Chapter 18

I stood in Tony's living room with Loki and a few other Avengers. I still couldn't believe Fury wants Loki and I to go off world. I'm completely inexperienced and still so new to this.

"Why us???" I asked Tony as Pepper handed me a cup of coffee. She put her arm over my shoulder and pulled me close as she looked at her boyfriend.

"Because Thor is busy with Asgard stuff, Peter is dealing with another tantrum from Green Goblin, Winter Soldier, Cap, and Falcon are off meeting with someone who has intel about a new Hydra group that's rising up in Europe. Clint and Nat are taking a week break and Bruce, Black Panther and I have some important work here with the CTs. Think the Guardians are gonna meet up with you on the planet." Tony explained as he walked over with his own coffee. 

"Worried about going or something?" Pepper asked as she moved her arm and we moved over to the couch. She sat down and I plopped down next to her. It had been the first time I got to sit down and relax since I had gotten these powers. Exhaustion immediately took over and I yawned as I nodded.

"I am. This is off world we're talking about." I half laughed. I felt my body sinking into the couch and into Pepper as Tony sat on the love seat and Loki sat next to me.

"This is just to gather some info, nothing to worry about. I read the planet file, they're peaceful people." Tony explained. I felt more comfortable about the mission now but it was still nerve racking. I let my head fall back and closed my eyes as I sighed. That was the last thing I remembered. I fell asleep.

"Alex?" Pepper softly asked me. I opened my eyes and lifted my head off of her shoulder and she greeted me with a smile.

"You okay?" She asked me, her smile hiding her concern.

"Yeah. Just a little tired." I nodded and rubbed my eyes as I sat up straight.

"You fell asleep in the middle of a conversation." Tony raised his brow.

"I'm not used to this. Running on no sleep and doing things that require...so much physical exertion." I shrugged before rubbing my hands down my face and sighing.

"Maybe she should take a break, Tony. Get Nat or Clint to go on this mission." Pepper suddenly said. I didn't want to pull someone else into this mission just because I felt a little tired. I'm sure everyone is tired. All we do is work and work and work and save people. 

"No." I quickly responded.

"I'm fine." I smiled.

"You sure?" Pepper asked me as she sat up and took my chin in her hand. She gently looked into my eyes and narrowed her own.

"I can see the bags." She added.

"Gee, thanks mom." I laughed as I rolled my eyes and pulled away from her.

"I'm fine. Really." I nodded to her and then to Tony.

"Alright, T.J, whatever you say. You leave in 10." Tony nodded at myself and Loki as he stood up. He sipped his coffee as he walked away and Pepper quickly joined him. I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes again, feeling myself drifting asleep.

"Ya know." Loki suddenly said, waking me up. I opened one eye and glanced over at him, seeing his smirk.

"What?" I asked him, closing my eye.

"Our conversation was interrupted on Asgard. I was very much enjoying it." He chuckled. I felt my cheeks heat up with a blush and sat up as I opened my eyes and looked over at him.

"Right. You had just admitted you had feelings for me, a human." I replied, forcing my smile to hide away.

"I did. But I was talking about when you kissed me." He smirked as he raised one brow. I lost my smile and clenched my jaw as the butterflies danced in my heart and stomach.

"Excuse me, you kissed me, remember? I even pulled away but you pulled me back. Or did you forget?" I sarcastically argued. Loki suddenly put his hands on the sides of my face and pulled me close to him, stopping less than an inch from his lips.

"It was like this, right?" He whispered, his breath flowing onto my skin. I slowly nodded, feeling completely frozen in time. His left thumb slowly traced my bottom lip as his bright eyes studied my face. He gently removed his thumb and placed it back on my cheek as he closed the gap and kissed me once again. I inhaled and placed my hands on his chest, lightly gripping his suit. He pushed himself into me and I felt like I was floating. His kiss sparked feelings in my I never knew existed. It was something I never wanted to stop feeling.

"Shit, before you guys go-" Tony's voice called out from upstairs. Loki gently pulled away and I slowly opened my eyes as I inhaled through my mouth. I felt a wide smile form over my face and Loki looked down as he bit his bottom lip and smiled to himself.

"-I need to put your implants in." Tony said as he hit the last step. I tore my attention from Loki and furrowed my brows as I stared at Tony.

"My what??" I half laughed.

"Every Avenger and Avenger associate has to be implanted. Fury likes to keep real records of events. One in each eye, one in each ear." Tony explained as he touched his ears and motioned to his eyes.

"Um, why?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"The eyes record the events that unfold and the ears record the sound. They also both connect to your internal systems, meaning we can keep track of your vitals." He explained.

"And everyone has this??" I asked as I looked over at Loki. He nodded at my question but I was still cautious about it. 

"It's like putting in a permeant contact and new ear drum. You won't feel them." Tony reassured me.

"Are they on all the time?" I asked as I looked back at him.

"No. They activate when you say your password. 5 numbers." He replied.

"And they turn off when you say the password again." He added.

"We turn them on at the start of every mission. The ear device can go both ways, giving Fury the ability to contact you when needed if it's a middle of a fight emergency." Loki said, pulling my attention to him. I swallowed hard and looked back to the billionaire. He smiled at me and I inhaled as I stood up.

"Alright." I nodded.

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"Annnnnnd done. See? Painless." Tony laughed as he walked away from the table. He had Loki numb me and keep my attention as he installed the ear devices. He then had Loki put me in a trance for my eye installation. It was uncomfortable but painless.

"What's my code?" I asked as I sat up and rubbed my eye.

"97315." Tony said as he set his tool down and smiled at me.

"How do I know when it's on and off?" I asked as I took the small hand held mirror and examined my eyes. They looked exactly the same.

"On, you'll hear a small ding. Off, you'll hear 2." Loki answered.

"97315." I loudly said.

"Ding."  I heard the ding in my head but it was very faint.

"So, it's on?" I asked them. They both nodded and I held the mirror up to my face again. I looked into the mirror and raised a brow as I studied my eyes once more. I relaxed my face and a thought occurred to me as I stared at myself.

"Hey Fury." I smiled.

"Fury is not here?" Loki replied, looking around.

"No, but I assume he watches these or gets alerts when they turn on, right?" I asked the two men.

"Yeah he gets alerts." Tony nodded.

"So, he'll see this. I'm just telling him hi." I laughed as I looked back at the mirror.

"97315." I loudly said.

"Ding ding."

"You don't have to be so loud. The devices can detect a whisper as long as it's your voice." Tony added as he took the mirror from me. 

"Hello??" A woman's voice called out from upstairs.

"Cap's here." Tony gestured to the stairs.

"Meaning we have to go." I added as I slowly got up from the table. Tony, Loki and I walked up stairs to see Captain Marvel and Pepper talking in the living room.

"There they are." Pepper smiled at us.

"You guys ready?" Captain Marvel asked, also smiling. 

"We are." I nodded. Her eyes wondered up and down my body as she examined my suit. Her eyes landed on mine and she smirked a little.

"I like the get up." She winked at me. My eyes went slightly wide and my face got red as a blush took over. 

"Oh, t-thanks." I awkwardly laughed.

"Alright. I'll be on the balcony waiting." She nodded at Loki and said goodbye to Pepper before walking outside.

"Loki." Pepper's stern voice broke the silence and we all turned to look at the woman.

"You take care of Alex, okay?"

"Don't let anything happen to her." Pepper harshly said. She was being very protective of me and that made me smile. It was nice to see how much she cared about me.

"I never would." Loki nodded at her. Pepper sternly nodded back and then relaxed as she looked over at me. She pulled me into a tight hug and I wrapped my arms around her, holding on to her.

"Pep? They gotta go." Tony laughed as he pulled his girlfriend away from me. She nodded and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she smiled at me. Tony nodded a goodbye to us and Loki took my hand as he lead me outside. Captain Marvel smiled at us and put her hand on Loki's shoulder. He called on Heimdall and I tightly closed my eyes as the white beam overtook us. We lifted from the ground and I felt Loki wrap his arms around me as we flew off from Planet Earth. My heart was racing and I wasn't sure what to expect on this new planet but having Loki here with me helped those feelings. I knew he meant it when he told Pepper he would never let anything bad happen to me.

*1 hour Later*

Our feet hit the hard ground and the white beam around us disappeared. I slowly let Loki go and looked around the area we were in. We had teleported right to the stairs of a large castle. Captain Marvel let Loki's shoulder go and walked away from us and towards the large doors.

"Wow..." I whispered as I slowly turned around, taking the scenery in. It looked like a more vibrant version of Earth. Like a world straight out of a fairy tale. The natural colors of everything was brighter than the colors I knew. I rubbed my eyes a few times just to make sure it wasn't a side effect of traveling through the bifrost. The beautiful, lush, almost neon green trees held large nests with bright neon pink birds in them. The birds sang beautiful tones, using notes I couldn't recognize. Dogs with light brown fur and cats that almost glowed white ran past us, chasing after one another. The sky was a beautiful pastel blue and the clouds sat in perfect symmetrical shapes as they slowly floated by. The large pond to the right of us looked like there was a light layer of rainbow glitter dusted over the clear water. The bed of flowers to the left of that looked almost cartoony because of how vibrant and beautiful they were.

"And this is Loki and Alex." I heard Cap say. I turned around and my eyes went wide as the alien smiled at me. He was roughly 6 foot, had thin, bright black hair that went down to the middle of his back and beautiful bright pink eyes. His almond skin was practically glowing under the sun.

"It is so wonderful to meet you two." His voice was soft and kind. He held his hand out and I noticed he only had 3 fingers. I placed my hand in his and he brought my hand up to his lips, softly kissing it. I couldn't help but smile and even giggle a little as he slowly let go. He offered his hand to Loki, who seemed less than pleased by the alien's actions. But to our surprise, he kissed Loki's hand too. Loki furrowed his brows as he watched the alien look into his eyes.

"I am Halten. Welcome to Obreanua." He said as he let Loki's hand go and gestured to the world behind us. Loki gently wiped his hand off as he turned and looked behind him. He seemed confused by the hand kiss and I found that entertaining.

"You have a beautiful world here." I said as the alien dropped his arms. He tilted his head to the left and sweetly smiled at me as he nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Alex."

"And we want to keep it this beautiful. If you could tell us about the threat and reason-" Cap began to question him but Halten held his hand up and silenced her, smiling the whole time.

"Tomorrow. I know you traveled a long way to get here. I'm sure you are all tired. We have rooms waiting for you." He said, his eyes falling to me.

"Halten, we appreciate your offer bu-" He held his hand up to Cap again and she clenched her jaw as she looked away from him and out to the pond. I could tell she was getting angry.

"Please. It would deeply offend me and my people if you refused my offer." He said, his eyes still on me. Something about him felt...inviting. I felt open around him but not vulnerable. It felt almost like he was pulling certain feelings out of me, making them dominate over my other ones.

"Fine. We'll stay for one night. But tomorrow we must discuss this threat." Cap sternly said. Halten tore his eyes from me and looked at her, smiling and nodding.

"Of course, Captain Marvel. Over dinner tomorrow." His attention turned back to me. Captain exhaled hard through her nose but didn't protest. Halten motioned for us to follow him into the castle. As we walked down the beautiful hallways, the alien described his world to us. They were a peaceful people, no wars, no weapons, no conflict. They were also a very open race of aliens. Their feelings never hidden. He said they often shared experiences together, intimate ones. I realized he was talking about orgies. Halten said his people thought of sex as something all should share with one another. He said when one turns 6570, which is their equivalent to 18 years old, they are thrown a huge....sex party. Everyone not blood related to the person attends and then things get freaky.

"Sir!" Someone suddenly yelled out from behind us. Halten excused himself and quickly walked over to the man. The man had pastel white skin, bright yellow eyes and thick blonde hair that sat in a ponytail on his head. He wore a white lab coat and I assumed he was a doctor or scientist. I admired the beautiful orange flowers sitting in a vase behind the aliens. The color was just as vibrant as the ones outside but I noticed they were the only plant life I've seen since we entered the castle.

"What." Halten harshly asked. I raised a brow at his sudden tone change and I wasn't the only one to notice this. But the curious feeling suddenly went away and lust began to take over. I couldn't understand why but all I could focus on was Loki and I kissing earlier. I felt him grab my hand and gently squeeze it, sending butterflies through my body.

"Are those-" The strange alien's words broke me from those feelings and I inhaled as I looked over at the pair. Halten shushed the man and sent him away before returning to us with a wide smile.

"Sorry about that. One of our citizens just gave birth and it's accustom for the king to make an appearance." He chuckled as he hurried us down the hall.

"Here is your room, Captain Marvel." He said as he gestured to the door to our left. She thanked him and walked into her room, quickly closing the door behind her.

"Follow me." Halten smiled at Loki and I. We looked at one another and I could see he felt what I felt. Something about Halten seemed off. He lead us down another hall and nodded to a single door.

"And here is your room." He smiled at us.

"Mine or Loki's?" I asked as I opened the door, revealing a single bed inside.

"Both."

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