JARVIS and the Real Girl

Eleven: Realization

In the doorway stood Stark in the familiar Iron Man suit, and I was more than a little surprised to see him. As happy as I was, I began to wonder how he found me. Behind him stood a tall, broad man with long blonde hair and what looked like a massive hammer. I stood up from my spot in the corner and cleared my throat, trying less to look like a crazy mess.

“Mr. Stark. Believe me when I say I’m glad to see you.” I said, glancing nervously around the cell and hallway. My eyes fell onto the other man standing behind him.

“Who’s your friend?” I raised an eyebrow but looked back to Tony. The blonde man stepped forwards and I suddenly felt very, very underdressed. He was wearing a cape, for gods sake.

“I am Thor. From what I understand, you are Lexi Lockwood, and my brother has wrongfully assumed that you know the whereabouts of his sceptre.” This was absolute jibberish to me, but I just nodded and pretended that I actually had a clue about what was going on.

“Sorry to cut this happy reunion short, but can we go before Dr. Horrible over there tries to kill me?” I asked, glancing out in the hallway at the fastly approaching Loki. Tony glanced out and nodded, walking out into the hallway with a metallic clink every step.

“Loki, she’s not a part of this. We dealt with you three days ago and took the damn sceptre. Lexi doesn’t know anything. Let her go.” The slightly tin cannish sound of his voice came from behind the metal head of the suit.

“Lies. All of it, lies!” Loki snarled, and I instantly felt myself back away the slightest bit. Thor took a step forward and suddenly launched into battle with his brother, while Tony pulled me down the hallway after him. We ran down hallway after hallway, Tony taking out guards with his hand repulsors the whole way through. He threw open a room at the end of one hallway, pushing me inside. The gold part of his helmet flipped up

“Stay here, and stay hidden. I’ll come back for you when we’re done. Loki’s more powerful than you think.” He said, grabbing my arms.

“Loki will kill you at the drop of a hat if he wants to. If he thinks that he doesn’t have any use to you, he will not hesitate to get rid of you. I need you to stay here, we’re going to fight him.” He stood up and his helmet flipped down, the eyes lighting up. I nodded slowly and drew my knees to my chest, pressing my back against the wall before wincing in pain. The torture session I had endured was still fresh in my mind, and fresh on my skin as well. Tony left the room, closing the door quietly behind him so I was plunged into complete darkness. I looked around while my eyes adjusted, and I could finally make out a few things in the room. It was empty, other than a table and chair right in it’s centre. The room was unnaturally cold, and I shivered, pulling my cardigan tighter around myself. I stayed in that room for what felt like hours, the only sound being my quiet breathing. I nodded off to sleep, mind drifting around in complete calm and silence. I was violently awakened a while later by someone shaking me, and I opened my eyes to see Tony standing there, hauling me up to my feet.

“Come on, time to get out of here.” I stumbled along behind him as he pulled me down the hall, and we passed the same doors we went by on the way in. We finally arrived back in the line of cells, but didn’t stay in for long before we hurried up the stairs and into the room where Loki sat when he questioned me. Only this time, Loki was being wrestled to the ground by a group of people. Thor was among them, but stood up to walk over to us.

“The situation is under control.” He stated, and glanced at me.

“I believe it is time to bring you home.” Thor smiled a little and stood with us, and we were surrounded by a bright white light. In the blink of an eye, we were back in Stark Towers, and I looked around in complete astonishment. This didn’t seem possible in any way at all. I turned back to Thor and smiled lopsidedly at him, stepping forward.

“Thank you. I can’t explain how glad I am to be home. What is going to be done with Loki?” I asked, not quite sure if that was an answer I wanted.

“He will be dealt with by the people of Asgard. Not to worry, Lexi, all will be well again.” He said, smiling back at me. I felt relief in this answer, glad to know that the man who kidnapped me would at least be taken care of in one way or another. Thor said his goodbyes, then left in yet another beam of light.

“That never fails to be awesome.” Tony said, laughing. I nodded in agreement, because it was pretty cool to see. Someone walked into the living room where we were, and I was half expecting to see Pepper yet again, but instead I turned to see JARVIS. The brightest smile lit up my face and I hurried over to him, throwing my arms around him and hugging tightly.

“You’re alive!” He exclaimed, bewildered. I laughed and nodded, clinging to him.

“I am, yeah. Without Tony and Thor though, I wouldn’t be.” I said, muffled by his suit. The fabric scratched at my face, but I didn’t mind at all.

“I missed you.” JARVIS said quietly, and a small smile appeared on my face.

“I missed you too.” I replied, pulling away a little so I could look at him.

“You know, I think I’ve come to realize something over this past little while.” JARVIS said, suddenly serious again, but with a goofy smile. I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh really? And what might that be?” I asked, setting my hands on my hips.

“I think I love you, Miss Lockwood.” He said, searching my eyes for a response.

“I think I love you too.” And with that, he kissed me for the first, but certainly not the last time.