The Secret Asgardian (An Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter 7: Realisation

7. Realisation

“A book?” Nick repeated sarcastically, folding his arms.

“Yes, sir,” Rogers replied for us.

It was the morning after our first ‘mission’ and Stark, the Captain and I were sat in the official meeting room reserved for business and berating only. Nick was doing a bit of both. We sat around the round table, watching the Agent. I fidgeted on the hard chair.

Fatigue was making it hard to concentrate – I hadn’t slept when we’d gotten back to base, and had opted to explore some of the building. I hadn’t found anything interesting, except a lab filled with foaming and smoking concoctions of different coloured liquids in vials and conical flasks.

“Do you know what the book was about?” Nick asked briskly.

“No sir.”

“He’s right – the only info the museum had on it was that the book was ancient and written in a long-dead language,” Tony supplied, leaning back in his chair, totally at ease.

“We’ll have to look into that. Did you see Loki?”

Silence.

“Well?” Nick asked impatiently.

“I saw him. I spoke to him,” I admitted reluctantly.

“You did? And you let him escape?” Nick’s voice was dangerously low.

“He did nothing wrong-” I started, but Nick cut me off sharply.

“He’s one of Earth’s biggest threats, and you just let him go?”

“Loki was just-”

“Why did you let him go?! You should have captured him and brought him here! We could have questioned him and contained him!” Nick was slowly going red.

“But that didn’t work last time,” I pointed out wisely, having learnt all about what happened when Loki last came to Earth from Stark.

Nick slammed his fist on to the table in frustration, and I flinched.

“If you have the chance to kill Loki, or capture him, you should take it!”

I stayed silent, and stood up abruptly.

“I’m tired – I’m going to bed,” I stated, and left the room, slamming the door for good measure. I expected Fury to come charging out and send me to my room like a child, but he did not.

Blindly, I walked down various pristine corridors until I banged into someone.

“I’m sorry,” I apologised quickly, and then looked up at who I’d bumped into.

“No problem,” Peter Parker said cheerfully, and I noticed he was wearing ordinary clothes. I couldn’t be bothered morphing into new clothes, so I kept my armour on.

“Hey, you look kinda angry,” He observed, and I scowled.

“Is it that obvious?”

Peter watched me for a second before smiling suddenly, a twinkle in his eye.

“Come with me – I want to show you something,” He said, grinning mischievously. I was about to ask what, but he had already started to walking away.

I trailed after him, and we walked in silence. My anger began to ebb, and I exhaled loudly.

A few minutes later, we reached a door with a sign that read “Do not enter”. I raised my eyebrow as Peter opened the steel door. He winked and slipped through, and I felt cold air hit my face.

When I followed curiously, I found myself stood on what looked like a small balcony. It was a tiny platform, just enough room for two people to comfortably stand on without falling over the waist-high metal walls and plummeting to the ground. The two huge fans on our side surprisingly didn’t make too much noise. I stood by Peter, who was gazing below.

I gasped in awe as I looked over and saw the sea a few miles below. The water shimmered in the dawning sunlight, and I was mesmerized by the slow, steady waves as the Helicarrier (the air-ship that was S.H.I.E.L.D’s base) flew over. Various boats and ships cruised by, idly making their way across the sea. As I looked into the distance, I could just make out the start of land. Birds careened in the air, doing air acrobatics, constantly staying away from the huge fans of the aircraft.

In this moment, I could see why the humans would fight tooth and nail for their world.

Earth was … beautiful.

“How do you feel?” Peter murmured, and I glance over at him with a small smile.

“Better. Thank you,” I said earnestly, and he smiled back sweetly.

As I studied his honest face, it occurred to me that Peter Parker was very good looking, with his dark brown hair and piercing, sky-blue eyes … I pushed the thought to the furthest corner of my mind. He was too young for me … maybe not physically, but I was too old. I sighed and looked out at the sea again.

“What are you thinking?” Peter asked curiously, and I felt my cheeks redden slightly. I hesitated.

“That the colour of the sky is pretty,” I managed, half-truthful.

“Yeah, I guess it is. But I prefer the colour green,” He replied nonchalantly. I glanced at him sharply, but he was looking back at the water.

A slow smile crept across my face, and I spent another half an hour there, watching life go by.