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It was girls’ night out. At least, that’s what Daisy wanted to think. In reality, she and Mack were sent on a mission to investigate another possible Inhuman, and that involved going to a bar. So yeah, Daisy was really the only girl at this girls’ night out, and it wasn’t a night out anyway…but she liked to think it was.
Recently, there had been reports of a man showing off to women by bending or breaking strong items with his bare hands. He was doing so in a local bar in New Jersey, showing up nearly every night to impress another girl. He’d bend utensils, cell phones, even flatten rings with two of his fingers. With all the news coverage and panic about the Inhuman outbreak, someone had witnessed the man and reported him.
“Such a show-off,” Mack mumbled as he and Daisy entered the bar. There he was, Clyde Ridley, the strong-man. He was sitting at a bar stool, shirtless, his massive muscles on display for all to see. He was facing a young ginger woman, who was in awe as he bent her fork in half with only his index finger and thumb. When he was done, the woman began to clap and squeal in excitement. People around him began to shout words of praise or even applaud, and Clyde took it all in, a smug smile across his lips.
Daisy rolled her eyes. “He has Inhuman powers, and this is how he uses them?” she whispered to her partner as they tried to blend in with the crowd.
As the noise began to die down, Clyde looked up and noticed the agents who were stealthily approaching him. He made extended eye contact with Daisy, and his expression turned serious. He turned to the redhead woman, giving her a smile and a squeeze on the shoulder before standing up and approaching the agents.
Daisy swallowed, a little frightened by the sheer size of the man. He was even bigger when he was standing up. Her partner Mack was nothing to sneeze at, but Clyde was massive . He had to be at least six foot five.
“Impressive demonstration,” Daisy said to him, plastering on a sarcastic smile.
Clyde eyed the pair, unamused, then pointed to the bar door with his chin. “Let’s take it outside.”
Mack and Daisy shared a glance before following the man out the side door and into the alley. Daisy turned around and noticed the three bigger men who’d followed them outside. She assumed they were Clyde’s goons.
“You all want trouble?” Clyde asked the pair. He smirked at them, cracking his knuckles then his neck. “Because I can give you trouble.”
“No,” Mack replied. “We’ve just come to have a chat.”
“A chat?” Clyde laughed. “Oh, really?”
“Yes,” Daisy said. “We want to assess how you’re processing this big change in your life, and make sure you know what you’re doing.” She was careful with her words, hoping to sound welcoming.
Clyde stared down at Daisy, amused. He laughed, and all his goons with him. Both agents became on-edge, worried whether he was more hostile than they’d expected.
“Make sure I know what I’m doing? Sweetheart, I know exactly what I’m doing. I earned these muscles,” Clyde said to Daisy, grinning creepily at her. He nodded to his goons, who immediately took out their weapons. One had a dagger, another a handgun, and the third had brass knuckles. Daisy and Mack immediately took out their ICERs. They kept their backs to each other, Mack’s gun trained on Clyde and the brass knuckle goon and Daisy’s ICER trained on the other two goons.
Mack tapped the comms in his ear. “He’s hostile,” he said under his breath.
Clyde was chuckling. “So are you all FBI, or what?”
“No, but we’re even better than that,” Mack replied. In an instant, he shot Clyde twice, immediately rendering him unconscious. The goon attacked Mack, delivering a painful punch to his jaw. Mack retaliated with an uppercut, sending the man stumbling backward. That was enough time to ICE him. Mack crouched down, searching both men’s pockets.
Meanwhile, Daisy ICEd the goon with the gun first. Immediately, the one with the dagger grabbed her, then knocked the ICER out of her hands. She was about to quake him off of her when she felt a sharp pain in her left side. She grunted, kicking the man in the groin, causing him to stumble back. She quaked him, causing him to pass out on the dirty ground.
“Well, that was interesting,” Daisy commented, pressing her hand against her left side, where the goon had cut her. She pulled her hand away to find a decent amount of blood, but it didn’t seem too serious. Not serious enough to bother the stressed, busy team with it. She’d fix herself up later when she got to her bunk. For now, she pulled her leather jacket in tighter to cover the tear in her shirt.
Mack scoffed, standing from his crouch next to Clyde. He held up a small vial of blood to show Daisy. “Let’s see if he’s actually Inhuman,” he said.
“I doubt he is,” Daisy remarked, staring at the big man lying unconscious on the ground. “He is acting completely different from the others. And did you hear him say he earned his muscles?”
Mack nodded. “Yeah, but Bobbi still wants a sample, just to see.” Daisy sighed and nodded in agreement, just as the containment module lowered itself into the alley.
“Are we taking him in?” Mack asked, his finger on his comms.
“No. We don’t have any more space in containment,” came Bobbi’s voice from the other end. She was in the Zephyr above.
“Especially since we are pretty sure he’s not Inhuman,” Daisy commented. She looked behind her to see cop cars showing up. “We better go,” she said. She and Mack entered the module, watching its doors slide closed before its thrusters carried them up to the plane.
Daisy grunted in pain as she and Mack exited the module. “Well, that was a useless mission,” she said, shaking her head.
“It wasn’t completely useless,” Mack told her as they made their way to the lab. “At least we know this is one less threat.”
“Thank you,” Bobbi said happily when Mack handed her the blood sample.
“Hey,” Mack said, turning to Daisy. He held up his fist. “Nice job today, Tremors.”
Daisy plastered on a smile, fist-bumping him. “You too.”
Once they made it back to the Playground, Bobbi informed Mack and Daisy that Clyde was, in fact, human. The team debriefed in Coulson’s office before being released for free time.
“Wanna play some Call of Duty in the common room with me?” Mack asked Daisy right outside Coulson’s office. He smiled down at her. “You’re getting good.”
Daisy smiled back, feeling the stinging pain in her side. “I think I’ll pass for tonight. I’m feeling really tired,” she lied.
Mack shrugged. “Alright. If you get hungry, I was thinking about cooking up some spaghetti for everyone tonight.”
“Aren’t you busy?” Daisy asked, knitting her eyebrows.
Mack shrugged again. “Sometimes you gotta live your life too.”
Daisy smiled, playfully punching his arm. “I gotta go, but you go live your life to your liking,” she said, turning to go to her bunk.
Daisy slipped into her bunk room, closing the door behind her. She let out an exasperated breath, the pain getting to be extremely distracting. She slid off her jacket, setting it on her dresser. She pulled up her shirt, hissing at the pain as the fabric tugged on her skin, stuck to it with dried blood. The wound was big, and blood covered her entire midsection. Maybe this was deeper than she thought.
Daisy entered her bathroom, flipping on the lights. She threw her shirt all the way off, tossing it to the floor. She grabbed a washcloth from the cabinet, running it under the sink. She bit her lip as she wiped away the blood, trying to get a better look at her injury. The cut was right below her ribs, and a few inches long, but she had no idea how deep it was. She took a deep breath, trying to lessen the pain. Part of her knew she should go to Simmons or Bobbi about this, but the other part of her reminded her how busy they were. Simmons was always preoccupied and still recovering from Maveth, and Bobbi was running point on most things in the lab. And besides, she didn’t want Coulson knowing. She knew he needed her to be a leader, and he couldn’t afford to have her unable to go on missions.
Sighing, Daisy took the first-aid kit out of her cabinet, taking out some gauze pads. She placed one on the cut, then taped it to her skin. She sucked in a breath, walking back into her bedroom. She slid on a fresh t-shirt, then climbed into bed, lying on her good side. She tried to close her eyes and take a rest, but the pain was too distracting. She pulled out her phone, hoping that would distract her, but it didn’t help either. Groaning in frustration, she stood from the bed, stumbling into her bathroom again and taking the ibuprofen out. She downed three pills, then made her way back to bed.
After a while, Daisy was awoken from her short nap by the buzzing of someone calling her. She picked up, seeing that it was Mack. He was calling her down to the lab to hear about some new lead on the Inhuman outbreak. Daisy hung up and groaned, sitting up slowly. She gripped her side, feeling warm liquid through her shirt. She pulled her hand away to see blood, too much blood. Daisy swallowed, knowing everyone was waiting for her and she didn’t have time to worry about this. She stood, stumbling toward the door, then sliding on her jacket. She sucked in a breath before exiting her bunk.
Once she got to the lab, Daisy saw Fitz, Simmons, and Mack gathered around a desk, discussing something. She took a deep breath before straightening her posture and approaching them.
“Daisy, nice of you to join us,” Simmons said with a smile. Daisy responded with a small smile back. Simmons turned to the computer screen, which was showing surveillance footage of a fish oil warehouse. Daisy was aware that Simmons and Fitz were explaining something to her about how their fish oil recall wasn’t fully in effect and that it would be important to stop this manufacturer from selling any more. But she couldn’t focus, as she felt her wound bleeding more and more, the pain searing.
“Got it?” Fitz asked her. Daisy snapped out of her daze and nodded, her eyes glazed over.
Mack chuckled and spoke on her behalf: “Tremors is just hungry, thinking about those meatballs I’ll be serving tonight.” Everyone smiled or laughed. “Isn’t that right, D?” He turned to his partner, gently jabbing her in the side with his elbow. Daisy would normally find this funny, but not today. It was her left side. The pain was sharp and shot through her body. She couldn’t stop the wince that she let out. She grabbed her side, flinching a little in pain.
“Daisy? What’s the matter?” Jemma asked, concern laced into her expression. She stepped toward Daisy.
“No- Nothing, gosh, sorry,” Daisy mumbled, quickly straightening up. She ran her fingers through her hair, plastering on a smile for her friends. “Sorry, just having some hunger cramps, I guess.” She still didn’t want to blow her cover.
Jemma narrowed her eyes, not buying it. “Oh, well, you should go eat then,” Jemma said anyway, her expression relaxing. “You do look awfully pale.”
Daisy let out a breath of pain. “I do? Well then, I think I’ll just head to the common room to grab a bite…” She turned to leave, but May was entering the lab at the same time. She accidentally bumped into Daisy…right into her injury.
May stopped in her tracks upon seeing Daisy groan and grab her side in pain. “What’s the matter?” the older woman immediately asked her protege, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Daisy swallowed, in nearly too much pain to bear. “Nothing, I just…”
May turned to the three agents in the lab, as if to ask them what was going on. Jemma furrowed her brow and approached Daisy. “Daisy, what is it?” she asked. The girl was still doubled over, her hand gripping her side. Her forehead was covered in beads of sweat. Simmons looked her up and down, trying to figure out what was wrong.
“Appendicitis?” May offered.
Jemma shook her head, eyeing where Daisy was holding. “That’s on the right side of the abdomen.” She put her hands on both of Daisy’s shoulders, trying to meet her eyes. But her eyes were shut tight in pain. “Daisy, did you get injured on the mission? What’s going on?” The biochemist looked to Mack for an answer.
The man shook his head. “I didn’t think she did.”
“Guys,” Daisy mumbled, weakly pushing away from everyone and stumbling backward. She hastily wiped the sweat from her head. “I am fine. Please,” she mumbled, her breathing labored.
May scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Like hell you are.”
Daisy swallowed. She wasn’t sure how to get out of this at this point. She could hardly breathe anymore, and she could feel the blood continue to seep from her wound. Her entire body trembling, Daisy pulled a shaky hand away from her body, seeing the fresh blood on it.
Jemma immediately noticed and rushed to her friend’s side. “Daisy!” she scolded. “What on Earth!” She put a hand on her arm, steading her.
“Is she bleeding?!” Mack asked, worry evident on his face.
Jemma turned to her friends and nodded. “I’m going to go take a look at this. May, could you get Bobbi?” she asked.
May nodded, leaving to go find the blonde. Jemma gently led Daisy to an exam table, helping her onto it.
“What in God’s name were you thinking?” Jemma said quietly as she helped Daisy take her jacket off. She gasped at the large blood stain on her purple shirt.
“I’m sorry,” Daisy mumbled.
Jemma pressed her lips into a thin line. For now, she was too worried to be angry. She gently helped her to lie down, then slid on a pair of latex gloves. Just then, Bobbi approached the group.
“What’s going on?” she asked Jemma.
The biochemist looked at Bobbi for a moment before silently pulling up Daisy’s shirt. Both women gasped at the sight. There was blood all over her torso. A small gauze pad was taped over the injury, but there was not a spot of white to be seen. It was completely soaked in blood.
Daisy groaned in pain, writhing a little. Jemma knitted her eyebrows, trying not to cry. She cared a lot about Daisy, and hated to see her like this. She’d always seen her as a little sister, and this scene of her stomach covered in blood was all too familiar. She reached her hand up, tenderly brushing Daisy’s hair out of her face.
“Daisy, what caused this?” Bobbi asked, putting on some gloves of her own. She gently peeled away the gauze pad, swallowing when she saw the large cut. “I didn’t notice this when you came back on the Zephyr.”
Daisy bit her lip, looking down at her own injury. She sucked in a breath. “One of Clyde’s goons got me with his dagger.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone!” Jemma exclaimed.
“I could have easily helped you on the Zephyr!” Bobbi said. She grabbed a gauze pad, pressing it into her wound to stop the bleeding.
Daisy sighed, swallowing. “I’m sorry guys, okay? I thought you were busy. I thought I could handle this myself.”
“We’re always busy, Daisy,” Simmons told her. “But providing medical attention to our agents is part of our job. And besides, we care about you.” She took Daisy’s hand in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Daisy shook her head, feeling guilty. Bobbi and Jemma got to work, cleaning the excess blood away and disinfecting the wound. Jemma took out a lidocaine syringe, ready to inject it. “This will sting a little,” she told Daisy. She injected the numbing medicine, making Daisy wince.
“That’s the worst of it,” Bobbi told her friend, offering a gentle smile. She took Daisy’s hand. “You can squeeze as hard as you want while Simmons stitches you up,” she told her, winking.
Daisy smiled a little at that before she felt the familiar tugging of Jemma suturing her wound. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t pleasant, either.
“Nine stitches,” Jemma said grimly. She trashed the supplies, then both women got to work bandaging Daisy up.
When Daisy looked down a few moments later, there was a huge ace bandage wrapped all the way around her torso. She groaned in annoyance. “Is that really necessary?”
Bobbi scowled at Daisy. “Of course it’s necessary. You have a major injury…which you told no one about. It’s very serious.”
Jemma nodded in agreement. “This easily could have become infected in a few days, not to mention the sheer amount of blood loss you already sustained.”
Daisy swallowed, the guilt creeping up on her again. “I’m sorry, guys,” she said quietly.
“Don’t apologize,” Jemma whispered as she tenderly dabbed the sweat off Daisy’s forehead with a blue towel. “Just don’t ever hide something like this again. This could have very well ended badly. And you’re lucky it didn’t go any deeper and harm your organs.”
Daisy nodded, offering her friend a small smile. “Thank you for saving me once again, Doctor Simmons.”
Jemma scoffed as she tossed Daisy a fresh t-shirt. She helped her to sit up. “I hope you won’t be needing my care again anytime soon,” she remarked.
Daisy laughed a little as she slid the shirt on. Bobbi helped her down off the table. “I will try my best,” Daisy said.
“I want you to stay in bed today,” Simmons instructed sternly, her hand on Daisy’s arm. She met her eyes. “Resting and taking care of yourself is even more important than worrying about your teammates.”
Bobbi handed Daisy a packaged sandwich and a bottle of orange juice. “And eat this to bring your blood sugar back up and jumpstart your healing process,” she told her.
Daisy sighed, taking the food and advice. “Alright, alright. I will.”
Daisy slept like a baby that night. She felt so much better when she wasn’t actively bleeding from her side. She was awoken from this blissful slumber by an abrupt, rude knock on her bunk door.
“Come in…” she mumbled groggily. She sat up, running her fingers through her hair and turning on the lamp.
Simmons entered the room, a cheery look on her face and a medical bag in-hand. “Hello, Daisy,” she said, approaching her friend.
Daisy groaned, burying her face in her pillow. “Please, I am so tired…”
“I’ve just come to check your wound, come on now. It’s been eighteen hours.”
“Eighteen?!” Daisy exclaimed, sitting up in disbelief. “What?”
Jemma smiled. “Yes, but all that rest was good for you.” She grabbed the hem of Daisy’s shirt. “May I?”
Daisy nodded as Jemma pulled up her shirt. She reached down to hold it for her as she removed the ace bandage, setting it to the side. She gently peeled off the gauze from the wound, then examined the stitches. She squinted, looking closely.
“It looks fine for now,” she said.
“Good,” Daisy said with a laugh. “This means I can be up and about soon, right?” she half-joked.
Jemma shot Daisy a glare as she applied anti-bacterial cream to her cut. She focused her attention back on the wound. “No. You were severely injured, and you will do as you are told.”
Daisy pursed her lips as Jemma finished up. She re-bandaged the wound. Daisy let her shirt hem fall back down as Jemma stood.
“Mack is going to bring you lunch,” she told her friend. She pointed an accusatory finger at her. “You better not get out of bed, Daisy.”
Daisy smiled. “Of course not, Warden Simmons.”
Jemma shot her a playful glare before turning to leave.
When someone knocked on her bunk door, Daisy was expecting it to be Mack, like Simmons had told her. She stood from her bed and opened the door to find May, a tray of food in-hand.
“May!” Daisy exclaimed excitedly. She smiled at her. “Thanks for bringing–”
“Back in bed,” the woman instructed firmly. Daisy scowled and obeyed, climbing under her covers. May set the lunch tray on Daisy’s bedside table before standing in front of Daisy, crossing her arms.
“So…” Daisy started.
“You got something to tell me?” May asked. Though Daisy wasn’t her trainee anymore, she still felt obligated to protect the girl and keep her in line. She had the feeling that those obligations weren’t going to fade anytime soon. “Want to explain to me what happened?”
Daisy sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain the situation to her mentor without making her mad. “This one guy got me with his knife, and…it was a worse injury than I thought. I thought I could handle it on my own.”
“Daisy, you were heavily bleeding in the lab when I saw you, and clearly in a lot of pain.” She narrowed her eyes. “You have nine stitches. Did you really think it was just a minor cut? If so, you’re dumber than I thought.”
Daisy bit her lip, thinking. She sighed. “Fine, I’ll be honest. When I got back to my bunk and looked at it, it was worse than I thought and I knew I would need help. I just…I guess part of me felt like it would burden the team too much, what with everything going on.”
May shook her head in dismay. “You’re never a burden to us, Daisy.” The girl rolled her eyes, causing Melinda to grab her chin to face her. “No, Daisy, I mean it. We are not just a team of agents. We are a family. And family will never get angry with you for needing help.”
Feeling some tears come on, Daisy rushed to embrace May. She was taken aback a little, confused by the sudden gesture of affection, but she relaxed into the hug, stroking Daisy’s back. Both women felt completely at ease, safe in each other’s arms. And for a moment, Daisy really did feel like she had a family.