CHAPTER NINETEEN:
NO MATTER THE COST

WHEN SHE WAS ASKED TO take a blood sample, the panic that swelled inside of Sapphire's chest seemed to take over her body. She was never a big fan of needles, especially now that she had been stabbed with them over and over for two years straight. She knew everything that would be told in that one simple blood symbol, her secret would be out. The reveal that she was a monster would come to life, and she didn't know what to do.

So, she stood there, slamming her fist over and over into the punching bag, her jaw tightly clenched as she felt the pain reverberate through her hands, but she didn't care. The pain was numbing the fear, and maybe it was an unhealthy way to cope, allowing her knuckles to bruise as she continued to fight the punching bag like it was a person.

Daisy made her way down the hall, Jemma having requested for her to go find her sister in hopes of dragging her down to the lab to get the tests done that she should've had done as soon as she had been healed. But Jemma didn't want to push her sister, not whilst she was still healing from the trauma she had endured whilst being in HYDRA's grasp. And Jemma knew that that trauma was never going to go away, but she also knew that her sister was a fighter, and that she wouldn't let what happened to her stop her life.

Daisy stopped upon hearing the sound of a punching bag slamming violently against the wall. She frowned before quickly making her way towards the noise, stopping in the doorway when she saw Sapphire standing there, heavy breaths falling from her lips as she watched the sand pour from the punching bag that had broken off its chain. Sapphire blew the hair that had fallen from her face before feeling eyes on her. Turning her head, her eyes met those of Daisy's who was looking at her with slight concern.

     Daisy finally decided to speak up. "You alright?" She stuffed her hands in her pockets as she walked towards the female. Sapphire sighed as she turned to face her, nodding her head.

     "Yeah, I'm fine." She bit the inside of her cheek as she glanced down towards the ground. Daisy frowned at this.

     "Hey, you can talk to me." She softy stated.

     "I know." Sapphire nodded her head before looking up to meet Daisy's eyes once more. She sighed again. "Jemma wants to run some tests. Take my blood, all the fun stuff. But, Daisy, I know what those tests are going to say, I know that my powers are going to be revealed, and I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

     "Tell me, will you ever truly be ready to reveal that part of yourself?" Daisy asked. Sapphire didn't answer. Daisy nodded before holding out her hands, grabbing onto Sapphire's, watching as the brunette smiled at this. "Saph, who you are isn't something that you should be ashamed of. Even if it was those HYDRA bastards that did this to you, you're so much stronger now. And now that you're out of their grasp, they can't use you as the weapon they intended you to be. You can use what they did to you and beat their assess to the ground. You're not a weapon, you're not a monster, you're Sapphire Simmons, the badass agent that protects those she loves no matter the cost."

     Sapphire managed a small smile at this, watching as Daisy brought a hand up to cup her cheek. Daisy shook her head. "Don't be afraid of what they think. Because they're going to think the exact same thing that I do."

     Sapphire found tears start to fill her eyes. "I don't think that's what I'm afraid, I don't think it ever truly was." Daisy frowned in confusion, letting Sapphire continue. "I'm afraid that when Jemma goes to draw my blood, I'm going to react, and she's going to know that I've been through a lot more than I let on. And I'm her big sister, knowing what I went through, I want nothing but to protect her. How do I do that when I know she's going to ask questions as soon as she sees the fear in my eyes?"

     Daisy watched the tears start to pour over. She knew that Sapphire didn't shed tears in front of anyone, she knew that she didn't like to seem weak. Even though Daisy didn't think that she was. It hurt her to see Sapphire like this. "Come here," she whispered, pulling Sapphire into her arms. Sapphire held onto her, muffling her sobs into Daisy's shoulder.

They had become so close so quickly, and the last thing Sapphire had ever wanted was for Daisy to see her cry. But Sapphire was so exhausted. She felt mentally and physically drained, she couldn't sleep without the flashes of her kidnapping running through her mind━︎ something she knew that she would never be able to escape. When she cried all that she could, Daisy carefully pulled her away so that she could offer her a gentle smile.

     They stood there for a moment before Sapphire finally nodded her head. "I'm ready."

     "I'll be with you the whole time." Daisy assured before grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers. She offered her one last smile of reassurance before the two headed towards Jemma's lab.