A/N: Anyways guess who is back and continuing this! Me! This bitch!

Hannah sat at the table overlooking the control room once more. The carrier was still, computers and machines were still working, partially, but the people controlling them were despondent. She put her head down and watched the guy that was playing Galaga close out his game window.

Nothing made sense. Her interaction with Loki played over and over again in her mind. Even then, she couldn't describe it. If someone asked her what went down in the holding cell- which they were bound to- she didn't think herself capable to explain. He said she was Sigyn, she was his wife, and she was bound to him. There was no way around it; it was her destiny, her fate.

You will come to me eventually, he'd said. There is no way around it.

And now he was gone. The only person, god, deity, alien, whatever, that bothered telling her what was going on was gone. He was headed to New York to do God-knows-what. His escape and absence made her stomach churn.

Not even the sound of footsteps behind her made her pick her head up. She closed her eyes when the chair next to hers scraped against the floor as it was pulled back. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now, and hoped no one wanted to talk to her.

"Hannah."

Steve's voice was softer than she expected. Slowly, she opened her eyes and picked her head up.

"'M sorry." She mumbled, not exactly sure if she was apologizing for being nearly asleep or for the whole situation they were in.

"It's alright." He said. Hearing him say that should've made her feel better, but it didn't. "Fury was looking for you. He wanted to talk about what happened in the holding cell."

There it was. Hannah felt nauseous at the thought of having to speak about, well, everything. She swallowed heavily.

"It's my fault, I already know." The words just tumbled out of her mouth. "God, I could've stopped him, I could've done something, I-"

"Hey, hey." Steve stopped her. "No one is blaming you. He just wants to know what happened and why you were there."

Hannah shook her head. Her hands quivered. "No, it is my fault, Steve, you don't get it."

There was a long pause before Steve spoke again. "Alright. Tell me why you think that."

Hannah felt tears beginning to sting at her eyes. This was why she didn't want to talk about it; she knew she'd break down as soon as she did. She licked her lips and pressed her hands together to get them to stop shaking. Steve only looked at her, patient and reassuring.

"No one told me what was going on," She started, nearly whispering. "About why I'm here. So I went to the holding cell. At Stuttgart, Loki had… Reached out to me. To touch me. And this glow surrounded me. It was like he recognized me. I had to find out why." She paused, taking in a breath. "It was weird, what he told me. Made no sense at all. But at the same time it did, because, well, anything goes, right? I mean, I didn't think any of the stuff happening right now was possible, but it is, and, well, yeah."

"You know Norse mythology?" He shook his head. She continued. "In the myths, he had a wife. Her name was Sigyn. She was the goddess of fidelity. She was always involved in her husband's messes. Not because she wanted to, but because she had no choice. There's this one myth where Loki was punished for something, and his punishment was to get water-boarded with poison. Sigyn stood at his side, collecting the poison in a bowl to keep it from getting in his eyes. She didn't want to be there, of course, but what else could she do? She's the goddess of loyalty, fealty. Can you imagine that, being bound to a terrible person and not being able to do anything about it? And… And she just never had a choice. Ever."

"Right." Steve nodded slowly. "What did he tell you, though? When you were in the cell?"

She wrung her hands together. This was it, the part that she didn't want to tell anyone about. Not because they wouldn't believe her, but because then the blame would be easy to place. After all, who wouldn't believe the reincarnation of Loki's wife, the goddess of fidelity, wouldn't help him? She looked up at Steve fleetingly. Concern was etched on his face; his brow was furrowed slightly, but she knew he was trying to keep calm for her.

She could already feel a lump growing in her throat. She dug her nails into her palm. "I think I'm Sigyn. That I'm the reincarnation of his wife."

Everything was still quiet. Hannah swore she could hear her own breathing echo over the room.

"Okay," Steve nodded after what seemed much too long. She couldn't read his expression. "That's… You're right, that sounds crazy." He paused. "But everything here is crazy. So when Fury asks, just told him exactly what you told me. But you're going to be okay. I'll make sure of it."

His words were hollow. She was sure he didn't mean them to be, but what was the point in reassuring her when there was no escaping her fate?

"I could've done something…" She said absently. "I was so stupid. I just stood there. He's dead now, isn't he? Agent Coulson?"

Expectantly, she looked up at Steve.

"It's not your fault." He repeated, firmness behind his gentle tone. "You were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Just like I've been since the start of this.

"I didn't help him escape." She blurted out. "I just stood there and let him talk, I just listened even though I shouldn't have, and…" She trailed off, wiping dejectedly at the tear rolling down her face. "But I could've done something."

Steve said nothing. Hannah felt even worse at that. There was already enough silence surrounding her. Not knowing what else to do, she reached out and set her hand on his, which was resting on the table. He blinked, glancing at her minutely. Then, he took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. His grip was strong and he was warm.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Nick Fury's voice nearly made Hannah jump in her seat. Steve dropped her hand as if it were hot and directed himself to the other man.

"No Director," He answered. "Miss Frost and I were just talking."

"Well." Fury took a seat across from them. "I'm all ears, then." He stared directly at Hannah, never taking his gaze off her. "So, Miss Frost. What exactly happened in the holding cell?"

Hannah sighed.

"We can use you."

Hannah frowned and raised a brow at Tony Stark. "Excuse me?"

"We can use you," The billionaire repeated, carefully enunciating every word. "To, y'know, stop Loki and his plan to take over the world? Yeah. We can definitely use you."

Hannah shook her head. "I don't-"

"Oh, c'mon, I heard you talking with Capsicle." Tony cut her off. "Back there, in the control room. I was hanging out in the hall leading towards it, kinda eavesdropped, sorry. And I don't believe in all this fairy tale bullshit, but in light of everything that's happened in the past forty eight hours, I might just think you're useful. Because even if you're not what's-her-face, Loki probably wouldn't try to kill you on site like he would the rest of us. Probably."

Hannah rocked back and forth on her feet, trying to figure out how to respond. It wasn't every day that Iron Man stopped you in a hallway to tell you that you might be useful. She was still drained from having to explain the incident not once, but twice, and couldn't think of anything to say.

"Leave me alone, please."

Other than that.

She stalked down the empty hall leading back to her room. Before Tony had practically come out of nowhere, she was on her way to gather her things and be ready to dropped off at the nearest base. She wanted to go home.

"Okay, fair enough." Tony shrugged. "But you do know S.H.I.E.L.D isn't gonna do that, right?"

She stopped and turned around to face him. "What?"

"You really think Fury is just gonna let you go home like he said?" He quirked a brow. "That once you're off this metal death trap you can go back to your normal life in Michigan-"

"Milwaukee."

"- Or wherever?" He shook his head, scoffing. "Nah. Of course not. You're something else, kid, something special. S.H.I.E.L.D likes to monitor special. Why do you think they make death rays and stuff? Because there's some weird, special shit out there, and they like to make sure it's handled."

"So, you're saying my life is just never going to be the same."

"Pretty much."

Hannah scoffed at that, turning back on heel and started again towards her room. She was done. Completely done. She just wanted this nightmare to end, for everything to be over. Out of sight, out of mind, they said. If she didn't have to deal with any of this, there wouldn't be a problem anymore.

"A little piece of shrapnel changed mine." Tony sounded nonchalant from down the hall. "Can't imagine what's going to change yours."

She paused and closed her eyes. She didn't need this. She could just go home, pretend none of this ever happened, and try to carry on. But then she remembered the blood-stained hoodie she'd changed out of, and the way the dried blood wouldn't seem to come off her hands. When it actually did, after nearly scalding her hands, she could still imagine it there. Perhaps this was still her destiny, perhaps there was no other way around her fate. But she could still do something good along the way.

"Ah, see, knew you'd come back." Tony grinned as she walked back towards him.

"How would I be useful to you?" Her voice was tight. "What would you need me to do?"

"So, you told Fury that Loki believes you to be his dead wife or something." He started. "He's got a soft spot for you. You could sweeten the pot, because, as I said, he wouldn't fight you like he would us. Then, as you're distracting him with your…" He looked her up and down. Hannah crossed her arms over her chest. "Looks, I guess, we can swoop in comfortably."

She rolled her eyes, and placed her hand on her hip. "I'd be bait, then."

"No, you're a pot sweetener, a negotiator."

"There's no negotiating with him." She pinched at the bridge of her nose.

"Then, yeah, you're bait." Tony decided. "But he wouldn't kill you. You look too much like his dead girlfriend."

What great reassurance.

"Anyways, as you told Cap and-" The man continued, but stopped abruptly. "Wait, what was that between you?"

Hannah shook her head, confused.

"That hand thing? Are you like a thing? No? Okay. Don't blame you, but between him and Rudolph the evil reindeer the choice is pretty obvious."

"Mr. Stark."

"Tony, actually." He waved his hand as if waving her away. "Anyways, you said he was going to Manhattan, right?"

"Yes."

"Perfect." Tony snapped his fingers. "Say, Hannah, have you ever been to Stark Tower?"

A/N: I love validation.