I was standing on the balcony of the golden castle, observing the warriors training in the yard below. Odin was wandering through the men, correcting a posture here or a grip on a sword there. Thor was not down below; he and Loki were in the castle attending to other matters of the court. Odin waved me down from the balcony, requesting my presence on the training ground. I made my way down, wondering what I could be needed for.
"Lady Rachel," Odin began, "I would like you to pair with Einar. He is less proficient with close combat, and there are no others available to pair him with at the moment."
I sized up the new warrior before me. He was of average height for an Asgardian, with strawberry blonde hair and a lean frame. In his hands was a broad sword, the blade gleaming.
"I am willing to assist, your highness," I agreed, tying my hair back into a ponytail.
As Einar swapped his sword for two small daggers, I removed my cloak and grabbed my daggers from my belt.
It was a short fight, for he really did need to improve his close combat skills. I was walking off the training ground when a well-known voice drifted to me.
"Hard luck," The voice said, "But do not feel bad. I expect that witch only beat you because she beguiled you with her magic."
I knew I should have kept walking, but I have always had difficulty ignoring Balder.
"Why do you believe that the only way that I could win in combat is to use my magic?" I asked sweetly. "Is it because I am a woman?"
Baldur's black eyes bore into me. "You are an underhanded sneak," He replied, "And the only way that you wormed your way into the high castle is through enchanting the Silver tongue." He spat at me. "Or maybe you both colluded to use your sorcery to overthrow the King and true heir."
I had heard enough. Balder had resented me for years, suspicious of my magic and angry over my friendship with both Loki and Thor.
"You are only bitter that my betrothal to Loki meant that all the money in Asgard could not buy my hand and the lands that came with it," I bit back. I knew it was underhanded, however it did hold truth. Balder turned three shades of red before storming off the training ground.
That night I sat on my bed, casually flicking through a research paper before bed. Loki entered the room, his hair slightly messy as though he had run his hands through it numerous times.
"How fare you today?" I asked, glancing up at him.
"I have fared better, my lady," he replied with a wry smile, "How fared your day?"
I placed the parchment on the table beside the bed. "I have had better days. I encountered Balder again today." I waited for Loki's response, wondering if it would be anger or annoyance.
"What did that råtta do now?" Loki asked in exasperation.
"He started on his favourite topic, how I used my black magic to enthral you and trick Odin out of the throne," I replied drily.
Loki shook his head as he sat on the bed, shedding his boots and stretching on the bedding.
"That is nothing new," He replied, "He would not start a move against us, no matter how wronged he feels."
I nodded my agreement, however I couldn't help feel that there was something wrong. A prickling up my spine that I just couldn't put my finger on.
Before I could voice what I felt, my Midgardian mobile phone started to ring. With a start, I reached for where it sat on the far side of the bedside table. I frowned in confusion, the caller identification reading as Tony Stark.
"Hello Tony," I answered, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"Can I talk to Ezra?" He asked, his voice sounding exhausted.
"What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"I want to talk to her, I know we had a fight but I would really like it if I could talk to her," Tony said plainly.
"I would let you talk her if she was here," I replied, "But I have not seen her since the housewarming party. I assumed she was on Midgard with you."
A sound almost like a whimper threaded thought the phone before Tony spoke, "We fought a few days after that, I haven't seen her in over a month. I thought she had gone to stay with you for a while." His voice was slowly rising in panic.
"You have not heard from her in over a month?!" I said in shock. This was not like Ezra, to totally disappear without telling anyone. The rest of the Avengers obviously had not seen her either, if the note of panic coming from her boyfriend was anything to go by.
"I thought you could find her with that tracking device," I was feeling uneasy.
Tony barked in laughed, "That was a joke, orchestrated by Ezra herself," He replied, "There is no tracking device, though right now I am wishing there was."
By now Loki was looking at me in confusion. I shook my head at him, and then inclined my head. I would tell him what was going on once I had hung up.
"What were her last words to you?" I asked cautiously.
There was a noise like Tony clearing his throat then "I called her mine, and she said if that how I feel maybe she should leave and that maybe she wasn't mine anymore." His voice was low and mumbled. "And then she walked out," he added.
I sighed, that sounded like her during an argument. "Did she take anything with her?"
"Nooo," Tony said slowly, "She literally just walked out."
That set off alarm bells, there were items that were in her room that I knew she wouldn't leave without.
"I will ask Heimdall the Gate Keeper if he has seen her," I told him, "I will return your call when I have information." With that I hung up.
Loki turned to me, one eyebrow raised in question. "What has happened to cause Stark to call you?"
"Ezra has gone missing," I replied, "I am about to go see Heimdall."
Taking up our cloaks, we both left the room and strode towards the rainbow bridge.
"Gate Keeper, how goes your day?" I said in greeting, approaching the golden armoured man.
"My day fares as any other," he replied, "What may I do for you and Loki?"
"Could you look for someone for me?" I asked.
"Her blood sister has run away from Stark," Loki chuckled, then he saw the look on my face, "We do not believe this is entirely of her own doing."
"Very well," The Gate Keeper closed his golden eyes and then stared out to the nine realms.
After a short while he turned back to use, confusion clouding his features. "I cannot see her," he told us. "She is hidden from my sight."
I nodded grimly, and Loki set his face into a neutral mask.
"Let us know if she appears," Loki replied. "Our presence is required on Midgard."
With that we were sent by Bifrost down to New York, just outside Avengers Tower.
JARVIS let us straight up to the workshop level of the tower, Tony having holed himself up in there alternating between working on the newest Iron Man suit and blowing things up. The door hissed open to reveal Tony pacing back and forth, talking to Pepper who was sitting on a chair.
"What should I do?" He whined at the patient woman.
"Well when you went missing I contacted every agency I could get hold of," Pepper replied slowly, "CIA, FBI, Homeland security, all of them."
"Right, JARVIS," He snapped at the AI, "Get me a direct line to the Secretary of the United States."
"No, don't do that," Pepper replied instantly, "Tony, you can't just go calling the US secretary because Ezra has gone missing." She scowled at him, "And no I'm not saying that because I'm jealous Tony. We ended things amicably, I'm glad you've moved on."
It was then that they noticed the two of us standing there.
"Rachel," Pepper swiftly moved to greet me, "Honestly I'm glad you've come. Do you have any news?"
I shook my head regretfully. "Heimdall could not see her, which means that she is either not on planet, or more likely, she is in an animal form."
Panic crossed Tony's face, he knew as well as I did that she would not take animal form for long periods of time unless she was under threat of some sort.
"We have to find her," he said adamantly, "She could be hurt, or trapped, or scared, or afraid," He had started rambling.
"Stark," Loki snapped, "Enough!"
The engineer rounded on the god of mischief, surprised as if that's the first time he had seen him standing there.
Just then the two assassins entered the workshop.
"Have you heard from her?" Tony immediately asked, rounding on them, hope in his eyes.
"No we haven't," Clint replied.
"But I have an idea who might," Natasha piped up. Tony looked at her expectantly. She rolled her eyes at him, wondering how he missed something so obvious.
"Tony, she was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent when you met her," Natasha began, "She only stopped because we asked her to and thought she could be more help here. Do you think that maybe she has taken another assignment for them?"
Realisation dawned on Tony's face.
"She started the fight so I would get angry at her, because then I might not notice or worry that she's on a mission," he started.
"Yes Stark," Clint rolled his eyes, "That is exactly what she did."
"Well," Pepper started, "I think we know where to go to find Ezra." Then she gathered her bag and clipboard and walked towards the door.
"Come on everyone, follow Pepper," Tony said in jubilation, "We are going to the Triskelion."
Pepper turned around, "On no," she smiled, "You are all going to S.H.I.E.L.D, I am going back to running Stark Industries." And with that she walked out.
Once the car had reached the Triskelion, everyone stood on the footpath, Tony running his hands through his hair yet again. It was a minor miracle that Bruce had convinced Tony on the way out to change his t-shirt. Apparently he had been wearing that one for the last week. No one, not even Steve, had been able to stop him long enough to shave or shower.
"Well my little hawk and spider, lead the way," He said with a flourish towards the building. If the two assassins hadn't been just as worried about their friend, they probably would have had something to say about what the genius had just called them. The glint in Natasha's eyes promised he would pay later all the same.
They had gone up 10 floors until the elevator came to a stop. Swiftly they walked down a winding corridor, before stopping before a non-descript looking door. Natasha knocked twice, swiftly, then twice more before stepping back. The door swung open to reveal a young man. I noticed he is a man in his mid to late 20s. He had the sort of tan that pale skin only gets from hours each day in the sun, and naturally silvery white hair. This contrasted with his shrewd eyes, which while blue held hints of steely silver. The set of his face suggested a personality that went straight to the point. Nat crossed her arms over her chest and nodded at the man in front of her.
"Avengers, meet codename Starship," She said. "He is the handler assigned to Shadowfox."