Last time...

"Uh…Tony?" Rhodey calls out.

They'd gotten on the plane easily enough – taken off and everything – but now he was seeing Hera grow nervous, and something told him that didn't bode well. It had started with her white-knuckling the arm rests to the point where they bent and twisted under her grip. It had progressively gotten worse when the turbulence hit, and she'd closed her eyes when the lightning started to streak across the sky. This lead Fenrir and Jör – and of course she would love mythology the way Tony did, to give her Familiars names like those – to sort of become living blankets. He still didn't know how on earth a…whatever Fenrir was…could withstand the amount of force Hera had used to bend the arm rests of an air-plane seat without so much as a wince. Tony is in the restroom, because of course he hadn't listened when both Rhodey and Hera told him that that super extra spicy dish he'd decided on was going to make a dramatic exit and not in the fun way, so Rhodey was going to have to figure out how to calm down a teenage girl with enough power to start her own country.

"You're not scared of a little lightning, are you?" Rhodey asked, trying for a smile of reassurance. "After everything you've seen?"

She chanced a look out the window as another lightning bolt streaks, and grimaced. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

"You talk like an old soul." Rhodey noted, surprised when she stiffened. "Part of the secret, I take it?"

She didn't answer, but looked away and nodded.

"I won't pry. With magic, I'm not sure I'd understand right away anyhow." He admitted. She smiled a touch at that. "So…what's it like to do real magic, and not the stuff people see in magic shows? I listen to Tony talk science all the time. I'd like to hear about magic too, if you're willing. Tell me you broke his brain the first time he saw you cast a spell."

She's still tense, still holding onto Fenrir's fir with a super strong grip, but she smiles just a little. He's willing to count that as a win.

Chapter 82

They're riding in the limo this time to let everyone spread out, when Tony looks at Hera and inwardly groans. She's tapping her foot soundlessly on the soft floor of the limo, her eyes unseeing but narrowed, her fingers fiddling with a pencil he's pretty sure she summoned for just that purpose. It's going to happen again; he just knows it. He silently nudges Rhodey and minutely gestures to her. Even the Familiars know something is up, and his suspicions are confirmed when Hera's head jerks up.

"Stop the car!"

…

It's cold, Hera hadn't been expecting that, and so she starts turning blue as soon as the crisp air hits her face. She's too distracted with trying to pinpoint where she needs to go to bother concealing it now. She could try apparating to where she needs to be, but without knowing where she's going…Things tended to get a bit dicey that way, so instead she runs. An abandoned building, several flights of stairs, and when she sees why she'd been running…she doesn't hesitate.

Hera runs full tilt into the room, intent on punching the guy in the face, but he dodges and strikes back! Without hesitating, Hera returns the action, and she's a lot angrier than the guy she's fighting. The older man gets flung across the room within minutes, and Hera uses the time to rush over to Matt. He'd been on the ground bleeding, said old man yelling at him to get up and keep fighting, and he hadn't gotten back up. That man was down for the count, for now, so Hera needed to use the time wisely.

"Matt!" She exclaimed in alarm, already running wandless diagnostics. "You've broken a rib, fractured another three, and your arm is broken! Where the hell is your father?!"

"He's the one that hired me." The old man grunted in pain from across the room. "To teach him to fight."

"You sit over there and shut the fuck up, old man!" Hera snapped, returning her attention to Matt. "I can heal it, but I need you to sit up, okay? The rib that's broken isn't angled funny, so that's a plus, but I'd still feel better if you took a sip of this."

She'd started keeping a wide variety of potions on herself as well as the rather embarrassing array of blades, and she would not apologize for that.

Matt does as she requested, looking more embarrassed than anything else. "He really is teaching me to fight, Hera."

"That man beat you past your breaking point, and then kept pushing. It's a standard tactic for various militaries and cultists the world over. Push you past your breaking point, and they can build you back up the way they want you." Hera replied, handing him the portioned sip she'd separated into a small vial for him. "He doesn't move like military, not standard military anyway. So either he's special ops, or he's a part of some hidden cultist group. Which do you think it is?"

"My money's on cultist." Matt stage whispers, causing the man to snort and groan when the pain hits him again. "He keeps talking about how emotional attachments are a weakness, but you're my friend and you barrelled in here and kicked his ass no problem, so I'm not sure how valid his argument really is."

"He's not entirely wrong, but the way he worded it is." Hera explained. "If an enemy knows you're attached to someone, they know there's someone you're not willing to lose, so you'll do anything to protect them. They can try to use that against you. What most end up trying to do is squash all rumours of having any emotional bonds ever, in the hopes that their rivals don't see past the mask. The problem with that is that people just don't work that way, so they know the mask for what it is. It's been proven that we need social interactions, emotional attachments, or things can get ugly. So what you need to do is be able to shove down that instant reaction you have to leap to the persons defence, to think past it to the best course of action that could save their lives, because if you get swept up in the emotions the enemy is trying to take advantage of, you're both dead."

"That's what I was…trying to tell him." The man grunted, trying to stand now.

"Sure it was." Hera scoffed, glaring at the man. "That's why I found him curled up in a ball in an effort to protect his broken arm."

"Didn't you just leap to my defence?" Matt pointed out, cringing at the taste of the potion. "Ugh. That tastes awful. Can you do something about that?"

"I am aware of the hypocrisy of my own actions." She allowed, because it was true; but she'd also focused that anger into defending him, so it still sort of counted. "However, I have the ability to tune that out when I really need to, or channel it, and that's an important ability to have when you're in the midst of battle. I can not change the taste without risking potency, at least not right now. Why do you need to learn to fight?"

"I'm a blind kid living in Hell's Kitchen, Hera." Matt answered, like that explained anything to her.

"You could move, you know." She pointed out. "It's not like your dad can't afford it now."

"It's our home."

Ah, well it's not like she could argue against that.

"Hera!" Tony shouted, before bolting into the room, sighing in relief when he sees her. "Oh thank-"

"Tony, is she in here?" Rhodey called out in worry, running into the room hot on his heels. When he saw her, the man instantly relaxed. "Oh good."

"What was this about?" Tony asked, looking from Hera to Matt to the guy at the far end of the room. "Can you heal him too?"

"Could. Don't know if I wanna. He's supposed to be teaching Matt how to fight, but what I saw was a grown arse man standing over a kid with a broken arm like he was thinking of finishing the job." Hera grumbled. She stood, Matt using her as a balance so he could do the same, and then she was crossing the room. "I can heal you too if you want, or you can be a bitch about this. What's it gonna be?"

From the snarl that's on his face, she knows what he's going to pick, so it's not a surprise when he strikes at her again. Her reaction is to take his wrist into her grip, pull him down, and headbutt him in the face. He's lucky she didn't use full force to do that, or else she really could have killed him. As it is, he'll just have a really bad headache later. The man falls to the ground in a slump, and doesn't get back up.

"Bitch it is then." Hera snorted, before tensing again. "Matt, where's your dad? For real this time, where is he?"

"Today's his last payment with some loan guy he's been trying to get rid of, so he's dealing with that. Somewhere near Sweeney's Bar." Matt answered, with a frown. "Why?"

"I need to go." Hera warned, looking to Tony. "Fingers crossed against splinching?"

"Why would you risk that?" Tony demanded, having been informed how bad splinching was.

"Because John's about to get shot."

He'd known this wasn't going to go well; Last payments never do, not with loan sharks like these. Stark had offered to help him, but these weren't the kind of guys you could bury with paperwork, and so he'd said he'd handle it. Well, his idea of handling it had somehow put him in this mess. He's standing in the dead end of a back alley, no way out, with at least six guys with guns all pointed at him. John figured they'd beat him up some, remind him who he was dealing with; not take him out back to be shot.

One of them fired, and he closed his eyes out of reflex. Only…it didn't hit him…It didn't hit anything. Looking down at himself, he saw no blood, but in front of him…Hera Potter stood with her back to him, wearing some kind of dark green leather long coat with gold accented armor. Only now did he see what Matt had meant about blue skin and a circlet of horns. She looked over her shoulder just enough that he could see the blood garnet like eyes as well.

"Mr. Murdock, fancy seeing you here."

"What the fuck is this?" Sweeney demanded angrily. "Who the fuck are you? Do you know who I fucking am?"

"Someone who uses the word fuck a lot?" Hera offered, turning her attention back to the men.

"Fucking mutants! Fucking freaks!" Sweeney spat. "Shoot her! Kill 'em both!"

"Hera, no!" John shouted, rushing forward…or he would have if he could have moved. Something was holding him back, probably Hera. "Hera!"

He wouldn't have gotten to her in time, he knows, but his thoughts are stopped by the rapid fire of bullets; none of which seem to hit them. John knows enough about magic to know that there are shield spells, but he hadn't thought they could stop bullets. They froze in place in front of her like they'd hit some kind of gel, the air rippling slightly with each hit. When the firing stopped, the bullets fell to the ground. One of the goons moved like they were going to charge, but hesitated.

"Walk away." She offered. "Walk away, and I pretend this didn't happen. You go on about your business, and we go on ours. No harm, no foul. Clean slate. There need be no blood shed this day. Or don't, and there will be."

"Hera!"

John's heart lodged in his throat.

"Matt?"

"John, buddy, it looks like you're in a spot of trouble."

"Tony?" Hera's voice sounded like she was right there with him in the panic department. "Can you guys, I dunno, not be here right now?"

"Bit late for that." A man, John didn't know, commented as he strolled up. "Officer James Rhodes, United States Air Force. Anything I can do for you boys?"

Sweeney looked nervous, but even with one adult to guard Matt, John knew the odds were a bit too even for the fights Sweeney liked to win.

"Just a conversation." Sweeney replied casually. "Doesn't concern you."

"No, but it might concern us." Cops? How'd they get there so fast? "Thanks for the call, Officer Rhodes."

The next few minutes involved John talking to one of the officers, after they'd given Hera the side eye, while Sweeney and his men were arrested by the other cops. They'd definitely brought enough. Meanwhile, Rhodes talked to one of the officers as well, while Tony and Matt stuck by Hera. One of the cops looked over at her, and John wondered. He really hoped he wasn't going to hear what he thought he was about to, given that they'd all given statements that she'd helped him.

"What do we do about the mutant?"

"Considering she's the reason I'm alive right now?" John threw in before one of the other cops could speak up. "Maybe treat her with respect like she were anybody else? But what do I know? I'm just the guy she saved from being shot."

"Wait, isn't that…?"

"Shit, that's Stark's sister."

"You're not going near Stark's sister." One of the cops ordered. "We have her statement, along with the others. Just because you don't like mutants doesn't mean you need to go harassing every one you find, Riley."

…

"Hera, how did you know what was going to happen?" Tony asked once the cops were gone, and they were all now headed back to his limo. Granted, the limo driver was also on his way to them, but no one felt like sticking around in that fishbowl.

"I get…impressions. It's why I like weaving so much. When it's not something urgent like that, weaving is the best way I've found to channel it. One of my professors called it 'whispers from the Norns'." Hera replied. Okay, no significant look meant it wasn't the past life/future stuff. When Rhodey looked confused, Hera elaborated. "She literally thinks the Norns whisper from the Loom of Fate to those who can hear. While I don't know if she's right, I can't discount it either."

"You think some Fate ladies told you I was gonna get shot?" John asked, looking a bit flummoxed by it all.

"I dunno about that, but it's the only way I know how to explain it." She acquiesced. "Just before everything, I saw strands weave themselves in front of me. It showed me your death, and echoes from that, ripples, impressions of what would have happened after…That only happens if it's a fate that can be avoided…What I saw, it was a fate I didn't think you'd want for your son."

John didn't seem to know how to react to that, only hugging his son tighter to himself for a moment.

"You should tell him what you did to Stick." Matt stage whispered, causing Hera to snort. "You should have seen it, Dad! I was on the ground, hurt, and…"

Matt gave a blow by blow of what he saw; though Tony still didn't quite understand just how that worked with him being blind and all. Hera had literally run in there, and beat some guy's ass just because she saw him looming over her friend. Granted, said friend was a ten year old curled up in the floor with a broken arm at the time, but still. Tony listened with avid interest, occasionally making snarky remarks about blueberries. Once all in the limo, he noted that the expression on Rhodey's face hadn't changed from the bemusement he'd noticed it'd slipped into earlier, and crooked up an eyebrow at him in silent inquiry.

"Oh. I'm just marveling at how much like you she is, how you didn't hesitate." Rhodey supplied, that soft smile never leaving his face. "Being a big brother is a good look on you, Tony."

"Ah, Sugar bear!" Tony cooed, taking the opportunity to get all up in his best friend's personal space; socially acceptable bro affection from a distance can eat it. Tucking himself right into the man's side, he continued. "I never knew you cared!"

"Somehow, I doubt that." Rhodey replied, acting long suffering, but his voice was too filled with fond amusement to be believed. Matt and Hera snickered in the seats across from them, and even John chuckled a little. "So…What happened last time you were in New York?"

Both Matt and Hera lit up at this, and proceed to tell him just that.

"Tony?" Hera asked, wide eyed, in shock.

She'd never thought Tony would throw the phone like that, not when talking to Stane; he loved his godfather. The two had been yelling quite loudly, and while Hera could guess the subject matter, she'd tried not to pry. Granted, Jarvis had it recorded, but that was for Jarvis investigation purposes. He'd not told her, and she hadn't asked. Now that Tony was off the phone, however, she felt it safe.

"It's…It's nothing, but…" Tony stammered, so she figured this was something he didn't want to tell her.

"You don't have to tell me, you know." She reminded him.

"I know, but this? I thought he'd get over it, ya know?" Tony sighed. "You're my sister, and I've adopted you, and I'm trying to do the whole responsible adult thing. That's actually not as hard as I thought it would be if I approach it like secretly being just a big kid, which isn't really a secret, but still. He's actually on my ass about you coming out as a mutant, because he said it puts Howard in a bad light. Said I needed to watch the family image, that I needed to realize what was important."

"Tony…"

"I don't think my godfather's a good person, Hera," Tony admitted quietly, looking like the admission itself gutted him. "and I hate that he can't see how amazing you are. You saved John's life today, and instead of focusing on that, all Obadiah can talk about is the bad press Stark Industries is gonna get because of this."