The first person that Pepper saw when she was finally allowed into her rooms again was Tony. She had to stop and blink at the sight of him, because for once he wasn't covered in oil stains or sporting burn marks across his hands or face. His clothes weren't even ripped in strange places. "Tony," she began and he smiled at her. "You're-"
"-clean," he finished for her and she smiled back. "Thought I might want to be presentable for you once the…uh…situation was cleared up."
Her smile disappeared as she studied him. "What did happen? Jarvis would only say that her body language had changed from the usual. He thought she might be dangerous."
He shrugged helplessly and held his hands out before him. Pepper sighed and crossed the room to take his hands in hers and let him tug her onto the bed where they sat on the edge. Slipping an arm around her waist, he just held her. "I'm not even sure exactly what happened. She was making breakfast like she had been for the last week or so, making sure everyone gets at least one balanced meal-which I blame Jarvis for, just so you know-and then she asked a question and Jarvis instructed her on how to use a tablet," he said. "I looked at some of the things that were downloaded this morning and all I saw were some myths on a couple of Loki's kids. Jarvis reported in that she was in a possibly unstable state of mind and that we would do best by avoiding the room for a while."
They lapsed into silence and stayed as they were for a long while. Finally, Pepper asked, "Why did you keep SHIELD from taking her into custody? Our lives are complicated enough without adding the wife of an insane Norse deity into the mix of our current project and you…always…" her voice trailed off as her throat tightened around the words she could never bring herself to say.
Tony brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear as he said, "I know, Pep, I know." Since the missed phone call and the brush with death, he had been more attentive, more careful, and said "I love you" more, but he hadn't given up being a superhero and she hadn't asked him to choose. His hand tightened briefly around hers before he answered her question. "Their methods of extracting information are…unpalatable to me. Even if Sigyn is married to Loki, that doesn't mean Fury has the divine right to do as he wishes to her."
The lines around Pepper's eyes tightened minutely before she nodded. "If you and Jarvis both say she's safe, then I'll accept that," she said. "But I still want to meet her, especially if she's going to be staying for an undefined amount of time." She paused as she considered another avenue of thought. "Have you talked to her about what she might like to do in the future? I can't imagine that she'll like being cooped up all the time. Also, how is she set for clothes?"
"Uh…" Tony began and she frowned at him before bursting into laughter.
"Just the one set, then. Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it," she said. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" The last was said with an amused edge coloring her voice.
A smile pulled at his lips as he said, "I believe so, Ms. Potts."
Blood trickled down her chin and dripped crimson droplets onto the floor as she staggered to her feet yet again. An uncomfortable expression crossed Thor's face as he watched Sigyn struggle to stand. Her shoulders heaved in the effort she had to make to breath. His hammer slipped in his grasp a little as he lowered his hand. "Enough, sister, training like this does not help," he said.
They had been sparring for the better part of an hour and a half and Sigyn was starting to look the worse for wear. Thor, however, looked pristine in his battle armor. Her arm was useless and her clothes had been torn in more than one place. Scratches marred the visible skin and slipped beneath the collar of her shirt. She leaned against the wall she had so recently been thrown into and smiled crookedly. "You might be right, brother," she admitted.
He took a cautious step towards her as he strapped Mjölnir to his belt. "Have you determined what you desired to understand?" he asked, extending a hand towards her.
Her fingers sought his and she let him tug her into his arms. "More or less," she sighed, feeling the world tilt as he lifted her into his arms. "The only magic available to me is a little healing and basic protection, but that does not tell me what happened to the rest of my magical strength." Her eyes became heavier with each word until her head rolled into his chest and her lids slid shut even as she tried to remain awake.
"It has only been a few days since you were freed from the Abyss. Give it time," Thor said with more confidence than she felt.
He felt the hum that vibrated through her chest and knew that she was lost to the world. Whatever her faults, he would never call her less than intelligent. Sigyn knew her strengths and she knew her limits and, usually, no one could push her beyond what she was capable of. That she was pushing herself so soon after being rescued unsettled him a little. She had always the counterpoint to Loki's anarchy, the soothing balm of steady patience to unordered chaos, and that she was acting otherwise spoke ill of what had happened to her.
Shifting her gently into her bed was no issue. He lingered for only a moment to watch her curl onto her side and sigh in the contentment of sleep. Then, he retreated to let her rest.
For once, there were no nightmares, no echoes of the enchantment that tethered her son's waking mind to her dreams. When she woke, the sun had begun to peak through the curtains drawn across her windows. She stretched her arms over her head and felt her joints pop. Sighing, she kicked the covers off and grimaced at the state of her clothes.
Looking back over the previous day, she could admit to herself that the nightmares had gotten to her. The training had served both the purpose she had presented to Thor and the need to do something other than heal and cook for a household of strangers. She flexed her fingers and fixed a spell in her mind, waiting for the warmth to curl through her hands and feeling only a slight disappointment when there was no response. Carding her hands through her hair, she untangled the majority of the knots before she levered herself out of the bed and through the door, feeling the twining of the latent protection spells wrap around her as she left the quarters assigned to her.
The halls were as silent as ever, devoid of the constant activity that Asgard would have seen. Natasha and Clint were already in the communal room watching the news. Clint's blue gaze flashed to her and he blinked at her appearance. "You look like hell warmed over," he commented.
"What does my daughter have to do with my look?" she asked, removing the pots from their usual places.
Clint blinked again and Natasha looked at her sidelong. "Your da-" he began.
"In current American culture, the phrase is one used to commonly suggest that you look like you have been through a rough time," Jarvis cut in smoothly.
She looked down at her clothes and noted again the dried blood that clung to the fabric. That said nothing of the scratches that had barely begun to scab over. "Ah," she said absently. "I suppose this is not the most sanitary outfit in which to cook."
Natasha made a soft sound like an amused huff at that. "At least you have the sense to recognize that difference in our cultures," she said dryly. Sigyn's gaze cooled considerably at that as she caught the Widow's eyes. The corner of her mouth twitched before she turned on her heel and left without a sound. The last thing she heard was Natasha murmuring to Clint, "She's restless."
That was the morning that she broke the pattern they had established.
Following the directions that Jarvis had given her, Pepper unlocked the door to the roof and stepped out to find the other woman she had been searching for. Pausing, she took a moment to observe the Asgardian leaning against the rail and looking down. She was more slender than expected for someone who had seen Thor, but it wasn't totally outside the realm of possibility that Asgardian females were a little like human females in looks. Dark hair that trailed to her strong shoulders looked well kept. Beyond that, Pepper didn't know what to expect of their…houseguest.
Without turning, Sigyn said, "You are a new inhabitant. An Avenger as well or a different kind of jailer?"
Pepper blinked a little at that. Of all the first things she had expected to say, "Jailer?" wasn't one of them.
That time, Sigyn did turn to look at her, a restrained kind of curiosity and amusement flitting through her narrowed, green eyes and making her lips quirk a little. "What else would you have me call this…arrangement?" she asked, pulling back from the railing to turn and face her. "I cannot leave without your SHIELD following me, nor can I can I return to whence I came without serious repercussions visited upon those I love."
As she studied the other woman, she felt no echoes of amusement. It was then, she could admit later, that she realized Sigyn-the woman herself, not Loki's wife-could be dangerous. The way she moved was too smooth, too controlled to be anything less than calculated. Warrior, sorceress, and woman wrapped into a thousand year old-perhaps even older than that-body with all the experience to go along with it made her something of a frightening combination when one considered her level of intelligence, but…
And she smiled, had to smile, because no matter what self-proclaimed deity stood before her, it still wasn't enough to make her tremble or fill her with the desire to fall to her knees and proclaim undying devotion. If Thor and Loki could bleed, then so, too, could this woman. "I may not be a jailor, but if you hurt Tony-in any way-I swear by all the realities this universe holds, I will find a way to make you pay for it. Powerful and enshrined in myth you might be, you don't scare me."
After a long moment, the threat earned her an unexpected response. Sigyn's body language relaxed a little and her lips lifted in a true, crooked smile. Her muscles uncoiled from the tenseness they had held and she moved in a circle around Pepper, who never once lost eye contact. Then, Sigyn laughed as she came back to her original position. "Somehow, I believe you," she admitted slowly and Pepper returned the smile.
With the necessary understandings made, Pepper nodded at the other woman's attire and said, "Tony forgets the small things in life, sometimes. I took the liberty to order in a few new things for you. They'll be in by tonight. Just let Jarvis know if anything doesn't suit your taste and I'll adjust it accordingly."