Beautiful Peace (Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter Ten

"No no no, I'm gonna set the curve," argued Kit. Seren laughed, shaking her head. Today was the last day of May, the day of the physics final. The two were arguing about who would score the highest on the test, but only the day would reveal their answer.

The month was filled with slow school days, study dates, and weekends. Seren and Kit grew close, but still nothing really happened between them. Even if Seren secretly hoped Kit would make some sort of move...it was nonsense. She was only a friend, somebody to look after Kit, to make sure in his grieving he wouldn't try to kill himself. She was a babysitter. She tried to never think of their relationship as anything more than it was.

What she was glad about was Kit's fear of the Iron Man suits he'd developed over the past month. He can hardly look at one, let alone strive to build a new one like he originally wanted to do. Perhaps it really wasn't that good of a thing, but it meant he couldn't hurt himself with them anymore. Kit seemed like a normal kid now. He handed Stark Industries over to the VP, and the suits were out d the picture. Seren was actually grateful for that as well.

By the time Kit pulled into the school and parked the truck, there was about ten minutes left to spare until the first bell would ring and the two would start toward their classes. They didn't bother to get out, it was pouring rain. Plus, nobody was waiting for them outside. Who knew where Luke went, but he up and dropped Kit a few weeks ago. Seren couldn't help but feel responsible for the boys not talking, but Kit never really seemed that affected by it.

Seren stared ahead at the rain drenching the windshield, blurring the view of any outside activity. She thought about Loki, how he was. Could he have something to do with this freak storm? She sighed at the thought, missing her dad, her only real family in Asgard.

"So," Kit said, breaking the silence. But something in his tone made Seren's heart skip a beat, and she looked over at him with hope in her eyes. Please don't talk more about the test, please don't talk more about the stupid test, she thought.

"Uh, this Sunday..." Kit started again, trailing off. Seren smiled and finished for him, "Is prom." That's when Kit finally made eye contact with Seren, but it made her nervous. "Don't worry, I can be alone for a night. You can go out with Luke or your date or whatever," she offered. Actually she knew for a fact Kit wasn't hanging out with Luke anymore, but there was the possibility of another girl...which is why she hinted at it.

"Date? I don't have a date, are you kidding?" Kit replied. Seren faked a laugh. "Yet," he suddenly added, and Seren's smile morphed into a nervous stare at the dash again, which Kit leaned forward to get a better view of.

"Serenity," he addressed, and she slowly looked over, her eyes wide with fear and nervousness. "Whoa, calm down," Kit advised with a laugh. Seren looked down again and blinked. This couldn't have been attractive. Why was she acting this way? How did she even know Kit was talking about her? He wasn't going to ask her...

But then she started getting a vision.

A blue dress...Black tux....and blurry glimpses of LJ's portrait....

With these images in her head Seren opened the door on her side and jumped out, hearing Kit yell, "Hey, Serenity! Wait-" as she slammed it and ran toward the school, keeping her head down to shield from the stinging horizontal rain. She kept running until she reached somewhere Kit wouldn't find her, the alley behind the performing arts building.

There she hid under the small covered area and leaned against the wall, thinking about what could have just happened. Kit was going to ask her! So why did she run away?! She thought about slamming her head against the wall behind her as punishment for her daftness, but instead she just leaned harder and closed her eyes.

It would never have worked out, she told herself. Her and Kit, it was nonsense. She was a Frost Giant and daughter of one of Kit's father's enemies. It's crazy. That's why she ran away.

From the right side, Seren heard something, a step maybe. And when she opened her eyes there was suddenly something against her throat. A knife?! "What the.." She whispered, carefully glancing to the side. It was Luke, and he didn't look happy. "Hey, Seren..." He said with a sly smile. Seren held her breath as she tried to piece together what was happening, but the only clear thought going through her mind was, "Shit, I've been caught..."

What was she supposed to say?! How much did Luke know, and how did he get the information?

"What?" Seren demanded, trying to play dumb. Luke took the blade off Seren's throat and replaced it with his hand, the contact with her skin so frigid it frostbit his own. He lurched away, giving time for Seren to run. She was only caught by two other big men around the corner. Lucky for them, they were wearing all long sleeved leather jacket. Seren couldn't burn them if she tried. And she was, by revealing her Frost Giant skin.

It didn't matter how hard she struggled, the muscle of the two men outweighed her, and they threw a gag over her mouth as they spun her around, pinning her hands behind her back and kicking her knees out from under her. She screeched as she fell to the ground (not that anyone could tell) and watched Luke run toward her.

He placed his blade under her neck, pushing her chin upward and observing the spot that had burned his skin. It was a deep blue. "You're a Frost Giant?" He asked her, tossing her head to the side, which in turn slid the knife off of her. Seren was careful to move with it so it wouldn't cut her, but she glared Luke as he stood up straight and looked to the men behind her.

"Well it's a good thing I knew exactly who to call. S.H.I.E.L.D takes great care of monsters, don't you guys?" He asked the two men, who in turn remained quiet. Luke looked down at Seren again. "By the way, LJ has nothing to do with this...so don't go seeking revenge on her. Or any of my family for that matter. I doubt you'll be around for much longer anyway for that. Yours and Loki's plan has been foiled. So I suggest you quit while you're...down," he spoke, actually half lying about LJ. He just about tortured his sister to get information out of her. He knew full well about the secret the girls were keeping. In fact LJ was the one that told him this was where Seren would run this morning, she saw it in a vision.

What the hell is he taking about, thought Seren. But something else came out of her mouth, muffled by the gag. "Loki's plan?! What plan?! You bastard!-"

As she rambled mutely, Luke looked down at his wristwatch. "Class is starting in two minutes, get her out of here," he barked at the men. They complied, dragging the struggling girl away. Her feet on the ground made patches black ice where they fell, the gag around her mouth frosted over, and Luke saw the grey color drain from her eyes into beady black. The image gave him chills.

But within seconds it was done, and a van containing three Shield agents and one Frost Giant pulled out of the school. Luke leaned down and hid his knife in his boot, cracking his neck to one side as he walked toward the main school building and the first bell rang.

***

Kit felt bad about Serenity all day. She never even showed up to Physics, did he freak her out that bad? To the point where she had to up and ditch the most important test of the year, just to avoid him?

Then, when she didn't show up after school for her ride back to the house, Kit knew something was seriously wrong. She wouldn't just not show up, she'd never run away like this. It wasn't Serenity, she wasn't afraid of confrontation.

He searched around the city for her all day, at all their favorite places to go together. Coffee shops, the park, even the Avenger's headquarters. But she was nowhere to be found. Where could she have gone? She couldn't have just disappeared like this, Kit told himself for the hundredth time.