A/N: Little bit of a shorter chapter compared to the last, but had to keep it simple because the next one is going to be jam-packed with information and I kinda wanted the action and main problem to have it's own chapter, so... here we are. Enjoy!
Chapter Song: House of the Rising Sun by the Animals
Headcanon of the chapter: Danielle is a simp for Zuko from Avatar.
—
"This is ridiculous." Danielle rolled her eyes for what felt like the fifth time since waking up back at the alleyway near Ned's. She was leaning against a crate of boxes trying not to let the ice pack in her forehead distract her from the issue at hand, which was, surprisingly, the fact that Peter was pissed about what she'd done.
After getting shot by an alien gun to protect her partner, she'd expected a simple 'thank you' and an ice pack, but instead she was getting a lecture from the reckless one of the pair... and the ice pack. Peter was being a prick, but he at least had the decency to get her an ice pack for her head.
"No, it's not ridiculous, Elle," Peter snapped back. "You jumped in front of a... a... energy ball! You didn't think, you just recklessly threw yourself in front of the barrel-"
"If I hadn't, it would've been you getting the brunt of the force," she grumbled as she rubbed her side all while still holding her ice pack in place on her temple. Getting shot by an alien gun sure did do a number on her. Her entire right side was either bruised or sore, her ears wouldn't stop popping, and, of course, she had a mild concussion and lump on her head.
"I heal faster than you, Elle! Me taking the hit would've been better than you," he shot back in an exasperated voice.
Danielle had just about had enough and the pain in her head and soreness in her body was starting to take a toll on her emotions when she retorted, "I don't know why you're upset with me! I saved you!"
Peter, who had been pacing back and forth a few feet away, spun around on his heel to face her. His eyes were wide wit a mixture of both fear, frustration, and anger. "You could've died!" He shouted.
"It only knocked me out," Danielle groaned with a roll of her eyes.
"What if it was one of those guns that incinerates people, like the one we picked up on the Road Island Heist?" He prompted her frustratedly. "It wouldn't have just knocked you out, Elle!"
"Yeah, well, it wasn't one for the gun that incinerates people and I'm not dead," she bit back, equally as frustrated. "And maybe I wouldn't have had to jump in front of the gun if you had been more alert and not left yourself open like that."
Peter contorted his face in confusion. "What?"
"You've been distracted for weeks," she exclaimed. "I've noticed it. We both have. Right, Ned?" Both enhanced vigilantes turned to their mutual friend.
Ned, who had been quietly watching their argument from the comfort of the van, looked up at the pair of them staring him down expectantly, waiting for his answer. "Uh, I don't really wanna get involved..."
Peter swiftly turned back to his partner. "I'm not distracted," he exclaimed defensively.
The brunette gave him an unimpressed look, dropping the ice from her forehead to cross her arms across her chest. "I had to throw a pencil at you the other day in Chemistry to get you to pay attention in class," she stated.
"... I fell asleep late that night," he said lamely.
His partner threw her hands up in exasperation. "We didn't even have patrols that night!" Peter cringed. That was a pretty shitty excuse he tried to use. "Something's going on and you're clearly hiding it from us. We're a team, Peter. If we can't trust each other, what does that make us?"
"A bunch of friends hanging out..." Ned interjected.
Danielle and Peter sighed in exasperation. "Ned..."
He held his hands up in mock-surrender as her stood up to leave. "Alright, alright— I'll leave."
"No, it's fine," Danielle signed heavily as she threw her ice pack to the side. "I was on my out anyway..."
Peter watched as she started on her way out of the alley way. All of his anger and frustrations dissipated as he watched her walk away. "Elle..." he tried calling after her, but she just kept walking until she got lot up in the crowd on the bustling sidewalk. One minute she was there, the next she had vanished into thin air.
Peter slouched against the brick wall of the building behind him. He threw his head back and let out a heavy groan.
As if today couldn't get any worse...
—
From: Jules Winnfield (MJ)
To: Vincent Vega (DW)
how was your date with Parker? please don't tell me u let him stick his tongue down ur throat.
Danielle fought the urge to reply back in a passive aggressive voice to the text that popped up on her phone screen. She was still in a pissed off mood from her argument with Peter and had a killer headache that still remained from the raid earlier, but that didn't mean she had to take it out on MJ who was just being her normal nosy self.
The brunette contemplated the best course of action on how to reply without making it seem like 1) it was a date, and 2) something was wrong that she'd be interviewed about later by her blood hound of a friend.
From: Vincent Vega (DW)
To: Jules Winnfield (MJ)
wasn't a date. more like an early birthday gift...
Danielle rolled her eyes. That was lame. Her birthday was over a month and a half away, no way would Peter (or anyone for that matter) give her a gift that early. But, this was the best she had as far as explanations went.
and it went fine. I gtg tho because I have to finish this Chemistry HW.
She hit send and pocketed her phone again. Her eyes drifting back from her screen to the view spread out before her from where she sat perched atop one of the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Danielle had never been up here before tonight, she always found it more comfortable on her terrace or the Penthouse roof, or even on top of the glowing 'A' still plastered at the top of the old Avengers Tower. But, after her argument with Peter, she felt like she needed a new spot she wasn't used to, something with a view and a good breeze. What better place than the Brooklyn Bridge?
The water below glistened as the sun set on the horizon, the waves reflecting it's orange rays from off the water and lighting up the rest of the bay. Down beneath where she was perched, she could hear the steady flow of cars and traffic passing by. If she were to lean over, she could see just how high up she was from them, and she found comfortiand in knowing they couldn't see her. And, of course, the hard wind whipped up and around her. The invisible force, blowing her hair behind her and wrapping her up in it's comforting company.
It was nice to be surrounded by nothing but white noise and a nice breeze as she processed her thoughts and emotions of the day... or past few days really. Everything just felt... off ever since her and Peter took down Toomes, it was like, something had changed between them. Their friendship no longer felt free and open and it was as if Danielle was more conscious and aware of herself around him more, and vice versa. It was this type of tenseness that she couldn't explain. They were still friends, just... something else.
Maybe it was the vigilante partnership.
Peter hadn't really been a team guy before Tony recruited him for Germany, but Danielle had always been apart of a team. Of course, she always had someone to differ to for orders, but with Peter, the two of the, just made it up as they went. Which worked sometimes, but there were clear examples like the Ferry Incident that showed that sometimes it didn't.
Maybe it was just the strain from doing multiple things at once.
They both had school, after school 'work', Decathlon. And then Danielle had soccer, and friend duties with Liz's old clique and her current friend group, and Peter had his nephew duties with May and friend duties with Ned, and had even expressed interest in rejoining Robotics. It was all so hectic ever since Homecoming and what happened with Toomes.
Somehow, things were simpler back when the biggest thing Danielle had to worry about was the end of the world.
There were distant sirens coming from back across the water that Danielle turned her attention towards. Just across the river, the brunette could see where they were coming from: six cop cars swerving around the corner of a building chasing what looked like a stolen vehicle from the way the driver's side window was busted open. The Enhanced teen pulled herself from off of her elbows, debating whether or not to help the pursuit. She ultimately decided against it when she noticed a certain red and blue spandex-wearing figure swinging around the corner hot on the car's tail... She figured Peter had it handled, and they both just needed some space.
Space... was she too distant? Maybe that was the issue. She did keep a lot of secrets and felt as though she was on her own island sometimes, but was she really ready to break down those walls? Weren't her and Peter close enough-
Danielle's train of thought faltered when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye... literally.
Floating down from the sky just a few inches from her face was what looked like a little orange speck... then another one... then another one... and then another one.
Danielle squinted her eyes and looked up into the cloudless sky above her... What the hell was going on? Was she hallucinating or something?
Carefully, the brunette reached the tip of her finger out and touched one of the many orange specks falling around her. It was them that she realized what they were: embers. But, where was the fire? And why did it suddenly smell like burnt wood? What could possibly be burning all the way up there?
Concerned and confused, the teen began to look around the tower she was perched on. She leaned forward, to the right, to the left, and then turned to look down at the road on the bridge behind her when she saw it... the black figure standing on the opposite tower across the bridge.
She froze. It stood still, like a statue.
It was wearing all black. Black pants, a black vest, a black jacket... and a black gas mask over it's face. It was built like a man, almost Jack's height, but lankier. But, the thing that made Danielle freeze up was his hands, more specifically, what was in them.
In each of his palms was a large ball of flame and fire, the smoke and ash rising up and swirling around him, only to fall back down onto her. He was getting her attention. But... who was he?
Eventually, her body sprung into action as she shot upright to her feet. Her fists were clenched at her sides, but ready to make a move if he tried to attack, and something told her he was. Danielle's dry mouth quickly regained function as she managed to call out to the pyromaniac across from her, "What do you want?"
He didn't answer.
His shoulders only stiffened at the sound of her voice. Her eyebrows quirked up at that split momentary action she picked up. Did he know her? Did she know him? Maybe he was apart of Toomes' gang... Or maybe this was Toomes himself... Only he knew her identity outside of Peter. Unless, he told someone...
"You really don't want to do this!" She shouted to the unknown figure as she rolled her shoulders back. Her fingers slowly spread from out of the clench fists they had been in as she felt her extended force push away at the ground and patches of cement tower beneath her, ready to pull them up to block whatever the fire wielder threw at her.
The masked pyromaniac cocked his head to the side at her words. He must've taken them as a threat because she noticed the flames begin to grow in his hands.
Danielle took a step back, her breath catching in her throat when she glanced over her shoulder and realized just how close to the edge of the tower she was. She couldn't afford too much space when fighting this guy... she really didn't want to do this either.
The teen turned back to the masked figure. "Please, you don't have to do this," she tried to reason with him. "Just tell me what you want, we can work something out..."
She wasn't sure what she was expecting to hear coming from beneath the black mask, but what she did hear sent chills down her spine and goosebumps across her skin. The man raised both his arms up wide in a T form, the flames burning big and bright as he spat back in a deep and distorted voice, "I want your body in a ball of flames!"
The fire suddenly burst from his hands like a firework, the heat licking Danielle's face, causing her to flinch and nearly lose her balance on the tower.
"Just like Brock Rumlow..." she heard the masked man finish his statement from cross the bridge in a soft, almost pained voice.
The brunette's eyes widened at the realization that this was no longer about Peter or Toomes like she had suspected it to be. This was about her... and what she did to Rumlow that caused her life to spiral so out of control and land her where she was right now. "Oh, God..." The words escaped her lips in a single gasped and ragged breath just before the figure flew directly at her, flames from his hands pushing him across the tower at her until he hit the brunette head-on.
She cried out as the hard force of a head-on collision crashed into her stomach, knocking the pair off the tower. Wind from the fast fall, whipped up the hair around her face. She couldn't see. All she could do was cry out as she was pushed through the air.
It all happened so quickly that before she could process the fall, her back suddenly crashed into something hard and solid. Pieces of concrete, cement and wood suddenly came flying around everywhere as the weight that had thrown her off the bridge was abruptly gone and she went rolling across a solid surface until her body came to a halt against a brick wall.
"Mmm..." the teenager moaned.
Her body felt like it had just been pummeled by a hundred rocks. She felt like a walking bruise when she shifted ever so slightly onto her arms and knees. She tried to open her eyes, her long locks covering her face like a curtain as she tried to regain her sight and sense of balance after being thrown into what assumed was the building she was in now.
Eventually, she was able to regain her balance and push herself up onto her feet again using the wall behind her for balance.
Her vision was spotty, but she managed as she glanced around at her new surroundings. It was definitely some kind of abandoned building. There were pillars in the open space, brick walls, and cement floors. The only light allowing Danielle to see was coming from all the open windows that allowed the city's lights into it, not to mention the large gaping hole she spotted across the room she must've been thrown through in the first place.
Standing in the center of the open space of the building was the masked-man. He glanced up at her and she could barely make out what looked like glowing orange eyes behind the dark shaded portions of the mask. Danielle felt her heart drop to the floor when his hands erupted into flames again.
The vigilante shook her head and clenched her fists. No– she wasn't going to let him win, whoever he was.
Danielle took her stance, her hand reaching out to grab hold of a chunk of the pillar nearby. She shot her conscious out towards it, only... it didn't latch.
The brunette turned her head towards the pillar her hand was facing. She pushed her powers out again, but they just snapped back... Again, they came back. Again, they came back. Again, and again, and again.
Suddenly, the figure raised his right hand and tossed a large ball of flames and ash directly towards her while she struggled to use her powers.
Danielle, caught off guard, quickly threw herself out of the way onto her side. "Oomph!" She groaned in pain. Her eyes darted up towards the cement pillar a few feet away and reached out again. She pushed, and pushed, and pushed, but it wasn't working. It was like her powers just... switched off.
She didn't get to fully process this because the figure threw yet another ball of flames at her where she laid on the ground. The vigilante quickly rolled out of the way and pushed herself back onto her feet again after dodging the attacks.
Okay, she inwardly began to process what was happening, her powers weren't working for some reason and the man trying to kill her was about to try and set her on fire... What were her options?
Whoosh!
The masked man threw a ball of fire, she jumped to the right.
She could fight hand-to-hand like Natasha taught her. But, something told her she couldn't even get the chance to come close.
Whoosh!
He threw another fireball, Danielle somersaulted to the left to avoid getting trapped into a corner and flayed alive.
Or she could run!
Which was exactly what she did when the masked figure suddenly began shooting lines of fire at her. Her feet carried her across the room, but she could feel the heat of the flames licking the back of her legs as she dashed. Eventually, it caught up with her. The force of the hot burning sensation hitting her back, tossing her forward. "Agh-!" She hissed and collapsed onto her back. "A-ah..." She whimpered from the soreness in her body and the hot, scorching pain she just got hit with.
She felt like a turtle stuck on her back as she tried to roll onto her side. She made a move to roll to the left when a hard force pressed tightly around her neck held her down. At first, it felt like a weight, but it quickly grew into grip clenching itself around her throat.
"Urgh-!" Danielle gargles through the pain as she tried use her hands to claw at the hand wrapped around her windpipe. She coughed and gasped for air, but still the masked figure she was face-to-face with now didn't show mercy. Instead, he slowly began to pull her up until she was a few inches above the ground, still writhing in his grasp in a fit of rigid gasping and gurgled coughs.
Danielle could see the spots in her vision begin to appear. She smelt smoke and burning rubber. Her eyes began to water from the burning sensation willing them to close. She could feel the heat around her before she was able to see the orange reflection in the mask's eye pieces reflecting the flames around them.
"P-plea-" Danielle's soft pleas and watering eyes seemed to have some kind of effect on the masked figure when he slightly loosened his grip on her throat.
But it was short-lived when something shifted beneath the masked man and his victim. The concrete floor abruptly collapsed and Danielle felt herself free-falling for what felt like minutes before finally landing with a thud against more concrete.
She immediately rolled onto her back and sucked in a large gasp of air, only to have it be smoke sending her into another fit of coughing. The brunette tried to look around her but all she saw was fire and smog. She was trying to find the figure, but it was hard to breath let alone keep her eyes open. But, out of the corner of her eye she spotted a small window.
An insane idea popped into her head.
She didn't have her powers right now for whatever reasoned, but something told her that if she were able to get far enough away from the masked man they would... teleportation included.
It was a crazy idea, but it was better than burning alive or choking in this burning building.
Something suddenly shifted a few yards away beneath burning rubble. Danielle knew then she had to ask fast.
Just as soon as the dark figure broke free from beneath the burning wood and cement, Danielle pushed herself forward. Her feet carrying her across the room, through smoke, fire, and debris until she finally made it to the window. But, she didn't stop. Instead, she jumped, curled herself into a ball, covered her face with her arm, and launched herself through the glass.
The minute she was out of the smoke-filled room, the fresh air from free-falling dozens of feet up in the air hit Danielle head-on like a train.
She processed herself falling quickly and knew she had to act now if she didn't want to fall to her death.
Come on! She inwardly pushed herself before shutting her eyes and concentrating. Come on, come on, come on, come on-!
Splash!
First, she was suffocating in fire and ash, then she was free-falling through mid-air, and now she was suddenly submerged in cold, heavy, water that felt like it was pulling her in every direction.
Danielle held her breath and opened her eyes as she stay submerged beneath this dark blanket of water. All she could see was darkness... All she felt was weight lifted off of her, yet everywhere all at once. She could feel herself slipping further beneath the cold waves, yet she found it comforting here in this vast nothingness. She wondered if this was what being dead was like... Nothing. It felt oddly familiar to where she woke up after what had happened in Germany. In a dark void.
But, it wasn't her time to give up then. It wasn't her time to give up now.
The petite brunette burst up above the waves with a large gasp followed by a series of wet coughs. Her arms flailed to keep her head above water and her legs kicked to keep her balanced. She spun to her right and saw the Brooklyn Bridge, lit up in the night. And when she turned to her left she could see a large building ablaze, the orange light burning bright in the night, reflecting off the waves and projecting onto the girl bobbing just above them.
Danielle watched in shock and awe as the burning collapsed under the weight if the flames... It would've been her in there had she not jumped out when she had. And despite seeing that building burn down, somehow she knew the masked figure wasn't dead.
She had only one thought as she swam back to shore: she had to find Peter.
—
A/N: heyyyyyyy. long time no see... I've been super busy these past few weeks, but hopefully I'll get better with updating. Good news is, I've estimated this story will end in about 30-32 more chapters, so... let the countdown begin!
Reviews:
zikashigaku: Peter really do be a stubborn teenage boy, but Danielle can't say shit because she too is a stubborn teenage child. But, now they have each other to keep in check.. or smack one another, I guess- lol. And I wouldn't necessarily call what Danielle has spidey-senses of her own, but I would take a special look at Peter's spidey-senses not kicking in at that moment. Also- prepare for many more realizations to come!
PrettyRecklessLaura: Here's your next update!
RubyGemGreen: Aw, thank you. I'm assuming you just started so you won't be seeing this for a while, but when you eventually make it here- let me know what you think!
Kitty: Lmao- close! She is based on a character from Marvel comics though- same thing as Eris.
