章 2171: 39
Chapter 39: Red Nose's and Robin Sees the FutureNotes:
Sup! Guys uh...so hey I'm mostly not sorry. That uh angst tag guys, it's been waiting to be relevant. And uh...next few chapters are uh...oops.
Chapter Text
Peter dropped onto the top of the cop car. "Hey!"
"Spiderman!" The police officer spun on his heel in surprise, but seemed pleased. "I almost thought Detective Watanabe had to be going on when she said you'd be here for this."
He blinked. "You mean Yuri right? Cause she doesn't like being called Detective Watanabe."
"She almost used a stapler on Peterson's head when he tried to call her Yuriko…" The officer stared at him in disbelief. "How are you alive?"
Peter felt a thrill of delight. "Ha! I knew she liked me." He bounced off the top of the car holding out his hand. "Nice to meetcha! I'm Spiderman."
"Jefferson Davis." Davis shook his hand, his face doing a slight twitch of disbelief.
He pretended to look around like he hadn't done a quick circuit to ensure everything was secure before dropping down. "So everything looking good?"
"We're not expecting much of that to change." Davis crossed his arms looking at the building and several dozen police cruisers sitting around as they all waited.
Peter kinda wished he'd been sent as backup with Daisy against the enhanced Mafia Don. But earning trust back. Also best to be on the scene for the three who had a meeting here today. He got why he was here. "So we just wait while everyone gets arrested right?"
"Basically. This isn't the dangerous bit." Davis settled back into leaning against the cruiser. "It's good to know we've got you and Quake watching our backs. The ones we don't arrest today are going to be looking for vengeance." His face turned serious. "And it's going to create a power vacuum."
His shoulders tightened the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He felt danger there. Peter brushed it off. They could handle it. "We've got this."
"Good to know." Davis looked at him oddly. "I do have to ask, do you need the sweaters?"
His cheeks flushed under his mask. "They're spider-ific."
Peter pouted as he poked at his dinner. "But that was so anti-climatic! I only got to web that one guy's arm who tried to go for a gun."
"Yeah I shot my Don in the face with a dendrotoxin round and that was just kind of it." Daisy agreed, her nose wrinkling. "I mean usually there's more violence before we get to the arresting part...but we did good getting evidence." She held up a hand for him.
He high fived her. "Hero-ing is..way more boring than advertised….like 80% is like...waiting."
"No complaining the mafia didn't shoot at you." May chided while grabbing a diner roll. "I'm just glad it's all settled now."
Daisy winked at him. "We'll just need to spend more time visibly there to keep an eye out for reprisals."
"Everyone ready for tomorrow?" Darcy cut in before Aunt May could protest again.
May smiled at Darcy. "I've got the day off, and I already called the school for you Peter."
He perked up. "I'm so jealous." Peter looked at Darcy. "Do you think they'd let me run it just for fun?"
"You can ask." Darcy snorted. "But it's a total cheat."
Which...Peter sighed. "You're right. I couldn't do it before so I shouldn't do it now."
"I'm sure you can run it before the cameras turn on." May offered. "Which Natasha, Maria, Melinda and I will be watching live at the tower."
Peter paused. "Wait, you're friends with the Black Widow!?"
"She's friends with Maria." May explained like that just made sense.
Darcy snickered. "Supes cool crowd there May. You've even got Daisy's May there. Which we'll stop by afterwards."
"Thank you." May's smile was amused but slightly proud. "I'm not completely uncool."
Peter grinned. "You're the coolest."
"And don't you forget it." May teased gently while passing him the salad. "And eat more greens. I don't care if you're a superhero you still have to eat salad."
Daisy cleared her throat slightly. "So uh...I wanted to ask. It's fine how often Wanda is here?"
"Of course." May reached out and squeezed Daisy's hand.
Peter frowned slightly, he was missing something important. He cringed at the mention of Wanda. He liked her, he really did. Apparently he was very lucky his sister was a spy with vibration powers. Once was enough as far as walking in on them. Or swinging in because shipping containers were not bedrooms. He could feel his face heating. Just so gross. "She's coming tomorrow right?"
"Pietro has a test day after tomorrow so he won't be there." Darcy chimed in.
Daisy's shoulders relaxed further, which Peter really had missed something there. "Wanda's coming. She'll keep you two company."
"You mean cheer you on and enjoy seeing you in a crop top?" Darcy snarked before popping a bite of potato into her mouth.
Peter shivered. "So gross."
////
Kyle was ecstatic, it was time and his Red Nose partner was going to kick ass! And she could, literally and figuratively. He elbowed Mindy Williams in the side. "We're going to kick your team's ass."
"You got a superhero." She rolled her eyes, though she bounced on her toes as excited as he was for the event. "I got an actor with muscles that are for show."
He gave a slightly critical glance at where her actor was currently texting on his phone. Mindy was right, man would have almost no endurance once he was on the obstacles. "How many do you think he'll manage?"
"He'll get three, maybe four of them." She rolled her shoulders. "I can cover for the rest. What about you, Quake as impressive as she looks on tv?"
"More." Kyle wasn't worried she hadn't popped up yet. If he knew her, she was deftly avoiding the camera crew till the last minute. "She's good, really good. If this was for real, in our normal season I wouldn't bet against her making one of the top times. If she subs me in for any of these it's cause she's hiding an injury."
His friend and fellow ninja competitor stared at him. "Seriously?"
"Yup. She's gonna blow through the course." He bounced on the balls of his feet. "We've been doing rock climbing mostly and some aerial work. For all the flying all over the place she does, it's obviously new to her. We spent two hours on the trampolines last week just for fun."
Mindy slapped his shoulder. "That's just not fair. I like my guy but he's not as fit as he thinks he is. Was hilarious to watch him fall off the obstacles the first time he tried them all." She snickered.
"Good for the ego though." Kyle chuckled as he saw the cameras being set up as everyone continued preparing. He spotted Quake sitting in the rafters. Stepping forward he cupped his hands around his mouth. "HOW YA DOING UP THERE?"
There was an audible groan. And then Quake dropped from the rafters only to land easily. The ground barely rattled beneath his feet. She was getting freakishly better at that. She raised a brow at him. "Really?"
"Like I was going to let you hide up there." He clapped her on the shoulder. "Come on and meet everyone."
She sighed, but easily let him pull her towards the other professional ninjas and various famous individuals participating in the charity run. "Fine, but think you can let Spiderman run the course afterwards? He's kind of a big fan and disappointed his abilities would make it unfair to let him compete."
Kyle looked at her and then laughed. "I'm sure they'd be thrilled." He gave a second glance at her outfit. It was...well damn. She was wearing a comfortable and reasonably modest black sports bra with a yellow crop top over the top. Her skintight work out three quarter length pants were black, but the panels on the sides were red and blue with black spider webbing. "Oh wow you're really going for the Spiderquake thing aren't you?"
"Eh, I accidently traumatized him the other day and kinda owed him one." Quake shrugged easily. The usual fond and blatantly affectionate tone to her voice when she spoke of him was easy to hear. "So who all am I meeting?"
He beamed, slinging his arm over her shoulders. Hopefully the others wouldn't stare at the many, frankly concerningly many, scars that littered her exposed skin. He'd had weeks of gym time to adjust to four visible bullet scars, stabbing scars and a lot of what he was pretty sure were knife or glass inflicted injuries. "Mindy! Come meet our own resident superhero!"
Kyle felt like everything was electric. The announcer's commentary was filling the stands, people cheering, his friends and fellow ninjas eagerly grouped up together. He quickly checked Quake hadn't tried to disappear anywhere again.
"Not going anywhere." She whispered into his ear.
He lept straight up a solid two feet with a yelp while spinning around. "Don't do that!" Kyle clasped his hand to his heart. "You're going to end up running this on your own if you keep that up."
"But so amusing." Quake grinned.
One of the actors, Jake, spoke up. "Ok it's been bothering me. Why don't you swing around on webs like Spiderman?"
"The centrifical force would rip my arms out of my sockets." Quake snorted while dropping her hands on her hips. "Spiderman's almost as sturdy as Cap. I may have the least controlled method of flight ever but it's certainly better than risking my shoulders like that."
Mindy whistled. "Damn, makes sense though. No spiderweb slinging for us normal people someday then."
"Sadly no." Quake laughed easily, everyone seemed to be treating her as just another one of them. It was funny seeing it from this perspective. She did slide into the group easily. "Monkey bars do still exist."
Kyle shook his head. "Not as cool as webs."
Darcy Stark made a sound of surprise as she elbowed her way in. "Adrenaline junkies the lot of you. But travel by web is the worst. Almost as bad as if this one tries to fly you somewhere. Feels like your teeth are going to rattle out of your head."
"Oh you've gotten to travel via hero?" Jake gave the woman an appreciative look. "How'd you manage that?"
Darcy just met his gaze without blinking. "Who do you think made the high tech bullet proof suits? Rescue from the paps is a fringe benefit." She turned her gaze on Quake. "You, kick the course's ass. I'm off to cheer with the others."
"I got it, make sure SI has to donate as much as possible." Quake had an amused smirk on her face.
Darcy gave them all a lazy salute before trotting off back to where the other family and friends here to cheer their favorite ninjas on were sitting.
Kyle gave a whistle. "So, chances of you getting me her number as thanks for being the bestest ninja trainer ever?"
"You can ask her yourself." Quake patted his shoulder. "If you do, be on your best behavior. Spiderman might just show you exactly how his webs work if you're not."
Kyle ignored the snickers from the others. Because he knew Quake wasn't dating Spiderman. If they weren't together….oh yeah no he wasn't going to hit on Spiderman's possible girlfriend. Just no. He liked life. Thank you very much. And possible shovel talk by Ironman sounded awful if he was wrong. Either way, bad idea. "I think I'm good."
"Smart choice." Quake turned towards Jake. "What are you guys using for fake blood on your sets? Because it looks startlingly realistic."
Jake looked slightly surprised. "I have no idea, you'd have to ask the prop department. But I think I'm up."
"Come on snazzy pants." Jake's trainer hooked his arm through Jakes and pulled him towards the stage.
Kyle was half vibrating as the clock started. He hopped and then jogged along the side as Quake took off for the course.
////
Daisy felt like laughing. Darcy, Peter and Wanda were on the sidelines happily cheering. Someone, and it had to have been Darcy had made a 'Quake' sign. Kyle looked like he was going to bounce out of his skin from excitement and adrenaline. And to be quite frank the energy and mood of the crowd was infectious. As soon as the timer started she took off at a comfortable jog.
The floating steps, or giant steps standing out of the water were easy enough. Her pace didn't slow at all as she hit the first step easily pushing herself to the next. It was satisfying. As she hit the last step she launched herself forward, catching the hanging rope. Her momentum swung her forward to the platform.
She stopped to wave at the crowd. Daisy stepped to the next obstacle and grabbed onto the red cannonball hanging from a chain. Once she was on it was just a matter of hanging on till it had slid her down the rail. Hanging onto Peter was far more terrifying, also there weren't convenient pools of water underneath when it was Peter. She made sure it wasn't damp, and then swung herself forward and held on.
There was a lurch halfway down the rail and then she was sliding the last few feet. Releasing her grip she landed lightly on her feet. Daisy didn't stop to wave though, she felt like showing off. It was so rare to be free to do so. And this next one was honestly one she'd had to work to learn.
Jumping off the platform she caught the first of the wheels. The Fly Wheels were a series of rotating wheels that had to be swung from. Extreme monkey bars in a way. She caught the narrow, inch wide hand holds of the first wheel. Using her momentum she sent herself flying to the next one.
Daisy could hear the commentators yelling, Kyle was cheering from the side, shouting reminders to control her body. It was invigorating. This, no danger just getting to do this for the fun of it! She took a swing to rebuild momentum before releasing.
Flying through the air she caught the third wheel. Two forward and back swings and she released, arching through the air for the platform. And damn, she was feeling it now. She jogged towards the next one, controlling her breathing. Besides, Block run had to be taken at speed. The faster you went the less the unsteady steps could send you toppling into the water.
Her feet barely hit the rotating blocks before she was taking her next step. She ran straight through it without a fumble. It was like combat, sometimes stopping to breathe was to lose. And she was going to crush this. It felt important to win now...or go as far as possible. Besides, Jake of the tv star fame had made it all the way past the Salmon Ladder, even if his trainer had subbed in for him on a few obstacles.
She didn't pause, just leaping up into the Battering Ram. Her arms locked around the red grip. Her momentum carried her and the battering ram forward a foot down the pole. Daisy was breathing heavy as she hung in the air. But this was doable. Using her core she propelled herself and the battering ram down the pole. As soon as she was close enough she swung herself forward, releasing the first one and grabbing the second battering ram to the second.
"YOU GOT THIS!" Kyle shouted from the side where he was running along with her progress. He'd been punching the air for every obstacle she got past.
Daisy grinned, and then propelled herself forward. Two sliding umpfs of the battering ram and she was able to swing off to the next platform. Shaking her arms out she stepped off the steps to the ground, looking up at the Warped Wall. It was a vertical run up to an overhanging lip. If she failed this one May would have her head.
Leaning back she looked up the wall. Breathing in she exhaled, forcing her heart rate to slow. And then she sprinted the handful of feet she had to build momentum and ran up the wall till she was forced to push off, jumping towards the lip. Her hands both easily caught the lip. A victorious grin on her face she pulled herself up and over the wall.
"Hey, think I can get further than Jake?" She grinned at the commenters in their box.
Daisy laughed, her hair still slightly damp as she followed Kyle backstage to grab her bag. It was cold enough and she wasn't going home while still wet. And she liked him enough to want to ensure he made it safely back to his car. "Well I almost did it."
"Hey, you made it further than most of us do. The Flying Dragon is killer." Kyle tossed her a second towel. "You made it to the second to the last obstacle. With your time you'd have qualified if you'd just run as a competitor."
She grinned, bumping their shoulders together. "I don't think your judges would let me run for real. I might not be enhanced like Spiderman but I'm not exactly human either."
"Eh you just make things shake." He started to raise his water bottle towards his mouth.
Daisy caught his arm. She raised an eyebrow and glanced pointedly at his water bottle.
He frowned slightly but held it out towards her. "What?"
"I can do more than just make things shake." She touched the plastic of the bottle and concentrated. Her eyes closed. It was hard, and honestly she was still getting the hang of it. The complete control necessary was...it was slow going. But she slowed the vibrations in the bottle.
Opening her eyes she pulled her hand away from the frozen water, her breath coming out in a cloud of mist. "I'm still working on it."
Kyle's eyes widened. "Holy shit."
"Yup." Daisy rolled her shoulders, the small area of cold air she'd accidently created fading to just the ambient temperature. Which to be fair wasn't exactly warm. "It's not earthquakes or shockwaves that I control. It's the vibrations between molecules. Still, I kinda suck at using it like that right now."
He blinked. "That is so awesome. But wait, what does that have to do with you not being able to run the course for real?"
Which, she laughed. "I guess nothing." Daisy considered it. "Who knows, I'll mention it to Darcy. If I do it'll be fun to run against you."
"Hey now you got further than me tonight, then I did in qualifying this year." He groaned. "I've made it harder for myself."
Daisy patted his shoulder as they walked towards his car. It was late, they'd had to hang back to finish up paperwork for the whole thing leaving most of the crowds from the event long gone. "It'd be fun." She considered him. "You do know now that I've done this at least a couple of the field agents are going to want to try. I wasn't kidding about us watching the show between missions."
"I'm both excited and terrified." Kyle slung his arm around her shoulders hauling her into a slightly awkward side hug. "You're kinda the best celebrity I could have gotten."
Her nose scrunched up in distaste. "I really don't think of myself as a celebrity. I'm just doing my job."
"Huh, huh. Who was it who signed like a hundred autographs tonight?" His voice was full of good natured humor. "You were cute with the kids."
"Thanks." She brushed some of her hair behind one ear. "It's weird, before SHIELD I would have loved to be a hero. The whole public and in the media thing. But now it just feels...like an itch I can't reach."
Kyle looked at her curiously. "I mean, I don't know a lot but you were like a spy right? I'd think being noticed was probably bad."
"So bad." Daisy snickered. "Although I was part of one op where we were investigating corruption, Hydra and a possible alien artifact inside a Chinese music company. I got sent in as a prospective pop star. God they even released a single with me in it before we finished the op. I don't think the team ever let me or will ever let me live that one down."
He froze staring at her with wide eyes, a delighted smile on his face. "Are you saying there is a video of you as a popstar somewhere?"
"You'll never find it." She grinned, and he wouldn't. After the op she'd purposely fucked with the algorithms on every music site to make it so her song did not come up if you looked for it. You'd have to really scroll while knowing the title to find it. Or have way too much time on your hands. Obscure had been the key there.
His eyes were bright as he looked at her. "Oh I'm going to find it."
"Good luck with that." She turned on her heel continuing the walk towards his car. "Which, how far out did you park?"
Kyle rolled his eyes. "We're in good shape, no need to get snippy. And you're the one insisting to walk me back to my car like some kind of damsel in distress."
"Damsel in distress?" Daisy gave him a playful up down flick of her eyes. "We'd have to get you a dress."
Kyle tipped his chin up. "I'll have you know I'd be gorgeous in a dress."
Daisy laughed, that man had far too much frat boy energy for that to be anything short of comical. She spotted his shitty coup as they reached the parking lot he'd used. Her laughter didn't so much as hitch as she noted an inconsistency.
Standing in the lot, looking straight at them, was a man in a business suit. He wasn't dressed for the weather, no sweater, no jacket, just a plain black suit, black tie, and white shirt. Nothing about him was too nice, nor was it cheap. Exactly, perfectly forgettable. It was like looking at Coulson, your eyes just naturally slid over him. Which meant everything in Daisy went on alert.
She let herself check the surrounding rooftops out of the corners of her eyes, no obvious snipers, but that didn't mean much. Slowly she started to take control of the very vibrations in the air around them. This man was waiting for her, and he'd known to wait by Kyle's car. "Kyle, do exactly what I tell you." Her voice had turned sharp, commanding.
"Wait, what?" He looked at her in confusion but she felt more than saw his metaphorical hackles rising.
Daisy didn't dare stop clocking in every person, and sign of this being a trap. There were security cameras, and a shop's cameras that would cover the lot. Which made it far less likely this was a hit. CIA intimidation tactic possibly? Government was likely, it may be late but this was the city, and a financially prosperous section of it. Terrible spot for a fight economically, or if you wanted any privacy. There were people around after all, no matter how late. Still, she could protect Kyle better if he was close. "Stay behind me, if I tell you to run, run. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, right, I can do that." Kyle's vibrations tightened. "It's creepy business dude who's looking at us?"
She kept herself loose. "This is a terrible spot for an ambush, I believe he just wants to talk. But if something happens you run to the grocery store back there. Do you understand?"
"And call the cops." Kyle carefully fell just behind her shoulder.
Daisy mentally braced herself as they got closer. It was the best she could do. As they came close enough to speak comfortably to the man she hit her beacon to alert Peter and Darcy something was wrong. "You're not particularly subtle are you?"
"I was not attempting to avoid your notice Daisy Johnson." The man's expression was wrong, blank in a way that rang as just...empty. "I did not mean to startle you. I am Noah."
She narrowed her eyes, her name certainly wasn't a secret, very hard to find and unconfirmed, but not impossible. Especially if you were in the intelligence community. Yuri having a friend/contact who could tell her was one thing, this was another. "Who are you with, CIA?"
"I am not with anyone. I am an anthropologist." He stepped forward. "The prophet indicated I should find you."
Daisy could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. His vibrations were wrong, so wrong. It was like feeling the LMDs or the Ironsuits not a person. "Prophet?"
"The father gave you the vision of what once would have been your death." Noah replied blandly.
Robin. He was talking about Robin. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm sure you understand if harm has come to her you won't like what will happen."
"I do not intervene." Noah pulled a wooden robin from his pocket. "This token was willingly surrendered that you would not harm me." He held it out easily.
Daisy recognized it, the wooden toy she'd delivered to Robin once before. If the Hintons needed help she owed it to them. And if they'd interacted with the man before her they needed her. "Right, I'm sure you'll understand I'll need to confirm that."
"That is expected." He replied.
She eyed him warily but took the toy. Sudden ice spread from her fingers up her arm. She had a fraction of a second to recognize the feeling of dendrotoxin before the world went black.
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