We were given the task of keeping the guests safe, which involved evacuating them without letting Loki get to them. Tony left to find the secret compartment within the building that held an Iron Man suit, which he had created only hours before the party. Steve followed to retrieve his shield; Natasha was fully prepared, as was Hawkeye who pulled out his bow and slung his arrows over his back without any trouble. Bruce had already left to search the building for any guests that had wandered off away from the entrance; I think he was nervous about turning into Hulk in such a crowded area.
I spotted her from where I was standing; the blonde girl that had been watching me.
"I'll be back." Before Fury could question my motives or protest, I was running across the ballroom floor towards the area where the girl had been previously standing. She ran as soon as she saw me look in her direction; I barely managed to keep up with her. She led me along the empty hallways, to the fire escape that led up to the roof. I followed her without a word; she would be cornered on the roof now.
The fire escape slammed closed behind me.
"I'm glad to finally meet you." The blonde haired girl turned around, a smile on her face. "Loki's been speaking about you for a long time. I think it's time to see where your skills lie." Fire shot from her fist before I could get a word in; I rolled to the side, stopping myself before I slid off the roof. I'd have to watch my step around here or I'd be facing a lot of broken bones. I deflected the fire, shooting back flames of my own that she barely avoided.
"Who are you?" I shouted.
"I'm Brianna Hurley." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not surprised you don't know of me. I was kept a secret. While you got to go back home to your family, I was forced to stay in a lab. Do you know what it's like to have tests run on you every single day of your life? Did you ever imagine growing used to the prick of needles in your skin as your blood was taken for more and more tests every day? No, I don't think you do."
"You're the other girl from the experiments?"
"That's me." She replied coolly. "And I'd like to talk with you about your ever so perfect life, but my job is done." She ran to the side of the building, sliding down the gutter before completely breaking it off. The water that had been inside of it began to over flow; I watched as she raised the water into the air, creating sharpened points of ice. "Watch what you can truly do with your powers, if you were on the right side."
She turned to the water tower that was looming over the ballroom, shifting the shards of water forward. It easily sliced through the metal. The damage she had done showed its consequences in mere seconds; the water tower began to slowly shift over.
I had to think quickly or else be crushed along with all the people still filing out. Having innocent deaths on my hands was not an option. Her lips curled into a smile as she waved goodbye, before she slipped into the crowd of panicking people. I didn't even have enough time to contact one of the others to warn them; I had a complete catastrophe to handle.
I felt my heart began to race faster. The water tower made a loud screeching sound as its angle changed. I held out my hands, closing my eyes to concentrate more on the feeling of the water swishing around inside the water tower. I used the force of the water inside, along with a few solid pieces of earth at the bottom to keep the water tower from puncturing over the building and completely destroying it.
It took a lot of my energy to focus on two different areas; it took even more to push such a large amount of water to the opposite side of the tower to keep it from tipping over more. If I let go for even a split second, total destruction would ensue. I had to hold it up as long as I could while the rest of them were evacuating the citizens inside and fighting face to face with anything else Loki had let loose. This was no easy task, especially not as I felt my muscles tense in my arms. It was putting a great strain on me; mentally and physically.
If I hadn't gone through such extensive training with Steve, my muscles would've given almost immediately. I'd have to thank him later for doing me a favor like this. If I managed to survive this encounter; I could think of a way for me to be able to get away before the tower crashed down. It wasn't my first priority nor was it the thing I was most worried about, so I pushed it to the back of my mind. I had to concentrate on buying them time for their own escape rather than worrying about myself.
It hurt badly; I felt as though my muscles were ready to pull apart after about ten minutes of holding this position. I was scared more than anything; if I moved, I may lose concentration and even if it happened for just a split second, I would never be able to recover the balance I have currently. I would doom too many people to death. To ignore pain was a feat I still hadn't mastered but it never crossed my mind to make myself more comfortable.
I heard footsteps behind me, running towards me at an animal like pace. I felt a claw caress the back of my leg, another one grabbing onto my thigh. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, ignoring the feeling of pain as my leg was stabbed. I willed myself silently to keep my thoughts on the flow of the water, and the position of the earth below, but I didn't know how much longer I had before I was completely slaughtered by the creature.
A bright flash of light blasted by me; I could feel the heat from the blast slightly burn the back of my leg. I wobbled unsurely, losing control of the rocks below as the tilting water tower broke them into pieces. Before I could try to resume my position, I was stopped once more.
"Let's go, mother nature." I turned to the side quickly, only to be swooped up into Iron Man's arms. I watched in disdain as the tower fell over, crashing loudly as it hit the stone of the building. The metal of the tower split open, causing the surplus of the water to spill out onto the street below before it completely flooded the building. The area was mostly deserted by now, some cars barely making it away before the water washed over them. The majority of the people seemed to have disappeared from the scene; I had held it up long enough to keep others safe.
I was panting heavily, feeling cramps start up in my arms. It definitely felt as though I'd pulled something putting that much effort into keeping the water in one place. I didn't think water was that heavy; but then again, I'd only ever controlled small doses of it. At least I was slowly beginning to figure out my limits. I couldn't think much about anything; my head felt as though someone were slamming a hammer against it at full speed. The cool night air did nothing to help this intense pain that took over my body.
Tony entered an open portion of the helicarrier, carefully helping me stand. Fury was waiting by the open area, shutting it after Tony and I had entered. Steve ran over, asking me if I was okay or something along those lines. I couldn't find the energy to focus on what exactly was going on around me. The world was spinning again, and I felt myself tip over slightly. The world seemed to be completely spinning.
"Whoa there." Tony grabbed onto me, preventing me from having an impromptu date with the floor. "Maybe I shouldn't have given you that drink."
"Maybe." I replied, giving him a weak smile. Steve stepped forward.
"I'll take her to the infirmary." Tony looked up at him.
"Of course, Captain, wouldn't want to step in on your leading lady." Steve ignored Tony's taunting tone, easily scooping me up into his arms and pushing past the others. On the way to the infirmary, Hawkeye was leaning against the wall, rubbing his temples in pain. He glanced up at me for a second, and I thought I saw a flash of blue that was a very unusual shade but it was gone before I knew it. I pushed it off; my eyes must have just been playing tricks on me.
I couldn't help but wonder what Brianna had said earlier; and I wanted to know how she ended up in Loki's hands. I closed my eyes, letting the fact that I could have easily died sink in. My head lolled against Steve's chest; he looked down at me with a frown.
More than ever I felt as if giving up would've been better than anything in the world. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be with my mom, I wanted to have normal family dinners, and a normal life. I wanted to be in college with tons of books to purchase and reports to be done. What had I done to deserve any of this stupid bullshit that's happening to me?
"I want to sleep forever. Wake me up in a 100 years." I muttered softly into his chest.
"Trust me." Steve smiled sadly. "It's not all it's cracked up to be."