xxx SHIELD xxx

She sighed as she used her powers to leap to the next building, ran to the other side, jumped down to the ground, again using her powers to slow her descent, then ran off into the hills.

That was a close call, almost too close. Was she losing her touch? Maybe she wanted them to get that close … maybe she was just not sure what was next. Was she wanting them to catch her? No, not yet. She had too much to do, too much to make up for … too much to live up to.

The sun was setting fast.

She had to hurry; she had to get there. It was going to be close, but she should make it.

She had just enough time to grab her bag of essentials, which she had stashed away before meeting Charles's wife and daughter. She made it to the top of the highest mountain … just in time.

When she reached the peak, she found a clearing that was away from the bright lights of the city then took the blanket out of her bag and spread it on the ground in just the right spot. She looked around and then, briefly, up. Yes, that should do. It was almost perfect … almost.

Next, dropping the bag on the edge of the blanket, she took off her leather jacket, rolled it up and set it on the top edge. She stood there a moment, lost in thought, before shaking herself out of it and making herself comfortable in the middle of the blanket.

She watched those last few fleeting moments of the deep red sunset disappear, engulfing the area in almost complete darkness … almost.

She closed her eyes, taking a moment to give herself the courage to go through with this. She wasn't sure if she could, but she made a promise to herself that she had to, she needed it.
Another quick glance up, clouds were still blocking her view. Waiting impatiently, she sat there, willing herself not to run again. The night chill caused her to shudder, so she grabbed her bag. She hesitated opening it then grabbed the zippered garment from the bottom. A few tears threatened to fall as she removed it. She held it out assessing it as best she could in the near dark and could just make out that it was blue. She brought it close and breathed in, the scent was still there. It was almost gone … almost.

Shivering again, she quickly put it on. Of course it was too big, but it helped take the chill off. She wrapped it around tight then pulled up the hood.

"I hate you. I hate that you did this, that it turned out this way. At times, I wish I'd never met you."

She laid down and rolled onto her side, avoiding looking up. She pulled her rolled up jacket under her head, then dabbed away a few tears.

Memories of their first meeting crossed her mind and the tears wouldn't stop no matter how hard she tried. She wrung her hands as she re-lived the fleeting sensations of those subtle little charges.

"Afterlife. I miss the peace that was found there … well, until everything went to hell."

She pushed away thoughts of her mother. She wanted to stay focused on him.

She sat up, but just stared at the ground. She was afraid to look up.

"They say hindsight is 20/20. Guess I never should've tracked you down at the hospital. Should've let you be the doctor you had always wanted to be, doing good, helping people. I was selfish. I wanted you on my team, by my side … I wanted you."

She drew in a shaky, deep breath then continued.

"You told me I had to live with what I'd done, I'm trying, but … but …," she couldn't finish. She wrapped her arms around her legs, buried her head against her knees, her body convulsing with sobs.

When she felt there were no more tears left, she finally looked up to the night sky. The clouds had cleared away and the stars were shimmering brightly.

"I hope you knew how much I loved you, you idiot," Daisy stated with a quiver in her voice as the tears started to flow again. "I still do."

Through her blurred vision, she spotted a shooting star fly across the heavens.

"Thank you, Lincoln," she said with a sad smile. "I miss you."

Not even trying to stem the tears, she wrapped the blanket around herself, laid down and cried herself to sleep, feeling closer to him than she had since that fateful day.

xxx THE END xxx