"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" I asked, walking to another side of the cylinder.
I honestly don't think we've stopped walking yet.
"I've heard a lot about you. The girl who was cast out from Asgard because of how powerful her powers are? So, I guess I'm not alone in being an outcast." He smirked, folding his hands behind his back.
Was he trying to be polite?
"No one ever said I was an outcast." I commented, standing still. I crossed my hands over my chest as if I was trying to be brave, but on the inside I was screaming with fear.
Who knows what Loki could do to me? If everything Steve said was true, then I'm in for a big surprise.
"Ah, yes. But, the thing is, everyone thinks that."
A small piece of my heart chipped off. Did Natasha think I was an outcast? Did Bruce think I was an outcast? What if Tony thought it too? Or Steve?
Breathe, Tessa. I told myself.
Steve said Loki tries to manipulate people, it could be one of his little tricks.
He stared at my reaction for a second, but then smiled, almost as if thinking he had won. He hummed in approval.
"I knew that'd get you."
"I am not an outcast. All that happened was that I was born in Asgard. Big deal." I said, waving my hands all over the place.
"But that's the part you got right. Big deal." He smirked, nodding his head towards me.
"What do you mean by 'you're not the only one'? What did you feel?" I asked.
"Unloved," He started, dipping his head down as he walked with his hands behind his back. He took a few steps forward.
I'm guessing he's a pacer.
"Mistreated, underestimated, treated unfairly, poorly even. But what I felt was anger."
"Why?" I asked dumbfounded.
He chuckled, sending me a sarcastic smile. "I'll tell you exactly what I told Thor. I'm tired of living under his shadow. I'm tired of everyone else thinking of Thor over me while I who was and should be king!" He shouted, inhaling sharply. Loki breathed in and out of his nose for a few seconds before speaking.
"But the thing is, everyone thinks I'm an evil villan who just wants all power to himself. But that's where they're wrong. I never was like this. I used to be having fun, smiling all the time. But that all happened right before Thor left for Midgard the first time."
"What happened?"
"Even I don't like to talk about it. But I'll tell you one thing, I rebelled against him. I did everything in my power to be noticed by at least some Midgardians, but apparently somehow I ended up destroying every little piece of your city. But becase I couldn't rule in my own world, I guess that I could rule yours."
"And what literally gave you the courage to do that?" I asked, my eyes widenening in excitement.
"I- wait." He started, but interupted himself, "What makes you think I'll tell you everything? I'm trying to manipulate you."
"Because you've already started. You can't leave an open project uncompleted."
"And who says I can't?"
I sighed, knowing that this conversation will go nowhere, so I asked something I'd been wanting to hear for the last 5 minutes. "Why are you here?"
Loki scowled. "You."
"But... why?" I asked dumbfounded. "I have nothing you want."
"But there is the part you are wrong." He butted in, cocking his head to the side. "I've come for you. But my reason is for my knowledge and you to follow."
"And what makes you think I'll do that?" I replied sassily, my arms feeling heavier on my chest.
"I have powers, you don't." He offered, shrugging.
"Well, apparently to Thor, I have very special powers." I commented, my finger pointing up as in a matter-of-fact motion.
"Well, Thor has lied many times before. At least, not to you."
"Because you're his brother. Brother's fight and banter together. Most of the time they lie, though. You can't tell me that you and Thor didn't lie to each other as kids."
"What makes you think I'll pour out my childhood to you?"
"I'm here to help you with your problems." I smiled, sitting down on the floor. He sent me a confused stare as I shrugged and chuckled nervously.
"I get really nervous in these type of situations."
"I can probably tell." He stated, locking his hands behind his back once more.
Why does he keep doing that?
"Tell me about your childhood." I demanded, crossing my legs as if I were pretending to be a doctor.
He rolled his eyes at my statement walking around the lab. I'm guessing Loki had locked the doors once we came in, so I can say goodbye to my precious hero running through that door any moment now.
"I've come back for one reason and one reason only." He said last before looking at me, sitting down in the chair.
Where did that chair come from? I would've sat in it.
"And what would that purpose be?" I asked interested.
I had a voice recorder rolling so everyone could hear what Loki's plan was, and so far it was working out nicely. I honestly don't know why I have a voice recorder in my pocket, but I did. I don't remember putting it in my pocket.
His back was turned to me as he walked around quietly, observing everything. But once he said his last sentence, he turned to face me. His emerald eyes burned into my light brown ones as I asked him.
"You." He said before rolling out his hand, pointing all his fingers at me.
"That doesn't work on m-e-" I couldn't finish my sentence before I felt drowsy. My eyes felt droopy as my head was pounding like I hadn't slept in days, but I felt little energy left in me. Most normal people would be asleep in an instant, knowinghow drowsy and dizzy it makes you feel, but it looked, miraculously, as if it went right back to Loki. His hand fell down and his eyes became droopy. He closed his eyes and started to faint, but I quickly ran over and caught him before he hit the ground hard enough.
I pulled him into the container, before running out to make sure it wouldn't close on me while I was still in there. His body laid there, still as a rock as I hoped he wasn't dead and only asleep. My hands reached for the "CLOSE" button as the door slammed open with a lot of force.
I slammed my hand down on the close button before twisting around to see Steve standing there, panting.
He was wearing his Captain America suit, along with his shield. It seemed as if he had just been fighting, since he was panting, but there was no sign of injury on him.
"I've been trying to open that door for a long time."
That would be why he was panting.
I walked up to him, pulling out the voice recorder and pressing "STOP" on it before handing it to him. He looked at it confusingly, as I mentally sighed.
"Loki said things, and this little gadget here recorded it."
Steve reached forward and wrapped his arms around me. I instantly hugged back, holding onto him as if he would disappear at any second. But the real reason was I was scared. Yes. Me, Tessa Stark, was scared for the first time in her life. Agonizingly scared.
I've never been scared this bad, even though when I was a baby, playing peek-a-boo with Tony seemed scary enough.
"How did you get him asleep and in the cage?" He laughed surprisingly, letting me go.
"Well, he tried to use his powers on me, but I seemed to have shielded them and they flew back to use on Loki. I am guessing he was using a spell to make me fall asleep, but it didn't work on me. I felt like I could push them away, and when I did, they seemed to go right back to Loki and use his magic on himself. I didn't think that gods' powers would be harmful on themselves." I explained.
"Yeah, that is really weird.'' He sighed, walking out of the room. I followed curiously, locking the door behind me as I followed him through the dimly lit halls.
Everything was broken, doorways, doors were ripped off of their hinges, glass was spread across the floor everywhere.
"Hey Steve?" I asked, the silence blanketing around us.
"Yes?" He replied, glancing over at me.
His bright blue eyes were wide with fear and excitement, but he had his signature smile plastered on his glowing face.
"What happened to Bruce?" I gulped.
His smile faded as he removed his stare from me. "We got him. He fell out of the helicarrier... again."
"In his Hulk form?"
"Yes."
"Where do you think he landed?" I asked as we rounded a corner.
"We're somewhere above New York, so he probably fell somewhere around there. We keep circling around."
I nodded in understanding.
Steve had always been one of the people around here that Fury would tell what was going on. It was like Fury trusted him in private. Like, he wouldn't want anyone to know that he trusts the Super Soldier over the agents like Coulson, Barton, and Romanoff.
He probably trusts them too.
"How are we gonna get him back?"
Steve inhaled sharply, almost as if he had no answer to my question.
"That's the problem. We guess that Thor will have to go down and get him. But it'll be too dangerous for someone else too." He guessed, opening a door that led to Fury.
"Hello Tessa." He greeted warmly, sending me a smile. He looked kind of nervous, but other than that, alright.
He always seems to smile at me when I walk in the room, almost as if he doesn't dislike me, but he still doesn't like me. Maybe he doesn't mind me being around him. I've never really done anything wrong to him to make him dislike me, but I've also never done anything to make him like me.
But Fury doesn't like a lot of people overall.
"Hey." I replied, taking a seat in the chair.
"We're trying to assemble all the Avengers back right now, since Banner has been thrown off. Along with Agent Romanoff."
"What?" Steve broke in, sounding surprised.
"Natasha was trying to trick Banner off of the ship, but when he fell he grabbed a hold of her and threw her somewhere no one knows." Fury explained, glancing from Steve, to me, to the window.
"But Thor, Tony, Barton, and you are still together." He said again, nodding towards Steve.
"So we're the ones who have to confirm the mission?" Steve asked, his eyes closing tightly.
"I'm afraid so until Romanoff and Banner are found."
"Wait, what's the mission?" I butted in.
Steve opened his eyes, but he raised an eyebrow. "Tessa?"
"Yeah?" I replied back.
"Where are you?" He asked again, looking around.
"I am not a little kid anymore, so if you're playing a baby trick on me, it's not gonna work." I said angrily.
"No, literally, are you still sitting in your seat?"
"Yeah, why?"
Fury uncrossed his arms and opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. "They're starting."
"For the love of God could someone please tell me what's happening?!" I exclaimed.
They both inhaled deeply before Steve replied, "You're invisible."
"You're joking." I replied, with no emotion written across my face, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Do you know how many times Tony told that to me when I was a kid?"
"Look down at your hands, Tessa." Fury said, rubbing his face with his hands. It seemed like he was frustrated, and I'm guessing it was because I was pretty hard to work with.
But most people in this generation would love to be invisible, but put yourself in my shoes. Figuring out you weren't born on Earth was kind of cool, but when you also find out you have powers and a crazy guy who wanted to take over the world coming for you, how would you feel?
So, to prove them wrong, I looked down at my hands. But, for some reason, they weren't there. I reached for the one to touch the other one, but I felt it.
"Why am I invisible?" I asked shakingly.
"It's your powers, Tessa." Steve told me.
"Think about being visible again." Fury demanded.
I gave him a weird look, even though he couldn't see it.
"How?" I asked.
"You close your eyes and think about it." He replied in a 'duh' voice. "Concentrate."
"Okay. I guess I'll give it a try." I replied, not sure.
'Okay, Tess. Just do what he said. Think about being in color once again. Think about it.' I kept telling myself over and over again.
When I opened my eyes, I looked back down at my hands to see they were in color. I exhaled strongly, glancing up at Steve.
His face held pure shock while Fury's held confusion. "How did that just happen?"
"I have no clue." Fury replied. For once in his life, Fury didn't know what was happening to someone on the ship. Normally, he would know everyone's background knowledge and everything that was going on, but this time he didn't even know how I was becoming invisible, yet look at who he handles with most of the time.
"Are you sure?" I asked, "Because to be honest, that was a little creepy."
"Well, Tessa you also have to think that you're an Asgardian and basically, most of them have powers. Well, from who you were born." Fury told me.
"Who is my biological mother?" I asked, shaking my head.
"That is one fact that none of us know besides probably Loki. After all, he was the one you were banned to see when you were little." Steve explained.
"And how would the Super Soldier know about my personal life?" I asked sarcastically. "And, I was only little when I was on Earth. I didn't grow up in Asgard."
"Well.. I uh... Oh look, here comes Tony." He rushed, running over to the door and greeting Tony, who just walked through the door.
"Where is she?" He asked, looking around for me.
"Am I invisiible again?" I asked no one in particular, but Fury answered for me, "Yes."
"Wait, what does she mean by 'invisible'?" Tony asked as Steve hushed him. Tony shut up as I closed my eyes and thought about becoming visible again. Once I did, I looked down at my hands to see I was sitting there, in full color.
"How did she do that?" He asked, leaning over to Steve but staring straight at me.
Steve was about to reply, but Thor strolled in casually. "Loki helped her powers become stronger and out of control."
"What does that mean?" I asked, seeing I had no reflection in the shining table once again.
"It means that when Loki tried to use his powers on you, you only reflected them back to him with your own powers, which made yours stronger against his." Thor explained, taking a seat next to me. "And you're powers are out of control, since you've never used them before."
I guess I was in full color now, but kept changing back to being invisible.
"How do I control it?"
"You think about it. But, that only works if you're advanced enough with becoming invisible and visible in a short period of time. You'll need some training, but the only thing I can think of is to take her to Asgard to train with Sif."
Tony perked up at Thor's recommendation.
"Tessa? Going to Asgard? Where Odin is? Nuh huh, I don't think so." He protested.
"If you want her to be thoughtfully and fully trained to prove herself worthy of being an Asgardian to Odin, then she'll need a lot of training. And since Sif is the goddess of war then that's the only option we really have."
"So you're basically wanting her to train as a warrior? My little Tessa as a cold-hearted warrior who kills people? Come on, you know that that isn't Tessa."
"People aren't always the same. Sometimes in life you have to make a descision for the future. You can't change fate."
"Yeah, but you can stop it."
"There's no such thing."
"Guys." I warned softly, but Thor and Tony kept going.
"You're not taking her to Asgard without my permission. And I say no."
"She doesn't need you're permission, she's basically a woman now."
"Yes, but she's still my niece. I mean, come one now."
"She can go if she wants."
"It's better for her not to go."
"Fine, let's get her opinion." Thor suggested as all eyes turned to face me. The feeling of everyone's burning eyes made my body flood with nervousness, but I gulped and inhaled to speak. "Really, whatever's best. But, I also have- have to learn how to control my powers." I squeaked.
"Great. We'll leave next week, if that's alright with you?" Thor asked politely.
"Sure. How long am I gonna be there?" I asked curiously.
"As long as your powers are under control and you can fight."
"How long will that take?"
"A few weeks, maybe months." Tony mumbled, but I heard him.
"Also, can you tell me about Asgard sometime?" I asked Thor as he nodded smiling. "Great."
"Tessa, how did you get Loki in the cage?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I pulled him in." I shrugged.
"Well that is d*mn cool." He smiled, me returning the favor. "I know right?"
We all started a pointless conversation about something, but I couldn't get my mind off of something. Or should I say a someone.