A/N: Happy One Year Anniversary! God, I can't believe it's been one whole year since I first published this story, look at how far it's come. She has her moments (that I may go back to edit in the near future) but for the most part, I'm proud of how far MIGRAINE has come. I'm grateful for everyone who reads and reviews and follows and favorites, thank you so much. My story wouldn't be here if it weren't for you guys. And special shout out to theamazingspoiderman, my best friend in the entire world who has helped inspire a lot of what I write and has helped me improve as a writer as a whole. Hope you enjoy this chapter, lots of Peter. ;)
—
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Be-!
The alarm on Danielle's phone came to an abrupt stop when a small hand shot out from beneath the blanket that wrapped around a half-asleep teenager curled up on the white cushion on her outside balcony.
The teenage blanket burrito wiggled in place a bit, stretching her arms out and yawning as she soaked in the morning. But, as soon as she shifted out of place, her entire body came crashing to the floor with a thud followed by a yelp. Danielle scrambled back up to her feet, blankets dropped and deposited on the floor as she struggled to figure out how she could've fallen off the bed. It then dawned on her as she remembered her nightly activities of sitting outside and crying on her terrace that she hadn't fallen asleep on her bed.
"Crap," she muttered bitterly as she rubbed her rear that had fallen unceremoniously on the ground moments ago.
She rubbed her eyes, noticing the bright yellow light that was the sun slowly appearing beyond he horizon, lighting up the Manhattan skyline. It was all so beautiful. The red painting the sky, the blue tint frm the night still hovering above, a couple of stars still out there and the orange reflection across the bay. The brunette began to wonder how eary she had woken up.
Danielle slowly bent over to grab her phone. She unlocked it and read the time: 7:35 am. Suddenly, it all came crashing down on her. School, the subway, no way of transportation, Midtown in Queens, she was now in Manhattan. What was she going to wear, she literally had no clothes? How was she going to do her hair, it was a tangled mess? She had all this crap to do, why was she still sitting down?!
"Crap!"
And with that, Danielle officially started her first day back at school.
The brunette all but sprinted back inside her new room the size of her old apartment, haphazardly tossing her phone on her enormous bed and leaving her blanket – she had no memory of taking with her – on the floor by the sliding glass door. After discarding everything, she made her way to the walk-in closet where she was met with yet another problem: everything there was way too expensive for her to even imagine putting on. But, it was all she had to work with.
Reluctantly, Danielle began to skim through the closet, searching for anything that didn't look like it cost that much. Eventually, she found some black jeans from Chanel, a white blouse from Aeropostale, a black and white flannel button-up she wrapped around her waist from H&M, and some basic black and white checkered Vans. She had ripped every price-tag and clothing tag off before throwing the outfit together, of course.
After solving the debacle of clothes, next came hair. And after a number of hours curled up outside in the windy and humid weather of New York at night, it was a tangled bunch of crap that looked like it could've been a nest full of squirrels and birds. But, thankfully, it was nothing a lot of water, hair spray, hair-ties and brushing out couldn't fix. And after about ten minutes, Danielle managed to get her messy hair to behave long enough to make it look like a decent bit of wavy curls.
After her appearance was settled, Danielle dashed to the enormous bathroom now attached to her room and scrubbed her teeth, washed her face, rubbed some lotion up and down her arms, put on a healthy amount of deodorant, and doused herself in some Victoria's Secret perfume that smelt about seventy dollars above Danielle's pay grade (if she ever got paid). She also dabbed a bit of concealed around her neck to hide the partially-healed scar left over from Cho's stitches (which the doctor had thankfully made nearly invisible with some experimental tissue treatment that made it as if she had never been burnt around the entirety of her neck to begin with).
And as she half-jogged out of her room with her new backpack strapped over her shoulder dressed like she was a model for some new Old Navy commercial, Danielle hoped that maybe one day she'd get used to all of this... But as she walked into the over-sized hallway leading into the even more over-sized living room-slash-kitchen, she didn't see that day coming anytime soon.
"You look like you just stepped out of a Abercrombie commercial," a new voice that came from the kitchen made Danielle jump a bit. When she looked over to see who it was, it probably shouldn't have surprised her to find it was Rae, sitting on the counter dressed in all black with her white hair twisted in a French braid that trickled down the side of her head onto her left shoulder while she stirred what looked like liquid frm a silver flask into a small white tea cup.
Danielle, unsure of how to exactly respond to her remark shrugged. "I... I don't think I've ever had that many clothes to choose from in my life," she explained.
Rae nodded as she pocketed the flask in her black leather jacket pocket and used a small spoon to stir the liquid in the tea cup, the sound echoing throughout the enormous room round them. "Hmm," she hummed. "Well, if you're ready, I can take you to school whenever."
Danielle almost had to physically hold her jaw from dropping after hearing that. "You're... You're going to take me to school?"
"I have work to do and I figured, why not just drop you off on my way out?" The white-haired woman shrugged as she climbed from off the counter, chugging down whatever condition she'd made in her tea cup before tossing it into the sink with a loud clang followed by a burp that escaped her mouth. "Plus, isn't your school all the way in Queens?"
"Well, yeah, but... traffic?" Danielle asked lamely.
Rae scoffed as she fished her keys from her other jacket pocket, twirling them on her index finger before she started towards the elevator. Danielle, still completely lost (and extremely tired) quickly scrambled after her, barely catching the elevator before the door closed behind them.
The elevator went down to the parking garage, the lights inside lighting up all of the expensive looking cars until Rae walked out and stopped in front of one. Danielle felt her jaw hit the floor and her blood run cold. "You're... You're taking me to school in this?" She asked incredulously, staring at the sleek red Corvette with matte black rims and tinted windows.
Rae, who looked unfazed, merely glanced down at the car and back at the teenage girl. "Why not? It's just a car." Danielle opened her ,outh before clamping it back shut. Unsure of how to explain the fact that she didn't want to attract anymore attention to herself than she already would with the outfit and her prolonged absence, she just decided to shit up and climb into the (very comfortable) leather passenger seat, following Rae as she slid in behind the wheel.
As predicted, traffic was bad. It was New York City – Manhattan to be specific – at seven in the morning during the busiest time in the busiest city. But, somehow, Rae managed to swerve in and out of lanes like a professional and was able to get to Queens in a record amount of time. Though, by the time the did eventually reach their destination, Danielle's fingers were gripping s tightly to the leather of her seat, she might've accidentally left a few scratch marks.
It took Rae zero guidance to figure out where Danielle's school was, and when the pulled up, Danielle really started to wish Rae hadn't decided to drive her to school in the brightest, loudest, most conspicuous car ever. When they pulled up to the front of the large building, Danielle could hardly take in the nostalgic moment of going back to school because instead, she was busy trying not to pay attention to the stares she – and more specifically, the car – was getting.
"Uh, can you please just drop me off a block away. I can walk the rest of the way," Danielle explained as she tried to sink int the leather of her seats. She could practically already hear the murmurs and whispers of the people outside talking about her and the car.
Rae looked confused and clearly unaware of the attention she was causing in the car. "Why? We're already here, just hop out."
"I... Please–"
"Look, I've got to be at the airport in about fifteen minutes. Just get out, I'll see you back at the house later today. And if I'm not home, I'll probably see you by the morning."
Danielle scrunched her nose at this new information. "Wait, what do you mean–"
"Shit," Rae suddenly muttered when she looked down at her buzzing phone. Suddenly, she pressed a button on the side of her door, unlocking the car doors. "Okay, it's time for you to get out. I need to leave," Rae remarked as she reached across Danielle, not listening to the teen's protests as she unlatched the door and pushed it open.
Danielle had never wanted to disappear more in her life than in this moment, glancing out of the open door at all the chatting students clearly watching the scene play out. She cringed and tried to wish her way out of this scenario. Unfortunately, it didn't work her way and she abruptly found herself being shoved from out of the car.
"Bye. I'll see you some time later," Rae called out of the door before it shut and the loud, overly-expensive car sped away. The loud roar of it's engine echoing throughout the entrance of the school causing even more kids to murmur and talk, bringing more attention to the pathetic teenager that climbed out of the car wearing checkered Vans and a plaid button-up wrapped around their mid-section. Oh, wait — that was Danielle.
This literally could not be worse, she thought to herself as she began to walk her way up the front steps of Midtown School of Science and Technology and through the front doors, entering a new era of her life that was already off to the roughest start ever.
—
Inside the school, it was a large crowded mayhem. Students of every age, height, size, weight and grade were all scrambling to get their schedules that were being handed out in the library or in the counselor's office. Danielle had to wait almost fifteen minutes in the library before she was finally able to even start her trek to her first period (which just so happened to be Geometry).
After collecting her schedule and locating where her first period room was, Danielle found herself walking into a class with a few familiar faces, all of which she hoped she wouldn't have had to see until she had fully prepared a decent lie to explain to them why she had fallen off the face of the Earth over the Summer.
Seated in the far back of the room were a small group consisting of Michelle, Cindy, Charles, Abe, and Ned. Danielle did however take a small sigh of relief, grateful to whatever higher being blessed her with the fact that she didn't have to face Peter, Betty, Liz or any of the soccer girls just yet. But, she did have to face a majority of the Decathlon team along with her old friend Michelle.
Luckily, she had just a couple minutes to come up with a semi-believable excuse while she still had the chance. After all, it wasn't like any of them had spotted her just yet–
Suddenly, Cindy's lifted up from looking down at a piece of paper in front of her she had been reading, her eyes scanning her surroundings before they landed directly on Danielle entering the room. The brunette froze, caught like a deer in headlights. A part of her hoped Cindy hadn't actually spotted her, or if she did that she was mad enough that she would ignore her existence long enough so she could 'explain' her absence when she actually had a lie to tell her later. But, since Danielle's first day back at school was just full of terrible experiences, Cindy just had to beam at her entrance, waving and smiling at her before calling out from across the room, "Danielle!"
Danielle tried not to wince as the rest of her group of friends slowly followed Cindy's gaze and caught sight of Danielle as well. They all smiled and waved (except Michelle who stared at her with her usual cold and calculating look), and Danielle merely grimaced back as she made her way over to where Cindy was gesturing for her to sit by them.
As she approached, her mind was racing; trying to figure out or come up with a reason for her Summer absence. She was coming up empty handed and no longer had time when she was finally seated amongst the group.
"Oh my God, welcome back," Cindy beamed happily as she went in for a quick half-hug, Danielle half-heartedly returned. "I didn't actually think you'd show up this school year."
"Yeah," Ned agreed with the nod of his head. "Especially after you supposedly moved to Germany."
Danielle blinked once, then twice. She stared blankly at Ned, trying to process what she had just heard. "Moved... to Germany?"
"After your aunt died in that terrible car crash," Cindy said with a frown, reaching her hand out to take Danielle's in her own. She rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb in comfort as she glanced at her with big, brown beady eyes. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"We all are," Michelle added, her voice coated with sympathy as well.
"Sucks it was so close to your grandma's funeral in London, too," Charles piped up for beside Abe. As soon as the words left his mouth, Danielle nearly choked on the sudden intake of air that came through her slack jaw. Cindy suddenly smacked the teenage boy upside the head, letting go of Danielle's hand in the process. "Ow!"
Cindy glared at him. "Empathy, Charles!" She scolded.
"Sorry," he said with a wince, running the back of his neck with his hand.
Danielle, meanwhile, was lost to everything she was hearing. Aunt dying in a car crash, grandma's funeral in London, moving to Germany? Finally, after a minute of going slightly insane, Danielle managed to utter the question she most wanted answered; "Who told you guys all of this?"
Michelle, not looking up from her book, answered, "Parker did. Said your aunt was apparently friends with his aunt and a friend from work called and told them the news when she passed away. He also said you now lived in Germany with your new foster family."
"Peter...?" Danielle asked in complete and utter confusion. Peter had told all of the, these lies about why she was gone the entire Summer? Why? She thought he would hate Er the most, especially after how they left things at the end last school year. So, why was he, all of a sudden, telling lies to their classmates about where she actually was this past Summer? Was he trying to cover for her? If so, for what?
"Yeah," Ned confirmed with a nod.
"So, when did you get back into town?" Cindy wondered aloud, leaning forward in her seat.
"Did your foster family change their mind?"
"What was German food like?"
"Empathy, Charles!"
"Ow!"
It was all too much for Danielle right now. Initially, she had walked into this conversation thinking everyone hated her because she had gone MIA over the Summer, b now, come to find, they all thought she had moved to Germany with some new foster family after her aunt and grandma died? And all because Peter told them his aunt was friends with her aunt? Something was up, and she seriously needed to figure out what had happened while she was gone.
"Danielle West?"
Danielle's head suddenly swirled around to the front of the class where the math teacher stood up front, the roster sheet in his hands. Danielle say up straight and called out, "Here!", happy to be pulled away from the awkward and stress-inducing conversation with her friends. What had this first day back come to? Nothing good.
—
Class couldn't have gne by any slower than Danielle felt it did that by the time she finally escaped the prison cell disguised as a classroom, she felt almost as exhausted as if she had just finished an entire week of school in only 45 minutes. Unfortunately for her though, there were still six more periods to go — not including lunch. Danielle almost had to refrain from groaning out loud as she walked to find her locker before her next class (Chemistry).
She bid farewell to Ned, Michelle, Cindy, Abe and Charles with only a vague memory of what they had all described their Summer Break; Cindy went to some new Summer Camp for AP kids, Abe visited his family overseas, Charles went on a cruise in Puerto Rico, Michelle stayed home to read and got a summer internship with the city library, and Ned played video games. She also learned that a lot of friendships had shifted apparently. Cindy no longer really talked with Liz, and instead spent less of her time partying and more of her time on her school work. Abe and Charles also disclosed that they no longer hung out with Seymour ever since some incident that occurred at one of Oiz's many summer parties she three over the break. And of course, Michelle and Ned didn't change at all. Michelle still remained the Lone Wolf she was and Ned continued to be the most loyal friend to one Peter Parker. And speaking of Peter...
"What's up Penis Parker?" An obnoxious and loud voice shouted throughout the crowded expanse of the main hallway. Danielle winced slightly as a loud slamming noise followed the shout. It wasn't hard for Danielle to pinpoint who and what was occurring down the hall through the onslaught of students bustling and rushing to get to their lockers or their next class.
Standing beside a now shut locker was none other than Peter Parker. He looked a little different than Danielle last remembered him. He looked... taller, maybe? His shoulders got bigger? Or maybe muscular was the word. His hair grew out as well, and when did his jaw line get that prominent and... sharp? His appearance had Danielle questioning how he had spent his Summer.
However, her thoughts came to a hault when yet another loud crashing sound echoed from where Peter stood. She watched him wince and glare at someone unseen. But, Danielle didn't need for the girl talking with her friend about some new show to move her head slightly for her to see it was none other than the overly obnoxious Flash Thompson. She had already heard from Cindy and her other Geometry friends that over the Summer, Flash's parents had gotten him a nice and expensive car, which apparently turned him into even more of a nuisance. The brunette had to groan; hadn't she had enough of the expensive cars for one day? ... Or the rest of her life?
As soon as he came to pester Peter, the sooner he left, laughing with his small group of friends he had collected over the years. Danielle tried to blend in with the rest of the crowd as he walked by, but the universe wasn't exactly on her side that morning. Or so it seemed that way when Flash caught sight of her and gave her a broad smile, stopping mid-exit to talk with her. Danielle had to surprise the need to roll her eyes as he greeted her, "'Sup, West. Heard you got some nice wheels after moving in with your new parents." And Cindy thought Charles was bad with empathy.
Danielle mustered a small smile (that looked more like a grimace) as she replied, "It's actually not mine, it's my... foster parent's. Who just dropped me off."
"Still. They must have some serious bank," Flash continued to pester her. Danielle wondered how long Flash would stay her wasting her time in the middle of the hallway. She needed to talk with Peter who was still grabbing things from his locker a few yards away. "My Dad just got me a new car too. It's pretty nice. We should get together sometime and see who has the faster car, huh?"
Danielle, completely not paying attention to anything Flash was saying, her eyes glued permanently on Peter as he began to zip up his bag, grew impatient and mere waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Sure thing," she said nonchalantly as she quickly walked around him and half-jogged to Peter's locker just as he shut it closed.
The brunet teenager turned to see the figure in his peripheral vision, brown eyes meeting brown eyes, and Danielle smiled. "Hi," she greeted him.
Peters mouth fell agape as he tried to comprehend who he was currently staring at. Danielle. The same Danielle who disappeared over the Summer, only to reappear in Germany – only it wasn't her, but it was because she actually turned out to be the Avenger Eris. But she didn't know he knew, because he had on his mask, and he was Spider-Man. Right, Spider-Man. Wait – did Danielle find out about Spider-Man? More specifically, did she figure out he was Spider-Man? It seemed impossible, but then again, so did him finding out his close friend (technically ex-friend) was an enhanced super-hero.
It felt as though Peter had been mentally debating with himself for over fifteen minutes, when in reality it was only a few awkward pauses before he finally uttered out an awkward, "Uh, he– hey... Hi."
Smooth, Peter. She doesn't suspect a thing.
Of course she suspects something! She's standing here in front of me because she knows I know about... THAT!
"What– what... What, uh, are you doing here?" Peter internally kicked himself, but tried not to cringe on the outside. If she didn't suspect something already, she definitely would be suspecting something was up with him now. "I-I-I thought you..."
"Moved to Germany after my aunt died...?" She finished for him.
Peter felt his blood run cold as she raised an eyebrow at him. Oh, she definitely knew. She knew. He was screwed. He was so, so screwed–!
Pull yourself together, Peter! You're Spider-Man! If she knows, just play it cool. If she doesn't, then don't give yourself away by being awkward!
Peter quickly recomposed himself. His inner monologue was right; he just had to play it cool. Don't give anything away to out himself about him being Spider-Man. Don't give anything away about knowing who Danielle really is. Just... be cool.
"Yeah," he replied. He tried to make his voice come out as casual, but it just made it sound strained. He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to play the part. He even tried to look her in the eye, but he just got too nervous and began to look anywhere but at her. God, just stop. You're making it worse for yourself. Peter then immediately dropped his arms and stood awkwardly in front of her, unsure of what to do or where this conversation was going.
Now it was Danielle's turn to be awkward. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she stared at his shoulder for some unknown reason, her fingers wrapping themselves tighter around the binder she held close to her chest as she scratched her nails into the side. Peter, with his dilated senses, could feel her heart beating faster and faster. Was she... was she nervous?
"Well, I-I did," the brunette stated, her eyes still stuck to his shoulder as she spoke. "My Aunt Kate passed away after my grandma... Peggy's funeral. And, uh, I moved in with my new foster parent. We just moved back to New York recently, actually."
Peter narrowed his eyes at the girl in front of him. Many emotions and questions were swirling around in his head. He had completely pulled that explanation for her sudden absence from school out of his ass. He had felt bad that he had treated her terribly before he had found out about the... Eris thing. And he hadn't wanted everyone else to think she was a huge flake who abandoned her friends for no reason, but he also couldn't tell them she was actually in a maximum-security prison with the other Rogue Avengers. So, he lied.
And now, she was lying. To him. About the lie he made up. This was screwed up on so many levels.
"Uh... right," Peter finally muttered.
He figured he was in the clear until she suddenly turned the tables. Big time. "How did... How did you know about that though?" She asked. The scratching on her binder and the shifting weight of her heels stopped as she tilted her head in curiosity. Her eyes coming up from his shoulder to stare directly into his wide eyes. She was no longer nervous, she knew something was up. Shit.
It was Peter who had to immediately break the eye contact once again. He crossed the arms over his chest again. Stop doing that! He uncrossed his arms as his brain was going at a million miles an hour, searching for a lie to save his skin. When he came up empty handed, he figure there was no point in digging himself a into a deeper hole. So, he did what he had to do; he told the truth... Well, sort of.
"I, um... I didn't actually know. I just sort of assumed that's what happened when you left," he lied casually with a shrug, his eyes still not meeting her. "I didn't really know for sure."
"Oh," was all Danielle responded with, her curious gaze dropping from him. "Well, you guessed right," she continued.
"I guess so," he joked half-heartedly, even laughing a little at his own cheesy joke. He watched her crack a small smile before it quickly vanished from her expression.
"Well, class is starting. I should... We should probably go." She gestured to something unseen over her shoulder. Peter then took the time to glance around the hallway. He figured the minute bell had already rung since there were hardly any students still lingering in the hallway, a few even dashing to their next class, a few teachers standing outside their doors as they ushered people inside.
"Yeah," he agreed, coughing as the pitch in his voice changed slightly. "Yeah. We should go."
Despite agreeing they should both head their separate ways to get to their classes, neither teen made a move to leave. Instead, both just held an awkward stare. Until finally, the loud bell signifying they were late to class broke them out of their odd interaction.
Danielle was the first to move, sparing Peter a small smile before beginning to walk past him towards the direction of her class. Peter instinctively watched her go as he remained by his locker. He hadn't expected her to abruptly spin around to face him after walking only a few feet. He coughed and tried to run away, trying to cover up the fact he was watching her to see if she would react in some way. It was no use, but she didn't seem to care either way as she tilted her head in the same curious manner she had earlier.
"I just have one more question." Peter crossed his arms instinctively as he leaned on his closed locker door, nodding like an idiot and nervous that she may have figured out the Spider-Man thing or the Eris thing. "Why did you do it? Cover for me when I left?" She asked in a soft, tentative voice.
Peter blinked once, the twice. He hadn't been expecting that. Then again, he wasn't sure what he expected. Danielle was... unpredictable. Especially after finding out about her superhero alter ego, he wasn't sure what to expect from her anymore. "I, uh... I just," he stammered a bit. "I know I was kind of mad at you for ditching me a long time ago. I just didn't want everyone else to be mad at you for leaving when you had no control over it," he explained truthfully.
"Well, thank you. Really," she told him with a true sense of gratitude in her voice and in her smile. "Does this... are we friends again?" Danielle asked tentatively. Peter could see her shifting her weight and scratching the binder in her hands again and he couldn't help but feel guilty.
He knew they left off on anything but friendly terms. He he yelled at her, they JE gotten into an argument, they rarely talked. All because she ditched him and continued to disappear. It was a pattern and Peter just couldn't keep up. But, come to find, the real reason was because she was hiding an entireu different side of herself from him – from the world. She was a superhero. She was an Avenger. And he got mad at her for saving lives.
If ony he knew then what he knew now, he never would've given up being friends with Danielle. So, now came the opportunity to rebuild that friendship and set down the base structure of the new bridge they were rebuilding with it.
He smiled at her and nodded. "Definitely." He watched as her eyes lit up and her smile grew the slightest bit. She nodded, giving him one last farewell before starting back to class. But before she turned away frm him completely, he threw in one more thing for good measure, "See you later, Elle!"
Peter continued to watch the brunette sprint down the hall to her next class. He couldn't care less whether or not he was late because the smile on his face began to grow until it couldn't anymore. It was finally dawning on him then: he was friends with an Avenger.
—
After her reconciliation with Peter, Danielle felt as though the rest of the day went by as if she were walking on air; a heavy weight now lifted off her shoulders. She tried to hide the smile from her face each time she thought of her interaction with Peter. They were friends again. Things were starting to look up for her.
That was until her little bubble of joy and happiness was abruptly popped when she entered the cafeteria. It seemed to stay true to Danielle's last memory of school lunch; loud, crowded, messy, and weirdly-scented of Pinesol and steamed carrots. It seemed as though she had gotten there a bit too late. There were few open tables which left Danielle mindlessly walking amongst her fellow students trying to find a seat or even just a familiar face. Eventually, she did find a familiar face. But, that face just so happened to belong to none other than Liz Allen.
As soon as Danielle's eyes landed on the brunette across the room, she quickly tried to find a place to run and hide so she couldn't ever find her. She wasn't ready for that confrontation, not yet at least. Peter was one story, Liz was another completely. The one friend she had that was already especially upset about her disappearing and even had a whole conversation with her about it.
Something that felt like dread settled into Danielle's stomach as she tried to hide herself amongst the bus crowd of other lunch goers, hoping and praying to anyone out there in the universe listening that Liz didn't see her.
Unfortunately for her, it seemed as though the universe just loved watching Danielle suffer and writhe in her own pain and embarrassment, because it was then that Liz seemed to catch sight of the little brunette trying to work her way through the lunch crowd. Danielle looked up, Liz looked at her, and their eyes met. Danielle could've played it off that she didn't recognize her and that it was by accident, but she had accidentally froze on the spot. Liz had to know now that she was the bright headlights and Danielle was the deer.
Before either girl could react to the awkward staring contest, Danielle abruptly started out of the crowd, out of the lunch line, and out of the cafeteria. In a mad rush to get out of there and to get out of there fast, Danielle ran and ran until she finally reached the library doors.
While skimming through aisles, Danielle tried to reason with herself that maybe Liz didn't see her. Maybe she had just looked over at someone else behind her. Or maybe she had seen her but just didn't recognize her... At least she hoped that was the case.
She just needed to stop thinking about it. And luckily, she was in the best place to do that; the library. Her safe haven filled with an endless amount of places to hide and get lost in tales, stories, and novels about someone else's life, problems, and adventures.
As she scanned the shelves for a title that sounded intriguing or an author she might've recognized, Danielle found herself in a portion of the library shed never seen before in the far corner. It was a dark corner, only lit up by the minimal amount of sunlight the librarian let in from the blinds she seemed adamant on keeping closed. It was dustier in the back, signifying the lack of people that ever came back here. And sitting on the ground and on a back shelf were multiple boxes filled with what looked like thin books.
Curious, Danielle leaned down and blew off the dust from the top of the box, the small cloud forming behind it before falling again to the ground. Danielle coughed a but, dusting the rest off with her hand. Once the box was mildly clear from dust, Danielle reached in and pulled out an item from inside. She looked at the cover and realized it wasn't just any book, it was a sheet-music book for the trumpet.
With her interest peaked, Danielle set the book back down and lifted the box slightly. On the front, scribbled in big fat letters with what looked to be marker, was the word 'TRUMPET'. Danielle then pushed the 'TRUMPET' box aside and turned her attention to the other dusty boxes on the ground and on the shelf. She scanned the front labels to find the contents of each: 'FLUTE', 'OBOE', 'GUITAR', 'CHOIR'.
Danielle suddenly froze as she read the label of a box to the far back corner. Slowly and tentatively, Danielle latched her finger onto the corner of the box and pulled it forward, lifting it up off the ground and setting it atop the shelf so she could get a better look at the contents of the box labeled 'PIANO'. She lightly trailed her fingers down the tops of each book, letting them tap one like the were keys. She smiled at the habit.
It faded, however, when her finger caught on a book and began to lift it up. On it was printed the sheet music book for 'Musical Classics of Broadway'. She let her index finger trickle down the pages until it reached the bottom point of the corner. Slowly, she flipped it open and saw the first page of sheet music she'd seen since... Well, since before her Mom was killed.
Danielle hadn't actually realized how long it had been since she stopped playing piano, since she stopped doing a lot of things. Playing piano, wearing brightly colored clothes, hanging up photos, letting her hair grow out. It was a different period of time for her. But, it was also a long time ago and as much as thinking about her Mom and what she had done physically, mentally, and emotionally hurt her, it didn't affect her as much as it used to and the brunette felt as though no longer playing the piano out of spite was something she no longer wanted to do. Piano was apart of her. It reminded her of her old life, kept that part of her intact. And no one could ever take that from her.
But, she did have to admit it was a sore subject. Especially since she remembered once telling her Mom that she couldn't play because playing made her feel whole, and she wasn't whole because she was missing the people she cared for most in her life. And rit now, Danielle was missing a lot of people.
Danielle let out a heavy sigh as she closed the book of sheet music, still eyeing the cover longingly. A small tug on her heart strings nearly made her want to change her mind and maybe check out the book, but she decided to just gently put it back where it came from in the box.
"I forgot all of the sheet music was back here," a familiar voice caused Danielle to jump slightly, nearly dropping the box of books she was balancing on the shelf and on her hip. When the brunette turned around, she was met with the unexpected sight of Liz.
Danielle, unsure of how to respond or even think straight, kept looking between her and the box of music, trying to come up with some sort of answer or reply.
Eventually, Liz caught on that the teenage girl in front of her probably had no clue what to say. Another reason why she probably dashed out of the cafeteria after she caught fight of her. With an amused chuckle, Liz spoke again. "I just came to check on you," she explained. "I saw you running out of lunch like you had just seen a ghost."
Danielle turned to look down at the box of sheet music, her eyes remaining downcast as she replied, "I, uh, wasn't really feeling good."
"Really?" Liz asked skeptically. "You sure it didn't have anything to do with the fact that I made direct eye contact with you?" She chuckled and Danielle cringed.
The brunette finally relented, turning to face the senior with a grimace on her face. "I didn't know what to say to you," she admit truthfully.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... I left. I disappeared off the face of the Earth," Danielle began to explain. "I left for London and I just never came back. I missed the last week of school, I went radio silent for all of the Summer, and now I'm back... I just– I thought you would be mad at me."
Liz's eyes widened. "Mad at you?" She repeated incredulously. "Ellie, your aunt passed away and you moved away to another country on another continent. I completely understand you not answering any calls or texts; you were going through something. How was any of that your fault?" She asked her as she took a step towards Danielle. "I could never be mad at you for that. You're my best friend."
Danielle felt her heart soar at Liz's words, and before she knew it, the senior was pulling her in for a tight embrace. Danielle returned it just as eagerly and tenderly. Her eyes filled with a few tears that she quickly wiped away once the pair separated. "I'm sorry," Danielle's voice cracked.
Liz, with a bit of tears in her eyes as well, shook her head and spared Danielle a small laugh. "Don't be. You're forgiven, one hundred percent," she stated. "Plus, Decathlon still needs one of their best history and music buffs for their journey to Nationals in a few short weeks. Your spots still open if you want it. Practice starts up during advisory after lunch, if so."
Danielle's smile grew even bigger at the mention of Decathlon. She'd nearly forgotten about the team's victory at State last year. She remembered the cheering, the laughing, the arcade celebration afterwards that was cut shortly for her when she heard about the Avengers mission gone stilt awry. Danielle was quick to shove the bad part of that memory from her brain, focusing on the good and what was happening now.
"I– yeah," Danielle stammered with a laugh and an eager nod. "Okay. I'm definitely in."
Liz squealed as she jumped up and down, pulling Danielle in for another quick squeeze. When she broke away, she jumped and smiled some more. "Eek! I'm so excited. This is definitely our year. I can feel it already." Danielle couldn't help but smile from pure excitement and joy. "I'll see you tomorrow. Or– I think maybe later if we have a class together or something."
Danielle quickly fumbled for her schedule from our of her back pocket. "Uh, my next three classes I have are AP U.S. History, Gym, and Spanish," she read off.
Liz beamed. "That's awesome! I have Gym sixth, too!"
"Wow," Danielle laughed in surprise. "I– I guess I'll see you later then."
"Totally. Totally. Well, I'm apart of Homecoming Committee as well and we have our own pre-planning meeting taking place in..." she checked the imaginary watch in her wrist. "Ten minutes. So, I should probably get going to that."
"Have fun," Danielle waved after her as she began to back away from the corner of the librar where they reconciled their friendship, just like she and Peter had standing in front of his locker. Liz bid her farewell, leaving her with the promising of seeing her in Gym later before skipping off with a smile on her face. As Danielle stood in the dusty corner of the library by herself, she couldn't help but regain her happy bubble of joy once again. Her day really was just getting better and better, everything she had been worrying about, turned out to be nothing more than silly fears.
With a bright and broad smile on her face still, Danielle did a small little squeal to herself before impulsively reaching over into the box of sheet music and grabbing the book she had been skimming through earlier. She took it with her as she walked out of the aisle with a wonder in her mind; maybe the universe was rooting for her after all.
—
The rest of the school day went by in a breeze. As the day went by, Danielle couldn't help but smile and just feel free and happy once again. There was nothing to distract her from this part of her life she enjoyed so much. No stress about her powers, no feeling guilty about not being with her friends. The only thing that could've made this day any better was if she got to go home to Sharon cooking Alfredo and text Wanda and Steve about her day. But, Danielle tried not to let that bit bring her down as she made her way off of campus after the final bell had rang.
Danielle had already bid farewell to Liz during Gym (which she also happened to have most of her other friends) and was on her way to the Subway after receiving a text during Spanish frm Rae notifying her that her new caretaker wouldn't be home for a while later and that she'd need to find another ride to the Penthouse in Manhattan. But, despite the hiccup, Danielle didn't let it get she down, she was too high up in Cloud Nine.
With a smile on her face, the brunette skipped through Queens on her way to the train a few streets away. She was almost there when she stopped at a stoplight. It was four-way intersection and Danielle was busy skimming through her phone of all e new text messages she was getting from friends at school talking about plans for the weekend or new drama happening in the news. She couldn't help but smile at the normality of it all.
Pocketing her phone, Danielle glanced up to find that the street light was about to turn red. When it finally did, Danielle and the rest of the people waiting on the corner of the street started to walk across. The teenage girl paid no mind to any of her surroundings. She should have been.
Danielle and the other pedestrians froze on the lined crosswalk when the dreaded sounds of screeching tires caught their attention. Danielle, a woman, and her three kids, all soun around to see a large SUV hauling towards them. In the blink of an eye, the woman was grabbing her children by the hand and yanking them out of the way onto the sidewalk, Danielle quick to jump with them. But Danielle suddenly halted in her tracks when she noticed a little girl was still in the direct path of the SUV struggling to stop, still hurdling towards her.
Danielle knew her powers were weak. She could barely push a plastic cup, there was no way she could stop an entire care from hitting this girl. There was absolutely no pointing jumping in front of this girl, getting between her and the car. But, Danielle did it anyway.
Without another moment's notice, the brunette threw herself in front of the little girl, spinning to have her back facing the car as she hugged her body around this little girl's petite frame, ready to take on the full impact of the car so the girl could be saved. The car tire screeching noise got closer, closer, and closer. It was barey masked Orr the sounds of the woman on the sidewalk screaming in horror and the little girl in Danielle's arms crying. Everything just seemed to be happening at once until... it wasn't anymore.
The screeching sound abruptly stopped and the screaming mom was gasping and crying in relief on the sidewalk now. Slowly, Danielle turned around. She was afraid of what she'd see, scared that it would be the car hurdling towards her. But what she found instead was much more alarming, but also very surprising. It was the Spider-Man she had fought at the airport in Germany, the same one wh had saved her from the fire all those months ago. Danielle felt her mouth go agape a bit at the sight of the spandex wearing vigilante standing before her and the little girl in her arms, holding the SUV in his hands.
"Gwenyth!" The mother in the sidewalk's cry abruptly pulled Danielle from her absent state of shock. Before she knew it, the mother was dashing towards her, reaching for the little girl Danielle was now releasing from her protective embrace. The little girl hugged her mom and her mom squeezed her right back, crying into the shoulder of the daughter she nearly would've lost just moments ago if it hadn't been for the Spider-Man, who was now dropping the SUV back not the ground with a loud crash and groan.
"Thank you," the mother told Danielle with a tearful expression before also turning to the Spider-Man just behind her. "Thank you."
Spider-Man merely nodded. "Just doing my job, ma'am," he told her. There it was, Danielle thought to herself as the same feeling she had gotten in Germany took place in her gut again. That feeling of familiarity. The feeing she got that she might've recognized his voice. But how? From where? Who was he? "Hey," his voice broke into her thoughts. "Are you okay?"
The brunette swallowed down the lump in her throat and nodded, afraid to turn around and meet the vigilante's gaze as she muttered, "I'm fine. Thank you."
"No problem," he said before there was suddenly the sound of the thwip of his web-shooters Danielle recognized followed by the loud whoosh sound he made as his body flung through the air, swinging away from the intersection and going in about the rest of his day. Leaving Danielle standing frozen in the middle of the crosswalk, still trying to piece together where she recognized that voice from.
Danielle now knew her mission: to figure out who Spider-Man was beneath the mask.
—
A/N: I'M BACK! Yes, yes, it's been a phat minute, but I've returned. And boy has this been an eventful few days. First up on the agenda, I apologize for the hiatus that I got next to no work done throughout. But, I did however get ENGAGED! That's right, ya girl has a ring on her finger and am super happy. ANother thing that has kept me busy (aside frm THAT) is I am also in the midst of my last week of school which means finals. Not to mention, I am moving across the country to another University so I've also been packing and going back and forth s it's a mess. Which means... I may have to go on another week-long hiatus to finish up is arc. So, yeah. That's all I have to say about that. Thanks for putting up with me and my buffoonery. Enjoy!
ALSO: I'm thinking about writing a One-Shot story for this story of different little scenes from different sections of the stories. It will be mostly made up of scenes I didn't get to include in time jumps or deleted scenes that were mentioned but never divulged or sections of time that are merely referenced. S if you have any requests whether it be of fluff or angst or bonding between any and all characters then just let me know, I need the inspiration because I only have a few ideas.
Chapter songs for this chapter are Anxiety by Julia Michaels ft. Selena Gomez and Underdog by Spoon.
Reviews:
Hyraeth 1: Oh yes Sable is indeed quite rich and eccentric and hard to figure out. Her core traits. Lol, yeah, Danielle is going to be a clueless child for a while, her and Peter both will. Well, mostly Danielle, but still. I can't wait to write more f them in Homecoming. And Tony will make lots more impact in Danielle's life from here on out, so look forward to that as well. (;-;) Ah, yes, I love writing her and Jack too. Their relationship have gone throu some trials and tribulations so we get to see more of their fun and natural side now in this one and the next few ones. UGHHHHH, I hated how it ended. Game of Thrones has been great... All the way up until this season. I have been so upset ever since I saw it, I literally cried of utter and complete frustration when J watched it. But, that's for another time. I'm sure you feel my pain.
haleyamazing13: TWO DAYS? You're a magician, I'm convinced. Fifty five (now fifty six) chapters in two days? Well, I did use to write only 2-3k worded chapters. But wow, still impressed. And thank you. I like to try and add emotion to every line and action I write. And yes, first day of school seems to have gone well. More to come!
Zionne Mikoma: AHHHH! Thank you for all your reviews, I loved and read them all. Sorry I couldn't reply right away to thank you for your support. So, regarding the first question, I think you found out that question later on. Yes, I love writing the incorrect quotes too. The idea credit goes to scrapingskies. Uh... sorry about the Alice thing... not really. Lol, love that Ross incorrect quote because that's literally the plot of the entire airport fight sequence. And, I KNOW! I'm sorry, I'm back! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
HunterofArtemis1812: I love writing them as well! Glad you enjoy the story, here's a new chapter as well as another incorrect quote!
Hyraeth 2: Welcome back! Yeah, I plan on releasing that as soon as I get ten chapters pre-written and a cover image. I'm working on both, but d have a solid plan all the way up until the end of that story. It will intertwine with this story, but that one is more of a prequel/side-arc of a different and very important character her ties into both Danielle and Jack's past, present, and future. Showing a bit more that Sable plays a huge role in this MIGRAINE/GUILT Universe. (Not really sure what to name it, lol)
Incorrect Quote of the Chapter:
Jack: *trying to access the Quinjet* Jack.
System: Access Denied.
Jack: Harper.
System: Access Denied.
Jack: Uh... Statix?
System: Access Denied.
Jack: *sigh*
Jack: Sparky.
System: Access Granted.
Jack: Fuck you, Tony.
