Volstagg gently scooped up Sauer's limp form. The only parent of the Warriors Three, he was accustomed to handling small children with the necessary grace. The maid was exactly the size of his oldest daughter: Bris. Carrying her over to a small couch, he gently set her down again and brushed her hair away from her eyes.

She never looked at him, never acknowledged his touch. Her glassy eyes failed to focus on anything, near or far.

"Shock," he murmured to Hogun.

The ninja grunted his agreement, and then looked over at Fandral. Their Dashing friend had lost his usual swagger. Now he stared grimly around Sauer's tiny apartment, his back to the bedchamber he had recently closed.

"Was that who I think it was?" Hogun asked pointedly.

Fandral said nothing. His only answer was a curt nod and a thinning of his lips.

"I shall guard the door," Volstagg said quietly, blocking the entrance to Sauer's apartment with his bulk. "The humans' security agency should be here soon."

They did not have long to wait. A stern-looking man in a dark suit and sunglasses arrived, flanked by an equally stern-looking Asian woman, approached the shattered doorway filled by Volstagg.

"Volstagg the Valiant?" The man pulled out a small folder and flipped it open, revealing a coat-of-arms resembling an eagle. "I am Agent Coulson, of S.H.I.E.L.D.; my companion is Agent May. Is Miss Sauer still here?"

The ginger-bearded giant nodded once. "She is, but she speaks not. This way, please," he rumbled, stepping aside so the agents could enter.

Agent May paused inside the doorframe, examining the locks and jamb mechanism. The door itself had splintered in two under the aliens' assault, but the locking mechanism remained in place. "Hmmph," she said thoughtfully. "This door was reinforced. How many kicks did it take to open it?"

"Two," grunted Hogun.

"Nice," May nodded. "A human would not have been able to force the door. Was there any sign of forced entry when you arrived?"

Volstagg exchanged a sharp look with his compatriots. "None, Lady May. All appeared normal. Lady Sauer used her key to enter her abode."

"Clever girl," Agent Coulson nodded. "She always took her security seriously. Pistol," he said, squatting down to look Sauer in the eyes, "I'm here. Talk to me."

No answer. Sauer didn't even glance in his direction.

"The maid is in shock, Son of Coul," Volstagg announced. "She may not speak for some time."

"I need her to, though," Coulson said, rising to his feet. "Any idea what triggered this?"

"Aye," said Hogun, "an offering from our enemy was left in her bedchamber. She collapsed soon after seeing it."

"Her bedroom? Let me see," Coulson said, stepping towards the door Fandral guarded. The blond swordsman gave a questioning glance at his compatriots, who nodded, so he stepped aside.

To his credit, Agent Coulson did nothing more than twitch and scowl at the bloody mess. He looked up at Fandral the Dashing. "Did you touch anything other than the doorknob?

"No."

"Good," Coulson nodded. "I'll call in a cleanup team," he said, fishing out his cell phone.

"That's what smells, then," May said dryly, and then frowned. "The blood-spatter looks odd," she mused, "almost intentional. Is that some form of writing?"

Fandral twitched. He hadn't noticed the pattern, having only focused on closing off the awful thing from Sauer's sight. "It is," he finally nodded, "but I do not read the language of Jotunheimr."

Hogun stepped up. "It says "Miss me?" and "Soon". An odd choice of words to present to Lady Sauer, methinks, since she is not from Jotunheimr."

"What is Jotunheimr?" May asked sharply.

"Land of the Frost Giants," Volstagg rumbled. "It was Prince Loki's birthplace."

"So our stalking Titan is a Frost Giant, or has Frost Giants working for him," Coulson mused. "That doesn't explain why he's stalking Sauer." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Fury. "Director? Agent May and I are at Sauer's address. We need a sweeper team in full Haz-Mat gear on the double."

"Don't forget about the dead body outside," Fandral offered.

Coulson looked up sharply. "Is there more of this outside?" he demanded, jerking his thumb at the remains fouling Sauer's bedroom.

"Nay," said Fandral, "the victim was human and male. City soldiers were attending the scene when we arrived, so we avoided them by coming in through the rooftop. We suspected the timing, and begged the lass to be off to safety, but she would have none of it."

Coulson nodded. "We entered the same way; I saw the remains of the crowd when we arrived. Did you see the body, or where it was?"

"T'was in the space between buildings," Volstagg spoke from across the room. "The dead was garbed in brown, and seemed to have fallen from a great height."

"UPS tag here on the table," May said, lifting the slip of paper up so Coulson could see it.

He took it from her. "This indicates something she needs to pick up herself," he mused. "The head was delivered by hand, and so was the message." He turned back to the phone. "Director, we may need to lock down the neighborhood," he said tersely, "and tell everyone there to avoid using Brown for the time being. One of their trucks may have been compromised." He snapped his phone shut and looked up. "They'll be here soon. I want to get Sauer evacuated to the bus before that."

"She may not be capable of walking yet," Hogun cautioned. "Her shock is great. She has not spoken since trying to contact you."

"I need her to walk," Coulson insisted. "If we carry her outside it will attract too much attention. Pistol," he said sternly, reaching into a jacket pocket and pulling out a small capsule, "Pistol, I know you can hear me. Look at me, soldier girl."

He snapped the ammonium salt under her nose, and her eyes immediately began to water. She seemed to shudder once, and glanced around.

"Atta girl, come on, wake up now," Phil urged. "We have to get you out of here."

"A sight for sore eyes, this is," Volstagg said, emerging from the bathroom with the open bottle of wine. "Methinks I could drain it myself, 'tis so small, but we can each have a touch."

"Mayhaps a touch will help Lady Sauer's constitution as well," Fandral said, nodding. "That, or something stronger, if she has it."

"T'will do for starters," Volstagg said, deftly pouring a small glass.

"Ugh," said May, examining the bottle. "It's sweet cherry wine. This girl has no taste at all."

"It's for relaxation," Coulson called across the room. "She keeps brandy under the sink."

May scowled. "How do you know? You've never been here before."

He shrugged. "That's where her dad taught her to keep it. She doesn't have small children, so she doesn't worry about securing such things." He turned back to Sauer. "Come on, girl, we have to go." May handed him the small glass of wine, and he pressed it into her hands. "Drink up, now. Wine now, coffee when we get to the bus."

"Waste not," Volstagg rumbled, pouring a larger glass of sweet red wine for himself, "want not, or so my lady-wife is wont to say."

"Bless her for that," Fandral nodded. "You are lucky indeed, to have such a woman, old friend."

Sauer let the wine-glass slip through her hands, and Coulson swore softly as it spilled. Before he could move or speak again Sauer had jumped up and grabbed a stout throwing-star from Hogun's belt. With a deft move she spun around and sent it flying across the room, where it shattered the glass in Volstagg's hand before continuing on to stick into a doorframe.

"Drink and eat nothing here," she commanded, her voice was void of emotion. "Consider all contaminated until proven otherwise."

"Pistol! How do you..." Coulson demanded, and she looked over at the agent with still-glassy eyes.

"The Mad Titan employs parasites introduced into food and drink," she said, but her voice was odd. "The victim acts normally, but is in thrall to the evil one for the rest of his days. Consider all consumables contaminated by these worms."

"The blood on the walls?" Hogun pressed.

"That as well," she answered flatly. She looked up at the giant Ninja. "I apologize, son of Vanaheim, for borrowing your blade without asking, but I plead great urgency, and ask your forgiveness for my intrusion."

Hogun nodded. "Granted."

"I would speak to the son of Coul alone, if I may," she continued flatly.

"As you wish," he said, surprised. Hogun nodded at Coulson as he walked past him. The man looked beyond puzzled. "At least she speaks," he said shortly.

Agent Coulson looked at the younger woman oddly.

"Miss Sauer," he finally said, "is a hell of a shot, and can handle any firearm like an expert within 10 minutes of picking it up. However," he directed her back to the couch and found a chair for himself, "she can't throw worth a damn: not so much as a baseball, and certainly not a blade."

"Son of Coul," she began, but he cut her off.

"It's either 'Phil' or 'Agent Coulson': get it right," he said stiffly. "Sauer knows that."

"I apologize..."

"Don't...just don't," he insisted. "And by the way, Sauer is right-handed. You threw with your left. Who are you?"

She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. "I am what you saw...in there," she pointed to the closed bedroom door.

Coulson's eyes widened. "That was your...?"

She nodded. "T'is a strange thing indeed, looking down on part of yourself...to see your own face, and not be looking in a glass. I cannot describe the feeling..."

"You don't have to, I spent some time dead. I know it is hard." Coulson looked stricken. "Is Sauer still within you? I want to talk to her, if I can."

Sauer's face frowned and looked thoughtful. "She is, but she is...asleep...I think you would say. She has had a difficult day, and could take no more. While she is indisposed, I can speak a little, but not for long."

"Who are you?" Coulson asked, forcing himself to stay calm.

"Do you not know? Of course, you would not. This all happened before you were born," she muttered, "and things change so fast here."

"Milady," Coulson urged softly, "your name, please?"

"Angrboda, wife of Gymir, of Jotunheimr."

Phil Coulson's eyes widened. "Angrboda of Jotunheim? Prince Loki's..."

"Consort, yes, and the mother of three of his children," she nodded. "And apparently, I am now dead," she added softly, looking past Phil's shoulder to Sauer's bedroom, "but no-one came for me: no-one but the girl, an' e'en she is mortal." Her eyes met Agent Coulson's for the first time. "Please, do not tell Prince Loki this. He should hear the news from me."

Coulson nodded. "I can honor that. Can you walk? We need to leave, and quickly."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Evacuating Sauer/Angrboda turned out to be a simple matter of walking her upstairs; Agent Coulson had parked Lola on the roof, and she still hovered there for him. Agent May stayed behind with the Warriors Three to meet Fury and the Haz-Mat team.

"A strange vessel," Angrboda/Sauer said, tracing a finger along the shiny red vehicle, "like a carriage, and yet not. Where is the beast to pull it?"

"Milady, all your questions will be answered when we reach safety," Coulson said stiffly. "Please remain silent for now. Your manner of speech is odd enough to alert your presence to people less friendly to you."

"The Angry One," she nodded. "She trusts him not."

"Director Fury," Coulson corrected. "She has her reasons. Put the safety straps on, like so," he assisted with the safety belt, "and hang on. This journey will only take a few minutes."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sauer's building...

Fury stepped off the elevator and stomped down the hall towards the remains of Sauer's door, his usual glower in place and a 3-person Has-Mat team behind him.

"Co-ordinate with Agent Coulson," he snapped. "I want the job done discretely: no muss, no fuss. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the team murmured, stepping inside.

Fury glared up and down the hallway one last time, and started to head through the shattered doorway when a small click and sliding sound stopped him. His head whipped around, searching for an enemy...

But it was only an old woman, peering at him through a chain-closed door. She saw the look on his face, and froze, her eyes wide with alarm, and slammed the door again with a mouse-like squeak.

Fury sighed. The tough-guy routine worked with military-trained SHIELD personnel. It got the job done. It didn't go over so well with elderly civilian witnesses. Normally he would have Coulson do this sort of interrogation. The man could be smooth as well as stern, and smoothness was something Fury just...lacked. It came from too many years dodging bullets and politicians, sometimes at the same time. Coulson, however, was probably busy with his pet project, and he needed the witness interviewed now.

He knocked.

"Go away! I don' know nuttin!" a scratchy voice sounded from behind the door.

Fury took a breath.

"If I can just have a moment of your time," he checked the name appearing on his I-Pad, "Mrs. Libbitz, I'll be on my way. I'm just trying to help the young lady who lives across the hall from you. Miss Sauer has had a very trying day, and apparently someone broke into her apartment. Can you help us?"

"I told ya! I don' know nuttin! Go away!" she squeaked again.

"Director, if I may," Agent May murmured from his elbow. "You are slightly intimidating to an old woman."

Fury nodded, and May took his place at the door. "Mrs. Libbitz? I am Officer May. Here is my badge," she held up her S.H.I.E.L.D. id for the woman to inspect. "Your neighbor is safe-we have already taken her out for treatment-I just need to know if you saw anything or anyone suspicious around her place today."

Fury scowled even deeper-as if that was possible-hearing that Sauer had already been removed, but May shooed him back.

The door cracked open, stopping at the chain. "Them," a withered finger pointed at the men milling around inside Sauer's apartment, and was quickly withdrawn. "She told them to go away and leave her alone, and they kicked in her door! She's a nice girl! Lots of chutzpa, she's got. Zapped the blond one with the mouth, she did, an' he had it comin'! I seen it!"

May bit her lip. "Mrs. Libbitz, I know this will sound odd, but the men who broke down Miss Sauer's door were not the people that attacked her. Someone was here earlier, and," May looked over her shoulder for a moment and lowered her voice, "and they were waiting for her inside her apartment. The big guys," she motioned with her head, "actually broke in to help her."

One wrinkled brown eye widened with shock, a withered hand grabbed the door, and the old woman gasped. "No!"

May nodded and scrunched her face. "She's in shock, of course, and can't tell us much. Can you help, even a little? Was there anybody here earlier, like an old boyfriend? Have there been other break-ins in the neighborhood?"

A wisp of white hair bounced as the old woman shook her head. "No, nuttin like that. She don' date at all, and I tried ta set her up with my grandson, you know. He's still single and lives with his parents, got a Masters in English Education and works for the local Academy, just needs to find a nice girl an' settle down, I tell him. But she won't have it, said she lost her best friend an' it's tragic, an' she can't consider datin' again. And then that one," she pointed at Fandral through the door, "tries ta shove his way in, and she told him to bugger off. An the Asian one that kicked in the door, he says 'she's right, no decent woman takes in three men like dis', and then he kicks in her door!"

"It's scandalous, is what it is!" came a shrill voice from down the hall, followed by another hastily slammed door.

"Mrs. Libbitz," May began again, "her door, when she got to it, was locked as normal, so it wasn't forced. Does anybody else have a key to her place?"

Wizened eyebrows crinkled in thought. "There's the super, of course: the building manager, you know, but he's gone this time of night. His young man is a nice looker too...I tell Miss Sauer all the time..."

"Mrs. Libbitz," May interjected firmly. "Was the apartment manager up here today?"

"He's too old for her. A bit twitchy, if you ask me, and his mustache is kind of cheesy, you know...but nobody's perfect. Well, except for my grandson, but of course I'm biased."

"Mrs. Libbitz," May started again, but Fury cleared his throat behind her.

"I can't imagine Miss Sauer falling for a plumber or a teacher," he said thoughtfully. "Her last boyfriend was a Colorado State Trooper, you know."

"Erm, no," May answered awkwardly. "I didn't know that."

"Yep," Fury nodded thoughtfully. "He was killed in a gunfight just outside her family's store. Died in her arms, I think, but of course I can't be certain. It was a hellofa fight, is all I remember."

Mrs. Libbitz's eyes widened. "You were there?"

Fury nodded and rocked back on his heels. "Yep. I was embedded with the ATF at the time. Miss Sauer-she was a civilian-and her beau was with the Colorado State Police. It was a terrible day: just awful. Bodies everywhere, and Miss Sauer lost her beau, and she swore she would never say his name again, or date either."

The door cracked open a bit more. "She never would say his name..."

"Trooper Gavin Locke," Fury nodded. "The guys called him 'Glock' for short. They grew up together. It was a terrible loss; he was a fine young man, too. But I've said too much." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm rambling. Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Libbitz. Thanks for your help, it's a pity you didn't see anybody else. Hopefully we can catch this ruffian with some old-fashioned police work. Officer May, I think we've wasted enough time here..." Fury took May by the elbow and steered her towards the ruins of Sauer's apartment.

The chain came off with a rattle, and Mrs. Libbitz's door swung wide.

"There was the super's assistant up here, too. Red-headed young man: he just started a day or so ago, so he's still learning his way around," she offered.

"You don't say?" Fury said, turning back.

"He was. No taste, though, if you ask me. He keeps staring at Vicki the slut from the first floor."

"Disgraceful," Fury shook his head. "Young people these days have no morals at all."

Agent May raised an eyebrow at the Director. He gave the agent a quick twist of his head back towards the working HazMat team and a silent 'Handle this' look, and she nodded.

"I don't suppose," Fury said casually as he followed Mrs. Libbitz into her apartment, "that you have any coffee?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Bus...

Coulson pulled Lola to a stop within the bus and helped Sauer/Angrboda to her feet. She wobbled a little. Agent Ward met them at the ramp.

"Where's May?"

"She's handling a problem; we'll pick her up later. Get this bus in the air and head south. I'll give you co-ordinates later," Coulson said briskly. The young man hesitated, giving Coulson's young companion an odd look, and he scowled at him. "Go, Ward."

"Yes, sir," Ward said coolly, jogged briskly toward the cockpit.

"This way, milady," Coulson said, offering Sauer/Angrboda his hand. She seemed to weave a little. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"This body...it is tired, and it hurts. Do humans always ache so?" She shook her head. "Nay, do not answer. The child has been through a lot this day, and carries a heavy burden. Some pain is to be expected. It is not unlike child-bearing, I suppose, but reversed."

"Reversed?"

The young woman nodded and smiled a little. "Know you not how babies are formed, Son of Coul?"

"It's 'Agent Coulson'," he corrected, "and yes, I have two sons."

"As you wish, Agent Coulson," she nodded. "Your friend-you named her after a small hand-weapon?-bears not her own child within her body, but elders within her mind. It is...a strain."

Coulson stopped in his tracks. "Did you say elderS?" he demanded, emphasizing the plural. He looked stricken.

"Aye, I did." She cocked her head and looked up at him. "I never said I was alone within her. Fear not for your friend; we shall do her no harm." She frowned and looked thoughtful. "We would speak to your healer and your sorceress. You call them...Jewel and Atmosphere?"

"Jemma and Skye."

"Yes. We will need their help."

"I'm taking you to them now."

"Agent Coul-son," Angrboda hesitated for a moment, "I know your friend's mind, so I know what she knows...and what you know of Prince Loki...is incomplete. He was not always the broken thing you see now. Much of this falls at Odin's feet."

Coulson's face twisted. "You don't have to explain any of this to me, Miss Angrboda," he said stiffly.

"But I do! I must! You see, all his life Loki thought he was Aesir, one of the sons of Odin, High King of the Nine Realms. He excelled in seidr, in war, in wisdom, and in council, and though everybody 'knew' Thor would one day be king, they also knew his kingdom would not stand without Loki the Wise beside him. And then he found out...he found out..." she choked. "It was the same reason our romance failed. He found out I am Jotun, and not Vanir, as I had disguised myself..."

"Disguised yourself?"

"I am-was-what you call a shape-shifter. I could be anyone or anything I chose. I had been ordered to assume a comely shape by King Laufey. He wanted me to bring disgrace to the House of Odin by bedding Thor...to pollute the royal bloodline with the very filth they despised..."

"What?" Coulson stopped, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sauer/Angrboda nodded. "Hatred...bigotry...these things are taught, Coul-son. Thor and Loki were taught to despise Jotun as filthy animals: slobbering ice-cold monsters that snatch and eat children from their beds. Discovering he had bedded one-had three children with one-was horrifying, but the blame was placed on me. After all, what should one expect from a lowly savage such as myself? But then, just a few years ago, after centuries of conditioned hatred..."

"Loki found out he was Jotun."

"Yes. He had been conditioned to hate and despise himself. The revelation was too much, I fear, for his mind to handle." Her eyes grew distant and angry. "Odin, of course, knew all along. He did this a-purpose."

"You went looking for Loki, when you heard?" Coulson's face grew sympathetic, but Sauer/Angrboda shook her head.

"Nay, I went looking for our children. Odin had taken them, you see, and banished them to the corners of the cosmos centuries ago."

"I am so sorry!"

She held up a hand. "You have done me no wrong, Coul-son; do not apologize. I know where my children are now, and more. I found the Mad Titan, you see. We spent," her face clouded, "time together. He found my shape-shifting entertaining, at least for a while."

"Angrboda..." Coulson said, his concern reaching his face as he reached for the young arm next to him, "you don't have to explain anymore..."

"I do," she said thickly, "or t'will have all been in vain. The Mad One is, ultimately, like all other men in one regard."

"And that is?"

"He talks when he is happy," Sauer/Angrboda said with a shrug that was too nonchalant. She looked sharply at Coulson. "I made him...happy...often. I know exactly what he wants, but more importantly, I know what he fears."

Coulson's eyes widened. "Wha? That's great! What is it? Nuclear bombs? Armadas? The common cold? What?"

She smiled. "The Sons of Chaos."