I hope all of you are still enjoying my story! Like I said last chapter, I'm working on putting Miss Emma in another story. Let me know what your thoughts are. Opinions, comments, concerns, whatever, are all appreciated. I heart you all. Happy Holidays to all of you!


My eyes desperately shifted down the two hallways, completely unsure which way Wonder Boy headed. "Shit." I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. The only personnel present were in SHIELD uniforms. Steve had stormed off so quickly I didn't see what direction he chose. I threw my hands up frustrated and trekked off to the right.

My pace was quicker than normal, passing people as I tried to spot anything that resembled red, white and blue. It seemed to be hopeless as I turned through these tunnels. I wasn't going to find him. Wait. Why was I trying to find him? He's a big boy, he can take care of his temper tantrums himself. I sighed. As true as that was, I still wanted to be near him. I shook my head and I continued wandering. I recognized I was near the bridge and decided to head there and rethink this through.

Long, golden hair caught my attention immediately as I entered the area. Thor. His red cape swooshed as he turned to Phil. I couldn't help a small smile appearing on my face. I know I had seen Phil just the other day but it felt like it had been weeks. I floated towards the two men down by the computers. Thor's mighty voice came into focus, "you know, huge, scaly, big antlers. You don't have those?" I made a disgusted expression.

"Don't think so," Agent Coulson replied.

"They are repulsive. And they trample everything in their path."

"Wait. What are we talking about?" I interjected, my face still contorted.

Phil twisted towards me. "Emma!" he exclaimed, "Thor was telling me how Asgardians battle like Bilchsteim."

I just looked at him. "What? What the hell is that? You know what, I don't want to know," I waved my hand at him. The colossal demigod turned and slowly sauntered towards the windows. I watched him for a moment. I really hadn't had a good look at him since he showed up. When I first met, well, ran into him, I was a little more than startled to actually see him. His yellow hair was slightly wavy and barely reached his shoulders. His arms were huge. He wore cufflinks that looked like the metal armor on his chest with blood red cloth, matching his cape. And though he was turned away from me I could detect he was upset.

The idols' voice was filled with bass, "When I first came to Earth, Loki's rage followed me here. Your people paid the price. And now again." I gazed over at Phil's distressed expression, mine mirroring his. "In my youth I courted war…" Thor trailed off sadly. I felt like I was absorbing the tone of his heavy words. A piece of me bore wounded at the thought that things were going to get worse, a lot worse from here on out. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around Phil's and slightly leaned on the man. He returned the action by tightening his grip and patted my hand.

"War hasn't started yet," a new voice chimed. My head spun up to see Director Fury standing over us. He focused his words at Thor, "Do you think you can make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?"

"I do not know," he replied depressed. "Loki's mind is as far afield. It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance upon me. There's no pain that would prize his need from him."

"A lot of guys think that, until the pain stops," Fury started moving down the stairs.

Thor took a defensive stance as he continued the conversation with the Director, "What are you asking me to do?"

"I'm asking. What are you prepared to do?"

"Loki is a prisoner."

"Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?" Fury spat out. And with that, he walked away. Thor simply gazed back to the window. I stared at him, unsure if I should try to say anything. What the hell is going on? A tug on my arm snapped my train of thought. Phil's grey eyes were watching me. He nodded as to hint that we should leave.

My arm was still around Phil's as we strolled meaninglessly. Neither of us said too much. I was debating on whether or not I should say something about Tony's snooping. Hmm, probably not. Besides, I wanted to know what SHIELD was up to. And in reality, I'm sure Phil already knew Iron Man would hack into the database. Eh, oh well. However, Fury's words creeped back to me, '…he's the only person on this boat who wants to be here…' My stomach was nauseous at the image of Loki's smiteful grin as he passed Banner's lab. I don't think I would ever forget that moment. He would for sure haunt me in my dreams. "Phil," slowly I started, "what's happening?"

"We are walking without a destination, it would appear," he said sarcastically.

"Really?"

He snorted, "I know what you mean. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you." He grew silent. We continued our quiet walk. "Emma, let's head this way." He gently steered me through the hallways where people were present less and less. My gut feeling of fear grew. Phil wanting to talk in private meant bad news, or super, secret agent news that my ears were never meant to hear. Either way, I wasn't too sure if I wanted to hear any of it.

To my surprise he had brought me to the solidarity of my reading spot. No one was around, leaving the two of us to gaze out at the quiet night sky. My friend anxiety decided to join me, at least. Great. Just what I need. "Emma," Phil stated a little louder than a whisper, "I don't know what's going to happen. I wish I could tell you and you have to believe me, that if I had any idea, you would know."

My brain was slow to the conversation we were trying to have, "Phil… I know. I know you'd tell me."

"Good. Now I want you to promise me that no matter what happens, you will be safe," he verbalized, looking me straight in the eyes. Grey orbs gaped into mine with concern. It frightened me a little. But slowly I nodded. "I want you to be safe. But I also need you to look after the Avengers. They might not seem like a team right now, but they will be. They will win any battle if they learn to fight together. I know you play an important role in that. You are a key bringing them together."

"No, Phil. I'm not an Avenger. I'm not a key-"

"You are," swiftly he interjected. I felt my face twist in confusion, but he went on. "Remember our dinner the other night and you asked about that file? What did I tell you about it?"

I answered uneasily, "Everything you wrote is there to protect me…"

"What else?"

"I don't understand how it does…" Not one part of me agreed with where this was leading. Pressure began swelling in my head and my eyelids unknowingly fluttered.

"Exactly. This is just like that. It might not make sense, but believe me, it will. I'm not done with the list of tasks I need you to do. This goes along with being safe; I want you to fight. I want you to try, no matter how hard the situation is. Give it your all. And understand that it is okay to run the other way if the enemy is too tough to handle on your own. Lastly, I need you to believe in yourself." His expression soften in his last statement as did mine. "You don't think you can control yourself. You think you do more harm than good with your powers. It's not true. You are extraordinary. You can do anything, you just have to believe in yourself. I do. I believe you have complete control over your gift. You just need to see it for yourself."

My eyes watered. "Why are you telling me this?"

"You need to hear it. Oh, one more thing. Promise me this. This is THE most important item on the list. I want you to be happy."

The tears were streaming down my cheeks. I was so alarmed with what he was telling me but it was full of loving words. I was so confused. It shook me. I pulled my arm away to wipe the salty water on the black sleeve of my sweatshirt. I sniffed. I couldn't seem to focus my sight so I kept rubbing my eyes. My mind was racing. So I did the only thing I could do; I wrapped my arms around Phil's neck and sobbed like an idiot. To my comfort, the man returned the embrace. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked, trying my best not to sound shaky. Unfortunately, the man didn't answer. I cried a little harder, fearful of what that meant. My grip tightened a bit more intense. My voice came out barely audible, "…why do I feel like you're leaving?" Instead of saying anything the man just held me while I attempted to control my weeping.

Finally, Phil's voice returned, "I want you to know how much you mean to me. You're like the daughter I've never had. This past year of meeting you and getting to know you, every dinner we ate, I don't take even a minute of it for granted."

I lost it. I no longer had the slightest control over my tears. I cried and the puddle on Phil's shoulder grew. Something bad was going to happen, Phil knew it, now I knew of it and I didn't like it. I wish I could rewind and ask him to dinner instead of asking what was going to happen. I wanted to laugh about nothing, not weep about the unknown. But I made the wrong call, now I'm stewing in this pitiful pile of sentiment. The man I leant on remained silent which only made things worse as I was left with this racing mind. I desperately wanted everything to stop. Just stop. I didn't want any of this.

Exhaustion over took me as the tears let up, but my grip on Phil didn't. I noticed we slightly swayed and I wanted to smile. "Emma." He waited for my response. My hands fidgeted with the black cotton sleeves behind his neck. He tried again, "Emma. I know this is difficult for you. It's difficult for me too." I squeezed my eyelids shut, afraid of the water works starting again. "You should get some rest." I felt a little dazed. How long have we been here? How long have we been here, Phil? Phil? Oh, stupid. What I'd give for telepathic powers…

I tried to clear my throat before I spoke, "How long have we been here?"

"Too long and not long enough," he snorted. "Come on." He gently pushed me away just enough to meet face to face. His grey eyes were filled with emotion even if the rest of his face hid it. I did my best to muster a small smile. "You're going to be okay. Alright?" I slightly nodded even if I didn't believe him. The man returned the gesture, wrapped his arm around my shoulders and, slowly, we started down the hallway once more.

Phil dropped me off at my room, making sure there were no more tears in my eyes and of course giving me another hug before he headed off to do more secret agent business. I closed the door behind him and sat on the corner of the twin sized bed. Part of me thought I should go back to the lab to see what the two evil geniuses were up to, another part hoped Steve would randomly knock on the door and yet another part of me just wanted to curl up and wish none of this was happening. I sighed. I didn't want to think about anything. I just felt empty with a drizzle of confusion. Absently, I took in the room and all of my crap laying around. The copy of Dracula had fallen on its side next to the red duffle. I floated towards the bag and knelt on my knees. I picked up the book and stared at it. Holding it in my hands, not sure what I was going to do with it.

Simply I set it down the way it was, staring at the book. I closed my eyes, bit my lip and took in a huge breath. Not knowing was the worst. Being alone was just as bad. Not being able to do anything was equally as dramatic. Well, wait. I might not be able to do anything at this point, but…My eyelids opened. My gaze turned back to the bed and continued underneath. There, in the center of it, laying on the floor was another duffle bag. It wasn't as large as the red one next to me. You wouldn't have been sure of the color because it was under the bed, but I knew it was solid black and on the padded shoulder strap rested a tiny yellow x incased in a circle.

I crawled over, grunting a little as I fell on my stomach and stretched my arm out to grab the bag. As I rested on my knees once more, I held the duffle in my lap. If I can't do anything now, I can always be prepared. I was about to unzip the lid when my hand froze. Did I really want to run around with this thing on right now? Who knows, maybe nothing would happen. Maybe we'd all go home happy. Oh who am I kidding? Of course something bad would occur. Nothing good ever stayed that way. But hopefully it would take a while to get here. I tossed the bag aside. I'll deal with it later.

I climbed on top of my bed, boots and all. I hugged the pillow, rested my eyes, and soon enough darkness was all there was.