I awoke, aware of a throbbing pain in the back of my head.

"Ow," I muttered as I opened my eyes, everything taking a moment to focus. I realized Daisy was standing over me, a worried expression on her face.

"You ok?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, the back of my head just really hurts." She helped me up, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Fitz helping May up, so I assumed we must have been the only ones who were knocked out. Lucky us.

Daisy helped me into another room, and I steadied myself against a table.

"Are you two ok?" Fitz asked.

May and I nodded.

"We're fine," she said and turned to Daisy. "So you're with us?"

Daisy nodded.

"Are you ok?" I asked Daisy. "You're shaking."

"You both are," Fitz cut in. "You're going through withdrawals. Plus, the Zephyr can handle high altitude, but it's not designed for it. It's subfreezing outside, which also means-"

"The air's getting thin in here," May finished for him.

"So we should limit out movements and try to keep warm," Fitz continued, then took off his coat, but he paused for a moment, looking from me to Daisy, then back to me. I realized that he was going to give one of us his coat, but he didn't know who to give it too.

"Give it to Daisy," I said.

"Cori, no it's fin-" she began but I cut her off.

"Just take it! We don't have time to argue about things like this, so just take it!" Daisy sighed as she put on the jacket.

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

Fitz sighed.

"We don't know yet," he said. "We disabled the containment module, though, so Hive isn't going anywhere."

I nodded, then I walked over to Daisy.

"It's good to see you again," I said.

She smiled slightly and nodded.

"Are you ok?" I asked. She nodded again.

"Are you?" She asked.

"Right now I am. I'm just happy to see you. I missed you so much."

She pulled me into a hug.

"I missed you too."

I closed my eyes, enjoying the comforting embrace I had missed so much. It's strange, how someone you have only known for a month can end up meaning so much to you.

Suddenly we heard a loud noise and broke apart.

"What was that?" I asked.

"The Quinjet," May answered.

"Yeah, the Quinjets fly themselves," Fitz added. "Coulson must of called one to him."

I bit my lip, glad that he came but also thinking he shouldn't have.

"They're ducks in a barrel until they deplane, though," May said, and my brow furrowed.

"Wait- I thought it was fish-" I began.

"Come on, we need to get to them," May said, cutting me off, and I gave her an annoyed look.

"Let's just hope whoever's on the Quinjet has an idea about what happens next," Fitz said and I nodded, only half listening. I was more focused on the strange look Daisy had on her face. She was holding something in her hand, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"I know exactly what happens next," she said, and for some reason the way she said it gave me an uneasy feeling.

**********

We made our way through the Zephyr, and I hoped that the people who had come on the Quinjet we still alive. I was reassured when I heard the noise of electricity.

That must be Lincoln! I thought as we quickened our pace.

"Lincoln!" Daisy exclaimed, and I loved the overjoyed looks on the two lovebird's faces. But their smiles soon faded when they caught sight of a glowing orange object on Lincoln's side.

"Lincoln!" Daisy yelled, her tone much different than when she had first called his name.

I watched in horror as I exploded, leaving a badly bleeding wound. Fitzsimmons jumped into action, dragging him into the cargo bay and leaning him up against the wall, and Simmons assessed his wounds.

I glanced over at Daisy, who looked like she might cry as she kept asking if he would be alright. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, trying not to cry as well.

"Yes, he'll live, um, if there's no internal hemorrhage," Simmons told her, sounding out of breath.

I watched nervously as they treated his wound with what they could, and Daisy grabbed his hand.

I bit my lip and tried to calm down. Everything's going to be alright, I told myself, although I didn't really believe it.

When his wound had been treated as much as it could be at that moment, Fitzsimmons both stood and moved away to give Daisy and Lincoln a moment alone, and I reluctantly followed them.

I leaned against the containment module and closed my eyes, wishing this all could just be over.

Why does life have to suck so much? I thought, knowing I would get no answer.

"You alright?" I heard Coulson ask, and I opened my eyes and looked over at him.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said quietly. "I just want this whole thing to be over. It feels like one bad thing is happening after another. I just want the bad stuff to all end."

"We all do. The only thing we can do right now is to stop Hive."

"You got any ideas?"

"One, actually," he said, louder so that the whole team could hear.

"What do you have in mind?" May asked.

"The Quinjets fly remotely, so I set new coordinates for outer space," Coulson began. "The Quinjet will disconnect from the Zephyr, and then fly straight up until it leaves the atmosphere. If we can steal the warhead and load it onto the Quinjet somehow, it'll blow in the vacuum of space, and the pathogen will disperse harmlessly, solving at least that part of the problem."

"And what about the other part of the problem?" Simmons questioned.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now all we have to do is decide who goes and who stays to hold off a wave of Primates and Hive the Terrible," he finished.

"Well, I'd like to be in a fight," Mack said, picking up a weapon. "Built this thing for a reason." I squinted at the object, trying to figure out what it was.

"Is that a...?" I began, trailing off.

"Shotgun-axe," he finished for me, nodding.

I rolled my eyes, but also smiled in spite of myself.

"Where's Daisy?" Simmons asked suddenly, and my head snapped in the direction I had last seen her. She wasn't there, only Lincoln. I gasped, the realization of what she was doing dawning on me.

"I- I couldn't stop her," Lincoln said weakly.

Without a moment of hesitation, I took off in the direction of the Quinjet.

"Cori!" I heard my name being yelled behind me, probably by multiple people, but I ignored them. But suddenly, one of the ugly looking things that Fitz had informed me were called "Primitives" jumped down and blocked my path. I knocked it out with dark energy, and continued running. I didn't stop until I reached the Quinjet.

"Daisy!" I yelled, running up to the Quinjet, but freezing when I saw Hive.

Daisy turned to look at me.

"Cori. You need to get out of here," she said.

"No!" I exclaimed, walking up the ramp. "I know what you're trying to do. There's a better way to do this!"

"No there isn't," she said quietly, then she suddenly thrust one of her hands out towards me, using her power to throw me back and out of the Quinjet.

I groaned as I hit the floor. I opened my eyes, and saw that the ramp was closing.

"DASIY!!! NO!!!" I screamed, and pulled myself to my feet, then ran as fast as I could towards the ramp, hoping there was some way I could stop her.

What happened next I didn't expect at all.

Daisy came flying out of the Quinjet, knocked back by a bolt of- electricity?

Wait- Lincoln? Was that Lincoln?

My fears were confirmed as I got a glimpse of Lincoln just before the ramp closed fully.

It was the last time I would ever see him again.

~~~~~~~~