WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 EPISODE 13 (PARTING SHOT) OF AGENTS OF SHIELD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

"So how do you feel?" I asked Daisy. She smiled.

"Better," she replied. "I heard about what you did."

I smiled sheepishly.

   "What did you hear about?" I asked as innocently as possible. She laughed.

   "You know what I'm talking about. How you snuck onto the Zephyr to save Lincoln and I? And got shot? How's your shoulder, by the way?" I sighed.

   "It's fine. And I- I know what I did was stupid...but I wanted to save you and Lincoln." Daisy smiled.

   "Just promise me you'll never do that again."

   "What? Save you? I can't promise that." Daisy rolled her eyes.

   "No. Promise me you won't do anything stupid like that again."

  I smiled.

   "Ok. But define stupid."

She laughed.

   "How's Lincoln doing?" she asked, changing the subject.

"He's doing pretty good," I responded. "About as good as you."

She nodded.

"What were they doing, at that lab they had you two in?" I asked. Daisy shrugged.

"Just experimenting on us, trying to find out how out powers worked I guess." I nodded.

We were silent for a few moments.

      "Coulson also told me that you told him everything," Daisy continued.  I nodded and looked down.

"What did he say?" I asked.

      "He told me pretty much everything you told him."

I nodded.

   "Well, now you know everything."

     Daisy nodded. She put a tender hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.

   "Just because now you know some terrible things happened in my past doesn't mean you have to be all pitying towards me," I growled. She was taken aback for a moment, but then the caring look crossed her face again.

   "Sorry," I mumbled. She smiled. 

"It's fine. And I'm just showing you that I care. Because I don't think many people have done that in your life."  I looked up a bit and couldn't help but smile a little too.

    Daisy pulled me into a hug. I thought about pulling away, but decided not to. After a few moments, I pulled away, smiling more. I leaned back.

     "I- I'm really glad I met you. I wasn't sure what it would be like to meet you. I was hoping that you wouldn't push me away like our parents had," I told her.

   "I would never push you away Coriana," Daisy responded.

"Cori,"I whispered.

   "What?"

I took a breath.

  "Cori. Call me Cori," I said louder. "It- it's what my friends would call me. Liam, he- he gave me that nickname." 

    Daisy smiled. She started to speak again, but stopped when we heard the door behind us open. It was Simmons.

   "Coriana, Coulson wants to talk to you," She said. I nodded and stood up. I waved goodbye to Daisy and followed her out of the room.

  Coulson was waiting in the hallway.

"So...you wanted to talk to me?" I said. He nodded.

   "Yeah. I know you want to become an agent. So, if you're going to become one, you'll need a supervising officer to train you." I nodded.

   "Who is it going to be?" I asked him, hoping it would be Daisy.

"I talked to her about it, and I believe Agent May will be the best person to train you."

    I tried hard not to object. I didn't know May, but she didn't seem like the friendliest person ever. OK, let me correct that- she seemed like one of the least friendly people I had ever met. Ever.

   I sighed.

"Ok," I said quietly.

    "May knows what she's doing. She trained Daisy." I nodded reluctantly.

"Also, we have a room for you now. It's next to Daisy's," Coulson continued. I nodded, and he told me where it was.

  After following his directions, I found the room, I tossed my bag of stuff onto the bed in it, and plopped down on it. I rummaged through the bag of my belongings, which wasn't a lot. It just contained some clothes, a few books which may or may not be stolen, an ipod which also may or may not have been stolen, and a journal my friend Hannah had given me for my 15th birthday, which had not been stolen.

   I took some things out and laid them on the bed and floor, and when I reached the bottom of the bag, I noticed something glinting in the light. I bent over and picked it up.

   It was the silver heart necklace Liam had given me for my 16th birthday. After he- he died, I stuffed it way down in my bag, refusing to even look at it. It reminded me of him too much.

   I smiled sadly and clasped it around my neck. It was time to stop running away from those memories. 

   I laid my hand gently on the cold metal, lost in thought.

"Hey, Shady. What's up?" I jumped as I heard a deep voice piercing through my thoughts.
I looked up and saw Mack smiling down at me.

   I rolled my eyes again at the nickname.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you suck at making nicknames?" I asked him. 

    "No. That must be because I'm not," he replied.

"Actually, you are."

    "I would disagree."

"Ok, Tremors isn't that bad, but Shady is awful."

   He shrugged.

   "Whatever you say, Shady."

  I groaned.

"I just hope everyone doesn't start calling me that," I said and scooted back on the bed so I was leaning against the wall.

  He smiled, then he started to kind of space out.

"Hello? Hellllloooo! Earth to Mack!" I said after a few too many silent moments.

  "What? Oh, sorry, I spaced out there for a bit."

"I noticed. You OK?"

    "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, it just seemed like something was on your mind."

   "No, everything's fine." I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't good at reading people, but I didn't need to be to tell that he was lying. He sighed.

"Ok, ok, you got me," he said and held up his hands in surrender. He sat on the edge of the bed.

   "I was thinking about something that happened not too long ago, before we found you," he began and I leaned forward.

   "Two agents, my friends, they- they were on a mission in Russia. It was tricky. The Russian Prime Minister's life was in danger, and there was an Inhuman we had to deal with.

   "The Inhuman knocked out Daisy, so one of those agents- her name was Bobbi- went to take the Inhuman out, who was about to kill the other agent- Hunter- and the Prime Minister. She did, but she was captured. They both were.

    "Coulson tried to find a way to get them out, but- there wasn't a good way, apparently. The best he could do was free them, but they were disavowed. They were good agents. Good friends. Now, I can't even talk to them."

   He looked down and his voice was bitter. I put my hand on his arm compassionately and smiled.

Mack looked up and sighed.

"Sorry. I just miss them," he mumbled.

   "It's fine. It helps to let feelings out. I should know," I said.

"Well, at least now I know someone who will listen," Mack said, smiling now. "Shady."

   I laughed.

"I won't listen if you call me that!"

   He chuckled.

"I also came to tell you that I'm going to be gone for a week or two," Mack continued.

   "Why?" I asked.

"Coulson let me have some vacation time. I'm going to spend some time with my brother."

   I nodded.

  "Ok. Have fun!" He smiled.

"I will. Don't have too much fun without me."

  I laughed.

    "I won't. Bye, then."

"Bye, Shady," he said and walked out. I shook my head at the awful nickname.

    "I STILL THINK YOU SUCK AT NICKNAMES!" I called after him. After a few moments, I  heard him shout back,

    "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"