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quakinginmystilishboots · 2 years

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Plot Devices to Complicate Your Story

You're excited to write an upcoming story, but the plot seems pretty simple from start to finish.

How can you make it more complicated to deepen your themes, lengthen the story, or leave your readers with plot twists that make their jaws drop?

Try a few of these devices 👀

Add motivation to your instigating action

When the princess gets kidnapped at the start of your story, your hero will rescue her, but what's the antagonist's motivation for kidnapping her? If they're in love with the hero and take their jealousy to the extreme or secretly know that the princess asked them for an escape plan to avoid marrying your hero, the plot is much more compelling.

You could add this detail anywhere in your plot, even in the first chapter.

Layer a second motivation underneath an action

After the princess is kidnapped, the hero starts their journey to rescue her. The reader finds out in the second chapter that the hero is being blackmailed to retrieve the princess and return her to their kingdom's biggest rival to start a war.

Amplify the original problem

Your protagonist rescues the princess and brings her home, only to find out that she's had a twin brother all this time who has been taken hostage by the antagonist in retaliation for the princess' escape.

Introduce a second, more evil villain

The antagonist has kidnapped the princess for their own motivation, but the reader discovers in the middle of your story that they serve a more evil villain who holds a personal grudge against the princess' father and wants his whole kingdom to suffer as revenge.

Create conflict that brings your protagonist to their rock bottom

The protagonist rescues the princess, almost reaches their home kingdom, but she escapes. The king sends the protagonist to prison for their failure and sentences them to death in three days. The reader will feel the hopelessness along with your protagonist, which is where you can create something that injects new hope into your plot (like a dramatic jailbreak thanks to the protagonist's best friend).

Make a character betray another

The protagonist reaches the princess with the help of their best friend, but the princess stabs the protagonist in the back by trading their best friend for herself through an unbreakable vow

Reveal an unreliable narrator

Your protagonist agrees to rescue the princess for the sake of the kingdom, but the second or third chapter reveals that they are really on a mission to kill the princess for personal revenge against the king.

Reveal that the villain has known everything the whole time

Your protagonist and princess escape, but the villain factored that into their plan to start a war and have their forces waiting outside of her castle when they arrive home

Introduce sudden regret that changes a character's arc

The protagonist has to leave their best friend behind to ensure the princess' escape, but in leaving them, the protagonist realizes they've been in love with their best friend the entire time. Regret motivates them to head back for their best friend and risk their life twice as soon as the princess is home safe.

Temporarily kill a character

The princess kills the villain with some help from your protagonist, so they think they're safe. On their way back home, the villain sets a trap for them in the woods because they actually survived the attack.

Try using Chekov's gun

Before leaving for the princess, your protagonist gets a potion made by a family member. The directions? "Use it in your moment of greatest need." The protagonist uses it later when they're facing the villain or after hitting rock bottom, so the potion becomes a plot device that instigates your second or third act.

Accelerate the plot

Your reader thinks the plot is all about rescuing the princess, but she returns home in the first 100 pages. The real plot begins by choices or actions made during her rescue, which unravel into a much larger story/world event.

You likely won't be able to use all of these plot devices in a single story. You may not even have the first plot for more than one.

Consider what you're writing and what dynamics your characters/plot present to decide if any of these tricks could enhance your writing.

#writing tips #plot devices

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quakinginmystilishboots · 2 years

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Another day, another decade. The Agents have jumped to 2004 to protect a certain young hacker.

#aos fanfiction #agents of shield #daisy johnson #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#the way she was #the way she was chapter 5

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quakinginmystilishboots · 3 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Jemma Simmons & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Lance Hunter & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Antoine Triplett Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson, Antoine Triplett, Lance Hunter, Jemma Simmons, Grant Ward, Cameos by a few more characters Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Missing Scenes, extra scenes, Fluff Summary:

Oh, what are we saying this time? Nuclear? Bio? Eh, bio always works. – Phil Coulson, 2x17

A series of snapshots of Daisy through the seasons, taking Coulson's best (😁) lesson to heart.

#agents of shield #daisy johnson #phil coulson #jemma simmons #antoine triplett #lance hunter #grant ward #aos fanfiction #bio always works

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quakinginmystilishboots · 3 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Season/Series 05, s05e11, Sugar Bombs, Breakfast Cereals Summary:

Returning from a post-apocalyptic future knowing you might destroy the world is bad enough. Returning from a post-apocalyptic future, knowing you might destroy the world, to the most depressing secret base ever, with no time to shower or take a nap, is just the worst. At least there's sugar.

Or, why Daisy Johnson found super sugary cereals in an underground secret base geared for nuclear wars and alien invasions.

Missing scene from All the Comforts of Home (5x11).

#agents of shield #aos fanfiction #daisy johnson #sugar bombs #sugar bombs for the end of the world

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quakinginmystilishboots · 3 years

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Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Daniel Sousa, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Teen Skye, most of the gang will be in this, or that's the idea anyway, Phil Coulson, Daniel Sousa, characters tags will be updated as I go, all the leads from s7 are in here now, but i'm not listing the ones who are still just background, or have a couple of lines at most Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Season/Series 07, Time Travel, Skye meets Quake Summary:

Another day, another decade. The Agents have jumped to 2004 to protect a certain young hacker.

#agents of shield #daisy johnson #daniel sousa #melinda may #phil coulson #alphonso mackenzie #aos fanfiction #the way she was chapter 4

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quakinginmystilishboots · 3 years

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Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Daniel Sousa, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Teen Skye - Character, most of the gang will be in this, or that's the idea anyway, Phil Coulson, Daniel Sousa, characters tags will be updated as I go Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Season/Series 07, Time Travel, Skye meets Quake Summary:

Another day, another decade. The Agents have jumped to 2004 to protect a certain young hacker.

#agents of shield #daisy johnson #melinda may #phil coulson #aos fanfiction #the way she was chapter 3

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quakinginmystilishboots · 3 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson, Leo Fitz, Nick Fury, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Jemma Simmons, Daniel Sousa Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Missing Scenes, Post-Canon, Spoilers for all seasons, Fluff, Angst, silly premise Summary:

Snapshots of Daisy and the team through the years, loosely connected by the quest to fly on a plane/spaceship with an aquarium on board. It's probably as silly as it sounds, but there's some angst along the way and Bus Kids feels.

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#agents of shield #aos fanfiction #daisy johnson #jemma simmons #leo fitz #phil coulson #alphonso mackenzie #daniel sousa #nick fury #dousy #fitzsimmons #operation fish tank

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quakinginmystilishboots · 4 years

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Not Her Nature

Read on AO3

Unwrapping the MRE with the outdated, from her perspective, S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, Daisy couldn't help a little grimace. She was hardly a fussy eater – growing up in the system, living in a van and now dealing with a semi apocalyptic crisis every Wednesday really taught the value of adaptability – but the damn things had enough bad associations to make her regret not spending a few more minutes in the pantry, digging for something else.

They looked exactly the same as the ones they had found in storage in the Lighthouse when they had traveled back from the post-apocalyptic future to their then present, which was actually their past now, but in the future, except maybe not anymore, and wow, if that train of thought didn't do a number on her already developing headache.

Time traveling-induced headache or not, the field ration was just as tasteless as its decades old counterparts they'd had around those very frayed weeks she really preferred not to think about.

It hadn't been the years, then. Just their nature.

Noticing the coffee pot in this new but actually old Lighthouse's command center was cold, she casually used her powers to heat it up in seconds and poured herself a cup.

“So that's your gift.”

Daisy jumped. Some super spy she was. Good thing May wasn't here to see it.

Her mother was standing behind her, a serene expression on her unmarred visage, with just a hint of curiosity and amusement. God, this was weird.

“Forgive the intrusion, I didn't mean to startle you.”

“No, it's alright. I'm supposed to guard you, anyway”. Daisy shrugged, sipping on her newly re-heated coffee. Almost as bad as the field ration. She fished for more sugar.

“It didn't help the taste, did it?” said Jiaying, with the faint of a smile. Daisy chuckled.

“Nope. I probably should have made a fresh batch. There's tea, though...I can heat up the water if you'd like?”

“How do you do that?”

“It's vibrations. I can sense them and manipulate them”, she explained, keeping it basic, because it was a fair bit more than that.

“You vibrate the water molecules and that produces heat” her mother nodded, understanding not quite replacing curiosity. She didn't follow up on her offer of tea, so Daisy went back to her unappealing meal. Jiaying's presence wasn't improving it.

Logically, she understood, and better than ever now, how what her mother had gone through had broken her... but, five years later, the betrayal still felt raw. As the nagging doubts. Her biological parents had been monsters. She had told herself they had become that way, that it wasn't their nature and therefore not hers, either. Yet the part of her that never really dealt with heartbreak and just run away from it, sometimes literally, hadn't fully moved past it.

“Any word from your friends?”, Jiaying asked, bringing her back to their present situation, hunkered down at the Lighthouse while the team was flying to Afterlife.

“Not yet. They should be landing in about an hour”.

Worry and frustration revealed the lie of Jiyaing's serene countenance.

“I wish we didn't stay behind. My people are in terrible danger and I'm hiding”. She said, as much to Daisy as to the empty room.

“Generals don't fight on the front lines.”

“We are not an army.”

“We were meant to be.”

As soon as she said it, Daisy mentally kicked herself. She shouldn't even be mentioning any of this but the entire situation was throwing her off balance and then some. Meeting her own mother, five years before she was supposed to be born. Her own mother, who she had wished for the first 26 years of her life. Her own mother, who had tried to kill her. Her own mother, whose skeleton she had dug up in a desperate attempt to save the person dearest to her. Sometimes, Daisy seriously wondered how her life was even real.

She was also not a fan of the “staying behind” thing. As she had told Mack. Repeatedly. Unsuccessfully.

She refocused on Jiaying.

“It's not what we chose to be. Our people have lived secluded for centuries. We have kept ourselves from the world, never involving in its troubles. The world is not inclined to return such courtesy, it seems.” Her mother's piercing gaze found hers again. “You and Elena, is that what you are, though? Soldiers?”

“We help people.” If the older woman recognized the defensiveness in her tone, she didn't comment on it. Her eyes once again turned to the room that was buzzing with 1980s computer noises and a cacophony of contrasting vibrations Daisy was becoming acutely aware of.

“When I was younger – Jiaying started, her tone more wistful than Daisy ever remembered – I thought our gifts should be shared, used to help the world. We can do so many wonderful things.... but they are also dangerous in the wrong hands, and there are always wrong hands. Yet, it is comforting – she added, looking back to Daisy with a smile – to know that our people can be warriors for the benefit of all”.

Daisy felt herself nodding. That sounded...nice. Or maybe it did because of who was saying it. Jiaying's smile turned pensive.

“I have lived a long life and I could live an even longer one. Experience is important but so are new perspectives. My daughter... when she was born, I had wished it for her. To one day lead our people where I couldn't take them. I feel so naive now. I did everything wrong”.

Daisy wondered idly when it had become so hard to control her heart rate. Or breathe.

“I don't think you should blame yourself”, she offered tentatively.

“Shouldn't I? I wasn't able to help her control her gift and I couldn't make her believe she was safe with me, that I would protect her, that I loved her too much for anything else. It is my failure. It is my responsibility”.

“People are responsible for their own choices.” Daisy shot back brusquely, perhaps too much so. If the conversation had been uncomfortable before...

“What if the choice they have isn't fair? Her gift hurt her when she kept it inside and hurt others when she couldn't. What would you do if that was your choice?”

Daisy bit her tongue, holding back the snarky reply – I wouldn't follow a sadistic bastard looking to destroy everything – on the tip of it. She stared at Jiaying, seeing the pain of a parent who feels they have failed their child. A whirlwind of conflicting emotions – bitter hurt, anger, hopeful relief, longing – engulfed her and almost overwhelmed her. Compassion won out.

“When I first got my powers, I wasn't able to control them and it would hurt me to try. My... family... they didn't know how to help me. Eventually I found people who could – and she was my family, too – but they weren't as... well-meaning... as I had thought – you manipulated me, lied to me – I was blind to it for a time – until someone had to die for me to see the truth – but it wasn't too late – not for me, at least – it's not too late for your daughter, either”.

“Thank you, Agent Jones. You have a kind heart”.

Daisy felt herself staring again, rooted in place, her meal forgotten. The blaring of sirens broke the spell.

“We've been breached”.

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

Nathaniel Malick was dead. His body, twisted, broken and shriveled, was currently stored in a black bag, in the Lighthouse's morgue. The battle had been brutal, laced with a yearning to hurt her foe Daisy hadn't felt since facing Hive. In the end, she hadn't killed him. Towering over him, his limbs broken, she had hesitated, questioning her reasons. Then Jiaying, who she had thought he had murdered, had touched him. And it was over.

“This is how I heal”, she had explained, apologetic. Daisy had just nodded, focusing on slowing her heart down.

Later, before the Afterlife survivors were flown to the village in Hunan where Jiyaing had been born and where Daisy would, too, if the events of the past few days hadn't irreparably altered her mother's life trajectory, they met again – for the last time? – in the Lighthouse's hangar.

“I knew your gift felt familiar”, Jiaying told her, no physical trace of her recent brush with death. Malick had spilled the beans, one last attempt to fuck with her life.

“I'm sorry I lied to you. We are trying to protect the future” What's left of it, anyway.

“I understand... but I am glad to know the truth. And to have met you. Your story, about your powers...”

“I made it up”, Daisy replied, too quickly. “I'm sorry. And please don't ask me... anything else. ”

“You were being kind. Thank you. And I won't. It's enough to feel hopeful again”.

Daisy stayed very still, willing her face into the kind of unemotional mask May was a master at but she had never quite managed.

Jiaying didn't question it, letting her eyes linger on her surroundings. “I had never taken an unwilling life before. It's... worse.”

Daisy understood that feeling. “The world is better without him. Believe me.”

Her mother nodded, mirroring her conviction. “I do. Your sister... I won't ask you what I know you cannot promise me. Just... she is young and she is lost.”

“I know. I will try.”

“Thank you.”

Watching the Quinjet take off, Daisy felt a measure of hope, too. It wasn't nature. And maybe not being born wouldn't be so bad if it meant it wouldn't be life, either.

#aos fanfiction #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#daisy johnson #jiaying #aos 7x10 promo spoilers #aos spoilers

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quakinginmystilishboots · 4 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jiaying & Skye | Daisy Johnson Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Jiaying (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Nathaniel Malick Additional Tags: Spoilers for season 7 up to the 7x10 promo, Speculation, POV Skye | Daisy Johnson, Minor Character Death, mildly graphic description of minor character's corpse, Season/Series 07 Spoilers Summary:

Tasked with staying behind at the Lighthouse to protect her mother, Daisy has a talk with Jiaying about powers, Inhumans and Kora. Spoilers for the 7x10 promo.

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#aos fanfiction #daisy johnson #jiaying #aos spoilers #aos 7x10 promo spoilers

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quakinginmystilishboots · 4 years

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Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Daniel Sousa Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Teen Skye - Character, most of the gang will be in this, or that's the idea anyway, character tags apply to ch. 1 only for now Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Season/Series 07, Time Travel, Skye meets Quake Summary:

Another day, another decade. The Agents have jumped to 2004 to protect a certain young hacker.

#aos fanfiction #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#daisy johnson #melinda may #alphonso mackenzie #agents of shield

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quakinginmystilishboots · 4 years

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The Drive

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25182796

It was going to take at least an hour from wherever the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane had landed and the alley where her van was parked, and Skye was regretting not having any snacks.

When Agent Coulson had told her Agent May would escort her, Skye had been relieved. She wasn't looking forward to spending more time with the T-1000 and chatting up with another member of this team could give her more insight, something that might eventually help her gain access to what S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about her family.

As it turned out, Agent May was the original T-1000.

At least Agent Ward had been easy to rile up and, worst case scenario, she could have entertained herself by trolling him.

Agent May made the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come feel verbose and hadn't changed her non-expression since they had climbed into the black SUV that was apparently the vehicle of choice for shady secret government agencies.

Every single one of Skye's conversational overtures so far had been met with stony silence and the young hacker wasn't happy. Ordinarily, she was good at making people talk about themselves. And, if that didn't work, she was excellent at annoying them enough to at least get a reaction.

Agent May, apparently, didn't do talking. And a brick wall emoted more.

Skye sighed, and voiced her wish for food aloud. Once again, she might have as well been talking to herself.

It wasn't the silence that bothered her, exactly. Growing up, Skye had been ignored by the adults in her life a lot and there were many worse things than uncaring silence. She was just frustrated. S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken her bait and she couldn't afford to waste the opportunity.

Also, she was bored.

“You know, if you guys had left me my phone, I wouldn't be bugging you right now” she huffed, and that finally got a reaction. Barely.

“We are not in the habit of leaving suspects in possession of their weapons” the woman said in the most monotonic (was that a word?) monotone ever.

Skye smirked at that, though, because it was true. Computers were her weapons and she could do more damage with a phone than the Hulk on a rampage, if she wanted to. She knew she was that good and never saw a reason to downplay her skills. You're only cocky if you can't back it up. And she could back it up, all the way.

Suddenly, while Skye was deciding whether to just take the opportunity for a quick nap, the car slowed down noticeably and changed lane. And Agent May changed non-expression. From stony slightly annoyed to stony mildly engaged. Or maybe just more annoyed. There really was no way to tell. The woman was a statue.

“What's up?”

Silence.

“You're slowing down.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Agent May didn't answer – of course – but Skye saw her glancing at the rear-view mirror and a little anxiety creeped up her spine.

She had already been kidnapped once today, after all.

“Are we being followed?”

The hacker peered in the rear-view mirror too, resisting the urge to just turn around – I bet that would get a rise out of Agent Dry, she thought a little belligerantly – and tried to decipher what may have gotten the older woman suspicious. It looked like a regular L.A. day on the freeway, heavy traffic just this side of congestion. While she was still trying to identify their possible stalker, Agent May signaled to her right and turned into the next exit.

Skye kept her eyes on the mirror. Behind them, a brown station-wagon that had seen better days, a white pick-up truck and a dark blue sedan, did the same in quick succession. Her money was on the sedan.

Tensing in her seat, she kept her eyes on the car, wondering if the woman's hardcore attitude extended to her combat skills. Well, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She probably knew like 100 ways to kill someone with her pinky or something.

After a couple of minutes, without a word, Agent May turned into a Wendy's.

“Order”, she told her, without breaking eye-contact with the windscreen. Skye felt her jaw drop to the floor.

Agent May almost smirked.

“You said you were hungry.”

“Right. Yeah. I thought... yeah. Yeah, thank you.”

Fifteen minutes later, sipping her Frostyccino and putting away an empty box of fries, Skye decided she didn't mind the silence that much when she was still being heard.

#aos fanfiction #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#daisy johnson #melinda may #season 1

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quakinginmystilishboots · 4 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May Additional Tags: Missing Scene, (sort of), Canon Compliant, driving to the diner's alley, Episode: s01e01 Pilot, S1 Daisy and S1 May dealing with each other for the very first time, POV Skye | Daisy Johnson

Summary:

#aos fanfiction #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#daisy johnson #melinda may #season 1

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quakinginmystilishboots · 4 years

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We Always Do

Sousa and Daisy talk after she's out of the healing pod and he finds purpose in her resilience.

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071334

He finds her rummaging through the cupboards of the neatly arranged kitchen time-travelling planes from the future apparently come equipped with. Her hair is tied in a loose ponytail and she's wearing what to him looks like athletic garment but could be a pajama. She looks younger, and there's no overt sign of the ordeal she has experienced just a day earlier.

“I thought you were supposed to be resting in the pod for a while longer” Daniel Sousa says, lingering on the entryway. He's actually glad Agent Johnson is out and about. Seeing her moving, vibrant...it gives him comfort.

“Well, we're down three people, not really a good time to laze in bed”, she tells him, pulling out what looks like a box of cereals and moving to fetch a bowl and a spoon.

He frowns, disbelief at her cavalier attitude and admiration for her resilience mixing with a sudden inability to express what he's thinking.

“It's not my first rodeo, Sousa” she adds, correctly interpreting his silence. “Not the first time some psycho creep plays Operation on me either”. The last line is muttered under her breath, more for herself than for him.

“You did mention...it...had happened before...” As soon as he says it, he regrets it. He shouldn't be asking, shouldn't be digging but he can't help being curious...he sees the memory of the moment coming back to her, and he hates himself for it. She's not going to give him a straight answer anyway, why did he bring it up?

Just like in the barn, she surprises him.

“I meant my mother. The man Malick mentioned, Reinhardt? He did... - a grimace - will do to her what he did to me, a few years from now. Worse, actually ”.

“I'm sorry”. It feels awfully inadequate. It is awfully inadequate. She shrugs and pours milk on her cereals. The moment stretches and Daniel struggles for a change of subject.

“So, are you the one in charge now, with the Director and Agent Coulson missing?”

She gives him a curious look. Then shrugs again. “I doubt Mack would want that. He was a little crossed with me”. A smirk. It's pretty. Almost playful.

Daniel chuckles. It figures. From what he's seen of her in the week he's known her, she has the fierce independence of thinking that makes for the best agents but, also, on occasion, the worst headaches.

“What did you do?”

She takes a beat to answer, taking a spoonful of her cereals, her back leaning on the counter.

“I wanted to kill Malick. The father, back in 1931? I tried to make it happen. I made the call, without telling him. Against orders.” She doesn't look contrite, just frustrated. After everything, Sousa can't really blame her.

“Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea, considering”, he offers.

She huffs, shaking her head.

“It's not just personal, you know? They...the Malicks, Hydra...are responsible for so much pain and misery and death...I can't imagine the world would be worse if they had never existed - she scoffs - although the world always has a way to surprise me there”. She's trying for flippancy but Sousa can tell it covers for something much darker.

He's not one to encourage buckling the chain of command but he's also seen how that's necessary sometimes. He doesn't have an answer. He doesn't try to come up with one.

“And now the timeline's all screwed up anyway. It all feels pointless”. She's looking way past her bowl, way past the dark grey bulkheads. For a moment, he sees it...the rage, the hurt, the anguish and the almost superhuman uwillingness to give up.

He needs the both of them to hold onto the latter.

“We'll make it work. We have to”. She looks him straight in the eyes for the first time since their conversation started. Something passes between them. He has no word for it. All he knows is that 24 hours ago he was ready to plant his flag in the 1970s and stay out of history but now he's committed. To this crazy mission to save the world from alien robots, and to this future version of S.H.I.E.L.D. that had felt almost as unfamiliar as the synthetic enemy they're fighting.

Watching Daisy Johnson, knocked down so brutally but already on her feet, he knows. This, is his S.H.I.E.L.D., too

After a moment, she nods.

“Yeah. We always do.”

#daisy johnson #daniel sousa #daisy x sousa #fanfiction #agents of shield

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