Limping towards the outside of the Grand Central Terminal and around the askew cars, I saw taxis' and some of the other cars had been flipped over only to be tackled by the spreading flames. The smell of burning tyres and metal clogged the back of my throat, making me gag in response.
Clouds of black smoke began to accumulate above us before floating away, higher up into the sky. Bits of concrete crunched underneath my boots as I ambled through before reaching my destination, wobbling unsteady on my feet as I stumbled to a stop.
The blood on me- both mine and the aliens- was already beginning to dry on my exposed skin and on my suit. My left thigh had a deep cut that I had wrapped up with a makeshift bandage from a t shirt that I "borrowed" from a nearby store on my way here. For now, the bleeding stopped.
Bodies of fallen Chitauri soldiers littered the ground close to the entrance of Grand Central Terminal, blue blood staining the streets. And not too far away, I could see Captain America, Thor and the Hulk all crowded around a fallen red iron clad man.
Tony.
He appeared to be talking about some nonsense of eating some food he has not yet tried. It would appear that he was trying to keep his mind off of the fact that he could have died up there. I guess it was better than being all gloomy.
A chill went down my spine as I felt a pair of intimidating eyes on me and a growl. An old instinct of mine told me to run away- to keep running and never turn back. Meeting those eyes, I found myself looking at the angry gaze of the Hulk. I knew that he was big but this? This I did not expect. From what eye witness accounts had said, he really did look a bit like a hairless green ape in giant form to anyone else. Those eyes though, were definitely Banner's but filled with indiscriminate rage.
"Hi Hulk. How are you doing?" I murmured, pulling myself closer to him as I finally buckled, falling to the ground.
Hulk growled low in his throat, making no move against me. I saw that as a good sign. He was not throwing me away or trying to kill me like Hulk had probably been doing throughout this battle to the Chitauri.
"You alright, ma'am?" Captain America asked, concerned.
I waved it off, smiling, exhausted. I had no words to say to express how tired and hungry I was. My levels of magic were completely drained and so was my stamina. I didn't know what shawarama was but I would eat it at this point.
"We’re not finished yet." Thor announced dramatically. Man, I'm starting to see why Loki does not like his brother much; he's such a drama king.
"And then shawarama after?" Tony asked.
I snorted with laughter before lying down on the ground. I knew what was next but for now, I was just going to bask in the natural earth for a moment. It was the only thing I could have before S.H.I.E.L.D gets here and sets me off to work again.
A few minutes later, I was inside the lobby of Stark Towers, waiting for S.H.I.E.L.D to arrive. Loki had come, sort of, quietly. He decided that being silly was his best course of action, at least that was what I was told. My heart hurt too much to watch him being taken away in handcuffs to watch any longer. So that's why I was in the lobby while everyone else, including Hulk was upstairs with Loki.
"Agent Katra Barton! Agent Campbell! Turn around slowly!"
Frowning, I turned to see a load of guys pointing guns at me with their gun lights trained on the centre of my chest. Normally, I would make a joke about how perverse that is, though I would say this was definitely a bad time for jokes. Especially when I spotted JJ outside in the same predicament as me.
"What's going on here? Where's Director Fury?" JJ demanded, trying to seem unfazed by the guns.
As a desk agent, JJ was enrolled in basic defence training but did not know enough to be semi-comfortable around guns and to know what to do in this situation.
"I'm not brainwashed! You have to believe me! Both me and Katra are not brainwashed!"
JJ, please shut up. You're making things worse! I pleaded with him mentally as a gunman's trigger finger started twitching. I stared the gunman down, getting him to switch back to me instead of aiming it at JJ.
"Sir, I beg of you to get your men to stand down. We will sit down on the ground and not move for you to confirm whether or not we have been taken over." I suggested to the superior.
The superior was surprised by the logically sound suggestion, which I could understand. After all, all the other goons would spout nonsense about Loki being their king and that Loki wanted to show them something great. I knew Loki was a war criminal and yes, I was in love with him but that did not mean I had to follow him around like a lost puppy, believing in everything that he said.
"Stand down, men." The superior finally ordered after a few minutes of both me and JJ uncomfortably sitting on the ground, clearing us of all suspicion after checking both of our eyes.
They finally let the doctor come over to me to check my wound, treating it. Normally, Dr Gracien, the head doctor who prescribed my medication and knew of my powers, would be the one to patch me up. Unfortunately, she was on holiday leave on the other side of the world. I had no doubt that Dr Gracien would be very angry about me flaunting my powers off to the extent that I had.
"Your leg has been badly wounded; you'll need to rest and take it easy from now on." The doctor, who had no clue of my healing abilities, told me. I scoffed in answer as he kept dabbing some solution onto the small cuts on my face and hands.
Just then, Hulk and the others came marching down the corridor to the lobby. Hulk kept grumbling about some stairs, annoyed. His eyes met mine for a second, I smiled. Hulk gave me a rough smile- more teeth than that of a polite smile.
I did not mind that but what drew my gaze was Loki. He was bound in chains and gagged, looking every bit the war criminal. The way Thor was dragging Loki made it crueller. Yes, Loki was the vessel of the evil but I did not see why he was to be condemned fully to the extent that they were.
Knowing what Thor would most likely ask for, it was only a few days I would get to be able to see Loki ever again. Thor would most likely drag Loki before the Asgardian Justice system to stand trial, to which, no human of Earth would be able to be a witness or help in any way.
He was to face it all alone and have that many people's scorn directed at him. Yes, he killed Phil Coulson and I could never forgive him for that but my hatred was aimed at myself... and at the person who controlled Loki. Despite that, I could not show that I was sympathetic to his plight because I would then be in the same position as him, which would do nobody any good.
As Loki came closer to where I was, his wounds became more apparent and it became clear that he had been beaten ragged. His gaze went to mine and held for a moment. They appeared so apologetic and so sincere that I thought I saw something else in them, an unnamed feeling. Before I could put a name to it, Thor noticed Loki had stopped, proceeding to tug his arm roughly. Breaking our gaze, he followed behind.
"Katra? Katra, where are you going?" Natasha called.
YOU ARE READING
The Second Born Curses- A Winterborn Series
Romance"You can't fight me, Katra, I will have you" he said, pushing me against the wall as if he owned me. I shivered at the proximity at which he was standing at, his gaze boring into mine. "I-I won't s-surrender" I stammered, my fingers itching to touc...
