Who am I? (A Sequel to 'Who are You?' A Loki love story)

Chapter Four - Scarred

Loki's POV~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


        Sophie sleeps curled up against my side, head in my lap. I  run my hand through her soft, curly, short hair. I had liked it when it was much longer, but I was not going to tell her this. It might remind her of the people who had taken her, considering it was them who had cut it off.
        I still couldn't believe I had her back. I had lost her, had my heart broken when she died, but here she was, breathing in front of me. I was afraid that if I kissed her, she might just vanish. If I touched her, she might break. She had changed me so much, and I didn't want to go back. All I wanted was her.
        "So how did you two even meet?" I look up from Sophie. It had been Thor's friend, Darcy. "I mean, it's cute and all, the hero and the villain in love, but seriously how does that even happen?" This one did talk a lot. "Was it just through your little dictator, want all the power episode, or  was there some weird coincidence-OW!" She yelped as Jane poked her hard in the side. Jane kept glancing at me nervously.
        "Sorry about her. She doesn't have a filter between her mouth and her brain." She just glares at Darcy. I chuckle, surprising both of them.
        "It's quite alright." I say. I see Jane's eyebrow go up questioningly. I didn't blame her. I hadn't exactly made a good first impression on her. "It's actually a quite.... strange tale." Now they were looking at me expectantly. Sophie's friend Kim came over and sat next to Darcy, quickly followed by Pepper.
        "What?" Kim asks when I look at them curiously. "We don't know what happened, and we want to." I had noticed that this one was very forward.
        "Well, it was uh...." I furrow my eyebrows, and turn to Barton. "Actually, I wouldn't have kidnapped her if it wasn't for you, Barton." I say. That got him some looks.
        "What are you talking about.... oh." It hits him. "Oh I guess you're right. Huh." Everyone is looking at Barton now, and he holds his hands up defensively. "Hey, I was under his control." He says, pointing at me.
        "I did not make you bring her along. I didn't even know you had until it was too late."
        "Wait, you kidnapped her?" Darcy asks. "That is so cute! The kidnappee falling for the kidnapper! It's like a movie..." She sighs the last part.
        "I fell for her before she fell for me." I say quietly, looking down at Sophie again. Her golden hair stops a little above chin length, and I continue to run my fingers through it. "I just didn't realize it until it was too late." I say in a whisper to myself. 
        Everyone has begun their own conversations off to the side now, and I just study Sophie. He face is calm, at peace, and her breathing a steady rhythm. Suddenly, she stiffens, and her breathing hitches, the momentary peace on her face gone. I had thought that she was waking up, until I saw a slight orange-red glow start to faintly seep into her skin.
        Then the first mark appears. A single, long pink line across her chest, going near her neck. It starts out a faded pink, and the color grows, becoming more and more apparent. It becomes a deep red, almost as if the wound was open, and Sophie starts to whimper.
        "Banner...." I say terrified for her. He looks up and over at me, before his eyes dart down to her. He is up in an instant.
        "Everyone who doesn't know what to do, get out. Someone get Tony." The whole room is silent and deathly still. "NOW!" He yells, banging a hand onto the table. Everyone jumps into a sudden flurry of action. Thor and the Captain get the others out of the room, rushing down to Stark. Sophie thrashes, and Banner is by me in half a moment. "Lay her down. We need to wake her up, and that might be to dangerous." I gently get her head out of my lap, and scars started to appear much faster, all over like designs permanently etched into her skin. 
        And that's when I notice them. The scars that normally would have been mixed in with the others. Ones that I would not have noticed if I hadn't known now where exactly they came from. Unlike the neat scars everywhere else, these were jagged, rushed. There were so many of them as well, these horrible slits across her wrists. Then there is the worst one.
        It reaches only halfway across, as if the horrid job had been so suddenly stopped. It is ragged, and is criss-crossed with so many small, clean, precise cuts. That cut across her neck, those slits on her wrist, they tear me in two.
        Tony bursts into the room, running until he stops next to Bruce and I. He looks down at Sophie, horrified. "Why haven't you woken her up yet?"  Tony half yells at us. 
        "We don't know how, Stark!" I exclaim. Her face screws up in pain, and her mouth stretches open. We all brace ourselves for her scream, but it never comes. Her mouth is open, throat stretched out, body ready for a scream it is not producing. Tears leak out between her clenched eyelids, and her body begins to curl into a protective ball. Her mouth continues to open and close in silent yells.
        "We need to shock her awake. Alert her system." Bruce says. We all look at each other before Tony suddenly lunges forward, slapping her. I throw him back, but he only looks at Sophie. I turn back towards her, and she is rapidly blinking, one hand going up to touch her cheek.
        "Sophie." I rush over to her, tears running freely down her cheeks, but she still doesn't make a sound. She looks slightly shell-shocked, and I sit down and pull her into my lap, rubbing her back in small circles. She leans into me, welcoming my embrace, but stares strait forward. I look up at Bruce and Tony, worried by her behavior.
        "Do you want to talk about it?" Bruce asks quietly. She shakes her head no, before pausing and then nodding yes. Stark and Bruce walk towards the elevator, and I follow carrying Sophie. They hit the button to go down to the bedrooms. The only thing that stops me from being completely and utterly scared for Sophie is the fact that she is here, and in my arms. But even that has little affect now.