Two hours ticked by quickly. Amelie was anxious, but was trying not to look it. She faced slightly away from the camera in her room, playing a game of solitaire to keep her mind off of the building anxiety in her gut.
She glanced at the clock, and then shifted her eyes down to Loki. He seemed to nod, as if telling her something was going to happen.
To be truthful, she didn't know if she was going to help Loki. She trusted him, and he did seem to trust her... but going against SHIELD was just as dangerous as going against Hydra. It was a bold move to align herself with what she perceived to be the enemy.
However that perception has changed.
Steve couldn't keep his word. Neither could Coulson or Natasha. Despite all of them being people she trusted, Loki made it clear she couldn't trust them anymore. They were being just as deceitful as Dr. Strucker.
She remembered how she thought of him as a father figure. He made it seem as if they were the victims. That Amelie had an illness that needed to be cured. She went along with it- thinking that all of this 'treatment' could be helpful.
Then she learned how to tap into radio waves. That's when she heard the real conversations.
Before Amelie could look to Loki again, the ship lurched roughly to the right, sending the young girl tumbling off the bed. The power in her room shut off, leaving her in dimmed lighting. There were explosions in the distance- and gunfire. Footsteps raced past Amelie's room- towards the source of danger.
Sorely she got to her feet, sliding the pack of cards into the pocket of her windbreaker. As she approached the door, she didn't hear the hum of electromagnetic energy.
"Go." Loki said to her- appearing in her room once more as the illusion. Amelie turned, eyes wide as nerves raced through her mind, "Go. I'll meet you on the ship. Remember to bring the spear."
Quickly she nodded, turning around the face the door. Using her abilities she busted the door open, allowing her to step out into the hallway. Hands shaking by her sides, Amelie noticed the pair of shoes left out for her- plain sneakers that laced up. She looked around the hall- not a soul in sight- and carefully slid the shoes on. They were slightly tight on her feet, but they were shoes nonetheless.
The ship shook once more, the floor slanted slightly as the helicarrier swayed in the air. The eleven year-old gripped the wall with a clammy, shaky hand, walking briskly as she retraced her steps to where she last saw Loki's spear.
Amelie only hoped that she wouldn't run into anyone. They would try to stop her- and she didn't want to hurt anyone anymore. She just wanted to go somewhere where she was understood. Loki seemed to offer that.
Carefully sneaking through the halls, she eventually came to the Lab. It was a wreck, with glass everywhere and half the floor missing. This must have been where Loki's allies attacked the helicarrier. Covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve, Amelie coughed on the thinning smoke.
I am glad I have shoes. The glass was everywhere, scattered in all directions. Amelie was able to walk on top of it- crunching the broken glass under the sturdy soles of her shoes. Quickly she searched the lab- looking for the glowing spear that she needed to get before she was able to leave this place.
Then she felt it- the power tugging in the back of her mind.
Amelie turned around, relieved to see the spear lying on the floor in one piece. Walking over their, she dug it out of a small pile of dust and broken equipment. The tip of the spear still glowed bright blue- the clash of power causing Amelie's temples to throb. The power in her body desperately wanted to connect with the power in the spear. Each vessel- herself and the spear- were mediums for which the power could grow. The only thing keeping that back was whatever technology the spear was crafted from, and the years of Hydra's experimentation on Amelie's control.
"Put the spear down."
The girl froze, slowly turning on her heel to see Natasha pointing a gun at Amelie. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest, and a wave of nausea that built up in her throat was doing its best to stay down.
"Amelie, you do not know what kind of power that spear is capable of." Natasha's arms didn't lower, her gaze expertly trained on the young girl in front of her. Amelie glanced at the spear, and then back to Natasha.
"No- you do not understand." She said adamantly, "None of you do."
"Please, put the spear down. You do not know what you're doing! Loki isn't going to give you what you want." The redhead raised a brow at the girl, taking a small step closer to her.
Amelie narrowed her eyes, which were quick and calculative as she tried to search her mind for some sort of plan. She didn't want to hurt Natasha- she didn't want to hurt anyone with her powers! However, the longer that gun was pointed at her the longer Amelie was convinced she was still at Hydra.
"You have told me this place is not like Hydra." Amelie said simply, "But you are not giving me reasons to why it isn't."
Natasha went to take a step forward, but was held back by a purple force that wrapped around her. Her feet her stuck to the floor, she couldn't move. Amelie stared harder, her teary eyes glaring.
"You haven't given us any reasons as to why you're not still with Hydra." Natasha sassed back, "Child or not- they still breed psychopaths who cannot be trusted."
Amelie widened her eyes at the statement, loosening her mental grip on Natasha. The woman took another step forward, gun sill outstretched.
"No." Amelie shook her head, pressing further. Romanoff winced as a pain began to sharply throb in her head. It felt like her ears were popping- however it was ten times worse. A line of blood slowly trickled from Amelie's nose as her purple gaze hardened.
Natasha reached a hand to her head as blood slowly started to trickle from both her ears. She yelled out, taking a step back as the pain impaired her senses.
"Amelie-" the woman pleaded, however, the eleven-year-old took a step back. Her gaze was fixed on the scepter, her focus on getting far away so she couldn't hurt anyone else.
"I am going." The young girl interrupted, eyes going purple as she took a step forward.
Out of nowhere- Clint tackled Natasha to the ground. Amelie gasped, releasing her hold on the woman as she jumped back. The spear sent out a shot of blue energy into the area around them- causing the eleven-year-old's powers to malfunction. Natasha and Clint were thrown across the room with an orb of purple- machinery sparking and hissing from Amelie's powers.
The spear was taking away her control. She needed to get out of there- and soon.
As a last attempt to stop Amelie from leaving with the spear, Natasha shot the gun. Her aim was off by the orbs of purple bouncing around the room- which didn't hit Amelie where she intended.
The eleven-year-old flinched, yelling out as the loud bang scared her.
Sadly, for Amelie, she was hit by the bullet.
Luckily, for Amelie, it only grazed her arm.
Wincing from the sharp slice of skin on her shoulder, Amelie put a hand to her arm from where the bullet created a long cut. With the spear still clutched in her fist, she ran out of the lab.
Now all she needed to do was find Loki.
Tears pricked her eyes from the sharp stinging of her shoulder. The blood that slowly trickled from the wound was warm between her fingers, making her nauseous.
Blood. I'm bleeding. There's blood.
Despite how the wound in Amelie's shoulder was non fatal and there was no way she'd ever bleed out, the sensation of the wound made her slowly start to freak out.
I was just shot.
"Loki!" Amelie shouted as she walked briskly through the halls, "Loki?!"
She was desperate to find him, mostly because she just wanted the blood off her hand and arm. It was sticky, and the coppery smell flicked her nostrils, causing her stomach to lurch and her breath to catch in her throat.
Amelie turned the corner, immediately bumping into someone. She gasped, taking a few steps back as she was startled. The spear was still clutched in her hand- glowing as cobalt blue as ever.
"Amelie, what are you doing?"
Steve stood in front of her, clad in his Captain America uniform. He was covered in dust, sweat, and a few bruises. Amelie was frozen, eyes wide as her hazel ones connected to Steve's blue gaze.
The clothes he was wearing and the look he was giving her reminded of when he found her nearly frozen in Siberia.
Amelie sniffed, keeping back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Using her sleeve she wiped the blood that dotted one of her nostrils, afraid of what they'd think of her when they found out she hurt Natasha.
Not to mention she had Loki's scepter.
He looked at her like a shocked parent, and Amelie felt like she was the disappointing child. However, she knew that Steve was lying to her. He was only trying to help Fury her what he wanted.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, so low that she didn't even know if he heard her. Amelie turned the other way and took off running, spear in hand as she continued to look for Loki.
Soon enough, she found the Asgardian walking down the hall with a deviant smirk on his face. He spotted Amelie running towards him, tears in her eyes and a bleeding shoulder.
However- his eyes first went to the spear.
"How did you get this so quickly?" He asked, grabbing it from the young girl.
Amelie was silent, looking down at her feet as she refused to answer. Even if Loki approved- she didn't want to admit she hurt someone. She wanted to be done with that kind of stuff- Hydra had made it too easy to use her powers against someone else.
"It's okay." Loki understood, "You did what you had to do. You're only human."
The young girl nodded slowly, taking a deep, shaky breath in order to calm herself.
"Were you shot?" Loki asked, eyeing the blood that coated her hand and ran down her windbreaker. Amelie nodded, her face pale and eyes wide with anxiety as they scanned the hall around them,
"The jet is just down that hall. I'll meet you there." Loki nodded, offering Amelie a smile, "You've done well, Amelie."
Amelie just stared at the god before taking off in the direction of the jet. Loki seemed to be pleased with her, impressed even, but she couldn't shake the fact that she made a trained Agent yell out in pain. The people who worked at Hydra were trained- but it was mostly an underground organization that takes freelance criminals as help.
SHIELD was a government organization.
She ran down the hall, sneakered feet padding harshly against the ground. Her cut arm stung from the fabric of her jacket rubbing against the wound. Tears blinded her vision and her breathing was forced and rugged.
I need to get out of here. Now.
"Are you the girl?" One of the brainwashed doctors said to her. Amelie nodded, following him onto the jet that was sat just outside a hole that was blown in the side of the helicarrier.
"I'm Dr. Selvig." He motioned for her to sit, "I'm not a medical specialist... but can look at that for you."
Amelie nodded, taking her hand off the cut. Her hand was stained red, still slick with blood. Dr. Selvig helped her remove her jacket, and gave her a wet cloth to clean her hands with.
The young girl just stared ahead of her, silent except for her heavy, panicked breathing and sniffles.
Why couldn't she be like one of those girls in the book Steve gave her? Who played piano or wrote stories?
As Dr. Selvig cleaned the wound and bandaged it, Loki climbed aboard the ship. In her gut, Amelie could tell something was off. There was a hint of red on the tip of his spear, smudged as if he had cleaned it off in a hurry.
"Let's go." Loki ordered, taking a seat across from Amelie. She glanced at the tip of the spear with furrowed brows, her hazel eyes full of questions.
"Collateral damage." Loki said, "It was self defense. Do not worry. How is your arm?"
"Fine." She mumbled, "Just sore."
"You look troubled." He observed, "We're friends, Amelie, you can tell me."
"Friends?"
"Of course." He shrugged, "We trust each other."
Amelie wrung her hands inside the damp cloth, stained red with her blood, and remembered Natasha's words. Could Loki give her what she wanted?
"Will I ever go back into one of those rooms?" She asked, "With tests?"
Loki shook his head, "No, you won't. I promise."
"P-promise?" The word was foreign on her tongue.
"It's like a mutual agreement between two people. If you break it... you can no longer trust them."
Steve broke his promise- did that mean she couldn't trust him anymore? Coulson broke a promise... so did Natasha.
"Forever?" She asked quietly.
Loki nodded firmly.
"Forever."