Work Text:
Close calls // new horizons
He tried to grunt in annoyance. The last time Daniel had ever felt so hopeless had been almost two years before -almost to the date. It wasn't a feeling he had enjoyed then and it was definitely one he had not grown to tolerate.
It was confusing, trying to keep track of time when on one day they were visiting a solar system with only two habitable planets, one of them which had 40 hour-long days and only 3 months in their calendar; while on another day they were dining in a different galaxy where nights lasted five hours and months lasted 3 weeks.
Daisy had always tried to keep track of ‘earth time’.
It had been one of the first stories she had shared with him. How they had once asked Mack for the chance to head out into space to look for Simmons' sleeping husband.
Daisy had told him all about the eternal hum of the Zephyr's engine; about the dull feeling she would sometimes get when she had not seen sunlight for more than a week. Most importantly, she had told him how Jemma had designed and cracked a formula so they could accurately keep track of Earth time.
So, the fact that he could safely presume two years had passed since he had felt this confused and powerless was accurate.
He watched as Kora and Roy, finally being able to put aside whatever it was that had been keeping them from not speaking to each other, kept a steady pace; quick and in perfect sync as they led what was left of the band back to Z3. He limped behind, Lee and Carter trying to steady his weakened body, his prosthetic long gone by now.
Kora’s wails were unintelligible, a sort of mumbling Daniel knew the only other person who could have probably made sense of them was not available.
“Sousa, I need-” a sniff, “-where’s-”
Lee was the one who answered, as the Zephyr finally came into view. “We got him, but we can’t say he’s faring much better than Johnson.”
“Roy!” Kora demanded.
“I got it.” The young man steadied his commander into her sister's embrace as he ran ahead in order to open up the Z3’s loading dock.
----
It had been two years since she had died, and yet Daisy swore she had never felt as dead as she did right at that moment. Her head was muffled, her body ached and heart felt as if it was being torn into a hundred different pieces. They had not just broken her body, but they had broken her spirit, her soul. Her soul- soul, Sousa- where was? She needed- there was something-
Her sister’s energy was the only thing keeping her alive, she could feel it. The warmth she usually felt coming from his embraces after a tiring mission, currently replaced by the burning sensation Kora’s powers left in their wake. She wanted- she needed- there was something-
“You swore you would never make me do this again, come on, come on!”
“Kora-”
Kora sniffed, grunting as she tried to carry Daisy’s entire weight on her own.
“We’re home Daisy, you got us home, see? You got us all out.”
“Not-” It hurt to even breathe, not at all different from those few seconds before her world had gone black, seconds she had thought a dream but slowly came to realize were a memory.
It was what death felt like, and she had already gone through it once.
“Don’t, don’t you dare go cold on me, not while I’m here.” Kora begged, her focus entirely on her dying sister. Roy had already come back and had taken most of Daisy’s weight, yet Kora had not registered his presence.
“Daisy! Come on, Daisy!”
-------
Kora’s sobs were what made Sousa’s eyes open once again, his body aching in protest as it tried to stiffen upon hearing the distraught call coming from the young pilot.
No, no.
“Dais-” He couldn’t finish her name, he couldn’t call out, couldn’t ask anything, couldn’t beg Lee to hurry and try and save her . He couldn’t do anything, his own body was failing. He felt cold, and dull, and foggy, and he got flashes of what now felt like another life lived, of a freezing man who had prepared himself to die out in an open and frigid scene. He was dying -they were dying and their team could barely even stand up themselves.
--------------
The next time Daisy opened her eyes, the first thing which came into her view was her sister’s battered up face, scrunched in pain as Roy tried to wash away the blood on it. It was a touching, yet painful scene, for Daisy’s mind went to Daniel and his own beaten up body, cold and lifeless as she had shouted in grief and had released the quake which had successfully guaranteed her team’s safety. Daisy was sure it had been her own quake which had eventually made her body fail- the jolt having been sprung without any kind of protection, but with every ounce of emotion.
Kora flinched but eased into Roy’s touch and then everything went black once again, thoughts of Daniel Sousa invading her mind. She swore there had been something-
-------------
Daniel jolted awake, his face hitting some kind of plastic wall.
A healing chamber. The Zephyr. He had survived. He was alive. Daisy- had she? Kora’s sobs came to his mind, the woman’s distraught face the last thing Daniel remembered before everything had gone dark. Dark, like the city, like the tunnels, like where they had kept him for an entire day.
He needed to get out, he needed to- but Daisy. The tears came, slowly and silently, because he felt numb, numb and aching and he still didn’t quite fully believe he was alive. He could be dead, his subconscious having woken him up inside Zephyr 1, a nod to the place where he had first realized his feelings for Daisy ran deeper than simple admiration.
It didn’t take long for sleep to claim his tired and broken body. Sleep and the chamber would efficiently heal his cracked bones and contused organs, yet he knew his soul would not easily mend.
-------------
The next time Daisy woke up, she realized she was alone, stuck inside a healing chamber, and alive. She was alive and hurting all over the place. She tried taking in a deep breath, but her lungs and chest ached, as if every rib had been cracked -she then realized that the thought could entirely be a possibility. She had never quaked that intensively without protection before.
The memory made her eyes fill with tears as the image of a beaten up Kora and Lee came into her mind’s view. Her team, her entire team had suffered because she had been rash and a fool.
‘You made a tough call in a tough situation. Not everyone will understand, much less make the same call.’
‘There is no other way around this, I know it and you know it and if this means risking our own lives-
We’re making the call’
Two memories, two different people. May’s words brought her peace, Sousa’s brought her despair.
Daniel- he was- and she had needed- there was something-
She tried moving her body and was pleased to note her head could now turn without it feeling as if it were about to shatter. She could move her fingers too. There was an ache to her movements, but her body no longer felt brittle, no longer felt cold.
It was then she noted- hers wasn’t the only chamber in the room, and hers wasn’t the only body which had been healing.
“Daniel,” it was a whisper, the first word she was able to get out. He was- he looked-
Alive and probably the same as she did, as if death had washed over him. For all Daisy was aware of- it had. He had been dead, she had seen his lifeless body- or so she remembered.
Everything was fuzzy and whirling inside her brain. Her head ached as she tried to remember those few minutes right before she had quaked the moon apart.
He had been dead, she had been standing over his body, everyone had been- everyone had been dead. But no, because Kora and Roy had carried her out of there- she remembered her sister's warmth. She- god, there had been something-
-------
“How long will you be staying then?”
“Until we’re certain she’s ok. We did everything we could, followed every protocol taught to us, but there are some things which are beyond our knowledge when it comes to inhuman biology. Even Kora isn’t sure about certain aspects.”
“You did very well Agent Lee, they’re both alive because of your work. Though I am sad to admit that if Kora doesn’t know about it, there is little chance I will.”
Both? Wait, Simmons? That was Jemma. He was dead, he was dead and reliving his first few days above the Zephyr, right after Daisy had been broken down by Malick.
But, there was something- something felt- different?
“And Agent Sousa?”
“Jemma?” His voice was raspy and weak, but definitely still working.
“Sousa!” Came Simmons' answer, shocked and relieved and genuine.
Ok, maybe he wasn’t dead.
Jemma frantically opened the chamber, tears welling up in her eyes as she gave him a soft but happy smile.
“Sorry for the tears, but I was told you were beaten up pretty bad and that I would probably not be able to even see you properly awake for a couple of more days, much less talking.”
Daniel wasn’t sure he could do either of those things, his voice felt tired and beaten, and his body still felt as if it needed at least another week of sleep before even daring to attempt something as meaningless as sitting, much less standing.
“We hadn’t been expecting you all until Christmas. Gotta say though,” she sniffed, tears streaming down her face, but a wide grin spread across her face, “I think we could have waited until December.”
Daniel frowned. Jemma seemed relieved? She had said both, both? But Daisy-
“You need rest, I know. Your body suffered from severe hypothermia and not to say you went into multi-organic shock from the amount of damage your organs sustained. Agent Lee did a fine job with you, she got you stabilized almost as quickly as I could have done. And-”
Sousa’s head was spinning, alive. He had survived the moon, he had-
It was then he decided to turn to his right, where he took notice of the second healing chamber, and the woman occupying it.
Pain and exhaustion be damned, he jolted up.
“Daisy-”
“Sousa, wait! Your body won’t be able to-”
---------
Darkness. It was dark. Why?
Daisy coughed, a good and strong cough which made her ribs ache, and her face grimace. Yet, it was the first sign her body had given that her muscles were gathering strength.
Her eyes were quick to adjust to the outside. The only light inside the room was coming from both healing chambers and upon remembering the fact she wasn’t alone, Daisy felt her body relax in a way she had not felt ever since before they had arrived on the blasted moon of Pitkin.
She couldn’t see him as clearly as he wanted, but the monitor above his chamber told her enough. It told her he was alive and stable.
How had he survived? She swore she had seen him die, had felt the weight of his body- heavy and without life. She had quaked the entire moon apart because of it, because the grief she had felt overcome her body upon realizing her entire team was most likely dead had been unbearable- she had lost control. For the first time in years , she had lost control.
And yet- Kora had saved her, Daniel was alive, and Jemma sat sleeping by their side.
Wait, Jemma ?
Jemma. Earth. Christmas. The announcement.
That was it. That was what had been bothering Daisy’s ailing mind. The one thing which could have been so important it had haunted Daisy's mind, even as she had been dying.
-------------------
Two weeks ago.
“We’re planning on revisiting Duane after we’re done here on this moon. If it all goes as planned, we should be arriving right around Christmas, probably a few days before.”
Daisy grinned as she allowed herself the small window of opportunity to daydream of soft grass and clear blue skies. It had been too long since they had been on Earth, and even though everyone on board the Z3 loved their jobs, they had all agreed it was well past time to head back home to HQ, and to take a much needed break from their space lives.
“And of course you’ll be staying here with us, right?” Jemma teased, making her daughter chuckle. It was an unfair negotiation, for Daisy could not refuse such an offer when her niece joined forces with her mother and very decidedly informed her Aunt Daisy of all the things she wanted to do when 'everyone came for Christmas'.
"I'll see you both in a couple of weeks. Don't drive Fitz too crazy and save some of the fun for when I arrive. Love you both."
“Bye Aunt Daisy!”
Alya’s childish enthusiasm and innocence made Daisy’s heart ache. It would only be a couple of more weeks. She missed them, she had not realized just how much until Daniel had suggested they used their upcoming vacation month to visit the Fitzsimmons and their kid.
Thoughts of her partner made Daisy re-tune her attention to him, currently standing in the middle of the dock, giving out orders and getting everyone up to speed with what their mission on Pitkin would entail.
She had to tell him, because he had every right to know and because she was sure she was going to go crazy if she kept the suspicions all to herself any longer. It wasn’t that she felt any regret, but the possibility of it becoming a reality had knocked the wind right out of Daisy’s lungs and had made her head spin for a while. So she had waited for a bit, because after the initial shock had dwindled down, she just couldn’t decide on how to spring the news upon him.
How did one go around saying they thought they might be pregnant without sounding either completely elated or completely terrified? She wasn’t either of those things, yet she felt entitled to decide on an emotion before telling him about it.
She wasn’t terrified. Scared? Yes, but not terrified. She wasn’t over the moon elated, because she had not been expecting it. She was excited at the possibility because yes, the thought of starting her own family with someone like Daniel Sousa made her chest tighten and tears well up in her eyes. She wanted to be rational about this, about what this could mean for her, for them, for their future. And so, she had been keeping her suspicions to herself for a little over 24 hours now.
She just had to find the right time and right mood to tell him, preferably before they landed on the godforsaken moon Mack had ordered them to check around.
“We didn’t get a signal response, and Danvers’ intel has been of no use, she hasn’t visited the site herself, so we’re going in blind. Johnson and Kora will do recon, we go in after.”
It would be fine. It was only a suspicion anyway, she would tell him afterwards, right now she had to go and find her sister so they could go over their plan of action.
-------------
It hadn’t been fine.
There had been a reason the moon had been dead silent, a reason why Danvers had not offered any intel on it, a reason it had spiked under SHIELD’s radar back home.
On Daisy’s second day trying to escape from the Warriors (which was what everyone had taken to calling the species hunting them down), she had been separated from her sister; on the third day she had been reunited with Lee and Daniel; and by the sixth, she had lost everyone and had been left standing by herself; with half of her suit ruined, starving and weak, with only her stubborn will power to get them all out of the godforsaken rock safe, keeping her going.
On the seventh, she had thought everyone dead and had managed to quake herself and the moon apart.
---------
Daisy felt a sob creep upon her, she could feel her throat tightening as she remembered she had never gotten the chance to tell him she had thought herself pregnant. And now? Now- she was lucky to even be alive. She still didn't fully understand just how she had managed to survive such an event. She had felt how everything had shattered, had felt the cold rushing through her body, the air leaving her lungs, darkness surrounding her.
She should have not survived.
"Hey you, quite the scare you gave everyone. I’ll admit we were all very anxious to see you, but we could have waited until Christmas. There was no rush."
Jemma sniffed, and even through her buzzed head, Daisy could tell it was taking a lot of effort on her friend’s part to not break down in front of her.
Daniel, she had to-
Her head moved to turn to where she remembered his pod rested, she almost sobbed as she took him in, sitting down, his eyes closed as if he were taking a minute to compose himself. If it hadn't been for the bruises and cuts she could see on his skin, she would have thought him sleeping; waiting for her to wake up, as he had done so many times.
Jemma followed her friend’s gaze and couldn’t help but grin even wider, a few tears escaping her eyes as she saw the look of utter relief go through her friend’s face. She well understood the feeling of having to watch someone you love suffer.
“Hey, don’t strain yourself. He fell asleep while we were talking, I think I tired him out. He woke up an hour ago, asking for you. I told him you were stable, which you are, but still in delicate condition -in which you both are, actually.”
Daisy could barely register her friend’s voice as she blinked away the tears which had formed in her eyes. He was alive, they were-
“Is everyone-” she rasped out, her throat dry and sore, but she had to know, had to ask-
“Your entire team is alive, if not a little bit beaten out of shape. Kora helped heal and maintain their core temperatures at the right levels in order for them to survive most of the blast. She got you all to safety. You and Agent Sousa took the most damage, though. Of course, somehow that doesn't really surprise me.”
They were all safe. Kora, Kora had- the tears continued to freely flow down her face as she thought of her sister, young and still a bit naive when it came to the dangers of being an agent.
This had been the most dangerous task they had encountered- and yet, Daisy felt as if she had lived through this a hundred times. Kora hadn’t though, Kora still maintained a certain exuberance and youthful joy when it came to their work -even if she spoke in quips and teases most of the time.
“Kora-”
“You’ve done good work with her, Daisy. She’s amazing.”
“How’s- ?”
“He’s ok. Beaten up, and he lost a lot of blood, but he’s going to be fine. Nothing we haven’t been able to fix before.”
Daisy was glad to know Daniel would be fine, but she had been aiming towards asking about something else entirely; and as she shook her head, grimacing as she did so with her lower lip trembling as she tried to get the words out, Jemma knew.
Her friend offered her a kind smile, one which Daisy was quick to interpret.
“I ran the tests myself. You’re about six weeks pregnant Daisy. I wish I could tell you more, about its health and status, but until it grows a bit more we won’t know. All I can say is that its heart is beating which means it somehow survived your quakes.”
And there it was. Her suspicions turned reality. If someone had confirmed her inklings to Daisy three days ago she would have been hit with an overwhelming sense of happiness she had never before felt. What hit her instead was a combination of love, fear and a desperate need to hear her boyfriend's voice. He had to know. He had to-
“Rest, you both need to. And don’t worry, only I know.”
Daisy only offered her friend a nod, and a glance which tried to emulate all the grateful feelings she was currently harboring towards her.
---------
Daniel took in a deep breath, one which made his chest ache, but his body revive. He was awake and feeling better than he had in- days? Weeks? How long had they been out? He had no clue, and no viable way of measuring the time. He looked around searching for Daisy’s pod or Simmon’s presence.
The image which he found made him give out a smile, a strained one, one which made his skin itch and ache; but he found it did not matter much as he witnessed Daisy smiling at her friend, her face pale and eyes as tired as he had ever seen them, but alive. They had made it. They had survived, they were back home and back with family.
“Hey, what are you doing up, you-”, he coughed, “should be resting.”
His voice was hoarse and tired, but strong enough to make both women turn to stare at him.
His voice brought Daisy home, it was the only thing that had been missing. He was awake, awake and pale, and beaten up, and yet alive and looking towards her as if she were some kind of miracle. She surmised she was looking at him the same way.
“You both should be resting, Agent Sousa. As long as you don’t start walking around for a couple of more hours you both should be fine with being awake. I'm guessing you both feel like you’ve slept enough.”
He did, they had.
Daniel heard Simmon’s voice but could only see Daisy’s face. It had been the closest of close calls. He had almost lost her -he was certain he had. It unnerved him to think it wouldn’t be the first time she had technically died and had come back to life.
“I never thought there would come a day where you actually looked your age, old man.”
Her voice was weak, even to her own ears, but it carried the mirthful tone she wanted and it lifted everyone’s spirits.
Jemma wiped away a tear, sniffed, and happily announced her leave from the room; Daisy could hear her mumbling the words Alya and turkeys.
They were left alone, alone and wounded, but filled with exuberant joy at being able to hear the other breathing.
“We owe your sister a great debt.”
“Which one?”
“Both, but I had already felt indebted with Simmons way before this happened. Now I feel like I owe Kora my life. Which, I probably do.”
He did. They both did, as far as Daisy knew.
Silence came over them, their eyes calm and assessing.
She was tired.
He was exhausted.
She wanted to say something.
He wanted to hold her. Instead, he broke their silence.
“There’s a lot of things I feel like I should ask you, about where you went when we got separated, about how you managed to raid the dungeons where we were being held, about how we got separated in the first place; but I can tell there’s something else on your mind, something-
“There is, but-”
Daniel offered her a small smile, one which Daisy had grown to understand the meaning behind fairly quickly. It was a smile filled with unadulterated, unconditional love and understanding which on better days overwhelmed her and on worst, scared the crap out of her.
‘Take your time.’
‘I just need a couple of hours, I don’t want to ruin this so soon.’
“So,” he began, “I guess we did make it home for Christmas, after all.”
Daisy chuckled, Daniel grinned and she mouthed a quick ‘I love you’ to him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, tears of joy, and terror, and gratefulness.
--------
24 hours ago
“Six weeks?”
“Yes, you were- aware?”
“Suspicious, but I hadn’t taken a test yet. I wanted to talk to Sousa about it first. Promised myself,” Daisy grunted as she tried to sit up right, “I would tell him after we were finished on the moon.”
“Hey there, careful.”
“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t, and Daisy could tell Jemma knew it, yet her friend didn’t try to fight with her, and for that, Daisy gave her a weak smile, hoping her gratitude was conveyed in her small gesture.
“And it is-?"
“Good, I think. It was going to be good, now I’m not sure. I feel like I need- to properly process everything that happened, and I still don’t understand how it’s still- alive.”
“Alive?” Jemma finished Daisy’s thoughts.
“I’ll be honest, neither do I. Inhuman biology is not my area of expertise. I could ask Kora, was tempted to do so, I must admit, but decided to postpone it. The fetus looks and sounds healthy enough.”
Huh. Fetus. Weird word. Weird word to associate with her. Weird, but oddly- nice? Her brain suddenly began pounding, loud and persistent. Daisy grimaced as the throbbing gently crecended.
“Don’t think about it much, like I said, it seems ok, so you can focus on getting better yourself. Besides,” Jemma looked over to a sleeping Sousa, “you have a little bit of time before he stirs again, I’ve just knocked him out not ten minutes ago. Rest, you’ve got time Daisy; you’re safe, you’re home.”
Home. They were home.
----------
Jemma helped Daisy and Daniel move from their individual healing pods to a double sized bed; both immediately appreciating the warmth and presence of the other beside them.
“Years of sleeping in a single bed -two years in space sharing with you, and now I get restless with the reduced space and lack of snoring.”
“I don’t snore. You snore.”
Daisy scoffed as she rested her head right above his heart, enjoying the steady rhythm and the vibrations it created. It was a soft hum in the back of her mind which she had now realized she had been desperately missing for the past few hours.
She had tried to feel the baby’s vibrations, but they muddled with her own and her body was still not in the best shape. She had thrown up after she had tried it.
Daniel had looked at her with a worried glance and it had taken all of Daisy’s willpower to not make a pregnancy joke then and there. He had a right to be told the right way. She owed him at least that much.
“That was only one time, and I had been crashing from a pretty shitty high, if you recall.”
“Vividly,” he responded.
If they hadn't both been bruised and hurting, Daisy would have lightly punched his ribs.
A comfortable silence engulfed them after. Daisy cuddled comfortably by his side, taking in everything about Daniel which spoke of his being alive. His scent, his heart, his warmth.
Daniel engulfed her in a soft hug, enjoying the feeling of her warm skin against his, of the steady rise and fall of her chest in time with his own.
“I wanted to tell you something.”
Daniel knew as much.
“Yeah, I know. Don’t feel like you have to rush into anything. We deserve some respite.”
“Yeah, we do,” she turned her head towards him, her eyes meeting his own. “I wanted to tell you this since before we stepped out on that stupid rock. I thought we had time, but-” her lower lip quivered as she allowed her mind a second to ponder on everything she had come close to losing.
“Hey, hey. We have time, we have time .”
Sousa kissed her, soft, quick and reassuring, and Daisy’s eyes popped wide open as she finally felt it.
The buzz was the smallest and the most subtle of any she had ever heard.
She couldn’t help it, tears started gathering in her eyes, but this time, they came carrying a small smile.
Daniel was officially intrigued.
“Daisy?”
“I felt sick, back on the Zephyr, a weird queasiness which wouldn't go away no matter what I did. Three mornings in a row. I only threw up once -on the morning when we landed on Pitkin. I wondered, because we hadn’t really been careful back when we had been forced to stay on Strix, but I didn’t dare get tested, not until I told you about-”
Daisy could tell the wheels clicked into place inside Daniel’s mind the moment she mentioned Strix, because they had been forced to stay on that humid-as-hell planet for almost a month, and well- there hadn't been much to do on Strix, and it had been humid and hot, and they had just gotten married (again) on their previous assignment, and it had been as good as an excuse as any to enjoy each other’s company -repeatedly.
“Daisy-”
His face was cautious, because he didn’t want to give out a reaction which would scare or hurt her- she knew him well enough by now to know he would always respect her reactions, allow her the space she needed to navigate through her emotions before coming to meet her halfway with his own opinion and emotions. She loved him for it.
“Jemma ran a full physical, obviously-”
Daisy had never seen his face so focused on not cracking. He wanted to react, she could feel his heartbeat increasing, could feel chest paralyzing as he held his breath in anticipation. It made her feel giddy, and excited, and dare she think- happy?
And she knew then, as she spoke the words aloud, as she took in his widespread eyes and the smile which he desperately tried to contain but couldn’t, that she was happy about it all. About every aching bone, every shivering muscle, every bruise. They all meant one thing, that they were alive, alive and already facing their next assignment. A new, wonderful, terrifying task which they would figure out as they did everything else: together.