Chapter 15

I helped two men up the ramp and informed Happy that one of them had a broken leg. We had gathered most of the citizens that were left. They were huddled on and around the jet, praying for the safe return of the others. It was a lot harder than I expected it to be but Tony and the others kept the C.Ts occupied while Loki and I worked. That made it easier. I walked down the ramp and examined the large population of people we gathered, I also didn't realize how many people lived in this town.

"Alex!" Tony shouted out. He was about 100 feet from the jet and standing on the road. I flew to over him and landed near a large mass of rubble.

"I hear people." He nodded to the rubble and then flew off. I fell through the rocks, dirt and metal from the houses and to a basement under the road. A group of 6 people were hiding in the corner, some of them injured. I motioned for them to come with me. 

"It's safe. Segura." I said as I urged them to come to me. The ground above us began to shake, threatening to collapse in on us.

"Ella esta a salvo. Vamos." One man said as he rushed the others towards me.

"Do you speak English?" I asked the man as the 6 people crowded around me.

"A little, yes." He nodded.

"I need you to tell them to hold on to me. No matter what happens, they can't let me go." I instructed. The man quickly translated to them and I put my arms out for them to grab on. Everyone wrapped their arms around mine and I instructed the little girl to get on my back. I wasn't sure if I could lift all of them at once, but I had to try. My plan was to fly into the air with everyone holding me and get them out that way, but the ground above us suddenly began to cave in. I pulled away from the people and threw my hands up and above us, stopping the heavy debris. It was a force I hadn't had to handle and I could feel my legs shaking from the pressure. I had to think of a new plan, and fast.

"Crowd around me." My voice strained as I was pushed down by the weight. The man translated to his group and they all cautiously huddled around me as I pushed the debris upwards. I slowly floated into the air, straining myself as I pushed the metal, ground and rocks upwards. A few people started praying and I could hear the little girl whimpering below me. I clenched my jaw, inhaled hard and looked up to the ceiling as I pushed my hands up. The ceiling began to dent inwards and my new plan was to push our way out. But I needed the solid ground to give me leverage. I landed in the center of the group and exhaled as I looked straight ahead to the wall, preparing myself.

"How are we to get out??" The man asked as he looked up. I looked over at him and gave him a reassuring smile before looking back up to the ceiling. I took a few deep breaths before finally holding the last one in and crouching down. I closed my eyes and sprung myself off of the ground as I threw the debris upwards. The ground above us exploded and fresh air wafted down to us. I threw the debris off to the side and caught the excess ones that fell from the new hole. I floated down and told the man to have then grab me again. They all returned to their spots and I launched us off of the ground and out of the hole. I felt exhausted.

"Everyone okay?" I asked, trying to catch my breath. A blast hit the ground in front of us and we were thrown backwards. Dust surrounded us and people coughed as they helped one another us. I waved the dust away, giving us a clear view of what was happening. The 4 Avengers were busy fighting 7 of the CT and didn't notice the one with me. I spotted the rocket launcher attached to his arm and knew I had to get it off of him.

"Back up." I harshly said. The man smirked and fired another rocket at us. I threw my hands into the air, bringing the road in front of up as a shield. The rocket exploded on the other side and I pushed the road ahead of me, towards the man.

"Run to the jet!" I yelled out at the people as I pointed to the jet behind us.

"El jet! El jet!" The man yelled out. He and the other 5 people began running towards Happy, who was standing outside of the jet with his weapon drawn. I turned back around and was grabbed up at the throat by the man. I kept my hand at my side and turned my palm so it was facing him. I slowly tore his rocket launcher off of his arm and he threw me as he tried to stop it. I pulled it away and crushed it in the air next to him. The man growled at me and sprinted towards me as I sat up. A giant green blob rushed the man and knocked him far away from me. The man rolled a few times before coming to a stop on his back. I knew he was dead. The force of the Hulk hitting him at the speed was bone crushing.

"Thanks." I nodded to the big green guy. He grunted and jumped away from me and back to the other fight. I got to my feet and continued to scout out the town for more people. I grabbed a few more groups before running into Loki at the jet.

"You okay?" He asked, breathing hard. 

"I am. You?" I asked him. 

"Of course." He smirked before disappearing. I rolled my eyes at the God and ran back into the town. I managed to get there just as Tony and the Hulk pinned down the last CT. This one seemed to be the leader. He looked almost as mechanic as the Iron Man suit. More machine than man.

"How many did we take alive?" I asked Loki as I walked over.

"5 out of the 10." He said as he looked over at the other 4 that they had tied up. Their cybernetics were powered down and they had coverings over their mouths.

"Should have been 0 out of 10 in my opinion." Bruce said as he crossed his arms. On the way over here Tony said he developed special clothes for Bruce, ones that change with his size instead of tearing. I was thankful for that.

"I can't help but agree." I said as I looked at the destruction around us.

"Alright. Let's go." Tony said as he motioned to the men. Loki and I each lifted 2 of them in the air with our powers and Steven grabbed the leader by the feet, dragging him behind him. We made our way to the jet and I realized most of the survivors were standing outside of it. The jet was too small for the amount of people we saved. The adults had allowed the children to crowed into the jet.

"Yes sir. They are all okay." Happy said into his phone as he gave us a thumbs up. Loki and I dropped the men on the ground and I felt him drap his arm over my shoulder. I leaned into him out of instinct and sighed as I shook my head.

"You did good for your first mission." He said as he looked over at the population. The man who could speak English and the first family I saved all came rushing over to me. Loki removed himself from my shoulder and the children wrapped their arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"Oh." I awkwardly said as I lifted my arms up and away from them.

"Gracias, gracias, gracias, gracias. ¡Nuestro Salvador!" The woman cried as she handed her baby to the man and hugged me too. My eyes went wide and I slowly and awkwardly patted her back. I wasn't sure how to react to this but Loki was enjoying it because he was laughing to himself.

"She says thank you. She says you are their savior." The man translated for me.

"Oh. Tell her it was no problem and I'm glad she's okay. Tell her I'm...sorry about her husband." I softly said as I looked down at the children.

"Ella dice que no fue un problema. Ella se alegra de que estés bien y se arrepiente de Fernando." The man quickly said as he rocked the child in his arms. The woman pulled away and wiped her tears as she nodded at his words. 

"Gracias." The woman softly said as she and her children gathered up in front of me. I nodded and gave them a small smile. They thanked me one more time before walking back over with the group of people.

"It feels weird, being thanked like that." I said as Loki walked back over to me.

"Wouldn't you want the person who saved your life to know how grateful you are to them?" He asked me as he raised a brow. He was right. And I suddenly realized I completely understood her. After he saved my life the first time, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. About how close I was to death and how ready I was to let go. And how he saved me. I threw my arms around Loki and held him tightly against me. Without even questioning me, he hugged me back.

"Thank you for saving me." I said, my voice muffled by his chest.

"I haven't properly thanked you, Loki." I said as I pulled away.

"I'd be dead without you. Twice now." I half laughed.

"Well, since you're so prone to almost dyeing, I guess that means I have to stay close by you at all times." He smirked. I rolled my eyes and bumped my shoulder into his but I went right through him and landed on the ground. It was his illusion. I sat on my butt and Loki laughed as he extended his hand to me. I morphed the ground under him and he slipped right through. I followed and floated above the sewer water he had landed in.

"This is absolutely disgusting!" He said as he stood up and looked at me.

"The prankster becomes the pranky. Hurts, doesn't?" I asked as I smirked.

"I'll get you back, just you wait." He growled. I laughed and went back through the ground and landed on my feet. Loki appeared next to me, smelling like death. I gagged and wafted the smell away from me. He glared and flashed green for a moment. The smell was gone and his hair no longer looked wet.

"Alex, Loki!" Fury yelled. I spotted two more military grade jets circling the land around us, looking for a place to land. We walked over to Fury and he exhaled as he stared at us. Silence filled the air between us three and I wasn't sure if I had done something wrong.

"Good job." Fury finally said. I let out the breath I was holding and relaxed as I looked down. I looked back up at him and nodded at his words. I knew it was hard for him to admit that we did a good job, but I was thankful that he did. It meant a lot coming from him.

"You guys saved a lot of people here." Fury said as he turned and looked over at the two jets that had finally landed. The ramps fell and people began shuffling on.

"How many survivors?" I asked Fury.

"30 thousand out of 39,374." Fury sighed as he crossed his arms.

"Damn..." I sighed as I thought about the 9,374 we didn't save. The 9,374 lives that were lost.

"Could have been worse." Fury said as he looked over at me.

"Don't beat yourself up about this. You did good, kid." His words were actually comforting. He patted my shoulder and walked away from us. He suddenly stopped and looked at Loki and I.

"Oh, and, since you two seem to work so well together, Alex, meet your new partner." He smiled at us before turning and leaving us once again.

"Would you look at that? Seems the Gods favor us." Loki smirked at me and I knew he had to have had something to do with this. I narrowed my eyes at him but couldn't help the smile forming on my face. Loki swayed into me and I laughed as I swayed back. We walked back over with the rest of the Avengers and I told them the news.

"So, Fury made you an official Avenger, huh?" Tony smiled at me.

"That fast? Promising kid right here." Steve chuckled as he gently bumped me with the outside of his shield.

"Kid? She's two years younger than you Steve." Bruce said as he raised a brow and looked at the man.

"Well, yeah but I was frozen for 66 years." Steve shrugged.

"Okay gramps, time to get on the plane. Do you need assistance?" Tony mocked Steve as he ushered him towards our jet. Steve rolled his eyes and I laughed as I followed the Avengers on the jet. The civilians were still being put on the jets but the enemies were on our jet with us. Happy started the jet up and I sat down next to Loki as we took off.

"Hope Thor isn't too heart broken that I stole his partner." I said as I crossed one leg over the other one. One of the prisoners looked over at Loki and I and began talking but his mouth cover muffled it. 

"Shut him up, please." Tony said as he closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. I curiously watched the man as he continued to speak. I noticed how intense in his eyes were as he desperately tried to tell us something. I got up from my seat and Loki watched as I walked over to the prisoners. I knelt down in front of the one who was trying to talk and he began to frantically move around.

"T.J, honey, we don't do that. Move away from the bad guy please." Tony said. I looked over at him and he waved me away. I ignored him and slowly reached towards the prisoner.

"Alex, kid, stop." Steve sternly said. I ignored him too and pulled off the mouth cover from the man. The man coughed a few times and then stared right into my eyes. His deep blue ones filling up with tears as an evil smile spread across his face.

"You think you've defeated us. We are merely foot soldiers in this war. He is coming, and when he does...." The man's thick accent echoed through the silent jet room. He looked around at each of us, his eyes lingering on Loki longer than the rest. He tore his eyes from the God and looked back at me as a tear fell from his eye.

"...you will not stop him."

"What're you talking about?" I asked him. The others joined me in front of the terrorist and he began laughing.

"He will come for you! We've opened his gateway! It's only a matter of time." The man smirked at me. He opened his mouth and used his tongue to pop out his top left tooth. 

"We got a suicide." Steve knelt down and tried to pry the man's mouth open but he resisted. My eyes went wide as the elements in his fake tooth rushed to me. It wasn't cyanide, it was a small explosive device. As soon as the man bit down I threw my hands up, stopping the explosion in his mouth. I pushed my hands together, eliminating the explosion and saving his life. The terrorist's eyes went wide and he tried biting down on the tooth again, but nothing happened.

"It was an explosive." I said as I dropped my hands.

"Kinda embarrassing now, isn't it? I mean, you failed your little trick. And after that ominous delivery of those words. I'd be embarrassed." Tony shrugged at the man. I put his mouth cover back on and looked at the other 4. I could sense the explosive devices in their mouths too.

"They all have one too. Same spot as his." I said as I stood up.

"Fury's gonna have a fiiieeellld day with these guys." Tony chuckled as he walked away from the group and back to his seat. I returned to my seat and the man's words repeated in my head.

"What do you think he meant? The gateway is open. Who's coming?" I softly asked Loki. Loki had been quiet during everything and his green eyes stayed locked on the men.

"They aren't from here." He finally, and loudly, said.

"Where are they from? Santa Catarina?" Bruce asked as he crossed his arms.

"No. I mean, they aren't from this would. They aren't even from this universe." Loki elaborated as he looked over at the scientist. I inhaled hard as I looked over at the group of men. Their eyes all on Loki.

"That's not possible, Loki. They can't be from another universe. Tha- no one- it isn't possible." Bruce's words were studdered and worried.

"Not even you and Thor can travel to another universe." Tony added.

"I can see into their minds. They come from a universe that's been destroyed. Their worlds taken over by... a dark figure. Thei- their heroes slaughtered with ease. He's telling the truth." Loki's words were slow and timed as he looked back over at the men. Loki was scared of whatever he saw in their minds.

"What does this mean? They figured out how to get to another universe and someone's coming to destroy us?" I asked as I looked at Loki.

"No, not coming. He's already here."

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