Daniel nodded, then took her hand, kissed it and smiled softly at her.  “If you change your mind while we're in there, just say the word and we'll go.”

Daisy leaned to give him a quick kiss.  “Let’s go,” she said.

They held hands as they walked up to the store front, stopping in front of it to take in the decorations advertising the pet adoption day.

Daniel squeezed her hand and Daisy took in a deep breath, let it out, then opened the door.

A bell chimed as they walked inside the vet clinic, and they were greeted by the receptionist, a woman that Daisy recognized from the file she had reviewed before coming here.

Praveena, as it said on her name tag, smiled as she rounded the desk and walked toward them. She welcomed them and explained the details about set up.  After she finished her presentation, she stepped closer to them and lowered her voice, “Have you been debriefed?” she asked, directing her question to Daisy.

“Yes. I check the file every once and a while and I reviewed it again last night,” Daisy answered, her voice just as low.  “Is he here yet?”

Praveena nodded, then stepped back and her reassuring smile was back in place.  “Yes, the Dr is here. He’s with a patient at the moment but you can go greet the animals for now and he’ll be available later to answer any questions you may have.”

“Thank you,” Daniel answered and then they followed her to the back of the vet clinic.   There were a handful of people milling around, other prospective adopters, and a few employees. 

“Once you make your choice” Praveena said, “just let one of the employees know.   She made eye contact with one of the other employees, a man that Daisy also recognized from the file, nodded back at the two of them before going back to the front desk.

The man approached them, Carlito his name tag said, and welcomed them. He let them know to come to him about any questions and gave them tips on getting to know the animals before going to help out someone else, but not before whispering to Daisy on how it was an honor to meet her.  Then Daisy & Daniel were alone.

Daniel leaned over to speak quietly to Daisy.  “Are all the employees Agents?”

“No, only 2 employees are. But the entire staff was heavily vetted.”

“SHIELD does like to cover their bases, don't they?” he remarked.  He then wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled widely at her. “C’mon; let’s find our new furry family member.”

“Dork,” Daisy responded, laughing softly with him and they started walking down the aisle looking through the cages.

They had only been browsing for a few moments when the reason they had made this particular trip entered the room.

The vet greeted the room, thanking them for coming and encouraging everyone to come to him with any questions they had.  He started walking around the room, chatting with prospective adopters and playing with the animals.

Daisy stayed rooted in front of the cage they had stopped in front of.  She followed him with her eyes as he walked around the room.  He seemed so…at peace.  And happy. It was what she had wanted for him. Why she asked Coulson to put him in the T.A.H.I.T.I project, what seemed like a lifetime ago now.  And for Cal, Dr. Winslow, it was.

She felt a squeeze on her shoulder from where Daniel had draped his arm around her.  She turned to face him. He was watching her with a reassuring concern. “Are you alright?” he asked softly.

Daisy nodded her head.

“Did you want to talk to him now?”

“No, let’s wait until we pick out a pet. Then we’ll have a reason to speak to him.”

Almost as if it was waiting on a cue, the puppy in the cage they stopped in front of barked.  The Dalmatian, with brown spots (she didn’t know they came in brown!) was standing up in the cage, head leaning towards the opening, eager for pets. They both reached in to pet the puppy who was very enthusiastic about the attention she was getting.  

“Would naming her Brownie be too on the nose?” Daisy considered.

“Oh?” Daniel stopped patting the dog’s head to look at her.  “I was thinking, Ezri.”

“Ezri?”  Daisy racked her brain for a moment, then laughed when she figured it out.  “As in Star Trek?”

When Daisy started introducing Daniel to all the entertainment he skipped past when making a life with her in the future, Star Trek was one of the shows she felt he had to watch, despite not having seeing any of it herself.  Of course, it turned out her fiance would be a Trekker.  Daisy was enjoying the series’ too but it was fun to pretend she secretly didn’t-it had become an inside joke between them.

Daniel grinned back at her.  “Look at her spots, she’s like a Trill.”

“Why not Dax then?” she questioned him.   

“Because she doesn’t look like a Dax. And I like Ezri better.”

Daisy laughed, something she had been doing more often since Daniel had become part of her life.  It set off the dog, Ezri, to barking as if joining in.

“Can we keep her?” Daniel teasingly asked.

“I think we should check with her first.  What do you say girl? Want to come home with us?”  Daisy addressed the dog.

Ezri let out a short bark that sure seemed like an affirmative to them.

They waved over Carlito, who helped them with the paperwork and then Ezri's was theirs. Then they waited to approach Dr Winslow.

He was currently in conversation with a dad and his kids who also found their new family member, patiently answering the kids questions about how to take care of their new pet, going so far as to kneel down to be eye level with them.

Daisy watched him wistfully, wondering if he would have done the same with her at that age, answering whatever serious question her child self would have been concerned about.  She squeezed Daniel’s hand and he squeezed back giving her a comforting smile.

Then the family was gone and then it was just them.

Dr Winslow turned to them with a big smile and shook both their hands.  “Welcome and congratulations on your new friend.”  He bent down to pat Ezri.  “Are you folks from around here?”

Seeing him up close for the first time in years, Daisy suddenly froze, staring at wonderment at the man that should have gotten to raise her.  Thankfully, Daniel stepped in. 

“No we aren’t.  We were just in town visiting some friends.  We saw the signs and well, we had talked about getting a pet, so we thought we’d come take a look,” Daniel replied, seamlessly going into their cover story.  

“Nice, so where are you from?”

As Daniel engaged her father in conversation, Daisy just watched them, imagining what could have been.  Would Cal have been like this when she first brought Daniel home for them to meet?  Would he have been a strict and overprotective dad?  Or would have welcomed him with open arms. “Any one who loves my Daisy, is a friend in my book” she could almost imagine him saying.  

Daisy was brought out of that train of thought when she felt Daniel wrap his arm around her waist as Cal, (no, Dr Winslow) loudly proclaimed congratulations again, this time after Daniel told them they were engaged. He smiled broadly at her and her heart ached bittersweet.  She noticed that he looked at her hands, most likely to check out her non-existent ring and Daisy found her voice again.

“I didn’t want a ring,” she went for the simplest explanation.  “I work with my hands a lot so it wouldn’t really work out."  This was kind of true.  A ring would not last with her using her abilities.

Dr. Winslow nodded at her.  “I get it. My wife is constantly taking off her ring when she does her art and washes her hands and such.  The amount of times we’ve gone into a panic over her missing ring,” he trailed off shaking his head and smiled adoringly. 

That’s right.  He was married now, for about 2 years.

“I went with a hair clip," Daniel said proudly, gesturing to her hair. 

Daniel had commissioned a jeweler to make a set of hair clips, made with a combination of both of their birthstones, ruby & tanzanite. She adored them and tried to wear them as often as she could.  Everyone who mattered to the both of them knew what the hair clips represented and that was enough for them.  She was considering getting a tattoo of something on her ring finger though after they were married. Daniel, on the other hand, was adamant that he get a wedding band.  Daisy had already chosen it and would be surprising him with it at the ceremony. 

“Smart man.  I wish I thought of something non-traditional like that.  Guess I'm just old fashioned.” 

He directed his next phrase to Daisy. “He’s a keeper.”  

Daisy grinned back at him.  “I certainly think so.”

After that they wrapped up their visit with all the necessary paperwork they needed for Ezri.  

They were almost on their way out when they overheard a conversation a vet employee was having with a few people about black cats and the stigma against them.  Daniel turned pleading eyes towards her.

************************************************************************

The new family loaded into their car, Daisy in the driver’s seat.  Ezri was in her carrier in the back seat along with an assortment of pet items and food for their TWO new pets.  Their new black cat, christened Tuvok by Daniel (“They’re siblings! They should have linked name’s!), was currently in her carrier on his lap.

“How are you?”  Daniel asked, looking over at her.  “How was it seeing him?”

Daisy smiled softly at him.  “It was good seeing him.  Reading the reports isn’t really the same as actually seeing him myself.  I’m glad he’s happy.  It's what I wanted for him. And I’m glad we came to adopt here.”

Daniel reached over to her to put his hand on face and his thumb stroked her cheek.  “I’m glad to.  It was nice talking to him.  I don’t fully understand the whole T.A.H.I.T.I …thing, but if that version of him is any way similar to what he could have been, I can imagine him as your dad.”

They sat there gazing softly at each other in companionable silence for a few moments before the moment was broken by Daniel’s phone chiming. He shifted their new cat to reach for his phone.  He smiled as he read the message.  “It’s from Isaac.  He and May are inviting us out for dinner.”

“The newlyweds are ready to socialize with other people again?”  Daisy laughed.  “It only took them 2 months.  Do you think we will take that long?”

Daniel looked over at her, his gaze heated and he smirked at her.  “I think we can beat their record.”

Daisy could feel the grin split her face as she blushed.  She turned back to face forward and turned on the car.  “So, dinner?”

“Maybe it should just be us tonight?  Let the pets get used to us.  Hey, let me take a picture to send when we decline.”

Daniel had become shockingly adept at taking selfies.  After some shifting around with them and their new pets, he took the pic and sent it to May & Isaac along with a raincheck message about dinner. They would take another picture for Daisy to share with everyone on Instagram once they got home.

“OK, I think we are ready to head home.”

Daisy nodded and gave one last look at the vet clinic.  Dr Winslow was outside, having walked out with a customer. He made eye contact with her, smiled and waved.  Daisy waved back, put the car in drive and the new family made their way home.