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nctsoftskz · 4 years

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Forbidden love | w. kunhang

Word count: 4.9k Pairing: nursemaid! reader x prince! Hendery Genre: fluff, angst (if you squint), royalty au Synopsis: due to your different social status, being with Hendery is impossible. However, he’ll try everything to make it work. A/N: sorry for being so inactive, I’ve been extremely busy stressing out and overthinking my entire life and decisions. I hope y’all like this piece of trash writing! ❣

Even if it’s forbidden, Hendery couldn’t help but love you. He’s a prince, you’re a nursemaid, the difference between your two social status would never allow your union, if it were to happen. You knew Hendery (I mean, how couldn’t you. You worked for his parents), but you never really talked to him. You had exchanged a few words with him by the past since you were taking care of his younger sibling. He had tried to help you out, but you always denied, not wanting to get him or you in trouble.

You owed his parents a lot. Twenty years ago, his father, the king, rescued you from the piercing cold of winter. He had found you abandoned in a thin knitted dress; a cotton cloth loosely wrapped around your tiny figure. When he brought you back to the castle, the other maid looked after you and brought you up. You were now 20 years old and grateful for the king. His wife, the queen, never liked you, still believing that you were the daughter of an unacceptable union between her husband and a woman, a whore from the plebs. The king had tried to explain – you once heard that he even vowed it - that he had found you in the snow, but she always rejected his version of the story. You avoided her as much as possible and so did you with Hendery. He had strong facial traits of his mother, that’s why you avoided him. Every time he talked to you, even if he has the humanity and the kindness of his father, his face reminded you too much of his mother and you couldn’t look at him in the eyes without feeling uneasy.

“Hi, Y/N,” you heard someone say and you froze, picking the child in your arms before turning around. “Good afternoon, your Highness,” you bowed your head. Jiaying, his younger sister that you had in your arms copied you, making Hendery chuckle. “Please call me Hendery, it’s more practical and you’re around my age,” he said with a smile and you shrugged. “You have a higher social status, your Highness, I shall use the proper vocabulary when I meet you,” you try to stay as polite as possible, always on your guard. The women who brought you up always told you that the walls had ears and you could get in serious trouble if you said something wrong. You didn’t want to take the risk of losing your job, so you stayed polite, even if the prince asked you to drop the formalities. Working in the castle was exhausting but at least you had a home and food when it was cold. “I know, but we are alone now, you can call me by my name, no one is here.” Hendery smiled at your shyness and laughed as you try to prevent his little sister from untying the yellow ribbon tightly wrapped in your hair. As Hendery wasn’t saying anything else, you excused yourself and went to put the young princess to bed. You washed her face, brushed her teeth, put on her nightgown, and told her a story. You were like her older sister to her, since the king and the queen never really took care of her. She loved her elder brother, but you noticed that she had separation anxiety when you or Hendery left her unattended for a while.

That day, in the middle of the night, you got woken up by repetitive loud bangs on your wooden door. Quickly putting on a long cardigan around your shoulders and securely tied it around your waist, you hugged the material close to your chest. When you opened the door, your head spun when you found the one and only prince of this castle. “Y-your Highness?” you asked, hesitant on why he’s here. “I’m so sorry to wake you up at this hour Y/N, but Jiaying has been crying for the past hour and nobody can calm her down.” Hearing his words, you ignored the coldness biting at your bare feet and you hastily walked to her room, the prince on your heels. As you got closer and closer from her room, you could hear the screeching cries of Jiaying, and you burst through the door. Servants, other nursemaids, the king, and his wife were there, the latter sending you a dark glare as you walked past everyone to make your way to the bed. You bowed at everyone before touching Jiaying’s rosy cheeks.

“She's running a temperature,” you said, and you noticed from the corner of your eye the queen’s jaw clenching. You gulped and focused on the young girl, whose sobs calmed down since you were by her side. The queen dragged her husband out of the room without a word, followed by a few other people, leaving you and Hendery in the room. “Tell me if I can help,” he whispered as he caressed his sister’s hand with his thumb. “Your Highness, it would be unfortunate if you caught her fever. You may go back to sleep.” Hendery frowned at your words and you got surprised as his voice went an octave deeper. “Y/N, this is my sister, I want to help to make her feel better.” “Your Highness, you’re the prince, this is not your job to--” “I know,” he cut you, jaw clenched, and you looked away, his mother’s features strongly making their way on his face. Noticing your change of behaviour, Hendery’s tone softened and sat deeper on the king-sized bed. “But I still want to help. it’s my sister.” “Let us switch roles, then,” your voice didn’t mean to come out trembling, but you couldn’t control your emotions very well, which surprised Hendery. “You can stay here while I go grab the things your sister needs.”

As soon as you stood up from your spot next to Jiaying, she started crying again, forcing you to sit down. You turned your head to the prince but didn’t look at him in the eyes, feeling his gaze on your face. “Let me help you Y/N.” you sighed, defeated as you timidly but politely enumerated the things you needed to heal the princess. Hendery dashed out of the room and came back around 10 minutes later with everything in hand, only to find you caressing his sister’s cheek. You quickly got up and helped him unload his arms and started taking care of Jiaying.

You stayed awake the entire night to take care of the princess, only to have her falling asleep when the sun was rising. You discreetly stifled a yawn as you noticed Hendery asleep next to his sister. Her cheeks were still bright red and you were praying that she’d heal soon. You preferred running without any sleep than struggling to wake up after only 10 minutes of rest, so you went on with your day as if nothing happened. Walking in the kitchens, you started preparing breakfast for the two siblings, eating a banana and an apple during the process. Feeling your head spinning from your lack of sleep, you slapped your cheeks to shake you awake, earning a weird glance from the cooks. You awkwardly smiled and greeted them, only to be left without an answer. You bitterly chuckled to yourself as you poured the chicken soup in a bowl, putting it on a tray and made your way towards the room.

After closing the bedroom door behind you, you put the tray down on the bedside table and carefully shook Hendery awake. “Your Highness, you need to wake up, it’s 8 am,” you whispered, and he grumbled, his head sinking deeper in the pillow. His behaviour made you smile but you had to wake him up, he needed to eat and get ready before his library session. “Your Highness,” you shook his shoulder a bit harder this time, but he didn’t answer, and you sighed. You had heard that he was a heavy sleeper, but you never thought that it would be so hard to wake him up. Making sure that you were the only one in the room, you got closer to the prince and resisted the urge to push his hair away from his eyes.

“Hendery,” you murmured and shook him one last time. He groaned again, louder this time, but his eyes started fluttering. “You need to wake up, you have your library-” “Shht, Y/N, please. Five more minutes,” he mumbled and grabbed your forearm, making you gasp. You stood there, not knowing what to do. You wanted to shake him off as quickly as possible, but you found him quite endearing hugging your forearm like he currently was. “I can’t let you sleep more; your father and counsellor will be angry if you’re late.” “Don’t care,” he protested, his voice way lower than usual, laced with sleep. You stifled a smile as you managed to place the plate filled with scrambled eggs under his nose. His eyes opened and you caught him inhaling the food you had prepared for him. He let go of your arm, suddenly wide awake and sat down in the bed, hastily grabbing the cutlery you were handing him with a smile. Starting to take care of his sister, you saw him putting the now empty glass of orange juice on the bedside table before resting his head against the wall behind him. “My sister told me that your cooking skills were good, but I didn’t expect them to be this wonderful.” He stated and you shyly beamed, covering Jiaying’s forehead with a cold piece of cloth. “This breakfast is the simplest thing in the world, you know,” you said, softly feeding Jiaying with a spoon. “You’re going to get late, you shall find your servant so she can style your hair.” Hendery touched his hair as a reflex and chuckled as he felt the nest under his touch. “Do you think you can you do it? I can’t be seen like this...” his voice trailed, and you put the bowl down, Jiaying avoiding the spoon every time you neared it around her mouth. “Please keep an eye on your sister while I go grab everything.” He nodded and thanked you as you got out of the door, only to find his servant with the things needed to style his hair. “Ah Y/N, have you seen the prince? I went to your room but none of you was in there.” She said and you frowned. “What- why would he be in my room?” you questioned, and the elder woman shrugged. “He’s in the princess’ room but give me all of that, I’ll do it myself.”

You grabbed her basket and hurried back in the room, only to find Hendery on the balcony, admiring the view. “Your Highness, I’m back,” you said as you put the basket down on the bed, still a bit angry and confused about what his servant told you. He closed the window and sat at the edge of the bed, waiting for you. His sister was less red than this morning, but when you touched her forehead, it was still burning. You softly stroked her cheek before bringing your attention back on the prince. “Y/N, are you okay?” He said after moments of silence, noticing the frown on your face. Looking at him with eyebrows raised, you nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” you questioned and kept on styling his hair. “I don’t know, you look angry since you came back.” Hendery’s gaze never left you and you sighed. “Well, your servant was looking for you and she said that she went to check my room and she expected us both to be in there. I don’t know who told her that or who started this rumour, but I want it to stop as quickly as possible.” You uttered in one breath, trying to stay as polite as possible. With this rumour, your job was already at risk so you wouldn’t want to get in even more trouble by breaking another law. If the queen were to hear about this rumour, she wouldn’t hesitate to fire you straight away.

“Do you despise me that much that you can't stand hearing rumours about us or what’s the problem?” the young prince eyes you from his spot on the bed while your hands worked in his hair. “I don’t despise you, your Highness,” “I told you to stop calling me like that,” he huffed but you kept going. “I’m not like you, you know. I know your mother hates me, she thinks I’m an illegitimate child and I’m sure that she wouldn’t think twice before firing me if she has the smallest opportunity. Do you imagine, her son, the prince, the royal heir, to be rumoured to have spent the night with a servant, a peasant like me? I’m far from being a princess, I don’t have royal blood flooding through my veins, I’m just a maid. I’m only here to take care of your sister, nothing else. I can be easily replaced, a lot of women are dying to work for the royal family. I’m only meant to get married to someone from my social status and your mother won’t hesitate to remind me that. So no, I don’t despise you, I’m simply scared. Not only for me but for you as well.” It was the first time that you spoke so openly and informally to Hendery and you immediately started regretting it, feeling your cheeks burning with embarrassment and anger. Being too tired to think of an apology, you remained quiet, and so did he. He was shocked that you were so terrified of his mother. He knew that people found her scary, but he had never imagined you being so frightened of her. “I didn’t know she terrorised you this much,” Hendery mumbled but you didn’t say a word. If you could have, you would have given him a piece of your mind about his mother, but you didn’t dare. Even if she terrifies the shit out of you, Hendery wouldn’t like to hear your words about his mother. You wouldn’t like to have someone complaining about your mother, even if you didn’t have one.

Suddenly remembering all the nights you spent crying because you missed the family you’ve never had, your eyes welled up with tears and you sniffled, alerting the prince. You sighed again because it was the last thing you needed. His pity. “Y/N-” Hendery rose his hand to touch your forearm but it stood mid-air at your words. “Hend- your Highness, please no.” You harshly said and backed off to the basket, putting all the stuff back inside. “I’ve finished styling your hair, your Highness, I wish you a lovely day.” You put everything away in the basket, tears blurring your vision. You bowed before dashing out of the room, looking for the hairdresser, never looking back. Hendery stood there, puzzled of what just happened. He didn’t expect you to burst into tears in front of him, and you rejecting his comfort slightly broke his heart. He knew that his mother wasn’t very keen on having you around the castle, leave alone around him. During his entire lesson, he couldn’t focus, you occupied his mind too much. His father looked exasperated but didn’t say a word, whereas his counsellor yelled at him for not remembering the things he learnt last week, but he didn’t care. You were more important to him than any of those lessons.

During the following days, you avoided the royal family like the plague, except for Jiaying, who you were assigned to. She needed your help and attention to heal and your determination to make her feel better paid off. Within a week and a half, she was back on her feet and you were exhausted. You made sure to stay awake most of the nights to be there for her, resting your head against the bed frame or reading while she was sleeping. You had been avoiding Hendery, not wanting to confront him since that time when you styled his hair. He had tried several times to talk to you, but you always managed to get busy or meet someone in the castle that needed him, allowing you to escape. One morning, you woke up with the strongest headache you’ve ever had in your life, preventing you from even sitting up in your bed. You groaned and tried anyway, only to be seized by dizziness. You saw stars, your bedroom was spinning, you truly felt like you were going to die. Since your room was at the very end of a long corridor, no one could hear you, even if you yelled. You started to panic, already hearing your superiors barking at you for being late, which increased your pain. After a few minutes sunk in silence trying to get a grip on your discomfort, you managed to stand up and made your way to your kitchenette, boiling water in a small pot. You started getting ready for the day, way slower than you usually were. Before correctly buttoning up your maid apron, you poured the warm liquid in a cup and let your tea sink in. You hoped that it would give you the strength to make it alive until tonight.

It didn’t help, you felt like it aggravated everything. Maids asked you if you were okay when they saw you and you pretended that you were only a little tired. You didn’t have any other choices, you had to take care of Jiaying, you couldn't skip work, even if you were at your worst. The princess was kind enough to be calm this morning, allowing your pain to diminish a little. You read her stories, played with her, and tried to teach her how to knit. She paid close attention and she was patient, managing to get the strings to work on her little fingers. When it was time for her to eat, you left her room and went to cook her lunch. However, as soon as you got out, your pain hit you straight in the head, making the castle completely spin, forcing you to lean against the granite wall. After earning a few side glances from people walking past you, your body was too exhausted to move and you gave in, completely blacking out against the cold wall.

Jiaying stared at you making your way out the door, your walk was slightly dizzy and uncertain. The young princess frowned but focused on her knitting. She wanted to impress you by making a few rows alone, showing you that she carefully listened and was able to succeed. She stuck her tongue out as she made a stitch on one side, then on the other, carefully passing the needles through the thread. Her stomach grumbled after a few rows, not understanding why you were taking so long to come back. “Where is Y/N?” she mumbled as she opened the door, but no one answered her, people passing by completely ignoring her. She wandered a bit in the castle, looking out for you, getting progressively lost in the winding corridors of the castle. She was getting scared and started running, regularly yelling your name, tears forming in her small eyes.

Arriving in front of the kitchens, she noticed a figure on the floor and she carefully approached it. She gasped when she recognised the yellow ribbon in your hair, the one she always wanted to untie since she was younger. She tried to bring people to a halt to help you, they all looked at her weirdly, wondering what the princess was doing alone in the castle. She was about to cry when an idea popped in her head. She carefully untied the yellow ribbon that secured your bun, your hair falling down your shoulders and she ran, jostling other children or adults on her way. She noticed her brother in the distance and she yelled his name, panting. Hendery recognised her frail voice and saw her running towards him. He immediately started getting worried when he caught the tears running down her face. “Meimei, what are you doing here alone? Why are you crying?” He crouched down and picked her up, only to have her burying her face in his neck. “Y-Y/N,” at the mention of your name, Hendery grabbed Jiaying’s nape to make her look at him. He spotted the yellow ribbon in her hand and his heart skipped a beat. “What’s wrong with Y/N?” He was getting extremely worried, scared that something bad happened to you. Seeing that she didn’t answer, he slightly shook his sister and asked again. “Hm? Where is she?” “She- she’s gone.” Jiaying cries increased, leaving Hendery with nothing but a pounding heart. Hendery carried his sister as she guided him through the castle to you. When he reached the corridor, you were still on the floor, but a few maids were surrounding you. He caught the first maid and handed her his little sister and kneeled next to you. The other servants immediately backed off, leaving him space. “Go get the doctor and tell him it’s an emergency, prepare a room with new sheets and assign someone to temporarily take care of the princess,” Hendery ordered, his tone authoritative and harsh. People started to move, leaving in every direction to follow his orders. He slid a hand under your head and cupped your cheek with the other, his gaze never leaving your face, ready to catch a small hint of you waking up. But you never did. His face fell when he noticed how pale and exhausted you looked, eyebags falling to the middle of your cheeks and your lips turning purple. He checked the pulse on your neck and fortunately, it was still beating, but it was awfully slow. He took off his uniform jacket and handed it to the last maid, Wenling, who stayed behind, and he recognised her as one of your closest friends. The young prince passed his arms under your knees and neck, lifting you from the ground. He gestured to your friend to follow him and she compelled, looking extremely pale. She was so scared for you, she closely followed Hendery after putting the jacket on you.

When you regained consciousness, your entire body felt numb but at least warmth surrounded you, unlike when you fainted. The bed was way more comfortable than the one you had in your room, making you wonder where you were. It felt like you were sleeping on clouds, wrapped in delicate rays of sunshine. As your eyes fluttered open, you slowly recognised the Chinese tapestry decorating the ceiling. The last time you had seen this tapestry was when Hendery and his maid were sick, and you had to take care of him. Your eyes started to water from being open for so long and you closed them as you heard voices coming from the door.

“Your Highness, do you think Y/N will wake up soon?” “I don’t know, Wenling, even the doctor doesn’t know. He said that she was overworked and exhausted, she needs to rest. It’s already been a week, so it can take her more days, or even weeks to recover, we don’t know. We can only hope that she’ll eventually come back to us. I’ll make sure to warn you when she wakes up.” “Thank you, your Highness.” You heard as the door closed, steps coming closer to you. The bed dipped under the weight and you felt a finger softly caressing your cheek. This gesture sent a wave of chills down your spine, his warm touch contrasting with the coldness of your body.

Hendery stopped stroking your cheek and moved a bit, feeling his hand now on your bare forearm, his head resting on your shoulder. “I can’t wait for you to wake up,” he mumbled as he knew that you were the only two in the room. “I can’t wait to see your pretty eyes and smile again,” you felt his breath against the side of your neck, and you waited a bit before opening your eyes, wanting to hear more of those sweet words. But you didn’t, your body fell asleep before you could hear anything else. When you emerged again, Hendery hadn’t left his spot next to you. He sounded asleep, and the darkness of the room confirmed your thought. You tried to move your head and it dropped on his shoulder, the faint smell of him on his nightclothes made you sleepy again, but it was different this time. You knew that you’d wake up tomorrow.

And you did. When Hendery’s eyes opened due to the rays of sunshine coming through the poorly closed curtains, he felt your head on his shoulder and smiled. It was a sign that you were awake. He slept next to you every night since you fainted, and you never moved your head. He wrapped his arm around your waist and carefully brought you closer to him, having you this close making him happy. You woke up to someone repeatedly sliding fingers through your hair, a chin resting against your forehead. It took you a few minutes to realise in what posture you were in and you froze.

“H-Hendery…” you mumbled, your voice coming out raspy as you weakly tried to get out of the prince’s arms. His stomach happily churned when he heard his name coming out of your mouth and he kept you close to his chest as he felt you move. “Shht, it’s alright, I’m here. I won’t let you slip out this time,” he mumbled, and you opened your eyes, only to be met with the brown orbits of the man who held you “captive”. “Have you thought about what your mom—” “My mom is the one who sent me there when she heard that you passed out.” Hendery calmly explained and you stopped rubbing your eyes.

What?

“Yes, as surprising as it might sound, she allowed me to keep you company and even sleep next to you.” Maybe she wasn’t as terrible as she looked and sounded. Maybe, it was her facial traits that made her look mad and angry all the time. “So, if she enters now, she won’t fire you or yell at you as you were scared of her doing so. Sometimes, you just need a bit of communication to clear things out.”

You nodded at his words, staring at the ceiling. Hendery cupped your cheek and made you look at him. His stare was intense, but it never made you feel awkward. He had reassuring and tender eyes, two brown orbits that charmed everyone, including you. They quickly travelled to your lips, only to back up a second later, as if he were scared that you’d catch his intention. He crawled closer to you, as if it were possible, his lips almost touching yours. You closed your eyes, the staring getting too intense for you, and that’s when you felt his lips crashing onto yours. His arm sneaked from your waist to your back, his other hand resting against the back of your head, hugging you with quite some force.

You managed to lift your arms and wrap them around the prince’s neck, playing with his fluffy hair. Dizziness made its way in your head again, but this time, you knew that you weren’t the only one who felt like that. He deepened the kiss, tangling his limbs with yours, passing his hand under the sleeve of your white nightgown to soothingly rub his hand against your skin. You slightly pushed his chest when you felt your lack of oxygen growing and he broke the kiss, only to rest his forehead against yours. “I don’t care about what people or my family say, I love you and no one can change that. Do you understand that?” He said, kissing your cheek. “I don’t love you for your reputation or your social status, I don’t care about this, I only love you for who you are and who you help me be.” “How do I help you, though?” You questioned, cheeks becoming red at his sudden confession. “The way you take care of me and my sister, your smile and your perseverance make me want to keep going, to work and study hard to make you proud.” “You don’t have to do all of this to make me proud, I’m already proud of the person you have become. I love you for what you are already, and that’s more than enough.” “That’s what I needed to hear.” He smirked and you frowned, not understanding what he meant. “I needed to hear those three words. I’ve been waiting for years to hear them.” He kissed your temple as you realised what you said, earning a small from him. “Do you want me to say them again?” You teased and he chuckled but vividly nodded. You hoisted yourself higher, cradling his face and looked at him deep in the eyes. “I love you, my prince,” you kissed his nose and he grinned, stifling a squeal. You giggled and exchanged a kiss again, not caring about the world outside of his bedroom. You were the most important thing to each other, and no one could prevent you from loving each other. Not the queen, nor your different social status. Nothing.

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cypher-unsolved · 3 years

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I have now fallen in love with the AoS ship of Skye | Daisy x Bobbi x Hunter and I will take this to my grave.

I have also fallen in love with the concept that Melinda May and Phil Coulson are Skye | Daisy's parents and Gordon stealing her in the night on Jiaying's orders.

Skye | Daisy x Bobbi x Hunter fics to read:

To Find Life and Love by SoCalGirl28 on Ao3 | Unfinished 49k+ & 27 chapters+ | last updated 02/16/2021

Like a Stain (series) by AgentSkyeMorse on Ao3 | Finished 46k & 14 works | Warning for a couple Explicit works

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d netflix #skye #daisy johnson #bobbi morse #lance hunter #bobbi x hunter x skye #i will go down with this ship #i will go down with this headcanon #phil coulson #melinda may #phil x melinda #philinda #philinda are daisy's parents #daisy x bobbi x hunter

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mcufandomhatespeopleofcolor · 3 years

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Do you have at least one crack ship which you used to ship a little as a joke but then you went “oh, wait that’s kinda cute tho.” And then you went: you wanna know what imma ship it. Has it? I have one which I ship a little, not a lot tho: Spectraquake. Daisy x Monica,

Ok now see that's only a crack ship because they haven't met. I didn't see like from Robbie Reyes onwards until like the last season the back half of that season. But I'm p confident that they would bond over their powers and inheriting positions of power. Granted Daisy's mom Jiaying is like Magneto in that her hate is justified but honestly Daisy's foster mom is Melinda. and that comes with like an inherited position within shield you know?

anyways this may be a crack ship but I already love it. come off anon and so I can follow youuuuu.

mod laina

#daisy johnson #quake #monica rambeau #spectrumquake #daisy x monica #femmeslash #wlwoc

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daisyjohnsonsblog · 4 years

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Kora: The Villain We Could Have Had

I’ve written a long post here about Kora and mostly why I found her unsatisfying as a villain. If you haven’t read that, then you should, because I will be building more on that here. However in this post, I will focus more on what Kora could have been, and the writers’ possible perspectives.

I’m going to preface this post with this: I think that Marvel’s Agents of Shield has done a lot better job in gender and racial/ethnic inclusivity than the broader MCU movies. In fact, I could probably write a whole post on that in itself. In fact, I love that Kora is a villain who’s also female and Asian (correct me if I’m wrong, but she’s the only one other than JiaYing, though should we count Sinara…? her actress was of Thai descent, but she’s technically Kree so…). On top of that, Kora actively breaks a lot of stereotypical Asian/Chinese traits: the ideals of filial piety (obedience to parents), as well as respect for order, politeness and community. Even from a strictly critical point of view, these are all very interesting ideas to explore in her character, to say nothing of breaking the typical Asian character mold.

Okay so let’s get down to character building.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I feel Kora’s un-convincingness as a villain stems from her lack of reason and drive. Here’s where I feel the writers made a mistake.

When we are introduced to Kora, the writers appeal to our sense of sympathy. We first hear her cries and being naturally suspicious of Jiaying, we suspect that she is somehow torturing/mistreating Kora. Of course, this is all disproved by the following events but our reaction to Kora is still one of sympathy, especially when she tries to commit suicide for the safety of Afterlife.

Here’s the mistake.

Kora tries to commit suicide out of worry for the safety of her community - in other words, she’s sacrificing herself. (Please note: I’m recounting all of this from memory, so I might be a little off - please correct me if so. However, this is basically the impression I received from the scene.) Now if we take this train of thought and extrapolate it, it makes no sense that the same girl would be completely fine with killing someone else. If the writers wanted us to really believe it, they should have given us a reason to. Nathaniel Malick showing up and saying “Anarchy is here” is not enough. (also, on that note, why would Kora be so happy to have anarchy? What about it appeals to her? We’re never shown this, only that she buys into Nathaniel’s rhetoric). We see no reason as to why Kora should be so loyal to Nathaniel. In fact, she’s not just loyal to him - they’re in what looks like a sexual relationship - that why she is loyal? or is that a by-product?

Who is Kora?

At this point, it’s probably a good idea to just clear our heads and try to see who Kora really is - or to put it in another way, how do the writers/producers want us to perceive Kora?

Honestly, Kora is a heady mess of teenage rebellion. In some ways, she’s very similar to Nathaniel Malick: she’s rebelling against the “old order” of things. But even that is questionable. Is Kora as an individual who genuinely wants Anarchy, like Nathaniel does? Or is Kora a manipulated and misled damsel in distress who’s been brainwashed into believing Nathaniel is the one who “saved” her? I think a little bit of both. The end scene when Kora kisses Nathaniel in the glow of destruction of SHIELD seems like the producers want to paint her as an equal to Nathaniel; after all, it was only because of Kora that Nathaniel could accomplish that. At the same time, May clearly and correctly points out that Nathaniel is using her, and Nathaniel himself has to lie to reassure Kora that they “saved people” or some ridiculous crap like that, which shows that Nathaniel is to some extent controlling Kora - she’s more of a pawn than an individual villain in her own right. Which leads me to...

Wasted Potential

Personally, I think Kora could make a much more convincing villain if they gave her a stronger stance and with more definitive motives. In fact, I genuinely think that she has the makings of a modern, superhero Lady Macbeth. Let me rewrite Kora for a little bit to show you what I mean.

The Suicide Scene Instead of her committing suicide out of worry or fear, have her commit suicide out of defiance. How?, you might ask. By using her own power to kill herself. It would be a lot more impressive if she was using her power to destroy herself. This would be a show of defiance, against Jiaying and Afterlife: using the tool they gave her to destroy herself. And it really proves and even foreshadows the path she will later choose for her power: destruction of order. AND it makes her buying into Nathaniel’s promises of power and anarchy a lot more convincing. ALSO it would make JiaYing’s leaving Afterlife in the OG timeline a lot more compelling and natural. Of course JiaYing would leave a place that bestows powers that caused death to her daughter - another reason why she should eventually seek solace and marry a human later.

Scenes with Nathaniel

I think a very effective way to prove that Kora can think for herself would be for her to have a scene of conflict with Nathaniel, one in which if she doesn’t come out on top, at least rattles him or changes his plan. This would really establish them as equals rather than superior/inferior. It will also take away from some of her complete subservience to Nathaniel, which I find pretty annoying and contradictory for someone to claims to have been awakened from their so-called childhood brainwashing.

Scenes with SHIELD

I thought her scenes with SHIELD were pretty good actually, especially where she confronts May and Coulson about SHIELD’s “methods”. I also liked her scene with Daisy, which really highlighted their differences. I only wish she had been able to talk more about what she actually wanted to have in place of SHIELD rather than attacking May/Coulson personally. Examples like Bahrain are slightly overused at this point. Surely the writers could have found more evidence for SHIELD’s less than spotless record?

TLDR;;

I know this was more of a word jumble than something properly structured lmao but here’s just some closing thoughts. I think the writers were aiming to create an emotional and in-depth villain in Kora: someone who is deeply hurt and misguided, but has enough power to become a threat. However, probably due to the lack of time, they didn’t have enough time to continuously develop Kora’s character. Especially considering they brought back young John Garrett, they really didn’t have enough time to explore all the links that make Kora SUCH a special villain (Jiaying’s daughter, Daisy’s sister, just to name a few). Adding on to the fact that they needed a way for the Chronicoms/destruction of SHIELD plot to work, they probably didn’t think of smoothing over all the details, which results in a rather half-baked villain. That being said, we still have two more eps to go, so hopefully things will get better from here for Kora.

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ageofevermore · 4 years

Text

Loved You Too Late

Summery: in which Daisy and Charlotte Johnson love their mother after it’s too late.

Pairings: Charlotte Johnson x Daisy Johnson (platonic!)

Words: 5.3k

Warnings: canon violence from 7x10, definite spoilers if you haven’t seen the newest episode, death, blood, violence, brief mention of gun violence, brief mention of suicidal actions

masterlist

As a child, she would live vicariously through the animated stories she preached on the doorstep of a rundown New York orphanage. Her sisters hand was always tightly pinched between her fingers, and alone in a projected fantasy, she would paint the scene. The story always began with a reunion, the description of a women that could walk on water with eyes of pure chocolate.

She ran with her delusions until she was sixteen years old, and the rundown streets of New York reared it's ugly head in her direction. She was a lonely kid, having nobody but her pessimistic chocolate eyed sister to confide in, and even then Daisy wasn't the best listener. She would rather be off with her head in a computer, creating algorithms that could surely incriminate them both, then paying attention to Charlotte as she pictured a day when they weren't orphans.

When the twins were twenty-two, a burning building collapsed and within the madness their eyes locked on the fragile frame of a desperate single father. Neither one of them had expected to be found out by two men in suits just hours afterwards and brought to a plane where their chosen family unknowingly awaited for their arrival.

Being twins did nothing for their similarities, or lack thereof, despite the preconceived notion surrounding same gender multiples. Charlotte was light eyed, Daisy was dark. Charlotte loved the prospect of a screen free life; Daisy spent her days trying to advance technology. What truly set the two apart was their draw to authoritative figures, and lovers.

Grant Ward was not Charlotte's cup of tea, neither was Phil Coulson. She had found quickly that she would much rather be sat in the cockpit beside a stone faced Melinda, than wandering in circles around the jet with an overexcited Coulson and brooding Agent Ward. Growing up, Daisy was the only damage control Charlotte had ever known. It wasn't often the light eyed twin got her hopes and dreams smothered beneath bad news and storm clouds, but she was easily mislead by the world and it's true intents.

When the twins were eighteen, they had been broken apart by boys and loneliness. Daisy vowed to never let her sister fall so far again, but everything had piled up quickly once they joined forces with shield. Grant Ward tried to kill Charlotte. He sent Fitz and Simmons plunging to the depths of the endless ocean. He broke Daisy's heart into a million pieces and months later had the persistence to try and win it back through pity and childhood trauma.

As if that wasn't enough to dampen the happiness Charlotte was finding with Agent May and the Shield team, her sister fell in love again and made friends with a man named Trip who only lived to see the inside of a stone cocoon before crumbling at Daisy's feet. Weeks later, with new combined powers of a hurricane, Daisy and Charlotte faced the monster of a women who had once been an angel with guarded hearts and past trauma locked away. Lincoln was a man who had lived to see the break of day above the earths surface, but like every man the twins had loved before he met an untimely death and left them with more scars to bare daily.

For a while, after the death of Jiaying at the hands of Calvin, the twins returned to their bubble of self protection. Charlotte clung to Daisy, and Daisy turned her attention to computer programing. Nothing got better for them from their, they just lived with the pain they were bound to encounter. Maybe they weren't meant to find stability or content. The life of an orphan was never one filled with sunshine, rather wilting bushes of thorns.

Never did Charlotte think her mother would be circulating the current conversation as a lively variable, but she hadn't expected to be living in 1980 either.

"--Leaving this Mallick unleashed on the world could have irreparable consequences. He's taken control of afterlife, we have to get it back." Daisy and Charlotte walked into the endings of a rant delivered by Coulson, his expression blank as he stared down at the flashing computer console.

Mack nodded in agreement to Coulson's game plan, his shoulders square and frame stood tall as he subconsciously clenched his fists. It was a sight that would have made Charlotte months ago, but that was before they were sent spiraling through space and time and forced to go through groundhogs day which only ended with the death of another friend. "Starting with his hostages."

"And protecting Jiaying at all costs." Coulson nodded to Mack's addition, neither one of them noticing how Charlotte's face fell and she desperately clutched onto the hem of her soft pink shirt. Daisy noticed her sisters apprehension though, shuffling over so their limbs were side by side and Charlotte wasn't left standing on her own feeling less then seen.

"Simmons, can you send our coordinates to her watch?" Mack asked the loyal agent, his dark chocolate gaze fixed and pointedly avoiding Charlotte's devastated features, "On it." The British agent replied with a curt glance at her best friends faces.

"I don't think it's a good idea to bring her here." Daisy stuttered, speaking up for herself and Charlotte after realizing her younger twin was shocked speechless by the rapidly declining turn of events. Charlotte was sweet, sensitive to the purest of indifference. The world was crumbling beneath her feet for the third time, but now neither Fitz or Enoch was their to ground her.

Coulson sighed, but didn't have to think about his response as he looked the twins over with paternal pain in his robotic blue eyes. "I hear you," He began, "but we can't lose anymore parents."

"This is about protecting your existence." Mack fed into Coulson's bullshit excuse, his shoulders still squared and only tensing the sadder Charlotte's light eyes got. She was the glue that held the entire operation together, and seeing her so distraught by the return of her mother who had once been a daydream and a nightmare, nobody wanted to go through with a plan that could potentially cause her harm. Especially not Coulson and May who looked at the twins as their own kids.

"Aside from May and Yo-Yo, Jiaying doesn't know us. We could minimize what we tell her. Nothing about her future, her power, or you, her--"

"Daughters?" Charlotte asked, her gaze twitching between May and Coulson who were breaking beneath the weight of her heavy sadness. Charlotte wasn't a good Agent. Not when the mission was personal, and she tended to always make things personal. She loved hard, and she felt deeply. She could turn her words to lightning, but nothing could stop the shatter of her heart every time the world worked against her.

May's sigh was audible as she looked between Charlotte and Daisy. Her lips were curled downwards, only adding to the black pit that was gnawing at not only Charlotte's nerve but her patience. "Um, Lottie, there's one other thing. At Afterlife, there was a women--"

Whatever May planned to tell the twins was drowned out by the sound of crackling electricity and a strobe of circular blue light. Charlotte gripped onto Daisy's hand, the both of them fearfully turning towards the source of intrusion. Daisy's face was completely blank whereas Charlotte's told a story of a hundred heartbreaks.

"That was fast." Jemma mumbled, coming to stand by Charlotte's side. She noticed the twins interlocked fingers, and how tightly they clung to each other, but now wasn't the time to vocalize how they weren't alone. Jemma knew all to well that in the face of trauma Charlotte and Daisy couldn't help but feel like it was them against the world.

"He's hunting us."

"My people need protection." Jiaying stepped forward, angling her body in a manor that protectively shielded Gordon. Charlotte flinched at the sight, not knowing her mother to be a women of such thoughtless heroism. The women she spent sixteen years animatedly dreaming about had turned into a nightmare with a murderous past. She wasn't usually one for grudges, but Jiaying didn't sit easy on her memory.

"Leave that to us." May stepped forward as well, her body not before both Daisy and Charlotte as she squared up to Jiaying. May was short, and it was comical to Charlotte how most people found her intimidating, but she didn't have the heart to smile at the sight of May being protective. She felt sick, to leave it simply.

"I don't know who you people are, and somehow you knew how to find me." Jiaying argued peacefully, her voice level and irritatingly calm. She was nowhere near the same violent women Charlotte remembered, but she still had thirty years of heartbreak and misfortune to become cold and murderous.

"We needed your help." Elena tried to reason from the staircase, her gaze pleading for cooperation on Jiaying and Gordon's behalf. "And then you led that man right to our front door!" Jiaying argued without fault, tone clenched and rightfully angered from her own unknowing perspective.

Charlotte flinched when Daisy squeezed her fingers tightly, bracing herself with the courage to speak up and converse with their mother before she becomes a monster after blood. "We're not your enemies." She tried to reason, "We save Inhumans. He wants to take their gifts. That's how he got his."

"Is that even possible?" Jiaying asked, eyes fluttered beneath the weight of Daisy's words. Charlotte, who was still shaken up and healing from their adventurous excursion shifted between her feet uneasily.

"It is." Charlotte weakly responded, looking towards the floor to avoid Jiaying's shocked expression turned in her general direction. She could feel the strings of a panic attack tightening in her stomach, and she knew the telltale signs were visible on her tense features, but now was not the time to run away and mutter breathing exercises beneath her breath. She's an agent of shield for fucks sake, she can't always run and hide.

"That could kill them." Jiaying turned to whisper to Gordon within the same beat that Yo-Yo advanced towards Coulson and Mack, "If I can get in, I can get them out without being seen. I got my power back - thanks to you."

"And if you get taken, you could lose it again, and then you give it to --" May's argument was dismantled by Coulson's thoughtless proposal, "I'll go. Scout a point of attack. You said 'be me.' This me is disposable, if I get caught --"

"You are not disposable!" Charlotte argued in the same breath as Mack, the two sharing a distraught glance when their eyes met and the weight of Coulson's words brushed against their hearts.

"Recyclable then, minimal risk." Coulson correction, and Gordon stepped forward, accepting the suggestion, "I can take him in."

"I can't allow that." Jiaying counter claimed, her eyes kind and caring as she turned towards Gordon with a look neither Daisy or Charlotte had ever personally received. The twins shuddered visible, their sadness understandable. "It's the easiest way. I know the layout. I'll drop him somewhere secret and then go." Gordon insisted.

Jiaying didn't pose another argument, though her posture quivered as she backed down from Gordon reluctantly. Mack didn't waste another moment though, shoulders squaring slightly, "Alright. We'll fly close in the Quinjet. You and Gordon drop in, do recon, and find the prisoners. Then Yo-Yo and I will go in."

"I'm going with you." Jiaying offered, stepping forward again and closer towards Mack. She was desperate at this point, clearly feeling like the world was falling apart beneath her fingertips. Charlotte wished she could sympathize, but she was overrun with petty emotions and tribulations.

"We need you alive." Coulson argued with a straight face and entangled hands. Daisy and Charlotte had still yet to let go of each others embrace, instead inching impossibly closer as the seconds ticked by and they were still stunned by their mothers soft presence. "Your people need you to lead."

"I have to get her back." Jiaying pleaded. "Kora wont listen to you. Maybe I can talk some sense into her!" Jiaying pleaded, and it was then Charlotte and Daisy noticed the glances being thrown their way. May was tense, breath hitching when Jiaying went off on her protective tangent. Elena was just looking between the women in red and the girl in pink with friendly worry.

"But if she sees you, it can provoke her. A-And then everyone's at risk." May spoke softly. It was a tone usually reserved for Charlotte, the women having a hard time turning off her emotions when in the presence of the younger Johnson twin.

"They're right. We can't risk it." Gordon blindly shook his head, tilting his chin down in the direction of Jiaying.

"I'll stay," Jiaying defeatedly surrendered, "but you have to bring back my daughter."

As a child, she had imagined what it would be like to reunite with her parents. She had spoken to Daisy for years about the wonder that is their mysterious history. She was sure they had family somewhere in the world, not wanting to think that they were entirely alone in the world, but she wasn't sure to what extent their bloodline ran. Never had she expected to have both a lively, and murderous, mother and father, or an older sister lost amongst time and unfortunate meetings.

"What the hell, Mel!" Charlotte cried as she followed Melinda May through the maze of computer circuits and paneling. Her eyes were brimmed with hot pools that dared to spill at a moments notice as the gears in her head continued to turn. The women she had just witnessed was in no way the same as the mother she had mourned. "Did it just slip your mind that we have a sister?"

There was a broken edge to Charlotte's question that had May faltering and spinning around on her heels. Charlotte had never been the type to demand answers, but it was clear this particular secret had struck her the wrong way. It was a side of her that nobody at Shield had ever witnessed, and May never wanted to hear that broken edge again. "We were trying not to be swallowed by a time storm."

"Were you purposefully trying to keep us in the dark?" Daisy took over, seeing the dangerous gleam of tears in Charlotte's eyes, "Is this some weird way of trying to protect us?"

"No." May breathed deeply, grabbing at Charlotte's arm and pulling the girl farther down the hallway with Daisy close behind. "No, but Kora is volatile. She already tried to kill your mother."

Daisy sighed, looking defeatedly between Charlotte and the empty space behind the lot of them, "She just never said about a sister, another kid."

"It's possible that Kora wasn't alive." May revealed, watching as Charlotte's face sunk and the tears that had gathered slipped down her cheeks like a river leading to the soft gates of heaven. "When we were at Afterlife, she stole a gun from a guard, and I think she intended to use it on herself. But Nathaniel got to her. I think in the original timeline she --"

"She went through with it." Daisy shuddered, her mind racing back to the moments in New York when Charlotte had been close to the same fate. "Which is why my mom would have left Afterlife to go do charity work and meet our dad --"

"We can't go down that hole right now, Daisy." Mack startled Charlotte as he came up behind the two of them, his eyes softening when he watched Charlie desperately shake the tears from her eyes.

"Let me go with you." Daisy projected the offer, eyes wide and hopeful at the thought of meeting said older sister.

"No." Mack shook his head before walking closer to the twins, "We need you and your mother to survive. You're staying put."

"Don't tell me it's because I'm not 100% because I feel fine." Daisy argued, looking between Mack and May with bleeding desperation, the complete opposite of what Charlotte felt. Then again to reiterate the minuscule similarities, one was dressed in soft pink and the other was clad in black leather.

"You're not going." Mack didn't back down, "This isn't time for that family reunion. We promised your mom we'd save Kora."

"If she can be saved."

Charlotte had been less then thrilled to be pulled away from her room by an overly anxious Daisy. She had been laying in bed paralyzed with guilt and sorrow for a few hours, feeling less then alone with the continual chimes of her wrist watch. Her team members were looking for her, and yet she didn't have the energy to face them and plaster a fake smile onto her lips as to not worry them in the moment.

Daisy hadn't told her where they were going, but her stomach was churning with common knowledge. Charlotte should have been over the moon, always having been the one to idolize a day with their mother, but knowing the course of Jiaying's life and having just barely healed from the trauma, she wasn't sure she could do it all again willingly.

"Tell me there's news." Jiaying begged the minute her unhardened chocolate eyes met the approaching frame of her twins. Charlotte was sure her face was blotchy from tears, but she had no standards for how she approached her murderous dead mother who was instead alive and kind.

"I'm sorry, nothing yet." Sousa sadly shook his head, the apology only worrying Jiaying more.

Daisy and Charlotte were frozen, childhood dreams and adult traumas collected in their vivid memory. They weren't ready for this, and yet they had no choice but to take what was given to them by the 1980's.

"I knew this was a mistake." Jiaying sighed, ringing her hands together nervously as her mind bounced between the status of Kora and Gordon. "I never should have agreed to this."

"You can trust us." Daisy promised, cutting off her nervous babble and beginning steps of a familiar pace. Charlotte did the same when she was nervous, and her chest tightened at the thought of what other traits she could share with this version of her unharmed mother.

"Trust you?" She gasped, "I don't know anything about you! And no one will tell me anything." Her voice got softer as she went, chocolate eyes growing sad at the turn of events.

"We just want to help." Charlotte softly broke to Jiaying, "Afterlife is important to us, too."

"You don't know that first thing about it." Jiaying mumbled, truly believing her words because she was equipped with no further proof or memory.

There was a beat of silence before Sousa spoke up abruptly, "They've been there." Charlotte and Daisy looked at him with wide eyes, not expecting him to openly blurt such compromising intel.

"Before your friends showed up we'd never had an outsider find us!" Jiaying argued. Sousa shook his head fondly, eyeing the twins with a smirk that held all of their worth, "They're no outsiders. Go on. Show her."

Daisy and Charlotte breathed in sharply, shaking a glance before raising their respective arms. Charlotte had always favored her left when channeling their powers, while Daisy had taken instantly to her right. With a breath Daisy rattled the glass of water sitting on the computer table, and Charlotte summoned a bolt of lightning from the electrical outlet just beyond. With another calculated exhale she shot the harvested bolt back towards the water, listening to to the sizzling crack as the water warmed and boiled, and a ring of black settled on the rim of the glass.

"The perfect storm." Jiaying mumbled, looking over the twins with astonishment. "Where did you learn that?" She asked, looking back and forth between Charlotte and Daisy with amazement.

"From you." The older of the twins broke softly, "In Afterlife. In thirty years. We're from the future, and I know how that sounds, but its...it's the truth." Charlotte wasn't sure what she would do if Jiaying didn't believe them. It wasn't easy to go along the word of somebody who cries time traveler.

"I, um..." Jiaying looked down, closing her eyes tightly before reopening them and glancing up at Charlotte, "I had a feeling I...I knew you. There's something...so familiar. Your gift, it's a lot like...Nathaniel took that from you."

Daisy and Charlotte both nodded, "It almost killed us."

"It's knowledge of the future that lead him to us, that he used to warp Kora's mind and turn her against me." Jiaying looked down at the console of outdated computers, her kind chocolate eyes conflicted.

Charlotte stepped closer to her mother, fueling Daisy's confidence as she followed. The two had done everything together since they were babies, they'd damned if that stopped now in the presence of their mother. A mother who hadn't even birthed them yet. "Where you close with her?" Charlotte asked softly.

"Inseparable." Jiaying recalled fondly, "She clung to my leg the first three years. Shy, sweet girl."

"What changed?" Charlotte asked softly. Jiaying frowned for a moment, looking over the girl clad in pink. She was so similar to her Kora. Soft spoken, sensitive. It only amplified her feeling of familiarity.

"Terrigenesis. I thought she was ready, but, Kora lost control. There were accidents. The more I tried to help, the more she pulled away.

"That must be hard." Daisy nodded thoughtfully. Charlotte was speechless beside her sister. This was the women she had dreamed about for sixteen years. A women made of fairytales and soft chocolate eyes ready to sweep them away from the clutches of abuse and neglect. This women didn't exist anymore, tarnished by the harsh hand of murder. "Being so close to someone and not being able to reach them."

Charlotte and Daisy had unconsciously grabbed onto each other, standing before Jiaying and Sousa with entangled hands and trembling strength. "That others - they wanted her gone, but they don't see what I do. Kora has a good heart. She's worth saving."

"Well, she's lucky to have you." Daisy smiled softly, wishing that it had been her and Charlotte to experience such a tender and kind Jiaying. She envied the sister who had thrown it all away to feel powerful. "My power has allowed me to live a long life. I used to think it was my greatest gift, but I was wrong. It was her." Charlotte swore her heart stopped beating. Her face fell, the grip on Daisy's hand growing slack when she was overcome with petulant anger and jealousy for Kora. "Um, sorry. Did I say something?"

Charlotte shook her head sadly, "Growing up, we never knew our mom. And when we finally found her, she wasn't who I hoped she would be." Her eyes were glassy as Jiaying stepped forward. Charlotte fought against every natural instinct in her body, not wanting to flinch away from an embrace that had once tried to kill her but was now so sweet.

"She hurt you." Jiaying concluded, laying her palm softly against Charlotte's cheek. There was no forceful pull from deep inside of her. Her powers were still her own and the life wasn't being extracted through the soft contact. Everything about this women was different. "I can't speak to your mothers reasons, but for me, sometimes trying to do the right thing comes out all wrong."

In that moment Charlotte forgot about all the pain knowing her mother had caused. She loved this version of Jiaying, who hadn't been broken down by mass tragedy. It was a side she never thought a monster could wear, forgetting the monsters aren't born, they're made.

"Daisy, do you copy? Charlotte come in!"

Charlotte and Daisy scrambled for the walkie-talkie sitting on the computer console, eyes still glassy but hearts not as heavy with thick emotions of trauma. "Mel?" Charlotte answered.

"John Garrett's here with Nathaniel, and they have Gordon's powers. Get Jiaying someplace safe." May instructed, fighting off her own maternal instincts when she heard how thick and scratchy Charlotte's voice was. The poor girl thought she was good at masking how she felt, but she was still a painted cavass uncovered to the public.

"We have to go." Daisy seethed. Charlotte led Jiaying out of the room and down the hall with Daisy at her side, knowing it was better if Sousa didn't follow along. They were already a tight cluster, easily identified because of their numbers, they didn't need to put another agent in danger.

They walked briskly down the hall, trying to get their mother to safety, but that failed when Nathaniel stood in the break of a hallway dressed in his eerie black leather coat. His were tucked into his pocket, feigning innocence, but Charlotte and Daisy took no chances. The twins stepped before Jiaying, arms raised and powers at the ready to strike.

"Don't shoot." Came his monotone voice, hands raised in the air pathetically. Charlotte's eyes crackled with electricity, the soft broke of her eyes overtaken by bolts of white lightning. Charges of manifested energy crack at her fingertips, sending a warmth up her arms and down her legs. "The three of us in here, you want to bring the whole of rivers end down on our heads?"

"Give me a reason." Daisy challenged, while Charlotte just scoffed at Nathaniel. She hadn't the patience to deal with a man as entitled as himself.

"Where's Kora?" Jiaying worried for the safety of her daughter, not knowing that beside her were two of her own creations, "What have you done with her?"

"Sorry, Kora couldn't make it. But she sends her best." Nathaniel played cheekily, stepping closer to the trio who was easily on edge awaiting the next shoe to drop. "And don't you look at me like that. You still have Charlotte and Daisy. Isn't two daughters enough?"

Charlotte's strength faltered for a moment in the face of the reveal, looking over at Jiaying with worry before forcing her eyes back towards Nathaniel to avoid unnecessary heartbreak.

"Oh, you didn't know." Nathaniel laughed menacingly, watching as Jiaying stopped to fully glance at the twins. They were undeniably sisters, but the faint traces of her in their nose and lips was subtle and breathtaking, "Wow, it's like a season finale of Dallas around here."

"I'm sorry." Charlotte whispered, she wasn't even sure if Jiaying could heart her over the tremble of heartbreak in her whispered words. She was shaking her head, trying to rid the tears from around her eyes. Bolts of lightning flashed through her irises, reminding Jiaying fondly of a younger Kora. "What you said about your mother, you were talking about me." Jiaying pieced together, looking horrified by the thought.

"It's okay." Daisy nodded her head, having forgiven Jiaying hours ago. The women she had become was horrible, but it was a result of endless pain and torment. This was the mother she wanted to remember for years in advance. The mother she wanted to be for her own kids.

"I hurt you? But I would never--"Jiaying had tried to find a reason in her mind as to what could have led her down a path of such horrible actions, but Nathaniel beat her to it, "It's actually a riveting story. See, Hydra just cuts you all to bits. You're left for dead, your power stolen. That part, you all have in common now, "Nathaniel laughed menacingly, hardly caring for the violent shudder his words provoked from Charlotte of the single bolt of lightning that zapped past his head and struck the wall. "Daisy grows up alone. Sad. Charlotte tries to kill herself at fourteen. Kind of like Kora. They find you eventually, you're all militant and they're with shield."

"Stop it." Charlotte's voice trembles, her eyes pinched together tightly to prevent bolts of strategized lightning from striking Daisy and Jiaying at her sides. She usually had impeccable control, but nothing was as it should be it seems.

"You're on opposite sides." Nathaniel doesn't stop, not like Charlotte thought he would in the first place, "So you start to drain the life out of them. You almost succeeded with Charlotte too, she just had to save her big sister." He taunted Charlotte, his eyes watching as she overheated, close to combustion from how harshly she was trying to block out the memories. "It's working, you're about to kill her, but guess who steps in to crush your spine. Dear old --"

"Enough!" Charlotte and Daisy plead together. The lights flicker overhead, a bolt of lightning and crack of vibrations shooting out towards Nathaniel and knocking him on his ass. Charlotte was heaving heavily, overcome with a burning desire to set Nathaniel Mallick ablaze.

"Nice Quake! I give it a B." Nathaniel shrugged as he stood from the ground, eyes burning darkly as he stared the twins down. "Definitely room for improvement." He threw his arm out, a concentrated vibration sweeping both girls off of their feet and sending them towards the wall made of metal pipes. Charlotte squeaked as she made contact with the floor, a rim of red soaking through the soft pink of her shirt. "If you haven't done the math, I've had these powers a lot longer then you both have."

Daisy and Charlotte watched from the floor, breathing heavily as their already injured bodies tried to compensate for another harsh force. Jiaying's face hardened at the sight of blood falling from Charlotte's nose. Tightly she wrapped her hand around Nathaniel's neck when he walked past her, draining the life from his body without second thought, "Leave my daughters alone."

"Stay back. I won't say it again." Nathaniel seethed after he rammed his elbow into Jiaying's side and sent her stumbling back into the concrete of the wall. Jiaying didn't listen though, it was never her specialty, and protectively she reared forward in motherly defiance.

"Mom, no!" Charlotte gasped, but it was too late, a stream of angered vibrations was sent towards Jiaying, paralyzing her for a moment before Nathaniel smirked wickedly. Feeling the energy of the room at his fingertips, he summoned a bolt of electricity towards Jiaying. Her neck snapped to the side beneath the vibrations, and to ensure she was dead before the eyes of her daughter he struck her heart with the syphoned electricity.

Charlotte cried out painfully, writhing on the ground beside Daisy in a fit of absolute hysterics. Her fists pounded on the concrete, creating pools of blood that only smeared against her cheeks when she fervently wiped at the rivers of tears falling from her eyes. Echoing shrieks shattered Daisy's eardrums as she watched their mother fall silently. She didn't know what to say whereas Charlotte didn't know how to stop screaming.

"No!" She sobbed over and over again, startling Nathaniel who hadn't seen the girl so broken apart even with his knowledge of the future. For a minute he faltered, listening to her high pitched wails, but all it caused was a wide smirk to play on his lips when he collected his bearings. "Well, I guess she won't live forever. And you won't live at all." He smirked wickedly.

Charlotte and Daisy were overcome with grief, rising from the ground with flickering lights and rumbling floors as their entourage. Charlotte's eyes were encased with a fiery white glow, purple bolts zapping from her fingers and shocking Nathaniel. Daisy was no better, face contorted into pained concentration. Electricity cracked around them, but before they could make a calculated attack Melinda May came to their defense.

A gunshot echoed around the hall, having struck Nathaniel in the shoulder. Charlotte fell the to ground, gasping and crying out for air and for life to return to her mother. May froze for a moment, eyes watching as Charlotte Johnson broke completely, having learned to love her mother too late.

For hours they sat on the floor of the lighthouse, hands entertained as their mothers lifeless body laid in their embrace. Her eyes were a light chocolate color, void of any emotion. She never lived a life of murder and manipulation. Never was ripped apart and used by Hydra. She was an innocent claimed as collateral. She was an Inhuman, an ally, a mother.

She had once been a mother whose daughters had loved her too late.

#agents of shield #Daisy Johnson #melinda may #jaiying #phil coulson #alphonso mackenzie #jemma simmons #leo fitz #elena rodriguez #deke shaw #quake #avengers #marvel #fuck season 7 #give me 10 more #i dont want this shit to end

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