Peaceful.
Peaceful, yet out of place.
That was what Danielle felt as she sat on the side railings of her new house porch. Ever since her and her Mom had first moved into the two story house in Newport, Rhode Island, Danielle had remained glued to that particular spot. She wasn't sure why she liked it so much, whether that be the view she had of the ocean meeting the horizon off in the distance, or the lovely Crepe Myrtle trees surrounding the house, or maybe just the fact that she was outside and not confined in the house just yet.
Danielle was alone most of the time considering that her Mom was out job searching so she could be able to maintain a normal life outside of the Compound and away from... everything... everyone...
Meaning the enhanced girl was left to her own devices around the house. Instead of staying indoors however, Danielle decided to pull on her navy blue hoodie jacket and black Vans shoes to take the short walk down the street to the corner store a few blocks away. At first, the trip was simply for some pretzels and maybe some gummy bears to cheer her up, but the little postcards caught her eye.
She returned home that day with a bag of pretzels, gummy bears, marshmallows, pink lemonade, and a single postcard.
And that's what Danielle began to do in her free time. Sitting in a small, make-shift work area is set up around the side railings. She has an open bag of pretzels propped up on her crossed legs while her postcard is seated in her lap to write better as her back is leaning against one of the many columns lining around the outside porch of the house.
Danielle debates whether or not to write anything on the postcard, thinking it would be better to just sign it and send it. But it felt wrong... distant. She was already distant as it was, maybe it would be nice to just let the team know how she was doing. After all, she wouldn't see them for four years– give or take.
It didn't take long before Danielle finally pressed the point of the pen onto the blank space on the back of the postcard and began to write her message.
'So,' she begins, 'you probably won't be receiving this for a while considering I'm actually not sure of the exact address of the Compound...and I'm not entirely certain that it's a good idea to keep in contact with anyone there...' Danielle stops writing for a moment. Should she really be writing these? Then again, why shouldn't she?
Danielle proceeded to continue, 'I'll probably have to at least try to send these. Maybe we could all come up with a sort of system... I'm kind of bored here.' Danielle admitted. 'I mean, don't get me wrong, it's beautiful here. Nice neighbors– they have a dog. The community is clean. And the house we live in is HUGE.
'Since Mom is off job searching the rest of the break, I've decided to tour the house to entertain myself. So far, I've mapped out: one garage we'll probably never use, seven random storage closets, four cabinets in the kitchen that don't open, one creepy basement stairwell I refuse to go down, a dusty attic, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, one hole in the stairwell I've fallen down from four times this past week, and one person roaming the empty halls– me.'
Danielle frowns and looks down at the ending of her first post card letter. It's a bit somber, but she knew if she'd written just happy thoughts, whoever would end up reading it would think she was happy and content with her new life when I reality, she was far from it.
The enhanced teenager sighed before signing it at the bottom, 'Sincerely, Danielle'.
That afternoon, Danielle sat on the stool set in front of the piano Tony had gotten put inside the house as an extra gift. Danielle's mom had come home that day only a few hours ago and had been watching Danielle play the same three notes over and over again as she stared with a hopeless gaze at the ivory keys in front of her.
"You know," her mother began as she continued to make dinner in the kitchen, "I had Tony install that piano because I thought you might want to start playing again. Maybe do a recital?" She suggested.
"I don't think I can play anymore..." Danielle replied in a barely audible whisper, continuing to press the keys pointlessly.
"What do you mean? You're an excellent pianist, of course you can play!" Her mom exclaimed. Deep down inside, Alice just really wanted Danielle to return to normal, try and get over the loss of her team... mostly Steve.
"It's not that I can't play play." Danielle dragged her fingers across the keys to play a small improvised melody to prove her point that her skill was still there. "It's just... playing makes me feel whole... and I'm not sure I can play if I'm not whole." And she probably never would be. Why did she move here?
Danielle abruptly stood from her seat on the piano stool and stormed off upstairs to her new room. She needed some alone time to reflect on that question. Why had she moved? Writing that postcard and that conversation with her Mom really made her wonder...
Danielle's new room was a lot like the one back at the apartment her and Sharon had, but with more furniture. The bed was in the corner, the vanity on the other side with the dresser and drawer. Then her cork board on the wall beside the bed. And on the large windowsill at the very end of her room was a small collection of succulent plants she now owned, all named after her favorite book characters; Neville Longbottom, Grendel, Daisy Buchanan, and Pudge.
To distract herself, Danielle watered her little potted plants. She was content with trying to tend to her plants when her phone suddenly buzzed. A million hopeful thoughts came to mind of who it might be trying to contact her; Jack, Wanda, Steve, Tony, Sharon, Natasha, Sam, Vision, Rhodey, Sam. When she picked it up however, she couldn't be too disappointed. It wasn't who she was expecting, but it wasn't someone particularly unwanted.
From: Peter Parker Picked A Patch of Pickled Peppers
To: Bend And Snap
Hey Elle, haven't talked in a while. Just wanted to check in, see how ur break was going.
A small smile played at Danielle's lips before she replied.
From: Bend and Snap
To: Peter Parker Picked A Patch of Pickled Peppers
Hi, Peter. Sorry I haven't messaged much. I've been busy moving. I hope your break is good, though.
It was a few minutes before Peter replied.
U moved? Where? Ur not moving schools are U?
Danielle hadn't even thought about school when moving. She knew her Mom told her she would be going back to school, but she hadn't thought about telling her friends she moved. After all, it would be pretty suspicious to have moved a state away and still be able to make it to school on time everyday. She replied a few moments later.
Yeah, I moved a few blocks from my old apartment. And no, I'll still be at Midtown come two weeks from now.
A quick reply,
Phew. Got worried for a minute that Flash might actually get to move up from alternates.
Danielle rolled her eyes and shook her head before answering.
Is that really the only reason I'll be missed if I moved?
A few minutes passed before Peter's response came in.
Of course not... I'd also fail my classes without someone to study with on the bleachers.
Danielle laughed out loud and messages back.
Ha ha, very funny.
A minute passed.
I'm just kidding, Elle. I gtg though, May's gonna be home in a bit.
Danielle frowned. All good things must come to an end...
Alright, bye, Peter. Have a happy holiday.
Just as Danielle was about to shut her phone off, she got the reply:
You too, bye Danielle. See you by the end of break.
The next day brought with it the usual schedule at the new house. Danielle would mope around the house while her Mom was out job searching. Her new schedule was a lot more different from her routine at the Compound. She woke up mid-morning and made herself either cereal or a banana-Nutella sandwich. During which, she'd watch the morning news. Today, the broadcast was about a recent Avengers mission, but instead of actually talking about the mission– they talked about Avengers gossip.
"Multiple sources state that Jackson Harper– better known as Statix– is currently in a very serious relationship with the Scarlet Witch herself, Wanda Maximoff." The news anchor lady on the screen stated, a bright smile on her face along with way too much make up. Wanda and Jack? Danielle nearly spit out her Fruity Pebbles. "The pair have been sighted on multiple outings together."
The screen then began to display photos of Wanda and Jack in different places. Danielle recognized each one; the sidewalk just outside her old apartment building, Central Park by the hotdog stand Wanda liked, Delmar's sandwich shop Danielle and Peter started studying at, even the bleachers at the school. Were they going on a farewell tour for her?
"We decided to hit the streets and ask people what they think of the relationship." The news anchor lady announced. The next shot was of her out on the side of a street somewhere in the city standing beside an older couple. "What do you think of the relationship between Statix and the Scarlet Witch?"
"I don't really care," the older man stated bluntly. "Just as long as they keep us safe, I don't care what they do in their free time. God bless." Danielle smiled down at her bowl of cereal. She liked that guy.
"And what do you think about the Statix Witch relationship?" The news anchor asked a different woman on the same street.
"I totally think Statix could do better. I personally think it's a publicity stunt to remind the public the Avengers are still human," the woman exclaimed. Danielle rolled her eyes. She didn't like that woman.
Danielle became bored and tired of the dull broadcast, she turned the TV off just before they began the crazy Captain America conspiracy theories about Eris being his secret love child from before the Batlle of New York– a discussion Danielle really didn't want to hear at the moment.
To pass the time throughout the rest of the day, Danielle grabbed another postcard and went back out to the railing outside to write.
'11.2 percent of the entire population of America moved this year,' Danielle began her little note on the back of the card. 'There are around roughly 320,090,857 people in America as of the end of this year. Meaning, I was one of 35,850,176 people who moved.
'It's weird when you've lived in one place for so long only to suddenly uproot your life and leave on such short notice. There are so many new things you have to get used to. Like the way your neighbors stare at you when they see you sitting on your porch railing writing on a postcard you bought from the corner store.' Danielle subconsciously shot a glance to the house on the other side of the street where an older women was staring at her from the corner of her eye while checking her mail.
'Or the way the the ladies at the local library like to whisper about where you came from and who your parents are. Or even the obscene amount of the times the kids in the neighborhood who like to play baseball in the empty lot beside your house end up throwing balls into your yard.' Danielle suddenly looked up from her writing to watch as a small kid ran into her yard to quickly grab a ball that had been thrown into it earlier before dashing off again.
Danielle shook her head before turning back to her writing. 'Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into. But I always have to remind myself that this is what's best...' More like this is what Steve and her Mom wanted. '...and maybe it's not the worst...'
Not the worst... Yeah, right.
The next day was the same. Only instead of the railing, Danielle found herself lying on the swinging chair on the front porch. She was wrapped up in a purple and turqoise quilt with her postcard in her lap. The morning breeze blew through her slightly messy hair and tickled her pale cheeks with icy sensations.
She peeked out from under the porch roof to see the dark clouds crowding over the sky. Danielle frowned. Again? It had been raining on and off for the past week and all Danielle could think about was the terrible weather outside. Well, at least she found her topic for the postcard she had bought that day.
'I like to think surroundings and setting effect a person's emotions and the way they feel. Like color, geography, people, furniture set up, and in my case– weather.' A loud rumble of thunder erupted from the sky above, Danielle picked her head up to glare at the clouds as if to say 'yeah, I'm writing about you.' 'The weather here is very brisk, cold, windy, and the sun never seems to want to come out. You wake up, the sky is grey. You make lunch, the sky is grey. You go outside, the sky is grey. You come home, the sky is grey. You go to sleep, the sky is grey.'
'A never ending cycle of an absence of color and coldness. Trapped in a blanket of sullen and suffocating feelings. It's kind of difficult to be happy with this new home when my surroundings are making me want to use my powers and pull the clouds apart myself to reveal the sun for once.'
"Whatcha writing up there?" A new voice called down from the yard.
Danielle lifted her head to see an older woman standing at the very edge of the green lawn beside the bushes that separated her yard and the older woman's yard. "Uh, just a postcard to my family," she answered vaguely.
"Mmm." The woman nodded. "I've noticed you and your mother moved in recently."
"New York," Danielle called back.
"Ooh." The woman's face lit up, "I hear it's lovely this time of year." I wouldn't know, Danielle thought to herself. "You look a bit sad," the woman remarked, noticing the light frown on the girl's face. "What seems to be the problem?"
Danielle let out a heavy sigh. "I guess I just miss my old home is all."
The older woman nodded. "Well, moving isn't all that bad. It's a fresh new start. A chance to start over."
"What if I regret wanting to start over?" Danielle asked in a tone barely over a whisper.
"What was that, dear?"
"Nothing," Danielle answered quickly. "Thank you for talking with me."
"Of course. Have a nice rest of your day. And have a Merry Christmas," the older woman bid her farewell. Christmas, right, tomorrow was Christmas...
Danielle frowned as she watched the woman leave. Now she was left by herself again. Well, not completely by herself. The thunderclouds above were beginning to grow bigger and darker as they rolled in from up above. It was time to go inside with her postcard and blanket.
That afternoon her Mom returned home with a large gift wrapped up with a bow on top. Danielle had been sitting in the living room watched the flames in the fireplace grow when her Mom set a package beside her.
The first thoughts in Danielle's mind was the fact that if Jack wasn't getting a gift from their Mom this year, why should she? It wasn't fair. "Mom, you didn't have to get me anything," Danielle protested.
"Don't worry," her Mom assured her, "I got Jack something too, it's already being shipped to the Compound. The receipt for it is on my desk." She moved on quickly, nodding towards the box with excitement bursting like fireworks in her eyes. "Now, open it."
It was hard for Danielle to protest anymore after seeing her mother's enthusiasm, she glanced down at the gift before pulling it closer and unwrapping it. Inside was a cardboard box holding a purple laptop inside. "You bought me a computer?"
"I thought since I've been gone so long job hunting, it would be nice to get you something to entertain yourself," her Mom explained.
"Thanks..." Danielle replied simply, unsure of what a good reaction would be. She didn't need to be entertained, she wanted to be happy, she wanted... she wanted to go home. But she couldn't. This was her home now. "I need a minute," Danielle told her Mom abruptly before vanishing into thin air.
No, she didn't just need a minute, she needed space. She needed a safe place just to think and relax, to try and get her head straight. One minute, she was terrified to return to the Compound in fear that the scars marking her arms would come back. That the restraints wrapped around her wrists would return and her world would be shattered all over again. Then another minute passes and she suddenly wants nothing more than to return back to the place she'd been calling home for almost a year.
She felt a little guilty as well. Her Mom had done all of this work to try and build this new life for them, but here she was moping and ignoring her when she was around. It was all so very conflicting and troublesome.
Oh, she needed so much more than a minute, she needed a miracle. But that was something she wasn't going to get... so instead, she settled for a pencil and a postcard.
'During my free time, I decided to search every nook and cranny of this house. I found many different hiding places to just get away, but out of all of them, I think I've found my favorite one,' Danielle started writing on the back of the postcard. She had teleported from inside her living room to the roof of the house– lying on her back, staring up at the stars. '-the roof. It's quiet, calm, and the view during the nighttime is marvelous.
'I was able to count a lot of stars while up here, pinpoint a couple constellations too, just like Dad did when Jack and I were little.' Danielle smiled at the small recounting of her childhood spent with her Dad. It made her miss him, her mom, Jack, and herself. Their entire little family. It felt like another lifetime... it practically was.
'Thor once told me that all the souls of the deceased float up into the sky to take their rightful place among the stars,' she continued writing. 'I've never been one to believe in Heaven or Hell, but that sounds really peaceful... It also makes the vast space above us a little less intimidating and a bit more comforting.' It also made Danielle feel a little less lonely... despite the fact that she truly was.
The next few days were quite lonely for Danielle. She stayed in her room most of the time, trying to avoid her mother's watchful eye so she could think on her own about what she wanted and needed for herself. The time spent in her room was mostly of her reading through some sheet music she had lying around, watering her succulents, looking out the windows at the grey clouds above, and staring at the stack of postcards at the edge of her desks, wondering if they'd ever be sent out.
The enhanced girl was content to simply staying in her room doing nothing, when there was a knock on her door. She spun her head to see her Mom standing in the doorway. They hadn't spoken since dinner the day before and Danielle was curious to see what her Mom could possibly want. "Hi," she began. "It's New Years... I remember how much you hated the fireworks, and I was just wondering if you wanted to come downstairs and watch some movies with me..."
Danielle sat there for a moment, thinking it over. Lonely. Danielle felt lonely. She secluded herself in the home, mourning over the loss of her friends and family back at the Compound. But what she neglected to contribute to the equation, was the perfectly good mother right in front of her. A woman who killed people for her, gave up five years of life to terroristic organization to keep her and her brother safe. Her Mom was there for her, it was time Danielle got to be there for her.
"Okay," she finally replied. "Will there be yogurt covered pretzels?"
"Absolutely," her Mom answered with a bright smile.
The rest of the night was spent eating snacks while watching old movies, like 'She's All That', 'Mean Girls', '10 Things I Hate About You', and the classic 'Clueless'.
Halfway through the movie, when Cher gets robbed at gunpoint, Danielle turned to her left while sitting on the couch to see her Mom had fallen asleep with the popcorn bowl in her hands. Danielle chuckled and began to shut off the TV when her phone buzzed in her back pocket.
She half-expected it to be Jack, but wasn't too disappointed when it turned out to be one of her favorite friends back at Midtown, again.
From: Peter Parker Picked A Patch of Pickled Peppers
To: Bend and Snap
Happy New Year, Elle. :)
Danielle smiled as the sounds of fireworks and children cheering echoed throughout the house coming from the streets outside. She shook her head before typing back.
Happy New Year, Peter.
A/N: ANOTHER BIG SHOUT OUT TO theamazingspoiderman FOR BETA'ING THIS CHAPTER ONCE AGAIN. GO CHECK OUT HER STORIES. SHE'S AWESOME.
Yay, some Peter/Danielle bonding over text messages and a lot of Danielle coping with moving. Next chapter, we shall see lots of coping and lots more Peter.
In the meantime, the chapter song is Better Off by Jeremy Zucker ft. Chelsea Cutler.
And also, Reviews:
theamazingspoiderman: Hey! Referencing to the first review I ever left on your story, my heart has swelled from that little trip down memory lane. And of purse, we love us some Dani/Tony bonding. Hopefully we will see lots of Tony/Jack bonding a few chapters from now, don't fret.
incorrect Quote of the Chapter:
[Ned, Danielle, and Peter sitting on a couch]
Ned: If you had to pick one of us to date, who would it be?
Danielle: I don't know.
Ned: Me neither-
Peter: Danielle!
Danielle: ...
Ned: ?!
Peter: ...I don't know...me neither. *runs away* MR. STARK?!
