Em: I saw this review and decided to update today. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Tir-Na-nOg-Niamh: ILYSM BABE THANKS
i-love-tea-and-coffee: Stevelyn is my fave omg
Chocoegg333: Thank you! Here you are!
ILove2Write13: THANK YOU HERE YOU ARE DEAR (heartsheartshearts)
Counting Sinful Stars: I can't wait for Bruce and Kaitlin to fall in love yay :D
I am so unbelievably sorry this took so long. I had the world's worst writer's block and I'm working on a book. I promise to update ASAP.
There are probably errors in this chapter. I'm going to go back through tonight and re-update tomorrow for you all.
THANK YOU SARAH FOR BEING A DOLL AND HELPING ME WITH EVERYTHINGDSFJKNDSLJKFG.
Would anyone be interested in a Captain America: Winter Soldier Fic? I was thinking about writing one between TRANCE and REVERIE.
Please Enjoy.
*~MONARCH~*
Manhattan, New York
Avengers Tower
April 22nd
9:40 PM
"What's wrong with her?"
Steve slowly looked up from playing with Ashlyn's hair, his fingers hopefully sending ripples of love and good prayers into her dreams.
Since her trance, Steve had been sitting in bed with his wife, taking turns between holding her, humming in her ear, tracing shapes into her skin, and letting her grip his shirt until it ripped and stretched beyond repair, all in hope that she would come back to him. He hadn't left the bed in fear that she would get worse in his absence. The other Avengers had come and go throughout the remainder of the day, Pepper bringing him coffee, Natasha a book for him to read and Clint a few quick sweeps through Ashlyn's hair when they returned to the tower, Jane another quilt when Ashlyn shivered and grew too cold, Thor stooping down to kiss Ashlyn's temple and squeeze her hand, and Tony hovered in the doorway, arms crossed, and brow furrowed with worry. Eventually, he had to do some work and leave for a board meeting with Pepper and he, like the others, left when he was unable to do anything for the brunette.
What truly amazed him was that Loki never moved from the chair by the bed. He hadn't uttered a single word until then. The ex-god's pale face had been neutral, eyes dark with thoughts as people came and went. When he wasn't staring at her huddled form he was browsing through the book Natasha brought that Steve never touched and watched as Steve never took a sip of the coffee. When he wasn't doing that, he was writing down the numbers Ashlyn cried out or mumbled, somehow knowing they were important.
So when Steve turned his head over (for he had been laying in bed on a pillow as if he himself had bee sleeping when in fact Ashlyn was the culprit, her head over his heart, her legs tangled in his, and her face pressed into his chest) and faced Loki, he knew that sooner or later he had to learn the truth.
"She's...she's having a trance because she can...uhm...Ashlyn can see the future."
Loki studied him for a long moment. When Steve was sure Loki was going to tell him he was joking, the male did the exact opposite.
"I knew it," he muttered. "I knew I had sensed magic on her."
"Magic?" It was the Captain's turn to ask. "What do you mean?"
Loki took a breath and looked him in the eye. "In Asgard there are people who dedicate them to magic, such as myself, that once they learn enough or are to a certain point, they can begin to tamper with time. I've never tried it because awfulthings do seem to happen to people who try to alter time. It is a very complicated branch of magic and is sort of a dark magic. I knew that there was an aura on her."
"My wife is magic," Steve deadpanned. It had to be some sort of prank.
"On Midgard, it would not be magic, it would have to be the result of some type of radiation. I have learned that much from the beast that lives with you."
Steve was silent, unsure of what to say until Ashlyn whimpered in her sleep, her breathing picking up. Steve slipped his hand under her shirt and rubbed small circles into her back, gently kneading the skin until she was quiet again. His shirt was soaked with tears.
"But why does it inflict pain, and so much at that?"
"We don't know," Steve sighed. "They never used to be like this."
"She never used to scream at night?"
"She screamed?"
"Every night while you were gone as if she was being murdered. It was exceedingly irritating."
"Oh, Ashlyn," he moaned quietly, pulling her closer to him and holding back the overwhelming urge to cry, an impulse he had been fighting since the first five minutes after she hadn't woken up. After that he had spoke to Bruce via Skype, the laptop balanced on the other side of the bed. They had talked and he and Loki had listened. Dr. Banner thought it was some kind of defense mechanism triggered by the pregnancy and the extra amounts of super solider serum racing through her and the child's veins. It was like her subconscious was reaching out for these trances and trying to warn her of what was ahead. This way, if Ashlyn paid attention, she would be prepared and protect herself and the baby from harm.
Steve softly brushed his fingers over Ashlyn's swollen belly, his stomach twisting into knots as she writhed and thrashed in his arms.
"Steve," she called out in a whisper, only to have the breath rise to a desperate shout. "Steve!"
The super solider kissed her forehead, her hair, her cheeks, and nose as he tried to comfort her. His tears were threatening to spill over as he became even more terrified for his wife's life. It was the fifth time in the past two hours she had bawled for him.
"It's been happening since she was a child," Steve said, his voice tremulous. He tried to smother his emotions into her hair as he breathed in her scent. "For as long as she can remember. And I'm going to try anything to make it stop."
"What of it?" Loki questioned. "You Midgardian's have a funny way of thinking you are invulnerable when it is the exact opposite. I do not doubt your urge to conquer her affliction, but I have dubiousness about you, of all people, actually being able to stop it. It is beyond you."
"Maybe it is," Steve responded sharply. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to try."
"And try you might. Best of luck with that."
"Then why are you here?" Steve suddenly snapped, sitting up as his blood boiled and Loki's voice dug deeper under his skin. "Why are you here if you don't care? Are you going to rub it in my face, tell me that my wife is weak or crippled because this happens to her?"
"No," Loki started.
"You're happy she's hurt, aren't you? That's why you're sitting here so you can watch the both of us in pain–"
"Do you dare think I want to see her in pain?!" Loki shouted, leaping to his feet. "Do you honestly have the nerve to think for one second in that abnormally dull brain of yours that I want to see her suffer?! That is the exact opposite. I was the one there that caught her and held her close, who pressed her face to my chest so she would not fall!"
"Then why are you doing this?!" Steve yelled back, scrambling out of the bed and standing straight so they were eye to eye. "Why are you taunting me?"
"Because I love her!" Loki screamed, his chest heaving as his arm swept out and knocked a vase angrily to the floor. The super solider's face fell in shock as the exiled Asgardian's twisted up in anguish. Loki ran his hand over his face, smoothing back his hair.
"Oh, don't give me that look," Loki spat, turning away from him. "We of Asgard have different meanings of love, you ignoramus."
Natasha, Clint, Tony, and Thor were in the doorway. Thor was the only one with the courage to come forward.
"You have a funny way of showing it," Steve dared.
Loki let out a cold, deadly laugh that caused the temperature of the room to drop.
"Brother, Steven, it is in our best interests to become calm," Thor told them.
"Brother, I suggest you stay out of this," Loki warned, his voice quavering with hidden anger. "We are fine."
Loki cast a look at where Ashlyn was curled up, his eyebrows knitting together. He hesitated before casting a glare at Steve and storming out of the room.
"Natasha, Clint, Tony, mind if Thor and I have some privacy?"
"No problamo," Clint acknowledged.
"I'm out," Tony agreed. "Drama is not my forte."
The three left, presumably to go back to the living room, and Steve wearily slumped down on the bed with his hands over his face.
"Is he in love with Ashlyn, Thor?" Steve asked, his voice strangled. "Is he telling the truth?"
"While Loki's intentions to stay with Ashlyn were true, I can assure you he does not love her in the way you believe." Thor patted Steve's shoulder and gazed down at him. "My brother has a funny way of forming bonds and showing affection. But when he choses his friends, he is loyal even to death and beyond. It is just hard for him to admit it. I'm actually very taken aback that he has said it."
"The last thing this tower needs is gal drama," Steve mumbled. "I'm sorry, Thor, for getting Loki stirred up."
"It is no problem, Steven," Thor assured. "He will calm down eventually. Do you want me to watch Ashlyn if you require nourishment?"
In all honesty, Steve was starving. He had pushed away his hunger and buried under is worry for his wife. Now that Thor had mentioned it, his stomach growled. Thor caught the mixed look on his face and smiled.
"You need to be strong for her. I'll wait with Ashlyn. Go eat."
Steve sighed, leaned down and kissed Ashlyn's forehead, and left for the kitchen.
Ashlyn shifted as Thor sat down on the bed. The blond took one of Ashlyn's hands in both of his and squeezed it slightly.
"We're all very worried, Ashlyn," Thor said quietly. "Please be well."
Ashlyn moved again, her eyelids contracting. Her hand moved slightly in Thor's grip and her fingers wiggled weakly. Her head turned over in the direction of Thor's voice and then, miraculously, her eyes opened.
"T-Thor?" Ashlyn weakly croaked.
Thor smiled. "You are awake."
"Yeah...?" Ashlyn coughed and swiveled her tongue around in her mouth. "Ugh. It tastes like someone barfed in my mouth."
"You vomited an hour or so ago, so I can imagine that must be the source of the taste."
"I threw up?" the brunette asked, gazing around. "When did it get so late? I was cold and–"
It all came rushing back to her in one swoop of agony. Ashlyn gnawed on her lip and clenched her eyes closed. "I had a trance."
"Yes," Thor confirmed with a nod.
"And Loki saw."
Thor nodded once again. "He took care of you until Steven arrived."
Ashlyn took her hand out of Thor's and pressed down on the bed, slowly moving into a sitting position. Her head was throbbing as she kicked off the blankets, suddenly too hot. She felt trapped in too tight skin and Pink Floyd t-shirt and sweat pants–when had she put those clothes on? She had been wearing jeans and a sweater...
Steve must have changed her. It was nearly ten. Hadn't it just been four?
4 27 5 35ca93
As the numbers flashed across her vision, everything subsided and she strangely felt perfectly fine.
"Where is everyone?"
"Out in the living quarters. Would you like to go out there, or are you still in pain?"
Ashlyn's shook her head. "N-No...I'm...I'm not."
Thor got up off the bed and held his hand out to the seer. She took it and he helped her to her feet, letting her wrap her arm through his.
"I must insist upon it, Ashlyn. I do not want you to collapse again."
Ashlyn beamed and nodded. "That's fine. I don't want to fall either."
Thor escorted her out to the living room where Tony, Pepper, and Clint were sitting as Loki stood by the window, brooding silently. Tony, who turned at the sound of them approaching, jumped to his feet.
"Ashie! Welcome back."
Loki snapped his head in their direction, his stiff posture relaxing. Loki raised an eyebrow and Ashlyn nodded, him dipping his head and turning back to the window in turn. There was a loud screeching of stools being shoved about and Steve stumbled out of the kitchen, eyes widening at the sight of her standing with Thor. Pepper patted the spot between her and Clint on the couch, gesturing for Ashlyn to sit down with them. Before Thor could even lead Ashlyn to the couch Steve had cross the room in what seemed to be a single bound, pulling Ashlyn out of Thor's grip and enveloping her into a hug.
"Hiya, darlin'. How are you feeling?"
"That's the funny part," Ashlyn responded. "I...I feel fine."
April 23rd
11:00 AM
"Good morning!"
Ashlyn, who was fully dressed and was sitting in the coffee reading the newspaper and drinking her coffee, looked up to see Tony walking through the doorway with a strange man who she had never met before. The stranger was holding a professional camera up on his shoulder and was gazing through an eye piece.
"What's this about?" Ashlyn asked with an amused and slightly confused grin.
"Remember how I told you about how I was going to make a YouTube series because I have nothing better to do?" Tony questioned. "Well, I hired a tech guy. Ashie, Geoff. Geoff, Ashie."
"I'm really sorry," Ashlyn told him.
"My paycheck isn't," Geoff informed happily. The ginger gave her a thumbs up.
"I'm just showing our soon-to-be viewers around. So far they've met you and Thor. So, Ashie, how's the bun in your oven?"
"Pipin' hot, just like me." Ashlyn snapped her fingers and turned away.
Steve walked into the kitchen followed by Thor, Jane, and Clint. The super solider stooped down and kissed his wife on the lips.
"Cap, not in front of the camera," Tony scolded. Steve glanced up to find Stark and the camera man across the table. The blond blushed.
"Where's the grub around here?" Clint demanded, digging around the fridge and cabinets in search of food.
"I just went grocery shopping a few days ago," Ashlyn said.
"Are you kidding me? We live with two super soldiers and a God. That alone puts us out of food. But add a few hungry superheros in there? Damn, we should go daily at this rate. Buy in bulk!" Clint complained.
"I think there's pancake mix on the shelf," Jane said as she and Natasha came into the kitchen. Alina was swiftly handed over to her father and was then propped up on Clint's shoulders, her hands drumming his head.
"Mamamamama," she rambled.
"Daddy, Lina," Clint said. "Your mom has boobs. Do I have boobs?"
"That's up for debate," Natasha remarked, slapping his ass.
"Tasha, not in front of the camera," Clint rebuked with a grin.
"Dammit, I wanted this is to be PG," Tony protested.
"Not with you behind the camera," Ashlyn and Steve said in unison, Ashlyn getting up to make the whole box of pancake mix and Steve following to help.
"As you can see," Tony announced, stepping out in front of the camera to face the viewers, "We're one big happy family."
"Normally," Pepper added, Logan and Jamie in arms as she strode into the kitchen. She handed Jamie over to her father and said, "The thing is, if you live with an egotistic maniac, it can be hard to get along."
"Maybe we should start making how to guides," Ashlyn suggested. "How to live with a certain egotistic maniac for dummies."
"Yeah, like how to live with two annoying super soldiers," Clint teased.
"How to live with someone who might be trying to kill you," Jane added.
"How to survive a Hulk-out," Natasha piped up.
"How to science," Tony proposed.
"And not throw your chair out the window because your science teachers stink," Steve tacked on. Ashlyn stuck her tongue out at him and poured batter onto the skillet.
Loki walked into the huge kitchen, maneuvering around the group of people to stand next to Ashlyn.
"May I speak with you later?" he muttered in her ear.
The brunette nodded and replied, "P-Pancakes?"
Out of now where, Jane suddenly cried as she high-fived Natasha, "Four for you, Glen Coco! You go Glen Coco!"
"Glen Coco?" Thor questioned as he held out his plate for Ashlyn to load with pancakes. "I think I enjoyed that Midgardian beverage..."
"It's not a drink, dumb-ass," Natasha said, rolling her eyes.
"Do you know what a 'Glen Coco' is?" Thor inquired to Steve.
"Of course. Glen Coco is a citizen of the United States, correct?" He looked to Ashlyn for aid. "Isn't he related to Glenn Close?"
Clint chucked a bag of chocolate chips at Loki to give to Ashlyn and clarified, "It's a line from the movie Mean Girls."
Everyone stared at Clint, Ashlyn giggling.
Clint, who was beginning to look nervous, swallowed. "A...A movie that I didn't watch, of course."
Tony grinned. "Oh really?"
"Shut up, the chicks were hot!"
Natasha glared at her husband, crossing her arms over her chest. Iron Man only laughed.
"It's not in your best interest to say such things, Legolas."
Steve and Thor gazed at each other in confusion, very bemused by the modern references.
"There's a movie about baby chickens?"
"There is a vision box program about Midgardian creatures?"
Ashlyn laughed and gave Loki and Steve a few chocolate chips and ate some herself. "Anyone want peanut butter on their pancakes?"
They all sat down to eat, Geoff engrossed in filming them devouring their breakfast. Once they were done, Ashlyn cleared her plate and called out that it was Thor's turn to do dishes and left the kitchen, Loki trailing behind her.
The two of them sat down on the couch in the living room and Loki spoke.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Tell you what?" Ashlyn was irritated for a reason she couldn't place. "Tell you that sometimes I collapse and black out from these weird things called trances and I see numbers and sometimes visions that help me predict the future and I don't know why I get them but I do and they cause me a lot of pain, so much pain that sometimes literally banging my head against a brick wall as hard as I could for hours might relieve some of it? You wouldn't have believed me."
"I might have."
"Look me in the eye and tell me that then." Ashlyn huffed when his stare diverted from hers. "You would have thought of me as weak. And I'm not! Not anymore!"
The brunette turned away from him and gazed out at the skyline. Loki, who was slightly shocked by her sharp annoyance, muttered, "When were you weak?"
The female didn't answer for a long moment. She was lost in thought, her lower lip quivering and eyes glued to the skyscrapers on the horizon. Finally, she sat up straight and began to speak.
Ashlyn walked down the school hallway, her head bowed and eyes on her feet. A pair of hands slapped her books out of her grip and they spilled all over the floor, her papers flying as the hands then shoved her down as well. Ashlyn trembled as the group of boys roared with laughter, their girlfriends snickering. Without looking up the tiny brunette gathered her stuff together, her hands quavering as her face was dead with a facade of calmness. When their attempt to humiliate her didn't elicit a response, Whitney's boyfriend grabbed Ashlyn by her hair, dragged her into the janitorial closet, and locked it behind him.
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of their second class of the day. Ashlyn put her head between her legs and muffled her sobs in her jeans.
"I spent the rest of the day and three hours after school until the janitor came to get his stuff and the door got unlocked. School was hell."
Tears spilled down her face as she opened her father's desk drawer with shaking hands, slowly wrapping her fingers around the black metal. Every vile word the people at school had said, every shove, punch, slam, and curse spun in her head, growing louder and louder with every syllable. She raised the barrel of the gun to her lips and she opened her mouth, clicking off the safety. Her body was an earthquake of fear.
The ghost of a warm hand rested upon her shoulder, squeezing it gently. Ashlyn removed the gun from her mouth and peeked over, but no one was there. Her brain told her it was someone from the future. Someone who needed her to be alive for them. The brunette stared down at the gun for several minutes before clicking the safety back on, putting it back in the drawer, and curling herself into a ball on the floor. The ghost hand rubbed her back.
"I nearly committed suicide several times in the four years of my high school career. My parents never found out."
"You almost took your life?" Loki whispered in disbelief.
"Some days were better than others. I could always smell him as soon as I touched the pistol or a rope."
"You could smell who?"
A pause.
"Steve."
She had never fully realized it until the moment they were standing at cell of the infamous Dr. Schwarzlose. It was a few months after the battle in Germany and Steve wanted to finally confront the madman. Ashlyn had begged him not to. Steve hadn't listened. So she went with him.
"Where did you get the plans for the serum?" Steve had demanded. "How did you know how to make it?"
Dr. Schwarzlose grinned. "Let us just say that my father once worked for HYDRA until his demise. He left me...everything. Labs, blueprints, ideas he had pounded into my brain. Ideas that I twisted into my own ingenious creations like that one by your side."
Steve defensively put a hand on Ashlyn's shoulder and brought her closer to his side.
"She's not your creation."
Schwarzlose only laughed. "Isn't she, though?"
"Although he didn't cause my trances, he made me a super soldier. They were some of the worst yet some of the best nights of my life."
"Why do you say that?"
Ashlyn tried to find the right words without sounding disturbing.
"Being made into a super solider was incredibly painful. But the pain was bittersweet in a way. When I found out I wasn't going to die and I woke up in an isolation chamber, the raw power that was coursing through my veins made the pain worth it. I...I wasn't weak anymore. I was someone new, s-someone that I had always dreamed of being. And, if I was given the chance to go back, I would do the same thing over again in a heartbeat."
Although he didn't say it, Loki knew where she was coming from. He would have given anything to change his heritage and be an Odinson by blood. He longed to cleanse the poison from his veins.
Loki watched as Ashlyn sunk into thought and her hand lovingly caressed her swollen stomach. Had his mother done that? What he wouldn't give to have grown in Frigga's womb...
Steve was out of the kitchen, a towel flipped and hanging out of his back pocket. He came up behind Ashlyn who had smiled at the sound of his approach. The male stooped over the back of her and leaned over to plant a kiss on her forehead.
"Hey, darlin'," Steve greeted happily. "The others went to their separate floors. I think Natasha is going out later if you would like to go."
"That sounds fun. What is she–" Ashlyn's head shot to the side so her ear was facing the elevator. Her mouth split into a wide grin and she laughed, getting up from the couch. Steve, who was confused for a moment, caught the sound as well and smiled. Loki's eyes followed Ashlyn as she strode toward the lift and waited a few seconds until the doors opened with a ding! and two people were revealed.
"Bruce!" she cried out, flinging her arms around the man in the elevator. He stumbled, dropped his luggage, and wrapped his arms around the brunette.
"Ashlyn!"
Loki shifted uncomfortably.
"It's good to see you!" Ashlyn exclaimed. "How are you?!"
"How am I?" Bruce laughed. "I'm...Ashlyn I'm great." He held her out an arm's length and his eyes roamed over her. "Look at you! Jesus, at this rate you're going to have that baby in no time."
Ashlyn seemed to spot Bruce's companion for the first time just as Steve slung an arm around Ashlyn's shoulder with a beam.
"Who is this?" the seer inquired.
"This is Kaitlin," Bruce introduced just as Steve said, "Hi, Kaitlin!" and Kaitlin interrupted with with, "Kaitlin Chapelle" as she stuck her hand out.
The three were silent after the unanimous moment they all spoke at once and Kaitlin tired once again to introduce herself.
"I'm Kaitlin Chapelle," Kaitlin repeated as Ashlyn took in her mop of curls and warm green eyes. Kaitlin extended one hand to the female super solider and the other ran through her ashy curls. "Wow, Steve, she's even prettier in person!" Kaitlin turned her attention to Ashlyn and said, "He couldn't shut up about you. You've changed though, haven't you? He showed me some pictures. Oh, wait, so you're the super solider, right? Foresight?"
Ashlyn's cheeks reddened and she nodded, scratching the back of her neck. Kaitlin grinned and stared at her for a long moment before she came back to life.
"Sorry, fangirl moment over. You're lucky to have a man that loves you the way he does."
Steve blushed and Ashlyn gazed up at him in adoration. The brunette couldn't manage anything but a thank you and a kiss to Steve's jawline.
Loki wondered if he should just quickly escape back to his room. He really wish he had his illusions. Just as he decided if it would be a good idea to leave or not (yes, yes it was because he never really enjoyed reunions in such a manner), the new woman stiffened.
Her eyes latched onto his and Loki witnessed a shiver snaked up her spine. For an eternal heartbeat it seemed that the green seemed to meld together, his glistening, frigid emeralds trapped in her coniferous forests. She was an animal ensnared in the sites of a hunter.
His gaze never left hers as her fingers clenched around two of Bruce's and her spine resembled one of the many columns in the Asgardian palace.
Bruce's russet eyes joined the green ones and instead of letting Kaitlin continue to grip his hand, he moved his palm to her shoulder and clamped down tight in reassurance. His irises became lined with bright green. His companion took a deep, rattling breath, and rain began to flood the woodland that were her eyes.
Kaitlin was a petrified statue and Bruce's was storming sea: wrathful, unforgiving, and dark.
When the statue's lips shook and trembled, her tongue eventually forming words that kept lodging in her throat, Ashlyn was the first to act.
The brunette shrugged out of Steve's arm and spun, placing a calm (yet very forceful for every bone within his body seemed to quiver at the touch of her undeniable strength) palm upon him, her fingers spreading over his back and her other hand grasping his forearm. She steered him in the direction of his room and they didn't speak until he was within the depths of his room.
"Listen to me," she uttered. Loki wrenched himself out of her grip with a sneer.
"Do not test me," Loki snapped.
"I said...listen to me." Ashlyn grabbed his face with a hand and twisted his head to face her. His cheeks squeezed under her touch and his chin came to rest in the crook between her thumb and index finger. Loki tried to backpedal. Fear stirred in his belly and he was scared into speechlessness. The intensity in Ashlyn's whispered voice caused her stare to become cobalt flames.
Loki had promised himself he wouldn't feel fear again. And he was not afraid; he was terrified.
"If you want to keep your life, stay in your room. Bruce is near a Hulk-out and until we figure out what just happened between you and Kaitlin, you are not to leave. Lock your door and do not come out, you hear me?"
When he didn't answer, Ashlyn's snarled quietly, "Do you understand?"
Loki managed a nod he did what he did not suspect in that moment. She enveloped him in a hug and left the room, the door nearly slamming behind her.
Loki sunk onto his bed as fragmented mutters traveled down the hallway.
"–hate him."
"Bruce...you...calm down."
"I will...rip...limb from..."
"Kaitlin...look at me–"
A loud sob.
"He...Manhattan...killed my parents."
Loki buried his face in his hands and the Man Who Would Be King began to crumble.
~Illumini