"What are you?" Loki asked, taking a step back.
Brooke shrugged "A person. A not so normal person, but a person all the same"
"Last I checked people don't have powers!" Loki protested, his eyes wide with fear.
Brooke rolled her eyes at his comment. "Have you not seen Hulk? Or Captain America? Or even my friend, Panther? They're all human and have powers" she retorted.
"They don't count!" Loki stated, trying his hardest not to admit that the woman before him had a point.
Brooke crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall. "Admit it, I have you stumped" she said with a smirk.
"Should we go talk to her?" Thor whispered to Bruce, looking over at the panther that sat in a corner with its back turned to the rest of them.
"Yeah, sure, go talk to the depressed panther lady. See how that works out for you" Tony answered before Bruce could say anything.
"Well we can't just leave her here sulking. Thor does have a point, one of us needs to talk to her" Steve said.
Before anyone could say anything else, Thor walked over to Panther and placed a comforting hand on her head. Panther looked up at him; her blue eyes had tears in them. "Come with me, we're going to talk" he said.
Thor led her to a different room in the helicarrier where there was a window, giving them a view of their surroundings. Panther quickly morphed back into her human form and looked out the window, her expression solemn.
"Talk, say anything you want to. Yell even" Thor instructed.
Panther shook her head "N-n-no, it won't bring Brooke back" she sobbed.
"We told you…" Thor began
"AND I TOLD YOU SHE'S HUMAN! A HUMAN CAN'T SURVIVE THAT DROP!" Panther snapped, before facing away from Thor. "I had known Brooke since we were two years old. We went through thick and thin together. When my parents got a divorce, Brooke was there. When one of her best friends died, I was there. We both kept our dreams alive with the help of one another. Brooke was…"
"Brooke was what?" Thor asked.
"Brooke was like my sister. She didn't deserve to die. Unlike me she had dreams she could accomplish. Brooke was a calm and focused girl, ready to take on anything. And what am I? I'm a person who rushes through things, has a dream too big to even accomplish, and has a very short attention span" Panther whispered.
"Go on" Thor encouraged, listening intently.
"In middle school, Brooke was the one that didn't stray away. She helped others. I was oblivious. I growled at people, if I wanted something, I showed it. I wouldn't let anything stop me. I was…" Panther trailed off.
"A panther?" Thor finished.
Panther nodded "Yeah. But that's not how I got my nickname" she said.
Thor raised an eyebrow at this. "Then how did you receive your nickname?" he asked.
"It began our 8th grade year. One of my friends would always steal my pencil, and I wouldn't tolerate that. So I would tackle him to the ground and grab his arm and force his hand open so I could get my pencil back. Often times I left finger nail marks in his arm, some even bleeding" Panther began.
"You did what?" Thor asked, fighting back a smile.
Panther nodded slowly "Yeah, and for a while, he was the only one that called me Panther. But that all changed one day in band when we decided to play monkey in the middle. I was the only girl willing to play, and I wasn't going to let the guys think I was weak. If the ball hit the ground, I slid over to it, often times getting tangled up with the guys" she continued with a small smile ever so slowly growing on her face.
Thor nodded, motioning for her to continue.
"I left the band room to head to the buses that day with bruises and floor burns on my knees and elbows from sliding across the ground. But I left the boys with more bruises and finger nail marks. After that, everyone used Panther including family" Panther concluded.
"But Brooke called you Nicole a few times" Thor pointed out.
Panther winced slightly at the mention of her deceased friend. "That's because that's my real name. We rarely use it now, but when I annoy Brooke or if I'm in serious trouble, the name is used" she explained.
Thor nodded and stood up. "Well, we should head back to the others now" he said.
With that the two left the room, Panther feeling a bit better although she knew it would take a while before she got over the death of her friend.
"I hate you" Loki grumbled, annoyed.
"No you love me. Now go fish" Brooke retorted.
Loki rolled his eyes but took a card from the deck anyways. "Seriously, who carries cards around with them?" he asked.
"I do, or else we wouldn't play go fish" Brooke said.
"I still want to know where you come from" Loki answered.
Brooke pondered on how to answer the question. She already knew how she would answer it, but Brooke wanted to make Loki wait. Patience was a virtue the god of mischief needed to learn, and Brooke was going to teach him it one way or another.
"Well, I'm waiting" Loki said sternly.
Brooke held her hands up "Ok, Ok. You want to know where I come from?" she asked.
Loki nodded real slowly, a smile on his face.
"I come from Narnia" Brooke stated.
"What kind of world is that?" Loki asked, now clearly interested.
Brooke did everything she could to hold back her laugh as she began to describe the place. "Narnia is a world where it is winter all year round. It has an evil witch as a ruler, a talking lion, and many other things. Sometimes a person from Earth can enter it through a wardrobe" she began.
"MINE!" Panther yelled, jumping on the ball that had hit the floor.
After explaining her story to Thor, he suggested monkey in the middle to see if it was true, and sure enough it was. Panther was all over the place, sliding into Bruce or jumping on Tony to get the ball. More importantly though, she was laughing instead of crying.
"Thor, what did you do to make her like this?" Natasha asked.
"All I did was tell her to talk and I listened" Thor replied.
"Well, it worked. But what are we going to do with her? We have the threat of Loki looming over us. We have no time for a person who barely knows how to control her power and could go back to being sad at any given minute" Clint pointed out.
"We have Panther help out" Thor said.
"Thor, have you lost it? She hasn't had any training! Chances are, Panther would get in the way more than help" Steve whispered.
Thor shook his head in denial. "No, watch her" he instructed.
Panther saw the ball hit the ground once more and watched as Tony did his best to get it. However, Panther was fast and in seconds, her nails were digging into her skin as she yanked the ball from his possession.
"Lesson number one; never EVER play monkey in the middle with me" Panther stated.
"I still don't think it's a good idea" Steve said.
"She has determination and is quick. Panther can do this. Plus it'll take her mind off of Brooke" Thor retorted.
"I thought we all agreed that Brooke might not be dead" Natasha pointed out.
"We did, but Panther isn't convinced. So until she has proof her friend is alive, she is going to believe Brooke is dead" Clint answered.