Agents of SHIELD: Nexus

"May to Lighthouse, requesting permission to land," Mick sat in command, pressing buttons to open the hatch for the jet to land. Daisy still in shock, and he was trying hard to help her after what Fitz had done. 

"You have clearance, the hatches are opening," Mick relayed, then turned his focus back to Daisy. 

"I wonder what Coulson is going to think about Fitz's stunt?" Daisy murmured. 

"I'm sure he'll want to talk to him, they'll be lectures, and then he'll try to fix all of this, while saving the world" Mick said as Daisy huffed. 

"I'm never going to forgive him for this," Daisy placed her hand on the bandage on her neck. "The world was so much safer without me having my powers." 

Mick sat silent, he understood her pain and frustration. They spent the whole night talking about it. She couldn't become the Destroyer of Worlds as long as she had that inhibitor chip implanted in her neck. He listened as she poured out the dread she felt over the looming future, the resentment she now harbored against Fitz, her concern over Coulson's immanent death, even the fears she had about their budding relationship. 

He reached out, grabbing her hand, triggering a retraction on Daisy's part. She took a deep breath, calming, then laid her hand atop Mick's. "Need any help with Hale?" Mick asked as only silence came from the other end. "May?"

"Maybe she's just focusing?" Deke surprised them. "I'm sure coming down that shaft isn't exactly easy in a plane that big."

"Clearly you haven't seen May's skill," Daisy said as Deke shrugged. 

"I just figured," Deke started, then rolled his eyes as Daisy shook her head. "Oh come on! Don't act like I should know these things! It's not like we were flying around like buddies back at my Lighthouse!" 

Mick stared at Deke, who's eyes were focused on Daisy. "We should probably head down and check in with Coulson," Mick broke the silence as Daisy nodded. 

The hatch opened on Zephyr-One, out came Patten, Piper, then May. Each one had an extremely somber look, except May, who was seething. "Coulson inside with Hale?" Deke asked as Piper and Patten shared a glance, then walked by without a word, leaving only May. 

Mick had never seen her so angry. Her eyes could've burned a hole in the sun with her intensity. "May, what happened?" Mick dared to ask. 

May popped her knuckles, one by one, then her neck. With a deep breath, she opened her mouth. "He surrendered to her." 

"What?" Daisy barked. 

"He surrendered to her," May repeated, her anger crashing through her typical composure. "She tricked us. She knew that we would try to grab her. She had Creel pose as her driver, strapped C4 on him, then threatened to blow us all from the sky if he didn't surrender." 

"Why?" Daisy asked as May slammed her fist into the hatch. 

"Because he has a death wish!" May bellowed, slamming her fist against the wall. "Ever since we've come back from the future he's taking this ridiculous risks that could get him killed!" 

"That's not," Mick started to say as May shot him a deadly glare. 

"Who took the risk of sealing the Rift again?" May snarled. 

"Technically Daisy sealed it," Deke said as May looked furious and slightly confused.

"A lot happened while you were gone too," Daisy pointed at the bandage on her neck. 

"Maybe we should talk about this in the office," May suggested as Deke looked rather intrigued. "We have a few things to go over that Coulson wanted in place." 

"Like a last wishes kind of thing?" Deke asked as everyone gave him an annoyed glare. 

"Contingency plans," May grimaced. 

Daisy was gone for what seemed like hours, hold up in Coulson's office with May. Mick and Deke sat in mission control staring at the screen. How could Hale have been a step ahead of them? How could Coulson simply turn himself in without an escape plan? Did he actually have one, and that's what Daisy was being briefed on? Why was he stuck babysitting Deke? How were things going to change with Fitz now that Coulson was MIA? He had no answers, which bothered him more. 

"So Daisy is kind of cute, isn't she?" Deke asked as Mick stared at him. "I mean, she's got that awesome warrior kind of sexiness."

"Dude," Mick groaned as Deke seemed rather confused at Mick's tone. 

"May's pretty nice to look at too," Deke smirked. 

"Seriously," Mick huffed. "Let me guess, you think Jemma is pretty too?" 

"Ew, no!" Deke was taken back, leaving Mick quite shocked at this reaction. "She's my Grandma!"

"Excuse me?" Mick stared at Deke skeptically. 

"I know, surprised me too!" Deke replied. "It made too much sense. She's got a ring that looks just like my Nanna, she says her sayings, and overall everything she does reminds me of what my mom said about her." 

"You mom, like Jemma and Fitz's child that they haven't even had yet?" Mick looked at Deke, finally realizing what Jemma meant by they were untouchable because Deke existed. For him to exist, they had to survive the end of the world. Then another harsh realization hit him; Deke probably knew if he survived, and what became of Daisy. Partially he wanted to ask, but his mind just couldn't get past Fitz and Jemma having a child, seeing her as a mom, and Fitz giving up the lab and being a father. 

"That's just so weird, on so many levels," Mick shook his head, picturing Jemma being old and called Nanna. "Oh please, I need to know what you called Fitz." 

"Bobo?" Deke said reluctantly, Mick burst out laughing. "What now?" 

"Our little Fitz just got a new nickname," Mick smiled mischievously. 

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Deke asked as Mick shrugged. 

"After the years of being teased, you better believe it," Mick said happily. 

Daisy and May stepped into mission control, with Daisy's expression being solemn, yet firm. "We need to start searching for Coulson in every way we can." Her tone was just as harsh as her expression. 

"Is everything ok?" Mick asked as Daisy brushed off the question heading straight for her laptop. 

"It will be once we find Coulson," Daisy said harshly. "Deke, get Jemma we need all hands on deck. Mick, let Mack and Yo-yo know. No one is resting until we get Coulson back." 

"What about Fitz?" Mick asked as Daisy shot him a distasteful scowl. 

"He stays were he is. I don't trust him not to try to hurt anyone else," once more she was extremely harsh. 

"Alright," Mick frowned, to which Daisy noticed and chose not to acknowledge. "You heard her, move out." Mick said as Deke rolled his eyes and headed off. 

"Mick," May called out catching him in the hallway. "She's stressed because Coulson wants her to lead the team. Don't let her attitude get to you. She's going to need all the support she can get." 

"I can handle whatever she throws at me," Mick said as May shrugged. 

"One more thing," May said. "Did you ever suspect Hale of being Hydra?" 

"No," Mick thought back to his time in captivity. "I mean, she didn't seem any different than Talbot did during our last encounter. Sure, she hated SHIELD, but who in the governments doesn't at this point?" 

"Just something about her seems extremely off," May said as Mick nodded in agreement. 

"All I know is she was quite obsessed with finding Coulson," Mick sighed as May pressed her lips and rolled her eyes. "I better go let Mack know what's going on." 

He walked across the Lighthouse, through the bleak hallways, his mind continuing to question everything. What is Hale's endgame? How does the world actually end? Are those things connected? What's Coulson's play in all of this? Is he going to survive until the end? He snapped into focus as he saw Yo-yo wearing her new cybernetic arms, testing out her finger movements. He then knocked on the door, Yo-yo signaling him inside. 

"Looks like your new arms are working," Mick smiled as Mack nodded proudly. 

"It's going to take some getting used to," Yo-yo stated in her thick accent seeping through. 

"One day at a time," Mack said compassionately, Yo-yo half smiled at his sentiment. "What brings you on this side of the base Webs?" 

"Nothing good," Mick said as Yo-yo didn't seem surprised. "Coulson was taken by Hale, no idea as to where." 

"Are we sending out a search party?" Yo-yo seemed eager to be out of the Lighthouse. 

"Not yet," Mick said as Yo-yo frowned. "Daisy is doing a few searches to see if she can find anything, the rest of us are to be prepared just in case."

"I wonder if this is what she meant by let Coulson die?" Yo-yo muttered to herself with a shudder. 

"What?" Mick asked as Mack shook his head, wrapping his arms around Yo-yo. 

"It's nothing," Mack frowned. "Just something she saw in the future that was trying to mess with her head." 

"There has to be truth behind it!" Yo-yo urged as Mack tried to shake it off. "What if I could prove it to you?" 

"And how would you do that?" Mack asked skeptically. 

"The fact I survived during the FEAR mist?" Yo-yo seemed smug. "The fact that the future me had no arms." 

"I think I'll leave this between you two," Mick said uncomfortably. 

"No, it's fine," Yo-yo snapped. "You should know about it, after all. You might be able to help us prevent it!" 

"I'm not for any future where we let Coulson die. I'm not ready to lose another family member," Mick said callously. 

"What if it's the only way to save the world?" Yo-yo asked as Mick's eyes narrowed and he frowned. "What if it's the only way to save Daisy?" She clearly knew this would put Mick on the same level of thinking, and she was right. He wasn't sure how he'd react if it came to saving Coulson or Daisy. He didn't really want to consider a world without either one. 

"Thanks for letting us know about Coulson," Mack said with a sigh. "Tell Daisy she knows where to find me if she needs anything." 

"And I'm ready to help too," Yo-yo said as Mick nodded. He then left as Mack began looking at Yo-yo's arms, probably calibrating them. 

Mick the found Patten and Deke standing over a work bench staring at Patten's tablet. Mick eased over watching as a simulation ran. The screen showed several question mark labeled variables, with on listed as Daisy Johnson. As the simulation unfolded its showed a massive shattering explosion, fracturing the earth almost in half, wiping out all of the North American continent, Central America, even some of South America. 

"So that's close to what you think happened?" Patten turned to Deke who shrugged. 

"It lines up, with the few times I ever saw of the planet," Deke shrugged. "Most of what I saw was just the debris field, looked like an asteroid belt to us." 

"Why are you making a model of that?" Mick asked, making his presence known. 

"I wanted to get a feel for what we're dealing with," Patten said. "Based on everyone's debriefing, and Deke's firsthand knowledge, I was trying to figure out what kind of strength it would take to cause that kind of shattering." 

"Do you know just how strong Daisy's powers are?" Deke asked point blank. 

"Her quakes are strong, but I've never seen her able to do anything that would rip the world apart," Mick said as Patten frowned. 

"You don't think Fitz would've given her any enhanced powers during his Edward Scissorhands moment, do you?" Patten asked as Mick shook his head. 

"He's been clear, all he did was unlock her powers, nothing else," Mick frowned again. "He only did that to manipulate the gravitonium, so the Rift wouldn't rip the world apart." 

"And the gravitonium didn't get on her or anything?" Patten inquired. 

"No, stayed in her pulses, straight into the machine. No splashes or mistakes," Mick said as Patten huffed. 

"And you're certain it was Daisy that was the Destroyer of Worlds?" Patten turned to Deke. 

"Yeah," Deke said confidently. "I saw the video, she was there, ran inside a building, and the next thing we see is a powerful earthquake ripping up the planet." 

"So something had to happen inside that building," Patten frowned. "Maybe I can get with Jemma and get a power reading, just so we can see exactly what kinds of force Daisy can put out. Maybe then we can start piecing together what could give her the powers to shatter the planet." 

"Good luck with that," Deke teased. "Since May got back, Daisy has been such a -" 

"Don't even finish that sentence," Patten urged as Mick glared at him. 

"I know she's extremely stressed and all, but it's like she's on a power trip," Deke rolled his eyes. "She chewed me out for just talking to Bobo." 

"No surprises there," Mick sighed, as well as tried to keep his snicker to himself. "Let me know if you find anything, I'm going to check on Daisy. She probably could use some help." 

Mission control was empty, as was Coulson's office. He debated on checking in on Fitz, but wasn't sure how Daisy would react if she already fussed at Deke. He wasn't exactly sure where she would be either. He stopped by the sleeping quarters, there he found Daisy curled up on her bed, back to the door, her laptop in front of her. He then walked over, knocking on the door as she turned slightly to see him before waving him in. 

"You look comfy," Mick rubbed her back as he sat down.

"How can he not feel bad about what he did?" Daisy fussed as she laid her head on his lap. 

"Fitz, I assume?" 

"Of course!" She huffed. "Sure Mack is fine, just a minor injury, so are you, Deke, and Jemma! But he betrayed us. He cut into my neck without so much a thought as to how I felt about it." 

"I'm sure it bothers him," Mick brushed her hair from her face as Daisy was fighting back tears. 

"I went down to talk with Jemma and he point blank said he doesn't feel bad!" Daisy's voice cracked. "He said he'd do it again, that it was the only way." 

"I don't agree with how it happened," Mick said with a heavy sigh. "But having that Rift sealed is better than it unleashing more of those creatures that could kill us." 

"I guess," Daisy bit her lip, wiping her face. "But why not talk to me, or just wait until we came up with a better solution?" 

"He clearly wasn't himself," Mick stated as Daisy looked annoyed at Mick defending him. "I'm not saying it was pardonable. I know how worried you are about that future coming true." 

"Mick, it's as burned into my memory," Daisy pressed her hands over her face. "I caused it, I don't know how I did it, or why. I watched the video of it happening."

"So you even agree you don't normally have that kind of power," Mick said as Daisy moved her hands staring at him blankly. 

"No," she said plainly. "I didn't think I did, but it's clearly there." 

"What if it's not?" Mick asked as she stated at him. "What if, just like Fitz operating on you, something has to happen to force that kind of power out of you?" 

"So something amplifies my powers?" There was a new spark of hope in Daisy. 

"It's not unheard of," Mick shrugged. 

"Maybe that's what we should try to figure out!" Daisy exclaimed as she sat up quickly. "We could also use her to find Coulson!"

"Wait, what?" Mick watched her excitement grow. "Slow down, you're losing me!" 

"We can use Robin to piece all of this together!" Daisy cheered. "I'd bet she has drawings of all of it!"

"That's great, but Lance and Bobbi hid her at one of their mercenary safe houses. We don't know where that is," Mick said as Daisy smiled. 

"I bet your Damage Control friend knows how to find them," Daisy smirked. "They left because the had a mercenary mission come in. Bobbi was talking about it at the wedding." 

"Guess I can look into it," Mick said as Daisy smiled. She then grabbed his face and kissed him before bouncing out of the room. "I don't think I'm going to get used to that," he pressed his fingers to his lips with a half grin.