Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

71. Mirrored Glass

Peter stares at the door of the classroom, tapping his foot compulsively against the leg of his chair. It's ten AM and history class is starting any second now. There's just one issue: Daphne's hasn't shown up. MJ had mentioned Daphne wasn't there for the first two periods either and Peter was starting to get worried. He'd sent her multiple texts and called her. It's unlike her to skip class and she would never leave Peter to do the presentation by himself, even if she's afraid of being confronted by things she can't say or think about.

What if... Hundreds of doom scenarios start haunting him. It's making him short of breath. Clammy. What if something happened to her? What if the silver mist got to her again? What if... What if... He clenches his jaw and squeezes his eyes shut. Collector's item. What if a sorcerer got to her? Or a bounty hunter? What if they already took her off-world? He tightens his grip on his pencil and before he realizes what he's doing, it snaps in two. He sucks at his teeth as he lets go of the two pencil parts and looks at his hand that's now covered in lead. The lead stains' shine makes it look like his hand is covered in metal. Silver.

He takes a sharp breath and stands up from his desk abruptly, making all his classmates look up at him. He blinks a few times, trying to collect his thoughts. His breathing quickens and he can faintly hear someone ask if he's okay. He's not. He's not okay. He doesn't care about school right now. Or his classes. Or his presentation. He can't control his own body anymore. His feet take him outside of the classroom, to his locker, where his Spider-Man suit is stored. His finger hits the speed-dial button on his phone. A teacher calls out to him, but he doesn't mind them. He needs to know where Daphne is. Now.

...

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Tony crosses his feet on top of his desk as he leans back in his chair as he talks to Peter through F.R.I.D.A.Y.
"Can you track Daphne?" Peter's panting on the other end of the line and Tony frowns.
"Track... Wha- kid, what's going on?"
"She's not at school and I can't reach Derek and I can't reach her and I-"
"Woah, woah, slow down, Pete." Tony gets up and moves to the main computer in the middle of the lab. "We really can't catch a break with this girl, can we?" He quips, but Peter doesn't laugh.
"You can track her, right?" The desperation in his voice makes it crack. Tony taps away at the computer, trying to stay calm.
"Yeah, there's a tracker in the new phone I gave her." Tony licks his lips. "Where are you right now, kid?"
"Getting changed."
"Kid."
"What?"
"Maybe she's just at a doctor's appointment. Maybe she overslept." Tony cracks his back. "You shouldn't jump to conclusions. You need to take a second and breathe."
"What if that's not the case, though? What if someone took her?"
"Pete, no one knows about her. Nobody took-" Daphne's location pops up on his screen and Tony interrupts himself.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter asks carefully. Tony's ready to strangle the first person he sees and he clenches jaw. His eye twitches and he turns around, summoning his suit with a single wave of his hand. She's at the Raft.
"Nick Fury took her."

...

"Can't believe I now have two teens who won't talk," Fury sighs exasperated. "On the fucking Raft." Daphne sits opposite him, her lips pressed firmly on top of each other. She cocks her head and blinks a few times. There's a woman standing next to him. Her brown hair is pulled back into a simple bun and her outfit is dark and skin tight. She'd introduced herself as Maria Hill. Her blue eyes try to pierce through Daphne, but Daphne's not budging.
"The sooner you talk to him, the sooner we can let you go home," she says while placing her hands on her hips.
"Like I said," Daphne starts. "I don't want to talk to him."
"We're not calling Stark for you."
"Don't have to." Daphne sniffs once and smirks slightly.

She's not stupid. She knows Tony will find out where she is. As if Daphne didn't do the math when he gave her a new phone. He can track Peter through his Spider-Man suit. She'd be incredibly dense if she assumed the phone Tony gave her didn't include a tracker. He will come get her. She just has to stall for time long enough for Peter to tell Tony she's missing and with everything that's been happening lately, it's safe to say that Peter will notice her absence quite quickly.