"WARD!"

Grant Ward gave a start when he heard the scientists scream and instantly took off towards the source of his noise, drawing his ICER pistol. He slid into the room and was met with a dumbfounding sight. The corpse had sat up and was rubbing his eyes.

"Freeze!" Ward ordered as he snapped up his ICER to point it at the corpse.

The corpse lowered his hands and looked at Ward curiously as if he were an odd specimen. "Or what? You humans should know by now that your weapons can not hurt us."

With some effort, the corpse stood. Ward kept his weapon trained on him.

He had the same accent as Thor, so was he a friend of Thor's, or an enemy as Loki had been? "Are you Asgardian?"

"Angborn Eirillson," Angborn introduced. "You are SHIELD are you not?"

"Yes," Ward told him warily.

Angborn overlooked his bloody clothes and tested his stiff limbs to stall. Not only had rigor mortis start to set in, but SHIELD was indeed with him. He was supposed to work with SHIELD until Loki came, but how to best do that?

First, he decided to ask something he hadn't heard from Hel. "What happened to the women that lived here? I am unaware of what transpired after Jaro killed me."

"They are at a secure facility," Ward forfeited with his ICER still raised.

"Did Jaro injure them?" Angborn asked. "His Wolves can be," he cast about for a word, "dishonorable in such situations as finding them here alone."

Ward understood now, and was surprised by the note of genuine concern in Angborn's voice. The impression SHIELD had gotten from Thor was that most Asgardians considered humans to be beneath their concern. Thor didn't, not usually anyway, while Loki did, so who was he with?

"Darcy had some minor injuries," Ward relented, telling information in the hopes of getting some from Angborn, "but that was all."

"How long was I gone?" Angborn asked politely.

"Dead?" Simmons eked.

"Yes," Angborn nodded.

He glanced Simmons way, and she was instantly lost in his deep brown eyes. Within those eyes there was a slight glitter as if a field of golden stars had been placed just beneath the surface.

"You were dead when we got on the scene at sunrise. It is now mid-morning." Ward didn't have the exact figures.

He tried to make this Asgardians's casual dismissal of his own death sink in. SHIELD agents were not trained in dealing with corpses waking up.

Angborn tried to take a step forward, but failed and fell back onto the bed. His equilibrium had not quite reset itself yet. He took the chance to take better stock of the mess of the room. Most of this blood scattered about was likely his. Sigh. Leave it to Jaro to make such a scene.

Ward made a slight motion at the scientists to back up, but they obviously didn't have much field time and didn't notice. He decided to keep Angborn's attention on him least he notice that the two scientists were within easy striking range. Was he with Thor or that monster Loki?

"What happened here?" Ward decided to ask directly.

Angborn shrugged calmly. "Just a little skirmish. It's not too often Asgardians are trying to kill Asgardians, but it does happen. At least one casualty."

He smiled at that when he mentioned the casualty and looked down at his hands, wiggling his fingers with moderate success. Stupid rigor mortis.

Ward blinked and recovered. "Jane said that Loki came to her lab and a group of Asgardians tried to apprehend him. Were you one of the ones trying to catch that bastard?"

Angborn's first instinct was to say no. He wanted to say that he had been defending his prince, but Ward's body language made it clear he only wanted to hear one answer. When he considered everything, he figured Loki wouldn't mind if he played along with SHIELD. Once Loki showed up then of course Angborn would stand by him, but until then it would be better to make things easier on himself – especially since Hel expected him to work with SHIELD.

Angborn nodded. "Loki's quite a skilled a warrior. It seems I underestimated him. Were there any other bodies?"

"Just one," Ward said, and finally lowered his ICER a few degrees. "Now none."

It was going to be interesting explaining to Melinda May why his report was wrong.

A mix of sorrow and anger struck through Angborn suddenly. That meant that the bodies had likely been taken back with Loki in chains. They had caught his prince.

"Loki would not have the time or energy to get rid of the bodies," Angborn explained softly. "That means they were returned home after Loki was back in custody."

Ward smiled briefly, a very pleased half-smile.

Angborn wanted to wipe that smirk off of the agent's face. Loki had been through more than any being should be. This agent had no right to judge him. He couldn't though. Since Ward hadn't called him out on his bluff about him being Loki's enemy then Angborn could assume that Jane must not have told them what had happened. Pretending he was a friend of Thor's and enemy of Loki was the quickest way to get SHILED to trust him.

"Were you at New York?" Angborn asked, quickly changing the subject.

"No," Ward shook his head. He relaxed his grip on his ICER and held it by his side with one hand. "I've been there before though. It's a nice city. 4 million people were killed, and they were nearly all innocents. Loki didn't even flinch from killing them. From what Barton says, he actually flew down a street shooting at the civilians that were trying to escape. It's good he's behind bars where he belongs."

"His opinions are unique," Angborn said quietly. He didn't remember Thor or Loki mentioning that particular incident of Loki flying down the street shooting. "I do not believe you said your name."

"Grant Ward," Ward introduced. He holstered his ICER finally, but kept his arms by his side so he could draw it again quickly if need be.

Another SHIELD agent finally decided to see what they had missed and appeared in the doorway. He instantly drew and pointed his ICER at Angborn.

Angborn looked from one agent to the other in amusement. "What a petty race you are if your first response to everything is to try and shoot it."

Now Angborn sounded like an Asgardian. Ward nodded at the other agent to put up his weapon. He crossed his arms so he couldn't quick-draw his ICER. It seemed Angborn was a friend.

"Why aren't you dead anymore?" Ward asked.

Angborn was aware of how in error humans were about death and afterlife. Telling them about Hel might very well give them one of their heart attacks.

"Asgardians are hard to kill," he shrugged.

"But you were dead," Ward pushed.

"For a few hours," Angborn parried, confusing him on purpose as revenge for him calling Loki a bastard. "I do not suppose I could get something to eat. I fear dying has made me quite hungry."

They stared, but Angborn ignored them and coolly looked around for a blade. "Did you find any Asgardian weapons? I am not used to being unarmed."

"None we've located," Ward admitted.

"Very well," Angborn said as he stood again.

He managed to stay standing and walked to the doorway. Ward was in his way, but he stepped back and let Angborn walk by.

Simmons tablet beeped and she almost dropped it with another eek. After it bouncing from one hand to another for a few agonizing seconds, she managed to grab it and hold it to her chest. She shyly looked at the other agents as they glanced her way, Fitz included.

"My data is finished analyzing," she said in her normal perky voice, carefully pronouncing each word.

Ward and the other agent left without another word to follow Angborn, leaving Fitz with Simmons. He could visibly see the rest of his team freeze and stare as Angborn walked past them. To his credit, Angborn pretended they didn't exist and walked through the destroyed glass wall to stand out on the porch in the sunlight.

"What is going on?" One agent asked.

Ward's phone rang so Ward was forced to ignore his men and answer it. The secure frequency meant that only SHIELD could be calling. "Ward here."

"I need you to pull the feed from Jane's security system." A voice told him. Ward recognized it as Maria Hill.

"The orders already been given sir," Ward promised.

"Confiscate them," Hill ordered. "We have a media leak, and a rather severe one. I don't want news that Loki was here getting around."

"Yes sir," Ward acknowledged. "We do have a bit of a situation here."

Ward looked over at where Angborn stood outside. He seemed to be enjoying the sun.

"Some of the civilians get curious?"

Ward doubted that the people of Puente Antiguo would do more then ask after Jane and inquire if Thor had dropped by again. These people had had more contact with magic and aliens than any other humans, and they'd accepted it surprisingly well. No doubt they'd already guessed Asgard was involved.

"Not exactly sir…" Ward said reluctantly, trying to figure out how on Earth he was going to explain Angborn.

He he, i feel a little sorry for Ward. try explaining why you're report is wrong because "the body woke up and started walking around again, but i don't think he's a zombie."

This is a continuation of Shadows of the Past, and Angborn is following Hel's orders from the last chapter of that story. It is easier to pretend to be an enemy of Loki then his friend in this case, don't you agree?

This story is the compliment, and happens at the same time, as Blood vs Water, only this story takes place on Midgard with SHIELD and the Avengers rather then on Asgard with Loki and Thor. I highly advise that you read Blood vs Water because you are going to be really lost later on if you don't. You don't have to read them at the same time, but do make sure to read it after you read this one.

This was not made clear, but although the characters from "Agents of SHIELD" are here and seen together, Coulson's team was never formed in my universe and Skye (Daisy) is not in it. A lot of stuff from that series like Project Tahiti and the Inhumans are not in my stories because i do not need it to be more complicated. Some of the spoilers from the series do apply though, so if you watch it don't say anything and spoil it.