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“I’ll stay,” Daniel Sousa announced to the whole speakeasy when it had been revealed that someone had to stay back in 1983 so that the team could use the Quantum Realm, along with the Chronicom ship, to travel back to 2019.
Sousa had already been pulled out of his time, and if it meant the team would be able to return home – if it meant Daisy would be able to go home – he was willing to take the sacrifice.
Daisy’s eyes widened as her heart sank into her stomach. She knew what that meant if Sousa stayed behind. She would be losing him, possibly for forever. She stopped listening to what was being said after that. She wasn’t willing to let go of this connection she had built with him. Not now. Not ever.
She was not ready to lose someone she cared so deeply for. Not again.
“If the army taught me anything...” Daniel said as he took Daisy’s hands into his, her gauntlets making it slightly awkward to hold.
Daisy, in the back of her mind, hoped that the team hadn’t noticed or thought much of this gesture. She knew Mack knew, and maybe Yo-Yo by extension, but she wasn’t ready for the rest of them to know her feelings on the man they had taken from 1955.
Though she had come to terms with her feelings and knew how he felt about it, she wasn’t ready to speak it into existence, afraid it all would be taken from her.
And for a moment, that’s what it felt like.
But the moment definitely was not overlooked by the team like she had hoped.
May had been sensing some sort of spark between Daisy and Daniel for some time now due to her new empathic abilities, but she decided not to think too much into it; they had a mission to focus on.
She thinks it was when Daniel had brought an unconscious and very tortured Daisy back to Zephyr One, claiming he had a duty to bring her home. When Simmons tended to Daisy’s wounds, he never wanted to leave, wanting to make sure Daisy was going to be alright.
May was the same way. Though she could feel Daisy’s pain and fear when she had helped Jemma change Daisy into more comfortable clothes, her staying with Daisy was because of their special connection that she too was scared to say out loud due to the fear of this girl being taken from her.
But she and Daisy had years to build such a relationship. Daniel had only met Daisy barely a couple of days ago.
At this point, May was just starting to sense emotions and feelings without having to touch someone. What she felt from Daniel was, not just worry for Daisy, but also admiration for her. Daisy had always been a fighter – May knew more than anyone else – and Daniel was discovering this about her for the first time and was highly impressed by it.
It was after the time loops had been resolved that May was able sense something more that Daniel felt about Daisy, and she was starting to sense similar feelings from Daisy about Daniel.
May always knew Daisy loved so deeply, so sensing these feelings be reciprocated, it was a relief to know her girl wouldn’t feel the same hurt she had once felt before and broke her.
Seeing Daniel hold Daisy’s hands like that, May knew that these feelings were love. Deep, passionate love for one another, even if neither of them wanted to say it yet.
Physically feeling Daisy’s fear and apprehension and grief at the thought of losing Daniel, that was the only thing May needed to know the truth about these feelings.
Elena was next to notice as Jemma tended to her wound from the explosion in the Lighthouse. Her mouth had fallen in shock. Sure, she had seen some chemistry between them and noticed how Daniel was practically connected to Daisy at the hip, but she wasn’t exactly sure Daniel would be Daisy’s type given her track record of previous relationships.
“Daisy likes the bad boys,” Elena had told Mack. “Sousa’s probably too square for her.”
Mack had noticed this chemistry too, but he actually could see it going somewhere. That’s how this couple’s twenty-dollar bet began.
She looked up to Mack, who was chuckling as he saw how Elena was reacting. “You owe me a twenty,” he told her.
“Dammit,” she murmured. She viewed Daisy like a younger sister, maybe not to the extent of Mack’s big brotherly relationship with her, but she knew she loved Daisy, and she was her family, so Elena knew she wanted to tease Daisy about it eventually.
But this felt like a goodbye between Daisy and Sousa, so Elena decided she would be the first one to comfort her once the goodbye was final.
Mack had a mix of emotions going through him. He was happy Daisy had found happiness in someone after the grief and hurt she suffered through after losing Lincoln. He was glad it was no one other than Daniel Sousa. But standing here, watching Daniel offer himself to stay behind, it broke him to watch.
The memory of a lost and broken Daisy in his arms flashed in his mind. A part of him was angry with Sousa as this was after everything he had told him about Daisy’s past of being hurt, but at the same time, he couldn’t fault him for wanting to sacrifice so much in order for Daisy to live on in her own time.
He knew a sacrifice said so much about one’s love for another. Mack just didn’t want to allow the universe to hurt Daisy once more.
Jemma couldn’t make sense of anything that was coming and going from her mind. She knew she loved these people, but how or why... she didn’t have an idea. She knew she was a doctor, so she knew what to do to help with Elena’s wounds, but she could tell something emotional was going on, and she had no idea how she was supposed to feel about it.
The girl in the weird costume – Daisy they said her name was – had treated her with so much compassion that Jemma knew they must be friends. She told her they were friends. Daisy had helped her despite how confused she had been feeling.
Now, Daisy was sad it seemed. Jemma must have known that she didn’t like it when Daisy was sad. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt sad for the girl. She assumed it had something to do with the handsome man in the blue shirt and holsters – Daniel they said his name was.
Jemma had watched the two of them together, sharing loving looks and stolen moments. She knew they must love each other just like she loves someone... or loved someone? She’s married, she thought... or she was... are Daisy and Daniel married? Is that why they’re so sad about leaving each other?
She wasn’t sure what, but if Jemma knew anything, it was that these two belonged together.
Coulson’s eyes zeroed in on Daisy and Daniel’s interlocking hands; he too had sensed the connection between the two. Maybe not to the same level May had, but there was something about Daisy’s demeanor around him and the way she talked about Daniel, about how she was happy he was part of the team now, that clued him in to what was going on.
He hadn’t seen Daisy like this around anyone in a long time, not since Lincoln. She was happy, something she hadn’t been a long time, and seeing her happy made Coulson extremely happy.
And he was even more happy that it was Daniel Sousa: one of his SHIELD heroes. He may have geeked out a little when he first came face to face with the Area 51 chief, but if he was being honest, he was even more giddy in the fact that Daisy had fallen for him, not that he would let her know that. Some things he still wanted to keep to himself and just watch play out gleefully.
He had seen the stolen moments, the laughs Daniel was able to draw out of Daisy – a sound that filled Coulson’s heart with so much light – and the longing looks both of them had in their eyes for each other. There were moments from previous time loops that Daisy didn’t remember that made it even more clear to him.
Coulson knew it was inevitable.
This was the first time Fitz had gotten to see Sousa in person. He had watched him through the time stream, but to see this moment between him and Daisy, Fitz was almost speechless.
He had seen it time and time again. They always picked up Sousa, he always tagged along with Daisy, and they always... fell in love. Whether they made it out alive or not, the two of them always fell in love.
Fitz always questioned the universe constantly – whether it was a curse or fate and destiny – about his and Jemma’s relationship. It seemed to always flip-flop in his mind, but they were together. They were together and had little Alya, who Jemma currently did not remember but they would get there. They were together and that was all that mattered.
This – Daniel deciding to stay behind to save the team – Fitz hadn’t seen. Every time, Daniel was supposed to come back to the present with them, and he and Daisy would get their happily ever after.
Daisy was like a sister to him. By much of his fault, that relationship had been broken and definitely would be quite strained for some time, but he still cared for her, and he knew Daisy could never stop caring about him.
It was in her character to not stop caring about the people she loved, so that was why he needed to find a way to make sure Daniel came back with them. Cause Daisy would never stop thinking about Daniel.
It was their destiny to be together.
Fitz was about to say something before Deke blew a raspberry into the back of his hand, interrupting the heroic and sacrificial speech Daniel was about to give Daisy. Always the immature thing.
“I’ll stay,” Deke announced.
Several sad protests came from the team, even Daisy herself, but Deke deflected them all. Along with having lived in the 80s now longer than the late 2010s, Deke felt he belonged. Plus, he was kind of a big pop star these days.
Also, Deke wasn’t blind to the relationship between Daisy and Daniel either. He would admit that he was jealous. He had been infatuated with Daisy at some point, even forcing himself to believe that she too with him.
He kicked himself for being so stupid. He’d done some pretty shitty things to her in the past. Of course she wouldn’t want him. But, Deke was okay with it. Seeing the way Daisy’s face fell when Daniel offered himself to stay and the way he gently held her hands and stared lovingly into her eyes, he knew what to do. He just wanted Daisy to be happy, and if that meant with Daniel and not with him, then she deserved that after everything.
He had never spoken the words to her despite knowing what he was done to her was wrong, but Deke hoped she would see this as sort of an apology for... before.
Daisy and Daniel found themselves in a small corner of Zephyr One once the plan for Deke to stay and Daniel to come back with them was in motion. Daisy kind of gave him a teeny, tiny piece of her mind for deciding to stay, and he apologized profusely.
Of course, Daisy couldn’t be mad at him. She’d always be willing to make the sacrifice play if it meant that the people she loved would be safe – even if she hated how often it had to be her.
Daniel looked into her eyes with so much love in that moment. This was it. The next chapter of his life was about to begin. They would have time to get to know each other much more and actually get to fall in love.
And he couldn’t wait for it all.
He pulled Daisy into a kiss as he wrapped his arms around her. Daisy kissed him back, feeling safe in his embrace. They would have time. She didn’t have to be afraid anymore.
He wasn’t going anywhere.
What they could’ve done was find a better corner of the Zephyr since the others had accidentally spotted them in the corner in the rush to jump the Zephyr into the Quantum Realm. A part of them wanted to stay, seeing how much the two of them cared for one another and how happy they made each other.
But they all decided that maybe this intimate and emotional moment could go overlooked.