Chapter 49: Home Again, Home AgainNotes:Sup guys! I just want to thank all of you for the lovely comments and just engagement on this fic. Like this fic has taken off in a way I couldn't have imagined and I'm just...blown away. I'm really touched so many of you guys like this thing I started writing last summer. That originally going to be six chapters long.....laugh at me for thinking I could cram even half of this into six chapters.
Chapter TextTony paced, one hand running through his hair. "Why won't you let us get rid of the slave chip! You have a SLAVE CHIP IN YOUR HEAD!"
"I can't be the Destroyer of Worlds if I can't quake things." Daisy replied like that made fucking sense.
He spluttered while gesturing towards Darcy. "Tell her that's wrong!"
"He's right, you're being incredibly stupid." Darcy replied as she worked on repairing Daisy's gauntlets. "Also what did you do to these? They didn't deserve this."
Daisy grinned, hiding a wince as Dr Cho continued to stitch up one of her lacerations from her idiotic duel. "Space sucked, so bad. And you're not taking the chip out. I won't risk cracking the planet like an egg. You didn't see it, I'd be responsible for the death of billions. I won't do it. Isn't that supposed to be the hero thing? Protect the people even if what they need is protection from you?"
"Oh please, you've saved earth what, three times now?" Tony brushed off. "Besides time loop, world destroying event prevented according to Enoch."
Daisy raised her eyebrows at him. "Really, you expect me to just believe the robot alien that kidnapped us in the first place? Also it's safer. New York has Spiderman, and the Avengers. It doesn't need me."
"That's not the point." Darcy waived a finger at her sister. "We care about you, and again. Slave chip."
Wanda cleared her throat. "While I agree with you both." And it looked like it cost her to admit to agreeing with him. "But she's not going to change her mind." She kept a hand resting on Daisy's shoulder. "Honestly."
"Best girlfriend ever." Daisy beamed at Wanda.
Dr Cho straightened as she finished tying off her current row of stitches. "That slave chip is an abomination. When you're ready for it to be removed without having a panic attack I'll happily get rid of it. In the meantime does everyone have to be here? I have three more sword wounds to stitch up and she's in her underwear?"
"Nothing to be done for the hair? I was kinda planning on putting some purple in." Daisy reached up touching her still wet from the decontamination shower locks. They were...rather a lost cause. A large chunk had been hacked off by sword.
Tony eyed her hair. "I don't see why you can't do purple with slightly shorter hair."
"Get out." Dr Cho pointed at the door while glaring at him.
Tony didn't even flinch, he'd long ago become immune to the disapproval and glares of irritation from women. "I own the building, you can't kick me out. I pay you." He neatly avoided the fact Daisy was down to bike shorts and a sports bra, slightly dripping from a decontamination shower and probably would prefer not to have her half her family and girlfriend crammed in with her at the moment.
"It's fine." Daisy surprised him by saying. "It's not like he's perving on me." She poked at a particularly horrific bruise on her thigh. Actually besides the sword wounds currently being stitched, she was a patchwork of bruising at various stages, abrasions sort of everywhere, and her hands looked like she'd been doing a lot of punching without protective gear.
He still blanched at the 'perving' comment. "I'm an asshole not a monster." Tony crossed his arms while glaring at her. "And you, getting kidnapped by aliens for months, only to then get kidnapped by them again the same day you get back! Honor duels! You're a spy! I thought you didn't do honor."
"Ouch." Daisy rolled her eyes. "It's not like I wanted to be kidnapped." Her head tilted to the side. "I get kidnapped a lot...like I've lost count? At least eight times now...more. It's more than that."
Tony gaped, no. just no. "We're making a bio lock on your genetics so we can just portal you straight to the lab from anywhere in space or time. I forbid you from being kidnapped again!"
Darcy flicked something at him. "We are not doing that. I know you know how bullshit that is. Whole branches of science would have to be rewritten and that's with us already being decades ahead than the rest of the world. No. Bad Poprocks."
"Fine, embedded gps tracker." He bargained.
Dr Cho whacked him with a latex glove. "No implants! She needs one to get taken out, not put in."
"We're still not taking a chance that I crack the planet." Daisy chided.
Darcy threw her hands up. "I'll do the math! Do you want me to do the math? Cause I'll do it! Do you realize how much force it would take to crack the planet like that? We're talking so much force we don't even have the materials in existance to make an explosion big enough for that! You break bones after around a ricktor 3.2 quake. Which is already massive, but more than that? Even with technical assistance your body would disintegrate long before you were able to even begin to generate a fraction of that much energy."
"Yes, listen to your sister. Spawn is right. Even I'd have trouble creating something to crack the planet. It's not just destruction, it's fighting against gravity itself. Not going to happen." Tony crossed his arms.
Wanda spoke up. "Enough. Logic doesn't stop fear." She shot Tony a poisonous look. "Fear of what we are capable of is reasonable. Healthy even." She kept her hand on Daisy.
Tony opened and then shut his mouth. "Fine, but this conversation isn't over young lady." He jabbed a finger at Daisy. "You take a nap or something."
Daisy stuck her tongue out at him, though she was leaning rather heavily against Wanda.
"DAISY JOHNSON!" May Parker burst into the room, an exhausted and completely unrepentant Peter on her heels.
Daisy's face for the first time since she'd showed up turned sheepish. "Hey Aunt May."
"Don't hey me you silly girl!" Aunt May was across the room and hugging Daisy as tightly as she could. She didn't even bother waiting for Wanda to move, just hauling them both in.
Tony noticed the way Daisy half melted into May after a heart breaking second where she just seemed confused. He was....yeah. He reached out and messed up Peter's hair. "Good call kid."
"Of course." Peter crossed his arms, his eyes had a distinctly plotting glint to them. "Did you let them take out the slave chip yet?"
May Parker pulled back, her hands still holding Daisy in place. "SLAVE CHIP!?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?!?"
Tony considered that, huh...weaponized female outrage to complete his goals. He turned to his son. "Kid, you might be the smartest Stark man ever born."
////
Maria Hill rapped her fingers on her desk as she pulled up the video feed of her next meeting. "Director Mace, I wish I could say it was a pleasure."
-"Well my best agents had to be tranqed and put in holding cells, the ones for enhanced individuals. Do you know how many agents Agent May took down? Her leg is impaled. The doctor thinks she'll have a permanent limp, she was trying to protect the others, and she still took down an entire Strike team before the damn intern got her with his taser."- The man pinched the bridge of his nose. -"Mandatory psychological exams by at least five psychiatrists before I let them out. Agent Rodriguez is hysterical. If they didn't have open comms between their cells I think she'd have vibrated out of her skin already."-
Hill really, really didn't want to say it. "Are you saying Agent Johnson is the most stable?"
-"Yes."- Mace sounded as dead inside as she felt. -"I hate apocalypses. No one ever bothers with what happens to the people who stop them afterwards."-
She hummed, it was so true. "But you think it's secure?"
-"Well Agent Fitz is showing signs of dissociative personality issues from the Framework, only somehow worse. But Agents Coulson and May should be back on their feet and functional in a week or so."-
Hill had always hated seeing agents break like that. Maybe he'd recover, maybe he wouldn't. For now it was just more lost manpower for SHIELD. Which was terrible and cold, but how she was forced to see things. "Is SHIELD capable of assisting with the Thanos threat?"
-"We have one helicarrier, and I can spare maybe five hundred agents for it. Even that will be pushing it. I have less than two thousand agents, consultants, any sort of personnel."- He ran a shaky hand through his hair. -"That's not going to stop an alien invasion."-
"We know what he wants, a loose time frame, and it seems Wakanda can help more than we had expected. Steve's negotiating on our behalf." Her lips twitched at his expression. "Romanoff is supervising. It would seem we have the chance to set a trap."
Mace's face was grim but he nodded. -"Who do we have that will help?"-
////
Darcy stared at the alien robot, Noah apparently. "I need proof that the timeline has changed. All of it."
"Ah, The Queen." Noah gave a plastic looking smile. "I've been expecting you, I was unsure which day however."
She raised a brow. "I'm not sure who you think I am, but I'm not a Queen. Is that supposed to be some clever chess reference so I know to respect your great cold alien intellect? Cause I'll tase your ass. And it's not like you've got a tripod."
"War of the Worlds reference. Orson Wells was an interesting individual. His influence on the collective was worth recording." He actually looked fond, in that inhuman not quite sure how to move in this skin way that was distinctly offsetting.
Darcy's eyes narrowed. "What do you think would happen if I tased you with enough voltage to drop a super soldier?"
"Ah threats, so uncreative." Noah brushed his hands lightly before pulling out a very fat folder. "I believe these are what you want."
Darcy grabbed it, and flipped through. It was...childish drawings in crayon. "Thanks." Her voice was flat. "You even look at my sister again, we'll find out about the taser thing."
"Noted." Noah blinked, his face bland.
Her eyes narrowed further. "Sure it is." She did not like him. "I've got my eyes on you. But apparently I have to sort through child crayon drawings to find future predictions and prove them untrue. So ya know, hope to never see you again."
Darcy wanted to bang her head on the table. "Why!? What is this shit!? How the fuck are you even supposed to know who the hell is in these!?"
"I mean the one with silver arms is obviously Daisy." Peter pointed out from where he was trying to help. "Or well I think they're her gauntlets, cause full on silver arms is I think one of the SHIELD agents? Which..if this drawing is right gets her arms chopped off by the person with white hair and a black suit?"
Darcy wanted to whack something. "Ok, so we're supposed to just say 'Hey Daisy, fun story, did someone we think is a SHIELD agent get their arms chopped off by possible knife frisbee on one of your missions?' That's cheerful."
"But if it hasn't happened, Daisy doesn't do SHIELD missions with other people." Peter stared at her like she was missing the obvious. "There's a lot of what looks like SHIELD missions in here, so have Daisy figure out if they've happened. If she's not with SHIELD then this future can't happen right?"
She blinked. "That is...ok sort out everything that doesn't look like a SHIELD mission or have Daisy in it." Darcy was just grateful their sister's stupid guantlets made identifying her possible.
Peter shifted slightly. "Uh...not to be weird but shouldn't we be trying to help with the whole Thanos thing? I mean if Daisy doesn't want her powers back is that so bad? She's still our sister."
"Kid…" Darcy sighed. "Look the whole Thanos thing is...big. Too big for us. Neither of us are going to be able to do much. A PR campaign, or a portal or some webs aren't going to do anything. I mean I'm sure Jane and I will be portaling people into wherever that fight happens. And for better or worse I have no doubt you'll smuggle yourself into the thick of things. But we're the small time peeps. But Daisy having a slave chip? We can do something about that. Hell if she wants her powers off I'm sure I can work with Dr Cho and come up with something. But that thing in her neck needs to go."
"Oh...so this is you being frustrated cause you can't save the planet and you also can't hit Daisy cause she's injured." Peter nodded. "I think that makes sense?" His face scrunched up. "Actually no that doesn't make sense at all."
She rolled her eyes. "Kiddo we've got soft power at best."
"But we stopped the Accords? You boss everyone around all the time. You and Jane saved like a ton of Asgardians!" Peter flapped slightly.
Darcy wondered if she should feel bad about popping the kids bubble of how he saw things? She really didn't though. "We didn't stop the Accords. We used our familial connections to get Tony to stop supporting them while giving enough bad press to the topic that when Tony finally came around to supporting an alternative that was accepted because he supported it."
"Huh…" His face was still scrunched up but she could see him processing through everything. It wouldn't take him long.
She nodded. "Exactly. Everyone's power has limits. And what we have is..intelligence, access to people who hold far more power than us, and each other."
"You feel helpless." Peter seemed to realize suddenly. He stared at her like he'd never seen her before.
Darcy winced, but then stood up. "Come on, let's show these to Daisy if she's woken up yet." She didn't need to say both of them were clearly getting twitchy being away from her, even if it was just for an hour or two.
Peter nodded as he grabbed the papers. "That sounds good. We could bring some Indian take out with us? I'm sure she hasn't been eating well in the future."
"Good idea padawan." Darcy punched his shoulder lightly.
Darcy stared at the bed. Honestly, her sister was disgusting sometimes. Daisy was sound asleep, on her side facing Wanda who was apparently also dead to the world. Their noses were practically touching, and yes they were holding hands. It was frankly the cutest and most disgusting thing she'd ever seen. Seriously. She knew the kid would be anxiously waiting for the all clear in the hall.
She sighed, and yanked off her sweater and hat. A nap sounded like a great idea. Thanos, the media nightmare that stupid live stream had to have caused, all of it could wait. Darcy chucked her hat out the open door and into the kid's face.
Darcy didn't bother being careful, Daisy would wake up enough to register her as a non-threat no matter how careful she was. Actually it was a testament to how exhausted Daisy was, and possibly the lack of powers, that she hadn't had a sleepy eye cracked open at her yet. She shrugged. She easily crawled in behind her sister.
"It's me." She said softly while wrapping her arms around her sister, and curling against her. It might be silly, but she needed this to...well feel real. Because it had hurt when Daisy left, because they'd become a family. A real one.
Daisy shifted ever so slightly against her. "Stop thinking stupid." Her voice was soft, and half asleep.
Darcy smiled, yup, it was good to have her back. "Sure Dumb Dumb."
////
May Parker hummed as she made a truly unholy amount of oatmeal. The kids were all bottomless pits. She paused at the sound of the front door opening. "Tony, keep your voice down they're still in bed."
The man blinked. "All of them? Are there even more than two beds in this apartment?"
"Darcy gets clingy when she's stressed or worried about a person. She slept in Peter's bed every night for a week after the were-wolf incident. And it's not uncommon after her margarita nights with Jane for her to end up in Daisy or Peter's beds. It's just her." May personally found it kind of adorable. She'd seen Daisy's slightly panicked expression the first time it'd happened without alcohol, but the kids had adjusted to it without comment.
Tony frowned. "That still doesn't make sense."
"Wanda has been hovering over Daisy like a very scary red light filled nightmare inducing guardian angel. So after Dr Cho was done she promptly dragged her here. Darcy obviously is stressed and freaked out about Daisy. So Darcy will have just followed. And where the girls go, Peter will follow." May smiled softly, she'd stuck her head into Wanda's room earlier. It'd been more of a pile of kids snoozing than anything else.
He seemed completely floored. "You're saying all of my kids and the Maximoffs are crammed on one bed?"
"Yes, well Pietro's in his own room, but I've no doubt he has been checking on them all every few hours." May frowned as she turned. "Can you hand me the walnuts?"
Tony picked up the bowl of crushed nuts. "These?"
"Yes, thank you." May added them in easily. Best to have texture in your oatmeal. "So, what brings you here this morning? Or just checking on our kids?"
He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Our kids? Got to say I had nightmares about that phrase before I met you all." Tony shook his head fondly. "And yet here we are."
"Here we are." May turned the stove down. "So I thought you were preparing for an alien invasion?"
Tony slumped against the counter, the dark circles under his eyes visible. "Well that is some good the kid's live stream did. Almost everyone is willing to play ball on handling the alien invasion thing. The President is signing an emergency act and mobilizing the national guard later today. Most world powers are doing the same. I can spare a minute." His eyes sparkled. "And when the kids realize the media storm they unleashed I want to see it. FRIDAY is recording it."
-"Of course Sir."- FRIDAY's voice echoed from the ceiling.
May sighed. "I'm never going to get used to that." She brandished her porridge mixing spoon at him. "The media better not be tearing them apart again. I'm not letting them watch reports call anyone a whore while they eat breakfast."
"It's so much better than that. I don't know why exactly, but it's definitely better than that. The media is losing its damn mind. It's the funniest thing I have ever seen." Tony actually looked like he wanted to cackle.
She was going to reply when she spotted a very tired looking Peter tromping in. "Morning sweetie."
"Hey." He raised a hand. "The girls claimed the bathroom."
Tony gave a sage nod. "Fleeing was wise young one."
May just started to dish out bowls of oatmeal. She pressed the first one into Peter's hands and pressed a light kiss to his hairline. "I'm proud of you."
He hummed in easy affection as he trooped into the living room. "Thanks Aunt May."
She ignored the news turning on. It was just a normal morning at the Parker home since Darcy had moved in. Or technically in the Maximoff apartment. But where the family was was their home. May's attention snapped to the tv though when Peter made a choking noise.
-"I fail to see your point? Our heroes are part of us. And look what Quake did even without her powers? If this Thanos or whatever wants to invade earth, put guns in the hands of our soldiers and let the Avengers and a few like Quake take out any alien weapon nonsense."- The news pundit said with passion. His suit had a certain wrinkled quality that implied he hadn't slept at all.
A military officer of some sort...he had a lot of metals and stars. Probably someone important took over speaking. -"We've all seen the footage. Quake reduced to the abilities of a top special ops agent, Spiderman and whatever we're calling Wanda, Red Witch or whatever, took down an entire alien military command ship. It was less than twenty minutes. This upcoming invasion isn't going to be like the Battle of New York. We can be ready for the fuckers this time."-
-"The President is making an address at noon."- Rumpled suit pundit cut back in. -"And we know Canada and Russia have already pledged to prepare their militaries for this Thanos. It certainly won't be a surprise attack this time."-
A woman in a professionally pressed suit spoke up. -"Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't we be concerned that Quake just murdered her way through an entire space ship?"-
-"Please."- The military officer scoffed, the other pundit snorting as well. -"She was perfectly in control. I saw the reports on the AIM agents she took down before this, only one fatality and man probably got shot by one of the other AIM agents. I wish half of my men were that controlled. Non-fatal take downs of humans and deadly accuracy against hostile aliens? That's an agent who knows what they're doing."-
The rumpled pundit laughed. -"I think we can all be sure Quake isn't a threat to civilians. Especially once they fix her powers. If this didn't show she's safe I don't know what would."-
-"And handling enhanced alien fighters without being able to use her own enhancement. We'll have our boys studying that fight by the end of the week."- The officer agreed, he actually sounded slightly besotted under the military bluster.
It was...bizarre as they watched the rest of the segment. Even the lady who was trying to argue enhanced people were dangerous was accepting that it was probably a good thing they had enhanced considering the likely alien invasion by Thanos. The woman even said the words at one point 'how dare the aliens try and steal their enhanced'. It was...bizarre. At some point the girls had joined them, sliding onto the couch and watching in stunned disbelief.
May cleared her throat. "Was anyone expecting this?"
"No...I...they find it comforting that you murdered the aliens sis." Darcy was clearly baffled. "I...guess that's a good thing?"
Daisy spoke up. "Isn't that the lady who was advocating all enhanced be locked up in internment camps for the safety of 'normal' people?"
"Yes, yes it is." Darcy replied blankly. She seemed to blink. "I mean I guess they shot the moon and have decided an earth centric version of nationalism is best in light of alien invasion?"
Wanda spoke up. "Is that scroll on the bottom a poll of which Avenger people think Daisy is dating?"
May found herself replying. "Yes it is….you're losing to Bucky, Steve, Clint, Natasha and Sam."
"Does this mean they don't think you're a homewrecker anymore?" Peter asked, looking at Darcy.
Darcy opened and then shut her mouth. "I don't know."
May laughed, she was never going to get used to the crazy surrounding her kids' lives. But they were all in one place and safe for the moment. So a good morning. She served herself a bowl of oatmeal and went to go join the confused but oddly optimistic news watching.
Chapter 50: Enforced Downtime for OneNotes:Six more to go
Chapter TextWanda had hated having to leave for work. But she'd trusted Peter and Darcy would make sure Daisy napped while she was gone. It was painfully clear Daisy was exhausted to a concerning degree. And thanks to the Asgardian evacuation she'd called out of work too much already. So here she was tying on her apron and clocking on. As she stepped out into the shop she easily fell into her role of making the coffee. Her accent meant Amanda had quickly moved her away from the ordering station to avoid assholes taking issue with it. It'd been a good call. For the survival of the customers.
"Wanda! You never came back for your books. They're heavy bitch!" Amanda passed her a cup with the next order. The customer was doing something on his phone while he waited.
She twitched slightly, the fact Amanda hadn't put together her friend Wanda vanishing only for Avenger Wanda showing up was...how?! But well it wasn't like it was the end of the world if her friend realized she was dating Quake now. It wasn't like it would ruin a media strategy at this point. "Sorry."
"What happened? You missed the biggest story of the decade!" Amanda sighed, the excitement sliding off of her.
Wanda frowned, glancing at her friend as the espresso shots filled. "Why are you depressed?" She paused "No, embarrassed?"
"Spiderquake are siblings." Amanda let out an actual groan. "I want to crawl under a rock and die."
Their customer snorted. He looked up over his phone. "They sold the relationship thing pretty well."
"Right!?" Amanda exclaimed. "I shouldn't have to feel bad about the photo files, or that video edit I did, or the fanfic. Like they hugged! There was forehead touching!"
He gave a solome nod. "Right? I try not to be too interested in the celebrity stuff, but Quake saved me from a mugging. She was really nice, hung out till the police got there. I'll tell you I'd have taken a swing at Spiderman for her if I'd run into him. Definitely a good thing I never ran into him."
"You got to meet her?" Amanda leaned forward, practically vibrating with excitement.
He eagerly nodded. "I did! She's even prettier in person too! It was like so fast too. One minute the guy had a gun on me and the next he was flying into a brick wall."
"Did you get her to sign anything?" Amada asked, her emotions were practically sparking with her excitement.
The guy groaned, his shoulders slumping. "No, I didn't even think about it. And this was months ago when she was first around. I barely even was aware she existed then."
"Yeah, she's in the big leagues now. I mean Avenger big." Amanda sighed. "Do you think she'll even bother with New York anymore?"
He seemed to ponder it. "I think so?"
"Definitely." Wanda couldn't help but add. Because honestly. "Spiderman lives in New York, I'm pretty sure if aliens can't keep her away for more than three months nothing is." And if it tried Wanda would personally murder it. With extreme prejudice. Extreme.
Amanda beamed at her. "I knew you cared! But you're right. If she'll fight a duel against an evil alien for him I think you're right."
"Which did you see how close that was? She actually let that one sword hit her so she could stab him!" Coffee guy let out a whistle. "Super badass."
Amanda tapped her face with the cap of her pen. "You know I've got siblings and I wouldn't fight a terrifying alien to the death with swords for 'em. Like I love them, but no."
"I don't know, you might surprise yourself." Wanda started steaming the milk as she spoke. Honestly she could feel the thread of familial affection in Amanda and a surprising violent streak. She was fairly sure if New York got attacked again, Amanda would happily take a tire iron and whack some aliens.
Amanda smiled softly, pleased in the belief in her. She still giggled and brushed it off though. "Oh stop."
"I mean everyone knows Quake was in foster care. They probably got separated as kids or something. I wouldn't be surprised they're clingier than regular siblings." Coffee guy offered. "I mean getting seperated like that's got to mess with you."
Amanda hummed in agreement. "Do you think they're twins? I mean Spiderman can't be more than a year, maybe two younger than her if they're not twins."
"The therapist they interviewed on the news thought they were twins. They're about the same height." Coffee guy barely even reacted as Wanda passed him his latte.
Amanda leaned against the counter. "Right? I know everyone is going with twins, but I think he's probably a year or something younger than her. But it's so tragic! Separated by the system, but then she finds him when he gets powers! Like it's a damn movie is what it is."
"I can tell you I feel safer knowing they're here in New York. Them and that devil guy, and I've heard good things about that detective lady. Oh and that Cage fellow."
Amanda certainly agreed with that. "Yeah, like the Avengers are kinda...eh? I mean it's great they're around to help the military with this Thanos character. But I don't feel safer having them around really."
"I don't know, the Maximoff twins seem alright. Everyone knows that for all of a shit show it was in Lagos it'd have been worse if the Witch hadn't of been there. And Quicksilver's been helping out around the city pretty regularly." Coffee guy pointed out.
Wanda was...actually kind of touched by how she could sense he felt about her and her brother. Not totally sold, but fairly positive. It was...rather novel really. She didn't say anything though. Amanda realizing she was an Avenger was one thing, random Coffee Guy was another.
"I mean they seem ok. Just...the Avengers seem so...larger than life you know?" Amanda replied. "Like if I met Quake or Spiderman I'd totally fangirl like a crazy person. But it'd be fine cause they're like one of us right? But Captain America or Ironman like...it'd be awful."
Coffee guy sipped his drink. "Yeah, I can see that. I mean Quake or Spiderman'd just laugh with you while the Avengers, crowd to see them would trample you before you could even untongue tie yourself."
"Exactly!" Amanda agreed. "And the Avengers only really handle the world ending stuff. I mean you're not going to ask Captain America to walk you home from the bar."
Wanda couldn't help herself. "He probably would." She stilled as both of their attentions turned on her. "I mean he seems like the kind of guy who'd do that."
"He is from the forties." Amanda agreed with a sigh. "And so dreamy looking. Think Quake is dating him?"
Coffee guy scoffed. "No way, she's like way too anti-establishment to date the Captain. It's Bucky or Sam."
"No way! She can do better than the trauma bucket of issues Barnes and Sam's too old." Amanda argued while crossing her arms.
Wanda felt herself dissociating as they argued over who they thought her girlfriend was dating….neither of them suggested her. It was...come on. She was obviously a better choice than most of the team. Honestly, most of the team was between thirty and fifty! Her name should at least be in the running damn it….also she might be taking this one a tad too personally.
She looked at the clock. It was going to be a long shift...and how was Daisy's dating life a bigger story to the average New Yorker than an alien invasion? How?!
////
Darcy mourned for her baby as she disassembled the time machine. "I'm sorry baby, you didn't even get to be turned all the way on."
"Should I be concerned you're talking to the possible reality eating device?" Daisy asked from the wheelie computer chair she'd been consigned to with her protein shake.
She rolled her eyes. "Do you know how much science went into this? How groundbreaking it is? I mean this baby is one of its kind. Hours were put into making her."
"Her? Does she have a name?" Daisy teased as she stirred her shake with a straw. To be fair Daisy had not been excited by Dr Cho's demands she drink the thing.
Darcy refused to be embarrassed. "Poprocks and I have been calling her Dorloros."
"That have anything to do with that sounding similar to a certain model of car?" Daisy was definitely amused.
She huffed. "I don't know what you're talking about." It was totally a reference to the delorean from Back to the Future. But Darcy wasn't going to admit that for anything.
"Sure." Daisy sounded far too smug. She fell slightly more serious. "Ok, so what's with the Asgardians?"
Darcy hummed as she unattached one of the arms and laid it carefully down. "So ya know the whole Norse legend Ragnorok. Like the whole end of Asgard thing from like the movies and games and shit? Turns out actually a thing."
"Huh...so does that mean all of Asgard is on earth?" Daisy actually looked fairly alarmed at the idea. Probably from a logistics point of view considering she liked Asgardians.
Darcy swallowed back her horror at just...Asgard. "No, Sif got a few over three thousand out using Jane's and my portals. But we haven't been able to contact any of the other groups that should have made it out. No one's heard anything from Thor since weeks before it all happened either."
"Hey, the big guy can take care of himself." Daisy leaned forward and only stayed in her chair due to Darcy glaring at her. She held up her hands in peace. "I mean it, if you got that many Asgardians out some of the others had to have as well. And they've got the rainbow bridge proper. Not to mention it's Asgard. You did good."
"I just…" Darcy blew some of her hair out of her face. It had been a sick feeling in her gut since Daisy was kidnapped, then Asgard being destroyed. "Something bad is coming."
Daisy's face turned into her agent face. The sharp focus, emotion gone. "Yes it is."
"That's not comforting. You do know that right?" Darcy stared at her sister in disbelief, ignoring the shiver that'd gone down her spine at the unflinching certainty in her sister's voice.
Daisy raised a brow. "Really? I wasn't trying to be comforting. You're right to be worried. But there's always something bad coming."
"Really not helping." Darcy pointed her wrench at her. "This is how you give a girl a heart attack."
Daisy leaned back in the chair and sipped at her shake judgmentally. "Do you know how many end of the world, success of the fascists, we're all going to die situations happen? Just all the time? It's everyone doing their bit when it's their turn to handle the thing that keeps the world spinning."
"Not comforting." Darcy rocked back on her heels.
Daisy hummed, her face softening ever so slightly. "When Hydra came out do you think it was my team stopping the Centipede program and Garrett that stopped Hydra? Or was it Natasha and Steve taking down Project Insight?"
"Pieces of a puzzle speech?" Darcy huffed, but it weirdly enough was helping.
Daisy's lips twitched into a grin. "What, it works." She chuckled. "And it's true. Hydra fell because hundreds of agents around the world did their part to shut down the slimy fascist tentacle in front of them. And dozens of world intelligence agencies followed the intel in the data dump to cleanse themselves. So aliens are coming. We and whoever else is ready and willing to do their part and it's all we can do."
"And if we lose?" Darcy found herself asking.
Daisy sighed. "Then the survivors stage a resistance movement against alien control."
"Cheery." Darcy sighed. "You do realize it's going to be me helping with this resistance movement right? Cause I'm not one of the Yahoos who's gonna be trying to murdernate the aliens."
She slurped at her shake. "True, but neither is over 99% of the world's militaries. This big battle everyone's all panicked about? It's an opening move. If Thanos comes personally we might end it at the first fight. If he doesn't it's just another invasion to fend off. If the aliens win the fight it'll turn into a land battle. Most wars aren't decided in a first fight. But if we win, it leaves us in a better position. Which is why it's important."
"He's after the infinity stone. He only needs one battle." Darcy pointed out, she felt her mind running through and slotting actions inside the larger narrative Daisy was painting.
Daisy snorted outright. "Please, that stone is in Visions head. Vision who doesn't need to eat, and can move through matter. If the fight goes poorly he can just sink through the earth's crust and hide like an impossible to remove mole."
"That is...oh." Darcy blinked. If there was an Avenger practically designed for running from evil aliens it would be Vision. "So what you're saying is this fight isn't going to be the end of the world regardless of what happens?"
"Yup." Daisy chucked a candybar at her. "I'm sure you'll be on evac if we lose too. Take a breath. 'Sides, worst case of worst cases well, you did apparently invent time travel." Daisy stared at the machine with the oddest expression on her face.
Darcy brandished the wrench. "June 10th."
"What's that?" Daisy asked, her brow furrowing ever so slightly.
She rolled her eyes. "When we were going to take the risk and rescue you from the future. Which like 80% chance of success, 20% chance of unraveling reality as we know it. But we were going to do it."
"You...you shouldn't have done that. I'm not worth that." Daisy's voice was soft.
Darcy straightened up to her feet. "Would you have done any different if it was me or Peter?"
The lab was completely silent.
"That's what I thought." Darcy huffed. "And finish that disgusting shake so we can get something that doesn't taste like mush for lunch before you take a nap."
////
Daisy wasn't surprised it was Aunt May who'd followed her out onto the balcony. "Hey."
"Too much?" Aunt May asked as she leaned against the balcony railing besides her.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the constant wind that blew through New York this high up. "No, I'm still not used to family, but it was being inside. I needed to be outside."
"Claustrophobia now?" Aunt May asked, her voice free of judgement.
Daisy considered that. "I don't think so. At least not debilitatingly anyways. I've spent too long living in enclosed spaces for that I think. But in the future...I don't know. I just needed to feel the air."
"If that changes we can figure it out. Peter still sleeps with a nightlight. Whatever you need sweetie." Aunt May quietly stayed there.
It was nice. She wasn't sure how long they stood out there. Daisy felt the tickle of Wanda's power in the back of her mind. It was funny, she found it oddly comforting to know her girlfriend was checking on her. The tickle faded as easily as it'd come. She opened her eyes, the city laid out below the tower. "They used Jemma to keep me in line. I had to do what they told me or they'd hurt her."
"You don't have to talk about it." Aunt May's voice was soft as she laid a hand over Daisy's forearm.
She let out a slow breath. "There was an inhuman, his name was Ben. He tried to help, they killed him like he was nothing and I couldn't do anything to stop it. They'd chipped every human like a dog. For fucks sake they fed them pellets." Her teeth clenched.
There was nothing except for the sounds of the city below them. Finally Daisy kept going. "The blue bitch who killed Ben, she was my opponent in the showcase deathmatch I was in. I could have...I've been working on my powers here. So much time to learn control, how to fly with them, how to raise and lower the temperature, how to quake a specific thing at a distance." Daisy paused before biting the bullet. "I turned every internal organ inside her body into paste. It wasn't dramatic, it wasn't the only way. I just did it."
"You're an agent." Aunt May offered, understanding that she didn't deserve in her voice.
Daisy shook her head. "They called me The Destroyer of Worlds. I can see the math, the proof the timeline has changed, know that we'll need my powers. But...in that reality something went wrong and I killed seven billion people. How can I let them take the chip out? If I can become a monster worse than anything else on this planet how can I allow that risk to exist? I saw what happens, the misery and barbarity of it. Monstrosity I'm capable of, and becoming more capable of."
"You're not a monster." Aunt May squeezed her shoulder, pulling her ever so slightly to face her. It was painful how kind her gaze was. "You're dangerous if you want to be. You've been through horrible things and you're capable of doing horrible things." Her hand on her shoulder shifted till it was flat over Daisy's heart. "But I know you and what's in you. I don't care what anyone said in the future. Or what any prophet or even you say. You are a good person and the world will be poorer for it if you hold yourself back."
"I…" Daisy's eyes widened as she stared at Aunt May.
Aunt May just smiled at her. "Now you don't owe the world anything. If you want to do whatever computer wizardry you do, get an actual full time job somewhere. Fuck, go to clown school. You should do that. But I think we both know that's not you, and that you would never be happy without being a hero. Because being a hero is who you are."
Her eyes burned, it was...god she'd never had...this. Not even Coulson. Darcy and Tony had been willing to risk reality itself to rescue her. May was standing there, her faith in her so unshakable it was humbling.
"Oh honey." Aunt May cupped the side of her face. "I promise you're a good person."
Daisy didn't know how to explain it wasn't that. Her throat felt tight, her chest ached with the emotion of it. She jolted forward hugging the May tightly. Tears falling for the first time since she'd returned home. "Thank you."
One of Aunt May's arms pressed gently between her shoulder blades. It felt like what Daisy had always imagined being hugged by a mother was like. It cracked something inside of her. And Daisy cried.
////
Peter shifted awkwardly as he waited for Daisy and May to get back from outside. He groaned and settled some after Wanda shot him a look, her eyes red. "She's ok?"
"I try not to make it a habit to read her mind." The red faded from her eyes as she spoke. "I nudged her, she knows we're here and isn't panicking."
He grumbled, slouching further into his corner of the couch.
"Good god, my son is a mother hen. How did this happen? I'm horrified." Tony snapped a rubber band at his face.
Peter swatted the band out of the way. "Like you're not worried."
"Calling out the old man, I see how it is." Tony knocked back his tumbler of something disgusting and full of alcohol.
Darcy groaned, and then grabbed a controller. "Come on, we're setting who the Queen of Mario Kart is in this family."
"Excuse me, I think you mean King." Exhaustion seemed to fall off of Tony.
Darcy's brow rose as she tossed a controller to Tony before passing one to Peter. "I don't know old man, you're getting old. And you've got an early morning with the generals tomorrow. Sure it's not past your bedtime?"
"Rude." Tony's eyes were bright. "I've been playing longer than you've been alive whippersnapper."
Darcy elbowed Peter in the side as she teased their dad right back. "So you're a dinosaur? Do we need to find a retirement home or some jello for you?"
Peter let himself smile and be drawn in. "I hear rich people old people homes have views."
"Cruel, bring it spawn." Tony sniffed theatrically.
He looked at Darcy. "He totally plays Mario doesn't he?"
"Totally, the red, main character, and been around since the cretaceous age." Darcy nodded solemnly.
Tony laughed. "Please, Yoshi all the way. Take note."
"I'll enjoy crushing you." Darcy actually looked genuinely vicious. Which was fair. She was horrifically violent with Bowser.
There was a blur, and then Pietro was on the couch next to Darcy. "Peach is mine."
Peter sniped Toad before anyone else could go for him. He may prefer Donkey Kong, but never when playing with Darcy. Speed was survival.
Tony gave Pietro a look out of the corner of his eye.
Peter looked at Darcy. They both understood in that moment. It was going to be between them. If Tony went for Pietro he'd be too busy to win and Pietro would be too busy trying to avoid murder by Tony. Which meant unless a lethal blue shell hit them both it was gonna be between them. Peter grinned. "You're going down."
Wanda laughed as she looked at them over her textbooks. "My money's on Peter."
"Shouldn't you be rooting for me?" Pietro looked at his sister indignantly.
Wanda looked at Pietro, her eyes flicking to Tony and then back to her twin. "Do you want me to lie to you?"
Darcy let out a frightening cackle. Full on super villain. They all leaned away from her.
"You're very scary sometimes." Peter muttered.
The comment seemed to fuel her. It was...oh he was so dead.
Peter grinned as he looked up at Daisy. "Here to save Poprocks from the humiliation?"
"I don't know, I think he looks pretty satisfied with whatever he's been doing." Daisy replied as she carefully slid into an armchair, ever so gingerly.
He pretended he didn't notice the thickness in her voice, or the redness around her eyes. Peter did frown at how she was moving. "Did you break some of your stitches?"
"Naw, just haven't stretched much out today." She smiled at him fondly. "I'm all bruise, but I've been good. Stitches all where they should be."
Peter knew he was being silly, but he felt relief. "Sorry."
"Pretty sure I was just as bad after the werewolf." Daisy's lips stayed up in a soft smile.
He beamed, it was forgiveness and understanding for being so worried. "So, taking down Darcy?"
"She running you off the road?" Daisy teased.
Peter groaned. "Her banana game is lethal."
Chapter 51: Daisy is BoredNotes:Hey guys! We are down to five more chapters, this is weird. Like super weird.
Chapter TextYuri Watanabe stared at her new Sergeant badge. It was shiny and gold with an eagle. She sighed, Midtown Manhattan. They really were trying to get her out of the way. Also god, they were going to use her as a Superhero liaison and coordinator. It wasn't going to go well. She could guarantee it. "Sir, no offence but if you want me as your poster girl for working with Spiderman and Quake, moving me out of the Brooklyn and Queens area is a bad call."
"I'm aware." Captain Marks looked at her like he wished he could take aspirin to deal with her very existence. "However if an alien invasion happens here again it's going to be in Manhattan. Again."
Her jaw tightened at that. It was… "You expect me to assist in making us coordinate with the Avengers during an invasion." Yuri's face was a deadpan. "I've been bounced from every Midtown department. Two of them for bringing charges against other officers."
He was dead inside as he looked at her, slow blinks. "I'm aware." Marks folded his hands on top of his desk. "Look Watanabe, I respect you. You're the biggest pain in my ass the Devil himself could have created. No one will work with you. Preston used his sick days instead of partner with you. But damned if you're not the best cop I've got. I argued against the move. But they want you back if there's gonna be motherfucking, god damn, aliens raining from the fucking sky."
"Ah." Yuri doubted she'd ever heard the man swear so much in one go before. Actually, he'd wanted her to stay? No one wanted her to stay. It was oddly touching.
Marks raised his hand and pointed at her. "Don't give me that look. I don't like you. But fuck if you're not going to be the one sitting at this desk when I retire. So go smile, look nice for the cameras, play with the heroes, and I'm sure you'll have arrested a coworker, again, within six months and gotten kicked back here. So go, maybe I can have a whole six months without a migraine."
"Understood Sir." Yuri felt a smug smirk. The areas where the Battle of New York had hit the hardest had had a rash of crime. Which meant a rash of bribery, exploitation and general shady shit everywhere. She had no doubt her new captain would assign her to cops he wanted to get rid of but couldn't for political reasons. "I'll try to make it six months."
Marks stared at her. "You're going to be the youngest captain in the city if you keep this shit up. Now get out."
"Yes Sir." She turned, opening the door, blinds tapping against the glass window.
He called out from behind her. "And Watanabe, congratulations."
"Thanks Sir." Yuri closed the door behind her. She marched to her desk, time to pack up her things then. At least no one was going to try to haze a sergeant who ran a patrol car into an enhanced. It could be worse.
Peterson looked up. "You getting kicked free again Watanabe?"
"Don't worry Peterson, I'm sure I'll be back before you get too comfortable." Yuri grabbed her stress ball.
He chuffed, folding his hands behind his head. "You'll miss us."
"Sure I will." And the funny thing was she might. Of course she had no doubt they'd empty the bullpen to avoid partnering with her. But she knew they all wanted her to be the one coming in if they needed back up.
Yuri nearly jumped out of her skin as Spiderman landed on the top of her car. "Jesus, kid!"
"Oops." He was totally smiling under his stupid mask.
She shut her car door, this was going to take a while. "Quake ok?"
"Yeah, she's good." Spiderman slid off his feet, sitting on top of the car. "Finally let Dr Cho take that awful slave chip out of her neck last night. Well after Mario Kart, but she still got rid of it. And ya know, super sore and a ton of stitches. But she's good."
Yuri closed her eyes and counted to three. Not going to comment on the level of horrifying there. Just no. "That's good, pass on my well wishes."
"Of course." His odd white eye shapes closed happily before opening again. "I came with a congratulations gift for the promotion."
She wasn't even sure why she was surprised he knew that today was her last day at the precinct. "You didn't have to."
"Of course I did, we're like kinda partners aren't we? I mean you've seen me without the mask." He brandished a smallish wrapped present.
She grabbed it before he could start waving it in her face. It was exactly what he'd do too. And not that she'd say it but she was kind of touched. Because fuck it, he was her partner at this point wasn't he? Quake to a lesser degree as well. "I'm still waiting for my memory to get wiped or your sister to murder me for knowing your face."
"Eh, she likes you." He leaned forward. "Open it, open it!"
Yuri shook her head fondly, but opened up the thing, she had a feeling she knew what it was. As the paper was pulled away she saw it was a picture frame. She laughed as she saw the picture in it. A very angry version of her had her arms on her hips as she glared at a nervous looking Spiderman. An unhappy bank robber hanging from a lamp post head first. An amused looking Quake leaning against the building and watching the show. "How did you even get this?"
"My sister's a hacker and the bank has cameras with kinda awesome resolution." He replied like that wasn't incriminating at all.
She stared at him. "You do know I half ruined my career busting my coworkers for crimes right?"
"Well yeah, but only when what they were doing was hurting people. Finding a frame from security footage for a gift isn't hurting anyone." He bounced off the car and landed lightly next to her.
Yuri shoved him slightly. "You're lucky I like you."
"Naw, lucks got nothing to do with it. I just know you." Spiderman sounded far too smug.
She snorted, so many of her coworkers missed the very obvious of her being willing to work with vigilanties. It wasn't that she was some hardass who'd report someone for pushing the lines. It was abuse of power she had zero patience for. Honestly. If a teenager could figure that out she didn't have mercy for her grown ass coworkers. "So should I put this on my wall?"
"Well if you want. But Quake and I thought it'd be kinda neat if you stuck it on your new desk. Make sure they know we've got your back and you're a badass who yells at enhanced. Or drives cars into giant dudes in rhino outfits." He bounced on his toes.
Yuri laughed, that would certainly be fun.
////
Vision raised a hand in greeting. "Greetings, I look forward to living with you for what time we are together."
The Russian officer looked him up and down. "You will follow my instructions. I am in charge of this multi-national encampment until the Black Widow arrives. Your security is of the utmost importance."
"Yes, the situation was explained to me." He chuckled, gesturing to his head. "You know, aliens want to rip the stone out of my head. Which would be bad. I'd die, world ending. All that."
The officer did not laugh. Tough crowd.
////
Daisy had found it oddly therapeutic, also frankly fun to find the right outfit at the local second hand clothing store. It'd been nice to do something stupid, frivilous and just for fun. In the end it had helped make her being back in the present feel more real. Also a nice easy introduction to the world with her powers back up and running. She was terrified. But also relieved to have them back. Or well the slave chip out. Same difference.
She adjusted her leather jacket slightly. The worn military combat boots, and loose army pants were comfortable. And it very much met the prerequisite of 'army girlfriend' that Wanda had apparently used in her civilian job. It probably helped Daisy knew she looked like shit. Between the bruising over just literally all of her, and the giant bandage on the back of her neck she looked rough. Also three people had tried to give her their seats on the bus. The giant black eye was too dark for hiding to be practical. Also the stitches on her left cheek….and she was going to stop thinking about how much of a human bruise she was at the moment.
Opening the door to the corner coffee shop she stepped inside. The smell of ground coffee permeated the air as well as that of the baked goods and teas. It was a familiar and comforting scent. She stuffed her hands into her pockets, and slid into line behind the only other customer in the shop. It was hilariously easy to identify Amanda.
Happily chatting with Wanda while filling an order was a perky blond. Her hair was up in a tight ponytail, chewing gum, completely ignoring her current customer. "I'm telling you law school has burned shit out of you. Like how can you not be invested in what is going on?"
"I just think maybe which Avenger Quake is dating may be less important than the impending alien invasion. Also unless she says who she's dating maybe guessing isn't the best idea?" Wanda sighed as she steamed the milk of the order she was filling.
Amanda rolled her eyes. "I've got to get you out of your textbooks. We're normies. Just keep our heads down and let the powerful and important people worry about the alien invasion. 'Sides while my shame will never die over the Spiderquake shipping, some of the new sibling fanart of them is adorable."
Daisy grinned. "Oh, is there new fanart of them out already?"
"Yes!" Amanda's attention snapped to her, she was beaming.
Wanda's eyes widened as she spotted her. "Daisy?!"
"Sup, figured I should come and see your work." She raised a hand in a wave.
Wanda proved she had been paying attention in practice with Natasha. She hopped over the counter and caught Daisy gently by the upper arms. "What are you doing here? You should be in bed!"
"I got bored." Daisy shrugged, shifting slightly. Maybe pushing it so soon after getting back had been a bad idea?
Wanda closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Daisy you had surgery, again, this morning!"
"If they don't knock you out for it, it doesn't count as surgery." She waived off with a scoff.
Wanda just groaned, one hand gently touching the bandage on her neck, the familiar tickle of her powers brushing along the incision point. "Everything went well this morning?"
"Yeah it went fine." Daisy softened, letting the emotional thread connect the two of them. "I'm still...yeah." She caught Wanda's hand and let a faint vibration run up Wanda's arm. Confirmation the slave chip was gone.
Wanda pressed her forehead against Daisy's. "I promise I've got you. I won't let you lose control like that." Her voice was soft, barely audible. But Daisy could feel the sincerity and promise of protection from herself.
"HOLY SHIT!" Amanda of the coffee shop yelped. "They found your girlfriend!"
Wanda laughed, it was slightly wet but was still a laugh. She turned facing her friend. "Yeah, it's why I vanished on you in the library the other day."
"And you didn't say ANYTHING!? Bitch! Just tell me to shut up. I've been blathering on about celebrities and you just got your girlfriend back!" Amanda shoved a drink into the hand of a man and then was making her way around the counter. She gave Daisy a quick up and down and winced slightly. "Damn, hope you kicked their asses."
Daisy laughed, and took the girl's hand shaking it. "You are exactly as Wanda described."
"You talk about me?" Amanda whacked Wanda playfully. "Knew we were friends." She looked genuinely concerned. "But really, you should go home. Hug your girlfriend. Like christ, you've been stressed as hell."
"I've missed too many days recently." Wanda squeezed Daisy's arm. "And I had been expecting you to spend the day in bed."
Daisy just huffed. "I've spent enough time off my feet. I'm taking it easier than I did after I got shot last year."
"Excuse me!" Amanda yelped, her eyes wide. "Bitch why are you not in bed. I mean you look like you lost a round against Mike Tyson. No offence."
Daisy shrugged. "Eh, it's fair. But hey, other than bothering Wanda I was planning on trolling reddit."
Wanda cleared her throat. "Daisy go sit, I'll make you a pumpkin spice latte. Amanda, we've got actual customers."
"Fine, be responsible." Amanda rolled her eyes. "It's nice to meet you Daisy, and hopefully I get the story about how you're alive and here sometime."
"You're not subtle." Wanda shoved her friend back towards the counter. She threw a look at Daisy. "Sit."
Daisy leaned against the counter, she'd long since gotten bored of updating her firewalls using her phone. It helped the shop was empty save for a few students, noses buried in their books. She winked at Wanda. "So you think Quake's dating Captain America?"
"Well we don't have a lot of options do we?" Amanda replied, clearly passionate about the subject. "Obviously I'm not positive. But who are the real options? It's the Captain, Bucky, Black Widow, and like Vision?"
Daisy ignored the murderous expression on her girlfriend's face. "What, no chance of it being Sam or Rhodey?"
"Well I mean they're too old right?" Amanda pointed out without blinking. "I mean she could do so much better than trauma bucket Barnes though."
Wanda grumbled. "The Captain and Barnes are ancient."
"I don't know, super soldier shoulder muscles are pretty hot." Daisy grinned, holding up her hands in surrender. "You wouldn't snap me with a towel, I'm injured babe."
Wanda rolled her eyes. "Don't bet on it."
"You two are adorable." Amanda just looked at them with so much honest joy. How this civilian had managed to drag Wanda into a friendship made a lot of sense.
Daisy beamed, it all felt soft and light. It was good. Fuck alien slavetraders in space. Just so much. "We've been told we're utterly lame."
"Wanda's going to change the world with her law degree and social justice everything. And you're like a badass. I mean you're getting a purple heart and shit right?"
Daisy actually blinked at that. "I suppose that's one way to look at it. But honestly I'm just glad to be home again. And getting caught back up on the gossip."
"Oh! I have to show you this art that was being tweeted around last night! It's adorable." Amanda yanked her phone out of her apron. "It's a costume switch between Quake and Spiderman, only they got really creative with the suits and everything."
Daisy actually looked curiously at the image on the woman's phone. She felt her grin soften into an actual smile. It was kind of hilarious and adorable at the same time. In a white and black version of the spidersuit with a rather dramatic hood was who was clearly supposed to be her if she'd been the one with spider powers. But there standing next to her spider version was what looked like a genderbent version of her. In fact Peter looked in the picture everybit the mixed race, twenty something agent. Admittedly his pants weren't as tight and the artist had done a sort of tactical looking collar thing for him.
How it'd happened was obvious. On the livestream there'd been no mention of the fact they were half siblings. The artist had just switched her gender assuming Daisy and Peter were the same age, race and generally looked similar. Daisy zoomed in, the detail on the gauntlets was exact to a degree that had to have taken hours. "Wow, this is crazy impressive."
"Right?" Amanda sighed. "I wonder if that's what he really looks like."
Daisy bit back a snicker. "Maybe, though I believe this drawing of him makes the two of them nearly identical."
"Well they could be twins. Though I lean towards the argument he's at least a year younger than her." Amanda hummed thoughtfully as she slipped her phone back into her apron. "I know I'm not believing anything for sure till it's confirmed though."
Wanda grumbled from where she was pretending to clean the espresso machine. "Doesn't stop you from trying to figure out who is with who."
"Oh shush, it's fun." Amanda slapped Wanda's shoulder lightly. She beamed at Daisy. "You on the other hand seem to know the true fun in following the lives of our local heroes."
Daisy couldn't help the amused sound she made. "I can promise there's nothing I'd rather be discussing." She caught Wanda's eye. "So you've ruled out the Maximoffs? Cause I have to say, the accent thing, super sexy."
"Well Pietro is apparently dating or doing something similar to it with Stark." Amanda winced. "Which I should have listened to you Wanda, I kind of betrayed the sisterhood assuming Stark was a homewrecking slut…kinda feel like I should send an apology card or something to the tower. Which is ridiculous, I don't even know the woman."
Daisy snorted. "I'd heard the news had been saying that shit. It's like they've never heard of liable laws and forgot about the army of lawyers Stark has. Lawsuit's up the ass once Darcy thinks it's worth it." Daisy smirked. "In fact I'd wager a lot she's enjoying watching the media sweat about the whole thing. It'd rather suit her sense for the dramatic."
Daisy laughed freely for the first time in hours as she and Wanda walked home, their hands entwined. "Your friend is a riot."
"You're awful! She'd be mortified if she knew, and why the sudden interest in who the media thinks 'Quake' is dating?" Wanda glared at her. It would have held more weight if there wasn't a faint link that let Wanda's feelings of mildly frustrated good humor wash, ever so slightly, against Daisy.
She just turned ever so slightly and pressed a light kiss to her girlfriend's cheek. "I've missed you."
Wanda fell silent as they continued to walk before finally speaking. "You can't leave like that again. We all fell apart. I fell apart. It was a gaping hole where you should have been."
"Hey." Daisy stopped them, pulling them to the side, out of the way of other pedestrians. "You did amazing. You're crushing college, civilian job, making friends outside of the tower without Peter and I having to kidnap you for it? I wish I'd been here, believe me the slave cell in the future was shitty even if I was their prize fighter."
"Daisy." Wanda cut her off. "We fell apart. May was barely holding it together. Peter? It took weeks before he could even pretend not to be devastated. Darcy? Darcy and your father were willing to risk reality itself. Everyone was scrambling to keep everything from spiraling out of control. Pietro and I went to Asgard for help and I almost used my powers to strangle Odin for not being helpful."
It...Daisy hurt for them. Despite everything it still...didn't seem real she could be that important to so many people. To anyone really. But she could feel the truth of it as Wanda accidently was sharing more of her feelings than perhaps she meant to. Daisy wasn't going to point it out. "You didn't fall apart though. With what we do, not coming home is a risk. It's a sacrifice we have to be prepared to make."
Daisy reached up brushing a loose lock of hair behind Wanda's ear. "I love you. All of you. And I'll always come home to you if I am capable of doing so. But if someday I don't come back you and everyone else will have each other."
"You're an awful hypocrite. You know that right?" Wanda's voice was rough.
She leaned her forehead against Wanda's. "Probably."
"After this Thanos, alien invasion I want a weekend. Just a weekend where we do nothing but be safe and home." Wanda cupped her cheek, looking into her eyes. "And you let Tony make you a better suit so you stop getting stabbed and shot."
Daisy smiled. "I can do that." She leaned forward brushing her lips against Wanda's.
As she pulled back, Wanda pulled her back in. There was an intensity, a relief at both of them being alive and whole. Then Wanda spun her, pushing her back into the brick wall they'd been besides. Maybe not so whole.
Daisy hissed.
"Fuck, are you ok? Your stitches?" Wanda pulled back, eyes wide in alarm as they flicked up and down ensuring she was in one piece.
Daisy sighed. "I'm just sore, you're fine."
"I wonder why I don't believe that." Wanda's voice was bemused. She shook her head and then pulled them back into the flow of foot traffic. Which...ok maybe making out just out of the way on a public sidewalk hadn't been a good idea. "Come on, let's get you home and some more pain killers."
Daisy just smiled as she entwined their fingers. It was a good day. And she had just had surgery that morning, it was probably the smart thing to do. Probably.
////
Shuri traipsed off the plane, her Dora Milaje guards protectively shadowing her. She came to a stop in front of the person in charge of the military base she'd just stepped foot in. "I got your invitation. I was told you have a magic stone to separate from a self aware android." Which she was barely keeping from bouncing at the idea of getting her hands on the Vision. His software had to be fascinating.
"Thank you for coming." Natasha Romonaff greeted. "We've prepared a lab space for you. Your brother indicated you would bring your own equipment?"
She grinned. "Of course, can't trust anyone else to have the tools I'll need."
"If you would follow me Princess." Natasha gestured softly.
Shuri fell into step with a hop. "How did you end up in charge of this place? I was expecting someone a bit more...bearded."
Natasha laughed, how much was fake and how much was real was probably a mystery for the ages. "The Russians volunteered the base first, and no one else wants an alien invasion in their country. So here we are. Everyone has also agreed that the Avengers should be coordinating everything due to international conflicts needing to be avoided. But the Russians will never accept orders from the Captain or Stark. And well I've rather publically killed and worked for almost everyone in the business. They can all agree they don't trust me. Which means they can all agree to me being in charge."
"That makes no sense." Shuri was hoping to meet Stark's daughter at some point, her miniaturized arch reactor based batteries were genius.
Natasha's lips were quirked up ever so slightly. "That's politics." She opened a door. "This is your lab space. Vision will be down shortly. If you need anything just ask and I'll see what I can do. Stark and Dr Lewis will conference call at five."
"I can work with this." Shuri eyed the old set up. It'd clearly been some sort of lab back in the day. But it was clean, had electrical access and proper drainage. The faster she had her equipment set up the sooner she could get her hands on the most advanced android on the planet. She turned to her nearest guard. "Let's get started!"