The Avengers were all gathered around a large table, most of them unable to help sneaking glances at the rather unextraordinary looking girl. She just crossed her arms over her chest, slouched back, and glared at everyone. They had already been sitting around for a few hours, and Miriam was bored. She peered up at Thor. "So is there going to be any point in time where you make that guy give back what doesn't belong to him?"
Thor shrugged, looking more comfortable than any of the other assembled superheroes. "I do not know, Miriam. Odin considered you dangerous with none of the stones in your possession, so I cannot imagine that he would approve of us just handing one over. Besides, Vision is also a friend, and we do not know what the effects of taking the stone away would be."
Miriam's frown deepened. It was rather unfair. This was the second of her stones that she had located, yet she still had none. Miriam glanced over at Vision, and he seemed to be leaning away from her, like he was afraid that she would run over and snatch the stone. The longer that she had to sit around on this Midgard, weak and vulnerable, the more she despised those Asgardians that had taken it upon themselves to imprison her in the first place. Miriam felt a righteous sense of satisfaction at the thought that all of those jerks had died locking her up.
The Captain moved to the head of the table, and cleared his throat to get the attention of his Avengers. They all tore their eyes away from the stranger, and looked towards their leader. Steve sighed. "By now, you all know that we have a stranger among us." He nodded at Thor, then sat down.
Thor stood. "My friends, it is so good to see all of you again, after all of this time." He gestured to Miriam. "This is Miriam. My father, Odin, has exiled her to Midgard until the end of her days. Do not be fooled by the fact that she looks like a child. This girl is older than all of us combined, and she, though powerless for the moment, is indeed the rightful owner of all of the infinity stones."
Wanda stood up. "It's true. I've seen into the recesses of her mind, and I watched as the stones were filled with a power that was torn right from her body."
Thor nodded, and Wanda sat again. The Asgardian sighed. "Odin believes Miriam to be extremely dangerous. That is why he requested that the remainder of her life be closely watched. If she does somehow do something, then what better place is there for her to be located in at the time, than the place full of earth's guardians?"
Some of the Avengers nodded at that logic, while others looked uneasy at the thought of Miriam's presence. That didn't bother her, though. She was used to people looking at her like she was going to blow up their entire planet (though to be fair, she did often blow up entire planets for absolutely no reason other than amusement value).
Miriam looked around at all of the different faces. Which one of these people would it be easiest to get into the head of? Which one could she appeal to to get her freedom?
She decided on the one with the wings, Sam Wilson. He seemed like a bit of a simpleton, and there was no reason to believe that he would have particularly good mental defences. Being honest, he didn't even look like he had any physical defenses, let alone mental ones.
Miriam lowered her eyes, and tried to curl up into the smallest shape possible. She drew up her legs, and pressed her face to her knees. She made soft whimpering noises. Thor frowned at Miriam, then looked at the other Avengers. "Though I don't believe Miriam can cause much harm to us, do be wary. She has a way of getting into your head and turning your thoughts all over the place."
Miriam narrowed her eyes. She didn't move, though, so no one could see that she looked peeved. Miriam was annoyed. Was it really it really too much to ask to get back her power? If she ever did get it back, even just a piece of it, then Miriam would blow up this entire planet, as thanks for pissing her off.
The Captain sighed. "Thank you, Thor." He looked over at Miriam. "We're going to need to discuss this. Do you mind waiting out in the hallway with Thor?"
Miriam didn't respond. Thor gently took her arm, and tugged her to her feet. It was okay to send Thor out to babysit, since he had already made it clear that he was on board with the idea of Miriam staying with the Avengers, since it had been his idea in the first place.
Thor pulled Miriam out into the hallway, and closed the door to the meeting room so the rest of the Avengers could discuss the matter without being overheard. Miriam leaned against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. "So what's the point of all this? You're going to keep me prisoner here even though I'm currently weaker than any of you? And in the same place as one of my stones? How do you know that I won't just grab it and run?"
Thor snorted. "I have serious doubts that you would be able to defeat Vision in a fight. You would not be able to get the stone away from him."
Miriam shrugged. "I think you'd be surprised by the motivation that comes with wanting something really, really badly. But it doesn't really matter. It's not like I plan on sticking around this place for very long." She scowled. "And I shouldn't have to. I've done nothing to wrong you or the Avengers."
"It does not matter if you've done nothing against us personally. Odin believes that you could be a threat, and more importantly, he told me to watch over you. So that means that I'm going to watch over you, or at least ensure that there are capable people watching you."
Miriam winced, and wrapped one arm around her middle. "Being mortal like this sucks. I guess those Asgardians knew what they were talking about when they said that they had found a punishment that was befitting all of my crimes. Though they probably would have been better off just killing me while they had me restrained, rather than just locking me up, right under their feet, no less." She sighed. "If you would just help me get all of the stones back, then I promise that I'll leave this place alone. I'm not going to lie and say I've changed my ways, but I can move all of my destruction to the other side of the universe, where I won't be bothering anybody you care about."
Thor shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no matter what the Avengers decide as your fate, you will have to stay on Midgard. Odin said that you are to stay here and live out the rest of your days, no matter how many there are left."
Miriam scowled. "If I had my powers right now I would disintegrate you where you stand. You and all your dumb little friends!"
The door to the meeting room swung open, and Sam stepped out. He cleared his throat to let the alien know that he was there. She turned with a look of immense irritation on her face. He nodded to the doorway. "You can come back in now, so the Captain can explain the verdict to you."
She stomped back into the room, and stood there angrily instead of taking a seat. "So you've decided what you're going to do with me? Even though you have absolutely no right to do such a thing?"
The Captain sighed. "Staying here is your best option."
"That implies that I have other options."
Wanda grinned. "Well, technically speaking, you do. I could always destroy you right now, and save us all a whole bunch of trouble."
Miriam looked unimpressed. "Right. You've seen the things that my kind is capable of, but you're willing to risk their wrath just to kill someone who can't even defend herself? How heroic."
Vision stood up. "What exactly is your kind?"
Miriam glowered at that. Thinking of her kind only served as a reminder that they had all left her behind. Eventually, even the only person she had ever cared about had betrayed her. She shrugged, trying to look casual despite the hurt showing on her face. "We're known as Eternals. Or at least, that's what two of us call each other. There's really no name more fitting, considering how long we've been alive at this point." She shook her head. "Why do you care?"
Vision sighed. "I have never heard of such a species before. Wanda has described what she could of the things she saw in your mind, and they are confusing, to say the least. We are simply trying to understand who you are."
Miriam spoke bitterly. "Well, I guess all you really need to know is that all of my terrible murderess personality aspects stem from a deep-rooted abandonment issue, caused by every other person in my entire freaking species leaving me. Anything else you wanted to know?"
Vision shook his head almost meekly. "No, that would be all."
