Chapter 6: ...And He Shall Appear
Be careful what you wish for…
Daisy shrugged off the latest abuse she'd put her body through. She was leaning against the stark white hexagonal panels of the containment module, staring at the slowly-stirring Robbie.
What was harder to shake was the look of concern in her friends' eyes. They were right, unfortunately. But when it came between sitting out and shaking the figurative and perhaps literal Hell out of a mass murderer, one choice made her feel useless and the other saved lives.
She glanced up at the camera in the corner, then steeled her gaze and planted her feet firmly, picking herself off the wall. FitzSimmons would be watching, no doubt. Coulson too. Any sign of weakness she showed would be used as reasons to bench her. As the only one who could stand a chance against the man in front of her, she couldn't let that happen.
It's fine, a tiny voice told her. He's captured now. Your legs and back are in pain. Listen, and go to bed.
"You just going to stare?" Robbie asked.
"I want to know how and why you've killed almost two dozen people." Daisy retorted.
"You people have enough firepower on this plane to level a city. Don't you think a morality lecture is a bit hypocritical?" Robbie's voice was groggy, but jagged.
"When we have to kill-"
"They deserve it, just like every one of my victims." he finished firmly.
"There's a process," Daisy exclaimed, "we don't shoot unless shot at, and go after imminent threats to the public like yourself!"
"Is my nephew an imminent threat?" Robbie's eyes were red. The room was charged. Was it getting hotter too? Daisy took a deep breath. Things were getting out of control.
"I'll be asking the questions, Mr. Reyes. Again, I'd like to know how and why you've been...active."
"You're asking the wrong person miss, it's the Devil you're after." Robbie's intensity didn't drop a bit.
"Well the Devil's not who we've got shackled in a containment cell, why don't you fill us in while we wait for him to show up." Daisy quipped.
Robbie spat. "No need to wait, he's been preparing for his visit to your crew for a while now."
The temperature had definitely been rising. Daisy looked up at the camera again. Outside Fitz was scrambling to take in environmental data readings and turn the internal climate control to its maximum output.
Mack had stopped his ever-constant mechanical repairs and appeared with a fire extinguisher, ready to activate the aircraft-wide fire suppression system. No one had broken out of a containment cell before, and yet Simmons was wiping sweat off her brow. Robbie was standing now.
"Stay down," Daisy outstretched her palm, "final warning."
Robbie was enraged, though Daisy thought she could make out a smirk.
"That's cute, but I'm willing to bet these panels affect you more than Him."
His cuffs glowed bright orange before dropping resoundingly to the floor. Daisy pushed outwards, but true to Robbie's guess her power didn't rush through her bones. The effort strained her regardless. Robbie was really smirking now, as he strolled to the door of the containment module and traced a finger along the edge. The awful smell of synthetic material burning filled the small space. The door was sealed.
Outside the window, Daisy could see Fitz's hands flying over the control panel trying to dissipate the smoke. Mack had the fire extinguisher half-raised, perhaps preparing to ram the door open. She glared over Robbie's shoulder, hoping her expression would be taken as a sign to hold off on a rescue.
"How about you take a seat Daisy?" Robbie offered.
Daisy obliged him, she couldn't risk taking on a powered up assailant without her own powers. Her body thanked her for the rest as she sank into a crisp white chair that matched the walls. Or previously did, at least. The room was starting to take on a decidedly grey hue, as the now sealed door remained smoldering, with the walls closest darkening to an almost black.
"You know I could walk out of here and kill every one of your friends. You too, right now." Robbie threatened.
"You said earlier you had the same morality we do. The fact that you haven't killed me yet, here or back in the junkyard means you think I don't deserve it." Daisy pressed, "What are you hoping to achieve then?"
"You can't hold me. You can't stop me. I think it's best you leave me and my family alone." Robbie growled.
His hair was smoking. Outside the door's glass rang with the hits of the fire extinguisher. Simmons was passing out gas masks. Daisy's breathing was starting to become difficult. She coughed. The intercom system chimed.
"Mr. Reyes, your concerns are noted. You'll find Gabe at home, right where he was. We're landing the plane at the closest airfield." Coulson's voice, steady as ever came through. Robbie looked around, finally noticing the camera.
"I want to see a container of whatever you shot me with on the street. And land at LAX airport, night will be falling fast and I've got work to do." He demanded. Simmons hesitantly retrieved and placed the nanites gently at the base of the door. Daisy looked past Reyes into Simmons's terrified face.
"You're right, we really can't contain you…" Daisy muttered out loud. Robbie stopped his up-close examination of the wall.
"Believe me, I'm chained enough. Just not by you." He said, with a hint of bitterness.
His arms were flickering between live flesh and bone. He drew one back and in one fluid motion punched through the wall facing the landing ramp. The smoke that had been deterring Daisy from fighting even if she had been ready disappeared almost immediately.
He casually walked outside, taking his time, taking in the SHIELD agents centering their rifles on him. He outstretched his hand and the container of nanites erupted in flame. In seconds they turned to ash, and shortly after the rifles were pointing at the ground.
Daisy stumbled out after him, turning her back and accepting Mack's helping hands guiding her towards Simmon's outstretched arms by a fresh clinic bed. She was soaked in sweat, from both the heat and the effort of trying to summon the energy to knock Robbie through and out of the plane. She blacked out.
Mack heaved Daisy over to Simmons and another waiting medical technician. They took her urgently, their eyes darting between the body in their arms and the displays showing her vitals from inside the containment module. Fitz appeared at Mack's side and pushed his shotgun-axe into his hands.
Mack felt the craftsmanship and felt a sense of satisfaction. Practical and simple. Robbie turned suddenly and stared straight at him. Mack's grip on the weapon tightened. Around him, Fitz raised an ICER while the SHIELD agents raised their weapons again, hesitantly this time, but ready all the same.
An elegant choice of weapon to bring death, a voice spoke in Mack's mind.
Mack cocked his head. How?
Robbie smirked, "The Devil finds you interesting. Think he has a thing for car guys?" He gestured to the rag in Mack's pocket.
Mack shook his head, "I only have room in my life for one divine entity." He said, hand resisting the urge to climb to his crucifix.
"I don't think weapons are necessary here," Coulson's voice rang out as he walked in, "Mr. Reyes will be dropped off like he requested, and we'll pick up May and her team while we're in Los Angeles." He took in the standoff, the torn apart and smoldering containment module. "Dismissed, agents. Mr. Reyes, why don't you join Mack and I in my office while we wait to land?"
May looked down the street towards the horizon. From five stories up, the setting sun reflecting off the buildings and clouds presented a peaceful picture. This part of the city wasn't known for matching the view, come nightfall. Well, blood did match the intense sunset, she mused.
Coulson had asked her to stay behind in Los Angeles after extracting Robbie, sending only any wounded back to the Zephyr. Robbie was a murderer no doubt, but his presence had indeed kept the crime rate at a record low.
With their mission becoming far more visible than May would otherwise have liked, there was no telling who saw what had happened, and made the connection that the Ghost Rider wouldn't be patrolling the streets that night. May and her strike team were in place to help quell any potential resurgence in crime.
Coulson had already explained their presence to the local Police force, and convinced them to not bother patrolling May's section of the city. Crime scene tape covered the entire area. The streets were to be clear, any intruders were safe for May to engage at her discretion.
As far as the police were concerned after a meeting with Mack, Fitz, and Coulson, the surge in disfigured criminal bodies was due to a shipment faulty and backfiring weapons, and the sound of explosions in the Junkyard were simply an exaggeration of the car crusher having a particularly productive day.
SHIELD was there on behalf of the federal government and ATF to locate and destroy the faulty (and illegal) firearms. May rolled her eyes. There was less BS as a combat agent. And speaking of BS, she couldn't forget Coulson looking into her eyes with full seriousness, warning her to be on guard for "supernatural threats."
Ghost Rider was a fancy inhuman, nothing more, he got shoved into the containment module like any other misbehaving, criminal, powered individual. The Devil, if there was one, wouldn't have been incapacitated by any mere mortal like herself.
A spray of light automatic fire somewhere close shook her to attention. Two sharp bangs followed.
She searched for the fastest way down and her eyes settled on a large drop to the fire escape when her walkie talkie buzzed, "Gang members. ICED them. Over."
"Good work, stay alert."
She responded, the last part as much for her sake as theirs. She gazed down at the same intersection where earlier that day she'd watched Daisy get slammed from behind by a car and collapse from the subsequent fight to capture Reyes. She'd been so cold as May had held her, checking her vitals.
The evening so far had been uneventful, only a half dozen occasions where they chose to intervene. The local police department could consider picking up the individuals in the morning. May took out her binoculars.
A small group was walking in the shadows of an alley. Young, but their expression had an anger beyond their years. She spotted them, and the tell-tale shape of firearms tucked in the back of their pants. After getting a trainee's attention for back up, hooked into the rappel they had set up and gently descended behind group.
"Hey fellas, it's late. Want us to walk you home?" She asked, reaching for her weapon.
They swivelled to face her, drawing their own. "Get lost, we've got business."
"Unfortunately, you're in ours. Haven't you heard this area's in lockdown?" May retorted.
They didn't respond, collapsing instead, instantly unconscious from the deluge of tranquilizers her trainees had leveled their way.
"Nice work agents," she said, looking at their position in the windows above her.
She readied herself to pull herself back up to the roof, for the third time that night. She was halfway up when the line went slack and both her and the rope began to fall.
"So you've got...the Devil inside you?" Coulson asked the agitated figure on the other side of his desk.
Mack was lingering by the door, ready to intervene if needed.
"From what you've seen, is that so hard to believe?" Countered Reyes.
"I see an enhanced individual. We all have our demons, yours might just be a bit more literal." Coulson offered.
"Maybe, but not all of us have a gravestone already." Robbie pointed out.
Coulson smiled, "You'd be surprised."
Robbie froze for a moment. In his mind's eye, Coulson's figure was swimming with color now that he had taken a closer look.
"You were dead!" He accused.
"So were you." Coulson pointed out.
"You were a cold body," Robbie's voice contained a hint of horror.
"Tahiti's a magical place." Coulson said, for once deliberately and not out of forced habit.
"No, no you were where I was..the darkness…" Robbie trailed off, eyes fixated on Coulson, trailing downward to the chest wound he couldn't know about.
"Can't say I remember it well." Coulson tried to say casually.
Robbie shrugged, "I didn't remember much either, until the light burned in front of me, then inside me." Robbie was standing now, "You're going to burn too, pay for the gift of life like I did."
Coulson pressed the button under his desk. He tried to sidestep the threat, appealing to Robbie's sensibility, "I think I came back for the same reason you did...like how you came back with your abilities...to make the world a better place. I'm not really sure, I was dead when the decision to bring me back came in."
"No, I came back for vengeance." Robbie glared and began to transform once more, his voice getting darker, "You didn't go through the Devil like I did, you cheated, and the Devil wants you Back."
"I think he missed his opportunity." Coulson squeezed out, throwing himself to the floor to avoid the shower of ICER rounds from Mack and two other SHIELD agents who had materialized at the door.
More backup would be there soon. Coulson had to just try not to die, again. The devil was not who he wanted to talk to right then. He wasn't against making a deal with the Devil, but not over something that had already been finished. Was the Devil jealous SHIELD had matched his apparent powers of resurrection? Fury would be pleased by that.
"If the Devil wants me, he can talk to me himself. I just want to talk to you Mr. Reyes." Coulson called out, hoping to give Robbie some pause.
The room got considerably brighter. Robbie's voice changed entirely, "Oh the Devil is here, and excited to finally talk to y-"
The brightness vanished, and there was a thump and sudden silence. Coulson took the risk of standing. Yo-Yo held an empty syringe at the doorway, Mack and the agents had stopped firing.
Robbie had been knocked unconscious, while in the final stages of transitioning into whatever his powered form was. As the SHIELD agents watched, Robbie's bones re-grew flesh, and whatever residual flames coated his body finished extinguished themselves.
"Robbie's right," Mack said gravely, "We can't contain him forever."
"Maybe not, but we aren't doing too badly considering his strength." Quipped Fitz, joining Yo-Yo at the doorway. "Jemma saved some nanites, so he didn't destroy all of them. What was in that syringe made sure the ICER rounds penetrated into his cells."
"Have you got more?" Coulson asked.
"We're in the process of making a new batch. They won't be ready by the time he wakes up though." Fitz said, refusing to meet Coulson's eyes.
"Understood. I'm no good at the fiddle, but maybe the Devil might be interested in a game of Captain America trivia for my soul." Coulson mused.