Animo - Avengers {Completed}

Chapter Twelve: Black Out

“Are you wearing your boots?”  I nodded. “Then you should have nothing to worry about.” As if to prove his point, Stark pushed me in front of him and motioned for me to climb up first. “I’ll attempt to catch you if you fall.”

“I feel so reassured,” I snapped back, placing both hands on the rungs.

Slowly but surely, I brought myself closer to the top. I could hear Stark following right behind me. The echoing of my boots on the metal bars resounded in the still night air. City that never sleeps, huh? As if.

Once the ledge of the flat roof came into view, I gripped the cement tightly and started pulling myself up. I was never any good at pull-ups in gym class. Like he knew my struggle, Stark gave me a rough from behind and sent me toppling over the edge onto the loose gravel. He swung himself over and stepped over to where I lay, giving me a smug smirk. I glared at him, but he laughed it off.

We were barely up there for five minutes when a tiny plane came to a hesitant stop above us. The door on the side slid open and an arm stuck out. Stark nudged me forward, and I reached up to grab it. Their warm hand wrapped around my wrist and tugged me upwards. Judging by its appearance, it was Rogers. Another hand grabbed me just above my elbow on my other arm. That was Thor; the attached arm was thick and muscular.

I was tossed ungracefully into the plane. Stark was pulled in soon after I was, except he remained on his feet. I rolled over onto my side and found I’d landed in between Banner and Natasha. I shot them both smiles before narrowing my eyes at Rogers and Thor. “Way to be gentle,” I said sarcastically.

Rogers ignored me and looked at Stark. “Did you tell her?” he asked.

I paled. In the rush to get outside and into the aircraft, I’d forgotten the reason we were leaving in the first place: my brother. We were going to get my brother. “Yeah,” I breathed. “He told me.”

Banner helped me to my feet. As soon as I was up, Natasha pulled me into a one-armed hug. In her other hand she held a gun. In fact, everyone was carrying a gun. Well, not Barton; he had his bow and arrows. I was beginning to feel vulnerable with just my tiny dagger and the arrow in my waistband.

That thought meant nothing in the scheme of things, really. I mean, my brother was kidnapped by aliens, and I was worried about not having a gun? I couldn’t even shoot one. And a knife was perfectly adequate for slicing open creepy alien throats.

After Natasha released me from the hug, I took a step back and leaned against the wall. My eyes closed automatically as I struggled to not hyperventilate. I was going home – well, sort of – but it wasn’t for a visit. It was to save Adam from a life or death situation. The whole idea of it both terrified and angered me at the same time. What right did the aliens have to take my brother away from me? And what right did S.H.I.E.L.D. have to keep me away from my family?

I was shaking pretty badly by the time someone rested a hand on my shoulder. I cracked open one eye to see Barton beside me. “How are you doing? Are you okay?” he asked.

“No, not really,” I replied with a small, forced chuckle.

Someone tapped my other shoulder. Both of my eyes opened to find Stark one my other side, holding out his hand. I was confused; that is, until I saw my iPod lying in his palm, my headphones plugged in and everything.

Automatically, I reached out and swatted his arm. Not the one holding my iPod, of course. That was too risky. “Damn it, Stark, I’ve been looking for that for months!” I exclaimed, crossing my arms.

“I was curious to see what you had on it,” he answered with a smile. “Lots of pictures of a cute blonde boy. Friend of yours?” He took my immediate blush as an affirmative. “Oh, I see. What’s his name?”