What Clint needed, as it turned out, was backup in case things went south. Things being the two new women. He was insistent that the taller woman was an unknown Asgardian and, therefore, a threat.
Peggy hadn't let Steve leave her behind in her hospital room, not if there was a threat nearby that she could help with, and so Steve got to witness her reunion with Janet van Dyne first hand.
"Jan," Peggy gasped upon seeing the shorter woman, "Is that you?"
The other woman blinked and furrowed her brow. "Peggy? You look a lot younger than I remember."
After the Ant-Man had broken into their facilities and stolen something, Steve had read up on the files from SHIELD about him. He recognized the name Janet van Dyne from those files, another doctor with similar abilities called the Wasp. It had also been noted that Peggy had been her mentor in SHIELD, so Steve carefully watched her interactions with Peggy. If anyone could figure out if the woman was actually the SHIELD agent who went MIA years ago, it would be her. Based on their interactions, Peggy seemed to trust her, which had always been good enough for Steve.
He turned his attention to the woman Clint thought was an Asgardian, and smiled his best USO showgirl smile. "Ma'am, may I ask what you're doing here?"
The woman raised her head regally. "My companions and I have just escaped from the Hidden Realm. Now, if you will excuse me, I must return to Asgard. Norns only know what Odin has done with it in my absence."
Steve grimaced. "I'm afraid I can't let you-"
"No, Captain!" Pietro interrupted. "It is okay, she is the queen."
"I don't think we have the resources to keep the queen of Asgard hostage, anyways," Sam said, shooting Steve a look.
Wanda got up from her brother's bedside and engulfed the queen- Frigga, if Steve remembered Thor's tales accurately- in a giant hug. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you for bringing him back."
Frigga hugged her back. "You're welcome child. Although the credit does not lie solely with me. Janet van Dyne and Scott Lang also helped."
Steve filed away the name Scott Lang for later investigation. Meanwhile, a tearfully happy Wanda had released Frigga in order to ambush Janet. Janet froze momentarily, while Peggy stifled a laugh, before gently patting Wanda on the back.
"You must be Wanda," she said. "It's nice to meet you."
Wanda smiled and returned to Pietro's side.
"I understand almost everything that's going on," Janet began, addressing the entire room.
"That makes one of us," Clint muttered.
"Except for Peggy. You're a lot younger than you should be, and now you have super strength." Janet continued, addressing her friend directly.
Steve had noticed that Peggy was stronger than normal, but he had thought it was just in comparison to her former weak state.
Frigga sighed. "That was our fault as well. When we were pulled from the Hidden Realm, there was excess energy. Your friend was simply the nearest receptacle."
"Well, I'm certainly not going to complain," Peggy said after a momentary pause. "Although that still doesn't explain the super strength."
"A quirk in the magic, possibly," Frigga suggested. "If I had more time, then mayhap I would have a better answer, but I must return to Asgard."
"I can show you to the clearing Thor uses, if you'd like," Steve volunteered.
"I would appreciate that very much," Frigga smiled regally.
"I'll call Tony and Nat, let them know what happened," Sam said. "Wouldn't want anyone to freak out, after all."
"Thanks Sam," Steve responded, before escorting Frigga out of the room.
They didn't say much as Steve led her through the halls of the facility. Mostly, Frigga seemed to be taking in her surroundings. Steve thought she might be trying to get an insight into why Thor stayed here so often.
"How is the Lady Jane?" Frigga asked after a while.
"Dr. Foster?" Steve clarified. When she nodded, he continued. "I've heard that she's doing well. According to Thor, she's been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics."
"Is the Nobel Prize a great honor on Midgard?" Frigga asked.
"Oh, yes, definitely," Steve assured her.
"Excellent. When last I saw Thor's beloved, she was still the host of the Aether, so you understand my concern," she explained.
Steve nodded, and they continued on in silence.
"One more thing, Captain," Frigga said once they reached the landing site. "When my son, Loki, invaded your realm with the Chitauri, he was not acting of his own volition."
Steve felt icy dread creep up his spine. "What do you mean?"
"He was working under the direction of a being called Thanos, the Mad Titan. He seeks to obtain control over all of the Infinity Stones and send everyone in the galaxy to their graves," Frigga warned.
"Infinity Stones?" Steve asked, his mind shying away from the rest of what she had said instinctively.
"The Tesseract was one of them. The Mind Stone your friend wears on his forehead is another. Thanos will be coming for it."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Frigga looked up at the sky. "Someone needs to know. I go to Asgard with the goal of uniting it and the rest of the Nine Realms against Thanos. Midgard is one of the Realms, and so you deserve to know of the threat we all face. And if I fail, you must do whatever it takes to keep the Mind Stone out of Thanos' hands."
"Thank you for letting me know," Steve said.
Frigga smiled then yelled "Heimdall, open the Bifrost!" as she stepped onto the landing site
Steve stayed back as, moments later, the Bifrost thundered down and swept the queen away.
A/N: Listen: Peggy and Janet were definitely friends at SHIELD.