ESCAPE

Chapter x^2 (after her return) - 11 Dec 2020

Trigger Warning: Alcohol abuse and drunkenness

"Yggdrasil's a bitch," you slur drunkenly, throwing the glass bottle of Asgardian wine you had just finished chugging against the wall, breaking it, before opening the next one.

The Avengers, hearing the crash, rush into the room to find you drinking straight from the bottle, glass from previous ones you had finished littering the floor across from where you sit. You point at Tony. "Not as much as your dad, though."

"What's not as much what as my dad?" He asks.

"Yggdrasil. She's not as much of a bitch as your dad." At your words, the Avengers glance at Thor and Loki.

"Yggdrasil is the goddess of life. She's also a tree and the thing that connects the worlds," Thor explains.

Tony nods and moves to sit by you--you don't seem to be too dangerous in your current state. "I agree, life's a bitch. Kinda hate Yggdrasil myself. And I can agree about my dad, but what do you know about him?"

"I wasn't talking about his parenting skills--he almost gives my dad a run for his money for the 'worst parent' title. Not quite though. My dad's pretty much in the lead," you ramble, forgetting the question as you fling the next finished bottle, moving to open a new one.

Tony moves them out of your reach. "Uh, uh, uh," he scolds, "No more for you. You've had enough."

You turn on him, fire burning in your eyes. "Give. Me. My. Damn. Wine."

Tony quickly hands you a bottle, and you grin dopily, reverting back to your earlier unconcerned manner. "Now, where were we?" You wave your free hand in the air. "Ah, yes. My father. Pretty shitty one. Four kids, banished each of them at least once. Honestly, he could've done with some help. Thankfully, I had Mother and Heimdall, so I did at least have parental figures--even if I rarely saw one and only saw the other at night."

"Who was your father?" Thor asks in his booming voice.

You laugh bitterly. "Good old Odin. Haven't ever called him father except to explain how we're related, to me he always was and always will be Odin. He doesn't deserve the title of father--that's only supposed to go to people who use it well."

Thor stood there, mouth agape, processing what you said. Loki is the first of the two to speak. "You said, four children?"

You pause in your chugging of the alcohol. "Yup. There's Hela, she was a pretty cool sister until Odin banished her to Helheim, me, this big dude named Thor--oh! Thor! You're here!--and then a pretty cool dude named Loki. Hela's the oldest, and then me, and then Thor, and Loki was born the year after Thor. I think. I don't know, I wasn't allowed to talk to them when I visited the palace."

Tony waves his hands around before pressing one to his head. "Can we get back to my father, please? How did you know him?"

You stare at him, unfocused. "Who's your dad again?"

"Uhh... Howard Stark?"

Your eyebrows furrow as your eyes darken in fury and you turn back to the wine, chugging it faster and with a vengeance. You only stop to speak when you move to grab the next. "He killed my husband. It was bad enough when he used Peggy, at her expense, I might add, and all of the times after when he put us in danger, but to top it all off he murders my husband. Leaves me a pregnant widow. Gotta love that, amiright?"

"Who was your husband?" Steve finally enters the conversation. "I might know him."

"No, you don't. He was Navy during the war--World War Two, I mean. Didn't meet him until my S.S.R. days--Peggy convinced me to join. This was post-SOE. I mean, you know that, you were there. Peggy was real nice. She turned out to be the real deal. Howard's niceties were just a front so he could get me in bed. Never cared for him, though, and certainly not that way. I was happy for him when he married Maria, never met her though. This was after our falling out. I knew of Tony, of course, and Howard's shitty-ass parenting methods, but through Peggy--we never talked after the Incident." You begin to break down sobbing, wine bottle forgotten as you lay your head in the crook of your elbow. "And then he died," you sniffle, "before I even said anything. It took me too long. I could've fixed it. Hell, maybe I could've helped his kid. But I waited too long." You laugh bitterly, raising your head. "I know everyone I care about dies, but this extends to the man I hated, too."

"Wait... so did Howard kill your husband or not?" Wanda asks.

You consider the question, slowly sobering up--obviously, you're nowhere close to being sober, but you're at least a little more so than you were a few minutes ago. "Inadvertently, yes. He didn't mean to. But that doesn't mean I didn't blame him. I guess I couldn't stand Jack being dead, so I lashed out at the closest person I could. In hindsight, that person was probably me, but I still blamed Howard, and ruined a friendship. But yeah, Howard put us in the situation, and I'm the one who killed him."

"Wait, you killed him?" Sam repeats.

You nod sadly, tears welling up again. "Yeah," you snuffle, a far cry from your usual reticent demeanor, "I was being stupid and didn't pay attention." You laugh, but it's not a happy one--more of a choked-out, bitter laugh. "It's ironic, I save him from a bullet wound pretty quickly after meeting him, and then, instead of repaying the favor and just taking me to a hospital, he jumps in front of the bullet and takes it himself. And I couldn't save him the second time around."

Steve looks at you, understanding. But you don't have a chance to elaborate more before you pass out. Apparently, drinking that much in such a short time is not healthy. (Who woulda thunk it)

Bucky picks you up gently, carrying you to your cell and laying you in your bed as Clint re-handcuffs you. Everyone else follows, and the two step back to where the others stand, watching you sleep. For the first time since meeting you, your face is almost peaceful.

The group files out quietly, going to the common room and sitting in shock. Everyone is silent, mulling over the scattered information they had learned about you--the only information.

Thor is still processing both your and his other sister's existence--what was it? Hela or something?

Steve is confused as to why you act as if you knew him during the war when you two never met.

Tony wants to know more about his father.

Loki is just fucking done with this shit and wants to play pranks on someone, anyone.

Clint is wondering how you drank all that wine.

Nat is jealous of Wanda because the latter can read minds.

Sam is thinking of how annoying Bucky is.

Bucky is thinking of how annoying Sam is.

Rhodey is watching Tony in order to make sure he's okay.

Scott is wondering if it's socially acceptable for him to get coffee and check on Ant-hony right now.

Vision is watching Wanda.

Wanda is reading random people's minds.

And then Bruce is in the lab, having missed the entire altercation, and is thinking of how to do science stuff, completely oblivious to the tumult going on upstairs.

Finally, Steve breaks the silence, rubbing his temple. "We're going to have to talk to her more tomorrow."

"Yeah," Tony agrees quietly, "yeah, we will."