Family connections (part 3)
Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to their respective owners.
Note: this story contains minor spoilers for the official series.
Donnie gave the other man a calculating glance. "And who are you, sir?" he asked in a grudgingly respectful tone of voice.
"Why, I am Boreas, the titan-god of the north wind," the new arrival replied calmly. "And I am your father, just as I am the father of Zetes and Kalaides, of Khione here, and of Kleopatra."
"I must've missed the wing gene," Donnie said sarcastically, but his heart was not in it – he really did not know his father, so he just could not really deny it, either.
"Yes, you have," Boreas agreed, placidly, but Donnie did not really buy this placidity. "You have, however, inherited my intelligence, unlike my other children, again – but then again, I have few children, and even fewer of them are illegitimate."
"Lucky me," Donnie muttered under his breath, but the other man heard him all the same.
"Yes you are," he replied in a sharper tone of voice than before, and Donnie frowned in thought: for a moment Boreas' body had flickered, and in his place the younger man saw a massive great snowstorm, one that was much more powerful than his own blizzard. "You were betrayed and arrested, shot at and drowned, and throughout it all you have survived. If you were fully human you would've died time and again by now."
"And if I was fully god?" Donnie just had to ask.
"Ah, that is the hundred-dollar question," Boreas agreed, placidly. "Tell me, son, do you want to be a god?"
It was Donnie's turn to think, and to think hard. "No," he admitted reluctantly. "It sounds very promising, but I would rather not – not yet. First I have to have my revenge against Simmons and Fitz of S.H.I.E.L.D., and then we will see."
"Revenge? Hah! I am a goddess and yet I still was unable to have my revenge against Leo Valdez, and he's just a demigod, just like you!" Khione spoke-up suddenly.
Donnie gave her a look, reminding her that until Boreas made his appearance, Donnie was clearly gaining the upper hand in their tussle. Boreas too gave his daughter a look, and it was no better than Donnie's own, and even worse. Under their gazes Khione blanched slightly and fell silent.
"S.H.I.E.L.D., you say?" Boreas grew thoughtful. "I know of it. The wind has many ears, it hears all. Rocks whisper to springs, springs – to sands, sands – to us, and so we have learned of this S.H.I.E.L.D., as do the other subjects of Aeolus. I, for one, do not like this S.H.I.E.L.D. and approve of your doings. So, young man, you have my paternal blessing – go forth and seek your revenge!" He gestured and a cold white lightning split the heavens and earth all the way down to the sea. "Take Khione with you," Boreas added as an afterthought.
Donnie gave his newly found half sister a skeptical look. "What do I need her for?" was on his lips to ask, when he noticed a look of genuine hurt on Khione's face. It was rather well concealed, but not that well to fool anyone who had been to an S.H.I.E.L.D. academy, even a relative failure such as Donnie was – and so Donnie never asked his question, but relented instead:
"Fine," he said instead. "Anything else?"
"Just seek out a man named Grant Ward. The winds tell me that he can help you find your inner stability," Boreas replied. "Farewell for now, children!" And he was gone, vanished in the winds.
Donnie and Khione shared a look of mutual scepticism and mistrust.
"This is going to be fun," Khione muttered sarcastically. "Do you even know where your enemies are?"
"Maybe," Donnie said with a slight smile. His new travelling companion aside, life was really looking up for him at last.
End
