The Man Who Won't Die Meets Death: Chapter 2

Visiting Steve in his dreams swiftly became one of her favorite things to do.

Once became twice, which swiftly became a dozen, only to lose count as she was visiting him whenever she had the time.

It was embarrassing, but the simple truth was that interacting with Steve, even via dreams, was the first true interactions she had had with another person since her banishment.

Even during her last attempt at freedom, none of the Valkyries nor Odin had talked with her. Which, admittedly, was fair. But still.

Regardless of ‘who’ she was in his dreams, and despite not remembering her from dream to dream, Steve always had a warm smile and (usually) an awkward attempt at conversation.

It made the mindless drudgery of Helheim actually bearable.

His dreams were nebulous, as most peoples’ were. Shifting from one event to another like oil on glass unless she were there to stabilize it.

Of course, Hela never forgot her original purpose. She had set out to find out more about Steven Rogers, and thus she did. His dreams were not all of the future he desired, but of memories of the past he endured.

Hela witnessed him as a child, weak with multiple illnesses and bullied for it. Being told from multiple sources that he would not live long because of it, yet determined to do all he could with what he had.

She saw him coming home early one day to find his mother being beaten by his father - a scene that stayed with him all his life.

“Why…?” a child sobbed as he stared at his mother, horrified at the bruises he could see forming. “Wh-why didn’t you just stay down Mama?”

“Because, and you listen closely Steven.” Sarah Rogers was barely holding in tears of her own as she hugged her child. “You always stand back up...”

This channeled his anger and helplessness of the event into determination to become more like her.

To never stay down.

Hela witnessed his childhood as he grew up and survived, despite the sickness in his body. She saw friends made and bonds forged. His pursuit of art education, showing a passion that would make any Norse craftsman proud.

Then the war happened.

Thrice attempted only to be denied, only to succeed at the last minute as an experiment.

Thus, Captain America was born.

Or so people espoused.

The serum they invented, that they gave Steve - it did not make him into what he was, in her opinion. It simply allowed his body to finally keep up with the strength of his soul.

Strength and speed were useful, but they did not make a man. The Norns could certainly attest that she had slain a number of idiots with both.

And to be perfectly honest, after growing up amongst those with Asgardian physique, it took a bit more to get her attention.

Which is what Steve did.

The skill with which Steve dispatched enemy after enemy, his use of tactics, his overwhelming charisma that inspired all who followed him as he spent several years in one of the bloodiest wars that Midgard had seen.

The more Hela watched and learned, the more she was convinced…

She wanted him on her side.

When Hela began her conquest of the Realms, she would need to have people with her. People she could trust. And choosing people from the Realms they were from would go a long way in ensuring the compliance of that Realm.

It was a simple fact - people were more likely to follow somebody they thought similar to themselves. Humans would more easily trust another human than an Asgardian or an elf. Just as a dwarf would rather follow another dwarf.

Steve was a natural born leader. And a good one. Capable, charismatic, and intelligent; he had kept his men - non-enhanced mortals no less - alive on the front lines of a bloody war for years.

If Captain America joined her side, a majority of Midgardians would follow suit, she was sure.

Even better was that Steve had no loyalty or oaths, past or present, to Odin!

There was just the matter of presenting an appropriate offer…

Hela was no fool. Simply demanding compliance would fail miserably. But every man had their price. Something they desired, that they would do anything for.

It was just a matter of finding what that price was.

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Steve’s Dreamscape

Hela subtly shifted the dream as she entered it, taking the place of a dream construct. The landscape solidified into a club, the sudden smell of cigarette and spilled beer was a mild shock after the air of Helheim, though it wasn’t unfamiliar.

The smoke smelled different from what she was used to. The alcohol was not mead. But the sentiment was similar enough to bring with it an air of familiarity.

Hela saw Steve in a booth near the back, and she immediately made her way over. As he always seemed to do, his head came up, eyes focusing on her almost instantly.

She still wasn’t quite sure how he did that. Truthfully, he should perceive her as no more remarkable than any other person conjured by the dream.

It was never full recognition. He didn’t ’remember’ her, but he could tell she was different.

“Good morning.” Steve greeted as he briefly stood up. “I take it you’re our contact from the resistance?”

“I am.” Hela played along as she sidled into the chair across from him, quickly displaying some papers that his dream provided. “It’s a pleasure to work with you, Captain. I take it your men are outside?”

Steve gave her a level look. “We were told you wish to meet one on one.”

She raised an eyebrow in slight amusement, “From what I’ve heard of you… That would stop you, or them, why?”

He didn’t confirm anything. But then, even if they hadn’t, his dream probably would have supplied them now that she brought it up.

This was a dream of a memory. An operation that the Howling Commandos conducted against one of Schmidt’s labs where the idiot had attempted and failed to study the energy from the Tesseract.

It should be an appropriate time to see how he’d react to her proposal.

Hela brought out another packet of papers and handed them over. “Here’s the blueprints of the lab.” She explained as Steve took them out and began reviewing them. “They’ve been studying some of the more esoteric effects of the Tesseract's energy.”

“So the Tesseract is here?” Steve demanded, his gaze sharpening.

Hela shook her head. “No, but they’ve siphoned off a large portion of energy and were able to store it.” She recited, following the flow of the dream/memory like a script for now. “They keep the main container in this room here.” She pointed towards a large room. “Here and here, they siphon it off and study it.”

It was actually rather amusing. That particular Stone’s domain was Space. The manipulation and control of space regardless of distance - including but not limited to teleportation, terrain control, and terrain creation. The Tesseract - the cube housing the Stone - was designed to interface with the stone itself, since interacting with an Infinity Stone without a medium was often… Difficult.

Yet all Schmidt and his supposed scientists managed to accomplish was weaponizing the energy bleed off.

It was like cavemen finding a forge and realizing the metal in the smithing tools made great clubs. Stupid.

Hela and Steve talked a little more about the logistics of the mission. When things started winding down, she finally deviated from the script.

“So what do you know of the Tesseract itself?” She asked curiously, feeling as the dream shifted from the deviation.

Steve hesitated, “Not much.” He replied guardedly. “Schmidt found it. He claims it was a tool from the gods used years ago, and is using it to create weapons for Hydra.”

“And you don’t believe it?” She asked curiously.

Steve snorted. “I believe in one God, ma’am.” He replied dryly. “And I’d like to think he doesn’t give weapons of mass destruction to unsuspecting humans.”

“Perhaps not.” Hela agreed, snickering mentally at the slight against Odin. “But somebody must have created it, yes? Another people. People whom the populous at the time thought must have been gods.”

Steve frowned. “Maybe.” He replied slowly. “If it’s actually as old as Schmidt claims. For all we know some scientist just before the war made a revolutionary discovery, never got it published, and Schmidt just found it.”

Hela rolled her eyes. “Is that what you think?”

“Not really.” He answered with a shrug. “In the end, it doesn’t really matter where it’s from. It’s the source of Hydra’s weapons. My men and I are here to stop Hydra. Where the cube came from doesn’t really matter as far as our job is concerned.”

Hela hummed noncommittally. “I suppose.” She watched Steve carefully. “But what if it was true? An advanced civilization?”

Steve chuckled lightly, “I think an advanced civilization would have come around and asked for their property back.” He said dryly. “And besides, where would they be?”

Hela grimaced at the first point, because she had no real answer to it. Was Heimdall not reporting? True, she would not expect Asgard to come between a war between a race, but an Infinity Stone made things different.

Heimdall had been an insufferable, narcissistic brat when they were younger, but she thought he grew out of it.

“Who knows? If they truly are that advanced, who can guess their motives?” Her. She could. Her fingers circled the rim of her glass. “But what if they did exist, but not on earth? Just merely visiting it?”

To his credit, Steve only looked confused for a bit before letting out a snort. “Aliens?” He asked in amusement, leaning back a little and giving her a grin. “You saying the Tesseract was made by a bunch of little green men?”

Hela blinked. Little green men?

“Not in so many words.” She replied slowly, deciding to ignore that for now. “Perhaps they looked human. They came, visited, established legends, and then left, leaving only their legacy and a few artifacts behind.”

“And people just thought they were gods?” Steve asked sketically before shaking his head. “I don’t know, I’d think there’d be more to it than that.”

Oh, there was. But good luck figuring it out. Not even Asgardians fully understood that one.

Being an Asgardian did not make one a god. Odin, Freya, Freyr, Heimdall, Hela, Tyr, to name but a few; They ruled over the domains given them by the Norns. They lived far longer than other Asgardians. But how did it all work?

Odin had spent years delving into those mysteries. Had sacrificed his eye and pushed himself as close to death as possible in his quest for understanding.

If he had ever figured it out, he never told anybody.

Hela shrugged, “Without being there, who knows?” She answered blithely.

Steve seemed to mull over it for a moment before giving a shrug of his own. “It’s a possibility. But does it matter?” He asked. “I understand that it’s important to figure out where the thing came from, but my job is still to stop Schmidt from using it more than he has.”

“It matters,” Hela answered slowly, “because if they existed once, they might still exist. And if they came, what would you do if one came in front of you?”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “To talk?” He clarified. “I suppose I’d hear them out. I might be upset at them leaving the Tesseract, but unless aliens don’t die it probably wouldn’t have been them that made that decision.”

“And if they asked for your help?” She pressed before cutting him off. “Let’s say it’s after the war. No obligations.”

Steve snorted.  “No obligations?” He looked amused. “I suppose that’s assuming I’m not with the army anymore. As for the future…” he seemed wistful for a moment. “I guess I haven’t thought too hard on what my plans are.”

Perhaps not, but she had seen enough of his dreams to know that he had an idea of what he wanted.

“But my answer would depend on what exactly they’re asking for help for.”

Hela smiled. No opposition so far.

“What if they asked you to represent Earth?” She described. “They would assist you in uniting all of Earth, and in return you would assist them.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Ok, first off, I doubt I’d be a good representative. I’m a soldier - I can lead other soldiers. I don’t know about anything bigger than that.”

She disagreed with that.

“Second,” he continued. “The thought of uniting earth sounds good. In theory. But how exactly would they go about doing that? That…” he shook his head. “It sounds like it would lead into another war.”

“Perhaps.” Hela admitted. “But this would be for a good cause.”

He wanted to protect people, yes? It was why he desired so fervently to become a soldier. Then uniting all of Midgard would go a long way to going towards that goal.

To her surprise, Steve scoffed. “Most wars are started because one person believes they have the right to make that decision about other people.”

“Somebody must.” Hela responded. “Is that not the prerogative of a leader? To make those decisions?”

“They trust those leaders to make intelligent decisions.” Steve shot back. “Asking people to go to war ‘to establish peace’? All at the behest of an advanced species whose goal I still don’t know?”

“I repeat, you would be doing it for a just cause.” Hela insisted, narrowing her eyes. “You clearly have no issue with war itself, as you are here.” She added, feeling frustrated at his reaction.

“That’s not,” Steve grimaced and looked away for a moment.

Hela was about to smirk before he looked up and held her gaze with a conviction that startled her.

“I don’t like war.” Steve said firmly. “I don’t like killing people. It’s not a line I like to cross. But it’s a line I will cross if I have to. If it’s to help people defend their freedom, peace, or their families, then I’ll cross it any day of the week. And ma’am, what you’re describing doesn’t quite fit the bill.”

“Even if it helps countless people?” She demanded.

“I am not some ‘sword of righteousness’, to be swung at a goal.” He shot back, a dangerous warning in his voice. “I am a shield of those that can’t protect themselves.”

“I see.” Hela had to hide her displeasure at that answer. “Well, thank you for taking the time to answer that rhetorical question of mine. I hope I haven't wasted too much of your time.”

“Of course not”. He replied stiffly, his previous mood lost.

She stuck around for a while longer before leaving the dream, the scenario losing form as soon as she left, washed away under the tide of Steve’s subconscious.

Hela sighed as she slouched on her throne, returning consciousness to her physical body once more. That… Could have gone better.

She hadn’t even gotten to describe the ‘after’ - Steve would refuse to join her from the start. Midgard was useless to her unless it was united - under her - and the only way that would happen at this time was through force.

In fact, it sounded like Steve would work against her. Which… Bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

There had to be a way to convince him.

There had to be.