It started-well, it restarted- in an airport.

Mila had been busy the whole month, she had papers to write and proofread, undergraduate papers to grade because the professor had plans with a prostitute (judging by the heels of his 'guest'), a debate to chair, tables to bus, counsellors to talk to and the list went on and on. Thus, she never really had the time to actually get tickets to Stuttgart and was stuck at the airport on the standby, hoping a flight, any flight, to the continent would free up and get her there in time for the gala.

The stupid, fucking gala. She hated it so much. Every year it was the same story, dressing up to be her Dad's arm candy, either get her cheeks pulled by those in the academia who had watched her grow up or get her other set of cheeks pinched by those who didn't and assumed she was the escort her dad hired.

Same old, same old, really, but it was important for her dad to get as much money as possible from them to fund his research and he always did better with her there to screw up and thus make him look better in comparison.

"Hey Dad," She said, mentally cringing at how much the phone call was going to cost her. "I don't think I can make it in time for the gala."

The steady stream of German was soothing and she almost fell asleep right then and there. He was yelling at her, sure, but it had been a very long few days and the airport chairs were terrible but still more comfortable than the second hand supposedly 'ergonomic' thing she had in her flat.

Still she wasn't going to act like she particularly wanted it all to be sorted out and be on a flight there. She wasn't exactly fond of flying in any way despite having done a lot of it since her parents decided to share custody while living on different continents. But her Dad wanted her there so she would be there. Priorities, Mila has them.

"I'm on standby, I'll try but it doesn't look too goo—"It was fate. Fate that had her bumped up onto a flight at that exact moment. "I got a flight, I'll call you later."

She was in luck, Lady Fate was looking out for her after all.

It wasn't actually Lady Fate, more like Ladies Fate but the Norns had been called worse. And they weren't looking out for her as much as they were for another one, a favourite of theirs with dark hair, green eyes, and a wretched fate that they wanted to change.

Luck wasn't quite the word they'd use.

She walked through the crowds on her Dad's arm, half asleep. In twelve minutes, it would be exactly seventy-two hours since she slept. She never did learn to sleep on flights and after that one time a Santa stole the presents she was carrying with her she didn't sleep at airports either. She had landed, taken a train, walked, taken another train and then squeezed herself into an uncomfortable dress and pinchy shoes, slathered on red lipstick and was currently smiling the least fake looking fake smile in her repertoire, of which there weren't many. She usually wanted people to know when she was faking a smile so they would go away without her having to say it.

Finally, it was time for the speech. Her Dad looked at her for strength before tapping on the microphone twice.

Dork.

He started talking and the fake smile on her face turned real. He was good at this, sounding serious without being too serious and she could see the faces in the crowd nodding along. But before he got to the 'Give me your money' part of the speech, a shriek interrupted him. She hadn't even frowned properly when her Dad was being pushed and flipped over the weird stone altar and for some fucking reason the security wasn't doing anything, even the crowd edged away. She closed in on them, after pushing her way through the dense crowd trying to get closer. Just as she managed to shove that one lady in the golden evening dress who just wouldn't fuckign move to the side, the man with the bad hair who'd manhandled her dad took some sinister instrument out, clearly readying it to use on him and that was when she took the Walther out of her purse and shot his arm.

Nothing. It did nothing, simply bounced off him, the only thing that happened was that he actually looked up, surprised. Faster than she thought she was capable of moving, she stepped right into his personal space and pistol whipped him across his face and he crumpled, much to her relief.

Her Dad slid off the altar and pulled her away from the man, who for some reason still wasn't out yet and just moaned in pain. All around her she could hear orders being given to evacuate but she needed to make sure the man was really down for the count.

"Why won't you stay down you little shit?" She said, picking up his cane and swinging it down on him a couple of times for good measure before her Dad simply picked her off the ground much against her will and carried her out. A good few minutes of pandemonium prevailed and the guests rallied around one another for support, eagerly discussing what had happened while one of the medical doctors there attended to a security guard who had taken a hard hit to the stomach.

"You," Came a sharp, poisonous voice and they all turned to see the crazy man standing there as if nothing had happened at all, as if he hadn't suffered a vicious blow to the head and then to the gut. He looked straight at her and her Dad stood in front of her protectively which would have been a lot more comforting if she didn't remember that he was the one that Crazy Eyes had aimed for in the first place.

"Me." She said with a confidence she didn't feel and stepped forward, putting herself between Crazy Eyes and Dad, knowing that Professor Thackeray at least would hold him back.

"You have taken something that is not yours to take." He said in a low dangerous voice and she realised that the cane she had beaten him with was now a sceptre that she couldn't quite bring herself to give back or put down. "Return it to me."

Only she couldn't. For some reason she was being pulled on the inside in two different directions, the sceptre's yearning to return to him clashing with the sudden flood of possessiveness running through her, the likes of which she had never felt before.

Sirens interrupted her thoughts and she looked down the road to see cars coming towards them and thought quickly, hoping she could time it right.

"Come and get it yourself." She crooked a finger in his direction and he rushed forward with a snarl only to get blown away by the police car that drove into him. The crowd behind her gasped even as she smirked in triumph but it was short lived as he just brushed the impact away and stood up as if nothing had happened, like the villain of some b-grade slasher film.

The fuck was he made of?

It was sheer luck that he was stopped from making an attempt on her life when a man in spandex with a shield stepped in front of her and suddenly it wasn't her fight at all. Mila was left standing there as an apparent Captain America wannabe fought Crazy Eyes and then Iron Man joined in as well. It took a lot of snarling and fighting but finally they were able to wrestle Crazy Eyes into a jet plane and just when she thought it was over and she could finally go back home and sleep and watch all about this on the news later, Captain America wannabe stood in front of her.

"Ma'am." He said gravely."We need you to come with us."

"My daughter's not going anywhere with the likes of you."Her Dad said, outraged and pushed her behind him for what feels like the millionth time that night and if it wasn't for the fairly traumatic incidents of the night she would have died of laughter at seeing him being aggressive, he was just so very bad at it.

"Dr Schafer, it's for her own good."

"See now saying that just makes you more suspicious." Mila said and looked him over. "And you already look pretty sketchy."

He stood up straighter, obviously frowning at them under that cowl but the twin looks of scepticism didn't leave their faces.

"I'm afraid you don't understand, this sceptre needs to be examined and we need to make sure you weren't exposed to anything harmful when you came into contact with it."

"What do you mean?" Her Dad asked and despite hesitating the Captain America wannabe answered.

"The last few people to come in contact with the sceptre wound up mind controlled within seconds. You can understand our concern then."

Mind control. Not exactly surprising, brainwashing wasn't a new concept by any means but to do it via a sceptre and within such a short space of time. A couple of seconds he said and it didn't sound like a hyperbole. Mila opened and closed her mouth a few times before dropping resignedly. "Lead the way."