Disclaimer: If I owned Marvel or the Avengers, hah, that'll be the day. Hahah.


Chapter 5

Say My Name


The following day, Hela was sitting inside a conference room, hearing a meeting with the board directors of the company about a new business venture in the works – in other words, she was having a rather dull and boring day in the life in the shoes of Helena Lieschmidt, CEO of Lieschmidt Enterprise – the world's premier medical and pharmaceutical enterprise that spans the entire globe. It's ironic and unheard of, considering who she is and what she does, but it became a funny inside joke between her and her brothers and it didn't really matter much what they did on the side job. Plus, she gets to hit the Hell-Lords of Midgard where it hurts whenever a life is saved thanks for their advanced medical treatments – at least for the moment.

But today, her Midgardian hobby and entertainment was riling her up on the inside; she'd rather be out there following leads to her father's whereabouts but instead, she was stuck there for another hour or so hearing old men and women bicker about inconsequential things.

Things were so heated up in the room; she knew one of them would fall into cardiac arrest later in the day – stress being a factor, but more like an excuse since he was to die that day, whether he liked it or not. She made a mental note to have her assistant send flowers and her regards at the funeral.

With a swing of her chair, she looked away from the rest and deigned to work and study the figures on the screen and drowned out the noise in the room so she can do some real work.

Last night, the Captain's team were able to retrieve the Winter Soldier and she was itching to leave the conference room and pay the Avengers a visit, but showing signs of being too overeager would put her at a disadvantage with her plans up ahead.

While it would've been easy for her to get the soldier herself, she needed a way to get into the good graces of her father's enemies; and while she could have just simply told them her plans, Thor couldn't back up the information she has because he was completely and utterly clueless about everything that's going on in his immediate surroundings, as always.

But if she wants to get results, she'll have to come out clean with them.


Bruce and Tony were busy in the Tower's medical bay. It had been three days since Steve, Natasha and Sam came home with an unconscious HYDRA assassin, and since then, they've been round the clock checking his vitals and studying the lab results on his altered physiology.

From what they read in the file Hela sent them, the Winter Soldier mostly stayed in cryogenic sleep whenever he wasn't out on a mission. Bruce deduced that due to this, his physical body, though enhanced by the super soldier serum created by HYDRA was having a relapse hence why he has been in catatonic state since his arrival. This was only proven further by account of Steve and the others when they encountered the soldier. When they engaged him, he was out of focus during the fight that it had been almost too easy for them to nab him; too easy which meant neither of them suffered an injury unlike their first encounter.

Bruce cleared his throat to get Tony's attention who was almost to his knees getting a close look at the Winter Soldier's cybernetic arm.

"You ever wonder where the hell got all these?" Tony broke the silence and gestured towards the files he was re-reading.

Looking back from where he was taking notes from the results, Bruce responded, "Why don't you ask her when she comes in. She said she'll be dropping by soon."

"She did?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, uh, she," Bruce pretended to be busy scanning the screen to avoid Tony's glare, "Uh, she texted me."

"She texted you. Hela texted you?"

Bruce could feel Tony's stare burning the back of his head, and he could practically feel, no, he knew Tony was grinning ear to ear and was walking up towards him judging by the shuffling sounds coming closer from behind.

"I'm uh, going to get more tea," Bruce got up but was immediately sat down by Tony just as fast.

"Something you wanna tell me?"

Tony's curious tone made Bruce pinch the bridge of his nose, and the next thing he knew, Tony had already took off towards the elevators with something of his.


From the moans of exasperation and helplessness coming at them in booming yells and screeching laughter, Natasha knew the so-called Science Bros were at it again. Feeling a headache coming on if she stayed anywhere near where the commotion was gonna end up, she got off the bar stool, grabbed her mug of piping hot coffee, walked over to one of the couches and sat down with the others while watching TV.

Like the overgrown man-child that they were, Tony zipped past the main longue with Bruce hot on his tail. Tony was skidding on the floor singing, "Brucey has Hela sitting on a tree!"

To which Bruce cried, "Urgh, Tony!"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Tony was giggling like a little girl when he rounded the corner of the kitchen, catching his breath and sliding to the floor while he tried to unlock Bruce's phone which he snatched from the Doctor's desk a while ago when he refused to give him any answers. Too busy laughing to get the phone unlocked, Bruce managed to get the phone back and secured it inside his pockets and gave Tony an irritated glare – which, Tony could've sworn he saw some green in them.

"Hey, hey, no need to be man Big Guy," Tony said in between awkward throaty laughs, "I just wanted to know what you and Miss Lieschmidt had been talking about."

Bruce was about to berate Tony for being an overgrown man-child when he heard Natasha clear her throat. Automatically, the two geniuses turned their gazes at the main lounge where Natasha was huddled in one of the couches on the far right, overlooking the kitchen with a very sneaky, very knowing smirk gracing her lips – with Thor on the floor with ear buds on while assumingly looked like he was watching something on a StarkPad, and to his left, sitting on the couch with her body crouched where she was operating the gadget in Thor's hand, Hela was looking at them amusedly.

"Uh, hello ladies," Tony grinned at them and Bruce covered half his face with one hand, the other giving them a small wave.

"You're lucky you don't have to live with two numb nuts geniuses," Natasha said, addressing Hela without breaking eye contact with Tony and Bruce.

To this, Hela chuckled and gave the two a fond, sarcastic smile and retorted, "On the contrary, I do…"

By that time, Thor had finished watching the Nyan Cat video and was able to catch Natasha's quip and Hela's reply. He furrowed his brows, not exactly knowing what had transpired and was absolutely lost on why the two women had such looks on their faces.

Just then, Steve Rogers, followed by Sam Wilson and Clint were purposefully making their way towards them.

"Miss Lieschmidt? Hela, we have a few questions for you," Hela could see the determination in the Captain's blue eyes, if not for the small hesitation in his addressing her. She'll have to repair that later too, "So if you'd please follow us to the briefing room?"

Hela straightened up from her see, a placating smile gracing her beautiful face, "Already?"


Author's Note: I'll follow this up soon enough. I would've continued on with the interrogation in his chapter, but I felt like it needed a standalone chapter on its own.

Anyways, please don't forget to show me some love by reviewing, fave'ing and following. Sweet Hel-made treats for those who will!