Let's see where we're headed now. You'll like where this goes.
(-)
Her cat nap on Robbie at movie night helped recharge her, so she finished setting up the bank account for him when she got back to her room. She'd already messaged Coulson earlier to get authorization to transfer the funds directly, and she'd have to remind him to talk to Gabe in the morning, so he wasn't confused at the cards coming in the mail.
As for where the money came from, she was thinking Robbie could tell Gabe that Daisy had set him up with a side job of fixing and maintaining vintage cars for some wealthy people. Not the best cover, but she struggled to think of another side job that might pay that well that Robbie would be qualified for.
And even if she still felt tired, she didn't feel like sleeping. Maybe cuddling with Robbie spoiled her. But she wasn't about to go to Fitz's room and climb into bed with him. So she headed to the kitchen. She'd just cut up an apple when she saw Jemma come wandering in, looking troubled.
"Hey," Daisy said softly. "You okay?"
"No," Jemma said with a frown. "I just talked to Ward."
Eyebrows shooting up, Daisy said, "Really? Wow, Jemma Simmons: Bad Girl. Let's hope May doesn't find out."
"How would she find out? It's not like the cameras went off for a few minutes," Jemma said, looking pleased with herself.
"You've come so far. I'm so proud of the deviance I've fostered in you," Daisy said. She didn't point out that missing footage would probably raise alarms if it got noticed. "Want to sit?"
Jemma nodded, and they sat on the couch. Daisy offered to share her apple, and when Jemma took a piece, Daisy said, "So, how did that go?"
"I have no idea how you can talk to him without lowering the oxygen levels and suffocating him," Jemma said.
"That good, huh?"
"He apologized for what he did, but then made a bunch of excuses. Like that made it okay," Jemma said.
It had taken Daisy time to get past that part of her first few conversations with him. She ate a piece of apple and said, "He's always been messed up, but he was good at hiding it."
"And he kept asking about Robbie," Jemma said. "After talking about me and Fitz, he wanted to know who the demon was."
Daisy groaned. "He looked insanely jealous. May thinks he won't give me intel anymore."
"I told him that we had a new co-worker, and I wouldn't presume to know what your relationship is without being told," Jemma said, taking another piece. "Then I left."
Giggling a little, Daisy said, "It makes it sound like we would gossip around a water cooler while Its head was on fire." Imagining the Rider dressed as an office worker was kind of hysterical.
Jemma smiled too, saying, "If the copy machine fouled up, we'd definitely need a new one. And we'd have a nice fire drill after It set it on fire."
"Shield would run a weird office. Good thing we do covert ops instead," Daisy said. She offered the last piece of the apple to Jemma who shook her head.
When Daisy popped the last bit in her mouth, Jemma said, "I should get to bed. Thank you for sharing your apple."
"Night," Daisy said. And when Jemma had headed off towards her room, Daisy had an idea of where she could get some sleep.
(-)
Robbie had just finished brushing his teeth for the morning when there was urgent knocking on Fitz's door. Fitz opened it, and Jemma was there, looking worried. "I can't find Daisy."
The lurch of panic those words induced was somehow countered by a different feeling. It was hard to describe.
"Why not just have May check the cameras?" Fitz asked.
Now the girl looked guilty. "Um…I may have snuck into see Ward last night. I ran into Daisy in the kitchen afterwards. So I'd rather not have to explain that or the couple of minutes Ward's surveillance went dark."
"You went to see Ward?!" Fitz asked.
Jemma shushed him, and as Robbie tried to pin down that feeling, he heard her say, "That isn't important right now. I'm worried Daisy went to see him and then got upset and did something or left or I don't know; I just want to make sure she's okay."
We know.
And they did. Robbie knew what the feeling was now; he knew exactly where Daisy was. Two connections intersecting. "Um, I think I know. Fitz, could you let me out into the hangar, and I'll bring her back?"
"Sure," Fitz said, looking interested. "Should we come along?"
"No, it'll be fine. She isn't in any danger," Robbie said.
So they escorted him out of the base, and he walked over to the ramp of the plane where Lucy was still secured. And, sure enough, Daisy was lying in the back seat, fast asleep. It was cute. Not the breaking into his car part, but the wanting to sleep in it part. And he and the Rider had a connection to Lucy, and a slightly more tenuous one to Daisy. It was easy to sense when those connections collided.
On impulse, he got into the backseat with her, laying beside her gently, trying not to wake her. And while the backseat wasn't small, it was still small enough that he was pressed front to front with her, and he realized this might have been a bad idea.
Daisy had a sudden deep inhale as her eyes fluttered open. She smiled and let out a slight moan when she saw him, body moving against his with a shudder as she stretched. "Morning."
He couldn't handle it, and she inhaled sharply as the meager layers of his sweatpants and her pajama pants couldn't conceal his arousal. When he tried to get away, she wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay. Nothing wrong with it. You're my boyfriend."
Yeah, but he was on board with taking it slow, at least until he had her in his car like this. "I should still calm down."
Her hand halted in its path to touch him, resting on his hip instead. "Right. Slow. This is why I said you'd tempt me with your misbehavior."
"Who is breaking into whose car?" Robbie asked.
"Fair," she said. "But I could hardly sneak into Fitz's room to cuddle with you last night. So I thought I'd sleep well here." That hand on his hip squeezed as she trailed a line of kisses up his neck to his ear, where she latched on gently with her teeth.
It was unfair how hard she was making him, and he felt a new heat rising as the Rider expressed interest. "It doesn't have my control, Daisy. Stop teasing," he said.
She stiffened against him. "Oh. Right." She tried to give him a bit of space, as impossible as that was, as she said, "It really likes me that way? It isn't just your reaction?"
"We were surprised too," Robbie said. They were getting to this conversation quicker than he expected. "Does that bother you?"
Daisy squirmed slightly and said, "Not in a bad way. I told you I want you both, Robbie."
Robbie pulled away to get up, saying, "I need to calm down, and we don't have a ton of time. Jemma was worried when she couldn't find you this morning, so I had them let me out here to get you. They might come looking if we take too long."
"Calming down will take too long," Daisy said. She sat up, pulling him with her, and then pushed him to sit with his back against the window. And her hand was on him, stroking him through his sweats. "A tease doesn't follow up, Robbie. I know I said we could go slow, but that doesn't mean we can't even start." She licked her lips and asked, "Can I?"
There was nothing to do but dumbly nod, because he was trying not to moan from just that simple touch. And when she pulled his sweats down to expose him, he wasn't ready for her to lean forward and put her lips on him. There was no stopping the groan that drew, and when she started taking him in her mouth, he couldn't keep quiet. "Oh, fuck!"
Her mouth was so hot and wet and better than he'd ever imagined. The Rider was along for the ride, but thankfully not trying to participate. Robbie had enough problems. Because he told himself, very sternly, that he wasn't going to cum seconds after Daisy started sucking on him. But that pressure had lightning singing along his nerves, and he felt that familiar heat as his body grew taught.
It was hard to feel ashamed when he was cumming harder than he ever had, toes curling and ineffectively stifling a cry. And Daisy didn't stop, just swallowed and sucked until he was too sensitive for it. He was shaking and gasping and now he was starting to feel that shame, because that was amazing, and he'd only lasted less than half a minute.
But Daisy just kissed him briefly before she said, "You're better than me at not getting caught." She pulled his pants back up and made to get up, but he couldn't leave it like that.
"Daisy, I'm…" What? He was sorry for having no stamina? He wished he wasn't a disappointment?
She just pinned him against the seat with a kiss, a deep one where he could taste himself on her tongue. When they parted, she said, "I was never under the impression that I had anyone but the Rider to share you with. That's fine. I like that both of you are all mine."
So Daisy had known. And, thinking back on his conversation with Fitz the previous night, he relaxed slightly. This was Daisy. She didn't want to make him feel ashamed. She wasn't judging him. She was being kind and understanding. She was making him feel better about the whole thing.
"Okay, but when we have more time, I have some things I want to try," Robbie said, because he wanted to please Daisy that way. And he was pretty sure girls were harder, so he needed to get practicing right away. He doubted she'd deny him the chance to work hard to get it right…over and over.
"That look on your face makes me want you to try them too," Daisy said, eyes gleaming with interest and passion.
The Rider didn't want to stop. Since It and Robbie had gotten closer, It shared more of the sensations than before, but It wanted Daisy for Itself too. Daisy saw the flames starting and said, "Later. Don't want Fitz and Jemma interrupting something truly sensational."
And It didn't have a choice but to calm down as she got out of the car. It settled and let Robbie take the lead. After a moment to breathe the relatively fresher air, Daisy pulled him back towards the base. She pulled her lanyard out of the pocket of her pajama pants and held it up to get in.
Fitz and Jemma were waiting, and Jemma hugged Daisy. "I was worried! I thought maybe you'd talked to Ward and gotten upset or something."
"No, just had trouble sleeping. So I went somewhere I'd feel safe and comfortable."
"Your boyfriend's car?" Fitz asked.
"Wouldn't you feel safe and comfortable in a car that lights on fire sometimes?" Daisy asked.
"No, actually, I wouldn't," Fitz said. "I'd feel the exact opposite."
"That's fair," Daisy said. "But I don't burn in their fire."
"You enjoy it," Fitz said, eyes sliding to Robbie.
"Yes, I do," Daisy said, putting an arm around Robbie and pulling herself in close, making him lift his arm to draw her in.
"Your clothes are probably ready by now," Jemma said.
Daisy said, "We'll go pick them up. Thanks, guys. Sorry I worried you." When they parted ways with the scientists, she said, "Also, you should call Gabe: those cards will be coming in the mail in the next day or two. I thought you might tell him that I got you a side-job of working on and restoring vintage cars for wealthy people."
He'd been wondering what to tell Gabe about where the money came from. It wasn't great, but it was plausible. "And it could explain future field trips with Shield."
"Exactly. Daisy shows up with another job, and you're gone the next few days while you work on a project. As long as Canelo doesn't mind, it should work. It probably wouldn't be all that often."
That actually depressed him. After things with the Angel Spawn were settled, Daisy would only be a passing presence in his life. She had Shield, and he'd never try to take away the family she'd been looking for her whole life. And she wouldn't take him from Gabe and Canelo. So long-distance was going to be hard.
A kiss was pressed to his cheek, and when he looked over at her, she said, "Let's not worry too much about the future yet. Let's enjoy right now."
Which meant, of course, as soon as he was dressed, Daisy got a message from Coulson to come to his office. When she closed the message, he stopped her before she turned her phone off. "Where did you get that?"
Her background was a picture of them sleeping together on the couch last night. His arms were loosely around her, and she was snuggled into his chest, looking content. He liked it.
"Bobbi took it sometime after the movie but before they woke us up. I was going to send it to you, just hadn't got around to it yet."
"Send it now. I want that as a background on my phone," Robbie said. A picture of him and Daisy cuddling. Gabe would flip if he saw it.
"Something nice to distract us when we're about to get in trouble," Daisy said.
Right. They were walking to Coulson's office now. "Well, how angry do you think he is?"
After thinking about it for a moment, Daisy said, "I'm not sure. I think he'll be disappointed in us, which is worse for me than him being angry."
Robbie actually kind of felt that. Coulson had been good to him, had given more of a chance to him and the Rider than pretty much anyone else would. And they compromised and nearly killed an asset. After all that faith, they were a disappointment.
They headed up the stairs towards Coulson's office, and Daisy reached for his hand before she knocked. "Come in," came Coulson's voice.
He was working on something as they entered, pen scratching. He set it down after a minute to look at them, and, yeah, disappointed was worse. "I understand why that incident happened. None of us thought about Ward when we brought Robbie and the Rider on the base. And we all know Ward would normally be fair game for the Rider. So I'm not mad. You handled it as best you could, and Ward is still alive. But now we have a problem."
"He's jealous of Robbie," Daisy said. "And he's probably mad at me for finding an actually good guy."
"We're not sure how he'll react to you," Coulson said, nodding at Daisy. "Jemma confessed about her late-night chat when May realized the cameras had been turned off, and it seems his focus is on Robbie."
If a fight to the death was on the table, they were game. But since It couldn't kill him, their options for dealing with him were limited. Although…maybe there was something.
"Richardson and his team can't even catch sight of Hydra's Enhanced. We need that intel," Coulson said. "So we need you to deal with this, Daisy. You might have to have a more personal conversation to get him to cooperate. Can you handle that?"
"Yes," she said with a sharp nod. But her hand in his squeezed tight. She wasn't as confident as she was trying to look.
"Do you think you can lie about your relationship with Robbie?" Coulson asked.
"I could try, but Ward saw us together. Words won't be able to convince him that what he saw wasn't true."
That was good, because he really didn't want to listen to her deny her feelings for him. They had enough issues with this guy without dealing with him thinking he had a chance with Daisy.
After a moment, Coulson asked, "Do you have any ideas on how to make him cooperate?"
"I think so," Daisy said. "Although the conversation might make me projectile vomit. But aside from that, I think it has a chance. As much as I hate him, I understand him too. Ward is in denial about what he's done. He doesn't want to believe he's bad."
It really didn't like hearing that. Daisy relating to the evil man. It knew better than her what was inside him. And her words were promising.
"And I think Robbie should watch from here," Coulson said.
Daisy pulled him in for a quick kiss. "Can you boys behave and wait here for me?"
"Unless you're in danger, yeah. If something might happen to you, we won't stand by."
"I know I can count on you for that," she said. "But I'll be fine. He can't get out."
Coulson offered her the tablet they'd seen last time, and with a last squeeze, she let go of his hand and left. Now he needed a different kind of strength as multiple camera feeds of the cell and the room outside it popped up on the screen in Coulson's office. Standing aside took a lot of effort, especially when it came to Daisy.
(-)
Already feeling nauseous, Daisy descended the stairs into Ward's cell. She sat down and took a deep breath before she made the wall transparent. Ward had been pacing, and when he saw her, he was immediately at the wall. "I thought you sounded fond when you were describing 'him', the guy who could definitely kill me. And it turns out to be that thing?"
"Yes, I kept It from killing you. You're welcome, Ward," Daisy said. No one but her could have saved him. And doing so had tested her new relationships. But they were stronger in the end.
"Don't pretend you did it because you care. I'm an asset."
"Then let's get to business. Hydra has an Enhanced running around South Africa. Hard to find, might have super-speed. Any ideas who it could be?" Daisy asked. When he just glared at her, she said, "What? You were the one who wanted to talk shop."
"Because that's the only way you'll talk to me," Ward said.
"What else do we have to talk about, Ward? How you betrayed us all? How you nearly killed Fitz-Simmons? How you did kill a ton of other people? How you kidnapped me? What do you want to talk about?" She knew what was coming and braced herself.
"How I feel about you. But you'll never listen, never believe me. That's why I cooperate, so you understand that I just want to help you. You told that thing that my information had saved your life, and that's what I want. I want to make sure you're safe."
"I can take care of myself," Daisy said. "And I have a whole team to back me up."
"Like that demon?" Ward demanded. "You aren't safe with that thing! The evil in Its eyes…."
Daisy smiled grimly and chuckled. "That's hatred in Its eyes, Ward. Hatred for you. And you have the distinction of being the only prey of the Rider to look into those eyes and stay alive. Thanks to me."
"Are you telling me you're in love with that freak?" Ward demanded, eyes smoldering with barely-suppressed hatred.
Her smile became softer as she said, "I care about them. We aren't rushing to the L-word. But, yes, my close and unique relationship with the Rider is how I convinced It to spare you."
"The Rider?"
"Ghost Rider. It kills all kinds of bad men with cruelty in their hearts. When It's close to any malicious person, It feels them out and finds them. That's why It busted in here yesterday."
Ward was drinking in the knowledge she was giving him, trying to make a plan of some kind. And what came out of his mouth wasn't a total surprise, but she hadn't been sure how to plan for it: "I want to talk to this 'Ghost Rider' myself."
Standing up, Daisy said, "We'll see," and made the wall opaque.
(-)
"Absolutely not," May said, eyes narrowed at Robbie. "It barely let him live the first time."
Daisy really didn't like her giving Robbie that look. "It understands now. It didn't know why It needed to leave him alive, couldn't understand why we would ever want him alive. Robbie can handle It now that It appreciates our perspective."
She looked at her boyfriend, who was having one of those internal conversations. Then he looked at them and said, "I think we can help." He met her eyes and said, "I promise we won't physically harm him, but he's definitely going to suffer."
A smile spread across her face. "Be still my heart. That sounds great."
"What are you going to do?" May asked suspiciously.
"Use what the Rider hates the most against him," Robbie said. "Can I go now?"
Coulson examined him, then said, "We're trusting you, Robbie. We're trusting the Rider."
"We won't attack him. Not physically," Robbie said.
"Go," Coulson said, and Robbie did.
"This is a bad idea," May said.
"He can do it," Daisy said. He wouldn't look that confident if he didn't have a plan.
"What does the Rider hate the most?" Coulson asked.
Good question. She'd say evil men, but that didn't make sense to use against Ward. But she wasn't worried about it anymore, now riveted on her boyfriend going to meet the man who had worn the mask of a man she thought she could love. Robbie made the wall transparent.
"Ghost Rider," Ward said. "Less impressive this time around."
Robbie just smiled. "No, I'm Robbie. Daisy's boyfriend. The Rider will come out in a bit."
"So you aren't Ghost Rider?" Ward asked, sounding skeptical.
"It's a partnership, but the Rider is the one people talk about," Robbie said.
"So you're pretending someone else is to blame for all the blood you spill?" Ward asked, and Daisy snorted, because that was rich coming from him.
Shrugging, Robbie said, "Used to be, It got control to do all the dirty work." He smiled at Ward and said, "I've only recently joined in. You're Hydra? We killed over sixty of your people in under an hour. Not impressive."
"I was Hydra because John Garret made-" Ward began.
But as Daisy had been ready for a round of backstory and excuses, Robbie's face burned away, making Ward take a step back. And the Rider was there, staring at Ward. It slowly moved to the left and to the right, the whole time staying focused on Ward while Its head tilted one way and then the other, reminding Daisy of a bird that was sizing up its prey.
"So, the demon emerges," Ward said as It moved and watched him. "You here to kill me now that Daisy isn't here to protect me? She put my life ahead of your desires. And the way she looked at you at the end…she knows you're a monster, doesn't she?"
And suddenly Robbie's flesh was regrowing. He gave Ward a look of revulsion, like he was covered in raw sewage. "Asesino, you're absolutely drenched. I'm surprised you can breathe under all that blood you're covered in."
"What do you know about it?" Ward asked, challenge in his tone.
"Well, there was a woman. Black rectangular glasses, suit, with two pink streaks in her brown hair."
Coulson's jaw dropped open. May's eyes were wide as she said, "Victoria Hand."
Robbie continued. "She thought you were on her side. She thought she'd be nice and let you do the execution she wanted. Then you shot her men before shooting her in the gut. You shot her twice more to be sure she was dead."
Ward's eyes were huge, and the unguarded look of shock was satisfying. But he shook it off and said, "Coulson told you I killed her."
"Not long after, there were two agents. Young, inexperienced. They broke the rules to save your life. And you shot both of them in the head."
Ward's confidence was faltering. "Coulson could have known."
"The Rider knows," Robbie said. "It knows about the boy in Paris. He was still a teenager. You snapped his neck. You still don't know why, just that you were told to do it."
Now the murderer was pale and looked sick. "It wasn't…they…"
"It was your hands, puta. Just like with the little blond girl. Was she even six? You put your hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. When she bit you, you bashed her head into the fancy marble coffee table. You smashed her skull in, leaving an indent of the edge in half her face. Was there anyone there to make you do it? Did anyone tell you to?"
Finally, Ward cracked. He got to his toilet and threw up, shaking and clutching himself, not turning back to Robbie.
Robbie, however, spit on the floor and glared at him. "We could burn you for years and not get vengeance for a fraction of the blood on you."
"That's what the Rider hates most," Daisy said, realizing what he meant. "The blood of the innocent. My God, the Rider is psychic! The radar that draws It to bad guys is really a psychic link that gets formed when It can sense depravity and guilt, or something like that. It knows they're bad because It sees all the crimes they committed."
"It's the only thing that makes sense on how Robbie could know all that. The Rider saw it and shared it with him," Coulson said.
"Hell of an interrogation technique," May said, watching Ward curling up on himself.
Daisy just went out of the office and down the stairs and down the hall to the cell. She needed to see her boyfriend.
(-)
Robbie felt the Rider's flames, and the only reason they kept them in was their promise to Daisy and Coulson. He knew the Rider was aware of what kind of crimes Its prey committed, but Robbie didn't realize how much detail It got. They had the idea after Daisy said that Ward didn't want to believe he was bad to shove in his face the kind of filth he was.
But he didn't know how seeing those things would change him. Those had been the instances the Rider shared with him, and thank God It had kept the multitude of other images to Itself. Especially the little girl was sickening.
"Robbie," Daisy said, calling him from the top of the stairs.
He managed to keep his composure until the door closed behind him, but then he was wrapping himself around her, shaking slightly as his eyes burned with tears and his throat burned with bile. But he refused to let anything escape. Blinking and swallowing, he calmed himself. Daisy holding him tight and rubbing his back was helpful with that.
"Hey, I'm sorry you had to do that. You did a great job. But you don't have to do anymore; we can go relax-" Daisy was saying until they both heard something. Her name. Ward was calling her name. "Just wait here," she said, opening the door.
"Leave it cracked," Robbie said. He wanted to hear this, but he didn't want to see that hombre malvado ever again. He doubted he'd be that lucky, but he at least didn't want to see him anymore today.
"What do you want?" Daisy asked, voice lashing with hostility.
"If the Enhanced is located in South Africa, her name is Makena. It isn't speed; she had cloaking technology fused into her skin. There's a way to short it out." Ward's voice was hoarse and quiet.
It paid off. Maybe that would help him sleep tonight, but he doubted it.
(-)
After making sure Coulson had all the details of the Enhanced that Ward had given her, Daisy went to get Robbie somewhere quiet. He had waited in the hallway, not wanting to talk about it, and now Daisy was pulling him to her room. She told Coulson that they needed to take a nap and relax, so he knew only to bother them in an emergency.
She felt some of the tension leave Robbie when the door closed behind them. She helped him take off his jacket while he kicked off his shoes. Seeing those things had hit him hard, and he wasn't talking much. But she wouldn't push him. "Come on, let's lie down. Cuddles and a nap should help, I hope."
Daisy slid out of her shoes and pulled him onto her bed, pulling the covers aside so they could get in. And when they were snuggled front to front, Daisy shifted so his ear would be over her heart. She let her hands stroke over his head and neck and shoulders, and he slowly untensed.
Not long after that, he went limp as his breathing evened out. Good. And she would need to keep herself in check when they woke up. She hadn't meant to jump to giving him a blowjob, but when she woke up with him pressed to her in his backseat…she couldn't help herself, especially when he got hard. She really did have a car fetish. But that was perfect for a guy like Robbie.
She'd seen the look on his face after it ended so quickly. She never wanted him to feel like that, just wanted to make him feel good, desirable…loved.
No, that was on the back-burner. No need to focus on words. Daisy needed to show Robbie how important he was to her. But she was drifting too, so comfortable in bed with him cuddled against her. Perfect. As horrible as the world was, when they were together like this, it was perfect.
(-)
So, that shit got dark. On the plus side, we got our first taste of smut, and the next chapter starts off with two servings of it. Pretty sure you'll love it.
Love to know what you think about this, if you would be inclined to leave a comment. But, comment or not, I hope you enjoyed this and look forward to more.
