Here it is! Sorry it took so long!

Chapter Thirty Three

~Thea's POV~

Instead of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters where I thought they would take me, Max and Kyle drive me to Stark tower. I'd always admired the building, wondered who created it and why. Now I know. Sort of.

There's a bit of a welcome party for us when we get there, walking inside the luxurious, albeit rather plain (at least in my opinion) foyer. First and foremost is Tony, who has a glass of champagne in his hand as he converses with a ginger-haired woman with bright eyes and a business-like demeanor about her. From what I've heard (usually by spying), this is his girlfriend, Pepper Potts.

With them is Steve, who is likewise holding a champagne glass, but it is full, and I suspect he is only holding it out of formality. He's the first to spot me, and waves with a small smile.

The only other person there is Agent Hill, who is her usual solemn self, her arms crossed as she stares straight ahead, as if zooming in on something miles away.

"Where-"

"Leah's upstairs, sleeping," Tony interrupts, clapping Max on the back. "Good to see you, old pal."

"...Where upstairs?" I ask, shivering in the chill of the city.

"Upstairs." Says Tony. Clearly, he wants me to stay down here. "Now once you bid adieu to these two-if you want- then I want you to come up with me. There are some people I want you to meet."

"And if I don't want to?" I ask, even though I'm pretty sure I have no choice.

Sure enough, Tony ignores my question and dives into a very animated conversation with Max about something scientific.

Kyle offers me a one-armed hug, which I accept stiffly. "Keep out of trouble, won't you Thea?" he grins.

"I won't."

He snorts. "I didn't expect anything better."

"You're smart."

"Shut up."

"No, you shut-"

"Okay, I'm going to take it from here," says Max, cutting in as Kyle and I glare at each other. "See you later, Thea. Behave and all that crap. It was nice to meet you."

"You too," I say, smiling up at him sweetly. From behind his brother, Kyle rolls his eyes.

Tony walks the two guys out, and Pepper takes this opportunity to smile, "Nice to meet you, Thea. I'm Pepper, although I'm sure you already knew that."

I almost say, "No, Tony never mentioned you," just to get his goat, but I decide against it. Instead, I put on my most innocent face and reply, "You too." Maybe I can appear to be innocent, and more people will trust me, therefore making them easier to deceive.

"If you want, we can head into the kitchen for a snack," she says, taking the still-full champagne glass from Steve. "There's someone in there I think you will have an interest in seeing."

"Someone" turns out to be Jack, munching away at a sandwich.

His face lights up when he sees me and immediately runs over to grab me in a hug. I'm rather squashed considering he is much taller than me, but nonetheless, I smile and squeeze him back. "I missed you," I say, before I realize I am saying it.

He looks delighted. "Me too, Thea. Unfortunately, with everything going on, I sort of doubt that we're going to be able to finish the Pirates of the Caribbean series."

I pretend to look horrified. "There's a whole series?"

He gives me a rather cross look. "Yes." He holds up the crusts of the sandwich, "Want some?"

I take the sandwich crust and as I chew, I say, "How's Leah?"

He shrugs. "Fine. She's under care, because of what happened and all of that. Not a lot of people are allowed to see her, mainly Jane and Pepper and a few other workers, but I'm told that she's recovering quickly."

"Recovering from what?"

He waves me off, "Don't worry about it. She's safe, and that's all that matters."

I'm about to protest, but then deduce that Jack is not going to tell me anything else, so I'll have to figure it out on my own. We sit in silence, aside from my continuous munching on the bread crusts.

A few minutes later, Pepper comes in to fetch me. Jack insists on coming along, so it's the three of us that walks down the glassed-in hallway towards what I assume is the laboratory.

As it turns out, I'm wrong. Pepper swipes a key card and we enter what appears to be a huge living room, with huge glass windows overlooking the city. There are two televisions, each on the far corners of the room, and a couple plush sofas, plus a bar on the left side.

Inside are Tony, Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and an unfamiliar figure. He's a tall, older boy, probably around seventeen or eighteen, with bright, inquisitive eyes, slightly spiky hair, and black-rimmed glasses.

When Tony sees us enter, he walks away from Bruce and puts his arm around Pepper's waist. Huh. I never thought he could be that...sweet.

My musing are ground to a halt when Tony flicks my arm. "Thea, this is Peter Parker. You might know him as Spider-Man."

I frown as Peter smiles at me, friendly. "Spider-Man?"

"Oh, c'mon, you've had to have heard of him, right?"

"Sure..." I say, and I hear Jack snort derisively behind me.

Peter laughs. "It's okay. But you're probably wondering what I'm doing here, right?"

"Absolutely."

He shrugs, "I don't really know, to be honest ."

"Wow, thanks," I say sarcastically. "That was really enlightening."

"Thank you."

"What he's here for," interrupts Steve, apparently noticing that the conversation had taken a rather loud turn. "Is what we are all here for."

"Defeating the Imeldi?"

"Figuring out the Imeldi," corrects Steve. "You're not going to be defeating anything, Thea."

Ha. Not likely. But I don't say anything about that, because I don't feel like egging this conversation on more than I need to. So instead, I say, "So what are we going to do about that?"

"Well," says Steve, "First we need to figure out where they are. But honestly, we are going to talk about that later, because-"

"Because right now," says Pepper, coming up from behind us, "You're going to help us decorate for Christmas."

It takes me a second to fully comprehend what she is saying. "For what?"

"Christmas." Pepper pronounces. She looks slightly worried. "Do you celebrate Christmas?"

"Well yeah," I say hesitantly, too embarrassed to say that I had totally forgotten about the holiday. With everything that's going on, I can hardly believe that something as ordinary as Christmas can happen. "Um, yeah, but aren't the Imeldi more important?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I think we all need to take a little time for Christmas."

"Besides, who doesn't like a good party?" asks Tony, once again holding his champagne glass.

I shrug again. It's not that I don't want to celebrate Christmas, but actually, I really don't. What's important to me is to kill those monsters that took over my life and threatened the people I love, not hanging tinsel and singing carols.

I don't have much say in the matter. Right after some more introductions from Peter, who seems like a pretty nice guy, Pepper shoos all three of us kids down a flight of stairs to a large room that would be pretty dull had it not been chock full with decorations. It's as if Christmas has exploded in here, and my eyes blink rapidly as I get used to all of this light.

"Um, no, no, no," I say, crossing my arms. "There is no way on earth I am doing this. Not here, not now."

"Oh c'mon," says Jack, steering me towards a large pile of ivy. "It'll be fun! We can take our minds off of all this Imeldi sh-" Pepper gives him a warning look, "Er, crap. Anyway, c'mon let's do this!"

I groan.

Peter comes up from behind us and throws his arms around our shoulders. "Jack's right. We might as well have fun while we can."

"Right. Ten, eleven more days or something?"

"Something like that. But," Peter hands me a stuffed Christmas bear, which I reluctantly take. "I'm told you're not going to be doing any of the fighting, so you might as well get comfortable here."

I snort. "To hell I'm fighting."

"Language!" calls Pepper from where she's trying to wrestle a glittering ladder from the back of the room.

"You live with Tony Stark!" I yell back, "I would've thought you'd be used to that!"

"Good point."

The telephone sounds. In Stark tower, whenever the phone rings, it vibrates throughout the entire building, making sure there is absolutely no way and no excuse for anyone not picking up. A few minutes later, it stops.

"Anyway," I say, turning back to Peter, "Who says I'm not fighting?"

"Steve, I think."

"It wasn't Steve's idea." I state, already knowing exactly who isn't letting me fight. Or thinks he's not letting me fight, anyway. It looks like I'm going to have to do this the sneaky way.

And if there is one thing in which I excel, it is being sneaky.

~

As it turns out, decorating Stark Tower is an adventure, and decorating it with Spider-Man is even more of one. I find myself laughing for the first time in forever as Peter swings from one of the banisters, grabbing the tinsel from my hands and throwing it around the poles.

"Hey be careful!" bellows Tony from where he's walking past with Steve, Bruce, and surprisingly, Thor and Loki, just in time to witness the spectacle of Peter swinging up over a pedestal containing a glass vase, barely missing it. "That was a present from ABC!"

"Get a life, Stark!" hollers Jack as he climbs alongside me the normal way, up the stairs, trying to untangle some tinsel.

"Thus far, I think my life is far more satisfactory than yours," comments Stark.

"Depends on what you consider satisfactory," cracks Jack. The three of us smirk down at him, Peter hanging upside down from one of the banister railings, taunting Stark by dangling inches from Tony's prized vase.

"Kids." snorts Tony, apparently having no response to this, and the five of them begin to walk out of the room.

As Peter and Jack begin hanging sparkling balls from the ivy garland, I hurry down the stairs, nearly tripping on the last one and follow Tony out of the room. "Hey!"

"Well I hope you're here to apologize," Stark says haughtily.

I ignore him and turn to Loki, "Might I have a word?"

His eyebrows go dangerously high, but nonetheless, he follows me to the one side of the room- which is basically a large observatory over the streets of New York- while the rest of the men watch us curiously.

I don't waste time with pleasantries. "What did you tell Steve about my fighting? Or, should I say lack thereof?"

"I find it amusing how you barrage me less than two days after I saved your sister's life."

This fact, although surprising, does not sway me from my interrogation, although I now do notice the burn marks up and down Loki's face. "Don't change the subject. What did you tell him?"

"The truth. When this goes down, you are not going to be fighting. I'm surprised you needed clarification."

"You're wrong." I state. "When this goes down, I will be fighting."

Loki's eyes harden. "You're not going into this fray. Do not make me-"

"I'm not scared of you, Loki," I snarl. "I watched my parents get torn to shreds."

"Technically, you-"

I talk over him, "-because of monsters that have invaded my home, my family, my friends, my life. Let me go in there and kill them."

Loki eyes me with the air of someone watching a toddler attempt something adorable and fail adorably. This does not improve my mood.

"Oh, Thea, Thea," he says belittlingly, "Don't you dare think for a moment that you're going to fight. There are ways I can stop you." He leers over me threateningly. "And I will."

I roll my eyes. "I already told you. I'm. Not. Afraid. Of. You."

With an alarming suddenness, he grabs my arm and yanks me closer to him roughly.  Tony and Steve look over curiously, but this doesn't sway Loki's gaze. "It matters not if you are afraid of me. What matters is that I do know what you do fear." He hisses, "If you try to evade me and go into the battle, I will lock you in that dark room so long, you will forget what the sun looks like."

I look into his green, snakelike eyes coolly, without fear, "Here's the thing. I'm not scared of the dark anymore. I don't fear a dark closet. So," I say with an emotionless smile, "You really don't know what I'm afraid of, do you?"

Loki stares at me so penetratingly, I want to look away, but I force myself to keep my eyes locked. "You're bluffing," he says with the sort of quiet I hate from him.

"Am I?" I hiss. "Want to test that theory? Want to prove me wrong?" I lean closer to him, trying to threaten him as much as a thirteen year old girl can threaten an Asgardian god. "Go ahead."

His eyes are darting back and forth, not from confusion but from fury. Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain on my cheek as he slaps me, hard.

~Nobody's POV~

In the time it takes for Loki to strike Thea, in the time it takes for Thor to yell at his brother, in the time it takes for Thea to turn back around, something in her has changed. Her eyes have turned red and slit-like. When she snarls at Loki, her incisor teeth are ever so sharpened, not quite like a cat, but almost.

"What the hell is-" Tony doesn't have time to complete his sentence. Thea has sprung, like a cat, throwing Loki to the ground. He hits the floor hard, but rolls over quick enough to evade her legs as they kick at him.

Before Thor can reach her, Thea flips around and knocks Loki backwards as she kicks again, this time striking right below his neck. Loki isn't fast enough to stop her as she whirls around, and Loki realizes something: she has grabbed one of his daggers from his belt- the emerald crusted one- and is now attempting to slice him.

Thea is moving so quickly, Thor misses as he tries to grab her. She arcs around, bringing her fist to connect with Thor so that he stumbles backwards, but keeping her balance enough to trip Loki as he advances towards him. He manages to grab onto her leg, sending her down as well- he narrowly avoids a knife to his neck as she slams it down next to him as she falls. When Loki tries to hold her down, Thea snarls up, her half-fangs snapping at his throat, forcing him up. Her hold hasn't loosened on the knife.

She grabs Loki's arm and whirls him around, but this time, it's she who has to duck her head as Loki's hand spins around and a knife of his own narrowly avoids her neck. She snarls again and slices the knife down, tearing a hole in his sleeve and causing him to cry out as the tip pierces his skin.

He recovers quickly- he's forced to- as Thea leaps up, kicking both her feet at his chest, and he grabs one of them, throwing her to the ground. She twists up and slices again with her knife but misses and instead of trying again, leaps back up to her feet. Thea's knife sparkles in the light as she and Loki duel each other off with their daggers, Thea trying to kill, and Loki trying to defend himself. They are moving so quickly, Thor and the others can't hope to intervene.

In about ten seconds of intense twisting and throwing, a clang sounds through the room as Loki's dagger clanks to the ground. He holds his arms up as Thea points the dagger at him and he backs up, into the wall. "Thea," he says calmly. "Thea, listen to me."

Her eyes are still red diamonds and she growls at him.

"Thea," he says softly, "Come back. Thea."

His words make her advance towards him waver. She stops, but the dagger is still two inches from Loki's throat. One thrust could end his life in a fountain of red.

"Thea," he says, noting how her breathing is now erratic instead of the more-than-warrior stamina she had just possessed. "Thea," he repeats. "Come back. Control it. You can do this, you just need to remember your life. Your human life."

She snarls, the fangs glistening slightly, and the knife's cool edge is now pressing into Loki's neck. A tiny trickle of blood flows, but he ignores it, "Thea, come back. Think. Think, Thea!" When Thor tries to rush forward, Loki flaps his hand urgently, signaling his brother to back away. "Think, Thea!"

Her eyes dilate dangerously. But then, just as suddenly, they widen and turn their soft shade of green once again. When she gasps, Loki sees her teeth are human.

She looks up at him and as she lowers the dagger, she says, her voice raspy, "I can control it?"

"Yes." He says calmly.

Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath as if trying to retain her patience, "Please don't tell me you got me angry on purpose to see if I could control myself."

"Actually," he smirks, "Originally, I had no intention of you fighting. But then, I grew just a bit curious on how well you could actually fight, so I decided to test to see how good you were. I had little doubt you could control yourself if necessary."

"I almost killed you," I remind him, "And you took the risk anyway."

"Thea, even beneath that vicious exterior you possess when you enter these rages, you didn't kill me. You had me against a wall, defenseless, yet you hesitated and held the dagger out instead. Killing is harder on the innocent than the innocent expect. I doubted you would kill me. And I was right."

I remember something else he had said in his explanation, "You said originally, you had no intention of my fighting." I raise my eyebrows.

"If you learn to control yourself, I will allow you to fight."

"Meaning you'll let me fight without having to get out of whatever annoying trap you put me in to try to stop me from fighting." I say, not even bothering to keep the triumph out of my face.

He smirks devilishly. "Exactly."

I toss the dagger to him, which he catches in the blink of an eye. "Done."

"Please do remember the condition. Or try to, because I know how easily things can slip from your mind." He eyes me. "My brother and I both have a feeling that your powers are still limited and we do not know their extent. It no doubt is best to explore them carefully."

"I'll keep that in mind next time you make me want to kill you."

Loki looks like he's about to say something snarky when Pepper runs into the room, holding the telephone. Her eyes are wide and her face pale

"Pepper, what is it?" asks Tony concernedly. 

"Mary from Detroit just called a couple minutes ago," she says. "Max and Kyle are dead."

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