Six months, twenty-four hours and twelve minutes
Summary: Phil contemplates his life about the last six months and misses a certain Inhuman.
Notes: Companion piece to 'Six months and a night later', from Phil's point of view, for the #happyPhilday event at Tumblr.
The first time he notices, it's two weeks after Daisy ran, after he found Lola with a new decoration and his smuggling Cloud to Cal . And it's not him doing the noticing, either. It's Elena who notices first of all.
"Nice daisy." Elena's voice called him back to the present.
"Sorry?" he looked up, surprised.
"Your...garabato...um...doodle." she said.
He looked down at the table and sure enough a single daisy greeted him on his napkin. He frowned.
"I wasn't..." he started.
"You have skill." Elena said kindly.
"No, not really." he shook his head.
"Don't let him fool you." Mack said, walking in. "He helped design Cap's suit, back before the aliens came down in New York. And his most proud work had been Daisy's suit design."
Elena looked back at Coulson, impressed.
Coulson blushed slightly.
After that, he often found little daisies doodled on the backs of articles, or on his notebook.
He had paniced that he would soon start carving on the walls and tables and he was on edge for a little over a month, worried he'd be taken off searching for Quake.
When he relaxed about it and realised it was just him missing Daisy, he couldn't tell. One day he just knew.
He tracked Polly Hinton and followed her and her daughter to Wisconsin, on a hunch that Daisy was behind their relocation.
He knew her well enough to know she'd head to see Dr. Winslow first thing and made sure to give her a means of transport – erasing the van's plates, description and storage number from SHIELD archives before getting the van across the country – and later booked a room close to where the Hintons' lived, because Daisy would still be around to make sure they settled well.
He knew the other agents had started talking about him and how he had 'fallen from grace', so to speak, 'chasing after a rogue Inhuman' – their words – but it didn't bother him.
He knew Mack and Elena and May were worried for him, but Coulson was on a mission; to get Daisy back home.
He doesn't know what makes him wake up in the middle of the night.
He only finds himself laying on his half-made bed instead of the chair where he last remembers being. He sits up and looks about the room for any clues, but finds nothing. There are only three options; either Mack came in and carried him to bed – which Coulson would have been woken by – or two, he started sleepwalking – which wouldn't help with the rumors that he is losing it – or three, Daisy was here.
He stares out of the window for a moment and then falls back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He feels...peaceful, for some reason. Part of him thinks it's because, if Daisy was indeed here, that means she is still free, she is ok.
"Daisy..." he sighed softly, closing his eyes, trying to remember her face.
'Happy birthdy, Phillip.'
"Huh?" he opened his eyes surprised. "What...?" he looked around him again, to make absolutely certain he is alone in the room, that no one talked. It was her voice, too.
He sighes, leans back and closes her eyes. Again. How many times has he done these same movements the past couple of minutes? He has been losing track of time, and at the same time he is painfully aware of how much time has passed; six months and...he checkes his watch, twenty-four hours, twelve minutes and four seconds. Five seconds. Six seconds...
"I've missed you." he whispers in the darkness, knowing he won't get an answer – Daisy's been long gone. If she really was the one to carry him over to bed. He never realises when he falls asleep again, but he does dream of daisies.