AN A little warning this chapter starts cheerful and happy but gets A little dark by the end; it will connect somehow with the version of Civil War I have in my head. So, enjoy.
Disclaimer I own Nothing
Chapter 59 : The Honeymoon is over.
A rainbow light shinned across Las Vegas, Nevada, for a moment as the Bifrost landed down on the roof of The Tenth Realm Hotel and Casino. When it disappeared, two smiling Asgardians stood there; a bag slung over each of their shoulders, and standing hand in hand; without a word, they walked towards the door leading off the roof; Enid got in her purse and pulled out her keys, she unlocked it, then walked in, put the security code into the alarm pad as Thor closed and locked the door, then he and Enid continued their journey towards their penthouse apartment. When they made it to their apartment doors, Thor took the key card from Enid and unlocked them.
"Wait right there, my wife, do not come in yet," Thor demanded; Enid grinned as Thor tossed his bag in, then turned to Enid, took her bag and purse, then tossed them into the room, then once again turned back to Enid and grinned, as he picked her up bridal style, making her laugh.
"You better not throw me through the door," Enid joked, causing Thor to laugh before entering the apartment; he carried her down the one step before sitting her back on her feet, but Thor didn't let go of Enid; instead, he pulled her closer to him.
"Welcome, home, Mrs. Odinson," Thor said, Enid still smiling, put her arms around Thor, and kissed him.
"Welcome home, Mr. Odinson," Enid replied; they leaned in and kissed again. When they pulled apart, Enid laughed. "That was a bit cheesy."
"Yeah, " Thor laughed before leaning in for another kiss, but a knock at the door pulled them apart; standing in the doorway were Steve Rogers and Bucky Barns; for some reason, Bucky was not wearing his metal arm and was holding Tempest in his other one.
"Tempest!" Thor cried out happily, "Daddy, missed you." He rushed over to Bucky and took the cat-like creature from him and hugged it; Tempest seemed to have missed Thor as much as he missed her; she purred and rubbed her face against Thor's cheek.
"I hope we didn't interrupt anything," Steve said. "Bucky noticed the Bifrost and wanted to welcome you two back."
"You're always welcome, my friends," Thor said, smiling; he shook Steve's hand then patted him on the shoulder before turning to Bucky and doing the same.
"Congratulations," Steve said, giving Enid a friendly one-arm hug.
"Thank you," Enid replied, then turned to Bucky and hugged him.
"How was the honeymoon," Bucky asked as Thor closed the door, Tempest, now on his shoulder.
"Bucky, I don't think you're supposed to ask that," Steve replied. Thor came up behind Bucky and patted him on the back.
"I had the best nights of my life," Thor told him, causing Enid's face to turn red.
"Thor," Enid snapped; Thor only laughed as he headed over towards the bar.
"Does anyone want anything to drink," Thor asked, "Have a seat, Enid, and I was going to order some room service; you guys have lunch yet? "
"Not yet," Bucky said, flopping down in Thor's recliner, "I can go for some food."
"After lunch, I need to check in with Vision," Enid said, sitting on the sofa, "See how everything went while I was gone, and see if he minds running the casino for a while longer; Thor and I need to go to New York in a couple of weeks."
"Umm, about Vision," Bucky said; as Thor handed him a drink, he turned to Steve, "You tell her, Stevie."
"Jeez, thanks, Buddy," Steve said; Thor now handed him a drink as he sat down, "I'm sorry, Enid, but once you left, Tony took possession of Vision."
"What?" Enid demanded. "That idiot, why would he do that?"
"It happened two weeks after you two left; I got a call about an emergency and went to check it out, it had been false, and the moment I left, Tony and some government officials showed up, said Visions was too dangerous of a weapon to be walking around and working in a casino and confiscated him."
"I tried to fight them," Bucky spoke up, "I was Kicking their ass too, but Stark hit me with one of his lasers, knocked my arm off, and then they took it too."
"Why?" Thor demanded as he handed Enid a drink, then sat by her holding his own.
"Said because Hydra made it, it was Hydra weaponry, and the government claimed all Hydra weapons, so, therefore my arm was the property of the government," Bucky explained.
Enid looked towards where Bucky's metal arm usually was and felt angry for her friend; she had been working with Bucky for a long time, helping him come to terms with what Hydra did to him; this is the kind of thing that could set him back. Enid sighed put her drink down. Thor started rubbing her back.
"Sorry, you guys, I know you just got back and all; we thought about waiting to tell you," Steve said.
"No, my friends, we are glad you did not wait," Thor replied. "This is something we needed to know right away."
"We need to get Vision back." Enid said, "I'll buy or have Bucky a new arm made; that's no problem, but Vision has the mind stone in his forehead; we have to get that back."
"We will, and I'll take Vision to Asgard; Mother will be willing to look after him," Thor said; Enid nodded in agreement. "We probably should have done that, to begin with."
"Who has been running the casino?." Enid asked.
"I have," Bucky said, "With that Jimmy guy from security, and Stevie was helping keep fights down. It went pretty well; I'll watch the place when you go to New York too."
"Thank you," Enid replied.
"What of Banner?" Thor demanded.
"Bruce is fine; I went and checked on him the moment Bucky called about Vision; they somehow still haven't thought of Bruce being at Saphira's house; I checked on him a few days ago, too," Steve replied.
"When everything is all over, and we have Vision back, we're going to have to try and talk to him, get him to come out of that house," Enid replied, "That's not healthy."
"We'll get him to come out, beloved," Thor told her.
"So, are we still ordering room service," Bucky asked.
Enid and Thor appeared on top of Avengers tower by Bifrost the next day and walked hand in hand through the giant glass doors inside Stark's main living area; Tony Stark himself was standing behind his bar pouring a drink when they appeared. After sleeping on it last night, Thor and Enid agreed that they would talk to Stark today about Vision; they didn't want to waste any time, and if he refused to tell them where he was, which was likely, then Thor was planning to search for him and steal Vision back.
"Congratulations." Tony Stark said with a sarcastic grin. "How's married life?"
"Where is Vision?" Enid demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"Right to the point, eh?" Stark replied, "Look, Vision is fine where he is, no need to worry."
"Do you not remember what's embedded in Vision's forehead?" Thor demanded.
"How could you hand him over to the government?" Enid demanded.
"I'm more than aware of what's in Vision's head," Stark replied, taking a drink, "That's why I took him; he's safer where he is now than he was with dumb and dumber."
"Safer?" Enid demanded, "You do remember what happened last time an infinity stone was in the hands of a government agency?"
"I do," Stark replied, "And if I remember right, correct me if I'm wrong, but it was your sister," He turned to Thor, "And your brother that stole the tesseract and caused massive destruction; in New York City?"
"And if it were not for Enid and me, you would not have been able to stop them," Thor claimed.
"Vision isn't just some android," Enid said, "He's almost human; he has feelings, and I can't even imagine what he might be feeling right now."
"He's fine," Stark replied, "You have nothing to worry about."
"What about Thanos?" Thor demanded, "You remember about him?"
"Yes, I remember; that's why Vision is safer where he is," Stark replied, "I have been working with the right people, making plans to be prepaid, taking the proper steps, legally this time."
"Give us Vision, and we'll take him to Asgard," Thor said, "He'll be far from Midgard and safe and guarded."
"Asgard already has the tesseract, not trusting them with Vision," Stark replied.
"Stark, be reasonable," Enid said, just as the elevators opened and about five security guards walked in.
"I am being reasonable," Stark replied, waving the guards over. "guys escort our friends here out, thank you."
"Really? " Enid demanded, "You're having us kicked out of the building? That's a bit petty, isn't it."
"Not petty," Stark replied, "Just have nothing else to say."
"I can't believe how childish and ignorant you are acting," Enid said. she turned to Thor, who looked ready to fight the security guards. "Thor, honey, let's go; Stark won't listen."
Thor took her hand, and they walked back out onto the roof; Enid put her arms around Thor, he held her around the waist tightly, then held up Mjolnir, and the two took off flying; they landed on the roof of their apartment building, and when they walked down to their apartment. Thor's cheerful mood returned as he insisted on carrying Enid through this door too; Thor's good mood put Enid in a good mood, and she laughed, but then Thor tripped over something coming through the door, dropping Enid, then falling onto her, he immediately asked if she was okay. Enid was too busy laughing to answer, so Thor picked her up and carried her into their bedroom.
Thor and Enid had bought this apartment when wanting to stay close to Avenger's tower as they searched for Loki's scepter; once that was over, they had moved back to Las Vegas, put their items in a storage building, and rented this apartment out, but living far away, and a tenant that did nothing but complains turned into a big hassle in their already busy lives, so once that tenant's lease was up, and he decided not to renew; Enid and Thor, both decided they didn't have the time and patience to be landlords and didn't rerent it out. Enid briefly thought of putting the apartment up for sale but decided against it, so, in the end, they had their things taken out of storage, moved back in, and kept as a second home.
Enid got up the following day to discover they had no food in the apartment, which made sense; they hadn't lived there in a while, so if there were food, it most likely would not be edible anymore, anyway, so Enid and Thor showered and dressed, then caught a taxi and headed to the grocery store, upon entering, Thor grabbed a shopping cart, and they walked into the back where the milk and eggs were; Enid grabbed a gallon of milk and carton of eggs turned around to put them in the cart only for a roll of sausage to fly past her and land in it.
"Ha, I made it." Thor cheered; Enid laughed as she sat the milk down in the cart, then put the eggs in front.
"You are going to get us kicked out if you keep throwing food," Enid warned; Thor walked over and grabbed her from behind and pulled her to him.
"No one would dare kick out the mighty Thor." Thor proclaimed, and Enid laughed again and turned around to face him.
"You are so full of yourself." Enid teased, putting her arms around him and giving him a peck on the lips; not willing to get any more intimate than that in a public place, they hugged, then Enid pulled away, and they got back to shopping, at one time, Enid sat something in their shopping cart then looked up to see a guy, standing at the end of an aisle staring at them, he was dressed head to toe in black, with a black hoodie covering his head, pulled up so far it blocked out his face. Enid turned away and tried to ignore him.
Enid would see the guy a couple more times but figured it was a store. It wasn't that uncommon to run into the same person at times, and she continued shopping and laughing at Thor, acting silly then right before leaving, they separated. Thor went to the cereal aisle, and Enid went to pick out chips. She grabbed a couple of bags, turned to go back to Thor, and bumped into the hooded stranger; that's when Enid noticed he was not only wearing a hoodie but also had on a black ski mask hiding his face. Which was weird and a sign he was probably up to something.
"Um, sorry, didn't know you were standing there," Enid said; she went to walk past him only for the guy to move and block her; Enid tried to go past the other way, but he stopped her. Then he reached out and grabbed both bags of chips, tossed one over his shoulder, then used sharp pointy teeth that looked more like fangs to open the other bag, and started shoving handfuls of chips into his mouth. "Keep them, then."
Enid tried to walk around him again, but the stranger once again blocked her, then started walking towards her, backing her into the self, before putting one arm out, blocking her escape, Enid reached her arms out and tried to push him away, the guy was strong, and she could barely move him, she didn't want to use her powers in a crowded store, but she might have to; people around looked toward them, but either ignored what was happening or hurried away.
"Hey, get away from her!" Thor's voice suddenly boomed out, making people stop to watch; he left the shopping cart where it was and rushed towards them. The guy turned and fled without saying a word; Thor didn't chase after him; instead went right to Enid, making sure she was okay was more important to him.
"I'm fine," Enid assured him. "That guy was, I don't know, just weird."
Thor pulled her into a hug, and Enid immediately started to feel better; when Thor let her go, they decided to leave, and when Enid went to get in her purse to pay for their groceries, her wallet was missing; the stranger must have snatched it out of her bag, Enid guessed that had been the weirdo's plan all along. Thankfully Thor had money on him, and they used that to pay for their things. The first thing Enid did after getting home was call and report her stolen debit card to her bank, then call the police's non-emergency number and make a report of the theft. Unfortunately, since she didn't see his face, it's not likely the police will catch him unless he's caught mugging someone else.
Over the next few weeks, Enid put what happened in the back of her mind, as she became busy running Magneto's campaign; accompanying him to press conferences, she was by his side when he spoke to the news, made his speeches, and Enid had his people pass out signs, and buttons saying Vote for Erik Lehnsherr; once her new bank card came in the mail, Enid bought a phone case that had a wallet on the back to keep her new license and debit card in, Enid decided she was no longer carrying a purse. Then Thor left town to help Steve Rogers find Vision, and Enid's world turned upside.
It started with a feeling of being watched or followed wherever she went. First, Enid dismissed it as paranoia; she had been a little jumpier since the Morwen thing happened than being mugged by the weird guy, and people were bound to recognize her, and some would stare; it's happened ever since helping with the invasion, and now she's mentioned or showed on television because of her support of Magneto, and even talked to the press on his behalf. Then she came home one night to the patio door wide open; Enid didn't think anything of it at first because nothing was missing or gone through; she closed the door, locked it, and shut the curtains. Then things started to go missing, sometimes reappearing in weird places, most of the time, they never returned; Enid honestly thought she was going crazy and wondered if getting possessed messed with her mind more than she had thought, or perhaps her apartment had a ghost, the former being the most likely.
"Is something on your mind, my dear?" Magneto asked during one of their meetings. "You have seemed distracted lately."
"A lot, actually," Enid replied, "I've been busy, a lot of things to do. And Vision, who knows what they did with him? Thor and Steve are having no luck finding out."
"And here I added to your already busy schedule," Magneto commented.
"No, I promised I'd help you; it's okay," Enid replied, "We all need you to win so that you can veto that damn registration bill."
"Yes, that's true," Magneto replied. "If you haven't found Vision by the time I win, I'll have more connections, and some say in it; I'll get your robot back for you; in the meantime, I have what connections I already have looking."
"Thank you," Enid replied.
"It's the least I can do, with all the help you had given me," Magneto said, "Plus, you helped my daughter Wanda when Ultron you captured; she thinks a lot of you."
"Wanda is a good kid," Enid said.
"She is." Magneto agreed.
"Thor wants to go back to Asgard if that bill gets past," Enid admitted, "I understand why, and I'll go with him, but I'll miss Midgard."
"Midgard will miss you too, my dear," Magneto replied.
"That's sweet," Enid replied. Magneto started to laugh.
"Out all the things people have called me, sweet has never been one of them." He said. Then he went to say something else, but there was a knock on the door, it opened, and Pietro walked in.
"Hey, dad, Xavier and two of his stooges are here," Pietro said; behind him, Jean Grey and Scott Summers walked in, the latter was pushing Xavier's wheelchair, Enid had never met him but had heard a lot about him, and seen his name and face in the news.
"Charles, come on in," Magneto said, standing and greeting Xavier; they shook hands, and Enid noticed Magneto deliberately ignored the two X-MEN.
"You must be Enid," Xavier said, holding out his hand. Enid shook it. "I have been hoping to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, Professor," Enid replied, shaking his hand; she frowned when she felt his mind trying to invade hers for a moment before he backed out with a grin.
"I heard you are a strong telekinetic ." Xavier said, "Impressive."
"Charles, really," Magento chastised, "Don't read people's minds in my house?"
"Only a test," Xavier said, then turned back to Enid, "Would you excuse us, please? I need to speak to Erik."
"Charles, you can't kick people out of my house either," Magneto said.
"No, it's okay. I have a lot to do." Enid replied; she turned to the table she had been sitting at and closed her laptop, put it in her bag, then her notebook and pens; closed the bag, then put the little padlock she bought after getting mugged at the store on it and locked it.
"You padlock your bag?" Summers asked.
"My friend here was mugged right in the middle of the store a few weeks ago; I don't blame her for being cautious," Magneto said, "It was on the news, thanks to people and their bad habit of pulling out a phone and video recording everything. However, it would have been nice if they had helped instead."
"That's awful," Jean said.
"Erik, I'll see you in a few days.," Enid said, putting her bag on her shoulder and picking up her phone.
"I look forward to it." Magneto took Enid's hand and kissed it; Enid said bye to the three X-MEN, then left the room; moments later, Pietro zoomed up next to her, saying his dad told him to drive her home; Enid accepted the offer, saves her from having to wait for a taxi.
As the days went on, and the same strange things kept happening, it unnerved Enid so much she dug through her hall closet until she found the daggers Enid took from Loki during their battle with Ultron; Enid decided to keep one on her wherever she went and put one under her pillow, and felt better with a weapon near, yeah she had her powers, her strength, and battle skills. Still, there was something about holding the daggers that made her feel better, maybe it was the fact she could feel Loki's magic running through them, or perhaps it was something else, but she was glad she had taken them from him and never got around to giving them back.
"You sound upset," Thor said one day over the phone.
"I'm fine," Enid assured him, "I've been paranoid a lot; I keep having a feeling of being watched wherever I go; I've been so jumpy since the whole Morwen thing, I think I'm going crazy. "
"You are not crazy," Thor said, "Maybe I should come home."
"No, you need to find Vision. I'll be fine." Enid insisted. They spoke a few more minutes before hanging up, and Enid laid her phone down on the coffee table and decided to take a bubble bath to help her relax; Enid went into the bathroom, ran her bath, then climbed into the bathtub, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, she dozed off; when Enid woke soon after, she decided to get out and go to bed; Enid frowned when she noticed the bathroom door open; she thought she had closed it, shrugging Enid left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her and entered her bedroom, then put on her nightclothes, then went in search of her cell phone, and couldn't find it, Enid gave up and went to bed, she snuggled under her covers and put her hand under her pillow, it didn't register to her then that Loki's dagger was missing.
The following morning Enid was awakened to the sound of a phone ringing; it took her a moment to realize it was the house phone; Enid got out of bed and went to answer it.
"Hello?" Enid said, nothing on the other end, "Hello, who is this?" Nothing but breathing. "I can hear you, jerk."
Enid slammed the phone down, and it immediately started ringing again; deciding to ignore it, Enid walked back into her bedroom to get dressed; she had a few things to do today but had time to dress and have breakfast before she had to meet with Magneto; Enid put on jeans, and a blouse, then pulled her hair up in a bun and used a clip to hold it in place, Enid walked into the kitchen and ate a bowl of cereal before heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth; that's when she found her cell phone sitting on the bathroom sink; she remembered not being able to find it last night and rolled her eyes; of course, it was in the one-room she hadn't looked, after brushing her teeth, Enid grabbed her phone and headed into the living room.
Enid sat down on the sofa to put her boots on. First, she made sure Loki's other dagger was still attached to the inside before putting them on, then walked to the hall closet and opened it to grab a thin button-up sweater; even though it was June now, the mornings have still been a little cool, and it gave her pockets to stick her phone in, which Enid did so when she walked back into the living room, she grabbed her laptop bag, put it on her shoulder then, her keys, dropped them in her pocket too, unlocked the door and opened it, but paused as she went to step out, and just stood there and staring at her front door in horror.
There sticking in her door was the dagger she kept under her pillow, one that she just realized had been missing last night; even worse hanging from it was her wallet, the same wallet that weird guy stolen at the grocery store, it hung there on the blade by the strap attached to it. Enid realized then that not only did this wallet have her address in it, but the zipper part had extra keys to her apartment, the ones she had meant to give Thor after changing the locks when the tenant moved out; Enid had dropped them in her wallet and forgot all about them.
Enid wasn't being paranoid; she wasn't going crazy; her apartment wasn't haunted, someone was watching and following her, someone who had the extra keys to her apartment and had been entering it and moving stuff and taking stuff to put Enid on edge, she was now sure that person put her cell in the bathroom because she was positive she left it on the coffee table before going to take a bath last night. It had to be the creepy guy from the store, the one she didn't know what he looked like because he kept his face hidden; all Enid knew was that the guy was huge, had pointy fang teeth, loved black, didn't like showing his face, was creepy and loved mugging people in grocery stores. Enid's hands shook as she tried not to panic; the most frightening thing was this creep decided it was time for Enid to know he's been stalking her and playing mind games on her. What that meant Enid didn't want to know.
Enid jumped when her house phone started ringing again and looked over at it, not daring to go near it. Enid could defend herself if she needed to; the problem was, how can you protect yourself when you don't know who is harassing you and they won't show themselves? How could she defend herself when she didn't know who she was protecting herself from. For the first time in her life, Enid truly felt afraid.
AN I was trying to give this chapter a little bit of a horror movie vibe; I hope I did well; not sure if next will show Thor and Enid or switch to showing what Loki and Saphira are up to, or maybe even someone else, we'll see what pops in my head, and I write down.