Based on events during Episodes 7x12-7x13 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
When they reached the speakeasy, the door seemed to have been barricaded from the inside; Daisy had to use her powers to quake the door open. They all entered to see the darkened room filled with numerous people, presumably most of whom were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from here in 1983 who had survived the Chronicoms' attacks, all pointing their guns directly at them.
'They're with us!' came Coulson's urgent voice, to Daisy's relief.
The agents lowered their weapons, and Mack went straight to embrace Yo-Yo, while Daisy headed over to Coulson and May. Daniel smiled fondly as he watched her hug them both, like a daughter reunited with her parents.
While the other agents looked on bewilderedly, Daisy and Deke were forced to explain to the rest of the team that Jemma didn't appear to recognise any of them due to the Chronicoms having interfered with her memory. While Jemma murmured to herself about marriage and husbands as she wandered over to the bar counter, where some strange objects stood, Daniel took a step forward.
'Any idea why we're all here?' he asked the room at large. 'Or…who sent that message?'
'That's an 0-8-4 in and of itself,' Coulson replied.
Mack revealed that they couldn't stay here at the safe house for long. The Chronicoms would no doubt be already on their way after them, and they seemed to be planning some sort of landing or invasion. Daniel couldn't even imagine how confused the 1983 agents in this bar must be by such a statement.
It was then when they all realised that Jemma was fiddling around with the objects on the bar counter – the 0-8-4s that all the assembled agents had been instructed to bring when they had met here after receiving the signal. Jemma was fitting all the parts together like pieces of a puzzle; despite her confused memory, she seemed to know what she was doing, and she had no idea how.
When another agent – a sweet, elderly man who Daniel instantly went over to look after – arrived to deliver the last 0-8-4, Coulson realised that Enoch must have deposited these various 0-8-4s while he had been trapped here over the decades, intending for them all to be fit together, in this very moment. Once Jemma had finished constructing the peculiar device, the wall behind them then slid upwards, revealing a secret room. It looked small and unremarkable, with very little inside, and Jemma couldn't remember what it was intended for…but she knew it was right.
Jemma carried the device carefully over to the table in the secret room, and they all waited with bated breath…before Jemma remembered that she was married, that the team had been there with her and her husband through their whole journey…and that was when she worked out the final missing piece to the puzzle: her wedding ring. She tentatively removed the ring from her finger and slipped it into the device, and it activated at once. Everyone stepped back and the device shone brightly and began to whir, louder and louder, unit it shot out several beams to the ceiling at once, from which something that looked very much like a portal appeared and then –
Daisy gasped in shock. A man had appeared, having materialized from out of the portal in the ceiling, and was now stood directly before them all. He was wearing a mask that covered his face, but Daisy knew who it must be before he'd even removed it.
He took off the mask, breathing heavily, and his face lit up in delight as his gaze fell on his confused wife. 'Jemma,' Fitz said lovingly.
The whole team erupted in beams of delight at seeing their lost friend again…at least, everyone apart from Jemma, who looked more lost than ever as he tried to approach her. Fitz looked crestfallen as he realised that she didn't remember him.
Daniel looked on, feeling just as confused as the 1983 agents undoubtedly did as they watched from the side-lines in bewilderment, while Fitz tried to reassure the team that Jemma just needed time for her mind to recover, that no serious damage should have been done. Daisy hardly found this reassuring.
After the initial euphoria at seeing him, she and the rest of the team were starting to feel somewhat resentful towards Fitz. Where the hell had he been? What had he been doing this whole time?
Fitz – bursting with a strangely nervous, agitated sort of energy – informed them all that he had seen countless versions of how these events in the timeline would play out; he'd known everything that would happen. Daniel found this unnerving to hear. Fitz and Jemma had apparently worked out that the only way they could save the original timeline was for the team to have survived through this new one up to a certain point, where they were now reliant on a key to save the world: Kora.
Daniel looked around at Daisy the moment Fitz mentioned Kora's name. She looked stunned, confused…and guilty. He knew what she was thinking at once: that they shouldn't have left her behind on the Chronicom ship. He knew it had been Kora's choice; Daisy had told him herself that Kora had insisted that she needed to stay with Malick when she let her escape to the Zephyr…but he also knew what Daisy was like, how she felt responsible for practically everyone and everything. His heart ached for her. How could they have known that Kora would be 'the key' to all this? And what did Fitz actually mean by that?
As the silence stretched on, Fitz clasped his hands to his head in despair. 'Did Kora survive?' he asked desperately.
'Yes,' Daisy replied.
'Oh, thank God,' Fitz said, relieved. 'Where is she?'
'She's with the enemy – Nathaniel Malick,' Daisy explained helplessly.
'What? What happened? She's your sister, didn't you connect?' Fitz said, looking horrified. 'Jiaying-'
'Jiaying is dead,' Daisy said, her voice tremoring ever so slightly on the last word.
Daniel wanted nothing more than to hug her in that moment, but knew he couldn't. He barely had a clue what was going on or what Fitz was saying but he did know it was important; their only chance of success was clearly through his expertise.
Fitz's mouth fell open; clearly he hadn't seen this coming. 'But she is pivotal,' he said slowly, burying his face in his hands.
Her heart beating heavily against her chest, Daisy could feel her mind drifting as an agitated Fitz explained to them all how they needed to get the portal device that Jemma had assembled – which he referred to as the Quantum Bridge – onto the Zephyr, so that they could hook it up and fly home together. Apparently the Quantum Bridge device had enabled Fitz to travel from the original timeline across something called the Quantum Realm over to this new alternate timeline, which had been created when the team had branched off in 1931. Fitz insisted that they could still get back to their original timeline, where the Chronicom fleet hadn't destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D.
While Coulson protested that they couldn't abandon everyone here in this timeline with the Chronicoms about to take over the world, Daniel glanced over at Daisy. This talk of multiple dimensions and robot invasions and Quantum Realms was beginning to give him a headache, but he could tell it was nothing compared to what Daisy was feeling right now. She looked almost faint, and she felt like she might throw up.
She had failed to connect with Kora. She had failed to keep Jiaying safe. Both these things had clearly been vital in Fitz's plan to save the timeline. And now that plan was ruined, and it was all Daisy's fault. If only she had managed to protect them both from Malick.
Malick. It all boiled down to him, the psychopath who had butchered and drained her, who had turned her sister over to the dark side and murdered their mother in cold blood. Her knuckles cracked and her nostrils flared as she thought of his leering face, his drawling voice, his melodramatic walk. She wanted him dead.
Daisy blinked as she tried to focus on the yelling going on around them; they were all arguing now, saying that they needed to take the Chronicom fleet back through the Quantum Realm to the original timeline with them, regardless of what Fitz's percentages and the time stream had to say about it – the people here had suffered enough.
She hadn't noticed that Daniel had come to stand beside her until just now. Daniel took her hand and gave it a brief reassuring squeeze before letting go, sensing that she needed a moment to herself. Daisy closed her eyes, grateful for his comforting touch, before bringing her hand up to her mouth, her face creased in worry, as they continued to listen to the team's deliberations.
Deke had just worked out that the Quantum Bridge device could reduce matter subatomically, creating an energy field to do it, almost like a bubble – they could expand this bubble to bring the Chronicom fleet back with them to the original timeline, using 10,000 megawatts of energy to generate it.
There was one problem with this though – someone would need to stay behind at this end, here in 1983, to set it up and turn it on. They would be trapped in this alternate timeline forever.
'We have to break up the band,' Deke said, looking truly distressed at the thought.
'I don't know if that matters,' Daisy realised, though it pained her to say it. ''Cause this…this is the last mission together, isn't it?'
There was a silence as everyone looked at her, stunned, then back at Fitz.
'How could you know that?' Fitz asked, frowning.
'Enoch told us,' Jemma remembered matter-of-factly. 'Before he died.'
Another silence fell. There was a desperate sense of sadness in the room as everyone in the team looked at each other, their expressions filled with longing, denial and grief. To his surprise, Daniel didn't feel as much of an outsider to this as he ought to have done. He felt almost as if he had been always part of this team, even though it had been only just over a week.
'Yeah, that's true,' Fitz replied heavily as Daisy looked on sadly, her heart practically breaking as he spoke. 'In fact, no matter what the outcome…this will be the last time we're all in the same room together. Ever.'
Daisy's face was on the brink of crumbling. His words were so final, so devastating. It wasn't just the end of an era, it was the end of Daisy's home, her family…her life as she knew it. And it crushed her to know that it was almost over, and that there was nothing they could do to change it.
Daniel didn't even need to look at Daisy stood beside him to know how distressed she felt. It was almost like he was attuned to her thoughts. He knew how the thing that scared Daisy the most was the idea of losing the people she loved. And he knew how much this team meant to her. She'd told him herself how they all meant everything to her, how they had saved each other countless times, how they had lived and worked together and been to hell and back over the course of the years, always united as one. They were a family. None of them deserved to be separated, after all they had done for each other. They had all fought so hard to save the world, they had sacrificed everything…and now one of them was going to be forced to stay behind, never to return home with their loved ones?
No. Daniel couldn't allow that.
Daniel bent his head low as he realised what he was about to do. He didn't want to do it, not in the slightest, but he knew it was only right. Besides, he couldn't complain. He'd been a lucky man; he should have died over a week ago, but instead he had been granted all these extra days – these exciting, terrifying, wonderful, heart-stopping days – where he had gone on adventures, travelled through time and space, quickly formed deep bonds with new friends and, most importantly, fallen in love, something he'd never thought would ever happen to him again. It had been an absolute gift.
But now he knew why the universe had brought this team to him, why space-time had allowed them to prevent his death in 1955: it had been for this very purpose. To send these people back to their home, like they deserved. He didn't belong in the timeline where they were from. Well, he didn't belong anywhere really, now that he was technically no longer alive. But he could do this for them.
It was only fair for it to be him; this way, their family didn't have to be broken up. It was only right.
'I'll stay.'
He was looking at the floor when he spoke the words because it was too painful, but Daniel forced himself to look up afterwards, to make sure the team knew that he meant it, and Mack's face fell.
Daisy felt the blood drain from her face as she looked up at Daniel, horrified. He was looking at anywhere but her. No. He can't be serious.
Daniel took a deep breath as he tried to put on a brave face, sensing Daisy's wide, beseeching eyes on him. 'I belong here,' he said heavily.
Daisy's lips parted in protest but she was too stunned and aghast to say anything, just as everyone else in the team was.
This can't be happening. Not again. No. He can't do this.
'I've already been given the privilege of getting a second chance, of meeting all you…fine people,' Daniel said, clasping a hand on Deke's shoulder.
Everyone in the team felt a rush of affection – and despair – for this poor, wonderful, selfless man as he looked down briefly and turned towards Daisy, floundering slightly as he tried to think of the words.
Daniel's voice shook slightly when he next spoke. 'Uh…it's only right,' he went on, glancing at Daisy, and his heart sank as he took in her anguished, almost dazed expression, as if she couldn't believe what he was saying.
Her eyes had drifted to meet May's agonized gaze. The room was spinning, and she felt almost like she couldn't breathe. He really was being serious. Daisy knew that Daniel wasn't trying to be a martyr or doing this to make some grand soppy gesture; he was doing it because he genuinely believed it to be right. She knew that, if she wasn't biased, she would probably have agreed with his reasoning as well. But she couldn't.
Daniel brought her gaze back to his by stepping towards her and softly grasping her hands, and neither of them were afraid of who saw. Everyone in the team knew anyway. They had all been able to see it, probably long before Daisy and Daniel themselves. And they were all equally as heartbroken as they watched them now.
Daisy could feel her emotions threatening to come to the surface as he closed the distance between them, his thumbs caressing her knuckles…her eyes began to well up as she gazed at him, utterly crestfallen, but she didn't care. He was sacrificing himself in this timeline just so that she and her friends could get back to their lives and save their world. She didn't want this. Not one bit. Daniel kept his eyes on hers as he held her hands and tried to convey in merely a gaze just how sorry he was, how much he didn't want to part from her…but how it was the only way.
The two of them had been so happy before entering the speakeasy, almost giddy with excitement just at the simple idea of 'talking'…of finding out where this magical thing between them could go…and now that talk was never going to happen. It felt somewhat cruel that their time together was over so fast, when they hadn't even got started. But at least he had known it briefly. In the short time they had known each other, Daisy had shown him how precious and funny and dangerous and wonderful life could be, and in doing so it felt as if she had found a missing part of him. He would have been lost forever if it hadn't been for meeting her. Daniel knew that, if he had the chance, if he had the opportunity to continue where he had left off back in his own time, he would still choose this chaotic, trauma-filled week with Daisy over going back to the fifties and living the rest of his life there.
But there was no choice now. He had to do this. It was only right…even if it meant having to let her go.
'If the army taught me anything, it's that…' Daniel murmured, trailing off slightly as he cradled her hands gently in his own, and he took a deep breath, overwhelmed with love for Daisy in that moment as she gazed tearfully at him. 'It's that you can't be-'
But he was interrupted by the rude sound of a loud raspberry being blown behind him.
Daniel turned around indignantly, Daisy's hands still held firmly in his, as he fixed Deke with a sharp look. Deke had his thumb held down and was looked extremely unimpressed.
'I'll stay,' Deke said, his tone resigned but firm, and Daisy felt Daniel's hands tense in her own as everyone stared at him in surprise.
'Deke-' Mack protested, but Deke cut over him.
'First of all, I'm the one with the scientific knowledge to be able to re-patch the power,' Deke pointed out, as Fitz watched him, looking rather forlorn. 'Danny-boy over here is still impressed by a light bulb.'
'That's…not accurate or nice,' Daniel interjected with a frown, and Daisy felt a slight smile flicker momentarily on her face as he turned around to face Deke, keeping one hand firmly in hers.
Deke turned to face them both. 'And second, seems like you and Daisy have a real thing going, and I…' He trailed off, lost for words, as he looked at them both stood there; he smiled sadly as his gaze fell on Daisy. 'I just want you to be happy.'
His voice shook slightly when he said it, his eyes suddenly rather wet. Suddenly Daisy felt a surge of warmth as she gazed at him. Daniel had been right; she had been too harsh on Deke. He had always deserved more appreciation. And now she was too late to see how much of an amazing friend he had come to be.
Daisy tilted her head at him, emotional. 'Deke,' she began, as Daniel smiled softly at him, deeply touched, but Deke pressed on loudly before she could say anything that would make him lose his composure.
'And third,' he said, turning to Fitz, 'as long as you reconnect with Nana and then, you know…connect…then maybe you'll see me again someday.'
'Deke, that-'
But Fitz cut over Daisy again, his mind made up. 'And honestly…I'm kind of a rock God here anyway,' he said, smiling.
There was another silence as the team began to exchange sad smiles with each other. None of them knew what to say. They were all bereft and slightly stunned. Who would have thought that the selfish, silly scavenger they had met in 2091 would have ended up doing this? There was a rather bittersweet atmosphere in the air as they all looked back at him and Deke smiled.
'All right, people. No time to argue,' Deke said loudly, clapping his hands as he looked around at all the assembled agents in the bar. 'I've already made up my mind, now let's get to it!'
Fitz beckoned Mack and Coulson over to work on disassembling the Quantum Bridge device to take on board the Zephyr, while the other agents dashed around offering to help however they could, even though they didn't really have much of an idea about what was going on. Daniel and Daisy stayed stood there for a moment, stunned, before turning to face each other, their lips parted. Daisy kept her hands in his, as if afraid to let go. Was it terrible that she felt relieved? What a silly thought – of course it was, she knew it was. She turned to face Deke, who she adored so much, and felt a pang of overwhelming guilt.
Looking rather dazed, Daniel let go of Daisy and touched her cheek gently with his hand before walking over to Deke.
'Deke, I-' he began, but Deke held his hand up.
'I told you, my mind's made up,' Deke said firmly.
'But it's not-'
Deke cut over his protests. 'Sousa, it's fine. Honestly. The eighties were made for me. I'm in my element,' he said, and Daniel couldn't tell whether he was putting on the enthusiasm just to make him feel less guilty or if he was being genuine. 'And we both know I'm better suited to get this up and running.'
'But I'm…you've been with these guys longer than I have, they're your family – I mean, literally, they are your family!' Daniel pointed out, indicating Fitz and Jemma over at the other end of the room.
'And I'll seek them out in a few decades' time. I'll see them again,' he said, nodding quickly as if trying to convince himself as he averted his gaze from his grandparents. 'I'll be okay. No, I'll…I'll be amazing.'
A sad smile appeared on Daniel's face. 'I don't doubt it. But it still doesn't seem fair when I've only just-'
Deke interrupted him with an exasperated groan. 'Look, enough! Yeah, you're the new guy, so what? Why should that even matter?' he said, and he sighed as he tilted his head at him. 'You've saved us all multiple times since you got here! You saved Daisy at the barn, Daisy told me none of us would have survived the time storm if it hadn't been for you helping, you came up into space to save me and Jemma, you made a friggin' suicide bomb to take out the Chronicoms! I mean…if you're trying to say you don't deserve a spot with the team, your argument's falling pretty thin on the ground.'
Daniel fell silent, too conflicted and guilt-ridden to find the words. He was grateful to Deke, he truly was – the last thing he'd wanted was to leave Daisy and his new friends – but he still felt rather uneasy about the whole situation.
Deke smiled, as if he could read his mind. 'Besides…you don't seem the kind of guy who would wanna break her heart,' he said, and he glanced over at Daisy, who had now moved over to Yo-Yo to help take care of the nasty wound on her arm.
Daniel followed his gaze and felt his heart skip as he looked at Daisy. Deke was right; that was the last thing he would want to do. He turned back to Deke resignedly.
'Just…I'd say, 'look after her' but…I know I don't need to,' Deke murmured, a soft look in his eyes. 'And Sousa. Good luck in your new life…when you get there.'
Daniel looked at him for a moment then smiled. 'You too,' he said sincerely, and he reached out for Deke's hand; Deke was confused at first, but then remembered that old people still shook hands, so he took Daniel's hand and shook it. 'Thank you, Deke. Really. Thank you.'
Deke nodded, smiling, before walking away to help the others take apart the Quantum Bridge device, leaving Daniel stood there in a bit of a daze. He felt very strange now that he knew he wasn't staying behind. His mind and heart were still rather overwhelmed after the rollercoaster of emotions that had just whirled through him in this past five minutes alone where his life had changed from one course to the next in quick succession. He was overwhelmed with relief and hope…yet also guilt. And not just guilt at what Deke was doing in his place.
Daniel's eyes fell once again to Daisy, who was now talking to Fitz. He felt awful, knowing what he had almost done. He had promised Mack that he would never hurt her, and yet he had offered to stay behind here. He supposed he hadn't realised until the moment he'd seen the look on her face just how much it would have hurt her, if he'd stayed, and by that time it had been too late to go back on his word…until Deke had stepped in, anyway.
He'd known for a while that Daisy cared for him, and since his talk with Mack in the Quinjet he'd known that she reciprocated his feelings, but he hadn't realised just how much she'd reciprocated them until now. How could he have been mad enough to consider leaving her? He'd just thought he'd been doing the right thing, but as he gazed over at Daisy now, he realised that sometimes what he believed to be the right thing wasn't always the best option. Sometimes you were allowed to do what you wanted. Sometimes you could follow your heart, rather than your head. And sometimes, just sometimes, you could do something for yourself and choose happiness. He had to believe that. It was very hard not to, as his eyes locked with Daisy's across the bar now.
Daisy exhaled rather shakily as she took in the tender look in Daniel's eyes as he gazed across the room at her, and despite everything – her anger at him for what he had almost just done, her pain and guilt at the thought of never seeking Deke again, her despair at the idea of losing this team once all this was over – she felt herself begin to smile.
Fitz chuckled softly to himself as he watched her beside him; Daisy tore her gaze away from Daniel and looked up at him curiously. 'When I found out about you and him, I thought, 'what – the – hell?'. Made no sense at all,' he said, shaking his head. 'But I see it now. Can't believe I bloody missed it happening.'
Daisy frowned, bewildered, as she tried not to blush. 'What do you mean, when you found out? Wh…you've only just got here.'
But Fitz simply smiled. It was then when Daisy remembered that Fitz had said he'd seen many versions of how the timeline would unfold. A little dazed, Daisy turned away only to see that Daniel had approached them both.
'Uh…hello,' Daniel said, looking at Fitz as if intimidated by him, and he held out his hand. 'Sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet, I'm Daniel S-'
'Sousa. Yeah, I know,' Fitz said eagerly, and to Daisy's astonishment he looked almost giddy as he gripped Daniel's hand and shook it. 'Sorry, just having a little bit of a fanboy moment here. You're…you're Daniel Sousa.'
Daniel raised his eyebrows at him, confused. 'Fanboy?'
'I-I'm Fitz. Leo Fitz.'
'Y-yes, I gathered,' Daniel replied, as Fitz finally released his hand. 'Heard a lot-'
But Fitz interrupted him enthusiastically. 'Agent Sousa, I'm a huge admirer. Of your w-work, of…well, just of you, really.'
Daniel was taken aback. This man seemed far from the mysterious, agitated, omniscient master of time-travel who had just spoken to them all about time streams and Quantum Realms merely ten minutes ago.
Daisy stared at Fitz with an open mouth, perplexed. 'Uh…okay, Fitz, that's nice, don't freak him out,' she said, guiding Fitz slowly off to the side.
'What?' Fitz said innocently. 'This guy's the Coulson of his day!'
'I know, but you're acting like how you did when I first met you on the Bus and it's weird!' Daisy said, as they moved away from Daniel.
Fitz's beam faded slightly. 'Oh, right. Sorry.'
'No, don't be. It…it's nice,' Daisy said, smiling softly at him.
She felt rather nostalgic all of a sudden as she thought back to young innocent Fitz, with his endless cardigans and his monkey obsession and his nerdy babble. He had gone through so much since then; well, they all had, but Fitz in particular had been put through the ringer…the brain damage he had sustained after Ward had dropped him and Jemma into the ocean, the Framework, the Doctor…Daisy closed her eyes as she remembered the other Fitz's psychotic break, when he'd forcefully removed her implant, before getting himself killed. But no, she couldn't think of that. As far as this Fitz was concerned, none of that had happened. It was water under the bridge now. And she still loved him dearly. His brief interaction with Daniel just now had shown that he was still, deep down, the Leopold Fitz she had first met on the Bus all those years ago. He just looked a little older, and had somehow managed to create time travel and had the power, knowledge and authority to tell them all exactly how they could travel between timelines and save the world. No big deal.
'And I get it,' Daisy went on now, glancing over at Daniel. 'Really. I'm a fanboy, too. Well…fangirl.'
Fitz raised his eyebrows at her. 'Oh, I know,' he assured her, clapping her on the back before calling back over to Daniel. 'Nice to finally meet you anyway, Agent Sousa! Let's grab a beer when all this is done, we have lots to catch up on!'
Still looking a little dazed, Daniel raised his hand and waved to Fitz, nodding at him in agreement, as Fitz backed away and headed back to Jemma, who was sat in the corner while May tried to help her deal with her overwhelming emotions and confusing memories.
Daisy shook her head in disbelief as she walked back over to Daniel by the bar counter. 'Wow. I, uh…I haven't seen him act like that in years,' she said, and she smirked at Daniel. 'I bet he had posters of you up in his dorm while he and Simmons were studying at the Academy.'
'That's…not creepy at all,' Daniel said, bemused.
They both looked at each other then, left alone for the first time since Deke had volunteered to stay behind. Neither of them quite knew what to say. After a few seconds, Daisy then reached her hand up and hit his arm before she even knew what she was doing.
Daniel looked at her indignantly; it hadn't hurt at all, which he knew had been a deliberate choice on Daisy's part, but the gesture was clear. 'What was that for?' he asked.
'What do you think?'
Daisy almost choked the words out. She'd been bottling it up, trying to carry on like everything was fine, but it was no use. He had been doing a selfless act when he'd volunteered to stay, one that made her somehow even more devoted to him, and yet she couldn't help feeling angry. She loathed herself for it, she knew it was selfish and ungrateful, but that was just how she felt. And she knew that in order for this to work with Daniel, she needed to be open and honest with him, always.
'You were just…okay to stay behind?' she murmured. 'Like it was no big deal? Like…like we hadn't just said we were gonna talk about…well, about us?'
It would have been better if she'd shouted; the quiet sadness in her voice made Daniel's heart sink.
'You know I wasn't okay with it, Daisy,' he said, and he took both her hands in his. 'But I'm the one who's an anomaly here, I-I shouldn't be alive, I shouldn't be in this time…it's-it's not fair on the rest of you, I just thought it made sense that I should be the one to stay-'
'Well you thought wrong,' Daisy said, her voice shaking slightly.
Daniel shook his head helplessly; he didn't know if there was anything he could say to make it better. 'I only wanted to help the team. To help you all get home.'
'I know that,' Daisy said, looking down.
'Anyway, you can hardly talk.' He said it without thinking, but found to his surprise that he didn't regret it when she looked up at him in confusion.
'What do you mean?' Daisy asked, frowning.
'Well you went onto that Chronicom ship and then told us not to wait for you. You were willing to be left behind, for the team,' Daniel pointed out. 'And I know you'd do it again in a heartbeat. I know you'll probably do it again when we go after Malick and Kora, once we get back to your timeline.'
Daisy floundered for a bit; she wasn't used to being called out like this. 'I-I can't change who I am, Daniel-'
'And I'm not asking you to. I'd never ask you to do that,' Daniel said, squeezing her hands as he gazed at her, and she knew he was being sincere. 'I'm just saying…I understand. That's all. And I'm sorry about before but…it seemed right, to do what was necessary to get you all home safely and…and…'
He trailed off hopelessly; she was looking at him as if to say, 'and leave me?'
Daniel tilted his head at her, a sympathetic look on his face. 'You know you would have been fine, if I'd stayed here,' he said softly. 'You've managed so far without me before you came to 1955.'
'Well a lot's changed since 1955. I've changed,' Daisy said, the truth of her words only just hitting her now.
Daniel considered her words, then nodded. 'So have I,' he murmured.
Daisy knew he was right. If he had stayed behind, she would have been fine, eventually, once she'd had time to mourn his loss – she was rather practised in that generally, after all. But she didn't want to just be fine anymore. She had been given a glimpse of what real happiness could be like – Daniel had helped her see that – and she didn't want to turn her back on that now.
'I'm sorry, Daisy,' he said quietly.
'No,' Daisy said at once, shaking her head, embarrassed by how she'd let her emotions get the better of her when all he'd been trying to do was the right thing. 'I'm sorry. You were…you were just being you. And that's what I lo-like about you.'
They both knew she had almost said 'love', but she was too afraid to say it. She had never said that word to a man, at least in that context. She'd never thought she would. Ever. Perhaps she would prove herself wrong one day. She certainly hoped so.
Daniel then brought her close to him and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. She hugged him back tightly, closing her eyes as she rested her head against his chest. They could almost forget the chaos going on around them as the team and other agents hurried around talking about megawatts and energy and Quantum Bridges and imminent robot invasions.
'It's okay, though,' Daniel murmured, pressing his lips to her forehead before leaning away. 'I'm coming home with you now.'
'I know. I just…' Daisy trailed off as they broke apart from the hug and she looked across the bar towards Deke, as he and the others finished stuffing the Quantum Realm device parts into the bags. 'I just don't know how to say goodbye.'
Whether she was ready or not to say goodbye didn't matter, however; before they knew it, the Quantum Bridge parts had been stored away in separate bags and everything was set up at this end to channel the energy that would enable the Zephyr to carry the Chronicom fleet through with them to the original timeline. All that was left to do now was bid farewell to the man they had first hated yet grown to love dearly.
The team all took turns saying their own personal goodbyes to Deke. It was still getting quite some getting used to seeing May overcome with emotion, but it wasn't surprising to see Mack uncharacteristically upset; he and Deke had become close friends during their year trapped together in the eighties.
Daisy was one of the last ones to talk to Deke; she swallowed uncomfortably as she went up to him. 'Deke, I…I don't know what to say,' she murmured.
'You don't need to say anything. It's okay,' Deke said softly, and he gave her a reassuring smile. 'It would never have worked between us anyway.'
'I-I mean…yes. Agreed,' Daisy said awkwardly, glancing to the side. 'To be honest, I didn't even know that was on the table for you.'
But Deke was smiling at her. 'Oh you knew really, you just didn't wanna see it.'
Daisy sighed almost apologetically; perhaps he was right. She'd been clinging to the memory of Lincoln Campbell before. But now she'd let him go, at last. She was allowing herself to move on, to choose happiness with someone wonderful.
'Are you in love with him?' Deke asked softly, glancing over at Daniel as he waited for her by the speakeasy door.
Daisy looked taken aback by his question. 'I…I…that is…we've only known each other about a week, that's ridiculous,' she said, forcing herself to laugh as she followed his gaze and looked over at Daniel; her cheeks reddening slightly, she turned back to Deke. 'Besides, h-how can you even put a label on what 'love' really is? It's different with everyone.'
Deke tilted his head at her. He'd seen the look on her face when Daniel had volunteered to stay, like her whole world was collapsing. She would have been absolutely heartbroken if she had been forced to leave him behind.
'I'm happy for you, Daisy. Really,' Deke said warmly. 'He's a good guy. You deserve it.'
At this, Daisy couldn't help the tears from spilling. She hadn't realised until now just how much Deke meant to her, what an amazing friend he had been to them all. She hugged him tightly.
'I'm gonna miss you so much,' she whispered. 'I love you, man.'
She may not have meant it in the way Deke would have once wanted, but it meant the world to him to hear her say it and know that she meant it.
'Love you too,' Deke said as they broke apart, and he smiled at her, trying not to cry. 'Don't you forget about me.'
'Hey,' Daisy said, playfully punching his shoulder. 'How could I ever forget Deke Shaw?'
Deke laughed but then his smile faded and his eyes welled up as his gaze fell over her shoulder; Jemma and Fitz were waiting behind Daisy, both of them looking dismayed. Jemma couldn't remember or focus on much, but Deke had been the one thing she'd been sure of ever since the Chronicoms had interfered with her implant back on their ship. And Fitz…well, the unusual bond between him and Deke was special, to say the least.
A lump rose in Daisy's throat as she turned between them both. Then she tearfully gave Deke one last smile, a pat on the shoulder, and walked away towards Daniel, whose hand was already outstretched towards her, leaving Jemma and Fitz behind to say goodbye to their beloved grandson.