Another chapter up for ya!

When Jemma opened her eyes she was overwhelmed with emotions. Both of her lives were flashing before her eyes.

Why couldn't she remember who James Dunn was? Why did Daisy lie to her about her boyfriend...

Fitz. Oh my God, Fitz.

Her heart raced as she ripped the monitors and IVs off herself, stumbling to the floor when she tried to get off the stand-up gurney. Her limbs ached and buckled from disuse and her stomach growled from malnutrition. She tried to stand up again but found herself with a deep desire just to stay on the floor.

Where was she and how had she gotten there?! The last thing she remembered was Daisy-Bot attacking her and then a faint moment of someone putting something on her head and then...

Oh my God...

A groan came from across the room and Jemma turned to see Mack stirring on his gurney. She wanted nothing more than to rush up to him and check on him, but her legs were too noodly. She finally managed to grab the bed next to her and stand, but still using the bed for support.

Mack's eyes opened and they immediately widened as his two lives dawned on him. He looked down at Jemma. "Simmons- "

"Take a second to- " Jemma groaned as she righted herself. "process everything."

Mack swallowed as Simmons stumbled toward him, taking out his IVs and monitors for him.

He...what?! How had he never trusted Daisy and how had Hydra succeeded and why did his family agree with Hydra?!

What...?

Mack slid down the gurney, planting himself on the floor, his chin on his hands as he processed everything. Simmons sat next to him, her shoulder to his, as the pair thought about the unthinkable.

It was a few minutes before the next person woke up. Feeling a little stronger after stretching a bit, Simmons rushed to Coulson and undid his IVs and monitors for him as well. His chest was heaving. "I- " His first reaction was where's Daisy?! and he relaxed greatly when he saw the girl, asleep but alive on the gurney a few away from his.

"Just three left," Simmons whispered to him as he joined them on the floor.

"Mace..." Mack whispered, eyeing the empty gurney where the man had once been.

"I know," came the unison response from Jemma and Phil.

May woke with a jolt and, too quickly, hopped off the gurney and jerked her head around, searching for the nonexistent threat. "Where am I?!" she hissed to no one in particular.

"May," Simmons soothed, a hand on the older woman's shoulder. "It's okay. You're safe."

"Shot...they shot her..." May stammered as she allowed Jemma to wrap an arm around her to steady her.

"It's okay, May. None of it was real," Simmons assured her as she lowered the woman to the floor.

"But I was Hydra!" May realized, her eyes wide and her heart racing. "How could I..." she choked.

Fitz was the next to awake and to be honest, Jemma had no idea what to say to her lover as he frantically unhooked himself from everything, collapsing to his knees on the floor, his face in utter shock.

"I killed all those people..." he muttered. He moved away when Jemma tried to comfort him. "Mace died because of me..."

"It wasn't real," Simmons tried to tell him.

Fitz's jaw was nearly on the floor. "It was real enough. Those were all my decisions- "

Mack and Coulson looked up at Daisy, who was still unconscious on the gurney. "I hope she wakes up," Phil whispered to Mack.

"Me too," Mack replied. Neither man took their eyes off her.

Finally, with a cough and a jolt, Daisy awoke and her fists started to clench. One hand grabbed for her arm as if it was in pain, and she whimpered very quietly.

Knowing Jemma was busy with Fitz, May rushed toward her surrogate daughter and cupped her cheek. "Daisy, Daisy," she said. "Wake up."

Daisy's eyes opened and she immediately searched her surroundings. "Where am I..." Her voice was impeccably raspy; she'd been in the Framework much longer than everyone else.

May beamed as she undid the monitors. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Daisy swallowed and coughed, but there wasn't a response. Daisy wasn't so sure she was glad.

May reached for Daisy's arm and inspected it. "The gunshot wound is gone," she told her with a smile.

"The pain, too," Daisy whispered, unable to speak loudly.

May nodded. Before she could say anything else, Mack rushed toward her and practically scooped the girl into his arms - knowing how weak she'd be from being in a coma for so long - and deposited her on the floor, her head comfortably resting on his lap. "Tell us what happened, Tremors," he said to her.

"I- " Daisy began before coughing again. Someone was holding her hand, and her eyes followed the owner's arm until she found Coulson. He wasn't happy, but he wasn't sad, either.

"She hasn't talked in a while and she's dehydrated," May explained. "She can explain later."

Grateful for the explanation, Daisy nodded in agreement.

Transferring her to Coulson, Mack stood to search the room and area with May.

Coulson gently stroked Daisy's head and patted her shoulder. He wasn't smiling, which was understandable, considering they'd lost Mace and he had just lived two lives at once. She couldn't imagine how hard that was for him, for all of them, especially Fitz. She turned to look at her Scottish friend. His face was buried in his hands as he sobbed, Simmons rubbing his back and talking him through it.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Phil whispered to Daisy as he rubbed her head. "I really thought I'd lost you."

Daisy smiled and sat up as best she could, wrapping her arms around her father figure and pulling him in for a big hug. He returned the embrace, rubbing her back and head gently as he hushed her.

Daisy tried to speak. "Where- "

Coulson stopped her as they pulled away from the embrace. "Shh, Dais, save your words."

As if on cue, May tossed a water bottle she'd found to Coulson. He caught it in his mechanical hand and unscrewed the cap, holding it up to Daisy's lips. She took it in her shaky hand and tried to get a drink, but didn't succeed. Noticing her struggle, Coulson placed his hand over hers and helped her to take a sip.

The water tasted better than peppermint bark and hot cocoa on a cold winter day. Daisy greedily sipped the entire bottle down in a few seconds.

She looked up at Coulson when she finished, nearly panting from drinking all that. "Oh I...should have left some for you," she said, able to speak a little better now.

He shook his head. "You need it more."

"It's a submarine," came Mack's voice from the other side of the room. His tall self had been able to stand on his tippy-toes and see the circular underwater window.

Daisy furrowed her brow. "This can't be good."

Suddenly, something appeared in the room. Before anyone could even consider what, Aida was in the middle of the room, an angry expression on her face.

Fitz looked up, his face sodden with tears, and his face fell when the realization hit him: in the Framework, he had finished Project Looking Glass. Aida had a real body with superpowers...

"HOW DID YOU GET OUT?!" Aida shrieked, angry. She stormed toward Daisy and grabbed the girl's shirt collar, yanking her away from Coulson and pulling her to her own height, practically spitting in her face as she hissed, "You."

Daisy kicked her legs but was too weak to free herself from Aida's grasp. Phil tried to tackle the former-robot but he, too, was a bit weak.

"Let her go!" Fitz shouted, pulling away from Jemma and standing up.

Fitz seemed to spark Aida's interest enough to drop Daisy roughly onto the floor. The girl grunted and coughed as Phil rushed to her side, checking on her.

Aida spread her arms out as if she wanted a big hug. "Leopold. You made me this body, this real, living-flesh body." She smiled and kept walking closer to him.

"N-N-No..." Fitz stammered, pointing an accusing finger at her. "You-You forced me to do that...Don't-Don't you dare give me credit f-for..."

Aida tilted her head, studying the young man as she continued to approach him.

Meanwhile, May was at-the-ready with a scalpel she'd found on the counter somewhere.

"Oh, Leopold," Aida said as she took Fitz's face in her hands. She smiled. "You made me, me."

Before she could do anything else to the poor, confused man, May rushed toward the former-robot and stabbed her in the chest with the scalpel. Aida let go of Fitz and stumbled back.

Blood, real(ish) blood, poured out of the stab wound and Aida reached down, clutching the injury with her hand. She looked up at May angrily. "Agent May, I do not like the feeling of human pain. Shall I return the favor and give you some?"

Aida started to approach May but Fitz got in her way, his hands raised in surrender. "P-Please, Oph-Aida...You want me, right? T-Take me. Just don't hurt them."

"Fitz!" Jemma shouted, feeling betrayed. He looked to her, his face ridden with guilt, as if to say, I'm doing this for you.

With that, Aida wrapped her arms around Fitz, using her teleportation powers to vanish along with him.

"NO!" Jemma screamed, diving toward the spot she'd last seen Fitz, tears pouring from her eyes and sobs escaping her throat. "Fitz..." she croaked, hiccuping as new tears appeared. She buried her face in her hands as May started to rub her back. May didn't even have to say anything; her touch was enough.

Daisy rolled over in Phil's arms. "'M okay," she assured him with a weak, plastered-on smile.

"As soon as we get back to the base, you are resting. Understood, Agent Johnson?" Coulson ordered.

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Eventually, Coulson deposited Daisy with Jemma as he, Mack, and May finally figured out how to open the cargo door holding them in the room. After it opened a few inches, Mack immediately shut it when he saw the multitude of LMDs waiting for them outside.

"Uh, we aren't strong enough to fight them," Mack said, stating the obvious.

"Dammit," muttered May.

"Why don't we..." Phil began, then shook his head as he eyed Daisy, who was curled up into a little ball, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth as she processed everything. "I wish she could use her powers right now," he whispered.

Mack sighed as he, too, eyed Daisy on the floor. "She was badass in there. She managed to convince all of us to come back and figured out how to, all the while dealing with torture and doubt. She had all of our lives on her shoulders."

"And she pulled through," May added with a smirk, a sense of pride. She'd created that agent, and she was damn proud of the result.

Mack and May hadn't noticed Phil was searching the cabinets. He walked back to them with a few syringes and a bottle in his hand. He held them out to show the other agents. "Adrenaline. This should boost us enough to grab the girls and get out of here."

"What about Fitz?" Mack asked.

Coulson sighed. "We'll have to wait and see. Teleportation, it's..." He looked down at his socked feet. "...It's hard."

A moment later, Phil looked up. "Are you ready?"

Mack raised his eyebrows. "As I'll ever be."

May just nodded as Coulson handed them the loaded syringes. The three jammed them into their arms before Mack opened the door again. They raced outside and started to attack the Russian-men LMDs. May was very good at kicking them to the floor then taking their chin, yanking it up and snapping their head off in one fell swoop. Mack did a good job of punching them to the floor and stepping on their head or chest with his sheer strength and force. Phil had found a gun somewhere and was good at headshots.

Eventually, all the visible LMDs were out of commission, and the trio rushed back to the room, Mack wrapping an arm around Daisy and May helping Jemma up. The British girl insisted she walk on her own, and it took a few moments before her reluctant teammates allowed it.

"You all make your way to the top of this thing. Let me see if I can contact anyone from SHIELD," Coulson said to his four agents. Mack nodded in understanding but May narrowed her eyes.

"Please come soon, Phil," she told him. It wasn't a request, it was a demand.

Phil nodded. "I will," he promised as the four stepped into the spiral-staircase room, starting to head up.

Coulson found a VLF phone in a nearby office. He tried multiple SHIELD numbers but found nothing. He finally decided upon a random agent's number, hoping it would work. He decided to call Agent Davis.

"Davis?" he pleaded, hoping and praying the man would pick up.

"Director Coulson?!" came the scratchy and shocked response from the other end after several rings.

"That's me. I'm so glad you picked up, Davis, I..."

"Yes, sir, bad news," Davis said, hopping right into it.

"What is it?"

"The Daisy-Bot and Aida...they destroyed the base with bombs after they kidnapped you and the main agents. Most agents managed to escape before they blew the place but agents Piper, Prince and I got the Zephyr out of there. We've been circling high up for weeks and we're running low on fuel. But that's all SHIELD has left, sir, Z-1."

It took Phil a second to process that. His base, the Playground, was...gone?!

"God, Davis, anything else?!" Coulson asked. He knew he shouldn't be snappy with the man, but this info was killing him. SHIELD was gone?!

"No, sir, are all of you okay?"

Coulson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mace was killed-in-action. Well, in the Framework."

"I'm so sor- "

"Save it, Davis. Aida kidnapped and teleported Fitz somewhere but everyone else is more or less okay. If you could start running point on finding Fitz, that would be great." A scratchy noise sounded. "You're breaking up, I have to go."

"Yes, sir, of course, sir."

"And start trying to find us, thanks." And with that, he hung up and started heading up the spiral staircase.

Woah that was quite the chapter! I will of course be writing more but we'll have to see where this takes us. Of course, I'm wide-open to suggestions, so please please review! It helps a lot :)