a/n: Guess who's back. Back again.
I know what you're thinking. She's not dead? What the heck? What possible excuses can she offer? And, tbh, none is the answer, except that I went on a long retreat of sorts and I didn't really have much access to technology. So sorry about my long absence. I hope some of you might still be interested because I have up to 30 chapters written, so imma be on a pretty consistent publishing schedule now. I'll also post two chapters today, to make up for my long absence. But enough about my boring life, on to the story!
Searece (all reviews): I'm so glad you're enjoying all the Paige and Gwen moments. Don't worry, there's plenty more to come :) Thanks for your reviews!
July 2013
The room was black, blinding her vision. She stumbled through the unfamiliar place, hands out in front of her. She called out for someone, anyone.
Suddenly, her hands collided with a cool, smooth surface. A light slowly began to dawn, dimly lighting the room. Gwen saw herself in a mirror. She looked the same as ever: long blonde hair, short figure, round face, and blue eyes. She reached a hand up to touch her cheek when she saw that her hands were covered in a warm, red liquid.
She looked down at her hands, but when she did, they looked like they normally did. Gwen looked back up at the mirror. The hands in the mirror still had blood on them. The face in the mirror did not match her emotions. The Gwen in the mirror looked cold and calculating, whereas Gwen only felt confused and afraid.
"You did this, you know."
Gwen turned at the sound of a voice, but saw nothing. When she looked back at the mirror, she saw the silhouette of Sajit standing behind her. She spun around again, hoping to see him there, but he only seemed to exist in the mirror world.
Her gaze returned to the mirror and her eyes widened at the sight. Sajit was now covered in blood as well. It poured from wounds in his chest, arms, and neck. His clothes were tattered and torn. His face was twisted in a hideous snarl. "You did this to me," he told her in an icy cold tone. "You killed me. You let me die. My blood is on your hands."
Gwen shook her head, her throat tightening. "No," she croaked out. "No, please. I didn't mean to. I didn't -"
"But I'm not the only one you've done this to, am I?" Sajit continued, cutting off her protests. Gwen continued to shake her head, her mouth moving but no sounds were made. "I'm not even the first. I'm just the latest in a long line."
On her other side appeared a tattered and bruised Flora. The woman who practically raised her. "You killed me," she rasped. "You let me die."
Hot tears poured down Gwen's cheeks, but she still couldn't form any words to defend herself. She could only stare and shake her head.
Suddenly, the image in the mirror was replaced with Gwen's normal reflection.
No, Gwen thought as she looked closer at the sight. The person before her was almost identical to her, but there were some small differences. Her lips were fuller, her nose was smaller, and her eyes were a warm hazel rather than blue. Gwen recognized her, and it was the last person she wanted to see.
"Even your own mother," said Sajit's unembodied voice. "She's dead because of you. From the very moment you entered this world, you began your killing spree. Even your own father. You let him die over and over again by Dormammu's hand. Who else will you kill?"
The image of her smiling mother was replaced by flashes of others she knew: her father, Wong, Paige, Steve, Tony, Natasha, Sam. Even Loki. His green eyes pierced her harder than any other face. His glare was so familiar to her, but there was something even more chilling about it this time.
The scene changed again. She was standing in a brown room, right in the middle. There was enough light for her to see the bodies that surrounded her. It was the bodies of the faces she had just seen. She knelt beside the body of the closest one, tears blinding her eyes. It was the body of Loki.
Suddenly, they all sat up as one. Their eyes were different. They were pitch black and reflective. It was as if they were staring into her soul.
"Why did you kill us?" they all asked at once. Gwen stood up and backed away. In unison, the others stood and started to surround her. "Why did you do this to us? Why did you kill us? You let us die!"
The zombie like Loki grabbed her arm and Gwen let out a scream.
Gwen awoke with a gasp, sitting up straight. Her sheets were soaked in sweat, and her breathing was irregular and fast. She gripped her blanket and tried to talk herself back down.
"It was only a dream," she whispered. "Just a dream."
But it felt far too real. And it hit closer to home than Gwen was comfortable with.
Slowly, she got out of bed, pushing back the covers. She picked up Chris P. Bacon from her bedside table and clutched him close to her chest. She was almost afraid to go to the bathroom by herself. She didn't want to look in the mirror ever again.
What am I saying? Gwen shook her head. She was behaving like a child. Only children were afraid of stupid, silly dreams. She tossed Chris P. Bacon on her bed and started for her bathroom.
She ended up running for the bathroom because she needed to vomit. She threw up the vile stuff she had drank the night before until it was all gone, along with whatever she had eaten. Gwen sat back against the wall and moaned in pain, clutching her head. The terror of the nightmare had momentarily blocked out any symptoms of a hangover, but now they were coming in full force. Gwen tried to remember exactly what had happened last night, but it was a blur. She got in the shower and cursed herself up and down, swearing that she was never going to drink ever again.
Her mood did not improve when she realized, after she finished getting ready, that she was going to have to deal with Loki and the Avengers today. She remembered that they had been there for at least a part of her drunken stupor, and they would certainly have words to have with her. Which sucked because she was supposed to be an adult.
"Oh, shit," she breathed, coming to a stop. What if they told Stephen? Her dad would murder her if he knew that she had been drinking.
Yeah, she was planning on staying far away from alcohol from now on.
Gwen took some ibuprofen with her morning Dr. Pepper. Paige joined her shortly after. "Morning," Gwen croaked out to her. She cleared her throat and swallowed heavily.
Paige merely nodded in return. This was customary. Gwen did most of the talking while Paige only supplied comments when necessary. Gwen actually found that she liked her silent companion. Paige wasn't an airhead like most of the girls at her school. Gwen could hold a serious conversation with her. Paige was exactly the kind of friend that Gwen wanted in high school. The closest she had gotten was Alex, but Alex was different. She was obsessed with David Archuleta and several of the boys from school, and she was a bit of an airhead. Gwen and her had become friends for unknown reasons. Most likely because they worked together and things would've been awkward if they didn't get along.
But Paige was different, and Gwen was different. It made for a good, if not odd, friendship. Tony had been right all along, though Gwen would never admit it.
Speak of the devil, the eccentric billionaire stepped off the elevator and into their flat with a loud greeting. "Morning, Clarice, Kill Bill."
Paige rolled her eyes while Gwen clutched her head, disliking the loud noise. "Can you whisper?" she asked, her voice still a little croaky.
Tony grinned and even laughed a bit, making Gwen glare. "Had a bit of a rough night, huh?" The blonde responded by taking a sip of her drink. Tony smiled at her deflection. He actually found the situation from the previous night to be quite amusing. Unfortunately for both himself and Gwen, none of the other Avengers did. "By the way, the others are super pissed about what you did. They've decided that your father needs to know, so he'll be coming over later."
"What?"
Tony raised his hands. "Don't look at me. I was all for letting you off the hook. But Steve is the Captain, and he's not very happy with what you did." He turned to look at Paige. "Loki told us about what you did, as well. They're also pretty pissed at you. Personally, I'm pretty sure the asshole deserved it, but…" He trailed off with a shrug. "So the two of you will be getting the lecture of your life, probably around lunchtime. Just letting you know."
"Right," Gwen said through gritted teeth. "Thanks a bunch, Anthony."
"Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger," he reminded her. He turned and gave them a little wave over his shoulder. "See you later." With that, the elevator doors closed, and he disappeared.
There was a minute of silence as both girls comprehended what was to come. Neither wanted to face another one of Steve's lectures.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Gwen suddenly burst out.
Paige turned to look at Gwen, her expression puzzled. Gwen was nodding enthusiastically. "We could just leave. I could show you around New York. I want to get some new jeans anyway. That way, we can avoid their bullshit lecture and have fun while we're at it."
"What about Loki?" asked the former assassin, jerking her head towards the door that the god sat behind.
Gwen casually shrugged that off. "We can bring him with. Letting him out every once in a while will chill him out, I think. So long as you don't shoot him this time." Paige's eyes narrowed and Gwen backtracked a little. "I'm not saying you were wrong. You did exactly what I told you to do. But the others won't see it that way, and Loki certainly doesn't."
This softened Paige's expression. It was for reasons like this that she had taken to Gwen so easily. Gwen didn't pity her, nor did she seem to care that Paige used to be an assassin. To Gwen, Paige was just another girl, and Paige enjoyed how normal she felt around Gwen.
"Let's do it," she finally agreed with a nod. Gwen grinned. Anything to spare a lecture from her father and Steve.
"I'll go get my things," Gwen said. "Then we'll get Loki and we'll be out of here." She frowned. "But what about Stark's security cameras and things? He'll know we've left."
"I can disable them," Paige said automatically.
"Really?" Gwen asked doubtfully. She knew that Tony would have some if the best viral protection in the world.
She nodded confidently. "I was trained by Hydra how to hack into the best security systems in the world. I can do it."
Gwen shrugged, somewhat impressed. "Fair enough. You work on that while I get Loki."
Gwen opened the cell door, revealing Loki, back to reading one of his many books. Gwen squinted at the cover and saw that it was Hamlet. He had excellent taste in books, she had to give him that.
Loki looked up, sensing her presence. An amused smirk crossed his face as he remembered the events of the night before. "Hello, Little Starling," he greeted her, as he always did.
Gwen ignored the nickname and opened the cell door. He tilted his head to the side. "Did you not learn your lesson from the last time you let me out? Or did you get so intoxicated that you forgot what happened?"
"I remember," she said shortly. "And we're getting out of here. Get up. Let's go."
Loki only looked confused. "Come on," Gwen insisted, exasperated. "We've only got a bit of time."
"Why?" Loki asked. "Where are we going? Where are you taking me?"
"We're just going to walk around New York City," she explained. "I'm trying to avoid a lecture from Steve and the others. And I can't just leave you unguarded. So, come on. Let's go."
"Aren't you worried that I'll escape?" he asked, taunting her a bit. He had no plans to escape. Without his powers, there was nowhere he could go. He would be caught by the Avengers with ease. Or possibly even Odin. And then Odin would extend his sentence and that was the last thing he wanted. "That I might try and kill everyone in New York again?"
Gwen snorted. "With what army? What powers?" She shook her head. "I can handle you. Besides, Paige is coming with us, and we've already seen that she can handle you." Loki scowled at that, making Gwen grin.
Paige poked her head in the room. "I've disabled Stark's security, but only for a bit. We need to leave now if we don't want to get caught."
"Then let's go," said Gwen promptly.
Reluctantly, slowly, Loki stood up. He led the way out of the door, both girls following right on his tail.
Stephen exited the car that Stark had sent for him, looking up at the largest tower in Manhattan. He had driven by it many times, each time feeling indifferent. It hadn't mattered to the old Stephen that Iron Man lived there. Now that Stephen was practically an Avenger himself, the tower was like a third home to him (his apartment and the New York Sanctum being the other two).
Happy, the driver, escorted him to the penthouse, where Tony and Steve were waiting to greet him. "Houdini. Glad to see you could make it."
Stephen rolled his eyes at the nickname. Gwen had told him that Stark came up with a nickname for everyone and she warned him that Tony would find one for him. Tony had settled on Houdini, after calling him things like Dumbledore and Gandalf for a while.
"What's this about?" Stephen asked. Happy had simply told him that Stark needed to talk to him and that it was urgent. "Is Gwen here?"
"She's on her floor still," Steve told him. "We wanted to talk to you privately first."
"Why? Has Gwen done something wrong?"
"Depends on who you ask," Tony muttered. Steve coughed loudly and Tony sighed. "I guess you could say that." He looked to Steve, giving the super soldier the job of ratting Gwen out.
"Last night, we caught Gwen with a bottle of whiskey, completely drunk," Steve explained.
Stephen blinked at him, then laughed. "You're kidding, right?"
Steve shook his head. Tony stifled a laugh. "She's hilarious when she's drunk. I cannot wait until she's twenty-one." Steve glared at his companion.
"You can't be serious. Gwen doesn't drink. She's had sips of my beer and she always talks about how disgusting it is. She also swears that she'll never drink, to avoid damaging her liver or something like that."
"Well I don't blame her," Tony quipped. "About the beer, I mean. But what she had was a thousand dollar bottle of whiskey, so it was probably better than whatever cheap beer you buy."
Stephen glared at Tony along with Steve now. "We just thought you should know," Steve said, changing the subject. "We'll let you deal with punishing Gwen, since she's your kid."
Stephen nodded curtly, not believing his daughter. Gwen hadn't caused him much trouble as a kid. Her teachers generally liked her. She hadn't received so much as a detention her whole life. Gwen was supposed to be a good kid. But now he had let her go off to live on her own and this is what she did.
He had a lot of things that he needed to say to her.
"Other than last night's incident, however, she's been doing very well," Steve continued, wanting to give her some credit. "She gets along well with Paige, she's kept Loki under a tight guard, and she's been doing quite well in her training. Sam and I think she's very funny and very intelligent."
"She and Kill Bill make quite the team," Tony supplied. "We're actually pretty impressed."
"I'm sorry, but who is Kill Bill?"
Tony opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Natasha and Clara Anderson exiting the elevator and approaching them. "Tony, we have a problem," Natasha said.
"What is it?"
"Your security system was disabled," Clara all but spat at him. "For around an hour until we noticed it. And now Gwen, Loki, and Paige are all missing!"
"WHAT?" Steve, Tony, and Stephen thundered all at the same time, jumping to their feet.
"How is that possible?" Stephen shot at Tony. "Don't you have one of the best security systems in the country?"
"Well clearly, it wasn't too hard for Paige to disable," Clara snapped at the stranger. "Who are you, anyway?"
The two turned to glare at one another, and recognition slowly dawned. Tony filled in the awkward silence. "Strange, this is Clara Anderson, an ex-SHIELD agent. Also a badass baker. Anderson, this is Stephen Strange. Ex-surgeon and head magician."
"We've met," Clara cut him off shortly, not taking her eyes off Stephen. Their expressions were a mixture of confusion, shock, and anger.
The last time they had seen one another had been at Jessie's funeral. Afterwards, Stephen had told Clara that he didn't wish to see her again and Clara had wholeheartedly agreed. Since then, neither of them had given much thought to the other, being too focused on their daughters and their jobs. But the bitterness and the hatred still lingered.
There was regret, too, on both sides. Clara knew that she had taken it too far at the funeral. But she had just lost her best friend and she was pregnant and everything had just exploded. She wanted someone to blame and Stephen was the perfect target, in her mind.
Stephen also knew that he overreacted at the funeral. He also knew that he hadn't always been kind to her. He had rubbed it in her face, how clever he was and how much Jessie liked him. Jessie had hoped that they might move past such childish behavior and become friends, but it never seemed to happen.
Both of them knew, at that moment, what they should do. They knew what Jessie would want them to do. She would want them to put aside their petty differences and become friends. Well, not friends, maybe. There was too much of a past there. But perhaps allies. She would want them to work together, at the very least.
But both of them were too stubborn and too proud to put all that aside so easily.
"What are you doing here?" Stephen asked her harshly.
"I happen to work here," she snapped back. "Not to mention that my daughter just went missing, along with your daughter and a war criminal." She looked him up and down, taking in his odd outfit. "So, what's with the get up? Are you a children's performer now?"
Stephen scowled at her while Clara crossed her arms. Steve quickly stepped between them. Clearly the two of them had a long history that none of them had time for. "Hey, that's enough," he lectured them, going into Captain mode. "We don't have time for this. We need to get Gwen, Paige, and Loki back before anything bad happens."
Both Stephen and Clara nodded, momentarily forgetting about their grudges and thinking of their daughters.
"I can do a tracing spell on them," Stephen offered. "But it will take some time. I'm still learning it. I'll need to return to the Sanctum and do some reading first."
None of them liked how long that particular option would take, but it was the best option they had. "Alright. Clara, you and Stephen should work on getting the spell ready. The rest of us will work on fixing the security system and seeing if we can do anything technology-wise."
Both Stephen and Clara opened their mouths to argue, but Steve cut them off. "We don't have time to argue about this. If you two want to find your children, you're going to have to work together on this. Understood?"
Grudgingly, they both nodded. The Avengers in the room rushed to the lab to recruit the help of Bruce while Stephen and Clara stood, glaring at each other, sizing the other up.
Clara broke the silence first. "Well, magic man, let's get going."
Gwen sipped at her Dr. Pepper while she watched Loki and Paige eat a hamburger for the first time with amusement. Their faces were just too funny. "Like it?" she asked them curiously.
Paige merely shrugged as she took another bite. She wasn't picky; she would eat just about anything in front of her. It was a result of the childhood she had had. Food was a luxury item, especially food like this.
Loki, on the other hand, had grown up as a prince, and could afford to be picky. He pushed the food away in disgust. "You mortals have no idea what good food is."
Gwen rolled her eyes at his superiority. "In defense of mortals, this is McDonald's. Not our greatest food chain, but certainly a cheap one." She picked up a couple fries and dunked them in ketchup.
"Then why are we here?" Loki retorted right away.
"My dad is the rich one, not me," she retorted right away. "Sorry, but I can't afford something fancier." Gwen finished off the rest of her fries and Paige wolfed down the rest of her burger. "Where should we go next? Oh, actually, I have just the place."
Loki and Paige knew next to nothing about Manhattan, so they followed her lead. She guided them through the busy streets, in search of her favorite shop. A little record shop. She knew the owner of the shop pretty well, since she had very few customers. The record business wasn't doing so hot. Only old souls like Gwen frequented her shop.
They reached the quaint store and entered. Mallory had chosen to play the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album today. You Still Believe In Me was playing and Gwen started to hum along automatically.
The dark haired Mallory looked up at the sound of the bell. She smiled when she saw Gwen. "Hey, Gwen. It's been a while. I was beginning to think that you had abandoned me."
Gwen shook her head. "Never. I just… went abroad for a while."
"Did you finally go to France like you always wanted?" she asked.
Gwen nodded, deciding to go with that. "Yeah. It was great. Southern France is amazing."
"So, do you speak fluent French now?"
"Oui, madame," she responded automatically. Gwen couldn't actually say that she was fluent, but she had been taking French since middle school, so she was pretty good at it. "Oú sont les disques de Pink Floyd?"
"You know where the Pink Floyd records are," Mallory retorted. "It's all you ever buy." It was then that she caught sight of Gwen's companions. "You have friends now?"
Gwen rolled her eyes. "This is Paige and L-Luke," Gwen stumbled over Loki's name. Obviously Mallory couldn't know that Loki was actually Loki. "We… work together." They both gave the shop owner a nod in greeting.
Mallory nodded, accepting this answer. "What kind of records are you guys looking for?"
Gwen spoke for them. "They actually don't really listen to music all that much. That's why I had to bring them here. Introduce them to good music and such."
"Good for you," said Mallory. "Well, you probably have this shop memorized so you know where to find everything. If you need anything, let me know."
They bid each other goodbye. Gwen wandered towards the back shelves, in search of some new records to add to her collection. She already had the entire discography of Pink Floyd, Queen, and The Beatles. She was currently working on building her Elton John, David Bowie, and Rolling Stones collection.
"What are these?" Loki asked, looking around.
"Records," replied Gwen. "They have music on them." She looked at him with curiosity. "Do you listen to any… earth music?"
Loki nodded. "I've heard the works of Handel, Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart."
Gwen made a noise like something was caught in her throat. "Snooze fest. If you want something really good, check out Pink Floyd."
"I have." Gwen looked at him in confusion. Loki gave an amused smile. "You played some for me last night while you were intoxicated. You wouldn't shut up about someone named Syd Barret. I'm pretty sure you declared your undying love for him."
Gwen groaned while Loki laughed softly. "Can you please forget that that ever happened?" she begged.
He shook his head, still smirking. "No, I don't think I will. I enjoy having leverage over you like this."
Gwen mumbled unintelligibly under her breath while Loki laughed again. She steered the conversation away from her drunken incident from the night before by picking up The Dark Side of the Moon. She handed it to Loki. "This is their best album. I'm sure I showed some of it to you last night, but you have to listen to it at night, in the dark, with nothing to distract you. It's like a trip for your ears."
"A trip?" he echoed, unfamiliar with the slang.
"You know, like an LSD trip?" Loki did not know. "It's when you take a hallucinogenic drug and you start seeing things that aren't there."
"Have you ever… gone on a trip?" he asked curiously.
She shook her head right away. "No. Definitely not. I'm not into the whole stoner thing. I just listen to the music the stoners make."
Loki examined the record with the odd picture of a triangle and a rainbow. "Are you going to buy this?"
"No, I already own it. I'm looking for Bowie records or Elton John. Or Rolling Stones." She gave him an appraising look. "I think you would like Elton best. He does soft rock, generally. Closer to the classical stuff you've listened to." She wandered over to the J section and found Elton's records. She already owned Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. She picked up Honky Chateau and examined it curiously. "Let's get this one."
Loki watched her, confused by her actions. The other Avengers saw him simply as the person that had attacked New York. Because of this, they would never see him as anything else. Odin saw him in the same way. Frigga was the only one who saw him as something more than that man.
Until Gwen. Gwen didn't seem to care about his past. She disliked him because he insulted her. But when he tried to be civil, she tried as well. She was the only one who really attempted to treat him as something more than a prisoner.
Guinevere Strange was an odd girl, alright. She had befriended the two murderers in the tower without giving their past a second thought. Loki wondered why she was so quick to forget the past while the others clinged on to it. What made her the way that she was?
His curiosity was piqued. He had to know more about this girl. To learn about her. He intended to know the inner workings of her brain. No matter what it took.
"What the hell is this place?"
Clara looked at the Sanctum with both awe and confusion as they walked in. The odd layout and relics reminded her of boring museum trips she used to go on. She couldn't believe that Stephen Strange lived here of all places. It just didn't fit the man she knew.
Or thought she knew, at least.
"This is the New York Sanctum," replied Stephen shortly as he walked past her to one of the many book cases. Clara studied Stephen for a bit, watching him sort through the books. It had been almost twenty years since she had last seen this man. She had seen the countless articles and 20/20 interviews about him. Clara knew Stephen Strange had become a renowned surgeon. Hell, she even pitied the man when he got in his car accident and actually baked him cookies. But now he was some kind of magical wizard? Of all things.
She wandered over to the nearest relic and began to examine it closely, trying to figure out exactly what it did or what it was. "Please don't touch that. It's over a thousand years old," Stephen said, not even glancing up from the book that was in his hands.
The ex-agent rolled her eyes. "What are you going to do, abra-cadabra me?" she muttered as she continued to examine the relic.
Stephen sighed, shutting the book in his hands and placing it back on the shelf. "It's tempting," he muttered back at her. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the room he wanted to be in until the rooms switched suddenly.
The movement caught Clara off guard as she almost fell forward. Stephen smirked as he scanned the shelves for the right book. "Careful there. Hate to see you fall down all those stairs." Stephen smirked as he searched another shelf.
"Exactly how long is this going to take?" asked Clara in annoyance and ignoring his last comment.
"Not long," he said vaguely, finding another book. He opened the book and found the proper page. He muttered to himself under his breath as he read the instructions quickly but carefully.
Clara sighed and began to look around the new room they were in. She hated to admit that she was somewhat interested in some of the stuff. She wandered around, looking at the different items, thinking to herself. How long had Stephen been working this job? What even was this job? All the years he was with Jessie, he never mentioned anything about magic or showed any signs of having these crazy powers. She knew magic existed, that was no surprise, the surprise was only that Stephen had magic. And Gwen too, she supposed. Maybe he's an alien, Clara wondered.
"Nope," Stephen muttered, closing the book. Again the room changed suddenly and Clara caught herself on the wall. "Be careful." Stephen glanced over at her before going to another book shelf.
"You're the one teleporting us around. A little warning would be nice," she muttered as she steadied herself. "What are you even looking for?" she asked, walking up to him. She glanced at a few of the books. Some seemed to be in another language and others seemed to be on the verge of falling apart. Clara took a small, ratty green one out and brushed the dust off the cover looking at it.
Stephen glared at her over the edge of the book. "Can you stop touching things, please?"
"Can you stop being an asshole, please?" she retorted right away, slotting the book back in its place. She pulled out her phone to see if she couldn't find a way to find them quicker.
Stephen returned to the book. The spell was simple enough, but they needed a bit of one of their DNA for it to work. The book suggested a strand of hair or such.
"I need a strand of your hair," Stephen told Clara, slamming the book shut.
"Why?"
"We need some of their DNA to be able to find them, and surprise! You share DNA with your daughter," he explained in exasperation, as if he expected her to be an expert in the mystic arts. He held out his hand impatiently. "Come on. We don't have all day."
"Exactly. Which is why I've already found them." She smirked proudly, holding her phone out to him. "They're still in Manhattan, thankfully. They're at the mall."
"Mal's Vinyl and CD Shop," Stephen interrupted with a sigh. "I should've guessed. It's Gwen's favorite place"
"I'm calling Stark to send us a car now," said Clara, dialing his number on her phone.
"No need," said Stephen. He lifted his hands and created a portal that opened to some kind of cleaning closet. He didn't need everyone in the mall to see a giant, glowing portal right now. "Let's go."
Clara simply stared at the glowing portal. She wanted to explain it. To give some scientific fact to how a man could magically create a portal connecting two different places but she couldn't. She just stared at it,
Stephen shed his cloak, knowing that it would draw too much attention to him. He used a spell to change his clothes into street clothes before he walked through the portal. He looked back at Clara. "Come on, we don't have all day," Stephen told her. Clara cautiously stepped through and watched as the portal shunk up into nothingness. Stephen heard her whisper under her breath.
They walked out of the cleaning closet into the main lobby of the mall. It was busy this morning, surprisingly, with people everywhere. "Over there!" Clara pointed to the three of them out on the second floor, walking into a JC Penny's. She was quick to take off, Stephen shortly behind her. She moved fast and swift. They moved up the steps fast and into JC Penny's where they slowed to a stop looking for any sign of the kids. "See them?" she asked and Stephen shook his head.
Clara searched the faces that were nearby, as she and Stephan walked into the store. She had training in searching for people, this should have been easy. Her eyes darted from person to person, judging them before moving to the next person. "See them?" Stephen asked, but she shushed him. She was too busy thinking but then she saw him.
Clara grabbed Stephen's arm, and yanked him behind a shelf of shoes to get out of sight. "What the hell are you doing?" Stephen muttered, pulling her hand off him. He looked out and didn't see anything wrong.
"He's here," Clara breathed. Stephen looked at her confused.
"Who's here? Are the kids here?" he asked, trying to understand why Clara was being so frantic.
"Mike. Mike is here. He'll kill me if he sees me," Clara said. It had been years since she last saw the man she thought she could trust. He had tried to kill her when they took Paige, but Clara was too stubborn to die. She knew he was still out there, somewhere, but she never expected to see him again in public. She knew that he would make sure she was really dead this time.
"Add me to the list," Stephen rolled his eyes at Clara being dramatic. But then he looked at her and saw the fear written across her face. She kept glancing around the corner ever so carefully. Maybe she wasn't joking.
"No, Stephen, he will kill both you and me the instant he sees our faces. We're very high on a hitlist," Clara said, talking in all seriousness. "And he won't hesitate to take the kids," she added.
That caught Stephen's attention. He wasn't going to let whoever this Mike guy was kill his daughter or take her anywhere. He peered in the general direction Clara was looking. "Which one is he?" he breathed.
Clara pointed to her ex-husband. "There. The tall one with the dark hair wearing a black jacket."
Stephen clocked him and watched as he casually examined a pair of jeans. "Should we try and take him?"
Thinking quickly, Clara shook her head. "No. We don't want to cause a scene. He may have backup and we wouldn't stand a chance. We need to be subtle." She thought back to her training with Natasha, and steeled herself for what was to come. She reached into her bag and found a pair of sunglasses. She donned them, hoping to conceal her face. "Ok. Did you ever meet Mike?" He shook his head. "Good. Hopefully he won't recognize you. Now, here's what we're going to do. Put your arm around my shoulders."
"Why?" Stephen looked appalled.
"Just do it!" she insisted. Sighing reluctantly, Stephen did as she said. "Ok, now as we walk, just talk about something menial. I don't care, just whatever."
Stephen quickly searched his brain for conversation topics. "Uh… so, our daughters are roommates now. What are the chances of that?"
Clara forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah. Small world. Jessie would've loved it."
Stephen's expression hardened at the mention of Jessie. But he nodded, swallowing thickly. "Yeah. She really would have." There was a bit of an awkward pause. "Gwen reminds me a lot of her, in some ways. She has her fashion sense. Is Paige like you or her father?"
Clara shook her head, not wanting to talk about that. Stephen clearly had no idea that Paige hadn't seen her mother for nearly twenty years now. "Have you ever been to that bakery over there?" She pointed to one of the shops just as they passed Mike. "Best pies in town, I swear. I need to find out their recipe."
"You bake?" Stephen replied, wondering why she had switched topics so quickly. "I didn't know that."
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," she retorted before looking over her shoulder. Mike was walking in the opposite direction, his back turned. "Turn right here." Stephen followed her lead. They were completely hidden from Mike's view by a large display shelf. Clara threw Stephen's arm off of her, which he was already retracting.
He opened his mouth to give some retort right back when he saw a glimpse of blonde hair. He pointed over to it. "There's Gwen."
They took off in a jog to catch up with them. Stephen reached out and put a hand on Gwen's shoulder.
Gwen turned around harshly, ready to attack whoever it was, but froze when she saw her father's face glaring back at her. "Shit," Gwen swore.
"Shit is right," Stephen said. "We're going back to the tower. Now. Come on."
None of them argued with him. Gwen supposed she knew she couldn't evade the lectures forever. She would have to face up to what she did eventually. But she didn't regret leaving either. It had felt good to leave the tower.
Clara kept glancing between Paige and Loki. She knew that it wasn't yet time to reveal herself to Paige, but now that she was so close, she couldn't help but say something to her. "Are you ok?" she asked.
Paige turned, a little surprised that the woman addressed her first. She nodded anyway, which made her smile.
"There's a portal in a supply closet. Let's go," said Stephen sternly. Clara and Stephen matched their daughters and the war criminal back through the store, taking great care to avoid Mike, who, luckily, seemed to have gone to a different store in his search.
They returned to the Sanctum, where Stephen drew a portal to Avengers Tower. Right in the penthouse.
Steve, Tony, Natasha, and even Thor were waiting for them. They all seemed relieved that they were back to safety, but still angry.
"Ah, the three amigos return," said Tony sarcastically. "Enjoy yourselves?"
"Far more than I enjoy being around you," Gwen shot right back. She was not in the mood for a lecture. Her head still hurt and the ibuprofen was wearing off, leaving her feeling achy and queasy.
"Are you crazy?" Steve asked angrily. "What on earth possessed you to leave the tower? And why did you think it would be ok to drag these two with you?" He pointed to Paige and Loki.
Gwen glared, folding her arms and refusing to answer. "Are you really going to act like a three year old?" Natasha asked her in disbelief. She had seen Gwen's stubbornness during training, but she never thought it would go this far.
"Is she a prisoner here as well?" asked Loki with faint sarcasm.
Tony pointed at him sharply. "You're already on our list, so keep your mouth shut." He returned to glaring at Gwen.
"I wanted to get a breath of fresh air," Gwen answered shortly. "And I figured they might like the same."
"Don't lie," Stephen cut in sharply. "You left only to escape facing the consequences of what you did last night. Admit it."
Gwen felt her temper flare. "Maybe I did," she agreed, raising her voice. "I'm nineteen years old, not five. I'm an adult. I can handle myself."
"You're sure not acting like it," retorted Stephen, raising his voice as well.
Gwen just rolled her eyes, knowing it would further infuriate them. Stephen's temper leaped. "If you want to be treated like an adult, then start behaving like one."
"Oh, like you never drank before you were twenty-one."
"You're missing the point! Just because I did something doesn't mean you should!" shouted Stephen. "I raised you better than this! Maybe you're just not mature enough to handle this job."
Gwen felt like snapping. It was like she had to be perfect. She was never allowed to make mistakes. She knew she messed up last night and she didn't plan on letting it happen again. And maybe it was reckless to leave the tower like that, but still! Why was she the only one expected to be perfect here? Why did she have to be that Gwen? Maybe she didn't want to be that Gwen anymore.
"Or maybe I just decided that I'm my own person and can do my own thing," she shot at her father, knowing it would sting him. It was exactly what the Ancient One had accused him of doing before she died. She had said that Stephen was far too controlling of his daughter and that Gwen needed to start becoming her own person. The accusation had stung Stephen then and it stung him now.
There was an awkward silence that fell over everyone. Somehow, the others knew that what Gwen had just said was damaging in a way they couldn't understand.
"I don't understand why you're all so angry," Paige suddenly spoke up, her voice soft but controlled. Everyone turned to her in surprise. Most of them hadn't heard her utter more than two words at a time. "She was just trying to let us be normal. What's so wrong with that?"
They all hesitated to speak. They didn't want to offend the girl, but they had to explain it to her somehow. "It's dangerous," Steve finally said. "You shouldn't be leaving the tower just yet. And he definitely shouldn't." He pointed to Loki.
Paige's expression hardened. "So I'm your prisoner," she said. "Just as I was Hydra's prisoner."
Tony started to shake his head. "No, you're not -"
Paige cut in. "If I'm stuck in here, forced to follow your rules, then I'm your prisoner. You might as well start calling me the Scarlet Killer again."
Gwen felt a little bit happy at her statement. Not because she liked being reminded of the poor girl's past, but because she was defending her, in a way.
"What is she talking about?" Stephen spoke again. "Scarlet Killer? As in the assassin?" He looked sharply at Paige.
There was another awkward silence. None of them had realized that Stephen didn't know who Paige was. None of them but Gwen. "She is the Scarlet Killer," Natasha finally supplied. "We've granted her immunity after the incident in DC and now she lives here with us."
"With my daughter, you mean!" he said hotly. "You mean to tell me that you people thought it would be a good idea to have my daughter's roommate be a trained assassin and killer?! Are you insane?"
"Lay off her!" Gwen snapped. "She was a kid and she was forced into it. If she wanted to kill me, she would've done it by now. But she doesn't because she's Paige. She's not an assassin or a killer. She's just trying to move on. And if you all would stop treating her like the Scarlet Killer and keeping her locked up all the time, maybe you would realize that too."
The tension in the room was thick. Gwen and her father were glaring at one another. Loki was glaring at everyone. Paige was torn between looking at Gwen in confusion and awe, and glaring at the Avengers. No one had defended her like that before. In fact, no one had really seen her as Paige rather than Scarlet. It seemed incredible that anyone could.
Gwen finally turned around. She and Paige locked eyes for a bit and Paige knew in that split second that she wanted her to follow her. Gwe grabbed Loki's wrist as well. "I'll go lock him back up, along with myself and Paige since it seems like we're prisoners here."
With that, they got on the elevator and disappeared, leaving behind a group of very shocked Avengers.
Paige crept into the living room, keeping her footsteps perfectly silent. After the events of the day, she had decided that she had had enough. She was leaving. She was going to find Winter and make the best of it on the run. Maybe Hydra would find her. But at this rate, she was going to be somebody's prisoner no matter where she went. Unless she went on the run with Winter. Only then would she be free.
Despite the darkness of the room, she could see everything with her heightened senses. She was ten yards from the elevator. Eight yards. Five yards.
"Hey."
Paige whirled around, reaching for the knife she had stolen and tossed it harshly in the direction of the voice. She heard a sharp yell, but not one of pain. One of fear and anger. There was a flash of golden light and she saw two circles of intricate golden patterns in the air. They disappeared in a shimmer of gold dust, revealing an angry faced Gwen.
"What the hell?" Gwen snapped. "I get you're some ex-Hydra assassin psycho, but I just said hi. You need to smoke a bag of weed and chill."
"What are you doing out here?" Paige demanded roughly.
"I'm getting a Dr. Pepper. Is that a crime?" Gwen asked sarcastically. She took another swig from the bottle. "What are you doing? Besides murdering anyone you come across?"
Paige did not answer. "Give me my knife back."
"Why?" snorted Gwen. "So you can actually hit me this time? I don't think so."
Paige did not like that. "I would've hit you," she said plainly. "You would be dead by now if you didn't cower behind a shield."
"Yeah, well, you didn't," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not ashamed to have hidden behind a shield, so your taunting isn't gonna work, hoss. And I'm not giving it back so you can have another go at it."
Frustrated, the ex-assassin turned on her heel and started to walk away again. She could always steal another blade before stealing a vehicle.
"Where are you going?" Gwen asked.
"None of your business," Paige replied boredly, continuing her walk out.
"You're finally running then," Gwen said, nodding her head as if she understood. She picked up her bottle and walked over to the couches. "Good luck."
She stopped. How does she know? Clearly these people were not as stupid as she had thought if they could figure out her plan this easily. "If you tell anyone," she began in a low voice, the same voice she used to intimidate her enemies, "I will kill you. And it won't be fast, either. It'll be slow. Painful."
"I'm simply terrified," Gwen retorted mockingly. She was actually somewhat scared of the threat, but there was no way she was going to admit it. "Don't worry, I won't stop you."
Paige knew she should've just walked away, but she couldn't help herself. "Why?" she asked.
The Dr. Pepper addicted blonde shrugged. "Because I really don't care, to be honest. I work better alone," she said. "Tony can say that we'll be bosom friends, but he's wrong. I have no friends and neither do you. And that's all we've got in common. We're loners who refuse friendship."
For some reason, this comment made her angry. "Don't you pity me!" she snapped. "Don't act as though your life was so hard, either. You're the spoiled only child of a rich doctor. You lived a life of ease compared to Hydra."
"I know that!" the other girl retorted, raising her voice as well. "That is not what I was saying. And I'm not pitying you either. I wouldn't waste it on you," she sneered. "If you're going to go, then go. Good luck to you. Maybe you'll realize that running away is stupid."
"Why is it stupid?" she retorted, despite herself.
"Because you've spent your whole life being tortured and now that you've finally escaped it, you're running right back into a life of torture," she explained. "Now, I'm all for masochism, I don't kink shame, but this is not a good idea in any way. I get that it's all you've ever known and you have PTSD and yada yada yada. Big deal. Yeah, you could survive out there, but why bother? It would be so much more work and for what? This place is not that bad."
Paige didn't answer this time. Deep inside, she felt an aching sensation in her heart. Gwen was right, she had finally left Hydra, the people that had hurt her, that had hurt Winter. She had found a place that wasn't civilian life, but it certainly wasn't a Hydra torture chamber either and she was throwing it all away.
But she pushed all that aside. She didn't need a place to stay. She didn't need these people. She would find Winter and go with him. With that, Scarlet continued to walk to the elevators.
"Whatever," Gwen mumbled, rolling her eyes and taking another swig of Dr. Pepper. It wasn't her problem. She didn't think the Avengers should be keeping her prisoner here anyway. If Paige wanted to go then she could go.
She was able to make it past the lobby and to the where the cars were stored without triggering any of the alarms or anyone following her. She clutched Steve's keys tight in her hand, they were digging into her skin. Steve had an impressive custom Harley Davidson motorcycle. It was small but had a good, quiet engine. She would be able to ride off on it fast and get out of New York in a few short hours. She was just lucky Steve had left his keys unattended with his back turned.
Paige crept up to the motorcycle, grinning. She had done it. Successfully escaped the Avengers without their knowledge. She really was good at what she did. She took a seat on it and stuck the keys in to turn it on, but it didn't. The motorcycle made no noise at all, no matter how many times she turned the keys. "Come on," she whispered, continuing over and over to try and turn it on.
"I cut the power cord," a cool voice said behind her. Of course it was Rogers, out of all people. Paige cursed under her breath as he walked up to her. It was almost two in the morning and he was acting as if it was day time.
"I'll run on foot then. Don't think this will stop me," she hissed at him. He shrugged, still staying calm.
"I know," Steve sighed. " I just wanted to make sure you didn't run off with my Harley. It's a good bike." He smiled at her.
"You're not stopping me?" Paige asked, confused. The captain gave a soft laugh.
"I'm stopping you from taking my bike. Run if you want. Either we'll catch up to you first or Hydra will. Maybe you'll find Bucky, but I'll be honest with you kid, we aren't having good luck. The chance of you finding him is low," he told her. Paige furrowed her brows at him. She didn't need his advice. She knew Winter better than anyone. She would be able to find him… if she didn't get caught by anyone else.
"I'm leaving," Paige said, getting off his bike and turning her back away from him. If he wasn't going to stop her, she would take her chances out in the real world. That was freedom. Not being stuck in a stupid building surrounded by stupid, annyoing people.
"Alright then. Safe travels. I guess I'll be telling your mom you ran off," Steve said. Paige stopped and turned to look at Steve. He couldn't tell if she was angry, shocked, or curious. Maybe all three.
"My. Mother. Is. Dead." Paige grunted. It had been drilled into her head from an early age. Something that kept her awake at night.
"You still believe the lies that Hydra told you?" Steve questioned her. Paige thought about it for a second.
"You lied about Winter," she replied harshly. She had her doubts about the Avengers as much as she doubted Hydra.
"I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you," Steve let out a small sigh. "I should have, though. He's just as important to you as he is to me. I don't lie either. You have a mom who misses you," Steve explained to her.
"If she misses me, why did she give me to Hydra? Why did she let them turn me into a weapon?" Paige growled. She tried to fight off tears and clenched her hands into fists, thinking of all the tests and experiments she endured.
"You were stolen from her," Steve said. He was getting emotional talking about it. "They kidnapped you when you were just a baby. She joined SHIELD to look for you. That's all she's been doing for the past nineteen years: looking for you," Steve explained.
It felt like Paige's whole world had been shattered and put back together in a matter of minutes. She just stood there looking at Steve, trying to process what she just heard. She had a mother. She wanted to deny it, and then wanted to be angry but now, she didn't know how to feel. Her whole life, everyone had reminded her no one mattered, not even her, no one but except for a select few. But there was one person, who had made it their soul mission to find her.
Paige felt her cool tears slip down her hot cheeks, not able to speak. "Do you still want to run?" Steve asked her. She shook her head no at him. "She wants to meet you soon. We just had to make sure you adjusted nicely first," Steve gave her a smile. "And after what happened today, we decided that now was the time to introduce you two. You and Gwen were right. You're not Scarlet, you're Paige. You need to find yourself. Your mom wants to help with that."
"When can I see her?" Paige whispered, trying her hardest not to let her emotions show through her voice.
"Tomorrow morning," Steve replied promptly. "I promise. It'll just be the two of you. You can talk for as long as you want."
Paige nodded, but she said nothing more. She no longer trusted her voice. Steve smiled bittersweetly at the girl. "Come on, kid. Let's get to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow."