Daphne's rarely nervous about a performance, but this was a deal breaker. Two Swan Lake performances were done. The premiere and the second performance went really well. Tonight is the last. If, for any reason, she decides not to stop dancing after this, this might very well be her ticket to fame, so to speak. Countless people from the ballet industry will be in the audience tonight and if she does this right, Madame Touha said she's certain Daphne will receive offers to join companies. Next to that the Avengers will be there. Loki was there for the premiere and Derek and May were in the audience for the second performance. Loki had quietly mentioned Ravir has disappeared. She's not in her palace. He guesses she knows he's coming and fled. There is nothing they can do.
Today, the stakes are the highest. Daphne's warming up backstage, trying to turn her nerves into excitement. Peter walks into the dressing room, having just returned from hair and make-up. Daphne chuckles.
"Good evening, Prince Siegfried," she says with a posh, Elizabethan English accent and a grin. Peter bows with his hand on his chest.
"A good evening to you, Queen of Swans." He immediately breaks character and walks towards Daphne with a bright smile. He cups her jaw in his hand and notices the dove pin, carefully hidden in her bun. Her face make-up accentuates her cheekbones and her lips are a muted shade of red. He presses a gentle peck on her nose. Careful not to ruin the MUAs job. "You're so beautiful, Dove."
"Thought I was the Queen of Swans," Daphne quips with a smirk.
"White bird," Peter laughs softly.
Daphne's smile falters as she looks down at her sparkling, bright white tutu.
"Don't like white costumes as much as I used to..." she mumbles. Peter nods understanding and raises her head with his pointer finger, making her look him in the eyes.
"Whatever happens, know that I will always be there for you."
"I do. I know," she replies quietly. Peter can't help but press a soft kiss on her lips. When they part, he presses his forehead against hers and whispers into her mouth.
"I love you so much. We're going to ace tonight and tomorrow we're gonna think about kicking Somm's butt, okay?" Daphne nods slightly.
"Love you too," she mumbles. "Wanna kiss you again." Peter replies by pressing his lips against hers again. His arms slowly wrap around her and her tutu gets squished between them. Daphne sighs softly and breaks the kiss.
When she pulls back to look at Peter, she snorts.
"You probably have to go back to hair and make-up again," she laughs.
"Wha-?" Peter turns his head to look in the mirror. His lips are as red as Daphne's now and he snorts. "Can't go on stage looking like a clown!"
"You are one, though, Parker," Daphne muffles her laughs with her hand and grabs her lipstick from the table to fix her own lips.
"Rude!" He exclaims, poking Daphne in her side, causing her to nearly wipe a mark of red lipstick all over her cheek. She only barely pulled back in time and puts down the tube.
"Go!" She laughs as she waves him out. Peter sucks at his teeth and wraps his arm around Daphne's waste again to pull her snugly against him.
"One more kiss?" He asks with his big, brown, puppy eyes. "Pretty please?" Daphne smiles.
"Only because you asked so nicely, my prince." Their lips collide one more time and they honestly wish they could stay like that forever. But they can't. Eventually, Peter lets go and wipes his face with some kitchen paper before giving Daphne a cheeky look and heading out the door. Before completely walking out of sight, Daphne shouts: "And don't you dare drop me during the performance tonight, Pete! I gotta look my best!" Peter pushes his head back in and smirks.
"I would never drop you, dove-" and Daphne smiles, knowing what he's going to say next. "I got you."
...
Daphne pants loudly as she rushes to her changing room backstage. It's time for her to do a quick change into her Black Swan outfit. Peter is still dancing and should stick near the stage for the majority of the performance. Daphne halts when she enters her dressing room and realizes the stage hands who are supposed to help her get changed are nowhere to be found. The Black Swan tutu is also missing. Panic rises in Daphne's chest. Is someone trying to sabotage this performance? Who would do something like-
"Daphne!" Peter crashes into the dressing room, panting.
"Peter, are you okay?" She rushes towards him.
"We need to go-" he speaks quickly. "Somm-" He points to the stage. Daphne's eyes go wide and her shoulders droop. He's already here. Daphne doesn't think twice and turns haphazardly to grab her sneakers and phone. "Fuck, I need my web-shooters, they're in my bag- may I come in?"
"Yeah, Pete, just be qui-" Daphne pauses, realizing Peter swore. And he never swears. Suddenly, she remembers Loki's words from their conversation on the rooftop back in December.
"From now on, whenever someone asks you 'May I come in?' you don't answer them or you refuse. Understood?"
She stands frozen with her sneakers in her hands. Her head suddenly feels overrun by fog and she sucks in a deep breath. She tries to push it out with everything she has, but she can't fight it. It's too much. Her eyes roll back in their sockets and her sneakers and phone drop to the floor.
"Thank you," Peter speaks, but... It's not him. It's not actually Peter. "For letting me in."
...
Peter smiles when Daphne arrives on stage in her black tutu. He never openly admitted that dancing the Odile pas de deux was his favorite part. The dynamic between them was so much different. So much more playful. His hands find her hips and she smiles at him. Peter's heart flutters as they dance together. This is the part of the story that intrigued Peter the most. Rothbart, the evil sorcerer, cast a spell on Odile to appear as if she is Odette. Odile keeps Prince Siegfried occupied. She distracts him from what is truly happening in the background. Odile toys with him on stage, ensuring that instead of proclaiming his love to the real Odette who is not there with him, he asks Odile to marry him. Too blinded by the spell, he dances with the wrong girl.
...
Natasha bends forward in her seat, leaning over the balcony slightly. So far, she's enjoying the performance greatly, but when Odile starts her trademarked 32 fouettés, Natasha frowns. Something's wrong. The turns are absolutely perfect. No slight mistakes. No tiny wobbles. No accidental travelling in any direction. Natasha has seen Daphne do these fouettés at the summer house. And it's safe to say daphne's not a flawless turner. She can leap yes, but turning requires a lot more effort. Whoever is on stage; they can turn. Very well. Natasha cocks her head and stands up, clenching her fists.
"Nat, what's wrong?" Tony looks up at the super spy with raised eyebrows.
"That's not Daphne."
...
The Avengers follow Natasha backstage. It's uncharacteristically quiet for a backstage area. When they reach the dressing room, their jaws clench. Daphne's phone is on the ground. The screen is shattered. Her sneakers lie about randomly on the floor. They know Daphne's neat. This is a red flag. Tony taps his glasses, activating some new tech he's been working on.
"E.D.I.T.H." He sniffs once and crosses his arms. "Give me the security footage of the hallway here." It takes less than a second for the feed to pop up in front of him. "Rewind to fifteen minutes ago." He orders. "Play at 8 times speed." Everyone waits patiently for Tony to inform them of any news. The billionaire cocks an eyebrow. "Stop." He purses his lips. "Rewind. Hold iiit." He stretches his back and takes a breath. "And play, normal speed."
A man saunters through the hallways. Large coat. Brown tousled hair and a slight beard. His jawline is sharp and Tony catches his dark eyes. He cheekily smirks straight into the camera. In the background, Daphne rushes past him towards her dressing room in her pointe shoes. Most likely to get changed for her Black Swan part. The man turns, rolls his shoulders and Tony barely blinks before the stranger has changed appearance. Tony sucks in a breath. The man looks like Peter. He ruffles his hair and jogs towards the entrance of Daphne's dressing room. He leans in nonchalantly and Tony curses the cheap security system that didn't have any audio feeds. The man's fingers strum the wall and he points towards the stage. He turns his face slightly and E.D.I.T.H.'s lip reading software catches what he says. Tony's eye twitches.
"May I come in?"
'Peter' relaxes completely and his expression turns into a wicked grin. He glances back at the camera one more time, like he knows Tony's watching, and he disappears into the dressing room. Tony's about to order E.D.I.T.H. to fast forward again when the Peter walks out again, his hand curled around Daphne's wrist. She looks dazed. Out of it. Her tutu bounces with every step she takes and her pointe shoe-wearing feet slightly drag over the floor. She follows him, like a dog on a leash. 'Peter' stops right in front of the camera and pulls Daphne forward, almost to show her off, like a damned prize. Goose bumps cover Tony's skin when 'Peter' caresses Daphne's arm all the way up to her jaw. He cups it and makes her look at him. Her eyes are glazed over. Whatever conscious she has, it's not present.
"Mine," he says.
"Yours," she replies. Her eyelids are close to shutting, like she's lazily staring at him. His hand moves further from her jaw up into her tightly pulled back hair. He pushes his fingers into her bun and gently pulls out the golden dove pin Peter got her. The only thing that Daphne has on her that can track her. 'Peter' knew about it. Tony grits his teeth and growls. Somm knew about it. 'Peter' shows it off at the camera and snaps it in two. 'Peter' grows taller suddenly, and one blink later, the man is back. Somm. Daphne seems startled, her eyes, even though they're staring into infinity, twitch. She's fighting him, Tony thinks. His shoulders droop. This man is as old as the universe. One can only guess how many years this guy has on his name. There's no way a 17-year-old could outsmart him. Or overpower him. It doesn't matter what Death gave her. Somm is what some people would consider a literal god. He doesn't look like it though. He looks like a regular guy. A regular guy Tony would love to punch in the face.
Somm grabs Daphne's temples in his hands and presses a long, flat kiss on her forehead.
"Time to go, my Zephyr. How about we wreak some havoc around here?" He walks her out of the hallway in the same way he led her out of her dressing room and not even three seconds after they're out of sight, Tony can see himself and the other Avengers make their way to the dressing room. Tony's ready to throw his glasses through the room. Had they been a few seconds earlier, they would've spotted Somm and Daphne leaving. They could've stopped them. Tony's jaw clenches and he disables E.D.I.T.H. The Avengers stare at him expectantly, but without saying a word, he turns and runs to the stage. He shouts.
"Strange!"
...
Peter's smile falters when he spots a majority of the Avengers running onto the stage from the corner of his eye. The orchestra dies down and the entire production halts. Muffled voices raise in the audience and Peter frowns at his teammates' aggressive body language. Instinctively, he moves to stand in front of Daphne, to protect her. The discussions from the bystanders grow louder when they realize Doctor Strange is with them.
"Peter," Tony brings up his hands to show he means no harm. "Daphne was just taken away by Somm." Peter frowns and Daphne puts her hands on his shoulders, hiding herself. "Whoever is standing behind you is a distraction." Peter turns with his eyes wide.
"I don't know what they're talking about," Daphne mumbles. "Pete, something's up. What if Somm messed with them?" Peter glances back at the group.
"Son," Steve steps forward. "That man is buying time by making us argue over this. The longer we stand here, the further he can take Daphne." He points accusingly at Daphne, who makes herself small. "She's an impostor."
Peter's heart beats fast in his chest. Who does he believe? His teammates, who have never let him down once, or the one he loves the most in the entire universe? He stares at Daphne and his brows curl up into a frown.
"Tell me where your scar ends," he says quietly.
"What?" Daphne takes a small step away from Peter. She moves to lift the mesh that hides her scar, but Peter grabs her wrist.
"Tell me. Without looking."
"Peter-" she protest. "Don't be weird-"
"Tell me." He orders. His voice is dark. There's panic behind Daphne's eyes and Peter swallows. He abruptly pulls her closer to him when she doesn't move or speak and presses his pointer finger on her collar bone. Where Daphne's scar is supposed to end. "Who are you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, I-I'm Daphne!" Tears well in her eyes and Peter honestly has no idea what to do. His head whips around when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Doctor Strange.
"I can't draw from this girl," he says quietly. "And she smells spelled." The girl starts hyperventilating and Stephen takes over from Peter. He says some words to her in a language no one understands and when he wipes his orange glowing hand in front of her face, she looks different.
"Avery?!" Someone on stage shouts. Avery blinks a few times in distress.
"Where am I?!" She yelps as she stumbles away from Stephen, blinded by the stage lights. "Wha-" she looks down at her Black Swan outfit. "Why am I wearing this?!"
"Calm down, Avery." Strange places his hands on her shoulders and she stares at him wide-eyed. Tony butts in with a sarcastic tone.
"An evil sorcerer made you fulfill your role as stand-in. Do you have any idea where we can find him?"
Before Avery can speak again, there's a thunder strike so loud, it short circuits the entire theater. They're all left standing in the dark. It takes a short second before all the bystanders start screaming. Strange creates light with his magic and he pulls a face when he notices Bruce, writhing on the stage, skin turning green...