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Chapter Twenty-Six 

~Thea's POV~

"I hope you realize that the only reason that you are on this plane is because of what Thea said she saw," snarls Kyle to Jack and me, who are sitting guiltily on the bunks of a relatively large, former S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft. 

I had been afraid that after I had tried to run out on Loki (again), he would have changed his mind, but thankfully, the threat of Videl stalking me seems to have convinced him to convince the others that I need to go to India. And seeing as I refused point-blank to go without Jack, he's here too. The other people on board include Natasha, Tony, Steve, Sam, Clint, Kyle, Max, and Loki. 

Peter had declined the trip. After returning to the hotel- him being the only one of us who hadn't gotten caught- to give us the rest of the flight papers, he had headed back to New York. We hadn't pressed him. It had been enough to ask him to come to DC for us, and Jack and I know perfectly well that he's still suffering. At the moment, he's in the stage of pretending he's fine, but I know better. 

Because I know from plenty of experience. 

Everyone's reactions are pretty much the same as I had expected. Natasha isn't concerned at all, and treats Jack and me precisely the same way before our (second) (failed) escape, and just laughs about it, like it was some sort of training exercise. Steve, who hadn't been part of the chase, is just amused, and Sam is as well, because he doesn't exactly know our criminal history. Clint is treating Jack and me like criminals on parole, but he's being nice to us anyway. Tony doesn't care. Loki is infuriated. Same old, same old. 

The surprise is Max and Kyle. In an interesting turn of events, Kyle is actually more livid than Max is; while Max is foremost concerned about my sighting of Videl and making sure I'm all right, Kyle keeps shooting Jack and me horribly dangerous looks. He appears to be even more upset than Loki, but I know that Loki's ignoring me means that he's actually irate. I have a feeling Kyle is so upset partially because I took him out. 

In the meanwhile, I'm not feeling very well. The feeling of carrying the sighting of Videl on my shoulders for twenty-four hours has its toll. And running through Washington DC when it's nippy outside does too. I do a pretty good job at hiding my sore throat, but I can't hide my cranky mood. 

"Get out of my way," I snap at Loki, who is slightly blocking the way to my bunk. 

He glares at me and doesn't move. 

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way!" I'm beginning to shake, partially from anger and frustration and partially because I'm suddenly feel clammy. And also because I'm still incensed at Loki for slapping me (again). My cheek is still sore. 

Loki glowers at me as I take matters into my own hands, pushing him roughly aside and beginning to climb onto my bunk. But like the episode in the alleyway, he grabs my ankle, sending me tumbling. 

Thirty seconds later, Steve is breaking up a full-tail fight between the two of us. "She's not feeling well Loki, can't you see that?" he demands, "Just leave her alone for once, why don't you?" 

My mouth hangs open. Steve hasn't actually defended me like this before. 

Loki shoots me another infuriated look before sweeping to the front of the plane. 

"Thanks..." I mumble. 

"He cuffed you, didn't he?" Steve asks, gently swiping my left cheek with his thumb. 

"Yeah."

Steve sighs, "I'm gonna talk to him. Just because he's mad at you for running off- again-" he grins at me slightly, "Doesn't mean he can clock you like that."

"Yeah."

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah."

"No, you're not," says Steve, as if I hadn't said anything, "Go and rest, if you want." 

"Yeah..." I mutter. 

Shaking his head, Steve walks towards the cockpit, leaving me to climb up onto my bunk. I toss and turn for about thirty minutes, trying to block out the sound of Steve's, Loki's, and Kyle's loud, argumentative voices. 

I'm not feeling well at all. I feel flushed, and I'm shaking slightly. And whenever I swallow, my throat feels like I'm trying to swallow a knife. I don't know what's coming over me, but I need to fight it off. 

Half an hour later, Jack, who has been on his computer and gleefully listening to the fight in the cockpit, comes up the ladder and pokes me, "Hey, Thea, wanna watch a movie?"

"Nooo," My voice comes out as a croak. 

Jack doesn't seem to notice, "Oh c'mon. Let's at least do something interesting. We can prank Loki again, if you want, because everyone else is yelling at him about something, which means we could probably get away from it."

"No, Jack!" I exclaim, swallowing a cough, "Not now!" 

"Well you're in a bad mood," says Jack, who looks like he's in a perfectly good mood, "Why are you so cranky?"

I groan and bury my head in my pillow. 

"Blimey, Thea, are you feeling all right?" 

"Mmph," I say, surfacing from the pillow, which is feeling very suffocating. 

I feel his hand on my forehead, "Good lord Thea..." he mutters. Then, I hear him say loudly, "Kyyyyyyyle!!"

"WHAT?" Kyle's annoyed voice sounds very far away.

"I think Thea's sick." 

*

~Nobody's POV~

The only positive aspect of Thea being sick is that it jerks Kyle out of his loathing treatment towards Thea (the same is not said for Jack), seeing as he's the only doctor on board the plane. 

"How come this came over her so quickly?" asks Max, who is crouching in front of the bunk where Thea is currently resting; he has moved her down to the lower bed so that Kyle can reach her better. "She was running through the city this morning, wasn't she?" 

"She was," says Kyle, who is taking Thea's temperature. She's not cooperating very well, restless and miserable, "But I have a feeling Missy is overboard on stress right now. She's had too much thrown at her in such a short amount of time." 

Thea, thankfully, only has a slight fever that Kyle is confident will go away soon. He gives Thea some medicine, which she only takes after getting prodded by both Kyle and Max, because it tastes awful. He also puts a sedative in her water to help her sleep. 

"I think she'll be all right soon," says Kyle quietly, standing up and leaving a drowsy Thea on the bed, "It should blow over quick enough. But," he looks at Jack, "You're going to have to stay away from her until the fever breaks; she might be contagious, might not." 

Jack takes the definition of 'stay away' lightly. He hops up on the top bunk right above Thea and watches 21 Jump Street through one headphone. He leaves his other ear free, so that he can hear Thea in case she needs anything at all. 

Kyle may have been shaken from his fury towards Thea because of her sickness, but Loki isn't. The demigod has already been yelled at by Steve (and then by Kyle) for slapping her in the alleyway, and he has no desire whatsoever to comfort Thea, even though he may have been able to cool her down. 

*

The plane ride is pretty quiet, seeing as Thea is still sleeping restlessly, and Jack is on his laptop. Usually, the only sounds are the hum of the engine and the low muttering of voices. All of the adults are in the cockpit, except for Max, who is lounging on the bunk across from Thea, scrolling through his iPad. 

"Do you think she actually saw Videl?" asks Tony. 

"Yes," says Natasha, who's in the co-pilot's seat, next to Clint, "I don't think she would lie about something like that."

"She seemed pretty scared to me," puts in Sam, "And scared isn't something I've observed about Thea much. I don't know, that's just my opinion." 

Steve nods, his blue eyes bright as he glances around the plane, "I agree. Thea might have a knack for lying, and doing it well, but this isn't something she would exaggerate. Natasha and I were talking, and something definitely spooked her when we left to get sandwiches." 

"Well it doesn't matter now," points out Tony, "The both of them are on the plane. They got what they want. And now Thea's sick."

"She'll be fine soon," says Kyle, taking a brief break from glaring at Loki, who pretends not to notice, "She's a fighter."

"Hopefully not in time for her to want to go with us to that temple," says Steve, "There's no reason Jack and Thea need to go."

"I won't let her even if she says she's feeling better," says Kyle, "There's no point. She can use that time to rest. Lord knows she needs it."

"Yeah, so who's staying behind to babysit?" asks Tony. 

Natasha turns around in her seat to glare at Tony. He looks apologetic. 

"I will," says Kyle, "And I don't care who's with me, as long as it's not Loki." 

"I wouldn't concern yourself," says Loki coolly, "I wasn't planning on staying." 

"I'll stay," says Sam, interrupting Kyle, who looks as though he's about to explode, "I know how to fly one of these planes, worse case scenario." 

*

~Thea's POV~

It's eleven o'clock at night when I feel fully conscious again. The entire day, I've been drifting in and out of sleep, not really comprehending what's going on. People have been talking around me, but I haven't really noticed. Max coaxed me into eating a few crackers, which did make me feel a little better, but then I fell back asleep. 

The bonus is that when one is sick, they typically sleep dreamlessly and deeply. This means that I've actually gotten in some non-tortuous sleep, albeit I'm tossing and turning on the bunk, sweating. 

Jack is still awake, at least I think he is, because I hear some video game-like noises coming from above me. He's been an angel, checking up on me and yelling for Kyle if he thinks my temperature has risen even one degree (I don't think it raised much at all, but it's the thought that counts). I'll have to remember to thank him. 

In the meanwhile, Loki and I have retained our coolness towards each other, although I haven't gotten the opportunity to be very snooty with him, because it's hard to be snooty when you're running a temperature and are drifting in and out of consciousness. We're both mad at each other, and I'm willing to bet that we will not be speaking to one another for quite some time.

Fine with me. 

My first thought is that I'm starving, so blearily, I sit up, and then instantly regret it: I feel faint and dizzy. My hair is matted and tangled, and my lips are cracked. Ugh. 

I wait for the short dizzy spell to pass, and then stand up. Above me, the bunk creaks. "Thea?" asks Jack, "Are you feeling all right?" 

"Yeah," I mutter, "I'm just hungry." 

"I can get it for you, if you want to lie down."

"I'm fine..." I say, which isn't completely true, but I'm feeling much better than earlier. 

I make my way to the back room, assuming everyone is at the cockpit. The plane bumps, and I stumble, managing to grab onto a silver railing to the side of me. 

Opening the door, I suppress a groan. Practically everyone is in here, including Kyle, Loki, Steve, and Sam. The others must be in the cockpit. 

Steve sees me first (actually, Loki sees me first, so it would be more accurate to say that Steve acknowledges me first), "Hey Thea, how are you feeling?"

I shrug blearily, "I'm better, I guess."

"Hungry, aren't you?" asks Kyle, then reaches over on the counter he's been leaning on, talking with Sam, to toss me a bag of peanuts. 

"A little," I say, tearing open the packaging and devouring the nuts. 

Kyle walks over to me, leans down, and feels my head, "Your fever's gone. Whatever you got, you fought it off pretty quick." He tweaks my nose, and I giggle softly, "Which is what I figured." 

"How about you go lie down and rest?" suggests Steve, "Not that I don't enjoy your company or anything." He ignores Loki, who has scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Just a suggestion."  

Kyle looks down at me, one eyebrow raised, as if expecting me to choke on the peanuts. Crossing his arms, he says, "You know you're not going to the temple with them, right?"

"I sort of guessed that," I rasp. "Do you have any more food?" 

Kyle saunters over to the cabinets at the back of the room. As he rummages through them, he says over his shoulder, "And you're not going to pull another Washington DC on me, are you?"

"Nope," I say, completely honestly. 

"Good. You're finally learning," he says, handing me a half sandwich. "This good?" 

I nod vigorously and proceed to devour the grilled cheese sandwich as well. Between bites of food, I say, "When are they leaving?" 

"Tomorrow morning. We should be landing in about an hour or two. We'll get some sleep, and then they head off. We may spend the night on the plane while they're off excavating old ruins, but they might be back before then."

"Oh," I say, "Who's staying?" I avoid looking in Loki's direction, but cross my fingers behind my back. 

"Sam, Jack, and yours truly." 

I let out a breath of relief. "Okay."

"Now I want you to get your ass over to that bed," says Kyle, his green eyes flashing mischievously, "And lie down. I know you're all rested up, but I still suggest you try for some shut-eye. Jack might even watch a movie with you, you're not contagious anymore." 

"All right," I agree, then give Kyle a hug as he gives me another sandwich, just in case (he rolls his eyes, but hugs me back), "Thanks." 

"If I don't see you," Steve calls after me, "Feel better." 

"Thanks Steve," I say, flashing him the best smile I can give between my chapped lips and ignoring Loki's entire existence. 

As it turns out, Jack is more than willing to watch a movie with me, after he finishes his level of SuperSmash Bros (evidently, Peter has taught him how to get the game on his laptop, no doubt involving an illegal method). I watch him as he masterfully maneuvers Link around the screen with the controller he's attached to his USB port and finish beating Fox. 

"What do you want to watch?" he asks. We're both leaning against the wall of the plane, our legs dangling over the edge of the bunk. He opens Netflix and begins to scroll through the options. 

"How about Twilight?" I suggest. 

He looks horrified. 

"All right, maybe not," I say hastily. I hadn't much liked the boring romance of the series, but had enjoyed the vampire-werewolf action. Then again, as I think about it, I'd rather not watch anything vampire related at the moment. 

"Neighbors?" he asks. 

"Ugh, no," I say, "That movie looks so stupid. Besides, it's R."

"Oh yeah, Kyle would definitely care what you watch," says Jack sarcastically. "I'm sure you've seen worse at their house."

"Actually, they mostly watch sports and The Walking Dead."

"Whatever," says Jack, still looking slightly disappointed as he goes through the options. 

It takes us a solid twenty minutes to decide what to watch, and finally, we compromise on Need for Speed. 

Nonetheless, I find myself drowsily leaning against Jack's shoulder within the first hour of the movie and before I know it, I've fallen back asleep to the gentle hum of the plane that's once again heading towards the tropical rainforest, taking me along with it. 

Hope you liked the chapter! Please VOTE and COMMENT! :) 

I probably won't be able to update tomorrow, because I have a house meeting tomorrow for my high school (our school is divided up into Houses, like from Harry Potter- I know, cool right?) and then I have tennis tryouts, but I'll definitely try!!!! 

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