Chapter 4
MACK
It’s been two months. Two months, and no sign of my Partner. With every day that goes by, I somehow miss her smile more. I find myself thinking more about her. About whether she really did die. Or if she’s alive now. And if she is, is she back with HIVE? If she was, we haven’t seen hide nor hair of her. Unconscious in a hospital somewhere? Trapped in outer space?
But also, I find myself thinking about what she would do in a situation. Fitz and Simmons on the outs because of viewing things differently. Coulson holed up in his office. May training even more than necessary. Lincoln obsessed with trying to take down Hive to the point of little sleep.
I know she didn’t always help the situation, but when she’d been here, things seemed to be lighter. She was always cracking a joke. Cutting in with a solution. These people…no. We, her team…are her family. I’d gathered that much from the cryptic offhanded statements. But it seems more and more that we also rely on her as a family too. It was bad when she was under that things control, but now…now there’s only a little hope she’s still alive. Based around a prophesy. Before, we all had the undeniable hope that once we took care of Hive, we’d get her back.
We’d long since changed locations from the old bases. We still weren’t sure what Daisy's tell that parasite. We’d changed ip addresses, to help keep her out. As well as any other activity, online. We’d gone actual paper. Until she went up and sacrificed her life fo-
I hit the bag in front of me harder. No, I can’t think like that. She’s not dead. She can’t be. Even if she is, we’ll make him pay. But who’ll make us pay? Me pay? I’m the one that said she couldn’t be trusted that we needed protection from her. Why had I said that? It doesn’t matter that it was before I knew she wouldn’t ever…It doesn’t matter. I said that. To her. And that was one of the last things she was thinking about before she got on that ship. Not to mention, I’m the one who gave her that damned necklace. The one she remembered from the death vision. I’d given her…
Sweat drips in my eyes, as I continue to bombard the punching bag.
Now we were back on computers. Even if we couldn’t really go back to our old places. Not until either Daisy showed up and said she hadn’t told him. Or until Hive was dead. Taken care of.
Letting out a long breath, I ease off the bag, and head to the exit. On my way past, I grabbed a neck towel, and put it around my nape. As I walked down the corridors, to the men’s shower room, I dab at my face. I enter the showers to find Fitz there. He’s getting dressed.
I merely nod at the other man, before I head towards the stall. My shower was short.
As I stepped out, towel wrapped around my waist, I hear a voice. “You really cared about her, didn’t you?”
I jump, almost going on the defensive mode. But I recognize the Scottish voice. “Fitz.” I say, glancing over to where he was sitting on a bench, seemingly waiting for me to finish. “What do you mean?”
“Daisy.” Is all he reply’s with, and he’s not even really looking at me.
I look away, going to my gym bag and proceeding to grab things out. After a long moment, I answer. “Of course, I do. She’s my partner, and I failed her.”
“You didn’t fail her. No more than we did.” He argues.
I shake my head. “You know what some of the last words she said to me-to anyone-were before going up in that damned ship?”
He stares at me quietly, waiting.
“Guess you were right, about you guys needing protection from me.” I quote from memory. I watch intently, as Fitz’s eyes grew wide. “Her final thoughts could have been about how I…I didn’t know that…I thought she knew that I knew better now. I…I never apologized, or said differently, because I thought she knew. And I could have done something to stop her from getting on that ship.” I pull on the last of my clothes and walk past him. “That’s how I failed her.”