Daughter Dearest

seventeen

The hotel lobby was just as packed as it was that morning when Venus got back, carrying a black bag from the store down the road. The doors closed behind her and immediately Angel was in the room, looking her over. 

“Where the fuck have you been all mornin’, huh? Mr. Grumpy bartender over there, wouldn't let me leave.”

Venus looked up at him before replying quietly. “I was doing you a favor. . . I won't discuss it in front of them, but you're free to ask questions in private. . . After I shower and burn this dress, okay?” 

She began to walk toward the stairs, shooting her family a smile as she passed. 

They were all squished onto the couches, except for Natasha who was at the bar watching all entrances, Peter and Thor who were happily sitting on the floor teaching each other card games, Vision who was floating off to the side, and Bucky who looked smug at the fact that he was the first to get to the arm chair.

Walking up the stairs, she noticed that Angel Dust was following her. Rolling her eyes, she continued forward until she reached her room. 

“There's no need to follow me.” The bedroom door shut behind Angel and he continued to follow her into the bathroom. 

“You said I can ask questions in private. This is private.” He told her. 
Venus groaned and leaned against the cool wall. “This is also an invasion of privacy.”

“Ain't nothin’ I haven't seen before, Toots. Now spill.” 

Venus dropped the bag of stuff onto her bathroom counter and sighed, turning to her friend. “Fine.” She replied turning the shower on for the second time that day before getting undressed and stepping under the water despite it not being fully up to temperature. 

“Where were you?” 

“I was doing you a favor. You know how your boss is quite literally the embodiment of a piece of rotten bilgesnipe flesh? . . Let us just say, he just lost a lot of the power he had over you.” She stated while rubbing the shampoo into her scalp, humming at the feeling of her claws in her hair. 

“How?” Angel sounded concerned yet intrigued. 

“I fucked him and forced him to make a deal. . . You're standing in the presence of someone who just acquired an overlords soul. Now he can't do anything that you don't want him to do, just how it should have always been. Be upset if you please, but after witnessing last evening's display from the great beyond, it took everything within me to just not kill the bastard.”

The bathroom was silent for a couple minutes, aside from the sound of water as Venus washed the shampoo out of her hair. 

So quiet that she almost thought Angel had left the room. Until he finally spoke, his voice seasoned with emotion she'd never heard from him. “You did that for me?”

“You're family, Ang. . . You'd be shocked at the lengths I'd go to just for family.” Venus chuckled. “Now, would you hand me a washcloth? I forgot to grab one.” 

“Yeah, sure — hey, what's with all the toothpaste?”

“I have to get the taste of the moth dick out of my mouth somehow. . . Do you think I got enough?” Angel Dust cackled as he shoved the wash cloth at her. 

“More than enough.”

★†★

Dressed in night clothes she would've worn around the Avengers Tower, Venus graced the downstairs with her presence once more. She decided to have a nice day in, especially after the morning she had. 

She rearranged the lobby and added more furniture so that her family could sit comfortably without being squished together like whenever Steve wanted to save gas money and insisted that everyone could fit into two vehicles for a six hour drive. 

And then it was complete and utter chaos for the next six hours. 

It was early enough that very few were awake. Venus didn't expect anyone else for a few hours, so she made a quick and easy breakfast for everyone. 

She hadn't even noticed anyone else enter the other room until Loki called out to her for assistance. 

Turning from the stove and peeking around the corner, she was met with the sight of Niffty clinging to Loki, gushing about how he looked like a bad boy. He looked insanely uncomfortable, whereas she was completely enthralled. 

“Venus. . . A bit of help, please.” He begged, attempting to hold the demon at an arms length away, but he was unsuccessful. 

“I don't think I want to help you. . . After all, weren't you the one to kill eighty people in two days?” Venus smirked with a spatula in one hand. 

“Dibs on the bad, bad boy!” Niffty giggled maniacally. 

“I will end you.” He told his sister. 

“Oh, I'm terribly afraid! Get over yourself, Loki. She will lose interest in you soon enough, especially if you mention anything about how you're a changed man and all the effort that went into clearing your name.” Venus snorted. 

“What did he do?” Angel questioned from the bar, warily eyeing the God of Mischief. 

Natasha held up fingers as she began listing off the various crimes Loki committed within the short span between his arrival on earth and the memorialized battle of New York. 

“Usurpation, abuse of power, patricide, brainwashing, treason, conspiracy, mass murder, attempted genocide, attempted fratricide, attempted world domination, terrorism, theft, forgery, fraud, smuggling, extortion, espionage, assault, invasion, hijacking —”

“That was years ago!” Loki cut her off with a glare, finally managing to remove the small demon from his fine Asgardian leather getup. “And I too was brainwashed, if you remember correctly.” 

“Yes, we remember.” The whole group of heroes groaned as Venus continued. “You won't let us forget whenever the topic of the battle inevitably comes up. . . Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meal to not burn.” 

Venus went back to the stove and finished up rather quickly, with Wanda joining her side minutes later. 

Niffty abandoned Loki and went to work on scrubbing the utensils that had been used to cook breakfast, snatching up pans the second they were cleared of food. 

Much like at the tower, Venus forced everyone, namely the heroes, into a line and handed over their filled plates and forks. 

Once everyone who entered the kitchen had their breakfast and was seated anywhere from the kitchen table to the lobby couches and the bar, Venus put a lid over top the remaining pan, saving it for the other inhabitants. 

She then joined Peter's side and they all ate with conversation flowing much like it did back in the Avengers Tower during obligatory family meals. . . Until she brought up the topic of wanting answers. 

Then it got quiet.

She was happy that they were there, but she needed to know the full story of how. And she'd be damned if she didn't get answers to any of her questions.