Flushing, Queens
Sauer had the oddest feeling she was being followed...
She was cautious by nature. Her 5 older brothers had drilled the untrustworthiness of men into her since childhood. S.H.I.E.L.D. field training had done the rest. If she suspected someone was following her, then someone probably was. While she wasn't a likely target for the "Stop and Frisk" program so loved by the NYPD, there were still several street gangs that considered a lone woman easy prey.
She wasn't about to be prey. She had deliberately cut through several different ethnic neighborhoods-gang territories-on her way home. Gang members were generally not welcome out of their allotted areas. While her own appearance would have roused suspicions, gang enforcers would have spotted someone that didn't belong stalking her, and stepped in. She made several retail therapy stops along the way, as a nod to the enforcers that she was there on legitimate business, and not as an NYPD stooge.
But still the feeling persisted...
Sauer reached the entrance to her apartment building as evening shadows stretched longer than sense dictated she should be out. She didn't reach it alone. NYPD was there, too, along with a coroner's van and a bunch of people in CSI jackets with tape and chalk and the local news reporter. Ugh. If there was one thing she didn't want, it was her bloody face sprayed all over the local news. She ducked away from the lights and cameras and approached one of the CSI people.
"Excuse me," she called out to a tough-looking woman with fuzzy hair. The lady ignored her through three 'excuse me's, so she finally shouted. "HEY! FUZZY WUZZY! WHAT'S UP!"
The CSI woman finally turned around, eyebrows arched in an offended fashion. "That's 'Officer' Fuzzy Wuzzy to you, Skinny. What do you want?"
"I said 'excuse me' three times. How else do I get your attention?"
"'Excuse me'? Seriously? Where are you from? Nobody says 'excuse me' in the Big Apple. That's like 'pardon me' and other such niceties. Ya gotta speak the language of the land you're in, sweetie." The CSI woman straightened up and stretched. "If you're part of the news crew, an' you want a statement, you'll have to talk to the big guy with the buzz cut over there, honey."
"I'm originally from Colorado, and no, I'm not with the news. I live here."
"You don't live here if you're from Colorado."
"My. Apartment. Is. In. This. Building." Sauer had had just about enough for one lifetime. "How do I get inside for a bath and a change of clothing without ending up arrested for crossing a police line, or photographed for the news?"
"Ah." The CSI cop squinted in the gathering dark and finally caught Sauer's disheveled appearance. "Lemme talk to the Lieutenant." The woman gave her one more quizzical look. "Ain't ya even gonna ask me what happened?"
"I got a nosey couple of neighbors for that. They'll tell me all that after they tell me who Vickie the slut is banging," Sauer shrugged, "and then trying to set me up with their grandsons."
The lady cop nodded. "Ah. The Inner-City News Network. Gotcha. Wait here."
A few words with the officer in charge later, and Sauer was escorted through the police line and into her building's front door. She grabbed her mail, elbowed her way past a few of her neighbors to the elevator, and collapsed into it, relaxing when her back hit the back wall of the elevator.
But the feeling persisted. Even alone in the elevator, the hair on the back of her neck told her she was being watched.
The elevator delivered her to her floor with an exhausted sigh, and Sauer grabbed her bags and headed for her own door. Bath, bubbles, candles, and the whole bottle of sweet wine that she kept for emergencies...that's all she wanted...there was a note from UPS sticking to her door...
"Miss Sauer," the English accent was cultured and rich, and wholly unwelcome at her elbow. "A word, please?"
The hell? The hall had been freaking empty! Sauer dropped her bags and whirled; her right hand swiftly drew her 9mm Glock from its sticky holster...
Fandral was old, but he wasn't slow. He grabbed her gun hand by the wrist and pushed the gun harmlessly into the wall, frowning at her as if she was a naughty child caught playing with matches. "Don't," he cautioned her, sounding both annoyed and amused at once. "I came but to talk. Besides, your toys don't work on my kind."
"Wrong hand," she hissed, shoving the prongs of her stun gun into his belly.
Fandral looked genuinely surprised for a moment, and then dropped to the floor. Behind him, Hogun raised his eyebrows and frowned appreciatively. Volstagg scratched his beard.
"Nice feint," the giant red-head remarked.
"Indeed," Hogun nodded. "Mayhaps he will let one of us take the point, next time."
"Not if there be a maid involved, he won't," Volstagg sighed. The ginger-bearded giant raised massive hands in a soothing gesture. "Pax, milady," he urged, "we came but to talk."
Sauer tugged her gun hand loose from the incapacitated Aesir, and put her right shoulder against her doorframe. She didn't want to deal with this right now! Behind Hogun she saw Mrs. Libbitz peek out of her door, and then quickly shut it again. Sauer just knew the woman hadn't retreated; the old lady would have her ear plastered to the doorjamb, and her eyes shoved to the peephole. Later on she would tell everyone in the laundry room her own version of the 'scandal' in the hallway: at Sauer's expense. Sauer shook her head and sighed.
"Look, guys: I've had a really bad day, and I don't want to talk about it right now. I really don't want to talk to him," she pointed at the stirring swordsman on the hallway floor, "at all. I just want to be left alone, if you don't mind."
"Prince Thor has commanded me to consult with you, to learn about your realm's weaponry," Hogun protested. "I am not freed from my duty."
Sauer managed a tiny smile. "I appreciate the olive branch..."
"Thor gave us no branches to carry," Volstagg protested, "only words."
"An olive branch is a metaphor for a peace offering, Volstagg," Sauer explained tiredly. "Sir Hogun could learn everything I know about Earth weaponry from Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark, Captain Rogers, or any of the other SHIELD agents currently in Stark Tower. He could learn even more by asking JARVIS for the information. Thor sent Sir Hogun as a peace officer, a person to make peace for the ways he and Sir Fandral," she glared down at him again, "have insulted me today."
"Indeed, part of our mission was to make amends," Volstagg nodded. "Might we go inside, to have some comfort from our journey, and make peace?"
"Absolutely not," Sauer snapped.
The red-headed giant seemed taken aback. Fandral, still on the floor, groaned and sat up with his back against the wall.
"But, milady, I assure you..." Volstagg began, but Sauer cut him off, pointing down at Fandral.
"This friend of yours is a whoremonger, and he makes no secret of it," she spat. "I have my reputation to consider. Accepting three male visitors at this hour would make me the worst slut in the building, even if all we had was tea and cookies! No conversation between us is so important it cannot wait until tomorrow."
Volstagg stiffened and glowered. "I am a married man, and no womanizing rogue! No dishonor will be done to you this night, Lady Sauer!"
"No," Hogun growled. "She is right."
"What?" Volstagg stammered at his friend.
"No honorable woman accepts a visit from men at this hour, unless she be an innkeeper," the giant Ninja pointed out. "We risk dishonoring the lady to her neighbors, by seeking entry where there needs be none."
Sauer's face softened a bit. "Thank you, Sir Hogun."
The large Oriental nodded gravely. "But we cannot, in good conscience, leave you alone. I at least shall guard your door tonight."
Sauer shook her head. "That won't be necessary..."
"Your pardon, milady, but it is," Volstagg said firmly. "A man is dead outside your building this eve. Is that nothing to you, that you think yourself not in peril?"
She frowned. "It is tragic, yes, but New York is a large city, and a rough one. People die violently all the time. Why do you think I walk around armed?"
Fandral stirred with another groan, and rubbed the spot where Sauer had tazered him. "It isn't just the death, Lady Sauer," he protested as he rose, "t'is the timing and the location. After all that has transpired today, a man is dead on your doorstep. It can be no coincidence."
Sauer scowled at the swordsman. "I liked you better unconscious."
"You are in danger," he insisted.
"The only danger I have been in today," she hissed up at him, "came from you, you hypocritical, misogynistic bastard. Now. Get. Away. From. Me."
Fandral took a step back, shocked at her words, and Volstagg gently shoved him aside.
"The bilgesnipe are unwholesome creatures, and dangerous to handle, but they are valued for both sport and the dinner table," he said, as if making a point.
The young woman shook her head, puzzled. "What's a bilgesnipe? And what does one have to do with anything here?"
"It is like a boar," Hogun answered, "but it has the size of a great aurox, antlers like a stag, and the scales and temper of a dragon."
Sauer's head was starting to pound. "What is an aurox? And what..."
"An aurox is an ox," Fandral said tiredly. "What my extremely large friend is trying to say is what I should have said from the beginning. I have been an ass and a fool, and have treated you shamefully. I can be piggish sometimes, especially around women; I do not deny it. I would ask your forgiveness, and beg you to listen to me now, for in this I have the right: you are not safe here. We should be off, back to Stark's Tower or some other location."
"I like not the smell of this place," Hogun added. "It reeks of death and foul magic."
"That is probably a backed-up sewer line," Sauer protested, shaking her head. She looked up at Fandral warily. "If I thought your apology came from you, I might accept it," she said quietly. "As it is, I know what you think of women, and I know exactly why, so I think your pretty words come from Thor, and not you. I'm sorry about your wife," she said softly, so only the swordsman could hear, "but it isn't fair for you to punish the rest of us for not being her. Each of us can only be ourselves, and that's enough."
Fandral's face spasmed, and Sauer knew she had struck a nerve.
"As for leaving," she continued, louder so the other two men could hear, "I have nowhere else to go. I am no longer welcome at Stark Tower, and I cannot safely return to S.H.I.E.L.D. This is my home. Go back to your Prince and your war council and your friends at Stark Tower, and leave me alone. If tomorrow comes, and you still need to speak to me, find me then." Her hand found the doorknob, but her eyes found Hogun. She pointed at Fandral. "But come without him," she finished.
Crossing the threshold, she slammed the door in their faces. Multiple locks clicked into place as the Warriors Three looked at each other in resignation.
"I will take the door," Hogun said finally, and drawing his sword the Ninja placed his large back to Sauer's apartment entrance.
"I have the North End of the hall," said a subdued Fandral.
"And I the South," said Volstagg. His stomach rumbled in protest. "Would that we had grabbed some victuals before we had departed. 'Twill be a long night indeed, without any."
Hogun untied a small bag from his belt and tossed it to Volstagg. "Jerky," he grunted. "Can't have you growing faint from hunger now, can we?"
"Bless you, Hogun."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Stark Tower
"Nothing," Pepper said, closing her phone with disgust. "She isn't answering her land line, and my cell phone is blocked from hers." She gave Tony her best death-glare. "If anything happens to MY secretary, mister, you are going to PAY."
The much-subdued Tony Stark nodded, his eyes a little glassy. Three bourbons had finally settled his nerves if not his stomach. "Do you think stock options will help?"
"Her feelings, or yours?"
"Both."
"Probably not," Clint said, frowning. "Annie isn't one to be bought off. You'll just have to take your licks like a man, when the time comes."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tony looked at him with suspicion. "You think she'll take a poke at me? She's worked on the MARK 101; she knows better than that."
Clint shook his head. "Annie out-grew hitting people in the face by about 9 years old. She goes for the creative strike, now. Just be glad she isn't a hacker, Iron Ass."
"Why don't you go after her? Doesn't she consider you family of some sort?" Tony looked at Barton over the rim of another tumbler of bourbon, which Pepper deftly took away from him. "Hey!"
"Enough, already," she warned him. "You may have to fly tonight."
Barton shook his head. "If she wanted to talk to me, she would have caught me when she was leaving. She didn't, so she wants to be left alone."
"Well, I'm not ok with that," Coulson insisted. "There's too much intel stuffed inside her brain for her to be wandering the streets. Skye, can you break through Miss Sauer's blocking program to place a call?"
"With my eyes closed," the pretty hacker nodded, "but..."
"But what, Skye?" Coulson asked, frowning. "What have you done this time?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Flushing, Queens
Sauer peered through her door's peephole for nearly a minute before stepping away with a sigh. If she had to have one of the Warriors Three standing guard outside her apartment, at least it was Hogun. He had tried to be decent.
She wondered, idly, if any of them had eaten since leaving Stark Tower to look for her. With a pang of guilt she doubted it. Even if they had, they would have run off any calories catching up with her. She toyed with the idea of ordering a pizza for each of them...
But first, a bath.
Sauer ditched her shopping bags and other luggage on the small dining room table, then shucked her Glock and stun gun. She hesitated a moment before unloading the Glock and putting it in the wall safe. With Hogun outside her door she probably wouldn't even need the .45 she kept by her bed at night, but there was no reason to be stupid. Safety first. The stun gun got plugged into its charger in the kitchen.
What was that smell? Ugh.
Half a box of bath salts and some scented bubble bath later, and there was a respectable mound of foam growing in her tub. She grabbed several pillar candles and lit them while the tub was filling.
Almost forgot the wine, she thought. She shut the tub off and got the bottle of sweet cherry out of her refrigerator. It would go well with the chocolates.
Bottle open next to the steaming tub...check...small bowl of chocolate chips next to that...check... candles flickering merrily...check...bathrobe...not check...
Because Fandral the Pervert probably has X-ray vision or something...Sauer untucked her blouse and took off her shoes on her way to the bedroom door. Her robe should be hanging just inside the door...
She staggered backwards, mouth open in horror at the sight of her room, retching at the smell oozing from her bed...her walls...
Dripping with blood...a once-beautiful face now carved and burned...silvery hair spread across her covers...eyes and mouth still open...
Looking at her...
Screaming...
Help me...
It was too late to help these eyes...glazed and forever locked into hers...there was no body to help.
No body...
Just a head...
Sauer could still hear her screaming...even though she couldn't make a sound. She stumbled backwards, away, until her back hit a wall and she slid down, down, down, bump, onto the floor.
She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't scream. There was just a pair of frosted-over pink eyes in a pale blue face, staring at her, pleading with her...
Warning her...
The blood on the wall behind the bed dripped into letters:
Miss me?
Soon.
A shaking hand hit something cool and square, and Sauer turned her eyes away from the horror to look at the strange object.
Her cellphone.
Hands still shaking, she thumbed open her 'Contacts' list. Her eyes fell on the first one with a face: AC. She thumbed that one and it rang...
"Agent Coulson," said the businesslike voice.
"Phil?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Stark Tower
"Phil?" It was Sauer, thank god.
"Pistol? That you?" Coulson took the phone away from his mouth for a moment. "Skye, you just earned your Christmas bonus." Back to the phone. "Pistol, we need you to come back in. If you don't have a vehicle I'll send you a cab."
"Phil."
"Or better yet, give me your address, and I'll come get you with Lola."
"Phil." This time her voice cracked.
Coulson paused. Something was wrong. "Sauer. Talk to me. Where are you?"
"Phil," she whispered, dropping the phone, "Phil, help me."
For some odd reason, her eyes were starting to burn.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Flushing, Queens
Hogun frowned and closed his eyes, concentrating on the sounds from within the Maid's abode. The smell still bothered him; it reminded him of Jotunheimr, death, and decay. How could the lass stand it? Running water, hissing sounds, a cork popping out of a bottle...maybe she was right, maybe all this was normal for this realm. Large cities tended to stink...he preferred the open air of the countryside...
The maid choked. Hogun stiffened at once, and Fandral stilled his idle chatter, observing his friend.
Bump...the sound of soft flesh sitting on the floor...
"Fill." She kept saying it. "Fill." Fill what? From the sound of the water, her bathing receptacle was already full... "Fill, help me."
Hogun shifted his stance, suddenly dropping to a crouch with one leg and kicking out with the other. Sauer's door bent on the first kick, and exploded inward with the second.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
She couldn't talk anymore; couldn't scream; couldn't whisper. Sauer dropped the phone, still open, onto the floor next to her. Her vision blurred and became hot, and sudden tears flowed silently into her open, horrified mouth.
She would see those eyes forever...
Her door exploded inward, destroyed by the violent entrance of the Nine Realm's greatest Ninja. She didn't see it, didn't notice when a piece of wood bounced harmlessly off of her head.
Miss me? Soon, the blood mocked.
"Fandral, the bedchamber door," Hogun snapped. He had seen the head, and recognized it. It had not been that long since the last Jotunheimr visit to Asgard. Trouble indeed.
Fandral closed the door, wincing at the contents but otherwise showing no emotion. For once the playful look was gone from his handsome face.
"Communication device," Volstagg said, pointing down to the cell phone next to Sauer's hand.
"I have it," Hogun grunted. He lifted the device to his ear. "Who speaks?"
"This is Agent Coulson, of S.H.I.E.L.D. Who is this?"
"I am Hogun of Vanaheim, fighting-companion of Prince Thor of Asgard and one of the Warriors Three. Know you the maid called Sauer?"
"Yes. Can I speak with her, please?"
"No. Are you her friend?"
"Yes."
"Good. She needs one. There is a great evil in her abode. I need to speak with Prince Thor," the Ninja insisted.
"One moment, Sir Hogun."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Stark Tower
"Thor," Coulson said, turning to the blond giant across the room, "a Sir Hogun on the phone for you."
Thor crossed the conference room in two strides and took the phone from Coulson. "This is Thor. Speak!"
Coulson turned to his team. "May,: meet me at Lola. We're going after Sauer. Skye, I need Sauer's physical address data-streamed to Lola."
"Already done, AC. It's in your phone, too. That's what I was trying to say when..."
Coulson cut her off. "Well done, Skye. Grant, you, Fitz, Simmons and Skye meet us at the bus, and get the clinic warmed up. I have a feeling we're going to need it."
"Agent Coulson," May protested, "how can we evac Sauer in Lola? It's a two-seater!"
"The back hatch converts to extra seating," he explained tersely. "Director Fury, if this is what I think it is, we're going to need HazMat and Sweeper teams at Sauer's address."
Fury scowled. "Your favorite pet blow a gasket, Coulson? We don't send out HasMat and Sweeper crews for temper tantrums, remember?"
Coulson looked bloody death at Fury's one good eye. "This is an 0-8-4, Director, an Object of Unknown Origin, not a hysterical female."
"Incorrect, Friend Coulson," said Thor, handing him back his phone. "The origin of this object is known. It was delivered by agents of the Mad Titan. He has made his first move against Midgard, and made it with blood."
TBC