Don't Fear The Reaper

Chapter 8

"You're sure about this?" Mack asked.

I huffed, folding my arms under my chest and slumping into the chair. I stared at my brother. Phil gave me a small smile and a nod.

"You confirm everything? Her searches and stuff?" Trip looked over at Daisy.

I started fuming with someone questioning my work. Daisy began to laugh and pointed toward me.

"That girl right there is better than me. I couldn't track her even if I wanted to. She doesn't leave a digital footprint, and I have no idea how she did it," Daisy answered. "You are formidable girl. I bow down to your skills." She gave a sweep of her arms as if bowing.

I smirked. "Thanks."

"What's your handle?" she asked.

"If I tell you that...."

"No one here will rat you out, Firecracker," Lance said.

"That's because you already know it, you wanker," I laughed.

Lance chuckled and winked.

"So, tell us," May said.

"How is it that Lance knows all this stuff about you, but no one else does?" Jemma asked.

Lance and I looked at each other, both shrugging.

"Firecracker and I met up just before Fury recruited her. She was helping me out," Lance said.

"Helping you with what?" Fitz asked.

"Mmm....nothing that either of us will actually talk about. Suffice to say, we kept each other out of trouble," I chuckled.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Bobbi laughed.

I smirked. "Because we like to get into trouble sometimes?"

"No doubt," Bobbi said.

"So, you two met before Fury got to her?" Daisy said.

"Mmmhmm," Lance and I both agreed.

"Does your brother here know what you were up to before joining?" Mack queried.

I snuck a peek at my brother. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure there is alot of things I don't know about my sister. Just like there is stuff she doesn't know about me," Phil shrugged as he refilled his coffee mug.

I snickered. "That's what he thinks." I peeked at Phil from under my lashes.

Phil's mouth dropped open, and everyone else started to laugh.

"Let's get back to the topic at hand. Tell us more about this social worker. What was her name?" May asked as she steered us back to where we needed to be.

"Desdemona Eris," I grumbled and clicked a button to put her face on the screen.

"That woman has been around for how long?" Trip asked. "Cause she doesn't look older than what? Fifty-five tops?"

"She ages like Cher," Phil said.

"Who?" Daisy asked.

Most of us just stared at her.

"What? I'm kidding!" Daisy teased.

"Not funny!" Phil said.

"She was old when she took me, and she hasn't changed much," I said, clicking a button to post a range of pictures to show them.

"Ok, you're proving she ages well, but what else do you have to say she is? What did you say? Eris? Discord, strife, and chaos?" Jemma said.

I nodded. "Right. More than seventy-five percent of the hundreds of kids she has had as a social worker are dead."

"What?!"

"Are you kidding?"

"How is that possible?"

"Simmer down. Let her get through this," Phil said.

"If you want to look more on that stat, I have the list of kids and their deaths. But next up, those left, about fifteen percent, are some sort of criminal, locked up or not being a pillar of society. The last ten percent beat the odds and made something of themselves," I held up my hand. "This woman never showed compassion. How she became a social worker, I'll never understand. But she gets her strength from the emotions and chaos she causes. She places kids with families where she knows they'll be scared, probably mistreated, and even encourages it."

Phil was cringing, knowing I was talking from experience.

"The more kids she had, the more hateful and scared they were or became, and the happier she was. And I admit, I pissed her off."

Chuckles around the room.

"No, surprise there, Firecracker," Lance snickered.

"Either way, she's broken up families, and I plan to stop it. I had Cas confirm my suspicion, and he agreed with me. I have the boys headed this way," I said.

"The Angel did recon for you?" May asked.

"He did."

"Good enough for everyone?" Phil asked.

Nods and sounds of agreement from everyone. Still made me roll my eyes that they trusted the fact that an Angel they had seen once but not me, a fellow Agent of fourteen years. Ugh, it was fucking annoying. Phil winked over at me as though he knew what I was thinking.

"Alright. Knox and I are going to confront her about a few things tomorrow. Not about the fact that she's Eris but that she was a lousy shit-ass social worker," Phil fumed.

I snorted a laugh because he was cursing. Phil usually avoided it, like his idol Captain America, Steve Rogers. Which always amused me to no end, so I cussed that little bit extra just to drive him insane.

The rest of the day was spent gathering intel, training, or just chatting with everyone.