Hey all!!! Here is a chapter a day early because I'm going to be ridiculously busy tomorrow. Sadly, next week is another two weeker because I messed up the scheduling. Next weekend I'll post that deleted scene from Blue Moon though. I'm almost done editing Blue Moon, which makes me really happy.

Just saw Battle of the Five Armies. I have only cried in Earth, Two Towers, Return of the King and The Fault in Our Stars, but I can safely say that in this movie, I sobbed more than all of them. The movie was BEAUTIFUL. Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage's acting was amazing. The landscapes were unreal. The fighting sequences were exhilirating. Thranduil's hair and his elk were fabulous. The feels were off the charts. And when Age of Ultron trailer played on the big screen, I hypervintilated, just saying. 

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! 

Music

Lost it All (Black Veil Brides); Forgive Me (Thor)

~Nobody's POV~

Thea jumps as a gentle, although loud, knock comes from her door at ten thirty the next morning. Peter evidently jumps too, because his head smacks the top of the tent, sending a blanket onto Thea's face.

            "Who is it?" asks Peter loudly, plucking the blanket off of a sleepy Thea.

            Pepper pokes her head in, and smiles when she sees Peter, "Well hello, Peter. Tony thought he saw you on the radar last night. How are you?"

            Peter stretches, accidentally knocking down another blanket in the process, "Can't complain, can't complain."

            She turns to Thea, who is now slouching on the ground with her eyes closed, "I'm sorry I woke you, but Clint came in this morning, and says he wants to see you before he leaves again tonight."

            "Why?" Thea asks, without opening her eyes.

            "I'm not sure. Feel free to sleep in a little more, if you want to." Pepper smiles again, "Give your regards to your aunt, Peter."

            "Oh, I will," Peter nods absentmindedly. After Pepper leaves the room, Peter says to Thea, "So...sorry, but I'm gonna have to scoot. Speaking of Aunt May, she'll want me back for lunch at least, and I still need to stop by the store. But I want you to call me later today, all right? And if you don't, then I will." 

            Thea shrugs.

            Peter reaches over and squeezes her in a quick hug, "Here, "I'll clean all this up real quick."

            "No, it's okay," says Thea, "I want it to stay up."

            "All right, if that's what you want." He hugs her again says in a fake-stern voice, "Remember to call."

            Thea shrugs, then attempts a smile. Peter grabs his red and blue mask and puts it on, saying, "Catch ya later, kid." With that, he climbs out of the window and swings out of sight, down into the streets of New York.

            Although Pepper had told her that she could sleep more, Thea decides that it's not worth it. She yawns, stretches, and then sits up. She heads into the bathroom a couple minutes later, but thinking of Peter and his words from the night before, she leaves something behind.

*

Clint walks into the kitchen at just about the same time as Kyle does. Clint, unlike Kyle, looks wide awake. Handing Kyle the other cup of Starbucks coffee and taking a sip from his own, Clint says, "Is she awake?"

            "Think so," asks Kyle, appreciatively drinking from the streaming cup and then gasping at the hotness of it, "Pepper said she went upstairs to wake her up and said she could sleep, but knowing Thea, she's awake." He pauses, tentatively taking another sip from the coffee and then wrinkling his nose as he again burns his tongue, "Damn it Clint, I didn't ask for Inferno, I asked for a latte."

            "All right, so whenever she gets down here, then I'll keep her busy," says Clint, draining the last of his coffee and then throwing the cup in the trashcan, "How's she been doing?"

            Kyle sighs, leaning against the steel refrigerator (and then gives it an offended expression when it beeps for an unknown reason), and says, "Bad."

            "That's all you got?" asks Clint, "Just 'bad'?"

            "Yeah, buddy, that's basically the only word I can think of for this current situation," Kyle almost snaps.

            Clint raises an eyebrow, then leans against the counter on his elbows and looks at Kyle through narrowed eyes, "Why're you frustrated?"

            "I'm not frustrated," says Kyle, setting down the coffee cup and opening the refrigerator, "I'm you know, just a little frustrated that I can't do anything for Thea anymore. I used to be the only person who could reach her..." He rolls his eyes when Clint gives him a pointed look, "Fine and Loki too. But look at us both now; she won't cooperate with either of us. Although evidently she talks more to me than hi-"

            "Kyle can I ask you a question?"

            Kyle gives Clint a very annoyed look, mostly because he already knows what the question will be.

            "Yeah, why exactly do you and Loki hate each other so much?"

            "First of all, we don't hate each other, okay fine, we hate each other. And you know perfectly why."

            "Because you're both determined to gain Thea's trust and confidence and relationship more, yeah, yeah. But you two treat her differently-"

            "Um, yeah, I don't yell at her and hit her." Kyle pops some pistachios in his mouth.

            "Point taken, so okay, you have different relationships with her. You're more of her friend and her older brother. You probably have the most fun with her and tease her the most, and heaven knows she laughs more around you."
            "Thank you," says Kyle, saluting Clint with some pistachios, "Finally someone appreciates my great sense of humor besides Emmaline."

            "Yeah," says Clint, "But with Loki, it's different. I think he's grown to think of her as his daughter, or something along those lines. He has reached her to a depth that none of us can quite understand, and she has reached him too. You see how soft he is with her, especially when she's up at night screaming her head off. She's afraid of him, and yeah, he's a little harsh on her sometimes, but honestly, that's sometimes how he keeps her safe. It's different."

            "Yeah, okay," says Kyle, taking a brave stab at the coffee cup again, and then flinching back rather quickly when it burns him for the umpteenth time, "Whatever you say, but I still robustly refuse to send Thea to Asgard."

            "Well, bud," says Clint, clapping Kyle on the shoulder, "You have fun debating that with the big guys."

            "I don't know how fun it will be," says Kyle, "But I can only hope that it proves more productive than this damn war I'm waging on this coffee cup."

*

            "Okay Thea," says Clint as he leads her down the hallway, "So what do you want to work on? Daggers? Arrows? I can try jiu=jitsu, even though that's usually Steve's forte. Hey Thea, what's up?"

            Thea has stopped walking, and is now standing still in the middle of the hall, twitching her fingers uncomfortably.

            "What is it?"

            "I'm not going to fight," she whispers.

            Clint raises his eyebrows in surprise, "What?"

            She shakes her head, and says in a tiny voice, "I'm not doing it."

            "Why?"

            "Because I'm not."

            She begins to turn around, but Clint catches her arm, "Where you going, Thea?"

            She shrugs, "Does it matter."

            "Look Thea, I'm just trying to help you out here. We don't even have to fight, I just want to..." Clint glances around, "You know."

            "I'm not an idiot," she says, her words wobbling, "You're trying to distract me, and everyone else is deciding what to do with me right now!"

            Clint opens his mouth and then closes it, "Er, well, Thea, you know, I still want to help you out. You're my nephew's best friend which, my some translation, makes you sort of my niece."

            She explodes.

"I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP, I DON'T WANT ANYONE'S HELP! I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Oh, c'mon, Thea," Clint says, looking ever so slightly exasperated, "I'm just trying-"

"STOP TRYING!" she howls. She runs down the corridor, almost blindly, and nearly runs into Tony's ABC vase near the stairs.

Clint catches her halfway up the stairs, and grabs her around the waist, swinging her up into his strong, brawny arms. She wails and kicks him, but he keeps holding her tightly on those stairs until her tears wear out and her kicks grow weaker and she finally succumbs to the fragility that is now her soul.

*

"We have three options," says Max, cutting to the chase as he sits down next to a rather grumpy looking Kyle, and facing Pepper and Tony, "We can take Thea back to Boston with us, we can leave her here, or we can send her to Asgard."

Kyle snorts.

Max ignores him, "Personally, I don't see any other option except for Asgard. Don't know what Kyle and I can do anymore, and frankly guys, I'm not sure about New York either."

"Yeah," says Kyle, "You're not being serious, are you?"

"We've been over this, Kyle," says Max in a tone that clearly says that he does not want any more arguments from his brother.

"No, actually, we have not," says Kyle, "Look, I'm not sending Thea to Asgard."

"For the last time, it's not your choice!"

"It's not yours either!"

Everybody nearly breaks their necks as they turn around quickly. There, standing in the doorway, is Natasha Romanoff, looking very annoyed.

"Natasha!" says Pepper, standing up in a welcoming sort of way, "How nice to see you! When did you-"

"Let's cut to the chase because I'm on a tight schedule," Natasha says, marching up to the table and leaning against it, shooting daggers into the eyes of the three men, while Pepper slowly closes her mouth, "And Kyle, don't get angry when I say this, but I'm going to agree with Max here."

Kyle throws up his hands and lets fly a few choice curse words.

"Don't give me that bullcrap," says Natasha, "Think about Thea and not yourself. As for you Max, as for all of you, here we are again deciding what to do with Thea."

"Natasha, she's gone mad," she says Max. "She's screaming and not making any sense, you know we can't do this any longer."

"Mad?" asks Natasha, her eyes narrowing even more fiercely, "Mad? Thea hasn't gone mad, you idiots. She's grieving. She's blaming herself, what do you expect her to-"

"She cut herself!" yells Max, his voice thundering through the room. Pepper, the only one who had not known this bit of information, puts her hand to her mouth in shock as Max continues his tirade, "She's gone, Natasha, she's gone! What do you want us to freaking do!"

"Well personally, not send her to Asgard," says Kyle in an undertone voice.

Thankfully, Max doesn't notice, because he still is shouting at Natasha, "We don't have any other OPTIONS, Natasha! NONE! What do you want us to do with her?"

"I'm the one saying that I'm going to agree with you!" she shouts right back, "Why are you yelling at me! Yes, she needs to go to Asgard! You and Kyle can't take care of her anymore! Thanks to you guys, she went and cut herself!"

"Hey, just a minute!" says Max loudly, "We're the ones who gave her a family, not the people who are professional assassins and liars like some people!"

Pepper closes her eyes.

"Would you stop it!" Natasha shouts, "I freaking get that you're upset, but you're also being absolutely ridiculous! As is your brother, who is muttering things under his breath!"

"Okay, LOOK-"

"ALL RIGHT!" yells Tony, effectively shutting everyone up, "You're all talking and arguing in circles! So we're sending Thea to Asgard basically, c'mon, Kyle, give it up. If Thor and Loki can't get to her, then nobody can, and we can refuse defeat. I'm going to summon Thor tomorrow. Can we not all agree on this? And when Thea's in Asgard, you Calen boys need to go on some damn vacation, you got me?"

Kyle rolls his eyes, and sinks into the chair. He does not look very happy, but he does appear to realize that he finally has lost this fight.

There's silence. Then, Natasha says in a low voice, "Now where's Thea? I want to see her before I leave."

"Try the second floor," says Tony listlessly.

The door bangs behind her.

*

"Oh Thea," Natasha say mournfully as she finds Clint holding a sobbing Thea close to him on the stairway, "Thea..." She sits next to the crying girl and sets her hand on her shoulder, "Thea...I'm so sorry."

Thea looks up, her lip trembling and her eyes red as tears leak down her face. "N-Nat-ah-sha?"

"Hey Thea," says Natasha softly, "Hey."

Clint squeezes Thea's shoulder, and he and Natasha sit with her for a long time, until Natasha has to go back to the airport.

*

That night, Thea locks herself in her room and throws herself on the bed, her shoulders shaking. She doesn't know what is going to happen to herself, but she can probably guess.

After ten minutes of perpetual tears, Thea looks up from the bed and onto the windowsill. Upon that windowsill, she sees a tattered brown journal, with some of the pages sticking out. Gasping and wiping her eyes, Thea grabs the journal. With trembling fingers, she opens it to a blank page and grabs a pen. Before she knows what she's doing, she is writing.

I don't know what to do, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I want OUT! Why does it hurt? Why does it HURT? I don't want to go anywhere, I WON'T go to Asgard, I WON'T, they can't make me! I don't EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! NEVER! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!

The words vanish. Thea sinks down to the ground, her nails digging into the windowsill's wood and wails and wails and wails.

"If you do not want to see me again, then we did you just write in that journal, Thea?"

She gasps and whirls around, hitting her head on the lamp. Loki is standing there, in front of her closed door. He looks the same, although he appears tired, but no less mischief sparkles in his eyes.

"L-Loki?"

He kneels down as Thea runs across the room and throws her arms around him. Lifting her up, Loki says quietly as he sobs, "I am here, Thea. I will always be here."

She just cries harder, and Loki holds her until her fierce tears give way to whimpers. Then, he sets her down on the ground and lifts her chin so that she is looking into his eyes, "I will always be here, my darling. Always."

Thea's lip trembles, and Loki smiles and says gently, "Stop crying, little one. Too many tears have run out of those pretty green eyes." She leans against him, taking deep breaths, and Loki says, "There. Good, like this, like this."

Thea doesn't say anything, but she just stands there with her head buried in his chest and her shoulders shaking, but less violently than before.

"Let me look at you Thea," says Loki. He tilts his head as he looks at her weary, tear-stained, scarred face, "Oh Thea, what has happened to you?"

She is crying. Loki reaches up and moves some of the hair from her wet face, "Thea," he says quietly.

"I can't, I can't, I can't."

"Yes you can. Yes you can."

"Thea, I want you to know something. Nothing is worthless. Nothing is a loss cause when it comes to you. I need you to be strong, and I need you to shake yourself from this madness that you have thrown yourself into. You are not the same little girl that I once saw. You've grown, for the better, for the worse. Although," he muses, wiping one of her tears with his thumb, "You still are a tiny thing."

Thea whimpers, still wrapping her arms around him in a childish way. Because she's still a child, no matter how much she tries to fight it. 

Loki closes his eyes and sighs, "Thea...I regret everything that has happened. This was not my plan, not my plan to see you end up like this. Perhaps at first, I did not care, but I forgot how powerfully affection can hinder diabolical plans. I did not know that you sly little girl would worm your way into my heart." He holds her close, "I never knew any of this would happen."

"M-make...m-make it stop!" 

"I can't. I can't. Only you can. Only you can stop the battle that is waging inside your heart and inside your soul. I do not know if I can help you."

"L...Loki?"

"Yes?" he asks, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug, "What is it?"

"You...Loki...why...you...here..."

Something has flashed in her eyes, and Loki recognizes something dangerous. Before he can do anything, she pushes away from him fiercely.

And then, Thea is screaming.

"GO! GET AWAY! WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

"Thea-"

"GO, GO, GO, GO!"

She fights madly against him, but he seizes her shoulders and shakes her, "Thea!"

"GO!" she howls, "GO GO GO GO GO!"

"Listen to me! You are not yourself!"

"I'm not MAD!"

"You're not mad," says Loki, still struggling to keep ahold of her, "But you're delirious, my darling. You're gone. I don't know...I don't know if I can..."

She's not listening, and continues to shriek shrilly, "GO AWAY! GO AWAY!"

            Loki stands up, shaking his head, and watches as she drops completely to the ground. "I don't know if I can help you, Thea. Can anyone help someone so weak and crazed?" He stoops down and kisses her forehead lightly. "Shh. Everything will be all right."

            And then he's gone, leaving Thea lying on the ground in wrecking sobs.

Not kidding, I basically cried when writing this, especially the Loki part, which I debated putting in. Please COMMENT your favorite/ most emotioanl part for you in this chapter... and VOTE! Love you, and see you next week! 

love, Sierra