"This all I got on the surveillance camera. I still don't understand why he would take your solution out of S.H.I.E.L.D without telling anyone." Fury said as he showed me the computer screen. I saw Jared walking into the lab and walking out with the solution like nothing in the video. I wonder why someone didn't stop him, but even if they did, he'd get past them. "If the substances in that solution are as harmful as you say, then I have no choice but to get some of my agents to go after him."
"Don't. Jared is not Jared anymore, and if he sees agents after him, this situation may get worse."
"What do you mean he's not Jared anymore?" He questioned his eye on me.
I turned to him and sighed. "Something is controlling him, it's taking over. Whatever it is, is pushing Jared's soul away from his own body. I don't know how to explain it, but I've seen him struggling and...I just don't know what to do about it. It's been going on for a few weeks."
"Do you have any clue of what it can be? What possesses him?"
My eyes met with Fury. "I think it may be the Chituari. I don't know. Something among those lines. Jared's eyes flash blue when it's controlling him. I-"
"Then, it is them. They did the same thing to Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig before, but how? How can they do this without the tesseract? Unless...Loki-" Fury interrupted, standing up from his chair and walking back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back.
"I don't think Loki is into this. The last thing he would want to do is be involved with the Chituari again." I immediately said, interrupting him this time. He stopped walking and his eye narrowed at me, questioningly. It was as if he knew something, something that I didn't know he knew. "Speaking of him, have your secret agents tracked him down?" I asked nonchalantly.
Nick sighed. "This is classified information, but I'm going to tell you a little bit of it. I think I've tracked him down, but I've only sent one secret agent after him and that agent has gone down."
Tracked him down? My heart began to race. Is Nick telling the truth? I mean, he did say it was classified information, and he could just be lying to me to trick me. He only sent one secret agent? I thought he had sent multiple, and what did he mean by 'gone down'? Did he die or something?
"Where?"
Director Fury smiled at me, causing my stomach to feel uneasy. "Now, that is part of the classified information that will remain classified for now. You may go now, Miss Banner. As you wish, I won't send anyone after Jared but I do expect you to check up on him and keep me updated if you can. This will be your little mission."
I nodded and sent him a salute before leaving. As I walked back to the lab, I couldn't believe that I had told Nick the truth. Well, not the whole truth, but I wasn't lying to him. Jared is being possessed by something from the same realm as the Chitauri. Loki knows exactly who, but he's not planning on telling me. I huffed, frustrated with everything.
"Tough talk?" Bruce asked as I the doors slid open for me.
"Yup," I said popping the 'p', taking a deep breath and inflating my cheeks, making myself look like a chipmunk, no doubt. It's a habit of mine that I've had since I was little. I only do it when I'm really frustrated, like I am now. Bruce chuckled, shaking his head as I slapped both of my cheeks, creating another popping sound. "What?" I demanded a bit annoyed that he was laughing at me.
"You just reminded of your mother, that's all." He explained.
My expression softened and I had a sudden intake of breath as I normally did when my mother was mentioned. "You're not the only one who's told me that," I mumbled, referring to my grandpa.
Bruce got the message and groaned, running his hand through his air. "Can you not bring him up?"
"Why not? He's your dad and my grandfather." I emphasized. Even though Brian wasn't the best grandpa or person at times, I still loved him and secretly missed him. How could I not? I've put with him for a couple of years until I had to send him to an asylum. That was the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life.
"He killed my mother, your grandmother." He snapped back.
"But he didn't mean to!" I exclaimed, my voice raising. Why am I even defending Brian? He doesn't deserve it, but it's true. He didn't mean to kill my grandmother. He wasn't okay in the head, and I have to understand that, because crazy people do crazy things. "He was confused and not right," I added, my voice lower and calm.
"How many times I have been not right and confused, hmm? I've never killed anyone, because of that."
"He probably needed us, needed a family at that time and all we did was ignore him!" I shouted.
Bruce began to laugh, no hint of humor in his voice. His eyes met with mine, and I could tell he was frustrated and getting angry with me. "What do you know? You were a little girl then, so don't come lashing out on me for something that I couldn't have prevented, okay?"
I blinked twice, a bit taken aback by his words. "I may have been a little girl, but I knew there was something going on. I've always known and I questioned, but you guys ignored and pushed me away! Mom was always working, you were always at school, Grandma was always somewhere else, and I was always stuck at home with Grandpa. You don't know what I've seen."
Bruce was silent, his body still. I sighed. "Anyways, I didn't just bring him up to argue about him. I brought him up, because I wanted to know if, if you would ever like to visit him sometime...with me?"
"No." Bruce said, through gritted teeth. He stood up, took of his gloves, and washed his hands in the sink right in front of me. I leaned against the opposite counter, noticing that his body was tense trying not to shake.
"But he's your father! He's not going to live forever, you know. There's going to be a day when he will die, and you will regret not going to see him at least once." I stated.
"Then, let that day come!" He snapped, turning to me his eyes scowling at me. It was at that moment that I realized what I was doing and that I had gone too far.
"Woah, woah! What is going on in here? Bruce, you okay? You should really chill out there." Tony said as he walked in, Clintasha and Steve right behind him. They all looked between Bruce and me, confused.
Since it was obvious Bruce wasn't going to explain, I did. "We were just discussing personal matter." I said, my eyes not leaving Bruce as he tried his best to calm himself down. When he finally did, his eyes turned to me apologetically.
"I'm sorry." We both said in unison. We had both gone over the line this time, and out of all the arguments we’ve had, this was the closest I’ve heard had from angering Bruce enough for him unleash the Hulk.
Tony began to clap, stepping in between the both of us. "Aww, you guys. Okay, now hug it out, hug it out!"
"Don't push it, Stark." Bruce said. Tony raised his hands up and then shrugged, a smile threatening to form on his face.
"Anyways, we came here because, rumor has it, there's something going on here in S.H.I.E.L.D that Fury knows and we don't." Natasha said, changing the subject. She sat herself at a stool, and Clint stood nearby her. Why can't those two just get together already? Sometimes, I just feel like grabbing them and shoving them together.
Steve stood by me, leaning against the counter as well while Bruce took a seat and Tony sat on a counter. There was a moment of silence before Bruce broke it. "Among the lines of what?"
"Loki." Clint answered.
"Hey, where's Thor?" I randomly asked, wanting to change the subject. But then again, I also wanted to hear about what they knew of Loki. It seemed as if the truth would soon unravel and at this rate, it would probably all lead to Jared due to his condition. If it does ever get that far, then I would have no choice but to confess. I couldn't and won't let anyone else take the blame but me.
"He went to go see Jane Foster." Steve answered. Jane Foster? That rings a bell. Oh! Jane is the woman who Thor can't seem to stop talking about at times. I mentally slapped myself, noticing I was getting side tracked. I needed a coffee.
"Anyways, as I was saying, Fury has not said a word about Loki and his whereabouts. It's been a few months, and with our agents and technology, we should've found him by now. This is ridiculous, and if we don't find him, then Clint and I will take it into our own hands to find him."
"Why the rush and urge?" I asked.
"Eryn, I think you're forgetting that this is a high class criminal we are talking about." Bruce reminded me. He didn’t need to. I knew it all. People like him don’t change…, Bruce’s voice rang through my head.
"We think he might be up to something." Clint said.
"How are you so sure?"
"There is no doubt that there is another force rising against us, something from a different world." Natasha added as their eyes all turned to me in disbelief.
Of course, always suspect of the 'bad' guy. I guess this needs a clarification. "Haven't you ever thought that maybe he just had no choice and ended up here? I mean, I think he learned his lesson last time. If I got hulk smashed, I'd never go up against Earth ever again. Maybe, the bad guy is the victim this time."
Tony snorted. "Yeah, suuuure. Are you on crack or something?"
I puffed up my cheeks for the second time today, and 'popped' them as I scowled at Tony. "No, I'm not crack." I snapped, defensively. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I jumped startled by it. Taking it out, I saw that it was my notification saying that my shift was over, and that I had a missed call from Sarah. Yikes...it wasn't just one missed call from her.
"What's the matter?" Steve asked.
"Three missed calls from Sarah. Not good." I mumbled.
"You should be scared, very scared." Tony teased.
"I am. You don't know how she can get when she's mad. Well, I got to go," I said, grimacing at the thought of Sarah being mad with me. Maybe, I was exaggerating, but having missed calls from her is as bad as having missed calls from a mother. She gets worried and out of that worry, comes anger sometimes. This is what I get for having my phone on silent. Oh well!
"Bye." They all murmured. I gave them a smile and wave as I left.
**
“Why haven’t you answered my calls?”
I jumped, almost having a heart attack as I shut the door. “Oh my gosh, Sarah, you just scared the crap out of me,” I breathed. I leaned against the door and sent Loki a questioning look, but he just shrugged just as surprised as me. She must’ve gotten in with the spare key I gave her a long time ago.
“I was worried sick over you…the both of you!” Sarah said, glancing between Loki and I. Loki’s eyebrows rose, shocked by her words.
“Well, hell to you too.-“Drew then came out of my kitchen, his phone in his hands as he played a game. “-Hi Drew!” I greeted.
“Sup,” he said, nodding his full attention on his phone.
Sarah glanced at him and frowned with a sigh. “Candy Crush will be the end of you,” she muttered as she shook her head in disapproval of Drew. I smiled and took a seat by Loki, and waited patiently until her attention returned to us. “So how have you two been? How was Disney?”
“Splendid.”
“Great.”
Loki and I both answered at the same time.
Sarah frowned as she sat by Drew, pulling a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her hair. “Anything interesting happen?”
Loki and I both exchanged glances and smiled at each other before turning to Sarah. “Nope,” I said just as Loki shook his head no. Sarah narrowed her eyes at us, a smile toying at her lips. Drew put his phone done, muttering something about having no more lives. His attention then flew to us.
“Liars!” Sarah exclaimed with a wicked grin.
“Did you guys elope?” Drew asked, wiggling his eyebrows at us.
Again, Loki and I exchanged glances this time making weird faces before both of us saying, “no.”
“This is not fair! I need to know. “Sarah exaggerated, her blue gray eyes staring into mine.
I glanced at Loki questioningly, and he nodded. “What, can you guys communicate telepathically now?” Drew wondered out loud.
“I almost died.”
“She kissed me.”
We both said at the same time. Man, we were both on a roll today. Maybe, we could communicate telepathically. I turned to Loki, playfully scowling. “Hey! You were the one who tried to kiss me first!”
He grinned, and we were about to start a pointless argument, if it wouldn’t have been for Sarah clearing her throat. We both turned to our attention to Sarah. She had a big smile on her face. “You guys kissed? Oh my gosh! Do…do you guys like each other?” She asked, trying to suppress a squeal.
“Babe, are you seriously asked them that question? That’s like asking where the Muffin Man lives. Everyone knows he lives on Drury Lane.” Drew stated.
Sarah waved her arm at him. “Oh, shut it, Drew. I want to hear it from them. Well?”
Loki threw his arm around me, and I could feel his gaze on me. I could also feel the heat rising up to my cheeks. “Yes, I am rather fond over Eryn, or as you put it, I like her.”
Sarah’s gaze then landed on me, impatiently. Loki and I haven’t even talked about what happened at Disney. It’s only been a day since we got back. Only Sarah could make this situation even more nerve-wracking and awkward enough as it is. My eyes met with Loki’s as a genuine smiled formed on my face.
“So do I.”
Okay, so I just had to stop there. No cliffhanger this chapter, guys. Sorry, I know how much you love those >.< lol. Anyways, what do you think? Sarah and Drew are back since they haven't been in any of the recent chapters lately. What did you think about Bruce's and Eryn's conversation or about Clintasha wanting to go after Loki themselves?
Please leave your thoughts below! I'll try & update this week again for sure!