Schism In The Safe Place

Chapter 1

        I opened my eyes as the sunlight forced my lids open, warming my face to the point where I knew it would be a little burnt for the next few days. I gently removed myself from beneath the covers, making sure as to not harm my wings. Even though they'd become a part of me centuries ago, they were still tender if even the slightest pressure was applied to them. Hopefully I would recover soon.

        "Dad?" My call only echoed across the constricted halls and throughout the tiny apartment. "Must still be asleep..." I was a little too old to jump on the bed and wake him up, but I probably needed to do it. The apocalypse could happen, and my father would still be able to sleep through it. I gently opened the door across the hall from mine to find the bed completely abandoned, room clean and kept up as usual. Some old habits die hard...  "Dad?" I stumbled my way into the kitchen to find a clean, white note with neatly scripted words written on it.

        Ela,

        Went out on a run early this morning. I promise I will come back.

        I love you, sweetheart!

        I tried to keep my breath steady and my mind calm as I ate and got dressed. My father almost never left me alone, and when he did, it was usually only for up to an hour. However, if he had been running, he'd likely been out for a few hours. The building could have burnt down, someone could have come in and robbed us, enemies could have found out where we lived. There were so many things that could have gone wrong in such a short amount of time.

        The speaker box at the door of the apartment buzzed, and I raced over to answer.

        "Hey, kiddo, it's Aunt Nat. Your Uncle Nick and I want to spend some time with you, so I came over to pick you up." I smiled. That was code that we had another mission lined up and that I had to go immediately.

        "I'll be right down, Aunt Nat. Just let me put my shoes on." I slipped on a pair quickly and raced out the door, making sure to lock it behind me before rushing down to meet the woman. She smiled at me and held out her arm to wrap me up as we walked.

        "So your dad left you all alone this morning?" I nodded warily as we entered a vehicle S.H.I.E.L.D had clearly leant her. "Did you do okay?"

        "I didn't have a complete breakdown, if that's what you mean."

        "That's a huge improvement! I'm proud of you, Ela!" I climbed through the passenger side into the back seat and buckled in, watching the world go by as we pulled up to where Natasha's screen said my father was located. Some guy I had never seen before was with him, looking absolutely exhausted. Nat rolled down the window and winked back at me before looking back out the window.

        "Hey, fellas. Either of you know where the Smithsonian is?" I leaned forward so that my head was just peeking out of the window. "I'm here to pick up a fossil."

        "That's hilarious," my father deadpanned, making his way over to the car. The man he had been talking to leaned over to look at the people inside the car. "Hey, sweetheart." My dad affectionately ruffled my hair.

        "How you doing?"

        "Hey." Nat immediately seemed a little uncomfortable.

        "Can't run everywhere," my father joked.

        "No, you can't." She rolled up the window and pulled away, the tires screeching as we left.

        "Who was that?" I asked, trying to control my suspicious nature. I couldn't help it, of course.

        "Just a new friend." He looked back at me and smiled. "Did you do okay this morning?" I nodded and leaned back in the seat. The car had been specially designed to accommodate for me being in it, so it had been expanded to have one seat between the two ones in the front, allowing me to be perfectly placed between Nat and my father. "You didn't bring D.M.I.T.R.I?"

        "Dad, he's not a real bird. He's a robot," I sighed. "He'll be fine at the apartment without anyone there. Besides, he's linked to my phone, so if there's some sort of security threat back at home, we'll know." I know my father was worried about how paranoid I got, but I finally had something resembling a normal life that someone my age in this year would have, and I didn't want to let anything ruin that. Especially when people like Loki hadn't been imprisoned in a place where we could monitor him and make sure he couldn't attack us.