Daisy frowned as she saw the motley collection of men come through the gates. Three of the boys who'd gone out with Brienne hadn't returned. And one of them on the horse looked bad. She dropped down from where she'd been on the wall, cushioning her landing slightly. Straightening, she walked towards them. "Brienne! Did you already call Wolkan?" She reached the wheezing and too pale guy who was barely keeping in the saddle. She ignored the eight men who were tied in a row.
"Holiness." Brienne looked down at her from where she was sitting in the saddle. "Podrick is fetching him now."
"Good." Daisy looked up at the guy, he couldn't be more than twenty at the oldest. "Hey, let's get you off this horse alright?"
The guy swayed, but managed to speak even if it was more of a pained murmur than proper speech. "I'm fine Your Holiness."
"I'm sure you are. Why don't you come off that horse and show me." Daisy smiled tightly, tough guy act, but he was definitely hurt.
He gave a weak nod and made a movement as if to swing his leg over the horse. It ended up being more of a jerk and he just came sliding down with a pained cry.
Daisy caught him. Slinging his arm over her shoulder she hooked her arm around his waist and braced him. "You ready to walk to that bale of hay right over there? You can sit down, have some water and wait for the Maester to come see you?"
"Sorry." But he did nod against her.
She smiled and helped towards the bale of hay. Or more half carried him, but his feet were still on the ground so his pride was probably not utterly ruined. Daisy helped him down and held out her hand for water. She accepted a wine skin from someone who clearly had gotten the message. Ignoring the sounds of the prisoners being clapped in proper chains and Brienne barking orders, she pressed the skin to his lips. "Come on, drink up soldier."
He did as instructed, and she was able to hold it up, only a small amount dribbling down his chin.
"So, you have a name there?" Daisy asked while carefully lifting his cloak. She had to hide her blanch at the bloody bandages and smell of infection that hit her nose. Re-adjusting his cloak to hide the damage she looked up at him as if nothing was wrong.
The man's eyelids were heavy, but he replied anyway. "Reben." He started to fall forward.
Daisy caught him, she maneuvered herself besides him on the hay, letting his weight lean on her. "That's a good name, Reben."
"Just doing ma duty." His voice slurred slightly as he didn't even try to fight letting her hold him up.
Daisy looked up at Brienne and saw the other woman's understanding. They shared a tight look, Reben would be lucky to last the night. In the zepher he'd have made it. But not in the dark ages without antibiotics or modern medicine. Even in her world an injury like this in the field could easily kill a man before evac arrived. "And you did it well." Daisy assured the dying man.
There was a sound of movement as Sansa and Maester Wolkan as well as some of the guards came rushing out to see what had happened. Daisy didn't need to say anything for Wolkan to spot his patient and come at the fastest jog his robes allowed him to move at.
"I've got to report to Lady Stark." Brienne spoke.
Daisy looked up at the knight. "I've got this."
"My thanks." Brienne gave her a slight nod of the head, before moving to speak with Sansa.
Daisy didn't need to hear to know what Brienne would say, at least in the broad strokes. They'd found the bandits, the fight had not gone badly, they'd been successful. Though the sort of successful that didn't feel that way. She could learn the particulars later. Reben would need someone to carry him once Wolkan had ensured it was safe to do so.
"What's his injury?" Wolkan demanded as he reached them.
She opened the cloak, showing the soaked bandages. "I don't know the particulars."
Wolkan's face paled. "Right, can you carry him to my quarters?"
"I've got him." Daisy didn't bother with pretending the man could walk himself. Instead she scooped him up with an arm under his legs, and an arm under his shoulders. Whether it was serum, or adrenaline she didn't care, only that it was easy.
The walk to the rooms set aside for the grievously injured or ill hadn't felt long. As soon as they reached the room, Daisy helped rid Reben of his clothing hiding the injury. His cloak and shirt easily hit the ground with a concerning weight and heavy splat, from how much blood they must have absorbed.
Wolkan sat on the other side of the bed and carefully began to pull the bandages aside. He and Daisy both blanched as they saw the injury, they'd gutted him, the arm Reben hadn't been using looked like a dog had used it as a chew toy. It was torn, a dirty tourniquet the only thing keeping him from bleeding out.
Wolkan cleared his throat. "I'll see about some hot water and we'll clean this up lad. Maybe get some milk of the poppy into you."
"It's not bad." Reben wheezed slightly as he said it, his injuries oozing blood and some pus as he moved weakly. "Said I was fine."
Daisy caught his hand. "Well you'll just have to deal with me staying with you till the Maester here is done with you. Who'd hold my hand if I didn't?"
Daisy entered Sansa's study or solar or office or whatever it was. "What's going to happen to the prisoners?"
"They'll be executed." Sansa was pale, but didn't flinch from her. "I offered them life on the Wall. Instead they've done this." She looked at her. "The injured man?"
She swallowed. "Reben, he's asleep now. Brienne's with him. But he won't wake up." Daisy moved to the chair by the fire and bonelessly dropped into it. "I'm going back."
Sansa nodded. "It means a great deal to the men that you care."
"I can't heal." Daisy looked at her hands in disgust. "It's not my power." She didn't want to talk about her uselessness. "So how do you execute people here?"
Sansa spoke slowly. "Beheading is a merciful death, usually reserved for those of the nobility. My father never hung a man though, regardless of crime or rank." She sounded stressed. "Whoever passes the sentence should swing the sword. But I can't swing a sword."
"I heard enough from Brienne, those men don't deserve mercy." Daisy looked away from her hands to the other woman. "I believe you'd be safe to hang them."
Sansa made an odd sound. "My brother hung traitors in the Night's Watch...I could do the same."
"Any other news?" Daisy asked, she didn't intend to stay long.
Sansa shook her head. "No, a few ravens, but nothing of importance."
"Right, I'll be in the Maester's quarters tonight then." Daisy brushed some of her stray hairs behind one ear. "I'm sorry you have to make this call."
The woman who was running far too much in far too uncertain circumstances didn't waver. "I'm not, it's my responsibility."
"It doesn't have to be." Daisy pointed out, without judgment.
Sansa shook her head. "No, it does. It's the way of the North, my people. And I won't abandon them." Her mouth tightened. "Lord Umber won't be the only Lord who'd scoff and leave if I failed in this."
"Alright." Daisy didn't like the brutality of this world, but she understood it. And there was no doubt the men who would die in the morning were guilty. "The offer to punch Lord Umber in the face is still open if you change your mind."
Daisy found she was remarkably unbothered by the execution she was attending. The night holding the dying Reben's hand killed any doubts about the justice of these executions. Not that she would have protested. It was how justice was given in this world. And she had worked in the shadows for far too long to have not been forced into a position of making a call. The world was better with some people put down before they could do more damage. Murdering, raping psychopaths certainly qualified.
She kept an eye on Fitz. He was twitchy, though he hadn't said anything about the practice of execution. Not that he had room to judge, but he hadn't adjusted to the new rules they were surrounded by here. Under the cold sunlight he looked unhealthily pale. Clearly he would need to be dragged out of his lab for some sunlight. Space hadn't been good for his complexion, or nerves. It likely didn't help that the courtyard was dead silent.
It said something about these people, their culture, that the crowd that had gathered was utterly silent as they stood around the gallows. Which, she hadn't realized the wooden scaffolding along the wall had been gallows, but it was. All eight of the prisoners were standing over the wooden drop floor, nooses around their necks, hands tied behind their backs.
Daisy noted Lord Umber and Manderly. The fat mermaid Lord looked serious, though there was a solemn acceptance and pride almost to him. His vibrations were settled. Lord Umber on the other hand seemed almost anxious. He clearly had something on his mind. No, not anxious, she decided anticipatory.
Finally there was Sansa, who couldn't have been mistaken as anything but a great lady. Or rather what Daisy had always imagined an indomitable queen would look like. She wasn't a stranger to masks. For god's sake her SO was Melinda May. Sansa was similar, there was an air about her she projected that couldn't be missed. She'd have made a terrifying General or Senator in Daisy's world. There was some signal, or perhaps Sansa had simply waited a requisite few minutes before beginning?
Sansa stepped forward. Her voice wasn't raised, but carried through the silent courtyard. "You've been found guilty of theft, murder, running from the Night's Watch, and declaring for a traitor house. If you have any final words, now is the time for them." She looked up at the first man in the row.
He spat at the ground. "Better to live a little than listen to Ramsey's whore."
Sansa didn't flinch, just moving to the next man.
Daisy's fists tightened as she stayed still. But the men's last words were of the same vein. They used their final words to attack the woman before them. It was foul, and yet it caused not a crack or waver in Sansa as she continued.
As Sansa finally reached the end of the line she held out her hand. Her temporary Master of Arms held out a serrated knife. Her gloved fingers curled around the handle. The long rope was tight, unsuited or trained in using a knife Sansa may be, but a sharp saw like knife against an old taunt rope took three sharp motions before snapping.
And the courtyard was silent as the men died. And Sansa didn't look away, not once. Finally as the last jerks of the dead ceased she spoke. "Burn the bodies." And then she turned and swept out of the courtyard, the crowd easily and automatically parting for her.
Daisy frowned slightly as she saw Lord Umber's face. He was pleased. Her eyes narrowed, but now wasn't the time. She turned to Fitz. "Come on, let's see if I can help with bending the wires."
/
Fitz swore as he stabbed his finger with the end of one of his wires. "Shit." He shoved his bleeding finger into his mouth. He threw the spool of wire against the wall, jumping to his feet. "I can't w-work with this!"
"Hey, hey." Daisy grabbed the spool of rough shitty wire and set it back on the table. "Maybe take a breather for a minute? We have time to fix this."
He ran his non bleeding hand through his hair, his other hand falling on his hip. "We d-don't have that much t-t-time! And even if we b-build this powering it will be a nightmare. Let alone an intergalactic bea-beacon."
"One step at a time." Daisy picked up the pair of mangled pliers. "Maybe get the blacksmith to fix these first?"
Fitz glared but grabbed them from her all the same. He turned, bracing himself on the work table. It was too much, it was like banging his head against a wall. Bad tools, bad supplies, raw resources only, no qualified help, and Jemma millions of stars away. He closed his eyes.
Daisy's hand hovered as if she'd meant to lay her hand over his, but couldn't bring herself to touch him. "You've got me. We'll get through this together. We haven't failed yet." She had a sort of bemused yet tired humor in her voice.
It needled something in him. He spun, batting her hand away. "Oh like it's s-s-so hard for you." He snapped. "You sure'd like being stu-stuck here. Get to just keep r-r-running away from your problems. Coulson's d-dead, that won't cha-change no matter how far you go. Saving me w-won't bring him back."
"Fitz." Her voice held a warning, but her face said his words had struck.
And it fueled some part of him that was sick and tired of fighting and always losing. Of it never being enough. So he kept talking. "You're not even use-useful. Your p-powers bring nothing b-b-but death. At least Lincoln would have been able to h-help if he was here."
There was a ringing silence. Fitz's eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said. He opened his mouth. "D-d-daisy I didn't…"
"No." Her hand raised.
He took a step back, reading the threat instinctively. "Daisy, tha-that w-wasn't…" The air was driven from his lungs in a wheeze as he hit the wall.
"Don't you dare." Daisy looked angry, but he knew her enough to see pain. She turned on her heel. Her powers not dropping him till she was well out of the workshop.
He hit the ground, sucking in air, one hand hitting the stone floor his other grabbing his throat. Fitz barely had his breath back before he was scrambling to his feet. He had to go after her, had to fix what he'd just done. He stopped as Snow, his assistant bared his path, furious look on his face. Fitz frowned. "Out of t-the way."
"I don't rightly know what that was." Snow's frown deepened. "But I know it wasn't right. I won't let you hurt her."
Fitz glared, he didn't have time for this. "I kn-know that. Now get out of m-my way so I can go apologize, or I'll m-move you."
Snow stared at him, but nodded and stepped to the side. "I'm coming with ya."
"R-right." Fitz shoved past and took off at a run. She had a head start and knew the castle better than he did. Frowning, he spotted the side door. She'd go somewhere isolated and enclosed. He took off for the door. Sprinting down the hallways he took every turn that seemed the least habited. Shit, if she found a place to hide it could be hours before he found her and just...he'd fucked up.
As he moved he paused at an intersection. On one hand a lighted hallway where people definitely were, but down the other hall he could hear cheerful voices. By the smell, a full kitchen. Right, she'd risk the noble idiots over the servants, the servants liked her and would be more likely to try and talk to her.
He took another turn into the more well lit hallways only to spot her back. Fitz cursed under his breath as he realized what Daisy was intending to walk through. "B-bloody hell." He slowed to a quick walk. As long as none of the fancy nobles tried to talk to Daisy it'd be fine. He'd catch up to her, and just...explain somehow. Apologize and just fix things. He kept his eyes down, avoiding eye contact.
Lady Stark, her more senior noble sorts following behind her, as well as a few knight types. It should have been fine. Except then it wasn't. The great big giant of a man, as big as Mack only with a great beard and fur cloak, reached out and grabbed Daisy by the bicep. "You owe Lady Stark more than a nod ya fucking forgein witch."
"Let. me. Go." Daisy's face set in a way Fitz recognized. She'd been pushed too far and the man in front of her was apparently someone she already didn't like.
Fitz saw the others all looking horrified. Lady Stark clearly meant to prevent what was about to happen. But he knew the moment the man didn't let go, what was about to happen. He threw his arm out, preventing the woman from stepping any closer to the man who was about to be thrown into a wall, likely very, very hard.
The giant of a man sneered. "Why should I? You're just some jumped up whore who's going to get us all killed."
"Fuck." Fitz took a half step backwards, his breathed word came out in a puff of frozen air. He shivered, the temperature of the hall dropping from slightly below a comfortable room temperature to well below freezing.
Daisy's eyes narrowed, and the man went flying into the wall with an audible crack. His feet lifted clear from the ground, one hand raised, her vibrations keeping him pressed against the stone. "You shouldn't have done that Lord Umber." Her voice was sharp.
And that wasn't good. She wasn't going to be nice.
"You should be grateful that Lady Stark wants you alive. Though why she cares about a stupid, arrogant, self-important asshole like you I don't know." Her head tilted slightly to the side. "I may not be one of your Old Gods, but they brought me here. I have fought gods and devils. Saved worlds and condemned them. You think petty insults will make me grovel? Beg for your approval?"
The hall was utterly silent and Fitz cringed, he knew this was going to go bad. Oh those titles they'd made up for a laugh were about to be a really terrible idea. Cause he'd seen Daisy lose her temper before. She talked big when she wanted people to back off.
Daisy didn't pause for long, her shoulders falling back. "My name is Daisy Johnson, the Inhuman known as Quake. I am the Child of Monsters and Blood. I am the Warrior Daughter of the First Elder of Afterlife. I am the Destroyer of Worlds. And I am tired of people like 'you'." Her face hardened, eyes narrowing.
The ground shook, ice forming along the walls. Spiderweb like cracks began to spread across the stones beneath her feet. The apparent Lord Umber cried out, his arm making an awful snapping sound.
Fitz realized she was losing her control. "DAISY, STOP!"
Her head snapped towards him. He could see it in her face as she realized she'd crossed the line. "I…" And then her hand dropped, facing the ground and she vanished down the hall in a burst of power.
Fitz's hands dropped to his knees. Well that hadn't gone well. So making up dumb titles and shit for Daisy over engine plans had apparently not been a good idea. He probably shouldn't have helped with that. Straightening he nodded, right, he needed….to do something.
"Escort Lord Umber to Maester Wolkan and remain with him till I inform you otherwise." Lady Sansa's voice ordered into the silence. She looked at him then and Fitz realized he wasn't going to be going anywhere. "Explain."
Fitz's fingers twisted as he stood before the very, pale and clearly shocked Northerners. "L-look, if you'd j-just let me go after her, she's not go-going to murder you all."
Snow, stupid talkative assistant that he was, burst out. "He angered her first by saying he wished someone named Lincoln was here instead of her Holiness."
"Who is Lincoln?" Sansa asked. She clearly wasn't impressed by Snow's interjection.
He winced. "You h-have to understand it j-just…" Fitz ran a hand through his hair, how to explain this to these people. "T-they were in love. Uh...you do-d-don't have a word for it. Lovers I guess? But he t-took her place and d-died. I shouldn't have br-brought him up. Or C-coulson, I mean Coulson was…" Fitz's throat felt tight. It didn't feel real that he was dead. "Look, it d-doesn't matter. I just need to know wh-where a small, enclosed sp-space without a lot of p-people is, one that Daisy would know of."
Fitz glanced at the storage room door, and carefully opened the door. He winced, and stepped in, closing the door behind him. Shuffling over, and carefully stepping over bags of what he was fairly sure was grain, he made it to the corner Daisy was sitting in. Or rather was curled upright on a bag of grain in. He dropped down next to her. "There better not be r-rats in here." He grumbled half heartedly.
"What do you want, Fitz?" Daisy's arms didn't drop from where they were wrapped around her legs, her voice rough.
He leaned against the stone, it was surprisingly not cold. Which the piping through the walls was fascinating here. Fitz shook off that line of thought. "I'm s-sorry for what I s-said." He gave himself some time to put his words together. "I just….it's frustrating. I d-don't want to be here. Jemma is out th-there and I can't get to her." His hand ran through his hair. "And you just seem….f-fine."
"This looks fine to you?" Daisy stared at him in disbelief.
Fitz huffed. "Well clearly I c-can be an idiot, yeah?"
"Only sometimes. It's not a good look on you." Daisy sniffed and wiped angrily at her eyes.
He pulled a handkerchief out of one of his pockets and passed it over. "It wasn't your f-fault he died. And he was a g-good guy, but electric powers or n-no you've done a lot he couldn't have. I don't know wh-why I said what I did...I just was...angry."
Daisy blew her nose before crumpling the handkerchief's fabric in her fist. "What's the point of this? You're right though. I can't fix this. I can't get us home, I can't solve all their problems for them. That kid who died last night? He was sixteen. They think I'm a god and I can't help them Fitz. They have an army of zombies coming and I can't do anything because I'd probably crack their continent if I tried."
"W-well in a fight against z-zombies I can't think of a person I'd rather have n-next to me." Fitz reached out and patted her shoulder. He winced and retracted his hand at her barely there twitch at the contact. Right, no touching. When had they stopped hugging each other? "Y-you stayed with that kid all night d-didn't you?" That would make Daisy's outburst make more sense. She hadn't slept because she'd been holding some dying kid's hand. And then he'd just had to go and poke at the Lincoln thing.
He frowned, noticing her slightly dark circles under her eyes, the tension in her frame. "When was the last time you s-s-slept?"
She opened her mouth, surely to lie.
"Properly." He corrected.
Daisy huffed, her head hitting the wall behind them. "About a week."
"That's...ridiculous! Daisy!" Fitz's hand fluttered uselessly. "C-come on, you need to sleep. Why haven't y-you been?"
Daisy shifted uncomfortably. "I'm creating a religion. Everything I do could have super terrible consequences down the line. Problems I won't be here to help fix. Which I just ruined probably all of that with that little show just now."
"He was an a-ass, definitely de-deserved it. And he was quite conscious and capable of s-s-standing on two very shaky legs after you l-left." Fitz would have punched the man for what he'd said if he hadn't read the writing on the wall that Daisy was about to deal with it.
Daisy groaned. "I can't believe I used all those dumb titles. 'Condemned worlds', makes me sound like a psychopath."
"I m-m-mean you said it not me." Fitz shrugged with a slight grin. "If it m-makes you feel better they didn't seem a-angry about it." He left out the sheer terror. Just best not bring that up.
Daisy looked at him. "I'm going to have to apologize. And somehow convince my new hippy followers, human sacrifice is very much not something they should be doing, no matter how scary the 'Destroyer of Worlds' thing is."
"B-better you than me." Fitz held up his hands at the poisonous look she shot him.