The mission wasn't going well. Joseph Bauer had woken up from the coma, but his wife had got to him first. He had died a few seconds after telling Coulson that they had been too late. Or, at least this was what Coulson had told Ana, since the "Devil" had made it clear that she would stay on Zephyr One.

They all agreed that Robbie's uncle would be Dr. Bauer's next target. So, they went to South Ridge Penitentiary, where Eli Morrow was serving. Again, Bauer was one step ahead, she had other ghost friends, and they had infected the whole staff. Coulson and May were too late to figure it out and they got trapped inside. Mack, Robbie, and Daisy were about to start the extraction when Fitz boarded, thankfully with the cure for the "ghost infection." He and Ana stayed on Z1, to guide the teams to Morrow's cell. Or rather, Fitz did it, because he was better at analyzing floor plans and determining the fastest route. Ana had much less experience with coordinating a mission, but the Ghost Rider had insisted she would stay out of this.

They freed Coulson and May first, then went to get Eli Morrow. They were trying to find Bauer and her gang at the same time, but those often lurked around invisible. They were hard to spot. Fitz led the team through a cell block, saying it was the fastest way, but it turned out to be full of Watchdogs who were doing time here. And of course, Lucy Bauer did what anyone with a 90 IQ or above would do. She opened their cell doors. Fitz had taken a calculated risk, but it had backfired. All Watchdogs hated Quake.

"Fitz, we could really use that exit," Coulson's nervous voice came through the comms.

"If I release the door, all the doors in cell block A opens! Security wings, exterior exits…"

"Just do it!"

Fitz obeyed the order, then turned to Ana. "I wonder which idiot designed this prison…"

"I should go there," Ana thought aloud. "They're outnumbered."

"Yeah, but what about Robbie?"

"Well, technically it's not Robbie. Robbie doesn't give a shit about me. The thing inside him, on the other hand…"

"What does 'it' even want from you?"

"It certainly wants to keep me away from the Darkhold, for one thing."

"Yeah, but why you in particular? Why not anyone else?"

"Who knows?"

Their attention returned to the screen. Mack and Robbie had been doing well so far, other than the fact that Mack had been infected by one of the ghosts lurking around, and had to give himself a shot of antidote. The others had made it to the cafeteria, but the Watchdog inmates were gaining on them.

"Coulson, exit is on the north side," Fitz said. "We'll try to get you to a secure cell block."

"You're going to make it," Daisy's voice came. She had locked herself into the cafeteria with a bunch of Watchdogs to give Coulson and May a chance to escape.

"Daisy, no! Open the door!" yelled Coulson.

"This is my fight, not yours."

"Fitz, change of plans! Find us another way into the cafeteria, I don't care how!"

Fitz had already started planning another way in, but Ana had a different idea. Daisy was either going to get herself killed, or break every bone in her body while trying to defend herself. "Hang on, Coulson! I'm on my way."

She slammed on the button to open the back hatch of Z1.

"What about Robbie?" Fitz asked again.

"I won't tell him if you don't," she said, and jumped. She didn't care what a pain in the ass Daisy had become lately, she was still her best friend.

She landed near the outside walls of the cafeteria, and punched a hole in one of them. Daisy, and the five Watchdogs she was fighting turned to look. All it took was five well-aimed bullets to end the fight. And three more for those who were coming through the hallway. After that, without giving Daisy a chance to say anything, Ana went to knock down the other door with a kick to let Coulson and May in.

"You better leave before Robbie sees you here," Coulson advised.

Ana was about to do just that. She bolted upwards, and returned to Zephyr One hovering above.

Soon, the teams returned, too, but without Eli Morrow. Bauer had taken him.

…

They were headed to Robbie's house next, to ensure his brother's safety. They were going to bring Gabe in, just in case Bauer targeted him, too. To avoid any drama with Daisy, Ana was hiding in her bunk again. But to her surprise, Daisy came to her.

"Save your breath. I didn't do it for you," Ana said quickly. It wasn't exactly the truth, but it was what Daisy needed to hear.

"I'm not here for that. I need a favor."

"Everyone always does… At least you're being straightforward about it."

"Robbie's brother is here. He's a smart kid, and—"

Ana was already going to do that anyway. "Gabriel Reyes, yeah. One of the most promising students at Garfield High. Definitely eligible for the September Foundation. Consider it done."

"Please do it without making him feel like a charity case."

"Geez, Daisy, I got some basic decency, don't worry."

"Well, it's kind of hard to remember, after everything you've done. JARVIS' death is no excuse for some of your actions, you know."

"Yeah, because you've been handling Lincoln's death like a boss."

"You're such a bitch."

"I'm working on it."

"Speaking of, Fitz has been looking for you, said he needed someone to brainstorm with to figure our Bauer's next move."

"Before you go… I, too, have a favor to ask in return," she said in a distant tone. If Daisy wanted to deal with a crafty bitch, she was going to be one. "I want you to let me help you. Keep shutting the others out if you want, but you gotta make an exception for me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the one person who cannot die on you."

Her expression completely changed. Daisy wasn't stupid. "You saw your death…"

"Yes."

"When I asked, you said Charles had shown you just random deaths of strangers! You lied. Damn it, I knew you lied…"

"I wanted to become a self-made prophet, and I did. Now I know how I'm going to die. Isn't that awesome?" She chuckled hysterically. Finally, it was off her chest.

"But the future can change, you proved it!"

"That's the thing. I'm not going to die in the future."

"What?"

"I'm going to die in the past. I don't know how, but I'm going to go back to 2009 and die there."

"Wait, wait, wait… How do you know that for sure? What did Charles show you?"

"You can't tell anyone else."

"Like you gave me a choice…"

"I was standing at the front door of the Malibu Mansion, the one Killian destroyed, looking at the security cam, speaking to someone. Probably my past self. Then I turned around, and saw the two mercs Stane had hired to kill me. They shot me, twice. I returned to the camera, said, 'You must be in New York.' Then I died."

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"I can think of only one reason. Dad's right to be afraid. Something will come, and it will be so bad that time-travel will be our only way out."

"You don't know that."

"I do. Because all this alien crap started with New York."

"And you could've stopped it single-handedly?"

"No. I don't think anyone could've prevented it from happening. Think of it as an equation: The attack isn't a variable, it's a constant."

"Why would you want to be there, then?"

"I thought a lot about it. The timeline of things. If I'd been in New York, I would've been in great danger, true. But I would've also got some time to have a word with Loki. I could've found out who gave him the Scepter and the Chitauri. I don't think he would've given me an explicit answer, being the trickster he was, but he would've pointed me in the right direction, for his wife's sake."

"I thought time couldn't be reversed?"

"It can't. I won't be saving us. This is to save an alternate universe. It's the only thing that can be done when all is lost."

"So, you'll trust your 17-year-old self to save the world?"

"Not just myself. I looked like a teenager in that vision. Again, I don't know how that's possible, but it was probably to trick Stane. After he makes sure I'm dead, he'll probably dump me in a hole in the ground or something. Fury's men will be watching. They will take my body to him. He'll figure out I'm a time-traveler once he realizes the other me is still alive."

"And then what?"

"Isn't it obvious? He's going to bring me back from the dead."

The realization dawned on Daisy's face. "Using GH.325… That's why you came to SHIELD! It wasn't because you were too ashamed to go back to Tony! It has NOTHING to do with all this redemption bullshit! You wanted to see the complete version of the Kree map, so that you won't go crazy once you're injected with the GH formula! You couldn't breach the SHIELD firewalls, which were put up by me, by the way, so you infiltrated the base!"

"Yeah, you're that good, I give it to you. And I came here to see the map, true, but I stayed to become the daughter my dad deserves. But now, there's a chance to get my hands on the Darkhold… I don't have a choice."

"Are you actually trying to fulfill this… prophecy? Or stop it?"

"It's a precaution. My mind will be my only asset if I do this, so I had to ensure its integrity. It's not to save my own ass. I can't just walk around in another universe as a temporal paradox anyway. It's too dangerous. Fury will have to put me down eventually. But of course I'm trying to stop it from happening in the first place! Why do you think I want the Darkhold? I'm not the power-hungry corporate bitch you think I am!"

"I don't think the thing inside Robbie will care. It seems pretty adamant about keeping you away from the book."

"Which is why I need you. To stall him, to buy me time, until I get the job done. Then stop me yourself, if it comes to that. But first, I have to use the knowledge in that book. Please help me. If not for me, then for everyone else."

Daisy let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her forehead. "I hate you…"

"Daisy, please. Don't you see what else that vision means? It means despite everything, Fury can be trusted. And he thinks I can use this book. If I pull this off, you'll all be thanking me in the new future."

"What else are you going to do with the Darkhold?"

"You know. We both know. I'll bring JARVIS back."

"Will the Accords let you?"

She chuckled angrily. "117 countries have signed them, you know. They're the international law now. But the truth is, if they think they can stand between me and JARVIS, I'll lay waste to every single one of those 117 countries. I don't need the Darkhold to drive me insane for that. Still think I'm incapable of love?"

"I don't think this is love, but whatever it is, it's definitely not going to make me help you…"

"I'll bring Lincoln back, too," she blurted out. Yeah, so much for redemption… But at least she wasn't making a false promise. She was really going to do it.

Daisy swallowed thickly, looking haunted. "You're not giving me a choice."

"There's no choice. We can have everything, Daisy! We can protect the world, we can have our boyfriends back, we can turn the stupid Accords into paper shredder material…"

"At what cost?"

"When I changed the future on that roof, do you know how I did it? I resisted the urge to get revenge on the man who made my father go into a wormhole with a nuke on his back! I went against all my instincts! It made me feel sick, but I did it, because that's how you change the future. You have to go against everything you know, everything you believe in."

Before Daisy could retort—of course, she would have retorted—Mack interrupted them. "Daisy, into the containment module, now! The Director's here, he wants to take you and Robbie into custody."

"What? Why?"

"Why? Really? Just get to the damn box."

"Go!" Ana urged her.

Daisy stormed off. Ana decided to go to the lab, so that everything would look more "normal" by the time Mace's Quinjet boarded.

Fitz gave her a questioning look when she entered. "Did you and Daisy have another fight?"

"We were actually making a truce, then Mace decided to crash the party."

"What?"

"We're being boarded. He wants Daisy and Robbie."

"Where are they going to hide?"

"In the containment module."

He grinned. Fitz loved outsmarting Director Mace. "On the belly of Z1… Clever."

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Talking to May, still trying to figure out what makes Bauer think the experiment will be a success this time… Any theories?"

Ana looked at the computer screen, and smiled at May." Hey, May."

May gave a curt nod, and said nothing. Some might find it rude, but this nod was her version of a friendly greeting. As for Fitz's question, she had no idea. I wish I could bring Dad into the fold. He is better at this sort of thing, she thought, her fingers going to the Arc Reactor instinctively. And that gave her an idea.

"Power," she mumbled.

"What?"

"What she needs is—" The door whooshed open, and two agents in tac gear, each armed with a rifle, burst in.

"What the hell?" Fitz cried.

"Director's orders," one explained.

"Stairs clear," said the other, and they continued their search.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fitz sneered. "Well, in that case, you should check under the microscope, or in the fridge, because these Inhumans can be tricky bastards. Yeah, you can tell the Director this is one giant snark hunt."

"Hallway's clear," one agent continued, completely ignoring him. They headed out.

"That's British for a bloody waste of time!" he cried after them.

Ana and May exchanged looks, and sighed. Fitz could be really protective of his teammates.

"This attitude is not helping Daisy, you know," Ana reminded.

"Yeah, because that boot-licking attitude you and Jemma are so fond of has worked great so far!" Taking his frustration on his teammates was another thing Fitz did sometimes. The government had borrowed Jemma for who knew what, and now Fitz had no idea where she was.

"Relax, I'm sure she's safe. Geniuses are rare. That's what makes us so valuable to the government."

"Ana, you were saying something about power," May broke in.

"The facility in Pasadena couldn't generate enough power for the experiment. None of the Momentum facilities could. They didn't have the tech."

Fitz nodded thoughtfully. "Even if they could, SHIELD controls them now, so Bauer can't use them… " He looked at the notes the agents had recovered from the Pasadena lab. "According to these, she's going to need nearly 20,000 megawatts."

"Yeah, it's crazy."

"On the bright side, this narrows down the list… What about the old Avengers Tower?"

"I don't think she'll go there. Too public, and there's no Arc Reactor in that building anymore. We evacuated it completely."

"What about any other Stark buildings?"

"All the ones who have an Arc Reactor are fully staffed, and the abandoned facilities are scraped clean. We don't leave our tech lying around to be found by others."

"Isodyne," May said.

Ana and Fitz swapped perplexed looks. The name didn't ring any bell.

"Isodyne Energy. It was a company that dealt with unnatural stuff like this back in the 40s. Maybe they have left something useful behind for Bauer."

"We need access to the SSR archives," Fitz said. "I'm going to need authorization from Director—"

"There's another way to access those archives. They're stored on the Stark Secure Server as well."

Fitz released a deep breath when he realized they could just cut through the red tape for once. "I'm so glad we have you on the team."

"Get to work, then. Keep me updated." May ended the call.

Ana opened the login page of the secure server, but hesitated for a moment.

"What?" Fitz asked impatiently.

"If I do this, my dad's going to know. He built this server, I can't lock him out."

"Is it a bad thing?"

"No, he already knows I'm helping you guys with something. But he can never know about the Darkhold, do you understand?"

"It's just going to look like the case of a bunch of mad scientists. Nothing too unusual."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right…" She logged in, accessed the SSR files, and browsed for everything related to Isodyne Energy.

May was right. Isodyne Energy had indeed experimented with something called Zero Matter, or Dark Force. Peggy Carter and Howard Stark had stopped them from abusing its power. Isodyne had later been sold to Roxxon, which didn't surprise Ana in the least. Roxxon Corporation had been their biggest rival since, like, forever, and they would do anything to beat Stark Industries, including meddling with the unknown. And they had a now abandoned power plant that would suit Bauer's needs. The power source there wasn't very stable—hence why it had been shut down—but Bauer probably wouldn't care.

But what really intrigued Ana was the brain behind Isodyne Energy: Whitney Frost. Born as Agnes Cully, she was a genius, but rejected by the University of Oklahoma just because she was a woman. To be able to find the money to pursue her passion, she had become an actress, taken up the stage name Whitney Frost, and then married a wealthy man. Her husband, Calvin Chadwick. Chadwick owned Isodyne Energy, where Frost got the chance to use her genius during the war, and came up with some impressive inventions. Because of her obsession with Zero Matter, she had ended up in an asylum and spent the rest of her life there. Ana couldn't help but both pity and admire her. If she had been born in those times, without her dad to support and guide her, her story wouldn't have been much different, she imagined.

"Can you believe this? Hollywood star by day, mad scientist by night…"

"Sounds like you like her."

"She was a visionary. She had so much potential to change the world. It's not her fault that she was so misguided."

"Ana, she was crazy."

Howard Stark had kept detailed notes about her. Perhaps he, too, had respected her to some degree. He might have been many things, but at least he wasn't a sexist asshole, like many of his peers were back in the day, considering everything he had achieved with Peggy Carter and Sigyn.

Then, she found a medical report. On Ana Jarvis. She had been shot by Whitney Frost, and her fallopian tubes had been damaged permanently. That was why she couldn't have had any kids. "You know what, I'm taking it back. Frost was a bitch. I hope hell exists, and she went straight there when she kicked the bucket!"

Fitz peeked at the report, and saw the name. His face was priceless. "Who's Ana Jarvis?"

Ana logged off hastily. This was a bit embarrassing. "Let's just tell the others about the power plant."

By the time they got downstairs, though, it was a mess. The doors of the containment module had been broken open, Director Mace was sitting on the floor, bleeding, with Robbie towering above him, looking remorseful, and Daisy rolling Gabe's wheelchair away from the scene. Ana gave her a questioning look, and she nodded gravely. Gabe must have found out the truth about his brother.

A/N: Just to make it clear, the people who come back from the dead go crazy because the Kree whose bodily fluids Fury used to make the GH formula was looking for an ancient underground Kree city when he was alive, and the patients kind of inherit this urge to locate it from the medicine. Only after seeing the map, they find peace, so to say. That was why Ana was after the map. She couldn't hack into the SHIELD files from the outside because the security Daisy built protects them too well, so she had to do it from the inside. She wants to be able to stay alive as long as Fury needs her if she fails to change the future and she has to go to the past. I hope her plan makes sense? She was actually preparing to sacrifice herself until the Darkhold resurfaced, now she thinks it can fix all her problems. How that will turn out, you'll see in the next chapters!