Where Was My Fault In Loving You With My Whole Heart
Daisy finds Coulson, her Inhumans, Maria Hill and her team in the cargo bay. Waiting for her. Agent Daisy Johnson clears her throat, lets her powers hum and glide under her hands. This is it. This is where it all ends. ''We get it and we get out, clean cut and simple. You worry about the Hydra agents and I worry about Ward''. She turns to Coulson, hands him her cell phone. ''The building will be rigged, if I don't make it out, press the call button, then get away from here as fast as you can''. Coulson is staring at her, his mouth hanging open. Mack is the first one to respond, he puts his hand on her arm.
''Tremors we're not leaving without you''. ''If I fail Ward will kill me, this way both of us go and I did what I set out to do. Shield won't have to worry about him anymore even if I'm not successful''. ''Then I'm not leaving you. You won't have to do this alone''. ''You are not sacrificing yourself for me''. ''You're my partner, you don't get a choice in this''. Lincoln is looking at her and the emotion on his face is clear to Daisy, he's in love with her, he doesn't want to lose her. ''There has to be another way''. ''There's not. If I don't take him out, then Shield will fall. I can't let that happen''.
Lincoln takes her face in his hands and kisses her hard. It's not what she wants to feel in her final hours, but she takes it and kisses him back. ''I love you''. He whispers against her lips, she runs her hands down his face. ''And maybe in another life, another time, I could have loved you too''. No need to lie to him now. She offers him a sad smile before getting back to mission mode. Coulson composes himself, nods at Daisy. ''So what's your plan?'' ''I find Ward and kill him. If something goes wrong, blow the place''.
She walks out of the plane with Mack, Joey and Lincoln by her side. Coulson, Bobbi, May and Hunter are hitting the building from the back. Maria Hill and her small army from the side, Daisy is going front and center. Hydra agents greet them and are all met with Daisy and her team's power. They never stood a chance. ''Alright this is where we split up''. She tells them as soon as they make it inside and the halls are clear. ''Boss''- ''I'm going to find Ward and the rest of you make sure no Hydra agents get in the way''.
Mack touches her cheek before telling Joey and Lincoln to follow him. Lincoln gives her a long glance before disappearing around the corner. Daisy takes a deep breath, sets the bombs exactly how Ward taught her, all that time ago at Hydra, and keeps walking. She can fee every vibration in the building, the heart beats that stop and start, the ones that are slowly going out. The pulses that beat and end and beat and end. She's searching for that one particular jump, the thump she used to feel under her ear. It's faint, so faint fear strikes her. Did someone get to him before her?
Daisy follows the sound to the very top floor, filled with open windows and bright sunlight splashing across the empty room. Gun raised, eyes alert, hands not shaking, steady like a river. Ward is standing in the middle of it all, gray t-shirt and jeans, hands in his pockets. No weapons, not agents, just him. He'd been waiting for her. ''Skye''. He still says her name like it's the most precious thing in his world. Daisy doesn't let herself feel anything, she's calm, stone. She came here to get a job done. To set him free. To save the people she cares about. Ward is dead.
''I'd been on that planet a long time, never really saw any beautiful things. But my god, this body and myself agree on one thing. You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen''. ''Flattery isn't going to save you''. Ward laughs with his pale skin and dark eyes, he takes his hands out of his pockets. ''Save me? You should be worried about yourself, you're going to die here''. ''Well why don't you stop talking and get on with it?'' The smile she used to love has been tainted by something dark, so when he graces her with it she clenches her teeth.
''So eager to be put in the ground? I like to play with my prey first, and I'm going to have so much fun with you''. Something glides and swirls atop his forehead and Daisy swallows back bile. ''Have you been enjoying the presents I've sent back to Shield? So much death, isn't it wonderful?'' Daisy stays silent, fingers ready. ''This is just a taste of what's to come, Shield is going to be on it's knees when I'm done with them''. He smirks, takes a step to her. ''You'd know all about being on your knees wouldn't you? This body remembers you, his memories are strong, vivid''.
''If you're going to taunt me about my sex life I'd rather you just kill me now''. Another step towards her. She stands her ground. ''It would be so easy to take what I want, I have no interest in human desires but I could make an exception with you''. She smirks, full of venom, ''I'd love to see you try''. ''You're so strong. But everyone has thier limits, and Ward is yours. This is his body, you can't kill me''. Daisy rolls her eyes. ''Didn't anyone ever teach you not to underestimate your enemies?'' She slams him into one of the windows, shattering it. Game on.
Across the building Maria Hill has taken a bullet to the shoulder, Bobbi has a nasty wound on her side, and Coulson is sporting a black eye. Otherwise things seem to be going well, Shield is winning so far, keeping the Hydra agents back. ''Sir are you really going to blow this place up if things go bad?'' Bobbi asks him as she slams a Hydra agent to the ground. ''I have to put the world first, so yes''. ''It won't come to that, Daisy will make it out alive''. May says, ramming her fist into a man's rib. Coulson prays to whoever is out there, that May is right.
''All I'm saying is we shouldn't of listened to Daisy. We should be with her''. Joey whispers as him and Lincoln follow Mack down the hall. ''We're watching her back Joey, taking care of all of the Hydra agents in here''. ''Still, I have a bad feeling about this''. Lincoln glares at his team mate. ''You're not helping''. ''I'm sorry but I don't think the boss's ex-boyfriend is just going to let her walk out of here''. Mack turns around. ''Ward is dead, okay? That thing inside his body wants to kill us all. Daisy knows that, which is why she has to kill him''.
Lincoln sighs. ''She'll be okay, she'll kill him and everything will be fine. We'll all go back to the Playground safe and sound''. Lincoln thinks that if he keeps repeating that, he'll believe it and stop imagining Daisy laying on the ground somewhere, cold, eyes open, gone from the world and from him. He'd break apart if something happened to her. They continue circling the building, taking out threats, each of them hoping and praying for Daisy to come out on top.
Daisy can't see straight at this point. How long has she been here? How long has it been since she walked into this room? She can't remember. All she sees is Ward coming at her again and again, a hurricane that shows no signs of stopping. He's bleeding from nose to feet, she probably is as well. They've taken pieces and hits from each other, something Daisy thought they would never do. She knows him, knows his body, his moves, how he fights. In turn he knows the same about her, Ward taught her everything she knows.
Daisy gets herself off the floor after Ward landed a mean right hook to her jaw. She spits the growing amount of blood onto the floor. ''You can't win Skye. You can't beat me''. It's a dance that's never going to end. With a flick of her wrist she throws him across the room, which gives her a split second to catch her breath. Take inventory of herself. Busted lip. A broken rib or two. Broken ankle. Sprained wrist, at least half of her fingers are broken, and she will have a massive amount of bruises if she makes it out of this.
Ward is still coming, he kicks her in the stomach until she can't breathe. Slams her face into the wall, grabs her by the hair as he puts all of his weight against her back. ''It's over, you can't kill me''. Survival instinct kicks in, the back of her head meets his nose, and he rolls off of her. She turns only to find his hands curled around her throat. ''Ward''. No change, there's still fire in his eyes. ''Ward you don't want to do this. It's me, it's Skye''.
Her vision is starting to blur, she can feeling nothing but pain. Daisy doesn't know why she's trying to reach out to a man that's long gone, some desperate attempt at self preservation? In a movement she won't register until later, his hands are gone and he jumps away from her with a yelp. ''Skye''. Daisy is gasping for breath, face down on the floor. She stands on shaky feet, wipes the blood from her face. ''Skye you have to run''. Daisy looks at Ward, freezes at the expression on his face. Warm. Warm like he knows her.
''Skye, run. Run as fast as you can and destroy this place as soon as you're clear''. Is this another hallucination? Is this her brain trying to give her the thing she wants most when she needs it? Because Ward is looking at her now, begging her with his eyes, to leave. Or this is a trick. That thing is baiting her, taunting her, using Ward's memories against him. ''Skye this isn't a trick, it's me. It's me and I need you to get out of here, I don't know how long I can''- His voice is broken off by a groan, and that slither moves across his forehead. Warmth has now turned cold.
Daisy has no idea what just happened and she isn't about to ask questions. She gets off the floor and resumes her attack. Chopping up whatever occured to her injuries and how much she misses the person Ward used to be. Eventually she can feel herself growing tired, her muscles aching and being stretched beyond thier limits. She gets sloppy, relying on her powers now more than ever. But when push comes to shove and she has his heart beat in her hands, she pauses. Something Ward always told her never to do. She hesistated, and she pays for it.
Daisy is thrown into broken glass, she can feel it on her exposed skin, cutting and digging into her. Suddenly Grant is on top of her, smiling down at her with so much hate she wants to spit. ''Grant''- Her voice is cut off and his fingers are around her throat again. ''Begging in your final moments? Not really like you Skye, I thought you were stronger than that''. The edges are getting blury, red fades in and out her vision. Black is covering her eyes, her lungs are on fire. ''You lost. You put up so much fight and in the end you're just a scared little girl. A girl who's going to be taken by death''.
There's a final moment of acceptance. Daisy knows Coulson will take care of things, so she isn't worried anymore. If she's going to die then so is Ward's body. And she can finally be reunited with her Grant, didn't he say he was waiting for her on the other side? There's no more pain, no more cares or troubles. All Daisy wishes is that she could have held Ward, felt him one last time. Without warning Ward starts screaming. Loud bloodcurdling screams and he leaps off of her. Like he's in pain. He clutches his forehead, is on the ground next to her gasping for air like she's doing.
He keeps screaming, like she's set him on fire. When she can breathe again she rolls over, faces him. His body is seizing, his face red from pain. Daisy is weak, so weak, she can't ask what's happening because not ten seconds ago she was dying. She's starting to lose it. Lose her sight, the last thing she takes register of, is her arms going of their own accord, protectively holding Ward to her side. Which is pointless, she can't stop anything or anybody at the moment. Whatever is going on is going to end soon. They just have to wait, wait for the fire to come.
May and Coulson come charging into the room, and are met with a horrid sight. Daisy is unconscious, clutching Ward to her like her life depends on it. Ward himself is convulsing next to her, screaming. Suddenly something black and dark comes out of him, he's choking and crying out, May and the Director are frozen on the spot. They can only watch at what's unfolding. Whatever darkness leaked and spilled out of the former Specialist is swirling out on the floor by his head. Ward, who is barely lucid at this point, stretches out his fingers and sets it on fire.
May and Coulson don't know what to make of anything, all they know is that after the fire is put out and there's nothing but ashes left, Ward rolls his head to look at Daisy. He says her name, broken and full of pain, before collapsing, his head pressed against her shoulder. May is the first to react, heads straight for Daisy, puts her fingers against her neck. ''She's alive, we need to move her. Get her to Simmons''. Coulson nods, leans over Ward. ''What about him? What the hell was that?'' Coulson puts his own hand to Ward's neck. His pulse is steady and strong.
''Don't know, we need to bring him with us. Phil I think he's okay''. ''What do you mean?'' Before May can respond Shield agents file into the room, Mack runs to his partner, takes her carefully in his arms. ''What are you going to do with him Sir?'' Bobbi asks. ''We're taking him with us. Something strange just happened, but May I think you're right. We'll have to run some tests to be sure''. Maria Hill scowls at him. ''Why would you do that? You have the perfect shot, kill him''. Coulson looks at her. ''I'm the Director and I say he's coming with us''. The other woman sighs. ''Fine, but when he wakes up and kills your agents, don't come crying to me''.
The building is blown apart just like Coulson promised. They make it back to the Playground, place Daisy in Simmon's care and puts Ward in Vault D. Coulson watches Grant get all the medical attention he needs, for now Coulson will blame it on his guilt. That he's helping Ward. Neither May nor him understand what happened back there, but they think Ward might be alright. That he destroyed whatever darkness had a hold of him. It's a hunch, a big one. And Coulson would be lying if he said he wasn't afraid to hope for it.
Bobbi, May, Lincoln and Mack watch as Simmons works over Daisy. Her injuries weren't nearly as bad ad Ward's. A few broken ribs, six broken fingers, sprained wrist, her lip has been busted, bruises are already starting to take form. ''Run this by me one more time, something actually came out of Ward?'' May has explained to everyone what her and Coulson saw, it's so unbelievable that she's even still questioning it. But it's what she saw.
''So you're saying that creature is gone? That Ward set it on fire? Is that possible?'' ''That's exactly what it looked like to me''. ''So Ward is normal? He's okay?'' May sighs at Lincoln. ''They're running tests now, but I'm not sure. Maybe''. The Shield agents look at Daisy. ''So who wants to tell her when she wakes up?'' No one responds.