Disclaimer: All rights belong to Disney, Marvel, and all the men and women that created the Agents of SHIELD TV shows, and comics. I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made.

Rating: T for dark themes, graphic violence, mentions of torture, drug abuse, supernatural violence, major character death, and minor language

Author's Note: Last chapter! Thank you so much for sticking with me through this! I've never written an AU that intertwined so closely with the canon before, and the positive response to this has completely blown me away. This was so much fun to write, and I would like to thank you readers for being such an amazing audience. QuakeRider forever!

Chapter 50: Flowers and Flame Forever

One Month Later

Daisy parks the Impala and grabs Gabe's wheelchair from the trunk before lifting the boy out of the backseat and into the chair. Then she reaches into the backseat and pulls out Robbie's crunches, handing them to him. He stands carefully, fitting the padded top under his armpits.

She wheels Gabe's chair up the ramp to the apartment over the autoshop, Robbie following behind with the dull thud of his crutches against the wood.

"You're smiling a lot today," he observes. "You haven't smiled this much in the past month."

"Things have been pretty tense at work," she reminds him, reaching past Gabe's shoulder to open the door. "Between cleaning up the last remaining vials of the superdrug and rounding up the members of Segundo Cielo and dealing with a dozen lawsuits."

"And worrying about Robbie," Gabe pipes in. Daisy closes the door behind Robbie and takes a seat on a kitchen chair.

"That's why I'm smiling," she says. "There's a reason SHIELD kept you at the medical center for so long, and it's not just because of your extensive injuries."

"I was wondering about that," Gabe says. "How did Robbie get out of his murder charges?"

Robbie shoots a glare at Gabe, but the younger boy ignores him.

"It was tricky business," Daisy admits. "Lucky for you, my team actually kinda liked you. They spent all their free time coming up with something to get you out of that fix."

"What did they come up with?"

"Remember how you took that brain scan the first time you were at SHIELD? Jemma found a strange shadow over your motor cortex. Well, while you were unconscious and recovering from the car accident, she took another scan. In this one the shadow is gone. We believe - and she used a bunch of science-y terms to write the report - that the shadow was the 'devil' in you and that it was forcing you to become the Ghost Rider by manipulating your brain."

"So she attributed Robbie's actions to a disease, or a mental illness of some sort?" Gabe asks. "And that disease or whatever presented itself as the shadow in his brain. Now that it's gone, he's no longer under the influence and therefore won't harm people anymore."

"Something like that," Daisy agrees. "And since it was a disease, he isn't responsible for his actions."

"But surely the public won't buy into that explanation," Robbie says, worry etched on his face. Daisy wants to go over and hug him but she knows his ribs are still bruised pretty badly.

"The public won't be told that. The government wants to cover up as much as they want. As far as the media is aware, Eli was the Ghost Rider. Any discrepancies are being covered up as hallucinations by the superdrug."

"But if Eli was the Ghost Rider why would he kill members of the gangs that worked for him?"

"He created the Ghost Rider as a way to keep his people in check. The gang members he killed were going against his orders." Daisy shrugs. "The people buy it. You can watch the full story on TV."

"So that's it? I'm free to go back to living my life as if nothing happened?"

This time Daisy is the one who grimaces. "Not quite. The government wants to make sure you don't become the Ghost Rider again. As a result, they're going to keep their eyes on you for a couple years." Then she smiles. "But a SHIELD agent is supposed to keep daily tabs on you."

Robbie catches her drift and smiles. Daisy loves the way the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkle and small dimples appear on his cheeks. "And you're that agent?"

"You bet. You're not getting rid of me so soon."

Gabe mutters a snarky comment under his breath. Daisy reaches over and ruffles his hair, which earns her a cold glare.

"I have good news for you, too," she says.

"What?"

"You quite impressed a certain pair of scientists at SHIELD. FitzSimmons asked me to offer you an internship at their lab."

Gabe's eyes widen. "Really? When?"

"After school or during the summer, whenever you're available. And, Gabe," Daisy adds, growing serious, "You must know that this is special. I've never heard of them offering anyone an internship before. Ever."

Gabe's face brightens and he starts wheeling to his room, mumbling about the projects he wants to test out with the scientists. Daisy and Robbie watch him go affectionately.

The silence grows. The two of them haven't been alone since before Eli's attack on the city. In fact, they hadn't really seen much of each other. Daisy has been swamped at work and Robbie has been in a SHIELD medical center, recovering from his near-death car accident. Even now he has a giant cast on his left leg, smaller casts on both arms and a brace on his knee. The bruises on his face have finally faded away, but some smaller cuts are still healing.

"I'm really glad you're okay," Daisy says, the simple words saying a lot more than she can express. She's glad he's alive, first and foremost. She's also happy that the charges against him are being worked out. She's ecstatic that the devil is gone.

Robbie reads between the lines. He motions her forward and when she stands by him, he takes one of her hands in his. "Me, too."

Daisy hadn't allowed herself to think much of the whole situation while Robbie had been healing, but now it all just hits her. She feels her eyes sting. "I really thought I was going to lose you. You need to stop almost dying, okay?"

He smiles faintly. "You have at least a few weeks until I've fully recovered from this latest disaster."

If he hadn't been covered in casts she would have punched his arm. Instead she smiles at him. "It's going to be weird not seeing you at work."

"I'm sure we can find other ways to spend our time together," he says, a hint of a smirk on his face. She rolls her eyes.

"Maybe now you can actually work at your own business," she suggests.

"It doesn't pay that well."

"It pays better than your old night job."

There's a comfortable silence that stretches out between them for a long minute.

"Robbie," she suddenly says. "I was happy with you before. I really was. But there was always a barrier between us, keeping us from really being happy, you know?"

He nods. "The Ghost Rider."

"Exactly. Although, ironically, if it weren't for the Ghost Rider, we probably wouldn't be together right now. But it was his constant presence that also kept us from being truly happy." She locks eyes with him. "Robbie, I'm truly happy right now."

He opens his mouth but she holds up a hand. "Let me finish. When Lincoln died, I didn't think I'd ever be happy again. I just wanted closure - which I thought I could find in revenge. Instead I found you. And I know it hasn't been easy. We've fought a lot, I got hooked on a superdrug, you were possessed by the devil, we almost died multiple times - but it was all worth it. I'd go through it all again if it meant being with you. I love you, Robbie Reyes."

He stares at her for a long time. Her heart is practically beating out of her chest. Just say something, she silently begs. She wonders if it was too soon to say all that. After all, they've only known each other for a few months. It hasn't even been six months since Lincoln died.

"I'm happy, too, Daisy," he says. "Since my parents died and Eli went to prison, it's just been me and Gabe. I was content that way. But with you in my life and the devil gone, I'm actually happy."

She notices he doesn't say "I love you" back, but she's not worried. Robbie isn't one to confess his feelings easily. And there are other ways to say "I love you" without saying those exact words - Robbie admitting that he's finally happy is one of those ways. They're just words, anyway. Actions speak louder than words, and his actions have shown time and time again how much he loves her.

And for now, she's just happy to be with him.

I love you, Robbie Reyes.

Daisy's words echo in his mind over and over again. He fights the urge to smile and looks down at her, snuggled into his side. They decided to have a quiet movie night that night. Gabe had picked Empire Strikes Back and is intently watching the battle on Hoth play out from the other side of the room.

"This movie never gets old," Daisy remarks quietly.

"Yeah," Robbie agrees, although his mind really isn't on the movie. He's still sorting through a lot of things, Daisy's earlier words only one of them.

"What are you thinking about?" she asks.

He shrugs, but only because he's not sure how to voice his concerns. He's truly happy right now, but it feels like something is missing. He knows he misses the devil's presence in his mind. It sounds awful, but he had grown used to sharing his mind. Now it seems empty with only his thoughts.

Another thing that bothers him is his car. Earlier today he gone out to the garage to look at it, to start fixing it back up. But as he'd gotten close, something odd had happened: he thought he heard a voice.

Crazy, right? He was just hearing things. But oddly enough, the voice kind of sounded like Eli. It had scared Robbie enough that he decided to put the Dodge away for good. Eli had been vaporized in the fire coming out of the Dodge - a trick of the devil that Robbie thought a bit theatrical - so why would Robbie be hearing his voice? Was Eli somehow haunting the car?

Robbie doesn't want to take a chance with it. He's heard of crazy things and experienced for himself even crazier ones.

And then there's the lingering energy in him. After following the devil for so long, Robbie can't seem to shake the habit that he needs to go out and finish hunting down Segundo Cielo and Fifth Street. He doesn't want to do it, but he feels like he needs to do it. It's confusing and frustrating.

"Not everything I did as the Ghost Rider was bad," he says quietly. "I helped people. I prevented women from being raped. I helped police during a shoot-out. I kept citizens from being mugged."

She looks up at him with big eyes full of understanding. "Yes, you did many good things. But you did them the wrong way."

Robbie sighs and pulls her closer. She smiles up at him.

"You're a good person, Robbie. You don't need to be the Ghost Rider to help people."

Across the room, Gabe shushes them. Robbie can feel Daisy shake with silent laughter.

They turn their attention back to the movie. Robbie can't help but feel how lucky he is to have Daisy and Gabe in his life. There were so many close calls during the battle against Eli. At any point Robbie could have lost his brother or girlfriend. But for some reason all three of them survived.

Robbie himself should have died multiple times. He thought he was going to die. He doesn't know why he got a second, third, even fourth chance to live, but he's not going to throw it away. He's going to make the most of his life form here one.

He can resist the urge to go and be do vigilante work. Daisy made it through a horrible drug addiction; his problem isn't even close to as bad. He can finish healing from the accident and then get back to his work. He can start over and do things right this time.

He knows Gabe still hasn't completely forgiven him for the whole Ghost Rider deal, but, as Jemma had assured him, time is his ally. Things have been improving between them. Robbie hopes that soon this will all just be a past nightmare and him and Gabe can be as close as they used to be.

This movie night is the start of a new life for all of them. Robbie is free from the Ghost Rider, Daisy is free from her grief and desire for revenge, and Gabe is free from secrets. The future is bright. And they're all together.

On the small TV, Princess Leia lunges towards Han Solo. "I love you!" she calls.

"I know," he replies, standing above the carbonite freezing chamber. The test commences and Han sinks into the chamber out of sight while Leia watches, stricken but determinedly strong.

"This scene kinda reminds me of us," Robbie tells Daisy. She looks up at him.

"Yeah?"

"You volunteered to go and distract Eli so I could take him out. That's like Han. He sacrificed himself with the faith that Leia would come and save him."

Daisy smiles. "I see it the opposite way. When you crashed the Dodge you were risking your life. Like Leia, I stood by and had faith that you would survive whatever happened. You survived for me."

"So if you guys are Han and Leia, what does that make me?" Gabe asks, jumping in the conversation.

"Chewbacca," Robbie says at the same time Daisy says, "See-Threepio." Then they look at each other and laugh.

"She's right," Robbie admits. "You'd be the smart-aleck."

Gabe isn't as amused. "Is it because he doesn't have working legs in this scene?" he asks dryly.

"It's because he's smart and sarcastic," Daisy says. "Just like you."

"And he hates being left behind or left out," Robbie agrees.

Gabe rolls his eyes but he's not upset anymore. "So does this mean you two are going to get married and then have a bratty son who shops exclusively at Hot Topic and has a weird obsession with being a villain that would make Uncle Eli proud?"

At the word "marry" Robbie and Daisy exchange startled glances. Then they realize Gabe is joking and the brief moment of tension disappears.

"Han and Leia got shafted in the sequel trilogy," Daisy complains. "As a kid, I imagined they grew old together in the new Republic that formed after the Galactic Empire fell."

"Let's stick with that," Robbie says. "Let's start with growing old together."

Daisy smiles. "I like that idea." She leans forward and kisses him slowly.

A few feet away, Gabe pretends to gag. Robbie smiles.

Robbie lived with Hell inside of him for years. Now he gets to live with Heaven around him forever.

The End