Backdated Log: Daisy Johnson and Phil Fitzsimmons Who: Daisy Johnson and Philip Fitzsimmons. What: House call - Phil visits Daisy after she gets out of Medical. When: Late March. Where: Daisy’s apartment. Warnings: References to kidnapping and the aftermath and the COS-controlled future, but nothing graphic.
Phil hadn’t really been joking when he told Daisy that the hospital food in his time was worse. Most things were. Philip had grown up hearing stories of old Atlantis. He had early memories of blue skies and blue ocean, of golden beaches and brightly decorated storefronts. There was one, in particular of dining at a restaurant patio with his parents and their friends and counting the yellow ribs in the red umbrella over the table while the adults spoke. It was someone's birthday - Aunt Daisy had snuck him an extra piece of cake - and he’d thought nothing could be better. Someone had made a comment about the war and been hushed, “Not today.”
He dreamed about that day sometimes, and woke up to the grey reality of his own time determined to make it better. But this wasn't his time. It had its ugliness - even more noticeable now in the aftermath of battle and the rescue of the hostages - but it was worlds away from what it would become. He passed a street corner musician offering personalized songs for a donation on his way to the hospital. He’d turned a blind eye when friends of a patient smuggled in a pet, and hadn’t risked more than a lecture for it. His parents, even with the horror of his mother's abduction, were decades younger in worry as well as years.
It was intoxicating, really. He understood Jake and Lorna's determination to stay and fight for the possibility that their own timeline might never come to pass. Phil had considered it before, but had doubted his own reasons. Did he want to stay to help or because he was weary with the masquerade back home? There had been a generous helping of both, and in the end he’d vacillated too long and lost the chance. This time, however, he’d known from the moment Hera informed him of the kidnapping that he needed to stay. They was no way he could return while his mother was missing, or even while she was still recovering, and the situation in the hospital (they’d been losing staff to departures and injury at an alarming rate, it seemed) had assured him that he really was needed.
And while his parents were his primary personal reason for staying, the rest of his surrogate family was not far behind. He’d meant to check in on Daisy again since she was discharged, and the rumblings about her new roommates - one of them, really - had inclined him to do so sooner rather than later. He knocked on the door the directory indicated, hoping Kai would not be the one to answer.
Daisy was glad to be home, even if home was a totally different apartment with new roommates. She was glad one of them was the teen she’d sort of adopted, but she was super not thrilled to be rooming with Atlantis’ #1 psychopath. She’d already been tempted to quake him into a wall on more than one occasion. Not only was he evil, but he was also really, really annoying.
Making her way to the door, she couldn’t help grinning when she saw Phil standing there. Maybe it was super weird that her good as nephew was actually older than she was, but she was still happy to see him.
Phil smiled when the door opened. “House call,” he said, cheerfully. “I wanted to check in and see how you were doing.” His eyes wandered over her shoulder to see if Kai was in the room. “How about a burger? You're out of hospital, so I won't feel obligated to worry about the healthiness of it.”
“Protein,” Daisy pointed out with a smirk. “I hear meat is actually good for you.” It was an argument she was sure she’d never win, but that didn’t stop her from making the comment. Grinning at Phil, she nodded to his offer. “I would love a burger,” she agreed easily.
Phil half nodded, half shook his head. “Protein is good for you,” he acknowledged. “The grease, on the other hand...” But he grinned nonetheless. “They do taste good, though.” He didn’t think he would ever get tired of the variety of flavors afforded by Atlantis of the past.
“Lightning Brew, or would you prefer somewhere else?”
“Lightning Brew works for me,” she agreed. They made a good burger and the bartenders were awesome. There weren’t a lot of better places for a burger in Atlantis.
“How are you settling into life in the past?” she asked him as they walked.
“It’s…” Phil shook his head again, this time in wonder. “You’ve no idea. You know how Jackson spent so much time on the beach when he was here?” Maybe he shouldn’t have brought up his surrogate cousin. She hadn’t had nearly enough time to know her son, and Jack hadn’t had nearly enough time to enjoy the freedom of this time. He’d gone back to continue the fight, however, like Kader and Joe and Ophelia and the others. “I’m sorry. It’s so different now. I still wake up amazed by what it’s safe to do in this time.” COS was still out there as had been made abundantly clear. The damage they had caused was real and serious, but it also highlighted the fact that Atlantis was not yet what it would be in his time. That it might never be in this timeline.
Daisy nodded. She remember when Jackson had been here how much he’d loved the beach. Shaking her head a second later, she waved off the apology. “I miss him, but you don’t have to be sorry,” she assured him. She missed Jack, she missed Lily, she wished they were both here, but she was glad Phil was and that they could get to know each other. She was thrilled for Jemma and Fitz that their son was here. “I’m glad you got the chance to come back. I can only imagine what you guys have gone through in your time.”
Phil shrugged, a little bit uncomfortably. “It isn’t that way now. It doesn’t have to be. That’s the best part of being here - knowing we could change it.” The brightness of the sky outside the tower emphasized the hopefulness of the idea. “Along with company and good burgers, of course.”
“We can and we will change it,” Daisy agreed. She knew making sure the future was different could mean Jackson never existed for her. He’d still be there in that possible timeline, but it was likely she’d never see him again. The greater good, though, that meant making sure that future never became a thing and she was always going to do her part to help with that.
Phil knew that determination. He’d heard it many times, both here in the past and in his own time, but it lacked the grim desperation found in members of the Resistance. He couldn’t quite share Daisy’s confident assurance, but it seemed a lot closer to being true. “We will,” he said.
Daisy couldn’t exactly imagine what he’d been through, but she knew his future was a lot grimmer than the present. She was determined, though, that it was a future that would never come to pass.
“I hope you know I’m getting a huge pile of onion rings to go with that burger,” she teased him. “Probably a milkshake, too.”
Phil grinned. “I think I can stretch that far,” he said. “In celebration of having everyone home again.” That was going to be a word to get used to, but it felt good to say. It did cross his mind to wonder, if they did win, what would happen? Would he be wiped out of existence or his memories rewritten? How did the other futures they’d seen fit in? Would the magic of Atlantis sustain him somehow? That was the kind of theory his parents were better suited for, however. Phil wondered, but if they could somehow manage to make that home more like this one? It would be worth it. “But I warn you,” he added aloud. “I’m going to steal some of your onion rings.”