And I wouldn't marry me either, a pathological people pleaser, who only wanted you to see her
[season 5, episode 22: the end]
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Rose and Deke stood across the hallway from each other, listening to the voices wafting from the other side of the door. The team, if you could even call them a team at that point, was crumbling. Whenever Rose thought they had reached a stopping point, the argument would start again: save Coulson or save the rest of the world. The decision seemed like a no-brainer to Rose, but yet again, she didn't grow up with Coulson. She didn't know him like the rest of the team knew him. She didn't feel the need to weigh on the fate of someone she met merely three months ago.
Piper cleared her throat, walking out into the hallway. "Davis says there's no change," she informed the pair, speaking over the hurried words of the rest of the team. She looked over at the closed door and then back at Rose and Deke. "You don't want to be in there?" she asked carefully.
Deke looked over his shoulder at the door. "That's for them to decide."
Rose nodded, "I mean, I just met Coulson a few months ago, I don't deserve a say in his fate. Neither of us do," she said glancing back at Deke. They didn't really speak much while they were in the hallway, just awkward glances at one another. Rose didn't really know what she would say, I mean, she knew that she saw him as more than a friend, but he was clearly not on the same page as her, so it would be pointless to tell him.
Piper looked between the two of them. "Okay," she said slowly.
Crash.
Rose's head turned back as she stared at the entrance to the door. An eerie silence fell across both the hallway and the room where the rest of the team was. Deke furrowed his brows, peeking through the small window. "What do you think's going on in there?" he asked, craning his neck to look down at Rose.
The woman sighed, "Whatever is it, I really don't wanna know," she said in a low voice before straightening back up and walking out of the hallway.
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It was a few hours after the time decided to give Coulson the centipede serum and Daisy was strolling down one of the hallways by the cargo hold of the lighthouse. "Let's put one of those in every room," she heard Deke say from around the corner. "It'll be useful, trust me." Deke smiled as he saw Daisy make her way toward him. "Did you finish fuelling up the Zephyr?" he asked.
Daisy nodded, "Yeah. And the Quinjet," she added. "We'll leave as soon as we get a location." She smiled softly. "I'm glad you're taking point here at the Lighthouse," Daisy told Deke. "Who better than you to decide what the next generation will look like? Get to show them the ins and outs of the place."
Deke tilted his head at her. "Yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna be around for all that," he said slowly. "I'll call the mayor and give the tour, but when you get back, I- I think I'll be out of here," he finished.
Daisy raised her brow at him, "Why?" she asked.
Deke sighed as he walked around Daisy to the entrance to his room, swinging the door open slightly so she could peer inside. "This is my room," he explained, showing Daisy the piles upon piles of things he had stashed in there. "I'm like a squirrel, hoarding anything I can find. Also, side note, found a nature book, learned about squirrels," he added.
"Old habits die hard," Daisy pointed out.
"It's more like I'm a damaged person, from a damaged world," Deke said slowly. He paused for a second, "And if there's a chance that could happen again..."
"You'd want to see the world before it does," Daisy finished for him.
Deke nodded, "I mean, besides, according to Fitz, if the doesn't crack open and you break the time loop, I'll just blink out of existence anyway." The man shrugged, "So it's just one more vacancy, right? And I mean, come on, I never totally fit in with the gang anyway. Not like Rosie did." he continued.
Daisy raised her brow, "And what about her, Rose?" she asked casually. "You gonna tell her you plan on leaving?"
Deke nodded slowly, "Yeah, yeah," he said. "I just gotta find the right time, or actually I just gotta work up enough courage to actually leave without her." The man paused for a moment, gulping as he looked down the hallway ahead of him. "I mean I could ask her to come with but I think she really likes it here. She fits in, and she- she has a future with you guys. I don't want to take that opportunity away from her. I don't- I don't want to keep dragging her down. I've done that for 27 years, and I can't keep doing that to her. She's better off without me anyway."
Daisy smiled sadly, "I don't think she sees it that way," she started. "Look, she cares about you. You just gotta talk to her. Or at least give her a heads up, she deserves that much."
"Yeah, well, she deserves better than me," Deke mumbled.
Before Daisy could respond to him, Rose and Piper rounded the corner. "We're on the move," Piper said as she passed the pair.
Daisy's eyes widened. "They spotted him? Where is he?"
"Chicago," Rose responded. "Wherever that is," she added quietly. The girl frowned as she noticed Deke's face. "You okay?" she asked lightly.
Deke shook his head, "I'm fine," he said dismissively.
Rose sighed, "Look, I know there's been a weird vibe between us lately but I can still tell when you're lying," she pointed out. "You know you can tell me what's wrong, right?"
"Rosie, I'm fine, I promise," Deke said quickly.
Rose bit her lip as she watched the man follow Daisy and Piper. Even though he kept telling her it was fine, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that something was wrong.
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"We're ten minutes out!" Davis called to the group, who were all preparing for whatever might happen in the final fight against Talbot.
"The buildings are holding for now, and the tracker we placed on Robin is back online," Mack explained, pointing at some of the building schematics in front of them. "And it places her inside that ship. So, taking out Talbot is one thing, but we gotta clear the civilians and rescue Robin too."
May nodded, "Before the ship and buildings collapse," she added.
"I would like to get close and test the building's structural integrity," Fitz said quickly.
"Good idea," Rose said with a curt nod as both Elena and Daisy walked over to join the group. "See long the building material will hold up until it collapses."
Fitz gave the girl a small smile, "Exactly."
Elena stared at Daisy, who stood in front of the girl. "You asked to see me?" she asked, ignoring the conversation between Fitz and Rose.
Daisy nodded, "Yeah," she said slowly, as she turned to stand in front of the whole group, not just Elena. She looked at all of them before starting to speak. "I'm aware I rolled the dice with Coulson. And I believe that we need him for this, but I will admit that I let my emotions get the best of him." Daisy looked down at her feet for a split second before glancing back up at the team. "I thought that Coulson was the only one who could keep us all on the same page. You would say that's proof that I can't do the job," she continued, nodding at Elena. "That I shouldn't lead. Well- I agree."
Rose's eyes widened as Daisy spoke. "The truth is I can't hold the team together," Daisy admitted. "But he can," she asserted, pointing at Mack. "Coulson wants me to call the shots in his absence? Well, that's my decision. Mack should call the shots," Daisy said definitively. "He has the biggest heart. I mean, physically, but also, you know... You are our moral center. And look, I never want to stop- being a soldier. He is a general we can all rally behind. Anyone who thinks I'm 100% right about this, raise your hand."
Slowly everyone in the room began to raise their hands. First Daisy raised her hands, then Fitzsimmons, and then Rose and May, and finally Elena.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," a voice droned from the entrance. Rose looked over to see Coulson leaning against an open doorway.
"Thank god," Jemma said, a small sigh falling from her lips.
"It's good to see you, sir," Fitz added.
Coulson shook his head before anyone else could speak, "Hold the applause," he warned. "She didn't go through that for nothing," he continued, stepping in front of Daisy to hand her some gloves and a light duffel bag. He then turned to face Mack, "So... what do we do?" he asked.
Mack paused for a second, cycling through the probably millions of thoughts running through his head. Rose could practically see his thought process and he figured out exactly what he was going to say.
"We save lives."
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The team ended up splitting into two different groups. One group went out onto the field to rescue Robin and evacuate the buildings in the area, while the second group helped citizens to safety onto the Zephyr. Rose ended up sticking with Jemma, and Elena who helped the citizens of Chicago onto the Zephyr so that they wouldn't face Talbot's wraith.
Daisy's ended up being the agent that took Talbot on head-to-head, and that made sense to Rose. She was the strongest inhuman they had on the team. She also knew him personally before he ingested the gravitonium. Rose just prayed that this would work so the team would be able to save this city before Talbot burned it down.
Rose, Jemma, and Elena made their way through crowds of citizens as they marched to the loading dock to welcome Davis and Coulson back onto the Zephyr. "Now that Davis is back, let's get ready to get up and out of here," Jemma decided. "The Zephyr is filling up fast."
"Out of my way!" Davis shouted, causing a group of citizens to back up as he carried an unconscious Coulson in his arms. "He's not breathing!" he said in a panicked voice as he set Coulsol down on the cool ground.
Jemma instantly fell to her knees, shaking her head vigorously. "No, the serum should have worked," she insisted. "I screened it for possible side effects!"
"He didn't take it!" Davis responded as he ran his hands through his hair.
Both Rose and Elena rushed to Jemma's side as her eyes widened. Rose's mouth fell open, unable to say anything as she stared down at Coulson. "Why did he listen to me?" Elena whispered quietly. Jemma rushed off somewhere, Rose wasn't sure if she was going to find help or medical supplies, but she decided to stay with Elena. "What have I done? Forgive me."
Elena got on her knees and she began to give Coulson chest compressions, trying to get him breathing again. She started muttering something in Spanish, Rose thought it was a prayer of some sort, but she wasn't too sure.
Jemma came rushing back into the room as one of the overhead lights exploded, raining sparks down onto Rose and Davis. "Rose, Rose, it's gone," Jemma mumbled. "The serum that he was supposed to take is gone. Get the- get the defibrillator, now!"
Rose coughed, trying to see Jemma's outline through the shower of sparks. "What the fuck is a defibrillator?" she asked.
"You don't know what a defibrillator is?" Jemma asked.
Rose furrowed her brows, ducking out of the way of another shower of sparks. "Just tell me what it looks like and I can probably find it," she reasoned. It didn't have to come to that as the group heard a gasp and then a labored breath from the ground. Coulson eyes opened as he shot up from the ground. Rose let out a quick sigh of relief, mainly because now she didn't have to look around for some random piece of junk, but she was also glad Coulson wasn't actually dead.
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There was a weird aura on the ship once the rest of the team arrived back on the Zephyr, Rose couldn't quite put her finger on it but she knew that it wasn't for her to interrupt whatever was going on. So she mostly stayed silent until they had made it back to the Lighthouse, letting the group say their final goodbyes to Coulson.
She did end up having a quick conversation with him as he was passing the bunk she was sitting on.
Coulson peeked his head into the room, looking at Rose who was trying to tidy up the room in front of her. "Thought I'd find you in here," he said slowly.
Rose tilted her head, "Yeah, I didn't want to intrude on your uh- what were you calling it? A retirement party?" she asked. "Plus I don't drunk that much... anymore."
"It's all good, I wouldn't expect you to drop everything and come celebrate," Coulson reasoned. "I honestly just wanted to come in here and thank you for tagging along with us, even though you didn't really have a choice."
Rose nodded, "Thanks for- uh- taking me in," she responded awkwardly.
"Of course," Coulson said. "Enjoy your new life here," he told her.
Rose gave him a small smile. "You too," she replied as she watched Coulson slip out of the hallway.
Rose knew that she wasn't going to see Coulson again, but it still stung knowing that they would be one person down when they landed back at the dock. Or two people down since Fitz was now floating somewhere in space, instead of on the Zephyr with everyone else. Rose still didn't get the whole 'Fitz didn't actually die thing and he was frozen in some cryto-crypto-kryo chamber?' Yeah, Rose wasn't really listening when Daisy tried to fill her in on how they defeated Talbot and lost Fitz in the process.
"Hey, Rose, you good?" Daisy asked, shaking the girl out of her thoughts.
Rose nodded, "Yeah, I'm good, just trying to wrap my head around the whole Fitz thing."
Daisy chuckled a little, "Yeah, S.H.E.I.L.D. gets a little confusing, but you'll get the hang of it," she told her, placing a hand on Rose's shoulder sincerely.
Rose gulped, "Yeah if Mack will even let me in," she mumbled.
Daisy shook her head, "Of course, Mack will let you in. You've helped us save the world, twice now," she reminded the girl. "Plus we need all of the agents we can get with Deke, Fitz, and Coulson being-"
Rose's eyes widened, "Wait, what?" she asked, cutting Daisy off quickly. "What about Deke?" she asked.
Daisy's smile turned into a small frown as she looked at the girl in front of her. "He didn't, he didn't tell you did he?" she asked.
Rose could feel her heartbeat increasing, "Tell me what?" she asked nervously.
Rose could barely hear the words that Daisy said to her before she tore down the hallway. 'What the fuck did she mean he's leaving?' she thought to herself. 'He wouldn't just leave without saying goodbye,' she reasoned. 'He wouldn't do that to me. At least, I don't think he would. And if he was leaving he would at least say goodbye. But he's not- so- so he doesn't need to say goodbye because he's not leaving. He's not. He wouldn't,' she continued to convince herself as she ran to his bunk on the Lighthouse. The room was mostly packed up, with a few boxes still open. 'Shit.'
Deke looked up as the girl came to a halt outside his door. "Rosie?" he asked softly. "You're all freaked out," he pointed out.
"I just- I talked to Daisy and she told me that you're not sticking around. Is that true?" Rose asked carefully. Deke didn't say anything, causing a small scoff to escape her lips. "Shit, sorry, of course, it's fucking true and you just didn't want to tell me yourself," she finished.
Deke shrugged, "I didn't think you would care," he said quickly.
Rose sighed, letting her hair fall in front of her face. "Why wouldn't I care?" she asked. "Deke, you're the whole reason I'm even here in this time. Of course, I want you to stick around! I'm not an asshole. I just- I care about you, and so does everyone else here," she added.
Deke shook his head. "That's not-" he started. "That's not true. They don't want me here, they never did. I'm just a burden."
"You're not!" Rose said, raising her voice a little. "You're not a burden to me, Deke. I mean, you've been with me my entire life. I just- I can't have you not be in it. And I know I've been distant but that's just because I needed to figure my own shit out. So I'm sorry, I won't push you away anymore because I- I-" she stuttered, pulling at the end of her jacket as she tried to regain her thoughts. "Come on, I need you here. I- I need you, okay?"
"I'm not leaving because of you, Rosie," Deke told her slowly.
Rose frowned, "Yeah, well, that doesn't really help me here. I just- just," the girl paused for a second. "Whatever."
Deke closed his eyes, "Rosie, please, don't make this into something it's not. I don't want to leave but I don't have a place here. You- you do, and I'm not gonna ruin that for you by sticking around."
"But you wouldn't!" Rose exclaimed. "You wouldn't ruin it! That's what I'm trying to tell you. You would be great around here, I know you would. Just please, give it one chance. Please, Deke."
Deke shook his head, "I can't Rose." he said definitively.
Rose gulped, swallowing her tears as she stared at the man in front of her. It's like she didn't recognize him anymore, or maybe she never really knew him at all. "You know what, fuck this and fuck you," she spat. "Have a good life, Deke."
loving you's the anecdote,
golden ☼
grace talks ig: ahhhhhh. AHHHHHHH. Hi guys. Hey, hi, what's up? Um, I can't believe I came back on an update like this. I really just blew shit up and now I have to write this author's note. so um yeahhhhhhhh. I don't really have much to say except i'm sorry and I hated writing that scene but I had it planned for like a year (and it's also better than the alternative which was killing off Rose but I'm not doing that because I love her too much to kill her). Also since I'm going to be starting season 6 soon I just wanted to say that I'm not gonna be writing the first three episodes (it'll make sense why when I publish the next chapter so I'm gonna keep it a mystery for now) Anyways, sorry for leaving y'all hanging for a few months and I will try to post the intro to season 6 soon. I hope you liked this chapter and I'll see you in the next one. BYEEEE <3
(p.s. thx for 8k reads on this story. That's insane. ILYYYY and please vote/comment if you want. I love reading them <3)