Hi everyone!
Hey, since it's summer, I'm writing a lot more! yay! Also, because I'm going out of town soon, and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to write. Hopefully, though!

Thanks for all the support!

And I'm adding an edit, when I get it, made my the lovely lokidottir. 

Thanks for reading! 

Chapter Thirty-Eight 

~Thea's POV~

That night, I wake up to the humming of the engines. Jack is snoring above me; his hand hanging off the top bunk. That's when I realize it wasn't the engines that woke me up; it's the tread of footsteps as they walk past Jack's and my cabin. 

I get up slowly, trying to be quiet. The light under the door is on. It's three in the morning. Why are they up now?

Crouching down, I put my ear to the crack in the door. I only hear the mumbling of male voices. At times like these, I miss having Natasha around. At least us girls could stick together. 

I know I don't have a choice if I want to figure out what's happening. Slowly, I open the door, careful to not let it squeak. 

"Should've known you'd get up."

His voice is so close, I jump, half out of shock, half out of nerves. "Kyle?" I gasp.

"In the flesh." he crosses his arms. "I figured I'd rather come on over here. Besides," he punches my arm lightly. "I might as well keep an eye on you."

"So...so..." I stammer, "You just... just hopped on-"

"Don't be stupid, I can't fly. I was on my own jet and basically plane-hopped."

I bite my lip. "There was an actual reason that you're here, isn't there?"

He looks like he's about to say something snarky, but then his eyes darken. "Yes." he sighs. 

"What is it?" I beg, shaking his arm. "Is Leah-"

"Let go of me." he shakes me off. "And there's nothing new about Leah. I'm here because the location I was sent off to was proved to be a negative. It has to be this one."

"Oh." I say. I wipe my eyes. I'm not sure why I'm crying. I think I'm just tired. That has to be it. Tired and stressed. 

Kyle raises his eyes to the ceiling, then pulls me in for a quick hug. "Well you're not going to be falling asleep anymore. Tony and Natasha came aboard early too. You might as well come with us and hear what we have to say."

I glance back at Jack, then let Kyle lead me up the main aisle way, where the couch and computer had been. Now, it's a pile of pages and maps and stressed adults. Tony, Peter, Natasha, Loki, Steve, and Max are all standing around charts and diagrams and holographs. 

Tony sees me first, but doesn't really seem to care. "Long time, no see kid."

The first person who cares is Loki, who gives me a look of utter annoyance which is then passed on to Kyle. "Why did you bring her?"

"Because she has a right?" says Kyle as if this were perfectly obvious. I can't help but grin up at him. 

"Does she now?" says Loki, his gaze falling once again to me. I'm too tired to care, so I just make a face at him. 

"Moving on," says Steve, his eyes looking up from the papers he was scavenging. "We need to establish a plan of action."

"Yeah so basically, we have a camp of Imeldi. An underground camp." says Tony. "I'm not sure if this explanation is for himself or for me. "We need to get down there and infiltrate it. We also need to find a way to get the Mantra before they do. Assuming they get it before we do."

"So we're going to kill the Imeldi before we get the Mantra?" I ask. I can tell Loki is just about to go crazy from anger, which only gets worse when I smile at him cheekily. I can practically feel the fury emanating from him. I scoot a little closer to Kyle. 

Steve looks at me. "Well yes, we are."
"Why?"

"Kid, if you're going to be here, you need to learn how to shut up and listen." says Tony.

I glare at him, and Kyle tightens his lazy hold around my shoulders. "I am listening, but I'm also wondering about your logic, Stark."

He blinks at me. "Fine. Here's your damn logic. If we kill the friggin creatures now, they can't get the Mantra. Go get the Mantra first, and we risk them coming after us."

"Fine." I say. "But we don't even know if there are some Imeldi on their way to get to the Mantra. In fact, they probably are on their way now. If we kill the rest of them that happen to be at the base, we're losing time. Precious time, Stark." 

Stark takes a deep breath. "And the monsters are just getting stronger. We need to kill them while we have the chance."

"The chance." I state. "Yeah, so what happens if okay, we kill the Imeldi at the base. There are still Imeldi in space. There are the ones going after the Mantra. If the Mantra falls into their grasp, then we're doomed. As in, the entire species is doomed."

Tony looks like he's trying to keep his temper and failing. "Yeah, you're assuming they know exactly where it is."

"Do you know exactly where it is?"

"Yes."

"Then so will they."

"Please. Our data, feed, and videos, are all locked up super well. Our programs are locked down."

"Tony." I say in a very patronizing tone that I have never gotten the pleasure of using. "Tony, Tony, Tony. Your 'locked down programs?' Jack and I have hacked into them over and over and over. We're kids. Do you think that the Imeldi are going to be less smart than a couple of kids?" 

I can see that Tony's facade is breaking.

So. I keep going.

"We need to make sure that the Mantra is safe. My mom and dad died for it. It must be important. It is important, we all know that. We need to get it before those freaks do. We can worry about the base later."

There is absolute silence. Loki is not the only one fuming; Tony looks like he's about to explode. I guess he doesn't take suggestions from a thirteen year old often. 

Steve looks at me. "Thea, I see your point, but it's more complicated. The Imeldi are working on something else, something we don't know about-"

"You mean your locked down programs can't get into that?" I ask, mostly to enjoy the look on Tony's face.

Steve talks over me. "And we need to find out what it is. We need to play it safe, because we need to know what these things are after."

"The Mantra, of course."

"Well yes, but why bring so many of their kind on the earth? Why control the minds of about a hundred human beings?"

"Because they're cruel."

"There's more, Thea, there has to be. We need to find out what."

I take a deep breath. Glancing around, I notice the blank and tired stares of everyone else. This was a bad idea. I blame Kyle. "Fine. You know where I stand."

"Damn right we do." says Tony. 

Now he's not the only one who is fuming. I cross my arms tightly and glare at him.

"All right." says Steve, obviously trying to maintain the peace. "Here's the thing: I like Thea's point too."

"You do?" I ask, surprised.

"You do?" Tony asks, shocked.

"Yes," says Steve, casting a significant look at Tony and then looking back at me. "Her point is valid, so we're going to explore that option too."
Tony leans back on the couch, clearly exasperated. "We need a team. We can't keep doing this damn splitting up thing."

"We're not." says Steve. "We land near the base tomorrow. All of us as a team go in and infiltrate the Imeldi. Not kill. Find out information. No killing if we can help it. Then, if it's right, we go after the Mantra."

"Please, we can't get into an Imeldi camp without being detected." says Tony. 

I'm pretty sure this is going to be a frustrating task for him because he can't exactly fly underground. 

"We can try." says Steve. 

Tony huffs. "Fine. Let's get with the plan and get some shut-eye. We're going in the morning."

"Early afternoon." corrects Natasha, who has been uncharacteristically silent up until now. She has been watching me this whole time, and I think I've been seeing something in her... Pride maybe? Definitely not the contempt that Tony and Loki have been giving off. "We have the charts with us. Clint and Thor will be getting here in the morning, when we touch down about ten miles from the camp."

"Let's keep it simple," says Steve, rolling out some paper. I lean in to get a better look. "We go by strengths. Clint and Natasha head in first. Take down if you have to, but hide the bodies. We're invisible. Head towards the computer rooms. On their signal, Max and I come in from the east while Loki and Thor head in from the outer hatchet on the west."

There's a pause. Then, Steve looks at me. "That leaves Thea, Peter, Kyle, and Jack. Jack's actually going to go with Clint and Natasha at the front. Peter will hang back near Thor, because the west hatch is a steep drop. Thea and Kyle go at the back. They're our last resort."

"Why?" asks Kyle. "Because I have one eye and she's a girl?"

"Because you get along best. Simple as that." Steve looks up. "Any questions?"

His tone implies that there better not be any questions.

"Good. See you in the morning, bright and early."

~Nobody's POV~

"Jack," says Max, striding towards his cousin, who is just jumping out of the plane, which is now in the jungle, landed. "Jack, I need to talk to you." 

His voice is serious, and he is flanked by Kyle and Peter. Jack hesitates. "What is it?"

"You better come with me."

*

When Thea wakes up, the plane has landed in the middle of the jungle. Most everyone is outside. 

"Morning." 

She looks up to see Natasha, who is passing by the cabin with quite a few duffel bags slung over her shoulder.  

"...Morning." says Thea, even though the attempt is pointless, as Natasha is probably already outside. 

She has worn her clothes to bed, so she just jumps out of the bed and stretches. Then, she follows the direction Natasha went to the humid jungle air. 

It's not very busy. Most everyone is just huddled around a small building, which has two smaller ones attached to either side. Thea, who is too hungry and too tired to care about what they're talking about, heads over to where Clint is grabbing some food from a small hut near the outskirts of the camp. 

"Hungry, aren't you?" says Clint.

"Just a bit." she smiles at him a little. 

Clint leans back against his chair. "Thor and I got in this morning. I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to tell you about your sister. Nothing's changed." 

She looks down. "That's okay." she says softly. 

Clint puts his hand on her shoulder and walks off, breakfast in hand.

"So," Thea looks up to see Tony leaning against the rails of the breakfast hut, whistling merrily. "You seem a little...gloomy."

"Well." says Thea dryly. "I'm about to go on a very dangerous mission, my sister is deathly sick, oh, and there are aliens trying to invade the planet. Sorry for not looking like I've won the lottery."

Tony raises his eyebrows. "You've done good kid. You really have."

"Pardon?"

"You heard me. Now get some grub in you. You're not going to be of any use to us if you faint dead away."

Thea looks after him as he saunters away. It certainly was a strange morning.

*

Jack bangs out of the building and flies around the side, hiding at the back of the building. He's careful that Thea doesn't see him. Then, he breaks down and begins to cry, a young man who is still a boy in his heart.

*

~Thea's POV~

I finish breakfast and then walks up to Thor, who is standing with Loki near the edge of the rainforest. "Hi."

"Thea," says Thor, pulling me in for an embrace. I try not to admit to myself that I've missed him. "How are you."

"About as good as can be expected." I reply.

Thor looks down at her sadly, his blue eyes still bright. "You've grown."

"I'm still the same height." I say, smiling a little. 

He takes my hand, which is dwarfed compared to his. "But you've grown. You're braver. Stronger. Wiser."

"And still hideously maddening and stubborn." Loki adds. 

But he's smiling.

So am I.

It's too bad moments like these can't last long. 

*

"Thea!" says Jack, walking up to me. "C'mere, I want to show you something."

"What?" I ask, smiling as he takes my hand and leads me to one of the side buildings, the one on the right. I assume it's for storage. Turns out it is. There are several boxes and containers littered nearby, and Jack and I stand near a long iron pole down the center, holding up the infrastructure. I have the urge to poke around. 

"Well actually," says Jack, grinning at me. "I sorta just wanted to be alone with you."

"...Why?" I ask, trying not to get too excited.

"Well you know," says Jack. "I like hanging out with you." He looks a little sheepish, but there is something in his eyes, something I can't quite place.

"Are you okay?" I ask gently.

He stiffens. "Yeah." Laughing softly, as if to himself, he adds, "Yeah, I'm good. Jolly good. Never been better."

"Well... we might potentially die today."

He swallows hard. "Yeah. Um, yeah, we might. You won't."

"Why won't I?" I ask, frowning. "I have just the same risks as you."

"Yeah." says Jack, swallowing hard. "Yeah, but you won't."

"Jack," I say, grabbing his arm. "Are you okay, what's wrong? You're acting weird." If I didn't know better, I would say Jack is on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry," he says, his voice choked. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry."

"Jack," I gasp. "What's going on?"

"I'm just trying to help," he says, talking quicker now, tears running down his cheeks, glistening in the little light that there is. "I don't want to lose you."

"Jack..." I say breathlessly, "It's okay, we're gonna get through this."

"You're too young," he says hoarsely. "Both of us are. We can't do this."

"Of course we can!" I exclaim. "We can get through this, we will get through this! You're the guy who helped me learn how to shoot arrows and how to defend myself. It's because of me that I probably will live!"

Now, I'm choking on my tears too. I'm tired, that's probably why I'm so emotional.

"You have to understand," says Jack,  evidently trying to control himself, "You just do."

"I understand," I say softly, "I really do. I'll always understand."

"I'm sorry," he says, sobbing, "I'm so, so, sorry."

And then he hugs me. 

The hug is sudden and unexpected, and I run into the steel post behind me. I don't mind.  feel his tears on my cheeks, mingling with my own. I feel our desperation, our worry, our hurt, I feel-

Click

Metal. Around my wrists. 

I gasp and pull away. Then, in slow motion, I look down, horrified. There are handcuffs attached to the metal post, holding me in place. "Jack..." I whisper.

"Thea, I'm sorry," he cries. "I didn't have a choice!"

"NO!" I scream, lunging at him. My strength would have been enough to break the chains, but that's when Max appears, pulling Jack out of my reach. Behind me, I feel hands holding me back, bending my arms back so that stronger chains clamp on. 

"I TRUSTED YOU!" I shriek at Jack, clawing at Loki, Clint, and Tony, all who are trying to pull me back like I'm a rabid dog on a chain. "I TRUSTED YOU!"

"Thea, I'm sorry!" he exclaims, Max still holding him back. Peter is next to him. "I couldn't, I hadn't-"

"NO, GET OFF ME!" I howl as I feel myself shifting into my murderous flight, feeling red.

"Thea, calm down," orders Loki. "Don't-"

I ignore him. I kick and fight against the men, who are chaining me to the post, chaining me down. I can hear the chains rattle against the ground. Chains, chains, chains. 

~Nobody's POV~

But then, she stops fighting. She look at Jack, who is crying, and feels the tears streaming down her face. The redness and heat vanishes. She just lie there limply, letting them lock her down. Jack's face is horrified and miserable as he looks into hers.

Hers is just pained, blank, and betrayed. 

______ 

This chapter was a little hard to write :( 

Hope you liked it! 

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Love ya'll! :) 

~Sierra!