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It was a clear, sunny day, and May had finally been dragged outside of the lighthouse. She hadn’t left the base in the seven days she’d been back from Tahiti, opting instead to stay by Coulson’s side as he healed using Wakandan technology. Coulson and the team had insisted she get some sun, so Daisy pulled Lola out of the garage (With Coulson’s permission, of course) and took May to a nice cafe she’d found, far from the lighthouse, near Downtown, River’s End.
“So,” Daisy said lightly as she swirled her green tea around with a spoon, looking out into the bustling street. “How’s life?”
May smiled softly and took a sip of her chai tea. “Phil’s feeling better. I hope... he’ll be okay back at the base, right?” she murmured worriedly. Daisy smiled inwardly that asking the woman about her life equated to asking about Coulson, which was adorable.
Daisy took her hand from across the table and squeezed it gently. “May, he’ll be fine, I promise. He’s surrounded by friends, and we’re only going to be gone a couple of hours.”
May nodded, but still looked troubled, so Daisy switched topics. “I’m thinking of getting a cat,” she mused. “An emotional support cat. After all of the shit we’ve been through... a little innocent fluffball would be nice to have around.”
May chuckled. “You think Director Mack would let you?”
Daisy grinned. “He’d better. Otherwise he’d lose a very valuable agent.”
May smiled and took another long drink of her tea. “A cat might be good. As long as nobody’s allergic, and it stays in your room.”
Daisy nodded. “Yeah, ‘course. Jemma would freak if it went anywhere near the SciTech division.”
“Probably." May exhaled slowly. "How is she? I haven’t seen her much, I’ve been...” she trailed off apologetically. Daisy knew what she meant. Melinda had barely left Coulson’s side since his life saving treatment, understandably.
“She gets it. We all do.” Daisy reassured her. “Maybe sometime soon we can all go see a movie or do something fun.”
May smiled softly. “That would be nice.”
“We should watch a spy movie or something, so we can criticize how unrealistic it is.”
May chuckled. “We should. Remember that one movie that had the guy jumping on cars?” she scoffed lightly. “Ridiculous.”
Daisy giggled and they both lapsed into a comfortable silence; Daisy enjoying the nice weather and the time she could spend with May. She would’ve sat there forever, feeling the warm sun envelop her, but she tensed up when she saw a dark haired woman with a very familiar face enter the restaurant.
The lady walked up to the counter, ordered something with a smile, then pulled out a wallet to pay. Daisy watched her closely the entire time, dumbfounded. The woman turned around and Daisy snapped her head down. It had been ten years, but Daisy suspected she still bore a resemblance to her 15 year old self.
May quickly noticed Daisy’s strange behavior, and asked, “Dais? What’s wrong?”
Daisy sighed, then peeked her head up to see the woman had sat down at another table facing away from her. She lifted her chin up completely and met May’s concerned eyes with her own. “I know that person,” Daisy mumbled. “She used to be one of my foster moms. When I was fifteen.”
May, knowing almost everything about Daisy’s past at this point, furrowed her brows. “Greene?”
Daisy nodded sullenly, her bright mood diminished significantly.
Jen Greene had taken her in purely for publicity; she was running for local office the year she picked up Mary Sue Poots. She’d given the girl sufficient food and clothing but had otherwise ignored her; and verbally abused her and her worth. She was better than some of the homes Daisy had gone to, but still a traumatising experience. Daisy had eventually ran away, joining the Rising Tide and then meeting Miles. And then, years later, SHIELD.
She’d told May about her years ago, before she and May had even been that close. From the look on her mentor’s face, May remembered almost all of it.
“Do you need to leave?” Melinda asked.
Daisy shook her head. “No. Maybe. I-” she sighed. “I kind of want to talk to her. For closure. If she even remembers me.”
May nodded in understanding. “Do you need me?”
Daisy pursed her lips. “Can you... just be there? Like, for support, I guess.” she answered nervously. She was freaking Quake, why was she so nervous? It was just another person from her past.
And yet it wasn’t.
“Of course.”
Daisy sat there for a moment, working up the nerve, then slowly got up. May followed her lead. She walked over to Jen, who was sitting alone at a small three-seater table on her phone.
Before Daisy even got a chance to say anything, the woman looked up and, upon seeing her, stared at her in surprise. “I know you… Mary Sue Poots?”
“So, she definitely recognizes me,” Daisy muttered to May. She nodded politely to Jen, keeping up pleasant appearances even though she felt nauseous.
Daisy walked up and slipped into the chair opposite from her old foster parent, feigning a bright smile. May pulled up another chair and sat a little behind her. Daisy felt much better with her there. “Hey, Miss Greene,” she greeted.
Jen seemed to give her a judgemental once over, then smiled thinly. “I’m surprised you’re not in jail.”
Daisy felt May stiffen up behind her, and flushed. “I’m not,” she shrugged. “How are things?”
Jen pursed her lips. “Good. I have two young children,” she said with a smile, but it was all teeth. Daisy expected it to hurt, but it didn’t. Not anymore.
“I’m happy for you,” she said, mostly lying.
“And you? What happened after you disappeared?” She crinkled her nose. “You’re not in a gang, are you?”
Daisy stifled a laugh. She and May were both wearing dark clothes with leather jackets. “No, I’m not. I work in the government, actually.”
“As a trash collector?” Jen said with a chuckle.
“As a CIA agent, actually,” May hissed, using their undercover jobs. “She’s one of the best.”
Daisy smiled at May’s venomous protection. “Yup.”
Jen's eyes widened at that, then her gaze turned to May as if she was suddenly realizing there was another person there. She plastered on a friendly expression. “And you are?”
“Melinda.” she answered shortly.
“And you work with her, Melinda?”
“Sure.”
“How is she? Is she still... problematic?” She asked. Jen frowned and leaned across the table, her thin hands linking together. “I’m her foster mom, you know. She used to yell at me for no reason, and ignore me, and then she ran away,” she sighed.
Daisy scoffed, feeling a surge of anger. “Did you ever even look for me?”
“Every day, dear,” she reassured lamely, a plastic quality to her tone. “We never stopped looking.”
Daisy leaned across the table. “Bullshit. I’m not your dear . My social worker said you were, quote unquote, happy I was out of your life. You know, those words echoed in my head for years after I left. Everything you said, actually. I remembered it all,” she hissed.
“Everything I said?” Jen feigned innocence. “I only ever tried to love you. Like a mother would. You should’ve been grateful.”
Daisy scoffed. “You were never my mother.”
“Oh, did you find your parents?” Jen retorted. "They actually wanted you, then?"
“Yes,” Daisy shot back. “I did.” But she didn’t mean Jiaying or Cal. She meant the two people that had taken her in and made her the woman she was today.
“Oh, really. What were they? Drug addicts? Prostitutes?” Jen answered with a smug grin. “They’re dead, Mary sue.”
“No.” she responded. “They’re not.” Steeling herself, worried about how May was going to react, she turned to her mentor. “This is my mom, Melinda May.”
May blinked, then quirked the corner of her mouth up into a smile. Her eyes were unreadable under her dark sunglasses. Jen made a face.
“She’s much more of a mom to me than you ever were, Jen. You spent most of your time telling me how rotten I was, and how nobody would ever want me as their kid. Well she does. And she’s never tried to hurt me, or use me, like you did. I spent years with self doubt because of you and so many other fosters like you. She helped me grow out of that.”
Without looking at May, Daisy stood up and started to walk away, then stopped and added without turning around, “And my name? It’s Daisy Johnson. Not Poots.”
She stalked off, forgetting about her tea. Daisy was immensely worried about May’s reaction to what she’d said. If it was negative, she could play it off as just a lie to make Jen feel bad.
Two blocks down from the cafe, she flopped down onto a bench and put her head in her hands. After a few minutes of focusing on her breathing, she could feel a familiar vibration approaching.
May sat down next to her quietly and handed her a to-go cup of her tea. Daisy accepted it without meeting Melinda's eyes.
“Okay,” May said after a few minutes of silence.
“Okay?” Daisy echoed uncertainly, still looking at her cup. May took a deep breath.
“You know I’m not good with words,” she began, “but if you meant what you said back there-”
“Of course I did.”
“- then, okay. I- I’ve always been a closed off person, Dais, you know that, but you helped me open up since the day I met you, and... I may not always show it, but I’d be proud to call you my daughter.”
Daisy jaw dropped slightly and she looked up to meet May’s eyes. They were full of warmth. She quickly hugged Melinda, careful not to spill her tea. “I’d be proud to call you my mom,” she whispered into May’s shoulder. Her mother's arm wrapped around her and pulled her close.
After a couple of minutes, May spoke up. “I could still go kick her ass, if you need me to,” she murmured.
Daisy giggled. “It’s okay. She’s not worth it.”
May smiled and kissed Daisy’s head. “You know, me being your mom comes with a package deal.”
Daisy smiled. “Yeah. I get a dad, too, don’t I?”
May nodded. “He’ll be ecstatic. How should we tell him?”
“Burst open the door and announce that you’re having a baby, then present me.” Daisy decided.
May laughed. “Hell no. We’re not freaking him out, Daisy. What about we just sit down and you’ll say what you said to Greene. That was a good speech.”
“Probably a better idea,” she amended. May chuckled and squeezed her tighter. “I love you, mom .”
“Love you too, Daisy.”
Daisy smiled.