here's the chapter! :D Hope you like it :) :) :) 

Music:

~Nothing Left to Say/Rocks- Imagine Dragons 

~Prodigal- OneRepublic

Edit: Me 

<The Next Day> <Location: Stark Tower>

Tony Stark is on the phone, pacing around one of the upper decks, and he does not look very happy. His face grows more and more concerned as he keeps listening. A few seconds later, he shakes his head, "Have you ever thought about keeping her on a leash?" Pause, "I know it's not funny, cool it Calen."

            He looks up to see Pepper enter the room. When she spots his face half-hidden in his hands, she frowns and he shakes his head at her. She sits down silently on one of the white sofas, crossing her ankles and taking a sip from the flute of champagne.

            "No, I won't. But do you really think this is the answer? She'll be miserable wherever we put her, and if we try to send her to Asgard, all hell will break loose, you know that. From what I can deduce, Thor has been pretty busy, Odin has been strangely distant, and Loki has gotten in worse and worse moods. Yeah, I know...don't get me wrong, the two of you have done wonders for this kid... you gave her a family, after all." Tony hasn't stopped pacing. "Yeah, I mean sure, you guys can come on over, I've got no problem with that, I'm just not sure what's the best answer." Tony chuckles, "Just trying to think things through, big guy. Yep." Pause, and Tony continues pacing up and down near the window, "She's in Europe at the moment, but I'll give her a call. I won't tell another soul...nah, Jack hasn't been here in a few days, but I got your point. Okay Max, take care of yourself, man. Okay, yep, bye."

            Tony finally stops pacing and sets the phone down on one of the granite cabinets. He runs his hands through his dark brown hair.

            "What's wrong?" asks Pepper, taking another sip from the flute and looking at Tony with eyes veiled with worry.

            "Well, Thea's gone off the edge," says Tony with a sigh, sitting down next to her and taking the other slender flute from the table, "She and the Calens are coming down from Boston tomorrow to try a few things. If that doesn't work, then they're sending her to Asgard. I don't know how great of an idea that is, though. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Thor in a couple of weeks."

            "Those letters came in a couple days ago," reminds Pepper.

            "Yeah, and it seems like things are pretty...stressed up in the clouds right now. Can't make heads or tails of it, and don't want to intervene. It's not my life's ambition to piss off a blond Norse god the size of a truck."

            Pepper smiles. "It's your life's ambition to piss off everything that moves."

            Tony leans forward and kisses Pepper, "Good point." Downing the last of the champagne, he stands up and says, "Got some work to do in the GL lab. It's been pretty quiet here. Where've Jack and Pete been?"

            Pepper raises her eyebrows, "You banned Jack from taking another step inside after he accidentally crashed one of your miniature drones into the second story kitchen."

            Tony pretends to look confused, "I did?"

            Ruefully, Pepper adds, "Although yesterday on the radar, two people allegedly tried to get into the southern roof panels."

            "Interesting. Where's Barney when we need him?"

            "Charles Barton just left for Romania a few days ago," says Pepper, likewise standing and setting the champagne flute down, "From what I know, Jack is staying with Peter."

            Tony shakes his head, "New York will not be safe with those two running rampant through the streets. After Thea leaves, I'll think about letting them back in from their exile."

            "Why can't the boys see her when she's here? They're her best friends. And technically," Pepper points out, "You didn't ban Peter. You threatened that if he tried to climb up your building again and scare your workers, you would de-spiderfy him. If that's even a word."

            "Because she doesn't need everyone hawking on her. I want whatever she does here to be as quick and as painless as possible. And apparently, according to you, he just tried to sneak back in, although I'm ninety percent sure that it's impossible to 'de-spiderfy' him, which, by the way, I am sure is a statuary word."

            "And I'm sure it's not," says Pepper.

*

There is someone listening at the bottom of the stairs as Max speaks in his low voice into the telephone. It doesn't take much deduction for Thea to figure out what is happening, and what will probably happen. She pales and then runs silently back up the stairs, nearly tripping over Lucy in the process.

Scarcely thinking, she grabs her rucksack and begins to throw things inside. A flashlight.  A pack of crackers. A blanket. She habitually looks around her room for her dagger, but then, remembering what happened, kicks her bed in frustration. After running about the room for a couple more minutes, she throws the rucksack on her shoulders and hurries out, once again running into Lucy. The German shepherd whines. Thea ignores this.

She can hear Max saying something to Kyle and then flattens herself against the wall as the younger Calen brother walks past her. She waits, silently, as Kyle grabs his car keys and walks out of the front door. She then darts through the empty kitchen, trying to control her breathing. Her hand is on the back door when-

"Thea?"

She whirls around to see Max looking down at her from the top of the stairs. She sees his eyes look over her outdoor clothes and heavy rucksack, easily figuring out what she has in mind. Without looking back, she turns and runs out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Vaguely, she can hear Max shouting at her, but she once again ignores him and keeps running.

She reaches the horse pastures, where Rook is grazing, and glances back to see Max hurrying towards her. She begins to scale the fence, but then she hears Max shouting at her. Slowly, she turns around, looking down at the ground.

"Thea, what are you doing?" demands Max, "I don't want you outside by yourself anymore. It's too cold, and...just c'mon back inside." He reaches forward, about to hug her, but then he freezes, his jaw clenching.

He freezes because in front of his eyes, Thea wavers and then vanishes into green pixels.

            The sound of thunder comes behind him, and Max scarcely has time to get out of the way before a blur of grey tears past him, and he spots Thea on Minny, galloping away from him. It only takes seconds for him to realize what happened- Thea had used her double to lure him away from the house and then jumped on Minas Tirith afterwards.

            "Damn it, Loki!" exclaims Max, and without taking the time to saddle him, he swings up on Rook and kicks him towards the direction that Minny had galloped. But he knows that he won't be able to catch her.

            Correction: he won't be able to catch her, but Kyle can.

            Kyle, unbeknownst to Thea, had actually just been moving his car towards the back of the house, and then had gone to take Frollo on a light pacing exercise farther up the property. Like this, he can see her riding towards him, with Max in pursuit, and instantly guesses what happened.

            "Cut her off, Ky!" Max yells.

            Thea wheels Minny around so suddenly, the gentle mare squeals and rears. Angling the horse towards the forest, Thea makes a sharp ninety degree turn and kicks Minny, hard, in an attempt to get away.

            But Thea can only do so much against two expert horsemen. Before she knows it, Kyle and Frollo have indeed cut her off, and although Thea tries to escape again, Kyle leans forward and snatches Minny's bridle, causing the mare to prance and roll her eyes in fear. Soothing her, Kyle brings both horses to a stop within seconds, sending dust flying.

            Thea is crying, but she doesn't say anything, but allows Max, who has caught up with her, to pick her up and set her in front of him on Rook. Kyle takes Minny's reins and pulls the mare behind him and Frollo.

            "We're doing what we think is best," says Max as the three horses and the three humans make their way back to the house, "It's just New York, Thea. Nobody's gonna hurt you there. Nobody's gonna hurt you anywhere you go, for that matter."

            But Thea doesn't respond. She just stares straight ahead as the house becomes closer and closer.

*

Upstairs, Thea sits on her bed and stares out the window, watching Max feed the three horses. She hears something like scratching from the nightstand and glances at it. Then, she spots the Asgardian journal, buried under a pile of other books. Narrowing her eyes, she slides it out and opens it.

Thea, stop being stubborn. Talk to me, or I will come to earth, do you understand me? Your beloved Calens won't tell me anything about what is going on. Speak. Now.

Thea sneers at the journal and ignores it, lying down at the edge of her bed. She hears more scratching and glances sideways at the pages.

I know you are reading this. The words vanish when you open the journal. I am giving you one more chance. Say something right now.

In response, Thea slams the journal shut and throws it under her bed. She crosses her arms and glances out the window again. Holding her hand out, she closes her eyes and focuses. Slowly, a thin wavering of green trickles from her fingers, forming and shifting in the air. Within seconds, she is staring at a precise copy of herself.

            Thea's powers are growing stronger. Perhaps it is from pent-up emotion, but nonetheless, Thea can not only duplicate herself for longer periods of time, but she can also send sparks up into the air with a snap of her fingers and sometimes move tiny objects with just small movements of her hands.

            She can hear the scratching of the journal from under the bed, and she smiles a wicked smile. She knows perfectly well that, no matter how much he threatens, Loki won't come to Earth, and she also knows perfectly well that he is aware that she knows.

*

<Location: Hotel Room, Tallinn, Estonia>

Natasha Romanoff lounges on her bed, dressed in tight leggings and a bright red shirt, scrolling through various Internet programs of questionable legality. She is waiting for dinner to be brought to her by Steve Rogers, who is supposed to be out spying in the city with Sam Wilson. As she continues scrolling, the phone rings shrilly from the nightstand.

            Picking up the phone with her perfectly manicured nails, Natasha glances at the caller ID, rolls her eyes, and then, touching the Answer button, says, "What's going on, Stark?" She listens as she scrolls, and then as she begins typing with one hand at an abnormally fast speed as she continues to listen.

            Then, she fumbles with the keyboard and sits up so quickly, she almost bangs her head on the headboard. "What?"

            As she stares at the keyboard, Natasha says, "Stark, you know it's not fair to expect adult behavior from her. She's thirteen, not twenty-three. She's grieving. She had a dagger that you guys would have been smart to take away sooner. What else do you think she was going to do? Learn how to bake?"

            Silence. Natasha leans against the headboard and drums her fingers on the dark brown bedspread. "You know I would do anything for the kid, Stark, but I'm working. I can't just hop a flight right now. We're getting close, and Rogers has been waiting for this since...well, since the forties. I'll try to call Thea and talk some sense into her. She might listen to me, and she might not. She might not even pick up. Yes, I know I'm right, if there is one thing I am smarter about than you, it's Thea Fossil. And I won't tell anyone, because that's what you're about to say. Give my best to everyone back hom- back in the States." She hangs up the phone seconds later.

            Natasha sighs, thinking hard. Then, she picks up the phone and dials a phone number with a Boston area code. "Yeah, Kyle? Lemme talk to Thea. Now please, I'm on a tight schedule." This is not true, but she says it anyway, to promote expediency. She waits, continuing to drum her fingers on the bed, "Thea? Hey, it's Natasha. Look, I can't talk long, but I know you're having a rough time right now, and I wanted to check in." Natasha knows that Thea isn't going to say anything, but she pauses for effect anyway. "Okay, well, I don't know when I'm going to be back, but I hope everything gets better for you. Call me if you need anything, 'kay? Okay, bye." Natasha hangs up, knowing that Thea will appreciate the brevity of the call. She knows this because she knows from experience.

 So... there's the chapter! I hope you enjoyed it :D Next posting date isn't for another two weeks... I know, it's sad! :( Next week, I might post a deleted scene from Three Tasks just to hold you over.... Depends on how things go. Anyway, have a great day, and a great start to the Christmas season! It's my favorite time of year!! :D