Astral Lovers

CHAPTER 16

WARNING

This chapter contains detailed sex scenes and oral sex if you are not comfortable with this topic please don't read.

Enjoy ❤

Lily POV

I find myself directly in the lobby's Tower.
Everything around me is dark and strangely silent.
Where the hell has everyone gone?
I take the shoes off my aching feet and walk to the room that Steve and I share.
A stupid smile keeps appearing on my lips as I look back on my day.
Starting from the shower this morning until the chat with my father.
A whirlwind of emotions swirls in my heart and for the first time I feel really confident about the future.
I love Steve and I love my father.
I am surrounded by wonderful people, loyal friends willing to do anything to make me happy.
Of course there are still many unknowns looming over my future but I am sure that with the support of these wonderful people I will be able to overcome everything.
I open the bedroom door and take off my coat and throwing it on the desk, grab the cardboard box I left on the bed, putting my shoes inside it and then head to the bathroom to rinse my face.
I only realize at this moment that I have forgotten the phone on the bathroom shelf.
I take it and check if there are any calls or messages.
I find two messages from Steve.
They date back to two hours earlier.
I read them.
《Honey me and the guys are going to have a drink together.I hope you are enjoying your time with your father.I love you》
I am going to read the second message.
《Call me when you are at home.I miss you.I love you》
I smile holding the phone to my chest and then I digit his number.
After not even a ring he answers me.
"Hey honey" his voice is so deep makes my legs shake.
"I'm sorry babe!I forgot the phone in the room and only now I read your messages" I apologize.
"It' all right Lily, don't worry.I'll join you immediately"
"No need babe.Enjoy your evening with the guys.I'm here, I'm not going anywhere"
I hear his laughter vibrate in my ear.
"I haven't seen you since this morning...I'm on my way" his tone of voice hides sinful promises.
"Oh I look forward Cap"
"Oh honey and I can't wait to make you scream that nickname" Steve whispers languidly in a scratchy tone of voice.
I blush with pleasure at the ways he will use to make me scream.
"I am waiting for you.I love you"
"I love you too" he replies, ending our phone call.
I throw myself on the bed looking forward to having my handsome Captain all to myself again.
I get lost in erotic fantasies daydreaming until a noise catches my attention.
It seems to come from below.
That's weird, the tower is deserted.
What can ever be?
With bare feet I head towards the origin of the sound.
I shiver at the touch of my bare feet on the floor.
I walk carefully and pay attention to the noises around as I head downstairs.
It is very unlikely that any thieves have thought of breaking into the Avengers headquarters.
For two simple reasons.
The first is simply because they are the Avengers.
Who would be stupid enough to break into their headquarters?
And second, Friday is the safest alarm in the world.
I calmly enter the elevator heading downstairs.
Arrived in the large room where the main living room is located, I look around.
The noise seemed to come from here.
I don't notice anything until I realize that from the other end of the room, right in front of the window, a motionless silhouette seems to be watching me.
My heart skips a beat and I freeze in place.
The shadow moves towards me, I automatically take a step back.
"Who are you?How did you get in?"
"I bypassed the building's security system.It was tough but for just under 10 minutes we should be fine.I was able to disable alarms and cameras and we will have the privacy we need for a while"
I inhale violently.
I would recognize his voice among a thousand.
"What do you want from me?" I ask full of anger and fear.
"Steve is upstairs and..."
Doctor McTavish positions himself in front of a pool of light coming from the window.
Now I can see him.
His face seems more hollow than the last time I saw him, his eyes are surrounded by large black circles.
He looks tired.
"Is this how you welcome me?With a lie?I know very well that you are alone.Your friends and your loved one are out for a drink.And you just got back from a day with your sweet daddy"
How the hell do he knows?
I try to stay calm, I won't give him the satisfaction of showing me in panic.
I laugh without joy, pretending a certainty that I don't have.
"I ask you one last time.What the hell do you want from me?"
He watches me closely.
"You know what I want Elisabeth"
My hands close into fists.
I feel the energy flowing inside me and a slight blue glow begins to reverberate between my fingers.
"I don't want to hurt you" adds the doctor.
"And I don't want to hurt your friends either.Nor to your beloved.Unless you force me to do it"
At his words an unknown fury takes possession of my body.
Now in my hands I can see electric discharges flowing, I feel it all over my body.
"Be careful how you talk.I will never allow you to get close to them"
"And I repeat to you that I will not do it unless forced.If you cooperate with me everything will be for the best.You should trust me after I let you go...after all, I raised you for 15 years.I just want your cooperation and then you will be free to live your life"
I look at him with disgust.
I can't believe he really believes in the words he says.
"Free?How could I ever live in peace with myself knowing that I have allowed you to destroy the world?How can you even think I'm grateful to you?It was my mother who raised me, you've never been there...and now I know why.Because you are a soulless monster and I will do my utmost to destroy you"
Philiph comes even closer, I step back again.
He smiles, his psychopathic eyes wander all over me and he keeps talking as if nothing had happened.
As if I hadn't just threatened him.
"I don't want to destroy the world.Hydra does not want this.Hydra just wants to restore order and put people in charge that deserves this.The US government, S.H.I.E.L.D. they are just a bunch of corrupt people.We just want to bring the world to its former glory"
"And exactly what do you need the Stone for?"
He seems pleasantly impressed with my interest.
Maybe he thinks I can take his side.
What he doesn't know is that I want him to talk just to get as much information from him as possible.
Information that could help the Avengers destroy him.
"Because it's a limitless source of power.We could create all kinds of weapons to protect the planet from alien attacks.To repel all forms of non-human life from the earth.To preserve our race"
I roll my eyes.
"Jesus Christ Philiph!But are you listening to yourself?Yours are the ravings of a madman"
I scoff at him and his gaze hardens.
"Hydra fights for the greater good.And if your life is to be the price to pay to have the Space Stone, I won't hesitate even for a moment"
We stare into each other's eyes, challenging each other.
"I prefer death.I think I have already demonstrated it to you on several occasions"
Suddenly a metallic noise behind me catches our attention.
Two Iron Man armors float through the door and stand right in front of me aiming its repulsors at McTavish.
Tony's voice spreads through the Friday system.
"Hey Crazy Scientist you made a big mistake trying to tamper with Friday.And above all, you made a huge mistake approaching her"
McTavish seems quite calm.
"I'm here to talk" he says shrugging as if nothing had happened.
As if he were just a friend who came to visit me.
"Man if I were you I would run away like hell.Five Avengers are on their way to kick your ass.One of them is particularly pissed off" Tony says.
I secretly sigh with relief.
Steve is on his way.
McTavish raises his hands in surrender.
"I'm going away.Here is my number Elisabeth"
So saying he places a business card on the sofa next to him.
"Think back to our discussion.I leave the choice to you"
As he turns his back, an indistinct figure enters the window gliding in front of the doctor.
Iron Man is here.
Tony is here.
Thanks God!
"Too late son of a bitch" exclaims Tony opening the helmet of his armor.
He is about to hit him using the repulsor on his hand when McTavish smiles and pulling a small device out of his pocket throws it on the floor.
A small shiny black metal marble rolls towards me.
Within a moment, a light blinds us and a high-pitched sound echoes throughout the room.
It is so strong that I feel like my eardrums are about to explode.
Tony and I bend over, using our hands to try and plug our ears.
I can't help but scream, I feel a sharp pain explode in my head.
I feel that I could lose consciousness at any moment.
I turn my gaze to Tony.
He is on his knees and he too seems to be in agony.
I blink several times to recover from the light that blinded me a moment before and when my vision comes back into focus I let my gaze wander around the room but not even the shadow of McTavish.
Tony seems to be recovering too and staggering towards me.
He's still stunned.
"Are you ok little Strange?" he asks me looking into my eyes.
"Did he hurt you?"
I shake my head as if I needed it to recover my mental faculties.
"I'm fine.We just talked"
Tony helps me to stand up, I feel a little wobbly but thanks to Stark's tight grip around my waist I am able to get up.
Meanwhile, a terrified Steve enters the great hall.
"Honey!" he screams running towards me.
"Honey are you okay?Did he hurt you?Let me check"
His hands wander frantically over my face looking for a scratch or a wound.
His words overwhelm me without even giving me time to respond.
"What did he tell you?What the hell did he want?"
Steve continues to overwhelm me with questions.
He talks so fast that I feel my head, still confused, spinning wildly.
Bucky seems to notice because he approaches Steve and pulls me out of his grasp.
"Dude make her breathe.Do you see in what condition she is?"
I thank Bucky with my eyes and go sit on the sofa.
Just where McTavish's business card makes a fine show of itself.
I take it in my hands and look at it without understanding, I have yet to realize what happened.
Steve looks at me as if he had pure knowledge that I could shatter at any moment.
Nat approaches me handing me a glass of water.
Tony sits on the sofa in front of me, his torso bent forward with his elbows resting on his knees.
He is still wrapped in his armor except for his face, his helmet resting on the floor near his feet.
Pepper next to him strokes his hair gently.
A tense silence spreads between us.
Steve looks really scared and angry.
The first to speak is Sam.
As soon as I hear his voice I suddenly turn towards him, I hadn't noticed that he had arrived with the others.
"What happened Tony?"
Tony straightens up and leans his back against the back of the sofa.
"I'm not sure but I think he used some device, which after exploding with a blinding flash made a sound so high it almost sent our brains into a tailspin"
Tony points his big chocolate eyes into mine.
"Jeez Lily, I feel like my ears are bleeding.And you?" he asks, holding his head in his hands.
"I understand you" I can only whisper as another wave of pain strikes inside my brain.
I squint my eyes trying to tame the pain as best I can.
Steve immediately comes and sits next to me, his warm hand massaging my back.
I try to recover my strength and turning to Tony I ask him "How did you notice?How did you find out that Friday had been tampered?"
Tony raises an eyebrow with a chuckle.
"Friday is the AI ​​par excellence, it is certainly not infallible but when she was tampered, I received a remote alert that warned me that she had stopped working.So I remotely activated two Iron Legion armors to protect you until our arrival"
"Thanks Tony.I don't know what could have happened if you hadn't arrived in time"
Tony stands up and grabbing his girlfriend by the hand he passes by leaving me a caress on my head.
"You don't have to thank me.You are part of the family now and we protect the family"
I see him sigh and turning to everyone he says "I'm going to get something.This headache is destroying me"
We say goodbye to the couple who are leaving and silence falls upon us again.
I squeeze Steve's hand, he returns the squeeze.
I observe him well.
His face is almost ashen white.
Sam sits down where Tony used to be.
Bucky takes a seat next to him while Natasha sits next to me.
"He knew where you were.He knew where I had spent my day" I whisper in fear.
How am I going to go on living my life knowing that that psycho somehow has an ever watchful eye on my life?
Knowing it could hurt the people I love?
All my friends look at me with a surprised glance, I visibly took them off guard with my statement.
Their eyes are full of concern but my attention is captured by the expression of the former Winter Soldier.
"Steve, brother are you okay?"
Steve doesn't answer, he just pulls his hand out of mine and gets up like a fury.
He strode to the window.
Sam looks sadly at his friend.
Nat next to me squeezes my hand even tighter reserving a sorry look for Steve.
The pain of my sweet Captain is visible to all.
We all know where his thoughts are heading.
It will be a long night.
I get up with a sigh.
"Could you please leave us alone?"
Nat is the first to get up.
"Sure!James, Sam c'mon.Let's go"
Sam gets up and goes to the door disappearing behind it.
Bucky just hesitates.
"I'll take care of him.Don't worry"
He nods at my words, taking Natasha's hand between his.
An automatic gesture that contains an infinite sweetness.
"Are you ok?"
I shrug at his question.
"Honestly, I have no idea.Physically I'm fine but mentally..."
I make the gesture of shooting myself in the head.
"Mentally I'm out of service"
"For anything don't hesitate to come to us.You can find us in James's room if you need" my best friend tells me.
Nat and I hug.
"Thank you Nat" I whisper in her ear.
"You're welcome sweetheart"
We smile at each other.
In the living room now it's just me and Steve.
He continues undaunted to look out the window.
The snow has been falling incessantly for hours.
"Steve..."
"I should have foreseen it.I should have known that he would have waited to find you alone to approach you"
"It's not your fault, you know that right?"
I feel like an idiot just thinking about such a question but Steve's gaze confirms the opposite.
He truly believes himself responsible for what just happened.
"Steve please don't be ridiculous.Nobody knew when he would reappear.I can't live with you forever"
I try to smile to soften the situation but Steve's eyes remain serious.
"You're not really thinking this, are you?" I ask quite crossly.
"What do you want me to do then?Only by staying with you can I protect you.You said so yourself.Somehow watches over our every action.How could I ever leave you alone from now on?" the tone of his voice grows higher.
"From now on you will never be alone.If I can't be by your side there will be Bucky, Nat, Sam..."
"Oh I don't think Captain Asshole.I won't let you do that to me"
I feel anger boiling in my veins.
His words are like gasoline on the fire.
"I've been through hell for the past ten years.I won't let that happen again"
Steve gasps at my words, he step back as if I hit him in the face.
"Are you comparing me to that madman?" Steve hisses.
"Are you comparing my love, my protection, to his madness?"
"That's not what I'm saying but I won't let you limit my freedom.I'll never let anyone do that again.Not even you"
He looks at me with a hurt look.
I'm sorry to talk to him like that but it's the truth.
"I love you Steve but you have to trust me.I am able to take care of myself.I can do it"
Steve snorts laughing at my words.
I sharpen my eyes, I feel like he is making fun of me.
"I am Elisabeth Strange.The future Guardian of the Space Stone.I'm not a little girl and I'm not your doll, you can't treat me like I can't go through all of this.You can't lock me in a case just for your pleasure"
Steve's jaw clenches.
"So you decided not to get rid of the Stone"
His is not a question.
"I never said I wanted to"
How the hell did we come to this?
I thought that once he came to my rescue he would comfort and pamper me.
And instead...
Steve laughs without cheerfulness.
A sarcastic tone dirties his voice.
"I can not believe!It took him a couple of hours to convince you"
"What the hell are you talking about, Steve?"
"Your father convinced you, didn't he?"
"Oh God!How dare you!How dare you pull my father into this story.He told me absolutely nothing.I decided!Jesus Christ Steve this is my life!Will I be free to do what I want?"
Steve seems to have lost all sense of reason.
He continues to fight me without even listening to what I'm saying.
"Sure and I should believe it?He always wanted to get you away from me.Bring you to live at the Sanctuary.And I am pleased to see that he succeeded"
I would like to keep yelling at him but it would just be a waste of breath and we will end up saying something we will regret.
So I take a deep breath and speak as calmly as possible, even if there is the chaos inside me.
"I'm not going to talk to you about this, not now.When you have calmed down and returned to yourself maybe then we could talk"
I turn my back on him because I feel that my mask of indifference is cracking, leaving room for despair.
My vision is clouding with tears pressing hard to come out.
"But until then, stay away from me.I'm serious Steve.Stay the fucking away from me"
I walk away with my shoulders down and my heart literally broken.
I wander around the corridor for a few minutes.
I don't know where to go.
I don't know what to do.
I'm scared.
I am alone.
I was just looking for a little comfort, for understanding.
I never thought Steve could address me like this.
I head to Bucky's room and timidly knock on the door.
After a few moments, a thud of footsteps approaches from the other side of the door.
Natasha opens the door, she is about to speak when she sees my expression.
She pulls me into her and holds me in her arms.
And without speaking, she already knows what happened.
"Shhhhhh...it's all right.I'm here" she tries to reassure me.
"He...he..."
I can't speak because big sobs shake my chest making me tremble.
Nat drags me towards the bed and after making me sit down she sits next to me massaging my back.
I rest my head on her soft chest and keep crying.
Meanwhile the door opens, Bucky enters unaware of what is going on.
"Baby I had the chocolate ice cream but unfortunately the strawberry was over..."
The last word dies in his throat when he notices the scene in front of his eyes.
With a couple of big strides he approaches me, placing the bag with the ice cream on the floor.
"What happened?" he asks softly, placing his big hand in Vibranium on my head.
I sniff and try to speak again.
"Steve told me horrible things"
The sobs start again.
"Don't be afraid doll.I'll punch him until he regains his reason"
I can't help but laugh at his words.
I calm down a bit.
"I understand why he feels guilty but he had no right to bring up my father" I whimpered.
"Accusing him of absurd things among other things"
My friends exchange a strange look.
I look at them questioningly.
It is Natasha who answers my silent question.
"You have decided to become a Guardian, right?"
"Did you and Steve talk about it?" I ask without answering her question.
This time it's Bucky to answer to my question.
"Steve was worried that you would choose this path"
I get up full of anger starting to paces the room.
"Why doesn't he trust me?Does he really believe me so incapable that I can't do it?I was born for this!"
"Darling nobody thinks that much less Steve" Natasha reassures me.
"He's just worried about you" Bucky echoes.
I snort loudly.
Obviously they are on his side.
"Listen Lily, you have every right to be angry.Steve was wrong but you must understand that that man loves you so much that he is terrified of losing you, that something might happen to you"
Bucky approaches me continuing to talk.
"Can you try to understand his point of view?God!You two love each other so much...don't let a stupid misunderstanding drive you away"
He's right but right now I don't have the strength to face Steve.
"I don't want to go back to his room tonight.Can I use your room Nat?You will sleep here with Bucky as well..."
My friend's hand closes immediately on mine.
"Absolutely yes!And I come with you.Or rather us, me and the chocolate ice cream.What do you say?"
I laugh.
"You don't have to Nat, really.You can stay here with Bucky" I politely decline her offer.
"I don't think so Lily.I won't let you spend the night alone.Natasha will come with you.I'll survive for one night alone" Bucky talks to me softly as he pet my hair.
"Are you sure?I don't want to be a burden"
Natasha rolls her eyes as her boyfriend laughs.
"Don't be ridiculous Lily.Come on, let's go"
So she says, she stands up holding out a hand to me.
Bucky gives me a nod of encouragement and I hesitantly accept the redhead's hand letting me drag away towards her room.
Once in her room, Natasha hands me a change of clean clothes and convinces me to take a shower.
According to her, I will feel better afterwards.
I do everything she says, I feel totally emptied that I can no longer make any decision, not even the most insignificant.
Once left alone I position myself in front of the mirror above the sink and observe my reflection.
Mascara has run down my cheeks, my eyes are red and puffy.
The tip of the nose is red.
I am a total mess.
I undress and after entering the shower I sit on the cold tiles.
I let myself go in another cry.
I squeeze my knees to my chest trying to pick up every single piece of myself.
Trying to pick up the pieces of my heart.
I remain numb under the jet of water until Natasha enters the shower and drags me away.
She helps me get dressed.
Or at least I think.
My head at the moment is a confused place, clarity comes and goes.
I am so tired that I no longer understand where I am and what or who surrounds me.
How can such a wonderful and incredible day end like this?
I curl up on my side thinking about Steve, about my future.
I love that man more than anything else in the world but I also want to follow in my mother's footsteps.
My father's footsteps.
I will not allow him to decide on this for me.
I feel the mattress sink behind me, Natasha's hand caresses my hair.
"Hey, would you like some ice cream?" she asks me sweetly.
"No Nat, thank you but I just feel so tired"
She leans down on me leaving me a kiss on the head.
"Rest.I will be here by your side"
The last thing I see before I close my eyes is Steve's face.
More hot tears wet my face and I slowly slide into Morpheus' arms.