Possibility of Tomorrow - 35

 

Cont...

"I told you so," Darling said, first thing she was safe inside the overwatch plane.

"Whatever. That was awesome!" Peter launched himself to hug Darling. 

Darling laughed, "Glad you found that amusing." 

"Of course! You were the best spy ever. You also stink." Peter said, quickly retreating from her presence. 

"Dude, you're a wimp. It just smells like liquor and smoke. You smell worse coming back from patrol, reeking of blood, and who knows what." Harley scoffed, hugging Darling also.

 "I'm not used to it, okay? Goodness, Harley, leave me alooonnneee." Peter jokingly whined.

 Darling chuckled, "Did we get it?"

 "Yep, if I'm right, he confessed to about 16 crimes. We have him." Harley grinned. 

"At least this way, it won't take years to fix this mess," Peter said with a matching grin. 

"At least. Is our cover still good?" Darling asked, turning to Harley.

"Yep. We left at the beginning of intermission to Hadestown. If we hustle, we can get back before it ends, and no one should notice." Harley nodded, loading up the bots.

"Alright. How long's the flight?" Darling looked over at Peter, who was flying the Wakandans stealth jet. 

"A quarter of the time, a regular flight is," Peter said. 

"Which is?" Darling asked flatly. 

"Under thirty minutes," Harley answered. 

"Good." Darling nodded, "I'll pick you up after the show." 

"Sounds good. Maybe show up with something swanky. Show off a little." Peter said over his shoulder. 

Darling chuckled, "Shut up and fly, Parker."

 Peter laughed but did as he was told, and the cabin descended into quiet. Darling, she'd her weapons and some of her outfit so she wouldn't be noticed on cameras before selecting the car she would take from the Pym collection. Darling fiddled with the jacket she put on to disguise her remaining outfit pieces, "You're staring."

 She had dropped her voice very quiet so Peter would get the message and not listen, but Harley still jerked, "Right, sorry."

Darling sighed and looked at him, "What is it you so desperately want to ask?" 

Harley opened his mouth and then closed it before finally settling on, "Did you really consider killing him?" 

Darling stared at him for a long moment, "Yes." 

Harley frowned, brow furrowed, "Why didn't you?" 

Darling looked down and mulled over the question, "I considered it. Considered what it would do to the world. And then I thought of you." Darling looked up at Harley, who seemed surprised, "Thought of my Dad and all those who have been there for me. And I had to ask myself if the compromises I made were worth it to you all. Sure it might be a good move. A better move, even, to take him out of the picture, but does that make it worth it for me?" 

Harley seemed confused, "How does that affect us? We all know you would never be caught."

 "Let me ask you something," Darling said somberly, "If you knew I murdered someone in cold blood for nothing other than who they were related to by blood, would you ever look at me the same?" 

Harley was struck silent for a long moment, unable to find the words. He stared at the floor a long time before finally whispering, "No, wouldn't." 

Darling nodded, "Exactly. I've lived that life, not caring, not having others to think of. It's not a good life. This is worth changing for."

Harley still looked conflicted.

 "What is it?" Darling asked, sensing there was more he wanted to ask. 

"What was Black Heart?" Harley asked quietly, "He said it was terminated, and you said, you said that only a choice few were left." 

Darling looked down and let the emotions she'd stuffed down earlier come back, "They were friends. A group of elite children assassins. Not spies, not soldiers, killers. But they were beginning to gain resilience against the drug used to control them. It was getting too risky to have them conduct missions. The indoctrination only went so far. So they started eliminating the independent ones. Hoping it would save the rest from corrupting into free will. When I was sent after Steve, I knew I wasn't coming back. I would either die trying or get killed coming back. The only reason I'm still alive is that Bucky saw himself in me." 

Harley looked horrified, "And what about the ones they didn't kill?" 

"It didn't matter. They'd trained them to be smart. They knew those not coming back were independent. They also knew we don't fail. They were getting restless, the knowledge slowly waking them up and making them mad. So he just terminated the whole project. No loose ends. No mess." Darling shrugged, thinking of all the bodies, all the death, all the friends she'd been raised with.

 "I'm sorry," Harley said softly. 

Darling scrubbed away the tears building up at her eyes, thinking of the little ones, so innocent but not, "Me too." 

 

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