AN: Late again, apologies. Work has been terrible and stressful, and I was busy preparing for Thanksgiving. This one is short, simply because it was getting way too long, so I had to cut it somewhere that made sense. This means that the next chapter will get here sooner though! We're getting closer to climax territory...

"You don't need to do any more sleuthing, Nat."

The Black Widow turned away from the laptop before her and watched Tony Stark walk into the kitchen. She saw his slight stumble and the coffee cup in his hand. He was wearing sunglasses, indoors, and on any other day she'd give him shit for it. But while his tone was defeated, his shoulders were tight and stiff, knuckles white around the handle of the mug.

"Giving up?" She asked, incredulous.

"No." He pulled a piece of paper from his jean pocket and straightened it on the counter with one hand. It was the sketch of Bustemonte that Clint had gotten. "I know who it is."

Natasha closed the laptop. This was huge. "Who is it?"

Tony set his coffee down and slumped heavily into a stool next to her. "I don't have a name or anything, but yeah. I recognize him. He looks a lot like Aldrich Killian."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Did Killian have children?"

Tony shrugged. "It's pretty uncanny. And, uh- well, Pepper and I killed Killian, like, 18 years ago or something."

"Revenge?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, we know who this bastard is, now."

Natasha felt her mouth curl into a smile. Yes, she was done sleuthing. Now, it was time to hunt.

Vibrations*

The day had dawned sunny and bright, refreshing after three full days of rain. Winnie woke early and dressed in pants and a tunic before heading outside, dagger sheathed upon her hip.

Her plan was to head to the training fields and work on her form. She'd stayed up late watching videos on YouTube, (she had no idea how her father had made the internet, intergalactic) and Astrid had already scolded her about gouges in the furniture. Weapon work was meant for the outdoors. So, she needed to go to a place with targets and other training equipment.

It was a Friday morning, and there were members of the royal guard at work, training with each other and running drills. Winnie avoided them, and instead grabbed a straw target and went around behind one of the buildings, away from prying eyes and judgemental glances.

The first few throws, she missed the target entirely. Winnie had never had very good hand-eye coordination, more comfortable looking through a microscope than throwing a softball. Soon enough, though, she was hitting the target, but with the wrong end of the dagger. It bounced off uselessly.

She growled in frustration. She was holding the dagger just like the instructional video, or so she thought. Why couldn't she get it to stick into the target? Winnie wasn't even worried about hitting a bullseye anymore. She just wanted the damn thing to stick.

And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Loki approaching. She scowled at the ground, walking over to where her dagger was once more in the dirt in front of the straw bale. When she returned to her throwing spot, Loki was standing with his arms crossed, expression unreadable.

"What do you want, Loki?" Winnie snapped out loud, unable to find it within herself to be polite. Maybe it was a silly thing, but she still felt betrayed by his admission to Njal. Even if she had come clean with the truth.

"Torison approached me." Loki said, lip curled back into a sneer. "Said he gave you a knife to defend yourself with."

"And?" She knew where he was going with the conversation, and her irritation was growing. She'd be having a talk with Njal about minding his own business, next.

Loki rolled his eyes and held out his hands. They glowed green, and in his palms appeared beautiful black daggers, so dark they seemed to absorb light. Winnie knew immediately that they were not made from any metal found on Earth. "Your form is all wrong. And your wrist and elbow are not aligned. Your throw may be true, but you'll never peirce the target."

"No apology." Winnie scoffed in disbelief. "Figures. Go away, Loki. I don't need your help. I think you've done enough."

She turned away from him, but he stepped in front of her gaze. With a raised eyebrow, she raised the knife like she was preparing to throw it.

"I… apologize… for hurting you." Loki said, slowly- haltingly- like it physical pained him. "I recognize that it was not my place to tell Torison that."

She squinted at him and drew back her arm to throw. He was in her way.

Faster than her eyes could track, he stepped forward and knocked the side of his hand against her elbow.

She dropped the dagger.

Winnie stepped away, trying to calm her racing heart. -Rough hands seizing her waist, she turns to run and is knocked down, Adrian's weight settling on her back. She tries to knock him off-

"See?" Loki said shrewdly. "Your grip was wrong."

"Don't touch me!" Winnie snapped.

He raised an eyebrow. "If you would allow me to show you-" The air around him shimmered green, and a perfect clone appeared beside him. The clone stepped forward and circled Winnie before coming closer and handing her the dropped knife.

She could feel its breath on her ear as it corrected her grasp on the dagger.

-he is dislodged by her jostling, her ribs ache from the fall and she tries to knock him off. Adrian stands and grabs her feet. He drags her across the floor towards the living room. Winnie's throat is so tight she can't scream-

Loki was still talking, evidently missing her panicked eyes. Winnie felt like a cornered animal.

The clone stepped closer, and in front of her, Loki threw his dagger with exaggerated slowness so she could watch the follow through. But Winnie is barely processing the information. She is somewhere else entirely.

-Her nails catch in between the wooden floor boards as she tries to scramble out of Adrian's grasp. He is too strong and yanks her back, her nails tear off and are left behind and this time, she screams- it's short and it must be loud because he kicks out violently, sending fresh waves of agony into her ribs-

Winnie couldn't take it anymore. She took the dagger tightly and stabbed it backwards, right into the clone's stomach. It disappeared instantly.

Vibrations*

Loki felt the phantom pain microseconds before Winnie collapsed.

She'd stabbed his clone.

She was in the mud, shaking and crying, the dagger on the ground next to her, evidently forgotten. Loki noticed, with some alarm, her ragged breathing and glassy eyes. And, his gut sinking below his crouched knee, he realised that Winnie was having a panic attack.

But what had triggered it? Just his mere presence? It couldn't be. They had been in each other's company many times before, with no episodes like this.

Hesitantly, he reached out and put a hand on her trembling shoulder. She stiffened and flinched away muttering something quietly, almost silently. Loki retracted his hand and listened closely.

"Please stop please leave me alone please let me go oh god it hurts Adrian please."

Loki reeled back, horrified beyond words. She was having a flashback.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

He thought about slapping her, but immediately dismissed the idea. Loki had already struck her- and that, he realised with stark clarity, was what caused this situation to spiral out of control initially.

"Winona." He tried. No response. She continued to rock, muttering and flinching.

"Winnie. You're safe. You're on Asgard."

Not even a flicker of recognition. And what was worse, Winnie was turning red, her face sweating so heavily that her auburn locks were damp around her forehead.

Well, he could at least try to cool her down. After only a moment's hesitation, he placed his palm gently onto the side of her face and let his Aesir form fade away- not enough to completely revert to his Jotun form, hopefully, just enough to begin emitting his natural cool.

Her breath hitched briefly, and he pulled away to make certain he wasn't causing her to get frostbitten. Her face was fine, though, so he put it back and was pleased to notice her breathing even out.

He kept repeating the phrases "Everything is fine" and "you are safe" for minutes more before Winnie blinked rapidly back to herself. He was half-holding her at that point, trying to keep the woman from getting more muddy than she already was.

Her eyes focused on her own and she frowned in confusion. "Loki? Why are you blue?"

He slammed his Aesir form back into place with a grimace. He hadn't even realised that his entire Jotun form had become visible and had to resist the urge to look around. They were alone.

He ignored her question. "Are you alright?"

She looked around, almost groggily, before nodding, her face paler than normal. At least, Loki thought, It isn't red from lack of air, any longer.

Winnie avoided his eyes as she stood, holding out her hand to help him stand, which he accepted although it wasn't necessary.

"Perhaps we can pick up this lesson some other time." He offered once she was looking at him again.

Again, she nodded, before picking up the dagger and wiping it onto her slacks. Winnie sheathed it and turned away. She leaned on the corner of the building and seemed to take a deep breath before facing him again.

"Thank you."

She signed this, a flat hand touching her chin and away again, and Loki felt the gesture resonate hard.

And then, she fled.

Vibrations*

Eira found her in the bath.

"I sensed your distress. Were you attacked?" The snake asked as it curled around Winnie's hand.

Winnie brought the snake closer to her face. "No, not really. I just kind of- re-lived?- something."

The snake stayed quiet, allowing Winnie to stroke the rainbow scales on Eira's head.

"Actually, I saw something odd that distracted me." Winnie said after a moment. "Do Asgardians usually turn blue?" She pictured Loki clearly in her head, hoping Eira could see it.

"If he wasn't so small", the snake mused, "I would say he is a Jotun."

Winnie frowned. "A Jotun?"

"Frost giant. From Jotunheim. Jotunheim and Asgard are bitter enemies. But I know no more than that. I have only seen a frost giant once in my life, and she was much larger than the prince is.*"

Winnie hummed thoughtfully, vowing to visit the library and research the subject some other time.

"Or you could simply ask Prince Loki." Eira said, sounding amused.

Winnie shook her head. "He seemed ashamed. And scared."

"Just like you."

Winnie sighed, exiting the tub and heading to the living room. She wanted to talk to Bruce.

Vibrations*

Adrian brooded. Quill left him largely alone, since his responses stayed short and borderline curt. But Adrian was okay with that. Mentally, he flogged himself for his stupidity. He had planned to be done with Stark- and he was, technically, but Winona had something of his.

The data stick, which held many of AIM's darkest and most interesting secrets, was taped within the wall of her tiny harp. It was foolish of him to begin with, to ever part with it. But it had become clear that no matter how hard he worked, Winnie would never take him near her father.

The woman clearly had issues.

The time with her was not without its fun. Her company wasn't awful, but she was a means to an end, and playing the long game hadn't helped him at all. If things hadn't gone to shit, if she hadn't blatantly cheated like she did, he wouldn't have lost his temper, and she, her father, and Stark Industries as a whole would be a smouldering ash heap by now.

Adrian had simply needed the Stark AI to trust him enough to decrypt the data stick. And instead, he'd had to sell half of whatever was on the stick and get help from more unsavory characters. He just had to deliver the stick.

But, like an idiot, he'd forgotten it where it was ironically the most safe.

He'd go to Asgard, retrieve his property, maybe give Winona another well-deserved slap and then get the hell out of dodge.

Easy.

Because he had sold those plans to Hydra, and if he didn't deliver- well, the list of people who wanted to kill him was just getting longer.

Vibrations*

"I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, Win." Bruce said, adjusting his glasses through the screen. "But it makes sense that it happened when it did. You had to essentially break open a mental scab to tell your new friend what happened. And then things got physical for you during training and the touch triggered you."

Winnie nodded along, deep in thought. Bruce was somewhat refreshing in his up-front "bedside" manner. Very calm, factual, so very Bruce that Winnie was feeling better already.

"That said," Bruce continued, "Expect to get some nightmares tonight."

She grimaced and he chuckled, somewhat sadly.

"You're such a strong woman. Pepper would be so proud. And you know Tony never shuts up about you, even if he never will forgive you for not going to MIT."

She shrugged, a wicked grin on her face. "I liked Harvey Mudd better."

Bruce looked to the side and yelled something before addressing Winnie again. "Sorry, Fury needs me for something. I'll talk to you again soon, okay?"

After he signed off, Winnie noticed it was dinner time. When Astrid came around with food, Winnie asked her for a favor. She needed some books at the library about Jotuns.

She'd read that night. After all, you can only get nightmares if you fall asleep.