The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

Reunions

(AN- I AM SO SORRY FOR THIS CHAPTER IN ADVANCE 😭 I literally sobbed while writing it)

~~~Linda's pov~~~

Aunt Jemma was right. Seeing my parents again brought me the closure I needed, and I know I would have absolutely regretted it if I hadn't.

I smiled to myself as I thought about my dad. He was exactly as I remembered him. Well, almost exactly. He wasn't as tall as I remember him being when I was five years old. But I guess that's to be expected.

I was so caught up in my happy thoughts that I accidentally bumped into someone running in the opposite direction.

"Sorry, sir. I didn't see you there." I apologized, not seeing the man's face yet.

"That's okay. I'm just in a bit of a rush..." He trailed off when he saw who I was. "Linda?"

That's when I recognized him.

"Hey, Deke." I smiled. "It's good to-"

"You're alive!" His eyes were wide with shock as he pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oof!" The air was knocked out of me as he tightened the embrace. I tilted my head as I answered, reciprocating the hug. "I think so. I mean, sometimes I feel a little dead inside-"

"I thought I'd never see you again." He cut me off. "Voss said he killed you... How are you even here?" His voice shook as he spoke.

I didn't know how much Voss told him...

After a moment, I came up with an excuse. "He said he did what?" I scoffed. "He stabbed me, yeah. But it wasn't fatal, like at all. Shoved me in a storage closet and left me to bleed out. I snuck back into the Lighthouse when it docked in the docking bay."

It's a good thing my dad was the God of Lies, or else I probably wouldn't have been able to sell that.

"Seriously? You were in the Zephyr that whole time?!" He pulled away, his eyes wide.

I nodded, but I still felt horrible lying to him.

He didn't know I had magic. He didn't know who my parents were. Therefore, there was no way for me to explain that I had cast an illusion duplicate of myself to spy on Voss. Not rationally, anyway.

"Alright, that aside, I owe you a serious apology. Linda, I am so sorry for what I said that day. I had no right." He shook his head.

"It's okay, Deke. You were upset."

Another lie. What he said still pissed me off to this very day.

I had forgiven him, sure. That didn't mean that I wasn't still mad.

"It wasn't okay. I have spent every day for the past six years kicking myself for what I did and how we left things." His words were genuine, and I could tell he was really sorry.

"Damn it, Deke! Don't ruin my 'I told you so' moment!" I hit his chest playfully with a sad laugh.

Seriously, though. I've been waiting for this moment for six years.

"I know, I know. The prophecy was true all along, and I was an idiot for not believing you."

Yes, yes you were.

"So, I take it you met them?" I tried to act clueless, even though I knew for a fact he had.

"Yeah, they're a colorful bunch. And you could have warned me that half those people have abilities!"

I rolled my eyes. "I did! You never listened! Daisy is Quake, Yo-Yo has super speed, Catherine has magic, and Loki is-"

"A god! A literal god from Norse mythology! And if I remember correctly, you said they'd all be agents of Shield. Two of them were Avengers!"