Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fic: Drift, Adrift
Story Title: Drift, Adrift
Fandom(s): Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Whumptober 2024 Day 2: Trust Issues
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,373
Summary: Robbie pays Daisy a visit after Coulson’s death.
Part of her is happy to see him. It’s been a year since last he stood in front of her. A very, very long year.
Part of her is surprised. Vanishing through a hellfire chain portal seemed like a pretty one-way ticket.
Part of her wants to slap him, because -
“You knew! You fucking knew!”
Robbie watches her neutrally as she storms down the hallway. At least he doesn’t pretend to not realize what she’s talking about, she’ll give him that. “I couldn’t tell you.”
“Oh, no, you really could have.” The agents who had been milling around wisely retreat in self-preservation.
“I was in another dimension, I couldn’t have even if I wanted to.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. You could’ve found a way. Like telling me before you left for that other dimension.”
“He asked me not to.”
“I don’t care if he begged you on his knees. You should have told me. Or are you going to say keeping secrets from me was part of Coulson’s deal, too?”
“No, that was my choice, just like it was Coulson’s not to tell you himself.”
“I already got mad at him, and now he’s dead. You’re not. Did you think you could just waltz right in and everything would be fine?”
“I’m not gonna apologize for making a promise to a man who prevented a magic android from framing you to subjugate humanity.” He sounds exhausted. Well, join the club. Her year hasn’t been rosy either.
“I trusted you when no one else did. I vouched for you. Then I find out about Coulson’s deal and that you knew about it? I don’t care what you promised him, that’s not something you get to keep to yourself. Not from me.”
“Not from you? My life doesn’t revolve around you, Daisy. I don’t owe you anything, I never asked you to vouch for me, and I’m not gonna be baited into a guilt trip.”
“You should feel guilty.”
“There’s a long list of things I should feel guilty for. That promise isn’t one of them. Don’t take your grief out on me.”
“I’m not taking anything out on you. I’m holding you accountable.”
“You’re projecting. Didn’t even say hello before yelling at me. It’s not me you’re really mad at.”
“I am very mad at you, actually.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be. Coulson made the deal.”
“With you.”
“With Ghost Rider.”
“Tell the son of a bitch to face me then, I’ll yell at him, too.”
“I’m sure that would be very productive.”
“You think I’m scared of him?”
“I think you’re lashing out at someone you know you can’t hurt.”
“Wanna test that theory?”
“Do you?”
The look of pity on his face is enough for her to quake him against the wall and pin him there. If he called upon Ghost Rider, he could probably break her hold, but he stays put. No flesh melting off bone, no flame pushing through his skull like exhaust. Like this is all just a game. It’s infuriating.
Robbie grimaces at the pressure against his chest and the unforgiving concrete at his back. “You treat all your friends like this?”
“Friends? We aren’t friends.” She walks up to him to put her hand directly on his chest. He lets out a quiet grunt of discomfort. “A friend would’ve helped us get back from the future.”
“I can’t time travel or -”
“A friend would’ve closed the Fear Dimension.”
“I had my own dimensions to -”
“A friend would have helped stop Graviton.”
“I didn’t know about -”
“A friend would’ve told me!” Her voice hitches on the words.
Robbie sighs. “Look, I asked Coulson if he was going to. I thought he should have.”
“Oh, don’t shift the blame.”
“I’m not shifting anything.”
“Yes, you are! You just don’t want to take responsibility.”
“I don’t have responsibility to take. Coulson’s the one who suggested the move, and Ghost Rider’s the one who accepted the deal. If you haven’t noticed, he doesn’t bend to my will. I have to bend to his.”
“You didn’t with Mace. Gabe got you to -”
A ring of amber glows to life in Robbie’s eyes. In an instant, he fights through the quake. It goes no further than that, but the reminder of his power is there all the same. Voice low, he warns, “Keep my brother out of this.”
Okay, maybe on that one thing he has a point. Weaponizing Gabe won’t get her anywhere, friend or not.
“I’m saying you could have tried harder. You know what Coulson meant to me.”
“What other option was there? What was your plan for taking down Aida?”
“Well, I -”
“There was none. The Rider jumping into someone else to surprise her was the only way.”
“It didn’t have to be Coulson.”
“Who, then? You?”
“Maybe! Fitz is good enough at hacking to do what I did, and Coulson could’ve helped Simmons.”
“It was his choice, Daisy. He chose to take on the Rider, he chose not to tell you about the deal, and he chose to ask me not to tell you either. That’s just the way it is. You getting pissed at me isn’t going to change any of it.”
Daisy grits her teeth. He’s right that she can’t change anything, but that doesn’t mean she can’t still be furious about it. “Why are you even here? After everything, why is now when you show up?”
“Because the Rider wanted to be sure Coulson held up his end of the deal. That he didn’t figure out some new way to extend his life.”
“He - you’re here to dig up his corpse?” Daisy asks in queasy disbelief. “I hope you know how to swim because you’re gonna have to wade through a whole lot of the South Pacific.”
“I know. The Rider’s satisfied.”
“Then why the hell are you here?”
“Because I’m not satisfied.”
“I told you, Coulson’s not -”
“It’s not Coulson I care about.”
Daisy goes silent, her chest heaving. She knows what he’s not saying. She’s known it from the moment he entered the hallway. He has no other reason to put up with her being argumentative, nor a reason to show up at the base at all. Except knowing about it and dealing with it are two different things, and dealing with it is not something she has the capacity to do.
“I didn’t ask you to come, and I don’t want your pity,” she snaps. “Leave me alone.”
“It’s not pity. And I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“This.”
She protests as he wraps his arms around her, wholly not goddamn interested in what he wants. Entirely aware that with the creature currently making its home inside his body nothing she does do could actually move him if he’s not inclined to let himself be moved, she nonetheless gets her elbows between them and tries to push him away.
He permits only some of it, leaving his hands on her shoulders. The weight and heat of them feels both grounding and claustrophobic. “Get off me.”
“Daisy.” Robbie moves one of his hands up to run his thumb along her cheekbone. “It’s okay.”
“What is okay? There’s nothing about this that’s okay.”
“It’s okay to break.”
There isn’t pity in his eyes. What there is, is sympathy, hurt, for her. Which only serves to piss her off - what right does he have, he of all people, to feel that when he’s the one who kept the cause of that hurt from her in the first place?
“It’s not,” she objects. Her voice is thicker than she’d like it to be. It’s unfair for him to be here, let alone trying to comfort her. It’s unfair, and he can’t - he doesn’t even know her - he hasn’t been around - he left -
Her protests are weak this time as he pulls her once more into him. She doesn’t want his touch, and yet, she’s craved it. It’s the worst possible situation for him to come back for, the worst timing, but all the same … he’s come back. Coulson’s gone but Robbie isn’t, he’s here, even if only for a brief moment.
“I miss him,” she whispers, and breaks.
Fandom(s): Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Whumptober 2024 Day 2: Trust Issues
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,373
Summary: Robbie pays Daisy a visit after Coulson’s death.
Part of her is happy to see him. It’s been a year since last he stood in front of her. A very, very long year.
Part of her is surprised. Vanishing through a hellfire chain portal seemed like a pretty one-way ticket.
Part of her wants to slap him, because -
“You knew! You fucking knew!”
Robbie watches her neutrally as she storms down the hallway. At least he doesn’t pretend to not realize what she’s talking about, she’ll give him that. “I couldn’t tell you.”
“Oh, no, you really could have.” The agents who had been milling around wisely retreat in self-preservation.
“I was in another dimension, I couldn’t have even if I wanted to.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. You could’ve found a way. Like telling me before you left for that other dimension.”
“He asked me not to.”
“I don’t care if he begged you on his knees. You should have told me. Or are you going to say keeping secrets from me was part of Coulson’s deal, too?”
“No, that was my choice, just like it was Coulson’s not to tell you himself.”
“I already got mad at him, and now he’s dead. You’re not. Did you think you could just waltz right in and everything would be fine?”
“I’m not gonna apologize for making a promise to a man who prevented a magic android from framing you to subjugate humanity.” He sounds exhausted. Well, join the club. Her year hasn’t been rosy either.
“I trusted you when no one else did. I vouched for you. Then I find out about Coulson’s deal and that you knew about it? I don’t care what you promised him, that’s not something you get to keep to yourself. Not from me.”
“Not from you? My life doesn’t revolve around you, Daisy. I don’t owe you anything, I never asked you to vouch for me, and I’m not gonna be baited into a guilt trip.”
“You should feel guilty.”
“There’s a long list of things I should feel guilty for. That promise isn’t one of them. Don’t take your grief out on me.”
“I’m not taking anything out on you. I’m holding you accountable.”
“You’re projecting. Didn’t even say hello before yelling at me. It’s not me you’re really mad at.”
“I am very mad at you, actually.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be. Coulson made the deal.”
“With you.”
“With Ghost Rider.”
“Tell the son of a bitch to face me then, I’ll yell at him, too.”
“I’m sure that would be very productive.”
“You think I’m scared of him?”
“I think you’re lashing out at someone you know you can’t hurt.”
“Wanna test that theory?”
“Do you?”
The look of pity on his face is enough for her to quake him against the wall and pin him there. If he called upon Ghost Rider, he could probably break her hold, but he stays put. No flesh melting off bone, no flame pushing through his skull like exhaust. Like this is all just a game. It’s infuriating.
Robbie grimaces at the pressure against his chest and the unforgiving concrete at his back. “You treat all your friends like this?”
“Friends? We aren’t friends.” She walks up to him to put her hand directly on his chest. He lets out a quiet grunt of discomfort. “A friend would’ve helped us get back from the future.”
“I can’t time travel or -”
“A friend would’ve closed the Fear Dimension.”
“I had my own dimensions to -”
“A friend would have helped stop Graviton.”
“I didn’t know about -”
“A friend would’ve told me!” Her voice hitches on the words.
Robbie sighs. “Look, I asked Coulson if he was going to. I thought he should have.”
“Oh, don’t shift the blame.”
“I’m not shifting anything.”
“Yes, you are! You just don’t want to take responsibility.”
“I don’t have responsibility to take. Coulson’s the one who suggested the move, and Ghost Rider’s the one who accepted the deal. If you haven’t noticed, he doesn’t bend to my will. I have to bend to his.”
“You didn’t with Mace. Gabe got you to -”
A ring of amber glows to life in Robbie’s eyes. In an instant, he fights through the quake. It goes no further than that, but the reminder of his power is there all the same. Voice low, he warns, “Keep my brother out of this.”
Okay, maybe on that one thing he has a point. Weaponizing Gabe won’t get her anywhere, friend or not.
“I’m saying you could have tried harder. You know what Coulson meant to me.”
“What other option was there? What was your plan for taking down Aida?”
“Well, I -”
“There was none. The Rider jumping into someone else to surprise her was the only way.”
“It didn’t have to be Coulson.”
“Who, then? You?”
“Maybe! Fitz is good enough at hacking to do what I did, and Coulson could’ve helped Simmons.”
“It was his choice, Daisy. He chose to take on the Rider, he chose not to tell you about the deal, and he chose to ask me not to tell you either. That’s just the way it is. You getting pissed at me isn’t going to change any of it.”
Daisy grits her teeth. He’s right that she can’t change anything, but that doesn’t mean she can’t still be furious about it. “Why are you even here? After everything, why is now when you show up?”
“Because the Rider wanted to be sure Coulson held up his end of the deal. That he didn’t figure out some new way to extend his life.”
“He - you’re here to dig up his corpse?” Daisy asks in queasy disbelief. “I hope you know how to swim because you’re gonna have to wade through a whole lot of the South Pacific.”
“I know. The Rider’s satisfied.”
“Then why the hell are you here?”
“Because I’m not satisfied.”
“I told you, Coulson’s not -”
“It’s not Coulson I care about.”
Daisy goes silent, her chest heaving. She knows what he’s not saying. She’s known it from the moment he entered the hallway. He has no other reason to put up with her being argumentative, nor a reason to show up at the base at all. Except knowing about it and dealing with it are two different things, and dealing with it is not something she has the capacity to do.
“I didn’t ask you to come, and I don’t want your pity,” she snaps. “Leave me alone.”
“It’s not pity. And I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“This.”
She protests as he wraps his arms around her, wholly not goddamn interested in what he wants. Entirely aware that with the creature currently making its home inside his body nothing she does do could actually move him if he’s not inclined to let himself be moved, she nonetheless gets her elbows between them and tries to push him away.
He permits only some of it, leaving his hands on her shoulders. The weight and heat of them feels both grounding and claustrophobic. “Get off me.”
“Daisy.” Robbie moves one of his hands up to run his thumb along her cheekbone. “It’s okay.”
“What is okay? There’s nothing about this that’s okay.”
“It’s okay to break.”
There isn’t pity in his eyes. What there is, is sympathy, hurt, for her. Which only serves to piss her off - what right does he have, he of all people, to feel that when he’s the one who kept the cause of that hurt from her in the first place?
“It’s not,” she objects. Her voice is thicker than she’d like it to be. It’s unfair for him to be here, let alone trying to comfort her. It’s unfair, and he can’t - he doesn’t even know her - he hasn’t been around - he left -
Her protests are weak this time as he pulls her once more into him. She doesn’t want his touch, and yet, she’s craved it. It’s the worst possible situation for him to come back for, the worst timing, but all the same … he’s come back. Coulson’s gone but Robbie isn’t, he’s here, even if only for a brief moment.
“I miss him,” she whispers, and breaks.