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Chapter Thirty Four
~Nobody's POV~
Leah wakes up crying. Jane, by her bedside, clutches her hand. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
The girl sniffs. "I had a bad dream."
"What was it about?" asks Jane gently, giving Leah a glass of water to try to calm her down. She also inspects the burns on Leah's cheeks, which are slightly peppered like spots.
"The monster. He was bleeding. But he was bleeding blue."
Jane winces. Imeldi have blue blood that is intertwined with disgusting white streaks. Unpleasant to the eye, but easy to track.
"What was he doing?" Jane asks, knowing that if Leah is dreaming about the present, she may have the same troubles as Thea.
Leah trembles. "He killed Daddy again."
Jane, although relieved that Leah is just reliving her nightmares, manages to contain her sigh of relief so as not to confuse the girl. "Okay. Do you want to watch some television?"
Leah shakes her head. "I just wanna go to sleep," she says in a small voice.
Jane squeezes her eyes shut, but takes a deep breath so Leah doesn't see how worried she is. "All right. Sleep well." She kisses Leah's forehead and gets up to leave the room.
As she does so, she turns around slightly, because she thinks that Leah is muttering something. She realizes, with a breaking heart, that Leah is mumbling the jumbled words of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," under her breath.
~
Thea just stares at Pepper. "They're dead?" she asks in a relatively unemotional voice considering she has just heard the news of death.
Pepper hesitates, glancing at Tony. "...Yes, dear. They were heading west on the interstate and took a rest stop. Their bodies were found an hour ago right outside of their cars."
"What killed them?"
Tony takes over. "Imeldi. Apparently Kyle took a shot at something. His gun was next to him, and a trail of red leading into the woods. Blood. He wounded it, but barely. Didn't manage to kill it before it killed him, I guess." He clasps his hands, grimacing.
Thea nods, and Tony guesses that she is in shock. Pepper begins to walk forward as if to comfort her, but Steve puts an arm in front of her, stopping her.
"We know it's hard," says Steve to Thea. "We just thought we would want you to know."
Thea nods again, still speechless. Then, she turns and walks out of the room.
As soon as she does so, the five men exchange glances.
"I still think this is a bad idea," says Steve.
~Thea's POV~
"PETER!" I wail as, swinging above Jack and me, he hangs a bristle of mistletoe between us. "Go away!" I jump up, trying to swipe at him, but miss and cat-like (or I should probably say spider-like) grace, he completes an aerial backflip and lands neatly beside me.
Winking at Jack, he says to me, "Well I'm sorry that you're just shy."
Jack rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything. The news about Max and Kyle had hit him hard. I guess they were buddies back in the day.
As soon as possible, I sneak Jack away from Peter, who is gaily swinging back and forth from the tall, elaborate rafters in the living area.
"Is this about how completely handsome I am?" asks Jack, wiggling his eyebrows at me mischievously.
"You wish. It's actually about Peter."
Jack looks crestfallen "Peter?"
I smack his arm. "Not that! You have a one track mind, Jack."
"And I'm not apologizing. Ow!" He rubs his arm as I smack it again. "So what about Peter?"
"Do you think we can trust him?"
"With what?"
I tell him about the Max and Kyle, plus what Loki had told me about my... transformation. I manage to avoid crying about the two guys who were killed, probably for helping me. I'm trying not to think about that right now.
Jack looks interested, although still sad. Max and Kyle were, technically, his cousins, "So you're like a super fighter?"
"Sure, I guess, but only when I get riled up. Loki said I can learn to control it, so I suppose that means I can learn to switch it on and off."
"Coming through!" yells Peter, whooping as he flips around and lands between us, nearly knocking me down. "So what are you love birds talking about?" he asks, grabbing my arm to keep me from falling.
"We're not-" begins Jack, but I interrupt him with a look. He nods surreptitiously.
I clear my throat, "Um, can I ask you something?"
Peter immediately drops his playful façade. "Yeah, sure, sure, what's going on?"
It takes Jack and I about fifteen solid minutes to explain the crazy lifestyle that's going on. Peter doesn't stop us, but asks a few questions, and we are only interrupted once, when Pepper pops in to check on us. We pretend to be sorting tinsel like the innocent angels we are.
"And so we're trying to find out as much as possible about the Imeldi, about Thea, about everything," says Jack. "Happen to know anything?"
Peter stretches his arms. "I only know that we are going to be prepping to filter the Mantra locations within the next couple days, next week or so. Tony is letting me in on a meeting tonight, when I guess you are supposed to be sleeping. But why should I tell you kids any of this?"
Jack and I don't say anything, but apparently, our glares are enough. Peter holds his hands up defensively. "Fine, but you do realize I'm like eight years older than you are, right?" When I open my mouth defensively he says hastily, "I'm just kidding. So you basically want me to be a spy?"
"If you would be so kind." Says Jack sarcastically.
Peter raises his eyebrows. "Deal. I'm not one to trust S.H.I.E.L.D. anyway."
"Makes the two of us," says Jack.
"Makes the three of us." I say.
~
Of course, Jack and I can't automatically trust Peter. It's not like we can threaten him to not betray us, because that would definitely shift him in the other direction, but we do need a means of ensuring our safety. I'm pretty sure if I'm caught as a spy again, either Loki or Tony will legitimately kill me.
So that is why we get ourselves some insurance.
It's not hard for Jack to attach a miniature video camera to Peter's clothes. It takes nothing but me pretending to fall, Peter getting distracted, and Jack slipping the camera on- he had stolen it from his uncle soon before. We exchange brief but triumphant high fives as Peter picks up the box of tree ornaments I had dropped (clumsy me).
We still have a few hours, including dinner, to go until we will be sleeping. Or, pretending to sleep anyway. So to pass the time, the three of us decorate. It's actually quite a lot of fun, even though we get into squabbles every five minutes. Soon enough though, Stark tower is glittering with Christmas.
I go up to see Leah right before we eat. She's still sleeping in and out, but Jane assures me that she is doing better, and will probably be up tomorrow. I hope so, because Jane looks exhausted and worried, probably from a combination of watching over Leah and helping to track down the Mantra's hidden locations.
Jack and I are so eager for the meeting, we scarcely eat. We try to remain as stoic as possible as the meal drags on, and we throw in a couple yawns for good measure. As we leave, I, after a hearty diversion from Jack, check to make sure the camera is still safely secured on Peter's shirt. The only thing we have to worry about is him changing before the meeting.
As soon as dinner is over, Jack and I sprint for our separate rooms. Well, we don't run, but we hasten. As I hasten, I nearly run into Loki as he turns a corner.
"Where are you going in such a rush?" he asks.
"I could say the same thing about you," I reply, my brain working quickly and trying to make sure I don't give myself away. "Now move, I don't feel like beating you up right now."
He smirks at me, but nonetheless lets me pass. I force myself not to run until I turn a corner and fly through the corridor to my room, which Pepper had showed me to earlier.
Even though it's freezing outside, I change into shorts and shorts- it's hot in here. After, I glance at the clock- it's nine, about the time Peter had implied the meeting would begin.
I'm absentmindedly tossing a pen up and down when there come four short knocks from the door. "Come in!" I call.
It's Jack, and he's holding a computer with a bunch of wires. He closes the door behind him, locks it, and then glances around quickly, "Do you have an electric socket? Oh good, you do." He jumps on the bed and plugs two wires into the socket next to the small night stand. Propping up the computer screen, he says, "All right, providing everything went okay and Spidey didn't change clothes-"
"Spidey?" I ask incredulously.
He ignores me, "And doesn't notice we put a little bug on him-"
"Bug?"
"Thea, if you keep repeating everything I say, this is going to take a while."
"A while?"
He sticks his tongue out at me as he types rapidly on the keyboard. "All right. It should be up."
I climb up onto the bed and lie against the headboard next to him. The computer screen is bright, with a center screen. It's black and white and grainy, and Peter is moving around, so we can't really see a full picture. Actually, all I see is blackness, really.
But Jack says, "I put the camera on the underside of his sweater, between his sweater and shirt so that he wouldn't notice it as much. Our focus isn't the video. Our focus," he turns up the volume, "Is what they're saying."
The volume is surprisingly clear, and after a few adjustments, Jack leans back as well and the sounds of several different voices fill the room.
"Given that Thea has been turned into some sort of super beast," says Tony, "We need to establish some ground rules. Having her fight is a bad idea, plain and simple."
"Why?" asks Peter. Jack and I exchange glances.
"Let's see," I can just see Tony ticking off all the reasons on his fingers, "She's unstable, volatile, murderous, too driven and ambitious, sacrificial, I have lots more, do you want me to go on?"
Jack pats me on the shoulder. "Think about all the nice things Tony just said about you!"
"Shut up."
"She's just a child," says a deep voice, and I nearly fall off the side of the bed as I recognize its speaker. "She should be in hiding. I have to agree with Tony on this one, although maybe not quite so... critical.
"Is that Max? I squeak.
Jack is pale. "No. It can't be. He's dead. He and Kyle are dead."
I practically press my ear to the computer's speakers, trying to hear. However, Max (or whoever it is) isn't speaking anymore. Loki is.
"I agree that she is just a girl, but at the same time I think we need to refrain from stopping her from making her own decisions. The more we tell her not to fight, the more she does. When the Imeldi attacked the helicarrier, she was nearly killed. Thea, if given the proper training, can turn out to be useful after all."
"You're not saying that she should fight, do you?" demands Steve. "Loki, I thought you were the one who always tried to stop her."
"And so I did. And she should not be fighting when we go after the Mantra- she is too inexperienced and the danger is too great. But the simple fact is that fighting is now in Thea's blood- literally- and she will not stop until that thirst is quenched."
"How is she supposed to fight, but not fight the only fight we are planning for?" complains Tony.
"There will be others, I am sure, before this is over," says Thor- I think it's Thor, anyway. "I agree with my brother. I, certainly along with Natasha and Clint, can help Thea prepare for any small battle she may encounter."
"You guys do realize that she's gonna want to fight for the Mantra, right?" asks the same familiarly deep voice. Max. It just has to be Max.
Jack and exchange stares of mutual disbelief. I already feel myself growing angry.
"Of course she will," says Loki. "But I won't let her."
"Yeah, because that's worked out real well for you," says Steve.
Loki apparently isn't deterred, "If I must, I'll chain her in a dark room, but hopefully it won't get to that."
"Chains can be broken."
"Not these." Says Loki mysteriously.
I'm shaking with rage now. Jack doesn't notice at first, but then with a small yelp, he glances at me, saying, "Hey, it's okay Thea, I can pick basically any lock."
But Loki has hit a spot once again, and I feel myself growing more and more furious. I know I am transitioning, and I can't stop myself. I feel tears in my eyes as I try to stop.
"Thea!" hisses Jack, "Please, Thea, don't."
I jump off the bed, landing silently on the floor, rolling around and trying to shake it off. Taking deep breaths, I glance up at Jack, and my vision is dilated. All I can see is red. Suddenly, I just want to kill.
Jack is looking at me, horrified, but he's so innocent, so easy to take down, so fragile...
He backs up against the headboard, obviously trying not to panic, but failing miserably. Something clicks in me. It's Jack. It's Jack.
I squeeze my eyes shut.
When I open them, my vision is regular and I see that Jack is doing his best not to look terrified. Standing, I stagger to grasp the footboard. "Oh, my head," I groan, because honestly I can't figure out what to say to a person I nearly just killed by accident.
"Your head, is it?" cracks Jack tremulously.
I take a few deep breaths. "I think I'm okay." I smile at him, "So... lock picking, huh?"
"Sure thing."
"Happen to be listening to anything else they've been saying while I was going through my crazy stage?" I grab a glass of water from the night stand.
"Crazy stage?" he asks incredulously.
"Jack, if you keep repeating everything I am saying, this is going to take a while."
"Ha. Ha." He says. "But the answer to your question is yes. The only thing they've said though is that they agree with Loki."
"Surprise surprise," I say, climbing up back next to him.
"-leading us right to the Mantra." Says Bruce.
"What's leading us right-"
"Shhhh," hisses Jack, elbowing me and leaning closer to the computer as if it could possibly give us some answers.
"Given that we think we've tracked down two possible convergence points, I think we can go from there." Says Bruce. "The letter said that it wasn't England and it wasn't Russia. That narrows it down to Brazil or Indonesia, unless we are missing something."
"Also Canada," adds Stark.
"From what we've gathered, Mantra cannot be neutralized in the cold." Says Bruce. It's too dense and only reacts to the cold, meaning that if it hits it, the reaction- whatever it is- will be catalyzed."
"So Brazil or Indonesia," says Stark. "Why not hop a plane?"
"We need to consider if the Imeldi will be attacking us as well." Says Steve. "We know those monsters are tracking the girls, especially Thea."
Well this is news to me. Apparently, it is to Jack too, because he frowns.
"-Being that, we our focus needs to also be protecting them and those around them. Clearly there are impostors among us. How else would they know where she is?"
"How do we know they do?" points out Tony. "From what I gather, they don't. That's why all these attacks are happening- they're shooting in the dark."
"Giving us more of an opportunity to find out where they are."
"So you're suggesting that we go against what you just said- to establish a defensive front for the girls and for S.H.I.E.L.D- and attack?"
"I'm suggesting that we can't just sit around and do nothing. They're shooting in the dark, but sooner or later they're gonna get a flash light."
"What an analogy," says Tony sarcastically.
"Jane and Dr. Selvig are already tracking the Imeldi and their whereabouts," says Thor. "The problem is that they are clever and evasive. Every alert turns out to be a false alarm."
"The best guess right now is Atlanta," says Natasha. "The most attacks have been in the city's perimeter. But the Imeldi are an alien race; they won't stay in one spot for long."
"Why do they even want Thea?" demands Peter.
"For the same reason that all the scientific geeks want her," replies Bruce. "She's valuable. She's unusual. They want to study the living hell out of her, I'm sure, the same thing they did to me, which is why we can't trust the government."
"I'm not sure that I really did in the first place," adds Tony.
"Guys, we're talking in circles," says Natasha. "We need a plan, and we need to stick to it."
"Our principle concern is the Mantra." says Steve. "So we need to go from there, surveying every option possible for the offensive and the defensive."
"The Mantra is most important," agrees Natasha. "The girls come second, and the elimination of the Imeldi is last."
"So here's what we do," says Steve. "We send out a search party to scour both possible convergence areas, possible sites in which the Fossils hid the Mantra, in Brazil and Indonesia. We also once again separate the girls and hide them."
"What?" I whisper. I refuse to be separated from Leah again.
"Sh," says Jack, and I resist the urge to smack him.
"Or," says Tony, "Going on the rock of age's idea, we take Thea along to either Brazil or Indonesia. She gets some fighting experience there and we subdue her ungodly urge to kill monsters so that when the big fight comes, she stays out of it."
"And when the battle comes, we subdue her by any means necessary."
There's a couple moments of silence. Then, speaking up for the first time- I hadn't even known he was present- Clint says, "I'm gonna have to agree with Tony. And you might as well take Jack too. We all know how attached those two are."
Jack and I carefully avoid looking at each other.
"Done." Tony claps his hands, or I assume he that's what he does, because I hear a clapping sound. "Who's going to Indonesia and who's heading to Brazil?"
"Let's go with this," says Steve, "Loki, Clint, Thea, Peter, Jack, and myself will go to Brazil. That one will more than likely be easier, plus this way Loki and I can keep an eye on Thea, and Clint can do the same for Jack. Tony, Thor, Kyle, Max, and Natasha will take Indonesia. And I'm not sure if everyone knew this, but the issue of Max and Kyle's 'deaths' is to be kept from Thea and Jack."
I try to focus and ignore the sound of "Max" and "Kyle". There's no point in getting too angry about that right now.
"And when is this happening?" asks Tony.
There's a pause. "We leave tomorrow." says Steve.
~
After Jack dismantles the laptop and hides it in the dresser drawer, we sit on my bed, waiting for Peter's expected return.
While we wait, we both fume about the "deaths" of Max and Kyle.
"Even Clint lied to me," says Jack angrily. "And I liked those guys! I mean, Kyle took my sister and me to Disney World while my parents were getting divorced, and Max taught me how to ride! Unlike Loki and Tony, they aren't huge jerks!"
"What was the point?" I demand.
"Probably to get you riled up for a cause or something." says Jack wisely. "Clint tells me that they fake deaths for inspiration sometimes. They did that with Coulson and Fury a few times."
I pace the room. "It's not fair. Don't they think that I have enough deaths to get me inspired? My parents, for God's sake."
"I wonder when they were gonna tell us," wonders Jack.
I laugh dryly. "Who knows?"
Sudden realization hits me.
"We should have known!" I exclaim, plopping down on the bed. "Or I should have at least! I never heard the phone ring, and believe me, with Stark's stupid phone system, I should have! And the idea of Kyle missing the Imeldi, that's just plain stupid. He taught me how to shoot a gun, and even though he's half blind, I know better than to believe that he would miss a huge monster two feet in front of me. And the blood! How could I be so stupid!? Imeldi blood isn't red, it's blue."
"You were pretty stupid," Jack observes.
I glare at him. "Hey, I'm the one who figured it out first."
"Actually, I'm pretty sure we heard at the same time."
"I meant the whys. I mean-"
I'm interrupted by three sharp knocks on the door. Jack and I exchange significant looks and then I unlock the door, letting Peter in.
"Hi there, Peter," says Jack genially.
"Hey guys," Peter looks tired- he sprawls over the bed, taking up my spot. I make ends meet by propping my legs up on his back.
"So..." says Jack, "What'd you hear?"
Peter shrugs. "We're going to Brazil. You both get to do some fighting- it seems like Thea wormed her way into that." he grins at me. "Should be pretty fun- we leave tomorrow. Oh, and the Imeldi are tracking you and your sister, but I'm sure you already knew that."
Jack glances at me ever so quickly, "...Anything else, old buddy, old pal?"
For a fraction of a second, Peter hesitates, but then he shakes his head, "Nope. Well, I mean Loki, Steve, and Clint are going with us to Brazil."
Jack and I nod a few times, pretending to look entirely believable. "Awesome," says Jack, clapping Peter on his back. "Well, we'd all better get some shut-eye." he yawns in what (to me anyways) is obviously fake. "What time are we leaving?"
"Probably by noon." Peter looks relieved to be able to get to bed. "Anyway, see you all later. Get some rest."
The door closes behind him. We wait several seconds to speak, to make sure we hear Peter walking down the hallway.
Then, Jack says, "Good thing I thought of that camera idea."
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