Sort of a follow-up to my 4x04 tag "Reconciliation", which you can find on my profile. Not required reading if you just assume Daisy has made up with Coulson and decided to rejoin SHIELD.
This may be a bit silly, but hopefully the feel-good fluff redeems it. :)
"Come onnn, Simmons," Daisy complained, perched on the edge of a medical examination bed as Jemma prodded the other woman's injured arm. "It's been a week and there's practically no difference! Can't you make this heal any faster?"
"Yes, maybe, but only if you hadn't been popping stolen bone regeneration pills like candy!" the scientist lectured. "Until your system can recover from that deluge, you're stuck healing at the same rate as the rest of us. Unless you feel like liquefying your liver?" she inquired brightly.
"Message received, Doctor Kevorkian," Daisy said with a mock salute. "Should have gotten a bone-healing superpower too," she grumbled.
"You might have one already, actually," Fitz chimed in from across the lab.
"What?"
"You could try purring."
Her mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?"
"You know, like a cat. Cats produce low-frequency vibrations that relieve pain and stimulate tissue regeneration. AKA... purring."
Daisy looked from one scientist to the other, utterly disbelieving. "Is this some kind of Scottish joke?"
"No no, it's a scientific fact. Quite fascinating really. And since it's just vibrations, you ought to be able to achieve the same effects with a little practice. ...well, it's a theory anyway." The engineer shrugged and went back to his work.
Daisy just shook her head and hopped off the table. "Well. Thanks for the vet checkup, Simmons."
The scientist smiled. "No problem. It's good to have you back."
Daisy returned the smile. "Good to be back."
Several hours later, Daisy was laying on the soft mattress of the Playground's guest quarters, staring at the ceiling, completely exhausted but unable to sleep. Everything hurt. She couldn't sleep on her left side because of her arm, and she couldn't sleep on her right because of her wounded shoulder. Even lying motionless on her back, her injuries throbbed in pain with every heartbeat. Simmons—perhaps she should start calling her "warden" again—refused to give her anything stronger than ibuprofen for the pain, claiming she would start doing overdoing and slow down the healing process. Daisy sighed. She was probably right, but that didn't mean she had to admit it.
She wiggled slightly to alleviate an itch between her shoulder blades and felt immediate stabs of pain in her arm and shoulder, failing to completely stifle a whimper. This was ridiculous. She would do anything to take the edge off, just enough to get some blasted sleep.
Fitz's ridiculous comments in the lab earlier that day drifted to the forefront of her mind.
She sighed heavily. "Fine."
May took a deep, calming breath. Over an hour ago, she had been woken from a particularly restful slumber by the sound of her desk rattling. Five minutes later, it rattled again. This time she could have sworn the frequency was changing as the tremors continued, like someone wandering up and down a musical scale in search of the right note. This turned out to be a repeating pattern: silence until she was just on the verge of falling asleep, followed every object on her desk being played like it was in a high school band's percussion section. This acoustic version of Chinese water torture continued for nearly an hour, until she finally flung the covers off her bed in frustration and resigned herself to wakefulness.
Of course, the tremors stopped after that.
Instead causing relief, the prolonged silence soon became a source of mild concern. Daisy had gotten quite a good handle on her powers before she decided to leave, so why the shaking now? Was it nightmares? Illness? Whatever the cause, Daisy wasn't likely to share it with her. Pushing unpleasant thoughts away, May rose from her meditating position in search of tea.
When she reached the common area, May was surprised to see Daisy slouched on one end of the sofa, eyes closed but brows knit together in discomfort. Unsure if she was awake, May glided softly past to the cupboard.
Her cup clinked a little too loudly as it made contact with the counter, and the form on the couch started. May didn't miss the soft curse Daisy muttered under her breath after accidentally jolting her shoulder, or the grimace that crossed her face as she pushed herself up slightly to find May behind her holding a steaming mug.
"Didn't mean to wake you," May offered.
"'s all right." Daisy awkwardly settled back into the cushions, trying to move as little as possible. "I wasn't really sleeping."
Silence.
"You have a bed, you know."
Daisy tilted her head slightly in a gesture that approximated a shrug. "Guess I got used to sleeping sitting up." She paused for a moment. "Besides, it's a little difficult to sleep in a room that only locks from the outside." She glanced around the common room. "This feels more like home."
Ah, the guest quarters. While pleasantly furnished, they were designed to serve as a holding cell in a pinch. May set her cup down on the coffee table and took a seat on the other end of the couch.
"You'll get your old quarters back as soon as Coulson gets you reinstated."
Daisy raised an eyebrow at the floor. "If he gets me reinstated," she corrected.
"When Coulson determines he's going to do something, nothing will stand in his way," May said. She looked at Daisy. "And he's very determined when it comes to you."
Daisy looked down and nodded, guiltily recalling all the time spent running from the man who was trying to bring her back to SHIELD.
""May, I... I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I'm used to digging up everyone's weak points for leverage, but throwing it in your face like that was wrong."
"Forget about it."
A companionable silence fell between them.
"So what was all that shaking about earlier?" May asked.
Daisy gained a sudden interest in the floor. "Oh, you felt that?" she said, somewhat abashed.
"Half the base did."
"Great." A pause. "Sorry. I was... trying something. It didn't work."
"What were you trying?"
Daisy continued to stare at the floor in silence. Was she turning red? Something odd was definitely going on.
"It was Fitz's stupid idea," she mumbled.
"What?" May prompted again.
"I'm healing slowly and it hurts too much to sleep, so Fitz suggested I... try to generate a low-frequency vibration that would help my bones regenerate and alleviate some of the pain. I couldn't get the knack of it."
May raised her eyebrows. "He told you to... purr?"
Daisy closed her eyes and exhaled exasperatedly, pressing herself back into the couch cushions. "Yes, all right! I am aware of how utterly ridiculous it sounds."
Barely holding back the smile that pushed up the corners of her mouth, May leaned into the couch and raised an arm to rest invitingly the back cushions. She glanced over at Daisy and nodded her head in the universal sign for "come here."
Her student appeared utterly confused. "What?"
"In my experience, cats won't start purring unless they're warm and comfortable."
"Yeah, and how would you know that?" Daisy asked in an amused tone.
May silently raised an eyebrow.
Utter shock crossed Daisy's face. "No way. You had ca—Agent Melinda May had a cat?"
May rolled her eyes. "Technically, it was Andrew's. But the stupid thing never left me alone."
"Of course not, it probably sensed a kindred spirit."
May started to move her arm off the couch. "Okay then-"
"Oh no, no, I didn't say anything." Daisy scooted across the sofa as quickly as her pained limbs would let her. "Cat lady," she said under her breath as she slid next to May. She suddenly felt a sharp jab into her ribs and squeaked indignantly. May smiled sweetly. "Oops."
Daisy stopped just short of sitting hip-to-hip with her SO. "You sure you're okay with this?"
May sighed. "The faster you heal, the sooner the rest of us can sleep without you rattling our teeth out of our heads."
"All right then." Daisy slid next to the older woman and leaned her head against her shoulder, feeling May's arm come to rest around her own shoulders. Under normal circumstances, she define herself as anything but clingy, but months on the run had left her starved for human contact. This was like a prolonged hug, and she found herself enjoying it immensely.
May might not put much stock in the healing vibrations theory, but it was a good excuse to get close to Daisy. Headstrong and reckless as she could be, she had missed her student, and she hated seeing any of her team members in pain. After a few minutes, she began to hum softly.
"What's that?" Daisy asked in a sleepy tone.
May was somewhat surprised to find she'd been humming aloud. "It's an old Chinese song. My mother sang it to me."
"Oh. 's nice."
Her mother had never been much for physical affection, but when Melinda was only five years old, she had fallen during an ice skating lesson and broke her arm. It hurt so much she couldn't sleep. She had cried for an hour before her mother finally crawled into little Melinda's bed, pulled her close and sang that lullaby until she fell asleep. Despite the pain, it was one of her favorite memories of her mother.
She felt the young woman next to her relax as she finally fell asleep. May settled back into the couch, feeling comfortably tired. Maybe she had room for a few more favorite memories.
Coulson walked in the common room the next morning to find the two women he cared about most sitting fast asleep on the common room couch, May with her arm around Daisy and her head resting on top of hers. He smiled to himself, lingering over the scene for a moment.
As he walked toward the coffee maker, he thought he heard a soft humming sound, almost seeming to follow the rise and fall of Daisy's chest as she slept. It was a sound he hadn't heard since he visited Melinda and Andrew's home all those years ago, coming from that black cat that never left May's side—much to her chagrin. He shook his head. Must be imagining things.
However, that morning, he felt the strange urge to pull his Grumpy Cat mug out from the back of the cabinet.
Review if you liked it! :D
This was inspired in part by a comment in the Agents of SHIELD subreddit that said Daisy should heal herself by purring like a cat, and also by another fanfic where Daisy starts buzzing involuntarily when happy as a side-effect of her powers. ("Holiday" by B00k Freak, who writes amazing May/Daisy friendship fics!)