Avengers: Daughters

Thirteen: Ruby POV

Seeing her upset is breaking my heart. Ally is sat on a chair, pale and shaking, whilst Sam and Libby try to hack into SHIELD security on the morgue computer. They need me but Ally needs me more. I'm sat beside her, my hand in the space between us. I don't want to touch her and for her to lash out, I want her to come to me first. She needs to admit that she needs comforting then it will help her.

After about ten minutes, she looks at me and there's fury in her eyes. "My mother is dead," she says quietly.

"We don't know that-"

"Did you see where he shot her? Did you see how she landed? If she didn't die then, she's dead by now," Ally continues. "I have to see my father."

"We can't just walk into SHIELD. SHIELD is corrupted," I tell her. "I want my parents too but-"

"No. You don't."

"Excuse me?"

Ally shakes her head. "You don't want your parents. You hate your parents. Why would you want to see them now? And don't tell me some bullshit story about how seeing my mother die makes you realise how precious family is."

Libby glances at us, concerned, but at my glare, turns back to the screen. Sam's now rapidly typing in codes.

"I need to ask them something." I say reluctantly. I was hoping to avoid this. "I need to ask them if they knew about HYDRA. If they knew that SHIELD was being slowly taken over again."

Ally smiles coldly. "And you think they're part of it?"

"No! Tony would never...his parents- my grandparents- were killed by HYDRA. By Bucky!" I exclaim then realise my mistake. Libby turns to us again, her face pale.

"What?" She says shakily. "Bucky k-killed Tony's parents?"

"Libs, I didn't mean to say that," I get up but she shakes her head at me.

"Don't." She frowns. "I have a lot to talk to my fathers about. I want to go to SHIELD too."

"For God's sake," Sam yells out. I jump. She spins round in her chair and glares at us all. "What happened to being on a mission? Not being able to see our parents? I miss my father more than anything but I'm not going to see him because I want to keep him safe! And yes, I mean Thor, because Loki is not my father. He didn't raise me. Ally, I know what it's like to grow up without a mother and it's hard. Just try to remember her. And don't make up some lie in your mind about how kind and loving she was because it all crumbles. And it turns out to be absolute bullshit and-"

To my surprise, Sam breaks down into tears. Libby instantly leaps forward and hugs her but I stay where I am, unsure of what to do. "What's up?" Ally asks lamely and I'm glad someone else is as emotionally stunted as I am.

"I thought my mother loved my father. She would never cheat." Sam sobs. "But...she did. She cheated on him with her brother-in-law."

"Loki is...well, I've seen photos and he is.." I trail off.

"Looking back, maybe it wasn't so surprising. I think that her affair carried on after I was born. I mean, I'll never know what happened. Mother's dead and Loki is banished. But I want to know. I remember being about six or seven and Loki coming round to the palace and he and Mother had to discuss important details about adult things. I went to play with the toys Loki had brought me. They came out of the office about two hours later, looking all windswept."

"Two hours?" Ally smirks and I nudge her side but I can't help my own smile.

"They must have had fun." I add.

"Guys, this isn't funny!" Sam protests and I start giggling. Libby's hiding a smile but it's about to burst out. Ally laughs slowly and it's a delicious sound. God it is. Libby snorts and she laughs along with us. Eventually Sam's crying of laughter. Our laughter is more hysterical than anything but it's brightening me up.

It's amazing how much laughing can transform people. We've gone from a group of damaged teenagers to little kids laughing at a rude joke.

I look at Ally. "We're all going to be okay, aren't we?" I look at the others for confirmation. "Guys?"

I'm expecting Libby to give me a reassuring hug or something like that but it's Ally who grabs my hand and squeezes it. "We're going to be okay," she confirms and smiles.