Collision Course {Marvel} ||1||

19. The Moment of Truth

The apartment hadn't been terrorized by aliens. There was the chance Todd could be out somewhere, or the chance that he was...

No, he would have been smart about the invasion. He would have done what was necessary. He would have survived.

I stood before the door, hesitant. My hand hovered, waiting for me to let it knock. I wanted to, but fear was grabbing a hold of me once again. What if I had to break the door down? What if I found the place empty? If there were casualties, the news would have broadcasted them. Still, I'd only watched the news once since the battle, and that was this morning.

"This is your apartment, right?" Cap joked.

"Yes, it is."

"Did you have someone housesit for you?"

"No, I share with a friend. He's the reason why I know some things about Earth like I do. He's not from Asgard, he's human. I've wondered what his fate is. It's scary to think about, it's even scarier to find out."

"Kiara, it's the only way to know."

"Can you stay, in case something goes wrong?"

"If you need me to, I will."

"Thank you."

Get a hold of yourself, Kiara. You faced Chitauri yesterday, and they were ten times more intimidating than this. Knock for Odin's sake! I exhaled loudly before knocking a few times on the door.

The silence that followed was agonizing. Maybe it was me just being impatient, but normally Todd was at the door by now. My heart pounded in my chest. No, he can't be. I shook where I stood, afraid to even accept it.

"Kiara?"

I tried again, this time more rapidly, more knocks. I hyperventilated now, getting more worked up than a few seconds again. No, this can't be real. Todd couldn't have been lost yesterday. I refuse to believe it.

I turned slowly to Cap, who only looked at me sympathetically. I felt like I was walking through water as I moved away from the door. My eyes downcast to the pavement, unable to pick themselves back up. I was only gone for a few days. I'd just seen him less than a week ago.

Todd was a good friend of mine, perhaps a best friend. He was my guide to learning the ways of the Midgardians as I'd called the humans last year. Now, my guide was taken. First Loki was taken by his jealousy, and now Todd was taken by the Chitauri, and in a way, by Loki.

I believed that the universe was trying to tell me something: I needed to stay away from men, no matter what realm they were from.

"Maybe he's just sleeping," Cap offered.

"No, he's a light sleeper. He couldn't have moved out either. Let's face it, Cap..."

"Kiara—"

"Please don't."

"No, Kiara, turn around."

Through my slightly blurry eyes, I saw that the door was open. I nearly fell to my knees and sobbed. The one person I promised to come back to was alive and well, and shower fresh.

I ran to Todd, nearly tackling him into our apartment. I tried my hardest to not squeeze the life out of him.

"You're here," I whimpered. "You're alive."

"I've missed you too," he chuckled. He smoothed out my hair, a sign of reassurance. "But you were only gone for a few days."

"I felt like I was gone a year. I promise that it won't happen again."