AN: Submitted by God of the Challenge: I would like to see a continuation of 53, where Maddie tries to take Danny back, claiming he is her son and he will listen to her or some dribble like that. And as you can imagine, Widow, Wasp, and now Ms. Marvel and Scarlet Witch have some not so nice things to say. :)
Drabble 55: Opportunity part 2
Clint was startled by the ringing that suddenly echoed throughout the living room, looking around, confusion spread across his face. Danny, sitting on the other side of the couch, thought it was amusing.
When the Avengers said he was under their protection, he was thankful for that. It meant he could mend his wounds and be in the skies in a few days, but when they told him he could stay, that he could become a part of the team after they saw what he could do, well, he would have been a fool to turn them down. It's been almost a year now, and some days when he woke up he still couldn't believe he was fighting along side his childhood heroes. And now he wasn't the youngest one anymore, either. Spider-Man had just officially accepted a spot on the team. A part time job, but he was just happy he got to hang out with his friend more often.
"That's a doorbell, Clint," Tony said teasingly, making Clint stick out his tongue.
"Since when does this place have a doorbell?" Wanda asked. Jan and another new member, Carol Danvers, nodded in agreement.
"Since Friday got tired of telling me there were people at the door. Jarvis was so much better," Tony replied.
"I heard that," Friday said, her disembodied voice ringing with irritation. Tony just waved her off and walked down the hall to open the doors. The voice that Danny heard next sent chills down his spine, but nobody seemed to notice as he was the only one in the room with super hearing.
"Mr. Stark," Maddie Fenton bit.
"It would be wise for you to leave, Mrs. Fenton," Tony spat. He remembered what they did to Danny. He's seen the scars and the trauma. He knows Danny still gets up in the middle of the night to make himself the hot cocoa. He knows that Danny really dying was their fault, too, what with their stupid ghost portal. He was going to make sure Danny stayed safe, even if that meant from his own parents.
He hears Danny's screams from down the hall when he sleeps.
"You can't stop me from seeing my son. He;s only sixteen, meaning that I still have custody over him. Tell him to come here."
Danny had been so focused on listening to the argument that he hadn't noticed Jan, Wanda, and Carol standing up to go see what was happening. Clint was still distracted by the fact that they had a doorbell. Once Danny realized the absence of the three women he quickly followed.
"Danny is my son and has to listen to me! I am his mother!" Maddie was yelling at them now. Danny went invisible and moved closer.
"With all due respect," Natasha (when had she gotten there?) said, not hiding the venom in her voice from the shorter red head, "you gave up being his mother when you shot at him."
"Get off our lawn," Carol said, punching one glowing fist into her other glowing palm threateningly. Maddie scoffed.
"You think I'm afraid of you? You're just a bunch of kids in Halloween costumes pretending to be heroes. Now give me my son!"
This was about to get really out of hand, Danny realized. His mom was stubborn and pissed, and that was a horrible combination to see her in. It almost scared him a little.
"You're trespassing. And also lucky I haven't called security," Tony replied. He was tense, and Danny saw how he was trying to hard not to lose his cool. His jaw was cleched and his fingers were white from pinching his jacket to tightly. Natasha seemed cool and collected, but he had grown to know her signs of anger as well. Her hip jutted out as she took a sort of power stance, placing her hand on her hip and looking Maddie dead in the eye. Carol her muscular arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the shorter woman. Wanda was seething, tossing a red energy ball back and forth in a threatening matter that, though silent, screamed I dare you.
"He is my son and you will not keep me from him," his mother spoke in a dangerously low tone that Danny knew meant they had three seconds to let her pass or she would try and make them pass. He was preparing to make himself known, to tell her to leave. That she wasn't welcome. But Natasha beat him to it.
"A mother doesn't experiment on their own son, whether he has powers or not. A mother doesn't kill her son. A mother doesn't hunt them down with big guns and glowing nets. A mother doesn't call her son scum. Danny is the best kid I have ever met, and if you even so much as look at him funny your neck will be twisted six ways from Sunday. Do I make myself clear?" As she spoke Natasha had moved closer, getting right in Maddie's face. Her tone stayed a level monotone, but her eyes told them all that she wasn't kidding when she said she'd kill Maddie if she tried anything.
"You don't scare me," Maddie stated, not backing down. "Now move out of my way so I can see my son."
"He does not want to see you," Wanda spat.
That's right, Danny thought. She's a telepath and an empath. She can feel my emotions. She's probably the only one that knows I'm right here.
You don't know my Danny like I do."
"We know him well enough to know he'd be better off without you," Carol stepped in. Maddie, seething with rage now, stepped forward, pulling her hand back. But Danny got there before she could do much else.
He stepped in front of Carol and caught the punch before dropping his invisibility. His blue eyes glared daggers at his birth giver.
"Danny!" Maddie cheered, dropping her hands and bringing him into a hug. Instead of returning the gesture, he gripped her shoulders and pulled him back.
"Stop," he told her. "Go back to Amity." Despite all Maddie had done to him, it still hurt to see her face fall. It still hurt him to break her heart. But it was better this way.
"But-but you're my son. You are going to come home with me this instant, young man!" Maddie said, reaching for his ear. He caught her wrist and put it in a death grip. He felt his anger spike, and judging by the look on her face he guessed that his eyes weren't blue anymore. He snarled and threw her wrist away, making her body turn with it.
"Get lost, Maddie," he said. That seemed to make it more real for her, that he wanted nothing more to do with her. her lips pressed into a thin line as she eyes him for a couple more moments before turning and leaving. Tony put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off and went inside.
Maddie looked back to her son one last time.
Danny didn't.
