The Good Samaritan
Eli lay sprawled on ground clutching the side of his bloodied face. Joe was laying next to him chained to the wall of the Roxxon power plant Lucy was operating out of. And Lucy stood above Eli with a wrench in her hand.
“I won’t read the book.” Eli snarled. In response, Lucy raised her translucent hand and held it over his face. But Eli was unflinching. “It’s evil and unnatural.”
“You’ll read it.” Lucy insisted. “Or I swear I’ll-”
“You’ll what?!” Eli demanded. “Drive me mad? You can’t. Not if you want me to read the book for you.”
“I’ll do it to your nephews.” Lucy snarled. “Robbie and Gabe.”
“Robbie was with whoever came to get me out.” Eli scoffed. “I’m guessing SHIELD based on the recent debate on TV. And if that’s the case they’re probably gonna pick up Gabe sometime soon if they haven’t already. You have nothing to threaten me with. So either do whatever you’re gonna do to me but I won’t read the book. I won’t become like Joe over there did when he played God with something man should not control.”
“Have it your way.” Lucy sneered. She lowered her hand down into Eli’s face and he let out a blood curdling scream. Then she turned to face her husband. “Well Joe, I guess you’re gonna get your wish.”
---
Coulson, Mack, and Ward walked up the driveway of Robbie’s house. Coulson knocked on the door and kid in a wheelchair answered.
“Gabriel Reyes?” Coulson asked.
“Why?” Gabe asked.
“Mr. Reyes I’m Agent Phil Coulson with SHIELD.” Coulson introduced himself. “These are Agents Ward and Mackenzie.”
“Why’re you here?” Gabe scowled.
“There’s a situation involving your Uncle.” Mack stated. “For your safety we need to take you into protective custody.”
“What’s going on with my Uncle?” Gabe frowned.
“We aren’t at liberty to say.” Coulson answered. “But we have reason to believe that you might be in danger.”
“Where’s my brother?!” Gabe demanded. “If I’m in danger so is he. Why aren’t you taking him into protective custody.”
“Because we already picked him up.” Ward answered. “We’re gonna take you to him you just need to come with us.” Gabe still looked apprehensive but nodded his head.
---
FitzSimmons touched down in the road in front of the Scofield residence. They went up to the door where they were greeted by a woman in her late thirties early forties.
“Sarah Scofield?” Simmons greeted. “I’m Doctor Jemma Simmons and this is Doctor Leo Fitz.”
“Congressman Kellerman requested that we see if we can help your son.” Fitz stated.
“It’s good to meet you both.” Sarah replied, her arms folded in on herself. “Are you gonna be able to help him?”
“We’re going to do everything we can.” Simmons assured her as they entered the house. “Could you give us some biological information about him? Anything that you think of.”
“Well there’s a history of brain cancer from his father.” Sarah sighed. “Nothing like that on my side of the family. They entered the living room where in the middle of the room was a small child encased in the chrysalis.
“How old is your son?” Fitz asked.
“Ten why?” Sarah frowned.
“I believe we have our answer.” Simmons stated.
“What do you mean?” Sarah frowned.
“Well at SHIELD we have someone who is an expert on inhuman biology.” Simmons explained. “And according to him, terrigenesis isn’t supposed to occur until a would-be inhuman enters adulthood. Very rarely is it actually possible but in the few recorded cases of it happening it took a bit longer and a bit more effort for the inhuman to emerge from the chrysalis.”
“So Mike’s gonna be okay?” Sarah asked.
“Not necessarily.” Fitz sighed. “It’s not certain what’ll happen once a child actually comes out. Mike could come out the same as he was before just with powers. But due to them being so young it’s also possible they come out with brain damage or deformed or just never emerge at all. Most kids who’ve gone through it emerge within four to eight days. And from what Congressman Kellerman said, today would be the eighth day.”
“Wait a minute.” Sarah stammered. “So you mean to say if Mike doesn’t come out today-”
“He most likely won’t come out at all.” Fitz nodded.
---
Robbie was waiting in the briefing room with Lincoln, Daisy, and the ghosts when Coulson, Mack, and Ward returned from picking up Gabe.
“Where’s my brother?” Robbie asked.
“Waiting in the cargo bay.” Ward answered. “We didn’t tell him anything, just that he was being brought in for his own protection.”
“Okay.” Robbie nodded. “Thanks.” He made to leave but before he could walk through the door Ward grabbed him by the arm.
“I’m not done.” Ward said. “I didn’t tell him anything. But you should. You have a little brother who cares about you. Hiding this stuff from him won’t last and you’ll drive him away when he finds out.” Robbie seemed to take in what Ward had to say and left for the cargo bay where he found Gabe waiting for him.
“Hey, what's up, man?” Robbie greeted. “Look, uh, sorry about all the drama. I'm just glad to see you're safe.”
“Me?” Gabe scoffed. “What about you, disappearing like that? I thought you trusted me.”
“Well, I do.” Robbie said.
“Then why are you hiding such a big secret?” Gabe asked. “I can do the math. The nights you're away, the blood on your clothes. Now this?”
“I wanted to tell you.” Robbie sighed. “For a long time. It's just... how do you tell your brother that you're-”
“A secret agent?” Gabe chuckled.
“What?” Robbie frowned.
“Well I mean how else could you explain all this which is super dope by the way.” Gabe shrugged.
“No Gabe.” Robbie shook his head. “I don’t work for SHIELD. Let me ask you something. What do you remember about the night you got hurt? After the Fifth Street guys rolled up and shot up the car?”
“Well I remember that I couldn’t move.” Gabe said. “I couldn’t feel my legs. I saw you outside the car and I was sure you were dead. Then a Good Samaritan rolls up on his motorcycle, pulls me to safety, and then goes to check on you. Then you moved. That’s how I knew you were alive.”
“Yeah.” Robbie nodded. “That's not what happened. Well, the first part is like you said. The fire, the chase, the shooting. But what I remember most is feeling like I screwed up. That because of me, you were going to die. We both were.”
“We didn't.” Gabe assured. “We survived.”
“Now, this is the part I never told you.” Robbie murmured, leaning against his car. “The thing I tried to hide. When I was thrown from the car, I begged God, I begged the universe, I begged anyone who would listen, that you be spared. I swore that I'd give anything to save you.” Robbie paused for a moment to compose himself, pinching the bridge of his nose before continuing. “Then I hit the street. And I died. And there's nothing. It's just darkness. Then I heard a voice. It was asking me if I wanted a second chance, did I want to punish those who hurt my brother, did I want to avenge my own death. I answered, ‘Yes. More than anything, yes.’ And I was alive again. And you're right. There was someone there when I came to. But it wasn't a Good Samaritan. It was the Devil. And whatever was inside him, he passed it into me.
“Ghost Rider.” Gabe realized.
“That's the deal I made.” Robbie said calmly. “I swore to go after those who spilled innocent blood. And then I was reborn.”
“You killed all those Locos.” Gabe murmured, horrified.
“No. No.” Robbie protested, kneeling in front of his brother. “That wasn't me. The thing inside me. It craves vengeance. Those gangsters got what they deserved for what they did to you.”
“Did to me?” Gabe exclaimed. “I'm fine. You ever hear me complain? So I can't walk anymore. I didn't ask for that, but I'm fine with it. Don't you put their blood on me.” Robbie simply hung his head. He’d always known his brother most likely wouldn’t see him the same if he knew what deal he’d made and the things he’d done. “That SHIELD guy said this was about Uncle Eli.” Gabe said. “What’s going on Robbie?”
“Tio was taken by someone who needs him for something.” Robbie answered. “We thought they might try to take you as leverage. But I promise you we are doing everything we can to get him back.”
---
“Is there anything you can do for him?” Sarah asked as Fitz used the Dwarfs to scan Mike.
“I’m sorry no.” Simmons answered. “There’s no way to induce the emergence. All we can really do is take his vitals and hope for the best.”
“Jemma.” Fitz called over to her. “The Dwarfs found something.” Simmons walked over to examine what Fitz was looking at. It was a small crack in the chrysalis. Sarah rushed over to see what they were looking at.
“So what’re you gonna do?” Sarah asked.
“We are going to be very very careful.” Simmons answered. “Doctor Scofield if you would be so kind as to grab my medical bag?” Sarah did as she was instructed and gave Simmons her bag, from which she removed a scalpel. Fitz kept monitoring vitals as Simmons used her scalpel to make small cuts in the husk as to assist with removing it.
“I thought you said you couldn’t induce emergence.” Sarah said.
“We can’t.” Simmons nodded. “But we can try to help it along.”
---
“So do you guys have any idea where Lucy’s going?” Mack asked Hugo.
“Somewhere she can get more power for the experiment.” Hugo answered. “That’s what the issue was last time around.”
“Where would she be able to get that kind of power?” Lincoln asked. “I mean the amount of energy required to essentially break the laws of physics? Be hard to find that.”
“Not necessarily.” Frederick shook his head. “Momentum Labs was owned by Roxxon and they’ve got lots of power plants all over the place. There’s one that was abandoned years back that if Lucy can get running should be able to provide enough energy.”
“What went wrong with the experiment?” Mack asked.
“It was just a lack of power.” Frederick answered. “The reason we’re like this is because Joe decided to murder us. Or convert us into Quantum Energy for the experiment.”
“Why?” Lincoln frowned.
“Because we knew what he did.” Hugo answered. “We knew how he’d hired a bunch of criminals to kill Eli. He called into work saying his nephews had been shot up by a bunch of criminals. Lucy was the one he’d spoken to. Apparently he told her he thought Joe hired them. She confronted Joe about it in front of all of us, said she was gonna turn him in. After he confessed in front of us all, he grabbed a pipe and knocked us all out before shoving us into that chamber and trapping us in those boxes. Decided we all knew too much.”
“So Joe’s the reason Gabe’s in a wheelchair.” Lincoln realized.
“That’s right.” Frederick nodded. “And if I had to hazard a guess, that, as well as finding out how we were all ‘dead’ is why Eil went looking for him and put him into a coma. Honestly I think that was too good for him. Eli should’ve finished the job.”
---
Coulson knocked on the side of the Quinjet, causing Daisy to look up from her computer.
“Ya know, this is a lot less cozy than that SUV we had back on the Bus.” he noted. “But I guess it works if you need a place to be alone.”
“What do you want Coulson?” Daisy asked.
“What I’ve always wanted.” Coulson answered, sitting down next to her. “For you to have a home. A family like you always wanted. I’d like you to come back.”
“God you guys are not gonna let that drop are you.” Daisy sighed.
“Not while we’re still alive no.” Coulson shook his head.
“Coulson me being as far away from everyone is for your own good.” Daisy insisted.
“I know you don’t believe that.” Coulson replied. “You’re keeping your distance because you’re in pain. Because you feel guilty.” Daisy sighed and tossed her head back while Coulson kept going. “You were brainwashed. None of us ever blamed you.”
“You should.” Daisy murmured. “I deserve the blame. I don’t deserve forgiveness Coulson. And I don’t deserve the love that you and Ward and everyone else insists on showing me. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do just stay away cause I feel guilty. Because I’m in pain. But it’s what I deserve.” Neither of them spoke for a while, sitting there in silence. Until Coulson spoke up.
“Why do we fall Daisy?” he asked. “So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” Daisy whipped her head around to stare Coulson in the face.
“Did you just quote Batman to me?” she asked.
“No of course not.” Coulson replied. “I quoted Alfred.” At that, Daisy let out a laugh. As determined as she was to languish in her pain, she had to admit she missed this.
---
Simmons pulled off a small chunk of the husk from Mike’s face, revealing a scared expression underneath.
“There you are.” Simmons smiled. “You must be Mike. My name is Jemma. I’m going to have you out of there as soon as I can.”
“Okay.” Mike said anxiously.
“Could you talk to him while we do this?” Simmons said to Sarah.
“Yeah sure.” Sarah nodded. She knelt down in front of her son and they began to talk about various topics while Simmons carefully removed the rest of the husk. Once he was free, they lay the kid down on the couch and Simmons took his vitals.
“He seems to be physically alright.” she stated. “And unless you noticed any change he seems to be okay mentally.”
“So what’s his ability?” Sarah asked. “I mean inhumans get superpowers so what’s his?”
“We can’t really determine that without seeing it in action.” Fitz answered. “At least it wasn’t a drastic physical change though. We know of one who turned into a sort of porcupine person and that wasn’t even related to her power.”
“We’ll stick around for a few days to see if any powers present.” Simmons assured. “But we are in the midst of an operation at the moment and can’t stay long. If it’s something that can be managed here then we’ll check in with Congressman Kellerman every now and then in order to see how Mike’s doing.”
“If it’s something more physical or destructive, we may need to bring him to our inhuman training facility.” Fitz added.
“Will I be able to see my son if you need to take him?” Sarah frowned, stepping between the two scientists and her son.
“Of course.” Simmons assured. “We’ve had a few come with their families. Having an emotional support network helps them to gain control of their powers.”
---
Mace’s Quinjet landed on the top of the Zephyr and he, Donnie, May, and Kara disembarked. When Lincoln had informed him they had a lead on Lucy Bauer, he’d gathered a team and flown out to provide backup. In the event that the whole thing went horribly wrong, he thought having as many powered people on site would be beneficial.
“So how do we wanna play this?” Mace asked.
“The power plant went online an hour ago.” Coulson stated. “And according to Daisy they don’t have a network. So we have to do this old school. Mack and Lincoln’ll shut this place down. Ward, May, and I will go rescue Eli Morrow and Joe Bauer. Robbie, make sure to bring in Lucy Bauer alive.”
“And then you fix us?” Frederick demanded.
“We will do whatever we can yes.” Mace nodded. “Kara, Donnie, you guys are on standby in case anything goes wrong.”
“You got it boss.” Kara nodded. The team disembarked and made their way into the power plant. Lincoln and Mack went one way while Coulson, Ward, May, and Robbie went another.
“So how was recovery?” Ward asked May as they turned a corner.
“Fine.” May answered. “Didn’t appreciate being killed by Lincoln and Radcliffe but we live with disappointment.” They heard the sound of a ghostly apparition and whirled around to see Lucy standing before them.
“You find my Uncle.” Robbie said to the others. “I’ll deal with her.” Coulson, May, and Ward nodded and hurried off.
“You’re Eli’s nephew.” Lucy said. “Gabriel, like the angel.”
“No.” Robbie replied. “I’m the other one.”
“I want you to know I had no idea what Joe was going to do.” Lucy stated. “I didn’t know about those thugs he hired until Eli called me saying his nephews had nearly been killed. Joe did this to us so we wouldn’t talk.”
“Where’s my Uncle?” Robbie demanded.
“I just want my life back.” Lucy ignored him.
“SHIELD’s gonna figure that out.” Robbie stated. “But if you don’t tell me where Eli is you won’t live long enough to see it.”
---
“This is really bad.” Lincoln groaned.
“Why won't this power down?” Mack demanded. “It's not like we're idiots. I've built boards like this before. I understand what's supposed to happen.”
“Maybe they did something to it with the Darkhold.” Lincoln suggested.
“What? Like put a spell on it?” Mack frowned.
“No of course not but the book could've showed them a different way to power it.” Lincoln said. “I mean, think about it. From what Fitz and Simmons have said those power cells are full of quantum tech that we might never understand.”
“So what do we do?” Mack asked.
“I got one idea but it’s a bad one.” Lincoln said. “I could use my powers to try and create an EMP. Hopefully I can make it powerful enough to shut this place down. But there’s a high likelihood of something going wrong.”
“What happens then?” Mack frowned.
“With as much energy as I need to short this entire place out, I could overcharge and electrify everything in the room.” Lincoln answered. “If that happens I’ll fry my brain and kill everyone else in the room. Which is why you gotta leave.”
“Lincoln you don’t have to do this.” Mack insisted.
“Yeah I do.” Lincoln sighed. “It’s this or risk this whole place exploding or the dam breaking. You should get outta here. No sense in you risking your life with me.” Mack nodded reluctantly and made his way out. Lincoln fired electricity from both hands into each other, generating a sphere of lightning that began to grow.
---
Coulson, May, and Ward arrived at the chamber and saw what was almost a replica of the experiment at Momentum Labs.
“Jesus Christ.” Ward murmured. He looked around and saw a body chained to the floor and went to investigate. Meanwhile, Coulson went over to the table and picked up the Darkhold.
“I need you to get this outta here.” He stated, handing the book to May.
“Okay but shouldn’t we dismantle all of this first?” May asked.
“If this book is half as powerful as everyone thinks it is then getting it outta here and hiding it somewhere safe is our top priority.” Coulson said gravely. “You’re the only one I trust.” May nodded and took the book from Coulson, and made her way back out of the building.
“Coulson!” Ward called. “I found Eli Morrow.” Coulson rushed over and stood over him. Eli was chained to the wall frantically twitching.
“Lucy must’ve touched him.” Coulson realized. “But how would she have done all this if she broke Eli’s brain?”
“I did it.” They turned around to see Joe Bauer standing in front of the chamber and closing the door behind him. “So many years and finally the power is within my grasp.” They heard the door lock and Coulson rushed to the chamber door. Ward injected Eli with the cure. He screamed in pain and looked up.
“You…” He breathed.
“What’re you doing?” Coulson demanded of Joe.
“You’ll see.” Joe smirked.
---
Lincoln’s ball of electricity was half the size of the room when he saw the machinery powering up.
“No no no!” He forced more electricity into the sphere, causing it to increase in size quicker.
---
Robbie dragged Lucy down the hall to the chamber as Coulson, Ward, and Eli attempted to dismantle the equipment.
“Are you happy now?!” Eli snarled at Lucy. She saw Joe standing in the chamber and had just enough time to process what was happening when a bright white wave of energy emitted from the chamber, filling the entire facility. Coulson, Ward, Lincoln, Robbie, Eli, and Lucy were gone. All that remained was Joe stepping out of the chamber and creating carbon floating above his hand.