Who are you? (A Loki Love Story)

Chapter Eighteen - Memories

       It had been three days since Loki and Thor left and I had moved into Stark Tower. It was a lot to take in at first. I had gotten a large and beautiful room, even though it was a guest room. Tony apologized about it for some reason, saying that all of the avengers would have their own personalized rooms when they rebuilt. I had laughed and waved his apology off. This was already much fancier and fun than SHIELD had ever been.
        Then Tony and Bruce started to act a little strange, giving me weird looks and whispering to each other when they thought I wouldn't notice. This went on for the next two days, and I'm sick of it. Time to find out what is bothering them. "Jarvis?"
        "Yes Ms. Crest?"
        "Where are Bruce and Tony?"
        "Talking inside the lab. Do you need me to tell them that you are looking for them?"
        "No, I'll go get them myself, thank you."
        "Your welcome Ms. Crest." I went quickly and quietly down the stairs to the lab, not able to use the elevator because the sound would tell them that I was there. I went to the doorway of the lab, noticing that the door was wide open.
        "Tony, we have to talk to her about it." Bruce said.
        "I know, I just need to think about what to say..." Tony said.
        "We should just confront her about it. You know that Sophie is getting suspicious."
        "Well what are we supposed to say?! Just go up and accuse her of being in a relationship with the guy that kidnapped her and destroyed New York?"
        "Like you said, I think that she didn't know what he was going to do, and the lip reading program didn't catch anything that was said because of the angle." I was mad now. They had watched my private conversation after I had asked them to leave it alone! I stepped into the room, my skin starting to obtain a light orange-red glow. They had their backs to the door, so they did not see me. 
        "I asked you to leave it alone. To trust me." I say in a quiet voice, even though all I wanted to do was yell at them. They both spun around, eyes wide, And a saw that while they had been talking, they had also been watching the footage of me and Loki in the park.
        "Sophie?!" Bruce exclaimed.
        "How long were you there?" Tony asks.
        "I asked you to trust me." I say louder, ignoring his question. He and Bruce look at each other Guiltily. "Why did you invade my privacy?" I ask.
        "You want the truth?" Tony asked, and I nodded. "I was curious. When you came back from your chat you looked a little shaken up. I wanted to make sure that he hadn't done anything to you." I saw the truth in his eyes, but I was still upset.
        "And that gave you the right to watch me?!" I yell. "I told you that I was fine, and you should have left it alone!"
        "Sophie-" Bruce says, but I cut him off.
        "And Bruce? I can't honestly believe that you of all people did the same." I say, leaving him looking hurt. "I thought you were both my friends." I say my voice getting suddenly soft again. I turn and run out of the room.
        "Sophie, wait!" I hear Tony yell, but I don't stop until I get to my room.
        "Jarvis, Lock the door and don't let anyone in." I say, tears streaming down my face. "Not even Tony."
        "Yes Ms. Crest." Jarvis said, and he locked my door with a click. No more than 30 seconds later I hear footsteps outside my door.
        "Jarvis, open the door." Tony ordered.
        "Ms. Crest wishes for the door to remain locked until she says, sir." Jarvis replies.
        "I don't care. Open this door." He says.
        "Ms. Crest, Mr. Stark wishes to come in." Jarvis says.
        "Tell him I said That I don't give a crap what he wishes, he is not coming in." I say, fighting to keep my voice steady.
        "Ms. Crest says-"
        "I heard her." Tony says, interrupting. "Sophie! Open the door!"
        "No!" I yelled, and my voice broke.
        "Sophie, can we please talk?" I heard a nicer voice say. I didn't realize that Bruce was with him.
        "Can I just be alone please?" I ask quietly.
        "Come on Tony." I hear Bruce say. Tony lets out a frustrated sigh and I hear them both walk away. I cry silently before drifting off to sleep.
''''''''''
        I was huddled in the corner of the room, curled into a tight ball, just wanting the pain to stop. "P-Please s-stop." I sob. The whip lashes against my back again, the metal tip on the end digging deep into my skin.
        "Why? You deserve this." The man said with a dark chuckle, whipping me again and again. My back was open and raw, bleeding onto the white tile floor, but the lashes continued on. When he decided that I had gotten enough, he threw the whip down and picked up one of many shots on the counter next to him. He started to come towards me but stopped. "And before I forget.." He mused, going over to pick up a gag. "Can't have you screaming, now can we?" He said. He forced the gag into my mouth and grabbed my arm. I tried to break free but i was too weak. He injected me with whatever was in the vial and it went into my bloodstream, burning like lava as it went. I screamed, but no sound came out but muffled cries around the gag. Tears streamed down my face as the pain continued, and my screams made my throat raw...
'''''''''''''''
        I woke up screaming, tears running down my face, skin Orange and red and covered in my old scars. All I could see was the white walls of the lab, and the door shaking in its frame. "SOPHIE!" I heard some one yell, and the door burst open, and two men form my memories came rushing in. I scrambled back until I hit a wall, trying to get away.
        "P-Please, N-No more. I-It hurts s-so m-much." I said sobbing, and trying to move into a smaller target.
        "Sophie! Its just us!" They said again, but I shook my head.
        "I-I'll do a-anything if you j-just s-stop." I whimpered.
        "Sophie, please! It's just me and Bruce!" The man on the left said. I looked up through my tears at the mans worried tone. I blinked a few times an saw that I was in my room at the tower, with Tony and Bruce looking at me with scared and worried expressions.
        "T-Tony? B-Bruce?" I asked through the sobs that went through me. Tony pulled me into his lap, trying to calm me. Bruce was right there too, his hand on my arm.
        "Shhh, Shhh, It's okay, you're okay." Bruce said, and Tony started to rock me back and forth.
        "It hurt so much." I say, my throat raw from crying. My eyelids felt heavy, and my limbs didn't want to work. The scars were fading from my skin.
        "It was just a dream." Tony said, still rocking me.
        "No, it was a memory." I whisper, before letting the darkness envelope me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony's POV Ten minuets earlier

        "I cant concentrate on this!" I exclaim loudly. "I'm going to get something to eat. You coming?" I ask Bruce. I knew neither of us were actually doing work, and I wasn't really hungry at all, I just need to do something else. 
        "I guess. I'm not doing anything useful anyway." He said with a sigh. We were both beating ourselves up about what Sophie had said. That she thought we were her friends. And she was right, friends don't hack into security videos to find out what the other was doing.
        "We really broke her trust, didn't we?" I ask Bruce as we walk to the kitchen. He shut his eyes and nodded slowly. "I feel like crap." I stated. "I want to go apologize." I said.
        "Don't, it will only make it worse. She obviously needs space right now, and we should give it to her." I slowly nodded, wishing that he wasn't right. I got out a shot glass and some vodka from under the bar. I was surprised when Bruce pulled out a glass too.
        "Really?" I asked. He simply nodded.
        "It's eating at me." He said, and I felt bad for pulling him into this.
        "I wish I could just-" I started, but I'm cut off by a high pitched scream filling the air. We both flinched and instantly covered our ears. The shot glasses shattered, as did the glass bottle that the vodka was in. It suddenly cut off.
        "Sophie." Bruce said, and we both sprinted towards her room. I tried her door but it was still locked. We could hear Loud sobs and yelps from inside and I looked over at Bruce before backing up and slamming my shoulder into the door, busting it open.
        Sophie was in a corner of the room, and the second she saw us she started to scramble backwards until she hit the wall. She was utterly terrified, tears were running down her face, she was shaking hard, and her skin was orange-red and covered in scars.
        "P-Please, N-No more. I-It hurts s-so m-much." She said sobbing her eyes out. She curled into a protective ball.
        "Sophie, It's just us!" Bruce exclaimed. She tried to back up more but she couldn't.
        "I-I'll do a-anything if you j-just s-stop." She said, crying harder.
        "Sophie, please! It's just me and Bruce!" I said, scared and worried. What was happening to her? She looked up at me and started to blink rapidly, eyes darting around the room.
        "T-Tony? B-Bruce?" She asked in a small voice, still sobbing. I went over and sat next to her, pulling her into my lap. Bruce sat down as well, keeping a comforting hand on her arm.
        "Shhh, Shhh. It's okay, you're okay." Bruce said, and I started to rock her. She was such a small thing, and really light too. Her crying was starting to die down.
        "It hurt so much." She says in a small, raspy voice. Me and Bruce exchange a worried glance.
        "It was just a dream." I said softly. I kept rocking her, seeing that her eyelids were dropping.
        "No, it was a memory." She whispers, before falling asleep. Me and Bruce look at each other, and I see the worry I felt etched onto his face.
        "Remember what she said to Loki? About the scars only appearing after the nightmares?" I asked. Bruce nodded.
        "I guess we just found out what her nightmares are like." He said, looking down at her. The last of the scars faded away as we watched in stunned silence.
        "What did they do to her?!" I ask. After a few minuets, I move to get up and set her on the bed, but her hands tighten on my shirt. Bruce is almost asleep, sitting up against the wall, so I settle back down as well, and fall asleep too.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Sophie's POV


        I slowly woke up, my muscles aching from the strange position they had been in. I looked around, blinking to adjust my eyes. Both Tony and Bruce are out cold, one on each side of me. They sit, slumped against the wall, and I knew that they were going to be aching when they came too. I wondered briefly why we were all asleep like this, until the memories of last night surged to the front of my head. I slowly got up so that I didn't wake either of them up, and went to the door. I looked back at them, knowing that I had hurt them when I had yelled last night, and now guilt was gnawing at me. I walked around the tower, unsure of how to apologize, when I stumbled into the kitchen. A broad smile suddenly lit up my face as I remembered something that Nat had told me. The way to a mans heart is through his stomach. I ran around the kitchen, gathering up all of the ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes, because who didn't like chocolate chip pancakes?
        I was moving quickly, making the pancakes how I had learned to years ago from a sweet lady who had owned a diner. I had been on a mission, but I learned how to make the most awesome pancakes ever. "Jarvis? Can you play music in here?" I ask suddenly, wanting something to listen to.
        "Yes Ms. Crest. What would you like too listen to?"
        "Umm, Can you play the deluxe Night Visions album by Imagine Dragons?"
        "Yes Ma'am." He said, and Radioactive started to blast through the speakers. I soon found myself singing and dancing to every song, not missing a word. I made around 25 pancakes, and I finished up by dancing around the kitchen singing On Top of the World. I had Jarvis stop the music so I could go wake up Bruce and Tony.
        I walked into my room to find them in the same positions that I had left them in, still sound asleep. I went over to Tony first, poking him in the shoulder. "Tony, wake up!" I said. he stirred a little, but stayed asleep. I sighed and rolled my eyes, and started to poke his face. "Come on Tony wake up!"
        "Five more minuets." He grumbled. I sighed.
        "I made pancakes." He opened one eye and looked at me.
        "Really? Or are you tricking me to make me get up?"
        "The pancake batter is still on my shirt." I said, motioning to the stain on my old t-shirt. He got up, and I heard some popping.  
        "You ok there old man?" I asked. He glared at me, and started to walk towards the door. "Wait! Before you can eat, you have to help me get Bruce up." I say.
        "Ugh, fine." He said, and I smiled. We shook Bruce awake, and I got both of them to the kitchen, sitting them at the island in the middle of the room. I gave them both plates stacked with pancakes, before getting my own. Tony took one bite and looked up at me with surprise.
        "What?" I asked.
        "These are amazing!" He exclaimed.
        "What did you expect? Rat poison?" I ask sarcastically. Tony just rolled his eyes and started to dig in. We ate in silence, and I finished my plate first, even though it was the biggest. My body was still running on energy replacement mode, so I was eating like a wild animal. The guys finished a few minuets later and we sat in uncomfortable silence. "I'm sorry about what I said last night." I say suddenly. "I know you guys were just worried." They looked at me, a little taken aback.
        "We should be the ones apologizing." Bruce said. "We invaded your privacy when we should have just trusted you." I gave them a half smile.
        "Not needed, I forgive you if you forgive me." I say. They both smile and nod, and I walk around to give them a hug. When I pull away, I ask a question that has been bothering me. "Why did you guys come help me last night? I was pretty wretched to you, but you came anyway." They exchanged a confused glance.
        "What do you mean? We heard your screams, and had to make sure you were okay. You are our friend above anything." Tony says, and I smile and hug them again.
        "Do you want to talk about it?" Bruce asks. I slowly shake my head.
        "It was just some time that I had spent in the lab when I was imprisoned. Nothing important." I lied. I could tell that they saw right through it, but they didn't ask again. Just exchanged a worried glance. "Guys, seriously. I'm fine. The past is the past." I say, leaving the room. When I got to my room, I lay on the bed, one thought racing through my head.

        But my past haunts me.....

Over a hundred reads! You guys are amazing!