Ahhh I am so sorry for the late update! Many things have been afoot. Let's just say I'm in finals season at the same time as beginning to transition into a new job. The combination is kind of killer at the moment.

But let's not dwell on that! Instead, I present to you the (potential) last chapter of this fic!

I am open to doing another chapter or two if people want to see something in particular happen, so leave that review and let me know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of Shield.

Daisy did not wake up when they re-infiltrated the Lighthouse. She did not wake up when Flint led the humans to freedom, nor when Mack and Jemma killed Kasius. She did not wake up when they travelled back in time and space. Once back in the proper time, she still did not wake up.

An infection ravaged her weakened systems and she nearly died again, pulling through just barely.

The team established new routines surrounding the hospital bed, visiting individually throughout the day when they had time, then gathering as a family together around Daisy in the evening to talk and just be together.

Throughout the chaos, May got into the habit of talking to Daisy when she had a rare moment alone with the girl.

She told her about Bahrain, about how she had always wanted a daughter, about her own childhood, everything.

It was when May felt that she had finally run out of things to talk about that Daisy had mercy on her and woke up.

At first May didn't even realize. Then Daisy's hand moved slightly in her own and May froze, unsure if she had imagined it.

"Daisy?"

Two brown eyes slowly blinked open.

"Hey," Daisy rasped and it was the most beautiful sound May had ever heard. "You found me."

May clung to her hand.

"I always will find you."

Daisy smiled, murmuring something as her eyes drooped closed again.

"What?" May leaned forward, trying to catch what the agent had said.

Daisy repeated it again sleepily.

"Love you, Mom."

(line)

"Daisy, don't even try it," Jemma rolled her eyes, turning around to look at her friend who was trying to sneak out of the bed.

"How did you even see me?" Daisy complained, pouting as she laid back down.

"Eyes in the back of my head," Jemma smirked.

"Really," Daisy folded her arms.

"You're not as sneaky as you think you are," Jemma shook her head, checking Daisy's vitals.

"You know I have a doctor here, right? Also, I will have you know that I am a secret agent," Daisy raised her eyebrows.

"I actually already know that because I am too," Jemma informed her. "And I don't care if you have a doctor here, I still get to assess you. Two heads are better than one. Let me check your neck."

Daisy pulled her hair to the side to reveal the wound.

"You're paranoid. Let the poor doctor do her thing."

"A second opinion never hurt anyone." Jemma examined the wound. "It looks like it's healing nicely. How is it feeling?" Jemma asked, examining it.

"Can't even feel it," Daisy shrugged.

Jemma glanced at her, slightly concerned. "You keep saying that."

Daisy didn't quite meet her gaze. "It's true."

Jemma stopped what she was doing.

"Daisy, a small electronic blew up in your neck, almost killing you and requiring extensive surgery to remove all the bits. Don't tell me that doesn't hurt."

Daisy wouldn't look at her.

"It doesn't."

"Daisy." Jemma slowly sat down in a chair next to her friend. "Do you think maybe… maybe it's time to talk about what happened?"

Daisy stared up intently, suddenly fascinated with the ceiling tiles.

"Daisy?"

"No."

Jemma bit her lip, overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions. Fear, sorrow, worry, anger…

"I should have been there." Jemma blinked hard. "Maybe if I were there…"

"Don't ever say that." Daisy's jaw clenched. "Please. Don't." Something in the girl's voice broke. "Don't ever ever ever say you should have been there." The dark haired agent turned slightly, tears shining in her eyes, her voice pleading. "The only good in the situation was that none of you were there."

"Yo-Yo brought you to us, I thought you were dead," Jemma said softly. "And then, briefly, you were. Literally, your hair was wet with blood. It looked like your neck had been slit with the blood all over it…"

"Stop." Daisy grabbed Jemma's hand. "I'm fine."

"I thought you were going to die," Jemma couldn't stop the sob that shook her body. "I thought you had been tortured to death and there was nothing I could do to stop it, that I would have to live with the knowledge that my best friend had gone through that and I had been unable to…"
"Jemma, please," Daisy was crying silently. "Please. I'm fine."

"But you're not. I know you aren't. Nobody goes sustains the injuries we saw and is just fine. Please. Let us in," Jemma begged.

"Not yet," Daisy whispered. "I… I can't. Not right now. Not yet."

Jemma looked at her friend, chest aching at how broken the strong woman looked.

"When you're ready," she said quietly. "When you're ready, we'll be there, okay?"

"Okay," Daisy gave her a small smile.

"Okay."

A pause.

"Jemma?"

"Yes?" Jemma turned to her friend.
"Having you here helps."

Jemma smiled and squeezed Daisy's hand. "Good, because I'm not going anywhere."

"What the hell are you doing, Daisy?"
Daisy turned quickly to find May in the doorway.

"Is everyone here out to get me?" Daisy groaned, moving away from the window she had hauled herself out of bed to look out of. She just wanted a view of something other than the ceiling for once.

"Daisy." May's eyes widened with panic. The senior agent dropped her things and pressed the call button near the door before quickly moving towards Daisy. "Get back on the bed. Now."

"What?" Daisy furrowed her brow, confused by the severity of May's reaction. "I just wanted to…"

"Now," May ground out, almost pushing her back onto bed. "Stay down."

"What the hell…"

Suddenly Daisy noticed that her white hospital gown was drenched with blood.

"Holy…" her eyes widened.

A nurse rushed into the room, flitting around her.

"She tore her stitches again," he quickly announced, putting pressure on the wound. A doctor quickly appeared, examining the situation. "We're going to have to redo about half of them," she decided. "I think we can salvage the lower part. We might need a small blood transfusion, just to be safe."

"Damn it," Daisy muttered.

May glared at her. "Damn it. That's all you have to say?" The older agent's eyes flashed with anger. "This is the third time."

"It doesn't hurt," Daisy murmured. "I didn't realize…"

"I don't know what is going on, but it needs to stop." May clenched her jaw. Daisy shrunk back slightly at the intensity of the agent's gaze.

"May, I…"

"What's happening?" Coulson ran into the room. "I heard the distress button was hit…" he trailed off, taking in the scene.

"She tore her stitches getting up. Again." May's voice was low, furious. "She was just standing there by the window while she was bleeding out, said she couldn't feel a damn thing."

"I didn't…" Daisy looked between the two agents. "I didn't mean to…"

"May, why don't you get some air," Coulson suggested quietly. For a moment May just glared at him. Then she turned and stalked out of the room.

"Coulson, I didn't…" Daisy bit her lip, trying to stop the tears from overflowing.

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean to," Phil grasped her hand, softly caressing it. "Does she need to go into surgery?" he turned to the doctor.

"We should be able to do it here," the doctor said briskly, pulling on a fresh pair of gloves.

"Can I stay?"

"Please do. We're just going to do local anesthesia so if you could keep her from any large movements, that would be helpful."

Coulson pulled up a chair. "Get into a comfy position and don't move," he instructed.

Daisy turned her head slightly to look at him, taking his offered hand.

"May's angry."

"May's scared, sweetheart," Coulson smiled softly. "She's not angry at you."

Daisy closed her eyes briefly. "It doesn't seem that way."

"I know May. She's scared. You scared her. But it's okay."

Daisy pondered that for a moment, wondering what it meant that she had the power to scare Melinda May

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry," she said finally, feeling like a small child again. "I just…"

Coulson shook his head, cutting her off. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault sweetheart."

Sweetheart.

The tears suddenly came.

"I was scared."

Coulson squeezed her hand but didn't say anything, his kind blue eyes fixed on her.

"They made me kill other fighters."

She didn't know where the words were coming from or why they were emerging now but they just spilled from her lips.

"I'm sorry." Coulson's voice was soft.

"When I didn't, they did worse things to them. I didn't have a choice. But I did."

"It's not your fault, Daisy. You aren't responsible for those deaths. What happened there was sick beyond belief; they used you. It wasn't you."

His words were so certain that Daisy found herself clinging to them like a buoy in an ocean of confusion.

"The thing in my neck, it wasn't just an inhibitor. It… it would emit… something, I don't know, but it hurt like nothing I've every experienced. Compared to it…" Daisy squeezed her eyes closed. "Compared to it, I don't feel anything. That's what they wanted. And it worked."

Don't expect me to be fixed; can't you see I'm broken?

"Daisy." Coulson's voice brought her back. "It'll take time but you will be okay. You will feel again. I promise."

"How do you know?" She searched his face desperately, wanting so badly to find some answer there.

"Tahiti was not a wonderful place." Coulson gave her a small smile. "The things that happened in the wake of that journey, the probing into my mind that the machines did…" His grip on her hand tightened slightly. "It took awhile. But you will find yourself. And we are all here for you."

"All set," the doctor interrupted them. "Now you, young lady, are in danger of me tying you down myself. Can I have your word that you won't get up until we decide it's safe for you to do so?"

Daisy nodded. "Yeah. I won't do it again."
"Good. I have to check in on another patient but I'll be back later to make sure everything is looking okay."

"Thanks doc."

"That poor woman," Coulson shook his head, watching the doctor leave the room.

"Come on. I'm not that bad," Daisy grinned.

Coulson just raised an eyebrow.

A small movement caught Daisy's eye and she looked up to find May standing silently in the doorway.

Coulson followed her gaze.

"I'm going to get some of the awful hospital coffee," he announced, pausing to kiss Daisy on the forehead. "I love you, kiddo."

"Love you too," Daisy smiled at him.

For a moment after Coulson left, May just stood in the doorway, expression unreadable.

Daisy bit her lip and fidgeted with the bed sheet.

"I'm sorry." Daisy offered the word hesitantly, glancing to see how the older agent would respond.

Slowly, May stepped in the room and closed the door carefully behind her.

"Don't apologize." Her voice was even. She took the chair Coulson had been sitting in, her dark eyes flitting to the window for a moment.

"It was dumb, I wasn't thinking…" Daisy said hurriedly.

"Don't." May shook her head and suddenly Daisy saw the tear trailing down the agent's face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"May…" Daisy slowly reached out to take her mentor's hand. "May, it's okay…"

"I can't lose you."

Daisy froze.

"I can't lose you," May shook her head. "I just can't."

"I can't lose you either," Daisy gripped her hand tightly.

Oh god now she was crying too.

"I was so scared when the team brought you back to the ship. You weren't responding; I watched as they tried to restart your heart. And in that moment, I realized I couldn't lose you… I realized that… that I'm not strong enough." May paused. "But you – Daisy, you are strong. You came back to us." May took a deep breath. "If you need a week, a month, a year, I don't care. Take it. Take all the time you need." May clung to her hand. "If you can't fight for your health right now, that's okay. But I'm going to fight for it and for you. Every step of the way." May smiled even as a tear trailed down her face. "I love you so so much." May kissed Daisy's hand. "So much."

Daisy reached for May, who automatically moved closer to embrace her. She buried her face in May's shoulder the best she could from her position and for a moment they stayed like that, Daisy just letting May hold her.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, got it?" May stroked her hair gently.

Daisy smiled through her tears at the return of May's characteristic no-nonsense tone.

"Got it."

"Good."

A pause.

"May?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too."

As tiredness swept over Daisy, she let herself relax in the bed, holding May's hand. Coulson came back and sat with them, his casual conversation dulling into a soothing background noise as Daisy's eyes drifted shut. She was faintly aware that May was rubbing soft circles on the back of her hand as Coulson's deep voice settled on the room like a soft blanket.

Slowly, Daisy became aware of the sensation of a dull ache in her side, where the stab wound was.

It hurt.

She didn't push away the feeling but rather was overwhelmed by a deep sense of relief.

It felt like healing.

Unless I hear otherwise from readers who would like to see a particular scene in this story arc (which I am open to), this is the last chapter!

Thanks for the amazing support, reads, reviews, follows and faves, and for coming alongside me on this journey! It is always a please and an honor.

Until next time!

~silverlining