Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

Chapter 27: Chapter 27 - Laura



They stared down at the young girl lying in the bed.

"Are you sure?" Felicia asked hesitantly.

"Positive. I saw her regenerate in front of me. But I want to look into her origins before we bring this to anyone. Because there is no way some gangster goes around killing a little girl without a reason in this city." Ethan clarified as he walked out of the room,

Felicia sighed as she followed him out, "okay… but how do you expect to take care of her? It is not like we are exactly set up to take care of a child and you already have to worry about your fractures."

"We can play this one by ear. Ask her first what is going on and then we can figure out our plan of action regarding her. But it can wait until she recovers in the morning." Ethan explained.

"Okay… but how do you know she will recover by the morning?" Felicia asked, only getting a shrug from Ethan in response.

—-------------------------

She groaned in pain as she stirred in the comfortable embrace. She sniffed and smelled a lavender smell. It reminded her of her mom. She laid there for several more minutes enjoying the comfortable sensation.

Until her eyes suddenly snapped open as she remembered. Suddenly sitting up in the room she looked around while remembering what happened. One day she was making it out of one of the gang areas. But while she was, she got grabbed from behind and dragged into an alley. But before she could even scream for help she could feel her throat was warm. She touched it and pulled her hand away to see her hand covered in blood.

She collapsed and her hearing started to go as he could see the man's haunted and demented smile. But before she went unconscious she remembered the shocking sight of the man's neck twisting in an unnatural way before she remembered seeing another man standing over them with a frown on his face.

Now that she remembered her going unconscious clearly, she looked around the room she was in. Aside from the bed and the door the room was lacking anything else. She slowly removed the cover and climbed out of the bed noticing that her shoes had been removed, so she could now see her holey and dirty socks.

She stared confused for a second before her ears twitched as she could hear voices somewhere. She quickly jumped off the bed and crouched, stepping quietly like she was taught. As she got close to the door she realized she still could not make out what they were saying. But they weren't getting closer or farther, so they were probably stationary. She reached for the door handle and slowly opened it. As she cracked the door open she looked and saw a hall with a few other doors and a bright light at the end of the corridor.

She opened the door further before she silently started making her way down the corridor. As she moved the voices got louder and louder. Until she arrived at the end of the corridor and realized what the light was.

"Woah…" She did not even realize the talking ceased when she made her exclamation as she was too distracted by the beautiful view of the morning light. But not a moment later she rebalanced herself as the talking started again.

As she snuck around the corner she saw a large living room full of boxes with labels on them. But further back she noticed a kitchen where a man was standing by the stove and a woman was sitting at a countertop. As she snuck closer and closer she started to hear what they were saying.

"Are you sure about this? It doesn't really feel right." The woman stated, she could hear clinking of metal on ceramics as she talked. Was she eating something?

As she got closer she noticed a smell of fresh fruit, something fried, and cooked bacon. She closed her eyes as she savored the smell, she hadn't eaten anything fresh in… well awhile. Before it was streets it was all meal replacement bars at that 'place'.

She felt dizzy and distracted by the alluring smell and didn't even notice as a pair of hands picked her up and set her on a stool next to the woman. When she came back too she was stunned at the plate of food sitting before her. Then she blinked and realized there were no voices talking. Looking up she saw the same frowning man before she went unconscious. Except he had a light smile on his face. She frowned in confusion.

But she heard a giggle off to her side looking over and she noticed the woman was sitting next to her and giggling. She noticed her looking and waved, then handed her a napkin.

"You should probably get the drool." Laura was confused until she felt her chin and noticed it was covered in her own saliva. She turned beet red in embarrassment. Then took the napkin and wiped her mouth and chin, collecting an absurd amount of saliva.

When she looked back over at the man he was holding a bag of white powder and a bottle with a brown syrup, "would you like syrup or powdered sugar?"

She looked confused, "umm… I don't know?" She really didn't, this whole situation was confusing her.

But the man nodded, "then both, we can figure out what you prefer later."

The little girl nodded and watched as he doused the pancakes in syrup then shook some powdered sugar on top.

"Soooo… My name is Ethan. What is your name?" The man asked as he poured her a glass of orange juice.

"Umm…" the little girl seemed hesitant to answer.

Ethan smiled in understanding, "you don't have to answer if you don't want to. But it would certainly help in talking to you."

The little girl nodded as she thought and cut up her first piece of pancake. Then after eating it, Ethan could almost see her eyes light up. She started scarfing down the dish quite quickly. Ethan looked at Felicia and they smiled at each other before Felicia went back to finishing up her dish while Ethan decided it would be a good idea to make some more food because the child was scarfing down the food really quickly.

The little girl finished her dish and was about to figure out what to do when another pancake landed in front of her. As well as some pieces of bacon.

She seemed to be thinking for a moment before she decided, "My name is Laura." She continued to eat, but much more slowly now. Savoring the food as she ate.

"Nice to meet you Laura, after you finish eating there is a nice shower waiting for you then a change of clothes as soon as Ethan goes to pick it up. By the way my name is Felicia." Felicia stated as she pulled out her phone.

Laura only nodded in response. While Ethan only shook his head, "how did you get her measurements?"

Felicia shrugged, "I guessed. I sent the place to pick them up from your phone. Hey while you are out picking up her clothes and the rest of the boxes from the apartment can you grab some lunch?"

Ethan chuckled, "yeah as long as you and her unpack the boxes." He nodded to the room and Laura looked around the room and noticed stacks of brown boxes.

"Umm… why did you help me?" Laura asked as Ethan flipped another pancake.

Ethan chuckled, "because you are a young kid who obviously needs help from someone, so we will help you, or do you not want us too? Need any more food, or is this the last pancake?"

Laura blinked in surprise at the quick change in subjects, "umm… I am good, I don't need anymore food and… I will think about the other thing."

Laura then felt a warm hand rubbing her head, "as long as you think about it." Felicia lifted her hand off of Laura's head and looked at her hand with a frown, "but either way… you are definitely taking a shower." She showed her hand to Felicia who saw it was covered in dirt and muck, "because it is criminal for someone as cute as you to be this dirty."

Laura blushed in embarrassment causing Ethan and Felicia to laugh.

—---------------------

After Laura came out of the shower she dried herself off with a towel and then looked around for her clothes. They were gone, she peeked out the door to see Felicia sitting on a chair reading something from a magazine.

"Umm… where are my clothes?"

"I tossed them, they were crusted with dirt and had holes in them. There is a sweater in there. That should be good until Ethan gets back with the clothes." Felicia explained as the door quickly closed then it opened a moment later to the sight of Laura in an oversized ESU sweater. Felicia had to hold back her laughter at the sight of Laura's frown.

They then made their way to the living room where Felicia started by picking up a random box and taking things out. As she unpacked it she handed some things to Laura to set on the table. At first it was normal looking things. Like a few handheld radios, some combat boots, and various types of knives. Then she started handing Laura guns, unloaded of course, but it still caught her off guard.

"Uhh…" She made the noise after she set down the second rifle.

"You have a question?" Felicia asked as she collapsed the box.

"Why do you two have so many weapons?" Laura asked as she started looking at the labels on the boxes, including the one she just helped unpacked which was labeled 'gear 4'.

"No clue a lot of this stuff is Ethan's. But to be fair my hobbies are just as weird." Felicia chuckled as she explained, "okay this box is evidence, can you move it to that wall." Felcia pointed to a wall where there were empty shelves.

Laura picked up the box and moved it over there. Getting a closer look she noticed it was called, 'Norman Osborn Evidence'. She felt like she had heard that name somewhere before.

Up until noon it continued like that until the door opened and Ethan walked in with bags in hand. "Okay I got clothes and food. Come grab your clothes while I plate the food." He set some brown bags on the couch before he walked to the kitchen.

When Ethan arrived in the kitchen he set down the semi clear plastic bags and opened them up. He then pulled out two white containers and put them in the fridge. He then pulled out two tin foil wrapped sandwiches, each two feet long. As well as three different bags of chips.

Going to the cabinet he pulled out three plates and set them out on the counter. He then unrolled the tin foil from the sandwiches and took half of the philly cheesesteak sandwich and set it on a plate. He then took half of the spicy italian sub and set it down on another plate. As glanced over he saw Felicia walking over with Laura in tow, who was now dressed in a pair of shorts and a sweater that actually fit her. But he was guessing it wasn't Felicia's first choice since she was pouting.

"Laura, cheese steak or Italian sub?" Ethan asked. While pushing the plates with the sandwiches forward.

"Umm… I don't know?" Laura was confused, she hadn't heard about stuff like that before.

"Hmm… Okay." He cut a fourth off of both sandwiches and set them on the same plate, "how about chips? I got potato, corn, and spicy ones."

Laura only shrugged in response, Ethan sighed then opened all three bags and set them in front of her. "Try each, tell me which one you like the best." Laura stepped forward and pulled a corn chip and ate it, frowning afterward. Then when she ate a potato one she smiled, but when she ate a spicy one both Ethan and Felicia started laughing because she stuck out her tongue.

"Potato it is. Felicia, pick your sandwich… and chips." Ethan dumped the bag of potato chips onto Laura's plate."

Felicia was still chuckling as she answered, "Italian and corn please." Ethan nodded in response as he set up Felicia's plate. As for him. He threw the cheesesteak and spicy chips onto a plate.

As they were eating they listened to the cute sounds that Laura was making while eating, savoring every bite.

They had both realized it would probably be fun to help this little girl.


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