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Phil’s helping organize sleeping arrangements for the new load of kids on base when he hears the footsteps, followed closely by Jemma shouting “Daisy!” and taking off- he looks up to find Daisy wrapped in Jemma’s embrace, and the Hydra agent from the rehabilitation center at her heels. Something in him shifts at the sight of her- she’s striking, all hard angles and lines of steel, but something about her is just…different, from when she held a gun on Mace.
The loss of the man he’d met only days ago is strange but crushing, settled in the center of his chest. He feels responsible, despite doing all he physically could, and he rubs at his breastbone, frowning.
“That’s the Cavalry,” someone shouts, anger in their voice, and the woman seems to shrink just a little, shoulders hunching.
“Don’t call her that,” the words are out of his mouth before he consciously thinks about it, shocking everyone present, including himself. But Daisy is beaming at him, and the woman- May, he recalls, but he doesn’t know why he knows that- has a look in her eyes that leaves him feeling breathless.
“She’s with me,” Daisy adds, looking back at May and grinning, reaching for her hand. “She’s here to help us defeat Madam Hydra.”
There are grumblings, but everyone disperses back to their tasks as Daisy heads towards him- she wraps him in a hug, and he responds immediately on reflex, relieved to see the girl back unharmed.
“Any more memories?” she asks when she pulls back, and he shrugs.
“I knew someone’s nickname was Trip without being told?” he asks, and then panics when tears brim in Daisy’s eyes. “Daisy- what-”
“Trip is here?” she asks, voice thick with emotion, and Phil nods hesitantly, pointing her towards the weapons room where Trip and Mack were doing a thorough inventory. She looked at May, who gave a small nod, squeezing her shoulder as she passed. Phil took a breath, preparing to introduce himself as she took a step closer to him.
“Hi, I’m-”
“You’re Phillip Coulson,” she interrupts, voice soft and layered with something he couldn’t name. He frowned, hand wavering in the space between them, half-raised in greeting.
“How do you know my name?” he asks, confused, and May gives a small, tremulous smile as she takes another step closer, standing mere inches from him.
“Because I know you, Phil,” she whispers, and an overwhelming sense of déjà vu crashes over him.
“I’d never seen you before this morning,” he reiterates, and May shakes her head, and his eyes focus on the way her lower lip trembles slightly.
“You know me,” she whispers, and her dark eyes are damp- he has the sudden urge to brush his thumb along the soft skin. “You knew me when I didn’t even know myself. You’ve always known me, Phil.”
“You’re- you’re like them,” he realizes, and she nods. “You remember?”
“Not everything, but enough,” she answers. Phil frowns.
“How did you remember?” he asks, and May steps even closer, laying a hand over his heart before she looks up at him- she’s shorter than him, even in heeled boots.
“You said my name,” she tells him, her voice hoarse, and he feels like all the air was sucked from his lungs. He’s dizzy, a memory covered in dust mining its way up from his gray matter, and he grasps her hand as one word repeats over and over and over in his head.
“Melinda,” the word is wrenched from his throat, gasping as he clutches at her hand, heart racing under her palm. She gives the softest little sob, free hand coming up to cup his neck, and it’s like the final pieces fall into place as his forehead falls to hers.
“I knew you’d find me,” she whispers, and he clutches at her waist, fingers touching her skin.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know sooner, I’m sorry I couldn’t-” she cuts him off with soft fingers against his mouth, shaking her head as much as she can while he’s holding her so tightly.
“Just get us home. We need to get our family home,” she whispers, and he nods, but he’s unwilling to let her go, unable to stop running his hands over her, cataloging her skin. “Fitz…she’s twisted him, so much. I did…I did terrible things here. But what’s she made him do…I’m scared for him, Phil.”
“We have to make him remember. Jemma…” Phil trails off, and Melinda’s fingers halt at his pulse point, resting against his throat.
“We have to kill AIDA,” she whispers, and he nods- they both look up at Daisy’s voice. Her eyes are red, but there’s a grin on her face when she sees them.
“You remember,” is all she says, and Phil nods, moments before he wraps her in a tight hug, cupping the back of her head- she melted into him, letting out a soft noise.
“I knew she’d be the key,” Daisy tells him as she pulls back, wiping at her eyes. “You’ve always known each other like the back of your hand.”
Then she looks at them, and Jemma, Trip, and Mack over her shoulder, and straightens her spine.
“Let’s go get Fitz,” Daisy takes a breath, clenching her fists and smiling at the shake the building gave in response.
“Let’s go home.”