Hello, everyone! I am so sorry about missing the upload on Monday, but to make up for it, I'm posting two chapters today! I was so busy and distracted because of college and some other things I'm writing, that I completely forgot! Because I only remembered on about Wednesday or Thursday, I decided I'd just post both chapters today! PLEASE FORGIVE MY FORGETFULNESS!
ALSO! This is the chapter when I'm finally bringing in more of my OCs!
DISCLAIMERS!
The co-authors do not own Marvel or its affiliates... although we wish we did. Wolf21Friend owns Lydia. I own Savannah Howlette and the second OC that appears here!
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
About a week after the big scare of Savannah's magic nearly killing her, the resilient young woman had recovered enough to be able to move around. She still had some faint magical veins on her forearms, but they would probably be gone by the end of the day. Dr. Strange had made it very clear that Savannah was not to use any form of magic during her recovery, and even made sure that her arm guards weren't easily accessible.
Loki barely lets Savannah out of his sight for more than a few minutes. More often than not, he can be found cuddling with Savannah on the couch. The others found this pretty amusing and cute, since Loki was still trying to act like he didn't have feelings for her other than friendship, yet he was acting basically like Thor whenever Lydia got hurt or disappeared for even a short time.
Lydia came into the room with a tray full of snacks. She sat down next to Savannah, a small smile on her face. "I brought some snacks. Figured you were hungry," she told Savannah, handing her some of the snacks.
Savannah smiled up at her, accepting the snacks. She was still a little more pale than she usually was, but she was almost back to normal now. "Thanks, Lyd!" she said, hugging the older teen and smiling widely.
"Wanna watch some Netflix?"
"Sure," the teen said, snuggling against Loki with her snacks and her big floofy blanket while Lydia got Netflix up. They soon settled on one of the Jeff Dunham shows, and Savannah started laughing at the first joke. And she barely had a chance to stop.
Meanwhile, Thor was in the gym, training like he usually does every morning. Steve was in there too, and while the two of them were training beside each other, Steve said, "So… I've noticed you've been getting very personal with my little sister."
Thor's cheeks tinted a light shade of red. "Yeah..."
"If you hurt her, in any way whatsoever, I reserve the right to throw my shield right through you, Thor," Steve warned him, his eyes narrowing. "Ask Loki. He's seen me do it."
Thor stared at Steve, eyes showing clear confusion but decided not to comment. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good. Because if you hurt my sister, then teammate or not, you are a dead man."
Thor nodded. "Thanks." He says after a moment of silence between the two of them.
"Don't hurt her and we'll call it even."
0o0o0o0
Later, when the team was in the living room and kitchen area for lunch and watching whatever the girls put on, Savannah asked Thor, "Why did your room smell weird when I walked past earlier?"
Thor blanched while Lydia choked on her drink, as she was taking a sip when Savannah asked. "Uh.."
Loki stared at the back of Savannah's head, wondering what the young girl was thinking, but yet knew what she was talking about.
And then he remembered that she'd been stuck in Musphelheim for thirteen years. Which meant… she was never told those things.
After a few moments of tense silence, Tony smirked. "Yeah, Thor, why did your room smell weird earlier?"
"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Lydia complained.
Steve was glaring at the back of Thor's head, also knowing exactly what Savannah was talking about despite the teen not knowing what it meant. He'd accepted that Thor and Lydia were together… but he was still a big brother. He had a right to be peeved. Lydia was wishing the couch would swallow her up as she buried her blushing face into her pillows on her nest.
"Clint… go talk to Savannah," Bruce said, sighing as he shook his head. He'd choked on his sandwich when he'd heard Savannah ask her question, and he didn't want to be the one to have to awkwardly explain adult things to the teen. "Be a responsible adult for once."
Before Clint could even open his mouth to protest, everyone else agreed. "Yeah, Clint, you had a wife and kids before. You're the best out of all of us to explain," Tony helpfully added.
Clint glared at Tony before he sighed. He stands up and drags Savannah to another room so there's a little more privacy for the talk.
Savannah was highly confused, asking Clint what was going on even though she didn't fight against him. Steve smirked as he watched them go.
"So, you know how your dad and mom, uh, loved each other, right?"
"Yeah…"
Half an Hour Later…
Savannah came back into the room and immediately went to curl up next to Loki, a wide-eyed look on her face. Lydia was still hiding from the world in her nest, buried by her blankets and pillows. Thor was purposefully avoiding looking away from the television, acting like the TV was more interesting.
Loki sighed deeply, knowing what Clint explained to her had probably traumatized the poor girl. He hugged her close to him. Savannah curled up in his hug, refusing to even look in Thor and Lydia's general direction.
Then, Tony got a message from Jarvis. "Sir, I've detected a weather anomaly in the Arctic."
"What kind of anomaly?" Tony asked.
"There is an area within a one-mile radius where the temperatures dropped dramatically, and a large blizzard has formed only in that area, sir." There was a pause, and then the AI said, "We've finally triangulated the source, sir. It is near where the Stark Industries Arctic research team is located. And near where the discovery locations of Miss Barnes and Mr. Rogers were."
Tony paused. "Just how close exactly are we talking?"
"Within an eighth of a mile, sir."
"But how could it be that close?" Steve asked, confused.
"Sir, most of the research team's equipment has frozen," Jarvis told Tony, "They also cannot leave the area because visibility is zero in their area due to the blizzard."
Tony groans. "So no point in telling Fury now, since there's no way to even get up there safely."
0o0o0o0
In the Arctic
"Sir, we can't possibly go out in that white-out!" a researcher was telling Nick Fury, who had arrived earlier that day before the blizzard had gotten serious.
"Of all the technology, Stark creates, he can't bother to make some that can withstand blizzards?!" Fury rants, pacing back and forth in the shelter the team were taking cover in.
"Director Fury, we've managed to thaw out one of the transports and some of the equipment," one of the Shield agents who came with him said, coming over. "We're ready to move out to the location given to us by Jarvis."
"Alright. Let's move out," Fury ordered.
"BUT SIR!" the researcher protested, eyes wide.
"I came here for answers. And I'm going to get answers," Fury stated as he and the Shield agent left.
"We are sooo demanding hazard pay if we survive this…" another researcher said as the team followed them after grabbing the thickest parkas they had.
"Now I see why Mr. Stark tells us different orders than what Fury gives..." comments another researcher.
As they got out there, they had to thaw out sonar equipment at least ten times during the trip, just so they could find their way. Eventually, they got to the side of a glacial cliff. "We're here, sir."
Fury looks to see that the ice cliff is covered in a layer of snow. There was one section, however, that stood out slightly from the rest. Fury, being curious and impatient, walks over and reaches out a hand to wipe away the snow. When it's out of the way, however… he suddenly found himself looking at the face of a woman who was frozen in several inches of ice that was almost as clear as glass.
Startled, he takes a couple steps back as he recollects himself to get a better look. The woman seemed to be merely sleeping, her skin fair and her features actually rather pretty to look at, if slightly strong… but what really shocked him was that her hair, eyebrows, and even her eyelashes were icy blue.
As he wiped more snow away, he became more and more confused as to who she was and why she was there. The ice encasing her, unlike the ice of the glacier behind her, was all whitish and mostly clear, so he could see her through it easily. She was almost as tall as he was, but she was wearing what looked like a glacier blue catsuit underneath pieces of stark white metal armor, and attached to the middle of her upper arms was a short round cape that barely reached her hips. The armor she was wearing looked slightly fantasy-based, almost like what he'd seen some of Thor's female Asgardian friends wearing the few times he'd seen them, but it wasn't quite the same style. The metal gloves reached up and ended right where the cape was attached, but they had no fingers. Her boots were the same style, but despite all of this… she looked vaguely familiar.
Reaching into his pocket, Fury takes out his wallet to pull out the photo he's always kept on him at all times. Holding up the photo of the Howling Commandos that his father had given him, he holds it for a side-by-side comparison. The woman in the ice looked strangely close to the woman in the photo, but the woman in the photo had a military nurse uniform and short curly hair. Then, something else in the ice caught his eye, still hidden by some snow, but there was a small dark patch about two feet away from where the woman in the ice was standing.
"Is this… Grace?" he wonders aloud, reaching out a hand to touch the ice. Suddenly, the moment his fingers touched the smooth surface, a coating of ice formed around them and started to continue up his arm.
"Son of a-" Fury cursed, looking around to look for any of the researchers. They'd built a shelter around him while he'd been following his curiosity, so they were all outside working.
"SOMEONE GET THEIR BUTTS OVER HERE AND HELP ME!" he shouts out, irritated.