Redamancy

Chapter 21

Eloise POV

Eloise woke up feeling too warm. Groggily she tried to sit up but something was holding on to her, legs entangled with hers, she could feel their bare chest against her back, stong arms held her in place, one hand clasped on her breast. In a moment of horror she realized she had no idea what room she was in, she instinctively elbowed them hard in the ribs, and flipped whoever was holding her onto the floor while twisting their arm and putting their face in the carpet.

"Fiesty this morning aren't we?" Loki said sarcastically, from the floor. "Not exactly the good morning I was hoping for." He added when she let him go. He climbed back over her and pulled her back down and snuggled her as she squirmed. "Cuddles for five minutes to make up for you throwing me out of bed, then I'll let you up. " Eloise considered fighting him to get up but then gave in. She rolled on to her back so she could look at him and run her fingers thru his curls. He let out a purr of contentment.

"So how did I get in here?" "I went to go escort you to breakfast and you were gone, your room looked like you'd run out of there in a hurry and I found you sleeping in a chair in the commons area... with a man with a metal arm watching you sleep." Eloise danced around what she knew his unspoken question was, "Oh, thats Steve's friend, I think his name is Bucky." Loki sighed, "Are you gonna tell me why you would rather sleep in a chair rather than your own bed?" Pulling away and rolling so her back was to Loki, Eloise tried to lighten the mood by joking "Maybe I've become a night owl?" Loki tried to turn her back to him so he could see her face, "Eloise... Be serious. I know something is going on. Talk to me." Instead she shoved his hands off of her and jumped up, "What if I don't want to?!" She glared at him, "Its my problem to deal with, not yours." Then she ran from his room.

Loki POV

Loki was unsure of what to do, his Eloise would never shut him out, she was an open book. He had no clue how to get her to open up to him. He rubbed his face trying to wake up. How had they gone from cuddling and being tender to her running away from him.

He ran into Stark and Banner on his way to the kitchen, hoping Eloise would be there so he could at least make sure she ate something for breakfast. "Hey Rudolph what did you do to the misses? She came thru looking like she'd like to strangle someone and from your guilty look it has to be you." Stark asked. "She won't talk to me, she's having more nightmares and she ended up sleeping in the livingroom." Loki explained in a worried tone, "I was able to get a glimpse into her head of something she shouldn't have seen, Thanos planet, the same place he tortured me for years." Stark stared at him forcefully, reminded of when Loki and Barton had been under Thanos's control, "Is she comprised?" "No, I don't believe he ever made it thru her mind but I am beginning to suspect he is the one who kidnapped her from Asgard, tortured her and who ended up attacking her at her apartment and here." Loki explained, Banner looked at Loki and suggested "You know who might be able to help her, Sgt Barnes." Tony added, "Oh yeah she met Sgt Barnes, stars and stripes friend, interesting guy, you might talk to him. He maybe able to help her, he was brainwashed into working for a HYDRA for decades." Loki grabbed Tony's arm, " Where can I find him?" Banner pointed to the other side of the campus, "Actually I just saw Eloise head down to the training room with him."

Eloise POV

Eloise was wrapping her hands, standing in front of Steve and Bucky who were stretching, she was looking forward to getting out some of her pent up rage, hopefully she could do it without hurting anyone, but it seemed like two super soldiers were probably her safest bet to give her a run for her money without her risking hurting someone. "Bucky can be a little unpredictable so I'll go first." Steve faced off with her. They quickly went thru several fights, the first two ended in a draw, as the third round began Loki entered the room and Eloise lost her concentration, loosing a snarled at him, that left her wide open for Steve to kick her legs out from under her, knocking her to the ground. She hit hard, knocking the breath out of her chest, Loki immediately came over, trying to touch her to see if she was hurt, concern showing all over his face, she hissed at him, "No, no you do not get to be here right now, you need to leave. "

"Eloise stop this nonsense, let me make sure you are ok." He ignored her, bending over to check her ribs, she wrapped her legs around his neck and twisted flipping him over, she
immediately blasted him with her magic sending him flying across the room, landing him on several mats, by the time he sat up she was advancing on him, her hands glowing with her magic, her eyes glowing, "I said LEAVE." she shouted. Bucky grabbed her from behind, whispering in her ear, while Steve stood in front of her in case she broke free, "Get out of the way, both of you, I don't want to hurt you but I am going to rip his FUCKING head off!" she screamed trying to break free, "Doll calm down, you don't want to do this. You don't want to hurt anyone, least of all him. He is gonna go now and you are gonna take some slow deep breaths with me. In and out, in and out, in and out." Loki realized very quickly she hadn't hurt him but she was out of control. "Eloise," he addressed her, his hands up, "I'm sorry I've upset you. I am going to leave now. But I would like you to have Dr. Banner check out your ribs and then when you are ready please come by talk to me." She continued to thrash in Bucky's arms, her eyes still glowing, Loki vanished and she let out a wail and all fight went out of her. Bucky knelt, sitting her down in front of him, slowly releasing her, still talking softly in her ear.

"I am so sorry, " she apologized profusely, "I would like to blame the hormones but I was already pissed at him earlier. " Bucky nodded listening, Steve had left to get Bruce because he wanted to be sure it was safe to move her. "It's understandable that you could loose control, but I don't think you did." He said quietly, "You landed him perfectly on the mats and I saw you fight Steve, you are good, you never once really tried to actually get me off of you and I think you could of. I think you recognized you weren't in control and wanted help." She started to shake now that the adrenaline was leaving her system, "I don't know, my magic is so new, I have no idea what my limits are. I just feel very frustrated with him." she paused feeling herself getting overwhelmed, she clinched her hands trying to control her tears, he nodded, gesturing for her to continue,"Heres the thing, I have no memories from the past two years, till I stumbled thru a portal and I was nearly dead and pregnant. I had powers, that I didn't know what to do with, still don't, and that frankly I'm afraid of, I'm trying to rebuild my life and in walks this... this... THIS... PRICK walks into my life saying he's my husband and thinks everything is hunky dorry! Turns out at the very least he's the father of my child and then there's the DAMNED SOUL BOUNDING!!! Hes in my head and sometimes I don't mind but others its like he knows me better than I know myself. He keeps acting like I can't think for myself, yet since I can see he is sincere in how much he cares for me. And someone is still coming after me and it would be safer if I was gone but deep down I think I want to stay with him but I can't tell if that's me or if its this soul bounding and hes influencing me to want to stay with him, GOD DAMN he can be charming, sweet even, at least when he isn't forcing his way into my head when I won't answer him, FREAKING ASSHOLE! Plus it is so not fair, he is using this soul bond and his memories against me and I'm scared of how who ever is after me would use that against me." she ranted till she was out of breath.

"Thats alot to deal with," Bucky replied with a chuckle, reaching over to unclench her hands for her. "I don't understand everything you said, but I'm happy to listen to you so you can let it out without throwing people across the room." He looked into her eyes, "I understand all too well what its like to have your memories taken from you, to have people in your head, and to have people not understand you aren't the same. Give yourself time, you are under no obligation to return to who you were. Anyone who can't understand that, well I'll give them the boot myself if you don't want to." He gave her a smile that she offered a watery imitation of.

Bruce and Steve walked in, bringing their conversation to a close. Eloise felt lighter though after spilling her guts to Bucky and having someone who just accepted what she said and how she felt without trying to force her in a certain direction. Bruce discovered she had dislocated a rib and quickly put it back into place, and then wrapped her ribs up with instructions to not pick anymore fights for at least a few days.