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Natasha enjoyed small towns. Something about the fresh air and miles of greeny always put a small smile on her face. Maybe Clint was on to something having his house so far away from town. Nothing but his family and trees for as far as the eye could see. Plus it offered a sense of privacy you could never get in the cities. Expensive apartments always have far more windows that are humanly necessary, and the cheaper ones always have paper-thin walls. It was hard to relax when you were sure your neighbors could hear your heartbeat.
She considered getting a house somewhere out in the woods, far from the bustle of people and the fast pace of everyday life. The thought was shoved away quickly enough. She knew that after a while, the open nothing would get to her. There was no way to blend into a crowd of people, away from assassins and spies trying to take her life, when there were no people to blend into.
So, she settled on spending as much time as she could out in the country when she could.
Breathing in the fresh air, Natasha let herself relax a little into the bench she was sitting on. The sounds of a breeze rustling through trees were nearly overrun by the excited children just getting out of school. The woman had found a spot to relax in a park just outside of some public high school that went by the name of “Casper High.” It was a strange name, she had to admit, but given that the town she was currently in had a “most haunted town in America” tourist trap, it made a little sense.
It was so peaceful here, she almost hated the fact that she was here for a mission. Almost.
There were reports in the area about an organization called the G.I.W. With the way it seemed to sprout out of nowhere in the middle of nowhere, S.H.I.E.L.D had reason to believe that this organization was a branch from HYDRA that had simply gotten out of control without the Avengers there to keep them in check. Apparently, the organization had taken to terrorize this small town under the guise of their safety. Natasha wasn’t given much, but when was she ever.
She was here to get information. Nothing more.
Something sour filled her mouth when she thought about this small town’s situation. HYDRA never knew when to leave innocents alone, did they? And to think, they managed to evolve into their own branch purely because of SHIELD's negligence. The only reason they managed to find out about it was because some rich asshole in town got raided gaining way too much publicly.
She drew in another breath, lowering the book she was reading. She had been reading the same paragraph for a while as her thoughts got out of control. With practiced ease, her nerves settled and her mind cleared. She was supposed to be keeping her eye out anyways. Looking for any sign that this G.I.W was meddling about.
From what she understood from her debriefing, they mainly worked at night, except for a few raids during work/school hours. Didn’t mean she wasn’t about to use them as an excuse to get some very much-needed reading time.
It was a solo mission anyways. No one here to reprimand her for enjoying herself.
She pulled the book back up as she got into a comfortable position, listening to little snippets of the teenager’s conversations as they walked past her. No one paid her any mind, too wrapped up in their conversations to really notice that someone new in town was sitting on a bench reading away. Strangers were still a rare sight even with their tourist trap. Nothing more than a few amateur ghost hunters ever visited the town, usually staying a few weeks in the summer, spending their days sleeping and their nights trying to get proof that ghosts actually existed. It was currently fall, the chill usually chasing away anyone dumb enough to visit the town, and Natasha was spending her day sitting in the sun.
“I’m totally keeping Skulker in the thermos for a week for this,” She heard a teen grumble to her left. She spared a glance towards the kid. Messy black hair, blue eyes, black jacket with a cartoon ghost on the front, black jeans, and red converse. Two teens were on either side of him. One was a young woman, black hair dyed purple at the ends, purple eyes, black cat earrings dangling from her ears, black fishnets wrapped around her arms covered by a black tee that said “You ready, witches?” in purple lettering, tucked into a black ripped jeans and black combat boots that had two buckles over the zippers. The other was a young man with black hair, blue eyes, wearing a red beret, a yellow mustard shirt, and brown cargo pants.
“That’s so unfair, Danny!” The girl next to the boy exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “You should leave him in there for two,” The group burst into a fit of laughter as they walked past Natasha. She kept her eyes trained on the page.
“But seriously,” the boy in the yellow shirt chimed in, “Skulker always interrupts at the worst times. Remember when he broke down the door during our math midterm? The jerk really needs to learn you alone during school hours.” Natasha blinked at that.
That was slightly concerning. She strained her ears to try and listen to the kids.
“I know,” the boy -Danny- sighed, slumping into himself slightly. But whatever he was going to say got whisked away by the wind, walking out of Natasha’s hearing without a care in the world.
She tried to shake it off. There was a chance they were talking about some silly video game, that would make some sense. With the silly names and keeping said person inside of thermos, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say it was some intricate videogame all the kids played together. They did all look joined at the hip, it wouldn’t be too surprising that they spent most of their time together. Still, Natasha couldn’t find it in herself to ignore.
Instead, she stored it away somewhere in the back of her mind, ready for her retrieval if she would ever need it.
She turned to the next page, her book was getting interesting.
It didn’t take her long to find out that this town was indeed, very strange, and was most definitely not lying when they claimed to be the most haunted town in America.
Very rarely was Natasha ever surprised. Being surprised was for other people, people that could afford to be surprised. People that didn’t need to know every detail about the situation they were about to jump into because it very rarely ever led to their death. Surprising people was her thing, not a thing for someone else to pull.
But as Natasha stared, wide-eyed, feet frozen to the ground as she watched as fucking ghosts battled it out in the middle of Amity Park’s main street, she was surprised.
She didn’t even notice as a ray of something purple came hurtling at her head until she was shoved out of the way, her body hitting the ground with a harsh thud, the skin on her elbows being scraped away painfully.
The ghost that knocked her away took the brunt of the shot, sending it flying into the building, a barely conscious body slamming into the solid rock creating a web of cracks. Natasha whipped her head around only now getting a better look at the ghost that supposedly saved her. She to stifle another wave of shock as she realized the ghost was a fucking kid. A kid that looked no older than fourteen.
A fourteen-year-old ghost kid? She tried not to think of the implications of that.
The other ghost that shot that ray in the first place, touched down right next to her, not even sparing her a glance. This ghost looked to be a middle-aged man with blue skin, red eyes, black hair, and a matching black, white, and red suit to match. With those fangs, she couldn’t help but think he looked like a vampire.
The man held himself upright, clearly knowing he held the upper hand. Natasha didn’t need to know the guy to know the familiar stance of experience, and the confidence it brought with it.
‘He was aiming for me.’ She realized as the man stalked towards the kid, another ball of purple stuff materializing in his hand. He knew the kid would take the hit for her.
Then, she did another thing that she thought she would never do.
She acted without thinking.
Something like that would’ve surely gotten you killed. You didn’t rush headfirst into danger without some semblance of a plan. Not in her line of work. Unless you were someone insanely lucky (she tried not to think about Peter, but the kid did have a tendency to act first and think later. He was lucky that he was surprisingly good at thinking in the middle of a battle though. But he was still a kid, and he was still sloppy.)
Pushing herself to her feet, a hand wrapped around that taser she always kept on her person. Even when she went undercover for recon missions such as this one. It was custom-made by Stark himself, holding enough jolts to take down even the Hulk. Wouldn’t kill a man, but still useful. It was almost as painful as her bracelets. Almost.
She lunged at the man, knowing she hit her mark when the vampire ghost thingy let out a shout. She pulled away, using that split moment of distraction to send a roundhouse kick straight for his head.
It didn’t hit. Her leg just soared through his skull. Hitting nothing but air. She pushed herself with a black flip, trying not to let the shock of this development get to her. Ghosts could only be hit sometimes. Got it.
The vampire lunged at her as she made her retreat, claws swinging at what would’ve been her head.
She straightened out for only a moment before she felt a presence behind her. Letting her instincts take over, she jumped to the side just as the Vampire made another swing at her. Wait, she glanced over to where she was sure the Vampire was. Sure enough, he was still standing there, looking a little dazed from the taser.
Great, the Vampire could make duplicates.
Something green hit the double, making the form dissipate out of existence.
The kid was back up, a hand pressing into his side, the other held up in a fist. The same green wrapping around his clenched hand. The kid was looking worse for wear. Bruises nearly swelling one of his eyes closed, and a toxic green sludge dripped down the side of his face. A cut on her bicep leaking that same green sludge told Natasha that was probably the equivalent of blood for this ghost.
“You’re fight’s with me Fruitloop,” The boy sounded more annoyed than anything else. Like this was something that he had to deal with a lot. She glanced back at the Vampire, ‘Was his name seriously Fruitloop?’ But judging by the way his face contorted in anger by the name, she quickly guessed ‘no.’
She let out a snort before she could stop herself. This kid was clearly losing, and yet, he tried his best to rile up the other ghost.
He was most definitely fourteen.
The Vampire shot another blast of purple, the same look of anger on his face. He didn’t even notice the ice that crept its way around his ankles, keeping the ghost glued to the floor. Until he tried to step. A glance down was all it took for the kid to sneak up on him and send a left hook right into the Vampire’s jaw. The ice broke and he was sent to the floor with a thud.
The kid pulled something off his belt, pointing it at the Vampire.
Natasha watched with fascination as the cylinder thing the kid was using, pulled the Vampire in. The kid trapped the Vampire in when he placed the lid of the device back on with practiced ease.
With a sigh, the kid sunk to the floor, sitting on the blacktop with his legs sticking out in front of him. Natasha noticed now that thing in his hands looked like a thermos.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“I’m totally keeping Skulker in the thermos for a week for this,”
“You okay?” the same voice asked her, pulling her from her thoughts. She tried not to let the realization show on her face. The kid in front of her was truly just a kid. No more than fourteen years old. Yet he was a ghost. How? She had no idea. But she knew she would never get the answer if the kid so much as suspected she might know something about him. It didn’t take a genius to know that this kid was skittish. Natasha knew that Peter was. She knew that the boy was terrified if people ever found out about his secret identity. He tried so hard to keep it a secret from the rest of the Avengers as best as he could. But Natasha figured it out in less than a week with Bucky right behind her. He eventually came forward before anyone else figured it out.
But she remembered how terrified he looked when he realized that Natasha knew that he was Spider-man. And that was when Peter trusted her. Natasha had no idea how this kid -Danny she remembered quickly- would react since to him she was nothing more than a stranger.
“Yeah,” she said once she realized she hadn’t replied. “Thank you for knocking me out of the way.” The kid seemed to perk up at that, his eyes shining brightly as a smile broke out on his face. A look of pride flashed across his face like it was the first time anyone had ever said anything like that. She tried not to think about Peter, the way he smiled so brightly at the smallest compliment, the way he beamed when Tony congratulated him whenever he finished a mission or when he managed to finish a project. She tried not to think about the fact that Peter was two years older than this kid. A kid, from the looks of it, had no support other than the two friends he walked out of school with.
She shoved the thoughts away.
“And-uh…thanks for distracting Plasmius back there.” He said as he stood up, the smile never leaving his face. Then realization struck as his tone turned serious. “Although, you shouldn’t really do that if you see a ghost. Especially not this Fruitloop.” He tossed up the thermos as emphasis. She chuckled slightly.
"You must be new in town," He said, his feigned seriousness melting away. "Most people know by now to run for the hills as soon as they spot a ghost." She nodded a slight look of embarrassment flashing across her face before she covered it back up. Natasha had been so surprised by the sudden appearance of ghosts that she hadn't noticed when everyone else ran away. Scattering from the area like they've done it a million times.
"Yeah, came for a little vacation." She glanced around taking in the amount of debris not littering the town's main street. "So much for that." The kid seemed to wince when he followed her gaze. He laughed nervously.
"Just a little bit of a ghost problem." She scoffed at the statement. The kid held out his hand, "The name's Phantom by the way. Not inviso-Bill or whatever the press likes to call me," She was about to shake his hand before the sound of a car racing down the street made Phantom pull away. "And that's my cue." He sighed. "See ya!" With a smirk and a peace sign, he disappeared right before her eyes.
She blinked in surprise.
Natasha decided to follow Phantom's lead and dart out of sight before the car heading down the road had a chance to see her. If someone like this kid didn't trust whoever was coming, neither would she. He seemed to have good judgment, quick on his feet, and the oh-so-destructive urge to save anyone that might get hurt.
She had a feeling he and Peter would get on wonderfully.
The car belonged to some wanna-be ghost hunters that had the words "Fenton works," slapped to the side of their van. They spent a good minute mumbling about how they "just missed that tyrant Danny Phantom."
Natasha watched them closely, unable to get a good look at their features with both of them wearing goggles and hazmat suits. However, by their silhouette, she realized the one wearing a blue suit was a woman, and the one in the orange was a man. A rather large one at that, rivaling even Steve with those broad shoulders. But, by the way he talked, Natasha could tell that he was lacking on the intelligence side. The woman seemed far more observant, reprimanding the man as she told him "we would have made it here faster if you refilled the van like I told you."
They both slipped back into the van as the man muttered "I could've sworn I did that." Their mouths still moved even as they drove away. Out of Natasha's sight.
They certainly were strange. Even for a town like this.
Natasha had her first run-in with the G.I.W the next day. And they were as bad as she thought they would be.
She didn’t think she would run into the kid again so soon. The town may have been small, but Natasha was still on a recon mission. She still needed to gather information about the G.I.W, which led her to a goose chase around the town. Trying to find some semblance of a base. Some sign that HYDRA was, in fact, here. The sooner she found out, the sooner the Avengers could weed them out.
This small town was full of surprises. Something in her wanted to protect it. Let the only hero in this town be Phantom. To let these people live in their semblance of peace. The last thing that a town liked these needed was an Alien invasion because the Avengers stuck their nose where it didn't belong.
Of course, she also wanted to protect Phantom. If HYDRA ever found a kid as powerful as Danny out, she didn’t want to think about it. Not after the years of rescue missions. Not after the years of base takedowns. Not after Bucky.
She wandered around the town as soon as the sun fell, keeping herself aware of her surroundings. Aware of any possible member of HYDRA.
Natasha was expecting to find something.
She wasn’t expecting to find a barely conscious Danny (not Phantom she quickly realized when she spotted a black mop of hair) in an alleyway.
His soft groans of pain were what drew her attention, but, by the way it seemed to cut itself off midway through, he was trying his best to keep himself quiet. He was trying to hide from someone. From something.
Natasha slowed to a stop, pulling out her phone like she was simply checking a text message. She strained her ears, trying to listen for any sign of life besides the hisses from Danny. There was no one. No one was nearby.
She darted into the alleyway, no longer caring if she made noise. And by the way Danny seemed to flinch, she was loud enough to be heard by him. Enough to pull him out of his daze of pain. He tried to push himself up, to either get away or to defend himself was still up in the air.
“Hey, hey, hey, Danny it’s okay,” She tried to console. It worked, the boy seeming to let out a sigh of relief slumping back to the ground. His hand hadn’t left a spot on his abdomen. It was the same spot from yesterday, and with the way blood seemed to soak into his already dark hoodie, any stitching that he may have had was tossed to the wind. But the pool of blood was concerning, it was way too much for a regular person. Danny being a regular person was a question that was up in the air at the moment. Bruises seemed to litter his skin, and there seemed to be another cut along his right bicep with the way his hoodie seemed to cling to his skin and pool of something damp staining the area.
Natasha noticed a lack of cuts and wear on his clothes. Had the boy changed into something before fainting inside the alleyway? No, that didn’t seem likely. Danny didn’t seem like the kid to care about vanity was in dire situations. A situation he seemed to barely drag himself out of. One that he was probably still in.
“Ngh,” Danny interrupted her train of thought as he opened one of his eyes. “Jazz,” He wheezed, and Natasha added broken ribs to his growing list of injuries. She raised a brow at Danny. Who was Jazz? Was it that girl that he was with two days ago? No, that girl had darker hair. Danny clearly had a concussion, whoever he was talking about had red hair like hers.
“Hey,” She shushed again as she smoothed down his hair, which seemed to relax him, Danny let his eyes fall closed. “Don’t worry, okay? I’m going to help you.” It felt weird consoling a complete stranger, but she couldn’t let Danny get riled up. Not with his injuries.
She reached into her purse pulling out her emergency first aid kit. It was small, holding nothing more than antiseptic and a large roll of bandages. It wasn’t the best, but it would do in a pinch. For the moments just like these where she didn’t have Tony’s lab at her disposal, or Bruce for some reason couldn’t help. She knew a little field medicine. Just enough to keep Danny alive.
The boy seemed to relax completely once Natasha started working, wrapping the worse wound under thick layers of gauze. She tried not to let her mind wander once her eyes fell on the crisscross of scars that she could see on only the small portion of skin. That would be something she could worry about once Danny wasn’t on the verge of dying.
Natasha noticed a bit of wire sticking out of the boy’s skin, probably used as stitching the night he got the wound. But the stitches looked sloppy like the kid did it himself. She narrowed her eyes as she examined the wire. It wasn’t anything the Stark or Bruce used. Yet it was still familiar to her.
It looked like fishing wire.
She swallowed thickly, quickly adding that thought to the growing pile of “thoughts for later.”
Natasha was about to work on the cut on his bicep when Danny finally became aware. A hand came down to grab her wrist as she was about to pull the rest of the sweatshirt off the kid. The kid was staring at her with wide eyes, terror clear on his face. She raised her other hand in mock surrender, trying to let Danny know she meant no harm.
The kid pulled his legs towards him, pushing himself away from Natasha, trying to hide the winces as pain shot through his abdomen.
“Careful,” she warned, trying not to scold herself as she heard her own harsh tone reach her ears. “You’ll pull out the rest of your stitches.”
“Who are you?” The kid demanded as he swallowed down another hiss of pain. Did his concussion really clear that fast? He thought she was someone else just a second ago, and now Danny was very much aware. Not even Steve could shake off a concussion this fast.
“My name is Natasha,” She needed to get this kid to trust her. And she knew for sure that lying to him right now would probably lead to Danny ruining any work she might have done as he scrambled to get away from her. Something about the way that Danny’s eyes narrowed in concentration told her that he could tell when a person was lying.
She threw the implications of that right into the pile.
Danny’s eyes widened slightly as he came to a realization. Natasha was a very uncommon name in the states. And a Natasha with red hair. Even rarer. It didn’t take long for him to make the connection.
“What’s an Avenger doing out here?” It almost sounded like a threat, but Natasha could hear the fear laced in there. It probably had to do with his secret identity. Something happened to this kid, something that made him very wary of adults, especially adults with the government.
“I’m to gather information, that is all,” she tried to reassure, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The boy tensed, but he seemed to have some sense to not show his fear on his face. Instead, his brows seemed to furrow even further.
“About what exactly?” Natasha debated for a second on whether or not to tell this kid the truth. The mission was confidential, so if she told Danny and Nick found out (which always managed to do the prick) she would get her ass handed back to her. However, if she kept it vogue she knew the kid would become wary around her. He might not trust her ever.
Natasha really needed his trust if she was going to get him the help that he so clearly needed. She could tell that something more was going on than in a kid vigilante. Peter was never wary around the Avengers. Sure he was nervous, but that was from shell-shock more than anything else. The look in Danny’s eyes was mistrust. They were calculating, waiting for something, waiting for Natasha to show that she was untrustworthy, that she would do something to hurt him or manipulate him.
On the other hand, Natasha’s job could be on the line. Telling the kid would be a fireable offense, it didn’t matter the circumstance. It didn’t matter that she was trying to help a clearly troubled kid. It didn’t matter that this kid was clearly hurting from something, and it wasn’t from his vigilante work. She could be terminated for telling.
“About a possible branch of HYDRA called the G.I.W.” She could feel Nick’s scowl now. When that man found out, she would be in so much trouble.
Danny’s eyes widened the mask of anger falling away, with it any distrust he may have felt. Natasha relaxed slightly knowing that the boy trusted her at least a little now. The fear that seeped out of his frame was almost worth risking her job.
“The Guy’s in White?” He asked, his legs crossing as he slipped in a more comfortable position. Natasha took note of the name. She should have guessed that Danny would know at least a little about them. He did protect this town after all. Some goons like G.I.W would not go unnoticed for very long. “HYDRA?” Danny placed a hand on his head as the information hit him. “They’re…They’re connected,” He looked panicked like he came to some sort of realization. He looked back up at her, eyes flicking about her face, looking for some sort of sign that she was joking. He couldn’t find any.
She opened her mouth, about to ask the boy a question before she quickly snapped it shut. She could hear footsteps racing this way. Danny seemed to notice them too, tensing as he glanced in the direction they were coming from.
Natasha tried to think. She couldn’t move Danny, not in the state he was in. It looked like a strong wind would send him crumbling. There was no way he was standing nor running any time soon. That meant, she would have to fight if it came down to it. It sounded like there were three rather large men coming this way. She’s dealt with worse.
She was about to stand up, hand reaching for the taser on her belt when a hand wrapped around her wrist. Then, a strange feeling washed over her.
It felt like the wind itself passed through her, and every sense was cut off from her. She could still see. She could still feel. She could still hear. Everything was still there yet it felt as if she wasn’t the one feeling them. Her senses weren’t muted or distant, they just felt…like someone else’s.
The men had run past, only giving the alleyway a glance over. She could hear their mutters about finding “Phantom,” and another claiming “I could have sworn I saw him crash over here.” They moved on like they couldn’t even see them. Even when one of those goons glanced right at her. They couldn’t see here. Natasha couldn’t gather much of what they looked like. The white suits and black sunglasses all made them look the same if they were all meddled in a crowd together.
The statement “Guys in White” made so much more sense now. However, she knew that wasn't their real name. HYDRA may have been cocky, but they weren’t idiots. At least for the most part.
They were here for a reason. Natasha’s brows furrowed as she tried to piece together the information she was given. They were looking for Phantom, and they were working at night. The guns they were holding looked nothing like regular guns. They were almost cartoonish in shape, with a white color and green highlights. Those guns weren’t meant for humans.
If HYDRA found out about the near freakish level of powers in ghosts, she wouldn’t put it past them to do whatever they could to get their hands on that power. If they were looking for Phantom, they must have realized that Danny was a ghost that was far more powerful than their average level. Or at least appeared that way.
Natasha knew it was a rocky theory at best, she barely had enough evidence to prove if that was really happening, but it was better than nothing. She was still in the dark about a lot of things, things that she had a feeling that only Danny could answer.
“Sorry about that,” The boy said, and that’s when Natasha noticed that her sense was returned to her. She blinked, finding herself grateful for her senses being her own. Not something that she would have thought to be grateful for, but in her line of work, anything was possible. “I know that can be unnerving when you’re not expecting it.”
“What was that?” She asked as she looked back at the boy. He was pale. Paler than before. Whatever he did took a lot out of him, but he tried not to let it show.
“Intangibility,” He said simply, leaning back on his hands as he closed his eyes. “It helps me avoid their sensors.” Danny has dealt with them before, then. That explains some of Danny’s hesitance toward anyone with the government. To those who didn’t know any better, they looked like nothing more than government operatives.
She sighed as she added any further thoughts into the growing pile.
This was supposed to be a simple mission. Nick Fury himself told her that. They were supposed to be nothing more than a couple of crazy morons that didn’t know how not to blow their cover. Yet, she’s coming to realize quickly, there was something more going on. Something about this town felt like a giant “fuck around and find out.” And Natasha was sure fucking around.
“That was the G.I.W?” she asked. Danny popped open an eye and sent her questioning brow.
“Was it the white suits that gave it away?” His voice was laced with sarcasm. With a snort, she realized that Tony would have a field day with him. Tony could never quite get Peter to take on snarky remarks with people he trusted. His witty tongue was usually saved for villains and criminals alike. When he was around Tony though, he let his guard down, and he was just teenage clumsiness. No witty remarks. No sarcasm. Maybe light teasing if you caught him on a good day. Danny, on the other hand, was filled with them. He seemed to take comfort in them. Enjoying the fact that witty remarks were constant that appeared in his life. He and Tony would get on wonderfully.
“We should get out of here. The G.I.W may be idiots but it won’t take them long to realize that I haven’t left the area.” Danny tried to stand up, but he fell right back on his ass with a hiss. A hand clamped over his side, the wound aggravated with the sudden movement.
“I don’t think you’re going anywhere like that,” Natasha said as she raised her arms, ready to jump in and help Danny if she needed to. “You need more extensive care.” She wanted to suggest a hospital, but she knew that if she even uttered the word Danny wouldn’t have the best reaction. Peter hated hospitals because of his own mutated status. Danny would be much the same. “I have a better first-aid kit at my motel room,” Danny looked up at her.
“There’s only one motel in town and that’s nearly three miles away. The G.I.W would find us both within the first.”
“What do you suggest then,” She tried not to make her tone so annoyed but she failed miserably. She was not the best with comforting remarks. Steve was always best at that. That man always managed to talk Bucky out of a panic attack. He would know what to do right now.
Danny sighed as he came to his own annoyed realization. There was only one place that was close enough, although he didn’t like it since Natasha was still with him. He didn’t have much of a choice though.
“I know a place.”
That “place” turned out to be his house.
Natasha had helped him to his feet and spent a good twenty minutes hobbling down the street. Danny put more weight on Natasha than he did on his own feet. In those twenty minutes, she realized how worrying light he was. She could have probably picked him up and made it down the street without even breaking a sweat. It made something in her stomach harden.
That pile just kept getting bigger.
“Don’t worry,” Danny spoke up when he realized she had been staring at the house for a good minute, a calculated look on her face. “My parents aren’t home right now. They won’t know you’ve been here.” Natasha blinked. She hadn’t thought about his parents. No, she was thinking about what looked like a giant spaceship sticking out of the top of the building.
Adding to the pile.
Inside, the house looked normal enough. The kitchen looked nice. Cluttered with devices, but clean. The fridge looked like it was covered in magnets and little slips of papers that varied from reminders and a grocery list. The living was much the same, the couches looking worn but not dirty. The house looked lived in. It looked normal.
The sounds of feet racing down a set of stairs pulled her out of her thoughts. A young woman raced down the steps. Natasha immediately realized she had red hair. Almost the same shade as hers. This young woman was probably who Danny mistook her for.
“Danny!” she raced right for the boy, her brows furrowed in worry. She hadn’t even realized Natasha was there. “Where have you been?” She demanded. One of her hands came up to his face hovering over the cut on his forehead. “You’re hurt! What happened this time?”
“Jazz,” Danny tried, his eyes glancing over at Natasha for a second. If she wasn’t looking at the boy she wouldn’t have noticed.
“Was it Vlad again? Did Skulker get another upgrade?”
“Jazz,” he tried again, this time a little louder. Jazz seemed to gasp when she noticed the large bloodstain on his hoodie.
“It was the Guys in White again, wasn’t it?”
“Jazz!” She blinked like she was coming back to herself. That was when she noticed Natasha standing right there, listening to every word she was saying. Jazz’s mouth snapped closed and the blood drained from her face. Her head snapped back towards Danny.
“Who’s that?” Jazz pointed a thumb at Natasha. Danny sighed as he finally pulled himself away from her, hobbling over to the kitchen table. He sat in a wooden chair with a huff before looking at Natasha, a question on his face. He was asking her if she wanted to reveal herself to Jazz.
“My name is Natasha Romanoff,” She said as her answer. Danny relaxed a little in the chair, a hand coming up to cradle his sore side.
Jazz’s eyes widened, as she looked between her and Danny. “‘Natasha,’” she parroted, “as in the…” She looked at Danny for confirmation. The boy nodded, before leaning his head back, his eyes closing. Jazz looked panicked, her breath coming short. Her mouth opened and closed like she wanted to say something, but the words were caught in her throat.
“Don’t worry,” Danny said, without opening his eyes. “She already knows about the whole ‘Phantom’ thing.” Jazz deflated a little with relief.
Natasha raised a brow at the bow even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “How do you know that?” Danny lifted his head with a tired look on his face.
“You’re Natasha Romanoff.” He said as if that was an explanation.
Jazz pursed her lips as a thought came to mind. She turned to Natasha with almost a pleading look in her eye.
"You're not going to tell the Avengers, right?" She was smart, observant. She seemed like the kind of girl that always thought ahead before she did something. Always wanted to know about the risks before she even thought about doing it. Someone like her would've been a natural in her line of work.
"No," Natasha shook her head. "The Avengers don't need to know about Danny." They were in the dark about everything regarding this town. And with someone like Danny here, she wanted to keep that way. If the G.I.W became so much of a threat that the Avengers needed to step in, well that was a problem for another time.
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Jazz turned her attention back towards Danny.
"What happened this time?" Jazz walked into the kitchen, opening a cupboard above the fridge. She pulled out a heavy-duty first aid kit, something that Natasha would find in a military camp.
At this point, she should be writing down all the concerning things she saw today just so she could remember them all.
Instead, she sat down at the kitchen table, watching as Jazz placed the first aid kit in front of Danny.
The boy groaned as he straightened.
"It was the Guys in White. Decided to try out some new weapons." Jazz’s brows furrowed as she listened. Whatever she was thinking was quickly pushed away as she commanded Danny to take his sweater off. The boy looked hesitant, sparing a glance towards Natasha. Jazz followed his gaze before giving Danny a "no-nonsense" look. The boy rolled his eyes but did as Jazz told him.
When Danny took off the sweater, Natasha realized why he looked hesitant. She had seen some of the scars, but she knew it would look a lot worse underneath. They always did. She had some nasty ones herself. Scars from her many battles. Scars from life.
But...
The distinctive "y" shaped scar across Danny's abdomen was something that was unmistakable.
Jazz didn't give the scar a second glance. A sight that she appeared to have seen several times. Natasha tried to calm herself, trying to distract herself by watching Jazz work. Pulling out a surgical needle and fishing wire from the first aid kit.
She didn't even bother disinfecting either before she pierced the skin on the boy's arm. Natasha's brows rose, her mouth falling open about to say something before Jazz interrupted her.
"Don't worry," she didn't even look up from her work. Danny busied himself by looking anywhere but his arm. With the slightly bothered look on his face, Natasha had a feeling this was something that happened often. She didn't know how to feel about that. "Danny doesn't need disinfectant." The young woman looked up at her, letting her eyes rest from the close work. She was halfway done already. Jazz's work was good. A little sloppy, but she knew how to work fast and efficiently. The stitches would do their job.
"We think the ectoplasm in my blood works kind of like super-powered white blood cells," Danny spoke up, his chin resting in the palm of the arm that wasn't currently being worked on.
"In simple terms yes," Jazz blushed slightly, a disgruntled look on her face.
"Ectoplasm?" She parroted. Jazz gave Danny a look before getting back to work. The boy sighed like a kid being told he couldn't leave the dinner without eating the veggies off his plate. The two were certainly interesting. Entire conversations could be passed between the two without either of them uttering a single word.
"There was a lab accident almost 10 months ago," Danny started, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "Long story short, large amounts of ectoplasm entered my system, and boom Phantom was born." He waved his arm around before he wrapped it around his chest. If the other wasn't currently being fixed up, his arms would've been crossed. Danny looked away, a slight pout on his face. This wasn't something that he liked to talk about.
Peter was the same. The boy looked embarrassed every time he had to explain how exactly he got his powers. Getting bit by a radioactive wasn't as exciting as Steve's back story. When Peter explained it was in fact his own obliviousness that got Peter his powers, his face always got redder than a tomato. Embarrassed that he got powers in such a silly way. Embarrassed that it was really just a stroke of fate that got him his powers. Embarrassed to say that the only reason he got them was that if he was just a little smarter, he would have avoided the whole thing.) entered an area he wasn't meant to and two.) didn't have the decency to be wary in said area. It was almost cute to watch Peter stutter through his explanation, his cheeks growing redder every second.
Danny's cheeks didn't turn red as he explained it to her. Danny wasn't looking her in the eye because he was embarrassed by the story. Danny didn't turn away to hide the blush on his cheeks.
Danny was scared.
Danny was scared she would make some sort of connection if he told her the entire story. He was scared that telling her would elicit a bad reaction. He was scared and on the defensive.
She's already figured out so much, but there were still large pieces still missing from the story. Danny was only leaving her breadcrumbs. Leaving her only selected pieces from the entire loaf of bread.
He was wary.
Sparing a glance at the scars on his chest she had a feeling towards why.
Natasha would drop the subject for now. Danny wasn't her mission. (Even though the mystery behind the boy was quite inviting. She knew, however, if she pressed further right now the boy would only push her away. He already had her at arm's length, she was on very thin ice.)
"Why would the G.I.W be after Phantom?" She decided to ask. Danny seemed to relax slightly, letting out a breath he was holding. This was the first time, Natasha realized, that Danny was actually breathing. Before, the boy was as still as a board. His chest barely made any movement, like he wasn't breathing at all. Like he was afraid to.
His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm now.
"He's powerful," Jazz supplied as she tied off the last stitch. She didn't look up as she started to unwrap the bandages that Natasha did not so long ago. With a glance towards the oven timer, she realized that was over an hour ago. It was currently 12:24 A.M. "More powerful than most ghosts." So Phantom was in fact a ghost. He was not just a super-powered human. But that would mean….
Right, the pile.
Everything in this town was weird, wasn't it?
"They've gotten better," Danny winced as Jazz began pulling out the stitches from yesterday. More blood gushed forwards, but it seemed to stop quickly enough. Far more quickly than she's seen Steve heal. Something like the wound on Danny's stomach would have left the man bedridden for about a week. Yet the kid looked to be getting stronger with every minute. Natasha was sure he would be mostly healed by tomorrow night with how fast the blood stopped flowing. Given that Danny did nothing to reopen the wound. "I don't know what happened, but before they were nothing but a bunch of idiots with fancy guns. Now though…" he brought his good hand up to his chin, his face lost in thought. He was brought back quickly enough as Jazz pulled out the last stitch. The woman sighed
"I wouldn't have to do that if you would've just let me stitch you up last night," she scolded but there was no heat behind it. It was laced with nothing but worry. Danny at least had the sense to look guilty.
"Sorry," he rubbed the back of his neck, "You were already asleep when I got home. I didn't want to disturb you." He admitted. Jazz sighed but seemed to drop the conversation. She looked tired like this was the same song and dance they had been doing for a while.
She left the siblings her number. There was a part of her telling her that it would probably be a bad idea. Something that would most definitely come back to bite her in the ass, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. These were children. Children that were forced into a fight that shouldn’t be theirs. Yet, they fought tooth and nail, defending what they believed was right. Following their guts even though they had the odds stacked up against them. They needed backups. Allies. People that wouldn’t try to shoot first and didn’t ask questions later.
So, she handed her number off to Jazz before she headed back to her motel. Danny had quickly fallen asleep as soon he was sure his insides wouldn’t become his outsides. The events of the day had caught up to him. Not even thinking about eating something before he slinked up to his room and passed out. Natasha took it as her cue to leave. Jazz would still send her warry, uncertain, glances her way. Trying to decipher if what she said was true. She too held distrust towards adults. Although, hers was more out in the open. The girl was calculating, dissecting every word, every shift in body language. Meanwhile, Danny’s distrust came out as snarky remarks and sarcasm that always sounded more like insults than anything else. He held people at arm’s length, not wanting anyone close. Natasha knew she hadn’t completely broken down his walls, but that didn’t mean that he distrusted her completely.
Something shifted in Jazz when she handed off her number. Looking at the paper like it was the first scrap of food she had seen in days. Grateful. Devastatingly so.
“I…” She started as she looked at the paper in her hands, staring at it as if it would disappear the moment she looked away. “We, aren’t used to people believing us.” Blue eyes met hers with a glance before Jazz looked back down at the paper. “Let alone offering us help.” Especially from adults, went unsaid.
Natasha felt something bitter on her tongue. This was entirely unfair. These children were stuck doing an adult's job, yet they were punished for it. Punished by those that were meant to protect them.
“I promise,” Natasha knelt to Jazz’s eye level, “I will be here whenever you need me.” Jazz searched her eyes, something that looked desperate on her face, looking for anything that could betray Natasha. To tell Jazz that she was lying, or joking. All she saw was hardened determination. There wasn’t a hint of lying. Natasha meant every word. A promise was a promise, and these kids needed to know that they weren’t alone in a fight.
When she reported back to Fury, if there was no mention of the children she met, that was for her to know.
A promise was a promise.