Daughter Dearest

three

"Loki, be a good brother and quit brooding for three seconds! We have real problems that don't involve two mortal teenagers calling you a magician." Venus huffed.

"Thor eating your leftovers from last evening is hardly a real issue. They insulted my horns, Venus!"

Both stared at each other for a long moment, reminiscing on how they had many conversations like that as children. Some things never changed, even despite having learned that the three weren't related by blood.

"It is an issue, but that is not the one I'm referring to. Barton's children will remain here, perhaps for the remainder of the month." She informed him, just in time for ear splitting shrieks to erupt from down the hall.

Loki blinked, his face giving away the disbelief he was feeling. It was only the third day of July. "You're not serious." He mumbled, hoping she would break out into a grin and admit she was just jesting.

He waited, watching her serious expression remain in place. "I am not preaching games, brother. . . There are many important conversations that go on here. . . These children have ways of getting themselves into less than ideal situations. . . Am I to assume you can piece it together?"

He knew what she was saying. It was almost as if they were looking at the consequences of their actions. They were infamous for eavesdropping on Odin's confidential conversations as children. They knew things they shouldn't have known.

And then when Odin caught them one day, he was livid and they were punished - confined to only their rooms for a week, where maids would arrive at their doors each day at set times to deliver meals and relay any information they could.

He ensured they stayed in until the end of their punishment by erecting the wards around their bedrooms that prevented them from exiting. . . And using their magic beyond basic things they mindlessly did.

Like everything, they eventually found a way around it.

"What do you suggest we do?" Loki questioned quietly.

Venus raised her eyebrows and snorted in a way that would've had even Frigga side-eye her. "We? Loki, we stay out of it while also doing what we can to prevent the tiny mortal spawns from overhearing something they should not have."

Like speaking a language so foreign, there were only three people in the entire building who could speak it - and two of them were having a hushed conversation in the middle of the hallway, in said language.

They switched over to it so easily they barely even noticed the difference in pronunciations.

Venus's eyes drifted down the hallway as her name was called from the living room by several voices. With a sigh, she spoke once more.

"He's only one man. We are here to help him with his children while his wife is away, but we will not overstep. He will reward and punish how he sees fit, within reason, I'm sure. As much as you loathe his existence, if he asks for your help with the smallest, you help him."

"Is that a requirement?"

Her eyes flashed vibrant red as she squared her shoulders and stood straighter. "If you plan to see the next voyage to Asgard with all your limbs intact, you will help if asked."

She then began her trek down the hall to find out just who had called her.

★†★

“What were the two of you talking about?” Steve asked once Venus had entered the room and situated herself on a bar stool with a small crystal glass of otherworldly amber liquid swirling in her hand. 

She stayed silent for a good moment, mesmerized by the liquid curling in on itself with every movement. 

“None of your concern.” She hummed in reply, downing the glass in one go. It refilled to her desired limit within seconds and she immediately stood from the swiveling bar stool. 

Venus flicked her hand and her hair was pulled back into a bun, similar to what Bucky pulled his hair back into when he was working out, held together with a cherry red elastic. A few shorter pieces fell out and framed the sharp features of her face in the late afternoon light as it spilled through the large wall of windows. 

“If our conversation involved the team in any way, we would have called a meeting and conversed in your native mortal tongue.” She practically hissed the lie at the growing burn that came with that specific type of ale as she downed that glass as well, setting the empty vessel on the nearest flat surface. 

“Would you have?” Steve cut his eyes at her as she stood in silence, almost toe to toe. Venus returned the look, her eyes barely having to move at all, as he was only two inches taller. 

Venus.

Her face became confused a moment later as if someone had spoken her name like a whisper in the wind. The voice sounded familiar, caring even. 

Where had she heard it?

Clearing her throat, Venus stepped back from Steve and removed the glare. “Yes, Steven. We would have. Believe it or not, we are not all shallow deities. . . Now if you'd excuse me, I have business to attend to.” She once again lied smoothly, the words spilling from her lips with such ease that even she believed herself.

The moment the doors of the elevator closed behind her, she gripped her head at the sudden pounding that came from within her skull. It felt as if something was trying to get out, or something was trying its damnedest to get in. 

The slight sting of her irises told her that her eyes had turned red with the pain. 

Though, just as soon as it started, it vanished, leaving nothing but a dull ache that subsided when she arrived at her designated floor. 

Venus all but rushed to her bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror and think. 
The voice.
She knew it; masculine and caring. . . A sweetness to it that would've made her teeth hurt if it was candy of any kind. The part that grabbed her attention was the powerful, sinister undertone that made her feel protected in a way that no one had ever made her feel before. 

Her phone chimed three times in her back pocket, but she didn't grab it out, instead her hands gripped the counter dangerously as her eyes kept flickering between blue and red. 

The cracking of marble under her grip caused her heart to accelerate as she stepped back. 

This had never happened before. . . Well, except for when she was angry or brought out for a mission. Even then, she could control the powers — bend them to her will. It was as if she was in the car, but someone else had the wheel. 

It all happened so quickly. 

Her vision went dark and then it felt like she was falling through the sky. . . Until her mind went blank and her body seemingly fell limp.