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Chapter Thirty Five: Smiling Through Tears

~Thea's POV~

I wake up as the sunlight filters through the eastern window. Blinking, I sit up groggily, then moan, clutching my head. It hurts.

I practically slide off the bed and then stand, looking around. My vision immediately focuses on the iPhone sitting on the nightstand, reminding me of the near catastrophe from last night...

~

"So," says Jack, leaning back. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"

"What do you mean the plan?" I ask, feeling a little drowsy. My brain is almost at the point where I cannot process information, I'm so tired.

"Are we just going to confront them about Max and Kyle?" Jack asks. "Or just lie low and pretend we're idiots?"

"I'm more worried about Loki chaining me up, if you ask me," I say.

"Why? I can pick any lock." he points out.

"Oh please. You know that if they chain me up, they'll do the same to you."

"I don't know if they're that smart."

"I wouldn't put it past them."

Jack snorts. "Well then you can go in crazy mode and bust them open like Godzilla."

I give him a look.

"Point being, we'd be fine. So what are we going to do about Max and Kyle?"

"I'm thinking about giving Tony a piece of my mind."

Jack frowns, "But that means that they'll figure out that we were spying on them."

"The phone. The gun. The 'red' blood. C'mon, Jack, we've got ten million things on them."

He considers this. "Well, I suppose so. But Tony's not even coming with us and we're leaving tomorrow, probably first thing."

"If I get the chance." I say, "I might knock him out."

He gives me a shrewd look, then sighs, smiling a little. "That's why I like you. You're a stubborn and often stupid dolt."

"WOW Jack, THANK Y-"

Knock knock knock.

Jack and I leap up and exchange panicked looks.

"Thea! It's Pepper, may I come in!"

"One moment!" I squeak as Jack scrambles under the bed. I pull the sheets down so that they cover the gap between the bed and the floor. "Come in!"

Pepper walks into the room. I smile as brightly as possible as she says, "I've got something for you!"

"Yes?" I say in such a high-pitched voice that I swear I hear the underside of the bed snorting as if containing laughter.

Pepper hands me a sleek iPhone, inside a thick protective case to prevent it from breaking. "This is for you. Tony enhances it a little bit; it can now be used as a radio and a location server in case you get lost. It will also tell you if someone is nearby and who they are, if possible, assuming they're hooked up to the system. Here, I'll show you if you'd like-"

"No, no that's fine!" I say hurriedly, jumping up to take the phone. I'm pretty sure Jack will be hooked up to this system, and I have no intentions of Pepper catching him hiding under my bed at ten o'clock at night.

She nods. "All right. I'm sure you want to get some rest. Busy day tomorrow!"

"What's tomorrow?" I ask as innocently as possible.

She smiles, "You'll find out. Good night, sweetheart."

With that, she walks out of the room, closing the door behind her and with it my chances of weaseling out any other information.

I wait exactly five seconds, which is the time it takes for Jack to slide out from under the bed, smirking like a cat caught eating a flock of canaries. "You sounded like a mouse." He says jovially.

"Shut up." I gesture to the door, "You can leave now."

He sticks his tongue out at me and does what I ask. "See you tomorrow!" he says happily.

My response is to close the door loudly behind him. Too loudly. Whoops.

~

Now, I consider the phone on the nightstand. I'm not an idiot. Its purpose isn't to help me, it's to track my location, and probably Jack's too. Even though the phone may give me a sense of security, it's also the same as putting a helicopter spotlight on me.

I finger the phone in my hand, fiddling with the controls. I go to the settings option, which is different from the iPhone I used to have (which is probably a pile of ash now).

What's different?

I can't change anything.

I curse under my breath as I glare at the stupid buttons that I know Stark has set so that I won't be able to get through the firewall or whatever technological term it is that is binding me from freedom.

I look through the ten or so contacts that are on the feed; it's everybody I would have expected, minus Thor and Loki. There are also two contacts that basically go by "Backup 1" and "Backup 2". I'm pretty sure I know who that is. I'm tempted to send some sort of snarky remark to the both of them, plus Tony, but I don't.

Instead, I lie down on my back, my arms thrown against the pillows, staring at the ceiling. I don't feel like getting up.

Eventually, I'm forced to, because I hear a terrific banging on the door. "Who is it?" I groan.

Peter doesn't bother to reply; he barges right on in, stalking up to me and holding something so close to my eye, it's distorted. "What is it?" I ask.

"It's the video camera you and Jack attached to me last night." He replies.

"Oh that...." I say, playing innocent, because Peter doesn't actually look angry. More like amused and a little hurt.

"Did you not trust me?" he asks, crossing his arms.

I raise my eyebrow. "You proved we couldn't."

Peter humphs. "What do you not know, then?"

"Why it took so long for you to figure it out." I reply.

He gives me a look and then collapses on my bed, his arm bonking my face. "I've been outsmarted by kids," he moans out loud, rubbing his face.

This time, it's me who gives him a look. "I'm not a kid."

"You're twelve. I think that's statistically known as a kid."

"Thirteen. And you're not any better."

"I'm eighteen. I'm pretty sure that statistically counts as an adult."

"What is it with you and statistics?" I ask.

"I'm a math geek, get over it." Peter raises his hands from his face. "We're leaving in an hour, by the way."

"Geez, thanks for the warning."

"Don't mention it."

"Why did you yell at me instead of Jack anyway?" I ask him.

Peter snorts. "Jack saw me and scurried away from me like a mouse. I didn't bother to try and catch him."

"So you decided to just barge in here and wake me up?"

"Oh please, you were already awake." With this, he jumps up off the bed with a light spring. "Now I need to go get ready and so do you. Catch you later."

"Hey!" I yell after him. "Does everyone else know that Jack and I found out?"

My reply is a slammed door. Darn. Now I don't have the element the surprise. And no doubt that Tony will be bringing out the Spy-der jokes.

I get dressed and stuff my things in the duffel bag that Pepper had left out for me last night. I stop at the picture frame and glance over it. Then, feeling a pain of regret, I put it on top of my clothes, zipping the bag shut.

The first person I run into is Jack, who actually runs into me as he skitters around the corner. "I'm hiding!" he yells, diving into my room and slamming the door shut. Two seconds later, Peter appears, looking slightly out of breath.

"Where is he?" he demands.

As innocently as possible, I point to my bedroom door.

Peter gives me a searching look. "Nice try," he says, turning and running down the hallway.

Smiling with my success, I climb down some stairs, running my fingers along the banister as I do so. As I approach the giant dining room, I hear the voices of Tony, Natasha, and probably Thor and Loki too. I take out my phone, and sure enough, it's them, along with Clint.

Not wanting to communicate with them, I dart around the wall separating the dining room from the foyer area. I have to sneak through one exposed part, which I hesitate in doing. Then, I sprint for it, flattening myself against the wall of the other side.

I take a deep breath. That was cl-

"THEA!"

I wince.

"THEA I KNOW YOU'RE THERE."

I stay still.

"THEA!"

Finally, I groan, accepting Tony's yells. I reluctantly slide out from the wall and come face-to-face with a very annoyed Tony Stark.

"You know," he says, crossing my arms, "When someone tells you not to listen to a top-secret meeting, you're supposed to listen to that very wise person and trust that they are telling you the truth."

"Oh really?" I ask, also crossing my arms. "Now, where are Max and Kyle again?"

His eye twitches. Mornings apparently do not to Tony a service. I swear that Natasha smiles, and I hear an easily discernible chuckle coming from Loki's direction.

Apparently giving up, Tony groans, running his fingers through his slightly poufy hair. "Fine. Get your ass out of my sight."

"Stop cursing," I say.

"Hypocrite."

"What about that Imeldi made Kyle unable to shoot him again? I ask innocently.

"Smart ass."

"Shut up."

"You are-"

"All right, I'm going to take it from here," says Loki, taking my arm and pulling me away from Tony. "As for you," he says in a low voice, "You need to learn to stop listening to other people's conversations."

"Do you want this?" I ask, holding out the iPhone in front of me as innocently as possible, and making sure that Tony and the others aren't paying attention to me. They aren't.

He smirks. "First off, these mundane human things do not work on me. Second off, I know why you want to be rid of it and I recommend for your sake to hold on to it."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Well," says Loki with a smile that accurately mimics the Grinch's grin. "The other option was for Dr. Banner, while you were kicking and struggling, to implant a tracking device in your arm, but I insisted that you don't need it, because for once, you would listen."

I swallow hard.

His grin widens. "Don't prove me wrong, darling!"

He is creeping me out, and I am extraordinarily tempted to smash his face, but I decide that this probably won't give me what I want. Besides, if absolutely necessary, I can drop the darn iPhone off the side of a cliff or something and stage an accident. Whoops...

I wrench my arm from his grasp, then stalk from the room. I hear him chuckle behind me, which to me, equates to the annoyance level of scraping fingernails across a chalkboard. Clutching my fists, I slam the door shut.

Jack appears inside the kitchen only a few minutes after me, looking gleeful. Sitting on the barstool next to me, he steals part of my blueberry muffin and as he chows it down, he says, "That was fun."

"I helped," I point out.

He waves me off. "Sure, sure. Hey we're leaving in an hour."

"Actually, it's less than an hour."

"All right then." He says, disappointed. "If you say so. But this is actually going to be interesting."

"If you say so."

He gives me a look, which I return with an angelic smile. Reaching forward, he grabs a chocolate muffin and bites into it ravenously. "Yum." He says.

"I want some," I whine, because frankly this blueberry muffin is a little dry. 

"Sorry," says Jack with his mouth full of tasty muffin, "You picked the wrong muffin, you pay the price."

I snatch part of the muffin, which results in sixty percent of it crumbling. Jack retaliates by throwing some crumbs on my face, which I lick off, and then grabbing the rest of my food. He finally ends it by basically taking the chocolate muffin back from me and smashing it on my face.

"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Jack and I jerk apart so quickly, I almost fall backwards on the barstool, nearly toppling off it. Flushing, I realize that not only is Tony standing there, but so is Loki. Jack, also realizing our predicament, is tomato red and playing with his fingers.

Why are Jack and I always two feet apart (or less) from each other when people walk in a room? It wouuld be comical if it were not so annoying. 

Not finding anything suitable to say, I throw the butter knife not at Tony but at Loki, partially because his maddening grin is infuriating, but also because he will be less likely to get hurt. Sure enough, he plucks it out of the air with his continuous grin.

"What is it, Tony?" asks Jack, glaring at the both of them.

"Oh, just coming to tell you that we're leaving soon."

"We know." Jack and I chorus.

"And that you need to get ready."

"Already are."

I look at Tony suspiciously, "Would you stop gluing your eyes to those stupid tracker phones?"

"This?" Tony looks at his iPhone as if he has never seen it before. "What about it?"

Jack and I glare at him, and I retort, "I don't appreciate being tracked by a bloodhound."

Tony looks indignant. "This is not a bloodhound. It's a high definition, parametric-"

"Yeah, yeah, spare us," says Jack. "Now the two of you get out of here, why don't you?"

"Actually this is my kitchen," says Tony, grabbing an apple from the bowl next to me.

Jack and I immediately look at Loki, who just smirks. "I'm not going anywhere, so don't look at me like a pair of pathetic puppies."

"Onomatopoeia," Jack says authoritatively.

"What?" asks Loki, clearly confused.

Meanwhile, I high-five Jack, "I understood that English reference."

Jack and I smile cheesily at Loki, who just rolls my eyes. As he passes, me, he pulls my ponytail, hard. "Ow!" I exclaim.

Looking back, Loki grins at me brightly. "So sorry."

"No you're not," I mutter because I know he can't hear me. I also realize (with annoyance) that he has placed the butter knife back in my hand as he passed me.

"Be ready." Tony orders, then grabs Jack's arm and pulls him after him. "You, big man, are coming with me."

They leave me to finish my dry and now rather crumbly blueberry muffin alone.

~Nobody's POV~

The room is only partially lit, with just a small lamp illuminating the bedside table, throwing shadows across the room. The windows are shut and the door is shut.

Quietly, Thea walks inside, closing the door behind her with a click. "Leah?" she whispers.

"Thea!" says Leah, her voice still weak, but her eyes bright as she sits up.

"Oh, hey," says Thea, sitting on the bed next to her little sister. "How are you feeling?"

"Better!" replies Leah happily. "But Jane and Thor won't let me get out of bed."

"You need to rest," she says, tucking the edges of the blankets up around Leah's chin. She lies down on top of the blankets next to Leah and takes a deep breath. "So...I'm going to be leaving for a little while."

"Well when are you gonna come home?" Leah asks. The sound of her innocent, sweet voice nearly breaks Thea's heart.

She takes another deep breath. "I...I'm not sure." She tries to re-establish what she's trying to say, but then, knowing that she is losing it, makes a small choking sound and then leans down to kiss Leah's cheek.

She feels a small hand on her face. "Why are you crying, Thea?"

"I'm okay," she gasps. "I'm okay. I love you, Leah." She squeezes Leah's hand, then hurries from the room.

She has no sooner closed the door behind her than she collapses on the floor, tucking her head in her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Her head hurts, sending little white dots through her vision.

She has never wanted this life for her or for her family. She wants to go back. She wants an out, and she wants it now. Through all her toughness, she is still barely more than a child, and is tired of everything that she has gone through.

She doesn't even protest when Loki wraps one of his arms around her and lets her cry for the longest while, the whole time murmuring comforting words.

"Leah..." she finally manages to say.

"She'll be fine," says Loki softly. Then, he says, "You can stay, if you wish. That was your choice."

"No," she says firmly, trying to wipe away some of her tears. "I need to fight them. I need to kill them."

"Very well." He says,"You need to get ready. We're leaving soon. Plus," he smiles down at her, not malevolently. "I believe that some people are waiting for you."

"Who?"

"Well besides you're devoted little boyfriend-"

"He's not my-"

"Stop lying. But besides him, Max and Kyle seem to be eager to see you again. Now that you two children have found out-"

"We are not children."

"Shut up."

"I will not."

Loki raises his eyes to the ceiling and seems to be trying to regain his composure. "Basically, Kyle is coming along with us instead of Clint. Now let's go, kitten." 

He pulls her up just when Max walks around the corner, with Thor beside him. Max immediately smiles and grabs Thea in a hug. As she hugs him back, Thea looks over his shoulder at Loki and smiles a tiny smile, but nonetheless, Loki smiles back. 

Thanks for reading!!! Please vote and comment, if you'd like. 

Blue Moon Fact

I was originally going to just kill Max and Kyle. But... I liked them too much!! 

I hope you all know how much all the reads, votes, and sweet comments have meant to me. I've been having a tough few weeks. Going online and seeing all the reads makes me so much happier :). 

Track is officially over for me! I think I did pretty well, and I'm looking forward to next season! :) 

Okay, I'm probably boring you!

Have a nice day!