Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
Season 3, Episode 14
"Watchdogs"
This is a fanfic based upon the incredible television series, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., specifically Season 3, Episode 14, "Watchdogs". This story contains corporal discipline (spanking) between two consenting adult females. If that is not your thing, no problem… go no further.
I do not own rights to any of the 'Marvel-ous' characters or Agents of SHIELD plot lines; this is simply a work of fan fiction. All writing in italics is direct script/actions from the show, and is not my creation. Enjoy!
Summary:
The mission to locate former agent Blake is disrupted when Mack's brother, Ruben, shows up at the scene and alerts the Watchdogs to a SHIELD presence. Mack proceeds to give Daisy orders… which she promptly chooses not to follow.
….
Scene: 22:52-23:54, 24:05-24:32, 24:57-25:45
Mack: "We're done. Go to black."
Daisy: "No, no! We can still…"
Mack: "There are too many! Go to black!"
Daisy sighs.
Mack: "Are you good to get out of here? I've got to go put a lid on this," he gestures toward where his brother just sped off on his motorcycle.
Daisy: "Yeah. Yeah, we got it." …
Mack leaves, in hot pursuit of his brother before the latter can divulge any classified information…
Fitz begins to pack up.
Daisy: "Go." She turns to run off.
Fitz: "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! What are you doing? We said we'd fall back."
Daisy: "I have a shot at stopping Blake. I'm taking it! Call the module. I'll be back."
Before Fitz can respond, Daisy takes off back toward the barn/gathering of Watchdogs.
Due to Daisy's choice to disobey orders, Fitz is shot with nitramene… a chemical bomb that will cause imminent implosion. Daisy abducts a Watchdog in order to gain more information about it, and Fitz is able to deduce that freezing the nitramene on his neck may halt the process. Daisy retrieves a container of liquid nitrogen from the containment module, and is fortunately able to save Fitz.
…..
"He's going to be all right."
Much to her relief, these happen to be the first words Daisy hears upon entering the SHIELD medical facility that is currently treating Mack. They were being said to Agents Melinda May and Jemma Simmons by a female doctor with olive skin and shoulder-length brown hair.
Jemma sighs, her relief visible. "Thank you so much, Doctor."
"We were able to extract the bullet in one piece. Recovery time should be about one month. He should refrain from any physical exertion with his left arm for at least three weeks, and begin PT shortly after that."
May nods, making room for Ruben, Fitz and Daisy as they approach.
"We understand," Jemma says with a smile.
"Can I see him?" Ruben asks, hopefully.
"This is his brother," Fitz explains.
"Give him another 30 minutes in recovery," the doctor advises with a reassuring smile. "Then I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."
The doctor turns to go and only now gets a good look at Daisy. "Ahh, Agent Skye, isn't it? You're looking much, much better than the last time I saw you." And with a smile, she walks off.
Daisy blinks and looks around at the others. "W-wait… what? How does she know me?" she asks, bewildered.
"She was one of the SHIELD doctors who worked on you after… after you were shot by Quinn1," Jemma explains, with a pained expression. It's clear that the memory still troubles her.
"Ah. Okay," Skye replies, a bit rattled by this.
"Wait… you've been shot?" Ruben asks Daisy, apparently impressed. "And who is Skye?"
May leads the way back to the waiting room couches and sits. The others follow suit, Daisy explaining as they walk.
"So, how did it go?" May asks, nodding to Daisy and Fitz.
The two exchange a look. "Um, well… we had a few complications, actually…" Fitz begins, rubbing his sore neck.
Jemma frowns, moving to Fitz' side and pulling his hand away. "Fitz! What happened?" she asks, looking at the strange mark left there by the nitramene.
And so Leo and Daisy launch into the story… about how Ruben turned up unexpectedly on a motorcycle, drawing the Watchdogs out to the attack. In an effort not to get Daisy in trouble, Leo states simply that while he was distracted packing up, a Watchdog snuck up and made the shot on him.
May blinks, looking alarmed, then turns her fierce gaze toward her protégé. "Where were you?" she asks sharply.
"Oh… Daisy couldn't have done anything," Leo hastens to say. He ignores Daisy's surprised look, so as not to call attention to it. "She did save me though after, freezing it before I imploded."
"But enough about that," Daisy insists in a would-be nonchalant manner. This isn't lost on May, nor Jemma, who certainly wants to know more. Daisy turns to Ruben and asks, "so, how did Mack get shot? Or should I say… Alfie?" she adds with a pronounced laugh.
Now Ruben launches into his own account of the battle in his home, of which Daisy only half attends to. She can't believe that Fitz, who by all accounts should blame her, just lied to save her skin.
"… Then, for some weird reason, he taped a butcher knife to the end of the shotgun…"
"It's strategic," May explains matter-of-factly. "A shot gun is of little use in close combat. He made it both a long and short-range weapon."
The doctor reappears at this point. "All right, Alphonso is awake and requesting visitors. I'm afraid we have to limit it to only three at a time, though," she states apologetically.
Daisy steps forward, but May's hand on her arm stays her.
"You three… go ahead." Melinda nods to Ruben, Jemma and Fitz.
Daisy blinks, then watches them follow the doctor through double doors. "May, what..?
May drops her arm and looks pointedly into Daisy's eyes. "I'm not buying it," she says, in the quiet tone that always makes Daisy wish she would just yell instead.
Daisy carefully masks her features into a polite look of puzzlement. "May, what do you…"
At this moment Coulson enters the facility, spots May and Daisy and makes a beeline for them. Lincoln follows behind.
"I expect the whole story. Soon," May declares under her breath.
….
Fifteen minutes later, Coulson has been filled in on most of what happened with the rest of his team, and the doctor reappears with Ruben, Leo and Jemma.
"You're up," Fitz says, nodding to the director.
"Come on," May says to Daisy, and they too follow Coulson and the doctor.
…
"Hey there… Alfie," Daisy teases gently as she enters Mack's room a moment later.
Mack chuckles and shakes his head. "Oh… I see I'll be having words with my brother."
As Daisy giggles and sits herself on the edge of Mack's bed, May and Coulson approach.
The Director is the first to ask. "How are you feeling?"
Mack shrugs, then grimaces at the pain this causes. "Oh, you know. Like I've been shot. You know how it is."
"I sure do," Daisy laments.
"Yeah, me too," agrees May, who's been shot multiple times.
"Yeah, it's awful," Phil agrees.
Melinda turns to him with an incredulous look. "How would you know?"
Coulson blinks. "I was shot. Twice."
"What? When?" Daisy asks in surprise.
Coulson looks around at them, indignant. "Really? I was shot in the back twice! When we were pulling that ruse on Bakshi2…"
May rolls her eyes. "Oh please… you were not actually shot."
"Well, maybe not, but those squibs really hurt!" he states in a whine.
Everyone laughs at this. Even May manages a chuckle.
Once that dies down, Mack turns earnestly to Coulson. "Sir… I hate to ask. I know we don't have many agents to spare. But… I'm worried about my brother. Worried that those rabid Watchdogs will come to the house again."
Phil holds up a hand. "Say no more. I'll have two agents stationed at the house round-the-clock for the next few weeks. How does that sound?"
"Perfect," Mack replies, looking relieved. "Thank you, sir."
"Do you think there's any other kind of help he may need?"
Mack considers this a moment before responding, "a therapist, maybe".
May shifts uncomfortably at this, and Daisy hastens to change the subject.
"Sooo, hey 'Alfie'…"
"Oh no, that is not going to become a 'thing'," Mack declares, glaring playfully at Daisy. "The only person I'll accept that from is my mom." Now eager to change the subject himself, he adds, "so, what happened after I took off after Ruben?"
Daisy tries to cover up her sudden nervousness by sticking to, albeit omitting certain, facts. This doesn't cut it however, when May interjects.
"Apparently Fitz got shot. With that nitramene crap…"
"Wait…" Mack looks thoroughly confused. "Fitz got shot? With the chemical compound that causes buildings to implode?!"
May nods, glancing at Daisy and wondering why she's not filling in these gaps.
"But, how?" Mack turns his attention back to his partner. "I told you both to go black. You should have been right behind me, out of there."
Daisy stammers for a moment, before pulling herself together enough to say, "oh, it… it just took Fitz a minute to pack up."
Coulson carefully watches the agent that is so much like a daughter to him. He's impressed with how far she's come in her skills under interrogation, but as the director of SHIELD who took part in training her, he knows that something is amiss. He exchanges a glance with May who seems to be of the same wavelength.
Soon, the doctor returns to give Mack a dose of painkillers, and his guests file out to let him get some rest. Ruben returns to stay with Mack, while the agents return to the base.
Upon arrival, Jemma immediately whisks Fitz away to the lab to check him over, and rule out any residual nitramene on his skin. Daisy excuses herself to go take a shower. Upon exiting the shower, she sees a notification on her phone. It's from May, instructing her to head to Coulson's office when she's done. Daisy immediately becomes nervous, taking her time applying lotion to her skin and drying her hair. All the while obsessing about what this meeting might be about.
Finally, Daisy makes her way upstairs to the director's office and takes a deep breath before knocking on the door. Upon hearing, "come in" she hitches on a carefree smile and pushes open the door. That smile fades however, when she sees Fitz also in the room, sitting across the desk from Coulson and May, and failing miserably at hiding his nervousness.
"Uh… hey," Daisy says casually, closing the door behind her.
"Have a seat," May orders, pointing to the chair next to Fitz.
Daisy obeys, sitting down and forcing a smile at Leo.
Unbeknownst to the two young agents, their superiors have conferred, and come up with a strategy to coax the truth out of their little hacker. They employ this strategy now.
"Well, Daisy…" Coulson begins. "From the story you both told us, it seems that you were quite an exemplary agent today."
Daisy blinks, then stares at Coulson, then May. Both are wearing looks of intense pride.
"I mean, first, you manage to use your hacking skills to find out the secret meeting place of the Watchdogs? Even the FBI and CIA weren't able to manage that. Then, well, if you hadn't been there to get and work the nitrogen, it sounds as if Fitz would have died. Not only that, but he may have taken you and this entire plane with him." Phil points out. "You saved his life, and numerous other agents as well."
Daisy struggles not to fidget, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Oh… well… I don't…"
"And abducting that Watchdog? Having the foresight to bring him along for information? That was genius. Really," May adds, eyebrows raised. If possible, she looks impressed.
"We really just want to tell you that we are so, so proud of you. Excellent work tonight." Coulson finishes, with a beaming smile.
Her heart suddenly stuck in her throat, Daisy is rendered quite speechless. Guilt rises up inside her. She feels herself begin to sweat under this unearned praise.
Coulson now turns his attention to Fitz. "You, however…" he begins gravely. "How could you let this happen, Fitz? Mack told you both to go dark. How long does it take to pack up the drones? I thought you said that you upgraded the drones. Are they still that slow?"
May turns to him as well, her arms crossed over her chest. Before Leo can stammer out a response, she says sharply, "You need to be ready to move at a moment's notice, Fitz. You put both yourself and Daisy in serious danger tonight. Do you realize that?"
Daisy's heart plummets. She sees Fitz' knee start to bounce out of the corner of her eye, and can actually feel the tension and frustration radiating off of him. He slumps back in his seat, his eyes downcast.
Coulson frowns. "What? You really have nothing to say for yourself?"
May sighs with disappointment. "If that's the case, Fitz, I want you to start reporting to me every morning for some physical drills. We'll see if we can't increase your speed a bit."
Fitz' jaw drops, and Daisy feels like she's been kicked in the stomach. Workouts with May can be brutal… it's a cruel and unfair punishment for a scientist.
Predictably, Daisy finally loses her cool, her conscience overcoming her sense of self-preservation.
"No… no, wait. Please May… sir…"
"That's my decision, Daisy. You both could have been killed tonight. I won't have it," May says dismissively, moving to leave the room.
"No, but, it's… I-I'm, he…"
Coulson merely shrugs and gestures to the door. "You're dismissed."
"No, but… WAIT!" Daisy shrieks suddenly.
May stops at the door and gives Daisy a sharp look. "Daisy…"
But the young hacker plows on ahead before she can stop herself. "It.. it wasn't Fitz' fault tonight! He lied to cover for me. I… I'm the one who screwed up," she admits, squeezing her eyes shut tight.
Fitz gives an audible sigh of relief. The rest of the room falls silent until…
"Yeah. We know."
Daisy's eyes fly open to stare at Coulson. "You do?" she asks, dejectedly.
May wears a triumphant smirk as she reenters the room. She crosses her arms once again and addresses her ward. "You seriously think you can fool us?"
Daisy sighs heavily and shakes her head. She really did know better. "No. I don't. I'm so, so sorry." Having been caught, the rest of her confession spills out of her like a raging rapid. "Mack told us to go black, then left, but I was *so sure* that we would find Blake in that barn, so I told Fitz to go ahead and I would catch up, and I went to surveil…"
"So… let me get this straight," Coulson interrupts, holding up a finger. "Your superior officer, the lead on this mission, told you to do something. Something that would keep you and another agent safe. And you disobeyed that order. Due to disobeying that order, your fellow agent was shot."
Daisy glances at Fitz and feels a lump growing in her throat at this. She nods.
The Director frowns deeply. "Daisy… I would have thought that you'd have learned your lesson in Italy. You know… when you ignored orders, went off on your own and you were shot twice in the stomach?" Coulson looks at her incredulously. "And now this time, Fitz was shot. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but… we're all lucky that he was only hit with that nitramene."
May puts her hands on the desk and leans forward to emphasize her piercing stare. "What if it had been a real bullet that had hit Fitz in the neck? He wouldn't even be here to lie for you."
At this, moisture prickles in Daisy's eyes and she is rendered speechless once more. After a long moment of trying to keep her emotions in check, she turns to Fitz and mouths the words, "I'm so sorry."
Fitz just nods, relieved that the truth is out and that he's not in trouble. Or so he thinks.
Coulson turns to him next, disapproval written all over his face. "And Fitz… I appreciate that you wanted to keep Daisy out of trouble, but… you lied to us. She isn't some little rookie anymore. You need to let her lie in the beds that she makes."
"Actually," May interjects, "this is not the first time that you have watched her defy orders and put herself in danger. So, better yet… you have *got to* learn to stand up to her," she chides quietly.
Leo knows immediately what Agent May is referring to. It's one of the only past situations that Fitz may never fully forgive himself for. Letting Daisy, or Skye at the time, disobey orders and go after Ian Quinn all by herself… resulting in her literally dying. That had been his fault. He hadn't even tried to stop her.
Watching Fitz' chastisement makes Daisy feel even worse. "Please," she begs, "please don't blame him. For any of it. This was all my fault."
May nods, and states in her no-nonsense tone, "It's good that you're finally admitting it." Then, without further ado: "Go to your room. Now."
Daisy blinks. It feels so weird to have a parental figure actually send her to her room. Before she can mull that over for too long though, she gives Fitz' shoulder a squeeze and hurries out of the office…
…
The two top-ranking SHIELD agents turn their attention back to Fitz, who is still looking troubled. "So, what do you say?" Coulson asks him, not unkindly. "Do you think you can start standing up to Skye?"
"Daisy," May corrects him automatically.
"Damn it," Phil mutters. "Yeah, Daisy."
Fitz thinks about this. "I… I'll try my best, sir."
May stares at him for a moment, then says quietly to Coulson, "She is impossibly stubborn sometimes."
Fitz nods fervently in agreement, glad that May said it so he hadn't had to.
Coulson stifles a grin. "Okay. You'll do your best. Dismi…"
But May cuts Coulson off with a sharp look. They seem to communicate telepathically for a moment, then Phil gestures, as if to say 'go ahead'.
Melinda nods, and turns her piercing gaze back to Fitz. "Listen. This is not the first time you have lied to us. You lied about Daisy's DNA results after her experience in the underwater temple3. Now you're lying about her actions on a mission."
Coulson's sees the young man swallow hard. "I know you just want to protect her, Fitz. Believe me… I can relate," he admits sheepishly.
May narrowly avoids rolling her eyes. "But when is it ever all right to lie to your S.O.s?" she asks, returning them to the point.
Fitz knows the correct answer to this. "Never," he mutters.
May nods. "So… we need to take care of this. Tomorrow morning, your room, 8:00."
Leo resists the urge to groan, and merely nods instead.
May nods to Coulson.
"Dismissed".
Fitz wastes no time escaping the room.
Phil sighs and loosens his tie. His pulls a bottle of bourbon out of his desk and two glasses.
"Just a single," May says simply. "I have business to take care of."
Phil grimaces and can't help himself. "You know… no agent is perfect, May…"
She cuts him off with a raised hand. She doesn't need to hear Coulson defend his precious 'little girl' yet again. "It's going to happen. Deal with it."
Coulson sighs again and pours himself a double.
Daisy knows what's coming. She's had plenty of experience with this by now, yet that never makes it easier. It has been a while though, and Daisy had almost forgotten just how awful the wait and anticipation are. She spends this wait pacing back and forth across her room.
When a knock sounds on her door, a racing heart follows. She knows that there is no delaying the inevitable, so she meekly calls out, "come in".
The door opens and much to Daisy's surprise, Jemma walks in. The scientist is all warm, oblivious smiles, which helps Daisy relax a bit right away.
"Hi there," Jemma says brightly, moving to sit in the chair from Daisy's desk.
"Um… hi, Jem. What's up?" Daisy asks, sitting on her bed.
"Well, I just wanted to stop by and check on you," her friend exclaims. "Fitz was shot tonight, Mack was shot… you saved Fitz! Thank you, by the way. Are you all right?"
"Oh… oh, yeah, Jems. I'm fine. I didn't get hurt or… or anything."
"Thank goodness," Jemma smiles. "So, you heard Blake's voice, but never saw him? I wonder…"
Another knock.
Daisy gives a small gasp, and then her mouth goes completely dry.
Jemma looks concerned over the change in her friend.
After a long moment of silence, Jemma mutters, "are you going to get that? Do you want me to…?"
Daisy just nods, so Jemma hops up and opens the door.
"Oh… hello, Agent May."
Daisy gulps and pulls her knees up to her chest.
"Jemma." May looks past the scientist to the nervous girl on the bed. "You'll have to visit with Daisy tomorrow."
Jemma looks confused, even a bit affronted. That is, until she notices the paddle in May's hand.
"What? May, no…"
"Jemma," Melinda sighs wearily. "Please mind your own business."
Something has apparently overcome Jemma's senses though, as she stands her ground. "May, Daisy saved Fitz today! What could you possibly be about to punish her for?"
Daisy tries to speak up, but fails.
"I don't have to tell you that," May states dangerously, through gritted teeth. "Now go on."
"But May… "
Melinda sighs, turns Jemma and lands one warning swat with the paddle on her backside. "If Daisy wants to share with you later why I am about to tan her hide, that's up to her. If not, then it is none of your business. Respect that. Now, out," she demands, guiding Jemma out of the room and shutting the door firmly.
As May turns toward her, Daisy is overcome by a feeling she hasn't had in a long time. The agent who became an Inhuman who became a team leader suddenly feels young, helpless, child-like… as the only woman who has ever truly felt like a mother to her gazes at her disapprovingly. She feels like a naughty child about to be brought to task. This feeling brings tears to her eyes immediately, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Melinda.
May takes a seat in the chair that Simmons has just vacated, and places the paddle behind her on the desk. She allows a long moment of silence to pass.
Finally. "Daisy?"
The hacker quickly wipes her eyes and tries to remind herself who she really is. "Mmm?"
May searches for what to say. She wishes she could read the young woman's mind. In the end, she decides to keep it simple. "Do you know why I'm about to punish you?"
The response is a sniffle and a nod.
May experiences a tightness in her chest. She's absolutely no longer accustomed to seeing the street-wise hacker this vulnerable. Suddenly the last thing she wants to do is to punish her d… no. She can't think of her that way. She is Daisy's S.O., an agent, and this is just her responsibility.
"Do you have anything to say?" she forces herself to ask.
For some odd reason, Daisy suddenly looks pained. Melinda is about to feel concerned when Daisy finally speaks.
"I… I didn't find the location of the Watchdogs meet-up online. I…" she trails off.
Melinda watches her carefully. "You what? What did you do?"
Daisy takes a shaky breath, and a few tears roll down her cheeks. "I tracked down one of the Watchdogs and I… I interrogated him. I used my powers to… to intimidate him. To terrorize him. Mack told me I shouldn't, but I did it anyway. Because I wanted answers." This confession rushes out of her, her guilty conscience pushing it forward.
May considers this. Moving past the initial instinct to be angry over another apparent act of disobedience, she actually puts judgment aside and thinks.
Finally, May allows a crack in her walls. "Well, you should have listened to Mack. But… I have done the same thing. Many times. I figured in the moment that the 'ends justified the means'," she admits. "You'll have to be the one to eventually determine whether that method is worth the weight on your conscience."
Momentarily struck by this unexpected, logical response, Daisy just stares at May with her lips parted in thought. Soon, she experiences another pang of guilt. Is that really who she wants to be? Does gaining powers justify becoming the 'schoolyard bully', no matter how righteous the cause?
Melinda watches her protégé carefully, giving her time to process her thoughts.
Finally, Daisy shakes her herself out of her reveries, licks her lips and says quietly, "thank you, May."
May nods, finding nearly all anger and disappointment abated. She hears Coulson's words in her head again… "No agent is perfect." She stifles a small smile in silent agreement even as she thinks, "shut up, Phil."
Figuring that she's given Daisy enough to think about for the time being, May sighs and returns to the matter at hand. She straightens up in the chair and beckons to her ward.
"Ohhhh," Daisy groans, so in character that May has to stifle another smile. The supervising agent waits for further protest, and her charge does not disappoint. "Do we have to?"
Without moving her piercing gaze from Daisy's eyes or even blinking, Melinda responds with, "you tell me."
Daisy immediately groans again and pushes herself up to standing. She knows that she's earned this. As the young woman despondently pushes her pants down she mutters, "I hate it when you do that."
"I know," May replies with a smirk. She guides the grumpy girl over her knees…
No time is wasted in bringing Daisy to justice. A practiced hand falls again and again against a vulnerable backside, causing an echoing 'smack' to reverberate around the room. Daisy, for her part, tries to stay still and accept her come-uppance with dignity, but it has been a while.
About a minute into the punishment, Daisy starts to yelp and squirm with each firm swat. Soon after, the pleading begins. As the pleading is ignored however, the fire igniting in Daisy's backside suddenly causes a whole new side effect…
May blinks as the chair and room around her start to tremble. It takes only a moment for her to register what is going on, and she frowns deeply. "Daisy… don't you dare," she warns, glaring at the back of the girl's head. She delivers another fierce SWAT.
"Ow! Ahhh, it hurts!" Daisy whines. "I can't help it!"
May shakes her head and places a steadying hand on Daisy's back. "Control it," she demands. "You can. Just like I taught you."
The room quakes hard for another moment, then gradually subsides as Daisy closes her eyes and focuses on taking deep, even breaths. By the time it finally stops all-together May feels slightly 'seasick' and doesn't know whether she wants to embrace the girl for getting herself under control, or throttle her for losing it to begin with. She goes with a compromise.
She rubs Daisy's pink behind gently for a minute, soothing the enflamed skin and praising her for getting her emotions back in check. Once Daisy has gone limp and accepting due to this rare gentle touch, May sighs and says, "however, you're not getting off that easily."
True to form, Daisy whines again and tenses slightly. "Oh come on… we can be done, can't we?"
"No," May deadpans. "And if you make this room shake again, I'll start over. With the paddle."
Daisy's jaw just about hits the floor.
"Consider this practice in controlling your powers," May suggests, then continues with Daisy's firm chastisement, quickly reigniting the flames in the young woman's backside…
Fortunately, Melinda isn't forced to follow through on her threat. As she ramps up the intensity of the spanking, she begins to scold… reminding Daisy that she is to obey any lead agent on a mission, and that her choices and actions may put herself and others in serious danger, as they did in this case.
Between focusing on controlling her emotions and listening to May's scolding, Daisy isn't able to focus solely on the physical discomfort she's currently experiencing. For that, she is almost grateful. Almost. She even keeps tears at bay, until her mentor reiterates how lucky she is that Fitz is still alive. The guilt then becomes all-encompassing, and Daisy finally lets out a sob.
"I know," she cries miserably. "I know, I know, I know. Mom, I'm sorry…"
…
The room falls eerily quiet. One can now vaguely hear the recycled air pressing through the base's ventilation shafts. Or at least, May can until her ears fill with a pulsating that can only be coming from her heart beating much too powerfully. Daisy's crying is stifled as she nervously awaits a reaction to what she just unconsciously said.
A long moment passes in which neither woman moves a muscle, and the only sound is a quiet sniffle from Daisy. Feeling overwhelmed with emotion, something that she never allows happen, Melinda's eyes dart desperately around the room, as if the right thing to say will suddenly appear somewhere there. Finally, she loses her mind completely.
She lets out a laugh, scolds, "damn it, Daisy!", lands one more hard SMACK against a red bottom, then uprights her charge and embraces her tightly before Daisy can even say, "ow".
Completely thrown by this reaction, Daisy stumbles slightly, but is kept steady by her mentor's strong arms. As the blood rushes back down from her head, Daisy too manages a laugh, through her tears. "What the…"
"Shhh," May coos, continuing to hold Daisy tight, as if one has just saved the other from a black hole.
And so, Daisy just smiles and lays her head on May's shoulder, allowing feelings to surface that she too has suppressed for a lifetime. The word may have slipped out subconsciously, but it wasn't a mistake. Tears create a wet patch on the older woman's shirt, but no one cares.
When May finally, gently pulls away, Daisy is shocked to see moisture in her mentor's eyes. She is shocked too by the faint hint of a smile that is so startlingly unfamiliar.
Daisy can't help giving May a simpering, empathetic look. It's more than Melinda can handle.
"Go stand in the corner," she commands, but in a slightly shaky tone devoid of any of the usual harshness that would generally accompany such an order.
Daisy blinks and stares at her in disbelief.
"Go on," May insists, desperate to get her ward's eyes off of her immediately. She turns Daisy and lightly swats her to get her going.
The bewildered agent, not entirely sure what to feel at this, fixes her pants and makes her way to the corner that May had indicated. Before she can get settled into it, she hears the sound of her door closing. Chancing a glance, she turns to see that she is now alone in the room. Still completely confused by her own emotions, and suspecting what is going on with May's, she lets out a chuckle and shakes her head. Her hands come up to rub her aching backside as she leans her forehead against the corner and whispers one more time to herself, "Mom".
Epilogue
Poor Daisy was never officially released from her corner. It took Melinda an intense workout in the training room followed by a painfully hot shower to even start to make sense of, let alone come to terms with, her feelings about Daisy calling her 'Mom'. The formerly impenetrable wall that had surrounded her heart for so long was cracking significantly, and this scared the normally fearless warrior woman. But as hard as she fights to keep it firmly in place, a certain young woman whom she cherishes deep down had just burst her way through it. And May has neither the strength nor the desire to push Daisy back out.
…
When May doesn't return after 15 minutes, Daisy takes it upon herself to exit the corner and get ready for bed. She figures that if there are consequences for doing so, she'd accept them. She had spent the time examining her own feelings, occasionally smiling at the memory of May's odd response, her strong embrace and the fact that the guarded woman hadn't rejected or belittled her. As she brushes out her long hair she lets out a sudden laugh as she thinks, "How on Earth did I expect May to respond?"
Still however, there was something unpleasant gnawing at the back of Daisy's mind. An ever-present insecurity… one that has reared its ugly head innumerable times since childhood. What if she is interpreting May's bizarre actions all wrong? What if the older woman, the one who teaches her, trains her, advises her, protects her and disciplines her… what if she only sees her as a professional responsibility? What if it was a 'pity response'? What if May sent her to the corner and walked out so suddenly because she doesn't feel the same way, and just doesn't know how to break it to Daisy?
The young Inhuman settles into bed, but is unable to sleep. Her mind reels with the day and night's events. She tosses and turns, hissing every time her rear end makes contact with the mattress.
Just as exhaustion is about to finally allow Daisy to drift off, she hears the quiet creak of her door behind her. She registers soft light filtering in from the hallway, but doesn't move. She closes her eyes and feigns sleep, not sure she can handle anything more tonight.
The light recedes, but then fills the room again, as if someone had decided to leave, then changed their mind. Daisy senses rather than hears a figure approaching, and she ensures that her breathing is even and her eyelids are still.
Her blanket is drawn up gently around her shoulders in a move so stereotypical of a parent that Daisy must fight back tears once more. Just as she thinks how grateful she is that the room is almost completely dark, she feels a kiss pressed against her temple. This kiss seems to wash away all unwelcome insecurities and fill a young, weary heart with hope and peace. Lips remain there for a long moment, before pulling away enough to whisper in a familiar female voice, "I love you, my Daisy. My Skye. My girl. Good night."
The End
1 Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. Season 1, Episode 13: T.R.A.C.K.S.
2 Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. Season 2, Ep. 11: Aftershocks
3 Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. Season 2, Ep. 11: Aftershocks