[ Daisy's House, Manhattan, New York ]
Daisy had anticipated the question the moment it formed on Hill's lips. Cool and casual, she picked up an apple and took a bite, crunch echoing softly.
"Don't worry, I'm not reckless," she said between chews. "The Director knows about my abilities, and so does Dr. Pym. You're officially the third person on that exclusive list."
She spared no glance for James Wesley or the maid—both irrelevant in her mental chessboard.
Hill nodded, sharp as ever. "Then what is your power? Teleportation?"
Daisy's lips curled. It was finally time to show off.
She'd kept her abilities under wraps for a long time, carefully honed them until they responded with precision. Now that the secret was out, she had the perfect excuse to perform. No more hiding. She took Hill by the wrist and guided her to the private gym.
Without warning, Daisy teleported behind her, rested two fingers on Hill's shoulders, and in the blink of an eye, jumped again—then again. Three flickers of space and time, like a magician showing off the final act.
"Well?" she asked smugly, hands resting on her hips. "Pretty damn cool, right?"
It was her Marvel-styled Flying Thunder God Technique, minus the seals and chakra. Just subtle manipulations of vibrations across spatial strings within a defined radius—no chants, no circles, pure skill. But even this advanced application came with limits. Six jumps max before the instability risked… well, unwanted consequences.
Maria raised a brow. "Impressive. Catching an enemy off-guard like that? Definitely a strong card to play. Is that your primary ability?"
"Not even close," Daisy said with a mischievous glint, and lightly stomped her boot. The floor vibrated beneath them with a soft tremor.
Maria blinked, processing—and then her eyes darted slightly away, uncharacteristically flustered. "Wait… your scar removal trick… that's a superpower too, isn't it?"
Daisy nodded, plain and unapologetic. "Yep."
She caught the subtle breath Maria exhaled—the kind of breath that carried the weight of a thousand unspoken thoughts. Sharing secrets had a strange way of strengthening trust, and Daisy knew it. She was letting Maria in. And Maria Hill—calculating, composed, ever in control—noticed.
When they returned to the living room, Maria couldn't resist a jab.
"No wonder I felt that strongly at the time… I told you I wasn't overreacting."
Daisy nearly choked on her cake. She turned to look at Maria like she'd just declared herself queen of the universe.
Was Maria flirting?
Was she being dirty on Christmas Eve?
Apparently so—because Maria went on, her tone playful and dry, recounting the earlier experience like it was an awkward memory from a rom-com instead of a superhero moment.
All Daisy could do was laugh. Dryly. And wish the system weren't so unfair—because if two men had this conversation, they'd be labeled gay in three seconds flat.
"It's not my fault I'm ultra-sensitive," Maria said cheekily. "Anyway, can you help me again? Remove the scar on my leg. Tonight."
She was asking proudly, but her fidgeting fingers betrayed her discomfort.
Daisy nodded and closed the curtains out of habit. Outside, snow dusted the world in silver. Children sang carols. Santa impersonators wandered the street with cheap cotton beards and plastic bells. But inside, they were in a world apart.
"You want me to open them again?" Daisy asked casually.
"Leave them."
The always-composed Maria Hill now had nerves made of jelly. Her stoicism was crumbling in real time.
Daisy raised a brow. "You said all that earlier with such confidence. What's got you trembling now? Don't tell me you've developed vibration powers too?"
Maria responded by unbuttoning her jeans and stepping out of them. The heat in the room hadn't changed, but Daisy suddenly felt it climb several degrees.
No long johns. No thermals. Just black briefs. Simple, practical… devastating.
The scar ran along the outer thigh—a long-healed gunshot wound, the skin darker where the bullet had once skimmed. The first time had been in the bathroom. The second, Maria had her back turned. But now… now they were face-to-face.
Daisy washed her hands, wiped them dry, and approached.
"Wait," Maria said suddenly. "I'm… afraid I might not be able to hold back."
Daisy smirked. "Want me to stuff a towel in your mouth?"
The glare Maria shot her could've cracked glass.
"It's not like I'm digging a bullet out," Daisy muttered innocently. "If you scream, it's fine. Friends, right?"
Maria closed her eyes and whispered to herself, a mantra of survival. We're both women. This is medical. Nothing to be ashamed of. Totally normal.
She looked like a soldier bracing for torture.
Great, Daisy thought. Now I look like the bad guy.
But she had learned a lot in her month with Dr. Hank Pym. Her control was almost surgical now. She tuned the vibration frequency just enough to shatter necrotic cells, minimizing energy output and reducing the… well, side effects.
Her fingers made contact with Maria's thigh.
Maria, prepared for embarrassment, braced herself—and then blinked. It wasn't bad. Not bad at all. More like… a massage chair set to 'gentle' mode.
Until it wasn't.
The vibrations didn't just end with the scar. They pulsed through her nervous system in waves. Tickling, teasing, tracing every nerve with maddening subtlety.
Maria was a trained agent, but she was also a human woman, and this—this was not helping her maintain composure. Her face flushed. Her eyes locked onto the ceiling like it held divine answers.
Daisy, meanwhile, was oblivious.
"Are you comfortable?" she chirped. "Need more pressure?"
Maria couldn't speak. She was like a volcano on the brink of eruption, suffocating under moral constraints and very unprofessional fantasies.
At minute six, she broke.
"Why is it taking so long this time?" she asked, voice tight.
Daisy lit up, eager to share. "Oh! So I discovered that I don't need super high frequencies. Based on the average tissue mass and cell distribution, I calculated a low-energy formula that maximizes—"
"Faster."
Daisy blinked. "What?"
Maria gritted her teeth. "I said, vibrate faster."
She was a ticking time bomb—and Daisy had just lit the fuse.
To be continued...
------------------------------xxx
[ POWER STONES AND REVIEWS PLS ]