Chapter 1
Daniel didn't know what to expect from this mission other than to stay in the year they landed in once it was time to go. That was before they were taken by Nathaniel Malik.
Now, Daniel sat through Daisy’s screams, nails digging into the skin of his palms. They had taken her what must’ve been hours ago and the screaming had started quick. He had started to cover his ears to block out the sound, but then he considered the pain she must’ve been going through. If she had to endure the pain of torture, the least Daniel could do was listen.
Eventually, the cries petered out. Not long after, two thugs entered the room, dragging Agent Johnson. The phrase Nathaniel had said earlier rang in his head; “Discovery requires experimentation”.
The two men put her on the dirty, hay-covered ground where she lay motionless. Bloody bandages decorated her body, and she didn’t even groan at the rough treatment. When he saw the faint rise and fall of her chest, Daniel turned to the monster that did this to her.
“What did you do?”
The young man looked unfazed.
“Took as much blood and spinal fluid as I thought she could handle, a couple glands. Now, I’ve got to synthesize it all and transfuse it to me. Now, I know. It’s risky, but uh, I wanna try new things. If it doesn’t work, we’ll switch from needles to knives.”
The way he spoke was as though he expected Sousa to get it; to smile and nod along because this was all just a grand experiment. It made Daniel feel sick.
Before the door had even been shut, he turned to the female agent that had so thoroughly disrupted his view of the world.
“Daisy!”
“Jiaying- it happen- it happened before,” she muttered, her voice hoarse.
“Hey, stay with me. What do you mean it happened before?”
“Jiaying- I ca- Ican’t”
She tried to push herself off the ground but her strength quickly failed. Daniel shifted closer and pulled gently to let her head rest against his leg.
The woman whimpered but seemed to almost relax (as best she could) in his hold. He started to tell her his story as one hand found Daisy’s pulse, thready but present, and he knew right then that he wasn’t going anywhere.
Leaving Nathaniel and the destroyed barn behind, Daniel did his best to move carefully but quickly to where they could return to the Zephyr, but the vessel was gone. When they missed the Zephyr, Daniel knew there was one place he could go to get immediate help for the unconscious woman in his arms.
He found a blanket to wrap around Daisy, placed her carefully in the passenger seat, hotwired a car, and drove off through the late New York City traffic to reach the house where hopefully they would find aid. He kept forgetting that they were in the year 1976. It had been over 20 years since his feigned death and even at that time, he and Peggy hadn’t spoken in a while. He just had to pray she would still be living in New York at this point in time.
“Hey Daisy, I need you to stay with me just a little longer. We’re gonna get you patched up. Just hang on.”
Despite the lack of response, he kept up a running commentary of encouragement. After both hours and the blink of an eye, they were pulling up to a Brooklyn brownstone. Barely bothering to close the driver side door, Daniel ran around to gather Daisy in an awkward bridal carry and limp up to the front door. He took a breath and knocked in a very specific pattern, particular to those Peggy had deemed close enough to be invited to her home.
A light appeared through the frosted glass in the door, preceding the sound of multiple locks being undone, and Daniel could have cried from relief.
A much older Peggy Carter opened the door, pistol aimed right at them and holding steady through her obvious shock.
“Peggy, I know this will sound insane, and it looks insane and I promise to explain, but for now, I swear it is really me, this woman needs help and there are little to no people we can trust right now.”
He let it all out in one breath. The woman paused, looked down at Daisy, then stepped aside to let them in.
“You can put her on the couch while I fetch the first aid kit.”
“Thank you.”
He was careful to place her down gently, but a whimper still escaped.
“You’re okay, you’re going to be okay. I’ve got you. You’ll be alright, Daisy.”
Peggy’s heels clicked against the hardwood floor as she approached, large box in hand.
“Do you know the extent of her injuries? If they’re bad enough, I will need to call someone else in to help.”
Daniel looked down at where the blood was starting to seep through the bandages, and Daisy was trying to stay awake.
“It’s not good, Peggy. But anyone you call in has to be 100% on our side. There are things you don’t know and you can't trust anyone at this point. We just escaped from someone from a trusted family who… did things. I- If possible, I’d rather we stick with inner-inner circle. Stark, Howling Commandos, Jarvis, but that’s it. And they can’t share this with anyone, not even the other higher ups at SHIELD.”
“Alright, I’ll call Mr. Jarvis then see what we can do to help her until he arrives.”
Daniel nodded and started digging through the kit. Peggy made the call, then looked back at the man who had once been by her side in the SSR. He looked like he had stepped right out of the 50s, though Peggy hadn’t really seen him much before his supposed passing. His suit jacket was lost but his pants were held up with his old suspenders. Alas, speculation would do nothing at the moment, and there was a life on the line.
The wounds were those of a woman tortured, Peggy noted as they removed coverings to treat the damage underneath, precise in their making in a way that was disturbing. As they began to work, the co-founder of SHIELD took note of what info she could gather through sight. She was asian-american, in her early to mid-30s. Her hair was lighter that her roots, but looked more natural that most similar styles Peggy saw walking down the street.
Daniel seemed to be taking extra care around her arms, so Peggy followed his lead. When they had done all they could for her, the british woman turned to her ex for an explanation.
With a sigh, he sat in the chair close to end of the couch where the strange woman was resting her head.
“As I said before, this is going to sound insane, but I swear to you it is the truth. This is Agent Daisy Johnson, and she’s from the future.”
Peggy’s eyebrows raised but she stayed silent, letting him continue before making any sort of denial or statement.
“A few weeks ago, or I guess it was more like two decades ago, Daisy and her team came to me. At first they tried to keep up a charade of being from that time, but eventually they told me the truth. It was only after I woke up from being knocked out as part of their rescue that they filled me in on how history said I had died on that day, so they faked my death in order to save my life.”
The silence stretched between them.
"Time travel."
"Yeah."
"Tea?"
"Please."