***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me***
Phew, well that was an exciting chapter. Now we return to the present and get to hear what Loki, Pepper, and Stark have to say about those wretched council members DUN DUN DUN…Oh and again, this is a STRICTLY friendship relationship between Loki and Spira. As much as I love Loki pairings, Spira is like 17…a bit young for Loki…haha. Sorry for the long updates, I've been on vacation since last Friday, and I won't be back until this Sunday. After that, I should be updating faster. This one is also more of a filler chapter, and features a little bonding moment between our two protagonists. Hope you guys are enjoying this story, fell free to review and all that. (:
Chapter 6
"Dayum Mindfreak, you whooped four grown men's asses? Nice job." Stark held his hand up, waiting for Spira to high five him, instead she returned his obnoxious comment with a sharp glare.
Pepper had fixed up the young girl and replaced her stitches, disinfecting her wounds as she tended to her broken body. The surgical tray was full of blood as disinfectant fluids, along with the makeshift stitches that were starting to form an infection. Pepper had insisted on an I.V for Spira to replenish her lost fluids and dehydration, but Spira violently refused after images of needles and tubes from the room at the H.Q flashed behind her eyes.
"I feel terrible Stark," Spira said, hanging her head, "It was like I became a different person. I felt like the Red Queen, raging mad and horribly malicious."
"Well, it sounds like your 'talent' is not really a talent at all. You're one of us kid." Stark replied, slinging an arm around her.
Spira gave Stark an unenthused look, and then looked over at Pepper who shrugged and said, "I mean, it's kind of true. But you have no idea how unique that makes you- you-"
"Get to use cool ass guns." Stark interrupted, a cheek to cheek grin spreading across his face.
Pepper playfully smacked his arm and continued her motivational speech, "You can save so many lives this way, and chances are, you'll get to do some pretty cool undercover work."
"Yea, in prison." Spira mumbled.
"Fury wouldn't have allowed this to happen, so we have him on our side. He can pull some strings and clear your record." Star said nonchalantly, like it was the easiest thing in the world.
Tuning to Spira's thoughts, Loki mumbled, "It is not that simple."
All three of the Midgardians turned their head to look at Loki, waiting to see what else he had to say in the matter, "With my experience concerning the W.S.C, that group of individuals will stop at nothing to get their hands on something valuable," The God began, "They have over ruled Nick Fury before, who is to say they will not try again?"
"Yea but we have all the S.H.I.E.L.D heroes on our side; five super humans and two gods against a few politicians-"
"With access to basically anything, any kind of weapon." Spira cut in.
"-Still, "Stark continued, "We can handle anything they throw at us. "
Loki, Spira, and even Pepper gave stark a doubtful gaze, wondering just how far the council would be willing to go to get their hands on Spira.
Even with Nick Fury and the Avengers on their side, the council could do anything they wanted. The W.S.C could use the media to diminish the heroes' reputations; they could have the National Guard and every single military squadron after them. The Avengers would never harm innocent people who were just doing their job; the council would stop at nothing.
"We should probably contact Fury, or wait for him to get here, since he's most likely planning his visit already." Spira said, looking up at Stark.
"Jarvis, get the fine china out." The narcissist said to the ceiling.
"Right away sir." The automated voice said, responding to Stark's sarcastic joke.
After Spira was cleaned up, she practically ate Stark's whole refrigerator before going to the room Stark prepared for her. Loki's was down the hall, and Stark and Pepper moved into the same hallway incase the faced any sudden intrusions during the night. Spira was given the comfiest pajamas in the world to sleep in, as well as a set of daytime clothes and battle clothes- just in case.
Sleep was out of the question for the girl, for her mind was racing in a million different directions.
Spira sat in a large chair by the electric fireplace with her knees curled into her chest, staring at the digital flames. She went through the past day in her head, gritting her teeth as she remembered waking up to find needles stuck in her and straps leashed around her. She remembered the agony she went through as she ripped them out and tried to make her escape.
It was a traumatizing experience for someone like her; she had only been at the head quarters for less than six months, and they were already trying to perform tests on her? Spira became sick to her stomach at the thought. What if they starting testing anyone else that had powers or a talent similar to hers? How far would they go? What if the found her and the nightmare started all over again?
Spira bit back tears as she recalled herself stumbling through the hallways in her hospital gown, bleeding, sobbing, and gasping for air as she made her way to the ramp that lead to the Cell Room. She recalled leaving blood smears on the rungs of the ladder, and then a small puddle of blood in the ramp's hallway as she coughed it up from her lungs. After she released Loki, her memory went hazy. She remembered being in an excruciating amount of pain, running into Agent Barton, and then passing out. Most of her experience was a blur, but the anxiety and trauma still wedged itself in her mind. It was like the doctors stripped every layer of courage and bravery from her body, leaving an empty shell of fear. It wasn't until the adrenaline kicked in that she felt minutely like herself. Even withing her black-eyed fit of mind reading that brought that house down, she had lost almost every grip she had on her own mind.
She hardly remembered most of the diner. All that came into her memory was pain and blood. Loki had stuck a tube in her side and then messily stitched her up with floss and a needle. Spira shuddered at the thought of watching herself being stitched up with a sewing needle and floss.
Spira's thoughts were interrupted as she heard a soft knock at the door.
"Come in Loki." She said, already sensing his presence from the other side of the door. There was a darkness to his aura, but not one of pure evil. It was a mischievous presence, which fit his title and persona, but there were small inklings of sadness within his mind at times. If she could put a color to his aura, it would be black in the center and then slowly bleed out into a dark and earthy green.
"Very fitting." Spira thought.
Loki gently opened the door and stepped in, walking into the dim light up the fire. Her looked like he was about to say something, but instead gave Spira a curious look and tilted his head.
She realizing that he was silently asking about the stray tear that had inconspicuously made its way down her cheek. She didn't even realize she was actually crying until then, so she quickly reached up and brushed the tear aside, pretending like nothing happened.
"It is over now," The God of Mischief said with an understanding tone, "What they did to you was horrific and unforgivable, but you must not dwell on what is done."
She simply nodded her head, finding no comfort in Loki's words. Spira wanted to feel comfort, she really did, but at the present moment, she felt like the world was collapsing as she relived the horrors of the previous day.
The young girl got up from her seat and walked over to the dresser, grabbing a tube-like object. She pushed a button on the top of it, which released the cap that concealed a needle. Loki quirked his head in question, eyeing the needle.
"Cortisone." Spira replied. She jabbed the needle into her leg and grit her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut as she pressed the button down again. After a few seconds, she groaned in pain as she removed the needle from her leg, leaving a small speck of blood.
Loki observed this interesting spectacle, for it always caught him off guard how fragile humans are. If he ever received an injury, he usually healed quickly and was never in need of any pain killers.
"I uhm-I asked Mr. Stark about the reference you made to the Red Queen, and he informed me that it originated from a story by the name of Alice in Wonderland." Loki said in a soft tone, seeing that Spira was teetering on the edge of a break down, "He presented me with the book on request before he showed me to my room. I've read it all, as I could not sleep tonight, and I see no Red Queen in you. You are most definitely more like Alice."
Spira turned her head to him and smiled and genuine smile, another tear slowly falling down her cheek,
Loki continued, trying to ease her sadness, "You see, the Red Queen is pure evil, there is not a kind bone in her obese body," he smiled, "But Alice-she has a spark to her. She took down an entire house of cards to save herself, and vanquished the Red Queen because she knew it was the proper thing to do. But Alice was a kind and curious girl, never evil or malicious."
Spira studied him for a moment, quirking her eyebrow and listened to the truth in his words. When he was finished talking, she smiled and got up, facing Loki.
She hugged him around the waist, nuzzling into his chest, beginning to cry again. The God hadn't been shown kindness like this in so long, his first reaction was to tense up and become as still as a rock, but as Spira began sobbing, he closed his arms around her.
"I will not let you turn into the Red Queen," he said, listening to her quiet tears, "You are the first person who has shown me genuine kindness and acceptance in more than a century, and I am grateful for that."
"It's called being a friend, silly." Spira sniffled.
Loki softened at that remark and held Spira until she finished crying, knowing exactly what it was like to feel like the world was crashing down around you. The mischievous Asgardian realized that he was beginning to form an unusual soft spot for the fragile human. He was certainly not one to comfort any living soul, in fact, the very thought disgusted him, but with Spira it was different. For some reason, he felt the need to return the young girl's kindness.
"We're creatures of the darkness, Loki." Spira said, hearing his thoughts, "You and I share a spot on the same wavelength, a place among the shadows. We are neither good nor evil and we find ourselves to be loners in this universe. But when we stumble upon someone who is just like us, which is exceedingly rare, we feel the need to connect with them and form a bond, for it is all we have to cure our solitude."
"Forgive me but, how does a Midgardian have the capacity to contain such a high level of understanding of something so dark?" The Asgardian replied, releasing the young girl and walking over to the fire place.
"A label does not define someone Loki; you of all people should know that." Spira said, tucking herself up in to the chair.
Loki turned his head to face her, and put on a strained smile, "Of course." He said, bowing his head slightly and then returning to look at the smoldering flames.
Spira watched him for a minute, trying to keep up with his constant thoughts that swam through his head, going a million miles an hour. She watched images of him being compared to Thor, and lectured by Odin, she felt the pain he felt when he remembered this agonizing memories. She saw him look at his hand and the surprise and anger he felt when he watched the pale flesh turn a dark sapphire color. The young girl heard the name Odinson and Asgardian run through his head, followed by feelings of hatred, betrayal, and anguish.
"Spira-"
"Sorry." She said quickly, snapping out of it, "I was curious as to what you were thinking. You seemed very focused." Spira knitted her eyebrows together and poked her lip out, pretending to be a stern and serious looking person. Loki chuckled lightly at her amusing facial, his eyes lighting up in the firelight.
"I should probably ask your permission before diving into your thoughts when you look focused." She said, slightly embarrassed.
"Well that never stopped you before." He said jokingly.
"Yeah, but that was before the whole 'saving my life' thing, so I figure I probably owe you at least a bit of privacy to your thoughts. While we're on that subject," Spira said quickly, "I never thanked you properly for saving my life." The young girl's eyes dropped, and she all of a sudden seemed very sad, going back to the memories of her barely holding on to her life, nearly slipping from this world permanently.
"It was merely payment for my release." He said, noticing her sadness.
"Thank you though, Loki. Really. Without you, I'd be dead or wishing I was." She replied, still looking at the floor.
"Wallowing on the subject will keep your feet glued to the floor," The God of Mischief said, lifting up the young girl's chin and giving her an encouraging look, "Do not force me to sputter out a motivational speech, you know that is not my forte."
Spira forced herself to smile through her sadness, taking on the literal meaning of the phrase, "grin and bear it". The corner of her mouth quirked up into a small smile, halfway at Loki's attempt to make her feel better, and halfway for herself.
"That's it." He replied, biffing her chin and straightening up a bit, "I trust you will be well for the rest of the night?"
Spira nodded her head in assurance and gave Loki another small smile, "Good night."
The God nodded professionally before closing the door softly, leaving Spira to herself.
The young girl walked over to the bed, pulling at a stray string that was hanging off the hem of her night shirt. Her eyes immediately went to the needle marks on her wrists that were now black and blue, looking like the color of the sky in a dreadfully dark storm.
Spira let out a long sigh and said to herself, "Bring on the nightmares."