"Good Morning," Jemma's voice held the smile she could not contain.
Daisy grumbled a bit as she rolled to her back and made a valiant attempt to pull her eyes open. She stretched her legs, carefully mini-stretched her still casted arms and ran her tongue over her teeth. She opened one eye just enough to focus on the young doctor standing next to her bed and blew a soft breath over her lips. A soft snore from the cot a few feet from her bed caused her to look in that direction. She could not contain the smile that formed as she made an attempt to bring herself up on her tender elbows.
"Oh, no, no, no," Jemma scolded softly, "not so fast." She placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder and pressed a button that raised the head of Daisy's bed to a semi-sitting position.
Daisy was better able to see the man curled up on the very uncomfortable cot across the room. She looked to the chair next to her bed and tried to hide her disappointment. "Where's M…May?" She asked without looking at Jemma as she wiggled a bit into a more comfortable position. It was difficult without full use of her arms and being upright still made her a little dizzy. She tried to hide both facts.
Jemma smirked and shook her head slightly as she put her arm around the girl's shoulders and helped her to right herself then tucked a second pillow behind her head for support. "She will be back in a few minutes," she assured her with a quick nod. "She had to take care of some personal needs."
Daisy raised her eyebrows, surprised that she could do so without igniting the pain in her head, and formed a small 'o' with her lips.
"They have not left your side for more than a few minutes." Jemma patted her leg and smiled again. "Now, can you tell me what day it is?"
Daisy rolled her eyes and let out a little growl. "Come on Simmons," she whined. "It's right there on the board. I can just read it."
"Very good!" Jemma exclaimed as if 'little' Daisy had just recited the alphabet for the first time.
She sunk further into her pillow nest and closed her eyes. The doctor waited a beat then became a bit more serious. "Well then…what day is it?"
"It's Wednesday," Daisy growled through her teeth, without opening her eyes.
"Go on," Jemma waited.
Daisy gave her a sideways glance through narrowed eyes and went on in a sing song voice as she tilted her head side to side. "Today is Wednesday, November ninth, nineteen hundred and seventy-two." Immediately she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a pained 'ooooo'.
"Serves you right, smart ass," Jemma admonished as she placed her stethoscope on the girl's chest and motioned for her to be silent. Daisy turned up the side of her face and stuck out her tongue at the back of Jemma's head, quickly pulling a straight face as the doctor turned back toward her. "And do you know the name of the president?"
Daisy deadpanned, "unfortunately…I do."
"Mmm-emm," Jemma smiled. "Follow my finger…with just your…"
"Yeah, yeah…watch your finger, how many fingers are you holding…come on, Jemma enough. I've done all your tests every morning." The girl was getting a bit testy.
Jemma shook her head and picked up the clipboard attached to the side of Daisy's bed. "Twice, you've done it twice and it says here you still cannot hold anything down." She looked up at Daisy. "That is not good."
"Yeah, well maybe if they gave me something worth holding down, it'd be a lot easier." Daisy sighed. She wished she could shake the queasy feeling in her gut but telling Jemma would just mean more tests and probably some horrid treatment. She hoped it would just go away.
Jemma moved to the bottom of the bed and threw back the light blanket exposing Daisy's bare feet. She ran the end of her pen up her sole causing the girl to pull her foot back and fail to keep the giggle out of her voice. "Hey!" She squeaked before the doctor did the same on the opposite foot. Daisy pulled her knees up and planted her feet flat on the mattress. "Least you could warn me!" Jemma raised her brows and moved to Daisy's side and motioned for her to lean forward a bit.
The doctor carefully removed the bandage around Daisy's head and examined the healing wound that had caused all of this trauma. "It is healing nicely, much faster than I would have expected." She reached for a sterile pad and gauze to redress the injured area.
"Huh, yeah…one of the perks of terragenesis…" Daisy grumbled under her breath.
Jemma stepped back and admired her neat work. "Well, consider yourself a very lucky girl. This could have been so much worse, Daisy." Daisy kept her head down absently picking at the tiny pilled fuzz on her blanket. "And," Jemma's voice sounded excited as she continued. "I believe they've finished with the helmet they fitted you for during your procedure. They will be bringing it by this afternoon."
"Great," Daisy sighed. "Not only have you turned me into a semi-mummy, now I get to be a crash dummy."
Jemma sighed as well. "It's only for your protection."
Daisy turned up a side of her mouth and reached up slowly to touch her hair. "Yech," she grimaced. "Any chance I can shower today? My hair feels like slime." She tried puppy-dog eyes on the young doctor who was already shaking her head.
"Daisy," she breathed in frustration. "You can barely hold a spoon, let alone stand in the shower on your own. And further more you cannot get that incision wet for at least a few more days."
"Days?" Daisy almost yelled but kept her voice down so as not to disturb the still snoring Coulson. "Days," she repeated quietly. "Geez, Jemma by then it will just slide right off my head. Come on, I'm sure Fitz could rig up some kind of some thing-a-ma-bober that could protect my brain window."
"Of course," Jemma teased sarcastically. "In fact, he already has." Daisy's brows went high as she smiled. "It's called a cap!" She folded her arms over her chest. "And you can choose the color."
Daisy's face fell as she lay back against the pillows and gave a serious pout. "I guess a nice hot bath is out as well."
Jemma laughed. "That, I will think about. But I will tell you if you take your medicine like a good girl and not force me to bring in another tech or have Agent May assist, again, I will talk to both her and Agent Coulson about that discussion you've been aching to have. I do believe you are up to that."
Daisy smiled a small hesitant smile.
"And,"
The smile fell away as she looked at Jemma over her brows.
"You have to eat some breakfast."
Daisy scrunched up her face and watched as Jemma turned away to prepare what she referred to as medicine. Daisy was more apt to call it torture. "Why can't you just poke that in the IV, instead of me?" She pondered
"Well," Jemma sighed. "Terragenesis has its perks and its shortcomings. This is a powerful antibiotic but it seems to do very little unless we inject directly. Your DNA apparently does not react well to it being diluted in the IV fluids. Sorry." Daisy had to admit she did look apologetic…maybe. "Furthermore it is an intramuscular injection in order for it to…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…I just don't like being poked."
"So, I've noticed," Jemma remarked as she pulled the curtain around the bed and almost laughed as the color drained from her friend's face.
"I know you're doing this on purpose." Daisy complained with a somewhat shaky voice.
It had been two days since Daisy swam back to consciousness. At first there was fussing and crying and hugging and just making sure it was real. Then she was whisked away for test after test and in between Jemma had been correct. The girl was exhausted, yet every time she drifted off May's heart caught thinking she had once again lapsed into that semi-coma state from which she could not be roused. Jemma had given strict orders to gently wake her every twenty minutes and ask her name. She and Coulson had taken turns doing so for almost twenty-four hours and had gotten more than a few laughs at the answers they were given.
Twice she was 'Skye' with an angry growl as she pulled away and dozed back into bliss and once she even claimed to be Mary Sue, but snorted at the name and grumbled something neither of them could understand. They weren't concerned since the girl had had many names throughout her unorthodox upbringing.
"I am SHIELD," was one of the answers and both laughed as she sounded an awful lot like that tree-guy in the movie neither could remember but knew it had something to do with guardians. But, as the name 'Daisy' was given more often than not, everyone started to relax…even if it was just a bit.
Jemma presented results of the tests with more than a bit of relief noting that while they were not perfect, that Daisy had a long way to go and that she was doing much better than expected at this point. Again, something she attributed to the girl's amazing alien biology.
May stood in the shower letting the hot water pour over her as she let these thoughts roll through her mind. They'd almost lost her…their girl…the daughter that grew into their hearts rather than under hers. Yes, she was a little shaky and a lot dizzy but with lot of hard work and rehab, Daisy would be fine…or so she told herself.
They still needed to have that talk, the one Simmons had insisted they put off until the tests were complete and she was absolutely sure Daisy was on her way to recovery. That fact had been established and it was time to say what needed to be said, with or without Jemma Simmons' permission.
Melinda turned off the water and grabbed a towel. She planned one quick stop to snag a coffee for Coulson who'd better be awake by the time she returned with a tea for herself. Simmons would be finished with her morning evaluation and with any luck Daisy would have cooperated and allowed the doctor to administer the dreaded 'shot' as well. She smirked at the thought. The girl could bring down a mountain or propel herself into the sky but cowered at the thought of a little needle stick. 'Just like Phil' she smiled remembering him almost fainting the first time they had to be inoculated before leaving the country. He'd often mentioned how much Daisy reminded him of her, but she saw so much of him in the girl.
Her goofy sense of humor and the way her eyes crinkled before she laughed…her love of anything sweet and everything that was considered 'not good for you'…her dedication to her team…her fierce resolve to protect them…her stubborn need to blame herself and punish herself for every wrong she could not correct. Well, maybe that last one was a bit of both of them.
May stopped herself. Daisy was not their child…she had no biological link to either of them and by that could share none of their traits. But she did…and Melinda could not help seeing it and beaming with pride because of it. 'Your powers didn't make you an agent…I DID.' She vividly remembered telling the girl that. She wanted to tell her so much more that day…but…well fate had other plans. But today…they'd fix that once and for all.
Jemma could not help the laugh that escaped as Daisy unscrunched her face and let out a soft whimper. "If I had a sucker, I would be sure to give you one." She smirked as she dropped the used instrument into the sharps container.
Daisy squirmed back into a comfortable position and stuck out her bottom lip. She narrowed her eyes at her friend. "That is the very last time I plan on shooting you a moon, Jemma." She snarled.
"That's fine," Jemma sniggered back. "I'm sure Agent Prescott would love the practice, although he is a bit heavy handed." She smiled without turning around knowing Daisy would be sending an icy glare in her direction. "I will speak to him about your evening dose."
"You wouldn't dare." Daisy spoke through her teeth in an effort to sound like May which caused both girls to break into spontaneous laughter.
"Knock, knock," Coulson sounded pretending to rap on the drawn curtain. Jemma pulled it back around Daisy's bed.
"Good morning, Agent Coulson," she greeted him brightly.
"Hey, AC," Daisy smiled with a wave of her casted hand.
"Ladies," he smiled back and squeezed Daisy's toes through the blanket. She smiled again at the small show of affection. He looked up and then back at Jemma, an unasked question in his eyes.
"She wanted to shower and get breakfast. She knew I'd be here, sir." Jemma answered without him asking. He smiled and gave a quick nod.
"How you feeling today?" He squeezed Daisy's toes a second time. He'd given up telling Simmons to stop calling him 'sir'. He was not longer her commanding officer.
"Be better if I could get paroled," Daisy frowned as an unfamiliar agent carried a tray into the room and set it on the small table. "Oh, look…breakfast." She tried not to let her 'yuck face' show. May followed the young agent into the room carrying two mugs that she set on the table next to the tray.
"Looks like I'm just in time." She tried to hide the grin she could feel tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Coulson picked up the mug of coffee and took a quick sip. "I will join you in ten…fifteen minutes…just need to freshen up a bit." He ducked out of the room before anyone could answer.
Jemma put a hand over her mouth to suppress a giggle and May rolled her eyes.
"At least someone gets to take a shower," Daisy pouted.
Daisy picked at her breakfast of dry toast and orange juice, grateful for the bland menu, until May gave her a look that hurried her along to finish. She tried her best but it wasn't long before it came back up and she looked apologetically at May who got a waste basket to her in the nick of time. She wanted to beg the woman not to tell Simmons but it would certainly be a waste of everyone's time.
"It's okay," May comforted. "Maybe lunch will be better." Daisy nodded and held her queasy stomach.
Jemma suggested a liquid diet before resorting to a nasal feeding tube which Daisy immediately vetoed. "And absolutely NO JELLO," she added with fervor.
After being tortured through the embarrassment of donning a protective helmet that Daisy described as a combination of a cyclists' head guard and demented football player's crown she was once again whisked off to radiology for scans of her arms and head.
"She really is doing well?" Coulson questioned the young doctor.
"Yes, sir, as well as can be expected. She has a long way to go, but yes she is doing well." Jemma reassured him.
"Then we've waited long enough," May informed her.
Jemma nodded. " I suspect the tummy troubles may be part of her anxiety over this conversation. You aren't planning on admonishing her for her recent actions, are you?" Jemma seemed extremely concerned. "I know she's pulled some ridiculously dangerous stunts but she…"
"Relax, Simmons, we aren't on a witch hunt." May sneered over her mug.
"I know you want to clear the air, but again. If it gets too much for her, I will have to insist." Jemma's mouth began to go dry at May's glare. "Well then let's just see if we can make things a bit more comfortable then, shall we?"
When wheeled back into her room Daisy was surprised to see the large reclining chair from the common room set up where the cot had been earlier in the day. She thought it would be a lot more comfortable for Coulson and/or May than that crazy old military type cot. She wondered if they found it among all of Agent Carter's WWII memorabilia, but was pleasantly surprised when Jemma directed the techs to set her up in the large chair rather than the bed. It brought a smile that spread across the room.
Coulson and May pulled the chairs they had been using closer to Daisy's recliner and Jemma discretely excused herself, leaving an uneasy silence no one seemed eager to shatter. Coulson reached across the short distance between them and took May's hand in his own, she did not pull away. Daisy's eyebrows rose slightly before she quickly averted her stare.
"I had really weird dreams…" She mumbled in a clumsy effort to start. "I thought…thought I was dead." She let the comment dribble into an almost unheard sigh.
"It's okay," Coulson whispered as he rested a hand on her knee. "You're okay, now."
Daisy shook her head slightly. She could feel the tears she swore she would not shed. "I…I don't deserve…"
"Stop right there," May's voice was firm but gentle. "We've been through this, Daisy. This is not something you deserve because if you do then we deserve it just as much. We're just as guilty."
The girl blinked several times trying to make sense of the comment. What did they deserve? Certainly nothing like she did. No matter what they'd done they were not monsters who hurt their friends and betrayed them as an alien junkie starved for a means to satisfy her supplier. She was…damaged…she got people killed…she…
"Daisy, listen…" Coulson's voice was soft and calm. "There's something we need to tell you…something we should have told you a long time ago."
Daisy's breath came fast as her heart beat increased. She could hear the monitors blipping louder and knew Simmons would come rushing into the room…rushing in to stop her before she could say what she wanted. They were going to tell her…tell her it had all been a horrible mistake and that they should have left her to drown with the Rising Tide. She couldn't hear that…not before she said what she needed. She took a deep breath and looked into May's concerned eyes. She matched the woman's breathing and felt the relief as the monitors began to quiet.
"No…no…" Daisy stopped him. "I have to tell you, please let me tell you." Coulson nodded and squeezed her knee. She looked at him and then at May, swallowed hard and took a breath. "I kept dreaming all these bizarre things and someone was always after me or I was trapped or some there was some awful crap going on…but you…you were there, too." She pointed at them with her cast. "You…you're the ones who kept pulling me out, pushing me forward even when I wanted to give up, but in my dreams…you weren't…you were…" She stopped, searching for the words to explain. "I know you probably think it's just a dream and well, my head and all…but in the dreams you were…my, my m-m-mom," she glanced quickly at May and then at Coulson, "and my dad," then quickly down at her hands. She stopped and waited for their reaction…a laugh or a disgusted sigh…but when she dared to peek all she saw were their smiles. She had to look away, mistaking that for amusement.
"It's okay, Daisy, we know how you feel." Coulson tried to keep his voice from cracking. "We feel the same way." He wished he could take her in his arms, take all the pain go away, all the physical and all the emotional hurts she'd suffered in the last year…hell, in her whole life. If time travel were possible he'd drop the three of them into the portal and intercept Agent Avery before she made it to Austin, take that baby from her arms and never let her go. Even if it meant giving up all he had accomplished with this agency, he would willingly give it up for this girl…he'd do it in a heartbeat.
"I wanted so much for you to be my parents. I wanted it so much and when…when Cal found me…it hurt and I didn't…I didn't want him, but I was this horrid thing that he and Jiaying created and you…" Now she was sobbing, trying to make sense between the tears that fell. "You couldn't…didn't…I wasn't good. I was born a monster, it's all I can ever be and you…you both deserve so much more."
May could take no more. She easily slid into the large chair with Daisy and pulled the trembling girl to her, mindful of her injuries. Daisy collapsed into the woman that filled the empty part of her heart…the part that had been reserved for her mother so very long ago. The part that held her wishes and her prayers and her hopes and dreams of what a mother would be and May fit like a missing piece. It was a feeling Daisy could not describe, but it was the feeling she'd longed for all her life.
"Don't you ever say anything like that, again." May pulled forward to look in the girl's eyes. "You hear me? Never again or I will give you a demonstration of the way my mother emphasized her point by leaving a very lasting impression on my posterior." She squeezed her a little tighter and rested back against the chair resting her chin on the girl's head. "Understand? And I don't care how old you are." Daisy laughed through a sob and nodded into May's shoulder. "We have a lot of time to make up." She whispered close to the girl's ear then kissed her cheek.''
"I wish we told you sooner." Coulson said with regret. "I wish you knew."
"I…I think I did." Daisy stammered picking at the blanket that covered her legs. "I mean…I wanted it so bad that I just…well, sometimes I just pretended. I know that's so dumb…like a little kid." She remembered 'Harriet' and what she said about loving and needing and wanting. She knew the feeling. It lived in that empty space in her heart…a space that suddenly wasn't so empty.
Coulson pulled his chair next to Daisy and took her bandaged hand in his. "Nothing wrong with needing someone," he looked at May, "felt that way myself for a long time and yeah, it's kinda dumb not to tell the person you love how you feel." The woman smiled and laid her cheek against Daisy's head.
"Guess dumb just runs in the family," May quipped. Daisy breathed a laugh and Coulson raised his brows.
"If I could go back, I'd never go to Afterlife. I'd never let Jiaying try to take your place. I'm so sorry, May. I'm sorry I hurt you." Daisy was crying again.
"Shhhhh," May kissed her temple and pulled her into a tighter embrace. "We all make mistakes, Daisy and I'm so sorry I hurt you."
"No, no, May, never…you never," she pulled away causing her head to spin but brushed it off as she tried to look the woman in the eye.
"When I jumped all over you for asking to help with your search, when I had Hill throw you off the bus without an explanation, when I left without even saying goodbye, when…" May stopped as Daisy struggled to turn around.
"No, May, no…don't…" Daisy turned her face into the woman's shoulder muffling her words.
"We all made mistakes, angel…we're only human…" Coulson shushed as he brushed the hair from her face.
Daisy turned toward him, sniffed into a crumpled tissue and smiled, "I'm no angel, AC and not a hundred percent human either."
"Guess that depends on the point of view, angel eyes," he smiled and held her chin in his hand looking into her tear filled eyes. "May's right. We all have a lot of time to make up and a lot of things to work out and the first is getting you well and back on your feet. That's gonna take a lot of hard work."
"And a dumb helmet," Daisy joked as she relaxed in May's embrace. For a moment they enjoyed the silence of each other's company each lost in their own thoughts.
Daisy had joked many times calling them Mom and Dad…she told herself that it was a joke but now she figured it was part of her wishing they really were. Now she hesitated to use either title afraid that it would shatter the magic of the moment, crush the reality and jinx everything. She'd tried out the word 'mom' twice in her life…once with Mrs. Brody just to be sent away as a bad fit and once with Jiaying just to find out she was a murderous psycho…but both times it was just a word, a name, a title…there was no real feeling behind it. Jiaying hadn't even considered herself a mother…not the kind Daisy needed. Melinda May was and that thrilled and terrified Daisy at the same time.
Coulson…AC…he'd always been Dad, there was never any doubt. From the first time he agreed to help her, after that fiasco with Miles…she was so terrified that he would banish her or that he would issue some horrid punishment that would embarrass as well as humiliate her…and at the same time she didn't care. She would have done anything to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D., to stay close to him. And yes, little Harriet was right, when Cal was pummeling Coulson in Puerto Rico and she yelled out, dad, it was Coulson she was speaking to not her crazed birth parent. Cal might be her father…but Coulson…he was dad. She remembered some poster she saw somewhere. It said – Anyone can be a father…but it takes someone special to be a dad. She thought it was goofy at the time, but now it made perfect sense. Anyone with all the necessary plumbing could procreate, could fertilize an egg and bring a new life to fruition but that didn't make that person a dad or a mom. She knew that now.
"Do you think…" she started to ask not daring to look into Melinda's eyes, for fear of what she might see. "I mean would it be a big deal if maybe…maybe I called you mom." Before May could answer Daisy spoke quickly, "I mean not in front of anybody or anything and not all the time and never in front of Mace or in public or when anyone was lis…"
May put a finger on the girl's lips. "I would love to hear you call me Mom, Daisy. I tried to tell you a while back how much I cared and you can call me mom whenever and where ever you want and I don't give a damn who hears you."
Daisy sobbed again. "I'm really sorry about all this blubbering, must be the brain window." She sniffled again and pulled a new tissue from the box and wiped her eyes.
Coulson watched his 'girls'. He'd never take either for granted again. He knew now that he had loved Melinda May probably since the first time she knocked him on his ass at the academy and Daisy…well that girl at first was a curiosity, an asset to the team and a piece of his heart. He couldn't even remember when or what had created their bond but once sealed it would not be broken. It was apparent to everyone who knew either of them that he considered himself the girl's father and he did nothing to dissuade them. He'd given up being director of this organization, a position given to him by Nick Fury himself, in order to be free to look for her and he had no regrets. Now she was here. Now she was safe. She wasn't the daughter he never had…she was the daughter he had and held and loved right here and now.
"You mean the world to us, Daisy." Coulson added as he leaned in to kiss her opposite temple.
"I love you, dad." She smiled at Coulson, snuggling further into May. "I love you, mom."
"I think our girl's had enough for now." May said as Daisy's eyes fluttered closed. Coulson nodded and easily slid his arms under her too thin form and lifted her. She complained a bit losing May's close comfort but sunk into Coulson's with ease. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down. May adjusted the blankets and lowered the upper half of the mattress. She kissed the girl's forehead. "You take a nap, bao bao. We'll be here." She stepped away to let Coulson do the same. By the time he stood from kissing her she had drifted to sleep. He watched her for a moment before joining May on the large recliner.
Now she snuggled into his embrace resting her head on his chest. "I think we're gonna be alright." He let out a relieved breath and felt her nod against him. He listened to the quiet for a few seconds. "You know, May, you and I, we've been bush beating ourselves for a lot of years…"
She turned her head up to look at him. "Shut up, Phil," she smiled as she wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him into the kiss she'd been saving for just the right moment.