Disclaimer: As per usual for fanfiction, none of the characters in this are mine. The idea/plot or whatever you may call it are, however, something a little mind like mine has made up.

InuYasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and the Avengers belong to Marvel.

I did fight. Being a magnet for problems you can't just walk around like a damsel in distress without picking up a thing or two.

I managed to send an elbow into my attacker's stomach, stomp on his – or hers – feet and I actually bit the hand held over my mouth.

"He-!" I got out before the hand returned to my mouth, cutting off the rest of my sentence.

"Be quiet," a voice – clearly male – whispered into my ear. "Or I don't know what they will do."

As my back was pressed up against his chest I couldn't do much else but cease my struggling – apparently he was way too strong for little damsel me to take on. I stood still for several seconds, which felt as long as minutes, before he finally let me go.

"Good," he whispered as he let his hand fall from my mouth. "Don't be afraid, I-"

I spun on my heel and dashed for where the cockpit would be. No way would I not be afraid of a guy that just appeared and – literally – shoved his hand in my face. I heard him curse behind me and so quickened my steps, stomping loudly through empty sections.

Though not fast enough.

"Oomph!" I cried out as I was tackled to the floor, arms around my waist holding me down. The side of my head bounced lightly on the floor, a sharp pain ripping through my neck and back but I didn't let it startle me; I clawed and wriggled – everything to get the heavy male off of me. My face was getting closely acquainted with the floor and the heavy load of male on top of that didn't make me feel so good.

"Calm down!" he hissed. "I am trying not to hurt you, girl!"

I hissed angrily and tried to shake my head free from his fingers that were digging painfully into my scalp. "Then why jump at me? Ever heard of manners… boy?" Before he could answer I called forth some of my holy powers to head, imagining it crawling through every strip of hair and through my skin. I thanked Kaede for showing me how to call on my miko powers at will.

"Ouch!" He gasped, letting go of my hair. I let myself do a little imaginable victory dance before reality came crashing back down as the bastard sat down. On my back.

I cursed. "Ow! You twit! Get off of me right now, or I swear I will do something you will regret! Goddammit, get OFF of me, you idiot! Sit Boy!" What can I say – being with InuYasha for long can create certain habits.

He actually listened. But he still held one hand around my wrist so I wouldn't get a chance to get away. "Damn," he muttered, hissing slightly through his teeth in pain. "Can you sit up?"

"Yes," I said slowly, tugging at my captured hand. It didn't budge. "So you can let go of me."

"Not going to scream?" He said just as slowly. For the first time since being startled by the toilets – now, isn't that the most perfect place to meet? - I turned and stared into bleached blue eyes.

What was it with men nowadays and their stupid handsomeness? Where Thor had had curiousness and kindness, Tony with his pervert/womanizer gentlemen issues – and if I was honest I found Bruce a little attractive as well – this guy had that "the-boy-next-door" look. Short and somewhat wavy blonde hair that didn't go further than to his ears and sea blue eyes on a sunny day that shone back at me, and the overall feeling I got from him was 'no-nonsense but kind'. And yes – this man also was slightly buffed, though some more than Tony, and a little less than Thor. Damn.

On that buffed body of his he had a brown leather jacket that seemed to have lived through one or another war and

"Maybe," I muttered, staring at him long and hard. No matter the appearance, he had after all tackled me to the ground. "Maybe not."

He sighed then and slowly inched his hand loose from my wrist, bringing it slowly back to him and held it up – almost as if I was an animal he sought to calm. "I apologize, but I did not see how you would not be startled so I handled impulsively." He cleared his throat and scratched his chin.

I rubbed my wrist. "And just grabbing hold of me and then tackling me like a rugby player was your best plan?"

He glared at me. "As I said – impulses." The man shook his head and cleared his throat again. "Forgive me – I am Rogers. Steve Rogers."

The guy was either incredibly stupid or incredibly confident that I would trust him immediately. I wouldn't. "Good for you," I said. "Now I would like to get back to my seat and go to sleep and forget that this meeting ever happened." Besides, I had gotten much to think about and didn't want this guy – Steve Rogers – to disturb.

As gracefully as I could with my scraped knees and elbows I rose and dusted my clothes off, sending a silent apology to Janet as I did, before I proceded to present the male to my back. Not a smart thing to do in these circumstances, but give a confused and scared-to-her-wits girl some credit.

Steve grabbed my shoulder and jerked me around so I was staring right at him again. His bright blue eyes were upset and angry. "That's it? You won't even listen to what I have to say?"

"Listen mister," I said and shrugged so that his hand fell from my shoulder. "It has been a long week, an incredibly long day and I only want to sleep and forget that anything happened at all. I want to go home and be with my family again before proceeding with saving the world."

"Save the w-"

"So please, just let a girl have an hour of normal, okay?" I interrupted with a sigh, rubbing a temple that had begun throbbing. That fall earlier had slowly begun working itself around my head and down my back in painful waves as the adrenaline began to leave my system.

"Aren't you exaggerating a little?" Steve asked with an eyebrow raised. He continued without pause, "Nonetheless, you are right. Sit down and rest while I see to it that you get off this plane alive."

I blinked owlishly, and felt a little stupid at being pushed aside so easily. "Oh, well. Alright," I murmured and backed slowly away from him, watching his every move. Which wasn't necessary as he was moving toward the back, from where he had first appeared.

"Jerk," I muttered along with another round of unladylike words, and plopped down in my seat. My chest deflated as I let out a heavy breath that seemed to have been held for many months. That same breath hitched as a very high screech which ended with a loud thud coming from where Steve had went.

I jumped up from my seat and almost doubled over as pain sliced through me. Black spots danced all over my vision and the room swayed dangerously around me. Flailing around me I managed to grab hold of the seat behind me and leaned heavily against me.

'Concussion,' I thought with dismay as another shriek – or rather a high-pitched scream – tore through the space again, closer this time. I shook my poor head in an attempt to clear it, but only managed to make the black flowers bloom even more before my eyes.

I didn't have time for this! Something was happening to the plane's occupants and I was the only one who could stop it! I shook my head again and called forth some of my holy powers to my left index finger, before gently pressing it against where I had hurt my head. I bit my lip as the healing powers stung at first, but let out a breath as the pain was eased to a minimum and the black dots disappeared. After a breathing pause I straightened and hurried down the lane to where Steve had disappeared to, looking right and left as I passed the toilets and entered the space on the other side of the curtain.

'Come to think of it,' I thought as I passed rows after rows of empty places, bending down and looking if someone – though it was unlikely if judging by the volume of that shriek – had fallen. 'There doesn't seem to be anyone here – so who was it that screamed?'

That thought hadn't been more than let loose as another scream exploded around me. Startled I whirled in place, looking over the seats and to where I knew the toilets were, but couldn't see anyone. The scream hurled again and there was a loud but at the same time dull bang… 'Underneath?'

The grey floor showed no signs of being violated from within – such as dents, or holes or anything like that – but as I listened I was sure all that noise was coming from down there.

"What the hell?" I wondered aloud, darting to the toilets again, stopping outside them and looking around. A square lined with lighter grey steel in the middle of the little space had me hurrying toward it and bending down. Grabbing the handle and pulling with all my might I lifted the small door and peeked inside before I jumped down into total darkness.

-ooo-

Once more I sent a silent thanks to Kaede for teaching me more about my miko powers as I looked warily around myself in the dim light from my hand. Not only had she taught me how to use healing and destructive powers, despite having that much of her own reiki, but she had also been able to teach me how to use my powers as a torch.

It was especially useful in this creepy little passageway, lined with cables and metal over, under and on the sides of me. I shuddered as the light emitting from my hand only caught the vague shape of cables too far away. They looked like spider legs – or like tentacles.

Suppressing another shudder I began trekking down the passage, careful not to make any unnecessary noise or touch the loose hanging cables. Battling Naraku certainly had left some scars on my poor soul and had made me quite jittery, seeing odd shapes and movement down here. Now and then I jumped as another shout or loud crash sounded through the echoing passage – but I had yet to see the cause of it all.

Had Steve disappeared down here? I stopped, thinking about it. The hatch had not been locked and when I had inspected it the lock had been broken, as if it had been wrenched apart. But no one could really be so strong that he could wrench it open, right? Maybe a demon could, but certainly not a human.

If said human wasn't Thor with his weird lightning magic or Tony in his robot suit.

Though I wasn't absolutely sure Thor was one hundred percent human either. Just a hunch regarding the way my miko powers reacted to him indicated his non-humanity.

I heard a whirring noise becoming louder and louder the further down the passage I went. If my internal map of the plane was correct, I should be somewhere near the tail of the plane. The space around me had gotten broader and had started to tip downwards, which I found odd. Shouldn't the end of an airplane get narrower and just – I don't know. Stop in an dead-end?

'Then again, I'm not an expert.' Lifting my shining hand I attempted to get more light ahead of me. And stopped, heart beating frantically in my throat.

For where the walls where made of metal and cables running alongside them, down below the walls… changed. Bile threatened to push through my hammering heart in my throat as I leaned heavily at the wall next to me and breathed through my mouth, the hand not busy showing the horrible sight pinching my nose shut.

Down there I could see the walls shining. Not as if they had lights in them, or because they were made of light – but because of the meat that the lower part of the plane was made of. The walls glistened like the insides of a throat; I imagined that would I touch them my hand would come back sticky. To my horror the walls seemed to breathe, a slow expanding and flattening that came in barely noticeable constrictions.

"It's alright Kagome," hearing my own voice echo around me brought me little comfort as I tried to calm myself. "It's probably nothing – only wild imagination getting ahead of you again. Maybe the aircrafts are simply getting into a new fashion plot!" I laughed nervously. "Yes, fashion! With meat!" Another shudder trickled down my poor spine. "Or better yet – that blow to your head knocked you out and you are simply dreaming!" That I could handle.

I swallowed thickly, staring down into the throat like passage. It was at this point in movies that I used to start yelling to the actress to not go down, that it was a trap or most likely where the killer would be. Another scream that sounded eerily close gave me little choice however.

I out one foot before the other and slowly inched my way down into the ghastly looking passage that, quite literally, waited to swallow me whole.

The whirring had steadily been growing louder and louder. It sounded as if I had ventured into a busy beehive with millions of bees just behind the walls. Well, bees behind the meat-clad walls – an even more disturbing image that I was quick to swat away.

Suddenly a swishing noise, quite different from the whirring I had heard until now. It was far away, but the swishing became steadily louder. I thought of Sango, how her Hiraikotsu sounded when she threw it. Immediately I ducked, and not a second later an object passed over my head and embedded in the wall of meat with a sickening squelch. I lay on the floor, the light pouring from my hand gone and heart beating frantically to keep up with my labored breathing. I tried not to think about the clammy feeling I was pressing my nose into.

A vicelike grip found my arm and I was hauled up into the air. Startled I couldn't help but let out a small gasp, pain trailing up and down my whole arm where it was held. In a futile attempt to ignore the pain I closed my eyes – not that they would have been much use in this thick darkness.

"What," a familiar voice hissed and I was lowered so I stood on my toes, "are you doing down here?"

I huffed and pulled at my arm, successfully getting him to let go. "Someone forgot to mention where the party was," I muttered. He probably didn't understand what I was getting at – neither did I. "What's going on?" I asked instead.

Steve sighed heavily and it sounded as if he was breathing somewhat heavily – had he been running. "Why didn't you stay put?"

Great, answer a question with a question. I wouldn't indulge him with answering however – he seemed to have 'secretive' printed on his forehead so I would probably not get an answer.

I lifted my hand and sent some of my miko powers to it – enough to light up the space around us so I could see what was going on. The first thing that emitted from the darkness was the bleach blue of Steve's eyes, that was narrowed down at me.

The other thing I noticed made me sink to my knees groaning.

In alarm he sank down next to me and laid one hand tentatively on my shoulder. "Hey! Are you hurt?

I hugged my knees tightly to my chest and moaned louder. Why did the Gods look down on me like this? Where was my piece of solitude and serenity in this wicked and crocked world?

"Miss," he urged, the hand on my shoulder tightening somewhat. "Please, are you alright?"

"Another one," I muttered into my knees, sighing highly at my luck.

"What?" he sounded nearer – probably leaning forward to hear what I was saying.

My head shot up and I glared angrily at him. "Why in high heavens do all males I encounter nowadays have either a fetish for tightfitting uniforms or being weird in general? Can you answer that?"

His blue eyes widened and he let go of my shoulder, but my angry glare was focused on the dressing he had changed into since he had left me; it was a one-piece of sorts, with a tightly-fitting headpiece that went over his forehead and down under his chin. On his head he had a large A and something that looked like little wings protruding from the sides of his head. It had gaps for his eyes, which allowed me to see his emotions flicker through them. Traveling southward, the onepiece continued I saw a bright white star on his chest and directly under that red and white stripes going around his waist like a corset. His feet and hands were clad in red cloth.

So far, he had won the flashy contest of weirdness.

While scrutinying him I hadn't noticed how close he had suddenly gotten – the warm breath on my cheek alerted me and I looked up. Steve was staring intently at my lifted hand, not seeming to have heard my question. Well, really, why should he?

"What magic is this?" he murmured, reaching a hand forward as if he meant to touch my glowing hand – yet he stopped before doing so. Maybe he thought it would burn him if he did?

"I told you," I muttered, seeing him turn toward me again. "I want to be normal for some hours."

He opened his mouth, and then closed it again as if he couldn't find the words he wished to utter. Blue eyes peered at me thoughtfully, and I sighed heavily into my knees again. Another one, curious about my powers and not about me. Somehow that thought made me rather sad.

A screech, whirring and fluttering brought him out of his stupor and he hurled himself onto the balls of his haunches before darting around me. I turned, following where he was going. I couldn't see what he was doing, but a disgusting gurgle made me grateful. Not another second later he stood by my side again, this time a large shield with a star in its center and matching blue, white and red colors circling it.

He held it before us, one hand bracing the shield as the other arm held it out protectively. "These things again!" he hissed angrily, swatting his free hand out into the darkness. Likewise irritated buzzing retorted to him. Steve steeled himself, again bracing the shield with both of his hands. As hard 'thunks' resonated from his shield I jumped up, unintentionally flaring my hand into a tiny sun with my startled heart.

Small wasp-like creatures circled ahead of us, buzzing and clinkering with their long edibles – the whipping and whirring from their wings where what had had me confused earlier. As I gasped at the sight of them, Steven moved to stand in front of me, crouched low as if he meant to sprint.

I wanted to tell him that I was quite alright – not scared or overly disgusted by the sight of the horrible creatures. I wasn't startled because of their sudden appearance.

I was startled because I recognized them.

Before I could stop him Steve had jumped forward, faster than should be humanly possible. Again I doubted my brain had remained unscathed.

Dodging some and slamming his shield into others, he jumped and twisted over and around the insects, killing those that came too close for his liking. Once I even saw him throw the circular object, the swish as it cleaved through air bringing Sango to mind.

But neither Sango nor Steve strayed too long in my mind as I watched the spectacle before me; the insects, their darkly red eyes that resembled puddles of blood; yellow bodies and purplish heads that had tiny hairs all around. It was too eerily familiar, an everyday appearance that I couldn't be wrong.

But I should. It simply wasn't possible that these would-

"Miss!" Steve shouted, cleaving my thoughts as effectively as his shield. When I looked up at him he waved me to him. "Come on! We need to get out!"

I shook my head, lifted my glowing hand and darted over to him, who had already begun jogging back to where we came from. The buzzing noise had quieted down immensely – but from experience I knew the temporary tranquility would be broken at any minute.

Steve grabbed my hand as I got to him, half guiding, half dragging me along. I held my glowing hand clumsily above my head as we ran along, further and further away from the whipping of wings behind us.

We stomped down the lane, that seemed much longer and much darker than it had appeared when I ventured down alone. It felt like the passage elongated into oblivion – as if we were running and running, but never finding a speck of light that could take us away from this nightmare.

Looking back over my shoulder, I saw nothing. Two steps later and the space behind us was filled with more of the horrible insects.

"What are these things?" Steve mumbled to himself, slamming his shield to the side and splinting a few of the insects in half. More took their places however, and he cursed, putting more force into his pumping legs. By now I was more dragged than led.

"W-wait," I breathed heavily, tugging at my hand. "Let me try."

He whipped his head in my direction, meeting my gaze for all of a second, before heading forward with renewed vigour. "No! I won't let you do anything; you're just a girl, you could be hurt!"

I clenched my teeth. "Firstly," I shouted over the whirring and buzzing behind us," my name's Kagome." He glanced back at me and opened his mouth, but I continued without pause as I wrenched myself free from his grasp. "Secondly, I know these creatures."

Before he could stop me, I turned and threw my hands in either direction, as if I was about to embrace a long lost and close relative.

And forth from my palms webbed a net of pure pink light.

I heard Steve inhale harshly, but I didn't turn; I needed to be concentrated when emerging a barrier over a space wider than my palm.

It had taken many hours, many angry tears and some lectures before Kaede managed to teach me the art of casting protective shells around me or before me like a shield. She hadn't had the same miko-powers as I and Kikyou, but the fact that she managed to teach something that wasn't hers to teach told immensily of her ability as a teacher. I was and would forever be grateful to the old lady.

Especially now, as insect after insect crashed into the barrier and purified at first contact.

"Amazing." Steve stood right behind me, awe coloring his voice. I allowed myself to feel a speck of pride, before I took a deep breath and redoubled my efforts. There were so many of them, coming at once.

And they weren't decreasing either.

"You have to… move," I hissed through my teeth. My hands were trembling slightly with the effort of holding up both the barriers and my arms. "I can't… hold it forever."

Immediately I heard him still – maybe even stop breathing. Then I heard rustling and a click before he murmured in tones too quiet for me to hear. He returned shortly after to my side, taking hold under my armpits.

I tensed. First, it was because of the girlish instinct 'have I been sweating? Oh God, I have, haven't I?' and the latter was the customary 'what is he doing?'.

"I've called for backup," he said quietly, his hands gliding out to cup my elbows. Then I realized he was taking over some of my arms sudden an unusual burden so I could concentrate on shielding us from the insects. "How long can you keep this up?"

"I'm not sure. I've actually never managed to hold it this long before," I answered uncomfortably, cheeks reddening. "So maybe… not for too long?"

He muttered something – that sounded possibly like a curse, though I wasn't too familiar with it – then he let go of my left arm and dug in one of his pockets again. I was amazed that he could even fit anything in those trousers of his, but hey – I wasn't complaining.

Did I just think in that manner?

"Send Stark," Steve barked into whatever he had taken into his hand. "It has to be fast – the girl can't do this for much longer – and then we're dead, you hear me? Those things… they're not normal."

'Stark?' I found myself wondering, but thought little of it as my left arm began trembling. The insects had decreased somewhat, and some had understood the danger with going too close. But they were still too many for comfort.

"No, I won't bring back a specimen, unless you send Stark right away, Ant!" Steve growled irritably, a clicking sound was heard and his hand regained its position on muy elbow. I breathed a sigh of relief, but the trembling had travelled to my legs by now.

"Are you alright, miss?" Steve asked again, stepping closer to me so he could gain a better hold on my arms.

I nodded and smiled bleakly. "It's Kagome," I reminded him, the earlier scorn that had leaked from my every word nonexistent.

A warm puff as he tried to hold in a nonsensical laughter tickled my neck, and I repressed a shudder at the sensation. 'Focus, focus, until that backup gets here. Easy breaths, easy b'

"Well, I never thought-!" A feminine sleek voice shattered my thoughts as if they were mere petals and that voice the wind that took them. I snapped my head up and gazed beyond the bright rosy wall before me. The wasps had retreated and merely buzzed some ways away – ever present and watching.

A figure emerged from between them, as if it was the Christians Moses who divided the sea; long and sleek, high heels clipping against hard metal as it approached. My memory tickled, shouted, screamed that I knew this voice and that I had to run.

Yet I remained, frozen, and staring as she emerged.

She was almost the same as she had been then, but instead of the beautiful kimono she had worn she had a long bleached pink dress, with leafgreen straps and belt. The dress had a slit that went all the way up to her thigh, complimenting her pale and mileslong legs as she moved. Her her dark, almost coffee-like hair was still held back from her face; the same featherlike appendages hang from the bun.

The same smirk on the pretty and pouty red lips quirked, and her red eyes danced with mirth and danger as she eyed the two of us through the barrier. Those red lips parted and her pink tongue darted out to wet her lips.

"Never thought I would see you again, human," she purred from the other side of my barrier.

I trembled as the Japanese words tumbled from her tongue and found myself leaning back at Steve, who supported me worriedly.

'This isn't happening, this can't be happening, why, why, why, why?' My mind shrieked, trembled and banged its mental head against all confines in my head, as I struggled to keep up with everything that was crashing down on me in that single moment. Goodbye, you brief moment of peace – hello world-saving-days.

"Who is it?" he asked carefully, eyeing the woman one would a snake.

I shuddered, but nonetheless took a deep breath to will my fear away. I narrowed my eyes and stared into hers, the deep pools of blood glaring back at me.

"Kagura," I said simply.

Gabble, gabble, gabble. I am so horrible late with this chapter, and I beg for forgiveness tenfold. Jeez, this one was a hell of a work to do - I wanted it to turn that way, with that solution, but to get there I had to do that and I had to do it like this. It didn't turn out good, so erase and redo, add something there and delete sentences there.

Hopefully I didn't crack anything with this chap - wasn't sure I should do something like this with the airplane. And if anyone wonder - in next chap an explanation to the planes interior will be done. At least, the meaty bits. Hurmph. After all, I'm no airplane professor.

Please do review and tell me what you think!

Many hugs and kisses to those that have been reading this, even when I have taken way too long with the uploading. You are the greatest out there!