"Yoyo, Piper and Davis are on their way here." Mack told Coulson as he got off the phone, standing behind his desk in his office.
"Have you told them?" Coulson asked, arms crossed.
"No, I figure I'd tell them in person when they get here." Mack explained to Coulson. "I'll call Fitzsimmons once we hear the news." Coulson nodded.
Coulson, Mack, Daisy, Sousa and Kora were in Mack's office, waiting for news. They all couldn't believe what had happened. Deke Shaw is back. He's returned back to shield, but he's down in the hospital wing of the Triskelion. They all had been waiting all day in Mack's office, anxiously waiting for any update on Deke's condition.
Daisy sat next to Kora, who was looking down on the floor with her fingers intertwined.
"Hey, you're ok?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Kora said, not looking up. Daisy let a moment of silence pass between them, deciding not to say anything else. She hadn't said anything sense after Deke arrived.
"He was a friend of yours, right?" Kora asked, looking up at Daisy.
"Yeah, um, he was a shield agent of ours, who helped us return back to 2019 and defeat the chronicoms."
"Why didn't he come with you?" Kora asked.
"He couldn't." Daisy answered. "He had to stay behind in order to help us return."
A doctor in a white medical coat came off the elevator and entered Mack's office.
"Well, any news doctor?" Mack asks.
"He's going to be okay." the doctor answered. "He just passed out from exhaustion." Everyone sighted in relief at the news.
"He's also awake right now if any of you want to see him." the doctor stated. They all looked at each other before heading towards the elevator.
As everyone stepped off the elevator, they all rushed over to the hospital room Deke was staying at. Then Kora stopped walking.
"I'm going to stay back here." Kora told Daisy. Daisy turned and walked towards her.
"What, why?" Daisy asked.
"I think it's best if he doesn't see me." Kora admitted. "I mean, I did try to kill him and your friend Jemma a year ago."
"I'm sure he'll understand." Daisy said, touching her shoulder in reassurance.
"I'm still going to stay out here." Kora took a step back, crossing her arms and looking away. Daisy looked back as everyone else went into the room, then looked Back at Kora.
"Okay." Daisy nodded before leaving to meet up with the rest of the group.
They all stood still as Deke Shaw lay in the hospital bed, eyes closed. He opened his eyes a few moments later and turned his head slightly. He sighed and smiled as soon as he saw everyone in the room.
"Hey guys," Deke began. "Good to see you all again." Everyone just stood speechless.
"What, what is it?" Deke asked, noticing how everyone was looking at him.
"Deke, how are you-are you ok?" Mack asked.
"Yeah, I feel fine really." Deke said. He looked at the team one by one, then he looked around the room he was in.
"Where are we?" Deke asked. "This isn't zephyr one."
"You're in the hospital section of the triskelion." Coulson explained.
"The triskelion, what? No, that can't be right." Deke looked at all of them confusing.
"What are you talking about?" Daisy asked.
"I'm supposed to be on zephyr one, helping you guys defeat Nathaniel and the chronicoms." Deke stated.
"Deke, that was over a year ago." Daisy said. Deke opened his mouth slightly.
"What? A year ago?" deke looked down, he tried to sit up a little on the hospital bed.
"Deke, take it easy alright." Mack said, moving a bit closer to Deke's bed.
"I'm okay, really." Deke responded. He sat up and faced the group.
"Now, explain to all of us how are you here?" Mack asked.
"You remember the time machine that Fitz built that brought him to 1983 and took you all back to 2019?" Deke asked. Everyone nodded.
"Well, I used the same machine to take me directly to zephyr one."
"How?" Daisy asked.
"I needed a strong energy source to power up the machine and take me directly to the zephyr. So, I stole a Pym particle in 1989, made some modifications and improvements to the machine, and waited until 2008 to-"
"Wait," Daisy cut him off. "2008? How old are you?"
"I'm 58 years old." Deke told the group. Everyone looked at each other in shock.
"What? What is it?" Deke asked, noticing the disbelief on their faces.
"Deke, how can you be 58 years old when you look exactly the same as we last saw you." Daniel asked.
"What are you talking about?" Deke asked in return. He saw a mirror on the wall, and he got up from his bed to walk towards it. He touched his face as he stared at the reflection of himself. He turned and walked towards the window overlooking D.C.
He stood looking over the city for a moment, then he touched his face again as he stared at his reflection again on the window.
"How did i-"
"Deke, are you alright?" Coulson asked. Deke slowly turned around to face the group.
"What's the exact date?" Deke asked the group.
"September 28, 2020." Coulson replied. Deke sat down on a chair in the room, looking down on the floor.
"I must have done something wrong." Deke said quietly.
"What are you talking about?" Mack asked. Deke turned his head to face the group, then he got up from the chair.
"Ok, I was in Los Angeles, California in 2008," Deke began explaining. "Tony Stark and Obadiah were fighting in iron man suits the night before tony announced that he was iron man."
"Yeah, I was there that night when it happened," Coulson remarked. "I was also there the next day when he announced that he was Iron man."
"Ok well," Deke continued, "also that night, Tony Stark released all of the energy from his arc reactor and shot it up in the sky, killing Obadiah in the process."
"Yeah, we have a file on the incident that night." Mack commented.
"I created an antenna that night that would draw all of that energy from the sky and into the time machine to power it up long enough for me to install the Pym particle and the destination to take me directly back to zephyr one. I was supposed to meet up with you guys in the year 2019 and help you defeat Nathaniel and the chronicoms."
"But how can you be 58 years old, and look exactly the same as when we last saw you?" Daniel asked.
"Well," Deke hesitated, then continued, "I didn't know exactly what would happen if I combined the Pym particle with arc reactor energy. I just knew that it was enough for me to power up the machine and take me directly to Zephyr one, perhaps too much power."
"So, you didn't know if it would really work, or if you would have survived the journey?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah, I knew there was a chance that I wouldn't survive." Deke said.
"But why would you really risk your life if you wanted to just come back and fight with us?" Coulson asked. Deke didn't say anything for a moment, looking over at the group in response.
"I missed you guys." deke admitted. "To you, the last time you saw me was a year ago, but for me it's been a lot longer than that. Sure, I was the director of shield until Nick Fury took my place. I traveled across the world as a rock star, but I never forgot about you guys." There was complete silence as no one knew what to say in response.
A doctor walked into the room; the same doctor that looked told the group that deke was awake.
"If you don't mind," the doctor broke the silence. "I'm going to have to check the patient now."
"Look, I am fine." Deke insisted. "I don't need a checkup."
"How is he, doctor?" Mack asked.
"Well, from what I can tell," the doctor began, "everything seems to be perfectly fine."
"See I told you." Deke commented.
"However," the doctor continued, "I would like to keep him here and do a full evaluation before I am certain that he is ready to leave."
"Take care of him, doctor." Mack told the doctor.
"No, trust me, I'm fine-"
"Deke, get some rest and listen to the doctor." Mack told Deke. "We'll catch up later once you're discharged." Mack and everyone else began leaving the room. They all stood outside.
"I can't believe he's here." Daisy said.
"He risked his life just so he can be back with us." Daniel said.
"Let's let him get some rest." Mack said. "We can check up on him tomorrow."
"Okay. I guess we'll see each other tomorrow." Coulson said. They all head towards the elevator. Daisy and Daniel met Kora, scuffing the ground with her shoe. "Is he… is he okay?" Kora asked.
"Yeah. he just needs some rest." Daisy answered.
"Do you… do you think he remembers me…?" Kora asked. The uncertainty was palpable in her voice and in her eyes. Daisy turned over to Daniel, then back to Kora. she reached out and touched Kora's shoulder again in comfort.
"Come on, let's go to a hotel."
I wasn't sure exactly how old Deke would have been, so I just went with the actor, Jeff Ward's age and made Deke out to be 33. And I wanted to offer a not too long explanation on how Deke got to 2020 before I continued on with the story. I hope it was a good explanation for you readers, please leave a review and tell me what you think.