Bloody Red ~ Avengers/Alice In Wonderland ~

4.1

"I do mind, since I won't be here long," Emblym said, crossing her arms and Tony stood straight, frowning. "I'll eat your pancakes and leave."

"What are you talking about?" Tony said with a small laugh. "If you take a step outside that door, Fury will be on your ass in a minute. He's already mad we broke you out of that asylum. You staying here is pretty much your sanctuary, for now. Until we can clear things up with Fury and everyone else."

Emblym stared at him, the words sinking in. She heard the voices laugh at her as they too realized what was happening. Emblym gritted her teeth, letting out a small swear.

"Sorry," Tony shrugged. "But that's how it is right now. In the mean time, do you want some pancakes?"

•♠️♣️♥️♦️•

Embylm angrily ate her food, glaring down at the ruined marble countertop. Tony neglected in getting it fixed, obviously. But, considering that it had only been less than a month since the Battle of New York --- that's what the news was calling it, at least --- it was pretty reasonable.

Emblym rolled her eyes, grabbing her plate and spinning around in the barstool chair. Tony was on the couch, apparently not trusting her to eat pancakes by herself.

"Don't you got shit to do?" Emblym asked between a mouthful of pancake triangle slices.

Tony made a face and put his legs up on the coffee table. "No," he said, probably lying.

Emblym scowled and swallowed her pancakes. "What exactly am I supposed to do here, Mister Tony Stark?"

"Not get into trouble, I presume," Tony replied. "It shouldn't be that hard --- there's plenty to do here."

"Okay..." Emblym looked around, waiting. "What am I supposed to do?"

"What do you usually do?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Scream. And murder," Emblym said, adding the latter as almost an after thought. Tony frowned, disconcertingly, and Emblym laughed. "I'm joking. Oh! I like to do that! What else... Uhm..." Emblym frowned, pursing her lips. She really didn't know.

Before Hatter came, she spent the previous four years in an insane asylum screaming and being generally mad. Then, Hatter came and actually gave her a purpose, a motivation for her to at least try to be better --- do better. And, maybe liberate a nation as a side effect. But, now he was dead, and she was given a different task: find a glowing blue cube and possibly save the world, which wasn't that hard. And yet, after saving the world and retrieving the cube, she was sent back to square one! Emblym didn't know what she liked, her entire childhood was cut off when she was fourteen!

Emblym leaned back, her brow furrowed as she seriously pondered her lack of hobbies. Now that she was out of her literal prisons, what would she do? What could she do? She knew she couldn't leave the Tower, but if she could, where would she go? Back to her parents, the same people who rebuked her after she had gone mad? Back to Kansas where the friends she had made, however few they were, were dead?

Could Emblym stay here? These people weren't dead yet --- not necessarily --- and they didn't all together hate her. Hell, they even took the effort to rescue her from her tormentors!

Emblym looked down at her plate, drowned in pancakes. It hasn't even been five years, and yet her entire mindset --- her entire being --- changed from a child to a seasoned adult who has seen the darkest corner of this world. There was no coming back for her now. Emblym would have no choice but to stay this way, a hollowed out excuse of what potential she had.

Emblym had no home, she had no family. When she died, her soul would be trapped in this godforsaken blade and she would be condemned to literally the worse kind of hell. That is, if there were any more Red Queens. If she were the last one. What would she do? What could she do?