Chapter Nine:
Emblym became bored very easily, so, she wanted to go wander around the strange Helicarrier. However, the Black man made it very clear that she was not allowed to do that. Instead, Emblym went to the science room that the rich guy and the scruffy looking guy, which she thought was Doctor Banner, were hanging out.
When the doors opened and Emblym sat down, both of their attitudes changed. They were more tense, and did not enjoy her prescense in the room, even though she hadn't even said anything. Yet.
"Hey, uh," Dr. Banner spoke up, turning to her two lovely bodyguards. Or henchmen, or, even better, minions! "Look, I'm sure we can keep an eye on her. So, you can like, go, or stand outside the door?"
The two minions looked at each other, then at Emblym who grinned. They nodded and went to stand outside the door. As soon as the door closed, the rich guy wheeled on her. "So, what's your story, princess?"
"Ooo, name-calling already? I feel included," Emblym replied, chuckling.
"I mean, you're still a kid, so you gotta be something fierce if Fury let you on this assignment."
"His name is Fury?" Emblym tilted her head in a hald-nod, "I guess that fits."
"What did you do to get here?" Tony asked again. "We're supposed to be a team, right? Let us in on your secret."
"I'll have you know that secrets aren't supposed to be easily shared like that," Emblym replied coolly. "Isn't that an oxymoron? Oh, well, who knows." Emblym summoned her knife and used it to pick under her nails. "Thanks for getting those guys off my back, Doc. I owe you one."
"Yeah... No problem..." Doctor Banner said, kind of nervous with the knife in the room, even though Emblym wasn't threatening anyone with it.
"Hmm, you still haven't explained why you're here, princess? Come on, it can't be that bad."
"It could be that bad," Emblym shrugged. "Besides, I'm not here to braid your hair and paint your nails. We have a job to get done. Do yours. Away from me."
"Such sarcasm," He said, almost formidably. "I never thought anyone on this team was capable of that much. Impressive, princess."
"Hmm, you still haven't started to do your job, Rich boy."
"Well, you still haven't started to tell me your 'tragic backstory', princess."
"Because it isn't your buisness," Emblym crossed her legs and twirled her knife. "Now, please, get back to science talk, and whatever else you were doing."
The rich guy narrowed his eyes at Emblym, knowing that she wasn't going to talk much more on anything that would've mattered.
"Tony, come look at this," Doctor Banner said from across the room, ending their little stare down. Emblym smirked, giving him a shooing motion. So, he turned and left. Emblym leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up, victoriously.
Emblym sat back for a few hours, quiet and listening to the electrical hum of the ship. It was lulling and it the two scientists weren't talking it would even put her to sleep.
No, it wouldn't put her to sleep, since she didn't sleep, of course. However, the thought of it was comforting. A little. The voices would never allow that. They didn't know, with their mindless bickering about stupid things. I am hot. I want to die. I want blood. Kill me. Kill him. Kill. Kill. Kill.
It wouldn't make the best soundtrack of inner voices, now that she thought about it.
Emblym's head poked up when she heard the door open. Then, at the same time, a cry of pain. The voices reacted - having suffered from pain and hearing pain for so long. It made Emblym wince, nearly doubling over.
"Nothing?" Tony asked, looking at Doctor Banner, who was the one to shout.
"Hey! Are you nuts?!" Emblym inhaled and looked up. That was the blonde man speaking, Captain America. He was upset, probably with Tony. He was holding a... Electric prodder. Emblym had seen one on the Farm, when she were there. From the way she was it, he had poked Doctor Banner with it.
"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you?" Tony asked, a bit surprised. "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"
"Is everything a joke to you?" Captain American demanded.
"Funny things are."
Emblym stared at the two and rolled her eyes. "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," Captain america America glared, then turned to Doctor Banner and said, "No offense, doctor."
"No, it's alright," Doctor Banner waved a hand. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Emblym rose an eyebrow, wondering what was so special about this man and his bubble of serenity.
"You're tiptoeing, big man," Tony told him with an ounce of recklessness and the sense of having no shame attached to his voice. "You need to strut."
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark," Captain America snapped back.
"You think I'm not?" Tony scoffed and tilted his head, talking down to the Captain - which was ironic considering he was much taller. "Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
"You think Fury is hiding something?" Captain America said, almost in a hushed tone as if the words were considered treason.
"He's a spy, Captain," Tony deadpanned. "He's the spy. His secrets have secrets." He pointed to Doctor Banner, who had returned to half working and half listening to their arguement. "It's hugging him too."
"Uh... I just wanna finish my work here and..." Doctor Banner muttered, keeping his eyes down, not finishing his sentence.
"Doctor...?" Captain America said, looking at him.
"'A warm light for all of mankind...'" He quoted, although Emblym didn't know from who though. "Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."
Suddenly, it clicked. An hour or two ago, Bruce and Tony watched this short live video of the Black man, Fury talking to this pale guy wearing golden horns and had hair that was so dark that it looked the colour of seaweed that hadn't had much exposure to the sun. Or, an ugly tree's leaves. Both examples fit his hair colour. He also wore long clothes - which one of the voices told her were draped not a dress - and those seemed like they were expensive. Emblym noticed that he kept clenching his right hand, as it trying to summon something in there. It was strange, overall, and Emblym had hardly listened to the encounter. But, she did remember the name, Loki. It even sounded like it should look like seaweed or some ugly colour like that.
"I heard it," Steve said, so Banner continued talking.
"Well, I think that was meant for you," Banner said, pointing to Tony. "Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news." What was Barton? Emblym wondered if it was a computer, or one or Loki's henchmen, or something of the like.
"The Stark Tower? You mean that big, ugly..." Judging by the very offended glare Tony was giving Captain America, Emblym assumed that he had had close relations with the supposed tower. Due to this look, Captain America cut his comments short. "... Building in New York?"
"It's powered by Stark Reactors," Doctor Banner says, then began to explain what he meant. "It's a self- sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?" He looked at Tony for confirmation of correction.
"That's just a prototype," Tony shrugged, but Emblym could tell that his ego was absorbing size in all these compliments. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now." Emblym nodded, she had to admit, that was impressive.
"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?" Doctor Banner asked curiously. "I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"
"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files," Tony said, and he said it so fast and carelessly that Emblym nearly missed it.
"What?" She said, jaw dropped. If this guy was getting into all of SHIELD's secure files, Emblym could probably find out more about how to get rid of her voices. Or, more importantly, more information on Hatter and how to get to Wonderland.
Captain America was equally as surprised. "I'm sorry. Did you say...?!"
"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge," Tonk explained. "In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide."
"Yet you're confused why they didn't want you around here?" Captain America scoffed.
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible," Tony said, shrugging nonchalantly.
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve said, rubbing his brow. "This is a man who means to start a war, and if don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."
"Following is not really my style," Tony said.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Captain America questioned, a smug smile on his face.
Tony glared at the man and turned. That obviously stuck a rather tight nerve with him. "Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"
The two men stare so intensely at each other that Emblym wondered if they were going to battle it out on the spot. She was sure her voices would like that. Even the thought of two grown men fighting made them excited.
"Steve," Doctor Banner spoke up and the blonde man, Steve apparently his name was, turned to him. "Tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"
Steve's face faltered for a moment, and he considered that maybe Tony and Doctor Banner were right. However, the moment was exactly that, a moment, and it was fleeting because as soon as the look of doubt came, it disappeared. His blue eyes hardened and he began to move away.
"Just find the cube." He ordered and left the room.
Emblym got up and followed him, snatching a doctor's coat off of a rack and slipping it on before she left. She didn't look back at the two men who were supposed to be keeping an eye on her and she followed Captain America instead.
"You seem rather angry today," she commented to the man. He did not look in the mood to be listening to Enblym, which was where she thrived. "Tell me, Captain America, why do you take orders like its law?"
"Because, orders from a superiour is law," Steve replied tursely. Then he looked at her and noticed the doctor's cost, which was new. "Why are you wearing that? Where's the two men that were following you around?"
"Still with Tony and Bruce. The entire ship is full of cameras. I'm allowed a little freedom, don't worry."
Steve huffed and continued to walk, turning a sharp and sudden corner. Following signs on the wall, he directed himself to a small gym, where he proceeded to go to one of the side shelves and wrapped his hand in bandages.
Emblym sat down on a bench and crossed her legs. "Is that what people were like in the, what, 1940s? They just took orders, no question?"
"Why do you want to know?" Steve asked, then, frowned. "In fact, what do you want? Why are you here, following me?"
"Well, science, although fun to listen to, does, admittedly, get boring after a while," Emblym shrugged. "Besides, you're just a history lesson waiting to be read."
Steve sighed. "During the War, nobody asked questions. Questions got you, or someone else, killed."
"Did you ever see the end of the war?" Emblym asked as Steve began to lunch the hanging sandbag from the ceiling. Emblym watched, but her voices were getting riled up from violence they weren't apart of. So, she walked up to a sandbag and began to punch too.
Steve looled over at her, "You'll want to wrap your hands of you're going to do that."
"I do," Emblym agreed, after a few good punches. "They wouldn't like that. Anyways, answer my question."
He looked at her for a second, then began to talk. "No. I... After the crash, and I woke up, I was told that I played a significant part in ending the War, but I never saw it." Emblym nodded. Her knuckles were beginning to get sore and split a little. She kept going.
Emblym was silent for a , listening to her voices' pitches get higher and higher. Blood! Blood! Kill!
"Didn't you learn that already?" Steve asked. Emblym was so focused. She stopped and turned to look at him. She didn't hear his question. Her voices screamed at her when she did and she winced, rubbing her temple.
"I asked, didn't you learn that already? In school, I mean. They said you were... Nineteen, right? You're in college right now? Or, should be."
Emblym hummed, going back to her punching. "That would have been ideal, maybe. So... Mundane, though, don't you think? Strange to me, that we celebrate getting out of free school to go to paid school, and that that is the coming of age for our country."
"What?" Steve frowned, staring at her.
"I didn't. Go, I mean. I didn't go. To college," Emblym shrugged. "I spent my glorious high school years in a high-facility shitty mental institution. That... What your day and age would call the Insane Asylum, or Crazy House."
"Why?" Steve frowned, looking at her, shocked.
"Long-ass story, short-ass time," Emblym sighed. "Basically, I... Caught this thing and killed a lady, sent to crazy jail, tried to kill another lady, failed, and spent that time screaming. It wasn't exactly tropical paradise."
"You tried to kill someone?" Steve questioned, shocked.
"They're trying to kill everyone," Emblym shrugged. "Instead, I do this," Emblym showed him her completely bloody knuckles. She stared at her hands and so did Steve. "You follow orders so that if something bad happens, and it was the wrong decision, you can't be blamed for it. That's how you cope, following orders. I don't follow their orders or else it'll get someone else killed and... I can't afford that. So, I do this. That's how I cope."
Emblym shook her hands out, and went to a dirty sink near the side and began rinsing her hands. The voices were quieter. Not silent, not non-existent, just not making noise. Well, a lot of noise. A few were still loud. Still screaming, but that was better than them all screaming. That was better than her screaming.
"I have to go," Steve said, to Emblym's back.
"I know," she replied. "Goodbye, Captain America." Emblym didn't hear his reply when he left.
• ️ ️ ️ ️•
Emblym was sitting in the corner of the gym when Fury found her. She had Hatter's hat in her hands and was rubbing the rim of it gently. "Why are you in here?" He demanded, angrily. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"
Emblym didn't reply, and Fury's eye narrowed. "Answer me, Emblym."
"I figured out your name. It's Fury," Emblym said. "Suits your personality, but I'm sure you've heard that already, haven't you?"
"Emblym-"
"You know, the last thing he said was my name. He said my name into this hat." Emblym shook the hat a little for emphasis. "I think he transferred it to me. I... I didn't know he could do that." Fury said nothing, and Emblym continued. "He didn't deserve to die, you know? It was that damned egg..."
Emblym, you're making no sense right now. We need to go, the team is reconvening and we'll be in the lab room."
"The team," Emblym scoffed. "Don't say 'the team'. It sounds like you actually want me apart of it. After all this, I know you're going to send me back to the institute. I don't care, honestly... Or, maybe you'll kill me. Or, keep me barely living in a cell somewhere. That's practically what the institute did. Got fed half a meal every two-three weeks. That's if I didn't act up when they came in." Emblym laughed humourlessly. "I did. I always do. Do you know what it's like to be isolated for weeks and then finally showing up with a full course meal. Not the food of course, no, no, the people." Emblym inhaled and held her head tight. Her buzzcut hair waa growing a bit since she hadn't had it cut since when she lived with Hatter. Now, it was a little bit longer, maybe an inch or so. It was still prickly, and she pressed her hands unto it. Maybe if she dug deep enough, she'd bleed.
"Emblym, we need to move," Fury said, not attempting to help her at all. Emblym laughed at that, actually laughed.
"Wow, you're practically evil," Emblym laughed, holding her stomach. "You want to know why I always lashed out whenever they brought in food?"
"I want you to move your ass so we can go."
"Last story, promise," Emblym grinned. "The voices made me do it. They always could hear the blood pumping in a person, like their hearts and shit. They're like vampires without fangs. After not hearing that and suddenly it being practically thrown in their face," Emblym laughed. "What were they going to do?" She grinbed. "You would too, if you were in my position. You know that." Emblym stood up and grinned at him, Her knuckles were still red and a little bloody, but Emblym didn't complain.
"Now, we can go, Mr. Furious."