Chapter 4
I go down to the garage with Morgan and have her give me a minute as I call someone. "Boy toy of Moose," Gabriel answers, and I roll my eyes slightly.
"I have a favor to ask..."
"What's up, kiddo?"
"I need you to wipe the kids and Ravagers' memories of me... The Nova Corps and Destroyers too... They keep coming whenever I get my life together and it messes me up again... Please, Gabe..."
"No problemo." I hear a snap and wait. "Done. They have no memory of you and are under the impression that the kids are Jay's and a random woman's that he took in after she died then he died and they're taking care of them for him with Fang's help." That hurts me and I nod a bit. "They have no memory of Earth with you, Asgard, or the Avengers. So they don't know Loki Jr exists either."
"Good... Thank you, Gabe..."
"No problem, kiddo. Have fun." He hangs up and I go over to Morgan.
"Alright. Ready?" She nods and we both get on my motorcycle, about to slip on our helmets when someone rides in on another motorcycle. "Who's this prick?"
"My boyfriend, Reggie."
"He isn't wearing a helmet." She shrugs and he smiles at her, winking.
"Hey, hot stuff."
"Hey, Reggie." She smiles shyly and I look between them to see him looking me up and down as the elevator dings.
"Hey, Reggie!" Tony comes over with a smile and shakes his hand while I watch, suspicious. "What's up?"
"Well... I came to ask you something. Because I know you like tradition."
"Oh?" He quirks an eyebrow at him and Reggie pulls out a ring box.
"Do I have your blessing to marry your daughter?" I feel Morgan tense before she quickly relaxes and I look at her in an assessing manner.
"Wow! It's fi-"
"Tony," I interrupt and he looks at me. "Don't."
"What? Why?"
"Trust me. Don't."
"Who is this?"
"I'm her older sister. What's up, dude?"
"You have a sister and didn't tell me?" He looks at her and she smiles gently.
"I thought I did... Maybe you forgot?"
"No, you never mentioned her."
"Sorry, Reggie..." I look at Morgan and recognize a few signs.
"Tony, trust me on this. Don't give him your blessing."
"Alright... Sorry, Reggie. But, Razzle Dazzle's a good judge of character and I can't doubt her on this." Morgan relaxes slightly against me and Reggie glares at me.
"I'm gonna marry her anyway. Come on, babe. We gotta celebrate, right?"
"Sorry, pal. We're celebrating together. Put your helmet on, squirt."
"I'm taller than you," She mutters and looks at Reggie with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Reggie. Maybe tomorrow?"
"We had plans. Who's more important? Me or someone you couldn't bother to mention to me?"
"You OK if we reschedule for tomorrow, Raz?" I look at her and nod after a moment.
"Sure thing, squirt. You got a helmet for her?"
"Not needed."
"Morgan is not leaving with you unless she has a helmet."
"I can wear this one, alright?" She shows me hers and I look at her.
"Alright... Text me if you need me to come to pick you up, alright?"
"Not necessary," He scoffs and I ignore him.
"And don't get on his bike if he drinks anything."
"I won't."
"Good. Have fun." She hugs me and I hug her back, squeezing the back of her neck lightly. "Text me if you need anything," I whisper and she barely nods as she pulls away. "Don't drink too much. Hangovers suck." She laughs a bit and nods.
"Babe, come on."
"Sorry." She goes over to him and turns at my whistle, catching her helmet. "Thanks." I nod and she gets on his motorcycle behind him, putting the helmet on. He glares at me for a moment before gunning it out of there and I watch, not moving off of my bike.
"Pixie Dust, the tracker working?"
"Yes, Razzle Dazzle."
"Awesome. She still wearing her helmet?"
"Much to the disdain of Reggie."
"How far away are they?"
"Two blocks."
"Let me know when they stop and the address."
"Of course."
"You put a tracker on her?" Michelle asks and I nod, brushing my hair out of my face. "That's creepy."
"Whatever. I don't trust that guy."
"Care to explain why?"
"Just... A feeling, I guess. I don't trust him."
"He's a nice guy," Tony argues and I look at him for a moment.
"Razzle Dazzle, they stopped. Would you like the address?"
"Yes." She gives it to me and I nod, putting my helmet on. "I'm about to get creepier. There's something... Off about him, Tony. Trust me. Please..."
"Alright. You better find some good evidence about him, though." I nod and gun about a block away from the bar, parking in an alley before I go in with a baseball cap on. I sit in a dark corner and keep an eye on Morgan and Reggie. No one notices me and I order a soda, drinking it slowly as I keep an eye on them.
Morgan goes to the restroom and he pulls her drink over, blocking it with his body so I can't see what he does while everyone else was busy with other things. He slides it back right before she comes out of the restroom and she drinks some of it while my bad feeling gets worse.
She starts to sway in her seat and heads to the bathroom again, drink in hand this time. I follow this time and she wasn't looking good. "Morgan?" She looks at me and I hold my hands up. "It's just me. Give me the drink and you're coming home with me. Now."
Someone knocks on the door and we both look at it. "Babe? You OK?" I look at Morgan and nod.
"Yeah... Yeah, I'm OK..."
"Alright. Let me know if that changes."
"I will..." Footsteps walk away and I gently take her glass, pouring it into a reusable water bottle I always keep on me nowadays.
"Let's go. Where's your helmet?"
"By the door..." I brace her and help her out of the bathroom quickly, avoiding Reggie easily with a bit of magic I learned from Loki. We go outside and I help her onto my bike, putting her helmet on her carefully before I ride back to the Compound as I talk to her.
The others were waiting and I catch Morgan before she falls off my bike, sweeping her into my arms after taking our helmets off. "What's wrong?" Tony asks and I take out the water bottle.
"You got access to police stuff?"
"Yes... Why? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Run this. I'm taking Morgan upstairs to her room and I'm having JARVIS lock it down. No one goes in unless they're with me or Pietro."
"I'm her Father!"
"I don't care," I growl and he backs down quickly. "Run that." I take Morgan up to her floor and gently lay her in bed on her side, making sure she'd stay on her side as I hear Pietro stop next to me. "Keep an eye on her and make sure she stays on her side. Don't leave her alone and JARVIS is going to be recording the whole time. Reggie does not come in here."
"Got it."
"I'll be back." I go back to the garage and everyone but Tony was still there. "I'll be back."
"Where are you going?" Bucky asks and I grab a mask from when they were with the Ravagers, putting it behind my ear.
"I've got to talk to somebody."
"And you need a space mask why?"
"Cuz I do. Any other questions?"
"Who are you talking to?"
"No one important." I grab my helmet and Steve gets in my way. "You've got two seconds to move before I move you."
"Steve, get out of her way," Tony says simply as he comes back and I look at him.
"Got the stuff?"
"Yeah." I go over and he hands me the Stark Pad with the information. "Where'd you get this from?" I read it quickly and growl as my suspicions are confirmed. "Whose drink was drugged, Raziah?"
"A woman at the bar. Morgan took her glass after having a few too many and was going to dump it before I intercepted it. I'll be back." I get on my bike as I put my helmet on and gun it out of there, going past the bar to see Reggie was gone.
I stop in front of a duplex near the park and put my bike in the alley, pulling my left glove on before going up to the door. I grab the spare key and go in, punching in the security code quickly. I hear a bike and hide quickly, waiting.
Reggie comes in and I jump him, beating the shit out of him with the mask on so he doesn't recognize me. This mask had a voice modifier and I make use of it to change mine. "You are going to go to Morgan tomorrow morning, explain what you did to her tonight in front of everyone, what you were going to do, what you've been doing to her, and then you're going to turn yourself in. And if you don't? I'll come back every night until you do. Understand?" He nods quickly, beaten to a pulp, and I leave, going back to the Compound at a decent enough pace so I don't look suspicious. After I get a way to make a copy of the spare key.
They all look at me as I come in and take in the blood on my hands with the slight spatter on my clothes. "Feral took over," I lie easily and they nod, worried. "I took over again before she could kill the prick that drugged the drink." I clean my right hand up and go to change my clothes before going to Morgan, sitting on the dresser to watch over the two of them. I fall asleep. After getting started on making the spare key copy.
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I wake up at about seven-thirty to see Morgan sitting up and she had her head in her hands, groaning. "Hey... How are you feeling?"
"Awful..."
"Yeah, I bet... Come on." I go over and help her out of bed, giving her a hoodie and sunglasses gently. "Those'll help with the light sensitivity." I take her to the Commons floor where the others were waiting and Pietro tosses me a bottle of Tylenol as I help her sit. I shake a couple of the pills out and hand them to her with a glass of water. "Take those and drink all the water. Then there's coffee and food. I know, food sounds terrible right now. But, it'll help."
"Sir, Reggie is coming up with two police officers," JARVIS says above us and I stand straighter slightly.
The elevator dings and the three of them step off, Reggie looking like shit. "She did this!" He points to Morgan and, from her body language, she was confused.
"Reggie, what happened to you? Are you OK?"
"What do you mean? You came to my house at two in the morning and beat the shit out of me!"
"What? No, I didn't!"
"Do you have any way to prove that?"
"I... I don't remember anything from last night... I overdid it with the drinks..."
"Then I'm afraid-"
"Sorry to interrupt, Officer. But, I do have a way to prove it. JARVIS, play the video from one forty-five to two-thirty in the morning, please. Speed it up about... Three."
"Right away, Raz." The video plays and we see Morgan barfing into a bucket that Pietro holds for her as he holds her hair back too.
"What about past two-thirty?"
"Shall I play past that time?"
"Yes. Speed it up to five." The video shows Morgan staying in bed unless it's to hurl and they nod. "So... She was here all night." I go over to Reggie and shake his hand, leaning forward in greeting and to be more eye-level with him. "But, Reggie has something to say. Don't you, Reggie?" He looks at me and then my covered right arm, terror filling his eyes as he yanks himself backward. I back up and watch him. "Sorry, I forget about personal space sometimes."
"She did it! She broke into my house and did this to me!"
"Do you have any proof, Sir?"
"I know she did it!"
"Why would she have done that?" Shuri asks, confused, and I lean against the counter next to Morgan, crossing my arms.
"Yeah. Got a motive for me doing it, pal?"
"You're insane! What my girlfriend and I do behind closed doors is our business! And if she didn't like it, she should've gone to the cops herself instead of sicking you on me!"
"What?" Morgan breathes and I look at her, able to tell she was terrified about this coming to light now and in this way. She looks at me and I reach out to gently squeeze her neck as I pull her into a hug.
"Squirt, you are the strongest kid I know... The truth has to come out... Now," I whisper and she nods before pulling away, looking at the police officers while the others watch, confused. She takes the sunglasses off as I tap something on my phone and a clip plays above us.
"Tell them what you did!" My modified voice bellows and Reggie jumps.
"I hit her, alright? She deserved it! And I spiked her drink! She wouldn't give any up for me so I was going to take it! It's her own fault for being an idiot and a prude!" Morgan shrinks into herself slightly and I lose my temper, grabbing Reggie by the shirt to slam him against the wall before anyone can react.
"No one deserves what you did to her or what you were going to do to her," I snarl in his face, barely keeping control of Feral, and he looks at me, terrified. "If I ever see you around my sister again, Hell's getting a new demon," I hiss in his ear and drop him, backing away before the officers have to do anything to get me off of him. One of them cuffs him and the other looks at me.
"Refrain from doing that in front of other officers." I nod and they look at me.
"She threatened to kill me!"
"We didn't hear anything. Let's go." They go down the elevator and I look at Morgan, going over to her.
"It's my fault," She whimpers and I cup her face gently, lifting it so she looks at me.
"Hey, no. Listen to me. That's on him, not on you. You are an amazing person and you deserve someone as amazing as you. And that prick? That wasn't it. OK?"
"He said he loved me... I'm such an idiot..."
"No, you aren't. People like him always say that. They say that they're doing what they're doing because they love you. They don't. They love controlling you, manipulating you, and hurting you. I know it might hurt, but he didn't love you. Not the way you probably did. Would he get mad about little things? Like being a little late to meet him?" She nods a bit and I gently brush her tears away. "Sweetheart... Look at everything that happened with him, OK? Remember what happened and use them as a cheat sheet for red flags, alright? Cuz the way he made you feel and the way you reacted last night? That ain't how it's supposed to go..."
She starts to open her mouth and I shake my head. "If you are about to say something like you're an idiot or it's your fault or anything stupid like that, I will hug you so tight that your ribs break. You are a magnificent, brilliant, loving, kind young woman, alright? And anyone would be lucky to have you. None of this, none of it, none of what he did to you was your fault. Say it."
"It wasn't my fault," She whispers and it breaks my heart. I hug her tightly and rest my chin on her head as she clings to me, holding her a bit tighter as she starts to cry. "I should hate him but I can't... What's wrong with me?"
"Hey, hey, hey," I say quickly as I pull away and she looks at me, breath hitching. "No. Don't you dare think like that. Nothing is wrong with you. You loved the wrong person, but that doesn't mean it was your fault, or that you're stupid, or that there's something wrong with you! Because none of it is true," I say firmly and she nods a bit. "You understand?"
"Yeah..."
"You're breaking my heart here, kid." I gently rest my forehead against hers and she sniffles before I pull away, looking at her. "Don't hide something like this again... OK? Please... Because all it does is make it easier for you to get hurt and not have any backup or help... Because you've got an army behind you... And the Avengers could help me, I guess." She laughs at that and I smile gently. "Talk to us if you think something isn't right with any other relationships, OK? We can't help you if we don't know you need it... Promise me..."
"I promise..."
"Good." I hand her a handkerchief and she wipes her face with it. "You can keep that, OK?"
"OK... Thanks..."
"Yeah. Don't mention it."
"But-"
"No, seriously. Please don't mention it. Cuz I'm probably gonna get shit from Peter and I'm not looking forward to it."
"But you were so nice! Why can't you be that nice to us?"
"And so it begins... I'm capable of being nice like that in certain situations. Like this one. I don't want her to go through it again. That's all I'm saying about the niceness. Food." I get us plates of food that Pietro was cooking and serve some of it to her. "Winchester Hangover Grease Concoction. Don't know how well it will work for what you have, but... We'll see. Plus, it's just good. I like it." She eats it slowly and I eat some of the bacon.
"OK, I've got something to confess," I say after a bit of silence and they look at me.
"What would that be?"
"Feral didn't come out at all. She almost did earlier, but no. What happened to Reggie? That was all me and I'm not gonna apologize or feel bad about it. He deserved it and I hope he gets the max. Morgan, if he ever approaches you, let me know and I'll handle him. Oh, or I could teach you how to handle him. What do you think?"
"Uh... Sure...?"
"Cool."
"I thought you were a terrible teacher?"
"When it comes to Gamora stuff, yeah. But my stuff? I'm amazing. Sometimes..." I rub my neck slightly, having a crick in it, and regret the way I slept. "You need to get a more comfortable dresser."
"You need to not sleep on dressers."
"Y'know what?"
"What?"
"That's a good point."
"Isn't it?"
"Yeah. Such a good point that I'm going to attempt to teach you stuff today."
"Today?"
"Today."
"Why?"
"Well... I need to work on the stuff on my own anyway because I couldn't do it the past ten years between ten doctorates and ruining the mental trauma from HYDRA... Today seems like as good of a day as any..." I shrug and she looks at me.
"Are you OK?"
"Good question. Trauma is the best I've got as an answer." I shrug and munch on a burnt piece of bacon, looking at Pietro after swallowing some coffee to mask the taste. "You have super speed and aren't trying to sleep while making bacon. How did you burn just one piece?"
"I burnt it on purpose."
"How dare you? You are banned from making bacon!"
"So are you, if you can remember."
"That was in Wakanda. We're in the States now. So... Yeah. CheckMate."
"That's not how that works... You need to get some sleep."
"Nah. I will tonight."
"Alright." He doesn't argue anymore since he knows it's useless and Tony looks at me.
"How'd you know?"
"Know what? That I'm awesome? Well, funny story-"
"No. About Reggie."
"Oh. My relationship with Atar. How long were you two together?"
"Six months."
"Damn. He took that mask down slower than Atar did. I was with Atar for two years. The way Reggie acted reminded me of him and the way Squirt reacted so carefully to him reminded me of me back then."
"I'm sorry but I can't believe you were in an abusive relationship with someone for that long," Steve says carefully and I shrug slightly, munching on another piece of bacon as I think back on the relationship.
"I felt like I was trapped... I kept some salve from Doc that would help heal bruises faster and used it after he," I drift off slightly and run my left fingers along my throat slightly. "He liked seeing the bruises but didn't want anyone else to so he gave me more as he put on the salve to heal them faster... I got used to layers after that... Hell, I'm still trying to get over the shit he put in my head... And it's been twenty-three damned years..."
"Will it take me that long to get over it?"
"No. You'll be able to get over it faster because you don't have to hide shit. Ravagers. You show emotion, you become the laughing stock of the crew and any semblance of control or respect is yanked from you. It took me ten damn years to get where I was and I wasn't about to risk it for anything."
"Good thing you're out of that, huh?" Clint asks and I nod, drinking some more of my coffee. "What all happened to make you the way you were when we met?"
"Yikes. Between when I got picked up at ten and then? Wow... Mainly, I had to unlearn emotions except for anger, hatred, and greed."
"OK. How'd you get so good at reading people?"
"I had to get good at it. How are you gonna choose a good target to rob blind if you can't choose a rich but weak one? Or the best person to pickpocket in the streets of Xandar? They're almost as bad as the streets here. Good for getting lost in the crowd. Oh, Morgan."
"Yeah?" I hold out my hand and she looks at it for a moment. "What?" I look at her and she relents, putting four wallets in my hand.
"Let's see..." I look through the wallets and hum softly. "Dickweed Reggie, Ridiculous Steve, Sometimes Stupid Tony, and... How the Hell did you get my wallet?" She shrugs innocently and I look at her. "Good job. Didn't even notice it was gone. Can't even be mad about it." I toss Steve and Tony their wallets and go through Reggie's. "He won't need this..." I take the money out of it.
"Raziah!" Steve scolds and I look at him.
"What? He don't need it."
"Put it back!"
"Shh... You hear that?"
"What?"
"The sound of me getting a hundred bucks richer." I pocket the money and he looks at me as I continue to go through his wallet. "God. Ugly license photo. It captures his personality perfectly." Morgan laughs and I smile, achieving what I wanted. "Ooh. Feel like giving him credit card debt?"
"It'll be too suspicious if it happens when he's in jail."
"Hm. Fair point." I dig in my pocket a bit and pull out the copy of the key. "Feel like a session of therapeutic house wrecking?"
"Is that a copy of his spare key?" Tony asks and I shrug, looking at him. "Who are you?"
"I am Raziah Quill Emyrada, daughter of Star-Lord, the infamous space outlaw. That's a good code name... Star-Lord. I'm gonna have to take that," I say to myself and nod a bit, looking at Morgan. "So... Therapy?"
"It's tempting..."
"Why did we allow you near our daughter? Terrible influence," Pepper mutters and I chuckle.
"Oh, Pep. That's adorable. This is the Ravager Influence, not the Raziah Influence. The Raziah Influence is much worse."
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm partial to the good old-fashioned bat to all of the breakable things in the house... But, I am always up for channeling my inner family friend and cutting a couch up with a chainsaw."
"Are you talking about my TiTi Madea?" Sam asks and I look at him.
"You know Miss Mabel? Miss Mabel Simmons?"
"Yeah!"
"Dude! Is she still alive?"
"Somehow!"
"Dude!"
"Dude!"
"You're not fucking with me?"
"No!"
"What is a TiTi?" Bucky asks and Sam and I look at him like he'd grown another head before we look at each other.
"Is he serious?"
"I think he is."
"What am I missing here?"
"TiTi is another word for Aunt, Buck," I explain simply as I shake my head and think back a bit to all the chaos she caused. "God, I love that woman. You have her number?"
"Of course I have my TiTi's number!" He shares it with me and I call her on speaker.
"Whatchu want?"
"Miss Mabel?"
"Brown?"
"No! Damn, Miss Mabel... I'm offended..."
"Who is this?"
"Solstice's daughter."
"Solstice? The crazy girl from Colorado with the two babies and the crazy white parents?"
"Yeah."
"Which daughter is this?"
"Her youngest, Raziah."
"Ziah? Baby, how you doin'?"
"I'm doing good, Miss Mabel."
"That's good, that's good. How'd you get my number?"
"Your nephew, Sam Wilson."
"I'm gonna whoop that boy's ass."
"Sorry, TiTi," He says quickly and I chuckle softly.
"Boy, who the Hell do you think you are giving this crazy girl my number?"
"Miss Mabel, you haven't seen me since I was a little kid." I hear the telltale portal and Madea comes through with Stephen. "Damn... You got-"
"I got what?"
"Uh, prettier! I was prettier!"
"Uh-huh... Let me look at you, baby." I smile as I lean against the island and she looks me up and down. "You got a bit taller."
"Just a bit, yeah."
"You been eatin'?"
"Yes, I've been eating, Miss Mabel."
"Good. And how many damn times do I gotta tell you this? Call me Madea."
"Sorry, it ain't gonna happen. Mom and Keiko told me to call you Miss Mabel." I take my jacket off absentmindedly and she looks at my arm.
"You're that crazy girl from that place with all the crazy white people, ain't you?"
"God, I missed you."
"I missed you too, baby. You got yourself a man yet?"
"Yes, I did. Sam ain't got anybody yet, as far as I know."
"Hey, leave me out of this."
"Boy, get your ass back here." He comes over a bit and she smacks him upside his head. "The Hell you think you're doing? Don't be giving my number out to people! I don't want the PoPo showing up at my door!"
"I'm sorry, TiTi." I snicker softly and Madea looks at me which makes me shut up.
"The Hell you laughin' about, girl?"
"Nothing, nothing at all."
"That's what I thought."
"This is funny," Bucky whispers and I watch in amusement as Madea hits him upside the head too. "Ouch!"
"Watch yourself, boy."
"Miss Mabel doesn't screw around, Bucky."
"I can see that," He grumbles and I smile a bit, watching her interact with Sam for a bit.