in secret | daisy johnson

1. Leaving Home

Veronica let out a sigh of contempt as she heard two knocks on her bedroom door. She already knew who it was.

"If you're here to try and talk me out of this again, then you can save it." She told her father. "I'm getting really tired of this, dad."

"Vee-"

"My name is Veronica." She snapped. "I'm not a child."

Tony threw up his hands in surrender. "Alright then. You know I'm just trying to keep you safe. But I am proud of you."

"I'm a grown woman. A grown woman who graduated at the top of her program from the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy." She reminded him, shooting him a sideways glance.

It was something she had to remind him of constantly. Tony loved her so much, more than anyone else. She knew that. And she loved him too, of course. But it seemed that all that love and all that desire to protect her didn't leave a lot of room for much else. Like pride or admiration.

A lot of times, it felt like she was frozen in her dad's mind at eight years old. Still wearing her hair in pigtails and struggling to learn long division.

"A grown woman?" Tony mocked her in his typical, theatrical manner.

"I'm almost twenty five years old. I got a job most senior agents couldn't land. I can drink, I can vote, I'm in a serious relationship. So yeah, grown woman."

"Fair enough." He conceded. "But you know what you don't have? Kids. So when or if you do, then you'll understand. No matter how old you get, I'll never stop worrying."

"I know, I know. And I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on those grandkids. Cause they're never coming."

Before Tony could respond, Veronica's phone buzzed. "Let me make sure it isn't work."

She checked the phone to see a message from Emilee Hughes, one of her best friends. The two of them and their other friend, Maggie met while training to become agents.

M and I are outside, ready when you are babes.

She replied to Emilee, telling her she'd be down in a couple minutes.

"Alright, well, Emilee and Maggie are here. Let's get downstairs so I can say goodbye to everyone."

Downstairs, Natasha, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Clint, Rhodey, and Pepper all waited for her, lined up side-by-side.

"You guys know I'm only a phone call away, right? And we-" she gestured to Nat, Clint, and Steve, "we're employed by the same people. Why are you all acting like this is goodbye?"

"Maybe it has something with you moving onto a plane full time and potentially spending years flying all over the place. It might surprise you just how little we cross paths, kid." Steve remarked.

"I'll find a way." Veronica shrugged. "I always do."

"Well, maybe if you told us who you were working under..." Clint began.

"Barton." Natasha huffed. "Give it a rest."

"I already told you all. That information is classified."

"Is it Fury?" Bruce chimed in.

Veronica just shot him an exasperated glare. It was bad enough not being able to tell her father and his team that Phil Coulson was still alive without their incessant questioning. 

But she had her orders.

"Alright then." Thor joked. "We see how it is."

"I'd love to hang around a while longer, but my friends are waiting. I'll call soon, okay? I promise."

"We love you, kid." Rhodey pulled her into a hug.

"I love you too."

She gave her father one last hug and a kiss on the cheek, before giving Pepper a final nod. Pepper wasn't Veronica's mother, and while there was no real animosity between the girl and her dad's girlfriend, there wasn't a lot of love either. Just a whole lot of awkward eye contact.

She gave the team her best before leaving the tower for what would be the last time in a long time. When she was little, she was so afraid of change. She always imagined that it would be unimaginably sad, leaving home. But that wasn't what she was feeling at all. She felt free.

Emilee grinned at Veronica as she hoped in the back seat of her car. "You ready for this?"

"So ready." Veronica nodded.

"Look at us." Maggie smiled softly. "We went from three terrified cadets to top ranking trainees to working on a new kind of team. Who would've thought?"

"I did." Emilee smirked. "I knew I was too good to slum it in the private sector."

"That's the spirit, Em." Laughed Veronica.

"Well excuse me for trying to be sentimental." Maggie giggled with a playful roll of the eyes.

"Hey, Vee, should I stop by Kyle's?" Emilee asked.

"Nope. We said our goodbyes last night."

"Oh?" Maggie raised her eyes suggestively.

"It's not what you're thinking." Veronica scoffed. "Okay, so a little bit it is, but that's irrelevant. We're all good."

"I wish I had your confidence. And your commitment. I ended things with Chelsea." Maggie sighed.

"What?" Veronica and Emilee demanded.

"We're gonna be living on the bus for probably months at a time." Maggie pointed out. "I can't see any way to maintain a relationship while I'm living like that."

"That's why I don't date. At all." Emilee shrugged.

"Yeah. You just drink." Veronica shot her a look.

"Whatever." Maggie interjected. "We've got each other. And how are we gonna do this?"

"Together."