Babysitter pt 12
Summary: The team debriefs.
Characters: Hela x fem!reader, the Avengers
Word Count: 2k
Warnings: angst/sad reality of the Snap, some soft smut
The only sound you could hear was the whirring of the air conditioning in the glass-encased office space. Tony was pacing at the front by the display TV with a map of the world flickering on the screen. You were picking at some debris that had gotten stuck under your nail, wondering if the awkward tensions between this group of people would ever cease.
Thor was chewing an apple, his eyes still staring daggers at Hela, who sat across from you. He was waiting for her to make a mistake. You had to admit his reason for mistrusting her was completely valid.
Tony tossed a 3D dart onto the screen, huffing as it landed in the middle of the ocean. There were numerous darts already pinned on more unsavoury places around the globe that you really weren’t a fan of.
“What do you say about that one then, Y/N?” he said, breaking the silence. “The middle of the ocean must be quiet enough for the both of you. Maybe you’ll find Atlantis.”
“Quit it, Stark,” Natasha replied. “Finding a new location for them is not the most ideal plan at this time.”
“Just trying to cheer everyone up, Nat.”
“Well stop trying, because it won’t work.”
“Don’t bicker,” you interrupted. “But Natasha is right. I can’t wrap my head around moving away to somewhere like Antarctica right now.”
“We could send them to Barton’s safehouse?”
“I really don’t think we should bother Clint right now,” Nat replied, her tone low and remorseful.
“But he’s all alone! Surely some company--”
“Stark.”
Her curt voice made you wince, realizing the implications of Hawkeye being ‘all alone.’ You picked at the nail a little more, wondering if you should try to reach out to him later to see how he was doing.
“Your world really is just crumbling at your feet, isn’t it?” Hela added, sensing the uneasiness across the room. “How easily humans break.”
“You’re not really helping your image right now, Hela,” you murmured across the table.
“She’s right though,” Thor agreed. “What is the rest of humanity supposed to do now?”
“We go into hiding,” Tony crossed his arms. “We find ways to live low. And maybe someday we find a way to fix it.”
“Why’s it always gotta be us, huh?” you sighed.
“That’s the shit you get with the name of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, sweetheart.”
“Why not find a way to fix this now?” Rhodey piped in. “Find who we can, buckle down, then locate Thanos.”
“Rhodey, we don’t even know if there is even a way to fix this at all,” Natasha sighed. Her eyes were weary and glossy with unspoken emotions. Your friends had all been tired for a very, very long time.
“I don’t know about you, but I would love to take a break for a while. Let the governments fix their half-empty countries. We’ve done enough,” Tony shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to have a cottage in the middle of nowhere, you know? With like, a lake. Maybe some birds.”
“Tony Stark in the wilderness? That would make a good reality show,” you commented. He chucked a 3D dart at you and it passed through your shoulder.
“Hey, you’d be surprised how capable I am out there.”
“But seriously, why not? We have all the capabilities of going into space and finding Thanos,” Rhodey continued, seemingly the only one with any vigour and charisma left out of everyone in the room. Probably out of everyone in the entire state at this point.
“Rhodey if you don’t stop talking I will snap your back,” Loki said. “Imagine we find Thanos tomorrow, how on earth could any of us take him on? We can barely stand.”
“We need a break,” you said. The group looked at you, stillness settling in the room. It was unusual, being the one they turned to for reason and leadership. You had to admit it would take some getting used to. “Hell I need a break, and I’m not even a superhero.”
You stood up, legs aching from the adrenaline, the running, and events of the day. Suddenly all you could think of was a long, steamy bath. “Tony is right. Plus, if we’re all in the same place, we’re easy targets. The world is too unbalanced and unstructured for us to make any plans like we did before. And... well, maybe we can even find peace with it.”
“Peace with half of the world disappearing?” Nat scoffed.
“Just for now,” you added, chewing your lip.
“Look, the last few weeks have shown me the reality of the Avengers, and all you aliens, gods, whatnot.” You gestured around the room with an absent, flitting hand, “The way you live your lives will kill you if you let it. But that means you have to keep fighting. And...” you felt a sudden wave of emotions choking your voice. You looked down at the table and tapped it absentmindedly with a finger. “...I don’t want to keep fighting anymore. I don’t think any of us can.”
Steve had been quiet up until now, his chin resting on his fist as he watched the conversation unfold. You sat down slowly as he spoke, now that there was a pause, “It’s settled then. Those of us who want to go into safehomes get to do so. Those who want to stay here or around civilization get to do so. We stay in touch when needed, but we go on with our lives. All we can do now is lay low and rebuild the world.”
“And ourselves,” you muttered. You felt the brush of a heel against your leg and you looked up to meet Hela’s gaze as she pressed reassuringly against you underneath the table.
“I’m knackered,” Tony stretched languidly and let out a deep breath. “Goodnight kids. We’ll figure the rest out tomorrow.”
“Shouldn’t we eat first?” you asked. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a burger right now.”
Tony snapped his fingers in agreement and pointed at you, “this is why I’ve always liked you, kid.”
-
Your new room was a bit larger than the last, fitting for both you and Hela. Your limbs were jittery with nerves as the evening had ticked by. Dinner was solemn until Tony put on a rock playlist, and you were pulled to your feet to dance on top of the dinner table. You were glad for the distraction. Hela had laughed at the sight of you spinning around without a care in the world. The sound had struck you in the heart and left you on a high the rest of the evening.
Thor, Hela and Loki kept at bay all night, which you were grateful for. No one tried to fight or kill one another. You had leaned over to your Goddess and whispered praise for actually behaving for once. She had replied with a darkening of her cheeks that surprised you.
Now, Hela was scanning the room, wondering why everything was so sleek and bare. Where were the gold decorations? Where were the elaborate furnishings? The bed frame was practically a box with no real character added to it.
“Tasteless,” she commented, just as the sound of the shower in the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom turned off. Hela stiffened, looking around at what she should do when you came back into the room.
A few minutes later you re-entered the room with a clean face and pyjamas on. Hela was fumbling with the bookcase. She was snarling under her breath, and you bit back a smile. A simple hair tie kept her thick black hair out of her face, and you were struck again by the domestic sight of her in the same room as you. It felt like a lifetime since you had seen her like this.
Hela kept opening the slim book covers with no pages inside, dumbfounded by the lack of paper and why on earth Stark would keep empty books like this.
“Tap the inside cover with your finger,” you suggested. Hela glanced up, startled by your voice. Her green eyes flitted longingly over your form for a moment before she did as you suggested. The book lit up with the title Treasure Island. She tapped it again and it popped out of the book in a projected screen from the metal cover.
“You humans make everything so complicated,” she huffed.
“Did you need the bathroom?” you asked, nonchalantly, closing the bathroom door behind you.
“No, thank you,” she said, putting the book back in its place. When she turned, you were already under the covers, tucking yourself deeper under the blankets. A silence followed between the two of you.
“What?” you asked, pondering over her continued stare. She seemed... lost.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, barely audible.
As the shock of her vulnerability passed through you, your eyes brimmed with hot tears again. You held up the covers and beckoned her into bed.
Instantly, her arms were around you. The armour dug into you, but as she held you it melted away until your body came in contact with bruised, soft skin.
“I’m sorry I ran,” she whispered against your neck, face buried there.
“Stop apologizing.”
“But I am.”
“We both did stupid things,” you said. Her leg came to wrap around your hip, tugging you even closer. Oh, how you had missed her touch.
“Hela,” you muttered as her lips began pressing against your collar bone, fingers grasping to pull your shirt down a little. She stilled, meeting your eyes with an unwavering gaze.
“Please don’t leave again.”
Her eyebrows furrowed with emotion as you tucked hair behind her ear and sighed. She pulled you closer and then rolled you onto your back before straddling your middle. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from hers as she leaned down to kiss you.
“Never again, my love.”
Your breath hitched with excitement as her cool hands slid under your shirt and cupped your middle around your ribcage. Her mouth opened for you and you gladly pulled her closer as your tongue explored hers.
“Call me that again,” you asked huskily, rolling your hips as her thumbs brushed over your nipples.
“My love,” she said, lips pressing against your neck, just by your ear. Her low voice made your tummy do wonderful flips. “My only.”
You finally managed to get your brain working again and reminded yourself to touch her. You reached up and cupped her breasts, squeezing the soft flesh eagerly. Then you trailed down, holding onto her thigh as you urged her to rock against you.
Hela growled by your ear, making you shiver. She pulled away to undress you and sat back to look at you, hands stilling as she stared at you again.
“I love you.”
You didn’t think tears would be the way you were going to respond to that, but they prickled at the edge of your eyes anyways.
“I love you too.”
She covered your body with hers and you wrapped yourself around her, kissing her with everything you could muster.
At some point, one of her hands had made its way down your middle and was circling your aching clit. The gentleness of it made you mewl desperately, and she swallowed your cries eagerly. The orgasm it gave you was soft, deep and left your core aching for more.
“Can I taste you?” you whispered.
Wordlessly, Hela laid back and you switched places, your hands palming her supple thighs and stomach, before pressing and coaxing her to open her legs for you.
“You’re everything,” you murmured, kissing her abdomen. She huffed in amused confusion,
“What does that--?”
She didn’t get a chance to finish her question, and you didn’t think to answer, because you buried your mouth in her core and all Hela could do was let out a weak gasp.
She rocked her hips against your mouth with slow movements, enjoying your soft and nervous pace. Her hand wrapped itself in your hair, and she murmured sweet nothings as you suckled her clit and made her quiver with a gentle, cascading orgasm.
Both of you were sweating lightly by the time you came up for air and you couldn’t help but giggle as she groaned and stretched with post-orgasmic bliss.
“Come,” she requested, opening her arms. You settled in her hold, burying your nose in her soft hair. She was fresh and clean and alive, and you couldn’t have asked for a better way to finish the day.
A/N: *throws update up after being MIA forever* *hides*