ANGRBODA ※ Tony Stark [1]

6 - HOME

ANGRBODA'S BREATH WAS still coming out in short huffs as she stood on the exterior deck of the Helicarrier. The ice cold wind made her shiver strongly and its rumble drowned out the sound of her own cries. She leaned against one of the massive metal containers trying to compose herself but hot tears kept streaming down her face.

Jötunheim is gone... Everyone she cares about is dead... There's nowhere to call home anymore.

The weight of a hand on her shoulder pulled her brusquely out of her thoughts. She didn't need to turn around to recognise the large, rugged hand of Thor and his towering figure behind her. She couldn't bring herself to face him. No one would get to see her like this, never like this.

"My sympathy is yours, Angrboda. Jötunheim will be avenged, I promise you that..." he let out solemnly and Angrboda felt new tears forming in her eyes.

He stood there for a second, expecting her to respond but she stayed silent and her back kept facing him, not budging a millimeter.

"In the mean time, I hope you know you always have a home in Asgard."

Angrboda's heart crumbled. She almost broke down again at the mention of Asgard. It was the realm of her mother, the place where she had been born... and yet, Asgard had stopped being her home a long time ago. For reasons that were too painful to think about now, she had sworn to never set a foot on Asgard again.

Thor gave up trying to get a response out of her. He finally turned around without another word and walked back into the aircraft.

It took Angrboda a long time to pull herself together. Her head still pounded but the tears on her cheeks had dried up and her stomach had stopped churning. She walked slowly, almost robotically along the length of a plane runway until reaching its edge. She dropped down and sat there, her legs dangling into the void, not minding the fact that losing her balance would mean falling several thousand feet to the ground.

It felt strangely cathartic.

How many hours had gone by with her sitting on that runway? She couldn't tell. All awareness of her surroundings was gone and for the first time in a long time, she managed to clear her mind completely.

It wasn't until the first few rays of sunshine peaked on the horizon that she realised she had spent the better part of the night outside. Dawn crept in slowly, quietly, ushering her back to reality though she made no move, enjoying the soft warming rays on the side of her face.

Her peace was disturbed by the sound of short, regular, metallic thwacks coming closer. This time she did peak behind her back and saw, much to her surprise, Tony walking over to her, dressed in his full Iron Man suit. He got to her level and the metal helmet opened up.

"Hey Angie..." his face showed no pity, which she was thankful for, he only looked slightly apprehensive.

"You don't need to wear your armour around me," she muttered, bringing her gaze back to the horizon "I don't plan on taking my anger out on you."

"Oh I know..." he smirked and took a seat next to her "I just can't be out here without it, I'd fly right off the deck."

She cracked a small smile, in spite of herself.

"Are you alright?" he asked carefully.

She breathed in "So they told you?"

"There were cameras around the cell, we watched the whole thing."

"Glad to know I had an audience," she breathed, feeling her eyes growing damp again before shutting them tightly. There was no way she would cry and certainly not in front of Tony "My father is dead, he was the only family I had left. All the Jötnars are dead, my whole world is gone... Aside from that I'm doing great."