"Okay. Okay, I can do this. I can do this-"
"You can do this, ma'am."
"…thank-you, Agent Piper. Now, whatever you do, do not pull me out. Do you understand?"
"Don't pull you out. Got it."
"Not under any circumstance. If you do, you could liquefy my brain. God, I wish Daisy were here."
"Respectively, isn't that what we're trying to do, ma'am? Bring her back?"
"Yes. I'll find her inside the Framework, somehow and- and Coulson and May and Mack and Mace and Fitz-"
"You'll find them, ma'am and you'll bring them back safe."
"Your constant reassurance is comforting, Agent Piper." There's a moment of silence, before Jemma gets onto the gurney, lying down and picking up the probes.
Piper fidgets. "Are you sure you don't want one of us to do that, Doctor Simmons?"
"Very sure. Wish me luck," Jemma says, before pushing the probes into her forehead, jerking as the electricity hits her. A second later, the computer screen flashes green, uploading Jemma to the Framework. Agent Piper watches her prone body for about half a minute before looking to Miller.
"How long do you think she's going to take?"
"Don't know. I'll get her a blanket, in case she gets cold, though."
"Good idea," Piper agrees, watching him leave before sitting down in wait.
When they exit the Framework, there's shit to be done.
Still, Daisy lingers on her memories. She doesn't know how not to. In the Framework, Phil and May were together, something that Daisy has been betting on with Fitzsimmons for nearly four years now. Knowing that she owes them both a collective three hundred dollars seems paltry in comparison to their lives in the Framework, though. Lives. I had a life. I had a family, parents-
Phil and May don't know she was in the Framework, too.
Jemma came to them all in turn and Daisy was the only one out of everyone – everyone – who woke up properly. Daisy winced when Phil said we're your parents and now, outside of the Framework, in the real world, people have already commented on how Phil and May are avoiding her. They've been caught making out and they're refusing to see a psychologist, a new guy who thinks their relationship is a by-product of their time in the Framework rather than some thirty years' worth of true, unadulterated, untouched love – but they're avoiding her.
To be fair, Daisy thinks, I remember both my lives side by side. They think they've lost their daughter.
"It must be incredibly awkward," Jemma murmurs to her one late night with coffee and a softly-snoring Fitz laid half-way across both of their laps, his head in Jemma's lap. "I mean, when you woke up inside the Framework and just forgot, like you were me, just uploaded into someone else's body…"
"I over-rode Julie Lian May," Daisy says out loud, gut twisting and turning at her own lies. Julie, for Nana Coulson, Lian, for Lăolao – Nana Lian. That's what Dad called her, because he can't speak Mandarin for the life of him. It sounds horrible to think that she could be erased like that, even by herself. "I need a drink."
"How do you know her full name?" Jemma questions, brow furrowing. Daisy glances at her, eyes widening.
"I…I saw her file. In the Framework, I mean. Y'know, when- when I was looking up my own job and shit. Uh, yeah…we're lucky that SHIELD still existed in there, to be honest."
Jemma frowns slightly, but nods, taking her explanation at face-value. It confuses Daisy a little, because Jemma's been getting better at this spying stuff, able to lie like a pro – she was able to stay undercover in Hydra, of all organisations. Is her training so under-consolidated – am I that good of a liar? – that Jemma can't pick out when Daisy's faking it?
Frankly, it's a little too easy.
Daisy is right to think so.
"Agent May? I've already told you that you shouldn't be training so hard-"
Daisy looks up surreptitiously more out of habit than anything else, from Framework days of people getting mother and daughter mixed up – but while Jemma is obviously talking to Melinda May, who is currently rubbing cramps out of her leg muscles, their eyes lock for a few moments at exactly the wrong time for Daisy to pretend she was doing anything other than reacting.
May – the real May, the actual May of the both – rolls her eyes but nods. "Sorry. I just want to get back into shape."
"You've been out of action for weeks. I'm more surprised you've not taken better care of yourself, but no, I get a call from Piper saying you're over-exerting yourself-"
May hisses, eyes narrowing. "Traitor."
"She might be your Padawan," Miller calls, loud to Daisy due to his placement at her head, "but Doctor Simmons is her superior, over and above you."
"Wait, seriously?" Daisy pipes up, disbelieving. Jemma glances over at her as she puts her weights down with Miller's help, eyebrows raised. "You outrank May?"
"Yes, I do. Agent Piper agreed to keeping an eye on Agent May for me." Jemma crosses her arms. "I've got a bone to pick with you, actually, Daisy."
"What bone? What did I do?" Daisy questions, sitting up.
Jemma raises her chin. "Psych eval. You really think that Coulson and May were the only ones who needed to go? You've missed your appointment."
"Why does she have to go?" May questions slowly, suddenly looking at Daisy with wariness. "I thought you didn't recall anything from the Framework?"
"Somehow, I doubt that," Jemma says, before Daisy can answer. Daisy looks to her friend in betrayal, even though she knows it to be true. "Psych eval. Reschedule with Doctor Barkley today or I will for you and I am much too busy for such endeavours." She leaves and May gets up quickly, staring at Daisy as she begins to panic.
"Do you remember?"
"…not doing this," Daisy mutters, getting up and escaping the gym. The fact that her mother- May, is following her, doesn't go unnoticed by the other agents they pass. Thankfully, May has more tact than just shouting it across the corridors of the Playground for everyone to hear. Unfortunately, Daisy doesn't know how to shake her.
"You're just answering my question," May raises her voice. Daisy doesn't know where she's speed-walking until she gets to the common room, stopping abruptly before the stairs to Coulson's office – a safe space. I'm so stupid. "Daisy. Please talk to me."
Daisy turns.
May stops less than ten feet from her. The gap seems so much larger. The sadness and desperation is palpable on her face, set off strangely by her gym wardrobe. Daisy can see her leaning to her left, proof that she hadn't finished uncramping the right before following her through the building. Daisy blows a strand of hair off her face, crossing her arms and kicking the toe of her trainer off the cement ground.
"You lied when you said you didn't remember, when you said you'd 'woken up'. I should have realised. I was in the Framework longer than anyone – I remember all of it, now, even though I didn't remember inside of it. All the tests AIDA did, all the simulations…"
"In the Framework, I was yours and Coulson's. I was adopted by you both, right off the bat, when Agent Lumley brought me back from Hunan province." Daisy holds herself, crossed arms turning into something more like a self-given hug as emotions threaten to break through the dam she's built, already leaking at a tremendous rate. "I went to two different kindergartens and one weird nursery place in Wales before I turned six, at least four middle schools and two high schools, before going to the SHIELD Operations Academy. I got dumped into Communications when I washed out, but I got back into Operations because I was such a little shit to the professors – and every summer, I went to one of my grandparents' houses and- and you guys did overtime to make up for the days you'd taken off-"
It's too much. Daisy has to actually focus on breathing as hot tears sting her eyes. May comes over to her, arms wrapping around her tightly, something Daisy replicates quickly.
"I'm sorry I lied, I'm so sorry, I didn't think you would remember-"
"Don't apologise," May says in Mandarin and Daisy feels another part of her dam break because god, she hasn't heard a word of Mandarin since leaving the Framework. "You were scared. Nothing is wrong about being scared."
A hiccough escapes her. "I'm still sorry, Mama."
There's a sudden set of familiar vibrations, footsteps leaving Coulson's office and heading down the corridor to the stairs. Daisy pulls away from her mother abruptly, wiping her eyes hurriedly as she looks up the set of stairs. Coulson appears, looking up from a tablet as he sees them.
"Oh. Hey," he stops, zooming in on Daisy's face before finishing his way down the stairs at a greater speed. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Daisy shakes her head as he comes close, before thinking, fuck it. Launching herself at him, Daisy wraps her arms around his neck, sniffing. His arms come to close around her back. "Julie?" Her Framework name exits his mouth, quiet as a whisper, a question in itself. Daisy squeezes slightly and he drops the tablet he was holding. "Oh my god."
All of a sudden, he's hugging her back, unquestionably, lifting her up off her feet. "I thought it was just us!"
"I'm sorry, Dad," Daisy says, voice muffled because of how her mouth is pressed into his collar. Coulson's hug is so warm and familiar – and yet, it's the different weight of his fake hand that grounds her, reminding her that this is reality. "I can't believe you're my dad," she says, before he puts her down and grins at her.
"You'd better believe it," Coulson grins and the three of them share glances, before – predictably – he brings Daisy and May into a big, two-armed hug. "I love you guys, so much."
"Ew," Daisy snickers, wriggling in his hold but not making any real attempt to get out of it. "Gross. He loves us, Mom."
"Mom?" comes Mack's voice. Daisy's levity dies as she looks over to see him in the doorway, remembering abruptly that he had Hope in the Framework. Mack looks at the trio before shaking his head. "Should have expected that, I suppose. Long time coming."
"What's that supposed to mean?" May questions.
Mack shrugs a little before coming forwards, picking up the tablet Coulson had dropped, dusting it off. "With the exception of Agent Ward, the 'original BUS team'," he makes quotation marks in the air, "is your family. Fitzsimmons are getting hitched, makes sense that you guys would be a happy family."
"Fitzsimmons are getting hitched?" Daisy's eyes widen. "When did that happen?"
"Jemma asked Fitz last night," Mack smiles a little. "Don't tell Yo-Yo, but I picked something out for her, as well."
"Picked what out for me, Big Mack?" Elena herself comes walking into the room, coming to join a suddenly pale Mack at his side, eyeing the way Coulson's arms are locked around Daisy and May's shoulders. At their silence, her eyebrows rise. "Buy me what?"
"Hopefully, it sp-" Daisy starts, only for May to pinch her. "Ow! Mom!"
"Shush," May orders her as Elena's eyebrows rise higher.
"Ditto," Coulson repeats, before letting them out of his arms, clearing his throat. "You owe me, Mack."
"May I ask why, sir?" Mack questions, before Coulson takes his phone out of his pocket. "Sir?" Daisy watches as Coulson texts Jemma and Fitz, telling them to come to his office if they want to 'see the hidden pocket open'.
"What's the hidden pocket?" Daisy questions.
"You'll see in a bit," Coulson pats her arm, before putting his phone away. "Come on, upstairs, all of you."
"What is he going to do that will make me owe him?" Mack questions as they all follow Coulson upstairs. Daisy looks to May, but she seems as equally confused as they do. The situation is made even more confusing-
(Later, Daisy will think, even more amusing)
-when Fitzsimmons come barrelling into the office a minute later, red-faced and expectant.
"Did we miss it?" Fitz questions.
"You're just on time," Coulson replies, casually meandering to stand by May, smiling genially at her. She narrows her eyes.
"What's going on?"
"You'll see," he says, looking to Fitz. "Bottom desk drawer, you'll know it when you see it."
Fitz shares a slightly confused look with Jemma before going to the desk, Jemma following him.
"Oh, congratulations, guys," Daisy says after Fitz opens the drawer.
"Not now!" Fitzsimmons then hisses at her, before Fitz pulls up a bottle with a questioning look.
"You got a new bottle of Haig?" May questions, sounding a little happy.
"Yep," Coulson nods. "The glasses, too. Open it up."
May splutters. Daisy has to blink as she watches her mother glare at him frostily, Fitz meanwhile bringing up six glasses from the drawer and then searching for a seventh – finding one on Coulson's desk.
"You get us another Haig, only to open it?"
Fitz clears his throat. "Am I opening it?"
"Yes," Coulson says, before May answers, "No."
"What's this all about?" Elena questions, sounding wary. Coulson then rolls up his sleeve, pressing his thumb to his arm. Daisy watches as the palm of his hand slides open, a-
"Oh my god," Daisy's eyes bug out of her head.
Coulson gets down on one knee in front of May as Jemma hits Fitz's chest rapidly, a ring on a chain popping up onto his hand, sliding shut after Coulson has a grasp on it.
"Melinda Qiaolian May-"
"You still can't pronounce that right," May murmurs, eyes wide as she puts a hand to her mouth.
"-please, will you let me have the honour of becoming your husband?"
"You didn't babble, this time," May says, like she's giving him points.
"Framework Phil Coulson hadn't already lived some other fake life where he'd already married you and knew it ended up happy-ish."
"Ish?"
Coulson shrugs a little, pointing at Daisy. "Ish."
"…hey!" Daisy takes a moment to react, too wrapped up in her dad proposing to her mother.
"Yes," May says and the smile on Coulson's face is blinding, before he stands and kisses her. Daisy thinks she claps the fastest, but surprisingly, it's Fitz who's the loudest in congratulating them both – Fitz, who less than two months ago, spent something like a lifetime being Hydra's Doctor and interim Director. Daisy knows she should maybe focus on her parents – watch them as Coulson puts the engagement ring on its chain around May's neck – but she gets caught watching Fitz as he opens up the Haig, pouring seven small glasses for everyone and kissing Jemma.
…of course, Elena is the first one he offers a glass.
"Ah, no, I…I can't – the happy couple, first," Elena shakes her head. Fitz shrugs.
"Got lots of those," he says, but hands out everyone else's glasses first, before finally getting back to her. "Here."
"No," she denies it again. "I really can't."
Daisy gets an inkling. "Yo-Yo, are…" Daisy shuffles around her parents, scrutinising her. Everyone else in the room smoothly turns their attention to her and she grins nervously, glancing up at Mack.
"I, uh, I should not be drinking. I think that's the rule, right?" she looks up at Mack as everyone else gets it. Daisy stops herself from laughing, instead sipping her Haig as she watches Mack, whose eyes widen.
"You…you're pregnant?"
"Is that okay?"
Mack splutters, putting down his glass of Haig to kiss her in an obvious display of agreement, tears leaking out of the sides of his eyes. Daisy claps, cheering along with the rest of the original BUS team – her family – congratulating them both.
"This day just keeps getting better," Daisy says.
That, of course, is when the window of Coulson's office somehow smashes in and Iron Man comes crashing into the middle of their happy circle, landing in a heap of metal and burrowing a small crater in the ground. Everyone puts their glasses of Haig down, bringing out their guns.
The noise cuts out in the room, leaving Iron Man to groan on the ground, right before the Playground goes on lockdown, the window coverings closing and red light flashing as an alarm sounds.
Coulson sighs. "I just got everything fixed, too." He walks around Iron Man as he sits up, going to his computer and turning off the lockdown alarms, turning on the base-wide comms. "False alarm. We've got an uninvited friendly through the window."
"How do you know I'm a friendly? Who are you?" Iron Man questions, raising a suddenly-whining hand that glows white. Coulson looks at him, unimpressed, comms still on and presumably blasting all of Iron Man's words.
"Mr Stark, put down the gauntlet before my team here makes you. This is Director Coulson, reiterating that this is a false alarm." Coulson turns off the comms, sighing. There's then a familiar process of Iron Man's arm snapping away from her dad in a distinctly Yo-Yo fashion, which has Iron Man up on his feet pretty quickly.
"Who's the speedster?" he questions.
"Yo-Yo, stand down," Coulson says.
"Yo-Yo? Funny. Why not 'Dash' or 'Bolt'?"
"I am not a speedster, that is why," Elena says in a low voice, Mack moving to stand in front of her as Iron Man's helmet turns in her direction.
"Mr Stark, please get out of the suit so we can talk like civilised human beings," Coulson requests. A few seconds later, the suit opens up to reveal Tony Stark, who steps out of the suit before reaching down to pick it up, as it folds into a suitcase. Daisy watches as he turns to Coulson, giving him a funny look. "Yeah, I know. Not dead."
"Pepper's going to murder you, not to mention Romanov – but wait, we already know. Maria gets talkative when she's drunk and there's TV evidence that you're alive and kicking. So, this is your team," Stark twirls, taking in faces. "Introduce me."
"From left to right-"
"My left or your left?"
Daisy snorts and Stark turns to her. "Let's start with you. Who are you? Wait, I know who you are, too – the infamous Quake, ooh. Superpowers. Agent Johnson."
"My name is Julie Coulson," she says, just to mess with him. He blinks rapidly and Daisy, for a moment, wishes that was true. "Daisy Johnson."
"…that was a joke. Phew, thought that Agent actually procreated for a second," Stark looks to May, next. "Are you a super-ninja? You're Mulan, aren't you?"
"Yes, I'm immortal, however did you guess my true identity?" May says in a completely blank voice. Daisy smirks.
Stark shudders, taking a step back. "Okay, nope – Coulson?"
"Agent Melinda May. Wouldn't be alive without her, wouldn't live without her," Coulson says with only a hint of fondness. "You've already met Yo-Yo."
"Yes – so if you don't have super-speed, what do you do?"
"None of your business," Mack rumbles.
"This is Agent Mackenzie."
Stark nods shortly before turning to Fitzsimmons beside Coulson. "Nice cardigans."
"Thank-you," they say together.
"Freaky. You don't have powers, too?"
"Well," Jemma starts, "if you can call having multiple degrees and PhDs in various scientific and medical fields, then-"
"Name?"
"Simmons, Mr Stark – Dr Jemma Simmons." Jemma offers a hand, which Stark takes over the table. "I'm well acquainted with your work."
"Interesting; and you? What about you? You look like a fanboy."
Fitz shrugs and Daisy notices then that he's not put his gun away – actually, only Coulson and Elena have. Even she's still got her own gun gripped in her hand. Putting it away, Daisy watches Fitz suddenly look Stark up and down, clearly analysing him, until he jerks himself out of it, literally taking a step back.
"What's up with you?" Stark questions.
"If you've been following our media presence, then you might have heard of Holden Radcliffe's experimentation with robotic AI's and virtual realities."
"Yeah, heard about it," Stark glances at Coulson questioningly, then at everyone in the room. "The team. You were the ones that went inside."
"We're the ones AIDA actually wanted. She wanted Fitz the most, though. She was fucking insane." Daisy explains, watching Fitz as he takes more steps back, Jemma speaking to him quietly.
"You should meet Friday – probably make your experiences with female AI's a little less unhappy," Stark says, before picking up Elena's undrunk Haig as Fitz comes back into the circle, head held high. "What were you celebrating?"
"Various engagements," Fitz replies, a small smile sneaking in. "Including Coulson's."
"…wait, engagement as in…ooh," Stark raises Elena's Haig at him. "Who's the lucky lady? That cellist ever work out?"
"Audrey still thinks I'm dead and that's fine," Coulson says, before looking to May. Stark twirls and Daisy feels slightly insulted on her mother's behalf, even as she smirks slightly in amusement. "What do you think, Tony? Think Pepper would approve of me marrying my best friend?"
"Best friends, well…wow." Stark stares, blinking rapidly before looking back to Coulson. "I hate to break it to you, but I think you're marrying a robot."
"Oh no," Coulson replies cheerily, "The Life Model Decoy May got uncovered before I could propose to her."
"But not before you drank the original Haig," May interjects coolly. Daisy snorts.
"You're going to hold that against him forever, aren't you?"
May glances back at her. "You don't know the half of it, Julie. They made out, as well." Daisy blinks, taken-aback, before deciding to be dramatic for their guest, who she can hear muttering Julie?
"You cheated on mom with a robot?" Daisy questions Coulson, the other four members of their team struggling to contain their laughter as Stark makes a strange noise.
"Agent has a kid! Oh my god, Friday, are you getting this on tape?" he puts a hand to the Bluetooth in his ear. "I repeat, Agent has a kid."
This is so much fun, man.
Daisy looks between her team – her family – listening to Tony Stark babble and point fingers. Phil's arm secretly curls around May's waist and Mack doesn't even bother with being casual about holding Elena against his chest, eyes still a little teary. Fitzsimmons hold hands and Daisy leans back against Phil's desk, sated and happy.