Chapter 10
Laura immediately stepped in front of the unconscious Clint, blocking him from the little girl. "Hey sweetheart, aren't you supposed to be asleep?" She said this in the tone that all mothers seemed to have. At least functional ones. It was chiding, but laced with concern. Daisy was still getting over her shock at the little brown-headed child, the one who was currently staring a whole through Daisy. She turned back to her mom and simply raised an eyebrow in silent question of this woman's presence in her house. Daisy specifically heard the older woman next to her mumble a curse about Natasha's influence before smiling back at her daughter. "This is Daisy. She's daddy's friend."
"Like Uncle Steve and Uncle Tony?" The girl said in a cautious tone, like she was waiting for Daisy to be ranked on a scale of worth alongside this Steve and Tony. Whomever the fuck they were. The girl with these piercing eyes was staring a hole through her. This was the most unsettling child she had ever met.
Laura seemed to look at Daisy, whom was covered in muck and dried blood. Laura seemed to take stock of her for the second time tonight. Her gaze lingered on Daisy's eyes for several moments. "I think she is more like Aunt Wanda… or Aunt Kate." Lila seemed to straighten up at that and snapped her eyes to her mother in shock. It took her a few moments but she seemed to find reassurance in Laura's eyes and relaxed. She granted Daisy a beautiful smile, her mini-spy training face gone. Her gaze flickered back towards the table.
"Daddy got hurt again, didn't he?" She said with what seemed to be exasperation. Laura chuckled and nodded at the child.
"He sure did… giving me gray hairs… But he is going to be okay Lila," Laura smiled reassuringly to the child who seemed to take it in stride. Now Daisy had finally come out of her stupor by this time. She looked between the mother and daughter and blew a breath out of her mouth.
"Man, how many more surprises you got in store for me…?" She was almost afraid to ask the older woman who smiled.
"Just wait until breakfast tomorrow," she said cryptically. She was looking at Lila who just continued to stand there. The little girl put on her, "oh-c'mon-you-really-don't-know-why-I'm-still-here?" face and tilted her head. "Oh, you want a story, baby?" Laura looked between her child and husband, the first look of indecisiveness that Daisy had seen from the woman since she had met her. Daisy stepped towards the woman, but the little girl's eyes tracked her in the small movement. Daisy instead turned away from her mother and spoke to Lila.
"I could tell you one. Your mom probably needs to keep an eye on your dead. Without us he'd probably do something stupid, right?" Daisy smirked at the little girl and she took a few seconds before smiling back at Daisy.
"Okay! But you have to tell me one that I haven't heard! Auntie Nat has a bunch of cool ones, she'll be tough to beat!" The little girl was jumping excitedly and grabbed Daisy's hand. Daisy was wide-eyed at the sudden mood change, but she let herself be dragged forward towards the stairs. She shot a look of indecisiveness back at Laura who looked just as shocked as Daisy felt. But she shook it off and smiled at Daisy, nodding her head in encouragement.
Apparently Daisy was popular and had wormed her way quickly into the heart of a little girl that was raised by a bad-ass nurse, a goofy marksman, and, it seemed, a deadly Black Widow. Check that off her non-existent bucket list.