm happy with Leonard… he's always been my best friend and that will never change."
Clint just rolled his eyes in exasperation when he realized she would always jump to McCoy's defense. As annoyed as he was with her situation, he knew there was no point in carrying on the argument. Once her mind was made up, there was no changing it. Clint had quickly learned just how stubborn she was when it came to defending the people she cared about, even when they constantly pushed her down to the point of self-destruction.
Even so, she didn't blame them for being so concerned. Clint had seen her at her lowest point, and Coulson saw a good majority of it as well. The archer had helped her through her recovery process when she was admitted to the ICU multiple times. She knew that he was worried that she would reach that point in her life again, and truthfully, she was concerned herself. The last thing she wanted was for things to go horribly wrong, but life was unpredictable.
"Alright, fine," he finally relented once it became clear she wouldn't change her mind, "But if he does anything to hurt you it'll be the last thing he does. I'm tired of dragging your sorry ass back to the ICU."
Emily grimaced at the hidden threat in his voice. She understood what she was getting herself into. Guilt stabbed her in the chest as she thought of the many times Clint dragged her to the ICU when he found her in whatever conditions warranted such a visit. She held back a sigh of frustration as he left it at that, knowing full-well that this wouldn't be the end of their conversation. He was equally as stubborn as she could be, if not more when it came to keeping the people he cared about safe.
God knows what I did to deserve a friend like that, she thought bitterly.
She tried pushing those thoughts aside. Clint was like a brother to her. She knew he cared because he'd been there for her when she needed a friend. The last thing she wanted was to push him away over a petty relationship. Yet she also knew that she couldn't ignore the bond she had with McCoy. It was something that needed to be addressed. She'd always felt a strong bond with him even when they were younger, and she suspected that he felt it as well. Acknowledging the bond meant they could work on figuring out how to move forward with it.
Then there was the notion that she could feel his emotions every now and then. She had a feeling there was more to the bond than she first imagined. She heard of those who could communicate telepathically with others, such as Vulcans who were touch telepaths. Betazoids were complete telepaths who could not only read minds but communicate with others as well. She only knew so much about Betazoids and what they were fully capable of.
Her brows furrowed together as she came to a stop at a nearby park. With it being the weekend and McCoy currently working at the medical center, the time off gave her the chance to ponder over the possibilities of being telepathic. She wasn't sure where to begin when it came to communicating with someone telepathically. Carefully she pictured what it would be like and what it would feel like. With no training there wasn't much to go by, but it wasn't long before she could feel McCoy's emotions once more.
'Leonard?' She called out his name silently, not knowing whether or not anything would come from it.
A few seconds of silence followed, and she wasn't sure if she had been successful or not. She did know that if her theory was right, then she had a lot of explaining to do. It wasn't as if she planned on forcing anyone into a bond, especially one as strong as theirs. When they were younger she hadn't thought much of it, aside from the electrical shockwaves she would sometimes feel.
'What the hell? Emily?' She almost smirked at the confusion that followed, along with mixed panic. She knew it would take time to adjust, but they would in time. 'How am I hearing your voice in my head?
'I'm not entirely sure,' she admitted guiltily. 'I wanted to make sure you weren't performing surgery or any of the likes… It's something I've been meaning to talk about for a while now.'
The silence that followed was enough for her heart to race a little faster. He wouldn't be happy knowing that someone could read his thoughts and emotions so easily. It was something she had been trying to work on for some time now… controlling it was a whole different issue. Yet the confusion and panic was quickly replaced with something unexpected.
'Well I'm glad you didn't try this while I was in the surgical suite.' Emily struggled not to smirk in amusement as she imagined the eye-roll that would follow. 'Look, I've got a workload to pull off this afternoon; we can talk about what the hell is going on tonight.'
She held back a sigh at that. She knew full-well she was in for an earful when that moment came. McCoy was far more accepting of her than most people realized. But when it came to issues like reading thoughts or sharing thoughts, that was a whole different story. She had been trying to figure out how to reach out to him without causing too much panic, and thankfully that trick seemed to work.
It wasn't until her com went off a second time that she looked down to see that Coulson had sent a message. Emily couldn't help but cringe as she recalled how he would react to them seeing each other again. He wasn't thrilled in the first place that she kept in touch with McCoy. After hours of relentless arguing with each other over whether or not she was sane, Coulson finally dropped the subject.
He realized that she would go behind his back just to prove her point. It was a quality of hers that he'd always been irritated with, though he never tried undermining her for it. Emily was grateful for that notion… she could already imagine how different her life would have been had she listened to him without putting up a fight.
Once that was established, she finished showering and headed back to campus to work on her studies. Ever since she enlisted she focused her attention on memorizing everything that regarded her classes. Throughout that time her mind kept wandering to the fact that she and McCoy needed to discuss the bond they shared, and the fact that the bond had been likely forced on him. She couldn't help but worry over the way he would react when she explained the situation to him, especially since they only just started seeing each other again.
"So I take it you and Bones spent the night together again?" Emily grimaced at the sound of Kirk's voice when he finally found her. They shared more than a few classes together. Kirk had been trying to wedge his way into her life after seeing how close they were. "He didn't come back to the dorm the other night."
Figures he'd share a room with the one guy who's good at making guesses, she nearly rolled her eyes in annoyance. Yet when she saw he was sincerely concerned for his roommate, Emily held back a sigh of frustration. McCoy had made his point perfectly clear with Kirk. He wasn't entirely thrilled having some 'kid' share a room with him, especially one that decided to bring a woman with him the following evening just when classes started. It was bad enough that he had to deal with that in med school; the last thing he needed was that kind of stress now.
"He wasn't particularly fond with the idea of you bringing a woman to your dorm," she finally retorted. Kirk merely rose an eyebrow in amusement at the memory of seeing an angry McCoy averting his gaze. That had been a fun argument. His ears were still ringing from the shouting that ensued, along with the swearing that still permeated the silence. "We made an agreement to share the apartment if he feels the need to."
"You have your own apartment?" he asked in surprise.
She wanted to go along with the 'I don't get along well with people' excuse. But Kirk would see right through her ruse. After seeing her interact with Uhura, Gaila and McCoy, he knew she managed to talk to strangers. Getting along with a roommate was a whole different story. She tried pushing those thoughts aside, knowing full-well nothing good would come out of saying it out loud.
"It was an arrangement I made before I arrived here," she explained with a shrug. "I have… issues sharing a room with someone I don't know."
Emily narrowed her eyes at the last part. She wasn't entirely sure if that was the best way to word it, but luckily Kirk got the message. Thankfully he left it at that, though not without casting a curious look her way as she turned to leave. She'd already sent McCoy a warning message that she was meeting with Coulson for dinner that evening.
After managing to find a way to reach him telepathically through their bond, they had a lot more to discuss. She supposed she was saved from having that conversation for tonight. She tried pushing those uneasy thoughts aside as she reached the diner Coulson had chosen for them to meet.
He had been on a mission for the past week since classes started. Though he was rather vague with his information, it became obvious from the detailed reports she found that he and his team were in Antarctica. She knew his team must have found something important if he was willing to meet with her just a few days after returning.
Coulson was already waiting for her when she arrived. Neither hesitated in greeting one another with a hug. Moments like these were few and in between. Ever since she started going on her own missions, they saw less and less of each other. Coulson always made a point to reach out to her whenever he had the chance. After the way she spiraled to the point of self-destruction, he never wanted her to go down that path again. Though in her defense, she had no intentions of going down that path again.
"It's good to see you again, Papa," she said once official greetings were put to the side.
"Likewise," he returned the gesture. They took their seats in the back of the diner. The diner itself had a 1950's style decor within. About the only telltale signs of it being in the twenty-third century was the fact that the menus were all modern. Once drinks and food was ordered, they settled into casual conversation. "How have classes been going?"
"They've been going," she replied with a shrug. "I've managed to make a few friends at the Academy…"
She trailed off when she noticed Coulson looking at the ring McCoy had given her. Emily couldn't help but cringe when she caught the withering look that followed. Clint had warned her that he wasn't happy with McCoy for treating her the way he had. And when they talked about it weeks ago, he hadn't been happy. While Coulson knew she would just go behind to break the rules, that didn't stop him from admitting how pissed he was with her choice.
"Barton told me you and McCoy are together again," he finally deadpanned. Emily held back a sigh of frustration as she braced herself for the lecture that would follow. She'd heard the song and dance enough times to know where it was headed. "How many times is this guy gonna break your heart before enough is enough?"
"Look, I've already told Clint time and time again that it's my happiness that matters," she retorted. She glanced at the ring doubtfully. The conversation she had with McCoy the other night still rang in the back of her head. She suddenly found herself wondering whether or not it was right to believe they could move forward. After the bitter divorce he had with Pamela, it took years still for them to move forward. And before that her life had been a mess. "My feelings for Leonard have never really gone away, and I don't think they ever will."
Coulson looked as though he was ready to continue the argument when he seemed to think better of it. Relief swept through her when he decided to change the subject. She knew she would likely pay the price for choosing McCoy again, but at least this gave her a small break. He went over what happened in Antarctica, from the beginning of the expedition to what the team had most recently discovered.
"It was amazing," he said while she went over the files he slid across the table. Their food had arrived earlier, and they both started eating while discussing his mission. "We were just about to pack up and leave when Agent Miles found something on the radar. The anomaly's readings were similar to the Tesseract we found years ago. Imagine our surprise when we found that World War II fighter jet in the ice, along with something else."
Emily eyed the photos curiously. She recognized the readings of the Tesseract almost immediately. They were similar to her own. Not once had Coulson ever questioned why the readings were so similar, but Director Fury had a few scientists run research on them. It was obvious they were similar in many ways, but Emily found herself wanting nothing to do with the strange object.
"This really is amazing, Papa," she remarked thoughtfully. "And you said he's still alive even after all this time?"
She knew what a huge fan Coulson was of Captain America. So she wasn't too surprised with his reaction. If anything, she found the whole thing amusing when she thought of how he would often praise the Captain during one of his many lectures. He would always tell stories about Captain America whenever she and McCoy were younger. Those stories had always fascinated her when she was younger, along with McCoy's father's stories about when he traveled abroad.
"Somehow he managed to survive being frozen in the ice," Coulson replied with a nod. "The nurses and doctors think that being frozen helped keep him from aging throughout the last four hundred years. That kind of technology was used in the past, but that was also two hundred years ago during the Eugenics War."
A shiver of unease crawled through her when he mentioned the Eugenics War. It was something neither of them had been fond of talking about. She knew if she had been around back in that time, she would have likely followed the same fate as the other Augments. Not all of them had been so keen as to follow Khan's every order. There were a few who'd turned against him and tried helping civilians fleeing the warpath. They were the ones who paid the highest price, not just from their own kind but from the civilians they helped rescue.
"Have they been able to find the right sequencing? I'm sure if Leonard were to look into it he'd be able to figure something out," she said thoughtfully.
After all, he was a scientist as well. He'd studied medical science for nearly three years in med school before graduating with his PhD.
"He's already been revived," Coulson said without missing a beat. His eyes narrowed at the mention of McCoy. The doctor was one of the few outsiders who knew about the agency and willingly worked on a few cases… much like his father before him. Coulson might have been pissed with the man for hurting his baby girl, but he wasn't stupid. He knew a good doctor when he saw one, and as much as he hated to admit it, McCoy was gifted in his field. "He's being moved to the base here in the city as we speak."
She gave a nod of understanding and took a bite out of her salad. Though it only took a split second for his words to register. Her brows furrowed together when she caught the look he was giving her.
"Wait a minute… you said he's being moved here to this base… as in right now?" she asked in concern. Coulson gave a reluctant nod of his own, and Emily held back a sigh of frustration as she realized where this was headed. "Papa, you of all people know that I'm busy enough as it is without this eating away at my schedule."
"Yet you have enough time to be with McCoy." Coulson threw her words right back at her, and she hated every second of it. Her eyes narrowed with annoyance when she realized what he was doing. "Look, I'm not just saying this to be cruel. We need someone who has an understanding of what it's like to be different. You grew up on Starships; it was a culture shock for you when you woke up on Earth. That's how it will be for him when he recovers."
Emily glanced down at the photo once again. He was right about her past. Try as she might to deny it, she still had a lot of growing up to do. Memories of her time aboard the Kelvin and the Atlantis suddenly came rushing back. Memories she would have rather kept buried. The last thing she wanted was to relive those days, even if she had an eidetic memory.
"We've agreed to take things slowly for now," she let out a quiet sigh once Coulson paid the tab and led the way outside. "I have this… bond with him that never really went away. When we met up again it only seemed to get stronger."
"How'd he take it?" Coulson asked after raising an eyebrow in surprise.
He of all people knew how McCoy could be. McCoy was very much like his father – he had a terrible bedside manner that was infamous within the Academy. Yet Emily also knew him as someone who cared deeply about his patients. Try as he might to deny it, McCoy cared a hell of a lot more than most people realized.
"We still haven't talked about it," she admitted guiltily. "We planned on talking about it tonight, but then you sent me that message."
Coulson frowned as he understood what she meant by that. Try as she might to deny it, she was annoyed that their nightly outings had been disrupted. But at least this time it was for a good reason. He suddenly pulled her into a warm embrace, ignoring the way she stiffened in surprise at his sudden contact.
After watching her grow from the toddler she was when he adopted her to who she was now, he wasn't surprised by her reaction. He'd worked for years to gain her trust and ensure that she was comfortable around people. That didn't stop the years of instinct and memories from taking over.
"Em, I'm not gonna keep arguing with you over the choices you make," he let out a heavy sigh when they reluctantly pulled apart. "But I do want to remind you that if he ever tries hurting you again, it'll be the last thing he does. Doctor or not, I won't let him hurt my baby girl."
"I think even he's well aware not to cross that path again," she said with a small laugh.
He merely looked at her in surprise when he noticed it was the first time in years he'd ever seen her so carefree. It was also the first time he'd heard her laugh in years as well. And it was enough for him to offer a warm smile as realization dawned on him. As annoyed as he was with McCoy for what he had done, she seemed happier. And that was all that mattered to him.
AN: I guess I should warn readers that the timeline for the Avenger's universe is going to be way off and it likely won't make any sense. Hopefully I've written it well enough that it won't confuse anyone.