V I G I L A N C E ~ (MCU) ~

C H A P T E R 7_

"This is no time for laughter!" Thor says in rage, the seriousness in his voice silencing us both immediately.

"I agree," Loki says as he dusts himself off plainly.

Thor stomps up to him and grips him by his neck, holding him in the air. "Look at this! Look around you! You think this destruction and madness will end with your rule?!" he roars.

He chuckles. "Well then it should comfort you that this time, it wasn't me who caused this chaos."

His face shows confusion.

I stand there quietly as I watch the events unfold in front of me from a few feet away. Then I walk fast up to them as I tell Thor, "He's telling the truth. I was with him the whole time. It wasn't him."

Thor looks at me when I say this and then back at his brother who has his eyebrows raised smugly as he waits for Thor to believe me.

The demigod drops his brother. "Then whose war is it now? Who's destroying Midgard as we speak?" he demands from Loki.

"Nebula," he says. "Daughter of Thanos."

"...Thanos?" he asks, as if he's heard of this villain before but only in bedtime stories. Thor looks at me, "You saw this? Nebula?" he asks.

I nod. "Yes, in all of her scary blue cyborg-ness."

He takes a deep breath and looks at the ground, his stray locks of gold blowing in the eerie wind.

"Thor..." Loki says quietly. "She's after the stones."

Immediately his eyes show some worry and realization. And no one says a word as we let this statement hang in the air terrifyingly.

That's when we hear something, a muffled radio it sounds like. Someone's voice? But it comes from a really tiny speaker.

Loki frowns and glances around him for it. Then he looks at Thor who seems just as confused. "It's not me," Thor says.

That's when I realize it's my communicator. I still have it! I search for it on my person and then notice that it has fallen down my shirt but barely. "Sorry, that would be me. It's just my communicator," I tell them before I stick it in my ear. I am immediately greeted by many different voices speaking at once.

The voices are struggling to get through and the connection seems delicate. I think it's Natasha that's talking right now. "Oh my God," she repeats in a way that sounds so painful it makes my stomach churn. "What happened?!" Tony asks.

Multiple muffled voices panic over the line. "She's hurt—we got shot down near the station," Barton tries to say.

"Barton! Stark!" I hear Steve shout, just now connecting. "Where is the Tesseract?"

"It's gone," Tony answers. "I pulled Selvig from the tower before it collapsed."

"Where's Loki?" Barton asks.

"Where's Esther?" Rogers asks louder than him. "Is she alright?"

At hearing my name, I speak into the device. "I'm here. I'm fine. I'm with Thor and Loki."

There's only muffled noises as the connection is failing. I can hear parts of people talking but that's it.

Another distant boom of a bomb hitting a building far off echoes across the city.

I look at the two gods who are standing beside each other. "They need help. Natasha, she's hurt. We-we need to find them."

Thor approaches me with urgency in his eyes that cares for his companions. "I'll find them," he says and begins walking past me. "Don't let him leave!" he commands when glancing at Loki. He heads towards the collapsed buildings and piles of rubble.