It was seven in the morning on November 18th. The day that marked Danielle's fifteenth year of life. No one actually knew, other than Wanda and Jack, and she had never really told anyone to celebrate it because truth be told, she wasn't sure she wanted to celebrate it.
So, the day went on as if it were any other normal day. Sharon was already out of the house by the time Danielle made her way out of the apartment and downstairs to the street, but before she could get to the subway, a very expensive looking red sports car pulled up beside her. The driver's side rolled down the window and a familiar face smiled back at her. "Jack?" She gasped.
"Happy Birthday, little sister. Need a ride?" Her brother asked.
She laughed and ran around to the passenger's side to climb in. Once she was buckled up, the car lurched forward and they were off to navigate the busy streets of New York in order to get to school. "What are you doing here?" She asked, clearly ecstatic and still in shock.
"Steve gave me the day off." He shrugged.
"You didn't think we would miss your fifteenth birthday, would you?" A new voice coming from the back seat caused Danielle to jump slightly. Jack and Wanda began laughing at her reaction.
"Wanda? You're here too?" Danielle gaped in surprise.
"Of course, I am. It's your fifteenth birthday, the first real birthday we'll get to celebrate together outside of that HYDRA base in Sokovia." She exclaimed.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Jack added.
Danielle suddenly felt her throat dry. "Did you...does anyone else know about it being my birthday?" She asked cautiously.
"No." Jack muttered bitterly. "We know you're not huge on the whole celebration thing, so we kept it on under wraps."
"All the rest of the team knows is that we came to visit you before Thanksgiving break comes around." Wanda explained. Danielle took a sigh of relief. If there was one thing she wasn't sure how to react to yet, it was a birthday party. For Jack's, they took him to a bar, so Danielle and him had their own separate little picnic on the Compound roof. For Wanda's, the Sokovian had just a regular dinner with cake and presents.
As they drove, however, Danielle began to notice that they weren't going to right way to get to the school. "Um, Jack? You're taking the wrong streets..." Se watched as he ignored her and pulled the car onto the freeway leading out of Queens. "Wha-Where are we going?"
Jack scoffed. "You actually thought we were letting you go to school on your birthday?"
Danielle's jaw dropped and she looked over at Wanda. The witch simply nodded. "You agree with him?" She gaped.
"It's your fifteenth birthday free from HYDRA, you deserve a little vacation." She exclaimed.
Danielle shook her head and sat back in her seat, watching the scenery go by. "Where are you taking me then?"
A half hour later, they arrived at the Riegelmann Boardwalk on Coney Island. It wasn't as crowded as they would've imagined due to the fact it was nine in the morning on a Wednesday. "C'mon," Jack grabbed his sister's hand as he led her through the entrance towards the rides and attractions on the boardwalk. "It'll be fun." He assured her. Danielle threw a uneasy look at Wanda as they walked to Luna Park. "Ooh, let's get on that one." Jack pointed up at the towerng Parachute Jump.
Danielle's face turned pale as she frantically shook her head. "No." She replied simply.
"Yeah..." Wanda grimaced. "I'm with Dani on this one."
Jack groaned. "You two are no fun. Should've invited Sam or Rhodes, they would've got on with me."
"I thought this was Danielle's birthday celebration?" Wanda quipped.
"You know what I mean." He retorted. "Ooh, what about the Thunderbolt?" He pointed to the large roller coaster with an enormous vertical drop.
"No!" Danielle said as Wanda cheered, "Let's do it!"
Danielle looked up at the witch. "Wait, seriously?"
Wanda shrugged. "Don't tell me you're scared, Eris."
"I am." She gestured to the roller coaster. "How are you not?"
"Dint be such a chicken, Dani." Jack said as he pulled her head into a headlock, dragging his sister to the ride. "You'll be fine. And before you know it, you'll be dying to go a second time."
"Jack-!" Danielle's protests were muffled under her brother's hand as him, Wanda, and Danielle all walked to the Thunderbolt.
They waited in line for some ten minutes before boarding. "You guys can get in the front booth, the girl behind us is kind of cute." Jack muttered to the girls.
Wanda and Danielle exchanged a knowing look. "Boys." They said in unison as the gate opened allowing them to get inside the cart. Wanda and Danielle sat in the front seats and buckled in while Jack sat behind them next to a girl who said her name was 'Abby'. "She's out of his league." Wanda muttered to Danielle.
The young teen shook her head as the locking device was pushed down to hold them in place. "Let him try. He has hope."
Within moments of being fully strapped in, Danielle was beginning to question her decision of allowing her siblings talk her into this. But, when the ride lurched forward and began up the near 90 degree slope up into the sky, it was too late to back out now.
The roller coaster went up, and up, and up, and up, until it stopped at the tipping point of the Thunderbolt. Wanda squealed with joy as they both looked down at the massive drop below. In those mere seconds of being in the air, Danielle took the time to look around the entire boardwalk, the people, the city in the far distance, the other rides and attractions around them. The air seemed cool at first, but once the cart lurched forward again, the icy blast of wind hit Danielle's face. Her hair whipped about and her and Wanda's screams of joy and fear rang through the air as the coaster went strait down before going forward, into a loop, down more lumps, a swift turn left, more lumps, then came to a stop.
By the time the trio climbed off the ride and walked out of the attraction, Danielle's adrenaline was through the roof and a smile was wide on her face. "Can we go on another one?" She asked her two siblings eagerly. Wanda and Jack exchanged knowing looks before laughing and grabbed each of Danielle's hands as the trio ran off to the rest of the Boardwalk.
The rest of the day was spent at Luna Park. They got on the Astro Tower, the enormous sling shot thing, the Soaring Eagle, the Carousel, Steeplechase, the giant teeter totter thing, all the other small amusement rides, until finally, the trio got on the Cyclone once, twice, three times. When they had gotten on all the rides and played all the games, they stopped for some snacks.
Jack was eating a corn dog while Danielle was on his back eating a pink cotton candy. Wanda walked along side the with one hand holding Danielle's and the other holding a vanilla ice cream cone. They were truly happy. If someone had taken their picture in that moment, they would have seen a nice happy family. And Danielle knew that they were complete. Her brother, Wanda, and Pietro in the afterlife with her parents looking down on me with smiles. It was the best birthday Danielle could ever hope for.
When they were done at the Boardwalk, the three went down to the beach. Danielle and Jack had to roll their jeans up to their knees and take their shoes off to walk along the shallow waves collecting sand dollars and other cool shells while Wanda only had to carry her sandals due to the fact she was the only person wearing a skirt in New York during the Fall.
"I found another cool purple one!" Danielle called as they all navigated along the sand.
"We have enough of those. Try finding the sand dollars." Wanda encouraged.
They were silent as the three looked through the ground, waves lightly catching at their feet every so often. The only thing they heard were the distant cries of joy from the Boardwalk, the annoying seagulls, and the wind. Until, Jack broke the calm atmosphere as his head jolted up and his hand rocketed to the sky. "I got one!" He declared.
Wanda and Danielle ran over to see he helped in his hand a whole sand dollar. "Cool." She breathed in awe as her brother set it in the palm of her hand.
"Happy Birthday, Danielle." Wanda told her, pressing a kiss to her temple.
"We should get going before Sharon kills me for bringing you home late." Jack said.
Danielle nodded as he brother picked her up back onto his back, Wanda grabbing her hand again as they made their way to the parking lot. "Are you guys staying for dinner? Sharon is making alfredo."
"Ooh, sounds good. Don't mind if we do." Jack replied, causing his sister to giggle happily.
When they got back to the apartment, Sharon had already started the cooking. Danielle had been excused to go change from her ocean water drenched jeans into something more comfortable, and while she was away in her room she took the time to check her phone that had been turned off through out the day. She had five missed calls from Peter, Liz, Sally, Cindy, and-surprisingly-Michelle. A couple of wayward texts and voicemails asking where she was, if she was dead, missing, drowned, murdered, sick, or simply skipping. She smiled nd shook her head, deciding to put them all out of their misery with responses explaining her family took the day off while they were in town.
After sending out texts and changing into some leggings and baggy v-neck, Danielle returned to the dining room where Sharon was serving up the Alfredo. "Three superheroes under one roof? Had to make something special." She exclaimed as they all sat at the table to eat.
Wanda and Jack immediately dug into the meal like they hadn't eaten in years. Danielle chuckled at Sharon's bewildered expression. Jack and Wanda caught sight of their stares and blinked in confusion. "Hmm?" Jack hummed with a mouth full of noodles.
"Do they not feed you kids at the Compound?" Sharon wondered as she twirled noodles onto her fork.
Wanda quickly wiped the sauce from her mouth and shrugged. "It's pretty rare when Tony and Pepper come to cook us home cooked meals like this."
"Hm, wonder why." Sharon mused absently while they ate. "So, how is everything at the Compound?"
Danielle smiled. "Are you asking just because you're curious about what Steve's up to?"
Wanda and Jack muffled their laughs as Sharon three them all scolding glances. "No." She said sternly. "I just want to know if everything power-wise is going well. That's all."
"Mhmmm..." Jack wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"Hey, don't forget I'm in the CIA now. Meaning, I can lock all you up for intervening in my personal life."
Danielle chuckled. "We are your personal life." She reminded her.
"We're just trying to help your love life." Wanda assured the woman.
"You mean 'save' her love-life?" Jack gafawed as Sharon chucked a piece of garlic bread at him. Dinner continued on until it got to after dark and the two older enhanced had to leave back to the Compound. "Thanks for letting us kidnap my sister and giving us an amazing meal." Danielle's brother thanked Sharon as they were walked to the door.
"We had fun today, Danielle. Happy Birthday, little sister." Wanda gave a small kiss to her temple before walking out the door.
"See you Saturday." Danielle waved after them as they walked down the hall from the apartment.
Jack seemingly muttered something that Wanda smacked him upside the head for before he turned around and smiled. "Yeah, you got it. Have fun in school."
Danielle nodded as Sharon shut the door. "I'm surprised they didn't give you any gifts." Sharon remarked as they went off to their rooms to get ready for bed.
"I asked them not to." Danielle said. "They know I don't really like celebrating my birthday."
"Why not?"
Danielle shrugged before she walked into her room. "It makes me feel vain and selfish celebrating something just for me." She admit before heading into her room and prepping for bed.
The next two days at school were spent catching up on work she missed her birthday and trying to explain to her friends why she missed school without letting it slip that it was her birthday. The last thing she needed was the entire Decathlon team flipping out about her turning fourteen and deciding they needed another party, only this one being solely based around her.
Luckily, she managed to not let it slip. That was until Danielle was walking out of school with Liz, Cindy, Betty, and Sally only to stop in her tracks when a black SUV pulled up in front of the school. Danielle immediately recognized the vehicle. It was the SUV Tony's personal body guard-slash-driver friend guy, Happy. She exchanged awkward looks with her friends. "I, uh, my ride's here. I gotta go." She told them.
"I thought you rode the Subway home." Cindy remarked.
Danielle didn't answer as she quickly speed walked to get into the SUV. "Is something wrong? Do I need to suit up?" She asked as Happy who sat in the driver's seat the minute she shut the door behind her.
Happy smirked a bit and looked at her in the rear view mirror. "Nope. No need to worry, kid. No need to suit up. Tony just arranged for me to pick you up for today."
Danielle furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"
Happy shrugged. "A secret." He said simply before pressing a button on the top of the roof up front closing the barrier between the front seat and the back seat.
Danielle sat back in and buckled her seat belt before watching the confused and dumbfounded faces of her classmates out the window as Happy drove them away. Danielle wasn't sure why she had expected Happy to drive them all the way to the Compound. He, instead, drove them to the Avengers Tower where a Stark Industries helicopter was waiting. Happy didn't get on with her, but wished her safe travels.
Danielle nervously walked across the helipad and got on with her backpack still on her shoulders. Once she climbed in, she nearly had a heart attack when she found out the helicopter was completely empty. What, was she flying the thing? She helped a bit when the helicopter lifted off without her even lifting a finger. Whoever's idea it was to do this to her was really a huge ass... Not that the shy, sweet girl would ever say it to their face though.
When the helicopter arrived at the Compound, she climbed out of the helicopter and crossed the helipad to be greeted by Maria Hill. "How was your flight?" She asked as she wore a bright smile and black pencil skirt.
Danielle let out a huff of breath as she adjusted her backpack strings. "Frightening."
Maria chuckled. "Come on, we're a bit behind schedule." She exclaimed as they wandered through the near empty hallways of the Compound. Where was everyone?
"Um, behind schedule for what? Is there a mission I'm here about?" Danielle wondered as they walked to her room. She noticed the common area was also empty.
"Not exactly, but you should still get dressed. We had your attire shipped in from Slovakia and its hanging up on your closet. I'll be waiting out here." She said.
Danielle nodded as she walked into her room to get changed, but stopped short when she realized what Maria meant by 'attire'. Hanging on her closet door was a lovely sky blue knee-length dress Danielle recognized from her childhood. She had worn it on her tenth birthday, mere months before HYDRA had kidnapped her and Jack. Her mother had sewed it herself. Danielle turned to ask where Maria had gotten it, but the door was closed. Danielle pushed her thoughts aside to get changed. When she was done, there was a pair of small nude flats sitting at the edge of her bed. She put them on and walked outside where Maria was waiting.
"Alright, come with me." She said simply. The mischievious smile on Maria's lips didn't escape Danielle's notice as they walked through the common area and into the main space. Danielle looked around for any signs of life. The entire Compound seemed to be a ghost town. Had something gone wrong? If so, why was Danielle in a dress and not her Eris uniform Tony had custom made for her? "Right through those doors." Maria gestured to the double doors that led to the banquet room in the Compound the Avengers used for meetings and press conferences. What was in there? A press conference.
The enhanced teenager gave Maria an odd look as she pushed the doors open. Four things happened simultaneously in the instant she opened those doors. The first, her heart melted at the sight of everyone down below smiling an flapping at her entrance. Wanda, Jack, Steve, Tony, Natasha, Sam, Rhodey, Vision, Dr. Selvig, and Dr. Cho. Not to mention the many Avengers Initiative agents and workers. But why were they all there?
That brought in the second thing that happened; everyone simultaneously shouted 'Happy Birthday!' causing Danielle to take in her surroundings. The champagne flutes, gifts on a table, cake on another table, balloons, confetti, bright lights, music, ice cream.
Then the third thing happened; it suddenly dawned on Danielle that these a-holes tricked her into a damn surprise party.
And finally, the fourth thing; everything had somehow overloaded in the teen girl's brain causing her powers to become speratic. She hadn't even realized she'd done it until every champagne flute being held by someone down below had been busted into oblivion. Many people audibly gasped as glass fell to the floor.
Danielle's jaw dropped and she blinked in awe. It was completely silent in the large room until Danielle let out a sheepish, "Sorry..."
After that incident, everyone in the Compound finally realized why Danielle didn't want a party to begin with and cancelled the large gathering there after. The agents went back to their work, Dr. Selving and Dr. Cho wished her a happy birthday before heading back to the labs, which left really the main Avengers group back in the common room.
No one said a word until after Danielle had changed back into her regular clothes and out of the dress. She sat cross-legged on the top of the grand piano at the end of the room and look pointedly at all the people in the room. "I'm really sorry... I tried to warn you... It is the thought that counts though... So, thank you...?"
"Sorry we ruined your birthday, Dani." Jack apologized from his spot on the couch.
Danielle scoffed. "You didn't ruin my birthday. It was two days ago and it was probably one of the happiest days of my life so far."
"Why didn't you tell anyone it was your birthday anyways?" Sam asked.
Danielle shrugged. "Other than I knew my powers would get overloaded by all the attention and crowds, I guess it was because I don't really enoy being the center of attention. Kind of like right now. You're all making me feel really overwhelmed."
"How about do-over?" Steve suggested. "No big crowds, no cake, no disco lights. Just all of us in our pajamas watching Disney movies in a pillow fort while playing Scrabble and eating left over pizza?"
Danielle smiled. "I wouldn't have if any other way."
That night, the Avengers probably had the most relaxed night since they were kids. Like promised, they celebrated Danielle's birthday by building an abnormally large pillow fort in the middle of the common room and not only played Scrabble but also Monopoly, Connect 4, RISK, and Danielle's personal favorite, UNO. They ate pizza, left over cake, Chinese take out, and some frozen burritos Sam had boughten on his last trip to the store. All the while, they were all in pajamas singing along each time one of the Disney movie songs came on from the TV.
"UNO!" Natasha declared as she set down a blue zero in the growing pile.
Rhodey put down a green zero next, followed by Tony switching the color. "Um, red." He said as he gave Steve a smug smile.
Steve smiled and shook his head as he began to draw for cards until putting down a red three. "Did you look at my cards?" He accused.
Tony shrugged. "You're not very good at keeping them out of eyesight."
Steve opened his mouth to defend himself, but when he caught the sight of everyone else in the circle nodding, he just gaped. "Seriously?"
"I think I've got your card deck memorized at this point, man." Sam exclaimed as Jack set down a yellow three, blue three, and green three.
"UNO!" Danielle shouted at him. "You have to pick up four cards now."
Jack glared at his sister as he pulled out four cards. Wanda then set down a green seven, prompting Danielle to put down a green nine, which in turn led to Sam throwing down a reverse card. "Boom!" He said.
Danielle chuckled as she set down another reverse card to counter his. "Boom." She replied back smugly.
Everyone in the circle laughed as Sam grabbed cards from the deck until finally putting down a green six. "Man, played by the younger person here, Wilson." Rhodey laughed.
"Smelling the silent judgement?" Tony quipped.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go." Sam said.
Vision set down a blue six next, and the circle went back to Natasha who laid down her last red card. "UNO out!" She stated causing everyone in the circle to drop their cards and grown.
"Now, I think it's time for presents." Wanda said with a smile.
Danielle frowned slightly. "I didn't want anything..." She insisted.
"Too bad. We got you crap anyways." Sam retorted as everyone went to grab the gifts from the nearby coffee table and returned back under the fort.
Wanda went out to hand her gift to Danielle, but Tony stopped. "No, no, no. Me first." Tony said as he handed the young teen a medium sized box. "Why, you ask? Because I pay for everything else in all of your lives. I deserve to be the first opened present."
Danielle chuckled as she undid the neat red bow on the gift and lifted the lid. Inside was a smaller box that had the label, 'Dr. Dre's Beats Headphones' with the phot of expensive looking rose-gold headphones on it. "Thanks, Tony. It looks expensive." She said simply.
"Eh, wasn't that much. Glad you like it, kid." He sad as she out it back in the box and set it aside. The cycle continued. Rhodey and Sam got her a joint gift of a large bag of sour patch kids and twenty bucks each inside of a simple blue card. Wanda gave her a band tee from the band Sleeping At Last Danielle had mentioned she liked. Vision contributed by giving Danielle a stuffed cat from Hot Topic (he claimed he got it on his own, but Danielle knew well enoh he had help from Wanda). Natasha had given her two gifts. One from herself and the other from Clint. Natasha's gift was a butterfly knife (much to Steve, Jack, and Wanda's dismay) and Clint's gift was a living, breathing, baby chick.
Danielle gasped when the yellow ball of fluff popped out of the small holed box. She held it in the pals, of her hands as everyone gaped. "He actually got her a frickin chicken. Damn, bird man." Tony muttered.
"Can I keep him?" Danielle asked Steve with wide eyes.
Steve looked lost in what to do. Tell her no? Tell her yes? "Uh, sure." He finally allowed.
"Yes," She breathed as she held up the chick to her face. "His name is...Quintin." She exclaimed.
"Quintin?" Natasha asked curiously.
"Yeah, like Tarantino." She said.
"Okay... Next present." Wanda said. "Steve?"
Steve had the smallest gift of all as he handed her a small box wrapped in wrapping paper. Danielle smiled as she set little Quintin in her lap and tore off the wrapping paper to open the box revealing a small bracelet. "A charm bracelet?" Danielle asked as she held it up.
"Yeah, we all pitched in." Tony said.
"All of you?"
Steve nodded in confirmation. "I got the bracelet along with the apple charm for you. Sam got the book charm. Tony got the Ironman helmet. Wanda bought you the world charm. Jack put on a small sand dollar charm. Vision got the lady bug. Rhodey got the heart. Clint got the eagle. And Natasha got the infinity symbol."
Danielle smiled as she slipped it on. "Thank you, all of you."
Jack had a large box in his lap and slid it to his sister. "I found it a long time ago, and thought we should add to it."
Danielle opened the box and inside was an old scrapbook. She picked up and went through. Inside were high school photos of their parents, then the wedding photos, the baby pictures of the siblings, Jack's first day of school, Danielle's first tooth that fell out, Jack learning to skate board, Danielle learning to ride a bike. Then it stopped at a blank page.
"Keep going." Jack encouraged.
Danielle gave him an odd look before she turned another age to find there was more, only these were different. They were the pictures of the Avengers. A shot of Danielle, Jack, Wanda, and Pietro all in their uniforms before Sokovia. An image of Jack trying to lift up Thor's hammer. Danielle and Wanda lifting tiny things while sitting in the middle of the training room. Tony picking his nose in the lab. Steve reading in his office. Vision and Wanda playing an intense game of chess. Sam, Natasha, Rhodey, and Jack all playing poker. Tony and Danielle playing rock-paper-scissors. A photo of Danielle and Jack posing with Steve's shield. And many more.
Danielle was so encaptured in the miniature montage before her she hadn't notice Jack handing her another box. Danielle lifted it and took out what was inside; a Polaroid camera. She laughed. "When did you have time to do this?"
Jack shrugged. "Believe it or not. When I'm not training or on reckon missions, I don't just play video games and sleep."
"Shocker." Wanda quipped.
"I love it." Danielle exclaimed. "I loved all of it. Thank you for today."
"Happy Birthday, Danielle." Steve said with a smile.
"Who even took that photo of me?" Tony asked as he pointed to the one of him picking his nose, causing everyone to laugh in turn.
Vienna, Austria
Leaning against a window seal seven stories inside of a dingy hotel sat a blonde woman. To anyone looking up from the streets, she just looked like she was enjoying the view of the beautiful European city. But from behind her, you could see the large automatic sniper rifle sitting next to her pointing at the American Embassy across the street as four black SUVs pulled in.
She got into position and aimed, ready to take her shot. Her target stepped out of the second SUV an started to the entrance of the Embassy, but didn't get as far as a yard before a bullet was shot straight through his temple and through his brains.
When it was done, the woman quickly closed the window, blinds and curtains before packing up her rifle into it's duffel bag along with her spare change of clothes. The woman started for the door for the room, but not before slipping on a large trench coat over her black catsuit. After leaving the hotel, the woman quickly darted through the streets until reaching the Austrian train station. She didn't plan on leaving anywhere, oh no. Instead, she took a seat on a nearby bench.
Within minutes, a suited man took a seat beside her. He set a briefcase down between their feet. "Silencer, report on assignment 203." He requested.
"Target eliminated at 18:23. No witnesses. No other casualties." She replied in the same cold, dead tone.
"Good." He said simply. "You've now been assigned assignment 204. Rumlow wants precise elimination. He doesn't care how you do it, just get it done."
"Where is it?"
"All information will be in the briefing packet. Any concerns, you know where to find him." The man replied before swiftly standing up and disappearing into the busy crowds.
Silencer then stood up a moment later with both her duffel bag and the briefcase the man left behind, leaving the train station headed to the airport. She had work to do. The moment Silencer was alone in her cab, she opened the briefcase and took out assignment 204. She flipped it open to see the name, 'Steve Rogers' printed out on the file with an image attached of a man she recognized as Captain America standing beside two smaller people. It was obviously taken during the Battlle of Sokovia, Silencer could tell from the destruction. But the closer she looked, the more Silencer realized who the two smaller people beside the Captain were.
"No..." She breathed.
A/N: In honor of it being Captain America's birthday, I bless onto you an early chapter. Leave me reviews on what you think about the ending because believe me when I say IT IS IMPORTANT. I know you guys enjoy domestic life and all, but actions is key to being an Avenger. Danielle can't have all rainbows and kittens...or chicks in this case. Clint and his fucking chickens.
Incorrect Quote of the Chapter:
Steve: Jack, why are you barbecuing on the compound roof?
Jack: Don't worry. I have a permit. *hands paper*
Steve: This just says 'I can do what I want'.
Tony: *sniffles* They grow up so fast.
