Callie stood in the middle of the street, dead aliens and humans littered the ground as building debris continued to fall out of the sky like morbid snow. Her gun was spent and had been thrown away, her swords covered in the aliens blood and she had lost all her daggers and the blade that had been strapped to her forearm.
Scratches covered her body and face, a black eye was developing on the right side of her face, a split lip was drizzling blood down her chin. She was sure she had managed to knock two teeth out, as her mouth kept filling with blood that she continued to spit out on the pavement, before her eyes went back to the portal, waiting desperately to see if Tony made it out alive. Her arm hung uselessly at her side, blood still oozing from it and collecting in the white of her singlet, before drizzling down the front of it. She had taken a jumper that Steve had handed to her and pressed it against the wound for a few seconds, before letting it drop to the ground as it pushed the arrow head further in to the wound.
"Natasha, you have to close it." Came Steve's voice over the coms, making Callie let out a small whimper as she watched the light instantly flicker out as Natasha used the staff to destroy the link. She watched as the portal shrank, but not before a body fell from the middle of it.
"Son of a gun!" Steve said, watching as Tony plummeted to the ground.
"He's not slowing down!" Thor yelled, instantly going in to action mode as he begun to spin Mjǫlnir around at his side. But he soon stopped as they watched Hulk bounce from one building to catch Tony and hold him in his arm as he crashed in to another building, before falling and rolling on to the ground, each time making sure that Tony was safe in his clutches.
"TONY!" Callie yelled, sprinting with the others to where Hulk and Tony laid on the bitumen. The suit was broken and the ARC reactor was turned off, Steve ripped the mask away from Tony's face and bent down to hear if he was breathing. "Don't you die you son of a bitch!" Callie hissed, falling down to her knees as she stared at him. "Don't you dare die and leave me with these guys!"
She flinched and covered her ear with one hand as Hulk let out a roar, before letting it drop to her side in shock as Tony gasped and came round once more. "Please tell me no one kissed me!" He mumbled, glancing at Callie before looking at the others. "W-what happened?"
"We won." Steve said, grinning as Tony made a comment about not coming in tomorrow and then about a take away place around the corner he wanted to try. He glanced to see Callie standing with Hulk's finger once again stroking her hair, a content look on the beasts face as he watched the others.
"We still have one more thing to do." Thor said, helping Tony stand up and brush the dust from him. "I do believe my brother is somewhere."
"Puny god!" Hulk cried, pointing to Stark tower, then motioning smashing something with a grin. "Puny god." He said again, before scooping Callie up in his hands and grinning at her. Even though Callie demanded he put her down he ignored her, instead happily carrying her as they went to collect the god of lies.
It had to be the man-beast, out of all the Avengers, it had to be the man-beast that had broken his ribs, pelvis and right arm and caused him to lie in the pit in Stark Tower whilst the battle raged around outside. He heard the crashing, the explosions and the screams wafting up on the air currents as his army stormed the planet, but without him telling them what to do, they had just unleashed their power and destroyed half of down town Manhattan. Maybe the beast had more control over the monster then what he thought, seeing as he was sure a few of those slams were personal, seeing as he went for a very personal part of Loki's body when he slammed him towards the ground.
This wasn't meant to happen!
He was meant to lead his army, not be attacked by some wayward energy ball from Callie!
He had heard her words as she spoke to Felicity as he rushed through the city to get to her before she was killed, he did not want his life ended by a stupid woman!
Once he had come to and started to climb up from the pit, his whole body aching with every move, he came face to face with The Avengers, Clint Barton had an arrow pointing right at his face. The others stood around him, each sporting bruises and cuts from the battle that had just happened, everyone except the man-beast, who stood at the back with Callie in his arms. She looked the worst out of all of them, bruises and cuts littered her face and arms, and she seemed dazed from a cut on her forehead.
"If it's all the same to you..." Loki started to say, watching as Thor glared at him. "I'd like that drink now..." He let out a groan as Tony burst in to laughter, his head was pounding enough without the obnoxious billionaire's voice adding to it.
"The child?" Thor snapped, not even bothering to ask how Loki was, still angry at the fact his younger brother had stabbed him.
Loki wanted to keep where the child was a secret, he didn't want S.H.I.E.L.D to use Hella against either Callie or himself, but he knew as soon as Thor put the Asgardian cuffs on his hands that he wasn't going to be spending much time with S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Darcy." He whispered so only Thor could hear him, he did not trust the others to keep it a secret if Fury asked where they had found the child, but he knew Thor would keep it a secret. Plus the child had to come back to Asgard with them for healing, unless Thor was going to let the child die. "She's with Darcy."
"I'll collect her, brother." Thor said, clapping Loki on the shoulder, making him flinch as it jarred his newly healed bones. "No one else will know where she went."
Callie reached over and grabbed some food off Bruce's plate, her left arm was bandaged and against her chest in a sling, her other injuries had been tended to by Bruce before she had left with the others to check out the food house that Tony had suggested after he came to. He had refused to let the medics treat her, instead he spent the fifteen minutes it took to get the arrow head out of her wound and stitch her up, before tending to her other minor injuries. She had the arrow head in a small specimen bag in the pocket of her cargo pants, she was going to keep it as a reminder of this day.
"Oi!" Bruce said, laughing softly as he tapped her hand as if he was scolding a small child instead of a grown woman. He rolled his eyes as she just shoved the food in to her mouth and chewed happily, listening to the others eating their meals.
"I feel like I have a hangover..." Tony mumbled around a mouthful of his food, making Thor grunt in agreement. Callie yawned and rested her head against Bruce's shoulder, her eyes half closed as she tried to find the energy to finish the pineapple on her plate. She smiled softly as Bruce's arm came around her waist and held her to his side, with a small sigh she let her eyes close and listened to the noises of the others.
"Well Loki is fine for tonight." Thor stated after they had all finished their meals and Callie had fallen asleep. "I will collect the child tomorrow morning and we leave tomorrow afternoon with the cube. The child will be healed in Asgard and returned as soon as I can, I am sure my father can use some more power to get her back to Midgard. I am sure we will be able to find where she has hidden."
"Yes, I'm sure you'll be able to." Bruce said, gently untangling Callie's hair with his fingers. "I'm sure she will stay with me for a few months before she decides on what to do."
"The option of her coming to Asgard is still on the table." Thor said, lifting the coffee cup in to his hands and holding it, feeling the warmth come off his favourite Midgard drink through the porcelain cup. "Even more so after she demonstrated the ability to harness Loki's power..."
"No, she would be better off here." Bruce said, smiling softly as Callie snuggled in to him more in her sleep and clung to his hand, a small frown on her face. "I don't think she wants to be in the home of Loki, not after all that has happened."
"My mother will be upset, no doubt she wants to meet the girl that made Loki bond with her." Thor quickly regretted what he said as Bruce's arm tightened around Callie, almost pulling her on to his lap.
"Anyway!" Tony called, clapping his hands together to get their attentions. "I do believe it is time to head home. If you don't feel like going to S.H.I.E.L.D you are welcome to share a spare room in my house."
"I'll take the house, I'm sure Callie would much rather that then going back to S.H.I.E.L.D. We still do not know if they will let her go if she enters there once more." Bruce stated, standing up as Tony did and scooping Callie in to his arms to carry her, being careful not to knock or prod any of her injuries.
"House for me as well." Clint said, standing up and stretching. "Come on Tash, you need sleep." He took Natasha's upper arm gently and led her after Tony, not really surprised when Steve and Thor followed them back to the mansion.
"SHOOT HER CLINT!" Natasha's voice cried over the coms as she tried to dodge Loki while controlling the alien ship. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHOOT HER! HER LIFE IS TIED TO HIS, END HER AND YOU END HIM!"
Callie turned to find Clint's arrow pointing straight at her forehead, she knew that at this distance it would be an instant kill. She would feel nothing as the arrow buried itself in the soft flesh of her brain, she wondered if it would cause much mess, or if it would be a clean kill.
"I'm sorry." Clint said, closing his eyes so he couldn't see the tears shining in Callie's brown eyes. "I'm so sorry, but it's for the Earth." He whispered, letting the arrow go. He kept his eyes clenched, waiting for the sound of Callie's body crumbling to the ground, but the noise never came.
Opening his eyes he came face to face with a very much alive Callie, the arrow frozen only inches from her face and turned to an icy blue. Callie was shaking as she stared at the arrow, her hands slowly returning to their normal colour instead of the frozen blue they had turned as she changed the arrow.
WHAT AM I BECOMING?
Waking up with a start, Callie sat up in bed, panting loudly as her dream washed over her. She clutched the blankets to her chest as she looked around the room, trying to remind herself that she was in Tony's house and not kidnapped by S.H.I.E.L.D once more. Looking to her side when she heard someone shuffling around she smiled when she saw Bruce, he made a small noise in his sleep and rolled over to his side, pulling the blankets up to his chin.
Laying back down in the bed Callie stared up at the roof, trying to calm her racing heart and shaking hands, she couldn't believe that Clint was going to shoot her, no amount of rational thinking helped her calm the anger and betrayal she felt. Was no one on this planet trustworthy?
She pulled the sunstone bracelet off her wrist and let it fall to the ground, instantly feeling Loki's anger in her mind. Loki had been the only one who had not lied to her, everything he said he had done, not once had he lied to her. He had saved Hella from the destruction and from S.H.I.E.L.D, hiding her in a place that they would never find her.
"Stop thinking so much!" Loki's voice snapped in her mind, trying not to take his anger out on her. "You know they are useless, they tried to kill you! KILL YOU CALLIE! On your fathers orders!"
"SHUT UP LOKI!" Callie screamed in her mind, rolling over and snuggling her face in to Bruce's back, wrapping an arm around his waist to hold him close.
Loki stayed silent for a few minutes before his voice came back to her mind, cunning and soft. "Stay with the man-beast. He's kept you under the radar before, he will do it again in a heartbeat. Take Hella with you once she arrives back on Earth, i'll try and keep her in Asgard for as long as I possibly can. I know Thor has asked you to come, but there will be plenty of time for you to see Asgard in the future. For now you are needed on Earth, safe in the arms of the man-beast."
"I don't love you, Loki..."
"I know, I don't love you either."
Callie rolled over to reach the sunstone bracelet on the floor and slip it on her wrist, before rolling back and snuggling in to Bruce once more, the lie still fresh in her mind. No matter how many times she told herself she didn't love him, her heart said something different. But how could someone love two men at the same time?
He is a murderer! She thought, scolding herself for her stupidity. They both are. Another voice added, a voice that sounded to much like Loki for her comfort.