Anytime

Belong

Takes place between 7x06 and 7x07.

"I'm where I need to be."

Those six little words left Daniel Sousa's lips without a second thought and somehow they just felt right. It felt right to be on this big crazy futuristic ship sitting as Agent Johnson slept in this healing bed thing. Really he didn't have the slightest clue as to how it worked, or even what the proper name for it was and he didn't need to know as long as it did its job. Although, Daniel wasn't even sure what its job was. He knew it healed people when they slept in it, but he didn't know to what extent it healed them or how quickly it healed them.

Agent Simmons had attempted to explain it to him, but he hadn't really understood half of what she said. He'd given up on trying to understand anything she said. At first it had made him feel lost and lonely, now it was a little more exciting and maybe that's part of the reason he stayed. He still felt alone in this big ship surrounded by a team who looked like they'd seen a lot and looked like they were more of a family than just a team. Even so, they accepted Daniel. In some small way that helped ease the loneliness that he'd been feeling even before they'd saved him.

It was still strange to think that they'd all learned about him growing up, he was one of their heroes (if the awestruck expression on Coulson's face was anything to go by). In the very short time he'd been with them the team had grown on him...mostly Agent- Daisy (after what they'd been through it was Daisy) and maybe that's why he stayed by her side while she recovered. Daniel vaguely wondered if her powers helped her to heal and if not then how long would her healing process take now that she was in the healing chamber (he was 90% sure that was the right name)? The wonders of future technology.

Anyways, Daniel hoped she'd be back to full health sooner rather than later because Daisy seemed like their best asset. She certainly had quite a lot of strength, more than he would have guessed and for that he felt a little ashamed. He really should know better than to underestimate the strength of women. Peggy had taught him that. Once upon a time that name would have stirred a certain mix of emotions inside of him, but now he just felt fondness. Peggy really had been something and Daniel would miss her (and forever admire her), but they were never meant to be and he knows that now. He's accepted it because he was never meant to be at Peggy's side. No, he was fairly certain he knew where he belonged now. Where he needed to be.

Daniel hadn't even realized he'd begun to nod off until he snapped awake at the sound of the chamber opening. He was up and moving towards the chamber as quickly as his prosthetic would allow before he'd even completely woken back up.

"Hey." Daisy's voice was weak and a little hoarse.

"Here." Daniel handed over a glass of water that Simmons had left behind for when Daisy woke up.

"Thanks."

He handed over the glass and watched as she downed it fairly quickly.

"How are you?" He took the glass back and set it down on a nearby surface.

"I'm feeling better than I was before." She moved into a sitting position and Daniel watched carefully, ready to help if she needed it. Daisy looked a little better, but she was still pale and it seemed that even the act of sitting up seemed to take a lot of energy. "How's the rest of the team?"

Daniel thought about Agent Mackenzie's parents. From what he had understood they'd been killed by the evil robots and then the robots had taken their place. It didn't seem like the agent was handling it very well (not that Daniel could blame him) but he didn't want to stress Daisy out further so he tried for a smile.

"The mission was successful."

"That's not what I asked."

"Everyone else is safe and accounted for." Daniel leaned against the side of the chamber to take some pressure off his leg. "Thankfully, so are you. You were great out there."

"Yeah." Daisy looked like she was forcing her own smile. "Well I've been through worse."

At that Daniel stood back up and felt a rush of concern. "You've-"

"Yeah." Daisy held up a bandaged hand and shook her head. "It's a long story."

It seemed like she didn't want to talk about it so Daniel didn't push, he just nodded.

"You've all been through a lot," He muttered and shifted slightly trying to imagine what other evils the future could hold. If this was the strength of the good guys...then how dangerous must the bad guys be?

"So have you." Daisy leaned over to nudge him. "Thanks for telling me about some of it."

"Thanks for getting us out of there."

"You did all the heavy lifty." Daisy laughed and it was weak, but it was nice. "Literally."

"I just got us out of there." Daniel inched a little closer to her. "I couldn't have done that without you."

"Yeah well..." She shrugged and glanced down. "At least there's one less Malick to worry about."

Daniel didn't really know what to say to that so he turned until they were shoulder to shoulder, him leaning against the chamber and her still sitting on it, and let the silence remain. It felt like he could stand there all night with her even if the prosthetic began to hurt. It just felt right.

Then Daisy yawned and slumped a little and he realized that he should probably let her rest some more. No doubt the worry for her teammates was all that really woke her and now that she knew they were fine she'd probably want to continue healing.

"You should get some more rest." Daniel pushed away from the chamber and helped her to lie back down. Just as he was about to close the top of the chamber he felt her bandaged hand grip onto his wrist. He looked down in surprise and saw her smiling at him and yeah, he really liked that smile even if it was small.

"Thank you."

He stared at her and then slowly he nodded and closed the chamber watching as her eyes slipped shut once more. Daniel stood there for a little longer than he really needed to just watch her and he wondered if she knew he was still there. It didn't really matter if she did but he really hoped she did. Slowly he made his way back over to the chair and settled in for the time being.

I'm right where I need to be.

Not only that, but he belonged.