Make Big Waves

by K2MK

The team fails to recover Daisy after her fight with Nathanial Malik. In an effort to try to keep herself alive just a little longer, she pulls in as much vibration as she can into her body just as Kora begins to channel energy into her from the rapidly approaching ship. When she opens her eyes, she's in her younger body, standing before Victoria Hand, her team, and John Garrett.

Chapter 1:

Idly, she watched purple strands of hair float in front of her face, blocking her view of the destroyed ship. Pieces of scrap floated alongside her, bumping against her arms and legs. She lazily tried to push one away, only her fingertips twitching in the effort. She blinked. Sound crackled in from her comms.

"Daisy? Daisy come on, stay with us! We're almost there!" A voice cried. Daisy wished she knew who, she should've known who, but her mind could not connect the voice to a face.

A new voice crackled in, this one a forced calm, belaying her terror, "Daisy if you can hear me, you need to use your powers to pull vibrations into yourself. Remember our practice with temperature? It's just warming yourself up, easy really, do you remember?"

She blinked again, focusing her blurred gaze on a faint light approaching. If they were this close… maybe. Maybe she'd try to hold on just a bit longer. With a deep breath, she reached out to the wreckage of the ship floating around her, her vibrational pulse skimmed along theirs, then pulled it in. Warmth buzzed against her skin, burning, searing, against her frostbitten limbs. Daisy gritted her teeth as the bones in her arms began to snap. Bruises appeared up and down her skin. Her fists clenched.

The light grew brighter, until it engulfed her. Daisy let out a gasp in relief as a wave of energy washed over her. Her powers pulsed. The solar energy engulfing her did as well. She closed her eyes.

Daisy sat up with a gasp, body tensing as she waited for the searing pain to hit. Except… it didn't come. Instead of the harsh buzzing against her skin, all she felt was a gentle hand. Her gaze traveled up the arm, to its owner.

"Skye? Are you okay?"

She sucked in a breath. Skye. He called her Skye. Her gaze snapped away from Coulson and darted to take in the room, heart pounding as she realized who surrounded her. May, Coulson, that she expected. But then she noticed fucking Victoria Hand, And beside her stood none other than Garrett, Sitwell, and Ward. Which meant… Trip. Trip had to be here too. Simulation or time travel be damned, she'd at least get to see Trip again.

"Trip…?" She questioned, before wincing internally at the surprise Coulson hid so poorly. Right. She wouldn't have known Trip long at this point. Unless… this timeline was different? No. Coulson's surprise seemed to match up with how long she knew Trip at this point in her own time.

"Agent Triplett? He's in the quinjet," Coulson answered, offering a hand to help Daisy up, which she took gratefully. "Ward, go get him please."

She almost snorted at the look on Ward's face. Almost. The man looked like he swallowed a lemon. He spared a quick glance to Garrett, and moved off to fetch Trip. God… How had they all missed that Ward wasn't loyal to them? He looked to Garrett for permission for just about everything when he was around. Coulson's gentle squeeze on her arm jostled out out of her thoughts.

"What happened, Skye?"

"I… Don't know. I just got a bit lightheaded… Maybe it's the altitude getting to me," based on Victoria Hand's face, they didn't buy it. She continued on, adding a false laugh, "or the stress. Creating a double blind secure enough to lock out level nine Shield agents isn't exactly easy, you know." There. That seemed to relax them a bit.

Victoria Hand spoke up, ever the efficient one, "Right, issue the information then. Skye, you're off the mission after this. We can't afford a liability."

Daisy gave a single nod. That worked for her. More time to figure out yet another plan to survive in an alternate timeline. Or simulation. Or whatever this was. From the corner of her eye, she saw May's gaze narrow ever so slightly. Fuck. Right. Skye wouldn't take getting kicked off a mission well. Too late to change it now.

She paused as she looked down to her phone. Should she keep the same teams? The same locations? One agent died last time… but he might have been Hydra anyway. None of her team got seriously injured. She'd keep everyone then. Even… Ward. Best to let Garrett believe the team bought Thomas Nash as the clairvoyant so he's willing to leave and give her more space to operate. Daisy sent the messages out to each agent.

"Done. Remember to leave discreetly. I didn't do all of this just so people can guess where you're going."

"Thanks, girl."

Daisy's gaze jumped up to meet Trip's. He leaned against the doorway with that big easy going smile of his, looking so… so real. So alive. She smiled back at him, deliberately keeping the rest of her posture relaxed, desperate to keep from throwing herself into his arms.

"No prob. About asking for you… I was thinking about how you should probably be at this little meeting before I went down. Guess it was just the first thing I thought of when I woke back up."

"Mkay. Yeah. You had us all worried. Glad it was just that."

And God isn't that what she loved about Trip. He didn't push. He didn't pry. He let you come to him in your own time and until then, well he just accepted what you told him.

"Yup, just that. Anyway, you guys gotta go. I'll stay here and stay out of the way, I promise," she spared a look to Victoria Hand, "buuuuut if you need me, I'll be right up here."

"Good," Hand responded, only looking a little skeptical of her.

Daisy retreated to her bunk as the team prepared to leave. She stepped into her room and flopped on the bed, taking a deep breath. She was home.

Chapter 2:

Daisy's fingers flew across the old, worn keys of her laptop. And… there. Six dots came online simultaneously, pulsing red on the map. She went down her list: Simmons at the Triskelion, Trip in the UK, May in Georgia, Coulson in Muncie, Fitz on the Bus. Perfect. From what she remembered, everyone was exactly where they should be. That gave her a window of a few hours to work uninterrupted.

She leaned back in her chair and cracked her knuckles. God, it felt good to hack again. She enjoyed fieldwork, sure, but hacking is where she got her start. Nothing beat the thrill of diving into a problem and outmaneuvering an opponent in a convoluted virtual battlefield. Or, even better, sneaking into someone's system undetected and leaving several surprises behind. She gave her worn, trusty laptop a pat as she stood and moved to the wall.

In one hand, she held a ball of red yarn. With the other, she taped up three pictures. Raina, Maria Hill, and… her own artistic interpretation of Kora. Did she add a mustache? Maybe. Kora could yell at her later, once Daisy found her. If she found her. Under Maria Hill, she added a smaller photo of Victoria Hand. She connected those two with the red string. For a moment, Daisy simply stared at the beginnings of her conspiracy wall. A short nod and it was decided. She leaned forward to scribble 'Catalyst' on each of the main three photos.

Kora. The ultimate goal, but the one least accessible. Maybe not even possible. Would she be alive? Daisy needed Kora to get back to her own… time? Universe? Body? Looking down at herself with pursed lips, she decided to go with body. That'd spare her a migraine or two. She felt Kora's powers mixing with her own just before everything went dark; finding her here and trying that again might get Daisy back to her own body. Maybe. Hopefully. Which of course depended on…

Raina. Daisy would, of course, need to get to her before Whitehall sunk his claws in. That could prove an issue. If she convinced Raina to hand over the Diviner, both would get their powers earlier than before. Raina's powers could help steer the changes she planned to make in the correct direction. She'd just hope Raina didn't decide to betray her. Again.

Maria Hill. The cleanup crew for the changes Daisy planned to make. Anyone who survived past their due time would become Maria's problem. It also helped that Daisy had an exact location for her, unlike the others. She shouldn't be too hard to-

"Uhh… Skye? What's uh… What's this?"

Daisy twisted, raising her arm in warning, her hardened gaze scanning the intruder. She could blast him away, or tug him into the room and-

"What's… Is this some new technique Ward's been teaching you?" Fitz raised his arm in a mockery of Daisy's, forming a glare he thought matched hers.

"I don't think it works," he chuckled, stepping into the room.

Daisy slid into his path, her arms lowering to cross against her chest. She took a deep breath, hoping her crossed arms hid the shaking in her hands.

"It's nothing," she searched his gaze, hoping that would be enough to satisfy, and nope. Definitely not enough. "Just… working on something for Coulson," she revealed with a sigh.

"Is that Agent Hand?" He pushed past her to point at the small photo on the wall. Her muscles tensed, her fingers gripped the fabric of her jacket hard enough to turn white, her scar ached. She took a step away, calves brushing against her bed frame.

"Yeah. You know Coulson doesn't believe Fury's dead. And if Fury's not dead, Hill would know. And who works with Hill? Victoria Hand. It all connects in Shield's mess of a bureaucracy."

"You do realize you are a part of Shield now, right?

Oh. That… She completely forgot. This mission saw her promoted to a level one Shield agent. How could she forget that…? One shaking hand reached into her pocket, fingers caressing the cold metal wings she knew she'd find there.

Daisy cleared her throat, "Yeah. Doesn't mean I can't be critical of it though. You were raised by the suits, I was raised to be sus of them. Just takes a bit of getting used to." She paused as a memory came to her, a bit of a laugh sneaking out against her will. "Besides, Shield protocol made Ward throw out your sandwich, didn't it?"

"Okay, yeah, when you put it that way, I agree. It was a perfectly good sandwich…"

"Yup."

"Simmons even made it with the aioli and everything…"

"I know."

"And Ward just threw it away!" He pitched his voice lower, crossing his arms in a failed attempt to look tough in his cardigan. "Dogs are tracking us, Fitz. We can't have snacks, Fitz. Yeah well, dogs can't smell a sandwich if you've eaten it! Bloody ridiculous…"

"You know… I heard he let Trip bring snacks on this mission. I think Simmons even packed him a sandwich."

"What? Oh, that little-... He's gonna get it!" Fitz turned on his heel and marched out, the door snapping shut with a soft hiss in his wake.

Daisy let her knees buckle, collapsing onto the bed. She took a deep breath, held it for a moment or two, and slowly let the tension ebb out of her muscles. Without her powers… She couldn't do this without her powers. She closed her eyes and reached out, desperate to latch onto the vibrations around her. Her focus narrowed in on the light vibration of her bed from the plane's engines. Into the darkness, she cast out her consciousness. Pushing, pushing, grasping onto them. Her fingers curled in her sheets. Nothing. Her consciousness tumbled, spiraling, unable to latch onto anything around her. Against Daisy's skin, her clothes grasped and tugged.

The sheets slipped from her fingers. Her eyes snapped open. She jerked upright. A part of her no longer existed, and God did it ache. Like a phantom limb, the empty space between her and the fundamental signatures of the world around her left a throbbing echo of what could have been. Of what once was. Of what will come.

Daisy stood. On the wall, Raina's picture replaced Maria Hill's as the first in line. Behind her, the door slid shut.

"I want this perimeter sealed. Two-man teams on every exit." Coulson commanded as he stepped out of one of SHIELD's very conspicuous black SUVs. "Fitz, you got a signal?"

"Ninety-four percent sir. So Deathlok must be inside somewhere."

May appeared next to the two, her head cocked slightly as she examined the warehouse. "Possible civilians inside?"

"Highly doubtful. This racetrack's been shut down for months."

May gave a nod, turning to the tac team milling around behind them. "Move out."

Daisy gave a nod in response, instinctively moving to head in with the tac team. She took her place at the front and did a quick headcount of the squad she'd lead in-

"Skye." Ward's voice stopped her in her tracks.

She turned to look at him over her shoulder as the tac team moved around her. So far, she'd managed to avoid him with relative success.

"I want you running back end from the tactical van." He turned to the agent on his right, "You, I want you five feet from her at all times. Weapons hot."

Fuck. That might… make things difficult. How could she forget Ward's weird over protectiveness after she took two in the gut? Actually, that might work in her favor later. But for now… "Ward, I'm fine. I'm ready."

"No, Ward's right." Dammit, Coulson. "I feel bad enough you're already back in the field. We're not taking any chances with your safety."

Daisy glanced at the agent, pursing her lips. With a curt nod to Coulson, she headed back to the van. As she sat down at her laptop, she felt the weight of the van shift again.

"Uh… You can wait outside, you know? It's a little crowded in here as it is." She pointedly glanced around the space.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Ward gave me orders-"

"Five feet away can still be outside. The wall of this van isn't that thick, dude." He still looked a bit doubtful. God, the way old Shield trained their grunts made her sick. "Isn't it better to be outside the van anyway? That way you can see the threat coming and stop it before it gets to me?"

"I… suppose." He hesitated for just a moment before nodding. "Fine. I'll be outside if you need me."

The van shifted again as the agent stepped outside and closed the door. Sealing her in. She focused back on her laptop. If memory served… they needed her at the beginning to navigate, but wouldn't notice if she stepped away for a moment once they found Nash.

"Skye, you online?" Coulson's voice crackled to life in her ear.

"Yup." She squinted at the screen before her. Was that…? There. "Deathlok's in the Northwest corridor." This time, she didn't mention his extra enhancements. No need to tip Garrett off what they knew. The multispectrum overlay confirmed her theory, though. With how Hydra embedded Mike Peterson's enhancements, she might be able to take control of them. Ideally, she'd get access through his eye, but Hydra likely thought to protect his eye more than the rest of him since a hacker could trace communications through it. Best to start with less protected areas and work her way through to the vital components.

"Uhhh… Signal's dead. Retriever's down." Fitz's voice filtered through this time.

"He knows we're here," May reported.

"Fitz, get back to the van. Now." Dammit, Coulson! She completely forgot about Fitz. The thought of sitting alone in the cramped van with him twisted in her gut. Not to mention, he'd make it impossible to sneak back to the Bus. She hissed under her breath.

Decision made. Daisy swept her gear into her backpack. Her fingers gingerly grasped the handle, easing the door open just a crack. Good. The agent faced toward the warehouse.

"I've got contact! Get down!"

She slipped out from the back of the van.

"Ward?"

"I've got two men down. I need a med team!"

As she moved away from the van she pulled out her phone. Her fingers flew across the keys as she sent Ward's location to the medics. "Got it. Requested one. May, he's coming your way."

Daisy reached the bus. Fitz should reach the van soon and wonder where she went. May should-

"Got him!" Perfect. She hauled herself up onto the ramp behind the guard. May's callout hopefully obscured any noise she made.

"He just ducked into the Southwest Stairwell. In pursuit." Daisy ran down the lengths of the hall and took the steps up into Garrett's quinjet two at a time.

"Wh-"

Daisy switched Fitz's comm to a separate channel and cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "I left for the Bus. Signal in the van went bad, I'm hoping to track him better from here."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay."

She let out a breath and swapped their comms back to the main channel as she scanned the quinjet for Garrett's computer.

"All teams, he's headed into the sub-basement. I do not have a visual."

There. She sat down at Garrett's laptop and set hers up right next to it.

"Fitz, you have a retriever down here?"

She opened her program, hissing softly as it slowly began to run through passwords.

"On their way."

Come on, come on. She didn't have time for this.

"Fitz, you getting this?"

Daisy snapped Garrett's laptop closed and shut down her program. She pulled open a different one instead. If she couldn't get into his laptop, she'd just piggyback off his communication to Mike's enhancements.

"Uhh barely, Sir. It leads down into the sewer system. That's under… at least forty feet of concrete? We'll be blind down there."

Shit. Hydra must have upgraded their end-to-end encryption after they tracked down Amador. She gritted her teeth and pressed onwards. She wished she remembered exactly how she tapped into the communication running to Amador's eye, but it'd just been too long. Too much happened since then. Too many years as a field agent and not a hacker.

"Sir, there's someone else down there."

"Copy that."

Alright, that meant they'd find Nash soon. She tuned out the rest of their comms and focused on hacking. They wouldn't need her for him. The sound of keys clicking echoed in the empty quinjet. Almost-

Daisy looked up, straight into a camera. Then back down to her program. Option after option sprung up. None of them good. If she dealt with the cameras, she wouldn't get into Deathlok's system before the team came back. If she didn't deal with the cameras, Garrett would come back and see her as a threat, not a tool.

She hissed. Her gaze returned to her laptop. The sound of clicking keys once again cut through the silence of the quinjet. In her comms, she heard the tension rising in Coulson's voice. A stray thought passed by. She could have saved Nash.

A gunshot echoed over the comms.

Daisy punched in the last few keys. Her screen flashed. Data flooded in. She leaned forward, ignoring the chaos erupting in her ear. Her eyes scanned the lines of code. Power, pressure and release values, speed… gait.

Chapter 3:

Daisy's foot left the last step on the staircase up to Garrett's quinjet just as her team boarded the plane. She watched Coulson escort Ward to the containment cell in silence. Last time, she went to speak with him. Should she do so again? She didn't need answers from him. Not anymore. But after the framework… She had to know if there was a chance to save him. It could wait… for now, but she mentally added Ward to her list of priorities.

Garrett said his goodbyes to Coulson and headed up into his quinjet. With luck… he wouldn't check the security tapes. Cocky, arrogant types like him didn't tend to, especially when they believed they outplayed every potential threat.

Fitz… ducked into the service door behind the cockpit? Did that happen last time? Daisy waited for Coulson to head up to his office and May to return to the cockpit before heading through the service door. Step with the outside of your toe, roll inwards. Just as May taught her. Daisy's silent footsteps followed the trail of soft scuffling up ahead. She stopped as the scuffling paused and tucked herself around the corner from Fitz.

"Yes!" he whispered. Then paused, listening to the person on the other end of the line. "Don't use my name, Jemma."

Simmons… why would he- oh. She knew she forgot something! Jemma snuck her blood off to the Triskelion to study. A study that would soon be interrupted by-

"What? I can't- You're cutting in and out. Hang on."

Hydra. Who took over the Triskelion. Who could get access to anything uploaded in the Triskelion's systems. It's a miracle Hydra didn't think to do a full system sweep. If they did, they wouldn't even need access to her encrypted drive. Which meant… Raina could study inhuman physiology before she could make contact. It also meant Ward wouldn't need to kidnap her which ruined her best shot at disabling Mike's kill switch. Then again, her best shot at making contact with Maria Hill relied on not going with Ward. Either way. She wouldn't leave it up to chance this time. She padded back down the passageway as Fitz began troubleshooting his secure line.

Last time she remembered discovering that the Clairvoyant must be a high-ranking Shield agent with Coulson. Which only served to make him paranoid and turn on just about everyone. But if she didn't lead him to that conclusion, he might not listen close enough to Garrett to realize he slipped up. Somewhere behind her, a door slapped open, and desperate footsteps broke out. She turned just in time to catch Fitz by the arms and stop him in his tracks. She let go and stepped back immediately afterward.

"Woah, woah. Slow down! What happened?"

"What? Nothing!" he squeaked.

"Fitz… What did you do?"

"Uhh… Well… I'm- I'm not quite sure actually. Cause um… I was just down doing maintenance in the avionics bay before… Okay. Why would May have an unauthorized encrypted hardline in the cockpit? Complete with a thumb scanner. That isn't listed in any of the specs," he rambled, running a hand through his hair. The pleading look he sent her almost broke her carefully controlled mask. This Fitz… he wanted to believe in all of them so much. He never took betrayal well. Her best friend…

Daisy shook her head and swallowed thickly. "Okay, encrypted hardline. Do we know why she has that?"

"No, but it's dedicated to only one receiver. She's not supposed to have that. Who's she talking to?"

"I don't know. Why don't you go find Coulson, okay? He'll know what to do."

"But what if she does something in the meantime? She was chasing me, Skye!" his voice broke at the end, his desperate gaze focused on her.

"I'll handle it. If she'd worried you found it, she won't be looking for me. Go to Coulson."

"Okay, okay. Be careful."

"I will."

They nodded at one another and split in opposite directions. Fitz… oh Fitz. His very conspicuous sprint to Coulson's office wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Too late now. She debated drawing her icer, she knew May had one, but decided against it. She could barely take May in a fight even in peak condition. Now? With no serum, no powers, and no muscles built from years of field work? Best not to chance it.

Boots scuffed against metal up ahead, near the entrance to the hanger. Two quick scrapes and then silence. May just checked a corner then. Daisy crept her way to the same corner. Once there, she transitioned to walking normally into the hanger, letting her footsteps announce her presence.

May spun to face her, sliding her icer into the back of her belt with practiced ease. Daisy pretended she didn't notice. Skye certainly wouldn't have. "May, I was just looking for you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was talking with Coulson earlier and something was… weird. Maybe I'm just crazy or-"

"No, no. Keep going. If something's wrong with Coulson we should be there to help him," May encouraged, stepping closer. Perfect.

"Mkay… Should we like… go somewhere else though?" Daisy jerked her thumb over her shoulder, in the direction of the cockpit. "I don't really wanna talk about AC where he might walk in."

"Of course." May gestured for Daisy to lead. Which… she did. Her skin itched as May slid into place behind her. Instinctively, she tried to tune into May's heartbeat and the vibrations of the icer in her belt. An unsettling, silent void received her. She yanked herself back, barely suppressing a shudder.

May's gaze narrowed behind her as they stepped into the cockpit. Something set Skye off. She saw her tense, then relax. When Skye turned to face her, however, May only saw the picture of a hesitant agent preparing to talk about a superior. Which she found suspicious on its own. Skye and Coulson holed up together for days, discussing what she suspected to be the drug. Why would Skye suddenly come to her to talk about Coulson unless… She knew.

"Fitz found your encrypted line," Daisy revealed. May's hand twitched toward the icer Daisy knew hid in her belt, so she pressed on. "I know it goes to Fury. None of the others do. But the Clairvoyant is a high-level Shield agent, with access to the files of level eight agents. They'll think you're the Clairvoyant unless you tell them."

May's stony expression gave nothing away. But Daisy knew her SO. She saw the ever so slight muscle twitch in her jaw. Shit. She meant to corner her, but not enough to make her desperate. She couldn't afford May to view her as a threat.

"Fitz went to Coulson and told him about the line. Without context or reason, they're going to turn on you, and you know that. It's what you would do if the situation was reversed. Please... Just tell them. We don't have time to fight."

"What do you mean we don't have time?" Of course, the first bit of that May latched onto would be her slip.

"I mean-" Beneath their feet, the Bus jolted, banking steeply to the right and sending both women stumbling. "I mean that."

"Skye. What did you do?" May growled.

"Not me! That's what I needed to tell you guys, but you were too busy being stubborn!" May's glare warned Daisy off from testing those waters again. She switched back to the situation at hand. "I intercepted chatter on the Shield channels. I'll show you in the command center after you clear the air with Coulson."

May pursed her lips and turned on her heel. Seems she'd do as Daisy suggested for now. But the tension hiding in her shoulders suggested that this conversation wasn't over.

May entered the command center first and came face to face with the barrel of a gun. She slowly raised her hands. "Coulson-"

"Are you here to explain who you are calling? Or where you're taking us? Because if not, I don't want to hear it," Coulson snapped. He tightened his grip on his gun.

Daisy slipped in behind May, sticking close to the wall as she crossed to Coulson's side of the room. She stood on the opposite side of the table from Fitz.

"I can explain everything. Just not here."

"Why not here? Do you have to check with someone first? Using that encrypted phone in the cockpit? Who's on the other end of that line, May?" he pressed.

May's jaw tightened. She cast a look at Daisy, then back to Coulson. Daisy gave her a nod. If May didn't talk, Daisy would spill anyway. And May knew it.

"Fury," she ground out between clenched teeth. "It's a direct line to Fury."

Coulson's gun lowered an inch. "Director Fury? I haven't been able to get him on the line in weeks."

"That's all I can tell you."

"Oh just come out with it!" Fitz yelled

"That's all you can tell us?" Coulson asked incredulously. His gone rose back up an inch.

"I'm under orders!" May raised her voice to match Coulson and Fitz. After a moment, she quieted down again. "Fury will tell you."

"Hold on." Coulson's eyebrows furrowed. "We're not headed to Fury anymore.

"I don't know where we're headed. I didn't set this new course, I swear!"

"Don't lie to me!" Coulson yelled, taking a step toward her.

"I'm not lying, Phil! HQ can override automated controls of the avionics, take us anywhere they want," she explained. "Let me go check the control panel maybe I can-"

"No. I don't trust you."

Daisy decided to step in before more paranoia could seep in, "Coulson… I dug into the encryption on the hardline. She's telling the truth. It linked to Fury."

Coulson's hard gaze flickered between Daisy and May. A beat passed. He lowered his gun. "Skye, hook your laptop up to our systems. See if you can pull up and Shield communications. I want to know where this plane is headed and why."

Daisy nodded, hooking her laptop in and settling in to type. So far, so good. Much better than last time. Adding May back into the equation made dealing with Hand much easier. Now she just had to worry about Garrett. There. She stared at the screen for a moment. Blocking the transmission would force Garrett to deal with the drones on his own. With the amount of fuel he said he had left last time… he wouldn't make it very long. But if he opted to head to the Bus for support anyway, regardless of confirmation of transmission, the UAVs would shoot both of them down without time to mount a defense. She grimaced and punched the button, taking her jammer offline.

Faint radio static came through Daisy's laptop. "Do… read… 616?"

Fitz looked around with a frown. "Where's that coming from…?"

"Close," Daisy muttered, focusing back on her laptop. Garrett's plight gave her a small window to work undetected on hacking into Mike's eye.

More static cut through, then, "Enemy aircraft on my tail, over."

"Garrett?" Coulson shifted around the command table, moving closer to Daisy and the laptop.

"Coulson I'm under attack," a burst of static cut out his next words, only the end of the sentence coming through, "… drones. I repeat. Shield drones are on my ass. We're not getting along. Do you copy?"

"Copy. Garrett, what's happening? We've lost control of our aircraft."

"Hell if I know. Tell me you got guns on that thing, I'm coming to ya."

Coulson looked at May, then Fitz. "Fitz, can you manually wire the guns to weapons control and bypass our system?"

"If- If I have cables long enough, yeah," he nodded lamely.

"Good. May, you may be telling the truth, but that makes you an ally right now, at best. And one I'm still not convinced I can trust. You're staying with me."

May's nostrils flared, but clearly decided arguing wouldn't help her in this situation. She gave a nod.

"Then let's go," he said. Fitz took off to the weapons bay. Coulson and May followed on his heels.

Daisy booted up a program to decode the chatter clogging the Shield comm channels and let it run in the background. She didn't need to pay attention to that, she knew what she'd find. While Garrett dodged the UAVs, she broke through the first layer of encryption in Deathlok's eye.

Coulson led Garrett and May into the command center, where Daisy waited. She didn't want to do this in front of Garrett, but she needed Coulson's paranoia to kick in now so he could pick up on Garrett's clues later on.

"I'm working on decoding the transmission now. Should be done soon. But I thought of something while you were gone. The Clairvoyant is a Shield agent," she said.

Coulson did a double-take, "What?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. The details the Clairvoyant knows? They're pulled straight from Shield files on its agents." She paused for a moment. She could still see the doubt in Coulson's eyes. Her voice softened as she continued, "Your psych eval listed your father's death as a defining moment. Did Raina ever bring that up?"

Coulson sucked in a breath, then slowly breathed out, "Dinners at the Richmond… You're right. Using high-level clearance to stay ahead of us, making it seem like she's got psychic abilities."

"She?" Garrett questioned, "You think Victoria Hand is the Clairvoyant?"

Coulson inclined his head.

"I don't mean to pee in the punch bowl, but that doesn't make a lotta sense. I was stationed with Vick in Lisbon. She's a hardass and a buzzkill at parties, I grant you. But do you really think she's capable of that?"

"Excuse me. Didn't she just try to blow you out of the sky? Those were Shield drones. Only HQ could have dispatched them."

"Don't get me wrong she's definitely gone nuts, but her actions prove she's not the Clairvoyant, right? She's been hiding in plain sight all this time, why reveal herself now?"

Daisy pointed to the main screen. The letters unscrambled before their eyes, one by one. Well, everyone else's eyes but Daisy's. Her gaze rested solely on Garrett. "Because Hydra is."

"Well I'll be…" He murmured. And isn't that interesting… She thought Garrett knew ahead of time what Hydra planned, but either he's better at masking his body language than she thought, or he genuinely didn't know. Which, she reluctantly admitted, made his plan a bit more impressive. For just realizing all of his plans needed to change, making those changes, and still getting as far as he did? She'd give him a breadcrumb of credit. No. Nevermind. She'd give that credit to Fury. He taught Garrett everything he knew.

Fitz chewed on his nail. His eyes remained trained on the screen. "I thought Hydra was defeated after World War Two?"

"It was. Shield was founded in the wake of that victory," Coulson explained. Falsely, Daisy might add. Shield really thought no longer looking for Hydra meant that it disappeared. Telling every agent that it was gone, with no room for argument, certainly didn't help. If no one believed in it, who would notice the massive red flags waving in their face?

"And now they're back?"

"Hydra always comes back." Of course, Garrett knew that. Believing in Hydra when every other agent didn't? She mentally added it to the long tally of Garrett's red flags.

"Cut off a head, two more will take its place," Coulson recited.

"A head? I thought it was a limb."

Fitz shook his head. "No, no-"

"It's a head," Coulson finished.

Daisy cut through their chatter. "The message came from a Shield source. It's gotta be a message for other Hydra sleeper agents within Shield."

"Hand must be one of them."

Daisy opened her mouth, then closed it. This would go much easier if she had at least one convincing reason why Hand couldn't be Hydra. Unfortunately, the woman seemed to make it her mission to act as conspicuously as possible.

"Okay, stop, stop. What does that mean? End Shield?" Fitz held up his hands, his breath coming a bit faster now.

"Targeting level eight agents. Seizing power," Garrett stated, mouth set in a grim line, "wonder how deep it goes."

"The signal is everywhere. It's deep," Daisy confirmed.

Coulson looked to Garrett. "You know what this means?"

"Yeah. We're screwed."

"We can't change course, and we have no idea what's waiting for us at the hub."

Daisy chewed on her nail. Her gaze bored into Fitz. Her idea could help, but Fitz never mentioned his own encrypted line this time. She'd need to admit to snooping. Or… she could simply nudge him in the right direction. "Is there a way to change the receiver of May's direct line? If it went undetected by Shield for this long, we can talk to Simmons and get info on the inside without Hydra knowing."

"No. That line was specifically created to connect to one end source. The only way to change it is at the other end," May sighed.

Fitz fidgeted. His hands tugged at his shirt. "Um... Sir. I might… have an encrypted line set up with Jemma at the Hub…"

"What?" His shock soon morphed into dark suspicion. "Fitz… Why would you need an encrypted line with Simmons? What's so secret that-"

"Oh well you tell me! Simmons and I know you two have been whispering, keeping things from us about the drug that saved your life." The hand that was gripping his shirt lashed out to point at Daisy and Coulson. "Simmons is just trying to figure out how the whole thing works!"

The entire room paused. Fitz's chest heaved. His hand moved to run through his hair. Then stilled. They could all see the moment it set in.

"Hydra… If they find out what she's doing they'll-" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "We have to save her."

"Trip too." Daisy and Garrett muttered at the same time. She felt his gaze snap to her and refused to meet it.

"Right," Garrett continued, "I don't mind saying that I don't like the odds on this one. You should let your specialist out of your cage. We could use every weapon we can get."

Coulson pursed his lips and debated for a moment. "Fine. You get Ward. Fitz, set up that encrypted line. May, you're with me. It's time Fury gave us some answers."

Chapter 4:

Fitz ran into the command center just as the Bus touched down at the Triskelion He leaned over, resting his arms on his legs, and sucked in deep breaths. May, Garrett, Coulson, Ward, and Daisy stopped gearing up to look at him, waiting for him to speak.

After a moment, he gathered himself and straightened up to speak. "Simmons is okay. She tried to call Agent Weaver and that's how she found out about Hydra. They- uh… they took the Academy sir…"

"Damn," Coulson breathed, "they're everywhere… What about Trip?"

"With Simmons, sir. They locked themselves in a lab."

"Good. We'll head straight-"

Gunfire cut Coulson off. Glass sprayed through the command center. Bullets snaked through the now exposed windows.

"Get down!" Ward shouted. He grabbed Daisy by the arm and hauled her close. His chest pressed against her back as he shielded her with his body. Daisy stiffened. She barely managed to stop her instinctive elbow into Ward's solar plexus. Instead, she held her breath and curled her fingers in a tight fist. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, hyper-aware of Hive—no not Hive, not yet—Ward, in her blind spot.

She waited only long enough for a break in the firing before shifting out from under him. Ward called out after her, "Skye! Where are you-"

"I need to wipe the plane's systems," she called over her shoulder. As she moved through the plane, she carefully avoided the windows. Behind her, she could hear scuffling as her team realized no more shots would come through. They had some time before the surgical strike team got in.

Daisy plopped down on the table in the weapons locker, laptop situated on her lap. By the time the rest of the team filed in, she was already a third of the way through her wipe.

"You could've been shot, Skye!" Ward marched over to her, "You have to wait for the all-clear next time. Or at least let one of us go first."

"Kinda busy right now…" she responded absently. Her attention was concentrated solely on the screen before her, but at the anger practically wafting off of Ward—and Maria really was right with her spiky poop on Ward's assessment—she looked up with a sigh. "I knew I had time to at least get to another bit of cover before they fired again since they'd need to reload. I also had a very strict SO," she gazed intently at him, she meant May but he could believe what he liked, "who made me read up on all of Shield's tactical mumbo jumbo. We knew they'd want to keep the aircraft, that means a surgical strike team comes next, not more bullets to damage the plane."

Ward crossed his arms, and for a moment, she thought he'd try to reprimand her again, but he didn't. Instead, he crossed over to the large screen in front of the table. "The 084 specs, Asgardian weaponry, portal creation, Donnie's weather machine. If they get their hands on Gravitonium in the Fridge-"

Daisy's eyes widened a fraction as she saw Coulson's mouth open to interrupt. Coulson would say the Gravitonium is under the Fridge, no records. That's how Garrett knew… She jumped in instead. "They can't."

From the corner of her eye, she saw May's eyebrows furrow. Coulson spared her a surprised glance. And Ward pushed, of course. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's no record of Gravitonium in the Fridge. Trust me, I've looked. They'd have no way of knowing about it." She paused for a moment and looked down at her screen. "Only way they'd know is if someone told them."

Ward's gaze practically burned into her head, and she did her best to hide a smirk. Suck it, Ward. Coulson glanced between the two and replied, "She's right."

Ward opened his mouth as if to respond, then snapped it shut. His lips pressed tight together. Perfect.

"I need a few more minutes to finish my scrub. It's taking a bit longer 'cause I backed up everything on this hard drive, just in case." She gestured to the hard drive plugged into her laptop. All for show, of course, just enough data to keep anyone who skimmed it happy. The real data flooded into a hidden file backup she had set up in Miles' system back when she was part of The Rising Tide. She would've preferred to keep it somewhere more secure, but Miles never cleaned out his files, and no one from Shield or Hydra would think to check there. She hoped.

Ward's gaze snapped to the drive. She could practically see him filing the information away for later. Garrett walked by with Fitz and broke his concentration. "We're working on buying you some."

After a few minutes, Daisy snapped her laptop closed. "Done, let's go."

Fitz nodded and pulled out what looked to be a flashlight. That was until a jet of blue light came from the tip and began cutting through the metal flooring of the plane. His cut ran steady until a jolt rocked the plane. "Dammit!" he cried and brought it back on track with shaking hands. A second explosion sent a wave of vibrations through the plane. Must have been one of Garrett's traps. A moment of silence passed. Then the sound of footfalls echoing on metal reached their ears. Fitz finished his cut and pushed down, revealing a hole into the tunnels below the base. One by one, the agents dropped down.

"Alright, here's where we split," Coulson said, coming to a stop in the hallway. "Skye and Ward-"

"Heading to the Nerve Center," Ward confirmed.

Coulson gave an approving nod, "Disable their systems, most importantly, their control of our plane."

"Copy that." Daisy turned to head out, letting Ward go in front. Normally, she would be more than happy to be the Shield for her team, but not for him. She wouldn't make the mistake of leaving her back open to Hive—no—Ward again.

Coulson called out after her and Ward as they retreated down the tunnel. "Remember, these agents are under orders. ICERs only. We'll find Simmons and get her out."

Daisy dropped down into the supply closet first and moved close to the door, listening to the agents moving outside. Ward followed suit a moment later.

"Lethal force is authorized," they overhead a commander saying, "shoot to kill."

Great. She loved Coulson, she really did. But god they could use some real guns. ICERs worked wonders for in and out extractions but posed active risks during fights for control. Even if they cleared a room, the downed agents could wake up and pinch them from behind. Shield or Hydra, it didn't particularly matter, both were on the hunt. Better to disable with real guns and remove enemy agents from combat for the entire mission. She got that the agents could be Shield, but Shield was trying to kill them too at this point.

Ward's voice broke her from her thoughts. "Give me the hard drive."

"What? Why?"

"Cause I haven't taught you how to hold up under torture yet."

"Then don't let me get tortured."

"I'm not planning on it," he hissed, "but just in case, it's safer with me."

"The processing center is at the end of that hallway, Ward. You heard how many agents were out there. If you go down, do you really think I can recover the drive, alone?"

He stared at her for a long moment, clearly trying to come up with some excuse to get it from her. Too bad he had no logic to back him up. He seemed to realize that too after a moment. He gave a stiff nod. "Fine. Give me your ICER. Thanks."

The old Skye would have wished him luck. Eased his conscience. Actually, the old Skye would've kissed him. She couldn't bring herself to do any of it. It might help her cover, but the sick twisted feeling in her gut had a vice grip on her throat. She could feel the dryness itching in her nose, her throat, Hive forcing himself in. No words came out.

He stood with a soft exhale. One hand rested on the door. He glanced over his shoulder. "If we make it outta this, maybe we can… grab a drink," his gaze flicked down to her lips. "You and me."

She looked away to hide the rage she knew burned in her irises. The lump in her throat took a moment to clear before she could speak. "Are you-?"

"Remember that bar in Dublin?" He cut her off. Of course he cut her off. The ass. "You offered to… talk. I didn't wanna talk. I needed to keep things compartmentalized."

Daisy raised an eyebrow, tongue pressing into her lip. "Like you did with May?" She almost laughed at his reaction. There was no shame there. She might've taken it that way when she was younger, his sigh and look away would've fooled her. But now she could tell he was just annoyed. How dare she be difficult to manipulate. Which… Why did she recognize that look so easily…? Nevermind. "I'm not an idiot. We live on the same plane, for God's sake."

"Well with her I knew I could. With you? I didn't wanna risk it."

"I was offering to talk, Ward," she replied, her tone scathingly dry, "not to have sex with you."

"I'm not saying that!" Uhuh. "I'm saying… I want a chance to take you up on it. To have that talk." He stared at her for a moment, observing her crossed arms and downward gaze. Then looked away with a sigh. "Look, I know, I'm not that guy. Too locked down, too boring, but—"

"Locked down? Being a Shield agent is hardly locked down and boring, Ward."

He chuckled a bit. "Yeah. Then… we'll have that drink?" He looked back at her. She could feel his hope. But how much of that was an illusion? Even now, she didn't know.

"We'll see."

He let out another sigh. Then a slow nod. His hand wrenched the door open and he stepped out into a swatch of agents. The sound of gunfire soon followed.

Daisy shut the door and locked it. Now… time to make it look like a struggle. She knocked a few items off the shelving lining the walls. Grabbing a broom from the corner, she broke it across her knee and tossed the two halves to the side. From her belt, she pulled a pistol. A real one. Not the ICER Coulson insisted on. She fired two shots into the wall and booked it up the ladder.

By the time Ward busted his way back into the closet, Daisy was long gone. The only thing left behind was evidence of a struggle. He looked between the ladder and the hallway. Orders… or Skye? Or… both. He could use the Nerve Center to find Skye, then blow it. Decision made, he ran back to the Nerve Center

Ward arrived in the hallway just in time to see the last loyal agents of shield hauling Garrett away, along with other Hydra agents. He caught Garrett's eye. Garrett's gaze narrowed. Ward masked his emotions well, but Garrett raised him. He knew to look for the telltale muscle in the boy's jaw and the tension in his shoulders. Something happened. Something that wasn't in the plan. Garrett frowned as the agents dragged him out of the hall, pondering what could spook the kid so much.

Coulson stepped over to Ward once Garrett was removed from the hallway, his icy blue eyes narrowed as well. "Where's Skye?"

Ward's fist clenched, and he shook his head minutely.

"Ward… Where's Skye?" He pressed

"I. Don't. Know." Ward growled.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

By now the whole team had gathered around, confusion on their faces, hidden with varying degrees of success.

"I mean I don't know! I left to clear the hallway to the nerve center. When I got back to tell her the coast was clear, she was gone. Evidence of a struggle. I went back to the nerve center to try to find her, but half the cameras were down. I had to blow it after." He hissed. 'Because of you' went unsaid.

Coulson took a deep breath and turned to face the rest of his team. It wasn't over. Not yet. Not until they found Skye. "I'll send out an alert. In the meantime, pair up and start searching. The base is on lockdown, if they tried to get her out, we'd know. That means they're still here somewhere. Go."

Chapter 5:

May fell into stride beside Coulson as he exited his briefing with Agent Hand. He glanced over, lips pursed. He hated how natural having her by his side felt, even now. But sending her away would be too dangerous. No. Best to keep her close, where he can keep an eye on her.

"Well?" May's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Straight to the point, as always.

"She has a team going through security footage now, but Hydra took down a lot of the cameras once they realized they didn't have control of the surveillance systems. She offered to send a couple extra teams to help us look but I declined."

"Ah. Good call."

"Mhm. We don't want anyone out where they shouldn't be and help whoever has Skye. Meantime… we're cleared to search."

May nodded and the two walked in tense silence for a while. After searching their third room in the command suites, May broke the silence again. "She'll be okay, Phil."

"Thanks but I don't really need your empty platitudes right now," he snapped back as he opened the door to the next room, gun at the ready.

"It's not- I mean it. She's held her own time and time again on ops she shouldn't have been involved in the first place." May swung to clear the left side of the room as Coulson cleared the right. When they reconvened in the middle, she held up a hand to cut off the response she saw him preparing. "I'm not saying it's your fault. You couldn't stop her from taking on those ops if you tried. But she's good at surviving, and Ward's been training her. She'll be fine."

He didn't respond, just turning to leave and head to the next room. But he didn't hold as much tension in his shoulders as he did before. She'd consider that progress.

Simmons cast nervous glances at Trip every few minutes as they walked through the research labs. He hadn't said a word since they began searching. She quickly looked away as he caught her gaze.

"You can stop looking at me like I'm going to break, girl," he huffed as he detoured into a biology lab to boot up the computer.

Simmons followed behind him and began poking around the various instruments and closets. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm just worried… It must be really hard having your SO betray you like that," she paused for a moment as she checked the medical equipment,"but if f you want to talk, I'm here. Okay?"

"I don't. Not right now. But… Thank you for the offer. I'll keep it in mind."

"Of course." She poked around a bit more but found nothing. "Doesn't look like they came through here. Ready to go?"

"Yeah let me just- oh hang on." Trip frowned at the screen, leaning closer to it to verify what he was seeing. Or rather, the lack of what he saw.

Simmons moved to hover over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"I was going to delete your research on Skye's blood just in case Hydra compromised the system. But someone got here first."

"What?" Simmons squeaked, eyes widening. "You mean Hydra has all of my research?"

"No. I mean it was wiped. Someone wiped it. And they did a damn good job of it too."

They turned to look at each other, the realization hitting at the same time. "Skye." They breathed together.

Ward prowled down the lower-level corridors near the hangar. Fitz scurried behind him, tablet in hand, rambling on. "I mean… She's gonna be okay. She's smart. She did that whole party with Ian Quinn the first time and got in! And now you've been training her. It'll be fine. She's gonna be fine. Right, Ward?"

"Fitz!" Ward snapped, turning to him, "She's going to be fine. But can you please shut up? I'm trying to focus here."

"Oh. Yeah. Right. Obviously. Sorry." He spewed out, though quickly zipping his lips at Ward's glare.

Ward just sighed and turned to head down the hallway once more. He opened the supply closet on his left and pushed inside, gun at the ready. He checked his corners, then turned to leave as he confirmed it was empty.

"I heard you let Trip bring a sandwich when you went to find the Clairvoyant…" Fitz grumbled as Ward emerged from the closet.

Ward looked over at him, opening his mouth, then closing it and tilting his head. "What?"

"Yeah. Skye told me allll about it. Bet you all like him better than me, huh? Cause he's all tall and muscular and-"

"Fitz, stop. What? He never took a sandwich on the op."

Fitz froze, glancing between his tablet and Ward. "Wait.. but that would mean… Skye lied to me?"

"Uhuh."

"But- But why would she do that?

Ward almost laughed at the desperate look on Fitz's face. The poor man looked like his world just shattered. He cleared his throat as he forced the bubbling laugh down and forced his neutral mask into place. "Maybe she just wanted you to shut up and leave her alone."

Fitz sucked in a breath and flinched back. Ward grimaced internally. Maybe that was a bit far. He continued after a moment, feeling just a bit bad, not that he'd ever admit it. "Or maybe she was just joking. Pulling your leg."

"Oh-... Haha. Yeah. Probably that. Definitely that. Not a funny joke though…" Fitz grumbled some more. But he looked a bit brighter than before. The scowl was gone at least. "Come on, we should keep looking."

Ward rolled his eyes as Fitz pushed in front of him and followed him down the hall. They rounded the corner just in time to see Victoria Hand heading down the hall with a team of agents and Garrett.

"Agent Ward. Agent Fitz." She greeted, curt as usual.

"Agent Hand. Are you transferring Garrett?" Ward asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to figure out the best way to free Garrett. Which… would involve going with Hand, and leaving Skye. But if Skye truly was with Hydra, Garrett would know. Ward just hoped she wasn't taken on his orders.

"Yes. He's going to the Fridge. I'm relocating there myself since it hasn't been breached yet."

"Ah… Would you mind if I tag along? I want to turn the key on his cell myself."

Hand pursed her lips as she considered. "Doesn't your team need you here? Looking for Skye?"

"The Triskelion is on full lockdown, they won't get her out of here. And Garrett's Hydra," he sneered, "if anyone knows where they took her, it would be him. Besides, I want to watch him suffer."

"I suppose… I wouldn't mind the company. Come along then. Agent Fitz, comm Coulson and tell him I'm stealing Ward for a bit."

"Y- Yes ma'am." Fitz stuttered, shifting out of the way as Hand brushed past him, Ward following behind her a moment later. He watched their retreating forms move down the hallway, toward the main hangar doors.

"Umm…. Coulson? Agent Hand took-" Fitz started speaking into his comm at the same time Simmons' excited voice came through. "Coulson! We think we fou-"

"Oh, Jemma. You go first. Sorry."

"No no, you go ahead, you started first."

"Mm mm ladies first, Jemma."

"But-"

"Enough!" Coulson cut them off. "Simmons, talk to me. What did you find?"

"Oh! We think Skye was in the biology lab at one point! Trip tried to go through some um… Some data we had here but it was gone. Like it never existed. That has to be Skye, right?" Simmons asked hopefully.

"It could be… But if she was taken, how would she have done that?"

"Maybe… they were looking for our research and told her to download it from the system for them? And she managed to wipe it instead of downloading it?"

The comms were silent for a moment. Coulson eventually spoke again, "We're going to talk about that research later, Simmons. May and I are on our way down to the labs. Fitz, what did you have for me?"

"Oh yeah. So um… Agent Hand just took Ward with her to the Fridge."

"She what?"

"Yeah. Ward asked to go help lock Garrett up and Agent Hand said yes so… They're about to get on the quinjet. Should I stop-" A single gunshot cut him off and echoed over the comms. Fitz definitely did not let out a squeak as he scurried into a supply closet.

"Fitz!" Jemma cried in his ear.

"Fitz, was that a gunshot? What happened? Where are you?" Coulson shouted, and was that movement he heard? Yeah yeah. Definitely movement. Oh good. They'd come to get him before Hydra came and found him in his hiding spot and put a-... Coulson asked a question. Right.

"I- Yeah- Yeah. That was a gunshot. It came from the hangar? I think?" He rambled, fingers running through his hair. "Ward was- Ward just entered the hangar. I don't know if- oh God what if they shot Ward!"

May's steady voice appeared in his ear, "Calm down, Fitz. Breathe. We're on our way, just stay where you are. Ward was wearing a bulletproof vest last time you saw him, right?"

His voice shook slightly as he spoke, "I- I think so." And yeah. Now that he thought back on it… Ward was. He hadn't taken it off. He'd be okay.

"Then he's fine. Do you know where you are?"

"Yeah- I think- Yeah. Just outside the main hangar doors… In a supply closet."

Coulson's voice replaced May's in his ear, "Just hang on, we're almost there."

Fitz nodded to himself and scrambled to the back of the room. With his knees hugged to his chest, he waited. Footfalls sounded up and down the halls. Friendly agents rushing to help or Hydra? He didn't know. He didn't know and now he was stuck and alone and his team couldn't help and Ward might be bleeding out and-... The door opened.

"Skye?"

Daisy pulled up Shield's security feed on her phone as she made her way down to the bio labs. So much to do, so little time, but covering her tracks came first. She followed a path of disabled cameras as she went, and took down the ones that she couldn't sneak around. Once at the doors, she entered and beelined for the computer. A few keystrokes later and she wiped Simmons' research from the system. She stepped out of the lab and let out a sigh. She'd make it up to Jemma. Later.

Of course, a perfect path to the hangar didn't exist. Too many cameras online and too many agents around… Shield and Hydra. She closed her eyes and pushed out, only to snap them open a moment later as she felt herself flounder in the void. Right. No powers. No way to feel for secret passages Fury built. Dammit.

Daisy glanced back down to her phone to check the cameras and- oh wasn't that perfect. Garrett had her team at gunpoint. Agent Hand and her agents waiting outside. The two highest-ranking agents in Shield busy. She mapped out her path, not the most efficient, but from what she could see the office spaces were emptied. Most agents not cleared for fieldwork clearly fled long ago, and Hydra decided accounts didn't warrant their attention. As she moved through the building, she shot out any online cameras.

She waited to exit the offices, watching the cameras of the hallway outside. A team of agents walked down the hallway. They turned the corner. Daisy counted to six, then shut off the camera with her phone and slipped into the hallway behind them. A few careful hallways later and she ascended the staircase to the third floor of the hangar. She found a small office and slipped inside, though she left the door cracked.

Once inside, Daisy sat down behind the desk and pulled her laptop out of her backpack. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, then stilled. A single white cursor blinked at her against the backdrop of a room. She sucked in a deep breath and began to type.

Just act natural.

The camera immediately shifted. Well, so much for natural.

Hooded Hero. Scary men in dark suits.

The camera stilled again. Good. She had his attention. Hopefully, he recognized that.

Waiting for an Ace up my sleeve. Good soldiers follow orders.

She exited out of the program before she could see his reaction. It took everything in her not to just ditch her team right now and go rescue Ace. They'd get him soon. Much sooner than last time if she could help it. But for now… she turned her comms back on.

Simmons' voice crackled to life in her ear, "Maybe… they were looking for our research and told her to download it from the system for them? And she managed to wipe it instead of downloading it?"

The comms were silent for a moment. Coulson eventually spoke again, "We're going to talk about that research later, Simmons. May and I are on our way down to the labs. Fitz, what did you have for me?"

"Oh yeah. So um… Agent Hand just took Ward with her to the Fridge."

Shit. Daisy quickly stood up and moved next to the door. She inched it open just enough to see down into the main hangar. A team of agents… Garrett… There. Ward and Hand. She drew her gun. Breath in. Breathe out. The gun kicked back in her hands. Panic erupted below. Daisy grabbed her laptop and ran back downstairs.

She tuned back into her comms just in time to catch May's voice. "Then he's fine. Do you know where you are?"

"Yeah- I think- Yeah. Just outside the main hangar doors… In a supply closet." Fitz responded.

Coulson's voice replaced May's in her ear, "Just hang on, we're almost there."

Supply closet by the hangar doors. Yeah. She could do that. Probably. If she snuck out the West exit and cut across back toward the Southern doors, she could make it look like she came from… well anywhere but the hangar really. It didn't take long for her to navigate that passage. By the time she reached the Southern entrance, agents were just beginning to pour into the hangar. She let them pass and moved to the first supply closet on her left, slipping inside.

"Skye?" Fitz yelped in surprise, scrambling to his feet.

"Fitz! You're okay!" Daisy laced her voice with false surprise.

"I'm okay? You're okay! We were all worried sick! We've been looking for you and then- then the gunshot and I thought something happened!"

Daisy held back a wince, a bit of guilt settling in her chest. She needed to get away but she forgot how protective the team was of her. In her time, separating from the group was known and expected behavior from her. The team trusted her to hold her own and knew she only did it if the benefits outweighed the risks. But now… they didn't know she could hold her own yet. They couldn't know. The guilt stayed lodged like a stone in her gut anyway.

"Sorry! Hydra busted my hiding spot when Ward was busy, it took me a bit to get away. And then I couldn't be sure who in the hallways was Shield and who was Hydra so I had to sneak my way around which took forever." She sighed, then straightened in a bit of forced confusion. "Wait, gunshot?"

"Yeah I was- I was with Ward and we were looking for you but then he left with Hand and went to the hangar and I heard a shot and then I hid in here! I'm- I'm a coward, I know. Ward could be hurt and I'm just- I'm just hiding in here!" Fitz descended into a shaky ramble the longer he went on. His hands ran through his hair over and over again as he paced. Daisy could tell he was near tears.

"Hey, Fitz, look at me. Ward's gonna be fine, okay? He's gonna-" She paused mid-sentence and whirled around to face the door as it opened, gun leveled, her finger on the trigger. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. Blood rushed to her ears. She didn't hear them coming. She didn't feel them coming. She was blind, and God it terrified her.

Coulson stepped through the door first, and the two came face to face with each other's muzzles. Daisy immediately lowered hers and shoved it into her back pocket. She didn't think Coulson caught that it was real, but based on how May's eyes narrowed as she slipped inside behind Coulson, May might've.

"Coulson!" Daisy jumped to talk before May could think too hard about what just happened. "You scared me!"

"Skye? We were looking everywhere for you, what happened?" Coulson lowered his gun.

"Fitz!" Simmons burst into the closet before Daisy. The two desperately clinging to one another.

"Jemma! Jemma, I'm okay- I'm okay. I promise."

Daisy watched the two with a fond smile before turning back to Coulson, "Hydra found me while Ward was clearing the path to the nerve center. They took me with them to decrypt something, but I managed to slip away once they got news that Garrett and a couple of the other higher-ranking Hydra members were captured. They kinda fell apart after that."

"Good," She could practically see the tension leaking out of Coulson's frame, "Did they hurt you?"

"No, I'm all good."

"Sir- Sir is Ward okay?" Fitz piped up. He and Simmons had stopped hugging, but they stood about as close as they could get away with.

"Ward's fine. He's getting on a quinjet now to transfer Garrett to the Fridge." Coulson responded, but if his pinched expression was anything to go by, he was leaving something out.

Fitz breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against Simmons. Daisy gave him a moment before pushing Coulson. "What happened then?" At Coulson's obvious surprise she just scoffed. "I can see that you're not telling us something. You get this certain look when you have something you don't wanna tell us."

"What? I do not have a look." Coulson turned to May incredulously, " Do I have a look?"

May just nodded with a tiny smirk.

"Dammit. Okay. Fine." He turned back to Daisy, quickly sobering up. "Fitz was right about a shot. Looks like Hydra made a last-ditch effort to get rid of Agent Hand."

Chapter 6:

Daisy ducked out of the briefing room to check her phone as General Talbot's—wait no, Colonel Talbot's—transmission came in. Seemed Ward and Garrett already managed to bust Raina from prison, if the sudden disappearance of the prison's surveillance system was anything to go by. They moved faster than she thought they did last time, but maybe that was just because she didn't have eyes on them last time. But it shouldn't be long now before Raina realized they needed her and the hard drive.

Coulson exited the room with May on his heels a moment later. "This doesn't sound good. If Talbot's leading the op, there's nothing peacekeeping about it."

"Base defenses are operational. We could hold out." May responded.

Daisy tuned both of them out as she followed behind. She forgot about Talbot, though since she needed Maria that was a stupid mistake. She didn't have to deal with him now, she supposed. And if she had time before he became a true pain in the ass… Hale could come into play. She'd set them up against one another, that should keep both of them too busy to make their lives miserable. That sat near the bottom of the list, though. For now, she had a resume to send in.

"Huh…"

"What?" Ward wandered over to where Garrett sat with his computer in the underground barber shop base. Freeing him had gone over much easier than expected with Hand out of the way.

"Was combing through the quinjet surveillance to see what Shield got up to in there while we were in the Triskelion. And would you lookie here? That's your girl, isn't it?" Garrett pointed to grainy footage of Daisy sitting in the bay of his quinjet. "Any idea what she's doing in my jet? And with my laptop?"

Ward's brows furrowed as he leaned in closer, "No… When's this from?"

"The fake Clairvoyant op. I thought she was in the van."

"She was supposed to be. Said she moved to the Bus for better internet or something…" Ward frowned as Daisy looked directly into the camera for a moment, then back to the

computer. "Look. She knows she was spotted. Why didn't she delete the footage?"

"Doesn't look like she had time. She's packing up to go now."

Ward leaned back as he thought back on what he knew about Skye. None of it made sense. She seemed to trust Garrett, from what he could tell, and she didn't have a reason not to. Unless she somehow figured them out. But even then, why wouldn't she have told the team about it?

A buzz on the table interrupted his train of thought. He looked down at the caller ID. "It's Coulson."

"By all means." Garrett waved his hand in permission and went back to examining the footage.

Ward answered, "Sir, is everything alright?"

"Hey, it's me." Skye responded, but she sounded slightly distracted, "Just wanted to let you know that Grant Ward no longer exists."

"Skye? What happened? Are you back with the team?" Ward glanced over to Garrett as he purposefully mentioned her name. Garrett's eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Oh. Uhhh yeah. Sorry. Forgot you got on the quinjet before I managed to get back to the team. I'm all good now."

"That's good… What about Agent Hand?"

The line was silent for a moment.

"Skye?" Ward pressed.

"She's… She's alive. Or she was when the medics took her away. Coulson said she was being transferred to some secret medical facility."

Damn. He really hoped someone did his job for him. They'd have to be careful now.

"Anyway, did you hear about the whole… you no longer exist part? I feel like that went over your head." Skye teased, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Ward let a little chuckle escape, "Oh, it's not the first time my identity's been compromised. Wanna explain why I no longer exist, though?"

"The Army decided to stick their noses in our business. Coulson had us evacuate before he could lock us all up. I'm scrubbing all our IDs right now so they can't trace us."

"Makes sense. Navy's on us too. Picked up some jets in the vicinity, taking the long route to the Fridge now just to be safe. Any idea where Coulson has you headed?"

"Nope. I'll keep you posted, though."

"Good. I'll catch up with you when I can."

Skye was silent for a moment on the other end of the line. Eventually, she spoke again, "And next time I see you… who are you gonna be? You've got a clean slate. Could do anything. Be anyone. It could be a chance to start over."

He mulled that over for a moment. He could. She was right. Wiping his records would make it hard for Garrett to find him. No one could. He shook his head. No. He had a duty to Garrett, to the man who saved him. He'd see that through.

"I don't know… Maybe Tom Brady. I've always wanted to be a quarterback." He finally answered, pretending not to hear Garrett snort behind him.

"Tom Brady? Huh. I guess you would like to call all your own shots. But I didn't peg you for someone who wanted the spotlight."

He paused at that because she was right. She shouldn't know him that well. That was a liability of its own. But she was right. He glanced at Garrett,. "I don't mean like that. I just mean… the guy seems to have things pretty worked out."

Skye hummed across the line, "I guess. I gotta go now, talk later."

Garrett spoke as soon as Ward hung up, "Tom Brady? You hate the Patriots."

"Yeah well, the Agent Grant Ward she knows, doesn't." Ward hung his head and crossed to a seat near Garrett.

"Uhuh. Better make sure she likes that Ward then, cause it sounds like your little girlfriend is hiding something."

"Skye? Look, I lived with her on that plane for a while now, Skye's not good at hiding things. If she was keeping something from the team, I'd know it already."

"Then apparently she's better than you think, cause she pulled the wool right over your eyes. I wanna know what she's up to. Besides, you said she has the hard drive with all of Fitzsimmons research, Raina could use that, help speed up the process and all."

"We don't need to pick her up. I just need some time alone with her to get the information."

"You'll have it. Coulson'll be busy. I'll give you twenty-four hours to find out what she's hiding, get the drive, and get out. After that, well, cross off the team and bring the girl to me."

Ward stared at him for a long moment, then gave a single nod.

Garrett clapped him on the shoulder and started to lead him out toward the exit. "Good. Now let's go have some fun raiding the Fridge."

Daisy entered Coulson's office and dropped the team's Shield badges on his desk. "That wasn't easy, you know. Fitz looked like I kicked a puppy when I had to take his. Simmons got choked up." She sighed, then reached into her back pocket and pulled out her own badge. For a moment, she simply stared at it, her finger tracing the wings embossed on the metal. She had forgotten how much this badge meant to her. How much it hurt to give it up, even if she knew she wasn't losing her family. It felt like it.

"This- This was big for me. It was the first time I felt like I was a part of something. First time I realized I had a family." And God, for the first time she could actually talk about it. She could talk about how much it hurt to go into a mission knowing it would be her last with her family by her side. The last before they all split up. "And now… it's gone." She tossed her badge onto the desk with the others.

Coulson sighed, his lips pursed as he looked up at her. She almost broke. He looked at her with such compassion, such intimate understanding of what exactly losing Shield meant. He reached into his pocket and tossed his own badge onto the pile. "I was younger than you when Fury first recruited me." He stood up and took the picture off the wall to reveal the safe underneath. "Just out of high school. Some days it feels like it was only yesterday. Other days-..." he trailed off as he picked up the badges and put them inside the safe, "a lot longer."

Daisy noticed the coordinates to Fury's secret base flash on Coulson's badge. She opened her mouth to point it out, then changed track. She could afford to be selfish. Just for a moment. Just enough to talk to her Coulson.

He sighed and turned back to face her. "Shield may have fallen, Skye, but we haven't. The family you've always had isn't gone. Just… scattered." Daisy bit her lip and took a deep breath. She chose that moment to point out the coordinates on his badge, and let that distract him from the glassy shine in her eyes.

Getting into Fury's secret base, Providence, was just as chaotic as Daisy remembered. Coulson on the verge of a meltdown and the team staring at him like he lost his mind certainly didn't change, even with her small changes to help them trust each other more. But they got in, much like last time, with Coulson throwing his badge and activating the base security. Daisy had to fight back a smile as Eric Koenig practically ran to greet them. Or, well, great Coulson. He didn't really care much about the rest of them. As Eric led Coulson away, the team turned to each other. May spoke first.

"Skye, call Ward."

Right. Daisy forgot he was supposedly "delivering Garrett" to the Fridge. She gave a nod and stepped away to make the call.

"Ward? Are you okay? We just heard that the Fridge fell."

"Yeah. I'm good. Hydra was crawling all over the Fridge but we managed to get out. I'm in the air now. Where are you guys?"

Daisy hesitated for a moment, mulling over the idea of not telling him. But… no. She needed to get on that plane with him so she could slip away from her team for a while.

"One of Fury's secret bases. I think the agent said it was called Providence or something? It's in Canada. I'll send you the coordinates."

"Sounds like Fury," he chuckled over the line. "I'll see you soon."

Daisy hung up with a brief goodbye and turned back to her team. "Good news, Ward's on his way. He just managed to get out of the Fridge before it fell."

Fitz and Simmons deflated against one another in relief. Trip and May nodded.

"So… What now?" Fitz asked, looking to May.

"Now, we wait," May responded, and turned to head back to the bus.

Daisy stayed behind as the rest followed May. She had a lie detector to hack.

Damn Fury and his constant paranoia. Daisy forgot what a pain it was hacking into anything Fury had a direct hand in making. She was almost happy Coulson asked her to search for the fridge escapees, it kept her from banging her head against the wall. She looked up at Coulson from where she was seated in the cafeteria of Providence, May and Ward hung around the fringes.

"This is… bad. Quinn's out. So is the dude with lion hands. Just the paws… It's so weird. And they're the least scary of the bunch."

Coulson sighed across from her, "Quinn's more of a sociopath. A lot of those inmates are full-blown psychopaths. Violent, impulsive, enhanced…" He paused, lips pursing as a thought struck him. "Is Marcus Daniels on the list?"

May and Ward both glanced at Coulson, then away. Huh. She'd think about that later. For now…

"Yup…" Daisy turned the laptop around to show him.

"That's him. Crosscheck the list of inmates with crime databases, recent activity. I've gotta feeling we'll be seeing a slight uptick."

"Sure, but that's gonna take time. And something a lot beefier than my laptop. If I could get into the Providence systems…" she trailed off.

"I'm sure Koenig can lend you a hand with that." He turned to Ward next, "The plane you flew in on, is it operational?"

"Yeah. You need me to pilot?" Ward asked, starting to stand with a grimace.

"You heard Simmons, you stay and get better. But I'm gonna take a splinter team out and-"

"Uh, no. You're not." Daisy interrupted. The pure shock on Coulson's face at the interruption was priceless. May's quick snap to look at her wasn't near as ideal but… oh well.

"Excuse me?"

May jumped in, taking advantage of Coulson's shock, "She's right. You sure it's wise to split up the team and leave the base?" She leaned forward on the table, looking Coulson in the eyes, "What if it's part of Hydra's plan. A distraction?"

Daisy noted Ward's shifty gaze at that comment, which was a good sign. Her intel should still be valid if Hydra's plan hadn't changed. "She's got a point. I mean, Fury brought you here for a reason, to keep you safe."

Coulson's nostrils flared, "Yeah, we're safe here. But what about everyone else? People who don't happen to have access to a top-secret underground shelter? What about them? I don't know if it's wise, but it's right. I'm-"

"You're right, it's not wise!" Daisy interrupted again, glaring him down over her laptop.

"Skye-" May started.

"No. Look. If we extend all of our resources to go out there and fight all of these inmates, then we're not gonna have much left to rebuild with. Then we won't be able to choose what's wise or what's right, because we won't be able to do either."

Coulson's expression closed like a shutter. Shit. Full neutral Coulson was bad. Very bad. She softened her approach slightly, "If we know the inmates are targeting someone specifically, we can pick the target up and move them to a safer spot. But for now… Let that Ge- Colonel Talbot guy deal with it. If he wants to stick his nose in Shield's business, let him deal with Shield's mistakes."

"I'm taking a team, and that's the end of it," Coulson stated. With that, he left.

Daisy could feel May and Ward's eyes on her. "What…? Do I have something on my face?"

May narrowed her eyes, "No. But that idea was tactically sound. And so was your change of tone when you saw Coulson getting defensive. More than I would expect from a level one agent."

"Oh… well… I've been reading up on some field agent handbooks and stuff so…"

"Where'd you even get those?" Ward questioned.

"Uh, online? Where else? I found them way before I joined you guys anyway, I just never bothered to read them until Ward started training me."

"Huh." Ward tilted his head curiously.

May didn't seem entirely satisfied with her answer. From her, only a curt nod in response.

"Anyways, I'm gonna go find Simmons. I haven't had a chance to chat with her since she went to the Triskelion." Daisy smiled awkwardly and slipped out with her laptop. As she turned her back on Ward, she scratched the itch forming at her wrists.

Koenig strutted in front of the terrifying-looking chair like some sort of proud papa peacock. Truly that was the only image coming to Daisy's mind as she stood with her team staring him down.

"All right. Just gonna need you guys to answer a few questions. A few psychoanalytic, non-sequitur questions," Koenig grinned.

Coulson raised an incredulous eyebrow, "A lie detector."

"The lie detector, Agent Coulson. This baby manages galvanic skin response, oxygen consumption, micro-expressions, biofeedback brain waves, pupil dilation, voice biometrics. Ninety-six variables in all. Fury designed this himself." Koenig pointed at it smugly, "He wanted a lie detector Romanoff couldn't beat."

"Did she?" Oh, Ward. Daisy raised a hand to cover her mouth to hold in her laugh. That was… certainly not a subtle question.

Koenig scoffed, "Like Fury would tell."

So, a yes then. Or she hoped it was a yes. If Ward could lie better than Romanoff… Nope. No way. She refused to believe any part of Ward could possibly be better than Romanoff.

"Okay. Sooner we can get this done, sooner we can get to work. So who wants to go first?" Coulson said, glancing over to the team.

May went first. Then Fitz, Simmons, and Triplett. Which left… Daisy alone in the hallway with Ward. She lounged on the ground as far away from him as she could get without raising alarm, and furiously typed on her computer. Ninety-six variables acting independently and each feeding through an individual set of systems and receptors before the motherboard pulled in all the data, the thing must have taken Fury years to build. There was simply no way for her to hack into each variable's independent processing system in time. Though she wouldn't lie (ha), it was pretty fun. She hadn't hacked something like this in years and the challenge brought her back to the days of hacking tournaments.

Ward glanced over at her from where he paced in front of the door to the lie detector chamber. "What'd that laptop ever do to you?"

She startled out of her zone and looked up at him, "What?"

"You're practically shaking the thing when you type."

"Oh. Yeah…" She trailed off for a moment, looking back to her screen. What could she feasibly be- ah. "I'm just trying to track down all of these stupid inmates for Coulson. Local police systems are… annoying to say the least. Not hard. But annoying."

"Ah. Here, maybe I can help," Ward offered and stepped closer to her.

Daisy snapped her laptop shut, and Ward stopped in his tracks. "I don't think you can, no offense. Besides, based on how long it took Simmons, I think Trip's almost done."

He gave her a calculating look, then simply shrugged. "Alright. Your call."

If Ward noticed her jump, then subsequent sigh of relief when Trip finally opened the door and said it was her turn, he didn't say anything.

"Come on in, Skye. Take a seat," Koenig smiled from behind his control board.

Daisy smiled back and slipped into the chair. This time, she didn't jump when the cuffs on the chair closed around her wrists. She took a deep breath and settled in.

"Alright, I'm just gonna start with a few basic questions to get a baseline. What is your first name?"

"Skye." Not a lie. It was her name at one point.

"And your last name?"

She shrugged, "Just Skye. I named myself when I was a kid."

"And that was the name you went with?"

"Well, the name they gave me at the orphanage was Mary Sue Poots. So… Anything was better than that. And I was like… twelve when I picked Skye."

Koenig just chuckled, "When we were kids, my brothers and I used to give each other nicknames. They called me lightning foot."

Daisy just offered a small smile in response.

"Alright, moving on. Have you ever been married?"

"Nope."

"Please list your immediate family members."

Daisy sucked in a breath. Shit. Koenig narrowed his eyes at her as he looked up from the control board.

"Answer the question please, Skye."

"Sorry, I just… Does my team count?" There. Truth. And a diversion away from more sensitive information.

Koenig relaxed a bit as her biometrics came through clear and offered a smile. "No, but I see what you mean. Moving on. What's the difference between an egg and a rock?"

"Uh… Hard, not? Oh, wait, eggs can be hard-boiled… So I guess-"

Koenig held up a hand to cut her off, "That's fine. You wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting on the sand is a box. What is in that box?"

She paused for just a second too long before answering, "My team."

"That wasn't your first thought."

"No… But I was gonna say a laptop and then realized how stupid that would be cause there's no wifi."

Koenig watched his biometric readings for a moment before nodding. Good. She was gonna say terrigen but technically the laptop wasn't a lie either. She vaguely remembered saying a laptop the last time she did this.

"Have you ever heard of Project Insight?"

"Yes."

"How did you know about Project Insight?" Koenig's hand slipped over toward the gun resting on the control panel.

"I saw something about it in some Shield files I hacked into. Didn't really look into it though." Not the most airtight excuse but passable enough. She did see it in Shield's files, and she didn't learn more about it through those files. Hearing it from Coulson didn't count.

His fingers curled around the gun. "Why were you hacking into Shield?"

"I was part of the Rising Tide… Hacking into Shield is how I got recruited. It's in my file."

"Ah…" His fingers relaxed their grip on the gun. "Right. Next question. Have you ever had any contact with Alexander Pierce?"

"No."

"Mkay. Shield no longer exists. The agency has been labeled a terrorist organization. So. Why are you here?"

"My team," Daisy answered without a moment of hesitation. This one, she could answer with full honesty.

Koenig looked at the results for a moment longer, then back up at her with a smile. "Congratulations, Agent Skye. Let's go get your lanyard."

Daisy breathed a sigh of relief as she stood from the chair. Prioritizing hacking the biofeedback brain waves sensors was definitely the right move. Her changes were subtle, not enough to read entirely false, but muted the flagging system enough to give her an extra second or two to decide how she wanted to answer. Was she on Romanoff level now? No, she cheated. Except… that's totally a Romanoff move to cheat.

Chapter 7:

Daisy perched on the edge of Koenig's desk as she ran through recent criminal activity that flagged as spooky. Koenig sat in a chair beside her, watching the wall of monitors as she pulled up a case file.

"Here's one. Police report out of Morocco, attempted murder, victim says the guy appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into thin air."

"Yeah, you just described every mugging ever," Koenig responded dryly.

Daisy rolled her eyes as she watched him from behind. She wasn't sure if he thought he was sneaky or not with that tablet that tracked the team's locations, but if he did, he thought wrong.

"Fine. New idea. I'm gonna go hack the NSA real quick."

That got Koenig's attention. He spun in his chair to face her with an incredulous laugh. "The NSA? You want to hack the NSA? That's a bad idea, Skye. That's a terrible idea. The NSA's already got Shield on its watchlist, why poke the bear? The big, scary, waterboarding bear?"

"Waterboarding bear…? That's…" Daisy trailed off with a chuckle. "Okay never mind. Just relax. The NSA is so much easier to get into than Shield, and I've already done that. This'll be a breeze."

"The NSA is on high alert specifically for Shield, though!"

"And? Aren't you a Shield agent? Springing traps is kind of our specialty."

"You can't goad me into-" He looked up to the doorway and hastily covered the tablet with a file.

Daisy turned to face Ward, shit. Koenig would die soon. Why did Ward kill him… Was it something she said in this conversation? If she remembered right, this was the last time they talked before Koenig was murdered.

"Hey…" He said, stepping into the room and looking between the two. "What's going on in here?"

Koenig and Daisy looked at each other, then back at Ward. Simultaneously they responded, "Nothing."

"Okay…" Ward looked between them for a moment longer, then shook his head. Apparently deciding he wasn't going to bother touching that weirdness. Good. "I just wanted to check and see if you're ready for me to back up that hard drive now."

Daisy sighed, "I would be, except the encryption is location-based. We'll have to take a field trip at some point to decrypt it."

Ward froze for a moment before he managed what he probably thought was a comforting smile. To Daisy it came across more like a grimace. Koenig though, Koenig looked interested.

"Okay. Okay." He stood, hands in the air, "Color me impressed. Now impress me more. Here's the keys to the comm sat room. The mainframe's in there. You know what to do. Let's… Live dangerously."

Daisy grinned and took the keys from him, "I knew you'd come around. Welcome to the trouble maker side."

Ward frowned, looking between the two again. "The comm sat room? Why do you need access to the mainframe?"

"Oh, no reason. I'm just gonna hack my way in somewhere I shouldn't. Cya in a bit." Daisy slipped out past Ward. As soon as she rounded the corner, she broke into a run.

Once in the comm sat room she got to work, though not on hacking the NSA. She knew what she'd find there. No. Instead, she set up an alert keyed to the sound of Maria Hill's voice. Then she opened up a backdoor through the system so she could access it remotely and a breach in the firewall of the base's wifi. Once she got the alert that Maria was on site, she could remotely access her phone and pull her in. Or at least, pull her somewhat in.

She looked up from her coding as an alert came through. Base door opening? Ward wouldn't leave without her. And Coulson would come in through the hangar. That left May. She could stop her. But how much could she meddle in May and Coulson's relationship without changing it for the worse? Daisy shook her head. It wasn't worth the risk. She could wait a few days for their relationship to mend. The system alerted her of the base door's closing.

Time to multitask, and make sure Koenig wasn't dead this time. She navigated through the mainframe to pull up the lanyard tracking system and pulled up her email while it loaded. Perfect. On both fronts. Koenig's lanyard still registered in his office, and she got the interview. She knew her resume would be hard for them to resist, but this was faster than she expected. Looks like she'd have to get a move on to make it in time.

Ward looked up to her as she jogged toward him down the hallway and intercepted him before he could get to Koenig's office. "Hey, Ward. Did you want that drink?"

He paused for a moment, then smiled just a bit, "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Cool. You're pouring," She grinned back and let him into one of the lounges, plopping herself on one of the chairs.

"May's gone," Ward spoke as he poured the drinks from behind the bar.

"Gone? What do you mean? Like on a mission for Coulson or something?" She colored her voice with fake surprise, letting her eyes widen a bit.

He just shrugged, "Dunno. Just left. I'm sure if I asked she wouldn't have told me."

Daisy let out a breath and shook her head, "Not even a goodbye for us…?" It hit her then that May hadn't bonded much with any of them yet. "She never really cared about us, did she? She only cared about Coulson, we were just something she had to put up with."

"That was her mission," Ward interjected, and was that a bit of defensiveness in his posture?

She sucked in a breath and looked away, though she kept an eye on him through the reflection of the glass cabinets behind him. Right. Ward did the same thing. Though at least he tried to bond with the team, even if it was just to help his cover. And now… Was she doing the same? Coming onto the team just to keep an eye on them? To protect them? Hell, she hadn't even talked to Simmons since arriving in this time or universe or whatever it was. She said she would but got distracted by dealing with the lie detector.

"I know that look. You're overthinking something."

Daisy shook her head and looked back at him. Right. Now wasn't the time to zone out. She had a mission- Oh God she sounded just like him. No. Not the time. "Sorry. Was just… thinking about us, I guess." Not even technically a lie.

"Us?" He smirked as he made his way to sit on the couch across from her, "I like the sound of that."

"And here I thought you were made of 'kevlar' and didn't feel anything. Now you want to be an us?"

He shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

"Well if that's how you felt, you had a funny way to show it," She scoffed, leaning back in her chair.

"Specialists are- we don't interact with a lot of people. And even when we do, we're trained to get the job done, keep emotions in check, like you said. But you? You're different."

That eased her conscience somewhat, but he didn't know Daisy, he only knew Skye. Maybe now they were more similar than he thought. "Different? Different bad?"

"Bad for me. I didn't wanna think about you, I wanted to stay focused. But then I saw you after you were shot, fighting to stay alive," he took a deep breath and leaned forward, his eyes screaming that this, this one thing, this he meant. If everything else was a lie, this was true. He seemed to remember himself then and leaned back with a small shake of his head. "But you're right. I'm kevlar. You're not."

No. No, they were different. Daisy didn't shut people out. She did before, definitely. Anytime the going got tough, she ran. Ran from her team, from her responsibilities, everything. But she learned from that. She grew. She let her team in and let them help her. Maybe… Maybe Ward could learn the same.

She took a breath, steadying herself, and extended her olive branch, "You don't have to be. You don't have to shut people out."

"Yeah. I do," he paused for a moment, "there are things about me that you wouldn't like if you knew."

"Maybe not. But if you let people in, if you let me in, maybe we won't care. We'll know you, and we'll know that you will make it right. We've all got skeletons in our closet, you think Coulson has a spotless record? But he doesn't shut people out. He lets them in. And now, he's the only level nine or whatever left standing. Why do you think that is?"

He stared at her for a long moment, and she almost believed she got through. She deflated as he shook his head. "It's different. You and Coulson," he paused and sighed, "you're good."

"And you can be. If you try. If you let us help."

Ward watched her for a long moment again. Daisy stayed quiet to let him think. Not that he got very long. The ringing of her phone interrupted the silence. She looked down at it with a frown and picked up.

"Hey?"

"We're en route back to the base. Make any progress on tracking down the other escapees?" Coulson asked.

"Wait, hold on. That was fast."

Nothing but the mechanical whirring of the quinjet sounded over the line for a moment. Eventually, Coulson spoke. "We moved Marcus' target to a safe location but didn't engage. We'll be there in a few hours."

Daisy tried to reply, but Coulson hung up before she could. She looked up to meet Ward's gaze. She felt it burning into her the entire conversation. "Well. Sounds like Coulson actually listened, for once. He didn't try to take on Marcus, but he's on his way back now."

"ETA?"

"Not sure. He just said a few hours."

"Huh. Think we could make it to whatever location you need to decrypt the hard drive in that time? Might as well get a head start on it since we can't really do much until the team gets back. The bus is already fueled up and ready to go," he said while standing and putting his drink down.

"Uh, I mean yeah, makes sense. But we have to go all the way to New Mexico, so we probably won't be able to get there and back before the team lands."

"That's fine. I'm sure Fitzsimmons would appreciate a head start though so they can get access to their research again," he pushed.

"You're probably right," she stood with a sigh, "let's go then. Lead the way." She didn't warn the team about Ward this time, but Maria could. Or Koenig, once he got the alert that the hangar doors opened.

"Play it again," Coulson demanded from where he stood behind the couch. The rest of the team groaned from the couch.

Koenig sighed, "It's not going to be any different, Agent Coulson." At Coulson's sharp look he acquiesced, "Fine. Here we see Agent May leaving your plane, if we follow her path down the corridor, we can see her go straight to the main blast doors and leave. I got the notification that the base doors opened and left to investigate. I tracked her through the snow until her footprints were replaced by tire tracks, so she had some sort of outside help getting away." He paused just to give Coulson the stink eye, still salty that he continued to let more people in on the secret of Providence base. "I was on my way back to check on Skye and Ward when I got the notification that the hangar doors had been opened. If we go back on the cameras we can see them meet up here in the hallway, then go have a drink and talk for a bit, before getting on the plane together and leaving. By the time I was able to get back inside, they were out of range."

Coulson pursed his lips and turned to base the room, "Where are they going? No-one attacked the place, and they weren't running away, so why?"

Koenig could only shrug. Simmons shook her head and spoke up, "But why would Ward leave his phone? And why did May just… leave?"

Coulson crossed his arms and looked away from the team, "May walked away because I told her to. I was mad, and I was mean."

"Then we don't need her sorry ass," Trip said.

"Excuse me?" Coulson turned to face him, a warning written in every line of his face.

"With all the crap we're facing, this is not the time to pull the ripcord, bailout."

"I'll get us some food!" Simmons jumped up from her seat on the couch and practically ran out of the room, Fitz beating out Trip to follow her.

Koenig turned back to the surveillance footage and changed the subject, "I still don't understand. They didn't even try to contact me to let me know they were leaving."

"Then we might have to face the worst-case scenario," Coulson steepled his hands as he faced Trip and Koenig down, "We've had a wolf in the herd this whole time."

"Seemed like the right idea at the time, geolocking the drive and all. Didn't expect it to backfire like this," Daisy said as she typed on her computer, keeping watch on Ward out of the corner of her eye as he rested his back against the counter of the Bus' lab.

"It hasn't backfired. The drive is supposed to be impossible to crack. Pretty specific coordinates though," his voice took on a false lightness she knew was his interrogation mode, "You could've picked anywhere in the world. Why a random motel in New Mexico?"

Daisy just shrugged and turned to face him as he tried to move behind her. "It was already built into my encryption. Never thought to change it."

"Always? How long have you had this encryption set up?"

"A while. Not this one specifically but the core of the geolock I set up when I was with Miles. We stayed in that motel while doing some work for the Rising Tide. Plus, I didn't have access to any fancy Shield safehouses back then. Figured if I ever got in trouble, a random non-descript motel would be a good place to fall back to."

He stared at her for a moment, consideration in his eyes. Looks like she managed to impress him. Or make his life more difficult. Probably both. Oh well. After a moment, he seemed to make up his mind and stepped closer to Daisy, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't worry, you won't need that fallback while I'm here."

She fought against herself to keep from tensing, but she couldn't stop her fists from balling at her sides, out of his view. He reached around her back and withdrew the gun from her waistband, "This, however, isn't the answer."

Daisy breathed out a carefully measured breath and relaxed her fists as Ward stepped away to unload the mag. "What's the matter? Can't I have something to defend myself? Literally everyone is after us right now. Hydra, the US Government, probably some international spies or something too."

He rolled his eyes, "Government agents and international spies at a random motel in New Mexico? I doubt it. But in this case, we can't afford to get pinched by the local authorities on a concealed weapons charge."

She nodded slowly, "I guess."

He seemed to take her hesitation as worry and stepped forward to comfort her, his hands giving a light squeeze to her arms. "Hey, don't worry. I promise, until this thing is over, I'm not gonna let you out of my sight."

She held her breath as he stepped forward. Did- Did he think that was supposed to be comforting? No wonder she remembered freaking out so bad last time. Ward was worse than her at undercover work. Maybe if he said it in a gentle comforting way he could've gotten away with the awful phrasing, but the vague menacing promise behind it immediately took away from any comfort he tried to bestow.

Daisy gave another slow nod, and a weak squeeze back.

Coulson stood in the front of the room with a whiteboard. The team faced him from the couch. "Alright. Ideas. Why'd they go?"

Koenig spoke first, "When Agent Skye and I were talking about hacking the NSA, Agent Ward interrupted to ask if she was ready to back up the hard drive. She said she couldn't because it was location encrypted somewhere in New Mexico. Maybe that's why they left?"

"Good idea," Coulson nodded and wrote it on the board. "But why wouldn't they tell you they were leaving for that?"

"Maybe they didn't trust him," Trip drawled, casting a glance over to Koenig. At the glares from Coulson's team, he raised his hands and added, "What? Sir, you were just talking about having a wolf in the herd. What if they thought the same thing?"

Silence met his idea. Coulson hesitantly added it to the board. "Anyone else?"

Simmons looked away from the group, "Agent Koenig is the only one who didn't take the lie detector test. He's the only one who could keep his reason for being here hidden."

"That's because I took it when Director Fury vetted me for this position!" Koenig rose to his feet, making contact with Coulson's cold gaze. "Agent Coulson, you know Director Fury sent you those coordinates, why would he send you here if I was Hydra?"

"I don't know," Coulson sighed and looked up to Trip. He gave a single nod. "But you aren't part of my team, Agent Koenig. And right now, we don't have time to figure out who's an ally and who's not."

Trip grabbed Koenig's arms from behind and twisted them behind his back, securing his wrists in place with zip ties.

"Hey! Ow!" Koenig yelped, "Sir, it's not me! If someone is Hydra here, it's either Agent Ward or Agent Skye. Or both. They're the only ones going off book."

Coulson pursed his lips, "Take him to the supply closet and lock him in. We'll deal with him later. Fitz, track that plane."

Chapter 8:

Daisy and Ward headed into a room in the motel. Once inside, Daisy looked around with a fond smile, "Can't remember the last time I stayed in a motel. Its crappiness is endearing."

"I know. It's been all tubes, tunnels, and planes. I don't miss the bed bugs though," Ward replied.

"Yup. Hey, you wanna order us some food while I get to work?"

He did a double-take, "Food? I was hoping we'd be done before we even had time to get settled."

"Uh, do you have any idea how long it's gonna take to decrypt this drive?"

"For you? I thought ten minutes."

"Not even close," She scoffed while setting up her laptop on the bed. "GPS is gonna take a bit to calibrate. And I'm working on a laptop so everything is going to take twice as long since it only goes at like three cycles per byte? And this drive has multiple terabytes on it."

"Spare me the details, just give me the time frame."

"An hour would be a miracle with good wifi. With crappy motel wifi? More like three."

He stopped checking for bugs in the room to look back at her with thinly veiled frustration. "Three? I was hoping we could get back to base before Coulson really noticed we were gone."

"I'm not a wizard, Ward. Hacking takes a while, that's just the science of it."

He sighed and pulled out his phone, "Guess we're getting food."

Daisy checked the time as he turned to order the food. Shit. Only an hour until her interview.

"I've got it, sir!" Fitz burst into Koenig's office and beelined for the computer. In moments, he brought up the plane's tracking system onto the main screens for the team to see.

"New Mexico?" Coulson frowned. "Skye normally sticks close to big cities when she's on her own. If she were going to encrypt a drive with a location, it wouldn't be in the middle of nowhere New Mexico."

"Maybe there's something nearby?" Trip suggested, frowning at the map.

"Yeah, there's some big building nearby. Looks kinda like a factory, maybe ten or twenty minutes away from the plane. Hang on, I'm gonna try to find it…" Fitz trailed off as he typed.

"Good. Trip-"

An alert interrupted Coulson, taking over the screen with a bright red message, a calm voice reading off, "Perimeter defenses activated."

"Shit."

"You're staring again," Daisy commented, glancing at Ward from over the top of her screen.

"What, am I not allowed to do that?"

"I told you, it's a complicated hack." She sighed and turned the screen so he could see it from the other bed. Not that he knew she just had a random GPS program pulled up and a few old codes for viruses pulled up in text boxes around it.

He cleared his throat, "You've mistaken my admiration for impatience."

"Nope. Pretty sure it's just impatience," She muttered and turned the computer back to face her and dismissed the extra programs.

"Mkay, sorry, didn't mean to stress you out." He held up his hands placatingly.

"Mhm." Both looked up as someone knocked on the door. Ward's hand slipped behind his back to rest on his gun. Daisy just rolled her eyes and sent off her last bit of code. There. Everything was in place. "Relax. It's probably just the pizza guy."

Ward didn't respond to that, simply got up and crossed to the door. He stiffened as he glanced out the peephole. "Cops. Get your stuff together."

"Shit. Okay. Think you can talk them down? What are they even doing here?" Daisy grabbed her stuff and threw it into her backpack.

"I'll try. Stay quiet and stay out of sight. I'll handle it."

"Got it."

Ward nodded and opened the door, "Hey fellas. What's uh, what's going on? Do you need something?"

The barrels of two guns met him at the door. "Hands in the air behind your head! Grant Ward, you are under arrest as a fugitive of the US Government. Step out of the room."

Ward took a deep breath and raised his hands above his head. He took one step out of the room toward the cops, then he moved. He rushed the closest cop and grabbed his wrist as he tried to fire, redirecting his gun to his partner. His partner cried out and fell to the ground, blood oozing from a wound on his leg. The uninjured cop looped an arm around Ward's neck and squeezed, only to loosen his grip at an elbow to his solar plexus. A quick twist and jerk and Ward had the gun in his hand and broke free of the cop's grip. He met the cop's fearful gaze. The kid was young, probably new to the force. Ward fired a single shot between his eyes. The kid's partner received the same treatment.

He turned to let Skye know it was safe, only to be met with an empty room. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence. But Ward didn't believe in coincidence. Garrett was right. Skye was keeping something from them.

"I am offering you a lifeline here, Coulson," Maria Hill said while gesturing at the exit, "Don't thank me, just take it and we'll be on our way."

"I don't see how thanks are in order considering how you just sold me out and led the US Military straight to Fury's secret base."

"No, Phil. You led us to Fury's secret base as part of the deal we made," She gave him a meaningful look.

"You can't be serious," He scoffed.

"You and I are going to turn over these tunnels to the US government who will be ever so grateful to take possession of an enemy stronghold in their backyard."

"What about my team?"

"Well, they're gonna have to-..." She trailed off as her phone buzzed in her pocket.

"What?"

She didn't answer right away. Thinking for a moment before looking back up to Coulson. "Nothing. Your team's gonna have to go through the system, interrogation-"

"Not gonna happen," Coulson interrupted.

She looked to the ceiling, praying for strength. "Look, talk to Talbot. Cough up some meaningless intel about this place. Nothing significant, of course. Nothing about Shield's other installations."

Coulson let out an incredulous scoff, "You're still protecting your secrets. Is there anything specific you're afraid I'll talk about? T.A.H.I.T.I. maybe?"

"Phil…"

"I'm a liability, is that it?" He pressed.

"Grow up, Phil. Of course you're a liability," she snapped, "But I know you'll do the right thing."

"The right thing? That's funny, coming from you, after everything you and Fury have done?"

She took a step forward, "Look, it was for your own-"

"For my own good, I know, I get it. You should've been straight with me. I would've kept your secrets like a good soldier. I always have. But instead, you were worried about me when you should've been worried about anyone else!"

"You're right," she sighed, "We should've seen Hydra coming."

"Yeah, you should've! And now we've got someone on our team who isn't telling the truth and has Skye and Ward off somewhere in New Mexico."

"Ward? Skye's with Ward? Right now?" Maria questioned, the text suddenly starting to make sense.

"Yeah. Which is where we were headed until you so rudely interrupted to sweeten your deal!"

"Can we move this along? I'd like to tear this room apart," Colonel Talbot announced as he stepped into the room, flanked by two soldiers.

"Sure, Colonel. Knock yourself out," Maria responded. Coulson looked down at his feet. Two seconds passed. Her elbow flew out and connected with the soldier closest to her. Coulson moved in sync, throwing a punch at Talbot who managed to duck under it and throw one back.

The second agent moved in and swung a leg at her side. She twisted enough to catch it and tugged, sending him to the floor. Hands grasped at her from behind. Her hands grabbed his and pulled them off of her. One twist to bring her face to face with him, a second twist to cross his arms over one another, a tug, and a knee to the face. He slumped to the ground.

From the corner of her eye, she caught the reflection in the fake window of the second agent standing up. She ducked under his punch and repositioned to the other side of him until his back faced the window. As he recovered, she took a quick breather and waited. He swung for another punch. She spun to the side and carried that momentum through into a kick. The soldier stumbled back through the window and landed with a heavy thump on the other side.

A shot zipped past her. She looked up to find Coulson standing over an unconscious Talbot, ICER in hand. She sucked in a breath and nodded in thanks, "Get your people, we need to move."

"We?"

"We. Ward's your mole. You're going to need my help."

Daisy stepped out of the car she stole from the motel parking lot and looked up at the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility. One deep breath, a quick check to make sure her suit sat just right, and she walked into the building. The receptionist greeted her with a banal smile. Once her identity was verified, the receptionist directed her up to the interview.

She stepped into a rather spartan office where a man waited to greet her. "Hello, Miss Sutter, I'm Kyle Zeller, I'll be interviewing you today. If it goes well then I'll go ahead and show you around a bit, get the lay of the land."

"Sounds wonderful," Daisy responded, sitting in the chair across from him.

"Perfect. Now your qualifications are incredible, I must say. It says here you worked for Stark Industries as a cyber security consultant with a special focus in protecting the J.A.R.V.I.S. system?"

"Yes. I worked both to patch the holes as well as identify them. You wouldn't believe how many little oversights I caught that could give an enemy actor access to the entire system. I also worked to help develop J.A.R.V.I.S. and hone its own security and threat detection software. Let me tell you, it took a while for me to convince Mr. Stark to get anywhere close to his code, but I think my experimental work with AI security programs finally got his attention," She chuckled.

"Fascinating. And why did you leave?"

"Oh, you know, I'm always looking for a bigger challenge to take on. After a while with Stark Industries I realized I had gotten bored. Stark grew hesitant to push the same kind of boundaries that he used to."

"Ah, I see. Well, I can assure you, Cybertek is always pushing boundaries. I doubt you'll ever get bored here. In fact, we have several different programs we are currently running that could use your expertise to make airtight."

"Perfect. That's actually part of the reason I sought you guys out specifically. Your work on synthetic eyes is fascinating, if I may say," She leaned in with a conspiratorial little wink.

"Our work with- how did you know about that?" His eyes widened and one hand slipped under the desk. Oops. She didn't mean to scare him into hitting the panic button. Time to backtrack.

"Relax. I thoroughly investigate any company I am looking to work for. Let's just say that Cybertek could really use my help. That information was practically sitting out in the open."

Zeller breathed a sigh of relief, his hand moved back above the table. A nervous chuckle left his lips. "Ah, yes. Well… it does seem we could use your help. Have you heard about our Incentives program?"

"I saw something about it when I was doing my research, but I didn't want to dig too far before I was hired."

"I see. Alright, well I like you so far, Miss Sutter. Why don't I give you a little tour so you can see what we're all about?"

"I actually had a question real quick before we go."

"Oh, of course. What is it?"

Daisy pulled out her phone and turned off the cameras in the office, then leaned forward, "Mr. Zeller, would you like to help me free your wife?"

He froze. She could practically see the panic brewing in his eyes, so she pressed on before he could call for help. "I turned off the cameras, we're safe, for now. I can get your wife out of here but I need your help to do it. Can you help me?

"What- I'm loyal to Hydra! I don't know what kind of test this is but-"

"I'm not Hydra, Kyle!" She raised her voice to cut off his rambling but immediately softened at his flinch. "I promise I can get both of you out of here and to a safe house where you can stay until I can get some new identities for you guys."

He nodded with a gulp, "But… why? Why are you doing this?"

"I promised someone I'd help them. I intend to keep that promise," She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Now, will you help me?"

"Y- Yes. Tell me what I can do."

"Alright, here's the plan."

Kyle Zeller led Daisy deep into the building and finally stopped near a door manned by a single guard. His stance screamed centipede soldier, and Zeller's awkward attempts to avoid eye contact only cemented that. He scanned his badge and unlocked the door, beckoning her into the hallway on the other side.

"This is the Incentives program wing. The first room on the right is the control room, that's where you'll probably be spending most of your time. It monitors all of the essential features of this wing on a separate system from the rest of the facility," Zeller said as he motioned to the room.

"Ah. Good. That's a step in the right direction, at least. But that door is not. Someone could easily swipe your badge or hack into the system and unlock the door. I'd go old school, lock and key. Those can't be hacked. Give the key to the guard and have him unlock the door only for authorized personnel."

"You really don't trust technology, do you?" He glanced at her with an appraising look.

"Nope," she grinned, "That's what makes me good at my job."

He let out a nervous chuckle at that and led her into the control room, "You'll be glad then. The rest of the doors in this hallway are old school lock and key, kept with the guard outside, just like you said. Anyway, this is the control room. We've got the main frame over here on your left as well as all the paper files pertaining to individuals registered with our incentive program. I'm sure you've used surveillance systems before, that's standard, each screen corresponds with a different camera along this hallway."

"Perfect. You did good, Kyle," Daisy said as she turned to look at the surveillance monitors.

He let out a fast breath and collapsed in a chair, wiping the sweat already beading along his hairline.

"Breathe. We're not done just yet. Go ahead and switch the soldiers into default directive now, except for Mike. Tell him to come here and bring the quinjet."

He took a deep breath and nodded, pulling out his laptop and setting up beside Daisy to get to work.

"Sorry about locking you in a closet… I wasn't sure who I could trust," Coulson said as he cut through the zip ties on Koenig's wrists as the team gathered in the bay of the quinjet.

"Uhuh. You'd better be sorry! Can you believe him, Agent Hill?" Koenig scoffed and rubbed at his wrists, "After all I've done for Fury, you still don't trust me."

She just clapped him on the back, "I would've done the same thing in his shoes."

"What? You're joking, right?" He insisted. But one look at her face gave him the answer that he needed. "Rude."

"Uh, sir, what's going on?" Fitz questioned, looking between Koenig and Coulson.

Coulson stayed silent for a moment. He knew it would be hard on his team. But they deserved to know. "We've had a double agent on our team the whole time. Ward. And now Skye's alone with him, probably playing him since she didn't dispose of the security footage to cover their tracks." He could feel Maria's judging gaze bore into his side. He ignored it. This was his call to make. His team deserved to know.

"Wh- What? Impossible. It can't be," Fitz's breaths came faster as he paced in the bay, one hand running through his hair, "No. No. I don't believe it. How?"

"Agent Hill received the intel from a source she assures me is trustworthy."

"Wh- What? How can you believe that! Is there even any proof? She could be Hydra too!"

"Take a breath, Agent Fitz," Trip said from the cockpit, glancing back at the group with undisguised worry.

"Don't tell me to take a breath," Fitz stopped pacing, turning to face Trip instead, "Who the hell are you? I mean really, come on, I don't even know who you are."

"I just went through this, remember? My SO turned out to be a lying son of a bitch."

"Well, not Ward! Okay? Not Ward. Do you know why? Because he's our friend! Go on, tell them, Jemma."

Simmons swallowed. For once, she didn't finish Fitz's thought.

Fitz stared at her in disbelief, "Tell them, Jemma." Once again, only silence met him in response. "No, no," He returned to his pacing. "Something else is at play here, sir. Think about it, they're just trying to mess with our heads."

"One step at a time, Fitz," Coulson placated, "The next step is finding them. Once we do that, we'll know what's really going on."

A resounding thud brought everyone's attention back to Fitz. Then a second one rang through the quinjet. Simmons rushed over to his side and took his hands to stop him from punching the wall again, "Fitz! No, no, no, no. Don't." She held his gaze, taking deep breaths, trying to get him to mimic her.

"Okay, Okay! We need to hold it together. Listen," Coulson started, but Fitz interrupted again by kicking the wall. Simmons tightened her grip on his hands, a single tear running down her cheek as she watched her partner. He continued once Fitz finished, "All that anger, all that pain, you need to hold it in and focus it on Skye. She's alive. And she's playing him, just like he played us. If I know Skye, she's got a plan. But she'll need our help. And we're gonna find her before Ward figures out what that is."

Chapter 9:

"You should be thanking me, I saved your ass," Mike Peterson growled as Ward stepped onto the Bus.

"You didn't save my ass, you turned it into a public spectacle."

"Oh? So you were prepared to handle the four cop cars of backup surrounding the motel, alone?"

Ward hissed under his breath, his fists clenched at his sides.

"You let her get one over on you for the second time, that's exactly what Garrett was afraid of."

"And Garret told you to stay out of sight," Ward fired back, jabbing a finger into Mike's chest.

"He ordered me to shadow you. He knew you had a soft spot for Skye, and she might take advantage of it."

Ward shook his head and stepped back, "Well he was wrong."

"Was he? Because I don't see Skye here. And if I didn't have to spend my time cleaning up your mess, I would've been able to follow her."

Ward's jaw tensed, but he acknowledged that he lost this fight. He shook his head and stalked off toward the cockpit to start his search. She couldn't have gotten far unless she had help. Which… he supposed was possible. They knew Skye was hiding something, this just confirmed it, if she was another undercover agent she could have backup helping her out. It's the only way to explain how she managed to pull the wool over his eyes twice now and get away with it.

When Peterson's quinjet sent the request to undock, he granted it without thought. He'd find Skye first, but pissing Garrett off by denying his new toy a chance to prove himself wouldn't go well.

Kyle Zeller looked up as an alarm blared through the building, terror shining in his eyes. "What was that?"

"That, Kyle, is our backup," Daisy grinned and turned her computer so Zeller could see the security footage of Mike Peterson leaping through a second-story window and stalking down the hall. Terrified workers, probably accountants or something, scrambled away from him in fear.

"But the alarms- Hydra will know we've been infiltrated any second now! They'll send back up!"

"Yup. But we'll be long gone by that time," Daisy reassured, turning her laptop back so she could see it. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she started the next phase of her plan. She already had a backdoor to Garett's laptop, now to see if she could use it to get to Raina's phone. A few minutes of hacking and listening to Zeller's frankly obnoxious panicked breathing later, the door burst open.

Daisy jumped to her feet, heart thudding in her chest as she raised her gun. How could she forget to check the surveillance outside the room? This time… This time she got lucky. Her gun lowered as Mike Peterson stepped through the door.

"Skye-"

"Hey, Mike! No time to explain, we're running against the clock here. Your son is two doors down on the right. Once you get him, we need to get everyone else out and on the quinjet. Hydra definitely knows you're here," Daisy instructed.

Mike's eyes shone with a bit of hope for the first time in… For the first time since he became Deathlok. He turned on his heel and sprinted down to his son's room. The lock on the door snapped off in his hand and he pushed inside. Daisy followed behind him and watched from the door.

"Dad!" Ace cried, practically launching himself into his father's arms from the bed.

"Ace! Hey, hey. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He pulled back from the hug just enough to look down at his son, scanning him for bruises, broken bones, anything. Anything that could be a threat to him.

"No! I'm okay. But you're a superhero now!"

Mike froze for a moment, then let out a soft, incredulous laugh, "Yeah… I guess I am. That makes you my sidekick though, doesn't it? 'Cause, what are we?" If his voice was a bit thick and wavered just a bit at the end, Daisy wouldn't mention it.

"A team!" Ace giggled.

"A team. That's right. Now let's go help some of the others who have been stuck in here just like you, okay?"

"Okay!" Ace grinned and ran out of the room to the other doors.

Mike followed behind his son but paused in the doorway to look at Skye and give her a slow nod.

Daisy just placed a light hand on his arm and squeezed in reassurance with a bittersweet smile.

Ward let out a curse as a quinjet appeared on his radar. Followed a moment later by a transmission.

"Maria Hill to Shield six-one-six. You have thirty seconds to stand down and surrender."

Ward pursed his lips and glanced to his weapons system. Damn Peterson. If he was still here this wouldn't be a problem. But now he could either fly or shoot, not both.

"I repeat, stand down and surrender." A pregnant pause. "You gonna answer me Ward or do I have to come over there?"

"Maria Hill," he sighed, "Kinda hoped you went down with the Triskelion."

"And I hoped you weren't the duplicitous low life you turned out to be. But, here we are."

"Gonna be honest with you Hill, I'm having a pretty bad day. So if I were you I'd get the hell out of my way."

"Give up Skye and we'll talk about it."

He blinked in surprise. Interesting. They thought he had Skye, so Skye's escape wasn't coordinated with them. Who exactly was she working for? He recovered after a moment, "Yeah, not gonna happen." Not technically a lie. But best to let them think he had Skye for now, lest they try to shoot him down.

"You know, I never liked you, Ward. Not since our first sit down. But I never figured you for John Garrett's lap dog."

"Yeah well, a lot of us lost respect for Fury when he picked you as his second. If he needed eye candy around, he could've at least picked Romanoff."

Maria just scoffed, "That's funny, I'll tell her you said that. Now hand Skye over or I'll have a squad of F16s knock you on your ass."

"Even if you have that kind of pull anymore, which you don't, Coulson would never let you do it. He would never sacrifice Skye like that. But you know Garrett would. So don't try to follow us."

"Doesn't have to go down like this, Ward. You don't owe Garrett for raising you, just like you don't owe your parents."

Ward stiffened, his hands clenching the stick. She shouldn't know about that. No one knew about that. Silence stretched on in the cockpit. A moment later, he ended the transmission. The quinjet disappeared from his view as he spun the plane down into a dive and began evasive maneuvers. He only stopped when the quinjet left his radar.

"Sir! I got a signal from Skye's phone! We can track her!" Fitz announced.

"Pull it up. I want to know exactly where Ward is taking her," Coulson demanded.

"Yes sir! Looks like… Huh. Wait a second. She's not… She's not with Ward."

"What? Where is she then?" Simmons asked, leaning over Fitz's shoulder to see better.

"She's- She's- You know that weird building I mentioned when we first found the plane? She's a mile or two from there," Fitz's voice trembled just a bit as he looked up to Coulson.

"I don't get it. What's so bad about that factory?" He questioned.

"It's not just any factory, sir. It's- It's the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility."

Coulson pursed his lips and turned on his heel to go tell Maria their new coordinates.

"So, what now?" Mike Peterson asked as he stood on the ramp of the quinjet with Daisy. The people they rescued from the incentives program plus one Kyle Zeller safely stored inside.

"Now you head to these coordinates and keep them safe. I'm working on making everyone new IDs so they can return to their lives without Hydra busting down their doors. Until then, keep them all out of sight."

"And what about me? Are you going to hand my controls over to Shield? Let them watch my every move?" An accusatory edge colored his statement.

Daisy just sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Look, Mike, I'm not here to control you. And I'm not going to turn you in to Shield, or whatever is left of it. You deserve to be with your son."

"And when my son realizes what I am?"

"He thinks you're a superhero. And he's right. I know you worried he'll think you're a monster, but I promise all he sees is his extremely brave and selfless father who sacrificed everything to be a hero and save his son. He still loves you, and nothing is going to change that."

"Even if what you say is true, I can't be around for him anymore. Look at me."

"Mike-"

"Look at me, Skye!" He gestured to his burns and cybernetics, "I can't go back to the life I had. You were right… With great power comes weird crap I'm not prepared to deal with. Crap I'm not about to drag my family into. It's better for me to stay away."

She sighed again and looked back into the quinjet where Ace was happily playing with his action figures. After a moment, she looked back at Mike. "I don't think you're right. But I understand. Stay with them until I have their new IDs ready, then I'll send you some coordinates. Meet me there and I'll explain everything, I promise. I could use your help with what I'm trying to do, and if redemption is what you're after… I can offer that too."

Mike swallowed thickly and nodded.

"Good. Now you should get out of here before my team shows up and tries to take you in."

"Right. Thank you, Skye. I'll see you… Whenever I see you," he concluded awkwardly. With a firm handshake, he turned to head back into the quinjet. Daisy backed off the ramp and walked back toward the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility. Behind her, she heard the quinjet roar to life.

Daisy leaned back in her flimsy plastic chair beside the pool. A soft breeze, faint crickets, and the faint reflections of the water on the table, this was the life she was missing. Maybe her team was right. Maybe it was time to retire, to let go. She could enjoy nights like this every night with someone special by her side, and pretend the big bads of the world didn't exist.

She watched Fitzsimmons across the pool with a soft smile on her lips. They were lucky, having each other. That's why she couldn't retire. Not while she still had to do right by her people. As Simmons laid a gentle hand on Fitz's knee, Daisy had to look away. Her gaze drifted up to the room Eric Koenig had disappeared into. Something about game night with his brothers. She shook her head and glanced up to see Trip leaning against the wall, eating a bag of potato chips.

"Thought you didn't eat junk food," she called out.

Trip just shrugged with a little grin, "I'm on vacation."

"Fair enough," she chuckled, "It's been so long since we've been able to just… sit."

"I hear you, girl. I don't plan to do a thing until that man tells me it's time to go to work," Trip nodded to Coulson as he stepped out of his room.

Coulson just smiled at the two and moved over to the vending machine, "Not tonight. Live a little."

"Well, in that case, I'm gonna go crazy. Maybe have another bag," Trip chuckled, throwing a wink in Daisy's direction before moving off to give Coulson and her some privacy.

Daisy gave a weak smile in return and looked back at Coulson. They hadn't talked about it yet. The team was too happy to find her and get her back safe to really interrogate her about what happened.

"Never been homeless before," Coulson said. The vending machine took his bill and spat out a chocolate bar in return.

Ah, so that's how it would be. "It's not great. But hey, we've got a pool. And a whole room. My van didn't have either of those, though it did have better wifi."

Coulson cracked a little smile but said nothing. For a moment, he simply observed her. Then, he finally approached. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Nothing much to say. When I pulled up the NSA satellite footage, Ward and Garrett were raiding the Fridge hand in hand. Clear as day. I knew he needed me, but not Agent Koenig, so I went with him to stop him from going after Eric."

"We guessed that much, based on what Eric and Maria told us. But why New Mexico? Why the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility? I thought you and Ward might both be Hydra for a minute."

"Miles and I stayed in that motel before during a hackathon event kind of thing. It was programmed into my encryption long before I put it to use on the hard drive." The lie rolled easier off of her tongue the second time around. "Didn't know the Cybertek facility was right there until I almost ran into it. I was just trying to put distance between myself and Ward, so I picked a direction and started driving. Guess I picked the wrong one."

Coulson smiled at her little joke and seemed to accept that answer, "And the drive?"

"Still locked up tight," Daisy said as she pulled it out and set it on the table between them.

"Good work," he responded and passed her a piece of his candy bar.

She took it with a smile of her own. One that quickly dimmed as she noticed Maria

lurking by her door. "I think I'm gonna head in for the night. Cya in the morning, AC."

"Night, Skye."

Daisy gave a little wave to Fitzsimmons and Trip as well before turning to head to her room. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Inside stood Maria Hill with her arms crossed.

"Agent Skye, I think it's time we have a word about our mutual friend."

"So you're telling me that you helped an unknown operative hack into my phone and send me intel, that for all we know could be false, about Garrett and Ward?" Hill said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yup."

"And you trusted them because they were an old Rising Tide associate who mentioned some very specific intel to you that no one else would know to gain your trust."

"Uhuh."

"And not once, did you stop to think that this unknown operative could have been a Hydra agent playing you against your team?"

"Obviously, that occurred to me, so I verified their sources before I helped them hack into your phone. How did you figure out it was me that did the hack, though?"

"Stark. When I asked him to step up my phone's security, he recognized your style of hacking, Skyenet."

"Damn," Daisy laughed, "Maybe hacking J.A.R.V.I.S. just to mess with him wasn't the best move…"

"No. It wasn't. But why didn't you just text me yourself? Or Coulson?"

"Coulson was in flight, and Ward had the only SAT phone. As for you, they said the intel they planned to share with you to gain your trust was classified. I wasn't allowed to see it, so it obviously couldn't come from me," she shrugged.

Maria gave a little hum at that. At least this mystery operative knew how to keep someone dead. Though she didn't for a moment trust that they did it out of the kindness of their heart. "Fine. What now? Any more intel from your mystery friend?"

"Not yet. But they said they would give me a meeting time and place sometime soon. Said to only come with people they've reached out to, no one else. Are you in?"

"I suppose," she sighed.

Garret strode onto the Bus, his path directed squarely to Ward. His fist connected with Ward's cheek before a word even left his mouth. Ward's head snapped sideways, his fists clenched, but he didn't say a word. Slowly, he looked back to Garrett.

"You let the girl get away! And not only that, you let her free Mike Peterson and everyone working as our centipede soldier handlers! I should've left you to rot in Juvy," Garrett hissed.

"I'm not that scared kid anymore," Ward growled back, "I can fix this. Just give me-"

"Fix it?" Garret laughed incredulously, "Fix it? There's no time to fix it, son. After everything I've done for you, every chance I've given you, you betray me like this."

"I didn't betray you."

"I'm dying, Ward," he jabbed a finger into Ward's chest, "And all because you didn't get that hard drive. Flowers needed that research. Cybtertek gave me a month, two tops. Flowers could've given me immortality with that serum!" Another punch landed on Ward's cheek.

Ward's head snapped sideways again. His jaw tensed as his tongue prodded his cheek and jaw. Nothing broken. Yet. "You're what? You didn't- Let me track her down. I wasn't prepared last time, this time I will be."

"You were supposed to be prepared this time! I warned you. I warned you she was more than she appeared, that she was hiding something. But you were too soft on her to listen. Stop being weak! All these years and you're still playing the victim."

"I'm not-"

"I don't wanna hear it. You better figure out how to get that research from the girl before I die, cause otherwise… Well, I ain't your daddy anymore."

Coulson opened the door to his motel room and froze for a moment at the sight before him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped further into the room, door swinging shut behind him. "I was… Hoping you'd come back. Ward is-"

"I know," May cut him off, pushing off the dresser she was half seated on, "Hill told me."

Coulson nodded with a sigh. Silence stretched between them for a moment. May wouldn't come here without a reason. Though her hesitance to come out with it was mildly concerning.

"There's something you need to see," she said, finally breaking the silence.

And ah, there it was. A frown tugged at his lips as he watched May open a laptop, an unfamiliar drive hooked into the side. Under her careful gaze, he sat down in front of it. His brows furrowed as he read the message on the screen. Classified Level 10 Communication. T.A.H.I.T.I. Project Supervisor to Director Fury. Final Report. At the bottom, a red play button waited.

"You wanted to know who was behind T.A.H.I.T.I? This is what I found out," May said.

Coulson felt her step back, he silently appreciated her thoughtfulness. He stared at the button. It stared back. He took a deep breath. The video began to play. The solid red button morphed into his own haunted face.

"Goodmorning, Director Fury. I regret to inform you that I'm handing in my resignation. I know you brought me on to Project T.A.H.I.T.I. because you trusted my judgment, and it's that judgment that's telling me that I can no longer in good conscience let the testing continue. I understand that you started the program to potentially save a mortally wounded Avenger, but the side effects are too extreme. We had initial success with the regenerative properties of the Guest Host tissue, but after the initial physical recovery, the subjects began to deteriorate mentally displaying: hypergraphia, aphasia, catatonia, or just complete psychosis. We don't know if it was the biology at play or simply the awareness of what was done, but the only course of action that showed any sign of stemming these side effects was memory replacement. Erasing completely the awareness of what they'd been through, and even those results were very inconsistent. To be clear, I'm recommending the termination of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. Under no circumstances should these procedures or drugs be administered to anyone ever. The cost is far too great. Thank you, sir." Red letters scrawled across the screen, End Transmission. Then it cut to black.

Coulson stared at the screen in silence, eyes wide. "Huh…"

"That's why I was told to keep an eye on you, Phil. And other than brief moments, I never worried that you were facing those side effects," May stepped close again, resting a hand on his shoulder. "But… Skye didn't have her memory wiped after we administered the Guest Host drug. Ever since then she's been off."

"What are you saying…?" He looked up to her with bated breath. Skye couldn't be facing those side effects. She couldn't.

"I'm saying, she might have some of those side effects and not know it. She's tense around us. She knows things she shouldn't. She spaces out when you're giving orders like something else is on her mind. And she's disappeared under both our noses and Hydra's twice now."

Coulson pursed his lips and looked back to the computer. This… All of this was his fault. He ran T.A.H.I.T.I. He made the call to inject Skye with the Guest Host drug. "We're not going to tell her anything," he raised a hand to stop May's interjection, "I know. I know it's hypocritical. But the more she knows, the more risk she's under to develop even more side effects. We keep an eye on her, and in the meantime, I'll look through Shield's files to see if I can find anything to help her."

May stared at him for a long moment, then gave a single slow nod.

Chapter 10:

Daisy lounged on the stiff motel mattress, fingers flying across her keyboard. Simmons and Fitz both sprawled across the bed to her right, various papers scattered around them. Things had calmed down somewhat after Daisy got back. The team was together in one piece, Maria Hill did as Maria Hill does and vanished sometime in the night without saying goodbye, though she at least took Koenig with her. One less person to worry after.

Fitz flopped back on the mattress with a groan and switched the TV off. "Nothing, absolutely nothing. You'd think a giant monster machine like Deathlok would be hard to miss."

"Hey, he's not a monster, Fitz," Daisy snapped, looking up from her laptop, "Mike's a good man. He just needs our help."

"He tried to kill us! Multiple times!"

"Because they'd kill him if he didn't! He didn't choose to be made into that!"

"Oh come on-" Fitz threw his hands up in exasperation.

Simmons looked between the two with a grimace, "I agree with Skye on this one, Fitz. He was our friend… We just have to capture him and then we can help him get better! And maybe do a bit of research on the way. I mean the way they integrated his cybernetics with his natural tissue is light years ahead of the prosthetic technology available today!"

"Nuh-uh. Nope. We could totally build something like that. I mean, we already basically reverse-engineered Amador's eye. Remember all the modifications we talked about? We could do so much better."

"Yes but theirs are already in production and practical application. Even if it is a slightly murderous application… It'd take us years to get to that point on our own."

"Eh, not really," Skye piped up. Two pairs of eyes snapped to hers and she desperately tried to hide a grin. "What? You already said you basically reverse-engineered Amador's eye. Once we get Mike back, I'm sure you can reverse engineer all of his tech while you're getting rid of all that outside control jazz. Then you don't have to start from scratch, just make upgrades. That'll cut down like half your development time."

The two scientists blinked. Simmons recovered first, "That's brilliant, Skye! And then we'd already have proof of concept so getting grant funding to expand on the premise would be a piece of cake!"

Daisy finally let her grin break free. God, she missed Simmons. She made a mental note to set more time aside to bond with her this time around. Maybe get high with her again too. That was fun.

"Yeah, except there's no Shield to fund us anymore and the US Government thinks we're bloody fugitives," Fitz huffed.

"We kind of are bloody fugitives, they're not wrong," Daisy chuckled.

"You know what I mean! And you deleted our identities so we've got no credentials."

Simmons sat up straighter and turned to her in alarm, "What? Skye! I had two PhDs!"

She couldn't help a snort, "Relax, after this all blows over I can put most of it back. Of course, not everything, that'd be impossible. But I can get you a name and credentials and all that stuff. Want a third Ph.D.?"

"Well, yes. But not like that! That's cheating!" Simmons cried.

Fitz perked up, "Oh! I'll take one in Zoology! I've always wanted to work with monkeys…"

"Monkeys, really Fitz?" Simmons groaned, "I thought we'd been over this."

"What? They're useful! Think about how handy their little-"

A knock on the doorframe interrupted them. They looked up to find Coulson poking his head in, "Guys, you wanna come in here for a minute?"

The three looked at each other and scrambled up to hurry into the other room. May faced them down beside a flip chart with a bunch of circles drawn on it as the three plopped onto the two beds in the room. Coulson stepped in behind them and pulled out a marker.

"Alright, this is just about everything we've been dealing with," he said while gesturing at the flip chart. "And this," he leaned down to write Cybertek in the large bubble in the center, "connects them all. Cybertek built Deathlok," a line appeared between the big Cybertek bubble and the smaller Deathlok bubble off to the side, "shipped items to Quinn," another line, "who was working for the Clairvoyant," the line from Quinn dragged over to the Clairvoyant bubbles, from here the rest connected, "who turned out to be Garrett, who planted Ward on our bus because he wanted to know why I didn't stay dead." Coulson paused for a moment and looked at the mess of interconnecting lines running across his chart. "I should've… drawn another chart for this part."

"No, I get it," Fitz spoke up from where he was leaning back beside Simmons, propped up on his elbows to see the chart, "Garrett's been developing Centipede serum all this time."

Coulson nodded, "Yes."

"And he wants GH-325 as its final ingredient," Simmons added, "A way to stabilize and regenerate his Centipede soldiers."

"And it's why Ward came back for the hard drive," May said, "It had all of your research about Coulson and Skye. It's all on there."

Coulson nodded, "But, they didn't get it, thanks to Skye."

"Yup. And I managed to get into Ward's burner he uses when he's with Garrett. As soon as he touches down I can start tracing him and see where they are." The lie rolled smoothly off her tongue. A small bit of guilt crept in as Simmons brightened.

"Oh, that's brilliant, Skye! Well done!"

"Thanks."

"So now we wait," Coulson sighed, putting the cap back on his marker.

Fitz shot up to a sitting position, "Wait? What? What if- What if Ward has one of those cybernetic eyes in him too? What if that's why he betrayed us? We can't just wait, we have to save him!"

Daisy sucked in a breath. This Fitz… she forgot how much he cared for them. How stupid he was in his attempt to believe that all of them were good. How much he treated his teammates like people instead of tools. How far all of her team would go to save one of their own…

She shook herself out of her thoughts, "Fitz… Garrett is like… Garrett is Ward's version of Coulson. I mean, look at us. We followed him out to the middle of nowhere Canada and froze our asses off hiking through the woods to a base no one actually thought existed except for him."

Coulson's mouth opened, then closed, a rather affronted look crossing his features. "Seriously? No one believed me?"

Simmons looked out the window. Fitz looked down to his lap. May just stared at him and shrugged.

"See? That's my point," Daisy pressed on, "Sometimes we do crazy things because someone we trust told us to."

"But he's met Coulson! And Coulson's way better than Garrett!"

"Garrett got to him first. That's a hard bond to break," She sighed as Fitz crossed his arms, "But… Maybe we can convince him that Garrett's wrong. After we deal with both of them. Okay?"

Fitz fell back onto the bed without a word, angrily glaring at the ceiling. Which was… progress? Maybe?

The weird stain on the ceiling kinda looked like a cat, but not in a good way. No, she changed her mind. More like an amorphous amoeba dressed up in cat ears for Halloween. Definitely that.

Daisy just about jumped off the bed as she heard the door open. May just raised an eyebrow as she entered, tossing Daisy a can of cola. "You never came out to eat."

"Oops. Got distracted I guess…" She caught the can with one hand. Her foot nudged the lid of her laptop closed as May moved to sit across from her.

May just gave her a disbelieving look. Her glance up to the ceiling only cemented that she didn't buy that lie.

"What? Never stared at a weird stain on the ceiling before?"

"No," she replied, "and I know you hate being bored."

Daisy sighed, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and sitting up fully to face May. Her gaze latched onto the lid of the can, her fingernail slipping under the pull tab and then releasing. Soft clicks resounded through the silence.

"I guess I just- I dunno. This whole thing with Ward. It's shaken me up. And seeing Fitz defending him despite everything he's done…"

"Fitz can't process the truth about Ward. Not yet. What he said," she paused with a sigh, "it's what he needs to believe."

"He seemed able to process my betrayal," she raised her fingers to curl in air quotes around the word, "perfectly fine. Didn't hear him making excuses for my actions."

"I heard him talking to Simmons. He didn't want to believe it when it was you either."

"Maybe. But he sure as hell didn't delude himself into thinking Miles somehow tricked me! Or that I had a cybernetic eye ready to explode if I didn't betray you guys." She couldn't help her anger from bubbling up.

"Skye… What's this really about?" She saw through it. Of course, she saw through the anger she had so carefully redirected.

"It's- Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I can't see how you guys look at me like I'm the one that's gonna screw up and get all of you killed? Like I'm the one who's gonna betray you?"

May sucked in a breath and looked down at her drink. "On the Bus, you knew things you shouldn't. You knew about my line to Fury. You knew about HQ redirecting our plane. I can't speak for the others, but if you think I'm on edge around you, that's why."

"Bullshit. I already told you how I knew about those."

"Fine," May's gaze snapped up to meet her, lip tucking under just a bit, in the way she always did when she was holding back her anger, "we don't trust you, because you're not one of us. I told Coulson not to bring you in. Ward did the same. He brought you on as a consultant against better judgment."

"And I worked my ass off to earn my level one agent status."

"Probationary agent. And just barely." The bed creaked as May's weight lifted off it. "I'm up most mornings at five."

Daisy's jaw tensed, and she opened her can of cola a bit more forcefully than she should've. It never ended. This cycle of having to prove herself to her team that never felt the need to prove themselves in return. She understood it to an extent, but she had served with them for a long time at this point. She took two in the gut for them.

A knock on the door interrupted her brooding, Coulson stepping inside. "Trip ID'd a number of Cybertek shipments that ping-ponged across the globe. Brazil, Cambodia, Syria, but they all ended up in Havana.

"Shield used to have a base there," May chimed in.

"Told you we'd find him. We're going to Cuba."

May and Coulson shared a grin. When Coulson looked to her to share it with, she could only manage a weak smile. She tried not to think too hard about the way his face fell. He turned on his heel to leave, May following a step behind.

The door swung closed. Daisy let out a scream into her pillow.

The quinjet was far from quiet as they flew toward Cuba. Jingling from Fitz's bouncing leg joined the everpresent roar of the engines. Simmons was hunched over Fitz, whispering to him, one calming hand resting on his knee. Trip and May occupied the pilot seats, stoic as they prepared for the mission ahead. Daisy closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the plane's frame. She could feel Coulson's gaze burning into her but paid it no mind. She had more important things to do than pretend to be Skye right now, starting with mission prep.

First, an assessment of their abilities. Coulson, May, and Trip could take care of themselves. She didn't worry about them. Fitz and Simmons would need protection, but if given proper equipment and a favorable environment, could hold out until backup came. Herself, however, she wasn't sure. She didn't have time to establish a baseline of her performance in this state. That would be the most dangerous aspect of the mission, her own unpredictability. Quick and dirty then. That's how she'd have to play it.

Next, assessing the opponent. Ward, Garrett, and Raina were the primary concerns. From what Simmons remembered the first time through, she and Fitz had been captured by Ward while taking out the plane. Once onboard, Fitz shorted out Garrett's cybernetic enhancements with an EMP, then the two bolted into the medical pod. Ward caught up with them after they made it inside and ejected them from the plane. She almost had a full idea of Ward's movements in the scenario. Garrett's location would be unknown, but unmoving once hit with the EMP. Without the GH-325, he'd be as good as dead. Raina would likely be with Garrett, and as such, easy to avoid.

The environment was favorable. Even now, she remembered the layout of the Bus like the back of her hand. Hydra goons were likely to be patrolling the plane, but unless Garrett specifically opted to build up an engineering division apart from Cybertek, the maintenance bays should be clear. That would be her primary movement channel until she could get a uniform.

By the time the plane touched down in Cuba, Daisy had her plan set. As well as a plan for when shit hit the fan. They all filed off the plane and gathered around Trip as he pulled out a large tan suitcase.

"Now, Trip was kind enough to offer up some of his granddad's spy tech to help us out," Coulson said as he helped Trip lift the lid of the suitcase. "Now, we should- Oh my God is that a handheld hypno beam?" His eyes practically lit up as he reached for an object that looked suspiciously like a hair dryer.

"One of the original betas," Trip reached out and gently took it from Coulson's hands, "see how it has the switch on the bottom?"

"The production models moved it to the side," Coulson murmured in disbelief. "This is amazing! Almost as cool as a-"

"Transistorized Blast Gun," Trip finished with Coulson. Trip gave Coulson a knowing grin.

"Okay, the two of you can get a room later," Daisy chuckled, "but we have a plane to catch." She opened up an unassuming tin of mints and plucked what appeared to be a toy joy buzzer out of it, pocketing it for later.

Coulson nodded, reluctantly setting the tech he took from Fitz down in the suitcase, "Right. Thanks, Trip. This is a huge help. Gives us a fighting chance against these bad guys."

"No problem. You guys sure you don't want anything else?" He looked over to where Fitz was fiddling with a pack of laser smokes, "how 'bout one of these quarter walkie-talkies? They have a built-in homing beacon."

"Oh, okay," Fitz took it, slipping it into his pocket.

"I'll keep one too."

"Thanks. Don't wanna be greedy, we've already got the Dwarfs."

Trip chuckled, closing the lid of the trunk once everyone had gotten their fill of tech. "No problem."

Daisy smiled as she watched Trip hold out a fist to Fitz, only for Fitz to awkwardly grab it and share a grin with him. She turned upon hearing Coulson's footsteps fall into a familiar pattern. Pre-mission brief pacing.

"Because we had to fly in low, we'll have to search for our plane from the ground," Coulson began, pulling everyone's attention to him with ease as he paced in front of them. "Fitz, Simmons, you have the maps. Do not engage under any circumstances. If you find the Bus call us and stand down, or come back here and wait."

"Wait, I think I should go with them," Daisy said.

Coulson turned to her with a frown, "We need you with us in case we manage to find a computer in Garrett's hideout."

"I know. But when Hand took over our Bus to get us back to the Triskelion, I managed to isolate the protocol that the orders went through. I couldn't stop it at the time because I didn't have enough time to hack into Shield and stop the order. But if you can get me close enough to the Bus, I can piggyback off of the Bus' systems into the Triskelion's, which are no longer actively protected, and send an order through to ground the plane." She paused at Coulson still doubtful expression and added with a soft sigh, "and I got into Ward's burner, remember? If he's not at the former Shield base, Fitzsimmons are gonna need me to trace him."

Coulson's eyes widened a fraction, "Okay. Fine. You're with Fitzsimmons. Same rules apply to you. Even more so. We still remember the last time you engaged alone…"

"Yeah… No engaging. I promise."

"Good. May, Trip, and I will head into Havana to check out the old Shield base and see if Garrett's still there." Coulson gave one last look around at his team and nodded. "Alright. Let's do it."

A/N:

Guys this chapter… this chapter almost broke me. I was stuck on this chapter for 3 weeks. It was not a fun time. I'm not sure I love how it turned out but at this point I was just happy to get it over with.

I think the biggest issue I had here was just the episode I was trying to follow. Ragtag is the second to last episode in s1 and it sets up a lot of necessary background stuff for the final confrontation. BUT. Its really boring. I used to skip this episode all the time in my rewatches. So boring, in fact, that with my little changes, the mission became completely irrelevant. However, this episode had a lot of character arc pay offs. May offers to train Skye in this ep. Fitz accepts Trip as part of the team and as a friend. Ward prioritizes Skye over Garrett. Raina finds out about Skye's heritage. It sets up so much. Figuring out how to keep those core emotional moments but without the main contrived plot of the episode was difficult.

Chapter 11:

"God help the girl, she needs all the help she can get," Jemma sang, tapping her fingers to the rhythm of the song. Soft pop filled the car,

"Ugh, Jemma! This is what you listen to?" Daisy groaned from where she was sprawled like a cat across the backseat.

"What? Oh, come on, Skye! It's good!"

"No, it's really not. Fitz, back me up here."

Fitz grimaced and pointedly stared out the windshield, his grip tightening on the wheel, "I uh… well I wasn't gonna say anything…"

Jemma's head snapped to him, "Fitz!"

"But?" Daisy pressed.

"But… It's not great…"

"Ha! Yes! My turn then!" She grinned, shifting to lean into the front seat and steal Jemma's phone. Jemma only grumbled something about having no taste as Daisy picked the new song.

Once the track started up, she shifted back to her seat. Her head bopped with the beat as she sent off a message to Raina. It was finally time to activate her.

"Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken…" She murmured along with the song, "and if violence caused the silence, who are we mistaking… But you-" The music abruptly cut out. Daisy jolted up from where she was lounging with a frown. "What the hell, Fitz? We were just getting to the good part."

"Sorry, sorry! But we're here," he said while shifting the van into park.

Daisy looked out the window and grimaced. It'd be a long, hot walk to the airfield from here. Hopefully, the plane was running on the same timetable as last time. If they got all the way there and didn't find the bus, she'd be pissed.

"Right, out we go then," Simmons chirped, hopping out of the van and immediately unfurling her map. "Hm… Looks like about a twenty-minute walk to the airfield, not bad at all really."

"I didn't pack any sunscreen…" Fitz muttered, squinting into the bright sun for a moment before turning to face them. "Did you bring any, Jemma?"

"Well… No. But I'm sure you'll be alright!"

Daisy just snorted and promptly earned herself two glares. She held up her hands in mock surrender. "Not my fault you guys are pasty."

"Yeah well, I'd like to see how long you survive in the cold!" Fitz shot back.

"You do know I was raised in New York, right?"

He opened his mouth to retort, only to snap it shut again. Daisy just cracked a smile. She missed her best friend. On her other side, Jemma's glare had already melted into something far more fond.

Together, the three set off toward the airfield. Daisy only occasionally chimed in as Jemma and Fitz chatted, most of her attention focusing on their surroundings. They did have the sense to shut up as the plane came into sight. Daisy took point and positioned them behind the little airport building, out of sight from the plane. Slowly, she crept forward and peeked in a window. Empty. Good. She made a series of gestures with her hand as she leaned down to examine the lock on the door.

It was a rather old padlock, barely even the suggestion of security. She pulled a small bobby pin from her pocket and slipped it inside the lock, she used a second one as a tensioner. A quick test shimmy told her it would be an easy pick. She ripped it back and forth twice before it gave and popped open. When she looked up to share a victorious grin with Simmons, she was only met with air. Where had- Oh. Slowly turning around, she realized what happened as two sets of confused eyes stared at her from the treeline. Of course, they didn't know ops hand signals yet. With a sigh, she made the unmistakable gesture for "come here". That one they got, both perking up and quickly dashing across the open space.

The three moved inside and Fitz set down his gear. They moved to the grimy windows facing out toward the airfield. Fitz grabbed a pair of binoculars to watch the movements of the guards while Simmons pulled out her phone to call Coulson.

"Sir, we found the Bus. It's on an airfield outside Abel Santamaria packing up to leave," she reported.

"We're on our way," Coulson responded, "how far is that from our location?"

She let out a soft sigh, "about three hours. But by the looks of it, they'll be long gone by the time you can get here, sir."

"Get out of there, right now. Do not engage. Wait for us back at the quinjet."

"Copy that sir…" she sighed. The call ended with a soft beep and she turned to face Fitz and Skye. "I know we're not supposed to engage, but if they get away we'll be back to square one. I can't handle square one again."

Daisy just shook her head, "we're not going back to square one."

"Garrett's there, which means Ward's probably there too," Fitz chimed in. At Simmon's glance, he wordlessly passed the binoculars over to her.

Her brows furrowed in thought as she looked through them. "What if we send a D.W.A.R.F. into the plane from here? It can stow away inside so we can track where the bus is going."

"Good idea, but there's no way they won't see it before it gets onto the plane. There's no cover," Daisy said.

Fitz frowned. "Well, we can't just let them get away!"

"I'm not saying we let them get away. I just need like an hour to get into their systems and override their avionics so they can only go where I tell them to."

"Oh, right. What do we do then?"

"Uh… Help me troubleshoot the wifi?" Daisy glanced around pointedly at the cobwebs lingering in the corners of the ceiling. "Something tells me it's gonna be slow."

"That'll be easy. Come on, Fitz," Simmons said, moving to the back of the building, only to stop abruptly.

Daisy tensed as she caught the soft sound of a gun cocking behind her and slowly turned around to see Ward advancing on a frozen Simmons. He cocked his head a little as he examined the three, a little smirk playing on his lips. "Long time no see."

He gathered them up and marched them onto the plane. The hairs on Daisy's neck stood on end as Ward stood close behind her, only settling back down as he stepped in front of them when they reached Garrett.

"Here they are," he said by way of introduction.

Fitz squared his shoulders in an attempt to portray confidence that was rather hindered by his cardigan. "This is our plane. We want it back."

Daisy bit her lip to hold back a laugh. That certainly wasn't included in Simmons' debrief. Though she did take this as the opportunity to slip the joy buzzer-shaped EMP into her hand while Garrett and Ward focused their attention on Fitz.

Garrett seemed to find it just as amusing, raising an incredulous eyebrow. "Really? Just like that, kid?" He let out a little chuckle and turned back to his men. "Coulson probably figured out we're using the barbershop. Call Kaminsky, he'll know what to do. All right, let's get this bird off the ground. Tell the pilot to keep it low and in Harrier mode till we're-" He trailed off into a grunt, a pained grimace crossing his features. For a moment, he tried to hold it together. Then he stumbled to the wall, using it to support himself.

"What the hell was that?" Ward said. He crossed over and slipped an arm under Garrett's to hold him up. Fitzsimmons looked confused as well. Not them then. Skye… Shit. He glanced around and took note of the lack of lights. "An EMP…"

Daisy slipped the joy buzzer back into her pocket while Ward fussed over Garrett just in time to show her empty hands as he glanced back at her suspiciously. Ward frowned at the lack of confirmation. The anger she saw burning in his eyes faded as doubt crept in. Another pained grunt from Garrett spurred him back into action. He passed Garrett off to a nearby guard and sprinted out of the room.

He blew past Raina upon entering the lab and skidded to a stop before a plain metal cabinet. As he grabbed the box that rebooted Garrett's cybernetic systems, he filled Raina in. "Garrett's dying. Not sure if this will work. Someone shorted him out with an EMP. Call Cybertek, let them know what happened. See what they can do." And then he was gone, running back out the way he came.

Raina took a deep breath as she watched him go. Gingerly, she pulled out her phone and replied to the unknown number who messaged her just the day before.

"Get back!" Ward yelled as he ran back to Garrett's side and set up the box.

Fitz squared his shoulders again and took a step forward. "You lose, we win," he gloated.

"You're dead," Garrett growled, looking up at him from the couch.

"I'm no worse than you. And you don't have to take orders from him anymore, Ward," he pleaded. He raised his voice when Ward refused to look at him, "Ward! Let him die. He deserves to die!"

Ward finally looked at Fitz, then to his guards. "Get them out of here."

Ward looked up as Raina sauntered into the room. "We're gonna have to open him up. The internal battery must've fried. We're gonna need a mechanical fix."

Raina nodded and stepped closer to examine Garrett. "I talked to Cybertek. They're prepping a facility in Miami."

"Good," Garrett breathed. He reached out to grab a fistful of Ward's jacket and pulled, managing to get his head up just enough to look Ward in the eye. "I need you to do something for me."

"Yeah, anything," Ward said.

"Put down the girl."

He froze. "What? No. There's plenty of time. I won't leave you."

"And I'm telling you to cross her off for me," Garrett growled. "Those two little scientists too."

Ward sucked in a breath.

Garrett grinned humorlessly. "It's not a weakness, is it?"

A pause. "No."

"Then take care of them," he shoved Ward away and sunk back down against the couch. "I'll take care of me. I've cheated death plenty of times."

Ward stared at Garrett for a beat.

"I'll stay," Raina said from behind.

Eventually, Ward gave a single nod. He silently rose to his feet. With a last long look at Garrett, he headed out.

The guards shoved Daisy, Simmons, and Fitz forward, marching them out. Simmons' nervous babbling started just as they made it into the lab.

"Coulson will find us, won't he?"

"Yeah, 'course he will," Daisy said, making eye contact with Fitz over Simmons' head.

"Man won't rest until every Hydra agent is either dead or behind bars," Fitz reassured. He gave a single nod as his gaze met Skye's. At once, they moved.

Daisy elbowed the man behind her in the nose. Fitz grabbed a chair and threw it down in the narrow path behind them to block the guards off.

"Go!" He cried, grabbing Simmons and sprinting further into the lab. Daisy slipped in behind them. They hung a right down the hallway and ducked into the medical wing. Fitz turned and closed the door. Simmons mashed the button to lock it. Then they were off again.

Daisy followed them past the med pod but stopped at a maintenance door. She wrenched it open and stepped inside, easing it closed behind her just in time to hear Simmons' alarmed shout from down the hallway. They ran into Ward then.

They doubled back, two pairs of footsteps thudding down the hallway and then the unmistakable hiss of the med pod doors sliding open, then closed again. A heavier set of footsteps followed, then a dull thud. Fist on impenetrable glass.

Daisy leaned her head against the door and attempted to catch her breath. Something tickled at the back of her mind. She was forgetting something… What did she- oh. She pulled her phone from her pocket. Right, Raina texted her.

"Open the door, Fitz," she heard Ward growl, the metal walls of the plane easily carrying his voice down the hall.

Simmons said Fitz tried to stall. She had time. Quickly, she texted Raina back. At the same time a muffled, pleading voice replied to Ward.

"I've got my orders. Now open up the door and tell me where Skye is," Ward responded after a moment, the growl gone, replaced by cold certainty.

Another beat.

"Okay. Have it your way." Two faint scuffed steps. He turned around.

Daisy drew a gun from her waistband. Hydra hadn't searched them for weapons. A stupid move on their part. She'd seen how crafty Fitzsimmons grew to be firsthand. Though, she supposed Ward told them they weren't a threat.

She counted to three.

The door slowly eased open. Daisy stepped out. Not a sound escaped as she crept toward Ward. This body may not know how to fight, but it knew how to move without sound. May might've honed her skills, but a year with the Smiths laid the foundations.

Fitzsimmons' pleading came into focus now, but she forced it out of her mind. Ward raised his hand up to what must be the eject button.

His hand never reached its destination.

A thump echoed through the hall as his body hit the ground. Daisy knelt down and used his shirt to wipe off the bit of blood sticking to the butt of her gun.

"Skye…?" Fitz asked breathlessly from inside the med post, voice slightly muffled through the reinforced door.

"There's a mechanical failsafe in case the electronics shut down," Garrett breathed, one shaky hand moving to his cybernetic side. A soft hiss sounded as he pressed a button to pop open his side. "I'm pretty interesting inside."

Raina gave him an uncertain look. With his sweaty hair matted to his face, his shaking fingers, and his struggle to breathe, he didn't present as quite the mastermind he pretended to be. In fact, she doubted he would ever be able to deliver her what he promised. Not that her doubts would stop her from the opportunity to see what exactly Cybertek came up with to keep this wreck of a man alive for so long. Gently, she removed the plate that covered his internal functions and set it aside.

A soft gasp escaped her as she realized just what she was looking at. Moist, deep maroon muscle formed the walls of the cavity surrounding his organs. Part of his small intestine was held in place by a metal grate. But that's not what caught her eye. In the midst of the cavity was a sac of fluid with a distinctly orange glow. A small tube ran from the sack up into the wall of muscle surrounding the cavity.

"That's my Centipede serum," she said.

Garrett's blank stare moved to the ceiling. "It's the only thing that's been keeping me alive these past few months."

"Why isn't it making you strong?"

"I'm too far gone," he breathed.

Raina hummed noncommittally in response. "I'm afraid your entire system is shutting down."

"Maybe you can jump-start it… with that serum you've been working on."

"It's not entirely finished yet. Without the data from that hard drive we've run into some setbacks."

"I don't care. Without it, I'm a dead man anyway."

Raina took a deep breath before responding. "Alright. I'll go get what we have. But I can't promise it will work."

Garrett waved a dismissive hand.

She stood without a word and worked her way back to the lab, checking her phone as she went.

12:04pm

Unknown

I know what happened to the little girl from the Hunan province. Play John Garrett and Grant Ward against each other and I will send the intel.

Raina

Done.

12:56pm

Raina

What can you offer if I ensure John Garrett does not survive?

Unknown

A DNA sample as special as your own.

That was all the confirmation she needed. Whoever this was could offer her far more than Garrett could. They even knew what she was after. It would be foolish to stick to the side of a dying man with a cause so different from her own, and Raina was no fool. She swung her sails to face the most favorable wind.

She returned to Garrett's side with a tray containing a single syringe. She set it down on the coffee table and turned to face him. "Once this is gone, I won't be able to make any more. This is the end of the road."

Garrett let out a breath and finally looked her in the eyes. "I won't make it to Miami. So, what the hell?"

Raina nodded and reached in to pluck the sack filled with her Centipede serum out of the cavity in his side. It pulsed in her hand. The faint warmth of it almost mesmerizing. She shook her head. Her fingers deftly plucked the syringe from the tray. Slowly, the needle pushed into the sack. Both watched in fascination as a dark blue serum intermixed with the once vibrant orange until it took over.

"That's it," she murmured, "the final ingredient." After a moment of observation, she placed the warm sac back into the cavity in his side, nestling it neatly between his intestine and the wall of muscle. With a final snap, she slid the metal plate back over the cavity and locked it in place.

Garrett's gaze flicked back to her. His mouth opened to say something. Nothing came out.

Raina watched dispassionately as his back arched off the bed. Pained grunts escaped from his lips as his limbs twitched without his control. His veins glowed a sickly orange as he began to convulse, spittle leaking from the corner of his mouth. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the orange glow faded, and Garrett slumped against the couch. His cold blue eyes stared at the ceiling, unseeing.

With a sigh, she stood and fired off a quick confirmation of his death. The click of her heels echoed in the still room as she strutted away.

It was just now that Daisy realized how little time she had spent in this section of the plane. The avionics maintenance passages were more Fitz's wheelhouse than her own. If she remembered correctly, she came back here exactly twice. Once when the prank war broke out on the Bus, and once just recently when she followed Fitz to his encrypted line to Simmons. That realization didn't exactly fill her with confidence as she navigated the narrow passageway full of wires and hydraulic systems.

It didn't take long before she found herself at a dead end with a single door on her right. Looks like this was as close as she could get. Hell if she knew where she was about to pop out, though. She almost reached for her powers, before shaking her head and stopping herself short.

They weren't there.

Fitz and Simmons cast a meaningful glance at each other as they followed Skye to the dead end. Or well, Simmons cast a meaningful glance at Fitz, and Fitz stared at her with wide eyes and shook his head.

Daisy finally stopped in front of a door and turned to face the two. "Okay, out with it."

"What?" Simmons asked, her voice just a touch too high to be natural.

"I can feel you two doing that silent bickering thing behind me. So what is it?"

"We were just wondering what the plan was! Isn't that right, Fitz?"

Fitz nodded along. "Yeah."

"Garrett's quinjet is hitching a ride. If we can get to it, we have a way out of here." Or at least, Daisy hoped they did. Last time, Garrett's quinjet was there when they managed to retake the Bus. But his plans could've changed between then and now. She really hoped they didn't. Something told her skydiving with Simmons wouldn't go well.

"You know how to fly?" Simmons asked in surprise.

"Not… exactly," Daisy lied. "But that's what autopilot is for, isn't it?"

Fitz just stared at her with wide eyes. "But- But what about the landing?"

"I can probably figure it out… And it's better than staying here."

"It's worth a try, Fitz," Simmons said, lightly squeezing his shoulder.

"Fine. Yeah. Whatever. But how are we gonna get to it? There could be a hundred goons out there!"

"I'll handle it. Besides, we just have to make it to the staircase in the lounge, that's what we're outside right now, right?" At Fitz's nod of confirmation she continued, "Once we're up that, we'll be in the clear. Now stay here and wait for me to come back."

Simmons blinked. "What?"

"We're not just gonna let you go in alone!" Fitz stepped forward, hands waving around as if that would help get his point across.

Something in Daisy's gaze hardened, and the two took an involuntary step back. "I promised both of you I'd look out for the other. This is me doing that." She paused before cracking a smile, letting a bit of the tension ebb away. "Besides. I have at least a little combat training. I may not have a P.h.D. but I can shoot now so…"

Simmons sighed. "Please be careful. I can't lose you again."

"Yeah- yeah me too!" Fitz chimed in.

"I will. I promise."

Ward grimaced as he came to. His hand instinctively went to the back of his head, lip curling a bit as noted the blood that came away on his fingertips. Great. He pulled himself to his feet and glanced at the med pod, expecting to see it empty. To his surprise, he found the pod gone entirely. Did he forget about ejecting them? No. He remembered feeling someone getting close just before he hit the button. Then everything went dark. Surely they wouldn't have ejected themselves, though he began to doubt himself on that point. They were desperate.

He turned to the control panel only to frown. They must have ejected themselves only minutes after taking him down. Slowly, a picture began to form. Fitzsimmons were only a distraction for Skye. She snuck up on him from behind, knocked him out, then got in the med pod with Fitzsimmons. They then ejected the pod. He just couldn't figure out why. He had all the pieces, but the puzzle didn't make sense. Dropping the pod now would put them at the bottom of the ocean. Of course, he hoped they'd find some brilliant solution to escape, but he knew the chances were slim. Why would they take that risk?

Silently, Daisy padded close to the door and listened. All clear- wait no. She could just barely make out one set of footsteps coming toward her. Quick and dirty, she reminded herself. The footsteps passed in front of the door. Then continued on the other side.

Her gun found its way back into her hands, and she pushed the door open. An incredulous laugh ripped from her throat as four sets of eyes met hers. "Oh shit."

At once, all three Hydra goons who were seated around the coffee table by the bar scrambled to reach for their weapons. The fourth turned back from where he was patrolling down the plane.

Daisy took a quick breath to compose herself and shot. Two goons slumped over dead in their seats before they could even get up. The third managed to get his gun out and Daisy moved to pull the door closed just in time to hear a bullet lodge itself into the metal. She registered a squeak from behind her. Probably Fitz. So much for being sneaky.

She looked down in alarm as the handle of the door began to twist. A fast shove opened it into the Hydra goon waiting just outside, knocking him on his ass with a grunt. She dove out of the doorway as she felt the last standing Hydra goon start to settle his aim on her. A woosh of air escaped her lungs, and she tried not to think about the bruises she would have later from landing flat on her stomach. She quickly scrambled behind the counter of the bar for cover and got to her feet, crouching behind it.

Her attention snapped to movement out of the corner of her eye on her left. The Hydra goon she knocked on his ass was trying to get up. A single shot ended that attempt.

A bit of shuffling alerted her to the last goon trying to reposition. She popped up over the counter just in time to catch him trying to get behind the coffee table for cover. A quick breath in, then exhale. He slumped onto the table.

She took just long enough to look around and get her bearings before running back to the maintenance door and wrenching it open. "We've gotta move, now. That was too loud."

Fitz ran out without an extra prompting, beelining for the spiral staircase that led up to the quinjet.

Simmons took a moment longer, eyebrows pinching together. Daisy followed her gaze and bit her lip. The dead goon at their feet had a clean hole in his skull.

"Simmons?"

"Oh- yes. Sorry. I'm coming," she said and allowed Daisy to grab her arm and pull her up to the quinjet.

It was only as she stepped into the quinjet did she realize what had been bothering her during that fight. Garrett was in the lounge when they left him. And she didn't see Raina as the type to move a body.

Ward's head snapped up as he heard the distinctive echo of gunfire ring through the ship. He took off, racing towards it. Images of the lackeys on board turning on a dying Garrett flooded his mind. Garrett on the couch, sickly and pale, watching as the last remaining loyal troops fell one by one, awaiting his own execution. All because Ward wasn't there at his side.

His fingers tightened on his gun as the first body came into view. He paused for a moment, still half-hidden in the shadows of the doorway, listening. Nothing. Only the soft hum of the engines. He crept further into the lounge. Three more bodies came into view as he moved past the bar. A single distinctive red circle marked each one. And then, an empty couch.

No blood. No signs of a struggle. Raina must've gotten his cybernetics functioning again and gotten him out before the fight broke out.

He turned his attention to the possible exits. The one he came from was clear, which only left two. One exit led toward the command center, and then to the cockpit. The other was the maintenance door on his left. His gut screamed for him to go find Garrett. He took a deep breath to quiet it and let logic take over.

The cockpit. If he were attempting a coup, that would be his first target. Though the dent in the maintenance door and the bullet lying below it worried him. He regretted not listening to Fitz's technical rambles now. He had no idea what avionics systems could be sabotaged.

A minuscule shake of the head cleared his thoughts. He didn't have enough intel, and blindly sweeping the maintenance passageways would be too time-consuming. Cockpit first.

Daisy sank into the pilot's seat and examined the control panel before her. A grimace twisted her lips as she realized just how old this quinjet was. No cloaking, mostly analog controls, and information displays out of their usual places. She was used to the altitude showing on a monitor to her left, here she found it on the right. And was that a rear view mirror? Her eyes widened as she realized what that meant, and a fast check confirmed it. No cameras on the rear or sides of the plane to provide visuals.

"Hey, Fitz?" She called back over her shoulder.

A moment later, Fitz shuffled into the cockpit and leaned against the back of her chair. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I think I got the gist of it. But if they start firing at us… I'm not sure how good I'm gonna be at maneuvering this thing. I need you up here so you can keep an eye out in case they follow us or open fire."

"Oh. Yeah, I can do that."

"Cool. I think now I just…" Daisy trailed off as she looked over the controls. There. Almost in the same place as the quinjets she had learned on was the switch to disengage from the Bus. It had clearly been retrofitted later, the reflective silver of the stick stood out amongst the rest of the buttons and switches, which were all covered in a healthy layer of grime.

A faint crackle filled the cockpit, followed by a soft mumble.

"Where'd that come from?" Fitz questioned, looking around.

Daisy followed his gaze to the headset on a hook to her left. Hesitantly, she put it on.

"- hold," said the unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line.

She waited with bated breath. Fitz's gaze boring into the back of her head certainly not helping the time pass faster.

After what felt like ten minutes, but was probably closer to thirty seconds, the voice came back. "Request approved. You are clear to take off, sir."

She let out a sigh of relief and leaned forward to initiate VTOL, deliberately ignoring Fitz's questioning look. The engines thrummed to life under them. Daisy kept an eye on the ancient-looking airspeed indicator, barely even able to see the value through the grime covering the instrument. It ticked up until the value matched what she assumed to be the Bus' airspeed. A loud click echoed through the plane. Daisy's fingers tightened on the stick as they wavered in the air. She eased them back steady, keeping an eye on the plane's tilt as she did so. Slowly, the Bus disappeared from her sightline, hidden underneath the quinjet's body.

"Alright, I'm gonna decelerate. Hold on."

"What? Why! We need to get away from them, Skye!"

"I know," she responded. "Just trust me."

Fitz didn't respond, but he didn't need to. The shift she felt behind her let her know that he was bracing himself.

A deep breath filled her lungs. Then she eased off the throttle. Through the cockpit glass, they watched as the Bus shot away from them. Daisy counted to three before pulling on the stick, turning into a soft bank until they were facing back the way they had come. She righted them again and spared a glance behind her.

"Simmons had the map. Any idea if she knows what the coordinates of the Abel Santamaria airfield are?"

"She wrote it down… One second." The pressure on the back of her seat disappeared as Fitz darted back into the bay to find Simmons, and returned when he came back with the map. "Uhh… 22.49222; -79.94361."

"Cool. Thanks. Keep an eye behind us while I do this," Daisy replied. She made sure to make a show of fumbling around for the autopilot system. Though, admittedly, some of the confusion was real. What genius decided to place it all the way on the right side of the instrument panel? She supposed it made sense if a co-pilot was involved, but even co-pilots could go down in emergency scenarios. Then what?

She shook her head to get rid of that train of thought. No use complaining about it now. She'd make sure to slip some of those complaints to Fitz later. For now, she just groaned and shifted halfway out of her seat to lean across and enter the coordinates. A soft blinking light indicated the system was now activated, and Daisy sunk back into her seat to relax.

Ward frowned as he met the closed door of the cockpit. His knuckles rapped on the metal. From inside he heard a muffled voice, then shuffling moving toward the door.

"What's the problem?" A voice asked from the other side of the door. Deep, male. Not one of Coulson's team then.

"Just doing a safety check. Found bodies in the lounge where Garrett was supposed to be. You fellas have any idea what's going on?"

"Uh, no sir. We heard the shots and shut the door. We can confirm Garrett is safe, he just requested to undock."

Ward frowned. Garrett wasn't in any state to fly on his own. Unless someone took him… "Let me in."

"Yes sir!" The man answered. He swung the door open and stepped back to let Ward inside, retreating back to his seat.

"Where's he headed?" Ward asked.

"We've got him on radar, now. He slowed down behind us… Looks like he's banking now. Headed back the way we came."

Ward cursed under his breath, that sure as hell wasn't Garrett.

Daisy breathed out a sigh of relief as the airfield came into view, along with a very conspicuous black SUV. Fitz had gone back into the main bay to hang out with Simmons, which made their descent much easier, as she didn't have to fake her confusion. Though the vertical takeoff and landing system had turned out to be a boon when Fitz started asking her how she managed to take off. Hopefully, it would explain away the landing just as well.

She carefully positioned herself in line with the runway and eased up on the throttle. Their approach gradually slowed, then came to a standstill. From the bay, she could hear Fitzsimmons worriedly mumbling as the plane swayed a bit. Nothing she could help. She engaged the VTOL landing system and the plane slowly lowered itself down onto the tarmac. A jolt and a few rebound bounces signaled their touchdown.

With a sigh of relief, she climbed out of the cockpit and met Fitzsimmons in the bay.

"You were brilliant, Skye!" Simmons cried, launching herself into Daisy's arms.

To her credit, Daisy didn't flinch, but it did take her a moment to wrap her arms back around Simmons in return.

Fitz sidled up beside the two, awkwardly coughing to get their attention. "Eh, yeah. That was really good."

"Thanks, guys. But we really just got lucky. Who knew Garrett kept the owner's manual in his glove compartment?" She joked.

"It wasn't just luck. You're… You're becoming like a real field agent now! I'm sure once Shield comes back, you'll be promoted in no time." Simmons said, pulling back to arm's length to look Daisy in the eyes.

Fitz nodded along with her, "Yup. She's right."

"I- We'll see," Daisy said with a shrug. "They're waiting on us though, so we should probably go meet them."

Simmons narrowed her eyes, clearly picking up on Daisy's avoidance, but mercifully electing not to mention it. For now.

The three of them made their way down to the ramp. Slowly, it began to lower. A crack of sunlight spilled into the bay. Simmons' hand found Daisy's. Fitz's hand slipped into Simmons. Simmons gave both a squeeze as the ramp lowered the last few inches.

Before them stood May, Coulson, and Trip, their eyes blown comically large as their guns lowered.

Ian Quinn was all smiles as he stepped off the plane at the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility in New Mexico. Mike Peterson's escape, along with the rest of the Incentives Program participants was… an unfortunate setback. But only that. They hadn't touched the machine hidden away in the sublevels of the facility, the one that would bring Uncle Sam's checkbook right to his door.

Garrett's death too was proving to be a rather fortunate occurrence. It didn't take a genius to figure out who was behind it, Raina had always been as devoted to Garrett and Quinn was himself, which was to say, not at all. But he found himself not minding. He'd keep a close eye on her, in case she got any funny ideas, but with the right projects, she'd be a worthy asset. In the meantime, it was easy enough to control the Hydra soldiers under the guise of "Garrett's orders." Hell, they even agreed to change course to New Mexico with barely a question as soon as the phrase left his mouth.

His smile morphed as he met the gaze of the US military generals standing at the ramp of the plane. All teeth, no warmth. He greeted them with false bravado, "Gentlemen! What a pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting you until tonight."

"Ian Quinn, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting the known terrorist organization, Hydra. Tell your men to stand down."

As the general spoke, three dozen army soldiers moved into view, their guns aimed up at him.

His smile fell.

Raina's lips twitched as another text from her mysterious ally came through. Calmly, she stood and walked away from the lab. Her heels clicked against the metal floor, before coming to a stop in front of the containment cell. The door slid open before her, and she took a seat inside, waiting for the inevitable.

Ward barely reacted as army soldiers flooded into the small berth. His gaze focused solely on Garrett's corpse, lying still on the bed. As rough hands grabbed his arms, he watched spittle drip from Garrett's lips and drop onto the bedspread. A small wet circle spread around the image of a tiny Captain America shield, ruining Skye's obnoxious bedspread. His hands were wrenched behind his back, and cuffs clasped around his wrists. He remembered when Coulson gave Skye that bedspread, in response to her sticking a giant picture of Steve Roger's face on just about every surface Coulson touched on the Bus. They'd all laughed at her, and she swore never to use it, lest the Avengers ever find out she was a groupie once.

"You have the right to remain silent-" The soldier closest to him began, his voice fading out into a drone.

Chapter 12:

Victoria Hand did not open her eyes. Her small hospital room was silent. The lights were still off, that much she could tell, and there seemed to be no commotion outside. Yet, she was awake. And she didn't know why.

Until she heard a sigh.

"Are you gonna keep pretending to sleep, or are you gonna talk to me, Vic?"

Her eyes snapped open, and just by the window, illuminated by the faint glow of the moon on her cheeks, was one Isabelle Hartley. Victoria swallowed thickly and shifted to sit upright in the bed, one hundred and thirty thread count sheets scratching at her arms as she moved.

"Agent Hartley," she began, but corrected herself after receiving a glare, "Izzy. I'm glad to see you made it out."

"Yeah, me too. Not that I had a heads up or anything," Hartley said, a familiar accusing lilt to her voice.

"You were quite clear when you told me not to call you."

"That's not what I-"

She cut Hartley off, "I know. Anyway, I was keeping tabs on you. I was the one who shut down communications on your carrier."

"You locked me in a glorified metal bucket with an active mutiny."

"I ensured Hydra could not get backup to their forces on your carrier. Besides, you had Agent Morse. If anyone could get you out, it would be her."

"And who got you out?" Hartley asked. But both knew it wasn't a question.

"Coulson-"

Hartley cut her off. "Thought you were Hydra. Helped you in the end, sure, but he didn't watch your back." She let out an incredulous laugh, "Hell, I didn't even know you were alive until Maria called. I grieved for you, asshat."

"You told me not to call, so I didn't."

"You should've. I would've caught the first ride back to the Triskelion." Hartley crossed her arms, shifting closer to the bed.

Victoria just sighed, "Yes. That's exactly what you would've done. And that's exactly why I couldn't let you."

"You never seemed to care about my protection before," Hartley scoffed, "You want me to believe you're starting now?"

"I've always-"

"No. Don't pull that bullshit with me, Vic. You got yourself transferred away from me, even though I begged you not to paint a target on your back, not to leave me. You think getting yourself ripped from my life is protecting me? Really?"

She took a breath and gestured for Izzy to take a seat at the foot of the bed. The woman didn't immediately take the invitation. Angry, jaded eyes flicking back and forth between her and the spot. But eventually, when Vic didn't say a word, she sat.

"I'm sorry I let myself get hurt," Vic murmured. She wouldn't apologize for leaving. Without leaving, she'd still be an accountant, and Fury would still pull stupid shit with no one to check behind him. But that's also not what this outburst was about. They'd been over this before already, about thirteen times actually, and that anger had long turned from a burn to a soft ache. They argued because it was comfortable, a familiar ground in their uncertain relationship, but this wasn't that kind of arguing. This time, Izzy was lashing out.

When all the tension leaked out of Izzy's frame, Vic knew she chose correctly. Pride opened doors, but it did not mend bridges.

Izzy reached out to take Vic's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "I'm sorry I wasn't there," she said. Vic tried to open her mouth, but a pointed look cut her off and Izzy continued, "Talbot's coming in the morning to make a deal. Maria will take you if you choose to go for the private sector, and we won't bother you again, but I know that isn't your style. On the other hand… Gonzalez is trying to rebuild Shield. So is Coulson. We could use people Coulson trusts to try to talk some sense into him before things get messy."

Vic held up her free hand, "You had me at Coulson. Somehow I don't believe a strongly worded letter will get through to him like it did with Fury."

Izzy cracked her first grin since stepping into the room, "Alright. Let's get you outta here then."

"Play it again," Coulson said, stepping closer to the screen in the office of their new base. Even he was shocked when Fury showed up in his motel room a few nights after everything went down and pointed him in the right direction. As a fan of the SSR and the Howling Commandos, he thought he knew every Shield base with SSR connections. And yet, here it was. An almost fully functional SSR base, completely untouched by modern Shield. Until now.

From behind him, May obliged, restarting the recording. Together they watched as Simmons appeared on the screen, recounting how Daisy helped her and Fitz escape the Bus once Garrett caught them. Every month they came back to it. None of it made sense. And yet, Fitz's story matched up. Three months later, they still couldn't decide what to do about it.

As the recording came to an end, he opened his mouth, only to be cut off by May. "I'm not playing it again."

He turned to face her with a frown, "Fine. But what are we missing? There has to be something that we're just not seeing."

"I'm not sure there is, Phil. Look at her body language. Simmons was fine, nervous, but fine until she told us about Daisy killing the Hydra soldiers and flying the plane. Then she was worried," she said.

Coulson caught onto her train of thought and nodded, "Simmons wants to cover for her, but is also worried she's not okay."

"Right."

"What about training?"

"She won't let me get a read on her," May sighed, "And I can't tell if it's intentional or not. Every time I suggest a spar she weasels her way out of it. She's doing fine in tactics and weapons, but those can be faked."

"We should assume it is. Garrett, Ward, they got past us because we thought we knew them." He crossed to his desk and sank into the seat, steepling his hands. "I'm putting her in the field."

May's eyes widened a fraction, "Phil, she hasn't even finished hand-to-hand combat training yet."

"And you think that's because she's holding back."

"I never said that," May retorted.

"No. But I know you were thinking it," Coulson fired back.

"Even if she is trained, she won't be trained for Shield. It's not only dangerous for her but dangerous for everyone else in the field with her."

"We can't afford to have another sleeper, May," Coulson sighed, "Not now."

Her jaw jutted forward just slightly in defiance. "Fine. But I get to make the mission. And I need Morse."

Coulson leaned back in his chair, gesturing across his desk, "By all means."

Two strong arms struggled to balance three brown sacks of groceries while unlocking a door. One arm held two bags, one of which perched on a hip. The second held a single bag squished against a chest, with the wrist bent at an awkward angle to get the key in the slot. It didn't go in. The key was flipped, stabbed into either side of the lock twice, then finally inserted and twisted. The door swung open.

Daisy's eyes widened as she took in the scene before her. Mike Peterson stood as far from Raina as he possibly could, pressed against the back wall of the living room. One fist was raised, a wrist rocket armed and leveled on Raina. And Raina, to her credit, seemed entirely unphased. She lounged on the couch like the queen of the apartment, delicately popping grapes in her mouth.

Mike spoke first. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"I was invited,' Raina replied.

"And I wasn't talking to you," Mike snapped, pointedly looking at Daisy.

Daisy sighed and moved to the kitchen, setting the groceries down on the table. "Okay, yeah, in hindsight, this maybe wasn't one of my better ideas. But I did need to talk to both of you."

Raina raised an eyebrow. "You set this up?"

Daisy only hummed in response, digging through the bags to figure out what to make for dinner. She settled on ramen.

"Where's the rest of your team then? Coulson is awfully protective of you, I didn't see him as the type to let you go out alone."

"Coulson doesn't know about this."

"Aren't you just the rebellious one," Raina teased. Daisy simply stuck out her tongue in response.

Mike made his way into the kitchen to help unpack the groceries, though he never left his back to Raina as he moved across the space. "You promised me an explanation," he reminded, his voice kept carefully neutral.

"Right. Okay. First of all, Raina, you cannot tell my dad any of this," she pointed to her threateningly with a wooden spoon before going back to stirring the ramen.

Raina tilted her head. "Your… dad? I'm afraid I thought you were an orphan, Skye."

"Cal. No telling Cal."

Her eyes widened, "You're his Daisy…"

"Yup."

"I feel like I'm missing something," Mike said, looking between the two.

Raina brushed past Mike's intrusion into the conversation with ease. "But that would mean-"

"I'm the little girl from the Hunan Province and the DNA sample was mine. Yes, I'm like you," Daisy rattled off, answering what she hoped were Raina's most pressing questions before taking pity on Mike and filling him in. "Raina works for my dad," she paused and turned back to Raina, "which is totes not good and I'm definitely helping you get away from him," then returned her attention to Mike. "And my dad's been looking for me for years."

"Okay…" He said, but from his expression it was clear he still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. "What about rescuing me? And not handing me back to Shield?"

Daisy mulled that over as she dished out ramen into three bowls. "That one is… harder to explain. My team knows me as Skye. Rising Tide hacker, caffeine addict, and exercise intolerant."

"And that's… not who you are? 'Cause when I met you, that seemed right." Mike took his bowl without complaint. Raina, well, Raina looked at the nice fresh vegetables he had just put away with barely disguised longing.

"Uhh, sort of? My name's Daisy Johnson. I'm like all that plus a little extra." She paused as she slurped up some noodles. "Actually, wait no, I'm not allergic to exercise anymore. The endorphins are nice."

"And you, Daisy Johnson? Are you a Shield agent?" Raina asked.

She nodded from over her bowl of noodles.

"Then why not bring your team in for this? Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful you didn't turn me over, but…" Mike trailed off.

"I'm loyal to my team. And I'm loyal to Shield. But I wasn't, like, raised in Shield or anything like the rest of them. I dropped outta high school and made a living hacking from my van. I was about as far from Shield Academy as you could get. That meant when I came in, I didn't think like them. I saw problems they didn't. Solutions too. Like helping you, Mike." She looked down into her bowl, letting the silence after her statement hang for a moment.

"Coulson wanted to bring you in. He wanted you as an asset under his control because he thinks enhanced people are dangerous. And he'll try to do the same to us, Raina, if he finds out what we are." She looked back up at them, gaze hard. "I'm not going to let him do that. I know things Shield doesn't. I plan to act on that intel before they can fuck it up. But, I need help. Allies. I need both of you."

Mike took a breath. Gently, he took his now empty bowl to the sink. Water and suds appeared as he scrubbed out the neon yellow film left behind. He could see Raina watching him from the corner of his eye. Skye, or Daisy now, seemed intently focused on her bowl. With a sigh, he set the bowl aside to dry and spoke. "You helped me and my son. I owe you this. And it sounds like redemption."

A thankful smile appeared on Daisy's lips as she looked up to him. Then to Raina. "And you?"

"I suppose I can help too. But with certain conditions," Raina said.

Amusement played in Daisy's eyes. "I expected nothing less."

"No, no, no. Why would you do that? Are you mad?" Fitz cried as he snatched the prototype cloaking plating from one of his assistants.

"Fitz! Be nice! They're trying their best." Jemma chastised from her workstation. Three desks over and just across from Fitz. Plenty close to look up in exasperation at each other, but far enough away so their respective projects didn't get entangled.

"Well, their best is the worst!" He snapped. "Honestly, just go." He waved off the assistant, and they scurried away in fear. Off to lick their wounds

Jemma huffed and crossed to stand beside Fitz, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know we're not used to all the extra help and the new lab, but-"

"Oh yeah, the new lab. Cause they converted the old one into a garage without even asking!"

"Well- yes. I suppose they should've asked us first but… The new lab is nice! It has real additive manufacturing technology for you and it has almost as large a genetic database as the HUB," Jemma said.

Fitz just scoffed, "Yeah but it's not ours anymore. Now we're just two among twenty other scientists. The team doesn't even include us in their mission briefs anymore."

"Hold on," Jemma laughed, "Weren't you the one who didn't want to get into the field in the first place? And our peers are lovely. They just need a bit of guidance."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't wanna get in the field again but I'd still like to be included. It's like they don't even need us now," Fitz huffed.

"Of course, they need us, Fitz! The cloaking you're working on-"

"Could be done by someone else. I'm not talking about our tech, of course, they need new tech. But they don't need us."

Simmons squeezed Fitz's shoulder. "You know that isn't true." When he didn't move, she let out a sigh and changed tact. "How about we go find Mack and Trip and work on something fun, hm? Take a break from cloaking for a bit and bond with the team."

He hung his head but relented. "Yeah.. fine. That's fine. Let's go."

A bright smile lit Simmons' lips as she slipped her hand down into Fitz's and led him out.

It was approaching dusk when Daisy made her way back into the Playground. That in mind, she headed toward the lounge. She stopped in the doorway with a small smile and watched her team. Trip and Simmons huddled together in one corner, working on something. Mack and Fitz stood in the opposite corner, hunched over an equally questionable-looking project. If the jeers from Hartley's crew on the couch were anything to go by, it had to be a competition of sorts. The fond smile slowly slipped from her lips as she continued to watch.

The two teams presented their gadgets, all grins and taunts. Fitz and Mack went first, she wasn't exactly sure what it was, but as the small device began to spin and whir, smoke billowed out of it. Fitz's eyes widened and he immediately moved to tug Simmons down behind the couch and cover her with his body. Trip, Mack, and Hartley's crew followed a second later. The high-pitched whir ramped up, then stopped. And the machine let out a single belch.

The team slowly peeked over the couch, eyeing the machine now covered in soot. Daisy's gaze, however, remained on Fitz and Simmons. He was standing in front of her protectively, and she held his hand tightly from behind.

She fled before anyone noticed her in the doorway. Her feet took her toward the hangar without thinking. But when she arrived, she found her destination missing. They didn't have the Bus anymore. Another one of her failures. A quick glance around the hangar brought a new target. As she slipped into the closest car, her composure cracked.

Tears slid down her face. Shaking hands moved to wipe them away. Crying was silly. She accomplished her mission. She saved Fitz and Simmons. Fitz was okay, he was alive, and came out with barely a scratch. And God she was selfish for wishing otherwise. The Fitz that became her best friend, her confidant, her one ally when the rest of the team was ready to tag her like an animal, that Fitz was born of the same pain, the same othering she had felt. How dare she wish for him. How dare she, when she could stop his pain and help him avoid the monster he would become, the doctor who appeared in her nightmares.

But the fear of what he could become now lingered. Daisy remembered how Simmons treated her when they first discovered her powers and her heritage. How Simmons viewed her as an experiment. A problem that needed to be solved. If Simmons never left, and Fitz stayed close with her, would she lose him too? Would he treat her like all the others? Had she created The Doctor? She couldn't- She couldn't go through that again. Not when she just got her family back.

And yet, she could feel the distance between herself and the team. May and Coulson were keeping things from her. Coulson never gave her the carvings to research. May was evaluating her like a threat. Simmons kept looking at her like she'd have a mental break any day now. She was more alone than ever.

CW: Past self-harm and suicide mentioned. No explicit description.

The steel door to cell A6 opened without a sound. General Hale stepped inside and gazed down at the man seated before her. The past few months had not been kind to him. A scraggly beard appeared on his chin. His once gelled hair now flat with grease. Toned muscles were a distant memory. Thin, evenly placed scars marked his forearms. And yet, his eyes were alive. Calculating. Like a hunter stalking its prey.

"Grant Ward," she began, placing a single file on the table, but not taking a seat. "Two escape attempts, seven suicide attempts, and one attempted bribe. You've been busy."

He didn't say a word. Garrett trained him well, she'd give him that. She let out a sigh and continued on, "and yet, not one attempt in the past two weeks. What changed?"

His jaw tightened, but no response came. As expected. She knew the answer. She was the one who set it up after all. Slipping false intel on Skye to one of the chattier guards proved to be effective, it gave Ward something to live for, something to strike a deal for.

Hale sat down in the metal chair across from him. "Brigadier General Talbot thinks your old team will come for you." She watched faint muscle ripple in his forearms, leading down to the hands he kept hidden under the table. Good. "I don't. And I think you don't either. Which means holding you here is pointless."

His eyebrow raised in vague interest.

"I am more than happy to return you to Shield," Hale said, "If I am given suitable information in exchange."

For the first time, Ward spoke. "And I'm supposed to trust that once you have this information you'll let me walk free?"

Hale shrugged. "Yes."

Ward leaned back in his chair, considering his options. Hale did the same. She wouldn't bend to him. He could trust her, which would benefit her more, or not. His compliance was a bonus to her plans, and without it, she would simply remain on her current track.

He seemed to make his decision, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. "Fine."

Author's Note:

I'm back! I've got a couple chapters set up now so I'm comfy starting to post again. I could probably post as I write but this entire thing involves multiple plot threads and foreshadowing moments that are brought up later, so it really helps when I have a couple chapters in the bank to pull clues from.

This is also the point where I think I'm going to alienate some people. Things are really starting to change now and the more I write the more I see Daisy's relationship with the team changing from this whole situation. It's turning into more of a bittersweet fix-it. Oops.

We are officially in season 2 though! Three months have passed since Daisy and Fitzsimmons escaped the Bus and the pieces that were set up in s1 are now starting to move.

Chapter 13:

"I still think bringing Raina in is a bad idea," Mike grumbled as he grabbed Daisy's overextended arm and threw her onto the couch. Most of the furniture had been moved out of the living room to make room for the spar, but the couch stayed put. It was handy to practice throws with. Otherwise, they'd land on the floor and piss off the downstairs neighbors. Downsides of using a civilian apartment as a safe house.

Interestingly enough, Mike was the one to bring up sparring. Daisy didn't plan to broach the subject with him, she knew all too well what it was like to be a weapon without a choice. But he said he was ready, that he wanted to learn so he could stop what happened to him from happening to anyone else. And Daisy? Well, she needed someone she could actually spar with. It also helped that Mike had enhanced strength and most of their enemies from here on out have some sort of enhancement.

Daisy landed with a grunt and rolled onto her side to get a good look at her opponent. "That was better!" She encouraged. Mike's fighting wasn't bad, per se, but he relied on brute strength over smart tactical decisions. Noticing her mistake and taking advantage of it was encouraging progress on that front.

Mike narrowed his eyes at the attempt to change the subject and Daisy let out a sigh. "Fine. Yes. I know. But trust me, she's gonna be important."

"You keep saying that, but you never explain why." He offered a hand to help her up.

She took it gratefully. "Yeah. It's called being a spy," she smirked. A playful swipe wiped the smirk off her face and forced her to dodge to the side. "Okay, fine. In all seriousness, we need a face."

"Everyone likes you. You can do it," Mike said while blocking Daisy's strike to his collarbone.

A snort escaped Daisy's nose. She couldn't help it. "Everyone likes me? Really? Yeah no. I've made my fair share of enemies." Her arm pulled back before Mike could throw her on the couch again. "Besides, Raina's good at working people. I can pull off an interrogation, even a short con, but long term? That's not really my strength."

"Someone else then." His arm arced through the air from the left, aiming to knock Daisy back against the couch.

She placed one hand under Mike's arm and pushed up while stepping into his strike, effectively eliminating his reach advantage. "Like who? I managed to save Victoria Hand when Shield fell, but I don't know her well enough to trust her with something like this."

"The other guy you told me about then. The one with all the freaky brothers." He tried to grab her around the waist with his free arm, but she slipped free and stepped behind him. He braced for impact, only to be met with a light flick to the back of his head.

"Eric? Dude, it's a miracle the Koenigs are part of Shield at all. Really not good at keeping their mouths shut," she laughed. "Also, don't go for grapples when I get inside your range, just try to back up. Even grappled, being close gives me an advantage."

He nodded and turned to face her again, settling into a defensive stance. One that was all Daisy in style. He still thought it felt ridiculous, but Daisy insisted that just standing there until someone made the mistake of punching his cybernetics was not a good strategy. Something about people being stronger than he thought. Honestly, he didn't really listen until she dredged up some old photo of Captain America in a defensive stance. And even then, he only obliged because he could tell Daisy needed to let off some steam.

"What about that Shield contact you mentioned?" He asked, waiting for her to make the first move this time. "You said you gave her some intel."

"Yeah. She's close with Fury though. Not sure I want him knowing everything. Or her selling me out to Talbot to-" Daisy trailed off, lowering her fists. "Oh my god."

"What?"

"I'm an idiot."

Mike's arms slowly lowered as well. "Okay…?"

"How do you feel about a vacation to Puerto Rico?"

"Uh…"

If there was one thing Maria Hill wasn't expecting, it was for Agent Skye to show up in her office on a random Tuesday. Especially when her office was located in Stark tower, and she knew for a fact Tony did not give her access.

She let out a sigh and set aside the paperwork she had been working on. "Agent Skye. Gotta say, didn't expect you to show up in my office. Should I be concerned that Stark's firewalls look like swiss cheese right now?"

The girl let out a chuckle and plopped down on a chair across from the desk. She looked at home here. In control. And that did not line up with her file. Oh, Hill knew the file wasn't exactly right. Their last meeting told her that.

"Nah, his firewalls are fine. I just asked J.A.R.V.I.S. nicely," she waved a dismissive hand as if that wasn't a feat of its own.

"Right… And you need me for?"

Daisy sobered up and shifted to sit in the chair the proper way. "The government has something of Shield's, and an ex-Shield agent is going around selling intel on it. Only a matter of time before someone goes looking."

"The tech the government has in their possession was assessed and deemed acceptable. We ensured nothing… compromising stayed there long."

"A 0-8-4 with a level 10 classification isn't considered compromising?"

Maria's eyes glinted as she gazed at Daisy. After a beat, she settled back in her chair. "We wanted to see what the government would make of it. Or more accurately, who it would attract."

"You set them up…" Daisy murmured, eyes widening.

Her only response was a slight incline of her head.

Daisy pushed past her mounting horror. She could deal with the ramifications of that knowledge later. "I know who's going after it. If that's what you need, I'll give you that intel. But I need the 0-8-4."

She raised an eyebrow at her demand. "Last time I checked, Agent Skye, you were a level one probationary agent. What makes you think I'll simply hand over a level 10 classified item to you?"

"Because unlike you, I know what the object does."

"If you think I'm going to hand over a weapon to someone who actually knows-"

"It's not a weapon," Daisy cut her off, leaning forward in her chair. "It's a… religious artifact. Think of it like the uh, tabernacle I guess?"

Maria's eyebrow rose even higher. "A tabernacle."

"Yeah… It sort of like, stores the essence of its uh… believers? It stores it inside until the believers are ready to receive it."

"Tabernacles, need I remind you, do not kill people when they are touched."

"Once it's opened, it won't be dangerous anymore."

The girl in front of her wasn't lying. Not about this. Sure, she skirted around how she actually knew all of this, but she wasn't outright lying. She understood the danger and understood how to stop her. But that didn't stop Maria from having reservations. "It sounds like a cult ready to open Pandora's box."

Daisy winced just slightly, cause, yeah. That… was sorta on the nose. "The crystals inside aren't as dangerous as the obelisk itself. Hell, the obelisk wasn't even designed to be deadly. It was designed to be DNA locked to a specific set of genes so no one else could open it. But once it's opened, all those defense mechanisms go away."

"And the crystals inside?" Maria asked.

Daisy paused, trying to figure out the best way to explain it. She settled on a half-truth. One she knew Maria would see through, but accept and look into later. "They have the potential to heal people with a specific set of genes."

Maria's eyes narrowed.

"You get me the obelisk, I get you Loki's scepter," Daisy finally sighed.

"And you tell me what your real name is," Maria added.

Daisy chuckled, hanging her head. "I knew I couldn't get that past you for long."

"So you saved me for last. Dare I ask how many people you read in before me?"

"Only three," she reached a hand across the table with a smile. "Daisy Johnson."

Maria took her hand and shook it firmly. "Maria Hill."

When Daisy got back to the Playground after meeting with Mike and Hill, the after-hours hangout session had already begun. The whole team gathered in the lounge. Billy, Eric, Mack, and Fitz were all squished together on the couch playing Halo. Simmons stood off to the side with Trip, watching Fitz with undisguised longing. Idaho and Hunter brought the beer and were leaning against the kitchen counter, egging Billy and Eric's squabbles on. And there, by the fridge, stood Hartley and one Victoria Hand, quietly conversing with each other.

She waffled in the doorway for a moment. Last time she only watched idly by, this time… she'd go in. She'd do her part to meet her team halfway, she only hoped they would return the favor.

Simmons noticed her first. "Skye! Where have you been?" She cried. "Fitz and I could've used your help on the cloaking tech."

"Oh come off it," Hunter scoffed. "Girl had the day off, let her do what she wants." Daisy sent him a grateful smile, and he sent her a wink in return.

"No. Agent Simmons is right. Agent Skye disappearing off base without clearing it with her superiors first is a security risk," Victoria Hand said, stepping forward.

"I cleared it with May, actually," Daisy shot back.

"Ladies, ladies, relax. Shield's a job, not a prison, you can't just keep us all locked on base, Pantsuit. Skye had the day off, she cleared it, let her be," Hunter drawled, pointedly ignoring Hartley's death glare.

Victoria's eye twitched. "And you are the authority on Shield protocol? You aren't even an agent, Mr. Lance."

"Right you are. Which means I don't answer to you," he grinned behind his bottle and turned his attention back to Daisy. "You should join us, love. Work-life balance, seeing exotic places, shooting people."

"No dental though," Idaho chimed in.

Hunter rolled his eyes. His elbow found Idaho's gut. "Shut it, mate. I'm tryna sell the merc life."

Daisy chuckled and grabbed one of the extra beers off the counter. "I'll keep your offer in mind." And she would if Victoria Hand's lingering dislike for her got much worse. She thought the woman would be good for Shield. Good for Coulson too. They balanced each other. People would follow Coulson, and he had the right heart. Hand evened him out with her more conservative approach. Risks were analyzed and weighed in turn. She also had the necessary distance from the team to keep them in line.

Unfortunately, Victoria Hand also had the necessary distance to keep Daisy in line. And that wouldn't do.

"Ha! Eat it, Mack!" Billy jeered. The tension in the room broke.

Eric joined in with his brother. "That's what we call a Koenig special! How's it feel to lose?"

"Aw, come on guys. You really gotta rub it in?" Mack groaned.

Fitz crossed his arms with a huff. "Luck. This game isn't even designed well."

Daisy looked to Simmons to share her amusement in Fitz's lack of sportsmanship. A frown tugged at her lips as she realized Simmons wasn't paying attention. Her focus centered on Fitz, watching him fondly.

Trip caught her gaze as she fought to tear it away from Simmons. He cocked his head slightly, concern in his eyes. She mustered a weak smile. They both knew it was fake.

Training began at five a.m. the following morning. Daisy followed May through their usual Tai Chi. She hated it with a passion when she first started. She wanted to get to the cool secret agent stuff right away, not wave her arms around while standing still. But now, she appreciated it. The constant motion prepared her body for the day and quieted her mind.

May broke that quiet. "Trip's worried about you."

"Oh?" She kept her voice light.

"Says you're pulling away from the team."

She sucked in a soft breath. "I know. I feel it." May stayed silent, her body shifting with the fluid motion, her eyes closed. Daisy knew better than to elaborate in the silence.

It wasn't until weapons training that May brought it up again. "When I cleared you to go off base, it wasn't to give you a way to avoid the team. You had a-"

"A mission. Yeah. I know. And I'm working on that," Daisy lowered her pistol and pushed the safety glasses up into her hair. "I've got some leads I'm working, seriously. If I didn't think it was going anywhere, I wouldn't be leaving the team's side."

May raised an eyebrow. This time, Daisy sighed and took the bait.

"I'm just… not like the rest of you. And it's starting to show." She flicked her glasses back down over her eyes and fired off another mag.

May's eyes narrowed.

Coulson looked up from his desk as May walked in and shut the door behind her. He tilted his head in question.

"She took the bait. Went off base, as we hoped. But she's good at not leaving a trail. No paper trail, no security footage, nothing," May reported, crossing over to the desk.

"Which only further points to her being a double agent," Coulson groaned, leaning back in the chair and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Think she made any contact while off base?"

May shrugged. "Impossible to tell."

"Damn," he sighed. "Is Agent Morse ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. Do it. And get me Agent Hand."

May took a breath to steel herself and gave a nod, slipping out.

Chapter 14:

When Daisy arrived in the briefing room, she thought she knew what mission she was being sent on. It was about time for Hartley's crew to win the bid on the Obelisk's intel. If she played her cards right she could activate it without anyone getting hurt and have Gordon pick her up. Which was good. If anyone knew about Korra, it would be Gordon. Or her mom. But Daisy wasn't quite willing to go down that route yet.

Except, when she began to flip through the brief, she realized this mission had nothing to do with the Obelisk. In fact, she didn't remember this mission at all. Her brows furrowed as she reached the bottom.

"Ward?" She questioned, looking up to May, then Coulson on the screen. "Why not just leave him with Talbot?"

"He has intel on Hydra. We could use him," Coulson stated blandly.

"He also tried to kill us! Like- He was for sure about to murder Fitzsimmons. And you want him here? With us?" Daisy argued. Fitz and Simmons might've been too shellshocked to care about how they escaped from the Bus, but she wouldn't put it past Ward to notice.

"It's a risk," Coulson admitted, "but one I'm willing to take. We need intel, he has it."

May stepped in before Daisy could open her mouth to argue. "He'll be kept away from the team. They won't even know he's here."

Daisy held back a snort. Her team was nosy. There was absolutely no way they'd keep Ward a secret for more than two days.

"It's off books. We'll pick him up here," May pulled up an aerial shot of the drop zone, "and hand over any intel we have on Hydra in the U.S. Government."

She frowned at that. Talbot was hunting Hydra, but given his relationship with Senator Ward, she didn't see him as the one willing to ransom Ward for that information. Which left either a secondary task force hunting Hydra that she didn't know about or a Hydra agent themselves looking to see which agents were burned.

"Are we expecting trouble?" She asked.

May shook her head.

"It should just be a routine exchange, which is why we chose it to be your first true field mission," Coulson said, placing a bit of weight on the word first.

And oh. That was concerning. She completely forgot she hadn't been out in the field with Shield yet. Her professionalism in this briefing didn't go unnoticed. May's side eye burned against her. No way to fix it now.

"Cool, cool. When are we leaving?" She asked.

"Wheels up in twenty," May answered. "And I'll be teaching you how to fly on the way."

Daisy nodded and smoothly exited the room. Only once she was safely tucked away in her bunk did she let her back thud against the door and contemplate what just happened. They so knew something was up. She just couldn't believe she didn't notice. Three months to do damage control and yet she let herself get distracted with setting up safehouses and allies. Fuck.

Four soldiers stood in the middle of an open field. A handcuffed Ward stood in the middle of them. As Daisy stepped off the quinjet, right behind May, she frowned. None of the soldiers looked familiar. Whoever ordered the exchange was smart enough not to show their face. She'd need to dig into the transfer records later.

Ward seemed to relax as the two approached, offering Daisy a saccharine smile. She kept her expression carefully neutral and avoided looking directly into his eyes. She remembered his obsession from last time around, and she really hoped this was it. Yet the way his gaze never once flickered away from her was worrying. She could feel him eyeing her like a puzzle. Last time, he thought he had her all figured out. If he was obsessed with her secrets now… That would pose a problem. Was she willing to give him another chance with proper support? Maybe. But that didn't mean she planned to invite him into her team.

"Ward first," May demanded, cutting through Daisy's alarm upon realizing who exactly she thought her team to be.

The soldiers gave them wary looks, but they nudged Ward forward regardless. Once Ward crossed the threshold, May passed a file to the closest soldier. He took it. After a quick once over, he nodded and gestured to his team. The four soldiers turned sharply to head back to their helicopter.

"Skye I-" Ward began. He never finished. A single shot rang out from behind him and he slumped to the ground. Daisy looked to where May stood, ICER drawn, and rolled her eyes.

"You couldn't have waited 'till we got him on the quinjet?"

"It's good exercise," May responded blandly. She gestured for Daisy to pick him up.

She kneeled down and shifted him onto her shoulder in a fireman's carry with a grunt. Now she knew something was definitely up with this mission. May prioritized efficiency when out in the field. Carrying Ward back certainly wasn't that. And it prevented her from drawing her weapon- shit.

May moved. Daisy twisted in time to see the soldiers fall. The shots came from the treeline, but she couldn't make out individuals.

"Get to the quinjet! I'll cover your six!" May shouted.

Daisy nodded and turned to hightail it back to the quinjet. Ward forced her to move slower than she'd like. He limited her peripheral vision as well. From behind her, she could make out three shots, then the sound of hand-to-hand fighting. Her grip tightened on Ward. She hated how blind she was without her powers.

Pain exploded across her right side, and her grip on Ward faltered. She let go of him fully as she stumbled to avoid getting trapped under him. His body hit the ground with a thump. Daisy's didn't.

Something whistled through the air. Instinctively, she moved. Her body twisted to avoid the object, and her feet took two quick steps to close the distance it created. She grabbed a now overextended wrist and pulled, kicking at a kneecap simultaneously.

The woman crashed to the ground. She rolled to the right just in time to avoid a boot crashing down into the space her head had been. Her eyes narrowed and she used the momentum of her roll to spin around and sweep Daisy's leg. She crashed to the ground with a grunt. Both scrambled to their feet.

Daisy froze. Bobbi didn't.

Cold metal slammed into her arm. Daisy let out a cry. She saw the second strike coming for her head and managed to duck under it. Her left arm hung limp at her side, her right shifted to block Bobbi's forearm from bringing the baton down on her. Another strike landed on her side, but weaker from lack of space to build momentum. Daisy pushed through the pain and closed the last remaining distance to knee Bobbi in the gut.

Bobbi sincerely missed her Mockingbird suit as Daisy's knee made contact with her abdomen. She winced as the air rushed out of her, still for just a moment. Her eyes met Daisy's. A quick spin avoided a halfhearted punch and brought her back to a safe distance.

The women circled each other. Each step forward from Bobbi matched with a step back from Daisy. They circled clockwise until Daisy positioned herself to see May take down the last Hydra soldier behind Bobbi's back. She slowed their circling, stalling for time. May slid into position. Bobbi's grip tightened on her batons. Her eyes stayed locked on Daisy. An ICER shot took her in the back and she fell to the ground.

Daisy took a shaky breath. Bobbi, clad in her Hydra security uniform, wasn't supposed to be here. May jolted her out of her stupor with a touch on the arm.

"We need to go," she said.

Daisy nodded, and together they moved to carry Ward the rest of the way into the quinjet.

Agent Bobbi Morse reclined on a shabby couch in the middle of a safehouse she assumed hadn't been touched in years. With one hand, she pressed an ice pack to her abdomen.

"She's good. Trained, definitely. I caught her by surprise and she managed not only to recover from the hit but dodge the next one and analyze my optimal range simultaneously. From taking a hit completely by surprise to slipping inside my guard took her maybe two seconds," she reported.

Coulson ran a hand over his face and sank into a sheet-covered chair. It'd only been an hour since the mission. Skye was setting Ward up in the cell, her movements of course carefully monitored. The main cell monitoring system they left untouched, but an extra camera and mic were also set inside and connected to a different surveillance system. It was the only other test they had for her after this. If they caught her attempting to help Ward, they'd know exactly where her loyalties lie.

"It was weird though… She froze when she finally got a good look at me," Bobbi said.

"Because you were in your Hydra uniform?" Coulson guessed.

Her brows furrowed, and she shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. She knew it was Hydra when we took down the soldiers. It was almost like she knew me somehow."

"Have you been on base with her before?" May asked.

"No. I don't think so. Or at least, I never spoke to her. And I wasn't a brunette then. I dyed it for my Hydra cover."

Coulson steepled his hands. May rocked back on her heels. Both stumped.

"It was like… once she realized it was me, she didn't want to fight. She had an ICER in her belt, too. Once she got out of hand-to-hand she could've ended it," Bobbi continued.

"Do you think she knows you're Shield?" Coulson asked.

Bobbi could only shrug in reply. "Maybe? It's the only thing that would make sense."

"Hunter talks about you," May said. "It's possible he showed her a picture."

Coulson looked up to May. "You don't believe that."

For a beat, May said nothing. Then she slowly shook her head.

A soft ping cut through Coulson's sigh. He reached into his suit and withdrew his phone. May crossed to stand behind him and watch over his shoulder. At Bobbi's questioning look, he filled her in. "We put Skye in charge of Ward, for now. Wanted to see if she was working with him."

"Smart," Bobbi said, standing with a grunt and crossing over to watch as well.

Daisy sat in a cold metal chair, watching Ward wake on the other side of the electric barrier. His cell was simple. A single bed, low to the ground, one solid formed piece of metal, and a camera with a blinking red light. That worried her. She could turn it off, the tablet on the stand to her right could initiate a lockdown on all outside monitoring systems, but that practically screamed that she was up to something. Not to mention, Coulson didn't let her see Ward for months last time. Fighting Bobbi on retrieval and now a private moment to talk with him? It felt like a setup.

"Skye," Ward breathed, looking her up and down, his eyes catching on the sling on her arm. The stupid one Simmons insisted she wear, and Daisy couldn't find it within herself to argue about. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

Daisy scoffed. "Really? That's what you're leading with?"

"Were you expecting a thank you?"

"Maybe. We didn't have to take your sorry ass back, you know."

"Oh I know," he chuckled. "But you did. Which means you need me."

She shrugged in response. "Or we just didn't want you spilling Shield intel to Talbot."

"I would never do that," he snapped before softening his voice and taking a small step forward, "not when it could endanger you."

"Endanger me? I'm pretty sure you were trying to kill us on the Bus," Daisy laughed incredulously.

"No. I was trying to get rid of them. Not you. Never you."

"You clearly don't know me at all if you think I would ever let you kill them without killing me first," she growled. Simmons… she would do anything to protect Simmons, and this Fitz hadn't hurt her yet. He was still good. She understood Ward, and she thought she could use that understanding to help him, but he came after her family again. And worse, he didn't care about them at all.

Ward grinned, and Daisy's hackles rose. "I know you better than you think. Better than they do, at least."

"I doubt that."

He hummed noncommittally. "I know… that you're far more like me than you want to believe. I'll never lie to you Skye, so let me tell you the truth. I always cared for you. I just never believed I could have you. You were too bright. Too good. I knew if I was with you, I'd ruin it. But I saw what you did on the Bus. I even found what you did for Mike Peterson. You're kevlar too, Skye."

She smashed the button to lock down the monitors in the room and abruptly stood from the chair. This was a mistake. She wanted to get an idea of how devoted he was to her in this time, no, universe? Whatever. She needed a gauge on how much she could use him. But he played her. Even with all her knowledge, he played her like she was still Skye, the all too trusting level one agent.

Ward raised an amused eyebrow and glanced at the camera. More specifically, at the lack of the flashing red light. "Oh. Did Coulson not know about that one?" He asked rhetorically.

Daisy took two steps forward, jabbing her finger at the cage. "I wasn't willing to trust you yet, Ward. But I was willing to work with you. And I promise you, if you say a word about whatever suspicions you have of me, you will never, ever, see me again."

It felt silly, but then again, she hadn't dealt with a threat that considered losing her worse than death in years. Based on Ward's minuscule flinch, she chose the correct threat.

As she turned to leave, Ward spoke from behind. "When they turn on you, just remember. I'm on your side. Kevlar's gotta-"

Daisy let the door slam shut before he could finish his sentence.

May and Coulson, along with Hunter and Idaho, burst into Skye's bunk with their ICERs at the ready. An empty cot met them.

Hunter's head lolled and he let out a muttered curse. Idaho rolled his eyes at his partner's antics and pushed further into the room to search.

"Laptop and phone are missing, otherwise, everything's here. Even clothes. Doubt she planned it," he reported.

Coulson shared a look with May. They made the wrong call. They should've sent Hunter and Idaho in as soon as the feed cut out instead of waiting to get back to the base themselves.

"Turn the room inside out. Bag anything that might be useful," May instructed, stepping further into the room. With a last glance over her shoulder, she jerked her head in the direction of the door.

Coulson sent her a grateful smile and left her to it. He stepped out of the room. Fitz, Simmons, and Trip waited against the wall outside.

"Sir! Is Skye alright? We saw you go in and-"

He held up a hand to cut Simmons off. "Classified. Go to my office, and stay put. All of you."

"But-" Fitz began, but Trip's steady hand on his shoulder dissuaded any further argument. Fitz's shoulder slumped in defeat. "Yes sir."

Coulson shared a nod with Trip, assured he would follow orders, and continued to his target. He made no effort to hide his movement. Briskly, he pulled open the door to Ward's cell and descended the steps.

"Coulson," Ward greeted.

He received no response. Coulson simply crossed to the tablet and turned on the monitoring systems. Faint electric crackling filled the silence of the room. Finally, Coulson looked up.

"Mike Peterson. Our contacts say he disappeared under Hydra's nose. What did Skye have to do with that?"

"Ah," Ward sighed, "I see. You know, Coulson, I was willing to give Skye intel. Hydra's plans, who the new heads are, how they communicate…" He trailed off and cocked his head, examining the man before him. "I want to help her, and I thought that meant helping you. Turns out it doesn't."

Coulson changed his tactic. "You think we don't want to help her? She's like a daughter to me. But I can't protect her if I don't know who she's working for."

"From where I'm standing, it looks like the one she needs protection from is you," Ward said with a smile. "You don't see Hydra hunting her down like a dog, do you?"

Coulson smiled blandly in response. The invisible electric containment wall shifted to an opaque white. He didn't get everything he needed, but he got enough. Skye wasn't Hydra, nor a big enough player for them to take notice of her. That combined with her protectiveness of Fitzsimmons comforted him slightly, but not enough to call off the search. He turned on his heel and headed to his office, calling the Koenig brothers up on the way. Mike Peterson just became a priority.

A/N:

I really felt like an idiot writing that fight scene. I sat there staring at it for a solid day trying to figure out why it wasn't working, only to finally realize it was the rhythm screwing me over. I initially wrote it with a fight rhythm similar to a scrappy agent brawl (think Yelena and Nat's fight in the apartment), but it just didn't sit right. I forgot to take Bobbi's escrima sticks into account, like an idiot. Escrima fights flow differently than regular fist fights do. A fist fight is like… a punch = a quarter note. A double escrima stick fighting style is more like a dotted quarter note followed by an eighth. If that makes any sense? It's jazzy. Idk.

Chapter 15:

Agent Bobbi Morse sunk into her seat, the last one to arrive to the meeting. Hartley and Mack were already seated around the large table. Gonzalez stood at its head. She sent an apologetic smile his way. Blowing her Hydra cover ended up being a bit more explosive than she'd hoped, and it took a while to shake her tails.

He gave her a single nod in return and began the meeting. "I know this is soon. Certainly sooner than I anticipated, but the opportunity presented now is too good to pass up. With Agent Skye outed as a traitor, we have more room to maneuver. That's why I called you in, Agent Morse."

She frowned, tilting her head curiously.

"Agent May is Coulson's second, we need her to vacate that position so Agent Hand can slip into it. You are to work with Agent May to occupy her with hunting for Skye. Drive a wedge between her and Coulson in how Skye should be handled," he continued.

Hartley frowned as well, speaking up. "Sir, I don't think Vic's gonna take May's role. She respects her."

"Then you need to push her. Agent Hand has just as much right to be the Director as Coulson does. Once she's his second, we'll start staging missions for Vic to excel in. Too many hits to Coulson's soft heart and he'll defer to her, that's when you will push her to step up, Hartley."

"That seems a bit…" Mack trailed off, an uneasy expression on his face.

Gonzalez sighed, leveling a hard gaze at the group. "I respect Coulson, I do. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it was necessary. We need Shield to be united."

"And the toolbox, sir?" Mack questioned. "The replica of Lola is done, I just need to give it to him."

"Don't. We'll see if we can get Coulson to give it to Agent Hand first. I don't want to make him an enemy if I don't have to."

"What about Hunter?" Hartley asked.

Bobbi's head snapped to her. "What about him?"

At Gonzalez's questioning look, Hartley continued. "He offered Skye a spot with him and Idaho if she ever wanted to go merc. And well… If she's not working for anyone else, she might reach out."

Bobbi groaned, rubbing her temple. "I'll deal with it if she does…"

Gonzalez nodded. "Good. You're dismissed. I'll be in contact."

No one spoke in Coulson's office. Trip, Simmons, and Fitz stood in a line, shoulder to shoulder in the center. Coulson stared them down from behind his desk. May stood behind him, alongside Victoria Hand. Eric Koenig sat on the edge of Coulson's desk with a file in hand.

"The three of them should be clear," Eric said, breaking the silence. "Ward and Skye were the only ones with discrepancies."

Coulson turned his gaze to Eric, pursing his lips. "Discrepancies?"

Eric sensed the warning there and quickly added, "nothing that seemed that out of the ordinary at the time! Ward's was a bit off but that was attributed to pain. Skye's was different. Everything seemed clear except," he showed Coulson the report and pointed to a series of numbers at the top. "This analyzes biofeedback brain waves, you can see timestamps alongside the values. On my dashboard when I'm running the exam, it takes the average of the numbers, since looking at just one isn't very indicative of a full response to the question. In the data readout, it lists each time it collects the data. See here? The new data is delayed by a second or two after I ask a question."

"She hacked it?" May asked.

"That's my guess, yeah." Eric let out a little chuckle. "She really is good! Fury thought it was unhackable!" His mouth snapped shut as three glares pinned him in place.

"What- What does that mean?" Fitz asked, his hand grasping Simmons' tightly.

Coulson looked at him with pity. "It means that Skye lied to us."

"But she helped us escape Hydra!" Simmons cried.

"That's why we don't think she's Hydra," May said.

Trip shook his head. "Respectfully, sir. I don't see it."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't take a genius to see that she cares about us. You should've seen her the other night, the way she looked at Simmons?" May opened her mouth to retort, but Trip held up a hand and continued. "Look, say Skye is trained, somehow, what does that matter?"

He pointed to Coulson. "The girl almost died trying to stop Quinn for you." He pointed to Fitzsimmons. "She risked her life to get you two off the Bus. I say it doesn't matter if she's hiding her training. She proved herself."

"She ran," Victoria Hand said, stepping forward. "If she wasn't guilty she wouldn't-"

"You went in guns blazing! Hell, I'd run too!"

"Enough!" Coulson snapped. "We don't have time for this. Fitz, Simmons, go back to the lab. You'll be monitored for the foreseeable future until we figure out what's going on. Trip, you're off active duty until May says otherwise."

Trip blinked, the most shock he'd allow to show through. "What about supporting Hartley's op? You need more-"

"Agent Morse is on her way back from a long op. She'll take over. Dismissed."

The three stood frozen. Simmons moved first, tugging Fitz out the door with her. Trip cast a long glance at Victoria Hand, and followed the other two out.

"I warned you about the girl, Coulson," Victoria Hand said once they left.

"I know," he sighed. "Trust me, I know. Eric, where are we at with Mr. Peterson?"

"Billy's been monitoring the facial recognition software since you called, nothing yet. His records were deleted too. Nothing on him or his family," Eric said.

Coulson hung his head. They all knew what that meant. Skye already made contact.

Daisy could feel Raina's eyes on her. With a sigh, she cracked open her eyelids and met her gaze.

"Going to tell me what that was about?"

"Wasn't planning on it."

Raina hummed, looking back out at the road from the windshield of her beat-up old car. When Daisy said she'd hook her up with something, this wasn't what she had in mind. Daisy said it looked more discrete, Raina thought it just looked ugly. "Perhaps next time you can ask Mike to come pick you up outside of an active Shield base then."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Maria Hill was my second option, actually."

"Maria Hill?" Raina's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Nevermind. I do appreciate your call."

"What do you have against Hill?"

Raina sniffed, jutting her chin out in a projection of confidence. "Her fashion sense is atrocious."

A beat passed. Then a laugh bubbled up past Daisy's lips before she could stop it.

"Oh, surely you noticed," Raina said, her lips twitching into a grin. "Those tactical vests she is so fond of look like she dug them from the lost and found of a fishing boat."

"When- When have you ever seen her to know?" Daisy asked through chuckles.

"Why, I simply did my research when looking into Coulson's rebirth."

"And you took the time to notice her fashion?"

"It was rather hard not to."

Daisy leaned back in the seat, still smiling faintly. She knew Raina was working her, but she couldn't bring herself to care right now, not when Raina was the only thing keeping the festering wound in her heart from tearing open.

"Ward figured out I'm not exactly who I said I was. Coulson overhead it," she admitted.

Raina nodded, as though that was no surprise. In a way, Daisy supposed it wasn't. There were only a few reasons she'd suddenly need a getaway driver from a Shield base.

"Do you plan to clear the air?" She asked.

"No," Daisy sighed. "Not yet at least. There are a couple things I need to do that'll be easier without their oversight."

"Such as finding our home?" Hope colored Raina's voice and curled around the word home like a shield. And oh, Daisy wished it would be Raina's home. She knew better.

"Finding Afterlife, yeah. Look, Raina, there's something I didn't want to talk about with Mike there."

Raina hummed, glancing at her from the corner of her eye. Daisy didn't meet her gaze.

She took a deep breath. "Not every inhuman makes it out of Terrigenesis unscathed. Some of them… change."

"Evolve," Raina corrected. "We evolve into something new. Something beautiful."

"Not… always," Daisy said gently.

Raina's knuckles turned white against the steering wheel.

"There's an inhuman I've heard of who lost his eyes to Terrigenesis."

"Hydra developed a cybernetic eye, I'm sure I could-"

Daisy shook her head. "His eyes, eye sockets, all of it. Gone. Replaced by skin. It was like his forehead extended to his nose."

When Raina didn't respond, Daisy continued. "Another guy I knew went through the change and had his skin turn gray. His bone structure changed, his hair, I don't even know how to explain it… It was like a horse's mane, ran halfway down his back. Worst of all… he lost himself to it. That form took over his mind, his personality, everything." She repressed a shudder, opting instead to clench a fist. "It was horrible."

"If you hope to scare me out of the change with these ghost stories, you won't succeed."

"That's- I'm not trying to talk you out of it! I want you to change, Raina." She took a steadying breath and fought the nausea building deep in her stomach. She needed Raina to change. Her powers were going to become invaluable if Daisy truly became stranded in this timeline. And yet, the pain and grief the transformation caused Raina stayed in her mind. "I don't want to go through this alone. I can't lose you to your transformation. So promise me, whatever happens, you'll stay with me, okay?"

Raina's grip relaxed ever so slightly on the steering wheel. Silence stretched between them. It wasn't until Raina parked outside the apartment that she spoke, her voice soft. "Okay."

Daisy reached across to give her arm a comforting squeeze before climbing out of the car. They took the stairs up to the apartment in silence. Mike, who was sitting rather awkwardly on the couch, jumped to his feet as they entered.

"Raina told me to come over. What happened?" he asked.

Daisy raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Raina, who merely shrugged in response. She turned back to Mike. "Shield figured out I'm not exactly who I say I am, and they went in guns blazing, as usual."

Mike made a noise of understanding and sunk back down into the couch. Raina daintily took the remaining space to the right of him. "What do you plan to do now?" she questioned.

"Same thing as before, just a bit faster. And eventually, I'll get around to smacking some sense into them and clearing the air," Daisy said, shifting to stand in front of them.

"And that is?"

"Currently? Waiting until Hill makes contact with the obelisk. After that, I'll need your help on an op, if you're alright with that, Mike?"

He sighed. "Where?"

"Sokovia. There's a Hydra head there that's been up to some shady shit with Loki's scepter," she said.

Mike's expression darkened. "They're experimenting on people." It wasn't a question. Daisy nodded anyway.

"Where will I be during all of this? Once we've undergone Terrigenesis I'm sure I could-"

"At a secured site," Daisy cut Raina off. "We need you ready to receive the people we rescue and talk them down if need be. Knowing Hydra, they could be brainwashed."

Raina pursed her lips and stared at Daisy. Daisy stared back. Raina was a liability in a combat scenario and would become even more of one once she transformed. She wouldn't budge on this one. Raina finally sighed, seeming to accept it.

"What if your team has the same idea?" Mike asked.

Daisy looked at the wall behind them, her face stoic. "They won't."

Mike and Raina shared a look. Raina spoke next. "I can keep an eye on them while I'm waiting at the site if you'd like?"

Mike frowned. That wasn't what he wanted Raina to ask. "You were close with your team. Are you sure you're okay? Is there anything we can do to help or…?" He asked before Daisy could respond to Raina's suggestion.

Her gaze flicked between the two of them and the muscles between her brow hinted at furrowing. It struck Mike then that Daisy was confused.

The couple in the apartment next to them were shouting.

Raina broke the silence with a long glance at Mike. "What Mike was trying to say is that we're worried you're letting what happened between you and Shield blind you to what's sensible."

"What? No. That's not what I was trying to say," Mike said. "I really just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Daisy glanced between the two again. Something crashed into the wall next door. "I'm fine," she said, rather unconvincingly.

"Remember how worried I was that Ace wouldn't accept me? Remember how I gave up time with my family to do this with you because I didn't want to drag them down with whatever mess I got caught up in?"

"I mean, yeah but-"

"Are you running because you're afraid they won't accept you?"

Daisy paused, sucking in a breath. The neighbors next door were silent.

"It's okay to run, Daisy," Raina said softly. "Mike ran. I ran. And now… we're here with you. Fighting to do something good." She paused. Daisy's defensive stance changed, loosened. She was wavering. Raina put the final nail in the coffin. "Your team may think you're running away from them but that's not true. You're not running from them, you're running toward the threat. You're putting yourself between it and everyone you care about."

Oh, Daisy wasn't an idiot. She knew Raina was playing her, again, but an unbidden mist clouded her gaze regardless. When Mike patted the seat on the couch between them, she took it. Tactical plans laid by the wayside that night. Anytime she even thought about bringing up Hydra or Shield, she found another pint of ice cream shoved into her hand and the volume of whatever trashy movie they were on turned up.

Fitz and Simmons stood over the panel they were doing the final tests of the cloaking mechanism on. Their backs faced the cameras, and their heads were practically hidden in their project so no one could read their lips.

"Skye's not a traitor, right? She's not like Ward," Fitz murmured.

Simmons shook her head. "No, no. She couldn't be. She's-... She's been acting different, we know that, but she's not dangerous."

"Exactly! Why would she try to protect us if she was working against us? She could've made it off the Bus without opening the med pod."

"I know Fitz. I know. I just wish there was something we could do…" Simmons sighed. A frown tugged at her lips as she saw a familiar glint enter Fitz's eye. "Oh, no. No, we're not doing that."

"C'mon Jemma! You shot a superior officer because of Skye, once. What's a little chat with a prisoner we're not supposed to know about?"

Simmons flushed scarlet at the reminder. "Coulson's monitoring us. They don't trust us, I don't think it's a good idea to test that."

"Bloody idiots… We should be the only ones they do trust! We've been there since the beginning!" Fitz exclaimed, and immediately quieted down after Simmons' quick shush. Mulishly, he poked at the prototype on the table before them.

Simmons sighed and put the final wire into place. The panel turned invisible in front of their eyes. "Once both Coulson and May are gone… we'll do it."

Trip rapped his knuckles on the doorframe to the lounge. Hunter and Idaho looked up from where they were sprawled out on the couch.

"Hey. Can we talk?"

"Uh, sure mate," Hunter said, though he made no effort to move.

"Not here. My room?"

Hunter and Idaho shared an uneasy glance. Idaho shrugged and it was decided. The two stood and followed Trip back to his bunk. Trip closed the door behind them.

"You heard what happened?" Trip asked.

Idaho scoffed. "Heard about Coulson losing his mind and turning on everyone? Yeah. We heard."

Trip leveled a calculating gaze at the two. Hunter returned the favor. Both seemed to find what they were looking for and relaxed slightly.

"There's no way Skye is an enemy operative," Trip said.

Hunter nodded in agreement. "I've only been around for like a month or two and even I can see that she's weirdly into the whole Shield thing."

"Besides, she's a foster kid, right? She probably saw things going south and dipped out before they could get nasty on instinct. Doubt it was malicious. Probably just waiting for everyone to cool off a bit before she comes back," Idaho said. Trip didn't have much experience with the foster care system, but when Idaho laid it out like that, her actions made a lot more sense. What's more telling is that Idaho is the one who realized where her reaction came from and not Coulson or any of the rest of the team.

Trip cursed under his breath. "We need to find her before they do. Talk with her. Figure out what's going on. Then we report back to Coulson."

"Report back?" Hunter laughed. "Really? You think Pantsuit and Coulson are gonna listen? They looked ready to murder the girl on nothing more than a hunch!"

"Got a better idea?" Trip raised a challenging eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"I do," Idaho said. "Hunter offered her a spot with us, I say we make that offer serious. If Shield tries anything, they'll lose all of us, and I'm pretty sure Coulson can't afford to lose that many bodies. It's empty enough around here as it is."

Trip tilted his head, thinking on it. Hunter jumped in the silence. "He's got a point, mate. Shield's been treating her like ass. They can't do that if she's working with us cause they know we won't tolerate it. They piss us off, we skip town. Simple as that."

Loyalty to Shield battled with loyalty to his friend. He made the mistake of being loyal to the wrong person, once. He wouldn't let it happen again. But he knew Skye wasn't the wrong person. She was holding something back, he knew that. She wasn't entirely truthful, either. But the easy banter that flowed between them, the genuine affection and warmth in the grins she sent his way, rare as they were now, it all pointed to her being someone he was willing to put his faith in. Someone he would protect, even from Shield.

Reluctantly, he nodded. The three hunkered down to plan.

Chapter 16:

Warm sunlight streamed in through the windows. A single beam rested across the face of the woman on the couch. Daisy grumbled and threw an arm over her eyes to block it out. Her attempt to return to sleep didn't last.

Noise filled the apartment. Annoying noise. She sat up with a groan and focused blearily on the TV. Mike stepped into the living room and shoved a plate into her hands. She took it automatically. "Why…?"

"United Nations broadcast about Shield. Figured you'd wanna see it," Mike said, taking a seat beside her on the couch.

Daisy robotically ate as her mind raced. Something happened at a UN broadcast. She remembered that. But she couldn't remember exactly what… And either way, it was too late now. There was no way she'd be able to get to the meeting in time to stop- oh.

Screams rang from the TV as Hydra, in disguise as Shield agents, stormed the UN conference and opened fire.

"Holy shit," Mike muttered, looking at Daisy with concern. "Is that Shield?"

Daisy shook her head and set her breakfast aside to pull out her phone. "Hydra. They're trying to fame us and draw agents out."

"You… don't seem surprised?" Her lack of reaction was probably more concerning than anything else. Considering last night… Raina was right. They needed to get her to a therapist. A real one.

"I'm not," she sighed. "They pretended to be Shield once and ruined our reputation, makes sense they'd do it again." She stood from the couch and grabbed her go bag from the guest room.

Mike stood too, taking note of the go bag. "Where are you going?

"If they're trying to draw Shield out, someone needs to go make sure agents don't fall for the trap. Shield's desperate and spread too thin, they'll take any offer of refuge without thinking."

"I'm coming too."

Daisy froze from where she was packing up her laptop. "What?"

"You need backup," he said and quickly continued when Daisy opened her mouth to protest. "I know you can handle yourself, but you're about to put yourself between Shield and Hydra, and neither of them like you right now. You need someone watching your back."

She groaned, shoving her laptop in the bag and zipping it up. "How do you plan to get through TSA, Mike?" A low blow and she knew it.

The corner of his lips turned downward. He crossed his arms.

"Where's Raina?" She asked

He regarded Daisy for a moment but responded curtly. "Her apartment."

"Good, keep her there. If I don't make contact by the end of the day, an automated alert will tell you where I am." She waited just long enough for him to nod his understanding and slipped out without another word.

Mike switched his eye to x-ray through the apartment walls. He waited until Daisy left the building. The moment her foot crossed the threshold, he called Raina.

She picked up on the second ring. "Mike? How's Daisy?"

"Compartmentalizing, like you said. A UN broadcast just got attacked by Hydra pretending to be Shield and she's going after them. Said something about Hydra trying to draw Shield agents out with a promise of refuge," Mike said as he began to pace.

A pause. "I thought we agreed you'd be her back-up when she decided to be an idiot."

"She's flying somewhere," Mike grumbled.

"Flying? Why would that-" Raina cut herself off with a laugh. "Oh, dear. I suppose TSA wouldn't be happy to see you come through the metal detector, would they?"

"Raina," he said in warning.

"Fine, fine," she sighed. "I'll find a way to get you to her." And with that, she hung up.

Coulson received May's call as soon as he touched down in Hong Kong. She opened without preamble. "There's been an attack on the UN."

"What?"

"Six dead. They think it's Shield."

"Hydra," Coulson hissed. "Just when I thought we'd catch a break."

"Marcus Scarlotti was behind the attack," Agent Morse piped up. "An assassin. Almost killed Barton a few years back. He runs a team of mercenaries, mostly for Hydra."

"They used a weapon we haven't seen before. It disintegrated anyone it hit," May said.

"Any leads on it, Bobbi?"

"Only one, sir. An old Hydra acquaintance of mine is a demolitions expert. He's keyed into most of Hydra's new weapon designs."

"Good. May, I want you taking point on this op. Take Bobbi and Idaho, figure out what you can about the weapons and who the next target is," Coulson said. "If you can't find any, head to Belgium and regroup with our agents there."

"On it," May said.

Coulson hung up and stepped out of the quinjet. Fitzsimmons managed to get cloaking on three quinjets just in time for everything to fall apart. A lucky break, and the only one they had since starting to rebuild. He'd take it.

His fist raised to knock on the door to Miles' apartment. It opened a crack, then immediately shut.

"Miles Lydon," he said. "I just want to talk."

"Oh yeah? Like last time you just wanted me to help and left me stranded here?" Miles snapped back from the other side of the door.

"It's about Skye."

The door opened.

Daisy quietly padded up to the Shield safehouse in Bruges, Belgium. The commercial flight across the Atlantic was long and gave her entirely too much time to sit and think. The relief she felt once she finally landed and sat down to work on cracking into the Bruges safehouse's security systems was indescribable. She was an agent on a mission.

She counted to three, waiting just long enough for the delay on her program to run out, then she cracked open a window in the back and slipped inside. Once in, she closed the window behind her and waited until a familiar electronic buzz sounded from the walls. Security systems back up.

She looked around to get her bearings. A lavishly decorated bedroom greeted her. The bed had a full four posts and velvet drapes hanging from them. Not for the first time, she envied the funding the old Shield had. Either that or the supervisor of this safehouse decided to spend the majority of their budget on decor instead of armaments. She really hoped that wasn't the case, but she confirmed her suspicions upon opening the dresser. Every Shield safehouse had a system for storing their armaments. Bedroom dressers had a fake panel for weapons, couches in living rooms could be cut into to access a communications box, and pre-stocked cans in the pantry contained plenty of emergency medical supplies. That was the procedure at least.

This safehouse? She found a single pistol behind the fake dresser panel and one mag. It'd have to do.

Faint rumbling voices sounded through the wall. Cautiously, Daisy stepped out of the bedroom. The hallway was clear. The voices came from the lounge down the hall and to the left. She crept forward. Her eyes closed. Four voices. One grunt of pain. Likely four Hydra agents and a Shield hostage. She shook herself before she could reach for the void where her powers should be. It wouldn't be long now.

She peeked around the corner. Scarlotti stood with a knife buried in the stomach of a writhing Shield agent on the floor. He twisted it with a satisfied smirk, prompting another grunt of pain from the agent. Beckers stood just behind Scarlotti, watching him work. Sadistic fucks. Her first shot took Scarlotti in the head. She didn't need him. Her second took Beckers in the knee.

She didn't wait for their screams to know her shots hit their mark, immediately pulling her body back behind the safety of the wall as the two other Hydra agents finally reacted. Four bullet holes appeared in the wall behind where she had been just a moment before. One clipped the doorframe and sent a shower of wood chips into the air.

A click sounded from the door in the foyer. Two sets of footsteps pounded against carpet upstairs. Daisy let out a curse as she slinked away from the lounge, hoping Hydra would ignore the Shield agent they had hostage, but very much doubting it. She repositioned herself halfway behind the stairs, able to watch the main door and catch the agents coming down the stairs off guard.

"Agent Walters, down!" she shouted as soon as she made out the woman's distinct curly hair through the cracked door. Agent Walters dropped without questioning it. The glass window on the door shattered. A bullet hole appeared in the wood where the woman had just stood. Daisy swung out wide from the stairwell in time to catch the two hydra agents by surprise. A shot took one in the head. The second managed to react faster, turning to Daisy. She saw his shot coming. Her hand flexed in an open palm, instinctively channeling- the bullet slammed into her arm and sent her reeling back with a grunt. Red bloomed in the fabric of her sleeve. Belatedly, she realized a second shot didn't come.

Agent Walters crossed into her line of sight, gun held at her side, her eyes darting around furtively. "How many?"

"Six Hydra, including those two," she jerked her head at the bodies on the stairs, "three dead. One Shield agent, injured or dead. Could be more. I haven't checked the building."

"Damn… Any idea how they found us?" Walters asked, starting to move to check the rooms on the first floor.

Daisy followed behind her, trying to ignore the burning in her arm. She could still move it without any stabbing pain, she figured that meant it was fine. No bullet stuck in her, at least. "Beckers. Saw him torturing an agent in the third room on the right with Scarlotti and some other Hydra goons."

Walters' voice lowered, taking more care with her steps as they approached the room. "Still in there?"

"Got Beckers non-lethally. Hoping they were focused on getting him out."

She nodded, stepping up to the doorframe, just hidden from those on the inside. She cast a quick glance back at Daisy. Both nodded. They moved together, swinging out from the doorway, pre-aiming the corners of the room. Nothing moved. Daisy caught Walters' eye and jerked her head toward the bodies in the center of the room.

Walters sunk down beside the downed Shield agent, careful hands searching for a pulse. Daisy stood over them, gun still out and ready, keeping an eye on the entrance.

"He's alive," Walters breathed. Daisy let her shoulders sag in relief. "Not in good shape but… alive. I'll make contact with the Director, let him know-"

The door slamming open cut her off. Daisy tensed, her fingers tightening around the cool metal of the gun in her hands. Walters picked herself up off the ground and joined Daisy, standing protectively over the agent and drawing her own weapon.

A minute crawled by. Steps slowly approached the door. Daisy and Walters shared a look and a breath. A beat of silence passed. Three figures swung into the room, guns raised.

Walters reacted first. She lowered her gun with a sigh of relief as she recognized May. Bobbi, May, and Idaho didn't return the favor. "Agent May. I'm glad you're here."

"Step away from Agent Walters, Skye," May, a warning laced in her tone.

Daisy's face, kept carefully blank, did not betray the way her heart sped up upon seeing her team. Nor the ice that gripped her heart at the suspicion in their eyes. But she took a step back.

Agent Walters looked between them with a frown. "What's going on?"

"Skye's a double agent," Bobbi said. She noted the lack of reaction from Skye at seeing her here, in a Shield uniform this time. She knew a lot more than she let on.

"I'm not a double agent," Daisy sighed. "Look, I wish I could tell you what's going on but for now you guys just-" she saw May's eyes narrowing and changed track. "I'm not even going to bother asking you to trust me. I know you won't. I'm just asking you to have a little faith that I'm not working for anyone. My loyalty is to people. To you. To the team."

"Then come with us and explain," May said.

Daisy hated the momentary rush the idea brought. She fought to stamp it down.

Walters looked back and forth between the groups. "Hey, I don't know what's going on here but she saved my ass before you guys got here. Took down three Hydra agents, injured Beckers, and saved a Shield agent who needs medical attention, now. We don't have time for this." Daisy sent her a grateful look.

Bobbi cut it short. "Don't make this messy, Skye. Come with us. We'll get the agent back to the Playground too, get him some specialized care."

"So you can lock me up until you figure out what to do? No. Look, I'm willing to talk and explain things but there's a lot more going on than you think, and I don't have time to be taken out of the field until you guys figure out your drama," Daisy said.

May's jaw tightened. "Fine." Her arms tensed. Daisy readied herself to move.

White. Then orange. Daisy stumbled back, blinking rapidly as her eyes tried to adjust. She felt, more than saw, Agent Walters stumble back beside her. A hand grabbed her arm. Firm. Stronger than she expected. It tugged her back until her body was hidden behind a much larger one.

Her eyes drifted up a solid arm and focused on a face. Mike. Her fist lowered from where she had raised it on instinct. His body jolted as a series of shots rang out. That snapped her into action. She slipped her gun under his arm and fired two warning shots in return. They slammed into the floor. Enough to make May and Bobbi scramble for cover. Mike grabbed Daisy around the waist and pushed off with his legs.

As they sailed out the now broken floor-to-ceiling window, Daisy looked past Mike's shoulder. Her eyes met Idaho's. He nodded. His gun slowly lowered.

"What the hell were you thinking!" Daisy shouted. She was pacing back and forth down the center aisle of an apparently private plane. Mike sat stiffly in one of the seats, gazing up at her with not an ounce of regret. "How did you even get a private plane? How did you find me?"

"Raina," he answered simply.

"Raina," she hissed, throwing up her hands. "Of course, it was fucking Raina. What the hell was she thinking?"

"She was thinking you're an idiot who is trying to bury her feelings by running off into danger." When Daisy shot Mike an unimpressed glare, he held up his hands in defense. "Her words, not mine. But she's right."

"It was a tactical-"

"Bullshit," he said.

Daisy's eyes glinted. "So I should've let those agents die so I could sit at home on the couch with another pint of ice cream?"

"No, you should've let your team handle it." Mike tilted his head. "You knew they would be there, didn't you?"

She sucked on her teeth. Mike knew he was on the right track. He pressed on. "I know you want to do good. I do too. But running off without any backup into a situation you know is going to be dangerous is just stupid, Daisy. There's nothing tactical about that." He took a breath, looking down at his hands. "Let us help you. That's all we ask."

Daisy frowned but didn't argue the point. Heavily, she sunk into a chair across from Mike. "I'm restricting Raina's access to the account I set up for her. This is just ridiculous…" She waved her hand at the plane in general.

Mike snorted and let her change the subject. "Yeah. I was expecting to be smuggled in a cargo hold or something. She's… treating me like a person though. It's strange."

"She was never a true believer of that Hydra crap," Daisy said.

"Not talking about Hydra. She was the one who made the centipede serum. She's the one who started all of this for me," Mike said, his gaze still on his hands.

"Oh," Daisy breathed. "I don't think I knew that."

Mike shrugged. "I never told anyone."

Daisy took a moment to collect her thoughts. Trying to figure out how to explain Raina's oddities. "She's… She grew up on stories from her grandmother about a group of people who were enhanced. Those stories put her on a path of obsession with human evolution and with powers, I think. Centipede was just a stepping stone to that for her."

Mike finally looked up to meet Daisy's gaze. She saw understanding dawning in his gaze. All she could do was offer a soft smile.

Fitzsimmons quickly opened the door to the holding cells and descended the stairs. Ward stood behind the electric barrier on the other side of the room. His eyebrows rose as he realized exactly who came down those stairs.

"Fitz, Simmons," he greeted, stepping up to the barrier's edge.

"Ward," Fitz bit out. Simmons rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Ward offered a small smile. "How have you been?"

"You tried to kill us!" Fitz burst out.

"What? No," Ward said.

Simmons laughed. There was no humor behind it. "You tried to drop us from the plane!"

"Garrett ordered me to shoot you," Ward began, his hands rising placatingly. "I couldn't do it. But I knew- I knew you two would find a way to get out of that med pod if I could get you off the plane. I know you."

"How do you know that?" Fitz asked. His hands shook with anger and he took a step toward the barrier, his voice rising. "How could you know that? Simmons and I looked at the maps, you know. After we got back. You would've dropped us at the bottom of the bloody ocean, Ward!"

Ward opened his mouth to respond, but Simmons cut him off. Her hand squeezed Fitz's shoulder almost painfully. "Tell us what you did to Skye," Simmons said. Her voice came out eerily devoid of emotion, desperately held behind a brimming dam.

"Skye? What do you mean? Did something happen?" He stepped closer to the barrier yet again. Orange flared in warning, a crackle sounding through the room.

Fitz jumped in again. "Oh don't play stupid, Ward. We know you did something to her. Ever since we left her alone with you she's been different! What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Ward protested. "She's been different ever since Shield fell. My bet? She's been playing you guys the whole time. Just like me. Only difference now is I'm done pretending. I just want to help. But Skye?" He grinned. "Looks like she's just getting started."

Simmons' hand squeezed Fitz's shoulder hard again, stopping his response. "You're lying you-" she began coldly, only to be interrupted by the sound of the door to the cell opening. Heels clacked on each step down the staircase.

"Agent Simmons, Agent Fitz, care to explain yourselves?" Victoria Hand asked as she came to a stop at the bottom of the steps, her arms crossed.

Chapter 17:

Voices were coming from inside his office. It was the first thing Coulson registered when he approached the door. Nothing specific could be made out, the security systems saw to that, but the bones of the SSR base still allowed for muted voices to travel. He paused outside the door. He took a sip of coffee from his grumpy cat mug. He stepped inside. The voices went silent.

"Phil, we need to talk," Victoria Hand said. She stood behind his desk with her arms crossed practically radiating confidence. Confidence he never had behind that desk. Not with the lives of hundreds of agents and even more innocents resting squarely on his shoulders.

"Well hello to you too, Victoria," he said and crossed over to sit down behind the desk. Victoria stepped back to give him room. "Are we really gonna do this with them here?" He nodded in the direction of Fitz and Simmons, who were standing awkwardly in the center of the room.

"Considering they are the reason why we need to have this discussion? Yes," she said.

He closed his eyes for just a moment. Was it too much to ask to not come back to an emergency? He blew a deep breath from his nose and opened his eyes again. "What did they do?"

"Sir we-" Simmons started.

Victoria cut her off with a withering glare. "They took advantage of you and May being off base to skirt their monitoring and go talk with Ward."

That certainly got his attention. He set his coffee down. "How did you know about Ward?" He directed his question at Fitz and Simmons.

Fitz shuffled his feet. Simmons took a breath and squeezed his hand. She was the one to respond. "The cell monitors the biometrics of the prisoner… that feedback goes to the lab, as you know, where we keep an eye on it to make sure nothing's happened. And, well, it really wasn't that hard then to realize the biometric data matched another set of biometrics we already had on file from our mandatory physicals before coming onto this team."

"Yeah, yeah, and we already knew the prisoner had to be someone we knew from before cause why else would you make a deal with the government?" Fitz added.

Coulson sighed. His fingers pinched the bridge of his nose hard enough to leave little red marks behind. "He was kept a secret for a reason. Shield keeps secrets for a reason. You need to respect them."

"But sir-"

Victoria raised a hand to cut Fitz off. "I looked into your files. Both of you were fresh from the academy when you joined Shield and were placed on small research projects. You were not working anywhere near the director nor anyone outside of your lab. Then Fury put you on Phil's team. Shield Team 616 was allowed to operate largely independently from the main organization on Fury's orders. From what I understand, Fury wanted to ease Phil back into the field. Regulations and protocol were allowed to be lax. But not here. In short, neither of you know how to be an actual agent."

She turned to Coulson and pointed to two files on his desk. "I had May start the paperwork. I recommend both be moved back down to level one and proceed with training for basic field operations."

"They're scientists," Coulson protested. "They were never meant to be field agents."

"And yet, you seem perfectly content to treat them like they are. I went through the records of your ops. They were in the field almost every time," she said. "This is to keep them safe, Phil. They need the training. But they also need to learn proper protocol for working within Shield."

Coulson frowned down at his coffee mug. He hated that he looked more and more like that stupid cat the longer he sat behind the desk. Fitz and Simmons' pleading gazes weighed on him. He studiously did not meet their eyes. He flipped the folders open and quickly skimmed the paperwork inside. A single black line sat on the last page. He signed it. Victoria ushered the two out.

She turned to him once they were gone. "Where were you?"

"Recruiting," he answered curtly. He took a sip from his coffee.

"In the middle of an active op?"

"May was running the op. Just like we had mission directors before. Fury didn't take on that role," Coulson said.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I know. Which is why I'm questioning how often May had me on comms asking me to make a call since you were unavailable."

He pursed his lips.

"You shouldn't be directing missions, Phil. You know that."

He sighed and stood from his desk to pace. He rolled up his sleeves as he gathered his thoughts. "Yeah. I know. But it's the last link I have to what used to be. It's selfish, but I just can't give that up."

"It's juvenile," Victoria said. "And short-sighted. You need to focus on the big picture."

"Which is what I was doing-"

"No. You were just focusing on a different small picture. You can't just be aware of your team or just aware of rebuilding Shield or just aware of Hydra. You have to be aware of it all. That's your job. And doing that requires you to properly set up Shield to run in your absence so you can focus on that big picture," she said. "Right now? You are Shield. And that's not a good thing."

Coulson paused by the window, his gaze fixed at some point beyond it.

Victoria stepped up beside him. "Give me control of active operations. Give May control of training. Groom Agent Morse to take over as head of intelligence. She's not there yet, but she could be soon. Delegate."

"Hydra, then Ward, then Skye. How can I trust I'm delegating to the right people?" He asked.

"You can't. Monitor them. Monitor me if you must. But if you die now, Shield dies," she sighed. "Don't make it that easy for Hydra."

Coulson distantly recognized the sound of her heels clicking, then disappearing down the hall. He pursed his lips.

Daisy waltzed into Maria's office once again. This time, Maria at least knew to expect her. A single black briefcase sat on her desk. She pointed to it.

"Don't make me regret this," she said by way of greeting.

Daisy offered a grin as she popped the briefcase open. The Diviner sat inside, innocently nestled between foam padding. "Wouldn't dream of it. I do have one more request though."

Maria's eyes narrowed.

"I need a quinjet with cloaking. It's the only way I'm gonna be able to get you the scepter."

"You don't ask for small favors, Daisy," Maria sighed. "Brief me on the specifics of your scepter op and I'll consider it."

Daisy shrugged and took a seat across from her. "Sure. I'm taking a small team of enhanced to the doorstep of the base. I would just bring the whole place down and sift through the rubble later but we've got intel that they're doing human experimentation inside so our goal is to get in there, grab the scepter and the hostages, and get out."

"If you need more on your team I can always send an Avenger or two," Maria offered.

A laugh bubbled from Daisy's throat. "Uh, no thanks. No offense or anything, but did you hear the whole not nuking the base bit? Or the part about the hostages?"

"I was going to offer Romanoff and Barton," Maria said dryly. "They're better than an untrained and undisciplined ragtag team of enhanced."

"Hey, who're you calling ragtag? I handpicked my team, thank you," Daisy said, crossing her arms in mock offense.

"The definition of ragtag is a group varied in character and disorganized."

"Oh."

"Mhm. Take Romanoff. You're not getting the quinjet if you don't," Maria said.

Daisy let out a long-suffering sigh. She snapped the briefcase shut. "Not gonna work. Romanoff is a good agent, but she's too high profile these days. I don't think you want a head of Hydra thinking the Avengers themselves are hunting him down. They tend to get a little trigger happy when threatened."

Maria tilted her head slightly, ceding the point. "Agent 13 then. Know her?"

She watched as Daisy considered it for a moment. Not trying to remember her. No, trying to decide if she would share exactly how much she knew. Eventually, she came to a decision. "Yeah. I know her."

"Enough for her to watch your six on this op?"

Daisy sucked in a breath, considering. Maria steepled her fingers and watched. Interesting. She wasn't just resistant to having one of Maria's eyes on the op, she was resistant to Sharon personally. "Fine, but I'm flying," she said.

"Don't crash my quinjet," Maria warned. "Or I'll have Agent 13 drag your ass back here for me to personally beat."

Daisy chuckled and held up her hands innocently. "I promise I'm a good pilot."

"I'll believe it when I see it. I assume you have her number?" The wink she got in reply was as good as an answer. She sighed and shook her head. "You're gonna give Stark gray hairs."

"Good, he could use some."

Maria opened her mouth to reply, but a ring cut her off. She glanced down at her Stark phone. Daisy's eyes followed. Both read the name of the contact. Star Spangled Fanboy. A soft snort escaped from Daisy. Maria held in a groan.

"What, no emojis? Ward gets a spiky poop but Coulson doesn't even get a smiley face?" Daisy teased. And wasn't that interesting? Not many agents used humor to cover their unease. Maria almost didn't catch it.

Her forced glare only caused Daisy to laugh. Which made her glare turn real. "Get out of here."

"Yes ma'am," Daisy said with a mocking salute. She grabbed the briefcase but lingered near the door on her way out.

Maria picked up her phone. "Coulson. What do you want?" She flipped Daisy off. The woman laughed and finally stepped out of the room.

"Alright, go ahead and prepare your praises, 'cause I just achieved the impossible," Hunter announced as he entered Idaho's bunk. Trip and Idaho himself were already seated inside.

"You got in touch with Skye?" Trip asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow. "That fast?"

"Eh, not exactly. But I did get a way to get in touch with her. So go on then. Your praises." He extended a hand, palm up.

Idaho rolled his eyes. "Nice job, Hunter. How?"

"Old mate of mine helps out the Rising Tide on occasion. Trip said she was big with them at one point, yeah?"

"Yeah. I don't know what her handle was but from the way she and the others talk about it, sounds like she was a big deal," Trip said.

"Think she's still in contact with them?"

"In contact? Nah. Coulson's team busted her with her last Rising Tide contact. I doubt she'd make that mistake again. Probably keeps an eye on them though," he said.

Hunter grinned. "Right, good. So I can pay my buddy to get some of his buddies to leave a hacker message on some of the Rising Tide boards. She sees it, she reaches out to Idaho, and we've got ourselves a successful mission."

Idaho rolled his eyes yet again, but he didn't complain. She'd probably trust his offer the most. "The mission won't be successful until we actually talk to her," he corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. That too." Hunter waved it off.

"I'll try to keep Coulson and Hand off your ass while you set that up," Trip said. "They've been cracking down. Fitz and Simmons just got demoted back to level one."

Idaho's eyebrows rose. "Level one? Even with all their history?"

"Yup. So don't get comfy. If Hand decides to come after you two, I dunno if Hartley will be enough to save you."

Hunter puffed out his cheeks then blew out a long breath. "Right. Message received. Avoid Pantsuit at all costs." He turned to Idaho after a moment of thought. "Did Bobbi happen to say anything about me while you were on that mission together?"

Trip's gaze moved heavenward, sending a silent prayer for strength. "Yeah, okay, on that note, I'm outta here," he said as he stood, quickly moving to leave.

Bobbi ran into Coulson's office with May hot on her heels. "Sir, I've got something."

Coulson stood, gesturing for her to go ahead. She projected the images from her tablet onto the large screen at the end of his office. "Meet Diego, my contact in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He's a politician, and a slimy one at that, but he likes me. Apparently, someone from Shield made contact with him and said they were asking on my behalf. Wanted to get access to a historical site and assurance no local authorities would show up if things got loud," Bobbi said.

May spoke up next. "The agent he described? It matches Skye."

Coulson let out a breath. "Do we know why? What's at that site?"

"There are some local legends about it, but nothing Shield ever took seriously enough to look into. It was waved off as folklore," Bobbi explained. "La Garita del Diablo."

"The Devil's Sentry?" Coulson asked.

"Mhm. Story goes that several guards of the fort, back when it was active, vanished in the middle of their patrol, never to be seen again."

"Ah. I see how that could be shrugged off," Coulson said, rubbing his chin.

"You're thinking about something. What is it?" May asked.

Coulson pursed his lips, staring at the map of the city. "I met with Miles Lydon while I was out recruiting. Had him look around for recent traces of Skyenet activity. He thinks she hacked into Stark Tower a few days before she ran and then again this morning."

Bobbi hummed and fiddled with her tablet. "I'm not seeing anything online about Stark and Puerto Rico."

"I don't think she was there for Stark. I called Maria and asked her about Skye. She gave me the runaround," Coulson said.

May's brows furrowed. "You think Skye's working as a plant for Hill?" He could only shrug in response.

"It does make sense," Bobbi said thoughtfully. "She's never been on Hydra's side, that much we know. Considering she hasn't come back for Ward and he blew her cover, I think it's safe to say she's not working with him either. One of the Koenigs mentioned her response to the question about Project Pegasus was odd. And she knew me. It all points to her being a high-level Shield operative stationed to keep an eye on you."

"It would explain how she knew about my direct line to Fury," May mused. "But why? I was already planted to keep an eye on Coulson."

"No idea," Coulson huffed and crossed his arms. "Put it on the back burner for now. We know where she's headed. Bobbi, take Hartley's crew and intercept her. Bring the big guns. We know she's working with Mike Peterson now, you'll need them. May, Victoria needs to talk to you. We're doing some restructuring."

"What about Hydra? Hartley mentioned the deal with the ex-Shield agent fell through. Hydra might've won the bid for his intel," Bobbi said. "And the whole attack on our agents and the U.N."

"Finding Skye is more important right now. Hydra won because they were on the inside. I can't risk that happening again if Skye isn't working for Maria," Coulson said. "I'll have Trip look into ways to get Senator Ward off our backs. His anti-Shield proposal is weak but it's enough to make things complicated. Once that's dead, we'll move on Hydra."

Bobbi and May shared a look behind him. At May's subtle head shake, Bobbi pursed her lips and bit back her retort. "Yes sir."

Bobbi stalked through the base looking for Mack. She finally found him down in the training gym watching Fitz and Simmons struggle through a run. Fitz was bright red in the face and clearly lagging behind. Jemma at least didn't look like she was dying, though she did keep wiping at the sweat beading on her forehead with a wrinkled nose.

She stepped up beside him. "Got a minute?"

"Yeah," he turned to her. "Was just trying to keep Turbo going."

"Good." She turned on her heel and headed out. Mack followed. She didn't stop until they were in her bunk. Hartley was already waiting inside.

"Coulson's being an idiot," she said without preamble once they were alone.

Hartley rolled her eyes. "What else is new?"

"No, really an idiot. He's putting Hydra on the back burner to focus on getting Skye back."

Mack grimaced, crossing his arms. "That's… Not good."

"Is that why he's not asking questions about why my deal with the ex-Shield guy fell through?" Hartley asked.

Bobbi nodded in response. "You're being taken off of that and coming with me to intercept Skye. She went through one of my contacts in Puerto Rico so we know we're she's gonna be and when."

"Hydra could've just been handed a map to a Shield weapon and Coulson's sending us to Puerto Rico?" She asked again, increasingly incredulous.

"Mhm. And, that's not all."

Mack groaned. "There's more?"

"Yeah. Coulson ordered a restructure or something. He's leaving to go 'recruit' which we all know is a lie. May is staying behind to talk with Hand," Bobbi said.

"Oh. Vick was talking about Coulson not really understanding how the Director position works. I pushed her toward doing something about it. Figured it would give her a chance to show him up," Hartley said.

"Smart," Mack said with a nod.

"Thanks."

"Right so we're gonna go. Mack, see if you can contact Coulson while he's out and tell him you finished Lola and will leave it on his desk for when he comes back." When Mack tilted his head in confusion, she continued on. "I know Gonzalez didn't want us to go for the toolbox yet, but I'd feel a lot better if we at least knew where it was in case things don't pan out."

"Alright."

Hartley just groaned and stood from Bobbi's bed. "Let's get this over with."

The Diviner burned a hole in the back of Daisy's mind. She forgot just how compelling it was when she was near it. She needed to get to the city, now. Mike kept casting worried glances at her from the co-pilot seat in the quinjet. Raina stood behind them, one hand braced on either chair.

"Its call is strong," Raina murmured.

Daisy nodded with a small grimace. "It'll stop once we open it in the city."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean… it's apparently a mind-controlling obelisk and neither of you are acting… normal," Mike said.

Both noticed the minuscule tense of Daisy's fingers around the stick. Or well, Raina noticed, and she discreetly jostled Mike and flicked her eyes to Daisy's hands.

Daisy spoke after a second. "Yeah, well, trust me. Actual mind control is a lot worse than this. This is like an uncomfortable rash in comparison."

Mike and Raina shared an alarmed look. Daisy studiously pretended not to notice it.

"I'm sorry, what?" Mike finally asked.

Daisy waved him off. "It was a couple years ago." She glanced back at Raina over her shoulder, then back to the sky in front of them. "There's a guy who can control Inhumans. He made me hurt a lot of people I love…" she trailed off. She shook her head to clear it. "Zero out of ten, would not recommend."

"There's someone who can control us?" Raina asked, her usually even sultry tone abandoned in favor of alarm, her eyes widened. "That seems…"

"Horrible? Yeah. Pretty sure he's on a different planet right now though, so we should be okay unless some idiot brings him back."

Raina's grip tightened on the backs of their seats. Daisy glanced back at her again, her eyes soft. "Hey, I won't let him get you, okay? Even if he somehow makes it back, I'll take care of it."

"No, I'll do it," Mike said. Two pairs of eyes looked at him in surprise. He gave a shrug. "You said he can control Inhumans, but I'm not one. So if anyone is going to be taking care of him, it'll be me."

Daisy took a breath. She nodded in thanks, ignoring the flutter in her chest. She was still trying to get used to this new dynamic. This new team who put themselves between her and the enemy. A team who wouldn't let her face anything alone. It scared her. She didn't have time to be scared.

Mike gave a solid nod in return.

Chapter 18:

Daisy, Mike, and Raina stood together, staring down at a square Daisy had marked on the floor with chalk. The only light came from a few glow sticks they had packed, illuminating the room with a soft blue light. Otherwise, the old fort was completely dark, and not a sound echoed against the walls besides breathing and the occasional mechanical whirring from Mike's cybernetics.

"The shaft opens up right under there." Daisy pointed to the square on the floor. "Cutting through is gonna take a minute though. It's pretty-"

A boom cut her off. A shower of dust flew up and blocked their vision for a moment. When it settled, a jagged hole gaped in the middle of the marked square, just big enough for someone to fit down. Mike lowered his arm, a wrist rocket folding back into the plating of his cybernetics.

"That works too."

Raina sighed, glancing around the room. "This was a historic site. Quite important to the people here."

Daisy grimaced. "Yeah… well, they refuse to come down to this section anyway. It's all haunted or whatever." She tossed Mike one end of a rope and tossed the other end down into the hole.

Raina only hummed in response.

"Mike, stay up here and watch our exit. And if something goes wrong… don't come get us. Get yourself out," Daisy said as she peered down into the hole.

"I thought we had an agreement," he said with a frown. "You watch my back, I watch yours. I'm coming with you two."

"No, I'm serious on this one. The city has a defense mechanism. It can warp the minds of regular humans who go down there without proper protection. Stay here."

Mike's frown deepened. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I," Raina chimed in. "I'm sure you are a successful agent, Daisy, but Mike has my serum coursing through his veins. He can protect us well. Besides, the serum might counteract the effects of the city."

"Your confidence in me is appreciated," Daisy muttered dryly. "But I'm not willing to take that risk. Also, electronics get squirrely down there. I don't want to test how that affects you, Mike."

He let out a huff. "Fine."

"Good. I'm going down first. Two tugs means I'm down and you can start your descent," she said to Raina.

Raina nodded. Mike positioned himself a bit further away from the hole and braced himself. His hands grasped the rope, fingers tightening as Daisy's weight jolted against it. At her nod, Mike began letting a few inches of rope go at a time, easing her down into the depths of the temple.

Once Daisy was suitably far down the hole, Mike spoke. "Daisy told me about why you're here."

Raina raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she watched the rope continue to descend into the hole.

"You planning to leave once you transform?" He asked.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Raina replied. She waved off his sharp look. "Oh don't look so surprised, Mike. You may not have wanted that answer, but you knew what it would be."

"You know she needs you."

"Yes, well, for the moment I need her too. So no, I'm not planning to leave just yet."

Mike's retort died on his lips as he felt two tugs on the rope. He sighed and pulled the rope back up. Once Raina had her foot in the loop at the bottom and was firmly holding on, Mike began to lower her down as well.

She held her breath as she sank deeper into the hole. Her fingers tightened around the rope as the light above her became dim. Then vanished. An agonizing minute was spent in darkness, with only the soft, echoing sound of cable sliding against stone and her own breaths breaking the silence. A dim blue glow appeared below her. She let out the breath she had been holding.

Daisy's hand slipped under Raina's arm to steady her as soon as she touched down. "You okay?"

Raina took a deep breath. She nodded twice. She pushed an errant curl back into place. "Yes. I'm fine. We should hurry. Mike seemed antsy."

"Cool. Follow me. And stay close," Daisy said, her hand slipping off Raina's elbow as she turned to lead the way into the dark temple.

Coulson hovered over Miles' shoulder, both staring at the bar ever so slowly inching across the laptop. It hit the other side. Miles let out a breath of relief. At Coulson's questioning glance he scoffed. "I know I'm good. But Stark's not an idiot. Getting in there twice, back to back isn't a joke. Anyway, got your hard drive?"

Coulson passed it to him. Miles inserted it into his laptop. A fancy new laptop too. Apparently, when Shield decided they needed you, they were willing to splurge. He copied Maria's file on Skye onto the drive and passed it back to Coulson.

"Take it easy on her, alright? I know Skye. She's idealistic and naive but she would never hurt someone," Miles said.

"You were played, Miles. Just like the rest of us. But thank you for this information. Enjoy your apartment. It's…" Coulson glanced around the barren studio apartment. The paint was fresh, the floors clean, and held enough bugs to catch anything that made it past Miles' lips. "Nice."

He turned to leave and pretended not to notice Miles' frown on his way out. He settled into his car and opened his laptop, sticking the drive in. His eyebrows rose as he skimmed. At the bottom, his eyes caught on a copied and pasted headline.

"Our whole lives have been leading this moment," Raina breathed as she looked around the room in awe. Truth be told, there wasn't much there. No lavish decor. Only smooth circular stone walls and a raised pedestal in the center. Yet, the room echoed in her bones and she knew this was right.

Daisy only shrugged. "I don't buy into the whole destiny thing, myself. Never have."

"You've never wanted to become something more? To believe that there is a plan for you to become more?" Raina asked curiously.

"Once… Once I did," Daisy sighed. "I dressed up outside of Stark tower. I thought that maybe I could be like them too, you know? Helping people? Except I would've probably been horrible to deal with if I had powers back then."

"What do you mean?"

"I uh… wasn't the most reasonable when it came to laws and power structures." Daisy shrugged. "And now? After everything? I think I would be okay just being Daisy."

Raina's brows furrowed. "You don't have to change. I can do this alone if you need me to."

"No," Daisy shook her head. She slipped her free hand into Raina's and squeezed. "No. I have too many people relying on me."

"Like me?" Raina's fingers gripped Daisy's tight.

"Like you."

She took a breath. Sweat began to bead in her palms. Daisy was too polite to mention it. Then Daisy was moving, the Diviner glowing, and the walls shifting. Their intertwined fingers were the last to turn to stone.

"Hey, I got something," Idaho called from the back. He crossed over to stand behind the chairs in the cockpit. "A low-level earthquake just hit San Juan. Looks like the fort is the epicenter."

Hartley cursed from the co-pilot's chair. "Whatever she was trying to do, looks like we're too late."

"We'll intercept her on her way out. Idaho, is our landing still clear?" Bobbi asked, her eyes never leaving the sky.

"Looks like it."

"Good. Hunter, I need you to-"

"-prep a metric ton of firepower, yeah, yeah. Already done," Hunter called from the back of the quinjet.

Bobbi just rolled her eyes.

A cry echoed throughout the chamber. Daisy reached within herself. She drew on the buzzing underneath her skin, the thrum underneath her feet, the movement across her skin. She pushed.

Shards of stone shot from her body. They shattered as they hit the walls of the chamber, black dust falling to the ground in their wake. Daisy's head snapped to the source of the cry. Her skin buzzed and she wanted nothing more than to drown herself in it. But she couldn't. Raina needed her.

She sunk down to Raina's side, brushing off the last flecks of stone from her skin. She looked just like Daisy remembered. Terrified. Disgusted. Small. She didn't let go of her hand.

"Hey, you did good, but we've gotta get out of here, okay?" she said gently.

Raina's wide eyes stared up at her unseeing. Small trembles wracked her body. Daisy could feel each one.

"I need you to focus on my voice, Raina," Daisy said. "Can you do that for me? Just find my voice and hold on, alright? I'm here. I'm gonna get you out. I just need you to come back to me."

Some of the fog lifted from Raina's eyes. Her pupils shifted, the catlike slit focusing on Daisy's face.

"Good. I'm here. Can you feel me? Can you focus on our hands?" Daisy asked. She desperately kept her gaze locked with Raina. She could feel the rumbles through the temple as the structure began to fail. She could feel each piece chip off and fall from the ceiling just beyond their chamber. She didn't let any of it show as she squeezed Raina's hand.

Raina slowly nodded. Her hand squeezed in return.

"I'm gonna pick you up and get you out of here. Is that okay?"

"Y- Yes," Raina whispered.

It didn't take Coulson long to get to the location of the murders mentioned in the article the headline was from. He lingered on a bench nearby pretending to be on a phone call as he observed the scene. The bodies had already been cleared away but the blood left behind told enough of a story for him to begin piecing things together. Between the uncharacteristic blood patterns and the account from an alleged eyewitness, someone ripped four people limb from limb. Only two of which were alive. According to the witness, all four of the victims were covered in deep cuts.

A slight shift in the wood underneath him broke his train of thought.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Phil," Maria Hill said conversationally. She took off her sunglasses and slipped them into the pocket of her shirt. "Didn't expect you to start tailing me either."

Coulson looked over and plastered on his best saccharine smile. "Maria. It's good to see you too."

"Cut the crap. I haven't seen any indication Shield's been keeping up with this case. How did you know I'd be here?"

Coulson's smile faltered. "Keeping up with the case? Has this happened before?"

"The mauling, yes. The body art? No. That's new," Maria said. "But thank you for confirming you are actually here for me."

"I didn't have you tailed," Coulson sighed. "But I know you're working with Skye, or Daisy Johnson I should say, and I know that this case is somehow connected to her." He turned to look back out at the scene. "Is she the one that did this?"

Maria barked out a laugh. When Coulson didn't laugh along she quickly sobered up. "Wait, you're serious? Oh God no."

"So she's one of yours then. Let me guess, another former agent who scattered into the private sector?"

"No," Maria said. Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the scene before them. "I have no idea where she came from. But I'm pretty sure she's not Hydra."

"How do you know that?" Coulson asked.

Maria tilted her head, weighing her options. Someone on the street appeared with a power washer, beginning to remove the last vestiges of the scene. She let out a sigh. "She gave me the location of Loki's scepter and offered to retrieve it."

Coulson pursed his lips. He didn't like it, but Skye, no, Daisy wouldn't have offered to retrieve it for Maria if she wanted it for herself. Especially if she was the one with the location. It didn't make sense. "Why? What does she gain from that?"

"I gave her an old piece of tech Shield picked up in the 40s." Maria shrugged. "She said it was like a tabernacle for a group of what I'm assuming are enhanced."

"And you gave it to her?" Coulson asked, his voice rising slightly.

"Yes. From my assessment, she seemed stable. I checked the files for the item she wanted. It doesn't say what it's for, only that it can kill most people on contact. I figure Daisy can put the pieces together for me and get whatever enhanced who benefit from the thing on the Index."

"It could kill people, Maria," Coulson hissed. "Fury had a number. We don't have to."

Maria's lips turned downward, but her face otherwise remained stone. Coulson slouched in his seat. "How does this connect to Daisy?" He changed topics, gesturing at the scene.

"I'm afraid that's where I come in," an unfamiliar voice said. Coulson and Maria's head snapped to the source.

A shabby man stood behind them. Disheveled brown hair, a scruffy beard, and patchy clothes painted an all too clear picture of the same suspect described in the article. Both agents had their weapons drawn before the man could even raise his hands in the air. By the time he did, the dried blood caked under his fingernails was easy to spot.

"You said Daisy Johnson, right?" He asked. He took a step closer. "My daughter's name was Daisy. She was so beautiful… And now she's found the Diviner. She'll finally be able to come home."

Coulson's grip tightened on his ICER. "What do you mean come home?"

"I mean, she'll finally be able to find me again. And then I can take her to her mother and we can have a proper family reunion. Which we would've had sooner if you didn't take her from me!" he shouted, his fingers curling into fists.

Maria took a threatening step forward, aiming at the man's head.

His eyes widened. He took a step back. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We're cool. Let's all just… keep our heads about us… No need to get angry."

"You killed those people," Maria said.

"Yes," he sighed, hanging his head. "I did. Two of the men were carving into the bodies of the others! Carving the symbols of the temple. The same ones on the Diviner. I couldn't let them follow the map and hurt her! I had to stop them…"

Coulson and Maria looked at each other. She gave a nod. Coulson stepped away and pulled out his phone. It rang twice. He spoke as soon as the ringing stopped.

"Vick, get Bobbi's team out of there. Now."

Hartley took a breath and peeked around the corner at the entrance of the fort. Nothing moved. She gestured the others inside. The four of them spread out, checking the room. Empty. No signs of a struggle either.

"Right so… this fort is huge. How exactly do you plan to find them?" Idaho asked as they reconvened in the center.

Bobbi shrugged. "My contact didn't tell us exactly where they were setting up. Best bet is to fan out. If you see something, don't engage, just report back so we can regroup. No one takes on Mike Peterson alone." She looked pointedly at Hunter. "Got it?"

Hunter rolled his eyes but didn't dispute it.

"Well, there are four of us. One in every direction?" Hartley said.

Bobbi held up a hand to stall the group and tilted her head slightly. Victoria Hand's voice crackled to life in their comms. "Agent Morse, do not engage. Return to the quinjet."

"Copy," Bobbi reported. Hunter rolled his eyes but followed as Bobbi jerked her head toward the exit. Together, the team slipped out. "Returning to the quinjet now. What's going on?"

"Coulson found Skye's father. She's here to activate an 0-8-4. The earthquake you reported was likely its activation."

"We're just going to let her have it?" Harley asked, jumping onto comms as well.

"No. You are clear to engage from the quinjet but we cannot risk you walking straight into a possible alien weapon," Victoria said.

The team climbed back into the quinjet, Bobbi taking her seat in the pilot's chair. Hartley sat down in the seat beside her. "Idaho, look for any unusual flights. She had to get here somehow."

"On it," he responded, already getting to work.

Bobbi began her pre-flight check.

Mike was standing ready by the rope when something blasted out of the hole leading to the temple. Instinctively, he readied a wrist rocket and aimed. Only to lower it when he recognized Daisy with… something in her arms.

"What the hell? What was that?" He asked.

Daisy moved past him before he could even finish his question, heading for the exit.

"Powers. The temple is collapsing and Raina needs help."

Mike stared after her retreating form. Then it clicked. He ran after her and took Raina from her arms. "I've got her. Run ahead and start the plane, we'll catch up.

She nodded. Her hands reached down to either side of her, then she vanished into the air, leaving Mike rocking back on his heels from the force she used to push off with.

"Got one!" Hunter shouted from the back, his hurried footfalls pounding on the metal as he raced up to the cockpit. "Got a small charter plane taking off right now. Ignored air traffic control's attempts to make contact. Coordinates uploaded to your system."

Bobbi shook her head. Both of them knew it was for show. "Strap in."

She admittedly took off before Hunter could snap his last buckle into place. She most definitely did not smile into the mirror showing the main bay of the plane as she watched him flail about when she took off.

Hartley rolled her eyes. "We're coming up on the airfield now. Focus."

Bobbi shook her head and focused on the runway they were approaching. There. A small plane taking off into the path of another. She adjusted her throttle and shot after it.

"She's not turning," Hartley muttered. "She's gonna hit 'em."

Bobbi pursed her lips and adjusted her level ever so slightly. The tip of her nose just barely edged upwards. Just enough for her to clear the plane Skye was barreling straight toward. The opposing plane began to bank. Too little too late. Anyone could see it.

The little charter plane dipped just before collision. It slowed just slightly. Enough for Bobbi to realize what happened, at least. The pilot must've pushed the nose down and cut the engine. Not many had the balls to pull that move. Not that it mattered. Bobbi sailed safely over the opposing plane

"Shit," she muttered. "I don't have eyes on them. Hartley?"

"Got nothing," Hartley replied as she leaned forward against the glass of the cockpit, craning her neck to see the airspace around them.

"Under us?"

Hartley nodded grimly. "Under us. And knows our speed. They've gotta be matching us almost perfectly to not pull out ahead."

"We're cloaked. That shouldn't be possible," Bobbi said.

Hartley only offered a shrug in return

Both jumped as a voice crackled into their radio channel. "That's not May flying up there, is it?"

"Skye, I presume?" Bobbi replied, sharing a look with Hartley.

"Oh hey, Bobbi. Yeah. It's me. Surprise."

"Figures. Should've expected a friend of Hunter's would want to chat during a dogfight."

"I could always go put on one of my true crime podcasts. But then you wouldn't get any answers so…"

Bobbi rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll bite. How do you know me?"

"We've… Been together before," the woman, Skye, supplied rather unhelpfully. Hartley raised her eyebrows from the co-pilot chair.

"You think that's a good enough reason to keep me from blowing you out of the sky?" Bobbi asked sharply.

A laugh crackled across the channel. "You've got a soft spot for pretty girls who can keep up with you, so yeah. I think it's a good enough reason. But more seriously… Anyone on this channel with you?"

Bobbi cast a glance at Hartley, then back out the front, determinedly keeping her mouth in a flat line. Hartley's increasingly raised eyebrows would not break her. "No."

"Cool. Let's make this quick then. Real Shield is fucking stupid and Gonzales and Co. need to get their heads out of their asses and talk to him before the whole organization implodes in another civil war. Except this time, good people are dying on both sides."

She blinked. Of all the things she expected, being outed as part of the Real Shield wasn't one of them.

Skye continued in the silence. "Coulson's a reasonable guy. He'd be willing to work with you if it's for the good of Shield. But the man just had his entire life turned upside down from a betrayal. If you and Mack betray him now, you can kiss any dream of unity goodbye."

"You've already got a way to disperse this intel if I blow you out of the sky right now, don't you," Bobbi sighed.

"Yup."

"I'll mention it. No promises on what Gonzales will do."

"Good enough for me. You can tell me how it goes over a drink. I'll let you know when and where."

Bobbi opened her mouth to reply, but the channel had already been cut. She watched the unassuming little charter plane shoot out from underneath them.

"Well," Hartley said, leaning back in her chair, "looks like you've got yourself a date, Barbara."

Bobbi's headset hit her in the nose.

The soft rise and fall of Raina's chest kept Daisy company tonight. She sat at the edge of the bed, one hand lightly resting on Raina's leg while the other tapped on the touchpad of her laptop. Mike had only been persuaded to leave their side by a call from Ace asking for help on his homework. Which left Daisy with plenty of time to browse the internet while Raina slept.

Her brows furrowed as she scrolled back up to the home page of an old Rising Tide forum. Something was off. The layout wasn't quite what she remembered. She pulled up the website's source code. Everything seemed normal, except for the slight alterations to the layout. She was about to change it back when she noticed the message hidden in the visual data files for the events tab on the home page.

Raina shifted and Daisy instinctively reached out into the web of vibrations in the room to feel for her heartbeat. Elevated, but not to the point where she was concerned. She shifted up beside her, hands gently running along the black quills that sprouted from Raina's scalp. She typed out a reply with her free hand.

Ch 19:

Gordon tilted his head as he stepped into his study. He set his book aside. The faint blue outlines of objects around him all appeared normal, save one. The study wooden box displayed on his desk glowed brighter than normal.

He opened the box with shaking hands. Inside, a Diviner pulsed with faint light. Its energy rolled off in waves, making it hard for Gordon to distinguish between the Diviner's energy and the outlines of the objects around it.

He slipped his phone out of his pocket. "Are you seeing this?" he asked. "There's someone new. Tell the others I'm on it."

Daisy slipped out of Raina's room to answer her phone, leaving Mike behind to stay with her. She answered once the door shut behind her. "Hey, what's up?"

"Found your dad. You didn't mention he was an enhanced sociopath," Maria said dryly.

"Ah… Yeah." Daisy winced. "Was kinda hoping he wouldn't get involved… What did he do?"

"Just killed two former Shield agents who were carving symbols into people's bodies. He fessed up to that one. There are other murders that line up, but he hasn't confessed to those yet," Maria said.

"Fuck. Okay. Who has him now?"

"Coulson. He showed up looking for you while I was looking for your dad. Must've gotten into my files. According to Stark, whoever hacked in took a similar path as you to get to Jarvis, but wasn't nearly as discreet after that."

Daisy sucked on her teeth. "Miles. Coulson must've struck a deal with him… I'm guessing Coulson knows everything you know, now?"

"Pretty much."

"Great…" Daisy groaned. "Any way you could get Cal away from Coulson for me?"

"Depends… Got any other leads on Hydra? Cap's getting a little close to tracking down Strucker."

She quickly ran through a list of all the villains of the year. She could send them after Whitehall, but that wouldn't help her much, since she already knew his next moves. He was easy enough to predict.

Ross was a possibility. The Avengers already hated him. Redirecting their focus back to him might keep him from getting enough power to champion the Sokovia Accords later on. Then again, their attention could only make his ire worse and exacerbate the issue…

"General Hale," Daisy said finally. "She should keep them busy for a while. Once they root out her and her allies in the government, they can go after the Hydra prep school she went to."

The line went silent. Then a long sigh came across. "A Hydra prep school? You're joking, right? Please laugh."

"Nope. There's a legit, like, private Christian school but for Hydra kids."

Daisy heard the distinct sound of a bottle opening from across the line. She almost said something but a sudden shift in the vibrations in the air stopped her. She tilted her head, allowing herself to sink into the waves around her, searching for what threw her off.

There. Raina's heart rate. It was picking up.

"Hey, I gotta go. I'll text you where to have Sharon meet me with the Quinjet. Good luck with the boys."

Daisy hung up and stepped back into the room.

She found Raina already sitting up, her face buried into Mike's shoulder. Mike's hand gently stroked her quills as he cradled her. His face twitched in what Daisy knew had to be pain from Raina's spikes poking into his shoulder.

"Shh… It's okay. It was just a dream. You're safe," he murmured.

Daisy sunk down on Raina's other side and shared a look with Mike. He simply shrugged. She sighed a placed a gentle hand on Raina's back.

Immediately, Raina reacted. She spun to look at Daisy with wide eyes. "Daisy-" she breathed, her hand hesitantly reaching out as if to cup Daisy's cheek.

"Hey…" Daisy said quietly. "I'm here."

"I thought- I saw you die. It felt so real…" Raina said, her lower lip trembling just slightly.

Her expression shifted, morphing into a carefully neutral facade. She ignored Mike's concerned look when he noticed the change. "Can you tell me what you saw?"

Raina took a deep breath, nodding slowly as she gathered her thoughts. "I saw you but you looked... Different. You looked older. And you were floating and it was so, so cold. And it was just you. You were so pale… and your eyes were closed and I thought-"

Mike's arm shifted to wrap around Raina's waist from behind, giving her a comforting squeeze. Then his free hand slipped into Daisy's. Somehow, he managed to read through her careful facade and know she needed it.

"It wasn't real. She's here now. Neither of us are going anywhere," he said.

Daisy grimaced a bit.

Mike's attention snapped to her again. "Daisy… It isn't real… is it?"

"Uh… about that…"

Two sets of angry stares rested on her. One with significantly more tears blurring the anger there, but still intimidating.

"Okay, look. That… Is going to happen. Raina's a seer." She made jazz hands. "Surprise!"

"You're going to die? I- I saw you die?" Raina asked in horror. "It's real?"

"No- No! I didn't die! And that sort of… already happened for me? It's confusing," Daisy said quickly. "The last thing I remember was closing my eyes out there in space and then suddenly I was waking up on the Bus with my team."

"So… Raina can see the past?" Mike asked.

"No. She can see the future," Daisy replied.

Mike narrowed his eyes. Daisy waited. Raina looked between the two, then her eyes widened too.

"You're… If I saw your past… but you say I can see the future… Then you're from the future?" Raina asked.

Daisy smiled a little sheepishly. She felt a bit bad being this dramatic about it but it kept Raina from spiraling, so she'd happily give Mike a small aneurysm from her lack of clarity. "Bingo."

"Okay…" Mike said slowly. "I want to believe you but that's kind of insane. And I'm a half robot now."

Daisy only shrugged. "I mean… It's not the first time I've time traveled by accident. Or on purpose. It's a thing. Hard to believe but eventually you kind of get used to it."

"How far in the future are you from?" Raina asked.

"Uh… Seven years? I think?" Daisy scratched her head, trying to remember. "It's hard to tell, again, time travel. I lived in my version of the future and the past for a little while so that kind of messed up my personal timeline."

Mike frowned. "But if you're here, then isn't that changing the future?"

"Eh? Sort of?" She shrugged. "Fitzsimmons' current theory is that when we time travel we not only jump back on the timeline, but we also jump to a different one."

Mike blinked.

"Different timelines… So the multiverse is real?" Raina asked.

"Presumably, yeah."

"So if you're right-" Raina started.

"I am. Already lived through your transformation once," Daisy said.

"- then that means I don't just see into the future. I see into different timelines. Because your past, our future, can't happen now. Which means it has to exist in a different timeline."

Daisy's eyes widened. "Which means not only can you see the future, you can see any variation of a possible future."

Mike blinked again, looking between the two. "I'm confused."

Trip was in the middle of dealing with Senator Ward's anti-Shield proposal when Idaho appeared on his left and Hunter on his right. He shut his laptop and looked up at them.

"Got something?" he asked lowly, cautious of their position in the lab. Simmons had made him promise he'd look after her workspace while she was in training. He intended to keep it. Even if it wasn't the ideal place for private conversations.

"Yup. She reached out, gave us a time and place," Idaho reported.

"Unfortunately, said time and place is tomorrow in Sokovia…" Hunter trailed off.

Trip groaned as both looked at him. "I'll figure something out."

"Great. Thanks, mate," Hunter said with a grin. With a clap on Trip's shoulder, he headed out.

Idaho rolled his eyes. "Ignore him. Need any help?"

"Wouldn't mind the company," Trip said as he pulled up an extra chair.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Bobbie walking past the large lab windows, heading in the same direction as Hunter.

Bobbi pulled Mack and Hartley into a room and shut the door behind them. "We have a problem."

"Another one? Jesus," Hartley groaned, "dealing with Skye is enough."

"Yeah… And it's about it gets worse. Hunter made contact with her. And he's working with Idaho and Trip."

Mack let out a breath, crossing his arms. "You think she'll blow our cover?"

Bobbi nodded solemnly. "It's what I'd do in her shoes. That leverage doesn't last long now that we know she has it, better to use it now before we can do any damage control."

"What's the play?" Mack asked.

"I'm going to tail Hunter and co. Hopefully… I can get there in time and interrupt their contact."

Hartley snorted. "You're banking on him believing his 'she-devil ex-wife' is the one he needs to trust?"

"Just because we piss each other off doesn't mean he doesn't trust me." She glanced at Mack and quickly added, "mostly."

He let out a snort but didn't directly contradict her. "You need backup?"

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Weaver needs intel on Mike Peterson and the alien device. I won't get that if I show up with a full team."

"I don't like it… But you're right," Hartley said. "I'll let Robert know. We should be able to hold down the fort here until you get back. Vick's getting plenty of intel on Coulson. Getting her to share it is a pain in the ass but I'll make it work."

Victoria Hand entered Coulson's office. He was already behind the desk. May sat on the edge of it.

"Good. You're here," Coulson said by way of greeting. "We just put him in."

Vick looked to the large screen at the other end of the room, noting the live feed to Ward's cell. A disheveled man picked himself up off the ground in the doorway. Ward eyed him cautiously.

"Skye's father?" she asked.

"Mhm."

Victoria quieted again as she focused on the footage.

Cal dusted himself off and looked around the cell. Finally, his gaze landed on Ward. Victoria could see recognition there, even through the screen. He stepped forward with a smile. "Grant Ward. Raina told me about you. I'm Cal." He offered his hand to shake, only to jump back as the electric cell wall that separated him and Ward buzzed in warning. "Oh… Careful. Careful."

Ward raised an eyebrow, pacing along the length of the cell. "Raina told you about me?"

"Oh yes. She told me about how you loved Daisy, how she was your one weakness," Cal said, the smile never dropping from his face.

"Daisy?" Ward asked.

"Daisy. Though you know her as Skye."

"Ah."

"But she also told me you were Hydra." The smile slipped from Cal's lips now. "And I won't let Hydra hurt my girls. Never again," he hissed.

"Woah, hey, I would never hurt Skye," Ward said calmly, raising his hands in the air. "I made her a promise, I intend to keep it. I was only in Hydra for Garrett, anyway. I was never into the whole true believer bull."

"Liar!" Cal shouted. He grabbed the chair in his anger, throwing it at the electric barrier hard enough to make it bend inward before restoring its shape. The chair clattered to the floor with a bang. "John Garrett used the desecrated parts of Daisy's mother to prolong his own life! You let him. You let him use her mother's cells like a science experiment. How dare you say you would never hurt her!"

Ward's eyebrows rose in surprise. Clearly manufactured to the agents watching, but Cal seemed to buy it as genuine. "Skye's mother was part of the Centipede Project?"

"Her name. Is. Daisy," Cal ground out through gritted teeth.

Ward took a breath, correcting himself, "Daisy's mother was part of the project?"

"She wasn't part of it. That implies she had a choice," Cal hissed. "Whitehall took her away from me and cut her into pieces. When I found her in that ditch… I couldn't even recognize her after all he had done." His fists clenched at his sides. "And then he used her DNA for years in his projects. Prolonging the life of those who don't deserve to live!"

"I can help," Ward said as he stepped up to the edge of the electric barrier. "I know where Whitehall is. I can help you kill him. And then we both get what we want. Daisy's safety."

Cal's hands relaxed at his sides. "Yes. Daisy will be safe… And I will have his head to give to Jiaying."

Coulson frowned down at his desk. Idly, he gestured to May. She nodded and called down to the guards on duty just outside Ward's cell. Victoria watched the screen as the guards dragged Cal out.

A beat of silence echoed in the room once the footage turned off.

"Tell Simmons to start working on index profiles for Cal, Daisy, and her mother," Coulson said, breaking the silence.

"She's still in field training. Unless you want me to pause that…" May trailed off.

Coulson pinched the bridge of his nose. "No. Keep her on that. Just… Simmons trusts Trip with her research. He understands enough of it for this. Put him on it."

May nodded, already typing a message out on her phone.

"You've been quiet, Vick. It's kinda freaking me out," Coulson joked.

"I like to process information before I make snap judgments, Phil," Vick responded dryly. She turned to face him fully. "But I've processed now. I think you should let them go."

Coulson's eyebrows rose. "Not exactly what I thought your angle would be."

"My angle is practicality. If Ward and Cal want to go after Whitehall, then let them. We'll watch and wait as they poke the bear. Once they get themselves killed, we can send in a team knowing exactly what not to do."

"It would solve our Ward problem," May added. "Grant Ward on a warpath against Hydra for Shield might make Senator Ward rethink his anti-Shield proposition."

Coulson stared at his desk. He steepled his hands in front of him. A sigh escaped his lips. "Do it. Leak Agent Morse's intel from her stint undercover to Ward, too. If we're going to do this, we need to make sure he gets far enough to make it worth it."

Burning. It felt like her insides were burning. Everything felt wrong. And yet, Daisy moved as if everything was fine. Raina couldn't help but stare at her while they packed. Because of course Daisy came out of her cocoon healed, powerful, beautiful. She angrily tossed a dress into her bag.

Daisy didn't seem to notice.

She stole one of Daisy's ICERS and put it in her bag.

Still, Daisy didn't say anything. But Mike did.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Mike asked. "You're sulking."

"I am not sulking. I don't sulk," she protested. Though she knew the pouty turn to her lips told a different story.

"Uh no, you're definitely sulking. I just didn't know how to broach that without being real awkward. So what's up?" Daisy asked.

Raina let out a long-suffering sigh, as though this wasn't exactly what she wanted. "I wanted to evolve. My grandmother… She told me stories about Inhumans. How they become better than humans. More powerful… more beautiful. But my insides… they burn. How do you live with it?" she asked, a bit of vulnerability slipping into her voice.

Daisy sighed, turning to face Raina fully, abandoning her packing for the op. "My insides don't burn. Not like yours do. Instead, I have this constant buzzing under my skin. It feels like hundreds of tiny bees are trapped and trying to get out. After a while… I realized that fighting it only made it worse. Once I embraced it, I couldn't imagine living without it."

"I don't know how to embrace it…" Raina admitted.

Mike turned to face Raina now too, abandoning his bag. "I thought I was a monster, too. Every day I woke up in a nightmare. One that you created for me."

Raina sucked in a breath.

"I was scared to even look at my son. But when I saw him again for the first time since he was taken… He didn't see any of this. He saw me. He saw his dad. Not a monster, but the dad who loved him and protected him and fought tooth and nail to protect him," Mike said.

Raina opened her mouth.

Mike cut her off. "I wouldn't undo what you did to me. It hurts. My burns ache. I feel burning in my phantom limbs. I scare people on the street. But all of this? It means I can protect my son. It means I can protect you and Daisy. My body isn't what it used to be, but it works, and I can accept it for that."

Daisy reached over to take Raina's hand. Mike took her other.

"You're a fucking badass, Raina. And if I know anything, I know that you always find a way to make the best of your situation. So you're not going to let this be the thing that stops you from getting what you want. You're going to mine it, foster it, and unleash absolute hell with it." Daisy squeezed her hand. "Got it?"

Raina squeezed their hands in return, looking down to her lap to hide the tears brimming in her eyes.

Trip opened the door to Coulson's office, his expression unusually grave. Coulson immediately sat up straight in his chair.

"What?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

Trip took a steadying breath. Then he spoke. "Sir, the Index is gone."

"What do you mean?"

"It's been completely wiped from our database. It just… doesn't exist. Even the backup files are gone. I'm guessing it was a hack so there could be some physical copies stored somewhere but… It doesn't look good, sir."

Coulson cursed under his breath and grabbed his phone. "Trip, I'm reinstating you to active duty. Grab a team, bring Miles in," he ordered as he punched in Sam Koenig's number.

Chapter 20:

Raina, Mike, and Daisy stood side by side and watched as a quinjet landed in the empty parking lot in front of them. Both Mike and Raina's long cloaks to cover their more identifiable features fluttered in the wind.

The ramp to the quinjet opened with a hiss. Sharon Carter emerged from it, cocking her head curiously at Mike and Raina. "Not exactly the crew I was expecting."

Daisy only shrugged, leading the way onto the Quinjet. "Not all enhanced look human, you know. You're just spoiled with the Avengers."

"I guess," Sharon said as she closed the ramp behind Mike and Raina. "We gotta hurry, by the way. A co-worker of mine is starting to look into Hydra's presence in Sokovia."

Daisy frowned as she plopped herself into the pilot seat. "Who ordered that?"

"Traced the request back to General Hale. She did a decent job of disguising it though." Sharon took the co-pilot seat. Through the rearview mirror, she watched Mike and Raina sit beside each other in the main bay.

"General Hale?" Daisy asked. "Hale is Hydra, why would she- Oh. Fuck. Okay."

"What?"

Daisy grimaced. "I forgot Hale has beef with von Strucker. How long do we have before the US tries to act on that intel?"

"Order came down the pipe six days ago. My co-worker started looking into it immediately, likely bought off or also Hydra," Sharon groaned. "That's gonna be a pain in the ass to deal with later… But a conservative guess for time? A day."

"Damn," Daisy muttered as she went through the pre-flight check. "We've only got one shot then."

Raina's voice cut into their conversation from the back. "It will go well enough," she said.

Sharon raised an eyebrow, glancing at Daisy. There was clearly doubt and amusement there. Daisy only shook her head in response. She felt a bit bad when Sharon's expression shuttered and closed.

"Anything more concrete?" Daisy asked.

Raina hummed, thinking for a moment. "Yes… There will likely be injuries, but no casualties. The twins are reasonable."

"Good to know," Daisy said, twisting in her seat to send a grateful smile back Raina's way. When she twisted back forward, she was ready. "Alright, everyone strap in."

They dropped Raina off at a small lodge they had rented out just for this purpose. It wasn't too far from Strucker's base. Just around seven miles out. Walkable if it came down to it. Sharon didn't question it, and Daisy had to admit she made a good agent to work with.

Daisy set the Quinjet down again about two miles from Strucker's base in a secluded clearing. She beckoned Sharon back with her as she headed into the main bay and took a seat next to Mike.

"I think it's probably time to do official introductions. Sharon, this is Mike Peterson. Mike, this is Sharon Carter," Daisy said, gesturing between the two of them.

Mike tossed down his hood, letting Sharon see his face, and held out a hand for her to take. "Carter as in…?"

Sharon rolled her eyes and hesitantly shook his hand. "Yeah. That Carter. And you're the Hydra guy?"

"Not anymore," Mike said. "And it was never by choice. Did I hurt anyone close to you, or-..." he trailed off, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"No. I just heard about you. How'd you end up with Daisy here, anyway?"

"She got my son away from Hydra and took the bomb out of my head. I think that's as good a reason as any to stick with her."

Sharon eyed him appraisingly. "Sounds like it. So both of you are, what? On some sort of revenge quest against Hydra or something?"

"Eh, not exactly," Daisy said, leaning back against the wall of the Quinjet and making herself comfortable. "If I wanted revenge I'd go after Whitehall. Which I do plan to do, just not yet. Strucker is working on some shit that's gonna blow up in the Avenger's faces a lot sooner than Whitehall's shit is."

"Right. He's got the scepter."

"And two enhanced kids he's experimenting on," Mike grumbled, crossing his arms.

Sharon raised an eyebrow, looking between the two. "Hill didn't mention that."

"Oops, guess I forgot to go into the specifics about the hostages." A smug grin settled on Daisy's lips.

Sharon's eyes narrowed.

"It's not like I was gonna hide it from her. If I really didn't want her to know, I wouldn't have let her put a plant on this op."

She sucked on her teeth but didn't contradict her. "Fine. But-"

Crackling from the cockpit cut Sharon off. Daisy quickly crossed over and shoved the headset on.

Trip's voice came across the radio. "Hill, that you down there?"

Daisy couldn't help but grin as she responded. "Nope. But I think you're looking for me, not her."

A laugh sounded over the line. "Well damn, girl! How'd you get Hill's digs?"

"I'll tell you all about it when you get down here. Just you and Hunter?"

"And Idaho."

"Gotcha. Go ahead and set down in the clearing half a mile over. Meet me here."

"You got it," Trip said, then he cut the line.

Sharon gave her an odd look as she took off the headset. Not that Daisy cared. "Backup will be here in twenty."

"I thought you wanted a small team?" Sharon asked.

"I did. But I also need Shield to stop seeing me as a threat. Inviting the more open-minded ones to come along was a necessary risk," Daisy explained.

Sharon just shook her head. Not for the first time, she wondered at Maria's willingness to trust Daisy.

Bobbi frowned as she took off her headset. Trip and Skye's conversation came too easily. She expected a bit more uncertainty from Skye. After all, Trip was very loyal to Shield, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume he would turn her in once he had her location.

And yet, Skye seemed to trust him. So unless Skye was the one laying a trap, something must've happened to get her trust. She just needed to figure out what.

Bobbi marked the location of Skye's Quinjet and Trip's on her map and waited. She gave Trip, Hunter, and Idaho a ten-minute head start before leaving her own Quinjet, which she set down just outside of the woods, and setting off after them on foot.

At the bottom of the quinjet ramp, Daisy, Mike, and Sharon stood waiting. Daisy felt their approach before the others. A quick tap of her index finger against her thigh tipped Mike off too. Sharon was too well trained to start when Trip, Hunter, and Idaho entered the clearing, but Daisy felt her heart rate increase regardless.

For a moment, the two groups stared at each other in silence.

Hunter broke it first. "Alright, well this is bloody awkward. Can we come in?"

Daisy couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. Feel free. We need to go over some stuff."

"Like what's going on with you?" Trip asked as he stepped onto the ramp of the quinjet with the rest of his team following behind. "And why Sharon Carter is here?"

"Yup. Like that."

Trip rolled his eyes at Daisy's blatant avoidance and shared a glance with Sharon. She offered a fist with a raised eyebrow. He chuckled and hit her fist with his own.

"Uhh, anyone wanna explain what that was about?" Hunter asked, his gaze flicking back and forth between Trip and Sharon.

"It's a legacy thing," Trip, Sharon, and Idaho answered, all at the same time.

"Oh, cool…" Hunter said.

Daisy shared an amused look with him, she didn't expect that reaction either, but at least her team wouldn't be fighting. She gestured for them all to take a seat in the main bay and moved to stand in the center.

"Alright, now we can get down to business. Hi. I'm Daisy Johnson. I've been a Shield agent for… ten years now? I think? Before Coulson picked me up, for sure."

"Wait, hold on. If you were already an agent… why lie to get into Shield? What do you even get from that?" Idaho asked.

"I get to be on Coulson's team."

"Couldn't you just request that?" Trip asked.

"Everyone thought Coulson was dead. So… no."

Hunter, who so far had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke up. "Why did you leave, then? I mean, I thought it was because of the bullshit Shield was pulling with all the paranoia and the secrets and wanting to arrest you. But if you're Shield, then why didn't you just say that? Why run?"

Daisy grimaced at that as she tried to figure out the best way to explain.

Mike stepped forward to offer her an out. "Do you remember what Shield wanted to do with me?" The question was addressed to all, but Mike's gaze focused on Trip. "They wanted to Index me. They wanted to lock me away and keep the bomb in my head so I could only be used by them. They wanted to keep me as a weapon."

Trip's jaw tensed, but he didn't contradict Mike's point.

Idaho frowned. "What does that have to do with Daisy wanting to run?"

"Everything," Daisy said. Her hand reached out to squeeze Mike's shoulder. "I have powers."

Trip and Idaho stiffened.

Sharon didn't react outwardly. Daisy was sure Maria filled her in already.

Hunter froze. Then let out a low whistle. "Damn. You saw what happened to Mike and knew they'd turn on you in an instant if you had the same potential."

Daisy inclined her head in answer. It wasn't the exact truth, but enough of the beats were similar that it would do. And the part with the powers already happened. The best lies always had a kernel of truth at the center. She could definitely work with this as a cover.

"Always knew there was something sketchy about your team," Hunter said, turning to Idaho with a grin. "Pay up."

Idaho groaned and dug around in his pocket for a couple bucks. He slapped the money into Hunter's waiting palm with the most sour expression he could muster.

"You bet on my team being sketchy?" Daisy asked. "They're not sketchy." She looked to Mike for confirmation. She didn't find it. Instead, she was met with Mike's vaguely apologetic shrug. "What?"

"I mean… They've used you as bait multiple times. And they let Fitz and Simmons go into the field without any training. I could've easily hurt them if Garrett wanted me to. We're lucky he wanted them. It's kind of sketchy."

"Yeah. Hill hated you guys. Like… nothing you did was protocol," Sharon chimed in.

"Okay, that's… Sort of fair," Daisy admitted, then shook her head "Nevermind. We are so far off track. Right now, I need to actually brief you on the mission."

"The what?" Idaho asked. "I think I heard you wrong. Cause there's no way you called us in on a mission with you who we're pretty sure we can trust, but not entirely, and gave us no time to prep."

"She thought you three could pull it off. Take it as a compliment," Mike said.

Soft grumbling came from the trio in response. Daisy graciously ignored it and began explaining the mission.

They split up on their approach to the base. Mike, Daisy, and Sharon took the long way around the base until Daisy felt the telltale sign of an underground tunnel running beneath their feet. They followed it away from the base until the tunnel stopped, and Daisy pushed inside a small alcove to find a cleverly hidden doorway. All three huddled in the shadows of the alcove as they waited.

Fifteen minutes passed. Sharp pops broke the silence. Followed soon after by a loud explosion and the blaring of alarms. Trip's crew did their job well. Even Sharon looked impressed by the amount of firepower they managed to pull out for that big of a distraction.

Daisy counted to five and turned her attention back to the door. Her hands slid down the cool metal until she felt the locking mechanism inside, just above the handle. An old-school deadbolt lock. She closed her eyes, delving into the vibrations around her. Instinctively, she tuned out the vibration of Bobbi approaching the alcove. The door hummed sluggishly against her hand. She dove further in until she could feel the light buzz of the deadbolt resting against the doorframe. A sharp jolt of vibration sent it flying back into the door.

She turned the handle. The door swung open. She realized that this was not her Bobbi.

Sharon stepped in first, taking point. Daisy fell into step behind her with Mike at her side. She leaned over to him as they walked and whispered, "Bobbi's following us."

Mike's sharp intake of breath was the only sign he heard her. Hesitantly, he touched a hand to his armored wrist.

Daisy placed her hand on his and shook her head.

He didn't relax, but Daisy could see relief shining behind his eyes.

Bobbi pulled out her phone as she stood outside the alcove Skye, Sharon, and Mike had all entered just a few minutes before. She quickly typed out a text to the Real Shield's board but paused before she sent it.

Skye had powers. That much she could now confirm. So did Mike. If she was going for the scepter… It looked bad. Real bad. Collecting powerful people and artifacts to use for some unknown purpose never screamed altruistic intentions. And yet, Bobbi couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Hunter was a merc. He was in most things for the money. But he wasn't a bad guy. And he didn't hang out with the power-hungry types either. Idaho and Trip were both loyal Shield agents who were never swayed by Hydra. And then there was Sharon Carter, a close associate of Maria Hill's and the last person one would expect to join in on some crazy plan to collect power.

She was missing something.

Her thumb moved over to the backspace. She kept hitting it until her message disappeared from the screen. "Hunter made contact with Skye. Skye is enhanced, but I cannot confirm what her abilities are. Requesting backup on standby at my location. Will try to resolve alone."

With most of Hydra's forces focused on Hunter, Trip, and Idaho's distraction at the front, Daisy's team had little to no problems getting into the main base. The escape tunnel wasn't patrolled, likely kept a secret from the main personnel. At the end of the long tunnel, they were met with a ladder. Daisy held up a hand to pause the group at its base.

She ignored Sharon's curious look and sunk into the vibrations around her once more. Bobbi was waiting at the entrance of the tunnel. That would be fine, for now. Above them, she didn't feel anyone. She gave Mike a nod, and he started up the ladder. Sharon followed behind him. Daisy brought up the rear.

They emerged into what Daisy assumed to be Strucker's office. The framework of opulent decor was left behind, but it had clearly been ransacked. The team split up, searching for any documents that might've been left behind. They came up empty-handed. Daisy beckoned for everyone to meet in the middle.

"The scepter is three levels down in a large hangar. I think the hangar is the only thing on that level so it shouldn't be hard to find. And if not, go all Superman mode," she nudged Mike playfully.

He didn't quite grin, but the corner of his lips tilted upward.

"Are you sure you're good to find the hostages on your own?" Sharon asked. "If Strucker has already run, he probably took his experiments with him. They'll be protected."

"I can handle it. And if something goes wrong, Mike knows what to do."

Sharon began to nod but paused. "Why did he run? As far as he knows, there's only one tac team assaulting the base. Just Shield. This is a fight Hydra would take."

Daisy frowned slightly. Last time it had been the Avengers, it made sense for him to run. What could've scared him off this time? "I don't know…" she mumbled. "Unless… Hydra is in the military, we know that. If Strucker caught wind of Hale's plan…"

Sharon cursed under her breath. "That's probably it. This evacuation doesn't look like it was done in advance. My bet is on he got notice of an attack and assumed it was a black ops team coming to knock down his door and had to accelerate his plans."

"Hopefully not enough for the scepter to be long gone… Hurry."

"No being a self-sacrificing idiot," Mike said, looking pointedly at Daisy.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you guys on the other side."

Sharon chuckled a bit and extended a hand. Daisy took it.

"Good luck," Sharon said, giving one final shake. Then she was gone, with Mike following in her wake.

Daisy turned to head toward the front of the base while they went down. She could feel the ripples Pietro made every time he dashed. She quickened her base. He was heading toward Hunter, Trip, and Idaho. Sharon had made her rethink her plan for a moment. Everything relied on Pietro and Wanda wanting to stay and fight like last time. Daisy forgot to account for the lack of a certain Stark pulling their focus. She got lucky, again.

A steadying breath flowed in through her nose. Her heart slowed. Her vision expanded. She could feel the outlines of the guard tower Hunter, Trip, and Idaho were holed up in. She could feel the mounds in the ground Pietro was dashing across as he pulled Hydra agents from the path of Trip's rifle. She could just barely feel Wanda's quiet wake as she prowled toward the guard tower like a bloodhound.

It didn't take her long to get to Wanda now that she had a map of the base in her mind's eye. Her feet silently slipped across the metal floor, rolling from the outside of her toe down to her heel. Just like May always taught her. Instinctively, she tuned herself into the beating of her own heart. Sixty-eight. Perfect.

Daisy rounded the corner, and Wanda came into sight, her back facing Daisy. Two Hydra soldiers lay on the floor. No blood. They must've tried to stop Wanda.

Daisy matched her footsteps to Wanda's footsteps, creeping after her. She let all the explosions and gunfire fade into the background as she focused solely on Wanda. Her feet brought her just outside of touch radius.

Wanda's heart rate spiked. She whirled around. Daisy reacted on instinct, blocking Wanda's outstretched hand by slamming their forearms against each other.

Wanda's eyes widened in surprise. Then narrowed again.

Daisy stepped back out of her reach, raising her hands in the air. "I'm not here to hurt you."

A red blast of energy had her quickly bring her hands together, crossing them in front of her to create a shield of vibration. Energy met energy and red waves splashed against an invisible wall. Daisy grimaced and ducked her shoulder. She pulled from the vibrations of gunfire and explosions just beyond the walls of the base to strengthen her wall.

Wanda dropped her wave of energy, staring at her in surprise once again. "You have powers." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." Daisy uncrossed her arms, straightening up. "Trust me. I just want to help. I know what you're going through. All the pain and the rage and suddenly you have the power to get revenge? I know what that's like."

Wanda's head tilted in confusion, but her posture eased slightly. "How do you know that?"

"Because I-" Daisy paused mid-sentence. Shit. She turned just in time to see a flash down the hallway and feel Pietro punching his way through space. Not enough time to create a barrier to slow him down. She opted for another wall to cushion the impact. Even prepared for him, the elbow he dug into her diaphragm knocked a bit of wind out of her. Her only point of satisfaction was the feeling of two of his bones cracking on impact. Served him right.

Both flew across the room. Pietro landed with a thud against the wall on the right. Daisy fell back into the waiting arms of Wanda Maximoff.

The last thing she saw was not darkness but the face of Hive as he forced himself into her body.

Chapter 21:

Mike had just engaged his x-ray vision and located the scepter behind a false wall when the floor began to shake.

He shared a look with Sharon. "Daisy," he breathed.

Sharon reached out a hand to stop him before he could turn away from the wall, shaking her head. "Scepter first. Daisy can hold her own. Remember the plan."

His lips twisted into a grimace. He pointedly avoided Sharon's gaze. His arm raised, engaging a wrist rocket. It slammed into the wall, the resulting shockwave barely noticeable amid the growing earthquake.

"I'm changing the plan. Get the scepter out of here. I'm finding Daisy," Mike said.

Sharon watched as he ran back to the elevator without protest. When she turned back to the scepter, a new plan of her own was already beginning to form.

Trip dropped from the window of the guard tower his team was pinned down in as an earthquake shook the base.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Hunter cried, dropping from his window as well. "This is Sokovia. Since when are there earthquakes in Sokovia?"

"There aren't," Trip replied grimly as he took this break in the fire on both sides to reload his rifle. "Daisy said there are enhanced here. Could be one of them."

Idaho looked around and spoke what was on all of their minds. "Shit."

Bobbi stumbled when the earthquake hit, nearly sending her out from behind the corner she was using as cover. The crack of gunfire outside ceased for a second, leaving only the sound of trembling walls in its wake. A wail of pain broke the moment of silence, echoing down the hallway. An alarmed shout followed.

She rounded the corner, gun raised. Before her lay three bodies. Her gaze landed on Daisy first, the known threat. The woman convulsed on the ground, her lips moving in a silent plea, her eyelids fluttering. Bobbi could feel the waves grow stronger now. They were coming from Daisy.

Her gaze flickered over to the next two bodies. Two young adults, a man and a woman. The woman was partially collapsed on top of Daisy. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared into space in horror. The man tried to pull the woman into himself to comfort her, but she wouldn't budge.

He whispered to her in Sokovian, one language Bobbi didn't have much experience in, but she could guess the meaning from the gentle, worried affection in his tone as his voice echoed in the hall.

For once, Bobbi froze. Three enhanced were in the field. She had no intelligence on two of them, and the one she did have intel on was acting extremely out of character. There was no good way to approach this.

Heavy footsteps sounded from behind her. She looked back just in time to see Mike Peterson blow past her and rush to Daisy's side. He laid a hand on her. His eyes met Pietro's.

Bobbi reached for her escrima sticks, held in place behind her back. She began to move forward, ready to intervene.

She didn't have to.

Some sort of silent understanding passed between the two. Concern, she realized. Neither of them wanted to fight, they just wanted their family to be okay. In the midst of all the fighting and the chaos and the clear threat they posed to each other, they both had one goal.

Her pocket buzzed. She pulled out her phone and read the single text. A hiss escaped her lips. Bobbi made her decision. She ran around the corner, holding her hands above her head as both of their gazes snapped to her.

"I'm not Hydra! I'm Shield. And we need to get out of here. All of you," she said quickly.

The boy's glare sharpened, his grip tightening on the girl's arm. "Shield," he spat. "Leave before I have to hurt you."

"She's not gonna hurt you," Mike said as he pulled Skye, still convulsing, fully into his arms. "You wanna leave your sister here where Hydra will experiment on her before helping her? Or you wanna come with us and let us help?"

"Shield is the one who experiments, who manufactures weapons out of people like us," the boy said. "They are the ones who exploit us. Or did you forget about the Avengers?"

"And Hydra is the exact same," Mike growled. "Look at me? Hydra did this to me. And they'll do the same to you if you can't give them what they want anymore. There are more people like you and your sister out there. We can take you to them. They can help you better than Hydra ever could. Better than Shield too. They're a community, not an organization."

The boy glanced around as shouted orders echoed closer. Hydra was closing in. His gaze fell on his sister, then Skye. Bobbi saw the blame he tried to place on her for what happened slide away. The pain contorting her features made it hard to see her as the aggressor. He turned back to Mike and gave a fast nod. "If you betray us, I will kill you."

"Same here, now let's move." Mike stood up, cradling Skye in his arms. The boy followed suit with his sister.

Bobbi stepped up to the two, ignoring Mike's tense as she got closer. "I have a quinjet not far from here," she started.

Mike cut her off. "So do we. We'll take ours, thanks."

"No. You need to take mine. My bosses just ordered the nuclear option. They're going to shoot to kill. Using my quinjet will buy you some time before they realize who's in it."

He stared at her. The sound of footsteps grew louder. He nodded. "Fine. Hunter, Idaho, and Trip are holed up in the South guard tower. We need to get them out on our way. We'll pick up Carter at our Quinjet."

Bobbi slipped in front of the two to lead the way, nodding to Mike in acknowledgment. Both escrima sticks found their way into her hands.

They crept along in silence. The boy held the rear. Bobbi could feel the weight of his distrust on her back despite Mike's form as a barrier. She supposed it made sense. She looked like the people who hurt him more than Mike did. Yet, it further deepened the seed of doubt in her mind. People didn't trust Shield anymore. And the Shield she was trying desperately to build back up was only alienating people further. Even people who understood.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the boy, who had appeared at her elbow and begun speaking before she could even react. "Tell me where the Quinjet is. I can run my sister and the other injured woman there for safety."

Bobbi's heart pounded in her chest, but she didn't jump. Instead, she held up a hand to silence him. She rounded the corner and brought two sticks into the face of a Hydra soldier. He went down with a thud. She moved again before the other three in the tac team could react. One escrima stick found another nose, the next slammed into a kneecap. Both her targets went down. The final one managed to get a single shot off, the barrel of his gun aimed at the girl in the boy's arms. The bullet flew through the air and slammed into the back wall of the hallway.

The final Hydra soldier was the next to fly, his body shooting in the opposite direction of his bullet and slamming into the ground. Bobbi's gaze snapped around the room trying to pinpoint what happened. The boy reappeared by her arm once more, a cocky grin on his lips, and worry still shining in his eyes. "Too slow."

Agent Calderon stood behind the pilot of the Quinjet he had been assigned to. "If you see another Quinjet in the air that isn't one of ours, shoot it down."

"But sir, I thought our orders were to provide support and capture if possible?" the pilot asked.

"You saw Agent Morse's location. She followed them to a Hydra base."

"But the board-"

"Made a plan before we had confirmation that the rogue agents specifically sought out and made contact with Hydra enhanced. Our plans changed. You saw what Hydra enhanced did to the Academy. We won't let it happen again.

"Yes sir."

Trip tossed his gun into the small pile of firearms in the middle of the room resting on a pile of shattered glass. All of the windows had been shot out already. Bullets sailed aimlessly through the now gaping holes and slammed into the stone walls of the tower. The single door shook with the force of Hydra agents trying to push inside. Trip looked to either side of himself, where Hunter and Idaho were propped up against the wall next to him, half laying on the floor.

"Got anything?" he asked, despite knowing the answer.

"All out," Idaho replied grimly. He leaned back, the back of his head hitting the stone wall with a thud. "This is not how I was planning to die."

Trip glanced around with a shrug. "Eh. It's a Hydra base overseas. I could see this being my end."

Both looked to Hunter expectantly.

He looked back at them incredulously. "What? Me? Sorry mates, my plan involves not dying here, thank you. Liverpool plays Everton next week. I'm not missing that."

Idaho rolled his eyes. "Always football with you."

"Oh, what else do I have to-"

A high-pitched whistle cut Hunter's retort off. All three looked up to see what appeared to be some sort of high-tech arrow with a cord attached slammed into the wall above their heads. Three mechanical legs emerged from the sides of the arrow and jammed into the wall as well, further securing its hold.

"Huh. Bets on whether that's ours or not?" Idaho asked.

Trip shrugged, unbuckling his belt to use as a handle. "Only one way to find out. Gimme a lift."

Idaho and Hunter shifted to stand on either side of him and braced their hands in the center. Trip placed one foot on each hand. Idaho and Hunter counted to three, then lifted at once, boosting Trip up to the base of the zipline. He slipped his belt around it and lifted his legs up, sliding down the line, through the window of the tower, and out of sight.

Hunter and Idaho turned to each other.

"You're taller," Hunter pointed out.

"By half an inch!"

"Still taller. Go on, gimme a boost."

Idaho groaned, but knelt down and boosted Hunter up to the zipline. He disappeared out of the window after Trip.

With a few grumbles, Idaho grabbed a spare chair they were using to barricade the door and used it to boost himself up onto the zipline. He heard the door burst open just as he crossed the threshold of the window.

Sharon leaned against the side of her quinjet, phone pressed to her ear. The scepter was already safely stored inside.

"I can leave now, scepter in hand, and then we don't have to worry about whatever Daisy's intentions with giving it to you were," she said.

Maria sighed on the other end of the line. "As much as I like the idea, Daisy has connections to enhanced that we didn't even know existed. Her ex just nuked the Index full of the ones we did know. We need her to be our bridge. Let's not burn it."

"A bridge that we aren't even sure we trust? She's enhanced, Maria. I wouldn't put it past her to side with them instead of us. And they'll jump in front of a bullet for her. Peterson took off as soon as he realized she was in a fight."

"She's Shield. I can see it in the way she moves. Enhanced? Sure. But she'll always be an agent." Maria settled back with another soft sigh. "I don't trust her. But I know the Shield handbook inside and out. She's predictable, and that's almost as good as trustworthy."

Sharon ground her teeth and glanced at the Quinjet. The scepter was powerful. Powerful enough to scare the Avengers. Maria's laissez-faire attitude toward it didn't sit right. Now with this much power on the line.

She didn't have time to dwell on it further. From the South, she heard a crunch, then a crack. Then more. Whoever it was had abandoned all subtlety in favor of a full sprint. No. Not just someone. That was a group.

She retreated back onto the ramp of the quinjet and drew her gun, readying it in front of her.

"Carter! We've gotta move!" Mike shouted.

Sharon rounded the corner to find her team, the rogue Shield agents, Agent Bobbi Morse, and an unfamiliar boy carrying a girl in his arms. Then her gaze landed on Daisy in Mike's arms. The convulsions had long since stopped, but the waves of power rolling off her and the flickering of her eyelids told her the rest wasn't an easy one.

"What the hell happened out there, Peterson?"

"No time. We're taking Bobbi's quinjet. Come on."

She didn't push. Bobbi beckoned her up to the front, and she obliged after she grabbed the case containing the scepter. Together, they fell into an easy rhythm. Bobbi checked the angles Sharon couldn't, and Sharon returned the favor.

It didn't take long to reach the Quinjet, the increasing volume of shouts and vehicles crashing through trees behind them certainly helped their pace.

The boy was the first onto the Quinjet, carefully placing his sister into a seat and strapping her in. He took his place beside her, hand clutching her tight.

Mike hopped in next, sitting as far from the twins as possible and cradling Daisy protectively in his arms. Sharon followed him in, beelining for the pilot's chair. Trip took the co-pilot's seat. Idaho stood just behind his shoulder.

Which left Hunter and Bobbi standing outside the ramp of the Quinjet.

"You coming?" Hunter asked, though his focus remained on the tree line as the noise of their pursuers grew closer.

"No."

"I'll hold them off while you-" Hunter started, only to stop and stare at her in confusion. "Wait what? No?"

"No, I-"

"She wants you to come," said a watery feminine voice from behind them.

Bobbi looked back to find the boy's sister looking straight through her. Her eyes were wet, rimmed with red, but she spoke with conviction. "Bobbi Morse. Daisy wants you to come. She trusts you."

"Great! Cause there was no way in hell I was leaving you behind," Hunter said cheerily as he turned to swipe her leg and shove her back at the same time. She crashed onto her back inside the quinjet with a grunt. Hunter hopped inside after her and closed the ramp.

Gunfire flared to life outside the quinjet once the door shut.

"Strap in!" Sharon called from the pilot chair.

Hunter offered a hand to Bobbi. She glared at him, refusing to take his hand and pushing herself up on her own. She sat next to the twins. Hunter rolled his eyes but took a seat next to Daisy. Idaho planted himself beside Mike.

The plane shook as it lifted into the air. Bobbi could see the grimace on Sharon's lips and the intense concentration in Trip's brow. They were fighting against Skye's powers to get this bird in the air. And if it kept up, she doubted they would make it very far. Much less outrun Calderon.

"We need to wake Skye up. Shield's willing to shoot to kill, proof of powers will trigger it," Bobbi said.

"I've tried. Nothing gets through to her," Mike replied.

"What even happened?" Idaho asked.

The girl across from them winced and focused intently on her hands lying in her lap. "I wanted to know if she was telling the truth…"

The boy took one of her hands and whispered something to her in Sokovian. She simply shook her head and continued on.

"I looked through her memories… She saw everything I saw. It… It was terrible. And I could feel that I was not the first one to be there." She took a shuddering break. "This was my fault."

"You better figure out how to bloody fix it then! Or else we're gonna-"

"Hunter!" Mike snapped. He immediately lowered his voice again, noting the flinch in the twins across from him. "You saw Daisy's memories. You know she wouldn't blame you for this, kid."

"She thought I was him," she hissed, and Bobbi could practically hear the bile rising in her throat as she said it. Yet, Bobbi couldn't help the wave of relief wash over her. If Skye had been mind controlled, she could work with that. Everyone could work with that.

"Not to interrupt the party back there, but we've got incoming!" Trip called.

"Who?" Bobbi asked.

"Dunno! They made contact but as soon as Sharon responded they cut comms. Got Shield's logo on their wings though. Could be Hydra."

Bobbi hissed under her breath. Beside her, the twins held onto each other like a lifeline, their bodies closed off from the rest of the team. Mike worriedly watched Skye, an arm wrapping around her to squeeze each time she seemed to get agitated. Idaho watched Skye with worry as well. And Hunter… Well, Hunter was watching Bobbi with as much worry as the other two were watching Skye.

She stood. "It's not Hydra," she said as she crossed to stand behind Sharon's seat. "But it's not your Shield either. It's my Shield. The Real Shield."

"The what now?" Trip asked.

"Later, Triplett. Can you talk them down, Morse?" Sharon asked. "I don't like our odds against three of them."

"I'll try," Bobbi replied, grateful at least one agent here knew how to put aside their emotions for the sake of the mission. Hunter certainly didn't get the memo. She could feel his glare burning into her back. Sharon passed her the headset and she shoved it on.

"Quinjets closing in," Trip said, his eye on the radar. "Comm channel open."

Bobbi took a breath. Then spoke. "Calderon, it's Morse. I called for backup, not a strike team."

A beat passed. Then Calderon's voice sounded across the line. "Morse? Why is Sharon Carter piloting your plane? I was ready to shoot you out of the sky."

"It's… a long story. Skye went after Hydra, not to work for them but to take them down. She got two enhanced kids out that they were experimenting on."

"You made contact?"

"Yes, but-"

"We'll get you out of there. Hold tight, play along. Strap in." He cut the line.

Bobbi slammed her fist on the back of the pilot seat. "Dammit Calderon!"

"We've got hot weapons systems opening on us!" Trip shouted. "Got anything up your sleeve, Mike?"

"Nothing from this range…" he growled, looking out the back of the quinjet with his cybernetic eye, noting the quinjets following them.

"They're going for a disabling strike, not for the kill. Just let them take us in and we can talk this all out," Bobbi insisted, attempting to defuse the situation.

"Oh yeah, 'cause your Shield has proven to be good at talking. Considering none of us knew about it until you guys started trying to blow us out of the sky!" Hunter cried.

"We needed intel before we could act. That's what I've been doing in Coulson's Shield. But we just kept finding more secrets we need answers to before we know that Coulson can be worked with."

"He's the director of Shield! The man is gonna have secrets we don't know because we aren't the Director," Idaho said. "It's stupid to think otherwise."

Out of the corner of her eye, Bobbi saw the girl get her brother's attention. A moment of silent understanding passed between them. Bobbi blinked. Hunter was on the floor and the girl sat beside Daisy. She touched a finger to her temple.

Daisy woke. The shaking stopped. The twins and Hunter were thrown against the wall as the Quinjet rolled. Sharon righted it a moment later. "Sorry!"

"Take it easy," Mike began, going to squeeze Daisy comfortingly, but she shifted out from under his arm, shaking her head. He let his arm drop back to his side.

"Two missiles incoming!" Trip called.

"Open the ramp," Daisy commanded. Her voice did not waver. Instead, it sailed above the chaos. Cold. Detached. Calculating.

Sharon opened the ramp.

Daisy stepped up to the edge of it. For a single breath, Bobbi thought she might jump. Then the air in the distance began to ripple, the quinjet shaking slightly once again.

"Missiles locked on! We need to roll!"

Sharon glanced at Trip, then back at Daisy. She shook her head.

An explosion rocked the quinjet. Then a second. In the distance, two clouds of fire and smoke appeared in the air.

Daisy clenched her fists.

The three quinjets tailing them dropped from the sky. Bobbi palmed her gun.

"They're descending! Off radar now!"

Daisy opened her palms. Far below them, the three quinjets stabilized. Bobbi's grip eased. Sharon closed the ramp behind them as they shot away from the stalled quinjets.

Hunter picked himself up from the floor of the quinjet with a grunt. The boy went from prone to standing in the time it took to blink and offered a hand to his sister. No one spoke.

Daisy did not move from her position at the rear of the quinjet, her back to her team, her hands shaking at her sides.

Raina sat alone in the lodge, staring out the window. Daisy had told her to keep the lights off, in case anyone saw them and came by to see who was staying here. But she couldn't. She couldn't face the darkness alone. Every light she could find, she turned on. She would not sleep. Instead, she waited.

A soft pop and hiss broke her from her reverie. She turned around to find a man standing in the living room. A man with no eyes.

"I've been looking for you," he said, stepping closer to her. "Don't worry. You're safe now."

Her eyes widened and she tried to step back, only to be met with the wall of the lodge. "Please, don't. You don't want to do this. Just leave me a-"

They disappeared with another pop-hiss.

Chapter 22:

A fist flew at her nose, she spun away from it with a yelp, her hands flying to defend her face. Her arm obscured her line of sight so the next hit came as a bit of a shock as it slammed into her side. She wheezed, doubling over, but not before throwing a kick at her opponent's kneecaps.

He yelped and crumbled down to the mat beneath them. "Ow! Jemma!"

"Don't 'ow Jemma' me! You hit me way harder than you needed to! This is just sparring!"

"Oh come on! I barely touched you! You were the one who tried to break my knee!"

"Because you hit first!"

"Enough!" May roared. "Both are you are supposed to hit one another. Just because it is a spar does not mean he shouldn't do his best, Simmons. Sparring builds muscle memory. Do it right."

"Sorry, May," Jemma mumbled, looking down.

"Yeah. Sorry, May. We'll do better."

"Mhm! Like-" she tilted her head, pausing in her sentence. "Is that-"

"The Bifrost alert?" Fitz asked.

Simmons ran over to her bag at the edge of the sparring room and rifled through it until she retrieved her phone, swiping through it to stop the shrill alert. "Oh my goodness. Yes. It is. There's been an energy spike in Faro, Portugal that's consistent with past Bifrost entrances."

"We are going to have a chat about why you have an alert related to key Shield intel keyed to your personal phone," May said as she stalked over to the two. "But for now… get this to Coulson."

"Right away."

"Of course," Fitzsimmons chorused at the same time. The two scientists, now clad in basic field gear headed for the door.

"And Fitzsimmons?" May called after them. "Good job today."

When Raina woke, she couldn't tell if she was still in her dream. The face of the woman who once killed her, who would kill her, who would protect her above all else, appeared in her vision along with the man with no eyes who kidnapped her and a scruffy blonde man she recognized from Daisy's past-future.

She tried to sit up but realized she couldn't. Foreign pressure pushed against her muscles, keeping her in place. Needles, she realized. Needles that didn't hurt. In fact, the burning she had felt ever since transforming seemed to be gone. She wasn't in pain at all.

Jiaying stepped up to Raina's side to speak with her first. "It's alright. You're safe, Raina. But please stay still. Undergoing terrigenesis is quite a hard change on the body. Lincoln is in the process of helping you transition fully, but we'll need you to stay here until he's finished."

Raina glanced between Jiaying, Lincoln, and Gordon. She remembered now. She saw Gordon trying to help her, to make her happy. She saw Lincoln guiding Daisy through Afterlife.

"I imagine you have some questions. I would be more than happy to answer them for you," Jiaying offered.

"Where is Daisy?" Raina asked.

Jiaying and Gordon shared a look.

"Daisy? Is that the name of the person who transformed with you?"

"You don't know your own daughter's name?" Raina raised her eyebrow in faux shock. She wasn't entirely sure about Daisy's family dynamic, but it didn't seem likely that Jiaying knew about Daisy.

Jiaying stiffened before her. "How do you know about my daughter?"

Raina fought to keep the smirk from her lips. Now she had her attention, and more importantly, a bargaining chip. And yet, it wasn't the same as before. She used to pride herself on putting people at ease after gaining their interest. Jiaying only looked more wary. She fought the urge to claw at the spikes protruding from her face.

"She's the one who helped me transform. Now, I know where she's headed, and since she's airborne, I'm assuming Gordon can't reach her. If you let me go, I could bring you to her."

Jiaying and Gordon shared another look.

Finally, Jiaying spoke. "Very well. Once you finish your transition, Gordon will take you to wherever Daisy is headed."

With no promise of freedom, Raina noted sourly. "Now. I don't have time to finish. If Daisy tries to contact me and I'm-"

"Stopping before the transition is finished is dangerous," Lincoln said, stepping closer to Raina's side. "Your body will be confused and all the side effects you had from the transition would come back but a lot worse. Trust me."

Raina bared her teeth instinctively. Then flinched back. That primal reaction was not her own. She couldn't even control it. Shakily, she morphed her lips back into a neutral line. Her eyes fluttered closed as she focused on the pressure of the needles. Anything to avoid the fast thump of her heart in her chest and the constriction building in her throat.

Daisy was right. This was not her home. These people and their fear and their hate were not her family. And now, they were trying to keep her from the one she had almost given up in her search for the fairytale family of her grandmother's tales. Daisy, Mike, Ace.

She fought to slow her breathing and urged the transition to work faster.

Jiaying didn't say a word until she and Gordon were safely seated in her rooms. "Daisy is alive. My baby is out there…" she breathed.

Gordon placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "I'll find her. We'll get her home."

"But we're too late. I've missed so much of her life. I wasn't even there to help her transition. If she is even half as strong as Kora-"

"If she was and lost control, we would've heard about it," Gordon reassured. "But for now, we know she is alive and knows of her heritage. She will be alright."

Jiaying nodded, resting her hand on Gordon's. "You're right… I only wish the transition could be done faster." She let out a sigh, squeezing his hand.

"I can feel her. She's not flying anymore, I can get to her," Gordon offered.

"No, not yet. Wait for Raina to finish transitioning. If she and Daisy are close, perhaps she will be more amenable to going with you with Raina there," Jiaying said.

Gordon hummed. "And in the meantime?"

"Go find Cal. He deserves to be here when we bring her home."

Gordon nodded and stepped away, disappearing with a pop-hiss.

Daisy paused with her hand on the knob to the door. They made it to the lodge without trouble, but something was off. "Mike?'

"No one inside," Mike answered from behind her.

Her frown grew. Something shifted right as she reached the door. But if Raina had left, she would've felt her moving away. And this shift felt far. Powerful and far.

"Raina left?" Sharon asked, stepping up beside Daisy, though standing a few feet off to her side. Daisy couldn't blame her. She could feel her powers crashing against the world like waves, coinciding with the emotional turmoil from being dragged on a bad trip through her traumas. Anyone beside her likely felt the impact of those vibrations.

"Or was taken," Daisy sighed. No part of her was in the mood for this bullshit today. She just wanted to sit down with a carton of ice cream and watch crappy movies until her eyes hurt. One breath. Two. Her heart rate settled.

"I thought you were taking us somewhere safe," Pietro said accusingly. "Considering we can still hear your friends destroying Hydra's base, I don't think this is safe."

"We will. But we need to find Raina first. I promised to take her to the safe place too," Daisy said while opening the door for the team to file in.

Trip whistled as he entered the lodge, looking around at the paneled wood walls and mounted animal heads. "You really know how to pick a safehouse, girl. This ain't bad at all."

Idaho opened the drawers in the kitchen with raised brows. "I gotta agree. A whole set of silverware? I don't even think any of the spoons are missing."

"I don't remember this safehouse on any Shield listings," Bobbi said with a frown. "Our Sokovia safehouses are all located closer to the cities."

Sharon rolled her eyes from where she had posted up on the couch, keeping a watchful eye on Bobbi. "That's 'cause it's a rental." The unimpressed dryness in her tone did not go unnoticed. 'Some spy you are' practically hung in the air.

Hunter opened his mouth instinctively to defend Bobbi but snapped it shut before a single word escaped. He pushed his way past her and into the kitchen to help Idaho catalog what supplies they had.

The flash of hurt in Bobbi's eyes was hidden as quickly as it appeared, but Daisy knew Bobbi better than most. She saw it for what it was. And she recognized the guilt weighing her shoulders down from their usual pristine posture.

"Are you taking us to Afterlife?" Wanda asked quietly.

For a moment, it was Lincoln standing beside Wanda. Daisy blinked. He disappeared. Pietro stood in his place, watching her with wary concern.

She took a breath. "Yes. It's safe there. It's where people like us can live in peace."

Wanda tilted her head in confusion. "But… Your mother is the leader."

"Yes…" Daisy trailed off, unsure where this was headed.

Wanda bit her lip. In her moment of hesitation, Daisy's dread grew.

"Why is Daisy's mum being the leader of heaven an issue?" Hunter asked from the kitchen. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah, Fitzsimmons said you'd been looking for your parents ever since you joined Shield," Trip added. "It's good that you finally found them."

Wanda shook her head. Daisy closed her eyes, she knew what words were coming.

"Daisy… What's wrong with your mom?" Sharon asked gently.

Finally, Wanda answered for her. "Her mother tried to kill her."

Daisy's heart stilled. Goosebumps rose on her skin and ice ran through her blood. She could feel her mother's warm hands on either side of her face, cradling her as if she was the most precious thing in the universe. Cradling her as the life drained from her body. Cradling her as she looked at her with-

Something blasted through the vibrations around her. On instinct, she sucked in the vibrations around the offending object, pushing, pushing. It wasn't cracking. It fought back, shifting through the vibrations, finding the gaps between her molecules. Then a hand was on her shoulder with vibrations she recognized, and she came crashing back.

Pietro lay on the ground before her, his face contorted in a grimace of pain, parts of his body blurred from the effort of pushing his body fast enough to slip through Daisy's oppressive vibrations.

Red light spilled from Wanda's eyes and hands as she pushed a wave of energy against an invisible barrier before her.

Mike's hand squeezed her shoulder. His familiar vibrations grounded her, pulled her back. She sucked in a breath. The vibrations surrounding Pietro dropped. She breathed out.

Wanda's powers ebbed in an instant as she dropped to her brother's side, delicate hands roaming his body, searching for injuries. He groaned and rolled onto his back to give her better access.

Daisy's skin prickled with the sensation of a room full of eyes trained on her.

She fled.

Silence rang in the room as the door slammed shut behind Daisy, broken only by Wanda's hushed murmurs to Pietro.

Mike reacted first, kneeling down slowly beside the twins. Wanda's eyes snapped to his, and a red glow rose in them. Energy gathered in the palm of her hands. Mike held his own up in a gesture of peace.

"Let me help, kid. I know what Daisy's powers feel like firsthand," he said quietly.

"They hurt like a bitch," Pietro groaned.

Mike let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah. They kinda do." He watched as Wanda hesitantly released the gathering energy around her. "Let's see if we can get an ice bath going. It's gonna make you feel like shit at first, but it'll help in the long run." He offered a hand down to help him up.

Pietro glanced at Wanda. At her nod of permission, he took Mike's hand. Another groan slipped out as he was hoisted to his feet.

Once Pietro and Mike retreated up the stairs, the room burst into noise.

"What the hell was that?" Idaho shouted.

Sharon blew out an angry breath. "She could've killed that kid."

"I told you she was dangerous," Bobbi said. "If you had let us handle her-"

"She had a trauma response, Agent Morse, not a mental break," Trip snapped. "Girl just had her trauma thrown in her face because we didn't know when to stop pushing. She clearly didn't know what she was doing and regretted it when she did."

"She still tried to crush the kid!" Hunter shouted. "We've all got trauma, but you don't see us bringing down a bloody mountain with it!"

"Enough, Hunter!" Bobbi hissed. "Trip's right. That's what I was trying to say earlier. She's dangerous, which is why she has to be handled. At least until she recovers from whatever trauma makes her lose control."

Sharon leaned forward in her seat. "You want to give her the Black Widow treatment?"

Bobbi inclined her head.

"That requires her to work with Shield," Sharon pointed out.

"Which she was willing to do until we scared her off. Let me talk to her and-"

Trip cut her off before she could finish. "Hell no! You think we're letting you anywhere near her? After Real Shield was willing to blow us out of the sky to take her out? After you hunted her across the world?"

"She needs someone to talk to before she blows up again. I'm the best choice you have," Bobbi retorted.

Idaho sighed, rubbing his mouth. "She's got a point. The girl, sorry, what was your name?" He asked, looking over to Wanda, who up until now had gotten away with lurking in the corner unnoticed.

"Wanda Maximoff," she answered.

"Right. Wanda said Daisy wanted Bobbi here. That means she trusts her at least a little bit. Bobbi's the best we have at interrogation."

"This isn't an interrogation, though. It's a crisis intervention," Trip said.

"It still requires getting in her head and understanding her. The basic principles are the same."

"Yeah. Bobbi's good at that," Hunter grumbled under his breath.

Bobbi just rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna talk to her. Watch us from the window if that'd make you feel better, but don't interrupt."

With that, she stepped out the door. She shut it softly behind her and turned to face out across the hilltop. Light reflected off the not quite melted patches of snow on the ground interspersed with a bed of brown leaves. No chance of sneaking up on her, Bobbi noted idly. She looked around until her gaze locked on a figure sitting on a tree stump, shoulders hunched in, as if trying to make herself as small as possible.

Bobbi's boots crushed the leaves beneath her, and the soft crunching and crinkling broke through the less than serene thrum of gunfire in the distance. She sat down on the ground beside the log and leaned back, stretching out until her body was fully extended, draping one arm over her eyes to block the sun.

Daisy spoke first. "Are the others afraid of me?"

A sigh escaped Bobbi's lips. "Of your powers if you lose control again? Yes. But of you? I don't think so. They understand what happened. They're just… worried how easily it could happen again."

From the corner of her eye, partially blocked by her arm, she could see the muscles in Daisy's form tense as she tugged her knees tighter to her chest.

"And you?" Daisy asked quietly.

Bobbi pursed her lips, rolling the words in her mind, weighing her options. She settled on the truth. "I think you're dangerous. And I think anyone would be a fool not to be afraid of what you could do." She paused for a moment before continuing. "But I don't want my fear to blind me like it blinded Calderon. Or you."

Daisy sucked in a breath. "I'm not-... I wasn't controlled by my fear before. I thought I dealt with it. Thought I processed it and moved on and that nothing life could throw at me would be worse than what I lived through. I thought I was done."

Bobbi stayed silent as Daisy took a shuddering breath.

"When Wanda went into my mind… she wanted to understand me. She wanted to understand why I was helping her. I don't blame her for that. But to understand… she had to see what made me. And I watched it with her. I re-lived everything that I've been through."

In the distance, something exploded. Neither woman paid it any mind.

"And I think- I think I never dealt with it. I just shoved it away. Locked it in a little mine and let it fester and fuel me, just like my SO taught me. Wanda ripped it open… And I don't think I can put it back."

Bobbi hummed in understanding. "I don't think you should." When she caught Daisy's gaze snap to her out of the corner of her eye, she continued. "Your SO was right. Putting all of it away in a little box is what we have to do in the field. I've done it too. But you only have so many boxes, and each of them only holds so much."

Daisy let out a wet chuckle. "You know how you sit on a suitcase to try to smoosh everything in so you can zip it?"

Bobbi bit her lip to keep from laughing along with her. This wasn't the place for that. "Yeah. So TSA just opened it and everything spilled out."

"Pretty much…"

She patted the spot on the ground beside her. It took a moment, but then she felt Daisy's weight settle onto the ground next to her, leaves crinkling under her weight.

"I know you won't talk to me about it. I don't blame you for that. But Mike Peterson? You didn't attack him when he broke you out of your flashback. You trust him. Process with him," Bobbi said.

"I don't know how," Daisy whispered.

Bobbi smiled softly. "Sure you do. You just did. Weird suitcase metaphor and all."

Daisy jolted upright. Bobbi followed suit, immediately searching the area for what spooked her. Then she heard a soft pop-hiss behind them.

She let out a wet, incredulous laugh, flopping back down onto the ground and wiping angrily at the tears making their way down her face. Bobbi's heart sunk in her chest.

Chapter 23:

Cal had Daniel Whitehall dead to rights when Gordon took him away. In an instant, his hands went from around the man's neck to grasping nothing but air. He stumbled forward, a growl building in his throat.

He whirled around to face Gordon, readying a fist to throw his way, only to lower it as he took in the scene before him. Gordon lay still on the floor, and Grant Ward stood over him, shaking out his hand.

"Well that's new," Ward commented with a soft laugh. He spun around to look at the room they were in. Soft springy floors, rich wooden walls, and intricate textures on the wooden beams holding up the ceiling. And yet, no doorway. Just four red walls. With a sigh his gaze turned back down to Gordon on the floor.

He nudged the man with the toe of his boot. "Looks like Whitehall has a new experiment."

Cal shook his head and angrily tugged his jacket back into place from where it had slipped into disarray in the scuffle to get to Whitehall. "No. He's not one of Whitehalls."

"Hang on, you know this guy?" Ward asked, turning to him in surprise.

"Welcome to Afterlife," Cal said, spinning around with his arms outstretched in a grand show. "Where they kidnap you off the street and lock you up like some animal even when your wife is one of their Elders!" he finished in a fury, kicking at the air.

Ward took a breath, considering the man before him. "Okay, getting angry isn't going to help us get out of here." He thought back and pulled a phrase he'd heard Cal muttering to himself before. "Let's all just keep our heads about us. We need a plan."

Cal took a breath, running a hand through his hair. "Yes. You're right. We need to stay calm… Stay cool… But there is no plan. Gordon is the only one who can enter or leave this room."

Two pairs of eyes flicked down to the unconscious man on the floor.

"Great. We do this the old fashioned way then," Ward said as he heaved Gordon up off the floor and set him up against the wall. From his boot, he pulled a knife.

"I thought we were keeping our cool," Cal said accusingly from behind him.

"I am cool," Ward said lightly as he traced the blade along Gordon's cheek. "These are just standard interrogation techniques. Purely logical, I promise."

Cal let out a humph but didn't interrupt.

Gordon woke with a start as the blade pricked through the first layer of skin on his cheek, a bubble of red welling up from below.

"Welcome back, Gordon," Ward said with a predatory grin. "I think you're going to take us to Daisy."

Daisy lazily rolled her head over on the coarse grass to bring Gordon, her father, and Ward into view. She didn't even bother to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Let them see her cry. Let them finally see the pain she kept buried to avoid being a problem. Let them see.

And yet, her tears burned as she realized how this came to be. Gordon with thin criss crossing slashes across his face. The knife in Ward's hand dripping with blood. The manic, obsessed look in her father's eyes.

Bobbi sat up first, shifting herself in front of Daisy.

"Ward."

"Morse. Gotta say, didn't expect to see you here," Ward said.

"And I thought you were off to kill Whitehall," she replied.

Cal stepped forward, his hands shaking. "We were. We would have," he growled, "if someone didn't decide to interfere."

Bobbi's gaze darted to Gordon, realization dawning in her eyes.

"We almost had him. He almost made sure he could never hurt our family again, Daisy. Never again." Cal took another step forward. Bobbi and Daisy both tensed. His foot stopped in mid hair. Slowly, it returned to root him to the spot. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let's start over. Yes. That's what we should do…" He took a shuddering breath. "Daisy, I'm your father."

Daisy placed a warm hand on Bobbi's shoulder to cut her off, her bristling wasn't subtle. Not to a person who could feel vibrations, anyway.

"I know," she said softly.

Cal froze. "You- You know? How- I mean- That's great! But how? Was it Shield? What did they tell you? I promise it's not true. You can't trust them."

She gathered her feet under her to stand. Bobbi tapped four times on her thigh. An old Shield signal for backup. Daisy shook her head in response and gave a comforting squeeze of her shoulder before letting go.

She crossed the gap separating the two parties. Her father's heart pounded against his chest. She could feel each nervous beat. She offered him a watery smile. Then her arms were around him, squeezing, holding him as close as she could.

Cal's form went rigid. His arms rested stiffly at his sides.

"It's okay," she murmured into his shoulder.

His arms crashed around her, squeezing her just as tight. Both felt warm tears soak through their shirts.

"Why are you crying? Did they hurt you? Are you hurt? What do I-" Cal rambled, pulling back first so he could look Daisy up and down.

"I'm fine, Cal. It's just… been a day," she reassured him quickly, eyeing the fists his fingers were beginning to clench into.

Ward laughed. "Yeah, the explosions told us that. Decided to go after Strucker?"

Both Bobbi and Daisy turned to fix him with a glare.

"Shut up, Ward," Bobbi snapped.

Ward held up the hand holding the knife in mock apology. "Was just wondering. I could've helped, you know. I wasn't lying when I said I would help you, Daisy."

Daisy held up a hand, not even dignifying that with a response. Instead, she turned to Gordon. "You okay, Gordon?"

He tilted his head curiously. As much as he could while Ward gripped the collar of his shirt, anyway. "You know me?"

"Yeah it's… a long story. One that I'm only going to tell once. Did you take Raina to my mom?"

Gordon inclined his head in answer.

A groan slipped out of Daisy's lips unbidden. She angrily wiped the tears from her face. "Fine. I guess we're going to Afterlife. But we've got too many people to teleport."

Ward raised his eyebrows, "who'd you manage to convince to go on this suicide mission with you?"

Everyone crammed into Maria Hill's quinjet. This time, Daisy didn't insist on flying. As much as she disliked giving Sharon Afterlife's location, a location that would definitely find its way back to Maria, she knew better than to leave the powder keg of individuals gathered for this mission alone. They were all here because of her, after all.

So Sharon sat in the pilot chair, she was the least involved in the drama and seemed happy enough to escape the tension. Ward insisted on sitting in the cockpit as well. Another decision Daisy disliked, but disliked the idea of having him hovering over her shoulder in the main bay even more.

That left Hunter, Idaho, Trip, and the twins sitting together on one side of the main bay. On the other sat Bobbi, Daisy, Mike, Cal, and Gordon. Silence stretched in the small space. Hunter and Bobbi refused to make eye contact. Mike sat stiff as a board between Daisy and Cal.

Daisy broke the silence first. "I'm sorry Pietro. I lost control… I haven't had that happen in- Well nevermind. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry." She let out a breath.

With a good natured shrug, Pietro brushed off the apology. "It is fine. I have had worse. Though we must fight for real one day. I need to learn how to beat you."

She didn't expect that. She didn't expect forgiveness to be given so easily. Not from someone she hurt with her powers. Not from someone she barely knew. Not from someone she broke a promise to protect. She glanced at Wanda and tilted her head in question. Wanda's gaze burned with regret, and her slow, guilty nod told Daisy everything. Wanda knew. If anyone could understand, and if anyone could help the others understand, it would be her. Of course she talked to her brother.

For a moment, it seemed as if the world let Daisy take a breath. She smiled. "Deal."

Everyone made it off the plane in one piece, which Daisy counted as a win. There was only one incident. Ward, and of course it was Ward, picked up on the divide in the agents present and slit open the barely covered wound. Bobbi and Hunter were at each other's throats in moments.

Just as Daisy began to think about forcibly breaking up the impending fight, Sharon took over. A well placed comment about how technically all of them were traitors and going against Shield successfully shut the argument down. With the added side effect of making every Shield agent sulk as they stepped off of the quinjet.

Cal stepped out first. Their insurance to not be shot down on sight. Ward followed after with Gordon at gunpoint, their second insurance. Trip followed Ward closely, his hand resting on the cool handle of his pistol. He hadn't said a word about it yet, but he would in private.

Daisy intercepted the rest of her crew as they moved to step out of the plane, stopping Mike with a gentle hand on his chest. She shook her head.

"Daisy…" he spoke lowly. "I thought we agreed-'

"I know. I'm taking Bobbi with me," Daisy responded quickly. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Bobbi's head tilt slightly. She lowered her voice. "I need you here. No one can know about Afterlife. Not yet, anyway. Keep an eye on Sharon and make sure she doesn't send anything out. And if worst comes to worst… I need you keeping our exit open."

His eyes cut to Bobbi. Then found Daisy once more. "Okay. Fine. But Bobbi? She and Trip, they're the kind of people you warned me about. The scary guys in black suits. You're taking the epitome of Shield right to the doorstep of people like us."

Daisy rubbed her arms. She could feel Jiaying just outside the plane, her familiar yet foreign vibrations pressing against the edge of her consciousness.

"In Shield we had something called a 'Welcome Wagon'. Didn't work most of the time but the thought was to reach out first and make a good impression," Daisy explained. "Usually meant sending in the Coulson-type first followed by backup hidden nearby in case things went south. Bobbi's an interrogator, she knows how to work people. She's the best 'Welcome Wagon' we have."

"Even though she's textbook Shield?"

"Well it's either her or Hunter."

"I'd take Hunter."

"Hunter's as likely to make you laugh as he is to insult you. Not really ideal for diplomacy."

"Yeah? And if I saw Bobbi coming I'd be running for the hills."

She chuckled. "You haven't seen her undercover yet. But think of it this way. If I took Hunter, you'd have to babysit both her and Sharon."

With the scrunch of Mike's nose and slow slump of his shoulders, she had her answer. Loud laughter from Pietro, Hunter and Idaho cut across the soft murmur of Bobbi and Wanda's conversation. Mike tilted his head, but his eyes never left Daisy's.

Then he spoke. "You gonna be okay?"

For the first time in a while, Daisy didn't nod. She closed her eyes instead, sinking into the vibrations around her for the barest moment, letting the movement of Afterlife brush across her skin and lift the hairs on her arms. Her eyes opened.

"I don't know. But I'm gonna try. And if I need help, I've got my team," she nudged him lightly with her shoulder.

"Bring her home safe."

"I will."

With a final pat on Mike's shoulder, she turned toward the ramp. "Bobbi, Wanda, Pietro, you're with me. Time to meet the family."

Victoria Hand stared at the projected screen in front of her with a furrowed brow. Fitzsimmons stood to her left, watching as well. It was odd, having only two agents in mission command with her. Two junior agents at that. May was in the process of setting up training for operations agents, but since she insisted on personally training Fitzsimmons and was still needed as an active agent, progress was slow. Coulson's recruiting missions didn't seem to be gathering many recruits to fill the roles either.

So she had Fitz and Simmons. The scientists lending their expertise on Asgardians, breaking God knows how many protocols to do so. Melinda, the only other agent on base with experience dealing with Asgardians, was in the field. Once again, not an optimal choice, but one she had to deal with.

She eyed the screen displaying an agent's life bodycam footage as the team surrounded Lady Sif and a subdued Kree. The Kree man pointed to the hammer Sif had taken in their brief battle.

May's voice crackled over comms. "He wants to use his hammer to restore Sif's memory."

Hand glanced to Fitzsimmons with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh… well… The short answer is I dunno," Fitz shrugged.

Simmons rolled her eyes, "what he means is, we know Asgardian tech is wildly more advanced than our own. To the point that some people-"

"Idiots," Fitz mumbled.

"-think that it's magic," Simmons smoothly continued. "Considering what we know about the Kree and their history with Asgard, it's safe to assume their technology is on a similar level."

At this point, Fitz took over again. "So it could restore Sif's memory. Or it could just be a weapon. No way to tell really. Not unless we can get our hands on it…"

Hand sighed. "I need your expert advice, not your theories."

Fitz and Simmons looked at each other, some sort of silent conversation taking place between them. Hand was almost jealous of the ease with which they could communicate without words. A silly thing to be jealous of, overall, considering she was the one to throw a relationship like that away.

"Let him do it," Fitz said. And if Hand wasn't mistaken, there was a bit of steel hiding below his cardigan as he gave his final verdict. The corner of her lips twitched. May did her job well.

Chapter 24:

Before her stood her baby. And she was beautiful. She was everything Jaiying hoped she could be. Strong, confident, inhuman. Perfect. She was perfect. And she was home. A stolen breath. A moment to steel herself. Then a soft, hesitant smile. And a painful moment where no one moved. What if her baby rejected her? She wasn't sure she could-

Her racing thoughts faded to silence as Daisy crossed the space between them and pulled Jiaying into her arms. With the desperation of someone who had seen far too much and been alone far too long, Daisy clung to her. And Jaiying clung back because she knew that feeling, she knew that desperation, it was the same desperation that wrapped around her core for all these years. Her heart ached for her daughter who lived through the same.

"Hi mom," Daisy whispered.

Jaiying's heart shattered. "Daisy, my Daisy. You're home," she murmured, her voice wavering slightly with the effort of holding in tears. For years all she felt was the cold certainty that she would do whatever it took to protect her people. Duty numbed her heart. But now she felt. She felt it all.

"Yeah," Daisy laughed wetly, though Jiaying couldn't see the humor in it, "yeah, I'm home." Then she stepped away, and Jiaying reluctantly let her arms slide away. She watched longingly, and then with worry etched into the crevices of her face as Daisy changed before her eyes from her daughter to a leader. "Ward, let Gordon go."

Jiaying's eyes narrowed as she focused back on the task at hand, allowing duty to seize her heart again. She remembered the situation now.

A moment of hesitation. Daisy's cool, commanding gaze turned to a glare. Ward's eyes darted between Daisy and Jiaying. He let go. Gordon grunted and rubbed at his neck, his feet carrying him across to Jiaying's side.

With barely a glance, she and Gordon communicated enough to move on. For now. He was alright, after all, and there were bigger things to worry about. She turned her attention to her bumbling husband. "You kidnapped Gordon and returned with Shield, our greatest threat. Explain yourself before I have you locked away again for our people's safety." She paused, eyeing the tension in his shoulders and the slight bending of his knuckles, softly she added, "for Daisy's safety."

"I was just trying to get our daughter back. If we are blaming anyone here it should be you for giving up! And locking me away when I finally found a lead!" He fumed, fists clenching. "You have no right to-"

"Respectfully, Ma'am, we are not a threat to you," a young woman with blonde hair cut in, stepping between Jiaying and Cal before things could escalate.

Jiaying couldn't help her eyebrow from rising in disbelief. The very idea that Shield, or Hydra, though they were one and the same now, could be anything but a threat was laughable. She had half a mind to declare open war to get rid of the intruders before they had a chance to call for help.

"I know that you don't trust us. But we aren't here on Shield's orders. They don't know we're here."

Her eyebrow rose even higher, and her gaze pointedly found the SHIELD logo proudly emblazoned on the quinjet.

To her credit, the blonde woman didn't flinch at being caught. Jiaying gave her credit for that. "I'm Agent Bobbi Morse. That's Agent Triplett," Bobbi gestured to him. "We're only here because we chose to come and help your daughter. And now, we have two others who need help too."

Jiaying followed Bobbi's line of sight to the two young adults awkwardly standing at the back of the group. "Are they Inhumans?"

This time, Daisy answered. "Not exactly. But they have powers they need help controlling. And I knew if anyone could help them learn, it'd be you."

Jiaying's gaze flicked between Daisy and Cal. It didn't seem as though they had been together for very long. Cal's insistent lean toward Daisy and obsessive focus didn't go unnoticed. She doubted he had time to fully explain their situation to Daisy. And yet, Daisy seemed to know far more than she expected of her.

Finally, her gaze settled on the two young adults. She beckoned them forward, shifting down slightly to match their height. Not that they were short, but she was rather tall. "I'm Jiaying, one of the elders here at Afterlife. I would be honored to guide you in your respective journeys."

The boy's lips quirked in an amused smirk. And whatever, surely insulting, thing that was on the tip of his tongue, fell silent at a look from his sister. He let out a grumble, but the smirk fell away. "Pietro. And this is my sister Wanda. We were told you are safe?"

Her lips pursed. "Yes. Afterlife is a safe haven for all Inhumans. We have never hosted those with gifts from… unusual sources, but we are friends to all those who would be persecuted by corrupt governments."

Pietro nodded firmly as if Jiaying had passed some sort of test, while Wanda simply stared. A stare with surprising weight for one so young. She didn't say a word, but Jiaying could feel the questions in her gaze. And the blame lingering behind them. Blame that for some reason, Jiaying thought she just might deserve.

A shift in the atmosphere brought her out of her musing. Then Raina was pushing past her and into Daisy's outstretched arms. But Daisy wasn't looking at her. No, her reaction was pure instinct, her real focus lay somewhere past Jiaying's shoulder. Jiaying turned to look. And of all the people to put her daughter on her toes, she never thought it would be Lincoln.

It was like her daughter was frozen. Everything about her was still, but in her eyes, Jiaying could see emotions racing past, too fast to identify.

"Hey," Lincoln said awkwardly. "Sorry about-"

Wanda cut him off, her heavily accented voice surprisingly demanding for not being the one to introduce herself. "Lincoln," she didn't seem to care about his start of surprise, "I would like to speak with you. Come."

Even Pietro seemed confused, looking between the two with unbridled curiosity. He didn't question his sister, though, following after her as she grabbed Lincoln's arm and strode off into Afterlife. Lincoln, bless him, cast a befuddled look back at Jiaying, but let himself be taken along at her nod.

Daisy could feel them all looking at her, their stares burning with a hundred questions, none of which she could answer. Not now. Not after seeing him again. She thought she could handle it. She knew he would be here. She prepared herself, or so she thought. But truly seeing him again was far different than seeing him in her nightmares. Seeing him so healthy, so full of life, so… so free. And here she was again, ready to take it all away from him, ready to throw him into a world that would bring out the worst parts of him and laugh as he struggled to do right. To do good. And that choice, that decision to be good, took him away. He couldn't win in this world any more than Daisy could.

No.

Because Raina was in her arms, her warm, and frankly painfully spikey body pressed against hers. That didn't happen in her world. She made it happen here. She could change how the world treated Raina and Mike, she could change how it treated Lincoln too.

"I knew you would come," Raina said softly. "They know more than I'd like… I had to tell them about you to bargain my way out. If I had any other option I would-"

Daisy tightened her arms around Raina, ignoring how her spikes drew pinpricks of blood. "I know."

For a beat, the two women stood in a silent embrace, ignorant of the world around them. Raina was the first to speak again. "I saw what happened to Lincoln. It's not going to happen this time. It's… odd. But the transition did help. I can feel it now, if I try. The difference between what will happen for us and what has happened for you. It's different this time."

Breath escaped her lungs unbidden, and Daisy let her shoulders slump in relief. She knew Bobbi would have something to say about this, she always saw more than Daisy wanted her to, but right now she didn't really care.

"Mike is in the quinjet babysitting on Hill's plant," she murmured just loud enough for Raina to hear. "He'd like to see you."

Raina nodded and released Daisy with an apologetic wince. "I'm sorry. I… It doesn't burn now. I forgot what I've become…"

"Hey, no, don't go there. Don't apologize," Daisy said. "I needed that hug. And you can cash one in anytime. I heal fast. A little impromptu acupuncture won't hurt anyone."

There. That tiny little twitch of Raina's lips. She'd be alright. With a final nod and one last haughty glance around the rest of the hodgepodge group, Raina strode toward the quinjet.

"So…" Daisy rocked back on her heels awkwardly, clasping her hands behind her back and firmly pretending she did not almost break down in front of everyone. Again. "Can we stay?"

And it was ridiculous, really, how much she felt like a kid bringing home a stray cat and begging her parents to let her keep it. Except she was both the kid and the cat. And she actually didn't know what they felt like…

"Sir! I found something you may-..." Simmons trailed off as she ran into Coulson's office and realized he wasn't alone. Coulson and Hand both turned to her from where, if she had to guess, they had been arguing about something on the main screen that had quickly been covered.

May stepped in after her, followed by Fitz, and gave her a nudge. Simmons' flushed a bright scarlet and quickly corrected herself. "Director Coulson, Agent Hand, I have some intel you may want to see."

With a sigh and an exasperated look at May, met only with a stony gaze, Coulson gestured for Simmons to continue. Beside him, Vick gave Simmons an approving nod.

Simmons' gaze flicked between the two of them, returning Vick's nod and focusing back on Coulson. "Agent May took us in to speak with Lady Sif and Vin-Tak-"

"-interrogation training-" Fitz supplied.

"Right, yes, interrogation training. We learned that Vin-Tak is here for a group known as Inhumans. They were a group of humans who the Kree experimented on and turned into weapons. The experiment was considered a failure… but Vin-Tak got an alert that a Diviner-"

"-some sort of high-tech capsule for Terrigen Crystals-"

"-which are an impure replica of something called Primagen, some sort of fuel, though only high-ranking Kree really know the specifics-"

May cleared her throat.

"Oh- yes. Right," Simmons gestured to Fitz, who looked down at his tablet and sent an image of the Diviner to the screen to display. "This is what a Diviner looks like. When a Kree touches it, supposedly it begins to glow and calls the Kree toward a Kree city established on Earth. There it can be opened."

"Okay…" said Coulson, rubbing his chin. "And Vin-Tak wants to… what? Revive the experiment? Collect these Inhumans to use as weapons?"

Fitz shook his head. "No, no, no, no. He wants to destroy them. The experiment failed, the uh- Inhumans couldn't be controlled. Too dangerous too. Like the first version of the night-night gun. Lethal, unstable, but technically functioning? You wouldn't use that in the field."

"Exactly," Simmons continued, "but guess where the Kree city is?" She nodded at Fitz again, who sent a picture of San Juan up to the screen this time.

"San Juan?" Coulson asked. "You think Daisy is connected to all this?"

"We know she is, sir," Fitz said. "There was an earthquake in San Juan, where we knew Daisy was. There was an earthquake in Sokovia, smaller scale, same pattern."

Vick pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing. "You think Daisy is there?"

"Was," May corrected, striding to Coulson's desk and dropping a folder on its surface. "US military authorized a covert ops mission to a suspected Hydra base in Sokovia."

Coulson sat down to flip through the report. "They recorded the earthquake as well… and interrogation revealed a small team came in before the military got there. A robot man and a girl who could… make things shake."

Grimly, Simmons nodded. "We think Daisy is enhanced. Either the Diviner triggered her powers or she used her powers to open it somehow."

"Where is she now?" Vick asked.

"Not sure," Fitz was the one to answer this time, "but I'm working on a program to identify the pattern in both of the earthquakes. Next time Skye uses her powers… we'll know where she is."

It was an awkward affair. Sure, her parents didn't mean it that way, but the silence was stretching on way too long, and Daisy had need been good with the quiet. "Okay, go on. Ask whatever it is you wanna ask."

Her mother put down her fork and leaned over her food. "How do you know so much about us? About Inhumans?"

"Jiaying!" Cal hissed, his own fork paused in the air, halfway to his mouth. "Can we not enjoy one meal together as a family? Please? Questions can wait. For now, we should just enjoy being together."

"It's okay, Dad. You guys should know…" Daisy sighed, debating how best to broach the subject. She still hesitated slightly. Jiaying was… hard to read. If this was her mom, Daisy wouldn't reveal a word of time travel. But after meeting a Jiaying in the 80s… After seeing the love she had for a daughter she never even knew… Maybe this Jiaying wouldn't care only for the time travel.

After a moment, Daisy spoke. "I've known who I am for the past, I dunno, seven five years I guess?" And it was heavy on the guess part. With time travel involved, both this incident and the Chronicom chronicles, time tended to matter less. She held up a hand to stop Cal from speaking as his mouth opened. "As for why I didn't seek you out, I've not exactly been here for all of those years."

Jiaying's brows furrowed as she worked through the information, sifting through what went unsaid.

"For the past seven years, I have been an Agent of Shield in an alternate timeline."

A beat passed in silence. Two pairs of eyes stared at her. One set considering, the other widening, narrowing, and widening again. Three, two, one-

Cal's fork clattered down onto his place. "What?"

"I know, it sounds crazy-"

"No," Jaiying said softly. "It doesn't. I believe you. Is that your gift? To travel through time?"

"Uhhh no. I have no idea how I ended up here," Daisy replied.

A chair clattered to the ground. Cal rose to his feet, eyes darkening.

"Dad… What are you doing?"

He stalked closer to her, growling, "what did you do to my daughter?"

"Cal!" Jiaying hissed, standing up from the head of the table.

"I didn't do anything to your Daisy. I'm not sure what happened to her, but I woke up in her body. I'm sure she swapped with me and my team is-"

Cal surged forward, wrapping his hands around Daisy's neck. "You killed her! You took her from me! You thought-" he gulped in an angry breath of air "-you thought you could trick me. You thought you could steal her from me again and I wouldn't know!"

"Don't," Daisy warned. When his thumbs began to press further against her windpipe, Daisy's eyes narrowed but she forced her body to relax. She shifted her tone from a warning to a calm promise. "Cal, I don't want to hurt you. Let. Me. Go." Her gaze flicked to Jiaying, slowly approaching Cal from behind.

"Hurt me? I think Shield has hurt me enough," he spat. "Stealing my daughter from me, twice! And then impersonating her!" His thumbs pressed further.

Choking gasps escaped Daisy's lips, much as she tried to stop them. Jiaying drew closer. She couldn't let Jiaying get to him. Her hands slipped up onto Cal's chest and pushed. For a moment, everything was still. Then the very air around them shimmered, Cal's body launching backward. With a thud, it hit the opposite wall.

"Gordon!" Jiaying called as she rushed to Daisy's side.

With a pop-hiss, he appeared. It only took Jiaying pointing to Cal, slowly struggling to his feet, for Gordon to understand. A flash of blue. A pop-hiss. Jiaying and Daisy stood alone.

Daisy gulped in lungfuls of air, slightly bent over and resting her hands on her hips. Jiaying's warm hand rested on her back. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Jiaying murmured. "He shouldn't have touched you. You may not be the Daisy from this timeline, but you're still ours."

A shuddering breath escaped Daisy's lips. Then the tension was leaking out of her frame. "Thank you. I'm… I'm glad I got to see you again. But that's not the only reason I'm here."

"What do you need?"

"I'm trying to go home. And to do that… I think I need Kora."

Jiaying's face turned to stone.

Chapter 25:

Victoria Hand drummed her fingers in a rhythmic pattern on Coulson's desk. He was out, again, doing who knows what. Which, unfortunately, proved a rather unfortunate point Izzy kept trying to make. Coulson shouldn't lead Shield. That, Vick could agree with, but something about Izzy's insistence felt… off. She might read the woman as efficiently as she used to, but she still knew when Izzy felt uncomfortable with something. And pushing Vick to take over from Coulson? Izzy was most definitely uncomfortable with that. So why did she want to push the subject?

She could practically feel Shield fracturing by the day. Coulson's gang of vigilantes would never fully switch their loyalty to Shield the organization over Coulson. Izzy and Mack kept snooping and prodding. She couldn't pinpoint exactly where their loyalties lie, but they certainly didn't lie with Coulson. Then the matter of Morse, Hunter, and Idaho. Two good agents and a decent enough mercenary vanishing from service overnight. Most likely chasing after Skye.

She plucked the office phone from the receiver on the first ring. "Hand."

"We've got confirmation on Daisy's location," May said from the other end of the line.

"Good. The sooner we end this game of cat and mouse, the better. Pull a team, meet me in the office for briefing," said Vick.

"Already have one assembled." A pause. "I have Fitzsimmons on it as well."

Vick pursed her lips. Fitzsimmons… those two scientists didn't need to be anywhere near an op right now. But they were progressing well in their training if May's reports were correct, and they knew Daisy. Oh. Now she saw May's angle. Fitzsimmons, though not trained for combat, could serve as useful bait. Daisy might just let her guard down if they were the first ones she saw.

"Fine. Bring the Kree and Lady Sif as well."

Daisy had intended to go straight back to the quinjet after the disastrous family dinner to fill Mike and Raina in when Bobbi appeared beside her. Not that she surprised her. The list of people who could sneak up on Daisy post-terrigenesis was small. It shrunk further once she dosed herself with the serum. Really, only May could do it consistently. But even then, she could only manage it when Daisy focused on something else.

"Hey… How'd it go?" Bobbi asked gently. Her gaze flicked down to the bruises around Daisy's neck, then back up to her eyes.

Daisy sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Honestly? Not great."

"Mmm… not a happy reunion then?"

"You could say that," Daisy replied. She looked up at the sky as they walked. It was… disconcerting to not feel anything above her here. It left her exposed. "If I keep trying to avoid the real question are you gonna keep trying to manipulate it out of me?"

"Probably," Bobbi admitted. "But, if you tell me to walk away, I'll walk."

They walked together in silence as Daisy thought it over. At this point… everyone except Shield knew where she came from. Which was by design. But now she needed to reconsider. She didn't want to make an enemy of Shield, they were her first family after all. With only one known option to get home, with a very low success rate, she might stay longer than anticipated. Which meant she needed Shield as an ally, not an enemy.

"Cool. Yeah… so I'm Daisy Johnson but Daisy Johnson from seven-ish years in the future and also a different timeline. And the only way to get back to my timeline that I know of is through my sister who is," she took a shuddering breath, "dead."

Bobbi's lips formed a perfect, soft 'O' shape and let out a carefully timed hum of sympathy.

"Don't do that," Daisy grumbled.

"Do what?"

"That! That whole psychoanalyzing thing you do where you do the perfect responses to manipulate me into feeling a certain way. I know you. We were friends in my timeline. Kicked ass together on missions. I know when you're doing your bit."

Just like that, Bobbi's facade dropped, her expression shaping into something far more considering. "Alright. You want to know what I'm thinking?" At Daisy's nod, she continued. "I'm thinking how outlandish time travel sounds-" she held up a hand to stop Daisy's interjection, "-but I also recognize that we deal with a lot of weird shit so who's to say time travel doesn't exist. I'm also thinking that you were an Agent of Shield for those seven years, and things seem to have played out relatively similarly for you to be able to act on as much knowledge as you have. So I presume you know all about my Shield as well."

Once again, Daisy nodded.

"But you haven't tried to destroy us, yet. Which means we either find some way to resolve this peacefully or Coulson wins. Fine. I can live with that. But what I don't understand is why you waited so long to tell anyone. If anyone could understand, it would be Shield. And Coulson's team was like your family," Bobbi stated, then thought for a moment. "It just doesn't make sense. Unless something happened in the future…"

"Yeah… Something happened alright…" Daisy's boot scuffed the dirt, hands firmly curling in her pockets. "Gonzalez wanted to lock me up. Me and all the other Inhumans. We're a threat he doesn't understand and can't control, so we can't be allowed to run free, so only Shield could use us."

She relaxed her fingers, her gaze finding a distant mountain. The one she tried her powers on with intention for the first time.

"Fury took the Tesseract. Kept it locked up. Studied it. He was afraid of what it could do in the hands of anyone else, but also knew how powerful it could be. He had scientists working to turn it into a weapon for Shield."

Now the hard part. She swallowed thickly. Warm fingers crept onto her shoulder and stayed there, a silent source of strength. Daisy cast Bobbi a grateful look before continuing. "Coulson… Coulson kept me close. He was afraid of what I could do too, I think. Though he never said it. He kept the monoliths. He kept the gravitonium. He kept it all close and hidden, just like Fury. And just like Fury, he knew that they could be weapons for Shield, whether he wanted to think of them that way or not."

A breath. "Take all of that, and now apply it to me. I'm a time traveler from the future with inhuman gifts. What would they do with me, Bobbi? You think they'd let me explain? You think they'd let me work with them to make a better future for everyone based on what I know?" A pause. "What would you do with me?"

For a moment, Bobbi didn't say a word. Daisy didn't need her to. They both knew what the answer was. Shield would use Daisy to make a future better for themselves. And Bobbi was a Shield agent.

"As an agent, I would contain you until I had your full psychological workup in my hands. Even then, I would track you and develop countermeasures in case you deviate from your predicted path." Daisy expected her to stop there. But Bobbi continued, and the next words out of her mouth did surprise her. "But I doubt I'll be a Shield agent much longer, so who's to say that's what I'd do."

"You're quitting?"

With an all too casual shrug of her shoulder, Bobbi brushed off the heavy implications of quitting Shield. "You've seen the future, you want to fix it. And it sounds like… Shield doesn't really get better, does it?"

Daisy could only shrug in return, her gaze fixed on the mountain in the distance. Not looking at Bobbi. Not right now. "No, it doesn't. Gonzalez's Real Shield gets absorbed by Coulson. Nothing really changes. Too many of Shield's awful practices remain. It-" She knew hiding the hurt was futile but… they'd both pretend the other didn't see. She swallowed thickly. "It was my first home. I overlooked a lot of its problems because of it. But they're there. And they never get better. Now, when I look at Shield and Hydra… They don't look so different."

"I know. I think we all knew, to some extent. That's why I joined Gonzalez in the first place. To change Shield for the better. I know Coulson said he wanted to do the same, but respectfully? I think you're making a hell of a lot more change than either of them with a lot fewer resources."

Now, Daisy looked to Bobbi, raising an eyebrow. "How do you know I didn't plan to retire after all this and become a waitress? There's this cute little diner in downtown LA. Granted, inadvertently getting Mike outed there and sort of kidnapped by Ward puts a bit of damper on it…"

That got a laugh. A bright incredulous laugh Bobbi only gave to those she trusted. Full of life and a touch of biting sarcasm. Not even Bobbi's doubtful, "sure, babe, sure," could touch Daisy's grin.

They were nervous. May could see it from a mile away. She trained them well, they at least attempted to stall their legs from bouncing, but it was because she trained them that she could see the nervous tells they still had left. The way their eyes kept darting about the quinjet, flicking from May to Sif to Vin-Tak, then back to each other. The way their hands tried to find any excuse to brush against each other for reassurance.

"You'll be fine," said May, full of motherly exasperation.

Fitzsimmons' gaze snapped to her guiltily. Fitz spoke first, "we know that. Daisy wouldn't hurt us and besides-" now Simmons took over for him "-we have training now so we know what to do. It's our first mission. We're not nervous… more… excited!"

A knowing look from May quelled Simmons' false enthusiasm.

Simmons let out a burst of air. "I'm sorry. You're right… I'm nervous. I just can't stop thinking-"

"-what if Daisy doesn't want to come with us?" Fitz took over, "I don't think-"

"-we can hurt her! I know she's acting strange but she saved us from Hydra! That-"

"-has to count for something. She has to still care about us."

Vin-Tak interrupted them. "She's a weapon. A dangerous one that needs to be dealt with. You will do what is necessary."

"No," May spoke, sitting up straight, gaze hard. An air of finality surrounded her. "Field agents make the hard calls. We're trained for it. We know our role. But when we work in a team, that call falls on your team leader. It falls on me." She made eye contact with Vin-Tak. "I make the calls. If she resists, I decide how we bring her in. Is that clear?"

Vin-Tak's lip curled in a sneer, his shoulders stiffened along with his jaw. For a moment, May thought she might have to prove her authority. But no. Lady Sif gazed at her with a new level of respect. She was the one to place a strong hand on Vin-Tak's shoulder, May saw him twitch as she squeezed with more force than was necessary.

"We will follow your lead, Agent May," she said evenly.

She simply nodded in return. He did not deserve a thank you for obeying her command. No, that would only weaken his respect. She simply let him know his obedience was expected, the bare minimum requirement, and his following meant nothing beyond that.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Fitzsimmons relax ever so slightly.

She found Lincoln sitting in the grass with a Maximoff on either side, surrounded by medical textbooks. Surprisingly, both Wand and Pietro held a textbook in their laps as well, studying them with intention. For a brief moment, she watched them silently from a distance. It hurt. Seeing them here, all alive. All… happy. Granted, she wasn't close with the Maximoffs, but she heard what happened to Pietro, and she knew how much Thanos took from Wanda.

Interrupting was the hardest part.

Finally, she forced herself to move. Space closed. Her gaze traced Lincoln's features. Along his jaw, his nose, his hair. Everything about him was exactly as it was before. And oh so alive.

"Hey."

He looked up from his book. "Oh, hey. Daisy, right?"

"That's me," she forced a weak smile. "Whatcha guys doin' over here?"

"Lincoln is teaching us of your First Responders. It is fascinating. In Sokovia, we had firefighters and doctors, but no one was afraid to call them," Pietro said.

"Afraid to call them?" Daisy asked, glancing between Lincoln and Pietro. Of all the things they were studying, she didn't imagine EMTs and firefighters.

Wanda nodded sagely. "Debt."

"Ohhhhhh. Yeah. Makes sense."

"Yes. Which is why I will become a free first responder," Pietro stated. "I am faster than they can be. Lincoln has agreed to teach me medical skills so I can stabilize patients. And he says women like doctors."

Daisy couldn't help but chuckle at his wink. "Uhuh. He's not wrong. I was into the whole doctor thing for a while."

"Ah, perfect. You have one right here," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Wanda made eye contact with Daisy, head shaking in shared exasperation. "That was past tense, Pietro."

He made an affronted click in the back of his throat. "You are supposed to be my wing-woman! What is this betrayal?"

Daisy fondly shook her head. Catching Lincoln's eye, she motioned for him to step aside with her while the twins bickered. When they were out of earshot she spoke again. "My sister, Kora, I want to visit her."

"Oh," His expression turned grim. "Kora… Um… Yeah. Why don't I go ask Jiaying first? Kora's history here isn't-"

"I know," she murmured. "I know. I don't want Jiaying to have to see this." And truly, she didn't. She understood her mom better now, after meeting her in the 80s. Forcing her to see both daughters she failed reconnecting felt… it felt like too much. Her mom wasn't perfect, but she didn't deserve that heartbreak.

Daisy saw the moment understanding dawned in his eyes. Even after all these years, she knew how to read him. "Alright. Come with me."

Chapter 26:

It was fitting, she supposed. A small grave, barely marked among the rolling hills, surrounded by daisies. Just far enough outside of the village for no one to make it in time to stop her. Peaceful. Quiet. Kora's perfect place.

For an aching moment, all Daisy could do was stare. With Lincoln at her shoulder, the heavy weight of her losses pressed down on her. She sank to her knees, pressing them into the soft grass of the hill, letting the earth hold her up, letting it bear the aching load for once. She wondered if Kora adopted the same pose. If her sister carried the same weight, yearning to let the earth take it from her, to let it hold the world for a while.

"How much did Jiaying tell you about her?" Daisy asked quietly.

A pause. Lincoln's shadow fell across her face, and she felt his familiar crackling vibrations settle beside her. "Not much," he sighed. "Most of what I know came from other elders. Jiaying's always been pretty tight-lipped about it. Can't really blame her."

"Yeah…" Daisy plucked a daisy from the ground, twirling the flimsy green stem between her fingers. "She was so… serious. That's what struck me the first time we met." A wet laugh escaped her lips. "God knows I'm not. I think she would've hated me if we grew up together. I was a brat."

If Lincoln was confused, he didn't voice it. He was good at that.

"I think she would've made a great older sister though… I wish she had the chance. Now I'm the older one and I can't help but feel like I'm screwing her up." She fiddled with the stem until it formed a small knot, brushing against the petals of the flower.

"I'm just… standing by and letting everything that screwed me up do the same thing to her. But I don't know anything else." She paused. "I- I didn't know anything else. But… I'm learning now. This world, the people I've managed to save here, they've taught me something I never had a chance to learn before. And now I have a choice to make."

Quietly, Lincoln asked, "what choice?"

"Should I stay? Or should I go?" Daisy's lips quirked into a wry smile. Lincoln blinked. "Kora would've gotten it. She wouldn't have laughed but she would've gotten it… Whatever."

She took a breath and brushed off her hands, letting the daisy fall back down to the earth.

"I can feel her here. She's gone but she contains so much energy even now… I can feel it thrumming in her bones. I think the combination of our powers is what sent me here. And if I connect with her again, I may be able to go home."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Lincoln sputtered. "Go home? What are you talking about? This is your home. You've got people here who care about you. Just let us help you and we can-"

Daisy cut him off with a soft snort. "I'm not going to kill myself, Lincoln. I mean legitimately go home, I-" Her mouth snapped shut. She could feel something coming. Her gaze snapped to a point on the horizon. "I'll tell you later. You should go back to Afterlife."

"I really don't think I should leave you alone right now."

"I'm not- Lincoln, please. Let me have this." Tears brimmed in the corner of her eyes. Strategic tears, of course. He wavered. "If I'm not back in an hour, come check on me if that makes you feel better. But I just… I need a moment with her right now. Alone."

Silence stretched between them. Daisy did nothing to stop it. She simply watched. Waited. Finally, Lincoln nodded.

"Okay. Yeah… Okay. If you need anything, just ask. Gordon can come help. Or I can, if you prefer. Just… let me know."

"Will do."

May narrowed her eyes as she gazed down at the scene below her. She saw the two kneeling on the hill on their initial approach. But now, one turned, walking to what looked like a small settlement in the distance. The other… The other stood and stared directly at the quinjet.

"We're spotted," May announced.

"What? How?" Simmons asked from behind. "That shouldn't be possible, we're cloaked."

"Unless they have some sort of radar…" Fitz trailed off, then shook his head. "Even then, our systems alert us if we've been picked up on any radar technology."

Lady Sif unbuckled from her seat and crossed to stand behind May. A tense arm rested on the back of her chair. "Ignore her. We came here for the inhuman. The sooner we get her, the sooner this can all be done with."

From the back, Vin-Tak voiced his agreement.

The quinjet grew closer. May pursed her lips. That stance. "That's her." She watched as Daisy's hands opened. "Strap in."

Fingernails pressed into palms, leaving red semi-circles in their wake.

Breath in. Breath out.

Lincoln crested the hill, disappearing over the other side.

The quinjet dropped.

Daisy opened her palms just in time to catch the plane with a cushion of vibrations and force it gently to the ground. She held on for a beat. Waiting. She couldn't see into the cockpit, but she could feel May inside. The quinjet's engines powered down. Daisy released her hold.

She felt Fitzsimmons inside. An interesting choice. And two others she didn't recognize. Not a call Coulson would've made. He'd go with a small team, sure, but a team full of people she knew. People who could talk her down and bring her in peacefully. Two strangers… That was unlike him.

Realization struck her once the quinjet's ramp lowered. So stupid. So so so stupid of her to forget just who kept an eye on the Diviners. The one enemy she doubted she could talk down. Behind May's shoulder stood Vin-Tak with Lady Sif on his left. Fitzsimmons stood an awkward distance away to their right. Clearly uncertain.

"Long time no see," Daisy said, filling the awkward silence stretching between them.

Vin-Tak's weight shifted as if to step forward, stopped only by May's raised hand. "Daisy," she replied coolly.

Another beat. Daisy never had much of a tolerance for awkward silence. Strategic silence? Sure. Comedic silence? Always. Awkward?

"So…" she trailed off, rocking back and forth on her heels. Kora's power thrummed in the earth beneath her. "You're gonna let Vin-Tak kill me?"

Nothing in May's face shifted. But Fitz gripped Simmons' hand. That was enough. They were off-balance. Unsure how much she knew. And for Vin-Tak, unsure how powerful she was. She wore their questions like armor.

"Vin-Tak told us what Inhumans are. What you are."

Daisy inclined her head, accepting May's precisely placed accusation, but her mind raced to analyze her next move. If she didn't get Vin-Tak far away from here, and Lady Sif to a lesser extent, there would be a war again. Her mother, tolerant of Shield only because of Daisy's connections and her knowledge of their future, would not take the blatant show of Shield's cooperation with Kree lightly.

She needed to end this quickly.

Her chin rose, shoulders falling back. "He knows what I am. But not who." She paused. A breath to steel herself. "I am Quake, the Destroyer of Worlds."

Vin-Tak stiffened. Lady Sif's hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

"I won't downplay how dangerous I am. I think you've had enough of me trying to do that," she nodded toward May, "but I won't sit idly by and let myself be killed. Inhumans were a Kree experiment, that's true. Created to be weapons. But the Kree gave up. They left and abandoned their work. They have no claim to me anymore."

"You were a mistake," Vin-Tak spat. "We were supposed to destroy your kind before they left. Clearly, we didn't. And now I must clean up their mess."

"Why? Because you're afraid of us? Of our power? Afraid humans might use us as weapons in a war against you? Or are you afraid the Kree will come back to renew their experiments? Hate to break it to you, but regular humans have powers now too. They're just as dangerous as us. If you come after anyone enhanced, you'll have a war against all of humanity on your hands. Earth's mightiest heroes? The Avengers? Any alien action against them will be seen as a worldwide threat, no matter how discreet you try to make it."

She could see the horror dawning in Vin-Tak's eyes.

"Sif," the woman in question's head dipped forward in a bid for Daisy to continue, though her hand did not release the hilt of her sword, "you've worked with Thor, one of our Avengers. You know that we have some strong ass people on Midgard now. And you know how we use them. As defenders. Let Thor handle keeping an eye on our most powerful defenders. Trust that he will know if a group of enhanced want to start a war and that he'll stop them if they do."

"And you?" Sif asked. "What if you decide to start a war, Quake, Destroyer of Worlds?"

Daisy grinned, her gaze flicking over to May. "Then I expect May to hunt me down and kick my ass for being an idiot. You can join in too, if you'd like. But considering I'm the one trying to avoid war now…"

"How is May supposed to fight you if we don't even know what you can do?" Simmons blurted to Fitz under her breath. "Honestly, it just wouldn't be fair!"

"Yeah. And she's inhuman and May isn't so we'd need to make something to counter her. Just like with Dr. Banner," Fitz whispered back in response.

Oh. Oh, that hurt. She should've known. But she had thought. No. She had hoped. She had hoped by saving Fitz and Simmons from the ocean, by keeping Fitz's brain, his compassion, intact, and keeping Simmons away from Hydra… she hoped it would be enough to avoid this. To keep them as safe as they were when they were all fresh agents, living together on the Bus.

She knew better. She knew, somewhere deep down, she knew they would always grow into the Fitzsimmons of her time. She couldn't change that. But she should've seen it when they talked about Mike as if he were somehow lesser. Like he wasn't a person at all, only an object, an experiment to be observed and tossed aside when no longer of use. She shouldn't have let the realization hurt. The realization that they would never be safe for her once she changed.

May noticed the shift. Of course she did. And capitalized on it. "We can discuss this later. But you need to come with us, Daisy. It's the only way you can prove you aren't an enemy."

She wanted to scream. They knew, they knew she wasn't their enemy. She could see it in the way May even made this a choice for her, in the way Fitzsimmons could barely bring themselves to look at her. They knew.

But Daisy didn't scream. She didn't say a word. Her hands moved on their own accord, slowly lifting into the air until her palms were above her head. And waited.

May and Fitzsimmons moved forward. Together, and oh so gently, Fitzsimmons took Daisy's hands and bound them behind her. They didn't look at her. And she didn't look at them. Her gaze remained solely on May. On the stoic set of her lips, the corners tightly pressed. On the minuscule twitch of her hand. On the subtle volumes that spoke of how little joy this brought her. She was just following orders. Playing along to maintain a degree of control and responsibility, as she always did.

Faint vibrations rippled along the wind, sinking into Daisy's ears. Vin-Tak and Sif were discussing, and they were closer than before. She moved just in time to feel a gust of wind where her head sat a moment before.

"What the hell!" she shouted, nimbly twisting out of the way of Vin-Tak's next swing, letting it arc harmlessly to her left. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted Sif shifting around to her right side for a flank.

One tiny twitch of May's lips told Daisy all she needed to know. This wasn't the plan. May caught Vin-Tak's arm on his next swing, eyes narrowed.

"Stand down," she hissed. "We had a plan."

Daisy ignored the soft gasps behind her as she twitched her hands and let the cuffs fall to the grass. She spun, trading places with Fitzsimmons, placing them safely between herself and May.

He growled. "She is a Destroyer of Worlds. You think you can hold her in your human prisons? The plan has changed."

"Wipe my memories then," Daisy offered, ignoring May's sharp look. "If you kill me, you'll have a diplomatic nightmare on your hands. Wipe my memories and the knowledge of Inhumans and how to become one goes with them. No one else will know. Your secret will be protected."

His head tilted, considering. From behind, Daisy felt Sif mirror the action.

"Asgard would find that an acceptable solution," said Sif.

Vin-Tak looked to May, who in turn looked at Daisy. This wasn't her May. She could read her, but couldn't communicate enough back. She settled on a slow nod, maintaining eye contact the whole way through.

May held Daisy's eyes for a long moment, then let her hand fall from Vin-Tak's arm. "Fine."

Her sister beneath her. Her family on the edge of her awareness, buzzing like an uncertain hive. She held Vin-Tak's gaze as he approached her and raised the truncheon. And she hoped. Whatever happened here… she hoped Mike and Raina would forgive her, and take care of the probably very confused girl they were about to find. The girl who deserved a family like this. And hopefully… forgive her.

Daisy didn't want to go. But as much as she wanted to hold on to the life she built here, the family she made… Well… She had always given everything she had to those she loved. She would give this too.

She created a thin barrier of vibration around her head, letting the truncheon soundly thunk into it. Vin-Tak paused, frozen with the truncheon resting on what he believed to be her skin. Waiting. Evaluating the threat.

A breath.

Daisy reached into the earth below her, grasped onto the familiar bundle of energy that bound itself tightly around her sister's bones, and pulled.

Her world turned golden.

"Sup."

Daisy blinked away honeyed rays. That sounded like…

"Woah, take a second. It's pretty trippy in here."

She spun, trying to get her bearings, stumbling back as she did so. Everything thrummed, her bones against her muscles, muscles against skin, skin against air. Like the first time through terrigenesis, but forever expanding outward and reverberating back in on itself. She doubled over on herself and retched.

Warm hands ghosted along her back, rubbing soothing circles. "Gross… And here I thought you were supposed to be a badass."

Swallowing thickly, wiping at her lips with the back of her palm, Daisy turned her head bringing… herself into view. Or, Skye, rather. With a sickeningly familiar look of awkward pity.

"Good?" she asked.

Daisy held up a finger, fighting down one last contraction in her throat. Then, "mhm. Yup. Just… great." She fought back a wince as each word she spoke reverberated not only against the bones of her jaw and inner ear, but also against the air, Skye, and then back into herself. "What…?"

"Oh. Right. Uh… Simmons tried to explain it to me but I didn't really get it. Basically, we're in some sort of energy- never mind. You know the current thing in Finding Nemo with Crush? It's like that. But… between universes? Also, the multiverse is real? That's cool."

"Eh…" Daisy made a so-so motion with her hand, finally straightening up, though not moving away from Skye's stabilizing hand on her back.

"What? Oh, come on. It's the multiverse! How can you ruin the multiverse?"

"Nazis."

Skye visibly deflated, grumbling under her breath, "of course it's Nazis…"

"Any idea how we got here?" Daisy asked, gently guiding Skye back on track.

Another apologetic look.

Daisy sighed. "A theory then?"

"Simmons thinks it's because Kora's power lets her tap into the foundational energy of the universe, which is super rad, by the way. And then your," she paused, hesitantly adding, "our?" she waited for Daisy's slight nod before continuing on. "Simmons thinks that allows for us to do the multiverse part of the current since all of the different universes buzz around each other at frequencies just off enough that we don't know they exist."

"And this… current is what happens when Kora and I use our powers together?"

"That's the theory."

Daisy tried to step away, itching to pace. One step changed her mind as vibrations rippled up her leg, into the air, against Skye, then back into her, and out again, further and further. Cycling. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, ceasing to move. Gathering her thoughts.

"How are you here? Are you stuck? Have you been waiting?" she asked.

Skye laughed a bit beside her, sending another wave of reverberating pulses into Daisy. "Nah. Apparently, you have a pretty distinct IP address. Simmons got into your gauntlets and extracted the data from your uh… last moments over there. Found the vibrational frequency you were tuning yourself to when Kora's powers hit. Did some experiments, made some pretty sick prototypes that I tried to get her to patent to make bank off of, people would go crazy for some fancy Shield vibrators."

Daisy couldn't stop a snort of amusement.

"Anyway, she made a box vibrate. I matched it. Kora and I had a sibling moment, Sousa gave me an epic pep talk, and then I was here. Time passes weird, but I haven't been waiting long… I think."

Opening her eyes brought Skye back into focus again. And now… slowly… she started to gain her bearings. Australian Current was a surprisingly apt way of describing where they were. Tendrils of golden energy rushed by in every direction. The tendrils passed through Skye as if she were nothing more than a filter.

Daisy glanced down at her own legs. Instead of flowing through her like an open conduit, they curled around her form, bending and twisting up, over, and around, before darting away into the expanse.

"What now?" Skye asked, breaking the short silence stretching between them.

"I think…" Daisy spoke slowly, already regretting the words spilling from her lips, "now we make a choice."

This time, Skye let the silence hang.

And fuck, Daisy didn't want to break it either. Breaking it meant acknowledging what she wanted. And what she couldn't have.

They stood together in silence. She wasn't sure for how long. Skye wasn't lying when she said time felt weird here. They watched tendrils fly past, following them until they couldn't be seen anymore, only felt, and then further, until it slipped from the vast edges of their awareness.

Daisy turned to Skye. Took her hand. Waited. Until she turned as well. And oh. Oh.

Golden tendrils passed into Skye, rippling into her fingers. A shared breath. Shimmering sparks arched across intertwined fingers, until gold tendrils flowed cleanly through, exiting Daisy's back in gentle spirals, off to their next universe.

She chose.

Epilogue:

"Why don't we just pull over here and ask these folks for some directions?"

"We don't need directions! I know where I'm going."

"We've passed that asteroid three times now."

"How do you know it's the same one?"

"Do you know of any other diners that take up a whole asteroid?"

Skye let her head thunk against the back of the headrest and pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn't believe she voluntarily signed up for this. Siblings were the worst. "Guys, I'm like, ten minutes away from fixing the nav. Can we not?"

"Exactly," Sousa turned to her with a smile. He wasn't smug. No, Sousa didn't really do smug. But he definitely enjoyed getting one over on Kora. "Let's just stop at the nice establishment while we wait for Skye to finish up."

With a sneer, Kora shook her head. "Absolutely not. I've got a star chart, I'm going the right way. And I'm not setting foot in some greeby alien diner."

"Says the alien," Sousa and Skye chorused, sharing a grin at Kora's groan from the cockpit.

"You know," Skye started, leaning back and crossing her arms behind her head, letting her feet rest on top of the large nav computer a few feet behind the cockpit, "a milkshake would sure help me code faster."

Kora's guarded eyes flicked up to the mirror above her seat, catching Skye's relaxed, and definitely not working, posture, and Sousa's considering expression. She looked away, down to her lap, where Skye knew the giant and confusing as all hell star chat blanketed her legs.

Three, two, one…

Sighing loudly, Kora pulled the ship into a soft bank, gliding into an open port at the comically oversized diner perched on an asteroid.

Yeah. Skye made the right choice. She still had her team, though it was a bit hard to hang out, being in space and all, but she knew they were there if she needed them. And now she had an actual sister and a glorified big brother who also used to be in love with a different version of her. It was weird but her kind of weird. She wouldn't trade it for the world.

Absently, she wondered if Daisy felt the same.

It took some time to gather everyone in one place, but she had plenty of that now. After she woke up once again, all those months ago to Sif hauling Vin-Tak away, freshly mind wiped, and her family sending May and Fitzsimmons packing, it felt like she had all the time in the world.

Daisy made her choice. And now she could actively build a better future. But… there was one last thing she had to do before launching the next phase of her plan.

Of all the things Coulson expected to walk in on, it certainly wasn't this. Fitz and Simmons quickly stood from the couch in the quaint, homely living room. They looked about as surprised as he did. Though significantly more guilty. He made his way further into the room and sunk into an armchair by the fireplace.

"Sir I-" Simmons started.

"-We can explain," Fitz finished.

Coulson just held up a hand, pinching the bridge of his nose with the other. And… there. He looked up at the barely audible click of the front door's lock. It swung open soundlessly, and May slipped inside. Right on cue. She, however, didn't freeze. Her gaze flicked between all three of them as she softly shut the door behind her.

"We all got a message from Daisy, right?" Coulson said finally, breaking the silence.

Simmons visibly slumped in relief. "Oh thank goodness. Yes! Fitz and I just thought we could try to talk her into coming back or at least figure out what she's been up to."

"Mhm. She didn't say anything about you two being here though. In fact, she specifically said to come alone. See?" Fitz pulled out his phone, showing his text history with the same unknown number Coulson received a message from. "Otherwise we would've told you."

May cut them a sharp look, but didn't comment on it directly, instead turning to Coulson with her hands clasped behind her back. "I didn't get a message."

A jingle of keys just beyond the door. A metallic clink as pins released in the lock. A squeak as the door swung open. Coulson rose to his feet. May's stance shifted. Fitz and Simmons both rested a hand on the icers tucked away in their belts.

"Sup!" Daisy called as she pushed her way inside, arms full with large bags full of food.

"Sorry about not sending you a message too, May. Figured you'd just follow Coulson. Anyway, you guys still like crappy Chinese, right?"

"Daisy…" Coulson offered a tight smile, keeping a careful eye on May's slight tense. She clearly still remembered getting unceremoniously removed from Daisy the last time they saw her. Both of them knew fighting here wouldn't end well. "Care to tell us what this is about?"

"Sure," she said, "figured we could have a little family reunion and I can finally tell you guys what's going on." She moved past May with ease, leaving her back to her, and beginning to unpack the food.

No one moved. Until Fitz snapped out of his stupor. He took one of the boxes of food and a fork and plopped back down on the couch. Simmons hesitantly followed his lead. Coulson, still unable to believe the absolute absurdity of the situation, but not about to throw away an olive branch, took his food next.

May stayed planted in place. Daisy tossed her a to-go box anyway, followed by a plastic fork. She took it unhappily. But she did dig in. Granted, only because Coulson was about to take his first bite, and he knew her paranoid streak wouldn't let him eat potentially poisoned food first.

Taking a seat on the floor, all the chairs were occupied, Daisy looked up at the group as she dug into her own food. "So I know things have been weird. I wanna apologize for that. And for how things ended last time… sorry May, Fitzsimmons… My friends are a little protective."

"Your friends are enhanced. Protective and dangerous is not the most comforting combination," Coulson pointed out.

"Isn't that what the Avengers are?" Daisy shot back. "Besides, it makes us predictable. You know who we'll protect so you can predict what we'll do pretty easily."

Out of the corner of his eye, Coulson caught a slight inclination of May's head in agreement.

"What about us?" Fitz asked. "I thought we were your team. If you and your friends are so protective, why didn't you stay and protect us?"

"I did. Fitz, I swear I did. I…" she trailed off, looking away. Seeming to debate with herself. When she looked back toward the group, resignation shone in her eyes. "Look. I'm gonna tell you something that you're not gonna want to believe. But given all the weird shit we've seen… It shouldn't be that surprising."

She took a breath. Coulson shared a look with May.

"My name is Daisy Johnson. I'm an agent of Shield. Have been for seven years. Even was the Director at one point, though… that was brief."

Simmons opened her mouth, "but-"

"Nope," Daisy cut her off instantly. "Hang on. I know you've got questions but I'm about to answer half of them and then give you even more to ask."

Once Simmons and Fitz grumpily settled in to wait for their answers, Daisy continued.

"There's no good way to lead into this one. But I'm a time traveler from the future. 2019 specifically. And before you ask, I'm not really sure how. Fitzsimmons invent a method of time travel of their own that works, but it involves going to the past in your current body, which can lead to doubles if you go to a time you already exist. But I swapped minds with the Skye of this timeline because of an accidental time travel through significantly less scientific means."

This time Coulson opened his mouth but closed it at the frankly eerily similar look of annoyance Daisy gave him. Looking to his left, he noticed May giving him the exact same look.

"I woke up here on the Clairvoyant op. One minute I was floating in space, about to die, the next I was on the Bus. I thought… I thought I was so lucky to be back here. You guys were my family. In my timeline, I never left Shield. We stuck together through thick and thin, all the way to 2019. You were all I had," she said, trailing off into quiet reverence toward the end.

This time, May spoke. Daisy didn't stop her. "Why did you leave?"

With an incredulous, self-deprecating chuckle, Daisy met her gaze. "If you knew the truth about me, would you have really treated me like a person? Or like an asset?"

"Of course, we would've treated you like a person," Coulson said gently. "We thought you were Hydra. If you had just come clean we could've worked together. We would've figured something out."

"No," Daisy spoke with certainty now, "you wouldn't have. My team had time to adjust to me. Every major change happened incrementally. And you know what still happened? The first time I changed, Simmons thought I was a monster. You locked me away in Banner's cabin, Coulson. Fitz was the only one who still saw me as human, still protected me. Until he didn't and cut me open against my will. And the amount of times you sent me in alone, the only one at risk, while the rest of you sat back at the base, safe."

Coulson flinched away involuntarily. He could see all too easily how that could happen. After all, it's what happened with the Avengers. He recruited them, then sent them into the field alone with nothing but a prayer that they could handle an alien invasion on their own. Because they were enhanced. But it was easier sending grown men and women to die when Coulson only knew them as the hyper-competent soldiers and agents they were.

Now… He couldn't force the idea of Skye from his mind. Skye, who couldn't pull the trigger on Ian Quinn and jumped out a window instead. Skye, who brightened up every room she walked into without even trying, just by being kind. Skye, who they trained to be a killer.

It hurt because he knew she was right. From the way May's shoulders rolled defiantly back, she knew it too.

But where Coulson and May reacted with quiet dread, Fitz and Simmons reacted with horror. They too flinched back. Fitz opened and closed his mouth struggling to find words for an impossible apology, Coulson was sure. Simmons… stayed quiet, but he could see the hurt in her eyes.

After a moment, Fitz broke the silence with a painfully quiet, "why?"

Daisy's gaze met his, hard and cold, and edged with pain. Her lips twisted in a pained grimace. She looked down and stabbed her fork into her noodles. "You weren't… you. We'd all been through so much… it changed us. Made us into people we didn't recognize. You were my best friend, Fitz. This version of you. Don't blame yourself for what he did."

"And me?" Simmons asked.

"You were my sister until the end," Daisy said with a sad smile, still looking at her noodles. "We got high together on an alien planet. That was fun. But I wasn't yours. Not after I changed. You never… you never really got over the fact that I wasn't human anymore. If push came to shove, I wasn't the one you chose. It was Fitz. It was always Fitz. And if not him, then whatever other human was in the room."

She looked up from her noodles, finally. "You might not have viewed me as family, and it took me until I got here and had Mike and Raina to realize that… But God you were mine. You still are." She focused on Coulson and May. "You two practically raised me. You were the closest I had to actual parents. So when I got here… I did everything I could to protect all of you. In the end that meant leaving."

"How is that protecting us?" Fitz asked, rising to his feet. "You abandoned us! You could've helped. You knew about Ward, you knew about Hydra, you could've stopped it all!"

"I mean… Maybe? But I don't think I could've stopped Hydragate. It was too far along by the time I showed up. The best I could do was keep you guys from getting hurt so Shield could live on. And this isn't the first time I've time traveled. You and Simmons kind of lost it a little bit last time you had future knowledge."

Simmons looked bewildered, even Fitz looked caught off guard. He sunk back into his seat.

"Yeah, Simmons you did some weird poison Russian roulette with shots. I still don't know what you were thinking, but there's a reason I didn't tell you."

Finally, May spoke up. "Why now?"

"Because I learned from Hydra, and I don't think you guys wanna hear that as an influence."

"What?" Coulson asked, eyes narrowing.

Daisy waved it off. "I'm not going all Nazi, but Hydra succeeded while Shield scrambled because they had people planted in every important organization on the planet all working toward the same goal. Shield isolated so when we went down, we had no one to back us up. And when something was out of our scope or beyond our reach, we had to run missions without permission that could turn deadly if proper authorities found out."

Glancing around at the group's bewildered looks, she continued.

"Look, I told you I was from the future. I saw what Shield became by following your path. I'm not just going to rebuild it the same doomed way. I'm trying something different. I've got Bobbi and Hunter in the US Military. Hill's keeping an eye on the private sector. Sharon's got the CIA. The twins are liaising with enhanced across the globe, kind of like the Welcome Wagon but like, significantly less threatening, and more of a 'hey we see you, here's some resources if you ever need help' than a 'hey join us or get thrown in prison', kind of deal."

"And I know Real Shield forced Coulson out from Director. Even knowing what you do now, you don't really have the authority to do anything about it without admitting to Hand that you met with me," Daisy said evenly. "Though if you wanna use any of the contacts I just gave you on a silver platter, please do. I want to work with you."

May cut Daisy a sharp look. "If you were worried about that, you wouldn't tell us at all. Why?"

Silence rang in the room in the wake of the question. Coulson watched as Daisy's gaze slipped back to the box of takeout in her hands.

"Because she doesn't want her relationship with us to be ruined," Coulson answered softly.

A slow nod confirmed it. "I know things are different this time around. You don't have the same relationship with me. But… You're still my family. And I want you to know that. I'm going in a different direction now, but I'm here for you. Whenever you need me."

Raina opened the door to the small little townhouse before Daisy could even bring her fist up to knock. "I told you it would go well," she said by way of greeting. After a quick glance over her shoulder, she stepped to the side to make room for Mike.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh… I mean I wouldn't say it went great," Daisy said.

"You made your peace, got what you needed from them, and they didn't try to kill you. It sounds like it went well to me."

"Did you not see the part where they blame me for abandoning them?"

Raina only shrugged as if to say, 'what can you do?'.

Mike, on the other hand, opened up his arms. Daisy easily fell into them. He pulled them both into the apartment as Raina shut the door. "They'll come around," he murmured, "it's you. How could they not?"

That got a little smile from her.

"Once they process it a bit, you can invite them to movie night. Bobbi and Hunter made contact. Apparently, Hunter's been counting every weird phrase Talbot uses and plans to take a shot for each of them at movie night. Bobbi's worried he'll get alcohol poisoning if we wait any longer."

"The twins are coming in two weeks. Pietro's prank on Gordon will go wrong and they're craving pizza," Raina chimed in helpfully. "Your mom won't be able to make it though, she will be transitioning a new inhuman."

Daisy nodded, stepping away from Mike with a little squeeze of his arm in thanks. "Sounds like movie night in two weeks then. I've been needing to meet with Hill, Sharon, and Lincoln to see where we're at with legislation to protect enhanced anyway."

"I'll start making calls," Raina offered. Then sighed as she remembered, "and warning every pizza place in the area."

"See if you can get a dessert pizza. We might be able to do an early birthday for Ace," Mike said.

Raina and Daisy shared a grin. "Oh Mike, it's sweet of you to think we'll only get one dessert for Ace's birthday."

"What do you-... Raina… What are you planning?" Mike asked.

"Oh, nothing at all. Don't worry your little head about it," she grinned, pulling out her phone as she turned to walk into the kitchen.

Mike shook his head, following her, trying to get a peak over her shoulder at her phone.

Daisy chuckled to herself and looked around. This wasn't a standard safehouse. Found furniture littered the place. Mismatched couches and chairs. A long table with about as many cuts and dents in it as Daisy had herself. Shelves with various action figures, trinkets, and of course, the little hula dancer that used to sit on the dash of her van.

A familiar series of vibrations interrupted her train of thought. She moved through the living room and slipped past Mike and Raina in the kitchen to reach the back door. Slipping outside, she found what she was looking for.

"Aunt Daisy!" Ace shouted, his little legs carrying him across the yard as fast as they physically could. He slammed into her legs.

With a chuckle, she kneeled down to pull him into a full hug. "Hey, buddy. Miss me?"

"Uhuh! How long are you staying this time?" he asked, looking up at her with hopeful eyes.

"A long time, I think," Daisy said with a soft smile. "I'm not going anywhere."