Fanfic I don’t have a name for right now but here it is.
Fandom: Agents of Shield. Summary: Fitz-Simmons get kidnapped on a mission and Deke finally tells them the truth. Word Count: 2038 POV: Deke Shaw [Will be posted to my ao3 account soon]
Deke bounced his leg up and down while leaning against the banisters in the Lighthouse’s make-shift control room. Mack and Yo-yo had been working on her arms, Coulson hadn’t come back and May had taken Fitz-Simmons on a mission, leaving him in the control room with Daisy, was was running backup.
He half payed attention to Daisy speaking to them over coms, He heard May and Simmons, but never Fitz. Now that he thought about it, he had barely heard him since… it happened. And by it he meant watching his own grandfather, a man his mother had loved and admired, basically torture someone who was his friend. Then learn there was so much more to it and it was one whole messy area of grey he never thought he had to deal with.
And that was saying something, considering he spent his life in the grey area, doing terrible things for profit or to play ‘the long game’.
But that didn’t stop him from being any less worried about them. He and Simmons where his grandparents and yes, he did want to ensure his existence, but in the short time he knew them, he had grown to love them because they were family. And it was nice having family again.
He sure as hell didn’t want to loose them.
Daisy had been silent for over five minutes. So he filled it. “They’re going to be okay, right?”
“I told you, have faith. Or a xanax. They’ll be fine.” She had been quieter since it happened. She was constantly uneasy around Fitz and it was understandable. But if he was being honest, he didn’t know what to think. It was obviously a grey area and it hurt anybody's head when they thought too long about it.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Just no one’s spoken in like, ages. So…”
“It’s called radio-silence, Deke.”
He decided to bite back the ‘Sorry for being from the future’ comments and just continued to bounce his leg and half listen to the conversation over coms. Eventually, Daisy told him to go to the kitchen and calm down, which he had no problems with doing. He still had some Zima left over.
He lost track of time while ignoring his own worries. It wasn’t until he made his way back to the control room, sipping on his fourth bottle of Zima, that he found out they were back. Since they were discussing the mission, they had to have just come back.
Mack and Yo-yo were there, Yo-yo finally being able to wear her arms for extended periods of time, it seemed. Coulson was back and standing next to May, who was explaining the intel they had gotten. Daisy was still where she was when he left, but had gotten and snack and made herself more comfortable. Which left…
He waited until they had finished covering the intel to ask his question; “Where are Fitz and Simmons?”
Everyone glanced around at each other before Coulson stepped forward to speak. From the look on his face, he suspected it was bad news. He took one last sip from his bottle before placing it on the table and going closer to Coulson and the others.
“Well?”
“They were taken. By Hale and her people.”
He swallowed and muttered. “And you let it?”
“Pardon?” He hadn’t heard.
“And you guys let it happen!?” He yelled, pushing Coulson backwards.
Everyone simultaneously yelled for him to calm down as he pushed Coulson a second time. He took a deep breath and steadied his balance before beginning to speak again. “Do not tell me to calm down.” He spun and moved to a point in the room where he could see everyone. “Any of you.”
“You may not want to, but you need to.” He looked to who was speaking. Mack. “How many of those have you had anyways?” He asked when he spotted the Zima on the table.
“3 and a half. I’m not drunk. Just pissed that you would let my- them get kidnapped!” He hoped that no one pointed out his slip-up. How would he dig himself out of that one without telling the truth?
Thankfully, no one did.
“Well, we needed to get this intel here. And besides, it’ll be easier to track them from here.” May said, keeping expressions off her face. That made the anger boil over.
“Well you need to hurry up!” He snapped, banging his hand on the table next to him. “You know the thing that I hate most about this? Is that I bet you guys actually understand how I feel and you would still tell me to calm down and be cold and calculating!”
Nobody said a word. “Scratch that. I hate that Fitz-Simmons got kidnapped more.” He banged his hand on the table again before pushing a box off. His mum always said her father would do whenever he was angry. Fitz would do that whenever he got angry.
“Why do you care about them so much anyways?”
Shit.
Luckily he was able to come up with an… alright lie. “Because I’m, human? You know, humans that aren’t superspies usually actually express how much they care for people.”
“For starters,” Daisy began, moving her chair so she was facing him. “You may not be a superspy, but a few weeks in that future told me that you would’ve had to make the hard call time and time again. You learn to compartmentalize your emotions to get the job done, right?”
He didn’t say anything.
“And second, you barely know them. Yeah, you probably care about them. It’s clear you’ve gotten close to them, especially Simmons, but we’ve known them for longer so being human? I’m not buying it.”
He sighed and grabbed his bottle of Zima, drinking the rest in one go. He didn’t plan to tell them this way. Hell, he hadn’t even told Fitz yet. But, he figured he had to now. He sighed and crossed his arms, keeping the bottle in his hand. “I know at least one person in here has lost their parents at a young age yeah?”
He looked down at the ground before continuing. “I’ve said my mum was killed when I was nine. My dad a few years later. I had to survive myself in that future for years without a family and barely any friends. I had Tess and Virgil and that’s it.”
“Imagine finding out you have family that’s still alive and right…” He trailed off.
“That happened to me. They both turned out to be murderers so…” Daisy shrugged as she trailed off as well.
“But before you knew that. How did you feel when you found out they were alive and well and you could be with them, even just for a little bit?” He was standing tall now, looking at Daisy.
Everyone turned to look at Daisy. “I was happy. I felt like a part of me that was missing had been filled. I ended up choosing them over SHIELD. Only for a while, but I did. Because I had missed out on so much in my childhood and I felt I had an opportunity to… catch up.”
“Yeah.” Everyone turned to him, but he kept his eyes on Daisy. “I felt that way when I realised.”
Everyone looked around. “What does this have to do with Fitz-Si-” Daisy cut herself off as realisation, mixed with confusion, dawned on everyone's faces.
“Is that even possible?”
“I mean, the time seems right if my maths is right.”
“It may not be.”
“Deke?” Yo-yo was looking at him now. “What does this have to do with Fitz-Simmons?” She was moving the fingers on her arm, probably trying to get used to them. He swallowed.
He really didn’t plan for this.
“They’re family. My mum used to tell me about them all the time. How her dad never gave up. How he was a baby when he’s sick, and how he would always carry the world on his shoulders… And she would tell me how her mother was always there for him. How he took care of him when he was sick and help carry the world when he refused to give up. She would always tell me how much she wished I could taste that special little sandwich that she used to make for her father and her when she was a kid. The-”
“Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich with a hint of homemade pesto aioli.” Daisy finished with a smile on her face.
May chuckled, a small smile on her face too. “I remember listening to Fitz tell you how Ward threw it out when he got it out on a mission. And him making you swear to never tell Simmons.”
Daisy’s laugh sounded close to a sob, but she cleared throat and continued to speak. “And I never did.”
Deke began to speak again as everyone let the bittersweetness settle into the room. “My mum used to tell me about him. Grant Ward. She said he turned out to be an asshole, but they had both had some good times with him before he turned on them. Now that I know you guys and I’ve realised who Fitz and Simmons are, I remember more stories my mum told me about you guys.”
They all looked to him, waiting for him to continue.
He chuckled. “She would tell me different stories about you guys she had gotten from her parents when I was falling asleep, or having breakfast, or…” He chuckled again. He remembered all the times he had nightmares, all the times he was so terrified of the Kree he couldn’t stop shaking. How she would tell him stories about “the Team” because she knew those stories where his favourite.
“She told me about their friend who had a shotgun axe and wasn’t afraid of anything. How he looked like he could kill anyone but was really a soft teddy bear, and another friend who had robotic arms and had a nickname because of her powers, who never gave up her faith even through the darkest times. She would tell me about how much admiration her mum had for the man who led their team from the beginning. And how that man became a father-figure to her dad.”
Coulson had a soft smile on his face.
“She would tell me about the women who lead alongside him. How she was a complete badass and had plenty of stories to prove it. How she understood nearly every emotion and situation they experienced even though she would never show it.”
He hesitated, looking towards Daisy.
“And she would always tell me about you. Not as Quake, or the Destroyer of Worlds. But as Daisy. Their best friend and sister, who was as strong as they come. Who had been through so much hardships but always came back from it. One time, when I was nearly asleep, she said something that only came back to me recently. She said; ‘He would tell me the one thing he regretted most in his life was letting himself hurt her.’. She had no idea what he meant by that. But I think we do.”
Daisy wiped a tear from her eye. “Yeah,” her voice was barely above a whisper.
“They’re my grandparents. And I grew up with their stories. I don’t think I would’ve survived the Lighthouse without them.”
The bittersweetness still sat in the room.
“I have no idea how I didn’t figure it out sooner. I mean, you were all right under my noses and I feel so stupid.” He shrugged. “But that’s that. And now I need to find them. Because I have a chance to be with family and I don’t want to lose that.”
“I get it. I wanted to be with my parents forever but…” She swallowed before continuing. “If I can help you get what I couldn’t, then that’s good enough for me.”
