Avengers and Inhumans

Steve’s mind was a mess. It hurt like hell, and even though he tried to stop the attacker, to shut him out, it was as if hitting a rubber wall. It took all his strength to hold on, but he wasn’t just going to lay down and let the guy win. So he pushed harder. He had no practice in the matter, he had no idea how to do it. He just knew he had to.
So he stopped it. He shut him out. He didn’t know how he did it, and it didn’t matter. He just did it.
He could feel Jayce’s hands on his arms, as he tried to help him up, to get him away from here. He resisted. He didn’t want to leave. He was strong, stronger than this telepath, he knew that. So he got himself free from Jayce’s grasp and grabbed his shield to fight.
And then, something blew up. He heard the noise, a bomb exploding. A sound all too familiar. But then nothing happened. No fire, no shockwave. Not even a breeze. Steve looked around confused.
Then he spotted Daisy, standing with her arms stretched out, using her powers to contain the blast. She looked deep in concentration, working on fully snuffing out the flame. Steve instantly started searching for Lucas with his eyes, just to see him hold a gun. Steve threw his shield, glad to finally be of some use. But he wasn’t fast enough. Lucas, realizing he was in jeopardy, fired the gun just before the shield reached him.
It hit him in the chest, knocking him back. He crashed into the wall again, but this time, he was knocked out cold. But Steve took out his icer, and shot him just to be sure. Twice. Because he liked to be really sure.
Then he turned to Daisy, to see if she is alright, hoping with all the hope in the world that the bullet didn’t hit her.
She was still concentrating, her hands outstretched, her gauntlets vibrating. Steve could see a small fireball on the desk, as it slowly grew smaller and smaller. He looked at Daisy again, and was alarmed to see that there was a growing stain of blood on her uniform, tainting the cloth, near her stomach. Her face didn’t give any indication that she was in pain, not even when she fell to her knees. Because all the while she didn’t let go of the bomb for one moment, not before it disappeared completely, the last bit of the flame snuffed out. It all happened in less than one minute, the bomb exploding, Lucas getting knocked out and Daisy getting shot, but it seemed like an eternity to Steve.
Daisy looked up now, her eyes met his. She seemed confused, as her hands touched stomach. Then she fell back. Steve was there in a jump, catching her before she hit the ground. “We need to get her help!” he said to Jayce, who was standing there, shocked. “Quickly!” He looked at the wound, and instantly knew how bad the situation was. He has seen fatal wounds before.
“We… we have a healer. He can help. But he is at the base…” Jayce muttered suddenly.
“Then get him here! Send Thor.” Steve said impatiently. “And alert the others we need help. Now!”
He could feel the life slowly leaving her body. He clutched her arms, and put his hand on her face. “Come on Daisy, stay with me, you hear me? Stay conscious.”
“She is going to die.” Jayce said, stunned. “And it’s my fault.”
“She is not going to die!” Steve said aggressively.
“Maybe if I…” Jayce started, looking at Daisy with tears in his eyes. “I can help her stay conscious if I link my mind to hers. Oh… that won’t work. I wouldn’t be able to keep it up if the pain hit me.” he shook his head. Then his eyes lit up. “But you can. You are a super soldier, the pain will mean nothing to you, and then I can keep up the connection. But I need your approval first. Daisy made me promise I always ask for it. Please, Captain, help me save her!
Steve looked at Daisy, her face pale, her lips trembling. He could smell the blood in the air.
“Do it!” He said.
The next thing he knew was that he wasn’t just holding her body in his arms, he could feel her mind. It wasn’t like when Jayce contacted them at the Hydra base. Her mind was much closer this time, feelings pouring out, secrets.
But she wasn’t in pain. She couldn’t feel it anymore. She only felt fear. But it wasn’t of dying. She was afraid for her team.

Cap? He heard her voice, it was faint but audible. Are you in my head?

Concentrate on my voice. Steve answered. Try to stay conscious. You understand me?

Cap, I need you to do a favor for me. If I don’t make it….

You will.

But if I don’t, I need you to do something for me.

He already knew what she was going to ask, being in her head and all, but he let her say it anyway, just to keep her conscious a little longer. He grasped her arm, with her body lying in his arms.

I need you to look after my team. Mariléne, she is really shy, and she thinks everyone judges her for the way she looks. She needs to feel that they love her. Alisha, she went through a lot. You can’t let her feel alone, it took me way too long to convince her she can trust us. Joey is adorable but he is very insecure. He needs friends to back him. And Jayce, he can be annoying, but he really needs me. He needs someone to practice his ability with. I was the only one who was willing to let him into my head to help him. Please, do it for me. Don’t make them feel like outcasts. And I need you to tell my team I’M sorry, and I love all of them. And not just this one. My other team too. Please tell them. Please.

Of course. I will. I promise. But now stay with me, Daisy. No. Skye. Stay with me Skye, you hear me?

He could feel her feelings and memories flash his mind, although they were filtered, as if there were pieces she had to keep out of his mind. She was still fighting for control. But he got to know a lot about Daisy in these few moments. The fact that she was an orphan. That this was the first time in her life she felt wanted. It was very sad, but in the meantime, it was bright, She was happy. But also, she was afraid. Afraid of something Steve couldn’t understand.
And also, there was a black spot. A feeling of hatred, buried deep. He didn’t know what, or who, she hated this much, but it was overwhelming. He couldn’t imagine how someone so innocent can hate someone this much.
He could feel his own memories bleeding through, his feelings. He couldn’t stop it, he could barely control it. And he didn’t want to. This gave Daisy something to hold on to.
Whenever he felt her consciousness starting to drift away, he grabbed it, held onto it.

Stay with me Skye. He repeated. Stay with me.

In the meantime, he was half present in the world too. He let Natasha take her out of his hands and try to stop the bleeding, bandaging it and putting pressure on it. Daisy couldn’t feel any of that. She was too far gone, barely hanging on.
But he didn’t let her go. And then, a man arrived in Thor’s hands, who flew as fast as he could to get him here. The man stepped to Daisy, and held his hands over her.
Stay with me Skye. Steve repeated, holding her consciousness, feeling it slowly drifting away.
And then, it was bright, and Daisy could finally feel it. It was warm. Her consciousness returned, and Steve let the telepathic connection fail.
It was like waking from a dream. He and everyone else was standing next to Daisy. Stark was missing, he most likely took Lucas into custody, as he was nowhere to be seen either. Daisy slowly blinked and opened her brown eyes.
“Why am I the one who always gets shot?” She asked, her voice tired but sarcastic.
“Thank god you are alright.” Joey said, and wanted to hug her, but the doctor stopped him.
“I only healed her body inside, but she is still wounded. We need to take her to the infirmary, and let her body heal.”
“But can’t you heal her?” Clint asked, not understanding.
“I’m sorry. It took all I had to save her life. Not everyone has limitless powers.”
“I feel you bro.” Clint nodded, instinctively touching his quiver on his back.
“We are taking her to the Stark tower.” Steve decided. “I don’t know where your base is, but I’m guessing it’s a lot farther.”
Her team seemed to consider, then they nodded in unison. They weren’t going to let Daisy get hurt any more, Steve could see it on their face. They really loved her. She wasn’t just their leader. She was family.