Finished this up while watching the Amazing Spider-Man. Love you all! 

Music: 

bu ert jordoin (Olafur Arnalds)        Ben's Death (The Amazing Spider-Man)

Edit: ME 

Chapter Sixty-One

~Nobody's POV~

They return to New York a week later.

As the sun begins to rise over the sleepy castle, there are already several people filtering through the halls. Tony, Max, Jane, Thor, Jack, and Kyle have actually already made the trip, but first with a short stop to the small hill next to the palace. Archer now has a stable hold on the palace, and on Ardhigiza in general, and is feeling confident that he will be able to control the realm on his own, with the help of his friends.

Thea finally emerges from her room as the morning goes by. Most of her physical injuries have subsided, although her ankle is still weak and produces a limp. She is no longer completely delirious, but has transitioned into silence, a fourteen year old ghost. She stands- sort of randomly- by Clint Barton and does so staring straight ahead, her face strained.

 "Goodbye, my friends," says Archer, smiling now at everyone who is left- Steve, Sam, Nat, Loki, Clint, and Thea, "You will always be welcome here."

"Yeah," says Natasha, her arms crossed, although she is smiling a little too, "Keep an eye on your brother, why don't you?"

"Oh don't worry," smirks Jijah, who is standing between Archer and Amara, "We will."

Archer walks forward, offering his final farewells to everyone. Steve shakes his hand heartily, clapping him on the back, then leaning down to say something. Apparently, whatever he says is amusing, because Archer smiles and nods.

Lifolas, after nodding to Clint (and calling him Hawkman- Clint appears to be pleased with this), looks down and puts a hand on Thea's shoulder, "Keep staying strong, little one."

Thea stays silent. Lifolas sighs. Then, he kisses her hand, stands up, and turns away to where Jijah and Amara are standing.

Archer does not get much further with Thea. He takes her hand, and although Thea looks at him, with tears of sorrow and pain in her eyes, she does not say a word to him, even when he asks, "Will you look after yourself for me? Please?" When he does not get a response, Archer closes his eyes, and then pulls her in an embrace. She accepts for a few seconds, but then pulls away from him.

*

As soon as Thea lands in Stark Tower, she immediately runs down to her bedroom and slams the door shut. Clint, who had followed her, leans against the shut door. He can hear her wild sobs emanating from inside, and, shaking his head, he turns away.

He walks down the stairs to the large lounge area, in which most everyone is already congregated. Jane had gone home already, probably to go talk to Darcy. Barney had come by to pick up Jack. It's a mostly silent bunch. For about fifteen minutes, all they do is sit there. Some drink beer. Some don't. "Hey, we won at least," says Tony, trying to break the silence.

It doesn't work.

Fifteen more minutes pass, and then Natasha takes Clint's beer bottle and finishes it up. "What are we going to do with Thea now?"

Tony looks relieved that a topic of conversation has ensued, "Wasn't the original plan for her to go to Asgard with Thor and Loki?"

"That was the original plan, yes," says Thor, putting a hand on Kyle's shoulder. Both Calen brothers look rather sullen at this suggestion, "But now, with recent events..."

"Which would be what?" snaps Loki.

Pause. Then, Steve says, "You know, Loki. You just don't want to admit that you are now the only person in this room Thea won't talk to, or interact with at all. You're just gonna have to accept that right now, man."

Loki looks infuriated, but evidently doesn't deem it wise to continue. He merely slouches in his seat with a peeved look on his face.

"Why can't Thor take her to Asgard?" asks Tony, "I mean, that place is big enough so that she won't have to be near Loki most of the time."

"I don't know if Thea wants to be in Asgard, even if we catapulted Loki off of the other side of space," says Steve.

"Well I'm not sure she's going to want to stay on planet Earth either," says Bruce, twirling a cup holder on the top of his finger and when that fails, fiddles it with his hands, "She's different than all the other girls her age. I don't think this is the place for her."

"I've got a great idea!" says Natasha in a bright, false-cheery tone, "How about, for once, we let Thea decide what happens to her own skin?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure if she's too good at that," says Kyle.

"She's fourteen. Not five. Let her make her own damn decisions, boys," says Natasha, smacking the empty beer bottle in Clint's hand and standing up. "I'm serious." She says, walking towards the door. She slams it with a shut.

Bang.

"That would be her gun," says Clint ruefully.

"On my walls?" demands Tony.

Meanwhile, Max says, "I guess that settles it, then."

He's quite right.

*

Leah's funeral is the next day.

Thea wears the same black dress she had worn to Gwen's service two and a half months ago. She straightens her hair, not because she wants to, but because she would rather do that than go downstairs and face everyone.

A knock sounds at her door, and very very reluctantly, she opens it.

"Hey Thea," says Max, his tall frame taking up most of the doorway. "Can if I come in for a couple minutes?"

Thea shrugs.

Max sits down on the bed, and its springs suppress under his weight. Putting his hands together, he looks up at her, "Do you mind if I'm a selfish bastard for a couple seconds?"

Thea shrugs.

He takes this as an affirmation, "Okay, so you know, Kyle and I would really miss you if you went to Asgard. We're letting you make the choice, but I mean, the ranch won't be the same without you, kid. We've grown mighty attached to you."

Thea stares into nothing, but Max can tell that she is listening.

He smiles a tiny smile, and then holds his hand out and says, "I'd better stop talking, or Thor will have my head." He is careful not to mention Loki's name. "You ready?"

She shakes her head. She'll never be ready.

*

The service is small, in a tiny chapel, with only the Ardhigiza group, Darcy Lewis, Coulson and a couple of his people, and a few family friends of Thea's. And as Thea sits down next to Darcy in the front pew, she looks back and sees Peter entering the church, in a black suit, and sitting down next to Jack and Barney Barton. He waves at her, a small, shy smile on his face. She turns back around.

Thea doesn't pay much attention to the priest as she highlights the tragedy of a young death, and the many positive virtues of Leah. She stares at a spot on the wooden floor and blinks her eyes rapidly and tries to ignore both Darcy's sniffs and the eyes staring at the back of her head and the stuffy room and the sun shining outside and the birds chirping but mostly, the glass casket in front of her holding the lifeless body of her baby sister.

The viewing is after the service. Thea holds back until everyone else had paid their respects. Then, slowly, feeling eyes on her, she walks up to the casket, a sense of dread sinking her feet to the ground.

Leah lies there in her favorite blue Asgardian dress, her chestnut hair lying neatly around her innocent face. Her eyes are closed, and her face peaceful, and if Thea had not known any better, Leah would be sleeping. There are white lily flowers strewn about her and dangling to the floor in bunches.

With a trembling hand, Thea reaches forward and touches Leah's cheek. It's freezing cold, and Thea jerks her hand back, recoiling. Then, she reaches forward and touches her sister's tiny hand.

She waits for Leah to close her fingers around hers. When it doesn't happen, when Leah's hand remains still, Thea feels tears rushing and finally threatening to spill.

Then, she can no longer contain herself. Gravity seems to fail. She drops to the floor beside the pedestal and her shoulders begin to shake in silent sobs, her dress pooled at her feet, the lilies falling around her. She is still holding Leah's hand.

The crowd, which is watching, shifts uncomfortably as they watch Thea cry next to her still, lifeless sister. Tears are hastily wiped, hands are shoved into pockets, and heads are bowed as the onlookers listen to the cries of a girl who has lost her entire family one by one to the horrors of the supernatural world, and who is now saying her last goodbyes.

*

Outside, it is sunny and warm. Thea stands in front of the newly dug grave and watches tearlessly as Leah's body is lowered into the freshly turned dirt. For a moment, Thea starts as if she wants to run forward, but then pulls back as if pulled by an invisible string.

Silently, with a few other people, she helps drop small handfuls of dirt into the grave. Silently, she stands by as the dirt is covered. Silently, she waits as the crowed begins to disperse, many of them gathered around Darcy and a few of Thea's other relatives. But nobody approaches her. They are all afraid to. Mourners are strangely afraid of fellow mourners, especially of the ones that seem the most delicate.

So Thea just watches the proceedings by standing like a grieving statue, her hair blowing in the wind as she watches her baby sister get put to bed for the last time.

*

That night, Thea sits on her bed, curled up, staring at her feet. Her tears are dry- she hasn't cried since the viewing. She's too numb for crying.

From her nightstand, she hears her phone buzzing as if from another world. She ignores it and keeps staring at her feet as if she has never seen them before.

The phone buzzes again for a while and then is silent for a couple moments. Then, two short buzzes.

Seconds later, she hears a rapping at her window. Startling, she leaps back, but then her eyes widen as she watches the window open and a head poke through.

It's Peter. His Spider-Man mask is in his hand, but he's still wearing the rest of his suit. His hair is mussed from the wind, and he's smiling at her softly, "Hey, Thea."

She just looks at him.

"Hey, so, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me. You know, for a little bit." Peter shrugs, looking at her as if it were any other day.

Thea purses her lips, then glances at the door.

Peter immediately knows what she's thinking, "Here, here, hold on a minute." He hops inside her room and rustles through the top of her desk for a pen. Grabbing a sheet of paper, he writes something down, then holds it up for her to see: Took Thea out for a swing. Be back soon. P. Parker. "Good?"

She nods.

"All right, grab a jacket, it's a little nippy up here at night."

She does, and then looks at him expectantly.

"Okey doke," says Peter, holding out his arms for her, "Just hold on to me, got it?"

Moments later, Thea is holding onto Peter tightly as he swings over the streets of New York. Her eyes widen as she watches the cars go by below her and the lights twinkle in the buildings. She looks behind her: Stark Tower is a beacon of light behind her, fading in the distance.

A few, life-changing, ecstatic minutes later, Peter lands on a high rooftop all the way across the city from the Tower. He sets Thea down gently on her feet and then takes his mask back off. He lets her walk over to the edge of the roof and look down, down so many stories below to the bustling city of New York.

When she turns around, she sees Peter sitting down on an air conditioning unit. She hesitantly walks over and sits down beside him. He puts one leg up on the unit, spins so that he's facing her, and says, "So... I hear things have been pretty tough for you lately."

Thea looks down at her hands.

"I want you to know that I'm sorry. I really am."

Thea nods, swallowing hard.

The two of them are silent for a couple minutes, just listening to the sounds of the active city: cars honking, people talking, loudspeakers playing out jingles for the newest Macy's sale.

"I...I...killed her." Thea whispers.

Peter looks over at her. "N-"

"I-I raised the knife. I-I killed her, I saw it, I remember."

"No, Thea," he whispers, "No, you didn-"

"Y-you weren't there! How would you know, you don't know, you don't know."

Peter puts his hand on her chin and pulls her face up, "I do know. I know because you wouldn't ever, ever kill anyone you loved." He smiles a little at her, experimentally.

"I did it," she cries, leaning against his shoulder, "I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it!'

"Okay, c'mere, Thea, c'mere," Peter wraps his arms around her and rocks her back and forth, "C'mere, shh, shh."

"I can't live like this anymore," she sobs, crying into his chest. He smells like sweat and electricity and peppermint.

"Live like what, live like what," he soothes her, kissing her forehead, "C'mon, Thea, talk to me."

"I can't live...with...with everyone d-dying. My family's all g-gone. I watched all of them d-die. I k-kiled L-Leah!"

"Shh, Thea, no, no, it's all right," says Peter, "I know, I know, I know."

"What would you know about it?" she cries, "I w-watched my family die. I watched my baby sister die in front of me...because of me...because I was stupid and didn't listen to Loki... and Peter, I promised, I promised I would take care of her, what do you know, what do you know?"

"Oh Thea," says Peter quietly, "I do know. I do know."

She looks up at him, her face tear-streaked, "I'm...I'm sorry. I'm s-sorry, Peter, I'm so s-sorr-"

He shakes his head, putting his face down so that their eyes are level with each other, "Don't apologize, Thea, don't ever apologize to me."

They don't say anything for a couple minutes. Then, Peter says quietly, "Do you want me to take you back now?"

"N-no," Thea stammers, tightening her hold around his back, "I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back, I don't want to-"

"Okay, Thea, okay, okay. I know you don't want to go back," he looks down at her tenderly, "You shouldn't be going through this, Thea. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

For several long minutes, Peter just holds her, still rocking her as she cries, as the wind whips around them and as the stars begin to shine even brighter around them. Then, her cries become quieter and quieter, until finally, she sits up, wiping her eyes.

"I-I thought you weren't Spider-Man anymore..." she manages to choke out. 

He smiles a little, "I made a tiny exception. But only for you."

Thea nods, stil burying her head in his neck.

"You wanna go back now?" Peter whispers, wiping a stray tear from her eyes, "'Cause I'll take you back whenever you want me to."

She swallows.

"There are so many people who love you, Thea. And many of them are in that tower. So, so many, Thea. Darcy love you. Max and Kyle love you. Nat loves you. Clint loves you. Loki loves you-" Thea's lip curls, but Peter presses on, "Jack loves you, I love you, we all love you, Thea! We are all here for you." He leans and kisses her forehead, "Now do you want to go back?"

She looks up at him, her tear-filled eyes sparkling in the city lights.

Taking a deep breath, she whispers, "Y-yes." 

-------------------

This chapter makes me pretty sad too...geez such a depressing part of this story. Eh. I'm sorry. 

Anyway. doesn't the big pic on the edit look just like Peter and Thea? :D 

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Love you :D 

Have a great day (night)! :) 

xx Siera