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chapter twenty

(May 10th, 2017
The Framework)

    "GOODMORNING! I'm Sunil Bakshi. And today, we are talking about justice. Yesterday, we witnessed a harrowing and unprovoked attack on HYDRA's Enlightenment Cultivation Centre. The perpetrator, the Inhuman terrorist and Resistance founding member who called himself 'The Patriot' again acted with flagrant disregard for human life. But we are pleased to report The Patriot has been killed. That man will no longer stand as a symbol of evil and villainy. And while this is a cause for celebration, it is also a reminder to remain ever vigilant. One must never forget that danger can lurk around any corner. Jeffrey Mace hated our freedoms and sought to turn our country▬"

    The Bakshi Report was cut off abruplty by Mack's loud scoff as he angrily muted the television. He chucked the remote back down onto the table beside him. "Tainting the name of a good man. Anyone else getting sick of this propaganda crap?"

    Grant Ward frowned at the television as the report still played. "It's like sipping poison," he murmured. "Little bit every day, you don't even notice 'till it kills you." He took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "We need to start thinking retaliation."

    Leith sat up from where he had been slumped against the table. "Retaliation?" he spoke up, trying hard not to be irritated by Ward's impulsive, offensive nature. But truth was, everything was irritating him the past week and a half. He lost a good man, his sister and her stranger friend are lying, there's some fantasy about a Framework, Jack has been avoiding him and won't explain why, and he was so exhausted by the level of work and pressure placed on him since Mace's death that Leith felt ready to explode. 

    Ward glanced at him and nodded. Leith scowled. "Are you insane? Revenge will cost the lives of innocents, is that what you want?" he gestured to the room of refugees. "Those people were promised a better life. I still plan on making sure they get that."

    "Well, then, what do you suppose we do, Director?" Ward replied, curt and angry, too▬they were all dealing with Jeffrey Mace's death on their own terms.

    At the building tension, Agent Triplett decided to step in. "How about we review those plans I stole from HYDRA's lab?" he offered, slipping his hands into his pockets. "You know, since I almost died to get 'em. Look, if she's building some▬some crazy doomsday device▬"

    "Can we not use that word to describe it?" grumbled Ward. "It's not helping me think." 

    Leith sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as Ward wandered away, angrily pacing near the kitchen. He glanced over to the communications where the history teacher, Coulson, Clara and her friend Jemma Simmons were conversing amongst one another. Leith's gaze fixed on Simmons before he could stop himself. There was something about her▬and it wasn't all of the lies and the mystery. She intruiged him, but it was more than that. He couldn't describe it, this feeling of recognition and familiarity▬of wanting to walk over there and ask for her input, as if somehow, they were close enough ... as if Leith knew her well enough to find support and comfort in her company. The strange feeling of deja vu he's had since she first arrived here swept over him constantly, and it both confused him and terrified him. He couldn't afford to be terrified, he couldn't afford to be confused▬and yet, he truly was. 

    Simmons glanced over her shoulder, as if she knew he was watching her. Leith pursed his lips, but fought the urge to look away. That feeling washed over him again, and somehow just the sight of her made the tension in his shoulders lift▬he relaxed for the first time in over a week, and that realisation jarred him. 

    He sighed and finally looked away, pulling out his phone and checking to see if Jack responded to any of his messages. He couldn't understand how two people could be living and working in the same building, and yet somehow, one of them managed to keep so much distance as if they were avoiding the plague. Something wasn't right▬he was upset about something, and Leith couldn't figure out what. 

    "Hey," Mack grabbed all of their attention, gesturing the remote at the television as he unmuted it. "Check this out."

    Sharing frowns, Coulson, Clara and Simmons joined the group of them to hover in front of the television▬all of them watching with tense shoulders and curious scowls.

    Samil Bakshi's report had been interrupted, and he listened to the word over his comms unit▬he went pale. "We've ... received word of a terrorist attack at the Triskelion. Sources say that an Inhuman made an attempt on Madame Hydra's life." Leith shared a confused glance with his sister. "Fortunately, our beloved leader emerged unscathed but the vile assailant remains at large."

    "Daisy?" whispered Simmons, admittedly hopeful.

    "But how would she get out?" murmured Clara, crossing her arms. "She would have to had help."

    Leith considered her words, frowning and off in thought. "I don't know, but right now, a little bit of help doesn't sound too bad."

    Right now, he needed to keep everyone busy. Leith sent everyone off with their own jobs, trying to keep the base running without a man who had been a major component of their motivation and hope. But deep down, he also needed time to think▬time to try and get his mind straight. 

    So, before everyone would leave, Leith stood up and walked up to his sister. "Hey, can we talk?" he murmured, grabbing her elbow gently to keep her back.

    Clara met his gaze, and she hesitated. Things had been insane recently▬incredibly insane, and Roy felt incredibly lost. She had no idea how to get Fitz back, no idea how to get her brother back▬no idea how to save all the people who she cared about, and it was tearing her apart.

    But she took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah," she whispered and followed Leith down the corridor of the Playground. She frowned, confused when he didn't stop walking until he found a secluded, empty room and opened the door. He let her step inside first before closing it behind him.

    "What's going on?" she asked as Leith turned to face her. 

    "I need an explanation," her brother said, straight to the point. Clara pursed her lips. He gestured between them. "You▬us▬things haven't been right, you haven't been truthful to me and I've been hearing ridiculous things and I don't know what to believe," he sighed and slumped, tired. "I don't know what to do, Clara. I'm the Director, and I don't know what to do."

    "Leith," she tried, not sure what to tell him. She couldn't tell him the truth. Simmons tried, and he had shut it down▬and how could she tell him everything? How could she explain that Jack wasn't real? That back home, he was dead. 

    "I thought I lost you forever," he continued before she got the chance to say anything. "When you went into that coma, I thought you were gone," Leith shook his head. "A▬After everything we've been through, after all we've lost ... I was going to lose you, too. And now that I have you back, it's like you're not even here. You're not the Clara I know, obviously. I hear so much about you I never knew before▬so many lies you've kept from me all these years."

    "I'm not lying to you," Clara tried and Leith scoffed.

    "Yes, you are!" he set his hands on his hips, breathing heavily. "It's like ... it's like you're a completely different person, Clara, I don't ..." Leith sighed once again and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. 

    "Leith," she tried again, her throat closing up. "You're ... you're my brother."

    "Yeah," he agreed, nodding. And in this light, Leith looked exactly like their father. "And yet it feels like we're strangers."

    "We're not▬"

    "Then tell me this," he stepped closer to her, and Clara could tell by the clench of his jaw, he was holding back tears. "Simmons told me about this ... this other world. I want you to tell me right here, right now, do you believe that?"

    Clara didn't know what to say. She swallowed back her tears▬feeling numb and completely, utterly lost. "Yeah," she murmured, watching him carefully. "I do." At Leith's scoff she surged forwards. "But, Leith, it's the truth. You have to believe us, believe me▬trust me."

    "Why should I trust you?" he spun back to her, annoyed. "Since Simmons got here, everything has gone wrong. I lost my right-hand man, and all you care about is about some fake world? This right here▬" he gestured around them, "▬is the real world! This is all I've ..." his voice cracked. "All we've fought for. It can't have been for nothing."

    Clara took a shaky breath, not sure how to explain it to him and not sure how she was ever going to convince him. "Leith, please..." she croaked. "It's not for nothing, but ... but this isn't your home. You're trapped in here▬everyone's trapped and Simmons, Daisy and I, we're trying to save you. We're trying to bring you back home. Please, you have to believe me."

    "Simmons," Leith scoffed under his breath, shaking his head and turning away. He took a moment to calm himself down. "Who is she?" he demanded, fixing an angry stare onto Clara. "In this 'other world', what is she to me? Because you and her▬you keep acting as if..." he trailed off at the look on her face. "What?" he demanded again.

    Clara was at a loss of words. Her tongue felt dry. "I ..." she didn't know what to say. "I just need you to trust me, Leith."

    He nodded, and there was a flicker of hurt and disappointment shadowed by his anger that he swallowed down. "See, that's a problem," said Leith, "because I don't think I can trust you anymore."

    Leith left, but Clara stayed. She watched him close the door, and she stood there alone in the empty room▬only then did she cry. 

    Clara took a deep breath to keep herself calm, but it wasn't working. She sat down on an empty chair, trembling as everything slowly started to hit her finally, all at once. And the worst pain of it all, was the one person she wanted to be here right now▬the one person she wanted to reach out for and hold onto, was the person in this world who wanted her dead the most. 

    She didn't want to give up. She couldn't give up on them▬on Fitz. But Clara was at a dead end, and she had no idea what she was going to do to fix this problem. She needed Fitz. 

    "We're gonna get through this," she whispered, closing her eyes. Even though she knew he wasn't there and that he couldn't hear her, Clara still imagined▬for her own sanity▬that somehow, he was. "I know it."

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(May 11th, 2017
The Framework)

    CLARA HAD to keep herself busy. To do that, she found herself looking over Trip's photos and items▬all of the intel he managed to grab while undercover at the Enlightenment centre with Simmons and Jack. It felt strange to be around Trip again. It wasn't Trip▬it wasn't the Trip she had known, because this Trip wasn't real. He was just programming, and yet, he felt so real it hit the old wound of his death hard until it felt so fresh it was incredibly painful. Clara missed his smile, and his laughter and his humour in the hardest of times; his courage, too. She missed Trip.

    Roy hadn't mentioned the conversation she had with Leith, not just because Jack was here, but also because she didn't want to see the way it would hurt Jemma▬or hurt her more than she already was. She was struggling knowing Fitz didn't remember her, but Jemma was struggling also▬it broke her, having to see Leith be happy in a world without her, and have no idea how she was going to get him back. 

    Jemma shuffled through the photos, quite impressed as Trip watched over them. "It must've been difficult to recover these," she murmured.

    "Hey, it's what I do," shrugged Trip, smiling. "I'm just bummed I lost my granddad's camera."

    Clara tilted her head, managing a little smile. "Howling Commandos, right? I always meant to ask you about that."

    Trip frowned. "What do you mean 'always'?"

    Roy hesitated. She shared a glance with Simmons and sat up straighter. "I just mean ... I had heard, you know? You're kinda very popular within the Resistance."

    It worked. Trip chuckled. "You know it," he snapped his fingers at her and it brought a chuckle out of her. Even Jack, who had been very quiet, bit back a small smile.

    Clara set aside some of the pictures and sat forward in her seat, curious. "Hey, what happened to ... to Captain America?"

    She didn't know if she even wanted the answer▬to know in this world where HYDRA had won, what had happened to the Avengers and to Captain America, who had been the one who saved all of those lives in Washington. 

    Jack shrugged. "Supposedly dead," he said.

    Simmons arched a brow. "Supposedly?"

    "Allegedly," added Trip. And there was a glint in his eyes, a spark that wasn't telling the entire story. He shrugged, pulling an obvious face. "No one knows. But, I've heard whispers in the Resistance saying Cap and an ex-HYDRA agent escaped, and are fighting back in the shadows ..." 

    A small smile tugged at the corners of Clara's mouth. She didn't know why, but there was something comforting▬even in this fake world▬that somewhere, an Avenger was still alive. It gave hope, even if it was artificial. 

    Her smile then faded as she glanced down at the next photo. She stiffened. "Simmons," she let out and Jemma immediately was at her side, recognising the tone of her voice. 

    Seeing the picture, Simmons gasped. "Oh, no, no, no..."

    "What?" frowned Jack and stood up to glance over their shoulders. Trip made his way over as well.

    Clara picked up the photo of Project Looking Glass. The schematics of it was terribly familiar. "This is quantum-energy manipulation. Darkhold tech."

    Trip crossed his arms. "Dark-who now?"

    "We've seen this machinery before," Simmons explained, glancing at him and Jack. "It was designed to build elements from thin air▬"

    "▬Very unstable," added Roy, her heart starting to race with dread. "But this ... this looks like it's creating something even more complex. That machine required an immense amount of energy▬"

    "▬Yeah," continued Simmons, the two friends bouncing off each other without a second thought. "It was powered by a hydroelectric dam▬"

    "▬No doubt, this device would need a more substantial energy source▬"

    "▬Yeah," finished Jemma, pacing around the table. She faced Trip. "Did you hear anything like that mentioned when you were undercover?"

    Trip passed his moment of dubious confusion at how well they finished each other's sentences, having a hard time keeping up. "Uh▬Nothing about a dam. But I heard someone talking about shipping parts east to some oil-drilling platform."

    Roy and Simmons's gazes darted to one another, both of them coming to the exact same realisation. "Ivanov's base in the Baltic Sea," they exclaimed in unison.

    Roy stood up, chuckling bitterly. "Of course," she scoffed. "Of course A.I.D.A's using his assets here. She's probably working with him on this side, too."

    "Uh, by A.I.D.A., you guys are talking about Madame Hydra, right?" Jack's frown followed them as the two scientists paced the room. 

    "Yes, but she's not Madame Hydra," Clara waved him off, her mind racing. "That's just who she's pretending to be here."

   "Wait," Trip backtracked. "What are you talking about?"

    "We think we know where the machine is being built," said Simmons and Trip stood up straighter, intrigued. She glanced at Jack. "Can we take the Quinjet on a recon mission?"

    Jack pursed his lips. "I mean ... we'd have to ask Leith, but ..." he shrugged. "He isn't here in this room to tell us no, so...?"

    Trip shook his head, amused at Jack. He gathered up his intel back into the file. "Guess I'll grab a team."

    "Let me stay here," Clara offered. "I'll explain everything to Leith, and that way we're not spread too thin. Besides, if Daisy needs help getting here, I ..." she pursed her lips. "I want to be here to make sure she's okay."

    Jemma pursed her lips, like she didn't want to go without her, but nodded. Clara met her gaze before walking over and hugging Simmons. "Stay safe," she murmured to her dearest friend. 

    "You too," she said, lingering in the hug before letting go. 

    Clara stayed there, watching as the three of them grabbed what they needed and left the room. She pursed her lips, her gaze wandering back towards the photos Trip had taken. Her stomach churned once her stare found the schematics again. Clara picked the photo up and sighed. "Oh, Fitz ..."

    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, setting down the photo. 

    Some part of her wondered if she could slip away now. She wondered if she could sneak out of the base in the disarray left behind Mace's death, and find Fitz herself. Clara was sure that if she got a moment alone with him, she would be able to change his mind▬she would be able to get through to him so he would see all that A.I.D.A. has done. 

    But she couldn't be reckless. Not right now. It would do more harm to Fitz than good. Clara had to make sure she did everything she could so that he would get out of this alive▬and she'd get him back. That was all she wanted. To have Fitz, and to have her family back. 

    Sometimes, she was bitter at where all of this has come to. Her regrets, even before the bottom of the ocean stemmed from the realisation that if she had never dragged Fitz with her and Simmons to join Coulson's team, everything that had occurred from that moment on would have never happened. 

    But it also told her▬no, motivated her▬to push onwards and to fight. After everything they've been through, after all they have battled and every time the Universe has ripped them apart, they were always going to find their way back to each other. Clara was never going to give up on Fitz, and she'd fight the damned Universe if she had to if it meant getting him back, if it meant they received a happy ending.

    And when they got out of this▬and they will▬all Clara wanted to do was be held by him, and to be held tight. 

    She pushed those thoughts aside. She needed to focus on what was present right now, and that was explaining to Leith that Trip, Simmons and Jack went against his orders and requested a Quinjet for a recon mission▬which would only just give him more of a reason to not trust her. 

    Clara Roy sighed and rubbed her eyes, but left the room to make her way back towards the common room of the Playground, rehearshing multiple ways of explaining the news to Leith in her head▬all of which ended up terribly. 

    She found Leith, Coulson and Mack each with a cup of tea, looking very grave as they murmured amongst themselves. Mack's daughter, Hope, was hovering near by, blissfully ignorant to the dangerous things her father was putting himself into.

    Clara had to stop herself. She couldn't keep talking about Hope as if she were real, but God, how could she not? It was like Ward had said, how could she look at the relationship and love between Mack and Hope, and say that wasn't real?

     "Hey," she spoke up, walking over to Coulson. She tried to meet Leith's gaze, but he took a sharp, angry breath and looked down at his boots. She pursed her lips, hurt. "Um, Leith, I need to talk to you..."

    She didn't get the chance. Out of the hallway, Agent Burrows burst into the commons room. "Where's Ward?" he demanded, sounding very frantic.

    Leith stood up straighter, setting down his mug. "He went looking for Skye," he said, now very alert. 

    Burrows cursed under his breath and walked up to them. "Agent Triplett?"

    Clara swallowed harshly, glancing at her brother quickly before avoiding his found. "He's▬um▬He took the Quinjet on a recon mission with Simmons and Jack."

    Leith pushed off the bench, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "You've got to be kidding me..." he grumbled, dragging his hand down the side of his face. "What's going on, Burrows?"

    Burrows took a breath and set his hands on his hips. "One of our field agents just called in," he told Leith. "Said he had made contact with someone."

    Clara's breath hitched. "Dais▬Was it Skye?" she quickly corrected herself.

    "I don't know. There was gunshots. The line went dead," Burrows shrugged. "Could be her, could be a trap."

    Leith sighed and fixed his jacket. He shot Clara a glance that told her they were going to have another conversation she wouldn't like after this. "Let's go check it out."

    Burrows stammered after his Director. "What▬what about backup? What about transport? We're spread too thin."

    Mack pursed his lips and glanced at his daughter. She was playing with one of the other children in the lab▬or what used to be the lab, back home. He set his jaw. "I'll drive," he offered. "The HYDRA bus should get us there in one piece."

    Leith hesitated, recognising the look on his face. "You sure?"

    "Yeah," muttered Mack, nodding. "Somebody's gotta step up."

    "I'll come," added Clara, determined. At Leith's look, she shrugged. "You need back up▬" she glanced back at Coulson and he stepped in beside her. She smiled. "And I can take care of myself."

    Leith set his jaw, but sighed. "All right, fine," he decided, reluctant. "Let's go."

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(May 11th, 2017
The Framework)

    THE WAREHOUSE where Clara remembered meeting up with the Resistance before a bag had been thrown over her head was only a few miles out. She was anxious and on the edge of her seat the entire time, hoping that Daisy was okay▬if this was Daisy. Her best friend could handle herself, easily, but this environment was new, dangerous and it was scary. They had already lost one so easily, that Clara couldn't bear to lose anyone else. 

    Leith didn't talk to her the entire trip. He sat near the front with Mack, scowling out at the road before them. Clara swallowed harshly and tried not to focus on her brother, but it was hard not to. She was afraid she had pushed too hard, and now there was no way he would listen to her and change his mind. He was in far too deep. 

    Coulson noticed the weary, anxious look on Clara's face and reached out, squeezing her shoulder. She met his gaze, her heart clenching. No words passed between them▬not in the close vicinity of Burrows, Leith and Mack. But Clara understood what her old Director was saying. It's going to be okay, and whenever Phil Coulson said that Clara always somehow believed it, no matter how dire or hopeless the situation seemed. 

    Once they reached the warehouse, they entered quietly. Evidence of HYDRA told them the silent distress was not a false alarm. Clara saw one of their vehicles had crashed into the side of the building. No personnel was in sight, which told them they were inside.

    They hovered in the shadows of the warehouse, waiting for the drone to pass by. Clara recognised the drone as their Snow model even from here, and she swallowed back her bile. Once they were in the clear, Leith silently signalled for entry, and the group of them slipped inside the warehouse through the back entrance. 

    Agent Roy held her gun in front of her, following behind her brother with bated breath. Even their footsteps were as silent as they could manage, alert for any sound. 

    The sharp crack of gunshots made them all freeze. Clara shared an urgent glance with her brother, and he nodded. He gestured for them to split up, and Agent Roy went to the left of the shelving with Mack shadowing her while Coulson and Burrows followed Leith to the right. 

    They reached the end of the back aisle of shelving, and there were a few more gunshots near the centre. Clara took a deep, careful breath and peered around the edge, her heart pounding. She nodded at Mack to tell him it was clear and they travelled to the next aisle. 

    Backs pressed against the shelving, Clara fixed her grip on her gun▬feeling like she was in unfamiliar and familiar territory all at once. 

    She glanced around the side, and her heart skipped a fearful beat to see three armed HYDRA personnel in vests and full body armour. She hitched her breath and pulled back, meeting Mack's intense stare. She held up three fingers. 

    Clara was about to whisper to him that she'd be able to handle them all at once when a shadow suddenly dropped from the ceiling. 

    The figure landed on the shoulders of one of the HYDRA men and tackled them to the ground before they could even blink. Clara glanced around and her heart hammered when she recognised the technique. 

    Following Melinda May's lead, Daisy Johnson appeared out of the shadows, too and shot the second HYDRA agent without hesitation. They hit the ground. 

    Clara slumped in relief. Her friend was okay and she was alive▬but what was she doing with May? In the Framework, Melinda May was a HYDRA agent. She had been there when the building collapsed on Mace. 

    Neither one of them had noticed the third agent, and when he raised his weapon, Clara stepped out. She threw out her hand and watched the way the coding of the Framework warped and glitched around the man's gun and grip. He stared at it, shocked▬his hands shook in his attempt to move against the force.

    Mack then surged forward and smacked the butt of his gun against the agent's head. He crumpled to the ground. 

    "Mack?" exclaimed Daisy, and she scoffed a relieved chuckle▬not quite sure if what she was seeing was true. The last time she had seen Mack, he had turned her into HYDRA.

    "Daisy!" sighed Clara with a small whimper of relief and ran towards her friend, tackling her into a hug. "Oh, thank God you're okay."

    Daisy slumped in her hold, clinging on tightly▬finally feeling like she could relax after the hell she just went through. She buried her head into Clara's shoulder, and the two friends shared a touching moment. 

    Until May stepped closer, and Mack suddenly fixed the barrel of his gun directly onto her. Clara and Daisy stiffened. "Mack, wait▬" Roy let out before she could think.

    Daisy held out her hands, returning to May's side. "Mack..."

    He didn't falter his aim, setting a steel glare onto Melinda May who set her jaw, holding up her hands in surrender. "I'm here to help you, not the woman who held my daughter hostage."

    "No, Mack▬May is the only reason I'm alive," said Daisy. She stepped between the two of them, staring down the barrel of the gun herself. Clara noticed May's tense stance and hesitated, taken aback by the sight of an Inhuman such as Daisy risking her life to save hers. Once again. "She helped me escape. HYDRA messed with her head, but she's fighting back now."

    Mack gritted his teeth. "How do you know she's not lying?"

    Clara chewed on the inside of her cheek, but then quickly rushed over to join Daisy at her side. Her heart was still racing. She noticed Mack frown, confused. "Mack," she urged gently. "If she wanted to kill Daisy, she had every chance to before now. But she's here, instead, doesn't that tell you something?"

    She watched her friend hesitate▬fiercely loyal, always. No matter what this Framework had thrown at him, that was one thing that it couldn't change about Mack. He was a protector▬he always will be a protector. 

    The others finally met up with them in the centre of the warehouse. Burrows lowered his gun, sharing an uneasy glance with Leith who went to approach, but Coulson got there before him. 

    He lowered his weapon and came to May's aid as well. Clara's frown softened, she couldn't help it▬the way Coulson ran to them so quickly without a thought, it was as if an instinct the moment he realised May was in danger, even if he didn't truly remember everything they'd been through▬and May certainly did not. "Not a good time to be holding guns on our allies."

    One of the unconscious HYDRA agents' radios scratched to life. "Alpha One, report in. What's the situation down there?"

    Clara locked eyes with her brother once again, pleading for him to trust her on this. And if not trust, to see the reasoning▬but the truth was, right now, logic and reasoning seemed to be thrown out the window. All they had was each other, and even if the programming of this cruel world had separated them, deep down, there was still a connection▬a connection rooted in all the messed up things they had faced together, and even if they didn't remember, they felt it.

    And she hoped that was what made Leith sigh and step forward. "Mack, stand down. We have to go." When he didn't move, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. sighed once again and walked up to the mechanic. "Look, I get it. These wounds ... they don't heal overnight. But if we're going to win this war against HYDRA, we need to do it as a team▬we need to offer a chance to anyone brave enough to walk through those doors and fight," he gestured back to May. "She was brave enough to go against every lie HYDRA has told her to bring Skye back, and if we shot her for that▬if we shot every person for taking a stand against those lies they've been fed because of what those lies have made them do in the past ... then we've already lost. We have to be better than that."

    Clara watched her brother reach out and lower Mack's gun barrel without fear, and something swelled in her chest▬a realisation of how easily Leith could do this; could be this figure of hope, stability and freedom. A leader in a world where it seemed that every breath of hope had been lost. Deep down, she had always known he had it in him, but seeing evidence of everything she had tried to tell Leith he was capable of right in front of her, made her lips tug into a smile of genuine pride.

    Mack sighed and lowered his weapon properly. Leith clasped his shoulder, giving him a reassuring nod. 

    Burrows took a deep breath and spoke up, eager to get going before more HYDRA agents would arrive. "This place was originally built during prohibition. We have a secret tunnel out of here."

    Daisy let out another small scoff of disbelief at the sight of Burrows, but that disbelief soon turned into a small grin. "Lead the way."

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(May 11th, 2017

The Framework)

    JEMMA SIMMONS felt like she was drowning in the quinjet with Jack nearby without Clara and Daisy to help keep her afloat. She tried her best to focus on the situation at hand▬their destination and whatever might be waiting for them when they get there. But it was nearly impossible. She was swimming in an ocean of her guilt. First, there was Trip. The last memory Jemma had of Trip was him heading into danger with the ancient city about to explode just because Daisy and Clara were still down there. Then, she had seen the fragments of him when they tried to clear it out▬broken, ashen fragments that the Terrigen crystals had left. And yet, here he now was, in this artificial world▬alive and just the same as she remembered. It was jarring to try and get used to▬Jemma wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to this. 

    And then Jack ... Jemma didn't know what the right thing to do was. Every time she looked at him, she was given a brutal reminder of how Leith didn't remember who she was▬and everything they've been through. He looked at her and all he saw was some stranger who had turned the world he knew here upside down▬a stranger he couldn't trust. He had a life here, and that baffled her. He had memories and sentiments for programming. None of this was real! And yet, for him, it was. And Jemma, and their love, and the journey they have taken together up until this moment ... to him, that was the reality that was artificial. And how could she tell him the truth? Would he even listen? He had been face-to-face with the reality of their situation▬they had done little to hide it▬and he ignored it, he refused to believe it. So, how could Simmons persuade him that he had another life▬a home to return to that wasn't here? How could she tell him that back home Jack was dead? Could she live with herself to be in the shadows of a ghost. Until now, it had never been too much of a problem. They had talked about it, they had worked through it. But now Leith had fresh memories, no matter how artificial they were. He had love and sentiment for programming that felt real, and if she somehow managed to get him back▬all of them back▬how could they get through this then? Would they get through this? Leith would be grieving all over again for a love Simmons could never compete with. You could never compete with someone's first love. 

    He was happy here. Could Jemma ever make him that happy back home? Was he happy with her back home? Could she find it in herself to take him away from this? Was that love to rip him from his happiness, even if it was blissfully killing him? How could she tell him that the love he was feeling right now was not real? Because it was real. That was the most heartwrenching part of it all. What Leith felt? That was real. 

    It was a long trip in the quinjet with Simmons alone in her troubled mind, her guilt, and Jack and Trip. She focused on the blueprints Trip had given her of the building they were heading to out in the middle of the ocean. She managed to create a rough simulation and virtual schematics of the layout to try and figure out what A.I.D.A. was hiding here. 

    That was when she noticed something at last. "Agent Triplett, Agent Murphy, come and look at this."

    "I▬I'm not an agent, technically I'm a lawyer with a psych major..." Jack mumbled, sheepish but followed Trip anyway towards where Simmons was frowning at the computer. He looked awkward with the gun he fiddled with to holster at his hip. Simmons understood what Leith saw in him▬she had heard so many stories. Leith always seemed to find comfort in those he thought were a reflection of the morals he wanted to see in himself▬that could ease his mind and were the person he wished he could be. Jemma wished he understood that he was already that person. In fact, he made her want to be a better person more often than not, and not the other way around. 

    She forced herself not to think about those things as Trip and Jack came to hover over her shoulder. They frowned down at the virtual blueprints she had developed from the information Agent Triplett had gathered at the quarantine site.

    Trip gripped the shoulders of his bullet-proof vest. "Looks like a drilling platform, like ... all of them."

    Jemma sighed and pointed out specifically what she had found. "No, but this one here. Our overhead scans are showing a structure far more convoluted."

    "So ... you're saying it's denser?"

    "No, not denser," murmured Jack, his eyes scanning over the data. "It's deeper..."

    There seemed to be no threat waiting them outside the facility, which struck Jemma as odd. They landed the quinjet without trouble on the helipad at the top of the drilling facility. Trip passed Jemma a vest as well which she strapped on with a racing heart. She pulled her hair up and off her face as the jets released their pressure and the quinjet settled. Trip grabbed the rifle and took a deep breath, preparing himself for the danger they were likely about to step into outnumbered. 

    He glanced back at them. Jemma and Jack nodded before he pressed the red button on the wall and the quinjet hissed and folded open. They lit the torches at the tip of their gun barrels and stepped out into the cold night. Simmons's heart pounded as she followed Agent Triplett into the facility. The locks were old and rusty▬they easily forced their way into the drilling facility and descended down the pathway she had pointed out on the blueprints. 

    For a facility in HYDRA, it was drastically under staffed and low security▬terribly low. There seemed to not be a single soul waiting for them with every step they took and every corner they wrapped around. 

    Something wasn't right. Something didn't settle right in Jemma's stomach. Jack pursed his lips, his grip on his gun firm despite his obvious apprehension and hesitation.

    Simmons could hear the water depths around them. Its currents pushed and swerved around the concrete walls▬knocking and tapping against the exterior that gave her the silly feeling as if there were people outside begging for them to let them inside. It was haunting, being under water because it was as if the human mind understood they didn't belong this deep, and every instinct told them to return to the surface.

    At last, they stopped outside the door. "Here," Simmons murmured, remembering it on the blueprints she analysed. She took a deep breath and nodded, admittedly nervous. She clenched her jaw, determined. "We need to be ready for anything."

    Trip hesitated before pressing his back against the wall. Simmons prepared herself for the breech. "On my mark."

    Jack held his breath and raised his gun. Trip counted to three before stepping back and kicking down the door. It opened easily. He rushed inside with Simmons and Jack right behind him.

    The room was empty.

    Simmons faltered, her gun lowering and her stomach twisting. There was nothing in here▬absolutely nothing. The concrete floor was coated in layers of dust▬so much so that they left footprints. The machinery tucked in the corners looked as though they hadn't been used in years and the bright yellow security door was jammed shut and gridlocked to the ground.

    Her shoulders slumped. What? None of this made sense. "I▬I was so certain," she murmured, stepping forward and searching the room. There was nothing. 

    Triplett lowered his gun as well. "I guess this isn't where she's building the damn thing."

    "No ..." Jemma frowned, circling the centre of the room and watching the marks she made in the dust. Her mind was spinning. "No, this is where she's building it," she realised, her breath hitching. "Just not in this world." She glanced up and met their gazes, filled with dread. "And now I know what it will  do."

    Her mind continued to spin as it all started to finally to come together▬and it wasn't a good realisation. Not at all. "I knew the machine could create matter," paced Agent Simmons, her heart continuing to race, "but A.I.D.A.'s gone beyond that. She's gound a way to generate living matter, human tissue. She wants to make herself into a real person!" She tugged at her hair and sighed, exhausted. It just kept getting worse and worse.

    Trip shared a troubled look with Jack. "A▬a real girl, as opposed to...?"

    "A simulated consciousness," explained Simmons, rushed. "She▬she wants to circumvent her programming. Every step has been towards that goal! The▬the Framework, Radcliffe ... Fitz ..." she slumped and let her head fall into her hands. She didn't know how much longer she could handle things. "We ... we have to stop her."

    There was a long, dreadful silence. 

    Until, Agent Triplett sighed. "Hey," he approached her and Simmons glanced up, surprised. "I'm not gonna pretend to get all of this, but I'm here to help." 

    Her breath hitched. "You ... you believe me? About another world?"

    Trip chuckled. "Come on, girl ... That's way too crazy a story to make up."

    Jemma wanted to cry. She wanted to hug Trip. She wanted to▬ "Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed, but then, it faltered when she saw Jack. She hesitated and pursed her lips, realising that there was no way she could hide everything from him now. 

    He looked down at his feet, but surprisingly, Jack simply nodded. He took another deep breath and rolled his shoulders back. He locked Simmons's gaze, and there was a strange moment▬a jolt to Jemma's heart▬where a set of understanding weighed heavy in Jack's eyes, as if he knew all the lies she had been telling already. 

    "I believe you," decided Jack, walking over to stand beside Trip. "But what's the next step?"

    "Whatever it is, we need to do it fast," said Trip. "When I took those pictures, talk was they were about a week out from finishing the project."

    A cold chill ran down Simmons's spine. "And when was that?"

    Trip sighed. "About a week ago."

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(May 11th, 2017
The Framework)

     "SO ... LEITH REALLY remembers nothing?" murmured Daisy as she walked beside Clara into the Playground behind the others. She glanced around, momentarily bewildered as she was hit with so much familiarity of a place that had quickly become their home over the last few years, and a sad realisation when she saw how different it was, too. 

    Clara sighed as she watched her brother talk to Coulson and Mack a few steps ahead. Her heart tugged painfully. "Simmons apparently told him the truth ... he knows the truth, but he won't believe it." Her voice had dropped to a pained whisper. "Daisy, I ... I don't know what else I can say to him."

    Her friend hesitated. Her gazed fixed on their friends▬on Leith and Mack, and her strong facade seemed to shatter for a moment. Over the years, Daisy had gone from being alone to gaining the only family who had stayed with her no matter what▬through all of the pain and the struggles, whom she loved and who loved her unconditionally. Blood was thicker than water. Leith wasn't just like a brother to Daisy, and neither was Mack. They were her brothers. And she couldn't lose either of them. There was nothing she wanted more than to run up to Leith and hug him▬ever since she knew where he was and what he was doing here. But he didn't know her as anyone other than Skye here, and all that they have gone through was washed away from his mind by artificial programming. She couldn't go to him, even when he was just steps away. That hurt her more than anything.

    "We'll save them," Daisy said, her voice tight but her tone determined. She glanced at Clara again and took her hand. She squeezed it tightly. "I know how to save them."

    Clara's eyes widened and her breath hitched. "W▬Wait, really? How?"

    Daisy turned to her and dropped her voice even lower. "Radcliffe gave me the location of where we need to go to end all of us▬to bring everyone back."

    Roy stammered, not sure what to do with this information. She felt like they had been in this horrific loop for eons▬constantly finding solutions and watching as they were burnt to ashes right in front of them; stuck in a loop within a horrible nightmare. This was the first breath of hope▬of good news. Clara had almost started to give up on hope. "A way back home?" she murmured, too scared to even believe it for just a second.

    Daisy nodded. "Where's Simmons?" she then asked, glancing around. "We need to talk to her."

    "She's on a recon mission," murmured Clara, and they moved to catch up with the others. "With Jack and Trip."

    Daisy blinked. Slowly, a small, stunned smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Trip?" she whispered. Clara nodded, admittedly tearful. "That's ... that's the best news I've heard of in weeks."

    They glanced over when a breathless voice called out to them. Grant Ward ran down the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of them. When he saw Daisy, he let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank God you're all right. We've been combing the streets looking for you."

    Daisy's frown softened, both surprised and wary of the concern from Grant Ward. She grew rigid▬on edge to see a smile on his face. "I▬I can take care of myself," she decided to say. 

    Ward then turned his attention to Clara. "You all right?"

    She pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah," Roy smiled gently. There was some part of her that couldn't help but feel sad. That couldn't help but wonder that if Grant Ward had been found by the right person, whether he'd still be in their lives now, fighting for a cause that was right with the loyalty and care he did have for them, deep down▬enough that he had been torn between his team, and Garrett before he had been dragged into HYDRA's clutches too deeply. "I'm all right."

    She wanted to say something more▬something else to Ward▬though Clara didn't know what. She could tell he wanted to speak to her, too, but they lost the chance when Leith turned to May. "Let's go take a look at that body cam footage."

    Together, they wandered towards the common room. It was a tense, apprehensive silence. Clara hung back with Daisy▬she couldn't help but stay close. After being so terrified she had lost her to this horrific world, Clara didn't want to let go of her friend. They hovered around the briefing table as May passed over her body cam to Leith▬the footage that could give them eveything they needed kept on a small drive, and yet the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. held it with trembling fingers as if it were a bomb about to go off.

    Ward grabbed some drinks from the fridge. He handed out a few sodas and energy drinks. But he made Clara a tea, and all she could do was mumble a 'thank you' riddled with guilt as he sat down opposite her. 

    She barely drank any of it, but she held on it like a lifeline as she watched the footage from May's body cam play over the monitor. A stale taste formed on her tongue and made her sick to the stomach as she watched Mace be crushed under the quarantine facility all over again. 

    When the building came down, Melinda May had to look away. She swallowed a heavy lump in her throat. 

    Leith turned it off after that. 

    A long, sombre silence followed. 

    May took a shaky breath. "Getting this footage out isn't enough to make up for what I did in HYDRA," she began, sounding the least confident in herself than Clara has ever known. "But ... it's▬it's a start."

    Daisy pursed her lips and set aside her drink. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and frowning at the monitor. "Changing people's hearts and minds is great. But I know a way to destroy HYDRA for good."

    Leith frowned at her. "How?" he demanded.

    Her words seemed forgotten when Leith addressed her. Daisy hitched her breath, and her strength only returned when she felt Clara squeeze her arm. She forced herself to look away and turn to Coulson sitting on her other side instead. "Remember the place Roy, Simmons and I were trying to find?" she murmured softly. "Radcliffe told me where to go, how to find it."

    Coulson considered her words. He fixed his glasses perched on his nose. "The way out of this?"

    "Yes," whispered Daisy. "Yes. If we can get there, all of our problems go away. We just..." she glanced around at the others listening. "We need all the help we can get."

    May shook her head. She leaned forward slowly. "I ... I don't know what you mean," she murmured, troubled. "There is no magic bullet against HYDRA."

    "Yeah," agreed Ward. He gestured to the monitor. "This footage is as close as it comes. I mean," he turned to Daisy, "people will finally wake up."

    Daisy gritted her teeth as her frustration grew. She shook her head. "You don't understand. You don't▬" she glanced at Roy for help, but she didn't know how. "None of this will matter in the long run. It's ... it's ..." at the frowns and dubious stares, Daisy's confidence shattered. She glanced at Leith, and when she saw his disbelieving frown, it struck her deep in her chest. "Please," she tried, desperate, "this ... this is the only chance to actually wake people up."

    Leith crossed his arms. He scoffed softly under his breath, bitter and Daisy's frown softened in shock and hurt. "Right, because this world doesn't matter to you?" he countered and Clara pursed her lips, looking down. Daisy shook her head, stunned by Leith's response. He walked up to the head of the table and pressed a firm, determined finger down onto the surface. "This world may be collateral for you, but its real for me. I have been fighting this fight against HYDRA for too long. I have seen innocent people and friends be killed in the fight for freedom, and I won't just give up on them, and give up on every other innocent life in danger while HYDRA is in power. These people▬this world▬matters. And this▬" he gestured angrily at the monitor, "▬is the one chance we've had in ages to finally make a considerable difference in this fight. We could finally win. So I don't care about your other world, or whatever agenda you have. This is the fight here and now. And If you help us save this world, then maybe I'll consider helping you save yours."

    Daisy clenched her jaw. She shook her head, turning to Clara, expecting her to be on her side for this. However, Clara hesitated. At Daisy's scoff she quickly reached out to hold her hand and calm her down. "He has a point," she whispered. Before she could stop herself, Roy glanced over at Ward watching them across the table. She pursed her lips and murmured to her friend, "it's the right thing to do."

    Her friend stared at her like she had gone mad. "Roy," she said in a voice softer than a whisper so no one else would hear. "All of this is just programming. It isn't real. It won't matter when we get out of here, and we need to get out of here."

    "Maybe it's more than just programming?" offered Clara, her chest squeezing. Daisy frowned, confused. "Daisy ... the people here ... they have lives, they have quirks, personalities ... they feel pain and hope and ... and love," she glanced at Ward again. She quickly looked away before he'd notice, but he did. "Whatever the Darkhold did, I can't begin to explain. But ... the people here don't know anything else. This is real to them. And ... and we can't just abandon them."

    "Besides," added Clara, clearing her throat and moving past her sentiment. She tried to apply some logic to her situation. "We can't go to the location Radcliffe gave us without putting a divide in HYDRA's resources, nor can we do it without S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help."

    Daisy gritted her teeth, taking a sharp breath through her nose. She was restless to get out of here and Clara didn't blame her. But they had to play this right▬they needed to play this right in order to ensure they didn't lose any one else. They needed to play this right in order to get Leith on their side ... to make sure they save Fitz.

    And she knew this, too. And so, she relented. "Fine," said Daisy Johnson. She locked eyes with Leith. "Let's show everyone the truth."

    Together, the team of agents came up with a plan. They only had one shot at this and they couldn't screw it up. There was only one way they could manage to get the footage from May's bodycam streamed across every television in the Framework and that was to get control over Bakshi's news broadcast. They had to infiltrate before tonight's stream and manage to subdue Bakshi and his team before they'd get the chance to contact HYDRA and they'd be overrun. They had to go in stealth, take them by surprise and not make one single mistake. 

    There would be two teams. One lead by Ward and the other by Leith. They needed to be small in numbers to make sure they didn't draw enough attention, but enough to overwhelm. But it was a good thing that S.H.I.E.L.D. now had two powerful Inhumans on their side, and May to offer them the intel they needed in order to sneak into the news station unnoticed. 

    Clara was determined. This was one step closer to finding Fitz and one step closer to getting everyone back home safe. Agent Roy had to stop the Doctor before she could save her Fitz from himself and the clutches of A.I.D.A. And she was at Ward's side in infiltrating the HYDRA news station with a touch of ruthlessness she often kept hidden. She burst the door open into the recording room right off the hinges with little mercy, and let Ward, Coulson and their team flush inside as her hands lowered. On the other side, breaking through the second door was Leith, Daisy and May. She watched Bakshi not even have time to react▬he didn't even have a second to leap from his chair before him, his makeup team and the weather reporter were completely surrounded. 

    Bakshi tried to struggle but Clara simply threw out her hand and golden energy wrapped around his shoulders, restraining him to his chair. 

    "Heard you were looking for some enemies of the state," quipped Coulson. Clara bit back her smile. 

    Ward tied Bakshi and his team to chairs with zipties and rubber▬restraints that were strong enough that it would take super strength to break free of them. Clara crossed her arms, watching on as they secured the area and made sure no one would interrupt them. Her heart was pounding and she held onto her bated breaths▬it was happening. This was actually happening. For the first time since they showed up in this god forsaken place, it felt as if they were finally winning. 

    "Stay quiet and we won't have a problem," said Ward, and Clara had a sudden flash of memory to the operations agent she knew a long time ago▬before HYDRA came to the surface, before she knew he had betrayed them. She saw the smug mischief and confident teasing, and for a moment, Roy had travelled back in time. She had to look away, swallowing harshly. 

    After he did, he walked over to Clara and she took a deep breath. She uncrossed her arms. Agents flooded around them, preparing the broadcast as normal▬they needed it to run as close to time as possible to keep the suspicion low. She glanced over at May and Coulson who were working on transferring the footage onto the monitors ready to stream. "May and Coulson are getting everything set. Leith's making sure no one interrupt us."

    Ward took a deep breath and nodded. He set his hands on his hips. "We're good to go out here," he murmured. "No one's putting up a fight."

    Bakshi narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes," he sneered and Roy forgot how much he annoyed her. "But we will. If you think you can force me, Sunil Bakshi, to go on air and slander HYDRA, then you're delusional▬"

    She tilted her head at him before letting out a hefty, exasperated sigh and looked up at Ward. "You didn't think to bring a gag?"

    Ward simply shrugged, a spark of amusement in his dark brown eyes at her attitude. Clara sighed again.

    "▬I am the most trusted journalist▬" Bakshi's words were cut off when Clara flicked her wrist and his chair lifted up. He yelped in alarm when he was flung back against the wall and held their, suspended in the air. 

    Bakshi chuckled anxiously. His voice was shaky even after he cleared his throat. "Just▬uh▬put it in the teleprompter, then."

    Clara dropped him back down and he landed with an oof. She marched up to him with a furious glower. "You're not saying a word," she told him, her voice lowering into a threatening murmur. "You don't need to say anything," she stopped right in front of Bakshi and he gulped audibly, terrified as he stared up at her. "HYDRA thinks they can spread lies but the truth is, when push comes to shove, humanity doesn't like being controlled," she leaned down and whispered. "Even if that humanity is programmed. But if you want to send a message after this, how about you tell Madame Hydra that she made a mistake in taking Fitz away from me▬in messing with my family. She's going to learn what it means to be human when I get my hands on her."

    Bakshi trembled. He chuckled nervously. "Madame Hydra is bedridden. The Doctor is in charge."

    Clara Roy chuckled as well. "Oh, I heard. How about you also tell her that I wished the fall shattered more than just her spine."

    "Clara," Ward stopped her, startled. She stood up and glanced at him over her shoulder.

    She pursed her lips, some part of her sobering up at the tone of his voice. She took a deep breath, not exactly sure what came over her. But she couldn't help it. A.I.D.A. took Fitz, took Leith▬took nearly everyone she cared about away from her and threw them into this hell hole. It brought out a side of her she tried her very best to keep hidden. 

   Clara gave Bakshi one last scowl before returning to Ward's side. "Sorry," she whispered the moment she was back in his shadow. "I ..." she hesitated, because Clara realised with a bitter bile on her tongue that out of everyone, Ward understood that side of her the best. 

    She wanted to laugh. After all this time, he still haunted her. The words he told her▬One day, you will understand. 

    And she had promised him she would never.

    She hated to realise that he was right. She did understand. Just as he always understood her.

    But that didn't mean she'd ever forgive him for what he did. Never.

    "It's okay," murmured this Ward, so similar and yet so very different to the one she knew. "I know." She glanced up at him and saw a sad look in his eyes. "If someone took you away from me, I'd tear down everything in my way. I have."

    Clara looked down. She remembered the day Ward shot the man they had thought to be the Clairvoyant. It had been to protect HYDRA, but the truth was, deep down, it had also been to protect her. He never lied to her, he just always hid parts of the truth she wasn't ready to see yet. She knew that. "Believe me, I know," she muttered. 

    Ward recognised the bitterness in her tone and drew back. Around them, everyone was trying to get everything ready. Coulson anxiously waited behind the desk, the lens of the cameras all fixed onto his face. Leith and Burrows kept guard at the doors. Daisy was trying to lock the system so HYDRA wouldn't cut the feed off, but was having little luck. They were just going to have to hope for the best. 

    Clara faced Ward again. She couldn't settle the tension between them no matter how hard she tried▬and she didn't want to. Being around him brought back so many bad memories she had spent so long and hard trying to suppress. All at once, they were returning to the surface. She wasn't sure whether it was giving her closure, or making her dive back, head first, into the deep and dark waters of all that happened. 

    "HYDRA's gonna notice what we're doing as soon as we start broadcasting," she told Ward, deciding to change the subject. "We'll have to hope for the best."

    He pursed his lips and scowled down at his shoes. He was silent for a moment before deciding, "We can do better than that."

    Clara frowned. She watched him pull out his gun. "What do you mean?"

    Ward refilled his ammunition with a click. "I'll keep the signal going, hold the fort as long as I can."

    She realised what he meant and she surprised herself with the sudden ache in her chest. Clara immediately shook her head. "Ward, no. You don't have to do that▬"

    He shook his head, too, and stepped closer to her. This time, she let him. "I know I'm not going with you when you leave," whispered Ward, gentle and understanding. Clara's frown tightened, pained. "But ... I can still help out from this side."

    She set her jaw, taking a sharp, stubborn breath through her nose. She didn't want Ward to risk his life▬no, she didn't want this Ward to risk his life. Because this Ward wasn't her Ward. This Ward was the person she wished he had always been, the side of him that she mourned deep down. The potential of the person he could have been ... who he was, and the part of him that Garrett and HYDRA had taken away. This Grant Ward was a good man. And Clara found herself hesitant to leave him. She found herself wishing that there was a way she could bring him back. 

    And it was a startling realisation to have.

    Her defences crumbled. The lump returned in Clara's throat and for the first time in a long while, the naive girl who had first arrived on the Bus all those years ago showed herself with tears welling in her eyes. "Grant..." her voice broke. "They could kill you."

    He shrugged. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."

    At the way her brows knitted together, Grant Ward sighed and set his gun aside. He reached out slowly, waiting for her to back away, but when she didn't, his hands settled gently onto her shoulders. "Clara ... It's okay."

    She shook her head but he just gave her that stern look▬the one that used to cut through her and bring her back to reality. "It's okay," he reassured her. 

    "I'm sorry," she whispered. Grant Ward hesitated, taken aback. Clara pursed her lips, emotional. "I▬I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

    She didn't even know she held that sentiment▬that guilt▬inside her surrounding Ward. Clara started to wonder whether there was more that she truly regretted▬more than just what happened at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe there was a reason that in this Framework, the programming had evolved to keep Grant Ward in her life ... to make him a good man. Someone who Clara could have loved for a time if things turned out differently. 

    "You did," this Ward said to her gently and her eyes widened. "I mean ..." He backtracked. "Here, you did. When Victoria Hand found me, she told me I could be a good man. But ... but you made me believe it."

    Before she could say anything, Ward sighed and continued, "But that's not your burden to bear," he said and she blinked back tears. "Whatever horrible man the Grant Ward you knew in your world was, he made his choices, he dug his grave. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved."

     His words settled deep inside her▬in parts of her she never realised needed to hear them. Ward squeezed her shoulders before letting go. "Just ... tell me one thing. After you're gone ... Do I get my Clara back?"

    Clara wished she had an answer for him. She hitched her breath, wondering if she could lie to him. But she couldn't. She shook her head. "I ... I don't know," she said. "Though ..." she pursed her lips. "Technically, she is still in a coma."

    A sad grimace tugged at Ward's lips. He nodded. "I know, but when she wakes, I'll be there."

    He sighed once more before grabbing his gun and turning to leave. Clara's heart tugged. "Ward, wait."

    He spun around, his breath hitching softly with a hope he tried to hide. Clara chewed on the inside of her cheek as she considered her next words. "Look, um ..." she walked up to him again. "For what it's worth, I ... I don't think I ever truly understood him until I met you." Clara managed a sad smile. "I guess there was some good in him ... all along." 

    Before she'd decide against it, Clara rose up onto her toes and placed a soft kiss on Ward's cheek. One last goodbye. Forever. "I hope your Clara comes back to you," she whispered to him as she pulled away. "I really do."

    She knew, then, that she wasn't drowning. This Grant Ward had given her the closure she never knew she needed so bad until she finally recieved it. And now, the ghost of her Ward that haunted her every step had, at last, been put to rest. 

    "Hey," Leith's voice rang out, forcing Clara and Ward to tear their gazes from each other. They looked over at the Director. "It's time," he told them. "Let's go."

    Clara hesitated. She glanced up at Ward again, not wanting to leave him. He nodded at her. "Go," he whispered. "I'll be okay."

    There was so much she wanted to say. In the end, she settled with, "Good luck."

    Ward smiled, pained. "You too."

    She hovered, but knew she had to leave him. Clara walked over to her brother, but before he'd lead her out of the room, she hesitated and glanced back. She saw Ward disappear inside the recording room, a lone soldier standing against all the odds▬except this time, he was fighting for freedom instead of battling to take that freedom away. 

    Clara took one final, deep breath before turning around and leaving. This time, she did not look back. 

    In the distance, she heard the recording they made play over the broadcast. 

    "Good evening," Coulson's voice echoed throughout the entire news station and across every television screen in the Framework▬every monitor, every phone and every tablet. "As you all know, a HYDRA facility was destroyed yesterday. HYDRA told you that it was an act of terrorism. They told you an Inhuman named The Patriot murdured civilians. What they told you was a lie. We're gonna show you what really happened. This footage was taken from the body cam of a high-level HYDRA operative. HYDRA used this Enlightenment Centre to brainwash anyone who dared to question them. Jeffrey Mace saved these people, but HYDRA was willing to kill them just to maintain their lie. Once you see this footage, the truth is undeniable.

    "HYDRA doesn't think we're smart enough to know when we're being fed alternative facts, to keep us afraid, to keep them in power. Remember, there are more of us than there are of them. And now that we know the truth, we have a choice to make. We all have the opportunity to be patriots. Will you take a stand? Are you going to hold them accountable?

    "A wise man once told me that a person can do anything once they realise they're a part of something bigger. It's taken me a while to understand that. For years, I was just a face in the crowd, a history teacher who spread HYDRA's lies. They seemed too imposing for any one person to fight. But now ... I'm choosing to stand up. To become apart of something bigger. I really do believe that together, we can acomplish anything."

    Inside everyone's homes, their workplaces, their cars and even out on the street, the Framework finally realised the truth. They watched the man who was once just another face in the crowd take off his glasses. "Because the truth is, I'm not just a history teacher▬" The man reached inside his suit pocket and pulled out a wallet. He let it open to reveal a symbol no one had seen in a long time. A symbol born out of a shield meant to protect all those who could not protect themselves. A symbol of hope. And he showed it to the world. "My name is Phil Coulson and I'm an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

✲══〖✰〗══✲

    a/n: i am so sorry it took me this long to update. again. 

    if anyone is still reading this, thank you so much for sticking around, i love you <3 i'm grateful you're still here, you are the reason why i haven't forgotten about this book, no matter how long it has taken me to write this chapter. i love this book, and i love the characters, the relationships - i am proud of it, and i hope i get to finish it one day. there is so much i want to explore. 

    i know i'm the last author to deserve this, especially with this book, but pls make sure to vote and comment - pls comment as much as you can. it genuinely helps my motivation, and will help me write this story more if i feel like i'm updating it for people and not just writing over 11k words for no one. it'll help me a lot. 

    this episode was kinda boring to write, which probably one of the reasons why it took me so long. but i genuinely enjoy writing the clara and ward moments. i actually never planned for them to have the development they did, but they just kinda developed the chemistry along the way for me and so i switched the storyline up. i love giving them closure after all the shitty things ward did. it always makes me sad, because i know that at first, ward was never meant to betray the gang. it wasn't until after catw came out did they decide to change things - and while it was a brilliant move from the show, it makes me so sad because i genuinely got so attatched to ward and skye (daisy). 

    lol maybe this chapter is me projecting lol, but i just hate ward, but love his character so much and wish he had a redemption arc (even tho i also love him being a villian - he is a fantastic villain) because like we saw in the framework what could have been.

    tho, then again, i love daisy and sousa and yeah. 

    anyway, i hope that those who are still here after all this time enjoyed this chapter. and i know i say this all the time, but i genuinely do hope i see you guys again sooner than last time. i am heading back to uni tho in like a week which will put a pause on my update time across all of my books so.

    (minimal editing).