Rise of the Champions - Chapter Thirty-One
Author: Milady Dragon
Dad really needed to stop doing this sort of shit.
Bad language definitely required.
They didn't stay at Ianto's all that long after Baroness Eirlys brought Crystal and Lockjaw down to them. Crystal had freaked out a little when she'd gotten a good look at Dad, and not even Daisy cuddling her seemed to make her feel any better. Dad had attempted to reassure her, but he just was too weak to hold her like she wanted him to.
It didn't help that Daisy wanted him to hold her, too. But it was all he could do to stay on his feet, and that was with Clint helping him with an arm about his waist. His face was so pale the skin was practically translucent and, in her magical sight, his aura was all over the place. Usually, Dad had a calm, powerful aura, almost like inky armor surrounding him, but now that armor was as grey as his complexion, obvious weaknesses showing up as cracks that spread outward, splintering that seemingly unbreakable armor.
And, if she was seeing it this way, Daisy had to wonder what her little sister was seeing, since she was Void. She was afraid to ask, because she really didn't want to know, not with the way Crystal had been panicking.
However, there did seem to be a thread of something magical between her Dad and Clint. She'd seen it, when Dad had first collapsed after removing the Void from James. She'd never seen anything like it; it was a sort of bond, she guessed, one that allowed her newer Dad to share his strength with her first Dad, and she suspected that link was the only thing really keeping him conscious at this point. Clint was helping, not only physically but magically as well, and the young Wizard didn't know how it was done but she was grateful for it all the same.
The moment Steve was gone back to Triskelia Castle, Clint triggered the Teleport artifact to get them back to Shield Keep. They didn't appear in Dad's casting chamber like usual; instead, they Teleported into the main hall. Daisy's surprise must have been really obvious, because Dad explained, "I thought it might be more convenient to show up here, instead of the casting chamber." His wry smile was a shadow of its usual self. "I wasn't sure what condition I would be in, and the last thing I wanted to do was take the stairs up to here. It's going to be bad enough going up to the bedroom."
"I'm still going to have to drag up there, though," Clint pointed out.
"You'll have help." Andrew seemingly appeared out of nowhere, startling Daisy just a little. He stepped up on the other side of Dad, taking on some of his weight from Clint. "You're home now, Phil. You can stop with the strong façade and let us take care of you."
"I wanna go with Dad," Crystal practically wailed. She struggled in Daisy's arms, and she might have dropped the little girl if not for Melinda also showing up and pulling her away and holding her tightly.
"It's alright," Phil tried to soothe her. "I'll be fine, I promise."
Crystal seemed to calm a little. "I wanna go with you and Daddy. Please?" she begged pitifully.
"I'll tell you what," Clint said, "let me get your Dad settled into bed. Why don't you help Melinda fetch your Dad something to eat, then bring it up to him? You can stay a little while, at least until he's asleep."
"Okay, Daddy," Crystal sniffled.
Daisy doubted that Dad had believed it would be as bad as it was, when he let Crystal come along. She knew he certainly wouldn't have wanted to upset Crystal this badly, and would have insisted she stay home if he'd had any inkling of what he'd have to do to help James. Sure, she could see him figuring out that he'd be tired – since they'd Teleported into the main hall, after all – but not to this extent.
The tainted Void must have been affecting him in some way that Daisy couldn't see. She hoped that, after he'd slept a while, he'd be able to open a Void Point and expel it all before it did any sort of permanent damage. She only wished there was a convenient, already open Void Point around that he could use instead, so he wouldn't have to wait.
Daisy still found it amazing just what her Dad was capable of. It should have been scary, but to be honest the only thing she was terrified of was of Dad doing something brave and selfless and being injured by it. He wouldn't have been killed, the Void wouldn't allow that, but there were worst things than death.
"Crystal and I will be up shortly," Melinda promised. She hiked the little girl up on her hip, settling her comfortably, and then headed down toward the kitchens, Crystal watching them over Melinda's shoulder until they were out of sight.
As if Crystal leaving was a cue, Dad slumped even further into Clint and Andrew's grasp, letting out a breath of relief. Daisy hadn't realized that he was even weaker than he'd been letting on for Crystal's benefit, and a part of her loved him even more for letting her see him like this, that he wasn't putting up that front with her. But that didn't mean she had to like it, and seeing him like that made her want to cry. Her normally strong Dad, looking like he was about to collapse…no, Daisy didn't care if she ever saw that side of him ever again.
"Let's get you into bed," Clint murmured.
"One moment."
Clint rolled his eyes at that. "I don't think you're gonna be on your feet for one more moment, Phil."
"Daisy," Dad looked at her, his smile gentle. "There are letters on my desk. When you go back to school, please give them to your friends. They need to go to their parents. They're for permission for me to ward them all…just in case. I've explained as best I can without going into detail."
The young Wizard had to wonder just how he'd spun, 'There's a crazy-ass Wizard on the loose, who once tried to kill me, and who probably knows I have a daughter and who wouldn't be afraid of using her against me. Oh, and that puts her friends in danger, too, so let me cast some Protections on them just in case'.
"I'll grab them." She hadn't planned on going back today, not with her Dad like this, but tomorrow, when he was a bit more recovered, when she'd feel more comfortable going back to school, but this was important and she'd get it done as soon as possible. She could always come back when she was done, and it wouldn't take all that long.
Dad nodded, then allowed himself to be practically carried away, hanging between Clint and Andrew, his feet moving but not really doing anything to propel himself forward. Daisy kept eyes on them until they got to the stairs, wanting to go with them but knowing that Clint at least would be undressing Dad and getting him into bed, and Daisy knew that her Dad would think that just a little too personal for her to witness.
Thank the Gods that Clint Barton was in their lives now.
Daisy sighed, heading into Dad's study. As he'd said, the letters were set out on the blotter, each one addressed to one of her friends, except for Wanda and Pietro, who of course had the same parents. It made sense for him to want to protect them; they might not have been official family, but Dad had taken her friends to heart, welcoming them to the Keep, and that counted for something. Hells, they all thought of him as some sort of surrogate parent as it was – except for Lincoln, because she and him were dating and that would just be plain weird – and Trip was still amazed that Dad had agreed to be his teaching Master. Daisy knew each and every one of them would jump at the chance to let Dad work his own brand of magic over them and, if she knew Jemma and Leo as well as she thought she did, those two would want to take notes at a Master's casting of those sorts of charms for later study. Daisy could easily see both of them using Dad's techniques in their own spell casting, even though they weren't Void.
Daisy was just getting ready to head upstairs, in order to put the letters in with her school stuff, when the unmistakable pinging of someone calling on Dad's speaking stone sounded in the room. It was on his desk, and Daisy picked it up, at least to take a message from whoever was calling, because there was no way she was going to get Dad up for anything less than the world ending.
She activated the stone. To her surprise, it was Stephen on the other end, his voice familiar to her as he greeted her.
And it still gave her a little thrill to know she was on a first-name basis with him and Ianto, two of the most powerful Wizards in the world. Although, to her, they were just Stephen and Ianto.
"How's your father? I tried the mirror, but he didn't answer."
"He looks awful." She wasn't surprised that the mirror hadn't roused her Dad, although she was a little surprised that Clint hadn't answered, since the mirror was in the same room they were in. She didn't specify if him being exhausted was physical or magical; she knew she didn't need to.
"He should recover completely as soon as he gets the tainted Void out of him."
That was what Daisy was hoping, too. Stephen sounded positive about it, and she chose to accept that he knew far more than she did about it. Which he did. He was a Grand Master, after all. "Is there something I can help with?"
"There is. Please give Phil a message for me: that Prince Thor of Asgard is asking to meet with him."
Daisy thought her heart was going to stop beating, she was so shocked. "You mean…" she couldn't say it.
"Yes, he's Loki's brother."
"Shit." She usually didn't say that sort of thing out loud, but she couldn't help herself. Loki's brother. Wanting to speak with Dad. It had to be because of Loki's escape, but why did he want to talk to Dad? Did the Prince somehow know that Dad had been the one to have faced Loki and survived to tell the tale? As far as she knew, no one from Asgard had been in the Quorum when Dad had been revealed as the Dark One, so why was he making this sort of request?
"That was my reaction as well." Stephen sounded amused. "Anyway, please have him contact Master Richard Castle if he chooses to take the meeting. Master Richard is the Court Wizard for Baroness Andrade, and he is completely trustworthy. He is of my Order, which is why he attempted to contact me to arrange the meeting. I received the message from Wong the moment I returned home."
That made sense, because Daisy was wondering how Stephen had found out about Prince Thor wanting to see her Dad. "But why?" she blurted.
"We know that Queen Frigga had a friend within the Guild, and that's how we found out that Loki escaped. While that Master has sworn he hasn't broken the vows of the Quorum, we have to assume he said something that led both the Queen and the Prince into making certain assumptions in a direction we rather them not go."
Alright, she could see that. "I'll tell him as soon as he wakes up. I'm not sure when that's going to be…"
"Thank you, Daisy. Clint will look after him, so he's in good hands."
"Is it because of that link thing they share?" Daisy had to know. She'd seen it, and figured it was a good thing, but she had to be sure.
"Yes, it is. I thought you may have noticed it, as well." Stephen sounded pleased.
"But what is it?" If anyone knew, it would be a Grand Master, and Daisy was understandably curious about it.
"It's a form of soul bond. It's extremely rare; I only know of one other, and that's between Jack and Ianto."
A soul bond. She'd never heard of such a thing before. Did that mean they were always going to be together? That this had always been meant to be? Daisy had seen how Jack and Ianto interacted, how close they were. Would Dad and Clint be like that someday? If she went back over everything she'd seen between them, then she would now recognize that it was already happening. She'd never seen Dad like this around anyone before, although to be fair he'd never really dated much before Clint had come back on the scene. Had he been waiting for the other part of his soul to come back? Was that why Dad had been so determinedly alone for as long as she'd been with him?
"Daisy," he sounded so serious, she found herself leaning forward a little, even though he wasn't able to see it, "your fathers are at the start of their journey together. They were destined for this. I don't know what that destiny is, but they are going to need their family around them. And, understand this: you have a bond between them as well. It's stronger with Phil than it is with Clint, which makes sense, but I can only see it growing the longer they're both your fathers. Of course, it's a different sort of bond than what they have, but it's nonetheless very real. You were meant to be with them, you and Crystal both. The four of you are connected in ways that most families don't have. It was no coincidence that Phil found both of you."
Daisy felt tears prickling her eyes. She'd always known that she'd been meant to be with Dad; from the moment he'd stumbled across her, she'd seen something in him that just screamed at her that this was the man who would be a true father to her, that she could always trust him to take care of her, just as she would take care of him. It had been that feeling that had had her putting her stolen knife away and taking his hand, letting him lead her out of the battle zone and eventually to Uncle Nick. She'd never been able to put that sensation of utter certainty into words before, but now she had them.
Soul bond.
That link between two people who were always meant to be together, to love each other and care for one another forever.
"Thank you," she managed to keep her sob down in her chest.
Stephen noticed, however. "You're welcome. Now, I'm going to let you get back to your family. Please have Phil call me when he wakes up. He might be near-immortal, but I'm worried about him, too."
"I will. And I'll make sure he gets your message about Prince Thor as well."
"From what I've heard, the Prince is a good man. He won't mean your Dad any harm."
Trust him to know she'd need that reassurance.
Stephen said his goodbyes, the stone deactivating.
Leaving Daisy to her thoughts.
