Hero (Loki & Avengers)

Thirty-Five

I slowly open the drawer next to my bedside table.

I can feel the Soul Stone's energy from here, but I still slip on a leather glove so that it won't touch my skin. I grab the tiny velvet box that contains the stone.

I notice now that the Soul Stone has a thin layer of something clear coating it. Maybe the government put a casing on it so that the stone wouldn't burn through their equipment. 

I ignore the casing for now and grab the tiny gold necklace that Loki gave me all those months ago. Anger begins to creep up in me as I look at it, and I can feel Cassidy slipping away again so I know I have to act fast before I go rogue once more.

Looking at the necklace, with its glittering diamonds, and the Soul Stone, which is an orange glittering beauty of its own, an idea hits me. I carefully use my powers to pry one of the diamonds of the necklace out of its socket, and place the diamond back in the velvet box.

I then carefully take the soul stone and crush it with my gloved hand. The clear casing shatters easily, and it dawns on me that it might be made of the same glass-like material the cages that dull my powers are made of. That would make sense, especially if Mr. Connors gave the government the material. He did work for them, after all.

Immediately, a pulse of energy goes through the room. The stone begins to sizzle against my leather glove. I use my powers to shrink the stone down so it's the size of a small gem, and then I carefully fuse it to the metal of the necklace, in the spot where I took the other diamond out. I still don't know why I can mold the Infinity Stones and change their shapes, or even why I can wield them, but it's become a handy skill.

I then hold the necklace up. Three white diamonds, and one slightly larger orange Infinity stone.

I take a deep breath, and slowly clasp the necklace behind my neck. Please, God, this has to work. The second the necklace touches the bare skin of my chest, it feels like a jolt of lightning goes through me and the wind gets knocked out of me.

I fall to my knees, coughing, and try to regain my breath. I fail, and as a flood of overwhelming sensations attack me I hyperventilate.

It feels like my skin is being ripped open, like something is exploding out of me. I close my eyes and grit my teeth, stifling a scream with my hands.

My entire body feels like it's being lit on fire, and I can't explain it if I tried but it's like I'm feeling every single emotion at once. Anger, hope, love, sadness, joy, all in brilliant and terrible displays competing for my attention.

I grip the necklace in my palm, and focus on Cassidy Martin. On me. On my soul. I visualize everything I've been missing, every human thing about me, and will it all back to me.

Then, after a final burst of blinding pain that knocks me to the floor, everything stops. I feel completely fine again. I sit up, tear stains on my cheeks, because I don't know what just happened.

I stand up shakily, and when I do I come face to face with the mirror on my wall. I freeze, unable to avert my eyes from my face. It's like the final piece of a puzzle snaps into place the second I look into my own eyes, and suddenly I feel alive again.

I haven't seen myself in so long, I almost forgot what I look like. As I gaze into my green eyes, I react in a completely bizarre way from what I expected. I smile.

Looking at myself feels like looking at an old friend that I missed. And suddenly, I feel whole again. My smile grows, and I actually laugh out loud in joy.

"I'm me. I feel like me. I feel like Cassidy." I laugh, dancing around my room and jumping back onto my bed like a child.

I then realize what that tearing feeling the Soul Stone made me feel was. Cassidy Martin, my buried human soul, was breaking through the surface. The Soul Stone is giving me a soul again. Whatever happened to me when I died feels over now. I feel alive again.