Note: So this chapter is where I enter the daunting territory of non-canon material – I know I've been writing my own stuff as well in this fic, but that's been filling in the gaps between scenes and I've had the episodes' content to go on, so I'm quite nervous about this next bit now it's sort of left up to me (at least until the epilogue one year later)! Hope you all enjoy :D Next chapter should be up in a couple of days!

Based on events during Episode 7x13 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

When her eyes fluttered open, all she could focus on initially was how unbelievably cold she was, despite the blazing heat that she'd felt in her chest and lungs for a brief moment as she'd awoken. She couldn't move. She was frozen – quite literally. But then she looked up, and she could see Kora's face above hers. She could feel the heat projecting from Kora's glowing hand. Coulson and May were on either side of Kora, and they both released a shaky breath. May looked close to tears.

Daisy blinked a few times. She was dazed. Everything was a total blur. A dozen images were zooming through her mind, practically giving her whiplash…those silvery domes in that room on the Chronicom ship…Malick's bloodied, furious face right before she had cast her last, fatal quake…Daniel in his hazmat suit holding her in the equipment room, his eyes and smile tender and loving as he gazed at her…Fitz's delighted, tearful beam as he'd told her about Alya…the way Jemma had cried onto Daisy's shoulder as she'd hugged her goodbye outside the Quinjet…the look of regret and despair on Coulson and Mack's faces as they'd left her on the Chronicom ship with Malick to carry out her destiny…the furious balls of fire that had surrounded her as she'd released the vibrations from her hands, ripping the ship and its surrounding fleet to pieces…

I shouldn't be here, Daisy thought to herself, both confused and worried.

'Thank you, Kora,' came the comforting voice of Mack.

Kora smiled tentatively at Daisy as she leaned away from her. Daisy realised then; Kora had saved her. She had used her powers to bring her back, just as Fitz had hoped – rather than predicted – she would.

Daisy was stunned. A mixture of emotions were running through her: pleasant surprise at being alive, relief that everything had evidently gone to plan (judging from everyone's expressions) and that Malick and the Chronicoms were truly gone for good, warmth for the newfound sister who had seen the error of her ways and helped them save the world, guilt at sacrificing herself knowing the pain it would have caused her team and Daniel if she had stayed dead –

Daniel.

She hoped he was okay. He had to be okay.

Daisy glanced at Coulson, her father, her rock in all this. She managed to move her fingers slowly across the floor and found his; he took her hand and gripped it tightly.

'This is what we were fighting for,' he said.

Daisy's eyes fell once again to Kora, whose gaze was uncharacteristically warm as she looked back at her. 'Family,' Daisy whispered, her voice weak and drained, and yet somehow also happy.

Exhaling somewhat shakily, Coulson then bent down and gently pulled Daisy up into a sitting position; May leaned down to help him, and then the two wrapped Daisy in their arms, overcome with relief. Kora straightened up and stepped back respectfully to give the three of them a moment as they hugged.

'You incredible woman,' May murmured, awestruck, as she held Daisy tightly to her.

But Daisy winced. 'Ow.'

'Oh, sorry,' May said at once, leaning away and removing her hold of Daisy's arm.

The downside of emitting vibrations powerful enough to destroy an entire armada of Chronicom ships was the pain. Even the gauntlets hadn't been enough to prevent the bruises forming on Daisy's forearms this time. As Daisy reached down slowly to feel them, she noticed that her skin was extremely hard, and still freezing cold.

'I feel like a statue,' Daisy murmured, bemused.

'You were…out there for a while. Well, for about a minute,' Coulson said, grimacing slightly.

'Ah.'

May's face was contorted with guilt. 'We tried to find you as quickly as we could but-'

'There was a lot of debris…and fire and…'

'Guys,' Daisy interrupted Coulson exasperatedly, 'it's fine, I never expected-'

'We knew your Inhuman blood would…help your chances…' Coulson said, though Daisy could see that the guilt at leaving her behind was still weighing heavily on him.

'But still, your…your heart stopped,' May said, her voice empty.

'I mean, y-yeah, I'm not surprised,' Daisy said, giving them both a reassuring smile, and she looked up at Kora, who was hovering awkwardly nearby. 'Thanks for bringing me back, sis.'

Kora's lips parted slightly in surprise, but she quickly recovered her expression. 'It was the least I could do, after…after everything I…' She averted her gaze, looking ashamed.

If Daisy wasn't so exhausted and felt like she might collapse at any minute, she would have got up to her feet and put a comforting arm around her. 'It's okay,' she said gently.

'No, it's not,' Kora said, and May tilted her head at her sympathetically.

'Malick was controlling you-'

'I was the one that let him get inside my head,' Kora cut over her. 'I made those choices. I did what he asked.'

'Hey,' Daisy said, and with a struggle she reached up and grabbed Kora's hand. 'I forgive you.'

She knew it wouldn't mean much to Kora, but at least it was a start.

Before anyone could say anything else, however, Daisy then turned away and out of nowhere projective vomited onto the floor. Everyone leapt back in alarm with a yelp.

'Daisy!'

'I'm okay. I'm fine…just…must be an after-effect or something,' Daisy said breathlessly, wiping her mouth. 'I'm really sorry, guys.'

'But Daisy-'

'I'm fine,' Daisy said firmly, not wanting to make a fuss, as Kora rushed away to find something to clean up the splatter of vomit.

Coulson was frowning anxiously at her; her ice-cold skin still had a blue-ish purple tinge to it, and she looked as if she were about to faint. 'You lost a lot of oxygen out there. Your blood pressure will be-'

'I'm fine,' Daisy repeated, as Mack hurried over to her with a bottle of water; she took it and gulped it down gratefully, before turning back to Mack anxiously. 'The others…the Chronicoms in the Lighthouse, did it work? Did you stop them?'

'Yes, w-we think so,' Mack replied.

Daisy didn't like his tone. 'Did it work in time though?' she asked.

There was a pause. Mack and May glanced at each other unsurely.

'Are they okay down there?' Daisy's voice was urgent now and her heartrate was rising fearfully; Coulson put a hand on her shoulder to steady her as he sat with her.

'We've been trying to get in touch, but w-we can't get a signal,' May replied. 'I-I'm sure we'll get through to them soon though, once we're closer. We'll be re-entering the atmosphere soon.'

Daisy felt like she might throw up again.

She thought of Daniel, Jemma, Fitz and Yo-Yo down there, utterly powerless, as they waited for the empathic energy beam to be projected onto the Lighthouse while they were surrounded by Chronicoms. What if the beam had come too late? The Hunters would have killed them all in an instant.

Breathing unsteadily, Daisy tried to get to her feet. 'I need to-'

But she fell backwards at once as the dizziness and exhaustion overwhelmed her. Coulson put his arm around at her at once.

'Daisy!' he said worriedly. 'You need to lie back down.'

'But I-'

'Daisy, you – just – died,' May said sharply, her voice breaking on the last word. 'Please, just do as we say and rest.'

Daisy looked at them all, took in their stubborn expressions, and eventually nodded in resignation.

'We'll be back at the Lighthouse within the next twenty minutes or so,' Mack said. 'We'll let you know as soon as we make contact with them.'

While Mack and May headed to the cockpit to lock onto the Lighthouse, Coulson and Kora mopped away the vomit and then sat on the floor either side of Daisy, encouraging her to take deep breaths while she tried not to think of Daniel and the others.

There's no point in worrying yet. We don't know for sure. They'll probably be fine.

She kept trying to tell herself this, over and over. And as she did this, she found herself unwillingly casting her mind back to mere minutes before, back on the Chronicom ship in that room with Malick. The memories came in brief, vivid flashes…Malick's sneering face, his snide remarks about snapping her mother's neck, the burning gleam in his eyes confirming that he had taken Kora's powers too, how she had flown over the domes and sent him soaring to the floor and yet it still hadn't been enough, just as she'd known deep down that it wouldn't be…nothing could stop him…

'Up here, these ships are about to vaporize your friends down below.' … 'There is no way to kill me without killing yourself.'

'That's the idea.'

It had been Daniel she'd thought of as she'd directed the quake around her in every possible direction, creating an almost protective shield around her using the same technique she'd used to deflect Kora's blasts earlier. Daisy had known that she would end up losing consciousness and floating in the vacuum of space…but she'd also had faith that her team would try to come back for her. And that faith had been well-rewarded.

Kora was mostly quiet as they sat on the floor, with Daisy's head resting on Coulson's shoulder, but used her powers to try and provide Daisy with more warmth; her temperature was still dangerously low. Daisy wasn't sure what would happen now with Kora once they got back home. But she did know that she forgave her. She felt like she could recognise Kora a little. She was just as lost as Skye had been. But Daisy could help her perhaps, if that was what Kora wanted. They were family, after all. Daisy could see that now.

Not long after they'd re-entered the surface of the planet, Mack and May returned to the others in the loading bay, having left the vessel on auto-pilot. Daisy tried to straighten up at once as she saw them, her face contorted with fear and dread.

But Mack was smiling. 'We just got in touch with the Lighthouse – everyone's alive, they're all okay,' he announced.

Coulson closed his eyes and exhaled in relief while Daisy let her tears spill out; she buried her face in Coulson's chest as he hugged her. 'Oh, thank God,' she sobbed, overwhelmed with emotion.

He's alive. They're all alive. We'll see them soon. We're all okay. It's over. It's finally over.

'They've all been pretty worried about you, though, Daisy,' Mack said, looking at her warmly with raised eyebrows.

'Especially Agent Sousa, from the sound of it,' May interjected, making Daisy's heart lurch.

'Poor guy,' Coulson said sympathetically as he rubbed Daisy's back.

For some inexplicable reason Daisy found herself laughing through her tears. It made no sense. Nothing about this was remotely funny. They'd all thought they were dead. Why was she laughing?

Wiping her eyes, Daisy leant off Coulson's chest. 'Fitzsimmons, have they-?'

'I told them to take the Quinjet straight away to get Alya. They're just setting off now,' Mack said, smiling. 'Don't worry, they left her with Piper and Flint, she's safe.'

'Good,' Daisy murmured breathlessly. 'I…I can't wait to meet her.'

Coulson smiled fondly as he squeezed her shoulder. 'I think that makes all of us,' he said, and Kora attempted a small smile as she looked at them, envious of this unshakeable bond they all seemed to have with each other.

While Mack headed back to keep an eye on things in the cockpit, the others remained with Daisy in the loading bay to keep a close eye on her. After the initial euphoria of finding out that the others had survived, what little colour she'd had had slowly begun to drain from her face.

'Daisy, you…you don't look so good. Or feel it, either,' May murmured, concerned, as she watched her sat on the floor.

'I'm just a little tired, that's all,' Daisy replied, her voice weak and feeble.

May and Coulson exchanged a dark look. Daisy had been drifting out in the vacuum of space for approximately seventy seconds. 'A little tired' didn't even begin to cover it.

Coulson pressed the palm of his hands against her forehead and hands. 'She's still ice cold,' he said, glancing anxiously at May.

'Simmons said when we spoke to her just now that you'd need to get into the healing chamber to raise your core body temperature and get you more oxygen,' May said. 'She's left instructions with Yo-Yo and Sousa, but…well we might as well get you in there now, come on-'

But Daisy refused to move as May tried to lift her up. 'No,' she said.

Coulson frowned. 'Daisy, you need-'

'Not yet. Please,' Daisy said firmly, her voice tremoring slightly as she looked at both Coulson and May earnestly. 'I need to see him first.'

Coulson glanced up at May. May gazed at Daisy for a moment, then nodded at Coulson. She knew how Daisy was feeling, how Daisy might burst from her desperation to reunite with Daniel. There was no way she was going in that healing chamber now.

Kora looked between May and Daisy, brimming with curiosity.

'They've been pretty worried about you…' … 'Especially Agent Sousa…' … 'Poor guy…' … 'I need to see him first.'

Kora couldn't help smiling to herself as she realised that Sybil and Nathaniel had never really had a chance winning against these people. Sybil hadn't understood half of human nature. She hadn't been able to read the notorious time stream properly at all. Kora had known from Nathaniel that Daisy had grown close to Agent Sousa since he had held them captive in 1976 but falling in love? He and Sybil hadn't seen that coming in any of the predictions or visions the time stream had offered.

It was the thought of Daniel that kept Daisy from giving in to her exhaustion and collapsing there and then on the floor. Once they had landed at the Lighthouse, she tried getting up to her feet at once, though it was a huge struggle.

'Daisy,' Coulson protested, 'you're too weak, you can barely stand-'

'So help me.'

The urgency with which Daisy said it shook Coulson. She never asked for help. He looked into her eyes, saw the desperation in them, and nodded. He hoisted her upright and put his arm around her waist so that she could lean on him. May went to Daisy's other side at once and put her arm around her as well. Kora hung back, realising that she wasn't needed, and her face fell slightly as she watched the three of them.

'I still don't think we should leave Z1,' Coulson said anxiously as he and May helped Daisy move forwards, 'you really need to get in the healing chamber-'

'And I will, I promise, for as long as I need, but-'

'Sousa first, fine, I understand,' Coulson said, nodding, as Mack joined them to open the Zephyr doors.

Remembering then that he was stronger now than he appeared, Coulson lifted Daisy up in his arms and began to carry her down the ramp. May watched them anxiously, and then her eyes fell on Kora; she touched her arm, and Kora smiled tentatively at her as they followed them out together.

When they all emerged onto the hangar only to find it empty, Daisy's face fell slightly. 'Where is he?' she asked in a panic while Coulson carried her. 'I need to see him, is he okay, did the Hunters hurt him-?'

'Sousa's there, I think they're just on their way up now,' May said, but then she came to a stop and clasped a hand to her head, as if overwhelmed.

'May, are you okay?' Coulson asked in concern; she looked like she was about to collapse.

'I'm fine, I can…I can feel him, that's all,' May said, her voice tremoring slightly. 'He's in a bit of a state.'

That was an understatement; Daniel was absolutely out of his mind with worry. On the other side of the hangar doors, he was leading the way at a run down the corridor, needing to see Daisy alive for his own eyes. He knew that Yo-Yo could have sped ahead to see Mack but she was sticking alongside Daniel for support as they hurried towards the hangar, and for that he was immensely grateful.

He'd turned into an empty shell in the immediate aftermath of the Chronicom fleet explosion. He'd been in such a state of shock and despair and denial that he almost forgot how to breathe. Luckily, Jemma and Fitz had managed to calm him down and break him out of his panic by telling him and Yo-Yo about Alya's existence. And then they'd heard interference from the comms, which Jemma had answered at once. Daniel knew he would always remember vividly her tearful smile as she'd handed the walkie-talkie over to Yo-Yo so that she could tell him the news.

'Agent Sousa. Daisy's alive,' she'd said, and Daniel had backed unsteadily into the control panel, gasping unevenly as his face crumpled in delight. 'She's alive!'

And yet still Daniel couldn't believe it. At least he couldn't until just now, when he rounded the corner just in time to see the hangar doors slide open and he caught sight of Coulson carrying Daisy through.

At the sight of Daniel, Daisy scrambled out of Coulson's arms, jumped to her feet and somehow found the strength in her to run down the corridor. Everyone else stopped and watched as Daniel and Daisy ran at each other and wordlessly flung themselves into each other's arms. Daisy's knees gave way the moment she reached him and they both fell to the floor, but it didn't matter. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

'Oh, thank God, thank God,' Daniel kept murmuring, as he held her tightly and buried his face in her hair.

Tears of relief running down her face, Daisy clung onto him, as if almost afraid that if she let go, he would disappear.

They'd done it. The war was over. They were safe. And they were together again. It was hard for Daisy to wrap her head around; it seemed too good to be true.

'Are you okay?' she asked in a weak voice as they leaned away.

Daniel laughed weakly. 'Y-yeah, I am now, are you?' he asked, looking over her worriedly as he cupped her cheeks in his hands; she was freezing, and her skin was ghostly pale, with a few extra bruises and bloody cuts.

Daisy nodded tearfully, planting kisses on his cheeks and forehead as she held onto him tightly.

'I can't believe you're here, I-I thought you were dead,' Daniel murmured, his voice shaking as he gazed at her, drinking in the miraculous sight.

'I'm here,' Daisy whispered, pulling him back into her arms. 'I'm so sorry.'

As the two embraced, Coulson glanced at May stood beside him and saw a tear escape down her eye as the emotions overwhelmed her. He reached for her hand and tentatively took it. To his pleasant surprise, May didn't recoil and intertwined her fingers with his, squeezing his hand tightly as they watched their beloved Daisy.

'You're ice cold,' Daniel noted, his brow creased in concern, as he and Daisy leaned away to look at each other.

'I'm okay,' Daisy replied airily.

May cleared her throat. 'She needs to go in the healing chamber now,' she said pointedly, 'but…she said she had to see you.'

Her face softened as her gaze met Daniel's; smiling at her, Daniel then turned back to Daisy. He tilted his head at her and then leaned in to kiss her, but Daisy flinched away instantly.

'I wouldn't, uh, I was sick five minutes ago,' she explained apologetically.

Daniel pulled an awkward face. 'Ah.'

He heard Mack chuckle; Daniel looked up to see that he was stood there nearby with his arm around Yo-Yo. The two men exchanged a warm smile, glad that the other was all right. Then Daniel's eyes fell to Kora, and his expression turned automatically wary.

Kora felt a little dazed as she looked back at him and Daisy knelt on the floor together, her hands on his shoulders, his around her waist. Kora had thought that she'd cared for Nathaniel, but she knew now just how wrong she'd been. What she'd felt for Nathaniel had clearly been nothing, nothing, compared to what she could see before her right now.

Daisy felt her heart lurch nervously as she noticed Daniel looking at Kora. 'It's okay, she's on our side,' she told him reassuringly. 'Sh-she saved my life. Well…brought me back to life, technically, I guess.'

Daniel tried not to appear too horrified by such a sentence, and, swallowing, he turned back to look up at Kora. 'Well you are my new favourite person,' he said to her, and Kora smiled nervously back at him.

Trying to hide his anguish, Daniel turned back to Daisy, who looked relieved by his response.

'Brought me back to life', she'd said. 'Back to life.'

Now he'd recovered from the initial shock and joy of seeing her, he could look at her properly now. He could see the purple tinge to her pale skin. He could see how drained she looked, as if she might collapse any moment. He could see how ill she was, from whatever had happened up there during that explosion.

'Can you stand?' he asked her.

'Uh…sort of,' Daisy replied, grimacing, which he knew meant 'no'. 'Uh…did Fitzsimmons get off okay?'

'They did,' Yo-Yo replied, smiling. 'They should be there very soon.'

Daisy nodded slowly, relieved. She turned back to Daniel; he was gazing at her in wonder.

'You blew up…the whole fleet of Chronicom spaceships with your powers?' he said dazedly.

'Uh…w-well I…yes?' The way she spoke made it sound like a question.

'And Malick?'

Daisy smiled. 'He's gone.'

Daniel simply looked at her for a moment, then shook his head in disbelief. 'You're amazing. Quake,' he added, his lips twitching.

Daisy stared at him, before laughing weakly and hugging him again, nuzzling her head into his shoulder. Daniel smiled and closed his eyes as he held her gently. He didn't want to ask how she had possibly survived such a thing, or what it had cost her to do it, not right now. In this moment, she just deserved endless praise. She had saved them all.

Mack then cleared his throat, having just checked his cell phone. 'I've got a message from Piper – Fitzsimmons have just reached them. They'll be back here in a few hours,' he said, and they all exchanged relieved smiles. 'Now everyone, the mission is done. No more damn robots or Nathaniel Malick. We'll debrief later, but…well, for now, I think our top priority is for us all to get some rest. That's an order from your Director.'

'No arguments from me,' Yo-Yo said with a wiggle of her eyebrows, as Mack then pointedly turned to look at Daisy, the lines on his forehead prominent as he watched her in concern.

Daisy looked around warily; all their eyes were on her. She knew they were all thinking the same thing. She turned tentatively back to Daniel, glad for his hands still around her waist – if he'd let go, she feared she might have fallen by now.

'You know where you need to go,' Daniel murmured, looking almost apologetic, and Daisy began to shake her head.

'Nope.'

'Yes,' he said. 'I don't mean to be a wet rag but-'

'Huh?'

Daniel tilted his head at her. 'You know you need to get in there.'

Daisy gazed back at him for a moment, then nodded heavily. 'I know. I know,' she murmured in resignation.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go in the healing chamber because of her fear of another round of time loops starting, or any other haunting memories associated with the chamber. She just didn't want to go in there because it meant losing out on what limited time they had left together as a group, before people started going their separate ways. This time they had was precious. She wanted to make the most of it. And yet she also wanted to get better so that she could actually enjoy this time with the people she loved most.

Sighing in defeat, Daisy began to struggle up to her feet; Daniel helped her at once, his arm around her waist as he supported her weight.

Yo-Yo stepped forward with a piece of paper. 'I've got Simmons' instructions on what to do with the chamber-'

'I'll take them,' Daniel offered, and Yo-Yo passed him the piece of paper with a surprised, sceptical look on her face, and he smiled. 'It's all right, I'm kind of an expert on this healing chamber business now.'

Coulson and May exchanged a glance. 'We'll come as well,' Coulson said hastily, as she and May stepped over to help with Daisy. 'Just to make sure she's all right.'

'You saying you don't trust me with this?' Daniel said to him, amused, as he indicated the instructions in his hand.

'Sousa, you still freak out about the automatic doors,' Coulson pointed out, 'we just think it's better off being a three-person job.'

'Make that four,' Kora interjected, approaching them; she averted her gaze awkwardly as they all turned to look at her in surprise. 'Might as well make myself useful.'

While Mack and Yo-Yo retreated to the lower levels to get some much-needed rest, the others helped guide Daisy back onto the Zephyr and into the equipment room.

Daisy let out a big sigh as her eyes fell on the healing chamber. Hello, old friend.

It seemed so long ago since they had first dragged the chamber into this very room for her to recover in the peace and quiet, and how Daniel had stuck beside her and wordlessly sealed her in the chamber with a tap of his new prosthetic leg, watching over her as she slept, before the time storm had hit them. So much had changed since then. Everything felt different. Daisy felt different.

Daniel helped Daisy onto the steel chair now and kept his hand on her shoulder while reading out Jemma's instructions to Coulson, who typed in the correct settings into the chamber's pad and the attached monitor. May took a quick sample of Daisy's blood with the prick of a needle, and they were able to acquire readings from Jemma's advanced medical technology rather quickly: Daisy had incredibly low blood pressure and she was oxygen-deprived. On top of that, a few parts of her skin that had been exposed to the vacuum of space had swollen – though, luckily, her Quake suit had protected most of it – and she had painful blotchy bruises on her wrists and forearms from when she had quaked the Chronicom fleet apart. Simmons had predicted all this in her instructions and so Coulson, May and Daniel put together the appropriate medication and administered it to the tubes and compartments in the healing chamber.

Once they had finished with that, May asked Daisy if she wanted to help her get changed into different clothes, but that just seemed like too much effort, apart from simply removing her utility belt. Daisy was too exhausted to be bothered with the rest – well, with anything, really. The sight of the healing chamber now looked almost appealing.

'A good day or two in this, and you should be fine, according to Simmons,' Coulson said once they had checked that Daisy was okay, and he patted the chamber lid. 'We'd, uh, we'd better head back into the base. There's an army of Hunters hanging out there…we kinda need to work out what to do with them.'

'Go,' Daisy said, nodding. 'I'm fine.'

Coulson smiled sadly at her and gave her one last hug. He cupped her cheek briefly, a fatherly look in his eyes, before turning and leaving the equipment room. Panic began to rise in her chest as she watched him go. Her entire body was in agony, but her heart hurt even more from the loss that she knew would soon be coming. They had managed to save the world…but in doing so they had completed their final ever mission as a team. Enoch, Fitz, the time stream all confirmed it.

Daisy could feel tears threatening to leak out, but she somehow managed to keep a reassuring smile frozen on her face as she looked up at May. She knew she wasn't fooling her – May had been able to read Daisy's emotions well enough even before this new empathic ability – but from the look in her eyes, May seemed to understand that Daisy wasn't ready to talk about it just yet. She needed time to recover physically first. They both nodded at each other wordlessly, and May then went over to tap Kora gently on the arm.

'Kora? She'll be okay. Do you want to come with me?' she offered. 'I can show you around, talk you over few a few things…'

Stunned, Kora glanced over at Daisy, as if for permission; Daisy smiled at her encouragingly. 'I'm surprised you wanna keep me company after everything I've done,' Kora said glumly, turning back to May.

May raised her eyebrows. 'You saved Daisy's life. I think that's a good reason for us to start over, don't you?'

Kora hesitated then began to nod slowly, a half-smile beginning to form on her lips. Then May guided her out of the room to exit the Zephyr, leaving Daisy and Daniel alone. Daisy gazed up at Daniel.

'Can you stay with me?' she asked him quietly.

Daniel tilted his head at her, a soft smile on his face. 'Did you really think you had to ask?'

He slowly helped her up from the steel chair and tapped the button to open the case of the healing chamber. Daisy sat down on the edge of the chamber and was just about to lie down when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that a tear was trickling down Daniel's cheek as he dragged the chair over to be nearer to her. Daniel hastily wiped the tear away, but it was too late, she had already seen.

Daisy's face fell in dismay. 'Daniel?'

He said nothing as he sat down on the chair, which he had positioned right beside the top end of the chamber. He just shook his head and looked down at his lap, smiling as if trying to brush it off, as if it was silly, as if it didn't matter.

'Daniel, what is it? Tell me, please,' Daisy said softly, and she reached out and took his hands in her own. 'What's wrong?'

Daniel merely chuckled softly to himself, though without humour. 'What's wrong? You…you died, Daisy.'

There was a sad sort of emptiness with which he said the words, a pain too deep for him to fully express, and it shook Daisy into silence. She couldn't deny it or say he was being melodramatic. It was the truth. She had died, even if only for a brief minute. Daisy parted her lips as if to try and say something, but she couldn't find the words. All she could do was swallow and try not to cry and brush his fingers gently with her own, to reassure him with a touch that she was here, that she was alive, and that she wasn't going anywhere.

'Did you know?' Daniel asked quietly, though he couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. 'When we last saw each other, wh-when we were saying bye on the Zephyr. Did you know what you were going to do, what…what might happen?'

Daisy closed her eyes. There was no point in lying. 'More or less,' she replied.

There was a silence. A long silence. An unbearable silence. It went on and on. Daniel kept his head bowed as he tried to come to terms with the answer she'd given, the answer he'd already known deep down. He wanted to look at her, but he didn't want her to see the anguish in his eyes, the pain he knew he couldn't conceal any longer, so instead he just focussed on gazing at their hands joined together on his lap. If he could just focus on their hands, the feel of her ice-cold skin, the gentle brush of her fingers against his, then perhaps he could then find the right words.

Daisy felt a tear fall down her cheek as she gazed at him; he looked broken. 'Daniel, I-I'm so sorry. I know you're mad at me, but please just…just say something,' she said, squeezing his hands tightly as she leaned forwards. 'Anything. Yell at me if it helps, I deserve it-'

'I'm not mad at you,' Daniel said sincerely, and it was a relief just to hear him speak again, just to see him force his head up to look at her and reassure her with his gaze. 'How could I be? You're…you're amazing. What you did was…the bravest, most selfless thing anyone has ever done. I just…'

'Go on. Please,' Daisy said gently. 'Talk to me.'

Daniel swallowed. 'Wh-why did you do it?' he asked, as if afraid of the answer. 'Did you…did you want to…?' He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Daisy exhaled shakily as she realised just what had distressed him so much about it. 'No. I wasn't suicidal or anything, if that's what…' she said, and she sighed deeply. 'I know what it feels like, to want to die. A few years ago, I…well, I was in a bad way. And I wanted it to end. But I didn't feel that today. In fact, I…well, I've never felt more strongly about just how much I wanted to live than I did today.'

Another silence fell. Daniel was nodding slowly, relieved; he could tell that her words were sincere.

'I did what I did because I knew there was no other way. Because of all you guys. And…because of Alya,' Daisy went on. 'Me and Fitzsimmons have been with each other from the very beginning. And they had a kid. An actual kid, Daniel. They just wanted to keep her safe. That's why they did all this, that's why we all…' She trailed off helplessly. 'It was the only way.'

Daniel nodded slowly. 'I understand.'

'You'd have done the same,' Daisy pointed out with raised eyebrows.

Daniel gave her a small smile; he couldn't argue with that. 'I just…I still don't really understand how you're…how you're here. How you survived,' he said, a little dazed.

'Me neither, really,' Daisy admitted, exhaling.

'You just…blew up the ships and then…drifted through space?'

'Uh…yeah, pretty much. I could protect myself from my own powers when I quaked the ships, and err…well, I remember Fitz saying once that you can technically survive up to around ninety seconds in space apparently. Also…I think you're forgetting that I'm not…100% human,' Daisy said, her lips twitching. 'Kree DNA, remember? Must have helped me a bit.'

Daniel looked at her. Of course, if anyone was able to survive an explosion and being frozen out in space, it would be an Inhuman superhero with alien blood and immense superpowers.

'Right. Of course,' Daniel said, brushing her knuckle with his thumb as he nodded and frowned to himself, thinking it all over.

'I'm sorry for putting you through that,' Daisy murmured.

But Daniel shook his head at once as he looked at her. 'Oh God, no, please…don't be. I'm sorry for…I just…I'm not normally so much of a worrier, I don't want you to think I'm…I just…'

But Daisy interrupted him by leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek. 'Hey. It's okay. Believe it or not, I don't want you to apologise for caring about me,' she said softly, and they both smiled at each other. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah,' Daniel said after a while, and as he spoke the word he knew it was true. 'I'm…I'm happy you're here, and that you're gonna…be okay, once you've been in this damn thing.'

'I'm happy about that too.'

Daniel gazed at her and shook his head, mesmerized. 'You saved us all, Daisy. The whole damn world,' he said in wonder. 'We won.'

Daisy smiled, allowing herself to be proud for once. 'We did, didn't we?'

Daniel held their intertwined hands up to his face and kissed the top of her hand. 'Shall I…close the lid now?'

They both knew that he should, and yet neither of them wanted him to.

'Just another minute,' Daisy said quietly; she wanted to memorise this feeling of his hand in hers, of how normal it felt, of how perfectly they fit together.

Daniel sighed sympathetically. 'If I could go in there with you, I would.'

There was a pause as Daisy glanced to the side at the chamber, a slight smirk on her face. 'I mean…I guess there is room, if you went on top-'

Daniel's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. 'Woah. Daisy Johnson,' he said with a laugh, pretending to be appalled, 'wh-what-?'

'Chill out, I'm just kidding,' Daisy said, laughing.

Daniel smiled warmly, and he wasn't even bothered that she could see just how much he was blushing; it was so good to see her laugh, even in her weakened state, even after everything she had been through this long, gruelling day. 'Simmons said it'll pump a sedative once you're in there, so you'll fall asleep straight away,' he said gently.

Daisy nodded, though her smile faded. 'I…I don't want to,' she said, and her voice shook slightly, as if she might start crying at any minute.

Daniel knew at once why she was worried. 'No one's going anywhere anytime soon,' he reassured her, squeezing her hands. 'Everyone's still gonna be here in the Lighthouse when you wake up. For a while, I'm guessing. No one's even thinking about 'after' or anything. And I'll be right here the whole time.'

'You need to sleep too,' Daisy said, raising her eyebrows at him. 'And not on that damn chair again, your bunk's comfier than that.'

'Don't waste your breath, Daisy, we both know I'm not leaving this room,' Daniel said, smiling.

'What if you need the bathroom?' Daisy challenged, raising an eyebrow playfully at him.

Daniel rolled his eyes as he grinned back at her. 'Okay…well, if I need the bathroom, I'll leave for two minutes at the very most – only 'cause it wouldn't be nice for you to wake up to if I didn't – and then I'll be right back.'

Daisy chuckled, and her face softened as she gazed at him in wonder. 'Are you real?'

'Huh?'

'Are you sure you're not…I don't know, some…figment of my imagination, or something I've been hallucinating since my nap out in space?' she asked, tilting her head at him.

Daniel smiled lovingly at her. 'I'm pretty sure I'm real.'

Daisy nodded at him slowly. 'Well thank God for that,' she said with a smile.

She lay back in the healing chamber shortly after that, and Daniel pulled his chair closer so that his head was right beside hers. He tapped the button and the case lowered with a hiss; he kissed his fingertips and pressed them to the case as it sealed her in. Daisy smiled gratefully at him before her eyes began drooping, the sedative already working its magic, and she soon fell asleep. Daniel folded his arms and watched the scanning lights as they whirred above Daisy's sleeping figure, and he smiled to himself.

They had come so far since the two of them had first been in this room, her in the healing chamber and him in this chair. That had been the day he'd started falling in love with her. He wondered if the fall would ever stop. Looking at Daisy now, sleeping there with a hint of a smile still on her face from when she'd last looked at him, he smiled warmly as he realised that the answer was…probably not.