I apologize for the lack of updates! I've had some writer's block lately and was having trouble writing anything. But we are back with a new one-shot! So this is an in AOS AU where Robbie eventually comes back from that other dimension and he and Daisy share a conversation. I hope you all enjoy!


"How are you feeling Robbie?"

Robbie looked up from the floor, taken out of his thoughts, and his eyes met with Daisy's. He hadn't even heard her enter the room.

He rubbed his eyes, "Fine…," he mumbled, "Just tired."

"I could imagine," she replied, walking over to him. She was carrying a tray, food he assumed, and she set it down next to him, "Jemma thought it was a good idea to get you to eat something simple, start off slow."

Nodding, he glanced over at the food. Simple was putting it mildly.

"Soup and crackers?" he laughed slightly, raising an eyebrow, "I may have been trapped for a few months but I think I can have something a little more than that."

The brunette raised her hands up, "Hey it wasn't my call, I don't argue with Jemma when it comes to this stuff."

"Right…" he drawled out, looking back at her, "she is the genius of the group isn't she?"

"Her and Fitz, though in this case she has the upper hand."

Robbie grabbed the bowl and the warmth of it seeped into his fingers. It felt wonderful, a sensation he couldn't explain. Being in that place, even with It, he had forgotten how being warm felt. Every fiber of his being felt cold, like his body was slowly dying and there was no way to stop it. He felt like he had been in that place for years, walking in the same circles over and over. Fighting to keep himself alive long enough to find his way home.

Sometimes, when he would stop to take a break, he could close his eyes and imagine his home. It was cluttered, but in a lived in way. Car parts decorated the kitchen table along with school books, family photos lining some of the tables. Gabe would appear around the corner smiling, laughing about something he had seen on TV. When he would turn to Robbie though, the allusion crumbled. His face would drop and the home would vanish and Robbie would find himself back on the SHIELD jet. He would turn and see Gabe's face, his eyes wide with shock and fear, shaking his head.

"You're a monster...a murderer, you're not my brother…"

His words were like a knife to his heart. Robbie would be shaking, trying to step towards Gabe, but he was frozen in place. No way to reach out to him, to try and comfort his little brother. He wasn't that monster, this isn't what he wanted. All he ever wanted, more then anything, was for Gabe to be happy, to be successful and move on from this life they had. He deserved the world and Robbie...Robbie deserved the fate he found himself in.

Gabe would slowly turn away from him and Robbie would cry out each time, like how he wanted to on the jet. But nothing would come out and his eyes would snap open, back to the reality of where he was.

A light pressure lingered on his arm, "Robbie?"

Blinking, he slowly turned his head towards the voice. Daisy sat next to him on the bed, hand on his arm, biting the bottom of her lip slightly in concern. A trait he noticed about her quickly when he saw her interact with her team. Trying to hide her care for them, trying to protect them but also herself. Pain was something they shared in common.

Her head tilted slightly, "You don't have to eat if you don't want to, if tha-"

"No, no…" he denied, placing the bowl back down, "That's not it, I…have a lot on my mind."

Nodding slowly, her eyebrows furrow slightly as she watched him, "Is it…," she paused, unsure for a moment, "Is it...anything you want to talk about?"

Is it something he wants to talk about? He wasn't used to being asked about himself, usually acting like the caregiver. Closed off from everyone but his brother. But there was a connection with Daisy, one he didn't expect, and it troubled him in the pit of his stomach. Would he be willing to let someone else into his life?

He was tired of being hurt, betrayed. His mind flashed to his uncle's face and an anger flared within him, a combination of him and It. How could they let his uncle get away, running off to do god know's what in that dimension. The wounds were long gone but Robbie could still feel the force of the spears being stabbed through his body, how everything screamed in pain with each impact. His uncle's words lingered in his brain and that cut more than anything. They had loved him so much and Eli threw them away without a second thought. And he had turned into a monster.

"I was just...thinking of my uncle, how he got away…" Robbie mumbled, drumming his fingers on his knee, "The fire was consuming him and I almost had him, but as soon as we got to that other...dimension, he survived.

"And...and he," he murmured angrily, "He laughed. Mocked me, told me that Coulson's plan had been for nothing. That he was...he was right where he wanted to be. I tried to kill him again, but he got away."

"How did he escape?" she asked.

"Because he had full reign in that place, he trapped me in this...I don't know, it was like glass box," he explained, shrugging, "or something like that, but it bought him time. Between being stabbed, and dealing with the dimension's pull, it took a long time to break through. By the time I got out, he was long gone.

"I just…," he found himself biting the inside of his mouth, trying to control himself, "Gabe and I, we loved him so much. After our parents died, he took us in with no questions asked. He loved us like we were his own kids and I…"

Daisy's eyes shined with sympathy, nodding her head, "I understand," she whispered, taking his hand gently, "Having a parental figure turn on you...someone you thought you could trust, who loved you. That kind of betrayal, it hurts...more than people can imagine."

Her hand is warm in his and he seeks it out, entwining them together, "He had done such awful things but I still...I still tried to see my uncle for who I thought he was but...but that man was long gone," he laughed sadly, shaking his head, "Maybe he was never truly there."

"It's a pain that won't go away for awhile Robbie," she said after a moment, squeezing his hand, smiling sadly, "I know...it hasn't for me but...it does get better."

His brow furrowed slightly, replaying her words in his head. She also had to deal with something like this? When It had looked into her soul, Robbie felt her pain, felt her hope, and everything had flown by so fast before It had decided to step away. He couldn't see it all, fragments, fleeting moments, but he knew she had been alone for a long time. How could she know his type of betrayal?

"How do you…," he asked softly, "If you have been alone for so long…"

Daisy smiled sadly, her eyes focused on their hands, "How do I know? Well, yes. I was alone for most of my life, jumping from foster family to foster family. I could never stay in one place you know?" she laughed lightly, "But I always dreamed...that I would find my parents one day, or figure out what happened to them…"

Understanding settled over him, "You did find them…"

"Yeah and it was...the furthest thing from what I could have predicted. My mother, she was an Inhuman like me. And I only knew her for a short time but I...I had already loved her so much…" her voice cracked slightly, and she took a breath, calming herself, "I'm sorry, it's been awhile since I talked about this."

"Take your time...like you said, it's not something that heals quickly."

She laughed, glancing up at him, "Actually listening to me?"

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, "Maybe. You do give some good advice from time to time."

"I give good advice all the time, thank you very much," she retorted. Her grip on his hand tightens, "It's a long story, but essentially my mother wanted wipe out everyone that wasn't an Inhuman. And I couldn't...couldn't let her do that, so I went to stop her and she tried to kill me.

"Her power was draining the life force out of people to let her stay younger, so she had lived for a long time. I could feel every bit of it, my veins felt like they were filled with ice and it was a pain I couldn't explain. I had to fight back, if I didn't, I would have died."

Her eyes locked with his, tears pricking at the edge of them, "So I gripped onto her as tight as I could and used my powers against her. And I could feel the bones in her body being crushed under the vibrations and I was so close but I could feel myself dying. That's when Cal stepped in."
"Cal?" he asked in a whisper, "Was that…"

"He was my father, though he was a troubled and disturbed man. But he had made a promise to my mother that he would protect me, at any cost. So…," she paused, the crack of her mother's bones and the sobs from her father echoing in her mind, "He killed her. To protect me."

Robbie stared at Daisy in amazement, though he didn't let it show on his face. For her to go through all of this and still come out on the other side as this strong person he sat next to now. He could see the sadness within her but also determination, the need to live, to move on. It was so different from when the first time they met, when she begged for death.

Daisy Johnson was full of surprises.

"Thank you," he said after a long silence, "for telling me, you didn't have to. It takes a lot of strength to survive something like that."

"You have that too Robbie, to live through what you have…"

Their hands are still entwined with one another and he can feel how worn her's are. But also smooth, warm, and he liked the way it felt, holding her hand. He would cherish it for as long as he could, knowing this moment wouldn't last.

"I've got to say though," he chuckled, his mouth forming into a smirk, "We've got ourselves some pretty shitty luck."

Her race is unreadable for a moment and he thinks he made an mistake. Trust him to try and lighten the mood. But slowly, her face lights up. A smile stretched across her face and her head tilts in a playful manner, her brow arched, "Did you just try and make a joke?"

"The mood got a little serious."

She laughed, her head shaking, "That's rich coming from you!"

"Well excuse me for trying to help out," he replied playfully, smirk growing, "I guess I'll keep to being serious."

"No, no! I wanna see you flop at more jokes! Are you the type of guy to make dad jokes?"

"I feel like you just insulted me…"

"Me?" she gasped playfully, hand over her heart, "I thought you knew me, I would never!"

"You've got to be the worst liar…" he jested, rolling his eyes at her little show.

They shared a look, both smiling, and Robbie could feel the warmth he was missing slowly coming back. It had been so long since he allowed someone to come into his life, so afraid of being hurt, but with Daisy it felt like something different. There was a trust, an understanding, and as he watched her panic over the food she had brought to him being cold, he knew that trust wouldn't be betrayed.