Protector (EN)

Chapter 27

Julis view
Slowly I opened my eyes. I was free of the suit and apparently asleep on the floor. My head was pounding, as if I had been headbutted by Hulk more times. It was dark around me. The light could barely penetrate the room. My eyes slowly got used to the darkness. I looked around the room a little. The room I was in was bare. The walls were gray concrete. The light coming into the room was from the window, which had bars. It seemed to be quite early. My clothes were soiled. I stood up to step closer to the window. The window was set very high. As tall as I was, I could barely see out. I had to stand on my toes to partially see anything. I clasped my hands around the bars and pulled myself up with all my might to see more. With clenched teeth I looked around quickly. There was no glass at the window. Fresh wind blew in my face. Outside the sun was shining and the sky was free of clouds. Outside the window were some metal bars, matching the bars I was holding onto. Apparently, this grate did not exist before. The bars weren't far from the window, so I stretched out one arm for them and put the elbow of the other hand on the windowsill to support myself properly. Bummer. My arms were a little short of reaching the metal bars. I couldn't hold on to the bars much longer. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and stuck my arm out farther. Surprisingly, I could touch one of these bars with my fingertips, but unfortunately I couldn't reach for it. Without any further strength, I let go of the grate, scratching both hands on the window bank concrete. It was very sharp. Now I lay on the floor and stared at the ceiling in pain. The arm with which I wanted to reach for the bars was so scratched that it was bleeding. I held the bleeding spot. I whimpered briefly and got back up. I looked to my hands, clenched them, and opened them again. My fingertips were bright red. Then I rubbed at my hands and went to make my next attempt. I grabbed the bars again and pulled myself back up with all my might. My elbow propped up again. My wounds were burning. Again I tried to reach for the bars. This time I had more success, because very narrowly I could clasp my index finger around one of these bars. I pulled this one staff towards me. I had to turn this rod a bit so that it could pass through the gap of the lattice window. With the staff in my hand, I waited until someone came through the door to me.

Jones. Jones I just didn't recognize. I remembered the agents who had been with us the other day. What did he call himself again? Agent Smith. Jack Smith. Jones has a different name. And how did he get into S.C.H.I.E.L.D.? I always thought only trusted people got in there. Jones has changed a lot. In appearance at least. Even Mum wouldn't have recognized him. He's always been bad.

Finally something moved at the door. I tightened my grip on the staff in my hand. I take already to the impact ready. When the door opened, I started to strike. I hit him in the head. It was Jones. He swung backwards, but did not fall to the ground. I took the opportunity to flee. Still with the staff in my hand, I ran past him. Not even a minute later he was already behind me. It was as if I was in a maze, because I didn't know where I was going. I ran around a corner to the right and Jonas was already grabbing my arm. I pulled myself away from him with all my might and managed to pull myself away from him for a moment. I turned back to my path and unfortunately couldn't get far because he took the next opportunity and hit me in the back of the head. I fell to the ground unconscious and he grabbed me and carried me away.

Loki's view

When I learned that Juli had been kidnapped, I didn't understand how everyone could still sit there quietly and not do much. I remembered that Tony had forbidden me to leave Juli's floor, but I couldn't sit there. When Thor and I were back from Asgard, I decided to join in and searched in the tower for suitable equipment for me, because I couldn't fight without weapons anymore. At that moment I didn't care if Tony would kill me for breaking one and his only rule. It had been much more important to me at that moment that Juli was safe. But as long as she wasn't, I had to do something. Secretly I went into the armory, which was located on another floor. Fortunately for me, this room was not secured, which meant that I could just go in and take what I needed. I took two daggers. I didn't need much. I looked around to see if any of the Avengers were still in the tower. Since none of them was to be found, I could sneak out without any problems. I didn't know where to start looking myself. Where would I hide if I kidnapped someone? Who wanted to harm her? Her, of all people. Did this kidnapping have anything to do with her specifically or was she simply kidnapped because she wasn't an Avenger and couldn't defend herself? I had to find her. Nothing could happen to her, and I of all people am saying that. I who found her annoying. She calmed me down and gave me peace.