TW: Referenced and Implied Child Abuse
Covered Truth — Chapter Ten
Daisy walked throughout the Playground, trying to look as casual as possible.
Yes, she was well aware she just lied to Coulson's and May's face as well as spent half of the important catch-up meeting in Daisy-land. However, she was trying to pinpoint each and every angle Kelly could be coming from. Whether it was a harmful lie or not, he still lied.
But what scared her most is how expertly he did it. Sure, he stuttered and barely looked her in the eye— but in the moment, she had full confidence that it was because of all the shit that just happened previously. He put it into his act flawlessly without batting an eye. Then there also was the factor of that almost smile after they fell it, like he was congratulating himself on being able to make them believe it.
Daisy pretty much fully believed he was with Hydra.
It was a loony theory but it made sense.
The kid was with Hydra for three months exactly, who knows what they did to him. They have no proof that he was in stasis that entire time. They could have brainwashed him, blackmail, bribery, tortured (she didn't want to think about that), or gotten him to commit full willingly in the span of those three months.
There were also many things that just didn't add up.
Like for instance, why did Lash not kill him? Lash didn't kill her either, she's well aware— but that's mostly because Daisy was close to Dr. Garner before and after he became Lash. It wasn't like she could cross reference anything considering the kid didn't exist, yet she was fairly certain that they've never crossed paths before. Excluding when being held in Hydra in the same room as each other (one being in gooey carbonate).
It was very possible that Dr. Garner still had some handle over Lash and was able to have some control over not killing Kelly— who was just a kid. But it was also possible that Hydra did something to… effect Lash, or-something— forcing him to pardon the kid so they could use him as a trojan horse.
Then also even while Lash spared him, Kelly still managed to slip by all the other Hydra goons in the Castle and make his way into the giant room where they— Team SHIELD was holding fort. Plus he did this without any of the six elite super-spies noticing, as well as three Inhumans, and with her being both.
Another thing was the allergic reaction making his whole situation even more weird. Not saying that she was blaming Hydra for the kid being allergic to the sedative, but it was overly convenient. They did have Dr. Garner, who knew that they sedated Inhumans to the trip to the Cocoon. Half because they didn't want to accidentally cause a plane crash, and the other half being they didn't want to give away the location of their base. So if they couldn't sedate him on the Quin-Jet ride then it messes with everything.
Was it possible that someone could artificially make someone have an allergic reaction to a substance?
She would have to ask Simmons that, yet honestly at this point— Simmons could lie to her and say it is and she'll believe it (even with Simmons lying). They had seen much more insane crap at this point.
Daisy was going completely crazy by the time she reached her bunk. All these thoughts were bouncing in her head in coordination with the resident vibrations. She wasn't lying to Coulson when she said she got little sleep, she did. And she also wasn't fully lying when she said she had been thinking about Bobbi and Hunter.
Technically, she was.
But not about their well-being, not at first at least.
It was when she couldn't fall asleep, she then started thinking about her friends and if they were safe. And she hoped they were.
After, no matter what it was— a hard mission with a hard call, an agent on the DL, an agent dead, a bad loss— whatever. The nights were always the hardest for everyone— and since Bobbi and Hunter's disavowment, the nights were rough.
She was dealing with her own grief, and now, she was dealing with everyone else's too.
And when she didn't sleep the vibrations were always worse. It's why all of today they'd been a pain in the ass making it hard for her to concentrate. She was blaming that for why she was going looney-toons on theories— because her mind couldn't sit still.
Or maybe she just had too much of the conspiracy kool-aid this morning.
Probably both.
But she's had enough hidden traitors in her team, Hydra especially. Daisy was gonna root him out before he became a danger to anyone in SHIELD, if he was one. Yes, he was just a kid (and that pained her)— but if there was one thing she's learned from her own past is never to underestimate kids.
While Coulson ordered her to take a nap, Daisy entered her bunk with the full extent of not even coming close to touching her bed. She had work to do and evidence to find. She headed straight to her desk and opened her laptop. She's had Fitz upgrade it over time but it was still the batty-old laptop she won in a bet all those years ago. She supposed it was her Lola.
Getting to work she also pulled out Fitz's notebook which had her names written inside. Going back into S.H.I.E.L.D servers she typed in Celeb Dougg, after a quick hack into his personal files she found what precinct he worked in, the 99th. Closing out his file, Daisy started working her way through Brooklyn 99th precinct's firewalls. It barely took her a minute, they really needed to upgrade their security. After a quick peak in their case files back in may, she found what she was looking for.
A missing child's report in Queens dated May 4, 2016.
It wasn't the original case file, that one was gone forever— this was just a copy. A copy that the hydra goon seemed to have missed, and she was betting on it. The guy completely overlooked Kelly's connection to Dougg, Daisy knew it was her only way in. And if someone Dougg may have considered a son went missing, there was without a doubt he was going to try and dig his nose into that case.
Daisy opened the digital file and skimmed through it.
They seemed to have skipped over the whole Terrigenesis part, or maybe they never even knew about it to begin with. If Dougg did know about it, it could make things difficult later on. There were a few testimonies from the kids who were with Kelly at the time. A common theme with each kid was they ran away at first, then doubled back a few minutes later (probably after the terrigenesis cocoon part), and once they did they said it was suddenly really windy (not surprising).
They said that Kelly was petrified and freaking out holding his head in his hands saying it was so loud. Then barely a minute later or so, several black SUV's showed up and inside were guys with guns (obviously the ATCU). They took the boy in question in swiftly— just under a minute later the police showed up to the scene very shortly after.
Underneath the kids' written responses was the description of the suspects. Many of them clearly describing Banks. Some of the details contradict each other but she supposed it was only natural. They were witnesses to their friend's kidnapping— at gunpoint no less. No doubt they're minds weren't on straight during it, and she didn't fault them for it either.
Besides the kids' testimonies and the forensics of the crime scene afterwards (still no mention of Terrigenesis), there really wasn't much else in the file. Clearly the NYPD hit a roadblock on leads which wasn't surprising.
What does surprise her though was why no other intelligence agency ever got into the investigation?
Just from reading the file she didn't need to know it was the ATCU to know the men who took him were professionals (and of course they were), and were working for the government no less. Which was probably why it wasn't picked up by someone else. Plus Hydra tried to cover anything and everything up about this kid.
After scrolling down, she found something more.
At the bottom of the digital police report was a file, a video file to be specific. Daisy clicked on it and turned the volume up a bit, but not enough where someone could hear her through the walls. She was supposed to be sleeping for god-sake.
The camera was being held vertically, and was probably being recorded from a cell phone— it didn't take a genius to figure that one out though. It also didn't take a genius to tell that it was being recorded from the safety of the drivers side in a car. There was the unmistakable sound of the strong wind hitting the windows of the car, the car shook ever so slightly. There were people yelling in the background— scrambling to get somewhere inside, cars honking.
These four black SUVs suddenly stop in the intersection and men in full black with assault rifles start to file out.
"The hell…?" The man who was recording said.
The guy quickly started getting out of his car still recording with the phone in his hand, the camera was pointed at the ground. The sound of the incredibly strong wind was picked up from the phone's microphones, however it was very poor quality, it just turned the wind into static.
Daisy had to say that was ironic.
"Find the source— take them in!" Someone yelled over the wind. If Daisy had to guess, it probably would be Banks. The camera surveyed the intersection, darting everywhere— not focusing on any specific location until the man put the phone in his front pocket. Daisy was able to get a glimpse of Kelly despite the terrible filming conditions. He was crunched into a ball in the middle of the street holding his head and covering his ears, many other teens were crowded around him.
"Sir! It's the kid!"
"Contain the alien threat!"
"Hey! What the hell is going on here?!" The guy recording held up a gun darting from ATCU agent to agent. The gun in itself caught Daisy's interest, it was a police file after all— it's not improbable for a police to happen to be on scene. "Stand down! Now!" He ordered.
"Mister, put the gun down! Slowly!"
"I am a Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army, and I demand you tell me this instead— What the hell is going on?!"
Lieutenant Colonel, Daisy mused, that's a plot twist in a half, but not really. Some government involvement had to have been involved, it makes sense why the guy carries a piece. Judging from the authority tone in his voice though, he definitely had that Military-Talbot vibe.
"We're the President's special task force— the ATCU, sir!"
"I don't care what task force you're apart of, this is a child! Stand down immediately!"
There was a cry out in the background, it was unmistakably Kelly's.
"LUKIAN!" One of the kids screamed, that definitely surprised Daisy— she put that information on hold for now.
"We have the alien threat under control, load him up!"
"Yes, sir."
"WHA' THA BLOODY-HELL ARE YER DOIN'?! THAT MY FRIEND! HE NO BLOODY ALIEN! GO AWAY AN' BILE YER HEID, YER TUMSHIES!" The very same kid yelled at the top of his lungs. She could tell the kid had a very strong Scottish accent in the heated moment, and after spending so much time with Fitz— she recognized the swearing too.
The sound of the wind (static) started disappearing. It was obvious the kid was no longer conscious anymore.
"What in the world are you idiots doing!? Are you all insane!? This is just a kid!"
"Looks can be deceiving, sir, he's alien."
"Agent Johnson!" Banks called out. "Time to go!"
There was one of those many Agent Johnsons Price was talking about.
"Yes, sir."
And just like that the ATCU had left just as quickly as they arrived.
"God dammit." The guy muttered
Three seconds later the video ended, Daisy backed out of the video file and just sat there collecting her thoughts. The video didn't really help much, didn't reveal too much anyways. She also didn't have a name to track down that Colonel and see if he had some random piece of evidence to put in her ever-so-slow going pile.
Something that had kept replaying in her head ever since she closed the video (twenty seconds ago) was the utter heartbreaking scream of the kid who had yelled, "LUKIAN!" at the top of their lungs, and had said some (probably) pretty offensive Scottish slang there too. For a kid who was from Queens he had a lot of international friends. And it was nice to know he had someone in his corner— but it wasn't the part she focused on. It was the fact the teen had called him Lukian and not Kelly.
Daisy sighed, she was getting nowhere.
So, that dug the grave for the fake name conspiracy, didn't elude the possible Hydra manipulation though. That was still on the table… maybe. Maybe she was just going crazy from lack of sleep.
Accepting the fact that she wasn't going to find anything else digitally, Daisy got up and made her way down to Lukian's (apparently not Kelly's) containment room. This kid had almost as many names as she did— he was only one off really. She really did have an identity crisis for more than half of her life, didn't she?
At least she didn't have another name to add to the list.
And, she really didn't want another one.
Daisy shook away her thoughts as she entered the stark-white room and focused on the boy who didn't even glance in her direction as she walked in. But she could tell he knew she was there. Oddly enough he was sitting on the foot of the bed— looking around his room like he was chasing a fly through the air, his fingers were dancing and his left hand was moving side to side in front of him. As she got closer she felt the wind swirling around the room corresponding to his finger and hand motions. Despite all her new reservations about the kid, she was proud that he was learning how to use his powers better.
But just to get a reaction out of him she said….
"Hey, Kelly, I see you've already got a jump start on training."
Lukian's— or Kelly's— (who knows at this point) hand dropped to the comforter and the boy in question flopped onto his back, letting out a sigh. Not the reaction she was expecting, to be honest. He looked more frustrated than anything, and not at himself— more at the name. Daisy kept walking until she reached the bed, then she sat down, making the bed dip in her direction.
"Why'd you lie?" Daisy cut to the point.
He said nothing and gave no physical cues.
"Lukain…"
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, that was it. She could tell he wasn't gonna talk, not without a push at least. She was willing to give him that push.
"Kelly." She said warningly.
He flinched. It was subtle and only in his arm muscles, but she felt the vibration it sent through the bed.
"Please… please don't call me that." His voice was rough with emotion as he spoke.
Daisy raised an eyebrow yet said nothing. This was the first time he's seen the kid without a mask, the first time he didn't have a snarky comment that matched her own. The first time he actually let his guard down, and for someone who's been here for almost four weeks now and was just a kid— it was impressive. It was also impressive there was no tornado forming currently, not even a breeze. His control was getting better.
Daisy was starting to get an idea of the situation, it doesn't seem far off from her own. Mary-Sue Poots was a name that sucked, Skye sounded cool. Kelly Clements doesn't sound all that fun either, Lukian on the other hand sounds pretty cool. But she could though that's not why he didn't want to be called Kelly though, there was trauma behind it— that much was obvious. Daisy wasn't going to prod, he'll tell his story if he wants to, if not… it wasn't her business. Even if she wanted to go full Melinda May on whoever hurt him.
And yes, Melinda May was a verb now.
"You know, I used to have a name I hated too." Daisy said, giving him an olive branch. He cracked an eye open and stared at her, puzzled. Daisy took it as a sign to go on.
"Name the orphanage gave me, it was terrible. I despised it. Attendance on the first day of school was a nightmare—" Daisy cracked a smile. "Or any day of school actually. I couldn't... legally do anything about it, of course until I was eighteen. But… I chose a temporary name for myself until I found out my real name, and wouldn't listen to anybody until they called me by the new name. The nuns hated me because then I completely ignored them. They would never call me by my chosen name, but it was hilarious to listen to them get pissed off each time." She laughed. "Totally worth it."
"What was it?" Lukian asked. She could see the mischief swimming through his eyes, but she could also see a good layer of understanding there too.
Daisy chuckled. "Oh no, I'm not gonna give you the bullets to the gun."
Still lying on his back— he cocked his head.
"In other words: I'm not telling you."
He sat up and scooted back toward the pillows, the amusement never leaving. "Come on, please…."
"No."
"Pleaseeeeee…"
She shook her head. "Uh-uh,"
Lukian narrowed his eyes and stared at her like he could see through her. "Mary Jack?" He guessed.
Daisy snorted to cover up her surprise that he actually got the Mary part right. Like seriously? There's millions of terrible names he could choose from! Really?
"Come on! Gimme something!"
"I'm not giving you a damn thing." Daisy insisted, rather stubbornly.
Not even Fitz or Jemma knew about it, only because she knew the teasing would never end. She told May once, shortly after she became her S.O— and she knew Coulson had found out through May (who knew she was a gossiper?). Lincoln knows, she told him back at Afterlife. Mack definitely doesn't know, but she thinks she told Bobbi once when they were really (really) drunk one night. To be honest, she doesn't remember much from that night.
"If I tell you why I don't like my name— you have to tell me yours." Lukian said, he held out his hand. "Deal?"
Daisy was genuinely shocked at the proposal. She definitely considered it— it was worth the teasing if he was going to open up. Dr. Buckerds had said: "The kid talks a lot, but gives nothing away— another one of his superpowers, I suppose." So if he was willing to actually make the trade and talk, she wasn't going to turn it down.
She shook his hand. "You have a deal, but you first."
Lukian scowled. "Fine," He brought his knees up to his chest and picked at his jeans, the amusement and mischief gone. "Someone— um... for about two years, or so— would call me that and… bad memories usually followed."
Dr. Buckerds was right, that barely gave much away. It did however, reveal that he had been abused, or in the very least— bullied in the past. The good thing though, he said it only lasted two years, meaning it wasn't on going, and it ended. For that she was thankful.
"What was their name?" Daisy inquired— sounding casual. Internally she was incredibly interested (for no reason at all).
"Dedicate-Deficit." The corners of his lips twitched. "That's what I called her anyways."
Sadly he was smart enough not to play into her game. Daisy raised an eyebrow, seriously wishing he would give her a name (again, for no reason at all). He squirmed under her glare. "What? I really did call her that."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Clements." She said teasingly. "Anything else you'd like to add to the story?" Like an actual name?
"Well… that, and, Kelly is a girl's name and it sucks."
Daisy snorted despite herself. "That's fair. Although, I did know a guy who was named Kelly once. Granted it was his middle name, but he was called that because he shared a first name with his dad— they never knew which one who had been called."
That had been the Brodys, the one family she felt like she actually had a chance at staying. But in actuality, she had a zero chance with any of the families she stayed with because of SHIELD. They kept her hidden away from her looney family (but Cal wasn't so bad, just misunderstood— like Raina said. Still a murderer though), and partly she was glad for that. She wasn't sure how well she'd handle Terrigenesis without May's training, it had already been a wreck.
She was glad she was getting the chance to help other Inhumans and make sure their own experience went in the tiniest bit smoother.
"Hm," Lukian considered that for a moment before shrugging. "Still a terrible name for a boy though, even a girl is pushing it." The amusement and mischief was back. "Now, I believe we had an agreement we shook hands on?"
Daisy sighed, accepting her fate. "Yeah, yeah yeah. Alright breezy-boy. You ready?"
He nodded.
"Mary-Sue Poots."
Lukian burst into (very expected) laughter. It went on for a solid thirty seconds, at that point she playfully smacked his shoulder to get him to shut up.
"Alright, alright. It wasn't that funny, clementine."
He tried to catch his breath so he could speak, but failed. "I-I'm p-pretty sure— i-it is... Poots."
Daisy glared at him. "Oh don't you dare start."
That only sent him laughing more.
She rolled her eyes. This was a mistake, she thought grudgingly, but at least he wasn't Hydra. He definitely did have many layers to him though and was good at covering them up. She could however— tell he was genuinely being honest on what he told her. The only problem was he left it so vague he barely gave anything away. And she just had a weird feeling that the good layer of understanding in his eyes, had a deeper meaning then he let on.
She definitely was going to watch him closer from now on.
AN: So sorry about the long wait, I am the worlds best procrastinator. Which sucks because I really want to get on with the story. Now, because I'm the worlds best procrastinator— I'm going to try and set a deadline for myself, something around two-to-three weeks at the maximum. Hopefully that will push myself to not keep putting it off, yet this story is constantly living in my mind rent free.
Anyways hope you enjoyed.