A/N: I don't know why this took me so long to write out. This chapter has literally been written since I planned this story, like...

Chapter Songs: Carry Me Out by Mitski

Headcanon of the Chapter: Jack has (on multiple occasions) attempted to try and program the Tolkien language into Vision's conscious.


The Compound was a mess.

Following the elimination- God, Tony hated that phrasing- of Noah Doe aka Arson, Tony had expected for everything to go back in order, but... It seemed as though the complicated manner of the situation would only lead to an even more complicated situation after the supposed solution had been enacted.

Complicated Logic, great...

Then again, what was Tony supposed to expect when he lived with a boy that could control electricity, a woman whose hair literally glowed silver, a kid who could stick to walls, a girl who could move meteors with her mind, and an android designed by a robot and brought to life by a Norse God... And to think there was a time where the weirdest thing in his life was the fact that he was friends with a guy that turned green when he got mad.

Tony couldn't complain though. Truthfully, he enjoyed the company of all these new additions to the Compound. The one thing he didn't enjoy was having to take on the emotional responsibilities Cap had... which included comforting crying teenage girls in the common area.

He found Danielle wiping away her tears as she sat with her back to him, her fingers lightly tracing the keys of the piano she was seated at. It was becoming a common occurrence, finding her here after what happened with Noah.

Peter had already returned to New York. Danielle had gone, too at first, almost a little too eager to be away from her brother as though Arson's death had caused a rift between them. But, eventually, she'd started coming back to the Compound after school.

No one knew, of course, no one but Tony. And he'd only found out because he'd gotten a call in the middle of a briefing with Ross from Happy, shouting about how the girl had vanished into thin air immediately after school and he hadn't seen her at the Penthouse or anywhere else in the entirety of New York City for that matter. But, with a little bit of peeping, Tony was able to find the girl seated at that piano.

Sometimes she played... sometimes she just sat there, dragging her fingers along the keys and staring at them, waiting for the keys to play themselves. Maybe they would, she could move things with her mind, after all.

Today was one of the days where she just stared...

Today was also the day Tony finally stepped in...

"I remember when Cap convinced me to get you that thing."

Danielle jumped at the sound of his voice. Her eyes wide as she whipped around to find him leaning on the wall just beside the piano.

"Sorry," he grimaced slightly, slowly making his way over to take a seat at the bench beside her. She awkwardly shifted to make room for him. "I thought he was insane for wanting me to buy a grand piano for some tiny girl fresh out of the hands of a NEO Nazi organization..." Tony slid his own fingers along the edge of the keys. "Then I heard you play. I remember thinking... 'yep, there's no where this kid won't go.'"

Danielle didn't say anything at first. Honestly, Tony was holding his breath hoping she would. He wasn't really sure where to go from there, it's not like he had many examples to go off of in terms of heart-to-hearts.

"Why's it like this?"

Her voice was hoarse, barely over a whisper. From the sound of how raspy it was, it was almost as though she hadn't used her voice in days. Something told Tony his suspicion was probably right.

"Why's what like this?" Tony frowned.

"My life," she answered. "It feels like... like I'm in the ocean and it's just wave after wave, hitting me over and over again; every time I come up for air, another wave just comes and knocks me under water again... I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"...that one day, I won't come back up."

The young girl's comment hit Tony like a ton of bricks. When he looked at her sometimes, it was as though she seemed to be weightless- unbothered by what's she'd seen, done, and experienced. But now that he heard her opening up to him now, he realized that she must've been carrying the invisible weight with her powers all for show.

Tony sighed.

"Did I ever tell you how I first started out as Iron Man?"

Danielle glanced up at him, her eyebrows furrowing as she shook her head. "No, but I read an article about it. Something about a cave?"

"Yeah, that's the gist of it, I guess some would say," he shrugged. "But, before all this- the Avengers, Iron Man- I wasn't a very upstanding guy."

"Natasha called you a dick," Danielle pursed her lips together so not to let a smile slip.

Tony paused for a second, debating whether or not to argue that point, but... "...she wasn't entirely wrong," he admit. "I was young, stupid, naïve. I made weapons- damn good ones- and sold them to good people, bad people, any people willing to pay. I wasn't exactly known for my moral compass." He shrugged.

"Then one day, those actions came back to bite me in the ass," the billionaire explained. "I was kidnapped by men who wanted me to make those weapons for them... for free. They tortured me, threatened me. I nearly died in the cave they kept me in. But there was a man there who helped me realize that... I didn't want bombs, bullets, and bodies to be what my legacy was when I eventually leave all this behind. I wanted to help people, maybe right my wrongs along the way. It wasn't easy, but I made it out of that cave with my will and strength.

"My journey since then felt exactly the way you described it: like waves hitting me over and over again," he continued. "But... I still kept my head above the water because I knew that I didn't survive being held captive all those years ago and I didn't save all these people just to give it all up now. I was meant for more than that."

Tony glanced back down at the girl staring at him intently, her beady little bright brown eyes even looked as though they might've been tearing up a bit at his story.

"You're meant for more, too, kid," he told her, awkwardly patting her on the shoulder like she'd just hit a home run or something.

"You believe that?" she muttered softly.

Tony nodded. "Hell yeah, I do." Danielle spared him a small smile in gratitude. This was odd, he'd never been known to be very well with kids, but somehow... he hadn't fucked this one up just yet. "Now, you gonna mope at this thing all day, or are you actually gonna play something?" Tony, despite himself, laid his fingers at the end of the keys and played what he could remember of 'Try to Remember.'

Danielle's eyes widened slightly. "You play?"

"God, no," he scoffed. "I just remember watching my mom play... She tried to force me to take lessons, but my fingers were always covered in too much grease." He continued to play what he could remember until he hit the wrong note and winced. "I think you might be better than me."

The brunette chuckled, her hand moving up to the keys, gliding along each ivory note as though she were trying to paint an elegant portrait with every sound her fingers played. Tony didn't recognize the song, it might've just been something she'd bullshitted. Either way, her point had been made.

She smirked slightly as she withdrew her hand. "I think you might be right," she mused. If Tony was a betting man- which he was known to be on occasion- he thought he might've heard a bit of smugness in her innocent voice.


Danielle wound up back at the Penthouse later that night.

Since she'd been spending most of her nights at the Compound, this was the first she'd spend in the Penthouse since the night after Noah- since... Arson had attacked her.

It was still unnerving to her, coming back to a large residence partially empty and much too big just to house her. She hated it sometimes... but when she felt like she was being suffocated in the large expanse of the Penthouse, she'd just sit outside on the balcony outside her room.

She knew she'd have to get up early like she did every morning for soccer practice, but Danielle was content with just sitting out in the night breeze for just a little bit longer.

Of course, she wasn't ever alone.

Danielle reached out to take a sip of the water she'd set on the table beside where she sat, lounging on a small sofa. She didn't bother to look up from the city skyline when she called out into the night, "How often have you been coming here?"

There was a loud sigh followed by a soft thwip and thud from close behind where Danielle sat.

"What gave me away?" Peter asked, plopping down on the sofa on the opposite side of the table. His smile beaming in the soft glow of the fairy lights around the balcony as he peeled his mask from over his face.

Danielle turned to him, setting her water back on the table. "I follow a few Spider-Man tracker accounts on Twitter. Saw a picture or two of you perched on a very familiar roof..." Peter sat up straight, his eyes widening as he looked around at their surroundings frantically. Danielle chuckled beneath her breath. "I'm kidding. I saw you swinging by ten minutes ago," she tilted her head slightly. "You're not always as stealthy as you think."

Peter laughed out loud at that. "Sorry," he grimaced slightly.

"I'm not mad at you for stopping by," she assured him. "How long have you been coming by?"

Peter flushed, immediately look away at the city past the balcony. "I, uh... just a few times a month." Danielle raised an eyebrow, Peter could see her looking at him in disbelief from the corner of his eye. "A week..." Danielle crossed her arms over her chest. "...a night. I stop by a few times every night."

Danielle furrowed her eyebrows. "...why?"

He shrugged, still unable to meet her curious gaze. "I just... I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

"I thought I made it pretty clear that I can protect myself."

"You can! I just-" Peter coughed. "I don't really get to see you anymore. I mean, we see each other at school and sometimes you'll come on patrols when there's a raid, but... other than that you're always just busy. I thought if I stopped by every so often while on patrols, I could just see you; make sure you were okay, I guess."

Danielle pursed her lips to keep from smiling. She wasn't sure why her chest fluttered at the thought of Peter swinging by just to spend a few stolen moments outside her balcony to be with her even when she wasn't aware, but... for some reason, it did.

"You're pretty young for a stalker," she joked.

Peter turned to her, pulling a face. "Well... you're pretty short for a vigilante," he shot back with a grin on his face.

"Ah!" Danielle gasped in feigned offense. She raised her hand to smack his head, but her wrist was caught in his firm, but soft grip. She glanced down at her trapped hand and back to Peter, looking back at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Before she knew it, she was jumping up from the sofa in fighting stance.

"Let's see how well you can beat me this time," Peter shot at her as he raised his fist, ready to fight. "You know- without cheating."

"Cheating?" Danielle gaped ducking out of the way from the kick the Spider aimed towards her head. She slid to her left and threw a punch only to have it blocked once-

She aimed for the head, only to have it blocked twice.

She aimed for Peter's chest- this time, getting a hit in.

Peter stumbled before bouncing back on his toes. He threw a punch, he realized he put a little too much force behind it when Danielle ducked out of the way and spun back on her heel fast enough to watch him stumble forward a bit. She giggled at the expression on his face once he caught himself again.

"Yeah- cheated," he retorted. "You threw-" he aimed high, she blocked. "-a truck-" he aimed for her legs with a sweeping kick, she jumped up and out of the way. "-at me!" As soon as her feet returned to the ground, he jumped up a little faster, wrapping his arms around her waist, using his leg to kick out her ankle.

"Woah-!" she gasped as she fell, only to be caught by a firm grip around her waist. Her eyes were wide as she stared back at Peter, dipping in his arms and her face centimeters from his, their noses nearly touching.

"You just can't help falling for me, can you?" he grinned back at her.

He was basking in his small victory when a similar grin crossed the brunette's face... just before she grabbed the collar of his suit and slammed her forehead into his. "Oh- shit!"

Danielle caught herself on her feet, standing tall as she watched the Spider-Man fall onto his back, his hands clutching at his forehead. "You just can't help falling for that," she laughed.

"Oh man, you have a really hard head," Peter groaned, a smile spreading across his face as he glanced up at his partner. "...makes sense though." He winked, she gaped.

"Oh- you little-" she charged, only for the web-slinger to shoot off a web and pull himself up off the ground, jumping off the balcony wall and then shot another web up onto the balcony roof before slowly lowering himself down. Danielle turned around to face the Spider dangling down in front of her. "Cute trick," she smirked. "Are you going to come down from there and finish the fight?"

"Maybe," Peter snickered as he slowly lowered himself down until she was looking straight ahead at his upside down face. "Or... you can come up here and finish the fight."

Danielle glanced down at Peter, her hand slowly coming up to rest on his cheek. Peter looked as though he'd stopped breathing for a second. Then... Danielle laughed in his face just before the pair teleported from the balcony.

"Gah- oof!" Peter flailed as he fell from the balcony roof and landed on a thin metal plank. "Aw..." he groaned, his eyes scanning the area that he'd just be dropped in. What he could make out was more metal planks... and a field... and field gold posts... "Hey, is this-"

"The bleachers," Danielle chuckled, holding a hand out with Peter's Spider-Man mask in it. He quickly jumped up to pull it on. "Sorry," she winced. "I didn't mean to send us here. I just... sort of thought of it."

Beneath the mask, Peter let out a small laugh. "I guess this is sort of our spot- woah!" The Spider suddenly found himself stumbling back when his partner abruptly kicked him square in the chest, knocking some of the air out of him. "What- what was that?"

Danielle shrugged, her fists held up in front of her in fighting position. "You told me to finish the fight. We're not done fighting."

Peter smirked, not skipping a beat before jumping back up and lunging.

Danielle gasped when Spider-Man ran at her, his arms wrapping around her waist and lifting her off the ground and dangling her from over his shoulder. She was practically snorting with how hard she was laughing. "This- this isn't fighting-" she fell apart in a fit of giggles.

"Huh? What was that?" He shouted out. "I couldn't hear you from all the way over there." He spun around, Danielle laughing as she spun with him.

"Down!" Danielle gasped through her laughs. "Put me down- down!"

"Do you surrender?"

"Ye-yes!" she cried out. "Yes! I surrender! I surrender."

Spider-Man relented, bowing down so to place his partner back onto her feet. As soon as she was back on her feet, she stood upright with a grin on her face, her hand coming up to reveal her fingers crossed. "Just kidding!"

"What?" The mask eyes going wide before he found himself being tackled by the brunette. But instead of landing on the metal seats of the bleachers, Peter wound up landing on something hard and wooden. When he opened his eyes again, he didn't have time to take in his surroundings when Danielle caught herself with a hand over his head and another on his chest.

She was trying to catch her breath from all her laughing while also trying to regain the air knocked from her chest following her harsh landing on top of Peter. "Are you-" she giggled. "Are you okay?"

"I- yeah- yes," her partner stammered, his face growing flush beneath his mask as he stared up at the girl just above him. "You're, uh, crushing me..." he gestured down, wishing she'd get up so he wasn't embarrassed further from his reaction to his partner falling on top of him while also simultaneously arguing with himself about whether or not he even wanted her to get off of him.

"Oh, right- sorry," she winced before pushing herself off of him and onto her feet once more. Once she was up, she held a hand down to him. "Truce?"

Peter let out a breathless laugh, ripping his mask from his head and taking her hand. When she hoisted him to his feet, he stumbled a bit, Danielle catching him in her arms and laughing.

"Does this mean I win?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

Peter rolled his eyes jokingly. "Yes- yes, you win."

The brunette beamed at the teenage boy still standing so close her. "And what's my prize?" She prompted, raising her chin slightly.

Peter took a deep breath. There were a couple of ways he'd been thinking of doing this, imagining times and scenarios to ask Danielle on... was it a date? Peter wasn't really sure what this would mean for him and Danielle. One thing he knew for sure was that they were no longer just friends. He wasn't sure when it dawned on him.

Maybe when he grew outraged at the prospect of Toomes threatening her. Maybe when his heart caught in his throat at the sight of her passing out with a bloody nose after breaking him out of that vault in DC. Maybe when he'd danced with her on the balcony after what happened at Long Island. Maybe when he found himself unbelievably happy whenever he'd catch sight of her in the crowds in the hallways at school. Maybe when he started to take up the habit of sitting idly outside the Penthouse just watching to make sure she was safe that turned into an every night thing.

Or maybe he'd always just felt this pull towards her. Maybe he'd always been a goner since the moment he heard her loud heartbeat in the crowd of dozens inside that small subway train car.

"Two tickets to the Halloween game this Friday," he eventually mustered enough courage to offer.

Danielle blinked. She obviously hadn't expected that answer.

"Like a... like a date?" She prompted him.

Immediately, red alerts started to go off in Peter's head. She didn't want this. She was having second thoughts about their friendship. How was he supposed to back track on this? Crap. Crap. "Uh, not-" he cleared his throat with a cough. "Not unless you want it to be." When she opened her mouth to say something, the panic arouse in Peter's chest once more. "But- it can be if you did want it to be- not that I'm forcing you or anything. It's just a stupid-"

"How about I just meet you there?" she interjected.

"Yeah," Peter immediately nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's great. I'll, uh, I'll see you at school tomorrow." He immediately withdrew his hands from her arms and began to take a few steps back and towards the Penthouse balcony. "I should go. I'll see you later, Elle."

He was already pulling his mask on when Danielle called out to him, "Peter." He stopped just at the balcony door, turning back to his partner. Danielle looked to be struggling to find the words at first, but was finally able to muster up the right words. "Your jacket-" she immediately began to pull the blue hoodie from off her shoulders. "I forgot to give it back to you at the Compound-"

"No- hey, it's fine," Peter immediately shook his head. "Keep it."

Danielle stood for a moment, pulling the sleeves of the hoodie back up over her shoulders and hugging her middle like she had before. She spared him a slight smile, watching his departing figure dash out of the balcony door, jump from the edge, and swing away.

When Peter had gone, Danielle was alone once more.

Suddenly, that empty feeling that had been festering in her chest had returned and she craved nothing more than to go chasing after the Spider that had just crawled back to his web.

She didn't.

Instead, she held onto the hoodie she wore just a little bit tighter and wandered back to her room, making sure to keep her balcony door propped open just a bit in case the Spider decided to come back.


The next morning, Danielle couldn't have been anymore thankful for the fact that she'd woken up to a text from Coach Wilson about their early morning practice getting cancelled for the football game that night.

But, it did remind her that she had a date-not-date that night with Peter at that very game.

"You're going to the game?!" Cindy practically screamed when Danielle told her about her plans to go. Not that she mentioned who she was going with, her friends didn't need that type of material to continue to fuel their little ideas about her and Peter... then again, their ideas were slowly becoming her reality whether she knew it or not.

Danielle winced at her friend's louder than expected reaction. "Yes," she answered slowly. "Just not really sure what I'm supposed to wear to football games."

"Right," Sally chuckled. "I almost forgot that you're so used to being on the field and never in the stands."

MJ frowned, briefly glanced over the top of the book in her hands as she leaned on the locker beside Danielle's. "Why is it that you finally decided to go to a game?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

Danielle shrugged, shifting her weight on her feet as she glanced down to the ground. "Everyone was talking about it," she explained. "And I've always wanted to go to a game, I've just never had the time."

"You never have time for anything," MJ muttered. "But you made time to for this game." She slapped her book shut. "Why?"

Danielle swallowed hard. Why did MJ always have to be so good at seeing through her lies? It was a shock to Danielle sometimes that MJ hadn't figured out Danielle's biggest secret of them all... Who knows? Danielle also wouldn't be too surprised if it turned out MJ did already know.

"Can't I just impulsively want to go to a football game with my friends?" Danielle shrugged innocently.

Before she could be given an answer, the bell rang, signifying the end of the school day. It had gone by in a blur and already Danielle had to head back home to try and figure out what to wear.

"Hey," MJ called out to Danielle before she could get too far down the hallway. She jogged slightly to catch up to the brunette. Danielle turned to her as she walked along side her. "I know you and Parker are probably gonna want your own row to yourselves-" Danielle opened her mouth to argue, but MJ kept going. "But I was wondering if you'd mind if I tagged along..."

Danielle clamped her mouth shut, the argument she had denying her going with Peter dying in her throat. "I... yeah," she answered. "I mean- no. No, I wouldn't mind. I'd actually like it if you came. It might be nice going with someone who'll be as clueless as me about the sport."

MJ laughed a little as they started to continue their walk down the hall together. "You played soccer for all this time, but you never learned how football works?"

Danielle shrugged, "Soccer is simple. Two teams, kick the ball into either of the goals, don't kill one another. Football just seems... complicated. And why is it called football if you use your hands?" The brunette shook her head. "American sports are weird."

"I forget you were European before you were a New Yorker," her friend smirked.

"Sometimes I forget too," she mused. "Hopefully, tonight won't be too complicated to keep up with."

"It's just a bunch of men throwing a ball around and getting concussions when they get tackled," MJ explained in her signature bored tone. "I doubt it'll be anything, but complicated to keep up with." Danielle had to purse her lips to keep from absolutely beaming with excitement for that night. Suddenly, her nerves for the date-not-date were beginning to diminish at the prospect of not having to go at it alone.


"It's crowded," Danielle muttered, pulling at the sleeves on her- Peter's jacket. She raised her chin, trying her best to spot the familiar brown curls on top of her partner's head.

The hype of the game seemed spread throughout Midtown like wildfire, everyone showed out that night from the looks of the bustling crowd scrambling to buy a ticket at the last minute to get in.

"He'll be here," MJ muttered her reassurance to her friend. "You look nice, by the way." Danielle turned to look up at her friend and gave her a grateful smile. MJ must've noticed how long she had taken getting ready for tonight- panicking in her room, sorting through dozens of pieces of clothes in her enormous closet trying to find something to wear only to settle on a pair of dark jeans, a white blouse, and the Midtown hoodie she'd kept from Peter.

"Thank you," she replied, turning back to face the crowd to search for him once again. Her breath catching in her throat when she eventually caught sight of Peter coming forward, pleasantly surprised to see he'd brought Ned along as well. Clearly, they had the same idea to bring a friend to this date-not-date.

Peter must've caught sight of Danielle shortly after she spotted him in the crowd because almost immediately upon seeing her did he pick up his pace to meet with her. "Hey," he greeted her, beaming and nearly bouncing on the heels of his feet. "Elle... Hey, MJ." He threw a weary smile towards their friend at her side.

"Parker," MJ shot back at him, her glare piercing. She must not have appreciated him making her friend wait.

"'Sup, guys," Ned waved at the two girls in front of him.

"Hi," Danielle waved back to Ned, turning her eyes back to Peter, sparing him a small smile. "Should we... go in?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I got the tickets right here," Peter explained, digging into his pockets.

As Danielle watched him struggle to find the third and fourth tickets for Ned and MJ, her eyes trailed past him back into the crowd. Her eyes narrowed as she met the grey gaze of a familiar man in a grey hoodie. Untouched by the crowd, looking almost as pale as a ghost, his prominent cheekbones, and dark bags beneath his eyes... Noah.

"Got 'em!" Danielle's eyes snapped back to Peter as he produced the four tickets from his pocket. Danielle turned back to the man in the crowd, only to find... he had gone. "Elle?" The brunette turned back to her friends starting towards the gates of the field. "You coming?"

"Yeah," she answered, briefly glancing back into the crowd, still no sign of the man. No sign of Noah.

"Hey," Peter took a step towards her while Ned and MJ carried on to the entrance. "Are you okay?"

Danielle nodded, shaking her head once more. "I'm fine. I just-" she clamped her mouth shut, sparing the crowd one more look over. When she turned back to Peter, he looked at her expectantly. "I thought I saw someone I knew." I thought I saw a ghost.

She shook it off, along with her nerves, and allowed Peter to lead her towards the field entrance.

It was a bit surreal, coming back to these bleachers during a game without being on the field. It was also a bit ironic that the same person she was with on the bleachers when they were empty was here with her when they were full of people.

"It's bright," Peter winced a bit as they began their climb up the bleachers to their seat near the right side of the field. "Ever since the bite... everything has been amplified. Sound, smell, taste... sight."

"You wanna ask around, see if someone here has sunglasses you can wear at night?" Danielle joked as they slid past a few of their fellow classmates to take a seat beside Ned and MJ who were already arguing about whether to get popcorn or nachos to share.

Peter laughed at her light-hearted joke. "No, I think I'll live."

"Good," Danielle smirked as she settled onto the cold bleacher, Peter sitting to her left with Ned on his other side and MJ sitting to her right. Danielle leaned in to whisper, "I'd hate to see Spider-Man get beat by a little bit of stadium lights."

"Well, excuse me for not being so used to these lights, unlike some people." He lightly bumped his shoulder with hers. "Is it weird?" When she tilted her head in confusion, he clarified, "Being up here and not down there for once?"

Danielle shrugged, looking down at the field full of geared up players with the screaming crowd surrounding them. "First time for everything, I guess," she answered. "Thank you for this. I needed it."

"It's the least I could do after all the times you've saved my ass," he chuckled.

A small laugh escaped from her lips as she turned from her partner to the field. A loud whistle rang through the air as two lines of geared men in helmets ran into each other, a few running further past the field in circles before one man on the other side of the field tossed the ball towards them. Danielle had no clue how this game really worked, but she understood when their team had done something right because the Home crowd would go wild, Ned and Peter included.

"You understand football?" Danielle shouted to Ned sometime after the second quarter had ended and the band started filing out to the field for halftime, he'd just returned with a two bug buckets of butter popcorn and a few sodas from the convenience stand downstairs.

"Hell yeah," Ned answered, handing her a Coke from across MJ. "I watch Sunday Night football with my Uncles all the time. I went to a Jets game once when I was little. I don't remember if they won or lost."

Beside him, MJ scoffed as she picked out a piece of popcorn from the bucket between her and Danielle. "Probably lost."

Peter looked affronted by her words. He leaned over to glance at the girl on the other side of Danielle. "What do you have against the Jets?"

MJ shrugged. "I may not know much about football, but I at least know enough not to root for the Jets." A small mischievous smirk bloomed at the edge of her lips before she took another kernel of popcorn and tossed it at Peter's forehead.

"If you don't root for the Jets, who else is there to root for?" Ned scoffed. "The Giants?"

"Boo," Peter groaned, chugging a bit of his soda. "That's like rooting for the Yankees."

"What's wrong with the Yankees?" Danielle turned on her partner.

Peter's eyes widened as he glanced down at the brunette beside him. "No- Elle, no," he groaned. "Do not tell me you're a Yankees fan."

With a mouth full of popcorn, Danielle tried not to smile. "Okay, I won't tell you I'm a Yankees fan," she said once she finished chewing. "But, you're not gonna like where I was last year with my-" she coughed when she remembered MJ still didn't know about her siblings. "-cousin."

"Oh, come on!" Ned and Peter both gave their cries of disdain at their friend's words. "Both of you have terrible taste in sports teams," Ned stated, throwing a piece of popcorn at Danielle from around Peter.

"Hey-!" Danielle gasped grabbing a piece of popcorn from her and MJ's bucket to toss it back at him.

Soon, Peter and Ned were tossing kernels at the girls beside them and Danielle and MJ were tossing kernels at the boys beside them. An all out war had erupted on the stands while the band finished their half time performance.

"Oh- by the way," MJ cut in between flying popcorn pieces. "Star Trek is better than Star Wars."

"No!"

"You did not just say that!"

Danielle tossed a popcorn kernel that landed directly on Peter's nose just as the game whistle was blown again.

The group of friends turned their attention back to the field, an unspoken draw in the Popcorn War coming to an end when the Midtown Tigers' quarterback threw the ball across the field to the outlying wide receiver, Number 13: Nate Whelsh. Danielle had seen him in the field during her practices before.

Despite only just figuring out how the game worked, Danielle found herself hanging from the edge of her seat along with Ned, Peter, and MJ as they watched Nate Whelsh sprint past the other team's defensive outliers, past the forty yard line, the thirty, the twenty, the ten-

BOOM!

The bleachers shook when a large ball of flames erupted in the center of the field, the players being thrown in different directions as smoke blocked the crowd's view of them. There were screams and cries as everyone began to jump from their seats, running for the exits as more smoke plumed from the burning field.

Danielle, Peter, Ned and MJ jumped to their streets. Through the panicked crowd, MJ dashed past her towards the end of their row. "Danielle!" She screamed to her friend, but her eyes were glued to the burning field. As the smoke began to settle, her eyes narrowed. It couldn't have been- "Danielle!" MJ cried out.

"Go," Danielle muttered, not looking to her friend. When neither MJ, Ned or Peter moved, Danielle turned on them. "Ned- take MJ and go!"

"What?" MJ gaped back at her just before Ned scrambled past her, grabbing her arm and dragging her down the bleacher stairs getting lost in the crowd. "Danielle! Wait-!"

Once Danielle saw that her friends were clear from the danger, she turned back to the field. Peter jumped up onto the bleacher stand just above her, crouching down in defense as the smoke slowly cleared away. The players, none of them being too hurt, sprinted from the scene slowly starting to clear up to reveal a single figure in the charred center.

"No..." the word left Danielle's lips like a whisper.

Arson spun around, the black gas mask over his face not hiding the glow of his eyes as he turned his gaze to the last two remaining people in the bleachers above him. "You think you can kill me?!" He roared, his hands catching on fire as he blasted the flames directly at the pair.

Danielle remained frozen, unmoving as the shock set in. "He's supposed to be dead-"

"Elle!" Peter shouted, shooting a web onto one of the bright stadium lights and swinging in, catching her in his arms and getting them both out of the way of the large blast of fire that struck the place she'd been standing moments ago.

Peter swung them back around to the bleachers, catching his feet onto the opposite side. He turned to the girl still unmoving in his arms. "Elle? Elle! Look at me!" She couldn't even speak, her eyes still glued to the man at the center of the field. "Look at me- please!"

She did.

"He's supposed to be dead..."

"Clearly, he's not!" Peter exclaimed, throwing his hand out to gesture to the Pyromaniac now lashing the brunt of his fiery power to the base of the bleachers opposite of them. "Elle, listen to me, he's going to kill us and everyone here unless you help me stop him!" He gripped her arms tightly. "I know he was your friend before, but he isn't now. You have to help me."

Danielle clenched her jaw, looking between the boy she'd grown up with and left for dead in a cold jail in Sokovia, then looking back to the boy she knew now that she'd fought through fire with.

Danielle took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

She shook his arms off of her, peeling his jacket from her shoulders and reaching into her pocket to produce her two suit pieces. She tucked on behind her ear and activated her mask and put the other on her sternum and activated her suit. Her hair whipped in the wind as she jumped up onto the bleacher railings.

Peter, who'd already slipped into his Spider-Man suit, jumped up to join her, his hand coming up to catch a web up onto another large light and wrapping an arm around her waist and swung them to the side of the bleachers Arson was now setting ablaze.

"What's the plan?" Danielle called to him through her mask, getting out of the way of the last remaining people still sprinting out of the field.

"This place is going to come down soon," Peter stated, gesturing to the red melting metal at the base of the bleachers, the entire stadium groaning and creaking under the weight of the heat. "These people are going to be crushed if we don't do something quick."

Danielle pulled her fingers into fists as she cracked her knuckles. "I can hold them up from down here if you can web them up from the top," she stated.

Peter winced beneath his mask. "Well... I don't really know how long that will last," he answered honestly. "The last big object I tried to hold together with my webs ended up almost sinking in the Hudson..."

"If it'll last long enough to get these people out-" Danielle over the sounds of the metal creaking louder and louder. "-do it!" She shouted back at him, breaking into a dash to stand directly beneath the bleachers.

"Argh!" She groaned as she threw her hands up in the same breath that the bleachers creaked one last time as they began to collapse. Eris pushed her powers out, catching the weight of the bleachers with a guttural scream. She hadn't held something this big in some time, it took quite a lot of strength and will just to catch the bleachers, but it would take raw power to push them back up. "Err," Danielle seethed through her clenched teeth as she pushed and pushed. "Go!" She shouted at the fleeing game goers. "Go!"

She pushed and pushed more and more until finally she felt the weight of the bleachers being lifted from off of her. She let out a sigh of relief as she watched the bleachers began to move upwards. Peter must've been successful in lifting them from the top.

After catching her breath, Danielle pressed the small button on the side of her mask that activated her earpiece. "Peter- are the bleachers steady?" The only answer she got was the echoing of the small groans coming from the metal bars above her. "Peter?" Nothing. "Karen?" Nothing.

If neither Peter or Karen were responding then it meant that Peter didn't have his mask on...

Without wasting another moment lingering beneath the bleachers, Danielle dashed towards the stairs up towards the field. She had to jump over a few melted holes and spots of fire still burning around her, but the minute her feet hit the top of the steps, her eyes fell upon a horrific sight.

The field was covered in flames, the red glow reflecting across the charred, black and green football field as smoke plumed up, covering the bright stadium lights created a scene almost as horrific as the one Danielle was focused on. In the center of the fiery inferno stood two figures amongst the flames and smoke. Danielle's blood ran cold despite the heat slowly suffocating her.

She hesitated for a moment, her thoughts finally catching up with her actions as she climbed over the edge of the bleacher fence and lowered herself with her powers onto the ground. She wasn't even aware of her movements as her feet carried her through the flames towards where Arson stood... with a gun to Peter's unmasked head.

She stopped just short of a couple of yards when she noticed Arson's finger twitch just above the trigger. Carefully, she held her hand up and pressed the button behind her mask to expose her face. "Let him go," she choked in a soft whisper. "Please. Noah, let him go."

She knew she probably looked like a reckless idiot being this exposed with no leverage and no real reason to trust that with her powers dampened he wouldn't just pull the trigger now. She wondered if there was any sign of remorse beneath that dark, cold, metal mask.

Peter struggled against Arson's arm hooked around his neck, but to no avail... his powers were also being dampened.

Despite the suits both the teen vigilantes wore, without their powers, Arson was no longer holding Spider-Man hostage as leverage over Eris, he was holding Peter Parker hostage as leverage over Danielle Harper.

"You left me there in that cold, dark cell to die. Then you killed the last person that ever cared about me," Arson spat at the girl through the mask. "I was empty, alone... broken. Because of you. You made me this way, Danielle. You made me this way!" Danielle's breath caught in her throat when she saw the end of the barrel of the pistol press harder into Peter's temple. "I didn't know how to make you feel the way I did at first, but then I saw the way you looked at him." Arson hissed, turned his fiery glare down to the teenage boy in his grip.

Danielle nearly choked out her cry, "Don't! Don't." Arson turned to her as if expecting an explanation of why he shouldn't. "I'm the one who killed Rumlow, I'm the one who told you you were my friend then abandoned you. Please..."

Her eyes fell to Peter's face scrunched up in pain as he gasped for air the harder Arson tightened his hold on his neck. "Let him go!"

He just tightened his grip more. The sound of Peter choking only made Danielle more desperate.

"He's innocent! Noah!" she screamed at the pyromaniac across from her. "Hurt me!" Arson halted, Peter's breathing faltering slightly once most of the pressure was off, but still slightly present. "...hurt me, not him."

Arson seemed to be contemplating her offer and after the longest five seconds of deliberation, he finally released Peter. He shoved the boy down to the ground, and despite now having Noah's gun pointed at her, Danielle let out a heavy sigh of relief seeing Peter partially out of danger for the time being.

But it dawned on her then what she was having to face now: Noah.

The relief then turned to silent fear as she closed her head and turned her head up towards the sky as she quietly accepted her fate.

Noah took that time to use his now free hand to rip the metal gas mask from his face and toss it to the ground across from Peter. Once his pale and shadowed face was uncovered, Danielle glanced down at him to find that his eyes were red and his face was full of raw rage mixed with grief. For who, Danielle wasn't sure.

He stepped over the Spider still violently coughing on the ground to grab Danielle by the arm forcefully pulling her towards him. She couldn't care less, her eyes were still glued to her friend at her feet coughing violently.

"Elle..." Peter managed to choke out through the coughs. He reached his arm out towards Danielle as he crawled towards her and the pyromaniac. "...don't- gah!"

Danielle flinched when Noah abruptly kicked Peter in the nose and yanked her back a foot away from him. "Follow us- I'll kill her slowly in front of your eyes," Noah spat down at the Spider. He'd expected Danielle to fight his bruising grip, but she just seemed to be resigned to whatever she thought her fate was. When he turned her around to head off, he saw how relieved she looked, a far different look than the one she had moments before when he had a gun to her friend's heads instead of hers.

"Wait!" Peter called out as he tried to crawl towards Danielle. "Elle-!"

"I'm sorry," was all Danielle replied. Before Noah yanked her back towards him again, he thought he saw the flames reflect off of a stray tear trickling down Danielle's cheek.

It was then that Noah was finally able to pinpoint what it was he was seeing every time Danielle looked at Peter. She loved him.

Then, Noah ripped it away from her as he launched the both of them into the air, the anguished cries of Peter Parker still in the inferno he'd left behind at the field following after them.

"Danielle!"


One minute, they were in the air and the next Danielle found herself taking a harsh tumble on the cold, hard ground below.

"Umph!" She grunted as she rolled on the ground a few yards away from where Noah landed gracefully on the balms of his boot-clad feet. "Oh-!" She gasped, trying to regain the air that had been knocked from her chest as she laid on her back coughing and groaning in pain.

"You think a little bit of explosives can kill me," she heard a distant growl through her chokes. "Get up!"

When Danielle's eyes finally focused up again, she saw bright orange flames burning nearby. She tried to see where it was coming from, but before she had time to pinpoint it, she was jumping back in a scramble as the flames licked at her feet as she tried to get away from the pyromaniac. She figured running would be her best bet since her powers were useless, but even that planned came up fruitless when she halted abruptly.

"Woah-!" She gasped, her hands coming up as she tried to sway her balance, her feet barely stopping at the edge of the platform Noah had dropped her on just at the edge of the Hudson. Danielle managed to regain her balance on the balms of her feet, her breathing getting back to a steady pace as she backed away from the cold, murky waters below.

"No where for you to go, Danielle..."

The brunette spun around to face the flame-wielder still just a few yards away from her, a ball of flame in one hand and a pistol in the other.

His frown deepened into a scowl, "So fight me!"

Danielle stumbled back a bit, the back of her foot just barely at the edge of the platform. She was trapped, she had no where to go, no other options. This was it.

She wasn't going to win in a fight with Noah, that was an inevitable she accepted back when he'd had her life in the palm of his hands- quite literally just a few days ago. And she knew she couldn't run, there was no way out. Even if there was, there was a smal chance he'd just go track down the people she cared about. He knew who Peter was, he'd know where to find him...

Danielle's blood ran cold just at the thought of what he'd do to him. She'd seen a glimpse of it moments before, but she couldn't-

She shook away the thoughts.

Danielle had only one option: give him what she knew he wanted.

"I'm not going to fight you," she told him with a shake of her head. "I'm not."

This only seemed to enrage him more. "No! Fight me!" He growled, throwing the ball of fire at her.

Danielle ducked out of the way, but stood her ground, still refusing to budge in her vow not to fight him.

"Fight me!" He screamed at her in desperation shooting flames in her direction that she barely managed to avoid each time. Once he'd fired himself out, he raised his opposite hand with the pistol in his hands. "Fight. Me."

Danielle clenched her jaw as she stared down the barrel of the gun pointed at her. She had the same fleeting thought of running again, but all she could think about in that moment was what Noah would do to her friends if she did. What she'd do to Peter who was undoubtedly on his way there now to help defend his partner because that was what they were: partners.

No, she couldn't let Peter fight all her battles. No matter how much she wanted him to always be at her side.

Danielle held her head up high in defiance. "No. I'm not going to fight you," she replied as she took a small step forward. "So if you're going to shoot me... do it. I won't stop you."

For the first time in their interaction, Danielle's words didn't anger him. Instead, he seemed perplexed by her answer. His eyes softened, his frown ceased if only for a moment. His finger twitched away from the trigger as he asked in a hoarse whisper, "Why not?"

When she didn't answer immediately, he grew desperate for an answer he so badly wanted- no, needed.

"Why not?!" He snapped.

Danielle flinched, but kept her footing. "Because I'm giving you what you want," she answered, her hands slowly coming up to either side of her head in an act of surrender.

"Me," she choked out. "That was the deal. His life for mine."

Noah's finger twitched towards the trigger, but he didn't pull it. Not yet. Danielle took it as a sign to continue.

"I killed Rumlow. I killed him because I thought he killed my mom. I wanted revenge, I wanted his death to fill that hole in my chest that was left after she was killed... and it did. For a split second in time before it all just came tumbling down again. Even before I knew Rumlow wasn't her real killer, I used to look at myself in the mirror after that day in Lagos and I realized I didn't recognize the person staring back at me," she explained with a heavy heart.

"You've been broken for so long, and I'm so sorry for the hand I had in that, Noah..." he flinched at the use of his name. "But if what you want is me dead... I'm not going to stop you anymore. If that's really who you are and what you want, then you can shoot me." She raised her arms out wider, opening herself up for him to take what he wanted: her life.

"Shoot me." She nodded, the hot tears trickling from her eyes that contrasted well with how cold her skin was in the cold night.

Noah looked torn, his chest wracking with sobs he was trying and failing at holding back as he kept his gun trained on her. Danielle could see the inner parts of him fighting one another. On one hand, all he could see when he looked at her was the girl he lit fires for in that dark cell alone together. And on the other hand, he saw the girl who left him there to die. The girl that betrayed him and the girl he loved.

"I understand what you have to do," she assured him, her voice cracking nearly sending her over the edge. "It's okay."

Noah clenched his jaw, took a deep breath.

And fired.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The bullet piercing her lower abdominal area, her body flying back. Before she was lost to the darkness of the cold, unforgiving river beneath her, the last thing Noah saw was her wide eyes staring back at him.

'It's okay.'

The words echoed in his ears just like the sound of her body hitting the water did. For a brief moment in time, Noah felt whole again. Like a part of him was gratified in knowing he'd gotten his revenge. But then, just as Danielle had said it would, that feeling vanished in the wind.

He wasn't conscious of his actions, but before he could stop himself, he dove into the Hudson- head first.


It was dark.

That was all Danielle felt. Darkness. It reminded her too much of that void she'd been taken to inside her mind by the Entity. But there was one thing that was different than that void: the cold.

The freezing cold of the Hudson hitting her almost as hard as the bullet lodged into her stomach. It was like two hits one after the other.

Now, floating in this dark, vast, cold, all Danielle knew was that it was going to be okay.

So, this was what death would feel like?

Part of her felt relieved. The other part felt worried.

Worried that this was it, there was nothing after this darkness. Worried about how her brother would react. How Wanda would react. How Steve would react. How Peter would react. Would the people she was leaving behind fare better with or without her? Would they mourn her? Would this hurt them more than it helped Noah?

All these unanswered questions left but a void ball of anxiety stifling her ability to breathe properly... or maybe that was the water.

The deeper Danielle felt herself falling, the more at ease she felt. It didn't matter anymore, did it?

Nothing mattered as the darkness turned to blue and the plummeting weight of her life and the water pushed down against her chest. She felt as though she weighed nothing and a million pounds all at once.

She caught a glimpse of her limp hand, the darkness twirling through her fingers.

This was the part of her life where the waves finally consumed her once and for all, wasn't it?


Peter was swinging so fast at one point he nearly considered stopping, but he couldn't. No matter how sore his arms were, no matter how cold he was, and no matter how lost and hopeless his search was, he couldn't stop looking for her.

"Karen," he choked out as he gained momentum through the buildings. "Any luck on the tracker on Elle's suit?"

"Unfortunately, Miss Harper removed her suit's tracker," Karen replied, Peter's heart dropping. "But I can triangulate signals from her last comms call through her mask." Suddenly, that spark of hope was reignited again.

"Yes!" He shouted, ecstatic. "Do it, do it, do it!"

There was a pause as Karen did as she was instructed.

As Peter continued to swing through skyscrapers, he could feel his chest constricting at the millions of thoughts flying through his brain of all the things Arson could be doing to Danielle. He had her. He had her and now Peter couldn't find her.

There was a recurring nightmare Peter had started to have following the death of his Uncle Ben. His brain would replay his Uncle dying in his arms over and over again all because Peter- Spider-Man couldn't save him. Then that dream slowly morphed into him not being able to save May. Then Ned. Then Liz. Then Danielle. It was like reliving his worst nightmare in real-time, only this time he would save her. He would save her. He had to save her.

"I found her."

Peter's conscious came back to him in the blink of an eye. "Where is she, Karen?"

"The docks just past the Bridge," there was an ominous tone in Karen's voice Peter picked up one. "And, Peter..." there was a pause and the infinite amount of possibilities of what Arson could've done to Danielle flooded his mind. "Something is wrong."

Peter only saw the pinpoint on his radar through his suit's eyes, his hand shooting out to latch a web onto a building to give him momentum to launch himself through the air.

He would save her. He had to save her.

It took him a record amount of time to swing from Midtown to get to the Brooklyn Bridge. He wasn't entirely aware of the area, in fact, he wouldn't have been able to find it had Arson not taken Danielle just outside the exact area he attacked her the first time. He could still see the burnt, partially-collapsed building where Danielle had gotten those bruises around her neck a few days prior.

"Karen, where does her mask location put her?" He called out to the AI as he swung low along the ports, his eyes scanning for any and every small bit of movement.

"Twelve yards just up ahead of you," the AI replied. "She isn't alone. I detect another heat signature."

All he saw then was red as he launched himself further, past the charred building and towards where Danielle's mask was pinged. As he approached a part of the ports partially covered by a series of shipping containers, he saw two figures.

The first figure that came into view was dressed in all black, hunched over on his knees. The second figure was smaller, daintier. The smaller figure was dressed in navy blue, but was lying outstretched and limp.

Peter felt his heart drop.

Elle.

"Get away from her!" He screeched as he dove down at full-speed, but it was too late. The second he'd shouted and made his presence known, the figure in black that had been leaning over Danielle's unconscious body was already flying away in a ball of flames.

Peter debated going after him for a split second, but then he landed and he saw her.

"Elle?"

She was pale, more so than usual. Her hair was splayed out around her head in wet tendrils that almost looked like one of those angelic halo drawings Peter had seen in his Art Theory class he took freshman year, only darker. Her eyes were closed, and he could barely see her chest moving up and down with every shallow breath.

He couldn't even comprehend his actions before he was taking them.

He fell to his knees beside her and collected her into his arms. She was still unresponsive. He pressed two fingers to the underside of her jaw just before it met her neck to feel for a pulse... he could barely feel a flutter.

"Karen? What... what's wrong with her?"

"Her blood pressure is at a fatal level, her heart rate is dropping dangerously low, and there seems to be an abrasion in her mid-abdominal area," the AI explained.

"What? What does that...?" His hands slowly trailed down to her stomach, his fingers feeling around the damp material of her suit until he noticed the spot of crimson where his fingers pulled away. "Oh my god- oh my God! Karen, she was shot!"

Peter slapped his hand against the gunshot wound and held it there, putting an immense amount of pressure on the area. He knew she would probably have bruise on the area from how hard he was pressing down on the wound, but it didn't matter. She couldn't die on him, not like this, not right now.

"She's losing copious amounts of blood," Karen supplied as Peter began to panic, all his instincts flying out the window as he just tried his best to focus on one thing at a time. The most important thing being keeping Danielle alive. "The local paramedics have been called and Mr. Stark has been alerted."

"No, no, no, no, no," Peter repeated over and over again over Karen's attempts at comforting him. He clutched at her wound while his free hand tried to move the wet tendrils of hair from her face as if it made any difference of whether or not she lived based on how much of her hair was covering her face.

Anything, any small thing he could do to just try.

Try to pretend like she was going to be okay. Try to help do small, useless tasks to pretend like he was helping her. Try to feel comfort in knowing the paramedics are on the way because Elle was gonna be okay- she had to be okay.

"Elle, come on. Stay with me," he urged the unconscious girl in his arms as he tried to will her to come back to him. "Don't do this. Come on- come on! Elle?"

Still, nothing.

He held her body in his lap and he could only imagine what his next words to her would be if she were to wake up in his arms like this.

"Guess you fell for me, huh?"

Peter could almost imagine her head-butting him as he bent down to lightly press his forehead to hers.

"Peter, the paramedics are en route. I advise you leave the area before they discover you and Miss Harper's identities," Karen's voice rang in his ears almost as loudly as the approaching sirens.

"No- No! I'm not leaving her," Peter insisted, the sirens only getting closer. He knew Karen was right, if the EMTs caught Peter like this in his Spider-Man suit sobbing over Danielle in her suit without her mask, their identities would be at risk. "Shit!"

His hand that was holding onto her wound pulled away, but only for a moment as he tapped the button on her lower-chest he knew deactivated her suit. He grabbed the small disk leftover from her retracted suit and pocketed it in a small compartment on the thigh of his suit. He then shot a small web against the wound to try and halt some of the bleeding before slowly setting her down again.

He didn't want to leave her. Every fiber of his being was pulling him back to her, but he had to let her go. Just for a second. He knew the paramedics would help her, but... he just couldn't leave her.

"Peter, the paramedics," Karen pressed him.

Peter took one last look at his unconscious partner he gently set down back on the pavement, his hand still holding onto her limp one at her side. "I'll be with you the whole time," he promised her, taking her hand in his and gently pressing it to his lips- or at least tried to through his mask.

And with that, the Spider jumped away into the night, watching from the shadows as the EMTs arrived, picked up Danielle on one of those stretchers he'd seen in procedural cop shows he watched with May late at night, and put her carefully in the back of the ambulance before driving away.

Peter kept his promise, following the ambulance through the streets of New York and staying with Danielle all the way to the hospital. He couldn't follow her in, he couldn't even see which room she was taken to.

All Peter had to do now was wait... and hope.


A/N: Lol now you guys have to wait another three to four months to figure out what happens next... jk, probably less. With the amount of content Marvel is popping out at this rate, I'll have inspiration for miles.

Also go watch Shang-Chi.

Reviews:

zikashigaku: ...anti-climatic you say? 0-0