May lies on her bed in the semi darkened room, contemplating the day that had just, finally, ended. In some ways it had been one of the worst of her life – the inhuman Lash, who she still struggled to separate from the man he had once been, had died - but in doing so he had returned the young woman she considers her daughter to her.
Seeing Daisy as she is now almost breaks her heart – under Simmons's gentle care she has swiftly recovered much of her physical health, but May can tell that she still carries a heavy burden of guilt for the actions she had been forced to carry out while under Hives sway. While she knows that Daisy is not to blame for the harm that she has inflicted, she also knows only too well that this fact alone will not allow the young woman to forgive herself.
This is why May is unsurprised when she hears a soft knock at her door and Daisy slips quietly into the room, moving to lean on May's desk, her eyes downcast as if she cannot bear to face her.
May merely intones softly "I'm surprised it took you so long"
This remark causes Daisy to raise her head slightly, explaining with one word "Simmons".
May nods, in hindsight having seem the way Simmons was fussing over Daisy, she is surprised that the young women before her has managed to escape so soon after her ordeal.
As if Daisy knows what May is thinking, she adds "I'm supposed to be resting, but… I can't May – what I did to Fitz, to Mack, Lash's death – all my fault!"
She had been determined to hear Daisy out, but at this statement she can no longer stand it and moves from her position on the bed and crosses the room to take hold of Daisy's shoulders, exclaiming forcefully in a tone that would normally cow Daisy or Jemma instantly "that, was NOT your fault, Hive was literally controlling your brain, Simmons showed you the scans!" Despite the tone, the other woman seems unmoved, as she twists out of May's grasp and begins to pace the room, exclaiming almost hysterically
"Some part of me must have wanted to do those terrible things though, to my team, to my family, how can I ever look them in the eye again? I could so easily have killed both of them!"
"Yes you could have" May interjects calmly, "but you didn't".
Despite the validity of this point, Daisy doesn't seem able to listen to reason, as she continues to pace the room, looking like she could explode or collapse at any second.
Noting this, May does the only thing that she can think of in this moment, and taking hold of Daisy once more she turns her around and lands a hard SWAT on the young woman's behind. This produces a loud yelp of pain, and finally persuades her to stand still, more out of shock than anything else.
Noting this, May takes the opportunity to say what she thinks Daisy needs to hear.
"No one blames you for what Hive made you do Daisy, not Mack, not Fitz, nor Coulson and I. If any of us had been inhumans, he likely would have had exactly the same effect on us. We forgive you."
May hopes that her words will get through to the damaged girl before her – for in this moment Daisy seems more girl than woman – but when she replies, all she can say is
"But I can't forgive myself'.
Before May can move to interrupt her, she adds:
"Even if Hive did make me do all of those things – when I was doing them I wanted to! I wanted to betray the team, to hurt my teammates, and I can't get over that!"
Crossing the room to May's dresser, Daisy takes something from its position next to the mirror, and brings it back over to May, saying "Last time I betrayed the team, you… you… used this. May, I don't know that I can carry on without it." In her hand she holds May her own oval backed hairbrush, offering it up to the older woman.
This action shocks May to her core – sure punishing Daisy is not something she's unfamiliar with, but she knows how much the young woman hates it, and for her to request this, something must be seriously wrong.
"Last time you betrayed the team, you betrayed us entirely of your own free will, and you deserved to be punished. This time… Daisy you didn't betray us – Hive was controlling you!" May exclaims, unable to keep the frustration from creeping into her voice,
"I do know that May… but I still… I still feel responsible! It's my fault that Lash… that A"
May interrupts her forcefully at this point "Don't you dare finish that sentence!"
Defiantly, as if daring her to act, Daisy finishes with "that Andrew is dead".
At this, May knows what she needs to do, however much it hurts her to punish Daisy for something she isn't responsible for, it is clear that without it the young woman isn't going to be able to forgive herself.
She swiftly yanks the hairbrush from Daisy's outstretched hand and pulls her to the bed and topples her over her lap. She immediately yanks down her slacks and panties, and brings her hand down hard on the vulnerable bottom before her, putting the hairbrush aside for now.
She focuses on applying forceful swats to the whole of Daisy's behind, knowing from experience that the young woman is going to try and stay strong for as long as possible - and that this time it is important for May to break through her defences.
She decides to simply focus on the task in front of her for the meantime – realising that Daisy is still too overwrought for any scolding or reasoning to have much effect as of yet.
For the next few minutes she simply focuses on applying strong, steady swats to the entirety of the young woman's behind, waiting for the tell-tale signs that Daisy is loosing control.
However, this time, May is approaching the five minute mark before she even feels Daisy begin to squirm - her bottom beginning to turn a fierce pink in colour– clearly she is determined to try and remain stoic for as long as possible. While she feels bad for inflicting pain on the young woman, May realises that if she is going to get through to her, she's going to have to step up the punishment.
May picks up the hairbrush and shifts her charge forward, allowing her access to Daisy's so far untouched sit spots. She places hard swats on the tender area, this time using close to her full strength in an attempt to break through Daisy's defences.
SWAT SWAT SWAT SWAT SWAT
This has the desired effect, and Daisy, who has up until this point stayed remarkably stoic, begins to squirm and moan softly with each swat.
Encouraged by this, May places five more hard swats in the same area, hating how much she is hurting the other woman, but knowing that she has to persuade her to let go of her guilt.
SWAT SWAT SWAT SWAT SWAT
This has the desired effect, and as if floodgates have opened, Daisy begins to cry, letting go of the guilt she has been holding and sobs harder than May has ever seen her before.
At this, May tosses the brush aside, and continues with her hand only.
"Were you responsible for Fitz and Mack getting hurt?"
Now finding that the fire in her behind makes it impossible for her to remain stoic, Daisy manages to force out "not…my…OWW…fault.
May nods in approval, and sensing that Daisy has have almost enough, she merely applies a few more light hand swats, which each produce a soft yelp of pain so sore is the young woman's behind, before ceasing the punishment altogether.
Even after this, Daisy still continues to sob, and May begins to rub the young woman's back, sensing that she needs a minute to gather herself before they can finish their conversation.
After a few minutes, Daisy's sobs slow, and May helps her to stand, watching with sympathy as the woman winces when she eases her slacks back over her burning bottom.
"I know I asked for it, but did you have to be quite so thorough?" Daisy asks in a shaky attempt at her normal tone – the attempt at a joke showing May that she may have let go of some of the guilt that had been weighing her down.
May merely raises an eyebrow, before saying "If I hear you saying any of that was your fault again, believe me I will repeat it!".
Daisy gulps, rubbing her burning bottom "I… I know you're right… I just needed there to be some consequences… I just felt so awful about the things I did – controlled by Hive or not"
"And that's fine, you're only human" May says with a smirk, "but you can't let your guilt consume you – believe me I know".
Daisy nods, clearly understanding what May is referring to, before saying sincerely
"thank you May – I needed that".
"Anytime" May replies, with a smirk to show that she is not serious, before she adds in an altogether different tone "if you do need to talk about this again – you know where I am."
Daisy nods gratefully, before slipping out of the room– feeling a hundred times better than she had before, despite the ache in her behind.
She moves through the base's warren of corridors towards the men's quarters, finding herself unable to stop trying to rub away the fire that still lingers in her behind – and pausing only briefly outside the door that had been home to Hunter and Bobbi, she knocks instead on the door next to it.
She hears a muffled "come in", and slips in through the door.
Mack is sat in the large armchair that fills one corner of his room, but when he sees her enter, he crosses the room in an instant, embracing her in a tight hug. While she's warmed by Mack's acceptance of her even after what she did to hum under Hive's influence, Daisy still finds herself unable to return the hug. When he releases her, looking puzzled she knows what she wants to say.
"Mack… I'm sorry" he moves to cut her off, but she continues "I… Hive was controlling me, but I still hurt you, and if anything had happened…. I"
At this, Mack did something unexpected, placing his hand on her shoulder and applying a hard SWAT to her behind. This merely reignites the fire that May had caused, and she can't help but burst into tears once more, and finding herself instantly embraced by Mack she begins to sob into his chest.
"Not your fault Tremors. Don't let me hear you say that' Mack states, the extent to which he believes what he is saying clear in his voice.
"I know… I just needed to hear you say it"
At this releases her, but looks puzzled when she continues to rub at her bottom in some embarrassment, clearly aware that his one swat shouldn't have caused this. Seeing his confusion, Daisy feels compelled to explain, doing to with one word "May".
Mack looks incensed at this, and ready to hunt her down, so Daisy quickly adds
"I asked her to, and… she wasn't best pleased that I was blaming myself".
Mack visibly calms himself, and nods in acceptance of this, before ushering her out of the room in silence, down the corridor that she knows leads to her own quarters. When they reach her room, he carefully helps her inside and into the bed, leaving only when he's seen that the young woman, who is clearly emotionally exhausted, is safely in bed.
Too exhausted to even register much beyond the fact that she is now in her own bed, Daisy manages to fall into a deep sleep, even the ache in her behind momentarily forgotten.
Listening outside the door for a minute to check that his partner truly is alright, he hears nothing to suggest otherwise, so he sets off down the corridor in search of a certain Superior Officer.