Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

None of the Ultimates had a problem with jumping over cars. Luke probably had the hardest time with it, but frankly, the car would have more to worry about than him seeing as Luke could crush it with half a thought.

The point was that cars weren’t a problem.

Not usually.

But they were battling a new foe—some kid who got mutant powers allowing him to grow astronomically while becoming proportionally powerful—who, of course, wanted the world to pay for one thing or another. Or, more specifically, Manhattan to pay.

“Yo, ugly! How about I recommend some mouthwash! Or at least brush your teeth every once in a while ‘cause, ew!” Peter spun a web around Giant’s legs. Giant easily snapped them with a roar.

Peter hopped down next to Danny. “Your insults appear to have no effect on him but to cause anger, and that anger is not suiting us very well right now,” said Danny.

“I know,” Peter replied, rising from his crouch. “We need a distraction. Do you know how to drive?”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “No.”

“Well, it’s time to learn.” Peter pointed at a car, an old, very beat-up one. “Keys are already in the ignition. Get going.”

Danny had battled all kinds of monsters. He had faced nightmares, goblins, vampires, dragons.

This was the scariest thing he ever faced.

Nevertheless, he nodded sharply and ran to the car. He needed to do this. He needed to help save the city, and if this was how, then so be it.

He got into the vehicle and slammed the door shut. Put his hands on the wheel. Took a deep breath. Then he pressed down on the horn, and it gave a long squeal.

Giant looked down, his dark eyes glowering. “You think you can mock me?”

He was the defender of K’un-Lun.

He could drive a freaking car.

Danny slammed his foot on the gas, and the chase started.

“No way!” Nova called from above, his attack momentarily ceasing. “What’s Danny doing in a car?”

Trying not to die .

The last time he drove a car, he was in his father’s lap. His dad controlled the gas and brakes. He steered—kind of.

Now he was doing all of it the best he could, which wasn’t very good at all.

Danny wove through the buildings, thanking the heavens that people had mostly cleared from the area.

The Giant continued running after him as Peter began doing whatever plan he’d come up with that involved Danny driving a car.

He spun the wheel, and the car skid to a turn down a new alleyway.

Danny blinked slowly. Then he tried to stop smiling. This was… fun. And surprisingly easy.

“Iron Fist!” Peter called through the comms. “Start going down 31st! Trust me!”

“On it!” Danny made another sharp turn, continuing to bop the horn as he went.

Giant growled and swiped at the car, missing it by only a few inches.

“Spider-man, whatever it is you are planning, I recommend you do it quickly!” Danny called, now flooring the gas pedal.

Then he heard the one thing he hated to hear the most.

“Uh-oh.”

Before he could ask, Peter landed on his windshield.

Danny slammed in the brakes.

Peter rolled off, stood up, and pointed at Danny. “Keep going! I’ve got this!” He launched a web and took off.

Giant had thundered past him and was now standing in front of the vehicle.

Danny switched the gears to reverse and was about to step on the gas once more—

Something hit him from the side, blinding him momentarily. He felt pain all over his body for just a second before falling unconscious.

He woke up aching.

Danny blinked blearily and tried to turn his head to gauge his surroundings. Instead, he felt a sharp pain.

He groaned.

“Danny!”

Peter suddenly appeared by his side, mask abandoned.

Danny frowned. “What happened?” he tried to say. It came out a bit garbled, but apparently Peter was fluent in Garbled.

“There was a guy in the area when we were fighting. Apparently he was drunk, didn’t know what was going on. He hit you when you stopped the car after I fell on top of it.”

Danny glanced to the side. “Oh.” Drunk drivers. America’s sweetheart. “My fault?”

“Surprisingly, no.” Peter laughed good naturally, but his heart wasn’t in it. “Sure, you definitely pulled some illegal stunts while trying to drive, but you happened to stop at a red light. The guy who hit you—he veered off course.” Peter ran a hand through his hair. “But if you hadn’t stopped, you wouldn’t have been hit.”

And there was an unspoken, ‘if I hadn’t fallen on the car, you wouldn’t have stopped.’

Danny frowned. “‘S not your fault.” He then puffed his cheeks with air. It was hard to talk. Maybe this would help.

“Um…” Peter poked Danny’s cheek, and Danny frowned. “Okay.”

“Was it a truck that hit me?”

Peter lifted an eyebrow. “No?”

“Ah.” Danny nodded in a way that would probably normally look wise but for now resembled a chipmunk. “I do now understand the figure of speech, however.”

“I think you’re drugged up enough already.”

“Drugged?” Danny released the air. “I do not take drugs. Get them off.”

Peter sighed. “Dude, I think—”

“Danny!” Nova came flying in, parking himself right by Danny’s bed. “You’re awake! Sorry you had to see web-head first instead of my beautiful face.”

Danny’s expression was still hard. “I am on drugs, Nova. Do not do drugs.”

Nova’s smile widened impossibly. “Sure, Officer Dare.”

“That is not my name.”

“How are you feeling?”

Danny looked around, dazed. “I believe I am tired.”

“Good. Then sleep. We’ll need you in best condition.”

“Nova,” Danny said, reaching out a hand.

Nova bit his lip. “Yes?”

“Tell Spider-man it was not his fault I stopped the car. I saw the red light and was going to stop anyway.”

That day, Nova died laughing.

(Peter should’ve seen this coming after Danny risked getting squeezed to death in order not to wreck Peter’s bedroom.)

Chapter Text

Danny had just been fully cleared by Doc Connors to go back in the field after the car crash.

It had taken a full two weeks to recover, which would be a short amount of time for a normal person, but felt more like forever to Danny.

The team had decided to take on an easier case to help Danny get back in the swing of things. (“Haha,” said Peter, “get it? Swing?”)

Unfortunately, the ‘easy’ mission was no such thing. Unbeknownst to Shield, it has been Doc Ock who coordinated the attack on the Oscorp building. On first glance, it was a group of normal people trying to rob some technology to sell it for big bucks. On second glance… well.

“Abandon ship!” Peter called as he was tossed all the way across the room by one of Doc Ock's robots. So much for “normal people.” “Oof!” he said as he slammed into the wall.

Danny slammed his glowing fist into the robot nearest him before turning to check on his friend. “Spider-man! Are you hurt?”

“I’m great!” Peter yelled back. “Find White Tiger! Nova and I got it covered in here!”

It sure didn’t look like it, but Peter was the team leader. Danny started to run to the room next door. At some point, White Tiger and a pair of robots tackled each other through the door, but they’d lost audio contact with her as a result. At least, that was what Peter told him.

Danny glanced around, his lips pursed. “White Tiger?”

He heard Ava’s tell-tale, “Hah!” of attack from above him.

Danny looked up and sighed. There was a hole in the ceiling.

He backed up, ran forward, jumped onto a desk and leaped through the hole.

Ava was now taking on four robots, one of them having just got her pinned to a wall.

Danny ran over and smashed his fist through that one.

She immediately went back into the fray, flinging her claws at the two nearest her. “Are you feeling okay?” she asked as she ripped the wires from one’s back.

He swung and launched a kick into one’s chest. “I am great, White Tiger.”

“Good, because Luke said more just showed up two floors down.” She held the final robot in place as Danny launched his fist through it. “We need to help him.”

Danny tilted his head. “Spider-man said your comms were down.”

Ava groaned. “Mine are fine. His are probably down. He’s got Nova with him, though. Once they take care of their robots, they can come help us and Luke. Come on!” She jumped down through the hole in the floor and Danny followed suit. She then ran to the stairs.

“Where—” Ava began, but then there was a very large crash.

Danny smiled. “That way.”

Where all the robots came from, no one knew for sure. But Danny and Ava didn’t ask any questions when they busted through the door and began to fight alongside Luke.

“Long time no see!” Luke called over his shoulder.

“We saw you five minutes ago!” Danny called back as he delivered a roundhouse kick.

“It was a figure of speech!” Luke took out another robot before he turned to face Danny. His eyebrows rose. “Iron Fist! Watch—”

A robot tackled Danny back, and Danny only then realized he’d been fighting right beside a window.

The glass shattered as Danny and the robot fell through.

Harry was so done with all the crap going down at the Oscorp building.

Now he was forced to watch behind police tape as robots attacked the place. He told Peter to meet here to work on a project. It was his fault, then, that Peter was in danger.

But all he could do was watch with gritted teeth as Spider-man and his allies tried to take down the robots.

The police were staying out of the way, mostly just making sure civilians were safe and no one was caught in the crossfire. Peter hadn’t been brought out of the building, though, so Harry wasn’t leaving, not yet.

Then something burst out a window from several stories up.

The onlookers gasped and looked on with horror as one of Spider-man’s allies fell, yelling as he tried to maneuver the robot to be beneath him.

They hit the floor with a sickening thud.

Dust flew everywhere, obscuring the view, but Harry could hear the yells from the guy’s teammates above the dead silence of everyone surrounding him.

Then the dust cleared, and Harry could see the man laying on top of the robot, face down, unconscious.

No one could survive that.

Harry tried to push past the police officers as another teammate—one who could fly but apparently either didn’t know or didn’t care as his teammate fell through a window—flew down next to the guy. “Iron Fist!” this one called, shaking the green and yellow-clad form. “Iron Fist!”

‘Iron Fist,’ as was apparently his name, groaned.

“Oh, thank God,” said the flying one. “It’s me, Nova. I’m taking you to Doc Connors, pronto.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. That voice was strangely familiar.

“Can I pick you up?”

Iron Fist began trying to stand, pushing against the now-dead robot beneath him. How was he alive? How was he not completely paralyzed?

“No,” said Nova. “Lay back down. We don’t want you more hurt than you already are.”

There was a flash, and Harry realized with a certain degree of horror that people were taking pictures. “Hey!” he said, turning to face the rest of the onlookers. No one responded, so Harry grabbed the phone nearest him and threw it to the ground. The man he took it from yelled. “Stop that!” Harry called to everyone.

Nova had picked up Iron Fist in that time and was now hovering overhead, holding the obviously-in-pain teammate in his arms. “Thanks, Harry!” he yelled before taking off. Harry could’ve sworn he also heard something along the lines of, “First the car and now this. Really?”

These local superheroes were starting to get to know Harry a bit too well. Understandably enough, unfortunately.

Harry sighed. Hopefully that one guy would turn out okay.

When Danny next woke up, he realized that he couldn’t feel his legs.

He tried hard not to panic, focusing on his chi, staying calm, his heart rate slow.

“Danny!”

Danny looked up. Peter was hanging on a string above him. “Spider-man.”

“You’re awake!”

“Yes.” Danny let his head fall back down again, facing forward. He began to try to look who his sides only to stop when a sharp pain resonated down his neck.

“You okay, man?” A large hand touched his shoulder gently. Luke, then.

Danny frowned. “I do not know.”

He looked down to his legs, tried moving them. Nothing happened.

“You’re looking pale, buddy. Is everything all right?”

Danny gritted his teeth. “I do not know,” he repeated.

Connors chose that moment to enter, the door sliding open and closed to announce his presence. “I see you’re up. That’s a good sign.”

Danny closed his eyes. Please don’t ask—

“How are you feeling?”

Danny tried to shrug, but the movement was painful, so it came out more like a wince.

“That bad?” Connors chuckled. “You’re tough, kid. Let me know, though, if you notice anything unusual. The aches and pains are normal, but—”

“I can’t feel my legs,” Danny blurted.

“Ah.” Connors stayed calm even as Luke stiffened and Peter actually fell off the ceiling. “I’ll run some scans. I won’t make any assumptions yet, so you’ll have to sit tight. Have you tried moving your legs?”

“Yes.”

Connors examined him, eventually putting pressure on his legs with his hand. “Do you feel this?”

“No.” He took some deep breaths.

“Okay. I’m going to put you under for a bit and check for any fractures. Does that sound good?”

Danny offered a noncommittal hum.

“I want verbal agreement.”

He sighed. “Yes.”

“Good.” He suddenly pricked something in his arm, and Danny almost immediately fell back into the realm of unconsciousness.

Peter’s pacing was beginning to wear holes in the floor. He kept kicking himself for not paying attention to his teammates. He could have stopped Danny’s fall. And now… now Danny might be paralyzed.

Nova was in the same boat. He kept throwing things, oftentimes hitting Luke, who let everything bounce right off him. “You know,” said Luke, “the only one to blame is me. I saw that robot coming—I just didn’t warn him quick enough.”

“It isn’t anyone’s fault.” Ava crossed her arms. “You all aren’t helping anybody by blaming yourselves.”

“And you all won’t have to.”

Everyone stopped moving when Doc Connors walked in.

“Your friend has some swelling on his spine, but nothing's broken. He’ll get feeling back relatively soon, especially if he keeps doing whatever it is with his chi. He’ll be on his feet in no time.”

Peter released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

But Connors wasn’t finished yet. “Even if it was permanent, you have to understand that he isn’t less of a person.”

“What? No, we just felt responsible!”

Connors lifted an eyebrow.

Peter lifted his pointer finger. “Right. Sorry.” He deflated a bit. “That was ableist. I need to work on that.”

Connors smiled then. “We all do.” He angled his head to his missing arm. “Myself included. It’s easy to miss.”

“Yeah.” Luke rubbed the back of his head. “That’s something I forget about.”

“That being said,” said Connors, “make sure he’s careful once he’s back in health. And I mean it this time.”

Peter winced. “Yeah. Team leader is on it.”

Danny was on his feet five days later. His steps were unsteady, and Nova mercilessly compared him to a baby giraffe.

Danny gritted his teeth. “They then grow to become tall, powerful, and majestic creatures. I must do the same.”

“I don’t know about tall, but sure.”

A smile ghosted Danny’s lips, and he took the moment to lunge at the unsuspecting Nova.

“Ahhhhh! Ahhh, nooooo! Get o-o-off me-e-e!” Nova yelled through his bouts of laughter.

Peter smirked, happily taking note at how ticklish Nova was.

Chapter Text

It was just Danny and Luke in this mission.

It’d been a long time since the pair of them alone teamed up—in fact, Danny didn’t think it’d happened since Peter joined the team.

But it was always way too fun. For some reason, despite their numerous differences, they found a way to fight side-by-side perfectly.

“On your left!” Luke called, and Danny swung into action. Doc Ock still hadn’t been caught since he released those robots at Oscorp, and he was doing everything he could to make it stay that way.

“Iron Fist! Let’s do the move!”

Iron Fist tilted his head and grinned. “And here I thought you would never ask.”

He lit up his fists and readied himself as Luke came over and picked him up.

“Oof! Sweet Christmas! You’ve gained some muscle since we did this last!”

Danny angled his head to look at his friend with a grin. “Are you unable to handle it, friend?”

“Psh! No! On three! One,” Luke bent his knees, securing his grip on Danny’s waist, “two,” he pulled Danny back, and Danny pulled himself into position, “three!” He threw Danny, and Danny yelled as he launched through the small army of robots, blowing through them through the force of his fist and Luke’s throw.

It had been a while since they did this, indeed, as Luke’s throw was perhaps too powerful, and Danny ended up going through the wall.

“Ugh,” he muttered as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. Now there was a man-sized hole in the wall. But at least the robots were now done for.

“Sorry, man! Guess it has been a while,” Luke chuckled.

“It appears we have lost a bit of our touch,” Danny called back, rubbing a soon-to-be knot on his head.

Luke offered a wide smile as Danny meandered over, who in turn gave a painful grin. “Lost? Nah. We just need to do this more often.” Then he proceeded to pull a hand around Danny and rub his head with his remaining fist.

Danny actually giggled at this.

Luke’s smile widened impossibly further. Who knew Mr. Namaste was a five-year old at heart?

Luke set him down gently before looking around. “We took care of these guys. How do you think Peter and the rest of them are handling Doc Ock?”

“I believe that victory is coming their way if they have not yet earned it already.”

“Cool. How ‘bout we head over just to make sure?”

“Of course.” His eyes narrowed suddenly. “I believe I lost my com watch when you threw me. I will be just a moment.”

“Do you need help looking? And don’t worry too much about it,” Luke added, recalling Danny’s guilt the last time he lost it, “they’ll make you a new one if it is gone, no problem.”

Danny hummed back, and Luke began glancing around where he stood to see if maybe Danny lost it before the power throw.

His eyes widened at the small device on the floor. “Gotcha.” He grabbed it and looked up. “Yo, Iron Fist! I—” He cut himself short as he watched Danny suddenly spasm in place before falling hard to the floor below. He let out a curse and ran over.

Apparently, Danny’s escapade right through the wall had bust open a pipe that spouted a puddle of water, which Danny was currently laying in, still seizing.

Luke thought for a moment—Danny was seizing, he needed to let it pass, that was what you did, but then again the water was probably hit with a burst of electricity and that was causing the seizure—before grabbing one of Danny’s legs and hauling him from the water. He then took off his shirt, placing it under his friend’s head so the spasms wouldn’t cause any more damage than they already had. “It’s okay, buddy,” he said, more just trying to make himself feel better, “you’re gonna be fine.” Then he turned on his own watch and called the Shield base. “We took out Doc Ock's robot army, but we have another problem. Get some medics here, stat.”

He looked back down at Danny, not bothering to listen to the reply. “You’re okay, buddy,” he said. Danny’s eyes were wide as he continued to spasm. “You’re okay.”

Danny woke up in a hospital bed. Again.

He groaned, and Luke immediately appeared in his frame of vision, a bit overwhelming. “Danny! Are you okay?”

Danny smiled lopsidedly. “Loook.”

Luke smiled, leaning back a bit. “Yeah, Luke.”

Danny shook his head. “No, loook.”

Luke’s eyes widened comically, and he turned around.

Danny giggled. “Made ya look, Loook.”

Luke shook his head, but there was a sly grin on his face. “Man, what do they have you on?”

“Not that much, actually,” Doc Connors said from behind Luke, causing the larger man to jump. Connors huffed in amusement. “I think he may be messing with you.”

“Danny? Cracking jokes?” He scoffed. “Please.” He looked back to Danny, an eyebrow raised. Then both raised at Danny’s shit-eating grin. “No!”

“I am fine, Luke,” Danny said, beaming. “And, if you are inclined to believe me, I do have a sense of humor.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Tell that to Spidey. And where was that sense of humor when you were posing as him?”

Danny frowned. “Puns are not my forté.”

“If I may,” Connors interrupted, “while you’re awake, I’d like to discuss what happened.”

Danny tilted his head. “Uh, right. Yes. My apologies, Doctor Connors. It will not happen again.”

Connors gave him a defeated look. “Yeah. I’m sure you’ll find a more interesting way to hurt yourself. But that isn’t what I meant—I meant the fact that you experienced a seizure.”

Danny pursed his lips. “It has not happened before.”

Connors nodded sharply. “Good. I did believe it was due to being electrocuted, but I wanted to make sure. Are you in any residual pain?”

Danny hesitated for a moment, which perhaps nobody but Luke would have noticed. He jumped on it immediately. “What is it?”

Danny’s fingers were drumming his thigh. He seemed to notice and stopped. “My—ah, my back hurts. Just a little.”

Connors didn’t give away any emotions. “I see. But the source of the electricity was at your feet, right?”

Danny nodded shortly.

“Then I’ll look into it. It could be nothing, but as I have to keep telling you, take it easy.”

Luke leaned closer to Danny. “No practicing those power throws, then.”

Connors furrowed his eyebrows. “What was that?”

“Nothing, Doc.”

Connors wasn’t convinced, but he left the room to check to see what could be causing the residual back pain.

“Oh, yeah. Almost forgot.” Luke dug threw his pocket then held his hand out. “Here.”

Danny tilted his head curiously and grabbed it. “My watch.”

“Yeah.”

Danny smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Kung Fu Kid.” He pat Danny’s shoulder.

Danny leaned back into his pillow, his fingers again drumming against his thigh. Luke wondered how he hadn’t noticed Danny do it before.

He pat Danny’s shoulder again and plopped back into the chair.

It was only when Danny was snoring softly that Peter bounced in. “Again? What’s with him lately?”

Luke shrugged. “Unlucky, I guess. No amount of chi-power or whatever can protect you from that.” He sat up straighter. “You won’t believe it though—Danny made a joke.”

Peter lulled his head back. “Ha! Didn’t know he had it in him. Especially when considering the last time he tried that. Or excuse me—Danny-spider tried that.”

“It was a made-you-look joke.”

“That makes more sense.” Peter examined Danny’s vitals for a few moments. “I—I heard he had a seizure?”

Luke sighed. “Yeah. It was scary, man. Felt like it just went on and on. Doc Connors thinks it was just ‘cause the electric shock, but I’m worried. He’s been shocked before and it didn’t end like this.”

Peter sat down at the edge of the bed. “I trust Doc Connors. And I can’t help but agree with him, too—the number of voltz from those robots was way more than he’s experienced before. It was a one-time deal—he’ll be fine. Oh, and Doc told me to let you know Danny’s back is fine, so that’s one less thing to worry about.”

Luke’s shoulders sagged in relief. “That’s good to hear.” He perked back up. “Can I ask you something?”

Peter leaned forward, suddenly serious. “Yeah, anything. What is it?”

“You have ADHD, right?”

Peter’s humor returned to his face. “How’d you know?” He grinned widely. “Yeah, I do. It’s never stopped me, though. Just like nothing will stop Danny or you. But why do you ask?”

Luke shrugged, turning back to Danny. “I didn’t want to assume. Figured you’d be nice enough if I asked. I’m glad to know I can actually trust my instincts these days.”

Peter jumped forward and pat Luke’s head. “Always trust them, Luke. They may not be spidey-sense, but they have never failed us before.”

“Thanks, man. I needed to hear that.”

Peter ran a hand through his hair then froze. “I forgot my mask.”

“Yeah. You did.”

Peter waved a hand. “Got distracted, I guess. I doubt anyone noticed—not like I was webbing around. I think.” He put his hands on his hips. “I’m gonna find it. And I’ll let Nova know where Danny is—he’s been freaking out a little bit.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Course he has. Go get him. I’ll be here.”

Peter left the room, and Luke tapped Danny’s arm. “You can stop pretending to be asleep now. Mr. I-don’t-know-how-to-shut-up-mother-hen is gone.”

Danny opened up an eye. “How did you know?”

“I know you, buddy. And you stopped snoring.”

Danny smiled. “I do not snore.”

“You do when you’re recharging your chi.”

Danny pouted.

“Adorable. Now go back to sleep. You need it, and we need you.”

Chapter Text

“At least they aren’t vampires.”

“Bucket-head! No! Vampires would be much better!”

“Says who, creep?”

“Says me!” Peter flung a web at one of the spirits. It soared right through. “See!”

“You must channel you own inner spirit,” Danny remarked, dissipating one of the ghosts with his glowing fist. “That is how you defeat them.”

White Tiger was doing much of the same, to Peter’s delight (not!).

“Unless you’re me!” Nova called back, blasting them.

Luke turned to Peter, defeated. “We may be out of our league here.”

Peter scoffed. “Don’t talk like that. We just need to find the leader and go for them. There’s always an evil leader. Dracula, remember?”

Luke shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”

“The evil leader?” There was a ghostly laugh, and Peter suddenly remembered why people kept telling him to keep his mouth shut. “Why, I am glad you called!”

“Show yourself!” Luke yelled, turning in place as he tried to locate the voice.

“Show myself? I suppose I can do it in the only way I can.”

“That,” Peter said pointedly, “does not sound good.”

Nova blasted the final ghosts out of existence and fist pumped the air. “Boo-m! Hah!” He dropped to the floor and elbowed Danny. “Boo-m. Like—”

“I understand,” said Danny, placing a hand on Nova’s shoulder. “But perhaps you should leave the puns to Spider-man.”

“Well, I took out the last of them. That has to count for something.”

“Um, incorrect, Nova. Did you not hear The Big Baddy?” asked Peter.

Nova crossed his arms. “Why do you always gotta do that? So what, I had a victory and you were absolutely useless? Grow up.”

“I’m being serious! There was a voice! It said it was about to show itself!”

“Yeah, right.” Nova shook his head. “You’ve officially lost it.”

“Actually, I heard it, too,” Ava intervened, raising one hand. “There really was a voice, and it did say it was about to show itself.”

“That I did.”

They all turned to Danny, who was currently staring at his twitching hands with an amused grin. “Um, huh?” said Peter very intelligently.

Danny looked up, his head angling one way to the next, shooting looks to each of them. “I show myself. This is how.” His smile dropped suddenly. “Do you care for this one?”

“Iron Fist, I don’t—”

“Daniel Terrence Rand.” Danny’s lip twitched, and he brought his shaking hands to his head. “Ugh! Too much. Too much too much too much.”

“Wow,” Nova remarked. “I didn’t know that was your middle name.”

Danny lifted one hand, and Nova went flying backwards. “Not mine! It’s not my name! You incompetent children! Children defeating my spirits!” His hand moved to Ava, and she, too, flew back. “This one, too! This one! Ugh—it doesn’t even know its years!”

“Hey!” Luke stepped forward. “What’d you do to my friend? And what did you mean by that?”

Danny shook his head furiously, turning his back on Luke and Peter. “Too much! My brothers!” He let out an unearthly shriek and curled in on himself. “It killed them! It killed them! Too much!”

“Danny, you have to fight it!” Peter yelled as the winds around them began to howl. “Get it out!”

“I want out!” the creature shrieked, using Danny’s body to look at Peter, a deadly glare encompassing his features. “I want out! Let me out!”

Peter took a step back. “What’s Danny doing?”

“I won’t! Now let me go, scum, before I rip what’s left to shreds!”

Danny then collapsed, holding his throat and gasping. All of his friends ran over.

“Dude, are you okay! What happened?”

Danny groaned and shifted to lay on his back sluggishly. “Spirit possession.”

“No thanks,” Nova said.

“What was it talking about?” Ava asked. “How’d you make it go away like that?”

Danny closed his eyes. “It did not like my mind, so I trapped it there. I only let it go when it promised to not harm anyone else. I doubt that deal will hold, but I believe it was worth the try. Do you mind if I close my eyes for a few minutes?”

“Your eyes are already closed,” Peter pointed out helpfully.

“Hm.”

“Why didn’t it like your mind? Too many fortune cookies?” Nova laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, I think I’ll stop.”

“It said my mind was too broken. If it stayed too long, it would be consumed.”

Luke looked to Ava, worry etching across his face. “How ‘bout we get you home? You can get some rest.”

Danny nodded almost imperceptibly. “I would like that.”

Ava, Sam, Luke, and Peter stood in front of Fury. They came to him immediately after Danny was dropped off, out cold with sleep.

Fury was unfazed. “Is there a problem?”

“Danny got possessed,” said Peter, “and he said some things that are no bueno. Things that you probably know about being a super-spy.”

Fury rolled his eye. “I know a lot, Peter Parker, but not everything. What’s bothering you? Did you take care of the spirit?”

Ava stepped forward. “Danny took care of it. He said his mind was too broken—it wanted out. And it said stuff about Danny killing its brothers and his years and ripping what was left to shreds. We want answers, Director.”

They all nodded in affirmation.

Fury sighed. “I don’t have all the answers to this one. You’ll have to talk to Danny. His past in K’un-Lun isn’t something we know much about, other than that it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, and I imagine the spirit was talking about that.”

“Fine,” said Peter. “We will.”

The web-slinger practically stormed off. Fury frowned. “How old is he again?”

Ava shook her head. “Five, tops. C’mon. I think we could all use a break.”

Sam immediately noticed when Danny’s eyes drifted open. “Danny!” He flew over. “Are you—”

“I am okay. It is not like I fell through a window.”

“Ha, ha. Hilarious. But really.”

Danny sat up, glancing around. For once, he wasn’t in a hospital bed. What a relief. “I am simply tired.”

The three others rolled to a stop behind Sam. “Danny, we need to ask you some things.”

Sam glowered at Ava. “Do you seriously think now is a good time?”

“Do not worry, friend,” Danny calmly offered, placing a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Go on. What is bothering you?”

“What did you mean about your mind being broken? And it saying you killed its brothers—what’s that about? And the years thing?”

“Ah.” Danny smiled softly. “It was speaking of K’un-Lun. It did not like my memories of it and why I got there. Or what I did once I was there. As for its brothers—one of my tests was to battle demons. I did end them. I do not know what it meant about my years, however.”

“Danny,” Sam began, his eyebrows furrowed together, “what happened to you? You can tell us anything, y’know. You can trust us.”

Danny shifted a tad. “I do.” He bit his lip. Then, “I came to K’un-Lun through a plane crash. My father perished on the plane. My mother—I saw her in her last moments and could not save her. Wolves,” he added, and there was a collective wince. “I was alone in the mountains when they approached me—monks. They took me in.” He lifted his chin. “They trained me to become a warrior. Every day, I learned something new. If I could not master it, I was beaten. Once I did master it, I moved onto something more difficult. I wanted to prove myself since I was an outsider. I defeated the demons, and I defeated Shao Lao the Undying. Now, I am the defender of K’un-Lun.”

“Sounds brutal,” said Sam.

“Brutal? It sounds like abuse to me,” Ava said sharply. “Why would you defend the place whose people beat you?”

Danny frowned. “It is my purpose. I am the Immortal Iron Fist. That aside, my brothers made me who I today.”

“Which is, according to a ghost, broken.”

Danny glowered. “I am not broken, White Tiger. I am rebuilt. What I am, the spirit could not understand.”

Ava looked ready to retort when Peter put his hands out. “How about we settle this later? We all have pasts, bad ones or not. Let’s get some pizza and enjoy the now.”

“For once, I agree with the web-head.” Sam sent a worried glance at Danny. “Let’s eat.”

Dinner was awkward. Peter was fairly certain he’d never seen Ava and Danny at odds with each other. Peter talked about basically everything the whole time to fill the silence, and it was kind of cringey. The tension remained even after Luke pulled Danny aside and asked to talk to him alone.

Ava tossed the remains of her pizza to the side once Luke and Danny were gone. “How doesn’t he see it? His childhood was a disaster! And that’s only if you’re cruel enough to call what he had a childhood!”

“Attacking him on it won’t help,” said Peter. “He doesn’t know any different.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah. We’ve all dealt with tragedy. His way of dealing is different.”

“Or maybe he hasn’t actually ‘dealt’ with it yet. Did he get to mourn? I did—so did you and Peter. Maybe not an ideal mourning situation, but it was there. We found new families. Good ones. He was abused.”

“And he doesn’t know it,” Sam said, standing up. “You can’t get mad for something he’s not even aware of.”

“I’m not—” she sighed, slumping back in her chair. “I’m not mad. I just care. He plans on going back to K’un-Lun, back to his abusers. It’s not good for him.”

“We’ll talk to him,” Peter said softly. “I mean, he wants K’un-Lun to be better.”

“And they’ll break him for it. You know that,” Ava rebuked, her voice including a slight whine.

Peter closed his eyes. “Yeah. I do.” He opened them again. “So we’ll talk to him as friends. But we have to respect him and his choice. He’s got a lot on his shoulders.”

Ava squared her shoulders. “Deal.”

Luke could tell Danny was anxious when Luke asked to pull him aside. He was ramrod straight and his jaw was clenched, his hands curled into fists at his sides.

“Let’s sit down,” Luke said, plopping onto one of the couches. This room was small, empty. Plus, he’d seen Danny do morning routines in here before, so he was probably pretty comfortable in it.

Danny chose a spot on the floor because he’s weird like that. “What is it you wish to speak about?”

“How are you feeling, man? And be honest with me—you and I both know that I can tell when you’re not.”

Danny turned his gaze to the side. “I am… I am concerned.”

Luke put his hands on his knees and leaned forward. “Concerned about what?”

“That Ava was right.” He bit his lip. “I… What I had in K’un-Lun was very different from the years I spent with my parents and with Shield.”

“Different ain’t always a bad thing.”

Danny gazed out the window. “Except when I pondered on her words, I did realize it was not so different from everything.”

Luke scrunched his nose. “What do you mean?”

Danny was silent for a few moments. Luke didn’t prompt him.

“What I went through… it was abuse, wasn’t it?”

He turned his eyes up to Luke, looking more vulnerable than the other boy had ever seen him before.

Luke cleared his throat. “From what you said today and from what all you’ve told me about K’un-Lun before today… yeah. I’d say it was.”

Danny huffed, and a sarcastic smile slid onto his face. “I suppose I am broken, then.”

“Danny—”

Danny stood up suddenly. “I should go. Somewhere—somewhere else.” He started to leave, walking quickly past Luke, when Luke grabbed his arm.

“C’mere,” Luke said, and he pulled Danny into a hug.

Danny practically dissolved against him, and his resolve broke. The sobbing started wreaking through his body, through Luke’s own. Luke just held Danny close as the tears began to coat the shoulder he was crying on.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, with Luke seeming to be the only thing holding Danny together.

They were all gathered in a circle now, sitting on the floor. Peter decided it was time for team bonding that was, “like, serious.”

Peter began, telling the others about the fate of his parents and the fate of his Uncle Ben. About the blame he put on himself, the guilt he felt for years and years. About his feelings of helplessness, about how he thought he didn’t deserve someone like his Aunt May, how he thought he didn’t deserve his friends. He told how, even after gaining his powers, he felt he was never enough, that he was unwelcome and a hassle. He told them about his ADHD, how he turned it around to help him help others. He told them how he decided not to take the world too seriously, and that was how he got to see how great the world really was.

Ava went next. She spoke about her family, and the pain when she watched her father die, about the responsibility that suddenly belonged to her. She spoke of how she, too, felt unworthy, like she couldn’t belong anywhere. She spoke of her battle against her inner nature, the wild beast she’d spent her whole life learning to control, a part of herself that she thought would break her. And she spoke of accepting the past, learning responsibility, making her ancestors and herself proud. How she didn’t need to be afraid of herself anymore.

Luke spoke after her. He spoke of how he felt when his parents had died—his anguish at the sudden loss, but also the struggle of realizing he was wrong. The trouble accepting it was real, his original inability to accept the new norm, his fear of going through that loss again. He spoke of his powers, of how he felt closed off from the world, how he knew he could never feel fully human again. And he spoke about learning to never take things for granted, to always accept good things that come your way, to not be afraid of that good. He spoke of weaknesses being strengths, of learning to find new ways to enjoy life.

Sam went after Luke. He spoke about being the last of his kind and the responsibilities that went with it. He spoke of his fears—of being useless, of constantly needing to prove himself. He spoke of how he sometimes forgot there was more to life than just achieving greatness, and he spoke of how he found it perhaps too easy to push aside others. He spoke of his depression, of the hate that went with having it. And he spoke of how someone must first accept themselves to live, how just because something holds you back doesn’t mean it can stop you from getting what you need, how it was okay to need help. He spoke of knowing how hard it could be to learn who you are, how he was still learning who he was, accepting what and how he felt on things he still wasn’t yet ready to admit to himself or them but knew he could eventually.

They didn’t push him.

Sam then squeezed Danny’s hand and offered a hesitant smile. “You know you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

Danny smiled back. “I know.” He tilted his head back. “I think I understand you when you say you do not know yourself, not completely. I technically have two identities, and I do not think I know either one. I used to feel that I was not enough, that the Iron Fist was not me, that it was an identity thrust upon me by accident. Peter helped me realize differently.” Peter’s chest puffed out a bit at this, and Ava nudged his side playfully. “But now I know that… well, I suppose I do not know Danny Rand very well either. I have been living in the shadow of K’un-Lun. I learned how to fight there, but I did not learn how to be human. You all… you all have been teaching me that. How to grow. I was stuck at my ten-year-old self.” He grinned. “More so than I thought. Doctor Connors said I have stunted brain growth, so,” he shrugged, “ten. Psychological development stopped… there. Perhaps that is what the spirit meant in regards to my years.”

“What? But you have an old soul—you’re a walking fortune cookie! There’s no way you’re ten!

“That is not what it means. It does not affect intelligence. It…” He drummed his fingers once against his thigh, “It means that I have a harder time connecting to emotions, to other people. And recognizing if the situation I am in is bad or good, like… abuse. It is something I must learn, as I am too old for it to come naturally. Thankfully, I have people looking out for me. People who are helping me learn.”

Peter sniffed. “Don’t make me cry again.”

“Again?” Sam asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“I cried at yours, too.”

Sam snorted.

“You are surprisingly moving,” Peter explained.

Sam smirked. “I know.”

Ava raised a hand. “Danny?”

He gave an amused grin. “Yes, Ava?”

“I’m sorry for getting mad at you earlier. It was… it was unnecessary.”

He shook his head. “No, it was necessary. I… I could not see it for myself. I needed a… a…” He looked to Sam. “What’s the phrase?”

“Reality check.”

Danny pointed at Sam. “That. And now I realize I have a choice. I can try to go back to K’un-Lun and remedy its system, or I can stay. I am the defender of K’un-Lun, and if I must defend it by forcing change upon it, that is what I will do.” He nodded, seeming to affirm his words to himself. “They will change either way. Driving away the Iron Fist will send a sure message, as will having an Iron Fist who insists they change.”

“Same with having a Danny Rand do that,” Peter commented. “I mean, they’re missing out. You may be kinda nuts and burn incense a lot, but you’re too good a person. They don’t deserve that yet.”

“You forgot to mention the fact that he’s a walking puppy dog.” Sam nodded thoughtfully. “Too adorable.”

“If I may interject again,” said Ava, “I think we’re missing something big.”

“Oh, yeah?”

She faced Danny and leaned forward, eyes wide with curiosity. “You killed demons?”

Chapter Text

Personally, Sam was inclined to believe that being possessed already sorta counted as an infection.

It wasn’t something that mattered, especially because he wasn’t the one who was possessed (but it sure felt like something did possess him to talk about feelings and stuff last week. Gosh, where had that come from? And the fact that he even almost—never mind). But he was infected. With the flu, or something like it, that is.

Last time, is was Peter’s fault, one-hundred percent. This time, he was inclined to blame Danny, but doing that wasn’t exactly appropriate given the other kid had saved his life.

Yes, they ended up basically swan-diving into stagnant water that looked and smelled worse than Manhattan’s sewer system (quite the achievement), but the mystic who attacked them had somehow temporarily taken away Sam’s powers. He would have been Nova-jam if Iron Fist hadn’t run at him, taken him out mid-air, and threw both of them into the lake-thing.

At the time, he was so happy to be not-dead that he almost kissed Danny. But then the smell hit him, and suddenly he wasn’t quite as thankful.

Now he was rubbing furiously at his nose with a tissue and feeling both cold and sweaty all over.

“Your body is actually quite hot, Sam. Huddling with the mass of blankets may only make your conditions worse.”

Danny’s voice was a bit muffled from behind Sam’s cocoon, but he got the gist and poked his head out, hoping he didn’t look as pitiful as he felt, and glared. “Thtop dat.”

Danny tilted his head. “What was that?”

Sam sighed, shifting within the pile of blankets. “I thaid, thtop dat. You’re not my mom.”

“Someone must take care of you if you refuse to properly care for yourself.”

Sam sighed in self-pity before releasing a fit full of sneezes.

Danny grinned. “Bless you.”

“Thakes. Go away.” Sam tried to wave his arm pointedly, but it was too caught up in all the blankets. He settled with his previous glare.

Danny sighed like Sam was some insufferable child. “Let me help you out.”

Sam somehow pulled the cocoon tighter around himself. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Sam, I am going to take away your blankets, and you are going to take a cold shower to get your temperature down.”

“No!” He snuffed at Danny. “Ma temperature ithn’t e’en dat high.”

“I see. Then how, exactly, did you manage to sweat through all those blankets?”

Sam looked down at said blankets. “Cwap.”

Danny smiled and started pulling at the blankets. “‘Cwap,’ indeed. Now help me out.”

“How aren’t you thick? I mean thick. No, thick!”

“Sick?”

Sam’s arm was released, and he took advantage of it by snapping his fingers and pointing at his friend to tell him he was correct. God, this was embarrassing.

“I… do not know. Perhaps because I took preventative measures immediately.” He shrugged. “The prepared mind always succeeds.”

“Ugh. Thtop with your thtupid pwophethies. I’ll take da thowa.”

“Shower?”

“Yeah.” He sniffed. “Thowa. Get me thome extha clotheth.”

Danny clenched his jaw for a moment. “Some… extra clothes?”

“Thatth what I thaid, ithn’t it?”

“Sure. Go on. I will put the clothes outside the door.”

So it wasn’t quite a cold shower, more on the border between cool and lukewarm, but that was good enough for Sam. He had finished drying his hair and put a towel around around his waist when he opened the door. Sure enough, clothes were folded neatly just outside.

And Danny was lying on the floor just beyond them.

This was one of those things that Sam was never really sure what to do about. See, the thing is that sometimes Danny just does that. He finds floors more comfortable than beds and sleeps on them. It was disconcerting. Last time this happened, the boy had just been tossed out a window, and Peter found him and panicked, convinced he was dead.

That was an interesting experience.

“Danny?” Sam padded over and poked him. “Danny?”

He rolled the other boy face-up. “Oh.”

Danny was really, really pale, but at least he was breathing. And sweating. So not dead. “I thought you thaid you took pweventative meathures.”

Danny’s eyes opened suddenly, and Sam flew back in surprise (and he absolutely did not scream). “Sam?”

“Why can you pwonounth “th”—“th”—“th"—fowget it.”

Danny began trying to stagger to his feet—“stagger” being appropriate word choice as he kept stumbling and dropping to the side like his sense of balance was askew. He gave up. “It seems I was not careful enough.”

Sam glowered. “But you can talk nomal.”

Danny started rubbing at his arm, glaring down at it as he did so. “Yes. But… I think I passed out.”

“Not juth athleep?”

“No.” Danny looked up at Sam, but his gaze was a bit off. “I am seeing three of you,” he said.

“Well, thewe’th juth one awethome me, tho I’d thay thomething’ wong. You need help getting to bed?”

Danny shrugged. “I’m fine on the floor.”

“And have a wepeat of latht time? No thakes.”

“Fine. But Sam—”

“Yeah?”

“You might want to put some clothes on first.”

“Pweathe. I’ve theen you in leth, mithter “it’th a monk thing.””

“It is a towel. It will fall off.” He paused. “I thought this was a thing that—”

“I’ll change then help. Okay?”

Danny nodded sharply before wincing at the action. “Okay.”

Apparently, everyone was out doing something-or-the-other, probably to save the world (or just New York). So Danny and Sam were huddled together, both wrapped in too many blankets, on Sam’s bed. Danny apparently stopped caring about ‘keeping temperature down’ as soon as he started feeling frigid. (Proof that he really was a teenager.)

“Thith ith youw fault, Danny.”

Danny sighed, pulled his knees in closer, and put his head on Sam’s shoulder. Sam’s heart skipped. “I know.”

“I’ll conthidew fowgiving you if you tuwn on da fuwnace.”

“Too far away. You are warm enough.”

“I’m not a fuwnace.”

Danny leaned in closer to him. “You do feel like one.”

“Thut up.” But he still put his head on top of Danny’s and closed his eyes.

“Oh. My. God. Where does Sam keep his cameras?”

Ava glanced at Peter curiously. “No one knows. Use your phone. Why? What is—oh.”

Luke walked in through the door. “What is it y’all are—sweet Christmas.”

Peter had his phone out a second later and was snapping photos. “This. Is. ADORABLE!”

Sam and Danny were currently snuggled up with one another, cocooned together in a pile of blankets. Danny’s head was in the crook between Sam’s shoulder and chin as Sam rested his head on top of Danny’s. Their legs were bundled together and their arms clutching both each other and the blankets.

“I didn’t know Nova had ‘cute’ in him,” Peter quipped, sticking out his tongue and repeatedly changing his position to acquire many, many angles.

Sam suddenly groaned and shifted. Peter hastily put away his phone.

Sam blearily opened his eyes. Took in his surroundings. His eyes widened. “How long have you guyth been thanding thewe?”

“Not too long,” Ava offered as Peter snickered.

Danny, still asleep, made a soft hum and tucked in closer to Nova.

Sam blinked. “Well? What ‘cha looking at? We’re thick. I mean—nevew mind. Ill. We’e ill.”

“Uh huh,” said Luke sarcastically. “Lemme guess: you were cold.”

“It’th twue. Now I’m gonna go back to thleep. You all get thomething to make uth feel betta.”

Sam closed his eyes and almost instantly fell back to sleep.

Ava raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Well. I’ll have Doc Connors fix something up. This is from Danny throwing them into that lake, right?”

“That wasn’t a lake,” said Peter. “That was a pit to hell. Now you get on that. I’m gonna get a couple more pictures.”

(Luke didn’t mention that Danny was actually awake throughout this whole ordeal. He also didn’t mention the small smile he was wearing.)

Chapter Text

“I’ve never been so insulted!” Peter called. “I mean, ‘Frozone?’ You named yourself after a national hero! The Incredibles was a work of art, and now you come around and insult it!”

Frozone hissed at him and launched ice from his fingertips at Spider-man. “Shut up, you insect!”

“Arachnid! Why do I have to keep telling people that? Shouldn’t it be common knowledge by now?”

Peter was currently dealing with this little problem on his lonesome. He’d left his comms and cell phone at home (stupid, stupid, stupid) so no backup was coming his way yet. Not to mention, he was in a run-down part of town, so there weren’t any news anchors yelling about what was going on and how much of a menace Spider-man was being.

“Oh! Idea!”

There was a hulk-proof cage under construction just a block away. If he could lure Frozone into it, even he wouldn’t be able to get out.

“This way, knock-off! Bet you can’t catch me!”

Peter swung away, grinning beneath his mask.

Danny hadn’t been able to summon his iron fist since he and Nova had gotten sick. Maybe it was because every time he built up enough concentration to summon it, he sneezed. Maybe it was because the drugs from Doctor Connors (“You two should have come to me immediately! If this weren’t you two, you’d be dead! This is not a normal infection. What were you thinking? And you, Iron Fist, I told you to tell me any time you were sick or injured. This isn’t something you could’ve just walked off…”). Danny had trouble concentrating, and meditating was impossible. He didn’t even remember Doctor Connors’s whole spiel. Every ten seconds he was back to drumming his hand against his thigh, a habit he thought he’d mostly kicked by the time he was eleven.

But he could still fight. He was a master of the martial arts even without his mystic abilities.

So when he was trying to calm his mind by—rather than meditating, as was his typical first option—jumping from rooftop to rooftop and doing what apparently Luke said was called “parkour,” and he saw some ice villain attacking a run-down part of the city, he jumped into action.

It was going well, all things considered, until ‘Frozone’ blasted ice at a civilian who was recording the event. Danny pushed him out of the way and took the blast.

Said blast sent him into what looked to be a thick metal chamber.

The force of the blast apparently hit Danny hard enough to slam him against the other side of the chamber. It left him dazed for what was probably a few minutes as he attempted to pick himself up. He was by no means one-hundred percent after his infection from earlier.

At least the civilian didn’t get hit. Hopefully he had enough mind to run away.

Danny finally hauled himself to his feet, shook out his arms, and started to walk back out.

Just then, something slammed into him.

He heard a familiar voice say, “Take that, Froyo!”

And the door slammed shut.

Frozone groaned as he stood up. “That absurd creature thinks it can just…” He sent blasts of ice from his hands, starting to coat the whole room. “I can freeze this cage! I can make it crack!”

It wasn’t cracking.

Danny stayed silent on the floor, wishing away the new wave of dizziness and nausea. He needed to take Frozone out fast—before he could freeze the chamber too much and leave Danny—

“What do we have here? A fly on the wall, hm? Stuck in here, too?”

Danny could hear the smile in his voice. It was already getting cold. “I do not—”

He didn’t have time to react as Frozone sent ice at him, freezing where he stood, mouth open mid-sentence.

“Next time,” said Frozone, bringing his lips close to the ice, “if you attack me, you better finish me off. Now there is no next time, and I get to live knowing you’ll freeze to death.”

His heart was racing. He was freezing—even colder than he’d ever been while in K’un-Lun.

He couldn’t defend himself. He couldn’t do anything.

So he was forced to watch as Frozone continued to blast the walls of the container, making no progress.

“Fury! My man! Guess what I—”

“If you ever call me ‘your man’ ever again, I’ll take out both your eyes.”

Peter froze. “Aha. Ah. Um. Okay. Sorry. But guess—”

“You’re needed on fifth. White Tiger is handling an armed robbery, but the felons are mutants. She needs backup, just in case.” Fury narrowed his eye.

“Uh huh.” Peter crossed his arms. “How happy will she be to hear you sent me as backup?”

Fury also crossed his arms. “She’s the one who asked for you.”

“Oh.” Then it could be unrelated to the robbery. Fury probably knew that. “Anyway, I caught some dude named Frozone. He’s in the Hulk Cage that you were building on the D-L. That means down-low. But yeah. You might want to transfer him here. The cage’ll hold him for as long as you need.”

“If you’re expecting a thank you, you’re mistaken.”

“You said thank you in that sentence. I’ll take it.”

“Get on it, Spider-man.”

“Love you, too, Fury! Don’t forget about Frozone!”

Ava was sitting on top of the bank. The police trucks and cars were pulling away, signaling a job done. So Peter had been right. “White Tiger,” he stated, leaping to a squat beside her. “So why did you really ask for me?”

She examined the police officers as they drove away. “I didn't want to worry Fury. You know he has a soft spot for Danny, right?”

He rolled his eyes. “Everyone knows. Except Danny. Besides, you calling for backup was probably troubling enough. Anyway, what's up with Danny?”

“Have you seen him around? He told me he was going to meet with Luke about an hour and a half ago, but Luke said he never showed.” She faced Peter. “I know I'm being a bit paranoid, but with everything that's been going on… he and Nova have left me on edge.”

He shrugged. “I get it. But I haven't seen him today. I mean, I have been busy--I just took out a guy who called himself Frozone. Shield is taking him in. They said they may just leave him in the Hulk Cage for a week. I dunno.”

“You just rambled again.”

“Right. My bad. I'll ask Nova if he's seen him. They've been pretty tight lately.”

“I already did.” Her shoulders dropped. “Danny’s MIA.”

Danny couldn't sleep. He desperately wished he could, anything to get away from the cold, from Frozone.

And he couldn't even begin to summon his fist.

It was terrible, being stuck with that one who entrapped him. A villain Danny should have easily taken down, but instead…

Wait, how did he end up in here again? Was he even battling Frozone? Was Frozone this man's name?

He blinked. His body, it was probably trying to shiver. Or maybe the cold had moved on to something beyond. He couldn't think straight.

He could barely breathe, too. His body was attempting to quicken the breathing, but there wasn't enough air. Wasn't enough of everything.

“None of you thought to mention this earlier? And why haven't you gone straight to Fury with this?”

Coulson was attempting to look menacing, but he still resembled a teddy bear.

“We don't want him to worry,” Peter explained.

“I'm fairly certain he should be. How long has Danny been missing?”

Ava ran a hand through her hair. “Maybe five hours? Five and a half?”

Coulson took a deep breath. “You all do realize that a lot can happen in five hours, right?”

“We know! Trust me, we do! That's why we're here!” Nova splayed his hands out before him. “We have enemies. He… he…” Nova shook his head. “We have to find him.”

“Yeah.” Luke put his fist into his palm. “This is my best friend we're talking about.”

“What? I thought I was your best friend.”

“Now isn't the time for jokes, Peter.” Coulson eyed each of them. “Any ideas?”

Danny thought he felt the cage moving, but he couldn't be sure. It was hard to see beyond the thick layer of glass.

But there was something in here with him. He could hear its mutterings but couldn’t make out the words. That was, if they were words at all. The creature could be anything.

But he wasn’t cold anymore.

Or maybe he was never cold in the first place?

But now he was hot. He wanted everything off, to stop the burning.

He wanted to breathe.

Fury was staring at the analytics of the Hulk Cage suspiciously when Peter came running up to him. The kid definitely wanted to say something, but Fury spoke first. “Parker. What else is in the cage?”

“I—what? Nothing. Just Frozone, I think.” He, too, looked at the analytics. “That heat signature there is a little weird, but I would think it’s Frozone. I mean, it’s a lot lower than a normal person’s, but… oh.” He narrowed his eyes. “There’s something else moving in there.”

“Exactly.” Fury sighed. “Somethin’ else is in there. Now we have to figure out how to let it free, see what it is. And what is it you wanted to tell me?”

“Haha, yeah, um… Danny’s missing.”

Fury was frozen. “Great. How long?”

“Um, as of now, about seven hours.”

That was when Ava came running in. “Peter! Peter, I think I know where he is! You said something about catching a guy named Frozone in a Hulk Cage?”

“Yeah?” Peter jogged over to her and looked over her shoulder at the tablet. “Son of a…”

“What is it?” asked Fury.

“A YouTube video,” said Ava turning it to him. “It’s of Danny fighting Frozone. Before Peter showed up. He jumped in front of a blast to save the guy recording, and the hit sent him into the Hulk Cage.”

Fury’s eyebrow lifted. Peter could feel his rage despite the cool, collected exterior. “We need to open that cage. Now.”

Years seemed to pass when new voices started upsetting the new order of things. They were familiar to Danny, but he couldn’t place them. Not yet. Not with the ice.

Yelling, yelling.

And then suddenly his body was dropping, and someone caught him.

“Help him! You ha-have to help him!”

Danny felt himself gasp. That voice was… Sam? Sam.

“Yeah, buddy, it’s me. We’re helping you, okay? We’re helping you.”

His voice was shaking. Something was bad. What happened?

There was a curse. “Temperature is 71 degrees. How is he still alive?”

“He isn’t shaking. We need to get him in, fast. He only has minutes if we don’t do something now.”

There were other things, too. His heart rate was too slow. He needed more oxygen.

Danny closed his eyes.

“Clear!”

What felt like a heartbeat later, he found himself in a hospital bed. Again.

“Daniel Rand.”

Doctor Connors. “Yes?”

“How are you feeling?”

Sluggish in body and mind. Translating the question was hard enough.

Danny didn’t answer.

“What do you remember?”

“‘F what?”

“Of how you got here.”

Danny thought back. He’d agreed to do… something with… Luke? Maybe? He remembered running, jumping.

He shook his head. “I—I don’t—”

A beeping quickened. His heartbeat.

Danny needed to focus. Re-center his chi.

“It’s okay you don’t remember. That’s normal for a case of hypothermia as severe as yours.”

He must have looked confused, as Connors continued. “You were battling a man who obtained ice powers. He froze you, Danny. You were locked in for what we estimate to be between seven and eight hours. We found you in the nick of time.”

Nick of time? What did he mean by that?

“You had already experienced a hot flash, Danny. Usually that means you won’t make it. By some force, you did. You’re really lucky, all things considered.”

He hummed.

“Get some rest. You’ll be needing a lot of it.”

Sam strolled in, introducing himself with a, “Fun fact: you died. Twice.”

Danny didn’t bother opening his eyes. “Thanks, dude. That’s good to hear.”

“You aren’t dead now, though. A win’s a win, I guess.”

He opened his eyes now. “What happened?”

Sam plopped down into the chair. “Right, yeah. Doc said you might have some anterograde amnesia or something. A guy named Frozone tried to freeze you to death. Yours truly was the only one who could safely get you out of that ice habitat.”

Danny sat up, wincing as he did. “But you are still sick.”

Sam rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated look. “No kidding? It took a lot out of me, but I guess it was worth it. Next time, though, try not to die.”

Danny blinked. “I died?”

“Yeah. Like I said. Twice. Now go to sleep. Dream of… monks or… something. I dunno.”

Peter couldn’t stop kicking himself. How had he screwed up so bad? Again? He’d almost been the reason Danny was dead.

Scratch that—he was the reason Danny had died. Twice.

If if had been anyone else in that cage—a civilian who couldn’t handle the cold… he would never live with himself.

“Peter?”

Peter jumped to his feet. “Danny! You’re awake!”

Danny was frowning at him. “You are blaming yourself for something again.”

“What makes you think that?”

Danny didn’t respond, instead just narrowing his gaze a little.

Peter sighed. “Fine. I blame myself for what happened to you. And you can’t argue it wasn’t my fault, either, because it totally was.”

“I can’t argue because I can’t remember. Even if I did, I would not blame you, your fault or not. I am fine now. I imagine you saved people. Besides,” he tilted his head, “I likely put myself in harm’s way. That was my choice. Because it was my choice, blaming yourself is unfair to both yourself and to me.”

Peter gave him a half-hearted smile. “Why are you always like this?”

Danny attempted a shrug.

“Thanks, bud. Really, though.”

Danny held out his fist.

Peter narrowed his eyes. “Um… what?”

“Fist bump.”

Peter couldn’t help the waves of laughter that rolled off him.

(He did give Danny a fist bump.)

Chapter Text

Sam was actually good with kids. After all, he did have a younger sister of his own. So when a small, blond-haired boy wearing insanely oversized clothes tugged on his hand and quietly muttered, “Nova?” when he was facing away, he instinctively turned on the big-brother charm by kneeling down and offering a wide, hopefully calming, smile. “Hey. And who might you be?”

He thought it may be a fan -- which he’d recently started running into given the recent “Spiderman’s Sidekicks Prove Better Than Spiderman” segment by J. Jonah Jameson -- but the clothes threw him off. The kid’s face was familiar, though. “S- something’s wrong.” Then he held out a mask, almost reverently.

Sam’s eyes widened the second he made it out. “Crap. Crapcrapcrap.” He pushed a hand to his comm to activate it. “Guys! We have a problem. I think Iron Fist is in trouble -- a kid just showed up with his mask and-- ow!” He glared over at the kid, his previous sympathy exchanging for annoyance. “What was that about?”

The kid matched Sam’s glare, looking not-at-all remorseful for that solid kick to the shin. “It’s mine!” he practically whined.

Sam lifted a brow as he tried to understand what that meant. Kids were rarely great at expressing exactly what they were feeling, and this five-or-six-year old was no different. “Yours? As in…” he ignored the questions Spiderman was shooting over the comm seeing as he didn't yet have any answers (which he’d hopefully be getting from the kid soon enough), “you found it, so you wanna keep it?”

The kid groaned, throwing the mask to the ground in favor of putting his hands on his head. “No! It was always mine!”

Sam blinked. “Um… ‘kay. How about you tell me where you found it?”

“I didn't find it!” The kid was positively exasperated. “It’s mine!”

Well. Sam smiled again, though it likely came out more as a cringe. “How about you just tell me your name?”

The kid beamed, his eyes lighting up as if this was what he’d been waiting for all along. “Danny!”

And, ouch. That coincidence was not one he liked, but at least he’d established a better connection. “Okay, Danny. How about you tell me where your parents are? I’m sure they’re probably worried about you.”

And just like that, Danny deflated. In a way that made Sam feel like an utter fool, the kid looked more disappointed than anything else. Having a child looking disappointed at you was the absolute worst. “They’re dead,” he said.

Sam released a strangled noise. “I-- um-- I’m--”

The kid tucked his hands into his chest. “Sam,” he said.

“What! How did you-- I mean, what about this Sam you speak of?”

“Y- you’re Sam,” the kid said, now pointing shakily at Sam. He then turned that hand to point at himself. “I’m Danny Rand.”

Wow. He really was stupid.

Sam finally tuned back into the comms. “Guys. Danny turned into a six-year old.”

Danny actually pouted at this.

“Danny did what now?” Peter asked.

“I didn't do anything,” said Danny, somehow picking up on the question. Had his comms been working this whole time? Either way, Danny was now standing there with his arms crossed and chest puffed out indignantly. “It was Luke’s fault.”

He directed Sam’s attention to the left, in which case Nova remembered that he was currently in the lab and one Luke Cage had been with him.

Luke reluctantly lifted a hand. “Hey.”

“So you’ve been standing there this whole time,” Sam said slowly, “as I’ve been trying to figure out who this kid is and where the mask came from?”

“Maybe?”

“You’re the worst.”

“My clothes don’t fit,” Danny whined, as if that was the biggest concern of his right now. Who knows, maybe it was? Perhaps his memories were just included as he reverted to his six-year-old self. Sam had a lot of questions, to be honest. I mean, he always did, but this was different.

“Yeah, um, don’t worry Danny,” said Sam. “You’ll fit back in those in no time.” He gave a thumbs up for good measure.

“You really think so?”

“I know so. And Luke,” he continued, stopping Luke his tracks as he’d apparently been trying to escape,
“You’re coming with me to tell Connors what happened.”

Danny’s legs were swinging as he sat on the table for the examination. Peter was now in the room too, bug-eyes as wide as could be. Danny was… well, actually behaving like a kid. It was weird. Really weird.

“The effects shouldn’t last too long,” said Connors as he glared at Luke. What exactly had gone down to make this happen was yet to be explained. “In the meantime, Danny’s still recovering from yesterday’s episode, so this probably didn't do him any favors. Just be careful,” he continued, now looking at Danny.

Danny smiled reverently. Peter sighed in relief. That face was usually followed by one kung-fu quote or another. That was enough to assure him his friend was alright.

“Can I go to the zoo?” he asked instead.

“Ohmigod,” slipped from Peter’s mouth. They were dealing with an actual child.

Danny pouted, turning to face Peter. “I’ve never been!” he defended.

“Oh. That’s sad,” Sam interjected helpfully.

“Yeah,” Ava said instead, glaring at her teammates. “We’ll go later today. Let’s just take it easy in the meantime.”

He smiled -- one of those rare, innocent, blissful smiles that Peter rarely saw on any of his teammates. “Thank you.”

“How about we go now?” Peter blurted. All of them could use a break from the constant evil attacking them. And given their team bonding exercise where they each described in detail their multitude of problems, everyone would benefit from it. Danny especially.

“Yes!” said Danny, jumping from the table. “Now!”

“Wow, okay,” said Sam, and while he sounded annoyed, Peter could detect the amusement behind it. “I guess we all gotta go to the zoo, then.”

If Peter was being honest, going to the zoo with young Danny was the most exhausting experience of his life. He wanted to do and see everything. It was all new to him, he guessed, but still. It took a lot out of a guy. The experience made him wonder how Aunt May and Uncle Ben could’ve possibly handled him with all his energy and ADHD. They were certainly gods.

Sam was really good with Danny. Frankly, he was the one who did the most, pointing out all the “cool” animals and oohing and awing with him. It was really impressive. Who knew Bucket-head could be so patient?

But then they happened upon the wolf exhibit.

Every muscle in Danny’s body froze as he examined the animals there.

Peter almost asked what was up before remembering, like an idiot, that he’d seen his mother die by their jaws. “Crap,” he said as Sam cleared his throat loudly and said, “Let’s go look at something else!”

But now everyone was cuddled together and watching The Lion King. Danny had never seen it, but Peter could see the wheels turning (through his tears) as Danny watched the events unfold and undoubtedly connected it to his own life. In those moments, he didn't look six. He looked much older. Then again, he was apparently still learning how to develop from the age of ten, so those cogs must have been working constantly as he tried to determine his way around the world. This wasn’t so different.

Sam released a wet sniffle.

All eyes turned to him.

“What?” he defended. “It’s sad.”

Ava released a pointed laugh, but Peter had seen her wiping her nose only seconds earlier.

“Guys,” Luke whisper-yelled. “Quiet down.” He angled his head down to Danny, who had apparently fallen asleep as soon as Peter stopped paying attention.

There was a flash, and everyone looked to Sam. He was examining his camera until he noticed them looking at him. “What?” he said, voice still a bit wobbly. “It's cute.”

“No wonder you two got along so well,” Peter quipped. “You actually are a six-year old.”

“Hey!”

Chapter Text

Danny finally convinced everyone he was well enough to practice. They had been going on missions without him so he could recover. Sam had been left out, too, several times -- even though his Nova helmet helped him recover from most of the stagnant lake’s effects, no one was taking chances. While the rest of them were out, he and Sam would play card games. Sometimes Danny even convinced Sam to “chill” with him. (Sam refused to call it meditation. Danny didn’t mind. It was… nice. He could tell Sam needed the relaxation, and he could tell Sam actually enjoyed it. What part he enjoyed, Danny couldn’t figure out.)

To Coulson, Fury, and the rest of the team’s chagrin, Sam and Danny occasionally did parkour together. Neither wore their costumes as they did so. Sam wasn’t used to it, much more accustomed to flying everywhere, but who knew when something or someone could take his helmet? It was a lot of fun, even more fun as he saw Sam end up breathless and clutching his side while Danny barely broke a sweat.

But then Nova was cleared, and Danny was left to his own devices. Again.

He took his time to practice summoning the Iron Fist. It finally came back to him, and he nearly cried with relief. Sometimes it brought flashbacks of being frozen, of being helpless, and it diminished. But Danny was learning more as he controlled it, as he accepted that at one time or another, almost everyone will experience helplessness.

But now he was practicing, and it was great.

There was a simulation of Iron Man and Captain America going against them, because why not?

And it was nice to put on his mask, to get back in the normal flow of things.

Then fake-Iron Man blasted real-Luke Cage right into Danny, which wasn’t normally a problem (with all the times they’d fought together, this was bound to happen, like, once a fight), except 1.) Danny still wasn’t 100 percent and 2.) fake-Captain America deflected a blast from Nova with his shield, and said blast ended up hitting Danny as well.

He was pretty sure he passed out for a few seconds, because the next thing he knew, he was looking up at a worried group of teammates.

He stood up, ignoring Peter’s protests. “I am okay,” he said even as the world tilted a bit. “This has happened before.”

“You sure?” asked Ava. “Because I’m pretty sure you passed out there.”

He sighed. “I am fine. Trust me.”

“I’m gonna get you some water,” said Nova before taking off.

Danny glanced around him as the others finally stepped away, seeming to trust him.

There were about fourteen Spider-mans at this point. “Uh,” said Peter, still keeping his distance, “are you sure? It looks like you’re swaying a bit.”

Danny closed his eyes. “I… I think I am going to sit down. Just for a few minutes.”

Peter managed to catch Danny’s head with webbing before it slammed into the floor.

“Sweet Christmas,” said Luke. “I’ll get Doc Connors.”

“With these repeated head injuries, you’re lucky you don’t have permanent damage yet.”

Danny sniffed. “Another concussion?”

“Exactly. And this one's bad.” Connors crossed his arms. “I’ve been seeing too much of you lately. You need to start being careful.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “It is not intentional. I have no desire to be in the medical ward for most of the duration of my time here.”

“I can imagine. I hate to tell you, but you’ll need some more rest.”

He sighed. “I need to get back to helping people. I am useless when I just sit here and…” He shook his head.

“The team has been fine on their own, Danny. You need the break. You need to heal.”

That was true, wasn’t it? They’d been just fine without him. They didn’t need him, did they?

He nodded. “Okay. I will continue my rest.”

“Good. And keep meditating—that helped you to recover faster last time, so it should work again.”

“Of course.”

In that case… maybe he should go back to K’un-Lun. After the discussion about it earlier, he didn’t exactly want to. But it did need change, and maybe the Iron Fist could bring it.

He didn’t think it would. He really didn’t. During his time there, its people proved stubborn, sticking ruthlessly to tradition. Abusing children. Keeping ill-gotten beliefs. Kicking out people who were deemed “different,” causing people to hide themselves. People like Danny.

Danny didn’t belong there. He realized that with the help of his friends. He knew that his work as the Iron Fist may not be to help just K’un-Lun, but to protect the world.

But if he wasn’t needed here, he didn’t have much of a choice, did he?

Just as Connors was about to leave, Danny cleared his throat. “Do I have to stay in here? Can I rest elsewhere?”

Connors hesitated, then nodded. “As long as you’re careful.”

“Thank you.”

Ava was blocking his way to the door.

He could get past her, of course. He knew that. She knew that. But she stood there with her arms crossed. “Where do you think you’re going?”

He pursed his lips. “To where I am needed.”

“Uh-huh. Y’know, you’ve been AWOL too long. Have you been dodging security cameras?”

He winced. “That is not your concern, White Tiger.”

“Ava. And it is. Why are you avoiding us? Sam won’t admit it, but he’s been stress cooking since he noticed that you were missing.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “I am not missing.”

“Where are you going, Danny? You’re supposed to be resting.”

“And I will. Please let me by.”

She cocked her head with a feline grace only she could master. “Only if you tell me where you’re going.”

There was no point in hiding it. Why had he bothered trying, anyway? “I am going back to K’un-Lun.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re joking.” She examined him. “Okay, you aren’t. Why would you go back? Where is this coming from?”

He shrugged. “There is a chance I can improve K’un-Lun. I am not needed here, so I may as well try.”

“Not needed here? You’re serious! Um, yeah, we need you here!” She splayed her hands out before her. “You’re essential to our team!”

He sighed. “You all have been doing just fine without me.”

“Um, that’s a negative.” She put her hands on her hips. “Do you know how much Peter and Sam have been fighting? I’ve had to act as the middle-man, and I don’t have patience for that. I about killed them both last week. The only reason they stopped fighting was because they thought I’d end them where they stood. And Luke won’t shut up about his ‘best friend’ and how ‘this or that wouldn’t have happened if Danny was here.’ It’s annoying.” She glanced to the side. “And maybe I lied. I didn’t tell anyone you were missing. Sam isn’t stress baking because if he knew you were missing, he’d have left to look for you. I was the one who was stressed out, okay? We do need you here. You’re, like, a rock or something. I dunno. You’re the one who spouts eloquent nonsense, not me. We need you back, Danny, but we also need you back healed.” She met his eyes once more. “Just don’t go back there. Okay? Rest up, get better, then help us. Sound like a plan?”

Danny couldn’t hide his grin. “You care?”

“Shut up! And of course I care! But if you tell anyone else, I will—”

He, instead, made her shut up with a hug.

She sighed heavily and hugged him back briefly before pulling away. “That’s enough. Now, I know the only reason you even began to consider going back to that awful place is because of your concussion, so you better heal fast. Understand?”

His smile didn’t fade. “I understand.”

“Good. All my crap about Sam baking has made me hungry. I’m gonna put in a request for dessert.”

Chapter Text

Peter wasn’t the only one who went out on solo missions, believe it or not.

Granted, the last time Danny did this, he nearly died from hypothermia. But he was restless to a point where no amount of meditation would help, and no baddies had escaped from prison recently.

The past couple months had been pretty nice, especially since he hadn’t been injured repeatedly since the last time he hit his head and almost went back to K’un-Lun.

Now, though, he decided to go out and maybe help stop some petty crime. Peter recommended it awhile back, saying it was his type of relaxation, so it was worth a shot. Besides, the others were still asleep.

He had stopped some early-morning, small-time burgles, and he was starting to see where Peter was coming from. It wasn’t meditating, but it was nice.

He was perched on a rooftop. If he’d been wearing red, anyone who saw him would probably think he was Spider-man. (He wasn’t. At least, not today. He’d rather not have to put on that disgusting mask again.)

Then there was a scream. He listened for where it was coming from for a moment before taking off.

A woman was being attacked, from the sounds of it. Danny couldn’t tell what was happening, but she sounded desperate.

Except when he landed in front of her, she huffed in annoyance. “You aren’t who I was expected,” she said as he stood up. “I thought Spider-man would come to the rescue, but you will do.”

He glanced around. They were alone—she’d lured him out. It was a trap.

She held up her hands. “Don’t worry, kid. No weapons. Except that.” She smiled ferally.

Except what?

In response, something stuck him in the neck. Danny hastily pulled it out.

He frowned as he examined it. A dart of sorts. Was it poisoned? He should go back to Shield to check.

Then he fell to the ground.

Crap. Danny gritted his teeth. He wasn’t even light headed. What was happening?

“Oh, that worked perfectly. Now why don’t you be a good boy and come here?”

He looked up at her and moved back. Something was different. A lot different.

“C’mon. Don’t be like that.”

He took another step back. “What did you do?” he tried to ask.

Instead, he just heard barking.

Danny froze. Then he looked down at himself.

Paws. Fur. Um. Okay.

No panicking. He’d fix this. Shield would help him.

The lady grasped for him, and he leapt out of her way. It was awkward—the transition from two feet to four paws.

Weirder things have happened. Maybe not to Danny, but Peter was a talking pig one time. How weird could this be?

He grabbed the dart from the ground with his mouth and ran in the direction of the headquarters. He’d fix this.

“Peter.”

He shifted in his bed and said a muffled, “Go ‘way.”

“Peter.”

He swatted his hand to the air. “Lemme sleep.”

“There’s a dog in the room, Peter.”

That got him up. He sat up straight. “What?”

Ava was sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyeing the offending animal, which was sitting across from her almost expectantly.

“Oh. My. Gosh.” He put his hands to his cheeks. “That is adorable! Sam!” He ran off his bed to his friend’s, pulling him right out.

Sam fell to the ground with an ‘oomph!’ He glared at Peter. “What’s your problem?”

Peter pointed.

Sam brightened up immediately. “Dog!”

Peter promptly woke up Luke before going to get Danny.

Danny was gone.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Danny’s off for another early-morning crime-stopping day. He’s missing out.”

The dog barked and rose, now looking at Peter.

Peter’s eyes bulged. “I have always wanted a dog.” He slid in front of the animal and started scratching behind its ears. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy? You are! You a good boy!”

The dog whined before barking again.

“Peter,” said Ava again, “I think we need to ask how it got in here.”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine.” Peter sighed. “I’ll bring the dog to Furry. Get it? Furry? Fury? Let’s name this doggo first.”

“Chad,” Sam suggested.

“And you aren’t allowed to exist anymore. Any other suggestions?”

The dog barked and tilted his head.

Peter pointed at it. “Interesting suggestion, Dog. All in favor of the name, ‘Bark,’ raise your hands.” Peter raised his own hand, grabbed the dog’s paw, and lifted it too. “It is settled.”

“Are you serious? You think Bark is better than Chad?”

Bark sniffed around for a moment, let out a low ruff, and stuck his nose at something.

Peter webbed it over to himself. “What’s this? A dart? Bark wants to play darts.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “C’mon. Let’s bring it to Director Fury, and we’ll go from there. Bring the dart, too.”

Peter led the way. Luke had decided to carry Bark there and kept muttering things into his floppy ears. The poor thing had its tail cut off and only had a stump where it used to be. He also had fairly long blond fur that was quite floofy.

Fury looked appalled when Luke walked in with it. “What is that?”

“A dog got in somehow. We don’t know where it came from. Any ideas?”

Fury sighed. “I’ll look at the footage.”

So he started playing it back and watched with general distaste as an agent simply opened the door and let the dog walk in. “That settles it,” he said. He turned back to the group and frowned. “Where’s Rand?”

“He took my suggestion,” said Peter. “He’s out stopping crime. He went out early.”

“I vaguely remember waking up for a minute as he left,” added Luke, finally letting the dog onto the floor.

Bark woofed at Fury and tilted his head.

Fury sniffed. “Get the dog to Connors. Make sure its healthy, and then we’ll decide what to do with it.”

Bark woofed again wearing expectant look in his eyes.

“It’s okay, Bark,” said Peter. “Doc Connors is great, and he’s also missing a limb. Y’know, like your tail.”

The dog somehow looked surprised at this, almost as if it understood Peter, and started walking in curious circles.

“Take it to Connors. Now.”

Bark’s ears perked and he ran off. Thankfully, he was going in the direction of Connors.

“Silly Bark,” said Peter.

Fury narrowed his eye.

“I’ll get him.”

“The dog’s healthy,” Connors said, a hand on Bark’s back, “but he looks like he’s had a hard go at life, cut-off tail aside. I’d say he’s between two and three years old.” He shrugged. “Other than that, he’s coming off normal.”

Bark whined. Then barked. (This would forever give Peter a good laugh. Bark barking Bark barking Bark barking Bark—)

“Spider-man.”

“Right! Sorry! What do you mean by hard go?”

Connors rubbed Bark’s back. “He’s got a lot of scar tissue, and there’s evidence of injuries compiling over time. Whoever had him before he wandered in here wasn’t great.”

Peter sighed. “Sorry, Bark.”

“Come again?”

“Oh! Sorry, Doc. I named him Bark.”

Doc Connors sighed. “Why am I surprised? Anyway, I’ll analyze the dart you gave me next. It might be a little while before I get results. The machine’s been acting up a bit.”

“Huh, I wonder why. Thanks!”

(Yeah, Peter had tried to modify the machine. It didn’t work out great. There was a small fire.)

“C’mon Bark!” Peter called, jogging away.

Bark jumped off the table and followed.

Danny never realized just how dense people could be. Then again, Danny would never expect one of his friends to show up as a dog. He’d act the same way.

But to call him Bark?

He needed a way to prove it was him. A way without talking.

“Iron Bark,” Peter said thoughtfully when Bark showed up with one of Danny’s spare masks in his mouth. “Cool. You can be Danny’s sidekick when he comes back. Speaking of which… Sam!”

“What?!”

“Have you seen Danny?!”

“No!”

“Huh. He’s been out for a while.” Peter smiled at Bark. “Want to go looking?”

The dog dropped the mask to the floor, slapped a paw on it, and barked.

“That’s right—we are looking for the owner of that mask.”

Bark nuzzled the mask.

Peter slapped his hands together. “You can put it on while we look! It will be so cute!”

Sam finally stepped out of the closet, changed into his Nova uniform. “What are you doing?” he asked, watching curiously as Peter wrestled the mask onto Bark’s head.

“We’re gonna look for Iron Fist. He needs to meet Iron Bark.”

“Ohh-kaaay. Whatever, Creep. Fury gave us an assignment, so that has to wait. He’s gonna brief Danny once he comes back.”

Bark barked, mask now on his face.

“Where are we going?”

“Someone named Eldra Truce has been performing experiments on people. Apparently, she wants you. We need to stop her before she hurts someone else. In other words, it’s just another Tuesday.”

Peter pointed at him. “It would be, except Iron Bark will be with us to conquer Truce.”

“We aren’t gonna put the dog in danger.” Sam knelt down to be eye-level with Bark. “Isn’t that right?”

Bark shook his head at Sam and woofed at him.

“See! He said no. He wants to come.”

Bark seemed to freeze, then nodded slowly.

“Ho-ly crap. Does he understand us?”

Bark barked excitedly and nodded.

“There’s no way that’s a coincidence,” said Sam. “We found a dog genius.”

“It’s settled,” said Peter. “We are taking Genius Iron Bark with us. After we take care of Truce, we see if Danny’s showed up yet. If not, we find him.”

Sam nodded. “Deal.”

They didn’t find Eldra Truce. Danny never showed up.

Everyone was reasonably upset.

Peter was pacing. “This is ridiculous! Danny could be in trouble, and Truce is out there probably hurting more people. We’re useless!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be an optimist?”

“Now isn’t the time, Ava.”

Ava sighed and stood up. “It’s been a day, Peter. You need to sleep if we want to find him—we all do.”

Bark whined and walked up to Peter, nuzzling his nose in the boy’s hand.

Peter sighed. “Fine. We get up early tomorrow and look.”

Danny was seriously losing hope. They hadn’t figured it out yet, and he had no clue how to change back—if he could change back.

Nevertheless, he slept on the floor next to Sam. Peter was very obviously worried, but Danny could sense the other boy’s panic. He wasn’t sleeping as he should be.

So after an hour, he jumped onto Sam’s bed and put his head on the boy’s chest. He let out a quiet ‘ruff.’

“Thanks, Bark,” Sam whispered.

Danny still couldn’t believe that name had taken.

“Rise and shine! We’re outta here! Let’s go!” Peter clapped his hands together, and everyone else groaned before rising from their beds. “We need an early start. Come on. I have Fury looking through footage for any sightings of Danny or Truce in the area, but we need boots on the ground and Bucket-heads in the air.”

Danny jumped from Sam’s bed, shook, and looked up to Peter.

Peter promptly put a mask on Danny’s head. “Let’s go.”

Fury told them to look on twenty-second. Apparently, both Danny and Truce were spotted there at one point before disappearing down unmonitored alleyways.

Danny’s nose was to the ground as he tried to find any clues.

Nova was watching from the sky when he shouted, “Incoming!”

Peter ducked out of the way of a dart at the last second. And another. And another.

“Spider-man—you aren’t any fun! But I see you found my pet from earlier!” She laughed very stereotypically maniacally.

Danny’s head snapped up, and he growled.

“Wait, this is your dog?” Peter crossed his arms. “No wonder he ran away! You’re a terrible owner.”

She giggled, but none of the team had found where she was yet. “Yes. Something like that.”

Then more darts started appearing.

Danny charged at Peter, knocking him out of the way of one as Ava flipped up the building.

“Do you have eyes on her?” she called to Nova.

“Over there! That red brick building! On your left! I just saw her run in!”

That was all Danny needed.

If anyone knew how to change him back, it was her.

He scrambled off Peter and began sprinting at the building, dodging any darts aimed his way. He was lucky the door was unlocked as he nudged his way in and took the stairs up.

Truce met him one flight down from roof access.

She smiled widely at him. “Hello, pet.” She took a step back, probably hoping it was slow enough that Danny didn’t see the movement. “If you’re wondering if I can cure you, the answer is no.”

Danny growled. She had to be lying. And yet…

“You know I’m telling the truth. I hear dogs have a sense for those kinds of things.” She shrugged, backing up another step of the staircase. “Sorry, kid. You tried to help the wrong girl.” Then she turned and ran up the rest of the flight. She opened the door to roof access.

Danny chased after her, trying to squeeze through the door as she tried to slam it shut.

She ended up slamming it against him, as he only got half his body through.

Danny yelped in pain before stepping back as she tried to kick him.

He heard as she locked the door.

Danny growled and scratched uselessly at the door.

His ribs and stomach were throbbing—he’d likely broken a rib.

“Bark!”

That was Luke. From the sounds of it, Peter and Ava were right in his tail. “Hey, boy! Let me through!”

Danny limped to the side as Luke blazed right through the locked metal door.

They followed Luke through the now-gaping hole.

Sam was keeping Truce occupied, dodging the darts she sent from attachments to her wrist, and just generally insulting her. He was a pro at that.

Danny was stuck as a dog.

He blinked.

She hadn’t been lying. He was a dog now.

Well, he could find some way to tell his teammates later. For now, he needed to suck it up and keep trying to help people. He had to accept it.

Danny took some deep breaths, ignoring the pain in his side, and charged at Truce.

At some point on the way, he apparently turned back human, as he ended up striking her with a glowing fist.

Huh. So much for stuck. And right as he’d accepted it, too.

“Danny?”

Danny lifted his eyes. Peter and Nova were now side-by-side gaping at him. “Yes?” he said.

Peter clasped his hands behind his head. “I don’t believe it.”

Danny lifted a hand and scratched behind his ear. He was back in his attire from the morning before. “I am Bark,” he stated. “Also, I do not like that name.”

Sam suddenly broke down in laughter.” You’re a dog! Danny’s a dog! I knew it all along!”

“Why didn’t you change back earlier?” Ava asked, studying him cautiously.

He shrugged. “I did not think I could. I tried to tell you it was me. Instead, I was called Iron Bark.”

Sam was practically howling with laughter at this point.

Peter was still at a stunning loss for words. “But—but—”

Suddenly, Luke was rubbing his fist against Danny’s head. “I should have known!” he called over Danny’s giggles. “Only Danny would accept head rubs so willingly!”

Danny kept giggling as Sam now dropped to the floor.

“Boys,” said Ava, obviously unimpressed, “we should probably take care of Truce.”

“Yeah,” said Luke, still rubbing Danny’s head, “I’ll get right on it!”

“I—” said Peter.

Ava rolled her eyes. “Just another Wednesday.”

“Only one broken rib. I’m impressed. It won’t take you long to heal this.” Connors looked up to the rest of the group. “What happened to that dog, by the way?”

Danny lifted his hand. “My bad.”

Doc Connors lifted an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

Danny grinned and closed his eyes. It was just like accessing the Iron Fist. Only different.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Connors blinking at him owlishly. “Okay. I shouldn’t be surprised. So okay.”

Danny tilted his head and stuck out his tongue.

“His butt’s wagging,” Sam commented. “He’s so full of it.”

Danny turned back human and grinned at Sam. “I am just happy I can control it.”

“And that you can pee wherever you want and get away with it.”

Peter snorted.

Danny shrugged. “At this point, I will take any win.”

Ava quickly hid her own snort of laughter.

Sam’s jaw dropped. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Danny hopped off the table and looked back to Connors. “I will focus my chi to help me heal. Thank you, Doctor Connors.” He then walked away.

Sam’s eye twitched. “Danny? Danny—you didn’t answer me. Danny!”

Chapter Text

The good question was when was Oscorp not in danger?

Shield wanted to keep Harry protected now that Doc Ock was out on another bout of revenge. Unfortunately, Harry didn’t want any help from Shield.

So they got a new plan: spy on him. Keep an eye on him to keep him protected.

Luckily for them, Peter knew that Harry had a soft spot for strays.

Danny had his typical stoic expression on when Peter first suggested it. Since the ‘dog incident,’ as they’d dubbed it, he’d opted to stay in human form.

“It’s a great idea!” said Peter.

“Only if Danny’s up for it,” Fury interjected.

Danny nodded sharply. “If I can protect him as such, then I will do it.”

“Bark is back,” said Peter.

Luke put a hand to Danny’s back. “You sure you’re up for it?”

Danny looked back at him with a soft smile. “I am sure.”

Sam suspected Danny actually was hesitant, and if he was, it was probably because he felt vulnerable. “I could also hang out with him as me, not Nova,” he sputtered out suddenly. “I mean, I wouldn’t be able to stay as long as Danny or else he might get suspicious, but—”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Fury, and Sam saw Danny’s shoulders drop the slightest bit in relief. “Danny will guard him day and night for a few days, and you all can take turns visiting during the day. That way, you can easily contact us and let us know if something is amiss.” He crossed his arms. “How about we go ahead and start on this mission. We don’t know when Doc Ock may strike.”

Harry was staring out the car window. He didn’t know why he was shocked at the news that Doctor Octopus had gotten out again. Shield offered its protection, but Harry was too upset—they were the ones who let Doc Ock go; how could they possibly protect him?

“We’re here, sir.”

“Thank you.” Harry stepped out of the vehicle, not looking back as the driver left. Home again. Hopefully—

There was a rustle in the bushes just next to the front doors. Harry took a cautious step toward it. Was there someone in there, waiting to kill him? Would it really be that surprising? Maybe he should’ve taken Shield up on its offer.

Then out crawled a dog, head low, paws treading just as cautiously as Harry had been before. It looked up at the boy with pitiful eyes.

Harry took in its dirtied appearance, lack of collar, and various (albeit, healed) cuts immediately. “Hey, buddy,” he said in a sing-song tone, kneeling down. “What are you doing here?”

The dog padded over to him, quicker now, and snuffed Harry’s palm.

“That’s right, boy.” He scratched behind its ear. “How about I take you inside? Does that sound good?”

The dog’s mouth opened in what resembled a smile. Harry mimicked it. “I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s go.”

The dog didn’t have any chips or anything of that sort, according to the vet in staff at the time, so Harry opted just to bring the dog up to his room with him for now. Besides, the previous home was obviously less than affectionate based on the scarring.

So now Harry was sitting at his desk studying math (or at least trying to. It seemed like a lost cause at this point.) as the dog lay at his feet. “I’m gonna have to name you,” he said, still examining the papers before him mindlessly.

“How about Chad?”

Harry jumped and turned around. “Sam? What are you doing here?”

Sam shrugged. “One of your butlers or whatever let me up. What’s with the dog?”

Harry smiled, giving the dog a gentle rub on the head. It smiled and closed its eyes. “I think he’s a stray. He was outside the building when I showed up. He didn’t have any ID, and it looks like his past owners, if there were any, treated him badly, so I’m taking him in. For now, at least.”

“Cute,” Sam said, approaching the dog. “So what about the name?”

Harry laughed. “I’m not naming him Chad. Even I’m not that cruel.”

Sam scowled. “Hey, it’s not that bad.”

“Says you.” Harry leaned back in the chair. “So what are you doing here?”

Sam shrugged and sat on the floor, now petting the dog’s back. “I was bored. You’re probably one of the least boring people I know. Besides, you’ve just acquired a dog. Someone needs to teach you responsibility.”

Harry grinned and rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Alexander.”

The dog suddenly rose and shook out his fur. “How about Terrence?” Sam suggested.

Harry paused. As weird as the name was… “For some reason, I think that fits him. Terrence it is.”

Sam smiled, and there was a hint of that malice that always had Harry wondering what, exactly, Sam did when Harry wasn’t looking. “Awesome! So what are you doing?”

Harry’s frown returned. “Well, I’m trying to do math homework. I’m not the genius Peter is with this stuff, unfortunately.”

“No worries! I can try and help you out. I mean, I may not be the best at it, but some outside perspective could help.”

“That’d be really nice. Thank you.”

“Anything for a friend. Besides, once you’re done with math, we can order a pizza or something.”

Harry grinned. “Sounds good. I’ll have Gerard pick up some dog food, too.”

That menacing smile returned. “Yeah. Terrence! You’re gonna get some doggie food!”

Terrence appeared unimpressed, and the way he cocked his head at Sam vaguely reminded him of Danny. “Only the best,” Harry assured.

Sam laughed. “His whole butt wags since he doesn’t have a tail. Do you see that? It’s hilarious.”

Terrence huffed and sat down. “Careful,” Harry said with a hint of amusement, “you might offend him.”

“He’s a dog, Harry.” Sam waggled his finger at the dog.

Harry laughed. “Right. Now, about math.”

Nothing interesting happened at the Oscorp building. Not yet, anyway. Sam kept making dog jokes at Danny’s expense, and as much as Danny hated to admit it, they were sometimes a tad funny.

And the dog food wasn’t bad. Some of the food at K’un-Lun made it look gourmet. Then again, it was gourmet. Just not for humans.

He was currently laying on the floor, keeping his nose and ears peeled for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. Harry and Sam were on the couch next to him still eating pizza and watching a movie.

Sam threw a piece of his pizza on the floor next to Danny.

Danny lifted his head and looked at him, unimpressed.

Harry leaned over to examine the exchange. “Huh,” he said. “I’ve never seen a dog that didn’t like pizza.”

“Terrence is special,” Sam said, glaring. “It’s a waste of perfectly good pizza.”

Danny sighed, grabbed the pizza with his mouth, stood up, and dropped it back into Sam’s plate.

Sam eyeballed it. “Disgusting. Is it bad I still want to eat it?”

Harry huffed. “Please don’t. Spare me this time.”

Danny jumped as the end credits suddenly started blaring out.

Harry cursed, muted the TV, and ran over to Danny. “You’re okay, Terrence,” he said, rubbing Danny’s neck. “You’re safe.”

Yeah, he knew that. Harry was the one possibly in danger.

Danny bopped his nose against Harry’s palm and wagged his butt to tell him he was fine.

Harry sighed in relief. “Good.” Then he turned to Sam. “Do you have a job or something?”

Sam spat out the pizza he’d been chewing on in surprise. “Me? A job? Why—What makes you ask that?”

Harry rose and stretched out his arms. “I don’t know. You, Danny, Ava, Luke—even Peter—all seem busy all the time. I don’t see you around much anymore, then suddenly you show up. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to catch up.”

Sam sighed. “Yeah. Life’s just been hectic, I guess. A lot’s been going on, but…”

“But you can’t tell me.” Harry nodded. “I get it, I guess. May as well catch up on what we can.” He smiled. “I have a dog for now. His name’s Terrence.”

Sam grinned back at him. “I believe we’ve met. Who came up with such a great name?”

Harry lifted his eyebrows. “A great name, huh? All credit goes to me. What can I say?”

Danny started meandering about the room. He couldn’t exactly meditate—he was technically still on guard duty.

“Although for real, I’m technically in danger of being attacked by Doc Ock again, so there’s that.”

“Again?” Sam wasn’t very good at acting. “How many times is that? Seven? Eight?”

“I lost count.” Harry shrugged. “I guess that means you’re in danger so long as you’re here. So is Terrence.”

Sam waved a dismal hand. “At this point, I don’t even care.”

“Good. Maybe. So, what have I missed in your life? Have you finally come o—”

Sam slapped a hand against Harry’s mouth. Harry blinked in surprise as a slight flush dawned Sam’s cheeks. “Not in front of Terrence.”

Harry pulled Sam’s hand off. “I’ll take that as a no.” He was wearing a bemused smile. “I still can’t believe I’m the one who figured it out.”

Figured what out?

Danny tilted his head thoughtfully.

Then he smelled something.

He tilted his head the other way.

A person was approaching the door.

Danny lowered to his haunches and approached it. The scent was unfamiliar—they came from outside the building. But how would an attacker easily get in like this? And why would he—

The door opened, and Danny chilled out. It was just some dude with a—

Something slipped around his neck.

He heard Harry stand up. “Hey! What are you doing?”

The man harrumphed. “Dogs ain’t allowed, kid. I’m takin’ him to the pound.”

Harry jogged over as Sam whispered a light, “Uh oh.”

“That’s my dog,” Harry said. “You can’t do that.”

“Actually,” the man pulled something, and the rope around Danny’s neck tightened, causing him to wheeze, “I can.” Then he began walking away. Danny tried to pull away, but the more he pulled, the tighter the rope got. This was a mess.

Danny let out a low growl and sat down, trying to make the rope slip over his head.

The man, Hank, according to the name tag, rolled his eyes. “Keep this up and I’ll put in an order to put you down.”

Danny sighed. He’d escape and get back to Harry later. For now, he was following the man.

Danny was loaded into a kennel in the back of a van that held about six other dogs.

As soon as the back door shut and the engine started, Danny changed back into his human form.

The dogs went a bit wild, but he calmed them down rather quickly and began trying to open his kennel door.

As soon as he did, he looked at the animals. Then he opened their cages, too.

The van was beginning to slow down—perhaps the driver knew something was up. He’d have to act fast.

So Danny summoned his iron fist and punched through the back door, turned back into a dog, and led the rest of the animals away, ignoring the shouts of the man.

Harry was fuming, pacing back and forth, muttering about filing charges. He knew he couldn’t leave the building while Doc Ock was out on the prowl, and Sam knew he couldn’t leave or else no one would have eyes on Harry.

Sam really hoped Danny had a plan because this was not how he expected the night to go.

Almost on cue, Sam saw a familiar face through the window. Crap.

He turned to Harry. “Harry! How about you wash up in the bathroom. We’ll figure out how to get D-Terrence back. In fact, I may just go get him myself.” He started pushing Harry to the bathroom. “Go on, then.”

Harry complied enough to let Sam shut the door on him.

Then Sam ran to the window and let Danny in. “How,” he said simply. “How did you scale the building.”

Danny shrugged. “Skills. I think being the dog is draining some of my energy.”

Sam pointed at him. “Sorry. Also, not really. Now turn dog again. We need you to watch over Harry. Hurry—before he comes out.”

Danny sighed softly and turned back into Terrence.

Just then, Harry walked out of the bathroom, his face still slightly damp. He froze. Looked to Sam. “How is Terrence back?” He narrowed his eyes. “And why is the window open?”

He looked… suspicious. Suspicious of Sam.

Sam smiled. He hoped it was convincing. “I thought you needed some fresh air. You looked stressed. And I guess Terrence somehow escaped—I opened the door and was gonna shoot you a text that I left to get him, but he walked right on in. Isn’t that right, Terrence?”

Danny, bless him, gave a doggish smile, wagged his butt, and woofed softly.

Harry sighed and shut the window. “Sam, I need you to be honest with me.”

Sam felt the blood drain from his face. Crap.

“Why don’t you like talking about yourself?”

Sam scoffed. “Please. I always talk about myself. I always think I’m the awesomest person in the room.”

“Okay.” Harry was still serious. “Then why don’t you tell me about your parents? Where you lived before you came here—where you even live now. I know you, Sam, but most of what I know about you you I learned by accident.”

This wasn’t good. Sam tapped his foot. “It’s different.”

“How? We’re friends, Sam. You know you can trust me.”

He hit his lip. “I know, but—”

Danny started barking wildly.

Sam looked to the window. His eyes widened. “Move!” he yelled, grabbing Harry and throwing the both to the floor just as a tentacle arm burst in through the window. It barely missed them.

Danny growled as Doc Ock’s face slowly appeared. “Harry Osborn! It’s about time I took you out! Now, while I have the chance, I will!”

Then Terrence turned back into Iron Fist.

Sam was still holding onto Harry, but Harry wrestled out of his grip. “What—wh—”

“Harry,” Danny said, lowering his voice a bit, “stand back.”

“You—you were my dog!”

Sam could see Danny’s shoulders tighten. “Harry—”

“No—no you're that guy! Iron Fist! I saw you fall to your death! Wha—what—”

Danny lit his fists. “Sam Alexander. Get Harry out of here.”

Sam reached for Harry’s arm, but Harry pulled away.

Doc Ock cackled and slid in the rest of the way through the window. “You fool! Now I—”

“Hiii-yah!” Danny flew into Doc Ock Fist first, slamming through the metal guards encasing him.

“We need to go!” Sam hissed at Harry.

Harry’s face momentarily contorted into anger, then, “Fine.”

They started running, not speaking until Sam had led them out a back entrance and into a different building about a block away.

As soon as they made it inside, Harry pulled him to the side. “What was that.”

Sam shook his head, trying to look as oblivious as possible. “I don’t—”

“Cut that out. Thank you for saving me, but I can definitely tell that you weren’t surprised when my dog turned into Iron Fist. You knew, didn’t you?”

Sam swallowed. “I—I… Fine. I knew. The guy climbed in through the window, said he was protecting you from Doc Ock. He asked me not to tell you.”

“Why do I get the feeling that’s only half true?”

Because it was. “Harry, I—”

“For once, Sam, please. Tell me what’s going on.”

Sam held his breath. Breathed back out. “You asked me if I had a job.”

Harry nodded.

“I do. Kind of. It’s more… volunteer work, but it takes a lot of time.”

Harry still didn’t speak, instead studying Sam, calculating.

“I work for Shield, Harry.”

Harry took a deep breath. “Shield.”

Sam nodded.

“What do you do?”

Sam shrugged. “Menial labor.”

“So you only visited me because of your job.”

Sam sighed. “No, actually. I wanted to. It’s been a while, like you said. The circumstances suck, I know, but—”

Harry waved his explanation off. “You don’t need to explain.” He sighed. “I get it. I shouldn’t be mad. It’s wrong. You—you’re trying to do something good, right?”

“Yeah.” Sam glanced away. “Yeah, I am.”

“And you get to meet superheroes.”

Sam snorted. “Yeah. I do that, too.”

“And you’re telling me that you can’t tell your crush you like him?”

Sam hit him in the shoulder. “Shut up. He isn’t even—never mind. Just shut up. I have to help take care of Doc Ock. You stay here, and stay safe.”

“Sam! What can you do against a bunch of super—”

Sam reached in the dumpster on his left. Desperate times called for desperate measures. At least he remembered the right dumpster. He pulled out his helmet, placed it firmly on his head, saluted Harry, and flew out.

The team watched Doc Ock as he yelled through the glass. This time, it was soundproof, too, so it just looked like he was whispering very violently. Sam would think it’s funny except…

He turned on his heel to face Peter. “Harry knows I’m Nova.”

Peter’s eyes widened comically. “What?”

“Harry knows I’m—”

“He understood you, friend,” Danny said, putting a hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“Does that mean he—”

“He doesn’t know about you, Danny, Ava, or Luke. Not yet, anyway.” Sam pursed his lips. “I’m sorry, but he was… I’m sorry.”

Peter waved a gloved hand. “No worries. With all the times we keep protecting him, he was bound to find out eventually. How about we make a bet? Whoever guesses the amount of time closest to when Harry figures everyone out wins.”

Sam grinned. “Deal.” Then he noticed Danny’s hand was still absentmindedly on his shoulder. K’un-Lun must’ve been no good at teaching about personal space. “Danny?”

“Hm?”

“How long do you think it’ll take?” he asked, shifting subtly in a way Danny would recognize, as he had in the past, that he was doing something not exactly normal.

Danny caught on, his face redeeming only the slightest as he took his hand off. “I will give him three months. If he did not realize that was me as the Iron Fist and as Terrence, then he will take some time.”

Sam snorted. “Yeah. That was good. You should’ve seen his face when you turned human.”

“He said he saw me die,” Danny said curiously.

Sam rolled his eyes. “That was the defenestration incident. Defenestration meaning having been thrown out a window because I know what that means. Take it.”

“He also said something about you.” A small smile formed on his lips. It was slightly… menacing? But that was Sam’s fortê. “Before you made sure he stopped talking in front of Terrence.”

Sam swallowed. “You look a tad creepy right now, buddy.” Then he did his best to match Danny’s grin. “And maybe I’ll tell you about that later. Now I’m gonna go take a shower. So should you. You reek.”

Sam walked away purposefully.

Peter cleared his throat. “You didn’t put in your bet!”

“A week!”

“Cool! And risqué. I’m gonna say two months. Luke?”

Luke pursed his lips. “One and a half.”

Ava crossed her arms. “One month, max. Loser has toilet duty for a month.”

Peter smiled underneath his mask. “We all know Sam’s gonna lose big time.”

“Oh yeah,” said Ava. She pulled off her mask. “Now I gotta go study Calc. I’ll see you all on the flip side.”

Peter sighed. “I have to finish up my science project. Catch you all later.” He waved goodbye morosely.

Danny bit his lip. “I am going to go out on a limb and assume he will fall asleep in that mask.”

“I bet you’re right.” Luke took off his sunglasses. “And what was that between you and Sam?”

Danny’s expression didn’t change. “Hm?”

Luke huffed. “You’re so oblivious, Danny. I love you, but dang.”

Danny shrugged. “You are going to leave me in the dark as well, then?”

“Yeah. You gotta figure this out yourself. But hey,” he slapped Danny’s back, “at least you didn’t get hurt today.”

Danny slid his gaze to Luke. “I do feel like I will sleep for two days straight.”

Luke frowned. “Um. What? Why?”

“The dog thing, Luke.” His smile lifted awkwardly. “Do you mind carrying me to my bed? I will shower when I next wake up.”

Luke shook his head with a grin. “Anything, brother. C’mere.” He lifted Danny bridal-style. The other boy instantly fell asleep in his arms.