The Hunters and the Prey - Chapter Twenty
Author: Milady Dragon
Daisy was quiet all the way back to the Harkness-Jones home, and Phil let her be, knowing she was dealing with what Ward had offered her.
A while back, when she'd just turned fourteen, Daisy had expressed some interest in locating her birth parents, but that had died out quickly when she'd come to realize that she really didn't want to face the people who'd abandoned her when she'd been a baby. Phil had sat with her through the rages she'd had back then, at how they'd left her at that first orphanage with nothing, not even a name to call her own. The workers there had named her Skye; but, when she was old enough, she'd chosen Daisy for herself.
Phil had thought it a little ironic at the time that she'd given her dragon the name that had been chosen for her by strangers, but he never did ask her why. It was Daisy's own business, and if someday she decided to tell him, he'd listen.
That dragon was flying overhead, along with Lola, keeping a watch on their Wizards as they made their way out of town. It wasn't all that long a trip, especially on the horses that Jack and Ianto had provided; that was another reason the pair of dragons was flying, as horses not used to dragons tended to shy away from them. Not that any horse that had been trained by Jack Harkness would do that sort of thing, especially with Myfanwy around, but there was always the off-chance that a simple mis-step could cause an incident.
They could have teleported back to the house, but this was better. This would allow Daisy time to think, to consider what had occurred, and hopefully to come to terms with what Ward had said to her. And riding horseback could be calming; he knew she wouldn't hide from him that she was upset, and angry, because she would need the comfort of his presence. this would also give her time to take a little control back that she'd lost to Ward and his machinations.
And she needed to do just that. Ward had managed to sneak right past his daughter's defenses, with that shit about knowing who her real parents were. To be honest, if Phil hadn't known how she really felt about them, he would have been concerned that Ward's gambit might have worked. But Daisy had been through that sort of self-doubt before, and had come out on the other side stronger than ever. The Wizard understood his daughter's feelings on the matter, and while he would have supported her search for her parents if she'd wanted to just that, except for a very short time when she'd been younger she'd carried around quite a chip on her shoulder about how they'd left her.
She'd always maintained that Phil was the father she wanted. Which was perfect, because she was the only daughter he'd ever plan on having.
They tied the horses up to the hitching post out back of the house, where Ianto had requested they do so, and headed inside. The wards let them in with no effort; the Cardinal Wizard had taken the time to key their auras to the magic, like giving them both a key to the house, which had been an immense sign of trust. Ianto had shrugged it off, saying that, chances were, Phil would be coming to the house more often now that he was a Grand Master.
The rear door opened into the kitchens, which were tidy after the dinner they'd been served. Lola and Skye had joined them, and were poking around the cold box and pantry for something to eat, and if Lola was grumbling at him for being hungry then it was a good guess that Skye was doing the same with Daisy.
He shushed her, chuckling, then raided the box for cold hanks of meat for both dragons, knowing that Ianto wouldn't mind by the fact that there was something already laid out on the cold box's lower shelf although Phil would let the Cardinal Grand Master know about it when he arrived back later. Once they were settled with their snacks and glasses of juice poured for himself and Daisy, the Wizard led his daughter out of the kitchen and into the sitting room, where he sat her down on the couch and took the place next to her, making certain the glasses were in reach as he settled in. He lifted up an arm, and Daisy took the invitation, cuddling up to his side in a way she hadn't done in a couple of years, after she'd considered herself too old to do that sort of thing.
Her magic sparked against his own, warming his skin through his clothes. It had been odd to so many people that a Void Wizard had adopted a Cardinal child, thinking that they were too opposite in their power to co-exist. And yes, Phil could admit that it had been strange at first, her magic reacting to his, but it had never been unpleasant. If anything, it seemed as if the Deep Ways in Daisy meshed with the Void within him all too well, like the pair of them were puzzle pieces that had slotted together perfectly, forming a larger image. Now, more than ever, it was as if they'd always belonged with each other.
Phil stayed quiet, waiting for Daisy to be the one to speak first. He couldn't rush her; she was stubborn, and the more he'd prod her the more she'd want to keep silent about what was on her mind. He'd been in this battle with her so many times over the years, and knew just how to handle things by now.
It didn't take her long to start talking.
"I'm sorry, Dad."
Phil tightened his arm around her. "Sorry for what?"
"For not getting Ward to talk."
"I doubt that was ever going to happen, sweetheart." He'd doubted it from the moment Ward had demanded that he'd only speak to Daisy. It had been worth a shot, but he'd been positive that this had to have been some sort of trick.
"Still, I think I should've been able to get him to say something."
She rested her head on his shoulder, much like she used to do after nightmares when she'd been younger. He wrapped his other arm around her, knowing she needed the comfort and perfectly willing to give it to her.
When Phil had found Daisy in that alley, he'd had no idea just how much she'd come to mean to him. She'd been his second chance, but he'd been that for her, as well. She'd been through so much in her young life, and Phil had reacted to that with a fierce protectiveness that still stunned him to this day. Daisy had long grown out of most displays of that protectiveness, claiming that she was nearly an adult and could take care of herself, but Phil knew he'd always feel this way.
She was his daughter. Not someone else's, but his. And, if those derelict people who gave birth to her came into her life tomorrow, Phil would fight them tooth and nail to keep her his child.
Daisy sighed against him. "Do you really think Hydra went looking for my birth parents?"
Unfortunately, he could see them doing just that, and he said so. "Hydra wanted me to cooperate, and they were going to do whatever that took. If bringing your parents into the situation and threatening to take you away from me was a part of that plan, it would certainly have worked." He didn't add that just by kidnapping her, Hydra would have assured his cooperation. He didn't think it needed to be said, really.
"I wouldn't have ever gone with them, you know. They gave me up." She craned her neck, so that she could look up at him. "You never would."
"No, never." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I recognize it's your choice, Daisy, but I would have fought them with every bit of magic I have to keep you, if that was what you wanted."
"Love you, Dad."
His heart swelled every single time she told him that. "I love you, too."
Daisy relaxed back into his arms, resting her head once more against him. Phil reflected on just how lucky he was, to have this amazing young woman in his life.
It was silent in the house; only the sound of the chronometer on the mantelpiece ticking over the heartbeats of the hours kept them company as they say together, peace descending over Phil for perhaps the first time that day. He'd been perfectly content as he lay in Clint's arms, and their little conversation before they'd gotten up that morning had given him a feeling of peace, and he wasn't about to lose that feeling anything soon.
He regretted not having told Clint that he was still alive years ago, but that was done and over with now. Their future lay before them, for as long as they had each other.
Then he realized someone was watching him.
Phil glanced toward the entry, not surprised to see Natasha standing there, leaning against the wall, her pale eyes on both himself and Daisy, so still that he hadn't noticed her there before. She hadn't changed from the last time the Wizard had seen her, only that her vibrantly red hair was shorter, her face still unlined even after the decade that had passed. She was beautiful and deadly, and if Phil had been attracted to women Natasha would have been the one.
He was certain Clint would have felt the same way, if he hadn't already considered Natasha more of a sister than a potential lover.
"It's good to see you, Phil." Her voice was quiet, and inflectionless. However, he could tell she was being completely honest.
"And you," he admitted. "Clint says you're either going to punch me, or kiss me. Which one can I expect?"
A corner of her mouth quirked upward. "I'll let you know."
Daisy shifted slightly in his embrace, yet she didn't move away. "If you do hit him, make sure I'm a witness, alright?"
Phil snorted. "I see how you are."
His daughter laughed. "You didn't tell her or Clint you were alive, Dad. Don't you think they deserve some sort of retribution? Well, Clint is different, because I'm guessing he gave up on that when you dragged him out of the Quorum yesterday."
"Really?" Natasha was looking quite insufferable.
"Yep. There was a reason I stayed over in my dorm room last night…"
Despite the teasing, Daisy sounded very happy for him. Phil was glad; he wanted his daughter and his lover to get along, and that seemed to be likely.
"It's about time," the Widow snorted. "You have no idea the pining I had to deal with back in the day. Clint, because he thought Phil was far out of his league; and Phil, since he had this notion that he wasn't allowed to be happy because he was the Dark One. It was disgusting."
She'd hit the proverbial nail on its head. Still, Phil wasn't about to admit to that sort of thing. "If you're both through giving me grief…"
"Not by a long shot, Phil," Natasha threatened. "You still owe me for you making me believe you were dead, and I intend to collect."
He knew she would, too. Natasha had very strong feelings on the subject of getting even.
"I bet you can tell me all sorts of stories about my Dad," Daisy said.
"Oh, I can. Just wait until you hear about the time we had to locate the Black Fortress. It would mysteriously appear at sunrise in one location, and then leave the next sunrise in order to teleport somewhere else…"
Phil had to laugh at that. As far as stories went, that one was fairly innocuous, except for the one-eyed giant and that swamp they'd had to track through. He'd ruined a pair of good boots in that swamp.
"How was that possible?" Daisy demanded. "That sort of spell…"
"It was a remnant left over from before magic had been shut away, although how it kept going when there hadn't been any more magic to fuel it…well, we never did find that out." Phil couldn't help but grin, wishing he'd been able to explore the Fortress more at the time. He made a mental note to see if he could find it once more. "Some Wizard had had the brilliant idea of using a very powerful Teleport spell on the entire Fortress, as well as making it practically unPlotable. It's actually where I got my own unPlotable spell from, the one that's on the Keep at the moment." That had been the one thing he'd been able to work out about the Fortress before they'd had to get what they'd been searching for and get out. None of them had wanted to end up on one of the moons, or across the world, when the Teleport magic got set off again. Getting home would have been a bitch, especially since they would have had no idea where they would have ended up.
"The problem," Natasha continued, walking further into the room and taking a seat in the chair opposite the couch where they were sitting, "was that they'd had no control over the magic when they'd cast it, so there was no telling where the Fortress would end up. One day, it could have been on a mountaintop…the next, at the bottom of the ocean."
"You're kidding!" Daisy was laughing now, and Phil was glad to hear it. "How could anyone survive the bottom of the ocean?"
"There was also some Protection magic on the Fortress," the Wizard answered. "No matter where that thing ended up, it would be protected from whatever environment it teleported to."
He'd gotten a lot of enjoyment out of tracking down the Black Fortress. He could still hear the cursing Marcus had done when he'd discovered that the only way to catch up with the Fortress had been to ride a Fire Mare…oh, that had been hilarious. The Fire Mare had taken such a dislike to Marcus that his friend had ended up with both teeth marks and slight burns over the course of the high-speed chase. And that dislike had been completely mutual. To this day, Marcus would, every once in a while, accuse Phil of deciding to call the Fire Mares to carry them as part of a twisted plot to get some sort of revenge on him for something the man couldn't recall doing. Phil would laugh at the accusation, because it was a little closer to the truth than he would ever admit.
He would have been content to tell Daisy that story, but there was a sudden flare of magic outside the house, with the undeniable signature of a Teleport spell. "Someone's just arrived."
Natasha instantly tensed, a knife appearing in her hand as if by magic…which was about as far from the truth as possible. Phil had learned from experience that the Widow was never unarmed, and that she could hide any number of weapons on her person and no one would have been able to find them all.
Another presence pinged his magical senses…this one new, but familiar all the same. It was as if a star had appeared outside, but it wasn't blinding in any way. "One of them is the Deathless."
The knife vanished.
If Jack was back, then that would mean that Clint and Lady Toshiko were, as well. They hadn't been gone all that long, and Phil wondered if the trail of the Winter Knight had already gone cold. They still had the pendulum, and Ianto could try to Scry for him again once he and Stephen returned from the Quorum Hall. They would keep trying until they found him…
No, wait.
Something was…not right.
There was a source of Void energy with them. It wasn't a Wizard; if Phil had to guess, it was someone who'd been practically bathed in the Void.
That could mean…He stiffened, tense at what his mind was telling him.
"Dad?" Daisy asked quietly. "Who's that with them?"
"I need to get up, sweetheart." He needed to see if he was correct about who Jack and the others had brought back with them.
Daisy scrambled up immediately, and Phil stood, striding toward the house's front door. Natasha was beside him, the knife back in her hand, as if she'd put it together with just the scraps that Phil had said, although it was most likely his silent reaction to what he'd been sensing that was ruffling her own proverbial feathers.
Natasha actually beat him to the front door, as if she was attempting to protect him from what was outside. He was touched by it because, after all, he'd abandoned both her and Clint when he'd faked his death, and she didn't really have much of a reason to watch out for his well-being.
The Wizard stopped next to Natasha, his magic rising within him, knowing he wouldn't hesitate to use it if Clint of any of his new friends were hurt. It felt natural to be this protective, and it made him wonder how he'd been able to subsume that urge for so long, so down deep that it had never touched the Dark One's conscience.
The truth of that thought suddenly hit him.
He hadn't.
He'd always been protective, he just hadn't realized it.
Just Buda-Pest alone should have given him that single, vital clue.
Gods, of course,
But he didn't have time to consider that newest revelation.
In the front yard stood Jack in his armor, Toshiko behind him and to the left. Clint was even farther back, an arrow to the string of his bow, ready to loose it at a moment's notice.
It was pointed at the man who stood in the midst of their group.
Behind him, Daisy gasped.
Phil hadn't actually ever seen the Winter Knight. That had been Clint, who'd fought the man off as Pierce was busily putting the Vibranium chain around Phil's neck, killing him instantly; and Daisy, who'd been up close and personal with him as she was attempting to escape. This man had been her guard.
Because it was the Winter Knight, standing in the middle of the group of well-armed fighters, looking unsure and wary and oh so very dangerous.