16. What If...

Complete story — includes the ending

In the Framework, Daisy discovers that she and Ward are agents of Hydra, working under May and Fitz. The tragic event from May's past has no longer happened; in the real world, she killed Katya Belyakov, a young Inhuman girl but, in the Framework, she brought the girl back to the United States as a refugee who then became a mass murderer and the catalyst for Hydra to take power. Simmons awakens in a mass grave of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and eventually comes across Coulson, who is teaching a Hydra-approved curriculum that warns against the dangers of Inhumans. Simmons is unable to convince Coulson that he is inside a virtual simulation and he calls Hydra. Daisy races to find Simmons before the rest of Hydra and is followed by Ward, who reveals himself to be a mole inside Hydra for the Resistance. Daisy and Simmons try to exit the Framework using a safeguard the latter created, but it has been blocked by Aida, who has entered the Framework as the Director of Hydra and Fitz's lover. Daisy then goes to Coulson and he remembers her name.