a.n. So I'm gonna update this twice a week, the whole thing is already finished, so don't feel you need to push me to write it :) this felt easier than trying to write while on a timer. Also mild abuse tw this chapter, I'll post after the sections break so it's clear.

A week after her virtual chat with Phil the SHIELD agent, Daisy found his email. Really easily. Man, SHIELD really needed to upgrade their security. She sat on her single bed in the upstairs bedroom. This family wasn't so bad as long as you followed all the rules; at least she got her own room, and the old laptop that was about to be thrown out. It took her some time to get it working, but still.

'Fun day at work?' She typed into the instant messaging feature, expecting there being a week before he replied. Old guys sucked at the internet.

Daisy was surprised a few minutes later when she received a reply.

'Daisy?'

She grinned. 'The one and only. You really need to fix your security old man.'

Daisy could imagine him rolling his eyes. 'You need to stop staying up so late young lady.'

She snorted. 'Make me.' She typed, then hesitated. 'How's your wife?'

There was a pause before he replied. 'The same. She's trying though.'

'It must be so hard to live with that.'

'She's not a burden' He typed back quickly, 'She's my wife and I love her.'

'I can tell.' Daisy typed. 'Can't see you bothering otherwise.'

'People can help people without knowing them. It's called altruism, didn't they teach you the word in English class?'

Daisy laughed. 'I wouldn't know, it's not like I pay attention.' Or attend, She mentally added on.

'You should.' He typed back. 'I know you don't want me nagging, but you're a smart kid, and that shouldn't go to waste.'

Daisy sighed. 'I'll be fine.' She typed, 'I don't need you worrying about me.'

'Sorry.' He replied, 'My wife says I'm a nagger.'

Daisy smiled. 'The nagging husband and the closed off wife? Sounds like your relationship's backwards.'

'It's exactly what it needs to be.' He replied, 'She's always been the one saving my ass.' A moment later he sent another message. 'I shouldn't have said ass, please don't use that word.'

Daisy burst out laughing, hurriedly shoving her face into a pillow so as not to disturb her foster parents. 'Oh my God, do you even have kids?'

The length of the pause that followed told her that maybe she'd said the wrong thing. 'No.' Phil eventually replied, and Daisy bit her lip.

'Sorry.' She typed shortly. She wanted to say more, but she didn't know what she should say. What if his wife had miscarried? What if that was why she was so messed up?

'It's okay.' He replied quickly. 'We were thinking about it for a little while, but Melinda hasn't mentioned it since the incident.' Melinda. So that was his wife's name. Not that Daisy couldn't have found that out. 'Anyway, what have you been up to?' Phil typed, 'Done your homework?'

Daisy snorted. 'Wouldn't you like to know.'

'I would, actually.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Yes, I've done my homework, can I have my dinner now?'

She waited a fraction of a second longer than usual for a reply. 'Good. Learning's important.'

'Maybe it's time you learned to secure your computer.'

'This is an email conversation.'

'Like I couldn't get in anyway.'

'I'd rather you didn't try.'

Daisy sniggered. 'Scared of what I'll find?'

'Scared you'll get caught.'

'They won't find out.' Daisy typed, knowing that her foster parents were asleep and totally technologically inept.

'SHIELD are better than you think.'

Right. SHIELD. 'I'll be fine. I can look after myself.'

'You're a kid, you shouldn't have to.'

Daisy bristled. 'I don't need another man telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing, okay? Mind your own business.'

It was several minutes before Phil responded, but Daisy refused to feel bad. He didn't know anything about her, her life, what she had to do. What she had survived. When the message finally popped up, Daisy hesitated before clicking on it.

'I'm sorry.' It said. 'I didn't mean to overstep. I guess I'm still on work brain.'

Daisy clenched her hands into fists, trying to figure out what to do now. No one ever apologised to her, not really. The odd shrink, sometimes a counsellor would after they found out what had happened in a home they had sent her to. But it never meant anything. They never meant it. She got the feeling that Phil did mean it.

She swallowed. 'Don't do it again.' Daisy typed, then immediately after, 'What's your wife like?' An olive branch.

A longer wait still for that reply, but when it arrived Daisy could see why. 'She's amazing, we've known each other for years. She's one of SHIELD's top field agents, can take down men twice her size without breaking a sweat, and she's so graceful and funny. I think you'd like her, she doesn't take anyone talking down to her.' Daisy could just picture the lovesick grin as he typed. 'And she loves pranking people, she gets this grin when she's done something, it's the cutest thing.'

'She sounds great.'

'She is. No one expects the tiny little Chinese woman to be the muscle on missions, but she could kick my ass five ways from Sunday.'

That pulled Daisy up short. 'She's Chinese?'

'Is that a problem?'

Daisy bit her lip. She didn't know if she should say this. It would help SHIELD track her down if they wanted to. And yet... 'I'm Chinese.' She confessed. 'At least that's what they think. Half Chinese, half not.'

'You'd definitely like her then.' Phil typed, and Daisy let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding. 'I know connecting with your heritage is important.' He was toeing the line, that much was clear. Testing the waters.

'Not high on my list of priorities right now.'

'Maybe some day then.'

'Yeah.' Daisy typed. 'Some day.' Some day when she was older. Some day when she was safe and stable and not a total mess.

Some day felt like a dream. A dream that would never happen.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Phil was on his work computer when he saw another email pop up a week later. He moved it to another folder, resolving not to talk to Daisy at work. He didn't want her to get in trouble. She wasn't really doing anything wrong.

After dinner he and Melinda sat down on the couch together, her watching some game show with blank eyes, him finishing his paperwork. After an hour he realised that she had fallen asleep against him, and Phil smiled. "I love you so much." He murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

His paperwork complete, he checked the email from Daisy.

'Hey, do you know anything about world war 2?' She had typed, 'I've got a history assignment.'

Phil couldn't help but smile. A school assignment. So she was going to school, doing her homework, asking for help because she wanted to do it well. 'Melinda didn't put you up to this, did she?' He typed. 'She's always making fun of me for being a "nerd".'

'So is that a yes?' Phil could imagine her laughing at him.

He rolled his eyes. 'What do you need to know?'

After an hour of failing to reign his history nerd side in, Phil insisted that Daisy go to bed, noting that wherever she was, it was past midnight, and she had school in the morning. He counted it as a win that she surrendered, even wishing him goodnight first. He closed his laptop, setting it aside and gently combing his fingers through Melinda's hair in an attempt to rouse her. "Hey." He said softly, watching as she became instantly awake. "Time for bed."

"You're the one who woke me up."

Phil smiled. "I know." He murmured. "But you hate sleeping on the couch. You know what it does to your neck."

"I don't need you worrying about me."

"I know." He said again. "But I like to anyway." He stood with a groan. "Come on, I'm tired."

May rolled her eyes when he took her hand and helped her up, but there was the hint of a smile under it all. The barest trace of the woman she had used to be. Phil hated how much he missed her sometimes. His wife was still there. Melinda was right there.

Phil sighed. "You know I love you, right?" He asked as he changed into his pyjamas.

Melinda hesitated in brushing her hair to look at him, lips slightly parted in surprise. After a moment she nodded, looking away. She bit her lip and Phil knew what she was thinking.

"Good." He sighed. "I- you don't have to say it. I just... I never want to lose you."

"What's this about?"

Phil smiled, forcing the emotion back. He didn't know why he was being so sappy tonight. "I don't know." He muttered, settling into bed, her joining beside him. "I guess... you just looked so peaceful on the couch. It reminded me of our first mission, remember? You fell asleep in the car on our way back."

"Only because of the hypothermia."

Phil scoffed. "It wasn't hypothermia." He muttered.

"I'm still here." Melinda murmured softly, resting one hand on his chest, forcing herself to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry I'm not..."

Phil was shaking his head before she finished speaking. "You don't have to be sorry for anything." He said firmly. "I'm the one who's meant to be helping you through this."

Melinda looked away, pulling her hand back. "This isn't something you can just fix Phil." She whispered. "I wish it was. If I could go back to being-" She broke off, throat working.

"Hey." Phil put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want you to go back. I just want you to be happy again."

She swallowed. "I don't know if I can Phil."

"That's okay." He promised. "I'll be here every day until you do. And every day after that. I promise." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I love you."

She managed a nod this time, as well as the barest hint of a smile. It was enough to warm Phil's heart. He loved his wife. So so much.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Phil continued to get messages from Daisy over the weeks following their initial encounter, and he replied studiously. It was clear that this kid needed someone, and she was a great kid. Smart, funny, wit sharp as a knife. He wasn't sure if Melinda would love her or hate her. The two were very similar.

He found out that Daisy liked history, but not school history, that she hated stories with orphans going on magical adventures, which he hadn't pressed her about, and that any time she had the money she would journey to chinatown to get a meal for herself. She claimed that the spiciness made her feel alive. Phil pointed out that nothing made him feel alive like almost dying from too much chilli.

He got the impression that that had made her laugh, and that made him happy. From what little he knew about Daisy, it was clear she needed some happiness in her life.

Phil didn't question why he was doing this. He just told her about the first time Melinda had taken him home to meet her mother and he had ended up in tears from the chilli she had snuck into his bowl, told her about his car, about how Melinda had driven like a maniac the first and only time he'd given her the keys. He told her about Sausalito and how Melinda had been trapped in the bay, how she had thoroughly chewed out their commander once they got back.

Daisy teased him for having Melinda in all his stories, but Phil shrugged it off. 'She's part of my life.' He had typed. 'My family. I love being with her.'

Reading those words, simple and honest on her screen, gave Daisy pause. She knew that loving relationships existed, but she hadn't really accepted it before. That there were couples who weren't at each other's throats, who weren't bonded solely through whatever form of evangelism made foster families punish her for every indiscretion. People who actually cared about the people they lived with. Included them in their lives. 'I can't imagine trusting someone that much.' She confessed, fully expecting him to be surprised or pitying.

Instead, Phil replied, 'Well, maybe someday you will.'

I hope not. Daisy thought, but only typed, 'Yeah. Maybe.' Trust got people hurt. It got her hurt. She shifted, the bruises on her arm starting to ache.

She couldn't risk trusting people.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

ABUSE TW UNTIL THE END OF CHAPTER

It had been a little over two months since her first conversation with Phil when Daisy felt scared enough to try to get something from him. She didn't want anything really. Just reassurance, a promise that she'd be okay. A lie.

Her left arm was tied up in a makeshift sling using an old shirt. She could feel a black eye forming and tried not to cry from the fear and the pain, knowing that it would only sting more. She couldn't do this. She didn't deserve this.

'Hey.' She typed, hoping that Phil was awake, hearing the loud ranting from downstairs, knowing that her dollar store padlock would never hold. There was no other way out of her room. Her heart hammered in her chest. It felt like there was a huge weight on her head.

She couldn't keep doing this. Daisy knew that. She couldn't handle them sending her to another home like this, another home where they promised that this time would be different, that this would be a good family. It didn't matter. It never mattered. Either they sent her away in pieces, or they sent her away whole. In the end the result was the same.

Her IM bounced. 'Hey.' Phil replied. 'What's up? Rough day at school?'

Daisy shivered. 'Sure.' She replied. She couldn't tell him. She knew that. An hour from now she could be dead or homeless. What could she even say to him? This guy who might still be some creepy pedophile, but who had made her feel a little more normal. 'How was your day?'

There was another pause and Daisy jumped when there was a thump from downstairs. 'Fine.' Phil typed. 'Paperwork mostly, for every day of missions there's a week of paperwork.'

'They don't tell you about that in training, huh?' Somehow the joke didn't even feel genuine when expressed in text. When Daisy pulled her hands back she noticed that she was trembling violently. 'Have you been on a lot of missions?'

'Some, yeah.'

Footsteps. The worst sound in the world. Daisy typed quickly, needing something. 'When it goes bad, how do you deal with it?' She typed, feeling the thump of the footsteps vibrating through the ground, her bed-frame, her bones. 'How do you not get scared?'

Phil felt a thrill of fear go through him as he read those words. 'Daisy, is everything okay? Are you safe?' When minutes passed and there was no reply, Phil started to panic. 'Daisy, what's happening, tell me what's going on and I can help you. Just tell me where you are and I'll send someone to get you right now, but you have to give me something.'

An hour passed and there was still no reply, so Phil reached for his phone. "Maria? I know it's late, but I need you to do me a favour. Now."