Chapter Text
You sit down on the edge of the bed, the massive cuts on your have stopped bleeding since the royal medics or whatever they call them here had tended to the open wounds. They’re most definitely going to scar but you didn’t care anymore, you can’t even feel anything anymore. As the mattress dipped under your weight, you take out the old camcorder your mom bought you when you were like three years old and flip open the screen and turning it on. The little home movie of a toddler you starts to play out loud, the sound of your childish laughter filling the practically empty room around you. You smile as your mom desperately tries to keep you from putting a handful of sand from the beach in your mouth on the small screen. If only you could enjoy this more. All you can think while watching the movie is ”where did that little girl, who’s so full of happiness go? And what happened to her mother, the kind and caring one on the screen?” You feel the familiar feeling of tears start to prick behind your eyes and you put the camera down in the soft sheets next to you. Everything went wrong. None of this was supposed to happen, especially not to her. Oh how you wished you could go back and stop yourself from going to that party.
You hear a soft knock on your door and quickly wipe the tears from your eyes before getting up and opening the door, letting the tall, blonde stranger. He gives you a sympathetic look when he notices the wet stains on your cheeks.
“Are you hungry? I am not entirely sure what food you’re used to on Midgard but I’m sure that Orloni is close enough.”
“I’m okay. Thanks though.”
“Are you sure? You’ve been through a lot.”
“I know, I’m fine.”
“You’re a part of the family now, we’ll take care of you.”
You nod, still trying to avoid eye contact with him. “Thanks.”
He gives you a pat on the shoulder before leaving you alone in your room again with just your thoughts. You collapse onto the bed and just stare at the ceiling. You’ve always liked being alone but this time is different. This time, you have no other choice. You can feel your eyelids growing heavy as the stress of the last few days taking its toll on your energy. The room goes dark around you as sleep starts take over your senses.
”Please, just let her go Erebus.”
”NO, YOU BROUGHT THIS ON YOURSELF.”
”Just take me! She did nothing to deserve this!”
”But you did. You refuse to give me what I want and I take all you have. And the fact that only have the one person is frankly embarrassing.”
Tears stream down your face as you look to her, she’s so scared. This really is all your fault. In an instant, the fear in her eyes disappears as the dark blade of light pierced through her stomach. She falls to the floor and you can’t do anything but watch.
You sit up, drenched in sweat and panting. It takes you a second to get your bearings, sighing and wiping the sweat off of your forehead, you get up off the bed and open the large doors that lead out into the extravagant hallways of the palace you guess you should now be calling home. It still doesn’t feel real. You reach up to touch the three large wounds that run from just before the start of your hairline, each an inch next to each other, to all the way into your hair.
”one for each person you killed. One for Imogen, one for your mother, and one for all the hope and faith everyone else had in you.”
You shake the thought from your head and continue to the outdoors. The fresh air and clear night sky are things you haven’t seen in a long time. These stars are not ones you’d recognise though, all the photos you were given to study were of earths rotation and how the constellations were still relevant in how you measure them today. But these ones were not of earth. They were pretty though. Almost made you forget about everything. Almost.
The months drag on and you actually start to think of these people as your own family. Mainly your new brothers, the parents are still something you need to warm up to. Thor and Loki have been nothing but kind since you got here, they check on you regularly and ask about your life, they seem genuinely interested when you talk about things you’re passionate about as well. It’s starting to feel hopeful again. One night, you’re at the dinner table with them, talking about what you did in school back in earth.
“Four? That’s….impressive, especially for someone your age. What are they for?”
“Well, they’re not really for anything. Doctorates are more a display of what you’ve accomplished in certain areas. Obviously they help you get jobs and prove that you’re intelligent and that you work hard. Mine are for astrophysics, robotics, nanotechnology, regular physics. I worked on two simultaneously each time so that I could get them faster and get out of there by the time I turned seventeen.”
Thors mouth practically hangs open while Loki just keeps a proud little smile on his face his face. Your “father” clears his throat.
“Speaking of you turning seventeen my dear, me and your mother have been talking for a while.”
“Oh?”
“We know how much you miss your Midgard….so we thought that we’d let you live there under supervision. You mentioned living in a city in America last so we got the witches to build you a house in a place called ‘Brooklyn’. Heimdall will be able to see you at all times and your brothers will visit you once a month.”
Your entire face lights up. “Really?!”
Frigga (your new mother) chuckles. “Yes, really. We think you deserve a little bit of independence after all you’ve been through.”
You get up from your seat and hug her tightly, causing her to laugh.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The house is massive. And gorgeous. Brooklyn looks a lot less modernised than you thought it would be, but maybe that’s just because you’re not used to living here or what it’s like. The house itself also looks very old fashioned, very early 20th century with vines creeping up the outside and a little detached garage. There’s also a car, the car looks like something you’d see in those Great Depression documentaries that shows you the difference between how the rich and poor people lived. The kitchen had yellow presses and lovely wooden counters. There are two bedrooms on the second floor and the attic has been turned into a half living room, half bedroom for you. The back garden is massive, there’s a little river running through it and into the small woodlands that surround your house. A big weeping willow tree stands alone in the garden, right next to the river.
Now that you think of it, it’s probably just a dome made by the witched who put this together. The inside looks like something you’d see in a fairytale picture book while the outside just blends into the landscape. You didn’t really have a preference when it came to designing your house so the witches took the reins for it. That’s probably why it looks so old fashioned, all the things from earth they had to base it off of were out of date. The only thing you did want was a boat. You had learned to sail when you were a kid and never got the chance to again. The hill was connected to a cliff overlooking the water that probably leads to the harbour, and a little stone staircase with winding steps were there to get to the mini dock that your boat was moored on. A big old money type boat with the name plastered in the side in big golden letters. “Imogen”
Those wounds of yours have now scarred over as well. You got to pick out the furniture of course, but you insisted on setting everything up yourself. You said goodbye to your new family as they headed back to Asgard and your seventeenth birthday came to an end. The next day, you decided to wander the city, see if it was anything like Pittsburgh where you went to college. As you walked around, all of the buildings seemed odd. They looked like they were stuck in a photo from a hundred years ago. The people around looked at you weird as well, you don’t know why, you’re only wearing a simple black tank top and jeans. Maybe it’s your hair? As you’re on your way home, a guy who looks a little bit older than you stops you.
“Hey.”
“Hi?”
“What’s a pretty thing like you doing out in the dark?”
“Pretty thing? Ew. Leave me alone weirdo”
“Wow, haven’t you got a mouth on you? You know, you should try to be nicer.”
“I’ll be nice when I fucking want.”
“I’m just saying, you’ll never find a husband like that.”
“I’m seventeen, I’m not looking for a husband.”
“You sure? One could be right in front of you.” He gives you a sleazy smirk.
“Yeah, no.”
“No? Not even gonna try?”
“Try what? I have absolutely no interest in you.”
“Oh come on, don’t be a bitch.”
“Wow, you’re right. You using that derogatory term has suddenly made me fall madly in love with you!”
“Really?”
“Fuck no.”
He grabs your wrist as you try to walk away. “Just give me a chance doll.”
You turn around and rip your wrist from his grip. “Leave me alone creep.”
He grabs your arm more forcibly this time. “I’m not gonna ask you twice.”
Before you can respond or punch him in the face, someone else does it for you. The guy lets go of you and his hands grasp at his now bleeding nose. “Fuck!”
You turn to look at whoever punched him and see two guys who look around your age. The one who punched him has messy, dark brown hair and strikingly blue eyes he’s a good bit taller than you. From what you can tell, he has a little bit of a muscular build under the jacket he’s wearing. The other guy looks like the polar opposite. A skinny short guy with neat blonds hair and less intense blue eyes. He’s wearing about four layers of clothing and has this determined look on his face. The creep practically shoots off, legging it down the road and the taller of the two turn to you. It takes him a second to speak, he’s staring at your eyes. To be fair everyone does. It’s hard not to. The vibrant purple of them basically glow in the dark. When he finally speaks, his voice is a little rough and husky.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“Good. You should be more careful.”
“He should be less of a perverted dick. That wasn’t my fault.”
“That’s a good point.”
“You dress weird.” The taller one turns to the shorter one and gives him a ‘shut up, why would you say that?’ Look.
“Sorry, he speaks before he thinks sometimes.”
“It’s okay. What do you mean I dress weird?”
“You’re wearing pants.”
“…….and?”
“I’ve just never seen a dame wear pants.”
“Dame?”
“We,, not like I think you’re a dame, but more like- uh…”
The taller one chuckles and takes over. “See what I mean?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Sorry, I don’t introduce myself. I’m Bucky, this is Steve.”
“I’m (y/n).”
“Hi (y/n).”
“I could’ve done perfectly fine on my own you know.”
“I didn’t, that why I stepped in.”
“Fair enough.”
“You’ve got a weird accent too.”
“Seriously Steve, just stop talking.”
You smile. “It’s okay. I’m Irish.”
“Can we walk you home? Make sure you don’t get grabbed again?”
You sigh, not really in the mood to talk to teenage boys but your curiosity at Steve’s comment about not seeing women in pants before takes over.
“Sure. Why not?”
As you walk toward the house on the hill, you decide to follow up with Steve’s comment.
“What do you mean you haven’t seen a woman in pants before?.
“It’s just not common, I don’t know what it’s like back in Ireland but here pants are mainly for men.”
“That feels wrong. Like it’s not the right explanation.”
“I mean, it’s 1936 so maybe Brooklyn is just a little bit behind. Maybe it’ll be more common in a few years.”
That makes you stop walking. Is that why everything is old fashioned? Because right now it’s what’s considered modern? Sure, you punched in random numbers when you were firing up the portal but you hadn’t expected the year to be different.
“What?”
“Yeah, you never know.”
You don’t want to look strange so you just continue on like nothing happened until you get to the house. You told the boys about how you were allowed to come to Brooklyn for your birthday and how you’re all alone. In doing so, you find out that you’re older than the both of them Bucky’s seventeenth birthday isn’t until march of next year and Steve doesn’t turn seventeen until July of next year. You thank them for walking you and as you’re about to close the first door, Bucky speaks up.
“Hey, since you’re new around the city, maybe we should give you a tour?”
All you want to do is sit at home and deal with the fact that it’s eighty three year earlier than you thought it was. So you just say anything to get them to leave.
“Sure! When?”
“How about tomorrow? We’ll meet you at sunset park, maybe at two?”
“Why not?”
With that, you close the door and realise that you’ve now made a commitment to hang out with these strange guys. You sit down on the couch in your sitting room and just spiral for the rest of the night. The two head home and when they’re far enough for you to have no chance of hearing them, Bucky turns to Steve with a big smile on his face.
“What?”
“I’m gonna marry that girl.”
“You’re insane.”
“You’re gonna look at me and tell me to my face that the way she looked at me was just in my head?”
“Yes, very much so.”
“Whatever, you font know anything about girls.”
“Thanks.”
“What? You were the one who called her a dame and said that her that both her accent and pants were weird.”
“I’m not that great with women okay?”
“I know. That’s why I’m going to marry her and you’re not.”
“I hate you.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It took you a few weeks to adjust to the drastic change in year but you event decided to embrace it. You seriously considered going back to Asgard and just living life with the gods, but you thought that the witches out so much work into this and it would be kinda shitty to just abandon it. That day that the two boys showed you around as much of Brooklyn that they could in just the one day was mainly spent pretending that you didn’t get the advances that Bucky made toward you. After hour five he got the message and stopped. They took you to Coney Island and made you try funnel cakes.
“These are horrible! My god, it’s just deep fried batter and icing sugar. No wonder everyone thinks Americans are fat.”
“Oh come on, they’re amazing.”
“I think you and I have a very different definition of ‘amazing’.”
After that day, you found yourself actually enjoying hanging out with them. Sure they had some old fashioned views on the world but that’s nothing you can’t fix. Months go by and you grow more and more fond of the pair, they have a habit of getting into fights though. They started coming to you to fix them up, so much so that you’ve renamed the first aid kit that you store over the stove “the boys box”. Their families were not as wealthy as yours so you regularly sneaked money into their coat pockets for them to find or bought messages and told them that you had extra so they can take as much as they want. Bucky’s family is really nice. He has three younger sisters which you think helped with his ability to talk to women whenever the three of you are out, sometimes to the point where he blows the money you had for the train to Coney Island on a girl he met there, trying to win her a prize. This has happened at least four times.
Steve’s family however you barely met. His father died during some war a few years ago and his mother was only around for a little while before she died. She was a nurse for the war that his father was fighting in and she was exposed to too many chemicals. It caught up to her and they sent her home, only to die eight weeks later. Steve is an only child so he was left all alone after the death of his parents. He didn’t have a place to stay that he could afford so you suggested he stay with you, no rent, free food, no strings attached. He and Bucky slept over at your house so much he basically lived there anyway.
You turned the old camcorder into a camera that would suit the times. It shot it colour or back and white, depending on what setting you put and was about the same size as the camcorder was. You transferred every photo and video and added a feature that printed out the photos you took automatically. You couldn’t tell the two about Asgard and your past so you made up the excuse that you had tutors to teach you things instead of going to school. The garage was really just a diques for a lab that you worked on occasional projects in, one of them including the camera. You now take photos and videos of everything it’s how you grew up so it was nice to have that again. After about six months, you noticed yourself grow feelings for Bucky but decided to ouch them down because the last thing you need right now is a crush on a boy. For his birthday, you got him the hobbit. You hadn’t realised before that it came out so long ago and wanted him to enjoy it as much as you did.
The friendship grew everyday after that and the three of you were basically inseparable at that point. Until the war came. As soon America decided to join, Bucky got drafted. He had two weeks before he had to ship out and the news hit you like a ton of bricks. The day he left was hard, you spent the day at Coney Island with him, Steve and his family. There, you took a photo of the three of you eating way too much candy floss, printing out three of them and handing them to the boys before taking one for yourself. Saying goodbye was the worst part. Bucky said that he got you a present to remember him by and pulled out a silver necklace with a sunflower pendant on it. You vaguely remember mentioning that your favourite flower was a sunflower a few months ago, but the fact that he remembered made you tear up a little. He got on the boat and from there he sailed away to England.