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Bobbi’s breathing was slow and soft and seemed so completely divorced from the vast purple bruises or deep gashes covering most of her body. She’d been trembling when they brought her in, worse than Izzy had ever seen her, worse even than the day Izzy had first met her before the adoption went through, when Bobbi was just fourteen and had lost everything. They’d sedated her soon after she was settled into a bed. Izzy hadn’t left her daughter’s side for a single second, despite her wife pleading with her to take a break and eat something. It didn’t matter if it took another two days or another week, Izzy wasn't about to leave her baby girl. Not when Bobbi had looked at Izzy like that—pleading, vulnerable, more exposed than she’d let anyone see in her life. Izzy couldn’t even smell the antiseptic anymore.
“I’m here, baby. Mama’s right here.” Izzy whispered for the third time that hour into Bobbi’s knuckles. She cradled her daughter’s hand so gently between her palms, terrified to add any sort of pressure for fear of irritating the injuries across the limp hand. Izzy could half remember them telling her what they thought had happened, how they’d tortured her for days before using her like bait for Coulson’s team. The specifics were lost to the ringing in her ears brought on by both her rage, terror, and love that had made it impossible to make out everything they’d said in the briefing. She did remember them telling her that her daughter's hands would be extra sensitive, so she was gentle.
Bobbi was an agent. She’d wanted to be one since Izzy could remember—Izzy had never seen her prouder than the day she got her first assignment. Bobbi trained for years, she could take torture, she had countless times, but it never got easier for Izzy to see—especially not this kind. The kind that left her girl shaking, hurt, and terrified. Sometimes, the worst part was how she tried to hide it. Izzy blamed the parents Bobbi was born to in part, but she knew Bobbi’s stubbornness was just as much a part of her as anything else, the pretending she was fine was innate to Bobbi. In a way, that made it so much worse when Bobbi couldn’t pretend she was fine.
It took hours before Bobbi began to stir. Minutes blended into hours for Izzy, she had no idea how much time had passed since Skye or Vic had last been by. She’d almost started to drift off when she felt the twitch of her daughter’s hand. Izzy sat bolt upright, trying and failing to not move too quickly.
“Bobbi? Sweetheart, can you hear me?” Izzy moved one hand up to Bobbi’s head, brushing her blood-matted hair back before resting her thumb on her temple. Bobbi groaned. Izzy’s heart leapt. “Baby?”
Bobbi blinked awake, her eyes heavy as she squinted into the light. Izzy beamed down at her, not noticing the tears trailing down her face.
“Mom? What… What happened?” Bobbi tried to shift, tried to sit up, but Izzy gently pressed her back down to the bed. Bobbi let out a small sound at the pain radiating through her, and an almost animal-like sound as everything clicked into place. The memories came rushing back before Izzy could say anything to her, but the emotions came back with more venom than anything. The fear, the hopelessness, the humiliation, the pain, she couldn’t do it. “Mommy…”
Izzy’s heart broke clean down the middle. Bobbi had never called her that, not once. It’d taken years before Bobbi even called her Mom for the first time, and now she was in her twenties, Izzy never thought she’d hear that from her daughter. She sets the shock aside and moves to lean in closer to Bobbi.
“It’s okay, sweet girl. You’re okay.” Izzy’s voice was softer than a whisper. She lowered herself to lay beside Bobbi, doing her best not to jostle her too much, but needing to be closer. She pressed a soft kiss to Bobbi’s temple. One of her arms snaked underneath Bobbi and came to rest on her opposite shoulder. Bobbi leaned into the touch, letting herself give into the safety she would normally shrug away from. Izzy ran a thumb over the papery hospital gown as Bobbi tried her best to press closer.
“I’m right here. I won’t leave you, darling. I’m here.” Izzy whispered over and over again, repeating the words as if they could heal all the pain her daughter had been through, that she will still go through. Between soft kisses to her temples, Bobbi managed to calm her breathing. She turned into her mom more, trying to ignore the pain ripping through her body, until her face was tucked right under Izzy’s chin. Bobbi breathed in her mom like she’d never have that safety again.
Izzy knew that by the time the rest of the team gets there, or by the time the medication wears off, Bobbi will pretend nothing like this ever happened. She’ll put up a facade, pretend she’s unaffected by the torture, and go right back to business as usual. But for right now, in this moment, Izzy lets her baby be nothing more than her mom’s daughter, after a lifetime of being denied that kind of care.