TW: Reference and Implied Child Abuse.
The Classics — Chapter Five
"What the bloody hell?!" Hunter exclaimed.
The atmosphere in the room was tense. The whole team was concentrated on one thing, and this was the most important thing in the world right now. It was no time for funny business.
"Honestly, I even don't know. This has gotten way too—" Mack leaned the right and grunted. "Crazy." He finished.
Bobbi seriously couldn't believe what was happening, the last five minutes alone had been incredibly rough— this needed her complete and utter focus, or it was over. The enemy was formidable and was showing no mercy of any kind. Her thumb throbbed and ached as she gripped the object in her hand tighter.
Though out of all of this, she was still amused by her ex-husband's reaction to it all. Her throat was a little sore from yelling and she could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket, she ignored it for now.
"Bobbi, can you please get that, it's distracting."
Daisy was the one to speak, she kept her eyes locked onto the screen directly in front of her; yet Bobbi could still see a glint of humor in her eyes. Daisy knew she couldn't grab her phone right now, of all places. She was about to ask how Daisy even knew that it was ringing, Bobbi could barely hear it on her own with all the background noise, and the phone was in her pocket— then she remembered the girl had earthquake powers.
"Sorry," Bobbi replied. She watched as Daisy ran into a wall, the girl groaned then went back to work. Bobbi saw the attack before he did.
"Hunter, watch out!" She warned, but it was too late. It hit him anyways. Hunter rolled his eyes and exclaimed. "Oh, come bloody on!"
Daisy smirked. "You're just angry 'cause you aren't winning."
"Well, neither are you, love." Hunter snarled.
"Yeah, Daisy, you're in last place by the way." Fitz informed her.
"What!?" Daisy exclaimed. "No I'm not!"
This time it was Bobbi's chance to smirk, she looked at the little map at the center of the screen. They were playing Mario Kart on the WiiU in the lounge. Currently Bobbi, Hunter, Mack, and Daisy were playing while FitzSimmons watched intently, waiting for their own turn.
As Bob looked at the map she took note of three people who were constantly on each other's tails… then about half a lap behind was Daisy with her silver Mario character, sweet motorcycle and white wheels.
Bobbi laughed. "You know we're playing with no CPU's, right? And there's only four of us…"
Daisy glanced at Bobbi quickly before looking at the screen again, clearly in a state of disbelief.
"Doesn't matter, I still have a lap and a half to catch up," Daisy muttered.
"Like I'd let you pass— Oh! Seriously, Mack! You've got to be kidding me! How many of those can you bloody have?!" Hunter yelled.
Mack had hit him with four red shells in the past minute... and Mack may have been in front of him too. As the group of three passed another item cube Mack chuckled after a couple of seconds. Bobbi took a half a second to see why, even though she had an inkling as to what it could be. She joined Mack in laughing when she saw it was yet another red shell.
"Hey…. Hunter." Mack called out.
"What?" Hunter replied, exasperated— clearly annoyed at the situation. It took him a couple of seconds to notice it, meanwhile Bobbi and Mack were laughing their asses off.
"How the— What the Hell?! You're in first place! How the hell are you getting all of those!"
Beside her Mack just shrugged in response. The speakers let out a warning single, Mack's face changed from amusement to dread once he learned it was a blue shell. Hunter's face went the complete opposite as the shell started to spin around Mack's character. Bobbi used her saved mushroom from before and sped passed Mack before the shell hit. Hunter didn't get so lucky, he got caught in the blast. Mack and Bobbi both had smirks on their face, though it quickly disappeared once lightning hit all three of the agents causing their character's to stop and grow two times smaller.
Then immediately after, ink covered three of their screens. That moment of rest when Bobbi couldn't do anything but wait for her kart's acceleration to kick in, is when she noticed the couch was slightly buzzing.
From what she had no idea.
It was the last lap now, Bobbi had a significant lead ahead of everybody. Mack and Hunter were still on each other's backs, constantly swapping between second and third place. Bobbi heard the indicator before she saw it, her first instinct was panic as she thought it was another blue shell. But it wasn't her screen it was both Mack and Hunter's, after doing a difficult turn Bobbi glanced at Hunter's screen just in time to see Daisy speed past them as a bullet.
Both Mack and Hunter got hit by Daisy— it put them even further behind, leaving the two speechless.
Daisy's bullet had run out directly behind Bobbi, which didn't worry her— she still had the lead and the finish line was closing in. Unknown to Bobbi though, Daisy already had the Star item in use and bumped into Bob causing her to fall off the map meters before the finish line.
Bobbi had come in second, Daisy in first, Mack in third, and a very angry Hunter in forth.
Fitz had a smile on his face when he snatched the controller out of Hunter's frozen hands. The deal was the person who came in last had to give up the controller to the person sitting out.
"What?! No fair, I deserve another bloody turn! I got Mario-Karted like four times!" Hunter protested.
"Mario-Karted is not a verb, nor a word." Simmons said.
"Sure it is," Hunter said. "I just used it."
"But if I say…. Phlebotinum— is that a word?" Simmons questioned.
"Phlebotinum?" Daisy echoed with a slight eyebrow raised.
Hunter raised his beer in the air and answered Simmons' question.
"Sure!"
Mack eyed the beer. "Dude, it's like nine in the morning, what the hell?"
Hunter took a sip. "It helps me start my day." Mack looked at Bobbi then back at Hunter, all Bobbi could do was sigh in vain, she married him… though she did also divorce him so at least it wasn't all bad. Bobbi redirected her attention towards Daisy. "How'd you win?" She asked.
"Two crazy 8s in the last lap." Daisy shrugged.
"Two?!" Hunter exclaimed, now over his initial shock, but back to being angry. "You can't be serious! I was getting nothing but coins the whole damn race!"
Everyone seemed to laugh at that. Fitz spoke up. "No-No. You had that one banana in the first lap."
"You mean one that did absolutely nothing because Mack hit me with a red shell from in the front?" Hunter was basically fuming as he glared pointly at Mack.
"That's the one," Mack said smiling.
That's when the buzzing on the couch grew even more, the couch was vibrating too much for it to be normal and it alarmed Bobbi.
She sat up straighter. "What is that?" She questioned, her voice had an edge to it. Millions of reasons for the vibrating couch flew through Bobbi's mind, none of them good. But to Bobbi's surprise Mack didn't take the situation as seriously as she did considering the smile he was desperately trying to hide.
"Nothing!" Daisy yelled, which definitely didn't make it seem like nothing. Mack's smirk grew.
"Don't. You. Dare."
Daisy warned, her voice was dangerously low. Agent Mackenzie held up his hands in defense and kept his mouth shut. And that action alone left Bobbi, Hunter, and Simmons deathly confused. Fitz on the other hand was on the verge of dying from laughter instead.
"It's Daisy's powers!" Fitz blurted out, no longer able to contain himself.
"Fitz!" Daisy exclaimed now glaring daggers at the Scottish man, Bobbi noticed the red tips to her ears. Daisy was blushing.
Bobbi was utterly perplexed
"What?! You said to Mack: Don't You Dare," Fitz explained in a ridiculous/ terrible imitation of Daisy's voice causing Simmons to giggle. "You never said anything about dear-old-Fitz not being able to say something. So in reality, that's on you."
Daisy jumped to stand up— probably to strangle Fitz but Bobbi grabbed her arm to hold her back. Immediately feeling a weird buzzing go up her left arm, specifically the arm she was holding Daisy by. Bobbi tensed at the action, it didn't hurt but it just felt so odd. Like bees were trapped underneath her skin. Obviously the action had something to do with Daisy's powers, but Bobbi was worried the girl was hurting herself. While she didn't know the logistics of it, she did know that if Daisy projected the vibrations inward it broke her bones if not done right.
Bobbi stood up with Daisy now on alert, her brows furrowing. "Daisy, are you alright?"
It took a second for Daisy to tear her glaring away from Fitz's face and to look at Bobbi.
"You okay?" Bobbi repeated.
Daisy just stared at her confused. "Yeah… besides wanting to throttle Fitz right now— why wouldn't I be?"
Now Bobbi was confused. She let go of Daisy's arm the odd feeling leaving her body after a few seconds. "Your powers," She clarified. "Your... buzzing."
Both Mack and Fitz sniffled laughs, while Bobbi saw Hunter's face go from pure confusion, to realization, to complete amusement in just three seconds. When Hunter opened his mouth, Bobbi immediately knew it wasn't going to be something good.
"Your vibrating; Like a—"
Daisy cut him off by slightly quaking him further into the couch. Her cheeks were tomato red when she said. "Don't."
"Trust me you don't want to hear the end of that sentence." Bobbi shot Hunter a stern stare, but that didn't stop his stupid grin.
"Yeah, I have a feeling it wasn't a cat." Mack chuckled.
"Mack!" Daisy scolded. (Was it possible for her to blush more?)
"Sorry, Tremors." Mack said but he didn't look sorry at all, he was much too busy laughing.
"Oh yeah, cat was definitely not the next word in that sentence it was—"
Hunter was cut off once again by Fitz putting his hand up in the air and yelling. "I don't wan'na know!"
"Oh, come on, mate. We're all adults here." Hunter protested.
Bobbi rolled her eyes "Even if some of us don't act like it." She muttered.
Hunter's foot nudged her with an obnoxious smirk on his face. "Please, love, you love it."
Bobbi's only response was plopping back down on the couch and smacking him on the shoulder.
Hunter didn't look like someone kicked his puppy, he looked like his puppy kicked him— and somehow it was much worse.
Simmons had started to go into once again how the physics were off and it was completely unrealistic, Daisy was arguing it was just a game and it doesn't need to be realistic to be fun. Mack just watched the conversation but didn't say anything, every couple of seconds he would chuckle. Hunter had started to go on something about a documentary to Fitz. Bobbi was about to check her phone to see who had called her before when she noticed Coulson walk into the lounge.
"Sir," Bobbi greeted, just to let the others know of his presence. Everyone quieted in an instant, yet the smiles were still plastered onto their faces.
"Glad to see everyone's enjoying themself." Coulson said.
"Is Lincoln back yet?" Daisy questioned. Lincoln was at the Cocoon for even more assessments and training.
"Not yet— probably will still be a couple hours." He stated, then his face changed. Immediately Bobbi realized why he actually came in to talk in the first place.
Crap….
"How was everyone's chores this morning?"
As if on cue half the team stiffened and their smiles faded. Daisy however played it off as she actually did them, which Bobbi knew wasn't true. After Tai-chi and training with May, Daisy always went down to each breakfast with the gang, then after that, everyone moved over to the WiiU and they started playing Mario-Kart. They continued to play it for the next two hours, and some of them completely forgetting their chores that were given to them about halfway through that. So Bobbi knew Daisy did not do her chore.
"Great," Daisy replied. "Really— great."
"We're sorry, sir, we just got caught up with the game and lost track of time. I'll go do mine right away." Mack explained.
"Thank you for your honesty, Mack." Coulson said, he looked over at the rest of the team as Mack walked out.
"We were going for the perfect three stars on the star cup, 200cc." Hunter explained. Coulson shot him a stern look— Bobbi almost swore she could see a hint of amusement in his eyes. But despite that, it was obvious he didn't care, and just wanted his work to be done.
"It was rainbow road," Hunter mummered under his breath, slightly disappointed. Bobbi patted him on the shoulder for comfort while trying to use every cell in her body to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Coulson nodded his head towards the hallway telling the ex-merc to get to it. Hunter quickly left the lounge not wanting his ass to get kicked.
"FitzSimmons?" Coulson prompted.
"Oh, we did our chores, Sir." Simmons said, overlapping Fitz who also said. "We're good, we— we finished them."
Coulson nodded, the pair both left the room, presumably to go to the still somewhat destroyed lab. Coulson stared at Daisy now— with a look that Bobbi could only name as the Dad face.
Daisy squirmed under his gaze. "Wha— I did my chore!"
"Really? Then what was it?" Director Coulson asked.
She took a second to think. "In.. ven.. tory….." Daisy guessed really-really slowly.
Bobbi choked down a laugh.
Coulson shook his head with a smug expression on his face "That was one of last week's."
Just then Agent May walked by in the hallway. Bobbi saw Daisy's eye spark, but not in a good way.
"How come May doesn't ever have to do chores?" Daisy whined, clearly trying to dodge the situation. May slowed slightly to smirk at the girl, then carried on with her business.
"She does— She just does them when I tell her to and not an hour later."
That seemed to get Daisy to shut up but she still rolled her eyes. "What is this?" Daisy muttered as she walked out the door. "Poke fun at Daisy week?" She sagged her shoulders and walked towards the kitchen to start her chores, leaving just Coulson and Bobbi alone in the lounge. Bobbi glanced at her chore on her S.H.I.E.L.D issue phone. Inhuman check in, great. Bobbi thought to herself. She looked up at Coulson slightly confused.
"Umm.. Sir, wouldn't it be better if Daisy did the check in, she seems to be closer to them after all."
Coulson shifted on his feet. "No, it's fine the way it is. Plus you've spent some time yourself with some of them while you were still recovering— it wouldn't hurt to see a familiar face." He cut to the chase. "That and Daisy still has to make up her three other chores from last week,"
"Ah," Bobbi replied understanding now.
Before she could leave the room Coulson stopped her. "And Bobbi, don't forget to tell them the new physiatrist will come see them today."
That got Bobbi's attention, she turned back around. "New physiatrist?"
"Yeah, well considering their last physic eval wasn't exactly… clear headed— I guess I should say." Coulson explained. "This eval will determine whether some can do home or not."
Bobbi nodded in understanding. "What's their name?"
"Terry Buckards, I believe." Coulson said. "He's a tad crazy… but trustworthy and a good man."
"So was Andrew," Bobbi stated, meaning the trustworthy and being a good man part; not the crazy part.
"He was—" Coulson agreed. "Before terrigenesis. This time we're doing blood work tests every two weeks as a precaution."
Bobbi nodded once more before heading down to the containment rooms.
First up was Ashley Snyder— wife and teacher at a high-school in Canada. They've only picked her up two weeks ago, she's still learning control and the length and strength of her abilities.
Bobbi punched in the passcode on the keypad and walked into the containment room. The first thing she noticed was a dark skinned arm flailing across the room reaching for a bottle of water on the desk, while the rest of the body is sitting on the bed.
That was the woman's powers— the short version was: limb flexibility.
The long version: The cell membrane in her skin cells can stretch and expand twice the size larger than normal. Which then allows her skin to stretch as well. The bones and muscles also comply with this action otherwise the extended limb would be like a fish out of water. Which currently it would seem like that would be the case, since the arm reaching for the water bottle wasn't having the best of luck. The arm bounced off of the floor once more before reacting to its owner.
"Strength training," Bobbi stated as she walked further into the room.
Ashley gave a perplexed expression. "I'm sorry?"
"You would need to strengthen your arm and leg muscles if you want better control." Bobbi explained. "The farther you stretch out your arm the more weighted it gets."
"That actually makes sense. Thank you…" She trailed off. "Barbara, was it?"
Bobbi slightly tensed at the use of her actual name. "Unfortunately..." She joked. "Just call me Bobbi."
"Alright, well thank you for the suggestion, Bobbi." Ashley said.
Bobbi leaned against the built-in desk. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine I guess, I'm still adjusting." Ashley looked around the room. "It's still difficult accepting it all sometimes."
"That's understandable. It's a hard pill to swallow." Bobbi said with a hint of humor in her eyes.
Ashley almost laughed a bit. "The pill weren't the hard part, it's what came after that was."
Bobbi nodded. "Well fortunately for you— me, or Daisy, or anyone else is definitely willing to listen if you ever need to talk." That which then reminded Bobbi of something. "Speaking of which, I am also here to tell you that your session at the Cocoon has been moved to tomorrow."
As it was, it was Ashley's turn today to train at the Cocoon, she is right after the new kid, which as they learned yesterday did not go very well. Ashley was supposed to leave in thirty minutes for the Cocoon— which is why Bobbi came here first, even though she's at the further end of the hall.
Ashley didn't seem disappointed or happy at the news, just confused. "Oh, why is that? Is there a specific reason?"
"There is," Bobbi reveals. "There's a new physiatrist coming to town. He's going to speak with you, ask how you're feeling, and about your adjustment on a much deeper level. He'll assess you— and see how far away you are until you can go home again." Bobbi explains as Ashley's never seen Dr. Garner or any other S.H.I.E.L.D physiatrist before, since there was none when she arrived.
"Go home again?" Synder echoed, Bobbi could see the hope glimmering in her eyes. "I-I thought that might not be possible."
"Not for everyone." Bobbi says. "It depends how the meeting goes and what his assessment is. But most likely, yes, you'll be able to go back to your old life."
Ashley grinned as she stood up and paced out her excitement. "Oh my god, this is amazing." She turned back to Bobbi. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"I'm just the messenger," Bobbi stated, which was true. She was glad to see the woman happy, but she had to get back to business. "I need to go— but the physiatrist will see you at three, he'll meet you in here."
Ashley nodded. "Thanks for letting me know. . and for everything else."
Bobbi smiled, feeling touched that they are really helping people. Which she has had some doubts over, during the past few months. Mostly because if you put it in certain words as, for instance:
We keep newly-powered people in our basement under lock and key. Then also sedate them and bring them to a different facility to make them control their powers and become agents.
Doesn't exactly sound great. While it's for their own good, and others, when put into perspective it's not the best looking.
On that note Bobbi left the room and headed down the hall to the next containment room.
Who knew having a simple conversation with somebody and asking how they are feeling could be so exhausting, Bobbi definitely didn't.
It had taken her an hour and a half to check in on seventeen different Inhumans, all with incredibly unique and very impressive powers. Bobbi was only a tinsy bit jealous, as she said to Mack— she thought about taking a fish-pool pill. More to satisfy her curiosity over anything.
Currently Bobbi was now heading to the last containment room— or the last inhabited one. This containment room held their newest acquired inhuman— which makes them sound like a prize, but there's no way to say it without making it sound bad. But in this containment room is held their most unique case of terrigenesis so far, a child.
And luckily so far he's been the only child they've come across.
Everybody else they've come across has at-least been eighteen years or older, so a thirteen year old among the mist old tends to stand out (No pun intended).
That wasn't the only reason why the boy stood out— out of the twenty Inhumans HYDRA was keeping in their possession, Lash killed all of them. Every single one and a couple guards too, except for this kid. Because for some reason they didn't know, Dr. Garner spared him.
Maybe it was because somewhere in that beast was still Andrew, who was struggling for control, even the smallest sliver.
Another reason why this was the most unique case was because they mistook what his ability was. Daisy was for sure that it was sensitive hearing, but the state of the lab says otherwise. Yesterday they had learned that his power was definitely not hearing and it had something to do with tornados— or the air instead.
Which is a drastic difference.
Bobbi punched in the finale code to the last containment room and walked in. At first she didn't see anyone, the only movement she saw was coming from the flat screen, which told her that there was someone here. She walked around the bend of the containment module and saw a blond haired boy, with baggy clothing, lounging on the couch staring to the side at the screen.
Before she even had a chance to speak or announce her presence his head quickly turned to face her, he slightly jumped at her sudden appearance. Bobbi on the other hand was definitely confused as to how he even knew she was here, as to Bobbi's knowledge she didn't make any sound.
A perk of being a super secret spy.
But if she did make noise it would be more than slightly concerning, she definitely would have to work on that.
The kid quickly moved he feet off the couch and straightened. "Uhh… D-Do I know you?" He stammered.
While Bobbi had seen him in the containment module the day they found him and last night in the lab, she's never actually met him. Or introduced herself.
Bobbi shook her head. "I'm Bobbi, I'm just here to check up on you."
The kid nodded. "I'm Lukian by the way."
At least the kid had manors.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Lukian." Bobbi said. "How are you processing... everything?"
Lukian shrugged. "Just one more thing the world has to offer—" He smiled, but Bobbi could tell it was a fake one. "Awesome, amazing superpowers."
Bobbi's been around Daisy enough to recognize a deflect when she sees one. Even though she had only met the kid literally ten second ago she was starting to pick up on a few of his traits. The fidgeting with the metal bracelet on his left wrist and his knee swaying left and right was definitely a few. Bobbi also noted his nervous appearance. She wouldn't exactly say she was good with kids, but at least she wasn't as bad as Hunter. Hopefully she could ease some of his nerves. Bobbi's eyes flickered to the screen.
"What are you watching?" She asked.
"Umm… I don't know yet. I was deciding between… A N-New Hope Aaaand…. Ter—" He squinted at the screen. "Termin-a-tor."
Bobbi smiled. "Fan of the classics I see,"
"Not exactly, I haven't seen either." Lukian admitted.
Bobbi was genuinely shocked. "Oh come on, you've never seen Star Wars?"
Lukian eyes flickered between her and the screen, then he shook his head. "Never really had the time for T.V, or Movies."
That was hardly an excuse. "You've got plenty of time now," Bobbi stated. "And…" She stretched out the word. "Star Wars is so good, I might even watch it with you."
He was just a kid, it wasn't fair they lock him down here like this even if it's for his own safely. The least she could do was give him some company and cheer him up a bit. Bobbi knew Daisy and Mack felt the same way with how often they came down here.
Lukian looked at her. "Really?"
"I don't see why not, unless you plan on kicking me out."
"What?" Lukian shook his head somewhat frantically, then laughed through his nose. "I-I should be more worried about you kicking me out."
She wasn't expecting that answer. Bobbi gave him a puzzled look that encouraged him to go on but he wasn't looking at her. He must have felt her stare and looked up again.
"Oh. Uh… I completely wrecked your whole... i-incredibly nice lab yesterday if you've forgotten,"
"It'll be fixed soon." Bobbi gave him a warm smile. "The worst part about the clean up will be the re-filing. It's fine."
"Still, M'sorry." Lukian apologized.
"Don't be." Bobbi said, one hundred percent serious. She definitely didn't want the kid beating himself up over an accident. He doesn't have control of his powers yet, hell, he didn't even know what power he actually had. Bobbi sat down on the couch next to him. "Now more on to important things— Terminator or Star Wars?"
Lukian looked at her, then back at the screen. She could see the wheels in his head turning. "Star War looks cool," He said finally.
Bobbi nodded in agreement. "Good choice."
"So if I said Terminator you would have thrown a fit?" Lukain asked with a hint of humor in his voice.
"Yes." Bobbi deadpanned. But the twinkle in her eye said otherwise. Lukian giggled as he clicked the button on the remote to start the movie. He then jumped slightly when the opening music and crawl started playing but still had a grin plastered on his face nonetheless.
Bobbi smiled at how excited and in the movie Lukian seemed even if it hadn't even started yet. It was good he was still living like a kid despite this new responsibility he has, and it was definitely not a normal responsibility for a thirteen year old.
As the movie went on Bobbi answered any questions he had. Lukian was quite hesitant to say anything during the movie but Bobbi could tell when something was on the tip of his tongue. His excitement never faded throughout the movie, but his smile did when Old Ben died. In fact it got a little breezy in the containment room as well, if that wasn't a sign saying he was upset over Old Ben Bobbi didn't know what was. She ignored the wind for now, it wasn't too strong or troublesome.
She also didn't want to worry the kid about needing to keep it all under control, they were in the containment room so there wasn't much harm he could do. While yes, this could have been used as a good learning experience for him— after the day he had yesterday he needed a break.
This was that break.
Bobbi had also heard after they had gotten back from their mission about his allergic reaction at the Cocoon, then also passing out in the Quin-Jet. He definitely deserved a break.
In the short time that the kid was here he had already wormed his way into both Mack and Daisy's hearts— Daisy more so. After spending time with the kid Bobbi understood why— he was snarky like Fitz, yet compassionate like Daisy, but he had his own spunkiness to add to that mix as well. Lukian was a good kid, Bobbi could tell. When the credits started playing Bobbi looked over to Lukian.
"So, what was your favorite part?"
Lukian slouched down on the couch thinking. "Umm… When they were in the bar with all the cool different aliens. Plus the music was catchy."
Bobbi hummed in agreement. "Definitely, it's an iconic scene."
Lukian titled his head in confusion. "Iconic?"
Bobbi thought for a millisecond. "It means memorable."
Lukian made a small. "Oh,"
Bobbi waited a moment before asking. "Who was your favorite character?"
"Han Solo," Lukian blurted out immediately to Bobbi's surprise. She thought for sure he was gonna say Old Ben judging by how genuinely sad he had been when the man died.
"Really?" Bobbi said. "How come?"
"He's cool— he doesn't have to listen to anybody and he can do whatever he wants. No one's keeping him in line." Lukian said excitedly.
That was a curious answer coming from a thirteen year old, though, she supposed it was normal. Many kids rarely were able to ever make their own choices in life, this kid probably one of them. Sometimes parents could be very controlling in their kid's lives. But the way he worded his sentences struck Bobbi as odd.
No one's keeping him in line.
That was a curious thing to say. She'd have to ask Daisy later on what they know about him.
Hunter walked absently down the base. He had finished his chore almost two and a half hours ago, it would have been sooner had that new agent not got called off to training then leaving Hunter to do inventory all by himself.
Thanks, Agent Youch.
After that he had gone to the gym for a bit of a workout, mostly to blow off some steam from this morning's Mario-Kart session. And now he was walking back to the lounge to see if there were any leftovers in the fridge because... he was starving and probably would fall over if he had to wait more than the three minutes the microwave took to heat up yesterday Chinese food.
When Hunter did get to the lounge the first thing he noticed was the smell that immediately filled his nostrils, was of cardboard and pizza. One of the best smells in the universe. His mouth was watering even before he was fully through the doorway. The second thing he noticed was everybody was sitting at the table munching away on their pizza, talking— overly loudly, and laughing.
Hunter took his place at the table, grabbed one of the paper plates that was sitting on top of one of the seven pizza boxes, grabbed himself two slices for now, then listened to Fitz's story.
"If only you had seen the look on Jemma's face." Fitz sighed while trying to make it through the whole sentence without laughing. Across the table Simmons gently placed down her slice of pizza. "What are you talking about, Fitz? I wasn't at all scared, you were the one who screamed like a little girl."
"Yeah, I was there." Daisy stated then laughed. "I clearly remember your girlish shriek being the loudest.
"Uh-Uh." Fitz shook his head. "Tha-That didn't happen. That was Jemma; she could have been a cute little monkey and she would still have been frightened." Fitz said.
Confusion crossed over Simmons' face. "Fitz? What does a monkey have to do with any of this?"
Fitz's face went completely serious as he leaned forward. "Jemma, Monkeys… have to do with everything."
"Monkeys do not have to do with everything!"
"Yes! They Do!" Fitz frantically nodded his head.
"Alright, then what? What do monkeys have to do with, because I can'—"
"Evolution." Fitz stated, cutting Simmons off.
Jemma scoffed. "Don't tell me you actually believe that, do you?"
Fitz had an offended look on his face. "Yes, for the matter of fact, I do!"
Hunter leaned to his left to whisper to Mack. "How much did I miss?" He asked with an amused smile. It was actually slightly amusing seeing FtzSimmons argue over something so stupid but still talking about science.
"Not much honestly, Fitz was talking about some time on the BUS back before S.H.I.E.L.D fell— some prank gone wrong during a mission." Mack explained.
Hunter swallowed a bite of his pizza. "Prank during a mission?" Hunter questioned. "Oh I've gotta hear this."
And that's when he noticed the third thing.
Hunter glanced around the table doing a headcount making sure he wasn't just a blind idiot. But no, he definitely wasn't a blind idiot and there definitely was someone missing from this Pizza party.
"Where Bob?" He asked. Besides Daisy— Bobbi would have been first in line for pizza… while it was no cheeseburger, it's bloody pizza.
Mack only shrugged. "Dunno," He took a bite of the crust on his pizza. "Probably in the gym."
Hunter's brows creased with worry once he realized that he too had not seen Bobbi since he left to do inventory. He shook his head. "I just came from the gym— she wasn't there."
"Hey. I know that look, Bobbi's fine. . Don't get all your socks sweaty yet." Mack said.
Hunter spoke up over the argument between the science twins. "Hey! Has anyone seen Bobbi since this morning?"
Thankfully the science twins did silence their argument for a moment and shook their heads.
"Not that I think so," Daisy said as Lincoln, who was back now said. "No, sorry."
Millions of scenarios ran through Hunter's brain. He couldn't help but think back to when Ward kidnapped her, thankfully Ward was dead. But Hydra wasn't gone.
Mack put a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "She's still in the base, Hunter."
"How do we know that?" Hunter questioned, his concerned voice slightly rising. "Her chore could have been getting Coulson's bloody foot cream for all—"
"My what now?" Coulson asked as he sat down at the head of the table. May walked in only slightly behind him.
Hunter turned to face the Director. "Where's Bobbi?" He demanded.
Coulson grabbed himself a slice of pizza. "You're asking me?" Hunter nodded. "Haven't seen her since I came in and told you guys to do your chores."
"What was her chore?" Hunter asked expectantly.
"Check in with the inhumans." Coulson said before taking a bite of his folded pizza.
Hunter immediately forgot about his overwhelming hunger and shot straight out of his seat. It's been three hours and a half since anyone has last seen Bobbi, and inhuman check in doesn't take more than two hours. He knew because he had it last week.
"Hunter!"
Mack called out but it fell on deaf ears, or at least not Hunter's ears.
He was already running down the hall heading to the containment rooms. Hell, he'd check every single bloody one 'till he found Bobbi, and there were fifty containment rooms downstairs. While only eighteen were inhabited by someone, it's still a possibility she got locked up in one of the rooms.
Hunter snatched a tablet quickly from the lab as he passed it and hurried down to the basement, while he was doing so he checked all the security feeds for each room. Almost everybody— except one inhuman who suddenly had been replaced by an old dude— was sitting at the desk eating lunch.
Hunter wasn't sure what was going on with the old dude, he heard something about a new physiatrist while in the gym earlier. It seems to be a topic of conversation right now.
The last security feed he checked as he finally reached the basement and it's dark scary hallways— was odd. It was listed as an inhabited room but there was no one seen in the security feed, while yes, they could totally just be in the bathroom or something.
But, there's also a chance they could have taken or hurt Bobbi, and he wasn't taking that chance.
Hunter sprinted down the hall towards the last inhabited containment room, of course it had to be the farthest one that was fishy.
Couldn't have been the first one, dammit?
He couldn't stop the image of Bobbi bleeding out in his arms from flooding his mind— he ran faster. Once Hunter finally reached the door to the room and realized he needed a code to the room, to open the door. After finding on the tablet he punched in the six digits, grabbed his gun from his holster he was immediately greeted to the sound of… laughter?
What were they tickling her to bloody death?
One was high pitched and sounded… younger? And the other was definitely Bobbi's.
Something wasn't right here.
"Bob!" Hunter yelled frantically as he rushed into the room.
The laughter immediately seized at the sound of his voice. As he rounded the bend he was immediately met with the face of a smiling Bobbi, and a kid.
Wait… back up a minute, a kid? Hunter thought to himself.
Well it wasn't just any kid, it was the inhuman kid who survived Lash— and destroyed the lab. Pretty impressive kid, he should put both on his resume. Bobbi rose from her seated position on the couch, she gave him a confused expression.
Wait, why was she confused?
"Hunter?" Bobbi questioned. "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"
It took Hunter a second to process she was okay, once the overwhelming relief cooled down— he spoke. "What am I doing here?" He echoed. "Where the bloody hell have you been?"
"Umm… here?"
"You've been missing for the past two hours!" Hunter exclaimed. He wasn't sure what he was mad at, maybe himself for jumping to too fast conclusions. But he had the right to, he couldn't lose Bobbi— not again.
"Calm down, Hunter. I'm fine, there's nothing for you to worry about." Bobbi stated.
"Calm down?! Are you serious!? I thought you had been bloody taken again! I— I… I thought—" Hunter stammered.
Bobbi took a couple steps her arms held out in front of her. "That wouldn't have been possible— no ones getting into the base without anyone knowing. Alright? Ward's not here."
"Kara did!" Hunter yelled back, still being fueled by the rage and anger blamed at no one— at dead people.
"I mean…" Bobbi started then smiled a little bit. "Technically, we knew she was here…"
Hunter sighed. "I would have preferred a little heads up."
Bobbi's eyes softened. "And your right— I'm sorry. I should have told someone I was still down here." Bobbi apologized. "We just... got caught up in something." She gestured to the big flat screen. Hunter glanced at it and immediately recognized the blue font from Star Wars.
Of course, Hunter thought. Bob was always a sucker for Star Wars.
"Yeah, we were watching A New Hope." The kid said excitedly. Hunter had honestly completely forgotten a kid was here.
Hunter turned back on fake angriness and looked at the kid. "Why the hell would you let her do that?!"
The kid didn't seem fazed. "Me?" He pointed at his own chest and raised his eyebrows. "How is this my fault? You're the one who didn't realize she was missing 'till over two hours later!"
Hunter narrowed his eyes. "Touché."
Bobbi chuckled. "Yeah, thanks again for the tardy rescue." She said sarcastically.
"You're welcome, love. Anytime." Hunter said in the same tone, Bob rolled her eyes. "Oh, speaking of rescues— Pizza's upstairs." Hunter explained. Though he conveniently left out that's why he noticed she was missing.
The glimmer in the kid's eyes did not go unnoticed by Hunter or Bobbi, but his face and feet stayed frozen in place.
Bobbi smiled. "I'll see what I can do."
"Not if I eat it all first." Hunter stated, now that he knew Bobbi was safe his extreme hunger and craving for pizza had returned.
"Then I'll just order another one." Bobbi said as she walked past him. "And won't let you have any."
"What, you'd do that to your knight and shining armor?" Hunter questioned.
"Oh yes, you must save me from the terrifying twelve year old." Bobbi stated with an eye roll.
The, "Thirteen." The kid said did not fall on deaf ears.
"That's even scarier," Hunter shivered. "A teenager."
Bobbi laughed as she turned around before closing the door, she winked at the kid. "I'll be back— and with some pizza."
There was something in the kid's eyes Hunter couldn't make out before the doors closed. Hunter could barely pay attention to it though, he needed food.
"I was serious about eating it all. I might collapse right here in this hallway— then you'd have to carry me upstairs." Hunter joked, though only slightly. He was getting lightheaded and stomach was eating itself. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure his only breakfast this morning had been beer.
"Ahh, yes. My knight and shining armor." Bobbi quipped with a shove.