Work Text:
54: "You're a nerd." (Quakerider)
The quinjet docked at base and the team scrambled, clearing the way for a furious Robbie, carrying an injured Daisy who was fading in and out of consciousness. Jemma was close behind giving orders to agents standing by to treat her.
"I thought your gauntlets were supposed to prevent things like this from happening." May's voice carried into their lab that functioned as a medical wing. Fitz fumbled with words, trying to formulate his response.
"How was I supposed to know the effects could spread beyond her arms? What do you want? We put her in Stark's bloody armor? Because at the rate her powers are growing, that's what it's going to take." Fitz threw his hands over his head in exasperation, leaning on a table in the lab. May looked like she was about to respond when Robbie joined them, his jaw set in a hard line, glaring at them both.
"What the hell happened, Fitz?" He pulled his leather gloves off, tossing them on the table with unnecessary force. Fitz flinched and May raised a brow at them both, answering for the frazzled engineer.
"As best we can tell, her powers are growing at a rate the gauntlets can't contain. That's why the bone in her leg snapped." Robbie stared at her before turning on his heel with the intent to interrogate Simmons about Daisy's status. The beeping of the medical and scientific equipment put the demon in his head on edge but he wasn't going anywhere until he knew Daisy was in the clear, and preferably conscious, so she could explain to him why the fuck she thought extending herself like that was a good idea.
Robbie hovered in the doorway to their medical wing, listening to Jemma give some kind of lecture on inhuman biology to the visibly uncomfortable agents standing on the other side of Daisy's hospital bed. He could see her leg had been successfully cast, that was good, at least. But she was asleep and still wearing her gauntlets, probably as a precaution. He glowered. The agents facing him shifted under his stare and Simmons turned to see what was distracting them from her all-important Bio lesson.
"Oh! Robbie!" Her face fell as she saw his leer. She glanced at Daisy and waved, dismissing the agents that clearly did not want caught in Robbie's crossfire. Once they were gone, she grabbed a tablet from a nearby counter, pulling up details to answer the question he didn't need to ask. "It wasn't just her leg, there's fractures in a couple of ribs and there are micro-fractures in her arms that look like they've been there for a while. I think her power has been increasing beyond the gauntlets' control for some time and this was just, quite literally, a breaking point."
Robbie stared past the British scientist to his partner, recalling the last few months, trying to think if there were any moments he'd missed, any times she'd winced or been in pain that might have been a sign of what was happening with her abilities. He shook his head - he would have noticed. He always noticed.
"I didn't know." Simmons stepped forward to put her hand on his shoulder.
"There was no way you could have. None of us knew. All we can do now is help her heal and get back in control." The biologist removed her hand and turned her attention back to the tablet she was holding, her hand darting quickly to things he couldn't quite see. He just nodded, eyes downcast at the floor. Simmons squeaked and dashed out the door to where Fitz and May appeared to still be arguing over whether the gauntlets had malfunctioned. Robbie wondered if he should follow, but she hadn't said anything, so it obviously didn't concern him. He dragged a chair from the corner of the room over to the wall where the agents had been standing and listening to Jem's lecture before. It gave him a good view of the whole lab and was still within reach of Daisy if she needed him.
He watched Fitzsimmons exchange excitedly about whatever idea Simmons had come up with, both using their hands to talk just as much as their mouths. May was still observing as well. She'd likely report back to Coulson on how Daisy was doing and what the plan was as soon as the science twins figured it out. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. It had been one hell of a mission. If he was going to be here for a while, at least he could get some rest.
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A change in the beeps woke him. It aggravated the demon to begin with, but a change in the pattern made it worse. He opened his eyes, looking around the lab. Fitzsimmons were working at their stations, oblivious to the beeping that was making the creature in his head want to tear every machine in the room apart. Robbie turned his attention to Daisy. She was stirring, trying to move her leg that was in the cast and elevated. She didn't handle feeling constricted well, this was going to go poorly.
"Hey, Daisy." She tossed her head, hearing but not quite waking. "Daisy!" She jumped, but she opened her eyes, slowly registering where she was.
"Hey," she smiled at him as best she could. "What happened?"
"You took out the whole fucking building, fractured your ribs, leg, and Simmons says there's micro-fractures in your arms too, even with the gauntlets." He glared at her.
"What?" She made a move to sit up, failing and laying back again. "How is that even possible?" Robbie shrugged.
"Hell if I know. They said the fractures in your arms aren't from tonight. It sounds like your powers have been growing for a while now and the gauntlets can't handle it anymore." He watched her reaction carefully. She sighed in frustration, but there wasn't much surprise. "So you knew your powers were getting stronger." Daisy met his glare dead on, not even blinking.
"I could tell something was different, yeah. But I didn't think it was enough to do this," she held up her gauntleted arms, "again." She made another exasperated sound, turning away to face the wall. There was a pull in his chest at the pain in her eyes. She wasn't worried about the broken bones.
"Dais," he leaned over, trying to get her to look at him. "What is it?" She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back tears. He'd seen her do it before. She met his gaze, looking almost scared.
"What do I do if I can't get this under control?" Robbie shook his head. He leaned forward in his chair, resting his hand on hers. Her brown eyes widened a bit, but he was grateful she didn't pull away.
"Fitzsimmons is working on a solution, and if anyone can figure it out, the science twins can." She laughed, and then cringed at the pain in her ribs. He smirked. "Besides, you're a nerd, right? Even if you can't use your powers. You can always go back to hacking."
"You're such an ass, Reyes." Robbie was almost glad she was injured, because she definitely would have hit him for that, but her smile was worth it.