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It's only right that it's in the middle of a thunderstorm that she finds him alone. Lightning illuminates the familiar silhouette and she bites back hysterical laughter. Battle after battle, death after death, she has followed behind, trying to see if there was any man left besides Maveth. It comes in glances, stolen moments, an itch she can't scratch. She swears to Coulson that there is something there, that she sees a flicker in him of recognition.
She doesn't mention that she also sees regret.
He flips the SUV without a thought, blank gaze locking on her as she crawls out of the window. She spares a glance at Mack and Lincoln, their vibrations telling her they're alive.
This might be her only chance. No one is there to stop her from trying the Hail Mary she's been holding to her heart.
No one is there but the ghost of Grant Ward.
"Grant," she whispers. "Grant, I know you're in there."
Maveth laughs, the dead eyes alight with amusement. "Grant Ward is long dead."
She shakes her head. "He's not gone. You have access to him, like you had access to Will. Let me talk to him," she pleads. "Let me at least say goodbye."
He deserves to know this is someday...
Maveth laughs again. "Are you Jiaying's daughter? I see her fire in you."
She closes her eyes, thinking of her mother and her warnings. "I am Daisy Johnson, and I am here to end you."
His hand shoots out to grab her by the throat. "I am Death and I will end you all."
She gasps for air and reaches for her powers, the ground rumbling beneath her in response.
He laughs again. "How quaint. Power over earth, power over fire...and yet none of it matters." He tightens his grip on her throat and lifts her to look into her eyes. "I am death by punishment, and you, girl...you try my patience." He starts to squeeze, staring directly at her.
Her vision blurs at the edges, her breath catching. "Grant, please," she manages. "Help me..." She reaches out a hand and touches his cheek. "Grant..." She closes her eyes in surrender.
But something else surrenders instead.
She falls to her knees as the hand around her throat disappears. "Grant?" She looks up towards him.
It's the briefest of heartbeats and an eternity in an instant. His eyes -- his eyes are his again, the confusion and realization a flash she sees along with a flare she can't fathom.
Because it looks like his hands catch fire in the rain, like infernos light in his eyes.
"Skye?" he whispers, and she wants to cry at the whirlwind of emotions sweeping through her, echoes of it in his voice.
She doesn't bother to tell him she's Daisy now, that Skye died too.
"Grant, please," she manages hoarsely. "Help me figure out how to end this."
He looks down at his hands, clenching them into fists and forcing the fires higher. "Run," he growls, closing his eyes as the fire grows.
Power over earth and power over fire, Maveth had said...
She jumps back from him, tears falling as she begins to suspect how he'll answer her plea, what the flames dancing in his eyes truly mean.
Power over fire...
She tries again, her pounding heart demands it.
Is it justice or irony to know, too late once again, how much more they could have shared?
"Grant --"
With a scream, he presses his hands to the thing slithering under his skin. "Run!" he cries out.
The flames flare so brightly she looks away for a second.
Stay with me stay with me stay with me stay with me...
Her heart is in her throat when she looks back, slowly sinking as she finds only ashes and smoke.
He's gone.
***xxx***
Coulson doesn't believe her at first. She can't blame him -- after all he and SHIELD had done to Grant Ward, "hero" is the last thing he'd ever believe.
But the attacks stop, and Coulson turns his attention to other targets. Malick, not Maveth, tops the hit list. The team moves on, moves forward.
She watches Coulson, waits for the moment to ask.
***xxx***
She hoists her pack higher on her shoulder as she approaches the Wall. How long had the battle gone on? How many had been killed or taken? She and Coulson never tracked the time, only those who'd been lost. No one remarks on her as she runs a fingertip across the initials tucked in the corner, the ones whose names remain unspoken, even as Maveth and Malick fade into obscurity. AT, KP, AG...GW.
She takes a long look around and leaves her badge and tac gear at the base of the wall.
She hopes he might approve, somehow, someday.
When she shrugs off the flac jacket, the flannel she pulls from her pack feels alien against her skin. It's too soft and forgiving for the life she's led, but exactly what she needs to start again. A long forgotten henley with a hole at the heart and a laptop, untraceable as she could make it, were all she would take with her now.
The world outside did exist. That wasn't the one in their way.
It was the world inside that had always been their enemy.