"Have a seat." Paige smiled motioning around her office to the many choices of furniture. Sigrun took to a long white sofa while Paige sat across from her in an armchair of the same color with a notepad in hand. Her office was fairly large, defiantly tons of space to move. Two of the four walls were made completely of glass, which hung pictures of her degrees and family photos. Sigrun had been wanting to speak with Doctor Hayes for a while now, thinking that it would do her some good. As the personal therapist for the Avengers new HQ, Paige had gotten to know a majority of the team on a personal level. This week she was currently away from Wakanda, taking a break from her work with Bucky and his recovery process. Sigrun was still getting used to her new life on Earth, especially their clothes. She wore a sleeveless black top over a blue leather jacket that she had set on the Doctors desk, then kicking off her shoes.

She adjusted her glasses and looked up. She wore a pink and white sleeveless blouse with blue jeans that hooked around her tiny ankles. "Why don't we start off basic. Tell me about yourself?"

Sigrun snorted at first, thinking of it as a joke. "What like my favorite color?"

"If you'd like, but no. I want to know about you personally, where you come from, your family and friends." Val thought for a moment thinking of what she would be comfortable with. "I want you to know that you can trust me and you don't have to talk about anything you don't want but I'll encourage you to."

"I grew up on Asgard with my parents. They worked as apothecaries for the villages. Neither of them were fighters, but they were good people. I was a little bit of a rebellious kid growing up." Paige smiled at this, seeing how well that fit her friend. "I did enjoy learning and riding horses. But it wasn't until I joined the Valkryies that I felt that I had real friends."

"How old were you?"

"Twelve."

Paige almost fell out of her chair when she heard this, not sure if she believed it at first. "Twelve? Like the age number?"

"A warriors training on Asgard starts at a young age." That fact alone was incredible to think about. At the age of twelve a child on earth would still have a curfew of 8:30 but on Asgard the were training for war. The culture was certainly different.

"Why don't you tell me about Brunhilda?" That name instantly got her attention her gaze turned away from his arms folded as if she was forcing herself to say nothing.

"I don't think I'm ready to talk about her yet." Paige stopped writing for a moment, leaning forward as she removed her glasses, looking her patient dead in her eyes as if she was reading her heart and soul.

"Sigrun you've spent a good chunk of your life trying to forget your past. But you made a brave decision indicating that you don't want to forget. You want to embrace it, despite the fact that there's heartbreak. Don't you dare backtrack now." Sigrun found it amazing how her friend refused to let her crawl back into her drunken haze. She hadn't known Paige for very long but considered them to be friends. She had missed having friends, she sighed deeply remembering how she had said that she didn't want to ever forget, she owed it to herself and her sisterhood not to.

"She was my lover and honestly she was one of the greatest women I've ever met. She made me feel alive, made me feel important." Paige nodded as she wrote in her journal. "I guess the main reason I started drinking was after I lost her."

"You kind of remind me of a patient I had back in New York. Lost her parents in an accident, developed strange powers and had has a bit of a drinking problem."

"Were you able to help her?

Paige sighed shaking her head. "It's always hard to see the people who need so much help not want to let you in and walk away." Hayes look back to her note pad.

"How long had you been with her?"

"Four years." She replied quickly.

Paige seemed embarrassed to ask. "I'm sorry did you mean the four number or the indication for how many years as for years?" Sigrun laughed, admiring her friend's ability to make her feel comfortable. "Sorry, I forgot that you Asgardians live much longer than mortals."

"Four." She repeated holding up the same number of fingers.

"Thank you."

Pure joy appeared on the warrior's face as she thought of her comrades. "My sisters were wonderful, my family in many ways. They helped me to move on from my brother."

"You have a brother?"

"Had."

"Had?" The Doctor looked concerned at this when she spoke in the past tense. But was relieved to hear that he wasn't dead. "What was he like?"

The Valkyrie sank into her seat as she stared at the ceiling. "He's a monster. Cruel and abusive. Never respected anyone." She turned over when she didn't hear Paige writing anything down, she was clutching her notepad tightly.

"Guess we have more in common than our love of boxing and liquor, Val." Both sat in silence, only listening to the movement of the ceiling fan above them. "I stopped talking to my brother years ago."

"Guess that's less harsh than disowning him." Paige looked up surprised at this. The two women remain quiet as they looked at one another. Val had sat up her hands clenched together as her elbows rested on her knees. "How do you do all this? Don't you have anyone to talk to about your own problems?"

Paige shrugged and had kicked her brown sandals off her feet as she brought the chair she was sitting in closer to Sigrun. "At times I guess, it's not my place to make the conversation about my own issues when it's my job to listen."

Val's eyes saddened. "That sounds lonely."

"It can be, but I guess it's nice to be around someone whose only there to listen. They don't need to hear about my hardships, they have their own issues. Personally, I don't like to talk about myself, I'm much more of a listener." She motions for her patient continue but she wasn't sure if she could. She honestly did want to know more. His name was Drados, he was very aggressive toward me mainly because he knew that I couldn't do anything about it." Her friend nodded eagerly most likely knowing what that felt like.

"Older or younger?"

"Older… You?"

"Younger." Paige looked embarrassed when she said this. "But only by a year."

"Both are asses regardless." They both laughed in agreement this. Val couldn't even understand why she began to cry, at first tears of sadness and then joy. Thinking about everything that had happened to her, good or bad. "When….when I said that I never wanted to forget I meant it, I….I couldn't believe that I succeeded. I'm so grateful to have you all."

Paige smiled, taking her friends hand tightly in her own, running her thumb against the top of it. "You know what that feels so good? It's because you admitted to what you felt was wrong in your life. You passed the first step of your recovery, understanding and accepting that you have to change and move forward." Val whipped her eyes with a tissue that Paige had at the ready. "You're a wonderful individual Sigrun and should be proud of yourself!" She hadn't had anyone speak to her like that in a long time, she had been on her own for just as long. But now she was surrounded and accepted by so many wonderful people. Her life wasn't meant to be lived alone and hazy it was meant to be filled with loyalty and compassion and above all love.

"Thank you." She sniffed getting to her feet. "I really did like talking to you. Your patience is incredible."

"You're very welcome and I've been told that by Mr. Stark. He really appreciates my…... temperament." The girls embraced each other as they get to their feet. "I'm glad you trust me." Sigrun really did. She was thankful for Paige's friendship and encouragement. "I'm always here when you want to talk."

Sigrun nodded, appreciating that. "Thank you." She turned back before she left. "If you ever need someone to listen to you, I'm here too." Paige liked the sound of that and walked her friend out, pleased that she was beginning to find a sense of relief from talking about her past, sometimes that part is the hardest thing to do. But it's the very first step and is the most important. Paige stared down at her watch as it turned three o'clock. Time for Tony's appointment.

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