Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tandy felt like she was burning from the inside out. Normally the light inside her was a nice warm presence, sometimes even hot almost weirdly righteous feeling like she was channeling Captain America or something or maybe that was just in her head. But right now it was almost overwhelming. She felt like a rig about to explode. She needed to find Ty and fast.

She couldn't release her light without worrying about maybe hurting someone not to mention she knew as much as she felt like she was bursting Ty would feel like he was starving like a sucking void that can't be filled sucking him into cold darkness which is why she had to hold on. For him. Neither of them was a fan of taking lives and she wouldn't force him down that dark path for her own comfort. Tandy jogged down the alleyways stopping every now and again to brace against the burning pain expanding through her entire body.

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Tandy and Tyrone had fully embraced their vigilante/superhero lifestyles both agreeing that there was no way they could live normal lives with their abilities and both wanting to help others like themselves. They even got full on costumes for the sake of recognition so people didn't constantly question who they were.

Ty and her now had their powers pretty well understood and after accessing their full capabilities Tandy discovered she could summon a crescent moon over her left eye, odd but, the light of it did help obscure her face and allowed them some amenity outside of taking down despicable human beings and preventing the world from falling into chaos, something that seemed to want to happen scarily often.

Currently or well for the past two months the two had relocated to New York following a huge drug cartel that had been dealing with a group in New Orleans trading girls for drugs. Now that the human traffickers were taken care of they were focusing their efforts on shutting down the coke and heroin dealers. No small feat.

It was going alright though till a new player came about some weird green cyborg alien dude who seemed to disrupt their powers or at least block them. He didn't appear to be able to block them at the same time but before they could get the upper hand in the fight another cyborg alien, this one seemingly a female and purple came out of a blue portal and threw something at Ty. Tandy watched helplessly as her daggers bounced harmlessly off an invisible barrier as a weird mechanical box formed around Ty trapping him.

She couldn't see his face but she felt like she could feel his fearful look as they both realized he couldn't teleport out. Tandy was blasted by the green one's arm cannons into a wall as they three disappeared into a blue portal. Tandy was left crying for her best friend in an abandoned factory full of dead drug dealers, bloody from where her light slashed and stabbed them.

Tandy disposed of the drugs and left with determination in her steps. Light burning bright in her anger.

Tandy went through the leads the two had on the cartel and she searched through the internet to find anything matching the two beings she saw take Ty. All she was able to find was that the two beings had robbed a couple of labs around the world, most dealing in energy or facilities researching something called dark matter. She also discovered that the cartel had some dealings with the beings apparently the beings had been the ones to encourage the alliance between the New Orlean sex traffickers and the cartel. Which helped explain why two organizations so geographically separate had aligned although why would these beings want that? None of it made any sense.

The uncertainty and crippling sense of alone sent Tandy into more than one panic attack. She couldn't do this without Ty and she had no one she could really turn to. The only alliances they had were the Runaways and they were currently dealing with something even if the fact that Tandy couldn't teleport them here wasn't a factor. Evita wasn't an expert in alien cyborgs and she really didn't want to tell her that Ty was missing even if they weren't together anymore. She had to find them on her own. She had no other choice.

Tandy worked day and night for three days hardly sleeping as she searched for Tyrone and each day was harder. She was weaker without Tyrone there to have her back and level her out. Tandy only took lives in self defense but the few she did take added to the already burning light inside of her with their bodily energy.

Tandy was sweating as she made her way down the alleyways back towards the church they had been taking refuge at. It wasn't abandoned but, father Lanctom was nice enough to let them crash there in the lower part of the church and her and Ty in return gave what little money they had to them to thank them for their kindness.

In the haze of her mind heading to the church was the only plan she could come up with the lack of sleep and the burning inside her. It clouded her mind. Looking out it was like seeing through heat rising off asphalt on a summer day. Tandy jogged with a slight limp from her fight with yet another group of dealers panicked vulnerability clawing inside her like any minute something would pop out behind her without Ty there to watch her back. She almost sobbed at the thought of his cool embrace like a cold compress on fevered skin.

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Fury stood in front of his assembled Avengers, currently composed of the original six minus Thor and plus a new guy the Captain had brought aboard, Sam Wilson AKA Falcon.

"We have a situation. Two problems that seem to be connected. I know I informed you all earlier this month that Shield was tracking a group of cyberneticly enhanced alieniod beings that have been robbing science facilities all over the globe. Now thanks to doctor Banner and Stark we were able to track their energy signatures as they teleported and we were able to map out their movements. Now we were going to be having a meeting to strategize taking them down as well as discuss possible theories as to why they have stolen what they have and what their plan is but now, we have a possible complication. Three days ago there was an explosion at an abandoned warehouse just outside the city limits. Based on evidence recovered the place was a manufacturing plant for illegal heroin this in of itself isn't anything near Shield level of concern but, our little energy map shows a spike in that location a half and hour before the place went up in smoke."

"Wait, I thought you said this place was a heroin manufacturing plant. Our guys have been going after high level science labs. What would they want from some run of the mill drug lab?" Sam asked

"That is the million dollar question and we have a really bad suspicion we know what they took." Agent Hill says as she places a stack of files on the table for each of the Avengers to take.

"This is security footage from a building down the street from the warehouse after it blew." Fury said as he pulled up a hologram.

On the screen was a glowing woman in a white skin tight suit that had an impossible dagger shaped nude cut out expanding over her chest above her breasts and down to her belly button. (It had to be a nude colored shape because no way was that fabric staying put on it's own like that although it gave an impressive illusion.)

The woman had something glowing around her eye making it difficult to make out her face and she had blood coating her. It was unclear if she was injured or not though as she walked down the street. It was clear even from the odd angle that she was breathing hard like she just got out of a fight.

" That is the Vigilante known as Dagger. She is one part of a duo. Her partner Cloak, a teleporter hasn't been seen since their last escapades one day prior to this. The two are never seen apart which leads us to believe that our cyborgs somehow found a way to contain him and took him. Which is a big problem. Not much is known about the duo other than they are powerful and they tend to go after sex traffickers and drug cartels. They first popped up in New Orleans although two months ago they moved to New York. The pair seem to be a literal yin and yang. Dagger can create daggers of light and energy blasts and Cloak can summon shadows and teleport."

As Fury spoke he pulled up videos of Cloak and Dagger fighting. Dagger leaping impressively graceful as she slashes criminals gaining a glow after each kill and Cloak seemingly Absorbing screaming victims. The Avengers cringed as they watched screaming criminals get dragged into darkness. Even Natasha despite not showing it as much outwardly was disturbed by the scene.

The girl's moves as she killed reminded her of herself. Although the woman wasn't nearly as skilled she was unnaturally fast and her movements spoke of ballet training, similar to the red room. The glow after kills seemed weirdly symbolic to the Widow like marking red in a ledger. Cloak was a thing of nightmares, literally consuming darkness.

" It is unclear where the people Cloak consumes or possibly teleports go although they are never heard from again and Dagger appears to get stronger after she kills."

"Fascinating" Bruce said leaning in to watch the woman before realizing what he said and blushing ashamedly ducking his head " I-I mean it spears she is is absorbing their energy."

"What like taking their souls?" Sam asked horrified

"No. No. I mean like the energy that makes a body run. Even like just thermo energy."

"Ookaaay" Sam holds out the sound looking skeptically back at the doctor.

"There are also some reports of Dagger using her light to heal victims of sex trafficking or drug overdose. As well as unconfirmed visions from touching either of the duo. Seemingly positive from Dagger and nightmarish from Cloak."

"So literal embodiments of light and dark good and evil? Does that mean nightmare shadow is evil and light ray is good?" Stark Throws in trying to understand the duo's relationship.

Hill answers, "No they are literally darkness and light but, they both appear to be in agreement morally speaking."

"So ends justify the means powered Vigilantes with the powers of light and darkness taking out drugs cartels and stabbing sex traffickers in the face. ok then" Stark concludes not appearing totally against or for the pair just wary.

Cap on the other hand was very clearly feeling some kind of way and it wasn't in favor of the duo " Do we have a theory on why they would take Cloak and a location on Dagger?"

"We do have a location on Dagger, she has been fairly easy to track without her teleporter friend. We believe that Cloak was taken for the same purpose the research on dark matter was taken although we are still unsure of their goal. It is still possible with the energy technology they stole that they still might come back for Dagger. They might just not have been able to contain her or they are just waiting till she is weaker." Agent Hill reported and pulled up a video onto the screen.

She continued, "This is live. Ever since the warehouse explosion Dagger has appeared more and more unwell and significantly brighter. Thermal imaging from one of our drones has picked up her temperature at 102.8°F. We think that she is becoming unstable without her partner to counteract her powers which is also possibly another reason for them only taking one of the pair. It is unclear what will happen if the two continue apart. So this is obviously very time sensitive. She could be a ticking time bomb."

Fury took over saying, "We need you to bring her in and secure her in a containment pod. We have one that is used to be for testing and storing radioactive and light sensitive bombs. It should hopefully hold her even if she becomes unstable."

"You think she could possibly combust?" Bruce asked.

"We are unsure. We aren't taking it off the table. All we know is that she is increasing in temperature and her behavior is becoming more erratic." Fury told them.

"We need you guys to bring her in safely and contain her if need be. We also want Falcon to do some recon at a few energy research facilities that haven't been hit yet, that are under military preview and plant a few tracking devices. That way if they make another hit. We could possibly get a location."

Falcon agrees and Hill takes him out of the room to get him set up for his side mission. On the screen Tandy almost tripped over her own feet and throws the third look back over her shoulder in the last minute. Her arms and legs are visibly shaking. Cap nods and starts giving out orders.

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Chapter Text

Tandy could feel frustrated and tired tears in her eyes as she hobbled her way down the street. Her thoughts were focused on getting to the church and the burning inside her. Although Ty's face kept popping up in her mind's eye and the crawling vulnerability on her back made it hard to keep on track. Tandy put her back up against the brick wall of the alleyway. She sniffled and tried to take deep breaths willing herself to keep it together. She felt so exposed though. In a spotlight she didn't want. People on the street looked and whispered about her. She couldn't hide and she had no one by her side. No one to hold her hand like that fateful night that brought the two together in tragedy. She didn't even have his hoodie to hold onto, because Dagger doesn't wear hoodies. And suddenly the want to just curl up in that hoodie in a place that still smells like Ty Is a strong enough encouragement to stop the tears and face the street ahead of her full...of people. Tandy's eyes widen and her body tenses for a fight as she steps out onto a deserted New York street as Dagger.

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The Avengers had to move fast; they only had a small window in which to clear civilians and approach the enhanced, or whatever she was. Ironman hacked in and sent a digital message that quickly evacuated all nearby civilians even if it did break like a dozen privacy laws. Hawkeye was positioned on top of a building across the street of the Alleyway. Natasha was behind the building of the Alleyway with Stark. Bruce was in a quin-jet with a few high level Shield agents ready to drop the containment pod or a code green if it came to it. And Cap was in the middle of the once populated street walking towards the alleyway slowly.

It was concerning for Steve that the woman hadn't even noticed the streets clearing out. She was obviously not doing well. Steve was nervous going in. He wasn't sure where the girl's head was at and this could be like dealing with the Hulk, and with literal combustion on the table Steve was a little worried about how this would go not only for his team, but the girl, he didn't want to be responsible for the girl to spontaneously combust. Steve knew many enhanced power's were directly connected to their emotions.

"She just noticed Cap. And she tensed to either run or fight." Nat calls over the comms from where she is watching the live feed on a hologram with Stark. Steve blow's a breath out and walks out with his hand up towards the white woman holding light daggers in her hands.

"Hello." He calls and for a moment she flashes too bright to look at directly.

"Captain America?"

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Ok Tandy's day just got weird. For a moment she wondered if she was in a dream state. The sudden change in environment, the famous symbolic people just showing up saying "Hi" like they are neighbors just running into each other on the street. All perfectly normal. Tandy pricks her palm with her dagger, something not easily done but the slight pain and drop of blood is all she needs to confirm her reality.

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Natasha furrowed her brow as she watched the girls immediate response to seeing Steve was to dig her weapon into her palm which takes half a minute. Natasha is intrigued both by the fact that she can harm herself with her weapons and the fact that was the girl's first instinct.

"What did she just do?" Hawkeye asked over comms

"Reality check" Nat answered staring at the screen intently trying to get a read on the girl.

"Yeah beauty saw the dear Captain and immediately needed to prick her finger on a spinning wheel. Guess she thought her prince had come. Hope shadow isn't the jealous type." Stark butted in.

Natasha shushed him as she listened in.

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"Hello"

"Captain America?"

"Yes. I need to speak with you for a moment if that's alright?"

Once Tandy was sure she was in reality. She took a sweeping gaze around. She didn't let her eyes stay but she caught a glimpse of light reflecting off of one of the Avengers sitting on the roof across from her which meant she was surrounded. Just great. She just wanted to go to bed and not deal with this right now. She already felt like crap and the feeling of this whole situation was making her angry just for making her feel the way it did. Like angry grief and something else she can't name all balled up inside her .

"What do you want?" She demanded as she met the Captains eyes.

"Just to talk. We heard about Cloak thought maybe we could help?"

At the name her grip tighten and she had to clear her voice before she could speak again.

"What do you know?" Her voice was softer but still a demand.
"We know that your friend was taken by some cybernetically enhanced alienoid creatures. Shield's been tracking them maybe we can help you."

"Oh yeah!? and what does shield and you get out of helping us?"

Tandy was sure to put all her attitude into the words. Just because he is Captain America and is supposed to be all righteous and stuff doesn't mean he is. Tandy knows that just because someone is good on the outside where everyone can see doesn't mean they are inside behind the door. And shield is as shady as they come even if they work with the Avengers. She really doesn't trust a bunch of spies.

Steve sputtered completely taken aback by the level of skepticism he was on the receiving end of. He had been expecting denial or reluctant hope. He wasn't expecting his integrity and motives to be questioned. A fact that had Stark chattering annoyingly in his ear about her "question the good Captain's honor".

He tried to give her his most earnest expression and said " We just want to help, it's what we do. We save and protect people. We-"

"Yeah yeah yeah you are the Avengers. Protectors of everything good or whatever. Earth's mightiest heroes. But, I don't know you and sorry if I don't trust a shady spy organization. I'm not going to jump on your bandwagon just because you're Captain America. Either you want something from me or Cloak or you think I'm some kind of threat. Why else would you clear the street and have your little boy band and pack of agents surround me. Oh yeah that's right I'm not dumb enough to believe that you are alone or to over look the complete lack of people. So give it to me Straight Captain. What do you and Shield really want?"

The Avengers were a little stunned and impressed by the girl. Natasha noted the jadedness. She reminded her of herself in some ways, she wasn't fooled by a pretty face or facade she was looking for motives. Doesn't trust easily, must have been burned in the past. She is also out of Steve's wheel house; it's time for her to take control and make herself known.

"Hold on Steve let me lead."

"Ok" was the quiet response back.

Natasha made her steps loud as she walked down the alleyway.
"You're right. Shield wants to make sure you're not a threat and, if we deem you stable enough help us, take down the creatures that took your partner."

The girl jumped minutely when Natasha spoke and turned and backed up a few steps so she could see both her and Steve. But, Natasha did notice the girl didn't turn her back completely on Barton which means she must have spotted him, impressive. Her body language though curiously came off as that of a runner not, a fighter. Hmm.

"Well since you haven't tried to shoot me I'm guessing I passed the threat assessment. What about stability? You think I'm crazy or uncontrollable or whatever the hell you meant by that?"

"We were worried in the more literal sense." She said as she came to stand by Steve who looked relieved to have her there. "You're glowing kind of bright these days but not looking so hot? We were worried about how you're faring without your other half" ( huh a little twitch) "and what might happen to you and those around you should you lose control. Should we be worried about anything explosive?"

The girl gave an incredulous laugh but, there was fear behind it. "You think I'm going to explode. Just spontaneously combust!?"

"Yes we don't know much about you but, from what little we have observed you seemed to be rising in temperature and light intensity. You are radiating energy, more energy than a human body should be able to handle and considering that your boy has the opposite of your abilities it makes sense that without him to balance you out there might be a problem."

Natasha could see the tension in her body battling with a decision but, also seemingly pained. Studying her up close she could see the sweat glistening on her translucent face causing her hair to stick a bit to her forehead.

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Tandy knew they had hit the nail on the head and honestly she had thought about calling Evita several times to ask her questions about what happens when the two are apart for too long. She knew that they were part of the natural balance of the world and since they had fully unlocked their powers they were fundamentally changed but, she had no idea how catastrophic it may or may not be if the two are apart for too long. All she knows is that they need each other in so many ways. Both physically and emotionally. She needed Ty back, she didn't want to find out what would happen to their bodies or the world if they ran out of time.

Tandy knew she could expel her light but Ty couldn't do the same. But, she still couldn't trust the people she had to know somethings before jumping into bed with these people. They may be her best bet in finding Ty but she and Ty could end up in an even worse place if these people were to take advantage of the situation.

Tandy took a breath and let go of her light daggers and let her shoulders drop. Steadying herself. She saw Captain America look at her hopefully. And smirked internally for the fact that she was about to catch Captain America completely off guard for a second time that day. And wasn't that weird and exciting. she was going to love telling Ty about this later.

"Alright. You don't have to worry about me spontaneously combusting. I can let go and expel the light energy anytime I want. I just don't, It may be a little uncomfortable but, I'm holding onto it for Cloak when I see him again. He will be hungry." She said casually. She would give them just enough information without committing, gain a little trust.

Voicing the questions of his teammates and himself Steve asked "He eats light energy?"

"Like a symbiotic relationship" Bruce mused over comms.

"Yes Essentially. I naturally create it as well as absorb it from my environment."

"Like when you kill people" the Black Widow cut in.

Tandy reigned in her defensiveness but, not much as she answered

"Yes, when I kill people I absorb some of their bodily energy."

Remembering Sam's earlier questions Steve had to make sure "You don't take their souls right?" He asked hesitantly and ignored Stark's laughter.

"No you can't just take souls like that. No, souls follow their path no matter what happens to their mortal body. The energy I take is just from their form. Every living thing has some amount of light energy inside them. I just absorb it rather than allowing it to cycle back into the world as it would have on its own." Man It was like channeling Evita.

"Ok good. Sorry just had to double check." The Captain said rubbing his neck.

"No worries in your shoes I might have asked the same. Now back to business. You want me to help you take down the people who took Cloak correct?"

"Yes. I think we can help each other out." Captain had a relaxed smile.

"Ok I will consider it because working with you would be faster. But, first I need to know I can trust you and you are not secretly hoping to kill us or something so, here is the deal. You allow me to look into the hope's of everyone on your team including any passing Shield Agents and If none of you are hoping for something nefarious we team up."

"Look into our hopes?" Natasha said warily.

"Yes I can see people's hopes when I touch them. Just be glad we're not in a reversal here, Cloak can show people their fears."

"So you want to get into our heads?"

"Not in the way you're thinking. I see a vision of what you hope for. I can't read your mind. I can allow you to see them though. People often don't know what they truly hope for. Might give you insight into your own life. I won't share what I see with anyone but Cloak and the only one to actually see it will be me and that person. It only takes a moment. You have me surrounded and you can help me get back Cloak. You have reason to trust my own self interests. I have no idea what yours are. We have a deal?"

Tandy stuck her hand out and waited.
The Black Widow responded first. "She is right even if she wanted to hurt us she won't till she gets her partner back."

Cap nodded "We should do this but, anyone not comfortable can back out now and not be on this particular mission. And I need complete transparency on your part Dagger you need to share all you know if we have any hope of finding these people and I need you to keep your word on not sharing anything you see."

"I promise the only person I will tell is Cloak and only if I feel it is necessary. We have an agreement about the things we see. We tell each other if we feel the other should know and we don't share our visions with others unless it is absolutely necessary. I once saw the hope's of a guy who wanted the power his friends had. I tried to tell them and he later betrayed every single one of them. So I promise I will only share something if I truly believe someone means someone else harm Captain. I give you my word."

The Captain gave her a contemplative look for a moment before grasping her hand. Then there was a flash of white light.

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Tandy stood in a large modern looking living room bathed in a warm glow of the setting sun coming through the tinted floor to ceiling windows overlooking the cityscape. There was a large white couch and two giant bean bag chairs full of casually dressed Avengers.

Hawkeye was spread over a purple bean bag with the Black Widow's surprisingly small feet propped up on his back like a footrest. Bruce Banner was curled up in the corner of the sofa beside her with a small shy smile on his face. In the middle of the sofa was Steve Rogers with his arm slung over a familiar looking guy with dark hair and a metal arm laughing at a joke. From behind her Falcon and Stark called out jovially, arms full of popcorn and candy walking out of the open kitchen behind her. Thor walked in from the elevator she hadn't noticed before and in a booming voice asked "What movie are we partaking tonight Friends!?"

Steve answered with a Blinding smile "It's Bucky's night to pick. And he has finally relented to watching the first Star wars movie if only Stark keeps the science babble to a minimum."

"Hey!"

"I don't want you ruining the movie with your jabbering. This punk is bad enough" Bucky replies, hitting Steve with his flesh arm.

Steve's smile is blinding and Tandy can't help but smile too as she watches the Avenger family settle in for their movie night.
Tandy was amazed how domestic the earth's mightiest heroes looked. She really hoped that Steve got his best friend back too.

------

The two broke apart. Steve looked slightly dazed and a little heart broken.

"You alright Cap?" Echoed over the comms and behind Steve as Natasha put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Steve looked at Tandy and she gave him a look of understanding and they nodded to each other. They both wanted the same thing.

"Yeah I'm alright." His voice was a little rough and Tandy noticed him swallow thickly. She wondered just how long he'd been looking for his best friend and her heart hurt a bit wondering how long she'd be away from her's.

"He will probably need a minute to process. You want to go next?"

The Widow looked reluctant but stalked over to her confidently.
"Tell anyone and no one will find the body of you and your boy." She hissed before she clutched her hand.

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The Widow was holding a leather book in front of her and as Tandy looked over her shoulder she could see a book of names written in blood. She watched the names dripped off and fell onto the ground where they vanished.

Tandy was surprised to walk around and see the vulnerability on the Widow's relieved crying face as she looked up and smiled at the man before her. Suddenly she ran and crushed lips with Bruce Banner who held her in gentle arms. Tandy noticed the gold band on his hand as he cupped her face. They broke apart as Hawkeye and a woman with three young kids came up to her and congratulated her and hugged her. Then Tandy noticed Natasha's hand on her slightly distended belly.

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Natasha's eyes were wet and she took a sharp breath as she backed away.

"Nat you ok?" Barton's worried voice came over the comms immediately.

"Fine" Nat's voice broke a bit as she tried to get herself back under control.

"Just need a minute." She took several deep breaths and made her way to sit down on the sidewalk as Clint came running to check on her. The two quietly talking away from everyone.

Tandy gave a sad glance to the woman. Tandy could feel from that one's lack of warmth that even though the woman clearly hoped. The hope was so small that she didn't really believe it would happen. She just wanted it so bad that there was a small bright spark left.

"Ok I'm not sure what you showed her but, I'm not sure I want you looking around in here." Said Tony Stark as he stepped out of his suit in front of her and gestured to his head.

"It's a difficult thing to hope. People don't always like to see what never may be. You don't have to join, I just won't work with you. I have a feeling though you already have a good idea of what you'll see. Many people are surprised by what they see because they don't want to admit it to themselves. But, you give me the vibe that you have a pretty good Idea Stark. You are a futurist after all. Want to see if you're right?" She said, holding out her hand.

Using the little bit of bait as an excuse to psych himself up Stark goes "What the hell. I like being right." And grasps her hand.

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A Wedding. Tandy smiled. The playboy was finally settling down. Stark was standing by a beautiful altar decorated tastefully with white with gold accents. A beautiful ocean sunset as the backdrop bathing everything in a warm glow. A dark skinned man in a blue dress uniform standing next to him with his hand on his shoulder beside him Two teenage boys with brown hair dressed in tuxedos with red and gold ties.

Tandy looked down rows of chairs set up along the white beach. the front rows filled with Avengers and a few other people Tandy didn't recognize. A surprisingly small set up for The Tony Stark. Not even a single Camera.

Tandy almost laughed as three robots made their way cheerfully chirping and beeping as they threw red rose petals along the walkway.

One of them clumsily flicking a claw full onto one of the guest's heads making Stark and a few others laugh. Then one of the bots dropped their basket of flowers. And then the third one accidentally ran into that one while trying to help his friend pick up the fallen basket. Finally though the bots finished and parked in the front row.

Then Pepper Potts made her way down the aisle in a knee length elegant flowy gown that caught the slight sea breeze as she made her way to a dumbstruck Tony Stark that had tears starting to roll down his cheeks.

Tandy smiled at the absolute admiration the two shared as she joined him at the altar and passed off her bouquet to a plump man standing next to her that seemed to be trying to maintain a grumpy serious look but was falling to keep his watery eyes in check.

She heard Tony call her the light of his life as the couple stood under the golden setting sun exchanging vows.

-----

When they broke apart Tony was breathing heavy and wiping tears from his passionate eyes. Tandy wondered briefly if that was why he wore sunglasses, he had the most expressive brown eyes she had ever seen.

"I think you were right and I think you have a better chance than most to make it happen." She tells him. He whispers a barely audible "thank you" before he clears his throat and walks off calling "Your turn bird brain."

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Clint was nervous walking up to the glowing woman. He could see how emotional all the other Avenger's were especially reserved Natasha, who only liked to show her emotions around those few she actually trusted and only rarely. As happy as seeing your hopes and dreams sounded it surprisingly didn't seem all rainbows. From what he gathered from Nat it was intense. Stark was smiling but he could have sworn he saw tears the split second before he slid on his iconic sunglasses. Seeming to hear his thoughts Tandy spoke up.

"It's intense but nothing to be scared of really. Especially for a seasoned spy like yourself right?"

He could tell she was trying to goad him into it but he went with it anyways.

"Probably. If you don't mind me asking what is the craziest thing you have seen in these visions?"

"Can't tell you that, a part of that whole not telling unless necessary thing. Although even if I did tell you I doubt it would make any sense out of context and we don't have time for stories. I have a friend to save remember? And you guys have aliens to catch."

"Hmm. Right." Clint was a bit disappointed but also glad to see at least another sign that they were right to trust her. And she was definitely focused on finding her partner.

Clint grabbed her hand almost expecting it to hurt or feel invasive or something but, a warmth spread over him and he was gone in a flash of light somewhere else.

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Warm light filled the home. It was super lived in, messy but not dirty. It had that homey feeling with pictures on the walls that caught the orange rays streaming in from the windows. Tandy noticed two of them were graduation photos with Hawkeye and a brunette standing next to the boy and girl in their respective photos.

"Hey Mom! Dad ! I'm home and I brought laundry!" The girl from the graduation photo called as she came in the front door with her arms full of bags and luggage.

Tandy watched as a beaming Hawkeye walked in and greeted his daughter with a big hug and told her about where the rest of the family was. As Hawkeye got to "Aunt Nat" Black Widow walked in carefree and hugged the girl, followed by "Uncle Bruce" who had his arm around her. Peculiarly Bruce told the girl that her cousin missed her and was in the other room with Nathaniel, whoever that was.

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Clint blinked when they broke apart it seemed so real in the moment like a dream. Everything made sense yet was blurry around the edges. Clint really did hope for Nat to have a family like his but, he never realized before though how much he hoped that her and Banner would tie the knot, the guy isn't the safest option for anyone. Plus after the helicarrier… well. Not to even touch on Nat's thing about kids and her sterilization.

"I have to say of all the visions I have seen today yours was filled with the most hope of it actually happening. Yours was a lot warmer than the rest." Tandy said, smiling at him. Then she looked over his shoulder at Nat and nodded in her direction. She was still collecting herself on the sidewalk. Which reminded Clint that what he actually saw happened in an instant and that revelation made him feel off balance for a moment.

"You should talk to her, maybe not now, but I think you should tell her what you saw."

Clint wondered just what Nat saw in her vision; he knew it was more than a blank ledger.

"Alright, let's get going, we have work to do." Dagger called as she swaggered as much as her agonizing body would allow towards the Captain.

Chapter Text

Tandy was only feeling marginally better as she made it onto the quinjet and strapped in. She had only used up a small bit of her energy to look into their hopes and the stress of the day and missing Ty was fraying her nerves. She wished she could have asked them for time, just so she could go to the church for a minute to collect herself but she knew that was ridiculous and pushed through. Reining in her temper was going to be hard she knew. Just do it for Ty. You can do it for him. He wouldn't want you to be mean. He'd want you to be civil. They are helping you. It's not their fault Ty was taken.

"You ok?"

Tandy opened her eyes and saw Captain America's concerned eyes. She noted the other Avengers including Bruce Banner and a few of the agents had their eyes on her as well.

"I'm fine. Just more or less meditating, getting my head in the right place. It's been a long day and I need to be on my A game to find Cloak."

"Meditation is a good way to do that. A lot of people don't realize the benefits of it." Banner noted.

Tandy got the feeling he was trying to relate to her as well as lessen any perceived tension on the plane. Which there definitely was some, the Avengers hadn't let the agents put her in their "containment pod" whatever the hell that was. And some didn't seem to agree with that decision and were now giving her the stink eye.

"Sorry but, I just don't see how closing your eyes and repeating nonsense can help you fight." Stark argued.

"It isn't about repeating nonsense. It's about putting yourself in a different head space. Trust me I didn't use to believe in any of this kind of stuff either till a friend of mine showed me. And not all meditation is the same and it can be useful for different things. In my case it's about focusing on Cloak and controlling my emotions so that I can think clearly and not cuss out the agents that are either looking at me like they want to kill me or fuck me." She said pointedly glaring at the most offending parties.

One of the most aggressive looked unapologetic and the one who was definitely ogling her looked down and away red faced. She smirked.

"The cut outs aren't see through, they are just the same tone as my skin when it isn't glowing. I know that is what you were wondering." Most of the Avengers and crew chuckled. The poor guy was the shade of a tomato all the way to his ears. Honestly the guy was too shy to be a spy.

"Glad that mystery is finally solved. You know there are hundreds of videos and articles just speculating on that particular subject."

"Stark." Captain reprimanded.

"It's ok Captain. I've laughed at some of the articles myself. You can't dress the way I do and not expect people to ogle. It's not the way the world works."

She saw the Captain's perplexed expression and could just feel his 40's ways of thinking forming a question behind his eyes.

"Captain. I look at it this way guys are going to look at me like that no matter what I wear might as well wear something that makes me feel powerful. And I like how sexy I look, their stares don't bother me. Usually. My nerves are a bit frayed and Yeah he could be a little bit more polite. But, you don't have to get worked up on my behalf. Although I appreciate it. "

"You're welcome. I guess I'm still not used to how things are in this era and you've given me a lot to think about. "

"Well think about it later we need to focus on the task at hand, finding my partner and whatever it is those alien cyborgs want with him."

"We're coming in for landing" one agent called from the front.

"Can you tell me exactly where we are landing?" Dagger asked.

"Not the exact coordinates but, we are landing on a helicarrier. Which is essentially like a much bigger plane." Natasha responded

"Alright then."

Tandy unbuckled and waited for the Avengers to grab their gear. Tandy pointed out Mr. Unapologetically Angry to the Captain. "I won't work with him and I still need to see Banner once we get off this plane."

The captain glanced at the agent who she could tell was listening even as he was focused on unloading.

"Ok."

Tandy was pleased that the angry guy only clenched his jaw and kept working. Which made Tandy happy. It was good to know Captain America really did have some pull in Shield.

Tandy followed Steve and the other Avengers off on to a large windy parking deck area surrounded by white puffy clouds. As soon as Tandy stepped out of the shadows though she felt like she was being burned alive.

Cooking from the inside out. She cried out and crumpled to the ground. She could vaguely hear the sounds of people shouting around her. And all she could think of was Ty. Then something dark covered her and for a moment she thought it was Ty but, she didn't feel his cool presence. The intensity stopped but the burning was still there under the surface ripping her apart. She sobbed missing her Partner, the ache in her chest rivaled that of the burning under her skin.

She tried to breathe and calm herself. She was in danger and she could feel it. She was too hot; she had to let go of some of the energy before it ripped her apart. She breathed and focused on an image of her and Ty together again. She focused like Evita taught her. Pushing away her fear and focusing on her hope.

She saw Ty's smiling face and their hands intertwining waffle style. She could see herself tracing his face with her hand. Could smell the scent of burning candles and his lotion and deodorant, slightly spicy with a touch of coconut. She could hear him call her his crazy white girl. She smiled and breathed, returning to her body.

The burning was less intense from her opening herself up to the light force dimension and she could still feel something plasticky covering her head to toe. A tarp? The material crinkle above her and she could hear Steve's voice calling her

"Dagger? Dagger are you alright?"

"Yeah? What happened and am I under a tarp?"

"Yeah sorry about that it was all we could grab on short notice. Bruce thinks you reacted to being too close to the sun. That you most likely were absorbing its energy. And it was becoming too much so we covered you to protect you from the light and carried you back into the shade."

Huh now that she was thinking about it she always felt just a tad bit brighter when the sun was out. She always just thought that was physiological.

"You carried me?"

"You didn't feel him carrying you?" Stark's voice said with a tinge of incredulity.

"I was kind of busy trying not to fry alive sorry."

"I thought you said you weren't going to combust?"

"Well I've never been this close to the sun before. Under normal circumstances I would be able to feel the energy building and expel it before it became a problem. I also don't usually have to worry about overdoing it with Cloak around. Now am I still in the shade?"

"Yes but-"

"Close your eyes, or I'll blind you."

Tandy took off the tarp and immediately began throwing light Dagger after light Dagger off the side of the helicarrier. Then she built up a big ball of purifying energy and threw it off. She sighed in relief. For the first time in days she didn't feel like she was fevered. Knowing that she could so quickly recharge for Cloak took the weight off her shoulders.

"You can open your eyes now."

She watched as they began cautiously opening their eyes again.

"What did you do?" Steve asked

"I pretty much just tossed the energy off the ship. Do you mind carrying me across the deck Captain?" She said already beginning to burrito herself in the tarp.

"It's no problem ma'am."

She smiled to herself under the protection of the tarp. She kind of felt like a kid wrapped up like this and she laughed as she felt herself being lifted up. She could just imagine how ridiculous this looked.

"Every girl's dream, being carried by Captain America" she joked

The Avengers enjoyed the slightly uncomfortable look Steve had at her comment. Few people realized how truly uncomfortable the Captain got about women's affections.

"Better hope Cloak doesn't find out Captain. My partner's the jealous type." Tandy joked. Not many people knew their speculations on their relationship were true and honestly Ty going toe to toe with anyone over carrying her especially America's golden boy was a joke in of itself. She felt the Captain slightly tighten his grip and wondered if he was actually worried about a jealous Cloak. She giggled. People were scared shitless of Ty, they didn't know the sweet dorky nerd she knew that was under that cloak.

The Avengers meanwhile were having various reactions to her words. Steve was a little pale faced remembering the videos of Cloak dragging screaming victims into the black abyss of his cloak. Clint and Nat both were wondering if he was actually the jealous type and if they needed to worry after they found him. How did one even fight something like him if it came down to it? Bruce was figitting and wondering if she was joking to scare the Captain or if she truly didn't think that was something her partner would care about and Tony…

"So you too really are a couple. Another theory confirmed you owe me ten bucks Clint."

"You guys had a bet on our relationship? Why am I not surprised? I should have known the Avengers were really like a bunch of high schoolers "

"You have no idea." A professional voice came from in front of them. Tandy could feel by the drop in temperature they had just walked inside the helicarrier.

"I can let you down now it's safe." Steve said. And gently lowered her to the ground.

"Thank you Captain." She said and winked. She nearly lost it when he blushed and told her it was "no Problem". Who knew Captain America was so shy with the ladies. Tandy turned, the tarp still on top of her head and draped around her shoulders.

The guy who matched the voice from before stretched out his hand "Agent Coulson"

Tandy let go of the tarp and reached out as she heard the Avenger's trying to warn him as the light enveloped them.

--------------

Coulson was holding a holographic shield from his arm and had his arms wrapped around a small Asian woman. Giving her a passionate kiss. Oddly the whole scene had an air of nostalgia to it. Like a reoccurring dream.

She watched as Coulson turned and the woman shot at some unknown assailant taking them down. Then another woman this one looking very young and confident walked down the hall and blasted another blurry unknown with waves from her hands. She walked over to them smiling "Hey! Mom and Dad quit making out the teams waiting for us on the quinjet. And Fitzsimmons is impatient to show you their new toys." The girl said.

The words "Mom" and "Dad" were said in earnest meaning even if the tone of the statement was light and teasing. Coulson smiled at her adoringly.

"Well let's not keep them waiting."

-------------

Coulson was a man of hope. Tandy could tell there was something special about him. He had his own inner light. She'd never met anyone like him before and she studied him curiously not letting go of his hand quiet yet although the vision was over.

The Avengers studied the two. They had expected to see Coulson react like they did but, the man looked just the same. A little brighter, a more than just polite smile on his face but, he still had his same composure.

"Come on Agent!" Tony complained behind them throwing his hands up in the air "even Natasha, The Black Widow had a reaction! Are you secretly a robot! How are you still so professionally composed. All. The. Time!?"

Natasha glared at him for making a scene about her showing emotions but, none of the Avengers argued they were all wondering the same thing.

"He's a man of hope." Tandy answered

"He has enough inner light that it doesn't affect him as much. He isn't afraid to hope. Not like most people. And he has already started living out some of it. He is making it a reality." Tandy said amazed by the man in front of her. The man beamed at her words.

"You're one of the very few really good people," she said. She felt herself relax a bit in his presence. She missed the flash of sadness her words brought to Coulson as she adjusted the tarp back onto her shoulders.

"You know you don't have to wear that anymore your inside" Stark said over her shoulder as they began to walk down the hall.

"Oh, guess I'm just used to having something to cover me." Tandy didn't really want to give up the comfort the tarp brought her but she also felt a little ridiculous wearing it now that it wasn't necessary. Tandy brought it around and messily folded it.

"Where should I put this?" She asked awkwardly, ignoring the pity in Banner's eyes.

"Just leave it on the ground and an agent will come put it up." Coulson said.

Tandy awkwardly dropped it. And once again felt exposed. She could feel stares pricking the back of her neck.

Tony meanwhile felt like the biggest douche of the century and he didn't need the other's glares to tell him that. Especially from his science bro. He knew he'd be having words with both him and spangles later. He really wished he had just kept his mouth shut. With how weird the world Shield deals with is the girl could have kept it without any of the agents really questioning it. Especially with the confidence the girl exuded and everybody seeing her and the Captain earlier after her light show. Now the little bit of comfort the girl was able to get was gone because of him. He remembered the footage of the girl looking over her shoulder scared and he felt like an even bigger shit.

Coulson brought the group to a conference room on one of the upper decks of the ship. One without any windows to the outside. All the Avengers sat down around the table Dagger taking a seat next to the Captain at the front of the table. Widow came and sat at her other side, Clint sat at the very end, and Tony and Bruce took their places across from Steve and Dagger. Coulson pulled up a holo table with the data they had collected to start the debrief.

"Due to the terms you set out for your cooperation Director Fury thought it best to limit this to an Avengers only mission. We will only be bringing in reinforcements if absolutely necessary and I will be overseeing this op as your handler. Any questions?"

As Tandy listened to Coulson she kept her calculating eyes on Bruce, a fact that hadn't gone unnoticed by those around her. And Bruce had very pointedly not been looking at her and instead fidgeting.

"Yeah. Our deal was I see everyone's hopes that be on this team and I haven't looked at Dr. Banner's yet but, first I got to know is the Hulk his own person?"

"What?" Was echoed across the table
Bruce and the others (except Natasha and Coulson) being thrown by the question.

"Is the Hulk his own person with his own hopes and fears?" Dagger asked very seriously.

Banner took a moment and breathed thinking about it. He knew the other guy was a split personality but, what she was asking was if he was fundamentally his own person. A question he had often pondered himself and was slow to answer.

"That's a complicated answer but, I think so."

Tandy studied him another moment. She wasn't sure she could handle looking in two people's hopes at once and she also wasn't sure if she'd be able to see the Hulk when he wasn't him. But, she also liked to have a good idea of if she needed to worry about the Hulk trying to smash her and Ty if it came down to it.

"Ok. I have never looked at more than one person at a time and honestly I'm not sure if I'll be able to see the other guy without you actually being him but, I want to try. You need to be prepared though for the possibility of seeing his hopes Dr. Banner."

Tandy gave him a questioning eyebrow and reached across the table. Laying her hand face up. The room seemed to hold its breath as Banner debated.

As much as he didn't want to see the Hulk's hopes he would finally get the answer to whether or not he really was his own person. This was probably his only chance to get a definitive answer so he took a resolving breath and grabbed her hand. The flash was much brighter than when she grabbed the others and those around the table winced and blinked their eyes. Then they looked and Dagger and Bruce still had their eyes closed.

"Uh guys shouldn't they have already been done by now?" Clint asked

"Yeah it didn't take this long for the rest of us." Steve asked. He started to reach for Dagger's shoulder but Coulson's voice stopped him.

"Don't. Don't touch or interfere. She said she hadn't looked at two people at once before, so it might just take longer to sift through two personalities. We just have to wait it out or we risk hurting them both."

------------

The scene Tandy was in was murky and fragmented. Shadows wound through blocking her from seeing where she was going. On her left dim and blurred as if by a dark fog sat Bruce alone with absolutely no one around on the right was Bruce again but, he shone brighter and was actually smiling.

But, still there were dark wispy clouds around this bubble. Tandy had a hard time wading through to see what was on the other side. It was like walking through thick swamp mud. Her legs were hardly visible through the dark mist about them.

Once she trudged through she could see Bruce standing with Natasha gently kissing her in a very suave dip. As she watched Bruce danced with her. Bruce didn't do much but he kept with the beat of the lovely classical music Tandy recognized from her own years of Ballet.

Bruce smiled and watched as she twirled and danced in a red leotard and pointe shoes. Her moves were graceful as she moved around him, her sole focus on him as she performed pirouettes and advanced pointe movements. Her intense eyes never straying from him, her body always spinning back to his, her waist tiny in his arms. Tandy was transfixed by the beautiful scene but she felt something in her gut pulling her to move on.

Curiously she moved wading back through the dark clouds to find bright light once again. This time Bruce was cutting up and laughing with Stark in what appears to be a lab. As the two laugh Nat walks in with a tray of drinks and sandwiches. She still has a seductive sway to her hips as she walks in looking very domestic. "Well I can see you boys are hard at work."

As she sets the tray down she notices a cloud around her hand and as confident Bruce accepts her food and jokes back flirtatiously Tandy notices a cloud around his left hand too.

Tandy feels another pull and sighs, walking on. Trying to trek through the fog once again. But, this time the clouds only thicken till there is almost no light. The darkness around her thickens. Her legs almost feel like they're sinking in drying concrete. She can hear a roar in the distance and anger is palpable around her. Tandy struggles to move her feet. She can tell there are hopes ahead of her but, the darkness whips around her like a violent storm trying to take her breath and drown her.

Tandy takes a deep breath and focuses on her light, on her own hope of helping Dr. Banner, and maybe even the guy behind this shroud of fear. Tandy forges on using her light to slice through the darkness and claw her way through. But, the more she surges forward the tide of fear pushes her back and then suddenly she is ripped from the realm entirely. Solidness beneath her feet disappearing. She is thrown hurtling back and she screams as she loses control. She feels like she is flying and her stomach drops.

---------

It had been ten minutes since Bruce had grabbed Dagger's hand. They had no clue what was going on in there but, Dagger kept glowing more and more brightly and in random pulses. It was setting everyone on edge. Then Dagger started to get so bright it caused the Avengers to don extra pairs of Tony's sunglasses. She just kept getting brighter.

"Ok what is going on in there? Are they having a rave? Is that what Bruce dreams of?" Tony said nervously pacing. He really didn't like magic, especially mind magic crap he didn't understand. And he especially didn't like not knowing if his science bro was ok in there.

Clint kept glancing at Natasha. Nobody but, maybe he would be able to tell that she was really nervous and worried about Bruce. And that in turn made Clint more upset. He started pacing waiting for it to be over. Then the room took a collective gasp as a light dagger formed in the women's hand and before anyone could blink Clint grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back. Light flashed blinding everyone and Banner and Dagger hit opposite walls.

"What the Hell Clint!"
"Is Bruce Alright?"
"Should we call a medic?"
"Everyone calm down!" Coulson called over the chaos.
Tony was shaking Bruce calling his name.
"I swear Clint if Bruce has brain damage I'm going to end you."
"I was trying to save him!"
"You were given an order to not inter-"
" ENOUGH!" Coulson yelled,"none of this is helping. Clint go get medical. Nobody touch Dagger. Natasha do your best to assess her. Tony how are Banner's Vitals?"

"Jarvis scan him."

"Dr. Banner appears to be stable just unconscious although it is probable that he has sustained a concussion from hitting the wall."

"Her breathing is erratic."

Coulson came around to her and used his prosthetic hand to check her pulse. Glad the sensitivity was greatly improved in this model, he'd have to thank Fitz later.

"I thought you said not to touch her?" Steve's worried voice came from behind him.

"This is a prosthetic. Long story."

He answered Nat's curious eyebrow.

"Her pulse is dangerously fast. I think she may be going into shock. Steve go find me a blanket.

"On it." He could hear the super soldier's feet pounding down the hall. Coulson looked down at the girl's young pale face. Her skin was much dimmer now and he could make out more of her features. She was young, possibly as young as Skye was when they first picked her up. She was shaking now and sweating. The creston moon on her face kept fading out on her skin and Coulson was sure that wasn't a good sign.

"What is our plan?" Nat asked quietly.

"Right now. Treat her for shock. I'm going to call in a couple of specialists, if anyone can figure this out and save her it is those two."

As Coulson finished speaking the door opened and Steve and the medics rushed in. Half of the medics made their way over to them and Natasha backed out of the way. The room was cramped even with only four extra people.

"Careful not to have skin to skin contact with her." Coulson said as he wrapped the girl up in the blanket and moved to let the medics set up monitoring devices and check her over.

From the other side of the room Coulson could hear Bruce waking up and as much as he didn't want to leave the girl Bruce could give him valuable insight that might save her.

----------

Bruce was confused when he woke up. He blinked away from the blinding light in his eyes and groaned at his pounding head.

"Bruce! Bruce buddy ya there?" Bruce winced away from Tony's obnoxiously loud voice.

"Yeah. Quiet. Quieter my head. Wh-what happened?" He slurred.

"Bird brain ripped you away from light show and there was a blast and the two of you hit the walls."

"You appear fine Dr. Banner although you have some bruising and a minor concussion." Said a woman dressed in a shield medic uniform.

"Yeah feels like it. How is Dagger?" He asked, rubbing his throbbing head.

Coulson answered, "She's in shock. The medics are treating her now. Anything you can tell us that might help us treat her?"

Bruce was immediately alarmed and tried to wrack his muddled brain for answers. As he spoke the medics cleared out and the Avengers came closer. Steve and Natasha were still keeping an ear and eye out on how the girl on the other side of the table was doing though.

"My memories are hazy but, I remembered seeing her there, they were like dreams bathed in light. But, uh. Um there there was this like dark storm of clouds separating my dreams. Like I was watching her watching me but, I could feel what the other mes were doing in the dream if that even makes sense? I don't know it was really confusing and then it was like I knew she was going somewhere else and I knew it was to the other guy. And I was angry that he really was there even though I couldn't really see him. And I couldn't see her but, I-I knew she was getting close to the other guy, just like you sometimes know things in dreams even though logically you shouldn't. And then I could feel the other guy and I-I c-c-could hear him roar on the other side too and he was angry. And I didn't want her to go over there and she kept trying but, s-she was caught in the dark storm somewhere and couldn't move further. And then there was a flash and it felt like I was falling and then n-nothing till, I woke up."

Coulson wondered what the dark storm was that separated Bruce and the Hulk but, he set it aside for another time. It was clear that that was the cause for why it took so long for Dagger to come back and why she probably drew her dagger, it was possible whatever she was doing in there her physical body to some extent responded. And now her physical body was reacting to suddenly not being in Bruce's head. He needed to call Simmons immediately.

"Alright unless you're helping Dagger you're dismissed. We will debrief when she's stable. I have a call to make." Coulson didn't listen to any protests as he stalked into the secure room next door and locked it. Phone already ringing

"Sir?"

"Simmons. It's an emergency. I have a young enhanced with light energy powers and the ability to see people's hopes. She was looking into Dr. Banner's hopes through physical contact and her powers were reacting on the outside whatever she was doing on the inside. The contact was severed and Dr. Banner was fine but now, she has gone into shock. What do we do?"

"You said her physical body was reacting to whatever she was doing on the outside in what way do you mean?"

"She was glowing and summoned light daggers while she was in there."

"Light daggers? Wh-wait is the enhanced Dagger as in Cloak and Dagger?"

"That's classified but, yes. Focus Jemma. What do we need to do?"

"W-well. You treat her for shock, wrap-"

"We are already doing that Jemma but, she isn't improving and this isn't a normal injury."

"You said she connected through physical touch. Does that happen anytime she touches someone or does she have to have a mind to do it?"

"As far as we know any touch."

"Ok if it was Dr. Banner then you should try reestablishing that connection, as long as he isn't the Hulk of course, he's not the Hulk right? Like right now?"

"No are you sure that would help" he asked as he headed back into the room where the medics were struggling to stabilize Dagger who was looking dull and translucent. Her blonde hair stuck to her head by sweat.

"No never really are but, my theory is she is lost and grounding her by bringing her back to where she last was will hopefully help."

"Ok thanks Simmons"

Coulson hung up before Simmons could even respond and turned to Banner who was standing by Stark next to the door.

Coulson snapped his fingers, grabbing the man's attention from his discussion.

"Banner I need you to let Dagger back in."

"What?" The scientist startled

"There is a good chance you touching her and allowing her back in could pull her out of shock."

Coulson's stomach was tight in nervous energy as Banner made his way behind the table and past the medics echoing what Simmons said over the phone. Coulson was glad Stark for once kept his mouth shut even though he could see the worry in his eyes over Bruce.

He held his breath as Banner took the girls hand again and the girl glowed. Weaker than before but, it looked like maybe it was working.

"Her pulse is steadying." One of the medics reported.

Coulson let out a breath. And opened up his messages

"O2s looking good" the other medic said, confirming her health.

Coulson shot his agent a text to let her know she saved a life and to tell her good work.

When Coulson looked back up from his phone the light dimmed and his heart skipped a beat. Then he saw the girl open her eyes. Crystal baby blues looked up at him slightly dazed and watery. Coulson heard Stark come over to check on Bruce but, he kept his focus on the young girl lying on the floor. Her brow scrunched up in confusion and her pale shaky hand came up to the oxygen mask that was still over her face. One of the medics started to remove the mask and asked her how she felt.

"My head feels like it's going to split and my body feels like a bruise. What the hell happened?" She rasped.

"You drew a light Dagger and Barton separated you two. You hit opposite walls. Banner was fine but you went into shock. Then we had Banner reestablish your connection to ground you. Your vitals stabilized and then you woke up on your own."

Coulson could tell she was pissed and a bit scared but, he could also tell his honesty helped more than a lie ever could.

" Fuck. Can I get some water?" She rasped.

"Sure small sips" answered one of the medics and got out a bottle of water as the other helped her sit up. She winced and Coulson could tell she was weak. She honestly-
"Shit kid you look like death warmed over." Said Stark.

"Thanks Stark. Is that how you get all the ladies?"

Stark huffed a laugh "I like you. Your feisty"

"Careful Stark I'm taken. Plus not sure yet, if I'm not going to kill your feathered friend for almost killing me."

Several in the room winced at that.
"Not sure if I won't myself right now. He could have hurt my science bro. But, I have been known to do stupid impulsive things that have almost gotten multiple people killed. One of my many character defects but, in this case Katniss was more working on instinct. Guy has been trained to tackle people with knives."

Coulson watched Daggers usually hidden face go from underlying rage to confused contemplation to understanding.
"I summoned one of my light daggers and he tackled me to save Bruce?" She clarified

"Yes"

"Alright I guess I won't skin him alive but, he does something like that again and I will stab him."

"Sounds fair," Stark agreed. And Coulson was glad he didn't have to deal with Dagger fighting any Avengers.

"Can we check your pupils?" Asked one of the medics.
Tandy nodded and the others left as the medics finished looking over Dagger for injuries. Coulson meanwhile went to debrief the team and scold a certain archer.

Chapter Text

Twenty minutes later all of the Avengers sans Falcon, who was still off doing recon, were lined up in front of Coulson in an empty sound proof room.

"You'll be happy to know that Dagger is stable and awake." Coulson noticed that the three that hadn't been in the room earlier looked relieved. "And that she doesn't seem to be one to hold grudges. Although she has vowed to stab you if you do something like this again." Coulson resisted the urge to say it "wasn't a matter to take lightly" but, just barely.

Coulson noticed the archer was tense, keyed up and defensive but he knows Barton; there is some underlying guilt and he needs to lose the anger otherwise he could comprise the entire mission.

"Your actions today could have cost Dr. Banner's life and almost cost the life of a young girl."
Coulson saw Barton's eyes twitch at "young girl". Everyone knew Dagger had to be younger than 30 but, it wasn't clear just how young she was until the glow was no longer obscuring her face. He could see the question reflecting in Barton's eyes.

"I know it is your instinct to react to seeing a weapon but, you allowed your emotions to cloud your judgment. Natasha has the same instincts and was standing just as close and didn't react. You disobeyed a direct order and injured your teammate and our current ally. Can you still be trusted to do this mission Agent Barton without compromise?"

There was a pause and Barton studied his boots for a moment.
"How badly was she hurt?" He whispered.
"The medics are still looking over her but, it looks like her injuries were minimal."

Coulson could see the debate in the archer's eyes. And he knew he wanted to make up for what he did. He could see his resolve as he locked eyes with him.
"Yes sir. I believe I can complete this mission without compromise."
"Alright. I want you to formally apologize and if you fail to maintain proper conduct on this op you will be benched pending a formal review. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Alright -"
Coulson's phone dinged. He looked down and saw a message from the shield medic team and opened it.

Dagger has a few bruised ribs, no signs of internal bleeding and no concussion. She experienced some weakness which we treated with controlled amounts of sunlight. We gave her Advil her head and recommended drinking plenty of fluids. She refused any medication for her ribs beyond anti-inflammatories. She is clear for duty and insists she wants to resume debrief as soon as possible.

"That was medical. Dagger has been cleared and is ready to resume debrief."

-----------

Clint looked guilty at Dagger who was looking remarkably better as they entered. She was sitting a little stiffly, most likely due to her ribs but she was glowing bright again. The cresten stood out proud on her face and her short platinum blonde locks were tied back out of her face. And she was wearing a navy shield hoodie with the hood down. The contrast made her look otherworldly, an odd juxtaposition to the casual attire and attitude.

"Alright we have wasted enough time we need to get started on finding my partner." She said immediately.
Coulson was about to agree and start the meeting but Barton interjected.

"Before we do, I got to say I'm sorry for my actions. I acted rashly and caused you injury and endangered your life. I hope you can forgive me and still allow me to aid you in finding your partner. I promise to think before I act and not to go off script again."

"I'll admit I was pissed but, I can see things from your side. So no hard feelings as long as you don't do something stupid like that again. I know you can't really trust me but, you can trust I will do whatever it takes to get Cloak back. Ok so, let stop wasting time because, the longer we're apart the worse this is going to get." She said with fierce determination. It was clear she really meant her words.

Steve picked up on something though as they all sat down. "You mentioned the longer you are apart the worse things get and before you said Cloak feeds off your energy. What does that mean for Cloak?"

Tandy tightened her fist in her pocket.
"I don't know honestly. I don't know what will happen to him if he goes too long without my light. I just know it isn't good. So we need to find him as quickly as possible."

"Will he die?" Steve hated to ask and it was clear he wasn't the only one thinking the question.
Dagger took a big breath, "I don't think so but, I don't know for sure. But, what I do know is it won't be pleasant, he has described it as like a cold void before. And like a gnawing hunger. Like he's empty without it. Without me. He - " she blew out a breath." It messes with his head. He needs me and that's all you need to know." She cleared her throat that was tight. Her words clearly trying to end the emotional conversation.

The Avengers felt for the girl. It has been a long day for her and her boyfriend is missing and in danger. And she is also still young.

"What is the longest you two have been apart?" Coulson asked.
"After we unlocked all of our powers, three days I think. we always tried to see each other once a day and with Cloaks teleporting it wasn't hard to get a few moments together."
A few cursed under their breath.

"You said unlocked all your powers, what does that mean? Did your biology change? " Bruce questioned
"I think so, we were different and we felt more of a pull towards each other than we did before. More of a need. And we are stronger, faster, and have more control and insight into ourselves and the world than before."

The science bros both got contemplative looks and Coulson quickly took the chance to actually finally start the formal debrief.

"Alright Dagger this is the information we have gathered so far on the cyborg aliens that took your friend." As he spoke he slid the file from his jacket and slid it across the table to her and pulled up a holographic display. He watched her open the folder and flip through it immediately.

"We are on a time crunch so I'm going to hit the highlights." He saw her look up and give him her full attention.
"These guys have been stealing from various science labs. Mainly stealing equipment having to do with energy. They also stole various research notes most worryingly on dark matter. We are unsure what they are planning but, it's clear whatever it is they plan to use your partner to accomplish it."

Tandy's eyebrows furrowed moving her cresten.
"What is dark matter? Is that like dark energy?" She questioned
"Not much is known about dark matter. It is extremely dangerous. Peggy Carter, one of Shield's founders, came across it in the 40's. When she was still working for our organization's predecessor the SSR. A missile test gone wrong with a very specific isotope ripped what seemed to be a hole in reality opening up into something dark.

After the hole disappeared it left behind a substance known as dark matter. The dark matter was attracted to itself but it also sought out hosts. A scientist friend of Agent Carter, Dr. Jason Wilkes, who was studying dark matter and actress Whitney Frost, who was also a genius, were both hosts to it. And both were reported by multiple accounts driven mad. Mrs. Frost suffered a complete mental break and was institutionalized even after she was rid of the dark matter in her system.

Dark matter in of itself was able to completely consume living beings including people. It also had unknown potential and although it can't be confirmed,it had a kind of sentients to it. Shield has what is left of it secured and has taken extra precautions to keep it out of their hands with this new looming threat. Shield has also disposed of the specific isotope and missile needed to acquire more dark matter in the same way as it was originally discovered."

Tandy raised her hand and Coulson paused his shield history lesson and nodded to her.
"You said the dark matter came through a rip to somewhere dark. Was it like a portal to another dimension?"
Coulson could see Stark ever so slightly stiffen at the word "portal" out of the corner of his eye.

"We believe so."
"And this other dimension was dark, was there any light? Did they describe it as cold?"
"Yes those that saw directly into it said it was evil and dark. A cold void without light. You know what it is."
"I'm not sure but it sounds like the dark force dimension. It's possible that dark matter came from there."
"What's the dark force dimension?" Asked The Captain
"It's a dimension that feeds into this one. It is hard to explain but, essentially the dark force and light force dimensions surround other dimensions bringing peace and balance. And there are vessels through which those dimensions feed in order to maintain that world's balance. Me and Cloak are the vessels for this world, the divine pairing."

"So your buddy cloak could give these guys an unlimited supply of this dark matter." Steve asked, not contemplating the big picture like most of the other's in the room.
"It's more than that Steve." Nat said her voice conveying the knot she was feeling in her stomach.
"If those two keep the world's balance they could tip the scales and bring chaos." Bruce said, running a hand through his hair.
"Fuck" Stark got up and started to pace behind his chair.

"Wait. Wait. Hold up." Barton asked, forming a "T" with his hands. "How old are you two?"
"How's that important right now?" The Captain questioned. Barton just waved him off and focused on the girl.
"Older than 18 not older than 25" she said even if that wasn't technically true, they were both 18.

"So you two haven't always been the pairing for this world right?"
At that comprehension dawned on the others who turned back to Dagger
"No. Two are chosen every generation and they are the divine pairing until one of them dies. Then the power is transferred to another two souls but, me and Cloak we are a bit stronger than most of the pairings in the past have been." She said with an odd look on her face that was hard to read. But, Natasha thought she recognized part of it though she couldn't put a finger on it, it made her blood run cold.

"What do you mean?" Coulson asked gently.
"It's our job, our purpose is to maintain balance and prevent events that would lead to chaos and destruction. So many pairings have sacrificed one of them to prevent disasters. So many in fact that it is even believed by some that one of the pair has to die" she huffed a dry laugh

"That was actually what saved us the first time. A friend of ours whose grandmother had studied about the history of the divine pairings warned us that one of us would have to die to stop what was coming. And T-Cloak he teleported in, determined to be the one but, I wouldn't let him. I said screw it, screw destiny. If we went out, we went out together. I fought my way in and got to Cloak before everything went to shit and we used our powers together to prevent the apocalypse. We couldn't believe that we actually did it and that we both were alive." She expressed

" It was after that we started fully unlocking our powers and that we decided what we were going to do with our powers. We made plans and decided to hide our identities. We were able to connect more to the dimensions our powers come from and the world.
We also did some digging, with the help of our friend we found old texts on the divine pairing. The real history behind it. Not just what our friend's grandmother knew about those who lived and died in New Orleans."

She took a deep breath. Amazed at how much she had shared. She didn't usually share that much personal stuff with people she didn't know. Maybe Ty was making her soft or maybe it was just the stress of not having him there. Although it was stressful it also felt weirdly cathartic to voice these things out loud. Acknowledge things she could only really talk to Ty and Evita about. She took a breath and refocused on her captive audience, trying to not see the sympathy on their faces.

"Anyways," she blew out a breath, "The pairings are stronger after they have survived their first disaster, because, our full powers don't unlock till the time is right because, of some mystical destiny bullshit.-"
"Language" she heard Captain America say under his breath. A couple of people laughed but, Tandy was beyond annoyed and incredulous. She was an adult and they were talking about important shit, not just the life of Tyrone but, possibly the fucking universe and he wanted to berate her on her language? Really!? Tandy huffed and gave him daggers with her eyes as she pointedly continued

"So, now we have a direct connection to the two forces that balance the world, and in turn have a deeper connection to this world. We know things and can influence cosmic events. Which means that it is really fucking important." She made eye contact daring Captain righteous to say something. He wisely held up his hands in surrender as Stark and Hawkass snickered. "That we find Cloak soon because, it looks like it's possible that the reason they took him has to do with his connection to the Dark Force. The real question is though how did they manage to trap him. Cloak should have been able to escape maybe if you two geniuses can figure that out we can find him and free him. I mean it can't be easy to trap a teleporter with access to another dimension. There has to be a trail right?"

A few people including Coulson were impressed with the girls thinking although she did have cosmic powers and apparently unique understanding of the world, not to mention has stopped the apocalypse before if her words were to be believed and, regularly took on organized crime so, perhaps they shouldn't be too surprised. But, she was definitely an unassuming package. You wouldn't know by the way she talks, how young she looks, or how scantily clad her costume is that she had a bright mind.

Tandy listened intently as she leaned her aching body back a bit and listened to the two geniuses bounce back and forth about the dark matter research trying to parse out the important bits. When they were bringing their talk to a close Tandy jumped right in with excitement cutting off Stark as what they said dawned on her.

"So, what you're saying is you can track the device they are using by getting your AI to track to see which buildings are using that specific amount of power that also give off that energy signature by recreating the device they must have used based on the notes. But, you need me to give you a ruff estimate of how big the thing they had him in was?" She clarified.

She was met with dumbstruck faces and looked around to see everyone was looking at her with various amounts of surprise.
"What?"
Stark seemed to blink out of it and continued on like he hadn't been imitating a fish a minute ago.
"Uh. Yeah so, we will need you to give us your estimates and then follow us down to the lab to make sure our device looks like the one they took him in."
"I didn't see it for long but I'll do my best. How long do you think it will take?"
"Um sorry to interrupt but, are you a science super genius or something and not mention it?" Clint interrupted. Getting a slightly disapproving look from Cap and an elbow from Natasha. Dagger quirked her brow.

"I think what Mr. Barton is trying to say is he is curious how you were able to follow Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark's discussion." Coulson said diplomatically. Although he, like the rest of them, was insanely curious if she was a secret genius. Dagger furrowed her brow.

"No. I'm not a genius. I didn't even graduate high school. I just read in between the science jumble I didn't understand."
She got dumbfounded looks.
She huffed "You don't have to be a science genius to sift out what you don't understand from what you do." Rolling her eyes like it should be obvious.

Stark gave a huh. Dagger noticed he gave her an appraising look, one with respect that made her oddly proud. She smirked, this was definitely something to brag about to Ty later.

"See now none of you have an excuse, Sunshine over here gets it. You slackers just want us to spell it all out for you." Stark said standing up.

He got a few grumbles retorts, mainly from Barton, that he ignored. "Now I have got work to do. I will send you a list Agent of what I need and let you know when I'm done. Meanwhile you guys can put together a plan of attack. Ok? Ok. Good. Brucey-bear? Sunshine?" Tony completely ignored the Captain and Coulson as they tried to object and motioned for Dagger and Banner to follow him.

Tandy was surprised that she didn't mind the nickname all that much and she chuckled at the Dr.'s nickname. Who calls a grown ass man Brucey-bear. It wasn't even like the two of them were an item. Dagger just smiled and shrugged as she gingerly got out of her chair and followed the science nerds. Only replying to Coulson who had already given up on stopping them as she passed through the door. She looked at him over her shoulder and said simply "We don't have anytime to waste."

---------

Tandy's back hurt from where she presumably hit the wall and her shoulder and ribs were sore from where she subsequently hit the floor. She hadn't been blasted back by her own powers like this since the beginning with Ty when they still couldn't touch. Such mystic bullshit. Although part of her is glad she wasn't able to seek out physical comfort in the wrong way, there are more than a few times where she thinks she might have been better if Ty had been able to hold her hand or just put his arms around her. Tandy sighed as she thought about it as she sat on an uncomfortable chair in the lab.

Two hours ago Stark had brought her down here with him and his "science bro" (cue eye roll). He had wasted no time in railing her with questions as soon as the door to the meeting or "debriefing" was shut. Banner had scolded Stark, sorry Tony, as he insisted she call him. She almost tempted to call him Stark or "just call me Tony" but, she refrained one of them had to be a mature adult around here. Anyways Banner had scolded him for not being considerate or overwhelming her or whatever just because she was hurt. Giving him dirty looks for not checking on her. Banner had asked her if she was ok and apologized for Tony. She assured the doctor that she was fine and told the truth, she much preferred just getting straight to business. And she turned down his offers to give her medical assistance or rest if she needed it.

He had sighed at her response but, luckily backed off. She really didn't want to deal with people fussing over her or slowing her down right now when she needed to get to Ty. Plus her body was more durable these days and healed a bit faster especially with as much pure energy she was able to take in from the sun earlier, it wasn't the same as the energy she creates naturally over time but, it was enough to get her through for now. Although she was still exhausted. It felt like this day would never end.

The fact that for the last forty minutes Tony and Bruce had seemed to run out of things to ask her or menial tasks for her to do wasn't helping her exhaustion or irritation. She was honestly torn between being pissed at not having anything to do and wanting desperately to not having something to do so she could rest. And the latter only made her more pissed at herself. But, then she thought of Tyrone and sighed when she realized she knew exactly what he would say to her right now. And she was irritated at him from afar for having a face that even just in her memories was enough to get her to relent. Or maybe she really was just that tired.

"Hey if you guys don't have anything else for me to do right now you think you could get me at least a semi decent chair so I can catch a couple of Z's" she punctuated the request with a yawn and half hearted, painful stretch.

Tony and Bruce both looked over at her from the machine they were in the midst of assembling on the floor. They both looked a bit guilty and sympathetic.
Bruce looked like he was going to respond, probably to say something about her health going by the look in his eyes but Tony cut him off.

"Sure kid. Shouldn't need anything else from you for a couple of hours at least. Here let me give you something." He said as he got up with a groan and a couple of pops and clicks. She could hear him say something about his old knees under his breath but Tandy was too tired to make a joke.

He grabbed something off the table and fiddled with it for a moment before bringing it over.
"This is a Stark watch, I like to have a few extra on hand. Anyways so JARVIS my AI is on here and you can also use this to communicate. I can have JARVIS give you the full tutorial later. But, Shield has some bunks here that you can probably crash in and this will make sure we can give you a wake up call if you're needed while you take your cat nap or guide you back here."
Stark explained holding out an obnoxiously red watch with a circle of gold around it's face and at the clasp.

Tandy at first was a little skeptical about trusting Stark Tech on her, knowing how advanced it is. Especially with the AI they would definitely be able to spy on her but she was already in a secret flying spy base, so what the heck might as well. She was too tired to think more on it. She fastened it to her right wrist and said her thank yous. Things were kind of a blur as some rando with a buzz cut in a blue uniform showed her to a bland grey looking room.

It was totally utilitarian. Tandy wasted no time checking the room out. Mostly working off of her habitual checklist from her various days of crashing at unfamiliar places. Empty cabinets except for a small first aid kit, Feminine hygiene products, and toilet paper.
Medicine cabinet had ibuprofen, tylenol, aspirin, and saline. Drawers had extra toothbrushes and toothpaste which she immediately took advantage of. The shower was clean and had very generic soap. The toilet tank was empty and she couldn't find anything suspicious as she ran her hands along the bathroom's nook and crannies. The same turned out to be true for the room for the most part as well.

Her eyes were blurry as she made her way around but, she was fairly sure if she was more awake she'd find there were several hidden compartments in the room although no secret door that she could find. (Crash in enough rich people's houses and you'll find they aren't as rare as you would think.) There was a store of extra clothes, blankets, and sheets under the bed. A few cans of soda in the mini fridge. The dresser and bedside table were both empty except for extra charger cords. The bed itself was free of bedbugs and clean. There was a small desk in the room whose one drawer was barren. She set the chair under the doorknob and climbed into bed.

She thinks Shield could have spared some dough for a decent fabric softener as she climbs under the rough scratchy blanket. Tandy pulled her borrowed hoody over her head and pulled the strings so that it covered the sides of her face.

She curled up on her side hugging one of the pillows to her chest under the grey blanket. And she let herself cry into the pillow that smelled of that generic chemical "flowery" scent.
Not finding comfort in the hoodie that didn't have the same ware on it as the one she took from Ty all those years ago. This one was soft and not rough and peeled on the inside. And it didn't have the scent that culminated from being snuggled up to Ty every night and being washed in the good expensive fabric softener Ty's mom used to always use that they had started using to wash their clothes in even if they had to do theirs in a sink because they couldn't afford to go the laundry mat or their parents.

She muffled her cries into the pillow. Not even feeling bad about the snot and tears she was leaving behind as she ugly cried into it. Not caring if Shield or Stark was spying on her. It had been a long time since she just let it out. And right now her heart hurt too much to hold herself back even though each shuddered breath pulled on her bruised ribs and made her shoulder ache. She didn't care that her wrist hurt as she clutched the pillow like it would turn into her Ty if she just held hard enough.

Eventually her sobs subsided into little hiccups. Quiet tears continued their path down to the puddle under her head and her stomachs felt sick and empty. And she bleakly wondered if that was how Ty felt without her as she let her mind slip into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile in the helicarrier…

Director Fury phone rings and he glances down at the saved contact.
"Shit." Fury sighs looking at his phone, thinking about what Coulson said about the cosmic importance of their vigilante dou.

"Sir?" Agent Hill asked from where she stood behind his desk.

"Sorcerer Supreme. What are the chances that it is a coincidence?"
Hill just gave him a look of agreement as he hit answer.

"Hello. What can I do for you today Doctor?"

Strange's stressed and slightly fazadled voice came through instantly putting a pit of unease in the Director's stomach. The man tended to have a pretty balsé attitude even in the midst of a crisis so this must be pretty damn bad.

"D-director. Have you a location on either of the Vigilantes going by the names C-cloak and Dagger. It is of extreme importance that I find them im-m-mediately."

"I have Dagger in my custody now and I have my two brightest already working on a way to locate the other."

"Thank God" the magician murmured in oblivious relief.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the fact that these two have connections to forces that supposedly balance the world would it?"

"Yes, it is doubtful any of you have felt it yet but, the world has already started to tip out of balance. Those of us magically trained can already feel it and it has inhibited our search. Normally t-the the sanctum s-sortum keeps loose tabs on the divine pairing but something has happened to temporarily dampen the dark force's hold on this world and everything in magic has slowly become more and more unpredictable. None of my sorcerers nor I can risk using any of our resources for fear of the destruction it may cause.

Listen it is of the utmost importance that we reunite the divine pairing before the next moon, which is in three days. I-if the pair is not t-together by then the world may become too askew to natural right itself. You you said you have Dagger in your custody, correct?" The doctor was breathing heavily by the time he finished his spiel.

"Uh yes."

"And I'm hoping by what you already know it is not in handcuffs."

"No she is currently sleeping in one of our bunks and she has been helping with the search."

Fury could practically feel the man thinking over the line.

"Ok listen to me this is very important. You have to make sure to keep her h-hopeful."

"Hopeful?" He repeated incredulously more in the really sort of way because he was beyond over being truly unbelieving in any of this weird cosmic bullshit.

"Yes, the light force protector is also known as the h-harbinger of hope. If she were to lose hope especially of finding her soulmate she could cause the world to fall into d-despair. Already those of us who are magically sensitive can feel her d-distress."

Fury realized that that must be why the wizard was so off kilter, this girl was influencing all of them with her emotions and soon they'd be feeling it too. Fury blew out a breath and pinched his nose. He thought they had time before the world ended but, apparently it was already falling apart like a cookie in milk. And all of their fates were in the hand of the emotions of a girl that might not even be twenty yet.

"Alright we will do our best. Now is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Y-yes the dark force protector can find his light force counterpart wherever she is. So, it isn't necessary for her to be there with you. As soon as whatever is imprisoning him is gone he can teleport to her. It would also be best if there were not any living beings within at least 10 meters of them when they join again. The mass of power will be too great and unpredictable as it struggles to find equilibrium. Also he will be starving for the light force and will try to consume as much light as he can as soon as he is free. But as long as no one tries to deter him from getting to her you should be safe although you may find yourselves unable to see in the darkness that surrounds him. But, still be w-wary. Cloak can drag living people into his dimension to feed and without Dagger they will be sucked dry of any light force in their bodies."

"So manage the emotions of a girl that's barely an adult and keep my agents far from them both when we let Cloak out otherwise they may have the light sucked out of them. Anything else doctor?" Fury asked massaging his head.

"Yes p-please, keep their identity and cosmic roles secret. Do not even document them in Shield. They are too important. Only I as Sorcerer Supreme and few others have been permitted s-s-such knowledge. I-if certain interested p-part-ties were to realize who the divine p-pairing were it could cause s-serious problems down the line and threaten the pair's a-a-ability to maintain balance. You must stress the importance of the s-secrecy to your agents. No one must know."

"I understand I will make sure to stress that fact to them."

"I-i hope so. Also you should know s-she appreciates honesty and despises lies and manipulations as a word of caution."

"Is that a part of her being this harbinger?"

"Although many light vessels have had that in common. No it is more to do just with her and her h-history."

"Noted. Good day doctor. I'll be in touch."

"Good day director I wish you godspeed."

Fury groaned and ran a hand down his face.
"Hill quietly gather the Avengers and Coulson into my office, make sure none of them go to include Dagger. We need to talk."

Hill nodded and headed out the door.

------------

Forty five minutes later the Avengers including Falcon, who had just returned from recon and been hurriedly recapped by Stark, all stood in Fury's office.

"Alright why are we all gathered here without our new little light show buddy Eyepatch?" Stark questioned.

He wasn't happy they were about to talk about the girl behind her back but, part of him was also dreading the reason was there was something shady about her and that put a feeling peculiarly like betrayal in his gut, he hated it. They had such a nice time in the lab together, and it was rare to find someone he enjoyed working with and that shared his sense of humor.

Fury looked even more stressed than usual as he blew out a breath and clasped his hands in front of him on his desk.

"I received a phone call from the Sorcerer Supreme. Turns out the world is already ending."

There were some curses and questions but Fury just raised his hand and quieted the room.

"According to him the whole magical community is already feeling it. Which is why none of them have stepped up to help. The balance is already off and none of them can use their magic right now. In addition it seems they can already feel it messing with their emotions. They can feel what she feels."

"Dagger?" Steve asked.

"Yes. It is bad enough Strange was stuttering on the phone."

"Shit." Several people echoed along with other curses and shocked faces. It even gave Natasha a pit in her stomach. Stephen Strange was a very composed man, not to mention confidently arrogant.

"Yes and apparently it is only a matter of time before we start feeling it as well. He informed me that we have three days till the world's balance is thrown into a state of no return. Possibly even sooner if Dagger loses hope of finding her soulmate Cloak."

"Soulmate?" The Captain asked

"That was the wording Strange used."

Stark held his hand up and swaggered forward as he spoke.
"So you're telling us the fate of the world is counting on us to keep the spirits high of a teenage girl as we reunite her with her romeo?"

"Teenage?" Sam questioned

Coulson stepped in "We don't know how old she is but she appears to be late teens early twenties. Although she claims to be at least nineteen."

"Still that's young to have the whole world on your shoulders, literally. Not to mention people aren't there most mentally stable in that time of their lives already statistically speaking. There brains aren't even fully developed yet. " Sam says

"That's true but, as much as we don't like her age the facts still remain." Fury said getting them back on track. " Part of her job description is Harbinger of Hope. If the Harbinger of Hope for this world loses hope, she loses hope for the whole damn world."

"Damn"

"Language"

"Thought you would have learned your lesson earlier"

"Stark."

"Enough." Fury intervened "We don't have time for this bullshit. Rodgers let it go. Stark since you and Banner are the one's working on a way to find him, a lot of this responsibility is going to fall on you. You can't be your normal self. Be honest with her but optimistic. And nobody lie to her. If she loses faith in us because she catches one of us in a lie this will end badly. And what I have seen of the girl, she is perceptive."

Natasha nods and gives a respectful look to Fury. "He's right. From what I have observed she is very perceptive. She clocked Barton on that roof top. And she said herself that she is more intune with the world because of her powers. It is possible that gives her a better read on us. We don't yet fully understand the scope of her abilities. Better to play it safe."

Barton and the others were surprised that she had clocked him, Natasha hadn't yet had the chance to tell even Barton that yet. And they also seemed contemplative about the points she made about her powers.

Natasha hopes that the boys listen and don't screw this up. Especially Steve, as much as the other might peg Tony as the one to look out for, she knows that it is more likely that Steve will set the girl off with platitudes than Tony's direct logical statistics. Not to mention Tony comes at things like a challenge to tackle, and he isn't one to back down from a challenge. If anything the girl's no bullshit attitude is well suited for Tony's company. Meanwhile the girl has already made it clear what she thinks about the good Captain.

"Thank you Romanov. If directly questioned you can tell her that this meeting occurred but, otherwise keep your mouth shut." Fury's eye burrowed into Stark who just held up his hands.

"Hey. I'm the last one to bring up a conversation that is going to lead back to discussing feelings." Tony gives and exaggerate shiver at the word "feelings"

"Good. Now our sorcerer friend also gave a word of warning for when the two reunite. Apparently it isn't safe for any living being to be in a ten meter radius of the pair when they come together. So unless you want your life force sucked from you or end up in the dimension Cloaks victims do then no one can be near Dagger when he is released. He can sense wherever she is and will teleport to her immediately. It's best no one tries to stop him. When Dagger wakes up I want you, Natasha, to inform her of the Sorcerer Supreme's warning and that we will be planning accordingly. I don't imagine she is going to take the news of being sideline easily but, hopefully she can see reason."

"Yes sir."

"Rodgers, edit your battle plan accordingly."
The Captain nods "Stark, where are we on the device to locate Cloak?"

"We'll have it up and running in about an hour, I already have a search algorithm set up. It should take two hours tops to get a hit."

"Good as soon as you have a location call for a debrief. We have no time to lose. You all are dismissed."

-----------

Chapter Text

Steve had a lot on his mind as he headed out of Fury's office and down to the labs to finish discussing weaponry with the Shield lab techs. The big thing though was getting his head around Dagger. When he had initially seen her on that street, looking exhausted and lost, he saw her as someone who was grieving but still fighting for the person they lost, something he could relate to. In the debrief he was given he was disgusted and horrified by their methods of taking down criminals. He thought this girl was a threat to neutralize, to lock up but, seeing her up close… a chord struck with him. There was something so vulnerable in the way she held herself before she noticed him. What little he could see of her face was pained and sad. At that moment he saw her not as a threat but as someone lost. That just needed to be guided on to a better path.

He had hoped he could help her and change her. As he got closer he could see more youth in her, adding to his sympathy. He thought she would jump at the chance to have someone help save her friend, instead he was hit with such cynicism it left him reeling. How could a girl who looked so innocent in those few moments be the same questioning the goodness and intentions of the Avengers. Then the debrief came slamming back to him the girl, even if she went about justice the wrong way, still cared about people.

It was clear in her actions, there were multiple reports of her healing people. He remembered her shield profile he read said they suspected she may have been a victim of sex trafficking and or drugs herself. Maybe that hard exterior was just a defense? He could understand how an experience like that might corrupt a person to revenge. She is still young. She could choose a different path. So, he decided to give her a chance. Shook her hand, trusted in her love of people even if she had a deep seated hatred of those bullies of the world, she still had goodness he could see.

The vision she gave him, seeing Bucky and his new family in the 21st century was heartbreaking as it was encouraging. When he came out of it his eyes locked onto crystal blue orbs that reflected all the pain and longing and hope he felt. In that moment he understood how much Cloak meant to her and knew she wouldn't betray them for his sake. A weight of fear of what she might do lifted off his shoulders.

However, after the girl came aboard she kept throwing him for loops. He thought he finally got a read on her down on those streets, had an understanding of who she was as a person but, it appeared that even if they had an understanding about her priorities and their commonalities, he was far from understanding her entirely. Everything about her seemed juxtaposed.

When she spoke about her clothing choices though she sounded so modern but, then when she spoke about meditation or her powers there were times where her speech would flip like she was speaking some ancient wisdom. It reminded him a bit of Thor really. Except she very clearly was born in this century and on this planet

She wore eye-catching and provocative clothing yet, she seemed to somewhat mind the attention. Which she definitely gave him a lot to think about on that. He supposed she was right and Peggy always said there was power in the way you dressed.

He supposed it was because she was like a literal spotlight. Then as he thought about it he guessed, she enjoyed the spotlight just not being able to turn it off. It clicked for him after an embarrassing long time. What she said about her partner. Before she could step in and out, now she can't. She can't hide without him like she could before. Steve shook his head and kept on his train of thought.

He also expected the spitfire would at least deck Barton for the stunt he pulled and he wouldn't blame her; the girl looked like she was on death's door for a moment. And so young too. Then she recovered, mostly, fairly quickly and let the whole thing go. He knew she would set aside any differences for her partner just as he would for Bucky but she seemed surprisingly like she really didn't hold a grudge. A far cry from the girl he watched on video stab several men to death and not only watched but actively helped her partner drag people into a place of nightmares. Kicking them into the abyss. Steve shivered.

Then there was the whole deciphering of Stark and Banner's science speech. At least he wasn't the only one left reeling that time. She claimed to have not graduated high school, and even said she didn't understand their science yet, she was still somehow able to parse together their meaning in layman's terms and acted like everyone else should be able to do the same.

She was a genius without an education. He wouldn't be surprised if she was more than a little helpful when Tony whisked her away to the lab with Bruce leaving him to figure out several strategies based on whatever it was Sam and Stark came back with as well as coordinate with Shield to get everything they might need ready.

And then the whole thing with Fury saying she was this Harbinger of Hope. It was hard to believe such a cynical young woman could be the embodiment of hope for this world. Doesn't cynicism cancel out hope? Her attitude and position just left so many questions for him. Like, if she was more cynical that day did the whole world dim that day or was it just now because the balance was off? Does that mean if her boyfriend was in a good happy mood, full of hope the world would swell with joy? Or if he was depressed the whole world would become depressed? It just didn't make sense to him. People were more than one thing. Or does it only matter that she has a sliver of hope? Maybe that's it. As long as she has hope there is hope regardless of her feelings. It only matters that she has some. Then what about her partner? What was it that he had as her opposite again? Sadness? No fear.

Steve frowned and his foot falls stuttered for a moment.

"Steve?"

Steve jumped, having completely forgotten anyone was walking with him.

"Thinking pretty hard there. Something bothering you?"

Steve blew out a breath and turned to Sam, leaning against the wall out of the way of the very few agents passing through the corridor. Sam came and stood just in front, allowing plenty of room for people to get by in the wide walkway.

"I was just thinking about Dagger and Cloak and I realized something. "

Sam gave him the patient but slightly curious look that had made him such a good counselor to retired vets. Sam was really a great listener.

"The only way all of what they say about Dagger is true is that it isn't so much about how she feels. It is just a matter of whether or not she still hopes."

Sam nodded. "As long as there is still a spark there can be a flame."

"Exactly. But, that also means that Cloak has to be always scared, even just a little."

Sam blew out a breath and looked down at his feet shaking his head.

"That's fucked up."

………….

Sam started thinking about all the vets he saw who had lost their sense of safety. Seeing how it ate away at them, how he saw the same thing eating away at this new team even if he hadn't gotten to the point where he could yet mention it let alone help.

This guy Cloak has never felt safe. Not since the moment he got chosen, which from what he knows was over a decade ago. Poor bastard has the world riding on him never feeling safety again. It didn't seem right.

Sam wondered how many forces, including those sorcerers supremes, had made sure he never felt that sense of safety.

Sam allowed himself to feel for the guy for a moment then he packed it away for now. He broke it down and analyzed it in his head like he had been trained to do and came back at the problem.

………………

Sam took several minutes before he raised his head again and Steve didn't interrupt. Giving the man a chance to process like he did for him.

"Look man, it sucks and it also probably explains some of the guy's behavior, especially related to dealing with criminals."

Steve cringed as echoes of screaming men came to him, their terrified faces as they were dragged into the void.

"But, even if he is never one hundred percent that doesn't mean he can't still have happiness even if he is never truly at ease. Think of it like chronic pain. It might always be there but, you don't have to give power to it. Yeah it might keep you down and limit you some days but, not everyday will be a bad one where it's debilitating. And obviously it's not always that way for him if he's in a relationship with Dagger."

Steve starts to open his mouth to protest they have to be together because of their powers but Sam cuts him off with a wave of his hand.

"Tony mentioned to me they were an item. Just because they physically need to rely on one another doesn't mean they have to be romantically involved. Plus from what I hear she seems to really care about him, beyond necessity."

Suddenly Steve felt ashamed of himself. He could see Dagger's eyes clear as day after she showed him that vision of Bucky. Of course they had happiness together and cared for one another. He would have socked anyone who implied the same about Bucky, even if Bucky was his brother not his boyfriend.

Sam seemed to read his thoughts once again as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Steve looked up to meet his eyes again as Sam started speaking once again.

"Most days I'm sure he'll feel it strongly but he can still feel other things. Ignore it and do what he wants. I'm sure there will be days where his fear is an ember and he can forget about it and feel loads of happiness and hope even if it is still burning in the background. Ok. Obviously this Dagger girl makes him happy and just like she can feel fear he can feel hope. Ok so let's focus on that. That's our job right now isn't? If we get caught up in our sympathy we won't be able to give that girl hope and then we will really be screwed alright Steve?"

Steve nodded. "Yea yeah you're right. Let's get down to business. "

Steve squeezed and patted the hand on his shoulder and Sam let go and stepped back with a nod.

"Let's go man."

-------------

The two men quickly made it to the Shield tech labs with their purposeful strides. The two techs Steve was working with early were hunching over two high tech guns that looked like something from that movie Tony showed him, Terminator.

The two head techs of the lab were a man and woman both had bright coppery red hair. The woman noticed them first and elbowed the other to get his attention. He grumbled but quickly straightened up when he saw the Captain enter. The boy apparently was one of his many fans.

Steve tried to ignore the man's nervous energy and painfully stiff posture as he turned to Sam to introduce them.

"Sam I would like you to meet doctors Petrisha Staylee and her brother Mathew Staylee. They are the head scientists for the weapons research and development department on board the helicarrier. They are the ones who are arming us for our mission. Petrisha, Mathew, this is Sam Wilson he has the latest intel on our targets."

Sam shook their hands "nice to meet you."

Petrisha smiled politely and responded in kind. Her brother however started to gush that he knew exactly who he was and was eager to work with "Captain Steve Rogers right hand" which apparently now he was. Not that he minded people thinking that, he liked to think it but, the gushing and sweaty hand in his made him have a new appreciation for Steve. He got now why the guy was so uncomfortable with fans if this was what it was like for someone just famous through association.

Steve snuck him a sympathetic glance before expertly getting the scientists back on track. Sam was relieved when the other man got wrapped up in his work and forgot about the fame. He actually seemed like a nice guy, luckily not as intense as Tony. 'Maybe the higher the caliber the scientists the more overwhelmingly the personality?' Sam pondered.

Both Steve and Sam tried to keep up as the duo took turns analyzing the data Sam brought and breaking down their work so far on their defense equipment and weapons. Luckily Petrisha seemed pretty ept at explaining it to them despite the fact that Steve still had a very limited understanding of even moderately advanced tech. Her brother Mat was good enough that Sam was mostly able to follow and help Steve understand what the man meant.

It was going pretty smoothly till Mat named dropped "Fitz" who apparently had designed several components of some of the weaponry and was Coulson's engineer.

"Wait, Coulson's engineer?" Steve asked
curiosity peaked.

All the Avengers know Coulson had a mobile unit that he works on when he isn't called in to be their handler on sensitive cases like this one but no one knows much about them. Coulson only ever gives very vague mentions or answers about his team and what they do when he doesn't brush them off with his patented "it's classified". The only reason none of them looked deeper was because Phil told them he'd only share as much about them as he did of their team to his secret one.

Most of the team took that and respected the man's policy because they wouldn't want him telling the more intimate things he knew about them. Tony however whenever the slightest thing reminded him of the other team would get wound up again. Ranting and raving and speculating and funny enough trying to recruit. The infamous hacker on Phil's team was the only one in possibly the whole world that was a high enough caliber hacker/programmer to keep Stark out. Which both infuriates and intrigues the man. Tony seems to love the challenge of it.

(Tony also misses in his frantic state the uncomfortable and protective looks the man gets every time he makes flirtatious remarks or innuendos about the mystery hacker Skyenet. The rest of the Avengers secretly have the theory that the mystery hacker is Coulson's kid in some way.)

"Yeah everyone knows Fitz is the best engineer to come out of the academy. We are lucky Agent Coulson was able to give us schematics. I mean they are level 7 but, even so not that many people are allowed access to the unredacted file on his inventions- "

"Or on Simmons work, I mean the clearance for the dendronurotoxin formula to be open to level 5 for mass production just got push through last month."

Matt gave his sister an irritated look for interrupting him but her head was still down looking at their project like she hadn't just interrupted him. Not to mention she should give the Captain and Falcon the respect of looking at them while talking. He shook his head at his disgraceful sister.

"Sorry about her. Anyways as I was saying. We are lucky to be able to work with Fitzsimmons technology. Fitz's quantum field disruptors and the inner circuitry for his dwarf drones…"

Matt gushes for several minutes over "Fitzsimmons" and "Fitzsimmons technology" Before Sam clears his throat to get the scientist's attention.

"So, I take it this is pretty impressive stuff and we will be getting the best of the best. What can you tell us about the actual functionality? We can't really appreciate the intricacies of how it works, unfortunately. But we can appreciate how well it will work in the field so, can you run us through how to use them please?"

"Oh sure!" Matt exclaims and pulls up a hologram of the weapon that was partially assembled on the table while his sister rolls her eyes.

"Since we don't know much about the biology of these beings these guns have two different methods of take down. Here" Matt gestures to a top piece and manipulates the hologram for the top to slide open. " Is where you can load the modified dendrotoxin rounds. Now these babies are strong enough to take out an Asgardian so, be careful. They can be lethal to a human or an inhuman."

Sam and Steve look at each other both wondering how the hell these Fitzsimmons characters came by this information and not for the first time what exactly they work on. They both made mental notes to ask Thor questions later. That was said too factually and confidently. This seems like Avengers level type stuff and it clearly isn't new to Coulson's other team. A thought came to Sam to bring up with the others: maybe there was a reason this team shared a handler with the Avengers, maybe they were the B team or at least the secret in the shadow version of them. He was definitely bringing this up with the others after this whole mess. Steve had too physically stop himself from asking where they had found an Asgardian to test it on. Reminding himself to stay on task. (Plus they probably didn't know. Hopefully Thor would have answers. They would never get anything out of Coulson.)

The two pushed their questions aside for now and listened. Matt went through his explanation of how to switch the gun to use the sedatives versus the high energy, concussive bolts it was also capable of. How to change the intensity with a dial and how long each setting took to recharge after use.

Then Matt's much more easy going sister explained how to use the sentry devices she was just finishing up that would allow them to scout the area and could be remote controlled to land at set points to lay down cover fire for them to seal off any exits or to help take on large groups of enemies using similar tactics to the gun her brother was assembling.

Steve and Sam thanked them for their time feeling a lot better about their mission, now that they knew what they'd be armed with. It had been hard for Steve to even lay out contingency plans with how little he had to work with but, Shield certainly hadn't disappointed when he had laid out what they needed. Steve made a mental note to thank Agent Coulson for sending over the tech to them.

----------

Chapter Text

Not ten minutes after the duo left the lab did the Avengers alarm start blaring. Sam and Steve looked at each other before dashing down the hall. Shield agents scurrying out of their way as they went, all of them still with that patented 'nothing can faze me' mask of professionalism. (Although none of them came close to the same level as their dear Agent Coulson).

They reached the command center in record time. Skidding in just as Fury walked in, trench coat billowing in the non-existent wind. A very disheveled looking Bruce comes skidding into the room. Nat is already at the command center with a computer In front of her fingers flying across the keys. Steve can make out a map with a large area lit up in red.

"Where is Stark!?" Fury barks at Bruce.

"H-he went to go get Dagger. We haven't gotten a hit yet on our Algorithm." Bruce replies, looking around at everyone.

"We may not need it." Nat replied from where she was still busy at a computer. "We got an alert from a Shield base in Arizona. Our alien guys were caught on security footage right before all feeds went out. Twenty minutes later the distress signal was sent. Satellite footage shows an unknown substance covering the entire base. There has been no contact in or out of the base since the SOS went out and any drones sent in have been lost once getting within a hundred foot radius. "

As Nat finishes filling them in, Stark and Dagger walk in. Tony's eyes are firmly planted on the tablet in his hands. Steve honestly couldn't tell you what Dagger looked like as she was glowing just bright enough to be uncomfortable to gaze at. The only thing making it bearable was the fact she was still in a Shield issued hoodie. The only thing he could see for sure was the agitation written in every step she took into the room.

"So how are we breaking in there?" The girl demanded with no preamble.

"Well since any drones Shield has sent have dropped off the face of the earth our best bet is to send a team in hazmat suits to manually get a read if possible on that substance and go from there." Couslon replied as he walked out from a shady corner Steve hadn't even realized the man had been standing in. He couldn't help but wonder when he had gotten there.

There was a flicker of light and Steve's attention darted back to Dagger whose posture looked like she was both gearing up for a fight and like she was resigned to disappointment. It put Steve on edge. He couldn't tell what the girl was going to do. A look at Nat and it was clear his fears were shared. She was no longer typing but rather standing there studying Dagger like Steve had seen her do many times before to targets that they were worried were going to bolt.

Coulson and Fury were arranging a team and the scientists were helping construct precautions from the data Nat had pulled. Steve and Nat though were working together like they had for years without even speaking a word to each other. He could sense the shift behind him and knew Sam had caught on and now was in their silent game of observation.

Nat was moving unnoticed to a more advantageous position should the girl decide to bolt. Steve inches his way forward while Sam casually moves closer and to the left of the girl. He acts like he is just joining in on the conversation to the side but Steve knows better.

The girl is focused on the conversation going on by the others who have seemed to almost forgotten the girl's existence. (Although Steve catched some concerned glances from Coulson in her direction which was interesting.) Her head was down and her arms were crossed in front of her now. Her hands were tapping out an irregular rhythm on her arms.

Steve was wondering how best to open up a conversation with the girl to settle her down and ensure she doesn't try to do anything that might endanger everyone. Then in a blink the girl sucked in a sharp breath and doubled over sinking to the floor. Nat caught her from behind and between one breath and the next him and Coulson were by the girl's side. She was clutching her stomach and whining in pain.

Steve had to turn his head and shield his eyes as a strobe light went off. Steve could hear shouts of orders around him including one for a medic as a couple of agents were seizing. It seemed like time was moving in slow motion. Steve could hear the grunts and gasping keens of pain from the girl but he couldn't look to help even if there was something he could do. Steve was stuck with the order from Coulson to stay put and keep shielding his eyes.

Chapter Text

Tandy woke up flinching from the angry red pulsing light and shrill alarm coming from her wrist. She was still squinting her eyes when it stopped and was replaced by a British voice.

"Sorry for the rude awakening Miss. Sir wanted me to inform you that Shield has set off the Avengers Alarm. The team is meeting on the bridge. I am to direct you there." Jarvis informed her.

Tandy was up before he finished straightening out her rumpled clothing as she made for the door.

"How did I miss an Alarm for the freaking Avengers?" Tandy asked worried she'd slept through the call.

"The Avengers Alarm doesn't extend into the living area for agents or guests except in cases of the helicarrier being in danger or the need of all personnel."

"Ok then. I would think anything warranting the Avengers would need everybody on board."

"Shield is all about covert operations and while the Avengers are hardly covert I would imagine they like maintaining some pretense of secrecy."

Tandy snorted. "You're snarky for a robot."

"An Artificial Intelligence Miss. I take that as both a compliment and an insult."

"Sorry"

Tandy doesn't hear Jarvis's response as she concentrates on finding answers to the question that popped into her head with a fervent-ness that borders on compulsion. She holds her hand over the highlighted map that the watch is projecting. She can feel the artificial light but focuses her senses deeper as her body follows the directions on autopilot.

Under the light she can feel a thread of energy leading back into the watch. She follows it. The lights around her flicker down the straight hallway. The map glitches and she can hear Jarvis's voice above her go uneasy and glitchy. There she can feel it. She sucks in a breath as she pushes and follows the thread out of the watch and into so many tiny moving strands. A sharp pain goes through her forehead, overwhelmed by trying to "look" at so many at the same time. With a small cry she pulls back and clutches at the space between her brow where the top of her crest begins.

---------------

Tony and Bruce were quickly making their way out of the lab at the sound of the Alarm. Their gravity neutralizing particle density stabilizer prototype was complete and they had an algorithm running to search for the readings they had taken within a range of possible discrepancies. It was based off the notes Howard had of the stabilizer that was made for Dr. Wilkes. Modified based on what Dagger was able to tell them. Hopefully they'd be able to use their prototype to help do damage control if the cyborgs got any dark matter.

Bruce had their research pulled up on his tablet to share with the team. Tony pulled up what Shield had on his. They were halfway to the bridge when Jarvis' voice came over the speakers glitchy and concerned. The sound dumped dread down Tony's spine to his feet.

"Sir. I-im unsURe. Dagg-ggER Is doing something I-I can can FEEL?"

"J?" Tony and Bruce stop dead in the hallway looking at each other.

"I I think she is Ah Attempting to to see MY hopes."

"I'm going to Lightshow. You go to the bridge just tell them I'm getting her don't mention J" Tony ordered. Bruce nodded and Tony booked it down the opposite corridor.

"It'll be ok buddy." Tony tries to comfort his AI. Jarvis lets out white noise and blipps that have Tony sprinting down the hallways. He almost barrels right into Dagger as he swerves down a flickering hallway.

Before Tony can think of doing anything Dagger lets out a small cry grabbing her forehead and falls forward into him. The fluorescent lights flood the hall like nothing happened.

"What the Hell!?" Tony yells, gripping the girl's shoulders.

"What the Hell?" A weary sounding Jarvis echoes, surprising Tony.

"Sorry. I think you actually created a living computer." She pants.

"Huh?" Tony says in the whiplash of the last few moments.

"Your AI. He's not just a computer. I think he actually has a soul."

"Ok. I really can not handle big metaphysical revelations right now. Whatever the Hell you just did to my AI. Never do again or I'm going to have to blast you ok? No touchy, light sensing, whatever the crap you just did again! Got it? Or I'm going to have to blast you off the side of this pirate ship and I really rather not. You were fun to have in the lab but no one messes with Jarvis. Got it? Or any other of my tech babies."

"Got it. It was a really bad idea anyway but when I realized your AI might actually be capable of having its own agenda I kinda freaked a bit. Definitely not doing that again it was like trying to look in a thousand directions at once." She winced as she started walking again towards the bridge. Tony lets her go and sets pace briskly beside her.

"It wasn't a pleasant experience for me either." Jarvis sniped

"Sorry. Really I am and not just for giving myself a massive headache. On the brightside I can tell you one hundred percent are not a killer robot and you are more than a bunch of code. You actually have life."

Jarvis hummed.

Tony felt pride and validation and wonderment well up that made him want to forgive the heart attack he almost just had. Tony wonders if Jarvis feels feels the same!?

"And don't worry I'll give you the same confidentiality agreement I gave the other Avengers for the little bit I got from that before my brain tried to explode. I will talk to you later in private, I promise, about what I could get. Ok sorry for scrambling you or whatever it felt like on your end. I have never really felt something artificial like that before."

"I suppose I can forgive the intrusion given my uniqueness and on the grounds you stick to your promise of an in depth conversation later. However I hope you endeavor to get consent before confirming….the…sentience of a being before doing something so invasive. It would be better to not need it and to have it than to earn the ill will of a being with access to virtually everything connected to the internet and the most advanced weaponry on the planet Miss Dagger."

"Of Course Mr. Jarvis" Tandy replies smiling at one of the hall cameras.

Tony snickered at the threat but his mirth was doused with the reminder of his old friend who was more of a father to him than Howard ever was. It was painful to hear the familiar address after all the reminders of him around this case. So much of this mission was a throwback to stories he heard growing up.

"It is Just A Really Very Intelligence System, Jarvis." The AI responded.

"You're definitely more than that." Dagger replies.

Their conversation was cut off as agents started passing them. They could see the doorways to the bridge ahead of them. In unspoken agreement they acted as if nothing happened as they came in.

Chapter Text

"- the entire base. There has been no contact in or out of the base since the SOS went out and any drones sent in have been lost once getting within a hundred foot radius. " Tandy heard the tail end of the Black Widow's report as they came to the bridge.

On various monitors Tandy could see pictures of what must have been a building but now looked like a giant blob of tar. As Tandy walked closer she could see a few monitors had blue prints.

"So how are we breaking in there?" Tandy said to the room not really sure who she was posing the question to more, Spy Pirate or one of the Avengers.

A familiar voice answered from the corner of the room "Well since any drones Shield has sent have dropped off the face of the earth our best bet is to send a team in hazmat suits to manually get a read if possible on that substance and go from there."

Tandy wished Agent Coulson's presence was more comforting than it was. It didn't really feel like he was answering her though. He only gave her a brief glance. Instead he was watching Captain America out of the corner of his eyes like the fanboy he is as he strolled straight past her to Fury. Tandy wanted to yell at him and demand for him to at least freaking acknowledge her rather than drooling over his celebrity crush but, he was already making arrangements for their mission to save Ty.

Tony had left her the moment they had entered the bridge and it was too busy with chatter for her to make out what him and Bruce were saying. From the sound of it Coulson and Fury were deciding between letting Tony and Bruce down first to get a read on whatever that crap was covering the building or to send in a joint team of Scientist and a strike team, which Tandy guessed were their military-esc agents. The regular shield agents bustled around the room below the deck the two men stood on, signaling each other with movements of their hands or talking into their Bluetooth-like comms.

It was her Soulmate, Her Ty. She was in a room filled with people giving out orders and making plans. She wasn't one of them.

They weren't going to let her go. She knew it like she knew her mom's new boyfriend was a piece of shit the moment she laid eyes on him. She knew it like she knew her mom was going to be high when she got home. Like she knew she was never going to get that ballet princess Barbie for Christmas.

Their plan probably was to pacify her with "soon" or maybe they'd try locking her in that "containment pod" thing the angry agents from the plane wanted to put her in. They probably thought it wouldn't be hard without Cloak. They had another thing coming though if they thought they could keep her from fighting tooth and nail to get Ty back. She'd cut her way through anything that got in her way.

She didn't want the Avengers to slow her down though she'll - Tandy gasped and crumbled. It felt like she was being wrenched apart from the inside. She hugged herself around her middle trying to hold herself together. She gasped, choking on the pain. It was like her diaphragm spasmed up into her throat. Vaguely she could feel arms around her and shouting but it felt numb in comparison to the burning chasm trying to tear her apart. She starts to panic as it keeps going and she can't breathe. Her mind immediately wishes, begs for Ty to be at her side.

A ringing starts building and like a chilling siren it starts to sound like Ty screaming. She looks up from where she closed her eyes against the pain to search for him. The moment they open it's like she disconnects from her body. She knows she's still bent over panting in pain but it's distant from what she's seeing and hearing.

All around her is white except one cracking hole like a sledgehammer was taken through granite. Tandy knew it was supposed to be nebulous there. White hope and Dark fear swirling around each other in their natural rhythm. Instead there was a giant dark spot contrasting to the wispy clouds around it. Tandy could hear Ty's screams coming from inside its depths as the dark tried to concentrate and push into the light realm. She could feel the light of her dimension straining against the unnatural intrusion.

She realized what she was seeing and focused on connecting with her realm. She felt the surge of hope as it went to battle the unnatural intrusion. She let it fill her and push all her fear away. She could hear Ty. Ty was still connected to the dark dimension which meant he was always right by her side on this plane. She could make it happen on the other. She was going to get her Tyrone back and nothing was going to stop her. Tandy focused on Ty, determined. She reached out with her power and called out to Ty.

"Ty! Ty! Can you hear me Tyyyyy!"

She could hear the screams hoarsely peter off and she tried again

"Tyrone!"

"T-tandy?" she heard the hesitant reply

She laughed with relief feeling hot tears in her eyes "Yes! I'm here! I-I think I know where you are. I got the freaking Avengers with me! We are going to come get you! T-tell me what's going on? How is this happening?!"

"The the Avengers? Wh-" Ty breaks off in teeth clenching scream as more dark force is pushed forward.

Tandy pushes hard as she can back. Fear of coming so close. Losing Ty tries to creep in and Tandy shouts out above it, "Tell me what is doing this Ty! Come on you're Cloak! Master of that freaking realm it obeys you! Not some Alien Cyborg wannabes! Pull that Son of Bitch back and show them who's in charge here!"

"I I can't! It's too strong"

"Yes you can! You are Tyrone mother fucking Johnson you are master of Fear not the bitch of fear! You control this! Fate chose you not them! I know you are going to do this." Tandy declares with a tearful smile.

"How?" He pleads.

"Because I'm going to drag you back just like you dragged me back when I was scared and drowning."

As Tandy speaks she feels a weird pull on her body. She feels a burning growing through out her body and the disconnect she felt before fades as it intensifies. She pushes through the pain focusing on the hand she sees in the dark. Long callused fingers that don't hold any of the baby fat they did in her first memory of him. The burning numbs her feet first but slowly it travels up her body till all that she can feel is the curve around her left eye. Her world narrows to dark fingers grasping her blinding ones.

In a blink she feels nothing like she became as incoporal as air. She is in the light dimension. The rush of adrenaline, the sense of urgency was gone from her. Calmly she looked down at the heavy hand in hers. She knew from this realm she could jump to anywhere on earth.

She knew this would take a toll. Her body couldn't handle jumping the same as Tyrone's could from his realm. She wished she could have said something to the Avengers before she did this. She knew they'd come get her and Ty though. She just had to do this part. They would have to do the rest. She couldn't jump twice and live. Ty would be broken if she killed herself saving him. The Avengers will come through though she knows it.

She swings herself with him as the anchor down the white expanse only letting go a second before she collides with the barrier to earth. She screams, uncomprehending the sudden inburst of sense all burn up into pain. Then in a blink cold familiar dark envelops her like a ball of fire dropped into a bucket of ice water. Her eyes roll back and her chest heaves as she lays where she fell. Cold hard stone under her all but where she can feel the familiar comfort of Ty's cool hands cradling her head and shoulder. Distantly she hears "damn crazy white girl" and with a delirious smile she closes her eyes.

Chapter Text

Tyrone looks down at his damn crazy white girl, his face spasming between stretching out to smile and wrinkle in concern. He doesn't have time to decide on any emotion with the adrenaline flooding his veins urging him into action. Alarms blare under the muffling in his ears from the resounding crack of Tandy stabbing her way through dimensions.

He looks up through the blasted torn shards of the container he is in. Taking great satisfaction in their smoldering jagged tears. He can't feel the press of the container anymore. The feeling of the suffocating gravity it generated is no longer bearing down on him. He is free but he still feels like his senses are dampened. Through the jagged edges of his once cage he can see a few small holes in the ceiling and the walls around him. Tandy's portal had lashed out like lightning. His girl came through like a storm and Tyrone worried about Tandy knowing all that energy had exploded through her too.

He swept her up in his arms and gathered himself aiming for the rafter under a manhole sized gap in the ceiling. He tried to filter out the shouts and commotion of the alien bastards around him. Ty was winded as he appeared up high. He could hear the whirl of alien weapons below.

There was a gray goop dripping down and Ty could feel that this was what was still dampening him. It was weird how it felt. Instinctively he knew it was too neutral to be natural. Nothing on this plane should be this close to being between the light and the dark soaking up both in equal measure around it. It gave him the heebie jeebies. He had to get beyond it though to be able to accurately jump and not land in a tree or wall or something.

Ty quickly placed Tandy in his dimension. Just laying her on the threshold. He heard a buzz behind him. He ducked just in time to miss whatever was shot at him. He dived back. Jumped up and pulled himself through the hole. A pain bit into his right leg right before he swung it over. Ty shivered in revulsion of the black goop he was in but he had to keep moving. The stuff felt so awful sloughing off him and clinging to his feet he was more eager to get out of it than scared of being caught by the aliens again. His legs burned as he dragged each foot forward as fast as he could.

When he reached the ledge he looked down and cursed at the sight of the alien cyborgs gathered below. All the sludge on his arms has dropped and rolled down. He could feel the last of it sliding down his thighs to where he stood in the stuff half his calves deep. Thinking he came up with a plan he knew would suck especially if he wasn't fast enough.

"You're not allowed to say anything about this after what you just did Tan." He spoke to himself and he prepared, rocking his feet.

His stomach swoops as soon as he starts descending in his jump. He kicks his feet out. His heart skips when it doesn't work. There are the yells of the aliens and the rush of wind in his ears. He kicks as hard as he can. To his relief he feels his shackles fly off. He disappears before he can hear the sound of the splat of the goop rejoining the pile.

Ty's jump isn't smooth. He only had the barest second to aim for under a tree on the edge of the forest he spotted as he fell. He feels less like he jumped into his dimension and back and more like he yanked himself through his dimension to smack into a tree root with his shoulder. The pop echoes through his head and he didn't have time to think to stop from yelling out his pain. The corner of his forehead smacks the ground so hard it rebounds off of it.

He breaths through the pain clenching his teeth so hard they'd hurt if he was able to focus on them. He doesn't have time to nurse his injury though, he can hear the commotion of the aliens not that far off. He blinks tears out of his eyes. His left arm hangs limp. When he sits up he has to wipe his brow with his one working hand to keep blood out of his eyes.

He clenches eyes shut and tries to concentrate but the ground feels like it's moving making him nauseous. He has to get somewhere safe, Tandy is counting on him. He tries to think of somewhere, somewhere easy, but nothing comes to mind. He just can't figure out where to go. He presses a fist to his head as it starts to throb. He begs himself to just think. The only thing he can think though is he can't stay here. It's the only thing he knows. He can't stay here. He gets up stumbling. The world goes rocking like a ship in a storm. Ty catches rough bark to steady himself and thanks the tree by vomiting all down the side of it. Some pools on a blood covered rock and after staring at it for way too long realizes it's his blood. He's definitely got a concussion he thinks to himself.

The sound of gunshots snaps him out of his daze. He starts moving again. Shuffling through the forest using the trees to help him when dizziness hits him. He has to get them away from here. Ty opens up to the dark dimension letting its black mist flow out into the world around him in a thick fog. He's done this before sometimes accidentally but mostly to scare the shit out of bad guys. Dudes stumble about sometimes firing into empty space as his girl dances through the dark. It makes him laugh that they are so scared of him when it's her they need to be worried about. They don't see her coming till she wants to be seen. He's used it like this too. Hiding them when one or both of them are injured so they can regroup. The practice makes it easy to do now even on a big scale like this, filling a couple miles of forest with a dark cloud when he's hurt and Tandy's down for the count.

Tyrone gets as far as he can before he has to stop. He can feel his pant leg sticking to the back of his leg weirdly. He sits down in the crook of two large tree roots at the base of a giant oak. He can feel people making their way into the dark hesitantly but they're nowhere close enough to be concerned.

He still can't move his left arm. He knows the basics of how to pop it back into place but doesn't think he can on his own. The blood flowing down his face has slowed but not stopped. Ty reaches in his dimension. It no longer feels weird sticking his hand in himself but not. He pushes a first aid kit into his hand.

The kit is a shiny white box with runes carved and painted red. It glows with imbue light energy. A gift from Evita to show there weren't any hard feelings when he left her for Tandy. He couldn't have asked for a better ex-girlfriend.

He uses a mirror to swipe the blood off his face and bandage the surprisingly small cut above his eyebrow. He hopes he doesn't end up with a little check mark scar. He doesn't need Tandy calling him Nike head or something stupid. Face of a brand. Something clever and snarky. After he shuffles to sit with one leg out in front of him and the other resting his ankle on his thigh so he can brave a look at where he was shot.

Ty winces as he see the back of his calf and the reason for the weird tugging feeling on the back of his pant leg. The blaster or whatever burned his freaking pants to his skin. This was going to fucking suck. He wasn't even sure if he should try to get it out now or what to do with that. He's treated burns before but he's never had something melt onto his skin. It wasn't bleeding at least. Not knowing what else to do he cut up the side of his jeans from the hem to the cut. Not bothering to try to save the pants. He winced whenever it tugged at the burned bits but he managed to cut himself loose so he wouldn't have his pants aggravating it every time he took a step. He wrapped it in gauze not really knowing what else to do with it. He took a few protein bars and a water out of the kit before throwing it and the scraps of his pant leg back into the dark dimension.

He took a minute to just breathe and eat. The fuckers feed him but he didn't trust it to not be drugged. He drank as little as he could and only ate a single pack of gram crackers they gave him. He hasn't had an actual meal in three days. As he ate the last bit of nausea faded and when he no longer felt like he might fall over he got up feeling a lot more clear headed.

It was a reassuring feeling walking into the cool envelopment of his dimension. Walking back reminded him of the gnawing hunger that dogged a lot of his thoughts these past days. He had been relieved of the sucking emptiness inside, that bone deep desperate hunger. It had become a truly desperate feeling when those aliens did whatever the fuck it was they did bending the darkness to push against the light so closely. When his girl crash through dimensions light lashed out in every direction. Ty had greedily sucked in as much of it as he could when Tandy came bursting through. Satiating the void felt almost as good as having her in his arms again.

He could feel himself still drawing from her now. Her body still had too much raw energy in it but it wasn't critical and although he's almost always hungry he's not starving anymore. He can gently pull it from her easing her back into normal. He looks down at where he set her. He looks her over there is dust or some kind of gray soot covering her top half. Looking at the back of his leg he wonders if she was wearing something other than her leotard when she came through. He kneels down and uses his good hand to gently touch her face. She is hot to the touch. Her skin feels dry and is a bit pink like she was a little sunburned but, his girl never gets burned or tanned, it's always porcelain. She doesn't even have freckles. Ty wills the first aid kit to him and a tendril of darkness slides it over. He gets the aloe out and gently applies it to her face and hands hoping that she doesn't have more hiding where he can't see.

He wants to spend longer tending to her but he can't stay here long. He still can't teleport safely and from here it's hard to keep the flow of fog going. It'll be thin when he gets back. Sighing he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Then he commands tendrils to lift her and gently set her on her bed. Tandy often prefers to recoup when she's injured in the dark dimension. It feels safer.

Ty made this part of his dimension just for her. It started as just where she'd pop into when he teleported them but overtime it changed. It looked like a small bedroom with a bed, a closet full of his and Tandy's clothes, a desk with a few mementoes including a single ballet shoe in the top drawer. The only things that made it seem odd were the red diamond of stained glass on the walls above the bed and the dark mist that clung to the floor.

He pulled the covers over her sleeping form and gave her one long last look wanting nothing more than to stay by her side till she woke up. Instead he left the kit on the bedside table and kissed her lightly before setting himself back at the base of the tree.

He could tell right away that the troops of aliens were closer than before, dangerously close. That wasn't what concerned him the most though. He could feel a disturbance in the air above them moving the trees. He looked up and felt a shadow move across the terrain headed right for the building he'd just escaped from. He caught sight of only a small metallic glint through the trees.

He could feel the troops still. For a few minutes none moved but then there was a loud commotion. Ty could hear several high pitched whirring sounds he'd only ever hear before on the news amongst the chaos. Then half the aliens split to double back while the others rushed forward after him.

Ty ran; he still didn't know if he could safely teleport anywhere with his concussion. He's never had one this bad before. He felt the big shadow turn towards him. It was hard to miss.

His heart beat like crazy. He was pretty sure the fucking Avengers had shown up. Unless it was just his head making him think he'd hear the iconic sound of one of Iron Man's repulsors. Still he couldn't be sure.

Nevermind. Ty stops and turns around as he feels the shadow caster gets close to passing over him. Above the clouds he can see the S.H.E.I.D. logo on the nose of a jet. He stares stunned for a minute having a hard time believing he was really seeing it for a moment.

Then a sharp sting hits him in the chest knocking the breath out of him as he hits the ground. He rolls into his dimension to catch his breath. That was too close. The front of his shirt had a black mark on it and he could already feel the massive bruise that was going to be left there. He can't be stupid just because the Avengers, The freaking Avengers! Came to fight the aliens and hopefully save his ass. Man, Tandy’s not going to believe this!

Chapter Text

"Motherfucker", Fury said with passion looking at the black bubbling scorch mark of where Dagger was not moments ago. There was an unusual redness to his dark skin.

Natasha slowly untangled herself from her huddle she was in with Steve and Sam behind the infamous shield and stood up. Too one side Tony was fully encased in the armor with Bruce coming around behind him looking a little green but it was fastly fading. Coulson had a hologram that looked familiar but was definitely new. Seemed it didn't quite hold up as well as the original looking at the redness of his and Hill’s skin but it definitely could have been a lot worse given the ground was still smoking a bit.

“Nice shield,” Steve commented and Nat couldn't help but smirk seeing the pleased look in Coulson’s eyes.

“Thanks, it came with the new hand. Fitz might have taken a little inspiration.” Her old handler responded as her flexed his hand and the blue light disappeared seemingly into his skin.

Nat frowned a little bit; they were definitely coming back to that later.

“I've heard a lot about this Fitz guy,” Tony starts.

“You can worry about checking out your competition later Stark. We've got better things to worry about like I don't know the girl that just imploded or disappeared to parts unknown in the middle of my deck!” Fury reprimanded.

“Boss we got some action on satellite!” Called one of the techies.

“I see it too rewinding to the incident.” Another called.

“Gaps in the sludge” the first one expounded

“Happened during whatever went down with Dagger! There was a huge flash of light when it happened.” The second agent called out.

“I thought starshine couldn't teleport?” Tony said.

“Somehow I don't think it's something she should do.” Bruce said, coming up behind him. His statement was punctuated by a splat as part of the ceiling dripped down into the black bit of the floor that gave and ominous groan before collapsing into itself in a huge crash leaving a huge hole in the floor looking down into an empty hall below.

Fury gave a big sigh and rubbed his forehead before looking over to Hill.

“I'll handle it sir” she responded and stalked off.

“Drones back online!” an agent calls from the front.

“Good get eyes inside.” Fury commands, “Avengers, suit up and head out. I want birds ready for air support within the hour and somebody find me some damn Aloe.”

The Avengers tried not to show their amusement as the left on their mission. Nat tugged Tony out before he could make a comment, no need to make Fury more cranky for the poor crew that have to clean up the melted floor and ceiling. The stuff stunk like burnt tires.