Bow to me, as I am truly the Queen of Procrastinators!

I have nothing to say but I'm sorry, guys. I have been putting this off for weeks,- me you guys have been waiting so patiently. I've been caught up in the Holidays, Tumblr, and all the big issues that are going on in the world. I really hope you'll still be interested in Kara's story, because it's about to get serious. Okay, maybe not that serious. Sorry for the short chapter, but I've really just got to get this out of the way.

Please review and follow if interested!

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My heart beat nervously as we flew. In addition to the others, Thor now sat beside me, his hammer resting on the floor. I felt a temptation to pick it up, but stayed silent. I didn't want the GOD sitting next to me to get angry. I still couldn't believe that an actual immortal was living and breathing next to me. He could have decimated me back in the forest, but he didn't.

That train of thought brought me to what happened in the forest. I remembered running towards Cap, Thor's hammer descending, and realizing that I couldn't make it. There was only one thought in my mind at that second.

Protect Him.

Then, the flash of blue that kept me from seeing anything. Next thing I knew, I was covering Cap protectively. What had I done? I had blasted a god... A god, for crying out loud! What was happening to me? Tears came to my eyes as I wished with all my heart to be home again. I hastily wiped at them, hoping no one had seen the action. Before, it had only been Cap watching with intense curiosity, but now Thor was also giving me strange looks. It was quite intimidating, and I tried my hardest not to squirm under his gaze. Then there was Loki. I had dreaded sitting next to the man, remembering how he had grabbed my arm. It had hurt, honestly, almost like he had claws.

I almost sighed in relief when Natasha announced,

"We're descending onto the Helicarrier."

Even though I would have to face the fury of Fury-I make the worst puns-, at least I wouldn't have to be stuck in that small space with them. As previously stated, I just wanted to get away from the staring, the curiosity. Through all of this, a spot to the right of my chest ached to get away. To go home. I dared to let out a barely noticeable sigh, knowing that the ache would stay with me until I died, whenever that was. I didn't know what had brought me here, so I could never find a way back. I could never go home. My family didn't exist here. How could they? And neither did I.

I was a girl out of place.

I shook my head, clearing out those thoughts. Back to the matter at hand, it was a relief to know I'd be away from the occupants of the ship. Especially him. Loki. Luckily for me, Cap had made sure that Loki sat far away from me. It was a bit comforting, but I still couldn't stand the fact that he was even in the same room as me. The way he had spoken to me in the forest...I shivered inwardly. Loki knew that there was something different about me, and he would do anything to find out what. He had already tried to kill me twice, but somehow, I was more afraid of what I thought he might have done on that hillside. I was lucky that Cap was there. My liking of him had grew when I saw how concerned he was for me, when he saw I was in danger. My heart swelled with hope.

"No!"

Part of my brain, the one that spoke in a bitter, angry tone, cried.

"You know that he knows about what you did. You're not some scared little civilian girl. You're a freak."

As soon as it grew, my hope shriveled up again. My sight shifted out of focus, but I blinked and the world grew detailed again. No. I couldn't cry here. I sniffled. Suddenly, I felt the plane stop it's steady hum that indicated we were flying, and settle until it was still. Natasha called back for the front.

"Since the door is broken (it having been ripped off its hinges and then bent back on and all), I don't think Thor would mind taking it off again?"

She said with a straight face. I thought I saw what may have been the slightest trace of an embarrassed blush on Thor, but he nodded and stood up, taking his big hammer with him. With no more than a small push, the door that had been bent and squeezed back on flew off again, flying several yards before landing next to a now-terrified agent. Then, Thor turned to me (at which I looked to my feet), and gestured to the door.

"Maidens foremost."

I felt the smallest smile creep onto my face, and uttered an almost inaudible thank you, as I stood up and then hopped out the door. I landed on the metal surface, and cringed when the cold metal came in contact with my feet. I suddenly noticed that my feet were bare, a development I had surprisingly not noticed. I could have sworn I had some sort of slippers or at least socks on. It was most likely they had come off in my free fall, or while running. I found it strange that my feet, while dirty, were unscathed. You would think that falling from a plane, landing in a forest, and sprinting down a rocky hill would make some sort of mark. But no, the only noticeable injury was the large scrape on my leg. Tony had bandaged the bleeding cut up, and soon the only sign of my injury was a red stain on the stark white cloth and the dull pain that throbbed every time I took a step. I noticed a thrumming sound, and looked up.

The Helicarrier was huge. It was a mass of grey and silver steel, held in the air by four enormous turbines that continuously roared as they spun. The top was covered by a huge flat platform that served as an area for planes to take off and land on. White marks crisscrossed on the runways, marking where to go. A tower stood firm in one corner, probably controlling the air traffic as one would at an airport. The whole place was bustling with controlled activity, as agents, all dressed in grey, ran about doing something or other. Seeing so much efficiency, I had bet that there was not one pair of idle hands in this whole place. The sound of the turbines hummed behind everything, and I noticed with a shock that the floor I was standing on was strangely still. I had thought it would shake, or at least vibrate, but if I closed my eyes I could almost imagine that I was standing far below, on the silent ground. Besides a weird feeling that hummed in my legs, just barely noticeable if you focused, you would never know that you stood on a floating behemoth. Technology like this was astounding, and I suddenly wanted to ask how it worked. I stood still, taking in the entire scene in silence.

"Ahem."

I heard Natasha clear her throat. I had been just standing there, mouth hanging open like a fool, but quickly recovered to turn in the direction of her voice to see her watching me with a stern frown. She then gestured to to some sort of elevator nearby where several armed agents stood. I glimpsed a flash of Loki along with more agents in the small room before the doors closed. The agents seemed to be waiting, but I wouldn't know anything about them,

I did not want anyone here to hate me any more than they did now, so I bit my lip and started walking again

"I was speechless the first time I saw it, too."

I heard Cap say as he suddenly appeared next to me. Ugh, my heart was already swelling with my liking for the Captain. Why did he have to be so nice!? I wanted to dislike him, to form a scornful shell so I couldn't be hurt anymore, but his kind smile kept softening my armor. He was so nice, so kind, so- UGH! I walked on without a response. Maybe he'd get the message. Kind words weren't going to get me on the good side of SHIELD. They weren't going to get me home. I had to stop thinking about this, I thought as I stood in front of the agents, which were looking a lot like soldiers now that I looked again.. They showed no emotion on their faces, and stood at the ready, prepared to move in case of disaster, which must have happened there a lot. For a few seconds, I stood there awkwardly. I opened my mouth, possibly to prompt something, but was interuprupted before I could do anything.

"Hands out."

The words spoken by the head soldier, a woman, were more of an order than a question, but that was pretty obvious. I raised my hands, which were still bound somehow by the same metal handcuffs. To my surprise, the woman reached out and removed the battered cuffs, letting my hands be free.

I was shocked.

They...

They were letting me go?

My eyes lit up with sparks of joy, and my mind filled with hopeful thoughts. Maybe they didn't see me as a threat, maybe they were letting me go, maybe there was a chance that I could have a new family and friends and a home and a life-

Clank.

The clicking sound was an anchor, pulling me away from the joyful sunlight down into the dark, dark sea. My heart plummeting once again, I gloomily gazed upon the heavy binding cuffs onto my arms. They bound my forearms together, the metal sleeves stretching from my wrists to my elbows. They were heavy, too, and would make it quite the effort to raise my arms.

Chained again.

I was sinking to the bottom of the ocean. There was murky darkness below, no sign of an end. Above, the last ray of sunlight vanished, leaving me to sink so very slowly...

"But-" I raised my voice in a feeble attempt to protest, but with one look from Widow, I was shut down again.

The others seemed surprised.

"Why do you chain the young maiden?" Thor asked. Widow remained firm as she answered.

"She's a threat." Every word turned to needles, jabbing at my skin. "She teleported halfway across the world, brushed off several full-on attacks from Loki, and..." Oh no. "She managed to blast you." I tried everything in my power to melt into the ground on that very second. Of course, my magical wizard powers didn't kick in right at the moment I wanted to disappear. I was busy trying to hide my face under my incredibly short bangs, but I knew at that moment that Thor looked like a mix of curious, shocked, and perhaps even a little bit shaken.

I bet he hadn't known it was me who had... "blasted" him. I could I have been? How could a weak little mortal hit a god, knock him back... I asked myself. My gaze locked onto the cuffs that bounded and hid my hands, and a shiver creeped down my spine. I felt an aversion to those hands. The hands who hit a god. I wanted to get away from them. But they followed me. I was scared. Of myself. What I was. What I was becoming. When the soldiers asked me to come along, I silently obeyed. Maybe it was better if they locked me up. If I was able to move an immortal, a being who could knock aside anything in its path, a being who lived in legends and until the end of time... Then what could I do to a fragile human life? I..

I was dangerous.

It felt horrible. Knowing I could hurt others. I bit my lip, hard. A drop of blood slipped out of the cut, barely noticeable. It tasted metallic on the tongue, but my taste buds noticed something... Different. It was bitter. This was not normal.

But then again, what was?

We filed into the elevator, and right before the elevator doors slammed shut, I saw Cap. He looked... Disappointed. And for a minute, I felt guilty. Like I had done something I shouldn't have. Then, I was angry. I didn't do anything wrong! I was a victim! A girl that's thrown into a world set against her, with no way to escape. A girl that's alone. I was angry at him for making me feel shame, and in that last second, after our eyes met, I looked away. Hard. Cold. Dark. Sinking.

The agents marched along, flanking me on both sides. If I made any move, I'd be tranquilized within milliseconds. Doors glided open and closed as we walked through the silent hallways. We passed by a window, where I saw Tony Stark and some other man I didn't recognize working in some sort of lab. They had seemed to be talking, but as soon as I walked into their range of vision, their heads snapped up to watch me. Then we passed through another door, and they were gone.

I spent the time by observing my clothes. A dull, dark pair of pants, along with some grey shirt put on me by SHIELD. They were both torn and very, very muddy, thanks to the soaked ground of the forest. My own clothes were gone, the last connection to my home probably burning in an incinerator somewhere. No, I didn't have any cheesy locket or precious piece of jewelry that was given to me by my Mom or any of that crap. I had nothing but my memories, and now even those were paling beside the new ones. It felt so long ago, when I had fallen from that mountain. I estimated that it had been one, maybe two days. I didn't know how long I had been sleeping in that medical bay. It was truly strange, how I had somehow gotten accustomed to my situation. With my heart in shards and my brain on the edge of insanity, I should have been lying paralyzed on the floor. I still don't quite know what kept me from going under. Maybe it was something deeper, a primal sense of survival. Whatever it was, it kept me alive and walking.

Another pair of doors opened. They were huge, heavy, and most likely made of steel, much different from the smaller gates we had gone through prior. What shocked me was what I saw when we passed through them. We were in a large circular room, with a walkway going all around the edge. A set of metal stairs led up to the center of the room, where the object of my surprise was held.

A room. A round, cylindrical room, with large windows stretching around the side. But I saw no doors, no doorknob as the agents marched me up the metal stairs I realized this was not a room.

It was a cage.

I felt a prickle of anger. Of rebellion. A whisper telling me to fight back, to not go in the cage, that I was not a criminal, an animal. But no, I wouldn't. I was dejected. I just didn't care anymore. At least that's what it felt like. So I let the agents open the invisible glass doors, push me in, and close it. My eyes were stuck to the ground, and with a sigh, I sank down to it. At least now I was alone.

Then, a cold breeze tickled the back of my neck.

Not again. I cursed under my breath.

In all the places they could have put me on this damned ship, they put me here.

"Just the mortal I wanted to see."

Shit.

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I think I'm going to rename Loki as the god of End-Of-Chapter evil one liners.