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chapter sixteen
sacrifice play, part two

trigger warnings: descriptive blood and gore, mental torment, the entire cast's fantastic acting - just part two to this episode that literally broke me

(April 29th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

    WHEN HER EYES opened, it took Clara a very long moment to register where she was. Her head felt heavy; very heavy. She blinked. All she could see was greys and more greys that blurred together━her leg ached. She tried to remember why it was aching. She frowned, blinking again. She saw a chair ... she saw tables━a dim light dawned down on her. She was in the workshop ... why was she in the workshop, again ...?

    She felt fingers brush her cheek, a thumb that tenderly dusted off an eyelash that had settled on tear-stained cheeks. Clara leaned into it, muddled and confused. A voice followed; the sound of it made her close her eyes, holding back a sob. "Hey ... you're okay. You'll be okay."

    Fitz. It was Fitz's voice. Clara's bottom lip trembled, the sob aching in her throat. "Fitz━" she croaked, desperate to have him near. Something happened. Something terrible happened, and she needed him. "Fitz━"

    "I'm here," he kissed her forehead. "I need you conscious to map your frontal lobe, so you can't be too heavily sedated. But it should be enough to help with the pain." He brushed back her hair that had fallen over her eyes. She saw him through burry vision; he smiled. It didn't feel right. "The rest you can sleep through."

    He pulled away. Clara frowned. She started to breathe heavily, something inside her telling her something her brain was too drowsy to remember. Leaning forward, she felt herself restricted. She noticed her thigh bandaged; it was bleeding. Her hand were tied. Clara glanced down, "What ...?"

    Like that, she remembered. Her heart jolted. She tried to move━the sudden struggle made her vision tunnel and she would've fallen forward if Fitz's L.M.D. hadn't taken her by the shoulders and sat her back up. "Hey, hey━gentle, Roy ... be gentle with yourself ..."

    Her heart sped. Agent Roy watched the android leave her for the computer to the side. She strained her wrists, trying to see how tight he had tied her as she took in the cables, and the coding on the screen. She realised what he was doing. "No..." she murmured.

    Fitz's L.M.D. glanced back at her, "It's going to be okay, Clara," he told her in the same voice her Fitz would whenever he comforted her when she was overwhelmed. "You'll be okay."

    "Why ..." she had a headache. Her voice was groggy and stuck in the back of her throat. "You have Fitz's mind, why are you doing this?" she asked the android. She twisted her hands ... they were loose enough to pull. Clara was too scared to use her powers━she was too scared that when she tried, she wouldn't be able to ... because she wouldn't be her.

    "I'm doing it for you," said the android, meeting her weary gaze. "For us. What we've always suspected I now know to be true. The consciousness is separate from the physical self."

    Clara managed to slip her hands out of the bonds. She swayed and before she knew it, she fell off the chair and hit the stone floor. Her head pounded, her heart raced━and yet everything else felt achingly slow. Fitz's L.M.D. made no move to stop her. Maybe it believed she wouldn't make it far.

    "Don't hurt yourself, Clara," it told her.  

    Her trembling fingers reached up. In feeling the headpiece, she struggled to get it off━and when she did, some part of her felt like it could breathe again. She started to feel her leg more. It was horrible━searing, aching, burning pain that made her bite back a cry. Clara saw the door. She had to reach it. She reached a hand out━it took so much effort to even crawl forward a few inches.

    She could feel the eyes of Fitz's L.M.D. watching her. She wondered how alone she was. Was she the only one still herself? Was Daisy out there completely taken, had Simmons been tricked because of her caring nature? Clara didn't have them, she didn't have Leith, she didn't have Coulson, or Mack, she didn't have Fitz, she didn't have May━she was alone in this. Completely alone. And yet, she was determined to survive it━to get out of here so she could save everyone else.

     "There's no reason to be afraid," went on the android. "I was always trying to protect you, pursuing technological solves to the problematic scenario..." Clara noticed the mallet left lying down near one of the workbenches. She moved her attention from the door and started to crawl towards it instead. Her head swayed each time she moved. She felt sick. She swallowed it down and kept pushing on. She heard May in the back of her mind; stubborn, unyielding, telling her to be exactly the same, "... that you could be harmed or killed. But Radcliffe's cured death. Once I map your brain, we'll never have to fear losing each other again."

    It was haunting, hearing Fitz's voice say those words in such a monotone, casual tone━robotic, unblinking.

    Clara tried to ignore them, but she thought about them. This wasn't Fitz, but it was his mind━he truly thought those things. Had begun to believe them. It wasn't all programming.

    She made it to the mallet. She wrapped her hands around the handle.

    "Don't fight it, Clara," chided the android. "You're too weak."

    She dragged it towards her with effort. She heard Fitz's L.M.D walk up to her. "I'm securing our future." It watched her struggle, crouching down to meet her eye as she forced herself to turn back around. "So we can get married, grow old together."

    Clara froze. Don't listen to it, she scolded herself, but she did. Her eyes widened, her breath hitched. Her grip started to falter on the mallet. It wasn't him ... but it was his mind. She grew emotional. Hearing those words━did Fitz think them? Did he mean them? It pained her even more. She blinked back tears, forgetting what was happening and where she was to say, soft and unsure, "Marry?"

    Fitz's L.M.D. shrugged, "Well, we've always been at each other's side through everything, seems only natural ... I mean, I've thought about it. But I was afraid to bring it up. You know..." the android slowly stood back up again. "I thought I knew your answer, but no one's ever one hundred per cent."

    That surged within her. A future. A happy ending. They never got happy endings. Everything threw itself in between their dreams, their desires, their prayers. Tearing them apart, throwing them into situations either one would think they would never recover from. But they did. They always did. And now they were pulled apart yet again, and it seemed impossible she'll find her way back to him. But after so many times Fitz has saved her, Clara was determined to finally save him.

    Clara gripped the handle tight. She eyed the chains of the engine hanging above. She took a deep breath and struggled onto her feet. She shook her hair out of her face, and hefted the mallet up. She glowered at Fitz's L.M.D., feeling a severe hatred to think what Radcliffe had done to him━what Radcliffe had taken and manipulated into this. He had taken the result of a good heart, and a good mind, and turned it into something malicious for his own greedy needs.

    Standing her ground through her pain, and her drowsiness, Agent Clarissa Roy tilted her chin up and said bravely, "I'll tell Fitz my answer when I see him."

    And like that, Clara brought the mallet down onto the chain winch. It snapped and the engine above fell down onto the android. It crushed him underneath; breaking his legs. His cry became distant in Roy's mind━he couldn't move. She took the chance. Dropping the mallet she groped for the gun still on the table. She reached upwards for the bullet casings kept on the shelf for emergencies. Clara fixed it in, took off the safety and positioned it downwards, the barrel aiming straight for the android's forehead.

    She saw fear flash across its face, "No━" it started and she hesitated. Clara couldn't help but see Fitz; her Fitz, lying below her with his legs broken and his face pale with terror. The same terror he wore when she had seen him under Hive's Sway. "No━Clara, Clara, wait, wait, please━!

    Roy fixed her grip, forcing back tears as she reminded herself. It wasn't him. It wasn't him. Her finger hovered over the trigger.

    "Clara━Clara!" it cried, desperate. It struggled underneath. "It's me━Clara look at me!" she met its gaze. The android calmed down momentarily. "Clara," it breathed in Fitz's voice. "Stop ... It's me ... it's me..."

    It wasn't him. With a burst of livid fury, Clara Roy changed the aim of the gun and pulled the trigger. The crack! that split through the air made her flinch, but she held her breath. Only once she saw electricity spark from the wound to the android's neck━a bullet hole straight through to the other end━did she let it go. She lowered the gun, taking another deep breath and watching the blood pool beneath the android's head.

    Clara's hands trembled. She dropped the gun. Just like that, something deep within her broke and she fell to her knees. The pain didn't process with her as she crawled up to the android's body. Sobs hiccuped out of her lips. It wasn't Fitz, but it looked like Fitz. It looked like Fitz and that made it ripple through within her, seeing him lying so still; his legs broken, blood around him. It wasn't Fitz, but for a terrible moment, it was. And Clara realised what it would look like if he was to die.

    And that haunted her. That changed her. That shattered her.

    She cried, shaking and wanting to throw up. She cupped his cheeks and set her forehead against his; hating how cold he was to the touch. "I'm sorry," she sobbed to the dead body. "I━I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Fitz, I'm so sorry━" Clara hugged the body of an android, letting her mind win over and tell her it was her Fitz━and she was inconsolable. She let it all out. She cried until her throat hurt and she couldn't cry any more. And even then, her silent wails hurt even more.

    Clara couldn't breathe. She cradled his head, kissing his temple. She was alone. She was so alone.

    "I'm sorry," it hurt to talk. "I'm so sorry."

    She took a sharp breath through her nose. Her emotions draining her, but once she let them out, Roy started to regain herself. Blood stained her hands, but they were numb to her━she felt numb over everything except for one thing. Clara set the android's head back down, gentle and caring despite it all. "I'll find you," she promised it, speaking to Fitz━wherever he was. "I promise, I'll find you. You hear me? Fitz, wherever you are, I know you can hear me." (She knew he didn't, it was illogical, but for a second, she let herself believe it could be true. They've faced more improbabilities than this. If this android was connected to her Fitz, living and breathing conscious trapped in another world, maybe, in some estranged way, he could). "I'm coming. I love you. I love you so much. And I'm coming to bring you home."

    She stood back up. Clara hobbled on her bad leg, but she clenched her hands. She stared at the door, fierce and courageous. A girl who used to be timid, and scared━and so hopeful of the world. She's come a long way from that scared girl; everything that has happened has shaped her into this. Broken, still terrified, but knowing what she had to do and able to push through it all to achieve what she came to do.

    She was a doctor. She was an Inhuman. She was once maybe a villain, and she tried being a superhero. She's made mistakes. She's been hurt, she's hurt others. She's seen horrors━but she was an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Her powers didn't make her that. Not even her degrees and her P.H.D's. The Academy didn't make her that. Coulson's opportunity didn't make her that. He had opened a door for her to make her that. Her mind, her heart, her determination and her experience. Her bravery. And all of that. Every piece of herself made her a hero. Not an Avenger, not Quake, or some vigilante who made a deal with the Devil. Herself. And she was a hero in her own way to go through everything and make it out in the end to take a brave breath to face something else.

    And she was going to get through it again.

    She had to.

    Clara grabbed the gun again from the floor and stumbled out of the workshop, having no idea where she was supposed to go from here━but she had to go somewhere.

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(April 29th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

    SHE HID IN THE basement storage facility; a cold, dark corner of the base that anyone rarely stepped down into. Clara hid in the corner behind the grate amongst boxes of outdated technology, in pain and doing her best to keep her sobs stifled down in her chest. Her hands were covered in blood; they trembled around the grip of her small gun. She tried to think━she tried to think of a way to get out of here. To get everyone else out of here. But who was she to know who was an L.M.D. and who wasn't? How could she do this, presuming she was all alone?

    She couldn't go against so many, not even with her powers━Clara stared at her hands, holding back hiccups from her tears. What if she used them, and then found out she couldn't, because she was one of them, too? And she didn't know? What if━?

    Clara hid her head in her arms. She couldn't think like that. She couldn't afford to think like that━she needed to get out of here. She needed to get to Fitz and Leith. And Coulson, and May, and Mack━and everyone else they had taken━

    Oh, but how will she?

    Oh, she couldn't think without Fitz.

    Agent Roy took a deep breath, putting some pressure to the wound on her leg. She had messily wrapped it up with loose bandage she had managed to scavenge from a first-aid box on her way here. But it wasn't helping much. She knew it needed to be properly cleaned, stabilised, and stitched, and then bandaged━but Clara had no time to be specific.

    She couldn't get the image of Fitz's L.M.D. lying before her. She couldn't get the image out of his voice begging her to stop. His voice telling her that this was what he wanted━that stabbed her and captured her ...

    Some part of her, deep down, still wondered whether she should have listened to him in the first place and never dragged him and Simmons into Coulson's office that day━no matter all the good it brought, it also brought so much pain. If she hadn't done that, then maybe he would have never been dropped into the bottom of the ocean with her. If she hadn't done that, Simmons would have never been taken away by the Monolith. If she hadn't done that, they wouldn't be here. They'd still be in a lab somewhere━maybe not with S.H.I.E.L.D., but somewhere. Living a simple life.

    That was her regret. Her deepest regret.

    But if they hadn't done it, either━there would be so many lives that wouldn't have been saved if it weren't for their teamwork.

    The sound of a distant door opening made Clara stiffen. Her breath hitched, her heart began to pound. She couldn't move, frozen as she heard footsteps rush across the tiles. They were getting closer━she scrambled for her gun.

    The footsteps faltered ... they slowed to a hesitant stop━and Clara realised with a breathless curse that they would see her blood; the trail it would lead right to her.

    Clara held pushed herself to stand. Amongst her pounding heart and hitched breaths, she heard the gasps of someone else━the footsteps of two people. She fought back a painful whimper as she put her weight on her bad leg, raising the gun in front of her with a shaking grip.

    She watched a shadow pass the light from the side door into the freezer for chemicals that beamed across the dark tiles━two shadows; they merged together, creating one, terrifying image with the long barrel of a gun. A shot-gun axe.

    No, no, no━

    When they reached her hiding spot, Clara flung up the gun further━and just as she did, the figures opposite held up their own. Her eyes widened, tears welled up in her eyes; though she did not move. A tense, suffocating stand-off emerged between her and them: Daisy and Jemma.

    They looked just as bad as her; tired, frantic, pale and bloody━holding up their weapons with the same terrified tremble that was ready to ignite into desperation at any move. Clara's bottom lip trembled, eyeing her two close friends down the barrel of her own weapon, too scared to pull the trigger.

    "Don't━" her voice was broken; raspy and in the back of her throat, "━Don't come anywhere near me."

    Daisy's brows lifted; her aim of Mack's shot-gun axe did not fall. "Roy━" she breathed, and there was a mixture of surprise, and absolute horror in her voice. "What the literal hell?! What did we just see━what just happened to Fitz?!"

    Clara shook her head. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to talk about it━she didn't want to relive any moment of it. "No━" she choked, ready to cry all over again. "No━don't━please don't━"

    "What did you do to him?" cried Simmons in a desperate whisper, and Clara muffled her sobs in the back of her throat.

    She wanted to collapse━but what if they were just like him? What if they wanted to hurt her? What if they would take her away━she couldn't trust anyone, hell, she couldn't even trust herself. "It wasn't him," she begged. "Please━it wasn't him."

    Daisy looked on the verge of tears. She tried to fix her grip on the gun, but it was weak; she was pleading that Clara was right. She begged everything that she was telling the truth, but after what she saw, after what Simmons told her━after what they went through in such little time, she knew better. But she didn't want to hurt Clara. She didn't want to hurt her best friend. "Did━" her voice cracked, "━did you kill him?"

    "No━!" cried Clara miserably. She was in so much pain, the room around her was becoming a blur. She blinked it away, back to shaking her head frantically. "No! No━not him. It wasn't him!"

    "Are you one of them?" asked Jemma, wary and terrified. "Are you an L.M.D.?"

    "No, I━"

    "Because I just saw a truckload of myself," then said Daisy, eyes wide like a caged animal's, "a━and Mack is in on it. And Leith shot two medics━Coulson just bashed an agent's head in and━"

    "They're━they're━they were all replaced!" sobbed Clara. She was growing delirious, she knew. "And━and━and you guys are, too! It's not you! It's━it's━it's━it's━" she was finding it very hard to breathe.

    "Roy," Jemma cut her off, sounding breathless as well. She tried to hold her gun up more, but it fell away to see her so broken and in pain. "Clara━it's ... it's us. I promise you, it is us..."

    Daisy wasn't prepared to drop her guard so easily. She took a step forward and Clara scrambled back━until she realised she was already pressed up against the brick wall behind her; she had nowhere else to run. "What about you?" asked Daisy dangerously. She got closer and closer, Clara felt her bad leg spasm with pain as the rest of her tried to stiffen; she almost dropped then and there. "Prove to me you're not a fricken robot━!"

    "Stay away from me━!"

    "━Because it looks like you're malfunctioning!"

    "I'm not━I'm not━"

    "Then use your powers!" demanded Daisy in a ferocious whisper, shaking the barrel of her gun at Clara. "Use your fucking powers━!"

    "━No!" sobbed Clara. "No, no, no━I can't━I don't━"

    Simmons realised with a horrified whimper, "Oh, my God━you don't know━"

    She cut herself off when another door slammed open in the distance. All three of their gazes darted over, flinching at the very sound. There were muffled conversations. They didn't sound friendly━like they were searching; searching for them.

    Daisy grew more frantic by the second. She watched Clara shake her head and clench her eyes shut, trying to keep herself from passing out━and she knew she had to make a decision. She had to do something before it was too late. "O━Okay━" she started to hyperventilate, her breaths short and quick as she came up with a plan; and despite everything she's seen in the past hour, Daisy had to somehow trust Clara━without knowing the truth.

    If she wouldn't use her powers to prove it, then Daisy will. "Okay━" her voice quivered. "Give me━give me your hand, Clara. I'll━I'll quake you━"

    She reached out but Clara only jabbed the gun her way, "Don't touch me━!"

    "━Give me your hand━!" cried Daisy through her tears, "━I'll quake you━not to hurt you! Not to hurt you." She hiccuped a sob, her voice so quiet, Clara barely heard it. "Just enough to feel your bones. T━The━that they're real bones, and not made of metal."

    Clara was hysteric, "Please━please don't hurt me━"

    "I won't hurt you," promised her friend. "I won't━I won't hurt you. I'd never hurt you. We'd never hurt you━" she gestured to Simmons quickly, hoping that if Clara didn't listen to her, she'd listen to Jemma.

    "No, no," her grip started to grow weak on the gun. "No, no, no━"

    Another door opening made Clara's grip fall in her surprise. Daisy took her chance. She smacked the gun out of her hand and grasped her wrist. She pulled Clara towards her to the wall, out of the light of moving torches. She struggled, she fought, but Daisy wouldn't let her. She wrapped her arms tight around Roy and buried her face into her shoulder━

    She felt Simmons there, with her━helping her keep Clara still as she gently quaked her bones━her bones━her real, brittle, human bones...

    And Clara felt it, too. She felt it, and a weak sob escaped her lips as she realised: she was herself. She was her━and she wasn't alone.

    She wasn't alone.

    Clara slumped in the hold of her two close friends. She cried into Daisy's chest, clinging onto her and Simmons so tight with a clenching strength. The three friends━sisters, even━embraced each other, trembling and terrified; softly crying amongst the search lights and voices. They didn't even notice they had passed on, staying in the comfort of one another's warmth and grasp, begging to hear their heartbeat, their breaths, the frantic rise and fall of their chests━to know that they were flesh and bone.

    As things started to calm down and they were alone once more. Daisy and Jemma coaxed Clara into telling them everything that had happened. As Simmons tried to properly clean and bandage the wound on her leg, Roy explained what Fitz had told her about the Framework━about how Radcliffe had managed to create an exisiting reality that their friends were trapped into.

    Daisy listened with deep, long breaths, trying to think their way through this. It was obvious what they needed to do, but how they were to do it was something on a far different level. But there was one thing they did have: hope.

    "Hope?" breathed Simmons to herself, gently wrapping a clean cloth━or as clean as they could get it━from Daisy's jumper around Clara's though. "What do you mean, 'hope'? They'll say we're life-model decoys, turn all of HQ against us, and have us killed."

    Daisy stared at her, a little speechless at the pessimistic truth to her words, "O━okay, well ..." she ripped off some more off her jumper to gently wipe some of the blood that was around Clara's neck and face. "Maybe there's not a lot of hope that we're gonna get out of here, but there is hope that our team is still alive. Which means we have to try."

    "We have to find them," managed to mutter Clara, feeling a little better as she started to regain some of her mind from the hysteria of the past hour. Her throat was sore, as was her head, and her leg, but she pushed back some of the hair off her face and met their gazes. Her statement made Daisy nod, glad she was trying to think this through ... but when Roy said nothing more ... unable to have an answer as to how, a sigh drifted from Daisy's lips.

    She tried to encourage the two of them. It might be inconsiderate, but right now, she needed Roy and Simmons━she needed their mind just as much as they needed her brute and tactical experience. But Daisy needed to be gentle. She needed to keep her patience.

    "Okay," she squeezed Clara's shoulder and sat down beside her, watching Simmons continue to wrap more fabric around the gash that bled through Roy's pants. "Well━from what Fitz told you, it seems Radcliffe━in his twisted logic━is keeping them alive in this Framework thing. Which means they can be rescued."

    "Yes, but how?" sighed Simmons miserably. She finished tying the makeshift bandage and sat back on her knees, wiping the sweat from her brow. She thought of the way Leith looked, there, on the carpet, and it broke her even more. It broke her that she had no idea how to get to him; to save him from this nightmare. "The Framework's origin signal is untraceable. They could be anywhere on the planet."

    Daisy nodded, thinking as she spoke, "Which ... is why we have to go in."

    They stared at her, taken-aback. Clara's brows furrowed, "You mean ... go in? Hack━"

    "━Hack in," agreed Daisy. "Plug ourselves into the Framework so we can find our people, and we can wake them up and figure out where their bodies are being kept. I don't know━Really, what's our other option?"

    "So ..." Clara tried to understand where she was going with this━hope she understood how dangerous and reckless (and impossible) this plan would be. As Daisy stood back up, slipping on her jumper again that now hung loosely off the shoulder, Roy spoke through her idea, "... we fight our way through the trained military personnel, then the ultra-powered android doubles of our friends, somehow make it to the Zephyr━which we can't fly━to escape the base and try to plug our minds into an alternate reality?"

    Daisy stared back at her, "Okay ... well ..." even she was dubious, "... don't━don't say it out loud, because that made it sound way worse... Let's━let's just keep it one thing at a time, okay?"

    She glanced around, and her eyes landed on the shelves adjacent; lines and lines of gas tanks were set up across the wall, and as she read the chemical compound on the front, her eyes widened with crazy hope. Turning back to her friends, she pointed them out, "We have sleeping gas. How━how many doses of that antidote are there?"

    Roy frowned to herself, trying to remember. She should know the answer━she should know ... Or maybe Fitz knew, maybe he ... she leaned forward, her head suddenly lurching; she felt sick and dizzy. Black dots danced in her vision. Immediately, Simmons was there to keep her up, "Hey, hey, hey━Clara, you need to keep your eyes open━"

    "I don't know," she shook her head as her answer, leaning into Simmons. "I don't━I'm sorry, I don't know. I can't━" she whimpered, "━I can't think without Fitz..."

    "Roy━" Daisy spun around the grate and crouched in front of her. Simmons cupped Clara's cheeks, trying to keep her awake. "Roy. Roy, stay with me."

    "We can't fight them," she realised━all hope gone; rationality kicked in and Clara knew they had lost. "We can't━we can't fight them, Daisy. It's too much. It's all too much."

    Jemma bit back tears and set her forehead against her best friend's, hoping the touch would keep her awake as she slumped even more, losing way too much blood.

    "I can't fight them," admitted Clara weakly. "I can't━I can't━my powers. I don't have the strength━"

    "Hey, hey━hey━!" Daisy grasped her shoulder and made Clara look at her. "Don't worry about fighting them, okay?" she told her. "I will."

    Both Clara and Jemma stared at her in shock. "What?" they breathed together.

    Daisy clenched her jaw with determination, locking gazes with Roy. "I will take them on myself. I would never force you into that, Clara━not again."

    Realising what she meant, Roy shook her head. She wanted to cry, but she had no more tears━and so her voice because broken and quiet, not wanting Daisy to leave. "No━no, please, don't do this, Daisy. Y━you don't have your gauntlets to protect your arms━"

    Finding absurd that she'd be thinking about that above all else, Daisy shook her head, "It doesn't matter━"

    "She's right, Daisy," went on Jemma as they all started to speak over one another, "you can't just go out there by yourself━"

    "━I can take them━"

    "━You can't just sacrifice yourself in repent for Lincoln," sobbed Clara, "that's not the answer━"

    "━That's not what this is about━!"

    "━I can't lose you━!"

    "━Look at me!"

    She dropped her voice once she got their attention. Daisy took a deep breath, nodding to her friends as they calmed down, and she could speak. "Look at me," she said again. "This is not a sacrifice play. You know why?" Clara shook her head and Daisy leaned in, "Because━I will beat them. You hear me? I know it. If for no other reason than this: through all the insane crap we have gone through, the one thing I have known━without a doubt━the whole time ... is you and Fitz belong together."

    Clara didn't know why she needed to hear that━or how Daisy seemed to know exactly the right thing to say to her. But the sheer belief━sheer knowledge━that they had hope to get out of this because of her and Fitz, made a final tear drop from her eyes.

    Daisy squeezed her shoulder, "This is not how your story ends, okay?"

    She grabbed the shot-gun axe and stood up. Quake brushed her hair off her face and said, "So, I'm gonna beat the screws out of those junkers, and the three of us are gonna get the hell out of Dodge. Deal?"

    Roy and Simmons shared a quick exchange. They nodded to each other. "Deal," they said.

    Daisy managed a grin.

    Clara breathed a smile, until she noticed something else hiding in a box amongst the old equipment. Her smile broadened as she read the words printed on the side. D.W.A.R.V.E.S. 1.0.

    She pushed herself to stand and made her way over to the box━and she felt like she had taken a step back in time. She glanced back at the others, "But," she said, "we're gonna need a little help from some old friends."

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(April 29th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

    THE PLAN WAS INSANE.

    Agent Roy did not know whether they'll succeed, but she couldn't let herself think that━she had to be sure; she had to beg that they'll get through this, like so many times before, to find their way into the Framework to save their friends. Hidden in the shadows, away from the searching agents, Roy and Simmons used the D.W.A.R.V.E.S and small remote controlled vehicles to carry the sleeping gas further into the base. With her bad leg, it felt good to hold Fitz's old tablet and launch what she needed without too much movement. She could see the base through Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy and Snow's cameras. Using all of them at once, she veered them up into the air vents and into the highest corners, and no one saw the sneaky robots of Fitz-Roy-Simmons's creations until they started to slip into a deep sleep, dropping to the floor and at the L.M.D.'s feet.

    While she did that, she followed Simmons through the base━slipping around smoke filled rooms with the antidote the only thing keeping them awake in search for a Framework system. They returned to the workshop where Fitz's L.M.D. had tried to transfer her subconscious. Clara ignored the blood on the floor, helping Jemma grab everything they need onto a trolley, including as many antidotes as they could fit. She noticed a few of their D.W.A.R.V.E.S. be struck down. Each time an L.M.D. found one, it was only seconds before Clara lost contact with the small drones, and it was a jolt to her heart each time. They were one of the first things the three of them started working together on━perfecting and improving each of them as the years went on. Seeing their first real working versions perish for this cause was painful, and yet fitting at the same time.

    The lights were shut down as they started making their way to the armoury. Clara trembled each step she made, wincing at the horrific pain that shot up her leg. She clutched tight onto the trolley, taking deep breaths with Simmons at her side━she had to keep going. She knew she couldn't give up now. She needed to keep going.

    The base had turned into a dark, foggy maze━the gas circulated around their feet and they could barely see two feet in front of them. The base was silent━haunting and terrifying. There were no sounds of agents, of guns cocking in the distance━of the usual chatter, laughter and support it usually held that helped them all get through everything they experience together. It had become their own hunting ground, their own graveyard━they were no longer welcome here.

    And somewhere out there, Daisy was fighting for them all. Against androids that outnumbered her. Alone, armed with only a shot-gun axe and her powers against artificial weapons in the form of their own friends.

    The armoury was quiet, much like the rest of the base. Dark with ghostly glows of flames down the distant hallways. Clara noticed sprawled legs and arms on the tiled floor━unconscious agents that fell to the sleeping gas. Each time Clara saw one of them, she felt a breath of relief to know that they hadn't infiltrated their entire base. There were friends, team members and agents still just training who hadn't been taken━and they had to save them, too. They had to get them out of here.

    Jemma narrowed her eyes through the dark as they slowly passed, trying to identify the agents at their feet until Clara stopped her with a hand in front of her chest. Her breath hitched with hope as her gaze fixed down on one of the bodies━she recognised his lankly legs and his lanky arms; a face with a nose they always joked about: calling him hopeless and blessing him and his wife on their newborn child ... but right now, Clara has never been more relieved to see Agent Davis. 

    She then noticed who else was around them. Piper let out soft breaths to their left: the most promising agent in May's training operations team━adjacent to her lied Communications graduate Agent Prince who dabbled in not only programming but also minored in engineering in a transfer to Science and Technology. And━to which Clara almost cried in their luck━finally, somehow slumped onto his stomach, was her newest trainee in her own medical team: Agent Eleanor Cassingfield━a young, bright-eyed genius who had just finished a PhD in medical science merely at nineteen. 

    They had everything they needed in one room: a pilot for the Zephyr, a combat agent, an agent who could wire them into the Framework and a prodigy medical doctor who could stabilise them enough to do what they needed to do. 

    Roy didn't need to say a word to Simmons for her to understand what went through her mind in this moment. They shared a wide-eyed glance in the darkness amongst smoke and lingering sedatives. Simmons nodded. 

    Piper was the first to wake up once they administered the antidote. She stirred, groggy and confused as her eyes focused on a dark armoury━amongst smoke and blinking, dim emergency lights. She coughed, trying to figure out what had happened. Around her, Davis, Prince and Eleanor all followed, rubbing their eyes and blinking away the smoke. 

    "You guys all right?" muttered Piper, struggling to get onto her feet.

    Prince managed to sit up, pressing a hand to his forehead as he glanced around them. He noticed the discolouring sifting around their ankles, "There's still gas everywhere...? How are we awake?"

    They had yet to notice the two senior agents watching them, supporting each other behind their trolley. Davis found one of the needles and slowly picked it up, showing it to Eleanor who examined in with a groggy mind, "Wait ..." she muttered. "These are antidotes..." she glanced up and her breath hitched into a terrified gasp as she finally saw them. 

    The other agents all staggered to their feet in alarm, stumbling and grasping onto each other as Roy and Simmons stepped into view. Clara could barely find any strength to speak, her voice ragged and her stance weak━she knew that if she let go of the trolley, her legs would collapse underneath her. 

    "Daisy, Simmons and I aren't the L.M.D.s," she breathed, quite hoarse at the throat. 

    Piper frowned at them. She stood a little protectively in front of the group. Taking a trembling breath, she muttered, "I don't buy it."

    Simmons just held up her gun, "I don't care. Just do what we tell you."

    Clara breathed out a small, crazed chuckle, not expecting the threat. "Yeah," she said, nodding weakly towards her best friend, "listen to her."

    Together, she and Simmons led the group of training agents towards the Zephyr. They spoke not a single word, just huddling and shuffling the trolley down the dark corridors of the base. The fires were starting to spread━Clara could smell them in her nose; burning up and down into her chest. Her grip on the trolley was clammy and pale; each step became harder and harder━she knew at this stage, she could not stop, because she knew as soon as she did, she would not be able to move any further. She could see her hands shaking around the trolley handle━her head was heavy, drifting forwards until Eleanor (who had stayed beside her despite Piper's suspicion) quickly wrapped her arm over her shoulder. She gripped her waist, keeping her up as they continued down the maze that had become the base. 

    "Stay awake, Agent Roy," muttered the young girl, eyes wide and her breath hitched with fear. "We need you to stay awake."

    Clara nodded, knowing she was right. It felt strange to be supported by one of her own medical team━the youngest, and yet, familiar. She looked at Eleanor and saw how she had been: bright, naive and ambitious. And right now, she saw the same fear in her face━the same bravery when she had been trapped at headquarters during the H.Y.D.R.A. attack. She was terrified, she did not know what was happening, but she set her jaw and clenched her teeth, pushing onwards to get to the other end because she knew it was either that or they'd lose everything. 

    Agent Roy pushed the trolley with her, "Are you scared?" she asked the young agent.

    "Yes," said Eleanor softly.

    Clara nodded, "Me, too."

    The sound of gunshots made each of them freeze. Hearts pounding in their chests and rising into their throats, Clara thought the worst━there was one gunshot, two gunshots, three━she heard Daisy cry out, she heard her scream; just to the left inside the lab. 

    Clara's stomach dropped. She tried to move forward, but she couldn't━she almost stumbled and Eleanor kept her upright with a frantic grasp; it was dead silence between the group of them, all watching the doorway where the gunshots echoed from. Neither Roy nor Simmons noticed Piper slowly flex her fingers around the hilt of her knife, preparing to attack. 

    Piper flung it up━she lurched forward to strike when their ears popped. The temperature around them seemed to drop; the floor trembled beneath their feet and right through the open door burst the scattered remains of blood, flesh and metal instead of bones.

    Piper froze, horrified when the disembowelled head of Mack's L.M.D. slid to a stop right at her feet, half of his skin peeled away to show the skeleton of steel beneath. 

    Jemma stared━they all stared. Clara swallowed back bile. "Well ..." managed Simmons to Piper, "I would say I told you so ... but I don't have to now."

    From the flames and smoke, a silhouette stumbled to grasp the doorway threshold. Pale and trembling, Daisy emerged victorious━just as she said she would. Bruised, bleeding and about to drop, she still managed a small, cheeky grin at their shock and surprise. She met Clara's amongst it all, "See?" she told her. "I told you I'd take them."

    And just like that, her knees crumpled. Jemma gasped and rushed forward, catching Daisy before she hit the ground. "Okay, okay━" she whispered, trying to coax her as she let herself break, unable to hold herself on her own with three gunshot wounds to her shoulder and back. 

    Clara ignored Eleanor's objections and surged forward, too. Despite her leg and her own exhaustion, she ducked under Daisy's other arm, wrapping an arm tight around her waist. Leaning against her friend, she shed a tear of sheer happiness to see her alive. "You did it," she whispered to her. "It's okay, you did it━you did it..."

    Daisy took a deep breath, clutching her tight. Clara closed her eyes and let herself take some of her friend's pain no matter her own. None of them had the energy to stop her, and deep down, Daisy was relieved, slumping against her as she felt a part of it leave. It allowed her time to think, holding onto Clara to support her just as much as she did her. Slowly setting her gaze onto the agents watching them with wide-eyes, she croaked, "Anyone here know how to fly the Zephyr?"

    Their eyes all turned onto Davis and he swallowed back a harsh lump in his throat. He held up a shaky hand, "I━I'm still training━"

    Daisy nodded, "Okay," she cut him off, "well, you're gonna try real hard..."

    "You four can walk better than we can," then said Jemma to the agents. "So, drag any unconscious bodies out of this sector before the fire spreads, then open the hangar doors and meet us on the Zephyr. We'll then load in this hardware━" she passed Piper her gun. She took it, quite unsure.

    "And remember," added Clara, sounding and looking very miserable, "anyone you see who is awake━"

    "Is a robot," finished Piper, nodding to herself as if she thought this couldn't get any maddening. "Super." She nodded to the others. "Come on━" and led the way back down the corridor. 

    As they did, the three friends struggled back to the trolley. They each grasped the handle, supporting the other equally. With a weak push, they started off the opposite way to where the others went. 

    Despite it, Daisy muttered, "I think I need medical."

    Clara scoffed, appreciating the joke, "You think?"

    She, Jemma and Daisy continued to stumble their way in the near pitch blackness━but, finally, they started to get closer to where they needed to go. They managed to get through the armed agents, their artificial weapons that were once their friends, and everything in between to reach the large, iron hangar doors. Neither of them knew how long it took them, or how much longer they had to get out of here. They didn't know whether Piper, Davis, Prince and Eleanor made it; whether they got everyone else out and had the Zephyr ready for them, but they had to trust that they did. They had made it this far ... they couldn't make it this far for it all to be in vain. 

    Jemma swiped her lanyard against the security, it slipped━barely touching the screen; but the lock turned green and the door slowly released, retracting into the base walls.

    Clara wanted to cry at what she saw waiting for them on the other side. 

    May's L.M.D. stared back at them, clam and collected. She sat before the second bay door, nonchalant amongst barrels of gas, petrol and explosives. All of it was tied together━fused together; wired to a remote clasped gently in her hand. 

    Roy slumped, hiccuping back a small sob as she realised this was their last line of defence━the last step before freedom, and just as they were about to taste it, they lost it. 

    The android lifted her radio to her lips, "Coulson, I have them." Her thumb hovered over the trigger, though she did not press it. She watched them curiously━intently with a gaze so similar to May's own Clara couldn't stare back without truly thinking it was still her. For in a way, it was May. This L.M.D. had her memorises, she had her determination and she had her protective nature━she had every piece of May programmed into her system; even her feelings mirrored the woman sleeping away, trapped in an artificial world. 

    Everything about her was May until it wasn't━until they saw the steel underneath her flesh instead of bone. And yet ... did flesh and bone make them truly who they were? Wasn't it their feelings? Wasn't it their mind?

    Clara's gaze slowly wandered back up to meet the L.M.D.'s own pained one. She looked as if she did not want to sit here in front of them━truly, she did not seem to want this at all. 

    Her brows lifted━and she did not see an android who wanted to kill them, instead, Clara saw May ... the woman who had become more of a mother than her real mother ever was. 

    "May?" whispered Clara, ignoring the way Simmons squeezed her wrist to tell her to stay vigilant. She kept the gaze fixed on the life model decoy in front of her. "May ... think about what you're doing ... please."

    May's brows knitted together. She tilted her head back at them, "I am," she stated. "Or ..." she frowned to herself, "... processing, I should say."

    "Please," begged Agent Roy yet again. "May━you━I know you don't want to do this. You don't want us to die..."

    "Coulson says that doesn't matter."

    "That doesn't sound like Coulson," said Daisy, barely able to keep herself standing. 

    May's L.M.D. glanced down at the trigger in her fingers thoughtfully. As she did, Clara cried out her name softly━in such a way that made her eyes snap up instantly to stare at her, brows lifted and glance sad; desperate and torn to what she was told to do, and what she wanted to do deep within her━past all the programming. She saw Clara, and felt need to protect her━to keep her safe in finding her so scared. 

    "May," whimpered Clara again. "May, please don't do this ... you ... you need to let us through. We ... we need to find you━we need to save everyone, we can't━I can't━I won't give up on you, okay? And you know that. Please━" her voice broke and a few tears fell. "Please don't give up on us ... on them ... on me..."

    May pursed her lips; an emotion crossed the android's features ... something beautiful, something loving, something purely human. 

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(April 29th, 2017

The Zephyr, Classified)

    AGENT ROY DID not look back when the base exploded━when it lit up into a firestorm that shook the earth around them and the Zephyr in the sky. She closed her eyes and she leaned back in the chair, clutching Jemma and Daisy's hands so tight even she barely felt them. There was so much she had left behind━so much she couldn't save; memories, a life ... so much heartfelt love and support, a place that had become home ... and she felt as if she was saying goodbye to the Bus all over again.

    But with that experience, she also knew that once they made it through this━once they came around, emerged on the other end, their home was not a place they stayed. It was not a base of operations or a bunk down a long hallway, it was with each other. 

    And they will have each other again.

    They picked up Yo-Yo from her rendezvous point. She entered the Zephyr and immediately grew frenzied at the sight of them all: pale, exhausted, frightened, bruised and bloodied. She searched for Mack, and when she did not find him━nor did she find Fitz, or Coulson, or May, Leith, or Mace, dread filled the pit of her stomach, and she breathed a prayer in Spanish. 

    As Eleanor tried to stabilise them all━checking their bruises, fractured ribs and dressed their wounds with fingers she forced not to tremble━the three of them: Clara, Jemma and Daisy explained everything that happened.

    Yo-Yo paced. And she paced. And she paced. Back and forth, back and forth━back and back, forth and forth with her brows furrowed and her lips pursed ... it was silent for a very, very long time. 

    When she said nothing━and kept pacing, and pacing, and pacing ... Daisy spoke up once again, "What we can decipher from the insane amount of code flying around in there is that it's a duplicate of our world."

    Yo-Yo stopped by Clara's chair, her hands inside her leather jacket pockets. She watched young Eleanor wrap another fresh bandage around her thigh after finally threading through stitches to stop the blood. She had lost a lot━almost too much, but there was no time━no resources to transfuse. Even then, Clara knew as soon as she stepped into the dreaded place she must go, she would feel none of it. 

    "Populated with all the people in the world ..." finally murmured Yo-Yo, gripping the back of Roy's chair tight. "How could they build━?"

    "The Darkhold," said Clara softly━completely drained. 

    Elena threw her gaze to the ceiling━she cursed under her breath in Spanish, shaking her head with a scoff heavy with emotion. She bit at her bottom lip, trying to keep in the sudden tears that wanted to well up in her gaze.

    "We've managed to identify the duplicate avatars of myself, Roy and Daisy that are running around in there," said Simmons. 

    "So, you just plug yourself into these avatars?" asked Piper.

    "Hook up with our people and find out where on Earth their bodies are being held."

    "And rescue them," realised Yo-Yo.

    The three of them nodded. 

    Piper crossed her arms. She shared a glance with Prince leaning over the cockpit barrier, "That sounds easy..." she muttered sarcastically. Then, she glanced back, "Will it be easy?"

    Truthfully, none of them knew. Easy was a relative term━they knew it wouldn't be easy ... but to understand how hard it might be; what awaited them on the other side ... they were stepping in completely blind. 

    "And if they are in there too long..." spoke up Eleanor softly, "...then their bodies will give out ...?"

    "Well ..." Clara rubbed at her forehead, "... yes, that's the hypothesis, I suppose ..."

    The tension that grew was becoming heavy━they were all beginning to understand just how ridiculous and crazy this plan was ... how impossible, and yet, how it was their only chance. 

    Daisy took a deep breath, "So we have to go," she announced, "now."

    She forced herself to stand, and they all knew it was time. Eleanor and Prince marched off to finish setting up the Framework they managed to salvage. Yo-Yo helped Clara onto her feet and supported her towards Daisy and Jemma while Piper joined Davis in the cockpit, explaining everything to him as he drifted them on a safe flight-zone around the western side of the country. 

    Clara seemed calm━she wasn't calm. She couldn't muster anything more than a tired, pale breath, but her heart was racing━as was her mind. She was scared; she was more than scared, she was terrified. She didn't know what was there, waiting for her in the Framework. She didn't know where Fitz was ... where Coulson, Leith, Mack, May and the others were ... would they even recognise her? What had Radcliffe created? It was a horrifying thought to think what would be the same, and what might be different ... what would a man such as Radcliffe create in his own, perfect Utopian world? 

    She only just had to keep her hope. And if not that, her determination. 

    "Meet at the rendezvous right away," said Jemma. "That's where Roy and I programmed the backdoor to get out. And listen, living in there too long may kill you, but dying in there will definitely kill you, so..." she pursed her lips, meeting both of her friends' gazes who matched her own, the severity weighing down like cement blocks onto their chests, "... be careful."

    Daisy swallowed back tears, "You, too."

    "Make sure you get there," Roy ordered Simmons and she breathed a weak smile. "The both of you."

    "Make sure you do," rebutted Daisy. "Don't do anything stupid."

    Clara found herself able to muster a brave grin, "I could say the same about you." But it started to fade as it settled upon her ... like a cold breath running down her neck and her spine ... it made her shiver. 

    This was it.

    Agent Roy winced as she climbed onto the gurney━centred in the middle of her two friends. She pushed back the fear that threatened to escape up her throat, staring up at the dark ceiling of the Zephyr as she was clipped in. She ignored the wires, she ignored the anxious gazes the rest of their small team shared━she refused to feel the weight of the headset be placed around her ears. 

    "And remember," Simmons said to Eleanor who stood by the monitors, pale and frightened, "even if our vitals are going haywire, do not━"

    "Do not pull you out or wake you up," she repeated, voice quivering slightly. 

    But even then, Jemma set her stern stare onto Yo-Yo who watched it all, silent and stiff. She waited for her to answer, and the Inhuman set her jaw, but reluctantly muttered, "Yes, I know. It will cook your brains like huevos rotos."

    "Cause permanent damage to the cerebral cortex," muttered Clara, "but yes, that too."

    Yo-Yo crossed her arms. She watched them, concerned. "Just ..." she shuffled on her feet, "just promise me you'll get our guys back. Okay?"

    Jemma's gaze softened. Her mind wandered, painfully, to Leith━and her voice almost cracked as she said, "I promise."

    It drifted sideways to the two girls lying beside her━and she found they were already watching her. They realised that this was their real sacrifice play━the real game they must win. But like always, they knew that if they could get through this, they were going to get through it together━them against the world, as it has been since the very beginning.

    Clara took a final deep breath and returned her stare to the ceiling. She heard the Framework start up━a distant buzzing sound echoed in the back of her head. It started to grow louder and louder ...

    She didn't think of it. She didn't think of anything━she ignored the wires, the monitors and the painful feeling in the chest. She ignored the thought of what awaited them and whether they'll even succeed.

    All she thought of, as she closed her eyes and felt a strange feeling wash over her━like she had dropped through her bed as she slept━, was Fitz. 

    They might be cursed. The Universe might have it out against them. But ever since the start━through the Academy, through Sci-Ops, on the plane and here, right now, they always seemed to find their way back to each other ... and that was what the Universe always seemed to forget. 

    And she will find her way back to him again. 

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(Unknown
Unknown)

    THERE WAS A light, as she opened her eyes again. It flickered above her━it brightened, and then it dimmed, again and again ... Clarissa Roy frowned at it; she heard it hum to her. It was so real, for a moment, she thought she had dreamt everything━she had woken up from a horrifying nightmare, and she was safe, and nothing had happened, at all. The light, it was so unmistakably real ... the flicker, the spark, the reflection of the bulb within the glass━the way it slightly swung as it hung down from the ceiling; industrial and contemporary in style. 

    She frowned, blinking. She felt no pain in her leg━she was no longer faint Clara rubbed her eyes, feeling merely as if she had woken up from a very long sleep. 

    Blankets wrapped around her legs━warm as she brushed them together; she took a breath, freakishly calm as the pillow underneath her head moved with it as she turned to glance around the room. Clara yawned, stretching her arms out━until she felt something move with them. She froze, her brows furrowing as she glimpsed something out of the corner of her eye. Her breath hitched as she noticed the tape at her wrist; her gaze followed the tube leading all the way up her arm━

    She started to find it hard to breathe━she was breathing through something else; she coughed, she wheezed━something was down her throat, Clara started to panic. She grasped her fingers up and tugged at it━she pulled━she needed to get it out━

    Clara couldn't cry out as she felt the tube be pulled from up from her throat and through her nose. She stared, horrified as it came out━more and more and more until it landed against her lap and she could breathe. She gasped, she struggled━her breathing quickened and she tried to sit up━something clattered beside her━

    She heard shouts outside the room she was in━cries of horror and surprise as she woke up; she glanced over, terrified and shocked as someone came running through a sliding glass door━she heard an alarm set off, and someone shout: "She's awake! She's awake!"

    Roy struggled as someone tried to calm her down. They spoke meaningless words to her━in the back of her mind as she saw who came in next. Her eyes widened, her heart stopped━

    He rushed in, frantic as he found her━wide awake; he didn't look different. He looked the same━the very same. Tall, with broad shoulders cladded in a leather jacket; her nightmares stood in living form once again with dark hair, a sharp jaw, and intense, stone-cold eyes. Clara saw him through the window, she saw him walking down the Playground hallway, she saw him again and again━when he tortured her, when he smiled her, when he laughed and he scowled and he shouted at her as he tried to make her understand all those years ago━

    Clara struggled even more as he made his way over to her. She cried out, she fought━she even screamed, trying to hit him to make him go away. He held her tight. He spoke to her. He tried to calm her down━she fought him, she kicked, she cried out for help━

    Until something spiked through her skin and she grew dazed━her mind became dense as she tried to think. She blinked, confused as the world around her started to blur once more. Clarissa Roy fell back against the hospital med within the medical pod of the Playground, staring up at the concerned face of Grant Ward as she slipped back into unconsciousness. 

✲══〖✰〗══✲

    a/n: I did it! I DID IT! FUKIN FINALLY I GOT IT OUT OMFG!!

    omg I am so sorry lol!!!! I'm terrible. how long was your wait? three months--omg I am so horrible that was not meant to happen. things just got carried away and I lost inspiration and my hyperfixations switched back to merlin like I'm 13 all over again but I GOT IT OUT.

     yes Clara woke up differently to daisy hehehehe - what's happening? what's gonna happen? omg the poor girl she never gets a break from ward does she?

     COMMENT YOUR PREDICTIONS HERE <3333:

    (that's if y'all haven't left this book cos like srsly I do not blame you *laughs uneasily*)

     *slams hands on table* the framework is FINALLY HERE!

     this is another 10 000 something words so now y'all understand why I had to split the chapter hahaha? also explains why this is not edited omfg heh

     anyway, thank you guys so much for being patient with me <3 this story still means a lot to me and I plan on finishing it. I might switch it up so it goes to s7 in this book. 

     no matter what tho, I love you guys so much and thank you <33333