Poltergeist
Loner
Amy let Muttley of the leash and the big white dog seemed to fade into the snow. The only hint that she existed was her movement. She rolled around in the snow and kicked her paws in the air with excitement. It made Amy smile. She went and sat down on the bench and found herself thinking of her time with Jay earlier that day. The snow ball fight, the hot chocolate. She knew it. He was the one. Max had been missing for 3 years now he was in the past. She'd have to tell him but she had to find Jay first. She stood up to call her dog and saw her laying in the snow.
"Hey chubby. We're heading out. I gotta find someone and tell him...." Her voice trailed off. Muttley wasn't moving.
"M...Muttley?" Amy walked over and poked Muttley thinking she was asleep. She fell on her knees when the big white Lab didn't respond. A man dropped down behind her and stuck something in her neck making her pass out.
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The sky rumbled over and over again to where it bothered Bruce to no end. He sat up unable to sleep and looked at his clock. 7:00 A.M. He groaned and got up. The thunder kept coming; he looked outside but it wasn't raining. It was dark and cloudy, but no rain and strangely, no lightning either. "I wonder" He thought. He went downstairs and saw Tony staring out the window. "You thinking about it too?"
"Yes" Bruce said. "Is it possible?"
"I'd believe it" Tony said, still staring. "I wonder what's going on"
Bruce thought about it and stood by Tony. "You don't think Amy's so called "vision" had anything to do with this?"
"About Loki?" Tony asked. "Maybe" he took a sip of his coffee. "Want some?"
"Oh sure" Bruce said and got a cup for himself.
It thundered again.
"I wonder" Bruce said.
"What if Loki got out?" Tony said.
"But he'd have to have an outside source" Bruce said taking a sip.
"I could be Jay" Tony said.
"Maybe he wanted to get Thor to trust him" Bruce said.
"But why come here?" Tony asked.
"Why attack the world's defenses?" Bruce asked. There pair of nerds was on a roll.
"He's planning an attack" Tony said. "A big one"
"That's why he used the others. To take out any of earth's defense against a threat." Bruce added.
"But with what?" Tony asked. "He wouldn't try the army from the sky again"
"Maybe there's more where Jason came from" Bruce said.
"An army of Ice people?" Tony asked.
"Frost giants sounds more threatening." Bruce said. "It seemed to bother Thor."
"That's it" Tony said. "It has to be. DAMN! Glad we didn't give him a card"
"We gave Amy one though" Bruce said. "He might have taken hers"
"Poor girl" Tony said.
"Yeah" Bruce added. "Let's not tell her boyfriend betrayed the team"
"Yup" Tony said. "Speaking of which where is she? Isn't she usually up by now?"
Their conversation had lasted an hour, it was 8:15 by now and Amy always woke up between 8 or 8:30.
"Jarvis" Tony called.
"Yes sir?" The program asked.
"Is Amy in the house?" Bruce asked.
After a few minutes the program responded with disconcerting news. "No sir, she retrieved her dog and left last night and has not returned."
Bruce and Tony immediately got up to get dressed. This wasn't good. They woke up Steve, Clint and Natasha and the team got ready in an hour. When Bruce opened the door he found Muttley, Amy's dog, outside shivering violently. "Come on in" He said but the dog didn't move. She barked and ran off.
"What was that?" Clint asked.
"Amy's dog" Natasha said.
"Let's follow it" Tony said and flew off after it. The others ran after the big white dog until they reached central park. Muttley ran deep into the wooded area and then sat down shivering. The poor thing was 1/2 frozen after spending a night on a bed of snow from the tranquilizer that she got dumped with. In front of her was a crime scene hidden in the snow. She sat right next to where she fell. By that was Amy's foot prints and a random pair that belonged to some kind of boots. Natasha pet Muttley on her head. "Good girl"
The dog licked the assassin's hand and wagged her tail. Clint walked over and examined the foot prints. "These are weird." He said, pointing to the ones from the boot. "This is all there is. Like they just appeared and disappeared without moving."
Tony landed as Clint said that. The archer pointed to him. "Like that. Then it would be as if Iron Man flew off without moving." He used Tony's nickname since there were already people out.
Steve interrupted. "Either that or they poofed in and poofed out"
"Maybe the word you thinking of captain is materialized?" Natasha said.
"I suppose" Steve said. "Maybe with- and I can't believe I'm saying this- but Magic?"
"Loki" Clint said.
"That's what me and Iron Man thought" Bruce said stepping forward. "Why else would our enemies attack our defenses? Why would the Ghost, a you know what, join our group and try to get close to the Phantom who's a relative you know who?" He didn't say certain things as to not blow the secrets they kept from the public.
"Oh shit" Natasha said.
"Exactly, Widow" Tony said.
"Time to get Fury" Steve said.
"Time to get Fury" Tony agreed.
They went back to the mansion, put Muttley away and retrieved one the quin-jets to fly to the helicarrier. Tony simply used his suit.
"This is as far from good as you can get!" Fury said. "If Jason is allied with Loki then Amy would be their target"
"We know that" Tony said. "Otherwise you would see her with us"
"Don't be a smart ass Stark!" Fury said.
"Are you kidding?" Natasha asked. "He always is"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy woke up in a small dark room. She was tied to a chair.... great.....
"Glad you're awake Amethyst" A voice said.
Amy froze. She knew that voice and hated it with every fiber of her being. She huffed. "Yeah whatever" She said trying to hide her fear. That man was the only one, the only thing that terrified her. The thing that kept her up at night. Her demon, so to speak.
"Oh don't worry" The voice said and laughed. It made Amy's blood curdle. "I'll let you go... but first... time to let you see where you are"
Light shined into the room and Amy shut her eyes to hide from it. As they adjusted she saw that she was in a brick room. Kind of like some underground science lab. "It's a room.... wow" Amy said.
A hand came at her and slapped her hard. "Disrespectful brat" Loki said. He walked in front of her.
Amy held her breath and let it out slow, letting the pain flow into her face. She would not show fear, not give him tears even though every part of her screamed let him win. "Why do you want me?"
"I need you" Loki said. "I figured since I already have you love then all I need is you. I'll let you two chat."
Amy immediately thought of Jay but the one that appeared was not the one she thought of.
"You are so much like him" Max said.
"I am not!" Amy hissed. "I will never be like him. He is cruel."
Max sighed. "I meant looks"
"How come you're not...." Amy asked.
Max laughed. "You are just as naïve as you Uncle though. I forgot how annoying it is"
"What?" Amy asked. "But... but I... I thought"
"Oh sorry" Max said. He reached down to untie her. "You really don't need this. You couldn't use your abilities anyway. They're kinda useless."
Amy stayed sitting, glaring at the one she called friend. "Why?" she asked.
"Why" Max mocked. "Because he freed me. He revived me. He made me immortal."
Amy sighed. "All that time. You were just playing with me. Getting me to trust you."
"Wow! You finally got it! Congratulations! You’re not as thick headed as you Uncle! YAY!" Max clapped his hands to mock Amy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loki headed down the brick hallway to the other holding chamber. There he had caught a young boy with interesting capabilities. It was ironic how the boy came to him for answers. He smiled as he entered. "Ah.... Jay. I'm glad you've come to me for answers. The Avengers, as they poorly named themselves, didn't understand did they?"
Jay shook his head. "I thought someone did. But.... I guess not." He had simply ran away. He never realized that he would find himself so far outside of New York City. This guy just snatched him up. He had no idea who he was but he figured that if this guy was like him, maybe he could answer some questions. Like how he was a frost giant but appeared most of the time.
“It’s such a shame." Loki said. "Oh but I know how you feel. For all my life I thought I was part of a kingdom until I found out that I was just like you. A demon in their mind's eye. An outcast. A loner. They cast me out just as the Avengers did you."
Jay hung his head. "I thought one actually cared but she just..." He sighed thinking how Amy yelled that she didn't care if he left.
"She?" Loki said. "You loved a girl" He laughed. Oh this boy was so funny. He was so pathetic but his abilities were strong and Loki could use them to his advantage. "Interesting. Was it the Widow?"
Jay laughed. "Yeah right." He shook his head. "Do you have any idea what Hawkeye would do if I took his partner?" Jay was careful with is words. He didn't want to give away too much. He didn't even know the guy. "She was more around my age. A new recruit. He name was Phantom. I thought we were friends but she said she didn't care."
"It a shame" Loki said. "When you think people care then they stab you in the back"
"The worst part is was that she made me feel sorry for her. I mean Amy was some I thought I could relate to cause we had similar abilities and her dad seems like a real asshole"
Loki narrowed his eyes. "Amy?" Was the phantom his Amy?
"Yeah" jay said. "She hates her dad though. I know why." He laughed. "It is so funny how she hangs with her uncle though. She was... Amazing. Sometimes I wonder."
Loki started to laugh.
"What?" Jay asked
" I don't believe it. You..... You are her love" Loki kept laughing. "My daughter could have done better than a pathetic martyr"
Jay finally got it. This was Loki. This was Amy's dad! "You really are an ass."
"Listen you mortal" Loki hissed. "I will make sure that Amethyst sees you take you last breath. Once she is under my control I will make her tear you from the inside out and cause you so much agony that you will wish for Death. Once you are at the edge I ill release her long enough to kiss you goodbye as you take your last breath. Then I will end her in the same way she killed you. Leaving her with the grief of your death and you blood on her hands!"
Jay jumped at this threat and panicked a bit. "NO!" he cried. "You won't get to her! She's too strong!" the room dropped in temperature and ice started to form along the walls. "She will never side with you!" Jay became blue and his eyes the deep red of the frost giant. "NEVER!" on that word Ice flew from what appeared to out of nowhere; Loki was thrown back from the force. The entire room froze and Jay disappeared.
Loki got up groaning. “End him" he said and 5 of his recruits went to get Jay. The ghost stole a motorcycle and raced for New York, where he lost his pursuers in a matter of hours. He went back to the mansion and up to his room. No one was home so he figured they were looking for Loki. He'd contact them in the morning. Well, try anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy sat in misery. Max had betrayed her, her whole life and now she was in her dad's possession. She saw him come in and dismiss Max. He had ice on his shoulder and she smiled. "A bit cold are we?"
"Shut up" Loki said, "You're lucky"
"Lucky?"" Amy asked. "I see no luck in my current situation"
Loki hit her again. "I said be quiet!" He growled. "You’re even speaking like him. It makes me sick"
"Good" Amy said. "You're already sick in the head so I'm glad I make you sick now because you've made me sick my whole life." She got another slap for talking.
"I thought I raised you better" Loki said.
"Are you kidding?!" Amy asked. "I practically raised myself. You were never home! Mom was under your control and too scared of you to care!" Another slap.
"You be quiet or I'll gut your little boyfriend." Loki hissed.
Amy's body screamed for her to let him when to stop the pain, but Amy's mind held on. She felt the blood run down her lip and a tear escape her eye. How dare he cause her to cry, how dare he see her cry. She licked the blood and smiled. "They will come" She said. "There’s no way you'll end up winning"
Loki touched he gently on the cheek, making her flinch which in turn, made him laugh. "You called them you family. When they didn't even trust you." He laughed again, making Amy's blood boil with hatred.
"You not going to win. You will lose" She said. She got a final hit before Loki left the room.
Max laughed. "You are stubborn"
"Shut up" Amy said. "I'll show you stubborn"
"Go ahead cutie" Max said making his hands light up with flames. "I'll burn you if you do"
Amy's eyes flashed with anger. "Serva tisa pelle, kuuru Serva tisa male fiku!" She chanted and her body went limp. She came out as a blue mist and smiled at Max. "See you in the next life" She said and disappeared. Her plan was to go to the mansion and get the avengers. She raced out of the building to find herself in the snowy northern region on New York. Her father's lackeys chased her down but she simply phased through the trees and bushes where her pursuers had to go around and over. She fell into a gorge on the way but didn't really care. Being a spirit meant that there was no need for air, sleep, food, of drink. The river was headed south anyways so she just let it carry her. When it started to go east she climbed out and tried to get her barring about her surroundings. She wandered for weeks until she met a man named Cole. He was going home for the summer. Called himself a snow bird. He was tall, dark skinned, probably African American. He let Amy stay with him for a little while.
"So you don't care that I'm.... in a sense... a spirit?" Amy asked.
"I don't judge" Cole said. "Where I'm from, it don't matter whatcha look like. If ya work hard and you a good person, we like to keep ya around"
"Where are you from?" Amy asked.
"Way up North. Us snow bird go south for da winter" Cole said smiling. "How 'bout you miss?"
"I..... I don't know" Amy said. "I guess I'm from Manhattan cause I grew up there but I don't think I was born there"
"It don't matter where you born miss" Cole said. "Home is where you feel safe. Where your family is"
"Well I guess I don't have one" Amy said. "I blew my chance"
"Nah" Cole said. "Every one's got some where's" He smiled. He had a kind smile. "What did you blow on anyways? You gotta love you mussed up or somethin'?
Amy put her hand on her necklace. "I thought I did" she said. "But.... He turned out to be allied with my father, who is a really bad dude"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony was looking at the screen on the helicarrier. A small message popped up. "Fury" he said. "Come look at this."
The director came up and touched it, making it pop up. It was just a voice with no picture. “What is it?" He asked.
Tony touched a button that made all of the avengers get the message. Thor had come back and explained that Loki had escaped so he was on the helicarrier and got the message too.
"It’s from Amy's necklace. I installed a communicator in it when she lost it. She must still have it. It turns on when she touches the hammer." He hit the play button and the recording sounded. It was Amy's voice.
Amy sighed. "He went missing 3 years ago and I found him just about a month ago. I was on a team at the time and met a great friend. I never realized it until I lost it but, this team was the closest thing I had to a family. I guess I was starting to forget max. He was the one that turned out to be a jerk. But.... I met another, his name was jay. I guess I hurt him pretty bad. It kinda serves me right." She sighed. "The worst part is..... I probably hurt my uncle the most. I was gonna ditch. Like jay did. All I had when I came was my dog and that was all I was gonna take when I left. I never expected my dad to plan anything. I bet uncles freaking out." Tears ran down her face as she spoke. "I really messed up. I was gonna try and get them but I have no idea where I am really. I just want them to know that I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt jay or uncle. I love them they’re awesome! Uncle’s like a father to me. And… and jay...." She touched her necklace again, turning off the communicator.
"It seems like you need to make amends with a few people miss" Cole said.
"Yeah.... I really do." Amy answered. "I just don't know how"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thor listened as Amy spoke. When it turned off, he went to where Tony was. "Can you track it?"
"Yeah, I could" Tony said. "but it's to him" He pointed to Fury.
"She might be able to lead us to Loki." Fury said. "Track it"
On it" Tony said and started looking for the signal. "What?" he asked.
On the screen it showed "request not possible" Tony tried again and the same thing came up. "It says there never was a tracker." Tony remarked. "But I know I put one in"
He spent the rest of that day and 1/2 that night trying to get the thing to work. Bruce finally got him to take a break. "Let's try it later Tony" He said. "You need sleep"
"But.... I don't understand...." Tony said. "I know I put a tracker and a communicator on the necklace. How is it not there? I made it untraceable so...." He sighed. "I just... don't get it"
"get some sleep Tony" Bruce said. "Maybe you'll think of it in the morning"
"Alright" tony said and went to his quarters.
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When Jay woke up, he went down to the kitchen, got something to eat and then went to Tony’s work area to see if Jarvis could contact the guys. To his dismay, Jarvis had been shut down by Tony, only the defect systems were online. So Jay went back upstairs and went to bed. That night, Mjölnir came up to him and nuzzled his face. "Go away cat" he said and rolled over. He felt her drop something warm and fuzzy on the side of his face. He didn't care until he felt small needle-like pricks. He went to slap it off his face but stopped his hand in midair as he heard the small rumble of a little purr. "Wha???" he asked and picked it up gently. As he brought it down his eyes went wide. It his hand held by the scruff was a small blind helpless black kitten with a white stripe on its nose. "Mjölnir?" Jay asked. He set the kitten down and smiled. Mjölnir had disappeared and a few minutes later both she and Tiger jumped on the bed with a kitten in their mouths. They did it one more time, then settled down by Jay with their 5 kittens. Jay couldn't believe that Mjölnir trusted him like that. He curled up around them as happy as could be. He knew he had to protect them and he would. For the next month, Jay stayed at the mansion. Tiger and Mjölnir and the 5 kittens kept him on his toes. Every night Mjölnir would drag her kittens up onto Jay's bed and her and Tiger would cuddle up next to them. Jay named the little kitten with the white stripe, Cookie. She was the most rambunctious of the bunch. One day, Jay was getting up and as he stepped down he heard a shrill cry and a hiss. He let up his foot quickly as he realized he accidentally stepped on Cookie's tail. He sat back on his bed and face palmed. "I'm sorry girl" He said. Tiger jumped up a little later with Cookie in his mouth. He plopped her down and left to herd his other kids, who were downstairs. Cookie nuzzled Jay and licked his nose. Jay sat up and took her in his hands. It had been a month since he came home and still the team hadn't come back. The kittens' eyes were starting to open, and they were stumbling around. Every day he tried to contact them but the tries had failed every time. There was one day that a message came through but since it wasn't from the team, he ignored it. Today he was going to try and contact them again. He took Cookie in his hand and left his room. He heard voices down stairs. They seemed sad but happy. Melancholy could be a word. He went into the family room and saw the team. "GUYS!" he said and scanned the group for Amy. But it was only the original team. Amy wasn't with them.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tony asked.
"I came back after realizing...." Jay said looking down. "I have nowhere to go. The apartment my folks had has been condemned and I tried going somewhere else but that didn't go to well. So I came back"
"You should leave" Natasha said.
"You're not welcome here anymore" Steve added.
"Ok...." jay said. He knew he wasn't the team's favorite person. "But..... Can you tell me why?"
"Because you let Loki loose" Clint said standing. In his hand was the calico kitten. In fact everyone had a kitten. He handed it off to Natasha and glared at Jay.
"WHAT!?" Jay said. "NO WAY IN HELL!" I bet that no good hot head Max did" He pouted.
"Is that just because he took your girl?" Tony asked.
"NO!" Jay said, almost dropping Cookie. The poor kitten hung onto Jay's shirt for dear life. Jay grabbed her and gave her to Tiger who waited anxiously on the floor. The cat took the kitten upstairs.
"That damn fire bender told me that he was allied with Amy's dad. Course I didn't know who Amy was since Max was the one that found me out a few years ago. He said that Loki freed him, revived him all that other bullshit!" Just like when Loki had him, the room gold colder and ice formed around the walls. Jay's skin grew bluer in color as he ranted and his eyes became blood red. Tears flowed down his face as he thought about it. "Max was the one who started it! He started the fire! He took everything from me! Even Amethyst! Why would I ever let the man that he follows loose!? Are you insane?" Steve had his shield ready, Natasha had her hands in her pocket with her fingers on the trigger, Tony, still in his suit, waited for the right moment. Clint had an arrow on the sting. Bruce stiffened up, ready to change if need be. Ice formed around Jay's feet, the fire place mantle cracked from the cold and the cats dashed out of the room from the loud noise. All except Tiger. That loyal cat stood by Jay's feet looking up at him the whole time. "I'd never let him loose! I don't even know where's he's been in the last 3 years! Neither do I give shit!" Jay left the room completely covered in ice and about 30 degrees colder than when he walked in. As he left, small ice footprint were left every time he took a step. He didn't care if the Avengers saw his true form or even if he cried for that matter. He also didn't care if he froze the whole house. He was done with them. Done with being called a demon, done with false accusations made by the team. He went upstairs and buried his face in Tiger's fur. "I'm sorry buddy. I'm sorry I scared your kids" Jay cried. He hated Max for starting the fire, for leaving Jay's family and starting the rumors. How could Amy like him? Why did she leave? What happened to her? Jay laid down cried for the next hour.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Jay left, the team relaxed a bit. They were all still shaken at the fact that the family room was now in a deep freeze. Natasha shivered as she let her fingers of the triggers of her pistols.
"Damn" tony said and looked around the room. "That kid's got some power"
"It's scary" Bruce said. "If he can't control it, think of what will happen if he gets upset in the middle of the city."
"Ice age gone wrong" Tony said.
"So that's a frost giant" Natasha added.
"It seems that he's not allied to Loki as we thought" Steve said.
Yeah but it sounds like Max is" Clint said. "We've been looking in all the wrong places thanks to that."
"Damn" Tony said. "I bet Max has Amy with him.... which means Loki probably has her"
Jay silently listened in. He cursed himself for leaving. If Amy was there, then he had just abandoned her. What a good friend he was. He came downstairs and apologized for his actions. It took him a few tries but he got it out eventually.
"Sorry doesn't cut it Jay" Steve said.
"Yeah I know" Jay said. "You don't have to forgive me... but... I'm not with Loki. I can tell you where he's hiding."
The others looked at him. "Why should we believe you?" Clint asked.
"Yeah" Tony said. "You just threw a fit that froze 1/2 the house"
"Look" Jay said. "I really don't care if you find him or not. But if has Amy... I want to help her. So I'm giving you this for her... not... for you"
He went downstairs to listen to the recording from a week ago thinking it may have been from Amy. As he listened to it, he sadly smiled. "Does she really mean it?" He asked Tiger. That cat meowed as an answer, simply out of the fact that Jay was giving it attention. The Ghost got up to get his things. He'd find somewhere else.... eventually. He knew when he wasn't wanted. The Avengers were gone when he walked out the door. It was night and he figured he'd just crash at the apartment he used to haunt. As he opened the gate, he saw 2 boys calling to him. In one of their hands, was Amy's golden Asgardian bracelet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy thanked Cole for letting her stay as long as he did. She had to get to the mansion so she could tell the Avengers where Loki was... and get her body back. He pointed her the way to New York City and she headed that way. It had been almost a month since she escaped and knew she was cutting corners with staying separated this long. She was able to reach central park in the next 24 hours and was over joyed. From there, she knew her way around. As she made her way through the trees she started to feel the pang of hunger... and... Thirst. She started to feel drained of energy from going a month without sleep. She held her head as her vision became fuzzy. Stumbling her way through the trees, she lost her bearings and started to forget where she was. Every sound became muffled and things became a blur. Amy collapsed in the snow. "Is this what it's like to die?" She thought.
"Hey chubby. We're heading out. I gotta find someone and tell him...." Her voice trailed off. Muttley wasn't moving.
"M...Muttley?" Amy walked over and poked Muttley thinking she was asleep. She fell on her knees when the big white Lab didn't respond. A man dropped down behind her and stuck something in her neck making her pass out.
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The sky rumbled over and over again to where it bothered Bruce to no end. He sat up unable to sleep and looked at his clock. 7:00 A.M. He groaned and got up. The thunder kept coming; he looked outside but it wasn't raining. It was dark and cloudy, but no rain and strangely, no lightning either. "I wonder" He thought. He went downstairs and saw Tony staring out the window. "You thinking about it too?"
"Yes" Bruce said. "Is it possible?"
"I'd believe it" Tony said, still staring. "I wonder what's going on"
Bruce thought about it and stood by Tony. "You don't think Amy's so called "vision" had anything to do with this?"
"About Loki?" Tony asked. "Maybe" he took a sip of his coffee. "Want some?"
"Oh sure" Bruce said and got a cup for himself.
It thundered again.
"I wonder" Bruce said.
"What if Loki got out?" Tony said.
"But he'd have to have an outside source" Bruce said taking a sip.
"I could be Jay" Tony said.
"Maybe he wanted to get Thor to trust him" Bruce said.
"But why come here?" Tony asked.
"Why attack the world's defenses?" Bruce asked. There pair of nerds was on a roll.
"He's planning an attack" Tony said. "A big one"
"That's why he used the others. To take out any of earth's defense against a threat." Bruce added.
"But with what?" Tony asked. "He wouldn't try the army from the sky again"
"Maybe there's more where Jason came from" Bruce said.
"An army of Ice people?" Tony asked.
"Frost giants sounds more threatening." Bruce said. "It seemed to bother Thor."
"That's it" Tony said. "It has to be. DAMN! Glad we didn't give him a card"
"We gave Amy one though" Bruce said. "He might have taken hers"
"Poor girl" Tony said.
"Yeah" Bruce added. "Let's not tell her boyfriend betrayed the team"
"Yup" Tony said. "Speaking of which where is she? Isn't she usually up by now?"
Their conversation had lasted an hour, it was 8:15 by now and Amy always woke up between 8 or 8:30.
"Jarvis" Tony called.
"Yes sir?" The program asked.
"Is Amy in the house?" Bruce asked.
After a few minutes the program responded with disconcerting news. "No sir, she retrieved her dog and left last night and has not returned."
Bruce and Tony immediately got up to get dressed. This wasn't good. They woke up Steve, Clint and Natasha and the team got ready in an hour. When Bruce opened the door he found Muttley, Amy's dog, outside shivering violently. "Come on in" He said but the dog didn't move. She barked and ran off.
"What was that?" Clint asked.
"Amy's dog" Natasha said.
"Let's follow it" Tony said and flew off after it. The others ran after the big white dog until they reached central park. Muttley ran deep into the wooded area and then sat down shivering. The poor thing was 1/2 frozen after spending a night on a bed of snow from the tranquilizer that she got dumped with. In front of her was a crime scene hidden in the snow. She sat right next to where she fell. By that was Amy's foot prints and a random pair that belonged to some kind of boots. Natasha pet Muttley on her head. "Good girl"
The dog licked the assassin's hand and wagged her tail. Clint walked over and examined the foot prints. "These are weird." He said, pointing to the ones from the boot. "This is all there is. Like they just appeared and disappeared without moving."
Tony landed as Clint said that. The archer pointed to him. "Like that. Then it would be as if Iron Man flew off without moving." He used Tony's nickname since there were already people out.
Steve interrupted. "Either that or they poofed in and poofed out"
"Maybe the word you thinking of captain is materialized?" Natasha said.
"I suppose" Steve said. "Maybe with- and I can't believe I'm saying this- but Magic?"
"Loki" Clint said.
"That's what me and Iron Man thought" Bruce said stepping forward. "Why else would our enemies attack our defenses? Why would the Ghost, a you know what, join our group and try to get close to the Phantom who's a relative you know who?" He didn't say certain things as to not blow the secrets they kept from the public.
"Oh shit" Natasha said.
"Exactly, Widow" Tony said.
"Time to get Fury" Steve said.
"Time to get Fury" Tony agreed.
They went back to the mansion, put Muttley away and retrieved one the quin-jets to fly to the helicarrier. Tony simply used his suit.
"This is as far from good as you can get!" Fury said. "If Jason is allied with Loki then Amy would be their target"
"We know that" Tony said. "Otherwise you would see her with us"
"Don't be a smart ass Stark!" Fury said.
"Are you kidding?" Natasha asked. "He always is"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy woke up in a small dark room. She was tied to a chair.... great.....
"Glad you're awake Amethyst" A voice said.
Amy froze. She knew that voice and hated it with every fiber of her being. She huffed. "Yeah whatever" She said trying to hide her fear. That man was the only one, the only thing that terrified her. The thing that kept her up at night. Her demon, so to speak.
"Oh don't worry" The voice said and laughed. It made Amy's blood curdle. "I'll let you go... but first... time to let you see where you are"
Light shined into the room and Amy shut her eyes to hide from it. As they adjusted she saw that she was in a brick room. Kind of like some underground science lab. "It's a room.... wow" Amy said.
A hand came at her and slapped her hard. "Disrespectful brat" Loki said. He walked in front of her.
Amy held her breath and let it out slow, letting the pain flow into her face. She would not show fear, not give him tears even though every part of her screamed let him win. "Why do you want me?"
"I need you" Loki said. "I figured since I already have you love then all I need is you. I'll let you two chat."
Amy immediately thought of Jay but the one that appeared was not the one she thought of.
"You are so much like him" Max said.
"I am not!" Amy hissed. "I will never be like him. He is cruel."
Max sighed. "I meant looks"
"How come you're not...." Amy asked.
Max laughed. "You are just as naïve as you Uncle though. I forgot how annoying it is"
"What?" Amy asked. "But... but I... I thought"
"Oh sorry" Max said. He reached down to untie her. "You really don't need this. You couldn't use your abilities anyway. They're kinda useless."
Amy stayed sitting, glaring at the one she called friend. "Why?" she asked.
"Why" Max mocked. "Because he freed me. He revived me. He made me immortal."
Amy sighed. "All that time. You were just playing with me. Getting me to trust you."
"Wow! You finally got it! Congratulations! You’re not as thick headed as you Uncle! YAY!" Max clapped his hands to mock Amy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loki headed down the brick hallway to the other holding chamber. There he had caught a young boy with interesting capabilities. It was ironic how the boy came to him for answers. He smiled as he entered. "Ah.... Jay. I'm glad you've come to me for answers. The Avengers, as they poorly named themselves, didn't understand did they?"
Jay shook his head. "I thought someone did. But.... I guess not." He had simply ran away. He never realized that he would find himself so far outside of New York City. This guy just snatched him up. He had no idea who he was but he figured that if this guy was like him, maybe he could answer some questions. Like how he was a frost giant but appeared most of the time.
“It’s such a shame." Loki said. "Oh but I know how you feel. For all my life I thought I was part of a kingdom until I found out that I was just like you. A demon in their mind's eye. An outcast. A loner. They cast me out just as the Avengers did you."
Jay hung his head. "I thought one actually cared but she just..." He sighed thinking how Amy yelled that she didn't care if he left.
"She?" Loki said. "You loved a girl" He laughed. Oh this boy was so funny. He was so pathetic but his abilities were strong and Loki could use them to his advantage. "Interesting. Was it the Widow?"
Jay laughed. "Yeah right." He shook his head. "Do you have any idea what Hawkeye would do if I took his partner?" Jay was careful with is words. He didn't want to give away too much. He didn't even know the guy. "She was more around my age. A new recruit. He name was Phantom. I thought we were friends but she said she didn't care."
"It a shame" Loki said. "When you think people care then they stab you in the back"
"The worst part is was that she made me feel sorry for her. I mean Amy was some I thought I could relate to cause we had similar abilities and her dad seems like a real asshole"
Loki narrowed his eyes. "Amy?" Was the phantom his Amy?
"Yeah" jay said. "She hates her dad though. I know why." He laughed. "It is so funny how she hangs with her uncle though. She was... Amazing. Sometimes I wonder."
Loki started to laugh.
"What?" Jay asked
" I don't believe it. You..... You are her love" Loki kept laughing. "My daughter could have done better than a pathetic martyr"
Jay finally got it. This was Loki. This was Amy's dad! "You really are an ass."
"Listen you mortal" Loki hissed. "I will make sure that Amethyst sees you take you last breath. Once she is under my control I will make her tear you from the inside out and cause you so much agony that you will wish for Death. Once you are at the edge I ill release her long enough to kiss you goodbye as you take your last breath. Then I will end her in the same way she killed you. Leaving her with the grief of your death and you blood on her hands!"
Jay jumped at this threat and panicked a bit. "NO!" he cried. "You won't get to her! She's too strong!" the room dropped in temperature and ice started to form along the walls. "She will never side with you!" Jay became blue and his eyes the deep red of the frost giant. "NEVER!" on that word Ice flew from what appeared to out of nowhere; Loki was thrown back from the force. The entire room froze and Jay disappeared.
Loki got up groaning. “End him" he said and 5 of his recruits went to get Jay. The ghost stole a motorcycle and raced for New York, where he lost his pursuers in a matter of hours. He went back to the mansion and up to his room. No one was home so he figured they were looking for Loki. He'd contact them in the morning. Well, try anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy sat in misery. Max had betrayed her, her whole life and now she was in her dad's possession. She saw him come in and dismiss Max. He had ice on his shoulder and she smiled. "A bit cold are we?"
"Shut up" Loki said, "You're lucky"
"Lucky?"" Amy asked. "I see no luck in my current situation"
Loki hit her again. "I said be quiet!" He growled. "You’re even speaking like him. It makes me sick"
"Good" Amy said. "You're already sick in the head so I'm glad I make you sick now because you've made me sick my whole life." She got another slap for talking.
"I thought I raised you better" Loki said.
"Are you kidding?!" Amy asked. "I practically raised myself. You were never home! Mom was under your control and too scared of you to care!" Another slap.
"You be quiet or I'll gut your little boyfriend." Loki hissed.
Amy's body screamed for her to let him when to stop the pain, but Amy's mind held on. She felt the blood run down her lip and a tear escape her eye. How dare he cause her to cry, how dare he see her cry. She licked the blood and smiled. "They will come" She said. "There’s no way you'll end up winning"
Loki touched he gently on the cheek, making her flinch which in turn, made him laugh. "You called them you family. When they didn't even trust you." He laughed again, making Amy's blood boil with hatred.
"You not going to win. You will lose" She said. She got a final hit before Loki left the room.
Max laughed. "You are stubborn"
"Shut up" Amy said. "I'll show you stubborn"
"Go ahead cutie" Max said making his hands light up with flames. "I'll burn you if you do"
Amy's eyes flashed with anger. "Serva tisa pelle, kuuru Serva tisa male fiku!" She chanted and her body went limp. She came out as a blue mist and smiled at Max. "See you in the next life" She said and disappeared. Her plan was to go to the mansion and get the avengers. She raced out of the building to find herself in the snowy northern region on New York. Her father's lackeys chased her down but she simply phased through the trees and bushes where her pursuers had to go around and over. She fell into a gorge on the way but didn't really care. Being a spirit meant that there was no need for air, sleep, food, of drink. The river was headed south anyways so she just let it carry her. When it started to go east she climbed out and tried to get her barring about her surroundings. She wandered for weeks until she met a man named Cole. He was going home for the summer. Called himself a snow bird. He was tall, dark skinned, probably African American. He let Amy stay with him for a little while.
"So you don't care that I'm.... in a sense... a spirit?" Amy asked.
"I don't judge" Cole said. "Where I'm from, it don't matter whatcha look like. If ya work hard and you a good person, we like to keep ya around"
"Where are you from?" Amy asked.
"Way up North. Us snow bird go south for da winter" Cole said smiling. "How 'bout you miss?"
"I..... I don't know" Amy said. "I guess I'm from Manhattan cause I grew up there but I don't think I was born there"
"It don't matter where you born miss" Cole said. "Home is where you feel safe. Where your family is"
"Well I guess I don't have one" Amy said. "I blew my chance"
"Nah" Cole said. "Every one's got some where's" He smiled. He had a kind smile. "What did you blow on anyways? You gotta love you mussed up or somethin'?
Amy put her hand on her necklace. "I thought I did" she said. "But.... He turned out to be allied with my father, who is a really bad dude"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony was looking at the screen on the helicarrier. A small message popped up. "Fury" he said. "Come look at this."
The director came up and touched it, making it pop up. It was just a voice with no picture. “What is it?" He asked.
Tony touched a button that made all of the avengers get the message. Thor had come back and explained that Loki had escaped so he was on the helicarrier and got the message too.
"It’s from Amy's necklace. I installed a communicator in it when she lost it. She must still have it. It turns on when she touches the hammer." He hit the play button and the recording sounded. It was Amy's voice.
Amy sighed. "He went missing 3 years ago and I found him just about a month ago. I was on a team at the time and met a great friend. I never realized it until I lost it but, this team was the closest thing I had to a family. I guess I was starting to forget max. He was the one that turned out to be a jerk. But.... I met another, his name was jay. I guess I hurt him pretty bad. It kinda serves me right." She sighed. "The worst part is..... I probably hurt my uncle the most. I was gonna ditch. Like jay did. All I had when I came was my dog and that was all I was gonna take when I left. I never expected my dad to plan anything. I bet uncles freaking out." Tears ran down her face as she spoke. "I really messed up. I was gonna try and get them but I have no idea where I am really. I just want them to know that I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt jay or uncle. I love them they’re awesome! Uncle’s like a father to me. And… and jay...." She touched her necklace again, turning off the communicator.
"It seems like you need to make amends with a few people miss" Cole said.
"Yeah.... I really do." Amy answered. "I just don't know how"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thor listened as Amy spoke. When it turned off, he went to where Tony was. "Can you track it?"
"Yeah, I could" Tony said. "but it's to him" He pointed to Fury.
"She might be able to lead us to Loki." Fury said. "Track it"
On it" Tony said and started looking for the signal. "What?" he asked.
On the screen it showed "request not possible" Tony tried again and the same thing came up. "It says there never was a tracker." Tony remarked. "But I know I put one in"
He spent the rest of that day and 1/2 that night trying to get the thing to work. Bruce finally got him to take a break. "Let's try it later Tony" He said. "You need sleep"
"But.... I don't understand...." Tony said. "I know I put a tracker and a communicator on the necklace. How is it not there? I made it untraceable so...." He sighed. "I just... don't get it"
"get some sleep Tony" Bruce said. "Maybe you'll think of it in the morning"
"Alright" tony said and went to his quarters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Jay woke up, he went down to the kitchen, got something to eat and then went to Tony’s work area to see if Jarvis could contact the guys. To his dismay, Jarvis had been shut down by Tony, only the defect systems were online. So Jay went back upstairs and went to bed. That night, Mjölnir came up to him and nuzzled his face. "Go away cat" he said and rolled over. He felt her drop something warm and fuzzy on the side of his face. He didn't care until he felt small needle-like pricks. He went to slap it off his face but stopped his hand in midair as he heard the small rumble of a little purr. "Wha???" he asked and picked it up gently. As he brought it down his eyes went wide. It his hand held by the scruff was a small blind helpless black kitten with a white stripe on its nose. "Mjölnir?" Jay asked. He set the kitten down and smiled. Mjölnir had disappeared and a few minutes later both she and Tiger jumped on the bed with a kitten in their mouths. They did it one more time, then settled down by Jay with their 5 kittens. Jay couldn't believe that Mjölnir trusted him like that. He curled up around them as happy as could be. He knew he had to protect them and he would. For the next month, Jay stayed at the mansion. Tiger and Mjölnir and the 5 kittens kept him on his toes. Every night Mjölnir would drag her kittens up onto Jay's bed and her and Tiger would cuddle up next to them. Jay named the little kitten with the white stripe, Cookie. She was the most rambunctious of the bunch. One day, Jay was getting up and as he stepped down he heard a shrill cry and a hiss. He let up his foot quickly as he realized he accidentally stepped on Cookie's tail. He sat back on his bed and face palmed. "I'm sorry girl" He said. Tiger jumped up a little later with Cookie in his mouth. He plopped her down and left to herd his other kids, who were downstairs. Cookie nuzzled Jay and licked his nose. Jay sat up and took her in his hands. It had been a month since he came home and still the team hadn't come back. The kittens' eyes were starting to open, and they were stumbling around. Every day he tried to contact them but the tries had failed every time. There was one day that a message came through but since it wasn't from the team, he ignored it. Today he was going to try and contact them again. He took Cookie in his hand and left his room. He heard voices down stairs. They seemed sad but happy. Melancholy could be a word. He went into the family room and saw the team. "GUYS!" he said and scanned the group for Amy. But it was only the original team. Amy wasn't with them.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tony asked.
"I came back after realizing...." Jay said looking down. "I have nowhere to go. The apartment my folks had has been condemned and I tried going somewhere else but that didn't go to well. So I came back"
"You should leave" Natasha said.
"You're not welcome here anymore" Steve added.
"Ok...." jay said. He knew he wasn't the team's favorite person. "But..... Can you tell me why?"
"Because you let Loki loose" Clint said standing. In his hand was the calico kitten. In fact everyone had a kitten. He handed it off to Natasha and glared at Jay.
"WHAT!?" Jay said. "NO WAY IN HELL!" I bet that no good hot head Max did" He pouted.
"Is that just because he took your girl?" Tony asked.
"NO!" Jay said, almost dropping Cookie. The poor kitten hung onto Jay's shirt for dear life. Jay grabbed her and gave her to Tiger who waited anxiously on the floor. The cat took the kitten upstairs.
"That damn fire bender told me that he was allied with Amy's dad. Course I didn't know who Amy was since Max was the one that found me out a few years ago. He said that Loki freed him, revived him all that other bullshit!" Just like when Loki had him, the room gold colder and ice formed around the walls. Jay's skin grew bluer in color as he ranted and his eyes became blood red. Tears flowed down his face as he thought about it. "Max was the one who started it! He started the fire! He took everything from me! Even Amethyst! Why would I ever let the man that he follows loose!? Are you insane?" Steve had his shield ready, Natasha had her hands in her pocket with her fingers on the trigger, Tony, still in his suit, waited for the right moment. Clint had an arrow on the sting. Bruce stiffened up, ready to change if need be. Ice formed around Jay's feet, the fire place mantle cracked from the cold and the cats dashed out of the room from the loud noise. All except Tiger. That loyal cat stood by Jay's feet looking up at him the whole time. "I'd never let him loose! I don't even know where's he's been in the last 3 years! Neither do I give shit!" Jay left the room completely covered in ice and about 30 degrees colder than when he walked in. As he left, small ice footprint were left every time he took a step. He didn't care if the Avengers saw his true form or even if he cried for that matter. He also didn't care if he froze the whole house. He was done with them. Done with being called a demon, done with false accusations made by the team. He went upstairs and buried his face in Tiger's fur. "I'm sorry buddy. I'm sorry I scared your kids" Jay cried. He hated Max for starting the fire, for leaving Jay's family and starting the rumors. How could Amy like him? Why did she leave? What happened to her? Jay laid down cried for the next hour.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Jay left, the team relaxed a bit. They were all still shaken at the fact that the family room was now in a deep freeze. Natasha shivered as she let her fingers of the triggers of her pistols.
"Damn" tony said and looked around the room. "That kid's got some power"
"It's scary" Bruce said. "If he can't control it, think of what will happen if he gets upset in the middle of the city."
"Ice age gone wrong" Tony said.
"So that's a frost giant" Natasha added.
"It seems that he's not allied to Loki as we thought" Steve said.
Yeah but it sounds like Max is" Clint said. "We've been looking in all the wrong places thanks to that."
"Damn" Tony said. "I bet Max has Amy with him.... which means Loki probably has her"
Jay silently listened in. He cursed himself for leaving. If Amy was there, then he had just abandoned her. What a good friend he was. He came downstairs and apologized for his actions. It took him a few tries but he got it out eventually.
"Sorry doesn't cut it Jay" Steve said.
"Yeah I know" Jay said. "You don't have to forgive me... but... I'm not with Loki. I can tell you where he's hiding."
The others looked at him. "Why should we believe you?" Clint asked.
"Yeah" Tony said. "You just threw a fit that froze 1/2 the house"
"Look" Jay said. "I really don't care if you find him or not. But if has Amy... I want to help her. So I'm giving you this for her... not... for you"
He went downstairs to listen to the recording from a week ago thinking it may have been from Amy. As he listened to it, he sadly smiled. "Does she really mean it?" He asked Tiger. That cat meowed as an answer, simply out of the fact that Jay was giving it attention. The Ghost got up to get his things. He'd find somewhere else.... eventually. He knew when he wasn't wanted. The Avengers were gone when he walked out the door. It was night and he figured he'd just crash at the apartment he used to haunt. As he opened the gate, he saw 2 boys calling to him. In one of their hands, was Amy's golden Asgardian bracelet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy thanked Cole for letting her stay as long as he did. She had to get to the mansion so she could tell the Avengers where Loki was... and get her body back. He pointed her the way to New York City and she headed that way. It had been almost a month since she escaped and knew she was cutting corners with staying separated this long. She was able to reach central park in the next 24 hours and was over joyed. From there, she knew her way around. As she made her way through the trees she started to feel the pang of hunger... and... Thirst. She started to feel drained of energy from going a month without sleep. She held her head as her vision became fuzzy. Stumbling her way through the trees, she lost her bearings and started to forget where she was. Every sound became muffled and things became a blur. Amy collapsed in the snow. "Is this what it's like to die?" She thought.