#stormbringerhailey

[empatheticagent]

[ PERSON ] + Have you thought about that fact that Germaine may outlive you?

"Uh, yeah. But you know what? As a SHIELD agent, that's very possible with anyone I date. Clay was younger than me.

And...at least I know then that Hailey will be safe even if I'm not there."

[empatheticagent]

Ray stepped back, watching the others train. With Marco’s guidance the group really was thriving. 

There was Ray himself, his control and range of powers much improved since his time under Bancroft's influence. 

Marco, the department head, had opened up more over time himself. The umbrakinetic had relaxed more and learned to actually enjoy things more instead of only viewing everything he could do as a tool for work.

Shigeru Ueda dropped in regularly from L.E.N.S, both to help train Hailey officially now she was a teenager and to check in on his priest friend who joined in from time to time. 

Nic Martin was the odd one out, as the only regular member of the group who did not have any sort of powers. But he was great at drawing out potential with his pep talks and careful studying to see where strengths were. 

Ray’s cousin Cassie was there occasionally both to help keep an eye on Hailey and because as well as being a SHIELD linguist, she was officially training with the medical department as a nurse too. 

There were also two new recruits, both new to SHIELD. 

One, Ray had stepped in as the primary trainer for. Although classed as ‘mutant’ instead of ‘Inhuman’, Ray had volunteered both because he and Hailey had rescued him from hostile civilians and because the young man’s abilities needed special care. Dylan had demonstrated his ability to both absorb and discharge energy, which he did not have full control over yet. While he wasn't as afraid as Ray had once been about physical contact, the empath wanted to make sure he didn't head down that path.

The other new member was a little older. He was a tall, muscled Hawaiian who had an interesting ability to create different effects from drawings and symbols. Iokua had explained it didn't work with living things -he could not bring drawings of creatures or people to life- but he could create things like wind from a rune symbol or quick drawing of a wind shape. He had even already tattooed his most used symbols on his arms and hand before SHIELD had picked him up. He already had some martial arts training and could fight fairly well with a wooden staff; apparently he had spent years LARPing and developed the skills for fun. 

He and Marco didn't seem to get along that great. It was actually Nic who connected with Iokua, who apparently actually enjoyed the agent's sense of humour.

Owen wasn't feeling great that morning, so he was sitting aside and watching, occasionally creating a barrier between two people when a power seemed to go the wrong way or was bigger than intended to protect everyone. That in itself had helped the priest strengthen the barriers and learn to form them faster. 

During their current session, there was a point where Shigeru was working with Hailey and suddenly dropped to his knees, coughing and gasping for air. Very quickly, Owen got to his feet, a protective bubble surrounding Shigeru. The priest hurried over, a pained expression as he crouched beside the tech expert the only sign of his own issues as he went to check on his friend.

“I'm sorry!” Hailey said. “I'm not sure what I did, I just-” 

Everyone else had stopped their training, Ray and Marco quickly joining them, though they found themselves unable to enter the barrier. Ray stepped over to Hailey, gently projecting calm as he took Hailey’s hands. 

“It's alright, it was an accident,” he said softly. “Just relax and focus, we can fix it.”

Hailey nodded and closed her eyes, shoulders relaxing as her father's calm took effect. She focused, carefully studying the air around them as Shigeru had taught her. “I can't tell past the barrier-”

She looked over at Owen. “Father, please let the barrier go?”

The priest nodded and dissolved the bubble with a wave of a hand, anxiously watching Hailey to see if she could fix it.

It didn't take long before she gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. “Oops, I think I-” she shook her head, focusing on fixing the problem before wasting precious time explaining.

Shigeru seemed to relax after a moment, suddenly able to breathe clearly again. He shifted position to sit with his legs stretched out, slumping tiredly against Owen beside him as he caught his breath.

“Impressive little one,” he eventually said. “Removing the oxygen is not a trick I am able to do myself.” He could sense the change in the air however, even if he hadn't been able to fix it himself.

“I will be very interested to see how else we can use your skills,” Marco said to Hailey.

Ray nodded in agreement before quietly praising his daughter’s quick fix of her mistake. 

[empatheticagent]

Moving forward

“Ray? Hey. What’s up?”

Ray quickly jolted awake and lifted his head, looking across the table at his cousin Cassie.

“Hm? Nothing…” he mumbled, reaching for his coffee in hopes it would stop him drifting off again at his dining table. Hailey was watching a movie in the lounge area so they had chosen to sit where they could catch up without disturbing her.

“Suuuure. You just look like you’ve been keeping yourself up most of the night again for no reason,” Cassie sighed. She watched him for a moment, then shifted to a more gentle tone to try to avoid irritating him. “You’ve been doing good and picking up recently, so what’s gotten to you? 

Ray’s grip on his mug tightened ever-so-slightly. They’d been getting along a lot better thanks to Germaine’s encouragement and because Hailey enjoyed having an aunt to spend time with, but Ray’s general aversion to being open about his own issues was still a work in progress. 

“Uh…” He glanced over at Hailey, still very focused on her movie, but he was quiet when he spoke anyway. “…I’m struggling. With work, I mean.”

Still, Cassie looked surprised that he had actually admitted it, for once.

“Like the training is hard, or…?” 

Ray shook his head. He let go of his coffee to habitually sign in auslan as he spoke. “As in I’m not sure it’s what I want. I just… don’t feel like jumping into the field like Marco is… right for me? I… want to help, but I don’t think stealth field missions and fighting like he does is really suited for me.”

“Okay…” Cassie said slowly, already thinking of ways she could try to help.

“That and… I still have trouble staying in the apartment.”

Oh. “Well that one I think you’re better discussing with Germaine and Hailey, if things are otherwise working well for you,” Cassie said gently. 

Ray nodded. “I know. I know I should…” he wasn’t quite sure why he was nervous about it at first. Cassie and Germaine had the best ideas of how he’d been Clay’s death and his time as a ghost. But then the solution- THAT was the part that made Ray nervous. 

“As for work,” Cassie said as she got up to check on the biscuits she had cooking in the oven (Hailey had helped prepare the mix). “We need to find out what areas you’d enjoy. You’ve already said before you didn’t feel like you were helping as much as you could in Comms. You aren’t medically trained, but perhaps you could help, like, calm patients now you have better control?” 

“Maybe… I mean, it’s a good start, but it would be exhausting, doing only that. But I could maybe volunteer to help when agents are- when they’re panicked or whatever,” Ray said, sighing and brushing a hand through his hair. “As for a more full time role? I… dunno. Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit at SHIELD. But… but I know with my powers and my uh, background, that I can’t really work a normal job. And besides. I want to help. Just… need to work out how.”

[empatheticagent]

Does Hailey know you're her father or does she think you're one of mommy's friends?

"She knows. But I've missed eleven years. I'm not gonna push her to call me 'dad'. As much as I'd like it, she will when she's ready. If at all..."

[empatheticagent]

If you could live your life differently and you had been there for Hailey when she was born and as she was raised, what would you have done differently? Would you have named her something else? Was there anything you would have taught her? Is there anything you would have passed onto her?

"I...

I dunno? I don't mind the name Hailey. But...the alternative might've been Sarah. I would definitely have made sure Madelyn's enemies weren't able to find Hailey in the first place though. SHIELD could have helped from the beginning.

She's already pretty well educated, but if I'd been there from the start I would have taught her Auslan from an early age. She's working on it now though."

[empatheticagent]

How do you expect to raise Hailey when you can’t even take care of yourself?

“She’s eleven, she isn’t a baby! Hailey’s perfectly capable of doing basic things for herself.

And who says I don’t take care of myself?!

Sure, my eating habits need work, but it’s not like I don’t wash. I keep the place clean. I’m training with Marco and Nic to improve my control on my powers. I even go for a run with ACE every morning now. As for the remembering to take my meds? Well I need to work on that. Ptsd and depression tend to fuck with the memory a bit.

But as for Hailey? Having her around has actually been a good motivation to keep trying to improve. I’m slowly getting back into cooking proper meals and engaging with things outside of work and the house -partly thanks to Eira as well. And… on the days where I’m struggling more? Germaine’s here to help.”

[atticusbarlowe]

@stormbringerhailey continued from here

Though they hadn’t completely gotten to know each other Hailey and Atticus had been in the same daycare while their respective parents had been working. Only now Atticus was there far more often than he was before. He wrapped his arm around the plush space shuttle, one of the few physical reminders he has to cling to when it comes to his parents. Everything is too much to focus on, the aids in his ears irritating him more than helping, the noise in the room just adding to his irritation, his sadness seems to rip his little heart in half but amid it it she signs to him and his eyes move to her instantly. 

Reluctantly he sits up, his legs crossing with one another as he nonverbally shrugs his response to whether he’s okay, he’s not sure that he is, not sure about everything that he’s feeling. 

The young boy kept one hand around the plush but bought his other up to sign to her, “Yes. Mommy and Daddy friend.” He followed up the initial sign with the others. 

[atticusbarlowe]

❛ excuse me , i think you dropped this. ❜ -stormbringerhailey

@stormbringerhailey

SHIELD had taken him under their wings so to speak, in part because they were looking out a ‘lost child’ one that had been orphaned because of the logo his parents badges bore but also because he wasn’t just a typical child. He laid on the ground of the daycare he used to laugh and play in, his ear pressed to the floor, the vibrations ‘shaking’ his cheek as he sighed, watching everything around him. He missed his mommy, he missed his daddy, he missed his preschool and teachers, he missed that sense of normalcy. When Hailey walked up his eyes moved from straight ahead to upwards where she stood holding the plush space shuttle his mother had gotten him when they’d visited the air and space museum. His little hand reached up to take it and set it down close to his body before he signed “Thank you.”