Barbrey Dustin had never imagined a Winterfell so packed with the great Houses of the North. It clearly had been made for it, though not used in such a way since the days of the King's of Winter. There were servants or soldiers constantly underfoot as rooms were cleaned out and prepared. She'd eaten a quiet first meal in her room before heading out to face the day. Which that was a sign of her current state of disfavor, a single room, no attached servant's quarters and it was in a far-flung corner of the residential wings requiring a ridiculous walk to get anywhere important. The Karstark girls were housed closer to the central region of the castle, not by much, but still.
"Sister!" Her younger brother Roose Ryswell called, which was unsurprising. His rooms were beside her's.
She stilled, waiting for him to catch up to her. She rolled her eyes. "Did it occur to you that combing your beard might be a worthwhile task?"
"Bah, not worth the time." Roose grumped before yawning, jaw gaping widely with zero attempt at civility.
Her eye twitched. "Even some of the Wildlings bother getting knots out of their beards."
"Good for them." He snorted.
She was going to kill her brother. There was a reason none of her siblings spent any time around each other, it drove them to near homicide. "I find I'm envious of brother Roger, he at least gets to be in the Rills and away from you."
"And not having to listen to your constant yammering." Roose agreed.
Barbrey's nose flared, but she bit back the barb on the tip of her tongue. "Well, he'll be here soon for the Moot. I'm sure we'll be blessed with his presence then. Whether he wishes to be blessed with ours or not."
"There is that isn't there." Roose chuckled. "Gods, did she have to stick us all the bloody way out here? There's illiterate men at arms housed closer to the halls."
"Quite a few of them, it makes defending the more important bits easier." She barely resisted whacking him. Maybe she should prod him towards challenging the resident god? It'd be entertaining to watch him eat dirt afterall. "And I'd wager most of them didn't bend the knee to House Bolton."
He stared at her like she was an idiot, it was galling. "Half the Stark men used to be Bolton men, they didn't just bend the bloody knee, they wore the damned flayed man on their chests!" The fact he was correct was more galling.
"We'd have served our interests best if we'd had the bastard murdered." Barbrey would have plunged the knife in herself.
Roose touched her arm. "There's no proof he killed Bethany's boy."
"And none he didn't." She snarled. "That boy was our nephew, our blood. And we let his murder go unpunished."
Roose flinched, as well he might. Damned cowards the lot of her brothers, not hunting down the truth of their nephew's death. "What's done is done. The bastard is dead and the line of the Red King's is gone. You're too damned vindictive sometimes."
"And you're a useless fool." She snapped back. She'd never forget Roose Bolton, the man her idiot brother was named for, had only had a bastard heir because his trueborn heir, her nephew had died. Likely murdered by that bastard. She may have agreed to bend the knee to her good brother, but she'd never forgiven him for not seeing the obvious and promoting his damned bastard anyways. Never.
Barbrey's temper had barely cooled by the time she'd skipped the great hall, left through the front gates, ignored the guard who was following her and made her way out into Wintertown. If she had to deal with more pithy nothings from nobility, constant one-upmanship in the training yard, or endless everything underfoot as well as her brother she'd scream. So to bother the brooding Stark and see about the work being done on the town. And possibly just find the tavern and get gloriously drunk and make her guard/minder cart her back.
Her skirts ruffled with the speed of her passing as she walked along the dirt road for the field around the town that was being worked on currently. Barbrey's head remained high as she walked. Though she did not miss the general good cheer in the town. The smallfolk were scrubbed mostly clean, and excitedly moving about. There was work happening everywhere. Men at arms were helping repair roofs, adding new layers of mud to outer walls for keeping more heat in as the temperatures cooled, plastering over freshly dried walls to protect them, and a hundred other chores.
As she reached the outer reaches of the town she spotted the authoritative figure of Jon Stark leaning over a wooden table set up to oversee the work. "Good gods boy, you could be your father come back again."
Jon Stark straightened, turning to face her. "Lady Dustin, what brings you here?"
"Avoiding my fool of a brother. We can't all have perfect families." She finished her approach, looking out over the field of men digging. "What on earth are you doing out here?"
Jon's beard had the faintest quiver to it. She was counting that as a victory in getting the man to show at least some emotion. Unfortunately, his voice came out steady. "Making the town better defendable. The ditches prevent armies from just marching up and overtaking the town. And if the dead come, we can use them to thin the herd if we get enough dragonglass."
"Well, that's something." Barbrey was trying to not be reduced to rocking back and forth in sheer terror at the thought of the dead. "Better than nothing."
"Aye, there is that." He huffed, amusement plain to be heard in his dour voice. "We're banking most of the earth we dig up to give it a slope, but some of it will be for bricks. About time Wintertown had proper bricked roads."
She glanced at the cloud covered sky that threatened to sleet at any moment. "And you plan to dry these bricks how?"
"Figure her Holiness won't mind drying them out for us." His mouth actually turned up in a faint smile then.
Barbrey dared then to state the obvious. "So willing to leave your sister to pay for that miracle?"
His face darkened, a glare that nearly made her step back. The leather of his gloves creaked. "No."
"So like your father." Barbrey let her disquiet hide behind confidence. "Though it leaves me curious, how did your sister bind a god so fully to your House?"
He breathed out, his face still tight. "By protecting those she is meant to protect."
"Nobility. You might even be right." Barbrey in part wished he was because if he wasn't it wouldn't be him paying the price. No matter how the North would benefit from him being wrong.
Jon stepped back to his work. "If I was wrong, why would her Holiness have helped the children build swings?"
"Hmmm." Barbrey let the matter drop. "So, where do you plan to get enough straw for these bricks?"
He pointed towards the distant Wolf's Wood. "Pine needles."
"That will work?" Barbrey would hunt down her grey rat of a Maester and strangle him if it was.
Jon gave a short nod. "Aye, is it not common knowledge?"
Coming here had not helped with her temper. Clearly. "No, it is not."
/
Daisy tossed a waterskin to Jon, where he was digging in the ditches. "Hiding from Lady Dustin?"
"I notice you only arrive now that she's gone." He replied as he straightened, and untwisted the cap before taking a long draw.
She shrugged. "Anyone with eyes could see that woman was on a warpath today. Not sure what got to her but she's scary when she wants to be."
"The Ryswell siblings half hate each other. And we're soon to play host to all four surviving siblings." Jon retwisted the cap and tossed the waterskin back.
Daisy wished she didn't understand that, but she did. After all, Fitz was...complicated. "So avoid the Ryswells whenever possible?"
"Well, I'm digging a pit to avoid her." Jon dug in his shovel again.
Daisy considered that and then huffed out a laugh, grabbing a shovel from a nearby panting man at arms and hopped into the ditch and began to dig herself. "You'll be glad to know Rickon is copying the contract Sansa sent to the Iron Bank."
"That sounds terrible." Jon used his foot to force his shovel deeper into the ground.
She ignored the sounds of disbelief and confusion at her manual labor. Which, how was this a surprise? She'd made a point of always helping. "I have no doubt either Brienne or you will be catching him trying to escape before dinner."
"No doubt." He grunted as he upturned a rock. "This must be trivial to you. This could all be a wave of your hand."
Daisy was...still adjusting to this world where using her powers for dumb things was encouraged by just everything. It wasn't what SHIELD was like. Her first instinct was always to fight as if she didn't have powers, do things as if she was human first. "I think that breaks the no shock and awe rule."
"Regretting that." Jon wipe sweat away from his brow as he worked.
Daisy grinned. "You'd have no way to escape Lady Dustin though."
Jon's face cringed at that, and he chose to remain silent at that.
She laughed but didn't push. On the other hand...she could at least soften up some of the dirt, couldn't she? Nobody would notice that...or well notice it enough to talk miracle. Closing her eyes she focused on the ground being disturbed by the small contingent of the army. She let her vibrations run through her feet, gently shaking the hard packed ground just the faintest bit softer. Nothing crazy.
"Daisy." Jon looked at her.
She plastered on an innocent face, completely with fond confusion. "What up?"
"The shaft of my shovel...purred?" Jon stared at her without flinching.
Daisy groaned. "Well shoot, I'm still not great at controlling the runoff."
"Runoff?" Jon sounded one part tired and one part suppressed laughter.
She bit her lip trying to think of how to describe it. "I'm working on control, but everything vibrates. The ground, air, you, me, light, heat, cold, it just...it all vibrates all the time. Just at different speeds. It's a lot, and sometimes it's hard to only vibrate what I want to vibrate."
"I don't rightly understand that. But mayhaps not shaking the ground would be a good place to start?"
Daisy grinned. "Probably."
Daisy was getting good at sword fighting if she didn't say so herself. Which she'd never utter out loud. Probably. "Up."
The sweaty and vicious ten year old Lyanna Mormont brought her sword up higher. She'd actually switched from an ax to a sword. It was helping her keep up with the men. Kid's mouth was open to suck in more air. But then she was darting forward on the attack again.
Daisy blocked and knocked the kid to the side, then turned, twisting around an attack from Rickon Stark. "Better." She tripped Rickon, already there to deflect the next attack from Lyanna, the two of them were getting better at not getting in each other's way.
Lyanna was fast and had figured out from fighting the men that going for the legs was the best option for breaking stance and unbalancing her grown opponents. It was smart. Daisy was so proud of the vicious little kids she was teaching. "Good, less extending when you try to stab me." She used the hilt of her sword to hook and yank Lyanna forward only to halt, her sword against the panting girl's neck. "You were protecting your partner, good call." She spun as she twisted away from the lunging attack coming from Rickon.
Neatly spinning away from the lunge, she caught him by the back of his leather vest, tapping the edge of her own sword against his chest lightly before dropping him. Both kids having accepted defeat. "But you're no good to your partner if you're dead. Well, unless you mean to sacrifice your life to give them a chance. In which case make sure it works." Her voice was serious, maybe these kids shouldn't have the aspect of sacrificing your life for your friends, your comrades, your family. But this world was harsher than her own had been.
"Got it." Lyanna panted, Rickon nodding beside her.
Daisy smiled, sheathing her sword and reaching out. She ruffled the top of both of their heads, much to their irritation. "Go get some water, get your breath back, then shields and back in the ring."
"Holiness, why are we all fighting in pairs today?" Joran asked curiously as the kids ran off...which christ they had boundless energy.
She looked back at the men who'd been watching with rapt attention. "Because you all need to know how to fight in various groups. You need to be able to watch each other's backs."
"For if a shield wall falls in battle?" Wilber asked head tilted slightly.
Daisy nodded. "Yes, but also for small skirmishes where a shield wall won't work. Or just a bar brawl where there's only a few of you. There's plenty of circumstances where you won't have an army at your back, just a few fellow soldiers. And which one of you is utterly confident he could handle both Lady Mormont and Lord Stark over there without being at least stabbed once?"
The men chuckled, but no one volunteered to test it or to claim he could do it. The murder kids really were vicious. They hadn't quite gotten how to not attempt to really murder their partner in training.
She clapped her hands. "All of you pair up and if I don't see teamwork I'll find ways to motivate you!"
There was a sudden rush of focus. No one wanted to find out what the 'motivation' would be. Honestly, Daisy wasn't sure what it'd be...she'd think of something. Maybe give the kids some arrows with the metal heads taken off and have them shoot at the guys as they sparred? Naw, already done that...two versus five matches till they dropped? Promising…..
Daisy wasn't sure why, but she rapped her knuckles on the door as she entered the workshop. It was...well Fitz hadn't destroyed his work, so on a Fitz meltdown from epic scientific failure he wasn't at a full ten again. Not that she'd seen him at a full ten since Mavath and then in those awful days before the end of the world. Now he was sitting hunched over his work table, paper spread around him. Some just tossed to the side, more crumpled and thrown away. There was a metal cup and a bottle of what from the smell was pure moonshine. So that was still a thing. Awesome… "Sup?"
"Go a-away." Fitz didn't even bother looking up from his work.
She looked at the awkward looking Crann. "Crann I'm sure Wilber, Ducan, and Wolkan would love to talk to you." Daisy was pretending she didn't know they were making her bible...text...scripture? on the sly.
The poor guy practically deflated in relief. "I'll just be doing that then Holiness." He ducked his head slightly in Fitz's direction. "Begging yar' pardon master." He then immediately shot out of there like a jackrabbit.
Daisy leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "So...feeling like talking about it?"
"N-not particularly." Fitz didn't look up from his work, but he was pressing his quill down so hard the ink was splattering.
She wished she didn't know why she wasn't going to press him, to force him to get this out. "It's alright, Jemma's got to be looking for us too."
"How d-do you do it?" The quill snapped in half as he turned to face her. Ink smeared on one cheek like he'd fallen asleep on his work. Eyes bloodshot from what was likely the alcohol.
And Daisy….she was tired of distrusting the man who'd been her best friend, of avoiding him, and just...this world. She was tired. "Because we've never left anyone behind before. If you can open a door to Maveth, a locked gate to a prison for Hive, and if you and Jemma can figure out time travel, and we can bring you, me, and kinda Coulson back from the dead, and fight fucking magic ghosts and get some of us out of ghost realms, and save the world then we'll get home. Eventually. Worst case we try killing the dead army here and see if the trees send us back on their own. If Jemma hasn't come for us, you haven't made a portal out, and the trees haven't sent us back, we go shake down the super cursed magic city of death on the other continent. Call it a magical road trip. That doesn't work, I could try making a black hole or something."
"T-thats….and till the d-dead attack I do what?" Fitz ran a hand through his hair. "What if t-they need us?"
Daisy shrugged. "I don't know I'm not magic. And Jemma can take care of herself. And if not Mack and the others will get the Avengers if they have to."
"I h-hate this." He slumped, the fight seeming to leak out of him.
Daisy huffed, pushing off the wall. "So do I." She shoved him over and sat next to him on the bench. "But we'll get through it. Together right?"
He gave a slight nod. "Y-yeah we can do t-that."
"I'm not discounting you having a moment and figuring it out either. Just don't punch any more trees, please."
He winced looking down at his splinted and wrapped hand."I'll keep that in m-mind. I just...I won't feel right till I can see Jemma again. I-it's…"
"You two belong together. Whole two halves of Fitzsimmons. We're getting you guys hitched again only without the end of the world as soon as we're back."
He slumped his shoulder touching her's. "Is it w-weird to be jealous of m-myself?"
"I'm pretending my cult isn't writing a book of scriptures right now. So not that weird." Daisy reached out and grabbed a crumpled piece of paper. "Maybe waste a bit less of this? I think it's super expensive."
Fitz groaned. "I'll make more. N-not like I have anything b-better to do."
"It's not so bad. You could try talking to someone who isn't Crann."
He snorted and picked up his cup of moonshine. "You actually l-like them? I m-mean some of t-them aren't too bad but…"
"Don't be mean." She didn't bother pointing out she cared quite deeply about some of them. Which wasn't even touching the responsibility she held to the cult or what all she'd sworn with that blood oath. "Jemma'd be better at this."
Fitz laughed quietly. "We're the w-worst for being here. I m-mean space? We'd k-kick spaces ass. But th-this? I can't even m-make a proper computer ch-chip without silicone...plastic...something. And n-no computers for you to h-hack."
"We'd make a better rescue party wouldn't we?" She admitted with a laugh. "Lincoln would have fit right in. Lightning is just showy, plus doctor stuff to keep the nice god thing going. He and Jemma would kill it here."
He nodded and offered her the moonshine. "Probably best it's not Mack."
"Yeah, they're kinda racist." Her lips pulled up. "I think he's got life insurance for aliens that lay eggs in people."
Fitz groaned. "He's n-never going to let the r-robots go."
"Nope, I laid good money on the next apocalypse being radioactive wildlife. " Daisy's nose wrinkled as she waved off the moonshine that was basically paint thinner.
Fitz opened and then shut his mouth before his face turned thoughtful. "Evil w-witches. We haven't done that y-yet."
"They'd probably be Hydra." Daisy grabbed the cup and knocked the whole thing back. Fitz didn't need anymore and she was really hoping Hydra witches weren't a thing. She hissed at the burn. "What the fuck Fitz?! How can you drink this?!"
He stared at the empty cup. "Endless d-despair." He looked at her. "Normal a-agents don't have to deal with this sort of t-thing."
"We did space whales while looking for you. And almost shook down a space brothel." Daisy shivered in disgust of the things she almost had to see.
Fitz cringed. "A-almost ended up there."
"Let's not end up there. I mean it sounded super gross." Daisy used her vibrations to push the bottle of more moonshine farther away from Fitz.
He looked at her pointedly. "Drinking my s-sorrows for a couple d-days doesn't mean I can't control myself."
"Jemma would prefer your liver healthy." Daisy held his gaze then. "And if you haven't noticed, every important person in this country is here right now, and insulting the wrong person could get you killed."
His face was mulish, but his head jerked in the positive. "F-fine. I'll make enough s-stills so they can make disinfectant...maybe make some p-paper."
The tension softened in her at that. "Thanks."
"W-why do I keep h-hearing Jolene?" Fitz sounded genuinely confused.
Daisy shrugged. "They sing a lot here and Hunter's country music choices from karaoke night are the only things that won't break their minds. I mean, imagine explaining Lady Gaga?"
"That's….huh." He blinked, head tilted slightly to one side.
"Exactly." She eyed him. "So are you growing a beard or am I bullying you into shaving again?"
END NOTES(Cause they wouldn't fit in the box...oops. Feel free to ignore them, they're not relevant to the story)
So I'd been planning on dumping a shit ton of thought on how Cersei and Caitlyn are mirrors of each other and how that is super cool. But then I was talking in a comment chain with Anathema_Nikola about some AoS headcanons I have and like..fuck it I'm inflicting it on you guys as well. Also, go checkout the art Anathema_Nikola has been doing its dope.
So from what I understand, (at least 50% of this is implied/pure conjecture) Way back when the Kree were doing experiments on humans with Terrigensis it was being headed up by a noble family. We know the experiments were said to have failed, but really it's cause Hive kicked the Kree's asses and banished them from earth and they were too embarrassed to admit this. So the Kree claimed the experiments failed. Hive was then shoved through the Kree failed experiment portal by Inhumans who didn't want to be Hive's slaves, and the Kree obelisk after being used to banish Hive is dumped somewhere to be hidden away only to later show up in Shield custody and recognized by sight by Jaiying. Or like stolen from Jaiying at Afterlife…I'm really unclear on that. But either way, she was connected to that shit and we know she'd written some about it in her journals.
Now we know House Kasius both from the future and to the Confederacy are on the outs with the Kree Homeworld and seem to be trying to buy/earn their way back in. We also know they wanted two things from earth, Inhumans as slave soldiers, and gravitonium. But my question is how the fuck did they know about the Inhumans? Like sure Hydra could have and probably did tell them about them. But why were they so dead set on inhuman slave soldiers and acquiring them immediately? Cause they showed zero interest in hunting down and capturing/enslaving other enhanced. It wasn't 'enhanced' they were looking for, it was specifically Inhumans. Also second question, Jaiying clearly knew what the fuck was up with the obelisk and how old is she really? And thirdly why was Hive so obsessed with Daisy? Cause like he had a lot of pet/mind-controlled Inhumans, but he wasn't sitting around on cliffs enjoying the view with them resting their heads on his shoulder. Just Daisy. And she was clearly his number two, instantly.
So like, it makes sense if House Kasius was the Kree noble family/general who did the initial inhuman experiments. It would explain their hard-on for Inhumans, why they seem to have been pushed to the edges of Kree society if not actually banished. Like failed massive and expensive war research with nothing to show for it and thus were part of the losing side of the war they were involved in would do that to a family. The sort of thing that'd make nobility join what is basically a space pirate group, and have kids in the future whose entire identity and value are in military exploits that might bring honor to the family leading to neurotic twit children who again hyperfocus in on Inhumans. A House that if this is true is like 90% probably related to the initial Inhumans like Hive. Cause there was some Kree/human breeding and experimenting on the children going on with the creation of Inhumans.
Which brings us to the second question, how old is Jaiying. We know she's been around for at least twelve inhuman generations. But like...I think she's older than that. Cause like Jaiying turned on Daisy really fast once Daisy turned against her leadership. She turned on anyone who challenged her authority way too fast. Like that's not normal, torture trauma response included. But if she was old, like really fucking old like...that'd make a person pretty detached and way too used to their authority to the degree they don't even consider other people's opinions anymore. And if Jaiying is one of the first Inhumans, like a contemporary of Hives, it'd explain why both her kids are bullshit more powerful than any inhuman other than Hive. Cause like Daisy are Kora are fucking OP as fuck. I mean Daisy is a walking natural disaster before she gets serumed up, and Kora is basically a star in human skin. Their powers aren't on the same level as the other Inhumans at all. Like Lincoln has lightning, but his lightning is so much weaker than like what Daisy is capable of. Like after having her powers for less than six months she's already weaponized them and is chucking fucking cars, cracking buildings, stopping bullets, leveling forests, and figuring out how to fly. And she doesn't make shock waves. Like sure that's what she's figured out how to do, but we know she can control sound, radiation, seismic, light, temperature...like she literally controls any vibration an atom makes. That's bullshit. And Kora with her generating actual fucking solar energy is almost as bullshit as Daisy. Other Inhumans aren't capable of leveling cities except for the Kree Royal Court on the Moon who have been selectively breeding powerful Inhumans together to better their bloodline. So we know how much inhuman ancestry you have affects powers. If Jaiying is half Kree cause she's one of the first Inhumans, that'd kinda explain why her kids are fucking tanks. And why she knew what the obelisk was and was so terrified of it, and why she was so emotionally distant from Daisy despite everything, and it'd explain why getting tortured by Hydra tipped her into just 'kill the humans' land. Cause it'd be bringing back Kree experiment trauma and conflating humans and kree as the same and equally evil to her. Which just makes her character make more sense.
And, it'd kinda explain Hive's reaction to Daisy. Cause if his attachment to Daisy was about the fact he's using Ward's body there should have been something sexual about it. But there wasn't. Hive didn't show the faintest show of any of that, he was famial towards her. If he and Jaiying were from the first round of Inhumans, that'd kinda make Daisy his niece, which would neatly explain like...a lot. Why his powers are the only inhuman powers comparable to Daisy or Kora outside of the Royal Court, why he was different with Daisy vs any of the other Inhumans he was controlling, Jaiying's just...deeply weird reactions surrounding Daisy her long lost and beloved daughter, just...it'd explain a fucking lot.
So like...all that is kinda my headcannon cause it fixes some plot holes, and who knows, it could be right. But the hilarious part. Daisy and Jemma definitely chased down Taryan Kasius once they realized Fitz was missing. A. He's a creepy slaver/pirate. B. He's tried to kidnap Daisy, making sure he didn't kidnap Fitz is just basic recon. and C. Jemma and Daisy really, really hated his sons so making sure he didn't have any would just be crossing some T's and dotting some I's. But if Daisy is second generation Inhuman, and she kills the head of a noble House she's probably very closely related to that kinda...its very probably she really is technically the heir to the whole damn noble House and if the Kree weren't racist as fuck she'd probably have a space lawyer chasing her around to deal with some shit.
And Daisy being second gen would explain better why her blood was able to replace Kree blood for Hive's evil plan. Cause like a single tiny vial of Kree blood injection wouldn't do that. Hell, thanks to Captain Marvel, and Elena we know Kree blood doesn't persist in the system like that unless it's a total transfusion. It burns off. If Daisy was just more closely related to the Kree it'd make more sense.
So like realistically I actually think House Kasius is the Kree noble family/military leaders who initially made the Inhumans. That just makes sense. Too much points that way. And like Jaiying I think is mostly just fairly sloppy writing issues but also like solid 50% chance she was actually supposed to be that old. Hive's relation to Daisy like probably just headcanon and his interactions with Daisy are just cause the writers wanted the two actors/lead characters interacting and if his interest had been sexual while she was mind-controlled like…that'd have gone too dark for the show.