Chapter 2: Sweet poison
That evening, Daisy was heading off to bed when she noticed Mace sitting alone at the bar, nursing a glass of whiskey.
"Coulson's just got to have a bar put into every SHIELD headquarters," Daisy observed casually, slipping onto the stool beside him. "It's mandatory, like making sure Lola has a cozy place to park."
"Yeah, having a bar is cool," Jeffrey acknowledged, his eyes bleary and his voice a little wavering. As she'd suspected, that definitely wasn't his first drink by a long shot. "Comes in handy, too."
"Sorry if I'm being intrusive, but you, um, you don't exactly seem like the heavy drinking type," Daisy remarked, slowly moving the drink away from Mace. He didn't move to take it back, but instead smiled at her, his expression gentle.
"You thirsty?" he asked, and she shook her head. Why did he have to be so adorably helpless lately? Daisy's reaction to it was breaking her resolution to stay out of his orbit.
"Let me help you out here," Daisy said decisively, standing to pour him a glass of water. "Drink that."
"Yes, ma'am," Mace agreed jauntily, slurring the words. He took a sip of the water and then squinted down at the glass. "I don't think this is going to prevent the hangover. Believe me, I earned it."
"I can tell," she agreed, "but it might take the edge off. I also think that you should get some sleep."
"Are you the Director of me now?" Jeffrey asked, chuckling as he shook his head. "Cause I'm not so sure I hate that idea." He paused, seeming momentarily lucid as their gazes met and she felt her heart skip a beat.
"Come on," she said as soon as he'd finished the water. "Let me help you to your room."
"Oh, that's alright," Mace said, waving her off as he attempted to stand and get his bearings, swaying slightly. "I got this."
Before he could topple over, Daisy swooped in and placed his arm around her shoulders, grasping his waist. She tried to ignore how insanely good his body felt in her arms, beneath her fingers. "I can see that," she joked, leading him to his room, his steps uncertain and his warm, strong hand staying on her shoulder, relying on her reassuring presence.
"Here we go," Daisy announced as they entered his quarters and Mace immediately collapsed onto his bed.
"I don't know if you'll remember this tomorrow," she said wryly, "but I've gotta say it anyway. Don't do this to yourself, man. You've got so much to offer. Stop punishing yourself."
"Ohhhh," Mace commented, staring upward, "Does the ceiling always do that spinning thing? Cause I don't remember that."
"Don't change the subject," Daisy grinned, sitting down beside him on the bed. "All of us around here, we've noticed how hard you work, what you bring to the team. You matter, and don't act otherwise. That's all I'm saying."
"Well," Mace said, turning over on his side to look up at her, "The last thing I want to do is to be a complainer. You know what I always say: complainers finish last!" He pointed with faux enthusiasm, driving home the mockery of his formerly upbeat manner and habit of dropping cheesy motivational phrases.
"You can ignore me, or give me all the sarcastic answers you want, but I'm not giving up on you," Daisy answered, the warmth in her words revealing a certain sentimentality about him she'd been determined to keep hidden. Oops.
"Two things, Daisy, uh, Daisy if I may? I mean, do you want me to call you Agent Johnson?" He peered up at her searchingly. Even now, he was so damn sincere. She'd genuinely never met anyone quite like him.
Daisy giggled, "No! Don't be ridiculous."
"Ridiculous is my starting point," Jeffrey replied, his voice thick with intoxicated exhaustion, his intelligence asserting itself despite his weakened state. "So, okay, two things, right? Yeah. One, I could never ignore you, Agent Daisy Johnson. I'm pretty sure nobody could ignore you." She blushed slightly, which no one could make her do. Wow. "Second? Uhhh…I guess I'm wondering why do you care so much?"
"Hmm," she replied, weighing her words carefully. "It's kind of what I do. I look out for the people around me. I protect them. I respect them. And if I see them sinking, I help them to come back up to the surface. It's what SHIELD's all about, and even though I tried to get out of the life…" She shook her head. "I can't. It's who I am. It's who you are, too. Don't forget that either. We're the shield."
"Damn, Daisy, your motivational speeches put mine to shame. So that's it? You care about what I'm going through because it's, like, your duty?" His jumbled words and fogged understanding did nothing to conceal his disappointed expression.
"What do you mean?" Daisy asked, diverting attention from his implication by asking the bold question. Surely, he wouldn't go there — if there actually was the same place her own thoughts had wandered lately.
"Never mind," Mace replied, sighing, his eyes fluttering as sleep started to descend on him. "Thank you, Daisy. You're just so kind and strong and brilliant, and so beautiful. More beautiful than anyone really should be, you know?" With that, he rolled onto his stomach and fell into a deep sleep, leaving Daisy standing with her mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. A buzzing sensation seemed to sweep her from head to toe as she crept out of his quarters and returned to her own room.
The next day, they both played it casual. Daisy tossed a bottle of headache medicine Mace's way when they arrived at the briefing room in the morning.
"Thanks," he winced, clearly just as hungover as he'd expected to be.
"Keep it," Daisy murmured to Mace as Coulson and the others came in for the latest update on their two main problems: Radcliffe and Shockley.
"Just do me one favor in exchange," she continued quietly. He raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Go easy on yourself. Like I said last night."
"I don't remember anything we said last night," Mace began, but Daisy cut him off briskly.
"Yeah, you do."
"Yeah, I do," Mace admitted just as quickly. They both laughed. Then he looked into her eyes and added, "Every word."
Coulson launched into the briefing just then, and they went over a plan to sabotage their enemies' latest plans. While she fully took in the meeting and went over her own role in the operation dutifully in her mind's eye, her heart seemed to be stuck on repeat.
"Every word." There was something so manly and noble in Mace's completely guileless honesty, and it attracted her to him like a magnet. There was no point trying to cram the feelings she was developing for Jeffrey back into her subconscious. However, she was going to have to decide what, if anything, to do about it.
God, I tried so hard to keep the walls up around myself this time, Daisy pondered. When Mace looked back at her, just once, so intently, on his way out the door, she followed the thought up. Crash.
