Work Text:
She felt the power of her quakes as it coursed through her body and out. Every single bone in her body definitely had to have broken due to the magnitude she was able to create. There was no way her gauntlets were able to protect her from that. Her own powerful quakes mixed with the absorbed quakes from Nathaniel Malick created a blast so big no one could possibly survive it.
And Daisy knew that. She knew this is what had to be done.
The blast shot her body out into the openness of space. She felt it first in her throat and her chest. Her throat felt like it was closing in on her, the lack of oxygen becoming immediately prominent. Her lungs felt like they were gonna collapse under the pressure. The next thing Daisy felt was the cold. Her fingertips became numb at the slightest exposure to the vacuum of space. Then suddenly, the ice formed around her body, cocooning her in a frozen shell.
Daisy knew she wouldn’t be conscious much longer. She could literally feel her body dying. Then again, she was supposed to be brought back to life. Well, more like a 50/50 chance. Fitz had explained to her that despite the percentages, this was the only way possible. She was the only one capable of achieving this. Only she had the power to save everyone. To save their team. To save their family.
Even if she didn’t make it, Daisy would gladly die knowing the people she cared about would survive. However, she wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye. Coulson and May. Mack and Yoyo. Fitzsimmons and their daughter Alya. Sousa…
She had only known Daniel for a couple of weeks at most, but Daisy knew that she wanted to be with him. She really did love him even if she didn’t want to admit it out loud. That aspect still scared her to death. Daisy didn’t believe in God, but she still prayed that Kora would be able to revive her.
There was a time when death seemed to be a desirable option for her. Now, Daisy wanted nothing more than to live.
That’s when the darkness closed in. Floating beyond the stars, Daisy accepted her fate, whatever it may be. She closed her eyes as the darkness fully consumed her.
And then there was nothing.
Her brain activity was still there even if her body was physically dead. Her mind wanted to breathe, but she couldn’t. She still tried to fight. She would fight as hard as she could if it meant she would be able to breathe again, but the darkness gave her the feeling of claustrophobia.
Daisy’s mind could feel the panic attack as it happened. It felt like she was trapped in her own body. As hard as she tried, she just couldn’t. At this point, Daisy had almost given up. Her brain relaxed as the activity died down.
Then suddenly, there was warmth. Daisy’s mind welcomed the warmth as it melted away the frozen cocoon. She could feel her fingers again. Suddenly, she was able to breathe again. Despite all this, her body was in an enormous amount of pain, but she welcomed the pain. Pain meant she was alive.
She had lived.
Daisy’s eyes shot open as the lights of Zephyr One shined back down at her. Kora’s glowing hands stayed there for a couple more seconds before backing away. Daisy could see both Coulson and Mack kneeling beside her as May stood off to the side, obviously having just run in from the cockpit. The audible sigh of relief the older woman made could be heard as her ears began to decipher between the clouded noises.
“Thank you, Kora,” Mack said, his deep voice bringing tears to Daisy.
Daisy looked to Coulson, who seemed to still be coming to terms with the fact that his pseudo-daughter had died for a moment there. “This is what we were fighting for.”
Daisy looked at Kora. Her sister. Well, half-sister technically, but sister nonetheless. “Family,” she croaked out.
Family.
The thing she searched for her entire life. A childhood of foster families that sent her back every few months (even if it was a Shield order, little, child Skye didn’t know that), and her early adulthood was spent trying to find her biological family, leading her to numerous dead ends.
Little did she know that one dead-end would lead her to a family she could’ve never imagined. The day Coulson took her (kidnapped technically) from her van would forever be the best day of her life. Not because of the events that transpired that day, but because of where that day led her and the people she’s gotten to meet and love over the years.
She did end up finding a biological sister. Of course, through time travel of all things because they just couldn’t have a normal way of doing things, could they? She also found a boyfriend through time traveling. Was Sousa her boyfriend now? The titles still scared her.
Kora and Coulson assisted Daisy into the hyperbaric chamber as May and Mack went to the cockpit, making their way back down to Earth. Upon seeing the chamber, Daisy’s heart stuttered.
Coulson picked up on her uneasiness. “It’s just to help your body heal,” he assured her. “Simmons instructed the sedative to give you, so you’ll just fall right to sleep. It’ll be alright, I promise.”
“Are they all…”
“They’re all safe,” Coulson said.
Daisy nodded as Kora helped her into the chamber as Coulson got the sedative. Daisy gave her sister a grateful smile and nod as Coulson injected her with the sedative. She lied back down, familiar feelings coming in as the top of the healing pod was shut closed with a hiss of air.
Daisy could feel her heartbeat pick up, the claustrophobic feeling taking hold. She closed her eyes, trying to relax, but that only made the feelings worse as she was brought back to the darkness. Coulson had also dimmed the lights in the room a bit, thinking that the lack of light would help her sleep. She focused on the glowing lights that ran back and forth on the top of the pod. Soon, the sedative took hold, and she fell right to sleep. There was a moment of panic when she was met with the darkness, but that soon faded away once her mind went into the dreamland.
When she did feel herself waking up, Daisy was met with darkness. The darkness was the same darkness she faced when she didn’t know whether or not she was going to live. The memory of floating aimlessly through space filled her mind. The cold. The inability to breathe. The darkness.
That was when her eyes shot open, a jump in her body causing her to fully wake up. Her breathing was still quick as the panic began to die down. She was back in the Lighthouse. The pod seemed to be moved from the Zephyr to a closed-off section of the infirmary.
“Hey,” a voice called to the side. Daisy turned her head and was face to face with no one other than Daniel Sousa. Seeing him made her feel much better. “You had me scared there for a little while.”
“Sorry about that,” Daisy replied.
“You doing alright?”
Daisy groaned as she shifted a little. “I’m sore basically everywhere, but it’s better than earlier.” Earlier. Earlier when the quakes had broken her body, and she died out in space.
Daniel shook his head as a smile adorned his face. He looked at her with so much admiration. “You’re so amazing, you know that?”
Daisy looked away from him for just a second as she allowed herself to blush from the compliment. “Anything for my family,” Daisy trailed off. “Speaking of family, is Alya…”
“She’s safe,” Daniel assured her. “She’s the sweetest little girl, and everyone already adores her. She’s really looking forward to finally meeting her Aunt Daisy. Says you’re her hero.” The words Aunt Daisy lingered in her mind. It was such a surreal thing to think about that two of her best friends had a kid now. “She actually came in here to see you a couple of the times that Dr. Simmons came to check on you.”
Daisy shook her head, the concept of time escaping her. “And… how long has it been?”
“Almost two days,” Daniel answered. “You’ve been in and out the entire time, but this is the first time you are fully conscious.”
“And have you been sitting there the entire time?” Daisy asked, eying the metal chair he had once again found himself in.
Daniel didn’t say anything back, giving Daisy her answer. She couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that he still wanted to make sure she was alright, but at the same time, it made her heart flutter in a way that she hadn’t felt in a long time. “Hey!” Daniel said as Daisy continued to laugh. “Agent May did get me to shower and sleep for a good while. She watched you while I was gone. Something about wanting to feel you. I was almost completely sleep deprived by then, so I didn’t quite catch it all.”
Daisy sighed, not realizing how May’s newfound empathic abilities would have affected the way she felt when she was technically dead. The same way Daisy could no longer feel May’s vibrations during those moments when she was dead after being stabbed by Sarge, May probably lost contact with Daisy’s emotions. Daisy made a mental note to finally talk to May about her powers.
“Oh, good, you’re awake!” Jemma said upon entering the room. “We’ve all been so worried. How are you feeling?”
“Sore, but I know it’s nothing you can’t fix,” Daisy answered. “As long as Dr. Simmons doesn’t get all pokey on me, then I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Jemma giggled, happy to finally see her best friend awake. “Well, lucky for you, I don’t need to get all pokey for a while.”
Jemma opened the hyperbaric chamber as she and Daniel helped Daisy to sit up. All her tests came back clear, so Jemma gave her the okay to leave the pod and walk around.
Due to the fact that she had been in there for almost two days, Daisy stumbled a bit upon walking, but Daniel held her by the waist as he helped her to her room.
Upon reaching the door, Daniel raised his eyebrow. “Wait, this is your room?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Agent Rodriguez had put my stuff in here,” he explained. “This is where I went Agent May told me to finally rest.”
Daisy went almost speechless upon hearing this. “W-Wait? You slept in my room?”
“Apparently.” Something clicked in Daniel’s mind. “They all know about, you know, us, don’t they? I know based on the comment Agent Rodriguez said earlier tells me she knows. Mack also seems to know since we did, um, kiss right in front of him.”
Daisy smiled while thinking of the memory. “I think Simmons may know too. She was giving me looks when you offered to take my bag in 83. Also, Mack and Yoyo knew for a while. They apparently made a bet on it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Mack won twenty bucks off of her.”
“Twenty bucks!?” Daniel exclaimed.
“Slow down, there, Danny Boy,” Daisy teased. “In this day and age, twenty bucks would only be enough for one of us to have a decent meal at a common name restaurant.”
“Maybe one of these days, I’ll be able to take you to a nice restaurant.”
“Are you asking me on a date, Agent Sousa?”
“Only if you’re interested.” The two of them shared a laugh before entering the room. Daniel stood off to the side as Daisy looked through her closet and dresser.
“How did you not know this room was already occupied?” Daisy asked, motioning to the clothes that filled her closet.
“I wasn’t about to go around scoping out closets,” he admitted. “After I took a shower, I was so tired, I fell asleep immediately.”
Daisy nodded, looking around the room. She guessed she could see why one wouldn’t be able to tell this was someone else’s room. She hadn’t had the time to really decorate it. Really make it her own. There wasn’t much time for all that between when she got back from space to when she and the team were thrown into their time travel excursion.
But here they were. They had won. They had survived.
“I’m going to take a shower and put on these new clothes,” she told Daniel.
“And I’ll be right out here waiting for you.”
Daisy nodded, trying not to let her blushing cheeks be too obvious. Daniel was different than all the people she liked before. There was something about him that just made her fall for him, and boy, was she falling hard.
With one last smile, Daisy entered the connected bathroom, locking the door behind her.
The warm water from the shower hitting against her skin made her feel much more relaxed than before. After weeks and weeks of constantly on the run, it was nice to finally have downtime.
As she reached for the bottle of body wash, she closed her eyes, allowing the water to pour over her face. It felt nice. Until finally it didn’t. The darkness consumed her once again. Suddenly, she was back in space, her body dying. She felt the frozen shell. She felt the tightness in her chest as her body was losing oxygen. She felt the numbness in her fingers. She felt the claustrophobia of fighting but going nowhere. She felt the fear of never being able to see the people she loved again.
Daisy’s eyes shot open as the sound of something banging against the floor of the shower brought her out of her daze. With her heart still beating fast, she looked down to see that she had dropped the bottle of body wash. She picked up quickly, now wanting to get the hell out of the confined space.
Once she had finished her shower, Daisy dried her hair and got dressed. Once done with that, she met Daniel back in the room, who was sat patiently on the edge of the bed.
“You good?” he asked, slight worry heard in his voice.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry, I just heard something crash in there.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Daisy played it off. “Just still a little out of it in terms of my senses I guess, but I’m sure it’ll go back to normal. Ready to head out?”
Daniel nodded as they both made their way to the common room.
Everyone was happy to see Daisy up and walking again. Despite it only being a couple of days, it felt like forever for everyone since they were able to see Daisy. There were hugs all around as Daisy reunited with them, but her heart seemed to stop upon seeing the little girl with platinum-blonde hair laughing about as she was chased by Mack.
Officially meeting Alya wasn’t something Daisy ever imagined happening soon, but it was one of the few things that made her entire year. Hearing the words ‘Auntie Daisy’ spill from the little girl’s mouth made her tear up as she continuously told her all the stories told by her parents and how Quake was her favorite superhero ever.
Even more tears came when Jemma and Fitz told her privately that “Alya’ was another word for ‘sky’, and the two of them had basically named their daughter after her.
Soon enough, it was late, and everyone was ready to turn in for the night. Daisy and Daniel retreated back to her… their (?) room. “So, I can take the couch here,” Daniel said.
“What?” Daisy asked. “Are you sure? The thing isn’t exactly the most comfortable.”
“I’m okay, Daisy,” Daniel said. “You deserve to sleep in an actual bed, and I want you to be comfortable. This is your first night out of the chamber. You deserve it after everything you’ve been through.”
Daisy nodded as the two of them got comfortable in their sleeping areas. Daniel switched off the light, wishing Daisy a ‘good night’ before he hopped onto the couch and fell asleep almost immediately. Daisy figured it wouldn’t take long for him to fall asleep given that on the Zephyr, he had fallen asleep in a metal chair with a box of gloves as a pillow.
Daisy turned to her side, trying to relax and fall asleep, but she couldn’t. Thoughts scattered her brain. The darkness of the room bringing back the memories of her death. At one point, Daisy had succumbed to the tiredness in her eyes, and she fell into a deep sleep; however, that did not rid the feelings of pain and fear.
That’s all she was able to feel.
The fear, the pain, the cold, the tightness, and the numbness. All of those feelings overtook her, bringing her back to the vast openness of outer space. The darkness held her still, not allowing her to escape.
She tried to fight, but she couldn’t. She was stuck in this never-ending loop of darkness that she couldn’t escape. She had to get out of here. She had to…
Suddenly, through the clouded silence in her ears, Daisy could hear someone calling her name. “Daisy!” It shouted. “Come on, Daisy, you have to get up!”
That’s when Daisy’s eyes shot open. Instantly, Daisy’s body shot up from the bed. She sat up as she began to hyperventilate. She couldn’t see through the darkness. She felt her chest tightened as her ability to breathe became limited as well. She felt trapped. She eventually could feel a dip in the bed, indicating that there was another weight on it, as well as feeling familiar vibrations.
It didn’t take her long to realize Daniel was right next to her. “Hey, hey, hey, I’m here. I’m right here,” Daniel comforted her. “It’s okay, Daisy.” Daisy seemed to mumble something. “What? I didn’t quite catch that.”
“The dark,” she muttered out. “The dark, It’s… It’s too much. I can’t-”
Daisy was in a full-blown panic attack, but Daniel understood what she meant. He rushed to turn on the lamp before returning back to the bed with Daisy. Daisy’s eyes darted around, taking in the scenery, trying to remind herself that she was safe in her own room, but the panic still took over her.
Daniel took her hand and placed it over his heart. It beat ever so steadily. “Hey, can you feel my heartbeat?” Through her panic, Daisy was able to nod. “Okay, we’re gonna take this slowly. No matter how long it takes, I’m going to be right here with you. We’re gonna breathe in for four and out for four, okay? Can we do that?”
Daniel helped Daisy get her bearings, counting for her so that she could focus on his heartbeat and her breathing. It took a few minutes of constant deep breathing, but she eventually got there.
Daisy took one last deep breath before speaking up. “I’m sorry. I woke you, didn’t I?”
“You did,” Daniel replied. “But me being awake at an early hour is most definitely nothing to whatever you are going through right now.”
Daisy sighed, not really wanting to think about the darkness, but when she looked into his eyes, she knew she could trust him. “The dark,” she stated. “When I… died up there, I felt a lot of things. I felt the cold as it froze my body. I could no longer feel my fingertips. I felt the way my lungs tightened and my throat constricted as I couldn’t breathe. I remember the pain I felt as the quakes broke my bones. But out of everything, the one thing I remember was the darkness. Once things go dark, the only thing I can think of is the way I couldn’t fight it. I couldn’t fight the pain. I couldn’t fight the darkness. I was so scared,” she told him. “I was so scared that… I would never see the people I love again. I wanted to live, but all I could feel was myself dying. I felt like I was trapped.”
“Hey, you’re safe,” Daniel assured her once again. “You’re alive.”
“I feel broken.”
“You’re not broken,” Daniel said. “You’ve been through something traumatic. You literally died. I can’t imagine anyone coming out of that completely unscathed and okay. It may take time, but you’ll get better.”
Daisy was silent. She still seemed to be beating herself up over feeling this way. She saved the world. She saved her team. She saved her family. She seemed to be asking herself “What’s wrong with me?”
Daniel sighed. “After I lost my leg,” he started. “I would feel pain as if it was still there.”
“Phantom pains,” Daisy said.
Daniel nodded. “Sometimes, the phantom pains felt worse than the actual bomb that caused me to lose my leg. Sometimes, remembering hurts more than the actual pain.”
“How did you get it to stop?”
“It never really stops,” Daniel replied. “Things like this… they stick with you. Sometimes even for the rest of your life. However, if you surround yourself with the right people, they seem to help you out a lot. You never forget about the pain, but it does get easier to manage. You’ll, of course, always have your bad days, but that’s just part of being human.”
For the first time since she had woken up from her nightmare, Daisy smiled. “That sounds nice.”
“And it will be,” Daniel said. “I promise.” Daisy nodded. Something was telling Daniel that she wasn’t ready for him to back to the couch. Daniel lifted the covers of the bed. “May I?”
“You don’t have to if you really don’t want to…”
“I’m right where I need to be.”
With that, Daisy nodded, and Daniel climbed under the covers. He took Daisy into his arms as she rested her head against his chest, his heart still beating steadily. It’s been a long time since Daisy felt cared for this way, and she felt comfortable when around him.
She looked up at him, and he was smiling back at her. “Thank you.”
“Anytime you need me.”
Daisy rested her head back on his chest. She was grateful that he had chosen to not stay behind in 76. Slowly, she fell back to sleep with the light on. It did take her a while to finally sleep normally again. She made great progress from sleeping with the light on to Daniel waiting until Daisy was asleep to turning the light off to finally being able to sleep with the light off once again. Sure, she had her bad moments, they definitely got worse when Fitzsimmons moved back to Scotland, but she still made amazing progress. The one constant was that Daniel was by her side every step of the way. He truly was her light.
And little did she know, that years later when she and Daniel were married and had a house that they could call their home, Daisy would find herself walking through the hallway late at night towards their daughter’s room.
When she opened the door, she found the three-year-old girl awake and sitting still in her bed, tears staining the little girl’s cheeks. Daisy sighed as she made her way over to her bed. Even though there was a nightlight installed, it didn’t stop the nightmares from happening.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“The dark is scary, mommy,” the little girl cried out.
Daisy smiled as she got under the covers next to her daughter. She didn’t care if her daughter still slept in an oh-so tiny toddler bed, Daisy was going to do whatever it took, even squeezing herself into the small piece of furniture, to comfort her little girl.
She stroked her hair, comforting her as she slowly fell back to sleep. Daisy repeated words of comfort, telling the toddler that everything was going to be alright like Daniel had done before. Just as Daniel had always been a light for her, Daisy was certain to be the light in her daughter’s life.