Search for the Soul Gem

Chapter One

     I jolted upright from my cot, breathing heavy and sweating. My mind still reeling from my dream. I dropped my head into my hands and tried to calm myself down. This was not the first time I'd had a nightmare about the Battle of New York, but it was one of the worst. I sighed and slipped out of bed and over to the suitcase with all my clothes in it. I riffled through them until I found something decent to wear, nothing fancy, just average khakis and a grey t-shirt. My backpack lay next to my shoes where I'd left them last night. It was still packed full of my tools and artifacts found at the site. Glancing at the clock, dawn was only about a hour away. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and picked up my shoes. I left the whicker cabin and stepped out onto the dirt path that led out of the village. The walk from the village to the site was about 30 minutes and I took my time walking. The sand was still cool from the night; the hot African sun hadn't yet cooked it. My backpack tapped my lower back rhythmically with every step I took. The cool sand calmed my mind from its race as I focused soully on walking. The sand path was packed hard from being walked on for so many years. As I neared he site, the path diverged into nothing. Once I reached the site, the sun was just breaking over the horizon shooting vibrant colors across the waking sky. I set my shoes on the sand and slumped myself down on the sand next to them. The 6 foot hole we'd been working on was near inches from my toes. As the rising sun threw orange light into the site, I couldn't help but let my mind wonder back to Thalia. This was her site more than anyone's. She'd found the exact place where we were digging now. She'd have been happier than anybody else. As I gazed down into the hole, I could almost see her dark hair bent over, digging into the sand. The sun continued to rise and light more of the site. As the light uncovered more of the hole, there was something jutting out of the wall of the hole. I shucked my backpack off and pulled out my phone. I leaned down into the hole and snapped a few pictures. I'd been to focused on taking pictures that I didn't hear the people walk up behind me. That is, until I heard the safety of a gun click off and felt it press onto the back of my head.

     "I suggest you keep digging Doctor," a man said from behind me with a thick German accent.

     "I suggest you step away from the doctor," a smooth woman's voice came from behind me. I wanted to turn around and see who was talking now but I was frozen where I was. The German man laughed.

      "They sent out the spider out alone?" the man said.

     "She's not alone," a third person spoke, this man sounded like he was from Manhattan, "Romanoff, duck," the man said. There was no time to think about what he meant because a blur of blue and red flew over my head and connected with the man behind me. I flung myself down to try and get out of the way.

     "Cap!Get the doctor out of here!" the woman yelled over the commotion. A arm laced itself around my waist and I was hoisted up into the air. I let out a small gasp from shock.

     "I'm sorry ma'am, it's not safe here," the man said as he backed up. I could see the people now. There was a red headed woman with a gun fighting with five men dressed in black with red octopuses in the center

     "Wait! No, I can't leave just yet!" I said trying to pull myself from his arm.

     "I'm sorry ma'am," he repeated. I started panicking. I had to see what those things in the wall were.

     "Me too," I whispered.

     "Excuse me?" the man asked. Without thinking. I swung my arm back as fast as I could and felt my elbow connect with his face, "Ah! Shit!" he dropped me to the sand and before he could realize what He'd done. I scrambled back over to the site. I felt a short pain shoot through my shoulder. Red grew out from a hole in my shirt. I clenched my jaw and closed the distance to the hole. I gripped onto my backpack and rolled into the hole. My back hit the hard ground and knocked the air out of me. As I gasped for air, I turned over and opened my backpack. I pulled myself up and stood in front of the thing in the wall. Unceremoniously, I started tearing at the dirt around it with my hands. My fingers shook as they tore at the sand around the stone. The gun shots above me quickened causing my chest to tighten. I pushed the memories of the Battle of New York from and dug more feverishly. As I dug, the figure of the stone revealed itself. It was a stone tablet about the size of a small textbook. I dug back further to try and release it and found that it went further back. Behind the first one, I found five more just like it. I managed to pull them out and shoved them into my backpack. I took out a small, glass jar and brushed some of the sand from the hole into it. I screwed the top onto the jar and dropped it into my backpack, zipping it closed and shouldering it.

     "Cap! Stark's coming in! Where's the Doctor!" the woman yelled over the gun shots. I turned to jump out of the hole when the glint of gold deep into the stone hole caught my eye. I reached in and closed my hand around it. A long chain of gold with a circular pendent on it pulled out into my hand. Before I could study it any closer, I was yanked out of the hole by the handle of my backpack. I cried out in pain as the strap ran along the bullet hole in my shoulder. I came face-to-face with a blond haired man with blood on his face. Before I could open my mouth to speak he opened his.

     "Hold on ma'am," I looked at him confused, "In coming Stark," the man said. His hands gripped onto my waist. Suddenly, I was being hoisted into the air. I traveled higher and higher into the air until I was at least 200 feet from the ground. I screamed as I felt myself start to fall back to the earth. I closed my eyes and accepted the fact that I was about to be flat in the sand when I felt arms go under my back and legs and cradling me against a cold metal thing. I opened my eyes and looked over to see who'd caught me. I was great by the same gold and red mask as I was in the Battle of New York.

     "Stark!" a yell reached us. Quick as a reflex, the man's arm shot out and a bright beam rocketed toward the site.

     "No!" I shouted ad he turned and flew in the opposite direction. I retched myself around painfully to look back. The beam met perfectly with the hole I'd just been standing in causing it to explode and rain sand down on the people next to it. We were moving so fast that I wasn't able to see what happened after it blew up.

     "Put me down! Put me down right now!" I commanded.

     "No can do sweetheart," his metallic voice drifted out to me. He took a head left causing my shoulder to ram into him. I hissed out in pain and closed my eyes against the wave of nausea that rolled over me. When I opened my eyes again, I realized we were now over the ocean with the land of Africa disappearing behind us. I let out a yelp and ignored the fuzziness in my head and pain in my arm as I tightened my my hold around the man's neck.

     "Don't drop me! Don't you dare!" I squealed as I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in his neck.

     "Well, you're just gonna have to pick one sweetheart, because I can't do both," the man said.

     "Ah, shut up!" I fumed. I did not feel good and was not in the mood to deal with this man.

     "Ouch! That wasn't very nice!" the man faked hurt. I ignored him, my eyes feeling heavy and the dull throb in my arm taking over, "Barton, coming in. Get Banner, we're gonna need a doctor," the man's voice drowned into my head. There was a jolt and the sound of rushing wind was replaced by what sounded like a plane. I forced my eyes open to see the fuzzy outline of the man in gold and red and a man covered in white.

     "Tony, why are you covered in blood?" the new man asked.

     "It's not mine," Stark said, is voice suddenly clearer. He set me down on the ground and I groaned out as another pain shot through me.

     "What happened to her?" the man asked, kneeling next to me. I felt his hand press down on my shoulder. I gasped in pain and my eyes shot open again. The man was kneeling above me, but my vision was fading in and out of clarity.

     "I don't know. Cap threw her at me and she was already bleeding," Start said.

     "Stark! Cap and Romanoff need an evac." a third man called back.

     "Banner, take care of her," Stark said, his voice metallic again, before he flew off.

     "Alright Dr. Scaffer, you're gonna have to bare with me for a minute. I'm not a very good medical doctor," Banner said in a soft, genuine voice. My vision blurred and black crept along the outside of my vision, "No, doctor! I need you to look at me! Doctor!" Banner encouraged but I was already losing vision. My eyes rolled back and everything went quiet.