Hello and welcome to my hall of horrors. First off, I'd like to thank you for actually reading my work and using it as a form of escapism from your homework/job/life. Second, I would like to say that I am not responsible for any and all emotional trauma that you may acquire from reading this. The person responsible is none other than T. Rycbar. She didn't stop me soon enough so now you must suffer the consequences.

Good Luck and happy (or sad) reading.

IDon'tOwnMarvel

Obi-Wan Kenobi once said "Fuck, it's cold", and right about now, I'd have to agree with him because, well, it was cold. I wondered how it got to be so cold, walking home from the bus stop in the middle of June. This darkness was getting eerie too. Wait- why am I closing my eyes? Hell if I know. I opened them and took in the space around me that was quite literally looking a lot like space. Stars spread out in all directions with the contrast of crippling darkness.

There was a light though. A soft purple glow that encased my hands and arms when I looked down on them. Odd. I was breathing just fine too, which didn't seem right for the situation. What the hell am I doing in space? A brilliant flash of blue light erupted in the direction my feet were pointing. I would say below me but there really isn't an up or a down in the emptiness of space.

The blue light changed to a cloud-like substance that opened like a round window. Through the glowing circle I could just barely make out the shapes of...are those buildings? No, that's not right. I shook my head at my own thoughts. I was seeing things or quite possibly dreaming. If that was the case, this was a very boring dream, albeit very pretty.

I watched the blue swirly cloud with buildings until something whizzed past me. No sound or wind, but it was moving very fast. Then, two more followed. Soon, there were hundreds of them zooming silently and very quickly past me.

In all honesty, I was a little jealous. Why do they get space jets? I crossed my still vaguely glowing arms and watched as bunches of them all flew into the blue cloud and disappeared under the edge. I tried to turn around to see the source of said jets, but that's the thing about space - no air resistance. Flapping my arms wouldn't accomplish much other than making me look like a deranged seagull...in space.

That was when the bigger bots started going by. First it was just one blowing past me and into the blue ring. Then two more followed. Then, there was a fourth. The fourth passed by me much closer than the others, so much so that I could almost touch it.

Scratch that, I can totally touch it. Without thinking, I snagged onto one of the scales of the beast and immediately regretted my decision as it started to pick up speed. There was no wind resistance, so it wasn't hard to hang on for the first 20 seconds.

I tensed up moments before we passed through the blue swirly mess. That was probably the first good decision I made too because my arm was jerked back, and I was hit with a sudden burst of wind. After finding that there was, in fact, gravity there, I tightened my grip on the metal scale, trying to will myself out of this increasingly terrifying situation. Shit, this hurts.

My hand slipped off the metal scale and I was sucked backwards, much to my own displeasure. A loud crack jolted through my whole body and resonated across my skull.

My eyes snapped open again and I gasped for air. Fuck, now I'm just falling. The purple glow was gone and not helping at all anymore. That's when I heard the noises. The churning roar of something overhead was deafening while I fell with my stomach at my feet. I shook my head out of fear this time when a different kind of rumble took over my hearing. My stomach twisted at being shoved in another direction and I tried not to panic any more than I already was.

"Jesus Christ kid, why were you falling from the sky?!"

When I looked up, a different kind of robot had taken over my line of sight. I bit back my shock for a more 'alarmed' tone. "You think I know?!"

"I don't know I figured you might, seeing that it is YOUR mysterious past!"

I could have gaped at the face that was carrying me had I not been so terrified. Is that- "You're not real! Why are you yelling at me!"

"What does that even mean?!"

"AHHHHH!" I yelled both out of frustration and the painful drag of my stomach, still trailing far behind.

"How'd you do that?! Who are you?!"

"Do what?!" I shouted over the roar of the wind.

"The portal! You closed it!"

"WHAT FUCKING PORTAL?! PUT ME DOWN!"

The robot didn't say anything more and dropped down hard on the top of a building- or balcony who really knows? I couldn't tell at the time as I was busy trying not to freak the fuck out. The second the robot touched down I shoved out of it's (his?) grasp and tumbled onto the floor, not taking my eyes off of it. I stood on two legs and backed very quickly away from the- is it disassembling?

Parts of the metal around the head folded back, revealing a more biological-looking one. Robert Downey Jr. crossed his arms and kept taking more steps forward every time I took a step back. Suddenly, he stopped and frowned at something across the room. I followed his gaze towards a group of people surrounding- Is that...Tom Hiddleson? This was not how I wanted to meet my idol.

Robert in the Iron man suit pointed at me and then directed his finger downwards like he was addressing a dog that had chewed up his bunny slippers. "Stay."

I gave him a look of disgust, but stood in my spot anyhow. As far as I knew the Iron Man suit didn't actually exist. It was only just a bunch of expertly designed CGI and plastic.

What the hell is going on? I watched carefully as he walked over to the group who already had weapons trained on poor Tom. This was too weird. I didn't like space, but falling through the sky and getting snatched by RDJ felt infinitely worse at this point.

I watched and caught my breath as a very familiar scene played out in front of me. Had I fallen into the weirdest dream of my life, I might have considered playing along, but it felt so...real. The burns on my arm stung in a pretty real way, as well as the bloodied fingernails from gripping on so tightly to the metal whale. I recognized the other faces in the crowd of people almost instantly. Scarlett Johanssan, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and a crouched figure in front of the group whose face I couldn't quite make out. Based on the present company, however, I had to assume it was Jeremy Renner. There was also the green mass that was the Hulk but I was ignoring that costume in an effort to keep my sanity.

I stood, still shocked by the scene before a pair of hands (Chris H's) pulled the costumed Tom to his feet. Now that I looked on with my brain capable of processing things, I realized that they were all in costume.

"This is too weird." I mumbled to myself.

I instantly regretted speaking up at all when the green dude turned its head to face me, an angry glare fixated firmly on my face. He marched up with each step sending a shake through the floor and making my heart drop further. Not a costume, Not a costume, Not a Costume! My eyes widened and I stumbled backwards until my back was against the railing. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out, leaving me gaping at the giant green guy like a fish out of water.

A grin crossed his face, giving me the 'I am totally gonna throw them off the building' look before Robert stepped in front of him with the metal suit. "Woah, woah, woah, don't kill that one."

Hulk scowled and stormed off in another direction after smashing the last standing glass table. He turned to make sure that Robert was watching.

The Hulk is supposed to be CGI too… I looked down at my hands briefly, taking note that they were, in fact, shaking.

"I-I think I would like to go back now." I said, desperately trying (and failing) to keep my voice steady. I felt the pinching anxiety that was gripping my heart and grabbed the rail behind me trying to channel it in another way. I guess it is a balcony.

"You fell out of the sky in the middle of an alien invasion. You're not going anywhere until you explain how a 12-year-old kid wound up in a magic portal from space, comprende?" Robert pointed a finger accusingly at me.

"Look man, I really don't know what's going on." I brushed off the insult to my age. "And if you want to talk questionable, how about we start with you being inside a fucking robot."

"I'm not-" He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. "It's not a robot, it's a suit."

"Looks like a robot." I wasn't releasing the railing anytime in the near future. "I don't know what I walked- er, fell in on but I would really like to not be here. In any other situation, it would be great to meet you guys, but to be very blunt- I don't know what the fuck is happening."

Robert scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Flattered, but I need to know you're not some alien or secretly work for Comic Villain over there."

I glanced over his shoulder towards the group of actors who looked pretty roughed up. I mean, props to whoever did the makeup here. "You mean Tom?"

"Who- who's Tom?" He looked exasperated by the conversation already.

I gave him a look of careful confusion before releasing the bar with one of my hands and pointing at Tom Hiddleston being scolded by Hemsworth. "You work with him. Do you not know his name?" My hand returned to the bar as Robert looked over his shoulder.

He looked almost insulted when he caught my eyes again. "In no plane of existence do I work with or for Loki."

"Well he-" I stopped myself and looked back over at the group of people. Both Jeremy and Chris E. were watching me. A shiver ran down my spine from the unflinching stares. "Yes you do."

It felt more like a question with my voice wavering slightly. I narrowed my eyes.

Maybe this isn't what I think it is. I looked around me only now seeing the destruction. Sirens were wailing and the air had enough smoke in it to make your throat hurt, but not enough that you could see it. If this was a dream, it was feeling very realistic. I kept my grip on the bar, but the more I turned and looked around, the more I was taking in.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god." I squeezed my eyes shut. This isn't happening. This isn't happening.

"Kid, you're not saying anything helpful right now."

I didn't respond and kept my eyes screwed shut, attempting to take deep breaths and will myself into waking up. When that didn't work, I reopened my eyes and began counting my fingers. There were ten. Dream? I think not.

"O-okay Mr. Downey, can you do me a quick favor?" Before he could say anything at the name, I continued. "Just, uh, what-what year is it?"

"Why, what year are you from?" He asked, narrowing his eyes as if he was offended by the question.

Everything felt so terrifyingly real that I found my hands bruising from the pressure on the bar. I tried to keep my voice from slipping up when I responded. "N-Not this year. I don't think."

"2012."

I felt my stomach drop. It was like I was falling with the Chitauri all over again. Jesus Christ, what was I thinking when I got here? Was I really that much in denial? All the evidence had thrown itself around me and I brushed it off. I brushed off the living and breathing Hulk even after he almost tore me in half and broke a table.

"Hey! Where have you been? I can't get anything out of this kid." Robert turned to Chris E.

I closed my eyes again and even as my knees tried to crumple, my hands held fast to the bar and kept me upright. I shook my head. I wasn't ready for this. This was not the kind of day I wanted to have. All I wanted was to get home from school and maybe make a bagel. What did I do that resulted in me sitting alone in space?

"Why can't I remember?" I muttered, desperately struggling to dig up any hint of how I ended up in those cold depths, but...there was nothing.

"Remember what?" Chris asked with fake sympathy.

"Remember what?" I mocked with my still shaken up voice. "What kind of a question is that? It's redundant. Like if you told someone you were missing your keys and the person said 'cool where are they then?'." I looked at Chris's confused face matched with a slight smirk from Robert. I gestured vaguely at the more amused of the two. "You get it."

What can I say? I get sarcastic and ramble a lot when I'm freaked out. Don't judge. Chris was looking way more worried than a normal person should be, but the look he was giving me was nothing compared to the daggers that Tom was glaring in my direction.

Ouch, I winced slightly, hoping the demigod wouldn't notice. It always hurts when your idol turns out to hate you and probably your whole existence. Quickly electing to ignore it for the time being, I turned back to the two - no, there were four of them now, all looking at me with a different expression. Good lord are they tall.

"Okay let's start easy then. What's your name?" Chris crouched down so he was closer to my level.

Robert rolled his eyes and waved him off. "I already asked that."

"Lincoln Patel." I pretended a piece of broken glass on the floor was very interesting.

"Okay Lincoln. I'm Steve Rogers." He shot a quick look at Robert.

I continued to stare at the glass. The man had just confirmed a suspicion I was praying that I was wrong about. Unfortunately for me and literally everyone else, I was right. However, this did bring up a lot more questions. More questions, in fact, than I had when I was first surrounded by scary people or space itself.

This is going great.

He continued despite my panicked silence. "That's Tony who you were talking to earlier. You might recognize him because he's pretty popular already." He looked over at the other two and pointed at each of them. "And that's Natasha and Clint."

"Great." I said through gritted teeth.

I was already internally debating the ethics behind breaking the news to these guys that they didn't actually exist. At least, not where I was from anyhow. I couldn't lie to them either. These were already pretty untrusting people.

Especially Natasha. I looked over at the lady who was very clearly trying to read me. I'm sure she could see through the silent fear trying to hide behind sarcasm, but hopefully nothing beyond that.

Chr-Steve ignored my anxious state. "Now this might seem strange but I do have to ask. Are you human?"

"What else would I be?" I once again tried to keep my voice as calm as possible, but ultimately failed enough that Natasha frowned. Just the way she was looking at me made me want to shrink into oblivion. I could tell that 'Loki' was still glaring at me while his brother talked to him, but I wasn't going to give him the time of day. He is a bad guy right now anyways.

"Well we did just battle a bunch of aliens, and you shot a bunch of lightning out of you, so I had to be sure."

I finally met his eyeline. What the hell are these guys smoking?

"I did not!" I scoffed.

"Actually, you did." It was Jer- Clint that spoke up this time. "It was quite the light show."

"I don't remember that, so I can only assume you are all lying." I huffed, clinging to whatever sanity I had left.

Tony cut into the conversation. "Wait, so just because you don't remember it, that means that it didn't happen?"

"Yes, well, also because that doesn't sound like me."

"Well the logic is airtight, but I did see it, so it did happen." Tony crossed his arms.

I glared and somehow tightened my grip. "Well Robert," I made sure he heard me stress the name. "I have never done that before, so I don't think it was me that you saw."

"What are you even saying?" His voice was getting almost as shrill as when he first snatched me out of the air. "I was there! I pulled you out of the sky! Nat, back me up here!"

The others were watching intently as the argument went down between myself and the man who looked too much like Robert Downey Jr. to not be him.

"It's a child, Tony. I think you'll survive." Natasha rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to me.

"16. I am 16. Not 12 as this man so kindly puts it," I would have gestured at him if my hands weren't still so tightly latched onto the railing. "And I'm not a kid."

Tony scoffed. "Great, so the only way we get information is from arguing with you."

"Will you knock it off Stark? You're just making it worse." Steve cut in right before I decided to threaten the engineer for being so damn intolerable.

"I'll rip out that arc reactor before you can blink. Don't test me, man." I spat out the words with as much malice as I could. I felt the ice rolling off my tongue and I didn't care. I was sick of being talked down to.

The sound of his suit powering up for any number of activities could be heard. "I'd like to see you try, Birdie."

"Okay, that's enough." Steve held his hands out and stood up. Both myself and Tony were caught like statues in a staring contest. I was refusing to look away first, and apparently, so was he. Steve moved to stand between us breaking off the eye contact. Oh, come on. I had him right where I wanted him.

Who are you?

I blinked and looked around trying to locate the voice I had just heard. Tony and Steve were arguing, but I wasn't listening to them anymore.

I asked you a question, mortal.

Oh you know who that sounds like? I looked over to where Loki was still watching me from. "Don't worry about it."

Answer, Loki's voice demanded.

"Why? You'll just use it against me in the future."

Why were you able to close the portal? Did he send you?

"I don't know and who's 'he'?"

I'll take that as a no. Useless.

Did he just scoff in his thoughts? I didn't notice until now, but Natasha was watching me as I glared back at Loki.

"Do you know him?" She asked, stepping closer to me and further from the testosterone-boosted argument still going on between Downey and Chris Evans.

"Tom or the Trickster?" I asked back, little hope left that this was all an elaborate prank.

"Loki." She confirmed. She glanced between us before leaving her eyes on me.

"No. Not personally."

Was that relief? I couldn't tell what emotion she gave off after my answer because as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. Her eyes passed over my hands before she turned to join the group discussion that I was being left out of. She just made the assumption that I wasn't going anywhere on my own. And honestly, that's a safe bet.

"Alright Lincoln," Steve faced me with everyone else. I fought the urge to shrink away from all the eyes staring me down at varying levels of suspicion. "We were going to call Shield to come get you, but something came up."

Oh boy.

"You're dead."

I narrowed my eyes and then briefly looked down at my hands. I pried one of them off and checked my pulse in front of him. "No, no. I'm pretty sure I'm alive."

"JARVIS doesn't lie." Tony butted in. "He said there's a death certificate out on you. Whoever you claim to be died two years ago."

"Huh."

I hadn't really thought that there would be another me here. In a way, it made sense. Why would my life be affected by the avengers existence all of a sudden?

This did, however, make things much more complicated than they would have been if I just didn't exist here. Not only did it make it that much harder for these nutcases to trust me in the slightest, but it also made me wonder things like...were my parents here too? Ellie? I had no idea, but I figured right now wasn't really the time to ask considering that all of the people in front of me were looking real suspicious.

"Who are you?" Steve was looking a little less like he was trying to coax an answer out of me and more like he was interrogating a suspect. Natasha, on the other hand, didn't look the least bit concerned.

That might just be a constant state for her.

"I- uh, I told you already. I'm Lincoln." My stomach twisted under the new scrutiny of the crew.

Steve's face hardened. "No, try again. Lincoln Patel is dead."

I cleared my throat to try and remove the lump that had formed. "Look, I don't know what you want from me, but I would really like to just be home right now."

"Where are you going to go home to? Your so-called 'parents' and 'sister' died with you." Tony scoffed.

It felt like someone had punched me in the gut. This shouldn't bother me. They weren't my parents or my sister. Well, they were, but they weren't mine. It hurt all the same for some reason that I couldn't place. My parents were stuck worlds away from wherever the hell I was, and the 'parents' here were dead. I took a deep breath and tried to steady my thoughts. I couldn't. I wasn't going to be seeing my family anytime soon, was I? Maybe not ever again.

I felt my face start to lose color. This whole conversation was making me sick. I felt almost as helpless as I did with Ellie. "W-what happened?"

"Car accident," Steve answered curtly, hardly pausing before asking again. "Who are you?"

"Cap, lay off the kid. She obviously didn't know they were dead." Clint pushed aside Steve. Every instinct inside of me was screaming for me to run but my hands had other plans. I kept a tight grip on the railing.

"Dead." I felt my breath shaking under the word. I didn't like how it felt in my mouth.

Steve opened his mouth, no doubt to ask me who the hell I was again, when Chri- Thor, I suppose, walked up to the group with one hand gripping 'Loki's' arm. "Where is the mortal that produced lighting?"

Why is everyone here so tall? Being 5'4 was not at all helping me in this situation. I was already freaking out while my mind tried not to grieve this world's version of my family, so the added stress of being towered over made it all that much worse.

"We don't know. She's dead." Tony rolled his eyes. He was very clearly losing interest at this point so it didn't surprise me when he turned on his heel and started walking off. "Tell me when she gives up some actual answers."

"That is ridiculous. She cannot be dead, she is standing right there." Thor boomed back, ignoring Tony's sudden leave of absence.

Clint glowered at the god man. "No, we know that. The problem is that the person she claims to be is dead."

"Alright. Who are you?" The god looked back at me. Loki just rolled his eyes, obviously sick of this whole mess too.

"Lincoln Patel."

"There. That was not hard at all." Thor nodded back at Clint who looked about ready to smack him.

"No, that was the answer she gave before! That person is dead!" Clint ran a hand over his face in exasperation.

"What else do you want from me?!" I almost shouted, the panic finally starting to show through my calm facade. "I know my own name! Last I checked I wasn't dead either. And you," I pointed at all of them. "Are asking the same goddamn questions over again while expecting a different answer!" I startled myself a little with the outburst but stubbornly worked to keep my face in a glare.

Touchy.

"And get out of my head Reindeer Games!" I shouted at Loki who was simply smirking at all of this. I glared back. "Are you enjoying this?"

"A little bit." He admitted out loud.

"Wait, back up." It was Steve's turn to interrupt. "Did you call him 'Reindeer Games'? Tony called him that."

Oh great, now comes the point where I decide if I tell them the truth or play off the psychic card. There was no good answer. I could lie in hope that they don't find out before I figure a way home or I could tell the truth and have someone help me get home. Then it hit me- Why not just ask them? I let out a breath that I forgot I was holding.

"Okay just- ugh- god, what would you prefer at this point; A comforting and cleverly constructed lie that will help you sleep at night or the truth that will no doubt make you call me crazy before I have a chance to prove anything?"

Might as well have them choose their own fate. The consequences are about equal anyhow.

Loki snickered just loudly enough that his brother heard him and elbowed him in the side.

"The truth." Steve seemed just the slightest bit unsure of the answer he gave.

"You sure about that answer, Icicle Man?" I kept my eyes narrow at him but he quickly gathered his composure enough to glare right back.

"Yes."

"Great, that makes my life so much easier. Let's start off with the basics, then. You don't exist." I looked around briefly at the confused faces before continuing. "Which poses another question; How am I even having this conversation with you? Well, let me answer that for myself because the answer is very simple - I don't know! Last I checked, none of you were real. I'm also very clearly not from here due to the fact that I'm not... well, dead." I paused for a moment which caused more questions to spring up.

"This is the lie isn't it?" Steve asked, brow furrowed in obvious confusion.

"Actually no, the lie would have been something along the lines of 'Oh I am psychic and I can tell your future and past by bopping you with my finger', because that's actually slightly more believable here." I told the lie in a less serious voice and demonstrated by poking Steve in the chest. I could tell he was very uncomfortable with said contact, which cheered me up a little.

"So if you're not from here, and you don't seem to think that we exist." Clint started. "Where are you from then, another world?" He smiled at the idea, clearly thinking that he made a joke.

"Bingo. Right on the money, this guy." I said gesturing to him. His smile fell almost immediately, which was followed by an uncomfortable silent conversation between him and Natasha.

Steve had it covered. "Ignoring the fact that that's impossible, how would it be possible for you to be here at all?"

"That is a very good question Chr- Steve," I shook my head at the name mess up. "If I knew the answer, I might be a little less freaked out right now."

"How do we know you aren't lying?" he countered.

Where did you come from? Loki added, which I decided to ignore in favor of answering Steve's question.

I threw a hand out at Loki after giving the god a slight smirk. "Just ask the God of Lies. He's standing right there."

"I am not some tool," he spat. Thor elbowed him again and he grunted, glared at me for a moment before answering. "She believes she's telling the truth."

Very helpful.

"There, right out of Tricky's mouth."

"You're crazy." Steve deadpanned.

"Wow, look I can predict the future now too- oh wait I can already do that." I finally felt comfortable to release my grip on the railing and pinched the bridge of my nose. "This is gonna be a thing now, isn't it?

"Okay prove it. You said that you were going to claim you were psychic so that must mean you know things about us." Steve challenged, crossing his arms.

I clicked my tongue at him in annoyance. "Okay, first off- I gave you an option. You chose the truth. And B- I can mention stuff about you, both the god men, and Tony. I am not nearly dumb enough to want to talk about Natasha's past because then she will kill or threaten to kill me." I passed a wary look at the woman. "I don't really know how she's feeling at the moment."

Natashas facial expression didn't change. Man, people were right when they said she was hard to read.

Steve broke up my brief staring contest with Nat. "I won't let her kill you."

"Really Steve? You can't control that. She'd kill you 7 different ways right now if she wanted. You see that look? Terrifying." Natasha smiled deviously at my comment and I was just finally glad to no longer be subject to her piercing glare that wasn't really a glare but sure felt like it.

"Fine, ignore her then. What do you know?"

"I know that you, being the soldier boy that you are, tried to enlist 5 times in 5 different cities back when you were...well, not like that." I gestured wildly at him. "Sorry about the 21st century, by the way. It sucks."

I turned to the god men next.

"I know that Loki Boy here was adopted by The Allfather from Jotunheim after he was abandoned by Laufey the Frost Giant." Loki went straight to a look of pure rage but didn't advance towards me.

You're dead.

"Ignoring that." I held up my hand to the prince who was probably imagining my death in vivid detail. At this point I was running on pure adrenaline and it was making me very overconfident.

Sorry, guys, I guess fear makes me rambly.

"I don't have much on Thor here because most everything about him is just common knowledge, but I will say he and Jane make a cute couple."

Thor looked only slightly taken aback by the statement.

"Jane and I are not dating," he replied confidently after a moment.

"Aren't you?" I paused and then I put a few pieces together.

Oops, the Dark World hasn't taken place yet.

"Oh right, nevermind that then. Spoilers."

Clint frowned approvingly and nodded. "Okay so you know superficial things about us. That's not so impressive."

"No, I know a lot more about you guys, actually. I'm just holding them back in an effort to keep my head. Sorry," I frowned at him. "Speaking of heads, how's yours?"

If he was upset by my statement he didn't show it. "Better. Thanks for asking."

Before we could continue with the show and tell - and luckily, before Loki could attempt to do more than just fume silently in my direction - Tony came back.

"I'm only slightly less pissed at the ungrateful child I pulled from the sky. What do we know?" he asked, clapping his hands together and looking around the tense group cooly.

I glanced at him and then back at the group watching me. "No. I'm not explaining this again. Especially not for him."

"He did save your life..." Steve started.

"Hey, I was doing just fine falling to my death," I snapped back before I softened my voice. "Fine, but when he doesn't believe me, I'm not using his past to prove myself. He seems very trigger happy."

Tony just looked on, very confused already. "What -"

"Now," I cut him off. He looked more than offended at this point but I pretended not to notice. "I am not from this reality, but apparently there is or was a me here who is now dead. That explains the name similarities as well as the fact that she probably looked a lot like me. Thrilling, isn't it?" I gave him a nervous smile. My rambling confidence was starting to come down and I was feeling significantly less at ease.

Tony didn't say anything right away and turned to look at the rest of the group for confirmation. Clint and Steve just shrugged while Natasha stayed impartial.

"Okaayy," He started slowly. "So, is this the part where we call Shield for a psych consult?"

"I don't think that would be the best choice." Thor said stepping forwards. "She appears a mere mortal child, but was able to close a rift in space on her own."

"Well, she's obviously lost it. Can't we just...send her over and then wait for the real explanation?" Tony looked for any kind of response from the group. "I'm not the only one seeing this right?"

Here goes nothing, I sighed, realizing that my little hat trick would be necessary after all.

"I blame you if he gets all trigger happy." I directed my point to Steve before turning to face the formerly fictional billionaire. "Tony hacked into the Pentagon when he was in high school because some friends dared him to."

Tony's confused expression changed into one of pride while Steve looked almost offended.

"Who told you that?" Tony asked, looking like he was fighting to dispel the slight smirk lingering on his face but failing miserably.

"No one. It's common knowledge for someone like me."

"I will ask about that later, but right now we need to figure out what to do with you. Pepper needs me for the restructuring and planning." He looked around at the faces. I was definitely starting to feel more and more trapped now that the majority of my adrenaline had finally worn off. My hands started to shake again and I clenched them back into tight fists as Tony continued speaking.

"Really? No ideas?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at his teammates.

"I actually, um, I need to speak with Director Fury. It's kinda important." I interjected, forcing a quick smile in his direction that I knew didn't quite reach my eyes.

"...and the child decides her own fate. Good luck trying to reason with eyepatch, though." He turned and spoke into the arm of his suit. "Jarvis, patch me through to Shield."

Tony held a brief conversation with someone over the phone, and moments later, I was sent downstairs with Natasha, Clint and Steve. Apparently, Fury wanted to see them too, so they got to be the agents to take me. Well, the agents plus Steve.

If I wasn't anxious before, I definitely was now. I resorted to sitting on my hands to keep the shaking away but there was still a twist in my gut telling me to run away or fight someone. This is probably the most scared I've been in a while. Except maybe that time...

"Hey, Lincoln?" Natasha snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Ah, y-yes?" Oh boy there's the stutter again.

"I don't know what you do know about us but I appreciate you keeping some of it to yourself."

"Uh, yeah. No problem." I tried to not start falling apart from the amount of adrenaline in my veins. My heart was still going a mile a minute.

She gave me a quick smile through the rearview mirror. "And just for future reference- I could kill him 23 different ways." She sent a quick smirk to Steve who had a flash of uneasiness pass over his face.

I tried to smile, but my anxiousness had long since taken over. I was just glad Natasha was actually listening to what I was saying earlier. The dead stare makes it difficult to tell if she was retaining the info or just letting it roll off her.

I was way too overconfident in calling them all out. I was a little more nervous now that they would just simply hate me. Tony I could handle, but I really hoped Steve didn't hold too much of a grudge. Said soldier turned away when I looked at him. He was trying to read me too.

And what is with the lighting? They claimed it came out of me and closed the portal, but I really wasn't that sure. Not only was it unlikely for anyone in this reality to have some sort of mutation or ability, but where I was from it was impossible.

I mean, lighting? Really? What am I, some kind of Norse God? I scoffed quietly to myself, shaking off the thought almost as soon as it appeared. No way. I mean, this is a great experience and all, but I would very much like to go home...right after I prevent Winter Soldier and part of Civil War.

Messing with someone else's timeline and reality would be...complicated at best, but I never liked watching these guys suffer through all that stuff. And that was when they were fictional characters. Now they were suddenly people, with thoughts and feelings and everything. The green rage monster almost killing me certainly felt real enough to convince me of that.

And as much as I hate to admit it, they did technically save my life, so...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to at least try to prevent some of the shit that's going to rain down on them in the not-so-distant future. As long as I'm careful not to mess with major events, it wouldn't be a big deal. I wouldn't want to jeopardize the positive outcome in Endgame, after all.

Though Endgame wasn't exactly a happy ending for everyone, I cringed. I don't want Tony or Natasha to die. I don't really want anyone to die. But then again, I don't belong here. I can't mess with a timeline that I'm not supposed to be a part of, can I? But then again...so many deaths, so much sadness. I could stop a lot of it from happening.

I shut out the thoughts and almost didn't notice Natasha stealing glances at me through the mirror.

Hopefully she didn't catch any of my disgruntled looks. I sighed and pulled a hand out from under my leg, only to stick it back when I saw it was still shaking. Any other thoughts that threw themselves at me were pushed aside while I tried to focus on the mission at hand without being interrupted with all the 'what if' ideas. After fighting with my own thoughts for another ten minutes, the car came to a halt right beside what was most definitely the Quinjet.

"U-um are you sure we're in the right place?" I glanced nervously between them and the iconic plane from the movies. It looked even cooler in person.

Clint nodded at me. "Yeah. Are you familiar with the jet too?" He looked between me and the Quinjet as the four of us made our way over to it.

"Yeah, a bit." I bit my lip. I could openly reminisce about all of the funny scenes here, but it probably wasn't the wisest of choices. The image of a panicking Bruce Banner during Ragnarok found its way into my mind and I chuckled, running my fingers along the metal side. Steve gave me a strange look only for me to shake my head.

"You wouldn't get it."