Let's head to Shield. It gets good. BTW, this is in the regular base. Kinda fuzzy on how much Hydra destroyed Shield or how much went public, but it's definitely when things have settled.

(-)

"How was your vacation?" Daisy heard from behind her in that endearing Scottish accent. She turned to see Fitz smiling at her, happy she was back home. And she felt light inside, because she was home. The hug he gave her only solidified that feeling.

"Nothing exciting. Lots of driving around without a destination. You find some great diners that way."

"Where did you go?" Mack asked, joining them in the kitchen.

"Like I said, lots of random places."

Jemma came over and hugged her. "Mack, don't pretend that she didn't deliberately program the Shield servers and satellites to not track her and only brought an encrypted SAT phone with her." She grinned at Daisy. "We're bursting with curiosity! Don't make me analyze the dirt and other particles on your van. You know I will."

Daisy laughed at that. "I was cruising around California. I like it there."

"Enough gossip," came May's no-nonsense tone as she came down the stairs from Coulson's office. Meeting Daisy's eyes, she asked, "You keeping up on your training? I won't go easy just because you've been slacking."

Pulling up her sleeve, Daisy said, "I did what I could do. I was doing everything until I had a bit of an incident that involved being stabbed."

Everyone was worried then, and Jemma immediately took charge and unwrapped the bandage to look. "It doesn't look too serious, but who stitched this, Dr. Frankenstein?"

'Dr. Frankenstein probably stitched better,' Daisy thought, though not unkindly. She appreciated that Robbie took care of her. "A friend. He didn't know a lot, but he cleaned it and stitched it shut. I didn't really want to deal with the cops."

"Who got the great Daisy Johnson?" Hunter asked, joining the party.

"Well, it was five gangsters, and I had them all down, but a car crash distracted me and let one get a knife in me." It could be considered true. Ghost Rider could be seen as a metaphorical car wreck. Or a literal one waiting to happen.

While more questions got peppered at her, Coulson came down the stairs. "Simmons, make sure Daisy is alright. Then I want you to come to my office, Daisy."

"Uh-oh," Hunter sing-songed, "someone's in trou-ble."

Daisy just rolled her eyes and went with Jemma to the med bay. But she had a bad feeling about going to Coulson's office.

(-)

"So, California, huh?" Coulson asked, that easy-going smile on his face. It made her smile to see it. He was the one who had given her this home, had supported her and believed in her like no one ever had. They shared a bond, and Daisy didn't know if he saw it the way she did, but with Coulson, she felt like she had a father as well as a friend.

"Yeah. It's a great place to relax."

"And get stabbed," Coulson said with wry amusement.

"An accident. Shouldn't have let myself be distracted. Which I'm sure May will drill into me at the soonest time Jemma will allow."

"I'm sure," Coulson agreed. "But it's fortunate that you were there recently; were you in LA?"

She didn't like where this was going. "Yeah, for a couple of days."

"Did you hear anything about a person called 'Ghost Rider' while you were there?" Coulson asked.

Who said nightmares don't come true? "Uh, yeah, one guy told me stories. It seemed possible by our standards, but still a little far-fetched."

"Good, I'm going to need you to type up a brief of it, even if it's small. We're heading to LA. He's been increasingly active, and now some are saying he can cause earthquakes. I doubt he's responsible for the seismic disturbances that have been occurring in California, but we can investigate both things at once."

Daisy hoped she didn't look as sick as she felt. And she didn't want to sit where Coulson could see her squirm. "On it," she said, getting up.

"And have Fitz be sure the containment module is ready. I get the feeling this guy is going to be a bigger handful than we're used to, and that's saying something."

"Will do."

She did tell Fitz, and immediately made excuses why she couldn't hang out. It was true; she had to write a brief for Coulson. But she was also determined to warn Robbie. Even if it might cost her job, she didn't want him hurt or captured.

(-)

Robbie's cell was ringing while he was filling out some paperwork in the office. "Hey," he said.

"Rob-oh, hey, Julie, I'm so glad I got ahold of you!"

"Daisy? What the hell are you talking about? How did you get my number?"

"Oh, you know how good I am at finding things," she said lightly.

Right, she was a hacker. "Is something wrong?"

"Okay, okay, don't rub it in that you're right."

This was bizarre. "So someone is listening to you?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course it is."

"Well, can you get to where you can say something? This is weird."

"You know, I'll have to go to my room to check."

He was pretty sure that meant they could have a conversation soon. At least, he hoped so. He heard a door close, and she sighed, but then sounded urgent as she said, "You need to be careful. My job is…dangerous, as I told you, and now we're investigating Ghost Rider. So please lay as low as possible. And if you see me, you don't know me." And she hung up.

"What was that about? You seeing Daisy?" Canelo asked.

That was unnerving. It had sounded like a warning and a threat. "Apparently not. She told me that we should forget she was ever here."

"She in trouble?"

Robbie hated the idea, felt a little angry at the idea of being told he should pretend not to know Daisy, and the Rider hated it too. "Sounds like it."

Except…Daisy called to tell him to lay low. She was warning him that people were coming for him. That she was coming for him. Whatever job she had, she and her coworkers had been assigned to find him. But the Rider wasn't going to stop exacting bloody vengeance, so Robbie didn't really have the option to lay low.

"Well, if it keeps her safe, I've never heard of her. That's a good girl you've got," Canelo said. Robbie knew she had promised to mess with search engines or something to bring more business their way, and she'd delivered. They ditched dead weight like Joey to keep up, and Carlos was coming along well.

To his dismay, he felt heat rising in his face, and it had nothing to do with Hellfire. "She's not mine."

Canelo scoffed. "With the way she looks at you? Don't waste your opportunity."

Opportunity to what, get her killed? Leave her stuck with him and a demon instead of someone who could give her a somewhat normal life? The Rider hated Robbie for his decision, but Daisy was too good for them.

(-)

She had decided to volunteer for the Ghost Rider end of the assignment. Sure, it would mean she wouldn't know or control any information about "Quake" as the earthquake Enhanced was now being called, but she really couldn't risk it. They were investigating the various sites she had visited to train, and if anyone had seen her, the chances of them remembering what she looked like went way up when she was standing right in front of them.

So Daisy, May, Mack, and Hunter got dropped in LA to look into Ghost Rider while Coulson, Fitz-Simmons, and Bobbi went to the various spots where the seismic disturbances had occurred. There was no shaking the feeling that this would end badly. Shield was the best at what they did, so the chances of her and Robbie both evading their notice were almost non-existent. So she was trying to make contingency plans as well.

When they got to the mural, Mack whistled. Not at the art, but at the car depicted in it. "That's a 1969 Dodge Charger. Not a lot of those still driving around. Let's start there."

"Daisy, do a search of all registered owners of that kind of car in California," May said.

Unfortunately, Hunter was right beside her, so she couldn't omit Robbie from the list. Except…he wasn't on it. She recognized his uncle, Eli Morrow, on the list. Her chest felt a little less heavy. That was a little more protection for him.

"I'll start doing background on the owners to see what we should start with," Daisy said. It wasn't a long list, and she said, "This guy is a collector in his seventies, so that's probably not it. This woman is a model, so depending on how sure we are that Ghost Rider is a guy, she's unlikely. And this last one is doing twenty-five to life for manslaughter, so he isn't cruising around. Those are the only ones in and around LA. I can get into background on the next nearest ones, if you want."

"Nah, if he's out here every night, he's local," Hunter said.

"The criminal," May said, "who are his relatives or other beneficiaries who might have custody of his car?"

Daisy felt sick. She did the search and said, "He raised his two nephews, Roberto and Gabriel Reyes."

Hunter, still looking over her shoulder, saw the picture and said, "Well, it isn't the younger one; he's in a wheelchair."

"Tell us about the older one," May said.

"Robbie Reyes: high school drop-out, zero social media footprint…I don't even see an email address." Stall, Daisy, stall…she was trying to figure out how to save this, save him.

"Where does he work?" Mack asked.

She wished her partner was a little slower, because this was collapsing too fast. It was hard not to cry, because she'd be seeing Robbie again, which would be great under pretty much any other circumstances. Whatever weirdness was going on in their relationship, whatever that might be, Daisy cared about him. And if Shield decided he was a threat (which he obviously was), it was going to bring some heavy consequences down on his head like a ton of bricks. If they couldn't kill him when he put up a fight (which they couldn't, not unless Fitz-Simmons had time to figure out some impossible science-solve in advance), capturing him would be the next option. Although it would be difficult for them to manage that either.

"It says he's worked at Canelo's Auto Body Repair Shop for the last seven years." And now Canelo would be involved. Great.

"Let's go there first," May said.

(-)

It had been decided that Mack and Daisy would go in to question and investigate since Mack was the car guy, and Daisy was "a sweet flower" as Hunter put it, and so might make the mechanics feel more comfortable around her and open to talking to her.

Of course, it was midday so it seemed like a lot of the guys were on lunch breaks, but Canelo was eating his sandwich outside the office. Daisy's stomach twisted as they approached him.

"Hey," Mack said amiably.

When Canelo looked up, he saw Daisy, but after a second of lingering, his eyes went to Mack. "How can I help you?"

What? He was pretending like they'd never met. She'd told Robbie that they'd never met if he saw her, but did he spread around that directive to his coworkers and boss?

"I was wondering if you have a Robbie Reyes working for you," Mack asked.

Canelo's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, Robbie works here." He looked between the two of them, and Daisy hoped Mack didn't notice that those eyes seemed particularly suspicious towards her. Of course he was wondering why Daisy had come to find Robbie with other people in tow. "What do you want with him?"

"We know his Uncle Eli, and my girlfriend always loved his car. So I was hoping to buy it for her for her birthday," Mack said.

Daisy smiled as best she could and said, "He likes to spoil me." She took Mack's arm, hanging off it like an entitled ditz might.

There was a creak from somewhere in the yard, and when Mack and Daisy's eyes looked in that direction, Canelo said, "We have some new junkers that are still settling. And Robbie isn't going to sell his car; he loves her."

Mack nodded, not pushing things. "Can we speak to him? I'd love to see it again; that is a thing of beauty."

Shrugging, Canelo said, "I was in the office when all the guys went to lunch. I don't know where he is."

Robbie wasn't here. Maybe something had gone right.

(-)

He was buffing Lucy on his lunch break when he heard Canelo talking to someone. And his heart leapt when he peered around the corner and saw Daisy there. But he was much less happy that she had a companion, especially when the man said, "We know his Uncle Eli, and my girlfriend always loved his car. So I was hoping to buy it for her for her birthday."

When she giggled and took the man's arm and said, "He likes to spoil me," Robbie's hand crumpled the old hood he was leaning on with a loud creak.

Canelo's words were lost as jealousy burned through him. This was the kind of guy Daisy liked? Some muscle-bound…good-looking…tall black guy? And looking at the guy, he could see why he couldn't compete. Robbie was betting the guy also didn't have a vengeance demon inside him that murdered people.

The Rider was furious, and It wanted to break the man, show Daisy that only they could give her what she needed; that the man was weak. It wanted to take control, and It was mustering an effort when Robbie realized something. Daisy had said she and her coworkers were coming to look for him. And when jealousy wasn't clouding his eyes, he saw that she was acting.

Still, whether they knew he was Ghost Rider or not, her coworkers had found him. Hiding would be more suspicious. So he came around the corner. He saw Daisy's eyes widen, fear flashing across her face before she controlled herself. But she looked entirely comfortable with the black man's presence. So she wasn't afraid for herself; she was afraid for Robbie.

"Oh, you're still here," Canelo said, feigning surprise like he hadn't watched Robbie go to take care of his car while the other guys left. "A couple of your uncle's friends came by about your car."

"Do I know you?" he asked, looking between them, not letting his eyes linger on Daisy any longer than the man.

"No, we just knew your uncle. I'm Al, and this is April," the man said.

"What do you want with my car?" Robbie asked, arms folding and eyes narrowing. He couldn't help it; it felt like they were threatening his baby girl.

The black man said, "Well, I wanted to buy it for April's birthday, but your boss says you won't sell. That true?"

"Never," Robbie said. "That car is not for sale."

Canelo was the best. He said, "Well, maybe you could at least show April while I talk to Al. Always love talking to a car guy."

"Would you?" Daisy asked, looking like an excited airhead, which was weird.

Robbie hoped they could actually talk when out of sight of the black man. "Sure. Come on."

Once they were out of sight, Robbie was about to say something when Daisy squealed and said, "It looks sooo cool!"

"Can you stop that? It's creepy," Robbie said.

She just smiled and said, voice low, "Just show me the car while we talk. I'm not sure if Hunter will circle around to keep an eye on us."

So Robbie opened the passenger door and let her sit inside, trying not to roll his eyes as she gently bounced on the seat. And worked really hard not to be distracted, because the casual clothes she'd worn when he met her were gone, and now she wore form-fitting black jeans, and a dark red V-neck t-shirt. And the V was very low, giving him an interesting view.

"If you're done checking out my boobs, can we talk? This is serious," Daisy said, although she was smiling and peeking into his glove box.

His face wasn't warm as he said, "You told me your friends were hunting me, and you lead them right to me?"

"Let's be clear," Daisy said as she gently trailed her hand over the gear shift lever, fingers tracing down and admiring the shiny metal, "my friends and I are the best at what we do. I tried to throw them off your scent, and they immediately homed in on you."

It was hard to focus on her words when heat was growing inside him from watching her fondle his car like that. "Well, what are we doing now that they found me?"

Her act broke for a moment, and she looked lost. "I don't know. They're my family, but…" she looked up at him, "you're important too." She pasted her smile back on and asked, "Can I see the backseat?"

This girl would be the death of him. She got out of the front seat and when he opened the door to the back seat, she dove in with a giggle. She was smart enough to make sure her shoes weren't on his seat, but she rolled onto her back and stretched. "There's sooo much room back here!" When she gave him a wicked grin as his eyes traced down her body, he knew she was enjoying this. And she could turn driving him crazy into an art form.

"So what do I do if I run into you guys on my late shift?" Robbie asked, trying not to let his mind get side-tracked. "I can't guarantee the Rider will play nice if you attack It."

"Just don't seriously hurt them," Daisy said. "Please." She looked in his eyes, that deep gaze that meant she was looking into the flames in his soul. She was asking the Rider. It didn't like the idea, but It didn't kill those who didn't deserve it.

"So this is your job?" Robbie asked. "Hunting guys like me?"

Sighing, Daisy said, "It's only one facet, tracking down Enhanced individuals. And…the other half of my team is looking for me. All the earthquakes happening in California while I was on vacation caught their attention. And that night when I got stabbed had some people saying Ghost Rider could cause earthquakes." She shuddered and all of her acting fell away. "I don't know if I can be an agent if I get put on the Index. My family…the whole life I've finally made could get yanked out from under me. Like everything good always has."

Robbie hated that he couldn't comfort her because they were possibly being watched. So he just said, "You can always ride with me, chica." And the earnest grin that got him was beautiful.

(-)

They decided to do their debrief once they were sitting down for lunch. "Canelo seems like a good guy," Mack said. "Daisy? What about Robbie?"

She shrugged. "He seemed nice. Not sure I see him being a brutal murderer."

"That boy has it bad for Daisy," Hunter said with a sly smile. She knew it. He'd been sent to keep an eye on them.

"Yeah?" Mack asked, a teasing smirk sneaking on his face.

"Well, she was laying the ditzy car-kink girl act on pretty thick, and he was eating it up," Hunter said.

Daisy blushed, because she couldn't believe she'd done that when she knew Hunter could be watching. But it had been fun to watch Robbie's reactions, watch his sex drive break through all those over-responsible scruples that made him keep her at arm's length. She liked seeing that he wanted her.

"Are we sure Ghost Rider is a guy?" she asked, not wanting to linger on that topic. "I mean, aside from people who are experts on bones, I don't know if everyone can discern between male and female skeletal structure of the skull."

"The old man might have relatives with access to his cars too," Hunter said.

"Let's investigate all our leads until sunset. After that, I get the feeling finding Ghost Rider will be easier," May said.

(-)

"Coulson and the rest will be joining us soon," May said on coms. Mack and Daisy were in one SUV and May and Hunter in another, and they were in different high-crime areas where Ghost Rider was seen. "They said Quake had an incident with Ghost Rider, so they're in the city." Daisy's insides twisted and froze over. That incident…anyone mentioning a girl with a bleeding arm wouldn't escape Coulson's grasp. He would know. And it would be over.

Mack, who was watching the thermal imaging of the neighborhood they were in whistled as they got a spike. "I think we got him; Alomeda, heading North." And he kicked their car into gear.

It was strange to be in a car chase with Ghost Rider, at least to be chasing him. It would have felt more natural to ride shotgun with him. Because when Mack caught up to the Rider, It was leaving a bloody smoldering mess behind on the sidewalk and getting back into Its car.

"Same license plate," Mack said. "It's Reyes. And, damn, they were not kidding about that skull!"

Daisy's stomach sank. Robbie had a life. He had Gabe, and he and Gabe needed each other. If an Enhanced was non-threatening and able to control their abilities, they were given some space, just checking in with a case agent every so often. But Ghost Rider was vicious and homicidal, and Robbie couldn't control It.

With May coordinating with them, they managed to get Ghost Rider trapped between their two cars, no room to maneuver. Daisy felt a little sick as they all got out of their vehicles. It was time to fight. May jumped in first, followed by Mack. Hunter tried shooting It when he had a clear shot, but nothing happened.

She heard another vehicle coming behind them and saw Coulson, Bobbi, and Fitz-Simmons getting out of another SUV. And when she met Coulson's eyes, she knew that he knew. While Bobbi jumped into the fight and Fitz-Simmons got the Dwarves going to get readings on Ghost Rider, Coulson pulled her aside.

"Daisy, we just heard about Ghost Rider at the epicenter of an earthquake, picking up a girl bleeding from her arm," he said, giving her a meaningful look.

"Oh?" she asked, certain her horror was written on her face as her eyes burned with impending tears.

"Are you Quake?" he asked.

And she started crying; she couldn't help it. "I didn't want to hide it, but I had to. I wanted to control it; that's why I took this vacation. It just started happening a month ago, and I didn't want to go on the Index and lose Shield-"

Her tears were calmed somewhat when Coulson pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, Daisy. You're okay."

It was only when he let her go that she realized her being upset had caused a mild earthquake. The fight had actually stopped as everyone stared at her, especially Ghost Rider. When It tried to walk closer, Mack said, "Hey!" and stopped it with a blast from his shotgun-axe.

That started the fight again, and Coulson asked, "Do you know him? Ghost Rider?" When she nodded, he asked, "Is there a better way to handle this?"

"Let me talk to It. It doesn't hurt the people who don't deserve it, so It's only fighting because we're attacking It," Daisy said. She should have known Coulson would think of an alternate idea to handle this; he was incredibly clever.

Coulson just whistled loudly and said, "Hold on! Back up and give him some room!"

When her friends did so, she didn't waste time. She went up to Ghost Rider, and looking into those flaming sockets, she could see It was happy to see her. "Hey. Sorry about that. I know we can't really hurt you, but I'm glad you're okay."

She heard Jemma shriek when the Rider pulled her in close and she hugged It. That warmth and comfort felt as good as she remembered. But then she heard Coulson shout, "No, wait!" before everything went dark.

(-)

He woke up in a white-tiled room. It was small, and Daisy was with him. He knelt down and checked her pulse; she was alive. But what the hell had they done to them? It wasn't like the Rider was able to be knocked out.

Looking out the little window, Robbie saw they were on a plane. The cargo ramp had an SUV secured on one side and Lucy on the other. He burned with anger at the idea of anyone else touching Lucy, driving her.

"You're awake!" came a pleased voice with a British accent. A girl with short red hair was looking in the window and smiling at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I wanna know what the hell happened. And why is Daisy in here? She said you guys were her family."

That made the girl wince. "Yes, well, Mack hit you both with a destabilizing net, so we couldn't get you apart until it wore off. But we had to get you contained, so she had to go in with you. Her…abilities could be dangerous to a moving aircraft as well. And we are her family, this will just require some…adjustment."

"Can't believe she didn't tell us!" he heard someone with a Scottish accent say.

"She was afraid, Fitz; hush!" the girl said. "If you want to be useful, go get Coulson. Tell him Mr. Reyes is awake, but Daisy isn't yet."

There was some grumbling before the girl looked back at him. "I'm Jemma Simmons, by the way. I guess you and Daisy met on her vacation?"

"Her van broke down. I fixed it." This Jemma seemed nice, but it was hard to trust someone who was so at ease with keeping you imprisoned in a box.

"Yes, you're a mechanic." She looked over her shoulder at Lucy. "Quite an impressive machine you have there."

"You like cars?" Robbie asked, because she didn't strike him as the type.

She smiled. "Engineering and mechanics are more Fitz's things than mine, but I can appreciate the aesthetics. And Mack loves it. He was reverential when he drove it in."

The big black guy, he was guessing. And if there was a scratch on Lucy, he knew who he should burn. Didn't matter that it would heal as soon as he got behind the wheel. It was the principle of it. "Very considerate kidnappers," he said, eyes narrowing. "Bringing my ride, keeping Daisy with me so I can keep her safe in case any of you get ideas…"

"Mr. Reyes," came a voice from where he couldn't see. Jemma stepped aside to let the man he had seen hugging Daisy last night talk to him. "Sorry about the accommodations. But losing your temper while we're in the air could be catastrophic. And we want to be sure Daisy is calm before we let her out. She had enough control to keep us from finding out, so it should be workable once we've talked."

Robbie saw the man look in at Daisy with concern and care. Then he looked back up at Robbie and said, "Sorry about how we brought you in; Mack saw an opportunity and took it before I could give full orders to stop the fight."

"And he shot me too," Daisy said from the floor. She looked wounded, blinking her eyes to stop tears.

And it wasn't like they hadn't already seen Ghost Rider hug her, so trying to hide how he felt was pointless. He got down on his knees and hugged her as she cried softly into his shoulder. Small tremors came off her as she did, and it felt…good. Good enough that he wondered what would happen if she turned up the intensity just a little bit.

But Daisy was looking at the man, wiping her face as she said, "He's afraid of me, isn't he?"

"We all know Mack has…issues with Enhanced people after that one incident," the man said.

The British girl, Jemma, poked her head into view. "We aren't afraid, Daisy."

And a curly blond-haired boy came into view and said in that Scottish accent, "Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you."

"Guys," the man said, making them step back. He met Daisy's eyes and said, "You were worried about your status as an agent. That's why you kept it secret, right?"

Nodding, Daisy said, "We both know how many Enhanced agents we have: none."

"Maybe it's time to change that, then," the man said. "More and more people are getting powers, and having agents who can possibly match them would just make sense."

The bright smile she gave the man was beautiful, and she stood up to look out the window at him. "Coulson, do you mean that? I can stay?"

"What would we do without you, Daisy?" he said softly, smiling.

Robbie was seeing why Daisy called these people family. Especially Coulson. The way he looked at her had a father's love in it. And, aside from this Mack that he was liking less and less, her friends seemed supportive of her, loving her despite this new truth about her.

But he was a very different situation from Daisy. He was a dangerous, murderous stranger. There was no way they would ever let him out; they'd be too afraid-

"Mr. Reyes?" Coulson said, waiting until Robbie looked up to say, "If you can keep the Rider under control, we'd be happy to let you and Daisy out."

Seriously? "You'd just let me out?"

"Like I said, this wasn't how I wanted things to go. I'd rather have you as an ally than make an enemy out of you. And Daisy clearly thinks well of you, and I trust her judgement." The man was so matter-of-fact that Robbie couldn't imagine he was lying.

Daisy elbowed him. "Come on, you're well-behaved. Tell them."

He realized they'd been waiting for that. "I'll keep It under control. As long as nobody starts a fight or is an evil murderer, there shouldn't be a problem."

Coulson nodded to someone, and a few seconds later the door on one end opened. Daisy immediately pulled him out, and he felt more exposed when it wasn't just him and her together. And he saw another man from the fight waiting for them along with the woman who had jumped in at the end.

"Told you he had it bad…" the man said in a teasing tone.

Daisy scowled, although he could see her fighting a smile as she gently shoved him. "Mind your business, Hunter."

"Not his strong suit," the woman said.

"Hey, Bobbi, come here," Coulson said, and the woman went to him.

And Jemma and the Scottish guy were on them, hugging Daisy in turn. "We would have helped you, Daisy," the Scotsman said. "We would have kept your secret."

"I know you would, Fitz. But I was really confused about the whole thing, so I just wanted to get away from everything and get it under control," Daisy said. She hadn't let go of Robbie's hand and didn't seem inclined to anytime soon.

"How did you develop these abilities?" Jemma asked.

Daisy leaned into him slightly. "I had no idea until I met Robby and the Rider. The Rider recognized what I was."

"And what is that?" Coulson asked, and Robbie saw the woman, Bobbi, headed to a higher deck.

"It calls me Angel Spawn," Daisy said.

"That sounds lovely and a bit off-putting at the same time," Jemma said.

"Apparently, a long time ago, some angels came here and bred with humans. They were supposed to take care of the Riders that got on Earth, but they were lazy, so they made strong hybrids to do it for them," Daisy said.

"So, wait," the Scotsman called Fitz said. "You're the natural enemy of the thing inside him?" He pointed to Robbie.

"She's special," Robbie said. "It still likes her, and for whatever reason, she doesn't burn in our fire."

"An anomaly!" Jemma said, sounding excited. "But that means there are more like Daisy, right?"

Leaning into Robbie again, Daisy said, "Apparently if I was raised by my people, I would know their traditions and duties. Like immediately killing the Rider, however I might do that."

"Do all Angel Spawn make earthquakes, or do they do different things?" Jemma asked.

Coulson looked up to where Bobbi had gone, and his eyes widened. Robbie looked up and saw Mack coming down the stairs. When Daisy spotted him, the plane shook slightly, but Robbie pulled her into his arms. That settled her a little, but she was glaring at the man.

"I said to stay upstairs, Mack," Coulson said.

"Then I hear you let them both out," Mack said. "Daisy is one thing, but that matchstick is too dangerous."

"Why not lock us both up again, Mack? You had no trouble doing it the first time," Daisy said.

He sighed and said, "That was different; you were keeping him in place."

The airplane shook again, more violently as she said, "I'm dangerous too, Mack. What are you going to do to me?"

"Hey, hey," Robbie said, and he kissed her cheek, holding her close. "He's not going to do anything, not while we're together." He kept his words soft and was vindicated when the plane stopped shaking and she melted into him. And it was clear: Daisy wasn't giving him a choice to push her away anymore. She'd chosen him, and all he could do was do his best to make sure she didn't regret it.

"Mack won't be doing anything," Coulson said, giving the big man a hard look.

"He'd better not," Daisy said with a glare. Clearly this was a deep betrayal from Mack; Daisy seemed to be looking for a fight.

"Daisy-" Mack began.

"My worst fear besides losing my status as an agent was my family fearing or hating me. Thanks for being the only one to live up to my worst-case scenario," Daisy said.

Bobbi was on the floor above them and said, "Come on, Mack, this isn't doing any good right now."

Reluctantly, Mack went back up the stairs, only saying, "I could never hate you, Daisy."

The unintended subtext seemed clear: he was afraid of her. Robbie was glad that most of Daisy's family seemed to take her new abilities in stride. It could be a lot worse. Wait. Family… "What time is it?"

Coulson looked at his watch. "Seven A.M., your time," he said.

"Shit. I stay out late but I'm always home before this. Gabe will be worried." He reached for his phone but stopped as he realized he was on an airplane.

Daisy pressed her phone into his hand. "It'll work. Call him." Then she pressed a kiss to his cheek before walking over to Coulson and giving him space. He had no idea how he managed to win her over.

(-)

"Hey, Coulson," Daisy said, making sure she was still within hearing range. When she had his attention, she said, "Robbie has an annoying tendency to use our language barrier to his advantage, saying things he doesn't want me to hear in Spanish. Would you translate anything in Spanish for me?"

"Mistrust in your relationship already, Daisy?" Coulson asked with a smile.

She knew she blushed slightly, but she said, "He mostly does it to be annoying, but with his brother I know they're talking about me. I just want to know."

"Fine," Coulson said. "Especially since we have to have more serious conversations soon."

Because Robbie wasn't as easy as her. Shield wasn't in the habit of letting Enhanced murderers run around. So they had a very limited number of options on how to handle this.

Still, she could push that aside as Robbie started speaking. "Hey, Gabe?...No, this is Daisy's phone. She's back in town and in trouble, so I'm helping her out….Yes, I was out all night, but…no! Nosotros no estamos durmiendo juntos…Por supuesto que quiero, pero no lo hacemos."

Coulson smirked as he said, "He says you aren't sleeping together. Of course he wants to, but you're not."

And Daisy was suddenly much less eager to hear that kind of thing translated by Coulson. She knew her face was red, and she said, "You're right, trust is important," and walked away.

She heard Coulson chuckle as she spotted her bag. Which gave her a great idea. Opening up her laptop, she opened a connection with her phone, streaming the conversation through an automatic translator, giving her a transcript of the whole conversation in English.

Robbie: Look, you're focusing on the wrong things. Yes, she drives me crazy, but right now she's in trouble.

Gabe: You say that, but you don't sound worried about her. You just can't admit to staying the night with her.

Robbie: If I promise to tell you if I actually have sex with her, can we drop this conversation? We're with her friends, and I think some of them know what I'm saying.

Gabe: So let them tell her. She's clearly got a thing for you, and you deserve to be happy, Robbie. You put so much of your life on hold for me. I appreciate that, but you need to live too. Daisy is great, and you'd be lucky to have her.

Robbie: …I am lucky to have her. But I have to call Canelo now and let him know what's happening.

Gabe: Stay safe, whatever you're doing.

Robbie: I love you, even if you're a pain in the ass.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" Jemma asked, suddenly behind her. Daisy jumped, and Jemma added, "I mean, it is a private conversation."

"I just wanted to hear the parts in Spanish translated and didn't want that-" she pointed to the part about having sex with her, "coming out of Coulson's mouth."

"Can't you just learn Spanish?" Fitz asked.

Rolling her eyes, Daisy said, "Yeah, that's high up on my to-do list now, but that doesn't help me at this second."

Still, she closed her laptop as he called Canelo, although she was curious as to what the repair shop owner had made of her and Mack's stunt at the repair yard. "Any reason you're lurking besides chastising me?"

Jemma nodded, saying, "We need some samples of your blood to see if it's changed since you gained your powers. We were hoping to do some other small tests as well. Just little things. We would save any bigger tests for the base."

"Uh, as I learned on my vacation, bigger tests for me need to be done outdoors," Daisy said.

"I know!" Fitz said, looking excited. "The craters and cracks in the earth were impressive, and I'd love to see how you made them."

Her friends were wonderful. She had terrifying new abilities, and they were excited and curious. "Well, if I'm doing it right, I can distribute the vibrations to cause less damage. And I can affect more than the earth."

"That's tremendous!" Jemma said excitedly.

"Come on," Fitz said, pulling at her to go to the lab. Daisy loved them both so much.

(-)

Well, they've been caught. Daisy is in the clear, but it'll be interesting to see how Robbie earns his way into Shield's good graces. Hopefully all reactions were believable (for my squishy feel-good Shield anyway). And Daisy and Mack have to work things out, and it doesn't happen right away. Also, the incident with the Enhanced was probably something similar to the show: alien tech controlling his mind, or maybe just an Enhanced person like Katya.

I'd love to know what you thought about all this, so feel free to comment and let me know. But, review or not, I hope you enjoyed this and keep reading.