Paperwork
Day 5 of Daisy Johnson appreciation week, Friendship. Here is a one shot about the FitzDaisy friendship somewhere in season 4, after Daisy rejoins SHIELD. It's a little bit lighter and a little. More playful, but there is some angst in here.
Enjoy!
Daisy had too much paperwork to do. Payroll forms, social security application, SHIELD healthcare plan paperwork. She walks down the halls of the Playground, wondering why she ever agreed to come back and leave her van.
She rounds the corner to the hallway where the team's offices are located. She passes Fitz's office, noticing an open door. She shrugs a little and goes back to looking at the questionnaire for social security. She passes Mack's office, a small room with a desk where Mack hides when paperwork needs to be done, when she hears giggling through the cracked door. It was a very un-Mack-like giggle. Daisy stops walking and pokes her head into the door, "Mack�"
Fitz starts from his position crouched position next to Mack's office chair and bangs his head on the desk, "Jesus, Daisy!"
Daisy slips into the room and shuts the door behind her, muffling her laughter with her hand.
"Fitz, what are you doing?"
Fitz rubs his head where he banged it on the desk, "I'm loosening the screws on Mack's chair. So when he sits, the chair will," he giggles again, and makes a sharp POP noise with his mouth, motioning that the chair will tip over backward.
Daisy shakes her head, laughing. It's been so long since she's seen Fitz in this mood, the goofy kid that she meant on the Bus so long ago.
"Fitz, that isn't going to work," she gets out. The flabbergasted look on Fitz's face makes her laugh all the harder, doubling over.
"Are you questioning my abilities as an engineer?" He spits out.
Daisy shakes her head, "No! Of course not!" She puts her hand on the back of the chair, "it's just that Mack does the spiny thing with the chair before he sits down."
She spins the chair around in a circle, much like Mack's routine before he sits in the chair. The chair makes it halfway through the spin before it collapses down a click.
Fitz groans, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. "He will notice that immediately. How did I not think of that?"
Daisy can't help herself, she's laughing harder than she has in months. Fitz starts to laugh as well, more at Daisy than at the situation. And they laugh, laugh until tears are streaming from their eyes.
Daisy drops down to the ground beside Mack's desk, Fitz falling down beside her, chuckles fading away now.
They sit in silence for a moment, until Fitz reaches over and grabs Daisy's hand. Daisy takes a sharp intake of air.
"I've missed this Daisy," he says quietly.
And just like that, Daisy is falling apart. Tears start slowly, but come faster, and she's suddenly wrapped tightly in Fitz's arms, sobbing into his shoulder.
He rubs her back in slow circles, muttering soothing words to her. She apologizes over and over, fingers gripping his shirt. He's so comforting to her and it hurts. She doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve his comfort, or his friendship.
The tears slow after a while, and Fitz holds her to his chest.
"It's okay, Daisy. I am so sorry for the things that I said. I was hurting, and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have done that," the vibrations from his chest are soothing to Daisy, a comforting sound that she used to seek. It grounds her, it keeps her from disconnecting with the world around her.
Daisy keeps her head pressed against Fitz's chest. "I'm sorry about you and Jemma," she says, and she feels Fitz take in a sharp breath, as though on pain.
"Yeah. I am too, Daisy. We tried, we really did, but it's just not meant to be. The universe wants something else. Jemma, wants someone else."
He smooths down Daisy's hair, wrapping his arm around her. They sit in silence for a moment.
"I love you, Fitz, i'm sorry that I left," Daisy finally says. She needs to say it, for him to know how much his friendship means to her. But he knows, he really does know.
"I know, Daisy. I love you, too," he mutters, wrapping both arms around her in an embrace. "And I am so glad that you are home," he murmurs, placing a kiss on the crown of her head.
They sit there for a moment, silent, with nothing else to say.
Daisy finally breaks the comfortable silence. She pulls away from Fitz's chest and looks him in the eyes, "Fitz, I have an idea. But in order for me to tell you, you have to help me with this paperwork."
Fitz grins, his eyes red, "You've got a deal."
"Ugh! Fitz, why did I ever leave my van? It was comfortable and off the grid!"
Fitz looks at her, cocking one eyebrow, "Really? Comfortable?"
Daisy roll her eyes and flops her upper body down on her desk, "Okay, so it wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was off the grid, and had no paperwork to deal with!"
Fitz laughed again, patting Daisy on the back, "It's just the beauty of the bureaucratic beast."
Fitz and Daisy hear footsteps coming down the hallway, and they both freeze and turn around to glance out of Fitz's office door, which they have left open just a crack. Mack's unmistakable bulk passes by the door, his deep voice filtering in as he hums (Elena must be on base, Daisy muses).
They poke their heads out the door when he's past, and try to withhold the giggles bubbling over as Mack enters his door. They can hear the squeak of his chair as he spins in around. The anticipation is building, and a loud, resounding horn blares through the hallway, followed by a manly yell, and a crash.
"FITZ! TREMORS!" Mack's voice booms down the hall.
"Go, go!" Daisy yells, and Fitz and Daisy run down the hall to the stairs, laughing the entire way.
