Golden || Deke Shaw

8. surface tensions

        "Well, that's still cool, I guess," Deke said, addressing Fitz.

        "Holy hell," a voice said from above their heads. "Is that Deke Shaw? Ha! I'll be damned! Thought I was looking at your old man 20 years ago! And I can't forget little miss Rose Valia," he added. "You still look exactly like your mother did! Welcome!"

        Rose and Deke exchanged similar glances of relief and happiness. "Oh, my god, Voss," Deke said as he embraced the two younger adults. "I should've known that even the roaches wouldn't touch you," he said once Voss let go of them.

        "It's good to see you, Voss," Rose hummed.

        "Ha! Never thought I'd see you tagging along with these folks," Voss commented, looking back at Fitzsimmons.

        "It's a long story," Deke answered.

        "Well let's hear all about it, huh?" Voss said, leading both Rose and Deke away from the other agents. "You can tell me whether these guys are the real deal or not. I'm surprised you two are the only of ours to make the trip," Voss continued, leading them into another room of the Zephyr. "And Virgil?"

        Deke stopped to face Voss, "The roaches got him. I'm sorry," he expressed. "We've been playing catch-up ever since. I feel like he could've told me that he was exchanging messages with my dead dad."

        "We didn't know who to trust," Voss said quickly.

        "Apparently not the children of the other elders," Rose said in a hushed tone. She agreed with Deke, the least Virgil could've done is let them know that Deke's father was alive. I mean, he was basically her father figure after her mother and father passed.

        "Clearly," Deke said, responding to Voss' remarks. "So where is he?"

        "Your dad was transmitting from a radio tower a few days out," Voss explained. "He's on his way back now, but- he is gonna be happy to see you."

        Deke scoffed, "Is he?"

        "Deke, he's your dad," Rose said, looking up at the man. "I know you've been through some shit together, but you're family."

        "I know Rosie. Just the way we left things, it wasn't really-"

        "No, no, no, no, listen," Voss interjected. "He never held of any of that against you, alright? If anything is to blame, it's the Lighthouse. That place did a number on all of us."

        Deke nodded slowly, walking off into a separate room of the Zephyr.

        Voss turned to Rose, a small frown on his face. "Just if you were wondering, your parents, they-" he paused, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "They didn't make it."

        Rose sighed, "I figured as much. I had a flicker of hope when I heard Deke's father's voice, but then I came to my senses. I'm the unlucky one," she said sadly. "I should go-" she started, trying to make up an excuse to leave. "Should go, find the other agents. Who knows what trouble they could be getting into you know?"

        She walked off before Voss got the chance to speak to her again. She felt like she needed time to process what was going on with everything. As Rose walked through the Zephyr, she saw plenty of familiar faces. She gave them small waves and nods as she passed them. Some even tried to spark up conversations with her, trying to get her to talk about her life on the Lighthouse but she politely declined and continued on her walk throughout the plane.

        Deke was right, it had a nice design to it. Every part of the ship had some symbol on it, an eagle with some lines coming off the end of it. Rose guessed it had something to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. since they were the engineers of the plane. It must give them a sense of home, remind the agents of what they were missing in the past. But for Rose, it was just a reminder that her parents didn't make it to this point. They were the unfortunate ones. Taken by the roaches, one of the successes of Kasuis' campaign to get rid of the elders who believed in the prophecy.