Chapter Text
“Alice, pass me that test tube, will you?”
Dr. White’s voice cut through the gentle hum of the lab equipment.
Alice murmured an affirmative and passed Dr. White the test tube without looking up from her microscope.
She had been working at Advanced Idea Mechanics—A.I.M.—for a little over four months now, and while she may not be a good enough scientist to get the promotion her colleges were shooting for, her PhD in biology was all she needed to be good at this low-responsibility job.
After a moment, Alice lifted her head from her microscope and neatly wrote down her observations on the notepad before her. She would have to type up today's and yesterday’s notes into an official report later, to send to her lab supervisor. That was the most boring part of the job, if you asked her. No one ever did, though. She glanced out the window and took note of the fast-approaching night. She tidied her equipment and samples away, then turned to her only other colleague who hadn't finished yet.
“That’s me done for the day, Daniel,” Alice said with a weary smile. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Not if I see you first!” he chuckled.
Alice rolled her eyes, a smirk playing on her lips. “When are you gonna come up with something original? Honestly, you remind me of my ex-husband. Could’ve been a hell-beast, for all the difference that made.”
Daniel chuckled at her jab at her ex; it had become a running joke, her saying he was from hell.
Alice headed to the back of the lab. It was the nicest lab she’d worked at so far, and the only one with the gift of natural light to work under. Her experience working in tight, underground labs gave her a new appreciation for the spacious and organised room that was courtesy of A.I.M.’s generous investors.
Alice pulled on her jacket and swung her bag over her shoulder as she headed down the two flights of stairs to the ground floor. She quickly swiped her keycard on the reader that controlled the front entrance. The reader buzzed, and her name and photo flashed up.
Dr. Alice Barton, Biology Department.
She stepped through the automatic door, and what felt like seconds later, she was at the door of her little apartment.
Objectively perfect, but devoid of the things that make a house feel lived in.
Then again, most undercover apartments are.
Alice—Bobbi Morse—walked into her bedroom and felt behind the headboard of her bed for the encrypted phone she used to send S.H.I.E.L.D. intel.
From: Agent Morse
To: Agent Coulson
Message reads:
A.I.M. is looking to further develop the energy source to power weapons. Still unknown where the energy source came from, but not alien. I have been testing human tissue samples' response to the energy source; the reaction is similar to 3rd-degree burns. CEO met with a known funder of Watchdogs yesterday. They had a second meeting today.
Awaiting further orders.
Bobbi slumped backwards onto the bed, chucking her phone to the side. Being undercover was exhausting, but at least it wasn’t Hydra. That was a nightmare, partly because of how hard it was to stay undetected and partly because of all the awful things she did to remain undetected.
She was enjoying exercising her scientific muscles, though. Fieldwork hadn’t given her much time to explore other areas, so she relished the challenge and the break from getting beaten up left, right, and centre every day. Maybe when she got back from this op, Director Mace would give her a chance to be something other than a field agent.
Her phone chimed, pulling her out of her thoughts.
You have: [1] new message
From: Agent Coulson
To: Agent Morse
Message reads:
Hang tight, Bobbi; we’re coming.
The base felt emptier without Daisy. As Trip walked through the familiar dim corridors of the Playground and into the briefing room, he still expected to see her grinning face turn towards him as he entered. Even after 6 months, he still half-expected to see her sparring with May or laughing with Simmons. ‘Quake’ was all over the news though, a vigilante targeting Inhuman hate groups and the like. It was strange, to see her as a headline instead of a partner.
Trip pulled back a chair and sat down. Coulson was standing at the front, and the rest of the team (or the ones for this op anyway) were sitting around the table, May looking stoic as always and Mack with arms crossed and brow knitted.
Coulson hadn’t told them much about this op, but from the small team, Trip guessed it would be an easy one.
“Remember that science company we were looking into a few months back? Advanced Idea Mechanics? We were...interested and concerned, let’s say, about a new energy source they were developing. We kept tabs on the company, but they weren’t an immediate threat, so we let them be.”
“What changed?” Mack asked.
“We’ve received some new intel from an undercover agent within A.I.M. that demands action. My source confirmed what we initially suspected. A.I.M. is developing weapons using this new energy source, and they intend to sell them to the Watchdogs,” Coulson said.
“At least it’s not Hydra,” May said.
“Amen to that.” Trip agreed.
“Your mission is to break into A.I.M. labs tonight and steal this energy source, as well as any data on it. The Watchdogs are bad enough with regular guns; we can’t let them get hold of ultra-powerful energy weapons,” Coulson finished.
He pushed a thin paper file over to their end of the table and turned to leave.
“ICERS only. This should be a no-combat op, but you never know. Oh, and I almost forgot,” Coulson gave a sly smile. “You’ll be meeting up with my undercover operative on the op. I think you’ll like her.”
Coulson hurried up the steps that led to Director Mace’s office, leaving the three of them with the mission file, lots of questions, and a thought that no one wanted to say for fear of jinxing it. They were dealing with the Watchdogs, and who else had a penchant for finding and beating the Watchdogs up? Daisy. Maybe this mission would be the one where they brought her back.
“Talk about a short briefing…” Trip said as the three of them headed out of the room to gather their equipment. “Well, Coulson’s got a lot more on his plate now that he’s the Head of Operations. He’s probably gotta do three more briefings after this one.” Mack said absent-mindedly.
“Let’s meet back here in 20 to discuss the details of the op.” May called from the end of the corridor.
“Copy that,” replied Trip, smiling. He jogged a little to catch up with Mack.
“Hey Mack, do you think Daisy’ll be…” He trailed off.
“Who knows, Trip? All we can do is hope.” Mack smiled sadly.
Hours later, May, Mack, and Trip were up in the air and flying to the location of the A.I.M. lab.
“Hey, who’d you think Coulson’s undercover agent is?” Trip said to Mack. “I haven’t noticed anyone gone in the last 6 months.”
“Maybe it’s Piper,” Mack laughed. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Can you imagine her undercover?” Trip grinned.
They were silent for a few minutes more before Mack spoke again.
“Honestly, though? I have no idea. Could be a new agent,” he said seriously.
Trip nodded. “Pretty tough going undercover for 6 months. Whoever they are, I bet they’re good.”
“Landing in 10,” May told her two teammates from the cockpit of the Quinjet.
May brought the Quinjet down in an empty field not far from the location. The time read 12:34 am; they had to be in and out before 1:00 am. The team left the cloaked Quinjet and headed through the strip of forest bordering the field. It was nighttime, and the city lights glowed on the horizon. Thank God for A.I.M. being on the edge of town. If things went south, at least they wouldn’t draw unwanted attention or alert civilians.
The trio slipped into the empty car park at the back of the tall, geometric building that was A.I.M. It loomed over them, its hundreds of glass panels reflecting the distant city lights.
“Where’s this agent of Coulson’s supposed to be?” Trip said in a hushed voice.
They all scanned the car park, and May spotted a shadow near the back entrance that looked the wrong shape to be a bush or pillar.
She gestured to the others, and they crept towards the doors. As they got closer, the shadow straightened up into the silhouette of a tall woman.
“Coulson’s undercover agent, I assume?” Mack spoke cautiously, keeping his voice down and his ICER up.
“You assume correctly, Agent Mackenzie.” Mack recognised the voice instantly.
“Agent Morse?” “Bobbi?” Trip and Mack said at the same time.
Bobbi was in her Mockingbird suit, her hair tied back and mission-ready. She smiled and raised a hand in greeting.
“So, you guys are the team sent to help me break into my workplace and steal months of work?” Bobbi said, amusement in her voice.
“Good to see you,” May nodded curtly.
“You dyed your hair again.” Mack pointed out. The darkness made it hard to tell what colour, but it definitely wasn’t her usual blonde.
“And I have to braid it. And wear glasses. Perks of being undercover!” She said lightly. “At least it’s not Hydra.”
“I think we’re all glad it’s not Hydra,” said May. “What kind of security are we looking at?”
“Two guards at the front and back entrances, and two patrolling every floor,” Bobbi kicked the two unconscious bodies that were unceremoniously heaped near the door. “I took care of these two just before you arrived. Let’s get going before the other guards notice.”
They all quickly pushed their comms units into their ears, and then Trip blew the electronics on the doors so Mack could easily pull them open.
“Not even an alarm.” Mack marvelled at the stupidity of A.I.M.’s security.
The lobby was empty as they made their way towards the stairwell.
“Floor 7. That’s where the energy source is being kept.” Bobbi said to the others.
“What about the data on the tests?” asked May.
“That’ll be on the computers in the labs on the 5th floor,” Bobbi answered. “Let’s split into pairs. One pair can pull the data from the computers, and the other can secure the energy source.”
“Good idea. I’ll go with Bobbi to get the data, and you two go and secure the energy source.” May said efficiently.
“Pulling the data from the computers shouldn’t take long, so we’ll join you when we’re done,” Bobbi added.
“Copy that,” Mack said.
The team split when they got to Floor 5. With May taking point, the two women silently padded down the darkened corridor. They had managed to avoid the guards so far, and by sticking to the shadows and keeping their faces hidden, the CCTV cameras wouldn’t be able to catch much.
They had just rounded a corner when May stopped abruptly. At the end of the long corridor were the unmistakable lumps of the two patrolling guards. A dim light shone through a doorway to the left. It was a good distance away, and there was a strong chance that the other person—or people—who had knocked out the guards hadn’t heard them.
May and Bobbi continued forward; ICERS primed. As they reached the doorway, the glow of a computer revealed the other intruder.
Bobbi’s breath caught in her throat as she recognised the slight figure.
The figure instantly spun away from the computer, hand poised instinctively, ready to quake. Then froze, eyes wide with shock.
“Daisy?” May said softly.
Daisy lowered her hand at the sight of her SO, her face betraying nothing.
“What are you doing here?” She hissed.
Just as Bobbi was about to reply, Trip’s voice came over the comms.
“Guys, you’re gonna wanna see this…”
Chapter Text
Daisy was hunched over her laptop, the bright glow the only thing illuminating the inside of her van. It was as close as she could find to her old van without actually tracking it down, but this one was newer and worked better. Her arms and legs ached from her last fight.
She’d gotten word that a group of Watchdogs would be receiving a new shipment of weapons, and she’d tried to intercept it. Daisy had quaked most of the guns apart by the time the Watchdogs found her. She’d gotten out with only a few cuts and bruises (and no broken arms, thankfully). She couldn’t say the same for the 4 Watchdogs that had found her.
Daisy’s fingers flew across the keyboard with practised ease, the quiet click-clack of the keys a comforting and familiar sound. She was deep into hacking A.I.M.’s CCTV cameras and looping the feeds with an image of an empty corridor or room. For all of A.I.M.’s lack of physical security, they had strong firewalls; it had taken Daisy hours of work to hack in and access the security feeds.
The clock on her laptop read 11:59 p.m. Time to go. Daisy got up and stretched in what little space the back of the van offered. She couldn’t wear her gauntlets during the day, but they were fine for night ops. She was already dressed in her Kevlar mission suit, and as she pulled her gauntlets on, Daisy felt another ache, this time in her heart. Fitz and Simmons had designed these to protect her arms, and she thought of them whenever she wore them. God, she missed those two nerds.
Daisy blinked and snapped herself back to the task at hand. Five months ago, an Inhuman had disappeared. She’d heard about it through the message boards she’d set up for Inhumans to keep in contact. The Inhuman, Jason Ward (nothing to do with the other Ward, the backstabbing Hydra traitor), had manifested some kind of energy-related powers. That was all the information she had; he’d disappeared two weeks after Terrigenesis.
Daisy had seen or heard nothing until a month and a half ago, when a contact within A.I.M. had brought their energy experiments to her attention. That was are huge coincidence—one Daisy couldn’t ignore. If there was any chance that Jason could be rescued, she had to take it. She didn’t know the specifics of A.I.M.’s activities, but she would bet anything that it wasn’t far off what Whitehall did to her mother. A.I.M. didn’t have a great track record as well; five of their projects had been shut down by the government for being ‘unethical’.
That was all the intel she’d managed to gather, but it was all she needed. A.I.M. kept all their files on local servers that Daisy couldn’t hack without being in the building. With some difficulty, she had managed to find recent blueprints for the building and steal an employer’s login for the computer systems.
Daisy clambered over into the driver’s seat and turned the engine on. She parked the van a couple of minutes from the lab, as it was much easier to break in when the guards hadn’t heard a van drive up and park. The air was fresh and cold, and the bright city lights gave everything around her an unearthly shine. It wasn’t hard to get in; the left side of the building sloped up to meet the glass skyscraper that formed the rest of the lab. Daisy simply quaked up to the top of the slope and smashed the glass, quieting the sound waves with her powers. She found herself in a cavernous lab, with large, clear workbenches and cupboards of equipment filling the space. FitzSimmons would have been in heaven.
From the layout, Daisy guessed she was on Floor 5. Those blueprints really had been worth it. She found the nearest computer with a clear view of the door.
"Alright, A.I.M., let’s see what dirty secrets you’ve been hiding," Daisy muttered as she switched on the computer. Just then, Daisy felt the buzz of vibrations through the floor. Guards. Better to surprise them than be surprised, she supposed, as she quaked open the door and knocked the two unfortunate security guards to the floor. Turning back to the laptop, Daisy entered the login she’d stolen, and bam! She was in. She pulled a flash drive out of her pocket and plugged it in. Now to find the right files…
Daisy was so focused on the screen in front of her that she almost missed the telltale vibrations of people approaching. Almost.
She raised her arm, then…
“Daisy?”
May? What was she doing here? And Bobbi too? They couldn’t be here. She didn’t want to see them again like this. She left S.H.I.E.L.D. behind months ago. She didn’t want to be found, didn’t want to see her friends’ faces as they tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault, that Lincoln made a choice, and she shouldn’t blame herself. Daisy couldn’t face them. It was her fault.
One of the first things S.H.I.E.L.D. taught you was that the mission comes before everything. Control yourself, stay professional, and complete the mission. May would let herself get emotional during her next fight, not now. The mission comes first.
“What are you doing here?” Daisy’s voice was all anger and annoyance, but May could see the shock and panic in her eyes. Daisy never expected them to be here, she realised
“Classified S.H.I.E.L.D. op. You’re not with S.H.I.E.L.D., so you don’t need to know.” Bobbi said coldly. Maybe Bobbi was being unreasonable, but after Daisy ran away, she’d lost the privilege of reasonable.
Trip’s voice came over the comms again. “We’ve found the energy source, but it's not…what we expected.”
“Copy that,” said May. “We’ll be right there.”
“Who else is with you?” Daisy narrowed her eyes.
May ignored Daisy’s question and kept her voice professional. “We should arrest you.”
“But you won’t.”
“What are you doing, Daisy?” Bobbi said forcefully.
"I tracked a missing Inhuman here recently, and I’m trying to find him. Because no one else will," Daisy said, slightly aggressively. She turned back to the computer.
“You think he’s here?” Bobbi looked doubtful.
“His powers match up to the experiments A.I.M.’s been doing recently.” Daisy gave up on trying to find the relevant files and started downloading all of them to the flash drive. She looked over to where May and Bobbi were standing; the two agents exchanged a worried look. May pressed a finger to her ear and said, “Did you find a person up there?”
“Shit,” muttered Bobbi, when Trip gave an affirmative reply.
Daisy looked wary. “What’s happened? What are the others saying?”
“We’ve found your missing Inhuman. Come on,” May told Daisy.
Seeing that all the data had been downloaded, Daisy pulled the flash drive out. She followed May and Bobbi out of the lab, barely thinking, just trusting her friends.
The three agents padded along the corridor, a strained silence filling the air. Daisy knew sticking with May and Bobbi was a bad idea; they would try and convince her to come back, and she didn’t want them to succeed. But they were her friends, and they had the same goal; it made sense to stick together. May and Bobbi had always been good at staying professional. Maybe they would let her get away without having to get emotional.
They were in the stairwell on Floor Six when Daisy felt the two guards approach. She indicated to May, who was up front, and the poor guys were iced before they knew what hit them. Each floor had the same layout, so it wasn’t hard for Daisy, May, and Bobbi to find their way to the other two agents when they reached floor seven.
Trip and Mack. Of course it had to be Trip and Mack.
They were standing in front of a chunky iron door, obviously some kind of cell. A bright computer screen with a CCTV feed confirmed what May had told her. The cell was unexpectedly spacious, with a table full of books, a sink and toilet, and a bed with the curled shape of a man. Jason.
Mack didn’t notice Daisy right away. He stepped forward, over the unconscious bodies of four or five guards, and opened his mouth to start talking when he saw Daisy.
“Tremors? Is that you?” God, she missed Mack.
“Daisy? What was Daisy doing here?” Trip looked over at May and Bobbi in confusion, then joy when he noticed her. OOC
May let out a breath. “Daisy was also looking for this missing Inhuman; she thinks A.I.M. is running experiments on him.”
“Hi guys,” Daisy said awkwardly.
“That's it? ‘Hi?’” Mack crossed his arms, tension in his body. “You ran away for six months, and all we got was ‘hi’?”
Daisy could feel her shoulders tensing, herself getting defensive. “I—”
“Save it.” May cut across. “We don’t have time for this. We have to get this guy outta here.”
Bobbi coughed awkwardly and walked over to the computer screen. She frowned. “This doesn’t look much like ‘Inhuman being illegally experimented on’. He looks pretty comfortable to me.”
Of course Bobbi would say that. None of them understood, they never understood.
“Since when has anyone ever treated Inhumans nicely? I bet that shit is only for appearances; we have to get him outta there. He’s been missing for five months; no one had seen or heard anything until recently. That seems like kidnapped-and-experimented-on to me.” Daisy said, very not calmly.
“I mean, Daisy had been looking into this guy; all we’re here for is the energy source. I trust her,” Trip said with certainty.
“Yeah, what are you guys here for anyway?” Daisy looked around curiously and said, “It obviously isn’t the Inhuman.”
“You’re not S.H.I.E.L.D.—” May started, but Bobbi shot her a look.
"What does it matter? It's not like she’s gonna tell the whole world, plus it's to do with the Watchdogs; Daisy could help.” She said.
“Fine, but Coulson isn’t going to like it.” May warned.
"All Coulson would care about is that Daisy’s here, and you know it.” Mack argued.
“I am in the room, y’know,” Daisy said, amused, then a little annoyed. “Just tell me the mission; Coulson wouldn't care."
“I've been undercover in A.I.M. for the past few months. We found out they’ve been experimenting with a new source of energy and have been using it to make weapons," Bobbi explained quickly.
“Because of course they are,” Daisy rolled her eyes.
“That's not all,” Bobbi continued. “They're also looking to sell it to the Watchdogs.”
“Fuck," Daisy muttered.
“So, we take their energy source and research; the Watchdogs lose out on ultra-powerful weapons, and S.H.I.E.L.D. gains a new energy source for the scientists to play with.”
“But now we’ve just found out that the energy is coming from this guy?” Mack gestured uncertainly to the cell door.
“All I know about Jason's powers is that they were energy-related, which lines up, I guess.” Daisy said.
“Jason?” Trip asked.
“The guy in the cell, the Inhuman, that's what his name is.” Daisy carried on, “So what are we gonna do now, get him out? I got all the research on this flash drive; we just need to find out how they were storing the energy.”
“Already there.” Trip jumped in. “Mack and I, we found a whole bunch of crystal-type things in that room,” he indicated a dark doorway behind him, “We thought that was how A.I.M. was using the energy.”
May dropped back into mission mode. “Right, Trip and Mack, get all the energy crystals you can; if we can't get it all, we'll have to destroy the rest. We can't let A.I.M. have any. Daisy, there’s a lab down the corridor to the right. See if you can get any more intel off their laptops, and if not, wipe all their research from their systems. Bobbi and I will get Jason out.”
It was scary, how easily Daisy fell back into the old rhythm of missions. It was all so comforting and familiar, and she hated it. Just the mere presence of May, of Trip... there was a reason she had left S.H.I.E.L.D., and she couldn’t risk falling back into it. They might be acting like nothing had changed, but they had a job to do, and Daisy knew if she went back, the guilt of Hive, of Lincoln—
Right, stealing intel from evil scientists and wiping months of research... Focus on that.
Thankfully, whoever worked in this lab had a higher level of clearance, and obviously had all the data from the new energy source. God, people like this made her sick. Even after the Sokovia Accords, people still did this? The files weren’t hard to find. Thank God for organised scientists.
Daisy wiped all trace of her presence from the systems, clearing any record of her visit downstairs while she was at it, since she hadn’t had time earlier. Then, she deleted all the research and reports from the servers, as well as any local copies. She hoped it would be enough.
As if on autopilot, Daisy’s hand reached to her ear—right, no comms, because she wasn’t part of the team any more. She started to the door, then paused before breaking into a run. Something was wrong. Why were there so many guards heading their way? How had they been alerted? The building had no alarms—that means—no, surely not.
“May! Bobbi!’ Daisy yelled as quietly as she could.
“What's up?” Bobbi looked over from the entrance to the cell, concerned. They’d managed to get it open and were helping Jason out, but the guy looked more sulky than relieved.
“There are more guards coming, maybe 10? I'm not quite sure. Anyway, we gotta get outta here. Mack, did you get the energy crystal things?” Daisy said hurriedly.
“What do you mean? We didn’t set off any alarms.” May said hesitantly.
“We didn’t.” Daisy’s looked grimly at the guy in the doorway, who’s apparently not a prisoner.
Chapter Text
Chapter 3
Mack and Trip had just finished when they heard Daisy’s shout. The room was packed with several prototype guns, as well as one large crate of these crystals that were supposedly a new energy source. Trip set the new modified splinter bombs up to disintegrate whatever was left, while Mack hauled the singular crate of crystals out, as well as two cases with prototype guns.
“Hey Trip, we gotta go. Daisy said more guards are coming.” Mack said. He can hear angry voices but can’t make out any words. Daisy’s obviously very pissed.
“Yeah, I heard. I gotta—“ Trip stepped out of the room and clicked the remote in his hand. There’s a barely audible crackle as months of research and development disappear into dust.
Trip picked up the two weapons cases, and the duo moved over to Daisy and the rest of their team. The Inhuman was leaning lazily against the door frame, a smug grin plastered across his face. May, Bobbi, and Daisy were looking at the guy with disdain, and Mack didn’t know how the guy is still standing; May’s glare was the definition of ‘if looks could kill’.
“The asshole sold us out. Can you believe it?” May said to Mack and Trip as she saw them.
“Aww c’mon, really?” Mack looked in disbelief at the guy in front of them. Average-looking, with brown hair, fair skin and a neat beard. Looks healthy, too. Not really the signs of kept-prisoner-and-experimented-on, though, and the arrogance in his stance paired with murderous stares of Mack's teammates seal the deal. “Just what we needed now, huh?”
“I wouldn’t bother running; A.I.M. hires the top security. You won’t get out in time.” Even the guy’s voice just screams asshole.
“Yeah, I agree,” said Daisy, nudging the unconscious guards at her feet. “Top quality, highly trained. Hardest people to sneak up on and knock unconscious I've ever met.” She scoffs.
The guy just smirked at that.
May noticed the dark cases that Mack and Trip were lugging. “You guys go now, and Bobbi can take this asshole as well. Better ICE him, though.”
The guy’s smirk faded when he saw May reach for her gun holsters. “What—you can’t—” He never finished.
“Sorry, what was that?” Now it’s Daisy’s turn to smile. She had grabbed May’s ICER and shot the guy herself.
“Ooh, he’s gonna have a bad headache when he wakes up,” Trip chuckled.
“That felt good. Let’s go.” Daisy started to the corridor, then jumped back, swearing.
“They’re already here, aren’t they?” Mack said.
Daisy punched the first guy in the stomach, then flipped him against the wall. “I looked at the building plans before I came; there’s a fire escape at the back of the lab. You guys go, I’ll handle—“ A rush of air and the next two guards are blown back against the wall. Daisy lowered her hand and gestured at her friends.
“Go! I’ll be fine. I’ll meet you down there,” she disappeared into the corridor, and May and Bobbi exchanged a look.
“I’ll go help Daisy; you don’t need me to get the asshole and the weapons down there,” May told them. They all nodded, and May took a breath, then charged into the fight.
Despite what Jason had said, those guys were no better than the brainless HYDRA goons that May had battered on numerous missions. They were tall and intimidating, with no technique other than hitting really hard. Daisy had already taken down three. May found that most of those sorts of guards didn't have what it took to get back up when they fell down, which worked just fine for her.
She came in low and took down the first guy she saw. He was large, with no sense of balance, which meant he fell back into another guard behind him. The next man took a little more. One sharp jab to the stomach, then another, then a hook behind his knees, and he went crashing down.
Two shots rang out and May dove to the side, grabbing her ICER. She didn't miss. A smaller man tried to get her from behind; she didn't miss him either. She looked over to Daisy who was grappling with a short man who seemed better than the rest, so, still not great. The only sounds were the grunts and yelps of A.I.M. goons, and Agent May and Quake cut through them like butter.
May saw another guy in her peripheral vision and dodged then blocked his arm, pushing his gun to the ceiling. She kicked the gun out of his hand then kicked him backwards, into his friend, who was also flying through the air, courtesy of Daisy's shockwaves. Their heads collided with a CRACK, and Daisy winced.
The two locked eyes from opposite ends of the corridor. Daisy was breathing deeply, shoulders back and confident. She didn't even look around as she quaked the only guy who tried to get back up. He didn't try again after that.
This fight reminded May of how much she missed Daisy. She had always been proud of her student, as her SO. Now, seeing Daisy's quick competent moves, fighting, not relying on her powers but using both, May was so proud of her. "I missed you, you know. Everyone did," the words flew out of her mouth.
Daisy broke their eye contact and looked down, her shoulders curling in. "Me too."
They wasted no time in getting to the Quinjet and Daisy was glad; the longer she stayed with May, with Trip and Mack and Bobbi, the louder the voice at the back of her mind got. The one that she quieted with every Watchdog plan she disrupted and every Inhuman she saved; the one that called for her to stop running and just let S.H.I.E.L.D. find her, let them forgive her. So, she needed to leave as soon as possible, lest she listened to that voice and let her friends give her all the forgiveness and love she didn't deserve.
By the time May and Daisy reached the Quinjet, the weapons and crystals were stowed and the asshole Inhuman was cuffed and still unconscious.
“I’m guessing the A.I.M. goons didn’t put up much of a fight?” Bobbi quipped to May and Daisy when they approached.
“I swear all these evil organisations hire from the same places; they weren’t much better than HYDRA,” Daisy replied, her mouth twitching with amusement.
“I always wondered if any of them could take me in a fight; I suppose I know now.” At Daisy’s questioning face at ‘always’, she continued, “I was undercover here as a scientist for four months to find out about this energy source. The guards never looked like they could take more than someone trying to sneak through security; let alone trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents,” she said with a shrug and a warm smile.
The three women heard Mack’s voice coming from inside the Quinjet, reminding them that they need to be going. Daisy snaps and digs into her pocket, remembering the flash drive she shoved in there earlier. “Here’s all the data on the weapons and tests. I was gonna take it, but you said you needed it and I know that missions are best completed so…”
“Come back with us, and you can still use it,” May said. Daisy saw, even in the dim moonlight, the subtle hope in her expression.
“I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Why not?” Bobbi met her eyes, unflinching.
“I left S.H.I.E.L.D. behind. I miss you all, I do, but I couldn’t stay there, not after—”
“You didn’t leave, Daisy. You ran away. We’re your family, and you bailed on us.” At that, Bobbi turned and stalked up the Quinjet’s ramp.
The night air was getting to Daisy, and she gave an involuntary shiver.
“I should go—” Daisy couldn’t look at May. She had to get back to her van, where it was safe and lonely. This mission was a disaster; she didn’t rescue Jason and didn’t get any new information. Just an ocean of guilt.
Daisy walked through the field away from her family.
They all agree to leave Daisy out of the mission report. Mostly, anyway. Officially, an ‘anonymous asset’ aided them with the mission, then disappeared before they could identify them. May still tells Coulson, though. S.H.I.E.L.D. is bigger now, with less familiar faces. They can’t afford to keep secrets from their friends.
Weeks later, while combing through message boards, looking for anything on the Watchdogs, Daisy gets an email. It’s forwarded from one of her Inhuman contacts on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar, Joey. She guessed S.H.I.E.L.D. would be boosting their efforts to find her, and she assumes it’s a warning that she should get moving unless she wants to be arrested.
She’s wrong.
From: [email protected]
--------- Forwarded message ---------
From: [email protected]
Subject: Just helping out ;)
Heard you played a hand in getting this for us and figured you might make good use of it.
stolen A.I.M. files.pdf
Notes:
thanks for reading <3