Chapter Text
You spent the better part of a fortnight in much the same manner as you had for as long as you had been in your cage.
You slept, you woke, you ate the meals transported into your cage, and killed time until you had to go back to sleep. Rinse. Repeat.
The only difference was that you now had the discordant noise of the new prisoner as background music to your days.
You really had assumed she would tire of the whole ordeal after a while, just as all the others always did, especially with the way she had seemed to wear herself out entirely after just a few minutes of doing so the first day she’d been there. Yet every morning, like clockwork, you woke to the sound of her banging on the glass of her cage while she growled strings of insults and curse words, and every night, you fell asleep in the same way, the anger in her voice so palpable that you swore you could feel the words like hot coals burning in the air between your cages.
The first few days, it was admittedly a little amusing and entertaining. You’d never seen someone react to being put in a cage quite like this stranger.
Then it was sad, to think that she actually thought that she might get somewhere if she just kept it up for a little while longer.
And then it was just plain frustrating, and mildly annoying, to have even the sound of your own voice in your head drowned out by her pure fury.
You could tell the others were getting tired of it, as well, though they weren’t nearly as kind about it as you were. They would yell profanities and their own threats at her in a desperate attempt to get some peace and quiet for just a bit. But usually that would just result in her insulting them back, which would then turn into a screaming match so passionate that you swore you could hear others in the near vicinity placing bets on who would have the final word.
She certainly had fire, you could admit as much.
But you just wanted some peace and quiet again, so you could go back to moping about your circumstances to yourself.
It was late on the twelfth evening (you thought; time seemed to pass differently when you were caged in a room with no light and no way to tell how the days passed other than sleeping), when you finally decided enough was enough, and you heaved a sigh, sitting up and looking over at the woman’s cage.
“Could you please give it up, it’s not going to work!” You had meant for your voice to have a little more bite to it, but you were tired, sad, and were going on three days with a headache from all the continued noise, and you were desperate for some respite.
To your surprise, she did actually stop banging against the cage. But when she turned to look at you, you could see the absolute rage in her eyes, though you weren’t entirely sure it was really directed at you.
“It isn’t my fault the rest of you have all succumbed to this depressing place. Tell me, what’s so appealing about being locked in a cage, having your food brought to you like an animal? Hm? Perhaps the appeal is in the ability to sit here and do nothing all day, every day, is that it? Is that why you’re all so content to just sit here and take it?”
You blinked at her, not entirely sure that you had understood what she was implying. “You think we like being in these cages? You think we enjoyed being ripped away from everything and everyone we’ve ever known to be put here on display like an object meant purely for adoration?! We had lives! We had families and loved ones and homes. Just like you did!”
The woman scoffed. “And yet here you are, content to sit in your little cage and be looked at. Pathetic.”
“Me? You think I’m the one that’s pathetic? You’re screaming to someone who doesn’t. give. a shit. And he never will! You’re just a decoration to him! A pretty little relic to be admired. And it doesn’t matter how much you kick and fight and scream, that won’t change anything! You lost! You’ve. Lost.”
That finally seemed to give her pause, and she looked at you, and for a moment, you swore you could see actual hurt in her gaze. And then it disappeared, replaced with a much more muted, defeated anger. “I don’t lose.”
“Apparently, you do.” You didn’t mean to say it so meanly, but that was how it came out, and there was no changing it, even as the woman went back to scowling.
For a long moment, that was all that she did, and you were just about to lay back down to try and get some sleep when she finally spoke, voice lacking the bite it had held before. “You would do well not to speak on things that you know nothing about, girl.”
You huffed out a dry laugh, but didn’t turn back to look at her. “My name’s Y/N. You would do well to use it, if you’re going to keep trying to insult me.”
The woman made a noise that sounded slightly of amusement, but when you glanced back over at her, her face was almost infuriatingly expressionless. “You humans are always so sensitive.”
For a moment you considered asking her how she knew you were human just by looking at her, but then she curled up on herself, back to you as she fell silent, and you ended up just looking at her for a long time.
It was obvious that she was angry, and also extremely high on herself, and while those were certainly two things that could coexist together, there was something else about her that you couldn’t quite put a finger on. Something that felt… off. Not right. There was almost a sort of underlying panic to the way she acted. The animosity in her eyes. The way she had looked at you when you told her that it was hopeless. Like she needed it not to be. Like she didn’t know what she was going to do, if there wasn’t a way for her to get out of captivity.
And you couldn’t stop thinking about the way she seemed to get so completely exhausted, like she had that first day she was there. You recalled the Collector mentioning that she was weakened due to Asgard being destroyed, but you weren’t entirely sure you were smart enough to comprehend the full severity of a statement like that.
There was certainly much more to this woman than she was letting on, and you were determined to find out more about her, one way or another.
But for now, you were tired, and for the first time in nearly two weeks, it was quiet.
Deciding to let your thoughts rest for a while, you laid yourself back down, and allowed yourself to fall into a deep, dreamless slumber.