heartbeat
After far too long chasing through time and space, the team is finally home. They quickly find that somehow, news of their world-saving exploits over the years have made the front page, and as a result, support for the refunding of SHIELD is overwhelming. Though Mack is quick to get things started, this isn't an overnight process, meaning that the Lighthouse will remain their base - and their home - for the time being. Despite the fact that she's not thrilled to be spending more time in the Lighthouse, Daisy's got to be honest, a legitimate SHIELD is something she could get used to. No more hiding from their own government, no more being considered a criminal for saving the world. Finally, she can do good in the light of day.
It's a nice thought.
But before she can do that, she needs to rest. Her little foray into dying and coming back to life has left her with complete and utter exhaustion and a heavy ache that seeps into her bones. So after the team debrief, she stumbles to her bunk, leaning on walls and furniture for support before reaching her bed. She knows she should probably get checked out by Simmons, but now that she's lying down, she can't muster the energy to get up.
Daniel appears in the doorway, looking endearingly shy.
"Hey," she says as he kneels beside her bed. She almost laughs at how he's too gentlemanly to even sit on the edge of it without being invited. She takes his offered hands to help her into a sitting position and pats the bed so he actually sits beside her.
"Your hands are freezing," he says, quickly letting go of them.
She shrugs. "Space is cold."
He can't believe how cavalier she is being about almost dying. But, he supposes, almost dying isn't uncommon for her.
It's clear she's thinking the same thing, because her head falls to his shoulder. "I'm so tired, Daniel," she says in a weak voice. And she is. She is so beyond tired that she doesn't even know where to start. She isn't sure she's had a good night's sleep since they went to the future. Or since Lincoln died. Hell, since she found out Ward was Hydra.
Not for the first time, she feels a stab of grief for the people she's lost along the way. She's now spent more time grieving Lincoln than knowing him. And Trip. And her parents.
God, she's so tired.
A sob bursts from her chest, surprising her. She didn't know she needed to cry but now she's started she can't stop. Daniel doesn't pull away but rather comes closer, holding her tight and letting her bury her face in his shoulder. He doesn't tell her that everything is okay, because it isn't. He doesn't tell her that she's fine, because she's not.
Once it's over, when she can breathe again, she lifts her head, avoiding his gaze. "I'm sorry," she says. "It's just-"
"You don't have to explain." He keeps his arm around her. He feels good. Solid. Even the frequency at which he vibrates is steady, like a heartbeat.
"Thanks for being here," she says.
"No place I'd rather be."
They sit there in a silence that is somewhere between soul-crushingly awkward and extremely comfortable. And then, something in the air changes. Daisy isn't sure what it is, but when she reaches for Daniel's hand, he moves it away.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"Yes, of course," he replies, though it's clear he's not telling her everything. He stands, smooths nonexistent wrinkles from his clothes. "You should really get checked out. I'll go get Simmons for you."
And, just like that, he's gone.
Jemma comes to her room less than five minutes later, pushing an empty wheelchair. Daniel isn't with her.
"Don't bother protesting, I saw the way you were hobbling earlier," she says, ushering Daisy into it.
"Where'd Daniel go?" Daisy asks, but the question is lost under Jemma's babbles about the atmosphere in space versus Daisy's Inhuman biology as she pushes her towards the infirmary.
After extensive medical tests, Jemma proclaims that Daisy's death and resurrection will not cause any long-term issues. "You'll need to rest, of course," she says, "and I'd like you not to use your powers for at least a week; the pressure in space has weakened your bones. I'll give you a calcium supplement to help heal them, and I'll wrap your shins to prevent microfractures when you walk." She stops her fussing and smiles softly, as if speaking to a child. "You did a very brave thing," she says, as if doing very brave things hasn't been part of all their lives for the past seven years.
But something else hasn't, and Daisy realises that she hasn't talked to her about it yet.
"Jemma?"
"Yes?"
"What's it like to be a mom?"
Her eyes fill with love, complete and utter adoration written on her face. "It's amazing. She's amazing."
"I can't wait to meet her."
"You don't have to." Fitz walks in, holding the hand of a little girl with Jemma's nose and Fitz's eyes. "Alya, this is your Auntie Daisy."
Alya pulls away from him and wanders up to Daisy's bed, peering at her curiously. Jemma lifts her up so she can sit on the edge of the bed.
"Hi, Alya," Daisy says.
Alya leans forward to press a tiny hand to Daisy's cheek. "You're crying."
"I'm okay," she says, her voice wet. "I'm just so happy to meet you."
Satisfied with that answer, Alya sits back down. "You're a superhero," she informs her calmly. "Mummy and Daddy told me."
"Oh, did they? Well, I think they were exaggerating. I'm not a superhero. I do have powers, though."
"Don't you dare show her," Jemma warns. "Doctor's orders."
Fitz kneels beside the bed and brushes a stray lock of hair from his daughter's forehead. "Sweetheart, why don't you tell Auntie Daisy what your name means?"
Alya's eyes rove around the various medical equipment attached to Daisy's body. "It means sky."
"Sky?" Daisy's eyes fill with tears again.
"After Mummy and Daddy's best friend," Jemma says, her own eyes watering.
Daisy's mind flashes back to another time, another name. One thing that hasn't changed from then and now is how much these two people mean to her. And it won't change, no matter where life takes them.
Nothing can tear the bus kids apart.
That night, Daisy can't sleep. For weeks, she's been used to falling asleep to the vibrations of the Zephyr, and now that they're back on solid ground, the vibrations are different, sending her senses into overdrive. Not to mention the pain that is still sinking into her body, even with the painkillers Jemma gave her. So she gets up sometime around midnight, hoping that some of May's green tea will help.
She shuffles into the kitchen and makes her tea, taking slow movements. She doesn't notice Daniel until she's halfway through drinking it.
"Oh, hey," she says somewhat awkwardly, holding her mug up in an explanatory gesture. He doesn't have a drink of his own; he is simply sitting at the counter, still wearing his clothes from the day's insanity.
"How are you feeling?" he asks.
She shrugs. "Sore. But I've had worse. Jemma says there shouldn't be any lasting damage." She takes a gulp from her mug. "How about you? This has to be pretty disorienting, being in the twenty-first century."
"I'm fine. I didn't die in space."
She makes a 'touché' expression, downs the rest of her tea in one go, and puts the mug in the sink. She starts towards the door. It's awkward right now, and in her experience, awkward leads to conversations that she never wants to have.
"Daisy."
She turns. "Yeah?"
"Can we talk?"
Here we go. She moves back to the counter, leaning forward on it so she was facing him. "Sure," she says casually, though her heart beats so fast she wonders if he might be able to sense it, even if he doesn't have her powers. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to ask you. That kiss- this afternoon- what does it all mean?"
"What?"
He looks down at his hands before meeting her gaze. "Look, the way I grew up, you don't touch someone like that unless you mean it. And I want to do things right, even if it isn't the way people from your time do them. So I am asking you if you have feelings for me, the same way I have feelings for you."
She feels a sudden rush of affection for this man. This absolute square of a man, who spent the entire evening worrying about doing right by her. She leans further over the counter to link their fingers together. "Well, I don't know what your feelings are, but I care about you. In a way that I haven't cared about anyone in a long time. Honestly, it scares me a little. But it's the good scared. The kind that makes you sure it's something worthwhile."
His smile is so gentle, so soft, that it causes warmth to spread through her chest. "I feel the same way."
"So we're on the same page, then."
"So we are."
"Does that mean I can do this?" She leans in to kiss him. It's softer than their first, without the adrenaline of the fight behind it. It's a kiss of hope, of possibility. A kiss that says, we have our entire lives to do this.
Daisy realises that the possibility of our entire lives doesn't scare her as much as it used to.
