Disclaimer: All rights belong to Disney, Marvel, and all the men and women that created the Agents of SHIELD TV shows, and comics. I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made.

Rating: T dark themes and mentions of violence

Author's Note: 12 followers in 2 days? I'm kinda shocked, tbh. You guys are awesome. So I decided to update super early (don't expect this for every chapter, though). Also, as I was doing a story and plot outline, I realized this is going to be a lot longer than ten chapters. However, that being said, Daisy and Robbie won't meet until chapter 5. But all these lead-up chapters are important, so please don't skip them unless you want to be confused later on.

Chapter 2: Dates and Disputes

Daisy braids her long hair back and examines herself in the mirror. A hot pink dress that ends above her knees and hugs her body brings out her tan skin and dark hair, and a glittering diamond necklace around her neck brings attention to her sleek collarbones. Natural but stunning eye shadow and a nude lipstick highlight her beauty. A pair of nude heels finish off her outfit nicely and boost her up a couple inches.

She loves looking pretty for Lincoln. He always looks at her like she's the most gorgeous woman in the world, but there's just something fun about playing it up. Now she, too, feels like the prettiest girl in the world.

She heads downstairs, where her parents are also dressed up and prepping for their dinner tonight. They've met Lincoln several times before - in fact, Daisy had met Lincoln through her mom - but Lincoln wanted them to come to dinner as a family. Daisy thinks it's sweet that he cares about her parents as much as he cares about her. It's a good quality.

Her mom, Jiayang, is wearing a long-sleeved black dress with gold accents. She smiles at Daisy, and the smile is contagious.

"You look so beautiful," Jiayang says, tracing her cheek with a finger.

"Who do you think I got it from?" Daisy replies, smiling brightly.

"Obviously me," her father, Cal, cuts in. He's dressed in a black suit with a white shirt. He looks at them both and grins. "My two beautiful ladies."

"And your two hungry ladies," Daisy teasingly says, pulling on each of their arms. "We're going to be late. Lincoln is already waiting for us there."

When they arrive at the restaurant, the hostess shows them towards their reserved table. Daisy catches her breath when she sees Lincoln.

Most of the time she sees him he's wearing his work scrubs or jeans and a plaid shirt - which look just fine one him - but now he stuns in a sharp suit. His green eyes crinkle and brighten when he sees her, and she falls in love with him all over again.

He stands up and walks towards her, a look of amazement on his face. She smiles at him, and when he slowly and tenderly takes her hands in his, she can't help but laugh a little.

"You can say something, Lincoln."

He looks up at her and the corner of his mouth curves up. "Not when you are indescribable. All the words in the dictionary and none can come even close to what you are."

Her heart soars, even if it is cheesy. But that's who Lincoln is - a genius doctor, a great friend, and a cheesy but undeniably sweet lover.

"I love you, too, you big dork."

Jiayang hugs Lincoln and Cal shakes his hand fondly before they sit down. Daisy grabs Lincoln's hand under the table.

"How's your work been going, Lincoln?" Jiayang asks. Daisy smiles a little; if it hadn't been for her mother, she may have never met him. Her mother is a physical therapist, and when Lincoln had been going through med school he had done a short internship under her.

Daisy can't imagine how her life would be if she had never met him.

"A lot of excitement going on, actually." Lincoln leans forward, and his voice softens. "One of my patients is a witness to that huge underground smuggling ring the police have been investigating lately. He got shot, but he's recovering quickly, and once he is able to talk again, they'll be able to catch the criminals."

"That's got to be exciting," Cal exclaims. "Who knew doctors had so much insider info."

"You'd be surprised at how much I overhear." Lincoln shakes his head. "I don't want to hear half of it."

Daisy notices that Jiayang has gone silent and that a slight grimace is on her face. "Mom? Are you okay?"

Jiayang jumps a little, then shakes her head and smiles. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried."

"About what?"

"It might dangerous if the criminals know that there's a guy in the hospital that has all their secrets. I'm just worried about Lincoln."

Lincoln shrugs. "I'll be fine. There are two armed guards outside the man's room at all times."

"Lincoln can take care of himself," Daisy replies, resting an arm on his shoulder. The waiter comes by and takes their orders, and Jiayang excuses herself to the restroom for a minute.

"How's your work going?" Lincoln asks Daisy.

"Just the usual. Marina and her almost-boyfriend are always talking at the front counter, so I put the boy to use. He knows a lot more about mechanical parts then I ever will."

"And what about college?"

Daisy perks up. "It's going great. I graduate in a few months, you know, and my professor has been talking to a guy for me for the past few weeks. I talked to the other people in my class, and he's not doing that for anyone else."

The waiter returns with wine selections and their meals, and Jiayang is right behind them. They eat and conversate lightly. Cal talks about his work at the science lab, and Jiayang mentions that some of her patients are almost fully recovered.

Now that Daisy thinks about it, her mom's work has been doing really well lately. Lots of patients have recovered, and her mom has been getting amazing bonuses. It's weird, especially for her line of work.

Daisy shrugs away her thoughts and focuses on the present. Her parents are grabbing their stuff and going...where? Daisy had just missed all of that.

"We're given you kids some space," Cal says with a smile, and Daisy internally thanks him for catching her up.

"Have a good evening," Jiayang adds, resting her hand on Lincoln's shoulder briefly before following her husband out the door.

Lincoln turns to Daisy. "I thought we could maybe go for a walk. It's a really nice night out, and the city is beautiful."

Daisy finds herself unable to keep her smile away. "I would love that."

It's chilly outside, so Lincoln puts his suit jacket around her shoulders and she walks pressed against his side, her arm threaded through his. They don't have to talk; Lincoln was right when he said the city is beautiful.

Lincoln suddenly stops in front of a brick wall covered in graffiti.

"What's wrong, babe?" Daisy asks, looking up at him. He simply shakes his head.

"See that car in the middle? The black dodge with the flames engulfing it?"

Sure enough, there's a car seemingly driving out of flames right in the middle of all the other spray-painted masterpieces. Behind the windshield in the driver's seat, a skeleton wearing a black leather jacket is grinning maniacally.

"What about it?"

Lincoln shakes his head again. "I just keep seeing that image or ones like it all around. Must be an urban legend of the area."

"If the guy is on fire he might need a doctor," Daisy teases. "That could be you."

Lincoln smiles and continues walking.

Robbie stops in front of the bathroom mirror and touches the already-fading bruise on his cheekbone from the entanglement. Hopefully his brother won't notice. Robbie hates lying to him, but he can't tell him the truth.

Some secrets are necessary to keep.

Robbie turns the sink on and uses a liberal amount of soup in order to get the blood and other grime off his hands. As he turns the sink off and reaches for a towel, the telltale sound of wheels on a wood surface reach his ears. He internally sighs as the door opens and his brother stares at him, arms crossed.

"What are you doing awake?" Gabe demands. "It's two in the morning."

"So why are you up?" Robbie asks, pushing out of the bathroom and past his brother's wheelchair. "You need to sleep so your brain has time to sort through all the information you cram in it."

"That's not exactly how it works," Gabe grumbles as he wheels after his brother. "Which you would know if you had actually graduated from high school."

"I don't need to know things like that to change a car's engine, now do I?" Robbie heads towards his room. "And I seem to be doing just fine with my life. School isn't for everyone."

"What were you doing outside?" Gabe presses.

"I heard a noise from the garage and I went to go check it out. It turned out to be nothing. Now go back to bed."

"Why did you have to wash your hands then?"

It's Robbie who insists that Gabe studies and continues going to school, in this is how Gabe repays him? By using his smarts to interrogate him? "I grabbed a wrench in case it was a thief and it got grease on my hands. Now go to bed."

"You're wearing jeans, and unless you sleep in jeans - which you don't - it means you were - "

Robbie closes his door. Gabe raises his voice, but Robbie ignores him.

"You can't keep hiding this forever!"

Robbie finally opens his door again. "Just like you can't hide that you spend way more time at the parts shop because you like the girl who works at the counter?"

Gabe tries to play it off, but Robbie can see his face turn red. "I mean, I helped her do inventory, but that's because she's hopeless when it comes to parts and - "

"So if you were just helping her out why did you lie and say you were doing homework?"

Gabe doesn't have an answer this time.

"Thought so."

"Fine. Now you know. So why don't you tell me about what you do at night?"

"If you're so clever, why don't you figure it out yourself?" Robbie knows Gabe can't leave the house by himself. The closest public transportation that runs at night is a mile away, which is way too far for him to wheel himself, and Robbie would notice if he tried to sneak into the car.

Gabe will just have to content himself with not knowing one thing.

"That's not fair. I'm your brother. You're supposed to tell me everything."

"And sometimes I'm supposed to not tell you things to protect you. Now go to bed. I'm serious."

"I'm not a little boy anymore, Robbie. I'm almost an adult. You can't keep treating me like a child!"

Why does he have to complicate things? "Lo sé. But right now you are acting like a child."

"And you are acting like an overprotective parent," Gabe mumbles. Robbie lets the comment slide. He doesn't want to talk about parents.

"I am your legal guardian, hermano. Get used to it."

Gabe finally gives up and heads back to bed. Robbie sits heavily down in one of the chairs by the kitchen table and shrugs his jacket off. He hates when he and Gabe fight. It's the just the two of now - well, they have an uncle, but he's stuck in prison so he doesn't really count - and when they fight it always saps the energy from Robbie.

He hates that it's his fault that they fight. If only he could confess to Gabe about what he does, about the oath he took…

No. Robbie can already see the horrified look on Gabe's face in his mind. Gabe can never know. Some truths are just too damning.

And Robbie knows he's Gabe's hero. That boy looks up to him so much. Robbie can't destroy the last person Gabe looks up to, even if that person is only an act.

Because Robbie knows he's not a good person, and he's accepted that. But he's not dragging Gabe or anyone else down with him.

That's his second oath.