A/N: I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! for now. hopefully a little more normal now. though no promises because I often break them and that's a horrlbe thing to do. So, thank you all for your reviews in the last chapter, and I'm sorry I'm not replying to them all, but I still love you all and thank you for the support.
Enjoy :D
Bella Donovan paced the floor of Stark Tower with a glass of brandy in her hand, her stress levels off the charts in regards to current events. She'd just been informed by Jarvis upon her return from Professor Xaviers school that her sisters condition had moved to critical and that she had been taken to Asgard for the magical abilities there.
To say the least, Bella was pissed and scared.
Ever since Lizzie had started this damn venture, she'd been running around like a chicken with her head cut off as she tried to piece together her own past. Powers had made themselves known that she'd never had any knowledge of from before - but the memories were the worst. Shuddering, she stood in front of one of the large windows, looking up at the sky as if it would hold some key to helping her sort through whatever it was that was happening.
"Liz..." she said to the stars, knowing somewhere up there her sister was on her fighting to stay alive. "You better not leave me alone down here. I mean I know death might seem like a nice option at this point, but you really need to get your ass back on this side of life..." A part of her wished she'd come sooner, wished that she could be there to talk to Elizabeth herself instead of to the glass, a distance between them that had never existed before. Tears formed in her eyes as she touched the window. "Liz... I don't know what kind of stuff exists in the metaphysical regarding twins... but if somehow you can hear me, or something...I'm just asking you to...to..."
The blonde's head leaned against the glass as she started to sob, heartwrenching pain within he chest unlike anything she'd felt in a long time. "C'mon Liz..." she managed somehow between gasps. "C'mon... you've made it this far... you can't leave me alone like this. We always said we'd stick through everything together - God!" She shook her head, wiping at her tears, trying to keep some kind of composure to herself as she slid to the floor, brandy miraculously staying inside its container. "Don't die... don't... don't leave me here... don't leave me alone."
In the shadows, Logan watched Bellas breakdown, Johnny Storm beside him.
"Its amazing how many lives one person affects even though they don't know it." Logan commented, heading to the kitchen. "She's gonna need some coffee, that brandy is her fourth and Bells isn't exactly good with her liquor.
"Shouldn't you like... I don't know..." Johnny stammered, his thumb pointing in the direction of Bella. Logan lifted an eyebrow.
"You're her boyfriend. That kind of stuff isn't my area of expertise, I'm good with the coffee getting."
"Well its not exactly my area either..."
Logan's dark stare caught the baby blues of Johnny Storm. "I thought you guys were together."
"We are-"
"Then go comfort your girlfriend. No time like the present to learn."
Johnny shifted uncomfortably, Logan clearly getting more terse by the moment. A few tense seconds passed before Maureen came up to the two, and after fixing Johnny with her own cerulean stare of disapproval, she went in to comfort Bella herself - one last glance sent in Logan's direction, communicating something only they understood. Logan nodded and turned around, going into the kitchen and fetching what he said he would, leaving Johnny to stand in the hallway awkwardly until he returned.
"You and I are gonna have a talk." Logan said gruffly, and Johnny nodded once. He knew fully well what this was gonna mean.
There had to be a way out of this dark cell, Lizzie knew it, but how? To step into the darkness seemed dangerous. Who knew what was lurking in that unknown ready to drag her away from her only source of light? Yet, to stay there was perfectly clear in her mind just how dangerous it was. Loki still stood to the side, green eyes watching her intensely from under black brows, fear echoing from herself in the orbs.
She needed to get out.
Suddenly, the light grew brighter, and she peered up at it in surprise. "Hello?" she called, her voice echoing off of the uncountable walls. "Is anybody there?" She looked down where Loki had been, only to find him gone. "Loki?"
"Elizabeth..." his voice was all around her. "Elizabeth wake up."
"How?" she shouted, breaking into coughs as she found her throat raw.
"Focus on my voice." the echo answered. "Focus on me." She swallowed, nodding as she closed her eyes, feeling something holding her hand. "Wake up, my love, wake up..."
She smiled, looking up at the light again as she reached toward it, a feminine voice finally echoing wit h a single word: "Come"
Loki hovered over her frail form, his fingers trailing through her hair as he tried to get through to her, his hope kindled brightly by her softly whispered replies. Frigga stood beside him, her eyes closed as she focused on reaching into Elizabeth's mind, drawing her out as gently as possible. He knew how dangerous this was, her fragile state causing for the possibility of her waking up only for her body itself to leave the stasis that Frigga had gotten her to and shut down. Needless to say, he was terrified of what may happen, the apple in his hand clutched tightly.
"Elizabeth, please." he called again, looking desperately over at Thor who was focused entirely on what was happening. His brother could do nothing anyway, but Loki felt the need for some kind of support. If only he had his own magic, he could have done this all himself - but even though Frigga had practically begged Odin for his magic to be at least a bit returned to him, he was still stripped of his powers. Odin didn't trust him with any of his magic, it seemed, even if it was for a good purpose.
Utter bastard.
An eternity passed before he finally heard her voice, barely above a whisper, but enough for him to hear her call his name. He straightened, green eyes watching her closely. "I'm here." he replied. "Open your eyes, I'm here." Her eyes twitched, and slowly the lids drew back, blinking once as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Loki couldn't help but smile which formed on his face when she finally looked at him, a sliver of a smile of her own on her face.
"Well look at that..." she croaked out. "I feel a...strange sense of deja vu." Loki shook his head, wondering why the hell her first words to him after they'd pulled her from the maw of death was what she said. She was such an odd woman - she just had to make him unable to even think of a good reply. Lizzie let out a wheeze of laughter. "Hey, hey, hey, look at that - I got the last word again"
His green eyes slid closed, and he dropped a relieved kiss to her cheek, nuzzling it for a moment as he assured himself that she was safe and alive. The last several weeks stress crashed on him in that moment, and the fact she had been toeing death for days made him hug her tightly, almost assuring himself physically she had truly survived. His lips pressed against her temple. "So you did." he whispered, a small smile touching his lips.
Frigga watched from above with tender eyes, exchanging a look with Thor who looked pleased and relieved as well. Yet it wasn't over quite yet, they had to give her the apple of Idunn before she slipped away from them again, possibly forever. With that thought, she cleared her throat, causing Loki to break away from his love and nod. Thor held the golden apple out, and Loki's long white fingers plucked it from his hand nimbly as he picked Lizzie up and cradled her to his chest. "Here." he said, holding the apple up to her still pale lips. "Eat, Elizabeth." He urged, watching her carefully, half afraid she might fall asleep again before he could save her.
It took a moment for her to realize what was going on before she comprehended his words, her weak hand reaching up to wrap around the apple as well, trying not to let the room spin too much as she bit into it. It was a shock to her system - the sudden intake of food taking her by surprise - and she coughed, blinking back tears which came when she accidentally inhaled a bit of the juice. Loki backed off until she was ready for another bite, a worried crease between his eyes which flicked back and forth from her to Frigga. "I'm fine." Lizzie soon croaked, swallowing. "It was just a shock." A nod toward the apple caused the apprehensive Loki to once more bring it to her lips and she took another bite.
"Thor." Frigga's soft voice caught her son's attention, and with a nod in another direction she motioned for them to leave the couple. The Thunder-Prince's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before he followed her, stepping out of the room. "There is no longer any danger." The Queen stated before Thor could ask why she'd told them to leave. "The apples will put her to sleep as she changes to one of us, at which point no doubt your brother will wish to stay here or arrange for her to be taken to his quarters." With a tug on his arm, she finished, pulling him further away from the couple.
Lizzie and Loki sat there in silence as she ate, she merely focusing on not choking again, her eyes trained on him while he tried not to be too clingy in these moments. She didn't need him suffocating her in his relief of her being alive, she needed him to be level headed. She depended on it. Once again he brought the fruit to her lips, but her hand stopped him.
"Elizabeth..."
"You're eerily quiet." she said slowly, voicing the observation she'd had as she watched him. Something was guarded about him.
"You need to eat." he insisted, pushing against her hand a titch, not wanting to injure her in any way. She was still so weak, so frail, he feared holding her too tightly lest she break beneath his fingertips.
She was silent, though she made no move to bite into the apple. "Do you hate me?" she murmure resting her head more on his shoulder, afraid that in his own way he was angry with her. "I promised I'd stay with you if you gave me a reason, you gave me a reason and I left - I didn't tell you, I should have..." Her eyes closed as she swallowed back tears. "I'm so sorry"
Loki stiffened, feeling the scab ripped roughly off that hadn't healed properly. Why did she have to bring this up now? Couldn't she just eat the apple in silence? Blasted woman always being so annoyingly stubborn and intuitive. "Eat, Elizabeth." He countered more firmly, bringing the apple to her lips again. "If you wish to talk after the bite then fine, but right now eat."
Lizzie tilted her head for a moment before opening her mouth to receive the fruit which Loki still gently pushed toward her. She was already two-thirds done. She chewed for a moment, her mind clearing more than it had when she first woke. Guilt weighted down on her like a great burden, heavy on her mind in such a way that it felt like an elephant on her chest. There were so many things she still wanted to say even though she had a vague recollection of already apologizing profusely to him, spilling her heart as she confessed on Alex's floor to Loki how she'd been wrong, how she'd lied to protect him... but it didn't change the guilt. She wanted that away more than anything. She licked her lips, sighing as she looked up at him.
"Can I talk now?" her tone was meant to be snippy, but lacked the bite it usually held.
A sigh came from Loki, his green eyes closing as a tick developed in his jaw. She wasn't going to let this go. "You already apologized." he stated, opening his eyes. "When Thanos-"
"No, this I never apologized for." she cut him off, adjusting her positioning to be more comfortable. "I apologized for lying to you in a fruitless attempt to protect you, but I never apologized for breaking your trust."
"Not now, Elizabeth." Loki ground out as he looked ahead, not wanting to expose the pain that she'd dealt him when he'd found her gone, in the hands of Alex Shaw at her own provocation. He wasn't going to allow himself to go there at that moment, his emotions raw from the rollercoaster he'd been on the last few days - if there was one thing he knew about himself it was that he had a bad habit of turning pain to anger.
Two more bites would be all it would take for her now.
Lizzie sighed, taking one, beginning to feel exhaustion tug at her mind. "It hurt me too, you know. To leave you like that." she muttered softly. "We'd come so far from when we first met..." a crack of a smile graced her parched lips. "I knew that that one move would make you hate me forever-"
"I could never hate you." Loki finally shot back, meeting her eyes with a ferocity she'd not seen for some time, his hand around her tightening as his breathing quickened. "Even though what you did was stupid, and leaving me in that bed alone was the most hurtful thing I'd ever experienced, I could not hate you for it."
She blinked, feeling even more tired. Damn her body. "...Why?" Was all her quickly muddling brain managed. "I'm worse than your dad in many ways."
'Why?' the question bounced about in Loki's brain with increasing magnitude, his adams apple bobbing up and down as he took a swallow, the answer coming all too easily, the memory of when He'd first realized he loved her coming to mind - even though a part of him was reluctant to admit it. Why could he not hate her? By the Nine he wanted to so badly when she was gone, struggling between the realization that he couldn't go on without her and the consequences of that revelation. How could he hate the one woman who had seen the wounded beast within him and nurtured it until it was almost fully healed? How could he hate the woman who had given him a second chance when no one else would? How could he hate the woman he loved?
"You don't know?" He asked softly, brushing the side of his hand over her face, pushing the hair out of the way which clung to her skin. A small smile quirked his lips upward on one side, the most bashful look he'd ever displayed before her now prominent on his face. "I would think by now it would be pretty obvious."
Her brows furrowed, confusion clear in her slowly closing eyes. A vague thought crossed her mind that she had wanted to tell him something before she woke... what was it again? "I don't understand." she uttered.
Loki couldn't help the breathy chuckle which came with her declaration, kissing her forehead, his lips lingering longer than needed before he rested his own against hers in an intimate gesture, his heart quickening yet again. "Think, Elizabeth..." he whispered encouraging her brilliant mind.
She took a breath in, staring at him wide eyed as she shook her head imperceptibly. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, brows furrowing. "You...you...?"
"Yes." Loki confirmed to her unfinished question his eyes roving her face as he pulled back a few inches. She couldn't help the wheezy laugh which came from her, her hand coming up to rest on his cheek, a touch which he leaned into, turning his face to catch her palm with a kiss. "I almost had to lose you to find out." he softly mumbled, looking at her with eyes turbulent with the emotions which his statement expressed. Vulnerability was not his strong suit, yet here he was with heart laid bare within her hand - he only hoped she would not crush it.
"Funny..." Lizzie started, her thumb brushing his cheekbones, finally remembering what it was she wanted to say. "Cause I almost had to die to realize I loved you."
Green eyes darted between her two brown ones, his smile widening once more as he leaned in to capture her lips with his, her words striking a chord within him which even though he'd declared what he had he had worried about her rejection.
She loved him.
She loved him.
Her hands reached into his raven hair, meeting his kiss with as much fervor as she could manage in her state. It was strange how they were so jagged themselves - pieces broken off by their experiences, but in such a way that they fit so well together. He pulled away after a moment, remembering that she still had one bite left of the apple she had to consume before the magic could take hold. That took precedence over his desires, and he had no choice but to follow his head over his heart in that instance.
Wordlessly, he brought the fruit up to her lips, watching as her eyes started falling shut once again. With a smile on her face, she took the last bite, her fingers falling from his face as she swallowed and allowed herself to slip again into unconsciousness.
When the arcreactor was forced into Tony Starks chest to save his life, he'd always had the eventual goal of getting it out again - he didn't know how, but he knew that was what he would do.
Therefore when he woke after passing out on the rainbow bridge to find his nightlight gone, he was a little surprised.
"Hey! Braidy-bunch - I mean, uh, 'excuse me'" He called to the woman who was a little far for him to whisper it, but as he was where he was he figured he'd go for politeness. "What happened to my arc reactor?"
"Arc reactor?" the woman replied, coming toward him. "What are you talking about?"
"The... thing... in my chest. Y'know the thing keeping my heart from getting punctured by my own personal metal javelin?" Tony explained, watching as she nodded, a laugh on her face even though she didn't laugh aloud.
"It was removed. Along with the...'personal metal javelin'." She answered, walking away from the bed for a moment and returning with a tray, the arc reactor upon it, along with a piece of shrapnel. "Your other wounds have also been taken care of."
Tony's eyes were wide as saucers, his fingers picking up the metal pieces with wonder before he looked up at her. "What kind of machinery did you use? Or did you just... you know... 'magic' it?" he asked 'Braidy bunch'. "I mean this was pretty fast work."
The healer regarded him a moment, putting the tray down. "I suppose you would call it 'magic' though it is merely too advanced for your mind to comprehend at this point of your societies development." she answered. "Though the three weeks of your being unconscious-"
"THREE WEEKS?!" Tony exclaimed loudly, cutting her off. She leveled him with a look, which somehow reminded him of Pepper and shut him up quicker than he could have spelled 'three weeks'.
"As I was saying, your coma made things a little easier as your body was fully at our disposal without interruptions." she explained.
"Did Rock of Ages help out?" Tony inquired, surprised with the fact that he actually felt very comfortable with that option. More than comfortable. He a actually trusted Loki more than this woman.
"Rock of Ages?" She repeated, enuncuating every word as if it were despicable.
"Loki." Tony supplied easily.
"Ah" the healer uttered. "Prince Loki assist in a way, he was the one who informed me as to the purpose of the device in your chest, as well as what else would have to come out" she explained, holding out a glass of water. Tony merely stared at it, a look of perturbation on his face. "What is the matter?"
"I don't like being handed things" he stated simply, and with a slight roll of her eyes, the woman placed the glass down on the tray. Tony reached for it with pursed lips "Don't roll your eyes at me, Braidy bunch, I have good reason to have trust issues"
"My name is Eir. I am Chief healer of Asgard."
Tony gave her a half hearted salute. "Nice t' meet'ya Ear." he said, his attention once more taken by the metal - that was, of course, before he remembered something of interest. "Hey! What happened to Houdini?"
"Who?" Eir asked in confusion, beginning to grow rather tired of the man's strangeness.
"Houdini. Donovan. Y'know the girl that Loki has the hots for." Tony expounded, though unlike most people who would look confused or exasperated, Eir merely raised an eyebrow at him, a condescending look of one who was dealing with a small child etched upon her features.
"Lady Elizabeth is fully recovered." She answered. "The change from Midgardian to Asgardian went smoothly-"
"Wait wait wait wait!" Tony interrupted again, adjusting himself to sit up in the bed. "Houdini is now one of you space gods? How the hell did that happen?"
Eir sighed. "It was the only way to save her life, her body no longer able to function due to the levels of stress and internal damages which she'd sustained. At length it was decided that she would be given an apple of Idunn, which upon being consumed changed her into one of us." she told him slowly. "She is currently with Prince Loki, and has been ever since the change."
Tony, for the first time since waking, was silent, taking his time to process the information before he finally spoke, though his words likely weren't entirely appropriate for the subject.
"He's gonna get married before me isn't he? Fucking bastard."
Light piercing into her slumber-filled mind was what finally woke Lizzie from her slumber, and with a groan of sleepy agitation, she opened them to see Loki standing before the balcony window. It took her a moment, as it had for the last week since she'd been released from the healer's wing, to recognize just where she was.
"I'm sorry, my love. I didn't mean to wake you." his baritone said as he came back to the bed, a smile crossing her face when he slid back in, her body turning to face him as he pulled her close. "You didn't sleep well again."
"Mmmm..." Lizzie hummed, snuggling into his bare chest. "Pity those damn apples don't have some kind of a 'forgetting' property." she said. "Besides, at least my original nightmares aren't a problem anymore."
Loki sighed. "They will pass in time." he said, his lips brushing against her forehead as his eyes slipped closed. "At least, I hope they shall."
Lizzie hummed again, saying nothing further for a moment as she reveled in his embrace, his arm around her a security she hadn't felt in so long that she wasn't sure she'd ever get tired of it. Nor would she tire of his fingers combing through her hair...
... or of how he seemed to quite enjoying going without a shirt in the privacy of his chambers.
The memory of the first night after her release from the healing wing played in her mind as they lay there, her fingers beginning to trace a pattern on his chest.
"Is it just me, or does everything you do echo Salazar Slytherin?" Lizzie asked as she stepped into the room,looking around at the decorations which was practically all in green and gold.
Loki chuckled, locking the door before he slipped his arms around her middle and pulling her back toward him. "It could be said that he echoes me." he said, his tone all too smug for her not to reply.
But she didn't, still tired from the transformation process. A week-long transformation. "Yeah well, you should have found yourself a Helga Hufflepuff. Instead you got me." she replied. "And I'd probably be a squib." Loki sighed over her shoulder, and she could basically feel the annoyance rolling of him. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?"
"Yes."
Lizzie craned her head back, laughing lightly as she looked at him. "I can't believe you actually answered that truthfully."
"I do that a lot, actually." Loki replied, mischief filling his eyes. "And yet everyone is always surprised."
"Oh for gods sake, now you're Jack Sparrow?"
"No. I am Loki. If anyone is Jack Sparrow its Stark."
"Are we really having this conversation?"
A laugh was all Loki replied with, scooping Lizzie up as she yawned.
"Please don't tell me this room is all for me. It's way too big" Lizzie complained as he set her on the bed, moving away from her to the wardrobe a bit to the side.
"Well considering it's my chambers also, and I am currently not in a cell - I'm happy to inform you that you do not have the room to yourself" he rattled off, pulling out tunics and examining them as he did before choosing one that was a distinctly non-Loki color. "Here, this should do" he muttered,heading back toward her.
"You actually have a red shirt?" Lizzie commented. "I thought you had an obsession with the color green?"
Loki smirked. "Well occasionally I had to pretend to be Thor." he stated as if it were obvious, holding out the shirt for her to take. "It'll suit you nicely."
A chuckle came from her. "It's not weird at all that you used this pretending to be Thor." she said, taking the shirt from his hand before looking down at herself.
"Well at least it was still me in it." Loki said far too smugly, kissing her a moment before he smirked and took off his own tunic.
Lizzie's eyebrow raised-
A chuckle above her head drew her from her thoughts and she craned her head to look at him. "What?"
"You keep drawing circles on my chest while giggling softly." he answered. "What are you thinking about?"
Lizzie giggled a little louder this time, still tracing figures. "You having a red shirt to pretend to be Thor. In a way I could joke and say I'm wearing Thor's shirt, cause a little scandal." she said, feeling him tense a bit at her words.
Loki hummed, his fingers toying with said shirt which she was still wearing. "I think green will suit you better."
"Oh? Changed your mind?" He didn't reply, which only caused her to laugh a little harder. "By the way, I didn't know you watched Pirates." She quickly changed the subject, though she decided she quite liked Loki when he was jealous.
Loki blushed a little. "Yes well, not all Midgardian entertainment is imbecilic." he stated very seriously, earning a poke from Lizzie which he gave an irritated look at. "I think I liked it better when you couldn't hurt me as much."
"Most of our entertainment is brilliant." she declared, stuffing her head once more into his chest.
"Your version of brilliance isn't very bright." he replied, brushing her hair back from her face. "Though I will give you credit on some."
Brown eyes rolled. "Oh we are honored." she said, smiling sublimely as he leaned down to kiss her briefly. "Good morning by the way."
"Good morning." He replied with a genuine smile, leaning in again to capture her lips, his hands sliding up under her shirt-
-when there was a pounding at the door.
"Brother!"
Loki growled in frustration. "Go away Thor!" He shouted back, burying his face in Elizabeth's neck as she laughed.
"Loki! Father requires our presence." Thor boomed from the other side.
"'s not my father!"
"He's coming, Thor!" Lizzie shouted over Loki, who withdrew his head from her neck to give her a betrayed look. "Oh don't you dare. He wouldn't go away and you know it - besides, we probably needed to get up anyway."
Loki huffed, burying his head in the pillow before bringing it up again to look at her, reminding her quite a bit of a child who was told he needed to do something he didn't want. "Odin can wait. Thor is always way too dramatic about this. I doubt it really matters-"
"I can still hear you, Loki!" Thor said from the other side of the door yet again. "Don't make me come in there!"
"You come in here and you'll deal with me!" Lizzie called back, trying to get away from Loki's hand which sought to silence her mouth from speaking more. "We'll meet you there! - Loki Stop!" She screeched as he tried a new tactic of attacking her neck with his mouth, her eyes slipping closed. Damn him, he was far too talented with that mouth of his. "We are coming-aah."
"Very well, Elizabeth. Until then." Came Thor's voice, a laugh heard in it before footsteps echoed away.
But Loki had not finished his assault, fishing a moan out of her before he suddenly found himself falling into the bed with an 'oof', Elizabeth across the room and fully dressed. He blinked, looking between her and the bed as he concluded that her powers must have assisted her in getting away from him. "Elizabeth!" He cried indignantly.
"Don't 'Elizabeth' me. Your brother needs you." The Woman replied, tossing his shirt at him as he dramatically flopped back on the bed. She blinked at him, mouth open in shock of his supposed inability to understand what she was saying. "...You are literally five years old."
That caught his attention, and with a mischievous look in his eyes, he jumped out of bed, stalking toward her. "Well, if I was five years old... this would be rather inappropriate." he said lowly, catching her by surprise as he pushed her against the wall, kissing her hard for a moment before he pulled away, walking over to the wardrobe to get dressed, Lizzie's eyes narrowed at his back.
"Tease." She shot lamely, and Loki laughed.
He knew it was only a matter of time before she got revenge, and he knew it was going to be rather sweet.
A/N: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand i'm back. hahahah i know that was a bit of a whiplash with this chapter, but the angst was sooo killing me and I needed my fluffy otp back story is actually gonna be wrapping up soon, and merge into...another story of the same series because I am a slut for these characters. (with an addition and a highlight on Bella to be precise)
Let me know what you think in the box below :P