Steve
"Run!"
It took a few seconds for the team to understand what happened. IN that moment of hesitation, Sy had already sprinted into the woods, wings streaming out behind her as the thing followed behind her, trailing gold sand like any normal creature would trail blood.
A hellhound.
Sy had told him about them once. It had been while she'd still been living with him in his little apartment in Washington DC, before everything had gone to hell with SHIELD. He'd been woken up by her screams, and had run into the other room, shield in hand expecting an attacker. Instead he'd found Sy on the floor, tangled up in her sheets, wings flared out defensively and tears streaming down her face, breathless with sobs.
He'd managed to calm her down, and they'd talked about her nightmare. The first of many late night conversations about both of their pasts. The first night, Sy had tipped her head back, and told him the story of a quest gone wrong right after the Titan War had fully broken out. She had stared blankly at the opposite wall, her normally lyrical voice completely flat and devoid of emotion.
She'd dreamed of a mission she'd gone on. It had been three weeks after the first battle; the Battle of the Labyrinth. Her and a friend had gone on a simple scouting mission. Her friend had been inexperienced, a new camper. But it was supposed to be simple, just a little reconnaissance, and the two of them were some of the few uninjured demigods. They were so short handed, that despite everyone's reservations, they'd allowed them both to go. Only their simple mission got a lot less simple when a pack of hellhounds caught up to them before they'd gotten within twenty miles of the Titan Army. Her friend died a horrible death, and she hadn't escaped unscathed either. Sy had showed him a set of claw marks over her shoulder, the skin thick and twisted where it had scarred. She still doesn't like large black dogs because of it.
And now one was chasing after her. While she was injured and upset. Because of him .
Sy had warned them all about her demigod aura, how it sometimes attracted monsters; warning them that when she used her powers excessively that the scent she gave off strengthened. She'd slip off all the time when they got together, returning to the team a little battered and bruised, shedding gold sand. Sy frequently ducked away from them after her concerts to take care of monster problems as quietly as she could before rejoining them for what ever extravagant celebration Tony liked to throw for her.
Power like hers was a supernatural homing beacon, and he knew she had used a lot when she'd controlled the room back at the cabin. Even he could feel the power Sy had been giving off, and he was mortal.
God, how could he have been so blind? He should have told Tony about his parents ages ago; but it was always hard for him to talk to Tony about his dad. Both men had been his friend, although if he could Steve would love to punch Howard for how badly he'd screwed up with Tony growing up. Doing the exact thing Howard had once privately sworn to him he'd never be.
But between the search for Bucky, and his conflicted feeling about wanting to protect Tony he'd never gotten around to it. And then, Tony found the video himself. And the mystery of who killed Howard and Maria Stark was solved. From there everything had gone to hell. He and Bucky and Tony started fighting and he just couldn't stop.
It was a horrible excuse but, in the safe house, something inside him had clicked and rage like he'd never felt before had surged forward. Steve wasn't sure what he'd been angry about; Bucky for being the Winter Soldier, Tony for not understanding that Bucky had been brainwashed or himself for not having prevented the problem in the first place. Which he could have, if he'd talked to Tony the way Sy told him too months ago. But either way, he'd gone over board; the rage he felt taking over and nearly destroying the one thing in this new world he found himself living in that kept him afloat. The Avengers, the team, grounded him. And he would have thrown it all away in that moment of blind rage if it wasn't for Sy.
Sy who had broken her only rule to protect him from himself. Sy who was being chased down by a monster that stalks her dreams, still trying to protect him while they were frozen in the snow in the middle of nowhere. Sy, his surrogate sister, and legal ward, sprinted away into the woods; leading a monster away from them. His kid. Which she still was. Nineteen might be old for a demigod, but in the regular world, she was still a kid. And she was protecting them. Not the other way around.
He didn't need to look at the rest of his team before they all surged forward, determined to follow, to help her, to protect her, when a green barrier shimmered into existence in front of them. Steve slammed into it, electricity arcing through him before he turned around angrily. The Trickster stood behind them, one hand raised in front of him, raising the barrier. Even though his eyes were hard, his hand was trembling slightly. Thor stood just behind him, muscles tense and strained, but he was frozen too. Steve made a quick check; green eyes, not blue. Not possessed.
"Bring. It. Down." Steve ordered through gritted teeth. Loki shook his head.
"You cannot help her. And we cannot interfere." The god said coldly, even though there was suspicious shimmer in his eyes. Something in the back of his mind said that the god liked not helping Sy about as much as he did; but a much darker part of him was screaming at him to attack Loki. To hit and punch and kill until the barrier preventing from helping Sy came down. The same part of him that had surged forward when Bucky had been in danger.
"Why not?" Tony snarled, moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with Steve. No matter their differences, Sy was more important.
"She's protecting you mortals from a monster you cannot kill, cannot even harm. But mark my words, if you tried, the hell beast would most certainly kill you." Loki said.
"And we cannot interfere. It goes against the Ancient Laws. Loki and I already subvert them in order to be a part of the Avengers. We give up much of our power and influence to help defend Midgard as we do, but in return we must respect the Divine Laws. And we are forbidden from getting involved in demigod affairs of another pantheon. Especially without sufficient tribute during battle." Thor added gravely.
"So you're saying we can't help her?" Steve snarled.
"Aye." Thor said shortly, even as he practically vibrated with repressed energy.
An anguished howl emerged from the trees, and both gods visibly relaxed. The green barrier vanished.
"She was victorious." Loki murmured with a sigh of relief. Steve felt something inside him unwind slightly at those words. Then they heard the gunfire and a short scream.
As one the team surged forward in the direction of Sy's desperate scream.
