Title: Common Ground
Author: Alysia
Category: Post Episode
Summary: Daisy was reminded of Jiaying's words. "Sometimes, trying to do the right thing comes out all wrong." She'd tell Kora about it…one day, when the memory of their mother didn't cut so deep, for both of them. Daisy and Kora have a conversation. There is also a sprinkle of Dousy towards the end.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters familiar to Marvel.
Author's Note: This takes place after the final fight but before the time jump. I started writing this back in November and it's undergone several rewrites since then. Some of them were more entertaining than the final project, but they were somewhat out of character.

"Thanks for coming with me. I needed to get something in my stomach," Kora said, returning to the table in the mess hall that her sister was currently sitting at.

Daisy Johnson offered her a small smile in response. "Thank you for inviting me." She'd wanted to spend some time with her sister in the days since their final confrontation with Malik and the Chronicoms, but other than a few brief conversations they'd had in passing, she hadn't known how to go about reaching out to her. She'd been pleasantly surprised when Kora approached her in the hallway and invited her to join her for breakfast. "So, I know the chamber is good at healing people physically, but how are you holding up otherwise?" She didn't know if Kora would answer truthfully, or if she even had a right to know. But she'd wanted to address it in effort to let her know that she wouldn't be dealing with everything alone.

"I was so wrong…" Kora sighed, pulling her gaze from the other woman's general direction. She'd been dreading the question, waiting for someone to ask it, and confronting her feelings on the subject. But now that it was out there, she felt slightly better that it was no longer hanging over her head. "I should never have-"

"You were hurt and angry," Daisy denied quietly.

"That doesn't justify what I did," the other woman spat back.

Daisy hesitated then, unsure if she should continue to try and help. She was obviously saying the wrong things. Jiaying's words in the control room while they were still in the other timeline crossed her mind. "Sometimes, trying to do the right thing comes out all wrong." She'd tell Kora about it…one day, when the memory of their mother didn't cut so deep, for both of them.

As if realizing how she sounded, Kora shook her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," she apologized sincerely. "I just feel so…I don't even know the best way to describe it."

Daisy was already nodding. "Angry, hurt, embarrassed, remorseful, guilty…worthless."

The other Inhuman nodded. "Exactly," she admitted breathlessly, her gaze turning critical as she studied the other woman.

"I had my own Nathaniel Malick once…or twice…if you consider some of the circumstances," Daisy said, stumbling over her explanation. "But I guess you already know about that through the time stream," she added, thinking on the resources that had been available to her sister when she was sided with Malick and the Chronicoms.

"I do," Kora admitted then, having seen various pieces through the time stream. But she'd come to the realization that Sybil had probably tweaked things slightly to manipulate her and turn her against Daisy. "But if you want to tell me, I'd like to hear about it," she added quickly, genuinely curious.

Adjusting in her seat, Daisy pursed her lips as she considered the best way to start. Again, Kora knew at least some of what she was going to say, so there was no reason to expand on everything. "When I met Coulson, he was running a small mobile unit. He brought me in to work as a consultant when he was looking for a powered individual and when the situation was over, he asked me to stay on."

"And you did."

Daisy nodded. "I didn't really have anything else going for me at the time. I figured that maybe I could use the situation to find more information about my parents," she explained. "And because I would be spending time out in the field, he had me train with the specialist on the team."

"Grant Ward," Kora supplied.

Daisy nodded. "He was tall, dark, handsome and broody." She'd been completely taken by him at the time.

Kora had to agree. He had been attractive from what she had seen through the time stream.

"You know, doing this…working for SHIELD, putting your life on the line and…your partner or team…you build a bond," she tried to explain for her sister. "Simmons and I couldn't have been more different when we met, but she's…" Daisy trailed off then, feeling awkward. How could she call her friend a sister to her estranged sister? Did that make her horrible for throwing that in Kora's face?

"Like a sister to you," Kora finished quietly.

"In everything but blood," Daisy confirmed then, remembering Kora's insistence about not needing to be protected. "Those first few months on the bus, those people really became my family. I started crushing on Ward, picking on him, even flirting a bit. And then Hydra came out…and I learned that the man I'd fallen for wasn't even real. He'd lied to the team so that he could learn information on Coulson. He lied and manipulated me. And though he'd lost any sort of control I had previously given over to him, after his true character was revealed, he still tried to manipulate me."

"But you didn't give in." Of that much, she was certain.

"Malick manipulated you the way that Ward tried to do to me. You just didn't have anyone else to turn to at the time," Daisy replied. Or perhaps the correct thing to say was that she didn't know she had someone else to turn to? "There were times when I would talk with Ward and…" She couldn't say that she'd fallen for the act, but there were moments that she'd wanted to. "He knew the right things to say to me and I caught myself a couple of times…if I didn't have Coulson or May…" She shook her head then, clearing away the memories. "Malick may not have been Hydra, but his father and brother were, and he learned those same tricks from them."

"You really believe that…" Kora judged with an air of skepticism, doing her best to read Daisy.

"I do," Daisy confirmed. "I guess we both have shitty taste in men."

Nathaniel Malick had been a shitty person, she had to agree. Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Kora found herself smiling upon them having such similar taste in men. "Yeah, but it looks like you've learned that lesson," she denied then. "Agent Sousa seems like a great guy." She watched as her sister began to smile upon hearing his name.

Daisy's mind instant recalled some of his more supportive moments. "He really is," she agreed easily before she sobered up in order to tell the rest of her story. "When you were growing up, did…mom," the word felt foreign rolling off her tongue and scrunched her nose and decided to start over. "When you were at Afterlife, did she ever show you a rock that would liquify at seemingly random intervals?"

Kora nodded. "She said that that it was a doorway to another place that needed to be protected at all cost. There was a bad Inhuman on the other side, but she never went into particulars." She was still young enough at the time that Jiaying was still promising to protect her from the outside world.

"That Inhuman was named Hive, and he had two powers. He could possess dead humans and he could control other Inhumans. Through unforeseen circumstances, he possessed Ward and used his ability on me. I turned on my team and manipulated a situation so that my boyfriend took the heat for something I'd done. I used my power at the base we'd been using at the time, causing a lot of damage. I could have killed the team and wouldn't have even cared." She hadn't even spared a glance backwards as she heard the destruction behind her. "I killed Gideon Malick, Nathaniel's brother. In this timeline, Gideon tricked Nathaniel, and he was sent to another planet and made to be sacrifice. Gideon was a bad man and deserved so much more than what I did, but if I wasn't under Hive's control, I never would have done that," she emphasized the word, not wanting to actually describe what she'd done to him. "And then I offered up my blood so that Hive could turn humans into Inhumans. I know it doesn't sound that bad when I say it, but the turn was…it would have turned all of them into these primitive beings, which almost came to pass."

Kora tore her gaze away from Daisy's. "I didn't see all of that," she whispered.

"It was a rough time," Daisy replied. "It's been a few years, and I still have tough days every now and again." And unfortunately, Kora would suffer the same fate. "As for everyone here, no one will hold anything against you."

"You know that for sure?" Kora asked.

The SHIELD agent shrugged her shoulders. "I tried to kill a couple of them and they forgave me…so, yeah," she replied, sharing her thought process.

"And you?"

Daisy tilted her head. "Coulson gave me a second chance. Just think of this as me…passing on the favor," she shared, paraphrasing something Daniel had said to her on one of the worst days of her life. However, she quickly second guessed herself. "And by that, I don't mean you have to join SHIELD because you think you owe us something," she tacked on quickly. "I mean you could, join, if you wanted to that is, but it's not like it's expected and-" She fell silent when she felt a hand rest atop hers.

"Sorry," Kora told her softly as she removed her hand, worried that she'd taken a liberty too soon. "I'm not opposed to the idea," she confessed then. "I…assume you aren't leaving SHIELD any time soon. And…I know that I don't know you yet, but I think I know the kind of person you are. You wouldn't stay with them if they were bad in any way, shape or form. I'd like to talk about it, but maybe at a later time?" She asked then. "I just…I still need to deal with mom and Afterlife and…everything I did."

"Yeah," Daisy agreed then. "Kora, just so you know, I'm not going anywhere. So, even if you decide not to join us, I'll still be there," she told her, wanting to make sure she expressed herself as clearly as she could.

"No, I still want to hear the spiel…I just need to work through things first," she excused as she stood up from her spot. "I think I'll head back to my bunk and shower."

"Of course. Did you need me to show you where-"

"Agent Simm-Jemma," she corrected herself, "walked me there this morning, so once I'm down the hall I'm okay…maybe if you could just point to which direction-"

Daisy pointed towards the direction the bunks were located. "While you were in the healing chamber, I put a change of clothes in your bunk along with some toiletries," she told her then, unsure if Kora had seen it when she was shown to her bunk earlier that morning. "Uh, when you're feeling up to it, we can look at shopping for your own preferred brands."

Kora nodded. "That sounds…yeah," she agreed, standing up from the metal table. "Thank you for this," she gestured to the area between them. "You've given me a few things to think on."

"So, I'll see you later…" Daisy trailed off, not knowing exactly how to end the conversation.

Kora nodded. "Later," she agreed before turning away.

Dropping the napkin that she'd balled up her in fist during her conversation with Kora, she exhaled a deep sigh. Hearing a pair of footsteps approach, she cleared her throat before picking up her cup of coffee and taking a sip from it. A hand gently settled on her shoulder and she turned to find Daniel Sousa standing over her.

"Morning," he greeted, sitting down next to her so he was straddling the metal bench.

"Good morning," she replied, gathering up a smile for him. "Sleep well?"

He nodded once. "I did. Prior to last night, I don't think I've had a proper night of sleep since we left 1955," he admitted.

"Well, maybe if you didn't camp out all that time when I was in the healing chamber…" she muttered playfully. He smiled back, but the action almost seemed forced. "What?" She inquired. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

"Everything's fine," he rushed to assure her then.

Daisy studied him. He had yet to drop his gaze from her and there was something almost…intense behind his gaze. It left her feeling somewhat anxious. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" She squinted her eyes

"Like what?" He inquired, keeping his voice light.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she shook her head in negative. His voice was far too innocent. "How long were you standing in this general vicinity?" She asked then.

His eyes fell away from hers momentarily for getting caught eavesdropping. "Long enough," he admitted. "I didn't want to intrude," Daniel added after a pause. "I…was going to walk away, but then you mentioned the Inhuman and…" He watched her shoulders drop. "I'm sorry."

Letting out a sigh, she shook her head in denial. "I was going to tell you eventually anyway," she excused. "I just wish it had been on my terms."

He nodded then. "I know, and again, very, sorry."

He appeared completely sincere in his apology, and he wasn't running in the other direction, so that was a plus. "You know, I usually try to win over my boyfriends before I share all of my darkest secrets," she said, attempting to keep things light between them.

"You already won me over," he rushed to tell her then, as he grasped her hand within one of his. "I know that is only a small piece of what you've been through, but I think you're amazing."

She felt her cheeks begin to ache as color rushed to them and her eyes fell away from his. "Come on," she said, already dismissing his words.

"I mean it," he told her in complete honesty. "Everything that you've gone through up until now has turned you into the amazing woman sitting before me. And…I know how difficult it is for you to open up to people and the fact that you did with her…I'm proud of you."

People had praised her in the past, but she'd never felt so embarrassed as she did at that moment. Normally, she didn't care what people thought of her. She'd grown a thick skin over the years and ignored it for the most part, but she couldn't do that with him. Or maybe, she just didn't want to? "It's not a big deal," she denied weakly.

"Maybe it is to her," he denied passionately. "She knew she'd joined the wrong side, and that alone could have made things awkward, but you…talking about your own past experiences…you found a common ground. And that probably means more to her than you know."

She'd realized early on after meeting her sister that Kora had been lost, just like she'd been…until Coulson came along. "When I met Coulson, I was…lost. He gave me a reason, a purpose…a new life. She was in a similar boat, and she got Nathaniel Malick."

"But she's got you now." He looked down at her abandoned plate. "I guess I'm too late to join you for breakfast…" he observed then.

"I could sit here a little longer while you eat," she shrugged then. "So, what's your plan for today?"

"Actually, I'm meeting Agent Coulson as soon as I've finished breakfast," he replied, pulling his hand away from hers as he left the table to grab some breakfast. "He's going to spend the next few days teaching me SHIELD's history, or…the history since that night at the Roosevelt."

Daisy smiled fondly. "You couldn't find a better teacher for the job."

He returned to the table. "That's exactly what Mack said," he admitted after claiming a spot next to her. However, instead of immediately digging into the food on the plate before him, he pursed his lips.

"You good?" She asked then, focusing on his previous action.

"I am," he replied quickly. He picked up his fork, but suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore. Setting it back down an exhaled a deep sigh. "I...it's just…the idea that this is it for me now…it's feeling more real now that we're back in your time."

It was a subject that she'd been dreading since their relationship had elevated from a friendly one to romantic. Daniel hadn't mentioned missing his time since they'd been in 1976, she hadn't thought much of it at the time. They'd all been dealing with one situation after another after another and so on. Her heart immediately fell. What if he was regretting it? She could only imagine how lonely he must feel when considering that his friends from 1955 were more than likely dead along with his parents. "That's understandable," she replied in an even tone not wanting to show just how insecure his statement made her feel.

He nodded. "I don't suppose I'll ever get closure with any of it," when it looked like she was going to interrupt him, he rushed to finish his thought. "And I'm coming to terms with it," he added quickly, hoping it would stop her from interrupting. He didn't want an apology. She'd already done that multiple times and he'd accepted it. "I just…I don't know what happened to anyone."

"And you think that if you did, it would help you?" Daisy asked then.

He shrugged. "Maybe. I…I don't think it could hurt anything," Daniel admitted. "Mack said that I could probably start looking online," something that he still didn't fully understand. "I know that you're good with computers and I'm wondering if you'll help me."

She offered him a small smile. "I'd be happy to." She pulled out her phone and opened a notepad app. "What are your parent's names?" She asked.

"Edward and Catherine Sousa. My mother's maiden name was Jordan."

His middle name was his mother's maiden one. She could easily remember that. "I should have some time this afternoon. I can start then," she told him. "Unless they went on to become famous sometime after 1955, it might take me a couple days on that front," Daisy warned him. "On the other hand, Peggy Carter has plenty of biographies out there. Actually, I'm sure that Jemma has one or two if you wanted to look at them..."

He frowned. "I don't think that I could read about Peg's life…like that," he admitted.

She supposed she could understand just how weird it would be for him. Yes, Agent Carter had been a real person, but she was mostly a name for them, or legend in Jemma's case. But for Daniel, she was a real person, his former partner…in more ways than one.

Unaware of his companion's thoughts, Daniel shook his head. "It would just be too weird that way."

"I get it," she told him then. Daisy made a mental note to pull the most pertinent information she could find on Daniel's former partner to share with him later.

When their conversation sputtered to a stop, Daniel finished his meal. "What are your plans this morning?" He inquired.

"Actually, I still have some case files to close out." Some of them dated back to her adventure in space when they were trying to track down Enoch and Fitz. "I never had a chance to finish anything before we were pulled out of time," she tacked on, heaving a heavy sigh.

"And judging by that sigh, I'm guessing that you aren't looking forward to it…"

"It just…feels like a lifetime ago, even if it's only been a few months. But between the things that I've seen in space and then dealing with Izel and the temple…Sarge…" She was brought back to that moment in the temple when she had a dying May cradled in her lap. "It's emotionally draining, but I've been putting it off long enough. Mack actually had to use his 'director voice,'" she admitted as she exhaled a sigh.

"Director voice?" He repeated.

Daisy nodded. "Yeah, you know the one…the deep, baritone voice as he refers to you as 'Agent insert last name' instead of using your first…"

"Ah, that one," he acknowledged with a nod. He'd witnessed it a couple times since he'd been with the group. "Do you think that I could find you later this evening?"

"I don't intend to hide away or anything…"

"You called me your boyfriend before," he recalled.

"Oh…" Had she jumped the gun? She'd just assumed… "Did I label something that I shouldn't have?"

"Not at all," he denied. "It's just the opposite," Daniel tacked on. "I was hoping that we could have a conversation tonight. Now that things are settling down around here, at least for the time being, we haven't really had a chance to talk…about us, I mean," he finished awkwardly. The fact that she'd called him her boyfriend went far in assuring him that she was just as invested as him, despite the short amount of time that had passed since she'd barged into his life that day at the base. "And despite how seamlessly our relationship has evolved, I just…" He trailed off with a heavy sigh. "There are seventy years of accepted social norms between us and I just want to make sure that we're on the same page."

She grabbed one of his hands and linked their fingers together. "We are," she responded simply. "I'll make sure to be in my bunk by 5:00 so you won't have to go searching for me."

"Tonight then?" He asked as he released her hand and began cleaning his mess up.

"I'll see you tonight."

The End