A/N: An early chapter because I'm a good person.


"So, you're going to the dance after all?" Michelle asked Danielle as they walked through the halls. It was kind of convenient that their lockers were just a few yards apart, made it easier for Michelle to sneak up on the enhanced teenager when she had a probing question about something she'd heard while listening to conversations in the restroom of something she over heard from the Decathlon chatter. Today's subject; Danielle's attendance at the Winter Formal. "Why?"

Danielle shut her locker after throwing in her backpack and pulling out her journal for her next class. "I don't know. It sounds fun and I've never actually been to something like this before."

"It's just a dance."

Danielle shrugged. "Are you going?"

"No." Michelle answered lamely. "I wouldn't be caught dead at an event like that."

"You said that about the football game and the party at Flash's house too, but you still went." Danielle pointed out.

"It was for research purposes."

"What kind of research?"

"To see if it actually would suck as much as I thought it would."

"Did it?"

"Obviously"

Danielle smiled to herself. "Well, if you decide to go to the Winter Formal for more research purposes, I guess I'll see you there." The bell rang then and the pair were forced to part before going their separate ways.

During Journalism, Liz and Sally talked about nothing more than the upcoming dance. "You know, Danielle, if you need to borrow a dress, I'm sure Cindy has a bunch to lend to you." Sally exclaimed.

"That's okay. I have maybe one or two hanging up in my closet." Danielle brushed off as she continued on the work in front of her.

"One or two?" Sally repeated. "There is more than the Winter Formal coming up. We have the Valentine's Day Dance, and then Homecoming. You can't just wear the same dress twice. That's...an unspoken rule."

"I can always just buy a dress. Plus, I think I'm more worried about Soccer try outs next month more than I am what I'll be wearing to the Valentine's Day Dance."

"True." Liz replied. "It's always good to stay focused. And speaking of focused, why'd you disappear on us last Friday?"

"Family emergency." She answered. "My...uncle got into a car accident."

"Oh, wow. I hope he's okay." Sally said.

"He's fine."

"Well, that's good to hear." Liz replied. "So, if you are going to Winter Formal, maybe you could help us set up. It'd be a fun learning experience, plus we could always use the helping hands."

Danielle shrugged. "Would it require me to stay after school?"

"Yeah, but we mostly get the work done during lunch or free periods." She answered. "S are you game?"

"I'm sure my Aunt wouldn't mind it."

"Great!"

That day during lunch, Danielle went to sit with Ned, Peter, and Michelle. Something she hadn't done in a while since Liz had been stealing her back for Decathlon studying or Betty stealing her over to talk about soccer try outs. Finally, Peter was able to convince her to go sit back with them, but Danielle also wanted a second chance at trying to convince Michelle to go to the Winter Formal. It wasn't exactly hard to bring it up into the conversation, especially since it was all Ned seemed to talk about.

"You know, I'm sure if you asked nicely, Cindy would agree to be your date." Ned told Peter.

He shrugged in response as he stayed picking at the food on his tray. "Cindy's going with Abe, Ned." He said dully and deflated. Yet another dance Liz was going to, and yet another dance he wouldn't attend because he was too chicken to ask her out.

"What about Sally?" Ned suggested. "I'm sure she-"

"Is going with Tiny." Peter cut him off.

At first, Ned trying to get Peter a date was amusing to Danielle as she silently sat back and listened to the conversation. But as it carried on, she was beginning to see it was actually very upsetting for Peter. She thought it had something to do with him not having a date, but as she watched his eyes constantly flicker to Liz, she remembered his confession to her on the bleachers a few weeks ago about his crush on her. She frowned as Ned began to frantically rack his brain fro more candidates.

"How about..." He trailed off as he searched the lunch room. "Danielle!" He suddenly blurted out.

Danielle was snapped into the conversation, and Peter's attention was also sucked back in. Danielle even thought she saw Michelle's head pop up from behind her book to listen in. "What? Danielle?" Peter stammered.

"Me?" She asked in confusion. "What about me?"

"You don't have a far to Winter Formal, maybe you and Peter could go...as friends." He added as an after thought. "Come on, it would be fun."

"No!" Peter blurted as he spotted the girl's obvious discomfort of being out on the spot like that. "Danielle, you don't have to do that, really-"

"Actually, it doesn't sound that bad." She said to everyone's surprise, including her own. Had she really just agreed to be Peter's date to her first school dance. Many things began to come to her mind. One, Jack was going to kill her for going with a boy. Two, she would be breaking some sort of Girl Code Cindy explained to her once about going on a date with a someone one of your friends liked (though she wasn't sure if that counted because technically Peter liked Liz, not really the other way around). And three, she would have to cancel on going as a group with Liz, Betty, and she hoped, Michelle. How could she fix this? "What if we all went as a group?" She suddenly suggested as her brilliant idea.

"A group?" Peter asked. "As in you, me, Ned-"

"And Michelle." Danielle finished for him.

Michelle gave her an incredulous look. "Me?"

Danielle sent her a pleading look. "Research purposes. Please." She begged.

Michelle groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine. You owe me big time, West."

"Thank you." She sighed in relief before turning back to the pair of boys in front of her. "How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" Ned exclaimed.

Peter just gave Danielle a pleasant smile. "Yeah, that's great. Thanks, Elle."

She returned the smile and nodded. "No problem, Peter."

The next few days went by in a busy blur. Of course Sharon had agreed to let Danielle stay after school some days to work on the Winter Formal decorations which gave her more time to talk with Liz and the group and meet more of the Student Council. While decorating, Danielle had to break the news to Liz and Betty about going to the dance with Peter, Ned, and Michelle, which they were totally cool about.

While decorating, however, Danielle nearly forgot about what she was going to wear. The them was obviously Winter and considering how cold it was thre in New York, all Danielle wanted to where was a Parka and some jeans. But, she knew Wanda, Liz, and Sharon wouldn't allow it. So, she left it to Cindy to decide what she wore. Thursday afternoon, Danielle had gone over to Cindy's where she borrowed a high-low dress with a white lace exterior and a peach interior dress along with matching peach heels.

After getting the outfit down, Danielle had her nails painted by Sharon during one of the their game nights they'd taken up. While Danielle moved the letters to play Scramble, Sharon painted her nails French-tipped.

So, when Saturday came along, Danielle was sitting in her room back at the Compound. Natasha was curling her hair while Wanda did her make up. Danielle wasn't one for make up, but the pair of women insisted. Meanwhile, standing outside the room door, was the rest of the team conversing.

"You think she's going with a boy?" Jack asked as he nervously fiddled with his fingers as he sat on one of the many comforters in the living room area.

"It's a dance, Sparks." Sam pointed out. "Of course there's gonna be a boy involved."

Steve turned to look at his friend. "You really think so?" All eyes fell on the super soldier. The man out of time who'd fought in World War II, kicked ass in the alien invasion of New York a few years ago, took down an entire secret government organization, and fought of an evil AI robot. Yet here he was, worrying about whether or not Danielle was going to a dance with a boy.

"Steve," Rhodey chuckled. "She's in high school. There's going to be boys interested in her. Don't tell me when you were in high school you weren't attracted to girls."

"Maybe, but they were never really attracted to me."

"Find that hard to believe." Jack muttered.

"Pre-serum Steve was petite, man." Sam reminded him.

Jack laughed. "Oh, yeah. Nevermind."

"Focus, guys." Steve scolded lightly.

"Focus on what exactly?" Sam asked. "On whether or not Danielle's going to some dance with a boy?"

"Yes." Steve and Jack said in unison.

"You boys are such worry-warts." Wanda exclaimed as she exit the room and stood beside the door, a smile on her face.

"Is she done?" Jack asked.

"Oh, yeah." Natasha said as she exit the room as well.

"May we present to you, Miss Danielle Harper." Wanda said excitedly as she moved from the doorway for Danielle to awkwardly stumble out dressed fully in her dress, heels, make up, and hair all done. She shrunk into herself slightly and kept her curled bangs in her face as she stepped forward. Everyone in the room could tell she obviously had no prior history with walking in heels from the way her ankles bent slightly with each step.

"Now you guys should be worrying about boys at the dance." Rhode joked.

"Not funny." Steve scolded.

"You look beautiful." Jack told his sister as he brushed the curler piece of bangs from out of her face. "Mom would be proud."

Danielle gave him a small smile. "I know. She'd be proud of both of us. Dad, too."

"I hate to break up the sibling bonding time, but the dance starts in an hour and Sharon texted saying someone named 'Michelle' was already in the way to pick you up." Natasha cut in.

"You're going to the dance with Michelle?" Wanda asked. Danielle had confined in Wanda about everything when it came to school. From the difficulty of the classes, her friends, her extra carricular activities, even her homework. But if there was one thing she kept from Wanda in fear that she'd tell Steve or Jack was her time she spent with Peter on the bleachers or in the subway.

"Un, yeah. Me, her, and a few more friends are going as a group." Danielle explained vaguely.

"Which friends?" Steve asked.

Danielle panicked. "Like Natasha said, Michelle's on her way, I should go."

"Bye, Danielle." Wanda chimed as Sam laughed at Danielle's refusal to answer the question at hand. "Take lots of pictures."

"Which friends?" Steve repeated, getting more worried the longer she didn't answer.

"I gotta go. Love you all, bye." Danielle stammered quickly before teleporting back to her and Sharon's apartment in Queens. Once she appeared back at the apartment, a knock echoed through the house.

Sharon started to the door, unsure if Danielle had even arrived yet, but once her hand was on the door Danielle came rushing from her room looking lovely. "You look beautiful." She admired her.

"Thank you." Danielle blushed slightly before Sharon opened the door to Peter, Ned, and Michelle standing in the hallway. "Hi, guys."

Ned and Peter stared in awe at the near unrecognizable girl in front of them. Even Michelle perked an eyebrow up. "Wow, West. You sure know how to clean up." She exclaimed as she looked her up and down.

Danielle took time to take in the rest of the group's attire. Michelle was wearing a knee-length red lace dress with matching red flats, her hair pulled into a bun. Ned wore black dress pants with a maroon button up along with a black fedora. And Peter wore blue jeans, a graphic tee with a tuxedo printed on the front of it, and black Converse tennis shoes, his hair gelled slightly. "You guys look great, too." She complimented them.

"Uh, yeah...thanks." Peter mumbled, his eyes still on Danielle's appearances. He was wishing in this moment he remembered to out on cologne and actually tried to dress a little nicer. He looked like a bum compared to her attire, but from the smile on her face, she didn't seem to care.

"You must all be Danielle's friends." Sharon spoke up from behind Danielle. "I'm Kate, Danielle's Aunt." She introduced herself.

"Hi." Ned waved and smiled.

Michelle cocked her head slightly in acknowledgement. "Sup."

Peter smiled slightly.

"Well, you guys all have fun. Be safe and make sure to call me around Midnight, got it?" Sharon/Kate said to Danielle.

"Got it." Danielle nodded as she started out the door. "Bye." She called over her shoulder as the group started out of the hallway, down the stairs, and out of the building where Peter's Aunt May waited in the car.

She looked up and smiled at them all. "Hi, Danielle!" She chimed as everyone climbed into the car. "My, you look gorgeous." Peter cringed in his seat as his Aunt complimented Danielle.

She simply smiled as she buckled her seatbelt, seated in between Ned and Michelle in the back seat. "Thank you."

May conversed with the group of kids all the way until they arrived at the school. It was packed and the music could be heard coming from the Cafeteria. There were blue balloons tied to the street lights lining the streets and strobe lights shined out from the school windows. "You all have fun." May called after them as they got out and started up the stairs to the school.

Once inside, Danielle took in the amount of people and the loud music. Michelle leaned down to Danielle's height and muttered into her ear, "You so owe me for this."

Danielle chuckled. "You'll like it. It'll be fun."

"Reading. Reading is fun." Michelle said as they walked further out into the cafeteria. "This is torture." She made a disgusted face as two girls who seemed to be doing explicit dance moves in front of them passed by.

"Research purposes, Michelle. Research purposes." Danielle smiled as the group moved off to the side, watching the party carry in in front of them. After a few minutes, Michelle was dragged off by a few of the Decathlon group along with Ned to dance together out on the dance floor. Peter and Danielle politely declined as they stayed put to the side, watching from a distance.

They were quiet as Danielle watched Peter stare at Liz. She was wearing a baby blue short dress and was dancing across the room surrounded by Betty, Jason, Seymour, and Flash. Danielle saw the hurt in Peter's eyes and felt pity build in her chest. "Why don't you ask her to dance?" She said to him over the pulsing music. "I'm sure she'd say 'yes' if you'd just ask."

Peter frowned slightly. "I wouldn't even know how to talk to her."

"Peter, she's just like any normal girl."

"Yeah, but...she's Liz."

"And I'm Daniellle. You're talking to me right now. It's as simple as that."

"It's easier with you."

"Then ask me to dance."

Peter turned to look at her. "What?"

"For practice. You don't know how to ask Liz to dance, it's the same as asking me to dance, Peter."

"Um, a-alright." He stammered. "Would you like to dance...?" He asked awkwardly.

Danielle giggled at his failed attempt of sounding confident and nodded. "I'd enjoy that." She held out his hand and he took it in his with ease before leading her to the edge of the dance floor.

"I, uh, don't know how to dance." Peter admit as he awkwardly set one hand on her waist and held her hand up interlocked with his still.

Danielle grimaced. "Me neither. But my Dad used to dance with me when I was a toddler. He'd let me stand on his feet while he spun me around the living room." She smiled at the memory.

Peter's stiffness faded as his expression softened. He looked down at the brunette in front of him and smiled slightly. "You never talk about your parents."

She shrugged. "I don't, do I? I guess it's because it's hard."

"Yeah, I, uh...my parents died when I was four." He admit as they absently swayed back and forth to the slow music playing in the background. They're classmates surrounding them all but forgotten as the spoke to each other in their own separate world.

Danielle frowned at Peter's confession. "I'm so sorry."

Oeter realized he probably shouldn't have made the mood so sad and quickly tried to fix it. "Um, so, you ready for Decathlon Regionals coming up?"

Danielle shrugged. "I guess. Liz, Sally, Michelle, and Cindy have really been helping, but they're not really good at tutoring. Makes me miss our bleacher study sessions."

Peter laughed. "I miss them too. I nearly failed my Spanish test last week and I really wished I had asked you to help me study that morning."

"Why didn't you?" She wondered.

He shrugged. "You seemed busy with...everything going on with Liz and them. I didn't really want to bother you."

"Peter, you're my friend. You'd never be bothering me. Especially if it's something you need help on." She told him. "Next time, come to me. We can study together."

"Maybe not in the bleachers though." Peter said. "It's freezing outside."

Danielle chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, but where else would we study?"

Peter's face lit up. "I know the perfect place!" He exclaimed. "You ever eaten at Delmar's?" Danielle frowned and shook her head. "Oh, you've been missing out. We're definitely studying there every morning from now on. Best sandwiches in Queens."

"I'll take your word for it." They were silent for a long amount of time, and in that time, Peter caught sight of Liz dancing off in the corner. Danielle frowned slightly. She didn't like seeing Peter so sad about Liz. Or about anything really. He was always such a bright and happy person and it was like seeing the sun dim each time he was upset. "You think you're about ready to dance with Liz now that you've danced with me?"

Peter's eyes widened. "No, no, no." His grip on Danielle's waist tightened as he pulled her closer to him in fear that she'd let to and force him to face his fears with Liz. "This is good."

Danielle smiled slightly at his nervousness. "Alright, if you don't want to dance with Liz yet then I won't force you."

"Thank you." He sighed, but didn't soften his grip on her.

"No problem." She replied. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being the first person to actually dance with me since I was a kid."

Peter laughed. "Oh, well, you're welcome."

"This is...fun. I guess these dances aren't so bad after all."

"A bit crowded and overrated," The two laughed. "But yeah, fun."

Danielle opened her mouth to reply, but her phone suddenly began to go off in her small purse dangling from her shoulder. She quickly dropped her hands from Peter and took it out. There was only one message from Sharon, 'INFILTRATION AT THE COMPOUND'.

Peter watched as Danielle's face went pale and her eyes widened with horror at whatever the text on her phone had read. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

Danielle suddenly realized Peter was still there and she was still at the dance. She needed to leave. Now. "I-I, uh, I have to go." She stammered out. "I'm really sorry, something just came up."

"Elle, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Peter. It's an emergency." She said before she shoved her phone back into her purse and started to speed walk to the door leading into the rest of the school. "I'm sorry!" She called after him again. But before she left the cafeteria, she saw the look of loneliness on his face as he watched her depart. She was a terrible person for leaving him like this, but it was an emergency. Someone was attacking the Compound and her family needed her.

She tried as best she could to run in heels to find the back exit through the South hallways of the school. She couldn't teleport while inside the school, due to the fact that there were cameras around each corner, but as soon as she was outside, she had vanished into thin air.


Silencer knew what she had to do; kill Steve Rogers.

She didn't want to, but she no longer had a choice. Before, killing people for Rumlow was simple, easy. It was killing for her own survival. But when the folder with Captain America was assigned to her with images of him interacting with the two children, Jack and Danielle, she couldn't do it.

Rumlow knew the risk of having Silencer kill Rogers and should have known she'd decline the moment she found out Statix and Eris had fought alongside him and were currently housed with the guy back at the secret little Avenger's facility. But now, she had no choice but to kill him. The moment he showed her the images of the two kids outside the facility, going to theme parks, walking to school, being all around vulnerable and easy to kill, she was his puppet. And she would kill Steve Rogers.

What Rumlow didn't appreciate was the way she planned on doing it, but that he had no control over.

So now, Silencer stood at the Avengers Compound perimeter scouting the agents inside and their constant movements while guarding the entrance she was eyeing. It was already dark, but the cameras above the perimeter fencing didn't need to see her to detect her movement. As soon as she cut open the fencing with her heavy duty knife and began dashing across the open field to the entrance, alarms immediately began to go off. The Compound lights shut off and red ones lit up the room where she kicked open the glass doors and walked right in.

The small group of agents immediately engaged. She fought them off with ease, but instead of shooting them with guns or stabbing them with knives, she used electrocuting devices to debilitate them. After taking down the agents, she sauntered down the hall. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she knew it was only a matter of time before the Avengers themselves would arrive to try and take her down. She only needed one Avenger to see her though.

Just then, two figures jumped out at her from around the corner of the hallway. The first was a dark-skinned man with a small goatee. He had a little more training to him as he put up a good fight, but once he threw a kick at her, she caught it, held it up, and tased him in his chest. She let his body drop before the second man charged. Another dark-skinned man who was subtly taller with a bald head. He had height as an advantage, so when Silencer slid between his legs and tased him on his ankle, she easily started down the hall some more.

The next person to try and attack her had to be the most challenging; the Black Widow herself. Silencer had only trained for four years, but most of the time, she was trained by the same man that trained her in the KGB; the Winter Soldier. That was until about a year and a half ago when SHIELD and HYDRA fell and he vanished, but her training had been all but complete by then.

The Black Widow landed a swift kick into Silencer's chest, knocking her to the floor. But as soon as she fell, she as already getting back up. It was like watching a professional mixed-martial arts match. Two strong forces battling it out where no one seemed to have the upper hand until Silencer launched an unanticipated attack and tased Black Widow in the neck. She fell down and Silencer kept walking.

She got only a few feet when a strong force slammed her into the wall, her skull hitting it with a crunch as it cracked the window slightly. She let the pain sit for a moment before she immediately got back up. When she got into her defensive position, ready to attack whoever had pushed her with inhuman force, she looked straight into the eyes of the man she was sent to kill.

She wasn't sure if Steve Rogers noticed how she momentarily hesitated at his appearance, but he waited no longer before moving in to attack. He was strong, but she was fast. Each of his attacks were matched with her either dodging or blocking. She knew a taser wouldn't work on him, but she had to at least try to knock him out the physical way. She ran at him and wrapped her legs around his neck and pulled hard. It did nothing when she was thrown forcefully back onto the floor.

The air was knocked from her lungs and she was debilitated for a moment, allowing the Captain to pull her up. She turned to try and run, but he quickly caged her in with his arms, puling her body into his chest. An inescapable prison.

She struggled, kicked, and grunted to try and be set free, but it did no use.

But in that small moment, the exact thing she needed to happen, did.

"Jack, no!" A female voice called from around the corner as a familiar figure came dashing towards them.

Silencer recognized his features instantly. He was older since the last time she saw him, but she knew he'd immediately recognize her. And that's exactly what happened. The moment he came within a few feet of the soldier and his prisoner, he halted to a stop. His eyes were wide and only one word left his mouth in a single breath, "Mom..."


A/N: ...suffer...

Two new songs for the Migraine playlist;

-Love Me by The 1975 [The theme for Danielle getting ready for Winter Formal and being at the dance with Peter]

-Take On Me covered by Hidden Citizens [the theme for Danielle running from the dance and the entire fight sequence of Silencer breaking into the Compound]

Incorrect Quote of the Chapter:

Steve: Danielle, you're getting older now, you're gonna have to start acting you're own age-

Jack: *sprinting past* THE FLOOR IS LAVA!

Steve: *on top of a fridge* HAHA, DANI! YOU LOSE!

Danielle: You just said...


Notes on reviews because I don't feel like I do them enough.

OgFrosty: Seriously? You've never finished a series other than HIMYM? Not even FRIENDS? GASP. But thank you, ily2.

PondLake: The incorrect quotes are funny. I got the idea to add them from scrapingskies. Need to give them credit.

Canadien: I KNOW! I don't actually know why I put that in there because Danielle isn't even French. I think I screwed up n that part also because I trusted somebody (*cough* *cough* MADDIE *cough**cough*) to translate it for me because she's taking French, but she obviously did a terrible job, probably should have checked before. Thanks for pointing it out though, I fixed it already.

FillDeZombi: Thank you, so much. Here is your next fix of the story. Sorry for the cliffhanger (but not really though).