I don't own the characters or the show or... whatever. Enjoy!

Superhero boss fights were basically the new norm in New York.

There was always someone doing something stupid bordering on insane. Too often that was Peter, not that Danny was complaining. It worked out. Usually.

"Suck this, Baldy!"

Danny tilted his head curiously as Peter shot a clot of webbing down the most recent villain's throat. His insults were weak at best. Danny asked him yesterday if he'd stopped practicing them like he used to.

It was a genuine question, but Peter just sputtered in apparent insult and told him he preferred Danny when he was spouting mystical nonsense.

Aforementioned villain hacked up the web best he could, but the distraction was enough for Ava to take him out by the knees and Luke to trap him in Shield-enhanced rope.

Ava turned to Danny with a glare. "How about next time you don't just stand there looking lost?"

He smiled halfheartedly and shrugged. "You all appeared to have everything under control. I was simply appreciating observing your expertise."

"Uh huh," said Sam, dropping to ground-level. "Or maybe you were just playing chicken." He tucked his hands into his armpits and began flapping his arms making an occasional "bawk!"

Danny smiled despite himself. "One can learn much from observation. Even you, Nova."

Sam stopped mid-squawk. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Peter stepped over to the pair of them, his hands on his hips. "Calm down, Karate Kid, Bucket Head. We agreed not to fight."

"We were not fighting," Danny replied. "Even if so, minor quarrels are the signs of a strong bond. They will not damage our abilities on the battlefield."

"'Kay, dude. Namaste, I guess."

"Guys."

They all turned to Luke.

"I think we missed something." He pointed to something behind Danny.

He looked over his shoulder.

"Huh," said Peter. "No wonder my Spidey-senses were going off."

Ava groaned. "Really? I still have AP Calc homework to do. Couldn't he have waited?"

Danny squinted at the man in question, twisting his body to face him fully. There was something attached to his back, a purplish substance sloshing about within. It was kind of mesmerizing.

"How do you do, kiddos?" the man drawled, grabbing a shooter that was attached to the machine on his back. "Don't you worry. I'm just testing something. No harm, no foul, right?"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," said Peter, walking forward. "Mister Science Guy. Testing your formulas on a bunch of superheroes probably isn't gonna go your way. You wouldn't be the first to try."

'Mister Science Guy,' as Peter called him (Danny couldn't tell if that was a joke about the lab coat or the man's actual name), smiled brightly, his teeth flashing. Danny didn't have a great feeling about this. If the rustling beside him meant anything, the others agreed. "No, I suppose I'm not. But I imagine it'll be easy enough." Mister Science Guy turned around for a moment, hand still loosely holding the shooter. Danny could now see that the machine had an assortment of different colored liquids, not just the purple from before.

Luke scoffed, crossed his arms, and began to walk in a way that was usually pretty menacing toward Mister Science Guy. "What's makes you think that?" Luke continued.

Mister Science Guy waved a hand dismissively. "Because…"

Danny didn't hear the rest. The liquids were swirling through one another, the colors somehow not mixing. He was transfixed as he stepped forward.

In the distance, he heard a voice reminiscent of Peter's. "Uhh, Iron Fist? What are you doing?"

He was transfixed, unblinking.

Then Mister Science Guy turned back around, and the spell broke. Danny stumbled back a step as the man smirked. "Gotcha."

There was a click, and suddenly something shot into his chest. Danny fell back, scrambling further, as the pain hit him in a wave as it thunked into him.

It was a needle of sorts. Danny tried to calm his pounding heart. Then he pulled at it with a gasp of pain.

It was longer, thicker than he expected, taking several agonizing seconds to get out.

Peter threw up in his mask a bit.

"Danny!"

Luke ran to his side, grasping his shoulder a tad painfully.

Danny tossed the needle to the side and fell onto his back with a moan.

"Have fun figuring this out!" called Mister Science Guy. "Luck of the draw, which one he got." He laughed, and Danny vaguely noted how it sounded pretty stereotypically evil as he closed his eyes. "Let me know what it does! I'm very curious."

The pain was beginning to turn into a dull ache, so he pushed Luke off of him as gently as he could and stood up.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Mister Science Guy's retreating back and Ava's as she chased him.

He swayed a bit. Found himself wearing a dazed grin as his head was tilted enough to almost hit his shoulder. Danny blinked slowly, and the grin turned to a languid smile. Something felt… nice. Clear. Like his body was waiting for something. His chi seemed to be studying it curiously. Danny took another step and swayed more than last time.

"Uh, Danny?" said Luke.

A firm hand grabbed his shoulder again, and Danny hummed.

"Whatcha doing, man? You feeling alright?"

"Great," he breathed.

He did. A sort of bliss had settled over him.

His chi reared back from the substance with a hiss.

Luke paced in front of Danny and took off his glasses.

Danny flinched, and Luke seemed to think it was because of him, not because of an internal force within Danny he couldn't see, and held his hands up. "It's okay, buddy. It's just me."

Danny finally lifted his head, met Luke's eyes. A surge of emotion whipped through him, and he smiled broadly. "Luke!" He wrapped his arms around the other man and squeezed, nuzzling his head into his chest.

"Um… okay. Yeah, buddy, it's me," Luke stated, awkwardly patting Danny's back. "We need to get you to the medical wing. You're hurt, Danny. Can you come with me?"

Danny nodded against his chest. "Yes."

"Good." Luke, after a moment, pulled his arm back and took a step forward. Danny obediently fell into place on his side, now clutching Luke's remaining arm.

"Yo. Danny." Peter waved a hand in his face, and he swatted at it lazily. "Are you sick? Why are you practically glued to Luke?"

Danny stumbled momentarily, falling into Luke's side. Rather than regaining his footing, he just remained leaning against him. Then he closed his eyes, gave Peter the biggest smile he'd ever seen from the guy, and said, "Because I love him."

Luke and Peter stiffened.

Sam snorted. Tried to muffle another one. Then he burst out laughing. "Oh, this is gold! Danny! Danny! Smile for the camera!"

Where he smuggled that camera from, nobody knew. But Danny kept on smiling as he leaned into Luke when the flash went off.

"This is awesome," said Sam, grinning at the photo.

Peter rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, Danny. Well, we're going to the helicarrier now. C'mon, buddy!"

Whether or not Danny noticed that Peter was talking to him like a dog, he didn't say. Instead, he momentarily let go of Luke, who promptly sighed in relief. That was about to be so awkwar—

He felt Danny jump onto his back and wrap his arms around his neck. "'S hard to walk," he slurred in way of explanation.

Luke sighed, grabbing ahold of Danny's legs so he wouldn't accidentally drop him.

This was going to be an interesting day.

Danny had fallen asleep at some point on the way to the helicarrier.

The first person they saw was Fury. Fury, who they happened to have lost connection with when Sam accidentally fried the comms.

He had his arms crossed and eye narrowed when they arrived (including Ava, who was left breathless and frustrated when the man got away. She'd sent worried looks in Danny's direction, but Luke shook his head, pointed to the sleeping kid, and mouthed 'I'll explain later.').

That explanation would be coming shortly.

"We need to get Danny to the medical wing," Luke said before Fury even got the chance to open his mouth. "Some guy injected him with something."

Fury's expression turned a bit lighter in concern (he had a soft spot for Danny. Then again, everyone did.). He waved one of his agents to take Danny off Luke and to get help.

Once he was gone, the angry look resumed. "What happened out there?"

Sam shifted his footing. "I may have taken down our comm system. Sorry, Director."

Fury lifted an eyebrow. "What else happened?"

"We took down one baddie," said Peter, all faux enthusiasm, "but another one got away." His shoulders slumped. "After he hit Danny with something."

Fury nodded, meeting everyone's gaze. It was freaky how easily he could do that with just one eye.

("Power is held in the eye of its beholder," Danny had quipped. "Not eyes.")

"And what was Danny hit with?"

Ava shrugged.

Peter and Luke exchanged looks.

Sam didn't bother trying to hide his amusement this time. "Well," he said in a fit of giggles, "if I were to guess, I'd say it was a love potion."

Ava snorted. "What?"

"A love potion!" He whipped out his camera again. "Look at these!"

All of them leaned forward to look (Fury did so discreetly) at the photos. There was the one with Danny smiling like he was, indeed, in love, and the others were while Danny was on Luke's back, sometimes with a fist happily in the air and others where he was snuggled in close and finally when asleep.

"Are you telling me," Ava began slowly, "that Danny is in love with Luke?"

Sam shrugged. "Ask Danny himself. He's the one who said it."

Her eyes widened. "Seriously?" She turned to Luke, understandably not trusting Sam to have just told the truth. "Seriously?" she repeated.

He nodded. "Uh, yeah. That's what it looks like."

Peter held something out. The needle from earlier. "It's still got some left. I can—or you can have someone else—run some tests on it to see if its effects can be reversed. And to see if it did anything else, too. Danny did seem really loopy."

Fury scowled. "I'm sure he did. I'll get the comms back. Figure out how to find the man who did this just in case we can't find the antidote."

"Hey, stay positive!"

Fury scowled at Peter.

"Or not." Peter pulled off his mask. "I'll get on it, I guess. Toodaliedoo!"

Fury sighed as Peter webbed away, needle in hand. "Someone needs to get him under control. I just wish it wasn't me." He frowned at the three remaining heroes. "You all find and retrieve the guy who did this. And give me visual of who he is—it'd be best if we know what we're up against."

Luke nodded sharply. "On it. Let's go."

Danny woke with a groan.

Coulson happened to be the one in the room at the time. He forced a grin and waved. "I see you're up, Danny. How are you feeling?"

Danny blinked blearily and looked around warily.

"Your vitals appear normal, so that's a good sign, for the most part. The serum you were injected with just took a lot of your energy. Our best guess is that your body was fighting against it, likely preventing the worst effects. You're lucky you're so tough."

Danny frowned. "Where's Luke?"

"Luke? I'm not sure. Fury asked me to sit with you while he debriefed the others. I imagine Luke is with them or already on the mission. It's to help you."

Danny started to get up. "I have to find him."

Coulson stood up and shifted quickly over, gently pressing down in his chest. "Not yet. We're still running some tests, and we want to make sure the entry point of the syringe doesn't get infected."

The younger man narrowed his eyes. "Let go of me," he growled.

Coulson looked surprised at the drastic change in demeanor. Then he solemned up. "No. You need to stay here. We don't know the full extent of what that thing you were injected with is, and—"

Danny slid a glance to the table beside him. Then he grabbed the scalpel laying there, grabbed Coulson's hand, and before the man could react, stuck it through his hand and into the wall.

Coulson yelled in pain and began trying to pull it out as Danny got out of the bed and walked to the door.

"Danny! Danny Rand—stop!"

He did, and looked back, confused. "Why? I have to find Luke."

Coulson managed to pull out the scalpel with a grunt of pain, immediately rushing to wrap it in gauze. "You just stabbed me, Danny. This isn't like you." He glanced up, meeting Danny's eyes for a moment. "Why do you need to find Luke?"

At that, Danny smiled, and it was reminiscent of before when he wasn't stabbing members of Shield. It was strangely innocent, an expression he most often wore when he first showed up from K'un Lun. "Because," he said, his voice chipper, "I love him."

Coulson frowned. "What? Okay," he clutched his hand, wincing at the residual pain. "I can try and help you find him."

Danny wasn't in his right mind right now. Coulson had to do something—keep him distracted. "Really? Thank you, Agent Coulson."

So Danny recognized him. Then why had he just stabbed him?

Danny snickered. "Or Principal Coulson. Whichever you prefer."

Maybe he was just too drugged up. Or something.

"Either is fine," Coulson replied with a smile that he hoped didn't look as forced as it felt. "Just, ah," he winced, "come with me." And please don't attack me again along the way, he wanted to add. With some restraint, he didn't.

He led Danny down the hallway to where the debrief room. Danny already explored every inch of the ship—if Coulson tried anything funny, Rand would know.

But Danny was shaking. Like, bad. He didn't say anything and for the most part acted like it wasn't happening. If Coulson were to guess, it may have something to do with Luke. Danny's new apparent… whatever it was. Because 'love' didn't usually cause a change like the one he was seeing in Danny. So it was probably the substance he was injected with.

Weird. Even for Shield: weird.

He was lucky that Fury was in the room when he walked in.

"Director Fury," he led with.

Fury turned around and, upon seeing Danny, said, "What are you doing here?"

"He's looking for Luke, Director." Coulson shifted his injured hand in front of him. A move that to most people would look natural, but to Fury was a pointed statement.

One he appeared to understand. "I see." He nodded to Danny. "They're looking for the man who injected you with the substance, Luke included."

Danny lifted his chin. "I have to help him."

Fury crossed his arms. "You aren't yourself, Rand."

His eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Coulson had snuck away while Danny was distracted with Fury.

He used it to sneak back up behind the Iron Fist and stick him with a tranquilizer.

Danny yelled and whipped around, slamming a fist into Coulson's face.

Coulson fell back as Danny staggered slightly before glaring at Fury. "You," he growled, "You are trying to prevent me from saving Luke!"

Nick held his ground. "Listen, kid, you know that I—"

Danny stopped him mid-sentence with an attack. It was a bit sloppy, and Fury managed to block that one, but he couldn't stop the aerial kick Danny launched at him.

Danny looked over him as Fury clutched his head. "Where is he?" he asked, his tone surprisingly mild.

Fury closed his eye. He couldn't tell Danny—not when he'd just attacked them. He was out of his mind.

But it seemed Danny remembered that he could track his teammates himself. He walked away from Fury, swaying a bit before shooting one last glance at the two men he'd taken down and leaving.

Fury barely stayed conscious.

He clutched his head and began trying to maneuver to the computer mainframe.

"Remind me again how you lost this guy?" Sam questioned.

Ava scowled. "Stop it."

"No, really. How was that even possible?"

"Keep up that line of questioning and I'll turn your brain to goop." Then she held up a hand. "I'm thinking that he's somewhere near here. We gotta be careful."

"Especially you, Luke," Sam stage-whispered. "We need you back in one piece to reunite with your love."

"Man, shut up. It ain't funny. Danny's sick."

"Sick with love."

"Shut up! Both of you!"

Suddenly their watches lit up.

"Team," said Fury, and a moment later his face was on the screen. "We have a problem."

Ava's eyes widened. "Director Fury! What happened?"

His head was bleeding pretty badly, but Fury waved it off. "I'll be fine. But you need to be on the lookout for Danny. He's gone rogue."

"Gone rogue?" Sam adjusted his helmet. "What do you mean?"

"He did this," he said, pointing to his head, "and he stabbed Coulson's hand with a knife before taking him out. He's looking for you, Luke."

"Y'know, this might be more serious than I thought." Sam met Luke's stare. "We gotta get you somewhere safe."

"No, you have to find the man, just like before. Just stay alert."

"You got it, boss."

"Looking for me?"

Ava whipped around to face the voice.

"Dr. Marshall," Fury said. "I should have known he wasn't actually dead."

"Yeah, you would think Shield would be better at all the death stuff considering how many people they've said are dead when they're actually not."

"Nova! Really? Shut up!"

"I see you are down two members," Dr. Marshall continued. He shifted the pack of liquids on his back. "Do tell me what happened to—oh, what's his name? Iron Fist?"

"That's it," Ava snarled, "you're going down!"

Dr. Marshall grinned. "Good luck with that." He lifted his gun. "I have enhanced weapons. These syringes can penetrate all of your armors." The grin turned into a smirk. "Including Power Man's."

He fired before Ava, Sam, or Luke could react.

Perhaps thankfully, Danny had shown up and caught the syringe from the air.

Sam's shoulders sagged. "Crap."

"You do not touch him," Danny stated, rising to full height.

"Ah." Dr. Marshall sounded disappointed. "No physical effects, I see. No matter. I can…" His eyebrows pushed up suddenly. "Why isn't it working?" he asked, evidently trying to shoot at them.

Danny gave a feral smile, and Ava's blood chilled. Something was definitely wrong with her friend. "I disabled it," Danny said, prowling forward. "One must always be one step ahead of the enemy in battle."

"Danny," she cautioned, her voice low. "What are you doing?"

Danny's eyes remained on Dr. Marshall, who was unclipping the bulky bag off his back probably so it would be easier to run. He wouldn't make it far. "He tried to hurt Luke, White Tiger. That means I must kill him."

"Kill?!—hold up now, Iron Fist! You're joking, right?" Sam flew beside Danny. "You're a pacifist, remember?"

A surge of emotions ran across Danny's face. The last one settled on confused. "But he tried to hurt Luke. He must die."

"Dude, that's a bit of an escalation. We can take him down without resorting to murder, okay?"

Danny shook his head. "But Mister Science Guy…" he shook his head again and stumbled forward a step. "I don't understand. I must kill him."

"No," Nova said, splaying out his arms, "you don't."

Danny's blinked tiredly. "Then… then you are also an enemy."

Luke stepped forward at this point. "Danny, I don't want you to kill anyone, and Nova is not your enemy. Understand?"

Danny smiled weakly. "Luke." He blinked slowly again. "Agent Coulson stuck a tranquilizer in me. They—they didn't want me to protect you." The smile dropped and he suddenly looked like he was about to cry. "I—I can't protect you in this state, Luke. Please forgive me."

"I, uh…" Luke rubbed the back of his head, "I forgive you."

His eyes widened in apparent surprise. "Thank you."

Ava pursed her lips before turning back to Dr. Marshall. He was running.

She sighed. "Nova. Catch him, please."

"Wha—oh! On it!" He flew off, easily catching up with the man before picking him up and dragging him back.

Ava grabbed a loose telephone wire from the ground to her right (don't ask) and tied Dr. Marshall up. "You're coming with us. Alive."

Danny collapsed—thank you, Coulson, for preemptively preventing him from actually killing someone—from the tranquilizer's effects. Luke caught him.

"Awwww," said Sam. "How cute!"

Luke easily tossed Danny to Nova, who struggled to catch him. "You can carry him this time."

Nova grumbled but nevertheless complied.

"Fury," Ava said to the watch, "we're bringing Dr. Marshall and Danny in."

"This is why we don't have nice things," Peter said as he watched Ava drag in the doctor who was currently bound by a telephone wire. "I mean, c'mon. Where would you guys be without me? It's hopeless." He sighed dramatically. "I can't bring you kids anywhere."

"Oh, shut up." Nova tossed Danny to the floor. It wasn't exactly careful and may have been proving the other teen's point. "What could you accomplish without us? Lemme guess—you didn't find a cure for Danny's case of lovesick puppy."

Peter winced. "Yeah. Not yet."

"Then it is a good thing we have Dr. Marshall," Fury interjected.

Dr. Marshall shrugged. "I'm as likely to find a cure as that kid. Like I said, this was entirely experimental."

They all deflated at this.

"Then you will find a way," said Fury. "Fast." He turned to the teen heroes. "You all get Danny to the training center. That way, he won't be able to hurt anyone else."

"I knew we kept you around for something!" Peter said to Fury. Then he picked up Danny and led the way out.

Sam had found a tennis ball at some point and was bouncing it off the wall.

Peter had enough of it and webbed it out through the window. "Worth the bill I'll get," he said as Sam dropped his jaw.

"That was my only one! Now I have nothing to do here while we wait for Danny to wake up."

"Well, it was super annoying. In fact, I was getting so annoyed I was practically bouncing off the walls! Get it?"

"I'm gonna punch you," said Sam.

"Give it your best shot," Peter replied, puffing out his chest. "I bet you can't even touch me."

"Oh, please, boys. We all know that if anyone here could beat out everyone, it'd be me, not one of you two doofuses," said Ava.

"That… that wasn't what we were saying, but it sounds like a bet."

"Yeah." Luke stepped forward. "I'd be willin' to play. Especially 'cause it would be me who would win."

"Oh, really?" Peter stuck out a hand. "How about once this is all taken care of, we make good on that bet. One at a time, one of us goes against the rest."

"What are you speaking of?"

Peter jumped all the way to the ceiling to which he then clung to. "Oh. Um. Hi, Danny. You took me by surprise there. How are you feeling? Homicidal still?"

Danny frowned. "That isn't funny."

"You know," Sam began, and Peter didn't like the glint in his eyes, "there's only one way to find out."

He then proceeded to blast Luke with a minor surge of his powers.

Everyone froze as Sam clapped his hands together. Danny's face was darkening. "Nova," he stated, "I recommend you cease attacking him."

Weird how Danny was like a cuddly teddy bear toward Luke one moment then a homicidal maniac bent on protecting him the next.

Sam was an idiot.

He fired another harmless shot at Luke.

Danny sighed, breaking some of the tension, and walked to the broken window.

The remaining heroes shared glances. Luke shrugged.

But then Danny picked something up off the floor and flung it at Sam.

Sam let out a shout of pain, reflexively grabbing at the object now lodged in his shoulder, and pulled it out. A shard of glass.

Ava moved to stand in front of Nova as Peter webbed up the wound. "You're lucky he missed," she hissed, touching him in the chest just over his heart.

"I didn't miss," Danny said, cocking his head. "That was for fun. Now move, or I'll go through you."

"This isn't like you," said Peter as Nova focused on deep breaths.

Sam then flew up. "I can protect myself, Ava."

Luke held up his hands. "Danny, no one here is against you."

"He attacked you, Luke. Even if you cannot see it, I can, and I shall act accordingly." He shifted into a fighting stance. "These are enemies."

"I don't want to do this," said Peter, then he fired a web at Danny.

Danny dodged it swiftly and used his momentum to launch at Ava.

She blocked his first strike, jumped over his kick, but when she launched her own attack, he flipped out of the way and kicked her in the head.

Ava flew back with a grunt of pain before carefully getting back to her feet.

Nova launched his own series of attacks that Danny dodged before grabbing a piece of shrapnel from training awhile back and flinging it at him.

It his Nova in the chest, and he collided into Ava, taking the both of them down.

"Danny, stop!" Luke called.

"We need a coordinated attack to try and beat him," said Peter, dropping down next to Ava and Sam.

"Or we can just send Luke after him," Ava suggested, rubbing the newly developing bump on her head.

"Oh. Yeah."

Apparently Luke already thought of this. Just as Peter was about to give him orders, they spotted him sneak up behind Danny—who at that point, was starting to go after the three of them—and hug his body, lifting in the air.

Danny squirmed for a bit, kicking his legs out. Honestly, it was kinda funny. Then he settled down.

"I'll let you go if you stop attacking our friends," said Luke.

Danny's head sagged. "I am just trying to protect you." He sounded pitiful. "But if it is as you wish so much… I will not hurt you or your… friends."

Luke released him. Danny bent his knees to land steadily before turning to face Luke. "I was just doing this because I love you. You understand that, right?"

"Uh, Yeah." Gosh, Luke sounded uncomfortable. "I understand. I care about you, too, buddy. I just don't want you getting yourself hurt."

Danny shook his head. "I don't matter. Physical pain goes away." He put a finger against Luke's chest. "It is you who matters."

Luke brushed Danny's hand away, and the latter looked pained by the lost contact. "You do matter. And I'm not just talking about physical hurt. If you killed someone, you'd never forgive yourself."

Danny's eyebrows squished in. "But—"

Luke hugged him. An actual hug this time, not an I'm-trying-to-stop-you-from-killing-people hug. "Danny, man," he said, pulling back to hold the smaller superhero gently at arm's length, "I love you, too. Maybe not in the way you love me right now 'cause of that—"

Danny suddenly grabbed Luke's shirt and pulled him in, putting his weight to his toes so his lips could reach Luke's.

Luke was frozen in surprise.

Sam, however, was not, and snapped pictures. As he looked at them to make sure he got a few quality shots, he started giggling maniacally.

After a few seconds, Danny's eyes snapped opened. Then he released a noise that sounded a bit like a squeak and fell backwards, gasping. "Uh—" he said, glancing around him, eyes wide. "Uh—"

Sam's giggling became boisterous laughter. "I've never seen you so flustered! I guess you're in your right head now. Not gonna stab me again?"

Danny blinked, the action owlish. "Uh—I…" His head snapped up to face Luke, a deep crimson suddenly crawling up his throat. "Sorry?"

"True love broke the curse!" Sam called, jumping over Ava with the camera nuzzled in the crook of his good arm. "The stories are true!"

Luke thwacked Sam in the back of the head. "Shut up." He didn't sound half as flustered as Danny did.

Sam stuck out his tongue.

Danny scrambled to his feet. "I—I am sorry I tried to hurt you all. I was not in my right mind. I offer my most sincere apologies." The flush was creeping up further still, and he glanced sheepishly to Luke in particular.

Luke held his hands up. "It's okay, Danny. We know that wasn't you. Right, Nova?"

"Right," Nova replied, but he didn't sound convinced.

Peter narrowed his gaze of Danny, jumping off the web he'd been hanging on and standing up. "Um, Danny?"

Danny was tapping his foot nervously now, but he faced Peter with as much calm as he could manage. "Yes?"

"You know it's okay if you're… y'know, gay, right?"

Danny practically winced. "Ah, uh, yes…" He nodded shortly. "I understand that this country is more… open to those kinds of things."

"Huh," said Nova. "Well, are you? Into guys, I mean."

Danny turned away from them, looking pointedly at the window. "In K'un Lun, such things are frowned upon. The ideals of this nation are not the same as the ideals of mine." His head bent slightly. "Even if one has attempted to encourage change." He shook his head. "I—I must go apologize to Agent Coulson and Director Fury. Excuse me."

"Hold on." Ava grabbed his arm, but her touch was gentle. "Just because K'un Lun doesn't accept you for who you are doesn't mean we won't. Okay? Just thought you needed to hear it." She let go of him, and Danny suddenly looked conflicted, finally opting to take off his mask.

"Thank you. And, um, yes…" He rubbed the back if his neck. "I am. Into guys, that is." He angled his head to Luke with a soft smile. "Sorry about that, again. You are not actually my type—I believe the substance I have been injected with made me fall in love with the first person whose face I saw." He shrugged. "But I suppose it is one way to… ah, come out."

"In that case," said Sam, grinning wildly and his hands not-so-casually behind his head, "what is your type?"

Danny tilted his head and gave him a soft smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Peter turned from Danny to Sam. Back to Danny, back to Sam. He went to look back to Danny but Luke stopped the swivel by putting a hand on his head. "Stop that."

"As I said earlier," said Danny, accustomed to Peter's eccentric behaviors, "I must apologize to Agent Coulson and Director Fury. I did stab the former and attack both of them, so I certainly owe them that much."

Danny left.

"He's gonna be totally fine," said Peter way too casually. Then he pointed at Sam. "I'm more concerned about you."

Sam scoffed. "Me?" It sounded too forced. "Puh-leaze."

Peter shrugged. "I guess 'concerned' was the wrong word to use. I meant I'm more focused on you, you walking flashlight." He grinned slyly. Or as slyly as Peter could grin, which wasn't very sly at all. "You have a crush on Danny, don't you?"

"What?" Sam scoffed again and forcefully crossed his arms. "No."

Peter lifted an unimpressed eyebrow.

Sam's shoulders sagged. "That wasn't convincing, was it?"

He received a chorus of "No" and "Not at all."

Sam pouted. "Whatever. Yeah, so what? I have a tiny crush on him." He shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"You should ask him out," Ava said, splaying her hands out before her. "He owes you something after getting you in the shoulder with that glass."

"Um, how about no?" Sam took off his helmet so Ava could better see his bewildered expression. "Just because he's gay doesn't mean he likes me. That's not how it works."

"I know," Ava said with a grin that was actually sly (and no, Peter was totally not jealous she could pull it off), "but I'm pretty sure he flirted with you before he left. Well, as much as Danny can. The closest other than that I've seen from him is him literally telling us he loved Luke."

"Flirting." Sam scoffed AGAIN. Was that the only action he knew? "Come on. How?"

He was trying to look uninterested, but Ava knew him well enough by now to tell he really cared. Adorable. "I don't know," she said casually, mimicking Danny's soft smile and tilted head, "wouldn't you like to know?" She dropped the façade suddenly, giving him a 'duh' look. "He said that right after you asked him his type. Open your eyes."

"Yeah, birdbrain," Peter helpfully chimed in.

"Like you noticed," Ava shot back.

"While you may be correct, I'll have you know that I don't appreciate that tone of voice."

Danny returned in that moment. Everyone was looking at him, and he looked confused momentarily before saying, thinking he knew why, "I took care of Coulson."

'Took care of'? What did that mean?

"Oh, good," said Luke. He had to be the coolest person Peter knew. Danny had literally just kissed him, and he shrugged it off like it was nothing. Sure, there were extenuating circumstances, but still. Impressive. Cool guy.

There was another pregnant silence. Danny seemed to be the only one not bothered by it.

"You know, Danny," Sam began stepping forward, his face producing a light blush, "you did throw a shard of glass into my shoulder."

"I am sorry about that, Sam," Danny replied, nodding.

"What I'm trying to say here is that you owe me," Sam continued.

"Oh. I suppose that would make sense. What is it you would like?"

"You buy me dinner tonight," Sam blurted. "Take me somewhere that's good. Or else."

Danny blinked. Then he seemed to catch on. A slow grin befell his lips. "It's a date."

"Yeah, make it after we find out who's the best fighter on our team," Ava interjected. "Luke, why don't you go first. You against the rest of us."

Danny's grin turned into a full-fledged smile. "I do believe that would be fun." He turned back to Sam. "Then I will buy you the best Thai food you will ever eat."

"It's on," said Sam.