it's a magical place

“What’re you, a cop or something?” Jake questioned curiously, his head tilting as he gave the other man a soft smirk and then reached out to firmly shake hands. “Jake Lockley.” Maybe he should have introduced himself as Marc, but he was feeling bold. “You look like a cop. No lo tomes a mal.”

“Do you want the story? It’s unnecessarily twisty.” 

“What’d you retire from?” It has to be something relevant. “I’d love to know what’s going on.”

“Retired or not, it’s nice to meet you, Agent Coulson. Daisy’s spoken so highly about you. I feel like I know you already.”

“Rad.” That’s a fun word. Mantis tries it out one more time. “Rad.” Her subsequent frown is one of contemplation. “I do not know. I have never tried. You are a machine?” Huh. He looks like a man.

Bringing Coulson back the moment she saw his LMD had been a mistake Daisy could never come back from, there was no denying that. It was selfish on her part, the grief of losing him and then having to fight an entity wearing his face clouding her judgement when there was finally a shot at bringing him back, even against his wishes.

But God, was she glad that he was still here. 

Daisy would never get tired of riding around in Lola, or hearing his voice as he talked her down from the inevitable ledges that she found herself on. His smile was contagious as they drove towards his house, even though the current state of everything was a far cry from okay. For a little bit, she could pretend it was when she was with him. 

Seeing that he got himself a home in the suburbs of Upstate New York made her heart warm, even if the freshly cut grass and lined up houses reminded her of Pleasant Hill. But at least here there were enough imperfections to not be unsettling.

Even if her left arm was in a sling to keep her shoulder still, she was fully planning on opening her own damn door until Coulson seemed so insistent on doing it for her. And so she obliged, but not without lighthearted glare as she followed him into the house.

As they made their way through the front door, she slowly slipped off her coat and tried to hide her grimace, but it came out anyways as she hung it on the coat rack and moved to sit down on the couch.

“Two, please.” She grumbled, nodding at his warning as she watched him make his way towards the kitchen. There were a couple beats of comfortable silence before she spoke again. “Your place is really nice.” It had taken her literal years to make her way over to come visit, but she’d been busy. First her venture up in space with Sousa and Kora, then the most recent bullshit with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Coulson raised his brows playfully at her request, and then sat one down in front of her after retrieving it from the fridge. “You’ll get your second one. I just don’t want it to get warm.” Then he popped the top off for her.

He got himself one and took a swig before he started taking all the ingredients for dinner out. It all got lined up on the counter, and he shot Daisy a smile before continuing. “Thanks. It’s taken a while, but it’s finally starting to feel like home.”

It was his, that wasn’t up for debate. And May’s. Life had taken the two of them farther than they ever thought they would go, but they at least had each other now. They were still finding a place to land that felt like some semblance of normal. Maybe they always would be. But he was happy to make that journey with her.

Coulson shot her another look at he set up the stove to cook, lingering longer than the last time. “I hate seeing you like this.” His tone wasn’t nasty in any way— it was soft. He and Daisy had seen each other and their worsts, but it never got any easier. If he wasn’t careful, his anger would get the best of him and he would be left with some bent up kitchen equipment. Most of the time he had the LMD strength under control, but it sometimes slipped away from him.

Kamala knows who he is. This is Phil Coulson. The Phil Coulson who had united the Avengers with his super tragic death. “I’m not gonna say fangirl moment because that’ll make me look lame, but it’s super cool to meet you, retired or not. I’m Ms. Marvel.”

“Oh, most definitely. I usually have to throw them, though. I don’t get invited to many. Idk why. I’m def the most fun. More fun than anyone else I know.”

“I never thought my mom would retire. She loved S.W.O.R.D. too damn much. Honestly, she probably would have kept at it if it wasn’t for the cancer.” Even then, it had been hard to get Maria to step down. She had stayed on in an advisory position. “When you devote so many of years of your life to this, I can imagine it’s hard to step back.”

“You want the bad news first, or the terrible news?”

“agent coulson,” walker nodded, giving the other man a quick once-over before forcing a smile, “ - nice to finally meet you.”