Okay, this chapter REALLY makes me sad.
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Chapter Forty-Eight
Videl and Angelique jerk up, sheets falling over their bare bodies, but thankfully covering up enough for Thea, who is staring, stock-still at the doorway. Angelique is surprised that Videl hadn't noticed her coming- she is drenched to the bone, and blood stains her blonde hair, jacket, and white t-shirt. She is panting, but as she looks at Videl and Angelique, lying there, her eyes try to cover the pain.
"So this is what you were doing?' she asks in a deadly whisper.
Videl looks at Angelique, wrapped in his arms, her skin still warm on his, as she says hesitantly, "Thea, we-"
"Oh don't bother," says Thea in a trembling voice, "It's not like my father is under some sort of crazy spell, and the damn witch set some random woman. It's not like I had to stab someone, a woman to get out of it. But no, you two just keep on, don't mind me!"
"Thea-"says Angelique, trying again even though she knows this is a bad idea.
Sure enough, Thea's voice rises as she exclaims, still shaking from anger and agony, "SHUT UP. I knew it was trouble when you came with us! I hate both of you!"
She whirls out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Angelique sinks back down on the pillow, "Oh we messed up," she whispered.
Videl moves her thick brown hair away from her neck and kisses her there. Angelique stifles a moan, and her fingers curl around Videl's. He sits up and rolls so that he is on top of her, his curls tickling her cheek. He smirks wickedly, his eyes burning amber into hers and causing her skin to prickle.
"We messed up," purrs Videl, and Angelique feels his hot breath on her cheek, "But we messed up beautifully."
It takes all the physical restraint in her power to push his hand away as it begins to move up her side slowly, uncontrollably, "You need to talk to her."
"How will that help?" asks Videl, ignoring her hand and running his fingers up and down her warm sides. He can smell her, all of her, and his eyes are nearly black as they look down into her eyes.
"Be...cause," says Angelique with much effort, "She won't talk to me."
"Mmm," says Videl.
"Please...Videl," gasps Angelique as his hands continue to move over her. "C'mon...stop..."
His full, soft lips envelop hers, and all Angelique can taste is Videl.
"Shush," he murmurs, lifting his eyes so that they're staring into hers. His pupils are no longer so black, and his gaze has turned less predatory and more gentle. "I'll go talk to her, my angel."
He kisses her again, softly this time, and then she feels his warmth vanish as he gets off the bed. She tries not to watch as he pulls on boxers, pants, and a loose, nearly transparent white shirt, but can't help it. His body is firm, with not an extra bit of skin wrapped over his taut muscles. He seems to glow in the tiny shimmer of light coming from the bathroom, and it radiates him, so that he looks like a sculptured Adonis.
"Go to sleep," says Videl, "It's still night."
"What time is it?" mutters Angelique.
Videl glances at the bedside clock, "Almost one."
"We let Thea get out at-"
He silences her with a kiss. "It's all right."
She lets him persuade her like that, and he kisses her for several more moments, and again, she turns to liquid under his touch. She feels him smile. "Beautiful girl," he murmurs, the words vibrating over her lips. She smiles too, heat flushing up her face.
He finally stands up and Angelique looks into his amber eyes. For the first time, she realizes that they are flecked with gold, like his curls.
"I'll be back," he says, and turns away. He closes the door behind him. Angelique sighs and falls back on the soft pillow, her brown hair trailing around her face. She can still feel the heat beside her from his body, and she rolls over on the mattress, breathing heavily, breathing contentedly.
*
Videl opens the door to the second bedroom and finds Thea curled up on the far right of the unmade bed. Even from here, to Videl, she smells like sweat and blood, mixed with the soft scent of the blankets around her. She is unmoving, and for that, he is surprised. She isn't crying.
He doesn't hesitate, but then again, Videl rarely hesitates. He walks forward and sits down at the edge of the bed, on the other side. She moves at lightning speed, but he is faster, and he catches her ankle as she tries to kick him. He glances down as he feels something sticky. Blood. Her back is still to him, even though her leg is bent backwards awkwardly, as Videl still has a grip on her ankle. Her hair is sprawled around her face, probably covering it, and Videl can smell the moisture on her clothes and her body, evidence that she had been out in the thunderstorm. She is a pitiful sight indeed, like a bedraggled bird that a storm had thrown inside, its wings clipped.
Videl lets go of her ankle, and she drops it without saying anything. He doesn't blame her. She had been abandoned, abandoned by the outcomes of passion and desire, and evidently, she had paid the price.
He walks to the other side of the bed. To his mild astonishment, when she looks up at him, the malice is gone. Instead, her eyes shine with desperation, sadness, and a strange mix of horror and despair. There are two thin long cuts on the left side of her face, shallow enough and not bleeding, but the sight makes her look oddly like a miserable zombie. Videl notices the same cuts are raging up and down her left arm, like a cruel spiral. She had worn jeans, but the fabric on her left leg has been torn by the same serrations revealing skin, inflamed skin, but at least the jeans had protected her somewhat.
Videl peers down at her, but figures she wants to be left alone, and besides, there is Angelique in the other room, warm and bare... He turns...
And then she catches his wrist with her small, fingers. He looks down. Her hands are cracked, and they are shaking. What surprises him most, however, is the absolute pleading in her eyes, begging him for something.
He looks down at her, his hooded eyes gentle, the darkness spinning shadows and concavity onto his sharp cheekbones.
His voice is soft, "What do you want from me?"
Her voice wobbles, and this time, it is not from anger, and she says in little more than a whisper, "Hold me. Please."
It is the 'please', the extra tone of despair on her usually harsh and guarding tongue, and the fact that Thea is actually pleading that melts Videl's heart at least a little.
So he climbs over her legs and sits up on his elbow next to her on the soft mattress. She turns to look at him, and when she does, he sees the battle of her unshed tears that are glittering on her lids. Her bruised lip trembles so hard, it's as if someone is shaking her. Her attempt not to cry is almost painful.
"Cry," says Videl, "It's time for you to cry."
"No," she whispers, but that one 'no' pushes her limits even more. Teardrops are forming on her eyelashes.
"Thea," says Videl softly in his drawling accent, "Why won't you cry? You have refused to let a single teardrop fall since Florida. What did Loki say to you?"
"N-nothing."
He reaches forward and touches her face, just below her eyes. "Don't lie to me."
"I don't want to t-talk about i-it," She is gasping, trying to control herself.
"Cry," says Videl, turning on his back and pulling Thea towards him so that she is now resting her head on his shoulder. "Cry, lille, and whisper it into my ear."
It is the Asgardian word that finally reduces her to tears.
She buries her head in the crook between his collarbone and his neck and sobs. Videl wraps his arm around her shoulder and moves his hand up and down her arm comfortingly, murmuring soothing things to her.
"Whisper it to me," he says in her ear, her dirty hair tickling his lips
Thea sobs, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably, letting out the angst that she has been feeling for the past two weeks, and more accurately, the past few months. Videl keeps holding her, and touches the golden band around Thea's neck. It sends a small shock through his finger, but doesn't hurt him.
"One little word," whispers Videl as Thea continues to cry as if her heart were breaking. And perhaps it is.
"Help me understand," murmurs Videl, stroking her hair, getting rainwater and blood on his hands. He ignores them both, "Help me understand a little girl's mind."
Thea shudders from crying so hard, and then finally, her will and her fright give out. She gasps, "Crybaby."
Videl glances down at her. Her eyes are tightly shut, as if wishing that she hadn't said anything.
"He called you that?" asks Videl.
"Yes," she says hoarsely.
Videl is quiet for a few moments, continuing to run his fingers through her hair. Then, he says quietly, "He is wrong."
"B-but-"
"Hush," says Videl, "We'll talk about this later. We'll talk about everything. You need to sleep now."
Thea looks up at him, her eyes shining, and something goes through Videl. Something intangible. It is as if a great responsibility he has been saddled with has been heightened by looking into her glistening green eyes, full of youth, but full of a vagabond's woes. The smell of her blood seems to permeate the air, but although Videl's nostrils flare, he makes no other indication of his distant predatory nature.
"Sleep," says Videl, and touches her eyelids, which tremble and shut. "I will try to give you a dream, but your mind might block mine."
Thea shudders slightly as she buries her head in his neck, which is somewhat painful for Videl's skin, but he doesn't move. He wraps his arm around her small, warm body, still fully dressed and covered in rainwater and dirt, teardrops and blood.
She begins to cry again, and he lets her, murmuring to her and holding her closely to him. She is sobbing, sobbing out all the worries of her heart. She cries over Loki especially, over the pain she now knows he is experiencing, all for her, all for his daughter. She cries over the woman that she has just killed, the innocent woman who has been dragged into this just like she has. The entire time, Videl keeps her close.
Thea lies there, against Videl's side, and begins to grow aware of both of their breathing. Hers is still shuddering, percussion-like and irregular, but as Videl's hand moves up and down her arm comfortingly, it begins to calm. His breathing, which she can feel warm on her hair and as his chest rises up and down, is steady and strong, constant in time to his beating heart. His arms, which are still holding her, aren't particularly large, but are full of muscle. His body is lean too, which is so different for Thea, as she is used to Max's or even Loki's brawny arms.
Videl's body warms hers, which has gotten cold from her night's expedition, and she feels the energy vibrating through him, even though he must be exhausted. They have no choice but to Jaunt tomorrow, for Thea knows perfectly well that the woman she stabbed must have been under the influence of Neidra. They have time, because the woman is in no state to go off telling her puppeteer Thea's whereabouts, but Thea feels restless just the same. She had been hoping, so hoping for relaxation, at least just a little bit.
But Costa Rica, at least, had taught her that Neidra is not interested in her relaxing. She is interested in finding her, no matter what it takes.
Even if it means preying on all the instincts of a man who has love for only one person in the world, a man formerly of mischief and malice but now is only made of desperation and determination.
Even if it takes a woman lying down her life for something that she is not even aware of.
Even if it means an innocent girl having to take the life of another human being.
Even if it takes a whip cutting through Thea's tender skin as she tries to fight for her freedom.
"What kind of dream do you want?" Videl's voice cuts through her thoughts, startling her. He sounds tired, husky and distant with his words.
"I don't know."
"What do you want the most?" he murmurs, moving his chin down so that he is looking at her, and so that his nose is grazing her still bloody forehead.
What does she want the most? Thea is almost afraid to find out, afraid to see what in this world she most desires.
"I don't want it."
Videl sounds surprised, "Why not?"
Thea hesitates, "I..." And then in a tiny voice says, "I don't want to wake up."
Videl is silent for a couple minutes. Then, he says, "I will give you nothing but peace."
Thea turns this over in her head. "I can't have peace. Not when...not while... I can't. And you're tired, you've done too-"
"You can have peace," says Videl, "And I will give it to you."
Thea can't argue with that. She closes her eyes as Videl touches one long finger to her forehead and murmurs something in a language that Thea cannot decipher. Within seconds, she is asleep.
*
Thea sits up in her bed. It is an unfamiliar, but only unfamiliar from time. She can smell pancakes. She gets up and pads down the hallway, until she reaches the kitchen
Kyle is flipping pancakes on a frying pan, singing "Cadillac Cadillac" by train. His hair is messy and his green eyes are cheerful as they land on her. "Grab a plate, missy," he says, leaning down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, "It's almost time to eat. I let you sleep in. I'm nice like that."
Thea opens her mouth, but can't. She looks to the right just in time to see Max walking through the room. He is wearing a plaid shirt, typical Max, and he smiles at her, "Morning Ace," he says, grabbing her in a hug. Thea almost collapses from longing as she feels his warm, tight, strong embrace, the same embrace which he had held her in when he promised nothing would ever happen to her, not on his watch. She feels tears in her eyes. "Max," she whispers, hugging him tightly.
And then, she is holding air as the dream shifts.
Now, she is walking down a crowded New York street, which is bedecked with Christmas lights, beside Jack. She is wearing a warm coat, with the hood pulled over her head, a cup of hot chocolate from Caribou Coffee in her hand, warming her fingers. Jack, beside her, is likewise dressed for the cold, bundled in a Northface jacket. His nose is bright red.
"What are you going to get me for Christmas?" he asks in a teasing voice, bouncing up and down on the sidewalk. The caffeine has begun to set in. They pass a clothing store, featuring a row of mannequins dressed in modern-chic clothing, typical of the area, and then a toy store.
"I don't know," says Thea, stopping in front of the toy store to look through the windows at the displays. There is fake snow that fluffs up and around the collection of teddy bears, ornate dolls, and stuffed animals. From inside, she can see a toy helicopter flying around the store, its propellers whizzing through the air, "What do you want?"
Her gaze has fallen on a blue rabbit stuffed animal. It looks oddly familiar.
"I want you for Christmas," says Jack quietly. She turns and sees him, tall and gangly as always, but there is wisdom in his eyes, as if he were much older. He looks handsome in the lights of the Christmas store, and he is close to her, so close, she can see each of his long eyelashes.
He leans down...
...She looks up again both at him and the blue rabbit...
...And then the dream changes again...
She is now standing in front of a modernly decorated room, and she immediately realizes that she is in Stark Tower. She peers around the door, but does not go in yet. The entire room is decorated with Christmas cheer, from the holly along the walls, the lights glistening, to the giant tree in the middle of the room, sparkling with hundreds of lights on beautiful ornaments. It smells like egg nog, evergreens, and warmth.
Thea looks around, and suddenly, there are people inside. Tony and Pepper are against the wall, murmuring softly to themselves, Tony's arm around Pepper's waist. He looks handsome, glowing in his suit, and she looks lovely, contrasting his dark features with her strawberry hair.
Natasha and Clint are here too, and Clint is lifting a small child up to the tree. The child, no more than four, has thick red hair, but when she turns around, Thea sees eagle-sharp blue eyes and a strong jawline. The little girl smiles gaily as she hangs a bright blue round ornament on the tip of one of the branches, and then turns around to throw her arms around her father's neck.
To the left, Bruce is leaning against a table loaded with food. He looks dapper, in a grey suit, and for the first time in a long time, there is no tension lining his kind face. He is holding a flute of champagne and talking to Steve, who is wearing a leather jacket, his hair slicked back.
Peter is near the window, and with a twinge, Thea realizes how handsome he looks in his black jacket over a white dress shirt. No shadows of agony line in his face, but that could be because Gwen is next to him, looking beautiful as always in a canary yellow dress. They are gazing at each other adoringly, and Thea feels her heart fill with something bubbly and euphoric.
Thor is next to them. He looks little out of place in his armor and red cape, but his strong laugh echoes through the hall. Thea sees that Jane is next to him, looking up at him with a beautiful look on her face, the look of love. Her cheeks are flushed from happiness, and she holds out her hand for something behind Thor.
And then Thea's heart stops.
She is wearing a lovely red dress, with sparkles embellished along the sleeves, and she is laughing, darting around Thor to hug Jane tightly. Her light brown hair is pulled up in a lovely half-bun, and the tendrils frame her small, round face, accentuating her bright blue eyes. She squeals as Thor swings her up in his strong arms and throws back her head, laughing.
"Leah," Thea whispers.
She wants to run, but her feet can't seem to move forward. She keeps her eyes on Leah so long, she doesn't notice movement behind her, not until she hears a familiar, soft voice.
"I'm here, kitten."
She whirls around. It's Loki.
"L-Loki?" she whispers, her hands automatically moving up to cover her cheeks, where he had struck her six months ago.
But there is no harshness in his expression. He is looking at her, fondness brimming in his green eyes. Fondness long since spent. "Thea," he says, reaching out and taking her hand, his fingers curling over her palm and pressing it to his chest, "You will always be in my heart, little one."
She feels tears on her cheeks, but she doesn't care.
She hears a sharp crack, and a dash of pain jolts up her arm. When she looks up, she sees Loki, his eyes dark and furious, holding her broken wrist, hanging awkwardly, so tightly, she gasps.
"N-no!" Thea whimpers, and Loki laughs a terrible laugh, a deep slice now surfacing from his skin, the blood dripping over him, onto her.
But then, Loki freezes as a soft mist seems to float around them, covering them in the light feeling of weightlessness. Thea blinks.
When she looks back up at Loki, he is looking at her affectionately again. There is no pain in her wrist anymore, and she...doesn't remember the pain at all.
At that moment, the door to the room opens, letting light spill all over. Glancing back at Loki, she walks into the room. As she does so, the same mist covers her body and suddenly, she is wearing a velvet green dress with gold inlaid around the edges. Her hair is pulled up in the same half-bun as Leah, and she feels the tendrils touching her now-rosy cheeks. A golden ringlet, like a crown, is on top of her head, and when she looks down at her neck, she realize that Loki's golden band is gone.
As she enters the room, she sees everyone turn to smile at her. She spots Kyle, Emmaline, Max, and Jack walking inside, and Jack walks up to her. Thea takes a breath- he looks almost beautiful, in a dark suit, his hair fixed but still out of place, his green eyes bright and shining. He walks up to her and gives a little bow. His hand is warm as he takes it.
Looking around her, at the smiling faces and the happiness, and she feels giddy. Her mouth is starting to hurt from smiling so much. As she keeps looking around, she realizes now what she wants and misses most in the world.
Family. Home.
As everyone begins to disperse, to begin talking amongst themselves again, she hears movement behind her, and feels a hand on her shoulder.
She looks up at Videl, who is wearing the same pants and loose shirt as in the hotel, not dressed up as any of the others. He smiles down at her, a gentle smile which belies the fangs that hang over his lips.
Before she can help herself, she throws her arms around him. He catches her and lifts her off her feet a little in his embrace. "Thank you," she whispers into his ear, his golden curls tickling her.
"You're welcome," he murmurs, still hugging her tightly, "You're welcome."
*cries*
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xxSierrax