Chapter Fifty-Two
If I Needed Someone
Thor heard the last part, wincing inwardly at his behavior when they met. But it was true. She was powerful, it swam in the air around her and announced itself with trumpets to those who had the sensitivity to feel it. He groggily tried to sit up, managing to wrap his hand over the back of the couch and lever himself into a sitting position.
"My head pounds like the morning after a drinking contest with Father. What has happened here?"
"It seems you were drugged by dinner, then put on the menu." Fury rubbed his temples as he realized the narrowly averted disaster. Had Thor been killed on American soil... He tamped down the panic. "Thankfully Kagome was here to save your bacon."
The outside door opened, and a squeal like cogs being stripped made everyone wince. "That's a Stark for you," Tony said as he and Pepper came in, the Iron Man suit torn up and loosing function. "Always ready to rescue the damsel in distress. Except she better not have to kiss you, Raprincezel."
"He was in an induced sleep," Natasha pointed out, stirring the pot as usual. "That's more Snow White or Sleeping Beauty."
"Beauty he's not, sleeping or awake. I'm fine Kagome." Reacting to her worried face, he reached over to pull her into a hug. "The bastards had some wicked manicures, though." Letting her step back after a moment, he fiddled with a jagged edge, wincing at how deeply the suit was sliced open. And the release catches are toast, too. "Suit's going to have to be cut open like a tin of caviar," he grumbled, looking at the bubbled rent Kagome had her hand on.
"You're lucky Iron Man's so tough," Kagome prodded the distorted metal, a spark of power flashing. "That youkai had poison claws."
"Huh. That was from PéPe Le Pew. Kid with black and white hair, sides shaved, looked like he'd fallen asleep on a Tokyo newspaper. The other looked like a brown Cat-In-The-Hat, without the hat or nifty bow tie. Took them both out. There was another reported, but must of ran off, I didn't see it there."
"You didn't see one?" she asked, a bad feeling welling up inside her. She eyed him, then looked over to Pepper. Her stomach turned. I didn't want to pull them into danger like this... "At least you all made it back safely," she commented, tapping her finger three times against him.
Tony's reputation as a shark in business was well deserved. He caught her drift immediately. "Nope, and you know, that's really too bad. It missed meeting my charming self and-" Kagome stepped away from him, and he reached for Pepper, pulling her to him back to chest and locking his hands around her wrists. "Our resident expert in holy hand grenades."
He restrained Pepper with his suit and Kagome concentrated on finding the youki she had sensed for such a short moment.
In that single moment of inattention, Natasha struck.
