Loki's dreamer: she is indeed!
Kurai-tenshi 015: I am really planning to take my time with this fic and with all the characters. Happy you loved all three Cephera fics. Cephera has to be my most developed character as I gave her her own back story before I even began posting Fanfiction though I do sometimes tweak her story to fit the fiction. Such as this one. She's way older then I've ever had her before.
Midnight awaken on you: yes it does...
Poodle warriors: I love the brotherly side of Thor. And I now have my very own collectors life like Loki! Yeah for my bf. He got it for me for our 10 year anniversary.
Doctor Loki love: I seem to always portray Loki the same way. Arrogant, stubborn, bad boyish without being completely evil. But yeah practicing the art of life he was mellowed out way more. And no worries about how I am getting them together that's already planned out :)
Kat snowstorm: welcome back for the next exciting adventure. :p happy you like so far.
Akera writer of the night: do you? Hmmm.
Chapter 4
(Tony)
Tony continued tinkering with his suit pieces. He had promised Pepper he would take it easy on the suit making but he would now and forever be Iron Man. He enjoyed making a difference as both an iconic symbol and as a real life fighter of evil. Tony still had need of his armour though not for the same reasons he had before his fight with the Mandarin. He still had enemies. Some needed the suit to deter evil and others just needed a restraining order. Some enemies were easily intimidated.
Tony put down the elbow piece he'd been working on. The problem he had with his last suits had been that because of their ability to easily come apart they had been equally as easy to destroy or remove from Tony's body. They had a lesser tolerance for long hard combat and even shorter durability not to mention battery life.
He was trying to assess and fix all these issues while also trying to come up with the single most perfect, memorable, unbeatable way to ask Pepper to marry him. Tony Stark would not be out done where this matter was concerned. He was sure she had no idea the question was coming and he needed it to stay that way. Of all the things he had to choose in his life this was becoming the hardest. Nothing seemed special enough nor Tony enough to do. Even Rhodey was stumped. Tony hadn't told Happy about his plans. Happy would try his best not to say anything but he'd let something slip in his excitement.
Cephera knew as she had been trying to help Tony pick out a ring that Pepper would like. She insisted that buying the largest, most expensive, flashiest rock out there was not what Pepper would want. Tony might have the means to afford such a thing but there was no need for him to do so. So Tony took Cephera shopping to try and find the appropriate ring after he'd drive the long drive to Wasington each day to pick her up. Tony enjoyed the drive it gave him time to think.
Personally Tony was not happy with Cephera working with SHIELD. As far as he was concerned she was too nice and naive to be there. He wanted her not to do it but of course she insisted she'd be ok. Tony even appealed to her sister over Skype and Seraphina just laughed at Tony saying that if anything happened to her sister she would come there herself and make them pay. Seraphina rarely came to Earth as she had duties to attend to in a far off realm.
Tony rolled his chair across the room to another table that was running an analysis on a new power supply Tony had created to power the suits using the arc reactor. Tony no longer had his mini reactor in his chest and he had to find a way to add extra power without it. "I thought you were coming up for supper." Cephera said entering his workshop smiling her usual happy smile.
"I am. I was just finishing up." Tony replied shaking his head as he read the readings on his computer screen.
"Tony...that was two hours ago." She pointed out. Tony looked up. It had been a while since he lost track of time that badly. He had a lot on his mind today.
"I was going for fashionably late." He grinned and turned in his chair to face her completely. "Pepper home?"
"She had a business meeting that ran late...I told you that already too. Tony are you ok?" She tilted her head curiously.
"Just distracted with thoughts of marrying the most perfect woman in the world." Cephera gave off a giggle.
"Well first you need to ask her. Where are you on that idea?" Tony shrugged.
"You know me. Lots of ideas but none good enough for my Pepper." He said leaning back and placing his hands behind his head.
"In other words you have no idea."
"Exactly. See this is why I keep you around." Cephera shook her head sighing.
"Well your supper is cold but luckily it's re-heatable. I'll be in my dance studio. Jarvis got some new dances I can learn." Her smile spread as she spoke before she left Tony alone once more. Tony was tapping his fingers on the desk watching his failed core and wondering where he went wrong and becoming annoyed that he still had no idea what to do for Pepper.
Tony headed upstairs a short time later and entered his kitchen. The pasta dish Cephera had ordered in, as the woman hadn't cooked a day in her life, was waiting for him as she said it would be. He picked it up and while it was heating he looked out the large windows of his new home. This house was rathe larger then the last. After the destruction of his prior home the three of them went to live in Stark Tower until the construction of his new home was completed. Tony had made many upgrades to this home, the size, the reach Jarvis had, the large entertainment room attached to a wide balcony that could be opened up to join the rest of the dance floor, Cephera's dance room, Peppers private office, the library. Tony figured why not go all out. He did, after all, have two women to keep happy.
And oddly enough he though it might be a good idea to have some of this stuff should himself and Pepper have a kid. Yes that's right Tony Stark was finally contemplating children. He blamed New York for it like he did everything else that had changed about him. He had realized that life was too short to not do the things you want to do and he also realized he would have left behind no one to take over aside from Pepper but it would have been nice to leave her with at least a child. This was a subject he had not spoken to anyone about.
"Tony?" It was Peppers voice that rang through the open concept living room/kitchen area as Pepper entered the closed off porch section to remove her shoes and hang up her coat.
"Yeah." He called back wondering why she was calling out instead of just coming in.
"Come open this door." She called back.
"Jarvis be a dear." Tony said. The door clicked open and Pepper came in with her arms full of grocery bags.
"I keep forgetting he can do that now." She said shaking her head. Tony ignored the beeping microwave in favour of taking a few bags from her.
"Yeah well we all need to get used to it." He said. It had only been one month since moving in and so everything was still pretty much new. Even the house still had that newly built scent. "What is all this?" He asked laying down the bags and beginning to sift through them.
"Snacks and stuff for the party tomorrow night. You remember the one you planned. The house warming soirée you insisted we have." Tony shook his head. It wasn't that he had all out forgotten it was more that it had slipped his mind that it was as soon as tomorrow. The week had flown by quickly.
"I didn't forget I just...really all this food?" He said playing off his short burst of amnesia.
"Well what would you like our guests to eat?" She tilted her head quizzically at him.
"I dunno, Jell-O shots, weed pack brownies, lots of booze." Pepper smacked Tony across the arm.
"No drugs." She glared.
"It was a joke Pepp." Tony said defusing her. "But everything else I stand by." Tony added.
"Yes well I'm not having anyone come here without something to eat while they get drunk and have a good time." She began unpacking the bags. Tony left her to it while he took out his pasta and ate.
(Amelia)
She had expected to take a commercial airplane to Washington, D.C. but was taken off guard when they boarded her on a personal aircraft of their own. Agent Dower, Agent Specks and Agent Marshall seemed nice enough. They had found her some clothes and eaten but they had refused to explain anything to her until they reach D.C. To say she was nervous was an understatement. She was ready to flee any moment she thought something was amiss.
Agent Dower was the silent female. She had not spoken a single word since their meeting. In fact she hadn't spoken to anyone at all as far as Amelia could tell. She couldn't help but look over the dark haired woman. She was beautiful and of some orient decent according to her almond shaped eyes. She seemed very stern sitting perfectly straight in her seat. Amelia wanted to talk some more, wanted to ask more questions but she knew that no one would answer her right now and so she sat back and observed everything happening around her.
It was day light out before they finally landed on a strip behind a very large facility. She was escorted from the aircraft and was met near the entrance by another man and woman. "Miss Harris, I'm Agent Coulson and this is Agent Romanov." He introduced himself with an air of authority. Her previous rescuers passed by and left her with these new people.
"Why am I here?" She asked looking back and forth between them.
"You're here because you're special." Coulson said leading her inside but not touching her. Alarm bells had gone off in her head when he said special. She was there for her powers. She took a deep breath and followed carefully. There was a lot of people in this place and none, save for the guards, seemed threatening. "We have seen and met a lot of people like you Miss Harris. When we heard about you and about your unfortunate circumstances we made plans to free you."
"Why?" She asked. The biggest question of all other question.
"Because we find people like yourself and we try to understand you. We try to help you learn what it is you do and how to control it. I can't stress to you how safe you are here but I know what you've been through. We've taken the opportunity to look into your history with your captives. I'm sorry you went through that." He sounded genuinely sorry for her but that meant little to her right now.
"So you have other people like me here?" She asked.
"We do." It was Agent Romanov who spoke this time. "You'll meet some." They turned down another long hall and took and elevator upward. They stopped on the top floor and she was led into a large conference room. Inside were four other people around her age or older waiting for them. They didn't look worried or frightened. They were all smiling. Two males and two females.
"Miss Harris meet Lilian Davis, Elizabeth Morris, Jeffery Stein and Carl Hoxford." Coulson said taking a seat. "These are just a few people we've found and already helped." Amelia looked them over. It could be a trick but really why would they go this far to trick her.
"Hi." She said almost shyly. It had been a long time since she interacted with anyone on a even level. She was greeted back kindly and then one by one Amelia got to see first hand what each of them did. The longer she spent in that room watching them the more in awe she felt. She had thought she had been the only one with powers. Spending the last ten years under lock and key made for little knowledge of what was going on outside. Her nerves replaced by excitement. When the show was over the four left with Agent Romanov and it was just Agent Coulson now. He buzzed an intercom.
"Tell Cephera to come up." He said and they waited in silence with Coulson sitting back in his chair his hands clasping together. A few moments passed before a small girl walked in smiling.
She moved directly to Amelia with smooth movements and held out her hand. "Hi. I'm Cephera, a volunteer here." Amelia shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you." Amelia said not knowing what else to say.
"I know what it's like." Cephera began. "Not knowing you're special and then when you find out you are, you feel alone, afraid. I work with the kids here and many of them feel how you do." She took a seat next to Amelia. "They tell me that trusting us will be hard for you and I can understand that but believe me when I say we need someone like you." She sounded almost pleading. "The children I work with go everyday wondering if they'll have an accident. If they'll hurt someone because they couldn't control what it is they do. I've been told you have the ability to soothe minds." Amelia stiffened visibly and Cephera reached out and placed her hand over her clenched ones. "No one plans to use you here but think of what you could do for those children. I have a child who turns into a blazing flame when she's upset and starts to cry. She's seven years old and burned down her families home without meaning too. You could help her through her lessons with an ability like yours."
"Seven?" Amelia felt shocked by not just the age but the story. What other children did they have here?
"Yes. Our youngest children are two. One, her mother was desperate to find her help as she continuously keeps disappearing. She's still there if your holding her you simply can't see her. The other has a tendency to make other things disappear. Their brother and sister. Twins. Children, teenagers and adult alike all here to learn how to control what they can do and live normally if they wish it." Cephera explained. Amelia wasn't sure what to say. She expected a great many things coming here but this was not one of them.
"And you think I can help control them when they go out of control." Cephera nodded.
"I think you can help make a difference." Amelia chewed on her lip.
"Take a day or two to think about it. We can set you up with a room on our campus." Coulson said standing. Campus, how big was this place?
"Yes please." Amelia looked to the girl seated next to her. "Could I see them? The kids I mean." Cephera looked to Coulson who nodded.
"Sure. You want to come with me now?" Amelia nodded. Everything seemed so surreal and yet she couldn't find it in herself to run from it or go to her room and lock herself in. Her curiosity taking over. She followed Cephera back to the elevator and together they went to the second floor.