Here's another chapter for you all. I don't know about you, but I can hardly wait for Wednesday!

When Daisy's consciousness resurfaced, her first thought was whether she'd escaped the Framework yet. She was fed up with the damn simulation and it sure as hell hadn't helped her mental health.

God, why did this all have to happen to her?

But when she opened her eyes, she remembered where she was. The Playground looked different here. It was sad and less full of life than the real one.

She could just tell.

She noticed that the color in her usually-tan skin was beginning to come back. The IV that was in her hand had been taken out and replaced with a gauze bandage. She felt a lot better, other than her stomach. Her belly ached worse than she could remember, second only to getting shot by Quinn. She guessed it was from the lack of food over the past few days, but geez, her stomach felt so tight and sore.

Daisy rolled to her side and noticed that the bed next to her was empty. Jemma must've left.

She let out a deep sigh and sat up, biting her lip at the tight pain in her belly. Her ribs felt better, though, she had to admit. She felt pretty chilly without a shirt on so she grabbed a tee from the counter behind her bed, sliding it over her head. It was much too big for her but it was better than just a sports bra.

Daisy yawned, taking a water bottle sitting on the aforementioned counter and taking greedy gulps.

All that water was making her realize how hungry she was. She realized that they'd probably given her food supplements through her IV, but that wasn't near as good as real, solid food. She hadn't eaten any solid food since she'd woken up in this version of the Framework.

Then she started to think about her real-life body. Was she alive? Was she injured? Had Aida killed her already?

She didn't want to think about it.

Daisy opened the hospital curtain and shakily walked out of the little hospital room. Through the glass walls, Daisy saw a huge group of civilian families sitting on cots, like a hostel or campsite of some sort.

Daisy took her trembling, weak hand and managed to open the dusty glass door, walking out into the hallway. Agents dressed in simple civilian clothes roamed the corridor, carrying old-fashioned technology or even just plain books.

Gosh, this version of SHIELD must have lost its funding, Daisy thought.

She decided to try and find the common room. When she did, she immediately regretted it. Huge groups of people, agents, stood in the room, talking over various things. It was overstimulating and hard to handle for someone who had recently been left to die in a Hydra cell.

Daisy's heart started to race when she walked a little closer to the people and saw a familiar face: Jeffrey Mace. He was dressed in an odd, patriotic outfit with armor and his hair seemed grayer than real life. His energy had also seemed to disappear. He was talking to someone, and Daisy gasped when she saw that it was Mack.

"Mack?!" she exclaimed, not sure if her lethargic self was just seeing things.

Both men stopped talking and turned to the sloppily-dressed girl. The men locked eyes, silently planning their next move.

Suddenly, a warm smile appeared on Mace's face, his arm going up to roughly squeeze Daisy's shoulder. "You must be Daisy Johnson," Jeffrey said to her cheerfully. He met her eyes. "Glad to see you up."

Not wanting the contact, Daisy jerked away from Mace's hand on her shoulder, stumbling back farther than she'd anticipated. She lost her footing and had to grab a table to keep from falling flat on her back.

Jeffrey Mace was who started this whole thing. He'd discovered her cuts on her arms and told Aida, who then kidnapped her and brought her here and...

Mack furrowed his brow. "You alright?"

When she didn't respond, Jeffrey turned to Mack. "Maybe she got up too early. Barns never gave her the all-clear."

Mack walked over to Daisy and tried to take her arm, but she jerked away again, scowling. "Don't touch me," she whispered, barely audible. She looked down at her feet and, without looking up, said, "Do either of you remember me?"

"Well, yeah," Mace replied. "You're one of the victims of Leopold Fitz's experi- "

"Yes," Daisy said, interrupting him. "But do you really remember me, Mace?"

Mace furrowed his brow. "What do you mean, I- "

"Mack. You have to remember me!" Daisy turned to the tall man.

Mack gaped, having no idea what to say. "I..."

Daisy sighed and turned around, heading toward the kitchen part of the common room. She went to the fridge and took out a loaf of bread, taking two slices out of the plastic. She tried to eat it in small bites, but found herself too hungry to resist scarfing the food down.

When she was done, her stomach felt fuller than it had ever felt. She nodded, content with herself, and left the common room.

Daisy went straight for where she remembered the locker rooms to be. She grabbed a towel from the table and rushed into the shower room, turning on the water and making sure it got to a piping-hot temperature.

Not having a locker of her own, Daisy set her clothes on the wooden bench right outside her shower stall. She opened the curtain and headed inside the now-steamy stall, the hot water feeling so very good on her untouched skin.

But this isn't real, she reminded herself. That thought was always at the back of her head. She wished she had the power to leave this place, but she had no idea how to go about doing so. Plus, Aida or Ophelia or whatever must be looking for her. Hell, the robot made this world; she was bound to know where Daisy was.

What if "Ophelia" found her? Would she kill her so she wouldn't reveal the secrets of the Framework to everyone?

And what did it matter, anyway? She was stuck in a simulation and there was no way out.

No way out.

Daisy's heart started to beat impeccably fast. The steam and humidity everywhere was making her nauseous. Quickly, she turned the water off and backed up against the wall, gripping it as she tried so desperately to breathe.

No way out.

No way out.

NO WAY OUT.

"DAMMIT!" Daisy hissed, sliding down the wall and curling up into a ball on the floor. She trembled with every breath. Her ribs, her stomach, her entire body ached.

Did anything even matter anymore?

It sure didn't seem like it.

Daisy felt very sick and she sat up frantically before retching all over the floor of the stall. There went those two slices of bread.

Her stomach ached and Daisy had to grab her midsection before gagging again. The nausea was suffocating her, it seemed. Tears of frustration spilled out of her eyes.

Her eyes felt like they would roll back into her head. Daisy stared at her own throw-up and the shower drain. Both seemed to sway as she sat there, freezing and trembling and sick.

Without knowing what was happening, Daisy felt a warm towel on her shoulders and slender but strong arms helping her to stand.

May didn't sleep that well her first night at the SHIELD base. Was Hydra looking for her? She was a traitor, wasn't she?

Yeah, she was proud of herself for betraying Hydra, but she had to admit she was a little scared for her own life. Plus, her new roommate snored like crazy.

The next morning, she headed to the med bay to check on Daisy. She'd been wanting to have a conversation with the girl for a while now about the "Other World".

But Daisy wasn't in her bed. May asked Barns about the young woman's whereabouts and he said he didn't know. May angrily lashed out at him but went on her way.

There was something in May that made her deeply care about Daisy. Yeah, she'd just met the girl, but she felt a weird feeling, an obligation, an instinct to care for her.

She didn't know what it was, but it was feeling more and more familiar by the hour.

Eventually, May found herself heading to the locker room to get in a good shower. Maybe she'd find Daisy along the way.

Sure enough, just as she walked into the shower room, she started to hear sobs. The showerhead in the fourth stall abruptly turned off and she heard someone gagging then throwing up, then crying uncontrollably.

May's maternal instincts made her open the stall. She didn't care whose privacy she violated; someone needed consolation and she sure as hell was going to be the one to deliver it.

Melinda wasn't surprised to see that Daisy was the one who'd been throwing up. She took her own fresh towel and crouched down, wrapping it around Daisy's cold and trembling figure. She helped the girl to stand up, putting a soothing hand on her back as she led her out of the stall, sitting her on the bench and kneeling to meet her eyes.

"What happened, Daisy?" May asked gently.

Daisy's lip was quivering. Though she was looking into May's eyes, her eyes were empty and blank.

May gently shook the young woman. "Daisy. Answer me, kid."

Daisy bit her lip to stop it from quivering, to the point she drew blood. She felt ill and hungry at the same time as her stomach aching like nothing else. She curled her toes, the pain and chill too much to handle at the moment.

No way out.

"Hey, do you want me to get Barns? I know they're low on resources but he might be able to conjure up something to help calm you down," May offered.

"No," Daisy said, violently shaking her head.

May rubbed Daisy's arm through the towel. "Okay, okay."

There were a few silent minutes before May finally took it upon herself to get an extra towel and stand behind Daisy, gently and affectionately drying her long, dark hair off. She noticed Daisy was trembling less and less as she did so.

May grabbed a hairbrush from the shelf on the wall and started to gently comb through Daisy's tangles.

"Do you feel like talking now?" she asked gently as she took an elastic off the neck of the brush and pulled Daisy's hair into a loose ponytail.

Daisy didn't respond. She was staring off into the distance.

May followed Daisy's gaze to the pile of clothes across the way. "You want to get dressed?"

Daisy just nodded. "Please," she croaked, her throat dry and hurting from the acid in her vomit.

May nodded, understanding, and grabbed the clothing. She handed it to Daisy.

"Thanks, Mom," Daisy said quietly.

May was taken aback. She furrowed her brow. "Mom? Daisy, hon, I barely even know you." Yeah, she'd taken a liking to the girl, but not that quickly. Back when she was training to be a nurse, she'd read that when someone is first released from captivity, they can easily become attached to the first person who saved them.

Daisy was a little embarrassed. "Yeah, well, you do," she mumbled.

May forced Daisy to look into her eyes. "In the 'Other World', right? Do I know you in the Other World?"

Daisy swallowed. "You all call it that, I don't."

"What do you call it, Daisy?"

"The real world."

Yep yep yep that's it for now. Thanks and please review!