The Avengers [ 1 ]

12

Liv felt sick as soon as she started to wake up. And it wasn't just cause of the fact that she seemed to be moving in a small swaying motion. No, it was the type of sick someone got when they knew something was terribly wrong but couldn't remember what it was.

The next thing Liv felt were two warm arms wrapped underneath her body and the slight tickling feeling coming from what seemed to be hair against her face.

Then came the pain. Her whole body seemed to be overcome with a burning pain that made her whimper slightly. But she didn't even care about the pain her body was feeling, she was too focused on the pain coming from within her chest.

The pain in her heart.

He was gone. Coulson was gone.

She felt the urge to cry, but quickly bit it down as she slowly blinked her eyes open. Thor, who was carrying her across a field, looked down at her and gave her a small smile. He was attempting to hide his pain for her, but she still noticed the fact that his smile didn't seem to reach his eyes.

"How are you?" Thor asked. Liv quickly looked away despite the pain in her neck before muttering sadly, "Coulson." Her lip began to quiver and she couldn't stop the tears that began to fall. The more she tried, the more she seemed to cry until she finally let it all out.

Thor's eyes widened in surprise as the girl let out a sob. He didn't even hesitate before holding her tighter against his body and moving his head to lean against hers as she dug her face into the crook of his neck.

Liv knew she shouldn't be acting this way. She was an agent after all. People like her lost others on the battlefield all the time. But this was different. This was Coulson.

Not only was he her partner most times when they were working, but he was the man who was practically her father. He was the person Liv looked up to and he was always showing her new things in the field. She'd never told him, but he was her idol.

Now she never would get to tell him that.

Thor felt his own heart ache at the sound of Liv's cries. He knew he couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through. He saw how close the two had been, like a father and a daughter. There was nothing he could say to help, so he did the only thing he knew he could do: comfort her.

He pulled her closer and held her as she cried. He might not be able to say anything, but he was sure as hell going to let her know that he was there for her and that she wasn't alone.

And the next time Thor saw his brother, he was going to make him pay.

- - -

The silence in the air had Maya squirming slightly as her and her father stood before the place where the prison once was. Tony stood stiffly beside her and Maya kept glancing over at him to see if he had moved. Besides the small twitch of his mouth, he hadn't moved one bit.

She knew he was just thinking, but about what she wasn't sure. There was so much to be thinking about after all. Maybe he was thinking about Bruce who the prison was originally designed for, or maybe he was thinking about Liv and Thor who had disappeared in the prison, or maybe he was thinking about Pepper who was hundreds of miles away right now, or maybe he was thinking about Coulson who had died in this very room.