Hey guys! I've been reading alot of Loki/OC stories lately and decided it's time I make one of my own. It's set after the Avengers movie. I hope you like it. Don't forget to review, favorite, or follow! ;)
Lyra - (Leer-rah)
Duty Calls
Searching, it's a single truth that every living being can agree upon, that we can hope to find whatever it is we're looking for. We're born, raised to develop minds of our own, and left to begin our journey to an unknown awaiting prize. At least that was the notion believed by lowly elementary school music teacher Lyra Lane. She had the habit of falling into deep philosophical pondering and it often led to snickers from her young students, much like right now. They pulled her out of her spell and she addressed them with a wide smile, apologizing for what seemed like the thousandth time.
Her current group of third graders each gave back a bright smile in return.
"Alright class, now that I've done a little thinking, it's time to reveal what to expect for our spring music concert." She said excitedly.
The children's faces lit up and they all started chattering at once.
"Okay, okay, settle down now," their young voices quieting, "I know you're all very eager and so am I because your class has been assigned something very important."
That got their attention immediately, all of their faces full with curiosity. She looked at each individual to let their imaginations stew with what could possibly be so important. One little boy though, could not hold his excitement any further.
"What is it Ms. Lane?" A young dark haired boy asked politely, holding his hand in the air.
Andrew, always the anxious one. Lyra gave him a warm smile and clasped her hands together.
"This year's show is going to be very special because your class will be performing for the first anniversary of the New York alien attack."
Twenty pairs of eyes bulged and the noise level rose again with whispers and shouts.
Andrew raised his hand again, this time more urgently. "Will Captain America be there ?"
A blonde boy seated next to him punched him in the arm. "Of course he will! Won't he Ms. Lane?"
"Ty, don't punch your brother! What is the one rule in my class?" She asked sternly, hands on her hips.
"Don't do unto others what you wouldn't want done to you." He said softly, looking like a beaten puppy.
"Exactly. Now apologize to your brother and behave." Lyra ordered.
"Sorry Drew." Ty mumbled.
Andrew nodded, rubbing his sore arm. Lyra sighed and looked at the two brothers. More often than not, Ty would pick on his younger brother and it frustrated Lyra to no end. It didn't help that Ty's actions set an example for the other boys to pick on poor Andrew or that most of the other children preferred Ty to him either. Ty was the boy everyone wanted to be friends with while Andrew was treated like the Bubonic plague. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him and no reason why he shouldn't be as popular as his brother.
"Okay, now where was I?" She asked rhetorically.
The shrilling sound of the bell broke her backtracking and she quickly rambled bits of information about the concert as the students filed out the door for recess.
"Ty and Andrew, stay." She said quickly, before the two boys could leave.
As the last students exited, Lyra kicked the door stand away and shut the door to her classroom. The two siblings still sat in their assigned seats looking at her expectantly. She walked over to her desk in the right corner of the room and pushed her rolling chair in front of them.
She looked at both with a concerned look and spoke gently.
"You two must stop this war you're raging. It's not what brothers do." She scolded.
"But Ms. Lane, it's not my fault that the others don't like him. He doesn't even like anyone else!" Ty exclaimed defensively.
"That is no excuse to physically harm your brother. If I catch you doing that again there will be consequences." She warned. "Now go outside and play."
The golden-haired boy rose from his seat defeated and left the room, Lyra watching after him.
"He hates me, they all do." Andrew said quietly, getting Lyra's attention.
"Hey now, no he doesn't." She said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Then why don't they like me?" He said, sniffling and looking at the carpet.
"Look at me Andrew," she said, lifting his chin up so she could see his green eyes, "there is nothing wrong with you at all, you're amazing just the way you are. The others just haven't gotten to see that yet."
She got up from her kneeling position in front of him and grabbed a few tissues from a box on her desk, handing them to him.
"When will they see?" He asked, wiping his nose.
"When you want them to." She replied back warmly, wiping away the wet trails that stained his cheeks.
He looked at her, puzzled, tilting his head slightly.
"Show them that you want to be their friend and that you're not afraid of them." She explained.
"What if they don't want to be my friend?" He asked, face contorted with doubt.
"Then they missed out on a great opportunity. Besides, if they don't want to be your friend then you'll always have one in me." She said pleasantly, giving him a big smile.
"Thank you Ms. Lane." He said happily, wrapping his arms around her.
"Your welcome Andrew," She said sincerely, smiling, "now go outside and make some more friends, alright?"
"Okay." He replied, jumping out of his seat with new spirit.
Lyra watched him go and hoped that none of the other children would be mean to him. She never liked to play favorites with any of her students but if she had to choose, Andrew would be at the top of her list. He was always willing to help her with any small tasks and often gave up his recess time to help her choose the songs they'd sing for future lessons. Aside from the occasional scolding, Andrew's brother was also a joy to have. Ty was always the one to sing loud enough to encourage the others to join in too. It was a shame that Andrew felt shadowed by his older brother and Lyra made a mental note to talk about it with the boys' parents when conferences came around again.
Now that that small matter was solved, the music teacher went back to planning the upcoming spring concert. It was a complete surprise that the City of New York chose Ryder Elementary School above all other schools to perform on behalf of the city, let alone her third grade class. It was even harder to believe that it had only been a year since the alien attack.
Lyra remembered that day well, how everyone was running wild trying to get all the children to the tornado shelter in the gym. It wasn't until she got home late that night that she saw exactly what had happened to downtown New York. There was debris everywhere and carcasses of strange, otherworldly creatures big and small. Interview after interview appeared on her television screen, different people all claiming that the world was saved by a small group of people the government controlled.
One of two identifiable members Lyra recognized was billionaire Tony Stark in his highly advanced Iron Man suit. The news claimed another man that had a costume of red, white, and blue was an American soldier called Captain America. None of the other members were identified, but Lyra still wanted to know more about the attack. It didn't take her long to find a crappy cell-phone video online that someone took of that day. It was hard to make out anything solid, since the person holding the device was shaking uncontrollably. In the few last seconds of the video though, a big green mass took over much of the view of the camera and a terrifying roar came from it. It was under the video that someone had written their take on what it was, speculating that the creature in the video was the same one that nearly destroyed Harlem three years ago.
It made Lyra curious as to what other secrets the government had and even more about this new global superhero team. She normally stayed clear of anything related to unordinary people or the government. If someone knew that she was apart of that crowd, she could be hunted down, captured, and cut open like some kind of extraterrestrial. She was pretty good at concealing her abilities, only having one accident when she was in her teens, but that was never an excuse to let her guard down. Anything could trigger her powers, so she always tried to remain as calm as possible. Ty and Andrew were enough to test her will and she prayed that her attempts to make things better between them would help not only them, but herself as well.
Lyra didn't realize that she was staring outside at the children playing, drifting off into space again, when a knock at her door startled her.
"Come in." She said, shuffling some papers on her desk to appear busy.
She looked up from the papers to see a man in a dark blue suit enter. He had brown hair with a receding hairline and light blue eyes. He had some sort of ear piece attached to his head and had his hands clasped in front of him. His whole aura screamed discipline and business, a government lackey. Her stomach twisted with fear, but she knew how to put on a calm façade and simply stared at him.
"Hi, can I help you?" She asked, putting down the papers and approaching him slowly.
"Yes, you're Lyra Lane, elementary school music teacher of Ryder Elementary, correct?" He asked nonchalantly.
My brow furrowed in confusion at his unnecessary confirmation of my occupation. "Yes, who are you? What do you want?"
"You may refer to me as Agent Coulson. Ms. Lane, I'm here on account of Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D to ask if you'd be willing to lend us your services for your country and would participate in a top secret government project."
Lyra's eyebrows rose at his request, then she let out a scoff of annoyance. "Well unless my country is in serious need of a lesson in vocals, than I'm afraid I don't see how I can be of use."
She began to gather her things to leave for her lunch break, having a panic attack inside. Did they know about her powers? Could she have slipped? No, it wasn't possible.
"Ms. Lane I wasn't referring to your teaching abilities. You and I both know what I'm talking about." He said tranquilly, staring her down.
She was starting to sweat now, her calm mask cracking. "No Agent, I don't. Now if you don't mind, it's my lunch break."
She intended to walk right past him, but he caught her arm before she could move any further.
"Ms. Lane, please don't mistake me for an idiot because I'm not. We know about the incident in Central Park on April 5th, 2000 when you were sixteen. Now, would you like to change your story?"
Lyra wanted to run at that moment, to sprint for her life and never look back. She couldn't make that choice though, to live a life of constant running. Instead she chose to stop playing dumb and start asking questions.
"Okay Agent, so you and your boss know about me. I've tried very hard my whole life to not gain attention from the likes of you people, yet here you are. I do not approve of being involved in government affairs and I'm certainly not going to blindly sign up to be split open on a metal table. So you have about three seconds to take your hand off of me and explain a little more about why you're here before things get ugly." The dark-haired educator deadpanned.
He did as she said, unaffected by her biting words and gestured to one of the chairs her students sat in. She sat down, eyeing him warily as he sat too.
"To put it simply Ms. Lane, the fate of the world is in trouble again and we need more people like you to help us change that." He said seriously, gauging the young teacher's reaction.
"Let me get this straight, you want me to put my trust in an agency I've never heard of, sign up to be on a top secret government team and leave my whole life behind all so I can dress up and play superhero?" She asked breathlessly.
"Yes Ms. Lane I am," He said blankly, "and we're running out of time."
"I have no military training and barely have control over my powers Agent Coulson. I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline." She said with certitude, walking away from him.
"I hoped that you would cooperate, but it looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way."
She stopped dead at his words and noted a tone of regret in his voice when she felt a prick at the back of her neck. She only had a few seconds to pull the tiny dart out and look at Coulson in shock before everything went black.
Ta da, hope that was long enough for a first chapter. It's always hard getting through the introductions because you always want to get to the good stuff, I know. Next chapter should introduce some more characters and a little more character development for Lyra. Thanks for reading and please review!
ASTS