"Every storm runs out of rain, just like every dark night turns into day."
- Gary Allan

  The next morning, Harper had breakfast in the house she barely knew. Morgan was still impatient to get to know more about that big sister she'd been told so much about : she was still too young to fully process the situation. As to Pepper, she was trying to save face. She forced herself to stay strong for her daughters. And Peter... Peter was as sad as them but what he observed in that house made him feel even more heartbroken : no one talked, if it wasn't for Morgan's innocent interventions. He was in a broken and faded home. He couldn't help but notice how Harper's plate remained dangerously full. She didn't eat much, barely enough to hold up. After this poor meal, Harper locked herself up in her room to draw. Peter had no idea what to do with himself so he stayed with Morgan who was playing in the garden.

  "Peter ?"

  "Huh ?"

  "Why is Harper sad ? Is it because of Dad ?"

  "She misses him a lot, you know," he answered, feeling a tad uncomfortable. "But it'll get better."

  "You think so ?"

  "I hope so," he whispered.

  "I'm sad too," she suddenly said.

  "It- It's normal to miss him, little one."

  He knew too well what those two girls were going through.

  "I'm sad because of Harper. Dad always said she had the most beautiful smile in the world and now she's not smiling."

  The kid's words were so true that it hurt Peter right in the chest. His girlfriend was slowly dying out.

  Up in her room, Harper wasn't drawing. As soon as Peter wasn't around her, she'd put her earpiece in place and listen to her father's voice for a few moments. She knew it wasn't him ; it was simply a way of hearing him again. Then, she changed the A.I.'s voice : she had to if she wanted to focus entirely on her goal. She was talking to the metallic woman voice she'd decided to call Nat (she couldn't help it). 

  "What do you want me to look for now ?"

  "We've been through Greek and Latin mythology and nothing was interesting... Go look around witches they burned in the Middle ages, in Europe.

  All the results were displayed in front of her : names, stories, dates and locations. She ruled out every irrelevant information and selected those that seemed to be the more recurrent. First, some witch named Meroe, somewhere in the north of Greece. She appeared in some stories but locals believed in her as much as they believed in the bogeyman. The next one looked more like a teenage joke than an actual legend, even though it was quite popular. It was the last one that caught her attention. Many legends talked about her, locating her in Belgium, a small European country. She read stories, testimonies, writings from historian who were believed to be crazy... All those texts gave her the same name : the Necromancer of the Ardennes. Recent articles caught her eye : the police were looking for a woman that went by the exact same name. Harper leaned against the back of her chair after she turned off the earpiece. All she had to do was find this woman.

  "Harper ?"

  She jumped when she heard Peter's voice. She hurried to put aside the earpiece as well as her notes.

  "What are you doing ?"

  "Not much, why ?"

  "I don't know, you looked..."

  "Don't worry."

  She stood up and kissed him softly.

  "Are you staying again tonight ?"

  "Only if you want me to."

  "I do. It's... I'm turning eighteen tomorrow. I know Mom's not thinking about that right now. Even I almost forgot about it. I mean, technically, that makes me...what ? Twenty-two years old ?

  "I didn't forget," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. "I brought you a little something."

  "You shouldn't have."

  "I mean, I bought last... well, the year we got blipped. It stayed in my old apartment stuff for years."

  He gave her a thick rectangular package that she unwrapped with a lot of emotion. It was a drawing book. She finished unwrapping it and had a hard time holding back a few tears (she'd had a tendency to cry easily lately). In the middle of the book cover was a picture and Peter's choice was perfect. She still remembered the day Happy took that picture : it was a sunny day and they had been enjoying it back at the compound. Peter, Harper, Tony, Pepper, Natasha, Clint and Steve were all on the picture. Steve (despite his cold relationship with Tony at the time) was genuinely smiling with his arms wrapped around Nat and Clint's shoulders. As to Tony, he was squeezing Pepper against him while peter was holding Harper by the waist. They all looked so happy ! Harper left the book on her desk and came back to Peter. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly.

  "You like it ?"

  "A lot."

 She kissed him again and this time, their hug became a lot more than just a hug. Harper drew Peter to her bed. Laid down, Peter let his hands run on Harper's hips and thighs as she kept kissing him. They weren't even paying attention to the storm outside as Harper helped Peter get rid of his shirt. She was about to get her own shirt off when a small tornado burst into the room.

  "Harper !" Morgan cried with tears in her eyes.

  The two teenagers immediately got away from each other : Harper hit her head against the wall ; Peter hit his elbow against the bedhead.

  "Why does Peter have no shirt ?"

  "No reason !" they both answered in unison.

  "What's going on, Morgan ?" her big sister asked.

  "I'm afraid of thunder."

  "Ow... Come here."

  Morgan almost jumped in her sister's arms to hide her face in her red hair. Harper was whispering comforting words in her ears while rocking her.

  "You don't have to be afraid of thunder, you know ? Look, I'm gonna show you."

  As she held her hand, Harper took her to the window that looked out onto the lake. She kneeled to be on the same level as Morgan.

  "See those thunderbolts ? They're not bad at all ; it's just Thor checking up on us."

  "Really ?"

  "Of course ! Look, you can wave at him and tell him he doesn't need to worry about us."

  Children's gullibility took over her and she waved her hand while talking to the sky.

  "Hi, Mister Thor ! We're all good, here ! Harper's a little sad, but Mom and I are taking care of her !"

  Harper looked down, visibly moved. She didn't even think that Morgan could feel her own pain. She'd taken advantage of her being too young to understand. Well, obviously she wasn't that naive. She was already as smart as her parents. Without a word, Harper hugged her little sister tight. The kid wrapped her arms around her neck as Harper carried her to the bed. Sitting between her and Peter, Morgan quickly fell asleep in spite of the storm. Peter and Harper, touched by Morgan's asleep face, kept talking for a while. At nightfall, Pepper came in to check on them. She smiled at how adorable they looked.

  "Put her to bed when you've had enough, okay ?"

  Harper was already tired and simply nodded. Once Pepper had left, Peter build up the courage to ask what he'd been dying to ask her.

  "Look, Harper... I know you're doing research, but I don't know what it's about. Do I need to worry ?"

  "No," she answered firmly. "It's nothing dangerous."

  "It feels like you're up to something."

  "If I tell you about it, you'll want to follow me."

  She immediately regretted the word she'd chosen. 

  "Follow you ? Because you're planning on going somewhere ?"

  "No, no, it...it was only some research, Peter. Nothing important."

  'If he knew...' she thought to herself. No, she couldn't tell him about her plan, for obvious reasons. Primo, she wasn't even sure that the thing she was looking for actually existed. Secundo, if she was to find this woman, she still had no idea what it would cost her to achieve her goal. Tertio, if she told Peter about it, he'd want to go with her. She loved him unconditionally and she would never put him in danger.

  "I'll ask you again, you know."

  "And the answer will always be the same."

  Peter sighed before getting up.

  "I'm gonna get some water. Do you want anything ?"

  Harper shook her head. She waited patiently for Peter while observing her sleeping sister. She thought about her father's words. 'Be a big sister to Morgan. I told her so much about you... You'll love her, I know you will. She's so much like you.' Harper played those words in her head over and over again before she laid a kiss on Morgan's forehead.

  "Don't worry, little angel," she whispered. "I'll bring him back."

  Peter, behind the door, waited a few seconds before coming in. He was secretly hoping that he hadn't heard what he'd just heard. If she went through with that idea, Harper could risk a mot. Peter had already lost the father figure that Tony had become for him : he wasn't ready to lose his soulmate too.

be a big sister to Morgan. I told her so much about you... You'll love her, I know you will. She's so much like you, it's..."

Tony (well, his hologram) scratched his forehead. When he decided to record this message, he didn't think it would be this hard to say goodbye to his daughter who was long gone.

"I want you to be happy, all three of you. I hope Parker can take care of you and you can take care of him. I- I'll miss him too. I mean, I hope that where I'm going, I'll get to miss you. I know I will. Nothing could ever erase my love for you, sweetheart. Never forget that you're a Stark and that your father loves you. Your mother loves you. We all do."

***

Hi everyone ! First of all, sorry for the time it took me to update. Second of all, sorry if the English isn't really good in this part. I'm really tired and all the dictionaries in the world can't help my mind. I hope you enjoyed this part ! Any thoughts for what's next ?

- Céline