HI EVERYONE!
I'm back! Here's finally a chapter.... I hate those two week periods, but sadly, they're necessary. 

It's December 13th- That means it's the anniversary of the attack on Thea's house and the beginning of Blue Moon.  ALSO, tomorrow is Fandominion's birthday. PLEASE WISH HER HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECAUSE SHE IS MY PERSON AND I LOVE HER. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FANDOMINION HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Also, I've been at rehearsal for my school's production of Carrousel. I'm in the ensemble, but I play a sailor's girlfriend who also flirts with the main character, and also have a line in the second act... It's really, really fun so far! :D 

Thanks for all the support! <3 you all, and hope you lke the chapter!

xoxo,

Sierra

Edit: me

Music: Prodigal (One Republic) ; Human (Cher Lloyd)

~Nobody's POV~

The next day, Thea wakes up as the sun filters through her lace-curtained windows. She had left the window open the night before. The chilly air had somewhat comforted her the night before, even though her sleep had been interrupted by tears and torture. She lies there, wrapped up in the warm blankets, staring outside. Her lip trembles as she remembers what the day is, and as she hears the sounds of movement outside her room.

            She doesn't look up, but she can tell by the loud, staccato footsteps that it is Kyle who has opened the door. Keeping her eyes closed, she feels the bed compress he sits down at her feet. She closes her eyes tighter.

            "Hey," Kyle says quietly, shaking her shoulder gently, "I know you're awake, missy."

            She keeps her eyes closed.

            He goes on anyway. Sighing, he says, "Missy, I don't honestly know what's going to happen to you. I just don't know. But I want you to know that we're doing everything so that we make the right decision for you."

            Thea sits up so suddenly, Kyle jumps back slightly. Her hair is hanging down her old shirt in a mess, and her eyes are red. She's crying. "And wh-what's that? S-sending me to A-Asgard?"

            "That's not what I said Thea," says Kyle softly, "I said we're doing what's best for you. You need help. And Max and I...well hon, Max and I don't know if we can help you anymore."

            "What will Asgard do?" Thea implores, "I...I d-don't want to go there! I don't want to see Thor! He hates me!"

            "Again, I didn't say Asgard. It's just New York! And Thor doesn't hate you," says Kyle, squeezing her shoulder, "You should know that."

            "I k-killed L-Leah," she says, tears dripping down her face.

            "You didn't kill-"

            "-And he always l-liked her b-better than me, and I k-killed her and he h-hates m-me."

            "There are so many things wrong with that sentence," says Kyle sternly, "First of all, and most importantly, you didn't kill Leah. Secondly, Thor does not hate you. And lastly, Thor did not-does not- like Leah better than you. You just bonded a little more with Loki than him."

            "A-and I d-don't, I w-won't be n-near Loki! I h-hate him, I don't want to even s-see him!"

            Kyle's brow furrows, "You know, I never actually understood why you hate him so much."

            He mostly says this because this is actually the lengthiest conversation he has had with Thea in a very long time, and he wants it to continue.

            But Thea looks so fierce, almost like a baby tiger, Kyle almost regrets making this statement. "If it hadn't been for him," she snarls, "Then I might have learned how to resist Vi- his mind and then guess what, Kyle? I wouldn't have killed Leah, I am not going to Asgard!"

            "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down," says Kyle, taking her arm, trying to make her see sense, "I know you don't want to go to Asgard. And relax, it's just New York. You can see Jack and Peter if you want. Would you like that?"

            Thea shrugs. "Maybe," she whispers.

            "You can call them or something in the car," says Kyle, "I'm sure they'd love to hear from you." He ruffles her hair affectionately, "C'mon and get up. We're leaving in a couple of hours." He stands up and looks down at her as she sits up slowly and blinks tiredly at nothing in particular. Tilting his head, he says, "How much sleep did you get last night?"

            She shrugs again.

            Kyle already knows the answer to his rhetorical question: since his bedroom is next to hers, he had heard her last night crying herself to sleep. But had been trying to be positive. And he had failed. He watches now as she yawns and blearily rubs her eyes with her fists, like a smaller child would. He shakes his head and then walks out of the room, closing it quietly behind him.

            Thea slowly stands up. Wobbling slightly from fatigue, she walks into the bathroom. When she looks into the mirror, she sees a skinny girl, with matted blonde hair and circles under her dulled green eyes. Glancing to the left, she sees a few dried drops of red on the floor. Gasping quietly, she turns away.

            She indulges herself with a shower, and takes a long time, letting the warm water pour over her body. She changes into dark skinny jeans and an old t-shirt of Kyle's, which depicts some sort of old rock band named Styx that she has never heard of. Her duffel bag has already been packed last night, in a rush, and has been thrown in the corner of the room. Princely is lying next to it, the floppy blue ears hanging over the fuzzy face. Thea takes one look at it and then tosses the toy in the closet, closing the door with a resolute click behind her.

            Downstairs, Max is yawning over a cup of coffee and his laptop. Kyle is scrambling eggs, while surreptitiously feeding Lucy a couple tasty morsels. Glancing at her, Kyle says, "You need to dry your hair, pretty girl. It's cold."

            Thea shrugs, "Maybe."

            "Do it after breakfast," says Kyle.

When Lucy sees Thea, she begins to wag her tail and then trots over to the girl. The German Shepherd gets up on her hind legs and puts her paws on Thea's chest, whining and trying to lick her face.

            "Down Lucy," says Max absentmindedly.

            "It's okay," says Thea quietly, stroking Lucy's soft fur. Lucy's tail wags faster, and she licks Thea's cheek.

            Max and Kyle look at each other. Over the last twenty-four hours, Thea had been talking a bit more than usual, albeit in generally quiet tones. But both brothers know the reason for this: Thea is trying to pretend that she's okay, in an attempt to get out of going to New York. And all three of them are aware of it, and all three of them are in mental blockades, trying to outsmart the other one without actually saying anything. So far though, Max and Kyle are winning, because they know exactly what she is trying to do. Thea may be able to fool most people, but Max and Kyle are not two of them.

            And so after breakfast, Thea stumps up the stairs to brush her teeth and dry her hair. Lucy follows her loyally, her tail still swishing. After she finishes, Thea drags her feet back into her bedroom to pack a few last minute items in the duffel bag, throwing her toothbrush and hairdryer inside. Just as she is zipping the duffel bag, Thea hears a soft scratching sound coming from the journal that she has thrown at the wall. Curling her lip, she reluctantly walks over and opens it, flipping to a few pages before she comes across the familiar spidery handwriting.

            This journal had better stay with you at all times, Theodora, or else.

            Sometimes like hot fury swells up in Thea, and before she knows it, she has shot small flames from her hands onto the journal. Lucy yelps excitedly, pricking her ears up. But just as quickly, the flames only scarcely lick the pages and then go out. The journal doesn't even appear to be the slightest bit burnt. Thea snarls and tries again: this time the flames extinguish before even reaching the journal. She hasn't yet learned to control her magic yet- it only comes out when she is overly excited, and not overly powerful.

            The scratching comes back to the journal. Panting, Thea looks down at the page.

            Good try, Thea, but you're not strong enough yet. Although I admit, I am curious what other little talents you have besides trying to incinerate an immortal journal.

            Thea growls. The writing fades away, but a few minutes later, more appears.

            Take the journal, Thea. I will come to earth if I have to.

            Before she knows what she's doing, Thea has grabbed a pen from the dresser and written so fast, her letters all jumble together.

            You won't come to earth, and you know it!

            The instant she has written this, she regrets it. There was no way that Loki would be coming to earth: he had only said this into provoking her to respond.

            I win. You can't outsmart me, little one, but it is so fun to see you try.

            She can practically hear him laughing at her all the way from Asgard. She slams the journal shut and hurls it into the closet, shoving it under Princely. Then, she grabs her duffel bag and marches out of the room, with Lucy still walking after her.

            *
In the car, Thea sits in the back, covered in a blanket. It's a little cramped in the back row of the pickup truck, but she likes the coziness of being packed in the back, with Lucy lying her paws and her head on Thea's lap.

            While Kyle and Max talk about the improvements of S.H.I.E.L.D that are attempting to restore it ("If you ask me, the world's better without it," says Max.), Thea takes out her phone. She hasn't looked at it in almost two weeks, and is surprised that it is fully charged. She realizes that either Kyle or Max must have charged it for her before they left.

She has twenty-seven text messages from Jack, eleven missed calls from him, four messages from Peter and a missed call from him, and also a missed call from Steve that had been left two weeks ago.

            She goes through all of Jack's messages relatively quickly. They're all asking her if she's okay, and if she would please respond to him, because Tony banned him from the tower because of some sort of drone, and now he's bored and he misses her. Peter's messages are just as casual, although his are a little more deep and understanding, and include lots of smiley faces. Surprisingly, Steve is the only one that had left a voice mail, so, sitting back, she hits the replay button.

            Steve's voice comes on, "Is this thing... do I just talk into it now?" Thea smiles a little as she hears Sam's distant, assertive voice, "Oh, gotcha. All right. Anyway, hi Thea. This is Steve Rogers. Just wanted to call you and see how you're doing, although I doubted you would pick up. But the point is, I want you to know that I've got your back. You see, there aren't a lot of kids around like you, I mean, you've done a fair amount for someone your age. But I know how it feels to be lost in the dark- I think all of us do, actually." Steve seems to hesitate, "But Thea, the best part of life is that the worst times lead to the best ones. I read something a long time ago that read something like this: the brightest stars shine in the darkest of times. And that's you, Thea. You're the shining star, and when you do, you're gonna shine the brightest out of any of those other guys out there. So...call me if you need anything. Nat and Sam say hi. Bye..." Steve trails off, "Now what?" he says in a distant voice. "Nah, man, just shut it off," she hears Sam say. The line goes dead after that.

            Thea leans back against the seat of the car and thinks for a couple minutes. Steve had been alive during World War II. He had seen people die, including his best friend (although, from what Thea can understand, Bucky hadn't actually died and Steve is currently looking for him), and had had to fight from the time he was a kid in Brooklyn. But she, in her state of anxiety and depression, she can't think around the fact that Bucky is alive, so Steve doesn't know how it feels. So she doesn't think about the fact that Steve still had had to watch Bucky fall, not knowing that he would live. She doesn't think about the fact that Steve had had to make the ultimate sacrifice for himself and the world. And she doesn't think about the fact that Steve had woken up in a totally new century, in a totally new world, and in a place where most of his family was dead. Just like her.

            *

            Surprisingly, Thea actually texts both Jack and Peter. Jack texts back in precisely eleven in a half seconds. The texts come in a flurry.

            From: Jack

            THEA!

            THEA!

            BLOODY HELL, THEA!

            HI!

            WHAT'S UP?

            From: Thea

            Hi jack

            From: Jack

            Hi thea

            From: Thea

            I'm going to New York

            From: Jack

            WHAT?!

            From: Thea

            I'm going to New York

            From: Jack   

            WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??!!!

            When??

            From: Thea

            I'm in the car now.

            Aren't you in class?

            From: Jack

            NOW??!!!

            I was in English.

            From: Thea

            Yes now.

            ...where are you now?

            From: Jack

            In the janitor cabinet because ms. Kadeea hates phones

            NOW?!

            From: Thea

            Oh

            Yes now.

            I don't want to come

            From: Jack

            Why????

            From: Thea

            They're going to make me go to Asgard

            From: Jack

            Wut

            Why?

            From: Thea

            Im in the car

            From: Jack

            I got you. I'll sneak into stark tower when you get here. Send my regards to my dear ex cousins

            From: Thea

            What if I don't want to talk

            From: Jack

            I'll be there around 4:30, if peter can pick me up. See you then.

            From: Thea

            Jack.

            Jack.

            Ugh.

            *

When Max drives the pickup truck up into the garage next to Stark tower, Thea is fast asleep, her head leaning against Lucy. While Max responds to Tony and Pepper, who have walked out of the door to greet them, Kyle reaches back and tickles Thea's side, "Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty. We're here." Thea blinks her eyes and yawns, and Kyle smiles, "Second time I've woken you up today, missy. Let's go."

Thea groans and closes her bloodshot eyes again. Kyle shakes his head, hops out of the front, and then opens the door to Thea's row. As Lucy jumps over Thea and out of the cab, he holds his arms out to Thea, "C'mon."

He puts his arms under her knees and her neck and lifts her out of the truck. She yelps as Kyle suddenly sets her down on her feet; she had been expecting to fall back asleep in his arms. Kyle chuckles and leans down to kiss Thea's head, "Welcome back to New York, Thea."

Meanwhile, Tony breaks away from where he has been talking to Max and Pepper. "Kyle! Great to see you bud," he says, clapping Kyle enthusiastically on the back. Then, his dark eyes snap over to Thea, who is standing next to Kyle silently, her hand on Lucy's head. Tony leans down and sets his hand on Thea's shoulder, "Hey, Thea. Good to see you too, kid." Thea smiles an obviously plastic smile before turning away. As Thea follows Max up to the door, Tony straightens back up and looks at Kyle, "Faking it, is she now?"

Kyle smiles wryly at the fact that Tony had just effectively deduced what he and Max had been silently talking about in the car ride to New York.

            "Well, this is Thea we're talking about, not some ordinary dumb eighth grader. She's in eighth grade now, right?"

            "Yep. Max and I are trying to teach her at home when we can," replies Kyle.

            Tony nods curtly, "Right. Well, the place is pretty quiet. Bruce just left, and you know Steve and company are in Europe. Estonia, I think now. Pretty sure Barton's the only one who actually pops up occasionally."

            "What about the boys?"

            Tony waves this away, "They haven't been around lately, but trust me, by some magical means, they'll have figured out that Thea's here. Then they'll come on this place so fast, we won't even have time to bug spray the windows."

*

Tony's right.

            That afternoon, around four o'clock, Thea literally runs into Jack Barton as she is climbing the stairs to her room, where she is hoping for some solitary time. One step up from her, Jack stares at her. Thea stares right back. Jack is staring because Thea looks ten times more desolate and ragged than when she had left in June. Thea is staring because she doesn't quite know what to do with the human being standing right in front of her.

            "Uh...um...hi..." says Jack, clearing his throat. But then he doesn't have time to say anything else, because Thea jumps up and throws her arms around him. Jack grabs her in a tight hug and when he feels her shoulders shaking, he realizes that she is crying. "Hi Thea," he says in a much tighter voice than normal, because that's all he can say.

            For about five straight minutes, the two just hold each other like this. They are ignoring every single thing around them, including Pepper, who walks into the room and then quickly walks out, and Max, who does the same. Jack is wearing a soft blue t-shirt, and Thea inhales the scent of distant cologne and detergent that always surrounds him. But mostly, Thea is just hugging him because she is relieved that he is corporeal and tangible and alive.

            Finally, Thea lets go of Jack, wiping some last tears from her eyes, and looks up into Jack's green ones.  They smile. Then, Thea clears her throat and says quietly, "Can I talk to you?"

            Jack looks somewhat relieved, "I got a ride from Clint- Peter is busy with his aunt. And oh yeah, yeah, blimey, yeah. We can go up to your room if you want."

            Scarcely after Jack closes the door behind them, Thea says in a rush, "IdontwantogotoAsgardbutIthinkthey'reprobablygoingtotrytomakeme."

            Jack raises an eyebrow, "Why would they send you to Asgard?"

            Thea shrugs. She doesn't want to go into detail.

            Jack gets the point, "Okay, well why don't you want to go to Asgard?" He adds quickly, "Okay, never mind, that was a stupid question. But the question is," Jack sits down resolutely on the bed next to Thea. "How are we going to avoid your going?"

            Thea shakes her head dejectedly, her hair hanging off of her shoulders, hiding her face.

            "We could hide you," says Jack thoughtfully, "I could kidnap you and hide you at Pete's place (I'm staying there). I don't know how practical that would be though, because that's probably the first place they'd look. I suppose I could break into Dad's place, because I'm fairly certain I cracked the alarm code, but then again...hey, Thea, why are you so...er...silent?"

            She doesn't reply for a minute. Then, she says quietly, "Because none of this will work."

            Jack looks affronted, "What?"

            "It won't work. They'll find a way to make me go. And..." Thea is talking so softly, Jack has to strain to hear her, "And I don't want to go!"

            "I know you don't. That's why I'm trying to help."

            "Nothing can help."

            He cocks his head, "If you think that, then why am I here? Why did you text me?"

            She shrugs again, "I wanted to see you."

            Jack blinks rapidly.

            "I missed you Jack," she says, leaning her head on his shoulder.

            And so the two of them just sit like that for the longest time until Jack has to go home.

*

That night, Thea is lying on her bed when she hears someone tapping at her window. She looks up quickly to see Peter Parker smiling at her through the glass. Remembering that one of Jack's texts had mentioned that Peter had gone back to being Spider-Man, she walks over and raises the window sash. Peter clambers into the room, his hair fluffy and windblown. To Thea, he looks taller, more energetic, and altogether more lively. She likes it.

Instead of waiting for her to say or do anything, Peter grabs her in a bear hug and squeezes her tightly. Thea is forced backwards a little at the force of his hug, but she wraps her arms around him nonetheless.

"Wow, hi Thea," he says, "How you been doing?"
Thea shrugs, "Pe-Peter, can I ask you something?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, definitely," says Peter, nodding rapidly. "Shoot."

Thea swallows, "Um...I..." She looks down at her hands, "Please don't tell anyone."

Peter nods again, "Okay, I won't, I won't."

Thea opens her mouth and then shuts it. Then, she pulls up her sleeves in one quick motion and holds her wrists out to Peter. He looks confused, but then, when he sees the red marks on her skin, his eyes widen. "Oh Thea..." he says softly, taking her hands in his. "Why, Thea?"

She begins to cry.

Peter pulls her down on the bed and sits next to her, similar to what Jack did earlier. "Thea, why didn't you tell me? Did you tell anyone?"

"N-no," says Thea in between hiccups, "I d-didn't...b-but K-Kyle f-found out and t-told M-Max and I th-think that's why I'm h-here and they m-might send me to A-Asgard-d, b-but I d-don't want to g-go."

Peter turns her shoulders so that she is properly facing him, "Why didn't you call me, Thea? I would have helped you. You can't do this, even though I know you're hurting so much right now."

"I d-don't know."

He sighs and lies back on the bed. Staring at the ceiling, Peter says, "When was the last time this happened?"

"R-right before I c-came here," she says, lying back next to him.

"Oh," says Peter. He's quiet for a couple minutes, "Thea, I know, I know you're hurting, but do you realize how much it hurts me that you're hurting you?" He smiles a little, "Sorry, that was sort of in circles."

"P-Peter, I d-don't want to d-do it again, but I f-feel like I c-can't help it. It...it h-hurts less than what I'm f-feeling."

"I'm so sorry, Thea," says Peter, "But you can't do this. You can call me, you can do anything at anytime. But you can't keep hurting yourself." He looks over at her and takes her hand, "Please? Make me a promise, if you can."

"I c-can't," she sobs.

"Okay, then make this promise," says Peter, "Promise me you will try to stop. Think about if I were standing right next to you. Think about if your mom or your dad or Bryce were standing there."

"I d-don't know what to d-do! I d-don't know w-what to do, P-Peter!"

Peter hugs her, "Thea...please...you need to stop. For me. Stop for me. And stop for Jack."

"J-Jack d-doesn't know."

"Oh," says Peter. Then, he says, "I know you don't want to go to Asgard, and honestly, you might not have to! You don't know why they brought you here. But whatever happens, I'll always have your back, okay?"

Thea swallows and nods. Then, she says something in such a quiet and stuffed-up voice, Peter can't understand her. "Come again?" he says, sitting up and grabbing a tissue from her nightstand and then handing it to her.

"I c-can do things with fire," she says.

"What?"

Thea snaps her fingers shakily. A small spark erupts from the tips, flickers, and then goes back out.

"Oh wow," says Peter, staring at her hand as if expecting the entire thing to be engulfed in flames, "Wow, how are you doing that?"

"I don't know."

"Hey, do that again."

She does, although this time, the flame is even more wobbly and vanishes even quicker. But also this time, Thea yelps slightly as the tip of the flame catches on her finger. She shakes it, then sucks on it, "Th-that sometimes happens," she says in response to Peter's concerned expression, "It's okay."

"Hm," says Peter. He cocks his head, "Well that's definitely, that's definitely- no pun intended- illuminating."

"Th-that's not all I can do," says Thea quietly.

Peter looks interested, "What else can you do? Show me!"

Wiping her eyes, Thea looks at the tissue box on the nightstand. Closing her eyes, she frowns, concentrating. Then, she swipes her hand quickly towards herself, and the tissue box trembles, then scoots a few inches forward. It falls onto the ground with a thump.

Peter whistles. Then, he grabs a piece of paper from the dresser, which Thea had been listlessly drawing on earlier. Setting the paper down on the carpet a few feet from Thea, Peter says, "Try moving this. It's lighter."

Thea scrunches up her face, closing her eyes tightly. Again, she swipes the air with her hand, this time in a ceiling-wards direction. The piece of paper rises from the ground, wavering slightly. Thea manages to lift the paper about three feet before the strain is too much and the paper goes floating back to the ground.

Peter looks enthused, "Well Thea, once you practice a little more, I think we've got a magician on our hands."

Thea smiles bashfully, "Thank you," she whispers.

He leans back on the headboard of the bed, "How do you think this happened? I mean, I know you can duplicate yourself- you can still do that, right?" When she nods, Peter says, "Okay, so you can duplicate yourself still. Why can you do all this other cool stuff now?"

Thea shrugs.

"Evidently, you got it somehow from Loki, because that's where the duplication stuff came from, back in Keajiban, or whatever it was, when he was controlling your mind and you fought back and that little piece of himself got stuck in you or whatever," Unlike most people, Peter continues talking even though Thea looks very unhappy with the subject of conversation, "I didn't know he could do telekinesis, but wait, actually, no, he did that too, with the water and stuff. And the fire thing...well, it isn't exactly ice, but I mean, it's around the same thing." Peter sits up quickly, "Can you make random objects appear?"

Thea shakes her head.

"You sure?"

"I've tried."

Peter lies back down, "Okay, so you can't do that. But it's fairly obvious that's where it comes from." He nods, as if telling himself that he's right, "Anyway, Aunt May is staying with her friend for the night, so I just thought I would maybe spend the night here, if that's okay." When Thea nods, he continues, "Great, thanks. And I asked Jack if he wanted to join us, but apparently, he's spending the night at a friend's house today."

(The part that Peter just said about asking Jack is untrue. He had not, in fact, asked Jack, not out of selfish reasons, but because he wanted Thea to not get overwhelmed. Jack, in actuality though, really is at a friend's house for the night.)

So Thea and Peter spend the rest of the evening playing games, watching Lord of the Rings (Peter persuades her to watch it), and eating the pizza that Peter "swings" by to get while she's taking a shower. Although Peter does his best to get her mind off things, during the whole evening, Thea is distracted by what lies ahead, and is sad and nervous most of the time. But still, Thea manages to smile a little bit when Peter pulls goofy faces at her over a game of checkers, and she actually laughs when he comments out loud that Legolas' hair must be insured for ten thousand dollars. And when she falls asleep on the ground next to Peter in a tent that he had created with blankets, unusually, she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night with a face full of tears.

Hope you liked it!! Please VOTE and COMMENT and happy midterms (ew)!! (PS: Love me so comments)

God bless,

Sierra