Chapter 4: Tamed
“... I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised. But come on, you know. That epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's going to find a way to grow up in.
So, I found a private area to record a little greeting in case of an untimely death on my part. Not that death at any time is ever timely. This time travel thing that we are going to pull off tomorrow... it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of all this.
But then again that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I tripping for? Everything is going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to.
I love you 3000”.
– Tony Stark, 1970-2023 –
I can’t remember much of that day; I saw my dad a few days before he left to save the world, and all that came back was a helmet and a holo-message. After letting the fact that he was gone sink in, it was my mother’s turn to assimilate that nothing was going to be the same.
First of all, and talking about general facts, most of the Avengers retired or forged separate paths. The last thing I heard about one of them was that Uncle Peter was saving the world again in Berlin, all I could do was waiting for him to come back alive.
Because that's what I was expected to do, mope around my father's memory in hopes that one day I'll find myself ready to fill the gap in the office, a void far too wide to fill just like that. I don't consider myself a genius, let alone as smart as he was, mother swears that every time she looks at me she sees a bit of herself and lots of him.
"I love you 3000" one kind and comfortable line, my last words to him, at least I didn’t regret it, most families fight before a loved one’s death, so at least he left knowing how much I love him.
Setting that aside, because again, I don't remember most of it, (or I choose not to); my mother well succeeded at being a single parent, although she required Happy’s assistance from time to time, my Uncle Peter also was very present in my life, despite having homework.
Oh, how much I love him, with all his spidey abilities and really nerdy comments, but there was one tiny weensy problem, my father chose him as his successor instead of me! I mean, WTF?. I understand that he was more or less like his protégé, or some shit like that, but it still pisses me off, big time.
On the other hand, I’ve kept myself busy enough to not think about it, by doing nothing more than cry myself to sleep while I think what the fucking hell was I going to do with my life. When I was 16 I fell into the horrible conclusion that I was a good for nothing with a bit of a talent to assemble stuff, but that doesn’t get you a decent scholarship, so I studied a bit of everything.
I ditched school to study a bunch of fun stuff, 15 years of my life wasted into a legacy that didn’t belong to me, a thought that nearly consumed me, until that very day at the Starlight’s Delight Café.
I've never been more interested in a legal case than that time Elena Rogers came with a security camera footage. - You see that? I can’t prove it yet, but I’m almost a 100 percent sure she got there when it was all over - I was quite impressed, not because the beauty of the woman in the video was indeed not human at all, but because I've seen the eyes of a murderer, and she didn't had them.
I didn't knew where to start digging, the videos were an exceptional help, apparently it wasn’t her first incident, last time she froze a kid alive, and there was no other detail about it, so she obviously looked more than guilty.
I traced my fingertips over the screen, tracing her image. The first time I saw her, was at court, her long black hair was stuck to her head and face. Her clothes were ragged and dirty, and so was her skin in general places, most of the stains black or grey. She looked in pain, but also like she was used to it.
After we won the case, I signed for her and let a bunch of SEAL take the chamber inside the truck, - Where to ma’am? – They took us to London International Airport, and it was only when I was already inside the plane that I realized…she wasn’t breathing.
- Get her out of this, now! - Either the flying attendants didn’t know what to do or simply refused to help, the truth is that I only had to pull the mechanism to open the door, but, and not to my surprise, it was jammed.
Given my desperation and panic, I used the emergency hammer that the copilot handed me reluctantly, to break the glass.
- What do I do?!, She is not breathing!! - They didn't move at all, those bastards. - HELP ME!! - I yelled getting one of the girls to react, - I will guide you miss, please relax – She came over and helped me get her out of the broken glass, she weighed less than a piece of furniture.
We left her on her back on the floor and the stewardess began to tell me what to do, apparently the precarious condition she had disgusted her, it bothered me because what else could I expect from someone who was mistreated and basically tortured for five years?
- Ok, ok, relax, first place the heel of your hand on the center of the person's chest, then place the other hand on top and press down by 5 to 6cm at a steady rate of 100 to 120 compressions a minute, after every 30 chest compressions, give 2 rescue breaths – Did I had to give her mouth to mouth? Yes, and I did it without thinking twice.
Between compressions and CPR, her chest rose and fell between spasms and gasps, her lungs filling with absinthe air, she wrapped her arms around my neck and settled against my chest, - please ... please ... don’t touch me - her eyes were wonderful, my body surrendered in something that seemed lethargy, from a point and through my throat I felt something warm rise, the strange thing was that it was not vomit, just a feeling, an omen, my heart raced and I felt her stop for a second as her arms lowered to my abdomen, encircling it tightly.
- You’re ok, breathe, I’m here – that seemed to calm her, giving that she fell asleep in my lap.
It only took one glance for the flight attendants to move the remains of the chamber to the back of the plane, I gave the order to the pilot and we took off. It was a long flight, at least for me, she had been in my lap soundly asleep, she refused to let go of me, but she was not necessarily hurting me, so I didn’t mind, she seemed very cute and relaxed, melted would’ve been the right term though.
She remained in that condition for four days and three nights, until she woke up. I was surprised that her hair was cut above her shoulders, the left side at the height of her jaw and the right only covered a little of her ear, since it had been cut shorter. Her skin was undoubtedly pale, probably in the absence of vitamin D despite her natural brown tone, and bright; it was about five in the afternoon, so the dull sunlight enhanced her features and figure like it was meant for her.
I swallowed the sip of juice I was having a bit too hard, especially when she pulled her hair a bit back with her darkened fingertips, stubbornly falling onto her left side anyway, - Holy shit – I whispered before greeting her properly, making extra sure she didn’t notice my admiration.
After a bit of chatting, I got a text, an H.C.N, which means “Hurry Coffee Now!”, I smiled at my phone and apologize to Tessa before I had to rush to my motorbike and drive 5 minutes to get to the village. I arrived at Starlight’s Delight Café about fifteen ‘till seven pm, Helena was waiting for me by the front window, in our table placed exactly behind two security cameras, a perfectly built blind spot for our little rendezvous.
- Is she awake? Did she transformed? Please tell me everything! – she had two coffee mugs in front of her, one with a Coconut Milk Latte for her, and a Dusted Cream Americano for me, - Firstly I can’t believe you still remember my order, and secondly she woke up a few hours ago – ever since I met her she’s been obsessed about Norse mythology, and after finding out about how real Thor was she went even more crazy.
- She’s a bit of an introvert, we spoke a little before you texted me, she seemed a bit off though, it was a bit unsettling - It’s true that in my head I kind of hope that she would go berserk and run away like a wild animal, and I was a bit disappointed when it didn’t happened, but her touch.
Her touch was soft and somehow both warm and cold. A kind of contact that made me feel protected and happy, like a weapon or a shield that had lovely kitten stickers.
- Weird how? Like in an evil way? Or maybe she told you to kneel down, and you surrendered to your kinks? Speaking of it, there’s a video of Loki in Germany, OMG, I would’ve totally knelt before him in a heartbeat – She squealed with a fangirl fashion, typically of her.
- Can you please grow up already? You are two weeks away from turning 25, stop acting like a crazy fifteen-year-old directioner – She gasped dramatically and stood up only to smack my shoulder, then she let herself fall back in the chair, - Bitch, I ain't no veggie, I’ll never grow –.
I noticed three things. One, she had a new nose piercing; Two, the left side of her hair was fully covered by dreadlocks; And three, she was low-key expecting Tessa to be violent.
- Anyways, off like she didn’t actually cared about anything, I mean I could’ve been a mob boss ready to make her do shady shit, and she wouldn’t give two fucks about it – I was deeply concerned about that.
- Maybe she’s in a worse state than we thought, have you talked with Castellan? Maybe he could pay you two a visit, and, you know, give her professional aid – she had a point, Tessa probably had to go through a ton of shit, - He was supposed to come yesterday, but I called him off because Tessa wasn’t awake yet, I’ll send him a text to come as soon as he can – I wasn’t sure a psychologist would actually help her, but doing nothing about her mental health was far too cruel.
- I’m worried, we had a handshake, and she had this look on her face – She leaned and hold her mug really close to her, pretty interested in the details I was pretty aware of.
- You know I’m very perceptive, her volume of speak was low and she kept her head down, she hardly looked at me in the eye, also her hands, lots of tiny scars specially on her knuckles and fingertips; but that look was pure submissive fear, and she said that If I was going to kill her, better do it quickly – she was in shock.
- Did she moved rather strangely?, Like not being able to stand still?, Keeping a clear guard up? – I shook my head, - No, but she seemed worried about something, she really looked like a beast in a constant alert state, it was heartbreaking -.
After that, we said goodbye, it was always a pain to depart ways, Helena lives in Houston, so she was staying in a hotel, despite my attempts to persuade her to stay at my place, but like a good Leo she was stubborn.
I had to make the biggest decision of all times, bring Tacos, Chinese or Italian for dinner, because I didn’t really asked her what she preferred, I happened to buy a bit of everything and rushed home before it get too dark.
I found her staring at the ocean, I couldn’t see much from behind her, but I could tell she was relaxed and calmed.
- To be honest I thought you were already gone, but you decided to stay! This is going to be SO much fun, roomie – I think that went worse than I thought, she suddenly turned around and I panicked.
- I thought I really had nothing to lose by trying, and who knows?… the hypotenuse and whatever – she clearly didn’t heard me walking in, she literally looked away the moment I got close to her.
- I brought soft tacos, pasta, pizza, and a hell lot of Chinese food, what do you fancy? – she paced a bit until she stopped next to me, she was smiling softly, Tessa really had an unearthly beauty.
I thought she would have a similar physical resemblance to Loki, but her skin was slightly brown, although just as pale. Her irises were jade green, with dark brushstrokes under her eyes. Her short dark hair looked so pretty, it highlighted the arch from her neck to her chin, and her lips were thin but in my mind I imagined biting them out.
I fell into reality quickly when she shyly pulled me out of my thoughts, - You know, it's going to sound strange, but I have no idea what you are talking about, I mean, I- I’ve been imprisoned since I was 18, so I guess I haven’t actually tried any type of what I guess is fast food - my jaw dropped, though sure enough, it made sense.
- Tessa - she turned her head to see me, - Can you tell me exactly what happened? You know, the incidents – she looked doubtful, afraid, and angry. - I know that having saved information makes me an accomplice, but the penalty was only supposed to last three years, not five, besides, this is something that I must solve on my own, I would beg you to stay out of it, but I feel that it’s not your style – a small grin, she laughed.
That look, I knew it well, - I have one condition – She stood up and I copied her, - Anything – her eyes went up and down on me, sending shivers down my spine, - You must watch carefully and quietly – she leaned and whispered near my ear, before taking a few steps back.
- Wait…watch? – her irises glowed with a green light and everything turned black.
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