The Hunters and the Prey - Chapter Sixteen
Author: Milady Dragon
Phil wasn't at all sure about this.
He, along with Ianto and Grand Master Stephen, as well as Daisy, had left for the Quorum before Clint and the others had gone on their hunt for the Winter Knight. The Wizard really had wanted to go with them, but Clint had had a point: there was too much to do, and he wasn't about to let Daisy be alone if she was going to face down Grant Ward.
He was confused as to why Ward would be asking for her. Yes, Phil had been aware of Grant Ward as a friend of his daughter's, someone who had been a member of Daisy's group of would-be troublemakers. To be honest, he'd only heard about what had happened to Jemma and Leo after the fact, when Pepper had called him about Daisy testifying at Ward's expulsion hearing and needing his permission as her father. Which he'd given, but he'd sat up in the balcony over the main assembly hall at the Wizard School and watched her as she stood, tall and proud, and answered the questions that had been put to her by the Headmaster.
His Daisy was amazing, but that didn't mean he was about to leave her on her own to face this.
The Quorum Building was fairly deserted at this time of the day, only pages and people having business within the building watching in various states of awe as the three Grand Masters strode past, their dragons with them, Daisy bringing up the rear as if she was in some sort of trouble when, in fact, she wasn't. It probably didn't help matters that all three powerful Wizards were dressed casually; only Stephen was different, and that was because his ever-present Cloak flapped about his legs as he moved, the tall, ornately embroidered collar actually waving at surprised Wizards as they passed through the main hallway and toward the Quorum Hall, where Marcus had said that Natasha would meet them, along with her prisoner.
If he was honest, Phil was a little worried about seeing her again. It had been years, after all…years during which she'd thought he was dead. Clint might not have punched him like he'd been inclined to on their first meeting after over a decade, but he didn't dare hope that Natasha would be so accommodating.
The moment they entered the hall, Lola was chirping happily and launching herself at the Widow, who was standing at the base of the dais where the three chairs for the Grand Masters were, Grant Ward at her feet. Natasha smiled as Lola landed right onto Ward's stomach, forcing the air from his lungs, and the Widow, the most fearsome mercenary in the Western Lands, wrapped her arms around the excited dragon in greeting, seeming to encourage her to step all over the prisoner, her tail almost knocking over the cage where Hive, Ward's gestalt dragons, were being held. The six tiny dragons hissed at her, and Lola didn't even notice.
Natasha's eyes met Phil's, and they narrowed at him a little, the only warning the Wizard would have as to the greeting she was going to give him. Yet, when she stood, she didn't automatically punch him, which was either because she wasn't going to, or she didn't want to in front of the bad guy. It could have been either.
Or both.
"Phil," she nodded once, her voice level and calm.
"Natasha." He was very glad to see her, and he let that show in his eyes, and in his voice. He'd missed her; not as much as Clint, but then Clint was a completely different subject entirely. "This is my daughter, Daisy." He thought he'd better get the introductions in before it all went to the hells.
"Hello," Daisy answered chirpily. "It's nice to meet another person my Dad's never talked about."
Phil barely kept himself from pinching the bridge of his nose. She wasn't ever going to let him forget that.
Natasha raised a single eyebrow. "I like her."
That had Daisy beaming.
Letting the pair of them meet may have been a mistake. The Wizard was going to have to keep an eye out on them both, in order to attempt to stem the tide of chaos that may ensue later on.
"This is Grant Ward?" Stephen nodded toward the gasping young man, who was trying to get his breath back after Lola's unintentional assault.
Phil sent his amusement to his dragon, then silently requested her to get off the bad guy. She huffed, but did as he asked, but not before putting a rear paw right in Ward's face.
Ianto snorted, rather indelicately. He didn't bother to hide it.
"Yes, it is," Natasha answered. "I discovered him in a barber's, of all places. I managed to track the place back to John Garrett, through several fake owners. Garrett, himself, wasn't there, but I've put a watch on the shop just in case he decides to come back. I highly doubt it, however. I'm certain he would have warded the place against intruders."
She didn't bother to say how she'd made it past said wards, but then Phil had long ago learned never to ask for what Natasha wasn't willing to share. She had her ways, and that was good enough.
He did suspect, however, that it had to do with her upbringing. Natasha had been raised in the Red Room, and no one really knew exactly what those bastards had been up to. Rumors claimed they took impressionable girls and trained them into assassins, and Phil rather thought it was the truth, since he knew Natasha and just what she was capable of, although he suspected there was more to it than that.
"We need a place to store him," she went on, "the manacles will work in the short run, but if you intend on keeping him imprisoned indefinitely…"
"We have cells below the hall," Ianto answered. "They're for just this sort of occasion."
The Widow hauled Ward to his feet. Where Lola had kicked him in the face was going to come up a lovely bruise, matching the one that Daisy must have given him when she's tried to escape Hydra's control. "Lead the way, Grand Master."
"It's Ianto," the Cardinal Wizard said warmly, "and follow me."
He went through one of the side doors in the main hall. Natasha practically yanked Ward along, Phil taking up position just behind her, wanting to keep an eye on him just in case he tried to pull something. Stephen had grabbed the cage with Hive in it, and Agamotto stared down at the tiny dragons from her Wizard's shoulder, enduring the hissing and snapping from Hive with what looked like true amusement.
The hallway beyond ran the length of the building. It was practically deserted, and Phil took the opportunity to drop back a little so he was walking next to Daisy and Skye. His daughter was looked a little frazzled, as if seeing Ward again was already preying on her. It probably was; after all, the last time she'd seen the young man, he'd kidnapped her. It was bound to be bringing up things Daisy really didn't want to think about.
"You don't have to do this, you know," he murmured, not wanting the now-upright Ward to overhear. "None of us will think any less of you."
She gave him a wan smile. "Maybe not, but I'll think less of myself, Dad. He's a bully and a traitor to Void Order, and we need to know whatever he has up in that brain of his." She reached out, taking his hand in hers. "I can do this."
He squeezed her fingers, careful of the gauntlets she was wearing. "I know you can. I have faith in you."
"I love you, Dad."
"Love you, too." He did. Fiercely. More than he would have ever guessed, that day he'd found her in that alley. "Now, why don't we get this over with."
"Sounds awesome to me."
The cells were on the lowermost level of the Quorum Hall, in what had to have once been the dungeon of the original Baronial residence. He had to wonder just what the first Baron Gateway had needed with this sort of thing, before he remembered that Baron Dafydd hadn't actually lived within the residence for long, preferring his quarters within the main Wizard's Tower.
Natasha was quite happy to throw Ward in the first cell she got to, knocking him back on his ass long enough to remove the manacles he was wearing. She kicked him once more, just because, then left him in the cell, which Stephen was more than happy to lock and activate the anti-magic wards that had been woven into the very walls.
Ward clambered to his feet, staring out from between the bars as his dragons were placed within another cell, left in their cage. They were certainly small enough to be able to fly between the bars of the cell, and the last thing anyone needed was for them to escape somehow and help Ward get out of his own cell. They weren't happy about it, but it would do until they could do something about keeping them inside with Ward. They weren't about to keep a Wizard separated from his dragon – or dragons, as the case would be – for very long.
"All of that violence wasn't really necessary," he claimed, his dark eyes calm as he approached the metal bars. He rested his hands on them, but jerked back almost immediately, repelled by the spells on them. His gaze touched all of them, although Phil could tell Ward was surprised at seeing him there.
Good. Although that gave him all sorts of thoughts about just what Ward had known about Hydra's plans and he didn't know about the accusations during Quorum.
"Oh, I don't know," Natasha commented, "I think it was very necessary."
Skye echoed the Widow's words with a hiss all her own. Lola joined in on the fun, and then Myfanwy and Agamotto did the same. Every dragon in the room apparently were excellent judges of character.
"I'm more than willing to tell you what I know." Ward said, "but you know my terms." His eyes went to Daisy, and it was all Phil could do not to step in front of her, to protect her from that dark regard.
But he stayed where he was, his hand wrapped around hers, offering her his strength and support as she stared Ward down.
"Why me?" she asked, her voice strong.
Damnit, but Phil was so very proud of her.
"I like to think we have a connection."
"If kidnapping me forges some sort of connection between us, then yeah…I suppose we do."
The Wizard wanted to smirk at her sarcasm, but he kept himself under control. He could tell that the two other Grand Masters were having the same issue, but they were as aware that this was Daisy's confrontation and not theirs. She needed to set the ground rules here, and not let Ward drag her along into whatever it was he had planned for her.
Ward simply looked at her, and his eyes were suddenly sad. "I mean, before my mistake, Daisy,"
"You tried to kill my friends," she snapped.
She was losing her temper, but Phil could understand. After all, Jemma and Leo could have died due to that spell that Ward had cast on them and, despite his words, it hadn't been any sort of mistake. He'd done it on purpose, and that had come out in the inquiry into his actions.
He surreptitiously squeezed her fingers once more, needing to get her calm. Daisy couldn't allow him to bait her like that, but Phil also knew that was going to be difficult. His daughter was a passionate young woman, ready to defend those she cared for, and Ward was going to push her buttons until he got the reaction he wanted.
"Do you think we could have a little privacy?" their prisoner said, sounding as if it was a perfectly reasonable request to make. It really wasn't, but Phil had to give him credit for making it seem like it was.
He knew that Daisy really didn't want to be alone with Ward. And she wouldn't be; they'd discussed it on the way over, and there were Listening spells all over the place, so they could hear every single word spoken. Daisy was aware of it, that they could get to her at a moments' notice, so there really wasn't anything to be afraid of.
Still, she was facing the man who'd kidnapped her. She'd believed they were friends, and had started to have feelings toward him. The Wizard knew very well that they might have ended up dating, if Ward hadn't made his attempt on Jemma and Leo. To this day, no one knew what had motivated him to do it, but Phil suspected it was wrapped with in John Garrett in some way. Ward had been his official Novice, and had played at repudiating him during the hearing, yet he hadn't given up the wayward Void Novice, instead recruiting him into Hydra.
Perhaps that had been some sort of recruitment test. If Hydra had been willing to blackmail Phil into helping them by holding his only daughter prisoner, then anything was certainly possible.
Phil turned to Daisy, giving her an encouraging smile. "You can do this," he said, putting all the confidence – and none of the concern – in his voice.
"Thanks, Dad." She nodded once, stepping away and letting loose his hand.
In that moment, Phil knew he would have done anything in order to keep her from having to be the one to question Ward. There were certain spells, truth spells and potions, that they could use, but he wasn't so sure they would work within the cells. He'd been considering using something along those lines to track down any Hydra agents amid the Void Order, but he hadn't run it past his fellow Grand Masters yet.
The problem was, he'd need to prepare such a spell or a potion and, while he was willing to put in the time and effort, this was the fastest way to get information…if Ward really was willing to talk to Daisy. This could be something else, but they had to take the chance.
Leaving Daisy alone with Ward wasn't what Phil wanted to do, but she was strong, and could handle herself.
A hand rested on Phil's shoulder; it was Ianto, his Cardinal magic pinging against the Void within Phil's very blood. It wasn't a bad sensation, nor uncomfortable, and the Void Wizard smiled at his newest friend and let himself be led toward the corridor leading back up to the occupied areas of the Quorum Hall.
Leaving Daisy alone with the man who'd hurt her.