"I'm here. What happened?" I notice a young girl, about 10-11, lying on a hospital bed. My attention turns to her arm which is weirdly bent and bloody. "Holy sh.. I mean- Sorry."
Coulson turns towards me. "She's hurt. Can you help her?" Straight to the point. Alright.
I nod. "Yeah of course." I hurry towards the girl. "Hi," I try to offer her a sweet smile. "I'm going to help you, alright?"
The girl gives me a weak nod. I gently go over her hand, detecting injuries. There are multiple fractures, but nothing I can't fix. "It might hurt a little bit, just know I'm making it better, okay?" I try to reassure the girl.
I can feel the nurses' eyes on me, following my every move, but I don't pay any mind to them. The girl cries out in pain as I start to heal the fractures. I make it as quick as possible to not hurt her any more than I have to.
It's what I've been up to for a couple of weeks now. Coulson has chosen me for a couple of missions as well, but due to my lack of interest, he let me be.
I'm not entirely sure why I like working in the base more. I guess I feel safer here. These missions really showed me how dangerous it can be as an agent. Don't think I'm fully ready for it yet. Even though Coulson said I acted amazingly on the missions.
I've also grown kind of distant from the rest of the team. Not intentionally. Except from Hunter, who invites me to play video games almost every night. Not complaining though. He tries to cheer me up whenever he gets the chance and I really appreciate that.
"You okay?"
I startle, but gather myself quickly and look up.
Coulson is staring and me with concern.
"Yeah. Yup. I'm okay. Sorry. Mind is wandering today."
"I get it. It's not easy. This job. But we're doing a good thing. You're doing a good thing. Thank you for helping us, Miller."
"Of course. I'd rather be here than... rotting in my apartment doing nothing, I guess."
"Listen, I know you're comfortable here, doing your own thing, but I've got a small lead on the Inhuman stuff." I immediately stiffen up. It's been a while since anything's came up related to Inhumans. "You don't want to be in the field, I get it. But this is important to you. So, I thought I'd just say this... in case you've cha-"
"What'd you find?" I eagerly stand up, anxious to find out the news.
"We might've found out who's... harming the Inhumans."
I scoff. "You mean the killing? Holes through chests? No need for modesty, Coulson. Who's behind it?" I'm ready to torture anyone killing my friends.
I've been sitting here for weeks, getting to do nothing for the Inhumans. My people. I've been feeling guilty for being safe here while some of them are fighting for their lives. But now Coulson's giving me all I need to beat the shit out of those little shitbags. I've been longing for that for a while now.
"There's a group. An organization."
***
"You alright?" Bobbi asks. "You seem a little pale."
We're back from the mission and I'm hanging out with Bobbi. The mission was draining, but it wasn't even that bad. Plus, I think we did good, so this better help us catch the Inhuman killer.
"Oh- Do I?" I shake my head and give her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. Really."
She nods, but doesn't seem convinced. "You can talk to me, you know. Us. The team. We're all here for you."
"Thanks, I know." I take a sip of my cider. "Just the mission was tiring, that's all. Can't wait to take a nice nap."
"You sure it wasn't about a certain someone? It's okay to have her on your mi-"
I shake my head and chuckle. "No, it's not about Daisy. Gosh, people, chill. It's fine. We're fine. I really just am tired."
Bobbi raises her eyebrows and takes a sip from her beverage. "If you say so."
A small pause.
"I just really think you two could work it out. Talk to her, Leah. Please. She likes you-"
"Watch it, Bob," I warn her. "It's none of your business. And even if it was, there's nothing left to say. We're good. Now drop it."
She raises her hands in defeat. "Okay, fine. Subject dropped."
Just as I'm about to initiate a new topic, the door opens and someone enters the room.
"Hey, Bobbi, I was wondering if you knew where Mack went? He left in a hurry some time ago..." she pauses. "Oh. Evening, Leah. How you doing?"
I turn around to face her. "Hey, I'm good." I give her a small smile and then turn to Bobbi who's gaze are switching between me and Daisy, unable to get out a word. "Once you're done admiring us, she asked you a question."
It's like she slips out of hypnosis. She clears her throat. "Um, no I don't. How long ago did he leave?"
Daisy shrugs. "Like... an hour and half maybe. It was weird. He had this terrified look in his eyes... I don't know. I guess I'll see if anyone else knows anythi-"
"Oh, no. Wait. Stay. Take a break, I'll look for him myself. Okay?"
Daisy seems hesitant. "Well... I guess. Sure. Thanks."
She sits down on the couch as Bobbi leaves. "You were on the task today. Changed your mind about missions?"
"It was about Inhumans. I wanted to help. Plus, this one wasn't like... dangerous or anything. It did feel nice to be back out there though."
"You know, if you want to be a part of the team, you can't just choose missions that are important to you. Everything we do has a purpose. It's all important." She studies my face, waiting for a reaction, but as I'm about to argue back she continues. "I'm an Inhuman too, remember? I get it. Believe me, I do. These are our people. But S.H.I.E.L.D. is more than just some Inhuman rescue team. Unless you're planning to leave after this is over, I suggest you pay attention to other stuff as well."
"Yeah, I know... Sorry, it's just been kind of much for me. Like, although I've got these super cool powers and shit, it's still so terrifying out there. Like... guns." I shiver at the memory. "I hate guns. They hold too much power. It's scary to be surrounded by those, let alone hold one..."
Daisy moves closer to me, patting a hand on my shoulder. "It'd be weird if you weren't scared, Leah. What you went through on that mission... must've been terrifying. You're not even properly prepared for all of this physically, one can wonder what you might feel mentally... It takes time to get used to. But for that, you also need to be on the field. You have to know, what it really is like."
"Thank you. I really want to be a part of the team. Participate. Help. I just need to train before I can get out there like this again." I hesitate, not sure how to put it into words. "That mission... really messed me up. I've pushed it aside, hoping it eventually goes away. It used to be fine, but it's gotten so much worse with the last couple of weeks. It's like a wave of realization has hit me. What happened there... it's not okay. Not normal... for someone like me."
She looks at me with so much emotion. Sympathy. Then, she pulls me into a hug. "Look, I'm glad you're telling me all this. You should've told me sooner. I should've noticed. Payed attention. I'm sorry. I was so busy I forgot to make sure you were okay."
"It's... fine. I should've told someone, I know. I was just... scared. Scared you guys wouldn't understand. All of you seemed fine after it, so I thought... that I'll pretend I am too. Fake it till you make it, you know?"
Daisy smiles, but it's more of a sad smile. "We've all got your back, okay? You can talk to us. We're not expecting you to be fine after something like this. Listen."
***
I put on the noise-cancelling headphones and take the gun. My hands are trembling, but I grip it tightly, forcing myself to get over it.
I point the gun at the human cutout at the other side of the room. Breathe deeply in. Out. And fire.
The shot is still ringing in my ears as I squint at the cutout.
"Not bad," Daisy nods approvingly. "Not bad at all. Now, you need to work on these spaghetti hands. You don't have much physical strength, and shooting a gun needs a lot of it. You need to tense up your whole body. Here, let me show you-"
She takes the gun and aims quickly, the shot being fired before I can pull the headphones properly over my ears again. It hits the cutout man's head. "Now I'll do it again, but slowly."
I step a little further and study her stance. She's steady and strong, hands tightly around the gun. Another shot is fired, hitting the same spot as before. Daisy waves me over. "Got it? You try now."
We spend a couple of hours working on my aim, I can even notice small improvement at the end of the practice. Still need to work hard though. This isn't a child's play.
"You did great today, Leah. I really mean it. You might want to go and rest now. Eat something. Look, I've gotta run now, but same time tomorrow?"
"Thanks. Sure, it's not like I've got much else to do. See ya."
She waves me and we part our ways.
When she said I need personal in-depth training, I didn't think she would volunteer to do it herself. Not complaining though. I've been learning a lot and having fun both at the same time. I feel like this could work out. I could really become an agent.
I smile at the thought. Would be great, wouldn't it?
A week ago I had lost all hope. I was at my lowest, constant nightmares about the rescue mission. They still haven't stopped, but I feel like it's getting better. I've been meditating, focusing my energy elsewhere. And I really think it's helping. Daisy being around is really good too. We're back to normal, and I couldn't ask for more.
"I need to talk to you."
_____________________
A/N: Heyyyyyy yall its ummmmmmm been a while🧍♀️half of this was written 6 months ago and the other half i just wrote half asleep but i randomly got motivation so yea👯♀️
I got like a couple of questions here for you that wrote down half a year ago but i still think they stand?
Firstly, would y'all be okay w me kinda changing the story? Like not saying imma pull a full 180 on this story, just now that there's another character things might go a bit in different way yk? Like the main plot will def still stay the same dw, I just might change some things.
Secondly, not really sure how to phrase this as a question, but soon we'll get to season 3 plot. Not just yet but yeah. So I'm not sure how to go on to that. Bc I personally find reading fanfics that are word to word from the series or movies boring as fuck to read and I feel like writing that would lowkey suck for me too? Idk. I just want y'all's opinions about that. Like would you want me to keep it word by word the same as the series or?
Just tell me what you guys think, there's a big chance I won't even listen to you guys lmao, just interested in what you're thinking.
i love how ppl are still reading this story it's so sweet i personally feel like the writing sucks but maybe i just can't read a book i've written myself