Chapter Text
Daisy looked up at the sky. The light pollution of LA took away the view of the distant stars, but it still made her feel the same that it always did: small, insignificant but somehow quite safe. Robbie was sitting next to her on the hood of his car. She couldn’t believe he even allowed her sitting on his precious Lucy, “Weird self healing car” she thought and closed her eyes for a moment when a strand of hair brushed her face in a gentle breeze.
She felt a silent nudge against her arm and opened her eyes again, she took the bottle of scotch Robbie offered. Lazily bringing the bottle to her lips, she glanced at Robbie, their eyes briefly meeting. She took a swig and felt the comforting heat burn her throat.
She had told herself, rationalized, that no, she could not get attached; she just needed a partner in her fight against the Watchdogs. He was the Ghost Rider, not someone you’d get close to. She gave him back the bottle. Yes, his eyes were so deep... and almost golden reflected in the streetlights, but he was a walking, talking hell demon. She did have to admit it was nice to be able to talk to someone again. Life as a vigilante was quite lonely and she had underestimated how hard it was without having a team to back her up. But that was the past; she couldn’t love or let someone love her for their sake. So Robbie, with all his darkness, felt safe.
She leaned back on the hood of his precious Lucy, when he quietly held out the bottle to her, revealing his triceps through his shirt. Internally, she shook her head and took a large sip that felt like it went through her whole body, and shuddered.
Robbie leaned back against the windshield with his hand behind his head, taking the bottle with his other hand for a quick sip.
“Have you always lived, here?” Daisy eventually asked, breaking the silence.
Robbie nodded, “Yeah.”
Daisy slowly nodded too, taking the bottle back from him to take another sip.
“How about you? I know you’re not from here.”
Daisy raised her eyebrows, “How can you tell?”
Robbie smiled, “You don’t have that L.A. vibe.”
Daisy huffed and peeled away at the label of the bottle in her hands, “I’m a foster kid, always been bounced around so I’m from everywhere and nowhere I guess.”
Robbie blinked, “That’s rough. So no parents?”
Daisy shook her head, “Nope.”
Robbie slowly nodded “Me neither, not anymore, just Gabe and I.”
They got both briefly distracted by a loud ambulance driving past a street down and fell back into a comfortable silence.
“I was born in China, though.” Daisy said with a faint smile.
Robbie cocked an eyebrow, “Really?” and leaned his head into his hand. Daisy hummed. She knew he was staring at her, curious, but she had no intention on divulging him with her story. No sob stories about her childhood, no rising tide, no S.H.I.E.L.D., no finding her parents and certainly no Lincoln. She swallowed but the sudden lump in her throat didn’t budge. Robbie had probably noticed she didn’t want to elaborate any further as he had brought his attention back on the view in front.
“You’re different you know.” He muttered.
“Different how?”
Robbie smirked, “Well first of all, the powers.” As he made an attempt to copy her ‘quake’ hand gesture.
She chuckled, “Okay, sure.” Daisy noticed he was starting to loosen up a little bit after of few sips of that whiskey, and maybe she was feeling it too.
“But also,” He said, squinting a bit “you weren’t scared.”
She smirked, “You think a little fire is gonna scare me?”
“A little fire? I’ve seen myself,” he huffed “a skull on fire, that’s scary.”
Daisy shrugged playfully, “Nah, not that scary. I’ve seen puppets dressed up in haunted houses that are more scary.”
Robbie shook his head and took another sip, “You’re a mystery.”
Daisy fell silent, “Don’t try and solve me, though.” She quietly muttered under her breath.
Robbie titled his head to the side; she was staring at her hands, fidgeting with her chipped nail polish. Her make-up was dark and her shoulder length hair fell like a curtain down her face. She was obviously going through some stuff but as long as he didn’t ask too much of her, she wouldn’t ask them of him either, and that was more than fine to him.
A tear had escaped and fell down her face, she tried to quickly wipe it away with her sleeve before he could see it, but she was too slow and her cheek was already stained by it, leaving a smudged trail.
“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, immediately chastising himself in his mind for breaking his own rules. Don’t get too close; you’re on a mission. No matter how mysterious her eyes are and how charming the corners of her mouth when she smiles sarcastically.
Daisy let herself slide off the hood of the charger and nodded, “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I’m gonna head back.”
“It’s late though, you can crash on the couch if you want?” as he gestured to his house behind him. Daisy shook her head, she hated he saw her vulnerable like that. It was the last thing she wanted of their anti-Watchdogs partnership.
Robbie slid off the hood too; reaching for her arm, “Let me at least drive you home.”
Daisy frowned, ignoring his warm fingers on her arm, “You’ve been drinking, Robbie.”
He shrugged, “Lucy does most of the driving anyway.”
“No, thank you, Knight Rider, I’m okay.” She answered him sarcastically.
Robbie shook his head, “Okay, let me get your jacket from the trunk,” he said with a sigh and walked to the back of his car, popping the trunk. He blindly reached for the jacket in the dark before he felt the smooth leather under his fingertips and grabbed it. “There you go - oh whoa, sorry.” He exclaimed as he had bumped into her.
“Oh,” she breathed out, “Thanks...”, taking the leather jacket from him. With her hands tingling from the scotch, she unsuccessfully tried to put on her jacket, all the while painfully aware of his body so close to hers. Robbie noticed he was holding his breath, and quietly exhaled. He had somehow not backed away, yet. It’s not that he couldn’t.... he just didn’t.
Daisy felt Robbie’s heat radiate from him, and slowly she looked up. He was taller than she was - “about as tall as Lincoln” she thought, shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts. Looking down at her feet to regain her composure, she realized their arms were touching. She had to admit it was nice to be touched again, even though it was a shirt clad arm against her bare one. She looked up at him, his eyes shone like honey in the dim streetlights and it reminded her of the whiskey bottle they had both just finished.
Robbie opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind. He studied the lines of her face, her lips, her nose, and the little frown between her brows. With all that had happened, he did not yet take the time to fully notice how beautiful she was.
Daisy’s eyes wandered over his face, then his broad chest and his shoulders. He looked strong and warm, and when her eyes had found his lower arm still touching hers, he noticed and gently stroked her arm once with his hand. The space between their bodies grew smaller until there was only a sliver of light separating them.
Daisy could swear he could hear her rampant heartbeat, and she found the courage to look back up. After what seemed like forever, their eyes locked. A tiny gasp of air escaped Daisy’s mouth when Robbie slowly leaned down. She could feel his nose touch hers before he retreated abruptly.
“I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely.
Daisy looked at him, at his remorseful frown, and shook her head, only a little surprised at how right this felt. “No, it’s okay,” she whispered.
With his left hand, Robbie tucked her hair behind her ear. Tracing his jaw with her fingertips, Daisy pulled him closer. This was stupid, impulsive, maddening even, but every trace of guilt evaporated when she brushed his lips with hers. His mouth tasted sweet and a little smoky, and the lump in her throat eased away with every second of melting away in their kiss.
Her leather jacket dropped from her hand and she was now free to cup his face on both sides. Robbie had held back until then, but he shut the trunk of the Charger forcefully and hastily picked her up to put her on top of it. Standing in between her legs, he looked up and was met with wild sparkling eyes. Daisy pulled him closer by his shirt and found his hungry mouth. Their kiss deepened and was not slowed down in the slightest when Robbie nearly tripped over Daisy’s leather jacket.
“Hmm, just kick it away.” Daisy mumbled indifferently in between trailing Robbie’s neck with fiery kisses, and when she returned to his impatient lips, she could feel him smiling.
After what was an indistinct amount of time, Robbie reluctantly let go off their kiss to catch his breath, and asked “Is this okay?” carefully touching her lip that was still cut from a fight a few days earlier.
Drunk on lust and scotch, Daisy nodded. “Yeah, yeah,” she breathed impatiently and pressed her tingly lips on his. Robbie, in a not much clearer state of mind, suppressed a moan when her eager hands ran through his hair and she whispered, her voice low and hoarse, “Let’s move this inside. Don’t want the neighbors to see.”
Robbie nodded, “Let’s go,” as he took her hand in his and led her to the front door, fumbling with the keys from his back pocket
“Wait,” she said breathlessly, “what about your brother?”
Robbie shook his head, as he finally was able to open the door to his house, “He’s staying over at some friend’s house.”
He swiftly picked her up and she let out a yelp, “Don’t you dare scorch me.” She berated him.
“I thought a little fire didn’t scare you.”