Hunting
Daisy was pacing in the living room thinking about what had happened the previous night. The only thing she could think of was that frying Ward’s brain before he was put into the Framework was causing to have those flashbacks Simmons mentioned. She also couldn’t get the thought of her in a highly secured prison out of her mind. She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock on the door. She opened it to find Donnie on the other side.
“Good you’re here.” Donnie breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t have long. Hydra’s watching me. Apparently I’m a high ranking Hydra scientist and they keep me under heavy surveillance.”
“So they probably know you’re here now.” Daisy sighed. “Losing the tail would only draw suspicion.”
“Exactly.” Donnie nodded. “But there’s good news. I found the team. Coulson’s teaching at a school in Baltimore and Lincoln’s working at a hospital in Chicago.”
“Okay good.” Daisy nodded. “Ward and I’ll pay Coulson a visit. Lets hold off on Lincoln for now. That way we can avoid suspicion.”
“Okay.” Donnie nodded. “Also I’m gonna need a virus to destroy Hydra’s research in case our plan fails. I’m working on the Deathlok Project.”
“And if that’s finished it’s gonna make it really hard for us to get out of here.” Daisy sighed. She turned and went into the drawer of her desk. “My counterpart had hard drives with viruses on them that should be able to erase the data. Apparently she was big on contingency plans.”
“I think I like your counterpart.” Donnie chuckled.
“Me too.” Daisy smiled as she handed Donnie the hard drive. “That should do the job.”
“Good.” Donnie stated. “There’s more. I found Fitz. Daisy, he’s married to Aida and they’re in charge of Hydra.”
“Oh my god…” Daisy gasped. “What the hell happened to him?”
“I don't know.” Donnie sighed. “We need to get out of here and fast.”
---
Phil was walking into his classroom with his bag slung over his shoulder when he saw Daisy and Ward standing in the room.
“This is the guy?” Ward asked.
“Yep.” Daisy smiled. “Grant, meet Phil Coulson.” Phil looked dumbstruck. “Coulson I know you don’t remember me but we’re here to help.”
“Daisy?” Phil murmured. Now Daisy was taken aback.
“You remember me?” she raised an eyebrow.
“Bits and pieces.” Phil admitted. “I mean I don’t remember everything but there’s things in this world that just don’t make sense. They feel… wrong.”
“Yes yes that’s because this world isn’t real.” Daisy nodded. “We, all three of us, are SHIELD agents. Your body is being held in the real world and this is all a virtual prison to keep you sedated.”
“I knew I wasn’t crazy!” Phil grinned. “Hydra lies about everything. The news? It's all fake. Take the Cambridge Incident. It was a setup. That girl shouldn't have been at that school in the first place.”
“Where we're from, she died.” Daisy stated. “This never happened.”
“Hydra used Cambridge to take control, in the name of law and order.” Phil said. “To justify everything. It wasn't supposed to be like this.”
“I knew if anyone would understand, it'd be you.” Daisy sighed with relief.
“I would've figured it out a long time ago if it wasn't for the mind control soap.” Phil muttered, ashamed of himself.
“Yeah.” Daisy nodded before processing what he said. “Wait. What?”
“That blue soap everyone uses?” Phil said. “Hydra loads it up with chemicals. It seeps into our bloodstream. Implants false memories into our brains. They want us to believe this is a magical place. But don't worry, I'm clear. I make my own soap now.”
“No, I think that you're talking about Project TAHITI.” Daisy realized. “They messed with your head a little bit which is why you probably remember some things. I mean unless that’s something Hydra does?” She posed this question to Ward who shook his head.
“Not as far as I’m aware.” he answered. “Though I wouldn’t put it past the Doctor to make something like that.”
“So if this whole world is all fake, who made it?” Phil asked.
“The Framework was a project a scientist in our world named Radcliffe was developing.” Daisy explained. Before she could continue, Phil cut her off.
“Wait Holden Radcliffe?” he asked.
“Yeah why?” Daisy asked.
“I found something a while back and cut it out.” Phil said. “It was a clipping from a paper about him. Famed Hydra scientist looking for an inhuman cure. He disappeared a few months ago.”
“If Radcliffe is here we need to get him out.” Daisy stated. “He’s the only one who knows how to remove the others from the Framework safely that’s with your bodies.”
“Guess that’s our next move.” Ward said.
“Do you know where we might be able to find him?” Daisy asked.
“No but it’ll be in Madam Hydra’s secured files.” Ward answered. “We can get in and out. We should also take Mr. Coulson here to the resistance base in case Hydra gets wind of what we’re doing.” Suddenly Ward felt a splitting headache and images began flashing through his head. He and Coulson were sitting in a diner across from each other.
“Get me inside.” Coulson said. “After that, I put you through the TAHITI Protocol. And then you’re free to go.”
“Wipe my memories?” Ward raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a threat. I like who I am.”
“A murderer and a traitor?” Coulson frowned. “You could’ve run. You didn’t. You risked your freedom. For her. That says something. Says that maybe there’s still good left in you. Maybe Garrett, your family didn’t destroy all of that. TAHITI will erase all the bad, let you be the man you wanna be.”
“Grant!” Daisy shook Ward awake and pulled him off the floor. Ward wiped his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“That’s gonna get old fast.” Ward murmured.
“What happened?” Phil asked.
“Memories.” Daisy explained. “From the real world. His brain’s a bit fried because of something that happened there.”
“Is he gonna be okay?” Phil asked.
“I’ll be fine.” Ward grunted. “Lets just get to the resistance base.”
---
May walked into the Doctor’s office where he and Garrett were waiting.
“It seems the inhuman you were interrogating yesterday disappeared while en route to the Fridge.” Leopold stated.
“What?” May frowned. “How?”
“The transport was attacked by subversives.” Leopold said, standing up. “It seems we have a traitor in our midst.”
“You’re sure?” May said.
“I am.” Leopold nodded. “How else could they have gotten to him so quickly.”
“How should we proceed?” Garrett asked.
“I want Agent May to interrogate everyone who knew about the transfer.” Leopold answered. “Treat this mole like a cancer.”
“I’ll cut it out myself.” May snarled.
“Well, you’ve failed before.” Leopold sneered. “Never forget what happened in Cambridge because of your failure Agent May. These subversives pose a risk to everything we’ve built. Find this traitor.”
“Yes sir.” May nodded.
“And speaking of catching traitors, Agent Garrett, keep looking into SWORD.” Leopold ordered. “I want their leader’s head on a spike.”
---
“So the secret base is just the base.” Daisy chuckled as Ward led her and Phil inside the Playground. “Probably could’ve guessed.”
“We’ve been here before?” Ward asked.
“Yeah in the real world.” Daisy nodded.
“Well look what the cat dragged in.” Daisy stopped short at the familiar voice. Jeffrey Mace strode over to them, wearing his Patriot suit, and shook Ward’s hand.
“It’s good to see you sir.” Ward grinned.
“You as well.” Mace smiled. “And how’re you doing Skye? This one’s not fussing over you too much is he?”
“Oh well you know Grant.” Daisy said sheepishly.
“Fair enough.” Mace chuckled. “I have good news for you both. Trip was able to get Vijay here safely.”
“Good.” Ward said. “God only knows what they had in store for him.”
“And who’s this?” Mace asked looking to Phil.
“I’m Phil Coulson.” Phil beamed. “Wow! It’s really you! The Patriot! I had ideas about what your suit would look like but this is way cooler.” Daisy couldn’t help but laugh. No matter the reality, Phil was still a fanboy.
“We’re just dropping him off.” Ward stated. “We need to get back to the Triskelion and get a line on Holden Radcliffe. Skye thinks he can help us.”
“He does have a lot of knowledge on inhumans and on Hydra.” Mace nodded. “Could be an asset. Alright just be careful.”
---
Lincoln leaned against the counter filling out patient forms when a piece of paper was slipped into his pocket. He finished up and made his way to the bathroom. It was a message that read, “The boss needs you to come in” from James. Once he was done with his shift, he made his way to the SWORD secret base. He strolled into the office of Gideon Malick, head of SWORD.
“Lincoln, good you’re here.” Gideon greeted.
“Is everything alright?” Lincoln asked.
“No.” Gideon shook his head. “Thanks to the work Doctor Simmons did, we now have the ability to create a stable portal to retrieve It from the other side.”
“Really?” Lincoln raised an eyebrow. “How’s that a bad thing?”
“It’s not.” Gideon said. “He’s an inhuman and the inhumans of this world are in peril. I have no doubt that he will aid us in the fight against Madame Hydra. The problem is that without Doctor Simmons, we have no way to chart the course back.”
---
Daisy and Ward strolled into the Triskelion offices where Daisy logged into her computer and accessed Madame Hydra’s secure files. Once they had what they needed, they quickly made their way down into the lobby. They were almost to the door when they heard Agent May call out from behind them with six men at her back.
“Skye, Ward, we need to speak with you.” May stated.