A/N: A bit of everything jam packed in here. Some fluff, some rømåñčë, and sadness ofc.
Chapter Songs: I Need You by M83 [like the whole thing. I suggest listening to the song while you read honestly.]
Headcanon of the chapter: Danielle did kind of have a crush in Liz. I had written for them to be just really close friends, but ended up having it become a bit of a forbidden and 'what if' kind of love story between the two.
—
"Ow."
"Just... stay still."
"I am still. It just burns- ow!"
"Well, it's a burn, so... I'd assume..."
Danielle glanced up through her tangled tendrils of ash and sand covered hair to give Peter an unimpressed look. The web-slinger gave a sheepish grin in response. "Sorry. No jokes while patching up your first degree burns- noted," he chuckled, his hands quickly going back to work as he continued to wrap up her red hand in gauze and bandages.
Danielle smirked at his antics. "Don't forget the flirting in the middle of a fight thing either," she added, followed by a hiss when Peter pulled on the bandages a bit too tightly.
"How could I? You... slammed your forehead so hard into mine that it's kinda engrained." The pair chuckled at the memory of their fight at the airport in Leipzig back before they knew who the other was beneath the mask. Now, there they were on Danielle's balcony in their dirty clothes from the big fight with Toomes tending to their extensive cuts, bruises, and in Danielle's case, burns.
"Mm," she moaned slightly as Peter cut off the final piece of bandage and pressed it firmly in her already bandaged palm.
"Too tight?" He prompted.
She shook her head. "'S fine," she muttered through gritted teeth, but Peter could see her clenched jaw push her already prominent cheekbones up in what little light they had provided by the light pollution of Downtown Manhattan.
"You sure?"
She nodded. "Mhm. It's your turn now."
Peter raised an eyebrow as he put the bandages back into the first aid kit set between them on the cold terrace tiles. "My turn? I don't have any- shit-" Peter cursed suddenly when Danielle pressed her index finger knuckle against his cheek. "Ow..." he rubbed his cheek gently with his fingers as Danielle gave him a smug look.
"You were saying?" She prompted before reaching into the kit to pull out the rubbing alcohol and cotton pad. "Hold still," she repeated his words back to him as she came close to his face in order to wipe up the dried blood on his wound he'd received from Toomes punching him repeatedly with a metal gauntlet.
He winced at first touch, but quickly adjusted to the burning sensation against his cheek. As Danielle worked, Peter distracted himself the only way he knew how: talking with his closest friend. "How do you think Liz is gonna react when we go back to school Monday?" He could see Danielle visibly stiffen at the mention of her friend. He couldn't blame her, he was scared too. After all, he was the one that ditched her at the dance to go take down her criminal dad.
Danielle shrugged. "She'll probably be upset... We did just get her dad arrested," she answered truthfully.
"I mean, about us ditching the dance together..." he clarified. "You think anyone might notice?"
"I doubt it," she replied. "It's like in DC; no one really thought much because of bigger things that were going on. I'm sure Liz is going to be too busy worrying about her dad to think about you ditching her..."
There was a pregnant pause between the pair as they processed just how screwed up this situation was for them. Of course, Liz would never know the same people that ditched Homecoming were the people that had managed to bust her dad in a huge alien-weaponry dealing bust. But they would know...
"It's not your fault," Danielle's words eventually broke the silence. "Toomes chose to do the things he did. Even if he is Liz's dad... Who knows what he would do if he had gotten that plane intact. We did the right thing," she assured him.
"Yeah, but... You have to think sometimes... How'd he reach the point where he truly believed that what he was doing was the only way to survive?" Peter pondered as Danielle began to pack on the Neosporin to his cheek. His eyes caught hers as she pulled away briefly to glance up at him.
"Do you really believe what he told you in the warehouse?" She prompted. "That... That people higher up- people like me and Tony- screw you over and make you clean up our messes?"
"What?" He asked incredulously. "No- what? No way. Elle, I know for a fact you're not in any way... higher up or whatever Toomes was saying about you and Mr. Stark. You're right here- with me- helping me." Peter didn't realize he had reached out to hold her small hands in his larger ones until her slender fingers looped themselves to intertwine with his. "There's no way I'd think I was cleaning up any of your messes. If anything... we just sort of make messes together... Partners, remember?"
Danielle gave him a soft smile in return. "Partners," she nodded before retracting her hands from his and returning to her previous task of putting bandages on his busted cheek to keep it from getting infected. "Now, turn your head so I can see better." Peter chuckled before happily obliging.
After a few beats of silence, Peter continued with his distraction from feeling like a walking bruise. "So... I finally ask out the girl I've had a crush on for like... two years, and instead of dancing with her like I planned to at one of my first Homecoming dances, I fight her dad on the side of an invisible jet and end up setting Coney Island on fire," he had to laugh at his own terrible situation. If he didn't, who would?
Danielle did.
"Well... there's always Winter Formal," she suggested with a smirk. "I'm probably going to have to skip out on that one, but maybe you and Ned can snag some dates and go together." She lifted her hand to press on another bandage when Peter's hand came up to gently push it out of the way to give him a clear view of her face.
"Wait, you're not going to Winter Formal? Why not?"
Danielle chuckled. "I don't know if you've noticed, but every time I put on a dress to go to a dance, bad things always happen and I don't even end up getting to dance."
Peter's face contorted in confusion and mock-offense. "Hey, we danced at last year's Winter Formal."
Danielle's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't remember that," she admit. "I guess because it was an eventful night and all I can really remember was running out to find my long lost mom I thought was dead turned out to just be a HYDRA assassin."
"Huh," Peter scoffed. "As far as excuses go for not remembering our first slow dance, I guess that one's pretty good." Danielle snorted and the pair fell into a fit of laughter. After the pair sobered up, Danielle put her foot down and they were silent as she finished up pressing the last of the bandages to his cheek.
And the minute the first aid kit was closed, an idea popped into Peter's head.
"Do you... Do you wanna maybe make up for it?"
Danielle glanced up at him with narrowed eyes and a look of both confusion and curiosity. "Make up for what? Missing the dance?"
He shrugged. "Yeah. I mean- you say bad things happen when you're in a dress and I'd hardly qualify what you're wearing now as a dress." Danielle giggled as she glanced down at what remained of her dress. The pale pink color was now tainted in grey ash and black char. The skirt was half-ripped and half-burnt while the top was just covered in soot and sand. Even her curls were dampened and had returned to her natural puffiness.
She tore her attention away from her rags when Peter abruptly stood to his feet. She watched in curiosity as he pushed aside multiple chairs and tables to make a large open space in the middle of her terrace just outside her room. "Are there lights out here?" He wondered aloud before he managed to plug in the small fairy lights that hung off the side of her glass sliding doors. It wasn't much light, but it was enough for her to clearly see Peter's ecstatic smile when he turned to her and held out his cut up hand. "Can I-" he cleared his dry throat before starting over. "Can I have this dance?"
"To what music?" She prompted in a joking manner.
"Oh, right." Before she could protest, Peter took out his cracked phone he had managed to get from the back seat of Toomes' car when they had arrived to the warehouse. With a few swipes and presses, soft guitar began to play from the small speaker of his cell. He set it down before holding his hand out to her once more. "Dance with me." It wasn't a question this time, but an encouraging statement.
Danielle opened her mouth to utter an excuse, but clamped it shut. What the hell?
Despite it all, she took his hand and let Peter pull her to her feet. They were bare against the cold tile of the terrace, but it felt better than running around in the broken heels she'd left on top of the Cyclone. "I don't know how to dance," the brunette sheepishly admitted as Peter wrapped his right arm around her waist like he did when he would lift her up into the air.
"Um... I kinda learned," Peter flushed as his hand came to intertwine with hers to the right of them. He lifted up their hands, and despite the soreness, Danielle went with it. She nervously glanced between their bodies as she tried to get proper footing, but was caught off guard when Peter just took the lead on his own. His feet stepping around her awkwardly idle toes as he led her in a dance that was much less awkward them their first one almost a year ago.
"Is this... is this good?" He asked her as the music picked up and Anthony Gonzalez's acoustics echoed off the glass windows of the terrace.
Danielle let out a nervous giggle, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah. Yeah, a lot better than chasing weapons dealers." Peter joined her in laughing, but when they sobered up again, it was back to the heavy silence between them with nothing but the sounds of their soft breathing and the music coming from Peter's phone nearby.
After minutes of just swaying and spinning, as the tempo to the song picked up, Peter gained the confidence to loosen his grip on Danielle before spinning her out to his left, his hand catching hers before she spun too far. He remembered what May had taught him and spun her back in, catching her in between his arms and scoring her surprised laughter when her head fell back onto his shoulder.
He couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips when he spun her out and around one more time before slowly bringing her back to their first position of just swaying and spinning together. Their laughter slowly died down and a comfortable silence fell over the pair as the danced.
After a few moments of dancing, Danielle couldn't help but feel comfortable enough to put her head on Peter's shoulder. Her arm under his clutching him closer. The sounds of cars honking, subways hitting the metal tracks, people shouting, helicopters flying, and the music playing all became background noise to her. Because all she could hear in this moment was Peter's heartbeat beneath her head as he held her. She was safe here.
—
Danielle felt like shit.
Her entire body felt as if she were a walking bruise and with every step she took, she swore it felt like she was walking on raw muscle and bone. It hurt her just to roll out of bed the next day at noon.
Danielle had teleported Peter back to his apartment around 2 that night before having to get her purse and phone from Ned a half hour later. The minute she got home, her face was buried in a pillow. She hadn't bothered to change the night before either, so she just found herself wandering the Penthouse in pale pink rags and bare feet with a fluffy comforter wrapped over her head like a hood as she padded into the kitchen to brew some tea and grab a bag of pretzels for lunch.
As the tea brewed, Danielle eventually went back to the room to pull on some grey sweat pants and a black spaghetti strap. It was a bit brisk, so she stole a white fuzzy cardigan out of her closet of school clothes before pouring herself a mug of tea and plopping her sore body onto the tremendously stiff couch in the Penthouse living room to watch the news.
She shouldn't have been surprised when she saw the top story.
"A Stark Industries carrier plane crashed onto Coney Island beach in a fiery blaze last night. After a series of reports across New York City came in claiming that they saw the Spider-Man and an unnamed winged figure brawling atop the aircraft as it maneuvered it's way through skyscrapers, CEO Pepper Potts gave an official statement about the attempted hijacking and eventual crash landing," the blonde news anchor exclaimed before a new screen popped up on the TV displaying a video of the familiar strawberry blonde Danielle so dearly missed.
"This attempt at hijacking a Stark plane filled with very valuable and potentially dangerous technology was cowardly and thankfully thwarted by New York's very own vigilante, the Spider-Man," Pepper smiled into the camera as cameras flashed around her outside of what looked like the Avengers Tower downtown. Huh, they were probably only a few streets away. "Stark Industries is grateful for his brave and heroic actions. He, whoever he may be, has our gratitude."
The video ended and the TV screen moved back to the news anchors who continued on.
"The man responsible for the attack has since been brought in after the Spider-Man left him apprehended at the scene." Danielle's chest tightened when the TV showed a video of Toomes seen walking out of a large police SUV in handcuffs and an orange jumper. Behind him was the man she recognized as the Shocker and another shorter man she'd never seen before who she just assumed might've been someone behind the tech. "Adrian Toomes, the mastermind of the attempted heist and his associates, have been taken into custody with multiple federal charges of Attempted Hijacking, Theft of Industrial Property, Theft of Government Property, and multiple charged of Illegally Producing and Selling Weaponry. According to sources in the courtroom, they could be facing 15 to life in federal prison."
Subconsciously, Danielle had reached for the remote and shut off the TV. She stared at the black screen for what felt like minutes. She could see her bruised and battered reflection staring back at her.
They had did it. They had put him and his entire operation away for good. This was good. No more new alien weaponry out on the streets, no more Winged-Demon flying around hurting people, and no more danger.
But, seeing Toomes get taken away in cuffs on TV helped Danielle remember that that was someone's dad. That was Liz's dad. Liz was probably watching exactly what she was, and she couldn't imagine how she must've felt. Torn, broken, hurt, in disbelief, angry, sad, upset... And on top of that, Danielle wasn't even there to help her through it. She couldn't. She couldn't reach out to her in fear of what Toomes might've told her. For all she knew, Toomes made good on his threat.
"How do you think she'd feel if she knew what you did in the dark, Danielle?"
Goosebumps covered Danielle's arms and the hair on her neck stood up on their ends. He wouldn't expose their identity, would he? He could do it out of revenge, but where would it get him? He'd still be in prison. All he'd accomplish would be hurting his daughter more by letting her know her closest friend and her boyfriend are the vigilantes that locked away her dad.
He wouldn't expose their identities, Danielle assured herself.
He wouldn't.
—
Monday rolled around just as fast as Sunday went by. Danielle still felt like a walking bruise, but one that was yellowing rather than a blooming purple one.
She woke up bright and early that morning. She showered for an hour, being as thorough as she could with getting the ash, soot, and sand out of her hair and the scent off of her body. There were a few blotches of dried blood that washed away under the water only to expose all the blooming bruises across her legs, arms, and stomach.
When she got out, she made sure to clean and replace the bandages on her burned hand. It was a bit painful, but the redness was already bring to fade thankfully.
After spending twenty minutes in her closet trying to figure out what to wear on Er first day back to school after the big fight with Toomes and her failed attempt at trying to go to her first Homecoming, Danielle pulled on some jeans, a white blouse with short sleeves, and a beige cardigan to try and cover up as much skin as she could. Her hair was still damp so she had no choice but to French braid it to the side. And although her feet were still killing her, she slid on some Vans, trying not to suffocate her poor toes that alread suffered a night of intense fighting while in heels.
Before leaving the Penthouse, Danielle made sure to stuff a few granola bars and a water bottle into her back pack and nearly forgot her phone on her way out. Truthfully, she wished she had left it back in her room. It would mean she wouldn't be forced to look through her missed calls and new messages from the past weekend.
Four missed calls from Jack and a few unseen text messages. Two missed calls from Tony and only one unseen text message. Ten missed calls from Happy and about a million unseen text messages. And then only one missed call from Liz.
Liz.
She hadn't even realized she was going to be facing Liz today on her first day back after taking down her best friend's dad. How would she be? Would she even be there? Would she hate her for ditching Homecoming the same day her dad gets arrested and out it together who her and Peter were?
So many questions swirled around Danielle's head as she made her way to school. Maybe it was all this conflicted thinking that made today's trip surprisingly short. One minute she was walking down the stairs at the Manhattan train stations and suddenly she was walking up the stairs at Midtown Tech.
Almost immediately after walking through the front doors of the school was she reminded of the event of Friday night.
"Did you hear about the dude they found webbed to one of the buses behind the school?" Danielle overheard one student say to another as she passed by. "People think Spider-Man might go here to Midtown."
"It would make sense," another student piped up. "He was at the Decathlon competition where our team was at in DC."
"What about Eris," the same student from before asked. "You think she goes here too?"
"Pfft. No way. She's an Avenger. She's gotta be in like college at least."
Danielle shook her head at the inconclusive conversation and continued on down the hall, her eyes peeled for Liz or even Betty, Seymour, and the rest of her clique. Luckily, didn't have to search long. At the end of the main hall where the front office was located, Danielle spotted the familiar figure of Miss Allen, Liz's mom. She was standing near the wall of trophies with a box of belongings Danielle could only assume were Liz's, who stood a few feet away talking with Peter. It dawned on Danielle then as she watched Liz converse with her partner with tears in her eyes that Liz was leaving.
The brunette hadn't even realized she was walking towards her until she was suddenly right in front of Liz who had jut finished talking with Peter. Standing face to face with her now, she couldn't help the words that left her mouth as she spoke, "You're leaving?"
Liz's frown deepens as she looked up at her friend. Her usual bright-eyed look gone and replaced with puffy red eyes and a tear-stained frown. "My dad got arrested Friday night... Did you see the news?" Danielle could only give her a stiff nod in response, too scared to speak in fear that her cracked voice would give her away. Liz sniffled, "The trial's soon and he suggested we should get out of town for a while... For our safety... We're moving to Oregon."
"For how long?" Danielle couldn't help but ask.
Liz's eyes began watering all over again as they fell down to her feet. "Permanently," her voice broke when she woke, just like Danielle's heart. If she had known that by taking down Toomes, she'd be losing her best friend in the process...
No.
She couldn't think like that. Taking down Toomes was as much as for Iz as it was for the rest of New York. He was a danger. This was what was best.
Liz sniffled. "Remember that night we snuck out onto my roof and drank all of my parents' daiquiris while my dad was away on one of his business trips?" She laughed through the tears.
A watery laugh escaped Danielle's lips. She nodded. "The night you told me about your seven minutes in heaven with Flash back in middle school?"
"And that he was too scared to do anything we sat in the closet quoting Vines until we could come out?" Liz finished for her with a watery laugh of her own. "I'm gonna miss our Sophomore-Senior Outreach Program..." She gave Danielle a sad smile that formed into a frown. "I'm gonna miss you, Ellie."
Danielle couldn't help it as she ran into Liz, wrapping her arms around her as the pair clung to each other in a tight hug for what could've very well been the last time. "I'm so sorry," Danielle cried into Liz's shoulder. She could feel Peter's eyes on her as she held on tightly to her best friend.
Her heart shattered even more when she felt Liz's hand come up to soothingly rub her back as she whispered back, "It's not your fault." Oh, if only she knew...
"Liz," Danielle heard her mom call from the exit door behind her.
Liz reluctantly released Danielle and forced herself to smile as the tears continued to fall down her cheeks nonetheless. "Promise me you'll call, alright?"
Danielle nodded, not bothering to wipe away her own tears. "I promise..." She wouldn't keep it simply out of guilt.
"It was nice getting to be you friend, Ellie," were the last words Liz Allen ever said to Danielle West before turning in her heel and walking out of her life for good. As she walked away, all Danielle felt was empty. As if a hole had formed in her chest.
It was weird... It was hard to imagine Midtown without Liz. Sure, Peter had been her first friend she'd ever met, but Liz was her first girl friend. She taught her how to properly pop a pimple, how to get blood out of cloth, how to pick out the best outfits, how to get invited to parties, how to play flip-cup, how to apply make-up, how to French-braid, how to get out of exercising during gym, how to take shots of Tequila, how to sneak out of class, how to lie to your parental figures, how to walk in heels, how to have fun– how to be a normal kid. And now she was just... gone.
Danielle hadn't even realized she was crying until she felt a firm arm wrap around her shoulder that pulled her into a tight hug. It was only when she buried face into Peter's chest that she let it all out.
Why did this life have to be so hard?
—
A/N: Well, that was fun... I always dreaded writing the end of Danielle and Liz's friendship. I knew that I wrote Liz as kind of an oblivious friend when it came to Danielle, but I do feel like Liz did really have an impact with Danielle. From the beginning when I first decided to write Liz and Danielle as friends, I knew I wanted her to have a large role to play in her story. Because while Peter was Danielle's first friend, there was only so much 'normal' high school girl experiences Danielle could learn from him. That's why Danielle has different friendships, because although they are wildly different, each one brings out different side of her. Liz's just was the most prominent up until she had Peter. Well, all of Peter.
Reviews:
Pinney: Aw, thank you. I try to be very descriptive as much as I can, but I'm glad you like it. And YES, finally. A TASTE of some romance here for you.
PrettyRecklessLaura: Here is your new fix!
zikashigaku: oh, yes, the LENGTH. would you believe me if I told you THIS tiny chapter took longer than that MONSTER?! because it totally did. And Danielle totally could've had Ned call Jack, but really what would he have done? Anyway, here's a sliver of romance for you.
Spider12man7272: Yoooooooo
CrackHeadBlonde: ACTION! ROMANCE! Now time for the angst and sadness. Suffer. :)
