Arrival

"He's here."

The girl was shaking as she said it, and no one could fault her for it. The last seven months she'd been on that World Tour, strengthening the Earth's mental defenses. Along the way, she'd managed to get in touch with all of the retired Avengers and coordinate their return to the fight with the United Nations. Everyone had seen the Prudentia fight this thing and were convinced that only the full might of the Avengers could combat its strength.

After the nations of the world finished playing hot potato with her life pod, it was moved to the Avengers Compound in New York for safekeeping. There, all of the Avengers practiced and honed their skills for the impending fight. Quicksilver could cross continents in a matter of nanoseconds. Hawkeye had arrows designed to blow up buildings. Ant-man could grow or shrink with zen-like control. Black Widow had a belt full of guns and other goodies to make the battle easier. Vision was ready with the full power of the Mind Stone. Scarlet Witch had greater control over her powers. All the rest of the Avengers worked themselves to exhaustion preparing for the fight of their lives. The only Avenger to not be practicing day and night was Spiderman, due to his age and secret identity.

"Spiderman, it's time," Tony said grimly.

"Right now? We're about to start midterms!"

"The world needs its friendly neighborhood Spiderman to defend Althea. That's what your part of the plan is. I'm sending Quicksilver to get you before the end."

Peter sighed and moved to the front of his school with an excuse of stomach bug. "Will I have time to - WOAH!" Within seconds he was in the presence of his fellow Avengers. "Um… Hi. Where do you need me?"

"Thea, where is he?"

Heimdall appeared out of nowhere. "The Madrul has entered your solar system and passed Saturn already. He will be here in a matter of minutes."

"Alright guys. Just like we practiced," Tony sighed. "Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange will work to keep the man out of this compound," just like that, a large number of sorcerers opened portals to the compound. "The majority of us will engage the enemy while Ant-man goes giant and guards the compound from the outside. Spiderman will be her personal bodyguard and our last line of defense against this monster. Thea, your instructions are simple. Stay out of the way and don't heal anyone. This may be the shortest offensive in the history of the universe, but it will be an honor to fight it with all of you."

"Real inspirational, Tony," Rogers smirked. "We're going to-"

"Our goal is to protect the Lady," Thor interrupted militantly. "The Madrul gets to her over our dead bodies. That is the only goal."

King T'Challa sighed and prepared for the fight ahead. He refused to die, leaving his friend defenseless. "We should move the little one inside to keep her safe."

"Alright, time for the magic workers to shine," Steven Strange said to his team. "I want layers of protection around the girl starting with the room she's locked in. Nothing gets through, understand?"

"Yes, Sorcerer Supreme," the team of sorcerers bowed before hustling the girl and Spiderman inside the compound.

"Admit it, you enjoy the bowing," Wanda grinned.

"In what might be our last minutes alive, sure," Strange shrugged. "I do enjoy the bowing. But that's not why I took the job. I took it to upstage Wong." He winked before going into the compound as the first layer of defense against the enemy. Scarlet Witch turned to Vision as she prepped her spells.

"I love you," she said ruefully, suddenly ashamed of all the opportunities she'd had to say it and didn't. The artificial being looked at her compassionately.

"I know you do, Wanda."

"I just… I didn't want us to die without you ever hearing me say it." Vision touched her cheek softly.

"I don't need to hear the words to know your heart, Wanda. It's okay."

"If we can't stop the-"

A giant-sized meteor rocketed toward Earth. It crashed down right next to the life pod in a deafening explosion that forced everyone back. What emerged - seemingly from the fires of Hell - was a muscular black man with not a single hair out of place. Even the devoted Black Widow couldn't help but do a double take at Althea's mate. He was taller than the girl - about six-foot-five - with luscious dreadlocks that fell to his waist. His goatee fit the mischievous air about him, but the recessed boneblades along the backs of his forearms said that he meant business. His gaze was direct and penetrating, those deep brown eyes searching.

"Where is my mate?" he asked calmly, his deep cultured voice sending delectable shivers down the female teammates' spines. Thor looked around incredulously before rolling his eyes.

"You shall not harm the Lady," he said in his most commanding tone.

"Harm?" Madrul said in confusion. Thor used that moment to attack. The rest of the team followed suit, and the battle was on. T'Challa ran at the man furiously, claws spread wide to attack. The enemy punched him hard in midair and he flew backward into Thor. Black Widow attacked after taking a moment to ground her hormones, sliding up next to him and flipping up to kick him in the face. This didn't seem to faze the alien and he pushed her away. Captain America didn't waste any time with words, throwing a clothesline block with his shield. The alien ducked the hit, pushing the man off his feet. Then he dodged an arrow meant to take his head off. He looked more confused than upset about the situation he was in. Heimdall was the first to notice this behavior. He sheathed his sword as Thor climbed to his feet.

"What are your intentions for the Lady?" he asked reasonably. Before the alien could answer, Thor rushed him with Black Panther. The alien dodged their rapid-fire attacks, beginning to look annoyed. Falcon and Warmachine similarly attacked, only to have their wings clipped.

"Enough!" he yelled. The ground trembled at his anger. "I wish to speak to my wife!" Without waiting for a response, he made a beeline for the compound. Ironman attacked by firing a missile at the enemy. He crushed it in his hand and threw it away from himself in annoyance, where it exploded harmlessly behind him. Scarlet Witch and Vision attacked together, both aiming to slow him down. The alien took a step back at the first blast of wild, desperate magic, then stepped through it as if it didn't exist. Quicksilver sped past him only to be clotheslined and knocked out by his own speed. The intruder pushed him off with disdain.

"Hey," Captain America yelled at the being, throwing his shield, "pick on someone your own size!" The Khaleesi's mate caught the projectile and threw it back at its owner. The shield came back at him, nearly taking Roger's head off. The Madrul took the side of the compound off like it was on hinges. Once the Avengers recovered from the shock, Ant-man grew giant and grabbed the alien. Or he tried to. The alien grabbed him and threw the giant into a crater caused by another of Hawkeye's arrows.

The magic users were similarly shocked when the wall opened like a door, but they recovered quickly and attacked. The alien walked through their defenses as if they didn't exist. Heimdall followed without engaging and was largely ignored as the intruder made his way towards his woman.

Spiderman had her stored underground. When the alien got on the elevator, Stark gassed the chamber. A small bout of coughing resulted from the poison gas. The Avengers were quick to jump in another elevator to re-engage the enemy. Scarlet Witch was the first out of the elevator, expecting to see her friend dead on the ground. Instead, the two aliens were standing across the room from each other; just staring. His eyes were full of hunger and hers were full of the kind of terror that only comes from being completely helpless. Seeing that look on her face, the woman ran in front of her, power once again manifesting.

"You will not hurt her," Wanda growled, preparing a devastating attack. Spiderman similarly prepared to attack, as did the other Avengers.

"NO!" Thea screamed. Instantly, every single one of the superheroes was surrounded by an impenetrable force field. Protests to this heretofore unknown power rang out throughout the room, but Althea ignored it all. She was still fixated on her stunningly attractive mate. "I'm sorry. But if you all attack here, someone is going to die - likely by friendly fire. Thank you all for your efforts, but it's time to end this."

"Come here," the Madrul said silkily. The girl had no choice but to step towards him. She couldn't help her shaking though. She closed her expressive brown eyes against the look of satisfaction in his. He reached for the petrified girl and reality skipped. Every person in the world felt it. His hand on her neck felt warm and gentle though, confusing her.

"You protected me and my people from the Rewq," he said firmly. Her eyes popped open at the accusation.

"No. I-"

"They offered to spare you if you gave them my people's location so that they could torture them instead. You refused. And for that you were subjected to pain and suffering that would have broken battle-hardened soldiers." A tear slipped down the girl's face, and with it, images of electrocutions, burnings, drownings, and other tortures incomprehensible to the human mind filled everyone's heads. More tears for the old pains. A second hand joined the first cradling her wet cheeks. "I always thought that you were so weak. But you have an inner strength I never knew about. You saved me and my people at the expense of your own life. I felt your every death, even without our connection. And I made sure to find every one of those cowardly vermin to repay the favor. You saved my mother and little sister - the only beings I ever cared about up to that point. For that, you have my loyalty. The loyalty of the Madrul." At that, he sank to one knee, pressing a hand to his chest before looking at his mate. Thea was still shaking, blinking as if her brain was refusing to comprehend the enormity of what just happened. All these months of worry and fretting. All the planning. All the training… All her blank mind kept repeating was Mr. Stark is going to kill me.

"No harm will come to you under my protection, Lady." He stood to his full six-foot-five height, looking down at her with a gentle smile while cupping her cheeks again. "In time I hope to earn your trust enough to be reunited with your wonderful mind. But for now, I am satisfied to be at partial strength."

"Partial strength?" Natasha said in disbelief. "That was only partial strength?"

"And holding back," he shrugged arrogantly. "I know that my Lady abhors violence."

"Holding back," Pietro groaned around his shattered ribs.

Thea looked up into the face of the man who had sworn to murder her. "Y-you don't mind my weakness?" The Madrul pushed one of her braids behind her ear before returning to her baby soft cheeks.

"I was born to be your strength. Might I know your name, little one?"

"I was never given one. They call me Althea here, Thea for short." It was very distracting to focus on her words with him staring at her like that. And the touching also wasn't helping. Everything in her wanted to kiss him.

"Then kiss me," he leaned in and whispered against her temple.

"You can hear my thoughts?" she asked with red undertones in her cheeks.

"Loud, directed ones, yes," he said with a mischievous grin. Thea blushed more, remembering a similar statement to Agent May when she first came out of the life pod. God, how long ago was Sokovia? Her attempts at thinking were being smothered by his touch on her face and his warm laughter. "Relax, little one. I don't need to have access to your thoughts to feel your panic." The girl whimpered, feeling like she was dying of embarrassment. "Here, let me help," he whispered against her lips, tilting her head so he could claim them properly. Her knees gave out at that first moment of contact and suddenly she stumbled into his arms. The Madrul picked her up off the floor with a grin. "I am Tyr Anasazi out of Victoria by Barbarossa and I have been waiting for this for a very long time." He pressed his lips to hers again and she sighed in sweet surrender. A warm wave of love and goodwill enveloped the entire planet all at once. There was healing light all over the world, fixing the damage her fear had caused and a lot of other ailments. Althea was only aware of the hairs on the back of her neck lowering for the first time in thirty-two thousand years.

"Um… hello? I hate to interrupt the moment, but you have a captive audience," Doctor Strange said from his place, trapped in his invisible tube. Thea pulled away automatically, heat radiating off her face.

"Sorry, Doctor," she said ruefully. The force fields around the team disappeared immediately, but only the Sorcerer Supreme moved. Or rather, his cape did, seemingly protesting its captivity. "Sorry," she apologized to the Cloak of Levitation as well.

"Sooo… We're good?" Falcon asked tentatively, reaching behind him to feel his now fully restored wings.

"We're… We're good," she said with a shy smile up at her man. He only gave her an indulgent grin, looking ready to kiss her again.

"Good," Hawkeye said, putting his arrow away. "I feel like I could sleep for a week after all this. My arms were about to fall off."

"That's 'cause you're an old man," Quicksilver chuckled, stretching his torso subtly.

"Who's old?" Barton laughed, catching the movement. All of the sorcerers and sorceresses left to defend the realm immediately, but Dr. Strange stayed behind to harass the Khaleesi.

"You mean to tell me that you could have solved all of this by simply contacting your boyfriend at any time?"

"You saw what he was doing when I cut the connection, doctor! Would you-"

"After thirty-two thousand years, yes!" Steven said angrily, beginning to feel upset about the wasted time and energy that went along with this effort. "I think I would have at least checked in once or twice before calling in the calvary! For goodness sake, do you understand what it means having all the Avengers in one place like this?"

"It's not like making a phone connection, doctor," Thea whimpered, trying to dislodge the lump forming in her throat. "That bond between us is supposed to be permanent. You don't know the amount of psychic effort it took to break it - it's not supposed to be able to be done. I don't know if it can be repaired and severing it a second time would kill me. I was desperate that day. Desperate and at the end of my rope. I woke up and immediately went back to business as usual. How was I supposed to know that he hadn't?"

"I stayed with my family for the rest of their lives before going to sleep, little one," Tyr said, caressing her cheek. "You were gone and our connection was severed, but I was determined to find you in time and treat you right. You are upsetting my woman," the man said firmly to Doctor Strange, who gulped and backed down.

"The problem remains, though. What do we do now? I mean, these two lovebirds can't stay here, can they?" Ironman asked as if it was a question and not a statement.

"You're right, of course," Althea sighed sadly. "I'm fixing your world too much; corporate types hate me. The ozone layer is fully restored as of right now along with twelve percent of the rainforest, and it's only going to get worse now that he's here. But we need a ship to-"

"What about Heimdall?" Stark said at the same time Heimdall himself said "Lady, I would be honored to-"

"I want to be able to move freely around the realms without disturbing your work, good sir," she said firmly to the Gatekeeper. "Build me a spaceship and I will be out of your hair, Mr. Stark," she said with a hint of a smirk in her smile.

"Wait a minute! You can't just… send the Lady out into the universe and hope for the best," Thor interrupted furiously. "The Lady is a treasure! And what if her power is needed here again?" The Avengers descended into chaos arguing about this.

"While I appreciate the votes of confidence, now that I don't have to stay in one place, I'd rather not," Althea interrupted the argument. "I have my mate now - I am only going to get stronger. Earth will become a paradise if I don't leave soon."

"And what's wrong with that?" Hawkeye asked.

"Not much profit to be made off of paradise," she said matter-of-factly. "Your world, your people… you are greedy by nature. I can't change that, so I need to go."

"How will you call for help if you-"

"I'm under the protection of my mate," she grinned as she reassured Thor. "He promises that I will be safe and I believe him. And this way no one has a claim on me anymore. I can go where I want, help where it will be appreciated. I'd very much like that."

"Hey! We appreciate you," Quicksilver jumped into the conversation.

"I've rebuilt your polar Ice-caps. I undo your violence and sometimes I get to heal people. But I'm meant to heal planets and solar systems. I'm meant to create paradises and save species. I can't do that here, people won't let me. And I can't flourish where there's contention to my power. It really is for the best that I go."

Earth just isn't ready for her. I hope that no one was disappointed in the fight. I wanted an epic showdown after all the build-up. See y'all next week for the continuation of the story. There are only a few chapters left in this story, but they are shaping up to be quite exceptional. Till then :D