Chapter 40 - Asgardian Women on the Run

It seemed that unexpected arrivals were becoming the norm for Sif. They also seemed to herald disastrous events. Puente Antiguo, New York, Greenwich. All had caused monumental amounts of property damage and civilian casualties. Now, the goddess of war had shown up again, warning the team of yet another possible alien threat against their world.

The trip back to the Bus didn't take long. Sif had made herself comfortable in the SUV, as she had found herself riding in it nearly every time she had been on Earth since New Mexico. However, before now, Sif had never laid eyes on the Bus. As the SUV parked in the plane's open hanger, Sif couldn't help but marvel at the sight.

"Impressive." She noted as the group exited the vehicle. She looked around the hanger. "It has repeatedly been discussed by other cultures throughout the realms that Midgard is too underdeveloped to interact with. But with the accomplishments made by S.H.I.E.L.D., that may well change."

"Between you and me, I think it would be best if we remained isolated for a while." Soladat said. "Visits by aliens haven't gone well most of the time as of late. Remember?"

"You need not remind me." Sif said back. "The horrors we beheld during the Convergence were proof enough. Speaking of which, how fare Darcy and Hikesh? I have not seen the latter since the Convergence. Are you and he still involved?"

"We're still together, yeah." Soladat explained with a smile. "And they're both doing fine. Loki hasn't tried anything since you last visited. Xegh will be glad to know you stopped by. He considers you a friend now."

"I am pleased to hear his new opinion of me hasn't changed." Sif said with a smile. As the group prepared to walk up the spiral staircase to the debriefing room upstairs, Sif paused and took note of Mike for the first time.

"Excuse me, but I do not believe you and I are yet acquainted." Sif acknowledged the man. "May I ask your name?"

"Sif, this is Mike Peterson." Soladat introduced, motioning to the man. "He's new."

Mike nodded at her with a smile, a little pleased that he was meeting one of the heroes of New York. One of the more attractive ones as well. "Ma'am."

"A pleasure to meet you, Son of Peter." Sif nodded back with a smile. She was about to ask another question, when her eyes fell to the incinerated laboratory.

"My word." Sif said in surprise. "It looks as though a dragon torched this vicinity."

Agent May stepped in, arms crossed. "It doesn't normally look like that. Our newest passenger made a mess of things during Agent Simmons' studies."

"Wait." Fitz said, shaking his hands. "Dragons are real?"

"Crap." Soladat muttered, ignoring Fitz' statement. By that point, they were all moving up the staircase. "I totally forgot. Sif, there's something you should know. We have an... extra passenger on board. A potentially dangerous one. I'm just warning you in advance so you don't provoke him in any way."

Sif frowned at that. "I can assure you I have no intention of provoking anyone, Archangel. But, if I may ask, just who is this person that is so potentially dangerous, that you would advise me to be weary?"

"He's an alien." May explained. "As in, not of this world."

"Truly?" Sif said, thoroughly surprised. "It is strange Heimdall did not notice..."

"Either way, he's very powerful. So, like I said. He careful." Soladat said, before opening the door leading to the upper level.

As soon as they opened the door, however, they paused at the sound of Skye singing, that's right, singing, patty-cake. Skye was sitting criss-cross on a couch in the lounge area, Kirby sitting in front of her as the two played patty-cake together. Kirby was giggling merrily as they played, clearly enjoying himself.

Soladat cleared her throat. "Um... Skye?"

Skye immediately stopped and looked up. She blushed and stood up immediately. "Soladat! I was... I was just..."

"Solo!"

Kirby jumped up from the couch and ran over to Soladat, wrapping his small arms around her legs. Sif, who had been staring at the small creature in bewilderment, immediately jumped away and reached for her sword, but Soladat quickly put her hands up and stopped her.

"Wait!" She said, and Sif paused. "It's okay."

"Archangel," Sif said, slowly moving her hand away from the hilt as she watched Kirby wearily. "what, precisely, is that?"

"This is what we were telling you about." Soladat explained, motioning her hand towards the little pink creature, who was looking at Sif curiously. "This is Kirby."

"Kirby!" Kirby shouted, smiling.

Sif didn't know why, but the way the small creature spoke made the corners of her mouth twitch slightly, but she still retained a cautious demeanor. "What is he, exactly?"

It was Fitz who spoke next. "You mean... you don't know?"

"No." Sif said, shaking her head as she circled around Kirby slowly, observing him. "I have never laid eyes on a creature such as this before. I have seen many beings of unusual shape beyond the veil of Yggdrasil. Kree, Centaurians, Sarks, Elcor, Sensorites, Yautja. More recently the Protheans and the Chitauri, but this..."

Sif paused, stopping to look at Kirby who was staring up innocently, blinking at her, and then her sword.

"This is something else entirely." Sif concluded. She looked up at Soladat. "When did you first encounter it?"

"Him." Soladat corrected, frowning slightly. "And it was about two years ago, a few months after the Chitauri attack. His ship crashed here, we detected it, and I was sent to investigate."

Sif actually jerked in surprise. That meant that this creature, this... Kirby, had been on Earth when Sif was here only a few months prior. During the Convergence. And Heimdall never told her? Did he even know that this alien was present?

"I see." Sif said, deep in thought. She was pulled out when she noticed a stubby pink limb reaching for her sword slowly, and she immediately jerked away. Kirby jerked back as well a bit startled.

"Poyo!" He said fearfully, afraid that the strange armored woman would attack him. She was beautiful and regal looking, but even Kirby, in his primitive mindscape, could tell she was dangerous.

Sif couldn't help but smile at the small creature, and put her hand out reassuringly. "Peace, little one. It would be wise if you not lay a hand on my blade. You may accidentally harm yourself."

Agent Ward snorted, while everyone else exchanged amused, and worried in Fitz and Simmons' case, glances. Rolling her eyes, Soladat tried to get everyone back on track.

"Moving on. Sif, you said you would explain?"

Immediately, Sif righted herself and nodded. "Indeed. I am hunting her."

"And who is her?" Mike pressed.

Sif regarded him briefly, before taking a deep breath. "She is known to the people of Asgard as Lorelei, and she is a very, very dangerous woman."

Everyone looked at Sif curiously. May, for one, noticed that Sif seemed rather distant on the subject. "You sound as though you know her personally."

"We knew each other as children and so on, but never once was there a moment of geniality." Sif said rather scornfully. "Many years ago, Lorelei was one of three Asgardian maidens who were orphaned by the Asgard-Jotunheim War. Like most maidens, sans myself of course, these girls were very adept in the art of sorcery."

"Sorcery." Agent Ward repeated skeptically.

"Manipulation over the strange and mysterious." Sif explained. "While I myself may not understand the full extent of Asgardian sorcery, I understand that for humans, the idea of sorcery would be the stuff that fantasy and talltales are made of. For us, sorcery is a unique form of science that certain members of our race are directly attuned to, allowing us to manipulate certain aspects of the universe around us. A gift from our..." Sif paused, biting her lip as she was clearly uncomfortable with what she was about to say, "... creators, I believe."

"The Protheans." Agent May stated.

"Yes." Sif said softly, nodding. "The things in which we can control are variable, ranging from power over the elements to power over illusion. You have seen use of the latter by Loki before."

Many people looked uneasy at the mention of the exiled prince of Asgard's name, but Sif either didn't notice or care as she continued. "These three maidens confided with each other, bonded and became sisters, in every way but blood. Their skills in sorcery attracted the attention of Frigga, who at the time was one of the greatest sorceresses in all of Asgard. She took them under her wing. Trained them. Taught them everything she ever knew. She had seen so much potential in the three. But when she felt she had taught them everything they needed to know, that had not been enough for any of them."

"Against the wishes of Odin, the sisters continued learning magic on their own, notably by seducing others well versed in magic and learning their secrets." Sif explained. "For you see, the sisters, Lorelei especially, had greatly mastered a rather... unique form of enchantment. They were able to bend and shape the will of men, manipulating them into her thrall."

Everyone stared at Sif with mixed expressions. It was Simmons who spoke next. "Are you talking about telepathy? Like Carrie White?"

Sif frowned slightly. "In a way, I suppose the two concepts are similar, but the spell seems to more manipulate one's desires rather than mind. For the rare man who can resist, it's their voice joined by their touch that will overpower his will."

"And this ability only affects men?" Skye said, frowning. "It doesn't work on women?"

"No." Sif said, shaking her head. "At least, not that I've seen. Men have an inherent weakness we do not share. This weakness allows Lorelei and her sisters to further delve into the hearts of their victims, manipulating their desires and making them much easier to control."

Fitz glanced over at Ward and Mike, shrugging nonchalantly. "I can't imagine what she's talking about."

Ward and Mike chuckled, while the women in the group all exchanged a few looks. Soladat asked the next question. "So what happened to these maidens?"

"When they had mastered as much magic as they possibly could, they turned against us." Sif said. "Their powers alone made them enough of a threat, but their ability to manipulate men allowed them to command armies, bring down kings, empires."

"But, you stopped them, right?" Mike asked.

Sif was silent for a few moments, and exhaled deeply. "At great cost, yes. But rather than accept their defeat, they attempted to flee. I was among those who pursued. One perished. One escaped the Nine Realms and has not been seen or heard from to this day. And one was captured."

"Lorelei." Soladat clarified.

Sif nodded. "Frigga stripped her of her magic, but was unable to take away her power of enthrallment, as the ability had been used so excessively that it had become a natural part of her. So instead, we silenced her with this."

Sif reached to her side, taking a tiara-looking object which gave a shink as it was pulled from Sif's belt. "It is a collar, designed to keep her from speaking. It proved efficient, as Lorelei was rendered mute in prison for nearly six-hundred years. She escaped when Nazara and the Dark Elves invaded Asgard, and fled Asgard using the pathways spawned from the Convergence. It was not until recently that she finally used her power over men, and that enabled Heimdall to spot her, and I was sent to retrieve her."

"Do we know where she is now?" Ward asked.

"All I know is the Bifrost delivered me to her last known location." Sif said.

"There's not much out that way except small towns and barren deserts." Soladat said, thinking. "We can start by looking for unusual activity within a few hundred-mile radius. Burglary, theft, assault, all that shit."

"If this woman is looking to rule over an empire, she isn't gonna find much out here." Skye said, smirking as she glanced at Soladat. "Didn't pick a very good place to start."

"That leaves her at a disadvantage then." Sif said, clearly relieved. "It gives us more time to search."

Sif paused again, looking down to see Kirby once again sneaking towards her sword. She quickly put her hand on the hilt, and lifted her eyebrow at the little puffball.

Kirby merely stepped back, hands folded behind his back and smiling innocently.

ooooo

In the gas station diner of Rosie's Desert Oasis, Lorelei fumed as Rooster and his men poured the bag full of earthly treasures on the table. Or at least, Lorelei had been expecting treasures. Instead, it was just a bunch of mottled green pieces of paper.

"I wanted gold!" Lorelei growled at Rooster. She picked up a dollar bill and waved it in front of the biker testily. "And you bring me paper?!"

She crumpled the dollar in her hand and tossed it at Rooster, who caught it clumsily. "Um, it's cash. It's like gold, it's the currency here."

Lorelei's eyes narrowed as she digested this information, picking up another dollar and observing it carefully. She frowned at the picture posted in the center.

"And who is this ugly woman?"

Rooster blinked at the picture. "Uh, that's uh, that's Ben Franklin. Used to be president. Used to rule this whole country."

Lorelei's anger seemed to fade, replaced by curiousity as she took more bills and cycled through the different pictures of different men. All rulers, she presumed. An appropriate way of symbolizing past monarchs, no matter how primitive it seemed.

"Hmm. And women can rule your land, can they not?"

"Um..." Rooster said, thinking. "Well, you'd be the first I guess."

"Yes." Lorelei said, grinning at Rooster, putting the dollar bills into her pocket. "Yes. I will."

Suddenly, the door to the diner burst open with a loud slam as as a brown haired woman in leather barged. She looked around furiously before her eyes settled on Rooster.

"What the hell, Duane?!"

"Woah, woah..." One of the bikers put himself in front of the woman to stop her, but she just shoved him aside and marched up to Rooster.

"I have been texting you all day, worried sick! I thought you were dead in a gutter somewhere."

"Hey, hey, relax baby." Duane said to the woman, tyring to calm her down. Lorelei ignored the petty bout as she continued to rifle through the treasures Rooster brought her. One of the things she pulled out as a small tiara that Rooster's men had taken from a jewelry store. Lorelei studied it, smiling as she rested it on her head, positioning it so it fit perfectly.

"I had to turn off my cell phone because the noise was bothering Lorelei." Rooster continued to say, motioning towards the red-haired Asgardian.

"Yes, it was rather bothersome." Lorelei said absently as she turned towards a mirror mounted on the wall, doing a pose as she admired the tiara on her head.

The woman actually registered Lorelei's presence then, and blinked as she looked her over. Lorelei was wearing a black tanktop, concealed by a sleeveless leather jacket. She was wearing black pants that were tucked in to a pair of black, leather boots.

"... Are those my clothes?" The woman stated, her voice still angry. "Why the hell is this woman wearing my clothes, Duane?!"

"Baby, I-"

"Who is this 'Duane' she speaks of?" Lorelei answered, eyes narrowed as she looked between Duane and the woman.

"It's, uh that's me. My my real name's Duane." Duane explained awkwardly, earning a confused look from Lorelei. "She calls me that. She's my wife, Rosie."

"Yeah." Rosie said snidely to Lorelei, hands on hips.

Lorelei lifted her head slowly, reaching up and removing the tiara from her head. "Ah. I see."

Her eyes fell on Rooster's, and she edged towards him seductively, hand resting on his arm. She smirked at him. "Do you prefer her to me?"

"I..." Rooster said, looking like he was struggling on what to say. "She... she's nobody next to you."

"Wha-Nobody?!" Rosie shouted in outrage, pulling Rooster away from Lorelei.

"Nobody?" She said again, shoving Rooster angrily. "Nobody owns this bar."

Rooster didn't seem to register his wife's words, in fact he just kept looking at Lorelei in adoration. This proved to make Rosie angrier.

"Okay, you know what? Everybody out. Out! We are closed! Out!"

Lorelei frowned, starting to get very annoyed with this woman. Turning away from them, she continued to look through the treasures, pulling out a pearl necklace that she fondled between her fingers.

"I am tired of this noise, Rooster." She looked at him expectantly. "Make it stop."

Rose glared at Lorelei angrily and started marching over to her. "His name is not Rooster, it-"

Rooster suddenly walked in front of Rosie, grabbing her by the throat and choking her. She gagged for air and struggled against her husband's grip, but he just increased it.

"I'm sorry, baby." Rooster said, squeezing tightly. "You're just making too much noise."

As Rooster choked the poor woman, Lorelei grinned maliciously.

ooooo

"These are files from every police report within a hundred miles from where you arrived." Soladat said as she cycled through different files on the holotable in the debriefing room. Sif stood by her, looking down at the table curiously. Unnoticed by the two women, Kirby was standing below them, clinging to Soladat's leg to try and get in on whatever conversation. "Everything within the last forty-eight hours. If you want to sift through the system, you can-"

"It is fine, Archangel." Sif said, smiling. "I am familiar with the concept."

Soladat quirked an eyebrow as Sif ran her hand over the holotable, enlarging a file of the most recent police reports that had been recovered. Sif smirked somewhat smugly.

"It is an antiquated system. We of Asgard, and other realms, utilized ages ago in our younger times."

Soladat couldn't help but chuckle. In spite of everything S.H.I.E.L.D. accomplished scientifically, she still at times forgot how so far beyond them the Asgardians were. But since they had brought that little subject up, Soladat felt she needed a few... minor questions answered.

"Yeah, other realms." Soladat stated. "Since you mentioned that, could I... ask you a few questions about some of the ones you've met."

Sif paused, glancing at Soladat curiously. "I suppose. What would you like to know?"

"Well, Earth has sort of become a frequent hotspot for other species lately, starting with your first appearance in New Mexico a few years back. Thanks in part to you, we've been able to identify most of them, except... well, you know." Soladat said, motioning towards the little puffball who had climbed up to the edge of the holotable and was staring at the images in wonder. "But, there is one other we still haven't gotten tabs on. Tell me, have you ever encountered any species that were blue?"

Sif's frown increased, and she cocked her head in thought. "There are many I can name, Archangel, though very few if not any have ever been to your Earth. The Frost Giants have attempted to subjugate your world twice, but Asgard drove them away each time..."

"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way."

"... and then there were the Kree."

"Kree?" Soladat asked quizzically.

"Well, maybe." Sif said quickly. "Until recently, no one of Asgard believed that the Kree had ever been to Earth, or the Nine Realms. It was not until recently that we discovered the Kree had a large part in completing the Reapers' genocide of the Protheans and had made their presence in the Nine Realms during that time. But, whether or not they had ever been to Earth is unknown. Given how long the Kree have been a spacefaring people, the answer is variable."

"Have you tried asking them?"

Sif's lips thinned. "Asgard and the Kree do not see eye-to-eye. They have, for as long as I can remember, always been a rather violent, imperialistic civilization. War between them and other races is renownedly frequent, and has brought a negative viewpoint upon their culture by other civilizations."

"Huh." Soladat said uneasily. "Are your two species at war right now?"

"No." Sif said, shaking her head. "Our relationship is frosty, yes, but the Kree are too wrapped up in their current war with the Nova Empire to concern ourselves with us."

"Nova Empire?" Soladat said, frowning.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The Nova Empire is another major galactic group. A hegemony of sorts, composed of many alien races that live several billion lightyears from here, in a region known as Xandarian space."

"An alliance of alien races?" Soladat repeated, even more concerned now. "Are they a threat?"

"Goodness, no." Sif said, surprised by the insinuation. "The Nova Empire are perhaps one of the most benevolent entities in the known galaxy. Asgard has consorted with them, and often engaged in trade disputes. Like us, peacekeeping is one of their finest niches."

"So then why are the Kree fighting them?" Soladat asked, frowning.

"Like I said, the Kree are by nature a savage and violent species." Sif said scornfully. "They would wage war with anyone over the slightest disagreement. Though, I must ask, Archangel, what brought up this conversation regarding the Kree? You implied there is another non-human besides Loki, Hikesh, and the pink creature living on this world?"

"Not living." Soladat said quickly. "It's... complicated. S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently in possession of an alien corpse. Blue-skinned. It's been preserved in S.H.I.E.L.D. possession for decades, but we've never been able to identify it. Given the information we learned during the Convergence, Hikesh suspects it may be a Kree."

Sif looked honestly concerned by that information. "I would very much like to see this... corpse, Archangel. But for now, we most focus on the mission. We will revisit this later."

"Right." Soladat nodded. "Thank you."

The two kept searching through the police reports, until Sif stopped abrubtly and pointed at one of the latest reports.

"There." She said. "A robbery of jewels. Lorelei always had a taste for them."

"And here." Soladat said, pulling up another report. "A gun store robbery. And look, they were both done by guys on Harleys."

"It's happening faster than I feared." Sif said, wide-eyed. "She's amassing men, gems, weaponry. Lorelei is building an army."

ooooo

Soladat, Sif, May, and Ward walked down the stairs leading to the hangar, Soladat carrying Kirby on her shoulders like a small child. Soladat spoke as they walked down.

"We traced the robberies to a biker bar called Rosie's Desert Oasis, probably where Lorelei's hiding out."

"Then we will go there, and apprehend her." Sif announced.

"That's the plan." Ward spoke as they entered Fitzsimmons' lab. It was still a mess, but Fitz, Simmons, Skye, and Mike were doing their best at trying to clean it up. "We're meeting a S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy there in ten."

Fitz was standing at the ruined holotable, which was laid out with various forms of weapons. "Good. Then you can show off these beauties."

Ward whistled as he looked them over. "These all Night-Night guns?"

"They're the only ones that weren't destroyed in the explosion." Fitz said, eyeing Kirby wearily. The puffball just smiled at him. "They are made from the same technology..."

"But, we're not calling them Night-Nights anymore." Simmons spoke up.

"About time." Ward said with a chuckle as he picked up a pistol and loaded a magazine into it. Skye and Soladat chuckled at that, while Fitz glared at Ward in annoyance.

"We're calling them I.C.E.R.s." He said. "Incapacitating Cartridge Emitting Railguns."

"Uh, huh." Soladat said with a grin. "And you came up with the name I take it?"

"Yep." Fitz said proudly.

Soladat just chuckled and shook her head, while Ward held the gun in his hand, aiming it to rest its velocity. "I like it. And you lost the ounce."

Ward clapped Fitz's shoulder approvingly, making Fitz smile smugly. "And I tripled the stopping power. After Centipede and Greenwhich, I felt we needed something stronger."

"Stronger." Soladat repeated, picking up a large I.C.E.R. rifle and admiring it. "Bigger. I'm already egging to test this baby out."

"Yeah, well, it's not for killing." Skye mentioned. "Can you handle that?"

Soladat snorted, while Agent May picked up a pistol of her own and loaded it. Mike, who had chosen a rifle like Soladat's, glanced at her curiously.

"I thought you preferred hand-to-hand?"

"I do." May said. "But I always say, if I need a gun, I'll take one. When you're up against people who are being controlled, sometimes it's hard to distinguish friend from foe."

Soladat paused slightly, sending a blank look at May. May returned the look, and the two women shared their understanding on the subject. Their silent conversation went unnoticed, as Sif unsheathed her sword.

"Well then." She said, smirking. "Shall we?"

On Soladat's shoulders, Kirby started bouncing. "Poyo!"

ooooo

The S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy, composed of various SUVs, drove up to their destination. Rosie's Desert Oasis was a cozy, unassuming little location. Various motorcycles, gas pumps, and an RV set up outside presumably belonging to the owners. As the SUVs parked, a pair of cops keeping watch outside by their cop car immediately got in defensive stances. Taking their weapons, they started marching towards the vehicles as the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel exited.

Sif was the first to exit the backseat of her convoy, Soladat and May coming out the fronts. Soladat was in her usual combat garb, I.C.E.R. rifle at the ready. Following Sif were Mike and Ward. Skye, Fitz, and Simmons remained behind on the Bus to keep watch over Kirby.

Sif looked over the establishment with a frown. "Lorelei's tastes run toward palaces, castles. This is far more humble than her usual abode."

"The draw wasn't the place." Ward said, nodding towards the cops approaching. "It was the manpower."

"You, officer." Soladat said to the cops. "What's the situation? Have you seen the suspect?"

"Yes, we have." One of the cops said, and pointed his rifle at the party, cocking it.

"And she's beautiful."

Next chapter, the battle between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Lorelei's goons commences.

The conversations in this chapter may have come off as a little confusing for some. Lorelei's backstory was changed from that in the original Marvel Cinematic Universe, mainly because it was hardly at all developed. In this, I'm hoping to give her a much better background somewhat similar to her comic book counterpart. Kudos to anyone who can successfully guess who her sisters in this fic are.

Now, the conversation between Soladat and Sif regarding the Kree may have confused some. For those of you who want answers, look back to my other fic, Thordis: The Dark World. The story behind it is to long for me to recount right now.

knolden: hmmmm would Sucking up Loki turn Kirby into Ice Kirby since Loki is a frost giant ?

Hm... Maybe :) Too soon to tell.