The feeling of falling during teleportation only increased Paige's pain. Tears poured from her eyes as she buried her face in his chest. The pain reminded her of the pain she had felt from AVCORP's drill. But, this pain was stronger. She was drugged back then. This time, she was wide awake.
Loki laid her gently on an ornate settee and smoothed her hair away from her face. "I know it hurts," he confessed. He flicked a wrist, conjuring a full bottle of wine from thin air. He pressed it into her hand. "Drink as much of this as you can without causing yourself to fall ill. What comes next will hurt me just as much as it hurts you. And I am sorry."
Paige looked at the bottle of wine with hesitation. You know how much I despise drinking. She tipped it up to her mouth and took a large swallow. But I think I know what you're about to do. She gripped the back of the settee with her free hand until her knuckles turned white. Do it. Just do it. I can take it.
Loki studied her eyes, saw her determination. He hadn't lied. He didn't want to do this. But he had to. He placed a hand on her crushed leg and concentrated. The first SNAP! of bone returning to its place nauseated him, but he knew he had to keep going.
Paige drew in a sharp breath when he placed his hand on her leg. His cool touch felt like needles piercing her skin. When her bones began to move back into place, Paige couldn't help but scream again. This was the one time she was thankful she was a mute. Her squeaking screams would be heard by no one else. Her inner scream, however, was as loud and sharp as a real one.
Stop! She begged. I lied, I lied! I can't take it! Running on instinct alone, Paige sent a strong blast of telekinetic energy at him, trying to force him to let go.
Loki swallowed and pushed away the energy. "My apologies, little one. I must finish the work. Not long now." The scream in his mind echoed, and he was hard pressed to ignore it.
Paige continued screaming. Loki, please! Stop!
Even still, he pressed on, the bones snapping and cracking as they melded back together. "Thor will pay for what he's done."
She gasped when she heard him speak of Thor. This could be her one chance to get Loki to stop healing her, if she played it right. Yes! Your brother! Your wonderful, horrible brother! He should pay! Rightfully so! Far more than this! He should have known better than to strike not only a lady, but a mortal one at that! You should go after him right now!
Loki released her leg, only half done healing her. She could be right. Perhaps he should go back for his brother before the oaf retreated back into his hole.
She gave a large sigh of relief and let her head hang back over the arm of the chair. Meanwhile, she mentally groaned, I shall try to finish off this bottle of wine.
He held her gaze, wanting to believe she meant every word she said but less sure when her words came out monstrous. The Paige he knew would never ask him to hurt someone so fully, but he would take her at her word anyway. Because he wanted Thor to pay. Dearly.
Loki teleported away before she could take back her words and found himself facing Thor's retreating back. "Do you have any idea how much harm you've done her?" he screamed.
Thor turned and wielded Mjolnir as if to strike. He remained like that, hammer in midair, waiting for Loki to say something else.
And say something else he did. "As you have caused her so much hurt, I will make you writhe in anguish. You swore to me that you cherish these mortals, these weaklings. You protect them, do you not? Then I can only imagine your pain when you are unable to protect those you claim are most worthy." He shook his head slowly and prepared to leave before Thor could hit him with a lightning bolt. He'd let his cryptic message stew for a while before he acted on it. He wanted Thor to know he was coming.
"Loki, I never intended to harm her," Thor answered, lowering Mjolnir to his side and finally letting it drop. "Indeed, her betrothed would harm me himself if he knew what I have done."
Loki stopped everything. "Betrothed?"
"To a man called Drake."
"Drake," Loki scoffed. "Well then, Odinson, let it be known to this Drake that she is mine now. She claims me as her own, and I always protect what is mine from those that wish to steal it away." He took a step closer, emboldened by his own frustration. "Tell him that he can no longer have her, as she has been claimed by a better man than he will ever be. Tell him that she is no longer a prisoner, but my companion of her own will. Let it be publicly acknowledged that she loves him no longer."
"Please, Loki, be reasonable." Thor extended a hand as if to draw him in.
"This has gone far beyond reason. Leave us be and go back to those worthy of your concern." Loki studied him with a shake of his head. "You will never see me coming."
/
Kitania breathed in a deep breath as he senses returned to her. She had no idea how long she'd been out this time. She had kind of been hoping for forever. Her head still ached, but most of the dull pain in the rest of her body was gone. She pried one eye open and promptly screamed. She bolted upright and pulled at the wires around her. No. No, this can not be happening.
Everything was too sterile. Too clean. She had known this day would come and they couldn't run tests on her. They'd never let her walk away a free woman if they did. People had been looking for the Fountain of Youth for centuries. They couldn't know that it had manifested itself in the form of a homeless young woman with trust issues and clinical depression.
More wires. More tugging. Another scream ripped from her throat, this time echoing her thoughts. "No!"
"Calm down, Kitania," Demetri said as he jumped to his feet and gripped the rails of her hospital bed. "You're safe. You fell unconscious, so we brought you to my lab. We won't run any tests on you, I promise. We just want to know what caused both you and Drake to collapse at the same time. Are you alright? Any pain?"
Kitania's breath caught in her throat and she blinked. She pushed the wires away and struggled to get her feet off the bed. "Where is he?"
Before Demetri could reply, Dr. Sara answered Kitania's question. "He's dead. I'm sorry."
Demetri slowly sank down into his chair. "Dead? But, he was perfectly fine a couple hours ago. How did this happen?"
Dr. Sara shrugged and walked behind her son, drawing him back into her arms. "It was the strangest thing," Dr. Sara stated with cold doctor's precision. "When we tried to get an IV in him, he didn't bleed. What blood we did get out was black and thick, like it had been there for years. I can't explain it. He's down in the morgue if you want to visit him later, son. I'm sorry."
Demetri could only nod sadly, still wondering what went wrong.
"Get me out of here," Kitania struggled with the wires anew. "Please, let me do something. I need to help. All I've done to him is hurt him. Let me help. Please."
She honestly couldn't believe she had said so much. She never talked that much and never to two complete strangers who owned a lab, for crying out loud. What was it about him that made her want to help so ardently? She'd never felt attached to anyone, human or otherwise. So why him?
"There is nothing you can do, child." Dr. Sara said sadly.
"Wait. Maybe there is." Demetri looked in her direction. "Kitania, you can heal, right?"
"She is a healer? Why did you not say so earlier?" Dr. Sara immediately began to take the wires off of Kitania.
Once she was free, the group made their way down to the morgue. As Dr. Sara lifted her key card to the card reader on the wall, both Avrils jolted at the sound of someone banging on the door.
"Open it, mama!"
Dr. Sara slid her card through the reader and the door opened to reveal Drake, scantily clad in a hospital gown and shivering.
"Hey. Why am I in a freezer?"
Dr. Sara fainted.
Well, that was a new one. Kitania mentally checked off "freaky resurrection without explanation" from her list of wacky things she had witnessed. She cowered behind the remaining Avril and wrapped her arms tighter around herself, wishing she still had her hood. She let her hair fall toward her face.
Whoever he was, she wasn't sure she liked it. Shadows that bowed to him and now the power to seem dead. Something about him gave her shivers.
Drake, noticing the presence of two women, one of which had fallen to the floor, quickly wrapped himself in shadows. He appeared to be wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans.
He stooped down to check on the doctor. "Doc, are you okay? Doc? Wake up, Mrs. Avril!"
The doctor remained unresponsive, while Demetri was still too stunned to say anything.
Kitania didn't know how he could be so calm! He had been dead! Or, so it seemed. So why wasn't he spooked? And why did he control shadows? Why darkness? If there was one thing she hated more than Mr. Edwards, it was the darkness and lies that tried to pervade her mind.
She turned her attention to Mrs. Avril and concentrated on feeling for anything that could possibly be wrong. She had a sixth sense about these kinds of things. She smiled when she realized Mrs. Avril had only fainted from fright. She'd be okay in a few minutes. Since they didn't need her help, Kitania faded into a wallflower.
Drake stood up and looked around him. "Um, De? Why are we in the morgue? And why did Doc pass out?"
Demetri snapped back to attention. "Drake, you were dead. What happened? You just screamed and died. Nearly gave me a heart attack."
Drake leaned back against a nearby wall. "Yeah. I don't know what happened. I was just sitting there, and all of a sudden I felt as if I was on fire. And then... nothing. I woke up in a dark room, felt for the door, knocked, and here you are. I guess I scared your mom pretty bad."
Demetri huffed. "It's difficult to scare an Avril. Congratulations."
Dr. Sara finally groaned and sat up, rubbing her head. "Drake!" She looked up at him with surprise. "You're alive! What are you?!"
Drake shrugged and looked down at his hands. "I dunno yet."
Kitania wanted to scream that she knew. He was full of darkness, and he controlled it somehow. She wasn't sure if he could be trusted. It was all wrong. He claimed to be crying for the loss of his love, but the darkness she knew was incapable of such. Unwilling to take it any longer, she turned and marched for the door. She had to get out of there.
Drake watched as the girl marched toward another freezer door. "Um, De? Your... cousin? … is leaving via freezer."
"What?" Demetri turned and listened for Kitania's footsteps. "Kitania, you will not get out that way." He looked back toward Drake. "And she is not family. I'm just helping her out. Drake, this is Kitania; Kitania, Drake. Now, would either of you mind telling me what the heck happened back there?"
"Why don't we talk in the conference room?" Dr. Sara suggested, pulling her lab coat tighter around her. "It's a bit chilly in here."
As Dr. Sara led the group upstairs to one of the conference rooms, Drake couldn't help but wonder why he did not feel the chill Doc had.
It didn't seem like they paid any attention to her, and Kitania was beginning to feel like a complete third wheel. She might as well just duck out now, before anything else wacky happened. Which it probably would. And she couldn't tell them she had half-killed him. They'd hate her.
She sighed. So his name was Drake. Interesting choice. Meant Dragon in Latin, she knew that much. She didn't want to follow, but she did, mostly because she had no idea where she was or where they were going.
Dr. Sara led them into a conference room and immediately began trying to run more tests on Drake. She checked for his pulse and listened to his heartbeat—or lack of it—but by the time she took a needle out to draw some blood, Drake had had enough.
"Stop it! I may work for you, but I'm not your guinea pig. Not right now, at least. I don't know why I died... but, it might have something to do with the fact that I'm... well, I'm a Shadow Walker."
"A what?" Demetri looked up toward Drake from where he was sitting at the conference table. "What's a Shadow Walker?"
"I think I took so long to get my powers because my amplifier was connecting to... another realm. The Shadow Lands. I went there, and the Shadow Walkers there killed me. Brooke brought me back, but I've been... different... since then. I can't explain it. They told me that they made me into one of them."
Dr. Sara broke out laughing. "Poor child must have hit his head when he fell. Drake, you're delusional."
Drake glared at the doctor and sulked over to the large picture window. "How can I explain it? You'll never believe me!"
"He controls them," Kitania said, nearly in a whisper. "The Shadows. They go where he sends them."
Drake glanced over when Kitania spoke. Suddenly, visions of a memory, like fragments of a dream, came to his mind. He remembered standing in Kitania's room, telling her not to hurt herself. He remembered her scared reaction, and the light that had hurt him. "You. I was in your room. But, I was in Demetri's room at the same time. You hit me with a blast of light. But... it wasn't me."
Dr. Sara glanced from Drake, to Kitania, and back. "You care to explain, child?"
"I don't think I can." Drake confessed. "Apparently, I was in Kitania's room while I was in Demetri's. I was... a shadow."
Kitania winced. Of course he remembered her playing with that knife. It would be the one thing he remembered. She should have known someone was watching the whole time. She should have gone somewhere else and carved her flesh there. No one would have known. She didn't know what to do or what to say. Should she apologize? Or should she let it go and hope they forgot? Either way, they seemed to think Drake' shadow manipulation was a bigger deal than anything she might be going through, so she remained silent.
Drake glanced over at Kitania. "I'm sorry for scaring you earlier. I didn't know what I was doing. Really. This is all so new to me." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I don't blame you for what you did. I kinda deserved it."
"Wait, what did she do?" Demetri asked.
"Well, she kinda hit me with a large blast of light. It nearly killed me. Or... I guess it kinda did for a while."
"And that must have drained her energy, knocking her out." Dr. Sara concluded. "Good. Mystery solved. Now," she grabbed Drake's arm. "We go and do more tests."
He wrenched his arm away from her. "Stop it. I said no."
"You can't test him!" Kitania concurred loudly. She blushed at her outburst. What if her healing power remained in his system? What if they found out what she was and how it worked? She couldn't risk that happening. "I mean... he needs to rest, right?"
The three looked at Kitania, puzzled by her outburst.
"I feel fine," Drake admitted. "Great, actually. I just don't want to be poked and prodded again."
"Why the sudden concern?" Demetri asked. He paused, thinking, then continued, "Is this because you think your energy is still in him? Perhaps. But, at this moment, we do not care about your abilities. I gave you my word, and I will keep it. I refuse to experiment on anyone without their approval." He looked up toward his mother. "We at Avril Corporation respect our patients. Mama. Leave him alone."
Dr. Sara crossed her arms and huffed. "It is such a good opportunity! I'm so curious!"
"Do you not think Drake has been through enough for one day? Kitania is right. Let him rest. We all could use a rest. Come, Mama."
Demetri stood and held his hand out to his mother. Dr. Sara sighed and took it.
"There are nice rooms here on this floor," he explained, heading for the door. "These are the rooms reserved for recovering patients. I will have someone send you your day clothes. We had them put away. I will see you two in the morning, and my apologies for keeping you here. I think it is best to keep you both under observation for the night, in case something happens again. Goodnight."
With that, the Avrils walked out and down the hall.
"And they have the nerve to say I'm weird," Drake commented with a laugh.
Kitania nodded, but balked at the thought of spending the night alone in this facility. With him. What if his creepy, sinister shadow double showed up again? What if he tried something?
There's always the pen thing again, Kitania thought to herself. She could totally take care of herself. She thought. Just in case, she stood stock still and waited for him to make the first move. He seemed to know his way around the building better than she did, anyway.
Drake walked to the door and held it open for Kitania. "I can show you where the rooms are, if you want." As he began to lead her down the hall, he nervously played with the sweatbands around his wrists. "Hey, um, don't feel bad about that whole... knife... thing. I know I shouldn't even be talking about it, but... I know what it's like. Can I show you something?"
Without waiting for her approval, he slid his sweatbands off, revealing a host of thick scars around his wrists. Scars on top of scars blemished his skin. After he had shown her, he quickly slipped the bands back on and shrugged.
"I know it's painful to see. Worse to feel. I just wanted to say you're not alone." He stopped at the entrance to another hall. The hall was full of suite-like rooms reserved for patients. "Well, here we are. Make yourself at home... as much as you can in a research facility. Goodnight, Kitania."
Drake walked to a door and stopped outside of it. He ran his hand over the number, remembering his old room.
Kitania didn't know where to go or what to do. Oh, sure, he had pointed out the guest rooms to her, but she hated feeling like a prisoner. She hated it when people told her where to go, when to sleep, who to talk to. She had enough of that as a child. She didn't need it now.
"Can..." she cleared her throat when her voice came out gravelly. "Can I see your wrists again?"
Drake turned and looked at Kitania. "Sure. I guess." He removed his sweatbands again and showed her his wrists. "People think I'm crazy for doing this. Like, I'm some kind of pansy for letting my emotions affect me. But, how could they ever know how I feel? The pain lets it out. A little. Well, you know what I mean."
Kitania took a deep breath. Her lumen turned on in one hand, she knew because she summoned it. She focused solely on the human side of Drake, avoiding everything in him that attached itself to darkness, and ran her lumen slowly over one wrist. Then the other. So meticulously it was almost in slow motion. And she watched the scars disappear before her eyes.
Drake winced from the sharp pain of her light touching his skin, but watched in amazement as his scars disappeared.
When the work was done only a minute or two later, she withdrew her hand and kept her head down. "Goodnight, Drake." She turned for one of the rooms down the hall.
He frowned as he watched her leave with her head down. "Thank you," He called after her, and then went into his own room. It was so strange to be in this room again after all these years. Nearly three years prior, he had stood in the same room, feeling the same emotions. Some monster had his Paige and he could do nothing about it.
Drake slumped down on his bed and glanced at the chair across from him, where his best friend, Eric, had once sat. He remembered the conversations about God and miracles. He remembered how—somehow—everyone was able to make it out of the dream alive. Drake needed that sort of miracle again.
Not knowing what else to do, he knelt down next to his bed and began to pray for his beautiful librarian to be alright.
/
Iron Man sauntered from the forest looking flustered, and stopped when he saw Thor's ashen face. "Oh no. Don't tell me you lost him. You lost him, didn't you Point Break?"
"This is not what concerns me." Thor stood stock-still, contemplating something.
Tony lifted the face mask and stared at him. "It's pretty bad, isn't it? Please tell me he's not planning to tear up my tower again. That was hurtful. Really hurtful. If he so much as scratches the glass on those new windows, I'll—" He never got to finish his sentence.
Thor quickly summoned Mjolnir and stared Tony dead on in the eyes. "His threats. All the talk of worthiness." He shook his head in disbelief. "Loki is coming for the little mortal."
"Brooke?" Tony set his jaw. "Not in this life. Let's go."
The two wasted no time in taking off.
When they arrived back at Stark Tower a mere five (ish) minutes later, Thor wasted no time in squeezing himself into the elevator.
"I'll swing around the side and make sure she's okay," Tony volunteered, taking off and flying up the side of the building.
Thor arrived in the penthouse at the same time as Tony came in from outside, and both breathed easier when they saw Brooke sitting cross-legged on the couch, staring out at the night sky above the city.
Thor raced to her and pulled her off the couch into a giant hug. "I am so glad you are safe here!"
Brooke looked confused. "Choking. Tiny humans need air."
Thor released Brooke, but held her at arm's length. "Of course. My apologies. Has my brother been here?"
"Bad magic?"
Tony chuckled. "That's the one."
Brooke shrugged. "Dunno."
"We'll take that as a no," Tony said before Thor had a chance to open his mouth. "Listen, Brooke, we think Loki's coming after you. So—and I know this is hard—I'm going to have to ask you to stay inside the tower and don't go anywhere without one of us nearby. Literally. Don't go more than ten feet away from someone. I think we can all jump to your rescue at that distance. Capisce?"
Brooke tilted her head and shrugged at him. "No promises."
"Please, little mortal. We are only concerned for your safety." Thor rested his giant hands on either side of her face and looked at her pleadingly. "You are like the little sister I always longed for. I cannot bear to lose you to Loki's insanity."
"Okay," Brooke rolled her eyes. "Ten feet rescue jump. Deal." And she promptly left the room without waiting for anyone to follow.
"I got it," Hawkeye declared, jumping down off the top of a cabinet.
Tony squinted at him. "Barton, since when do you get to climb on my stuff?"
"Uh, since you weren't here." He disappeared after Brooke.
Tony rolled his eyes. "She's not going to do what we ask, is she?"
"I am unsure if she knows how to do as she is told," Thor concurred.
Tony shook his head. "JARVIS, I want to know the instant she tries to leave the tower—no, the floor. If she so much as nears an elevator or a door or a window, I want to know about it. And if Loki shows up, lock the place down."