Destined || Peter Parker FanFiction

Chapter Ten

She crossed her arms over her chest as she walked along the sidewalk, her aching feet begging her to stop. She had no cash on her to call a cab and she did not have a phone to call Happy to pick her up – though, she would not have had the guts to call him after what happened tonight. She could only imagine how mad he would be at her. For someone whose nickname is Happy, he was not a very happy person.

Growing tired of the aching in her feet and her desperation for relief, she stopped in her tracks and peeled the boots off of her feet. She sighed in relief when her feet made contact with cold concrete, flat against the ground. She forced one foot in front of the other and continued to walk; to who knows where.

"You will need to study Midgard before you leave, Nylah." Thor spoke with a stern voice as he nodded his head to the library they had in their home. Thor had only just learned of the mission Nylah was going to be sent for, considering that Tony had not contacted him and actually made effort to contact Nylah through Heimdall. Nylah decided that she would try to listen to her older brother, since he had been to Midgard many times. Nylah even suggested that she'd talk to Jane – the woman that Thor had been courting. He quickly declined, an awkwardness falling between the siblings. "Tony cannot teach you everything about Midgard."

"I do not know why I am going there in the first place," Nylah said with a sigh, her hands coming together to play with the tips of her fingers. "Perhaps I should have declined. I have only been to Midgard once, I cannot be put up for a mission that I cannot simply be ready for."

"You are capable of great things, sister." Thor reassured her, bending down slightly so that he was eye to eye with his baby sister. Nylah stared down at her fingers, tucking her lip between her teeth.

"But I am no fighter, Thor." Nylah could feel her eyes stinging with tears as she spoke. "I am not like you, Thor. I am not like Loki, either. I should not bother going to Midgard if Tony wants me to fight beside him."

"Stop thinking so low of yourself, sister." Thor scolded her as he stood up straight, using his strong hand to pull her into a hug. Nylah hid her face in her brother's chest as she tried her hardest to keep back her tears, clutching onto her brother for dear life. Thor had not seen Nylah like this – so upset with herself and her self-hatred since Frigga and Loki died. It pained him to see his beautiful little sister like this. He only wished that their father had not been so hard on them. "You are stronger than you think. You are growing to be a strong woman and everyone in Asgard knows it, Metal-Man knows it too. Whether you fight or not, Nylah, you are strong and capable enough to achieve anything that life throws at you."

Her brother was wrong. Nylah is weak, not capable of a single thing in this universe aside from disappointment. She did not even study for Midgard, like her brother suggested, and now look at the mess she is in. Stuck in Brooklyn without any clue where the tower is located. No phone, no cash, nothing besides wet clothes and aching feet. Nylah Odinsdottir is useless, and that is all she'll ever be.

"Thought you might need a ride." The sudden voice and the sound of a car slowing down startled Nylah, almost throwing her boots across the road. Nylah looked closely into the car to find a woman in the driver's seat, her long blond hair tied into a high pony tail. Her body was covered in a white professional suit, kept clean and tidy with no wrinkles or stains.

Pepper.

Nylah did not deny the car ride – she had clue where she was going. Her eyes scanned the practically dead road, no cars riding along it. With her lip tucked in between her teeth, her hand curled around the handle before she pulled the car door open. She stepped into the car and shut the door, the warm air instantly warming her body. She reached behind her and grabbed the seat belt, something that was supposed to prevent deaths in car accidents on Midgard. She clicked it in as Pepper began to drive again in silence.

Nylah leaned her head against the window, her eyes admiring the city lights and the beauty of the planet. Buildings were high in the sky, some apartment buildings higher than others. She could faintly see people through the windows, some hugging whilst some seemed to be fighting. Some laughed and some looked as though they were crying. They passed parked ambulances on the street with paramedics out of the cars, tending to the injured humans who would lay across the street groaning in pain. Nylah wanted to jump out of the car and heal people, now that Peter knew who she was and with it being only a small amount of time before everyone finds out.

She wondered if she was going to return to Midtown High or if her mission was still on the table. She missed her home, but she hated walking down the empty hallways and passing the room that once belonged to her raven-haired older brother. She missed her blond brother who would constantly tell jokes or force Nylah to play games to keep her mind distracted, or get his friends to take her to the pub with them.

She even missed her father, despite his (what felt like) constant lectures and expression of disappointment. She missed when he would come into her bedroom every night, placing a kiss on her forehead as she pretends to sleep before he too, heads off to bed. She misses dinner time, where the long wooden table would be filled to the brim of delicious food that would not go to waste or the conversations her family shared about missing their fallen family members. She missed walking down the streets of Asgard and feeling like she is capable of achieving something with her life.

"Nylah?" She heard Pepper's soft voice as they car came to stop, with the tall Stark Tower beside them with security standing at the entrance. "Are you okay?"

"I miss home." Nylah let out a sob as she turned her head to look at Pepper, her teary eyes blurring her vision. "I want to go home."

Sympathy washed over Pepper's face and all the older woman could do was nod, despite Tony's wishes to keep her here. Perhaps Tony did not quite understand how sending a teenage girl (in Asgardian years, anyway) to an entirely different planet was a good idea, and to keep her here for so long after having to endure pain from losing her family. The girl was simply too traumatised to stay away from her family for too long without fear that when she returned, her family would not be there to greet her.

"I'll do my best to get you home."