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Chapter Fifteen

~Nobody's POV~

The Imeldi come that night.

Thea is awake, with a blanket half on and half off of her. She is spread out across the floor, against the wall, her hand reaching forwards. About two feet in front of her, Leah is lying, sleeping peacefully, her hand in front of her, almost touching Thea's hand. Unlike Leah, Thea has not been sleeping well- what little sleep she has had is plagued by nightmares.

Jane is lying down next to Leah, her arm wrapped around the girl's shoulders. Dr. Banner is a ways behind her, and although Thea does not know it, he is not sleeping. Simply, he looks up at the ceiling and thinks.

The explosion comes so suddenly that Thea doesn't even move due to her surprise. Jane, however, bolts upright, with Leah following her example.

"It's happening," says Dr. Banner, sitting up. There comes a great banging noise from above, which Thea recognizes as gun fire. She hears screaming.

Leah begins to cry, but Thea is too frozen to move. Jane grabs Leah in a sort of hug, but it is a protected one, and she strokes the girl's forehead. Dr. Banner glances at Thea, who, if she has noticed the exchange between Jane and her sister, has not reacted. She has taken the appearance of a petrified statue.

"Come on over here, Thea," says Banner, gesturing towards the corner where he has moved. "It will be over soo-"

He is interrupted by another great explosion that resonates through the shelter as if the room had been shaken by a giant. Leah shrieks, as do a few of the other S.H.I.E.L.D workers who had taken shelter here. One of them, a slender young woman, whose face is as pale as her flaxen hair, cries forlornly, "It's lost! They're going to kill us all!"

This causes Leah to cry harder, and for Dr. Banner to shoot the woman an annoyed look, which, based on her countenance, she is apparently too frightened to notice. "Nobody in here will be dying," says Dr. Banner smoothly, and Thea is amazed by how calm he is. "We are perfectly safe."

"And locked up with a brute of a monster," exclaims another worker, this one shallow faced with long red hair.

If these words affect Dr. Banner, he does not show it. "I was put here to protect you all, but if you do nothing to protect yourself, then I cannot do anything about- Thea!"

He stops, as Thea has begun to tremble on the ground, whimpering, her mouth slightly open. "Thea, talk to me, what's happening?"

Thea can't move; hushed voices are filling her head, filled with malice as she gasps like a fish out of water, on the hard floor of the shelter. She makes a choking noise as a raspy voice consumes her thoughts like a serpent, "It isssss near, massssster. Sssshee isssss here as wellll." 
"The girl?" hisses another voice, deeper, more frightening.

"Both," the other voice is deferential. "They are near. Ssshall I ssssseek them for you, my lord?"

A whooshing sound, and Thea hears a scream, very close, as if directly next to the voice. "I need not the young one, as she is too young to understand what lies at stake. Bring me the older one, and tell her that her sister's life is in balance if she chooses not to obey."

With a horrific gasp, Thea's eyes snap open. Sweat drenches her, and she hears distant voices, calling her name. Finally, the face of Dr. Banner focuses over her, as does his voice. "Thea! Thea!"

Thea sits up, shakily, and she barely feels Banner's hand on her shoulder. The hissing voice is still floating through her head. "Dr. Banner," she manages to eke out.

"Yes, what is it?" His forehead furrows with concern. Behind him, still holding Thea's crying younger sister, is Jane.

"Promise me that you will take care of Leah," she begs.

"What, Thea, what's-"

Before Banner can react, Thea has sprinted towards the door of the shelter, strengthened by what she knows she must do.

"THEA! GET BACK, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

She ignores Dr. Banner's shouts, yanking open the door before Banner has had time to rise. The chaos is strengthened by another explosion, and the strangled cries of the other workers cowering in the shelter.

Thea runs upwards, towards the noise. Two floors later, she trips on something and sprawls on the floor. She chokes back a scream: it's the body of an agent, sprawling lifelessly across the cold floor.

Trembling, Thea gets up, her thoughts spurred on by her sister's safety that lies in her hands. She does not know where she is going, but knows that she must reach her destination soon.

She reaches the main control room, looking above it from yet another iron railing. Skidding to a halt, she looks over the black rail and gasps.

She is looking over a battle scene. Immediately, she spots the tall figure of Thor, striking about three slithering, menacing creatures at once, shouting something that she cannot comprehend. The Imeldi are only slightly taller than her, but their appearance causes her to lurch in fright: they are scaly things, with horns, horribly sharp teeth like needles that shine even in the dim light, and scaled tails that curl about, ending in a short, sharp spike.

It takes a few seconds for Thea to overcome her fright, but then she recognizes Steve, yelling something back at Thor, wearing a suit of red, white, and blue, and wielding a giant shield with a star. He, too, is pummeling the Imeldi force with might and main.

She spots Loki at precisely the same second as he spots her, frozen on the balcony, her knuckles white. Thea pales as Loki's eyes narrow in vindictive fury as he stares at her before impaling a nearby Imeldi. It goes toppling to the ground, and Thea winces audibly.

Why Loki does not yell up at her, she does not know. But she is concentrating so much on Loki's rage that she does not notice the presence behind her. Until it is too late.

And then, a gust of a blue-ish force struck from behind her, and with a short scream, she falls forward towards the control room's center, striking the level below, a sort of metal platform. She tries to clamber to her feet, but the same force pummels into her again, throwing her to the floor.

Immediately, the struggle below stops as Thor, Steve, Loki, and Tony (whom Thea did not recognize as Iron Man) turn to face her.

"If you fight," says a raspy voice, and Thea goes white. "She will die."

Reluctantly, the four put down their weapons, as do a half-dozen S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

Thea closes her eyes tightly as the voice comes nearer to her; the Imeldi had leaned down. "Now, mortal girl," he wheezes so that only she can hear. "Tell me where the location of the item I speak is."

"Wha-a-a-" Thea stammers, and her eyes lock with Thor, who is looking helplessly up at her. She can see that his hand is shaking. Loki, in the meanwhile, is not looking at Thea, but up above her. 
"The source" the Imeldi snarls, still speaking quietly, and she winces, closing her eyes once more. "Where is it? I know you have taken it from its previous place."

"I-don't- knoo-w, I don't knowwhatyou'retalkingab-AIHHHHHHA!" Thea screams as something touches her, something dull, something cool, something wet, but something that causes her to shriek in pain. Although she does not see it nor hear it, Thor shouts and lunges, but Loki grabs him, pulling his brother back.

"You lie. I will let you live if you tell me."

"I doon't knooow," sobs Thea. "I don't, I don't!"

Steve grits his teeth as Thea shrieks again as the scale along the Imeldi's tail rakes across her leg. She writhes around the ground, clutching for something. Beside him, Tony very subtly mutters something that Steve cannot interpret.

"I will ask again," the Imeldi says to Thea, who is twitching around, her eyes vague, like a marionette doll on a string. "Where is the source and how did you come to find it?"

"I don't know!" cries Thea.

"Lies! Kafrandi, give her a taste of my displeasure."

And then Thea screams again as a snake-like creature from beside the taller Imeldi grazes the girl's cheek. Thor and his companions are forced to watch as Thea screams and jerks around the floor while the Imeldi laughs bitterly.

"Enough!"

Thea cannot comprehend who is saying this, but the Imeldi turns to face the fool who has dared address him. Loki has stepped forward, and his face is murderous.

"You coward, you ask an insignificant mortal child for information that can only be granted to you by those who know."

The Imeldi laughs again. "But, Asgardian, she does know. Her parents dabble in the art of the universes, and thus have found what I seek many years ago. As foolishly, some of my comrades have murdered her parents, the information rests in their offspring."

"Fool!" snarls Loki. "The girl knows nothing about what you seek."

"Is this love I sense?" smiles the Imeldi, obviously thinking he is correct.

Loki scoffs, "Hardly. But your cowardice only shows to me that you are not desperate. Why have you sent so few to attack?" Loki advances towards the Imeldi, cool and calm as he does so. "And why, Lahyri?"

At the sound of his name, the Imeldi steps forward. Meanwhile, the serpentine figure of Kafrandi has slithers over Thea, who screams again, her face contorted in her pain. With a sort of laughing hiss, Kafrandi strikes down at the frame of the struggling girl. With one last terrible shriek, she lies still.

"NO!" roars Thor, his face twisted in anguish. Simoultaneously, Tony shouts out.

Loki makes the mistake of  turning around, and in that instance, Lahyri lunges and then sinks a blade into his chest. Thor yells again as Loki topples, only several yards below the prone body of Thea, her hand dangling over the edge of the metal platform.

At this, several things happen.

The first is that from seemingly out of nowhere, a black arrow comes hissing down from the railing Thea had previously occupied. It strikes Lahryi in the leg, and he howls, clutching it.

The second is that Barton swings down from the iron balcony, followed closely by Natasha, who gasps at the sight of Thea lying cold in front of her.

The third is that the still body of Loki dissolves into nothing, and Thor's eyes bulge at the sight of it, and then relax in understanding.

The last is that something slinks from the shadows, and then Loki, with a swing of the blade he is clutching in his hands, he slices off Lahyri's head, which goes tumbling off of the platform. The Imeldi's body twinges, then collapses. Kafrandi gives a shriek and then slithers below, towards the opening the Imeldi had produced to attack the ship.

At the sight of their fallen leader, the Imeldi hiss and snarl, and then retreat slowly, following Kafrandi. But before the snake can move, Loki, with another slash of his dagger, pierces the snake, which shrieks, convulses, and then lies still.

"Do any of you creatures wish to follow?" snarls Loki, bending over the fallen ribbon of Kafrandi.

"We almost hope you do," says Tony with a horrible look at the Imeldi, followed by an anguished look at Thea, who has not moved.

The Imeldi are gone hardly before they can blink.

As soon as they have vanished, some in great fragments of smoke, Thor, Tony, and Natasha run forward as one, towards the metal platform.

"THEA!" yells Tony, following as Natasha falls on her knees next to the girl, her face anguished. Tony, whose armor is too cumbersome, merely stands forlornly next to them. Steve stands a respectful distance away, his head hanging. Barton is standing silently, his bow clenched tightly in his fist, and his quiver short one arrow.

Thea is pale, her face twisted in the last efforts of pain. There is a trickle of blood coming from an open wound on her arm, and her skin is cold.

"Thea!" hisses Natasha. "Answer me, please, Thea!"

She does not move, and Natasha looks down at the ground, biting her lip to keep from crying, but nonetheless, her eyes grow wet.

"Move."

Natasha looks up to see Loki standing next to her. She swipes her hand across her eyes. "What do you-what is that?"

Loki is holding a pearly white object in his hand, curved, slightly yellow at the ends, and with a fine streak of blood across the top. He ignores her and kneels next to Thea, feeling arm, which is ice cold. Taking Kafrandi's tooth, he clenches it in his hand and then swipes it across the surface of the deep wound on Thea's arm.

"Um, what are you doing??" asks Tony, glaring at Loki as if he were the one that had killed Thea.

Loki does not reply, but he continues to etch the sharp tooth along the border of the incision, his green eyes flickering, concerned as he looks down at the girl. Finally, he stands, and throws the tooth, now with the mixed blood of both Kafrandi and Thea, to the ground with a smash. The noise echoes across the control room.

Suddenly, Natasha hears a coughing sound and with a small gasp, she realizes that Thea's soft green eyes are trembling open, as if held down by heavy weights. "Oh my god..." she breathes. She hardly notices that Loki, Barton, and Steve have inched closer to see.

"Thea," says Thor so quietly that Natasha has to strain to hear him. Her eyes swivel towards him and she smiles ever so barely. Natasha

But then Loki leans down and her face flickers with fear. She opens her mouth to say something, but his angry eyes stop her. He feels her forehead, then says lowly, "You do not know when you should stop, do you, you foolish girl?"

She doesn't say anything, but he glares at her and stands, then turns and walks away towards the remains of Kafrandi.

Natasha, not really processing this exchange, smiles through her tears down at Thea. "Do me a favor," she smiles. "Don't ever do that again."

"You sure gave us a scare," says Tony, his eyes uncharacteristically troubled.

Thea shrugs, then whispers raspily, "Where is Leah?"

Thor smiles, but it still shaky from the fear he had just endured. "As far as I know, she is safe. As are you."

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BM FACT #4

Of the Avengers, plus Loki and Jane, whom Director Fury was willing to tell about Thea's past, the following agreed to hear it: 

Tony

Loki

Steve

Natasha 

And the following refused until she told them herself:

Thor

Jane

Barton 

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