You're On Your Own, Kid

So Long, Daisy May!

Daisy and her team were at the school as the day grew dim. Lincoln was by the grid fidgeting, no doubt waiting to hear from Jiaying or Gordon.

In a flash of blue light, both those people appeared, along with a surprise third: Cal.

"Hi, Jiaying," Lincoln said.

Daisy had her gun at the ready. She was hiding on the roof with her rifle, watching everything unfold. Her team was on the ground.

"Hello, Lincoln," Jiaying replied smoothly. "Are you ready to help us? Where's Daisy?"

"She's not coming," Lincoln said. "I told her not to come."

"And why not?" Jiaying sounded calm, but something wasn't right.

"I've decided not to help you anymore," Lincoln said, a tremble in his voice. "I'm sorry, but I can't go along with it."

"After all that I've done for you, Lincoln?" Jiaying sounded hurt and dangerous. That was not a very good mix. "After I took you in, saved you and kept you as my own?"

"Yeah. My priorities changed," Lincoln said, shrugging. "What can I say?"

'What can I say' was the signal, and Daisy reached over and pulled the trigger. A quiet bullet flew through the air and hit Jiaying to the left of her spine, right where her heart should be.

Jiaying fell with a surprised gasp, and she dragged Lincoln down with her. She grabbed the sides of his face viciously, and everyone could hear her voice through the comms channel.

"You're useless to me, then," she hissed.

The wind died as Jiaying slowly got up, fingers constricted against Lincoln's face that was slowly growing ashen.

Daisy felt her heart in her throat, choking her as she watched her friend die. She jumped off the roof carefully and ran towards them. Cal was the first to notice her, then Gordon.

Lincoln went limp in Jiaying's arms before she turned to see her daughter standing there with tears streaming down her face.

Daisy could hear the silence over the comms channel, thick and heavy. Her heart squeezed painfully. "Hi, Mom," she said bitterly.

"Daisy?" Jiaying whispered, voice so full of hope and wonder like she didn't just kill a man. "My daughter, Daisy?"

"Who else would it be?" Daisy replied dryly.

"You've come after all! You decided to come with us!"

"No, I didn't," the cadet spat. "I want nothing to do with you, Mother. You tried to kill me when I was less than a year old, and now you're threatening my family. You killed my friend. I'm never going to go with you. Not now, not ever." Before anyone could say anything, Daisy raised her hand and quaked Gordon into the force field that Fitz designed to keep him from teleporting. With her other hand, she yanked on her mother's heartbeat, feeling it tremble.

Daisy looked to her father, who looked resigned.

"Don't do it, Daisy," Cal said slowly. "I can... This isn't your duty to do."

Daisy watched him as he slowly guided her hand down and held his wife gingerly. He looked into her eyes, mumbled something along the lines of 'I love you' or 'I'm sorry' and broke her back over his knee.

The cadet closed her eyes as a silence rang loud in her ears.

Daisy heard someone running up to her, two someones. May and Coulson. They hugged her tightly as the tears fell. Then she pulled away quickly, sniffling. "Gordon-" she croaked. "We need to deal with Gordon-"

Without a word, May walked over to where Gordon was contained and shot him in the temple.

Daisy crumpled to the ground as her friends came rushing over. Her vision focused on the three dead bodies on the grass, one still bleeding out, one limp without an unbroken spine, and one of a boy's, drained of life.

After a quick crying session, Daisy got up and levitated Lincoln's body off of the ground carefully, putting it on a stretcher that Simmons had got. Strangely numb now, the communications cadet took out her phone and dialled a number she only had saved for one purpose.

"Hello?" the answerer said timidly.

Daisy sighed. "Is this Amanda Campbell?"

-

It was a small funeral. Lincoln's family attended. What's left of his friends from Afterlife were invited, but only three came. Ward and Trip couldn't make it back, since Ward was no-contact and Trip was busy with his new position, but he sent flowers.

It was quiet. Simmons played the piano with Fitz accompanying on a violin. Coulson gave a eulogy.

He was cremated. Amanda chose to take him home with her. Everyone gave their condolences. It was a sunny day.

"I think he would've liked that eulogy," Amanda said softly. She and Daisy were alone in the chapel, the last to leave. "Agent Coulson seemed to know him very well."

Daisy smiled slightly. "He spent almost every day at my house, after school," she told the girl. "And we'd known him for two years."

"I miss him," Amanda said. She stared at the stained glass windows. "I didn't see him much over the past few years. After the accident, he was never the same. I don't blame him. Not for any of it. I decided to get into that car. He was just making some bad decisions."

Daisy nodded. "In the end, he was very brave," she said after a few beats of silence. "I... he did the right thing. And he saved my life."

"He has a way of doing that." Amanda smiled sadly. "I... I was in a bad place when we were younger. My friends weren't there, our parents weren't present... I felt alone. But Lincoln was there. He saved me. He was an angel. An-" here she laughed- "an angel that stole my clothes and annoyed me to hell and back, but an angel nonetheless. God, I miss him."

Daisy didn't know what to do with her hands. This was the first time she ever met Lincoln's sister, the second time they'd had a conversation. It didn't feel like they were close enough for a comforting arm.

Amanda checked her watch and stood up. "I have to go," she said. "My parents are waiting. It was nice to meet you, Daisy."

"It was nice to meet you too," the cadet said. She watched the girl walk off, and Daisy heard a familiar set of footsteps. She turned to see her father walking up. "Hey."

Coulson gave her a side hug as the late summer breeze nipped at their shoulders. "Hey, sweetheart," he said quietly. "I just got off the phone with Thompson. This a good time, or should I tell you at home?"

"You can tell me now." Daisy leaned into his hug as he absentmindedly tapped his fingertips against her arm. "What is it?"

"You're smart," Coulson said. "Thompson said you passed your year-end exams with flying colours, and you're able to graduate if you want."

"Does everyone graduate two years early in SHIELD?" Daisy asked bemusedly.

"Kind of," Coulson admitted. "Not everyone. But May did."

"May's not exactly the average person, though, Dad." Daisy sighed. "Okay, so I passed my exams and I graduate at 16. If you told me that two years ago, I probably wouldn't believe you."

"But here you are." Coulson hugged her close. "So, Daisy May, what's next?"