THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

Robbie can’t really explain how he got here--one minute he’s pushing Gabe around the park and idly listening to him rattle off facts about the book he’s been engrossed in for the past week, and the next he’s pausing in his steps and turning his head because Mary Jane Watson is calling for him to wait up. That was nearly twenty minutes of small talk ago, of Mary Jane falling into step with the two of them and nodding her head whenever Gabe directed some of his chatter at her ago, and he still has no idea what to make of it--he’s not exactly the kind of person that friends of friends run up to in public places (mostly because Daisy is really the only person who could claim the title in the first place). 

He spares a glance at her as she smiles and replies to something that Gabe just said, tightens his grip on the handles of his younger brother’s chair. “Y’know, you don’t have to do this,” He says, ruffles Gabe’s hair just so he can get a smile out of the younger boy--more of a reassurance than Gabe could ever possibly know. “You don’t have to be--friends with me because Daisy is--I’m not exactly the friendly type.” He shrugs his shoulders, bites down hard on his bottom lip. “She’s more of an exception than a rule, as far as friends go.” Gabe looks up at him then and laughs, asks if he and Robbie are friends and if Daisy is going to join them at some point. Robbie smiles fondly, answers yes of course forever, and maybe to both of those questions. 

“Yeah, Gabe, I’m on my way back--just got caught up at work, I promise.” Robbie says into his cellphone as he hurries down the street, taking little care for the shoulders he clips or the people that get jostled out of the way. It’s nearing curfew which means that demons and people who think they’re entitled to go after unregistered heroes are going to be out in full force soon--and Robbie needs to get home to Gabe before he even thinks about going out to deal with that, or before the choice gets made for him. “It’s only gonna be a couple minutes, but can you do me a favor and lock the door until I get there? All right bud--” He stops in the middle of his sentence when he rounds the corner and sees a group of men surrounding a teenager who appears to be cowering, clearly terrified as they sneer and demand that he show them his powers again, that they'll personally escort him down to the Panel offices to register as a freak. 

He tells Gabe as quietly he can that he’ll call him back, approaches slowly as he zips his trademark jacket up to the neck. “There a problem here gentlemen?” He says cautiously, shoves his hands into his pockets. One of them, not the guy making taunts but one of the most physically intimidating among them, turns towards him and snorts “Keep walking, kid.” Robbie tries to peer around him, just to make sure that the teenager is okay and they haven't resorted to physical violence yet, which earns him a hard clip across the face and a “Didn’t I just tell you to keep walking?” 

He wipes at the fresh cut across his cheekbone with the back of his hand and grits his teeth hard, already feeling the flesh staring to melt away from his face. “You shouldn’t have done that cabrón.” He seethes, sees someone else round the corner in a mirror of what Robbie had done moments before in his periphery--it’s a blip on his radar at that point, he’s already got the guy who hit him locked in a penitence stare. “You know what’s good for you compañero, you should run.” It’s directed both at the newcomer, and the teenager who doesn’t think twice before agreeing. 

Robbie’s relationship with the first Ghost Rider had always been--weird, mostly because it came with a bunch of other people attached to it: there was Johnny, there was Danny, and somehow Frank got mixed in because he was friends with the two of them--and they had all in one way or another looked at Robbie, who actively killed people at the behest of a demonic spirit he shared his body with, and immediately thought him worth their protection/mentorship/friendship/whatever the hell it was they thought they were doing. He used to mind it more--he had been surviving by his own merits since he was a teenager, taking care of another human being, and he had more power than he knew what to do with--he didn’t need anyone’s help. These days he just lets it happen--he’s actually kind of proud of the fact that he’s one of the few people in the world that Frank Castle likes, and it’s--nice, to have someone who understands why he has to do what he does. Doesn't question the morality of it. 

And it’s good that he doesn’t ask questions, because when Robbie catches a glimpse of the familiar painted skull on a bulletproof vest he’s in the middle of penitence staring the hell out of a member of a gang of particularly violent Doom supporters--the same gang that Robbie has caught carefully hanging around the vicinity of his apartment since he started tracking them. The guy writhes in pain, claws at his face as the all of the pain he’s ever inflicted on other people is brought on him, before Robbie lets it stop and lets him think he’s safe for the moment being. He’s too shaken to get very far, unable to process what had just happened to him, so Robbie takes the opportunity to turn around and face Frank. “Checking up on me?” He says as he feels the flesh growing back on his face, wraps both hands around the chain slung across his chest. “Cause there’s not much to see here, just a piece of garbage who thought he could intimidate me by hanging around my place.” 

Robbie has basically no free time--he’s either taking care of Gabe, working so that he can take care of Gabe, or doing the whole spirit of vengeance thing on the streets during curfew hours. If someone wants to be friends with him, or even get to know him at all, it’s pretty much a given that they have to keep up with him while he lives his life and gets things done--he can’t really afford to make time for other people. Which explains why the one person who he would actually venture to call a friend is currently meandering the isles of the grocery store with himself and Gabe, occasionally making the shelves vibrate just enough to make everything rattle and his younger brother giggle conspiratorially. 

“Gabe, dude, absolutely not, that will keep you up until sunrise--and do not make the eyes at her so she’ll try and win me over.” He rolls his eyes, but there’s fondness in it--as the insanity going on around them has escalated, it’s been harder and harder for Robbie to really deny Gabe anything that could potentially make him happy--distract him from it. He ruffles the younger boy’s hair and watches him wheel himself a few feet in front of them, a determined look on his face as he examines different types of cereal. He turns his attention to Daisy and nudges her gently with an elbow, smiles as warmly as he’s capable of doing--which isn’t much, but by this point she’s familiar enough with to know the sentiment behind. 

“You didn’t have to do this, but I’m glad you did. Been a while.” He knows that even when he doesn’t see her she’s checking up on him--he’s noticed that the population of demons around his apartment has decreased in recent weeks, and not thanks to the presence of the Ghost Rider. He doesn’t begrudge her distance, he thinks that being friends with him actually probably works better that way. “How are you holding up, considering Doom just basically told your office where they could shove it?”