Altered - A Marvel AU

Chapter 32 - The Plan

Megan's POV

Insistent knocking arose me from my blissful slumber as I gently opened my eyes, my face was dangerously close to Steve's, it was probably because I rolled in my sleep I thought. My head was pounding and strangely enough, last night was very fuzzy for me, I remembered crying in the hotel and then blank. The knocking didn't get any quieter and I knew it must've been either Tony or Nat, "Come in." I yelled in my raspy morning voice as Nat walked in, a hand covering her eyes although I could see her peeking from between her fingers.

"I hope you're decent." She said and I laughed, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She dropped her hand smiling, then her eyes got wide and she blushed, putting her hands over her eyes once more. "Nat?" She bit her lip, "Look down hun." I looked down to indeed see my breasts in all their glory, showing fully to Nat. I quickly pulled up my blanket feeling very confused and immensely terrified of what I was thinking had happened last night.

"Steve." I shook his shoulder and he let out an "mm?" "Steve." I whined more insistently and he frowned, "Shut up." He mumbled and Nat tried to hold back her laughter. "Steven Grant Rogers, you best believe I will beat your ass if you don't get up now." "Whattt?" He whined, opening his eyes, "Uhhh, Meg, you're naked." "You think? Are you wearing underwear?" His head disappeared under his covers, "Yes." Steve drawled out the s, "Really?" I asked, fearing the answer, "No." He responded.

By the door, Nat burst into full-blown laughter as she wiped at her eyes dramatically, "This is too good." She wheezed. I frowned at her, "Can you please not tell anyone?" She frowned at that, "I'm not your best friend so why should I keep your secrets?" Her voice held a hurt tone to it and I knew I had been an utter jerk to her last night. "Look, I'm scared of commitment, of vulnerability, I don't know why I said that. You are my best friend and I think of you as a sister. I'm sorry." I mumbled and I looked up at her to see her smiling, "I forgive you, they always come back anyways." I laughed and she held a finger to her lips, "My lips are sealed... for now. I'm going to need details later though."

"I don't think I even remembered what happened." I said, my head spinning, Nat bent down and picked up an empty bottle of Asgardian liquor, she raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, now we know why that is. Anyways, Tony said to meet him in his room to discuss our plan in 10 minutes." I nodded, "always 10 minutes with him." "Well." Nat shrugged and shot me a wink before leaving and locking the door behind her with our hotel room card that she somehow got.

I looked at Steve and he just sat there, staring into space, "We slept together last night." He mumbled and I blushed, nodding my head, "Yeah..." "Does this mean..." "Probably not..." He nodded, "Ok, um, what do we do now?" "Forget it happened?" I offered and he looked hurt but nodded, "Yeah, that's probably for the best." "It is." "Well then, Miss Brooks, I suggest we get ready before Tony throws a hissy fit."

I smiled, about to climb out of bed when I remembered I was naked. "Steve close your eyes." "Haha, nope." "C'mon, I'm naked." "I know, that's why I don't want to close my eyes." "Don't make me say your full name again." Steve smiled, "You're hot when you're mad." I rolled my eyes at him, "I expected that from Tony, not you." He shrugged, "What can I say? After last night, I got a confidence boost." "Wonderful," I muttered and Steve let out a deep chuckle.

"Please." I pleaded, "Fine." He closed his eyes and I climbed out of bed, quickly trying to make my way into the bathroom when I heard him say "Nice ass." I smiled, blushing, "LANGUAGE." I yelled, closing the bathroom door and I could hear his chuckle from where I was standing.

***

We were all standing silently in Tony's room as we watched him pace back and forth muttering to himself. Finally, I couldn't take the silence any longer so I broke it, "Uh, Tony, you ok?" He looked up and his expression was eccentric, "What if you imprisoned him somewhere?" I furrowed my eyebrows, "Who am I imprisoning and why?" Tony frowned, "What if you imprisoned Kronos in some sort of containment where his powers would be of no use? That would solve the problem." "That would also probably require a lot of energy which would result in her essence burning up." Thor mumbled and I nodded.

Tony held up his hands, "Ok, ok, so how can we kill him? For good this time." Everyone turned towards me, expectantly waiting for an answer, truth be told I didn't have one. "Uhhh, I don't really know." "Great." Tony muttered and Steve frowned, "It's not her fault, she doesn't know what lies in front of her, in front of us." "Yeah, but she's supposed to be a goddess, shouldn't she be aware of everything, including the future?" I interjected, pointing my finger at Tony, "You claim to be so smart, let me see you solve this problem." He looked at me dumbfounded, before looking down. "Exactly, I've been staying awake at night, scared out of my mind because he's already taken two people I loved from me, I don't want him to take any of you. Do you think it's easy for me? Give me time at least to conjure up some sort of plan."

Tony looked as if he wanted to argue but decided to bite his tongue and I appreciated that, I didn't need any selfish remarks from him at the moment. "Thor, you and I need to talk about various possibilities where we can end Kronos for good. The rest of you, try to get some sleep because we don't know if that might be an option in the near future." They all nodded, dispersing to their rooms until Tony, Thor, and I were the only ones left. I grabbed Thor's arm and hauled him outside and downstairs until we were on those comfy couches in front of the fireplace again.

"Is there any way, any at all that this can work without me dying or burning up?" I asked Thor, dreading the answer. He pursed his lips, unwilling to answer, that enough was a clear answer for me, "I'm terribly sorry Lady Megan, but there is no possible way, none that I know of at least."

I nodded, I knew what I had to do in order to save a lot of innocent lives, in order to save Nat, Tony, Bruce, Clint, and Thor whom I all came to appreciate and love like my family. It was the only way I could save Steve, after last night I just wanted to tell him how much I loved him and to have him hold me in his arms forever, but I couldn't, not if I wanted him to survive. I took a deep breath, "Thor, can you keep a secret from everyone else?" Thor frowned, "Lady Megan, it goes against my morals." "Please," I pleaded with him and he sighed, "Very well." "Good, here's the plan."