Timeless

7|| 1950

Daniel fiddled with his tie as he tried to compose himself. The opening was tonight, and he'd been staying in his Brooklyn apartment for the past few days to acclimate to the time difference.

He smoothed down his curls.

There was a patch at the back that would always spring up. Daisy liked to run her fingers through it slowly when they were cuddled up on the couch, probably making the situation worse, but Daniel didn't mind. He liked carrying the memory of her with him.

He twisted his ring around his finger once, twice, as he watched the clock tick. He really should get going. He might be late to the event. He wouldn't want to do that.

Daniel glanced up at the door at the sound of a key scraping in the lock. His heart soared as he caught a glimpse of her familiar figure.

Daisy stood in the doorway, looking a little windswept with flecks of snow in her hair, a small, hopeful smile on her face as she extended a tiny bouquet of carnations to him.

He just stared. "Dais," he breathed.

She brushed the snow out of her hair with a nervous swipe. "Daniel, I-" she let out a huff of a laugh when he pulled her into a hug, lifting her to spin in the air. Daisy kissed him, murmuring 'I love you' against his lips.

Daniel set her down softly. "I can't believe you're here." He brushed his thumb over her cheek as she gazed up at him. "I missed you so much."

Daisy beamed gently as he pressed a kiss onto the back of her hand, but she looked down at his pants. "How's your leg doing?" she asked concernedly. "You lifting me like that's gotta be..."

He shrugged. "Don't expect it to be a regular occurrence, but I've been cleared to do it every now and then."

Daisy nodded and snapped off a carnation to tuck behind his ear, smiling at his chuckle. She spun around to show him the carnations in her hair. "Shall we go?" she asked. "I heard we were going to a party."

Daniel offered her his arm. "Did you get an invite?"

"Kind of." Daisy didn't bother elaborating. "So, how have these last few years been?"

"Boring without you." He hummed softly. "Actually, when you first left, there was this whole thing with Howard Stark, and then this whole thing with killer ballerinas, and then when I moved to LA, this whole thing with a movie star who used to be a scientist."

Daisy paused them. "You moved to LA?"

Daniel blinked. "Oh, yeah. You don't know. I was promoted to chief about a year after you left. I got to start a new branch of the SSR in LA. Now that branch is going to be converted into one of the first SHIELD bases, and apparently, I'm officially the first SHIELD agent, ever." He grinned at her. "Isn't that neat?"

"That is neat." Daisy pulled him into a quick kiss as they walked to the Brooklyn office. "I'm so proud of you."

There was a moment of silence before-

"I'm buying a house," he blurted out.

For the second time in this conversation, Daisy paused. "A house?" she repeated.

"For us." Daniel rubbed his neck as a flush crept up his cheeks. "It's upstate. It's beautiful- come on, let's get inside-" he opened the door for her- "it's beautiful, Dais, I promise. You'll love it. It's got vaulted ceilings and an attic and four bedrooms and it's in a really good area-"

Daisy interrupted him with another quick kiss. "I'm sold," she said brightly. "Anywhere with you, Daniel, I'm fine. I was just a little surprised, is all."