TW for descriptions of pain

They had a good time that night, sharing the greasy pepperoni and banana pepper pizza that Quake had picked. They chatted a little while they ate and discovered that they both enjoyed the somewhat campy, old sci-fi TV show "Expedition: Space." Quake had called it 'vintage' and laughed good-naturedly when Melinda confessed she had first watched it as a child, when it originally aired, and Melinda had teased Quake when she admitted to dressing up in a homemade SpaceFleet uniform for Halloween in her younger days, drawing a badge on the front of a yellow sweatshirt with a permanent marker.

"My foster parents were pissed that I 'ruined' a perfectly good sweatshirt, but I feel like I improved it," Quake grinned. "Honestly, I wish I still had that sweatshirt."

"Foster parents?" Melinda asked.

"Yeah, one set of many," Quake said off-handedly. "The Pattersons. They weren't too bad, all things considered, but I didn't last long there."

"How long were you in foster care?" Melinda wanted to know. She tried to ask casually, hoping that Quake wouldn't mind sharing the highly personal information. She genuinely wanted to know – it was kind of nice getting to know the kid – but there was also a part of her that immediately began wondering if SHIELD had taken to recruiting foster kids.

"My whole life." Quake shifted a little, turning her gaze toward the windows and studying the night skyline. "My mother had to give me up when I was a baby. She left me a letter explaining that she loved me but couldn't take care of me, yada yada. She hoped I'd get adopted, but things didn't really work out that way."

"So, your parents, who kicked you out two years ago for being Enhanced…?"

"Foster parents, yeah. The Brodys. I had been there for a while. I thought it might have been the one that stuck – that's why I tried so hard to hide my powers – but obviously that's not quite what happened."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Quake said quickly. "Things worked out. I get to be a superhero, now. Every kid's dream, right?"

"Right."

"I'm kind of tired," Quake said after some silence had passed between them. "Long day, and taking CalciFi always wears me out. Hard work repairing your own bones, you know?"

"Of course." Melinda stood and began clearing the plates away. "Make sure you put some ice on your nose. And I have some tiger balm if you want it. I can leave it in the bathroom for you."

"Thanks. See you in the morning."

Melinda hummed her agreement, and Quake disappeared into her room with an ice pack from the freezer.

Once Melinda had finished cleaning up the kitchen, she drifted back into her office. It was on the edge of getting late, but she was expecting the files from the ATCU tonight, and she wanted to review them as soon as possible, in case the job was time sensitive.

When she powered on her computer system, screen panels popping out of the wall and keyboard flipping out of the desktop, there was a file drop from Banks waiting for her. She started to scan through the briefing, massaging her knee absent-mindedly as she read.

Ros wanted someone to infiltrate the central offices of Cybertek, a weapons and tech developer that often sold its gear into the hands of the highest bidders, and track down information on their buyers and their shareholders. Ros's files explained that the ATCU was investigating Cybertek, trying to determine which deep pockets were funding their R&D and who benefitted from Cybertek's lack of pickiness when it came to clientele.

'Discretion is paramount,' the files read. 'Cybertek cannot know they are being investigated, nor can their benefactors. Cybertek is not the ultimate target, just the middleman. Tipping them off in any capacity will compromise the larger investigation.'

Melinda poured over the files for the next hour, studying the building layout, mapping possible points of entry and exit, picking through information that might help her gain access to the Cybertek computer system or financial records once inside. It would be a complicated job, to be sure, but not anything she couldn't handle without the proper preparation. She felt sure that she would be able to pull it off before the week was over.

She was so deeply focused on the files that she almost didn't hear the faint groan that came from somewhere on the other side of the office door. It was quiet, but enough of a departure from her normally silent apartment that her ears caught it. Then her senses were flooded with an overwhelming surge of pain, and she almost doubled over at her desk.

Breathing deeply through the feeling, Melinda forced herself to stand, and she quickly moved through the apartment until she found the source of the pain that was radiating over her. Quake's door.

Melinda paused for just a moment, listening at the closed door. She heard another groan, louder now that she was close by, and another wave of pain rolled out from behind the door. Her knees nearly buckled, but she stayed upright until the wave passed.

Throwing caution to the wind and not thinking much about the kid's privacy, Melinda shouldered the door open and immediately scanned the room for threats. No one was there. Just a huddled lump under a blanket on the bed, moving in time with the sound of labored breathing that now filled Melinda's ears.

"Hey," Melinda said softly. She reached out to give Quake's shoulder a shake and immediately regretted it as the feeling of pain that was emanating from the kid intensified with her touch. It felt like all of Melinda's insides were on fire. Her bones felt sharp and hot inside her body, like super-heated shards of jagged metal or glass tearing at her from the inside out, and the muscles in her stomach cramped fiercely.

"Jesus, kid. Hey… Daisy. Daisy?" Melinda had removed her hand as fast as she could, but she needed to get Quake's attention. Needed to make sure she was okay.

Slowly, the lump shifted as Quake rolled over, pushing the blanket away and blinking thickly up at Melinda. She was taking deep breaths, a sickly sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead, and she wore a grimace on her face, but she didn't seem as close to the brink of collapse as Melinda felt.

"What are you—?"

"What's going on?" Melinda asked, trying to catch her own breath after the onslaught of feeling she'd picked up from Quake. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Quake asked defensively. Melinda watched as Quake very intentionally arranged her face to mask any discomfort, swiped away the traces of pain from her eyes, and forced herself to sit upright. She could feel how much effort it took.

"You're hurt."

"Sorry," Quake said immediately, looking embarrassed. "I was trying to keep quiet, but I'm not used to anyone being around, I guess. I'm fine. Sorry for waking you up."

"You didn't wake me up," Melinda told her. "And you're not fine, I can feel… tell. Something's wrong."

"It's just the CalciFi," Quake shook her head. "It doesn't have the most comfortable side effects. It's kind of like… did you ever get growing pains as a kid? It's kind of like that, maybe a little worse, and sort of crampy, too."

"Bullshit," Melinda said without thinking. "It feels worse than Kree torture."

Quake narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to one side. "How would you know?"

Before Melinda could come up with an answer, Quake winced and folded in on herself slightly, letting out a little hiss and sending a fresh blast of agony Melinda's way. Melinda had to reach out and grab the bedpost to steady herself.

"Holy shit," Quake said. "You can feel it? What… how…?"

"My powers," Melinda explained through gritted teeth. "Empath."

"You never mentioned that before."

"Never came up." Melinda straightened up as the pain lapped away. "Not as obvious as super strength, but pretty useful from time to time."

"No kidding."

"How can you stand this?" asked Melinda. "I've put up with a lot of pain, but this…"

"You just get used to it," Quake shrugged. "I guess your pain threshold just changes, eventually. And it beats having the bones in my arms shatter apart any time I use my powers."

"Still… this is excruciating. Isn't there anything that helps?"

"I'm not supposed to take any other medicines while the CalciFi is working," Quake shook her head. She looked like she was about to say something else, but thought better of it. Melinda felt her embarrassment blurring at the edge of her consciousness.

"What? There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Jesus, you really are an empath." The embarrassment intensified.

"Are you going to tell me what helps or not?"

"It's stupid," Quake muttered.

Melinda rolled her eyes. "Being in this much pain is stupid, especially if we can ease it."

"Pressure," Quake finally admitted. "Pressure helps. That's why I was all curled up. That's usually the best I can do when I'm by myself."

Melinda thought for a minute before motioning toward Quake and asking, "May I?"

Quake hesitated, then nodded. She wriggled over to one side of the bed to make room for Melinda, who climbed in somewhat awkwardly.

It took some maneuvering, but soon Melinda had wrapped her arms around Quake, trying to spread out the contact points across Quake's arms and back as best she could. Melinda had never been much of a hugger, but she squeezed gently, and she could feel the tension start to slip from Quake's muscles almost right away.

Her own body was barraged with Quake's pain at the touch, but this time it wasn't as acute as it had been before, and the powerful rush of relief that she could sense coming from the kid was enough to convince her it was worth enduring the extra discomfort.

"Oh my god," Quake breathed, letting out a sound that was half sigh and half sob. Out of the corner of her eye, Melinda could see tears gathering in Quake's eyes. Eventually, a few slid down her face as she grew more and more relaxed. "That feels so much better."

"Good, I'm glad."

"Super strength, super pressure," Quake mumbled. Her words were slurred slightly, and Melinda could tell that her exhausted body was finally succumbing to the sleep it needed to heal but hadn't been able to reach when she had been hurting so badly.

Quake slipped away into sleep soon after, and Melinda sat there in the bed, happy she had been able to help, but trying desperately not to think about the last time she had cradled a hurting hero in her arms until she, too, finally fell into a fitful sleep.

It was early when Melinda woke the next morning, watery grey dawn light streaming through the gap in the curtains. Quake was still in her arms, curled somewhat into her side and nestled there like one of those viral videos where the puppy ends up befriending the grizzly bear or something equally ridiculous and saccharine. Melinda could feel that her pain had dimmed to a dull ache, more like sore muscles than last night's searing agony, so she didn't feel too badly about easing herself gingerly out of bed and leaving Quake alone for a few more hours of sleep.

Melinda ran through an abbreviated tai chi session, showered, and changed into fresh clothes, which felt especially good since she had slept in her clothes from the day before. Her neck was stiff as she moved through her morning routine, not particularly happy about the odd angle in which she had held it through night, but the hot steam of the shower and a couple of aspirin helped enough.

It wasn't too much longer before Quake emerged from her room, dressed again in her tac suit and boots, this time with both gauntlets strapped over her arms. Her lip looked better, just a small cut that had scabbed over, and the bruising had softened on her nose, although it still looked quite tender. She seemed otherwise normal, though, like she wasn't in pain at all and like the previous night had never happened. In the interest of sparing them both from the embarrassment of talking about their shared vulnerability last night, Melinda followed suit and acted like nothing was different.

"SHIELD again, today?"

"Well, it's kind of my job," Quake cracked, a lopsided little grin spreading across her face. "I'd be in hot water if I didn't show up. At least today's briefing isn't so early."

"What about school?" Melinda asked. "Surely you don't go to SHIELD every single day…"

Quake frowned. "Look, I didn't exactly spell it out yesterday, but I guess I will now. School's not really my thing. Never was. So when I started over and started working for SHIELD, I just sort of… stopped going."

"You're a dropout?"

"I guess, if you want to get technical about it," Quake grumbled. "SHIELD thinks I'm an adult. I can't exactly be running off to algebra in the middle of a mission."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you how important it is to have a high school diploma?"

"According to my records, I do have one," Quake shrugged, a little more proud of herself than Melinda would have liked.

Melinda pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's not just about… you know what, never mind. It's none of my business."

"No, it's not."

"I just want you to have something to solid to fall back on if—"

"If what, I wash out of SHIELD?" Quake asked, anger crackling just under the surface.

"No, that's not what I…" Melinda let out a frustrated huff. She didn't know how this had turned into an argument. Was that some secret superpower that teenagers possessed? Were they falling back into their familiar roles as adversaries? Was it just because she was so out of practice when it came to social interaction? "I'm not trying to argue with you."

Quake was quiet for minute, chastened by Melinda's retreat. "I'm not either."

"Maybe now isn't the best time for this conversation," Melinda suggested. "It's early, we're both trying to get to work. Neither one of us got a good night's sleep last night…"

Quake looked sheepish and immediately turned her eyes downward, fiddling with a clasp on her gauntlet. "Sorry about that. It won't happen again."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Melinda said simply. "You needed help, I was able to do something. I was happy to do it."

"Not very villainous of you."

"Maybe I just like to keep you on your toes," Melinda smirked. That got a laugh out of Quake.

"I should go. There's this new villain, a big one that's SHIELD's been tracking for months, and I think our team might be close to a break in the case. I can't miss briefing."

"Of course," Melinda nodded. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I've got time for the train today. Thanks, though."

Quake bustled around for a moment more, throwing her sweatshirt on over the tac suit again, grabbing a banana off the counter. She paused briefly in front of the elevator door and turned back to look at Melinda.

"Hey, June?"

"Hmm?"

"I, um…" Quake's face flushed, and she shifted her weight back and forth, clearly wrestling with whether or not to say what was on her mind. "Well, it's just… you said neither one of us got good sleep, but I thought you should know… I slept better last night than I have in… in a long time. So I wanted to say thanks, I guess."

Melinda blinked, more than a little surprised, before forcing her mouth open to speak. "You're welcome, Daisy."

Even more surprising? Was just how much she meant it.