You're On Your Own, Kid

More Lincoln

Coulson got a text from Cal the next day about Lincoln, and he found and edited a SHIELD file with his real identity.

Lincoln Campbell was still Lincoln Campbell, but he was from Ohio. He had a history of drinking problems and anger issues, stemming from a family all with ADHD, which makes the addiction issues sometimes harder. Mix in some depression and anxiety, self esteem issues and a drunk driving accident, he was the perfect person to 'save' and turn into a student at SHIELD.

"When he came, he didn't have any powers," the text from Cal read. "When he left, he had almost complete control over his new powers, and he listened to every word that came out of my wife's mouth. They call each other every week."

Coulson had thanked Cal and told him to get away from his wife as soon as possible, before settling down to finish his report.

Daisy, on the other hand, was up and ready to train again, despite it being 5:45 AM. She went downstairs with a mug of steaming coffee and a handful of Oops! All Berries that she chewed and swallowed as she stepped down the stairs into the basement before doing her morning stretches.

This was routine now, not even too difficult as she's been doing it every day for a month. She's much more flexible compared to the start of September, and she'd like to think she's become stronger. Her reflexes are quicker. She could almost do the splits.

Daisy stuffed her earbuds in and turned on her endless supply of fast-paced classical music as she stretched. She was almost done by the time May came downstairs.

"You know, I said 6 for a reason," her SO said as she helped the cadet up. "You don't have to wake up at 5:30."

"I know," Daisy replied, accepting the proffered water bottle. "I need the structure anyway."

"You sleep at 1 in the morning, Daisy," May chided. "That's not good for your health."

"I'll sleep earlier then," she said. Daisy pressed the heels of her palm to her temples and sighed. "What are we working on this morning?"

"We're finishing up hand to hand," May said. "Grab the mat and the dummies."

Daisy did as she was told and the two sparred as soon as she finished setting up. May won, of course.

"You're getting better," the agent said. "It's taking me longer, so you're doing much better. Remember the first couple days?"

Daisy thought back to the first training session and saw the mental image of a ceiling and her legs screaming in pain after one kick from May. "How could I forget?" she asked dryly. "Dummies next?"

"Yeah."

Daisy set them up along the wall and they began again, this time with May attacking her with the end goal as having all the dummies down on the floor and May more or less subdued.

The dummies were down by the time they finished, but May was fine, though she was breathing harder than she was before, and her heart rate was elevated, which Daisy noted with satisfaction.

"What do you say, May? Am I ready to move on?" the cadet asked as she cleared up.

"Oh, you were ready last week," May replied as she typed up the session report without looking at her. "I just wanted to make sure you were good at it before I give you the next unit."

"Which is?" Daisy prompted.

"Weaponry." May turned off her phone and looked at the girl. "I'll be giving you marksmanship lessons, how to accurately use a knife, poison, improv, etcetera. You can already quake very well, but I want you to be able to do other things in the event that you cannot or will not use your powers."

Daisy nodded. "Are we starting today?"

"After you get off from school."

"Okay," the cadet said. "Is it okay that Simmons sits in? She wants to watch me sweat; her words. And some heart rate study for her biology class."

"Sure," May replied. "As long as she's not in the way."

"She won't." Daisy grabbed her mug. "I'm gonna go get ready for school. You want me to get Coulson for you?"

"I woke him up already, so he should probably be making breakfast," May said. "If he isn't, tell him to."

"Copy that." Daisy swung upstairs and smelled bacon. "Morning, Dad." She dropped her mug in the sink. "Bacon me."

Coulson handed her a strip of bacon. "Good morning, Daisy. Did you finally beat May?"

"No," she replied, mouth full. "But she said I did good so I'll take that over anything."

"I'm proud of you, kid." Coulson patted her shoulder as she got up. "School's in half an hour, you're driving."

Daisy rolled her eyes and went to take a shower and change into her uniform. Some mornings, such as this one, she admired herself in the mirror. The uniform was simple and beautiful. It was just a plain navy button-up shirt and any type of bottom as long as it was semi-formal and it matched. Today, Daisy picked out her royal blue pinafore and hoped for the best. She grabbed her keys and her backpack and headed downstairs to debate over her shoes.

"Suede or leather?" Daisy asked Coulson, who was also by the shoe rack wondering about his shoes.

He looked her up and down. "Suede." The agent produced two almost identical pairs of black dress shoes. "Which matches better, do you think?"

"The darker one," May interjected, coming down the stairs. "Trust me."

Coulson had that little smile on his face. "Okay," he said. "I trust you."

Daisy looked between the two with a semi-disgusted look on her face. "Get a room," she muttered. "I'm gonna go start the car. Whatever you're going to do to each other, do it quickly and after I'm gone."

-

"Are you clear on your instructions, Lincoln?"

Lincoln chewed his lip apprehensively. "I'm not sure this is the right way to go about it, though," he said hesitantly. "Daisy- it doesn't seem like the sort of thing she'd go along with."

"She will, trust me." The caller sighed in a disappointed tone. "You do trust me, don't you? After everything we've been through?"

He swallowed down his fear. "Yes, ma'am."

"Lincoln, don't call me ma'am if you can avoid it." There was a slight edge to the caller's voice, and Lincoln flinched away from the phone, even though he and the person on the other end of the line were continents apart. "You have until June. We need her here by her birthday, and you know you've already squandered September and half of October to mooning over her. Do your part, Lincoln, and we'll all be happy. Remember our cause?"

"She's safer with us than with SHIELD," Lincoln replied quietly.

"And?"

"Daisy is the key to our plan, and she's in danger."