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arrow-guy · 4 years

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Broken Flock (3/??)

Summary: It’s been two years since you uprooted your life and left to figure out who you really are, leaving behind Bucky and Clint with little more than a note as a warning. Now, New York is calling your name and it’s time to go home. How will Clint and Bucky react to your return, and how will the time have affected your relationship?

A/N: Hey, guys, how’s quarantine treating you? Here we are with a new chapter of Broken Flock. I integrated a little more comic stuff and it’s mostly fluff, so please enjoy!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Word Count: 2.6k

Pairing: WinterhawkxReader

Warnings: Mild angst

Part 2

“I’m glad you’re back,” Clint says.

“It’s only been a week, Clint. Don’t be so sure having me here is gonna be a blessing.”

He laughs. “I think you underestimate how much we like you, (Y/N).”

I snort. “I think two years has made you forget how much of a pain in the ass I can be.”

He groans and lets his head fall back against the recliner cushion. “Us liking you and you being a pain in the ass can coexist.”

“Aw,” I press my hand to my chest and grin at him when he shoots me a dirty look. “You’re so nice to me.”

“Really pushin’ your luck here.”

I cackle. “I told you!” I point at myself. “Pain in the ass.”

He rolls his eyes, but can't stop himself from smiling. "I've missed this," he says. "Shooting the shit. The teasing. Everything."

“So have I. Kate’s great ‘n all, but she doesn’t handle teasing the way you guys do.”

“With us, teasing is a sport. With Kate, it’s more seeing what you can get away with and hoping for the best.”

I laugh. “Yeah.”

“Y’know, you can come back to the building any time,” Clint says. “When you’re ready, obviously. All your stuff is still at your place.”

“Wait, really?”

His brow furrows. “Of course. Why would I throw out your stuff? It’d be too much work, especially when you’ve been paying rent the entire time you’ve been gone.”

I shrug. “I don’t know.”

“Have a little faith in me, (Y/N).”

“I’m trying, I promise. It’s not your fault I’ve got a shitty brain.”

Clint frowns and pulls me into a tight hug. The urge to run is strong, but the need to be close to him is stronger, so I wrap my arms around him and hug him tighter.

“I forgot how strong you are,” he wheezes.

I laugh and loosen my hold on him. “Sorry. Sometimes I forget to reign in it.”

“So, will you move back?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. I need a little time to be back in New York first. Soon, though. I think I’ll be back in the apartment soon.”

He nods. “Okay. Just keep in touch, okay? Bucky worries. I mean… I do too, obviously, but Bucky paces and it’s really starting to get to me.”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Like, he’s gonna wear a hole in his carpet, then mine, he worries so much.”

I laugh. “I get it. I promise I’ll stay in touch.”

His phone chimes and he groans when he checks the message. “I gotta go.”

“Someone in trouble?” I ask.

“Yeah. Me if I don’t get a move-on.”

“Okay.”

He pushes himself up from his chair and I get up and follow him

Ge pauses just before the door. “Sorry, I really wanna say, but duty calls.”

“Go,” I say. He pouts and I laugh, shoving him towards the door. “Go! You’ve got a job to do. I’ll be fine on my own. I promise.”

He presses a kiss to the top of my head and hurries out of the apartment. I sigh and plop one hand on the top of my head and close the door behind him.

I try to hold out, but it takes me all of three days to get lonely and move back to my apartment.

While I did keep my promise to keep in contact with Clint and Bucky, I didn’t feel like telling them I was moving back yet.

I leave the little condo behind and get to Clint’s apartment building as quickly as my feet will take me.

The building is weirdly quiet, but I push the thought aside, eager to get to my apartment. I fumble with my keys trying to find the right one. I gently push the door open, only for the hinges to squeak the entire time. I cringe at the sound and quickly close the door behind me.

The entryway is dark and the small amount of light filtering through the curtains in the living space paints the room in an ominous light.

When I drop my bag on the couch it sends a massive plume of dust into the air, leaving me coughing and waving whatever I can away from my face. I flick on the lights and find a layer of dust coating every inch of the apartment and my heart sinks. Sure, Clint held the apartment for me, but I completely forgot what happens when you leave a space undisturbed for two years.

I start the cleaning process by stripping my bed and throwing any and all clothing and towels into a hamper to be washed. I pull down the curtains as well and toss them in for good measure. With the curtains gone, the sunlight filters in through the windows and I can more fully see just how much dust is covering my apartment.

I sigh as I realize that the only solution to this whole mess is a lot of vacuuming and potentially new cushion covers.

I decide to tackle the living room first, shuffling through a box of stuff from the last remodel that Clint did to find a dust mask. When that’s in place and I’ve opened the windows, I take a spatula and start batting at the couch and chair cushions, sending dust in every direction. When the majority of the gray has left the cushions I start sweeping as much as I can into a pile. In the end, there are two good-sized piles in each room. I vacuum everything up and move on to using the vacuum hose to suck up anything on the windowsills and counter-tops.

It takes me nearly two hours to get to a point where I can take a break and pull the dust mask from my mouth. I stand at the mouth of the entryway with my hands on my hips, dust mask around my neck, when someone bursts in.

“Who the hell do you think you are, breaking into this building?!”

I whirl around, looking for a weapon, only to realize that it’s one of Clint’s tenants. I’ve never met her before, so she has no idea who I am.

“I live here,” I say dumbly.

“No, you don’t,” she says. “No one’s been in this apartment for over a year.”

“I’ve been gone for two.” I take a step back into the apartment in an attempt to put a little distance between this young woman and myself. “Look, you can call Clint if you don’t believe me. He’ll tell you the same thing.”

She scowls. “Maybe I will. He doesn’t seem to pay much attention to who he lets in this place as is…” She reaches into her pocket for her phone.

“Aimee, what the hell is going on?” someone calls down the hallway.

The young woman, whose name I now assume to be Aimee, pokes her head out into the hall. “I was just gonna call you! Some rando says she lives here.”

“What?” Clint appears in the doorway and freezes. “I thought you said you needed a little time before you came back.”

I shrug. “I got bored. The Wi-Fi here is better than that dump anyway.”

He laughs and slips through the door. Clint wraps his arms around my waist and spins me around. My wings flutter helplessly when he doesn’t put me down afterward.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he says.

I brace myself on his shoulders. “It’s lonely in a little one-bedroom condo. The only company I had was the old lady selling tickets downstairs. I needed to at least be around other people.”

“I thought you might,” Clint waggles his eyebrows and I laugh. “I’m glad you decided to move back sooner.”

I smile. “Can you put me down now? I’m starting to lose feeling in my legs.”

Clint smiles and finally lets me down. “What have you been doing in here? It looks like a tornado hit.”

“There was, like, an inch of dust on everything when I came in. I’ve been trying to clean, but I think I’ve mostly been pushing stuff around.”

Aimee clears her throat and Clint and I look back at her.

“So you know her?” she asks.

“Yeah, we go way back. She’s been living here on and off for three or four years now.”

Aimee’s brows pull together. “Way back?”

“Close to ten years, I think?” I offer and Clint nods.

“Definitely a while,” he says.

“Oh,” Aimee shoves her hands in her pockets. “Well, in that case, sorry for busting in on you. Hope you get the place cleaned up.”

She heads back out into the hall with a wave.

“Well that was weird,” I mutter.

Clint snorts. “Why didn’t you say you were coming back?”

“It was gonna be a surprise. But this place is a wreck, so it might be a little while before you and Bucky can spend any time here.”

“You want some help?”

“Are you offering?”

He shrugs and looks around the living room, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Why not? Got nothing better to do.”

I shove him and he catches himself on the kitchen counter, laughing. “You’re such an ass, Barton.”

“But you hang out with me anyway. What does that say about you?”

“That I’ve got really weird taste in friends.”

He laughs and slings an arm around my shoulders. “Where do you want to start?”

“Could you put any dishes that are out on the counter in the dishwasher? And then maybe move on to the bathroom from there. I’m gonna go down to the basement and run a couple loads of laundry. I’ll meet you back here when I’m done.”

“Sounds good.”

“Cool. I think I left the cleaning supplies under the sink.”

“Kitchen or bathroom?”

I pause. “Both? Maybe?”

Clint laughs, loud and free. “I’ll get started then.”

Four hours later, Clint and I collapse on the freshly made bed. No dust poofs out of the mattress and I breathe in the sweet scent of detergent and fabric softener along with the soothing smell of Clint. I shuffle closer to him and he sighs and gently runs one hand over my left wing. The touch is familiar and something I’ve suppressed wanting for two years. I press my forehead to Clint’s shoulder and finally let myself relax.

“I think I need to get new sheets,” I say.

“What’s wrong with these?” Clint asks.

“I need more than one set of sheets, plain and simple.”

“Who the hell needs more than one set of sheets?”

“What do you mean ‘who needs more than one set of sheets’? Everyone should own more than one set of sheets!”

“I don’t own more than one set of sheets.”

“That’s because you’re a walking garbage fire, Clint!” I shake my head. “Do you even change your pillowcase?”

“You’re supposed to?”

“You don’t-”I pull back to stare at him. “How is your skin so clear?!”

“Genetics, baby,” he says, lifting his chin and grinning.

I roll my eyes and settle against him again. Silence settles in the room and I find myself growing drowsy.

“We should tell Bucky,” Clint says.

“Mm, yeah, probably.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t text me.”

I lift one wing so I can look behind me. I move away from Clint when I see Bucky standing in the doorway.

“We were just talking about you,” I say.

“Yeah?” The corner of his mouth quirks up.

“Yeah,” Clint says. “We were just saying that your breath is rank and you never shower.”

Bucky rolls his eyes and sheds his coat and shoes. He shoves Clint and I across the bed so he can snuggle into Clint’s side. He reaches around my back and takes a fistful of my shirt, pulling us all together.

“How did you know where we were?” I ask.

“I went to go check on Clint. Aimee said he was hanging out with some weird chick with wings she’d never seen before.”

“And you figured it was me?”

“Clint doesn’t have a lot of friends-

“Hey!”

Bucky rolls his eyes. “With wings.”

“Oh. Yeah, that’s true,” Clint admits. “I think I know one other person with actual feathery wings.”

“I’m surprised there aren’t more out there.”

“There might be,” Clint says. “But we haven’t found them yet.”

“Hmm,” I rest my chin on his shoulder. “I wonder what it’d be like for a whole bunch of bird people to be in the same place. D’you think they’d want to form a flock or something?”

Bucky snorts. “Maybe.”

“Would you join them if they did?” Clint asks.

I shrug and the movement makes my feathers rustle. “I don’t know. I kind of like the one I put together myself.”

Bucky smiles and rubs a slow circle on my back with his thumb. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. You might be flightless and kind of dumb sometimes, but you’re mine nonetheless.”

“Aw,” Clint digs his fingers into my side, making me squirm. I laugh and try to get away from him, but he’s stronger than he looks. “You know just how to sweet talk a couple of guys.”

I manage to dislodge myself and shuffle back on the bed and out of Clint’s reach. Bucky props himself up on his elbow and Clint grins up at me.

“I only speak the truth,” I say, holding my hands out in front of me in surrender. “But you gotta know I care about you at least a little bit.”

Bucky shrugs. “Maybe, but we’re gonna tease you when we can. Haven’t been able to do it for two years.”

“You’re gonna deal with everything you’ve missed from us while you’re still here,” Clint says. “We don’t know when you’re gonna have another existential crisis and run off again.”

“I…” I sit back on my heels and clasp my hands in my lap. “I’m not leaving again.”

“Can you really be sure?” Bucky asks. “We haven’t even had you back for two weeks yet. It’s too early to say.”

I shake my head. “No. I’m staying. That’s it. No take-backs, no crossed fingers, nothing. I’m here, one hundred percent.” Both men stare up at me and I fidget under their gazes. “I know that I was away for a long time. I know that it wasn’t fair of me to stay away that long without any kind of explanation, especially to you two. I know what I did wrong, but I know that I can’t be away from either of you for that long ever again. I just physically can’t.”

Clint nods. “Okay.”

“Yeah?”

He smiles. “Yeah.”

I sigh and Clint gently takes hold of my wrist and I shuffle closer. He lets go and places his hand in the small of my back. I bite the inside of my cheek and look at Bucky.

“We just don’t want to lose you again,” he murmurs.

I nod and reach over for Bucky’s hand. He readily takes it and pulls me over Clint so that I lay on top of both of them. He wraps his arm around my back and holds me tighter to their chests and presses his forehead to my shoulder. I sigh and settle against them. I stretch my wings across the width of the bed and blanket both the boys with them. They smile and pull me closer to them and snuggle together. We fall asleep tangled together, like we used to before I left.

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Part 4

Thank you guys so much for reading! If you liked this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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This fic:

@nerdy-bookworm-1998, @shirukitsune

#bucky barnesxreader #readerxbucky barnes #clint bartonxreader #readerxclint barton #winterhawkxreader #bucky barnes #clint barton #winterhawk #reader insert marvel fic

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kinda-ooc-just-a-little · 5 years

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Heart of a Lion

Chapter 6 Getting to Know You Again

Shinso x Reader

Rated M for Future Mature Themes (Not Explicit)

Tags: slow burn, mutual pining, secretive quirk

Summary: You never wanted to be a hero. You come from a long family of heroes, so why not just be a normal person? That’s what you hoped, until you re-connected with your old High School friend/crush.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 /

Is it too late to just leave? You thought as you were ushered into the charter bus your agency was taking to the camping grounds.

It wasn’t but an hour after you rekindled your friendship with Shinso when he had texted you asking if it was okay to text.

“Of course.” you replied.

And then for the rest of the week, Shinso spent it trying to convince you to go on the camping trip with the agency. It was sweet that he was so adamant, but a bit bothersome that you couldn’t tell what his motive was. Shinso never was transparent with his true feelings and that made it all the harder to be more forward with your feelings.

However, he made it obvious that he REALLY wanted you to go on the camping trip. Which was… different of his usual standoff attitude. Yet, you couldn’t say no.

So now here you were, awkwardly entering the bus with people you’ve only known for a week. They were nice people, sure, but it didn’t stop the nervousness in your heart at the thought that you’ll be spending three days with them.

You immediately took an empty seat at the back of the bus, placed your suitcase in the overhead box, and sat down. Before you could put your ear-buds in for the trip, you heard some of your female team-mates starting to cause a commotion.

“Shinso! I have a seat for you!”

Of course, he’s popular among the women.

You put in your ear-buds and stared out the window hoping the trip would be over quickly. Without warning you were startled when you felt your seat popped up from a sudden weight being placed on it. You look next to you to see Shinso with his arms crossed and headphones in.

You just gaped at him while the women complained in the background. You took out your headphones and tap his shoulder. “Passing up a bunch of hot women just to sit with little old me?”

Shinso grinned. “Feeling honored yet?”

You chuckled. “Oh, so much, your highness.”

He laughed and took off his headphones. “I miss this. Joking around together.”

You lowered your eyes. “Me too. It was much easier when we had to be around each other, wasn’t it?”

He hummed in response. “Well, has anything changed since we last saw each other?”

“I learned that, as an adult, no one is stopping me from eating a whole tub of ice cream. I also learned that I do not make the best decisions, as said adult.”

He gave out a soft angelic laugh. You couldn’t help but snicker along with him.

“So not much has changed, huh?” He said after he’s done laughing.

“Yeah,” you respond. “Except I got my own place. Little apartment down the road from fam’s place.”

“Me too. I love having my own space. Though, it gets lonely sometimes.”

“Tell me about it.” You said as you straightened your back in your seat. “Especially when it’s just work, sleep, and then work.”

He looks at you baffled. “That douche bag seriously ran you that ragged?”

You scoffed in response. “Yeah. Once he got done ogling at me. I swear, ever since you stopped picking me up from work to hang out, his disgusting comments came in tenfold.”

He tensed up in response to this, feeling sorry he left you with such a perverted boss. “Sorry, I-“

“Will you stop apologizing? It’s not your fault that he needs to get his ass kicked to the curb. Besides,” you gave him a thumbs up. “I’m the one who had the last laugh leaving his sorry ass in the dust.”

“Good.” Shinso laid back into the seat. “That asshole didn’t deserve your hard work, or your pretty face.”

Your whole body froze at his comment. He really had a knack of throwing you off guard. “I think you’re the one with the pretty face around here. If all the ogling from the women up front is any indicator.”

“I don’t care about them. All they care about is looks and they act like I’m a prize to be won. No thank you.” He glanced at you. “So, they can stare all they want because this weekend, all my attention will be on you.”

You thanked the spirits that the trip coordinator just then walked onto the bus and announced the schedule for the day or Shinso would clearly see you trying to catch your breath and trying to hide the deep blush on your face.

Once the bus finally arrived, it took no time for everyone to exit the bus and stretch their legs.

“Jesus,” You groaned as you hear a crack in your back. “God forbid we stop and take a break. But no…”

Shinso laughed behind you, also stretching out his back. “The coordinator, a.k.a, your boss, isn’t one to bullshit around and waste time.”

“Such a drastic change from my last boss. Kind of looking forward to the change of pace.”

You heard said boss scream over everyone’s conversations. “Okay everyone let’s get a move on! You can stretch after we get camp set up!”

A groan came out of the whole group. “Come on, we just got here!”

“And you’ll have plenty of time to complain later, let’s go!”

You joined the group walking toward the campsite, noticing Shinso didn’t leave your side for one second.

“You need help carrying those bags?” He offered.

“You know I’m not the weak girl I was back in high school. Also,” you gestured at Shinso’s backpack. “How did you only end up with only one bag? I hope you plan on taking a shower.”

He chuckles at your comment. “I’m a minimalist, didn’t you know?”

Grinning, you elbowed him. “Then carry my tent bag, you nut.”

“Gladly.” He pulled the bag off your arm easily and over his shoulders to join the other bag he was carrying.

You never noticed how much Shinso changed until now. He wasn’t the same person from high school. He looked more… happy with his life. It was his dream to be a hero, and now his dreams are reality. You couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of him.

“You could shoot holes with how hard you’re staring at me.” He said as he meets your eyes.

“S-sorry… I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“Just… I’m so proud of you. You were dead set on being a hero in high school and now… you did it.” You smiled at him. “I’m really happy for you.”

You saw him rub the back of his neck with a slight blush on his face. “W-well… thanks.”

The group finally got to the campsite and started setting up for the night. You found that your campsite was a bit of a ways from Shinso, so you waved goodbye with a “see you soon” and got started setting up your tent in your area. About an hour later, the coordinator screamed at everyone that dinner was ready. As soon as you locked eyes with him, the bright indigo haired boy was, again, immediately by your side. You wouldn't say his presence was unwelcome, but you had wondered if you would ever get any personal space with him around. You figured he was just making up for lost time or maybe he knew that you were nervous around so many strangers. Either way, he stuck with you all through dinner, even when so many other people asked him to sit with their group. You felt a bit sorrowful that you took him away from so many of his friends, even if he didn't seem to mind.

When everyone was done eating and heading back toward the camp, Shinso tapped on your shoulder.

“Hey,” Shinso poked the side of your arm. “Follow me.”

“Sure, you creep." You responded with a grin. "Where are we going?”

He gave you a look as he gestured you toward him and down a path that split off on the way to the campsite. As you reached the end of the path, you could hear running water. “I found it when we were setting up tents. We’re going to see the river tomorrow, but… I thought it might be nice if we saw it tonight.”

The trail ended at a pier that let out over the river. You cautiously walked onto it and look over the edge, seeing not much but murky water and splashes of tiny fish. “So, where’s the free ice-cream?” you joke as you turned toward Shinso.

He laughed and joined in next to you on the pier. “I know luring you with free wi-fi would be ten times more effective.”

“Especially out here. I got absolutely no signal.” You leaned on the wooden railing that separated you from the water. “Although, it’s a nice feeling. Not having to look at a screen for two seconds.”

“With how much your old boss worked you, I’m surprise your not as blind as a bat.”

“Me too. I’ve only been here a week and I haven’t had to do half the work I did at my old job.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” He also leaned his back on the railing, folding his arms. “I really worried every now and then how you were doing.”

“Me too.” You couldn’t stop yourself from brushing a strand of hair behind your ear as a result of nervousness. “I really did miss you.”

You both were silent, but it wasn’t awkward in the slightest. It was… calming to be alone with him once more. It reminded you of the first week of UA, when you and Shinso sneaked out of PE class to see the kittens, when you got to see a new side to Shinso.

It was a nice moment.

“Where the hell are they!”

And moments ruined.

Shinso groaned and rubbed his neck. “We should probably get back before team-leader rips us a new one.” You both started to walk back to camp when Shinso lightly grabbed your hand. “Be careful, it’s really dark now.”

You replied a simple “sure” as you followed closely next to him.

“I meant it you know.” Before you could have asked what, he spoke again. “I really am glad you are here. I felt like such a douche bag when I transferred to the hero course… and again when I promised we would talk again after graduating.” He locked eyes with you. “I know you said I have nothing to be sorry for, but I can’t help it. I should have done more.”

You wish you could have found the words to reassure him that you were not upset at him. “Then… if you’re so sorry, then don’t let it happen again.” You hopped that was enough.

He tightened his grip on your hand. “I won’t.”

He refused to let go of your hand until you both parted ways back to your respective tents.

#fluffy chapter uwu #next will be more fluff #and then we get sERIOUS #shinso x reader #shinso hitoshi #shinsou hitoshi #bnha x reader #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #oocwrites #xreader

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elisha-mikealson · 5 years

Text

2. Slater

The next morning I woke up to a text from everyone.

Damon: Are you okay?

Damon: Elisha, please text me back I need to know that you are okay.

Damon: Were you kidnapped or something?

Stefan: Damon said that he texted you and got no response, Elisha please call or text someone we are all worried.

Elena: Elisha were are you? We haven't heard or seen you since yesterday afternoon. Please just call or text when you get this.

Bonnie: Elisha what happened? First, you and Elena go missing then she comes back with Stefan and Damon. I was going to do a locator spell but I have nothing of yours, please let us know if you are safe.

Caroline: Elisha what is going on? Damon, Stefan, Elena, and Bonnie aren't telling me and Matt anything.

I sigh at all the text as I get dressed in black leggings, blue top, black leather jacket with a white scarf and black boots as I prepare for the lecture I'm probably going to get when I go into town. Once I got down to the kitchen I see that Elijah is already there leaning against the counter with a glass in his hand, "I see that you're making yourself quite at home," I laugh as I grab a mug while I start making coffee, "want some?" he nods so I grab another mug. I hear what sounded like shuffling coming down the steps and grab a third mug pouring coffee in each of the mugs as my brother came into the kitchen. I put some milk in the coffee for him before sliding it over to him looking at Elijah and he nods slightly knowing what I was asking, "drink up Cuan, I need you sober today."

"I told you not to call me that," Cuan growls at me.

"It's the name mother chose for you and Cuan fits you better than King brother."

"Says the one who is running from a ghost," he whispers knowing that I heard, I stay calm as I hand Elijah the mug with his coffee.

"This ghost you speak of is very real and wants me very dead, under your father's wishes," I say looking at him, "if you saw his eyes when they burn with furry you would understand why I run. Not to mention he isn't trying to turn you against your own father and his siblings."

"Some alpha you are," with that comment a grabbed him by the throat.

"Watch it brother, I might let my hand slip one day while we're training."

"You know that won't kill me," he smiles at this.

"If I want you dead you will be dead," I tell him letting go of his throat straightening out my jacket sleeve, "drink your coffee, like I said I need you sober."

"Why?"

"I'm going into town today because people are apparently freaking out because I didn't meet them back at the Salvator's place yesterday. I'm just going to show up and be like 'so yeah I took care of Elijah's body, he is dead, well deader than dead now. Then I went to my place and crashed since he was actually pretty heavy to move then I had to dig a six-foot hole throw him in and bury him. Oh, and I sang some songs jokingly and played some Jazz music.' Or something down those lines."

"Should I be insulted by that?" Elijah asks.

"No, I'll call it muscle mass," I say patting his shoulder as I walk into the living room.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Elijah comments turning to look at me.

"That is where you are wrong, flattery will get me most places, maybe not with you but with some, it will get me everywhere," I tell him.

"Why do I have to be sober?" Cuan asks me confused.

"Your reason is coming down the steps now," I say leaning back on the couch to look up the steps, "come one little wolf no need to be scared," with that Rosa runs down the steps to me.

"Cuan's back," she whispers.

"Yeah i know, but he is going to watch you for a little bit today while I go into town to take care of a couple things," she looks a little sad at this, "Elijah will be here also," she looks semi-hopeful, I could tell that she already trust Elijah even though she has never spoken with him.

"I'm coming with you to the town," Elijah says stepping into the living room.

"You can't come into town, if they find out you're not dead they might think that I'm no longer a friend and an enemy. I'll figure out their plan and we can go from there," with that i stand up and look at Rosa, "make sure they behave, if they don't just bit them," Cuan just glares at me as Elijah looks confused, "don't worry Elijah she won't actually bite anyone," I laugh at this as I start to walk to the door, "oh and Elijah," he looks at me, "don't kill my brother, just snap his neck or something, I'll be back as soon as I can." I walk out of the house and to my car quickly driving into town to the Salvatore boarding house.

I open the door and walk into being tackled in a hug. I know from the smell that it was Damon so I laugh slighting hugging him back, "I glad you are okay," he whispers as I hear someone walk into the foyer.

"I'm sorry I worried all of you," I say pulling out of the hug, "I may be a vampire, but Elijah was heavy. Then once I dug a hole deep enough and shoved him in then filled it in it was already late and I just went home and crashed. Well on a more serious note, what are we going to do about the entire doppelganger thing?"

"Well, I'm going with Rose to met up with someone in Richmond to figure out more about it you are welcome to join us," Damon afford.

"Where is it in Richmond?" I ask.

"It's a small place, there is a guy by the name of Slater," a girl I recognize as Rose says.

"Is this small place a cafe?" I ask.

"Yeah, you know it?" Rose asks.

"Yeah, I stop in there time to time when I meet up with some people or just need to get away from the drama here," I say.

"You know Slater then?"

"The name yes, him personally no."

"Okay well we should go now," Rose says.

"I'll meet you guys there," I say making them both look at me, "I left my phone at my house, not to mention I have to make sure my brother didn't destroy my place while I was here."

"He's back in town?" Damon asks and I nod, "maybe you should bring him around some time so we can meet this mysterious brother of yours."

"I'll talk to him about it, but I'll see you guys there okay?" they nod before I vamp speed out to my car and drive to my house making sure the two didn't follow me. When I walk into the house I see Elijah sitting on the couch with Rosa in a serious chess match as Cuan was nowhere in the house.

"You're back sooner than expected," Elijah states making his move ending the game.

"One: I see where I get my chess skills from and two: Damon and Rose are heading to a place in Richmond to meet a guy by the name of Slater," I tell him and he nods standing up, "Where is Cuan?"

"You got three guesses and the second two don't count," Rosa says making me sigh.

"I can trust that you don't burn down this place right?"

"Yeah and if anyone comes to the house don't make a sound, keep calm and there are daggers in every room if someone decides to come in," I give her a look and she sighs, "I know I know, don't aim to kill aim to wound."

"Good and if Cuan comes back drunk out of his mind snap his neck for me," she nods with a small smile before I look at Elijah, "Let's go, I don't want to be late getting there and have them leaving when I show up," he nods and we leave the house.

Before I knew it I was pulling up to a curb telling Elijah where the place is at before pulling into the garage next to the SUV that I know belongs to Rose, "You're finally here," I hear Damon say making me laugh slightly.

"How long have you guys been here?"

"About five minutes," Rose says, "now come on, Slater is waiting."

With that we walk into the cafe style place, "what about the sunlight?"

"Double pained and tempered glass, UV rays cannot penetrate. See the appeal?" I tell him making Rose smile.

"That and the free WI-FI," a guy says before Rose hugs him.

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good, I saw you come. What are you doing here?" he says, after that, I zoned out on the conversation until the guy looks at me and says, "Elisha Mikaelson, original," this got Damon and Rose to look at me weird.

"You must be thinking of an ancestor of mine, my mom always said I looked like her. My last name is Smith," I say thinking quick on my feet they nod to this and I zone out again until we walk over to a table and sit down. I keep an eye out the window as I see Elijah appear with coins in his hand. I knew that he was listening and waiting for the right time to throw the coins. I see him move his arm back like he is about to skip a rock before the glass shatters. I put my head down on the table as people start to scream. I lift up my head to see him disappear before a grab Slater and get out of there.

I pull him off to the side, "Where do you live?" I compel him.

"An apartment not too far from here in the Roosevelt apartment complex, top floor," he answers.

"Good, now forget I asked you and go home," he nods and runs off to his car.

There was a flood of people leaving the door now and I see Damon pick up Rose and take her to the SUV, "Who was behind that?"

"I don't know, it's not Slayter," Rose answers.

"How do you know that?"

"He wouldn't betray me."

"Who would?"

"Its Klaus he wants us dead were all dead," Rose cries.

"It wasn't Klaus unless he hijacked a body," I tell them.

"How do you know that?" Damon questions.

"I've seen him before and he would stand there and watch as ever vampire suffered, everyone out there didn't know what was happening, it was someone else," Damon nods to this and shuts the door, "I'll meet you back in town there is something I need to take care of first here in town."

"Okay, just be careful, whoever it was knows you're here, be careful please."

"I will. I'll call you when I start leaving here and then when I get to my house if I don't go back to yours," Damon nods before getting into the car and driving away, "you're clear to come out now Elijah," with that he speeds to in front of me.

"That was handled nicely," he comments.

"Eh i could have done better," i shrug walking around my car, "more importantly I got Slater's address, well location where he is living," he raises an eyebrow, "what do you say to giving him a visit?" he nods to this before getting in the car, "Since you destroyed that place, do you mind if we stop somewhere for food?"

"What kind of food are you talking about?"

"Actual food, I know a restaurant that is close to here, and you won't look overdressed in your suit," I tell him as I pull out of the parking garage.

"That is fine, it will allow me to make a call," he says nodding.

"You can make the call now, if you don't want me to hear I won't listen, I respect people's privacy," I glance over at him as we come to a stop at a light, "I feel like either way we will be waiting for someone to show up," he looks at me and sighs slightly pulling out his phone. The light turns so I started driving again, I can hear him start talking but as promised I tuned him out. Within minutes I was pulling into another parking garage and parking my car. I turn to Elijah which was hanging up the phone so I got out and he followed, "so how long are we waiting?"

"I thought you said you weren't going to listen?" he says with a raised eyebrow.

"Wasn't, you making the call after I said about waiting for someone to show up just confirmed my suspicion."

"That makes sense," he nods, "it will be about an hour and a half give or take."

"Okay, well come on this place is really nice and I'm starving," he laughs at this and vamp speeds over to me.

"If what you say is true about me not being underdressed then you wouldn't mind letting me escort you," he says as I shut the door.

"Normally I would say no, but why not?" I say shrugging and putting my arm on his as we walk into the restaurant.

"Elisha, it's wonderful to see you again," the women says.

"Jasmine, it's wonderful to see you again," I smile as Elijah and I stop in front of the small desk that she was standing at.

"Table for 2?" she asks and I smile and nod, "please follow me," she says walking into the restaurant to the outdoor deck sitting area, "your waiter will be around in just a minute to get your order, if you have any problems please let me know," with that she walks away.

"I see you are known here," Elijah comments.

"This is close enough to mystic falls that if I come to get away from all the drama but if something comes up I can get back in a matter of hours."

"Not to mention I'm here," a familiar voice says.

"Josh!" I say excitedly, "I didn't know you were working today," I say giving him a hug which he returns.

"Well I do and my shift ends in like 5 minutes, but I'm willing to go over just for you," he says before looking around to make sure no one was really paying attention to us before pecking my lips and letting me out of his grasp.

"Josh right?" Elijah says as I sit back down.

"Yes, sir?" Josh responds.

"How exactly are you connected to Elisha?" Elijah questions.

Josh looks at me weird so I answer, "Elijah this is Joshua Martin, I turned him about 300 years ago, and we have been dating for about 200."

"When were you going to tell me this?" Elijah asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Now maybe, or never," I say rubbing the back of my head.

"I'm lost who is this?" Josh asks.

"Elijah Mikaelson," Elijah says and Josh realizes almost immediately who he was.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Josh sticks out his hand which Elijah takes.

"Hey maybe you can convince him to move up to Mystic Falls," I say to Elijah.

"Elisha, I've told you multiple times why I can't move to that town," Josh starts.

"Yeah because Damon will kill you," I say and roll my eyes, "trust me he won't hurt you, I and Damon are friends and if he thinks he can just hurt someone I care about without any repercussions he's wrong."

"Will you drop the subject right now if I say that I'll think about it?"

"I'll drop it if you come and live in my house for a week to see how things go," I say and he sighs ever so slightly.

"Okay fine, I'll have to see when I can get off so we can do that," he looks at me with a small smile on his face as I smile, "now what can i get you guys to eat?" with that Elijah and i both order and Josh disappears then comes back only a moment later with two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine.

"I hope you don't mind the wine, it's one of my favorites," I say as Elijah takes a sip.

"It's not that bad, I had some that is of a much higher quality."

"Yes, but this was made right here in Virginia, it is the most popular one this place has," I inform him and he nods. We talk for a little bit basically just trying to get to know each other more as we eat. Once we were done Elijah escorted me back to the car where we waited for Josh to come out.

"So I talked to my boss and he said that I have a week starting now," Josh says once he walked out the back door.

"That's great, you should go home and pack and I'll come by your place so you can follow me to Mystic Falls."

"You sure you want to make that drive tonight? You both can crash at my place and we can go back tomorrow morning."

I look at Elijah and he nods slightly, "okay, then I guess we'll meet you back at your place then," Josh nods and gets in his car and drives away, "okay where are we supposed to be meeting these people at?"

"Here, he should be here in a couple minutes," I nod and sit on top of the trunk of the car as Elijah simply leans against it as we talk more.

A car pulled up next to mine and a guy got out of it, "wait, Dr. Jonas Martin,?" I ask and he looks at me, "well I'll be damned," I say with a smile hopping down from the trunk and shaking his hand, "how's Luka, he was quite the magician that last time I saw him."

"Keep Luka out of this," he says stepping close to me.

"Still very protective of him I see," I say looking at him, "I also was simply asking a question, I did help you guys out in the last town you were in."

"Which got Greta taken away from us," he says.

"That wasn't me I told you that, I know why Niklaus wants a witch and honestly I would've done it but she went to him before I could," I look him straight in the eye when I say this, "I'm guessing you have a deal with Elijah to get her back?"

"Yes, which is why I called him," Elijah says.

"Okay," I say walking around to the driver side of my car, "are we going to Slater's or not?" with that Elijah moves and tells Jonas to get in the car and he does. The drive to Slater's place was kinda short but it was completely quiet which bugged me beyond belief so I turned on the radio to one of my favorite stations. Once we got to the apartment complex I parked the car and got out so I could take them up to the apartment. Elijah was saying something to Jonas but I ignored it until we got to the door where Jonas stepped up and knocked.

"Who is it!" I heard Slater yell.

I look at Elijah when I say, "It's me, Elisha," the door opens just a little bit but it was enough that I could make eye contact with him, "invite me and my friends in," I compel him and he nods opening the door more.

"Please, come in," he says allowing us to walk in and shut the door, "who's your friends?" he asks.

"That's Jonas Martin and this is Elijah Mikaelson," I say motioning to the two.

"How is that possibly Damon killed you," he says looking at Elijah.

"With a regular stake, it had no effect on him," I say as I walk into the house more and sense someone else here, but they are scared, I could smell it, "We have a message for you to deliver to Rose."

"You're friends with her why don't you do it?" he questions as I walk further into his house and found a stake sitting in one of the cubies for the desk.

"You see it's not a message from me it's from him," I say pointing the stake at Elijah, "you have to answer to him."

"I'm not delivering a message," he says shaking his head so Elijah compelled him and told him everything that he wanted him to say. Slater then picked up his phone and called Rose.

"Hello?" Rose asks.

"Rose," Slater says.

"Slater, are you okay?"

"Yes, I took off I was freaked."

"No, I'm sorry, I involved you."

"Look, I don't want any part in this but I did some digging."

"Okay, what did you find?"

"You can destroy the cure, but you need the moonstone.

"How? What do you mean I don't follow."

"Can your friend get the moonstone, you need it."

"Yes, he can get it. What next?"

"You need a wich. You get the moonstone and a witch should figure out the rest. Good luck Rose," with that he hung up the phone.

"Very nicely done," Elijah says.

"Thanks, I have a degree in theater."

"Of course you do," I say sarcastically to myself.

"How can either of you compel me? A vampire can't compel another vampire."

"We are very special vampires," I say with an innocent look.

"Why because your an original?"

"Hmm," Elijah says almost bored sounding, "now I want you to take this and drive it through your heart."

"But that would kill me forever."

"We know," I say, "but it is necessary," I compel him, but before he did I say, "and you were right, I am related to the Mikaelson family, but I am that ancestor I mentioned," he looks at me shocked, "carry on with what you were doing," I say as he drives the stake through his heart and falls to the ground.

"Was it really necessary?" Jonas asks.

"It had to be done," I say as we both turn to look at the witch that entered the room.

"He delivered his message, it won't be long now," Elijah says as he starts to walk out of the apartment and I follow behind with Jonas behind me. I drive back to the parking garage as Jonas gets out and he makes plans with Elijah to meet when he gets back into town before leaving.

"Ready?" I ask him as I start my car.

"Yeah, but you need to tell me more about this Josh," he says looking at me.

"There's not much to really tell," I say shrugging, "he is very respectful and wouldn't hurt a fly, not to mention a hybrid."

"A hybrid?" Elijah asks shocked.

"Yeah, just like Niklaus, half wolf half vampire," I say as I stop at a light, "I only changed him because he was going to die if I didn't give him my blood then my brother unknowingly snapped his neck."

"Why did he do that?"

"Because I actually cared about someone and he hates that," I sigh slightly as I pull up to Josh's apartment building, "once he learned that he had my blood in him he learned to accept that I actually cared about someone and that I would still be by his side."

Elijah laughs a little at this, "your brother is kind of like Niklaus."

"From what I heard, he could be his kid with how he acts sometimes," I say getting out of the car and Elijah follows, "he's not though, I know that for a fact."

"How though?"

"Magic," I say making a rainbow shape with my hands before hitting the button for the elevator, "how do you think I knew which spell to show you?"

"But you need blood for that," he says confused.

"Yeah not necessarily, I just needed an object of yours. I asked for blood because that's the easiest way to show you," I explain as I step into the elevator and hit the number for the top floor.

"What did you use then?"

"Well, I used my brother's blood and the shirt that Niklaus had on when he first transitioned, my brother's blood barely merged which showed a distant relationship to him," I say and Elijah looks at me weird as the doors opened. "Funny story, my uncle- my mom's brother- is Niklaus' father, Mikael killed him right in front of me, but I really wasn't fazed since I never liked him," I lied, but I didn't make it noticeable.

"Why is that?"

"He always knew that I was a threat to him since he was alpha of the pack," I explain walking down the hallway, "all I needed to do was trigger the cures and learn how to control it I would rule. Little did he know that all that I needed was to become a vampire and I was good," I say stopping at a door which I was about to knock on but it opened up before I could do so.

"The question is where is that pack now?" Josh asks with a smile on his face, "come on in," he says stepping back and allowing Elijah and I to walk in.

"To answer that, the entire pack is dead hybrids that are still with other wolves in Mystic falls, or dead," I answer, "anyways, what have you been up to these last couple of weeks, Josh?"

"Nothing much just working and making sure Bash doesn't go off the rails," he says shrugging as he sits down on the couch.

"So the usual?" he nods to this and I look at Elijah which looks semi-confused, "Bash is his roommate, that is a wolf."

"Just a wolf?" Elijah questions me making me laugh a bit.

"Yes, I only change people if they are going to die, not to mention Mikael killed a considerable amount of my pack when I came across him in New Orleans then in New York he killed another section of my pack. He said that I was no better than Niklaus himself."

"And you actually started to believe that until I convinced you that you weren't," Josh says.

"Neither of us know him to say that I could be exactly like him for all we know."

"But you are the opposite," Elijah says looking at me with a serious look, "I've only have known you for a short period of time but I can tell that you are nothing like my brother."

"See?" Josh says as he puts his arm over my shoulders, "nothing to worry about."

I hit Josh up alongside his head, "you need to just stop with that, I don't feel like getting into any kind of argument about this. My feelings towards this won't change until I meet Niklaus and see for myself," with that the conversation about it was dropped instead it turned into Elijah asking Josh questions about himself which I simply just laugh at.

"I think I'm going to retire for the night," Elijah says standing up from the chair and so does Josh.

"Follow me I'll show you to my room and grab something for you to sleep in," with that they both left down the hallway. I ignore what they start to talk about as I pull out my phone to text Damon letting him now that I was just staying in Richmond for the night with a friend. The next thing I know is clothes hitting my face and I pull them away to see that Josh had changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, "you can sleep in Bash's room, he isn't supposed to be home till tomorrow morning."

"I'm going to change, but I want to watch a movie with you so pick something out by the time a get back," I say to him before leaving the living room to go to the bathroom and change. When I come back I see him on the couch scrolling on Netflix for a movie and he looks up to see me and smiles, "why are you smiling?"

"Because this is the first time in almost 6 months that we can spend together where you won't be called away because something comes up in mystic falls," he says as I lay on the couch basically on top of him but it was comfortable.

"So what we watching?"

"Well depends how awake are you?"

"Awake but as soon as I'm comfortable I'm probably going to be out," I admit.

"Twilight it is then," he says putting on the movie, I just snuggle into his side more and fall asleep with ease before the movie really even started.

#elisha mikealson #Elijah's daughter #elijah mikaelson x daughter!reader #elijah mikaelson #damon salvatore #elana gilbert #Stefan Salvatore #tvd fanfiction #TVD #TVDfamily

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jemscarter · 5 years

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AOS Fic: Gen, Season 1-esque in tone.

Summary: Daisy Johnson died on Tuesday, March 17 at 1:47 pm. This is what happened afterward. (Coulson, May, Fitz, and Simmons form a team of reapers -- those tasked with reaping souls before they die. Now, Daisy is going to join their ranks. Based on the mythology of Dead Like Me).

read here on Ao3 or below:

Daisy Johnson died on Tuesday, March 17 at 1:47 pm. This is what happened afterward. “Wha-“ Skye jolted as she found herself standing outside her van that was currently ablaze.

“Hello!” a peppy British woman around Skye’s age waved at her cheerfully, “Over here!”

Skye had no idea what was going on, but no else seemed to be paying any attention to her so she walked over to the woman.

“What happened? Did you save me?”

The woman chuckled, “Not exactly. I’m Jemma.”

“Skye.”

“Well hello Skye, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I just need to find Fitz and then we can get going.”

“Going where?” Skye asked, her confusion mounting, “What is happening?”

“Fitz?” Jemma yelled, ignoring Skye, “Fitz where are you?”

“Just needed a snack,” a Scottish man said coming over with two soft pretzels from the cart at the corner, “Got you one too. Finished your reap?”

“Ugh Fitz,” Jemma rolled her eyes but accepted the snack, “This is Skye.”

“Hello,” he said through a mouthful of crumbs.

“What, no soft pretzel for me?” Skye joked, trying to deal with her situation with humor.

“It wouldn’t do you much good anyway,” Fitz told her.

Skye opened her mouth to protest but Jemma cut her off, “We should get going Fitz. Don’t want to get caught at the scene again,” Jemma chuckled nervously, “Skye, come with us.”

“I’m not a dog,” Skye mumbled, but followed Jemma and Fitz away from the smoking van. Jemma and Fitz were speaking rapidly in front of her as Skye tried to figure out what the hell was happening. Last she remembered she was in her van trying to hack into the Pentagon when some woman had asked her for directions, and then just as she was getting situated back into her work she smelled smoke and was suddenly outside the van with Jemma. Skye looked back as her van, her home, went up in flames and why was she following these two strangers anyway she was going back to salvage her stuff, but then— Skye startled as a man walked straight through her.

“Hey!” Skye yelled after him reflexively, then looked down and realized that the man had walked right through her.

“He can’t hear you,” Fitz said, not slowing his stride nor turning around.

“That might happen again since you’re non-corporeal,” Jemma added before going straight back to her conversation with Fitz.

“Hold up,” Skye said, halting in the middle of the sidewalk, “Am I dead?”

“As a doornail,” Jemma chirped.

Fitz elbowed her, “I’m not sure that’s the right tone to take here Jemma.”

“Quite impressive really,” Jemma nodded approvingly, “Most people take a bit longer to figure out that they’ve bit the dust.”

“I saw the van on fire, but I thought you had rescued me or something, with your super-speed, and that we were moving to protect your secret identity,” Skye said.

Jemma and Fitz both laughed lightly.

“That’s a new one,” Fitz chuckled.

“Coulson will love it,” Jemma said.

“Who’s Coulson? Is he a god?”

Jemma and Fitz began to laugh a bit harder.

“I always prefer the inquisitive ones,” Fitz said to Jemma and began to walk again, “Much easier than the criers.”

“Or the ones who want to seek revenge.”

“Can I do that?” Skye asked, running to catch up.

“No,” Jemma and Fitz answered in unison.

“I have to be at the university by 3, if she’s not gone by then can you wait with her?” Jemma asked, as if Skye wasn’t there.

“Yeah, but my reap is around 4 across town, so she may have to come with.”

“Wait did you two kill me?” Skye asked, suddenly becoming more alarmed by her companions’ blasé attitude.

“Of course not,” Jemma chuckled, “We’re reapers not murders.”

“Yeah, that’d be like comparing chefs to farmers,” Fitz said.

“Is it?” Jemma asked, her tone a cross between teasing and judgmental.

“Yes, yes it is Jemma.”

“If you say so.”

“Where are we going?” Skye asked but Jemma and Fitz kept walking and talking.

“We have an hour, should we head to The Playground?” Fitz asked, “It’s too far in the other direction to head home.”

“Only if she’s gone soon. Coulson doesn’t like when we bring reaps to The Playground, says it ruins the sanctity of the place.”

“Still here,” Skye grumbled, but Jemma and Fitz didn’t acknowledge her as they continued walking with Skye following and occasionally being walked through.

They were almost at what Skye assumed was their final destination when Jemma’s phone rang.

“That’s odd, Coulson never calls,” Jemma said and picked up her phone.

“Hello, is everything alright sir?”Jemma listened for a moment and Fitz began to lean back on his heels and whistle quietly.

“Really?” Jemma looked over at Skye curiously, “Are you sure?” Jemma paused again for Coulson to talk and Skye couldn’t help the slight uneasiness that washed over her. “Alright, we’re on our way then sir.” Another paused and, “Yes, I know you’ve told me to stop with the sir. Sorry, old habit.”

Jemma hung up and looked at Fitz, “Coulson wants us to head to The Playground.”

“All of us?” Fitz asked doubtfully.

Jemma and Fitz looked and each other and seemed to have a silent conversation. Skye tried to figure out what was going on from their facial expressions, but all she could surmise was some surprise from Fitz.

“We better get moving then,” Fitz said, turning around and beginning to walk in the opposite direction with Jemma. Skye, figuring she was supposed to go as well, ran to catch up and follow them to this playground to meet the mysterious Coulson.

Jemma and Fitz led Skye to a small, hole-in-the-wall diner called The Playground that Skye had never noticed before.

“Is this place only for the dead or something? Like in Harry Potter when Muggles can’t see the Leaky Cauldron?”

“Coulson is definitely going to like her,” Jemma said, walking into The Playground and striding over to a table in the corner. There was a man in the booth who Skye could only describe as an everyman. He was much more nondescript and well, average, than Skye was expecting from the man who her newfound dead friends apparently reported to.

“Hello, you must be Skye,” Coulson said amiably, “Sit down. I’d tell you to order something but, well,” he shrugged and gestured towards her body that she only just noticed was slightly translucent as well as not being solid.

“And you must be Coulson,” she replied as she sat down on the empty side of the booth.

“Fitz, Simmons, give us some privacy?” Coulson said and the two nodded and went over to another booth.

“Are you finally going to tell me what the hell is happening?” Skye asked.

“We’re in no rush,” Coulson responded, “I’ll order, then we’ll talk.”

Coulson flagged down the waitress and began to order, giving Skye the opportunity to look around the diner. No one else looked dead, but then again Jemma and Fitz didn’t look dead either as they happily chatted and sketched something out on a napkin. In fact, it looked like a regular diner, like the kind she would usually stop in to grab a cup of coffee and bump some free Wi-Fi.

“I’m dead, that’s the one thing I understand so far,” Skye said.

Coulson chuckled, “Sorry, I know Fitzsimmons can be a bit much. I didn’t realize Fitz was tagging along on Simmons’ appointment today.”

“Fitzsimmons?”

“My nickname for them,” he said nodding towards the pair, “They’re attached at the hip. And the mind. Spend more time with them and you’ll notice they have silent conversations and finish each other’s sentences.”

“Is that a dead thing?” Skye asked curiously.

“Just a Fitzsimmons thing,” Coulson said, taking a sip of the coffee Skye hadn’t even realized was there.

“You still haven’t explained what’s happening.”

Coulson nodded, “Well, Skye, welcome to the ranks of the undead.”

“What?”

“We’re reapers, so we’re not technically dead, we’re undead.”

“Wait, reapers as in grim reapers?”

“If you want to be morbid about it sure,” Coulson replied, “Basically we reap souls before they die and help them pass over to the other side.”

“What’s on the other side?”

Coulson shrugged, “No idea, haven’t been.”

“Do you tell everyone who dies all this?”

“No, not usually. But it seems like useful information since you’ll be joining us.”

“Can I refuse?” Skye asked.

“Unfortunately not,” Coulson said, “It’s not a bad job though. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“You’re telling me having to kill people is not a bad job?” Skye cried, her voice rising with incredulity and shock as she learned more about the people she was apparently bound to work for by some order outside her control.

“We don’t kill people,” Coulson said quietly, “And you should learn to keep your voice down when discussing your duties. You’re lucky no one can hear you right now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I have to kill people?” Skye whisper-yelled dramatically.

“Better. And as I said, we don’t kill people. We reap their soul before they die. Weren’t you wondering why your skin isn’t burnt to a crisp?”

Skye hadn’t thought about that at all, caught up in her confusion about what was happening. She looked down and turned her hand over, searching for bits of crisp skin but saw nothing that indicated she had died in a fire.

“How?” Skye asked.

“Simmons,” Coulson called, “Come here for a moment.”

Jemma bounded over, “Yes?”

“How did you reap Skye here?”

“It was a bit tricky, since she was in her van which was hidden in an alleyway. I had to ask around a bit to find you; I cut it quite close actually,” Jemma chuckled nervously, “Then I knocked on the window and asked for directions and reaped her.”

“That was you?” Skye asked, “But that woman looked nothing like you.”

“Our appearances change to the outside world. You’ll see, when you become corporeal again. You can’t be running around looking like Skye, when Skye just died.”

“You’ll get a new identity and everything, it’s all quite exciting,” Jemma said.

“Alright, thank you Simmons,” Coulson said and Jemma nodded and went back to Fitz.

“So, you see, Simmons touched you when she asked for directions and reaped your soul.”

“What if I just don’t reap someone,” Skye said, leaning back and crossing her arms, “Then they won’t die.”

“Not an option,” Coulson told her.

“Well when do I have to start this whole grim reaper business?”

“Once you’re corporeal, which should be whenever your body is laid to rest. Then we’ll get you set up and you can start. For now you’ll observe Fitz, Simmons, and May. She’s the other member of our team.”

“How do I know who to reap?” Skye asked.

“You ask a lot of questions,” Coulson chuckled, “You’ll learn in good time young padawan.”

Skye just stared at him blankly and Coulson sighed, “Nothing? Really?”

“Eggs, pancakes, bacon and another coffee,” the waitress said, dropping off a huge plate of food.

“Thank you Maria,” Coulson smiled at the waitress, “Would you mind bringing any food Fitz and Simmons ordered over here as well?”

“Of course,” Maria responded, and within a few moments Jemma and Fitz had joined them at their table.

“Fitz, I’m thinking Skye can tag along on your 4 o’clock to start learning the ropes.”

Fitz nodded.

“And, I’m hoping she can stay with you for a few days, until she gets her own place.”

“But-“ “We-“ Fitz and Jemma began speaking at the same time.

“I know you two have a spare room. And May will definitely say no.”

The two looked at each other and had one of those silent conversations Skye had observed earlier.

“Alright she can stay,” Jemma began.

“But only for a few days,” Fitz finished, “Jemma and I need that space for our research.”

“Oh! Speaking of,” Jemma reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial, which she ran through Skye and quickly capped.

“Perfect,” she nodded.

“We’ve talked about sampling at the table,” Coulson said, not even looking up from his food.

“Sorry sir, but this is a rare opportunity, a recently-departed soul and a reaper who is still non-corporeal.”

“We’ve also talked about the ‘sir.’”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, if that’s settled, I’ll be off. Fitz, don’t forget to take Skye with you on your appointment this afternoon, and I’ll see you all back here for dinner.”

“Remember I’ll be a bit late,” Jemma said as she got up from the table, “I had to move my office hours this afternoon to accommodate my reap.”

Coulson nodded and left and Jemma leaned over to kiss the top of Fitz’s head before she left as well. “So…do you guys eat all your meals here or something?” Skye asked, looking around The Playground and taking it in.

“Pretty much,” Fitz said, “We all meet up with Coulson for breakfast to get our post-its, and then we usually meet back for dinner to recap the day.”

“Post-its?” Skye asked.

Fitz reached into his bag and pulled out a yellow post-it, on which was written:

W. VON STRUCKER 495 5TH STREET 3:56 P.M.

“That’s how we know who to reap,” Fitz explained.

“Seriously?” Skye responded, “It’s the 21st century. Can’t Coulson text you the info?”

“I think people getting texts every day with the the name, location, and time people die would be a bit suspicious, don’t you?”

“And meeting for breakfast and dinner at a shitty diner isn’t?”

“Oi, don’t disrespect The Playground. This place has the best chocolate chip pancakes in town.”

“Still, I mean, it’s a bit old-fashioned.”

Fitz shrugged, “The post-its are better than the old scraps of newspaper we used to get before.”

“How long have you been doing this?” Skye asked incredulously. At first Coulson had seemed like an average Joe, but there was something in his eyes that spoke to the years he must’ve spent doing this job. Fitz and Jemma on the other hand seemed like modern twenty-somethings, even if they were a bit odd.

“It’s not polite to ask a reaper’s age,” Fitz said mock-seriously.

“Sorry, guess I’m not used to this whole ‘dead’ thing yet,” Skye responded, Fitz’s idea of a joke going over her head.

Fitz started laughing, “I’m going to have to tell Jemma that worked. She always tries to tell people silly stuff but they never believe her.”

“Ok that was rude,” Skye said, but had also begun laughing.

“Consider it initiation,” Fitz responded, “And to answer your question, it’s been about 80 years now, give or take.”

“Eighty!?”

“Yeah, Jemma and I died during World War II.”

That gave Skye pause, “Coulson wasn't kidding that you two are attached at the hip.”

Fitz looked pensive for a moment, and his face turned more serious than Skye had seen in the short time she had known him. For the first time she could see how he hadlived more years than his face showed.

“I can’t image my world without her in it,” Fitz said.

Skye nodded, unsure of what to say to this man she barely knew.

“Well, we best be going then,” Fitz said, shaking out of his earlier mood, “Can’t be late for W. Von Strucker.”

“Do we even get a picture?” Skye groaned, following Fitz out of the diner.

“Nope,” Fitz replied slyly causing Skye to groan louder as her and Fitz walked towards W. Von Strucker’s fate.

“So we’re supposed to what? Just look around for someone marked W. Von Strucker?”

“We have to try and find him or her, before 3:56 rolls around.”

“I get that but how?”

“Well, Jemma likes to scan the area for potential danger areas and start there. May said she just gets a feeling, and Coulson is good at talking to people.”

“What about you?”

Fitz rubbed the back of his neck, “I like to survey the area, see if I can figure the most probable place for the reap to be and the chain of events leading to the death based on what’s around me. It’s like a puzzle you have to solve.”

Skye nodded, “Alright, so, what do you see?”

“Well, the address refers to the office building we’re standing in front of. It could just be someone walking by who has an unlucky day, but more likely than not it’s someone inside the building.”

Fitz opened the door for Skye and followed her in, “Ah, a directory, good. And we see here, there’s a Von Strucker & Associates on Level 6. I’m betting W. Von Strucker is there.”

“Good job Sherlock Holmes.”

“Thank you Watson,” Fitz said, pausing right before they got on the elevator to grab a security badge when the security person’s back was turned.

“And why the badge?”

“Don’t want to stick out,” Fitz told her, and as they walked across the floor he checked his watch.

“Ok, only 5 minutes to spare. Von Strucker & Associates doesn’t list a W. Von Strucker on the door, so let’s-"He walked inside and was immediately met with pandemonium. “Now we turn to the Jemma method,” he grinned and walked through potential danger areas. No one even seemed to notice him and Skye watched as he dodged a balloon to head over to a man in an office chair.

“Excuse me, are you W. Von Strucker?” Fitz asked in an impressive American accent.

“Who’s asking?” the man replied.

“There’s a package for you downstairs,” Fitz said, touching W. Von Strucker’s shoulder and Skye swore she could see the moment Fitz reaped him.

“Get your hands off me man,” W. Von Strucker said and Fitz held his hands up.

“Just come downstairs when you get a moment,” Fitz said and walked away quickly with Skye in tow until they were back outside the office.

“Great accent,” Skye complimented.

“The Scottish is more memorable,” Fitz shrugged, “It’s best to blend.”

Skye was about to reply when they heard a loud crash and some screams coming from inside.

“And, that’s our cue,” Fitz grinned and the man, W. Von Strucker, appeared next to them.

“So what? Does this guy just hang around with us all day as well?” Skye asked.

“Who the hell are you two?” W. Von Strucker spat.

“Whoa wait so he can hear me?”

“Of course he can, he’s dead now, remember?” Fitz said as they got into the elevator.

“I’m dead?” W. Von Strucker growled, “Those bastards, dragging me to this dumb party for-“

“So you see Skye,” Fitz said, turning to Skye and ignoring W. Von Strucker’s rant, “Now we get to take Mr. W. Von Strucker here to whatever his final destination is.”

“Which is where?” Skye asked.

“No idea,” Fitz shrugged.

“Are you even listening to me?” W. Von Strucker said, “You two are the lousiest angels ever.”

“Not an angel,” Fitz chirped before turning back to Skye, “See, as I said when we reaped you, inquisitive is the best kind. Much better than revenge-seekers.”

“Hey, what’s your name?” Skye said turning back to W. Von Strucker.

“Werner.”

“Hi Werner, I’m Skye.”

Werner harrumphed and Skye followed Fitz out of the building where a large portal-looking thing was.

“Alright Werner, that’s your stop,” Fitz said, nudging Werner towards the portal where he disappeared.

“Ugh finally, that guy was the worst,” Fitz groaned.

“He just died, shouldn’t we show some respect or something?”

“You just died too; the whole death thing loses it’s respect after a while. You’ll see.”

Skye followed Fitz around for another hour or so as he ran errands and showed her their apartment.

“You’ll stay in there, I’m sure Jemma has some clothes you can borrow once you’re corporeal again if you’re still here,” Fitz had told her before leading them back out.

“Where to now?” Skye asked.

“Back to The Playground, it’s dinner time,” Fitz responded and as if on cue his stomach growled.

“Man I’m going to spend a lot of time at that place aren’t I?” Skye groaned and Fitz just chuckled as they walked back towards the Playground and to Coulson who was in the same booth as before.

“Did you even leave?” Skye asked as she sat down next to him.

“Of course,” Coulson said, taking a sip of his tea.

“So we just always sit in this booth then?”

“Pretty much,” Fitz responded, flagging the waitress down and ordering two hot chocolates.

Coulson looked at his watch, “May should be here in-“ Coulson pointed to the door and a tall Asian woman walked in and sat down with them.

“Coulson.”

“May. On time as ever.”

May nodded and grabbed a menu.

“I still don’t understand why you look at that thing, we’re here every day, you could probably recite it from memory by now,” Fitz said.

May just looked at him and Fitz shrunk a bit.

“May, are you going to say hello to our new team member?” Coulson asked slowly, a hint of teasing in his voice.

May looked at Skye over her menu, and Skye shrunk a bit as well at May’s glance.

“You must be Skye,” May said, then turned to Coulson, “Happy now?”

“Yes, thank you,” Coulson responded.

“Jemma stuck at the college?” May said to Fitz in a way that implied she already knew the answer.

“She had to rearrange her office hours to reap Skye here, she should be here soon,” Fitz responded.

“Well, since we have a little time,” Coulson began, “Skye, how’s your first day been?”

“It’s fine,” Skye responded quickly, “Died, met you, watched Fitz reap a guy, saw my new digs for the next few days, all good.”

Coulson looked at her curiously, “You’re very calm about this.”

“Too calm,” May added.

“Denial,” Fitz said decisively.

“I’m not in denial,” Skye cried, defensiveness seeping into her voice, “I’m just really used to being put in weird situations with little to no warning.”

May made a small noise and Coulson just looked at Skye, but before anyone could say anything Jemma came bustling in.

“Sorry again I’m late, I-“

“Office hours, we know,” May said.

“Hello May,” Jemma responded cheerily, “Coulson, Skye,” Jemma acknowledged, “Fitz, how was your afternoon?”

“I ordered you a hot chocolate,” Fitz told her and Jemma beamed back at him.

“Alright, everyone’s here. Let’s order and recap,” Coulson said, flagging the waitress down again who grabbed Fitz and Jemma’s hot chocolates and headed over.

“So, is dinner always like that?” Skye asked as she followed Fitz and Jemma back to their apartment.

“Basically,” Fitz said.

“Although May was unusually talkative tonight,” Jemma added.

“That was talkative?” Skye responded in disbelief.

“She must’ve had a good day,” Jemma said as she led Skye through the front door, “Fitz already showed you where you’ll be staying, let us know if you need anything although, at the moment you don’t have any bodily functions so, you should be fairly set, and don’t wander off too far.”

“Can I even sleep in this form?” Skye asked.

Fitz and Jemma looked at each other.

“I don’t remember,” “I’m not quite sure,” Fitz and Jemma said at the same time.

“If you can concentrate long enough to hold a book, there are plenty in your room,” Jemma told her.

“Or use your ghost powers to control the TV,” Fitz added.

“Can I do that?”

“No,” Jemma rolled her eyes, “Why do people always believe the silly stuff you make up?”

Fitz shrugged, “Guess I just have one of those believable faces.”

“Anyway, we’re heading out around eight for breakfast.”

“Eight?” Skye cried, “In the morning?”

Fitz and Jemma nodded and went into their room, leaving Skye completely alone for the first time since she died.

The next day passed in a similar fashion, with Skye following Jemma and Fitz to breakfast, and then tagging along with Coulson on his reap until they met back with everyone at the diner for dinner and then went home to sleep before going back to The Playground. They had beat Coulson to breakfast that morning so Jemma and Fitz ran over to secure their booth. Skye walked around a bit, taking advantage of her insubstantiality to see the kitchen and other hidden parts of the diner.

“You shouldn’t go poking around places you don’t belong,” someone suddenly said and Skye jumped out of her skin as she turned around and saw May standing at the counter.

“How’d you know I was back there?” Skye asked. May smirked and grabbed her coffee to take back to the booth where Skye saw Coulson was now also sitting.

“There you are!” Fitz said as she got close to the table, “Jemma and I were wondering where you had wandered off to.”

Skye sat down at what was becoming her usual spot next to Fitz.

“Skye, you’re with Jemma today,” Coulson announced, handing out Post-Its to everyone else.

May saw hers, glared at Coulson, grabbed her bag and left.

“I hope she makes it,” Jemma said, “Morning reaps are always such a struggle. Skye, we’re leaving right after breakfast. I have some papers to grade back at the house before the reap.”

Skye nodded as everyone ate and parted ways for the day then followed Jemma back to the house.

“Why did you go all the way to The Playground just to come back here? Couldn’t Fitz have grabbed your Post-It?”

“Nope,” Jemma told her as she sat down and pulled out her work, “Coulson insists we pick them up in person; says it holds us accountable.”

“I suppose,” Skye said. The boredom of sitting and watching Jemma grade as she could barely pick up a pencil made her want to crawl up the walls.

“Why don’t I go wander around? I can meet you back here before you have to leave.”

Jemma sighed tightly and looked at the clock, “I don’t want to lose you, Coulson said you have to come with me today.”

“Yeah but we have like what? An hour? Plenty of time.”

“I don’t know Skye, I don’t want you to miss your observation.”

Skye just nodded glumly and starting focusing on trying to pick up Jemma’s pencil. She managed to get her fingers to stay on it and whooped in triumph.

“It’s like having Fitz here watching me grade,” Jemma mumbled, not lifting her head, “Always distracting me.”

“How did you and Fitz meet?” Skye asked, figuring that if she had to sit here with Jemma she might as well get to know her.

Jemma looked up at her and smiled, but her eyes were faraway. It was one of the few times Skye could tell just how long Jemma had been around for, “We were both recruited to the scientific division of the army. We were the youngest ones there, and the smartest.”

“Right, Fitz mentioned you two died in World War II.”

“It’s quite unusual for people to die and become reapers together but, Fitz and I have always been different.”

“Did you two hit it off right away?”

“I thought Fitz hated me at first,” Jemma said dramatically, “It turns out he was just trying to figure out the right thing to say. Neither of us had much experience with people our own age, being 16 year old geniuses and all. Once we started talking though well, we never really stopped.”

“You were recruited to the army at 16?” Skye asked incredulously, the weight of Jemma’s words hitting her, “That means you’re younger than I am!”

“Only biologically. And we both had PhD’s, I had two actually, and it was a difficult war. They needed all the talent they could get, and we were happy to serve and put our skills to use.”

“Is that why you always call Coulson sir?”

Jemma chuckled, “It’s a habit; my first undead boss was also military and liked to be addressed as sir as well, so it’s stuck even in the afterlife.”

“Is it rude to ask how you and Fitz died?” Skye asked. She was met with silence so guffawed and said reflexively, “I mean, you know how I died. You were there.”

“It’s not rude, it was just complicated,” Jemma answered with a small smile, “The short answer is we drowned. We were running experiments in a submarine off the coast of New York and it flooded.”

“That’s terrible.”

Jemma shrugged, “I suppose. Suddenly I was on the shore though and there was Fitz waiting for me.”

“That’s kind of romantic,” Skye replied.

“It was, in a way,” Jemma answered pensively, and then shifted her tone to be lighter, while also signifying that their conversation about her death was over, “You’d besurprised, Fitz can be quite the romantic when he puts the effort in.”

“Fitz?” Skye exclaimed, “A romantic?”

Jemma nodded eagerly, “One year on my birthday he built a replica of the night sky in our living room. We laid there and looked at them all evening. It was magical.”

“When was that?”

“It was during the 50s I believe, or maybe the 60s, it all blurs together a bit at this point.”

“I can’t image living in the 60s.”

“And in the 60s I could’ve never imagined living in the 21st century but, here we are.”

“Here we are,” Skye echoed.

“Right, well, we should get going,” Jemma said, standing up from the table and ending their conversation, “M. Peterson is waiting for us.”

When Jemma turned up to The Playground that evening sans Skye, Coulson immediately knew something had happened. Coulson didn’t even have to ask when Jemma sat down.

“After Mike went through the portal she just stormed off, I went back to the house but she’s not there, I’m not sure where she went, and I know you put me in charge of her for the day and-“

Coulson held up his hand, “It’s fine Jemma.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Coulson held up his hand and called over Maria to get his order to go.

“Dinner’s on me,” Coulson said putting down a $20 bill before leaving the table. Skye was sulking around one of her old hang-outs. It had been a long day and Skye itched to pick up her computer and hack her way through some complex system as a way to sort out her mind. Picking apart 1’s and 0’s had always calmed her, working through it until they clicked into formation and opened doors to places unknown. Coulson had told her though that if she did that she’d probably be relocated (not that it made a difference in the world of the Internet), and Skye liked the city she had chosen for herself, and found herself surprisingly enjoying the company of her new team. Her thoughts were interrupted by someone sitting down across from her, and Skye opened her mouth to tell them to leave her alone when the person spoke.

“Hello Skye,”

Coulson. Skye didn’t quite relax, but also knew she couldn’t avoid him and looked up.

“We missed you at dinner,” Coulson said.

“Sorry, yeah, I was, um, busy,” Skye blustered and prepared for the inevitable onslaught of yelling that was to come about her irresponsible she was.

“This place looks nice, come here often?”

“I used to.”

Coulson nodded in understanding.

“You didn’t show up tonight,” he said.

Skye continued to sit in silence.

“We were worried,” Coulson said quietly. That was not what Skye had been expecting. “Did something happen with M. Peterson?” Coulson asked, his voice remaining calm and level.

Skye looked up and crossed her arms, “It was nothing.”

“Will you tell me about it?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Ok,” Coulson said which, again, was not what Skye was expecting, “You know I was a bit like you when I first started out.”

Skye stayed silent, she was curious to see where Coulson was going with this.

“It’s hard, having to live half among the living and half among the dead. May is used to disguising herself wherever she is, I think it’s natural for her at this point. And I don’t think Fitzsimmons have ever fully fit in anywhere,” Coulson chuckled a bit, “But people like you and I, we care about people.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Skye snapped.

“I know a bit about you. Remember I’ve spent a long time with people. This job forces you to be vulnerable with people, day in and day out. You have to lead people through the final moments of their lives and onto the next adventure while you’re stuck here. I imagine someone like you, someone who has learned to take care of yourself first hates that.”

“I don’t hate it,” Skye said, surprising herself with the truth of her statement.

“Good,” Coulson smiled, “I’m glad to hear that. This is a different type of existence, but it can still be worthwhile if you allow it to be. Fitzsimmons do experiments in their home lab, and May teaches tai chi classes in the park every morning before breakfast,” Coulson paused, then bashfully added, “Don’t tell May I told you that.”

“What about you?” Skye asked.

“I docent,” Coulson said, “There’s a history museum around here that has a volunteer docent program.”

“What could I do?” Skye asked cynically, “Teach Hackers 101?”

“No, but, you could teach girls to code. Or take classes to learn how to use your skills in a different way. Or try something new, like painting or construction.”

“Construction?” Skye laughed.

“Why not?” Coulson laughed with her for a moment then turned serious, “Unusual Accidents is hard though, we don’t usually get new reapers here. If you want to transfer somewhere else, I’m sure-“

“No,” Skye said quickly, the thought of having to leave the team making her eyes prick and her chest tighten in an unexpected way, “I don’t want to transfer.”

“Well good, we’re happy to have you on the team.”

Coulson went silent with that and sat, waiting for Skye to speak.

“He was a father,” Skye blurted out, “M. Peterson. He was crying about all the things he would miss in his son’s life.”

Coulson hummed in understanding, “I imagine that was difficult.”

“Fitz was right, the criers are the worst.”

“I don’t mind them,” Coulson shrugged, “It means they cared deeply enough about things in their life to miss them afterwards.”

Skye scoffed, “No one cared that I died. I checked out my old spots the other night, they still haven’t noticed that I’m gone.”

“You shouldn’t go back to things from your life,” Coulson said, his tone a mix between warning and sympathetic.

“I know,” Skye spat like a petulant teenager who had heard this many times before, “But how can I not?”

“It’s something you have to learn, we’ve all had to.”

“But-“

“You should talk to Fitz and Simmons about it sometime,” Coulson said in a way that signified the conversation was over.

Coulson stood up and put a piece of paper in front of her, “I got some leads on apartments from friends in other departments, let me know if there’s one you like and I’ll see what I can do to arrange it. I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast.”

With that Coulson left, leaving Skye at the table with more questions, but also a greater sense of calm than before.

The next morning Skye walked into The Playground to see Coulson and May having a stare-down. Coulson didn’t acknowledge her or the conversation they’d had the night before, barely even looking up when Skye entered.

“May,”

“No.”

“She has to-“

“No.”

Skye watched May and Coulson go back and forth like a tennis match while they waited for their food.

“Sorry we’re late sir!” Jemma cried rushing into the diner with Fitz behind her.

“Slept through the alarm,” Fitz added, sliding into the booth next to Skye.

“But you two were-“ Skye began but Fitz stepped hard on (really through) her foot and Jemma cut her off by saying, “Still asleep when you left, deeply sorry.”

“Right,” Coulson said, clearly unconvinced, “Here you two go.”

Coulson reached into his bag and pulled out the eponymous yellow post-it notes that were seeming to become an annoying but reassuring staple of Skye’s life.

Jemma cursed, “This is right in the middle of my course.”

“Yeah well at least yours is near the university,” Fitz waved his post-it around, “Why am I always on the other side of town.”

“Can’t you two just trade?” Skye asked.

“No,” I wish,” “That would be nice,” “Absolutely not,” May, Fitz, Jemma, and Coulson answered at once.

“Ok, so no trading. Got it. I’ll add it to my reaper handbook.”

“Melinda,” Coulson said, clearly circling back to his earlier conversation with her.

“Phil,” May responded firmly.

“I’m not asking.”May sighed deeply, “You owe me Phil.”

“I can live with that.”

“What just happened?” Skye asked.

“Skye, you’re going with May today for your last observation. Hopefully you’ll be solid soon so you can start on your own.”

“We’re leaving right after we eat,” May said as the food arrived, continuing to drink the black coffee she always ordered.

“Got it,” Skye said, both excited and scared to spend the day alone with May.

Once everyone was done eating and the bill was paid May stood up and walked out of the diner. Coulson nodded towards her with his head and Skye got up quickly and ran after her.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“Work,” May answered tersely.

“When’s the reap?” Skye asked, “Maybe I could meet back up with you then?”

May turned and looked and Skye, “Coulson said you’re with me today. That means work, then our appointment, then back to The Playground.”

“Yes ma’am,” Skye said, walked faster to keep up with May.

“And drop it with that ma’am crap. You’re spending too much time with Simmons.”

Skye stifled a laugh as she walked with May towards a nondescript office building.

“Seriously? You have the entire afterlife and you work in a cubicle?”

“Not a cubicle,” May answered as she pulled out her ID badge and headed over to the security desk.

“Davis,” May nodded, sitting down at the desk.

“Morning June, thanks for getting in a bit early today, I have to get my daughter to-“

May held up her hand, “Don’t mention it.”

The man ran off and May gestured for Skye to sit at Davis’ abandoned seat.

“June?” Skye questioned, “What’s next, July?”

“Davis will be back when it’s time for us to leave,” May told her, and then turned away from Skye as she got her stuff ready for the day and began checking in men and women in suits on their way into the office. The day continued to drag on a similar fashion, slowing with the end of the morning rush until Skye was just sitting there staring at the door and May was reading a book.

“Are you sure I can’t go wander around? Spook some office workers with my ghostly skills? I’ve been practicing, I can almost hold a cup now.”

“No,” May said, not even looking up from her book.

“I cannot believe this is what you do all day.”

“Have to make money,” May replied as she continued to read.

“Yeah but you can’t die — you could do anything.”

May just shrugged and flipped to the next page.

“I’m going to spend my afterlife way more excitingly than this. Maybe I’ll go skydiving without a parachute, or swim to the bottom of the ocean.”

At that May put her book down gently and turned to look at Skye coldly. Skye would’ve preferred if she had slammed it and began yelling.

“And how exactly would you do that?”

Skye hadn’t actually thought concretely what she would do, just knew it wouldn’t be this and began to flounder for an answer, her confidence dropping as May’s stare grew colder.

May began to speak, “Mary Sue Poots. Orphan, emancipated at sixteen,-“ Skye opened her mouth to interject about how May could possibly know all this but May held a hand to stop her and kept talking. “Jumped from boyfriend’s apartment to boyfriend’s apartment until she ended up living in a van in an alleyway, hacking government agencies and running conspiracy theory boards.”

“They weren’t conspiracy theory boards,” Skye said sheepishly.

“Died in a fire caused by a neighboring coffee cart spilling gas onto the van’s faulty ignition system. Unidentified and alone. Is that what you mean by living excitingly?” May finished, her tone just as even as when she started, but her gaze so cold it could freeze water.

“I-“ Skye started to speak but May began speaking again and cut her off.

“You’re not just living in the moment anymore. You have responsibilities and eons ahead of you. You can’t just hop around and hope it works out like you did when you were alive. Do you even know how lucky you are that you got put on Coulson’s team?” May’s tone began to change for the first time since she had started, “You know most bosses wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if you had somewhere to sleep and food to eat, as long as you got your reaps done and didn’t draw too much attention to yourself. But Coulson, Coulson cares and you want to throw all that out the window just to have a bit of fun. Why don’t you think about that instead of how to squander away your one good shot at a new beginning?”

May turned swiftly away from Skye and picked her book back up, effectively ending the conversation. Skye sat wondering how in the world May could’ve known all that stuff about her, and what she really meant about Skye squandering away her new life.

When May and Skye got to the diner that night Coulson was sitting quietly as Fitz and Simmons chatted around him. Skye was still feeling thrown off after her conversation with May, and had barely noticed as they left her job to deal with her reap before coming back to The Playground. Skye wasn’t wasting her afterlife, if anything she was going to thrive in it. She had time and the inability to die, it was going to be awesome. And yet, she couldn’t help but think back to what May said, about how that attitude had worked out for her in her life, and how Coulson and the team factored into it. Speaking of Coulson, he continued to be suspiciously quiet after everyone had recapped their day and began eating.

“Skye, you’re coming with me tonight,” he said decisively, before turning to eat his own burger.

“Ookay, do you have another reap or something?”

“Nothing like that, just an errand,” Coulson told her, remaining frustratingly elusive. May gave him a small look and Jemma and Fitz looked at each other curiously, but other than that no one made any other comment, and after dinner Skye followed Coulson out of the diner.

“I was hoping you’d be solid by now,” Coulson told Skye as he led her up to a building Skye had seen many times but never been inside. The two moved further into the morgue and Coulson nodded at the security guard, who called out to a shorter man who just smiled at Coulson and opened a door.

“Alright, here we are,” the coroner said leading Coulson and Skye into the storage section of the morgue.

“Thanks Billy,” Coulson said and Billy the coroner nodded.

“We’re friends,” Coulson explained slyly to Skye, sensing her confusion at how they got into the morgue with barely more than a nod.

“So, what are we doing here?” Skye asked.

“Checking on your body,” Coulson said, “You’ve been floating for a few days, so it’s time to look and see what the plan is, and how long until you’re a full member of our ranks.”

Coulson went over to the drawers and looked around until he found one marked JANE DOE; VAN FIRE.

“I’m not even identified?” Skye cried, “Ray at the coffee cart knew my name.”

“People get weird around cops,” Coulson shrugged, opening the drawer and Skye saw herself, or, at least what she figured was herself come out. She was burnt to a crisp and barely recognizable, and Skye turned away in shock.

“Sorry,” Coulson said quietly, “Just had to check.” He looked at the file number listed on the drawer and went to the file cabinet, flipping through until he found the file.

“No family, no next of kin,” Coulson read aloud.

“Yeah, so?” Skye said reflexively.

“It’s just that,” Coulson paused and took a breath, “No one has stepped forward to claim your body.”

“Someone will step up eventually,” Skye said, but the waver in her voice clearly betrayed her hesitance in that fact.

“Are you sure?” Coulson asked, “Are you willing to bet your solidity on that?”

Skye looked down and didn’t answer.

“I’ll take care of it,” Coulson told her in a tone that was surely meant to be reassuring before going over to talk to Billy and leaving Skye alone.

Skye looked around for a moment at the depressing inside of the morgue and then stormed out. Someone would find her eventually if they needed her.

Skye walked around aimlessly, her head a jumble of rage and anguish. The fact that she was not only dead but that no one seemed to actually care that she was gone was hitting her like a pile of bricks. She had done nothing in her life that made someone care enough to reach out when she perished tragically; no friends, no ex-boyfriends, no one. May’s words came back to her in a rush, and she couldn’t help but think about how the life she had built was now just a pile of ash in an alleyway. She spent the night storming around the city just trying to clear her head, and was so lost in her mind that she nearly screamed when she slammed into something as she turned a corner.

“What-“

“You didn’t come home last night,” Fitz said, putting his hands out to steady her before stepping away.

Skye just stared at him in confusion. She then looked down and saw that she couldn’t see through her hand, something which had once been a given and now seemed like a breath of fresh air.

“I’m solid,” Skye breathed.

“Coulson called,” Fitz continued, “Told Jemma and I to keep an eye out for you.”

Skye cocked her head at him.

“Wait, how did you know where to find me?”

Fitz chuckled a little and Skye hated how sometimes her entire team seemed in on a secret she hadn’t yet been told. “We’re a block from The Playground.”

Skye looked around and sure enough, she seemed to have stumbled to the diner on autopilot in her haze of confusion.

“But, why?” Skye asked.

“Why are we a block from The Playground?” Fitz asked bemusedly.

“No, why are you here?” Skye responded harshly, crossing her arms.

“That’s what friends do,” Fitz told her, “At least, that’s what I think friends do, I haven’t had many besides Jemma.”

“Where is Jemma?” Skye asked.

“She stayed at the apartment, in case you showed up there. I should probably tell her you’re here,” Fitz said pulling out his phone and texting her quickly.

“We’re, um, we’re friends?” Skye asked, trying not to betray the shakiness in her voice.

“Yeah, I mean,” Fitz coughed a little to hide his own vulnerability, “I thought we were.”

Skye swallowed back the rush of emotion that flowed through her and threw her arms around Fitz in a tight hug. Fitz wrapped his arms around her as well before the two pulled away.

“We were worried about you,” Fitz told her seriously, “Coulson told us what happened.”

“That,” Skye guffawed, “That was nothing.”

Fitz just nodded, clearly unconvinced, “Ok, well if you ever want to talk about it, you know where I live.”

Skye nodded.

“In that case,” Fitz said with some cheer, “It is very early and I think we need to celebrate your newfound solidity with the finest chocolate chip pancakes in the land.” Fitz grabbed Skye by the arm and led her to the diner, ordering two coffees and two orders of chocolate chip pancakes, on him, to celebrate her solidity.

A little after eight o’clock Jemma strolled into the diner and beelined directly towards them.

“Good morning Fitz, Skye.”

“Morning,” Fitz said through a mouthful of pancakes.

Skye nodded in Jemma’s direction.

“You started without me?” Jemma pouted.

Fitz grabbed a fork from the table behind them and put some pancakes on it before holding it out to Jemma.

“I suppose this will do as a peace offering,�� Jemma grinned, eating her share.

“Hello everyone,” Coulson said, suddenly sitting down at their table with May; the two having walked in unnoticed, “Skye, good to see you back here. And solid at that.”

May just nodded at her before flagging down the waitress for her black coffee.

“Thank you Coulson,” Skye said, hoping he got the deeper meaning behind her gratitude.

“Not a problem,” Coulson responded, before digging into his bag and getting down to the business of the day ahead. “So, first order of business, everyone’s assignments.”

Coulson pulled out five Post-Its and passed four of them around while keeping one for himself.

Skye grabbed hers and looked down at it.

J. SITWELL 74 ELM STREET 9:17 A.M.

“9:17? That’s in less than an hour!” Skye exclaimed.

“Good thing you already ate,” Coulson responded.

“Bu-“

“Seriously Coulson?” May cut off any protests that Skye could have given.

“Problem May?”

May just glared at him and Coulson smirked before turning to Jemma.

“Jemma, go with Skye today then take her to the ORI. You should have time.”

Jemma nodded decisively as she picked at the remainder of Fitz’s pancakes.

“Do I really need a babysitter?” Skye asked.

“I don’t know, do you?” Coulson asked cheekily.

May rolled her eyes, “You need to get an ID for your undead life.”

“We’ll stop after your reap,” Jemma said, “I need to update Fitz and I’s on-file address anyway.”

“See, it all works out,” Coulson said before starting to eat his eggs that Skye hadn’t even noticed Maria had dropped off.

“Shall we get going then?” Jemma asked, “Don’t want to be late for J. Sitwell.”

Skye nodded and slid out of the booth behind Jemma, who kissed Fitz on the cheek and waved at everyone else on her way out the door.

“So, are you excited for your first reap?” Jemma asked a bit too enthusiastically as they walked towards J. Sitwell’s fate.

Skye shrugged, “I’ve already seen this done a few times.”

“If you say so,” Jemma said, “It’s different though, your first one.”

“Seriously I can handle this if you want to just meet me later to go to the- what’s it called again?”

“The ORI. Office of Reaper Identification.”

“Sounds fun,” Skye replied sarcastically.

Jemma just smiled at her as the two turned on to Elm Street.

“Alright, where do we find this J. Sitwell?” Skye asked.

“Don’t ask me, I’m just tagging along. My reap isn’t until this afternoon.”

“It was rhetorical. I’m thinking aloud, that’s my process.”

“Ok well, carry on. Although you should know you only have twenty minutes.”

“Plenty of time,” Skye said nonchalantly as she began looking around the somewhat empty street. Luckily for her the Post-It had a street name and number so she began to walk towards 74 Elm Street with Jemma following close behind. Eventually she got there to see more of nothing on the street.

“He’s probably in the house, I’ll head over there in a few minutes.”

“Skye you only have ten minutes left, you don’t want to cut it close, especially in Unusual Accidents.”

“It’ll be fine, there’s no one else out on the street for it to be!” Skye said gesturing around.

“There are so many variables, you should really just knock and see if it’s him.”

Skye stared at Jemma, “Seriously? Ten minutes beforehand?”

“Better safe than sorry.”

Skye sighed loudly and headed towards the door as Jemma gave a self-satisfied smirk.

“Excuse me?” Skye said as she knocked, “We’re here from um-“ Skye thought for a moment, “The gas company! We’re here from the gas company.”

A bald man opened the door.

“Are you J. Sitwell?” Skye asked.

“That’s me.”

“Great, we’re just doing a quick survey, are you pleased with your gas service?”

“It’s fine?” J. Sitwell responded.

“Alright, that will be all from us.”

Jemma nudged Skye and gestured towards his body.

“Right! Well, it was nice to meet you,” Skye stuck her hand out and J. Sitwell tentatively shook it. Skye barely resisted a shudder at the feeling of his soul leaving his body.

“See you soon!” Jemma called back to him cheerfully as they left.

“Seriously?” Skye said.

Jemma shrugged, “He’ll be dead in eight minutes now anyway.”

“How are you so nonchalant about this?”

“About what exactly? Doing our jobs?”

Skye said nothing and Jemma sat down on a nearby bench, “I told you, it’s different.”

“You didn’t tell me I would be able to feel his soul leaving his body,” Skye’s voice rose in horror.

“Shh, you’re being quite loud,” Jemma looked around to make sure no one had heard them, “I suppose I forgot about that part.”

“You forgot? You forgot??”

Jemma gave Skye a withering look, “I’ve been doing this a long time. Longer than you’ve been alive.”

“So what? You’re content to just spend eternity reaping people who are the victims of unusual accidents?”

“I’ll have you know Fitz and I have only been in Unusual Accidents for a year,” Jemma sat up straighter, “We worked Infectious Diseases before that.”

Skye snorted, “Oh, great, so you’re just as new at this accident thing as I am. I might as well be the boss.”

Jemma rolled her eyes.

“Oh, real mature for someone who’s what? 100 years old?”

“20 years old. 75 years undead.”

“It’s not fair that we died so young. It’s not fair that this guy dies so young. Why can’t we just ignore him? Not reap him?”

“Do you know what happens if we don’t reap someone?” Jemma asked, turning more serious.

“No.”

“Neither do I. And I don’t want to find out. The system is set up the way it is for a reason, and I’m not willing to find out what that reason is.”

“You’re telling me that in 75 years you’ve never broken the rules? Not even once?”

Jemma looked down at her shoes and her cheeks turned red. Neither of them heard the crash that came from 74 Elm Street.

“Ha! So you totally have.”

Jemma said nothing.

“What was it?” Skye asked, but before Jemma could answer J. Sitwell appeared before them.

“What just happened?” he asked.

Jemma shook herself out of her previous mood and nudged Skye encouragingly to talk to him. Skye stood up and walked towards him and found her mouth dry and the words sticking.

She turned back to Jemma, “How am I supposed to tell this guy he’s dead?”

“Wait, I’m dead?” J. Sitwell said.

Jemma smiled at her grimly, “That’s the job of a reaper,” she turned to J. Sitwell, “Yes, you are Mr. Sitwell.”

“What happens now?” he asked.

“Skye will lead you to your final destination,” Jemma told him and Skye smiled at her.

“Yes, I will do that, this way,” Skye said and began walking in a random direction. Jemma gave her a thumbs up behind J. Sitwell’s back. Eventually, after twenty minutes of aimlessly wandering around Elm Street listening to J. Sitwell natter on about who knows what, a portal appeared and Skye all but shoved J. Sitwell through it.

“Was it just me or was the guy incredibly boring?” Jemma asked once he was finally gone.

“Thanks — for saving me back there with talking to J. Sitwell. And, listening to my freak-out.”

“Not a problem,” Jemma chirped, “After all, that’s what friends are for.”

Skye smiled at her and Jemma grabbed her forearm.

“Now, off to the ORI to get you a new identity to start your undead life.”

After a long day sitting at the ORI waiting and thinking over everything that had happened that day Jemma and Skye finally walked into The Playground for dinner.

“Officially introducing, Daisy Johnson!” Jemma cheered in a mock presenter voice, ushering Skye towards the booth where the rest of the team sat.

“I like it,” Coulson said.

“Me too,” Skye said, “I think I’m going to use it all the time. Daisy Johnson, it has a nice ring.”

“Daisy it is,” Coulson said.

“How was the ORI?” Fitz asked excitedly.

“Surprisingly like the DMV,” the newly-minted Daisy answered sitting down next to him, “Shouldn’t being dead come with some perks, like being able to skip the lines?”

“Everyone else there is dead too,” Jemma replied.

“Are they all new reapers?” Daisy asked, “I didn’t realize there were so many of us.”

“Every few decades our IDs expire, so you have to go get it renewed,” Coulson explained.

“So it really is like the DMV.”

“Except you leave every time with a new name,” Jemma said.

“How many names have you guys had?” Daisy asked curiously.

“Four,” “Five,” Fitz and Jemma said at the same time.

“Lost count,” May said between sips of coffee.

“Seven, I believe,” Coulson said.

“Whoa, that’s awesome,” Daisy said excitedly.

Everyone else at the table shrugged, much more used to their reality than Daisy was, and began to talk about what they were ordering and throwing menu suggestions to Daisy who had never actually ordered food at The Playground before.

“How did everyone’s reaps go?” Coulson asked once the food was ordered and they were settled again.

“Fine,” May said.

“Nothing else Melinda?” Coulson needled a bit teasingly.

“Nope. That’s all Phil.”

“Alright, Fitz? Simmons?”

“No problems.”

“Smooth sailing.”

“And Sky- sorry, Daisy? How was your first reap?”

“Jemma is crazy prepared. She insisted on reaping the guy a full ten minutes before his time.”

“Preparation is the key to success,” Jemma chirped.

“Better ten minutes before than ten minutes after,” Coulson said.

“We don’t need a repeat of surfboard guy,” May said.

“Wait what’s surfboard guy?”

“Please don’t remind me,” Fitz groaned, “I barely kept my lunch down the first time.”

“Guy got whacked in the head with a surfboard,” May explained in her usual succinct fashion.

“It was a family reunion,” Fitz cried, “Everyone had the same last name and many had the same first! How was I supposed to know which R. Martin he was?”

“His whole face slid out of place,” Jemma patted Fitz on the shoulder sympathetically, “And he stuck around for a while, took nearly two hours for his way out to show up.”

“I nearly puked my lunch right through him!” Fitz said.

Daisy tried to keep a sympathetic face but could barely stop herself from laughing. Soon Jemma joined in, and eventually Coulson did as well. Even Fitz stopped sulking long enough to join in, no one stopping until the food showed up.

“To Daisy’s first actual meal at The Playground,” Coulson said, holding up his Diet Coke in a toast. Maybe May was right, maybe taking the slower approach to life would be worth more than Daisy had thought. She had true friends and a job and was going to get an apartment soon, which was more than she’d had in life. Everyone clinked their coffee, teas, and water against Coulson’s and for the first time in a long time Daisy felt completely settled as she bit into her burger.

#aosficnet #agents of shield #aos #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #daisy johnson #phil coulson #melinda may #my stuff

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