Prompt 14 - One Last Time
"I hurt Mack. I hurt Fitz. Those other people."
"You said they were Hydra."
"Yeah but no one deserves what they went through. Even those Watchdogs. And the agents on the base who were turned and killed. That's all on me Melinda."
"No Daisy, that's on Hive. He controlled everyone."
"Andrew died protecting me."
"Yes. He wanted to help and protect you. All along Hive was his enemy.
"JiaYing did that too. Cause of me. He went through terra-genesis because of me. Because I trusted her."
"Okay Daisy, that's enough. Shield sent your mother's things to Andrew. He wanted to research them. No one knew he was inhuman. If anything, I am to blame for him being involved in Shield at all."
"Don't call her that."
"What?"
"She's not my mother. She doesn't deserve that title. She tried to kill me. She killed all those innocent people. She's never been my mother. She gave birth to me and that's it."
"Okay, fair enough."
"And that's really stupid Melinda. Andrew knew you were an agent when you got married. It was who you were. It's always been who you are. He was the one who agreed to consult for Shield. You aren't to blame at all."
"Neither are you. His choice like you said."
"But if I had not been there, Andrew could have killed Hive. He wouldn't have been distracted, needing to save me. He died saving me." Her anguish turned into sobs. "People died because of me."
"Yes. They did. They died but, you are not to blame. Daisy, Andrew- well really Lash, he saved you because that's what he wanted to do. All those other injuries and deaths – those are on Hive and his twisted agenda of turning everyone inhuman. He wanted to control everything. And everyone."
Daisy shook her head. "I wanted to do those things."
"No Daisy. Hive wanted you to and his control made you want to. You've told me you still wanted to protect us. In the state you were in that meant making us turn inhuman like Hive, like you. Underneath all the brainwashing, you were still trying to protect us, in a warped way."
"I almost beat him to death."
"Yes and I had to shoot you to stop you."
Daisy looked up sharply at her. "Oh god, I made you do that. Relive that memory."
"I knew what I was doing Daisy. I aimed at the arm. I was only trying to stop you, not kill you. I could never..."
"I was a threat Melinda. You should have. You knew what I could do. What I had done."
"I'm going to say this again Daisy. One last time. This is not your fault. None of this is on you. You were brainwashed. You didn't have control of your actions. You didn't ask to be under Hive's sway. You didn't go to him on purpose to be controlled. It happened. Now you have to accept it happened, stop blaming yourself and move on. Now it's time to make things better. No one, absolutely no one is blaming you. You are a victim here Daisy. Just like Alisha was, and Andrew was. I knew it wasn't you. I know you Daisy. I know who you are. I know you would never consciously hurt any of us. We're your family."
"He made it seem like he was my family. That anything else would not fill that hole. That he was what I had been looking for my whole life. I was happy."
"What you were was being controlled. You couldn't do anything of your free will. Your autonomy was taken."
"Like Kara. Like Mike. Like Akela. Like Donnie."
"Yes."
"But we didn't save them. Why me?"
"We did what we could Daisy. We tried to help Kara. She chose to not let us. We did help Mike.
We helped Akela."
"I shot Donnie."
"Yes. To protect the team. To protect us. It comes with the job, you know that. We do what we can, and we try to avoid killing, we try to do the best with what we have. Sometimes we have to make a bad call to avoid making a worse call."
"I'm sorry I made you shoot me. I'm sorry Andrew died. I'm sorry for what I did to Fitz. To Mack. To Lincoln. To all of you."
"There it is. That's the difference Daisy. That's what makes you a good person who was forced to do bad things. It doesn't make you a bad person. Had you been able to choose – you would never have done any of those things."
"I still did them."
"Yes you did. I forgive you. I know Mack has also forgiven you. As has Phil. And Fitz. I guess the only one you need to talk to yet is Lincoln."
"I used his weaknesses against him. I manipulated him because I could. He won't forgive me."
"When I approached Lincoln about the plan that I had to send Lash in his place, to manipulate you into thinking he was falling for your plan, you know what he said to me?"
Daisy just shook her head.
"He said that you might not forgive him for lying to you."
"That's stupid. He did what he had to do, to protect himself and to try to take down Hive."
"Yeah and in the process, you could have been killed. Neither he nor I knew for sure what Lash would do to you under Hives' control."
"You had to take that chance. There was no other way. Was there?"
"Nothing we could think of. It was a calculated risk. One we both struggled with. I was the one who put Andrew on that quinjet Daisy. There's more than enough blame to go around in this entire mess. We walked into Giyera's trap and were kidnapped. You and your team had to come rescue us. Because of our incompetence, we put you and Yoyo, Lincoln and Joey at risk. But that's all done now. You can't dwell on the past- it'll eat you up inside. All you can do now is face what has been done, face what you have done, learn from it, and move forward. Your body needs to heal and so does your mind. You don't need to isolate yourself here anymore. Go see Lincoln. Talk to him. Before we go on the mission. You need to do that."
Daisy nodded as she hugged Melinda. "Thank you."