Just as Mack turned the steering wheel making the car go left, blinding headlights jumped in front of them. The car stopped in front of Mack's, Daisy leaned forward to look at what was happening.
''What are they doing?'' Mack asked nobody in particular as he stared at the black car with dimmed windows in front. With eyes wide and her heart beating fast, Daisy knew who the people were.
''Back up!'' She yelled to Mack from the back seat, who instantly did so when he saw a man getting out of the car with something in his hand. Fitz being in the front seat ducked down for cover, a few of the bullets hit the front wind shield, shattering pieces of glass off.
''Stay down.'' Ward said to Daisy before laying her across his lap. Unwillingly, Daisy listened to him when she saw Simmons nodding. All Ward wanted was to keep his Daisy safe, and that was what he was going to do. Ward pressed Daisy's body down again when another pair of bullets came from behind them. Mack had already turned the car the opposite way, leaving the car of their attackers behind.
Simmons got up and leaned forward to check on the two sitting at the front, ''Are you guys okay?'' She asked them both but her eyes remain glued on Fitz like usually.
Mack and Fitz nodded in union, both clearly shaken up by what happened. ''She's crazy. The damn android is crazy.'' Mack whispered, gripping the leather steering wheel even tighter when he saw those same headlights behind them, following.
Having noticed, Daisy jumped up before leaning back down again slowly due to the pain, ''You have the gun?'' She asked, eyes digging into Ward. He nodded and took it out from his jacket.
''I can shoot and try to keep them away.'' Ward said and it seemed like the best idea they had. The back window broke when another couple of bullets came spraying from the black car behind them. All four windows were occupied by men with guns.
''Can you take them out?'' Mack asked whist Ward was making both of the girls duck down for safety.
''I don't know.'' Ward replied with nothing but honestly whilst breathing heavily, ''There's four of them.''
''Bloody hell!'' Fitz yelled when more than five bullets rammed themselves into his seat, luckily none of them were close enough to hit him. Ward took aim from the back seat through the back window and took a couple of shots, the car however seemed to come back with more bullets than them.
''Anyone else have a gun?'' Simmons yelled over the gun fire, Fitz checked his suit in case he was carrying anything he didn't know about. He pulled out a silver pistol with a shocked expression on his face.
''What the hell?'' He asked himself before Simmons took in out of his grasp as quickly as she could since this was an emergency. Fitz grabbed her arm, pulling her back, his eyes were glittering in the dark, telling her to be careful. She knew that look. And with a nod she turned to help Ward.
It took Jemma a couple of shots to hit one of the men on the left side of the black car. She was a pretty good shot.
''Hold on!'' Mack warned before taking a very sharp right turn, throwing them all to different sides of the car. The tires screeched whilst Mack was using the brake before the car accelerated again.
''They're onto us again.'' Daisy yelled, seeing the black car once again over the left over smoke of the screaming tires.
Ward turned to her suddenly, ''Stay down!'' He yelled, ''Please.'' He said that part gently, he really meant it. Ward wouldn't know what he'd do with himself if she got hurt. A honking sound that rung in the whole air got everyone's attention. Mack was driving so fast that almost everything seemed like a blur. He saw the train coming but he didn't stop.
''Mack!'' Fitz yelled, only causing him to speed up.
A few screams came from the back seat when Mack reached the traintracks and the train was just about a meter away from their car. Their car jumped into the air from the bump of the tracks before safely making it to the other side. Daisy let out a breath of relief whilst Fitz still had his wide eyes out.
The black car was left behind whilst the long train was gliding across the tracks slowly, still honking. ''I thought we were as good as dead!'' Daisy admitted with an angry tone.
''I honestly thought that way more times than this.'' Jemma said, admitting the fact that she thought they were going to die even before this. Daisy nodded in agreement, knowing that none of them could afford to die no matter what.
Mack took a couple of turns into the city to get away from the black car that was following them just a few minutes ago. ''Don't think they're gonna find us now.'' He said with a serious face, he was watching Ward carefully for almost the entire ride through the mirror in front of him.
''Do you need anything?'' Ward asked, eyes glued to Mack, though he tried saying this in the nicest possible way. Mack directed his gaze elsewhere and Ward spoke up again. ''He knows me too, doesn't he?'' He questioned and turned to Daisy, who ended up nodding.
''We all do.'' She said, but she felt relieved that none of her team members were very impacted by Ward, who was clueless in the framework. Ward felt uncomfortable, judging from all those gazes and looks he received from every single one of them, he knew he had done something wrong in the other world they've been taking about.
''Anyway,'' Jemma began, ''Where would we find May and Coulson?''
Daisy thought for a moment, remembering what her and Coulson were taking about a few times, ''He said he wished he was just a normal civilian, living a normal life.'' Daisy explained and realized that this made their job even more difficult.
''He could be anywhere in the world.'' Fitz said, thinking of all the possibilities and choices Coulson could have made by being a civilian in the framework. They all knew that working at SHIELD was his biggest regret when it got tiring or too risky for his team. All Coulson wannted sometimes is to be a civilian, he couldn't cope with the wrong choices he had made sometimes, but at the same time, the team knew that he would not abandon SHIELD for anything.
With her eyes closed, Daisy began thinking even more to all the past conversations she has had with him. ''A teacher.'' She said as everyone turned to her in confusion.
''What?'' Mack asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
''He wanted to be a teacher, he told me that years ago. I mean, it does make sense, a simple job that still helps people.'' Daisy said whilst clicking her fingers in order to remember most of the details in their conversation. Simmons nodded, ''We now know that everyone we know in the framework is somewhere around since we all almost entered at the same time. Separating us wasn't one of Aida's intentions.'' She explained, implying that Coulson had to be around somewhere.
''Wouldn't it be better if we went to search for him tomorrow?'' Fitz asked, ''It's night after all, schools aren't open.''
Daisy and Simmons nodded in unison, both agreeing with the point.
''We can go to my house...'' Mack said, before his face completely dropped.
''What's wrong?'' Fitz asked with concern in his Scottish voice.
Mack shook his head, ''Nothing. Let's just go.'' He said. Truth be told, he had completely forgot to think about the life he had in here, a home, his daughter... She was the only hope he needed, and here, he finally had her. Alive and well. However, he knew the harsh reality... This all was not real. Just a simulation, a program that almost had no outcome in the real world.
They all drove in silence, Simmons turned to the side a few times to check on Daisy, who was still wrapped in Ward's jacket and was leaning against him. She smiled, knowing that was what Daisy had always wanted. A good Ward.
Mack pulled up into his drive way as the clock in his car struck twelve. It was getting late.
He unlocked the door to find his daughter up on her feet and a furry blanket in her hand. She wiped her eyes in a tired manner before speaking. ''Who are these people?'' Hope asked in a sleepy tone, taking in the different figures surrounding her. Fitz's face dropped too, he realized what Mack was thinking about. He was even sure that the reality was almost his worst enemy.
''Friends.'' Mack answered shortly, ''Get to bed, Hope.'' He said and pushed her in a playful way towards her room that was lit with a small lamp.
''Okay, dad.'' She said, giving him a hug before wandering into her room.
Mack pulled out a chair in his kitchen and sat down with his face down on the table. Simmons approached him carefully, knowing how horrible he must be feeling right now to know that his daughter wasn't real. That everything he had experienced here was fake.
''I'm sorry.'' She said gently, placing a hand on his shaking shoulder. Simmons could hear him inhaling from below her, he was crying. But it was okay to cry. Fitz sat down next to him after pulling out another chair.
''Mack,'' Fitz began before snapping his fingers when his friend was not responding, ''Mack.'' He said again, Mack lifted his head up and the tears were still streaming down his smooth face. Fitz looked at him with a firm look that was still filled with sorrow for his friend, ''We'll figure this out.'' Fitz said, almost promising him.
''Figure what out?'' Mack asked, brushing his head with his hand, ''There's no figuring this one out.''
''No.'' Fitz said firmly, ''I brought Simmons back from an alien planet in another solar system.'' He began, which instantly grabbed Mack's attention, ''I'll figure out a way to bring Hope back. We'll bring her back.''
Mack nodded, having some Hope that he still believed was false. But Fitz did it. He brought Simmons back. Maybe, he could somehow pull it off with Hope. But now, they all knew their objective was to bring their own real people back, and that's what they were going to do tomorrow.
Sorry for not updating! Thank you to the people who checked up on me, that's really sweet! I'm alright, just dealing with a lot of school work at the moment since I've missed a whole week off almost. Thank you for reading!
Please continue to review!
I'm so thankful for every single one of you readers!
I can't express how I feel about the previous episode. So much FitzSimmons feels...
I hope the show gets renewed for a season 5!