A/N: I told you I wouldn't make you all wait long. This chapter and the last are done and up. So enjoy the double update. I won't bug you all with my little notes again until the very end, so enjoy and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Charlie and this now almost finished plot.
...All Wounds
I wake up to the sound of knocking. I groan and turn over in my bed, just wanting to ignore the sound. I open my eyes blearily and notice that it's only eight in the morning. Whoever the hell is at my door this early in the morning is going to die a very fiery death. I crashed into bed at 3 and I was actually sleeping peacefully for once, even if it was fitful. I pull myself out of bed, wrap a robe around me for decency, and climb down the stairs, still glaring at the entrance to my cottage. The knocking hasn't let up once.
I stop just before answering the door and stare down my hallway at the still closed door. I wonder if he's gone yet? I shake my head before returning my attention to the front door, my tired glare returning. I walk forward and fling the door open, the heat and sun immediately pressing against me. My glare falls off as soon as I see who is standing there. "Dad?"
"Morning, sunshine!" he says, a big smile stretching across his face. I blink at him in confusion. What the hell is he doing here? At eight in the morning, no less? He's not exactly dressed for the heat: he's wearing jeans and a black Led Zepplin T-shirt and an overnight bag is sitting by his feet. I see a sports car parked in my driveway right behind him, top down. He rolls his eyes at my unmoving and still blinking state. "I take it you haven't had coffee yet?" He shakes his head and tsks me before moving forward, effectively making me stand aside. He walks in and I watch him as he moves into my kitchen, quietly closing the door in the process. I hear the coffee machine groan on before rounding the corner and staring at him.
"Dad, what are you doing here?"
"Surprise visit!" he says, puttering around my kitchen fixing the coffee.
"Why?"
He turns to give me an offended look. "I need a reason to visit my darling daughter?"
I blink slowly at him. "Yes."
He scoffs. "Well believe it or not, River Dance, I simply felt the need to stretch my proverbial legs and get out of New York for a while. What better place than Norway?"
"Dad, you can barely stand it here away from your labs and technology in general."
He grumbles slightly. "Well, I'm only staying for the night…"
Yeah, that's what I thought. I sigh before stepping into my kitchen to bring out two mugs and pull out the sugar and creamer. Dad moves behind me to grab his bag, heading off towards the hallway. "It's been almost seven months!" he calls back at me while the smell of coffee finally permeates the air. Oh sweet coffee. "I wanted to see my daughter considering she never comes home!"
I roll my eyes. He can't exactly guilt trip me into coming back to the Tower. Besides, this is my home now and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well… I would for one thing, but...
My eyes widen as the realization finally hits me. Dad is heading towards his guest room. Fuck. I round the corner of my counter and chase after him. "Dad! Wait! Don't go in there!"
Too late. The door's already open and my dad is blinking into the room. Shit. I stop right next to him and peek inside to see that Loki is in fact still here. He's sitting on the edge of the bed, watching my father. I turn my gaze back onto my dad and notice that he doesn't look the least bit surprised. In fact, the corner of his mouth is raised just slightly. "Just as I thought," he mumbles to himself.
What? "Dad, what the hell?" I ask out loud, albeit quietly. He spares me a small amused glance before walking into the room. Oh god, I really don't know what to do about this. I mean, it's not like I was planning on hiding the fact that Loki has been here the past few days from my family, but I also wasn't about to willingly share that information either. I kind of trail after him, keeping a couple paces behind him and away from the still silently observing and unmoving male sitting on the bed. He hasn't gotten dressed yet and I'm wondering if he is strong enough to get back to Asgard on his own.
"I suppose I should tell you this visit wasn't completely random," Dad starts, turning to glance back at me, his arms crossed. "Thor obviously came to us too when Loki went missing and he also came to let us know that he had been found but was here on Earth. He wouldn't tell us where, but it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together, sweetie." He shrugs, turning to look up at the ceiling. "JARVIS was also pretty helpful with that. I asked him to book me a flight and he so kindly warned me you had a visitor."
I glare up at the ceiling in annoyance. "Damnit, JARVIS," I mutter.
The AI remains silent, big surprise there. "So why are you here then?" I ask, completely exasperated with everything. I had a completely tiring night last night with absolutely no relief for my general sense of distress and now I have to deal with Dad and try to prevent the onset of Armageddon. This is just not my week.
He shrugs. "I figured you two would need a referee."
"Referee?" Loki questions, looking confused.
"Someone who makes sure everyone is playing by the rules," I answer, not looking over at him and still glaring at my dad. "Dad, I'm a grown woman. I can handle this just fine."
"Oh, I'm not saying you can't," he says, grinning at me. "I'm saying that you're both going to be stubborn." He looks at the both of us, head swiveling from side to side. I'm making sure to stay by the doorway so I don't go any closer to Loki. There's no telling what I would do if I were to get close to him. "And by your body language alone I can tell you two already talked." He turns his gaze onto me. "Charlie, sit down."
I shake my head. I'm perfectly content standing. Right here. Where I am safest.
My dad sighs before rolling his eyes. He moves over to me, grabs my arm and pushes/drags me to sit in the chair that is still next to the bed. I blink in surprise before glaring at him. I can see Loki watching me out of the corner of my eye, but I'm not going to look at him. It's easier if I don't. Dad stands in front of us both, arms crossed across his chest. "Now, you don't have to tell me what happened last night—I kind of have an idea. Now why don't you let an outsider lay it on the line for you both."
"Dad," I grumble in warning.
"Shush," he hushes me, a stern glare crossing his face and I settle back down. He hasn't given me that look in years. And it still has the power to turn me into a fidgeting teenager. "Why don't you both just be quiet for once and let someone older and wiser than you tell you how it is."
"I am technically older than you by almost a thousand years," Loki points out.
My dad gives him the same stern look and Loki surprisingly quiets back down. "You have no room to talk," he says, shaking his head. "You may kick my lifespan's butt, but when it comes to experience, I beat you by a few millennia." He sighs and shakes his head. "Knowing how my daughter is, I have an idea of all that you've talked about. And I also know that it probably didn't end the way either one of you wanted it to. Loki, I hope that you were completely honest with her and told her everything. Not just the plans and the motives and all of that BS. I mean told her everything. However, Charlie, I know what you are like and I know that you're not going to give in to what you want, no matter how much you want to." He grins slightly. "If anything you probably told him to get lost and leave you alone."
Okay, I didn't say it like that, but it is kind of true.
"Let me tell you both something: life is too short." He turns his full attention on Loki. "Yeah, you screwed up. Big time and in more ways than one. I'm still ticked at you enough for Charlie and me because I know that the majority of her anger is only because she's hurt, not because she hates you. The majority of her initial rage left after she came back from Asgard and it hasn't returned, at least not to that extent. But I also know that you are able to feel shame and regret. I saw it when Charlie walked away from you. For one second, everything you were feeling was shining through and I knew just how deep you felt for my daughter. Kind of hard to wrap my brain around, but I've somehow managed it. You want her back so bad it hurts but you also know you can never ask for her to return and risk you screwing up and hurting her again. So you stayed away and kept an eye on her from a distance. And when the first sign of a threat turned up you went after it like the raging monster you think you are. And I can tell you why you risked your own health in the process: you did it on purpose because you knew that might make you feel a little bit better. At least you were being punished for the sins of your past. I know all about self-punishment and can recognize the signs."
Loki is staring at my dad, eyes wide. Not that I blame him. My dad is picking apart his character like freaking Sherlock Holmes and frankly, it's surprising me too. I know he's more intuitive than people give him credit for, but damn. Dad simply grins slightly before turning to look at me. "And don't even get me started on you. I'm able to piece together Loki from only the tidbits I get from Thor when he comes to visit, but you. Oh, I raised you, River Dance. Nobody knows you as well as I do.
"You love him and you never stopped. You forgave him within the first year even if you didn't come to that realization until long after the fact. You want him back so bad it's a physical ache but your pride and stubborn will won't let you go running back to him. But it's not just your character faults that stop you, sweetie. It's the fact that your trust in him came shattering down. I've seen it happen before, only with us. After you were kidnapped, you stopped trusting in your family's ability to protect you and keep you safe, not that I blame you one bit. You trained and you fought and you made sure you could protect yourself. But, you forgave us and you allowed us to control your life again until you finally took a stand, thanks to the misunderstood smurf. I saw you become truly strong and your faith and trust shined through for all of us to see."
He pauses, staring at the ground. He finally moves forward to kneel in front of me so I have to look down at him. He takes both of my hands in his. "You have every right to not trust Loki, Charlie. You have every right to be hurt and angry. But I mean it when I say life is too short. Even for you. You may think you're doing a good job at hiding it, but sweetie, you are unhappy and I hate seeing it. I want my little girl to be happy. Take it from the man who has made so many mistakes and came to the realization late in the game: you find that one person that makes you happier than a monkey with a banana and you hold onto them. You hold on tight because before you know it, they're gone."
He turns his gaze onto Loki. "I may not like it, but you make her happy, Loki. For whatever reason, your personalities work. I saw just how much she made you happy too, even if it was only briefly. Here's some sage advice for the both of you: work on this. You both are stopping yourselves from jumping each other so hard right now and it's like a physical weight in the room." He turns back to look at me. "I'm not saying just jump in and completely trust him again. But I bet, if you both take your time to get to know each other again, regain an understanding, you could at least be friends." He shrugs before standing back up. "And who knows? Maybe something more. It's not like you both don't have years to figure it out." He pauses, looking up at the ceiling. "Although, I do want more grandkids…" he mumbles and I blush before pushing him away.
"You sound so convinced that we can work again," Loki mutters.
"And you sound so convinced that it can't," Dad retorts. "Loki, let's face it. You wouldn't have come here if you didn't love her. I know you transported yourself here in a delirious haze, but let's face it: you travel to the one place you feel safe when you're weak and in pain and that place is usually home. Your home isn't on Asgard anymore. If it was, you would have jumped there and allowed your family to take care of you. But no, you came to the one place you wanted most. And here you are."
"Dad, how do you know so much about what happened?" I finally ask. How did he know about Loki's mental state and general ill health?
"JARVIS, of course," he answers, shrugging. "I gave him a direct command to tell me everything that happened. I need all the facts, Charlie."
"You said you wouldn't do that when you installed him," I grumble, closing my eyes in irritation.
"I lied."
"Obviously."
"Charlie, would you focus please." My eyes snap open and he's giving me an annoyed look. "It's painfully obvious to anyone who pays attention just how much he loves you. And you obviously still love him because you kept that pendant." He points to the necklace that is still around my neck and my hand trails up to cover it. "I am not excusing what he did, but it's time to move on."
"I've been trying to do that," I say, sighing.
"Oh for the love of—Charlie! Wake up! Stop trying to move on from him! Please for the love of my sanity, just look at each other!"
And we do. For the first time since he woke up, I am able to see straight through his mask with no problem. It could be because it's the light of day now, or maybe because my dad seems hell bent on forcing us to acknowledge everything, but I can see pain in his eyes. The same that I have seen reflected in a mirror. He has the same look in his eyes when he held me as I died. I stand up from the chair and move around the foot of the bed to stand in front of him. He stares up at me, not once saying anything. "You really did love me, didn't you?" I finally whisper.
"I never stopped."
I can hear my dad swearing and mumbling under his breath about stubborn idiots behind me, but I can't tear my gaze away from Loki. I don't think either one of us knows what to do right now. I hear a loud sigh and then a shove against my back. I stumble forward and Loki catches me, even if we do fall backwards on the bed. I push myself off his chest, kind of doing a half push-up above him to glower at my father. "Dad!"
He shrugs, grinning. "Now that my job here as Cupid's messenger is done, I'm off! Play nicely please! I don't want grandkids yet."
"Dad!" I yell again, only in mortification. Whoever says your parents can't embarrass you when you're almost thirty has obviously never seen my dad when he feels like making me blush. He simply laughs, shutting the door behind him. I vaguely hear the front door open and close before the sound of the sports car revs to life. I sigh and shake my head, looking back down at the silent man beneath me. He is still staring at me, his hands resting lightly on my hips.
"Did you really forgive me?" he asks, blinking in confusion.
I close my eyes and sigh. "Yes, a long time ago."
"How?"
I open my eyes to stare at him. "You once told me forgiveness isn't in your nature. Well, it's in mine. I don't understand how I just know I did. I forgive too easily and some would say that's a massive flaw. But I don't have the strength or fortitude to stay angry at the people I love. Forgiveness is easy for me, but forgetting is not and that is what I have been struggling with for the past three years." I shake my head before finally leaning down and burying my face in his neck. "I can't find the will to forget you."
His arms move to wrap around me tightly, one hand trailing to my hair. I feel his head nestle into my curls and breathe me in. I relax against him, arms wrapping around his middle. "Can you somehow find it in your heart," he mutters against my head, "to start over?"
I shake my head. "No, I can't. Starting over implies forgetting. I can't do that." I pause for a moment, if only to make him sweat. "But I am willing to try again."
"I think I can live with that."
