Avenging Fire: Age of Ultron. ~Book Four~

Chapter Two: Control.

The next morning, Red sat in the common area as she looked over the case files that were in the base they just raided. It was still early enough in the day that only she and Tasha were awake. It wasn't uncommon for Red to be up that early, but she usually hung out on her floor of the tower, or went out for coffee. 
"You look awful." Natasha said as she sat down at the couch across from her. 
"Jee, thanks, Tasha." Red said, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm as she turned a page in the file. "I'll have to add that to my top ten list of compliments." 
Tasha raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen?" She sipped her coffee as she settled into the couch. "You're never this chapter in the morning." 
Red sighed as she relaxed against her chair and set the file down. "Tony and I broke up last night." 
"Oh, Red, I'm sorry." 
Red waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it, it was a clean break." 
"What did he say?" 
"That he was going back to Pepper." Red said with a shrug. "It's for the best since James is alive and everything." 
Tasha gave her a gentle look. It wasn't unheard of for her to let her guard down and be gentle but firm when talking to her friends about their problems, but it was uncommon for her to look gentle. "It also doesn't help that you started wearing the ring again." 
"Yeah." Red agreed as she wrapped her arms around her middle. "I don't blame him for going back to Pepper." 
"You gonna be okay?" 
"I'll be right as rain as soon as we find him." 
"We'll find him." Tasha said with a smile. "It's only a matter of time." 
Red nodded and sipped her coffee. she was thankful when they fell into a comfortable silence. It gave her enough time to think of a new subject, she was tired of talking about her dysfunctional love life. She smiled as she set the mug down on the coffee table. 
"So," she said. "What's going on with you and Sam?" 
Tasha sighed. "You caught that, huh?" 
Red let out a small giggle. "Kind of hard not to when the two of you are making googly eyes at each other." 
"Fair enough. The truth is..." She trailed off, pausing as she carefully chose her words. Red understood why she did it, especially after what happened with SHIELD. The fear of anything she said being used against her was still strong. "I'm falling for him, but that's all I'll say." 
"Alright, I'll move on." Red said as she closed the file. She wasn't bringing up Tasha's relationship with Sam again, but it did make her feel giddy. She loved being her friends happy when she couldn't be. "Can you do me a favor?" 
"Depends on what you want done." 
"Can you and Clint trail Levi?" Red asked as she brought her knees up to her chest. "I've taught her all I can about magic, but you guys can teach her hand to hand." 
She gave Red a confused look, which she honestly expected. Levinia was fighting just fine, her magic was doing just fine. "Why? She fights just fine with her magic." 
Red hesitated as she licked at her lips. "I'm not sure how stable her magic is." 
"Why?" 
"She is my and Thor's daughter." It always made people cringe when she said that. It was no surprise when Tasha did too. "But we didn't conceive her, Loki had created her, based off of the three of us." 
Tasha relaxed, Red guessed that it was from relief. No normal person was a fan of incest. "Oh my God, does she know?" 
"I don't think so." Red said quickly, she wanted this to be over with as fast as possible. She hated admitting that she felt as if her daughter was possibly a danger to herself or others. "But teach her how to fight, she might not always be able to rely on her magic." 
"And this is just in case things go wrong?" 
Red nodded. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." 
"Okay, we'll keep an eye on her," Tasha said as she reached over to take the file from Red. "Do you think she's a threat?" 
Without an ounce of hesitation in her voice, Red said. "Gods no. I trust her, not only with my life, but everyone's." 
Tasha simply nodded. "So, it's just a precaution?" 
"Yes." 
Red might be over reacting just a little bit. But there really, and truly, wasn't a way to predict how her magic effected as time went on. It made Red feel guilty that a part of her thought her daughter could become unpredictible.
+++
When Levinia woke up that morning, she snuggled closer to Steve, like she did every morning. Usually, in the morning, she snuggled up to him when she woke up from a nightmare about Thanos, and her life as one of his children, and Steve was always the one thing that could ground her back to Earth. 
But they're morning cuddle, much to Levi's disappointment, was interrupted by JARVIS telling them that Sam was there with donuts and wanted to talk with Red and Steve. Levi got with him and got dressed. 
She stayed in the kitchen long enough to hear that there was a rumor about Bucky being in Romania, and he was heading that way soon, before Clint dragged her away for training. All she wanted was a morning donut, and it got taken away from her.  
"I don't understand why I need extra training." Levi was saying with her hands on her hips. "I'm always going to be my most powerful weapon." 
Clint gave her a stern, almost fatherly look. It always made her feel comforted and annoyed. "You're right." He agreed, then sighed. "It's the best one you have, but it's important to train your body too." 
Levinia squinted at him, now with defiance replacing the annoyance she felt. "Did Red put you up to this?" 
"Maybe." Clint shrugged with a faint smile. "Come on, start running." 
She rolled her eyes as she started to run laps around the training room. "What's the point of this?" 
"To work out your lungs and legs." Clint explained. "The easier you're able the run, the faster you will be." 
Levi slowed to a stop as she looked at him. "Why do I need to run when I can fly?" 
He sighed at her, again reminding her of a dad who's tired of his child asking so many questions. "Levi." 
"Alright, alright." She said quickly. "More running, less talking, but there better be a jelly donut downstairs when I'm done." It was literally the only thing she wanted for breakfast.
+++
While Levinia trained, Red was in a meeting with Hill and Steve was getting fitted for a new suit, Natasha, Sam and Bruce sat in the kitchen of the common area.
"So, Levi really has no idea?" Bruce asked. 
She had just finished explaining all that Red had told her about Levi's situation, and the fear that her powers might get too much for her to handle. 
"If she does, she hasn't told Red, or Thor." Natasha said as she picked at her donut. All of this bothered her more than she cared to admit, and she was glad that Sam at least could read her. 
"Speaking of Thor, what's he up to?" Sam asked. 
Natasha shrugged. "He's trying to get his hands on a focus for Levi." 
"A focus?" Sam almost laughed, but stopped himself at Natasha's quelling look. "Like a spell casting focus from D&D?" 
Bruce looked surprised. "You play D&D?" 
"Yeah?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow. "We run a monthly campaign down at the VA." 
Natasha let out a snort of laughter. "You're both dorks." But at least they made her feel happy and safe. 
"Oh," Sam said with a smile that made her heart flutter against her chest. "But you like it." 
"A focus," Natasha said, as if he hadn't said anything at all. "As in something like Red's staff and Thor's hammer." 
"Little Levinia," Sam said, his smile relaxing. "Running around with a staff and bolts of lightning like dear old mom and dad." 
Natasha set aside the pieces of what was left of her donut with a small smile. "A staff doesn't sound like Levi's style." 
"Neither does a big ass hammer." Bruce said. 
"Maybe she'll get lucky and it'll be a necklace or something." Natasha could tell that Sam was holding back laughter. 
"I don't know," Bruce said as he took his glasses off to clean them. "She doesn't strike me as the holy symbol wearing type." 
This time, Sam snickered. "Maybe a crystal." 
Natasha turned to face him, a small smile playing at her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't you have a trip to Romania to make?" 
"I do," Sam said as he moved closer to her. "But I had to see my sunshine before I go." 
She let a genuine smile form as she relaxed her body and reached out to hold his hand. "I guess it's excusable." 
Bruce made himself scarce very quickly, Natasha almost felt bad. He was never a fan of public displays of affection, she forgot that they made him feel uncomfortable. 
"I wish you could come with me." Sam said as he pulled her against his side. 
"I know, I do too," she let herself admit as she relaxed against him. "But I've got to stay here." 
"I know." He said with a sigh. He almost looked disappointed but it seemed like he was trying not to show it. "For your Avenging." 
"Hey." She said, her voice gentle as she touched his cheek with one hand as the other stayed in his. "Job's almost done, then we can do anything, go anywhere we want." 
"That sounds like Heaven." 
She leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Go chase those leads, Sam. Bring that soldier home to Red." 
He kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, I'll find him." 
"Be careful, okay?" 
"Always am." Sam said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I'll see you soon." He kissed her forehead one last time before he pulled away and left the kitchen, and soon, the tower all together. 
+++
Levi sat down and did her best to ease the stitch in her side. She felt like a a bit of a weeny for needing to take a break this soon after having started training. She raised her head to look up at Clint as he approached her. "Are we actually doing any fighting today?" 
"Probably not," Clint said as he stood beside her. "You doing okay?" 
"Yeah," she gasped, which didn't help her not feel like a weeny. "I'm just not used to having a stitch in my side." 
"Thanos never made you run?" 
"No," she said as she shook her head. The subject of Thanos distracted her from the pain in her side. "He used our strengths. Nebula, Gamora and the rest of them are runners." 
He tilted her head as he watched her. "You and Derek?" 
She shrugged as she tore her gaze from his and looked down at the floor. "We're powerful magic users, we..." She hesitated, as pieces of memories from her time with Thanos's army flashed before her eyes. But she managed to get a hold of herself. She didn't want to think about the killing, the screaming... all the blood. The nightmares would come to her even when she was awake. "We messed with minds, fought from afar." 
He knelt down in front of her, and she saw that he was still keeping that fatherlike energy. It made her wonder if he really was a father. "Lev," he said gently. "Your mom wants to make sure that you are able to take care of yourself in more ways than one?" 
"Why?" 
"Because one day, you could lose it." 
She leaned her head back against the wall. "Or I could give it up." It was something she'd considered before. Everything tethered her to Steve, he was hers, they were bound together by some cosmic force that them for each other. She knew that one day, she'd give up her magic and immortality to live a normal, happy life with her captain. 
Clint raised an eyebrow. "Give it up?" 
"Yeah, well," Levi crossed her legs under her and fidgeted with the hair tie she kept around her wrist. Her hair wasn't long right now, but she could change that at any given moment if she wanted, it's best to keep one on hand. "Asgardians can give up their magic and everything to live human lives, and I'd only give it up for one person." 
Clint's expression softened as he now looked understanding. "Steve." 
"Exactly." Levi said as she twisted the hair tie this way and that. "He's the only one that would make it worth making that choice." 
Clint smiled as he held a hand out for her to take. "Then lets more sure you'll always be able to protect yourself." She let him help her back to her feet and they went back to training. And she actually let herself enjoy it before it was over. 
That night, after she had showered and eaten, Levinia flopped down on on her and Steve's bed with a groan. She had muscles in her body that she forgot she had that were hurting, and even screaming for relief. She had fibbed, only a little, about Thanos. He did have all of them train the same, her whole body had felt like this before but she didn't want to admit that training brought her back to those days. It was easier to just rely on magic than it was to have those flashbacks again. 
Their bedroom door opened and she already knew that it was Steve, she could smell his cologne. It was one of those older ones, one that smelled boyish and clean, with scents that Levi couldn't quite put a name to. 
"You okay?" He asked as he reached down to rub her head. 
Levi opened an eye to look up at him. "My body feels like mush." 
"It was that bad." 
She finally worked up the strength to lift her head and lay it on her arm. "I just ran all day. Clint insisted that I needed to learn how to run fast." 
"Why?" 
"In case I lost my magic." 
"Ah." He laid down beside her and kissed her shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. "After your next training session, I'll take you out for dinner." 
She smiled as she turned to face him. "Anywhere I want?" 
Steve returned the smile as he kissed her forehead. "Anywhere you want. You deserve it for going through such tortures." 
"You are the best boyfriend ever." 
Steve chuckled as he leaned in to kiss her. They kissed for a few seconds and, as always, Levi had to remind herself that she needed to breathe, but kissing him always made her feel like she world had fallen away and it was just them. 
When her head started to swim, almost chaotically, and as she tried to pull him closer to her, a spark of electricity passed between their lips and between her hands and his chest. It was a clear sign that she was losing control. 
They were both breathless when he puled away and leaned his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes. "You okay?" 
Levi blushed, clearly embarrassed. In all aspects in her life, she had total control of her powers, except for when Steve was touching her. "Yeah." She said as she cleared her throat. "You're just the only thing that makes my head swim." 
"Is that a good thing?" 
"It's a very good thing." 
He gave her one last kiss before he pulled the blankets over their bodies, and he held her protectively with his arm wrapped around her waist. He was both the one person who could make her feel safe, but also the one who could make her lose absolute control.  
"How is it a good thing?" 
"Well, it just feels like a good thing." Her voice was soft as she reached up and carefully traced the tips of her fingers over his face. She smiled as he stayed still for her. "I know it's confusing, it's confusing for me too." 
"But it's good?" 
"It's good." 
"I can take that." He kissed her nose as he hand fell away from his cheek. "Get some sleep, Lev." 
"Goodnight, Steve." 
"Goodnight, Levinia" 
She let out a small happy squeak. "I love how you say my name." 
He smiled as he looked down at her. "Then I'll have to say it more often." 
They slept peacefully throughout the night. Levi didn't have any nightmares that night. It would always amaze her that he was able to fight off the monsters without even trying. 
+++
Red sat in the lab with Bruce, her eyes on her hands. She was staring out at a scar on the palm of her hand that for decades, she couldn't remember how she got it. Until nearly two years ago, when Frigga's spell broke, she had given it to herself when she and her brother helped Loki create Levinia. 
"Tell me again how Loki made Levi." Bruce asked, a pen and notebook in hand, getting ready to write down what she told him. 
"He had been doing research on creation rituals. Everything he read said that he needed blood sacrifices," she quickly decided to correct herself at the look of shock and horror on his face. "Not for someone to die, but it took blood to make blood." 
Bruce nodded as he wrote down what she'd said. "So, then what happened?" 
"He came to Thor and I, telling us about his idea, and we agreed." Absentmindedly, Red rubbed her thumb against the scar on her hand as she spoke. "That night, we participated in his ritual. Dragged a dagger across the palms of our hands, and he used it to create a baby." 
"How did it work?" Bruce asked, a small smile playing at his lips. "Did she come out of a pot?" 
Red gave him a flat look. "Bruce, we're real witches, we don't make spells and curses in a pot." 
Bruce mimicked her facial expression. "Then what happened, smartass?" 
She rolled her eyes, but continued on. "The three of us dripped our blood into a small bowl, Loki did a series of hand motions, said some incantations and then poof, there was a Levi." She smiled fondly at the memory of holding baby Levinia that first night. "She looked so much like Loki, even when she was a baby, but she had my eyes, and Thor's smile." 
"Red... her eyes are purple." 
"Yeah, she changed them. She has illusion magic too, remember?" She fell silent as she thought about what it was like holding her daughter for the first time, and how it felt like everything in the world was perfect, because Levinia was perfect. She was so small, as pale as Red was, and so perfect. Everything about her was perfect. 
"How old was she when she was taken?" 
"She was nineteen." 
Bruce hesitated for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Do you know why he took her?" 
"Why did he want me?" Red asked with a small, half-hearted shrug. "Because she was powerful, she always has been." She said, finally looking up from her hands. "My flight, Loki's proficiency illusions, and Thor's lightning, not to mention the witch blood she inherited from Thor and I, she was the perfect weapon in the wrong hands." 
"So, naturally, he took her." 
Red nodded along with his words. "And I nearly died trying to stop him." 
Bruce closed his notebook, and now gave her a very serious look. "For over eighty years, her magic has been behaving normally, Red. In fact, the only time she loses control is when she experiences intense emotions." He tilted her head as he watched her face. "Why are you worried about it?" 
"Because she was made with chaos magic," Red said, her voice shaking as her thoughts started to race ahead of her. "What if, one day, she can't control it?" 
"I'm not a psychologist, but I think you're having some intrusive thoughts." 
"So, what are you thinking?" 
Bruce glanced at her as he put the notebook away. "Clint, Natasha and I will keep an eye on her for a little longer, but she's going to be just fine." 
"Alright," Red stood up and wiped her hands off on her jeans. "Thank you for talking with me, Bruce." 
"Of course. Go get some sleep, Red." 
"I'll do my best." 
But Red still tossed and turned in her bed. Her dreams were filled with Bucky, him falling from the train, the night he'd asked her to marry him. She woke up with a start and pushed her hair out of her face, and caught herself reaching over to the empty side of the bed. 
"Would you like me to get Mister Stark?" JARVIS asked. 
"No," Red said quickly. "I'll be just fine." 
She got up to get herself a drink of water and leaned over the sink as she watched his tags swing from her neck. Shortly after she fought him in DC, her own dog tags had gone missing. She thought, and wanted to believe, that he had them. She was worried that she'd never find out. She forced herself to leave the kitchen and go back to bed. 
Everything was going to work out the way it supposed to. They'd find him eventually. Levi would be just fine. Everything would be just fine. 
+++
Levinia entered the lap, where Tony and Bruce were talking. She'd been called in that morning because it was her turn to be fitted with a new suit. But she raised an eyebrow at them as they quickly stopped their conversation and Bruce hastily put a notebook away. 
"Am I interrupting something?"   
"Nope." Tony said quickly. "You read for your new suit, Sparky?" 
She smiled. "As I'll ever be." She stood on a platform with her arms out stretched so that JARVIS can easily take a scan of her body. 
Tony kept his eyes on the computer screen as he spoke to her. "Whatcha thinking for the design? Horns like your dad?" 
Levi shrugged. "Like my current one?" 
Tony mimicked her shrug as he smiled at her. "Sure. If that's what you want." 
It was weird to her was that he was being so uncharacteristically chipper with her. He was usually short and sarcastic with her. It was suspicious to her, at least, that he was being nice to her. He never had a reason before, and he sure as Hell didn't now that he and her mother had broken up. 
She pushed these feelings away as she answered his questions. It was probably nothing. "I want the right horn to be broken, but green and black for the actual suit. I'd like to stick to theme." 
"You got it." Tony said as he added what she wanted to the specks. "You want anything else?" 
She opened and closed her mouth a few times as she struggled with her words. She hated feeling like she was admitting to feeling like she was losing control, but her conversation with Steve was bothering her, was it really a good thing? "Think that maybe you could get it to help me channel my powers?" 
He gave her a surprisingly gentle smile. "I'll see what I can do." 
"Thanks, Tinman." 
"No problem." 
She got off of the platform and got ready to leave. Maybe she was just over thinking it and Tony was turning over a new leaf. As she turned to leave the lab, Bruce stopped her with a gentle hand on her elbow and a smile. 
"I actually have a few questions for you." He said as he let her arm go. 
"Alright." She hopped up on the counter and sat there as she watched Bruce take the notebook he had so quickly put away earlier back out of its drawer. "I wanted to talk to you about your magic, how has it been feeling recently?" 
She shrugged. "Its been fine. I rarely lose control of it." 
He raised an eyebrow. "But?" 
She sighed as she studied her fingers. There wasn't anything special about them, not yet. She had been thinking about getting more tattoos. Sure, she could use her illusions to get them, but it wouldn't be the same. "I shocked Steve again." She avoided his eyes as she felt her cheeks flush. "When we, umm... Kissed." 
He smiled at her childishness, but he didn't comment on it. "Did it hurt him, or was it just annoying?" 
"I think it was just annoying." 
She watched as he wrote what she said down. This had been routine the last few days since they got back from that base. She didn't know why everyone was being so weird around her, but the constant note taking about her was the weirdest part of all of it. 
"I don't think it's anything to worry about," he finally said. "But keep an eye on it." 
Levi nodded as she gently swung her legs. "Am I free to go?" 
"In a second," he offered her another smile. "How are your training sessions with Clint and Nat going?" 
"It's going okay," Levi said with a shrug as she blew a piece of her hair out of her face. "I find it sort of annoying that all Clint's had me do all week is run." 
Bruce chuckled. "Why's that?" 
"I thought that I'd be relearning hand to hand because I'm getting rusty." She let her shoulders slump forward and her disappointment show. "But he's having me run because the easier I can run, the faster I'll be." She shook her head as she met his gaze. "He's training me like this in case I lose my powers." 
"Why do you think you'll lose it?" 
Levi pursed her lips as she leaned back on her hands and sighed as she said. "I let it slip that I'd give it up for Steve was the fighting was over." 
Bruce smiled at that. "I'm glad that things with Steve are working out." 
"Me too." Levinia said with a content sigh. "He's good for me, you know? Far better than Derek was." 
Tony gave a snort of laughter. "Not a very high bar to begin with." 
"It's higher now," Levi smiled as she pat her chest. "I can feel him here. It's like there's an invisible rope tethering me to him." 
"Yeah, Asgardians do that sometimes." Tony said as he leaned against the counter across from her and crossed his arms over his chest. "For your mom, it was Barnes, Thor: Jane, and now it's you and Spangles. It's like soulmates." 
"What?" Levi scrunched up her nose. "Like that bullshit from Twilight?" 
"Yeah, but it's better than that." Tony rolled his eyes. "I guess." 
"So it's good?" 
"It's good. It's very good." Bruce said. "I know it's hard to understand, but we can get you books, it's important for you to know how the bond works, why it happened." 
"Alright, I'd like that." Levi smiled as she looked between the two. "Got anything else?" 
"No," Bruce closed his notebook. "You're free to go." 
"Solid." And Levi left the lab with the little pep in her step now that she's learned that, for whatever reason, she and Steve were somehow made for each other.
+++
Tony turned to look at Bruce as the door shut behind Levi. He raised an eyebrow at the doctor as he watched him slip the notebook back into the secret compartment under the desk. 
"What's going on with the Lightning Rod?" 
"Nothing." Bruce said with a shrug. "Red was just worried." 
But if she was so worried about her daughter, why didn't she tell him?