"You left. You left us Daisy cause you wouldn't let us help you."

"I left Fitz cause I didn't want any of you to get hurt because of me. I couldn't; stay. I couldn't be reminded - I couldn't bear to be reminded of what I'd done. Of the person I was."

"Well that's ridiculous. You weren't in control. You were brainwashed by the sway."

"I knew what I was doing. I didn't stop myself from doing those things Fitz."

"No Daisy, Hive made you do those things. He controlled you. You should have stayed and let us help you, you shouldn't have run away. Even now you aren't fully here. You have one foot in the door and one foot out."

"That's cause I'm not staying. As soon as we solve this case and wrap it up, I'm leaving. The Watchdogs need to be brought down. Someone needs to watch out for the Inhumans. Shield certainly isn't doing a great job at it."

"So that's it then. Your just gonna abandon us. Your family. As though none of it mattered. Did you even really care about any of us Daisy?"

"Of course I did Fitz. That's partly why I have to leave."

"May died. Did you know that? May got infected by that ghost thing and she died and Simmons and Radcliff brought her back. What if they wouldn't have. She could have died. You would have never seen her again. Does she mean so little to you too?"

Daisy's face turned white and her heart raced. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact, the fact that May could have died, and you weren't here Daisy. Do you have any idea ho much pain she was in these last months not knowing if you were dead or alive, not knowing how you were doing. You could have at least sent a message or two to let her know how you were. You're a damn hacker Daisy. You could have stayed under the radar. How selfish is that? How could you not at least care about May – after everything she's done for you. What you meant to each other. At least what you meant to her. I have no idea what she means to you – apparently nothing like the rest of us."

"She didn't mention anything."

"Of course not. She's still protecting you. Even when you don't deserve it. When you go about acting like some lost waif who needs to distance herself from the family who loves her for some nonsensical idea of protecting us. No Daisy, you are protecting you. Back to your loner Rising Tide days. Insulating yourself against the pain."

"That's not fair Fitz. I needed to figure things out. I couldn't be here. I wasn't signing the Accords."

"Oh poppycock. That's just an excuse. Some thing terrible happened and you left. You walked away from us. From me. From your family. You know you're like a sister to me. Best friends too. You walked away." Fitz was now shouting. "I didn't walk away from you when you changed. I stayed when you needed someone on your side. Someone in your corner."

"I know."

"Why didn't you just let us help you Daisy?"

"I didn't want to be helped Fitz." She fought back the tears. "I wanted to pay for what I'd

done. Pay for my mistakes. I should have been the one to go up in that quinjet Fitz. That was supposed to be me. I accepted that. I was good with that if it meant saving my family. It would have made things right, you know."

"Yeah but you still should have let us help you. You know May ran interference for you when she could. She did what she could here to continue to protect you. Once in awhile she'd ask for my help with tech stuff. I think she's known where you were nearly the entire time."

This news took Daisy by surprise. "So she's okay though. I mean she looked fine when she reamed my ass about what I did at the prison. I should have noticed how weird and protective Coulson was being with her during the mission. "

"Yeah they've grown a lot closer. Since you've been gone."

Daisy put her hand on Fitz's shoulder. "I know you're mad at me. That's not what I wanted. I just – I'm not sure I belong here anymore. Okay?"

"I got to go work on this. Trying to track down Eli. At least say bye this time, 'kay?"

"I will. Do you know where May is?"

"Last I saw she and Coulson were talking to Robbie in the cargo bay."

Daisy hesitated a few seconds and then walked into the cargo bay. "Hey May, you have some time, I'd like to talk to you?"

Melinda turned away from Coulson and Robbie and walked toward Daisy. "Make it quick. I'm taking the quinjet and heading back to the base. We might have a lead on Eli, and I'm taking a team out to investigate after I brief Mace on the prison mission."

"I could come with you."

May shook her head. "Are you forgetting that you are wanted? By everyone. Everywhere."

Daisy managed to look a little sheepish. "Yeah I guess."

"Plus Reyes there is worried about his brother. You met him and he knows you. You need to go pick him up. Keep him safe here."

"You think Lucy Bauer will try to get to him to use him to make Eli do what she wants."

"Robbie does. Seems Eli and he and his brother are really close. Bauer would know that."

"Okay." She stopped as they got to the quinjet ramp. "So Fitz said a funny thing earlier. He said you died. He was exaggerating right?"

Melinda sighed. "Radcliff and Simmons killed me. That ghost possession thing was killing me. They decided killing me and shutting down my brain would reroute it past the infection. Then they brought me back. It worked. "

"You could have died." The horror on Daisy's face made Melinda pause.

"Daisy. I could die anytime. On any mission. It's part of the job. You know that."

"I wasn't here to help. I couldn't protect you."

"Right. Now maybe you know how I've been feeling since you left all those months ago." She paused and then looked Daisy in the eye. "You weren't here when I needed you the most."

"I'm sorry." Daisy hung her head."

"Not to protect me Daisy. I didn't need you to save me Daisy. I needed you after I woke up. I needed to know you were okay. I died and came back and I needed you to talk with me about that. I needed you to be here. I needed to tell you how much I love you. Dying tends to remind us that we need to keep the people we love close to us. To remind us of what we have to live for. Who we have to live for. " Melinda smiled and squeezed Daisy's shoulder. "I have to get back and brief Mace. Well lie to Mace. I need to leave out a lot of things in the report. Like your name and Reyes."

Daisy reached over and pulled Melinda into a hug. She squeezed tight and felt Melinda's arms squeeze back just as tightly. "I should have been here. I'm sorry." She pulled away and watched Melinda walk up the ramp of the quinjet.