49

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 Text

Tony 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.