A splash of water that washed over her skin let Daisy know sheâd touched down in the Framework. She sunk into the suddy water, dipped under and reemerged a second later. Luckily, she was without clothes, as though sheâd been fully prepared to bathe before being dropped into this life. Weird? When she sat upright, she immediately examined her surroundings which had become second nature since she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. One of the first lessons Grant Ward, her first SO, had taught her: âalways be observing.â
     Donât go there, Daisy. Donât think about him. Heâs a traitor, heâs gone. Was that really true though? He had sacrificed himself for his old team, according to what they said when they returned. At least thatâs how it appeared to them, but as soon as any light in Ward was present, there was always something to follow that disproved the notion. When Ward sacrificed himself, he returned shortly after as Hive. The only proof whether Wardâs action was a sacrifice or a power grab was in whether or not he knew what he would become. Seemed no one would ever really know that.
     There werenât clothes hanging in the very sterile looking restroom that was absent of any color, but there was a robe. Thatâs what Daisy noticed when she rerouted her thoughts off of Ward and back to the present. That suggested to Daisy she was comfortable here and had belongings somewhere else in the residence. This had to be her own bathroom.
     A cell phone beep alerted her of its presence on a small table next to the tub. When she lifted the device to view, all she could see was a message. âWake up your boyfriend and report to the briefing,â with no indication as to who the sender was except the letter P as the contact name.
     Daisy didnât even bother with a response because she wasnât sure who she was responding to but even more pressing was the title of âboyfriendâ. She had a boyfriend here. Lincoln? She stood to exit the tub, dripping water from her naked body onto the ivory mat on the floor. Whoever it was, she had a feeling she was about to find out because the text suggested theyâd stayed with her the night before and if some unknown contact knew that, then they knew her well enough to know it was a common occurrence. Slipping into the cotton robe that matched the color of snow, she took tentative steps out of the bathroom and found a bare, muscular male back facing her with no indication as to who it belonged to. âLincoln,â she gently reached a hand to gingerly shake their leg and was surprised by the sudden jolt of the body but shocked further still by the blur of dark hair that sprung from the pillow and rolled from sleep to face her. Daisy breathed with tense apprehension bringing her arm forward defensively in a manner that would have sent him through the wall the headboard rested against, had she had her powers, but unlike the real world, nothing happened except Grantâs fit of laughter.
     âMorninâ. Is that a thing we do now?â As he asked, his hand reached in the air toward her, mimicking the same stance sheâd given him. âTell me it means youâre making the coffee.â He turned on his elbow as casually to immediately snatch his phone from the bedside table and check for messages as if it was just another usual day.
     Daisy on the other hand was still as sheâd been when she first recognized him. Her disbelief was translated through a single word: âWard,â which didnât warrant much reaction from the man himself. âSorry, you startled me.â
     This canât be happening. Not him, she thought to herself. Yet, there he was instead of Lincoln, bare chested under the comforter and revealing more of his nearly nude body when he rose to be seated on the bedâs edge and removed the stone colored blanket. âPft, itâs not like I snuck in hereâŠSo whatâs up?â
     âUh, we got called into work,â Daisy finally recovered enough to explain while still remaining apprehensive of Ward when he stood to cross the room. The Ward she knew was still very fresh in her mind. The one who had stolen her heart once when she was still new to this world of inhumans and government agents, only to be revealed as a heartless traitor. No amount of convincing from her fellow agents who explained to her his sacrifice for the team had been enough. She hadnât been there, hadnât seen it for herself. The man who protected her, found her father for her had been the fraud, so this one must be too.
     Stay focused, Daisy. This is the Framework, you have to blend in to save everyone, she reminded herself. Even if that meant working with Ward. Easier said than done because even now as he tread from the bed to the dresser to gather his clothing to take with him into the bathroom, her body turned, eyes following him. He stopped at the bathroomâs entrance briefly with a crooked smile when he met her bewildered stare. âWell get dressed, weirdo,â he smirked, raising his hand once again to mock her earlier reach toward him.
     Once Ward turned into the bathroom, Daisy exhaled a sigh of relief and began looking for clothes to put on herself that were her own and easily found some at the end of the bed but her rush to dress was not because she was eager to get to work, more so to have time while he dressed to find as much out about this life as she could while he was occupied. âYou know, we spend more nights out tracking Inhumans than we do at home. Bosses canât give us a morning off?â Ward called from the bathroom, making conversation.Â
     Good, Ward. Keep talking, everything you say will help, she thought. She hurriedly threw on black jeans and a long sleeve dark emerald shirt while he complained without realizing how useful it was when a word he used caught her attention. âBosses,â she breathed to herself. Every word had to be chosen carefully, something she picked up from working with S.H.I.E.L.D. but if she was stealth with her words she could get information from him about this life without ever revealing herself and without him knowing he was saying anything significant. âWho do you thinkâsâŠrunning theâŠbrief?â When she finished getting dressed, her eyes were directed to her hair which was longer than it had been before coming through the Framework, and far more dark. A rich obsidian that was clearly no less dark when dry.
     âWell I donât know, you got the text.â Now fully dressed, Daisy tuned Wardâs talking out of her mind and centralized on details. Details of this room, just like the bathroom. A dresser opposite the bed that came as high as her waist and matched the void of color in her hair, had on it a piece of sentimental decor that told of an entire life lived here, even a relationship when she noticed the portrait on the dresser surface that was of she and Ward together andâŠhappy. Could it be possible? Was it? Were she and Ward together and truly happy in this life? All information collected so far pointed to yes but it was still hard to wrap her mind around given the Ward she knew and had fallen for. If so, why would the Framework choose this scenario out of any there could have been? What made this version so different from the one she knew in reality? The question burned into her stomach even as she thought that she could have been with Lincoln here instead but that thought only filled her with total dread because she knew, had that been the scenario to play out, she may not have wanted to leave, especially with his loss still so vivid.
     She lost time staring into the portrait until Ward snuck up behind her, wrapping stable arms around her waist which startled her. She couldnât help herself from being jumpy around him after all sheâd seen from him and yet here he was gentle, loving even. âWe should go there again, that was a fun trip.â His lips touched the base of her neck in a simple peck and followed up by burying his face in her hair. If she didnât remember him as a total monster, she might enjoy the feelings his touch created under her skin. Donât forget who he is. Heâs a traitor. Heâll sell you out to save his own skin if it comes down to it. Kill you even if he finds out you arenât âhisâ Skye. Yet, some part of her mind knew that wasnât entirely true. Not even the worst version of Ward had done that to her. Others, yes but not her. She just never wanted to think about that particular detail. It was easier to accept his betrayal to think of him as a whole traitor instead of just a partial one.
âSo, whatâd they say?â Again, she was distracted within herself when Ward spoke, now staring at a gun and holster lying on the dresser next to the portrait but once she returned to the moment her silence was as much about her lack of an answer as it was about her wayward thoughts. âSkye, who texted?â She reluctantly moved her gaze from the gun to him, still without an answer. âSkye,â he almost demanded. She had no names, no way of knowing who the âbossesâ were in this world. Answering wrong would give her away. She just needed a second to think of the right answer.
Ward was finishing buttoning his shirt when he scoffed. âPinsky. Probably another intake briefing.â Daisy hooked the holster on her belt as if it belonged to her when Ward closed in. âDonât forget this,â handing her her wallet that contained her employer ID card. When she opened it to gain insight into this versionâs life, Wardâs behavior suddenly made a lot more sense. Octopus tentacles stood in place of where the eagle head would have been in reality.
     Once again, her training in S.H.I.E.L.D. came through for her. âSomeone who knew youâd sleep in.â
She was an agent of Hydra.
