Behind the Veil

Two weeks passed and Lola continued to regain her sense of the world around her. She was out at the public library, returning some things as well as picking some new books up. So far the library had become one of her favorite spots to visit, the smell of some of the ancient looking books made her at ease and she realized that perhaps she enjoyed libraries in her past life as well. It was a lovely day out and she spent it in the park reading. Somehow she lost herself in her books and forgot the time. When she closed the book she noticed the sun beginning to set and she got her things together rather quickly because she was supposed to go out that night with Tony. Rushing home she saw Tony’s car parked in front of the apartment complex. Her thoughts were interrupted when she opened the door to reveal Tony along with two women she recognized from a couple photographs she had.

First the wild haired brunette with a round face got up to attack Lola with a hug. Tears streamed down Emi’s face and her arms wrapped tightly around Lola who looked rather thrown off. Eventually Lola relaxed and rubbed the woman’s back gently. The tall blonde turned her attention to Lola and got up from the couch to greet her. There were no words for the reunion, one minute they were thinking their best friend was still dead and the next they were getting a call from Tony Stark telling them she was alive. Of course they were explained that she couldn’t remember much of anything but still they were just elated to see her.

Salvatore wasn’t exactly pleased with the idea of bringing the girls together but he knew that it was wrong to keep them in the dark when they were so close. Lola smiled as she took in the familiar slightly sweet and skunky scent of the brunette then the smell of jasmine of the blonde woman. The wild haired woman was a bit of a blubbering mess but Lola pulled away to wipe the tears away from her face.

“Is that any way to greet a zombie?” Lola smiles. Emi and Torie let out a chuckle of relief seeing that Lola seemed to have retained her humor.

“New York wasn‘t the same without you,” Torie states.

“There is a lot of estrogen going on in this room right now, it‘s kind of unsettling”

“Deal with it bitch,” Emi responds as she attempted to fix her running mascara. Lola let out a small laugh and pat Emi on the shoulder.

“I guess I will have to,” she chuckles. “Sorry I‘m a bit late, I had gotten caught up reading in the park.”

“What were you reading?” Torie inquires.

“The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells.”

“That‘s a great book, hey, you get to do something no one really gets to do.”

“What‘s that?” Lola counters tilting her head to the side.

“You get to reread your favorite books and get to experience them with new eyes,” Torie states with a bright smile.

“That is a lovely thought, thank you for that. Now all I need s a list of my favorite books to get started.”

“We can arrange that,” Emi smiles.

“How long will you be here for?” she questions looking between the two women.

“Actually I will be here for a bit longer with family and what not.”

“I have to head back to Europe in a few weeks,” Torie says softly. Lola sensed the change and she looked at the blonde woman with a sympathetic gaze. A connection was made in her mind and she back aware of how much time had passed. Somehow there was a moment where she remembered something, it wasn’t much but she remembered how Torie was in America on a work visa for the museum.

“You have to apply for citizenship Tor,” Lola proclaims rather forcefully.

“We‘ve looked into it already--wait Lola how do you remember that?” Emi replies looking at Lola with a shocked expression on her face.

“It comes in spurts, Sal get married to Torie or something.”

“Don‘t be ridiculous Lola,” Torie responds as her face turned beet red. Emi couldn’t help but cover her mouth to stifle the snort of laughter from escaping her lips. Sal shook his head at Lola.

“Why am I the first to be whored off?”

“Because you are a man-whore and you should use your whorish nature for good every once in a while. Torie is a lovely woman, who is smart and smells nice. I‘d marry her if my death certificate wasn‘t on file.”

“Oh how we‘ve missed you Lo,” Emi finally says with a laugh and attacked Lola with another hug.

“Well I will let you ladies catch up with each other, just remember that we have plans tonight. Salvatore care to join me outside,” Tony smiles. Sal let out a grunt knowing that it was best he let them catch up but the idea of being alone with Tony irritated him more than a little. Regardless they headed for the door and Lola gave Tony a bright smile before he left. Emi and Torie took notice of the amount of closeness between the pair and they couldn’t help but smile knowingly at Lola.

“You two seem to have grown close,” Torie comments nudging her short stature friend ever so slightly.

“I suppose we have, he is quite lovely. Do you two have any clue what it was like before all of this, between him and I?”

“Firstly you weren‘t too thrilled to meet him because he tended to come off as what you would call a douche bag with an nauseating level of cockiness. But I personally think you avoided him in the first place because you thought he‘d be someone who could take your crap.”

“I sound like a bitch,” Lola replies.

“Well you are but you‘re a nice bitch with a lot of charm,” Torie smirks.

“So you two aren‘t interested in anyone?” she asks while looking at the pair. Emilia’s facial expression fell for a brief moment and Torie shifted uncomfortably in her spot. Lola shook her head at Torie then looked to Emi. “I already know Torie is infatuated with Sal but what about you Emi? I feel like you had someone before I left.”

“It didn‘t last, he was an ass.”

“Hmm, that‘s unfortunate, from what it sounds like, Tony has something planned for tonight, perhaps we can find someone more suitable for you,” Lola states.

“I suppose, since he has us going to a bar of sorts,” Emi muses.

“That‘s the spirit, I shall put my things in my room and change into some different shoes then we can head out.”

Lola moved towards her bedroom and set down the books she held in her arms. Emi followed her and pulled out some coral colored lipstick to put on Lola. Torie seemed transfixed with the loveliness that was Lola’s room and she sat on the bed. Lola smiled at the young women as she slipped into the pair of high heeled boots she had gotten the day she came back.

“Let me put some lipstick on you, you need a little umph for tonight,” Emi says. Lola nodded gently and stood still while Emi applied the lipstick on her. Once she finished Lola smiled at her appreciatively before grabbing a black belt to cinch the waist of the flared out white dress she wore.

“Well shall we head out?”

“We shall,” Emi smiles. It was strange but in a way the trio had picked up where they left off. There really wasn’t much of awkwardness that was expected but more so a calm and normal reaction to it all. They left the apartment and Lola still a bit in the dark about the whole ordeal which was meant to be a birthday party of sorts. The whole Avenger team made the trip to greet the short brunette who they all thought was lost to the spirit world. Tony was rather proud of his idea to throw Lola a party and many were surprised that he would actually be doing something for someone other than himself. Lola was incredibly pleased with the entire event and was in high spirits. Daniel arrived at the party only to watch her every move as she smiled, laughed and hung around like she didn’t have a care in the world. He approached her and held out his hand to her.

“Dance with me,” Daniel spoke with an inviting smile.

“Alright,” Lola smiled as she took his hand. He lead her to the dance floor and held her close as they danced. His dark brown eyes stared down at her and a smirk formed on his lips. Lola took a deep inhale, and couldn’t help but think that Daniel seemed different as she felt something unnerving creep within her mind.

“How‘d you like the champagne served to you?” he questions as Lola closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his chest. A hoarse breath escaped her lips as the memories hit her like hurricane winds, knocking the air from her lungs. Lola looked up to see Daniel’s eyes had held a certain sadistic look that she knew too well and she felt queasy. He lowered his lips to her ear as a sadistic smirk played on his face. “It offends me you could forget about what we had Dolores.”

“Get out of him Franz.”

“Does someone remember the fun times we had?”

Another scene played in her mind, replaying what happened between her and Franz. His cold blue eyes that looked so empty and his pale alabaster skin began to haunt her. It wasn’t healthy, it wasn’t even close to being normal. The strain from remembering and the pain that came with the horrid memories seemed overwhelming. A gasp of pain escaped her lips and she cringed like she was being tortured.

“Stop it,” Lola breathes out.

“And still your mind is strong, that‘s why I had to slip something into your drink. Couldn‘t let you be oblivious any longer.”

“You had no right,” she mutters as she attempted to keep her composure.

“See you soon my dear,” he replies before Daniel’s face went blank. Daniel blinked a few times then looked down confused, he gave a feeble yet embarrassed smile. “I think I had too much to drink.”

“I think you‘re right,” Lola croaks as she forced a smile.

“You‘re so great Lola, I shouldn‘t have let you leave me. Maybe then things would have been better for you,” Daniel says. Lola moved away from him and felt the guilt creep up on her. She placed a hand on his shoulder to lead him off the dance floor and to a seat where he was less likely to fall over. Once he was seated, Daniel looked up at Lola with a dazed yet smiling face.

“I‘ll have Sal call a cab for you Dee.”

Lola walked from the area and headed towards Sal who had been talking to the female bartender. He turned to look at Lola with a drink cradled in his hand. Sal smiled at his sister but was surprised when she stole the whiskey from his hand.

“Call a cab for Dee, take him back to his place or whatever,” she rambles before downing the entirety of Sal’s drink. It took him a few moments before he realized what Lola had called Daniel. The nickname Dee having been used when she was with Daniel back in the day. “Did I stutter? I said take him home Salvatore.”

“Lo you remember,” Sal states looking at her and knowing the demanding tone that was often used when Lola was determined to get her way.

“Just do what I say,” Lola responds before walking away. She headed straight into the women’s restrooms and splashed cold water onto her face. Refusing to look up at her reflection in the mirror, Lola gripped the sides of the counter top and watched as the water disappeared down the drain. Her breathing was ragged and she felt the memories ripping at emotions. The sixth of December, the day she was so numb as she lied on the operation table as she had life that had been growing in her taken away without a second thought. It was the logical thing to do, mistakes were meant to be corrected and she did right by breaking things off with Daniel. Things weren’t good then, she lost her father and she had to take care of her mother. The memory that had driven it all to that point surfaced and tears began to well up in Lola‘s eyes.

It was the middle of October, the leaves were changing and the desert began to grow a bit colder in the night. Lola had come home to see the disfigured man towering over the unconscious frame of her mother Lydia. Panic had struck Lola and she grabbed the nearest thing to wield as a weapon. With a piece of wood in hand she rushed at him only to have the wood grabbed by the man. Her eyes grew wide when she saw her father but he wasn‘t the same.

His other hand thrust out and grabbed Lola by the throat. Lola‘s pleas were of no consequence and the madness had taken over her father, it was clear in his eyes. She had to fight for her life against him, and the words of what he told her before he had left reared in her mind, “Do whatever if takes to keep your mother and brother safe. Be strong and never hesitate.”

Those words resonated in her when she lied on the ground in a heap whilst her father approached her mother. She grabbed a nearby knife and drove it into his heart, he grabbed her again by the throat as her hands still gripped the handle of the knife. Her eyes watered as she felt the pressure on her trachea slowly loosen and the life leave her father’s eyes.


Emi entered the bathroom not expecting to see her friend grasping the countertop crying. Lola stopped her crying and wiped the tears away once she heard someone enter the bathroom. As any other friend would do, Emi went to console her but Lola moved away from her touch.

“Lola it‘s okay,” Emi attempts to say in hopes of soothing her friend’s distress. The kind reassuring words were only met with nervous laughter.

“I‘m fine, I‘ll be alright just a little drunk,” Lola replies simply.

“Yeah I saw you down Sal‘s drink. I thought you don‘t drink much anymore.”

“I have no tolerance anymore, remember when I could out drink most frat boys? Now I can barely drink a shot of whiskey without turning into a blubbering mess.”

“Lola are you remembering?” she replies giving her dear friend a look. Lola gave a small nod as an answer and Emi couldn’t help but well up with joy. The curly haired woman attacked Lola with a hug and smiled brightly at her. “If you want you can just get everyone else drunk and have some cake.”

“I guess that would make me feel better,” Lola shrugs. Emi took her by the hand and lead her out of the restrooms. Lola’s grip tightened on Emi’s hand and she looked down causing Emi to wonder what was truly wrong with her friend. She soon realized that Lola had seen Tony.

“Lo don‘t retreat back into your shell just because you remember your issues with relationships. You two are good for each other,” Emi says quietly.

“You don‘t understand the complexity of my issues,” she counters attempting to go in the opposite direction but Emi kept a firm grip on her hand.

“You‘re not running off.”

“Hey Lo, watch him while I call a cab,” Sal states gesturing to Daniel slumped over the table with his chin resting on his hands. Lola didn’t really respond and Emi felt herself letting Lola’s hand go. Daniel smiled dreamily at Lola as she sat down next to him.

“Em could you get him some water?” Lola inquires looking up at Emi. Emi merely nodded and headed towards the bar. She didn’t make eye contact with him and kept her eyes on the table.

“You look sad, did that jerk hurt you?” Daniel spoke.

“No one hurt me,” she sighs. “Just the opposite really.”

“Wish I could ask you what I did wrong but it‘s pointless since you don‘t remember.”

“Here‘s some water,” Emi states as she came back to the table. She placed the water in front of Daniel.

“Thank you.”

“Looks like Sal got you a ride, drink some water and you can go home to rest,” Lola says.

“Okay,” he mutters taking the glass in his hands. Daniel drank the entirety of the glass before Sal made his way over to take him outside. It took a lot of Lola’s energy not to completely go off on her brother and when he came back in after putting Daniel in the taxi she just couldn’t help giving him an angry glare.

“What? I did what you asked.”

“Why would you bring him back into this? Have you ever thought that I exclude certain people from my life for a reason?”

“Are you seriously mad at me? He knew you better than anyone, I just figured you two belonged together.”

“I understand that you were trying to be nice but that‘s never going to happen again.”

“I swear I think you are just constantly punishing yourself for no reason,” Sal retorts shaking his head at his sister.

“I broke things off with him because I fucked up and didn‘t want to own up to it. It is a common theme in my life where I fuck up and I don‘t want to tell anyone because unfortunately when I fuck up it’s usually irredeemable,” Lola retorts throwing her hands up in the air.

“Your definition of fucking up is forgetting someone‘s birthday or spilling a drink. What‘d you end up doing that was awful that you had to break things off with Dan?”

“You know what Sal, I‘ve just realized why our conversations don‘t go past food, booze or guns.”

“Why‘s that?”

“Because you‘re a fucking idiot.”

“That‘s not very nice,” Sal counters in a taunting manner.

“It‘s the truth,” she responds.

“The only truth you‘ll tell because you don‘t have to balls to own up to your so-called mistakes.”

“Do not put my mistakes in air quotes.”

“You and I both know that the only thing you did wrong was probably flirt with some random dude because you‘re too uptight to do anything else,” he states. Lola crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head at Sal before letting out a chuckle that turned into laughter. Emi saw the flicker of anger in Lola’s eyes and thought it best to intervene. Before Lola could deck her brother in the face she was pulled away by Emi.

“Lola I have something to show you.”

“I am sick of being treated like I‘m sort of innocent perfect little idiot,” Lola mutters darkly.

“There‘s nothing wrong with you not sleeping around Lola. Besides it‘s your birthday of course you’re perfect.”

“My problem is that my idiot of a brother had Daniel come back into my life when I made it very clear that we should keep our distance before I was killed,” she paused and made a face of disgust. “My life has become a poorly written soap opera.”

“It‘s good you remember, and I‘m sorry I‘m laughing but you‘re right it is pretty bad. But that‘s okay, we can have a girls‘ night at Nora‘s. How does that sound?” Emi responds with a smile. Lola grumbled in agreement then let out a sigh. “Good well you have to talk to that hot piece of man because he put all of this together just for you.”

“Why do attractive men have to be nice to me when I‘m in such a bitchy mood?” Lola complains.

“Are you really complaining about a guy being nice to you? Because I have to be here with my ex in the same room and it sucks.”

“Up until ten minutes ago I was in the same boat so shut it....by the way I am shocked Nora isn‘t here."

“She had a date with a fireman.”

“I suppose that is good reason,” she comments with a shrug. Tony began heading over towards Lola with a drink cradled in his hand.

“Everything alright?” Tony inquires as he gently touched her arm. He immediately noticed the change in her mood as well as the way she held herself. The biggest change was the fact he startled her when he touched her arm. It didn’t occur to him before that she was really quite uncomfortable previous to her death versus how she was without her memories.

“Everything‘s great, Lola was just mentioning she‘d like to dance with you,” Emi states with a bright smile.

“Wha-”

“She‘s just shy, go on I‘m going to go talk to Torie about later,” she continues by pushing Lola towards Tony.

“She‘s absurd,” Lola replies flashing a smile and shaking her head. The smile was reassuring and Tony opted to hold out his hand to Lola.

“Shall we?” Tony smiles. She was slightly hesitant before taking his hand but took it nonetheless. They headed towards the open area and a slow song began to play. He pulled her close to his body and kept up with a simple waltz. “I take it you remember most things now.”

“Unfortunately I had no choice in the matter.”

“Was bound to come back eventually.”

“The past certainly does have a flare for coming back and biting people in the ass.”

“It happens,” he says.

“We really don‘t know each other very well,” Lola comments.

“Agreed.”

“You are very egotistical and the first night I met you, Emi had forced us to go over even if I was against having anything to do with you,” she says then paused for a brief moment. “But I‘m glad I met you and realized that your narcissism isn‘t your only trait.”

“Is this your way of saying you like me?” Tony counters with a smirk.

“I thought that were obvious but that‘s not the point of this conversation. The point is that this is a really bad time to be getting involved in anything.”

“And I thought I had problems committing.”

“It‘s not that, well its not the entire reason why. I just need to clean up the messes I left behind when I got my dumbass killed,” Lola replies.

“Or you could go on vacation with me,” he suggests.

“Don‘t tempt me.”

“I can understand your need to set things straight but when you‘re done make sure you tell me and we can celebrate in the proper spirit.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“You won‘t be doing anything dangerous will you?”

“I‘ll be careful, I just need to see a few people no big deal,” Lola reassures with a smile. She saw the worry that he tried to hide and she moved closer to him to rest her head on his chest whilst they danced. Tony held her against his body as they swayed along to the beat. He knew the feeling of having to clean up his mess and making amends the things he’s done but it was harder to face when it was Lola. A big part of him worried that he’d lose her again but he liked to believe she was being truthful when she said she just had to see a few people and that it was no big deal. The problem was that he wanted to keep her out of harms way but he knew if he tried to prevent her from doing things she’d push him away even more. She was one of the first women that he wanted to take care of but could actually take care of herself fine on her own. Time would only tell when they’d actually have some time alone to pursue an actual relationship.