Hi guys! I know, I know, it's been so long...but! I give you not one, but two chapters! And then only one or two chapters before we go back to previous content that will make writing go by so much faster. Anyways, in the words of my favorite Sherlock… "Not dead."

Clint dropped into the middle of the living room from the rafters. "Nat, we've been through this. There's nothing wrong with Agents Black."

Steve blinked slowly at the abrupt arrival, while Bruce jumped back in surprise. A flash of green ran across his face before he regained control. "Barton, what the hell?! I've told you not to do that!"

Clint had the good grace to look sheepish before turning back to Natasha. "Moving on. Repeat after me: 'There is nothing wrong with Agents Black. My past is making me more suspicious than necessary.'"

She spent a long moment staring back at the archer, dark eyes drilling into his. Once that moment was over, she allowed a long, slow blink before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

Bruce cleared his throat. "So…" He drew the word out, rubbing his neck with one hand. "Isn't it her job to be suspicious of everyone? You know, the whole spy thing?"

If Bruce had ever wondered before what it would be like to be on the receiving end of a spy's stare, he now knew. Just as Natasha before, Clint allowed a long blink before an abrupt exit.

Steve cleared his throat, uncomfortable in the new tension in the room. "Right, well. It was good to see you Bruce." And with that, he too left the room, leaving Bruce standing alone to wonder what the hell was going on in this tower.

"Mr. Stark, for the last time, I don't know what "Project Nightshade" is." Maria Hill kept her back to him, staring out the window at the New York skyline. "And even if I did, I'm not authorized to share that information with you."

Tony read between the lines: Yes, this is a real thing, but I can't say anything about it. Keep digging. Go over my head.

"Well Maria, who do I need to talk to instead? Fury? Coulson?" Hill gave a start at that name. "Oh what, you didn't think I would find out? Do you know how much digging I've been doing lately? So tell me. Who do I talk to, if not you?"

Hill stuttered for a moment, at a loss for words. "You can talk to me, Stark." The strong voice rang out from behind.

Tony turned to take a look at the often absent director. "Fury. You've been avoiding me."

Fury grunted before turning out of the office. Tony followed down the hallway. "Correction. I've been busy. Busy tracking down leads, busy fixing all your mistakes, and most importantly, busy avoiding you."

Stark snorted in amusement, unable to keep the sound in. "Right. Do anything useful then?"

Fury stopped in front of a nondescript door. "Yes."

Without any further explanation, he pushed the door open and stepped through, leaving Tony behind to gape at the entryway.

With a sigh he followed suit, muttering underneath his breath. "Why does the man have to be so damned dramatic?"

He was so distracted with his muttering that he almost missed everything happening around him. That is, until those happenings bumped into him in the chaos he so successfully drowned out.

The agent brushed past him, paying no mind, but it was enough to draw Tony out of his thoughts and back into the real world, which had gotten very, very busy.

Large screens filled the room, all showing different countries and locations, following people of interest, and mapping out likely hotspots for activity. People rushed here and there, all intent on their own small goals without paying mind to the other activities around them.

Fury had reached the center of the room and was standing quite dramatically -of course- hands on hips in obvious pride of whatever this was. What was this?

He didn't realize he had framed the question out loud until Fury answered. "This is what I've been doing. Pretty fucking useful, I think." He walked forward to the monitors. "Dozens of bodies, hundreds of cameras, thousands of leads, all dedicated to find out what happened with Agent Black."

Tony scoffed. "All this for one agent?"

Fury gave him a long side eye glance (with the side that had the eye, of course) before answering. "No, not for one agent. For all the agents. We have a mole. That's the only way they knew where she was, knew when to go after her, knew where her safe house was."

He turned his back to study the screens once more. "This is for all of them. If I can't keep my people safe, what kind of leader am I?"

"Fury you know you are a damned good leader. A little hyper-aggressive sometimes, sure, a pain in the ass as well, but still- a damned good leader." He laid a hand on the Director's shoulder.

Fury let it sit for a moment, long enough to receive the sentiment, before brusquely shaking it off and sweeping from the room, leaving Tony to stare at all the screens.

Of course, Tony was an opportunist as well. He glanced to either side, checking that no one paid him any mind, before placing a small disk behind a server. Then he too, left the chaos behind.

"You know we can't stay here."

Emory looked up at Kyle, standing over the couch while juggling her daughter. "Where else do you suggest we go? This is the safest place on Earth for us."

His face darkened. "Maybe," he said as he sat beside her, "it is time to leave Midgard behind. If we stay, we risk discovery. Will these new friends stand by you when they realize all the lies you have fed them?"

She sighed, pushing her head back against the cushions. "And where else would you suggest we go, Audolf? Asgard, looked upon with pity and suspicion?" She swept a hand across the room. "At least here there are no stares. No questions."

"Yet." His reply was short, but full of meaning. Once they inevitably found out….but she refused to think about that for now.

"So where, Vanaheim? That worked out so well last time."

"We could go back to your grandmother."

She snorted in angry amusement. "Oh yes, the one who wanted nothing to do with me until I showed the slightest semblance of magic? The one who was so jealous of me for my husband, she tried to have me killed? She exiled us! You think she will take us back now?"

He shrugged a single shoulder, not really committing to the action. "There's Cara now. That will interest her." Emory shot up from the couch, spinning to face him. "For all we know, she's the one trying to chase us down!"

"You know as well as I do, that's not her style. She would have just sucked us through a portal to stand before her throne in all her power and glory, aiming to intimidate and impress."

A corner of Emory's mouth rose at the thought. That's exactly what her grandmother would do. Had done, in the past. No need to change something that's worked so well in the past.

"Alright, so it's not her. But there are so many other players who could want us, both human and otherwise. Best to stay here, where it's at least remotely safe."

"Until they find out."

She let out a slow breath. "I think they will stand by me, even once they know."

"All of it?"

She looked down at him, eyes hooded by dark curls. "They can never know all of it."

"Alright folks, we've got ourselves a mission!"

Several pairs of scowling eyes looked up from their coffee long enough to evaluate the bubbling energy coming off of Tony Stark before lowering once more. No one said a word.

"Really guys? No excitement? I went through a lot to get this information from SHIELD without getting caught, and you don't even want to appreciate it?"

Emory looked up again. "Are you sure that's what you want to tell me Stark? That you're stealing information from my employer?"

He gave her a wide grin before replying, " I do when it has to do with what happened to you. I have a lead."

She was on her feet before he finished his sentence. "What have you heard?" Around them everyone else had perked up as well, desperate for new intel.

His smile deepened with glee and a hint of mischief. "Well such effort surely cost me, so shouldn't it cost you as well? Oof!" He wasn't able to finish his statement, what with Emory's arm across his throat and his back against the wall. After a few seconds of sputtering, she lifted the pressure.

"Not one for games today?" The voice came out in a wheeze, raspy from his now bruised vocal cords. She backed away, allowing him to straighten his suit jacket and adjust his tie. "Fine. I'll tell you. The strongest lead is in Russia."

"Russia?" Natasha slipped from the shadows she lingered in so often. "What's in Russia?"

Tony gave her a hard look. "You know what's in Russia."