Chapter 5

*Tokyo, Japan. Three years ago*

Sam skipped out of the ballroom, tugging on his collar. He hated tuxedos, they were too restricting. He stripped off his jacket and hung it over the balcony ledge, undoing his bow tie and the top three buttons of his shirt as well. He breathed in the sweet air, clouds gathering across the clear sky as he began walking along the balcony, rounding a corner as the thunder rumbled.

“I don’t want to talk to you!”

He blinked in surprise. It was Mercedes, about ten feet in front of him. She turned to face him.

“I thought I made that perfectly clear when--” Her eyes widened. “Sam!”

“Hi,” he said awkwardly.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I just thought that with the clouds...that you were someone else.”

“It’s okay,” he shrugged. “No harm no foul.” 

She nodded, suddenly fiddling with her cuticles. 

He floundered. “You look...very...pretty...” It wasn’t a lie. She was wearing a rich purple gown that fit her snuggly at the top, then flared out from her waist into a full skirt. Her hair was down and in waves around her shoulders, one side clipped back with a sparkly butterfly pin.

She arched an eyebrow. “You don’t sound so sure.”

“No! You are!” he protested quickly. “Sorry, I’m not really good at this?”

“Compliments?”

“Talking to pretty girls.”

Mercedes blinked and a slight blush crept up her cheeks. “You’re not doing so bad.”

Sam grinned, please. He gestured to the railing and they leaned over it, looking over the gardens. He blinked and the clouds instantly cleared, revealing a luminous full moon. “So who did you think I was?”

Mercedes looked down before answering. “My mother?”

Sam frowned, glancing over at her. “Natasha? You guys are fighting?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Not mom, mother. My...biological mother. Last year she tracked me down and she’s been trying to reclaim her motherhood.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam murmured. 

“It’s like, who does she think she is? She left me with a friend of hers when I was just a baby and he handed me off to Natasha and now all of the sudden when she realizes that I’m “special”, she decides that I’m worthy of having her as a mother.”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Mercedes, even if you lead a perfectly normal life away from all our craziness, you’d still be special.”

She looked over at him with a small smile. “Thanks, Sam.”

“And it’s her that’s not worthy,” Sam went on, wrapping his arm around her. “Not worthy of having someone as awesome as you as her daughter. Only Natasha gets that honor.”

Mercedes smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder as they watched the gardens below.

*Manhattan, New York. Present*

“Hey man.”

Sam turned to Blaine as he clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Hey.”

“How are you holding up?”

Sam shrugged. “Fine, I guess. I mean, he’s a demi-god. He’ll pull through. I’m a lot more worried about mom, honestly.”

“That’s not what I meant, Sam. Santana...she told me that Jesse was the one who took Mercedes.”

Sam’s hand tightened on Mjolnir. “Yes.”

“Sam, it’s not your fault--”

“It is!” he snapped, turning on Blaine. “He knew how I felt and he--” He smashed the hammer into one of the walls.

Blaine sighed. When dad woke up, he was going to kill him.

“I swear, if there’s one scratch on her--”

“Sam, I don’t mean to be blunt, but it’s Jesse. The guy who’s knife-happy. Frankly, I’d be more alarmed if there wasn’t a scratch on her.”

Sam breathed heavily. “I know. But it’s not going to stop me from reconstructing his face.”

“And I’ll help when the time comes,” Blaine promised. “But remember, it’s Mercedes. The girls’ rock. Hell, our rock. She’ll be fine. In fact, she’ll probably kick your ass once she escapes on her own for you not getting there fast enough.”

Sam smiled grimly. “True. But after facing Jesse today...it felt so good to finally hit him and knock him out, but now I’m scared of what that’ll mean for Mercedes when he wakes up.”

“She’s a survivor,” Blaine said confidently. “And she’s calm. She never loses her temper. And with someone as temperamental as Jesse...”

“It’s in her favor,” Sam finished, nodding.

*Loki’s base*

Mercedes breathed heavily as she wrenched a knife out of her shoulder. 

“You’ve grown sloppy. And lazy. And weak. Look, I’ve given you all these knives, and you haven’t even tried to lob one back out me.”

Because the knives were made out of his magic and it would most-likely turn around and stick right back in her. Did he really think that she was that stupid?

“Pathetic,” he sneered. “Though it’s not a surprise since Sam’s the one drooling after you.”

She started breathing deeply, trying to return her heart rate to normal.

“Honestly, though, what does he see in you? Mortal. Weak. Breakable. Slow. Hideous.”

It was quite soothing actually, the breathing.

“Probably just a convenient hole to fuck, since the other girls are clearly bent on each other.”

She didn’t contradict him. Santana and Brittany were pretty much the not-secret.

“So you’re the only option lying around. Tell me, is that how you got so lazy? Lying on your back for Sam?”

Actually, that was a pleasant memory: Lying on her back for Sam as he kissed his way down her body, making her giggle.

Jesse sneered at her. “You disgust me.”

Her shoulder was actually hurting a lot, as were the other cuts and punctures on her body. She hoped that this would be over soon so that she could sit down and rest, but Jesse was clearly a diva and she was a constant form of audience. 

“I can’t believe--” Jesse cut off, his eyes widening. Then he rolled them. “That idiot!”

He vanished in a flash of green.

Mercedes stood for a minute more before gratefully sinking into a sitting position, thanking whatever “idiot” that had caused the interruption. 

*Los Angeles, California*

“Urgh, what?”

“Puck?”

“Obviously. What?”

“It’s Mike.”

“Changster! How’s things hanging where ever you are?”

“Manhattan. Stark Tower.”

“Shit! Bro, are you okay? I just heard the news.”

“Fine. But it’s Loki and his children. Are you up for a fight?”

“...his kids too, did you say?”

“Yeah, we need all the help we can get.”

“...yeah. Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Great. We’ll send you one of the jets. See you later.”

“See you, man.”

Puck hung up his phone and took out his wallet. There was a strip of photos from a booth at Disney Land.

The first one was of him making a scary-silly face and the girl laughing in the background.

The second one was him pouting as the girl played with his mohawk.

The third one was of her kissing his cheek to smooth the pout away.

The fourth one was of the two of them kissing, tilted sideways in the small booth.

And the fifth one was of her hand on the back wall of the booth and his fingers creeping up the side of the camera.

He shoved the pictures of him and Quinn back into his wallet and got dressed. 

*Castries, St. Lucia*

“Moshi-moshi!”

“...what the hell?”

Sugar smiled into her phone. “Santana? Is that you?”

“Urgh, duh. Tell me you’ve watched the news.”

“I have. I’m sorry about Natasha.”

“That’s not all...it’s Loki and the brats. They...they took Britt and Cedes too, a few days back.”

Sugar’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you call me immediately?”

“I’m sorry--”

“I know that I left, but you’re all still family to me. Just because I went back to Silver doesn’t make you guys any less important to me.”

“I know. And I’m sorry. We need your help.”

“I’ll be there by dawn.”

“Thank you. Any chance you can bring extra weapons?”

Sugar smiled mischievously. “I’m on it.”

*Manhattan, New York*

Blaine and Sam were strategizing, trying to work out a course of action. Artie and Jane were pouring over star maps, trying to predict a likely trajectory that Loki would use. Mike and Santana were gathering allies. Cooper was meeting up with Pepper to handle the media.

The best that Blaine and Sam could come up with was to gather as many allies as possible, then wait for Loki to make his first move. It would probably be on Manhattan, so everyone staying at Stark Tower was a must. Blaine had already set Jarvis to assigning rooms for everyone.

The elevator pinged.

Blaine grinned. “That must be Tina.”

It wasn’t Tina. 

It was Kurt. 

He walked into the room stiffly, with a slight limp. He was cradling his arm to his chest which was sticking out at an unnatural angle. He was wide-eyed and in his clothes from earlier, which appeared rumpled. His jaw set as he saw Blaine and Sam at the table.

“I’m in.”