The Bracelet of Bonds ~ An Avengers Soulmate AU

Chapter 27; An Offer

Psyche's POV

Dinner was an uneventful occasion. That meant it was peaceful, full of laughter and a generally relaxing time. I couldn't recall the last time I had that much fun, and I secretly envied the domestic life the Avengers lead. Although Nick, Phil and Maria provided me with all the love I ever wanted, they were busy. We rarely ever sat down for meals together.

After dinner, while the others cleaned up, Bruce and Loki escorted me back to my room. They were insistent that I needed my rest despite my desire to help the others who were on dish duty.

"So far, the samples we got from you are looking good," Bruce informed me, "but we'll only really be able to tell tomorrow.".

"Great! So... what are you testing for exactly?" I asked him.

"Any foreign chemicals in your bloodstream. You know, stuff that shouldn't be there. Like poison, or at the very least, traces of a drug that could give us a clue as to what happened to you.".

I hummed at the explanation, and Bruce looked pleased with himself. Loki looked at me with curiosity and concern, he soon broke the calming silence that had settled over us.

"You truly can't remember anything?" He asked me, and I shook my head.

"All I remember is waking up in a chair and seeing Clint, Steve and Bucky. They could probably tell you more than I can about the moments before I woke up." I told him.

Loki and Bruce shared a look before their gazes landed on me. It seemed as though they wanted to tell me something, but they put it off. We continued to walk in silence towards my room, passing the various beautiful and intriguing rooms, but I had no interest in them at the moment. I was too focused on my own thoughts.

Finally, we reached the sleek white door of my room, and the three of us paused in front of it. I rested my hand on the doorknob and turned to my two companions with a smile.

"Thank you both," I expressed my gratefulness. They grinned back at me and Loki even did a little bow. They likely thought I was thanking them for escorting me back to my room, when I was really thanking them for having my back.

"Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning," I bid them goodbye and was just about to disappear into my room when Loki stopped me.

"Just a moment, please," he begged, looking slightly desperate. I released my hand from the doorknob and gave the pair my full attention.

"You said you could not remember anything that transpired," he began, "What if I helped you remember?" 

I crossed my arms and looked him in the eyes, "I don't understand." I told him honestly.

"Like I said, so far your blood samples are looking good..." Bruce now spoke, "But if what happened to you wasn't a result of drugs, it was a result of magic.".

I mentally facepalmed. How could I have been so stupid as to completely rule magic out of the equation? Hell, it should've been the first thing on my mind, and so much evidence pointed towards it.

"I think you might be right." I whispered.

Loki continued, "Wanda, Stephen and I can work with you each day if you're up for it. See if we can get into your mind and try see the memories from the facility.".

I eagerly nodded at his offer, it was definitely worth a shot. If I couldn't remember, there was a good chance someone had used magic to make me forget. Who better to unlock the memories than some of the most powerful magic users in the cosmos?

"I accept." I let Loki know, and I saw an expression of pure relief dawn across his face.

"Lovely," he purred, "We shall begin tomorrow.".

...

"Don't resist us Psyche, just allow us to enter your mind." Stephen voiced, his voice was oddly calming and helped me get through the discomfort of having three magical forces attempting to invade my mind.

"Just like that, brilliant." Loki praised, smiling as he succeeded in entering the special chamber of my mind bursting with various memories. 

"How do I know if I've found the memory we're looking for?" Wanda asked the more experienced magicians as the room around her transformed into a dark void illuminated with swirling, glowing ropes of every imaginable color. The memories.

"Look for ones that don't want to be found," Stephen began, "the ones she's locked away, trapped, doesn't want to remember.".

There was a pause, "What?" Wanda asked in confusion.

Loki rolled his eyes at Stephen's words, "Check any that have a dull, grey glow," he told Wanda, "those are her repressed memories.".

"Especially the ones that are closest to you," I managed to mumble out, my eyes remained closed as I willed myself to relax, "The closest memories are the most recent ones, if you go too far out you'll unlock old ones.".

Wanda seemed to have an idea now, and confidently walked up and tapped one of the repressed memories. I cringed as I recalled how I spilt tea all over Sharon Carter and myself day before yesterday.

"Oops," Wanda giggled, "Not that one.".

"Not this one either..." Stephen said, watching me trying to secretly take a picture of an attractive agent, but forgetting my flash was on.

"If you guys could not remind me of all my embarrassing moments, that'd be great." I groaned, eliciting chuckles from the others.

Several embarrassing memories later, Stephen's gut feeling drew him to one particular memory. It seemed to have a much more dull glow than the previous ones had, and he called Wanda and Loki to come look at it.

"Yes... it could be the one." Loki uttered. The trio carefully studied it before Stephen reached out a hand to tap it. I continued trying to stay as calm as possible for them. We could not screw this up.

Three....

Two....

One....

BANG!

With a sudden jolt, the three magicians were flung out of my mind and across the Avengers training room. They flew across the air and collided with the walls as I clutched tightly at my hair, affected by the sudden and painful loss of their presence in my mind.

"What the hell was that?!" Wanda panted, standing using the wall for support.

Stephen, Loki and I looked at each other knowingly. Oh, how we were hoping it would turn out to be anything but this. 

"That memory has been locked," Loki stated, "I've only heard of such happening in theory, but for it to happen in practice is rare...".

"If we continue trying to regain access to it, we could all lose our lives," Stephen explained to Wanda, "locking a memory is no simple feat for any ordinary sorcerer or sorceress.".

"Which means..." Wanda trailed off.

I finally looked up from my hands to make eye contact with the other witch, "Someone used dark magic on me.".