A/N: Bit of sadness, bit of fluff, bit of comedy, and a good chunk of action.
Chapter songs: Wild Heart by the Bleachers for the first part, Netflix Trip by AJR for the second part, Talk Fast by 5 Seconds of Summer for the third part, and COPYCAT by Billie Eilish for the final scene and for a certain dramatic entrance.
Headcanon of the Chapter: Danielle has definitely stolen at least half of her pajamas from either Jack or Wanda, including, but not limited to: hoodies, sweaters, cardigans, leggings, sweat pants, slippers, robes, and fuzzy socks.
—
"Are you sure you're alright?"
Danielle nodded despite the fact that her eyes were still red and her cardigan sleeves still had drops of tears on them. "I'm fine, Peter. Really."
Peter didn't really buy it, but he also didn't want to push her. As much as he had had a crush on Liz since eight grade, he understood he was never as close to her as Danielle had been the past year and a half. They had become just they way him and Ned were. He couldn't imagine what he would do without Ned, which is why he couldn't imagine how much Danielle was hurt by Liz's departure from Midtown.
"You know, we don't have to go to Decathlon practice, Elle," Peter tried to talk her out as they walked through the crowded hallways to the near empty library for after school practice. "We can just... hang out on the bleachers. I can sneak off to grab some snacks from the drug store a few blocks away-"
"Peter," Danielle cut him off. He glanced down to his side to see her bleary brown eyes glancing back up at him. "I'm fine. It's just gonna take some time to get used to it is all... Losing people isn't new to me." He watched her gaze fall back down to her feet as they walked.
"It shouldn't have to be, Elle."
Danielle paused for a moment at the library entrance. She turned back to him, blinked a few times at what he had just said then continued on as if she hadn't fully processed his words. Peter sighed. Sometimes he wished he knew what went on inside her head...
"There they are!" Abe shouted as Danielle and Peter made their way through the bookshelves in the library to make it to where the rest of the team was already waiting at their usual table in the back. Danielle spotted Michelle glancing at her throw her curly bangs as she took a seat at the end of the table beside her and Peter took the seat across from her.
"Well, now that everyone's here, let's get started," Mr. Harrington began with a wide grin as he addressed the team of teenagers. "I know that it's been a wild ride, but I felt it best to start our first Decathlon meeting on a happy note. So, uh, on that note-" The team began to cheer and clap as Harrington pulled the large Nationals trophy from off the ground beside him and set it into the table. "Congratulations, Decathlon National Champions!"
"Except, Danielle and Peter," Flash exclaimed in the midst of the cheering, earning a glare from Peter and an unimpressed look from Danielle. Cindy was the one to smack him on the arm at his off-handed comment. "Ow! What? They weren't there!"
"Flash, you didn't even answer a single question," Ned stated.
"Pfft! Yeah, I did!"
Abe shook his head. "That is false," he said in a monotone voice that caused the rest of the team to chuckle.
"Anyway," Mr. Harrington grimaced as he gestured to the trophy beside him. "I'm gonna have to put this back in the trophy case soon, but it's just for motivation right now at this practice," he explained. "I'm sure mot of you have been made aware of the abrupt departure of our former captain, Liz..."
"Yeah, it was all over the news about what happened to her dad," Charles remarked, his eyes wide with disbelief. Danielle frowned and crossed her arms tighter around her middle.
Cindy reached across the table to smack him just like she had Flash. "Empathy, Charles!" She scolded.
"Yes, well, in light of recent events," Mr. Harrington continued. "We will need a new team captain next year, so I'm appointing Michelle."
Danielle immediately perked up as her and the rest of the team turned to face the brunette at the end of the table and applauded. She smiled and Danielle could've sworn she saw a small hint of blush at the recognition, but thought nothing of it after that.
"Uh, thank you," her friend muttered awkwardly in response to all the attention. "My friends actually call me MJ." Danielle couldn't help but making a face at the name. She'd never called her that before.
"I thought you didn't have any friends," Ned remarked off-handedly.
Michelle awkwardly shifted in her seat. "I... didn't..." It was then Danielle caught the knowing glance she threw at her throw her eyelashes. The brunette couldn't help but smile in return.
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Peter begin to shift around in his chair. When she glanced to the side, she could see the concerned look on his face as he stared down at whatever was on his phone screen. "I... I gotta go..." He stammered as he began to grab his bag and sneakily slid out of his chair. He could see the questioning look in Danielle's eyes as he moved.
"Hey, where are you going?" Michelle asked, freezing him in his place as she stared down her nose at him, her piercing brown eyes staring into his soul in hopes of extracting his deepest darkest secrets... Holy crap, she was terrifying. "What are you hiding, Peter?"
Danielle could see the utter horror written all over her partner's face, but she managed to remain stoic as her two friend stared across the table at one another. She glanced back and forth between the two on either side of her.
The tension was thick up until a grin broke out on Michelle's face. "I'm just kidding. I don't care. Bye," she spared him a small wave before returning to the meeting at hand. Danielle and Peter shared a brief look of relief before he dashed off into the library shelves.
While Michelle began to go on about drills, all Danielle could think about was where Peter was going and what was on his phone that made him leave? She assumed it was Spider-Man related because of his terrified reaction to Michelle questioning his motives, but what could possibly be going on with Spider-Man business right now? Was it Tony-?
"What are you staring at, West?"
Danielle clutched her chest in shock at Michelle's words bursting into the forefront of her mind and shoving all other worries away as she tuned back in to the present of what was going on around her. It seemed the team was having their own discussion down the table while Michelle was facing towards her, a curious look in her eye.
"Uh, nothing," Danielle stammered. Michelle frowned as if to show she didn't believe her words. "What?"
Michelle only shook her head. "Nothing." And with that the pair went back to giving their full attention to the Decathlon meeting.
Truth be told, it was a bit weird being in Decathlon without Liz there. She was such a big part of the team and was the reason Danielle had joined to begin with. But, Michelle was good as captain as well. She took charge, she made helpful suggestions about certain questioning techniques, and kept the team engaged through the drills. Michelle was great at her new job the first day in. It went to prove that despite the hole Liz left behind at Midtown, there was always people there to help fill it in their own way. Michelle had more than enough potential to fill that hole. Did Danielle?
By the end of the meeting, the team was both exhausted and riled up. Mr. Harrington, true to his word, had to go return the trophy to the case after practice was released. He waved to the team members as they packed up their belongings and headed for the library exit to go home.
Danielle was content with plugging her earphones into her ears and taking a nap on the subway ride to the Penthouse without having to converse with anyone. But, unfortunately, Flash Thompson had something else in kind as he dashed up beside Danielle and nudged her with his arm to grab her attention. "So, West, Liz is officially out of reach and I was wondering if you wanted a ride home?"
Danielle caught sight of Michelle stifling a laughs a few feet away, overhearing the conversation take place. The brunette couldn't even bother to hide her distaste when she retorted, "In which car? The one Spider-Man wrecked?" She watched as the door drained from Flash's face and took the opportunity to escape by quickly walking away towards the library exit, Michelle not far behind her.
"Nice one, West," she complimented her as they walked side-by-side.
"Thanks, MJ," she replied with a smile. "Why didn't you ever tell me to call you that before?" She asked as they opened the library doors that led into the main hallway.
Michelle frowned and shrugged, her eyes falling down to her feet. "I don't know... I didn't really think we were friends until you asked me to go with you to Homecoming. Then it made me realize that maybe I wasn't alone after all," she explained.
Danielle's frown deepens at her words. "I am sorry I ditched you on Friday. I had to get Peter home after he got sick," she lied through her teeth.
"Yeah, I know," she replied. "But I had fun even after you left. I would've never gone though if it hadn't been for you," she admitted with a broad smile.
"Glad someone got to have fun that night," Danielle muttered as the pair trailed behind the rest of the team as they eventually reached the school's main entrance and the stairs that led down to the street where parent's cars were already lining up to pick up their kids.
As Danielle's eyes scanned the street offhandedly, she spotted an unmarked armored grey car off to the end of the street that looked al too familiar. She hadn't seen a sight like that in a while...
"My ride's here," Michelle's stated, bringing Danielle back to the present again. "You sure you don't want a ride or did you just turn down Flash for the hell of it?"
Danielle chuckled as she shook her head. "No, I'm fine with sticking to the subway for today. I'll see you tomorrow, though."
"Yep. See ya." Michelle gave her a small smile before walking off down the stairs towards her car down below. She peeked out the window to wave at her friend who was already waking across the street towards the football field. Danielle waved back as she watched the car drive away.
Well, at least she'd always have MJ.
—
When Danielle eventually made it to the Penthouse, she was tired and exhausted from her long day at school and lack of sleep the past few days. She decided it was in her best interests just to ignore her couple of homework assignments and just take the day to chill out. After all, she had just lost a friend that day.
Upon entering the Penthouse, Danielle paid no mind to the TV switched in in the living room as she made her way to her bedroom down the hall. Truthfully, she hadn't noticed due to the fact that she'd just been sent a text from Peter with an attached image.
From: Peter Parker Picked A Patch of Pickles Pepperes
To: Bend and Snap
U'll never guess where I'm right now
[Attachment]
Danielle pressed the picture and smiled.
It was a goofy selfie of Peter absoluteky beaming as he stood in front of a large Quinjet parked on the landing pad at what she could only assume was the Compound. That was probably why he'd left Decathlon practice so soon, she figured.
From: Bend and Snap
To: Peter Parker Picked A Patch of Pickled Peppers
Lol. Awesome. Tell Happy n Tony I said Hi!
She hit send and smiled down to the picture he had sent. She hadn't seen him smile that way for a while.
She saved the photo to her phone and tossed it onto her bed along with her backpack. It bounced a bit, but she paid no mind as she kicked off her shoes and tossed them into the corner of her large walk-in closer along with the rest of her designer brands. Finally able the breathe, her bandaged and blistered feet stung as she walked across the carpet of her closet to change. She discarded her cardigan, jeans, and shirt to to change into a much more comfortable over-sized yellow hoodie she'd stolen from Jack over the Summer and a pair of matching black leggings.
It still hurt to walk with each step because of her blisters, but after rinsing them off under the bath faucet and covering them with some fluffy socks, she felt fine. While in the bathroom, she took the time to pull her hair out of her messy bun and rinse her face off from what little make-up she had thrown on that morning.
Danielle's hand reached out to turn on the faucet and she closed her eyes as she dipped her head down to splash the cool water onto her face. Her fingers gently wiped away the sweat, dirt, blush, foundation, mascara, eyeliner, and leftover ash from her face. She took a deep breath in and when she looked up at herself in the mirror, a dark figure loomed behind he run the bathroom doorway.
The teen spun around at an alarming speed, her hands up in a defensive position as she was prepared to fight her adversary... Only to find out it wasn't an adversary at all...
"Hi, sis," her older brother smiled down at her from where he leaned in the doorway. His eyes narrowed at her appearance. "Is that my hoodie?"
Danielle let out a sigh of relief, her heart still pounding as she shut off the faucet and grabbed the rubber band she'd dropped on the counter. "Did you have to sneak up on me like that?" She grumbled, using the hair-tie to wrap up her hair again as she brushed past her brother. "I've had a long day," she muttered before climbing up onto her large bed and falling face-first into the cushiony pillows.
She heard Jack chuckle from behind her. "You've had a long weekend, apparently," he stated. "You wanna talk about it?"
"I want to nap," came her muffled response. They both knew that wasn't gonna happen because he was here for either one of two reasons: she was about to get her ass handed to about the Coney Island incident or Rae finally turned up dead in Hudson River... Something about how light-hearted Jack was speaking made her think maybe it was option two, but she didn't want to get ahead of herself just yet.
"Dani..." she heard the impatience in her brother's tone and instinctively groaned like every younger sister has done in response to their big brother annoying them at least once in their life.
She reluctantly rolled onto her back and winced at the light coming in from the terrace windows. Which reminded her... "How did you even get in here?"
Jack shrugged. "I broke into the security system. Wasn't that hard," he answered truthfully. "My turn for questions: what happened Friday?" Danielle let out a heavy sigh. Might as well get it over with, right?
She slowly sat up into a sitting position, her legs crossing beneath her as she got comfortable in between her sheets. She glanced up at her brother who stood at the foot of her bed, watching her intently and waiting for an answer. She sighed once more before asking, "Where should I start?"
"Were you there? With the Spider-Geek on that plane?" Her eyes fell to her fuzzy socks as she nodded. "How'd you know the Vulture was going to attack Tony's shipment?"
Danielle shrugged. "We figured it out. Peter spoke with Toomes and he had said something to him about going out of town on business and apparently Happy had mentioned something about 'Moving Day'," she explained. "We connected the dots from there."
"How'd you take down the plane?"
Danielle's frown deepened. "We weren't planning on crashing it," she admitted. "I got inside and had to override the auto-pilot while Peter fought Toomes outside of the plane. It was difficult to fly, but I tried to. I managed to steer clear of the city, but the fight got bad and... We crashed on the beach, and..."
Jack took a tentative step forward and carefully sat down at the edge of the mattress. "What happened on the beach?"
"It's a blur..." she replied. "It was hot. There was a lot of fire. I had sand everywhere on me... Then he came out of nowhere and attacked us. He kept punching Peter and when I tried to stop him he pulled my hair... Then, I don't remember what happened, but he exploded and... and I burnt my hand..." She held up her bandaged hand for emphasis.
"Peter pulled Toomes out of the fire and we left before the firefighters got there," she paused and chuckled abruptly. Jack was surprised to hear his sister chuckle in the middle of her rather intense recollection. "...he said he left a note for them to find Toomes and the packages that survived the crash," she explained, the small smirk still on her face,
"That all?" Jack questioned further.
Danielle shrugged and glanced up at him. "We stole a car..." she admitted.
"Okay-"
"Then we crashed it and almost got crushed by a pole..."
Jack blinked in surprise. "Please tell me that's all that happened."
Danielle grimaced. "...we got a building dropped onto us..."
She watched as her brother stood up from the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose and screwing his eyes shut in frustration and disbelief. "Oh my gosh, why did I think letting you go out into the world alone was a good idea?"
"We stopped him, didn't we?" She protested.
"You could've gotten yourself killed, Danielle!" He snapped.
"But I didn't! I'm fine, Jack!" She shot back. "I'm fine! Peter's fine! Toomes is in jail! Everything's fine and alright because we have each other's backs and look out for each other. We're a team." Jack peered up at her with an expression she couldn't quite read. She took a deep breath in as she sat up and looked her brother in the eye and told him, "I'm not alone, Jack..."
He let out a heavy sigh, his eyes traveling out the terrace windows before falling back onto his sister's pleading look. "I believe you," he eventually relented. He watched the surprise flicker across her features as he dug into his back pocket and held up two familiar navy-blue metal pieces in his hand. "Which is why I'm here to return these."
Danielle beamed up at him as she took back her suit pieces. She'd missed them. Especially after going a night fighting in heels, a dress, and a flimsy fabric mask. She glanced back up at her brother and smiled gratefully. "Thank you."
"You proved you earned it back," he told her truthfully. "Both you and the Spider-Geek."
She rolled her eyes. "Peter," she corrected.
"Whatever his name is, he's keeping you safe and responsible... And I appreciate it," he explained. "But, please... don't go getting buried alive by buildings, committing grand theft auto, or hijacking multi-million dollar planes anymore. I already had to pull out three gray hairs when I woke up Saturday morning." Danielle giggled at how distraught he looked from the thought of aging. "It's not funny, Dani. I'm barely 22, I shouldn't have gray hairs yet. If Steve never had any, I shouldn't be getting them."
Danielle immediately sobered up at his words and mention of Steve. Jack noticed almost immediately after the words left his mouth that they would have that affect. He expected her to say something melancholy about missing him and Wanda, but instead he watched a small smirk appear on her lips as she muttered matter-of-factly, "I'm pretty sure I gave Steve his fair share of gray hairs. You probably did, too."
Jack scoffed. "Probably." Danielle smiled knowingly down at her suit pieces, her mind wondering to easier times when she'd used to play piano and have lunch and gossip with her mentor and closest thing she had to a father-figure in years. "Hey," her brother's voice beckoned her back to the present. "He'd be proud of you," he told her with sincerity.
Danielle smiled at her brother before standing up from her spot sitting near her headboard. She wobbled her way across the mattress and stood before her brother, almost a foot taller than him on top of the bed. He gave her a lopsided smile in return and it seemed they had the same idea when her arms came to wrap around his neck and his arms came to wrap around her middle.
"I love you," she heard him mumble into her shoulder as he held her tightly.
She squeezed back and whispered in reply, "I love you, too."
After a few more much needed moments of sibling reconciliation, Jack peeled his arms back from around his sister and gave her a knowing look when she frowned in protest. "I know, but... work," he explained vaguely. But, she knew how it went. She didn't have to like it, but... she knew. Jack pinched her right cheek affectionately. "Stay safe. I better not see you on the news for another month, understood?"
Danielle giggled when he let go and started making his way out the door. She jumped off the bed and was quick to follow. "No promises," she chuckled as they made their way into the living room. She stopped following him when he made his way towards the open elevator. "Jack," she called after him just as he entered. He turned back to face her expectantly. "Don't stress yourself too much. You're doing great." She caught a glimpse of the tears in his eyes as he smiled back at her just before the elevator door closed on him, leaving Danielle alone wit her thoughts in the giant Penthouse once again...
Well, she thought, might as well take that nap.
—
Danielle wasn't sure just how long she'd been cuddled up beneath her comforter blanket and smushed between her two fluffy pillows, but apparently it wasn't long enough.
A yard away, sitting atop her nightstand, was her phone ringing to the sound of the Star Wars' main theme. A ringtone she recognized as Peter's. He must've been back from the Compound.
The brunette groaned as she pushed herself up and reached out of her comfortable cocoon to grab ahold of the device. She slid left on the screen to answer and pressed it to her ear. "Hm?" She hummed a half-hearted greeting.
"Elle? I need your help," Peter answered, his voice laced with worry and panic. Danielle was instantly on alert. "How fast can you get to the apartment?"
The brunette quickly threw off the blankets over her and jumped out of bed. "I'm on my way right now," she replied as she dashed to the closet and slipped on some tennis shoes. "What happened? Do I need to bring my suit?" She paused at her dresser where she'd set down her two suit pieces.
"Um... I think it's best if you didn't," Peter relied meekly.
Danielle opened her mouth to question him further about what this was all about, when her attention was caught on the sound of shouting in the background of the call.
"How could you keep this from me?! You better have a good explanation for this, Peter Benjamin Parker!" It was May Parker.
Danielle felt the blood drain from her body as realization set in. "Oh, God..." May knew... "I'll be there in ten," she stated as she grabbed the two suit pieces of her dresser along with her keys.
"Minutes?!" Peter shouted back incredulously.
"Seconds," Danielle replied from directly beside him.
"Jesus," he jumped, startled by her sudden appearance beside him in the middle of his room.
"Sorry," she grimaced. When she glanced down she noticed she wasn't the only one who got their suit back. Peter was dressed fully in his Spider-Man suit, save for the mask that was dropped on the floor beside an empty brown bag.
There was a sudden crash coming from the kitchen and Danielle flinched. It wasn't hard to piece together what happened.
"You didn't know she was home before you put it on?" She hissed at him.
Peter threw his hands up in defense. "I called out for her, she didn't answer, I figured it was safe!" He whisper-shouted back at her. "Besides, she's never home this early."
"She's not taking it well?" Danielle guessed.
"God dammit!" Came the shout from the kitchen. "How could I have been so blind!"
Peter turned back to Danielle. "Yeah, no, not exactly..."
There were loud footsteps coming down the hallway. Danielle heard them before May appeared in the doorway, a scowl on her face and a wine glass in hand. "Peter, I swear to- Danielle?" She paused momentarily to take in the fact that her nephew wasn't alone in the room. The pair of teens froze beneath her gaze as she glanced back and forth between the two. She looked at Danielle, then looked at Peter, looked down at the suit, then back to Danielle's unsurprised expression. It didn't take her long to piece it together. "You... She knew?"
Peter grimaced and Danielle nodded guiltily. "Yes," the both answered reluctantly.
"She knew... But you couldn't bother to tell me?" She snapped. "Eleven years! I've taken care of you for eleven years. Fed you, bathed you, looked after you... put band-aids on your boo-boo's for eleven years, and you didn't tell me?" Danielle felt her heart constrict at the sight of May crying before her out of frustration. She couldn't just do nothing.
Her feet carried her forward as she took a tentative step towards Peter's bawling aunt. "He-he didn't tell me either, Mrs. Parker," she explained in a soft, comforting voice. "I... I found out by accident, just like you... But, he explained why he didn't tell me. If you sit down and listen, maybe he can explain to you too...?" She suggested.
May sniffled and glanced up at Danielle, her eyes brimming with tears. She looked at her, then back to her nephew. Peter gave her a look of silent pleading. "Okay," she hiccuped. "But not here..." Danielle and Peter both gave her looks of shared confusion. "The neighbors are nosy and after hearing me break my mug, they probably already dialed the cops," she explained.
"Okay..." Danielle began, looking over her shoulder at Peter for any ideas. He shrugged, empty. "Why don't we go to my house so you two can talk?"
May sniffled and glanced up at the teenage girl. "Your guardians wouldn't mind?"
"I'm pretty sure she couldn't care less," she answered bluntly.
"Okay... Where do you live?"
—
"Holy shit..." May Parker muttered in awe at the size of the enormous Penthouse as her, Peter, and Danielle entered from the elevator. She stumbled forward as her eyes adjusted to the bright surroundings of the light fixtures above, the chandelier in the foyer, and the millions of lights just outside the large windows down below. The sun was beginning to set, casting a bright orange, pink, and yellow, reflection along the glass of all the skyscrapers across New York, giving May a perfect view of the city from where she told frozen in place in the living room, looking out at the sight.
Back in the kitchen, Danielle and Peter were whispering amongst each other, trying to figure out what the hell they were going to tell May to try and get out of this one.
"You think it was a good idea bringing her here?" Peter asked anxiously. "I mean, finding out your nephew is a crime-fighting vigilante in tights is crazy enough, but processing the fact in an enormous penthouse that probably costs more than we're worth combined is a little overwhelming, don't you think?"
Danielle shrugged. "I thought it was best to bring her here because if the Penthouse is crazy enough to off-put her, finding out you're Spider-Man should be easy enough," she reasoned with him. She watched as he let out a sigh of relief at her explanation. "...hopefully," she added to which he turned back around to stare at her with wide eyes full of fear and concern.
"You live here?" May called out from the living room once she regained the ability to formulate words.
Danielle nodded. "Uh, yeah... My guardian is a bit... eccentric. But she's never here, so it's kinda just me up here," she explained. When May didn't reply, Peter and Danielle exchanged worried looks. Was this the calm before the storm?
"Hey, May, did you want something to eat?" Peter called out to her. "I think Thai deliver up here!"
"I don't want Thai," May retorted as she spun on her heel to face the teens once again. "I want to know why my nephew has been swinging around in a mask fighting drug lords, weapons dealers, and serial killers behind my back for over a year!" Danielle cringed as Peter winced underneath his aunt's scrutiny. "I mean... You'd think that after what happened to your uncle, you would have learned how vicious the world out there is! It doesn't care who you are, or-or what you do, or whether or not you have a family!"
"May," Peter stepped out from behind the kitchen island towards his aunt. "What happened to Uncle Ben was what made me want to go out there in the first place... I realized that- that I had gifts and I could use them to help people out there like us from losing people close to them," he explained.
"No," May shook her head firmly and crossed her arms over her chest. "After your parents... Ben and I vowed to take care of you and to keep you safe no matter what... I already lost him, I won't lose you too." Danielle watched as Peter's shoulders fell and he visibly deflated.
Danielle pursed her lips. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing. Peter called her to help. So, she was going to help. They were in this together after all... If May knew about Spider-Man, it was best if she knew about who his partner was, too.
"You're not going to lose him, Mrs. Parker," Danielle spoke up as she too made her way around the kitchen island towards the aunt and nephew. "Peter is capable to handle himself out there, I've seen it first hand. But, even if he couldn't, he's not alone..."
Peter must've caught on to what she was doing. She saw his head pick up at her words. He glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes full of question. Was she really sure about this?
"What are you talking about, Danielle?" May asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.
Danielle let out a sigh before holding her hand up. Without saying a word, the remote controller that had been lying on the coffee table suddenly flew into her open palm in the blink of an eye.
May blinked once, then twice. She stared wide-eyed at the remote that hd jut flown across the room, then up at Danielle, then to her nephew. Peter grimaced. May's jaw dropped as she turned back to Danielle. "You... You're... You're that girl... You're-you're-"
The brunette pursed her lips as she hit the power button on the remote and flipped on the TV. Plastered on the screen was a newscast on Eris and Spider-Man. It projected a far-away image of the web-slinger and the telekinetic hero fighting side by side on the ferry from a few weeks ago.
"I'm her," Danielle explained.
May's jaw hit the floor as she stared at the brunette in utter shock. She remained in a stoic state for what seemed like minutes before she turned to her nephew. "Did she get you into this?"
"No!" Peter quickly assured her. "I- I was Spider-Man before I met Elle. It-It happened by chance; us meeting." His aunt only stared at him, her expression unreadable. "Maybe we should start from the beginning..."
—
About an hour later, the two enhanced teens found themselves seated at the large couch across from a somewhat tipsy May Parker.
Peter had successfully explained his transformation from average teenage boy to crime fighting spider. Danielle explained how they met and how they both found out about one another's double life. Then they both collectively explained the past events with Toomes, Tony, and alien weapons.
"So... Stark gave you that suit? He encouraged this?" May prompted near the end of the explanation. She took a long sip of her third wine glass. Danielle had felt bad and decided to give her the wine bottle from the alcohol cabinet in the kitchen to help wind her down. It was working a lot better than she thought it would.
"Well, he upgraded my suit," Peter explained. "I used to swing around New York in sweats before Mr. Stark gave me the new suit you saw me in. It's actually a lot safer than the last one. It has a parachute... uh, a reconnaissance drone... oh, and it has an AI that I can talk to," he stated matter-of-factly.
"He named it Karen," Danielle added with a lopsided grin.
May blinked.
"So, you're an Avenger now?"
Peter and Danielle exchanged glances at one another before turning back to May. "Well, not exactly-" Danielle began to explain at the same time Peter replied, "He offered, but-"
"Wait, what?" Danielle turned to face Peter, her eyes narrowed at him in confusion. "He offered to make you an Avenger?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Happy took me upstate and Mr. Stark offered me a spot on the team," he explained. "I turned him down, though. I told him I just wanted to stay close to the ground as a vigilante."
"Oh," was all Danielle said in response.
"So, you're not an Avenger?" May cut in.
"No," the pair answered simultaneously.
"You just..." she trailed off as she gestured to the TV screen still playing a news story on the pair. "Fight crime together?"
"Yeah, we're partners," Peter answered. May's eyes drifted downcast as she swallowed hard. Danielle could tell she was clearly having a hard time processing this. She had difficulty accepting Peter's secret as well due to how fearful she was for his safety, but she understood Peter's strength and abilities just like he did with her and they both managed to hold their own while also looking out for one another. A team.
"Mrs. Parker," Danielle gently set her hand on May's leg, beckoning her attention to her once more. "I know it's a little hard to accept... knowing he's out there fighting crime and putting himself in danger every night, but he's not alone," she explained. "I can't tell you the amount of times Peter has saved me and has been there when I needed him. He looks out for me, and in return I look out for him. We're partners." She turned towards Peter and smiled at him. He smiled back, an unspoken 'thank you' hidden behind his eyes.
Danielle turned back to May and saw her eyes lingering between the pair. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to your nephew," she stated. May let a singular tear trickle down her cheek as she took Danielle's hand resting on her knee in her own and gave it a firm squeeze to show her gratitude. Danielle returned the gesture with a wide grin.
Meanwhile, beside them, Peter's head shot up. Something was wrong and he felt it.
The hairs in his arm and back of his neck stood in their ends and the ringing in his ears began to grow louder and louder as danger approached. Something was coming. Instincts took over as he slowly began to stand to his feet, his eyes searching around the main area of the Penthouse for where the danger was lurking.
May noticed her nephew's odd behavior and glanced up at him in concern. Danielle, seeing her facial expression, spun around to catch sight of Peter standing up, his eyes darting around the room and his fists clenched at his sides as if he were ready for a fight. "Peter-" she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when the TV abruptly flicked off, quickly followed by the rest of the lights in the Penthouse.
Peter's senses were going off the charts as Danielle and May stood to their feet as well, their eyes darting back and forth trying to adjust to the darkness and figure out what was coming.
"What's going on?" May asked out loud.
Peter tuned her out and focused on where the ringing was most prominent. His eyes darted to the kitchen behind him... nothing. The hallway past Danielle... nothing. The windows looking out over the city... haywire.
Just then, shadows appeared in the every window pane across the room as men dressed in dark body armor with large guns came swinging down off of ropes attached to them. Danielle and Peter seemed to notice them at the exact same time and had the exact same reaction.
"Run!" Peter shouted, Danielle grabbing ahold of May's arm to pull her with them as they jumped onto the couch cushions and over the back of it, landing behind the furniture just as the armored men came crashing into the windows. May screamed at the sound of glass shattering and bullets suddenly being fired at them. "Get down!" Peter threw an arm around Danielle who held onto his aunt as they ducked down close to the floor as bullets began to riddle every inch of the Penthouse. Brick, marble, wood, and cushion flew everywhere as these men held their triggers down and laid waste to Danielle's home.
"Oh my God!" May shouted over the chaos.
"Get her out of here!" Peter shouted into Danielle's ear as the gunshots began to slow down. Danielle nodded as Peter let her go and it was just her holding onto May. On moment, they were huddled behind the couch, and the next they were inside of the guest bedroom's closet down the hall.
"Holy shit-!" May gasped just before Danielle slapped her hand over her mouth to quiet her.
"Ssh," she hissed before slowly removing her hand. Danielle turned to her left where the door was and with a flick of her wrist, twisted snapped the lock down. "I'll be right back," she told her as she put one piece of her suit against her abdomen and let it I case her body and the other behind her ear to let it mask the bottom half of her face. "Stay here." Then she vanished.
Danielle reappeared beside Peter behind the couch once more. He had already pulled his mask on, but was still wearing his normal clothes. "Is she safe?" Peter asked. Danielle nodded and flinched at the close proximity of a bullet ripping the couch cushion above them. "Karen, how many are there?!"
"I'm detecting 13 life forms within a five yard radius of your position beside Miss Harper. All hostile," the AI replied, patching into Danielle's earpiece on command.
Then, for the first time, Danielle heard one of them speak as a deep male voice shouted, "Grenade- going out!" There was a hissing sound following by the soft clinking of metal against tile just behind Danielle. When her and Peter turned, they caught sight of the tiny metal ball a few feet away from them.
"Shit-!" Danielle shouted before grabbing ahold of Peter and teleporting them from behind the couch just as the grenade went off. The pair reappeared behind the much more thick kitchen island a few yards away.
"Who are these guys?!" Peter shouted in an exasperated time of voice.
"I have no idea!" Danielle shouted back. "Toomes' guys?"
"No way, they would've been using alien tech!" Peter spotted a piece of glass near the corner of the kitchen cabinets a few feet away, giving him a small peek of what was going on behind them. "Alright, I can see them... Uh, three to the far left of us... four to the far right of us... and six directly behind us and closing in," he relayed what he saw through the reflection.
"Grenade- going out!" A small explosion shook the living room. From the sound of it, it seemed to take out the couch as soft cushioning fell from the ceiling like fresh snow.
Danielle closed her eyes and tried to picture where they might've been behind them. "Okay... um, I take the four on the right out first, you take out three then meet up in the middle to take in the six?"
"How are we gonna distract the six while we take out the other collective groups?" Peter retorted.
"Grenade- going out!" The pair flinched at the sound of another explosion shook the dining area, chunks of wood from the table scattering across the room, a few sliding across the tile towards where they hid behind the island.
Danielle groaned. He had a point. They were heavily armed and clearly had no regard about wasting bullets and would gladly shoot them if they came out and tried to pick them off group by group or individually...
"Grenade- going out!" This time, when the explosion hit the front of the island, Danielle didn't flinch.
She had an idea.
She turned to Peter. "Can you see which ones have grenades?"
Peter turned back to the piece of glass in the corner and strained his eyes to see. "Uh... I think it's jut one guy directly behind us with the grenades... He has two left, but one more guy to the right of us has what looks like tear gas. They're probably gonna use it soon because they're all wearing masks."
"Okay, I have an idea," she stated. "But we're gonna have to work fast."
He nodded. "Got it."
"First, web that piece of glass and put it in my line of sight. I need to see the guy with the grenades," she explained.
Peter turned to his right and stuck a small piece of web onto the glass shard, pulled it towards him, and in the same swift movement, threw it onto the microwave above them and stuck it on. "That good?"
Danielle leaned forward and could see the dark figure of a man behind them, a few other figures hunched around him with assault weapons in their hands as well. "Okay, he's gonna throw off another grenade and as soon as he pulls that pin, you're gonna speed the grenade to his hand. It'll separate the group of six and throw off the two other groups long enough for us to take them out."
"Good thinking," Peter commended her. "You got the ones on the right still?"
She nodded. "Once you've got the ones on the left, pick off men behind the couch one by one."
"If they shoot at us?"
"Try taking their guns out of their hands before they get the chance."
"Got it," he nodded.
Danielle glanced up at the shard of glass and the reflection and watched as the man in the middle slowly held up a small metal ball in his hand. "Get ready," Danielle told her partner beside her. Then it all happened in a matter of seconds,
"Grenade-" he pulled the pin and held it high to throw.
"Now!" Danielle shouted.
Peter immediately shot up over the counter to shoot a singular web at the hand held up with the grenade in it. Bullets began flying, but he was already back down behind the counter, landing in Danielle's lap.
"-Going- get down! Get down!"
There was a large explosion followed by the pair of vigilante's jumping up from behind the island. The Spider-Man swung around to the left, Eris spun to her right. Jut as they had planned, the grenade going off in the hand of their commander threw the men off. The group of six had all been blown backwards by the blast, the group of three had run for cover to the left and the group of four had ducked for cover to the right.
In a vivid motion, Danielle jumped out from behind the counter, set her sits on the large chandelier hanging above the dining area where the group of four had jumped into, and yanked on it with her invisible force of power.
The golden chain holding it into the roof cracked the ceiling as it came crashing down. Sparks flew from the wires and glass shattered everywhere as metal connected with tile, connected with flesh. The large chandelier, crushing two of the four men in the dining area.
The other two were quick to set their sights on the girl approaching them, her eyes good and emotionless. They raised their weapons, but before they could even get their fingers close to the triggers, the guns were suddenly flying up and directly into their noses. They hit them in the face once before being effortlessly thrown across the room. With a swift push of her hands in the direction of the men, the girl threw them both forcefully across the Penthouse living are and right back out of the window they crashed through.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Peter had successfully taken the guns out of the equation for the three to the left. Once the weapons were out of sight, he was easily able to web them all up together and swing them directly out of the broken Penthouse windows just like Danielle had done to the others.
Once they had taken in their collective groups, they turned their attention to the larger group of five in the middle. They had expected them to be in disarray after the explosion, but by the time the pair had gotten to them, they already had two guns on each of them, fingers in the triggers.
When it looked like they had come to a bit of bump in the road, there was an abrupt flash of ought amongst the darkness as a slim figure came barreling in from another broken window. The figure was quick and precise as they slid in on their knees across the tile. Danielle and Peter watched in awe as the figure flew by, their arm coming up and within their hand it looked like they were forming some type of weird glowing white ball of energy. Just then, they threw it down onto the ground in the middle of the five men, setting off an enormous explosion of blinding white light.
Danielle winced and ducked down as the light filled the room, the explosion shaking the Penthouse to it's core.
When the light faded, and all the threats were eliminated, Danielle slowly picked herself back up from off her knees. She looked around at the room just as the power came back on. It was then that Danielle could see just how much damage had been inflicted on the main Penthouse area. Almost all the windows along the wall had been blown out, the couch was obliterated by bullets and burn marks, the kitchen cabinets and island was also ridiculed with bullets, and the dining room was absolutely trashed with the broken table and chairs crushed underneath the chandelier.
And in the middle of it all, surrounded by the bodies of six men, was the figure that had caused the white explosion with their hands.
The figure wore all white. It looked like leather, some sort of suit. And their hair was white as well. From the length of it, it was a woman. She was kneeling down, her back to Danielle, facing Peter who looked a bit on the fence about this person as well. Slowly, they rose to their feet.
"Who are you?" Danielle called to them.
Slowly, the woman turned around to face her.
Danielle felt her chest constrict and the hairs on her body stand at their ends at the sight of the face beneath the white hair. Suddenly the complicated puzzle she'd already struggled with piecing together was only getting harder to figure out as she stared face to face with the woman in white.
"Rae?" Danielle gasped as her face mask contracted, revealing her confused and distraught facial expression underneath.
Peter took it as a sign to pull off his mask as well. "Wait, you know her?"
Within the chaos, no one seemed to notice May Parker stepping out from the hallway, taking in the scene before her and shouting out the first thing that came to mind...
"What the fu-"
—
A/N: Well, that's a lot to unpack...
Anyway, now you can go check out the start of Rae's story on my profile. It's titled GUILT and it's almost like a companion piece to MIGRAINE. Basically, they intertwine but it's also a bit of a prequel.
Also, I will be taking a mild hiatus to write the next arc of the story. PREPARE. Lots of angst, drama, action, and... ROMANCEEEE.
Reviews:
Ntbaldy: Well, we have one major arc to go, a small filler arc leading up to IW, and then IW... And boy, oh boy. I just finished drafting it all out and... yikes, that's gonna be an angst ridden trip.
zikashigaku: I had so much fun writing the dance scene and then I had to go and tear my heart out with Danielle saying goodbye to Liz. But, thankfully, since this is a long chapter, it went by quickly. Hope you like it and I hope you check out my new story that correlates with this one.
PrettyRecklessLaura: Here's your latest fix. Hope you like it!
CrackheadBlonde: I knowwwww. I'm gonna miss Danielle/Liz content but who knows maybe she'll come back later on or I may just make myself write flashback scenes with them. And if you like that fluff, get read for more fluff this upcoming arc. ;)
