The Avenger's Soul

A Fractured House

Daisy's POV

"5:30 on the dot every morning," I heard Jemma say as she stood over my shoulder as I sat watching a live feed of Ward. "But there's no clock, no light, no way he can know what time it is."

"You've been watching him?" I asked, slightly surprised.

"Every day before I left, every day since I got back. I don't know how you do it, going down there, talking to him," she commented. I frowned. Being in the same room as him made my skin crawl.

"Sacrifices we make for valuable intel, right?" I told her with a shrug, trying to play it off.

"Yeah," she replied, seeing right through me considering she had just gotten back from her own assignment.

"Jemma Simmons, undercover at HYDRA," I said, shaking my head.

Simmons gave me a shy smile.

"I thought I was a dead woman at least four times," she confessed.

"I'm glad you're not," I replied.

"Me too."

We shared a smile then look back at the monitor.

"Be careful with him, Daisy."

Before I could respond, the door behind us opened.

"I am," I reassured her as we spotted a very pissed off looking May enter the area shrugging on her jacket and heard an alarm sounding out.

"What's happening?" I asked worriedly.

"There's been an attack on the U. N."

*****

"No, this is HDYRA looking for revenge. Best guess, Daniel Whitehall had his people impersonate Shied to put the world's attention back on us," Coulson informed us as he pulled down a coffee mug from the shelves in the kitchen area.

"So much for staying in the shadows," I said.

He held up the mug he's holding, which had a picture of "Grumpy Cat" with the words "I hate Mondays" on it.

"Somebody bring this from home?" He asked, not that anybody answered. "I want you two scouring government channels, see what we're up against," he instructed Trip and I.

"On it, sir," Trip replied. I turned to follow him out but Coulson stopped me.

"Daisy, this means the alien writing –" he started to say.

"Back burner," I finished for him with a nod.

"Just until we get this under control."

*****

"Mr. Beckers, if you want to welcome Shield at your borders with open arms, be my guest, but this infestation needs to be exterminated," Christian Ward was saying on the tv monitor.

"Guess being a douche-bag runs in the family," I commented as I crossed my arms.

"Are you surprised?" Coulson asked with raised eyebrows. He turned away from the TV heading back to his desk.

"Ward's brother never cared about Shield before," I commented.

"Not openly," Coulson hinted.

"Yeah, but Hunter said that Talbot was working with a Senator who had deep pockets. You think it's him?" I asked.

"I do," Coulson confirmed. He picked up his tablet and hit a button. The TV screens were swept aside for a map of the globe which showed small blue dots. He walked back around the desk to stand next to me. "Months rebuilding and this is Shield. Few operatives here, not many more out there. If Senator Ward's proposal passes –"