The price to pay
Chapter 14: The price to pay
Gripping the edge of the table Daisy sat up and nearly doubled over with pain. She couldn’t breathe and it was like someone had crushed her chest, everything hurt, and her body was on fire. A hand landed on her shoulder gently trying to push her down, “Don’t move. I may have brought you back but that doesn’t mean I healed your injuries. We need to get you to a doctor, or you might just die again.”
Shaking her head she pushed herself off the table and the second her feet touched the floor she nearly collapsed. Her knees buckled and Robbie grabbed her, holding onto her he brought them both to the floor, “Garrett” she breathed against his neck. The very man who had done so many horrible things to her in the future. He couldn’t possibly be here. It was impossible he was already in his 50’s in this timeline there was no possible way he should exist in hers. Coughing into his shoulder she sagged against him and when she pulled back there was blood dripping down her lips.
“Your bleeding internally. Guess I was right about your injuries.”
I don’t need help…. I…I…. have to find Garrett. I have to find….” She broke off and sagged against Robbie her body as weak as a newborn baby.
Hoisting her up into his arms Daisy hung limply in his grasp and he carried her towards the med bay where he knew Bruce would be. The man was about to get the shock of his life.
Stepping into the dimly lit office the man had his back towards Robbie. Clearing his throat Robbie waited until the man turned around, “What is it, Mack? Is Elena in pain? Does she need any pain killers?” Bruce asked turning around in his chair only to freeze.
“Help her,” Robbie said, “Can you help her?” Bruce removed his glasses and stared at Daisy’s limp form before he saw the rise and fall of her chest.
“My God,” he whispered, “How is this possible?” he breathed not voicing out what he was actually thinking. That just a few hours ago Daisy Johnson was dead and now here she was alive and in Robbie’s arms.
“Can you help her or not?” Robbie asked again, and in a second Bruce’s face turned hard and he snapped into doctor mode.
“Put her on the table,” he said clearing everything. Lowering Daisy onto the table he took a step back and turned to walk out.
“Wait!” the voice stopped him, “Where are you going?” Bruce asked his fingers on Daisy’s pulse.
“My work here is done. When she wakes up tell Daisy ill be seeing her soon,” Leaving no indication of when that was supposed to be, he turned and left. Knowing that Daisy wasn’t going to die, at least not today.
“How does it feel?” Tony asked watching Elena frown as she flexed her arms around testing out her new robotic arms.
“Strange. I can tell them to move, but they don’t feel like my arms.” Flexing her fingers Tony held out a pen and paper, “What's this for?” she asked taking the objects.
“Trying to test out your motor skills by writing I need to see if there are any bugs that need fixing.” Nodding her head she pressed pen to paper and that about everything that had happened over the last few weeks, a few tears unconsciously slid down her cheeks, November 6th, one day after judgment day….
There was so much she wanted to get off her chest and so much she wished she could say, to daisy, to Mack, but all she could do was cry and endure the pain. She stopped Writing her body tired from exhaustion, “Garrett,” she spoke the name out loud for the first time and it felt bitter on her tongue, “He’s the one who killed Daisy. I want him dead.” The thought struck her all at once. Elena had never been the violent one of the group, never wished anybody dead. She wasn’t May or daisy and even though Jemma was the one with the least experience Elena had seen moments where Jemma had been out for blood, Elena had never been like that and the thought scared her.
“We’ll get him,” Tony said helping her out of the bed for the first time in two days, “Maybe it was a mistake attaching those arms so soon your still healing from what happened, your wounds are still raw.”
“And they’re gonna continue being raw until Garrett’s buried six feet under. I need to get back into fighting shape. I can't just sit here and do nothing.” She snapped glaring at him with a heated fury.
“I know,” Tony said softly, “I know.”
“I can't believe it. All this time, right from the very start its been Garrett. I've known him for years and its hard to believe that he would ever betray shield.” Coulson said with a shake of his head.
“I know what I saw,” Elena said. She wasn’t mistaken and if she had to, she would kill him herself for what he did to Daisy.
Steve stood up suddenly and turned, “Did you find anything on where Garrett might be located now.” He asked.
“No capsicle, he's a ghost. Which means he probably doesn’t want to be found. By now he's figured out that we know it's him. He probably went slinking back to Hydra.” Tony said leaning back in his chair nursing a drink in his left hand.
“I don’t like leaving things to chance,” May said, “I’m not going back to the future until I know that bastard is dead.”
“I agree,” Fury said, “I also don’t like leaving things to chance. We’re only getting one shot at this. We screw up and that’s it we lose. So let's catch this son of a bitch.”
“Alright, then where do you need me?” Steve asked ready for a fight.
“Ahhh, Captain, always the soldier I see.” The voice gave everyone pause and then slowly one by one they turned towards the door where the voice had come from.
“Impossible,” Steve breathed dropping the glass that he had in his hand not even realizing when it shattered on the ground.
“Oh my god,” Tony said, for once completely speechless.
Standing in the doorway was a figure that Steve never thought he would lay eyes on again. The Red Skull and clutched tightly in his hand, the tesseract.
“Where am I? Am I dead? Garrett…. Have to stop Garrett,” Her voice sounded far away like she was floating.
“Wait! Please don’t get up. You're still very injured.” Huh? Was she sitting up? Slowly her brain came out of the fog. She was sitting up in what looked to be a hospital bed, hooked up to an iv with Bruce banner leaning over her looking frantic.
“Daisy, please lay down, “He pleaded trying to push her shoulders down.
“I’m alive?” The words came out soft and quiet. Raising her hand in front of her face. She stared at the appendage in confusion as if it wasn’t attached to her body.
“I haven’t told anyone yet because you were so badly injured that I wasn’t sure you were going to make it and I didn’t want anyone to have to mourn you a second time, “He said as a way of explaining.
“How long,” her voice coming out quiet and her eyes still fixated on her hand.
“Huh?”
“How long was I dead?” she repeated.
“Two days. Which is why you shouldn’t be sitting up so soon when you just got out of surgery,” He said trying to push her back down again.
Two days? He was still out there, and she had been dead for two days, Garrett. Anger boiled inside of her and her face darkened. Balling her hand into a fist she dug her nails into her skin and her eyes flashed a strange color.
“Your eyes,” Bruce whispered taking a step back.
“What?” turning her gaze towards his she looked at him with a coldness that he had never seen before.
“I’m sorry for a second I thought your eyes turned blue. It must have been my imagination,” He shook his head and laughed at his own foolish thought.
Throwing the covers back and despite Bruce’s protest, she got out of bed.
“Wait! Where are you going?” he said grabbing her arm when she made a move toward the door.
“where am I going? I’m going to kill Garrett. Now get out of my way before I do the same to you. Nobody is going to stop me,” Regarding him with a cold stare he released her in fear and took three steps back until he hit the wall. Squeezing his eyes shut he waited until he heard the door clicking shut behind her and then slowly let out a sigh of relief. He had never seen daisy like that, so cold. Whatever Robbie brought back he wasn’t sure if it was the Daisy that any of them knew. He had to tell the others.
Daisy looked up when an alarm began flashing. She knew it wasn’t because of her there was no way Bruce would have time to alert the others. Heading towards the back exit she paused when she saw a familiar face standing in front of the door, Gun aimed at her, “Daisy?” Coulson gasped lowering his gun at her, “You're alive? No, this can't be real,” he said shaking his head.
“This has to be a trick. Your dead, I saw your body,” He yelled his hand shaking.
“you live in a world where a man sold his soul to the devil and your questioning why I’m alive, tch, get out of my way Coulson,” she said taking a step forward only to hear the click of the gun as it was suddenly aimed at her.
“Oh, you’re pointing a gun, at me?”
“This has to be some trick made by the red skull. Your not real, you can’t be real.”
“Get out of my way!” she repeated with a little more venom.
“No!”
“Fine,” Gritting her teeth in annoyance she held up her hand and blasted him with vibrations which sent him crashing into the wall behind him with a yell his gun skidding until it landed by her feet.
“How unfortunate. I gave you a chance to move and instead, you chose to delay me and now that will be the last thing you ever did. Nobody gets in my way and lives,” She hissed her eyes flashing an unusual color of blue.
Picking them gun up slowly she held it delicately in her hand, “Sorry Coulson,” she said before pointing it at his chest.
“Daisy,” Coulson breathed her name now knowing that she was indeed real, “It's not an illusion, your real,” he said tears gathering in his eyes.
“Yes I am,” she said firing two shots into his chest. A gasp escaped his lips and he slumped down against the wall.
“Daisy,” he choked through the blood seeping down his lips, “Don’t do this. Somethings wrong,” coughing up blood he gasped for air, “You came back wrong,”
“Really? I've never felt better,” Walking up to him until she was standing in front of him, she raised her gun and fired a third shot watching as Phil Coulson’s eyes closed forever.
“Interesting. I thought I would feel something after killing him, but I don’t. I don’t feel anything at all. Except the need to kill Garrett and I will destroy anyone that gets in my way.” Dropping the gun she stood up and held her hands towards the ground releasing a wave of vibrations that rocked the whole building.
Smiling she walked the rest of the way down the hall. The building slowly began falling to pieces until she reached the exit. Stepping outside, she smiled as the entire avenger's tower came crashing to the ground.
A few minutes before
“It has been a long time my captain. Trapped in this blue glowing box all these years, but now I am free,” Holding the tesseract in front of him the red skull smiled.
“How are you here? You got blasted off into space I saw you!” Steve yelled reaching for his shield.
“You did, but the tesseract sucked me into itself and I was trapped there until a heavy disturbance disrupted the tesseract cube and set me free. My thanks for whatever you did.” He said.
“The explosion,” Tony whispered.
“That doesn’t explain how the tesseract got here on earth. It was supposed to be on Asgard,” Steve said turning towards thor who looked away guiltily, “Thor? Why wasn’t it on Asgard?”
“Daisy…”
“Of course!” Jemma yelled throwing her hands into the air, “of course it was also daisy because why not. She’s already done everything else why not steal the tesseract that had an evil Nazi Hydra leader while she's at it.”
“Enough games I have work to do,” The red skull said lifting the tesseract which began glowing brighter by the second until it shot out a powerful blast of energy knocking all of them out.
Coming too in a daze Coulson sat up slowly and noticed the others were still unconscious and completely out of it. Stumbling towards the wall he flipped the hatch to the hidden switch and pressed the button. Immediately sirens began flashing, “The red skull” he whispered stumbling out of the room and heading in the direction that the Nazi leader would have gone.
Pausing in front of the door he heard footsteps behind him, and he whirled only to come face to face with someone he never thought he would see again.
A few minutes later
Daisy stood in the destruction that had once been shield. Police sirens wailed in the background getting closer. She couldn’t be exposed out here in the open like this. Holding her hands to the ground she blasted vibrations facing the ground and was suddenly shot into the air like a rocket landing on the building above. Wincing at the pain lacerating through her arms.
“Looks like your not fully healed. Actually, you look like you just died. I’m surprised you can even move.” Turning to glance behind herself she rolled her eyes.
“Loki, I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you were hiding out in some pit until it was safe for you to crawl out like the worm you are.”
“Well, now that does offend me. I thought we were supposed to be so close at least, according to you.” Smirking he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
“Things change. Now all I want is Garrett dead” she said. Staring down below at the police cars and ambulance that had gathered down below.
“And the tesseract?”
“That doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing I need is revenge. Are you going to stop me?” she asked raising an eyebrow in his direction.
“No, I’m just here to make sure I complete my promise. The one I made you when you freed me from that prison. I never go back on my word.”
“Aren’t you the god of lies. I thought that was in your job description,” she asked.
“As long as you keep up your end of the bargain with thor. I’ll do anything you ask. No lies required.”
“Good, “She said with a smirk and uncrossed her arms, “Then let's go cut off a head.”