Note: This one's quite a Daniel-centric chapter, but I love Daniel so much as a character and really enjoyed his friendship with Mack, so I just went with it. Thanks again for those who are still reading, you honestly have no idea how much I appreciate it :) The next chapter should be ready by the end of the weekend!
Based on events during Episode 7x12 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
Mack refused to believe it. it couldn't be over. he couldn't be the Director that failed this planet and let Nathaniel Malick take over the world with an army of damn robots.
Daniel could see that Mack was angry; he tried reassuring him, but it was hard to sound convincing. They had seen the lasers with their own eyes, Daisy had told them back in the Quinjet where the lasers had been targeting. S.H.I.E.L.D. was finished – in this timeline, at least. There was no getting around that, but there was still hope for the rest of the team back at the Lighthouse. And they still had a chance at defeating Sybil and Malick before they destroyed the rest of the planet. It was a small chance, but, thanks to Daisy – if she could still evade capture – it was definitely there.
'The Lighthouse can survive anything, we just need to get back down to it…re-group,' Daniel said heavily, trying not to think about how impossible that seemed right now, trapped in the hangar of a Chronicom ship.
'It's too late for that,' Mack grumbled helplessly as he paced around.
But Daniel wasn't backing down. 'We owe Daisy, Simmons and Deke a way out of here when they get back,' he said.
Mack noticed how Daniel said 'when' they got back, not 'if'. Daniel had faith in Daisy. He believed in the whole team. And he believed they could get out of this somehow.
He looked up at Daniel slowly, and nodded. 'Yeah. We do owe them that.'
Realising that there was no need for them to hide or keep quiet anymore, Mack tried blasting the ship's hangar doors with the Zephyr's firing missiles. Unfortunately, they barely left a dent in them. Daniel suggested that they try something else, but before they had time to debate their options, the monitor alerted them of new heat signatures that had appeared on the hangar: a group of Chronicom Hunters were approaching the Zephyr.
As Daniel followed Mack down to the loading bay to greet their visitors, he knew he couldn't keep in his concerns any longer. 'Mack, Sybil said "did you really think you could sneak onto one of my ships?",' he said urgently.
'I know what she said,' Mack muttered, a little sharply.
'But does that mean they caught Daisy?' Daniel asked, his face torn.
'It means…it means they know she's there…or…that we're here. I-I don't know,' Mack said helplessly. 'All I know is that Daisy can handle herself out there.'
'I know that,' Daniel said sincerely, 'but does she need back-up? Now they probably know she's on-board?'
'What Daisy needs is for us to find her a way out of here, like you said,' Mack said firmly, and he looked round at Daniel as they reached the loading bay. 'Agreed?'
Daniel swallowed and nodded. 'Yes, sir.'
But when Mack explained what his plan was for the approaching Hunters, a part of Daniel couldn't help wishing that he'd stayed upstairs.
'When I asked if you had something else, I meant something…bigger and more powerful,' Daniel said awkwardly.
Mack raised his eyebrows at him. 'Well I don't see you coming up with any brilliant ideas,' he pointed out.
Daniel's face fell slightly. 'I wish I could disagree,' he murmured.
He'd quickly found that one of the hardest things about being pulled from his life in 1955 was that he was no longer useful anymore. As Chief, everyone had respected Daniel as the one with the smart ideas, the one giving orders, the one who knew exactly what to do. But here he was just a floundering mess, following people about like a lost puppy and trying desperately to help but not actually able to do much. It was disheartening, to say the least.
Mack seemed to disagree with Daniel's mindset, however. 'Hey, look – for a guy who was ripped from his own timeline, who ended up on a spaceship full of robots, you're not doing half bad,' he said sympathetically.
Before Daniel could respond, the Hunters then approached and boarded the Zephyr to take their faces. Retorting sarcastically, Mack then used some sort of magical cane to take them out; putting his hand on Daniel's back and guiding them down to a crouch, he smashed the cane to the floor, and there was a loud crackle as a huge wave of energy was released from it, electrocuting the Chronicoms and blasting them far away. They fell in a heap to the floor.
Daniel laughed in awe as he straightened up. 'If that wasn't egg in your beer!' he said, impressed, as he moved forward to admire Mack's handiwork. 'How many more of those do you have?'
'That's it,' Mack replied regretfully, as he picked up one of the Chronicoms' guns. 'We just have to hold them off long enough for Daisy to get back with Simmons and Deke.'
Daniel's heart lurched uncomfortably as he thought of Daisy, alone on that ship with ten times as many Chronicoms to deal with, not to mention Malick.
'And then?' he asked Mack warily, and when Mack raised his eyebrows at him, Daniel nodded in understanding. 'One problem at a time.'
He sighed and looked out there onto the open hangar, as if hoping that he would be able to see Daisy emerging in the distance and running back towards the Quinjet, her wavy hair flying behind her, with Jemma and Deke on either side. But there was no sign of her.
Should she be back by now? Was I crazy to let her go out there without backup? Is it too late to go after her?
As he tried not to let his concerns consume him, Daniel gathered up the weapons from the dead Chronicoms left on the floor, while Mack brought out a box of ammunition.
'Deke reconfigured these shells with an electrical disruption charge,' Mack said, holding out one of the red shells from the box. 'A single shot should drop a Chronicom.'
'Great,' Daniel said, impressed. 'How many shells do we have?'
'Maybe fifty,' Mack said, as he loaded his shotgun axe.
'Fifty?' Daniel said incredulously. 'Wow, that's real peachy.'
Mack stared at him. 'Did you just say 'peachy'?' he asked, bemused.
'Yeah.'
Mack grunted, amused. 'If we get out of here, I gotta get you some new words,' he said, grinning. 'And…don't let Daisy hear you talking like that.'
Daniel frowned. He didn't think that Daisy minded it when he used old-fashioned words and phrases; in fact, from the glimpses he'd caught of her expression whenever he made that sort of faux pas, he suspected she kind of liked it.
'Why? Does it mean something bad now?' Daniel asked, confused.
Mack hesitated as he looked at him. 'No, it's…never mind.' He trailed off, his grin fading, unable to find the words.
He looked back up at Daniel and took in the innocent expression of this pure, wholesome man. He wondered what it must be like to be in Daniel's position, to have been thrown in the deep end like this, to have had your life completely upended and been put at risk pretty much every single day since joining a group of time-travelling agents from the future, whilst also having your heart stolen by a superhero.
Mack never would have thought that any person who had gone through such an experience would begin to care for – and risk their life for – a bunch of strangers so quickly. But Daniel was different. Mack knew that it wasn't just Daisy that Daniel cared for; it was everyone on the team as well – Mack had seen it himself in brief moments when they'd been on the Zephyr after the time storm while they'd waited for the time drive to start working again. He'd seen the way Daniel looked out for Jemma, almost as if he had adopted her as his sister; how he'd spoken sympathetically to Coulson about what it was like to be an L.M.D.; how he'd tried hard to bond with Deke without realising that he was trying to become friends with his romantic rival; how he had checked in with May on how she was coping with her new empathic powers; how he and Yo-Yo had shared stories about their experiences of their disabilities and enthused over Simmons' prosthetics. He cared for all of them, and would do anything for all of them.
Daniel was a man out of time, but he was a man in the right time now, as far as Mack was concerned, a man in the time he was always meant to be in. He was part of their family now. Mack only wished that he hadn't joined them so late, and so near to the end of their run, if what Daisy had said about Enoch's premonition was correct. He dearly hoped that Sousa would make it through this. He deserved a good life, a happy life, particularly after the last couple of weeks he had just been put through.
'It's a fine word,' Mack said now, smiling fondly at him. 'And you're a fine man.'
Daniel's face lit up slightly as he looked up at Mack in surprise. He felt warm inside. He wished he'd got to know Mack sooner; he supposed he had just been too intimidated by Mack initially when he'd first been pulled out of 1955.
Mack exhaled deeply. 'I just can't believe it's gonna be…robots that take us out in the end,' he said bitterly, as he walked over to Daniel.
Daniel looked out onto the hangar heavily, but then was suddenly struck with an idea. 'If this really is the end, shouldn't we take out as many of them as possible?' he suggested.
'Even more than fifty?' Mack said, raising his eyebrows at him.
Daniel chuckled softly before grabbing the knife Mack had lent him out of his belt. 'Back at Area 51, the Chronicoms tried to turn Helius into a nuclear bomb using just one of their robots,' he said, as he approached one of the dead Hunters on the floor.
Mack watched, stunned, as Daniel crouched down and stabbed his knife into the Chronicom without even flinching. He cut through the uniform to reveal the robot skin beneath and looked back up at Mack.
'What kind of damage could we do with these six?' he pointed out.
Mack's eyes widened slightly. 'A hell of a lot,' he said, his expression determined, and he smiled at Daniel. 'Sousa, you're a genius.'
Daniel shrugged humbly. 'I have my moments.'
They both got to work, dismantling the human skin and clothing on all six bodies to reveal the Chronicom robotics beneath. It was good to feel useful and to occupy his mind with this task, but it didn't stop Daniel from thinking about Daisy.
Where is she? What's taking so long? Should I have done more to help?
But then he had to remind himself that he was helping, just in a different way.
As quickly as they could, Mack and Daniel tied up the Chronicom bodies together and wired up their mechanisms to the Gravitonium drive – whatever that was – and the time drive. It would make one hell of a blast…and one that neither of them would be able to avoid. But they both knew that it was a strong back-up plan for if things didn't pan out their way. Daniel didn't fear death, not really; if things went south with Daisy, Jemma and Deke, then he would willingly give his life to take out as many Chronicoms as possible in order to try and help the rest of the team back on Earth.
They then heard rapidly approaching footsteps; Daniel and Mack both dived for the nearest Chronicom guns and held them out, but then stopped and sighed as Jemma and Deke came running up the loading bay to join them in the Zephyr.
'Deke. Jemma,' Mack said, relieved.
Daniel frowned. 'Where's Daisy?' he asked, trying not to panic.
'Dealing with Kora. She said not to wait,' Deke replied, panting.
Daniel froze, horrified, and stared at him indignantly. She said that and they just left her there alone?!
Deke couldn't mean it, surely. Daisy couldn't have meant it. Did she really think that they would just leave her here, with the Chronicoms and Malick?! He dreaded to think what must be going on up there to make her say such a thing, as if sure that she wouldn't be coming back.
Jemma looked slightly dazed as she walked on into the Zephyr, murmuring about home. Deke revealed to Mack and Daniel that Malick and the Chronicoms had done something to her to mess with the implant in her brain; she kept remembering and forgetting snippets of information, as if she didn't know what was real and what wasn't.
She said not to wait.
Deke's words were still ringing painfully in Daniel's ears. Was she trying to get herself killed?!
Deke then looked down at the contraption Mack and Daniel had fashioned out of the dead Chronicoms, and began ranting about suicide bombs. Daniel barely heard him. His mind was only on one thing.
'I'll go for Daisy,' he said firmly, hurrying forward without even looking at Mack for permission.
He knew that he was abandoning his post, and he knew that Daisy was a highly capable agent who could fend for herself, but right now that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting Daisy home.
'Stand down, Agent Sousa!' Mack ordered sharply, his expression urgent yet sympathetic; he knew that Daniel must be going out of his mind with worry.
Daniel came to a reluctant halt. 'And do what?' he snapped, looking round at Mack in frustration.
He had never felt more helpless. He knew that he wouldn't be able to help Daisy much anyway; if Daisy couldn't defeat the Chronicoms or Malick, then he certainly wouldn't have a chance. But he had to try and do something, anything. They couldn't just leave her out there.
Mack hesitated, thinking hard…and then inspiration struck. 'Find me some duct tape,' he eventually replied, somehow managing to make the words sound ominous.
'Duct tape?' Daniel said loudly, incredulous. 'Seriously, that's the best we've got? We can't just abandon Daisy-'
'We're not. We're gonna hold off as long as possible,' Mack said firmly, and he indicated the Chronicom device at their feet. 'And we're not gonna let all our effort with this go to waste.'
'What are you thinking?' Daniel asked, while Deke hurried off to check on Jemma, who was wandering around the medical bay looking extremely confused.
Mack began to smile. 'We strap these bad boys to our missiles beneath the engine.'
Daniel hesitated as he thought about it, and then his eyebrows shot up his forehead; he suddenly felt rather hopeful. 'You think it'll work?'
'Well if that won't blast open the hangar doors, nothing will,' Mack replied, as Deke remerged.
'Okay. Is Simmons all right?' Daniel asked Deke.
Deke grimaced. 'She's just…getting her bearings, I think.'
'Okay – can you show me where the duct tape is?'
'S-sure,' Deke replied, bewildered; why did they need duct tape?
'Thanks. We'll be back soon, you wanna get these guys ready?' Daniel said to Mack, indicating the Chronicom bodies.
'Absolutely,' Mack said, enjoying the sense of authority radiating from Daniel right now.
Daniel then stepped up to Mack. 'Mack. Just so you know…I'm not leaving this ship without her,' he said, his voice tremoring slightly on the last word.
Mack smiled. The guy had been about to storm a spaceship from the future filled with hundreds of deadly robots, armed with nothing more than two handguns and his stubborn loyalty. He had fallen hard.
'Oh, believe me, I know,' Mack assured him.
Daniel nodded, then tapped Deke on the arm and the two of them headed off together to the equipment room.
Deke could see the panic in Sousa's eyes as he opened the cupboards. 'You really care about her, don't you?' he murmured, as Daniel retrieved a large roll of duct tape from the cupboard.
Daniel didn't need to ask who he meant. He looked at Deke and nodded, too consumed with worry to find the words.
Deke understood. He could remember vividly the day Sousa had brought an unconscious Daisy back from Malick, in 1976. He could picture it just now – he'd entered the medical bay to announce that they were about to jump, only to be stunned at the sight of a bloodied, battered and bruised Sousa, who had stayed sat there on that stool, having not slept for two or three days on the trot, his eyes fixed solely on Daisy as she lay in the healing chamber. Deke had known from that one look that Sousa could already see Daisy for the incredible person she was. He remembered how he'd felt a lump rise in his throat as he'd walked away, forced to accept that any chance he may have had with Daisy was now definitely gone.
Deke didn't feel in any way bitter or sad about that fact now, though. Over a year had passed for him since that moment, and Deke had come to terms with it in what he hoped was a graceful manner. He wished that he could have the chance to get to know Sousa better now – he seemed like a solid guy, after all – but he feared that any chances of that were rapidly slimming. It was feeling more and more like the end of the world.
'She'll be okay,' Deke said now, and he patted Daniel awkwardly on the back. 'She always is. She'll be back, you see.'
Daniel nodded heavily. 'I hope you're right. Now come on, let's get this show on the road,' he said, straightening up with the rolls of duct tape piled in his arms, but then he paused. 'Is that…is that still a thing in your time, "show on the road"?'
'Uh, you're talking to the wrong guy about that, pal,' Deke said awkwardly, 'I'm from 2091.'
'Oh, yeah,' Daniel said, and he paused as he looked at Deke thoughtfully. 'I guess that makes both of us…'men out of time'.'
'Yeah, I guess it does,' Deke said, sounding almost happy, and they both smiled at each other before heading back to Mack to prepare their escape.
While Deke tried to reassure Jemma, Daniel and Mack spent the next ten minutes or so strapping the Chronicoms to the engines beneath the Zephyr. Once their work was done, they then headed back inside and made their way towards the cockpit.
'We're not gonna be able to wait for long,' Mack said in a low, agitated voice as they walked through into the command bridge, 'more Chronicoms will be on their way now they know Deke and Simmons have escaped-'
'Just a little longer,' Daniel said urgently. 'She'll be here.'
Mack looked at him with a sad sort of frown, as if wordlessly telling Daniel that he needed to prepare for the worst, before carrying on towards the cockpit. Swallowing nervously, Daniel paused beside Jemma, who was sat on a seat on the command bridge looking very anxious.
'Hey, Jemma, I just wanted to check how you're doing – is-is it all right if I call you Jemma?' Daniel asked.
But Jemma was gazing up at him with no hint of recognition in her eyes. 'Who are you?'
'I…I'm Daniel Sousa,' Daniel replied calmly, crouching down so that he was on her level. 'I'm a friend.'
'But I…I don't know you,' Jemma murmured.
'No, you do. You helped fake my death in 1955. You built me my amazing new prosthetic leg,' Daniel said patiently.
Jemma frowned. '1955?'
'I was the West Coast Division Chief in '55, yeah. You knew me from the history books before you all saved me. I'm…Peggy Carter's old partner,' Daniel said, raising his eyebrows at her.
At this, Jemma's face lit up. 'Oh, Agent Sousa!'
'Yep,' Daniel said with a chuckle. 'Knew that would help you get there.'
'Yes…and you're Daisy's partner now,' Jemma said, looking delighted. 'I remember!'
'W-well…well I'd like to be, if that's what she'd want,' Daniel said, smiling softly at the thought.
Jemma nodded at him earnestly. 'She does. You mean the world to…' But then she trailed off, looking crestfallen. 'Oh, but where is she? Where is…I'm sorry, I don't…'
Her eyes were glazing over, as if she was forgetting all over again. Daniel put a hand on her shoulder, concerned, but then Mack called over to him from the cockpit.
'Sousa. Get over here, prep for take-off.'
Daniel turned back to Jemma. 'I'm just going over there. I'll be back soon, okay?' he said comfortingly. 'Strap in.'
Jemma nodded at him, and then he walked over to join Mack in the cockpit.
'Do you think Simmons will be okay?' Daniel asked him in concern as he hovered by his seat. 'Her mind's still a little…well, fuzzy, to say the least.'
'I'm hoping it's just the after-effects of whatever they did to that implant. Deke thinks she should be back to normal soon,' Mack replied. 'Now sit down.'
Daniel looked at him in surprise. 'I…but I'm not a co-pilot.'
'Well you are now,' Mack said firmly, patting the seat next to him. 'And calm down, we're not going anywhere yet, we'll give Daisy five more minutes.'
Daniel sat down on the seat beside Mack and buckled himself in. Strangely, he did feel calm, but perhaps that was because he knew that if five minutes passed and Daisy still wasn't back, he would simply leave the Zephyr himself and go after her, regardless of what Mack had to say about it. Perhaps it was also because he knew, he felt it in his soul, that Daisy would return.
Sure enough, after merely two minutes of tense silence, Deke's voice spoke up through the comms with words that flooded Daniel with relief:
'Okay. Daisy's on board,' Deke announced. 'It's go time. Do I sound cool when I say that?'
Mack rolled his eyes as he reached up to flick the switches and power up the Zephyr's engines. Daniel watched him work with a slight smile on his face as he tried to get his emotions under control. Despite knowing that Daisy had reached them in time, and that she was safe, his heart was still racing at an unbelievable rate and his shoulders were still tensed up…but he felt strangely giddy.
They lifted off, Mack steering the Zephyr sharply around on the hangar floor. As they came to a stop, facing the hangar doors, Mack and Daniel exchanged a heavy glance. They knew that this was their one shot.
After pressing a few switches on the navigation panel, Mack pointed to one of the levers. 'That one right there,' he said.
A small smile fell on Daniel's face, grateful for this chance, as he reached down and pulled the lever sharply, releasing the missiles.
'Lord, I hope this works,' Mack muttered, as Daisy and Deke hurried into the cockpit to take their seats behind the pilots.
Daisy couldn't take her eyes off Daniel as she sat down and strapped herself into her seat, having just seen him pull the weapons lever to blast their way out of the Chronicom ship; it had been very satisfying to witness. Daniel glanced behind him now to look at Daisy, and she breathlessly flashed him a grin to reassure him that she was okay. Daniel was amazed; she barely looked like she'd broken a sweat. Not a single hair was out of place. He wondered now why he had been so worried – of course she was okay, she was Daisy Johnson. He smiled back at her, exhaling shakily with relief, before turning back to the front window just in time to see the huge explosion.
They could feel the heat and force of the huge billowing ball of fire even from inside the Zephyr. They flinched as the sheer force of the explosion rocked the Zephyr violently, and Daisy found herself smiling proudly as they soared through the cloud of fire and smoke, out of the Chronicom ship and into the beauty of open space once more.
Daniel sighed giddily in relief. They were out. They'd really managed to escape. He couldn't believe their luck.
'It actually worked!' Daniel said, laughing.
Mack grinned at him. 'All thanks to you, Sousa, using the Chronicoms as a bomb was your idea.'
'Wouldn't expect anything less,' Daisy said from behind them, and Daniel turned around to smile at her.
'So where are we heading now, the Lighthouse? Are the others okay?' Daniel asked Mack.
'They're fine, I just got a message from Yo-Yo,' Mack replied, as he steered them away from the Chronicom ship, 'they've traced an 0-8-4 signal, apparently there was a distress call after the attacks-'
'So where have they gone?' Deke asked.
'Our new favourite place, apparently – the safe house in New York. We've got a message instructing us to meet there,' Mack said.
Daisy raised her eyebrows in surprise. 'At Koenig's speakeasy? Really?'
'Yep. I'll set the coordinates now,' Mack said, typing in the destination on the monitor so that the Zephyr could lock onto it.
Daniel glanced at the screen; the Chronicom fleet still wasn't that far behind them. 'We really need to beat feet before they come after us,' he said.
'Huh. 'Beat feet',' Daisy said thoughtfully, and she smiled. 'I like it.'
Daniel raised his eyebrows at Mack as if to say, 'see?' Grinning, Mack revved the engines and they sped up.
They followed the signal to the 0-8-4 and headed for New York. Once they had re-entered the planet's atmosphere and the ship had resumed steady flight, everyone unbuckled and left their seats; Jemma had managed to install auto-pilot on the Zephyr a few weeks ago, after all.
Daisy went straight to Jemma, who was still looking a little dazed and confused by everyone around her. The only one who she seemed truly comfortable around was Deke. Daisy and Daniel left them to it, and found a corner at one end of the room where they leant against one of the control panels side-by-side. Mack flashed Daisy a wiggle of his eyebrows before leaving the command bridge to check on the rest of the ship.
'So,' Daisy said, glancing at Daniel. 'How was your first time making a bomb out of robots?'
'Actually it was really fun,' Daniel realised, to his utter bemusement, and Daisy laughed softly.
She suddenly felt just as dazed and giddy as she had when she'd last been on the command bridge, merely moments after Daniel had kissed her. She'd had to switch off from all that the moment she'd sneaked onto the Chronicom ship; she'd had to focus on finding Jemma and Deke and somehow getting them out of there without being re-captured or killed. It was only now that she'd managed to accomplish that – suspiciously much more easily than she'd anticipated – that she could turn her mind's attention once again to Daniel.
The dynamic between them didn't seem to have changed much, at least not noticeably so; they were stood a little closer, their hands and heads inclined towards each other's, but aside from their body language no one would think anything was different. It felt natural. It felt familiar. It felt nice.
'You weren't worried about me back there, were you?' Daisy asked him playfully.
'Nope, not at all. Don't know what would make you think that,' Daniel said, before meeting her gaze and smiling. 'Are you okay?'
'Yeah, I'm okay,' she replied, though her face fell ever so slightly as she thought of Kora, still there on that ship with Malick. 'Kora let me go.'
'Do we trust her now?' Daniel asked.
She liked that he said 'we' rather than 'you'. It just further confirmed to her that they were a united front.
Daisy hesitated for a moment, considering his words. Then she nodded.
'Do you want to tell me what happened?' Daniel asked, aware that it was a sensitive subject that she might not be ready to face just yet.
A small smile appeared on Daisy's face. Yes. Yes, I do.
So she told him.
Kora had been so uncertain when she'd found Daisy, Jemma and Deke in the corridor on the upper levels back on the Chronicom ship. She'd looked at a complete loss, like she had no idea what she was meant to be doing – or even thinking – at all anymore. When Daisy had tried speaking reasonably to her, Kora had attempted to attack Daisy with her Inhuman powers – unsuccessfully – and insisted that she didn't need any protection, that she could take care of herself. Malick seemed to have led her to believe that she was invincible with her powers.
'She was a monster,' Kora had said, when they spoke of Jiaying.
But Daisy knew that Kora didn't believe that. Not really. Why else would she have been so angry and visibly distressed by Jiaying's death?
'I believe that Jiaying loved you more than anything, but she didn't know how to help you,' Daisy had said sincerely. 'She was afraid for you.'
Daisy had known then that she wasn't going to use her powers to fight Kora, that she never could. She didn't like Kora, but she recognised her somehow. She was lonely, she was lost, she was struggling…just as Daisy had once been. She just needed someone to set her on the right path.
Realising that maybe she could be that someone, Daisy had tried persuading Kora to come back with her, to escape with her and the rest of her team on the Zephyr, to break free of Malick's hold over her.
But Kora believed it was too late. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been destroyed, and she and Malick had won. They were going to rule, together. But Daisy could tell that that wasn't what Kora truly wanted; she spoke in Malick's voice, not her own.
'We can still change this timeline. Will you help me?' Daisy had asked.
And then she had let Daisy pass. 'Go. Do what you need to do. I can't go with you but just do it,' Kora had said, her face conflicted but her voice firm. 'Go, quickly, before I change my mind. Nathaniel will be here any moment!'
Daisy had grabbed her sister by the arms. 'Thank you,' she'd said, before fleeing.
A part of her had expected the Zephyr to have already left without her, but then she'd seen the ship still there in the hangar, and wondered if perhaps a certain someone had convinced them to wait for her before departing. Daisy didn't mind admitting to herself that she'd rather hoped for that.
'So…what will happen to her now?' Daniel asked, looking concerned.
'I…I don't know,' Daisy replied honestly. 'She was confused. I think she still believes Malick but…I don't think she wants us to fail.'
'She doesn't know how to feel about it,' Daniel murmured thoughtfully, and he sighed. 'Well, I hope she figures it out soon. We can't just leave her there with him. Once we've dealt with this 0-8-4 signal, we'll have to go back for her and get her out of there, if that's what she wants.'
'But…we can't just…' Daisy trailed off and looked up at him, mesmerized. 'You'd do that? After all that effort in getting us out of that ship, you'd just…go back there for her?'
'Of course,' Daniel said, frowning as if genuinely confused by why she was questioning him. 'She's your sister.'
Daisy's lips parted in awe. She would have kissed him there and then if Mack hadn't then called out to them all saying to prepare to land.
The Zephyr landed somewhere not too far from the main street where the safe house stood. They all left the Zephyr hurriedly, anxious to reunite with the rest of the team. Daniel was still highly impressed by the cloaking device on the Zephyr; he was gazing up at the invisible aircraft they had just exited in awe. Daisy ended up having to yank him by the wrist to turn him around and pull him away.
While Deke and Mack walked ahead with Jemma, trying to reassure her that everything was okay as they headed down the dark street towards the speakeasy, Daisy hung back a little with Daniel, and she smiled softly to herself as his fingers brushed against her knuckle.
'So, uh…you kissed me earlier,' Daisy said, her heart skipping along nervously, as they walked down the street.
Daniel's lips twitched. 'I did, didn't I?'
'Mm-hmm.'
'How was it?' Daniel asked, surprised by how calm he felt; his nerves seemed to have disappeared around Daisy now that they had crossed that bridge. All he felt was certainty.
'It was very nice,' Daisy replied with a twitch of her eyebrows.
'Good. Good,' Daniel said, nodding slowly, as his little finger intertwined with hers. 'Maybe…when this is over, you and I can…maybe talk, about…' He trailed off, not quite knowing how to phrase it; he didn't want to pressure her, after all.
'Stuff?' Daisy finished for him gently, as they slowed down their pace slightly; they could see the steps leading down to the speakeasy up ahead at the far end of the street.
'Yeah, stuff, exactly,' Daniel replied awkwardly, and as he met her gaze they both laughed softly.
'Yeah. Yeah, I'd really like that,' Daisy said, nodding as her smiling lips practically trembled with happiness.
Daniel smiled back tenderly, relieved. 'Good.'
He was so glad. They had a job to do now, and he knew there was a tough road ahead of them with the Chronicoms and Malick, but for now, they could enjoy this small moment together. They could be excited for whatever the future had in store for them, when this was all over. If they made it to the end, that was.
Feeling elated, a beaming Daisy rested her head on Daniel's shoulder briefly, before squeezing his wrist and pulling him forward to catch up with the others.