After a short rest, Viper left Daisy's villa. She'd long been prepared for the weakness of her body; years of research had yielded plenty, and the poisons she'd formulated for herself could re-strengthen her.
Earlier, Chthon had woven false memories into Viper's mind—memories of being Miss Drew's mother. Now that the connection was fully severed, some deep-rooted residual emotions still lingered.
Viper's solution was out of sight, out of mind. This so-called daughter, she didn't want to spare a second glance, so she left the girl with Daisy and departed alone.
...
The two beauties promptly settled into the villa. Wanda spent her free time cradling the Darkhold and studying. Daisy even walked her past the entrance of the New York Sanctum a couple of times, and not a single one of them piped up. Seeing those weakling sorcerers give no reaction at all, she immediately set Wanda up with a training room so she could practice her magic on her own.
Wanda wasn't all that interested in magic. She preferred spending her downtime brewing Daisy a cup of coffee, or telling her jokes when she was feeling low. Even if those jokes weren't necessarily funny, Daisy still felt a deep, clinging attachment from her.
For that reason, she specifically asked Viper to look into the matter of Quicksilver. Unfortunately, Baron Strucker had hidden him away extremely well, and even Viper couldn't turn the man up on short notice.
In late January, Lorna officially moved up into the school's high school division.
Whether the coursework was heavy, who knew, but Daisy did know that Lorna's status as the class's top girl had come under challenge. Gwen Stacy had transferred in from another school to Midtown High and joined this class packed with talent.
As the daughter of a police chief, her presence naturally overawed a pack of half-grown kids, and she tried to seize leadership of the class. This left Lorna deeply unhappy; at dinner she'd jab her fork through the air as if Gwen were skewered right on the tines.
The affairs of a few half-grown kids weren't worth fretting over. Daisy carved out time for a serious talk with Miss Drew.
Miss Drew was different from all the villains at Daisy's place; she would become a superhero in the future and forge a close friendship with Ms. Marvel.
She was a strong woman with principles. She respected Daisy, but didn't cling to her the way Wanda did.
You could tell she was working hard to learn about the outside world, but she wasn't Captain America. If she didn't know something, she simply didn't know it; gaps in knowledge across every field couldn't be mastered in an instant through effort alone.
"I want to live like a normal person. I'll adapt, bit by bit." Miss Drew couldn't go back to being seven years old; all she could do now was live with the appearance of a seventeen-year-old.
Physical changes, physiological changes, genetic changes, and of course environmental changes—all of it needed adjusting to.
Unlike those freeloaders back at the villa, Miss Drew wanted an income to pay rent, and if circumstances allowed, to eventually move out. After all, she and Daisy were neither kin nor old friends; she didn't want to take advantage of her.
Technical work was beyond her, so combat work it would be.
Miss Drew was still bright inside, optimistic and driven, willing to shoulder responsibility. In the end Daisy took her to meet Nick Fury.
Watching ten agents rush her at once and still get thrashed to pieces by Miss Drew, untrained, relying purely on her own agility and Spider-Sense, Miss Drew handled ten-on-one with zero difficulty. Fury was very pleased; S.H.I.E.L.D. needed talent like this.
Daisy had already erased Hydra's role in Miss Drew's life, saying only that her father had been funded by the British military, ultimately leading to a tragedy.
"Truly outstanding physical conditioning. The spider gene, it seems—" Fury looked itching to dig into it.
Daisy cut him off at once. "An accident. It was an experimental accident. The British can't replicate the original process either now. I'd suggest you not put too much thought into it."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to bolster its strength." That last part came straight from the heart. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s golden generation was on its way out, a great upheaval in the world was coming, and clinging to the old ways would only leave them behind by the times.
Both Black Widow and Hawkeye had thoughts of retiring. Crossbones wasn't even worth mentioning. They couldn't have Daisy, the Deputy Director, step in to fight every time some random enemy showed up; that would be beneath her. Spider-Woman, neither too strong nor too weak, was just right.
"You're planning to keep her at S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Fury naturally wanted to gather the enhanced under one roof, but the girl had been brought in, and saved, by Daisy, so her opinion had to be respected.
"Miss Drew came here to work a job and earn money. Does that enhanced squad of yours pay wages? Any benefits? Let her stay with S.H.I.E.L.D." Daisy's words brooked no argument.
Spider-Woman looked mature but was really still a kid at heart, and she listened to Daisy well. Fury couldn't find any fault with it. S.H.I.E.L.D. it was.
Daisy assigned Miss Drew to train under Black Widow. After all, they were both spiders. Having gone over the key points, Daisy was ready to leave.
"Hold on, hold on!" The only one who'd speak to a Deputy Director this bluntly was Black Widow. She talked to every agent that way, neither servile nor arrogant, asking for nothing, and never forming cliques.
Daisy turned back. "Something else?"
Black Widow thought Miss Drew had enormous potential. If some dedicated gear could be made for her, her combat power would climb even higher, and, of course, it'd be even better if the Science Division could whip up some gear for Black Widow herself while they were at it.
Daisy could tell Black Widow had made up her mind, preparing to step into the spotlight as a hero. Daisy had no objection to that. She got Black Widow's requirements clear and told her to come by the Science Division in a week.
A week later, Black Widow received her new combat suit.
"Made of super-elastic fire-resistant material. High resistance, cushions damage effectively, resists small-caliber weapons."
Black Widow started changing right there in front of her. The fit was obviously perfect; it hugged every curve, front and back, absolutely dripping with temptation.
Daisy went on. "The gloves and boots have static-charge suction cups hidden inside. If you want, you can cling to the surface of a building. The bracers can also release high-frequency static shocks, tear gas, plastic explosives, all kinds of rounds."
"You can rig up your own gadgets on the belt. I only added a grappling hook, cable, and the retractable wire you use most."
After a whole spiel of this and that, you could tell Black Widow was very satisfied. She rarely gave praise, but she offered a couple of words. "The Science Division really is stronger in your hands than in Victoria Hand's."
She didn't shortchange her own people; she'd prepared a combat suit for Miss Drew too.
To thank Daisy for saving her life, Miss Drew took the color of Daisy's hair as her reference and chose red as the suit's main color, paired with yellow gloves and the spider emblem on the chest, a combination you could only call shapely, striking, and full of poise.
Her super physical conditioning, plus dynamic vision and Spider-Sense, meant bullets and shells simply couldn't hit her. The spider gene already made her poison-proof and radiation-proof; the combat suit was mostly for looks.
Its one highlight: foldable wings beneath both arms of the suit. Outright flight was out of the question, but she could leap from a height and glide.