Sorry if this chapter is a little short... hope you like it :D 

Have a lovely day, and I'll probably be updating again soon... 

Edit: ME

Chapter Eight 

~Nobody's POV~

Surprisingly, in fact, Max is relatively calm as he walks into Thea's room that night, after Kyle had explained everything to him and Tony. "Thea, we're having a meeting. Come on with us, okay?" His voice is mellow, but underneath his clipped tone, there is something in there that Thea can barely discern as hidden anger. 

"Yeah," she whisper. She has already changed into sweat pants and a t-shirt, but knows that she's not much in a comprisable position. She follows Max down the quiet halls of Stark Tower silently, like a shadow afraid to talk. Halfway down the stairs, she asks timidly, "How mad are you?"

"On a scale from one to ten?" Max glances up at her as they head down the last flight. "About a hundred thousand." 

She swallows hard. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are." Max's tone is not forgiving. 

"And I know you would be yelling at me if it weren't for Kyle." 

This causes him to smile ever so slightly. "I'm still considering it." 

Thea bits her lip and shivers from the cold that filters through her thin shirt. "I'm sorry," she repeats.

Max sighs, "You know, Thea, it just would be much easier if you didn't go looking for trouble." 

"Videl would have found me eventually," she says miserably, scuffing her foot on the carpet. 

"I know that. But what if something had gone wrong with the portal, and you wouldn't have been able to get back home? What then?"

"I would have died?" she offers in a high voice. 

Max glares back at her. "You're not helping yourself." 

"Sorry," she whispers for the third time. 

"And stop saying sorry. I know you're sorry." 

Inside the low-lit dining room stands six figures: Kyle, Tony, Phil Coulson, Pepper, Bruce, and Clint. They all look up as Thea and Max enter. 

"Hey look, our own little criminal," says Tony by way of greeting. Thea is relieved that he doesn't look mad, just ever so slightly worried. "Thanks for joining us." 

"Alrighty," he continues as Thea sits down between Max and Pepper. "Let's get to it. Somehow, we need to get to this Minera person-"

"Myrinea," Thea whispers, tentatively as if afraid of being snapped at.

However, Tony takes the correction in stride, acknowledging Thea with a nod. "Right. So she has her own little hidey-hole between Asgard and this vampy world that I don't feel like trying to pronounce. I very much doubt we should try to use the portal to get there; it's caused us enough trouble." 

Bruce looks up, "Besides, it only takes us to the nine worlds."

Tony points at him. "Exactly. We've been trying to get in connection with Thor, but it's not working too well. The Birfrost is shut, and now that we've disconnected the portal, we're sort of Thor-less for a while." 

"Doesn't Jane go up there?" asks Kyle, drumming his fingers on the table, "She should be able to  get a message."

"Yeah, if she goes there, which she hasn't, in a month." 

Kyle closes his mouth. 

"Yeah, where is Jane anyway?" asks Max. "I would have thought that with Thea here, she would have ran up to Stark tower." 

"That's because she's not in New York," says Coulson. "She, Darcy, and Dr. Selvig are in Minnesota, formulating thesis on the correlation of strata of different soils and the time paradox."

"Fascinating," quips Kyle, whose mind is more biological/spy oriented than physical. "Point being, we are going to need Thor before we get to wherever-this-is."

"Jane is on a plane tomorrow, as well as Darcy," says Coulson. "She's going to try to communicate with him."

Pepper is diligently taking notes, stopping momentarily to give Thea a glass of water and a smile. She takes it gratefully.

"What about Natasha and Steve?" asks Pepper. "And Sam, for that matter. Won't they be able to help? I know they're busy in Eastern Europe, but..." 

"They're actually on a plane right now," says Coulson. 

"Really?" asks Pepper.

"Yep. They're not very close to coming in contact with the Winter Soldier, and they've elected to take a break and go on to other things."

The only sound is Pepper taking furious notes. Thea admires how calm she is. 

"Now what about this Videl guy?" asks Bruce finally. "Thea, did he give you any time limit?" He looks at the girl kindly, who is squirming slightly in her chair at Videl's name. 

"No," she says quietly, "But I don't think he's that patient. He and his brother are weak."

"Yeah, how about that?" asks Tony. "Why don't we just kill the lot of them?"

Thea looks horrified. 

Bruce answers this, "From what I can formulate, not only are these Velah very hard to kill, but Videl evidently has spies. If he gets wind that we're going to try and murder him and his brother, from what it sounds like, he will kill a whole bunch of people."

There's a general silence at this. 

"Okay then," says Tony. "We're basically waiting for the majority of our party, namely Cap, Natasha, the Falcon, and a Norse god. They should be here tomorrow, right?" 

"Except for Thor, who we have no idea how to contact at present, yes." confirms Coulson. 

Thea looks up, slight excitement in her eyes. Although she will not admit it out loud, she has missed Steve, Jane, Darcy, and Natasha and is looking forward to seeing them. As for Thor, she knows she may or may not see him anytime soon.

After about ten minutes more of conversation, the meeting breaks up; it's nearly eleven at night. Thea reluctantly follows Max and Kyle back towards the hallway where the guest rooms are. She doesn't really want to go back to sleep. 

When she does, she's tortured with more nightmares. 

*

~Thea's POV~

When I wake up, I'm panting and sweating (again). Groaning, I drag myself out of bed and check my phone. It's already ten, and I have eight texts from Jack. 

From: Jack

just checking on you...you okay?

From: Jack

hello...

From: Jack

THEA HELLO

From: Jack 

WHAT YOU GOT THREATENED BY A VAMPIRE WHAT 

From: Jack 

Geez, you always land yourself in trouble

From: Jack

ugh I sound like Max

From: Jack

Ok, you can reply at any time now. 

From: Jack

I'm only staying at school for half a day, so I guess I'll see you at Stark tower then??

I hurriedly text him to prevent him having a heart attack and then also text Peter a good morning text, just something to make him smile a little. Maybe. 

I'm in the middle of changing when I hear a knock at my door. "Wait a second!" I holler, jumping up and down as I try to get my jeans on. I check my reflection in the mirror to make sure the concealer I put on at least masks the majority of my dark circles, and then open the door. 

I squeal. "Natasha!" 

She smiles at me, hugging me back. "Hey, Thea, how have you been? It sounds like you've worked up some trouble..." she laughs slightly, "Again." 

"I tend to do that, don't I?" I grin, not able to help myself. 

She shrugs, her green eyes darting over me, probably seeing right through my concealer. "I was just like you when I was your age."

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Sierra <3