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That massive burst had taken a lot out of him and Lincoln panted in exhaustion on the floor. His next thought was that he had truly gone too far this time. He had been training with his powers for years but there were still times when he lost control of them. He could sense the sparks sizzling along his opponent’s skin. It looked like he’d won this fight but the price might have been far too high. He forced air into his fight battered lungs and crawled painfully over to the unconscious Selena May.
He reached out and felt for a pulse at her neck. Several long moments dragged past before he breathed out shakily in relief as he felt a faint throb under his finger-tips. Lincoln did not know Selena well. He barely saw her, but he knew that she was Director May’s sister and she clearly meant a lot to the SHIELD team. She was an excellent fighter with super strength and the last uncontrolled jolt of electricity he directed at her had been crucial for his own survival at that point. He just couldn’t take another hit. He was uncomfortably aware that he was new to the team and he wasn’t really sure what would happen if he’d accidentally killed Selena May. It probably would not matter to those she loved that she had been fighting under Hive’s control and seemed determined to kill him. He focused on his medical expertise and his movements were painstakingly slow but he tried his best to make Selena more comfortable. Her form felt surprisingly light and fragile which was surprising to him after that fight. He croaked out short replies to the team when needed and they didn’t notice that he was struggling to speak normally. There was way too much going on.
Lincoln grimly ate some energy bars which helped fuel his body but from long experience he knew that his energy levels were severely depleted and he could feel every bruise on his beaten body. He had to do his best to replenish his energy in case he needed to protect them both from the enemy. He theorized that the nearly fatal dose of electricity Selena had received should have broken Hive’s control over her. He fervently hoped so because he wasn’t sure how he would cope if she woke up and tried to kill him again. He couldn’t bring himself to actually tie her up.
The memory of Lance Hunter’s passionate pleas to save Selena May had been impressed on his mind. He had not even really been paying attention initially when Hunter furiously advocated for saving Selena as their main priority. It was a shock to find out that Hunter was so attached to someone other than Bobbi. Mack had to step in to get the Englishman to back off when he had been shouting right into Director Coulson’s face. Mack pointed out reasonably that Hunter’s guilt over not being able to prevent what had happened to Agent Morse could not be a dictating factor in their planning to defeat Hive and walked the blonde agent out.
The SHIELD team members were all determined individuals but not completely cohesive when working as a team. Lincoln knew that Hive’s main advantage was that everyone on his side was working as a single-minded unit and they did not need to spend any time communicating. There were no guesses or crossed wired on Hive’s team. SHIELD were really fighting an uphill battle against the odds. Yet he had been a witness to the fact that they had won the last battle with a similar set of odds. On the surface, the InHumans led by JiaYing should have triumphed in that war but SHIELD had prevailed.
Lincoln forced himself to keep moving around the jet which helped to keep him from stiffening up too much. He monitored what was happening with the team from what he could hear and glanced over at Selena every few minutes to check on her condition. Then what he heard from Daisy’s comms made him grow cold.
Daisy was taking on the Hive by herself and she had left her comm switch on. Everyone could hear her but a lot of the others were probably locked in intense battles of their own. Lincoln shuddered at the exchange and he could feel the anguish in her words. Daisy’s sense of loss and betrayal was heart-rending. Her emotions were always deeply felt and close to the surface. Hive was using Ward’s body and that just compounded the misery for Daisy. Lincoln closed his eyes for a moment and the image of a happier Daisy came to him. The way she looked when she was goofing around, doing something fun on her computer and the loving way she smiled at him just before they kissed.
Lincoln knew what he had to do. He had to save Daisy Johnson. He had messed up too many lives already. He needed to do this and atone for his horrible past. There were so many people dead because of him. He had been very close to some of the other InHumans at Afterlife who had been misguided by JiaYing. He himself had once idolized the InHuman leader who had let her hate and bitterness take over her judgement. Lincoln had known for some time how she continued to stay young and heal but had done nothing to stop her when she preyed on innocent people. He had just turned away and he regretted that every single day.
Daisy was amazing and she deserved to live a wonderful life after surviving everything she had been through. She was a bright and shining star in his life and she made life better for others too. She had even sought to understand Raina despite her villainous actions. The team at SHIELD were her family and he knew they would always support her. They had her back. The directors loved her like a daughter. He felt like he had been given an incredible gift when they got together. But everything else that he had lived for was gone. Daisy had a place in SHIELD and the future. He could be replaced easily and he had not fit in well at SHIELD in spite of Director Coulson’s encouragement. He didn’t blame them for not fully trusting him. The only reason that he was still here was because of Daisy.
Lincoln thought hard about how to defeat the Hive and figured out a plan that just might work. He looked over at Selena and blinked. She was gone. Lincoln looked around warily even though his back was already wedged up against a wall. He couldn’t see any sign of Selena May now. Yet she was not straight out attacking him either. He tuned back into the conversation between Daisy and Hive. He was running out of time as the duo entered the jet and he put his plan into place to force Hive into the flight capsule compartment.
Lincoln’s head was swimming even as he managed to lock Hive in the capsule. He just needed a few seconds to concentrate hard to fuse the controls correctly and get them out into space. Then there was a sudden blur of movement and a figure attacked Hive. That gave Lincoln the opening he needed to achieve his objective. He could hear screams from the comms board and a furious fight happening next to him. He realized that Selena May was the one pummelling Hive for all she was worth. He had not meant for that to happen but it was already too late.
The video feed switched on and he could see the horrified looks from the team. They had quickly worked out what he had done. Then Lincoln heard a sickening crack and Selena gradually stood up when she caught her breath. She stepped into view of the feed to more horrified gasps. Lincoln was seriously regretting his impulsive plan now but there was no way out of this as they hurtled into space. That had been the point, after all. They had passed the point of no return. Selena smiled brightly at Lincoln, grabbed his hand, looked directly into his eyes and mouthed a thank you. Selena was clearly herself again. Then she turned to face the video screen.
“Goodbye,” whispered Selena to the screen, with tears shining in her dark eyes. She put up a hand and gave a single wave, waited for a few moments while throwing a glance to Lincoln at her side. Then Selena shut off the video feed though they could still hear the audio feed from their team below. There were no more words to be said in the capsule. Lincoln had saved Selena from Hive and together they had defeated the monster, saving the world. But there was no way for them to get back home now. Selena understood this. Lincoln had nothing to say but he was immensely grateful for the sensation of Selena’s hand gripping his for as long as she could.