Daphne is met with a cold, hard floor and she yelps at the impact. David transported them to some kind of deserted wooden cabin. The sun is rising and the snow and mountains outside betray that they're far from home. Her breath condenses in front of her mouth. It's freezing. The cabin is completely empty, save for a few wooden pieces of furniture. Daphne shuffles to sit upright immediately and looks up at David towering over her. Her breath is stuck in her lungs as she takes in his blue-ish grey appearance. He had ripped off the sleeve of his leather jacket, so his silver arm is completely exposed. He stares intently at her and his left eye twitches slightly.
"Get away from her!" Daphne turns to see Peter, restrained against the wall with... Something glowy? It doesn't seem to matter that he can lift 25 tons. His struggles against the magic restraints prove to be useless.
"Peter-" His name escapes Daphne's lips in just a whisper as she reaches out for Peter, but David heard and he growls. With the only hand he can actually use, he grabs Daphne by her thin shirt and lifts her to her feet harshly. He squeezes his blue fingers around her arm and pulls her towards him. Her back is flushed against his chest. He clenches his jaw and his voice is low and threatening.
"Peter will be dead soon."
"No," Daphne seethes through gritted teeth.
Daphne doesn't dare to move; afraid that she'll accidentally touch David's exposed arm. David presses his nose in her hair and takes a deep breath. He moans softly and Daphne freezes. If he uses magic now, how is he not hurting? Why can he touch her? He should be burning from over-stimulation! Her eyes flick to his silver arm and suddenly it hits. Ravir and Nuveth also weren't affected by Daphne's magic. Ravir even said that it was useless to her. They can't channel her. Maybe the metal curse is what keeps them from reacting to Daphne. However, that raises more questions. Because if that is the case, then why is David's still obsessed with her?
Daphne's rational brain doesn't get more time to ramble when she feels David pressing both his silver arm and his erection against her. She gulps and has to refrain herself from freeing herself from his grip. His other hand slides under her arm and moves to cup her breast.
"Oh, my love. Peter will die. But before that's going to happen..." David's breath is hot on Daphne's ear. She can hear his tongue dance around in his mouth from anticipation. It sounds disgusting. "He's going to watch you fuck me." Daphne clenches her mouth shut as David presses feather kisses on her ear. Tears blur her sight.
"No! Let her go!" Peter's face is red from all the effort he's putting into fighting the restraints. The veins on his forehead look like they're about to pop and he screams incomprehensible things. Daphne takes a deep breath.
"I will do whatever you want if you promise to let Peter live and bring him back to New York safely," she says determined. Peter relaxes his muscles for a second and he looks up to make eye contact with Daphne. He stares at her in disbelief. The air seems to have disappeared from his lungs. Tears form in the corners of his eyes.
"No," he mutters. He collects himself and shouts; desperate. "No, Daphne! Don't do this!" He continues his struggle against the magical bindings. They budge slightly, but not enough for him to actually break free.
Daphne can feel David grin against the side of her head. She knows he's looking straight at Peter during this conversation, knowing he is finally in control. He must feel quite victorious now.
"Whatever I want?"
"No!" Peter shouts again.
"Yes." Daphne closes her eyes and sighs defeated. "Anything." David softly massages Daphne's breast and he grinds up against her, making Daphne wince.
Peter takes a deep breath and stops struggling. There's nothing he can do to get out of the restraints. He's wasting his energy. The tears finally stream down his cheeks and he pants as he watches the scene unfold in front of him. He squeezes his eyes shut. There has to be a way to get David to let go of her. Think, think, think!
"She doesn't love you," Peter says quietly. He looks at David defiantly and stretches his back to seem more confident. David pretends he didn't hear Peter and starts sloppily kissing Daphne's jawline. However, he's looking at Peter. And his eyes are filled with hatred. "She's only doing this to save me." Daphne slowly shakes her head, urging Peter to stop talking, but he doesn't. "Do you know what that means, David?" Peter scoffs softly, a cocky grin spreads on his face. "That means she loves me."
David growls and moves to Daphne's neck. His arm curls up higher, letting go of her breast. His hand grips her shoulder to press her against him even tighter. Daphne whimpers in discomfort.
"And I love her." Daphne's eyes shoot open as she looks at Peter. Her breath hitches in her throat at his unexpected confession. Daphne's mind halts. He... Doesn't hate her...? "I'm not obsessed with her the way you are. I'm not addicted." He pauses and smiles breathlessly. "I truly and undeniably love her."
That did it. David jolts and pushes Daphne forward as he growls like a beast. When they reach Peter, David pushes Daphne to his side, but he doesn't let go of her arm. He squares up and invades Peter's space. Their foreheads nearly touch.
"She is mine, orphan."
"She's not," Peter laughs as he throws his head back, ignoring the personal attack. "And she isn't mine either." Daphne tries to speak, but she has no idea what to say to diffuse this testosterone match.
"Cut the crap, Parker."
"What crap? I'm not lying." Peter's face betrays his anxiety, but he keeps going strong. "She's not a property you can own."
"She's a Zephyr," David forces out. "And I have claimed her. She's mine!" He yanks at her arm when he says the last word of that sentence. Daphne wishes she could just disappear.
"Keep telling yourself that. Loki's already on his way here and he's got over a thousand years of experience with magic over you. He's going to rip you to shreds," Peter bluffs. Daphne knows. The charm Loki gave her is in the pocket of her jacket, which David stole, and as far as Daphne knows, Peter doesn't have anything trackable on him either. Heck, David took Peter's jacket off before restraining him. Everyone might be looking for them. But there's nothing that could trace them to wherever they are.
"What do you mean with that?!"
"You've seen them together," Peter smirks. "At her childhood home, right?"
"That was nothing!"
"Was it?" Peter cocks an eyebrow. "Was it really nothing?"
"You're making things up!"
"Okay, how about that sorceress a few weeks ago? That was Loki too."
"Liar!"
"He's right!" Daphne squeaks suddenly. Both guys turn their heads to the subject of their argument. Daphne's voice is shaky. "Loki's involved in all of this," she mutters. "He's the one who made me a Zephyr." David would tighten his jaw further if it were possible. "We're connected. He knows when I'm in distress. He'll be here soon." Daphne plays along. They're connected, yes, but not like that.
"I'll kill him," David hisses. "I'll kill him and make you mine!"
"He's a god," Peter sucks at his teeth. "If you challenge him, you're done for."
"I'll turn him to silver, just like I will turn you!" Without warning, David releases Peter from his restraints and he lets go of Daphne.
Everything seems to happen in slow motion. David goes in to punch Peter's face with the hand he just held Daphne with and Peter brings up his arms to protect himself. However, David's strategy is to swing his silver arm as well, aiming for Peter to accidentally deflect the silver arm. Daphne doesn't think twice and jumps forward. Everything halts as quickly as it started. Daphne stares wide eyed at her hands, clutching David's silver arm. No one moves. No one breathes. Daphne touched the silver. They're all frozen in place, waiting for the silver to spread over Daphne's hands.
...
Nothing happens. Daphne's hands remain the way they are, even though she's still holding onto David. Daphne blinks a few times and appears to be the first one to collect herself. She twitches a little and slightly turns her face to Peter, not taking her eyes off her hands.
"Knock him out," she whispers. Her command seems to snap both guys out of it and David tries to pull back his arm. However, Daphne takes another step forward and wraps herself around his arm, completely covering the silver parts of his body. Peter doesn't hesitate and swings his fist, punching David straight in the nose. Daphne lets go of David as his body is thrown back because of the force of Peter's punch.
Daphne and Peter stare at David's motionless body on the floor. He's still breathing, but he's definitely unconscious. Peter rubs his fist gently and looks at it for a second before shifting his attention to Daphne.
"You okay?" Daphne keeps staring at David and doesn't move. "Daph?" Peter takes a few steps towards her.
"How are we gonna get back home?" Her voice cracks and Peter can't help but frown.
"I don't know." Peter glances outside. The cabin seems fairly snowed in and it's likely that they're in the middle of nowhere. It's light outside, though, which confuses him. It was quite late when Peter confronted Daphne at the zoo disco, but not that late. Peter's confidence sinks when he realizes they must be at the other side of the world. How did David even get them here?!
"I guess we're not in Kansas anymore," Daphne mumbles, trying to make light of the situation. She sniffs once and walks towards David. She squats next to him and starts searching his pockets, not really minding his silver arm anymore. "No phone."
"Great," Peter sighs sarcastically. He bites his lip when he realizes Daphne is staring at David. He walks towards her and sits down on his knees next to her. He doesn't touch her, though.
"You look cold." Daphne glances at the goose bumps on her bare arms. Neither of them are clothed for snowy weather and with David no longer being a threat, the adrenaline subsides and the temperature starts affecting them.
"That's cause I am," she sneers. She hugs herself and turns away from Peter, who takes a step back.
"Are... Are you angry with me?" He asks quietly. Daphne scoffs and gets up.
"Angry?!" She throws her hands in the air, before quickly bringing them back to hug herself again to keep warm. "There are about a hundred ways that shit you just pulled could've gone wrong!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Peter exclaims. "You were going to have sex with him! I'd say this was the most ideal outcome!"
"Ideal?! What if I turned to silver?!"
"You weren't supposed to touch him!" Daphne shakes her head.
"You're un-fucking-believable, Peter!"
"Wha- you're the one who's been avoiding me!"
"You're the one who broke up with me!"
"No, you gave me back the pin! You broke up with- why are we even having this argument?!"
Daphne stomps around the room and harshly kicks one of the small, crooked, wooden tables. It immediately collapses, but neither Peter nor Daphne are fazed by it.
"Why didn't you say anything?!" Daphne's voice breaks and new tears start streaming down her face. "You let me go, Peter! You just stood there and made me do all the work!"
"I didn't know what I was feeling, okay?! It was... It was different! I needed time!"
"Why didn't you just tell me that?!" Daphne paces up and down the room.
"I don't know! I- I don't know!"
Peter pulls at his hair, absolutely frustrated with the situation. Fighting won't improve anything, but it's apparently what they need right now.
"Smart, by the way," Daphne scoffs. "To lie to David to get him to attack you."
"I didn't lie! I mean- only about the Loki part!" Daphne freezes in place and slowly turns to face Peter.
"You weren't lying?" she asks softly.
"Shit!" Peter yells, startling both of them. "No, dove-" the nickname makes Daphne's heart scrunch. "- I wasn't lying, I swear. Everything I said-" Peter bridges the distance between them until he has to look down to look her in the eye. "-about what I feel for you is true. I still love you, so, so much." Peter's lip trembles and his hand slowly comes up to wipe a tear off Daphne's cheek with his thumb. Their condensed breaths mix in front of them. "I just didn't want you to hurt yourself for me anymore. Loki told us what you went through to make the potion. And... And you went to see Ravir, who preached practicing being mind controlled, which is messed up."
Peter looks away for a second, trying to collect himself. He shakes his head in a half smile-half scoff.
"I'm the one with super healing, Daph. I get hurt. I get up. I'm not worth grabbing a silver arm for. I'm not worth cutting your hands for. You shouldn't have to take the bullet for me." He grabs her hand and holds it against his fast-beating heart. His thumb rubs over the hard, golden scar in her palm. Daphne can't look away from his crying eyes, but she doesn't know what to say. "I love you so much, you have no idea. The addiction was just heightening what I already feel for you. But now that it's gone, everything is so much clearer than it ever was- than I ever thought it could be. I could tell you a hundred times how I feel and I wouldn't lie once. I love you, Daphne, I love-"
Daphne interrupts Peter by pressing her cold lips against his. She can taste his tears and she cries with him as they embrace, tighter than they have ever done before. They never want to let go of each other again. Her hands find his hair and tug it. His fingers twirl a strand of her hair and his other hand holds her against him. They sob through their kiss and when they finally pull back, they are an absolute mess. Daphne's shoulders shock as she hugs him.
"I love you too, Peter, fuck, fuck, fuck, I love you too." She shuts her eyes when his hand softly pets her head. "Please, don't ever scare me like that again," she whispers. Peter presses a peck on top of her hair.
"Only if you promise to do the same."
"Promise."
"Promise."