The Eye

XII

Steve

Ding! Level 1

The sound of the elevator tore us out of our thoughts. We stepped out of the metal box and walked towards the exit in silence. Right before I grabbed the handle of the door, a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

Instantly I spun around and twisted out of the grip. Feet apart and hands up I faced the opposer. She was in all silver with the sternest expression on her face.

She didn't move besides the hand on her bow that was slung over her shoulder. I saw no quiver, but I suspected it could be there faster than I could throw a punch.

I didn't move, but I did relax, nodding my head in acknowledgement of no threat. Thor to my right hastily crouched into a bow.

"Lady Artemis" He boomed.

I waved my hand at the rest of the team, following Thor. We all fell into a bow. The goddess examined us with sharp eyes. A strand of her auburn hair falling in front of her face.

She put her hand forward gently to guide the strand behind her ear. Regarding us silently, her hand twitches ever so slightly. Too fast for my eyes, but Thor took that as an invitation to stand.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, Lady Artemis?" Thor questioned loudly.

"War is coming. My father is too arrogant to ask the Norse for aid, but we will need them to win this war."

"I will inform my Father—" Thor began, smiling a bit.

She cut him off sharply with a glare that made him step back,"Do not bring Perseus to Asgard. The majority of the council agrees to that statement. We've already thrown him into enough danger as it is."

Thor frowned,"Then how will Father believe me? I will need proof! Asgard is safe."

"You are his kin, are you not?" She asked steely.

"Yes, but—" Thor argued.

"Then you will find away. Perseus must stay on Earth."

With that said, she turned away with Thor staring at her with mixed emotions. She hesitated, before turning back to us.

"Perseus is strong for a mortal. Even stronger for a demigod, but he isn't invincible. He may have forgiven us, but he still hurts." She spoke softly, but she still had a sharp tone to her voice.

"What are you saying?" I asked, speaking up for the team.

She glared at me harshly and her eyes flashed a dangerous silver.

"My Lady?" I quickly added, the glare lessened to a thoughtful look.

"You helped each other. Help him."

The woman turned and started to glow. I called out for my team to avert their eyes. We turned away from the light. When the brightness dimmed, she was no where to be seen.

Help him? He seemed just fine. The way he acted was how I've seen usual SHIELD agents act, quiet, withdrawn, guarded. The torture didn't seem to faze him, but he'll probably be affected by it still.

What did she mean when she asked us to help him? More like tell us, but how can we help someone who won't tell us what's wrong.

We arrived back at the tower in ten minutes. It was silent which was odd. Loki left us to join Agent Jackson, but there should still be sound. They aren't that quiet.

I put a finger to my lips, making soft footsteps towards the living room. Stark brought up the back and Natasha was right behind me. Thor had left us after our meeting with the maiden goddess to journey to Asgard. Bruce and Barton were on the wings.

We tiptoed across the floor, the living room was empty. I gripped my shield and slowly opened the kitchen door. What I saw inside made me drop my stance immediately.

There was Agent Jackson, sound asleep on the table. A bowl of mac and cheese steaming near his head, untouched. Loki was standing by his feet, pulling off his right sock and shoe.

He saw me and out a finger to his lips as well. I quietly walked in with the team trailing behind me. We watched him confused. He closed his eyes and held his hands over the previously injured foot.

I felt a change in the air and whispers floated around the room. A green glowing erupted from his hands, engulfing the foot. A little wind picked up, brushing through our hair.

Then, just like that it was over. Agent Jackson continued sleeping soundly, oblivious to the show. Loki put his hands down, but a little drop of sweat fell off his forehead.

"What the hell was that?" Stark exclaimed loudly.

Instantly Agent Jackson's eyes flew open. Quickly he rolled off the island table and landed in a crouch. Flipping towards Stark, his hands snatching a couple things from his belt faster than my eyes could follow.

When he stopped moving, and my eyes adjusted, I recognized the weapons in his hands. A dagger was held to Stark's throat and a gun to his temple. There was no expression on Agent Jackson's face.

We all stood silent, in awe of what just happened. The table was at least seven feet from where Stark stood near the door. He moved incredibly fast and added some jazzy spy moves in there somewhere. Three of his belt holders were empty instead of two, which confused me.

Then I noticed the empty sheath that would've held a sword. Agent Jackson still hasn't moved and I feared if we moved the wrong way, either a slice of a blade or a pull of the trigger would end Iron man's life.

"Perseus..." Loki's voice sounded gently. "Put the weapons down, you're safe."

Agent Jackson's face whipped around to look at the speaker. His hands stayed firm where they were, but his eyes observed all of us, before turning back to Stark. Slowly, he pulled back the gun and put it in its holder.

"The knife too, Perseus." Loki added.

He didn't move for a second, but soon enough, the blade was hesitantly withdrawn from Stark's throat. Once the weapon was sheathed, he stepped back and gave the man of iron space. When Stark had his personal bubble to himself he took a deep breath and started laughing, such a Stark move

"Wow kid, now I know why you're an agent!" Stark snort.

"I'm not a kid." Agent Jackson growled.

"You're still not old enough to drink." Stark pointed out.

Agent Jackson retreated to where Loki stood, his back to a wall so he could see all of us. His shoulders and body figure was still tense, but once he reached the edge of the room, he seemed to relax a bit.

Agent Jackson pursed his lips,"I wouldn't if I could."

Suddenly Thor burst in making us all jump. I held my shield in front of me. Natasha held two guns out in front of her. Clint had an arrow drawn and Stark was already suited up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glowing silver sword appear in Agent Jackson's hand and Loki summon his staff. Thor looked pale and nervous, his hair plastered to his forehead.

"Father won't fight..." Thor gasped.

Tell me what you think...