Chapter Text
“…Yep. So that’s how Daisy became my girlfriend, the first time at least. Nat terrorized us into it.” Clint laughed.
“Oh, come on, it was becoming painful to watch. You moping around pathetically and her glancing at you when she thought no one was looking, trying to figure out why you were acting so weird. Someone had to do something! Wait until Jemma and Wanda get here tomorrow. They’ll back me up.” Daisy and Clint both stared at her disbelievingly and Natasha threw her hands up in the air. “Okay, sure, it might have been a little bit dramatic and mean, but it worked, didn’t it?”
Daisy smiled fondly at both of them, and looked happily around the house that they were sitting in. It was exactly the kind of place that she always dreamed of living in as a child. Family pictures hung on the walls and scribbled artwork covered the refrigerator. A little sandy-haired mop-top boy ran by her. Clint didn’t have any pictures from his childhood, but she was sure that if he did, this little guy would be his doppelganger. She reached out and grabbed him, pulling him onto her lap. He wriggled and writhed in her arms playfully as she found his tiny face and planted an enormous zerbert right on his cheek.
“Auntie Dasee, ‘TOP it! Icky!” He wiped his face and giggled before finally breaking free of her and running out of the room.
“Sounds like you did the right thing, Natasha,” Laura, the woman who had become Clint’s wife five years ago, laughed. “I wish you were around more when Daisy introduced us. It took him two months to ask me out on a date, and that was with me flirting and dropping hints pretty regularly. Even though he kept showing up in my office for the most random reasons, I wasn’t 100% sure that he was interested, or I’d have asked him out myself.”
“What can I say? When it comes to women, I’m clueless. At least I came to my senses eventually!” He shrugged defensively.
“Yes, and we’re all glad that you did, Clint.” Laura and Skye had become very close over the years, and she was glad to see Laura and Clint so happy together, even if Clint’s job with the Avengers sometimes kept him away for weeks at a time.
Although Daisy and Clint had what could best be described as a reoccurring relationship throughout school, they realized fairly quickly as adults that they were better off as friends. Clint wanted to play superspy but still have the family and white picket fence waiting for him at the end of the day, and while Daisy wanted those things too one day, she wasn’t in any rush. She was fully committed to Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. They remained close friends and even worked together fairly often.
S.H.I.E.L.D turned out to be a pretty crazy ride. Especially when Loki decided to come back down to earth and bring an alien invasion with him. Daisy always considered Loki a friend, even when some of his school behavior was questionable, but there was no forgiving the death and destruction that his childish temper tantrum caused. Mind controlling Clint and forcing him to do terrible things just added to the mess that he left in his wake and gave her yet another reason to be glad that he was far away in Asgard.
In the aftermath of that, Fury tasked Coulson with forming a team to deal with alien technology, artifacts and the people who were affected by them. Daisy was one of the first members along with Melinda May, Fitz, Simmons, and Grant Ward. It was a good team, even with Ward on it. He still had his issues, but he was a good agent and managed to work well with the team for the most part. They had a very successful run together until a sunny day in April when things started going crazy and Daisy managed to decode a message being sent through S.H.I.E.L.D computers signaling HYDRA operatives within S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything fell apart around them.
Discovering that HYDRA had been operating within S.H.I.E.L.D, and that Nick Fury was dead, was a shock. They watched footage of the Helicarriers falling from the sky in D.C. and discovered that it was more than a small group of people involved in this HYDRA uprising. After hacking into the security system, she found a recorded video of Steve Rogers being attacked in an elevator by members of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team, many of whom she went to school with, and some she considered friends. It was devastating, but it made her more determined than ever to do whatever it took to help destroy HYRDA once and for all.
The only warning they had of their very own traitor came when Daisy received a cryptic text on her phone from an unknown number telling her to ‘get the hell away from Ward.’ At first, she wasn’t sure what to make of it, and she didn’t have time to try to trace the number just then, but soon they discovered that the warning was valid. Ward was still involved with Garrett, and both were part of HYDRA. He had been playing them the whole time. He managed to get away and join Garrett, but that wouldn’t last for long.
After a very much alive Nick Fury contacted Coulson and requested that he pick up Steve and his allies from a civilian hospital after the fight at the Triskelion, her life took another unexpected and surprising turn. Sure, she’d spend the next three years knee deep in fighting HYDRA, and she finally met her birth parents only to discover that they were nothing like she hoped. Still, she was able to make peace with her father and finally accept the name that he had chosen for her when she was born. Even with all of that, she was happy with the direction her life was going.
A familiar whooshing sound came from outside, and Daisy stood up wordlessly as she headed straight for the front door. “Don’t you dare bring my house down because you’re angry that he’s late. You got that, Quake?” Clint shouted behind her.
“Oh, grow up, Hawkeye!” She yelled back, teasingly.
Stepping out onto the porch, she blinked her eyes in the darkness. The Quinjet landed a little way from the house, and she watched as the ramp was lowered and two figures came out. One walked on toward the house, and the other stopped to watch as the ramp was raised behind him before the Quinjet took off again.
She ran down the steps toward the two people that were now headed up the path to the house, and stopped when she reached the first one. Steve Rogers grabbed her and hugged her in greeting. “Hey Skye! Oh. Sorry, Daisy,” he added hastily. “You’d think I’d remember to call you Daisy, since I’ve been hearing your name so much, wouldn’t you?”
She grinned at him. “It can’t be that bad. Surely you guys find other things to talk about. No big deal, though. Between you and me, I’ll answer to either name.”
“Nah, I expect it when I drag him along on missions. One day I’m gonna have you both permanently on the Avengers, when I can get Coulson to let you go, that is.”
“I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen,” she laughed. “You two are really late, by the way.”
Steve gestured behind him. “Talk to him. I didn’t think he was ever going to leave,” He smiled, before walking on toward the house.
Steve had barely left when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist, and a light kiss on her cheek. “I know we’re late, sweetheart,” a soft voice whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think Fury was ever gonna let me leave. I swear the jerk was just looking for excuses to keep me around.”
She turned to wrap her arms around his neck and looked up at him. “Didn’t you explain to him that he hasn’t been the director of S.H.I.E.L.D in over three years, and you had permission to go from the actual director?”
“Well, I tried, but then Coulson was there too and both of them took turns giving me one of the most severe lectures that I think anyone has ever been given. I have to give them credit, though. They both have some very creative plans for me if I ever do anything to hurt you.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “It couldn’t have been worse than Uncle Ben’s?”
“No, you do have a point there. He was much scarier, but only because you wouldn’t expect that from him. I’m just glad I didn’t get a talk from Aunt May. That would have been truly terrifying.” They both laughed at the thought.
“Well, threats to your life aside, you’re here now, and we have some nice downtime to look forward to, after a few days of crazy, that is.”
“Yeah, that was another thing. Fury was mumbling the whole time about how unnecessary a three-week vacation was for any reason.”
Daisy laughed. “Right, because you’ve had so much vacation time over the last few years. You know, while you were a triple agent in HYDRA, before blowing your cover to help Steve, Nat and Sam bring those Helicarriers down. Not to mention helping them find Bucky and spending the past two years with D.C. and the rest of our team destroying HYDRA wherever we could find them.”
“Aww, you give me too much credit. But since you are, don’t forget taking out Rollins at the Triskelion, Ian Quinn for shooting you, and Grant Ward. Although that last one was more of a pleasure than a mission. I would have loved to have gotten my hands on Garrett too, but Coulson beat me to it.”
She smiled up at him. “Anyway, the important thing is that you’re here now and we have a lot of work to do.” She took his hand and led him toward the house.
“Oh yeah, about that. Clint thought Steve and I might be able to help him with some work around the property while we’re here.”
“Oh no you don’t. You aren’t getting out of this. Laura was kind enough to volunteer their house for us to relax and get things ready, and that is exactly what we’re going to do.”
“You know I’m just teasing you. I’m all yours…Sunshine.”
Daisy stopped dead in her tracks and turned around furiously. Placing her hands on her hips, she stared angrily at the man in front of her. “Don’t call me that,” she grumbled, as the ground underneath them shook momentarily and he had to work to steady himself.
Once it stopped, he just laughed and gave her a big smile. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You’re just so adorable when you’re angry. You always have been, even back in school. I can’t help myself.”
“Well, maybe you should try harder.” She tried to keep a stern look on her face, but his smile was already melting away any anger that she felt. She couldn’t stay mad at him very long, and he knew it.
He grabbed both of her hands, pulling them up to his lips. He kissed her right hand, before also placing a kiss on her left, covering the shiny diamond ring that he’d given her eight months ago while they were traveling on the Bus to yet another HYDRA base that needed to be destroyed. He apologized that his proposal wasn’t more dramatic, but they both knew that while they were taking down HYDRA, there would be precious little time for anything fancy.
“I promise you that in five days, when we’re standing on the beach, surrounded by all our family and friends, I won’t call you that name ever again. Wife sounds so much better, or maybe just Mrs. Rumlow.”
She laughed. “Future Ex-Mrs. Rumlow if you do, Brock. Now, get in the house. We have wedding favors to make, a seating chart to arrange and it’s going to be very busy for the next few days. If you try to sneak off with Clint and Steve, I swear I’ll seat Bruce Wayne at a table with Harley Quinn, and let you deal with the fall out.”
“Yes ma’am!” he saluted her as he followed her through the door.
The End