X marks the spot

A Life Spent

Daisy hadn't really given herself time to think. She'd left the framework, this time with no one left behind, and went straight to the Exchange. Her friends, however, weren't there.

She made her way out quickly, spotting Deke leaned against that same wall he had been at when she entered.

"Where are they? We were supposed to meet up at the Exchange. Something's wrong," she said, passing that corner. Deke following.

"Or maybe they finally took my advice to evaporate into this place –"

"Not their style," Simon said, suddenly walking up behind them.

"How'd you get here?" Daisy said as he caught up. The three then continued.

"Was there the whole time, you just didn't see me."

"Don't gaslight us," Deke said.

"I'm not, kid," Simon promised.

"They were looking for a way to find Simmons. I've got to track them down," Daisy said, getting the conversation back onto subject as they went around another corner.

"So you said," Deke, however, grabbed her arm, "don't you think you're kind of deflecting from what I told you about..." he just mimicked an explosion to get his point across.

"I'm not deflecting 'cause I didn't do it," she was sure. Very sure.

"Takes a strong person to deny what was infront of them."

Daisy didn't give Simon an answer. The two followed her as she continued onward.

"Yeah, that's what deflecting is. Trust me, Si told me all about it."

"Did you now?" Daisy asked, not looking back to the older man.

"Had some experience with it, sure."

"Look...how could I split the world apart? My powers aren't that strong. I'm not that strong."

"Maybe not yet, but you will be."

"And how do you know that?"

"We looked out a window," Daisy forced herself not to roll her eyes at the Aaron like answer from Simon.

"Because planet Earth went from smooth to chunky, and Quake is hte one who did it," was Deke's answer.

"And you don't think I'd remember that?"

"It hasn't happened yet for you," Simon said. He grabbed her arm, letting go as soon as they had stopped, "it's like the Framework, right? Spend too long in there, you sort of come up with memories to fill in those blanks. Like you're –"

"Living two lives at once," Daisy finished. She remembered that theory from Coulson. How would Simon know that?

"Right. Except...Ok, bad analogy. But, if you are alive here, you'd remember it, won't you? This you, the one from the past. The one who wasn't plugged into the Framework, just like those guys who are in Deke's business? They won't have that because they aren't plugged in. I - fuck it," Simon sighed, frustrated at himself.

"No..it. I get it. Sort of," Daisy admitted. Simon nodded, even if he folded his arms and tried to make himself as small as possible in that moment. Before Daisy could say anything else, Deke spoke up –

"Well, actually, that also wouldn't be true, according to hte multiverse theory. You probably never heard of it, but in Quantum physics, there's a theory that, for every universe, there are infinite parallel universes. So, in our universe," he pointed between himself and Simon, who hadn't moved - despite the two of them doing so a small bit, "you destroyed the planet. Maybe that just happened, as Simon said, in –" Daisy slapped Deke. The man took it, ignoring the sting.