#robbie reyes fic

[itsmoonchik]

Robbie Reyes as textposts

[wazzappp]

so @moosemonstrous new fic fucking activated something in me like a sleeper agent and uh. I kinda went dummy off of flinstone gummies chat

I HAVE DETERMINED THEIR HEIGHT DIFFERENCE FOR FUNNIE PURPOSES

MY REASONING: I think it would be funny if Ellie (Eli) was 6ft when she was alive and now it's transfered over in death

[poeticamethyst]

So I’m gonna die from this fan edit alone. I’ve been manifesting they’ll work together again, so in the DC world maybe they’ll be lovers ?? Or maybe they’ll at least star in a romcom. 🤭👀 something seems to be cooking and I’ll shout to the rooftops when it happens

[samwpmarleau]

fic: 2091

whumptober day 16: time loop masterlist: tumblr, ao3 Robbie delays his departure and is swept into the future with everyone else.

“You really have to leave right away?”

“Yeah. Gotta get this book someplace safe. Keep an eye on my brother?”

Daisy nods. She would’ve anyway. After all, she’s the reason Gabe was dragged into the S.H.I.E.L.D. flying circus to begin with. As she prepares to bid him goodbye — again, after having barely any time with him at all — Coulson interjects, “Come on, you have to at least stay for some grub. Crazy robot’s dead, the Darkhold’s not going anywhere. There’s cause to celebrate, Mr. Reyes.”

“Nah, I can’t. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Look,” May puts in, immediately jumping on Coulson’s train, “you’ve still got ground to make up with me for what you did to Mace, but you did save all our asses from Aida. Let us buy you a burger or something.”

Robbie hesitates, then looks at Daisy as though expecting her to tell him to ignore them and leave. She shrugs. “What they said.”

So he does, after some more hemming and hawing and silent discussion — or argument, it’s hard to tell — with Ghost Rider that Robbie apparently wins. She’s not sure she could ever call him light, not while he shares his body with a demon, but it’s nice to see him sit among the rest of them like he’s part of the team. Once the first joke is cracked, so is the ice.

He fits, Daisy observes. He could continue to fit. Become a freelance agent if nothing else, an off-the-books consultant if S.H.I.E.L.D. remains too public to properly employ him, what with all the extrajudicial murders and all. Daisy wouldn’t have to look out for Gabe, nor face the kid’s disappointment and grief, because his brother would still be around. Surely the Rider has debts he can settle in this dimension?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Robbie asks, snapping her out of her musing.

“I’m not looking at you like anything,” Daisy says as she takes a prim bite of a fry. “You could belong here, that’s all.”

Robbie’s good mood falls. “Only place I belong is hell.”

“Jesus, you’re dramatic.”

“It’s the truth. The Rider agreeing to one burger doesn’t mean he’ll agree to staying forever.”

“He will if I have anything to say about it.” Daisy reaches over to place a hand on his arm. “I’m not gonna just let you go to hell.”

“You were an hour ago.”

“Yeah, well, an hour ago I didn’t think I had a choice.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“We’ll see.”

Robbie looks very much like he wants to refute that, but before he can, the lights shut off and what she assumes are government agents burst in. The poor waitress doesn’t even get to finish her spiel about pies.

“Phillip J. Coulson,” an agent greets in monotone.

Daisy smirks at the sarcasm in Coulson’s voice as he replies, “Yep, that’s me. You got us. Nice job. And hey, congrats on the whole power outage thing, that was very ominous.”

She doesn’t get to hear the agent’s reply, however, for the next moment lands her in a very disorienting room that’s empty save for a red-striped white — oh, for fuck’s sake — monolith in the center.

“Uh, what is that?” Robbie asks. Jemma lets out a despairing ha! that Daisy can hardly disagree with. If only he knew what a pain in the ass this is. It must be a different kind of monolith, to be fair, since it’s not the same bluish-black as the one that swallowed up Jemma, but Daisy’s not inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt. Whatever this one does, it’s no less dangerous.

Indeed, they don’t remotely have time to come up with a game plan before the monolith melts into a wave of white and swallows not only Jemma but the whole group of them. In what seems like an instant, Daisy next finds herself in an equally, though different, disorienting room. A jail cell would be nicer in appearance than this one. The walls are made of grimy cement, what passes for furniture and machinery seems to be made of little more than scrap metal, and the sole light in the place is the kind one would see in a broom closet. It casts a sallow gloom over the place. God only knows where she’s been dropped.

More accurately, where they have been dropped. Robbie stands beside her assessing the room as well with a deep frown on his face. She wonders what the Rider thinks about this, whether he’s alert and ready to take the wheel or whether he’s content for the moment to let his host deal with whatever’s going on. Daisy can’t decide which she’d prefer. While she’d much rather have Robbie’s company, she can’t say she’d necessarily object to the Rider raising all kinds of hell to fix this shit. Maybe he’s even come across that monolith before, or at least has some idea of what it can do.

“Hellspawn care to weigh in on this?” Daisy asks. The stale air is suffocating.

“No,” says Robbie, tearing his eyes away from their surroundings to look at her. “We’re on our own.”

“Great. The one time we could actually use him, he’s taking a smoke break.”

“Fine by me.”

Robbie says it under his breath, as though voicing the thought at all is risking being smote where he stands. Perhaps it is. Not that she can blame him. She’d noticed how much more comfortable he’d become with both his powers and the Rider itself — something she doubts can happen in only a couple weeks. No, she’d stake the farm on time being different where he was, months if not years of traversing hell planets. All of which, from what he’d told her, was spent trapped in his own body unable to do anything but fight.

Weird teleporting monolith or no weird teleporting monolith, she can understand his relief at still being himself.

“Well,” Daisy says, “we won’t be able to figure anything out without doing some exploring. Are you up for that?”

Robbie adjusts the chain around his torso. “Yeah, let’s go.”

It’s helpful, she discovers, to have a being such as Robbie on their side. Not simply because meeting him had significantly upped their tolerance for strange — like being flung into the future — but because it gives them literal firepower they hadn’t had before. While Robbie keeps the spontaneous combustion to a minimum for the sake of maintaining a low profile, most of the time he doesn’t need to flame on at all. People can sense the power, the danger, in him even if they can’t pinpoint why, which means less resistance and more acquiescence. Hell, knowing she’s got an invincible friend sleeping one cell over even allows her to get a decent night’s sleep or two.

Nevertheless, the Rider yearns for violence, to unleash himself on the unworthy.

Kasius, needless to say, has met his match.

———

part 2 here

[mccaufe08]

Y'all wanna make Kwon the bad guy so bad, he's just a silly smart@ss 😭) and my other fav ofc Miguel Diaz…

Okay! I finally did a full piece >_<

Tbh the first and maybe only Jaez shipper to make a fanart or talk about this ship at all... (it's probably considered a crack ship until they get more interactions I CALL THAT KWON CALLS HIM OR ROBBY PRETTY BOY WHEN THEY VS EACHOTHER IN THE SECOND PT. OF THE SEASON ☝🏽🤓…

🐍♥️🖤 …

[avengerphobic]

Pairing: Amareyes Rating: gen

Amadeus doesn't say what he means and that drives Robbie up the wall

[nerdieforpedro]

12/10/2023 - Weekend Update

Nerdie! Look at you staying on a schedule.

I know! Being half-way organized. It's kinda nice.

We'd never thought we'd see the day. So what's new?

I made some fic posts this week:

Sard'ika Sessions - Session Two (Din Djarin x plus size female reader)

Christmas List (Robbie Reyes x reader)

The Brave, The Bold, The Dirty - Fanfics that I adore (Volume 3)

A New Tradition with Frankie (Frankie Morales x GN reader)

We also spread positivity though everyone's ask boxes and exchanged lovely messages with each other and loved on each other.

Read anything this week?

I did. A large portion of it is in my Fanfic appreciation post volume 3 which the link is above. I also started a volume 4 because I love highlighting different author's works that I've enjoyed. 😀

I'm just going to pick my top three for the week:

Don't Drink the Punch by @wildemaven (Soft Dave and female reader. I'm a fan of soft Dave. He can be soft and sweet. He and the reader are married and they're at a work event. It's lovely.)

Exposed by @maggiemayhemnj (Ezra and female reader. Turns out this is her first fic. I was flabbergasted. The Imagery, word flow and cadence are all from someone who's pen name is one word, like Cher or Homer or Ms. PayDay.)

Insatiable by @pedge-page (Frankie Morales and female reader. Part three of their three part emotional sexual odyssey with Frankie and the female reader. There's big feelings and lots of smut abound. But there is a sweet end to it.)

What happened outside of fanfics this week?

I was sick most of the week. I ended up in the ED at work and was out for the week. Thankfully I'm on the mend and should be ready this upcoming week for work and beyond! I caught up on different FBI shows, watched Loki with my mom (she wonders if he's going to be at a convention - I'm hoping not so she won't bum rush the man,) and bought a book on flowers. I've also been starting back up on learning Spanish again.

What's coming up this week?

I'm working on another Robbie Reyes fic - likely to be a one shot but dark because the Rider is dark. Gabriel Luna had a birthday this past week, @musings-of-a-rose sent me all the pictures so this is where we are in life right now. All Luna’ed down and what not.

I'm gonna try for some more fluff, maybe with Dieter, Frankie or Benny. Not sure who. We'll see.

I could, possibly, be working on one of my other series that I started and dropped like a hot potato. Maybe they'll have new chapters. People were reading them, which was the weirdest thing.

Session Three of Sard'ika Sessions will be up on Wednesday. The Way is paved with Space Smut according to the Maker. 🫡 We'll be at the mid-point so we're in for a shift, but no worries. Session four, five and six took up a lot of pages in my notebook and it was all outlined with a lot of things. Maybe some more improper beskar use? Might need to touch base with The Armorer on that. 👀 Didn't know that was included in the ancient ways either.

Nerdie, don't be messing with The Creed like that.

To be fair, I did mention in Session one that there would be liberties taken with both The Creed and The Way so the latter sessions are where more of those liberties are taken. Maybe a lot, maybe a little. You'll have to read and see. Different Mandalorians see The Creed differently, why can’t I?

I am curious about what liberties my Space Sister @linzels-blog would make with The Creed. 🤔

Wait, why is it weird that people were reading your other series?

Since I haven't updated them for months, I didn't expect them to get any comments, then they did. It was very sweet and got me thinking, maybe I should finish that at some point, or at least add to it. I'm trying to focus on one at a time. Can't be crossing streams.

We get it, but that joke though? Could have done without that. Any last thoughts?

I need to work more on the pickled Peña project. Haven't finished that yet. Stay safe and hydrated. There are nasty bugs that are wreaking havoc on people's noses and sinuses. We’re very happy that @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin and @for-a-longlongtime have lived to tell their stories.

Also check your knives and watch your tips. I guess you can palm the tips or take them and do whatever as long as you're safe about it.

Nerdie, what are you talking about...? Do we want to know?

If you know, you know and if you don't, find some hot tips. 😘

Stay safe and don't get any in your eye,

Love Nerdie 💜

(escapes to a certain moodboard 🍆)

Nerdie! You can't just say that and leave! 😠

[lenalee-academy]

A League of Their Own

Chapter 8

Word count: 9244

Total count: 35,232

Warnings: violence against children

Rating: T

Summary: After the Avengers crash and burn Tony picks himself back up. With the help and support of those around him, they forge a brighter future together. This is what it means to fight together. This is what it means to be friends. This is what it means to be family.

Mid August 2017

“How was your first day back kid?” Tony asked, snagging a pizza roll. 

“It was great Mr. Stark!” Peter chirped immediately, popping the finger food like it was candy. “I have three classes with Mmmmuh friends- or friend- or with you know… yea with a friend.” 

“Uh huh.” Tony said leaning against the counter and trying not to tear up because God that little bundle of cheesy carbs had been hot! “Does this friend have a name?

“Well I mean yea. I mean it’s not a big deal. It’s MJ. They go by MJ.” 

“I see. And how long have you been crushing on MJ?” 

“It’s not a crush!” Peter rushes out. “She’s just a really good friend. I mean she’s so much more than a silly crush, she’s smart, and funny, and has this really awesome but sometimes terrifying and brilliant wit and -.”

“Okay slow down there Romeo.” Tony said, taking one of the last pizza rolls on a previously full plate and tearing it open to let some of the steam escape before he popped it in his mouth. “When are you gonna tell her?”

Read more HERE

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Currently busy with writing the next chapter of “Ghost Rider - From the Files of the ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’”. In the meantime, here’s a preview:

Inside the memory void

Phil Coulson: "Thank you for coming in."

Jemma Simmons: "Of course, sir. I am Agent Jemma Simmons. And this is-"

Leo Fitz: "-this is, I am Leopold Fitz."

Phil Coulson: "Fitzsimmons, yes. You know, when I first heard about you, I thought you were one person."

Robbie, Gabe, and Nico opened their eyes and, immediately, found themselves in a new location. The feeling was surreal, like stepping into a vividly detailed dream. After a quick examination of the room, they realize that they were in a conference room. The late Agent Phil Coulson was standing by them and was speaking with Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz. By how the two looked, Robbie realized this memory must've taken place at least over a decade ago.

Nico, with her hands on her chin, looked perplexed. "That's interesting," she said, "It appears we ended up in Fitz's memory of him meeting Phil Coulson for the first time."

"Why's that interesting?" Robbie asked.

"Because I was aiming for the Maveth mission. Maybe it was the strain of the spell. When I was on my own, targeting a specific memory was a lot easier. As soon as you two got involved, it got harder to concentrate."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, it means I just need more practice. Anyways, I need to fast-forward us to Maveth. Gabe, are you good-"

Turning to Gabe, Robbie and Nico saw that he wasn't paying attention to them. Instead, he was looking at his legs. It took a second for both Robbie and Nico to realize that Gabe was standing on his own.

The younger Reyes' eyes widened as he continued to marvel at his newfound ability to walk. Every step he took must've felt like a miracle, as if he had been granted a reprieve from his wheelchair-bound reality. His fingers trembled as he touched his thighs, which hadn't carried his weight for years.

"Robbie," he whispered, his voice quivering with emotion, "I can't believe it. I haven't walked in so long. This is...incredible."

Robbie, who had witnessed Gabe's struggles and the countless hours he had spent by his brother's side, couldn't help but smile. He knelt down to meet Gabe's eyes, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's been a while since I've seen you move like that," he acknowledged, "Enjoy it while you can."

"Look, while I've gotten used to the wheelchair, and I want both of you to know that a disability doesn't make you any less of a person...it is nice to be able to use my legs again."

Just to test his legs out even more, Gabe began running circles around Fitz and Simmons. Since this was just a memory, neither Fitz or Simmons acknowledged Gabe's presence. Although they were on a mission, Robbie and Nico couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

But as Gabe stopped to catch his breath, Nico, although she didn't want to be a downer, she also didn't want Gabe to forget where they were. "Hey, remember, we're in Fitz's memory. This isn't reality."

"I know, I know," Gabe said, dismissively, "It's 'Inception' rules, we're just projections of our subconscious minds."

"I mean...I guess? Anyways, let's go Burning Boys, we need to skip a few years to the Maveth-"

Nico stopped when the lights in the conference room suddenly went out. Coulson, Jemma, and Fitz suddenly went stiff, as if they had become mannequins or life-like wax sculptures. Robbie, Gabe, and Nico began to back away from the frozen agents, confused. Nico armed herself with the Staff of One while Robbie unlatched the steel chains that were wrapped around his chest.

"What the hell is this?" Robbie turned to Nico, who looked just as confused as he did. "Magical Girl, is this a normal part of the spell?" he asked.

Nico shook her head. "I have no idea what's going on."

"Are we being invaded?" Gabe asked, going into a fighting stance to prepare himself.

"I don't know," Nico said, "I'm pretty sure we're not. I would've felt something. Other magic-users can't just...for the lack of a better term, hack into another user's spell."

"I don't feel anything either," Robbie said.

"Zarathos, are you following me right now?" Robbie thought.

"Yes I am, Reyes," Zarathos answered in the back of Robbie's mind.

"What the hell happened to the memory? Is this a demon or something that's doing this?"

"This is going to sound strange, Robbie...but I'm not quite sure. I can confirm that the ugly, middle-aged man who was your former boss is still watching over all of you. Nothing is happening out here."

"That's all you can give me?"

"Well...I can't explain it...but I somewhat recognize the energy that's causing the memory spell to falter."

"Energy? What energy? And how do you recognize it?"

"There is something that's affecting the spell. And I recognize it...because it's the energy of a Spirit of Vengeance."

"Wait...what-"

Suddenly, the once serene environment trembled, and the walls flickered like an old film reel. A bizarre storm, filled with swirling colors and strange, otherworldly shapes, materialized in the corner of the conference room. Robbie, Gabe, and Nico grabbed onto the conference room table, clinging on for dear life as the colorful storm began to pull the trio into it.

"Robbie, what's happening?!" Gabe shouted, "Where the hell did that storm come from?!"

Robbie squinted at the tumultuous anomaly, his usually confident demeanor giving way to a sense of unease. "I don’t know, something’s gone wrong! Just hold onto the table!" He turned to Nico, who was whispering something that Robbie couldn't hear. If he had to guess, Nico was trying to end the memory spell. "Nico, can you control this?! Can you end the spell?!"

"What the hell do you think I'm trying to do, Burning Boy!?" Nico, her brow furrowed with concentration, tried to regain control over the memory spell. After positioning herself so that her chest was directly facing the table, thus allowing her to use her body to anchor her down, she began to move her hands in an attempt to stabilize the memory. Although she was frightened, she dug deep into her Kamar-Taj lessons to try to eliminate the storm. Despite her movements, the storm raged on. "Okay, I don't know what's happening. I'm trying to stabilize or end the spell, but nothing is working."

"So we're trapped here!" Robbie shouted.

"I'll figure something out! And boys, don't you even think about killing yourselves! That will not wake you up from this!"

As they grappled with the storm's sudden appearance, the Leo Fitz who was a part of the memory suddenly woke up. He immediatly grabbed the table after feeling the storm's pull on him. Surprisingly, Jemma and Coulson were still unaffected by the storm.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" he demanded, his voice echoing in the ever-changing, distorted landscape.

"Leo, huh?!" Nico shouted, "How are you with us?! You're the host-"

"-I don't know and I don't care right now! Just get us out of here!"

Nico, growing more desperate to regain control, attempted to end the spell once again. She closed her eyes and chanted softly, her hands glowing with purple energy. "Okay...okay, okay, okay! Just hold on, everyone! Let me just....clear my thoughts-"

However, before Nico could start her incantations, an unseen force suddenly tore the group apart. Robbie, Gabe, Fitz, and Nico were forcibly separated, their vision blurring as they were hurled in different directions within the chaotic memory void.

[littlekidsteve]

Ooooo this comic is so good 😍😍😍😍

One of our most recent projects in intro to SEQA class was to make a 5 page environmental comic with action and using existing superheroes! I used Robbie Reyes and Johnny Blaze from the All-New Ghost Rider series (please read it, it’s so good) This was super fun to make despite the lack of sleep while working on it. There are some mistakes here and there (I’m sorry if they’re OOC) but overall I’m proud of how this turned out! 

[itsmoonchik]

Robbie Reyes as textposts

[wazzappp]

@rokhal I’m really really fucking normal about the new chapter dude. Not frothing at the mouth or anything. Not even chewing on the bars of my enclosure if you would believe it…

[existingtm]

Why do I always end up finishing things most of the way and then have my hyperfixation immediately fizzle out before I can cross the finish line???

I have one chapter left on a fic I was reading, a few chapters left on a manga I was reading, and I'm over halfway done with a fic I was writing!!! 😭

[samwpmarleau]

fic: ginger root

whumptober day 24: motion sickness masterlist: tumblr, ao3 Galaxy-jumping and Robbie’s stomach do not, apparently, mix well. Fortunately, there’s a source of tea and saltines on board by the name of Daniel Sousa. part 1 | part 2

Robbie can’t remember the last time he felt so nauseas. Disgusted, sure. In pain, definitely. But being on the precipice of throwing up, skin clammy and ears ringing, it’s been quite a while.

He hasn’t yet found a way to prepare and prevent when he hears over the intercom the dreaded words, “Jumping in three … two … one …”

His stomach lurches as everything in his vision goes blurry. Intellectually, he knows it takes only seconds. He knows that, but from where he’s standing — or sitting — it’s the longest hour of his life. They’ve jumped three times since he was resurrected, and if anything, it only worsens.

He keeps his head against his knees as the ship comes out the other side. His bunk isn’t the most spacious of places, but it’s the one place that he doesn’t have to worry about someone coming across him in the state he’s in now. He’s already an interloper, he doesn’t need mortification, too. What kind of grown man feels like a child with stage fright from a silly little warp drive?

Right as he’s deciding he’ll keep his breakfast down, he discovers that maybe even his bunk isn’t safe, for there’s a knock at the door. The panel to open it is so far away.

“It’s Sousa,” comes the visitor’s voice.

Sousa? The man’s been plenty polite so far, but Robbie’s still amazed by the fact that he was transported here from the 1950s looking not a day over forty. And everyone acts like that’s just another day in the life. Which it must be for them, but Robbie’s playing catchup. Existing as Ghost Rider’s host had been so simple. Hacking and slashing and portaling, most of the time not even aware of what his body is doing. Time travel is beyond him.

He has no real reason to deny Sousa entry, however, so he rises to his feet and holds his hand to the panel.

The agent arrives in his typical business-casual fit (a hard-won upgrade from formal business, Daisy’d said) with a sympathetic smile and a cup of tea.

“That for me?” Robbie asks. He grimaces at the wobble in his voice.

“Yeah. Ginger root.” Sousa hands him the cup, along with most of a sleeve of saltines. “Took me awhile to get the hang of jumping, too.”

Robbie takes a sip of the well-prepared tea and nibbles on a cracker. “You’d think after thirteen years of dimension-hopping I’d be used to this.”

“Different kind of travel. And you’re no longer …”

Robbie waits in mild amusement as Sousa searches for a nice way to put it.

“… enhanced.”

“Possessed,” Robbie corrects. “I sold my soul to the devil, man. You don’t need to talk around it.”

Sousa gives him a self-deprecating smile. “Right. Sorry.”

“Did Daisy send you? No matter how many times I tell that girl not to worry —”

“She does. Don’t I know it.” Sousa helps himself to one of Robbie’s crackers. “No, she didn’t send me. She’s working on tuning static out of the comms system. New solar system, new frequency to figure out. I’ve noticed you’re always in your bunk when we jump and skip lunch, so I made an educated guess.”

Well, that’s better than having his business aired to the entire ship, he supposes. Still, he’d rather not dwell on it. “My brother would have a field day with all that techy stuff. He planned on majoring in computer science.”

Gabe’s face flashes in his head, the way he wears his joy after deciphering some equation or experiment, and the sullen way he gets when he can’t. At least, that’s the way Robbie remembers it. He’s talked to Gabe a couple times since he was brought back, and every time throws him for a loop. When Robbie had left with the Darkhold, Gabe had been a seventeen-year-old kid about to graduate from high school.

Now, he’s a twenty-four-year-old man with two degrees, a steady relationship, and a good job. While Robbie knows Gabe had been excited to see him, there’d been an ensuing awkwardness that Robbie once would have said was unthinkable. He doesn’t begrudge him that, he understands that Gabe must’ve mourned him as dead long ago when it was clear Robbie’s trip to hell wasn’t a short one. Nevertheless, that disconnect feels like a gaping wound.

Once we’re home, everything will be fine, Daisy had encouraged shortly after giving up on the sham of not eavesdropping.

Robbie hopes she’s right. It’d just be helpful to know when that’ll happen. There’s not much Daisy and her team can contribute to Earth’s chaos, or so says Mack — no, Director Mack — and everyone they love are accounted for, so their original cosmic schedule remains the same. His desires are not, unfortunately, high up on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s list of priorities.

“Bright kid,” Sousa says. “Daisy checks in on him every couple months and visits on resupply. They played long-distance Scrabble for awhile until she got tired of losing. It’s Trivial Pursuit now, though I’m not sure who’s —”

“You’ve met him?”

“Oh. No. No, that was something Daisy always wanted to do alone. She just had had a lot to say when she came back.”

Robbie feels some relief at that. He has no ill will towards Sousa, but the idea of Daisy inviting the man into the promise she’d made him, Robbie, sits uneasy in his gut. An uncharitable feeling, perhapas, but Robbie can’t help it.

He takes a generous sip of tea. That, Robbie has no problem with. He says as much, and the compliment lands. Brightly, Sousa replies, “I learned from the best. Agent Peggy Carter didn’t have much tolerance for a bad cup of tea, that’s for damn sure.”

Not for the first time, Robbie marvels at that. It breaks his brain a little to know the man in front of him dated the famed progenitor of S.H.I.E.L.D. simultaneously ten and seventy-five years ago.

“Force of nature, I’ve heard,” Robbie says. There’s not a whole lot of books to read on this ship, but S.H.I.E.L.D.’s history is one of them — protocol, probably, to keep a copy on every vessel — so he’s been left to brush up on the agency’s inception. With a wry smile, he adds, “I think you have a type, Agent Sousa.”

Sousa’s cheeks tinge faintly pink. “Guess I do.”

“Hey, no shade, man. I get it.”

“You, too, huh?”

“Well, I haven’t had anyone follow me up with Captain America, but yeah. You could say that.”

“How it’d end?”

Robbie slowly drains the rest of his tea, buying himself time to beat around the bush. “Uh, I mean, we never dated. It wasn’t the right time, and I don’t know if she felt the same. I thought maybe …” She’d seemed receptive back then, almost flirty, even. The memory of being in the control center, fully human for the first time in years, spending his last remaining moments with her, is one he’d kept forefront in his mind as his body hurtled through dimensions and rivers of blood. Not that it meant anything in the end. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway. I had to leave and didn’t know if I’d ever come back.”

“You’re back now,” Sousa points out. “You could give her a call. She might hold the same torch.”

The idea has crossed his mind no less than a thousand times. But he hasn’t felt any interest from her since he returned, and even if he had, Robbie doesn’t trust that he won’t be snatched up again. That the Rider wasn’t lying about enjoying his new host, that he isn’t merely waiting until Robbie’s settled and happy to take over. More importantly, he wouldn’t want to saddle Daisy with that uncertainty. She deserves a hell of a lot better than that.

She deserves a hell of a lot better than him. Ghost Rider or no Ghost Rider, he’d never match up to the man in front of him. Robbie’s not even sure who he is anymore without the demon.

Which leaves only one answer to Sousa’s optimism: “Unlikely.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

You wouldn’t be if you knew who it was, Robbie doesn’t say. He’d gotten the sense on day two that it wasn’t Sousa who’d brought up the notion about being more compatible as friends than lovers.

He does say, “It is what it is.” He studies Sousa’s earnest face and admits despite himself, “I’m still trying to deal with the whole space and being brought back from the dead thing. I’ve been in crazier situations, but it’s like —”

“— you don’t know what to do with yourself.”

Sousa’s bang on, which brings no comfort. Robbie’s nightmare had been far more public than he’d like, but the rest of it, how it feels to be himself again, what the Rider’s conditions had been, he’d only told one person. “Did Daisy say something to you?”

“No, nothing like that. I can relate, that’s all,” Sousa says. “Not the hell part, obviously. Feeling like an outsider, though? I’ve been there. It’s not easy to be dropped in the middle of a world you weren’t expecting.”

“You seem to be doing fine.”

At least you have a job on this ship, Robbie sulks.

Sousa snorts a laugh. “Daisy thought the same. Between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the SSR, I’ve spent two decades among superspies and dealing with blowhards who like to punch down. I know my way around a poker face.” Sousa puts a hand on Robbie’s shoulder. From someone else, maybe it’d feel patronizing, but Robbie knows the guy’s too genuine for that. “You’ll get there, Robbie. Give yourself time.”

Robbie almost rolls his eyes. Time? Since when? He expects to hear the Rider’s snicker in his head — yet there’s nothing. Not even a whisper. The Rider-voice prickles at the edges, sure. But Robbie’s not an idiot; he can tell the difference between his subconscious and the real deal. If Ghost Rider keeps to his word, then, incredibly, Sousa might be right. Time would be a luxury he’d have.

He’d have choices.

“Tell you what,” Sousa says, either not noticing or courteously not mentioning Robbie’s realization, “I bet Agent Reedy could use a hand down in the mechanic bay. From what I understand, you’re a damn good grease monkey.”

“Yeah, for cars. I don’t have any experience with planes, let alone spaceships.”

“If I could figure out an iPhone, you can figure out a spaceship. Unless Daisy was gassing you up for no reason and you’re worse than a kid in a shop class.”

Robbie scoffs. “Hardly.”

“Great,” Sousa grins with a clap on the back. “I’ll tell Reedy he’s getting a partner.”

Robbie regards Sousa with renewed curiosity. He hadn’t envisioned having anything in common with a Greatest Generation Boy Scout, yet here he sits in kindred. From time disorientation down to nausea on space jumps. “Well,” he says, gesturing to the tea and crackers, “thanks for this. And the conversation. You’re a good guy, Sousa.”

“As are you.”

Robbie raises an eyebrow. “Did you forget the part where I sold my soul to a demon?”

“No,” says Sousa, “I didn’t.”

[just-a-latina-fangirl]

Jules woke up just like after those typical dreams when you feel you're falling into an endless hole: with an exhalation and her heart pumping. She opened her eyes immediately and looked around, without recognizing anything from the room she was in…

Chapters 18 and 19 out!

[avengerphobic]

Amareyes, gen.

Robbie finds Amadeus cooking a midnight snack