Carol had been with us for some time. Everyone liked her and accepted her, except for Jocasta, who likely felt threatened by Carol's immense power. (Jocasta had been exploring the Marvel Comics encyclopedias lately.) Yet, the night of the 27th was as blank as her memory of those same powers.
It was around 9:00pm, and it had just rained. The night was beautiful in a damp and sticky way, and She decided to sit outside and enjoy it for as long as she could. A few of us dolls joined her. While the animals chased fireflies around the yard, we sat on the back porch with She, seeing if we could make the stars move if we stared upwards long enough.
"Do you think there is an Asgard up there somewhere?" Thor asked.
"Gosh, I certainly hope so," She breathed. "Wouldn't that be something?"
"I thought you were a skeptic." I told her.
"When have I ever said I was a skeptic? Even if I was previously, I must have outgrown that when I found that dolls could come to life." She smirked and curled her finger under my chin in an endearing way. Once upon a time, I would have savored that feeling. Now it was only another quirk humans had, and there were more important things I had in mind that night.
"How are you adjusting to this, She?"
"Hm, what, this? No, no, it's great. It's like having a second family."
"Yeah, especially now."
"How so?"
"Carol." Thor stated, lifting himself up into a sitting position to face our latest heroine. She sat further from the rest of us, and she did not stare at the stars. Because while the rest of us saw another world up there, Carol was looking at a different world sitting right beside her.
A tiny girl, whose feet swung high above the surface of the step below her, was holding onto Carol's hand.
And this is how we received the newest addition to our little "second family".
***
"Well, this certainly confirms it. You're in idiot, Clint."
Clint scowled with confusion at his offender, Natasha. "That's a little rude."
"Were you not even thinking? Look, okay? Look here."
Natasha grabbed me and Vision by the shoulder and pushed us both into Clint's view. She pointed to Vision's forehead first. "Mind stone," she then pointed at my scepter. "Mind stone. There cannot be two of those. Idiot confirmed."
"Okay, okay, so I wasn't thinking. Give me a break," Clint pushed his glasses back into place. "So they aren't the real stones. No biggie. We'll just keep looking." Clint looked around the basement, our usual training place for the PSA, maybe in hopes that six different infinity stones would appear out of thin air.
"If we're truly looking for the infinity stones, why not have someone with more experience find them for us?" Vision suggested.
"You mean Carol?" Clint scoffed. "Sure, that'll work. Especially since she still hasn't developed any powers."
Vision shook his head. "No, I mean She. Admittedly, the human gets out of the house more than we do, and the real stones could be anywhere. Why don't we ask her to keep a look out for them?"
"Not a bad idea, Vis, but that would be telling our human that A) infinity stones exist in this world and B) they're impossible to find." Natasha said.
"Telling the human is dangerous anyways."
Suddenly, I grew a temper. "Are you accusing She of being untrustworthy?"
"Calm down, Loki, we're not saying anything like that."
"Then what are you saying?"
Natasha cocked her head, looking slightly mischievous. I knew I wouldn't like what came next. "Hey, why tell her in person when we can- subliminally- plant the idea to find the stones in her mind?" She motioned towards Wanda, who was coaching Carol on how to trigger her powers.
"Are you saying that Wanda should... that's even worse!" I cried. "You will not lay a hand on She."
"Geez, alright. What, you got a crush on her or something?" Natasha asked.
My cheeks darkened. With anger or embarrassment, I wasn't sure what. But I knew that I was one step away from finding out if the mind stone in my scepter really worked, and Natasha was the closest target.
"Nevermind. We'll find some other way to get the stones, without She's help. If only Carol knew what she was doing," Clint sighed. He clapped his hands. "Alright, avengers! Training's over. Enjoy the rest of your day."
Carol and Wanda ran over. Carol was about as happy as a spring puppy, despite her failure about being the hero we all expected her to be. "What's going on tomorrow, Clint?" She asked.
"Well, Loki, Vision and Jocasta will be taking the day off, to spend some time with their own."
Carol's brow furrowed. "Their own?"
"Yes, I go and see the other dolls in the Room She Lives In upstairs. Olaf, Elsa, and the others."
"And I myself have a date with Nessarose," Vision said shyly. "And I believe Jocasta will be spending time with Jonas, is that correct?"
"I mean, if he wants to." Jocasta shrugged, getting one more jab out of her sword.
"Do you want to, Jocasta?"
"Yeah," Jocasta said, but nothing in her voice sounded certain. "Don't get me wrong, Jonas is great. But the Avengers are greater."
"That's the spirit." Clint said, but he winced as soon as Jocasta turned her back on us.
Carol, too, was wincing, but for a different reason. "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do tomorrow."Wanda nudged Carol's leg with her elbow. "Come on, Carol. You're not 'supposed' to do anything. You can hang out with us. Like we did last time there was a break day."
"Yeah, but..." Carol looked down and began blinking rapidly. "That's not really the same, is it? I don't really have anyone of 'my own' to spend time with. Except Goose. And he's not even a human doll."
The members of the PSA that surrounded Carol all went quiet. We'd all had this moment at one point in our lives... trying to find our "whenever", or who we belonged to. Sometimes a human caretaker wasn't enough. Sometimes, we had to find someone for us to take care of, too.
"When I was at my old home, before I was found by She, I was part of another collection of dolls. We weren't really a family, though. We all knew that our human was a big time seller at a place called eBay, so we tried not to get too attached to each-other. Emotions were dangerous then. But I did get attached to someone, because of course I did, that's exactly what I wasn't supposed to do- to a little girl named Josie. She was a Victorian era porcelain doll, and the sweetest person I'd ever met, but she couldn't talk very well, so I would talk for her. We started doing everything together. I became her big sister in a way, or maybe even her mom. Anyways, I don't know what I'm trying to say. I think I miss Josie. Or maybe I just miss having that relationship with her. I don't know." Carol shook her head. "Whatever, it's not important anymore."
The rest of us looked around at each-other a bit. Then Vision said, "I think it's very important."
"Do you?" Carol asked.
"If Josie was important to you at one point, then she still must be important to you now if you're still thinking of her."
"I mean, yeah, of course I miss Josie. But I think it would really help if I had someone her age to watch after, you know, like I once did."
Clint cleared his throat. "Do you think if we were able to find someone like that for you, your powers might return?"
Carol nodded indefinitely. "I'm sure they would."
"Then it is done. We'll go to She personally tonight. We have business with her anyways." Clint said.
"Wait... are you serious?" Carol asked, trying to contain her excitement.
As soon as Clint had said "yes", Carol gasped her thanks and ran away to scream joyfully somewhere private. As soon as she was gone, Clint shrugged.
"Let's get to it, then."
On June fourteenth, two very important packages arrived in the mail and were addressed to She.
"Two? You guys told me there would only be one. For Carol." Said Jocasta.
"Yes, one is for Carol and one is for me," She stated. We eagerly watched her open the first package, especially Carol, but this was no doll. "Look! It'll match my Mjolnir keychain perfectly."
Clint tapped me on the side. "That's yours."
"So it is." I muttered. She mustn't know its true purpose.
What She unveiled from the package was the Chitauri scepter from the first Avengers movie, similar to the one I already had, but crafted from pewter, like Mjolnir, and on the inside, gleaming softly in the light of the Room She Lives In: a blue gemstone. This would be our mind stone.
"It's pretty," said Jocasta. "What is it?"
"This is a replica of Loki's scepter in keychain form. Cool, isn't it? You can hold it if you like." She dropped the scepter in Jocasta's arms as She tore open the other package without care.
"Woah..." Jocasta gaped. The blue of the stone was reflected in the gray surface of her eyes. "I like this. Try it out, Clint."
"Thanks." Said Clint quickly, taking the scepter protectively from Jocasta. He didn't trust anyone else with the scepter, not even one of our own.
"Is the doll in that one?" Said Carol, full of anticipation.
"Yep, she is." She replied.
"She?"
"Yeah, figured you would prefer a girl," She winked. "But this isn't just any girl. In her movie, her character rejected social norms, took her father's place in a war, single-handedly defeated thousands of malicious invaders, and saved her entire country."
"Are you serious? She sounds amazing!"
"Trust me, you two will get along swell," She paused and held something halfway in and halfway out so that it was hidden to the rest of us, yet visible to her. "Ready?"
"I've never been more ready."
"Okay... here she is!"
She lifted the box from its sleeve and immediately our eyes were filled with color. Light and dark pink, teal, and blue from her outfit, a rich, silky black from her hair, and a soft warm brown from her almond-shaped eyes. She had a precious smile and flowers on the hem of her dress. She appeared to be a cute and sweet child. Hopefully she would be easy on Carol.
"This is Mulan, from the Disney movie Mulan. Do you know it?"
Carol attempted a goofy laugh, but it got stuck in her throat. She was probably a little overwhelmed. "No, but now I'll definitely have to! Let her out, She, and I'll talk to her. She won't talk around you. Not with the Code."
"Right." She agreed. She separated plastic from cardboard and snipped the ties holding the Mulan doll steady in her box. The girl was set before us, and Jocasta, Clint, and I politely stepped back to allow Carol to be the first one to meet her.
She stood the doll up and the little girl blinked, coming to life now that she was safely around other dolls. Her eyes widened, unsure whether who or what to take in first.
"Where am I?" She squeaked. Her voice didn't sound to be over the human age of six.
"You're with me now," Carol stepped closer. The doll quickly grabbed her sides in a self-hug and backed away into her box. "No, no, it's okay. We're all dolls here. You're fine."
"She's not." said the doll, obviously speaking of She, yet refused to look behind her.
"That's our human. She knows about the Code. It's okay."
The Mulan doll looked about to cry, if dolls could. Something was definitely not okay. "But what about my home?"
"Your home?"
"In the big place with all the shelves and boxes. That's my first memory. It's my home."
Carol chose her words carefully. "Well, we were thinking this could be your new home. There are plenty of dolls that live here, and none of them are in boxes. I don't like boxes very much. Do you?"
Carol knelt and held out her hand, expecting the doll to take it, but she only appeared confused before shaking her head.
"My name's Carol. What's yours?"
"Meiling." The doll whispered.
"Meiling? That's a pretty name."
"It's my name, but the other dolls back home say that my box gave me a different name."
"Oh, what do they know? You can have any name you want, and if you like it, that's all that matters."
Meiling smiled bashfully and gave in, taking Carol's hand. Her entire fist was able to wrap around Carol's thumb.
"Let me take you to meet everyone. There's a lot to see in this home."
"It's not my home, though." Said Meiling.
Carol pursed her lips. I'll bet she was thinking, "maybe one day you will change your mind".
Days had passed and thus far everyone was enamored by Meiling. Having a younger spirit around the house made it feel like Christmastime again, with just an extra dose of mindfulness. It was like playing a giant game of Marco Polo, running about and trying to find out who was responsible for Meiling that day. Because although Meiling liked Carol best, she would switch it up from time to time. We could often find her in the kitchen, making tea with Dorothy and Bell. But that could only hold her attention for so long, and Meiling could get whiny when she was bored.
"I think Meiling needs a friend her age." Carol suggested on the 16th.
"Well, we didn't want to say this so soon..." Idina piped up. "But Olav and I haf been wanting a child for some time. We just didn't know dere was a way to haf a doll dat wasn't... you know, full grown?"
Olaf nodded. "Yeah. Idina and I want a little girl who looks like her and a little boy who looks like me. That was what we dreamed, ever since our wedding day. And now that we know Meiling exists, it doesn't have to be a dream anymore." Olaf squeezed his wife's hand and smiled down on her. "But we don't know how to make it come true."
What they didn't know is that She had been secretly watched and listening in on everything. That very same day, she went to the store without so much of a word to us and returned with a dream in her hands. Olaf and Idina happily welcomed two new little ones, Adrina (the mini Elsa doll) and Oliver (the mini Olaf doll) into the family.
Now that we had three children running about, our cheer had increased tenfold. Napoleon delighted them with stories of American history (which is more exciting than it actually sounds), Elsa created icy landscapes for them to play in, and Sven was getting constant requests for him to ride them around. It was more energy than I had seen in the house in what felt like years.
It was almost saddening when the PSA had to return to the regularly scheduled training days in the basement. Almost. Clint was less focused, and he was teasing Natasha more than usual.
"You know, my Natasha always wanted to have children." Clint had told her pointedly. It wasn't any secret that he was peering over his glasses at our Natasha.
"That feels like coercion, Clint, and it's unlawful," Nat said in her usual deadpan tone, but her eyes were twinkling in a certain way we'd never seen before. "Listen. If we're going to raise a child, we're going to do it as a team."
"Um, sure," Clint spluttered, pleasantly surprised she had said yes. "Isn't parenting all about teamwork?"
"No, I mean the PSA. As a team."
"Like a mascot? Kinda weird thing to do to a kid."
Natasha tossed her curls around and rolled her shoulder as she approached Clint. "You're a nuisance, you know that?"
Clint said nothing.
"I'm not your Natasha. I think you need to understand that. But I would be willing to raise a child. I like children. They're sweet. But I am no mother," Natasha laced her fingers around Clint's. "I could never be. I refuse to do this alone. We need to take a vote. See if they agree. It's all or nothing."
"S-sounds good to me," Clint replied, still stunned. "Show of hands, everyone. Would you be willing to set aside our quest to raise a child? All of us, together?"
"You mean we're gonna forget about the infinity stones?" Rhodey asked.
"Yes, for now."
"Alright, then. It's not like we were finding any of them, anyways." Rhodey agreed.
Clint coughed and looked away. "All in favor of adopting a child into the PSA."
The vote was accounted for, and all but Wanda was raising her hand.
I looked over at my right, where she always stood. "Wanda?"
"The PSA isn't safe for children. It would be devastating if anything happened to them." Wanda mumbled.
"Well, if something were to happen, you would protect them, wouldn't you?"
She nodded seriously. "With my life."
"Then raise your hand. It'll be okay. This kid will have the most powerful Avenger watching their back."
Wanda tucked her chin into her neck to hide a grin and raised her hand. "And I thought you didn't like kids, Loki."
"Whoever told you that?"
"Thor."
"Thor?!" I turned to my left. Thor flashed me a cheeky grin.
"I was only being sarcastic."
Wanda shrugged. "I didn't think Thor was capable of sarcasm."
"That makes the both of us." I muttered.
Hawkeye took a survey of the room, and with each raised hand, the little twitch at the corner of his mouth grew stronger and stronger, until it became a smile. "Looks like we're doing it, Nat."
"Yes, all of us, as a team. Remember, I'm nobody's mother."
"Why do you keep saying that?"
I wondered then if I was the only one to hear Nat's response. Thor seemed to think that adopting a child involved a party (which I guess in some ways it did) and with parties came noise. While he was flying around, asking the others if they preferred us to have a boy or a girl, Nat was hiding her face against the wall, much to Clint's curiosity. What she said next shook my soul.
"Because you're not the only one who lost someone in a past life."
Then, on June 20th, the child arrived. It was to be a surprise, since none of us could decide the gender we would most like to have. But as soon as we saw them, we knew they were the one- Kate, as was the name she gave herself, was another Little Kingdom Disney doll, like the previous three, but she had come with a weapon in her hand. This was a Merida doll, from the Pixar movie Brave, and Kate's miniature bow really captured her character.
Her reaction to seeing Clint with the quiver on his back was one to remember.
As soon as Kate was released from her package, she took no regard to She, and instead ran forward and immediately hugged Clint's legs.
"Woah, okay. You're excited, aren't you?" He asked, his voice happier than I'd ever heard it before.
"What's your name, beastie?" Nat said.
"Kate." The girl replied, releasing Clint and beginning to bob from side to side in a sort of dance.
Clint swiped a hand across his face. "She's perfect." He whispered to Natasha.
"Are you my new momma and daddy?" Said Kate.
Clint turned to Nat expectantly. Her mouth quivered, but even that was barely noticeable. Nat crouched down and looked directly into Kate's eyes. Kate laughed and grabbed one of Natasha's curls, then held it beside her own red hair.
"We will try our best, beastie." Natasha replied.
By June 27th, Kate had been with the PSA for a full week. Adrina, Oliver, and Meiling, too, had settled in nicely to their new homes and they all played well together. Generally, they were easygoing children, but they could only entertain themselves and each-other for so long. That day was one of the days the PSA had the four of them with us in the basement. Not training, exactly, but playing active games and telling them it was all "hero work". It was surprisingly a fun time, but Thor and I needed to take a breather. We were just on the way back downstairs from a lunch break when Kate saw us.
"Uncle Thor!" Kate cried, bounding towards us with open arms, going as fast as her little legs would carry her.
"Katie girl! Come here!" Thor replied, whirling around and crouching as so he could heave her onto his shoulders in something the humans call a piggy-back-ride. (Don't ask me why they call it that, it's all nonsense.)
"Nice mouse ears, Katie girl." Said Thor, commenting on the animal headband Kate was wearing. "They're bear ears!"
"Ah, yes, of course. How is the view from up there?"
"Good. Good and tall."
"Good, " Thor said, and then, to me, "You ought to get a kid, brother."
"You talk as though you could just procure one at the market."
"But you can."
"But they can't know that," I grunted, nodding towards Kate. She was too busy using Thor's hair as reins to pick up on our conversation. "Anyways, I wouldn't want to tend to a child on my own, and I haven't got a partner to help me."
"The Avengers will help. Collectively. As we do with Kate."
"I suppose, but I've always thought it would be better for me to raise a child with just one other person. It becomes more personal that way."
"Well, why don't you ask Wanda? I would say she's been more sociable with the children recently. A good quality for a partner to have."
"What is it with you suggesting Wanda for these things to me all the time? Do you know something I don't?"
Thor shrugged as best he could with a child on his shoulders. "You really seem to like her."
"I do," I said, then bit my tongue. If I said any more, it would only fuel the fire Thor already had started burning. "She's a very okay person."
"What? Very okay? That's unlike you to say something so... so... wrong-sounding."
"Touche, Thor."
"Can't she be more than just very okay?"
"Thor, we are just friends. We're not married, we're not engaged, and we've never been on date."
"Oh, so those walks you take with Wanda nearly every day after we train is not a date?"
"So? I've walked one on one with other people and it wasn't considered a date."
"Yes, but you and Wanda together are... different," Thor nodded subtly and blinked, as if he could see the future at the end on the hallway. "But no matter. If you do not wish to pursue her, then I have no control over you. But you also must realize that I have no control over Wanda, either. So if she starts to pursue you... well..." He shrugged again.
"It doesn't matter if Wanda pursues me or not! My opinion of her will remain unchanged because-"
"Uncle Thor?" Kate interrupted. "Why do you and Uncle Loki always talk so loudly?"
I remained speechless whilst Thor thought of something on the fly. "Well, Kate, we must speak louder to each-other because we don't have two sets of ears, unlike you." He chuckled and reached up to grab Kate and take her down, but she pushed back on him.
"Can you fly me? Pretty please?"
"Fly you?"
Kate nodded and pointed at Mjolnir. "With the hammer. Momma Nat said you can fly with it."
"Did Momma Nat also say flying was safe for little girls such as yourself?"
Kate rocked forward again, pondering this. "...No...?"
"Then no today, little one. Maybe when you are older." Thor scooped her up and set her back on on the floor to walk alongside us.
Before Kate could start moping, she saw Tony and Chris playing darts and broke away from us, running towards them and calling their names.
"You realize, Thor, that Kate will never grow any other than she is now."
Thor winked. "Exactly."
"Hm, you're not as blunt as you look." I remarked.
"I have my good days," Thor turned around and urged me to follow him with a jab to the arm. "Come, brother. We must find your lady-friend."
Wanda was found in basement's craft room where a private show was being held. Adrina, Ollie, and Meiling stood in a circle around Wanda, their eyes dazzling as they watched her do her magic before them. Something I'd noticed about Wanda was how her mood determined the color of her hexes. For example, white was wrath, light pink was fear, dark pink was happiness, and red was determination. Today, as she was performing for the children, her magic was a cheerful bubblegum shade as it swirled around in the air, creating shapes like animals and jewels. A small, charming smile was on Wanda's lips as she observed everything. Right now, her world was small and simple. Right now, she didn't have to worry about infinity stones, powerless heroes, or dysphoria. If only it could be this way all of the time.
"Aunt Wanda, will I ever get powers some day? Like Aunt Elsa?" Adrina asked. The miniature Elsa doll was laying on her stomach, with her head propped in her hands and her feet kicking about dreamily in the air.
Wanda broke her hex and shifted her eyes away from Adrina. "I don't know, kiddo. I was made with my powers. But some dolls grow into them. You never know unless you try."
"But how do I try? I don't even know what to do with my hands," Adrina stood and started copying Wanda, albeit sloppily and unpracticed. "Because you do it this way..." Adrina changed her pose. "And Aunt Elsa does it this way..." She changed it once more. "And Aunt Carol does it this way. But I've never seen anything happen when she does do it."
Wanda's eyes widened and began to wander again. "Um, maybe she has arthritis?"
"What's arthur-itis?"
"Wanda!" I hollered, saving her at the last minute.
"Hey, Uncle Thor and Uncle Loki are here! Let's go see them!" Wanda suggested quickly, getting up and leading the children towards us. Most of them ran to Thor, immediately wishing to either to picked up or to pick up Mjolnir, but it was Wanda who ran to me.
"Thanks, dude," Wanda said, happy and carefree once again. "I think we should give those kiddos a question limit for each day."
I laughed. "Agreed."
Wanda stood on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear. "Now they're watching us again. I'm going to have to kiss you."
I recoiled. "What?"
"The children believe we're dating. Just go with it."
"Who told them that?"
"Adrina made it up. She's a gossip like her mother. Now come on, don't break their little hearts. If you're gonna be a wuss about it, I'll kiss you."
I didn't catch myself before I said "okay".
Wanda knelt slowly, her eyes never leaving mine. She took my hand from my side gently and raised it to her lips. "Ready?" She mouthed, just to be sure I desired this.
And I did. Truly, I did. I nodded.
She kissed me on the flesh between the first and second knuckle. Delicate and sweet; it certainly didn't require a large display of affection to satisfy children. And not to satisfy me, either. It was like fireworks, and I was left breathless. No one had ever kissed me that way before. I don't believe anyone had ever kissed me, period.
"Aww!" Adrina and Ollie cooed. Only Meiling looked disgusted, but that was expected of someone her age.
Wanda stood again and brushed off her skirt. "Whew! That was something. Okay, now let's move on and forget about it."
"We don't have to forget about it," I said quietly. "That was quite nice. I actually liked it. Nobody's ever kissed me before."
"Nor I," Wanda replied. "And if I'm honest, I liked it too."
Thor coughed loudly. He stood only a few feet from us, which was surprising, considering it had felt like Wanda and I were the only two left in the room. "Hawkeye's coming, you two."
"We should go." I said, and started to leave.
"Wait," Wanda pulled back on my hand. It was the same one she had kissed. "If you liked that and I liked that, then why don't we do it more?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean..." Wanda danced around, avoiding my gaze. "I mean, like, why don't we start dating? What's holding us back?"
My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't give an answer. There was an answer to give, but it was an answer I was no longer sure of. Because there was still poetry burned in the back of my mind. Words written by someone I knew, and someone I was attached to. She.
I shook my head and blinked, but now Wanda's green eyes weren't able to leave me, same as the poetry. "I- I don't know."
Wanda withdrew from me. It was like all the hope had gone from the world. "Okay."
Luckily, Clint and Natasha didn't say anything once they entered the craft room.
Natasha shook Elphaba's iPod in the air. It was open to a text message from the same number. "She is due home in five minutes. We'll need Thor and Wanda to help out when she does."
"Why?" I asked, subtly stepping in front of Wanda.
"Relax, Loki. We're not going to brainwash anyone. We're going to need help because She's bringing home groceries, and both of them can fly."
"Right," Thor nodded and left the children behind. "Come, Wanda."
She didn't look behind her as she walked away. I didn't blame her.
Oliver came over to me and tugged on the end of my cape. "Uncle Loki?"
I stooped down to his height. "Yes, Ollie?"
"Are you and Auntie Wanda gonna break up? She didn't look too happy when they left."
"No, she didn't." I agreed.
Oliver titled his head. "I didn't think dolls could break up. Can they? I didn't think so because of the magnets that hold us together, or at least that's what Mom and Papa told me. But I don't really understand it."
"You will when you're older, Ollie."
"I'm old enough," said Oliver, puffing out his chest. "How old are you, Uncle Loki? Do you understand it?"
I brought my lips into a tight line across my face and shook my head. I couldn't bear to say this directly to Oliver's face, so I watched Wanda leave instead. That might have hurt me more. "No. I don't understand at all."
-Loki
