Chapter 7: Congratulations, That's OneNotes:Thank you again for all the comments! I'm still writing this fic. But I'm to chapter 18 and I think I see vaguely the end...god this thing is going to be a long one.
Chapter TextDaisy dribbled the basketball around a kid and then passed to a teen wearing a yellow bandana marking her as on the same team. "Pass!"
The girl caught the pass and then jumped shooting for the freshly duct taped hoop.
She cheered, high fiving the girl while jogging after the kid in the blue bandana that had secured the ball.
Sipping from a bottle of water, feet kicking out off the side of the skyscraper she was sitting on, Daisy pondered what to do. Being a civilian vigilante was surprisingly...boring? But that was definitely something flying towards her. Boring afternoon canceled hopefully. She raised a brow as she saw who was flying to her. She waited till he was floating just in front of her. "What brings the great Tony Stark to Queens?"
"What? I can't just fly down to say hi? Mingle with the people? Social media says you're hip with the streets." His suit landed, he stepped out of it with all the drama of a man who not only was used to it, but expected to be the center of attention at all times.
Daisy raised a brow at him. "Wow, you're just an old fuddy duddy aren't you?"
"You did not just call me a fuddy duddy." He looked at her in horror.
She leaned back. "I did, and you are. I mean those teeth? Have you considered veneers?"
"Veneers? Now that's just slander." His eyes were bright and amused. "And I came down here on my best behavior."
Daisy laughed softly under her breath. "So what are you doing down here, really?"
"Job offer. Your little tech support friend is starting next week. And your hacking skills are wasted just funneling illegal slush funds into charities." He shrugged before sitting down on the ledge next to her. "If you can hack SI, you can protect it too."
She considered that. Having a job besides stopping muggers might be nice. "Fine, I've been kinda bored since I got here anyways. But I want to be part time. And no health test. We both know I'd pass with flying colors, and SI isn't going to be storing my Inhuman DNA anywhere on it's flimsy servers."
"I'd be insulted by that if you weren't 'skyenet'. Deal though, no take backsies." He held out his hand, seemingly cringing slightly as he did it.
She rolled her eyes and held up a fist. Daisy's lips twitched at the relief on his face as they bumped knuckles. "You are a neurotic ass, did you know that?"
"So I've been told, it's part of my charm." He wagged a finger in her face. "No crushing on the boss. I'm a one woman guy these days."
Daisy gave him a piting look. "I've got daddy issues, but they're not that bad."
He pressed a hand to his chest. "I'm wounded, really. I'll have you know I'm quite the catch, very crush worthy."
"Hmm.. sure you are." She just grinned at his affront. "Now Scarlet Witch on the other hand, very cute. Also I'm only human, Thor and Steve are hunks and I have eyes."
Tony's eyes lit up. "You play for both teams? Interesting. But how is Steve on your list of hottest Avengers and I don't rank? I'm your boss. This is insubordination."
"Don't you read the papers? I'm in a passionate romance with Spiderman. He's redeemed my broken soul with his kindness and manliness." Daisy had come round on the fact it was hilarious by day two. It helped Peter turned a shade of red she hadn't know he could, anytime it was mentioned within his hearing. It was precious.
Her biological father, not that he knew that, scoffed. "Ah yes, your great romance. You know I'm almost insulted you two 'lovebirds' got all the credit for the wasp incident."
Daisy snickered. "Not going to lecture me about hacking you then?"
"Eh, you were annoyingly right about the Accords. That doesn't happen often." He gave her a pointed look. "Don't go getting any big ideas. Some sort of accountability has to happen."
She held her hands up in surrender. "I'm just the brawn and the hacking. If you want ethical or legal advice you should talk to Darcy." Daisy considered how to put it to ensure that Tony didn't put the connection between the three of them together. It was painfully obvious Peter and her were related based on how he reacted anytime their 'romance' was brought up. "She's our Pepper really. Only hotter."
"Ethical advice?" Tony scoffed. "Please, my lawyers don't even let me sleep without telling them now, thanks to you."
Daisy set her hands down on the edge of the ledge, bracing herself. "Their job is to protect your shiny ass. Team Spiderquake is indifferent to your financial wellbeing. And Darcy's already on team Thor. Think about it. Toodles." She pushed off, sending herself plummeting down, only to catch herself with her vibrations.
"So, I talked to Tony today." Daisy snagged an apple out of the fruit bowl. "I apparently am now a hacker for SI during the day."
May looked up over the rims of her reading glasses. "Really? I would have expected you to punt him honestly."
"Darcy starts working with him tomorrow." Daisy bit into her apple. "Do you think if we shot him with paintballs I'd get to keep my 'too cool for school' rep?"
May went back to her paperwork. "I'm sure you'll manage. And we're going out for dinner, the casserole started smoking."
"I love you feeding me, but have you considered cooking classes for fun? I'd pay, you could meet people your own age, a little slice of normal?" Daisy critically checked that May was in good health, and she was. But she worried.
May typed at what was likely an email. "I probably should. And don't go get any ideas of making dinner to surprise me. Darcy's the only Stark allowed in my kitchen if we don't all want food poisoning. Again."
"I still don't know how I messed up that bad." Daisy winced at the reminder of all four of them fighting over the bathroom. It'd been an unfortunate night.
"It was very sweet of you." May gave her a fond smile before focusing back on her work. "I do think it's good you're getting a job though. You've been antsy."
Daisy pouted slightly, but shrugged in acceptance. "Yeah the neighborhood basketball teams will miss my presence, not that I'm ditching them permanently. But you know how it is."
"You're an adrenaline junky living the domestic life. You've been bored dear." May suddenly looked up over her screen. "Actually if you have some time could you go grocery shopping for me? We're out of bread."
"Totes." Daisy tossed her apple core into the trash. "Anything else you need?"
"List is on the fridge. And no energy drinks. You and Peter are still banned from consuming them." May was never going to let that go, break two lamps and then crash one time.
Daisy laughed while snagging the list. "I'll pick up Peter on my way back. We can take the evening off from hero work. It's pretty slow today and Ironman was seen in the neighborhood. It should stay that way."
"Do you think mexican sounds good for dinner?" May asked, she looked rather conflicted. "I know we're not celebrating Darcy's graduation till tomorrow, but it could be festive?"
Daisy lit up. "We'll make sure they stick a sombrero on her head."
////
Darcy jittered with nerves as she stepped into Stark Industries. Today was her first day and there was no going back after this. But Janey! Thor she had missed Jane. Skype wasn't exactly a safe method of explaining her bio dad was Tony Stark, or that she had two siblings because Tony Stark was a manwhore...manslut? And that she was now tech guru to two super heroes because she was a softy and made poor decisions while stressed. She needed Jane and margaritas.
She wished she had the cool striding with purpose thing Daisy did. Or even Peter's teen bobbing motion. Instead she was left to walk like a normal person to the front desk. "Hello, Darcy Lewis. First day, I need the whole first day shebang stuff."
The woman in a perfectly ironed suit, not a hair out of place, in fact she looked like one of those freaky alien characters from a movie. One of the ones so perfectly put together you know they weren't human. Her name tag said her name was 'Joy'. She did not seem joyful as a customer service smile from hell graced her face, showing off the whitest teeth Darcy had ever seen. "Welcome to SI Ms Lewis. If you would follow me please."
"Cool." Darcy trotted behind the woman, which damn was she an amazonian or something? Was that a thing now?
They made their way to a small conference room with several doors opening up to offices. Joy grabbed a neatly labeled stack of papers and set them on the table. She then turned and looked at her, the woman's eyes were dead inside. "Please fill these out. Mr Freeman from security will assist with the rest of your intake process. Have a nice day and welcome to the SI family."
Joy's plastic smile stretched unnaturally, and then the woman turned and left.
Darcy's shoulders slumped. "Damn." She looked at the paperwork. Oh her morning was going to be so fun….just...so fun.
"Aaaaa." Darcy stuck her tongue out while the doctor on staff swabbed the inside of her cheek.
Dr.Gonzalez chuckled while dropping the swab into a plastic tube. "You are a remarkably healthy young woman. Up your vitamin D and iron intake though. And don't forget the mandatory yearly physicals. If you need any other medical aid it's covered by your new health insurance. If anything of concern comes back from your tests we'll call you. But everything looks good. Do you have any questions for me?"
"Nope, I'm good dude. So I get my badge now?" She hopped off the exam table.
He handed her a sheet of paper. "Go ahead and give that to Mr Freeman and he'll escort you to your new job."
"Coolio." She patted the man's shoulder. "Thanks for the health check."
Dr Gonzalaz laughed, opening the door for her. "Have a good day."
"You too bud." Darcy would have warned him about the fact he was probably going to be set upon by lawyers as soon as that saliva swab's dna pinged as being half Stark dna. Sadly she was likely to not get her shiny new badge if she mentioned such a thing. Instead she stepped back out into the new hire conference room, six other individuals desperately scribbling away at paperwork and accepted her new employee badge.
"JANEY!" Darcy lunged half tackling her bestie.
Jane laughed bright and happy as she hugged her back just as tightly. "Darcy! I've missed you! And I'm so proud!" Jeame pulled back a delighted expression on her face. "And your doctorate!"
Darcy slapped her hands down on Jane's shoulders. "I'm so sorry for judging you by the poptarts, mess, and general crazy. I've turned into you Janey. It's horrifying. How do we survive?!"
"Interns." Jane gave a solemn nod, but her eyes were crinkled around the sides. "Come see the new lab!"
She hooked their arms together. "We are doing margaritas and sharing as soon as five o'clock rolls around because girl do I have news!"
"But...fine. But only because it's been ages since I've seen you." Jane agreed with a pout. But then she didn't let herself get dragged out of the lab that early, ever. So big win.
Darcy beamed. "You'll have to meet everyone. This super awesome lady, May Parker just got this cutest little house. We're moving her over this weekend. But I'm gonna be renting a room from her."
"But you have a room here in the tower?" Jane's brow furrowed. "It's in my contract you have to have a space with me."
Darcy leaned over and smacked a kiss on Jane's cheek. "Janey my love, I do not wish to hear the mating habits of my sister from another mister and an Asgardian god. Sides, this way I'll get actual sunlight and leave the tower."
"That's." Jane whacked her stomach. "Fine. But you'll always have a place with me."
Darcy smiled. "I know, and you're gonna understand why the 'sister from another mister' is hilarious later. But for now show me the frankenbots so I can make sure they're being held together by something other than duct tape and spit."
////
Tony burst into Pepper's office because...well he burst into Pepper's office. "PEPPER!"
She looked up at his pale gaping face. "I see Darcy's DNA finished processing then?"
"You knew!?" His voice was strangled in panic.
Pepper stood up and poured him a glass of scotch...the world was officially ending for her to provide him with alcohol this early in the day. She handed it to him. "She looks like you, and we spent three very interesting hours together. Also Spiderman almost called me her step-mom. Not to mention I saw her apartment, it wasn't difficult to put together."
"But...I can't be a dad? I mean...a kid?" He squawked.
Pepper's mouth twitched slightly. "Well Tony I thought you knew this, but when a woman and a man love each other very much-"
"Pepper!" He blanched and then downed the tumblr of scotch. "Oh god and this is why Quake was laughing at me. Quake...Pepper! My daughter cannot be spending time with a dangerous vigilante who kills people like Quake! Unacceptable."
Pepper raised a single brow. "Tony, no."
"Quake's dangerous! Sure I hired her for cyber security, but you didn't see what she did to those AIM agents before she turned up to take care of the wasps. And the havoc she caused chasing down the Watchdogs! It's not safe!" Oh god his daughter...daughter jeezus, was mixed up with terrorists.
Pepper stepped between him and the door. "Tony, breathe." She waited till he'd stilled long enough to take a whole breath. "Now Quake is a good person, you like her. It's why you hired her. I believe the words were 'future Avenger once she's trained up that kid of her's."
"But-"
"No buts Tony." Pepper stepped over and straightened his collar. "You are going to go down to Dr Foster's lab and introduce yourself to your daughter. Yes, she already knows and is probably expecting you. You will not turn into a hypocritical caveman. Show her some robots or something. Understood?"
He swallowed nodding. "I can do that. I can do that." He set his face and marched out of the office and straight for the elevator. Tony was practically vibrating out of his skin by the time the doors opened.
How was he supposed to talk to a kid? This wasn't supposed to happen! Tony was sweating as he burst into Dr Foster's lab. He felt manic as he spotted the girl.
Darcy was elbow deep in the guts of one of Foster's franken creations. "Jane! You didn't insulate anything in this! How has it not exploded?"
"It works perfectly fine." Foster waved off from where she was running something.
Darcy snorted. "It really, really doesn't."
And...oh she was his kid wasn't she? A mini-Stark. He cleared his throat. "So I hear somebody has been keeping secrets from her new boss?"
"Sup!" Darcy grinned as she spotted him. "So should I call you Tony, Stark, or Sperm Donor?"
Tony choked on a laugh as he approached her. God, she looked so much like his mother. How had he not noticed when he'd been picking Pepper up? "You can call me Tony."
"Cool, then you can call me Darcy." She extracted herself from the frankencreature she'd been working on and straightened up. "So you need processing time or you up for oozing lasagna from the tower cafeteria?"
He snorted. "You're a Stark, we have food that won't give you heartburn in the penthouse."
"What?" Foster looked between them. "I repeat what is happening?"
Darcy patted Foster on the shoulder, leaving a greasy smudge on the doctor's shirt. "Janey, this is my bio-dad. Ya know how Brad is my step dad right? Well turns out during mom's party years she hooked up with Stark. Which, I am never letting her judge me for bad choices when she slept with Mr STD over there."
"Hey now, I'm an incredibly desirable catch." Tony protested. He wasn't used to not quite keeping up with banter and it was discombobulating.
Darcy waved him off with casual confidence. "I'm sure your awards from Witch Weekly for Most Charming Smile were very nice. But anyways, the mechanical know-how is genetic. Who knew."
Tony beamed, she was perfect. And probably going to be keeping him on his toes. "So lunch in the penthouse ladies? I might even show you muggles my framed Smile awards."
"Wouldn't miss it." Darcy grinned.
////
Peter sat down on his bed, holding a framed photo of himself and Uncle Ben. It didn't hurt like it had at first. But it still hurt.
"Peter are you-" May's voice cut off. And then she moved besides him and sat down. "I haven't seen that one in a while."
He couldn't bring himself to look away from the picture. It'd been from a habitat for humanity build. They'd both been tired, covered in sawdust and so happy as they laughed. Ben's hand resting on his shoulder. "I miss him."
"I do too." May laid her hand on his back. "He was terrible at talking to women. Very principled but when he first met he looked like he was in pain. Bit of a square really." She huffed amusement. "Did I ever tell you about how we met?"
Peter looked up at her. "Not in a while."
"Well we'll have to fix that." May smiled softly, a certain sorrow to her but genuine joy there as well. "Well Mary was this obnoxious tween I had to watch after school. And the cool place to hang out was the ice cream parlor. So Mary is working on her homework, and I'm talking to Sarah and Katherine. And Ben comes tripping over my backpack, knocks Sarah's milkshake everywhere."
He felt a warm rush as he heard about his uncle's flailings over dumping ice-cream across four girls. It involved a lot of stuttering, blushing and stiffly walking Mary and May home and generally being super awkward. It was funny to hear about Ben back before the man had been confident in everything. "Do you think..what do you think he'd think about well...everything?"
"I think he'd march down to Stark Tower and try to punch Stark in the face for mistreating women. He'd be very self righteous about it. He'd follow you and Daisy around in that old truck of his with a baseball bat to make sure you stayed safe. But he'd be so, so proud of you." May cupped his cheek. "I'm proud of you."
Peter's cheeks heated as he pulled away. He felt like squirming out of the affection and embarrassing feelings. "I uh...yeah."
"Looking forward to missing school tomorrow?" She leaned back, giving him more space.
He grinned. "Yeah, already have everything packed. We're going to have our own house!"
"I'm still going to miss this place." She bumped his shoulder with hers. "And we're going to have to get extra fire extinguishers if Daisy is going to keep insisting on helping in the kitchen."
Peter huffed at that. "You catch the kitchen on fire at least once a month."
"I didn't hear that." She pushed his shoulder gently. "And that's not even getting into the chaos Darcy brings with her."
He laughed, Darcy's inventions tended to explode in ways that were unpredictable. "I made a new web type. Do you wanna see?"
"Sure, what's this one do?" May looked at him curiously, smile on her face.
Peter lunged and grabbed his web shooters. He and Darcy had been working on them so they were way cooler now. "So instead of just shooting strands of webbing I have this cartridge I can swap in that lets me shoot whole webs!" He aimed it at the door and clicked the button.
A web launched across the door. It was beautiful, all nicely laid webbing. "It'll keep people tied up for the police, or catch giant mutating insects or whatever. Isn't it sweet?"
"That's very sweet." May congratulated only to pause. "Did you just lock us in this room though?"
"Ah….fuck." Peter's shoulders slumped.
May cuffed his shoulder. "No swearing in the house."
"I learned it from you!" He grinned bouncing off the bed.
Her eyes narrowed playfully. "Just for that I'm showing your sisters the bathtub photos."
"No!" He squawked.
Chapter 8: Tony is a Feral CatNotes:Yo! You know I'm writing chapter twenty right now and I'm gonna be honest, Darcy might end up paired with someone different...I don't know. It's early days. This fic is so not about the pairings.
Chapter TextDaisy landed at the mouth of the alley. "Mugging? Really? In broad daylight too." She shook her head at the stunned looking mugger and muggie.
The mugger stepped back holding his hands up. "Please don't hurt me."
"I'm not going to hurt you." Daisy rolled her eyes while pulling out a set of zipties. "Feel like cooperating?"
He winced but nodded. "Don't expect you'll let me run for it? I can promise to not do it again?"
"Sadly you're a bit old for a kid making a dumb mistake." Daisy caught his hands quickly cinching them together. She looked at the ruffled looking muggie. "You ok?"
Muggie fumbled, shoving his wallet back into his pockets. "Yeah...I'm good. Real good."
"Want me to walk you anywhere?" She asked while slapping one of the cheap gps trackers on the mugger's forehead for the police.
Muggie winced but shook their head. "No thanks...so uh...do I just wait here for the police to show up?"
"Basically, it's a bit boring but if we just leave him here the police can't really do anything." Daisy shrugged.
Muggie sighed. "Well at least you're following through. Not like those Avengers just going in and blowing people up." He cocked his head to the side. "So uh...can you do a backflip like Spiderman?"
Daisy sighed. "I can do a backflip." She dropped a hand onto her hip as she saw the man pulling out his phone. So this was happening...Peter owed her.
Daisy piggy backed through FRIDAY's security protocols. Sure everything was going crazy since the incident in Lagos. It was the fuck up that they'd been hoping wouldn't happen. They were in free fall politically now. But she was more concerned that no one had seen Wanda since the incident. Which stank to high heaven thank you very much.
"Do I want to know what you're doing?" Aunt May asked as she set her keys aside.
Daisy didn't look up from where she was cautiously wiggling her way into the security feeds. "I think they locked Wanda up."
"The government?" Aunt May asked, stepping behind her and looking over her shoulder, not that the laptop screen would give away much.
Daisy bit at her lower lip. "No, the Avengers. She hasn't showed up at all since the Lagos incident. And I think they've put her under house arrest. But her apartment hasn't been accessed since the week before everything. So now I'm tracing her access codes through the systems."
"Why would they do that? They're a team?" Aunt May's voice was slightly dangerous then.
She frowned as she carefully let a virus in to distract FRIDAY. Damn AI was smarter than it should be. "They're not a team, they're a group of highly skilled and powerful individuals with similar agendas. And Wanda is new, and has the type of power that makes people do stupid things."
"You think Stark would allow that over collateral damage? I mean what happened was terrible, but Stark?" She stared at her in disbelief.
Daisy leaned back as she finally found what she'd been looking for. "I don't think, I know." She pointed at the screen. "She was given access to her new apartment in the Jersey facility and then all of her access was revoked. The doors literally won't open for her, in fact according to this security protocol the entire facility would go into lock down if she tried. And Vision is locked in with her."
"That is...fuck." Aunt May laid her hand on Daisy's shoulder. "What are we going to do?"
Daisy frowned. "Well Peter and I will have to break her out. Figure Darcy can delay Stark. I'll have to do something about Vision...he is an AI...I could build a virus to infect him with. As long as it takes him a few hours it wouldn't cause any permanent harm."
"You're going to attack the Avengers?" It was a testament to their lives that Aunt May just sounded exasperated.
She nodded."Probably, have to talk to the others about it though."
"I'll call Darcy, Peter should be here in another half hour anyways." Aunt May opened up the drawer with take out menus. "Well, pizza for dinner it is since we're arguing ethics tonight."
Daisy carefully covered her tracks as she started to erase the signs of her having been into the security systems. It helped that she didn't have to erase her presence from everything. Just some of it. "I was right not to tell Tony."
"Maybe." Aunt May squeezed her shoulder. "But then he doesn't have all the pieces."
Daisy looked up at Aunt May. "How am I any different than her?"
"You're his daughter." She said as if it was the simplest thing.
And wasn't that just the most frustrating part. Because that never mattered. To anyone.
////
Wanda hadn't wanted to see anyone. She had made that very clear. As her door opened she spoke. "I asked to be left alone."
"Huh, well I suppose that's an option." A distinctly unfamiliar, female voice replied.
She spun, her powers lighting up, ready to lash out. "Who are you?" Wanda's eyes narrowed as she recognized the woman. "Quake."
"Hi." Quake leaned against the door frame. "So, you wanna break out for an afternoon? Your babysitter is going to be fighting off a virus for a few hours. Don't worry, he'll be fine."
Her eyes narrowed, but she could pick up enough from this woman's feelings that she wasn't lying. "If Vision is hurt."
"Headache at most...or whatever the equivalent of a headache is for him." Quake shrugged, honesty tangible to Wanda in her voice. "So ready to break out? Slushies, pizza, I'll pay."
Wanda's powers faded, Quake wasn't a threat; she didn't look or feel hostile. "I'm where I belong."
"Punishing yourself for what happened won't make it better. I just had that kind of beaten into my head." Quake stepped further into the room.
She curled back into her chair. "I killed people."
"So do something about it." Quake crouched in front of her. She ignored the surprise in Wanda's face. "I know what it feels like to have hurt people you didn't mean to." Her head tilted to the side. "What do you need to trust us to help you?"
Wanda's eyes lit red. "You would let me in your head?"
"No." Quake shook her head. "My powers are triggered by pain and New York doesn't need an earthquake. That and I've had someone in my head before. I'll kill anyone who tries that again."
Her back hit the back of her chair, eyes wide as her powers dissipated again. Wanda could feel the threat there. "I won't." But she frowned slightly. "Someone made you hurt people." And even without being in the other woman's head she was picking up a surprising amount of emotion.
"People died." Quake didn't flinch, but her feelings said something very different.
And Wanda...she nodded and straightened, standing. Quake mirrored her. "What is a slushie?"
"Disgusting frozen sugar syrup ice." Quake grinned, her amusement and also sincerity gently brushing against Wanda. "It's an American classic and a travesty nobody has introduced you to them yet."
Wanda wrinkled her nose as she looked at the frozen 'treat', she'd just been given. "Why do people drink this?"
"Sugar." Spiderman replied while sipping at his own. It was bizarre to see a straw going under his mask. He lifted his fist, which Quake promptly bumped.
Wanda found this entire thing bizarre. They were on the roof of a crappy apartment complex in what she had been informed was Queens. What Queens or Brooklyn or what have you meant, she didn't know. But Steve's feelings said it was important. The roof wasn't just a normal roof though, it had weird plastic beach chairs and floaties? It was...weird.
As if to punctuate the thought Quake whacked the back of Spiderman's head with a pool noodle. "You did tell Darcy right?"
"She has to pick up the pizza." Spiderman whined and Wanda was becoming more and more sure he wasn't a short man but a teenage boy. Also she could feel the affection the two felt for each other and it made her miss her brother.
Wanda set her...drink to the side. "Why are we waiting for this Darcy?"
"She's the one who understands PR." Quake replied with a shrug. "And whether you want our help or not, we kinda got to stop the Media tearing you apart on the news."
Her shoulders curled inwards. It was what she deserved after everything. But seeing what she'd done every time she turned on the news still cut. "I deserve it."
"You misjudged your power. You saved the people in the market. If the explosion had happened there it very well could have damaged the building and killed those people anyways. And if he'd gotten away and unleashed the biological agent he was trying to secure millions could have died." Quake felt...tired. "Collateral damage happens and it's tragic."
Spiderman hopped towards Quake and bumped their shoulders together. "I'll go check on the pizza." He then bounced off the roof.
Wanda took in the other woman. "I deserve their derision."
"It doesn't matter if it's your fault or not." Quake pulled off her mask, meeting Wanda's eyes. "You're a hero. All the people who sign up for this are, powers or no powers. Anyone who knows and is willing to lose their lives, ther minds, limbs everything to protect and save people is a hero. It costs everything. And sometimes that goes horribly wrong. And it's going to go horribly wrong again and again. So if you intend to keep standing against monsters then we'll help you."
Quake's face softened as she continued. "But if you need to hide or run or just leave we'll help you do that too. However that ends up needing to be."
"Why?" Wanda was careful not to intrude on Quake's mind. But she could feel the sincerity and it left Wanda's throat feeling thick and tight. Because this woman understood pain. She meant what she was saying.
Quake sighed. "Because it's the right thing. And I got mind controlled, a man...I…. he died in my place and I left. Ran around the country taking down gangsters, punched someone who I think might be the actual Satan in the face. I wanted to die, because I deserve it. But my team took me back anyway. And my family was still here. This job...takes and takes. So sometimes...I can pay it forward. And from what I can tell you're alone right now."
"And if I don't want your help?" Wanda asked, curious despite herself. Because she doubted Quake didn't have an agenda. In fact she could feel a sort of focused energy to the woman, it was hard to read without having ever truly touched her mind though.
Quake rolled her eyes. "Things will be more difficult, but what do you know about the laws and treaties being proposed right now?"
"Laws?" Wanda frowned, her head tilting slightly. She'd been hiding in her quarters since Steve had visited.
Quake sat down on a hot pink beach chair, while picking up an inflatable frog and holding it to herself. "Powers, aliens, Inhumans, science experiments, science so advanced it threatens everything, it's all happening more and more. People are scared, and scared people do...stupid things."
"They intend to control us. Registration?" Wanda knew what happened to those who were different. How could she not with her heritage?
Quake nodded. "Depending on the law. We're going to stop it."
"Holy shit you are depressing as fuck at explaining things." A new voice came. A slightly out of breath woman stepped out of the door, shutting it behind herself.
Wanda found herself smiling slightly on reflex at the fond exasperation wafting from the woman. "You must be Darcy?"
"Yup. And Quake is an idiot." Darcy bustled over, dumping a worn backpack on the ground. "The problem is the law, both nationally and internationally isn't set up to handle the big weird world."
Quake frowned. "Shouldn't you and the kid have pizza?"
"The kid is hiding with the pizza cause he sensed the angst train. Which wise of him." Darcy pulled a laptop out of her bag. "Nice to meet you Wanda. And honestly there's not a ton we can do, but someone's got to do something."
Spiderman came swinging up, three pizza boxes balanced on one hand. "Not late!"
"You're late." Quake hopped to her feet nabbing the pizza boxes. She flipped one lid open. "Though I see the delay." Her lips quirked up.
Darcy sighed. "Really kid? If you ate my pineapple slices I'm going to be mean next time we do the obstacle course."
"I didn't eat your gross pineapple pieces." Spiderman sounded disgusted. "I don't know how you eat that stuff. It's yucky."
Quake offered out pizza to Wanda only to pause. "Do you have any dietary restrictions or like allergies?"
"Not that I am aware of." Wanda picked up a piece from the offered box.
Spiderman rolled his mask up over his nose while swiping what had to be his third slice. "So we doing this or what?"
"Eat your lunch first." Quake punched him in the shoulder.
Wanda looked between the three as they ate and felt the bonds. Their affection was warm, not old, but strong. "So what is it that you want to do?"
"Time for some PR. And see what we can do to help the people who survived Lagos." Darcy proclaimed.
Wanda stilled, her voice barely a whisper. "Help?"
"I have a brand new trust fund. I intend to dump all of it into helping with Sokovia's reconstruction and humanitarian funds. Diverting six million to Lagos won't be hard." Darcy slurped from her slushy.
She blinked. "That much? But you're not involved."
"I'm Tony Stark's illegitimate bastard. And Thor's my lightning bro." Darcy frowned slightly, ignoring Wanda's gaping expression. "I know Tony's fuck ups aren't my responcibility. And I know even with that I have nothing to do with Lagos. But I don't have powers like these two idiots." She jabbed her thumb towards Spiderman and Quake who were essentially inhaling pizza. "But I do have money now apparently, which is it's own power. 'Sides, I work backend for them."
Quake passed a pizza box to Darcy. "I've been bleeding the mobs' bank accounts dry. AIM and Hydra are as close to poverty stricken as I can make them." There was a viscous satisfaction to the woman. "We have money, we can use it to help."
"Which is why if you want to help and to be helped this is what's going to happen." Darcy grinned. "You ask 'a friend' for financial support in doing what can be done to help Lagos. The money is put through the Wakandian embassy. You offer to go there and help, but acknowledge that you know they may not want or need that. Instead only that if asked you will help. It's about acknowledging that your actions had consequences, and you don't think you are above others."
Quake picked up from Darcy. "And then Darcy here has some sort of evil plot involving the kid and I being public for the media...which is..so weird."
"We officially made certified legit social media accounts!" Spiderman bounced slightly. "So we can post like you know the normal stuff we do. And like flips and stuff."
Darcy smiled fondly at the kid. "And stuff. People need to empathise with you idiots."
"I want that." Wanda looked up, her eyes burned with tears that she refused to shed. "To help the people I hurt. I cannot repay you, but I would do anything to help them."
Quake grinned. "The Avengers working with you on your powers?"
"No? I learning to operate as part of the team. Steve was helping me fit in, work with them. It's.. my brother is still recovering from Sokovia."
Darcy blinked. "Pietro right?"
"He's in a safe house, there is a lot of physical therapy. He did not want me there to see him like that but it's been hard without him." Wanda curled slightly. She missed Pietro like a limb cleaved from her body. Video calls were not the same. Even if she knew he was safe on Clint's farm, learning to walk and move again.
Quake laid a hand on her shoulder. "He'll come through, I got shot twice in the gut three years back. It took time but well, I'm doing the whole vigilante thing pretty well."
"Thank you." She wiped quickly at her cheek. It hurt. It had been so close, so desperately close to losing him.
Quake seemed to understand she didn't want to talk about it. Instead her eyes lit with humor. "So you're learning the whole agent thing. How'd you like to work with your powers? I don't know about you but getting to work with my powers is kinda hard. And knowing what I can do makes them safer to use. 60% less property damage now, and I can basically fly. Which that is so new."
"I'd like that." Wanda dared to smile at the other woman. Her first real smile in days. Because these people were so clearly a type of family. And she could tell they were helping because they were good people. They were kind.
////
Darcy stepped into Tony's workshop. "Be a pal and lock down the lab FRIDAY."
-Of course Ms Lewis.- FRIDAY's voice replied, the doors sealing themselves.
Tony looked up from the holo table he'd been working on. The blueprints he was working on looked like they were for a new type of boot for the suit. "Your sudden but inevitable betrayal is noted FRIDAY. I should have known my Spawn would usurp me some day." He turned facing her. "Afternoon Spawn."
"You look like shit." Darcy snarked while giving him a pointed up down. "Grapevine says you got into a yelling match with Capsical earlier."
He crossed his arms. "Want to tell me why you broke Wanda out? If anyone had found out, if anyone had been hurt. Kid you can't do that."
"She's a person. You can't lock her in a room like a naughty toddler and expect it not to blow up in your face." Darcy wondered if time travel to bitch slap her paternal grandfather in the face for shitty parenting was possible? Cause Tony clearly had the people skills of a feral cat.
His frown deepened. "Spawn you don't understand."
"I don't understand?" Darcy scoffed. "You made weapons of mass destruction for years, your entire fortune is built on that. You made Ultron. And now when someone else fucks up you're ready to lock them up, throw out the key, and punish everyone even slightly like them. You're being an idiot. And Capsical is too caught up in his hunt for Barnes to listen."
Tony blanched, but his jaw also tightened. "We need to be held accountable. The Avengers can't protect everyone."
"No they can't." Darcy sighed, god therapy. Her dad needed so much therapy. "But legalizing the persecution of powered individuals and building a new robot army aren't the answer. Do you even talk to Pepper about this stuff? It's not all on you."
He stiffened and she frowned as he stepped forward. "It's about protecting people."
Darcy groaned. "It's not all on you. You're not god, stop trying to be. I may be hot enough to be a demi-god, but I'm too squishy to be divine."
Tony snorted, his arms relaxing. "I'm guessing you have a master plan then Spawn? Because I'm not going to back down on this."
"You shouldn't." She handed him a rag. "Clean up, get some sleep. And maybe consider talking to those fancy lawyers about how to make it so the law applies to powered people and unpowered people equally. Maybe call SHIELD? They've been dealing with powered people for decades. I thought you were the adult here." Darcy dropped a hand onto her cocked hip.
He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't trust them."
"And you trust the government?" Darcy rolled her eyes. "Make some allies, find some middle ground. Maybe an agreed on procedure for when powered individuals break the law, and a method so international powers can either request aid from the Avengers or refuse to allow you inside their borders. Put in a planet ending exception clause. Maybe start a fund for repairing damage. Baby steps."
Tony dropped heavily onto a stool. "How'd you get so smart?"
"I'm your Spawn. And just fabulous generally." Darcy flipped her hair. "And BTDubs, Quake and I conspired with FRIDAY. No politics if you haven't slept first and talked to Pepper."
He looked at her and she knew he was weighing his options. Tony Stark was humoring her more than anything right now. He was clearly tired, hungry and drained. And honestly they didn't know each other that well yet. "I'm not your Doctor Foster."
"No you're not. You just make sentient AIs and support a modern gestapo when you're sleep deprived instead of unstable wormholes." Darcy arched a brow. Her goal really was to convince him to get some sleep. Maybe listen to her enough to not go off the rails for a few weeks so Pepper could talk some sense into him.
Tony finally groaned, his body slumping even more. "I'm repairing FRIDAY when I wake up. And firing Quake."
"That's fine. Just go sleep, and eat something when you wake up." She held out a fist to be bumped.
He bumped her fist. "You're coming to the meeting with my lawyers tomorrow."
"Fun. We can find some minimal legislation that can be a solid start." She paused slightly. "You do know none of you bothered to work with Wanda on her powers? She didn't have the experience to know she couldn't lift that explosion high enough."
Tony pinched his nose. "Fuck, look kid, I appreciate what you're doing. I do. But she's a weapon of mass destruction."
"She's a person first." Darcy didn't budge. "Go sleep. You're not the only one who wants to prevent things like Sokovia from happening again. There's left over pizza in your fridge for when you wake up." Her voice was firm. Superhero or not she would drag him from his work shop to his bedroom by the ear if she had to.
Chapter 9: Reporter RecruitmentNotes:It's pumpkin spice season, and I am a basic bitch.
Chapter TextMay packed the last of the dishes into the last of the boxes. Resting her hands on her hips she looked around the apartment. It was all packed up, nothing but boxes. There was satisfaction at everything being done. Some melancholy at leaving a place that had been home for the last two years. Shaking it away she turned to where Daisy was picking up another box. "Don't take more than one box!"
"Fine." Daisy grumbled while turning around, only a single box in her hands.
She sighed, shaking her head. Honestly these kids. May picked up one of the lamps and walked it out into the hallway. "Ned honey be careful, lift with your legs!"
"Got it Mrs Parker." Ned chirped, though his voice was tight as he hid how out of breath he was.
May knew better than calling a teenage boy out on pretending to be tougher than he was. But as the elevator door opened she saw a solution so she didn't have a teenager passing out from trying to act tough. "Liz, while I'm taking this down could you get some water out and make sure everyone has some before they go for another box?"
"Sure Ms Parker." Liz replied, looking a bit relieved not to be carrying more boxes herself.
May smiled, Peter's friends were good kids. And moving to the new house was going to take half a day with a small army of teens and the girls. As she carried the unfortunately heavy and unwieldy lamp out to the truck she spotted Darcy marshalling some of the decathlon team. "I've got Liz getting some water out for everyone upstairs."
"Oh sweet." Darcy blew a bubble of gum as she took the lamp and started wedging it into the truck. "I was thinking Indian take out for everyone when we get everything to the house? Like don't get me wrong pizza is nice but I'm getting tired of it."
May noticed the very interested looking teenage boys. "Daisy can take one of the kids to go pick it up."
"Or I could?" Darcy gave her her best puppy eyes.
She snorted. "Which one of you has only had her arm out of a cast for a month? You can carry boxes. Nice try."
Darcy's eyes snapped to a teenager who was setting a box into the truck. "You look at the boobs again and I'll tase you in the balls you twerp."
The kid, Flash or something like that physically cringed, his face turning bright red.
May bit back her amusement. "Well I can see you've got things handled."
May was exhausted as she looked around the house. It was a cute two story four bedroom. The wainscotting was so nice. She wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulders, with her other arm she hooked Daisy and yanked her over. "Well, looks like we're home."
"Do we have to finish unpacking tonight? Cause I am so tired." Peter didn't fight her hold.
Daisy shuffled, clearly unsure on whether she should eel out of May's grip or lean into it. "Uh.. it's very nice."
"Come on, we have to at least make up our beds." May winked at Darcy who was biting her lower lip to keep from cackling. These were her kids and they were good ones.
////
Darcy yawned as she made her way to the shipping container they'd made their 'secret' base at the empty shipping yard. She cringed at how perky Peter was as he sipped from his mug of coffee. "I need you two to kidnap a reporter for me." She held out a piece of paper with the address written on it. "Her name is Amira Ahmed and is a foreign war correspondent. She's stateside at the moment, so we need to grab her now."
"...why am I kidnapping a reporter?" Daisy asked, only slightly slowing down as she cleaned her tranq rifle.
Darcy rolled her eyes while grabbing the shitty coffee pot and pouring herself some. "Because someone needs to interview you, she cares about the truth and doesn't care about the danger reporting the truth could put her in. And I mean more politely ask her to come with you, then blindfold and bring to someplace. I haven't figured out where yet. And cooperative. You're a sledgehammer Daisy."
"Why can't we just knock on her door and ask?" Peter looked between the two of them wide eyed.
Darcy paused. "That is...we could do that too."
"Why was kidnapping your first choice?" Peter squeaked.
Darcy hummed considering that as she drank some of the sweet, sweet caffeine. "Too much time with Tony. He's got such a god complex."
"Do you need us to punch him or something for you?" Daisy offered, she was clearly properly amused now.
She scoffed at that. "Please no. It's not even that he's an asshole. He's gone and decided the entire weight of the security of the world weighs on his shoulders. So he sees Sokovia as his fuck up, which it was. But then he sees Rogers, Wanda and co in Lagos as proof they're not any better than him. So obviously they all need to be reigned in since they can't be trusted. And apparently no one on the team thought to like...talk to him. They all just fight about freedom or consequences."
"That's bullshit." Daisy paused, shooting Peter a look. "Don't tell Aunt May I said that."
Peter smirked into his mug. "Sure."
"I'm watching you." Daisy elbowed him.
Darcy dropped a very fat folder on the crate table. "And could one of you drop this off with that reporter Christine Everhart. She's a shark and letting her loose on General Ross sounds fun."
"That would be kinda great actually." Daisy nodded. "She's that bitchy one who tried to do an expose on Stark right?"
Darcy sat down on one of the crates. "Yup, she's a super bitch. Pretty sure she boinked our dad"
"Ew." Peter's face scrunched up in disgust. He faked retching...or maybe was actually retching.
Daisy's nose was scrunched up. "I miss when I just had to worry if my dad had murdered people by tearing them into pieces. It was much simpler. And other than the murder I really liked Cal."
"Uh…" Peter patted her shoulder awkwardly. "I'm sorry your murder dad wasn't your real dad?"
Darcy silently mouthed a few choice words. She was not touching that with a ten foot pole. Her sister was a bucket of angst triggers. Like holy shit. "So anyways, we're unleashing Everhart on Ross, and we attempt to befriend inspiration to all little girls and awesome war correspondence Ahmed."
"Can I keep doing trick videos? Cause I'm living for the views. I hit a hundred thousand hits on my video of backflips and stuff. Like so many hits. It's kinda really awesome." Peter had taken to the whole short videos of various 'cool shit'.
Darcy shared an amused look with Daisy. "Yeah you can keep up your videos kid. You're doing good, though you might be invited to host the X-games."
Peter practically vibrated at the thought, a squeak of excitement escaping his lips.
"So what are you two idiots working on today?" Darcy asked while grabbing her assigned paintball gun. She was getting to be a really good shot.
Daisy's eyes lit up with the kind of glee that only came from horrible adrenaline junky ideas that were void of common sense. "Well Peter launching me at those wasps as pretty cool. So I figured, can it work the other way around?"
"Oh that is really cool." Peter grinned. "Loser has to wear a princess tiara."
Daisy cocked her head to the side.
Darcy sent a text to Aunt May, they were going to need the first aid kit after this.
////
Amira Ahmed stared at the three people standing on the other side of her door. It was possibly the most bizarre thing she'd ever seen. In the bright red and blue suit was Spiderman, weird goggle things blinking at her, a...box of donuts in his hands being brandished. Next to him, in full superhero glory was Quake, holding a bottle of sparkling cider? And squished between them was a pretty hipster making jazz hands.
She shut the door.
"What the fuck."
She opened the door. It hadn't been a mirage.
"Can I help you?" Amira finally asked. Maybe someone had slipped her drugs?
Pretty hipster adjusted her knit cap and held out her hand. "Darcy Lewis. Mind if we come in?"
"Sure?" Amira stepped to the side, her hands suddenly full of donut box and sparkling cider. Her surprise...guests? Bustled on into her apartment. Spiderman made an 'ooo' sound. She cleared her throat.
Quake's eyes tracked the apartment noting every entrance, exit and several objects that Amira had never thought of as possible weapons before. Her attention flicked back to her. "Sorry for barging in."
"This is a very nice apartment." Spiderman gave her a thumbs up. "Like so nice. Is that an Ironman bobblehead?"
Quake whacked his hand before he could touch the Ironman bobblehead. Her smile way too cheery. "So war correspondent? No worries about being kidnapped?"
"If it's the only way for the truth to get out." Amira replied slowly. She set her...gifts? down on the kitchen island. "Why are you all here?"
Pretty hipster, Darcy apparently, cleared her throat. "Look I have to deal with these two idiots and they have no idea how to handle the press. And talking about the reality enhanced beings face is dangerous. It will put you on the radar of some really powerful and totes scary people. But everyone is so busy being scared of enhanced peeps they're missing the bit where enhanced beings are incredibly vulnerable to unethical individuals and organizations. I think, and Quake agrees, you're the sort of person who won't care about the danger involved in talking about the US government illegally imprisoning, experimenting on and murdering people."
"Oh." Amira's eyes narrowed as she looked at the three people in her apartment. Because she didn't know a lot about Spiderman, but he wasn't Inhuman. Too many abilities, which that implied things. Not to mention anyone with eyes could tell he was young. And Quake? She was visibly young as well, not to mention it was public knowledge she was former SHIELD. "Would it be alright if I record this?"
Darcy looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Not today, but I can guarantee interviews with both of these dolts. And once you're in with them, they can get you in with others like them."
Amira nodded. "May I take notes then?"
"Of course." Darcy sat down in the middle of the couch, Quake and Spiderman bookending her automatically. The three of them squashed in a way that gave away how secure they felt around each other. It was fascinating.
Amira pulled out her notebook, always in her back pocket, and sat down in the armchair in front of the couch. "I won't just write what you want me to write."
"Of course not." Quake scoffed. She smiled genuinely for the first time since she'd entered the apartment. "I looked up your work, big fan. I mean I was part of the Rising Tide back before SHIELD black bagged me."
Amira's pencil began to move. "You were Rising Tide? The cyber terror organization?"
"I was a teenager, and I helped shut down parts of the organization after I signed up with SHIELD. They recruited me for the computer skills, powers came later. But I definitely believe in transparency when possible." Quake's voice was sincere.
Amira could work with that, it was probably the most transparent anyone in or out of SHIELD was ever going to be. "Alright, what are you willing to talk about?"
"I'm kinda new to this whole thing?" Spiderman volunteered, his voice nearly cracked. "But Quake's been helping me and I think we make a pretty cool team. I'm just helping out in Queens and Brooklyn right now. And helping the Avengers with Swarm was really cool! But I don't know much. It was way too easy to get bulletproof fabric for the suits though. Like concerningly easy."
Darcy spoke up. "When you record talking to the kid he gets a voice a changer. He's the only one out of the three of us with a chance in hell at keeping his identity actually private in any meaningful way and we'd like to keep it that way."
Spiderman nodded at that.
"We can do that." Amira agreed, it was probably the showing of the most common sense since this whole thing had started. And protecting what had to be a teenager from everything was good.
Quake bit at her lower lip. "I can talk about my time at SHIELD up until Hydragate. It's all on the web if you know where to look anyways. Some about Inhumans, my current arrangement with SHIELD."
"Why are you in New York?" Amira prompted.
She nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, I guess...yeah the manhunt means they had to declassify some things. But I can get you in contact with the world's foremost expert in Inhuman biology. A couple of Inhumans who worked with SHIELD...I don't know if they'd be ok with talking to you on the record."
"Oh! I bumped into that Daredevil guy last weekend. I could probably give him your number." Spiderman chimed in, one of his legs was bouncing.
Amira could see the gold mine of sources and access that was being handed to her on a platter. It was the golden goose and she wasn't going to be stupid enough to scare them off. Which meant not kid gloves, but a certain level of care when asking them questions. "What do you know about the US government funding for illegal experimentation and or targeting of enhanced beings?"
"About that." Darcy set a usb on the coffee table. "Quake has access we can't explain to you for legal reasons. And let's say I have an in with Stark's lawyers."
Amira took in Darcy. Everything about her said unthreatening hippy. But… "I need more than that."
"I guess I should introduce myself properly. Keep in mind if you want to have access once the news breaks I expect you not be the one breaking the news. But I'm Doctor Darcy Lewis, I work with Doctor Jane Foster. My doctorate is in mechanical engineering, but my undergrad degree is in political science. And the reason these two idiots use me as their backend support is because I'm Tony Stark's daughter. That and I'm not the raging asshole my dad is." She slipped her hair over one shoulder, a smug look on her face. A smug look that was shockingly identical to Tony Stark's.
Her eyes widened. Well that...if you needed technical support and didn't want Avenger attention finding Tony Stark's kid was a good choice. But also...Amira looked at the three kids, and god all of them were kids. She kept her suspicions to herself. Not enough information. The important thing was that Darcy's identity left open information she couldn't get any other way. "If the information you give me is verifiable I'll follow it."
"Sounds like a deal." Darcy held out her hand.
Amira looked between the three of them. "Then I believe we can work together." She took the hand. "I can have a camera man I trust here in two hours if you're willing to start those interviews?"
"I mean I'm down for that." Quake shot a look at Spiderman. "You never speak to Spiderman without Darcy or I there."
Amira nodded, Spiderman was definitely the youngest. "Alright."
"Catch." Quake tossed her watch.
Amira looked at the watch and felt herself smiling slightly. This was a panic button if she'd ever seen one. It would seem they were offering her an alliance. "The wind up triggers a gps signal?"
"Well I think we should let you take a look at that usb drive." Darcy stood up, hauling Spiderman up with her. "Quake will drop by later."
She stood herself. "It's been interesting meeting you."
Amira scrolled through the files on the drive. It was military paperwork from the forties. Legally it shouldn't be classified anymore. It was detailing the experiments leading up to and then after the success of Steve Rogers. It was nauseating. They'd experimented on African American soldiers without their full consent. It wasn't safe, it'd killed hundreds. A few partial successes though.
She dialed her editor, not even waiting for him to finish picking up. "Marcus cancel my arrangements for the story in Nigeria. Send Tiffiany instead. She's got the grit she just hasn't had a chance. And I need Ethan with his camera equipment at my apartment in an hour."
////
Peter let his copy of The Scarlet Letter drop onto his face. "It's so boring!"
"Why can't we just use sparknotes?" Ned asked from the beanbag chair where he was also trying to muck his way through.
Peter could hear the whine in his voice, and he didn't care. "Because Daisy will know, and then she'll laugh at us. And we can forget going to laser tag this weekend."
"But didn't you say she dropped out?" Ned protested. "Like she's too cool to care about something this boring. Cool people don't care about boring books."
He dragged the book off of his face and stared at his ceiling. "Aunt May made her promise to not let me slack off from school."
"Your Aunt is very scary. I don't know how I missed that." Ned solemnly replied.
Peter felt a slight shiver at the memory of his Aunt shooting targets down at the warehouse. Also she'd gotten really into her self defence and fitness class. "She and Daisy are going to be back from their cooking class in two hours."
"I can't read anymore. I can feel my brain oozing out of my head." Ned protested. "I think watching paint dry would be more interesting."
Peter held up the offending book between his thumb and forefingers and glared at it. "For laser tag."
"For laser tag." Ned repeated with the excitement of a dying man discussing his upcoming execution.
Peter cackled while shooting twelve year olds in the laser castle. It was awesome. His spider sense tingled and he ducked and rolled. Popping back up he shot Ned straight in the chest.
"Come on man." Ned exclaimed, throwing up his arms.
He sniggered. "All's fair in love and war man."
"Good to know." A voice came from directly behind him, practically in his ear. And then his whole laser get up flashed at a hit.
Peter groaned looking over his shoulder. "Really?"
"I thought you said all was fair in love and war?" Daisy winked at him before moving onwards to continue destroying the hopes and dreams of the twelve year olds having a birthday party at the laser castle.
Peter blinked as he saw a twelve year old girl in pigtails, braces, and wearing a tiara following behind Daisy like a duckling. She had a viscous look of glee on her face. "You're teaming up with the enemy?!"
"Work together to try and hit your sister?" Ned asked.
Peter's eyes narrowed. "Deal."
They bumped fists.
Peter watched as the psychotic twelve year old in a tiara cut her cake. That small of children should not be able to cackle that menacingly. "That is a terrifying villain in training over there."
"She used her party mates as sacrificial lemmings." Ned's voice was filled with awe as he scooped up another chip from their nacho platter.
Daisy just snickered. "It's the killer instinct."
"You shot me sixteen times!" Peter pointed at his sister's face. "I will have my revenge."
Daisy mimed brushing off her shoulders. "And how many times did you shoot me? Oh yeah, you didn't."
"Your sister is a badass." Ned looked at Daisy with a sort of hero worship. "You really want to help us build the new Death Star Lego set?"
Daisy's eyes lit up. "Duh. Hanging with you two is fun."
Peter beamed, his insides feeling all warm and fuzzy. He stuffed his mouth with nachos so he didn't say anything dumb. But this was good. So good.
"Are you coming to our first decathlon next week?" Ned asked.
Daisy reached out and ruffled Peter's hair. "I wouldn't miss it." And the thing was, she meant it, he could tell.