Okay, so I lied. There will be one more chapter after this, plus the epilogue.
:D
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Chapter Sixty-Three
~One Week Later~
~Thea's POV~
I am very mad.
I have just found out that Leah and I are going to be separated, that she gets to go live on Asgard with Thor and Loki. I have to stay on planet earth to try and live a "normal" life.
"Normal?!" I had yelled at Nick Fury. "Normal is no longer part of my vocabulary!"
"That's exactly the point." said Fury, who was casually relaxing against his office chair. I was in his office overlooking the river, in the heart of SHIELD. We were also alone, except for a guard at the door. "Both of you are going to be wanted for intelligence, for knowledge, for anything any pea-brained scientist can get. Leah will be safe in Asgard, and that's where she will remain, for the time being."
I had crossed my arms. "And I guess that means she doesn't have to go to school, then."
Fury stood. "Believe me, she will be properly educated."
"Where will I be living?"
"Ah, that. We reviewed several options-"
"Who's we?"
He fixed me with a look, his one eye telling me that there were no other options. "Agents Barton and Romanoff."
"Fine. Wh-"
"We agreed that, for now, you will be placed under the custody of Max and Kyle Calen." Upon seeing my look of half-annoyance, half-relief, he said, "You will not be in the middle of the city, and so will be hard to find, and the both of them will be able to help you with your...special abilities."
"I want to go to Asgard." I stated. "I already asked Loki, and he doesn't have a problem with it."
"Yeah, he's not your legal guardian, hon." His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Who is now?" I challenged.
"Technically Max."
There had been silence. Then, Nick said, "You're leaving for South Haven in two days."
I had stalked out of the room and banged the door behind me so loudly, my ears had rang.
*
"But I do not want to live in Michigan!" I yell at the wall. "Does anyone not realize how big of a freak I am going to be now?"
"Oh please." says Jack, who is lounging on my (temporary) bed in Stark Tower. "You're not a freak."
I glare at him, which is hard to do, because he looks adorable in his suit and tie. "Right. Because being an assassin and displaying magical powers isn't freakish at all!"
"Not to me, it's not."
I groan. "I so do not want to go downstairs."
"It's a party, Thea, not a public execution." Jack is twirling around his phone in one hand. "It's gonna be great, Tony really knows how to have a ball."
I snort. "Half of everyone will be drunk in two hours."
"Nah, Pepper's limiting the alcohol due to 'underage guests'."
"Basically...us."
"Technically, Peter too."
"Fine, Peter too."
"Where's Leah?"
"In her room." I glare at myself in the mirror. "She's still not feeling one-hundred percent better, so she's resting. I think Jane said "
"You know, as much as I would love to keep talking with you, you really need to hurry up." Jack stops flinging his phone up and looks at his watch. "You've got...twenty minutes."
I throw myself dramatically onto the bed, accidentally running into Jack's head. "Sorry, sorry!" I exclaim as he groans.
"I'm used to it."
Putting my hands on my hips as I stand, I say, "Used to what exactly?"
"You beating me u-hey hey hey I was just joking!" he exclaims as I throw about three pillows at his face. "And you're messing up my hair."
"Seriously. Your hair, Jack?"
"Yeah, I have to keep these luscious locks in full health. Now are you going to get ready or not?"
"Not if you're in here." I say grumpily.
"Well, duh." Jack stands up, re-claiming his phone, which, in the midst of the temporary pillow fight, has fallen to the red-carpeted floor. "Hurry up, won't you?"
"I might not be ready in twenty minutes," I point out. "You might as well go on down."
"Nah, I'll wait for you." Jack gives me his best impersonation of a puppy dog face. "All by myself."
"Out!"
Once, laughing, Jack has left the room and closed the door softly behind him, I force myself to walk into the small closet next to my room. Pepper has gotten me a dress to wear- probably because all my dresses are incinerated, I think wryly- in the form of a sweetheart neckline, knee-length gold-black dress with a black sash around it. She's also set out some flats for me-not heels, because my feet are still bruised, cut, and sore from all the climbing.
I have not the slightest idea of what to do about my hair. When we had first gotten back to civilization- Stark Tower, actually- my hair had been a horrific mess of greasy tangles and dirt. It had taken two washings to get it clean. Since then, I haven't really bothered with it, which I am now regretting, because I look like a poodle.
Eventually, I just straighten it out to get most of the little curls out, but let one of the tendrils fall next to my face, but it's still ridiculously poufy. I groan.
Pepper hasn't supplied me with much makeup, which is fine with me, because even lip gloss is heavenly compared to what I've been used to. And besides, I've realized I don't really need it. I don't even know if I want to wear any.
There's a soft knock at the door. "I'M NOT DONE YET, JACK!" I yell from the bathroom as I consider the mascara tube in my hands.
"It's not Jack, it's just me."
Peeking around the corner, I'm surprised to see Jane standing there. She looks beautiful, in a mauve evening gown, with a black clutch, and her eyes shining. "Oh, um, hi," I say gracefully. "How's Leah?"
She smiles. "She's just fine. Resting. Watching re-runs of Lilo and Stitch." She looks me over. "You look beautiful."
I make a face at myself in the mirror. "I look like a tree log."
"Don't be silly!" Jane exclaims. "You look like your mom."
I can't exactly say anything to that, mostly because the last time I was getting ready for a party- the last party I've been to, in fact- it was my mom who was standing behind me, looking at me through the mirror instead of Jane.
I nod a few too many times, blinking back tears. To cover it up, I say, "How did you get your hair so...so straight? I look like I'm from the seventies."
"Nah," says Jane, reaching underneath the dresser and pulling out a curling iron. "But I think you'd look more like...you...if you curled it instead."
"No, wait, I've got a better idea!"
We turn around to see Darcy, who is pushing past Jack (whose puppy-dog impersonation is getting better by the second), closing the door behind her determinedly, and sailing into the bathroom. I actually like Darcy. She's funny and has a tendency to laugh off everything in life that is not actually important.
"Yeah, definitely need to curl it," says Darcy, who is wearing a short green dress with sequins all over the collar. Her black hair is9 curled slightly. "But make it a bun! Like a messy bun, hey, hand it over sweetie," says Darcy, grabbing the curling iron from Jane, who pretends to look insulted. "Fiiiine, you can do it." she humphs. "As long as I get to do the makeup."
"Which you do not need a lot of," adds Jane, who is testing the heat of the curling iron. "I don't think I wore makeup until I was in high school."
Twenty or so minutes later of letting the two women take over in the beauty department, because heaven knows I suck at that, I'm actually pretty happy with how I look. Jane has curled my hair in little twirls and swept it up into a messy bun-ponytail, holding it together with hairspray. In the meanwhile, Darcy, chattering happily, has given me soft makeup to match my green eyes, which also accentuates my cheekbones.
"There." breathes Jane as the two women step back to admire their handiwork. "Doesn't she look just like Angela?"
I bite my lip at my mother's name. "She had lighter hair," I point out. "And blue eyes."
"No, no, no, but look closer. You look just like her! Your hair is just her color."
There's a loud banging on the door, and at first, thinking it's Jack, open my mouth to shout at him, but then Thor's deep voice resonates through the wood. "Jane! Are you in there?"
"Give us a moment!" she yells. She's taking something out of her clutch, and, turning to me, says, "Here. Wear this, if you want. It's Angela's. Er... we...found it."
It's my mother's blue pendant necklace. I feel goose bumps on my skin that have nothing to do with the chilly January air outside as Jane fastens it onto my neck. "Um, thanks." I say hesitantly. Then, I hug them. Both of them.
*
Jack's jaw drops when he sees me. "Wowwowowowowowowow." he says. "You look...smashingly gorgeous."
"Thanks." I say shyly. "Er, so, where's the party?"
"You know exactly where the party is." says Jack shrewdly. "You're just trying to cover up for our joint-awkwardness."
"That is decidedly not the point."
"Oh, but it is."
"No, in fact-"
Thor interrupts us. "You look lovely, Thea." Seeing him in a suit is even more bizarre than seeing Loki in regular clothes, but seeing as it is not Loki- who I very much doubt will even be making an appearance tonight- I do not make fun of him.
"Thanks." I say, smiling at the fact that compared to the Norse god, Jack looks positively miniscule. It's like comparing a Shetland pony to a Clydesdale.
"My date is already down there," says Darcy, who is reappearing from my room with her purse, which she had forgotten. "So I guess I'll be playing third wheel?"
Jack offers me his arm. "Shall we?" he asks, over-exaggerating his British accent.
"We shall," I say, trying my best at the accent. Jack snorts at my attempt.
*
The party is, for lack of better words, chaotic. There's about a hundred people here- Jack and I are nearly the only kids here, with the exception of Peter and his girlfriend, Gwen Stacey. I've never met her before, and I immediately like her. She's friendly, beautiful, and smart, all things I can admire, since I am none of those things. There's also some of Peter's and Jack's friends from school, who actually go to very close high schools, although one is a freshman and one is a senior.
I also meet Jack's father. His mother is still living in England, having divorced from her husband six years ago. But Charles Barton, who looks very similar to Clint, is friendly and definitely more talkative than his younger brother.
Peter introduces me to a few of his school friends, but their names dissolve in my head, because the music is way too loud for concentration. The party is on two stories that act like two huge steps, so that they are connected. There's a bar on the far side (which Pepper has strictly banned us from going thirty feet from it), and some seating scattered around, but it's mostly dancing space, which, for the adult crowd, translates as standing around with champagne and talking. The fifteen or so kids, then, take over the upper "step".
I'm not much of a dancer, and I stick mostly to the outside of the circle. Jack is a wonderful dance partner for me, mostly because he's an even worse dancer than me. I take a break from all of it and go to get a drink- water- from the bar, which earns Pepper's nod of acceptance from where she's talking with Tony and another man who Jack has pointed out as Agent Coulson.
I also come across Steve, who looks ludicrously out of place here. He's sitting with Bruce, on one of the bar stools. Bruce has some sort of drink, but Steve doesn't. Surprise, I think shrewdly. I'm not allowed to sit at the bar, but I wave to them anyway.
"Hey there, girlie, won't you save a dance for me?"
I almost panic because the unfamiliar voice is one of those old fashioned gangster motifs, but then turn around to smack a laughing Kyle in the arm. He (admittedly) looks very handsome, his black hair slicked back and his eyes sharp, standing next to a very attractive, curvy, typical blonde woman and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "Shut up, Kyle and go dance with your own girl."
He pretends to look hurt, but then pulls the woman by the hand away, towards the bar. I head back over to Jack, who is resting on a small sofa with Peter and Gwen, handing him some water.
"Thanks for getting some for us too." says Peter teasingly.
I stick my tongue out at him. Five or so minutes later, the four of us head back into the fray, Jack's hand tight around mine.
But all the fun doesn't stop the memories from coming back.
The bass is blaring in my ears and I'm pretty sure I am going to go deaf. The strobe lights make me begin to go blind and my head aches. The bodies around me are hot and close. Too hot. Too close. I fight with my consciousness to tell myself that the boy next to me is Jack, innocent, friendly, goofy Jack and not him. But the lights are shining around me and everyone is thrown into silhouette. Anyone could be anyone.
I find myself more and more on edge, my limbs trembling. I don't want to leave though, I don't want to look like a fraidy-cat, because Jack doesn't know. Ironically, I think Peter does, courtesy of Tony's big mouth, which explains why he keeps looking over his shoulder at me every once and a while.
But then, it happens.
One of Peter's "friends" (in quotes because I'm pretty sure that Peter only invited him because Gwen wanted him too), a big senior guy who has gotten into the drinks- he could easily pass for twenty-one- grabs ahold of my waist from behind. Jack isn't here- he's taking a break, chatting with his dad and Max.
"Aw, stop," says the guy, dysfunctional, his grip getting tighter as I try to get away. "I'm just trying to have fun."
My limbs freeze, but I find enough energy and fury to kick him, hard, in the groin, causing him to groan various curses and lose his hold on me. If it weren't for my newfound powers, I wouldn't have been able to do anything against this gorilla. I'm crying now. He tries to grab my arm, apologizing with slurs and calling me "sweetie", but I wrench out of his grip and run.
I don't look back, but I think I can hear Peter's furious yells from behind me, probably directed at the guy.
Panting and holding my fist to my mouth to try to stop crying, I run out of the room and into a small hallway overlooking the skyscrapers of New York City. Leaning against the wall, I lower myself onto the floor and begin to sob.
I doubt the guy had been meaning to hurt me, but I don't care. I'm still scared stiff, and I do not want to go back inside that room. The music is blaring still, and my ears rings.
"What happened?"
I jump up, because it's Loki. He's also wearing a suit, and also looks out of place, giving me the urge to laugh out loud. "Nothing, nothing, nothing," I stammer. "Nothing."
Loki's eyes dart to my face, where my makeup is probably running, and then back towards the general direction of the party. "Did he touch you?"
"Jack would never hurt me!" I say fiercely.
"I wasn't talking about Jack, you idiot!" he snaps. "I was referring to the other boy, the big one."
My mouth clamps shut. "I didn't even know you were coming."
He raises his eyebrows. "I have eyes everywhere."
"Well, I don't really care." I reply, brushing past him. When he grabs my arm, I shriek slightly and jump.
"Calm down." says Loki, although he apparently realizes his mistake and lets me go. "Now did he touch you?"
I look down, fingering the material of my dress.
"Answer me right now or I'll kill him without a second thought."
I look up, horrified. "No, no, no, not really. He just scared me."
Loki looks down at me, his eyes hard. Then, he reaches forward and puts one arm around me, pulling me close to him. "I still may kill him, out of spite."
I wriggle in his grip, not from fear, but from annoyance. "Please don't. There will be a lot of complicated paperwork and I'll probably be the first suspect, seeing as you'll probably vanish off into space."
Even though my head is leaning against his chest, taking in the comforting sound of his breathing, I can just imagine him rolling his eyes.
*
I eventually do go back, because a very furious Kyle, Peter, and Jack persuade me. Jack, of course, is very limited in his knowledge and doesn't really know what happened. But Kyle and Peter, in hushed tones, assure me that a) the guy got kicked out and b) both of them punched him in a very sensitive place for the male species.
Gwen hurries towards me, apologizing profusely, and Pepper, upon hearing the news, reprimands the bar tender for his laziness.
Loki, however, sticks to the edge of the party. I playfully try to get him to dance with some of the plentiful women around here. After hearing my suggestion, Loki smacks the back of my head. He and Steve are the first to leave the party.
I dance with Jack once, and I feel safe this way. His hands on my waist are so light, I hardly know they're there. We chatter the whole time, and I realize that I am eternally grateful that he is my friend.
True to word, Kyle also cuts in for a very short dance with me, only because apparently, his "date" ditched him.
"What'd you do?" I ask. "Kiss her wrong? Are you really that pathetic?"
He glares at me. He's just holding my hands, not my waist, which I appreciate. "If you're going to be living with in my house, you're going to have to be nice with me."
"I feel like you've said something like that before. And I mean, I'll be nice as long as you behave yourself and I can't fall asleep because you're too busy in your bedroom with your latest flame, having-"
This is exactly why Kyle only dances with me for roughly forty-five seconds.
Hope you liked it ;) I might actually be finishing the story up today!!!! :D Keep posted.
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Love,
Sierra