Black clouds are behind me, I now can see ahead
Often I wonder why I try hoping for an end
Sorrow weighs my shoulders down
And trouble haunts my mind
But I know the present will not last
And tomorrow will be kinder
Tomorrow will be kinder
It's true, I've seen it before
A brighter day is coming my way
Yes, tomorrow will be kinder"
The plane rumbled and shook as it rose further away from the ground, propelled by the power of the explosion below. Everyone braced themselves as they clutched the sides of their seats. Davis was trying his best to keep the plane steady - this was quite the initiation - as Piper held onto the doorway behind Daisy's chair. Jemma didn't even dare look as she held onto the dashboard. Agent Prince was on the seat behind Davis, gritting his teeth. Were they even sure the Zephyr could withstand firepower like this?
Gradually, the noise died down and the plane steadied. Jemma opened her eyes again and let out the breath she had been holding, as did the others. She reached behind her, looking for Daisy, who took her hand. Even though she had stepped onto the plane with her, feeling her hand filled Jemma with relief. Just to know that one person of the team was still there. They all just sat there processing for a bit, with only the engines cutting through the stunned silence.
They rose further up in the air, leaving the hangar and the base behind. No one had really dared to take a look at how much - or how little - was left of the Playground. Jemma hoped that she had taken the right decision moving the agents that had still been unconscious and that she hadn't left them there to die. But as the sinking feeling in her stomach grew by the minute, Davis was the first to say something.
"Can't believe I pulled that off," he said, dumbstruck, letting the autopilot take over.
"Yeah, I think you passed your training," Daisy replied with a pained smile. She was definitely getting weaker from all the blood she lost, but she was proud of him nonetheless, "Good job."
Davis nodded gratefully in response, sat back and sighed deeply, rubbing his hand over his face.
Jemma, meanwhile, had snapped out of her depressing train of thought and headed to the panel behind the archway where Piper was standing. As she pried it open in a hurry, she found the first-aid kit she was looking for. Luckily, Coulson had listened to her suggestion for a more centralized storage place for the kit after the Bus was blown up. This would have to do until she could find something better when they landed.
"I'll take a look at the rest of you later if you don't mind," she said, heading straight for Daisy.
"Of course," Piper replied and the two men nodded in agreement. Daisy was panting as it cost her more and more energy to stay awake. She smiled gratefully when Jemma set the case down next to her.
"The only thing we need to figure out right now is where to go," Piper suggested, "We can't stay this close to the base in case anything hostile is still alive down there."
Jemma looked up at Daisy and they shared a dark look. Who knew what kind of things Radcliffe had incorporated in his latest LMD design? He probably wouldn't shy away from rockets or even flying robots. Nothing could really surprise them anymore. Daisy's head shot up in alarm when she suddenly thought of something.
"We need to go pick up Yo-Yo," Daisy replied with urgency. She flinched as Jemma took some gauze out of the package and pressed it against the wound in her shoulder, "She was already expecting us and she's one of the few people out there we can really trust."
"Good idea," Davis said, looking up Yo-Yo's coordinates and entering them into the autopilot.
"Maybe we should let dr. Simmons work in peace for a while," Prince suggested as he got up and looked at Davis and Piper.
"Oh, you're not bothering me if you think that," Jemma replied, hoping she didn't give off that impression. She could get a little more direct than she liked when they were under stress. It was actually quite comforting to have the newbies there with them, it made Jemma feel as if she had more experience with these sort of situations, even though she knew they were out of their depth as well. But Davis put her mind at ease.
"Oh no, it's not that. We should probably go check if the plane is still intact after that explosion," he said, taking a small pause when Piper and Prince grinned at him, before giving in and continuing, "And I also just can't handle blood that well."
Jemma chuckled and Daisy smiled, both grateful for a lighter moment.
Daisy couldn't resist a jab at him, "You're in SHIELD, you should probably get used to it."
As if to make a point, Jemma replaced a blood-soaked bandage with a new one and dropped it carelessly onto the ground. Jemma, however, didn't seem to notice the humour in what she was doing. Daisy did and smirked affectionately at her friend when she saw Davis' queasy face.
"She does that sometimes", she quipped to him, "You won't even notice the blood anymore if you hang out with her long enough."
Jemma looked up from the bottles she was checking, looking confused, "What?"
"I'm just messing with you," Daisy said with the brightest smile she could manage right now.
"Oh," Jemma answered absent-mindedly and got back to her work. She loved Daisy's sense of humour but her health was more important right now.
"Either way, I'm going to work on it, ma'am", Davis responded with a smirk. Prince gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Hold on," Jemma got up to face the three newer agents and straightened. Daisy had learned to recognize her boss demeanour by now and was startled a bit, as were the others.
"Lose the ma'am," she continued with slightly pained expression, "You saved our lives back there and right now, we're all that's left of the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. So there's really no need for that stupid hierarchy. I'm Jemma or Simmons from now on, okay?"
The new agents looked impressed and appreciative but also felt a bit awkward. This went against everything in their training and almost felt like seeing your teachers outside school.
"Well said. But I would prefer it if you just call me Daisy, because Johnson sounds weird," Daisy added, to which Jemma rolled her eyes, smiling. Daisy just couldn't help herself.
"Okay..." Piper said tentatively, thinking back to the same experience she had with May, "Well, thank you all the same. And also for trusting us enough to bring us with you."
"Well, you had earned that trust long before today so we couldn't well leave you behind, could we?" Jemma said with a sincere smile.
But Prince scoffed, "Oh no, you could have. But you didn't. So there are really no better people to save S.H.I.E.L.D. than two who understand what it's all about."
Both Daisy and Jemma were speechless for a second. He had said it so matter-of-factly that it seemed he had thought about it before. Jemma and Daisy shared a look, they were both thinking the same thing.
"Thank you," Daisy told him, "That really means a lot to us."
"No problem," he replied, "We'll get out of your hair now and try to map the plane."
Piper grabbed the gun out of her holster and held it loosely in her hand.
"Better safe than sorry," she said when she noticed everyone was watching.
No one said anything but they were all hoping for the same. They were in no condition to fight, especially Daisy, and she was their most valuable asset. Jemma nodded at the three agents and they went on their way.
"Alright, now I can properly take a look at you," Jemma said, turning back to Daisy, "Maybe we should go sit on the cargo seats, so I have a bit more space."
Daisy nodded in agreement and got up. She flinched again when she straightened, so Jemma wrapped Daisy's arm around her for support. They walked, or half-stumbled, to the seats where Jemma helped Daisy sit down relatively comfortably before hurrying back to get the first-aid kit. She kneeled in front of Daisy and sighed as she looked at the many bruises and the gunshot wounds.
"I really wish I could take an X-ray because you've likely broken some ribs and I don't want to hurt you anymore than you already are."
"It's fine," Daisy said, breathing more heavily than usual, "I'll live as long as you can get those bullets out."
She attempted a grin but it was a weak one. Jemma gave her a look of concern and rummaged through the kit. This was no place for an operation like this. Her eye fell on a tiny vile.
"I only have a local anaesthetic so it'll still be painful."
"I understand but I really want them out," Daisy stressed, looking annoyed from the pain, but she didn't want to seem cross with Jemma, "I don't want to get metal poisoning like Wolverine or something."
Jemma frowned in exasperation at another joke, but Daisy's expectant look reminded her that this was Daisy's way of coping, so she rolled her eyes playfully, "That's not a thing."
She grabbed some pincers, a syringe and a bag from the kit as Daisy scoffed, "Better not risk it."
Jemma drew some fluid from the vile and injected it near both gunshot wounds. As she waited for the anaesthetic to kick in, she disinfected the pincers. Sitting still for a moment had relaxed her but also reduced the adrenalin. She could slowly start to feel her own bruises and cuts. She could only imagine what Daisy was feeling.
"I think it's starting to work," Daisy said, her breathing stabilizing.
"Okay," Jemma inhaled deeply, "I'm going to try and do this as calmly as possible because I don't have any blood to give you."
Daisy nodded and braced herself as Jemma took off the bandage. Daisy's face contorted in pain when she felt the pincers digging into the wound. It wasn't as painful as getting shot but it hurt nonetheless. She groaned when she felt the bullet go out. Jemma quickly pressed some gauze on it to stop the bleeding.
"You okay?" Jemma asked her, looking concerned as she put the bullet into the bag.
Daisy nodded but couldn't say anything. She looked exhausted already.
"I'll just get it over with, okay?"
Daisy nodded again and took a steadying breath. As she felt that same nagging pain, she felt her seat starting to tremble. She couldn't really control her powers right now because she was already feeling so weak. She clenched her fists but that didn't really help.
"Jemma-"
"It's fine," Jemma told her, having noticed where the tremors came from, "Just let go, you can't bear any fractures in your arms right now."
Daisy tried to steer her powers towards the floor and away from the seat so Jemma could keep her hand steady but it was taxing.
"I've almost got it."
As soon as she felt that final shot of pain and the bullet was out, a shock wave escaped her, blasting Jemma backwards and shaking the plane.
"Jemma!" Daisy cried out, but when she got up, her legs gave in and she sank to the ground.
"I'm fine, don't get up," Jemma said as soon as she got her bearings and sat up. She felt the back of her head. It got a decent hit when she landed but she would probably only get a considerable headache. She looked at Daisy, who was panting and leaned back against the edge of the seat in relief.
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Jemma answered, getting up and walking over to her, "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks. I think I'll just stay here on the ground. At least I can't fall off," Daisy said, not having the energy left to stand up.
Jemma sat down in front of her and picked up the bag with the bullets, "I'll get rid of these when we land. You should rest."
She grabbed some more gauze and bandages and started wrapping Daisy's wounds up. If she didn't move too abruptly, she would be fine.
"How did you get these anyway? We were separated for a while," Jemma asked, curious to know how she got out of there.
She looked up from her work to see Daisy looking at her demurely. Daisy hesitated in answering, still processing everything.
"Mack and Coulson," she said, looking down, "And the bruises are courtesy of Mace. Well, their robot versions. I think I took the Mack one out, but I'm not sure. I definitely trashed the Mace one, though."
They exchanged another look, both realizing how messed up this whole situation was. As they felt the plane slightly turn, Daisy wanted to change the subject for a bit until she got rid of the awful feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"But I did do this new thing with my powers to take them out, like a quake ball and then I split it. It was very Dragon Ball Z."
She grinned a little as she said that because Jemma looked impressed at the comparison. Her friend's pop culture knowledge sometimes surprised her.
"Maybe you could study it one time."
"Sure, a division of energy like that is always fascinating, especially if comes from you," Jemma answered.
"You sure know how to flatter a girl," Daisy replied slyly and Jemma gave her the amused-yet-slightly-annoyed look she always used to keep for Trip and Hunter's wisecracking.
"I'm serious, Daisy. You really got the hang of your powers. It's impressive," Jemma answered, pausing at wrapping Daisy's arm to look at her. She considered how far Daisy had come since becoming Inhuman and could feel nothing but admiration for how she handled it and how she was using her powers for her own good as well as for others.
"Thank you, Jemma," Daisy said with a light smile. She appreciated that Jemma took the time to say it.
When Jemma was finished with the bandages, she looked through the kit again and took two pills out of a bottle to hand to Daisy.
"You should take these, they're painkillers."
Daisy did what she said as Jemma moved to sit next to her. They both leaned against the wall, feeling a bit defeated. Daisy wanted to start leaving the whole thing behind her so she decided to continue with the rest of her story.
"This Mace wasn't so concerned about being a team."
Jemma could tell from her expression that she wasn't trying to joke. They shared a knowing look. Daisy looked conflicted and apologetic as she continued.
"Is it really bad that when he came at me, one of my first thoughts was that he finally got that Inhuman-like strength he wanted?"
It should make them feel at least a bit guilty, but Jemma shook her head, "No, it's ironic and Radcliffe probably realized that all too well. Mace is not a bad guy, but some things are just not meant to be. We all have to accept that."
Daisy nodded thankfully, but Jemma wasn't talking solely about Mace. She was starting to wonder - or maybe wondering again - if Fitz hadn't been right about that curse. There was always something to keep them apart. Even though Daisy believed strongly that that wasn't the case, she felt she had to consider it again.
She touched her forehead as she felt that headache coming up - she was already worrying too much - and noticed fresh blood on her hand. Daisy noticed it too and turned to her.
"My God, Jemma, I'm so sorry, we haven't even checked you," Daisy said agitated, leaning forward towards the first-aid kit. But Jemma gently pushed her back against the wall.
"It's fine, Daisy, honestly."
She grabbed some gauze and pressed it above her temple. But Daisy was having none of it.
"No, it's not. Come on, I was barely bleeding for being shot, but you're covered in it."
With her good arm, she pulled a bottle of disinfectant out of the kit, opened it and put some on a piece of gauze. She turned towards Jemma and pushed her own hand away from her head to clean some of the blood off.
"It's not all mine though," Jemma said absent-mindedly as she thought about how she got that head wound in the first place. She looked at her leg, which was soaked with blood and still had the tourniquet on it. It would take a her a while to get the whole thing out of her head.
Daisy looked at her intently when she noticed the change in her behaviour. She thought back to how she found Jemma after she saw that surveillance footage: completely panicked and on the verge of breaking down. She had never seen her friend like that before and she hoped she would never see that again.
"I owe you an apology, Daisy," Jemma said, feeling her throat close up. Daisy sat back to look at her.
"What? Why?"
"Because I didn't even think twice in believing him when he said that you were the LMD. The scan said that four LMDs were detected and you were in the picture so I just assumed. I didn't even stop to question it - to question him."
She had blurted out the whole thing in one breath. Daisy wasn't quite sure she had followed everything.
"Hey, calm down. It's okay," Daisy soothed, squeezing Jemma in the shoulder with her good arm.
"No, it's not," she replied, her voice breaking. She groaned in frustration at the tears welling up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I know I can't do this again. We don't have the time," she said angrily as she wiped the tears out of her eyes.
"We're on a plane to Columbia. We have the time," Daisy stressed, shaking Jemma's shoulder lightly to make her look at her. When she did, Daisy looked her in the eye.
"Hey, don't keep it all in. What happens then is leaving your team to go chase a guy whose head lights on fire."
She had a wry smile on her face as Jemma looked at her in worry.
"Daisy, that's not what I wanted-"
"No, I know it wasn't," she answered and sighed before she continued, "But it's true. I should've listened to you and stayed with the people who know me, people I love, and worked through Lincoln's death right here. Talked to you like you offered. I know that now and I regret ever leaving because I know that's not what Lincoln would've wanted. But at the time I just felt so guilty," she said, pausing for a moment.
Jemma nodded sympathetically, putting her hand on top of Daisy's, which was still resting on Jemma's shoulder.
"This is a normal reaction from someone who is overwhelmed and feels betrayed," Daisy stressed, but Jemma felt frustrated at herself again.
"But you're not wallowing in it right now."
"Well, I only found out about the LMDs when I saw the footage. I had nothing to worry about before that," Daisy reasoned.
She paused for a second, before frowning and continuing, "And, no offence to any of them, I love them all but I don't love them, not like you and Fitz."
Jemma looked Daisy in the eyes again and saw the concern she felt for her. They hadn't been spending as much time together as they used to, but she would make sure to change that in the future, when everything had gone back to normal. Daisy was as close as she would ever get to having a sister.
"Go on, tell me what happened," Daisy said calmly, before attaching the piece of gauze to Jemma's wound with some tape and sitting back.
As Jemma told the story of what happened after the team got back from the mission, they both realized how far Radcliffe had advanced in his LMD technology to be able to deceive Jemma. She told her of their plan to get out, how they went to the workshop to be able to talk quietly, how the scan had shown one of them to be an LMD, how Fitz had seemed so convincing that she started to doubt herself considering what had happened to May, how she used her gun to get the upper hand and how she made him prove he was human by cutting his wrist.
Daisy was shocked when she heard that but tried to hide it. She didn't know what she would've done in the same situation, nor could she imagine it. Jemma noticed her shock anyway because she was still considering the what if scenario herself.
"I took a risk but it had to be me. I was never alone in that base, Davis was with me the whole time," she almost pleaded, trying to justify her actions.
"I know," Daisy replied to reassure her.
She went on to say how Fitz had been panicking about all the blood, so her fear overtook her and she approached him to help.
"But then he... went into robot mode I guess, I don't know what else to call it, because he had me cornered and went from crying out in pain to ice cold in a flash. That's how I got this," she recalled, pointing to the stab wound in her thigh. Thankfully, the tourniquet had worked and it wasn't bleeding anymore.
"He stabbed you in the leg?" Daisy asked incredulously.
"And then hit me in the head with a fire extinguisher to knock me out," she added, trying to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat as she pointed to the wound Daisy had been working on.
Daisy couldn't speak for a second. She had known that Radcliffe was capable of a lot of things, but she never had imagined that he would use Fitz, his own tech partner for so long, to hurt Jemma. She had apparently misjudged him. Or maybe it had been AIDA's doing.
"I woke up tied to a chair, about to have my brain scanned," Jemma went on, starting to pick at her fingers to have something to do, "I managed to get off the chair and drag myself away. He kept warning me that I was going to hurt myself."
She scoffed humourlessly as Daisy kept listening intently. She paused for a second after that but Daisy decided to give her the time to gather her thoughts, instead of asking her to go on. Jemma swallowed hard and felt tears well up in her eyes again. She forced herself to look at Daisy again.
"It was so unsettling, because he wasn't trying to imitate Fitz at all anymore. He acted so cold but still said things that Fitz would say. Well, I think..."
She wiped away a tear from her cheek and sniffled, "He said he was doing this to keep me safe, so that we could get married one day. He said it in this taunting, belittling tone, which still makes my skin crawl."
She was desperately trying to keep her lip from trembling as Daisy felt her heart sink for Jemma. She put a hand on hers and squeezed it, not really knowing how else to respond to that.
"And now I've just been wondering if this was really something Fitz had been thinking about or if it was just Radcliffe's input to try and persuade me."
"Well, the LMD has all the memories of the person, doesn't it? That would be a really random thing to use against someone if there wasn't some truth to it," Daisy reasoned, giving Jemma a little hope.
She smiled thankfully and inhaled calmly before finishing her story.
"I told him that I would talk about it with the real Fitz when I saw him again and dropped one of the engines on him that were hanging from the ceiling. So I took my chance and started stabbing him. He tried to convince me a few times that he was the real Fitz, but that changed pretty quickly so I had to finish him off."
She hadn't meant to say it so casually, especially when she saw Daisy's expression. It was as much shock as concern and sympathy.
"So it really was you who did what I saw on that feed."
Jemma felt a bit ashamed. Maybe she should've hesitated longer than she had. But Daisy wasn't thinking in that direction.
"That is so messed up. I'm sorry, Jemma," Daisy said, "that you had to do that. Radcliffe is even more fucked up than I thought. I mean, he must've known that when you found out, you had to stop the LMD and they're not easy to put down."
"At first, I really thought he was building the LMDs to do good, but now..."
Jemma's sentence trailed off. She looked down and felt the tears come back as the memory kept replaying in her head.
"I just keep seeing the whole thing on a loop," her voice broke and she looked up at Daisy, "I know it's not him, but I have this image in my head of killing Fitz. Now I know what that looks and feels like. And I know I will never be able to get rid of that feeling again."
Her tears spilled over and Daisy pulled her into a hug. Jemma hugged her back tightly, like they had done just a few hours ago. Daisy's blood was boiling. How many horrible things could they possibly still throw at her and Fitz? At all of them?
"When I see that guy again, he'll pay, I promise," she said.
They were both far from okay right now with what they had seen and experienced, but they were comforted by the thought that they weren't alone. Daisy wouldn't have known where to go or what to do if Jemma hadn't been there and Jemma wouldn't have had the strength to fight back without Daisy.
"I'm really glad you're still here," Daisy said sincerely.
"I'm glad you're still here too," Jemma replied wholeheartedly.
They sat like that for a minute, just wanting to be there for each other. When they finally let go, they smiled despite the situation. These crazy years had brought them a lot of heartache, but it gave them a wonderful family as well.
But thinking about that family snapped them back to reality.
"You know how we have to fix this, right?" Daisy asked and Jemma nodded in determination, empowered by Daisy's resolve.
"We have to get them out," she answered, "But how are we going to manage that? Radcliffe probably knows that we know, so there's no way we will find that base now."
"Well, I'm thinking there could be another way," Daisy said, sounding a bit unsure, "But I don't know if we'll pull be able to pull it off."
"Go on," Jemma encouraged her, she was up for anything right now.
"You told me that Fitz was trying to track where the signal was coming from, you know, to find the base," Daisy said and Jemma nodded, "but it was hopping around on servers all over the world."
"Yeah," Jemma said, frowning, "But I don't know if he succeeded before- they got to him."
"That's the thing: we don't need to know where it came from. He found the Framework code, so all I need is his original code from when he created the prototype and we can use that to put ourselves in. I mean, it operated the same way to put agents into the simulation, didn't it?" Daisy explained and Jemma's eyes widened when she realized what Daisy was trying to say.
"You were serious back at the base? You actually want us to go in?"
"That's the only way we can get them out without having to find out where they are and confront AIDA," Daisy said, seemingly not fully convinced herself, but they had no choice. Jemma tried to think of some other options but quickly realized there were none. As Daisy saw her come to that realization, she smiled wryly.
"I know, it's far from ideal."
Jemma swallowed hard and looked at Daisy in concern, "We don't know what we're going to find in there. It could be completely the same but also completely different from our world. It's possible we don't even exist in that world."
Daisy nodded, "That's why I took another look at the Framework code right after we came back to the base. He'd already put some placeholder code in there for millions of people that he probably still needed to design or sync or whatever the hell he does with it. A version of us is definitely in there."
It creeped her out as much as it did Jemma, judging by the look on her face.
"But I don't have Fitz' code, and I didn't have the time to back up our recent work."
Daisy had been secretly hoping that she had, despite knowing how impossible it would've been for her to even think of that. She shrugged and smiled encouragingly.
"We'll find some other way."
Before Jemma had the time to bring up some more worries, they could hear the voices of the other agents draw nearer. When they rounded the corner onto the main area, Piper looked concerned at seeing them sitting where they were.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, we fixed ourselves up as best we could," Jemma answered as she got to her feet, keeping her weight off her injured leg and helping Daisy get up.
"I have some bad news on that front," Davis said, stepping forward, "I didn't find the medical kit that should be stored on large planes like this. Well, according to the handbook they gave me anyway."
But Daisy and Jemma scoffed at the same time. They looked at each other, amused at their jinx, and Jemma continued.
"I've been at SHIELD for some time now and hardly anything goes by the book. And the Zephyr is definitely not textbook."
Davis looked a bit annoyed, wondering why he spent all that time studying those things then.
"If it makes you feel any better," she said, smiling, "I only found out because I actually read the books as well."
It did make him feel better. Jemma Simmons was the third in command to the Director, after all.
"Why am I not surprised," Daisy teased and Jemma scrunched her nose at her.
"The rest of the plane was clear. No robots," Piper added bitterly, putting some boxes on the floor, "but we found some food for later, so you should probably use the bunks downstairs to get some proper rest."
"What about you?" Daisy asked, looking at the three young agents who had seen better days themselves. Jemma wondered if any of them had hit their heads when the effects of the sleeping gas kicked in.
"Yeah, I haven't had the chance to look at you yet."
"We're not going to pretend we've been through the same as you," Piper answered, looking at her fellow agents and smiling sympathetically, "There's nothing really wrong with us, so we'll help Davis keep the plane in the air until we get to Columbia."
"Hey!"
Davis looked a bit offended but Piper rolled her eyes and dismissed it.
Daisy and Jemma glanced at each other. They guessed they were thinking the same thing. These three reminded them a lot of how Daisy, Jemma and Fitz had been at the beginning. Sometimes, thinking about how far you'd come wasn't that pleasant.
"You know," Daisy said, "you make a good team."
They just grinned awkwardly at all the praise they were getting. They were probably just getting used to being in a team.
"Would you come get us about half an hour before we arrive?" Jemma asked, wrapping Daisy's arm around her shoulder to help her walk.
"Of course," Prince replied, but as they were about to pass him, he remembered something, "Oh wait, sorry, I have something for you."
He took off his backpack, rummaged through it and took out a thick rectangle. It looked like a hard drive.
"How could I forget? I was told to give this to you," he said, as he handed the drive to Daisy.
She looked up, stunned, "What? By who?"
"Oh, by agent Fitz. He said he put all of his work for the LMDs on it and the code, I think, that he was going to use to break into the Framework, just in case. He wanted to keep it off the grid in case Radcliffe would try to hack the network," Prince explained, as Daisy and Jemma were overwhelmed by emotion by what they heard, "He gave it to me before you left for the mission and told me to give it to Daisy if anything happened."
"Why me?" she said with a small voice, gripping the hard drive a bit tighter.
"Well, at the time it seemed very paranoid to me, but I guess he just had experience. He figured you would be the last one they would get to, if it came to it, because of your ninja fighting and your powers. And also, because you would definitely know what to do with it."
Daisy blinked hard as she bit on her lip. She smiled but her chin trembled when she did. Jemma didn't need to look at her to know how much that must've meant to her. She and Fitz had always had a special relationship, nothing like he and Jemma ever had, not even at the beginning of their friendship. Daisy and Fitz were like siblings.
"Well, that and..." he hesitated and glanced at Jemma.
"What?" she urged.
"He said that if you were there, I could give it to you but you had to give it to Daisy immediately. Because, well, he said she's a genius but she once told me that she was fine with computers as long as they worked," Prince smirked carefully at the memory as Jemma and Daisy smiled brightly.
She remembered telling him that, a long time ago at the Academy. Fitz was only in his second year of engineering when she'd asked his help when her computer crashed. It wasn't like she was a total newbie when it came to the technical stuff, but she just hadn't been that interested in them at the time. She had become less averse to computers in the last few years. She wondered if he had told Prince that so she would know it was really him who gave the instructions. Smart man.
"I kept it with me and put the data from the mission on there and figured it was wise to grab it when the robots took over. It's almost like he knew."
Jemma and Daisy looked at Prince in admiration. He would make a great agent with his quick thinking.
"Prince, you did amazing. I can't tell you how much you're helping us with this," she said and he nodded in appreciation.
Daisy frowned as she looked at it and continued, "And I think you're right. He probably feared something like this could happen, on some level."
She glanced at Jemma, who nodded demurely. When Daisy turned the drive over in her hand, she saw a tiny note attached to it.
"Hey... I think this is for you," Daisy said to Jemma, nudging her arm.
Not quite buffalo mozzarella and pesto alioli but still... - Love, Fitz
Her heart warmed. Even though there'd been a large chance Jemma would get captured, he had thought - and maybe hoped - that she wouldn't be. She felt herself well up again when she thought about where he was now. They had to get them back. And now they had the means to do it.
Daisy smiled, that warm smile she usually had when faced with Jemma and Fitz' relationship.
"Thanks again, agent Prince," Jemma said, clearing her throat to get the wobble out of her voice, "We're going to look at this and maybe get some rest."
"You're welcome."
Daisy clutched the drive firmly in her hand as she and Jemma carefully and slowly headed for the bunks below.
"You heard that? We make a good team," Davis said optimistically when they were out of earshot.
"Shut up and go check if we're even still heading to Columbia," Piper smirked, hitting him on the shoulder. He pulled a face and headed for the pilot's seat.
"But they're right though, we are."
He turned around and shared an amused look with Prince. Piper was finally giving in.
When Jemma and Daisy settled on the bed of one the bunks, they felt a bit of their tension melt away. Seemed like the bunks still had warm memories attached to them, especially given what they were about to do. They didn't even care that they were on a different plane.
Daisy had grabbed a forgotten laptop on the way down and was now browsing through the drive Fitz and Prince had compiled. The prototype code was indeed there, as was some of the data the LMD of Fitz had unknowingly brought back from the mission when he took Fitz' place in the server room. She quickly found the way in thanks to Fitz' detailed notes on the drive and was trying to found out if Radcliffe has used the same method to connect people in his version.
Jemma, meanwhile, was stitching up the wound in her leg, which had started bleeding again. Luckily, the local anaesthetic worked pretty well.
"Some of this stuff really is incredible. It's sometimes hard to understand and read, let alone invent it. It's amazing what Fitz created," Daisy said, still typing vigorously.
Jemma didn't respond, thinking of the conversation she'd had with Fitz just before they left for the Russian base. Daisy didn't notice, however.
"I think I found the way in. Well, located the code that was meant for us."
Jemma looked up in surprise, "Already?"
"I don't think an hour qualifies as already with this goldmine of information, but it's sweet of you to humour me," Daisy grinned.
Jemma raised an eyebrow in response, trying to say she meant it, but Daisy's smirk told her she already knew that.
"Now we just use the helmets to connect to our avatars and go in."
"You make it sound so simple," Jemma said with a bitter smile, which Daisy shared.
"Technically, it is that simple now," she said, "but practically, it isn't."
She closed the laptop and shoved it aside as she scooched back to lean against the wall. She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes for a second. They were both tired, physically and emotionally. They had agreed to get at least some sleep, but they wanted to have some sort of plan thought out first. But now that they had the technical aspect of it covered, the actual breakout worried them.
They were both suddenly startled by a crackling sound in the corner of the room, followed by Davis voice, "Do those things even still work?"
Daisy cursed silently at being startled and pushed the button next to the intercom, "Yes, they do."
"Oh good," it sounded from the other side, "we just wanted to let you know we'll be arriving in Columbia in about two hours, so now's your last chance to get some rest. If I didn't wake you up just now, that is, in which case I'm sorry."
Jemma and Daisy smiled in amusement; he reminded them of Hunter.
"No, you didn't," Daisy said, "Thanks, Davis. Just wake us 20 minutes before we get there, okay?"
"Sure thing."
With a dull pop, the intercom turned off. Daisy looked at Jemma as their smiles lingered.
"We really should get some sleep though, or at least rest our eyes."
Jemma nodded, now realizing how heavy her head felt. She was about to get up, but changed her mind.
"Is it okay if I stay in here with you?"
Daisy smiled, "I was just going to ask you the same thing."
As they both laid down, the bed almost felt like sinking into a marshmallow. Clearly, it hadn't been slept in a lot before now. Again feeling safer knowing that the other was there and that the newbies had everything under control, their eyes drifted shut quickly, exhaustion pulling them in.
All too soon, they were woken up by Prince's soothing voice over the intercom, "Daisy, Jemma, 20 minutes to go."
Daisy had definitely been asleep because she didn't remember turning to the side. She was now facing Jemma, who also looked like she'd been out for a while.
"God," Jemma groaned, "now I really feel like I've been hit by a truck."
"Tell me about it," Daisy replied, also feeling the pain from her bruises and wounds coming back at once when she moved.
They gathered their things as quickly as they could and headed back upstairs. Daisy still needed some support, but sleeping had done both of them some good.
Davis was now handling the wheel himself, reciting the steps for landing in a low voice. Piper and Prince looked a bit anxious, landing was usually a bit more difficult than taking off.
"You'll be fine," Daisy said when she and Jemma joined the others, "Yo-Yo's pick-up point is in the middle of nowhere."
"Yeah, but you can still crash-land in a field," Prince replied, but Piper hit him on the arm and widened her eyes, tilting her head towards Davis.
But he was so caught up in trying to remember everything that he didn't hear. Jemma and Daisy smiled, but felt pretty confident that he would get them to the ground safely.
"We had contact with Ms Rodriguez about ten minutes ago," Piper said, "She was surprised to hear us and not you or agent Mackenzie, but she didn't ask anything and we didn't say anything."
"Good, thanks," Daisy answered, "I think it's better that she hears it from us."
Soon, they strapped in for landing. Davis needed a few tries to even out the plane as they headed for the ground but he put them down safely. Jemma and Daisy hurried towards the cargo door and shared a look as it opened. How were they going to explain this to Yo-Yo? As the door was lowered, Yo-Yo's smirk from expecting to see Mack changed to surprise at seeing Jemma and Daisy and eventually to worry when she saw how beaten up they looked.
"Coño," she said under her breath.
She ran up the ramp, scanning the rest of the cargo hold and came to a halt in front of them. When she only saw the three other agents, she realized something big must've happened. Jemma and Daisy both had a look on their face that told her Mack wasn't here. Seeing her friends so battered and bruised, she pulled them both into a hug.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice trembling.
As they broke apart, Jemma didn't know where to start.
"It's a long story," she said, but knowing how frustrating that must be to hear, she continued, "But Radcliffe and AIDA is the short answer."
Yo-Yo looked appalled because she knew that limited the number of possible scenarios to one: more LMDs had attacked.
"We'll fill you in later, we promise, but right now, we need you if you don't mind," Daisy said, already feeling tired from standing.
"Sure, anything," Elena answered as she followed them to greet the other agents.
They felt a bit bad for making Yo-Yo use her powers for what was basically shopping but they were low on medical supplies and in desperate need of better ones, and new clothes as well. She was happy to do it though. As Jemma fixed up Daisy properly, they told her what happened at the base in Russia and at the Playground. To say that she was shocked was an understatement. She asked about Mack but both had to admit that they didn't know how or when exactly the others were taken. When Daisy talked about the field of LMDs she'd seen of herself, her heart contracted painfully as fear overcame her.
"The other Inhumans," she said, breathing shallowly as she turned towards Jemma, "I was going to send a message to them to warn them but I- I forgot with everything that's going on. They're in danger."
She wanted to get up but Yo-Yo stood up instead, "I'll do it. You sit down and let Jemma help you."
Daisy inhaled deeply to calm down and Jemma put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you made sure that they were capable to be agents. They can defend themselves. Try to relax, okay?"
She stitched up the gun shots as best she could and immobilized Daisy's arm and shoulder with the sling Yo-Yo had brought. Jemma handed her two more painkillers and kneeled down to get to eye level with her. Her pupils seemed to be reacting normally so the pain had lessened.
"How you feeling?"
"A lot better, thanks."
"You can go shower and change if you want," Jemma told her, "just try to keep the gunshots clear from water as much as you can and don't take your arm out of that sling."
"Yes, doctor," Daisy quipped with a warm smile.
Jemma smirked at her in reply. Daisy got up, grabbed the clothes and headed downstairs. Yo-Yo walked back from the screen near the cockpit and sat down next to Jemma.
"I've had some replies already. Most of them are going into hiding right away."
"That's good," Jemma answered sincerely, but she was feeling a bit restless now that she had nothing to do. In the background, Davis, Piper and Prince were grouping the cans of food they'd found. They were arguing about whether tomatoes counted as vegetables or fruit. Jemma couldn't help but smile and it set her mind slightly at ease. Now she knew how Coulson must feel sometimes.
"Are you okay?" Yo-Yo asked, putting a hand on Jemma's shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm alright," she answered, smiling sadly, "It's just been a long day."
"I think that's an understatement. You should go change too," Yo-Yo said, when she noticed Jemma wriggling her hands, "I'll hold down the fort up here."
"I know, but we haven't decided where to go. We're not safe here."
"Okay," Yo-Yo answered patiently, "I'll tell Davis to get us in the air, but our destination can wait for 15 minutes."
She gave Jemma an insisting look. She and Daisy needed some sort of fresh start and the running water could give them something like it. Jemma nodded, grabbed the pile of clothes that was meant for her and smiled warmly.
"Thanks, Elena. I'm really glad you're here."
Yo-Yo smiled back, stroked Jemma's shoulder in response and got up to tell Davis to go.
As Jemma came downstairs, she could hear the water running in the shower. When she stood in front of the sink, she was a bit startled by her own appearance. This was the first time she'd looked in the mirror since they escaped from the base. No wonder Daisy had thought she was malfunctioning, she looked pale and the blood on her face made that stand out even more. She looked down at her clothes and saw even more blood. She didn't even know anymore if it was hers or the LMD's. She gripped the sink tightly and tried to push the image of her stabbing Fitz out of her mind.
The water turning off startled her back to reality. She turned around and saw Daisy come out of the shower, wearing one of the robes with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo she had made such fun of at first. One sleeve hung loose where the sling was covered by the robe. Jemma remembered her asking Coulson when his spa was supposed to be opening for business. The memory made her smile.
"I know, ironic, right?" Daisy asked, with a light grin, "It just felt right to have something of Coulson right now."
Jemma now noticed how red her eyes were, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Daisy replied, shrugging, "This silence just gives you too much time too think."
Jemma nodded sympathetically and Daisy took a step forward with a look of hesitation.
"I-," she halted, not sure if she should go on, but on seeing Jemma's concern, she went ahead, "I kept seeing- Fitz, dead on the floor, in that video, you know, when I still thought it was him."
Jemma wanted to slap herself, Daisy had asked her how she felt about the whole thing with Fitz but she hadn't even considered Daisy's feelings.
"I'm sorry, I should've..."
"No, honestly," Daisy interrupted, waving dismissively, "I hadn't given it much more thought once I found out the truth, but here, it just kept coming back. It's the same thing you said you've been having."
She swallowed trying to clear her throat. She tried to hide her feelings by smiling but her smile was a bit twisted.
"It was like someone shot me in the stomach when I saw that, I was so scared. After Trip and Lincoln, I don't think I could take someone else..."
Daisy's eyes were full of tears as the rest of her sentence trailed away. She looked away, trying to keep them from spilling but Jemma moved closer and grabbed her hand.
"It wasn't real. I know I'm being a hypocrite when I say that given what I said to you, but it's true."
She frowned in frustration at nothing having something better to say about it. She hesitated but then looked at Daisy with determination.
"Let's make a deal. Whenever we think about Fitz, or about Coulson or Mack or May or Mace, just think about some dumb joke Fitz or Coulson made or a time when Mack looked like he would rather be anywhere else or when Mace wanted us to be a team or when May rolled her eyes at any of the things I just said," Jemma said, starting to smile as she came to the end of that sentence.
Daisy was smiling too through her tears, "That's pretty accurate."
"We'll find a way to save them, all of them, okay?" she stressed, as Daisy wiped the tears from her cheeks, "We have each other in there, we can do this."
Daisy nodded and pulled her into a careful hug with her free hand. They would both have to learn to live with what they saw, whether it was real or not.
"And when we do, they will owe us big time," Jemma joked and Daisy chuckled.
"Yeah, more than a lousy drink."
"Much more."
When they let go, Daisy breathed deeply and squeezed Jemma's hand, "Thanks. Again."
"Anytime. I'll be up soon," Jemma told her and she smiled, "You really do look better already."
"I feel better as well. Now, anyway. You'll see."
She grabbed the pile of new clothes and headed to the bunk to change.
When Jemma went back upstairs twenty minutes later, she indeed felt better just as Daisy had said. That was backed up by her when she loudly said, "Hey, you look alive again!"
"Thanks for that," Jemma smiled sarcastically as she joined them at the cockpit, "I think I felt the plane turn when I was changing, no?"
"Yeah, that was Davis' fault," Daisy quipped. Davis looked alarmed.
"Relax, I'm kidding. I told him to just head for a random field in Canada. They expect us to go to a place that means something, so that will throw them off. I just entered some coordinates into the autopilot."
Daisy said the last word with a meaningful look and Jemma caught on.
"Great idea," Jemma replied, "Davis, you can leave the wheel for a while. We need to discuss our plan."
"Plan?" Elena asked. She straightened, eager to have something to do.
"Yes, but I'm afraid it will only be a two-person plan."
"What? You're not going to go out there by yourselves, are you?" She asked, exasperated. Prince, Piper and Davis also looked confused.
"Well, no, not out there," Daisy answered before glancing at Jemma, "we're going to go into the Framework."
Everyone just stared at them for a second as realization dawned on what they were saying. Elena was the first to speak her mind.
"¿Estais locas?" she said loudly, "You want to voluntarily go into the thing that is keeping the others captive in the first place?"
Piper, Davis and Prince didn't say anything but they looked skeptical too.
"We don't have a choice," Jemma explained, "Finding out where they are would take too much time, time they don't have. This is a relatively safe way to get them out."
"What we can decipher from the insane amount of code flying around in there," Daisy continued, "is that it's a duplicate of our world. Populated with all the people in the world."
Elena looked overwhelmed, "How could they build-"
"The Darkhold."
Elena smiled humourlessly, "Al coño con ese libro."
The rest of them raised their eyebrows, showing they agreed with her. Thy didn't need to understand exactly what she was saying to know the gist of it.
"We've managed to identify the duplicate avatars of myself and Daisy that are running around in there, "Jemma went on, "I'm sure you are all in there as well, but it wouldn't help us if we were all in there. Someone needs to stay behind in case anything happens to us here."
Elena and the rest nodded reluctantly.
"Can anything happen to you in there?" Prince asked, looking worried.
"Well, from what Coulson and I experienced when we tried Fitz' version, we can feel pain in there. I bet that the Darkhold or AIDA spiced that up a notch so if we die in there, I'm pretty sure we die in real life as well."
"What?!" Elena asked.
She couldn't believe her ears and was even more shocked by the casual way she said it. She looked at them, getting angry. They were far too important to not just her, but S.H.I.E.L.D. as a whole, especially with the others gone. Prince, Piper and Davis just looked worried.
"And you're still going to do it, knowing that?"
"They would do the same for us," Jemma said plainly.
Elena had no argument against that and sighed. She shook her head and started pacing. She had to get on board with the plan, whether she wanted to or not. Still, she had to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
"What if something goes wrong?"
"Don't break the connection, that would be bad," Daisy said, "And if we die over there..."
She looked to Jemma for help, because she had no clue. But she seemed at a loss as well.
"I wish I could tell you that you'll be able to save us once you see us flat-lining but I don't know. If it's dangerous to disconnect us, then I think you should be able to keep us in the Framework and resuscitate us as well. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."
Elena didn't like one bit of this conversation. Everything was too dependent on guesswork for her, but judging by Daisy and Jemma's faces, they weren't all that comfortable with the unknowns either.
"Listen," Daisy said as she stepped forward and handed Fitz' drive to Prince, "if it becomes a worst-case scenario and we both die in there, you still have this."
She looked at Elena and explained, "This is everything Fitz had on the LMDs and the Framework, plus everything Prince got out of the base. Among those files, I found an encrypted folder that belonged to Coulson."
Jemma looked at her in surprise.
"I came across it when I checked the messages from the Inhumans and looked for their files on the drive," Daisy said, "I think he compiled it after Rodriguez' S.H.I.E.L.D. took over the base and Fitz got out with the Toolbox."
But everyone except Jemma looked confused.
"Oh right, that's before all of your time," she said with a grin and she glanced at Jemma. Some more proof of all the crazy things they'd seen.
"Well, basically, it's everything Coulson got from Nick Fury when he had to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. and every piece of intel he gathered since. Some of your biological and medical files were also on there, Jemma. We were lucky Fitz still had all this. So with this drive, you should have enough to carry on with S.H.I.E.L.D. if we don't make it."
Jemma and Daisy shared a look: both had considered the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. would still be there after them when they were still simple agents. But now that there was so little left of the team and they weren't simple agents but high-ranking ones, it felt big and heavy to think about. Elena, Davis, Prince and Piper considered the weight of the burden that would fall on them if worst came to worst. None of them thought they had anywhere near enough experience to take over. The silence in the room was filled with what ifs.
"So," Piper started to break the tense silence, "to get in you just plug yourselves into these avatars?"
"Yes," Daisy answered, grateful to be moving on, "We hook up with our people and find out where on Earth their bodies are being held, or ideally wake them up so they get out on their own, which would be less dangerous."
"That sounds easy," Piper replied, nodding, "Will it be easy?"
Jemma and Daisy looked at each other and Elena knew what that meant. She smiled humourlessly again.
"They have no idea."
Piper looked worried again, as did Prince and Davis.
"We don't know what we're going to find when we get there," Jemma explained, "The Framework world could be exactly the same as ours or could be entirely different. The thing I'm most worried about is that we'll be separated when we wake up. And I can manage by myself, but I'm not trained like you, Daisy, if things get hostile."
"Manage?" Daisy asked incredulously, "You survived for six months on another planet. You call that managing?"
"You're forgetting that I had help there."
Jemma felt her stomach lurch when she thought about Will. Daisy groaned internally at her own remark and frowned apologetically.
"Right, I'm sorry."
But Jemma didn't blame her and nodded to let her know they were okay. She would never completely get over her experiences on Maveth though.
"But who knows? Maybe someone will help you there as well. At least your lying has improved exponentially since we first met, so that'll be good."
Daisy grinned, bringing Jemma back to the conversation. She smiled back sarcastically.
"And you know, maybe you won't even need it. We could be going into a 50s noir world for all we know."
"Really?" Prince asked.
"They could do anything with the Darkhold."
He looked at Piper and Davis, wondering exactly how weird and powerful this book was.
"Still, I'm worried, Daisy. I mean, what if they don't want to get out?" Jemma suddenly blurted out, fear suddenly overtaking her, "I mean, I'm pretty sure they will have no clue they're in there or they would've broken out themselves. So whatever that world is, I think they're pretty happy there."
Another few seconds of silence filled the room. Elena thought about what could keep Mack there, but it came to her soon: his daughter. If Radcliffe knew that somehow, he would certainly use it. They had spent so much time thinking about the team mates they knew, that it would pose entirely new problems if they weren't the same in there.
"I know," Daisy replied, "I've thought about that too. They might not know but we do. It'll be up to us to convince them that something is off. We'll only know how when we get there, I guess. But if we try to find each other as soon as possible, we'll have a better chance."
Hearing Daisy's confidence made Jemma relax a bit more. She nodded at Daisy's encouragement and Elena stepped forward.
"You should go. If you're in there too long, your bodies will give out. So the longer we stall, the less of a chance the others will have."
"Yes, that's the hypothesis," Jemma confirmed and she turned to Daisy, who booted the laptop and connected it to the prototype headsets.
"Meet at the rendez-vous straight away. That's where I programmed the back door to get out."
Daisy nodded, she only hoped that their memories wouldn't been affected in there. She took a deep breath and initialized the program.
"And listen," Jemma grabbed Daisy's hand to look her in the eye, "living in there too long may kill you, but dying in there will definitely kill you, so be careful."
"You too," Daisy replied.
They both smiled nervously as they leaned in for a hug. Neither of them knew whether they would even see each other again. Nothing they could come up with to say to the other felt appropriate or good enough. They would just have to count on everything turning out alright. As they let go, their heart rate increased, especially when Piper and Elena hooked them up to the monitors.
"Remember," Jemma said to Elena, "even if our vitals are going haywire-"
"Do not wake you up or pull you out, I know. It will cook your brains like huevos rotos."
"Cause permanent damage to the cerebral cortex, yes," Jemma said, with a nervous smile.
"Just promise me you'll get our guys back, okay?" Elena said, sadly but hopeful.
"I promise," Jemma answered, looking her firmly in the eye. Elena squeezed her hand and handed her the headset.
Daisy and Jemma both put them on and Piper smirked at the sight despite how nervous they all were.
"At least it looks fashionable," she grinned, trying to relieve the tension.
It seemed to work as Daisy and Jemma smiled shakily.
"Good luck," Prince said to them. Davis and Piper nodded in agreement and they nodded thankfully in response.
Daisy turned to Jemma one last time.
There was no denying that a lot depended on what they were about to do, but they'd been around S.H.I.E.L.D. long enough to know that counting on things to fail wouldn't help at all. Most of all, they trusted each other completely, so they knew that they weren't going to be left to fend for themselves in there if they could help it.
Daisy reached for Jemma's hand and inhaled deeply to gather some courage. As Jemma did the same and grabbed her hand, they looked each other in the eye and smiled encouragingly. They both felt a bit more confident as they let go.
Daisy nodded to her and said, "Let's go make them sorry that they left the girls for last."