The Seventh Avenger

Chapter 65: Glitter and Gold

The last thing that I remembered was the eight of us arguing before the lab exploded. Then the sound of Ava screaming as the stench of fire and smoke filled the small space. The brief feeling of free-falling through the air. Glass shattering around us. Then the sudden and unexpected agonising pain along the length of my skull as I came to a sudden stop against the floor below. It was the ground that I remember landing on.

So I was surprised when I came to and found that I was in a pair of strong arms, rather than the ground that I distinctively remember landing on.

Blinking my blue eyes open and ignoring the throbbing sensation at the back of my head, a confused noise sounds from my lips as I feel my body swinging ever so slightly in the open air. I can feel two hands gripping the back of my knees and upper back tightly as something cool slowly drips from the corner of my nose. Its rustic smell leads me to believe that it was blood. Tilting my head up, I am greeted with the sight of Thor's serious face above me, a slight scowl etched to the handsome features of his face. As if sensing my gaze, however, he glances down in surprise when he sees me staring back up at him. "Lydia. How-?"

"What's going on?" I murmur thickly, before slowly turning my head to see where it was that we were. To my surprise, we were still on level five. Heavy equipment and large crates surrounded us as Thor strode down the dark pathway. He wasn't walking back towards the lab though. He seemed to be walking further away from it. And the area that I and the other three had fallen.

The last thought has me squirming frantically in his arms, though he was holding me too tightly for me to be able to move much. Before he has the chance to reprimand me for moving or to answer my question, I ask quickly, "What about the others? Bruce? Ava and Nat? Is anyone else hurt? Did they all make it? I-"

"You must slow down, Lydia," He tries to reason as he continues to move forward. As he weaves past the equipment without accidentally knocking into any of it, he continues, "You are hurt. I must get you to safety-"

"What, happened?" I sharply interrupt. If we were under attack like I suspected we were, then my injuries could wait. Dealing with our attackers took precedence. Besides, I didn't think that I was as hurt as he believed. Besides the slight throbbing sensation at the back of my head and the blood trickling from my nose- both caused by my hard landing- there didn't appear to be anything else seriously wrong with me. I was well enough to fight if necessary.

Upon seeing the glint of determination in my eyes, Thor realises that I wouldn't be resting anytime soon. Letting out a small and defeated sigh, he explains, "I fear that Loki may have caused the explosion on the ship."

"That's impossible though! He's still in his cell!"

"I fear that he orchestrated this attack before you took him in."

My heart sinks at his words. If Thor's theory was correct then it was likely that the explosion had been caused by my uncle. It was Clint that could have killed the eight of us and who knows how many agents anywhere within the blast's radius. But hope is instilled within me once more, as a small voice in the back of my head points out that if this was true, then Clint could still be on the ship. This meant that there was an opportunity for me to find a way to snap him out of whatever control that Loki had over him and bring him home.

"Did everyone in the lab make it out OK? Is anyone hurt?"

"Fury, the Captain and Stark are fine," He assures me, his words causing a flood of relief to wash over me at this. "Ava is fine. She was told to retrieve the sceptre and take it to a secure location. She found me in the lab and asked me to help you and the other two."

Deducing that the 'other two' that he was referring to were Nat and Bruce, I stretch my neck in an attempt to look past his shoulder and back in the direction that he had found me. My relief is short-lived when I can't immediately see them, causing me to turn my face upwards towards Thor once more. "What about Nat and Bruce? Are they OK as well?