Shattered

“What?”

Brunnhilde (somewhere along the line, she had begun calling herself that again- as much as she hated the jolt back to reality she felt every time she did) shot to her feet in an instant, Hulk clambering up beside her. “You’re sorry? Where did that come from? Just a moment ago you were talking about not apologizing, and now suddenly you’re-”

“Hulk was right.” Hulk, next to her, grinned. “I-” She stopped, as if trying to spit out something distasteful. “I never really thought about- destruction was destruction, there was nothing bad about it, it’s all I knew how to do in life. But. I just- it’s different. Somehow. So I’m sorry.”

Well. That was… unexpected. Hela was, always had been, raging fury and spiteful words and the occasional drunken party with the other Valkyries, she’d never said sorry for anything before in her life as far as Brunnhilde knew (except perhaps to her father. She hadn’t known either particularly well, but he seemed the kind of man to demand apologies for everything and, until right before her exile, Hela never seemed one to contradict him.) And now she was- she was apologizing? For killing her sisters. She didn’t know if she should hit her or laugh.

She settled for doing nothing.

“Yay!” Hulk cheered, plopping back down. “Friends not hate each other anymore?”

She and Hela considered each other. She still wanted to hit her. Kind of. She would probably always want to hit her, Hela didn’t get any less annoying for apologizing and she knew it. But- murder was no longer the first thing that came to mind when she so much as thought Hela’s name.

She was growing soft.

She broke her gaze away and looked back down at Hulk, who was still looking between them and looking a bit like a hopeful child. “Yeah, big guy, we’re good.”

----------------------------

“Lackey!”

“Loki.”

“Whatever. Have you seen your sister lately? Or at all?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “No. Why should I visit?” Then his eyes narrowed. “Why should you care? You hate her.”

The last several weeks, she and Loki had had a strange relationship- she didn’t hate him, not with any burning passion, but she was overcome with the urge to hit something (preferably his face) whenever he came near her, so she wouldn’t call them friends. He was slightly above Hela in the overall scheme of things.

Though, she reflected, she may have to reevaluate that now. Loki was, if possible, even more annoying than his elder sister.

“I’m just wondering, dumbass. I have to see her every time I go to get the big guy for training, you know. She looks just like you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. You’re both very similar to a drowned rat.”

“Oh, shut up. She’s insane. I’m not quite as bad.”

“Mm. How are things for you? Still sucking up to the Grandmaster?”

“And look at how far it’s gotten me.”

“Yes, congratulations, you get to join in on his orgy parties. I’m burning with jealousy.”

“You’re a piece of shit, you know that?”

“And proud of it. I’ve got to go now, Lackey, some of us have actual jobs to do, but let me know if you ever decide to visit your sister, hm? I need to be on guard in case you try to kill each other. Or take over the planet.”

She could practically hear Loki rolling his eyes as she stepped away from him.

------------------

“Death Lady want to leave.”

She jerked out of her haze. “Hmm?”

“Death Lady looking at quinjet.”

Oh. Yes, she had been doing that. For- several hours now, if the sun was any indication. “Well, I don’t want to be stuck here for the rest of my life.”

“Why not? Smash lots. Have fun.”

“I have to get back to Asgard.”

“Stay with Hulk and Angry Girl!”

She sighed, pulling her gaze from the window. Somehow, she didn’t feel the same… fervor she used to about taking over Asgard and ruling. She’d never really wanted to rule, anyway, but it still would have been nice to have had the option instead of being cast out. 

But she couldn’t stay here, as entertaining as the notion was. She couldn’t drown herself in fighting again when she’d just managed to get a clear head, she couldn’t be like Brunnhilde and drink herself into an early death on Sakaar, and those seemed to be the only two options on this Norns forsaken planet. And she had things to do- get Fenris, somehow, and maybe the rest of her army. Perhaps she could visit Midgard and see these curious ‘Avengers’ that Hulk was adamant about staying away from but couldn’t stop talking about. She was sure she could find plenty of things to entertain herself in a universe that had changed so drastically in the years since she’d been absent that it would be like exploring a completely different reality.

“I can’t stay. I’m not staying here the rest of my life.”

Hulk pouted and scuffed his foot on the ground, and Hela felt a strange twisting feeling in her stomach.

Damn it.

“You could come with me, you know. Sakaar isn’t the only place where you’d be able to find a home. And Midg- Earth has probably changed since you left. Maybe they don’t hate you anymore.” If that were true, maybe Asgard didn’t hate her. Maybe.

Hulk grunted and plopped down next to her. “Earth always hate Hulk. And Hulk not going to leave Angry Girl.”

She shrugged. “We can bring her with us. There’s alcohol on Earth, right? And there have to be some people on Earth that don’t hate you. The Avengers, for one.”

“Like Banner better.”

“I’m still not entirely clear on who this Banner is, but I assure you, if we all went to Earth you could at least know that me and Brunnhilde far prefer you.”

He brightened considerably after this, but the conversation was over. They spent the rest of the day throwing the red ball back and forth.

----------------------

“Brunnhilde?”

They were in the jacuzzi again. Hela didn’t mean to spend so much time in there, but it was so relaxing. And warm. And this time, she had gotten Brunnhilde and Hulk to join her.

“What?” Brunnhilde asked distractedly, not looking up from when she was pushing a wave back and forth with Hulk (she didn’t pretend to understand the concept. All she knew was that Hulk was enjoying himself.)

“Have you ever thought about leaving Sakaar?”

This got her attention. Ignoring the noise of protest coming from Hulk, Brunnhilde turned to her. “And doing what?”

Hela shrugged. “Well, I don’t know. Living?”

“Is this just because you want to leave?” Well, yes. She’d wanted to leave since she got to the planet (how long had it been? 2 weeks? 3? 4? She’d lost track).

“Well, of course I want to leave! I’m not exactly here voluntarily, but for all rights and purposes you are and I want to know why.”

“I can forget here.”

“You can forget everywhere.”

“I know, but here- it was the first place I found after- after.” Hela didn’t ask for an elaboration. “And I never felt the need to leave.”

“It’s a trash planet.”

“So? I like it. Hulk likes it, too, don’t you, big guy?”

“Hulk likes to smash.”

“See? Why don’t you like it? You love fighting.”

“Yes, of course I love fighting, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be doing it all the time. I’ve never exactly gotten a break from it, except when I was in Hel.”

“Hela? Wanting a break from fighting? Is the world ending?”

“Oh, shush. And besides, I want to know what Thor’s doing. Presumably he made it to Asgard, but I hope he didn’t just forget that Loki and I were here.”

“Time is weird here. I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t even out of the Bifrost yet.”

“Well, still. You don’t want to see how the other realms have changed since you left?”

“Why would I?”

“Midgard has men with metal suits of armor that can fly and impenetrable shields. Don’t tell me you’re not even a little curious.”

“Hela, I’m not breaking you out of Sakaar so you can go take over Midgard.”

“What will it take to convince you that I don’t want to take over Midgard?”

“I may not hate you, Majesty, but forgive me if I’m a little wary.”

Hela sighed and leaned her head back. This was impossible. Even when they were no longer enemies, Brunnhilde was as stubborn as all hell.

“I hear they have good alcohol on Midgard.”

“They have good alcohol here, too.”

“This stuff is shit.”

“I know. But alcohol is alcohol.”

Well. She couldn’t argue with that.

Damn it.

-------------------------

She was stuck. Brunnhilde wouldn’t help her get off of the planet no matter how much she needled her about it. It was always the same argument- “I may not hate you, but I don’t trust you”. And, sure, it was nice that Brunnhilde no longer hated her (though she’d never admit it, and somehow it wasn’t just because she didn’t shock her nearly as much now). And she was enjoying herself on Sakaar, to an extent, she wouldn’t complain about the endless supply of alcohol and people to fight. But she could see where this would go if she stayed- she would end up sitting around in this room with Brunnhilde and Hulk and maybe she could get herself to a scrapper position and end up like Brunnhilde, dragging people in to participate in the Grandmaster’s insane games for more money for alcohol.

And she didn’t want that. Not really. And Brunnhilde and Hulk didn’t, either, but it was easier to sit here on this trash planet and forget. She knew it- it was so tempting to drown out her father’s disappointed look and the feeling of his palm cracking across her face with bottle after bottle of whatever drink she could get her hands on. 

But. She still needed to leave. Hulk wouldn’t take much persuasion to come with her, and if Brunnhilde would just trust that she wouldn’t commit genocide when they left, she would come too. 

Not to mention, she still hadn’t gotten her brother to talk to her. Or come to see her. Or have anything to do with her. It was frustrating. 

She would have to go back to the planning board. There must have been something she had missed.

-----------------------

“Still nothing?”

Heimdall shook his head. “No. I can’t get in touch with him.”

Thor sighed heavily, and ran a hand over his face. They had been trying to contact Loki for the last 3 days, to no avail. Heimdall said he was on a planet called Sakaar, but that was all he could see- the time on that planet apparently moved differently, making it difficult to get any other details.

Upon getting back to Asgard, Thor had immediately informed his people of Odin’s death and of Hela’s existence (he may be his father’s son, but he wasn’t going to keep secrets from his people). They were all alarmed (except for Heimdall), and the people had been preparing to go to battle since then. Meanwhile, he and Heimdall had been trying to get in touch with Loki- they knew Hela was on the same planet, and they needed an update, not to mention Thor wanted his brother back. 

He headed to the window and gazed out at Asgard. It had been a tense couple of days- there was no telling if Hela would come back and attempt to take over or slaughter everyone, and the people were understandably frightened.

His eye caught something below, and suddenly, he smiled. “I’ve got it. If we can’t get in touch with him mentally, we’ll send him a physical sign. Something he’ll be able to recognize. Could you call some of the palace blacksmiths…?”

--------------------------------

Loki shot to his feet, peering across the trash heaps. He had been sitting on the roof of the Grandmaster’s palace- his position with him allowed him access to most parts of the city- not watching for anything in particular, just gazing up at the wormholes in the sky. He’d been on Sakaar for nearly 2 months now, and was enjoying the time immensely- his schedule consisted of sleeping, watching his sister fight, joining in with the Grandmaster’s parties, and sitting on the roof. It was relaxing.

And then he fell through the wormhole.

Not him- but a statue of him. The statue he’d had built during his time as king. Came right down through one of the wormholes and landed right on top of one of the piles of trash. It was big enough and obvious enough to be seen from the palace- before it fell on its face.

His first thought was, oh, how nice, Thor has thrown my statue off of the Bifrost, so much for sentimental attachment. But then he realized, no- Thor was petty, but he wasn’t that petty. And knowing him he was worrying over his whereabouts, especially since he (presumably) knew that Hela was on the same planet. So this was a sign. Some misguided way of sending a message.

And now he would have to rush down there to get to it before the gold-hungry scrappers did.

Damnit, Thor.