Cassidy Scott-Stark

No Return

Nat motions you to the couch to sit, "Tell us what happened, Cass." She puts a hand on your back.

"We...were training, weapons, the scepter. We were ready to pack-up, be done. But, we shared a vision. It showed...Loki killing me, with the scepter." You can only look at your hands recalling what happened. 

"He wouldn't do that.......not to you," Thor says looking at you confused. 

"Yea, well. He's not one to listen to others, even when deep down he knows they're right," you try to laugh at the situation, but wind up sighing and running your hand down your face. 

Tony interjects, "So you and Loki were....." You look at him as his tongue moves across his teeth.

"Yea. Please skip the whole, 'I told you so lecture' though. It doesn't even matter now." Your anger and confusion that's been building up, now comes out like a lack of emotion in your tone. "I'm going to work in the lab." You stand-up, making your way to the steps.

"Cassidy...." Steve calls after you in a concerned voice.

"What?" you turn around, sounding a bit more angry than you wanted. "Look, I'm fine. I just need to work." With that, you continue your descend of the stairs.

"I'll talk to her," Tony says after you are out of earshot. 

Nat shakes her head, "No. She needs to be alone for a bit."

"They actually made one another happy," Thor moves his eyes from where you just were back to the floor. 

Tony scoffs, "Does she look happy now?!" 

The group stands silent for almost a minute, not sure of what to say, if anything. Wordless, they disperse to continue on with the rest of their days.

For over a week, you still expect to enter a room in the compound and see Loki. You have avoided walking past his room as well. Conversations with the rest of the team have become minimal, unless work related. The only voice you really want to hear, is in a different realm. 

Weeks turn into months, and before you know it, it's your birthday and the end of the summer. This is your 21st birthday, one which should include way more celebration and happiness. You wake-up to the smell of breakfast, and coffee. After pulling on leggings and a hoodie, you head to the kitchen in search of the scent.

Tony and Pepper are in the kitchen, brewing some coffee and cooking on the stove. "Happy Birthday!" They both say in unison. 

You look at all of the food and smile for the first time in way too long. 

"We'd all hug you, but we're already eating," Clint chimes in from one of the couches. "Happy birthday, though, kid!" He smiles taking another fork-full of food. 

"Thanks, Clint," genuinely you say laughing and taking a plate for food. As you ate, you talked with the team. No one brought up Loki, not even Thor. Some normalcy returned that day for you, which you were grateful for. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A month or so later, Thor decided to visit Loki in Asgard. 

"Brother," Thor says as he enters their home in the new Asgard. He puts some things down on the counter, and heads to his room.

Loki is seated on the couch, tea in his hand, reading. "How is she?" he asks when Thor reenters the living room. 

"Well, I'm doing ok, thank you for asking, Loki," Thor responds sarcastically, "Pleasure to see you as well." This causes Loki to roll his eyes, closing his book. 

"She'd be better with you there, but her smile has returned recently," Thor finally answers Loki's question. "Why don't you return as well?"

"If you had seen what we saw....." Loki begins, "Pain, is inevitable if I were to return. I cannot do that to someone I lo....." He stops his sentence, realizing what he was about to say for the first time. He hadn't even said it to himself officially. "Nevermind," he nearly whispers. 

"Loki....." Thor's eyes widen a bit, shocked at what Loki practically admitted, knowing full-well what the ending of that sentence was going to be. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time jump.

It's been over 7 months since Loki left the compound. It's taken this long, but you're nearly back to your old self. You still haven't walked past his room, but the door remains shut. Everyone is happy to see your smile again, and most of the tension of walking on egg shells around you has disappeared.

It's just shy of 3pm when Tony comes into the main room. "Everyone suit-up; we have a mission." 

Everyone stands-up, ready for more information. "Bruce, hang here just incase someone needs medical when we return. Cass, you'll supervise the base in a near by abandoned building."

Tony is met with nods and suddenly everyone is in mission mode. Occasionally, you've thought that there had to be a switch somewhere in the compound that when activated, everyone is ready, just in the the blink of an eye. Even after all of this time, it amazes you. 

Just like Tony said, the base is pulled into the abandoned building. The team gathers their gear, as you put in your ear piece to communicate the entire time. 

The whole mission goes smoothly. "Just about done on our end," Steve and Clint declare, as they've teamed up in the last hour. "Same over here," you hear Nat say, along with the swish of Thor's hammer going through the air. 

With your ear that does not have the ear piece, you hear two voices and crashes not too far from the base where you are, outside of the building. "I may have incoming here, guys." You stand from your seat and slowly walk to the opening of the jet.

"We're on our way," Tony says.

You keep the communication open. "Shields disabled," you hear the jet intercom say. The team overhears this over their ear pieces. You dart back to the main board, but it's no use; the shields are not coming back up. "They're not coming back online; everything is down." You can't help but press the buttons more forcefully.

It's then you realize the two voices are now right outside. "What a shame that you're left here with no protection," you hear one of the man's voices. Two men stand at the opening to the jet, slowly taking a few steps inside. 

"What do you want?" is all you can muster. Fear is creeping up inside of you, but you wouldn't dare let them see any of it. 

"Just a souvenir," the same man says with a smirk. Each man then grabs one of your arms, pulling you out of the jet.

"Let me go!" you say forcefully, gritting your teeth. The rest of the team can hear everything happening and are trying to get to you as quick as possible. 

You try to use your powers, but nothing happens. 

"See this?" The man holds up a small device, "This prevents any mind powers. Sorry, babe." Both men throw you up against the stone wall. One begins twisting your wrist, just shy of breaking it, while you see the other man preparing a serum of some kind. 

"Don't worry, this'll just make you sleep for a bit," he caresses your cheek with the back of his hand. You want to spit at him, but his other hand covers your mouth.

Then you feel the pinch of the serum, causing you to flinch. Just as your eyes are about to close, you hear one of the men, "Who are you?!"

Suddenly two blasts sound and both men release you. Your body falls to the ground, too weak to support you. 

You see the bodies of the two men a few feet from you, when someone lifts your head from the ground.

"Cass? Stay with me. It's going to be ok," before you can see the person's face, you officially black out. Even so, you know that voice oh too well.