[2] Just A Lost Girl | Avallone the Avenger

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Dedicated to @High_Queen_Artemis

Before Loki could answer my question, a car pulled up beside us, and out hopped Nick Fury.
"Are you all okay?" He said, for once sounding anything other than bored.
I nodded and glanced at an unconscious Happy that was lying on the wet concrete.
"You left Happy out in the open?" I whispered angrily to Loki who hadn't moved an inch when the Director arrived.
He just nodded in response.
"What happened?" A lady with tied up brown hair asked, stepping out of the car with a first aid kit. She was in a tight, black pencil skirt with a nice white blouse, her hair wrapped in a bun.
"A car purposely crashed into ours, and Happy was knocked unconscious," I started to explain.
Nick frowned.
"On purpose? How do you know that?"
I shrugged and turned to Loki, unable to form coherent words about what happened with Harrison.
"And where's the Winter Soldier?"

~

The car ride was awkwardly silent as we drove to the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. The lady whose name I learned was Maria was driving with Director Fury in the passenger's seat. I was in the back next to a recently mute Loki and a still unconscious Happy.
"So, just to clarify, this Harrison guy practically rammed you with a car to kidnap you? Did it not occur to him that he could have killed you?" Maria questioned from the front, her blue eyes never leaving the road.
I laughed, "I don't actually know if it occurred to him or not, but he seemed pretty straight on getting me back that he didn't really care how. Dead or alive, revenge is what he wanted."
"Yeah, I guess I would want revenge to if I got stabbed in a leg by a person with a nice face."
A quiet giggle escapes my mouth. I already liked Maria.
"That wasn't the last wrong I did to him, apparently I broke out of his facility with James." I sighed as he recalled what Harrison had said, how he had mocked James, how he had treated him.
Maria's eyes caught mine for a moment in the mirror.
"He liked you, you know? Thats the first time since I had met him that he actually showed any emotion other than anger."
This made me smile. To be the cause of someone to lose their anger was something worth smiling about.
"Thanks, I think I needed to know that."

~

Around midnight, we arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Director Fury led us inside to a comfy waiting room, telling us to take a seat. I helped Maria with Happy and sat down.
"So, what's going to happen to us?" I asked, needing answers. It was late and I had been through a lot in the past few hours, but my brain was functioning perfectly fine.
Nick stared at the papers in his hands that had seemed to come from nowhere. I swear, this guy had magic powers that make things just appear.
"You will be going here," he said, handing me the papers in his hands, "someplace far away from here, someplace private, a place that no one actually knows that it exists."
I scanned the papers and looked up.
"You're sending me away to stay with some woman I don't even know? This doesn't give any background on her, it doesn't even state her last name!" I exclaimed, holding onto the papers tightly as I waved my hands around.
He nodded in response while Maria explained.
"This was one secret S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to keep. You'll be staying there until we can find some other place."
I looked at my feet. What about Loki, where would he go?
I voiced my concerns and waited for an answer.
"Loki will be staying here, in our most protected holding cell we have possible," Fury answered, glancing at the god of mischief.
"And Happy?"
Maria told me that he would escort me to the place where I was staying, but would come straight back here. In other words, I would be alone with a woman I didn't know, a woman who didn't seem to exist.
"Why can't I just stay here? It would make it a whole lot easier, having us all in one place," I suggested.
Director Fury shook his head.
"No can do. I was specially asked to take the best care of you, even to the point of sending you to this place."
So someone knew about it? It had to be one of the Avengers, they were the only ones who would ask S.H.I.E.L.D. to do that. But who could it be?
I glanced at Maria to see if she would tell me, but she shook her head.
"You'll be off in two hours. I suggest you say goodbye soon," Director Fury said before leaving with Maria.
It was silent in the comfortable room as no one spoke. Happy was unconscious, half-sitting, half-lying on the chair between Loki and I.
"They are doing this to keep you safe," he stated, looking at me directly with his bright green eyes; so mesmerizing.
"I know, but I can't help but feel that it isn't fair, leaving you here in a container while I'm shipped off to live with a random for who knows how long!"
He nodded and stood up. Walking over to where I sat, he offered me his hand, and I took it.
We stood, face to face, hand in hand.
"You'll come back though," he whispered, his minty breath filling my nostrils.
I nodded. "I hope so, but from what I heard, me going away isn't the best idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. has had."
Loki laughed and pulled me into a soft hug.
"You'll just have to take better care of yourself this time."
Sighing, I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face into his chest. Compared to me, he was the height of a skyscraper.
"And hey," he said, pulling out of the embrace and gently taking my chin in his hand, "maybe you'll come back remembering everything."
Before I could reply, Happy woke up beside us quite loudly.
"What's going on? Is everyone okay?!" He yelled, flinching in his chair.
I laughed and helped him to his feet.
"Don't worry Happy, we are all fine, just a few scratches and such."
I glanced over at Loki and smiled. I had come away with more than a few scratches.