Jack stood at the edge of the helicopter landing pad, as nervous as he was the day Danielle was first born.

He remembered that day vividly. He was six and his Mom and Dad would always be talking to him about his new responsibilities as a big brother once the baby in his Mom's stomach was going to be born. Jack would always get so stressed, as of the weight of the world was on his shoulders because his parents expected him to take care of this new baby.

But, it was like all that weight was lifted when Danielle was finally brought into the world. When Jack had first met her, she was a tiny little jelly bean (that's what he liked to think of her as) wrapped up in pink fuzzy blankets. She had a porcelain pale face, like a baby doll rather than a baby human, and had a bunch of dark hair poking down her forehead out of the pink beanie that was snuggled onto her head. Her eyes weren't open when his Mom first handed the baby girl over for him to hold and when he took the infant in his arms, it felt like the world stopped spinning for a moment.

"Jack, meet your baby sister, Danielle," his Dad exclaimed in a soft voice from where he stood behind him, watching the interaction just like his Mom was from her place on the hospital bed.

"Hi, Danielle," Jack murmured in a whisper. He hesitantly raised a finger and brushed a small piece of her brown hair out of her closed eyes. And the moment he did that, the baby's eyes suddenly blinked open. Once. Twice. And when they opened for a third time, they seemed to stare directly into his soul. Those two little grey eyes that would eventually darken to a lighter brown color in the years to come became anchors for Jack. Everything he once knew and everything he once cared about didn't matter much to him anymore. Because that day, that moment, he made a vow. A vow to always protect and care for his baby sister no matter what. And as he stood on the Compound helicopter pad, Jack couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself for breaking that vow in every way possible.

It was all just a mess. Why didn't he just stop and listen to her? Why didn't he make her go back to the Compound? Why didn't he make her stay home? Why had he let her leave to begin with? Why did he have to fight her, and are with her, and try and force her to sign those damn Accords? Why? Why? Why?!

Jack clenched his fists at his sides, feeling the small inch in his skin when his nails bit the palm of his hand. He winced and unclenched them slightly. There was no need to greet his sister after everything had happened with bloody palms. The younger man took a deep breath in, took a deep breath out, and just tried not to focus on anything other than the helicopter landing a few yards away.

The wind was whipping around Jack as the chopper landed on the pad. Standing beside Jack was Rhodey, Vision, and Pepper. They were all that was left after everything had happened. Jack wasn't there when Nat had gone on the run and he also wasn't there when Pepper returned. He tried to get updates on Rhodey's condition via FRIDAY, but sometimes, even she couldn't even give him the time of day (literally). And... there was no point even trying to talk to Vision. The Android was probably almost as upset about what happened in Germany as Jack himself was.

With his eyes and attention focused on the helicopter slowly starting to wind down, Jack hadn't noticed when Rhodey slapped a hand on his shoulder in comfort. But, Jack took it as less of comfort and more as anchor to hold him down to reality while his mind was whipped around just like the wind from the chopper. And then, suddenly, the reason for it all came stumbling out of the helicopter.

Tony was the first to hop out, his expression unreadable as he stood beside the open door and held his hand out for someone unseen back inside the cabin. Jack watched as a petite hand took hold of Tony's and let him help them out of the chopper. Slowly and painfully, almost as if it were in slow motion, his sister's figure came climbing out of the helicopter.

Jack immediately began to do a quick check-up of Danielle from afar. Her hands and arms were mostly covered underneath a large, baggy hoodie that she had clearly borrowed from somebody. There were no bruises, scars, scrapes, or scratched anywhere on her legs that were open to the world undermeath the mid-thigh length skirt she was wearing. But then Jack let his eyes travel to her neck and his breath caught in his throat. All along her neck was a large white bandage. It was big and wide and disgusting and Jack didn't even want to know what was underneath it, yet at the same time he was dying to figure it out.

What had happened to her? How had she gotten hurt? It was all his fault. Why did he let her to? Why didn't he protect her-?

"Jack," a voice beside him beckoned Jack back to the world to where Rhodey was standing beside him. "It's gonna be fine. Just relax, man."

Jack couldn't relax, how could he? But, instead of arguing with the Colonel, he simply nodded and turned back to examining his sister as she carefully exited the chopper with Tony. He reluctantly overlooked the bandage on her neck and continued on with checking her face. It was paler than usual. Her eyes were downcast and Jack couldn't tell if she had been crying or not. Her hair was longer from when he last saw it, or so he thought. And then, finally, she looked up and met his gaze and time itself seemed to stop.

Jack stiffened and froze, waiting for her reaction to him. A part of him expected her to run up and punch him or use her powers to throw him into a nearby wall. Another part of him wondered if she would just ignore him all together. But, as per usual, Danielle took his expectations and crushed them into oblivion when she abruptly began to walk towards him at a pretty fast rate. And as if a magnet was pulling him towards her as well, Jack walked just as fast. He was hesitant, ready for her still to smack or punch him. But suddenly he saw her crying as she approached him. And this wasn't sad crying, or angry crying, or frustrated crying. It was as if she were crying from relief.

Danielle accelerated her pace until she was suddenly running and running and running and running right into her brother's arms with a crash. Jack stumbled backs bit from the abrupt impact, but as soon as she was settled in his embrace, everything clicked for him. She was back, she was alright, she was safe, she was relieved to be with him, this was forgiveness. He missed her, he loved her, and he didn't plan on letting her go anytime soon as he let go a part of himself that had been holding back all this emotion for days on end, maybe even months. Following his sister, Jack began to cry tears of utter relief and happiness, wrapping his arms tighter around his little sister, pulling her as close as he could get her.

After a few millinium of crying and hugging, Jack manages to utter the two words he had been dying to tell her upfront since the moment all of this mess started, "I'm sorry."

He expected her to pull away, spit in his face and retort with the fact that he should be sorry for all the screwed up things he had done to her. But, that wouldn't have been Danielle. And sure enough, her response was both heartbreaking and heartwarming when she hugged him tighter and muttered into his shoulder, "Me, too."

At that moment Jack knew: everything was going to be okay, she was alright, he was alright, everything was just fine because they were reunited and his other half was safe.

After the siblings' happy and tearful reunion, Danielle pulled herself together as she took her brother by the hand and let him lead her down the rest of the landing pad to where the rest of the Compound occupants were waiting to welcome her back.

As she approached, Danielle couldn't help but remember the time when everyone was back here at the Compound. Sam, Wanda, Natasha, Steve... Now they were gone, and she was here.

Danielle quickly pushed away the somber thought as she was approached by Rhodey. He smiled and she smiled back. "Welcome back, kid."

The teenager wasn't sure how to respond, so she just nodded in response, but when she looked down a bit, she suddenly realized there was something off about him. He was wearing a type of gadget around his legs, almost as if they were the only things holding him up. What had happened while she was gone?

Rhodey seemed to notice her staring at the exoskeleton attached to his legs and shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Had nothing to do with you."

But, despite his best efforts to make her feel better, the smile that had once graced her features faded as she looked up at him and apologized, "I'm sorry."

"Like I said; had nothing to do with you," the Colonel reassured her once more.

Danielle tried to wipe the grimace of guilt off her face when Vision approached her next. "Allow me to apologize for–" the android was suddenly cut off when Danielle raised a hand in protest.

"Can we... Can we not talk about it?" She asked simply, looking around at everyone around her, including her brother. "No more apologies and stuff like that."

Tony was the one who responded with a clap against her shoulder. "Sure thing, kid."

Danielle gave him a grateful smile before she was suddenly being hugged by a familiar strawberry blonde. "I'm so glad that you're okay," Pepper sighed.

Danielle instinctively hugged back. It felt like it had been years since Danielle last saw Pepper. She hadn't really questioned it when Pepper vanished off the face of the Earth, it was around the time Tony and her stopped making their weekend visits to the Compound and Danielle was starting to focus more on school just before her Mom turned up. Man, had Pepper missed some stuff.

"Thank you," the teen replied, unsure of what to really say, as Pepper pulled away.

"Well," Tony spoke up. "When was the last time you ate, kid?"

Tony wasn't much of a cook, his burnt bacon showed as such when he attempted to make dinner for everybody. The odor of burnt food spread throughout the kitchen and living room area making it hard for people to breath. It was only a matter of time before Rhodey and Jack had to start airing out the place with rags, towels, and paper plates. Danielle, Vision, and Pepper all watched in mild amusement as Tony reluctantly decided to call in one of the chefs from the cafeteria downstairs.

"No, no, no," Pepper protested from where she sat at the kitchen island counter with Vision and Danielle. "Chef Brudeax is probably half-asleep by now. It's nearly ten o'clock!"

"Uh, last I checked I'm the one who pays him for food. What's the point of hiring the chef if he doesn't stay awake for when I want some hot dinner for the people living here?" Tony retorted, clearly ignoring his partner's argument and continuing to dial a number on his phone.

"What– Tony, no!"

Tony, who already had the phone to his ear, shot them a glance over his shoulder and mouthed, "Calling."

Danielle laughed, Vision chuckled, and Pepper stood to her feet, stomping over to try and wrestle the phone away frm the eccentric billionaire. While she attempted to do so, Vision smiled and glanced down at Danielle. "I remember my first time trying to cook food."

The teenager raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "You tried to cook? Was it any good?"

"Well... I did say 'try', did I not?" Vision replied, sending Danielle into a small fit of giggles. "It was actually a week or two ago. Your sister was still a bit upset after what had happened in Nigeria, so I took it upon myself to try and cheer her up by attempting to make the Sokovian dish 'Paprikash'. I failed, to say the least, but Wanda tried to salvage what I had done and..." the android trailed off, his artificially colored eyes softening slightly as Danielle watched him relive the memory in his mind.

When Danielle had first met Vision, it was a bit odd. Then again, she was still coming to terms with what she was, what she could do, and the fact that she was having to fight against an evil Artifical Intelligence that threatened to take over the world, so everything about the scenario was a bit odd. But, when she really got to get to know the android, he was... surprisingly different. He wasn't a weird robot like she thought he would be, but he definitely wasn't completely human (although, he acted as such at times). He was his own entity. He was kind, compassionate, funny, deadpan, intelligent, off sometimes. And now, watching him recount a memory he had with her sister, watch the pain flash across his features when he talked about her and see the words leave his mind when he thought about her, he couldn't have been more human than in this moment.

Tentatively, Danielle placed a hand over Vision's synthetic hand and squeezed lightly. When he glanced down at her questioningly, she gave him a sad sile in return. "I miss her, too."

Vision seemed to grow flabbergasted as he stumbled for words. "I- I, well, I'm not really sure if you can describe what I'm feeling as–" he cut himself short when Danielle raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. Was he really trying to talk himself out of feeling? Vision smiled slightly, releasing a sigh. "I guess I do miss her. Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson, Miss Romanoff, and Mr. Barton as well."

It was Danielle's turn to frown as the mood shifted once more. She withdrew her hand from off of Vis's as let it era around her own on her lap, her eyes downcast on the counter as she asked, "Do you think they'll ever be able to come back?"

She glanced up at Vision who frowned a bit himself. "I'm... not sure," he admit. "It wasn't just legal and political ties that were cut over the course of the past few days. Relationships were also severely damaged. Trust was lost. It takes a long time to build those types of things back up and forgive people for some grave mistakes they might have made. And something tells me it may be a while before people choose to forgive and forget, as most people might say."

"I did," the girl stated. "I forgave Jack, and am trying to forget everything that happened... Why can't everyone else?"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy for others," the android replied. "Not everyone has your heart of gold, Danielle."

Before the teenager could reply, Tony threw his hands up quite dramatically from where he stood a few feet away bickering with Pepper. "Fine. No calling the personal chef. We're ordering pizza!" He announced.

"Thank you, Jesus," Rhodey praised as him and Jack reentered the kitchen, tired from all the arm work they were doing fanning out the place with the towels they discarded on the counter.

"Hey, watch it, C3PO, before I set off an EMP and just so happen to forget to add some AC in that exo," the genius retorted playfully.

To which Rhodey scoffed and replied, "Whatever you say, Mr. Stank."

Jack guffawed and Danielle couldn't help but grow confused at the name. "'Mr. Stank'?" She asked.

Rhodey laughed and turned to the girl. "Oh, you haven't heard the story yet," he began, much to Tony's chagrin. The genius was about to advance on the Colonel when he was pulled into a hug by Pepper. Rhodey began to tell the story to Jack, Danielle, and Vision and everything seemed at peace.

It wasn't long before an intern working at the Compound dropped off the pizza. The small group ate, talked, laughed, and caught up while watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Danielle couldn't help but feel nostalgic, remembering the time she had come for her first visit when she started school and the entire team had gathered around to watch the same film before trying to make spaghetti. It was nice to make more memories with the new, smaller group.p, but it hurt nonetheless to think about the people missing.

After dinner and the movie, Jack went to walk Danielle back to her room while the grown-ups cleaned and continued to talk. "It's weird hanging out at the Compound after everything," he remarked as they walked side by side.

"A little," Dani admitted. "Still nice though."

"Mm," her brother hummed in agreement. "It's nice to have you back, too."

"Nice to be back," she added.

"Sucks that we're missing them, though."

Danielle's smile dropped to frown for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. "Yeah."

"Sorry," Jack immediately grimaced. "You said you didn't want to talk about it–"

"It's fine," she assured him quickly. "I mean, it's hard not to. It's hard not to notice they're not here anymore. It's hard not to let it hurt that their not coming back... It's hard to accept that we may not ever get to see them again."

"That's not true, Dani," her brother insisted. "I'm sure somewhere down the line we can work all of this out. Once the wounds aren't so fresh and everything is settled down, we can make some more compromises. If not, I doubt much anything could keep Steve, Wanda, and everyone else from coming to visit at least once."

"You really think so?" She asked Jack hopefully.

He nodded. "Yeah. I do. Because I know they love you, they love us, they love their home. And when you love something, you can't not see it again. Even for a moment." Jack stopped by Danielle's room doorway and brought her in for a tight hug, like the one they had shared on the landing pad. Danielle had a feeling this was going to become a regular thing. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she replied.

He tightened the embrace just a bit before letting her go with a sigh. "Sleep good."

She nodded. "You too." And with that, she watched him walk away just before she entered her room.

Inside, it felt the same yet unfamiliar. Foreign, yet like it was her home. Because it was. Nothing seemed to have been touched. No furniture moved, no books out of place, no picture frames tilted, and not even her pillows seemed to have even budged. When Danielle went searching through her closet of colorless clothes she still kept there, it didn't even look like any of that had been touched. The only thing that did seem to be out of place was the suitcase that lied on the edge of her bed.

Danielle approached it with caution, unsure of it's contents. And when she opened it up, she was surprised to find her 'Eris' suit inside along with a little note to go with it:

Tony sent it to me when Ross brought you in earlier today. Figured you might've wanted it back. –Jack

Danielle frowned. It was a sweet gesture, but he was wrong. She didn't want it back. In fact, she wanted the suit to burned. But, fishes knew that from past experiences that fire didn't solve all her problems. Instead, she just shut the suitcase and shoved the suit into the back of her closet. It wasn't like she would ever need it again. She was powerless.

Powerless...

The word stung even in thought. But it hurt even more because it was no longer a way to describe her in the sense that she couldn't control anything and that she was helpless, now it was true in the sense that she no longer had her powers. She was just... her. She couldn't help but ask herself over and over again, where did that leave her?

The teenage girl winced. She needed to get her mind off of everything...

It wasn't long before Danielle found herself in the Lab downstairs. It was quiet, nearly empty aside from a few discarded pieces of tech and empty cans of energy drinks (no doubt from Jack). But, overall, it was deserted. Which was perfect for what the teenager was planning to do to get her mind off of things.

Before tonight, Danielle had only ever been to the Lab a number of times. She wasn't exactly welcome when her brother and Tony were running their explosive experiments and she didn't want them to feel as though she was in the way. Plus, she was more the stay-in-her-room-and-read-a-book-or-watch-TV kind of person and usually just stayed clear of most of the Compound aside from the main living quarters.

So, needless to say, it was a bit difficult finding out where all the suits and equipment were. But, with the help of FRIDAY, Danielle was able to locate where Clint's old suits and weapons were being held. They were stored away in his own locker-slash-storage unit along with everyone else's things– she even had one of her own. Inside were a few different types of suits, some guns, knives, a case of what looked like high-tech grenades, and finally, on the back wall inside of a crate, was what she was looking for: the bow and arrows.

Danielle slung the quiver over her shoulder and made her way back out into the lab. She may not have been such a good shot while Clint was teaching her, but she would get better. She just had to live a little and let go, like Clint said. But, first she needed something to shoot at. And what better thing to shoot at than one of the empty cans of energy drinks Jack had left here?

After lining up an empty can perched up onto a few pieces of scrap metal, Danielle put a few feet of distance between her and the can. Granted, she'd never shot something that small – it had always been large oil cans and big bullseyes – but it would be challenge for her nonetheless. A learning experience.

Doing just as Clint had taught her, she faced the front, turned her head and placed her feet shoulder's length apart. She raised her elbows as if she were a 'T' and placed her middle finger at the back of the bow while the fingers on her other hand curled around the bow itself. Slowly and gently, she reached into the quiver and pulled out and arrow, bringing it to align on the bow before she pulled it and string back, further, and further, and further while aiming with her nose. Once she felt as though she had a good shot, she breathed in, steadied herself, and counted.

One...

Two...

Thr–

Suddenly, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Walking through the front door of the Lab was none other than her brother. Usually, this wouldn't be a problem. But, something Danielle had considered in her placement of the can and the direction she was pointing the arrow was the fact that she was aiming directly for said door her brother was walking into.

But, it was already too late. In an unthinkable act of panic, Danielle's fingers let the string and end of the arrow slip from her grasp and launch itself directly passed the can towards her brother.

"NO!" She cried. Without thinking, Danielle dropped the bow and took a step forward her hand lurching out towards him as if she were trying to catch the arrow. She wasn't focusing at all, she didn't even think it was possible, all Danielle was thinking of was Jack and the fact that the arrow was flying directly towards him. She had to do something, she couldn't lose him. She loved him. She had to stop the arrow...

And that was exactly what she did.

Jack, just walking into the door, was greeted by an arrow in his face. He suspected it had been shot, but suddenly it just abruptly stopped and was now just frozen in mid-air exactly two inches from his face. "What... the... Hell...?" He uttered.

When he looked passed the arrow at the culprit who shot it, he was shocked to find Danielle standing a few yards away in a stance almost as frozen as the arrow. Her arm was outstretched and her eyes were wide with both fear and shock. And suddenly, she just dropped her stance with a small whimper said she couldn't hold the arrow anymore, and it clattered to the ground just beside his feet. He was in the clear.

"Dani?" He whispered, clearly concerned.

Danielle let out a heavy sigh, her eyes still wide and her heart still racing. Had she really just done that? That wasn't like any way she had used her powers before. Were they back? If so, how had she done that? She had concentrated so hard on that pen, yet she hadn't even been trying to stop the flying arrow and it froze mid-shot. What did this mean? Could she do it again?

"Dani!" Jack's more insistent call for her brought her back to reality. A reality where when she looked up at her brother, a wave of nausea suddenly washed over her body. She was starting to see doubles followed by blurry vision, the world seemed to be tilting and something was pressing in her skull. What was pressing on her skull?! What was that ringing noise in her ear? Was it getting louder? Make it stop–!

"Danielle!" Jack shouted one more time before he jumped forward. The last thing Danielle registered was falling, everything going black, and never hitting the bottom of an endless pit.

When Danielle woke up, she was greeted by the soft sounds of Clair De Lune being accompanied by a soft beeping noise ringing close to her ears. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the roo, she was in, but eventually they got used to the brightness, allowing her to focus on her surroundings. She leaned forward a bit on the firm pillow beneath her and glanced around the room. There was a large window to her right which told her she was still in the Compound, but the IV attached to her elbow crease gave her the impression that she definitely wasn't in her room.

It didn't take long to figure out from there what had happened. The Lab, the energy drink can, the bow and arrow, the front door, Jack... her powers. It all came back to her like a freight train.

"Good morning," a soft, familiar voice spoke up from beside her. When Danielle turned her head, she was pleasantly surprised to find Dr. Cho standing beside her bed. The Doctor smiled down at her, a glint of amusement in her eyes as she spoke again, "I let you leave my side for only a few days and already you've somehow gotten yourself back into trouble."

Danielle moaned slightly as she stretched and shifted in the bed. "What happened?"

"Well, nothing physical happened, aside from the bloody nose you had when your brother came carrying you in," she explained. "Something tells me it had to do with your powers, though."

Danielle furrowed her eyebrows. "How did you...?"

"Jack told me what happened in the Lab," Cho stated simply. "It looks like your telekinetic abilities have returned, but... it looks like it also caused quite the strain on your brain to set of that sort of reaction. I've already sent out for the results of the MRI scan I had my team run while you were unconscious. Hopefully they will tell us what exactly went wrong."

"So... you're saying I have my powers back?"

"Perhaps they just never left," Cho shrugged. "Either way, I want to run some tests to be sure we know what we're getting into in rehabilitating your enhanced capabilities. We know what happened with your... Alter-Ego. We don't want to repeat that incident."

The teenager nodded. Danielle definitely didn't need or want that. But, she did want her powers back. Even though they did make her feel lik pe her sinuses were n fire, her eyes were watering, and her head felt like it was being compressed. "Okay."

Cho nodded. "But, on a less disconcerting note, I'm glad you're back."

Danielle couldn't help but let a small half-smile grace her face. "Me, too."

"What do you plan on doing now that you're back? School's out for another month. Are you planning on going back?"

The smile faltered and Danielle's expression turned to that of a more thohtful expression. She wasn't really sure. She hadn't thought about the possibility of going back ever since finding out that Sharon was now on the run. She could no longer teleport either. Which meant she would need a new caretaker. She doubted Jack, Tony, Rhodey, or Vision would move to Queens and look after her, they were needed at the Compound for the Accords Commitee's every beck and call. Maybe school wasn't an option after all.

Standing above her still, Cho noticed the disappointed look in the teenager's eyes. "I'm sure you'll figure it out," she exclaimed.

Danielle gave her a sad smile. What Danielle wouldn't give to ask Cho to be her guardian. But, she too had responsibilities here and halfway across the globe.

And speaking of Cho's responsibilities... "Oh! I neary forgot. You left a little something here last time I saw you in here," the Doctor states as she moved to walk towards a small covered up cage in the corner of the medical room. When Cho opened it, Danielle let out a gasp when a familiar fuzzy and feathered companion of hers came strutting out.

"Quintin!" Danielle laughed as the chicken's head snapped up to attention at her voice and came bounding over to her bed, jumping up in a heap of feathers and wind, and landing directly at her side. Once there, he plopped himself directly in a pile of the blankets curled up around his owner's torso while she stroked him. He always did like attention and pillows. Some things just never changed.

Dr. Cho chuckled at the reunion. "I fed him and took care of him while you were gone. And when I got called in to help with... all of that in Seoul, I had Dr. Selvig keep an eye on him. I doubted he appreciated having to look after livestock with the amount of PhD's he has, but he managed."

Danielle laughed as she continued to love on Quintin. It had felt like years since she last got to spend time with her pet chicken. She wondered if he would've liked it back on Clint's farm with his family Danielle has gotten to meet while there.

"Thank you, Dr. Cho," Danielle looked up at her and said with the most sincerity.

She simply smiled and nodded. "Of course."

There was an abrupt knock on the door then, startling Quintin a bit and causing Danielle and Cho to snap out of their touching moment of gratitude. Cho was the one to walk to the door and greet whoever came walking in. Danielle shouldn't have been surprised to find it was her brother.

Jack looked upset, yet relieved at the same time. Danielle couldn't help but feel guilty all over again, watching him taken the sight of her in yet another hospital bed with needles and machines attached to her. The only thing off about the scene before him was probably the chicken sitting in her lap.

Cho seemed to catch the hint that they needed some time to talk and hastily grabbed one of her clipboards from off a table nearby. "I'm going to go fetch those tests we took earlier. Have FRIDAY alert me if I'm needed." Danielle and Jack both nodded and she slipped out the door, shutting it behind her. It was just the pair of siblings now.

Watching as Jack let out a heavy sigh, read to unleash his onslaught of anger and frustration upon his sister, Danielle bowed her head in anticipation of the attack. She knew he would be pissed at her, and now she was going to shit up, sit down, and accept the consequences of not telling him about her powers, or sneaking into the Lab to shoot arrows, or getting herself into trouble not even within a day of coming back.

But, the shouting never came, much to Danielle's surprise. Instead, Jack walked over, pulled up a chair, and took a seat beside Danielle's bed (with Quintin glaring at him and watching us every move of course). "Why didn't you tell me about your powers?" He asked in a soft, broken voice.

"I... I wasn't sure how to," she admitted honestly.

Jack, still unable to meet her eyes, nodded. "How... What happened?"

Danielle's eyes remained downcast and her lips sealed. She could already tell that her brother was starting to blame himself for something he had no control over, she didn't want him to figure out what had happened in the Raft and start to blame himself for that either.

Her brother must've caught on to what she was trying to do because his eyes were suddenly on her as he pleaded, "Tell me."

Danielle let our a sigh before reluctantly starting to explain, "It happened at the Raft–" Jack winced and Danielle was already beginning to regret this. "–they put this shock collar on Wanda and I and... something just was set off in me. I couldn't stand having it on, it reminded me too much of when those people Mom hired kidnapped me and..." She swallowed back a lump in her throat and looked away from Jack. She didn't want to see his reaction. "I kept trying to claw it off, rip it off. And each time I did it would keep shocking me and shocking me... I screamed for days and days until I couldn't anymore," her voice broke as involuntary tears came spilling down her cheeks.

"The last thing I remember is my throat going dry and numb before everything just went black. And then... She was there."

Jack lifted his head up in attention. "Who?" When his sister didn't answer right away, Jack didn't even feel the need to ask anymore. He knew who. "Eris."

Danielle shook her head. "That's not Her name."

"You... You talked to Her?"

She nodded. "She was amused that we gave Her a name. She told me that it was... 'human'."

"What the Hell is She?"

"I don't know."

"What did she want?"

Danielle tried her best to remain put together while stroking Quintin, trying to distract herself the best she could as she spoke. "She wanted me to give up... To let Her take control of my mind and body."

"Like... possession?"

"I don't know," Danielle cried, her voice cracking. "But... She made me see things. Things that weren't there. Like... like you, and Mom, and-and Dad." Jack saw his sister visibly cringe at the recounting of the terrible memories. He couldn't hardly imagine what she had to have endured.

"She kept trying to get me to just let Her take over, but I didn't. I-I-I couldn't. She would've hurt Wanda, Steve, Cho, everyone... I-I didn't know what else to do." Danielle started to cry and Jack was beginning to think that there was more to just losing her powers and letting this mysterious being lose inside her head.

Jack tentatively reached forward and held his sister's hand in his, squeezing as she cries silently. "What did you do, Danielle?" He asked.

She shook her head, unable to meet his eyes as she continued. "Wanda tried to stop Her. Get inside my head to cage Her like she had done before, but this was different," she explained. "She fought back. She didn't just get into Wanda's head, I watched her nearly destroy Wanda's mind—I felt it. She was going to kill her, I had to. I had to."

"Do what?" Jack asked, desperation clear in his voice as he begged and pleaded to know what was hurting his little sister. What had happened? What was she keeping from him? ... What had he done?

Danielle broke into full fledged sobs as her body shook with each cry. When she finally managed to speak through the broken whimpers and uncontrollably sniffles, she eventually looked him in the eye and spoke, barely above a whisper, "Kill myself to kill Her."

Frozen. Numb. Dark. Broken.

Jack's entire world froze. His body felt numb. Everything looked dark. He was broken. She... She had killed herself, to kill this being. She was willing to sacrifice herself to stop whatever the thing inside her was from killing her family, her friends, her team. A being that never would have been set free if it weren't for the shock collar they had out in her in the Raft. The prison she would've never been out in if he hadn't taken her out in Leipzig. The airport fight she would've never been involved in if he had just kept an eye on her, if he had just kept her by his side, if he had just kept her safe!

"Jack." The older Harper sibling looked up to his name being whispered, but he couldn't look his sister in the eye. Not after how much he had failed her, failed himself, failed his family. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to. I swear–"

"I know," Jack cut her off. "I know. It's not your fault. It's okay." Slowly, he pulled her in for a long, strong embrace as he tried to wash away his sins and broken promises through just hugging her, silently apologizing for something she should never forgive him for. "It's okay..."

It wasn't. It was all his fault. His one job, his one promise, was to keep Danielle safe. It was the code he lived by ever since she came into his life. He had only one goal: protect Danielle, keep her safe. And he couldn't even do that.

But he would make it up to her. He made himself a new promise that day. He would keep her safe no matter what. He would help her get her powers back for her protection, he would keep her away from fights, he would give her back her old and normal life, he would do whatever it takes to make sure she came out safe and sound and happy. Because that was his purpose. She was his purpose. His little sister.

Shortly after leaving the two Harper siblings to their own devices, Dr. Helen Cho was called in by her team that helped conduct the MRI scan of Danielle's brain. Though she was glad to be pulled away from the Harper Sibling Melodrama – as she liked to call it – she was also anxious to review the results.

"What do you have for me?" Cho asked as she entered the smaller medical lab just down the hall from where her patient's room was. Inside, the small team she'd assembled were all scattered across the room. Some looking over lab results of a blood test Cho had them run, a few more monitoring her vitals and looking through previous medical records. Needless to say Danielle was one of their most challenging and interesting patients to date.

One of her doctors, Dr. Halliday, handed Cho a large folder. "The printed photographs of the MRI scan. Just in," he explained.

Cho took what was handed to her and thanked him and the rest of her team before heading towards her smaller, isolated office. Inside, she turned the lights off and flicked on the projector, taking the printed photos from the MRI scan and placing them underneath the projecting screen.

Once the first one was in place, Cho glance up at the screen to take a closer look. Everything seemed to be normal, up until the second picture was placed on the projector. It was then that Cho began to witness something she had never seen before in all of her time as a doctor.

She narrowed her eyes at first, wondering if they were playing tricks on her at first. When they weren't, Cho glanced down at the photos and quickly wipes them down with a quick brush of her sleeve. They weren't stained, which meant only one thing...

Upon closer inspection up on the screen, Cho pinpointed a small flash of golden light that hovered just inside the frontal lobe of Danielle's brain.

"Oh dear God..."

A/N: I saw Endgame... Let's just leave it at that. We don't need to talk about it, so please, if you've suffered like I have, don't spoil it in the reviews, I will delete them out of mercy for everyone who hasn't seen the film. Wait for at least... idk a month before saying something about it. Until then, I'm locking myself in my room and crying in a corner because I can't right now, I really actually legitimately can't. I'm broken... Send help.

And also, HOLY SHITSICLES GUYS! We just reached 200 favorites?! And also over 100 reviews?! And 280+ follows?! AND 60,000 views?! And it's only been like fifty something chapters! Thank you all so much! I love and appreciate every last one of you. I, so happy you guys enjoy my story and look forward to reading it. Here is another chapter for you all, I hope you like it.

Chapter songs: [these both make me cry heavily and even more so during this period of mourning and sadness. Enjoy] Forever Young covered by Mr. Hudson and Don't Dream It's Over By Crowded House.

Reviews:

Hyraeth: Lol, that is the mood. Dani sucking at archery is like me trying to understand any form of math that doesn't involve a simple process can just throw into a calculator. Well, here was the rough and not-as-awkward-as-I-thought-it-would-turn-out reunion between the Harper Siblings. And not to fret, the Dani/Peter back to school reunion is in the process of being written. It is coming soon. Ugh, I got alerts each time a new one got posted and now that I've seen it and look back at the ads and think, screw you. Screw you for just building me up only to completely exceed my expectations then crush my heart and soul in the end... No comment on that last sentence.

GhostRyder13: Well, her powers are back... kinda. We'll learn more about her complex powers later on. It's a weird puzzle that never fully gets pieced together until WAYYYY later on in the story. It'll all make sense soon.

Einklley: Aw, yes, Miss Bitch. I am pleased with this conclusion. Yeah, I'm definitely going on a bit of a break after this chapter so I can 1) die on the inside and let myself regenerate before going to cry my heart out some more. 2) process EVERYTHING. 3) Write the Homecoming Arc and my new spin-off/tie-in story 'GUILT'. And finally 4) cry and process some more. And what's my favorite MCU movie? Dear God, that's like asking me to choose my favorite pet (my baby boy Junior, ofc), but UGHHHH. Endgame above all. But aside from that I have to say its a nice tie between Iron Man 3 (Tony's humor, Pepperony, Iron Patriot * E*, that badass Pepper scene, and showing a side of Tony we don't really get to see all too often that shows his vulnerable side and also shows he's not just the suit, he's Tony Fucking Stark he can kick ass and take names without the suit) and them Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Bucky's hair, Natasha's cute little humor, and the fact that the costume designer for the movie kept giving Steve stuff to wear that was forty-five sizes too small and just completely wrecked my life). But I do love my fair share of Domestic!Avengers as well so one of my favorite SCENES has to be the party scene when they're all trying to lift Thor's hammer during AOU. I wish they would out more stuff like that into these movies.

Incorrect Quote of the Chapter:

[fuck it, I'm doing a bunch to try and numb the pain]

Dani: I'm telling you Jack, imma thug.

Dani: A rebellious child.

Dani: *putting on sunglasses* My life be like ooh ah.

Dani: *hits hand on pole while running* oW!

[just because I got a random burst for love of Vis after writing this chapter]

Vision: *taking pictures* Butter... Butter.

Jack: ...

Jack: Vis, you're supposed to say 'cheese'.

Wanda: Vision and I are having problems.

Jack: Have you tried turning him on and off again?

Wanda: ...

Jack: ...

[later]

Dani: *running in to try and pull Wanda off of Jack with a broomstick in hand* gUyS, sToP?!