Come Back To Me

The Past pt. 2

Natasha tells me an insane story about how the city got destroyed. A man, Loki, brought a bunch of alien creatures to try and take over the world. He wanted to be king of the planet and almost won. If it weren't for the avengers.

Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, and Natasha.

"You fought aliens?" I ask interrupting her story.

"We all did. The 6 of us. Loki was taken back to his planet by his brother, Thor. Then we started to rebuild." Nat says.

"Thor fought his brother and then you left him alive after he tried to kill millions of people?" I ask trying to clarify.

"Loki is adopted." Nat says with a shrug.

We pulled up to this huge compound and I watched the garage doors close behind the car. I kept myself ready for anything, knowing I could handle myself if necessary. Fury got out and Nat followed behind him, with me a few steps behind.

Only being 13 at the time, I was still shorter than them, so it was hard to keep up. We stopped in a lounge and I see a man sitting on the couch on a tablet of some kind.

"Stark. This is Laura O'Hara." Fury says and the man stands up.

"Laura. It's nice to finally meet you. I worked with your father. I'm Tony." Tony says and puts his hand out. I grab it with my right hand, forgetting about the stone, and he turns my hand over to look at it. "Wow. What is that?"

I pulled my hand away really fast and take a few steps back.

"Laura. Show it to us." Fury says and Nat looks at me.

I slowly hold my hand up and feel the energy surging through me again. The blue started to come out and all three of them stared at it in awe.

"How did hydra do that?" Fury asked and continued to watch until a pulled the energy back inside me.

"They made me touch this glowing scepter thing. When I did, the stone attached itself to me." I said and closed my hand around it, partially to protect it from anything around.

"Loki's scepter?" Nat asks Fury and Tony. They all look at each other.

"That's probably why they wanted it so bad. I should've known. At least the one thing they made out of it is on our side now." Fury says and chuckles.

"I'm not on your side." I say and they look at me. "I just came to get home. I don't want anything to do with any of this."

"You have to be on our side. If you're not you will get yourself into the wrong hands. I said we will help you and we will." Nat says.

After that day, everything turned out to be great living with them. I still haven't met a few of the avengers. I met Bruce and Clint my first week. They were very kind to me and treated me like family.

I still haven't met Thor or Steve. Thor hasn't been back to earth since they fought Loki, he told Tony when he left that he'd keep on eye out and be back if he's needed, and he hasn't been needed.

Steve is apparently looking for his best friend that was lost to hydra years ago. He's a super soldier like Steve, and when Steve found out he was alive, there was nothing keeping him from looking for his friend.

The first few weeks at the compound everyone was very welcoming. Fury didn't stay around long, once he realized I wasn't a threat to his team. I was able to practice a lot and learn about Tony and Nat.

Soon enough they became like pseudo parents to me. It was nice having people grown and taking care of me again. Even though they might not know it yet, I really am grateful to be there with them.

It's been 12 years now. I've lived with the avengers, well Tony and Nat, since I was 13. Last month was my 25th birthday. Three times a week, Bruce and Tony would hook me up to some machines and run tests on me and the stone.

I didn't mind, honestly, I didn't, because it was nothing compared to hydra. The only thing they were able to find out in 12 years was that it's the same stone that Loki used in the scepter. Nothing else.

They've calmed down with the tests and now I just practice my powers almost everyday. I've learned my limits and know that after a long time of using the stone, it starts to burn my hand. It's like the stone is telling me I have limits and it warns me.

I ended up meeting Thor when I was 16. He came to earth to visit, since he missed his friends. Thor was a giant of a man. He was much taller than I was, even though I've grown since first getting to the compound.

Thor is also very kind. He acted like a big brother to me and the week he spent on earth was my favorite week with him. The only sucky part was when he let me try to lift Mjolnir and I couldn't even make it budge.

"It's alright Poppy. I'm sure you'll be worthy one day." Thor said using the nickname he picked for me. I'm not sure where he got it from. One day he just called me poppy and it stuck. I didn't mind.

The whole 12 years since coming here, I haven't met Steve. Nat says he calls her all the time and updates her, but I can tell she misses having him around. She'd never admit it to him, but Nat sees something special in Steve.

Today, is the day before Thor is supposed to be back for his visit. He comes twice a year now to see me. It's nice because every time he's in town, I feel the happiest.

"Nat! Did you already go to the grocery store? Thor is going to be mad if we don't have his ice cream in the freezer tomorrow." I shout and walk to the kitchen. When I turn the corner, I see a man standing with Nat.

My instincts take over and I wave my hands, causing him to be thrown against the wall.

"Laura!" Nat says and runs to me. "That's Steve." She whispered and smiles at me.

"Oh shit." I say and put him down. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Steve chuckles and shakes his head.

"No. It's alright." He says and walks towards me. "Steve Rogers. It's nice to finally meet you. Laura right?"

"Yeah. That's me." I respond.

"Natasha has told me all about you. May I... may I see the stone?" Steve asked. I realize Nat probably told him it's in my hand, but I didn't think he'd ask.

I slowly lift my hand and wave my left hand over my right palm. Over the years, I've learned to conceal the stone, hiding it from the world so no one knows I have it. When I wave my hand, the illusion disappears and the stone shines out of my palm.

"Wow." Steve says and looks down at my hand. "Does it hurt?"

"No. It's part of me now." I say and smile at him. "You can touch it if you want." I say to Steve. If Nat trusts him, so do I.

Steve holds his hand out and slowly touches my palm. I send a buzz through his hand and he chuckles.

"Did you do that?"

"Yeah. I told you, it's part of me." I say and laugh at him. Nat smiles at the two of us.

The rest of the evening, Steve talks to Natasha about his friend. I listen to most of it but get bored of the conversation. I could tell Steve was really excited, but Nat has told me how dangerous his friend was.

"T'Challa says the Dora Milaje have broke through Bucky's head. They used the trigger words and everything and he's still him." Steve says and Nat grabs his hand.

"I'm so happy Steve. I told you they'd be able to help." Nat says.

"They said he can come back whenever he's ready." Steve says. "I went to him and he said he's ready."

"So, it's time to bring Bucky home." Nat says and stands up.

"I thought you said he was dangerous." I say cutting into the conversation. Part of me didn't care that it was Steve's friend, if Nat says he WAS dangerous then he still could be.

"He's not the same man anymore. You'll learn to trust him like we did." Nat says and smiles at me.

I'm reluctant, but I have to try and stay on my toes. I have to be ready for anything when this man gets home, when Bucky gets home.