Breathe... Just breathe. It was easy, people did it everyday, it was a basic skill everyone learned the moment they were born and lose the day they die. Just breathe...

Danielle tried to remember to inhale and exhale as she walked through the Compound halls to the small office just a few doors down from Steve's. When she got to the room she was looking for, she stood there for a moment, staring blankly at the wood of the door. She was standing there for a few seconds before she slowly raised her hand and knocked.

There was no turning back now.

Within a few moments, the door opened and Danielle was greeted by a friendly and familiar smile. "Dani," Sam greeted the teenage girl.

Danielle managed a small smile. "Hi," she replied simply.

They stood there for a moment before Sam raised an eyebrow and asked, "You gonna stand there all day or come in?"

"Oh, right..." Danielle mumbled, blushing as she walked into the room.

Sam shut the door behind her before walking towards his desk. "Take a seat," the pilot instructs her. She obliges, setting down all the things in her hands she had taken to the office with her. Sam sat across from her behind his desk, his hands clasped on his lap as he leaned back in his rolling chair. "So, you know why you're here?" Sam began.

Danielle nodded, her hands also clasped in her lap as she nervously fiddled her thumbs. "I think so..." she replied. Of course she knew why she was there. After breaking down in her room, Danielle had confided in Steve and told him she needed help getting rid of the pain in her heart. So, he set her up a meeting with Sam. After all, he had worked with plenty of Veterans, was Dani so different? It was sad that the answer was 'slightly'.

Sam sighed, this was going to be rough. "Can I ask you something before we start?" Danielle gave him a blank stare in response and he continued. "Do you want help, Dani?"

Danielle frowned, her eyes falling to her hands. It was always hard to think about things like this let alone talk to someone about it. She didn't understand when people would say it would be better if she talked about her problems; it was a lot harder. But she knew the end result would be better than just pushing her grief aside and not dealing with it at all.

The girl took a deep breath in before answering. "When Pietro died... I couldn't grief. Wanda was broken beyond belief, Jack was hurt. I felt that if I cracked too, everything would just fall apart and all I'd be doing was causing problems, making things worse... Then when... when She died... I wasn't sure how to feel. I was torn. I loved her, she... she was my mother. But, the things she did, everything she planned to do – that wasn't my mother.

"With Pietro, I had to keep my grief to myself. And with my Mom... I wasn't sure how to grieve for her," Danielle explained. "It's hard to feel bad for someone's death when a part of you is relieved..."

Sam nodded, taking in all Danielle had just said. "You love her."

Danielle nodded, but still wasn't able to meet his eyes as she answered, "I did... Do."

Sam let out an exasperated sigh. "But, you still didn't answer the question." Danielle looked up at him in confusion and he replied, "Do you want help?"

Danielle bit her lip and looked down at her hands once again. She had been avoiding this for so long whether she knew it or not. It all came down to whether or not she wanted help. Anyone could need help, but what Sam needed from Danielle was to know that she wanted it. That she still had some form of hope in her, a sliver of light in a dark tunnel reaching out towards the sun at the end.

Despite it all, Danielle slowly raised her eyes to meet Sam's and she spoke with the most determination she could muster, "I do."

The pilot smiled. There was the brave, little teenage girl he knew. The Falcon slowly turned in he chair towards the drawer beside his desk where he produced a small, empty notebook and set it at the edge of the desk, pushing it towards Danielle.

The teenage girl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What's this?" She asked as she took it in her hands and flipped through the blank pages.

"A notebook," Sam answered simply.

"I-I know, but... what for?" She reiterated.

"I want you to make a list-"

"Like the one Steve has?" She asked, referring to the tiny notebook Steve always carried with him and wrote down references of pop culture he didn't understand that he would later on have to look up (Danielle always liked to catch him up on music while Jack sometimes made a bunch of sci-fi references).

Sam chuckled at the mention of Steve's notebook. "Kind of like that," he replied. "But instead of pop culture references, I want you to make your list on everything that reminds you of your mother." Danielle's smile faltered slightly. This was going to be harder than she thought. "It can be anything: a memory, a feeling, a color, smell, taste, touch, movie, song, sound. Then, one by one, I want you to cross each thing off when they stop having an affect on you."

Danielle looked down at the notebook in her hand and immediately became worried what if she did it wrong? What if this made everything worse? What if everything would slowly become ruined for her? What if mother ever got crossed off the list?

Sam quickly noted the panicked look on the girl's face and spoke up. "Hey," she looked up at him. "Not everything is going to be crossed off the list. Some things never stop having an affect on you, but that's not always a bad thing. You can do this, Danielle. I believe in you."

Danielle tool a deep breath and nodded.

Just then, the intercom came on from above, the sound of a monotone voice echoing through the office as it spoke, "Quinjet in Hangar 2, ready for departure in T-minus five minutes."

Danielle grimaced as Sam looked back at her. "That's your cue," the pilot remarked.

"Yeah..." she nodded as she packed up her bag of things and journal in her hands. "Bye," Danielle called over her shoulder as she made her way to the office door.

"Later, Harper," Sam called back, waving as she opened up the door.

The pilot was about to pull out his phone to text Steve about how the session went when the familiar sound of her voice prompted him to turn back towards the office entrance where she stood still. "Hey, Sam," she spoke in a timid tone. He raised his eyebrows in response and she gave him a friendly smile. "Thank you."

Sam shrugged in response. "I know I'm not exactly a therapist, but-"

"You're enough," Danielle cut him off. "So... thank you." She said one more time before rushing out of the room.

Sam smiled at her departing figure, but it slowly melted away when he noticed the cardboard box that was moving slightly at the foot of the chair Danielle had been sitting in moments ago. Great...

Luckily, Danielle came running back with a grimace on her face as she exclaimed, "I left my chicken in your office..."

Sam pursed his lips and nodded. "You left your chicken in my office," he repeated as she picked up the box and finally left the office. Sam could only shake his head and laugh. That girl was something else and he hoped she would make it out of the dark place she was in right then.


Back at school, Danielle was bright and happy. After the past few weeks of being nothing but exhausted and half dead during the school days, she was finally getting sleep at night. Seeing Sam and listening to his advice about overcoming her grief really helped, and she was back to resting well with minimal nightmares and no hallucinations of her mother whatsoever.

Her friends began to notice instantly, Peter being the first. He had noticed she stopped drinking coffee, she was smiling each day she came onto the subway, she even spent the entire morning up on the bleachers with him one day to help him study for a Science test. It was like the old Elle was back.

Michelle started to notice a change in Danielle the moment she walked through the door into Algebra and greeted her with a bright smile and said, "Good morning."

Michelle had scrunched her face in confusion and narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she replied, "...morning...?" How had Danielle gone to looking like a walking corpse to acting as if she walked straight out of one of those Old Navy commercials. Either she was taking drugs, or she had gotten laid. Michelle honestly hoped it was the first option and not the second because for some reason Michelle just couldn't stomach the thought of Danielle ever 'doing the deed' in her first year of high school... or at all really.

As class started in Algebra, Michelle continued to watch Danielle with a weary eye. Throughout the entire lesson, she paid attention, took notes, solved problems. She even volunteered to answer one of the questions out loud during the class.

It was getting a bit too suspicious for Michelle's liking. So, she did what she normally did in any other suspicious situation: interrogate. "Who are you and what have you done to Danielle?" She asked abruptly after the girl beside her had just answered her third consecutive answer in a row.

"What do you mean?" Danielle asked.

"Just last week you were half asleep on your desk everyday," Michelle explained. "And now? It's like somebody shot you up with Adrenaline... Did someone shoot you up with Adrenaline?" She asked in a dead serious tone, staring at her with her signature glare.

"What?" Danielle asked incredulously. "No one gave me anything... I just... I finally stopped sleeping in late is all."

Michelle slouched back in her chair, her eyes still trained on Danielle as she gave her an unconvinced look and nodded, "Mhmm..."

The rest of the day was like this; Michelle constantly asking Danielle questions with a suspicious glare and Danielle constantly having to convince her that she wasn't drugged or having sex or anything, she just slept well for once. Michelle finally let it go around the time of gym class.

But after the subject of Danielle's fully-awake state passed a new one arose – "State Decathlon Tournament," Ned exclaimed excitedly at the lunch table. He hadn't given Danielle even a second to sit down and get settled when he first brought up the news. "It's in two weeks, mid-May. And if we win, we go to Nationals! Can you believe that? Our team could be national champions!"

"Mr. Harrington said not to look too far; to focus on the goal you have in front of you rather the one past it," Danielle replied as she took a bite of her fruit salad. "We should be focusing on State."

"Yeah, I'm with Elle on this one, Ned," Peter agreed frm his spot beside his best friend. "Nationals isn't until next year – and that's if we make it."

"'If we make it'?" Ned repeated outrageously. "Guys, our team is one of the best there ever was-"

"-I think you're overexaggurating a little," Danielle cut in.

"Whatever," Ned brushed off. Peter and Danielle just shook their heads as he continued. "See, if you guys had more self-confidence, we could totally make it to Nationals. But now all you guys are doing is making everything so clinical." He pouted and crossed his arms.

"We're just trying to be realistic," Peter explained.

"Well, we're not going to get to Nationals with that attitude," Ned retorted. Danielle and Peter both gave him odd looks to which he responded, "You know what I mean."

Just then, there was a at on Danielle's shoulder. She spun around to find none other than Betty Brant standing behind her with a friendly smile, Jason was standing not far behind her. "Hey," she greeted the group at the lunch table.

"Hi," Danielle, Peter, and Ned all replied in unison. "Did you need anything?" Danielle asked, slightly concerned. Betty never really talked to Danielle outside of soccer and this was the first time she'd seen the blonde away from Liz, Sally, and Cindy during lunch.

"Yeah,". Betty replied matter-of-factly. "I actually came over to let you know about the banquet dinner this Thursday night."

Danielle tilted her head in confusion. "Banquet dinner?"

Before Betty could answer, a monotone voice from down the table answered for her. "It's a dinner party every club in school holds when they win a championship or go to some tournament." Everyone turned their head towards Michelle who had her nose buried in a book once again, not looking up from it as she gave her explanation.

Danielle turned back to Betty who shrugged, "Basically – yeah."

"So, what did the soccer team win?" Ned asked.

"We actually won this Saturday's game," Betty answered with a big smile on her face. Danielle mentally kicked herself for injuring herself and having to sit out last weekend's game. "Yeah, and now we're going to playoffs this week. You think your ankle's gonna be better by then?"

Danielle shrugged and lifted her leg slightly to show the bandages she had still wrapped around her ankle. "Hopefully," she replied truthfully. "Coach has me sitting out until Friday, so maybe by then him and Ashley might actually let me play."

Betty grimaced. "Sorry about that." Danielle shrugged it off and the blonde continued. "Well, anyway, we're throwing a banquet dinner at some fancy hotel in celebration of making it to playoffs this Thursday. Jean's parents are like super rich and rented a whole venue for five hours for the party. We all get to bring one other person and it's a formal-dress event, so dress nicely. If you ask Ashley, she can text you all the details later."

Danielle nodded."I'll have to ask, but I'll let you know. Thanks for telling me, by the way."

"No problem," she chimed happily. "See ya! Bye, guys!" She waved to everyone else as her and Jason headed out. Danielle waved and watched her departing figure walk to the exit of the cafeteria right by Liz's table. In that moment, her eyes met Liz's and panic rose in her chest as her eyes quickly darted away and she spun back around to face Ned and Peter.

"That sounds fun," Ned beamed.

"Yeah," Michelle chimed in sarcastically. "Super."

"So, are you gonna go?" Peter asked.

Danielle frowned and went back to picking at her food, trying not to think about making eye contact with Liz (She had been doing so well at not interacting with her at all after her, Sally, and Cindy had made it clear they wanted nothing to do with her) "I don't know, Peter. I've been absent for most of the season, not to mention I'm injured," she explained. "I just don't think I deserve to celebrate a victory I had no hand in achieving."

"Come on, Elle, you're like on of the best players on that team," Peter assured her.

Danielle chuckled and bowed her head to try and hide her blush as she mumbled, "Now look who's being unrealistic."

Ned laughed and Peter frowned. "I'm being serious. I've seen you play," he exclaimed. "But that's beside the point. The point is that you've earned your right to go to the banquet. Besides, it could be fun."

"If it's gonna be so fun, why don't you go with her, Parker?" Michelle prompted, looking up from her book slightly.

Peter immediately shrunk in his seat, lowering his gaze back to his meal as he tried to pretend to be focused on eating once again. "I-I don't know. I mean, I don't wanna intrude-"

"It was your idea that she should go," Ned quickly chimed in.

Danielle sighed, pursing her lips together as she stabbed a French fry with her fork and thought it over. "I don't know..."

"I-I'll go if you want to, Elle," Peter stated.

Danielle peeked up at him through her short bangs and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Peter shrugged. "May always says I need to get out more. And I'm sure your Aunt Kate would say the same thing."

Danielle smiled lopsided. "Thanks, Peter."

"No problem, Elle," he replied with a humble smile and a nod of his head.


The next few days had gone by in a blur after Peter had agreed to go to the Soccer Banquet on Thursday night. Danielle had immediately gone home and asked Sharon if she could go (it took some convincing, but she eventually agreed), then she proceeded to message Betty and Ashley that she would be attending.

They both messaged back about how they were excited and happy to see her getting out and about again. It then dawned on Danielle after all this planning that she had nothing to wear. She spent hours on end searching through her closet, but found only some nice dress pants and cute blouses. Betty had said it was a formal-dress event and the only two dresses Danielle had owned was the rented one she wore to the Winter Formal and the red dress her mother had made for the Valentine's Day Dance Danielle had burned...

Normally in a situation like this, Dani would've called up Liz, Sally, and Cindy, but... that wasn't really an option here. She eventually just settled on swiping a dress from the Thrift Store and sewing it up a bit.

Come the night of the Banquet, and Danielle had her entire wardrobe ready: an emerald green dress with silver flats and a matching headband to go in her naturally curly hair.

"You look nice," Sharon had complimented her while on their drive to the fancy hotel in downtown Brooklyn. "Your brother and Wanda would want a picture of you before you go," she added matter-of-factly.

Danielle shrugged. "I guess I can send them a photo of my dress later..." she mumbled as she twirled a piece of her hair nervously. She hadn't spoken with Jack and Wanda since she had left the Compound that weekend. It was still a bit awkward between her and her brother after everything, but it could have just been the fact that he would always try and worry about the subject while she just wanted to forget about it. It wouldn't have been a good idea to send Jack a picture of her going to a dinner party while in the state of mind he thought she was in.

After that short and awkward conversation she had with Sharon in the car, they arrived at the hotel. Just from the outside, Danielle could already tell a lot of people were there. Many nicely dressed teenagers were already loitering around in the entrance by the front steps leading into the venue, and Dani could pinpoint a few familiar faces already inside. One of which was Peter.

Dani spotted him standing off to the side trying to make conversation with Jason by a couple of balloon arrangements beside a window. He looked uncomfortable and tense and Danielle began to wonder why he even agreed to attend.

"Thanks for dropping me off," Danielle told Sharon as she began to unbuckle and climb out of the car.

"Be safe, please," Sharon called after her as she started up the entrance stairs and into the venue.

Danielle had to blink a couple of times before her eyes adjusted to the lighting. It was bright – really bright. The color scheme seemed to be dark blue, yellow, and white – the school colors – and the room was set up with one large table beside a dance floor. Half the people in the venue area were either eating at the tale or dancing awkwardly on the dance floor to over played pop music on the radio.

She was just about to enter the venue when she heard a scream from just outside the doors. Danielle knew she wasn't supposed to run towards trouble like Natasha always instructed her to, but she just couldn't stop herself from rushing down the entrance stairs and running around the corner of the building where she heard the scream coming from.

She slowed down to a walk when she heard struggling and someone crying out, "Somebody help me!"

Danielle cautiously approached the alleyway where the sounds were coming from and peeked around the corner. There, she spotted a girl, a teenage girl not much older than her being man-handled by an older looking man dressed in all black. She was screaming SND trying to break free from his grip as he tried to rip and grab at the yellow purse she had that matched her dress.

"Let go," the young girl growled, but the man continued to try and steal her purse, going as far as to holding her by her waist and throwing her against the brick wall of the building they were beside.

What was she supposed to do? She couldn't just approach him in the dress she was wearing, he'd attack her. And she couldn't use her powers without her suit, someone would notice her.

Just then, the man pulled out a knife while the girl was still on the ground. Danielle's breath caught in her throat. She had to do something. Danielle looked around for something, anything. That's when she spotted a red, dirty bandanna lying on a pile of trash in the alley. She dove for it and tied it quickly around her mouth. She ignored the smell of trash over her nose as she walked towards the robber.

He stood over the girl holding the knife still, her purse clutched in his hand as he spoke in a venomous tone, "This is what happens when you mess with me, you little bitch." The man suddenly brought the knife down and the girl cried out, but before the knife even met her flesh, Danielle's hand rose and her wrist flicked towards the opposite wall. The knife suddenly flew from the man's hand and across the alley onto the ground in a split second.

"What the..." The robber spun around, searching for his knife when his eyes landed on Danielle wearing the mask over her face. "You... You're one of those super freaks," he spat as he reache dingo his back pocket. "I'm gonna teach you and your little friends not to screw with me, you son of a bi-" Just as the man pulled out a gun from behind his back, Danielle flung that weapon away as well just before clenching her fist and watching the man cry out in pain as he fell to his knees.

Danielle used her powers to hold his weight down to the ground before launching him towards the end of the alley beside a trash bin and pinning him there. While he was incapacitated, Danielle approached the young girl and offered her a hand up. Lit was then that Danielle realized who the girl was.

"Thank you so much," Betty Brant gushed as she took Danielle's outstretched hand and stood to her feet. Once she was up, she quickly grabbed her purse off the ground. "I-I don't know how to thank you, I just-"

Danielle quickly cut her off by shaking her head and gesturing to the robber.

Betty understood and nodded. "Thank you, again," she said before rushing out of the alley and dashing away.

Danielle let out a heavy sigh of relief, praying Betty wouldn't notice her underneath the bandana, underneath the tied up hair, in the dim light of the alley. Once Betty was out of the way, Danielle turned back towards the robber she had oinn to the trash bin. What to do with him...


Later on in the night, Sharon Carter laid on the couch, outstretched with a soft blanket covering her lower half as she surfed the many channels on her TV trying to occupy herself while Danielle was off at her banquet thing.

She had dropped her off a little over and hour ago and was shocked hene there was suddenly a knock on the door. Sharon turned towards the door with narrowed eyes. Why would someone be knocking st her door at eleven at night?

The blonde reluctantly pulled herself off the couch and opened the door to reveal a beaming Danielle. "Dani?" She asked in confusion. "What are you doing here? I thought the thing ended at one?"

Danielle nodded as she entered the house. "It did, but I just left early," she explained as she headed down the hall towards her room in a haste.

"Why?" Sharon asked as she shut the front door.

Danielle had entered her bedroom but still called back a response, "Wasn't feeling good!" She couldn't actually admit the truth about not even being able to enter the banquet because Betty would recognize her in the dress after having saved her from a robber. But it was true. Danielle wouldn't have even wanted to go to the banquet after gpgetting rid of that robber due to the fact that she was just so happy and excited. It was the first time she had ever actually saved an individual by herself, with her powers.

Sure, she had aided saving the world in Sokovia, but that was different. She had to clean up her mistakes after siding and helping Ultron, cleaning her messes didn't count as helping, it counted as responsibility and guilt.

But this? This feeling of knowing she saved one of her closest friends? Danielle thrived on it.

Later on that night, Sharon fell asleep on the couch while Danielle slept soundly in her bed. When morning came around, Danielle skipped into the kitchen to find the morning news already on while Sharon continued to stay unmoving on the couch. Sure enough, one of the first headlines on the news was – "Man found dangling from a fire escape being held up by broken bars wrapping around his limbs like a trap. Sources say this man had tired to rob a young girl when a masked, enhanced woman saved the day. Who is this new vigilante and where has she been?"

Danielle smiled to herself. She could get used to this...


A/N: This chapter is a little 'meh' but it sets up a lot of shit to come. Like hint number one: the journal Sam gives Dani – that's important. Number two: Danielle ditching Peter at the dance – that's also somewhat relevant. And number three: Danielle likes saving people and stopping crimes – THIS IS CERY IMPORTANT.

Hope you liked this chapter, let me know what you think. And also, any predictions for Civil War? }:)

Another announcement as well: With Great Power (the crossover one-shot series theamazingspoiderman and I are doing) has updated with a ver spooky Halloween Chapter. Also, Feliz Dia De Los Muertos to all my fellow Latinos and Latinas out there celebrating. I can't really go hollering out in the streets and fire off fireworks while here in New York like I used to in San Antonio, but I cm light off mental ones.

Chapter song is Feeling Good by Micheal Bublé. Love that man and his voice. Also, HAVE YOU HEARD HIS NEW SONG HE DID WITH CHARLIE PUTH?! OH, it's like my two favorite male singers coming together to create a beautiful melody. I am in love!

Reviews:

miniman1707: Glad you're enjoying it. Don't worry, we are working our way to the romance. I'm just trying to build more of Dani's character before throwing her into a relationship. But you get some sneak peek of their friendship and almost crush stage here. And lots of Peter/Elle moments next chapter for ya!

Incorrect Quote of the Chapter:

Sam: Danielle, we need to discuss your professionalism.

Dani: *standing on a chair with her arms crossed*

Dani: Those are some mighty strong words for a man standing in lava...