Skye knew there was a mess to clean up, but the others had told her to rest. That they could handle it, that she'd done enough.

She didn't feel like she'd done nearly enough. Yes, her and the new recruits were able to take back the Cocoon and get everyone out, but that was just Skye fixing her own mistakes. Now Hydra knew where the Cocoon was, it had to be evacuated…

Like she'd mentioned. A great, big ol' mess.

One she wasn't entirely sure she could help with anyway unless lending a hand for a mop or broom, but she had to try.

"Jemma?"

"Hello, Skye," she said with an inviting smile.

Skye was so close to correcting her to Daisy, it shocked even herself. She'd not only become accustomed to the name she'd almost had an epiphany about it earlier. It represented a better version of herself, stronger, as when she'd felt brave and empowered. Now she mostly felt guilt, and she wasn't sure she wanted to sully this new identity with it just yet.

Not to mention it would be hella confusing to all her friends.

"How's your shoulder?" Simmons asked.

Skye wasn't really paying any mind to the inquiry and looked into the next room, visible through the glass walls. It was the room for medical exams and where Skye thought Lincoln would be resting.

"Where's Lincoln?" Skye asked.

Jemma's hand fled to hide behind her neck, rubbing it awkwardly. "Oh… we had to move him."

"He's awake?"

Simmons nodded. "And a bit overwhelmed. He knows all about SHIELD, but only the horrific version your mother corrupted his mind with." Skye scrunched her face in confusion and thought. "…which, you of course have no idea about," Jemma exclaimed through clear frustration, sitting down hard on a vacant lab chair. It wheeled her away slightly.

Skye stepped closer. "It's ok. I mean… you can always tell me about it." She paused. "You can talk about what happened to you, too."

Jemma looked up nervously. "What's Fitz told-"

"No one's told me anything." Skye shrugged, throwing out a melancholy smile. "I can pick up on when my friend has some emotional turmoil."

Skye thought Jemma might cry from the way her lips pressed together. Instead she just sighed, allowing the emotions fizzle out like a doused flame. "I may take you up on that sometime," she muttered, looking away.

Skye tilted her head. "Jemma, are we… before I lost my memory were we… still friends?"

The scientist glanced up with a puzzled look. "Of course," she said sternly. "What gave you the idea we weren't?"

"I don't know," she said. "This heart to heart feels kind of… stale."

Now Jemma's head tilted on its axis as she stared blindly ahead. "I suppose we may not be quite as close, but that's due to occupation. You're rarely inside with us anymore on field operations and are oftentimes training."

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize about, honestly," she said. "Just because real life gets in the way of our girl time bonding doesn't mean we don't care for one another just as much."

Skye smiled. "Good. I would never want to sacrifice our friendship," she said. "And whenever you're ready to talk-"

"I'm not, just yet," she said. "Besides, I could use your help in another area."

Skye nodded eagerly. "Anything."

Lincoln wasn't happy.

If you couldn't tell from the way he was slamming himself and his shocks against the walls, you could tell by the way he glared at whomever had the unfortunate luck of standing just outside to watch him. Or you were blind.

Seriously, it was easy to tell the dude was pissed.

Skye walked up to the glass tentatively, her arm crossed as she held the other with one hand. He didn't stop the glaring, or the electric shocks, as she approached.

"Hey," she tried quietly, to which he promptly ignored her. "Hey. Hey. Lincoln, stop!"

That got his attention, the motion of raising an arm for another attack abruptly halted. "Stop using my name like you know me! You kidnapped me, SHIELD agent."

"That would be a little odd, considering you live here."

He raised a brow. "I would never live in this tiny box."

It took Skye a moment to realize he was talking about the containment chamber, as at first she was going to rebuttal that they each had decent sized rooms in the Playground. "Oh. No, no, not that thing, but in this base." She paused. "The only reason they put you in there is because you're freaking out."

"Because you kidnapped me!"

"Wow, someone took a u-turn in the conversation. Didn't you hear me? You. Live. Here."

He pressed himself against the glass. "I wouldn't live here willingly, to be an experiment. So whether it happened now or before I was definitely captured and brought here."

"Except you weren't, because you're a SHIELD agent too. Or, almost. Your evaluation is soon…"

He scoffed. "I'm sure I was dying to recruit with this evil place."

"It's not evil. I promise."

Scoff number two, coming up. "Oh yeah? And why should I believe a word you say?"

"Because what happened to you happened to me," she explained softly. "My memories were taken, but you were there to help me through it. I lost two years." She looked up at him. "And it wasn't SHIELD, it was our own kind that did it to us. An Inhuman."

"Our own kind?" Lincoln pointedly asked.

Skye rolled her eyes, realizing she'd have to demonstrate to get the angry Pikachu on her side. She pushed out her hand and shook a cabinet, some chairs, a few objects on shelves – something might have fallen.

Lincoln's eyes widened and grew soft, releasing some of the pent up anger as he placed a gentle hand to the glass. Skye pursed her lips, hating to see him forced inside there. Contained because he was scared.

She opened the door.

It made a prolonged hissing noise as it widened, the airtight seal releasing as she stepped up to the threshold.

"What are you doing?" Lincoln asked.

"Showing you some trust," she said truthfully. "You're really not a prisoner. We just couldn't have you hurting people or leave without an explanation. Now that you know… you can of course go. It would be pretty stupid, though," she added bluntly.

She'd coaxed a grin from him, nice. "Would it?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Yup. We're your best chance at getting your memories back, and at the very least knowing what is going on in the world lately."

"You think we can get our memories back?" he asked hopefully.

"I… don't know, if I'm being honest. I hope so," she said. She felt compelled to take his hand, but instead let her own rest on his shoulder in a friendly gesture. "But if not, I kind of think I'm off to a good start making memories, considering you're in them."

He smirked. "Good for you, because mine weren't going too well before you showed up."

"So they're getting better… think you'll stay?"

"You're making a pretty compelling argument. And when I mentioned Afterlife earlier… some scientist told me it was gone. Is that true?"

Afterlife… ooooh the Inhumans' old home. Had it been destroyed? Jemma probably told him that, so it was probably true, right?

"Yeees," she said, as unconfident as ever. Lincoln could tell. "Everyone scattered, I think."

"Did you stay there?"

"I've been there, I think," she said. "Would have been after the memories I can currently remember." She tapped her head.

Lincoln seemed more reassured than frustrated at her naivety, most likely finding comfort in the shared issues. He tucked a hair behind her ear suddenly, but recoiled his hand immediately.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"That's ok," she said simply. "You probably have an instinct to how you'd normally act with your memories. I did the same with my powers."

"Huh. Alright then…" He snorted. "It is a bit weird to be invading your personal space before I know your name though."

"I haven't told you my name yet?" she exclaimed.

He chuckled. "Nope."

"Oh, dang, I'm so featherbrained."

Lincoln stared. "So do you wanna tell me, or…?"

"Oh, um, Daisy," she said.

Had she just referred to herself as Daisy? Well, duh, yes. Why now? That she wasn't entirely sure about. Maybe it was because they'd told her she met Lincoln after gaining her abilities. So it sort of slipped out.

Maybe. Or maybe it was just the instinct thing. She was trying to lead him in the right direction and lately, it seemed the version of herself with powers and confidence and leadership was Daisy. Maybe she was feeling more like herself -her newer self… her Daisy self? – and so instinct took over.

Maybe. Maybe. If, but, maybe. Clearly she was just making stuff up.

"Well, Daisy, it is nice to meet you… again," Lincoln said, extending a hand.

She pretended to scrutinize the gesture. "Promise you won't do your shockey thing?"

He raised a brow. "How mean do you think I am?"

"Not mean, per say. Maybe just a little… charged?"

"Hah-hah," he muttered. She flashed him a wicked grin before taking his hand and shaking it roughly.

It was this prime opportunity that Hunter popped into the containment unit. "Skye! Jemma sent me to tell you the good news. We caught a Hydra agent!"

Daisy dropped Lincoln's hand, giving him a sideways look of uncertainty.

"Um… cool. Thanks for the update."

"No no, it's important! He's the Inhuman that took your memories."

Lincoln and Daisy shared a second look, one filled with much more intrigue.

"And…?" said Lincoln, moving his head a bit impatiently.

"He says he'll give them back to you!"

"He can really do that?" asked Lincoln.

"He's willing to do that?" stressed Daisy.

"Yeah! Not a bad guy, really. Had a chat with him… we're gonna set up a football get together I think."

Daisy frowned in confusion, but shook her head. Maybe Hunter's antics would make more sense to her once she got her memories back.

(Spoiler alert: they wouldn't.)

"Whenever you two are ready, he's down in the lab with Simmons."

"Great, we'll go now," Daisy said, grabbing Lincoln's hand to pull him along. "Thanks Hunter."

"Not a problem," he chimed, turning he began to walk away. "Can't say I'm looking forward to the rocks and shocks you two's shagging does to the base, but it'll be good to see things back to normal."

Then he was gone. And Daisy was left red-cheeked and mortified.

Lincoln appeared similar, though she couldn't quite look him the eye yet. So… from what her peripherals picked up, or as much as she could sense.

"Uh, Daisy-?"

"Look, I don't know any more about that than you do because I woke up without any memories of you and trust me, we haven't done that since so it's really not anything to ask about. To me. I guess it's possible I had some girl talk with Jemma…" she mused.

He blinked. "No… I was, um, I was actually going to ask... who's Skye?"

Her mouth gaped while her mind caught up to how stupid she must have sounded. Once she was all filled in on playing the fool, she sighed.

"Let's see if we can get those lost memories back in our heads… might be easier than that explanation."

Daisy was Daisy again. The Hydra dude put a hand to her head and suddenly she felt like he'd smashed a pound cake (or a ten pound cake…) inside of her mind. The memories she'd just made were still there, but she remembered everything she'd forgotten.

It. Was. Weird.

When she'd lost the memories, her complete swap of personality was only noted by clues left for herself. Her closet and her name, her friends acting a bit odd.

She was a lighthearted hacker two days ago. She'd learned about Hydra, learned about Ward, and now….

SMACK!

Two years of training, of grief, of memories of her father and mother and loving them both only to lose them after brief moment of knowing them. Her first kill, her most recent kill, her awakening to Andrew's situation and the hate of so, so many people who despised Inhumans was all crammed in there.

But even with all that squished in the small corner space of her brain, she felt ok.

Yes, she did stumble because it actually felt very strange, but she'd learned to deal with those things as they were dolled out to her.

She was more of a leader, but she'd learned that she shouldn't erase Skye. She could be a soldier or in charge and still be lighthearted, joke and still be sincere when it matter. In fact, being all doom and gloom was probably bad for her mental health, and the whole team could do with some signature-Skye sarcasm.

This was not the time for it though.

"I am so, so sorry Benny," she told him. He wilted like a flower when she'd broken the news of his wife. Daisy had prepared for a storm, to knock him out if necessary. But he did that himself.

"I can't…" He fell to the floor against the wall, covered his eyes and sobbed. Daisy knelt down, placing a hand to his back. When consoling someone, the first thing you'd think of to say would be "it's ok."

It wasn't ok.

"I wasn't there with her. I couldn't… it isn't fair!"

"It's not fair at all," Daisy said simply. For long moments all she could hear was his muffled sniffling.

"I didn't want these damn powers, Daisy," he said into his arm. "I just… I want her."

All Daisy could do was sigh and pat his back a bit more. She'd fend off her own tears as they weren't hers to shed. This wasn't her pain.

Benny probably didn't need powers. Maybe if they'd manifested earlier in life… but what could he do now? Learn to live with them, mainly. Maybe Daisy could show him they were meaningful, that it was who he was, but not today.

Today he could just cry.

"How'd it go?" Lincoln asked as she closed the door to Benny's bunk.

She shrugged. "Fairly traumatic."

"Damn."

"I had to fix the mess I made… even if it was a naïve version of me that did it," she said, then gave him a once over. He was wearing a combat suit. "You ready for your evaluation?" she asked.

"Ready as ever, I guess. I feel pretty good about it."

"I did train you well," she said, leaning closer until she landed her lips on his to give him a small kiss. "For good luck."

"Thanks. What're you up to?"

She crossed her arms. "Dunno. I've got some down time. Maybe head back to base and try to follow up on this Hive thing."

"You don't think he's gone?" he asked.

"Full disclosure? I kind of think he's… a worm."

Lincoln shook his head. "What?"

"I think he's an Inhuman parasite that took over Ward's body. I just couldn't tell the difference, of course," she muttered, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity.

"You couldn't have known," he said dismissively, as though it were that simple and obvious.

"Yeah, but then I put you in danger. Which… have a mentioned I'm sorry about?"

"Only around three hundred times."

"Oh, good. Only about two fifty left then."

He kissed her again, pressing his lips far firmer than their previous lip lock she'd initiated.

"No more guilt, ok?"

"Can't promise that," she said truthfully. "But I'll make an effort, for you."

"That's all I ask."

"Good, cause that's all you get," she said with some snark, allowing any somber awkwardness to dissipate. "And get a move on to your eval! I want to see those flying colors."

"Can't promise they'll be flying, but hopefully we'll see some colors. Or sparks."

"You'd better, or you are going to have one pissed off professor," she teased.

"That's endearing… maybe I'll just have to fail," he mused wryly.

She chuckled. "Beat it, Campbell," she told him with a smile and a little push. He huffed a laugh and kept moving while she headed towards the exit, her mind swimming in revelations from the passed couple days.

Fitz had once explained to Daisy that brains were like a computer. It's how he'd managed to reconnect old 'files' he had lost; how he'd been able to improve after his head trauma. She'd scrutinized the comparison at first, but maybe Daisy's brain really was like a computer. Skye had certainly come up with that interpretation the moment she'd started looking into the matter after her brain was messed with.

She chuckled to herself as she walked out of the Cocoon, the way she was referring to her own state of mind as another person. Maybe it was more like… an old operating system.

IOS Daisy was an updated version of Skye.9.0. Skye had been a free spirit, and as much as Daisy loved herself, she had been a little naïve (as all younger versions of oneself are) and Daisy liked herself better now. Uncovering her roots had given her opportunities she'd never gotten being a foster kid. Skye was the name she'd given herself out of necessity but…. Daisy was the name she chose. She'd picked it once she felt her connection to the meaning behind it.

Yes, Hive, skies are certainly limitless and full of vast opportunity and ways to grow. Grow into something beautiful… but not always delicate.

So watch out, Hydra General Hive. This flower might have let you burn her twice, but she's still standing in resilient survival.

You don't want to see the fight a third flame brings out in her.

The end.

Author's Note: Hey friends, sorry for the delay.

I hope you've enjoyed the story. It stemmed from the thought that Skye has changed so much, even Chloe Bennet says Daisy is a different character. I wanted to explore how though Daisy has changed, she actually has been more of her "Skye" self than when she was trying desperately hard to be a SHIELD agent after her hardcore training with May before she got her powers. In a way, those drastic differences between her hacker self and soldier self were her trying to find her true self which was "awakened" with her powers, in my eyes. I felt the show did not do justice to this metamorphosis and I hope I've been able to allow us to get in her head.

Also I thought it would be cool to see how Skye would react to her S3 "completely different" self. Just for fun.

Please review to let me know your thoughts!