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vengeancedemons · 4 years

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for fear of moments stolen // quakerider discord

summary: When Gabe calls to tell her Robbie has been acting strange, Daisy heads to L.A. to confront him and the truth comes out. trigger warnings: mentions of abuse, manipulation, violence featuring: @daisyquakes, eli morrow, gabriel reyes, the rider

ELI: New York had become stifling. If it were up to Eli, he never would have been there to begin with. Los Angeles had been his home ever since he and his sister made the journey from Mexico with little more than the clothes on their back, and he’d never had much desire to leave it. Robbie had felt differently, it seemed. Eli didn’t have to guess what had brought his nephew to New York --- Daisy Johnson’s things scattered on his floor and her scent on the couch cushions answered the question for him. The fact that he’d left his brother behind to chase after a woman was shocking… but perhaps it shouldn’t have been. It was, after all, reminiscent of the boys’ father years ago, who’d left his family behind without a glance back. Eli had always hoped Robbie was more like his mother, or better yet like Eli himself. It seemed he’d been wrong about that.

Not that it mattered now. Robbie was out of the picture, and his motivations were meaningless as a result. Daisy Johnson stood as a potential obstacle, more so now that she had her suspicions about him, but with the Darkhold secured from Rasputin and the Ghost Rider still passively protecting him, even she was inconsequential. Eli could return to familiar ground to move forward on his plans, could take a breath. And it wasn’t as if he had to worry about a place to stay.

Gabriel had only recently aged out of the system. It was a testament to how long Eli’s oldest nephew had kept him locked in Hell. The boy who had been a child when he left was a man now, living in the house on the wrong side of town Eli had struggled to buy with the money from his first engineering job. When he knocked on the door, it was only natural that Gabe assume it was Robbie come back for him, and Eli used that. He played along, pretended to be his nephew with Gabe just as he had with Daisy. It wouldn’t be hard to fool a child, would it? And it was easy. For the first few days, Gabe was too ecstatic to pay attention to how ‘Robbie’ was behaving. He didn’t comment on the way Eli locked himself away to study the Darkhold, ignored how his tone was sharper than Robbie’s had ever been. But eventually, it seemed, Gabe’s patience waned. The excitement died down. He grew suspicious. And Eli needed more time.

So he stepped up his game. He came out of the bedroom with a lopsided smile, did his best Robbie Reyes impression as he sat down on the couch with a conscious effort to slouch. “Hey,” he greeted, “wanna take the Charger out? You ask nice and I might even let you get behind the wheel.”

”I’m expecting someone, actually,” Gabe replied, and Eli tilted his head.

“Girlfriend?”

”Something like that.”

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door, and Gabe rolled over to answer it. Eli watched him go, unease building in his chest as the door opened.

DAISY: Things changed. People changed. Daisy was a shining example of that, even now. But there were things that didn’t change. Relationships that were too important to abandon, too important to pretend didn’t matter the way that they did. For Daisy, she had a lot of fears – but most of them didn’t involve her family. Matt, he could protect himself, in ways that Daisy was still learning about. But Robbie? Robbie had always worried for Gabe. Everything he had done when she met him had been in service of protecting his brother, helping him. So, when Daisy started hearing the Kree voices and found that everyone else was stumbling through their own fears… and Robbie was pissed that she didn’t respect him… she wanted to believe that it was the Rider. That the other guy had filtered out whatever had caused the rest of he city to spiral.

But the more she looked at it, the more she realized that the change had been swift in him. The second she started hearing the voices was the second that Robbie was screaming at her about respect. And from there, Daisy started combing through every interaction with Robbie. From that moment to the one of them after he brought home that girl and they had a screaming match in his kitchen. Something had changed and Daisy didn’t know what. And while she had been alarmed, she hadn’t panicked about it.

At least not until Gabe called. Gabe who had said he never wanted to see her again. Gabe who had told her she wasn’t good people. Gabe who would have probably called anyone else on the planet if he could. He called her and told her that Robbie was acting strange. And what had been a quiet worry, building in the back of her mind, was suddenly a screaming one – escalating just as their arguments had.

She froze at the sound of Gabe’s voice. And the promise she made to Robbie about keeping Gabe was the first thing that popped into her mind. “Keep him calm, Gabe. Whatever you do, don’t tell him I’m coming.” He had been reacting like she was the devil recently and the last thing she wanted was for Robbie to lose his cool around Gabe. It wasn’t until after she hung up the phone and was frantically texting people (Tony) to see if she could bum a plane ride (being America’s most wanted didn’t translate well to money) that she realized that Robbie was with Gabe. After everything, they talked about, after knowing that coming back from the dead and showing up on Gabe’s doorstep would be more damaging than helpful - after deciding that Gabe was better off without them... why would he do that? What had changed?

Daisy spent the entire plane ride over thinking about all the things that had seemed odd about Robbie recently. Noting when the quiet understanding between them turned into a screaming rage that had exploded in his kitchen...

Standing on Gabe’s front steps, Daisy shoved her hands into her pockets after knocking on the door. When the door finally opened, she offered him a weak smile, unsure of what to say to him. She hadn’t told him that his brother was alive, hadn’t spoken to him in years... and this was how they were reunited. “You look good,” Daisy offered quietly, but she didn’t linger on Gabe long. Her eyes flickered into the house and she saw Robbie there, standing on the other side of the room.

“You should have told me, Robbie. You know I love family reunions. And I have a friend with a private jet, you would have loved it, free whiskey.”

ELI: It took Eli less than the length of time between one heartbeat and the next to realize who was at the door. He wondered if he should have guessed it somehow, if he should have seen this coming, but it hadn’t seemed like a possibility. Gabe was no fan of Daisy Johnson. Even Eli knew this, had spoken to his younger nephew about the girl all of once before Robbie pulled him into Hell. I think she’s a bad person, tío, he’d muttered into the phone receiver, concern clear in his tone. I think she’s going to take Robbie down the wrong path. And he had been right, of course. Robbie had chosen this girl ahead of his family, ahead of Eli time and time again.

And now she was here, in his house, looking at him like she knew something. The fury was instantaneous. The muscle in his jaw twitched, fire burned in his eyes. If Ghost Rider listened to Eli the way it did Robbie, the fire in his eyes would have been the literal sort, but the demon continued to be elusive, particularly where Daisy Johnson was concerned.

Eli tried to school his expression, tried to make his reaction one that might be fitting of Robbie. He wasn’t sure he was successful. “What the hell are you doing here?” He bit out, nostrils flaring slightly. “I go across the country to get away from you, and you follow me?” ”I called her,” Gabe provided needlessly, and Eli’s anger burned even hotter. He knew Gabriel had called her here… he just didn’t know why. His nephew must have seen the question in his eyes, because he glanced briefly to Daisy before continuing hesitantly, “Something’s up with you, Robbie. Something isn’t right. And I don’t --- I don’t know how to help that. I don’t know how to help you. But… She might.”

“She doesn’t,” Eli snapped. “And there’s nothing wrong. Gabriel, look, I’m just readjusting. Okay?”

Gabe shifted and, for a moment, Eli thought he might have swayed him. The boy glanced between Daisy and Eli hesitantly, looking uncertain. Then, with another quiet glance in Eli’s direction, he turned to Daisy. ”He never calls me Gabriel.”

DAISY: Gabe had no idea what had happened between Robbie ad Daisy, and Daisy had every intention of keeping it that way. He was a good kid, a bit of an ass sometimes, but he was good and he didn’t deserve t have to deal with this crap too. (But being in Daisy’s life came with an all-access pass to bullshit — so maybe he was just out of luck.)

“You think I took a private jet the other side of the country for you?” She would have, if she had noticed he was gone before Gabe had called her — but that wasn’t the point. The point was that even when she wanted to strangle the life out of Robbie, she had made him a promise about Gabe. And she was keeping that now. “Gabe called and I came. I made you a promise, Robbie, one that you seem to have forgotten, but I haven’t.”

Daisy watched the expression on Gabe’s face carefully. Her stomach knotting when he said that Robbie never called him Gabe. Between that and the way he called her Quake… The anger was normal — the anger was justified given everything he had been through, but the direction? Pointing it at her and at Gabe? That wasn’t Robbie. Because Robbie, like Daisy, might have been mad at the world, but he was pissed at himself too. But who hated Daisy that much? Who would use Gabe like this for their own gain —

“Robbie already has a hitchhiker upstairs, and you get really pissed but your eyes don’t do the same thing that his does when he gets pissed. There are usually flames. Visible heat. So, you’re not Robbie. And you’re not the Rider.” Daisy started flipping through scenarios, how could Robbie’s be here but neither him or the Rider were there? And who was — Daisy knew. It washed over her all at once and she kept her arms relaxed at her sides, trying hard not to jump at him here, in the middle of Gabe’s home.

But this was about to explode in an entirely different way, because Daisy knew who it was. Who hated her this much. Who hated Robbie this much. Who could only manage a superficial love for Gabe. Robbie’s body had a hitchhiker, and Daisy was almost certain that it was Eli Morrow.

“Gabe, who was the last person to call you Gabriel?”

ELI: He hadn’t accounted for this. In all his meticulous planning, in all his intense foresight, Eli hadn’t accounted for Daisy Johnson continuing to push after he’d done everything in his power to distance her from Robbie. After all, this sort of loyalty wasn’t something Robbie had ever shown when Eli was raising him. His oldest nephew had never had many friends, had focused on either his work or his brother with no room for anything else. ‘Dates’ never lasted more than a few hours, ‘relationships’ rarely survived the night. Robbie didn’t put down roots, didn’t have friends. Eli thought he’d been safe to assume that the same could be said for his nephew’s current state. And even if it hadn’t, he’d been sure getting out of the city would prevent Daisy from prodding harder. He’d never imagined a scenario where she’d fly to California, where Gabriel would call her.

He’d always hated being wrong.

The anger burning in his chest was hot, and it occurred to him that this was how Robbie felt all the time. Angry to the point of bursting, every moment of every day. He might be better off in Hell, if this was his life on Earth. “He doesn’t need you,” he snapped. “He has me. Just like he always did.” And there was a double meaning to that, wasn’t there? If Daisy Johnson had stayed out of their lives all along, out of Robbie’s life, Eli’s nephew never would have realized the role his uncle played in the accident that paralyzed his brother. He would have continued to fight for Eli’s freedom until, eventually, the tides turned. Eli would have avoided Hell and gotten the Darkhold back just as he’d always been meant to. They could have had a good life, had Daisy not interfered. But she had, and now here she was to ruin things again. And Eli was so angry.

She was smarter than he gave her credit for. The way her eyes darted between Gabriel’s face and Eli’s told him she’d figured something out long before she said it aloud, and the muscle in his jaw twitched when she spoke, hitting the nail right on the head. “What the fuck are you talking about? Who else would I be? Christ, have you really never been rejected before? I don’t want you around, so I must be someone else? Get your head out of your ass.�� There was little chance of convincing her of the lie now that she knew the truth, and Eli knew that. Right now, he was only buying time. Trying to figure out his next move, trying to get the devil in his head to cooperate, trying to do anything to keep things from going south. In the bedroom, the Darkhold was open on the table. If he could get to it, he could puzzle out a better solution. He shifted, trying to inch in its direction without being obvious.

Gabe glanced between the two adults in the room, looking a little lost. Eli didn’t know how much Robbie told him about any of this, how much he knew about the Rider or Eli’s fate, but it was clear he hadn’t put two and two together with as much certainty as Daisy had. Eli had slipped up, calling him Gabriel instead of the nickname Robbie used exclusively, but he could come back from that… until Daisy asked the question that kickstarted the answer in his younger nephew’s mind. Gabe’s eyes locked on to Eli’s question clear behind them. ”Tío?” Eli set his jaw, fury burning in his chest. Understanding that any element of surprise he’d had was gone, Eli turned on his heel and made a break for the bedroom. ”I don’t --- I don’t know what’s in there,” Gabe warned. ”That’s where he’s been hiding. He locks the door. I’m not --- Daisy, what’s happening? What’s going on? I don’t understand.”

DAISY: Another day, another time, and Robbie’s voice telling her that Gabe didn’t need her would have given her pause. Or at least made her take a step back and bring this conversation outside. After all, Daisy had proven time and time again, that even when she was told to stop, even when the odds were stacked against her, even if she knew better, she wasn’t the kind of person that walked away from someone she cared about. “That’s the thing about me that everyone hates. I never know when to quit.” Or maybe, more accurately, she wasn’t going to be bullied into submission. “He doesn’t need you either. He’s been fine for two years without your bullshit on his plate.” Fine might have been a stretch, Daisy didn’t know what sort of life Gabe had — she knew through pictures and online tracking but otherwise? There was a huge gape in the reality that was Gabe’s life and what Daisy knew.

But again, anything had to be better than two of America’s Most Wanted standing in the front room of his house. She had imagined a few scenarios where they reached out to Gabe to let him know Robbie was alive — she always imagined it when Gabe was older. Out of school at least. But like this? Where Robbie wasn’t even Robbie? Daisy had never imagined it like this. Never closed her eyes and imagined a world where Eli got a second chance at fucking over his nephews.

Leading Gabe to the answer was… was it cruel? Was it wrong? Should she have ushered him out of the room and pretended like Robbie was just having a breakdown? Part of her wished she could have spared him from this reality. But… she had found out all the bad things about her parents when it was too late to have any kind of feelings about it. And Gabe… he deserved the truth. Even if it was hard. (It was almost funny choosing honesty here, during the hard part — but avoiding him when Robbie coming back could have been a good thing — an easy thing. But now Gabe was faced with Robbie’s body and Eli’s mind and — why was nothing ever simple?

The word tio left Gabe’s lips and Daisy barely had a chance to nod before Eli was turned around and bolting to another room. “Seriously? You’re running from me?” She brought up her hand and — no she couldn’t do that here. This was Gabe’s home. But her first instinct was to quake the door shut to keep Eli from getting into the other room. She clenched her hand and shook it gently in the air, “Damn it. Damn it.” She didn’t want to destroy the place Gabe lived… and she didn’t want to hurt Robbie — Eli, in front of him. But her choices were limited.

“Gabe,” Daisy looked at him, a flurry of nervousness in her chest as she tried to keep it all under control. “I’ll — everything. I’ll explain everything to you after I — after I fix this.” Could she fix it? Could she promise Gabe his brother back? No. She couldn’t. But she was doing it anyway. “You called me to help. And I’m going to help. So I need you to trust me because I am about to do something…” Really stupid? Daisy didn’t know how to fix this, didn’t know if Robbie’s body could fit three people in it… “I’m gonna try and get the other guy to come out. And I don’t think you’re going to want to see that part. Because if he has what I think he has in that room, I can’t let him leave with it. I’d take this anywhere else if I could, Gabe.” There was too much to fill him in on and each moment she wasn’t on Eli’s heel — it wasn’t good. “I’m sorry you’re in the middle of this.”

ELI: Who was this girl to tell him what his family needed? What did she know of family at all? Eli didn’t know much about her beyond what he’d observed from within Robbie’s head, but he knew enough. He knew she had no idea what it was to raise a child from the ground up, knew she couldn’t begin to fathom what he’d taken on when he’d allowed his nephews to stay with him instead of putting them out into the streets, as it would have been his right to do. Eli had taken care of them for years, put more effort into raising them than their own parents had bothered to provide. Who was Daisy Johnson to tell him that Gabriel didn’t need him around? The fire in his chest burned hotter, glare harsh and angry as he turned it on her. “Don’t you pinche tell me what he needs,” he snapped, rage slipping into his tone. “This is my family. Not yours. You don’t know anything.”

But she did. That was the problem. She knew something, knew more than Eli had ever wanted her to know. She knew enough to follow him to California, knew enough to look at him without the grief that had been in her eyes back in New York. She was no longer mourning whatever silly thing she’d had going on with Robbie. There was a steely determination in her eyes instead, a quiet understanding that things were not as they seemed. Daisy knew portions of the truth, knew enough to know that the person standing before her was not what he claimed to be. It was exactly what Eli had been trying so desperately to avoid, and the timing of it made him want to pull his hair out and scream until his lungs gave out because he was so close. Another day or so, that was all he’d needed. A few dozen uninterrupted hours and he’d have it. He’d get everything he deserved, be the god he was meant to be. Daisy Johnson couldn’t stand in the way of that. He wouldn’t let her.

Gabriel had always been the smarter of the Reyes boys. If it were Robbie here, Eli doubted he ever would have figured out who was standing in front of him without it being spelled out simply and carefully. Of course, Robbie’s reaction when the truth finally settled would have been far different than Gabe’s. Where Robbie would have responded with fury, Gabriel only looked lost. Betrayal sparked in his eyes, uncertainty clung to his frame. He looked to Daisy like she might have the answer, and that only made Eli angrier. All he had done for this boy, all the sacrifices he had made, and Gabriel looked to her. He should have put both his nephews out on the streets. He should have gotten rid of them when he’d had the chance.

But it was too late for that now. Now, the only shot Eli had was to get the Darkhold. If he couldn’t find answers within it, he could take it and run. He could buy time. Daisy wanted to stop him, but he knew her options were limited. In spite of everything, she wouldn’t want to hurt him. Not as long as he was in Robbie’s body. Right now, Daisy might believe that Robbie was in here with him. She might think she had a shot at bringing him back. This would be Eli’s saving grace, in the end. If she thought there was any chance at saving Robbie’s soul, she wouldn’t destroy his body no matter who was inside it.

Looking to Daisy, Gabriel hesitated only a heartbeat before nodding his head. ”I trust you,” he said lowly. ”Just… Save my brother, okay? He’s a good person. He deserves to be saved.”

Eli scrambled towards the bedroom door, swinging it open and slamming it shut behind him. The Darkhold was on the table, and he felt the Rider’s presence in the back of his mind flare up. The Devil always grew restless in the presence of the book, but he’d yet to come out. Eli knew it was because he didn’t trust him, and while it was frustrating in most cases, it worked to his advantage here. The last thing he needed was the Ghost Rider getting in his way or damaging the book.

DAISY: He was cursing at her, using one of the few words in Spanish that Daisy remembered from high school. And Daisy almost considered that a victory. After all, if Eli couldn’t keep his cool in a conversation like this with Daisy — what chance did he have if she upped the ante. And while Eli didn’t know much about Daisy, Daisy knew a lot about Robbie and how his body worked, particularly how the Rider worked. She had seen it a few times, when he got close to someone who deserved to be dragged to hell with his chains — saw it when they ran into people who were monsters and deserved every painful thing that the Rider inflicted on them. And, most importantly, she had seen how the Rider came out when Robbie’s physical body was threatened.

Did Eli know that? Did he know the limits of what Robbie could do without Rider interference? And how much of Eli’s energy was spent keeping the Rider at bay? Robbe, she quietly knew, used alcohol to keep the other guy quiet most nights. She had never called him out on it but she had known. Saw the signs. And she understood. But what did Eli do to keep him quiet? Daisy had a feeling that whatever he did, it wasn’t effective. Not as effective as he hoped it was. Or maybe that was just Daisy’s wishful thinking, to believe that Eli was too stupid to find a way to weaken the Rider.

“You lost the right to call them your family a long time ago. There is a quote that actually works here, people mistake it for a bible verse all the time, they also misquote it to some bullshit that blood is thicker than water.” Daisy looked Eli in the eyes. Daisy had never had blood family. Not in the way that counted. She had a mother and a father, she had a family. But they had never been parents. Never been what she needed. “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. Loosely translated, Robbie chose me to take care of Gabe in his absence. And you — you’re on borrowed time. You don’t belong here. This family, right here? It doesn’t need you. It doesn’t want you.” Eli had been so obsessed with her respecting him, she hoped he’d like this.

Eli looked at Gabe, and instinctively, Daisy put a hand out as if to keep Gabe behind her. To protect him from Eli’s gaze. “Don’t,” Daisy warned lowly. “Don’t look at him.” The last thing that she wanted was for Gabe to have the kind of memory that Daisy did. Of screaming at Robbie in his kitchen, or that feeling of betrayal that ripped her heart from her chest. It didn’t matter that it was Eli behind those eyes — because it would be Robbie’s face attached to those memories. And Daisy would be damned if she let Eli destroy what fragile relationship was there with Gabe. (Daisy firmly believed that she deserved it. She would have shouldered it all if she could, but Gabe? Gabe was the one good thing here. He didn’t deserve this.)

And a split second later, Gabe was saying that he trusted her. After all the shit she had dragged into his life, she could have laughed if she didn’t feel like crying. She paused, looked Gabe in the eyes and gave him a nod. There was no pausing for her to try and convince him that she wasn’t worth trusting — this was one of the moments where she knew she was doing good. And for once, nothing was holding her back. “He is,” Daisy agreed with a small smile. Robbie Reyes was a good person. And he deserved to be saved. Of all the common ground to find with Gabe, she never thought it would be this — but distantly, she was happy that it was.

Daisy ran after Eli, using small quakes to give her a faster momentum, slamming into the door to open it when Eli shut it. Some structure damage — but saving Robbie was going to have a cost. And they’d all be paying it in some form. The Darkhold was on the table and Daisy felt the rage again, the screaming anger in the back of her head and the fury that came with knowing that he kept it this close to Gabe without considering what would have happened if Gabe came in here, if he had touched it. This might have been his family at one point. But it was clear to Daisy, that was in name only.

“Your time’s up,” Daisy said, lifting her hand quickly and focusing a fierce blast of vibrations towards his chest. Praying under her breath for the first time in years. Praying that the Rider would come out. Praying that Robbie Reyes still had a chance.

ELI: With every word she spoke, Eli’s anger burned hotter. Who did she think she was? What right did she have for any of this? Regardless of Gabriel’s newfound (and utterly foolish) trust in her, Daisy Johnson had earned no place in this house. It was her fault these walls had stood empty for years, her fault Gabriel was left so directionless that he would call on the likes of her for help to begin with, her fault the boy he had raised from childhood would turn against him. Eli had made his mistakes, but they could have been overwritten. They could have been swept under the rug if not for Daisy Johnson’s influence.

Daisy kept talking, and Eli kept seething. “Don’t quote proverbs to me,” he snapped, and any shot he had at convincing her that Robbie Reyes was speaking was long lost. She knew who he was, and while that took away any shot he might have had at weaponizing the element of surprise, it did allow him to give up the exhausting charade of pretending to be something he wasn’t. “You know nothing of family. You think I haven’t seen it? You have no one. You deserve no one. What do you think you’ll gain here? What’s your goal? To save his soul?” Eli’s smile was more of a snarl, all teeth and no humor and utterly unlike even his nephew’s cruelest expression. “He doesn’t have one, Daisy.”

He spat out her name like a curse, and behind her, Gabriel flinched. Daisy put a hand up as if she wanted to protect the boy, and Eli let out a bitter laugh. He couldn’t pretend his nephew needed no protection from him. He had put a carbon spike through Robbie’s chest once, after all, sent him to Hell without a moment’s hesitation, and he’d always had more of a soft spot for his older nephew than his younger one. Robbie represented the life he could have had --- a sister who still cared for her children, a world not defined entirely by work and home, by one paycheck barely filling in the gaps left by the last. Gabriel, on the other hand, represented the life he had gotten --- more responsibility than he’d ever wanted, less reward than he’d deserved.

Ignoring her command not to look at him, Eli caught his youngest nephew in the eye, tilting his chin back. “My life would have been easier if you hadn’t been pulled from that wreckage, you know,” he said, almost gently. Gabriel looked stricken, and Eli couldn’t tell if it was the words alone, the fact that they were uttered in his brother’s voice, or both. He didn’t care. However it made Gabriel feel, the statement was the truth.

The fact that Daisy and Gabriel were in agreement on something was laughable enough on its own, but the thing bringing them together being the notion that Robbie Reyes was a good man? It was so ridiculous that Eli nearly laughed out loud. Robbie Reyes was a murderer. Eli had heard tales of the Ghost Rider during his time in prison, heard the fear in every man’s voice as the name passed their lips. He’d killed more people than Eli ever had. Perhaps what Eli had said to him during their last face-to-face conversation had been the truth --- maybe murder simply ran in the family.

He could feel Daisy behind him as he fled, feel her gaining speed as the ground trembled lightly beneath their feet. The barrier of a closed door didn’t slow her down for a moment, and before he could get his hands on the book, she’d aimed her vibrations at him. There was a sudden pressure against his chest, slamming him back into the wall. He grit his teeth against it as it held him in place, eyes burning at the warning. He opened his mouth to respond, but a rumbling voice in the back of his mind interrupted him.

”She’s right, Morrow,” the voice growled, and Eli recognized it as the presence he’d been trying to bend to his will for months now. His best efforts couldn’t convince the Ghost Rider to make an appearance, and now here it was… but it wasn’t on his side. ”You’re finished.”

And then, everything was burning. It was more painful than Eli had ever imagined, and he couldn’t bite back a scream as the Rider burned his way to the surface.

DAISY: She was dancing on the line, taunting Eli just enough to keep his attention on her, where she needed it. Where she wanted it. Gabe wasn’t her --- wasn’t her anything, but she had made a promise to Robbie, one that had slipped through the cracks when she had been propelled into the future. Money helped, Daisy was sure that the stipend she sent every month helped... but nothing could replace someone’s presence. And she had promised to be there. Daisy couldn’t change what had happened, couldn’t give Gabe or Robbie any of the time back that they had lost, but she could do something here.

Eli hit every sensitive spot on Daisy, like he had been in the back of Robbie’s mind far longer than she thought --- like he knew her. And if she didn’t know it was him, if she didn’t know he was trying to hurt her, Daisy would have felt every word like a bullet. But today? Today her resolve was strong and her fists were clenched at her sides. “You’re wrong. I do know what family is. I know what it feels like. What that warmth is that makes a home in your chest --- that’s why I know that you don’t belong here. That’s why I know you don’t deserve Robbie or Gabe. Hell though? That you do deserve.” Daisy had no idea what a normal family looked like, and the more time she spent in the world, she had a feeling that there was no such thing as normal. Daisy’s mother had tried to kill her. Her father killed her mother in front of her and then had his memory altered --- biologically, that was her family. But the people she loved? May. Matt. America. Robbie. They were the people who gave her that same feeling of belonging. And most of them had the same screwed up perception of what family was too.

“Yeah, he told me. Sold his soul to the devil. And you? You have a soul?” Daisy shook her head with a small tch. “Yours has already been corrupted. Already been claimed. And you didn’t make a deal. You earned your place in hell all on your own.” But the anger that Eli was letting out in a tidal wave, the focus of his anger shifted in the middle of the conversation. Gabe in his crosshairs. And what he said it was --- it was needlessly cruel. And Daisy’s heart broke for Gabe. Knowing exactly how it felt to be turned on by someone you loved --- by someone who was family. It was a raw sort of heartbreak. “Fuck you,” Daisy spat out in his direction.

And then the coward ran. But that was what all villains did when they knew they were cornered. They ran because they didn’t want to face the fact they had lost. They ran because they thought they could get away. They ran because they wanted to bide their time --- because they were outmatched --- because they knew that this was it. And Eli had to know that Daisy wasn’t going to leave without Robbie. Or at least... she wasn’t going to leave until Eli was gone. Robbie was the goal. But Daisy didn’t know her odds, didn’t know how to do what she wanted. This wasn’t her element. But not giving up? Daisy could hold onto whatever hope Gabe and Robbie needed. There was a light at the end of this tunnel. There had to be.

The light that Daisy had been chasing --- she didn’t even think about it being the Rider until Eli was screaming as the Rider pushed his way into control. The flames rolling off his skull --- the literal light at the end of the tunnel. Eli’s scream had echoed in the house --- not even Daisy’s own pounding heart could be heard over the roar. And as it subsided, Daisy leaned over and grabbed her knees --- a moment. Quiet. Where Daisy took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. But a beat later, Daisy was laughing. Something close to hysteric before she put a hand over her mouth.

“This ---” Daisy shook her head before looking over her shoulder towards the door. Wondering what must have been going through Gabe’s mind at the sound. (That, she had no doubt, would haunt him for the rest of his life.) “Tell me we can get him back,” Daisy said, looking at the Rider with desperation in her eyes. “Because I didn’t think past this because I --- I have no idea what to do here. And I just ---” she swallowed. “Please, tell me we can get him back.”

ELI: He remembered the day Juliana told him she was pregnant the first time. The quiet fear to the words, whispered quietly in Spanish because his sister had never grown as confident in English as Eli had. He remembered her concern, remembered the way she’d glanced towards the living room where Roberto sat on the couch. What if he doesn’t stay? She’d asked, and Eli remembered gripping her shoulders in his hands tightly. Then I’ll help you, he’d promised and, even at the time, he hadn’t known why he was saying it. He’d never had much interest in children, never wanted any of his own, but his sister looked afraid and he’d felt some obligation to ease her mind.

It had been different the second time. Juliana had been less afraid, more resigned. He won’t stay, she’d said, because she’d stopped doubting who Alberto was long ago. And Eli hadn’t made the promise a second time, hadn’t told her he wouldn’t go anywhere. Maybe that was why she’d left first --- a defense mechanism to ensure that, when the dust settled, it wasn’t her stuck with the dead weight of two children to care for. Looking back now, Eli wished he’d walked out the door that very moment. He wished he’d left before Robbie was born, before Gabriel was a thought. He wished he’d never committed to being an uncle to two boys who would never measure up to more than quiet disappointments.

It would have prevented him from meeting Daisy Johnson, if nothing else.

She uttered two words that he loathed more than almost anything else --- you’re wrong, and Eli’s jaw tightened and his nostrils flared. “I don’t deserve them?” He repeated her claim in all its preposterous falseness, a disbelieving laugh following the words. “I raised them. They’d be in a ditch someplace if not for me, on the streets. They owe me their lives. And look at how they’ve repaid me for it. I gave up everything for them. I was the only one who ever pretended to want them.” Gabriel looked increasingly distraught with each word, and vindication warmed him in a way the anger failed to do. What was a god but a being capable of irreparable damage? If the risk of losing his power was unavoidable, the least he could do was ensure a lasting impression was made.

“You think I lose sleep over the status of my soul? I’m not my nephew. I’m not a child, not a fool. A soul is nothing to god.” But she mentioned Hell and the muscles in his jaw twitched. If there was one thing Eli wanted to avoid, it was going back there. He’d prefer a fate like Lucy Bauer’s, prefer to be a ghost haunting the world than a soul trapped in Hell. Daisy knew it, of course. She seemed to know just what buttons to press, seemed to know exactly where to push. Eli wasn’t sure if it was whatever training SHIELD had given her or if Robbie had become more talkative since his departure, if his nephew confided in her. He wasn’t sure which was the more infuriating thought.

She seemed shaken, for a moment, when he spoke to Gabriel, and Eli used the momentary distraction to aid in his escape attempt. And it was futile, it was pointless, but perhaps the effort was something to be applauded. Perhaps there was a way he could still win. Eli clung to the thought, even as the skin burned away from his face and the Rider took the reins.

There was a moment of silence after the Devil took Eli’s place, the screams replaced by the quiet flickering of fire that moved in a way that was always just slightly off, a way that made it clear the flames weren’t the natural sort. The Rider took a moment to roll his shoulders, to clasp and unclasp his hands, to stretch his legs, so to speak, after months of refusing to allow Eli his presence. He heard Daisy’s laughter, tilted his head ever so slightly to the side. She had always been one of the more confusing humans he’d come across. He’d always liked her a little more than most.

Maybe it was because she spoke to him like he was a person. The Rider could count on one hand the number of people who’d done that, and they got fewer as the centuries passed. She asked after Robbie, and the Rider paused a moment to align his thoughts. He shared a connection with the man, though it was weaker now that they were separated by dimensions. He could feel it only faintly, pulsating in his chest. For a moment, the Rider’s eyes slipped closed, and he tried to pinpoint where Robbie Reyes was, what was going on in his mind. The answer he found was one Daisy would like.

There were few paths that lead out of Hell. Robbie Reyes was already on his way to one of them.

Opening his eyes again, the Rider looked to Daisy and nodded once. He didn’t speak --- he’d lost that ability long ago --- but he’d learned very few communications were done through words anyways. Slowly, the Demon walked across the room, passed the wretched book and to the bed. Beneath it, Eli had stuffed a suitcase. The Rider kicked the case out with his foot, leaned down to rummage for a moment before pulling out an object. The Hellfire chain Robbie carried, coiled and forgotten in a side pocket.

The Rider tested the weight in his hands for a moment before holding it out to Daisy as an offering. He could direct the portal, but if he was to pull Robbie from Hell when he got into the proper position, he needed his hands free.

He needed her to create it.

DAISY: Daisy’s entire childhood had been wrapped around this idea that her family would show up at the orphanage and take her home. That they were alive. That her family loved her and that one day, they’d all be together. But that was every orphan that didn’t know their parents, they had these hopes and dreams of what their family could be like — and Daisy had done what other kids had done. Built an image in her head, put them in this magically bubble and believed that they were wonderful people… but then she met them. And she realized that everything she had believed about them, the perfect image of them she had formed in her head was wrong. They were human. As simple as that. (Inhuman, perhaps… but human and flawed.)

And it was in this moment, where Eli was screaming that no one would have even pretended to care about Gabe or Robbie, that she realized that Eli and Jiaying had a lot in common. They both pretended to care for people that were their family, but the second that they stepped out of line, the second they stopped being useful — that was as far as the family bond went. Daisy knew that it was years of torture that had changed her mother, she had heard stories about what her mother had gone through — and she knew while her mother healed… she felt every bit of pain that had been inflicted on her. Daisy could relate to that on some level, to slowly go insane from all the pain, to suffer for so long and know there was only more suffering ahead — but Eli? What had happened to him? But she didn’t ask. And in this moment, she didn’t care either. He wasn’t the priority. Protecting Gabe was.

“No,” Daisy said firmly. “No, you robbed them of any chance of having a family that loved them.” Daisy had been returned to the orphanage more times than she cared to remember, wondering why she wasn’t good enough, why she was always taken back — she never had a family like this… but she had Matt and America. And later, she had SHIELD too. Or at least the others who rode on the Bus with her. It was as close to family as she’d ever have — but they loved each other. They cared and Daisy knew the system was shit more often than not, but there was a chance that they could have had a family that gave a shit about them… but instead, they had Eli. Who, as it seemed, had considered them a burden for breathing since day one. “Don’t act like you did them any favors. Though, I’ll give you this — you did do one thing for them. You kept them together. They are family.” In every way that mattered.

Her thoughts came to a halt and again, she was reminded why Eli was so dangerous. He wanted to be a God. And with the Darkhold? She was sure that it was possible. It would corrupt him even further, it would take the last bits of his humanity and drive him insane — but she could hear him say it again in the back of her mind… what did that matter to a God? Consequences didn’t matter to him. (Another reason he was dangerous.) The people in his life were expendable. (Another reason.) He had the Rider in that body which meant that he couldn’t be stopped conventionally. (Another.)

But she had won. After all the yelling, after… after having Gabe witness his uncle’s ugliness — he wasn’t in control anymore. And Daisy was someplace between ecstatic and ready to break down and cry herself. She felt hysterical. And at no point in her life did she ever think she’d be so happy to see him. Placing both her hands on her head, she looked at the Rider, a smile on her face as she watched him adjust to the world around him. Hopefully, Gabe would keep his distance for a little while longer. He had seen enough without having to face the Rider. (Daisy didn’t mind him anymore, but she knew that for most people, he was the object of nightmares. Even if he was a hero to her right now.)

A nod. The Rider nodded and once again, a wave of relief came over Daisy. She won on all fronts. Robbie would come home. Gabe would get his brother back. She won. And that happened so few times that Daisy wanted to cry at the realization. Most people who got caught in her gravitational pull, who found themselves in her life longer than a few minutes… they never recovered. Robbie got a second chance already — now they were getting a third. And maybe, just maybe, that would do the trick. Maybe three would be good for them.

Daisy took the chain that was offered to her, looking at it as she felt the weight in her hands. She had seen Robbie do this once before, right before he was gone. And this time, it would bring him back. Daisy inhaled deeply, her eyes flickering up towards the Rider. She knew he wouldn’t talk. He never did. She didn’t know why — but he always found a way to get his point across without words. But Daisy didn’t know how to not talk. Her lips parted and then she nodded her head slowly. “Thank you.”

She uncoiled the chain and then jangled it, trying to get a feel for the weight before she copied the motions she had seen before, spinning it faster and faster, creating a circle in the air with the chain.

ELI: Robbed them. That’s what she said, that Eli had robbed his nephews of a family. The statement was so absurd, so outlandish that he could scarcely believe it at all. “I wasn’t the one who left them,” he hissed. If anyone robbed the Reyes brothers of a family, it was their worthless father, who had never even seen his youngest son in person. If anyone had robbed them, it was their coward of a mother, who’d left on a whim and hadn’t bothered to tell Eli she was gone until a letter came in the mail days after the fact informing him that she wouldn’t be back. Eli had never particularly liked the boys, but he’d stayed. He was the only one who’d stayed. And there was something heroic in that, was there not? He should be praised for it. He should be celebrated.

And instead, he received only disrespect. Gabriel looked at him like he was a monster. Robbie dragged him into Hell. They both let a woman with no perspective on their family to speak of look him in the eye and tell him he had deprived them of something instead of gifted them with stability. “What would you have had me do?” His voice rose to a yell, because Eli was beyond angry now. “Let the state have them? Let the system do its part? Have them end up like you?” The last word was hissed, as if Daisy herself was an insult, as if her presence was something to curl a lip at. “They’re family because I let them be. Because I opened my home to them. Because of me.”

No one believed themself to be a villain, and Eli was no different. From his perspective, he had given his nephews everything. In his mind, he had been a father to the two of them, even if he’d resented them for it. To Eli, he was owed a life the world had never given him, had earned things the universe refused him. He pursued the Darkhold because his colleagues refused to acknowledge that he might understand it. He sought respect because a man of his educational background with a different skin tone wouldn’t have had to ask for people to admire him. In his mind, Eli had always been the hero.

But minds rarely showed a man reality.

The Rider knew better. The Rider had always known better, from the day he saw the book in Eli’s hands. Nothing heroic came from the Darkhold, nothing good escaped its pages. The book belonged deep in the bowels of Hell, and so did Elias Morrow. He’d made a mistake, allowing Robbie to journey back there to fetch Trish Walker without allowing himself time to truly explore the risks. He’d been shortsighted, not warning Robbie of the potential consequences of the journey.

(And it wouldn’t have mattered. The Rider had been in Robbie’s head long enough to know that. Robbie Reyes was a tremendously stubborn man with a tendency towards self-sacrifice. Had he known how his trip to Hell would end, he still would have opened the door. He still would have gone.)

They had made a deal once, the Ghost Rider and Robbie Reyes. If the Rider helped Robbie settle his score, Robbie would return the favor. And he had honored that. He had fought so many people in Hell, had taken out so many criminals on Earth, and the Rider had failed his end of the bargain. Eli Morrow was still here. He was still tearing Robbie’s life to pieces.

It was time to change that.

Daisy didn’t need much explanation. She took the chain with a strong determination in her eyes, gripped it in a way that told the Rider she knew what to do with it. He didn’t acknowledge her thanks, didn’t act as though she had spoken at all. Her gratitude was unnecessary. This wasn’t being done for her. It was for him. To honor the deal he had made. The Devil owed Robbie Reyes a favor, and he had always disliked being in anyone’s debt.

The chain began to spin, and the Rider placed a hand on Daisy’s shoulder to direct the portal. In moments, a white light filled the room, outlined in orange. It didn’t look like one of Robbie’s portals. There was no clear window to the other side. If anything, it resembled frosted glass. There were silhouettes through the fog, two figures faded and distant. One held out a hand, a bright white halo emitting from a clenched fist, a beacon to where he stood. The Rider could only hope that this was Robbie.

Taking his hand from Daisy’s shoulder, the Rider stepped towards the portal and put an arm inside. His hand landed on the shoulder of the figure holding the beacon, and he pulled back while the second figure pushed forward. There was a flash, bright and blinding, and the portal closed. The force of it pushed even the Rider backwards, sending him stumbling in a way that looked utterly unnatural compared to his usual silent grace.

Robbie’s head was briefly crowded. Three distinct presences, all fighting for control. The Rider bowed his head to concentrate, flames flickering down to a dull, unnatural ember as he split his focus, not relinquishing control but not using it, either. Three consciousnesses scuffled, and one was expelled. A man sent cursing back to Hell, fear evident in his eyes.

The fire of the Rider died down entirely, bone and metal giving way to flesh, and the body took a step back, orienting himself by putting a hand on the wall behind him. There was a beat of silence, a shuddering breath, and then he spoke.

”Daisy,” Robbie breathed, a quiet hitch in his voice. “Jesus. Are you --- Is everyone okay?”

DAISY: He didn’t understand what Daisy was talking about — and how could he? He was the hero of his own story. And Daisy was the villain. It didn’t matter if what she said was the truth or not, because his narrative would always win out over anything Daisy could say. She had hoped that there would be a moment where it would crack, where his ideology would show its flaw to him, but it never happened. He firmly put his heels in the ground and said that she was wrong, that being like her was the real tragedy. And how could she argue with that? Her life had never been happy in the way that the TV showed it. She had never had family that she could walk through the store with, hand in hand, she never had the traditional experience. But the one that she did have? That one wasn’t so bad. (And in her family that wasn’t a family, she was sure she was more loved — more cherished than anyone was in a relationship with Eli.)

Eli might not have physically left the boys behind, but mentally? Emotionally? Eli had been long gone for a while. Daisy hoped that there was a part of him that did love the boys, that cared about them, that he didn’t simply open his home up to Robbie and Gabe because of obligation — they were family. And Daisy hoped that what she had said about him hadn’t been the complete truth. But Daisy had no more hope to spare for Eli, no time to give him to sort himself out and decide to be better than he was.

Did that make her cold? Holding her hand up and forcing Eli to leave. She hadn’t killed him… but she had taken the body he was using away from him. She didn’t give him a chance to be anything more than the few parts he had shown her and Robbie and Gabe. The last memory that anyone would have of him was him being a monster. Tearing apart the family he had left behind because his heart had been tainted with so much bitterness that everyone was the enemy. Blinded by his own desires for greatness, to be a God — that he missed out on the most important things that humanity had to offer.

The people that loved him.

He didn’t want that, or them, but Daisy wished quietly that Eli had tried to hop into Robbie’s mind so that he could say proper goodbyes, so that he could fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness — to give his nephews a final impression that he had made mistakes, that he was making amends… but most importantly of all, that he loved them. But instead, he left Gabe with his own broken memories, forcing the younger Reyes to look through all his happy memories of Eli with a new realization in his heart. Every memory that Eli had left with these boys, everything that he had done on this Earth, it was tainted. And that was perhaps the worst that Eli had done. He had stolen that from Gabe. All this time they had tried to spare Gabe from any of this pain and —

Well, secrets had a way of getting out in the worst ways.

And the boys… they’d never have real answers, would they?

The portal opened and there was a moment of relief, knowing that she wasn’t going back inside hell herself to find Robbie’s soul — they weren’t traversing hell twice. It hadn’t worked out the last time for them, and Daisy had no intention of repeating that scenario.

The flash of light caused Daisy to blink, the harshness of it caused her to stumble and drop the chain, she didn’t know if the portal closed before or after she had dropped it — or if they still needed it, but the Rider stood there in silence. A fight was evident in his mind and Daisy… Daisy just watched. Her heart thumping loudly as she was once again helpless to do anything.

How long had it been since she had spoken to Robbie? The real one? Months? How far back did it go — and how long had it taken her to realize she had been played? Guilt and self-blame went rampant as the struggle went on, unsure of how she’d face herself if she lost Robbie again. Unsure of what she’d tell Gabe if both his brother and Eli ended up in hell and Gabe was left with nothing but broken memories.

Abruptly, the struggle ended. Daisy held her breath as Robbie propped himself up with a hand on the wall, waiting in silence to see if it was Robbie. If this had worked —

And then he said her name.

There was no bite behind it, no snarl, no disgust that she had become familiar hearing in his tone.

It was Robbie.

She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tighter than she should have. He just got back from Hell — he needed time to breathe — and yet Daisy couldn’t stop herself from squeezing.

“We’re okay,” she whispered in response. “We’re okay now.” There was no steadying her breath, no way to dampen what she was feeling, and frankly, after everything that had happened, she didn’t want to.

A moment passed and Daisy’s arms finally loosened, just a hair. Enough to let Robbie breathe. “I—” No, this wasn’t about her. She needed him to eat, she needed him to stay, she needed him to not vanish on her again, but there was someone else waiting for Robbie and Daisy could only think about him. “Gabe needs you. Eli…” Daisy shook her head, Eli had said and done too much for her to explain right now. “Gabe needs you. And I think it’s about damn time you two had a reunion.”

#shakeandquake‌#discord tag tbd #daisy: fear of moments stolen (eli)#and then u know #not eli #hell tw #abuse tw #manipulation tw #violence tw

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thekrazykeke · 5 years

Text

You’re Perfect

Fandom(s): Attack on Titan, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Batman: the Animated series, Bleach, Black Butler, DragonFable, Dragon Ball Z, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Hellsing, John Wick, Naruto, Ouran Highschool, Persona 5, SkipBeat!, Suicide Squad, Telltale the Walking Dead, Tokyo Ghoul, Vampire Knight, and more!

Relationship(s): TBD.

Rating: K+ through MA.

Summary: What would you do if had the ability to ignore the boundary between reality and fiction? To be with your ideal person who only exists in anime, manga, movies, and games, etc.? With the power to go wherever you want to, would you stay in a fantastical world or return to reality?

Warning(s): Will be tagged appropriately per chapter and fandom, etc. etc.

Taglist: Click here to be added.

Tagging: @misspooh @ginghampearlsnsweettea @naomithenerdgirl @wojtud-widvut-fecret @indigorose049 @queenofhearts579 @fallinoutoforbit @ashthebootyholetickler @one-twisted-bee @stichpatched

Those with the strikethrough in their name, I’ll be sending the link through to your DMs, so please leave it open. I’d like to say that the listed fandoms is a cursory overview, and is prone to change. If you have something you’d like me to write about, a fandom and anime you want me to watch, don’t hesitate to tell me. I intend this to be a long running thing for all of us nerds to enjoy together. With that said, this is only the prologue and I hope to improve the chapter length and such from here onwards.

Stay so stay tuned, hit that like button, reblog, comment, whatever you prefer. Ciao~

Prologue

A Normal Day Turned...?

December 11, 20XX RealityLux, Inc. 5:36 P.M.

It never stopped being so jarring.

Being outside, or even, just surrounded by people, no, by strangers, all hustling and bustling, either on their way to some type of appointment, or work, or a friend/family member’s house, or, or something... Everyone always seemed to have a set destination in mind, and they were determined to get there.

Sometimes you found yourself unwillingly swept up in the crowd, with the vibe, the urge, to actually go along with the flow, curious to see where that feeling would take you.

The outcome for occasionally submitting to these whimsical flights of fancy led to awesome destinations, such as a brand new internet cafe that you’d never heard of but quickly fell in love with because of the decor and ambiance, or the park that boasted some of the best up-and-coming local urban artists, and even the black owned businesses which sold your prefered clothing style at a reasonable price.

During days like those, it felt as if you truly had the best of luck.

Well, honestly, the past several years felt like that.

Unluckily for you, you’d grown up into and been around long enough to witness the travesty and endless tragedies that plagued this crooked nation due to warmonger presidents like Bush. Cried with overwhelming joy when President Obama was elected, and cried again when his final term ended.

You’d wept furious tears over the fact that Hilary had not been elected, even though she was really just more of the same, and could not sleep peacefully during the four years that President Orange was in the White House. You’d lived through terror and injustice and bigotry. Or, well, correction, people stopped pretending to care whether or not they were labeled as racists and Neo Nazis. You learned to keep your head down even more during that time, to watch out for people not just at night time, but also during the day.

America has always been a terrible country instilled with hypocrites to the extreme but those four years had aged you well beyond your years. After Trump’s impeachment, although his Vice President tried to step up to the plate, it would seem that a higher power decided to have mercy.

Michelle Obama decided to run for President, and she won.

During her time in the White House, many things, both gradually and quickly, came to pass. Things that were long overdue, such as the rich and elitist members of society paying more on taxes, minimum wage being increased, pedophiles and rapists getting the maximum sentences, college tuition was lowered to an affordable price or free altogether, increased salary for women, etc. There just isn’t any possible way that Michelle would be able to undo the ugliness and rot that infected America for so many years. You still hated this country, but with her in charge, you learned to hate it just a little less.

Pop!

With a blink, you found yourself smiling on autopilot. Two of your coworkers, Jessica and Kate, were laughing and giggling as they poured themselves some bubbly champagne before going around the room.

“Aaaand youuu,” The bubbles are floating to the top, the scent of the champagne wafting upwards to your nose, “Get the rest because you clinched that deal with Bandai.” Kate praised, flashing her bleached white toothed smile in your direction. “Go, [Your Last Name]! Woo!”

“Ohh, we’re cheering now! Woo-wooo!!” Jessica joined in, raising her free hand in an enthusiastic wave.

Raising the glass in a faint salute, “Mm, c’mon, guys.” You took a sip of your drink. “This was a team effort.” Actually it wasn’t, but it sounded better to say it that way.

“Don’t be so modest, [Your Last Name].” One of the few random guys at the party piped up. “C’mon, give us a speech!”

Before you knew it, several more people had took up the call.

“Speech! Speech! Speech!”

Closing your eyes briefly, you inhale and then exhale. Raising your glass, you smiled a bit wider, and waited until they settled down. “It’s been an honor to work with you all for so many years. I hope to be working with you for many more years to come.Thank you.”

Short, sweet and to the point.

It gained a few good natured groans and people wanting to hear more, but they were quickly distracted by the caterers who brought in food and more wine and champagne. That was the perfect opportunity for you to sneak off, claiming that you were going to use the bathroom, placing the flute of half drunk alcohol on the nearest table while on the way out the door.

As soon as you were in the hallway, away from your colleagues, the (fake) smile that’s been plastered on your face all day fell off. You walked as quickly as possible with the four inch heels you’re wearing, reaching a flight of stairs and held onto the railing as hustled down them.

There’s a smile is on your face again as you take that last step, and this time, it’s genuine, because of the man holding his hand out to you so gallantly. You took his hand with a little laugh, accepting the small bouquet that he offered with his free hand.

“Cinderella rushing off from her ball before it’s even midnight. Classic, I love it.” He winked. You rolled your eyes and whacked him on the arm lightly. “Oh! Ow.” Feigning injury, he clutched at the ‘hurting’ part. “Violent. I guess you’re not Cinderella but that kick ass girl from Ella Enchanted.”

“Shut up. You’re so ridiculous, Mr. Hunt.” Shaking your head, you pretended to be upset, looking away with a huff. Only to really huff with annoyance when your ear is flicked. “Eli, stop~”

“That’s right, you better call me by my first name. ‘Mr. Hunt’ is my father, as you well know, little girl.” Eli grabbed you by both your hands, tugging you ever closer.

And closer.

Close enough that you catch a whiff of his cologne that he’s wearing and it smells expensive, woodsy.

Perfect.

“Eli, you found her!”

The moment is broken.

You jerked your hands free and smile automatically as another woman came running up to you and Eli, holding onto a wrapped, square box. “Kymbrea, hey!” You open your arms and laugh slightly as she handed off the package to Eli before wrapping her arms around you in a hug. After a few minutes, you patted her on the back to signal her to let go and she did, accepting the package back again, before holding it out to you.

“Congrats on getting that deal with Bandai. Knew you could do it. So proud of you, best friend!” Kymbrea happily proclaimed. “C’mon, open it, open it, open it.” With a needling voice, she gently cajoled you.

“Kym, hey, baby, that’s enough.” With a slight laugh, Eli tugged her out of your space. A pang went through your heart and the smile on your face felt a little brittle. Neither of them seemed to notice, thank god. “I’ll take this wild woman off your hands.” As he glanced at you, smiling as if nothing was amiss, as if he hadn’t been... Hell, you didn’t even know anymore. Maybe it’s all in your head? With an awkward nod and smile, that he accepted without issue, he wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her up the stairs, “We’ll see you later, [Your Name].”

You watched them go upstairs for a minute or two, feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed and dismissed. Swallowing the lump in your throat, hands still full with the gifts, you instead push those unnecessary feelings to the side.

Walking out the lobby to the front entrance, where the valet already has your car pulled up and ready for you, key dangling from his hand. You ignore his curious, slightly concerned stare, tossing the bouquet inside and on the backseat, the wrapped package getting only slightly better treatment.

Snagging the car key, you hand him a tip and then go around to the driver’s side, climbed in and then closed the door after you. Adjusting the heat in the car and the mirrors, you put the key in the ignition, made sure no one was behind you before taking off.

The further and further away you get from the rented out hotel, the less the feeling in your chest aches. It’s something you don’t take much stock in, you can’t afford to. For awhile, you drive around, only to eventually come to your favorite market.

It was getting dark, so you decided to do a quick in ‘I’m feeling sorry for myself’ and out run. So chocolate, poptarts, bottles of Lipton tea, the usual. All in all, less than fifteen minutes and then you were driving to your apartment. Seeing it from a distance still took your breath away.

You’d done this, this was your life, after all this time, you’d achieved that which seemed unachievable.

Living at the top, finally. It didn’t matter that it felt a little like a hollow victory.

After having a small conversation with the doorman, politely declining his help with your groceries and the two gifts you’d received. Your neighbor, some white guy you didn’t know the name of, didn’t allow you to refuse, citing reasons for why it wouldn’t be decent to let you suffer this alone, and eventually you agreed if only to get to him to stop; together, you and he caught the elevator for the top floor where your apartment is. Letting yourself in first, you told him thanks for the help, and he smiled, lingering. You handed him whatever was left in your wallet, a generous amount and still he lingered. It was starting to be uncomfortable so you slammed the door in his face, locking it shut quickly. quickly kicking off your heels and slipping on your flip flops.

Tossing the flowers into the trash, you began to put away most of the groceries, leaving only a couple boxes of poptarts and a case of tea out. The sound of running water is loud in the apartment, but familiar. Cleaning out a mug, you pour the bottled tea inside, along with a few ice cubes, grabbing the matching saucer.

Walking into the living room, you turned on the TV, placing the mug of tea on the coffee table side the couch. Reaching into your back pocket of your pants, you pull out your cell phone, also putting it on the coffee table after putting it on ‘read’.

Much more comfortable.

Sitting on the couch with your feet tucked neatly in criss-cross applesauce style, leaning back against the pillow, you grabbed the PS4 controller, pressing the power button and quickly choosing the game that you’d digitally downloaded. Thankfully, it’s fully downloaded and updated, ready to play.

For hours, you lose yourself in the combat, grunting with dissatisfaction when your on screen character is overwhelmed, or cheering with triumph when you finally beat a mini boss or passed a quest.

Only once your fingers started to cramp and you couldn’t ignore the urge to drink the tea, did you press pause. Sipping at your tea, you flexed your fingers, pressing the button on your cellphone and it lit up, showing off your message from Kymbrea which read simply ‘U play it yet?’ and inadvertently, you gaze drifted to the package sitting by your front door, which you’d dropped carelessly.

Feeling guilty, you huff out a sigh.

Getting up again, lightly tossing the controller back onto the couch, you walk over the package, picking it up and returning to your original spot. Carefully peeling off the wrapper, you reveal a totally pitch black box except for the bright red logo XR on it.

Raising an eyebrow, you opened the box and pull out a VR headset, a tiny controller, and instructions. Shaking the box, wondering if that’s it, out fluttered a piece of paper in pretty, delicate cursive, ‘I’ve already uploaded everything I knew you’d like. Happy early Christmas! xo, K.’

Shrugging, you sighed and completely decided to let what happened earlier go. Kymbrea had done nothing wrong, she is your best friend. If anything, you’re the problem. With that little (depressing) pep talk finished, you fired off a text, telling her thanks and that you were checking out her gift now. Once that’s finished, you set up the VR headset, all the cables and cords, and then put the headset on after making sure everything is up to date.

After some labels and companies that you didn’t know about and you assumed were associated with the game popped up in front of your vision, after that, that’s when things got a bit weird. There’s a black woman, who looks terribly, terribly familiar, walking straight towards you. Before she gets too close, she stops and tilts her head in that same weird mannerism that you know, but--

/Welcome to HTC Vive, the virtual reality which caters to all your needs. Before we can move on to the first chapter of the game, we’ll have to go through the registration to make sure everything is in order. Is that okay?/

Resisting the urge to groan out loud by Kymbrea’s utter cheesiness, yet also grudgingly appreciating the gesture, you decide to fight through the embarrassment because the AI looks so familiar to you because she was created, designed, whatever the term, to look exactly like you.

Once you finish up registration, verifying that yes, you’re over 18, and yes, you’re over 21, you don’t mind violence or gore, you know to take breaks and be careful of flashing lights, etc.

/So, the initial set up is complete. Some chapters will be better established with voice recognition, but can be played without. Do you wish to install this software?/

Literally going to kill Kymbrea, just shove a pillow over her face and smother her to death. Unwittingly, you groaned in sheer torture, before saying yes, feeling your skin heat with embarrassment.

/Understood. Voice recognition approved./

The AI’s voice changed to suit yours and whoa, that was kind of freaky but also pretty awesome?

Whatever, you’d think seriously about it later.

/We’re about to start your journey. Please make sure that you’ve done everything you needed to do beforehand because this chapter will be shorter or longer to suit your needs./

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, come on. Once you answered the last minute questions, such as what you wanted to be called, your preference for your partners (male/female or otherwise), and other 18+ questions that you refused to admit got you hot under the collar, as soon as you hit the ‘Accept’ button, that’s when things really, truly honestly got weird.

Technicolors burst across your vision. The AI lady took steps towards you and she wasn’t stopping. You were freaked the fuck out something terrible, cussing up a storm and as you reached up, about to pull the headset off, figuring this had to be some kind of mcfucking joke or jumpscare or something, and then her hand is touching yours and that shouldn’t be possible at all.You open your mouth to scream but nothing comes out, or you don’t think it does?

You hear static and your vision turns black.

»»————-　　————-««

Stay tuned for the next update of You’re Perfect! You wake up in the bed of........?

#fic #miscellaneous #fics #black reader #awkward reader #misc fics #multifandom #black gamer #multifandom fic #thekrazykeke

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