Care
Notes: It was supposed to be a 'Phil pays an inordinate amount of sweet attention to Daisy's shoulders' fic, but it took a whole new and different direction, so I decided to let it run as it was. Also; late post, slightly AU.
It hadn't been too long since Hive was destroyed, since Lincoln died with him, since Daisy and all the rest Inhumans were freed from his sway.
Life hadn't returned to normal, like Phil had desperetly hoped.
Andrew and May were off on vacations – since Jemma, Alisha and Mr. Radcliffe had found a way to reverse his transformation.
It was a simple mission. Relatively. Daisy got hurt, stray bullet, berely grazed her arm.
The problem, though, lay on the fact that she wasn't letting anyone near her to treat the wound.
"Sir. Please, come talk to her. She won't let anyone take care of the wound and it needs to be cleaned up." Jemma came to his office.
Phil nodded and walked down to the med lad, where Daisy was failing to keep the pain from her face, while probbing at the bloody wound.
Without talking, he picked the disinfectant and the gauge and went to take care of it.
"No." she backed away.
"Daisy, this needs to be looked after. You aren't letting anyone near you. You berely talk to anyone anymore." he said quietly.
"Still. I can take care of myself. I don't need you to do it."
Coulson froze for a moment.
"I know." he said, looking away. "You never needed me to take care of you. You'd never let me do it. But I want to, Daisy. You are the closest thing to a family I have."
"I don't need a father, Coulson. I am not some kid you can work out your issues through." she frowned.
"I'm sorry. I don't...I know that you matter to me. And I am too old for..." he sighed.
Daisy frowned.
"Look, just let me take care of this, please. I haven't been anything but an endless source of pain and hurt and I know this isn't going to undo all that I've done to you, but it's a start at making it up to you." he said.
"What you've done to me? What I've done to you! Coulson, you lost your arm because of me, you were going around with crutches for days, according to Simmons, after I nearly brought the base on your heads. I almost let Hive destroy humanity! I hurted you!" she almost shouted. "How can you stand being near me?"
"Because you're Daisy. Because you're Skye. Because no matter what happens, or who you are, I will always want to be near you." he said quietly.
She let her jacket drop and turned her arm to him.
"You have zero survival insticts, Coulson." she said quietly. "What if I snap or Hive hasn't trully left me and I kill you?"
He shrugged.
"I'll make sure not to let you do that. But don't close off your team. We all care for you."
"And I still wonder why. My being here mayde your lives so much more worse."
"It wouldn't have been better if you weren't here, trust me. It would be just as bad. Or, actually, it would have been much more worse. We're pretty great now. Much more interesting, too."
He carefully and methodically treats the wound, soft hands on soft skin and Daisy slumbs against him.
"I..." she started.
He wrapped his arm around her and squeezed for a moment.
"Yeah." he whispered.
"Tell me a lie. Tell me it will get better." she said quietly.
"You know I could lie to anyone but you." he smiled saddly. "I never managed to master that."
Daisy chuckled quietly.
"Yeah. I never thought I'd wish you had, just for this."
"In time, you learn to not expect the worst. The itch subsides. There are times I wake up thinking I am about to start carving all over the base. There are time I am still in TAHITI. There are times I lose my arm again, or the prosthetic doesn't sit right." he said quietly, sitting down beside her.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault." he shook his head.
"But -"
"No, buts. It's not your fault. Nothing of it is your fault. You shouldn't be so quick to apologise for this. Especially to me."
She nodded, stiffly, like stopping the words was a hard task in itself.
"I asked you once to be my friend." she said softly.
"Yes."
"I need you to be that; a friend."
"Ok."
"You can do that?"
Coulson groaned beside her, recognising the teasing in her tone.
"I get it, I get it." he mumbled. "A friend."
Daisy sighed softly and let her head rest on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry I was so distant with everyone lately." she says quietly.
"It's ok." he says as quietly. "You needed time and space."
"I needed someone to talk to me, let me face this. I needed you to come, for us to come to an understanding of what we are to each other."
"To be on the same page once again." he said.
"Yeah. It's good to be getting back there." she sighed, suppresing a yawn.
"As your Director, I should order you to get some rest." he said, amusement bleeding through his words.
"Hmm." Daisy hummed. "And as my friend?"
"I..." he swalled. "Would you like to have some hot chocolate with me?" he said shyly.
Daisy smiled, pressing her face to his shoulder.
"Yeah, that'd be nice, Phil." she said, looking up.
Coulson made a strangled sound at her saying his name. Daisy opened her mouth to apologise, but he was faster, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.
"Hey, you ok?" she frowned.
"Yes." he nodded, squeezing her a little, mindful of her arm.
"Then..."
He shook his head, not really knowing why this was suddenly so important, his name on her lips, but it was and he felt grateful she felt free to use it still, after all that had happened.
He was an old fool, getting emotional over his own damn name coming from Daisy's lips, but he didn't care. He just held on a while longer, because she let him, before he pulled back and took her hand, leading them out to the kitchen.