"Welcome to the school, my name is Victoria Hand and I am the principal of this fine institution." The principal introduced. "I take it that you're new in the area as well?"
"Yes." Raina timidly answered.
"Well, I hope you're comfortable and I hope you obey the rules that you will read in the rulebook that I'm providing you with." Ms. Hand continued. "I also want to introduce you to the student ambassador and hall monitor, Grant Ward."
"Hi there, Raina, was it?" Ward asked as he stepped forward with his hand outstretched.
"Yes, Raina Johnson." She answered as she scanned his hand before taking it and shaking it. "Is that all?"
"For now, yes." Ms. Hand concluded. "Grant, escort her to class and get on with your class assignments."
"As you command, Principal Hand." Ward smiled, stepping out of the office to escort Raina.
As she was guided to the class, the teacher took notice.
"Oh, looks like we have a new student joining us." Mr. Garner said. "Please, introduce yourself."
"Oh me? Ummmm..." Raina started as she started to panic and hyperventilate.
"Breathe and take your time." He smiled.
"Raina, it is okay." Daisy spoke from her seat. Acknowledging that Daisy was there made Raina Relax a little.
"My name is Raina Johnson." She timidly said. "I'm new here and I like flowers."
"That's very nice." Mr. Garner said. "Well I'm Mr. Andrew Gardner and if you need anything, just ask."
"Mr. Garner, would it be alright if I sat next to Daisy?" She asked.
"Sure, that wouldn't be a problem." He nodded.
After taking her seat, Raina started looking around the place.
"Hey," Daisy greeted. "Are you alright?"
"I'm managing, I guess." Raina replied. "It's terrifying."
"I'm here for you." Daisy smiled as she moved her desk and chair closer to Raina.
"Thank you." Raina returned a smile.
Meanwhile
S.H.I.E.L.D Location Classified
"Sir, here are the reports you requested." Agent Rickson presented.
"Thank you, Agent Rickson." Phil replied. "Check with the other agents of your team and prep them for departure. I will brief you in 10."
"Yes sir." Rickson said as he left.
As Phil opened the aftermath reports on the last three missions that went south, he sighed before looking at the picture that sat on his desk.
"Someday, I see both of you working here at S.H.I.E.L.D." Phil whispered as his eyes focused on his two daughters. "You, Jemma as a scientist and doctor and you, Daisy as an operative just like your mother is."
Waking him out of his thoughts was the sound of the telephone.
"Good morning, Coulson Speaking." He greeted.
"That's very cute, babe." Melinda said on the other line.
"Hey honey, what's up?" He smiled.
"Just checking up on you." She answered. "So what's up with you?"
"Was about to read a few aftermath reports and I'm thinking about Jemma and Daisy." He replied.
"Nice," she chuckled. "What, about our babies, is on your mind?"
"How they have a place at S.H.I.E.L.D." He responded.
"That's only if they want to be apart of the organization." She stated. "But I do know what you mean. Although it would be dangerous, they're our children which means they will know all the safety protocols by heart and obviously be able to recite any rule from the handbook."
"If not, you will ground them from missions." Phil said.
"Damn straight!" Melinda exclaimed. "You know, Today is the first day for Raina."
"Oh yes, I wonder how that is going." He voiced.
"You should have seen Dais this morning." Melinda laughed at the memory. "It was a hilarious spectacle indeed."
"What happened?" Phil asked.
"She was rushing all over the place just to make sure everything was in place." She answered. "I wonder where she got that panicking from."
"Well, it wasn't from me." He smiled. "It also wasn't from you."
"Well it's her trait.", she concluded as she sighed heavily.
"What's wrong, Mel?" He questioned.
"I'm just tired of being on vacation." She answered. "I want to get back out on the field, where I belong."
"Well, you soon will be back out doing your thing." He smiled as the agents started to enter the room. "I have to go, the team is here."
"Enjoy and Phil," she started, which he hummed to. "Be safe."
"I love you honey." He said which she replied with the classic I Love You Too before the call was ended.
"Ready to be briefed sir." Rickson stated.
"Alright, let's get to it." Phil started, displaying technology that Tony Stark designed. "We will be traveling to Texas; heard there were unexplained strange things going on. We think it could be an 0-8-4."
"What type of things we're taking about?" A female agent asked. "Disappearances, seismic activity? What?"
"That's the thing, Agent Billows," Phil started. "Their radiation levels are fluctuating and their power is going off and on."
"What could have triggered the 0-8-4 to activate?" Agent Tinze asked as he looked at his mission leader.
"That's what we will find out," Phil answered. "Any other questions regarding the 0-8-4 or the mission?"
"No, sir." Rickson concluded after looking around at his team.
"Good, wheels up in 5." Phil said as he grabbed his phone off the desk and started making his way to a quinjet.
At School
Lunchtime
"Thank you for being supportive throughout class Daisy." Raina thanked.
"That's not a problem," Daisy smiled as she opened her locker. "I'm sure if the roles were reversed you would have done the same thing."
"Are we waiting here on Jemma and her boyfriend Fuzz?" Raina asked innocently.
"It's Fitz, he's just her best friend and no we're not waiting on them," Daisy answered after taking out a few things and swapping them with what was currently in her book bag. "They're going into the library to work on pieces of their science project."
"Oh, I see," Raina uttered while Daisy closed the locker. "My bad."
"Watch my things for a moment," Daisy said as she placed her bag beside Raina. "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Alright." Raina replied as Daisy made her way to the restroom.
Not too long after, a tall guy walked up to Raina.
"Hi." He said as he looked at her.
"Hi." She uttered as she looked around to distract herself.
"You must be Raina." He voiced. "Raina Johnson."
"That's right, I am." She breathed. "Who are you?"
"I'm Miles Lydon," He introduced as he stepped closer to her. "Now that the introductions are out the way, let's get down to business."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I want to know why are you here?" He questioned.
"I don't understa-" she started.
"You act all innocent when I know exactly what you are." He interrupted. "I guess you know what I mean. The words freak and monster should come to mind. See, I used my connections to learn everything about you, who your parents are and why you all are really here."
Tears began to form in Raina's eyes as Miles verbally assaulted her.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She defended.
"You know, it's such a wonder how you say that." He said as he got extremely close to her; so close that his face was almost touching hers. He changed his tone of voice to that of a whisper. "I'm pretty sure you know about Centipede."
At the mention of Centipede, Raina's eyes shot open and her hand flew to her mouth. Tears streamed down her face and this brought a smile to Miles' face.
"Miles!" A voice rang, capturing his attention. "Get away from her before I make you get away."
"Daisy, coming back to Shield your friend?" He asked as he slowly walked up to her. While this happened, Raina collapsed to the floor in tears. "You should be careful with her though, the centipede leaves quite a mark."
"I'm half tempted to break your ribs like I did before." Daisy angrily remarked. As she gritted her teeth and balled her fist, she tried to slow her breathing but her anger kept building. "I'm not going to let you hurt her."
"I see we're still on the wrong side of the suits though." He teased. "When will you realize that what your dad does is a bad thing?"
This made Daisy lunge forward to punch Miles in his teeth.
"Daisy!" Ward's voice echoed through the halls, stopping her.
"Ugh!" She angrily exclaimed as she looked at the smirk on Miles' face.
"I will see you in class Daisy, Raina." Miles said while walking away from Daisy.
As he was passing, Ward stopped him and whispered to him.
"You better leave those girls alone or else you will have me to deal with."
"Yeah yeah, whatever, Ward." Miles chuckled as he walked along.
"Daisy, you need to calm down and learn how to control that anger," Ward warned. "Do you want to get in more trouble?"
"Well just what do you think I should do Ward?" Daisy pressed. "I won't just stand here and let him hurt my friend! I won't let him hurt her Ward!"
"I get that you don't want to let him hurt Raina which I have no problem with," ward explained. "It's how you go about doing that that matters."
"Well, I am sorry." Daisy exclaimed as she went by Raina to help her up.
"I'm only looking out for your wellbeing." He said as he got close to both of them. "Raina, are you alright?"
"No." She cried.
"Ward, are you that insensitive?" Daisy shot. "Of course she is not alright. She is torn up and crying."
"What did you want me to say?" He shot back. "It's not like it's easy to know just what to ask or say in these situations."
"Well, you figure that out." Daisy spat. "Come on Raina, let's wipe these tears and get you smiling."
The Coulson's House
The door bell rang which alerted Melinda, who was reading a book, that there was someone at the door.
"I'm coming." She sounded as she got up to get the door. Upon opening it, she saw the Johnsons. "Oh hey Cal, Jiaying! Come in."
"Thank you, Melinda." Jiaying smiled as she and her husband entered the house. "How's the vacation treating you?"
"It needs to be over soon," Melinda answered inviting them to the couch. "It was nice for awhile but I miss work."
"Must be some job if you love being a secretary for this firm." Cal chuckled. "I guess I'd get bored if Jiaying was working most of the time and I was home."
"Bright side, I get to be home to greet my girls everyday." Melinda smiled.
"I'm sure that is the greatest feeling ever." Jiaying smiled back. "I feel the same when Raina comes home."
"So what brings you two over?" Melinda asked.
"Well, we are soon going to be launching our business in this area," Cal explained. "We wanted to know if you could help us out with some stuff."
"I would love to help out." Melinda grinned. "Beats being bored all of the time."
"Sounds good," Cal said. "We can get to it a little later, just wanted to let you know."
"Thanks." Melinda smiled. "How do you feel about Raina going to school with Daisy?"
"We're happy that Raina has a friend she's comfortable with," Cal answered. "School has always been a little hard for her."
"Yeah, most days she would come home and go right up to her room and wouldn't say anything to us about what happened," Jiaying explained. "She hates school."
"Maybe because people don't understand why she is so special," Melinda reasoned. "That's why they give her a hard time. Additionally, she's soft spoken and an easy target for bullies."
"I hope she's alright." Jiaying remarked.
"Well, Daisy is going to protect her." Melinda proudly voiced. "Daisy can't stand bullies and she makes sure they know they can't mess with her."
"You allow her to fight?" Cal asked.
"Only if it's necessary," Melinda answered. "If she can't justify why she fought, then that's a problem. Daisy is a sweetheart though, trouble just loves to find her doorstep."
"Well, I want to see what today will bring," Jiaying said as she glanced at the book Melinda was reading. "Nice book."
"Yeah, it is." Melinda smiled. "Not every day you get to read a book that's in Mandarin. If you want to borrow it, you can."
"Thank you." Jiaying grinned.
"Cal, can you speak Mandarin as well?" Melinda questioned.
"Not to save my life." Cal chuckled. "Funny story, that is kinda how I met Jiaying. It was a mission trip; a few guys and a few ladies. We were presenting and we came across a group who didn't know English. I had a Mandarin guide book and I tried to use it but I obviously called the stuff wrong."
"Sounds like Phil to me." Melinda joked.
"It was hilarious." Jiaying laughed. "I went up to him afterwards and corrected what he said and then I spoke to him in English."
"She invited me out to have some special tea and from there we interacted." Cal finished.
"Didn't you two have to go separate paths after the time he spent with the mission trip?" Melinda enquired.
"We kept in contact and she decided to come to help me out and we started our first medical camp in China," Cal answered. "What about you and Phil?"
"My parents moved for work and I ended up meeting Phil in school. We became such close friends; best friends. He even helped me through a bad breakup with my ex and somehow I knew we were meant to be together but I didn't want to ruin the bond we had." Melinda smiled. "One day, something happened and we kissed and from that moment on, we were together."
"Now that's crazy." Jiaying expressed. "You two are so sweet."
"Tell me about it." Cal laughed. "Feels like we known each other for a long time."
"Sure bet it does." Melinda responded.
At School
"Mr. Garner, Raina needs some assistance!" Daisy exclaimed.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Miles Lydon happened." Daisy expressed.
"Where is Raina?" He inquired.
"She is in the bathroom crying her eyes out." Daisy explained. "Miles took it too far like he usually does."
"Does the principal know?" He continued.
"No, not that I know of." Daisy said. "I will try to get her out the bathroom but she doesn't want to go anywhere and she doesn't want to call home."
"Alright, let's get her out of there." He concluded.
"Give that back!" Raina cried as she reached for an item that stood in the hands of another female student.
"Shhhh sshhh, Monsters aren't supposed to be talking." The girl meanly said as she held the book that Raina wanted up high. "Miles told me what you are."
"I just want my book and for you all to leave me alone." Raina lunged at the girl toppling her.
"You think you're a pretty flower?" The girl on the ground asked as she fought for the book. "All you are is a bunch of thorns."
With that said, the girl pushed Raina and the book off.
"You can keep your stupid book." She said as she turned to leave, however, she came face to face with a furious Daisy. "Daisy!"
"I've had enough!" Daisy exclaimed and punched the girl in her face. "Night night, Anastasia."
As Daisy picked up Raina and helped her out to see Mr. Garner, they also saw Jemma and Fitz.
"Oh dear, what happened?" Jemma asked.
"The tide!" Daisy growled. "Anastasia is currently knocked out in the bathroom."
"You knocked her out?" Mr. Garner eyes shot open.
"She assaulted Raina, I just defended my friend." Daisy justified.
"How about you two come with me to Principal Hand and I'll see if you can get the rest of the day home?" Mr. Garner suggested.
"What about my sister?" Daisy asked looking at Jemma. "I'm not leaving her."
"Daisy, I can protect myself and Fitz is here with me." Jemma smiled. "You two should go."
"Are you sure?" Daisy checked.
"I'm sure." Jemma verified.
"Then let's get going." Mr. Garner lead.
The Coulson's House
"And then Phil took that picture over there." Melinda smiled. "Daisy was so adora-"
The telephone rang, interrupting the conversation.
"Sorry." Melinda said as she picked up. "Good afternoon."
"Is this Melinda Coulson?" The voice of the principal came through.
"Yes, this is Melinda Coulson." She answered. "Is something wrong with Daisy or Jemma, Ms. Hand?"
"Daisy and Raina actually, They're here sitting in my office." Hand explained.
"What did Daisy and Raina do?" She questioned. "What. Happened?"
"They didn't necessarily do anything, Miles Lydon and Anastasia Barker was picking on Raina and Daisy stepped up to defend her." Hand spoke. "It is advised that they be collected from school. Can you relay this message to Raina's parents? I can't seem to get in contact with them."
"Not a problem, they're here with me." Melinda voiced. "We will be there shortly."
Melinda ended the call and took up her bag.
"Raina has been picked on and Daisy came to her defense." She explained before Cal or Jiaying could ask. "The principal is going to deal with the matter but we're going to collect Raina and Daisy."
"First day and my poor baby already gets picked on?" Jiaying looked at Melinda.
"I'm going to definitely deal with this issue." Melinda grabbed her keys as they exited.
"Principal Hand, what happened here?!" Melinda expressed. "Where are Miles and this Anastasia?"
"Calm down, Mrs. Coulson." She replied. "Miles and Anastasia have been suspended."
"Make sure this doesn't happen again!" Melinda expressed as they left the office.
"Hey Melinda." Mr. Garner said as he passed them.
"Andrew," Melinda said back. "Hope you're keeping good!"
"Always!" He replied as he continued his path.
"That wasn't weird at all." Daisy commented.
"I'm sorry for being trouble, Mrs. Coulson." Raina apologized.
"You don't need to apologize, Raina," Melinda smiled. "You did nothing wrong and those two shouldn't go unpunished!"
"I agree with Melinda." Jiaying said placing a comforting hand behind Raina.
The ride back home was quiet, Raina and Daisy rested on each other while the parents displayed worried faces.
"Raina, if you don't want to come back to school tomorrow, it's fine." Daisy smiled.
"If I have you there with me, I should be fine." Raina smiled back. "You're a great friend."
"What's that book that Anastasia tried to steal?" Daisy enquired.
"It's a mystery called The Clairvoyant. If you want, you can read it." Raina cocked her head to the left.
"That's alright, I'm sure you will tell me about it either way." Daisy smiled again.
Location Elsewhere
America
There was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." A woman said as she got up from her family to get the door. "Good day, can I help you?"
When the door swung opened, the woman saw Melinda dressed up as an FBI agent.
"Good day to you too." She answered. "I'm here to say that if your son, Miles Lydon, touches my daughter, Daisy Coulson, or her friends or even picked on her again, I will handle it. It is technically an offense to bully people."
"Yeah, well what about the fact that my son came home with broken bones?" The woman angrily asked.
"Well, you do know that your son slapped her in the face, right?" Melinda countered. "She defended herself. Anyway, have a good day, and know that I'm being serious. If I have to return to take him in for a few days, he will be under our custody."
With that Melinda left and drove off to do the same with Anastasia's parents.
"Miles! Why didn't you tell me that you slapped the girl?!" The woman yelled. "Especially in her face?!"
