Sigyn took Goose to her house in Tonsberg and started living there permanently. It was a good place to lay low. At least after what had happened to the Accusers, no one else dared try to steal the Tesseract again. Being its guardian was actually an easy duty, so long as you didn't get attached to mortals.

Keller's death didn't affect Sigyn much, if not at all, for example. But after his death, Nick Fury became the new Director of SHIELD. Sigyn wasn't a big fan of Fury because of the obvious reasons, and she didn't bother to pretend otherwise, but at least he wasn't HYDRA. It didn't make sense, though. That bastard, Alexander Pierce, could have easily appointed a HYDRA operative to the position of Director. Yet he kept letting the good guys have the job. Keller wasn't HYDRA either. Why did Pierce take such a huge risk?

Perhaps it was because of Fury's obsession with dangerous relics. It rivaled HYDRA's. He had asked Sigyn to return to actively serving SHIELD as a Consultant. She had agreed, but she had two conditions. The first one was, Tony would never know about SHILED. Fury was going to let Sigyn keep paying SHIELD from her own pocket to cover the funding gap from Stark Industries. After Howard and Maria's death, Peggy and Sigyn had made sure that SHIELD would never request funding from Stark Industries again. If Tony decided to take a closer look at the company budget, he might realize where all that money had been going. They couldn't have taken the risk. Keller had agreed to this as well, saying he wasn't looking forward to dealing with "Howard Stark's spoiled brat" anyway. Fury shared the same opinion, at least for a time.

Her second condition concerned Peggy's great-niece. Much to Sigyn's horror, Sharon Carter had been admitted into the SHIELD Academy of Operations, and was one of the most promising cadets the Academy had ever seen. Sigyn hated it, knowing the girl was surrounded by dormant HYDRA agents, but telling Peggy or Sharon the truth was unthinkable now. Odin had been right. The Starks had died because of Sigyn's arrogance. She couldn't let the Carters share a similar fate. So, she had told Fury to take Sharon under his wing, without telling why. "She is a Carter, of course I'm going to keep my eye on her," Fury had said. Hopefully, that would be enough to keep HYDRA away from her.

For HYDRA was a more immediate threat, she didn't think much about Thanos anymore. But in 2004, Fury told her that King T'Chaka of Wakanda had demanded intel on Thanos, Sigyn, and Loki in exchange for vibranium and Wakandan tech. That was how Sigyn found out Wakanda was secretly the most technologically advanced country in the world. To her surprise, Fury asked for her permission before telling them anything. And of course, he had asked her who Thanos was. She had no idea what this was about, but she refused to reveal herself to Wakanda, and told Fury she had never heard of a Thanos before. Like Odin had said, it was best to stay out of mortal affairs. And to be honest, anything that concerned Thanos terrified her.

In 2009, Fury broke his first promise when Tony became "Iron Man." He wanted to recruit him for the Avengers Initiative program. Tony refused, but Fury wasn't going to give up easily. And the Avengers Initiative wasn't his only focus. Six months after the Iron Man announcement, she saw a bunch of SHIELD agents waiting outside her house while returning from grocery shopping one afternoon.

"Director Fury is inside," one of them told her.

She entered, and found him in the kitchen, playing with Goose with a laser pointer. Sometimes he was trying really hard to lose his other eye, too.

"Don't get too attached, they don't have a very long lifespan," she said, placing the bags in her hands on the kitchen counter.

"Attached? You're the one who adopted Goose."

"I was talking to her."

"Ah…"

"And I didn't adopt Goose. She just lives here." After regurgitating the Tesseract, Goose had refused to leave the house. She came and went as she pleased, but this place had become her home, too.

"Whatever you say." He put the laser pointer into his pocket, and seated himself down on a couch. Sigyn sat down on a chair across from him.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure this time?"

"I need the Tesseract."

"I told you, the Tesseract stays with me. I don't trust anyone with it. I made an exception for Howard in the past, true, but the rest of Midgard is not ready to meddle with such forces."

"The World Security Council is growing restless. And they want to know what SHIELD has been doing with the cube since Howard's death. If I don't reinitiate Project PEGASUS, they're going to start digging, and you know what they're going to find if they dig deep enough. They're going to find you."

"Are you threatening me, Director?"

"Threatening you? Believe it or not, we're on the same side, Sigyn."

You have no idea, she thought. "You have broken a promise before. Why should I trust you again?"

He sighed impatiently. "Is this about Stark?"

"You'd promised to leave the boy alone."

"Well, that 'boy' is a grown-ass forty-something flying around in a metal suit. Not the mention the whole world knows about it. That's not something SHIELD could just ignore."

"I'm not just talking about him. You want to recruit his daughter as well."

"Yeah, I want to recruit the girl. As a scientist. After the official assessment, we'll invite her to join the Academy of Science and Technology. What's the harm in that?"

"You have more than enough scientists at your disposal, Fury. Ana Stark is already the heir to Stark Industries, she doesn't need to worry about SHIELD as well. Stay away from her."

A vague smirk played about his lips, and Sigyn understood that Fury had other plans for Ana Stark. "The Tesseract isn't the only reason I came all the way here."

Sigyn narrowed her eyes in suspicion, wondering why he had suddenly changed the subject. "What else do you want?" she asked, hoping this wasn't about another dangerous relic he had become obsessed with.

"Everything Howard had on the Tesseract and the Arc Reactor."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

"Oh, Sigyn… It's not so easy to keep secrets from me either, you know that, right? I know the Arc Reactor project is not finished. And I know it has something to do with the Tesseract."

She remained silent.

"I don't want it for myself," he went on. "Tony needs it. He is dying, Sigyn."

"What?"

"You heard me right. I was told that he'd be dead in 72 hours. That was five hours ago. The Arc Reactor in his chest is killing him. Palladium poisoning. Come on, you know I'm telling you the truth. You know those schematics better than I do. You know the Arc Reactor is powered by a palladium core."

Fury wasn't lying. Tony had been living with an Arc Reactor in his chest almost a year now. If what Fury said was true, he needed to discover the element at once, and replace it with palladium. Otherwise, he would die. The Stark Expo diorama was still with him, as far as she knew, but Howard's message was in that case he had given her, along with his notes on the Tesseract.

"I assume you will not help Tony unless I give you the Tesseract?"

"Oh, I will help him. I might even tell him the whole truth about SHIELD while I'm at it. About his father. About what he did for you."

"Excuse me?" she asked, hoping she had misunderstood.

"Howard used the supersoldier serum on you, didn't he? Or, at least some variation of it."

"This is ridiculous, even for you."

"Is it? Because I remember clearly, all those years ago, when we were captured by the Kree, they said you were an Asgardian-Terran hybrid. Threat: Medium to low. You're half-human, Sigyn. You should've never been able to take down a squad of highly-trained blue alien soldiers by yourself. Yet, you did it."

The fragile air of peace in the room was completely shattered after these words. They looked at each other defiantly. This was a battle of wills now. The one who broke first was going to lose. At times like this, Sigyn was tempted to reveal the truth about HYDRA to him, but she couldn't. Fury was a good man. And a brave one, too. He just had a dangerous obsession, not unlike another brave man she used to know.

"The supersoldier formula was lost after Dr. Erskine's death."

"No. If I had to guess, I'd say it was lost after Howard Stark's death. Tell me, Sigyn. Do you have anything to do with that accident?"

"If you think I'd ever hurt Maria or Howard, you're insane."

"I know you wouldn't hurt them. Not intentionally, at least. Still, I believe it was Howard's experiments with you that put him and his wife in harm's way."

"You're wrong."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe you'll want to discuss it with their son."

"You wouldn't dare…"

"No?"

"Remember how harshly you judged me for redacting Mar-Vell's files, Fury? How simple your life was once? Eventually, you had to get off your high horse, though. It was the only way to climb the ladder of hierarchy. Tell me, how many secrets you've covered up since then? How many files have you redacted? Sometimes you forget that I'm an Alfa member with a Clearance Level 10. Are you sure you want to piss me off? You're the most notorious spy in this world, and I know all of your secrets."

"Most of them," he corrected her. "But you're right. So, we both got dirt on each other. I'm sure we can come to an arrangement. What do you say?"

"Fine," she relented. "I'll give you the Tesseract, and you'll keep your mouth shut. Also, if Tony dies of palladium poisoning, I'll strangle you in your sleep."

Fury grinned. "That's what I call a deal."

She left him in the kitchen, and went down to the vault at the basement to fetch both the cube and Howard's belongings.

"The case is enchanted," she warned him as she gave Fury the hard case, and she was telling the truth. "If anyone other than Howard's descendants tries to open it, it will kill them. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly."

"Who is going to work on the Tesseract?"

"We're assembling a team of scientists. It's going to be a joint project with NASA. I'll keep you updated."

"Thank you, Director," she said coldly, and handed him the smaller hard case that contained the Tesseract.

Fury didn't linger. He went out to Sigyn's garden, where three other SHIELD agents had been waiting. They all filed into the black SUV that had a SHIELD logo on it. Sigyn wished he were less conspicuous. Some of the townspeople were giving them wary looks.

…

Now that the Tesseract was with SHIELD and NASA, Sigyn had no reason to hide it from HYDRA in Tonsberg. She went to Washington DC to be with Peggy. Her Alzheimer's was getting worse, but everyone in the family was too busy to take care of her, so she was living in a nursing home now. It was a decent place, but Sigyn wished they hadn't left her alone like this.

"Oh, dear. Don't judge them too harshly," Peggy said, with a forgiving smile playing about her thinning, wrinkled lips. "This is how life is. I can't ask them to devote themselves to me. And they visit me as often as they can. Sharon, especially…"

Sharon and Peggy had always been so close. In a way, Sharon had become the heir to the Carter legacy. Her mother wasn't very happy about it. Peggy always said she was just worried about her daughter's safety, but Sigyn suspected that she also envied their bond between Peggy and Sharon. But then, this was human nature. Mortals just couldn't help themselves sometimes. Sigyn had indeed learned not to judge them too harshly.

"I know."

"She's started working in SHIELD's Special Service, as Agent 13. I'm so proud of her," she said, not realizing that she had already shared the same news a dozen times since Sigyn had come here.

"You should be."

"You two haven't met, have you?"

"No."

"Perhaps you should. You've been a good friend to me, Sigyn. I'd like you to do the same for her."

Sigyn knew Peggy meant well. But it was a bad idea.

"I'm sorry," she added quickly. "Sometimes, I forget how hard this is for you. I forget a lot of things these days…"

"It's alright, Peggy. I'm keeping an eye on her, I promise."

All of a sudden, her phone beeped. An emergency signal from SHIELD.

"What is it?" Peggy asked.

"An 0-8-4, it seems," she replied, tapping on the briefing file to open it. Then she gasped in shock.

"Sigyn?"

"This is Mjolnir… By Odin's beard, what's Thor doing in New Mexico?"

"Mjolnir?" Peggy asked.

This confused Sigyn. Peggy usually remembered the distant past clearly. It was the near past she struggled to remember. The illness affected her short-term memory.

"Thor's hammer, Peggy," she reminded her gently. "Remember I told you about Thor's hammer?"

The realization dawned on her face. "Oh, right… The hammer that can summon lightning. Why is it in New Mexico, indeed?"

"I have no idea."

She decided to be patient and wait. She cooked lunch for Peggy to keep herself occupied, then gave her her daily medicine, while still closely following any updates on the New Mexico situation. Mjolnir had been discovered by mortals, but none of them had been able to lift it. Now SHIELD was building a temporary compound around it. This didn't make any sense. Why had Thor still not shown up to claim it? He wouldn't just leave his hammer lying around to be found by mortals…

Eventually, when Peggy fell asleep, Sigyn decided to contact Sif. She could tell her what was going on in Asgard. She sent out her projection to find Sif and found her sister in the palace, with the Warriors Three. Volstagg and Fandral seemed to be having a quarrel, while Sif and Hogun were trying to calm them down. Sigyn revealed herself to them, which immediately brought the tension in the room to an end. They were always happy to hear from her.

"Hello, sister. Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun…"

They all smiled. "Sigyn! It's so good to see you!"

"Sister!" Sif ran up to her, but then froze when she remembered that this wasn't her physical form. Sif must have missed her. And to be honest, Sigyn had missed her, too.

"It's good to see you, too. How is Asgard?"

They all exchanged meaningful looks, confirming Sigyn's suspicions. She decided to cut to the chase. "Tell me what happened to Thor."

Hogun frowned. "How do you know?"

"I have access to all SHIELD files, remember? They found Mjolnir in New Mexico."

"Do they know of Thor?" Fandral asked.

"No, they labeled the hammer as an 0-8-4."

They looked at each other again, this time in confusion.

"0-8-4 means an object of unknown origin, which means they don't know about Thor, or Asgard… Yet. Agent Phil Coulson is in charge of the operation. He is not of HYDRA, don't worry."

"Good," Sif said, then turned to the Warriors Three. "She needs to know."

"Know what?"

"Sister, Thor has been banished."

"Thor?" she cried in disbelief. "Banished? Why?"

"A handful of Frost Giants attacked Asgard during his coronation. The ceremony was called off, of course, and we went to Jotunheim to find answers."

"You went to Jotunheim?"

"Thor insisted. And that's why the Allfather banished him."

Sigyn sighed thoughtfully.

"When we were in Jotunheim, Laufey told us something," Sif went on. "That there were traitors in the house of Odin, and they let the Frost Giants into Asgard. Tell us, sister. Could it be Loki? You know him better than any of us."

She thought for a moment. Loki could use the secret passages to let the Frost Giants in, and cloak them invisible, of course, but why would he do that? "Loki loves Thor. He loves Asgard. He is no traitor."

Sif shook her head. "After everything he has done to you, you still love him. He doesn't deserve you."

"He didn't do anything to me, Sif. I was the one who broke his heart. I guess I broke your hearts, too, when I came here, but… I still believe I did the right thing. I love you all, but my life had no purpose in Asgard."

"Father says the same," Sif said with a sad, but understanding smile. "But he misses you, too."

"I know. I miss him, too."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm in Washington DC, with Peggy."

"How old is she now? One hundred?" Volstagg asked, with a mixture of pity and concern in his voice.

"No, but she is close."

"Is it too far from this… New Mexico?" Sif asked.

"It is, but with my ship, I can be there in two or three hours."

"Can you go to him? He might need your help." Sif was almost begging her.

"Sister, I understand your concerns, I really do. Midgard is very different from the other eight realms. When I first came here, I'd have been doomed, had it not been for my mortal friends. And Thor… He is not exactly the most adaptable person in the universe, I know. But Director Fury is the only SHIELD agent who knows about me now, and I'd like to keep it that way. Once the dust settles and SHIELD retreats from New Mexico, I'll go to him, I swear."

"And what if they capture Thor? Odin has taken away his powers; he's vulnerable."

"If that happens, I'll call Fury and tell him to send Thor to me." Suddenly, another possibility occurred to her. "Sif? Does Thor know the truth about SHIELD?"

"He does. We all do. But don't worry, we all took an oath of silence after what happened to the Starks. Thor might be reckless, but he is no fool. He won't say a word about HYDRA."

She nodded. "I know, sister. It's just… I'd never forgive myself if another mortal got hurt because of what we know. So, how long will this banishment last?"

"We don't know. The Allfather has fallen into Odinsleep. Loki is king now, but he refuses to let Thor come home. Can't you talk to him?"

"I'll speak with the Queen first." She knew Loki too well. Speaking to him directly under such circumstances might backfire. Yes, they still cared about each other, but they hadn't spoken again after his visit to Mar-Vell laboratory.

They bid her farewell, and then Sigyn's astral form went to find Frigga this time. She found the Queen in their private chambers with the Allfather, who seemed to be in Odinsleep. Her heart sank when she saw him like that. Odin might have been cruel to her at times, but he was their king. And wise and benevolent one at that.

"My queen?"

Frigga turned around to look at her. "Sigyn, my dear…"

"Will he be alright?"

She looked at him and sighed. "It's hard to say. It was too sudden. We were unprepared."

Sigyn watched him in silence for a while. She had read about Odinsleep when she was a child, of course, like she had read about everything else, but books had failed to prepare her for the actual thing. "So, that's what it looks like…"

"Yes. You can talk to him if you want. He can hear you."

"I… I don't know what to say, my queen. I'm sorry."

"No. I am sorry, child. There are things we should have told you a long time ago."

"What kind of things?"

"The truth about Loki. When we realized you two were in love, I asked Odin to be honest with you. You both deserved to know. Your future depended on it."

"Know what, exactly? My queen, what is going on?"

"Loki is… He is adopted."

Sigyn looked at her, but didn't say anything. If only she could say she was shocked. General Talos' words echoed in her head. "You Asgardians bury your secrets so deep that even you can't find them." Though she still didn't know what he was talking about—she couldn't dare ask Heimdall, let alone Odin himself—it had never once occurred to her that she could be married to one of those secrets. Perhaps it should have.

"Odin found him in Jotunheim after the battle," Frigga went on. "Laufey had left him in the temple to die. Odin disguised his true form with his magic, and brought him here. Loki found out today, and confronted Odin. That's why he suddenly went into Odinsleep like this."

"That's why he made me swear that I'd bear no children, right? It wasn't only because I was half-mortal. He was afraid that I'd give birth to a Frost Giant, and the truth would come out."

"Yes."

Sigyn released a deep, troubled breath and rubbed her temples. Poor Loki… She couldn't even imagine how hard this must have been for him.

"Loki is the King of Asgard now," Frigga reminded her. "And you are his queen."

"But you…"

"I'm just the Queen Mother now. You must come home, my dear. Your husband needs you. Your realm needs you."

"But I've sworn an oath…"

"Loki can release you from that oath. We can send someone else to guard the Tesseract."

"But they won't know Midgard the way I do. I might not be able to stop HYDRA, but at least I know how to keep them at bay."

"Loki needs you, Sigyn," she repeated. "Does that not mean anything to you?"

"I love him, my queen. But I wish not to be released from my oaths. Besides, Thor will need my guidance, too."

A look of concern crossed her face. She was worried about her first-born, too. "Will you go to him?"

"Of course. Once SHIELD leaves him alone. I don't want HYDRA to know that we are… related."

"That's wise. Take good care of him, will you?"

"Of course. Farewell, my queen."

…

Sigyn never had to go to New Mexico, because Thor returned to Asgard before Agent Coulson could even debrief him. Shortly afterwards, there was a strange shift in the very essence of the universe, like a branch of Yggdrasil was being ripped off. It was so forceful that Sigyn wondered if it was Ragnarok. Still, not wanting to frighten her, she didn't share her concerns with Peggy. Once it ceased, she contacted Queen Frigga again. This time, she found her in her study, not by Odin's side.

"My queen?"

"You felt it, didn't you?" she asked solemnly.

"What was it?"

"The Bifrost is destroyed."

Sigyn gasped. "By whom?"

"Thor."

"I—I don't understand…"

"Loki wanted to unleash the full power of the Bifrost upon Jotunheim. Thor had no other choice. The catastrophe was so powerful that it awakened Odin."

Only then, Sigyn began to realize how much Loki actually needed her support. He had found out he was a Frost Giant, and his first action as king had been to destroy the realm of the Frost Giants. If she had been with him… "I—I'm so sorry, my queen. You were right; he needs me. I'll return to Asgard at once, and—"

"He is gone."

Sigyn froze. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Frigga went on, "He fell from the Bifrost, into an abyss that was created by the destruction of the bridge. Odin was able to save only Thor."

Sigyn's ears were humming. She forced herself to remain composed in front of the Queen, whose voice had suddenly become so distant, wondering how much more grief she could take before going mad. She had wanted to change that future, yes, but not like this. If her absence was what had led Loki do this, then it wasn't very different from stabbing him in the heart. It was still her doing.

"We mustn't lose hope. He might have survived the fall."

Sigyn looked at her, taken aback."Do you really believe that?"

"Of course I do. I'll keep looking for him through astral projection. You should do the same."

"I will," she said quickly, nodding, but tried not to get too hopeful. "So, Thor is back in Asgard, but the Bifrost is gone… What will happen now?"

"Once our enemies realize what happened to the Bifrost, the other realms will be plunged into chaos. Do you still have the Tesseract?"

"Unfortunately, no. The World Security Council was getting suspicious. At least one of the members is of HYDRA. I had to give to SHIELD. They're experimenting with it."

She frowned. "When will their experiments end?"

"I don't know. But I'll ask Director Fury."

"You do that. You must be ready to take the cube from those mortals by force if it comes to that."

"I understand."

"Good. We're counting on you now, child. In the meantime, we will try to find a way to repair the bridge."

With these words, she disappeared.

So, her husband was dead. Her duty as the guardian of the Tesseract might soon end. The thought of being back in Asgard unsettled her. She missed her family and her friends in Asgard, yes. But to be honest, she didn't miss anyone else. Now that she was much stronger, would they respect her? Or, would she just be seen as another kind of freak this time? She decided to go to Peggy's room and talk to her.

Peggy was awake, sitting in a chair and looking out the window. Sigyn pulled a chair to sit across from her.

"Is everything alright?"

"I just spoke with the Queen. My husband is dead."

Peggy let out a small gasp, and took Sigyn's hand. "I'm so sorry, dear."

"Thank you."

"Will you go to Asgard for his funeral?"

"There will be no funeral. He fell into an abyss."

"Oh…"

"Queen Frigga said he might have survived. But I don't want to get too hopeful. I'm really glad you're here right now."

"I wish I could do more. You've lost so much, Sigyn. And you keep losing more. Alien or not, no one should bear such a heavy burden."

Suddenly, Sigyn burst into laughter. The irony was so sad, yet so hilarious at the same time.

"Sigyn?" Peggy asked warily.

"It's… nothing. It's just… The first funeral I witnessed was my mother's. I was so devastated, but I kept reminding myself that it would be the only funeral I'd ever have to attend. That I wouldn't outlive anyone else I cared about. Now I'm starting to wonder if I'm to outlive Ragnarok itself. This is my curse, Peggy. Not mortality."

Peggy gave her hand a squeeze. For about ten minutes, they sat in companionable silence. Then, she said, "Sigyn?"

"Yes?"

"It's Sharon… She's started working in SHIELD's Special Service, as Agent 13!"

"So I've heard, Peggy. You should be proud of her."

"Oh, I am. You've been a good friend to us, Sigyn. I hope you'll do the same for her."

"I'll keep an eye on her." Sigyn smiled at her, then turned her head to the window and pretended to watch the clouds, so that Peggy wouldn't see the look on her face.

A/N: Hey guys! Just wanted to add a quick note. If you're reading this story as a standalone, but want to know how Wakanda knew about Sigyn, you can read the first three chapters of The Princess. Thanks everyone who commented, it's great to see there are people who have been enjoying this series.