"Call from... Drake Kier," Demetri's phone announced.
"Oh, this is one of those friends I was telling you about." He grabbed his old-fashioned flip phone from his pocket. "He hasn't come into his power yet, though... Which is strange, since we implanted the device years ago... Anway, excuse me for just a moment." He flipped the phone open. "Drake! My friend! How are you?"
"Not so good." Drake's voice quivered. "Paige... she's gone."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Demetri looked sorrowful. "Did you have a fight?"
"It's not like that... she's..." Drake couldn't hold back any longer. Sobs took over as he tried to speak. "He took her."
"Took her?! What do you mean?"
Drake tried to reply, but his words were indistinguishable.
"I can't understand you. Just calm down." Demetri spoke in a calm and even voice, despite his fear. "Start at the beginning."
"We fought, and she went home, and I picked daisies, and I went to talk to her, and when I got there, she was gone! Loki kidnapped her!"
"What? The madman with the monsters? …Oh, no. you don't think... Oh, dear. What about you? Are you alright?"
"Naw, man. My powers. Shadow control. I got shadow control. Oh, you gotta help me, man. I'm over with Stark right now."
"Stark?! What on earth are you doing over there?"
"He's one of them superheroes, man. He can get her back."
Demetri growled low in his throat. "Fine. But don't you tell him, Drake Kier, about that device you've got in your head. The last thing I want him to do is attempt to extract it and copy my designs. I wish you'd have come to me."
"And what can you do?!" Drake suddenly shouted. "You're a blind man with a fancy stick and a robot!"
Demetri was silent for a moment. "In light of the pain I'm sure you're feeling, I'll disregard that comment," he finally stated. "When you're ready to be civil, contact me again. And come over immediately after you finish with Stark. I'll contact the others to make sure they stay on guard. Heaven only knows what will happen if that madman gets a hold of my amplifiers."
Demetri snapped his phone shut and gave a large sigh. He turned the phone over and over in his hand, lost in thought. Loki, the man with great power who had attacked the city only a few short years ago, was back. And if he had found out about the devices, the amplifiers, who knows what he would do? A whole army of superhumans to attack the human race with? They were supposed to be the best soldiers, after all... the cyborgs Demetri had inadvertently created. No. He wouldn't allow that to happen. He had to stop him... somehow.
Demetri was so caught up in his own thoughts that he nearly forget Kitania was there.
/
Drake collapsed to his knees, unable to hold back his tears any longer, and sobbed into his hands.
Brooke whimpered once more and craned her neck to catch sight of Drake. "Dragon? Don't fly away."
The balcony door opened and Stark sauntered back in. "Well, the Best Buy girl didn't know much besides the fact he said he's a good friend of ours. Ew. But I did get a date out of the deal. Of course, considering I'm going steady with Pepper, I had to decline, but..." he noted Brooke's bleeding arm and the distraught boy by his computer. "Okay, why is it I miss all the fun when I go out? What happened here? Hey, crazy chick, how'd you hurt yourself?"
Drake heard Stark return and tried his best to compose himself. He stood up, dried his eyes, and quickly headed for the elevators. "I'm sorry, Brooke... I just... I just can't."
"Dragon!" Brooke shrieked. "Beasty, stop him!"
Bruce shrugged. "Doesn't work like that, Brooke. I can't just make him stay. Sorry."
He reached to check on the stitched in her shoulder, but Brooke shrugged him away, catapulted over the back of the couch, and slid to a stop between the elevators and Drake. Effectively blocking his exit. A small girl against a much larger man. But she didn't back down.
Drake sighed. "Brooke, please move. I just... I wanna go home." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I don't want those guys to stand there watching me like that. Just... please... move."
"No running," Brooke pleaded. "Please, Dragon. Enough running." She grasped at something, anything, to let him know she wanted to help, whatever it took. But she couldn't find it. The arrows and lines were back, and with them the drums in her head.
She squinted and pressed a palm to her temple. No drums. Didn't want to dance with their sticks. Take them out. Drums burned like fire.
In a brief moment of lucidity, Brooke met Drake's eyes and pushed as much of a plea for help as she could through them. Without knowing it, she mentally emitted her emotions as well.
Drake immediately recognized the feeling of someone else inside his mind. He could feel Brooke's emotions and knew she was broadcasting them to him. "It's okay. Settle down." He spoke softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere. Not with you in this state."
Brooke heaved a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Dragon's arms around her, felt like brother-bear. But the memories didn't stop. The drums sped up and burned hotter.
"I just have to go for a little while, Amber," Curtis, the only kind one there. He had left her in the care of the nurses and strode for the elevator.
Brooke had tried to cry out, but the muzzle they placed on her mind held her still. But, inside, she had screamed. The elevator had shattered and Curtis had left with it. No more kind man. No more good things. Drums started after that. After the new doctor came. Then glass in her mind.
"Lies that pull us in," she mumbled. "They hold us down til we give up. Don't want to give up."
Drake winced at her words. He knew all too well the power of giving up to the lies. He hugged her close to him, protectively... the way he used to hold Paige. "Don't you dare give up, Brooke. Don't you give in. Never let them win. Never."
Brooke finally overcame her fears and emotions and her face turned stoic once more, even though her cheeks were still damp with tears. She turned her head to see Drake. "Dragon's nice."
Drake smiled at her and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "I know what it's like to live with the lies. To live with something stuck in your head. We make a good team, you and me. Even if you are a little animal." He playfully tousled her hair.
Brooke whined and fixed her hair. "Not an animal. Beasty, animal. Me, no."
"Hey!" Bruce called from across the room.
Tony laughed. "She's got you pegged, buddy boy. One good angry moment and you're gone, completely green, full of rage and... I'm gonna shut up now."
Bruce's expression said that was a good idea.
"Drake, Brooke, I have discovered a wonderful Midgardian food known as Ice Cream," Thor offered genially. "Would either of you care to join me in feasting on what Stark deems a gallon? Perhaps he even has a box or two of Pop-Tarts!"
Drake brightened at the thought of chowing down on something sweet. He hadn't had more than a few bites of food in days. "That sounds pretty good." He joined Thor in the kitchen. "Hey, lemme show you how to do it. Ya see, you toast the Pop-Tarts good, and then squish the ice cream between them. It's hot, cold, sweet, chewy, and creamy... all in one!"
To demonstrate, he rummaged through Stark's pantry until he found the Pop-Tarts, stuck two in the toaster, waited for them to pop up, and then put a scoop of ice cream between the two pastries. He then presented his concoction to the mighty god of thunder. "Try that. It's amazing."
Thor ate an entire one in a single bite and threw his hands up triumphantly. "Delicious! ANOTHER!" Thankfully, there was nothing to throw or he probably would have.
Brooke reached for Drake's half-eaten treat and snatched it from his hands. She stuffed it in her mouth and nodded appreciatively.
"Keep your filthy alien paws OFF my stuff!" Tony yelled, vaulting over a chair and dashing for the alcohol cupboard. "Your pals in New Mexico warned me about your propensity for breaking things, and there is no way I'm letting you smash my best liquors. Or highly expensive crystal glassware. Or anything else in this multi-million-dollar high-rise. So don't even think it, big boy."
Drake winced at the argument between the two heroes. He would rather be anywhere else in the world than standing between two raging superhumans, especially since one of said heroes was a mythical god.
He slowly slipped past them and made his way out to the balcony. He stood there for a few moments, staring down at the city below, before he noticed the guy standing aloof near the corner of the railing.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was out here." Drake turned to leave, but then recognized him. "Hey, you're Agent Barton, right? One of those guys that creep brainwashed." Drake sighed and looked away, trying to compose his next sentence, and then looked back. "I'm sorry, but what was it like? I'm sure you've heard about how that monster kidnapped my girl. Is that creep hurting her?"
Barton looked over his shoulder at the boy and shook his head. "It's not my favorite thing to talk about. And I doubt he's hurting her. He won't have to, she can't overpower him." He returned his sights to the bustling metropolis hundreds of feet below him. Paranoia was a hard thing to overcome, much as he tried. And besides, he saw things better from up high.
"You'd be surprised." Drake leaned over the railing, his hands gripping it so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Just so you know, I know what it's like to have creeps in my brain. Paige and I were part of an experimental procedure a couple of years ago. They implanted both of us with this special device. Some sort of amplifier that's supposed to strengthen our brainwaves. It gave her telepathy. Just today I found out I can control shadows. But, they did other stuff to us. Stuff we still don't know about. Yeah, I'm concerned with what that mythical creep could do to her mind, but I'm more concerned with what he might do to her brain. That guy... he thinks we're ants. If our own kind can cut us up and turn us into meat-puppets, what would that freak do?"
"I agree." Barton shrugged. "He is a monster. But something tells me he wouldn't use that staff on her. Me? I was a target of convenience. He chose her. Hand-selected. There's something bigger going on. Always is with him."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Drake sighed. "The bigger picture. She's a pawn, and I won't let her get hurt in his mad attempt at world conquest."
"If there's one thing I learned while he was in my head, it's that Loki has the potential to actually care about people. Unfortunately, he chooses to ignore it more often than not. Don't worry, we'll get your little princess back safe."
A crash from inside, and a growl from one of the big guys.
"No fights! Back off!" came Brooke's firm, well-supported cry.
Drake glanced over his shoulder at the fight inside. "I think I'll just ignore all that commotion for right now. I am not directly involved, therefore it is none of my business." He winced at Brooke's cry. "Nope. None of my business."
"Tony, get down!" Brooke yelled.
Barton dropped from the ledge that was his perch and started for the door, muttering, "What the heck...?"
Finally, curiosity got the best of Drake, and he followed Agent Barton inside, bracing himself for what he supposed was a clash of titans. If worse came to worse, he could always stand a bit behind Barton. At least he was human.