OOO

Natasha watched the group of males amongst themselves. It was the argument on who needed to go and meet their new non-trustable contact on a different planet. She honestly didn't mind not going along with them to find this Collector.

Between herself and Siggy, they'd generated enough reports on it. Natasha's were straightforward and down to the nitty gritty of the goal, without human aspect. Sig's reports were very anthropological and more in depth than Natasha expected. It actually had her sit back, mid-read, and look around the room at the others. Huh…she'd though, I never even noticed that. Good for you nerd.

Well, as far as the mission was concerned, Natasha wasn't comfortable going through the Bifrost thing of the Asgardians, so she was thankful if she'd sit it out. She liked her feet firmly planted, thank you; let the meatheads go on through.

Clint plopped down beside her and gave her the look she'd learned to decipher. It was nothing to others, but expressive to her. She gave him an open smirk and bumped his leg with her heel.

She looked up to see Siggy shuffle into the room with a huge cup of coffee and a jumble of notes in her arm. Ulfur was at her heels, though he left her to duck under the conference table to beg for scraps and pats.

Seeing no other space in the room, Siggy ended up being sequestered in at the end chair, where Loki was lying on the couch only feet behind her. She hadn't noticed as she dropped the books and papers down and slumped into the chair, gingerly nursing her coffee.

"Rough night?" Natasha offered from the left of the anthropologist.

"You could say that…" Siggy said as she tapped her cup with the claws that had stuck around since her "transformation" as Stark liked to call it.

"I was looking over the barrage of emails from my replacement at the university. That damn noob knows nothing about creating a syllabus and setting up a plan for the students…the only reason he got hired after me is because he made the panel swoon with his stupid GQ body type and a phony "Origins of Female Ecstasy" lecture."

That had a handful of eyes upon her and she sneered. "See what I mean? Sex sells even if its bullshit!" She refused to say more and sipped into her coffee, wishing it were ever filling. When the eyes failed to leave her, she sighed. "He's a basic Hollywood presence to the anthropology world. He's all show and no substance, but the public eats it up…I suppose I should be grateful people are looking at us." She said absently and blew a tendril of frizzy hair from her cheek.

"GQ body type?" Banner said at her right, though his eyes were laughing.

"Alright, he has a…very attractive body type that most females would want to procreate with. But he's as dull as slate and twice as hard in the head."

"And how well does Miss Temper over there know said GQ model?"

She hissed inwardly and turned her chair to the left to glare at Tony. "Well enough. He was a TA for a while."

"Uh huh, was that before or after he tried to get in your pants?"

Siggy stood up and threw her empty cup at Stark's head. "You masochist! We were grad students and he threatened that I attacked him when we−−" She paled visibly and slumped back down in her seat when she noticed the wide eyes that were registering her words.

Natasha spoke first. "Sig, you can say anything here. You don't have to worry about Stark. He's an asshole, but he has limits…so we believe." She said with a glare back at the inventor, who actually looked pretty regretful.

"Look, don't know if I should talk about it…but I do know there are files available you all have access to. You may as well hear it from the source." Siggy took a deep breath and pushed away from the table.

"I um…I have never been close to anyone. I've tried; trust me. The most I've ever done is hold another person, or with the guys, try for a kiss or two. But if, and when, my emotions literally spark…I set people on fire. GQ was one who got too close, and I gave him a second-degree burn. He thought it was the summer heat, but pushed when I told him no…serves him right I suppose." She said.

Natasha looked at her with both pity and respect. "Must be nice though. No entanglements… You're a free woman."

Clint glanced at his fellow assassin and said. "Maybe, but she is missing out regardless."

"I agree." Siggy said and left it at that.

Fury swept into the room with Hill at his heels, followed by Thor. "Alright ladies, looks like this is gonna have to be the plan." He said, and looked around the room.

"Since we don't know the full threat, I've talked with the Captain and he decided to start working on another issue that came up, while he trusts you all can stay put and work on this dilemma. I don't like not knowing what's coming, but we need the Collector to give us one of those Legacy stones…Be advised, we need to offer whatever we can in order to get our hands on one. Capish?"

"Something tells me a man whose name is all about collecting isn't going to want to part with his rock." Clint said.

At the nods, he continued. "Now, do we know who's going in and who's staying behind?"

"I need to go, of course," boomed Thor, "but I would also like to have my brother there with—

"No can do." Fury interjected. "He's been contained three months. With the crap he pulled in New York, and not to mention New Mexico? I think not. You'll leave my agents here, Romanoff and Barton. Stark has to stay put."

"Good, because its past five." The man retorted.

Ignoring him, Fury continued. "I think you need another pseudo-immortal or two. Due to the information given to us by your Warrior's Three an hour ago, he is not mortal at all. We need to know more."

Thor nodded and looked around the room. He focused on Banner, who he knew would keep his head focused on the task, so he nodded toward the man. "Dr. Banner is most needed, and he can take great attention to detail."

After he received a nod of thanks by the compliment, Thor thought he needed one more in his troop. He glanced over to Siggy, daughter of a famous Valkyrie, who was fiddling with her necklace and running her new claws over the chain.

"The lady Sigrün is needed, Fury. She is an anth…anthro…um, she is a scientist like Jane. I know she will have some insight in to the situation that neither myself nor Dr. Banner will be focusing on."

The very size of Siggy's eyes worried Thor that they would pop out of her head. "Wh-what? You really mean to take me?" she spat out.

At once, Fury nodded with approval. "Good choice, Thor. I expect I won't be needed anymore. Carry on." The director then turned and sailed out of the room, with Agent Hill offering a nod to Natasha and Clint, just before she also sailed out.

"Let us prepare!" Thor roared and left the room, Banner reaching over and patted Siggy's arm.

"It'll be okay." He said, and stood to follow the heard.

Siggy remained with Ulfur, her paperwork and…Loki. Knowing he had a burning question, she was sure, the female turned to him. "Guten morgen, trickster god. Having fun back there?"

He was looking at her already, but he had no emotion that she could analyze. Hard ass.

"You have never taken a lover?" he asked sharply, eyes blank.

As if she could stem the sudden blush that flooded her cheeks, she huffed audibly and crossed her arms. "Well, that was blunt." She hissed and turned fully toward him. "I don't have to spread my legs to be considered a woman, you know."

He smirked at that and sat up in one motion, like liquid, to lean forward with his elbows on his knees. His stupid, renaissance-level shirt he sported offered a v-shaped glimpse of the dormant, yet defined muscles of his chest…She well near salivated.

"Truly, a woman versed in the bedroom has a different form of power." Loki argued.

"Maybe, but woman who doesn't use sex as a form of strength can also be powerful. It can be very, very hard to say no." she said and leaned forward an inch to wink. "Just trust me on that. I have a hard time believing you'd ever said no, or even told no."

Loki grinned at her and rolled the fingertips of one hand over his other palm, as if he was trying to distract the fact he was processing his thoughts. "Saying no is different that being forced to say it. You've scorched others when they get too close, Sigrün."

The way he said her full name gave her chills, in the a way that was very pleasant. "What of it?" she practically snarled in defense, just as Loki pulled a move that got her hair static sparking with anticipation.

He whipped a foot out, dragging her chair between his knees, as he brought his hands down on its arms. She literally felt the waves of his cool temperature and it took a lot for her to resist the urge to curl up into his lap and bask in the new experience.

"You feel this." He uttered. Though his cockiness was gone, his green eyes were full of curiosity. Up this close, she knew he hadn't taken time for an illusion…she was looking at the god Loki as few ever have.

"Yes." she croaked and licked her lips. "Your aura feels cool to me…I truly feel it. So cool, in fact, I wonder why I didn't feel it when you popped my back when we first interacted a couple months ago."

Loki smirked, a crease in a corner of his mouth, but it held little teasing. "Well, you did get quite angry at me that morning. Might I dare inquire…mayhap I've ignited that fire which you try so hard to tamp down?"

The fact that he was right didn't make it sting any less, but they were talking and not being weird, so she was going to let it go. "So, can you feel me?"

Loki's already handsome face grew into a practically devious one by the way he looked at her. "I know you are quite warm. I've never felt such a thing. I didn't know what warm truly was, to be honest. You are an enigma and I want to know more."

Siggy grinned at that. She can deal with curious.

"Do you feel bad that you aren't coming with us? To go see the Collector man-beast."

"He's a man…beast?" Loki said, as his eyebrows furrowed.

"No, its…" sigh, "it's an expression I use when I don't know how to address someone, or I'm making fun. Just…well, ignore that bit. Did you want to go with us to see the Collector?" she reiterated.

Loki frowned. "To be honest, I didn't expect Thor to ask for me to follow. But I am curious."

"I'll be sure to let you know as much as I can." She said, and hesitated before she added. "I wish you could have gone with as well. If only because it's seriously nice being around you…well, you know, since I'm leeching your coldness and all."

Loki smirked. "I should have to agree with you."

Siggy didn't know what to do from there, so she smiled awkwardly and made to push back from him with her rollie-chair, but she found herself stuck. Her amber eyes met his serious green gaze, and she was caught up in them.

Loki leaned forward and lifted his hand to hover next to her jawline. He watched her eyelids flutter with pleasure from the feeling of his cool aura, but when he set his hand upon her skin, it felt like he was holding flame itself.

Siggy's mouth fell open into an o and she groaned a little, lifting a hand to cover his. The cold of his skin was heaven, a feeling she'd never known before. When she'd subconsciously moved to have her chin in his cool palm, she opened her eyes to look up at him and was rendered speechless.

He looked enraptured.

Loki's eyes were on the skin of her face before they met her warm amber orbs. "You feel…I don't know what you feel like." He said, almost at a loss.

"Maybe…like summer? Damn, Loki, you feel like winter. Like...really, really winter. I never felt the cold my entire life." She trailed off when he brushed a tendril of hair out of her face and marveled a little at the texture. "I never even knew what cold was honestly, since it's never been an experience. Hell, I've happily worn shorts in blizzards. I only wear long sleeves to throw off what I'm not feeling. I know how stupid that sounds, but−−"

Siggy instantly hushed when his other hand rose to encompass her neck, and his thumb ran over the thin skin of her collarbone. His callouses rasped against the sensitive area and she instantly folded into his grip. "Oh god."

When she was nearly in his lap, they finally looked up at one another. Mouths a breath apart…

The intercom overhead interrupted and she leapt off of Loki in an instant, shivering, though not with cold. "Lady Siggy, please met Dr. Banner and myself at the…um…damn what was it? Oh, well, yes the common room. I am told we will move from there…I am done. Now what shall I−−"

Siggy did not know what to do, but when she looked down at Loki, she realized he was thinking the same thing. "Um…Loki, I need to go. Er…yeah." She said as she turned and gathered her book and paperwork.

She felt, rather than heard him approach…and she was not disappointed.

Loki grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to look at him. Their auras clashed in a completely non-delicate dance, twisting and vying for dominance.

That feeling alone was enough for them to take a moment and just feel one another's presence. Siggy opened her eyes, saw his pointed gaze, and lifted her thumb to his lips. She wordlessly folded her palm and fingers over his cheeks, and watched him try to hide his reaction.

"I'll be back soon. Trust me, Loki… I want to see just where this little project we have going can get us."

With that, she pushed him back onto the couch, and he allowed himself to land on the cushions. His dark gaze followed her as she turned, gathered her notes and book, and then as she turned, winked, and flew out of the room.

Once she left his presence, she took the warmth, leaving nothing but cold. It felt similar to how Loki felt when the green beast had flung him about. This time, though, he wasn't bruised and broken…it was oddly satisfying, and he wanted more of the warmth.