TAHLIA COLE + JACK COLE
(DAISY JOHNSON + PHIL COULSON)
PG-13 | COMPLETE
It was like the Framework v.2 and Daisy really wasn’t a fan. This time around, she didn’t have Jemma as her partner in crime, but the decision to tell Coulson the truth about what was going on here was strangely reminiscent. He hadn’t exactly been an instant believer the first time around, but COS had made them both think she was his actual daughter. That felt a hell of a lot less weird than being engaged to Ward and she hoped it would earn her a little more trust when she told him the truth about their lives here and back in Atlantis.
Letting herself into the house she shared with May - otherwise known as Mom, which totally wasn’t weird at all - she called out for him. “Co- Dad, are you home?”
"Kitchen!" he called. Which was usually where he could be found if he wasn't at the university or library or some war museum. There was something soothing about cooking and baking for him and now that it was fall, it was definitely pie season. (Well, it was always pie season, but pumpkin and apple were on the menu now.)
He stood at the kitchen island, pie crust rolled out in front of him and was cutting out small leaves and vines with a paring knife.
"There's ginger molasses cookies in the cookie jar if you're hungry," he said, not taking his eyes off his work for the moment.
“Nice!” Daisy said, moving to grab a couple. Even if none of this was really real, she clearly remembered the awesomeness of his cookies. She definitely wasn’t passing that offer up.
Cookies in hand, she settled herself on the other side of the counter and summoned some courage. “So, I have to tell you something and it’s going to sound kind of batshit crazy, but I really need you to remember I’m totally not crazy and believe me.”
"Tahlia…" Jack said, looking up and giving his daughter a look and fighting the urge to be overprotective. "Just spit it out. Are you pregnant with an alien baby or something?"
“God, I hope not,” she quipped. Leave it to him to make a joke. At least she hoped it was a joke. Maybe she shouldn’t lead with technically, I’m the one who’s part alien. “But, hey, if you think that could be an actual thing, maybe this won’t sound so crazy.” She could hope.
“None of this is real. Our lives in Breckentale, our names. We’re supposed to be in a place called Atlantis fighting some bad guys that call themselves COS. All of us who ended up in the weird coma the other day? We’re the only ones who remember who all of us really are. You, Ma-uh Mom, we’re SHIELD agents. We’re basically superheroes. So’s Uncle Charlie, he’s an Avenger.” She paused there, knowing she probably sounded insane and that he was either going to want to have her committed or have a lot of questions.
Jack refilled his coffee and offered some to Tahlia. "Tahlia…" He trailed off, glancing worriedly at his daughter as he reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, even though she was probably too old for such fatherly affection. "Is this a side effect from the coma? Darling, you realize how strange that sounds? It sounds like you've been binge reading my old comics…"
Taking the coffee and wishing for something stronger, Daisy nodded. “Yes, I know exactly how crazy it sounds, but it’s true.” Her powers hadn’t fully come back yet, but maybe she had enough to offer him some proof. “Look, just watch,” she said as she held her hand over the coffee and focused. Without her gauntlet, using her powers hurt, but she ignored the pain as she made little ripples in the coffee cup. It was all she could manage at this point - she wasn’t anywhere near her normal strength and could barely do anything at all.
“Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time we’ve had a conversation like this,” she added, “but you believed me before when you didn’t even really know me. I’m asking you to have that same faith in me now, because I know how this sounds, but I promise you it’s the truth.”
"Tahlia…" Jack said, staring at the coffee cup in amazement before his gaze traveled back to his daughter… or whoever this was. He ran a hand over his hair. "Alright.. If this isn't real, what is… Just… start at the beginning…"
For a moment, she thought he might find a way to brush it off. It wasn’t like moving some coffee was all that impressive, not compared to what she normally could do, and he could have easily written it off as a breeze from the AC vents or something. When she saw that look in his eyes that said he believed her, relief swept over her and she nodded.
Starting at the beginning, she gave him the cliffs notes version of their real lives, both as SHIELD agents and their lives in Atlantis. It wasn’t everything, but it was enough to give him a basic idea. “You and May are together at home, too,” she offered, “if that makes you feel any better. And, you know, you’re sort of like the team parents. May’s definitely got the Mom face down in real life.”
It was a lot to take in. And it required more than coffee. He went to the study and came back with a bottle of scotch and poured two glasses, passing one to his daughter. No, his agent. He took a long drink.
“I think May will always have that mom face down. It’s one of her strengths.” He took his glasses off and wiped them, needing time to take all this in.
“I’m not sure anything could make this better.. not that its bad… it’s just a lot to take in. Who else knows?”
“Not very many of us,” she admitted as she held her own glass, taking a quick swallow before adding. “I don’t know all of them, but we’re planning a meeting for tonight. Will you come with me?”
He raised an eyebrow at Tahlia, no, at Daisy before wrapping his arms around her and hugging her close. "Of course I will."
He kissed her forehead. "Can I tell your mo- May?"
Hugging him back and indulging the fatherly kiss before pulling back from him, Daisy hesitated a moment before answering. “Not yet,” she said. “We all agreed to only tell one person. It might be too risky to widen the circle just yet.”
Jack gave her a look. "Whoever she is, you know she'll know I'm hiding something." He had a relatively good poker face, but his wife was somehow always capable of telling when there was something on his mind or something he wasn't telling her.
“I know. At least wait until after the meeting tonight. We can see what everyone else thinks.” In all fairness, it wasn’t only her decision. She couldn’t just decide to tell one more person - or let him do it - without checking with the rest of the group who was awake first. It should be something they all decided together.