Chapter Text
The team was successful taking out Hydra’s main operation. With the help of General Talbot, they were able to dismantle everything else. Hydra had no more ground to stand on and no more bases to hide in. This effectively shattered Daisy’s excuse to leave the compound so often. At the last warehouse the team found a small group of men huddled away from the main building.The team quietly walked towards the hushed talking and listened.
“I don’t care what happened to him. Do not believe the rumors. Him leaving because some chick asked him to doesn’t make any sense. Grant Ward was a legend in Hydra, he wouldn’t leave his team without a very good reason. We need to do what he would.”
Daisy could feel panic start to rise in her chest. Ward’s men knew a female was involved, did they know it was her? Coulson didn’t stop to hear the rest and stormed into the room, “Tell us everything you know about Grant Ward!”
The whole team filed in behind Coulson and pointed an icer at every man in the room.
“We don’t know anything!”
“I don’t believe you I heard you talking about him! If you do the whole cyanide thing I swear!”
“Uh actually we misplaced the cyanide while we were packing so…we don’t have any.” One guy piped up.
“Lucky for us.” May grumbled.
“Tell us any and all information.” Coulson demanded putting his icer at the man’s forehead. The man was unaware that the gun pointed at his head wouldn’t kill him so he jumped and raised his hands up.
“I’m telling the truth! There are only rumors!”
“What rumors?”
“All I know is the last time I saw him he had just finished talking to someone on the phone. It didn’t seem like a friendly or pleasant conversation, he looked really tense. He put his phone down and then a few minutes later he picked it up again to dial the same number. When he hung up he announced he had personal business to attend to. He left and never came back. Rumors started floating around that he had been talking to a girl.”
“How long ago was that?”
“That was 10 months ago, And I remember all that because him leaving just kind of stuck with me. I get having personal issues, we all have them but he never came back. It didn’t make sense, he isn’t a personable person in anyway so it raised questions but he was the head of Hydra at the time and the head is never questioned. I said it was ok and I’d man everything until he got back. He bit his lip and nodded like he was withholding information, but again I didn’t ask because that’s not how this works. I haven’t seen or heard from him since I swear. People say he ran away with a woman. Some say it’s the one that broke his heart, you could tell he was always thinking of her even if he only mentioned her a few times in total. He only told me once but I could tell she meant a lot to him.”
“What was the woman’s name!”
“I don’t know I swear it! He never told me! I don’t believe he would actually run away with a woman! Or anyone for that matter like I said, he was the head of Hydra, he’s a legend. He wouldn’t just abandon his whole operation here on a whim. There was another rumor that he switched sides but that’s impossible because of how infamous he was, is. Plus you’re the other side and we all know the history he has with you. Other’s think he’s dead and that’s why we’ve not heard from him.”
“What do you think happened?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think any of the rumors are true, I think he could be captured by another government and that’s why he’s never been in contact. I suppose he could be dead too.”
Coulson removed his icer from the guys head, “Thank you for the information. Let’s take these guys into custody and wrap up.”
*****
“Hey.” Daisy said walking up to Coulson.
“Hey.”
“Thinking about what that guy said about Ward?” She asked.
“Yeah. It doesn’t make sense for him to just abandon his post like that. Hydra was all he had, at least I thought that’s all he had but then again...” Coulson trailed off thoughtfully. Daisy nodded. Coulson looked at her, “Maybe this has something to do with Thomas Ward’s disappearance. That happened 10 months ago too.”
“Possibly, that’s a good theory.” Daisy said folding her arms and nodding. “How would he have known about it though?”
“Yes I know! There has to be a third party. A third person coordinating it all, I don’t think Thomas would’ve just gone off with his brother. When I first found Thomas the file said he hadn’t made contact with his brother in years and didn’t want to. Now all of a sudden they’ve both disappeared? There has to be a third party involved somewhere. There just has to be, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Maybe it’s that mysterious woman the men were talking about.”
Daisy stayed silent processing what all this meant for her. Coulson noticed her silence and looked at her again, “Sorry, I know you don’t really care about all of this that much, and you’d rather leave the past in the past. I know you don’t talk about your history with him, I’m sorry to drag it up again. At least you won’t have to leave so often anymore.”
“Yeah.” Daisy said biting her thumbnail thoughtfully. “I do find it curious though.”
Coulson nodded, “Well, I’m going to bed. Goodnight Daisy.”
“Goodnight sir.” Daisy said standing up as he did. She walked back to her bunk deep in thought and pulled out her phone.
D: I can’t come visit him as often now, I don’t have an excuse anymore. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to
T: Ugh really? I’m sorry
D: yeah, I normally wouldn’t care because I never get questioned but Coulson found out Grant just disappeared from his base at the same time you did and he thinks it’s connected. Which of course he’s right but he also thinks there is a third person that helped keep the peace in your relationship so I should lay low 😕
T: it’s ok I get it.
D: I hope he does too, please tell him I’m sorry
T: I will. He’ll miss you
D: Maybe. Make sure he holds his breath if he has a panic attack and also make sure he knows this has nothing to do with him. I know he’ll blame himself
T: I don’t think I ever realized how well you know him until right now
D: Too well. It might be best to take a break
T: best for him or for you?
Daisy looked at that last text but couldn’t bring herself respond. It was all too confusing to her, what if Coulson found out that she was behind everything? The disappearance of both men and her little missions were were all connected. She risked everything to go see someone that she should hate. The funny part was she actually found herself wanting to be his friend again. She knew everything got weird after she kissed him but she was certain she just wanted to be his friend and help him out of this bad situation. Nothing more, once he got all the help he needed she was going to gracefully glide out of his life. He could start a new one, without her and the baggage she carried. He was trying to leave his past behind and become a good person that contributed to society, she shouldn’t be a factor, it’d be like a loose string connecting him to something he didn’t need. Maybe she should start pulling away now before anything got too hard.
****
Two months later and Daisy had only been able to slip away twice. Once last month when she faked a grocery run and once this month when she said she had to “clear her head”. Grant was doing just fine, he was actually going to be released in a few days which was exciting for him. She hugged him in excitement before she pulled away and told him she didn’t think she could make it since it was so close to her present visit, she couldn’t give a fake excuse twice in one week, people would get suspicious. She decided that this was going to be it. This was going to be her last time she would see him. He had his whole life ahead of him when he left and he didn’t need her complicating it. She had to admit she was excited to stop lying. Her life would get a lot simpler this way and she wouldn’t have to sneak around anymore. She texted Thomas and told him the decision, apologized for it but said it was the best and then silenced all communication from him so she wouldn’t see his texts arguing with her. SHIELD was her family, the team could never know what she’d been up to and now they will never know. It made her a little bit resigned, even if she was excited to get back to her normal life. She played it off as coming down with a cold and Ward believed her. When she left she took one last long look at him before leaving forever.
The day before Ward’s release Fitz came sprinting into her room in a panic,“Daisy, I was just about to tell Coulson an update on a new gadget he has me working on when I heard him talking, he’s done some digging and some serious research and he firmly believes that the third person helping both Grant and Thomas Ward is a SHIELD agent. Of course he’s stumped as to why given the obvious circumstances and because of that he hasn’t compiled a list of suspects yet but given the limited amount of people that knew of his plan concerning Thomas Ward. Then with your “missions” that have been strictly solo that line up perfectly with the time table Coulson has it’s not going to take him long to figure out you’re at least involved in someway. Plus remember that one mission you went on but the issue was resolved from a computer in the base before you even got back. Coulson didn’t question it at the time because how were you to know. But now he’s looking into every angle so he probably will bring that up. They also found an ancient SHIELD account with forgotten funds that became active at the time Ward disappeared. I don’t know what they’ll find out but they aren’t going to stop digging until they find an acceptable answer.”
Daisy sighed and shrugged, “It will blow over, everything always seems to with these things. Especially now that Hydra has been eliminated I doubt there will be an actual problem. Plus I’ve already decided I’m not going back again so it doesn’t matter anymore anyway, no one will ever know.”
Jemma came in, “Daisy, Coulson wanted me to come get you. He’s looking for you, he’s got a few questions for you about you previous missions.”
“Did he say what about the missions he wants to talk to me about?” She asked.
“Not particularly, but it has to do with your mission reports from the past few months and he sounded serious.”
Fitz and Daisy looked at each other for a second, Daisy stood there for a whole minute her hands fidgeting at sides. She looked around the room and let out a long shaky breath. She looked at her friend and then walked towards Jemma giving her the biggest bear hug, “Ok tell him I’ll be right there.”
“Ok, what was the hug for?”
“Just. Thank you being such a good friend, I love you.” Daisy sniffed.
Jemma looked at her confused, “Uh I love you too, are you ok?”
“I’m ok.”
“Alright, well.” Jemma didn’t finish her thought because she didn’t know what else to say so she just left.
“You’re leaving aren’t you?” Fitz deduced.
Daisy sniffed and nodded, “Yeah.”
“Well.” Fitz started to tear up too, “Will I ever see you again?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we can figure something out. And if Jemma comes around of course include her then.”
“Yeah, I will. Well uh let me help get your stuff together.”
“I just need a few things.” Daisy looked around and grabbed her essentials stuffing them in a bag. Daisy looked at Fitz. “Ok well. See you around hopefully.”
Fitz ran at her engulfing her in a hug with a few tears escaping from his eyes, “Good luck we’ll find a way to talk so I can give you updates on how everyone is doing.”
“That’d be great. Oh gosh I don’t know what I’m doing I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“You’re following your heart!”
“I suppose I am.” She looked at Fitz and hugged him one last time. “Bye.” With that she snuck out leaving Fitz by himself. He just stood there and chuckled to himself wiping his eyes. He knew the moment she started this whole escapade that this was going to happen, he knew she never got over Ward. She was still very much in love no matter how much she denied it. Jemma came back in, “What are you doing here? Didn’t she leave?”
“Haha yeah she did.”
“I wonder happening.”
Fitz ran a hand through his hair, “I have no idea.”
“Well we can ask her when she’s done talking to Coulson.”
“She didn’t go to meet Coulson in his office. She’s gone, She left.”
“What?” Jemma asked incredulously, “Where did she go?”
“Something I’m asking my self right now. Where is Daisy?” Coulson asked from behind him. Coulson noticed Jemma’s baffled face and Fitz’ misty eyes. “What happened?”
“She’s gone sir.” Jemma said softly.
“I’m sorry what?” May asked dumbfoundedly walking behind Coulson.
“She’s gone, she left I don’t know if we’ll ever hear from her again.” Fitz told them.
“What why?” Coulson asked.
“She heard you wanted to speak with her so she just packed a few things and walked out.”
“Again I asked why? And why didn’t you stop her?”
“I tried sir!” Fitz lied, “She couldn’t be stopped. She was determined.”
“Where is she going?” May asked.
“What were going to question her about?” Fitz asked ignoring May’s question.
“If her mission reports didn’t add up because she was trying to track down the person helping the Wards. I figured that’s what she was doing on her solo missions.”
Fitz let out a chuckle unintentionally and put his hand to his mouth realizing she really jumped the gun but there was no turning back. He didn’t know how to tell her Coulson didn’t suspect her at all. This was all his fault. He put notions that her secret wouldn’t be secret for long and she ran away.“Um well I think you found the third party you were trying so hard to find.”
“Wait Daisy?” Coulson asked. “Couldn’t be her.”
“She thought you found her out so she hugged Jemma and basically said goodbye to her.”
“Yeah that does make a little more sense, that hug was really weird.” Jemma mused.
“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Coulson yelled.
“Actually, if you think about it, it does all add up.” May concedes.
“But Daisy hates Ward. And Lincoln, what about Lincoln?”
“Clearly she doesn’t hate him as much as we thought.” Jemma commented. They all sat there too stunned to speak anymore. Lincoln walked into the room “Where’s Daisy?” He asked, “I had a question about…something.”
“She ran away.” Coulson mumbled.
“Yeah. Don’t know if we’ll see her again.” May mumbles as well.
“I didn’t catch that, what?” Lincoln asked.
“I’m sorry Lincoln but I doubt you’ll see her again.” Jemma told him.
“We could track her with the old account that was revived.” Coulson started. May put a hand on his shoulder, “Phil, it’s not worth it. Even if we could figure out where those funds were going they won’t be there. And they are the best, they know how not to be found if they don’t want to be. I know it’s hard but I think that would be a fool’s mission.”
****
Daisy drove up to the building and parked. She ran up to the apartment building hoping she wasn’t too late and saw Grant and Thomas leaving the apartment building and locking it for the last time. They had all Grant’s belongings from the past year in two suitcases, Grant was holding one and Thomas the other. Thomas looked up and saw her first, “Daisy?”
Grant whipped his head around and saw her standing there a little sheepishly.“What are you doing here?” He asked. “Not that I’m not happy to see you.” He added quickly but, “I thought you were gone forever.”
“I ran away.” She told him biting her lip.
“You what? Did you think this whole thing through? You just left your entire life?”
“I’ll give you two some space.” Thomas said grabbing both suitcases and heading to go downstairs.
“I don’t need to think it through. For once I just wanted to stop thinking. They found out I helped both of you and I just got up and left, just like that so I’m not going back.”
“I, I don’t know what to say.”
“Oh Grant you don’t have to say anything. I’m tired of pretending I stopped loving you. I never stopped, and I never once hated you. I just hated myself for still being in love with you even after you betrayed me and the only thing I knew to do was to project my self hate onto you. I still love you even now, I love all of you even the darkest parts of yourself that I’ve only seen glimpses of because you think you can’t show me. I love all of your scars, they make you who you are. A protector and a fighter and a man that I will never stop loving. You don’t have to say it back, I know it’s too much but I had to say it.”
Grant enveloped her in a hug, “Daisy I, I never got to fall out of love. I just had to move on when you left because I didn’t think I would ever see you again.” He said into her hair, “I love you so much it hurts.”
Daisy looked at him and smiled, he brushed the hair out of her face and she kissed him tenderly.
She smiled at him, “Someone told me once that the only way to get over a great love is to find an even greater love. That guy back there, Lincoln, was never going to be the one.”
Grant gave her a side hug as they walked away.
A few years later
Jemma was in the store shopping for the dinner she was making. Her and Fitz were in Holiday in Washington. After a particularly harrowing mission they had been given time off. Fitz had always wanted to see the natural beauty of Washington so they had rented a cabin. She was looking at the different brands of rice when she noticed a little girl standing a few feet away from her. She knelt down and looked at the little girl.
“Hello sweetie, are you lost?”
The little girl nodded and Jemma asked, “Do you know your mommy and daddy’s names?”
“Louise and Douglas.” She said.
“Very good! Now what’s your name?”
“Ivy.”
“Ok Ivy, let’s go find mommy and daddy. Are they both here with you?”
Ivy nodded and Jemma took the little girl’s hand.
“Ivy?” A woman said behind them a few minutes later. Ivy turned, “Mommy!”
“Oh my gosh Ivy! I turned my back for one minute! What have your daddy and I said about staying close to us!”
”I’m sorry mommy.”
“It’s ok sweetie. I’m just glad you’re safe, thank you for helping her.”
“Daisy?” Jemma said bewildered as she stared dumbfounded at the pregnant woman in front of her.
“Jemma! It’s so good to see you! How are you?” Daisy exclaimed.
”I’m good! Fitz and I are on holiday!”
“Oh that’s nice! I’ve lived in Washington for a couple years, we had Ivy here.”
Jemma nodded, “So I’m assuming…”
”Ok, I found Mickey Mouse mac and cheese and bunny mac and cheese. No Elsa on any of them I’m afraid.”
“Daddy!” Ivy kicked her legs and Daisy handed to little girl over to her husband.
“Babe, did you see who it is?”
Grant looked up, “Oh hey Jemma.”
”Ward.” Jemma said shocked and confused.
“You’re not gonna tell anyone you saw us here, are you?”
Daisy hit her husband. “That’s not what we need to be worried about right now.”
Grant shrugged, “It’s good to see you again Jemma.”