"All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see"
- Snow Patrol

  "How is she ?"

  "Sh-she's alive," Peter whispered.

  Despite Clint's intervention, Peter couldn't let go of Harper. He was still holding her tightly against him.

  "Are you sure ? Peter, she's not..."

  "Her heart is still beating !"

  He was so freaked out that he was almost screaming now, to Clint's greatest surprise. Peter could feel his girlfriend's heart beating and her pulse was getting stronger as time went by. Peter's face was buried in her neck when she gave his body a small squeeze.

  "I'm here, it's over now."

  Peter felt immensely relieved as he saw her coming back to him and he let out a long sigh.

  "I was so scared, I thought you were gone and..."

  "I don't plan on going any time soon," she said. "I wanna keep messing with you a little longer.

  Peter pulled away so that he could see her completely. A weak smile showed up on her tired face.

  "We need to take care of Helen," she said as she get up as best as she could. "We have to..."

  "Don't mind me," Helen said, cutting her off. "I wouldn't want to stop such a beautiful reunion. Maybe you'll want to check on your team, though."

  Harper gave a quick look through one of the huge windows.

  "They're doing great, actually. Your men are getting crushed one by one."

 A mocking smile spread on Helen's lips.

  "One day, I'll get you, the Starks... And all the Avengers too. You are poison. You step on the weak and claim you want to save them but truth is, you're nothing but tyrants."

  "You take that back right now."

  "I won't. I hate you and I'm not the only one. You may think this will all be over once you beat me, Harper, but you're wrong. There will always be new threats, new masterminds such as mine to try and end your stupid reign."

  "We don't reign over anything."

  "You're lying. You kill innocents to save others. And you call yourself heroes ?"

  Harper couldn't take it anymore.

  "Clint ? Peter ?"

  "Hm ?"

  "Leave us alone. Don't let anyone in, not even my father."

  Clint tried to protest but the girl's look stopped him. Unlike the Avengers, Harper wasn't wearing any suit or armour. She only had her bow, a few arrows and the energy that flooded her veins. It was like an aura of power surrounded her.

  "Call us if you need anything."

  Harper nodded. Clint and Peter left the room and when the doors closed on them, a small group of soldiers ran in their direction.

***

 "How lovely," Helen mocked. "Did you want some time with your mother ?"

  "I told you before : you're not my mother. I already have one and she raised me in a way you could never have raised me."

  "Potts ? What could a woman like her possibly teach you ? She fell for Stark. If that's not a proof of her total lack of intelligence, I don't..."

  "Shut up."

  She'd moved so fast that Helen hadn't even realised that her own daughter's fingers were grasping her neck like a vice.

  "Don't you dare talk like that about my mother again. Got it ?"

  "You think I'm afraid of you ?"

  "No. But you will be."

  Harper hit her violently in the face. When she looked back at her, Helen had a split lip that bled profusely. A mocking, crazy laugh escaped her throat.

  "And you dare say you're not a monster. Oh, Harper, you're just as rough as a beast."

  "I'm only rough when it comes to hitting people who deserve it."

  A second hit flew and earned Helen a black eye. Even though she was hurt, Helen didn't show any sign of her pain.

  "You think your wannabe father will still know you, after this ?"

  "Of course he will. He's the one who taught me to fight for my life and my family. I truly am his daughter, in case you haven't noticed."

  "You're not wrong. That's how I knew you'd betray me. The Starks are rotten to the core."

  "Stark is my name..."

  Third hit.

  "My legacy..."

  Fourth hit.

  "And I'm proud of it."

  Helen turned her head away and spat some blood on the floor. Her face was hurt in all places : she was almost unrecognisable from all the blood.

  "What are you gonna do now ? Kill me ?"

  "No. I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions."

  "You already know everything."

  "I don't. How many men do you have ?"

  "They're all here and they're probably gonna get to us any second now. And when they do..."

  "I said, shut up. What's next, huh ? Assuming you had your shot against the Avengers, what were you gonna do after the battle ?"

  "You wanna know what I was gonna do ? Fine. I would've locked you up, you and Stark. Then I would've killed that boy you love so much. I would've done it slowly and painfully, and you would've watched me do it. Then...then you, Harper Stark, the lab rat. Your death would've been even more long and painful. I would've made Stark look all of it."

  "And then ?"

  "Kill Stark. Drown Stark Industries. Everything was going perfectly until you decided to turn on your own bloodline."

  "I'm not like you. You... you're insane."

  "But so are you, sweetie. Right now, you're nothing but a monster, moved by revenge. You think your goal is right and fair, but you're wrong. You are a monster. An experiment. An abomination."

  "Stop it," Harper mumbled.

  Harper got up suddenly and got away from Helen Grey. She felt her head spinning for a moment because of how fast she'd moved.

  "An abomination I created and turned out to be everything I wanted : bloodthirsty, violent, amoral, and destructive."

  "I said, shut up !"

  Harper's body was filled with pure anger : she set a table on fire.

  "You know I'm right ! Once Peter sees what you did to me, he won't be able to kiss you and love you, he won't even look at you !" Helen screamed. "You're a monster, Harper, a monster that was created only to destroy ! You'll never love anyone like a normal human being. You're all chemical reactions and nothing else !"

  "You're lying ! I don't want to hear you anymore !"

  "Listen to your mother, Harper, listen to me ! You're disgusting. As soon as you leave this room, every one will look at you with disgust. Even the one you call Dad." 

  "Enough !"

  Harper plugged her ears and yelled out of rage. She turned around and looked right into Helen's eyes. Their eyes looked the same and so did their hair : it was like looking in a mirror. Without breaking eye contact, Harper stretched her bow.

***

 "I think the coast is clear, now," Peter said when he came back to Clint. "Should we...should we check on her ?"

  He nodded towards the door that led to Harper and Helen.

  "No," Clint answered categorically. "It's her problem and we have to respect her decision to handle it herself. We need to check on the others."

  Peter didn't quite agree with him and yet followed him out of the building. On the battlefield, it was a complete mess. Only a few of Grey's soldiers were still standing and fighting. Natasha ran to Peter and Clint : she was hurt.

  "Nat ! What the..."

  "Gun shot. I'm okay. Steve needs more help than I do, go."

  Agent Romanoff leaned against a wall, pressed one hand on her wound and used the other to shoot at her opponents. She managed to hurt some of them, even from that distance. Peter didn't hide his admiration as he caught Captain America's famous shield. He threw it like a frisbee and knocked out several men. When he got back his shield, Steve Rogers felt a rush of pride for their new recruit.

  "Good job, Queens," he said before going back to fighting.

  "Peter !"

  Peter recognised Iron Man's voice and turned around.

  "Harper. Where is she ?"

  "She's with Helen. Don't worry, Mr Barton tied her down and Harper's interrogating her, I- I think."

  "You think ?"

  "I think she's interrogating her. But she's safe now, I can assure you that."

  "We have to go get her." 

  "No !" he shouted, a bit too quickly. "She asked us not to let anyone in, uh...not even..."

  "Not even me, I guess ?" Tony let out an exasperated sigh : sometimes he couldn't put up with his daughter's temper, even though he was partially responsible for it. "Peter, listen to me closely : when a Stark tells you not to go after them, you do it anyway. Is that clear ?"

  "Crystal clear."

  Peter pinned his last opponent to the ground and when he looked around, he was surprised to realise the fight was over. They'd won. He stopped himself from jumping around as the Avengers gathered around Natasha.

  "Your thigh... You're hurt. Is it bad ?" 

  "No, but we shouldn't wait too long before we do something about it."

  "Fine. We'll go get Harper and then we get the hell out of here," Tony announced. "It's time to go home."

  Tony didn't think twice and ran upstairs. He found the right room easily : it was the first one after the stairs. He walked carefully towards the door : he couldn't hear a single noise. Weird ? It sure was. He grabbed the handle, opened the door and looked for his daughter. She was on her knees. Next to her, her bow was still burning where she'd been holding it moments ago. She couldn't control her anger. It took Tony a while to figure out why she was crying. Right in front of her, leaning against the wall, Helen Grey was staring at her without actually seeing her, eyes empty of all signs of life, with an arrow deeply embedded in her heart.

  "Harper..."

  Tony immediately got out of his suit to run to his daughter : she seemed more vulnerable than ever. He held her tight against him, kissed her forehead, the top of her head and ran his hand trough her hair.

  "It's over now, we're going home."

  "I- I can't."

  "Stop saying that."

  "I can't. Not after that, not...not after what I did. She was right."

  "Don't believe any word she said. Please, don't."

  "I'm a monster."

  Harper burst out crying as Tony rocked her slowly while doing his best to comfort her. To his great surprise, Loki kneeled next to Harper. He placed a comprehensive hand on her shoulder.

  "Harper, please, look at me."

  She shook her head.

  "Harper."

  She finally looked at him.

  "You're not a monster. Everyone here, god or not, with our without powers, had to do things they're not proud of."

  "He's right," Wanda said after she joined them. "You know what I did back when I worked with Ultron. Do you think I'm a monster ?"

  Harper shook her haid 'no'. She looked up to Wanda as if she was her big sister : she could never think that about her.

  "You did what you had to do," Tony went on. "We all love you so much, my angel... I love you more than anything in the world."

  "More than anything in the world," she said, her voice filled with emotion.

  Tony couldn't tell how much longer Harper kept crying after that. All he knew was that she spent the whole flight home curled up next to him and that between two seats, she held Peter Parker's hand like a lifebelt. Back in the headquarters, in New York, Tony put her to bed and Pepper, her mother, kissed her goodnight before tucking her in the sheets. When she left, Peter lied down next to Harper and held her against him. They slept for a few hours and Harper cried some more. Her feelings had never been so conflicting. She cried about the words Helen had thrown to her face. She cried for that woman who'd given birth to her and whose life she'd just taken. She cried for her mom and dad who loved her with all their heart. She cried for Peter who supported her no matter what and prevented her from falling down. Finally, she cried for the home she'd just came back to.