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“Oh wow, you have got to see this view!”
Daisy had just stepped out onto the balcony of their hotel room. She had insisted that they upgrade to the beach view, which Daniel had resisted because of the price. It was totally worth it though. The Pacific Ocean went as far as the eye could see, and the gentle sounds of the waves were already soothing Daisy.
Her boyfriend joined her on the balcony. “Wooooooow,” he said, putting his arms around her. “You were definitely right about the view.”
“See? Just another example of why you should always listen to me.” She leaned into him.
They had needed a break after going nonstop for over a year now. They had spent a lot of time wandering the depths of space, but they were occasionally recalled back to Earth for help with things. This time Mack had sent them a message telling them it was time for a vacation by order of the director. Daisy had a sneaking suspicion Daniel had something to do with that message, but she had no proof.
“Can you believe it’s been two years since we plucked you from 1955 and kind of forced you to save a world you didn’t even know?” Daisy asked him.
“Has it been two years?” he said. “Somehow it feels both much quicker and much slower than that.”
“Is that good or bad?”
She felt a puff of laughter on the back of her head. “It’s good. Very good.”
Daisy smiled. They had come a long way in two years. Two years of getting to know each other beyond their reactions to dangerous situations. Two years of laughing and arguing and movie nights and missions. Two years of falling in love with the most improbable person to fall in love with. Standing here with him, Daisy felt calmer than she had felt...well, probably ever.
Daisy turned around and threw her arms around Daniel’s neck. “So, what should we do first?”
“Rest?”
“Ugh, you’re such an old man,” Daisy said with a roll of her eyes.
“What?” Daniel said. “It was a long flight. Plus, why come to paradise with a beautiful woman if not to spend some quality time with her?”
“Resting?” Daisy asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Maybe I’m tired, or maybe I’m just trying to get you in bed.”
Daisy laughed. “You don’t need to try hard to do that. But actually, I’m starving. We should go find something to eat.”
They went downstairs and ate at the hotel’s buffet, then went down for a walk on the beach. It was glorious. Daisy relished getting to walk hand in hand with Daniel. It was so simple, but it was a luxury she did not take for granted.
“Have you decided what we’re going to do tomorrow?” Daniel asked her. When planning for the trip they had decided to split up the days between them to give them both an equal chance of picking things to do.
“I plan on spending a lot of time on the beach,” Daisy said. “I’m ready to soak in some sun and stare at my hot boyfriend. And maybe get one of those shave ice Hawaii is famous for.”
“And after that?”
“Ugh, you can’t just relax can you?” Daisy complained. “But anyway, after that we’re walking around Waikiki. Shopping and eating. What about you? What did you decide for the day after?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I found this list that someone left on our bed that was titled ‘Must Eat Places on O’ahu’ so I thought we could visit some of those.”
“Hmm, wonder who did that?” Daisy said. “What a great idea though.”
Daniel just gave a hum of agreement. “Speaking of great ideas, what do you say we head back to the room?”
“See, I’m not the only one with good ideas.” She gave a great tug on his hand. “Let’s go.”
If Daisy thought they’d have a busy night, she was incorrect. Jet lag caught up with both of them, and they promptly fell asleep.
Daisy woke up first, and her first thought was panic. Waking up in a strange room in the wee hours of the morning was enough to unnerve anyone. She calmed down rather quickly as she remembered where she was and whose arm she was trapped under. She was surprised she had reacted so extremely, but then she supposed she never did take a chance to relax. For all that she had teased Daniel about not knowing how to relax, it was a problem for her as well.
So rather than jump up and start her day, Daisy decided to burrow deeper into the blankets. She poked Daniel’s side until he got into a better position for her to snuggle into. She felt his heartbeat under her, as strong and steady as ever, and it lulled her gently back to sleep.
After what seemed like a moment to her, she felt Daniel give her a little shake. She raised her head to see those familiar brown eyes smiling at her, still a little heavy with sleep.
“Hey there,” she said.
“Good morning beautiful.”
Daisy shook her head. “Nice try, but I know what I look like in the morning. I would kiss you for that, but, you know, morning breath.”
“I think you should let me be the judge of that,” Daniel said as he pulled her closer.
In the end, they didn’t get much accomplished at all that first day, which was fine with Daisy. She had to admit that Daniel had a point when he said they should get their money’s worth from the room. Plus, she couldn’t remember the last time that they had this much time alone together. There was almost always someone else around, usually Kora. Daisy loved her sister, but there had also been way too many close calls. Jemma very unhelpfully told Daisy that it was just preparing her for having kids.
Daisy and Daniel spent the rest of the week roaming the island and eating at all the places Daisy had wanted to try. Daisy had decided that chocolate haupia pie was her absolute favorite food ever, while Daniel had been delighted by a train ride through the pineapple fields when they went to the Dole Plantation. He even picked out a stuffed pineapple for Alya, who had managed to wrap “Uncle Daniel” around her tiny little finger.
On their last full night there, they decided to go to a nice restaurant. Daisy was sad to see their time in paradise coming to an end. Mack may have basically forced her to take a rest, but she had definitely enjoyed herself.
Daniel had bought several Aloha shirts, saying that they reminded him of his time in LA. Daisy shook her head. She knew all about that phase having found some old SSR pictures in the archives. Daniel had been tickled to see that some record of that part of his life still existed.
Daisy reflected on how improbable her life had truly been. If she could go back and talk to the sad girl who had been shuffled from home to home, she would give her a giant hug and assure her that things would get better. And then worse. And then better. Repeat that cycle a few times, but eventually she’d be sitting somewhere on a beautiful island across from an amazing man and wondering how life had ever gotten this good.
Her past self would never believe it.
Daniel watched her carefully. “Penny for your thoughts?”
Daisy gave a small sigh and smiled. “I was just thinking that I was happy.”
“With?”
“Everything. My life. My family, near and far. You.” Daisy paused. “I guess I just felt for so long like I didn’t deserve to be happy. And now look at me.” Daisy tried to blink back the tears that had formed. “I promise you these are happy tears.”
Daniel reached across the table for her hand. “Daisy, you deserve all of this and more. You are so incredibly kind and you constantly give more of yourself that you should. Although I think I’m learning to accept that we’ll be old and gray and you’re still going to want to be out there saving people. It’s just who you are.”
“Who knows?” Daisy said with a shrug. “Maybe one day I’ll get tired and decide to just pass on my knowledge like May. To be fair though, you probably have more practical knowledge to pass on than me. I can’t teach future agents to solve all their problems by quaking something.”
They let go of each other’s hand as the server brought their drinks then took their orders.
“You shouldn’t undersell yourself as an agent,” Daniel said, continuing their conversation. “You have plenty of non-Quake skills. But a nice relaxing retirement with you at the Academy doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Good. In like 40 years we’ll go let naive new recruits pick our brains.” Daisy sat back and closed her eyes, enjoying the ocean breeze as it gently blew across her face. She just wanted to freeze this moment in time because she felt perfectly content.
She opened her eyes and watched Daniel look out over the ocean. She felt a sudden surge of affection for this man out of time who had burst into his office and into her life in 1955, even if she hadn’t realized it at the time.
“Hey Daniel.”
“Hmm,” he asked, turning to face her.
“We should get married,” Daisy said in a rush.
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Right now?”
Daisy gave a dismissive wave of her hands. “No, not right this second. Just...sometime. In the near future. And yes, I know I said it’s an outdated, archaic institution which is still very true, but a very wise person once said that symbols can be very important. And I think maybe young me may find a small amount of comfort in it. The stability of it all.”
“I’m not going anywhere, marriage or not.”
“Yes, I know this, but also I just kind of want to, ok? Think of the tax benefits. Also if anyone deserves a party for being awesome and in love, it’s us,” Daisy paused, forcing herself to take a calming breath. “And I just want to make sure that you know that I am not going anywhere either. You’re stuck with one slightly damaged but still pretty powerful Inhuman.”
Daniel nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He crossed his arms and sat back, trying to look relaxed. “But, I admit that I’m not adverse to the idea. Introducing you as my wife takes an entire syllable out of the sentence. Nice time saver.”
“Ok, well we’ll just add introduction efficiency to the pro-column. So is that a yes? Are we doing this thing?”
Daniel looked at her in that way that still seemed to catch her off guard, eyes so full of admiration and love. “Yes.”
“Yes!” Daisy said with a clap of her hands. She cringed slightly. “Oof, that was not the chill, cool response I wanted to make.”
“I don’t know,” Daniel said, “It seems pretty good to me.”
“And the crazy part is you’re completely sincere about that.” Daisy shook her head slightly. “You’re incredible, do you know that?”
“Maybe it’s the company I keep.”
“That has to be the most Daniel Sousa answer ever,” Daisy said, rolling her eyes. “Trust me, you stand on your own merits. But also you still use 1950’s slang unironically, so maybe you’re right. Anyway just accept the compliment.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, barely holding in a laugh.
They spent the rest of the dinner celebrating their new status, which led to them being rather tipsy by the time they made it back to their hotel room, which in turn led to Daisy sending out one barely comprehensible text to her family then promptly forgetting she had sent it.
Daisy woke up the next day to find that Daniel was already up and in the shower. She checked her phone and was alarmed to see the number of messages awaiting her. That was until she read them, then she was just confused. They included “Congratulations...I think?” (from Jemma), “Sousa definitely helped her write this” (from Mack), and “Stop bothering them so they can have sex in peace” (from May). Daisy scrolled back up to see her original message. It said, “Dateline: Honolulu The former West Coast Division Head of Shield is going to become Mr. Quake stay tuned for more info” followed by at least 20 random emoji.
Daisy groaned. She was never going to live this down.
Daniel came out of the bathroom already fully dressed and not looking the least bit like he’d been up half the night drinking champagne with Daisy. There was a knock on the door, and after a confused look at Daisy he went to answer it. He came back rolling a cart with some covered plates and a card, which he handed to Daisy.
She opened it to read, “I’m pretty sure that message means you’re getting married. I’m so happy for you two. I’m ready to support you however you need. Love to you both. -AC”
Daisy blinked back tears. She seriously had to be the luckiest person in the world. Her family was the best, and she’d tell them so after she told them off for mocking her tipsy text.
Daniel noticed her tears. “Everything good?”
Daisy smiled. “Everything is perfect.”