{What if love's a form of memory loss?

[myheadisaprison]

PSL with morethan084

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{There is no worse sorrow than remembering

[justmisled]

For three months, Lincoln has wandered the streets, uncertain, aimless, with not much recollection of anything that had happened or what his life had been like before he woke up in a ditch on the side of a road somewhere. He only remembered two things: His name and her face. He had no idea who she was, but he knew if, by some crazy chance, he came across her one day, he'd know it and then maybe she would have answers for him.

Until that day, he would just have to tolerate whatever life he could manage to scrape together with money from random odd jobs he scored, and some light pool hustling-- he was apparently not terrible at the game, so it did him so favors some nights.

He has figured out one other thing. Accidentally. One of those nights at some bar, some drunk getting angry about having his money swept out from under him led to a fight, which quickly got out of hand when sparks of electricity literally flew from his hands. That had ended in Lincoln barely getting away from some angry, hateful drunks and a skip out of town as quickly as possible.

There was a lot of time in the aftermath of The Incident spent dwelling on what he was, what it meant for him to have these powers. He's a threat to people, which he doesn't like at all. He thinks about it a lot, the damage he could do, the damage he's done, and he wonders what he'd done about it in his old life.

Lincoln has fallen into something like a routine now, as much of a routine as a nomadic life can have anyway, and he always keeps an eye out for the girl he can't seem to forget. He realizes it's a shot in the dark, but maybe chance and fate will make the pieces fall together one day.

He's scrounged enough cash for coffee, and he's standing outside the shop cup in hand, trying to sort a plan for the day.

[morethan084]

During those three months, Daisy was on the run. From SHIELD, from the ATCU, and from the government. She had fallen into a routine of her own, and it wasn't all good habits. For one she was living out of a van again. Her old van, actually, just painted a different color.

She's also been very reckless. Not caring if she got hurt, she felt as though she deserved it. After everything. Physical pain was a lot easier to deal with than all the emotional pain she was in. Sometimes it was enough to distract her, if only for a brief moment.

Fate reared its ugly head once again, as Daisy had just been about to step inside the shop to get some necessities when she spotted him. Her emotions went into overdrive and she wasn't sure what emotion topped the rest. Probably shock.

It wasn't the first time something like this happened. In her dreams/nightmares is where she saw him. So this was just another one of those. Sometimes they were nice and she hoped to never wake up from them, but she always did.

"Lincoln?"

[justmisled]

The voice that hits his ears is familiar, in a way that he can't explain because he's certain he's never heard it before. He turns toward the source all the same, "Yeah, that's--"

It was like a kick to the gut to turn and see her. Actually see her right there, not even a foot away from him. He may have considered the idea a million times, but...never in all those million times did he actually believe he would ever find her. He has to shove his free hand in his jacket pocket just so he doesn't reach up and touch her face. That would probably be incredibly awkward.

"It's me." the words sound hollow, and there's a distinct lack of recognition in his eyes, but there's no doubt it's the truth, regardless of the rest of the weird of the situation.

[morethan084]

It's hard to try and hide her emotions right now. It's like she's reliving this all over again and she doesn't know how to act. People could be watching them, in fact they probably are. Two Inhumans in one spot? It was bad news, for them. In the moment, though, Daisy didn't care.

"How?"

[justmisled]

"I don't...I don't know." His gaze drops to the ground for a moment, but slowly his eyes lift up to her face again. "I don't remember. I don't remember anything from before the last few months."

And he hates that. Because... it means he doesn't really remember her. Who she is to him, other than Important. He knows that much, felt as much any time he thought about the nameless girl in his dreams. "I have...so many questions."

[morethan084]

He's alive. How is he alive?

"You were dead."

Way to ease him into what happened to him. She knows it's a mistake to say that, but she can't think straight right now.

"You died trying to save me from doing the same exact thing." Really a conversation they should be having in front of this shop. Realizing that, Daisy looked around as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her eyeshadow streaking her face.

"We shouldn't be out here. We need to go somewhere we won't be seen."

[justmisled]

Who knew three words could have such an impact? It was like slamming into a brick wall. "What?" he asks dumbly. How was that possible? If he'd died, he wouldn't--couldn't--be standing here. That just made more questions than it gave answers.

He isn't sure how to handle the lurch in his stomach when he sees the tears streaking down her cheeks, but he follows her gaze at the people around them. No one seemed to even really be paying any mind to them, they were just two people out front of a coffee shop like any other number of people.

But his instinct told him to trust her. "Okay... you have any ideas?"

[morethan084]

"I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have told you that off the bat."

The only comparison she had to that was when she finally woke up from her drug induced coma to find out just how close she had come to dying, a few times in fact.

"My van. It's parked two streets up from here. We can go somewhere where there's less people."

[justmisled]

"It's okay, I jus-- it's a lot." Especially when he's not exactly having time to process it, because they have to leave and everything about this meeting feels so rushed right now.

He nods, "Okay, let's go." He'll follow her lead to her van and get in once they reach where she's parked. He shuts the door and takes a deep breath in and lets it out again before turning toward her. "How about...we start with the basics. What's your name?" And it actually hurts to even have to ask, because he can feel how well they must have known each other before just from her reactions.

[morethan084]

The fact that he trusts her enough and doesn't even know her name... She isn't sure if she's relieved or hurt. Why couldn't he remember? She had just put the van into drive before she finally answers him.

"Daisy."

Looking over to him as soon as she gets the chance, she tires to see what his reaction will be. Will it set something off? Or will it just go over his head.

[justmisled]

"Daisy," he echoes and it seems to fit, it makes sense somehow, but it doesn't trigger anything specific like he'd hoped it might. "It's a pretty name..." But it's all it is and he doesn't understand why he remembered her face so clearly.

He hesitates before he speaks again, uncertain of exactly where to start. Anything he says is going to hurt her, isn't it? Because she has all this history and he's a blank slate. "We were close, weren't we? Before..." He can't even say it. 'I died.', becacuse apparently that's the reality he's dealing with now.

[morethan084]

Hearing him say her name sent her stomach into butterflies and her hands gripped the steering wheel that much tighter. This was real. He was here and alive, but he couldn't remember her.

Maybe it was better that he didn't remember, he could move on from her. She clearly wasn't good for him. She wasn't good for anyone.

Still, she can't lie to him.

"Yeah. We were."

[justmisled]

He's an observant person. He's not sure when he realized that about himself, but it's been awhile ago now. And he notices the way her hands grip the wheel a little tighter. Seeing him, being here with her, it's hurting her. Becaue he'd died and she knew it, and yet here he was, alive and mostly well. Well as he could be, all things considered.

"How close?" Does he even have the right to ask her that? It's right to know, isn't it? But it feels strange, invasive somehow, like it's something he should keep his mouth shut on. Maybe that's just the rising urge to protect her he's feeling.

[morethan084]

She didn't want to scare him off. After all, she was sure if she was in his position and found out that they had been dating, it would be pretty scary. So she just settles for saying:

"We were very close."

[justmisled]

He nods a little, not sure what to make of that answer, exactly, but for now he accepts it. He'll push her for details later. When they aren't driving to some destination unknown in a van of a girl he used to know. Really well, apparently.

Lincoln falls quiet for a stretch of several, long minutes because, mostly...he just isn't sure what to say. There are a lot of things he doesn't undersatnd, and her showing up out of nowhere, actually existing in the real world and not just some disconnected idea in his head just made more questions than it gave answers.

"Why do you think I remembered you?" He asks suddenly, turning back toward her. "I didn't remember anything. I don't even know what my parents look like or what their names are. But I remembered you perfectly." He glances at her hair. "Almost... your hair was lighter."

[morethan084]

Daisy isn't sure if she's grateful for the silence or not. She's mindlessly driving down the highway, unsure of where to get off. Just that they couldn't be in a public area.

At his question, Daisy passes a glance over to him again.

"I don't know. You were a doctor, you'd probably know the answer to that." There, another tidbit of information.

At his comment about her hair, Daisy looks back to the road.

"I dyed it."

[justmisled]

"A doctor? Huh..." That explains some things, at least. Like the seemingly random information and knowledge he has, or the too-easy ways he's patched others and himself alike in recent weeks wgen it was needed. But it's still hard to picture, really.

He nods a little. That's not all that unusual, right? People do that sort of thing all the time.

[morethan084]

"A really good doctor." As far as doctors go, not that she's ever been a big fan of them.

It's still hard to believe that she's actually talking to him and she honestly keeps expecting to wake up from this.

Daisy didn't stop driving until they were in a secluded spot where she couldn't be seen by civilians. Putting the van into park, Daisy killed the engine before finally turning her body towards him.

"How have you not been seen by anyone?" Really it was a question more aimed at herself because clearly he has no idea.

[justmisled]

He falls quiet for the majority of the ride after that. He's still trying to piece things together. This woman has given him so many new pieces to the puzzle that was his life, it's a little overwhelming to process after weeks of mostly nothing. He's still a little shellshocked at Finding her, finding that she exists at all and wasn't just something concocted by his brain in the way people do with fantasies.

"I don't know...?" He sounds uncertain and confused by the question, an eyebrow perking in her direction. "Am I being looked for?"

[morethan084]

He really doesn't know, somehow that's still surprising her. How does she break it to him that he's not completely human? Did he even have his powers still?

"Have you heard about the Inhumans?"

Maybe that's a good place to start.

[justmisled]

That question has him falling silent for a moment, eyes cast down, fidgeting a little, but eventually he nods a little. And when he speaks, his voice is quiet. "Yeah. I've heard about them. People aren't too fond of them, are they?"

[morethan084]

Judging by the way he doesn't respond right away, Daisy has to wonder if he does know. She's seen how he got when he was upset, he lost control of his power. If he didn't even know he had a power and got upset, well...

"There's a group called the Watchdogs. They aren't fans of the Inhumans. I've been trying to track the Inhumans down, to make sure they are safe from them."

[justmisled]

He can't help the way his lips twitch into the smallest of smiles at that admission. Something about that just fits with the idea he'd built around her and the memory of her face. The righteousness of it all just felt right, somehow.

"Sounds like a pretty noble cause to me." He glances up at her again, smile still tracing his lips. "You must be a pretty honorable person."

[morethan084]

It was nice to see him smile, but it also made her stomach churn with unease. This still didn't feel real. Not completely.

"Not what I would call myself. Or would anyone else call me for that matter."

He doesn't know, obviously. Still, she can't agree to any of the compliments he's giving her right now.

"I'm just trying to protect my people."

Yes, her people.

[justmisled]

"Well, from where I'm sitting, that's exactly how it sounds." He has a feelimg she's the type that has a hard time seeing her own worth.

Lincoln nods a little, and there's a beat before he looks at her and adds, "Our people."

[morethan084]

Not anymore she doesn't. For a while she did, but that's gone now.

Part of her is surprised to hear him say that, but she's also relieved. At least she doesn't have to break it to him.

"Must've been scary. The first time you realized you could do that. Again." Since he can't remember anything, or most anything anyway.

[justmisled]

“It was...an experience…” He admits with a slight nod. That might be a bit of an understatement, but at least no one had gotten seriously hurt, like they could have been. “I’ve got a handle on it now. It’s strange, but it was almost like muscle memory, once I actually knew.”

[morethan084]

"Because you've done it before." No shit, Sherlock. "I hate to say it, but, you need to be careful about using them in the public eye."

[justmisled]

The idea may be obvious, but for Lincoln it's just a really weird disconnect in everything that was his life before VS now. There's so much he just doesn't remember at all. "It's just really weird having the innate ability to do something I don't actually remember learning."

He nods a little, "Yeah...I've heard some pretty nasty opinions and seen some of the news clips. People really hate us, don't they? Inhumans." The word still feels foreign in his mouth, but at the same time, it's nice to have a term to separate himself from everyone else.

[morethan084]

What's even weirder is having this conversation with him right now. She's trying though, to not make it weird for him. He was dealing with some much and she just kept spewing all of this information at him.

"We're a threat to them, as far as they see it. Some of us are, which I don't agree with. Using their powers for bad, but most of us? Most of us just want to live our lives without others interfering with them. Just like the rest of the world."

[justmisled]

"People always fear things they don't understand." It was a simple enough concept to grasp. And it seemed as true as anything in this case, too.

He considers the last part of what she says, about wanting to simply live their lives without interference. Something about it almost feels familiar, like a dream that starts to fade as soon as consciousness starts to sink in. He can't quite grasp it, or form an idea around it, though, so he doesn't say anything about it. Instead, he tilts his head to look at Daisy. "Do you think we'll ever get there? Think that ideal is really possible?"

[morethan084]

Daisy's stomach does a flip when he makes eye contact with her. Like she's suddenly realizing all over again that he's actually alive, and she wants so badly to reach over and kiss him. She's missed him so much, but that would do nothing but scare him.

"I'd like to think it is, but they're not exactly making it easy for us. Eventually we'll become normal, just like the rest of the population."

[justmisled]

"Well, they say anything worth having is worth fighting for, right?" He cants his head in her direction, the slightest of smiles playing on his lips. "We'll get there. Eventually."

Whether that would happen in their lifetimes was another story. But eventually. Maybe in another generation or five.

[morethan084]

It's been enough months that it's a breath of fresh air to actually feel positive about something. To have someone that actually cares enough about what's going on in this world.

Seeing his smile makes her stomach flip and before she can help herself, she's leaning across the van and stops just short of actually kissing him.

"I'm sorry." She's immediately sinking back in her seat. He still doesn't remember so much and here she is practically throwing herself at him.