Chapter Songs: Run by COIN, Refets dan l'aue by Debussy, Reflections by the Neighbourhood, and Red October by Audiomachine.
Headcanon of the chapter: Jack doesn't know how to use chopsticks and Danielle makes fun of him for it every time they order Asian food.
"Mmm..."
Danielle groaned as she slowly removed the gauze around her neck to try and get a peek. She winced at the sight of the splotches of purple and red around her throat. It was bad, but she'd had worse... The memories of the shock collar around her neck that had caused her to lose most of the flesh around her neck that needed almost three months of healing coming back to her, fresh in her brain.
Tentatively, she put the gauze back on and replaced the tape to keep it stuck there. She'd have to put a scarf on for the next couple weeks, but it was October in New York so she wouldn't be looked at like she was insane like she had over the Summer, thankfully. It was situations like these that had her thankful that Rae had over-stocked her walk-in closet with so many clothes.
After readjusting her gauze on her neck, Danielle made sure to flip the light off on her way out of the restroom. But the moment she stepped back into her room, there was a soft rap against the terrace windows.
She jumped, her hand clutching her heart at the jump scare, but she immediately relaxed at the familiar dark silhouette of the Spider-Man suit from behind the shades.
The brunette quickly made her way over to the door and pushed it open for him to come in. "Jesus, you scared the shit out of me, Peter," she scolded her partner.
"Sorry!" He winced as he ripped the mask off coming through the door. "I just... I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Danielle nodded as she wrapped the grey cardigan she had on closer around herself after the cold New York air blew in along with the spider now standing in front of her. "I'm... I'm fine, Peter. Really." He nodded frantically, his unruly hair bouncing with the motion.
There was an awkward beat of silence between the two. A lot had happened in the past 24 hours and Danielle could see just from the tenseness in his shoulders that it had taken just as much as a toll on him as it had her.
She sighed. "Did you really swing all the way out here in the middle of the night just to check on me? Or are you just as scared as I am?"
Peter swallowed hard before nodding. "It's.. he's still out there, Elle. I can't really sleep knowing someone out there is trying to kill you and could come back to try again at any time. Especially so far away," he explained. "Is it cool if I just stay here for tonight?"
Danielle spared him a sad smile. "Yeah, let me just go get a few more blankets and maybe... maybe something for you to sleep in that doesn't smell like a Queens back alley." She patted his arm as she brushed passed him to get to the hallway.
Peter stood there for a moment. Eventually, he couldn't take it and decided to raise his arm up for him to sniff. Nothing... Maybe he'd just gotten so used to the smell.
The brunette returned a few minutes later with a pile of blankets in hand and a fresh pair of sweatpants she'd stolen from Rae's room. She handed the sweats to Peter and set the blankets on the edge of her bed. "I'll go look for my Midtown hoodie for you to wear while you change," she gestured to the bathroom before wandering off to the closet herself.
Her partner left to change and eventually came back out to find Danielle setting up a small set of blankets and sheets on the right side of the bed for him. She was so careful with folding sheets that she hadn't heard Peter come back in the room until he was standing right beside her asking where to put his suit. She glanced up at him and froze.
He was shirtless... Standing in front of her... Shirtless.
"Elle?"
When did he have abs? Was he always this muscular? Why hadn't she noticed?
"Elle?"
All those times swinging in his arms and she'd only ever felt his muscles, but why was seeing them so different?
"Elle? Are you having a stroke? Is that a side effect from having a concussion? Do I need to call Dr. Cho?" Peter asked, his voice going up an octave with every frantic question.
"Uh, no! No. I'm fine." Danielle closed her eyes and took a breath trying to bring herself back from whatever that moment was. "I just... yeah, you're right. Must have been the concussion. Uh- here!" She quickly thrust the Midtown hoodie into his arms, taking the Spider-Man suit from his hands in the same swift motion. "I'll go put this to wash. Here's your bed. Make yourself comfortable," she said in a rush of words before walking off.
Peter pursed his lips together as he threw on the hoodie. Hmm... that was weird...
The web-slinger slowly lowered himself down to the makeshift bed on the ground in front of him. For something on the floor, it actually wasn't too bad... In fact, it was pretty comfy. Probably because of the expensive sheets and blankets he knew Miss Sable probably owned. Now that he was thinking about it... maybe he shouldn't be sleeping on such expensive sheets.
"Peter?"
He threw his arm up to show his partner where he was. "Down here."
Danielle hit the lights and he heard her soft footsteps on the carpet as she made her way to the bed. There was a creak and a rustle and she eventually settled in with a sigh. "Goodnight, Peter."
"Goodnight, Elle."
There was a heavy silence that fell upon the room momentarily as the pair of vigilantes settled in for the night. Danielle felt that heavy ball and chain that had been nagging at her conscious lighten up a little bit knowing Peter was beside her and she wasn't alone. Everything could've been falling apart, but somehow he made her feel just a little bit safer knowing he was there.
"Hey, Elle?"
"Hmm?"
"...Does my suit really smell like a Queens back alley?"
She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Urgh..."
Crash!
"Jesus, Elle!"
"Aah-!"
Danielle screeched as she jumped from her spot on the bed and backed herself up to the headboard. Her hand was pressed against her chest as she tried to steady her breathing. She watched as Peter's unruly head of hair popped up from over the edge of the bed, his eyes narrowed in an attempt to try and regain focus as his head swiveled left and right.
"What- what happened?"
"Sorry. I just forgot you'd stayed here last night." She ran a hand through her tangled mess of her hair and lowered herself away from her headboard.
Peter copied her in an attempt to tame the mess on top of his own head. His eyes caught sight of the broken and mangled pieces metal that had crashed against the wall a few yards away. "Did you- did you throw your alarm clock against the wall?"
She grimaced. "Yeah... That's the fourth one this month." Peter snorted. "We should probably start getting ready for school..."
"School... School... School!" Peter was suddenly up on his feet and running out of the room at an alarming speed. Danielle furrowed her eyebrows as she watched him go, wondering where he was going in such a rush. Eventually, she heard him shout back from the living room. "Elle- where is my suit?!"
"The dryer! Door to the left just down the hall from the kitchen!" She shouted back, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed and making her way to the bathroom to wash her face and get her hair back to decency. When she walked back out, Peter was already dressed in his suit, his mask in hand. "Right... I forgot you don't have any other school clothes or your backpack."
"Yeah, I gotta get back before May wakes up and realizes I left... Also before I'm late to school!" He exclaimed, pulling his mask over his face and walking towards the terrace door. He was almost out, but paused momentarily to turn back to her. "I'll see you there."
She smiled and gave him an awkward wave. "Bye." He nodded to her, the eyes of the Spider-Man mask blinking once before he disappeared behind the door. She saw his silhouette jump up onto the terrace railing, the web shooting out of his wrist followed by him jumping off and swinging away into the bustling morning buzz of New York City.
Once Peter's presence was gone, all Danielle was left with were her thoughts and the impending fear nagging in the back of her mind that at any moment that masked man could pop back into her life to finish what he'd started the day before. Speaking of which...
Subconsciously, her hands came up to rub her throat. She winced when she swallowed hard. She doubted she'd be able to cover something this big up with some concealer like Liz had shown her, but thankfully, Rae's unnecessarily large designer wardrobe was still proving to have some usefulness to it today.
It didn't take Danielle too long to get ready, save for the few pauses she took to glance over her shoulder or looking a little too closely in the air for specks of ash that weren't there. When she'd finally finished getting ready, after collecting her backpack, shoving her suit pieces in her back pocket, and tightening the scarf around her neck, Danielle made it to the elevator, but paused before pressing the button. What if he was there waiting for her on the other side? What if he got in the elevator? Or the lobby? The sidewalk downstairs? School? The possibilities were endless and she was terrified.
Her hand shook as it slowly came up to press the button. As soon as she heard the ding of the elevator behind the door, her fists were clenched and her jaw tightened. She was ready for a fight... or so she thought she was. Only, when the elevator doors opened, the compartment was empty. Nothing. She was worried for nothing. But she still needed to remain on high alert.
And so she was.
As she left the building and made her way through the bustling streets of busy Manhattan towards her train station, she couldn't help but notice the uncanny and blatantly obvious amount of extra black SUVs that were patrolling almost every street she turned on. Tony, Rae and Happy weren't kidding when they said something about upping the security detail. Sure, every so often she'd spot one or two SUVs like that every couple of weeks or so, but never this many in such a short time frame. And never had she had people on the ground following her. She counted about three on the train platform and six scattered through the train itself. They weren't exactly subtle.
Danielle kept peering over her shoulder at the two agents who were clearly in their twenties, but were dressed as teenagers and sitting together pretending to talk about the Jeopardy show last night as if any actual teenagers talked or even still watched the show. In front of her was another pair of agents, older and dressed as college students, even going as far as having the dangling white earphones from their ears which was what gave them away in the first place, they both had their right ones in only and she could see their lips moving close to the microphone attached. Then the fifth agent, an older man, leaning against the wall with a newspaper in his hands, yet he hadn't turned the page since she had gotten on the train twenty minutes ago. And finally, Danielle glanced down at the pole to her right that she held onto as the bumpy train ride continued- more specifically, the hand that was holding on just a few inches above hers. A hand that was attached to a younger man with an earpiece discreetly hidden beneath his shaggy hair with hazel eyes that kept darting down to her.
This was all so ridiculous. So much that as her stop approached, she didn't bother to hide her aggravation. She stared at all six of them, focusing especially on the agent right next to her. He turned and met her stare and tried to play it off as if he weren't sure why she was staring at him so intently. But eventually, he too seemed to sigh and resign to the fact that clearly he and his detail weren't as 'hidden in plain sight' as they'd hoped to go for. As the train pulled to a stop just outside of the Midtown football field, Danielle let go of the pole and began her trek off the train. As she left, she thought she heard the agent that had been beside her mutter beneath his breath a soft "sorry, kid," but she may have just imagined it.
A part of her felt bad. They were just trying to do their job to protect her. And honestly, her annoyance was a good distraction from the nagging fear she that had prolonged her usual morning routine to the point where she had to speed walk to class before she would miss her first period. She was in such a rush, she hadn't bothered to even acknowledge the three extra janitors that were lingering in the halls as she ran to class.
Geometry had just started, but she'd managed to slip past Ms. Warren- who was still jotting something down on the whiteboard- and slide into her seat with just as much stealth in the back of the class beside Michelle and Cindy. Abe, Ned and Charles not far behind them in their own collective desks.
Danielle was busy digging through her backpack to grab hold of her journal to quickly pick up on the notes that were already being written on the white board when Michelle hissed at her. "Psst." Danielle glanced at her friend through her tendrils of hair as she tossed her journal onto her desk and pretended to be busy with catching up on whatever Ms. Warren was talking about at the front of the classroom. "You're late. And judging by the lack of sweat or water in your hair, it wasn't from soccer practice."
The brunette shrugged and turned back to writing in her journal. "I missed the train," she lied with ease. And although her friend didn't bother to question much after that, she knew she wouldn't let it go so easily. She never did and sometimes Danielle was shocked Michelle hadn't figured out she was a vigilante yet with how suspicious she was of everything. Or maybe she did and was always just quiet about it.
The rest of the day went by quickly, but at the same time, felt as though it was dragging on for Danielle. The detrimental fear tugging at the back of her mind kept pulling her away from what was happening in the class and focusing more on what could happen if she didn't stay alert. During chemistry, she took the lab seat closest to the window and found herself lacking during the lab as her eyes darted back and forth between the classroom door and the world outside of the window, her eyes scanning back and forth to see if He was out there. She did the same thing in Psych and English. And by the time lunch came around, her distracted actions were front and center in the group discussion today.
Danielle had just taken a seat at the empty table. It wasn't where her and her friends usually sat, but the table was close enough to the wall that she had a direct view of the backdoor of the kitchen and the entrance to the lunch room. She debated not even bothering showing up for lunch- she wasn't even hungry so her lunch sat untouched in front of her as she kept her eyes on both doors- but she figured if He was going to attack her, he wouldn't bother tracking her down in the library and she didn't want to risk Him coming to find her in the lunchroom and attacking all her friends while she was hidden away.
"Alright, talk."
The brunette was snapped out of her thoughts when three lunch trays slammed down in front of her. She broke her gaze from the doors and glanced up at MJ, Cindy, Sally, and (surprisingly) Betty who had decided to move from their usual spots to sit beside her... and they all looked pretty ticked about it.
"Talk? About what?" Danielle picked up a fry on her tray and dragged it through some ketchup, her eyes glued to the condiment as if it were the most important thing in the world. It was certainly a lot more important than the subject of whatever they thought was going on between her and Peter, which she was certain was what the conversation was about.
Betty let out a loud groan as she slid onto the bench opposite of her, MJ, Sally, and Cindy doing the same beside her. "Don't play dumb, Ellie."
She bit back a groan. "There's nothing going on between Peter and I. Please stop asking-"
"As much as we'd love to talk about that-" Cindy had began just a little too eagerly.
"And how you're still full of shit," MJ chimed in. Danielle blushed, not even daring to bring up the fact that he'd slept over that night and how she'd seen him shirtless- but that wasn't the point today... apparently.
"We were talking about how distracted you've been during class all day today," Betty finished, her arms crossing in front of her on the table.
Sally copied her movements as she leaned forward from her seat between Cindy and MJ, Betty on the end beside Michelle. "Something's up."
Danielle looked between each girl and saw that none of them looked to be digging for anything like rumors or drama, but seemed to actually be genuinely be worried for her. "What makes you think that?"
"You were late today," Cindy noted.
"I missed the train-"
"How?" Sally interjected. "You were already supposed to be up two hours earlier for soccer practice-"
"Which you missed," Betty stated matter-of-factly. "I know so because I finally made it today and the entire team had to do an extra lap because Coach Wilson was pissed about his star player being MIA." Was Danielle terrible for focusing particularly on Betty calling her the star player of the team? Probably.
"I slept in," Danielle didn't technically have to lie about that. She hadn't set her alarm for six like she usually did every morning because of her busy and distracting night before. "Forgot to set my alarm and I just... missed the train. Honestly." She added when she could see that none of them looked very convinced. They did, but weren't completely won over enough to drop the subject.
MJ was the first to speak up. "Alright... still doesn't explain why you've been so distracted today."
"I haven't been distracted..." she muttered.
"Bullshit," Cindy snapped back at her. "You've been staring out of windows and at classroom doors since first period."
"That doesn't mean I've been distracted..."
"Bullshit." This time it was Betty who had snapped at her. "If you weren't distracted then what had we been talking about during English?"
"Uh... I was paying attention to class, not whatever you guys were-"
"Alright, then what book were we discussing?" Sally prompted her.
Ah, shit... What book were they discussing? She knew it was one she'd already read which was why she didn't remember having to go to the library to check it out because she'd already had it back at the Penthouse. "Uh... Great Gatsby?"
"Nope," both Sally and Betty chimed in unison.
Danielle furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced between all four girls. Eventually, MJ put her out of her misery. "Lord of the Flies."
Ugh. She remembered that. They'd had a discussion a week ago about having to write a lame essay about a book about a bunch of spoiled boys that somehow amounted to how corrupt society was when in reality using a bunch of adolescent rich kids as an example for society was horrible misrepresentation, which was actually realistic within itself.
"See-" Cindy pointed out. "Distracted."
Danielle ran a hand down her face. "Look, I'm sorry. I've just been worrying about my family a lot, is all..." Not a total lie, she was always worried about her brother, Wanda, and of course Steve, wherever they might be, but it was never something she consistently worried about to the point where it affected her day to day life like today. But they didn't know that.
She watched as all four girls seemed to acknowledge what she'd just told them. It wasn't as though they could argue about that, all of them knew how hard it had been. Of course, not the real story, but the story Peter had concocted about her eventful summer that Danielle had run with. She'd have to thank him yet again for that one.
"Alright..." MJ slowly nodded before turning back to her having shared looks with the girls. "Well, if you're distracted because of your family... why is Peter just as distracted?"
Shit.
"...What?"
All four of the girls all looked as though they were cats who'd caught the canary as small smirks and grins alike spread across their features.
Sally turned to Cindy then. "She's been too distracted to notice Peter's been distracted, huh," she stage-whispered to her friend.
"And Peter's been distracted because she's been distracted," Cindy whispered back.
The brunette's eyes fell to the tray of food she'd been pretending to be interested in. "What makes you think he was distracted because of me? He could have family issues, too..." She shifted in her seat at the thought that the dynamic between her and Peter was so obvious that even they saw that when she was off, so was he. Was that really the reason he was off though? Because he was worried about her? Was he as scared as she was?
"Bullshit."
Danielle blinked in surprise at the simultaneous snap from all four girls in front of her. When had they all suddenly tuned in to the same wavelength and why were they using this newfound teamwork against her?
"Peter has hardly ever had a bad 'family' day since... Well, since you started here," Cindy remarked, a sly smile forming on her lips as the words left her mouth. Truthfully, Danielle didn't doubt that Peter had hardly any difficulties with his family- specifically with his Aunt May or grieving about his Uncle Ben. But she knew it wasn't just because she started at Midtown, but because he had also started up with Spider-Man around that same time which took up most of his time and focus. She didn't mention that though. In fact, she wished she could just leave this entire conversation. She had better things to be doing... like watching to make sure the psychopath who could control fire- and apparently her powers- wasn't going to try and attack the school to get to her.
"Danielle? Danielle!"
Her head snapped back to the quartet of girls still staring at her expectantly. "What?" Danielle asked dumbly. Cindy opened her mouth as if to continue the point she'd made about her and Peter a moment earlier, but Danielle had had enough. "You know what- no. Nothing is going on between Peter and I. I'm having familial issues, and I have to go now." Before anyone else could protest, Danielle was already standing up and heading out of the cafeteria, making sure to throw her tray of food out as she left out the double doors.
She had been in such a haste to get out, she hadn't really thought about where she was going. She could go to the library, but MJ would find her there soon after. She could go find a janitor closet to cry in, but she really didn't feel like letting herself have a moment to herself because, truthfully, she was scared of what she would do if left alone.
So, through her aimless speed walking through the halls, she eventually just decided to walk out to the football field bleachers where she found herself awkwardly sitting squished between two rows of metal seats, her arms wrapped around her knees and hugging them close to her chest as she rested her chin on top.
She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing up there, she had class in ten minutes when lunch would eventually end. But being out in the open, with fresh air, and not having to stare at a door or out of a window... it was refreshing. And soon ten minutes to the end of lunch became ten minutes to the end of the school day. Danielle had ended up staying out there on the bleachers for the rest of the day, the scarf around her neck flying in the brisk wind that was slowly causing her fingers to freeze as they were tightly wrapped around her phone connected to her earbuds that buzzed with the sweet sounds of Debussy's 'Reflets dans l'eau.'
Everything was so clear and cool out there on those bleachers. She had been there for hours and would happily stay there for a few more if the echoes of the school bell screeching hadn't disrupted her peace and notified her of just how long she'd been lying on her back on the metal seats. She had almost forgotten where she was. And for a moment, she had almost forgotten the reason for why she'd been so on edge... especially since she was so abruptly reminded when she sat up to watch as students back at the school began to file out and she could spot quite a few more teachers out than usual on guard at the entrance. They all seemed to be looking around frantically for something... or someone. Her.
Right... how could she forget? Rae, Tony, and Happy had been thorough with their little secret service set up entirely to make sure the fire-wielding psycho didn't come back to finish what he'd started with the wounds on her neck that she was currently covering with an overly expensive scarf and burns on the backs of her legs that were hidden by blue jeans and internal lingering anxiety that was so overwhelming she had to ditch an entire day of school to sit out in the freezing weather just to breathe- God, why did she continuously think she could have a normal life between the shit show that was her actual life? She always such a damn idiot when it came to letting go and allowing herself to escape here. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this type of balance between this normal façade and the mess that was everything outside those school walls. What was she thinking-?!
"Elle?"
Danielle whipped her head up from where she'd dropped it into her hands out of frustration. When she glanced up, she was met with the anxious gaze of Peter Parker himself at the bottom of the bleachers.
The brunette quickly ripped the earphones from her ears and shifted on the metal seat. "Hi," she awkwardly replied.
The crease on Peter's forehead didn't fade as he climbed his way up the bleachers towards her. That was when she noticed her backpack in his hand as he approached. "Uh, you left this in your locker..." He swung the bag to her that she caught with ease with a swift movement of her hand that froze it in mid-air just before it hit her. Peter chuckled at the notion just before she let it fall into her hands.
She shook her head as she glanced down at the bag in her lap. "And you got this from my locker... how?"
She glanced up at him through her eyelashes and was shocked when she saw a soft blush blossom across his face. His hand shot out from the pocket of his hoodie as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and grimaced. "I, uh, may have had Dronie pick the lock... Sorry."
Danielle snorted then broke into a small fit of giggles at the thought of Peter trying to discretely release his miniature spider-shaped drone to try and pick the lock on her locker. "Thank you, then." It was at that time that Danielle caught sight of the two teachers she'd seen at the front of the school start to discreetly-not-so-discreetly try to walk towards where they were on the field. "I should get going now. Don't wanna miss... the train." That was a lame excuse that she was using way too often, but didn't seem to care as she gathered her things in a haste to try and escape before the secret service came over and tried to push her in a van and lock her there for eternity.
She'd gotten halfway down the bleacher stairs when she heard the sounds of someone coming down after her. By the time Danielle had made it to the field grass at the bottom, Peter was already at her side. "So, where are we going?"
Danielle faltered momentarily, looking between him and the security detail that had made it to the edge of the field now. "I, uh... what?"
"Elle, some crazy super villain tried to kill you last night, I'm not just going to let you go off somewhere alone," Peter explained as he kept his pace with her. "So- where are we going?" Danielle glanced over her shoulder one last time as she spotted the security closing in.
"Okay, but first-" Danielle grabbed Peter's hand and led him around the corner, her speed walk almost picking up into a jog as she dragged him around the bleachers. "I know you hate when I do this, but-"
"Wait, do what- NO!"
The second they'd made it out of sight from the "teachers", Danielle had teleported them from behind the bleachers to some back alley near Delmar's. The moment they had 'landed', Peter stumbled forward and then fell onto his knees just in front of her. She had to pretend momentarily that the feeling of his hands gripping both of hers wasn't oddly satisfying as she watched him try to regain his composure. She wasn't sure why, but a lot of people weren't too keen to be teleported from place to place. She always found it to be practical.
Peter made a gagging sound as though he was trying to hold back barf, one of his hands letting go of Danielle's as he held it over his mouth.
"Are you okay?" She lightly squeezed the hand still holding onto hers.
Just as quickly as he had fallen to his knees, he quickly bounced back to his feet and nodded frantically. "Yeah- urgh..." He coughed one last time and physically shook it off. "I'm fine. Where, uh, where are we?"
Danielle chuckled at his reaction for a moment before cocking her head to the side. "Just across the street from Delmar's. It isn't familiar? I know for a fact that I've chased you down this alley before."
Peter scrunched his face before taking a glance around their surroundings. That's when he spotted the familiar trash can and the oddly out of place clear patch against the brick wall that he recognized as the spot he'd used to web his backpack to when he'd go out on patrols. "Is this...?"
"The reason your suit smells like a Queens back alley?" She jokingly replied as she led him to the alley way exit past the gate and towards the busy street.
"Oh-ho-ho- Hey, come on! It doesn't smell that bad," he tried to defend himself as he let her drag him out of the stinky back alley.
Danielle turned to give her partner a look that told him she was clearly unconvinced before turning her attention back to the sidewalk they were now standing on. Peter laughed at her expression before watching it morph into one of frustrated. "What?" That's when he decided to follow her gaze to the two people who just took a seat at Delmar's and were not so conspicuously speaking on to each other with ear pieces in their ear, not to mention the van parked just outside that was most likely theirs. Great. "Are those the security people Happy and Mr. Stark hired for us?"
"Yeah. They're supposed to be discreet, but are clearly failing miserably and just making it all worse," she grumbled beneath her breath bitterly. She dropped Peter's hand to tuck it into her arm as she crossed them both over her chest.
"They're just here to help and make sure you're safe-"
"I'm not!" She snapped, effectively cutting him off. "I'm not safe, Peter, and neither are they. What are they supposed to do if He... If He comes to finish the job? If I could barely do any damage- what are they going to do? Just be in the way of who He really wants- me. Which means all they really are is a sick and twisted reminder that at any second he could-"
She hadn't noticed it, but as her anger began to boil up, the parking pole in front of them had started to dent and the manhole on the street had started to shake a few yards away. And while she hadn't taken note of it, Peter had and quickly intervened by jumping in front of her and taking her hands in his and aiming all that attention to himself. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he hoped it would. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey- I won't let that happen. I won't. I promise you I won't let him get to you again."
He was standing right in front of her, even bending down to try and get her to meet his eyes, but she had downcast them to the ground as she shook her head. "You can't promise me that, Peter. You weren't there- you didn't see what he could do. I don't want him to do that to you, too. Please, just let me handle it-"
"I'm not going to let him hurt you or leave you alone to let him," Peter gripped her hands just a little tighter. "Partners, remember?" That's when she finally looked up to meet his eyes and she saw how real and true he was. To her. How worried and distracted he was during class wasn't familial issues, it was her. It was her.
She nodded and returned to unrelenting grip he held on her hands. "Partners."
A small smile graced his lips as he stood up straighter and nodded. "Awesome. So, you what do you say to... maybe grabbing some snacks and just sitting on top of a random rooftop somewhere and listening to Alt-J until we actually have to remember we have real responsibilities?"
Danielle wanted to cry at how amazing that sounded. But instead, she just settled for nodding. "That sounds-" she coughed when her voice cracked. "That sounds great."
It was nearing six in the afternoon and she was definitely supposed to be under the watchful eye of her caretaker, Rae, back at her multimillion dollar Penthouse. But, frankly, Danielle didn't care much. Especially not when she had never been so relaxed than she was now with Peter on the roof of some random building in Manhattan, a few blocks away from said Penthouse she was supposed to be at.
She was lying on her back, her head propped up beneath her head of hair that was pulled up into a messy bun on her head. She never wore buns- she always enjoyed her hair down, but today was a day of firsts considering she'd also never tried having picnics on rooftops with boys. Particularly sweet boys who had bought a bag ton of a variety of sweet and salty snacks and cold drinks for them to share at this makeshift picnic. Sweet boys who had offered sacrificed his hoodie on a cold day for her to use as the pillow propping her head up. Sweet boys who had brought a beat up radio he'd gotten from the garbage and fixed to play the alternative station that was only tuned for certain parts of Brooklyn that he'd amped for them to be able to listen to it. Sweet boys who made her forget there was someone that tried and was still trying to kill her that they were no closer to figuring out who he was or how to stop him. Sweet boys named Peter who made promises to keep her safe from it all and not leave her alone.
Sweet boys named-
"Peter," she whispered the name as though someone would hear and disrupt their perfect little slice of peace at this picnic on this roof with these snacks in this forgetful bliss. "Please don't eat all of the pretzels..."
"Wha? Why?" His mouth sounded full and when Danielle turned her gaze away from the cloudy sky above to the web-slinger sitting up beside her.
She laughed when she saw he had half of the contents of said pretzel bag shoved into his mouth, his head turned to the side to glance down at her, frozen as if he'd been caught red-handed. "Give those to me," she chastised, snatching the rest of the bag away as she sat up and crossed her legs. Peter crunched away as he ate away at the pretzels already in his mouth as he watched her carefully dig a few pretzels from the bag. He figured she was just grabbing a few to snack on until he noticed that she would take a bite or two off one then set it down on a napkin she'd placed on the concrete floor. He leaned forward when he realized she was spelling something out with each pretzel she had laid out...
'D-A-N-I-E-L-L-E'
Ah, her name. Of course.
She smiled down proudly at her work then glanced back up to Peter who was also giving her work a small smirk.
"You wanna try?" She smiled as she offered him what was left of the pretzels. He took them and traded her for the gummy worms he had laid out beside him.
Danielle leaned back and snacked on the gummy worms and watched as Peter attempted at his own name with the pretzels. He had to remake a few of the letters every so often because he'd shape one the wrong way every so often. He'd curse, Danielle would giggle, and the cycle would continued until eventually his name was all laid out right beside hers.
'P-E-T-E-R'
"That was quite the struggle," Danielle chuckled, her teeth pulling on the end of a blue gummy bear.
Peter rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm definitely not as skilled as you are in the art of... pretzel letters." The pair broke into a fit of laughter. "I mean- a pianist, an Avenger, a pretzel letter carver... You've got me, three to one, Elle."
"Mm," she shook her head. "You forgot Midtown's star soccer player."
Peter threw his hands up as he howled with laughter. "Oh- I see-"
"So, technically, four to one."
"Has anyone ever told you you're too good at everything?" Peter prompted her once they both sobered up from their collective laughter.
Danielle gave a cynical dry laugh beneath her breath, her eyes falling to the gummy worm between her fingers that she played with in her lap. "No... I usually warrant the opposite of that appraisal. That I'm too... wrong. I'm too out of control. I'm too jaded. I'm too powerful. I'm too... I'm too me." Her voice cracked on that last part, but she coughed to cover it up like she had done before. She sniffed and pretended to brush her bangs out of her face to cover up wiping away her tears.
Peter could clearly see right through her and kind of kicked himself for ruining the perfect thing they had going just a few moments ago. Now he had to fix it.
"I- I think..." His voice caught, same as hers, and he quickly cleared his throat. "I think you're great... In case you were wondering. I mean, who wouldn't? You're nice to everyone you meet- even the cracked out dudes on the train. You're selfless to a point where it's dangerous- seriously, please be selfish for a few seconds of your life." Danielle cracked a smile at that one. "You're brave- a little too brave, kind of like you are selfless. Be a coward for once in your life, for my benefit at least." She chuckled at that one. "You have the coolest abilities ever. You're probably the strongest Avenger- no offense to Mr. Stark, of course." She was laughing at this point. "You can literally teleport, Elle, that's like the coolest thing ever. And you're on the Decathlon Team at school, you're practically a genius. You play on the soccer team- their star player. I've never actually heard you play, but I know you're awesome at playing the piano. You have an amazing taste in music- clearly, you got half of it from me. You can carve your name with pretzels. You lifted a meteor. You've saved my ass more times than I can count. You're my partner and I-" He cut himself off when he noticed she had stopped listening to hear what he had just cut himself off from what he was about to say.
Was he about to say he loved her? Was that too much? He didn't see why- he wasn't speaking out of his ass when he said he thought she was great and that she was an amazing partner and a person, but did he love her? He knew he liked her. Maybe more than that. He was grateful for her, he probably wouldn't be alive without her pulling him out of the fire- both literally and figuratively. He more than liked her, that was for sure. But... love? That seemed a bit excessive.
"I think you're awesome."
God, that was lame.
Danielle was thankful, though.
She smiled. "Thank you, Peter. For... everything. This. You're... pretty awesome, too." She chuckled as though she had caught heard every little word in his inner monologue and was making an inside joke with him about it. Peter's eyes widened. Holy shit- was that another power she had? Telepathy? Eh, he somehow doubted it, but the thought still lingered.
A comfortable silence fell upon the pair on the rooftop. Their soft unspoken words lingering in the wind, being carried away by the sounds of the Neighbourhood's 'Reflection' humming from the radio a few feet away. Danielle smiled at Peter with her head tilted on her shoulder as he leaned forward, leaning on his hand in her direction. They were close... maybe a little too close, but neither felt the need to really move. That was until something caught Danielle's attention from over Peter's shoulder.
Peter noticed when her demeanor changed. Also when a tingle went down his spine, putting his senses on high alert. He knew that feeling well. He realized it must've been related to what Danielle suddenly tensed at. And sure enough, when he followed her gaze to whatever it was she was staring at over his shoulder... that's when he saw it, too. A pluming cloud of smoke bellowing out of a building that seemed to be a few blocks away. It was a red flag out in the open, a beacon... for her.
The web-slinger spun back around to Danielle, but she was already standing to her feet, their picnic in the back of her mind as her wide eyes remained glued to the fire. He was there. He was waiting for her. And more people were going to pay the price if she didn't face him.
"Elle, you can't do this," Peter was immediately protesting as he jumped up to his feet, standing directly between her line of sight between her and Him. "He wants you to do this, but you can't. Not alone, at least. We have to call Mr. Stark, or- or Happy, or your brother- even Miss Sable if we have to-"
"Peter," she cut him off swiftly. He looked up at her and sighed, he knew he couldn't talk her out of this. She was just like him in that sense. "I need to know who he is. What he wants from me. You have to let me do this." She slowly slid her hand to her back pocket to pull out her suit pieces. Before she activated them, she slowly took off her scarf, the angry purple bruises still remaining on her neck.
He shook his head. "I'm not gonna let you do this alone."
She glanced up at him and smiled slightly. "Then catch up quickly." In two swift movements, she slapped on her suit and mask. He watched as they began to encase her figure just before she pulled off the bun from her head and vanished into thin air, leaving behind the picnic and the rooftop and him...
Now all he had left to do was, well, catch up.
Danielle wasn't entirely sure what her plan was- she didn't exactly have time to think of one. All she knew was that she had to stop whoever this pyromaniac was before he hurt her or had the chance to hurt the people she cared about. Which was why she left Peter.
She knew he could help her, but at what cost? If he was this strong against her, who knew the damage he could do against Peter. She didn't even want to think about it, which was why she had to stop this killer before Peter could get there to come between what she needed to find out. Which was who he was and what he wanted from her that involved Brock Rumlow.
Danielle hadn't directly teleported to the fire. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what she was walking into and she didn't just want to waltz in blind, so she made sure to teleport on a rooftop just a block away to get a better look. Once she had an optimal view of the fire, she noticed that the pluming cloud of smoke was only coming from a single corner of the large glass skyscraper. Purposefully place, considering the all to perfect gaping hole at which it was coming out of, clearly burst open by someone purposefully. It was clearly a call to her, a beacon.
The brunette took a peek down at the street below. The firetrucks were just now arriving and the streets were flooded with people evacuating the building, but she noticed no one was going in yet, hovering at the trucks and cars but not entering.
Oh, he was definitely here.
That was when Danielle took that leap of faith.
She closed her eyes and jumped down, teleporting from mid-air and landed on her knees in what seemed to be a smoky office. The cubicles were all empty, papers askew, chairs on their sides, and smoke filled the air. She probably would've been choking had it not been for the way Tony and Jack had built her mask. From the look of it, it seemed that she had landed a floor just above the gaping hole that the fire was in. She wasn't sure which floor He must've been on, but it wasn't this one.
Unless...
"It took you long enough."
Eris spun around on her heel, her hands coming up defensively at the sight of the dark figure she'd seen just last night on top of the Brooklyn Bridge. He was wearing the same dark outfit she could see a little bit better in the light. It was... a suit similar to the first one she had worn back during the Battle of Sokovia. It was all chrome black leather... it looked almost like a straight jacket the way the straps were on across the chest area. And his boots... black and similar to military boots. And the mask... definitely military, but painted over the eye goggles and over the already black paint to make it darker. Purposeful. Someone was clearly trying to hide themselves beneath that mask.
"You don't have to set a fire to get my attention," she replied in a steady voice. "You don't have to hurt anyone else. Just tell me what you want."
He took a menacing step forward, his head dipping down as though he were a predator stalking his prey. "You know what I want."
"Me. Dead." She nodded. "And I'll give you what you want... without a fight. I just want to know why before you... kill me."
His head tilted to the side. "You want to know why I want you dead? You haven't figured it out already, have you?"
She swallowed hard. "You said it had something to do with Rumlow." He flinched at the name. They were close, but who the hell would be close with a monster like Brock Rumlow? Who was that under the mask? The brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She really hoped she wouldn't live to regret this.
Slowly, she raised a hand and tentatively hit the button behind her ear. She coughed a little at the smoke intake that was let in just as her mask retracted to reveal her face. There was no point in hiding it anymore, he knew who and what she was. She just hoped he'd grant her the same trust that she was giving to him.
He stumbled back a bit when she revealed her face to him, as though he were caught off guard by the notion.
"You know who I am and what I did to him. But do you know what he did to me?" She prompted him.
The masked figure shook his head. "You murdered him in cold blood."
"I didn't... That wasn't my intention. I-I was where you are now. I wanted answers for why he hurt someone that I cared for," Danielle began to explain. "You cared for him- I see that. And something tells me you aren't blind to the kind of person he was. What he's done. What he probably did to you, too-"
"Shut up," he growled from beneath his mask. This was her warning. To stop.
She didn't.
She took a step forward. "He did horrible things to me and my family. To my friends, my sister, my brother... my mom."
"Shut up."
"You've probably heard her name before- he trained her. Turned her into a killer."
"I said-"
"Alisson Harper."
"Stop."
"He kidnapped her, and trained her to be a murderer-"
"Talking."
"-then when she wouldn't do as she was told, he killed her-"
"YOU'RE WRONG!"
"It was him!"
"Says who?!" He roared as he jolted forward until he was standing above her. She flinched at both the bass in his raised voice as well as the close proximity as he stared her down through those thick, empty goggles. "Hm? Did he tell you that? Because I know for certain that Brock Rumlow didn't touch a hair on that bitch's head." Danielle was certain that all the color had drained from her face as she relived that day in Lagos.
"Killed her? I didn't touch a hair on that bitch's head. But I wish I had."
She was a murderer...
"Rumlow didn't kill my mom...I killed the wrong person!"
Was it worth it?
All of these thoughts and words and feelings came flooding back. Had she been lying to herself for so long? Was she really that blind or was she just going it to protect herself from the truth? That she really had murdered someone in cold blood?
But also- how had he known what Rumlow had said to her verbatim? The only person close enough to have heard was Steve. Unless, he was there and was connected to an earpiece that allowed him to listen in. He had been there, though- that was for sure. And he was close to Rumlow because how else would he know for certain that Rumlow hadn't killed her mom?
The masked man tilted his head as he slowly began to stalk around Danielle's stiff and frozen figure. "You dumb, insolate, stupid little girl. You always think that you can sweet talk your way out of your problems. Bat your eyelashes and pretend to be a hero when you're nothing more than a backstabbing monster you so badly wish not to be." Danielle winced when his voice was just at her ear, his breath making the hairs on the nape of her neck tingle. She fought the urge to flinch at how close he really was and how deep his words were cutting her. "Everyone is so entranced by who you are, but me? I know what you are, Danielle."
No... It couldn't have been-
CRASH
"Get away from her!"
Shit!
Before Danielle had time to process what she had just heard from the masked fire wielder, she was suddenly ducking down onto her knees as glass erupted from the panel of windows to her right. She vaguely heard the familiar thwip from the webshooters that were undoubtedly attached to the web slinger she'd left on the rooftop to catch up with her who was now crashing through the windows and hurdling towards the fire wielder that had been standing directly behind her.
The brunette fell on all fours and spun around just in time to see the familiar figure in red and blue swing away, the spot where the masked man had been a moment earlier empty. She heard a grunt from a few feet away followed by a growl. She watched as Spider-Man swung and landed just above a file cabinet across the room.
"Sorry, Hothead, but it looks like Eris here is tapping out of round two," she heard Peter call from his perch. "It's my turn now."
Danielle jumped to her feet, her hand coming up to hit the button on the back of her ear to get her mask back over her face because from the tone of Peter's voice, there was definitely going to be a fight right now.
Sure enough, she watched as the masked man slowly rose up from where he'd been knocked down, a groan escaping from his chest as he held onto a desk to rebalance himself. "This isn't your fight, Insect," he spat at him in his baritone and disguised voice from beneath the gas mask. He slowly turned his back on the web-slinger to face Danielle. She planted her feet, expecting him to charge, only instead he just spun back to face Peter again. "Allow me to do a little pest control."
Danielle furrowed her eyebrows at his words, yet lack of action. What was he doing? She couldn't see it, but on the other side of the room, Peter was having a bit of a hard time with... well, everything right now.
Suddenly, his sight began to blur. At first he thought it was all the smoke in the room, but then... something else happened. His sticky grip he had on the file cabinet was... feeling a little loose all of a sudden. His grip was loose, his eyesight was blurry, and- what the hell was going on?
"Uh- what is- shit!" And suddenly he was falling. Which wasn't such a big deal, it was only five feet off the ground and he had cat-like reflexes that he could just fall back on. Only they didn't kick in and he ended up falling face first into the ground with a harsh 'oomph.'
Danielle took a step forward, her eyes wide as she glanced between Spider-Man lying on the floor, struggling to get up to his feet as though he was hit with some odd wave of vertigo, then back to the dark figure standing over him, his head tilted as though he were smiling down proud at what he'd done to him. "What did you do to him?!"
"Us enhanced... we aren't much of anything without our powers," he menacingly said, his head turning to her as he replied. "Are we?"
Danielle's eyes fell back to Peter as he continued to try to stand up on his own two feet, but he still seemed to be struggling. She imagined it was because the enhancements he'd gained from that spider bite over a year ago were now... gone. Just like her powers had when he had gotten a hold of her. That's why he was little off the rails right now.
"Leave him out of this," Danielle grit out from between her clenched teeth. "This is between us. This is about Brock Rumlow- someone he had no connection to whatsoever."
The masked figure seemed to contemplate her words for a moment, but the mention of Rumlow didn't exactly sell him. He wanted something in return. Something to do with Rumlow. And she was going to give him what he wanted.
"I'll tell you everything that happened that day in Lagos if you let him go..." she offered.
That seemed to pique his interest. "Talk," he growled just as he raised his arm, his palm engulfed in a ball of flames aimed at a limping Peter a few feet away. "Or I light him up just like this building."
She held her hands up, dropping her defenses and straightening out to show she was giving it all up again. "Okay, okay, okay... What do you want to know?"
He paused for a moment, considering her question. But not because he was thinking of what to ask, but for another reason entirely. "You're so willing... I wonder how high you'd jump just to protect this... child in spandex," he spat at the ground where Peter was just now regaining the strength to climb to his knees. "I wonder... I wonder... If I tell you I'd let you walk out of this building without another scratch in exchange for his life... would you take the opportunity?"
Danielle hesitated. What was he getting at? Was he actually considering this offer? Did he actually think she would take it or did he have some other kind of sick and twisted hidden-
"Answer the question!"
"No!" She answered with a jump at his angry snap. "No... I wouldn't take the opportunity. Never."
The masked figure stiffened at her blunt answer. The flame in his hand growing exponentially along with the anger that came with the reaction to her words. "You wouldn't... You wouldn't..."
Danielle watched as the flame kept growing and growing and growing in his hand. She threw a weary glance to Peter, his strength seemingly coming back in full now that the fire wielder's focus was solely on her and how completely and utterly furious he was with her and her answer.
Her answer. Why did her answer affect him so much? What did she say that set him off? Why did it set him off? It didn't even have anything to do with Rumlow. That's why he was here. That's why he wanted revenge. Unless...
Unless that was just a scapegoat...
In a split second decision, Danielle quickly shot her arm out towards Spider-Man, her powers shooting out to knock him back across the office. "Run!" She called to him as she watched him fly back. She didn't have time to see if he had made it away before she pulled her arm back to hold up an invisible barrier of power just as the masked man let out a guttural roar and shot two balls of flames directly at her.
The flame connected with her powers, and while she had the strength to keep the shield intact, she didn't have as much physical strength to keep her feet planted. She went flying backwards across the room- much like Peter had- and yelped out in pain when her back slammed against a desk. Her body fell to the ground with a thud and a gasp escaped her mouth after having all the air escape her lungs.
"Mmm," Danielle moaned as she raised herself up by her elbows. She had to get up. She had to fight. There wasn't going to be a repeat of what happened the night before. Her throat burned just remembering.
"You wouldn't take the opportunity..."
Danielle whipped her head to the side to see the ominous dark figure looming a few yards away in the middle of the aisle of cubicles. His body was shaking and she could've sworn she could see some light behind those empty black goggles of the mask. He was furious.
She jumped to her feet, fighting the urge to visibly wince at the pain from her throbbing spine. The brunette slowly backed away step by step. She knew she wouldn't get far, but she had to try. Her fingers twitched at her side, her eyes scanning for anything in any of the cubicles that could help her as the masked man slowly began to creep towards her down the aisle, his hands coming up on either side to set each desk aflame as he did.
"You wouldn't leave him," he growled beneath his mask. Danielle watched with tears in her eyes as his hands came up to aim at her. She didn't have to try and test her powers to know they wouldn't work this time. She couldn't block this blow. She couldn't teleport away. And she couldn't talk her way out of this one. This was it.
"You wouldn't LEAVE HIM!"
Light.
That's all she saw for the brief second from when he'd thrown his hands forward and a rush of heat came flying towards her.
But all she saw was light.
Was this how it ended for her? In a ball of flames, blinded by light, riddled with mistakes and scars she could never fix, heal, or remedy? On one hand- she wanted to scream, cry, kick, punch, scratch, fight- but on the other... all she felt was an odd sense of acceptance. She wasn't sure why though. She didn't want to die- in fact, the thought terrified her. But it just felt like there was some part of her brain that was willing her to stay calm and accept her fate as if it were trying to ease the pain. It was working.
Or at least it was until the light suddenly evaporated, getting blocked out by a shadow that abruptly cut her off from the light of her fate and the ball of flames hurdling towards her. Now all she saw was black and yellow and the back of someone's head as they threw their own shot of light at the fire.
Danielle stumbled back when she heard that all too familiar snaps, crackles, and pops that came with the electric force of none other than her brother.
"Urgh!" She heard Jack groan as he struggled to force back the flames with a large jolt of electricity. The force of both powers colliding lighting up the room to the point where Danielle had to look away from just how bright it was.
Suddenly, she felt hands on her shoulders.
Out of habit, she spun around to push them away with her own powers, but halted her movements when her eyes were met by large white ones. Spider-Man. Peter.
"We've gotta go. Now."
Danielle turned her head again to see the stand-off between the two enhanced men had ended abruptly seeing as both Jack and the masked man could no longer exert themselves. The masked man stumbled back momentarily, but was driven to rage again when he peered over her brother's shoulder and spotted her with Spider-Man. Danielle felt her heart drop when she realized Jack was now the human shield between her and the masked pyromaniac... and soon, he would be taking her place as being powerless and a walking target for him.
"No, no, no, no- Jack!" Danielle shouted, shaking her arms out of Peter's grip. She took a leap of faith when she pulled her arms to the side and used her mind to grab ahold of a large metal desk to her right. She felt her heart soar when it went where she directed it- her powers were restored momentarily. "Urgh-AH!" She let out a scream as she hurdled the large object straight for the masked figure. The sound of metal crashing against flesh and bones echoed across the office as the group watched him topple beneath the desk. If she weren't so furious for him trying to kill her brother, she would've smiled beneath the gold mask.
The victory was short-lived when Jack's shouting cut through the smoke.
"Get her out of here, Spider-Boy!" He shouted over his shoulder. Danielle could see his fingers still shaking and lighting up with the residual electricity, and his eyes returning to brown after his power surge had turned them a bright and glowing yellow- similar to hers at times. When neither Peter or her moved, he added. "Now!"
Peter moved to grab hold of her, but she jerked away. "No! You can't take him alone- he'll kill you!"
"He's not alone."
Danielle and Peter spun around to see a figure in white walk in. Clad in an all-white catsuit, her hair a pale white, and her eyes glowing silver... she looked about ready to kill and her focus was all on the figure that was groaning and shifting beneath the desk a few yards away.
"Rae?"
"Miss Sable?"
Danielle glanced to Peter who looked to be as lost as she was with his wide white eyes underneath the mask. They both turned back to Rae and noticed her hands begin to glow with a bright luminescent, silver glow. Simultaneously, her eyes and... hair began to glow the same way. Briefly, those same glowing eyes turned to Peter and Danielle. "You heard him- leave."
While Danielle shook her head, Peter yanked on her arm. "Come on, Elle. We have to go."
There was a low growl from the desk as fire abruptly shot a hole through the middle, melting away the metal as the masked figure broke free. Something caught her attention then... the burn on the upper rightside of his mask revealed a portion of his face and for a brief second... she thought she saw something in those hazel eyes. Something that wasn't fire and fury. She knew who it was under that mask... but it was impossible. It couldn't have been possible.
"Get out- now!" Rae shouted before a large ball of power built up within her palm and she shot out at Him.
Danielle watched as he ducked, weaved his way out from behind the desk, shooting small blasts of fire under other cubicles to create a wall of smoke and debris to hide where he had gone. Still, Rae kept shooting into the fire with pure, unadulterated anger and fury. Even Jack seemed to be caught off guard by her unwavering show of force.
"Elle-"
"Hold on!" She snapped at Peter, her eyes glued to the wall of smoke and flame blocking the group's view of the other half of the office covered in a shadow. Eventually, Rae wavered in her shots until all that was left was silence. Danielle's eyes scanned the cloud of ash and smoke to see if she could spot any movement, even the slightest twitch. But... nothing.
Was he dead?
"Cute."
The group spun around to the opposite side of the office where the masked figure with half-charred uniform and mask stood high on top of a desk, his hands clenched into fists on either side of him as he stood tall as if the blow hadn't even come close to leaving a scratch on him. He tilted his head to the side menacingly before a low growl came from his chest.
"My turn."
It happened all at once.
Rae's hair and eyes abruptly stopped glowing as did her hands. The static around Jack's fingertips went stagnant. And even Peter's hand shot out to grab hold of Danielle's arm to regain his balance. They were all powerless... even Rae. Shit.
Just as the eyes under the mask began to glow, Danielle grabbed Peter and dragged him to duck behind a nearby cubicle just in time before the flames rained down on them. The brunette knew Peter still didn't have his powers so she tried her best to use herself as a human shield over his body as debris and flames flicked and flew over the edge of the desk just above their heads.
Once the flames and explosions had died down on the other side of the desk, Danielle shifted to peer around the edge to see where the pyromaniac was at. She could hear and see a fight ensuing across the office and she could clearly see punches being thrown along with dodged fireballs- most likely Rae and Jack trying to handle him. But Danielle knew she couldn't just sit there and let them take the brunt of it all. They couldn't hold him for long, so she had to think fast...
What was the best way to put out a fire?
The brunette whipped her head around as she searched for something square and red in the room. Eventually, her eyes landed on a fire alarm... across the office. She could run and try and activate it herself, but she knew she'd never make it that far... It's a good thing she had someone with web-shooters.
"Peter- Peter," Danielle began to shake the arm of the web-slinger beside her. "I know you're feeling really crappy right now, but I need your help."
"...can't... see..." he mumbled from beneath his mask.
"I can point you in the right direction, I just need you to activate the webs for me," she explained in a rush of words. She could vaguely hear crashing and shouts from Rae and Jack... It wouldn't be long now. "Peter, please. I need you right now. I need you to focus, okay?'
She watched him intently, not bothering to focus on the fight a few yards away. He seemed to be regaining what little sense of stability he had when he sat up straighter, his arm coming up as though he were offering it to her. "You have to point me..."
"Okay," Danielle nodded frantically as she took his arm in her hands. Slowly, she raised it and lined it up to her eye as she aimed it at the fire alarm across the room. She had one shot at this. She could do this. They could do this. "Alright... fire!"
Peter's fingers flexed and pressed down on the shooter trigger in his palm. Danielle watched as the web shot from his wrist and landed directly on the lever attached to the fire alarm. She smiled beneath her mask and nearly cried out in joy when the alarm began to blare followed by the sprinklers activating. She could've jumped for joy when she felt the water fall upon her head. Just last night she'd nearly drowned and now she couldn't have been happier to feel it on her skin as she released Peter's arm and jumped up over the edge of the desk and charged.
The fire and smoke had all but been wiped out and now all Danielle saw was a straight line towards the pyromaniac masked man having just thrown a blow at Jack that had him on the floor. He barely had time to register the sprinklers above him when Danielle came barreling at him. Her chest hit his middle first and she heard him groan when they both hit the floor.
It was short lived when she felt the force of two legs kicking her stomach and yanking her body above his head and slamming her onto her back. "Oomph!" She groaned and gasped, having the breath knocked from her. When she opened her eyes she saw a black-clad fist coming down and quickly rolled out of the way before it slammed down into the floor where her head once was.
Using this to her advantage, she dug into the back of her memories for a move Natasha had taught her once a long time ago and kicked her legs up to jump over his arm and land on top of his shoulders.
"Argh-!" He shouted as he jerked uprights onto his feet, his hands coming up to try and yank her off. In an attempt, his hands managed to find her mask as he tried to shove her face upwards. But her hands also found his mask.
They were at a stand-off. Her fingers trying to dig under his gas mask, and his palms trying to push off her gold chrome mask.
Eventually, he gave up trying to push her face and focused on her shoulder. His large hand gripping her arm and yanking her off of him forcefully and tossing her away.
But not before she managed to get a grip on his mask.
Danielle yelped as she was tossed back onto the ground, but she had anticipated and managed to land onto her arms. She caught herself in a somersault and spun around on her heel once her feet were back on the ground. But when her eyes fell on the man that she had just been thrown off of, she stiffened.
Everything froze.
Her heart fell to the floor right alongside the charred and burnt gas mask she'd ripped off the face of her attacker.
No...
It couldn't have been...
It wasn't possible...
He was supposed to be dead...
He was supposed to be dead!
She'd left him for dead!
"...Noah..." The name left her lips as if it were a prayer to be whispered. Her eyes widened and she felt wetness dripping down her cheeks that she knew wasn't from the sprinkler water still raining down on them.
Across from her stood a ghost. The ghost of a loved one she had thought to have been killed- murdered. Someone that had sacrificed himself for her and they'd left him, but it was because they thought he had been dead. He was supposed to dead!
He looked dead...
His skin was as pale as snow... almost grey if it were humanly possible. The bags under his eyes looked as though they had been carved in marble with how deep they were. His cheekbones and jawline were so sharp, she was certain they were probably as sharp as glass. His hair... was exactly as she remembered it to be; soft and curly black locks that fell into his face to cover his eyes. Oh- his eyes. They were darker than she remembered them... more shaded... more dull. They were still that same beautiful hazel color, only a more damaged soul could be seen inside them now. She used to see hope within those eyes and now...
Now all she saw was pure hatred.
"You're... you're..." She couldn't find the right words. She forgot how to use words. She was speechless. What was she supposed to say to him? Sorry? That couldn't even cover how she felt about him still being alive right now. There were no words.
"Alive," he bit back at her with that same edge he'd had when he'd had his voice disguised from beneath the mask. For the first time in years, she was finally hearing his real voice again. It sounded the same way, as though it had never changed. She wanted to cry- well, she was actually crying, but she wanted to cry more She wanted to hug him. She wanted to sob in his arms and tell him how sorry she was. She wanted to tell him it was okay now. She wanted to fix his eyes. She wanted to help that damaged soul.
But... from the way he was glaring at her and from the looks of the flames building up in his hands... she knew it was the last thing she'd probably be doing right now.
"You took everything from me," he growled, his voice growing louder as the flames grew bigger.
Danielle whimpered, the tears streaking down her face now. "I'm sorry."
His eyes lit up as though they were on fire, matching his fists that were now large balls of fire on either side of him. "You will be," he replied menacingly.
The brunette sighed and sniffled. She nodded. She knew what he had to do. Once again, that acceptance of her fate came back to her. She was terrified, but the guilt overweighed much else because she accepted her wrongs. And she was ready to die because of her mistakes if that's what it took to right those wrongs.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and raised her hands as though that would do anything to block the pain for when it would inevitably hit.
She waited for it to hit. And waited. And waited. And waited.
EEEEEEER
The brunette opened her eyes when she heard the all too familiar sound of the Iron Man suit repulsors firing up. Sure enough, standing a few yards behind Noah, was the red and gold armor with his repulsors aimed at him as well as about a few dozen or so missiles from other small compartments all over the back and sides of the armor.
"Get away from the girl," she heard Tony growl from beneath the mask.
The fire wielder spun around to face the metal man, his hands of fire still raging, but this time he had a new target that wasn't Danielle.
The brunette took a step forward, her hand raised as if to diffuse the situation. "No. No- don't-!"
But it was too late.
She watched as the metal helmet of the Iron Man suit tilted to the side momentarily. "Kid- now!"
"No! Wait- AH!"
Danielle screamed when she was abruptly swept off her feet and swung out of the line of fire by a figure in red and blue spandex. They hit the wall with a thud, seeing as Spider-Man must not have gained his sticking powers back, but had mustered enough strength to still swing her out of the way just before Tony fire off his repulsors at Noah.
"NO!"
Horrified, the brunette watched as the pyromancer was shot back and through the glass pane windows, falling out to his inevitable death.
Danielle pushed Spider-Man away as she dashed towards the hole in the window. "Noah!" She called out as she halted in her steps just as she reached the edge. Her heart was on the floor and her blood ran cold at the thought of him reaching his end, no matter what he'd done to her. But there was a spark of both hope and horror when she saw a flash of orange fly across the sky and away from the ground. He was alive.
He was alive...
Noah was alive.
"Oh, God..."
A/N: Oh shitttttt. Sorry for the long wait, but as you can see this one was quite a monster to work out. But I hope you guys enjoy unpacking this one ;) see you next update- hopefully (don't quote me on this) I'll get it out sooner than usual since I left off on such a cliffhanger.
Reviews:
CrackHeadBlonde: Here's your next update!
zikashigaku: Well, there wasn't an in depth explanation for the connection between Arson and Rumlow, but I dropped a bit of clues here. And YESS Protective!Peter and Protective!Danielle are too cute, I love them so much. That is definitely the question though: which will admit feelings first? Shall we take a vote, lol?
PrettyRecklessLaura: The wait is over!
MushroomGloomClover: Danielle's b-day! Definitely tried to update then just for her, but life happens. Danielle would understand, lmao.
MushroomGloomClover2: I want to do more incorrect quotes, but I feel like I would just be copying a lot of other stories I see on here which is why I stopped and started doing headcanons instead.
MushroomGloomClover3: That was the point. :) I try to use the songs to set up a certain mood for every scene I write. I hope you guys enjoy the unofficial MIGRAINE soundtrack, lol.
MushroomGloomClover4: The pain was really felt in that poem. She truly is a poet, lol.
