Chapter 19

The inhuman sighed softly as he injected the next dose into her IV. He didn't like this, but there was nothing he could do. It's not like he had a better idea. She'd just break out of containment again, or bring the base down on top of them.

Lincoln's gaze shifted from the sedated girl to the scientific duo in the labs. He was pretty sure the two had not gone to sleep last night. He knew he hadn't.

"How's she doing?"

If it wasn't for the fact that he'd caught sight of her from the corner of his eye, he may have jumped. The specialist had been so quiet, even in her wounded state. It made him wonder just how much she could take before she actually relaxed.

"You're supposed to be resting." When all she did was roll her eyes, he answered her question. "Besides the fact that she's being sedated. She's fine, no permanent damage."

May nodded her head, her hand going to hold Daisy's free one for a moment. It made Lincoln totally get the whole May being mom thing. He hadn't believed the female inhuman when she'd made the comment, but the look that flickered in the cavalry's eyes had him eating his words.

"You should go back to your bed before Coulson notices you're up. I can get you something for the pain."

Her brows furrowed as she met the static inhuman's gaze. But not even she could shrug off the injuries Daisy had inflicted forever. Colliding with brick walls and cement floors multiple times was bound to at least fracture a few bones. She was lucky none of her ribs had punctured her lungs.

After seeming to think this over in her head, May extended her hand. "Nothing too strong, and I want to be notified the moment Fitz-Simmons has something."

Relieved she wasn't going to fight recovery for the moment, Lincoln could only nod and turn to grab the medication that would fit her demands. Not strong enough to make her drowsy, but enough to dampen the bite.

"You'll be the first to know."

His attention returned to his comatose friend, after her S.O. Left. Her condition was unchanged, not that he expected something to happen in the few seconds he'd taken his eyes off her. He hated seeing her like this, she seemed even less like the real Daisy in this medical induced coma.

So quiet, so pale, and motionless. He sat down in the chair, he'd pulled up beside her sometime throughout the night, taking hold of the hand May had held not five minutes ago.

"You're gonna get through this." He promised, tracing the veins running through her hand. They shouldn't be that visible.

His gaze went to the lab once more, it didn't appear they were any closer to a break through than they had been ten hours earlier. The biochemist and rocket scientist actually looked quite lost. Mind control was a little outside their expertise, it wasn't like they had come across it much in their lives. Once or twice, but never to this degree.

Lincoln wondered if Daisy would become the modern sleeping beauty at this rate, awaiting a cure instead of prince charming. Cursed by the creature controlling Ward's body. Who she was convinced was her knight in shining armor. He scoffed at the idea. Ward was anything but. The bad boy infatuation, nothing more. At least that's what he kept telling himself. This was all so messed up.

"I'm right here." He whispered. "I'll always be here."

"She'll come around. Just give her some time to figure it all out." He was not convinced, as he looked up at the human muscle standing in the doorway of Daisy's med-room. "You know, after Fitz-Simmons get her head back on straight."

Lincoln sighed, looking back at Daisy's sleeping face. "Thanks Mack, but I don't think she's going to choose me. Not with him still in the picture."

He felt the larger man place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "From what I've been hearing from Bobbi, they're not gonna be able to save Ward unless Daisy figured out a way, and Caleb tells me she doesn't even have an idea."

"I know."

Lincoln was just sure this was one of those loves people couldn't move past. She'd admitted to loving Ward before she found out he was still alive, not rotting on some alien planet. They had even broken up before she saw him in that ally, where they found Caleb.

That had been the deal breaker. No matter what he had done, Grant Ward hadn't even needed to be alive to beat him. He could still be a corpse and Lincoln would still be in the friend-zone, trying to help her move past this heartbreak. The farthest thing from fair in his book, but all's fair in love and war.

"Just keep your head up, this'll all be over soon."

He really wanted to believe the human, but he couldn't. Not with the way Fitz-Simmons and Bobbi were staring at the data. Like it was written in Kree or something. He waited till Mack left before he leaned over and kissed Daisy's forehead.

"I won't be far." He said quietly, before getting up to see what the scientist had come up with. He was hoping for at least a clue as to what could be done. That was not what he was met with.

"I can't find anything saying she's being controlled. Everything about her brain is reading normal activity!"

He'd only caught the end of Simmons' rant, but it told him exactly what he'd been thinking. They had no idea what to look for or how to fix it. They were still on square one, without any clues as to how to find square two.

"Well there's got to be something we can analyze. Some sign that he's controlling her." Fitz responded, taking the tablet from the biochemist.

"Well this is her brain, maybe he's controlling her through a wave that science hasn't reached?" Bobbi offered, trying to lend some help to the two. If anyone was being honest, they both looked ready to drop, making Lincoln wonder if he looked the same.

The agent's comment was immediately shot down by the pair, and they started talking in a language that Lincoln couldn't follow. Agent Morse seemed just as lost, though she could at least understand a few of the words bouncing between the two scientist.

His brow furrowed as he looked at the monitors on the lab tables. They knew it was something in her mind, they just had no idea how to detect it. Mind control.. Mind... Thoughts.. Wait.

"I'm sure this is going to make me feel stupid for not thinking of this sooner... But is there a possibility someone with telepathic abilities can find and fix the problem?"

Simmons was the first to acknowledge him as her own forehead creased in thought. "Perhaps, but they would have to be able to project themselves into Daisy's mind, and to be able to do that we would-" She broke off mid-sentence, as what he was implying finally clicked in her head.

"Caleb only reads thoughts, would he even be able to do something like that? He's never tried to put his thoughts into someone else." Fitz pointed out. "How do we know he's even capable of something like that?"

"We don't. But it's better than sitting here and staring at these scans and looking for invisible anomalies." Jemma responded.

Lincoln smirked a little, watching as Bobbi when to find the scaly inhuman. The scientific duo didn't even notice her leave.

"We need to get Caleb." The two finally settled on, near five minutes later. Only to find Lincoln had returned to his spot by Daisy and Bobbi had disappeared.

"You two talk too much."

His words had the pair looking both offended and embarrassed at the same time. He would have been more amused, had he not felt the hand he was holding clench around his. Something that shouldn't be possible for the sedated inhuman. That had him wondering how long it had been since her last dose.

He was just getting up to get the next dosage, when her hand stopped him. Large doe eyes stared up at him, and Lincoln was surprised to find she wasn't glaring at him this time. If anything she was looking up at him with understanding and hope.

"Daisy?" If his intuition was wrong, Coulson would surely kill him for sitting back down. Instead of putting her back into sedation. May would definitely have his hide. That he was certain as he leaned in to listen to her more closely.

"I know how to save him."

The last words he had wanted her to say at that moment. Of course those would be the first words she'd say when she woke up. Why couldn't he get over the thought that she would move on.

She sat up, the hope in her eyes growing as he didn't move to stop her. "I know what I have to do."