Sara stood in the field behind her home, waiting for the arrival of HIM, the person that made her life a tiny less miserable and was about to make it worse with his presence. The cold Yelm, Washington morning wind blew around her, and the sky was as cloudy as her mood. She had spent the morning vomiting, her friends being supportive and giving her encouragement as she emptied the contents of her stomach from the cancer treatments. She felt awful again, amd looked down at her hands as she fidgeted with the overesized hoodie she wore. She shook again, and Amy and Robert remained calm, Mark and Emily also stayed with her, and she needed them now more than ever.
It had been two months since New York, and she was given little time to come to terms with the Lymphoma diagnosis the three months before, when she was told about her entire family being killed in the invasion. She had to deal with that next, and the only reason she was still alive was that she was the family shame, the thing they hid. Her Stepmother hating her entire existence due to the fact that her Father, Richard Pruitt, slept with a housekeeper at the Washington Athletic Club and got her pregnant. When she was seven, her real Mother left her to go back to Ukraine, and she was forced to take a DNA test to find out who her paternal family was when the landlord found her digging through the dumpster for food after she had been alone for three months. She was a Pruitt, and she was basically a servant in the eyes of Darla Pruitt and to her older half brother since then.
But they were all in the ground now, and she was all that was left.
The dark skinned man named Fury stood by, the man with him extending his hand as she shook it. The case in they carried was for him, the man that made her the heir to the Pruitt Industries fortune, and left her with an option to live. They chose her and three other persons for this, and the rest rejected it. Sara was given the option that even doctors couldn give her, no more radiation treatments, and a healthy life that she could live and grow old in. She studied them with her ice blue eyes, her black hair, which luckily had not begun to fall out, was limp and in blowing into her face.
"You understand that SHIELD will monitor you, if you fail to file a report, we will immediately assume he has killed you and made an escape from your custody?" Fury asked him, and Sara nodded. She coughed into her hand, her thin frame shaking hard enough that everyone around her was amazed her bones did not sound like wind chimes.
"Sorry... Mr. Fury. I was sick all morning from treatment. I understand what you are saying, and the risks at this point are outweighed by the benefits." She said, and she looked over to see Sheriff Rogers car pull up. The battered Ford Explorer emblazoned with the logo of the Yelm Sherifs department on the side of the white car came to a stop in the gravel drive and shuddered as he cut the engine. He got out, putting on his brown, Smokey the Bear hat on, and approached them on foot. He gave a glance to the Mobile Medical Unit, and he kicked a rock in his way. He shared the same strawberry blonde hair as his daughter, Amy who waited with her, and offered Fury his hand. Sara loved her friend, and held onto her arm, the hazel eyed woman who was slightly older than her, and her heart shaped face.
"Hello Director Fury, Sherriff Rogers." They shook hands, trading a silent nod as he looked at Sara. "Well, you sure put my ass in a pickle Sara, this better not blow up in my face." He said, his usual lack of mincing words showing through, and rocked on his heels a bit. He had his uniform on, and Amy looked at her dad and rolled her eyes.
"Sheriff Rogers, I can assure you that SHIELD will be in the town to monitor much of the activity here for the first few months. We also plan on GPS tracking his whereabouts with this." Fury said, holding up a vial with a chip inside it. The matchstick head sized cartridge shining in the diffused light, Sheriff looking in the package at it. "It is also loaded with a neurotoxin, he gets the stupid idea of taking a walk in the woods, or taking a few hostages. We enter a command into a computer that will have him foaming at the mouth and convulsing until he is dead."
"They will know where he is at all times. I have to send them reports too, they gave me all the information when I agreed to this." She said, and the graying Sheriff with the weathered face handed the chip back. He shook his head, and crossed his arms again as he scratched at what Sara swore was a permanent five o'clock shadow.
"I don't give two shits what you are doing with the son of a bitch, he so much as sneezes wrong in the direction of any person in this town. I have a bullet for the back of his head." He said, and spit onto the ground. "Sara is like family to me, she and Amy have been playing together since she came to live here. He does anything to hurt her, and you can pick up the pieces of him. The only reason I am allowing this... Is the damn cure they offered her."
"I believe we are in agreement then Sheriff." Fury said, checking his watch and the clouds began churning above them. They all looked up, and a blinding flash of light filled the field. Sara covered her face, and she blinked as the spots faded from her vision at the five people standing in front of them. She recognized Thor at once, and Loki from pictures on the news. But the two men in armor, and the old man she didn't. They walked forward, the two golden armored men shoving Loki forward as he walked behind Thor and the old man.
His hands were bound, and he was gagged as he walked, and the look he gave Sara reminded her of when the Social worker dropped her off at the house. Darla had the same look of contempt for the little girl, and the same amount of hatred toward her. She coughed again, almost falling over, and Amy helped her stay up.
"Which one is Lady Sara?" The old man asked, and she raised her hand. He gave her a nod, and handed Fury a vial. "I am King Odin, and I hold our side of the bargan. Our best Mages created this, it will help to heal your illness and give you a lifespan that you will find agreeable, given your current illness. You have the Gratitude of Asgard for aiding in Loki's punishment, he is to be exiled here, unable to use his Sedir, and live among the mortals he sought to enslave."
"Thank you sir..." she began, but she was wracked with another coughing fit. Her eyes watered, and Thor offered her his hand to help steady her. Robert, Amy's round faced boyfriend came over and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. She leaned against him, admiring the Lord of the Rings tattoo sleeve that covered one of his arms. He was tall, somewhat lanky, but strong. They both worked at the medical clinic, so they were always helpful when Sara felt her worst. He scratched his messy, dark brown hair, and patted her back.
Odin opened his hand, and a cuff appeared in it. The gold bracelet was etched with different runes, and Loki was pushed forward. He kept his eyes on her and her friends, and the metallic gag was removed from his mouth. Odin sealed the cuff around his wrist, and Loki made a grimace like it was painful to have it on.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Odin asked, and Loki let out a long breath.
"No, I have no desire to listen to you, as much as I live out little talks... Wait, I just remembered again that I do not." He replied, Thor removing the cuffs around his wrists. He glared at Sara, and she shivered as the SHIELD operative opened the case and the Guards forced his hand onto a platform with an outline of where to place it. He glared at both of them, and the agent removed a gun and inserted the vial. He tapped in some numbers on a computer, and added the info they needed to the system.
"This is going to hurt." The Agent said, and shoved the thick needle into the back of his hand, between the index finger and thumb. He shouted, and the chip was inserted, the needle withdrawing as everyone watched. Sara cringed, feeling sick to her stomach as they checked placement and to see if it was working properly. "Tagged and recieving the signal, want a Hello Kitty bandaid?" He lifted his hand, sneering at the Agent and Sara watched a bit of blood leak from the spot. He held his wrist, and the cuff glittered between his fingers.
"Miss Pruitt, if you please. We will begin your infusion." Fury said, and Robert and Amy took her to the trailer. Loki was forced to follow, and she watched as the contents of the bottle were injected into an empty medical bag. They decided to let her take it intravenously, so that she would not go into too much shock. She climbed the stairs, almost tripping and the Agent at the top helped her. He took herhoodie, and visibly cringed as they saw how thin she was. Her clothes hung off her, and she shivered despite the trailer being kept warm for her.
They lay her back on a medical bed, and rolled up her sleeve. They began attaching a PulseOx, and placed heart monitors to keep an eye on her. Amy began a line into the bend of her elbow, and Robert helped her by getting her blood pressure. She felt Sheriff Rogers pat her foot through her canvas sneaker, and Loki sat on a stool while Thor and Odin stood over the bed.
"Is this going to hurt too? I'm not going to lie about this, I am a bit scared. I don't want to die." She said, and Odin shook his head as a tear rolled down her cheek and Thor took her hand out of kindness. Robert gave her a wink, and she didn't even react as the needle was inserted into her arm. They began to hook up the drip, and she lay back and watched the line fill with the serum. She was mesmerized by the shimmer in the blue fluid, and her eyes followed it as it flowed down the tube and into her arm.
"How do we know it is working?" Amy asked, the Nurse Practitioner in her coming out. The other half showing the overprotective friend, amd Robert removed the pressure cuff from her arm.
Odin gestured toward Sara with his hand and gave her a quick nod, the agents working and monitoring her heart rate.
"You will see an improvement to her current state." Odin replied, and she squeezed Robert's and Thor's hand. Robert gave her a squeeze back, trying to reassure her and smiled as she felt weak suddenly. She gave them a thin smile, and everything started to fade out as she lay against the bed. Shouting from somewhere far away tried to pull her back, but the gentle enveloping of her entire being in a dark warmth was more tempting.
"bugs!" Some one said from miles away, the nickname her friends gave her because she was always fascinated by less than cuddly creatures. She liked to watch them, and nature documentaries about them fascinated her. She wanted to keep them as pets, but Darla would scream at her, smack her around for bringing them into the house.
But it was her house now, hers alone. She owned a house, and a fortune now to go with it. The thought tethered her, and she felt weightless, as if she was floating.
"Bugs!" Someone shouted, and she felt something tight in her chest. The pressure built, squeezing her and holding her in it like a vise. Everything felt crushed in her chest and she couldn't breathe, it made her heart beat weird, and then if broke free. She gasped, and her eyes opened as she coughed. She felt robbed, this cough shouldn't still be there, it should be gone. The coughing got worse, and a pink medical pan was put under her mouth. The taste of copper filled it, and she gasped as she shook. Something fell from her lips, and she saw the bloody mass laying in the bottom. Her throat felt raw, and she spit into the basin and moaned. She looked in front of her, the mass surrounded by blood in the bottom of the pan making her want to puke. It was taken away, and they rinsed her mouth out with water, Amy keeping her sitting up. A rumble from her stomach was a sensation she had not felt in a long time, and she drank some of the cherry electrolyte drink that Robert shoved in front of her.
"Drink this Bugs, you are still a bit erratic, you heart rate is all over the place. Take slow sips." He said, and Sara drank from the cup and held it. She shook, and wanted to curl on her side as Amy started removing the I.V. she hissed as it was pulled, and she used gauze and tape to stop her bleeding.
Everyone stared at her, and she looked around at the faces. Amy handed her a mirror, and Sara held it up, he mouth falling open at what she saw. She curled her legs toward her, and she covered her face and Amy hugged her. Her weight was healthy again, and the dark circles under her eyes gone. Even her hair had a shine to it, and she clung to her friends.
"It's okay Bugs, you are healthy again. We have you, and you are not being judged." Amy said, and she petted her hair. Sara broke free from her friends, and she wrapped her arms around Odin, shocking the old man as she sniffed against his clothes. He rested a hand on her back, and he laughed a bit.
"I accept your gratitude young Lady, I wish you a healthy life filled with good deeds." He said, and she sat back in the bed and looked at everyone. Loki was staring at her, and Amy gave her a box of tissues to clean her face with.
"Lay back so we can get you unwired Bugs." Robert said, and she laughed to herself as she rested her head against the bed again. They went under her shirt, and peeled off the pads and she stared at her hands. They no longer looked like an old witch's hands, they looked like hers again.
"I'm hungry..." she said after a long time, and Robert gave a broad smile. He laughed, and hugged her off the bed, and Amy started to laugh at her announcement also. She squeaked, and tried to get free, but he was strong for his relative appearance.
"Fuck Bugs! That is the best thing you have said in months!" He said, and she hugged her friend back. Amy went to the door, poking her head out it and shouted to the three waiting outside.
"She's hungry! She coughed up the cancer, and she is hungry! You have to see her, it is amazing!" She shouted, amd they cheered outside. Mark ran up the stairs, grabbing her by the shoulders and almost manhandled her off the bed as he hugged her. She was the shortest of her friend group, and they never called her anything other than the nickname they gave her. The five foot nine former High School Football Quarterback with blonde hair crushed her, his muscular fram was all lean muscle, and he had a tattoo of Jason Vornees on his right calf that was visible under his shorts. She groaned at the crushing hugand she patted his back, hearing him breathe through his Boba Fett T-shirt.
"T.D. I can't breathe!" She squealed and he let her go. He laughed, and set her five foot nothing frame back down. He stared at her face, Emily staring at her with her auburn curls bouncing as she crawled up on the bed and tackled her into a hug. She had a dusting of freckles across her nose, her Irish heritage showing in her green eyes and heart shaped face.
"What do you want to eat sweetie? Pizza? Hot dogs? We can run into town and get you a Cheeseburger form McKenna! Want Burger King? Anything you want, I will make Mark drive and get it for you!" Emily squealed, and she felt her stomach rumble again. Emily squealed, her hyperactivity showing, and she hugged Odin in her excitement. The Old King was shocked for a moment, and he laughed a bit as everyone stared at her in suprise.
"Bacon Cheeseburger, with extra bacon!" Sara said, and held up a mirror for her to see herself. Her mouth fell open at seeing the image again, and her eyes studied herself. Her cheeks were smooth but still the usual pale again, her natural glow back. She was alive again, and felt so much like a human being and not a living skeleton.
"Welcome back to the living Miss Pruitt, I do hope you stay this way." Fury said, and Amy finished taking her off the monitors. She looked around her, touching her hair and Emily clapped her hands and grabbed Mark.
"Food! We gotta celebrate this! Mark and I will get you food Sara, don't worry!" She said, dragging her boyfriend by the collar of his shirt toward his car. She could hear him protesting, and giving him orders as they walked. Sara sat on the bed, drinking the drink, and Amy and Robert smiled at her.
"I guess we gotta feed Loki too." Sara mumbled, clearing her throat and Loki raised an eyebrow as everyone remembered him. Sheriff Rogers crossed his arms, and everyone got quiet as they stared at him. He sat on the stool, his green tunic, brown leather pants, and black leather pants neat. She realized that she had to live up to her end of the deal, and Amy let out a sigh as her stomach sank.
"Someone needs to stay with you, he just screams that he is plotting to kill you in your sleep." Amy said, and Sara was in no mood to argue. Robert crossed his arms, and rubbed his face. Loki laughed to himself at the comment, and was about to give a response when the Sheriff grabbed him by the collar of his shirt with both fists and yanked him forward.
"Hurt any of them, so much as annoy anyone, breathe the wrong way, and I will make the last minutes of your life incredibly miserable." He said, and shoved Loki back. He braced himself against against a cabinet, his eyes wide that he had been threatened. "Am I completely understood? Because when the other Asgardians leave, I am the Law here, and I care about Sara more than I give a damn about you."
"I have a vague understanding, no need for any further violence." He said, and glared at the Sheriff. A call came over the radio clipped to his shoulder, and he stepped outside to answer it. Sara grabbed Amy's hand, and she smiled at her friend. Her gift for saying what everyone was thinking coming out then, and everyone knew she would be right.
"We may have to drive him out to Walmart in McKenna. He is going to need, normal clothes too." She said, and Loki crossed his arms. Sara was helped to stand by Robert, and the feeling of being studied was thick on her skin as she stood up. She felt a bit dizzy, and Thor grabbed her before she crashed into him and she patted his massive arm.
"Thanks, I guess I really need that food. My head decided to take a vacation into orbit there." Sara groaned, and Robert came over and gave her a handful of MM's from his hoodie pocket. Amy helped her back into hers and she ate the candy to get her blood sugar back up.
"Take the whole package, Bugs. Real food is on the way, and we will help you get the dick of the century settled in." Robert said, and she looked down to see that he was wearing his socks with the penguins with machine guns on them. She smiled and sat down again, letting her head stop spinning while she ate the candy. Sheriff Rogers stuck his head back in the trailer, annoyed with whatever was going on and shook his head.
"The Marsh boys are causing a mess at the Walmart in McKenna, I have to go deal with the little assholes. Nice meeting all of you, and I will check in on you as much as I can Sara. You have my direct number Sweetheart, call me if you need anything at all." He said, and left them. She heard his car start up, and the sirens blare as he drove out to the highway that ran along the front of the house and sped off. They all sat silently, and an Agent took the wrapper from the candy from her and tossed it in a bag of garbage.
"The Marsh's certainly give Dad a whole lot of stress." Amy grumbled, and Odin patted Sara's shoulder. She turned around and looked at him, and smiled.
"We will be watching as well, should we become concerned, we will come. Do not fret, and all will be well for you." Odin said, and she patted his hand back. She opened her hand, offering himself a chocolate and he took one and ate it. "Delightful! Thank you. We must take our leave though, another realm is in Civil War, and we are offering aid to their ruling family."
"Thank you again, and good luck with the Civil War stuff. I will keep him in line, if not, Emily is the scary one really. She may be a couple inches taller than me, but gingers steal souls, and are mean as hell." She said, and Odin laughed as Thor walked him back to his entourage. She followed after, looking at the green and yellow, three story Victorian styled house, and he gave her a nod as the light filled the yard and Amy let out a long breath.
The Agents and Fury starting to back their gear up, and Sara swallowed hard as she tried to not freak out. Her friends stood around her, and Loki stepped down the stairs on the trailer and kicked a rock across the field. The all crossed their arms, and Mark said what was on everyone's mind.
"This shit is really happening, isn't it?" He muttered, and Sara scratched the back of her neck as the truck towing the trailer backed up and things were being moved out.
"What the fuck did I get myself into?" Sara groaned, watching him take in his surroundings and surveying the old, red barn where she parked her cars and Emily picked up a rock as he returned his attention to the four of them. She heated her weapon, and Mark rolled his eyes.
"Irish?" He asked Emily and she regarded him. "Get my baseball bat out of my bag in the Jeep, he tries anything, swing for the knees."
"I will grab the axe from the woodpile too." Robert said, and Sara groaned and rubbed her face.
"Leave it, I don't want to scrub blood out of the rugs and off the hardwood floor. I have a shotgun behind my headboard loaded with birdshot. Mark, can you go get that food? I'm starting to shake again." Sara sighed, and she started walking toward the manor. "Come on, I will show you where you are sleeping!" She shouted over her shoulder, and Mark amd Emily piled into his Jeep to go get some lunch for everyone. She walked up the steps to the porch, and saw the fat cat she called Tigger lounging on the porch swing. He regarded them all, amd lowered his head and went back to sleep.