Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, or gaining any profit by writing this.


Chapter 10

Soul Language


Hela came back the following day, urging Steve to spend time with Bucky before she come down to business – it was a reunion overdue, and though she didn't admit it verbally, she was warmed by the idea of reuniting old friends and family.

She found Steve and Bucky in the training area in the middle of a sparring session, the sound of their blows reverberating within their immediate area, Hela having found a long bench where she sat while waiting for them to finish.

When they finally noticed her presence in the room, the two soldiers greeted which she responded with a small wave before looking back on the screen of her tablet, completely immersed with her work.

Now that Bucky was back to his old self and his memories repaired, Hela was gripped with anxiety, excitement, and even fear. So far he was her only solid lead to the sceptre's location, and although she had other means and measures to locate its whereabouts, finding an artefact of immense power was not only difficult, it was also dangerous and a death wish in itself, but being well acquainted with both didn't deter her from doing so – there were other things she was wary of and it was crucial that she be careful.

After Steve and Bucky finished their rounds, Hela didn't waste any more time and asked the newly recovered soldier of each and every Hydra locations he knew of and to list them down. Bucky was more than cooperative and promised to do so, after that, Hela came up the common floor while the two cleaned up.


Hela was soon up the lounge with the still gaping hole and found Clint rummaging through the kitchen in search of food. Giving her a nod of acknowledgement, she smiled and raised up a couple of boxes in her hand, walking towards the counter where she laid down the boxes of pastries she brought.

Clint warily looked at the treats and the goddess couldn't help but chuckle as she got up on one of the stools, "They're not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking."

"Sure," Clint stared at her, giving her the evil eye before walking over the shelf where the mugs where stored and asked, "Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

Clint poured them a mug each and over to get the cream and sugar which he set down on the counter near Hela, "It's not poisoned."

"But if you knew I would be coming, then you would've prepared a dose or two, right?" Hela quipped patronizingly.

"What?" The archer had an unsure look on his face.

"Was that not what you had in mind?" Hela laughed this time, pouring a spoonful of sugar and a lot of cream on her coffee, "Forgive me if it wasn't verbatim."

Taking a bite out of a Danish pastry with chocolate filling, Clint walked over the other end of the counter and sat there, still giving her a glare, "Don't tell me you read minds."

Shaking her head no, she corrected him, "Souls. I can read soul language, if that means anything at all to you."

"Soul language?" Clint raised a brow.

"It's the easiest term to explain with, as it is one of my many special abilities," She replied, pausing for a brief thought, "Though it shouldn't really surprise you, especially since you're familiar with my brothers."

"That wasn't a joke?"

"Not at all," Hela rolled her shoulder to a shrug and turned slightly to face him, "Though I suppose you'd be more familiar with what the ancient Midgardian's called me."

Clint looked thoughtful for a moment; jogging his memory from the last time Natasha forced him to read the Norse Mythology after the Chitauri Invasion. If Hela was Fenris Fenrir and Jörmungand's sister, then she must be, "Don't tell me you're…"

"Indeed I am."

"And why didn't you mention this in the first place?" By now Clint was rubbing his face with his hands in exasperation; frustrated that Hela failed to inform them of her rank.

"It doesn't really matter;" She replied matter-of-factly, "Things would have gone awry if I mentioned my status, not to mention that you see my father as a psychopathic villain."

"And he's not?" Clint spat.

"You were under the sceptre's control too, were you not?" Hela lost the sweetness in her voice, the same with her face which was blank and expressionless; the face of the calm before the storm, "You had your difficulties after the Invasion. With everyone giving you dirty looks when they pass you by, the mistrust, the rejection that was so apparent from everyone around you, but you were able to get past that and live on, despite the horrible memories, the nightmares and the pull of control. You survived the horrors because you knew there were people cheering you on, giving you the hope you needed to get through. I, we wanted to be that for our father, and we're working hard to see it through."

Clint was stunned into silence, not by how much Hela knew of his situation, but by the determination burning in her eyes. He didn't want to trust her, but something tells him that she truly means what she said, and so he asked, "What happens when you get a hold of the sceptre? Any leads on Loki?"

"The power of the sceptre has been corrupted, there are ways though, to turn it back, which brings us to another concern; the longer the sceptre stays that way, the stronger its malignant force becomes, which would make purification a very arduous ordeal" She sighed, "And no, my father proves to be more elusive than the sceptre itself."

Clint face palmed himself and began to rub his temples, "You really make a habit of omitting details, don't you?"

"Aren't you supposed to be used to this sort of thing by now? After all, you did work for a highly covert intelligence agency," For the second time in the last few minutes, Hela managed to shut Clint up.

A few minutes later, Steve and Bucky arrived in the kitchen and found Clint bashing his head on the counter. When they asked Hela what it was about, she replied with 'It's nothing', with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Anyway, I came up with the list as you asked," Bucky cut in, handing Hela a piece of paper. "And thank you, for helping Steve find me, among other things."

"You're welcome, and it's nothing, really," Hela trailed off, scanning the paper quickly while tapping the information on her tablet. For a while she'd held her breath, hoping for the best only to be shot down after cross-matching the areas with the locations they've already checked before.

She breathed a sigh and smiled sadly at them, "We've already checked these places, but none of them had the sceptre. But thank you anyway; I'm still glad I was able to help you and Steve."

The room fell silent once more, the only sounds audible were the shuffling of objects on the counter, and the occasional clinks from the mugs and glasses in their hands.

Composing herself, Hela switched the screen off her tablet, tired of her frantic search for anything she might have missed during the first cross-reference, "I'll just have to look harder then."

"Can't you just magic your way to it or something? You know, like how Loki did it with the Tesseract?" Clint asked, backed up by Steve and Bucky's questioning look – the latter still trying to get up to speed with things.

"I can," Hela confirmed, "But with the sceptre's current state, I can't guarantee it won't have repercussions or adverse effects one way or another."

The three just nodded, not sure how to react since magic was not something they were aware of until recently.


The next half hour was spent with small talk and chitchat, the ultimate stillness in the room only interrupted by one Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner in his tail holding a black furred, green eyed cat.

Hela's mouth was agape in shock. The cat, she was certain of it; and she couldn't be mistaken, she knew that form all too well. She sucked in a breath and jumped off her seat, running towards the salt and pepper haired physicist with a broad, truly jubilant smile on her face when she exclaimed;

"Father!"

Hela was inches away from holding him when a sheer, green repellent barrier inscribed in ancient runes suddenly shot out at Hela, green lightning-like sparks sending her careening a few steps away, her own magic preventing the force from throwing her to the wall and out the Avengers Tower with its immense force.

Green fire was licking at her arms where she took the brunt of the energy field from doing any damage to her and those around her.


Author's Note: I know, it's a sort of iffy chapter (I dunno why, but it just feels like it to me).

By the way! I drew Hela~ or my reimagining of her. I signed up for DA just for it, because in all my time drawing characters before, I just didn't do it back then. But I did, so I can show you guys.

Tada here's the linky on deviantART! art/Helalokisdottir001-No1-487600883

Welp, if you liked the drawing, the chapter, or violent reactions, don't forget to leave me a review! Keep posted on this fic by following and/or fave'ing too.

Love y'all!