Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

105. Independent

The sun is coming up while the Avengers are in a heated discussion about a schedule to keep watch over Daphne. Loki is still sitting next to her and Peter had joined him on the floor about halfway through the night. Loki had stopped talking about what Daphne was going through when he realized how personal the conversations were. Loki played it cool, saying he could simply not hear it anymore and eventually he just stopped listening altogether. Daphne is still laying on her side to protect her wound. Her hands rest on top of each other in front of her and if no one knew better, she looked like she was napping. The only thing that made it painfully obvious that she wasn't actually napping, was that she wasn't breathing. Peter doesn't want to leave her alone. He wonders if she's scared, wherever she is. He turns his head to look at Tony, arguing with Steve over how many people should stay with Daphne at a time, but then he hears it.

Ba-dum.

His eyes go wide and his head whips back to look at Daphne again.
"Loki-" he whispers. The sorcerer stares intently at Daphne's face.
"I heard it too," he whispers back.
"Heard what?" Bucky asks from his chair. He hadn't left the spot ever since he sat down there earlier that night. His penetrating gaze completely focussed on Loki, making sure the god of mischief would not do anything suspicious. Everyone looks at Bucky except for Loki and Peter, who still stare at Daphne's face.
"Boss," F.R.I.D.A.Y. chimes in.
"Talk to me, F.R.I.," Tony says quickly.
"There is a change in Daph's vitals." Tony grimaces when F.R.I.D.A.Y. says that. "I registered one heartbeat."
"Only one?"
"Only o-"

Ba-dum.

"I stand corrected, sir. Two heartbeats."
"She's waking up!" Peter's face lights up immediately and he pushes in closer, blinking away the tears forming in his eyes. Loki pulls a face when the teen nearly sits in his lap.
"Already?" Loki mutters confused. "She must've done well."
"There's an increase in brain activity," F.R.I.D.A.Y. states. Derek nearly jumps down the few stairs to get to the couch as fast as he can.
"Holy-" Bruce exclaims as he walks towards Daphne. They're literally watching someone coming back from the dead. Supposedly unscathed.

Ba-dum.

Daphne's muscles tense and release slowly and her fingers twitch as do some parts of her face. Suddenly, she takes a breath through her nose. It's deep and slow, yet it startles everyone. They haven't seen her breathe for hours. Her chest falls back down gently and there's a pause, almost long enough for everyone to think she's not actually waking up. But again, she breathes. Slowly. Deeply. Peter can see her eyes move behind her lids and before he can comment on it, Daphne opens them. Her once grey eyes now have a slight glow over them. A blue hue illuminates her irises and she immediately makes eye contact with Peter. She smiles faintly and stares at him. She blinks a few times. The strange glow subsides until it's just Daphne again.

"Hey," Peter says softly. Daphne's jaw relaxes and her voice cracks as she speaks.
"Hey." She shuffles a little and opens her hands. Peter immediately takes her hand in both of his and his thumb rubs gentle circles on her palm, feeling her golden scar. Daphne shifts her attention to Loki. "You always join the party late, don't you?" She quips. Loki chuckles and moves a bit away from Daphne.
"Have you not gotten used to that by now?" Daphne smiles. Loki places a hand on her upper arm and nods in her general direction. "Can you sit?" Daphne looks down at Peter's hands, purses her lips and nods.
"Let's try." Daphne immediately moves to push herself up and Loki has to interfere to stop her from going too fast too soon.
"Easy, now-" He gently grabs her shoulders and helps her sit upright. She hasn't let go of Peter yet and she looks around like she's still a little out of it.

Daphne flinches, suddenly.
"My back hurts," she whines quietly.
"Your wound extended when you got struck again," Bruce says with a short nod. Daphne's right eye twitches and her free hand immediately goes up to her collar bone where Death touched her last. She's surprised to find a bandage there, taped snugly to her skin. A realization hits her. Death had followed her new lines. Daphne blinks a few times and glances around and everything seems to halt when she spots her father. Tears immediately well in her eyes and she lets go of Peter to stretch both her arms out to him.
"Dad?" Her voice is frail. Derek doesn't hesitate and sits down in front of his daughter.
"I'm here, Daph," he mumbles. He holds her hands against his face and Daphne sobs quietly.
"I talked with mom."