The Hunters and the Prey - Chapter Nine
Author: Milady Dragon
Daisy was walking up toward Grand Master Ianto's house when she saw the unmistakable flair of a Teleport spell at the home's front door, fading away to reveal Grand Master Stephen Strange, that weird cloak of his fluttering despite the fact that there wasn't any sort of breeze. The Great Wizard's dragon was curled about the man's shoulders, like an emerald green serpent. The young Wizard hadn't ever seen a dragon without wings before, and she was fascinated by it.
Skye, sensing her curiosity, distracted Daisy with a sharp nip to her ear. Daisy yelped, brushing her dragons' head away, mentally chiding her for the slight pain it has caused.
Skye wasn't at all apologetic. Gods, sometimes the dragon could be downright jealous. Daisy had no idea where she'd got that from.
When her Dad had called to her over her speaking stone, to inform her of the dinner at the Grand Master's home, Daisy had been excited. Maybe this meant she was going to be let in on what was going on? Was this her chance to get a place on the inside of their plans? She certainly hoped so, because there was no way she was going to be sitting on her hands while everyone else got to fight Hydra. She'd been kidnapped, after all, and her Dad killed. It was impossible to keep her out of it now.
Dad had made it clear that only Daisy had been invited. That had cause a minor uproar among her friends, especially Wanda and Pietro, who felt they had a place in proceedings as well. Daisy couldn't blame them; it had been her Dad who'd ended up saving the twins, and they both felt beholden to him for that. Already they were proving to be as loyal as anyone else Daisy had ever met, and she could appreciate that sort of loyalty, especially when it came to her Dad.
Daisy felt exactly the same way. Loyal, not beholden. Although, there was a small part of her that would feel beholden for him finding her in that alley and taking her in, adopting her as his own.
Back before she'd started at the school, Daisy had once wondered about her biological parents, if they were still alive or if they were dead. Why they'd abandoned her at that first orphanage, and had never come for her. She'd thought about finding them, if just to yell at them and to show them just what they'd give up, but she'd grown out of that fairly quickly. She had a father, one that loved her no matter what, and would never have even dreamed of giving her up. He'd changed his life in order to give her everything he'd never had as a child, and there was no way Daisy could love him any more than she already did.
Trip, the calm guy he was, got everyone settled down by pointing out to them that Daisy would share whatever she found out with them, and that all of them descending onto Grand Master Ianto's place was just plain rude…and they'd already done that anyway, so Grand Master Ianto knew they all wanted to be involved. Having the group of them all over for dinner was just too much, and that they should all be patient.
Really, if Daisy wasn't already dating Lincoln she'd seriously consider asking Trip out. And wouldn't that just fry the brains of all those Great Wizards who thought Cardinals and Voids shouldn't be getting along!
Like it wasn't already, what with Trip being Daisy's friend.
She just didn't get it. Why shouldn't she be friends with whoever she liked? Yes, she knew the rhetoric about how the Cardinals and Voids were being all sacrilegious with the Deep Ways and the Void, but they just had no clue whatsoever. They didn't know what it was like, to be connected to the Deep Ways like she was. It was like having another internal organ, or something flowing through her veins along with her blood, and separating it from her would have been impossible. There was no way to just shut off such a connection. The Greats were nuts.
From what she'd heard of Grand Master Stephen, he pretty much agreed with her.
The Wizard's dragon noticed her first; it chirped, bringing Grand Master Stephen's attention to her. Daisy kept walking toward him, not at all uncomfortable approaching one of the most powerful Great Wizards in the world…especially with that smile he was giving her, one that said he was happy to see her.
"Novice Daisy," he greeted her warmly. "I take it, you've been invited as well?"
"Dad called me and asked me to come."
The man was handsome, she couldn't deny that. His dark hair had just a little bit of gray in it, and she couldn't make up her mind just who pulled off that sort of beard better: Baron Tony or the Grand Master. Comparing was probably a pretty bad idea. Daisy needed to stop that.
"Excellent," Grand Master Stephen said, surprising her a little. She hadn't expected her welcome to be so…nice, especially since she was still technically a child. "Let's announce our arrival, shall we?"
With that, he turned and knocked on the door. It opened within seconds, revealing Ianto, dressed a little less casually than he'd been earlier in the day, black trousers and waistcoat against a deep red shirt. He gave them both a smile. "Please, come in," he invited, stepping aside. The pair of them entered the foyer. "Myfanwy is in the front room, already anticipating the dragon pile." He laughed. "I'm sure Skye and Agamotto would be very warmly greeted."
Grand Master Stephen's dragon – and what sort of name was Agamotto, anyway? – instantly made an inquisitive chirp, then made his way down his Wizard's body – with help from the cloak, honestly! – and then slithered his way into the indicated room. Skye hopped off Daisy's shoulder and took off after the other dragon, and Daisy couldn't help but giggle at it. Dragons did love their dragon piles.
Ianto ushered them into the sitting room. "Besides," he admitted as he offered them seats, "this means the dragons won't be attacking the Elves for attention, if they're already occupied. Can I get either of you something? Coffee? Tea?"
Grand Master Stephen gave him an arched eyebrow. "You think we're going to accept anything other than coffee?"
That had the Cardinal Grand Master chuckling. "I had to offer."
Daisy was a little confused. Yes, she'd had coffee before, since her Dad enjoyed a good cup or three in the mornings, but she didn't quite understand the big deal Grand Master Stephen was making it. Coffee was coffee, and she would have been tempted to ask for something else if it hadn't been for his reaction.
"Daisy," Ianto addressed her, "would you like something other than coffee?"
"I wouldn't dream of it, not after that."
Grand Master Stephen leaned toward her a little, as if he was about to share a confidence. "You haven't had coffee until you've had some of Ianto's own brew. It will ruin you for anything else." With that, he flicked his fingers and the cloak was hovering off his shoulders and floating over to a hall tree that was in the corner, settling itself on one of the fancy brass hooks. There was already a cloak there, this one a rich blue-gray.
Daisy tried very hard not to boggle, but knew she'd failed when the Great Grand Master winked at her. "The Cloak of Levitation gets bored with all the talking, and sometimes just likes to hang around. Besides, I think it likes Jack's cloak."
"It's the pheromones," Ianto replied, handing them each a cup. "I don't know how you like yours, Daisy, but there's cream and sugar over on the credenza if you want it."
Daisy carried her coffee over to the credenza, where Ianto had been preparing their cups. On it was the cream and sugar, and she fixed hers the way she did at home, with a healthy dollop of cream and about half a teaspoon of sugar.
"Pheromones?" she had to ask, as she took her first sip.
And promptly closed her eyes in pleasure.
"This isn't a thing like the coffee Andrew makes," she exclaimed. "What do you do…use your magic?" She was teasing, because she couldn't taste any sort of magic on her tongue as she drank.
"Ianto's coffee magic," Jack confirmed, coming into the sitting room. He was dressed in tan trousers and a dark blue shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal well-muscled forearms. "He denies it, but I know it's some sort of charm he uses when he brews it."
Ianto rolled his eyes at his husband, and refused to rise to the teasing.
"As for pheromones," Jack continued, "it just means I smell good."
"Jack was originally from a place called Boeshane," Ianto explained.
"It no longer exists."
Daisy couldn't help but be sad at Jack's words. To have outlived your family was bad enough…but to have outlived your own people, that was horrible.
She took another sip of the awesome coffee in order to hide her sympathy for the Deathless.
Jack noticed, though, and gave her a nod in thanks.
"All Boekind had natural pheromones," Ianto went on, giving his husband a soft, caring look as he headed back to the credenza in order to prepare another cup, "it meant they smelled really good to potential mates. All of Jack's clothing are saturated with them, but his cloak is a hundred times worse…or better, as the case may be."
He turned back, handing Jack his own cup. Daisy didn't miss how their fingers brushed as he passed it over.
It really was sweet. Daisy hoped she found someone like that someday…if she hadn't already. She and Lincoln were very new, so only time would tell.
Gods, she hoped her Dad would find that sort of relationship with Clint. The young Wizard really liked Clint and wanted him to hang around. He'd be really good for her Dad, who really spent far too much time alone.
"I see two of your guests have arrived already."
Daisy turned. The speaker was Toshiko Sato, who she met earlier in the day.
The Elf was a little shorter than Daisy herself, but there wasn't a doubt in the young woman's mind that she could kick just as much ass as Melinda could. She had that far Eastern cast to her face that Shield Keep's Steward did, only there were some pretty big differences, which made Daisy guess that the Elf was from another country than Melinda was. Dark hair hung down to her shoulders, and she had a bright smile on her face that made her dark eyes sparkle.
She was dressed all in shades of green; the dress was fancy without getting in the way if she had to spring into action; Daisy felt just a little underdressed in her skirt and sweater, but Dad had assured her it wasn't in away way a formal dinner.
Before Ianto could introduce her to everyone else, a knock came from the front door. "That's going to be Phil and Clint," Ianto said. "I'll be right back, then we can perform some introductions." He walked by the Elven woman, touching her on the shoulder as he passed.
It was only moments before Dad and Clint made their way into the room. There was something about her Dad that Daisy couldn't help but notice, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. He seemed… relaxed. No, he was at peace.
She'd seen so many of her Dad's moods over the years. Daisy could easily read him now, could tell when he was mad, or stressed, or please…literally dozens of emotions that he'd displayed almost from the day they'd met. But this…this was something very different. It was almost as if he'd gained something he'd lost, and no one had noticed it was gone until it had been returned. And Daisy had no doubt that it was down to Clint Barton.
There was only one thing she could do.
She stalked right up to the Elven archer and hugged the stuffing out of him.
Clint made this really cute 'eep' sound as she threw her arms around him, holding on so tightly there was a part of her wondering if the metal gauntlets she was wearing weren't digging into his back. It took him a couple of heartbeats for his arms to come up around her, but his hug was tentative, almost as if he was afraid of how she would react to him returning the favor.
"Thank you," she whispered into his rather muscular chest.
"Um…" that single sound was so very confused.
Daisy decided to put him out of his misery. "Thank you for loving my Dad."
With that, Clint relaxed, embracing her a little more easily. "Actually, I should be thanking him for loving me."
The young Wizard pulled back a little, in order to look him in the eyes. They were blue, with bits of green and brown in them, so soft and friendly and happy. She couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, well… if you hurt him, I reserve the right to curse you horrifically."
"Daisy," her Dad chided softly.
"Nope, Phil," Clint said, "it's only fair. Besides, I'd let her, because I'd deserve it if I did hurt you."
"Then we understand each other."
"Indeed we do, Daisy Coulson. Indeed we do."
"Well," Jack said, obviously going for sarcasm, "while this is all nice and everything, dinner's getting cold, and I slaved in the kitchen all day cooking."
"It was more like a couple of hours," Ianto corrected, giving his husband a fond eye roll. "And he was distracted at some point and not actually doing any work in the kitchen."
Daisy felt herself blushing a little when she figured out what he was talking about.
Oh Gods…this meant her Dad would be having sex on a regular basis now. It wasn't something she'd ever considered thinking about. It was just wrong knowing that her parent did that sort of thing. She'd probably have to be careful now about moving around the Keep at all hours. There wasn't any telling what she might run into from now on.
The Elven woman snorted. "Why am I not surprised?"
Ianto laughed. "Everyone, this is Lady Toshiko Sato, of the Nippon Enclave." He went around the room, introducing everyone. "She's as close to me as a sister would be, and she's been with Jack's team for over a century."
Clint was nodding. Daisy got the impression that he'd heard of this Elven warrior before, and was putting her face to the name.
She stepped away, turning to give her father his own hug. He kept his arm around her even when the hug was over, which was nice. He gave the best hugs, even though she was just a tad grossed out by the idea that her Dad was…yeah, not going there.
"Let's eat," Ianto invited, "and then we can get down to business."