The new member of Coulson's team was a mixed-race orphan named Skye, who had been wandering around. Coulson had discovered her while tracking the hacktivist group "Rising Tide," which had stolen SHIELD data. Later, impressed by Skye's hacking skills, he recruited her into the team.
But the fact that Skye, who was supposedly an orphan, addressed Li Ming as "Uncle" not only shocked the other team members into staring at her but even made Melinda, who was wearing headphones, instinctively turn to look at Skye.
In the U.S., strangers in daily life wouldn't address each other as "Uncle" but would instead engage in direct conversation. Even in commercial settings, terms like "Sir" or "Ma'am" are the norm—you'd never hear "handsome" or "beauty." Terms like "Grandpa," "Grandma," "Uncle," or "Aunt" are typically reserved for one's own elders.
Coincidentally, both Melinda and Coulson, who had known Li Ming for a long time, were aware that despite his youthful appearance—looking like a guy in his early twenties—he had maintained this look for over a decade. His actual age on record wasn't much younger than Stark's.
Coulson and Melinda exchanged glances, silently asking each other: Is Austin one of Skye's elders?
With this hypothesis, Coulson began wildly speculating. For instance, he remembered that when he first apprehended Skye, she had been hiding in a camper van of the same model as Li Ming's.
At the time, Coulson hadn't paid much attention—after all, camper vans weren't rare. But now he suspected Skye had bought the same model out of longing for Li Ming, using it to fill the void of loneliness and coldness in her heart.
Secondly, Li Ming was ethnically East Asian, while Skye was mixed-race. Did this mean one of Skye's parents knew Li Ming, or perhaps Skye and Li Ming were even blood-related?
Lastly, Li Ming's records were classified to the highest degree—so much so that they couldn't even be found in SHIELD's digital archives, only traceable in the paper records. Similarly, Skye's records in SHIELD's digital database were sparse. Could this mean her records, like Li Ming's, were only kept in paper form? As for the reason, Coulson speculated it was to prevent anyone from using Skye to threaten Li Ming.
The more Coulson thought about it, the more it made sense. He even considered having Simmons extract DNA samples from Li Ming and Skye for comparison on the spot.
Meanwhile, Li Ming was equally puzzled. He didn't know Skye. Could she be a relative of his body's original owner? Since he hadn't inherited the memories, he might not recognize her? Li Ming scratched his head and put on what he thought was his friendliest smile, asking, "Miss, who are you? What should I call you?"
Skye was actually feeling quite awkward inside. She thought she had mistaken him for someone else, after all, she had known Li Ming over ten years ago. Unless Li Ming had maintained the appearance of someone in his early twenties for the past decade.
Moreover, the 'Uncle Austin' in her memory was a chubby, nerdy guy, completely different from the Li Ming standing before her.
Hearing Li Ming ask who she was, Skye wore a slightly embarrassed expression and smiled politely, saying, "Sorry, I mistook you for someone else. You look a lot like an elder I haven't seen in over ten years." As she spoke, she extended her hand to shake Li Ming's. "My name is Skye, a new member of Coulson's team."
Li Ming blinked, puzzled inside: I guessed you're the Quake girl, Skye. But how do you know my name? And what do you mean by not seeing me for over ten years?
Seizing the opportunity while shaking Skye's hand, Li Ming asked curiously, "My name is Austin. Are you sure we know each other?"
It wouldn't be strange to find people with the same name in the world—like shouting "David" on an American street and having multiple people turn their heads.
But having the same name and looking alike was much rarer.
Unless it was inherited DNA, like father and son?
Skye thought with some confusion: So, is this person Uncle Austin's child? I remember Uncle Austin wasn't married when I knew him. Did he become a drifter in an RV because he couldn't support his family?
Skye sized up Li Ming and internally quipped: Is this kid just 'aging poorly,' or was Uncle Austin still a minor when he had a child?
Nearby, Coulson, who had been watching with his arms crossed, scratched his brow and said to Li Ming, "Skye has an RV of the same model as yours."
An RV of the same model? Skye, who had always longed for family, brightened up. She felt there was an 80% chance Li Ming was the child of the 'Uncle Austin' who had given her her first gift.
With excitement in her voice, Skye left a quick "Wait here" before turning and running to her room.
Li Ming scratched his head, baffled. "What's going on?"
Coulson shrugged, signaling he didn't know either, and led Li Ming to the common lounge area.
Just as Li Ming sprawled lazily on the sofa like an old man, Skye rushed back holding a car ornament of a hula dancer. Filled with hope and a little nervousness, she asked, "This was a gift your father gave me back then. How is Uncle Austin doing?"
Li Ming glanced at the ornament in Skye's hand, and his mind automatically flashed back to his early days living in Portland as a rookie, and Skye as a little kid.
Who would've thought I knew the Quake girl back then? Is this what they mean by life being full of surprises? But what the hell is 'my dad'? Li Ming's lips twitched imperceptibly as he rolled his eyes in frustration. "My child hasn't even been born yet. So, little Skye, this was a gift I gave you back then. It has absolutely nothing to do with 'my dad.'"
Skye froze for a moment, then turned to look at Coulson and the others, hoping to find evidence that Li Ming was joking from their expressions.
Unfortunately, all she saw was Coulson and the others nodding slightly, indicating that not only did Li Ming not have a child, he was still a single dog to this day.
Skye gaped at Li Ming in disbelief. "You're that shut-in Uncle Austin from back then?"
As soon as Skye said this, everyone present couldn't help but nod in unison. Someone who lazed around by the lake all day without doing anything productive—wasn't that the definition of a shut-in?
Only Li Ming stiffened, scratching his head as he tried to recall Natasha's past assessment of him as a shut-in. He immediately retorted indignantly, "Don't listen to Natasha's nonsense. I'm famously hardworking!"
Coulson was taken aback: Wait, how is Natasha involved here? That's a lot to unpack...
Fitz, who had a good relationship with Li Ming, couldn't resist teasing when he heard Li Ming call himself hardworking. "You are indeed hardworking—busy either drinking or sleeping all day. Even when it came to building the ship..." He glanced around, seeing that everyone present knew Li Ming well, and shrugged before continuing, "It was all done by free labor."
Li Ming shot Fitz a sidelong glance for exposing him and stubbornly defended himself. "They say a body that doesn't move will rust. I was just preventing the mummies from rusting by keeping them active." After a pause, realizing even he didn't believe his own words, he added quietly, "Besides, I'm a mage. I need time to meditate. What you see as me sleeping is actually my meditation time."
If anyone had been drinking water at that moment, Li Ming's words would have made them choke to death.
"Right, you were meditating," Fitz patted Li Ming's shoulder with a look that screamed 'Yeah, sure,' and said, "While chugging beer at the same time, no less."
Without giving Li Ming a chance to retort, Fitz pointed toward the lab and said, "Simmons and I need to prep the field equipment. We'll leave you to catch up with Skye."
Seeing Fitz leave, Ward stood up and said, "I should go prep some tools too. You two talk."
In the common area, only Coulson—puzzled about Li Ming's purpose for visiting—remained, along with Skye, who was overjoyed to see Li Ming, and Li Ming himself, who had ducked behind the bar to find something to drink.
It wasn't until Li Ming poured two glasses of alcohol for Coulson and Skye and started chugging straight from the bottle that Skye finally asked in confusion, "What do you mean by 'mage'?"
Li Ming set the bottle down, conjuring a fireball in his palm. "I'm a mage. The kind you read about in novels or see in movies."
"Cool," Skye widened her eyes as she stared at the fireball, cautiously extending her right hand toward it while asking, "Can I touch it?"
Li Ming smiled, snapping his fingers to transform the fireball into a miniature flaming Western dragon, which he then levitated onto Skye's palm. "Can you feel the heat on your hand?" he asked.
As if she had just received a new toy, Skye grinned and withdrew her slightly scorched palm. "Are there many mages in this world?" she asked.
"Quite a few, but not too many," Li Ming replied, extinguishing the flaming dragon with a wave of his hand. He then warned, "Listen, little Skye, I know you have your own opinions about the government hiding certain secrets, but the matter of mages is different. Even the government doesn't know they exist, so don't go poking around—it could bring unnecessary trouble."
As he spoke, Li Ming pulled a few items from his shoulder bag and placed them on the bar counter. "I'm a rogue mage, so I don't have much in the way of possessions," he said, gesturing to the items. "These are just some small trinkets. Pick a few to keep for self-defense."
Coulson, standing nearby, glanced at the items on the counter before sweeping them all toward Skye with a grin. "Skye calls you 'uncle,' after all. Why make her choose? Just give them all to her."
As he spoke, Coulson picked up a few playing cards and asked, "How do these work?"
Li Ming gave Coulson a helpless look, hesitating for a moment before reluctantly pursing his lips. "Fine, you can have them all," he said, pointing to the cards in Coulson's hand. "These cards are inscribed with fireball spells, each with the power of a grenade. But since you don't have magic, you'll need another energy source to activate them—like running an electric current through them. The power will be weaker, though. How much weaker? I'm not sure."
Next, Li Ming picked up a longsword and channeled his magic into it.
Skye watched curiously as flames erupted along the blade. Li Ming spoke nostalgically, "This was my magic sword back in the day. Maybe you can ask Fitz to figure out a way to install a battery or something in the hilt."
Li Ming actually had quite a few small magical items, especially after looting plenty from the Harry Potter world. However, he usually didn't carry non-combat-related items in his shoulder bag.
After introducing the combat-related items in front of them, Li Ming chuckled. "I've got some more fun gadgets at home. You can come by later and pick out a few to play with."