Time Bomb

Chapter 33

—Dinner—
I helped Dani get all the food on platters and set the table for everyone. Clint following behind me with glasses and napkins.
"Okay, everyone! Food's ready, come eat!" Dani yelled as she finished carving up the rotisserie chicken she had cooking all day. T'Challa was first to plate his food, Shuri after him then everyone else. Dani and I sat next to each other, Clint beside Dani and Steve on the other side of me. Sam, T'Challa, Shuri, Tony, and Sam across from us.
"Do you say grace before your meals, Dani?" Shuri asked politely.
"Oh, no. Please, just dig in." Dani answered and took a bite of her chicken.
After we finished eating, we all sat and chatted with each other.
"Dani, I have something for you that I think you might like." Shuri said as she stood up, motioning for Dani to stand as well.
"I assume Bucky here has already informed you of what this is?" She asked as she revealed a diamond shaped device in her hand.
"Yes. And the answer to what it does is yes. Please. I want it gone. Whatever it takes. I don't care about any possible side effects so long as I'll live." Dani said eagerly.
"Oh, nothing like that will happen. If anything, you'll feel a bit of a shock go through your body but nothing that will hurt. Like a tingle." Shuri said and smiled.
"Perfect. Let's do this. I'm ready." Dani said.
"Alright, we must go outside. It draws from energy and will need to pull from the Wakanda shield surrounding the country to correctly do the job." Shuri said and all of us followed the girls outside.

"Okay, now I will place this on your chest. It's sort of like Mr. Stark's but this one doesn't have to stay attached. It takes what it needs to and then you can remove it. This might hurt just a bit." Shuri said and placed the device to Dani's chest. She winced as the prongs dug into her skin. Shuri pressed the center of the device and it lit up the same color of yellow that comes from Dani when she used her abilities before. Dani's body surrounding itself in that yellow aura and her eyes glowing that same color as well. After a few seconds, there was a loud boom and then the aura faded and the device popped itself off of Dani's chest and Shuri caught it.
"All done. How do you feel, Dani?" She asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Clint and I both taking a few steps towards her.
"I... I can feel that it's gone. I used to feel this constant pull in my chest. Always reminding me that it was there. But it's gone now. Shuri... T'Challa.. I can't thank you enough for this. It truly means the world to me to have this gone. Thank you. Thank you so much." Dani said, her voice cracking.
"It was my pleasure. I'm just glad I was able to create something that could help you feel normal for once. I knew instantly when I discovered your abilities in my lab that you didn't like them or wanted them. I could just sense it. So I'm happy I was able to help you." Shuri said and Dani hugged her briefly and turned to T'Challa who already had his arms open and ready to hug her as well. She smiled and went straight into his arms, hugging him as well.
I couldn't help but feel so incredibly happy for Dani. She's finally free of something that had burdened her for her entire life. She can finally live a normal life without worrying about exploding.

That night we all sit in the living room watching some show on tv. Suddenly, Dani's head picks up from resting on my shoulder.
"What is it?" I asked and she turned to me with a smile on her face.
"I've got it." She said and bolted up from her spot beside me and jogged to the garage.
"I guess her writers block just broke down." Clint commented and smiled.
After awhile, everyone dispersed to their rooms for the night, including myself.

—Clint's POV—
Instead of going to my room, I went into the garage where Dani sits at her desk writing away and humming a tune to herself.
"Need any help?" I asked as I walked over to her.
"Actually, I think I'm good. I don't know what happened, it's like a wall lifted in my head and all these lyrics came pouring out. I've already gotten 2 songs written out." She said as she put her pen down to turn towards me.
"That's great, sweetie. It's great to see you writing again. I can't wait to hear you singing again too." I said and smiled at her.
"It feels nice to be doing it again. I've missed it. The time you and Bucky were gone, I didn't write. I didn't sing. None of it. Obviously I had thoughts and ideas but anytime I tried to write them down, it all got jumbled. But now it's all just so clear." She said happily.
"I love how happy you are now. It's great, Dani. I've missed that smile of yours. And hey... I'm sorry I wasn't there for you all those years. I know I should have been and it was unfair to you that I just bailed. My whole family got dusted in the blip and I couldn't cope. I did alot of things I'm not proud of and maybe someday I'll tell you about it. But right now, I don't think I'm ready for that talk. Just know that I'm here now. Any time you need me, I'm here. Now, please go get some sleep. I'm sure your boyfriend would love to have you in bed next to him and not in here all night." I laughed and she smiled.
"Alright alright. And Clint.. just so you know, I don't blame you. We both had a lot to deal with. I don't expect you to tell me what you did but I'm here whenever you're ready to talk. And uhm... I was thinking.. if you're okay with it.. I think I'd like to change my last name to yours. You're the closest thing to family I have besides Tony but I've known you longer. You're my brother." She said, completely shocking me with her statement. But it made me happy to know she wants my last name.
"Dani, honey... I would be honored to allow you to use my last name. I know we aren't blood but you are my little sister and I love you. I love you so much, Dani. To have you as an official part of my family name would be an honor." I said and pulled her into a hug. Immediately, she hugged me back.
"I just don't want any part of my father. If I can take away some of the things that connect me to him, then I'm going to. Plus, I really don't want Stark to be my last name. That would just put Tony on an even higher pedestal than he already thinks he's on." She said and we both laughed.