Chapter 5
Persephone and Bruce chatted softly as they made their way down to the common area of the tower, where the rest of the team had prepared breakfast. Laughing and smiling as they walked in, the rest of the team glanced up from their conversation, looking a little shocked. They hadn’t really ever seen this side of her before. She was always very poised and quiet, no doubt a result of her time in HYDRA’s possession. But this, well, she seemed relaxed and at ease.
“Well, aren’t we chipper this morning?” Tony sang, calling out from the table. Persephone smiled shyly and looked at Bruce, who turned from her to the group proudly.
“Everyone, it is my pleasure to introduce you to our guest properly.” Everyone gazed at Bruce, smiles on their lips but their eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. “May I introduce to you, Persephone McLoughlin.” Everyone shifted their gaze from him to her, all smiling brightly. Compliments began pouring from them, leaving her frazzled. There was so much more love in this room than she had felt in a long time. She gazed at her feet, unsure how to process the positive gestures and feelings she was receiving. It made her feel good, though.
“It’s a beautiful name, fitting,” Nat offered up. She had stood up at this point and put one hand on Persephone’s shoulder while lifting her chin to meet her eyes with her other.
“Thank you, it was Bruce’s idea.” He smiled proudly, almost looking like a father would. Suddenly, Tony chirped up.
“Woah woah, since when do you call him ‘Bruce’? If you’re calling him Bruce you can call me Tony. No more of this ‘Mr. Stark’ crap, kid,” he stated, pointing an almost accusatory finger at her. She chuckled.
“If you insist.” Nat pulled Persephone’s attention back.
“Now, since you’ll probably be here for a while, I say we go out and get you clothes to wear. As cute as you look in them, you can’t keep stealing my clothes. They’re not exactly your size.” Persephone smiled and looked at the looser fitting clothing she was wearing. Nat pulled her along, walking her to the table where the food was set out. “Eat up, Perse, we have a busy day ahead of us. Tony…” He cut her off.
“Yeah, yeah, here’s my card. Don’t let bossy here tell you what to buy,” he said, looking at Perse. “Buy what you want.” Nat swatted at his arm, earning a laugh and a smile from Perse. Not only did she have a new name, but now a group of people who cared for her. For the first time in she didn’t know how long, she felt joy.
-
After breakfast, Perse and Nat went out shopping. Perse had no idea how long she would be with the Avengers, but got more clothes than she had ever owned before. The clothes all looked so different from how they did before HYDRA snatched her up. Before, she was wearing long skirts, button ups, and ties. Now there were so many more options. Skirts, pants, shorts, slacks, tank tops, crop tops, and so many different styles of shoes than she could think of. Before the day was over, their arms were full of bags containing clothes, shoes, jewelry, makeup, and other little things to take up space in her room. The last stop they made was at a shop specializing in fancy dresses.
“Tony throws a lot of parties. It’s a good idea to invest in some dresses. We’ve got some more simple ones, but there are times where Tony’s parties are more… extravagant. You’ll need something for those. I’m sure you’ll be around for at least one party.”
Nat directed Perse inside, whose mouth gaped. These dresses were some of the most beautiful articles of clothing she had ever seen. Nat showed her around, offering up dress after dress. There weren’t really any that caught Perse’s eye, until they fell upon one that made her breath still. She walked over to the dress, gently stroking the fabric in her hand. It was a midnight blue, falling off the shoulders. It was floor length and was accented with silver around the neckline. She turned to Nat, saying,
“Let’s try this one on.” Nat smiled. She grabbed the dress and walked with Perse to the dressing room. As she put it on, Perse felt regal. She had never seen herself in such a way before. It made her tear up a bit. She never knew she could be so beautiful. She stepped out of the dressing room, and Nat’s eyes widened. She grinned largely.
“Perse…”
“I know…” she replied, laughing softly. Nat walked closer, and noticed the tears in Perse’s eyes. Her smile fell away.
“Perse, what’s wrong?”
Perse sniffled, but smiled. “It’s just.. I never thought I could be this beautiful.” Nat smiled at this.
“Perse, you were always beautiful. The dress is just an addition.” Perse gave her a soft smile. Nat pulled Perse in gently, embracing her. Perse was tense, but slowly loosened up and embraced Natasha back.
“Forgive me, I haven’t had a lot of close contact with others, but please know I appreciate all you have done for me.” She said said quietly.
“Hey, what are friends for?” Perse released from the hug and looked Nat in the eyes, a sad look of confusion plastered on her face.
“Friends?” She asked quietly. Nat laughed.
“Yes, Perse, like it or not, we are friends.” Perse let her tears fall and grabbed Nat in for another embrace.
They let go of each other after a moment and gave Perse a chance to get changed. Only a fortnight and her life had changed significantly. She was scared of the progression of her relationships with the team, but being able to have such friendly interactions in her life again made it hard for her to resist.
-
After summer had passed into fall, Perse had begun to grow accustomed to life with the Avengers. She had gotten closer to those around her, including the voice from the walls, whom she learned was named JARVIS. She spoke to JARVIS the most, him being with her in her darker moments at night. It was interesting, speaking to someone who wasn’t really there. Despite being a creation from Tony’s genius mind, he had almost became like a brother to her.
Everyone had gone from her saviors to her friends, which was quite the welcome change from how she had previously been treated. Still, she was wary to get too close to them. She knew she would outlive them, and didn’t want to get too attached at the risk of getting hurt again. Still, it was hard not to let herself. She genuinely enjoyed the company of those on the team. She spent most of her time with Natasha, but enjoyed the time she spent with all of them equally. She wasn’t as close to Clint as she was to the others, but that was simply due to the fact that he wasn’t always around. Everything was going great. Her new life was everything she had wanted.
There were still a few people left for her to meet, including one named Nick Fury, evidently the man in charge of the whole Avengers thing. He had been away doing something important, and was unable to meet with them to discuss her situation. Apparently he wanted to do that in person. She wondered what was so important that it took him months to finally meet with her, but he trusted the team’s judgment. If they decided it was safe for her to be around, he’d go along for now. It still made her nervous to think about, though, as ultimately he would have the final say in what happened to her. If he decided she was a threat, she could be sent off to containment somewhere. She hadn’t made any progress in regards to maintaining her over-reactive abilities, and he could see that as a liability. The Avengers had promised they wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but despite her best efforts to remain positive, she couldn’t ignore the anxiety all together.
One autumn morning, while eating her breakfast with Nat, a bright light illuminated from outside, with loud noises emitting as well. Despite it startling Perse, Nat seemed unaffected and simply looked out the window. The light and noise disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Nat spoke up, dropping her fork onto her plate.
“It looks like we have a visitor.” She stood up, not addressing the confused look on Perse’s face. “Stay here, I’ll come get you in a few minutes.” Perse did as she was told, finishing her breakfast anxiously. It had to be Director Fury, right? She knew he was powerful, but magic wasn’t something she was expecting.
Time passed, and a ‘few minutes’ turned into half an hour. Perse decided she couldn’t wait anymore. She got up from the table and took the elevator upstairs. That had to be where everyone was. As she walked toward Tony’s penthouse, she could hear echoes of yelling. Obviously an argument had broken out. She could hear Tony’s voice, but couldn’t recognize the other. She gulped, wondering if this was a good idea.
She drew closer, reaching walls that had been made of glass. There she saw Tony and the others, arguing with a man in what seemed to be battle armor. He was large and hulking, as well as unrecognizable to her. Was that Nick Fury? He looked much different from what she’d been expecting.
Perse reached the door that led into the den of the penthouse and paused, her hand hovering over the door handle. The yelling hadn’t ceased, and no one had taken notice of her presence outside the room yet. What could he have said to make Tony so upset? Was Nick Fury going to send her away after all? He hadn’t even met her yet…
Summoning the courage she required, she took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.
-
“Absolutely not, this is NOT up for discussion!”
“Well then you’ll have to explain why yourself. It was decreed by my Father, not by me.”
“Sure!! Get him down here!! I certainly have some words for the-“
“Tony?” A soft voice piped up amongst the shouting. Tony and the other man both looked over to the door, slightly ajar with a gentle face peering through. She could see Tony, as well as Nat, Bruce, and Cap, all shoot their gaze over to her. The new man also turned to look, his eyebrows creasing in confusion. Tony sighed as Nat walked over to her.
“Perse, I told you I’d come get you,” She said softly.
“Yes, thirty minutes ago. You said you’d be back in a few minutes. What’s going on? Are…” she swallowed, “…are they going to send me away?” Nat’s face instantly grew reassuring.
“No, no, Perse they are not going to send you away. This isn’t even who would determine something like that. But please, don’t think at all that we would let them take you away. You’re not going anywhere, not on my watch.” Perse smiled softly, before returning her gaze to the men.
“So…” she ventured, gesturing to the fresh face in front of her. Nat grabbed her hand and walked her over to the conversation. Tony then piped up, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Perse, please meet the thorn in my side, Thor. God of thunder or whatever,” He said, irritated. Her eyes widened as she looked over at the hulking man in front of her.
“Thor... you’re… you’re real?” She asked, mouth gaped open. His eyebrows shot up as he let out a chuckle.
“That’s a new one. I can assure you, I am very real. Have you not heard of me from my comrades here?” He said, gesturing to the team. She looked over at the others before shaking her head.
“Before this, I thought you just a myth. A religious deity.”
“She wasn’t around, in a sense, to know about New York. She didn’t know most of us when we first met,” Nat added. Thor looked from her back to Perse.
“I see. And who, then, that I have the pleasure of meeting this day?”
“My name is Persephone.”
Thor clasped her hand in his, bringing her knuckles to his lips. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Persephone.” He let his lips make contact with her hand, kissing it gently. A blush crept onto her face, her eyes growing wider. Tony did not appreciate the gesture. Tearing their hands apart, he said,
“Okay, don’t get all chummy with her, beefcake.”
Thor chuckled. “I was simply being polite, Stark. Besides, you know I only have eyes for Jane.” Tony only nodded, eyes still slightly narrowed at the god.
“Don’t worry too much about it, Tony. I don’t think he meant anything by it. Like he said, he was simply being polite,” Perse said, her hands twining together as she gazed at the floor. So many emotions were flowing through her. Disbelief, anxiety, anger, awe… Here before her stood the very god she had prayed to for a millennia. The same god who had left her prayers unanswered. Turning her face up once again to Thor, she said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t believe you are real… I grew up believing in the Norse Gods. Are all of you real? I mean… Odin, a-and Frigga??” Thor gave a hearty laugh.
“Yes. I can assure you, they are real as well. I didn’t know there were still humans who worshipped us.”
“Well, worship is a heavy word…” she said quietly, slightly looking away. Her eyes began to water a bit, but she pushed the tears away. No, she had to be strong, and not just because if she let her emotions get out of hand, her abilities would follow suit. It proved to be rather difficult, however. She had lost belief in the Norse Gods long ago, and yet here one was before her. She had so many questions. “I just… wow… so how much of Norse mythology is correct? There’s your mother and father… What about…” she stopped, a question quickly coming to her. “What about your brother?? Is he…” She was immediately cut off by a smooth, powerful voice.
“I can assure you, I am very much real.”
Turning her head, she looked over to see one more man, whom she had failed to notice was here before. He stood from his seat in the shadows, moving closer from the side of the room with a smirk on his face.
“I am Loki. Of Asgard. God of mischief. And you said you were…?”