Past Forward... One month and a few weeks later...
Elise' PoV
I sat down on the jet's seat, as Coulson and Captain America talked. This is boring. I stood up, my flip flops creating a floppy sound. What to do?
I walked up to Coulson and tugged on the hem of his suit. He looked down at me and smiled. Picking me up, I wrapped my arms on his neck.
"You're bored, aren't you?" He asked, smiling knowingly. I nodded my head.
"Hm. I expected that. How 'bout you sit down on the co-pilot seat? You can eat on the way too," Coulson said.
"You're letting a child on the front seat? I don't think its safe," Captain America said. I rolled my eyes. Killjoy. I turned back to Coulson and smiled.
"She'll be fine. Don't worry," Coulson said, "But behave, alright?"
"Okay. But promise to have fun with me when we land?" I asked, putting out my pinky. He wrapped his pinky on mine and put me down.
"Here you go, your dad packed this for you," He said, pulling out a large plastic container from the cabinet up above the jet's bench. I took it from him, and walked over to the co-pilot seat, careful not to touch a button. I sat down on the leather chair, and put on a seat belt.
"Hello Miss Stark, it's nice to meet you," the pilot said. I turned to him, while popping the lid of the container open.
"Oh hello. I thought you wouldn't recognize me considering I'm a five year old," I said, popping a blueberry in my mouth.
"It was easy to tell, Agent Coulson told me he was dropping by Stark Tower, so I assumed you'd be on board. I'm Pilot Cody, by the way, although hearing Agent Coulson explaining that you were five was kinda weird," he introduced, giving me a quick smile through his black helmet.
"Nice to meet you, I know the feeling," I said, then ate my food slowly.
I was feeling glum really. After Loki fell in the abyss, that's when things went downhill for me...
I still remember the way he looked, when he said "he could have done it". Broken. That's what he was. He was lied to all his life. Not knowing the face that he was the son of Laufey, the Frost Giant King. He didn't see me. He can't see me. But I was there.
When it all happened. When he killed his biological father. When he sent the Destroyer to kill his brother Thor. When he held the casket and found out the truth. When he became king. When he tried to destroy a realm.
When he was so blinded by rage and sorrow.
And when he fell into the abyss. I felt my whole world crumble. My heart shattering to a million pieces but making no sound. My whole body numb with loss. And at that time, even in this state, I finally knew. I love him. I love him with all my heart, with every fiber of my body. But it hurt, for me, not knowing if he loved me back.
And after that, I lost all giddiness. I can't seem to smile my signature smile. I can't make a comeback. I was so lost. Every night, this dreams wake me up at dawn. The dreams were horrible. Screams of pain and agony. Cries for mercy. And those screams and cries came from Loki. Loki was tortured, in a land so dark. He would be whipped with a whip that has a sharp tip, and burns his back, and skin. This... creature would submerge his head on water, trying to force him to do something. I can't hear it's voice, but I can hear Loki's. He agreed, when a staff was pointed at his chest. He agreed immediately.
It was horrifying, that I had to endure a day of being paralyzed in bed. Dad was worried, along with mom and Lucilla. Especially Daddy. When he found me in that state, he was so frantic and panicked.
After that day, dad made sure that I slept at night, without nightmares. He slept next to me, whispering sweet nothings in my ear, humming a song I know, and gently brushing my hair with his fingers.
'Have I told you lately,
That I love you,
Have I told you,
There's no one else above you,
Fill my heart with gladness,
Take away all my sadness,
Ease my troubles, that's what you do...'
He would hum Rod Stewart's song all over again, until I fell asleep.
Dad has been more careful with me, after my day of being paralyzed. He would continue checking up on me, and it only made me sad, for reasons unknown. Mom and Lucilla, spent more time with me, to cheer me up. It worked, but the only one who can really cheer me up is Loki.
Rhodey, being the cool Uncle he is, visited me one time, and took me to an Arcade Station in the mall, which helped brighten up my mood.
Closing the container of food, I brought it with me back to where Captain America and Coulson was. Coulson looked at me, and smiled. I smiled back.
"Can I borrow your phone?" I asked Coulson, looking up.
"No need to borrow mine, your dad packed you one, he put it inside your backpack before we left," he said bending down to my level. He took my bag from the bench, and I took it gladly, kissing him on the cheek as thanks. I sat down on an empty bench, pushing the thoughts of sorrows and pain in the back of my head. I popped the lid of the food open again, and took out a random food, which was a chocolate bar. Score.
I took my phone out, which was identical to dad's and put on a video of a ballet dancer, while my mind wandered off to yesterday's events...
* Yesterday*
I pushed myself up from the floor, after falling from my bed, because of dad. I heard him laugh, while I glared at him. Did he really wake me up with an airhorn?
"You dipstick! That was a cheap move!" I stood up, kicking his legs. He yelped. Ha. Take that. I may be small, but I'm terrible!
"Fear me!" I screamed, tackling dad to the ground, poking his sides. He laughed, and I smiled, but he swatted me off of him without is hand. I fell on the floor sideways, my hair sticking out everywhere.
"Come on. Up on your butt! We got work! Tons and tons of awesome, explosive work!" Dad cheered, pulling me up, off the floor. I grinned.
"Yes! Can we make one of your suit explode? Like... Kaboom! Boogsh! Whoooo...." I said, my hands making an explosion gesture, then making it fall down, like a suit. Dad laughed, while picking me up.
"Sadly, no. We can't," he said, walking out of my room. I pouted.
"But... can we put-"
"No. That's worse. We will not put boobs on my suit," he cut me off.
"Aww..."
"I'll make vanilla and chocolate chip cookies... if you shut up," dad bargained and I nodded my head.
"Fair enough," I smiled. Daddy carried me to the living room, and headed straight for the kitchen. I sat down on a stool, and dad took out a bag of flour, some eggs, sugars and basically everything you need to make cookies.
"Where's mommy?" I asked, taking the chubby apple dad handed me.
"Work. She brought Lucilla," he said, cracking the eggs into a bowl. I hummed.
Disney's song 'A Dream is A Wish' started to play in my mind, making me hum. I discarded the apple, and stood up on the floor. Dancing, I pulled dad with me who was a tad bit covered in flour.
"Wanna dance?" I asked, grinning. He grinned back, and twirled me around.
"After we put the cookies in the oven."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Night, 8:59 pm, Stark Tower--
While I stood up on the chair, mom looked at the screen in front of us. Dad just disconnected the transition lines and connected the arc to the pipes. Now, I was looking out if there might be any hiccups or spikes.
"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining energy," Dad said through the coms. I hummed, nodding my head.
"Wow. So maybe our arc reactor takes over and it actually works?" Mom asked.
"I assume, Light her up," Dad said. Mom pressed a button on the screen, activating the arc. The STARK sign outside lights up, and casted a white glow on the launching/landing pads.
"How does it look?" I asked. I really wanted to see.
"Like Christmas... with a little more... me," Dad answered cockily. I rolled my eyes but laughed.
"Cocky as always..." Lucilla whispered next to me and I jumped in fright, letting out an "Ahh!".
"When did you get here?" I asked trying to catch my breath. She smiled in apology, but chuckled.
"Long enough to hear Tony brag," she answered. This time, I was the one who chuckled.
"Gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign, mom," I commented. Mom laughed.
"Your dad needs to do some press too. I can do more tomorrow, I'm working on the zoning for the next billboards," Mom replied. I hopped of the chair when I made sure that the wavelengths and level of energy was stable.
Lucilla sat next to me on the couch, while a Frank Sinatra song was playing in the background.
"How are you holding up?" Luci asked. I shrugged, unable to forget what I saw in my dreams.
"I'm good," I replied, staring at my hands. I started to make a rose appear out of my hands. It's petals red and flush as the stem slithered on my hand. But when his face flashed in my mind, the rose caught on fire. I quickly disintegrated it by closing my hands. I sigh.
"Cheer up, your dad's home," She said hugging me sideways. I smiled, although it was kind of forced. Looking at the launching pad outside, high tech gauntlets started to remove dad's suit. He was about to come in, with a cocky smirk on his lips.
"Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line," JARVIS spoke up. SHIELD? What do they want?
"He's not in, he's still actually out," I replied.
"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting," JARVIS argued.
"Close the line JARVIS, I got a date," Ew. Did he really have to say that? In front of his kid? Dad!
"You do know your daughter and a teenager is inside right?" Lucilla asked, with the same scrunched face.
"Then get out, you two can occupy the spare room. Pepper and I need our alone time," Dad said, shooing us off. I stuck my tongue out at him, but followed his instructions nonetheless. Lucilla and I walked off, and made our way to the spare room of the penthouse.
"Thank God he made us go," I heard Luci muttered. Yeah, agreed. Champagne, plus Dad, plus Mom... not a good mix. Lucilla and I entered a glass door, and the spare room, looked as luxurious as the penthouse. It had a balcony at one side, while the walls were painted a pale blue. The floor had a white fluffy carpet, and in the middle of the room was a white L-shaped leather couch, facing the balcony. At the west side, you can see an aquarium, made by ATM. The light was a pale yellow light, giving off a relaxing vibe.
I plopped down on the couch, while Luci made a beeline for the fridge, and came back with two glasses of chocolate milk and a box of poptarts. While we ate, I looked out at the balcony, the New York lights looking as bizarre as ever. All different lights, dancing and looking spectacular, even with the noise of cars and engines. I tried not to think about him-who-shall-not-be-named, just remembering his name would make me loose control of my power.
"Are you okay?" Lucilla asked out of the blue.
"Yeah, I am," I said, trying to be convincing. But she didn't bought it.
"What exactly happened?" Luckily, Dad wa kind enough to call us back to the living room for reasons unknown. I stood up, and she followed.
"Right, we're not walking, hold my hand," I took Lucilla's hand in mine, although I had to reach up because I was five years old.
"Why?" I didn't answer. I set my mind on the location, which was the living room, and teleported there. I heard Lucilla gasp, and yay!
After hearing about what happened, I already formulated a plan on bashing Loki's head off and kneeing his family jewel and making him remember who he really is.
And yes, I finally said his name after many, many days.