Shattered

When they walked outside of the compound, it was cloudy.

Hela was grateful for the warm clothes (should she take those off? Were they not formal- oh, who cared. She was a goddess. She could do whatever she wanted), and smirked when Brunnhilde shivered a bit. It wasn’t that cold, but Sakaar had been a relatively warm planet (at least, in the time she’d been there), so she supposed she couldn’t fault her for being a little cold.

“There they are.” Stark looked nervous. He was very obviously trying not to show it, but his fingers were tapping against his leg and he’d made about 10 different quips and jokes in the two minutes they’d been outside. The small adorable child was still talking animatedly to Banner, who looked slightly overwhelmed, and Potts was staring intently at the plane descending from the sky.

“My ship’s better,” Brunnhilde muttered.

“I bet theirs doesn’t smell like alcohol,” Hela grumbled.

“Shut up, Majesty.”

They all watched in silence (Peter had taken the que after a moment and fell silent) as the ship landed on the grass and the door slid open.

5 people walked out. Well- one of them, she wasn’t sure if he was human. He looked- robotic. Humanoid, sure, but he was also not a normal human color (as far as she knew. Maybe humans had evolved to have red skin in the years that she’d been gone.) The girl holding his hand (ah, her brain supplied, that’s probably ‘Maximoff and Vision’) eyed them suspiciously, but said nothing. Another practically exuded confidence and leadership- he must be the Captain. And- Tasha? Hulk had said she had red hair-

“Tony.”

Stark shifted uncomfortably. “Rogers.”

“Hi, Bruce.” Tasha- she must be Tasha, who else would she be?- looked Banner up and down. Stark and Rogers broke out of an awkward stare and turned towards them.

“Er. Hey, Nat.”

“Who are your new friends?” asked the 5th one (perhaps he was Wilson?).

“Oh. Right. That’s- Hela and Brunnhilde. They’re- that’s actually a long story. We should, um- can we go inside? I’m not liking the look of this sky.”

Stark nodded. “Right. Wouldn’t want to get rained on. Just- well, you guys know where to go, so- there. Ok. Right.”

Even Hela could feel the awkward tension in the air. And she was- well, not exactly renowned for her outstanding social skills (you don’t need to get to know people before you kill them, dau- No. Shut up, Odin. You’re dead).

But still, the group made its way inside and back to the common area. Peter was practically vibrating with all of the questions she knew he was dying to ask, Potts was giving Rogers a side-eye that made even her slightly intimidated, and Banner seemed to be trying to hide behind her to avoid looking at Tasha (it worked. She was, after all, quite a bit taller than him.)

They all sat down. Hela and Brunnhilde sat back in the corner of the couch, pressing far closer together than they normally ever would. On Hela’s side sat Rogers, Wilson, Maximoff, and Vision- Tasha (she really needed to find a new name for her, this nickname was far too personal- what was her last name again? She didn’t think anyone had ever said it) was standing, leaning against the wall and shooting the occasional suspicious glare in her direction. And the other side of the couch was occupied by Stark, Rhodes, Banner, and Peter. 

She shifted uncomfortably. No one was saying anything, and she hated silence. You could tell Odin was truly angry when he was quiet, she could feel the same hostility in the air and despite herself, her chest tightened and she tensed up. 

Brunnhilde gave her a funny look, then very loudly cleared her throat. “Well. If you kids aren’t gonna be talking any time soon, I’m gonna get a drink. Anyone want any?” 

Her chest loosened a bit. “Sure.”

“I’ll take a drink,” Peter said cheerfully. 

Stark rolled his eyes. “She means alcohol, kid. But there’s apple juice in the fridge if you want any.” Peter grinned and bounded into the kitchen area after Brunnhilde.

“Who, ah. Who is he?” Rogers asked carefully. “He kinda sounds familiar.”

“He, uh. He’s my intern. His name’s Peter. You’ve never met him in your life.” Wow. Stark is truly a terrible liar. 

“Hey, guys! Here, I got a bunch of juice boxes, anyone want one?” What is a juice box? She narrowed her eyes and squinted at the small boxes he was carrying. Were they- filled with juice? Brunnhilde walked up behind him, carrying the same boxes.

She frowned. “Hey, I thought you were getting me a drink.”

Brunnhilde shook her head. “Nope. Alcohol’s very bad for you and should only be brought out on special occasions.”

“Are- are you okay?” She was genuinely concerned. She never thought she would live to see the day where Brunnhilde said a word against alcohol. 

She sat back down and handed her the, ah, ‘juice box’. “Yeah. Kid wouldn’t let me get anything stronger than juice. He’s extremely persuasive.” Ah. Yes. She could definitely understand that.

But how- it was a box. Where was- how did she get to the juice? Did she- she looked around to make sure no one was looking and licked the box. It tasted like a box- so, obviously, the juice was inside, and the box was not made of juice. She picked at the small flap on the side. It didn’t open the box- it just gave it a strange extension. Then she tore off the strange clear thing on the side. Did it- how-

“Um. Do you. Need any help?” She looked up to find clear blue eyes looking at her in concern.

She scowled at Rogers. “I am fine.”

“I- ok. If. If you’re sure-”

“I. Am. Fine.” Maybe, if she glared at the juice box hard enough, it would explode. (This did not work. She felt a vein in her eye twitch and Rogers leaned back slightly).

“So…,” Bruce started. “Um. How- how’s life been, Steve?” His voice cracked slightly on the last word.

“It’s been good. I’ve been, you know. Doing stuff.” He eyed her warily as she picked at the flap on the other side and held up the juice box by the two little flaps.

“Cool. Cool. So- Vision? How, um. How about you?”

Vision fidgeted a bit. “I am well, thank you, Dr. Banner.”

“Great. That’s great.”

Next to her, Brunnhilde shook her juice box as discreetly as she could. Good to know that she was stuck, too.

They all fell back into silence. Peter looked between all of them as if he couldn’t decide which was cooler. Rogers kept glancing over at her, opening his mouth to offer help, and then closing it again. Banner looked down at his lap, Vision suddenly seemed to have great amounts of interest in the ceiling, Wilson picked at a loose thread on a pillow, Maximoff gazed distantly at a fixed point on the floor, and ‘Tasha’ and Potts glared at the wall. Stark’s finger tapped restlessly. Rhodes looked at them as if waiting for them to begin talking. They did not.

She went back to studying the strange clear thing that she’d picked off the front of the box. It seemed important.

They must have sat there for nearly 5 minutes (she staved off the anxious feeling associated with that silence by determinedly trying to figure out her juice box) before anyone spoke again.

Peter got up out of his chair, and sat right down on the table in front of her, looking at Rogers. “So. Your body’s changing.”

The effect was immediate- Rogers paled, and he made a strange choking sound in the back of his throat. “Oh, god-”

“Trust me, I know how that feels,” Peter finished, grinning. “You know they made us watch that in health class?”

“No, no, no, no-” Rogers had leaned down, head in his hands.

“I’m sorry, what?” Stark frowned.

“So there’s this thing-” 

“No. Kid, no, please, I’m begging you-”

“-where Mr. Captain America-”

“I will do anything-”

“-sits down and basically does like PSA’s but for kids.” Rogers groaned and sunk down into the couch. “And one of them is, like, for detentions, and another one is for puberty, and there’s one for gym class-”

“Oh my god,” Stark wheezed. “Oh my- Friday? Friday, did you know about these?”

Sounding vaguely amused, the Ceiling Lady answered. “Yes, boss. Mr. Rogers told me at the time to please refrain from telling anybody.”

“Well. Now that we know, could you pull that up on the screen, please?” Wilson grinned. Rogers whimpered, and sunk even lower in his seat.

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

“This is the best day of my life,” Natasha laughed from where she had taken a seat next to him.

Steve scowled. He wasn’t really mad- just. Extremely embarrassed. He had never meant for the team to find out about that.

“So how much did they pay you to do those?” Tony asked.

He blushed. “What makes you think they paid me?” They had. Quite a lot of money, actually.

“Oh, come on, Steve. No self respecting human being would do that for free.”

“It’s not that bad,” he protested weakly.

On his other side, Hela snorted. “You look like an idiot.”

He frowned. He did not- well, okay, he kind of did. But still. “I do not.” Everyone stared at him. “I- okay, fine, they paid me. A lot. But- it was a good opportunity! To- to help- the kids-” His voice died off as everyone started laughing again. 

Well. At least it had done its job- the tension in the air was, while not completely gone, considerably lessened. Because everyone was laughing at him.

Wonderful.

“So,” Stark said finally, wiping tears out of his eyes. “Now that we’ve seen the best thing that humanity has ever given us, you guys probably have questions about- all this- right?”

Oh. Right. That. 

“Yeah, we’ve got a few,” Sam said, straightening in his seat. “For one, are you really Thor’s sister? Why did we never know you existed?”

Next to him, Hela stiffened. “Yes, I am. And- he didn’t exactly know I existed until recently. It’s- complicated.”

“Majesty, your entire family is complicated,” Brunnhilde snorted. 

He studied them both carefully. So far, all he knew about Brunnhilde was that she liked alcohol. And Hela, apparently, couldn’t open a juice box but was stubbornly refusing his help. He had a feeling that there was much, much more to both of them, but this, unfortunately, was all he had managed to gather (he should ask Nat later. She would know more- she was much better at reading people than he was.)

“Do you know where he is?” asked Nat.

“Probably Asgard,” Hela shrugged. “My other brother is likely with him by now.”

Everyone, including Steve, scowled at the mention of Loki. “Let’s hope he doesn’t bring him here,” Tony muttered. 

Hela paled. “Oh. Well. Come to think of it, he probably will. Since he can probably see that I’m here if he thinks to check.”

“You think he’ll actually bring Loki here? He can’t be that stupid,” Sam said.

Hela shrugged. “Well. I’ve only met him once, but I get the feeling my younger brother isn’t known for his intellectual prowess. The smaller one, maybe, but not Thor.”

Steve sighed, deeply. So much for team bonding time. “Well. If there’s even the smallest possibility that Loki is going to be back on Earth, we need to-”

“Too late,” Tony groaned, staring at the window. Steve turned to- oh, no.

A near blinding light was streaming down onto a spot on Tony’s lawn (no regard for lawn maintenance). Thor was here.

And he probably brought his little brother with him.

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

Thor’s stomach was churning with worry. Why was Hela at the Avenger’s compound? Couldn’t she have just left well enough alone and not gone after his friends? They could all be dead by now, and it would be his fault for not telling them earlier.

They landed on Midgard as dramatically as usual, both brothers decked in full armor and ready to face a formidable foe. Heimdall had thrust a sword and a staff into their hands before they’d left- they would need it. It might not even be enough- though perhaps his friends could help (what could they do against her?) 

He could see a light on in one of the rooms- the common area, maybe? He gripped his sword tight in his hands and shared a look with Loki, who had an outwardly indifferent expression but who he knew had some level of worry. They started forward towards where a door was opening to the compound. Maybe it was Hela, and she’d already bested them. Or maybe it would be one of his friends, trying desperately to escape, injured and bleeding-

He reached the door.

He relaxed at the familiar sound of Tony’s suit powering up, then tensed again as the repulsors fired, hitting Loki in the chest. “Loki!”

He did not have time to go after his brother, because he spotted Hela standing in the doorway. He leapt at her, sword drawn, only to have to parry quickly as the woman next to her drew her own sword and swiped it at him.

He wasn’t fast enough to block the sword again, and the woman disarmed him and had the point at his throat in an instant. “Don’t. Move.”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Oh, thank the Norns. Rogers. But- why wasn’t he fighting Hela? “Everyone put the weapons down.” He looked pointedly at the woman, who scowled, but lowered her sword so that it was no longer pointing straight at his throat (it was now leveled at his chest, which was only slightly less fatal, but he would take it). 

“Now unhand my brother,” he growled. “What are you playing at, Stark?”

“He invaded New York!” Tony protested from behind him. Loki made a small noise of protest.

“He’s my brother! Don’t worry, he won’t try anything. Could you please stop this scary lady from pointing her sword at me?”

Steve nodded at the woman, who sighed and pointed the sword at the ground. He heard Tony’s suit power down, and turned around to see his brother collapsing to the ground.

“Alright. Now let’s all work this out like civilized people, okay?” Rhodey asked, looking between them all. “Okay. Why don’t we go inside?”

“Not until you tell me what you’re doing with her,” he growled, nodding towards Hela.

“Who, Hades? She’s terrifying but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with-”

“My father locked her up for a reason.”

“Woah, wait. Your father locked you up?” Wilson asked. “Why didn’t you mention it?”

Hela glared at him. “It never came up.”

“Tony, did you know about this?” Steve asked.

Tony shrugged helplessly. “No! What the hell, Hades?”

“I say we just kill both of them,” said Nat, drawing her guns.

“Hey, wait! No one’s killing anyone,” the woman interrupted, bringing her sword back up. “As much as I don’t like Lackey-”

“Loki.”

“Whatever. Let’s not kill him, okay? Or Hela. I’m actually quite fond of her.”

“And who are you to decide that?” he demanded. “How do I know you’re not an- an accomplice, of some sort?”

She sighed, and pulled up her sleeve. He gaped at the mark there, and Loki scrambled to his feet to stand besides him. “You’re a Valkyrie!” they both said at the same time.

“Yes. So you can trust me.”

Well. That did change things. The Valkyries were supposed to be Odin’s most loyal soldiers- that is, before they all died. Wait-

“I thought you all died horrible deaths,” Loki said. Oh, Loki. That’s not something you should say-

Hela shifted uncomfortably, and the Valkyrie made a face at him. “Well, clearly, not all of us did, Lackey.”

“Loki.”

“Whatever. Now let’s all go back inside and not kill anyone, alright? Work this out?” 

Thor ran a hand over his face and thought as quickly as he could. He knew, logically, that he should be able to trust the Valkyrie. She was a Valkyrie. But- she was also defending his sister, who Odin had said was evil and hell bent on destroying Asgard and ruling all the Nine Realms. His sister, who hadn’t drawn a weapon throughout the whole encounter, who looked more tired than anything as she stood behind the Valkyrie. (Odin was known for his judgement. He shouldn’t question- but he didn’t tell them about Hela. He didn’t tell them Loki was adopted. Why should he trust what he said?)

“Fine. But I get to have my sword back. And I need your word that my brother will not be injured.”

“You injure Hela, I hurt your brother,” the Valkyrie told him, picking up his sword. “Deal?”

He looked at Loki, who shrugged. He grabbed his sword.

“Deal.”