xxx SHIELD xxx

Lincoln is in the kitchen making dinner when his cell phone goes off. Having left it by the door, he turns down the stove and runs to answer it. Before accepting the call, he notices it's from Skye.

"Hey Skye, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

"What? Oh, sorry, Daisy. Yes, I'll remember next time."

"Yeah? Well we used to just wait it out. It should stop soon."

"Just try to remain calm … Yes, I'm sure."

"Sure, no problem."

"Yeah, anytime."

Lincoln has a feeling he may end up regretting saying that.

xxx SHIELD xxx

The next time she calls, Lincoln is in the middle of a shift on rounds. His phone was silenced and in his back pocket when it starts vibrating. Seeing who it was, he breaks away from the group.

"Excuse me, um, family emergency," Lincoln states as he shows the group his incoming call. "I'll make it as quick as possible."

He finds an empty room and closes the door.

"Hi, Daisy."

"Okay … right … uh huh."

"In this case, it would be best to knock them out and get them to a fire-proof room."

"It's the best way … and quickest."

"Right. I need to get back."

"Not a problem."

"Talk to you later … Stay safe!"

xxx SHIELD xxx

Lincoln receives another urgent call at 3 a.m. He had finished a long shift and had just gotten into bed. Right as he closed his eyes, his phone rings. Guessing who it is, he grabs it and, without looking, answers.

"Yes, Daisy?"

"Lucky guess. What's the situation?"

"Oh … not sure if we ever came across that."

He thinks for a moment, then it comes to him.

"Wait, yes there was an instance … hmmm, what was it they did …"

He was having trouble remembering the details. He wished Gordon was still around to check with him. Before he got too wrapped up in that, it came to him.

"Okay, go in hard and fast, catch them off guard."

"You need the element of surprise in order to get them to calm down enough to talk to them."

"Yes, I'll hold."

Lincoln dozed off waiting for Daisy to return to the call.

"Huh, what? I'm awake, I'm awake."

"Good. Glad it worked out. Good night."

xxx SHIELD xxx

The next time Daisy contacts Lincoln, he's leaving the hospital to grab some food on his break.

"Hey, Lincoln," she shouts to him from across the street.

He's surprised to see her, but makes his way over.

"Hi! You cut your hair? It looks good. What are you doing in Cincinnati?"

"Making a house call, so to speak," Daisy replies.

"That's cute," he responds. "I'm just headed up the street here and short on time, so can we walk and talk?"

"Sure, no problem."

They walk a block in silence.

"And … you were going to tell me why you're here."

"Of course, it's just you've been so helpful lately, really your advice has been invaluable. I wanted to thank you."

"You could have thanked me over the phone."

"True, but there's more to it."

"Of course there is."

"We could really use you on my team, so how about it?"

"Ah, this is my stop. Hold that thought."

Lincoln went into the deli and Daisy waited outside. A few minutes later, he returned with just enough food for a quick break. Then they started the return trip to the hospital.

"So, will you do it?"

"Join SHIELD?"

"Yeah, we are reaching out to all of these new Inhumans and helping them. That's your specialty."

"You mean just drop everything and leave my life here? I don't know, Sk … I mean Daisy. You're asking quite a lot."

"Come on, it'll be fun and we're doing good work here. Helping people … helping other Inhumans."

Lincoln stared at her for a moment. She was giving it her best shot, he could tell. It's just he couldn't do it.

"I've finally got my life back on track after … well, you know. So, I'm sorry, but I can't join your team … you can still call me if you need to, but I'll be staying here."

With that, he walked back into the hospital.