Hero (Loki & Avengers)

Twenty

"Mom." I say, my voice cracking the second I lay eyes on her.

I just walked through the chipped front door of my house for the first time in too long, and it feels so comfortable I think I could drown in it. My mom sits at the table with her head resting on her hand, going through little white envelopes that I know are bills she can barely pay for.

The second I call out to her, she snaps up and looks in my direction. Her aged features spring up into a smile and she runs over to me.

"Cassidy." She smiles, pulling me into a hug. I grip her tighter than I've ever held anyone. We hold each other like that for awhile, and I relax immediately in her embrace.

"Honey, are you okay?" She asks, pulling away from me and looking in my eyes. She can already sense how shaken and exhausted I am.

"No, mom. I'm not okay at all." I tell her honestly, and it feels so good to finally be honest with her after months of lying on the phone. It feels so relieving that it brings tears to my eyes.

She pulls me into her again. It calms me down in a way only a mom's touch can.

And right then and there I decide that I need to tell her everything. I need to trust her, and be open with her, because she is the most important person in the world to me and I know I am to her too. It's not fair of me to lie to her and leave her here all alone with that lie.

"Mom, I have something I need to tell you. A lot of somethings, actually." I say, and she nods with concern written all over her features.

"Okay hun, go sit down on the couch and warm up. I'll make you some tea, and we'll talk." She says, rubbing my back and guiding me towards the living room where I sit with a blanket and wait for her.

When she gets back, I confess. I tell her how my job was a lie, and about what really happened to me on the day that I left. I show her my scars, and the silver that coats them, and she has to cover her mouth from the shock.

After that point she's on the verge of tears for my entire story, but she doesn't say anything. She lets me speak, and vent, and let it all out. I'm grateful for her silence.

I repeat everything about Tony Stark saving and helping me, about the Avengers compound I lived at, and all the aliens I fought at the compound and at the Kamar Taj. I even tell her about the Infinity Stones and Thanos, and why I felt like I needed to help.

I do not, however, tell her about my connection with the Infinity Stones. I don't tell her I can hold them, or morph them, or that I used one of them when I used the time stone. If I told her that, she would probably have a heart attack with fear for me. Because the more I think about it, the more I realize how dangerous it is that I can wield them. It makes me special in a bad way; it makes me a target.

Then comes the hardest thing I have to tell her about. The Connors. But I do, because she lives across from these people and I need her to know that they are dangerous. I know the parts of my story with aliens and magic powers and Avengers must be shocking to her, but this is even more shocking. The Connors were family. Then they tried to kill me.

I finish my story, and she pauses for what feels like an eternity. Then she springs to life and pulls me into her arms. She grips me tightly with one hand and rubs the back of my head with the other. I cry into her shoulder.

I think she even cries into mine.

"I am so sorry you had to go through all of this, Cassidy. And especially without me. I love you, honey. Don't ever question or forget that. We'll figure all of this out together." She says softly into my hair as we embrace and I nod.