ROSALIND SOLOMON.

She hasn’t technically moved in. Technically is the keyword in this instance. Rosalind is all but living with Daisy. She goes home to water her plants, but the other side of Daisy’s bed is now perpetually occupied. It’s a good thing that they have going. Daisy being promoted to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been a giant block in their relationship had Roz still been a subordinate, but she had tendered her resignation effective immediately and begun talks with T’Challa about rejoining the Agents of Wakanda. There’s no S.H.I.E.L.D., no spells. It’s just Daisy and Rosalind, and Roz really like who the two of them are when they’re allowed to just be together.

It’s been (almost) two weeks since the explosion and the resolution of the Pleasant Hill spell. The concussion is healed and Rosalind is feeling better than she has in a while. There’s a certain freedom that comes with being in love. That’s what she is: in love. It’s happened faster than she expected. Roz isn’t someone who sets herself up to get hurt easily. Spontaneous is not her middle name by a long shot. With Daisy, however, things just feel natural. She wants to bottle up this feeling for when things inevitably go wrong again.

“Those mutants sure know what they’re doing— I haven’t felt this good in years. Apparently all a guy’s gotta do to feel better is die. Who knew?”

This wasn’t the first time something like this happened in the past week, but every time Roz got confused, Daisy felt all the air exhale from her lungs as patiently she waited for her to realize on her own. Unfortunately, the memory gaps weren’t something that was going to be fixed by Daisy freaking out and yelling at Roz to snap out of it.

Their fingers interlocked, and Daisy softly ran a thumb along the underside of Roz’s palm as she quietly listened, and sighed quietly once Roz seemed to have more recognition in her eyes as the episode passed. It was terrifying, but Daisy just tried to remind herself that it could be worse. Roz could still look like that kindergarten teacher. Could still be completely stripped of her own characteristics and personality altogether.

A spell was fixable, and Daisy tried to keep reminding herself of that. Roz probably still didn’t want to eat, but thankfully she didn’t protest and Daisy nodded to herself as she pulled her phone out and started to scroll around on UberEats while Rosalind stood up. She kept her eyes on the phone for awhile until she heard Roz’s breathing change, and she couldn’t help another frown as she waited for Roz to open her eyes. 

She could kill Maria Hill. And maybe she should have. But she couldn’t go back and change that now, all she could do was move forward, and attempt to help Roz through everything the best she could. Opening up her house was the least she could do. 

Did she want to do more? Absolutely. The energy that had sparked between the two of them when they kissed the other day was still in the air, even if the sparks had dimmed by now due to everything that happened. Neither of them were really in the place to move forward and confront any of those feelings in any sort of healthy way, so Daisy held off for now. Her eyes still softened at Roz’s words, though. 

“You don’t need to thank me for anything, seriously.” She’d open her house a million times over for Roz if that’s what she needed. And the fact that she was feeling that way now as opposed to annoyed like she had during the beginning of their working relationship was freaking her out. She was invested. Too invested to be satisfied with just a small hook up. She wanted to pull Roz close and wrap her arms around her and tell her that they’d get through this together, but—

But she was technically still Roz’s supervisor, and that definitely wouldn’t be getting her any brownie points with S.H.I.E.L.D. right now. The emotional deflation was probably evident on her face as it fell. She started to talk, but it fell flat for a beat before she pushed through the hesitation. “We’re gonna figure it all out, Roz. I’m gonna talk with Wanda sometime this week and see if she has any updates on everything.”

If anyone had asked Rosalind if she would ever develop feelings for Daisy Johnson of all people, she would have laughed in their face. It wasn’t that Daisy wasn’t attractive or anything. She definitely was. She just also happened to be Rosalind’s Supervising Officer. That wasn’t anything you got involved with. Besides, Roz was level headed. She could keep it in her pants and keep her emotions in check. It was too bad that the exenuating circumstances would come so hard and fast.

What Roz wants to do is kiss Daisy. She wants to push her back onto the bed, straddle her and kiss her for everything she’s worth. What she doesn’t want to do is feel her mind slip in and out of clarity. Ana Gordon was perpetually single. She was content in her career and happy with her cat. She didn’t have to deal with any of the tumult that Rosalind does. But this? This is temporary? They’re going to fix this. They have to. 

Rosalind returns to the bed then. Even though she’s not usually the physically affectionate type, Roz rests her head on Daisy’s good shoulder and takes her hand once more. Conversation about food has been temporarily stalled. “I want to go on a date.” She announces. “With you. Something normal that proves we’ve gotten out of this mess. We’ll talk to Wanda, talk to Strange, talk to whoever we have to. And then we go on a date.”

“Officially? I’m retired, yeah. Doesn’t mean I can’t be interested in what’s been going on, though.”

“What other option is there? Be part of the solution? Look around you,” she spreads her arms wide. “Solution’s come and gone.” 

hunter lets out a breath he didn’t realized he’d been holding. of course he’s heard of pleasant hill. he was one of the idiots who tried to storm it. but bobbi was safe now, and that was the most important part. “ – let me check,” he opens the door to his apartment further, gesturing for agent solomon to come inside, “my office is down the hall. i’ll just be a moment.”

walker crossed his arms, “oh well, she can take credit for that one.” he let out an amused exhale and shook his head, “hey, don’t you have more important things to be doing than pleasant hill checkup?”

“Maybe,” Daisy mused quietly, her eyes lingering on Roz’s for a few seconds too long before she caught herself and looked away. Whether or not they did enough was all that was on her mind recently. It comforted her to know that Roz felt the same way, but she refused to let them get stuck in that cycle of wondering. “But we can’t change that now. All we can do is focus on what we can change, or we’ll drive ourselves crazy. And I don’t know about you but I refuse to let Maria Hill take up any more real estate in my brain right now. Not when you’re here, and safe.”

hunter’s eyes flick downward to quickly scrutinize the badge. it’s sufficient enough. she’s legit. the name dropping of daisy johnson immediately piques his curiosity. “sure,” he shrugs, leaning against the doorframe, “now what d’you need with me?”

“woah,” walker held up a hand, “who said they were the mission leaders.” val hadn’t yet designated anyone in charge — besides herself. it was bullshit to assume otherwise.

Skipping sounded good, mostly because Daisy had a feeling that talking about Roz’s file would just feed into her ego even more. The other agent seemed uninterested in all of the necessary formalities that this sort of partnership required, almost like she thought she was above all of it.

But maybe Daisy was just judging a book by its cover. That wasn’t really a healthy way to think about your reporting agent that you’ve only just met, but she couldn’t help it. She’d read the recommendations, the extensive qualifications. Roz wasn’t just some rookie, and Daisy couldn’t just treat her like that. “Getting adjusted with our database systems, learning the ins and outs of the tech around the headquarters, super fun stuff.” 

It was fun to Daisy, at least. Genuinely. As much as she liked using her fists out there on the field, coding was her first love.

They’re acting like she’s new to S.H.I.E.L.D. Again, it’s a bit insulting. Rosalind’s access isn’t the highest, but she knows how to use the databases. The ones in this branch can’t be that much different from the environmental department. They’re just different flavors of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

“Super fun.” Rosalind repeats. She can’t help if it comes out a little flat. A part of her is wondering why she’s signed on to do this instead of stick with the Agents of Wakanda. At least there she’s respected. It had been her teammate Bobbi that had recommended her for this, though. Bobbi had been pretty high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. and seemed to think it was something Rosalind would enjoy. Roz had taken her advice, and now she was stuck with Daisy Johnson.

Felicia pretends to consider her question. “No, not particularly. Don’t worry though, the world never gave a shit about me either, so we’re even. It continues to ruin my life and I rob it blind in return.” 

“Hill’s been taken care of.” When Daisy realized how final that sounded, she raised her eyebrows and quickly backtracked. “She’s not dead, though. Just on a mandatory medical leave.”

Originally, Daisy hoped that helping Natasha with releasing all of the Pleasant Hill dossiers and being on the frontlines might help her feel better about staying with S.H.I.E.L.D. in a post-Andromeda world. She wanted to believe that the people left that weren’t involved with Maria’s pet project might be understanding of why she did what she did. Instead, she was under investigation. Daisy was the one pending an investigation to determine whether or not she could continue the job that had been her entire life for the better part of the past decade, while Maria Hill got a slap on the wrist and a medical leave. 

She had faith that Mack would get involved and get the entire thing cleared up, but it was still beyond frustrating nonetheless. The way they were handling all of the aftermath was making Daisy question whether or not she even still wanted to be an agent at all. It was a terrifying thought, that she was even considering quitting when she wanted this so badly back when her original team finally parted ways. She wanted to stay and make a difference however she could. Wanted to continue to work on her Inhuman outreach and use her powers for some good.

Rosalind was an entirely separate issue. It was still pressing and needed to be addressed sooner rather than later, but right now Daisy didn’t know if she had the capacity to define it. She liked Roz, a lot. And seeing her trapped in that town and forced to play kindergarten teacher unlocked a protective rage in her that she hadn’t even realized was there all along. 

Once she made her way back into the room, she slowly removed the sling her arm was resting in, something the medic had told her to keep on whenever she could until her shoulder healed some more, but she was sick of wearing it. And all she was doing was sitting around the house anyways. From there, she lowered herself to sit down on the edge of the bed next to Rosalind, and slowly frowned at the other agent’s words. 

“Tomorrow’s Wednesday.” She stated slowly, unsure how to even proceed. The whole thing just made her equal parts pissed and terrified as she reached out and grabbed Roz’s hand. The two hadn’t done anything other than share a bed since they left the town and started holing up in Daisy’s apartment. And that was because Roz was too stubborn to let Daisy take the couch in the end. “Hey, I was gonna order something for dinner. Does that.. How does that sound good to you?”

“Wednesday? Fuck.” The last word is muttered under Rosalind’s breath, barely perceptible. She could have sworn tomorrow was Monday, could have sworn that she had to get ready for class. But there’s no class. There’s no students. Roz has been told the kids never existed in the first place. They were all products of the Reality Stone. She remembers each smiling face and missing tooth. Gone. Like they never existed. Because they didn’t. That’s just another thing to piss Rosalind off. For a little while, those kids were real. They had lived and breathed and now they were gone.

She moves to sit up, bare legs tucking underneath herself. When Daisy takes her hand, Roz submits and slides her palm against Daisy’s before their fingers interlock. Whatever they have, it’s good. It’s needed. Even if it’s undefined, it’s helping her. Maybe not enough, but it’s something. It’s not like the S.H.I.E.L.D. offered doctors have been able to do anything. Rosalind is refusing to meet with them out of principle. Daisy’s promised her that she has a good friend in S.W.O.R.D. that can set Roz up with some of their specialists, but she remains reluctant. 

The last thing Rosalind wants is food. Her stomach has been in knots for days, but she’s methodically shoveled food into her mouth to stop Daisy from worrying any more. Everything tastes like cardboard and she has to actively work to stop it from coming back up, but Daisy looks happy when she eats and so she does it in small amounts. There’s a lie on her lips as she nods. “Yes, thank you. Food is a good idea.”

Full of restless energy, the former agent stands to stretch her legs. She only makes it one lap around the room before the thoughts slam back into her head. Ana Gordon. The kids. She’s sitting in a room with her kind of lover instead of working. What the hell is she doing? Lips pressing into a firm line, Rosalind has to close her eyes and take a deep breath to center herself. Focus on your breathing. That’s what they had taught the cadets. If you’re under duress, center yourself. Go from there. When her eyes open, Rosalind does her best to smile at Daisy.

Ana Gordon. Kindergarten teacher. Resident of Pleasant Hill.

Ana Gordon. Ana Gordon. Ana Gordon. Ana —

Rosalind Solomon. 

She knows who she is. More or less, that is. It’s really somewhat of a bitch. Rosalind Solomon ( because that’s her actual name ) has always been a confident woman. Her identity has been carefully molded since she was a kid. Roz wanted to grow up and save the world. When she first heard about S.H.I.E.L.D. during a recruitment session, she decided right then it was the agency for her. If S.H.I.E.L.D. could help her make a difference, she would join them. It was beginning of a long process. The grades, the extracurricular’s. Rosalind threw herself in whole heartedly and no one was surprised when the academy accepted her.

The last three years have been more unpredictable than Rosalind would have preferred, even though she wouldn’t change any of it until lately. Her invitation for Thor to attend her graduation was a dare from “friends” who didn’t believe he’d show. Hell, Roz hadn’t either until he was there in the shining flesh. Working with the Asgardian’s had come next. She had found a good rhythm with them, but S.H.I.E.L.D. being exposed as H.Y.D.R.A had changed everything. It had shaken Rosalind to the core. How could she save the world when she worked for literal Nazi’s?  The Agents of Wakanda were supposed to be a fresh start, a place to clear her head. Now, after all the bullshit, she’s really begun to regret leaving them. T’Challa told her she’s always welcome back, but she’s never picked up the phone to call. She doesn’t even know why.

Even though Rosalind has her own tiny apartment, she hasn’t been there since being freed from Pleasant Hill. Somehow she ended up going home with Daisy under the guise of helping the wounded agent out. In actuality, Rosalind was terrified of being alone. Something was off and she didn’t want to find out what that was later when she laid alone in the dark. It’s been a few days since then. A week, maybe? It’s hard to say. The two have been holed up ordering take-out. Despite the make-out session pre Pleasant Hill and the kiss inside, their time has been surprisingly lowkey. Maybe it’s not that surprising considering the trauma they’ve both been through as of late.