Summary
*SEASON FINALE SPOILER* Daisy's been on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since she lost Lincoln. However, in one stupid slip up, Coulson is able to get what he needs to track down the rogue agent. He doesn't want her to suffer alone anymore, but she refuses to accept his help. While he knows trying to help her is useless, he does it anyway. ((Oneshot))

Warnings
Series: N/A
Timeframe: Post-Season 3 Finale
Ships: N/A
AUish Aspects: N/A
Main: Just a oneshot about Daisy and Coulson's reunion, so while it gets pretty angsty, that's about it.

Disclaimer
I do not own Marvel, Disney, or the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. If I owned any of those things, I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing this xD.

-Bittersweet-

Author: Shadow Wolf Artist
Editor: FanQueen On Fire

Daisy fled the small town, knowing full well that if she returned to her hotel room she would find it flooded with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The constant running-from-the-government exhausted her, and she nearly stumbled as she fought for a breath. She just wanted- no, she needed to get away; away from comfort, away from feeling, away from S.H.I.E.L.D. She needed that icy numbness that meant she was void of anything but the simple urges to live. Then it would hurt less if they did catch her and lock her up, because despite what they said they would lock her up. They would lock her up, then tell her it's for her safety when it was for his. He would tell her that it was okay, that it wasn't her fault, even though they both knew it was. Coulson was a liar, and Daisy couldn't handle liars right now, seeing as she couldn't even get her own head straight. Lincoln's death was her fault and exclusively her fault. She should've saved him. Should've done a better job protecting him. He didn't deserve what he got, and it was her fault. But, sometimes, when all other reasoning failed, Daisy wanted to think that she could blame S.H.I.E.L.D. for everything. It was an incorrect accusation, of course, but it gave her heart a break from the crippling guilt that threatened to crush her whenever she dwelled on the subjects of Hive and Lincoln too long. She sometimes liked to think that it was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fault that the warhead had still been in play, that Hive hadn't been destroyed free of cost. They had had him, but they slipped up and Lincoln had to die to save them from their mistakes. From her mistakes.

Ugh.

Back to square one.

Pulling the hood back up over her head, Daisy boarded a bus, slipping by people she could only assume were agents. She had been in S.H.I.E.L.D. long enough to know what to look for when it came to undercover field operatives, so upon seeing five on the bus she stepped off and made her way to the train station. She didn't quite know what she was expecting, but she found several agents stationed there when she arrived. Dammit, she swore inwardly. They were making attempts to cover all her means of escape, so if she wanted to leave she would have to blend in. Readjusting the hood, she made an attempt at being inconspicuous without being suspicious. Seeing as no one stopped her from getting on the train and none of them followed her on, Daisy assumed she was successful. Having no particular destination, she simply rode the train until it stopped for good. Only then did she get off, along with a very small handful of people that she payed little attention to. Tossing her hood back, she gazed at the gorgeous sky. The sun was setting perfectly across the horizon, spilling beautiful colors across the stunning landscape before her. For the first time in months, a small smile played at her lips, imagining all the cliché times she and various members of her team (Lincoln) had sat and watched the sun set. However, the smile was as gone as quickly as it came. They aren't your team anymore.

Distracted, Daisy stumbled and fell. She struggled to get to her feet, suddenly acutely aware of her exhaustion and how much physical and emotional pain she was in. After a few failed attempts, she just gave up and sat there in the dirt, tears threatening her vision. It had been so long since she had thought this much about S.H.I.E.L.D. or Lincoln, and it had been so long since she had let tears escape her eyes and run down her cheeks that it was hard to fight the urge now.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand. It was a gentle, soothing (and familiar) gesture, and she was able to choke back her sorrows for another time because of it. The stranger helped her to her feet, and caught her when she nearly fell again. After a few moments, Daisy pulled away from the stranger's hand. "Thanks," she said softly, finally looking up. Her breath caught.

Coulson.

The stranger was, in fact, not a stranger at all, but rather none other than Phil Coulson himself. Suddenly becoming defensive, Daisy's muscles tightened and she prepared to run. "Coulson," she stated, her voice low and afraid.

"Daisy," he replied calmly, looking intensely back at her.

"Why did you follow me?" she snapped. Coulson was quiet for a few moments before finally responding.

"I pictured what I would say to you when I finally found you; yes, when, not if. I was determined. I had an entire speech prepared, but now I see that it won't do anything. You don't want to hear what I was going to say."

"Why did you follow me?" Daisy repeated, her voice hostile.

"Concern, more than anything."

"For who?"

"You."

"Why?"

"Because Lincoln died, and you ran away. To be honest, I was afraid for your life until reports of your exploits started showing up in the paper."

"That's why you're here? To tell me it isn't my fault? To tell me it's gonna be okay? That's what S.H.I.E.L.D. is all about, isn't it? Lies. It will never, I repeat, never be okay."

The words stung Coulson more than he let on. "I didn't come here to tell you either of those things, actually. I know it won't ever be okay; we lost a great teammate, and you lost your significant other. That's hard to get over even with friends and family helping you through, and alone I can only imagine it's near damn impossible." Is he talking about Rosalind?

"So, you came here to give me a hug."

"Simply put, I suppose I did."

"Then, when I think I'm safe, you'll take me back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and lock me up. Yeah, no thanks," Daisy snapped, turning to walk away.

"Whoa, what? Who said anything about locking you up? Skye wait-"

"It's DAISY," she barked, whirling around and flinging Coulson back as anger took control of her power. The agent hit the ground and let out a grunt of pain. Daisy looked at her hands, shocked by what had just occurred. Coulson got to his feet again, looking at the ex-agent wearily. "I want the truth, Phil. You didn't just come here to give me a hug."

"Okay, the truth then," Coulson replied tiredly, dusting himself off. It was then that Daisy realized just how tired he looked. He had bags under his eyes that had gone unnoticed by her before, and the way he carried himself implied he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while. "The government wants you to be contained, because in their eyes, you're just a rogue Inhuman, and you and I both know that that never ends well. I, well, S.H.I.E.L.D. offered to capture and contain you, because the government is incompetent; they would either indirectly torture you or you would escape."

"So, you're saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to capture me and then detain me somewhere I can't escape," Daisy clarified. "Oh, let me guess, it's for my own safety?" Coulson winced inwardly.

"No, it's for the safety of the general populous." Daisy was shocked. There was no sugarcoat, it was just...there. Straight up fact. "Look, you wanted the truth, I'm giving you the truth. The agents you sent here were meant to capture you. They were acting under my orders. I set up the plans, got the leads, everything. That's why the mission went without a hitch."

"I'm still free," Daisy commented with a wary hesitance, instantly looking around for more agents.

"I know what you're doing. There aren't any agents here. I had a different mission than them. Well, technically I didn't, but I knew that their idea of a plan wasn't going to work."

"Their mission was to kidnap me. What was yours?"

"To make sure you're safe. I may have said that S.H.I.E.L.D. volunteered to contain you, but that doesn't mean the government stepped down. It's been a race as to who can get to you first. You want the truth? No one knows I'm here. As far as they know, I've already started heading back to homebase because the 'mission' was a failure." He cleared his throat. "Daisy, I'm sorry. For everything. I should've taken more precautions, I should've known that it was all an elaborate plan to get Hive into the base, but I didn't. Lincoln had to pay for my mistakes."

"Lincoln wouldn't have done what he did if I wasn't on the plane. Hive wouldn't have used the plane if I hadn't gotten on; I was the reason you couldn't just shoot him out of the sky. Coulson, I didn't go to kill Hive; well, not at first, at least. I went to beg. I begged to him. Begged for the connection. But Lash made me immune to it, and I couldn't fill the emptiness that was threatening to swallow me whole. That's when I attacked. It's all my fault. I'm so, so sorry." Tears were threatening her vision again, but she couldn't move. She watched as Coulson approached her, knowing full well what was going to happen. He gently grabbed her by the arms, preventing her from backing up anymore. Daisy knew what was coming, and she struggled with all her might. "Leave me alone! I'm just going to hurt you like I hurt Lincoln- Coulson stop- I don't deserve your comfort-"

And suddenly it happened.

She caved in.

She stopped struggling.

She collapsed against Coulson and sobbed.

She sobbed for Lincoln, for S.H.I.E.L.D., for everyone else she had hurt. She cried because she didn't know what else to do. She felt so alone, so empty, and the wall that she thought she had built so soundly crumbled and fell, allowing her tears to come down in a torrent onto Coulson's suit. Her nails dug into the fabric as she clenched her hands into fists around his jacket. Coulson put a hand on the back of her head, drawing it against his chest. "I'm so sorry," she repeated over and over, her voice catching and hiccuping with her sobs.

"I know," Coulson said softly. "I know."

"I can't go back to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I didn't expect you to come back. Just know, if you ever need help, I'm here."

"I can't. I want to, but I can't. The agency is just a reminder of how I failed."

"The only person you ever failed is yourself," Coulson replied sternly. "Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. just wants you safe. Mack went on that mission to get you; Elena too. They want you home. I want you home. I wasn't lying when I told Cal that you were the closest thing I ever had to a daughter." He paused before continuing, uncharacteristically choked on emotion. "I'm sorry nothing ever works out for you. Your father was crazy, your mother was crazy, Lincoln was crazy in love with you. I must seem so boring by comparison." Daisy let out a small laugh and rested her chin on Coulson's shoulder.

"Oh, I don't know. Having a spy dad that owns a flying car is pretty exciting if you ask me."

"Yes, well, having a daughter who can control vibrations and practically fly using said vibrations is pretty neat too," Coulson said softly, a genuine smile playing at his lips.

"I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

-The End-

A/N: The Season 3 finale had me in a lot of tears, so here's my attempt at trying to fix all the hearts Marvel broke during that Season 3 wrap-up. I'm always open to suggestions regarding my writing: was it good? Bad? Too rushed? Grammatical errors? As long as it's constructive, I really don't care if your feedback is positive or negative, so feel free to go ham on all the things I did wrong :D I hope you enjoyed this angsty little oneshot nevertheless!
Also, shout out to my friend "FanQueen On Fire" for editing this!

~Shadow Wolf Artist