Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel quotes, characters, plots, etc.
Chapter 1
Hold on. . . don't let go. . . no. . .
Leya Rivers jolted awake from the nightmare, gasping for breath. The same nightmare, over and over again, that plagued her each night. No matter that she was thousands of miles away from New Mexico, no matter that she was still in college and working three jobs trying to support herself, no matter that she had blocked Jane and Erik's numbers on her phone. She still could never escape the inevitable dream that captured her without fail every night.
At first, she'd found it horrible, traumatic, disturbing. At first, she'd let it affect her during the day, allowed it to follow her around like a lost, whining puppy. But now she had gotten used to it, habituated, like people will do. Now, she shook off the last vestiges of its clutches, splashed cold water on her face, and got dressed, the same as she did every morning before class. She was 21 years old now, and in her third year of college.
Stretching and still yawning slightly, Leya entered the tiny kitchen in her equally tiny apartment and put the kettle on to boil water for tea. While she waited, Leya flipped on her little TV and turned to gather her textbooks and various papers etc. for class.
The TV was always on the news since Leya really had neither time nor interest in watching the reality TV shows or movies on the other channels. Leya settled into her morning routine, enjoying the hum of the news reporter in the background as she searched around for her biology notebook. Suddenly, something on the news caught her attention.
". . . attack at an art museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Captain America and even Iron Man rushed to the scene. The attack was preceded by the collapse of a secure government facility, and government sources have hinted that the perpetrator is the same person in both cases. . . "
Curious, Leya turned to look at the screen. She'd heard all the news stories about Iron Man, Captain America, she knew Agent Coulson, knew about S.H.I.E.L.D., and even had the pleasure of meeting two of their agents; Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, who also went by Black Widow and Hawkeye, respectively. Leya had had to admit, they were extremely well-trained. Even a match for her, which was saying something.
On the screen, Leya saw, much to her surprise, Tony Stark, or Iron Man, and Steve Rogers, or Captain America, standing next to each other in a square where she could only assume from the reporter's commentary was in Germany. A crowd of people cowered in fear of someone, and something was burning off to one side. The camera turned to the right, and Leya saw something that made her freeze.
It was really just a blur as the camera swiveled, but it made her blink and squint at the screen. What she thought she saw was a flash of green eyes. It was so quick that it could have been just her eyes playing tricks, just a slant of light. Nevertheless, her heart quickened. She knew she should squash that miniscule glimmer of hope that had suddenly sparked, but she had to be sure. So she booted up her computer and pulled up the latest news stories.
Leya scrolled through an article. She first discovered that the 'secure government facility' that had collapsed was in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Leya knew that was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters locations. Reading further revealed that the person who caused the collapse in New Mexico escaped and had subsequently attacked innocent civilians in Stuttgart, Germany. Leya frowned as she read, then scrolled down where she reached a picture taken at the scene. Leya's hand flew to her mouth and she froze mid-scroll. In the picture was of a man in formal dress clothes – a long black coat, white shirt, tie, and scarf. His black hair was slicked back, but what gave him away were his unforgettable emerald green eyes. And he certainly was unforgettable. Leya could scarcely believe what she was seeing, but it was as clear as day. Leya knew without a doubt that he was, unmistakably, Loki.