Author's Note: Thank you all for the encouraging words. Sorry to have left you hanging for so long, but I had issues writing this chapter. After several re-writes and edits, I hope this will suffice.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters familiar to Marvel.
A & M 12
Wrenching his arm back, Coulson hit the man once again, delighting in the crack he heard in response. Even if he wasn't the main target, he still felt vindication for the man's actions against Daisy in town. When the man didn't instantly put up a fight, he knew he was finally breaking him down. However, the crack of the intercom pulled him from his fiery haze.
"You do realize he can't tell us anything if he's dead right?"
He reeled back from the man when processed the words. Usually, he was the level headed one. No matter how angry his opponents made him, he was able to contain that anger. However, the idea that Ward had Daisy, that he'd used the machine to modify her memories had Coulson more upset then anything he could remember in recent history. When the door opened, he nodded at May and Natasha.
"We'll take it from here, Coulson," Natasha told him, looking at the man on the floor.
Coulson nodded in response before giving the man one last look, pleased with his work. Maybe he'd be more willing to cooperate since the 'good cops' were back? He exited the room, closing the door behind him and immediately turning to the window into the room.
"So…robotic arm, huh?" Steve asked, looking at the appendage he spoke of before meeting Coulson's gaze.
"Fitz built a few features into it," Coulson replied. "It even comes with a holographic shield that has come in handy a couple of times."
"And you said it was a crystal that caused it to happen?"
The director nodded. "While the Kree were responsible for the first Inhumans to change, there weren't many crystals left. The leader of the Inhumans was afraid they would die out eventually, so she had scientists recreate the crystals. The version that was created was almost exactly the same except for the fact that they were deadly for humans if they came into contact with one." He explained the process someone underwent when going through terrigenesis. "Even if they haven't gone through terrigenesis, an Inhuman's DNA and body is already prepared to handle the evolution they undergo."
"And humans aren't," Steve finished.
"Correct. It's too much for the human body to handle and it breaks down." Coulson paused. "Daisy's mother was the leader of the Inhumans," he shared.
Steve paused, not having heard that revelation before. Daisy's mother was a leader of a group of people? What did that mean for Daisy? Was she a leader of sorts? That couldn't be though, she was still with SHIELD…
Coulson waited for his companion to process the words. "After witnessing Jaying kill someone, Daisy saw her mother for what she really was and tried to stop her, but she was taken prisoner. At the time, Jaying and her most loyal followers had taken control of one of SHIELD's ships with the intent to use the quin jet on it to release the terrigen crystals in mass which would kill all humans where Inhumans would be the surviving species. By the time Daisy had been freed from her containment, Jaying's plan was already underway. When Daisy couldn't get through to her by talking, she used her powers to push the jet into the ocean."
Looking away from Coulson, Steve pursed his lips. So, that's what happened… And instead of questioning Daisy calmly or letting her explain the situation, he'd assumed the worst and sent accusations flying. He'd let his anger get the better of him, expecting the worst of her.
"While Daisy learned a considerable amount of control with her powers when she was with the Inhumans, she wasn't nearly as strong or able to manipulate them for fighting, as some of the other Inhumans had. So, she did the only thing she could to ensure that the crystals wouldn't be used against the rest of humanity. We didn't know the effect it would have on the fish or that it would cause a global chain reaction."
"Coulson," Steve sighed. "I-"
"I know what you thought," he interrupted before the Avenger could say anything further. "Several witnesses in the diner mentioned your argument with Daisy," he explained matter-of-factly. He hadn't been happy that Steve had immediately assumed the worst, but he couldn't blame the man for feeling such. While he had never had an issue with the way SHIELD ran things, he understood that others did, Steve among them. "I also know that despite your anger, you would have helped Daisy if you realized their intent to take to her. It's why you're here now. That's the kind of person you are." He studied his childhood hero, easily discerning the guilt that had settled on Steve's shoulders.
"I can't help but to feel guilty," Steve said then. And though he'd voiced that to others, it hadn't helped the emotional burden he'd felt. However, voicing his concern to Coulson afforded him a slight reprieve. "When I found out she was SHIELD, I was confused and angry. I thought she only wanted to use me as a way for SHIELD to bring us back into the fold. After the weeks passed, my anger faded, or…I thought it had. But when I saw her at the restaurant it all came bubbling to the surface."
Coulson nodded. "SHIELD isn't what it used to be," he told his companion.
Steve looked down at the pass that he wore around his neck. "Yeah, I've noticed," he said, thinking on the Koenig sibling that had given him the lanyard. "As much as I didn't agree with the organization as a whole, SHIELD did have some fine points. I'm glad that you were able to keep it afloat."
"Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes…" Coulson wryly muttered.
Breaking through the hold of sleep, Daisy felt an intense pain in her temples and head and groaned. What the hell happened? It almost felt as if she'd spent the previous night attempting to drink her weight in alcohol. But that couldn't be right…
"Easy now."
"Ward?" Daisy blinked away the fog and sat up.
"Hey," he responded, using his gentlest voice. "How are you feeling?"
Daisy raised a hand and pressed it against her forehead. "I have a splitting headache," she confessed. "What happened?"
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Daisy frowned. "I was angry. I'd met with…someone. I…I can't picture who, but I know I was angry." Her eyes squinted as she tried to recall the memory, but it was nothing more than a blank. She had no memory of whom it was, why or where she'd been, but she still felt anger.
He nodded.
"And what's the last thing you remember about me?" He watched the expressions on her face give way from confusion to alarm.
She tried her hardest to picture him in her thoughts, focusing on their interactions together. For a brief second, she remembered being tied up and him releasing her. However, that was as far as it went. Had they been taken? "I…" She shook her head. "Were we taken?"
"What's the last clear memory you have of me?" He asked then, hoping the machine worked the way he'd wanted it to.
She played back various memories, but nothing that included him. "Uh…we were trying to break into the HUB because we discovered that Victoria Hand was the Clairvoyant." She watched his reaction, hoping that the situation wasn't too FUBAR. Her lips pulled into a frown. FUBAR. The phrase almost felt familiar, but not to Ward. She shook the thought away. "What? Was that not right?"
He nodded. "No, it is, but…some time has passed since then," he offered her a sad smile.
Time had passed. How much time? She closed her eyes and tried to recall her memories. Several immediately popped into her head, but none of them contained him. It was like he hadn't existed since before their confrontation with Hand. "Ward-"
"I know you have questions, but this is going to be a long conversation. You really should shower," he advised.
Looking down at herself, she frowned when she noticed she was wearing a man's dress shirt instead of her own clothes. She grabbed one if the buttons and used it to pull the article of clothing away from her body to inspect her body beneath it, and was that…blood? "What happened?" She asked, looking at him wide-eyed.
"You're fine," he soothed automatically.
"But the blood-"
"Isn't yours," he supplied. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, understanding that what he'd left unsaid, that he'd killed whomever it was. Raising a hand, he cupped her cheek. "Someone attacked you. Your shirt was ruined so I put you in this," he replied as his thumb began to stroke the skin beneath it before he pulled his hand away from her. "You should shower off and by the time you're done, I will have fresh clothes waiting for you."
"Are you sure, because I can just easily get changed and-"
"Shower first," he replied. "Besides, maybe it will help with the headache. The restroom is right through there," he pointed to the door at the far end of the room.
"Okay…" She disentangled herself from him and made her way to the door and opened it. She looked around the bathroom before looking back at Ward. "Ward?" He turned around to look at her with a small smile on his face. "My headache…last night, we didn't go get that drink we talked about, did we?" She watched his eyes soften before regret settled in behind it.
"No," he denied softly. "We didn't." He offered her a smile. "Shower now, questions later," he ordered with a soft tone.
With her smile never wavering, she closed the door behind her. Making her way to the shower, she turned it on before approaching the mirror. She remembered making the conscious decision to change her hairstyle and how long she'd been wearing it like that, but she couldn't remember a conversation she had with Ward a week ago? That made no sense. She looked at her hands then, recalling the first time she realized she'd been causing the earthquakes they'd been experiencing and how terrified she'd been. She remembered the team's reaction, recalling everyone but Ward's.
Undressing, she frowned at the blood-soaked bra and hoped that Ward meant that she'd have all fresh new clothes when she got out of the shower. Getting under the spray, she quickly washed off the foreign bodily fluid and lathered herself in body soap. It wasn't until everything was cleaned off that she'd noticed the bruising on her body. How had she gotten those? Closing her eyes, she searched through her memories, a quick glimpse coming to mind. Opening her eyes, she tried to make sense of it. Had she been training? Her outfit was similar to something she'd wear when working out and training. But the fist that came at her hadn't been gloved…
After their guest supplied Daisy's location, Nat didn't waste any time pulling up blueprints of the building. The Avengers would go in through the front. Hunter, Bobbi, Mack, and Davis would go in from the back while Coulson, May, Piper, Lincoln, Sif and Agent Prince would be the ones to retrieve Daisy.
After finishing going through everything, Coulson paused. "Everyone know what they're doing?" When he received various nods from the people gathered around him he nodded in response. "Good."
"Before you leave, please be cautious. From what intel we were able to gather, we don't know exactly what Ward was planning in terms of the reconditioning. Daisy may view us as the enemy," Melinda cautioned.
"And what do we do if she refuses to come with us?" Lincoln asked.
"Incapacitate, don't kill," Coulson answered. "Even before she gained her powers, she was trained under May and picked up various tools and tricks along the way. Try not to engage her." If, when, they were able to break her from the conditioning, she'd never forgive herself if she killed a team member or friend. He looked around at the group. "Any other questions?" When no more came forth, he dismissed them. "Wheels up in twenty."
Clint and Natasha sidled up to May. "You trained her?" The redhead asked, impressed.
"I never thought you'd get out from behind desk duty, and not only did you do that, but you took on a rookie?" Clint tacked on.
Melinda May nodded. "I did." And Daisy would be the last, as far as she was concerned. "When Ward ended up being Hydra and took an unhealthy obsession with her, I offered. If things were different, I probably wouldn't have," she admitted. Of all of the members on the bus, she'd been the last one to warm up to the young woman. However, Daisy had certainly proved herself time and again and Melinda agreed to Coulson's suggestion with an air of skepticism. It worked out in the end though, and she'd never regretted her decision.
"Do you really think she'd view you guys as the enemy?"
May thought back to her experiences with Agent 33. "I think there's always the possibility, specially with Ward in charge of the modification."
The female Avenger noticed the look of confusion on Clint's face. "You…haven't seen the things that Hydra is capable of," Natasha tacked on, thinking about the Winter Soldier and what Hydra had done to him.
"Maybe not like you two," Clint gave in. "But he's only had her for a couple hours at this point. I would assume that for this reconditioning thing to work, there'd have to be more than one session for it to be a success."
Following behind the trio, Steve considered Clint's point and silently hoped that they would retrieve her before too much damage was done. Making his way to the locker room to change, hesitated momentarily when he found Lincoln standing before his own locker. Lincoln…the boyfriend. When the blonde turned to him, Steve inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement as he approached an empty locker.
Eyeing the other man, Lincoln thought back to the attention he'd garnered when Ward called him Daisy's boyfriend. Despite the severity of the situation, he'd been confused and curious about the interest a couple of the Avengers had reacted with. It wasn't everyone dispersed when he remembered his conversation with Daisy and her mention of a small dalliance. He'd easily put two and two together, realizing that Captain America had been that dalliance. Clearing his throat, he waited for an acknowledgement before speaking. "I'm not her boyfriend."
Steve met the man's gaze evenly. "I didn't ask," he said, silently wondering why he'd divulged such a thing.
Lincoln nodded. "I know, but I wanted to state a general disclaimer," he replied, smiling awkwardly.
Steve returned the gesture with one of his own. "Noted."
"You look better," Ward observed as Daisy joined him in the bedroom. His eyes raked down her body. "You feeling better?"
Daisy stopped towel drying her hair and looked at him. "I am. Thank you for the clothes," she replied, her heart beginning to pound by the way his eyes trailed over her body. She'd spent months wishing that he would look at her like that.
"They fit good. I knew they would."
She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment and tried to ignore it. She licked her lips and tried speaking. "You shouldn't look at me like that," she denied.
"Why not?" He asked, a smirk growing on his face.
"Because…" Though she didn't offer a reason.
He arched a single eyebrow at her. "Why? Does it embarrass you?"
Embarrass? She turned the word around in her head. That wasn't the word she'd use. More like…uncomfortable, but she knew she couldn't tell him that. "It's just we've never even kissed, and I really like you, Grant," she said using his first name, something that she didn't do often. "I don't want to just jump into bed with you." Thinking that she'd managed to make the situation awkward, she spoke again. "I mean I do," she hesitated when she witnessed the beaming smile on his face, "but I…I want it to be more than that." She wanted to mean something more to him than what his relationship with May had been. "And when you look at me like that, I seriously consider changing my mind."
He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers as he did his best to tame his prior reaction to her. Realizing then that he needed to be cautious so as not to spook her, he pulled away from him. "I'm sorry," he apologized with sincerity. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He pulled away from her and met her gaze. "I'll go along with whatever you want, but just so you know, the feeling is mutual."
She couldn't help but smile, comforted by the fact that he'd admitted having feelings for her. But the moment was short lived as she thought back to her silent reflection while showering. "There's…" She cleared her throat. "Ward, something's wrong." She began to pace around the room. "When I was in the shower, I was trying to remember the last…however long and it's like there are gaps." She met his eyes briefly before looking around the room. "And I don't understand-" She'd thought they'd been taken, between the brief flash she'd had earlier and their unfamiliar surroundings, but he was so calm and collected. She supposed that being trained for ops, meant there was plenty of mental exercises to do so as not to panic when in such situations, but his reactions were…off. They'd faced various situations together, so she knew what to look for, but she'd never seen him so relaxed during one.
He sighed wearily. "It's to be expected," he said soothingly, watching as she frowned in response.
"What do you mean it's to be expected?" She parroted. "That makes no sense. I tell you that I have gaps in my memories and it's-" She stopped short, staring at him as she backed up several feet. "You. You did this." There was no accusation in her voice, only realization.
From the moment she began speaking, his anxiousness had grown. He knew she'd piece everything together, he didn't expect otherwise. "Skye…"
She ignored the slip of her old name. "Why would you do something like this?" She asked then. "I trusted you. After everything we've been through and you do something like this to me?"
"I didn't do it to you, I did it for us," he spoke up, standing up and approaching her with caution. "I did it because they tried to take you away from me. They wanted to stop us from being together. I love you, Skye."
"It's Daisy now," she corrected him flatly, not at all pleased with the situation he'd placed her in.
Unaware of her reflection, he continued on. "I…I never intended to fall for you, you were so different from anyone I'd ever met and we…but then everything happened and…" he trailed off.
Not buying his story, she began backing away from him again. "What did you do?"
Still sitting down, he peered up at her with sincerity. "I've made mistakes, I admit that."
Daisy pursed her lips. What mistakes?
"But you were just so stubborn and wouldn't even listen to what I had to say. And I just wanted to give us a chance."
"What did you do?" She repeated, her voice intensifying as she realized that he was solely responsible for her predicament.
"I've recently acquired possession of a machine," he replied. "I thought that you and I could finally have a chance if there weren't so many things in the way."
She scrunched her nose in confusion. Who was in the way? Her head began to ache in the worst way, more so than before. "You…" She heard a ringing in her ears and her vision began to tunnel. "I don't believe you." Turning away from him, she ran towards the bathroom and locked the door behind her before he could follow her. Immediately, she heard him calling out for her, but she did her best to ignore it. She couldn't look at him. Leaning back against it, her feet gave out and she slid down the door.
"Damn it, do you think I wanted things to be this way?" Ward called through the door. "I got over you, I had a relationship, like a real relationship and I was happy enough, but you guys just couldn't let me be."
Couldn't let him be? You guys? Her and…the rest of the team? They'd turned on Ward? Why? She frowned. No! He was the one that did this to her, she would not feel bad for anything. "If you were so happy then go find her," she called through the door.
"She's dead."
His words were flat and she found herself almost feeling bad for him…almost. However, something told her that it was more than that. She wasn't sure why, but she knew that much.
"Despite all of that, I forgive you, Skye."
"Yeah? Well, I don't forgive you," she replied loud enough for him to hear. She paused wondering what his reaction would be. When he beat his fists on the other side of the door she almost jumped away from it.
Ward shook his head in disappointment. Obviously, the machine hadn't worked quite how he'd wanted it to. He straightened up. "If you don't come out, I'll come in there after you."
"This was easy, almost too easy," Natasha said, looking around the room as she tried to catch her breath.
"Coulson said they'd been fighting Hydra off and on," Clint supplied then. And it didn't hurt that there was a second team at the back door taking care of whatever Hydra agents on that end of the building.
She inclined her head as she considered the excuse. "Plus, with Ward at the helm…" She said, remembering the couple times she'd crossed paths with him. If he was just as mental as Coulson's team said, she couldn't imagine many people wanting to pledge their allegiance to him, Hydra or not.
"Jemma, we found her," Coulson said over the com for everyone to hear.
"May, you need to be careful when you disconnect her from the machine. If you jostle her too much, she could go into shock when she comes out of it," Jemma said from her location on Zephyr One. "You remember the instructions I told you earlier…"
"Got it," Melinda said, concentrating on her task. She carefully unscrewed the fasteners that held Daisy's eyes open before removing the head piece. However, when Daisy made no move to get up, her panic increased. "Something's wrong," she immediately said into her com. "She isn't speaking, isn't moving."
"He must have given her something," Jemma murmured while trying to mentally compare various toxins and drugs that had the ability to render someone in such a state.
May looked back down at her rookie with a frown. The only thing that Daisy was able to move were her eyes. May watched as they darted around, looking from one person to another. It appeared that she was at least mentally alert. When she felt a small tremor in the room, her attention fell on Daisy, having noticed that the younger woman's breathing breathing stuttered. Following Daisy's line of sight, she noticed Ward entering the room from another door. Straightening up, she prepared herself for a fight. But before she could take a step forward, the sound of a gunshot rang through the room. She turned slightly to see Coulson holding his gun, his arm still outstretched before him.
Recognizing that Coulson was dealing with the man responsible for Daisy's situation, Sif approached Daisy, whom also appeared to be watching the confrontation if the steadily increasing shaking was anything to go by. "Do you remember any of your breathing techniques?" She asked, watching as panic settled behind Daisy's gaze. No, then. "Lincoln, as Lady Daisy's transitioner, do you have an exercise she can do to calm herself?" She moved to the side as the Inhuman approached Daisy, talking in hushed words. The Asgardian turned towards the direction where their adversary had fallen, watching as Coulson approached him.
"Are you guys okay?" Tony asked through his ear piece. "There's an awful lot of shaking on our end."
"It's Daisy," May replied for him. "We're trying to calm her down."
A sound of a large crash was heard over the calms. "You might want to try harder," Tony grunted.
"You know, Ward, I would love nothing more than to draw this moment out. From the moment John Garrett hitched himself to the Bus to pick up Quinn, you've been nothing but a cancer for us. However, unlike the uncertainty of chemo and radiation, I can make damn sure that you never bother us again." Unflinchingly, Coulson fired another shot, that one striking the younger man square in the forehead and killing him instantly. His knees nearly buckled when he felt a violent tremor. He turned to find Sif and Lincoln attempting to talk to Daisy in effort to calm her emotions.
"Ward's down," Coulson said into the coms.
"She needs to calm down or we might never make it to the jet," Piper said, moving to safety as the various computer screens in the room tipped over.
Sif gently moved Lincoln away from Daisy before she leaned down to meet the young woman's gaze. "I apologize in advance for this," she said, reeling her arm back before punching Daisy in the face with enough force to render her unconscious and steadied her before her head hit any surface. Leaning down, she easily picked Daisy up, cradling her in her arms.
"Coulson, you have men heading in your direction," Bobbi advised, looking at the security feed they'd managed to find.
"We're on our way out," Coulson said, rounding out his group.
