Chapter Twenty Nine

~Thea's POV~

When I wake up, I find that my leg is feeling perfectly fine. Groaning, I sit up... the light is filtering brightly through the window, even though the curtains are thick, so I assume it's late in the morning.

I glance over at the other bed. Jack is snoring softly, his right leg and arm hanging off the bed. Then, I look over at the clock and nearly smack my head on the headboard in surprise. It's already one in the afternoon.

Reluctantly, I drag myself out of bed, and begin to walk over to the small bathroom. I can't determine when exactly I last brushed my hair or washed myself.

As I do so, I hear the low murmurings of several people. Curious, I lean my head against the door.

"-blue moon is in eleven days. If the monsters don't know where the convergences are to get the Mantra, then all we need to do is keep them busy for eleven days." Natasha says. I recognize her no-kidding attitude.

"Their sole occupations seem to be the girls and the Mantra," says Loki. "We need to keep them away from both."

"We haven't even determined where the Mantra is," points out Natasha.

"Yeah, about that," Tony's voice seems farther away, so I assume he's at the other end of the room, where he had dumped his laptop. "If we have to, we can use the girls as bait."

There is complete silence, and I amuse myself by imagining the murderous look Natasha must be giving Stark. I know he's kidding.

Sure enough, he says hastily, "I'm kidding. So what's going to happen? Jack is too weak to be on the move, and all of us are too recognizable. We can't hide her that long without being caught. Each of us have our own teensy little run-ins with the government, be it being an agent of a top-secret agency, burning down half the city of Manhattan or, you know, building giant suits of armor."

"That's where I come in," says a deep voice, unrecognizable. I can't see the owner of the voice, but I don't like where this is going. "I can keep Thea safe while you draw a fake trail with Jack and Tony. Natasha and Loki can head back to S.H.I.E.L.D. as a decoy, and then we can all circle back eventually."

"Eventually, as in eleven days," states Natasha.

"Hopefully not," says the stranger. "But maybe."

I peek through the crack in the door. I see Natasha, Loki, and Tony (the latter who is, as predicted, on his laptop). I don't see the mystery person, but the other three are looking towards the other wall, so that's where I assume he is.

"Where will you take her?"

"That's easy," the guy says says. "The cabin I share with my brother Kyle near South Haven. About three hours from here."

"And who's this Kyle person? Your brother, you say" asks Natasha with a steely look in her eyes.

"Kyle Calen?" asks Tony, answering the question. "I know him. Used to be a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. before his left eye went blind. Surprised you've never heard of him, Nat. Nice guy."

Natasha doesn't seem to be convinced. "So you're expecting me to go along with the idea of sending Thea alone with two strange men?"

"I'm standing right here," says the stranger.

"They're not strange," says Tony. "Both are Jack's cousins Technically distant cousins, and technically not anymore because his parents got divorced, but but cousins nonetheless."

"Barney?"

"I guess. Look, Nat, this is our best option. The government is on our tails as it is, you know that."

"Fine." Spits Natasha. "But you can bet on it that Thea won't like it."

"Damn right I won't."

The three turn to face me as I enter the scene. This is when I get a view of Max, or whatever his name is. He's tall, probably even as tall as Loki, and thickset, with short brown hair and green eyes and light facial hair on his cheeks and chin. He looks to be in his early thirties.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask, stalking up to him, although before I can reach him, Loki bars his hand in front of me, stopping me. "I said, 'Who are you?' And how did you find us?"

"Whoa, calm down," says Max, raising his hands defensively. "I'm Max. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Well, I used to"

"I don't trust them," I say. I whirl on Loki, "That reminds me, thanks a lot for spilling all my parent's secrets that they entrusted to me. And for reading that letter, because I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

His annoying response, paired with an amused smirk, only angers me further, and I barely stop myself from slapping Loki across from the face. "You guys can't just keep making decisions for me. I'm sick of it. I'm also sick of moving around half the country."

"It's for your own good," says Natasha, looking slightly annoyed herself.

"And also, what about Leah? If I'm in danger then-"

"Then you definitely can't be together," cuts in Tony, "You're just asking for trouble."

"Trouble seems to follow me wherever I go. What's the difference?"

"Look, Thea," says Max in a relatively soft voice for a big guy, "I know you're probably scared and upse-"

"Don't get me started," I say, and I feel humiliating tears sparking in my eyes. "My parents were killed my aliens, my sister and I were dragged into this crap, I've been tortured, apparently temporarily killed, chased after by anything from cops to those aliens, watched the people I love be tortured and hurt too and... and..." I swallow hard, trying to stop the tears and failing. "And I just want out of this!"

I run from the room before I can officially start crying in front of the four of them. Because Jack is still sleeping soundly, I have to cry softly, into my pillow so I don't wake up. Clutching the pillow, I rock myself back and forth against the headboard, trying to stop sobbing. I'm literally at my breaking point.

"Thea?"

"Go away," I say.

Loki ignores me and snatches the pillow from my arms and throws it to the ground. Jack shifts and rolls over, then resumes snoring.

"Hey!"

"Stop it and listen." He says firmly.

"No." I say, covering my ears.

He rolls his eyes, grabs my wrists and pulls them from my ears. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Do what?" I demand.

"Just, for Odin's sake, listen to me for two minutes." He snaps.

"You have sixty seconds."

He gives me a horrible look, but I swear I see the glimmer of a smile. "Now first of all, you are going to go with Max, because that's the best thing for all of us. Think about it, do you really want the Imeldi and the government after Jack because of you?"

This point makes me stop trying to skillfully loosen my wrists from Loki's unwilling grip. "You're saying this on purpose to do what you want me to do."

"I am, but I'm also telling the truth. Additionally, in answer to your point about you never making any decisions, let me just put it this way. The last couple times you made any sort of decision, you almost got killed and also frankly almost committed suicide, yet you wonder why you're not going to be making any decisions for a while."

I should have something to say to that, but I don't.

"Good, I see you have nothing to argue with, so I've done my job. Now get ready, because you're leaving in an hour."

"An hour?" I squeak, glancing at Jack and hoping that Loki doesn't notice, but his smirk tells me he does.

"Plenty of time," he says, giving me another infamous smile of his before releasing my wrists with a flick of his hands and walking out of the room.

I don't have a choice. It looks like I'm going to South Haven, wherever the heck that is. Dragging my feet, I walk into the bathroom to take a much-needed shower.

*

When I walk back into the bathroom, I find Jack awake and watching some action flick on the television, propped up by pillows. He pauses the movie in the midst of an epic car chase and smiles at me sadly. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah," I say dismally, sitting down on his bed dejectedly.

"But I just got here," he says humorously. "Did I do something?"

"Of course not." I sigh. "How are you feeling?"

"Depends on the minute."

"The minute?"

"Yeah, some minutes I'm fine and some minutes I'm in a substantial amount of pain, hence this," he lifts up an ice pack from his leg in demonstration. "I hear you're going with my very-distant cousin."

"Oh yeah," I'd forgotten about that. "What's he like?"

"He's pretty cool. He has a couple horses in that lake house you're going to, maybe you'll get to ride them."

"I don't want to." I say childishly. "And I meant personality."

"I don't know, he's nice."

"That's not helpful."

"Why are you cranky?"

"You don't want me to answer that."

"Okay." Replies Jack. "And before you ask, I know all Kyle too. Duh, he's my cousin. He's literally coolest lad ever."

"Why?"

"He has this snarky personality that actually is the most hilarious thing ever. He's half-blind and he's still this amazing sharp-shooter. So's Max, but Kyle always beats him."

"Oh goody. I'm going to an isolated log cabin with two guys that are both brilliant with guns."

He pats the top of my head, "Don't worry. You're going to be fine." He glances at the clock. "Looks like it's almost time to go. Hold on and I'll come with you." He gets out of bed with obvious pain, and I run forward, "Don't be stupid. You need to lie down."

"I can lie down on the couch." He cocks his head thoughtfully, "It'll be fun to kick Tony out anyway."

I insist on helping him to the living area where he does promptly take the couch from Tony, who pretends to protest for a couple minutes. Max comes over to Jack and playfully chucks his arm. "What did you do to yourself, bud?"

"I played hard," says Jack wisely, getting a grin from Max.

I roll my eyes as Natasha comes over and squeezes my shoulder. "Good luck. If we have any, we'll be seeing each other soon."

I shrug and then feel an arm on my shoulder. Glancing up, I feel Loki pulling me in for a one-armed hug that I unsuccessfully try to pull out of. "Don't make me regret being nice to you," he says.

"Oh, that's what's been happening?"

He rolls his eyes and flicks my shoulder.

"Bye Thea," says Jack, who, with Tony's help, has walked over to me. I give him a voluntary hug (smirking at Loki from over Jack's shoulder- he rolls his eyes again), which he returns. "You'll be fine, amiga." Jack whispers, kissing my cheek good-luck.

"Amiga?" I ask doubtfully.

"Tu no gusta hablar espanol?"

"Me guesta hablar ingles," I respond dryly.

"Okay, enough lovey-dovey." Says Tony as Jack rolls his eyes. "Thea, good luck, kid. See you down the road."

I shrug, because we all know we can't make any promises.

*

The three hour ride is basically silent. Max, apparently seeing that I don't want to talk, turns on the stereo and lets that take the place of awkward conversation. While he drums his fingers against the steering wheel to "Radioactive", I lean my chin on my hand and watch the road sweep by as the SUV tears down the interstate.

Eventually, we turn onto a smaller, less-populated exit and I notice that there are suddenly more trees and more space. We even pass a few horse pastures. Not what I expected from Michigan.

About half an hour later, after driving into even more trees and past a road that signals that Lake Michigan is that way, we turn into a dirt driveway, blocked by an iron gate. As Max punches in the passcode, I try to catch the numbers, but I fail. Crap. By the look of the place, it's surrounded by the tall fence, so if I want to escape, it's not going to be easy.

As Max pulls into the drive, I catch sight of a large log cabin, surrounded by stacks of wood. In the back, I barely see the outline of another building that looks suspiciously like a barn. As I get out and slam the car door behind me, I can't help but appreciate the smell of fresh air, water, and pine trees. As a native New Yorker, I don't have much experience with wide open nature.

"Welcome to our humble abode," says Max, speaking for the first time in two hours, after asking if I liked a song on the radio (I had said no). He leads me up some stairs and opens the screen door, beckoning me inside.

The first thing I see is a whole bunch of wood. The walls and the floors are covered in it, along with Native American print blankets and couches and that such. Beyond the entryway, I see the entrance to the living room and beyond that, a large open yard, and an empty horse paddock.

I hear footsteps above me, and another figure appears from the stairway. He's slightly shorter than Max, but with more defined features, a leaner frame, sharp green eyes, and dark hair that swipes his low eyebrows. Although his left eye stares blankly ahead, the other one focuses on me curiously.  He offers me a bright smile, "You must be Thea."

"And you must be Kyle." I say.

"Yeah." He looks past me to Max, who is locking the door behind us. "You didn't get followed?"

"Not that I knew of," says Max, shrugging. "C'mon Thea, I'll show you to your room."

I shrug too, because I really don't care. I've been inside for way too long and the idea of being cooped up in a room is not appealing. Nonetheless, I follow him up the stairs, past Kyle, who walks into another room, and opens a wooden (surprise) door.

It's cozy in here, but also open and airy, thanks to the huge windows on the far side. There's a large bed in the near corner, low to the ground, lying below an angled ceiling. "The bathroom's down the hall. Come on down to the kitchen when you're ready. I think Kyle made pizza."

I wait exactly four minutes, because as nice the room is, I want to get out and down. The smell of warm pizza hits me immediately, and I sniff appreciatively.

"Hey Thea," says Kyle, the only person in the kitchen unless you count the huge German Shepherd lying lazily against one of the bar chairs. "Grab me that knife from the drawer next to you, will you?"

I smile inwardly, because apparently Kyle hasn't heard much about me, because if he had, then he would never have given me free access to the knife drawer. I hand him a sharp one, which he uses to slice the pizza. "So you're from New York, huh?"

"Yeah." I say, grabbing a slice plus a few garlic knots and sitting down at the small eating table and slouching against my arms.

"Hm." I feel Kyle's eyes on me as I dig into the pizza (which tastes delicious even though I'm not about to mention it). "Don't talk much, do you?"

"I'm tired," I say defensively.

"She's had a long day," says Max, coming out from the living room and sitting next to me with his own slice of pizza. "

Hey thanks," Kyle adds, reaching over my shoulder and grabbing one of my garlic knots.

"Hey!" I exclaim, and he grins mischievously as he pops the entire thing in his mouth. "That was mine."

"Now it's not." He observes, his eyes twinkling as he sits down on the other side of me.

"Yeah, thanks for that observation." I reach over and snatch one of his from his plate. "There. Now we're even."

"So Thea," says Max, "You like horses?"

I remember the tumultuous ride in Asgard. "I don't know."

"Yeah, well we have four. We can take you out tomorrow if you want."

"So I don't have to stay inside?" I ask, my ears perking up at this suggestion.

"Hell no," scoffs Kyle. "We wouldn't make you, and even if we tried, I'm guessing that we couldn't."

"You have to stay with us, though." Adds Max. "No wandering off, you got that straight?"

 I can't help but grin a little. "Deal."

We eat in a general silence after that and then I help Kyle clean up the kitchen while Max trudges upstairs after squeezing my shoulder in what I suppose is a relatively reassuring gesture.

"Um, so, just curious," I say, handing Kyle the plates. "What happened to your eye?"

"Explosion," he shrugs. "I get along pretty well though."

I sidestep past the German Shepherd, whose name I learned is Lucy, and open the dishwasher. "Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be. At least I've got all my siblings. Or my one." When he sees my obviously pained expression, he adds, "My turn to be sorry. I didn't think." He shrugs apologetically. "I don't do much of that, I guess."

"It's okay," I say, not meaning it.

"Tomorrow's going to be fun," says Kyle. "Trust me. And if there's one thing you can do, Thea, it's trust me."

I look him in the eyes. Or more like the eye. "We'll see."

Hope this chapter didn't suck.... I'll put up the dedication and added bits later, but I'm in a hurry. :(

PS: (I know Ian Somerhalder has blue eyes. Live with it, amigas. :)  )