My Soul on Paper, Your Heart Promised Home

May wasn't one to show nervousness. Anyone walking by would see her steady as usual, walking with purpose through the halls of the base. They wouldn't notice anything out of place. But May alone could see the slight tremble of her hands where they held the papers.

She hadn't been back to base in a while. Neither had Daisy. This would be the first time they saw each other in...how long had it been? May found herself surprised by how fast time slipped by when occupied with teaching the new prospects who intended to enter S.H.I.E.L.D. She missed her original three kids, but especially Daisy.

It had been Daisy who threw a wrench in her careful mission to watch over Coulson all those years ago. She saw Daisy's connection with Coulson, and resisted the one she found forming between the three of them, though in the end May failed that mission terribly, and with not a single regret about it.

After Coulson died...things changed. They were both blindsided by his loss. He'd tried to spare them the pain of mourning him before he was gone, the dick. All it had done was push them into fight or flight. In the end, those last days May spent with him on the beach, every soft smile, every touch, were overshadowed by the stutters in his breathing, the times he would drift off a little too far.

All May had been able to think about in those moments after he had finally gone was what Daisy's face would look like when she came back with his body. She was afraid. Afraid of how Daisy might look at her, knowing that someday May might be the one draped in white in the back of the Zephyr. Or on a stretcher, a body bag, not even given the same dignity in death.

It would be easier to pretend. If Coulson wasn't dead, May wouldn't have to leave Daisy either. So when the LMD smiled with Coulson's face, laughed with his voice, comforted them with his memories, they accepted it as Coulson. But...the LMD himself? There was only so long he could be restrained to that identity. When he came to May with that apologetic curve of Coulson's brow, she knew. There was only so long they could ask it to be someone else.

So now May carried her acceptance in her limp. She carried it in her voice as she passed on her knowledge to the next generation of agents. And she carried it in the papers in her hand. If she was to leave Daisy an orphan once more, she might as well do it properly. After all, if she was willing to have it written into her soul, why not on paper?

The door to Daisy's quarters was in front of her sooner than she expected. May hesitated. It was easier to push someone away than to risk being pushed away. What if Daisy didn't want this tether? What if she ran? Kept May distant the rest of their limping lives? Above of all, what if Daisy didn't want May's love anymore?

May's hesitance was interrupted by the door swinging open.

"You gonna stand there all day or finally knock?" Daisy asked with that little, knowing grin that somehow no longer irritated May the way it used to.

May reigned her hesitance in and let out a minute huff of laughter. "Wanted to make sure you still have some awareness of your surroundings after relying on your powers for so long."

"Hm, okay," Daisy replied in a way that spoke of disbelief. She seemed to accept the answer though. "Come on." She gestured for May to come in with a jerk of her head, pulling the door wide open.

May stepped inside, briefly scanning the familiar surroundings like she was just checking in and not avoiding the inevitable conversation.

"So," Daisy began, shutting the door and folding her arms. "What's got you so on edge?"

May stopped her pretense of casually observing the room and turned to face Daisy. There was wariness in Daisy's eyes, but it was better than the way she would retreat when shutting someone out.

"I have..." May hesitated, cursing herself internally for the stop-and-go shakiness making its way into her speech. "I have something I want to ask you. You don't have to say yes, but it...it would mean the world to me." She cursed herself again for the sting of tears she felt forming in her vision.

The matching sheen in Daisy's eyes didn't help.

Daisy nodded shortly. "All right, shoot," she said, voice carefully restrained.

May stepped forward and silently handed her the papers.

Daisy didn't say anything for several moments. The room was filled only with the sound of rustling pages. She moved her mouth like she wanted to say something, swallowed it back, and looked up.

"All you have to do is sign," May said, folding her arms, an unconscious mirror image of Daisy a minute ago. The tension May felt was somewhat alleviated by the knowledge that no matter what Daisy's answer was, at least May had tried. At least Daisy would know she was wanted.

"May..." Daisy began, voice choked.

"If you don't want to–" May hesitantly held a hand out for the papers.

"No! No, I do!" Daisy tightened her hand protectively around the documents. "I do. It means... so much. I—"

May nodded. "It means a lot to me too." She hesitated a moment, trying not to let the feeling take over her voice, failing.

For a moment neither of them spoke. May had been a mom and a mentor to Daisy for years. No matter if Daisy wanted to give her time to someone else, dedicate her life to another family, May was there if she needed a landing pad. Daisy was the child May had given up dreaming of. They had been family for years...and now...now they would be family in the eyes of the law.

"Thank you," Daisy sniffed, stepping forward to pull May into a hug.

"Thank you," May whispered back, returning the embrace.