Harper took a deep breath as she walked out of her apartment. She had just come back from finishing her first year at college, and couldn't wait to see her younger friend again. It felt like forever since to two had last seen each other.
She was a bit scared though. Unsure if her friend changed during her time away, or even if she still wanted to be friends. The thought unnerved her, so she decided not to dwell on it for too long.
In a few minutes, she had reached the apartment of her friend. She quickly fixed her blond hair by redoing her ponytail, and she hesitantly knocked on the door. Within a few seconds, the door opened and she was greeted by her friend's father.
"Hey, Harper! It's nice to see that you're back," He smiled.
Harper chuckled, "It's nice to be back Mr. Rogers. But is Chrissy around?" She tried to look behind him to see if she was home.
"Yeah hold on." He turned around and yelled, "Chrissy! Harper is here!"
"Harper? Heck yeah!" The young girl's shouts were followed by fast-paced footsteps.
As soon as Chrissy saw Harper in view, she pounced on her with a hug. "I missed you!" She said with a huge smile plastered on her face.
"Yeah I missed you too bud," Harper replied while ruffling the 16 year old girl's hair.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back early?" Chrissy asked.
Harper's smile became devious. "Because I wanted it to be a surprise. And see that priceless look on your face."
Before they could catch up fully with each other, a phone began to ring. Everyone searched their pockets to see if the ringing belonged to them.
Chrissy's father saw that he had received a text from S.H.I.E.L.D. There was an urgent meeting and he had to leave as soon as possible. He didn't want to ask Harper to watch over his child because she just got back, but he had no choice.
He walked over to Harper to tell her what was going on. "Hey, I know you just got back and you're probably tired, but could you watch over Chrissy for a while? Something came up at work and I have a mandatory meeting. If I'm not back by nine, you can head back to your apartment."
Harper nodded, understanding him completely. "It's no problem, Mr. Rogers. Besides, I don't mind watching over Chrissy. We have a few things we need to catch up on."
Steve smiled and went over to said person. "Hey Chris, I have to go for a while. Have fun with Harper." He waved and left the apartment leaving the two alone.
He went to the parking garage and got on his motorcycle, heading off to work. When he arrived, he took the elevator to the meeting room and was greeted by his co-workers.
"You're late, Steve." Tony Stark joked from his seat at the large meeting table in the Avengers Tower.
"It's New York traffic, what do you expect?" Steve smiled as he sat next to Clint and Bruce.
Nick Fury cleared his throat. "Avengers, we need to get down to business. Loki has returned."
Tony frowned. "So that's why Thor is here…. But how did he escape? I thought he was locked tightly away in an Asgardian prison?"
Thor stood up. "It is uncertain how my brother has escaped, but he did. Now we must locate him."
"Do we know why he escaped?" Bruce questioned. "Knowing Loki, he had to have a reason for escaping."
Thor continued. "That is also uncertain. However, we do know that he has help. Two other prisoners disappeared at the exact moment Loki did. They are highly trained assassins who work for anyone, given the correct price. We have also uncovered that they broke into the armory and stole Loki's scepter."
"Great. Loki, his scepter, and space assassins. I'm sure that's a great combination…." Tony stated as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Can we pinpoint his location? His magic is bound to give off a signal Tony can trace." Clint asked.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has already tried to trace his location. He spread his magic throughout the city to hide his trail." Fury said while looking at his notes for this mission.
Tony sighed. "Loki just loves making everything difficult. I guess I'll have to search for him the old fashioned way and see if facial recognition finds him on any security cameras throughout the city."
"Bruce, Clint, and I can help you with that, Tony," Natasha said and stood up from her seat.
Thor nodded. "I shall survey the city with Mjolnir, see if I can spot Loki wreaking havoc."
"I'll help you guy in a couple minutes, but first I'm going to contact Chrissy and tell her to come to the tower. I don't want her getting caught in the crossfire." Steve said.
As their meeting was adjourned, Fury had one last remark. "Avengers, find Loki. Before he destroys half the city again."
Hello! This is the first collaborative story of a series that a friend (Yesi) and I (VT) are writing together. I hope that you all enjoy the stories we will be creating, and if you have any comments or constructive criticism, we are open to them! Have a great day!:)