Ablaze {Marvel} ||2||

Epilogue

It turned out that, after some hard interrogation with Natasha, Seth, Clint, and Todd, we figured out the real reason why my powers malfunctioned.

There was nothing wrong with me, per se. Seth had put a chip on me that whacked me out. I'd swallowed it that night we'd met at the party with whatever drink I'd had at the time. Using S.H.I.E.L.D. technology, and some of the best staff they had, they uncloaked the chip (which was how this went on for so long in the first place) and extracted it. It hadn't required a big procedure for me to be sedated. They ended up taking the chip out of my forearm.

Seth wasn't made aware that Kasey had gotten killed in the attack on the Pentagon. He'd find out sometime, though. Soon enough. I knew he'd want to go after Todd for that. But there was no way he was going to get anywhere near my best friend, he was going to be put away for a long time.

Speaking of Seth, his experiments, most of them exploded. S.H.I.E.L.D. salvaged very few, and those few were being treated to help get whatever serum they'd taken out of their system to return to normal. Some had been forced to experimentation, others had volunteered. Ethan had been one of those volunteers, as had Kasey.

After all that was sorted out (and after we all had a proper night's sleep), we took a sabbatical at Stark Tower. It was an intimate gathering, just us Avengers (with the exception of Todd, of course, and Pepper since she came back from another business trip). We were all patching up and healing.

I decided to air out on one of the balconies, while everyone chatted away in the room with low, soft jazz music playing as background noise. The night air was refreshing. I let a small flame dance across my fingertips for fun. I felt back in control since Seth's chip had been pulled from me. I felt like me again.

Kiara?

I was startled by the breach of privacy. The voice was one I hadn't heard since he'd left for Asgard. Thor? What a surprise to hear from you.

I have been trying to reach you. Loki was telling me some tales. Is what he saying true, Kiara? Are your—?

I'm fine now, I assured him, twisting my fingers a bit. We fixed the problem.

If I had known he was telling the truth, I would have tried to find a way to help you. I am sorry.

Don't worry about it. Our friends helped save me. And kind of the world, again.

What happened on Earth now?

You make it sound as though Earth has things like this happen daily, I commented, rather offended.

I apologize. I'm very weary. All kinds of problems have spawned in the other realms, and my father and I have been working our hardest to fix them.

Ah, I see. It's all right that the other realms took priority over me. They are more important, after all.

I sense a bit of sarcasm, Kiara.

A hint, dear friend. If I don't reach out to Loki before you see him again, can you tell him that I'm all right now?

Of course. But, first, I want to hear this new problem that happened.

Through thoughts, I told Thor everything. I left the part out that Steve and I were officially a couple now. That was something my friend could work out for himself the next time he visited Earth, because he was due for one in the future.

Using science to give power to those who aren't worthy and can't possibly hope to understand it, Thor said distastefully. Science is supposed to be beneficial, not to destroy the world.