This was written after 4x11 but before 4x12, so we know May relived a "better" version of Bahrain but we don't know how she'll react once she's out of the simulation.

T for language and some violence.

NOTE 3/18/2017: Updated to change the ending slightly after someone pointed out to me that the word 'Niyang' is formal, and that doesn't really work the way I intended.

One month.

It had barely been one month since May had escaped Radcliffe's hellhole. So why did her first mission back in the field have to end with her and Daisy running through some godforsaken forest in the middle of the night, clutching a stolen revolver and hoping against hope their SHIELD tracker wasn't broken?

She spared a glance toward her former student. Daisy was breathing harder than usual, clutching her left arm awkwardly to her side as if it pained her. The first thing those damned watchdogs did was take away her gauntlets, and she'd had to use her powers several times during their escape. They'd barely had time for May to swipe a weapon and their tracker from a fallen guard before running toward the network of caverns May had seen on the map during their mission briefing, noting it as a good hiding spot and hoping they wouldn't have to use it.

Like that ever happened.

Suddenly they broke through the treeline, a mound of earth and rock rising before them. May caught sight of a darker patch of blackness in the silhouette. The entrance. She motioned to Daisy and they headed into the caverns. They had barely made it 10 meters in before movement May caught movement at the edge of her vision. Before she could cry out, a watchdog sprang from the shadows and caught Daisy by the throat, swinging her around in front of him to press his pistol against her temple.

May immediately raised her stolen weapon at the two of them... and froze.

"You'll pay for what you've done," the watchdog snarled.

Daisy spoke quickly in a low, calm voice. "May, take the shot."

The watchdog pressed his forearm hard against her larynx, and Daisy choked on a breath. "Quiet," he hissed dangerously.

May stood, immobile. She'd had shots like this before, but her finger refused to move. Visions of Bahrain, the real Bahrain, flashed in front of her eyes. A revolver held in front of her, like the one she now held. A dirty room. Bodies. A young girl, bleeding in her arms. Dying. Dead, because of her. It was her fault. She was supposed to protect, to be a shield, and yet all she brought was death.

"May." Daisy's voice cut through her visions, and she met the determined eyes of her student. "I trust you."

"I said QUIET!" the man roared, raising his knee to strike sharply against Daisy's injured arm. She cried out in agony and May winced.

"She can't help you," the watchdog sneered, realizing. "She's too afraid."

It was over in the blink of an eye. The watchdog started to aim his pistol away from Daisy's head and toward May. Daisy twisted out of his grip and thrust her arm against his chest. Her powers pulsed and May heard two sickening cracks: one from his spine, the other from Daisy's arm.

That sound snapped May fully back to the present. Daisy lay on the ground, half-curled in a protective ball around her ruined arm. Tears squeezed out from her tightly shut eyes and her pale face was already covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Daisy." The only response was a whimper. A small chunk of rock fell from above, and May noticed new cracks racing across the stone ceiling. Apparently the younger agent hadn't been able to fully contain her powers. "Daisy," she said again, letting urgency slip into her tone. "We need to go now."

Daisy half-raised her uninjured arm and let May pull her to her feet, biting back an agonized groan. May pulled Daisy's arm across her shoulders and they stumbled forward, further into the network of caverns just as the a pile of rocks and rubble cascaded down where they had been standing mere moments ago. May noticed how heavily Daisy was leaning against her shoulders, her white face and ragged breathing. Shock.

"Daisy, I need you to talk to me."

"What... what the hell happened back there? You froze." Daisy gasped, panting as their quickened pace sent fresh jolts of pain through her arm. "You never freeze."

May set her jaw. "I'll tell you later."

Daisy scoffed halfheartedly. "You'll tell me now, or I swear I'll pass out right here and make you drag me."

May ground her teeth a final time before capitulating. "Radcliffe," she practically spat the name. "He kept me trapped in a simulation. I was reliving Bahrain."

Daisy cursed under her breath.

"Except it wasn't Bahrain. In his simulation, I didn't kill the girl. We made it out. My life didn't end that day." she laughed bitterly. "Until I finally got out, and remembered the truth. That I'm just as much a monster as I've ever been."

"'s not true." There was a crease in Daisy's forehead and her eyes were screwed shut, but she shook her head. "Not your fault."

As much as May wanted to believe those words, she'd given up on them long ago.

"Just a little further." She remember the map, there was an area where the edge of the caverns passed close to the exterior of the hill. SHIELD should get our signal from there.

A few moments later in the dark, punctuated by their ragged breathing, they stumble into the cavern May remembered. The rock wall is so thin that it had worn through toward the roof—uninjured, Daisy could have made short work of that wall, but right now it may as well have been five feet thick. Daisy collapsed against the wall and May shrugged off her jacket, draping it over Daisy's shoulders. She then caught sight of some branches strewn about. They must have fallen in through the openings, or been brought here by wild animals. She pulled the jacket tighter across Daisy's shoulders. "Here. Keep warm while I start a fire."

"May." She turned, almost frightened by the whiteness of the younger agent's face. Her eyes were unfocused, glassy. "'m... gonna pass out now." She sagged against the wall, blackness engulfing her.

Slowly, Daisy awoke to the feeling of comfortable warmth, and the repeated motion of a cool hand passing over her forehead and running through her hair. A quiet voice was saying something she couldn't understand. It was pleasant. The stabbing, needle-like pain from her entire left arm, however, was not. She groaned. "Shhh, 美英," she heard. Her head starting to clear a bit, she recognized the voice and struggled to open bleary eyes.

"May?" Her voice was barely intelligible to her own ears, but the motion stopped. "You're awake."

Daisy grunted and struggled upright, almost falling backward before she felt May's arms guide her to a leaning position against the wall. The pain of the effort helped clear her head.

"How long was I out?" she asked, voice slightly hoarse.

"A couple hours, maybe. How do you feel?"

A wry laugh. "Like I got run over by a truck, and then they came back for another pass on my arm. But I'm almost getting used to that by now." Her face twisted at a fresh stab of pain. "Almost." Except for feeling like her arm had had a close encounter with a wood chipper, Daisy actually felt a lot better. The shock had passed, and her dizziness was starting to clear as she listened to the quiet crackling of the fire.

"I heard you say something," Daisy said. "it sounded like... 'may-in'?"

"Meiying," May corrected, then colored.

"What is it? It sounds pretty."

May stared into the fire for a long moment.

"You know about Bahrain." Daisy nodded, confused. "You probably can't image that I wanted to have a daughter once. Before Bahrain, when I was married to Andrew. After what happened, I..." she swallowed. "I used to have dreams about what our life would have been like with a little girl. After... I still had dreams, but all I could see was me... killing her. I knew, after what I'd done, I could never let myself have a child."

Daisy's heart broke in the silence.

"Meiying means flower. It would have been her name."

Daisy sat silent for a moment, then sudden realization hit her still slightly muddled mind. "Wait, but... isn't that... what you said to me?"

May shifted uncomfortably. At first, she had distrusted this girl. Then as she began to understand her, she grew protective of her, even fond. Over the years, that protectiveness grew into respect, and fondness into love... and before she knew it, she saw in Daisy the daughter she never had. But while she may secretly think of Daisy as her daughter, who would want a mother like her? What was she thinking, letting that name slip out?

"Sorry. Won't happen again." It sounded more miserable than she thought it would.

"No!" Daisy said loudly, startling them both. "No, I... please don't," she said more quietly. "It's a beautiful name. If... if you're sure you want to... it would make me happy."

"I have a confession to make," Daisy continued a moment later. May looked at her sharply. "When I still searching for my parents, I looked in your file. I thought... I mean, the ages seemed right, I was left by a female agent—hell, we even sort of look alike." She laughed softly. "I was grasping at straws. But still, it would have made me so happy if it had been you."

May could hardly believe she was hearing these words, but they filled her with a swell of happiness she didn't know she was capable of feeling anymore.

"May... how do you say 'mom'" in Chinese?

She struggled past her disbelief. She could never think of herself in a motherly role, but... was it possible Daisy could think of her that way? "Māma," she said softly. "Or Niáng, but that's formal."

Daisy laughed and tilted her head back against the wall. "Well, I'm not about to get formal with you, and literally everyone would notice if I started calling you 'mama.'" She'd be happy if everyone on the base heard her call May mom, but half the recruits already thought they were related—and the last thing they needed was some ignorant paper-pusher trying to separating them in field work because they were "related." That new agent Miller was adamant they were related, but thankfully no one really listened to him. At least he meant well. Daisy thought for a moment, then smiled.

"Mae." May raised an inquiring eyebrow, and Daisy continued. "There was this Portuguese kid at Saint Agnes, and he taught me a few words. If I remember right, 'mae' means mom." Daisy leaned forward with a grin. "Everyone will think I'm just mispronouncing your name to annoy you, but you and I will know."

May poked intently at the fire, hoping the red glint of the flames would hide the blush of happiness she felt rising. "You know, Meiying has another meaning," she said. "'Beautiful brave one.' It fits you more than I ever could have hoped." Now it was Daisy's turn to blush. May sighed, leaning against the cave wall next to Daisy.

"You know, some day we're going to get a recruit who speaks Portuguese, and then nothing will ever convince Agent Miller we aren't related."

Daisy smiled, then leaned into May's shoulder and closed her eyes. "I couldn't care less."

Several weeks later, Coulson was wrapping up a briefing on a surveillance op—Daisy's first mission since her arm had healed. Elena was to run recon—literally—and Mack was to manage comms, doubling as backup if necessary.

"-and that's about it. Any questions?" Coulson asked.

"Nope. Sounds like a standard 'get in, snoop on the bad guys, and get out,'" Daisy quipped.

"Alright," Coulson nodded. "Suit up. Wheels up in ten."

Daisy was the first out the door, nearly colliding with May as she walked past.

"On a mission already?" May asked, noticing the briefing pulled up on the tablet Daisy held.

"Yep—standard surveillance, nothing special."

May nodded. "Be careful."

Daisy rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yes, Mae," she said teasingly. May fought to suppress her own grin and surreptitiously elbowed Daisy as she walked past. Daisy theatrically clutched her arm in mock pain, then continued toward the hanger with a grin.

Elena had observed the whole exchange from where she stood just inside the briefing room. She stared into the hall with a slightly confused expression, and acknowledged Mack as he walked up to join her. "You're sure May and Daisy aren't related?" she asked in Spanish.

"Yeah. Why?" Mack rejoined in the same language.

"I could have sworn Daisy called May 'mom' in Portuguese."

"What? When?"

"Just now."

Mack opened his mouth to reply, then stopped as Phil came up behind them. "Sir?"

"I may not speak Portuguese, but I've learned enough Spanish to understand most of what you just said." Coulson looked between the two of them. "Now, I just have one question for you."

"We won't say a word," Elena said quickly. Phil smiled slightly. "I appreciate your discretion, but that wasn't it." He paused a moment. "...how do you say 'dad' in Portuguese?"

A/N: I admit it, I am incapable of writing anything that doesn't end in fluff. Melinda and Phil just need to get married and adopt Daisy already, okay?

New SHIELD agents thinking that Daisy and May are related is an idea from one of b00k-freak's fics, which are so good that I frequently confuse them with canon.

Let me know if you liked it! :)