Facing Death

Later that night as David was sitting next to Kal in the lab he heard a sleepy message, "Thank you for saving mam and I, Magic man."

David smiled as she sent the little girl a mental hug.

The child next to him though was another matter, his body had not deteriorated, and David was hoping it was due to some small spark of life. He would come down here each night and tell Kal about the events of the world.

David had no need for the child anymore, but he could use all the help he could get, and another pair of hands while he and Steph slept would help Billy.

Since he gained the star seed, he had mostly resolved the serum, it was just that the timing was bad.

He supposed he could leave it all to Billy while he slept but that was unfair, Billy needed to go to war with Cap so he would be unable to run the company. And although he and Billy had no issue with a woman running a company, if he left Diana in charge, he would wake up to a lot of dead men at the doorstep.

Although lately, David had considered something Billy had said earlier and thought it was worth at least looking into it.

David walked over to the counter with the tea and snacks on, sat down, and turned sideways to face the wall.

Before him, he saw a stunning woman with night-black hair and emerald green eyes sitting quietly on a large throne made of bones.

The moment he was able to see her she lifted her head up and looked about, it was obvious she had realized the intrusion.

"Hello Hela, you can call me David if you like. I came to visit, would you like some tea?"

The corner of Hela's lips slightly curled up, "Are you not afraid my father would take offense to you speaking to me?"

"No, I have nothing to fear from him. Do you know why no-one has ever visited you? Let us start our relationship with the truth. He made everyone forget about you. You have brothers who have never known they have a sister. The 9 nine realms think of your father as a wise and benevolent ruler." As he said this, he passed a tray to her that seemed to appear from nowhere, "sugar? honey?" He was hoping bombarding her with these facts might help her accept him.

"What do you mean? He warred against the other realms! I was his peace offering and I accepted this, how can they not know!"

David coughed lightly and pushed the tray towards her slightly, she looked towards it and took it absentmindedly.

"He used a spell boosted with the stones, once he dies you will be free. You see the moment he exiled you he made all the realms forget that you ever existed. No-one but those more powerful than Odin remember you."

Hela went quiet, she was a woman who was very intelligent, a genius in tactical warfare, an amazing general, and the best warrior Asgard ever had. As she thought she added some honey to her tea and sipped on it.

"Did you want me to free you?"

"Not yet, I need time to work through this. If you free me I will try to kill my father right away."

"I understand. I thought you might. I am here if you want to find out more. If you accept, I can link my mind to yours. You have my word I shall not use it for anything else, on my name."

Hela raised an eyebrow, for powers greater than Odin, a promise on their name was not something done lightly. "Very well, I would like to have the chance to talk to someone."

"Oh, there will be more than just me to talk too. I will put you in contact with others, including an electronic library where you may learn all you like." With that David gently added one more to his exclusive "network".

'Oh, hello, and welcome. My name is Steph.' 'Greeting Goddess Hela, I am the library David mentioned. Refer to me as GCA please.'

'Hela has chosen to learn more about the happenings in the universe before she considers leaving her realm.'

'Hehe, I wonder how Diana would react if she knew we were talking to an Asgardian, Diane is a friend of ours who worships the Greek Gods, Hela.' Steph giggled as she advised.

Hela huffed at the term Greek Gods, 'Does this mean the Greek Gods influence the world now?'

'Ares does in the background; he influences people to start wars. It seems he has learned to be covert. This is one reason Diana is here, to kill him.'

Hela started laughing, it was a light and beautiful sound that stunned those listening for a moment.

"Beautiful." Both David and Steph murmured.

'I will study then, time in my realm moves slower so it should not take me long, although more of this honeyed tea would be nice.'

David grinned as he passed the entire stock on the tray through, he was curious where she was going to get the hot water from though.

All the while David was trying to see how she would gain from this, she accepted it too quickly, unless she was suffering due to her time alone, something David doubted. He expected her to try to get revenge. He just hoped she did nothing to make him have to clash with her.

Nat and the girls had moved into a large area beneath the South Brother Island, although in essence, both islands were now one and due to the landscaping looking like woodland retreats.

Steph came to see David looking rather distracted. David smiled up as she came to stand in front of her.

"Hunny, are we really going to ask those girls to stay underground? They have been kept away all their lives and I just feel … "Before Steph could finish David interrupted her.

"I agree, GCA has the asteroids with no materials or those who have been excavated been moved?"

"Yes. David"

David smiled at Steph as gave him a slight pout as she realized he had kept something from her again.

"Steph, since you asked, would you like to tell everyone on the two islands that they might want to look out of any viewports or windows. The sight will be worth it."

"GCA is all the Islands modules complete and sturdy enough for transfer? The teleporters are all set in the land and buildings we bought?"

"Yes, David."

"Then I guess it is time for me to steal some land, a pity they will never realize. Ensure cloaking it left running once we leave, and we stay cloaked though the process."

"Yes, David."

At this point, Steph was sure he was not getting to the point just to torment her.