A/N: I had this private goal of reaching more views on this story than one of my other stories and I have accomplished that! So, in thanks to those that made it possible I am generating a longer than normal update. Thank you to all my readers that have been with me this long!
Took another look at the rating guide and had to bump the rating of the story up one level.
It was exactly seven days after Sigyn had arrived that Bruce Banner appeared on Tony's doorstep, slightly bloody and more than a little drugged. With Pepper out of the building, Tony holed up in his lab, and Thor, Steve, Clint, and Natasha being unqualified to handle a potential Hulk out-in Jarvis' opinion-that left Sigyn to contain the situation.
"Ms. Sigyn, I require your assistance," he said and she looked up at the ceiling, pausing in the slicing of the vegetables she was handling.
"Have Thor and Steve demolished another set of sand bags meant for punching? They were not testing the integrity of the wall, were they?" she asked suspiciously. She laid the knife aside and dried her hands on a towel. "What happened?"
"It is not the current occupants that I require assistance with. The final Avenger has been…deposited…outside the tower and, in his current state, I do not suggest leaving him out in the elements," Jarvis said and her eyes flashed like she heard a note of annoyance flickering through his tone.
Her entire demeanor changed under Jarvis' watchful gaze. Where she had been relaxed before, her muscles coiled with a kind of energy he saw in his creator before a battle. Instead of heading for the stairs as she usually would, she stepped into the elevator when Jarvis opened it for her. "Is he injured? Can you run a diagnostic scan on his vitals and tell me what substances are potentially running through his body?" she asked, rolling up her sleeves.
If he had been human, he would have blinked in surprise at the sudden shift in demeanor. The only sign of her discomfort for being in the elevator was the flexing of her fingers into a fist again and again. In his silence, Sigyn asked her questions again, to which he responded, "I am unable to do a scan outside of the tower. The outdoor systems allow only for security monitoring and facial recognition."
Her gaze was curiously blank as she glanced again at the ceiling. "I see. What can you tell me, then?"
"Dr. Banner is exhibiting signs of being drugged. His pupils appear to be dilated and he has not moved since a man left him outside the building." He paused before adding, "There is a forty percent chance that the man was not a SHIELD agent and that this is an attempt on the Avengers."
Sigyn hummed her acknowledgement as she appeared to process everything. "Will you ask your creator to allow me access to the medical level? As well, alert the staff that there is a potential gas leak and evacuate the tower and surrounding buildings." She paused and glanced at the ceiling. "I will need Natasha and Clint to keep their distance. Tony should be safe in his lab, but I will need Steve and Thor should a situation occur."
The last thing he had been aware of after the SHIELD agents collected him had been the sting of…something…puncturing the skin on his neck. Then, the pain and dark hair and green eyes and lilting laugh and no green before darkness had taken him again. Now, he rose to consciousness through the murky feeling of drugged sleep. The first thing he was aware of was cool fingers on his wrist and a soft voice saying, "-steady. He should be fine."
"What was it?" someone-male and familiar, he identified-asked.
"A sedative that is produced only by magical means and not easily obtained by humans," the female replied and he had to control his breathing as he placed it.
Amongst the pain and the flashes of hair and eyes had been whispered words, words that ended with the lilting laugh. "You'll do, pet. You'll do nicely."
The fingers touched his wrist again and he jerked away, eyes opening as something instinctive grabbed at him and wrapped protectively around him. The woman-dark hair, wide green eyes, the white column of her throat-was all he saw and it was enough to send him over. Red darkened the world before his eyes and green boiled beneath his skin, splitting and taking form.
From there, it was flashes of scent-almond-sounds-short scream cut off-sensation-small hands scrabbling against wrist-and smash. When it was done, when the Hulk retreated to the depths of their subconscious, and he was left standing naked amidst the wreckage, the woman was still before him-albeit bloodied and clothes torn and scratches and gashes marring her visible skin, but there nonetheless-but now cradled by Thor with Steve hovering between the two of three of them. Thor had his hammer held loosely before him like he was expecting another blind attack.
Steve was looking between them like he was uncertain as to what to do. The woman coughed and spat blood onto the floor before struggling out of Thor's grip to stand in front of the Asgardian warrior. "Dr. Banner, I do believe proper introductions are in order," she said coolly and he felt cool fear shoot through his stomach. He took a step back, but she looked to the ceiling and asked, "The security protocols are still in effect, correct Jarvis? We are locked in this room until Anthony releases us, yes?"
Jarvis and Anthony registered through the fog that still clung to his mind and he felt the Hulk settle a little further back into their subconscious. Tony and Jarvis were safe. Safe meant friends and friends meant Avengers. Avengers meant being able to fight and to fight meant safety. "That is correct, Ms. Sigyn," Jarvis replied. "As long as Dr. Banner remains calm over a period of sixty minutes and does not destroy any more equipment, I am authorized to release him. For you and the others, all you need do is ask." The AI paused and then asked, "May I enquire as to what the substance you were referring to was?"
"So far as I can tell, it was a Sun Stone. Such stones render the victim senseless and delirious for days," she said, eyes flickering over him. "Dr. Banner seems to have avoided the majority of bodily damage that usually accompanies use of the Stones."
Thor looked startled. "The Sun Stones are exceedingly rare," he said, finally settling Mjölnir onto his belt again. "The last I heard of them, Amora had stolen them from father's vaults and…" he trailed off and gave the woman a significant look.
She looked at him again and held her hands before her, a gesture of surrender that Bruce eyed warily. "Jarvis indicated that you were…deposited by a single individual. Do you remember anything from before waking here?" she asked.
He had to swallow twice before he could force his dry throat to work. "I remember you," Bruce said and Steve frowned, glancing at her. Thor tensed and took a step towards the woman, moving to stand between her and them as Steve positioned himself closer to Bruce and the woman simply looked chagrined.
Before anyone could ask, Jarvis spoke. "I can confirm that Ms. Sigyn has not left the premise in exactly one hundred and sixty eight hours. Scans performed every three hours indicate that she does not possess the current level of power to duplicate herself as supervillain Loki Laufeysonis able to. As such, she has exhibited no hostile intentions towards any of the occupants of this tower despite the hostility that has been expressed towards her."
That startled Steve into looking at the ceiling and Sigyn simply looked more chagrined. "I hadn't told them about the incident, Jarvis," she said.
"Duly noted, Ms. Sigyn," he replied.
"Friend Bruce," Thor said after giving Sigyn a sidelong look. "Will you rest for a while and tell us what has happened to you when you are able. You are safe here. Sigyn bears you no ill will. Do you, sister?"
"No, but I don't think that's going to sink in while the residual effects of the Sun Stone are still present in his system. Perhaps it would be best if I were to leave him to your care, brother?" she asked, eyes flicking over Thor's face. Before he could answer, she turned to Steve and continued, "If the good Captain will accompany me, I can speak with the other Avengers and bring them…what was the term?...ah…I can bring them up to speed on what has happened and who Amora is."
She didn't wait for them to answer before she was striding towards the door and slipping through. Steve, looking a little lost, followed after her, but glanced at Thor just before leaving to say, "Dr. Banner is one of my Avengers. See that no harm comes to him."
The last thing Steve heard was, "You have a sister?"
Sigyn ignored the suspicious looks that Clint and Natasha were favoring her with from their places on the couch. Tony simply fiddled with a tablet that lay on the table in front of him. "He remembers you and you're saying that this…someone…could be an Enchantress by the name of Amora and that she can shapeshift into different people," Clint said slowly.
"Not shapeshift," Sigyn repeated with a sigh. "Her abilities are not quite that sophisticated. As far as I know, Loki is the only sorcerer who can truly shapeshift. No. What she does is adopt a glamor of someone whose form is one that she is familiar with and that tricks the senses into accepting that she really is that person." She hesitated and turned her head away before adding, "It would not be the first time she has borrowed my shape."
Out of the corner or her eye, she saw Clint's expression freeze and witnessed the slow dawning of understanding before the color drained from his face. "That's…ah…what you meant when I…uh…" he started.
"Yes," she said harshly and he shut up.
"Magic detector!" Tony said suddenly, breaking the tension before it had even settled. Seeing the curious gazes on him, he elaborated, "With everything that's been going on lately-Loki popping in, Sigyn's hocus pocus, and Bruce being magically kidnapped-Jarvis needs a setting that can determine the frequency of energy emitted by friendly and hostile casters that will allow us to determine who is who."
Steve just looked puzzled and Sigyn chuckled as she explained, "Unlike your electricity which mimics some of the things we can do, magic is unique to the caster. I do not cast the same way that Amora does and Loki casts differently than I do. He wants to give Jarvis the ability to determine who is who based on the kind of magic that we use."
His expression cleared. "Ah. Thank you."
"That's what I just said," Tony muttered.
"Not in English, Tony," Steve muttered back.
Natasha simply shook her head at the diversion in conversation while she directed her attention to the ceiling and asked, "Jarvis, can you give us a visual on the individual that deposited Dr. Banner?"
Jarvis didn't respond, but the TV flicked on to reveal the image of a man bent double over a prone figure in what they all recognized as one of the entrances to Stark Tower. Tony grimaced at the reminder of the security breach as well as the predicament of someone he considered a friend. He said something to Jarvis, but Sigyn didn't catch what it was as she studied the image and felt her heart rate pick up. The width of his shoulders, the tattoos that adorned his head, the size of his skull, and the length of his spine were familiar-too familiar. "Did you get a clear image of his face, Jarvis?" she asked, leaning her weight against the table as it became harder to breath.
The image shifted and she recoiled, her world narrowing to the moment and the memory it triggered. Heart hammering in her chest, she breathed, voice catching on the word, "Skurge," and had to place her hands on the table before her to steady herself. The screen went blank and she blinked to clear her vision. She was aware of Clint's eyes on her and the weight of Tony's gaze. She realized she had stopped breathing a few moments prior and forced herself the take a deep breath and straighten. There was a coiled tension to her body that made Natasha watch her uneasily.
"Talk to us about how potentially dangerous this fellow is and his connection to Amora," Tony said. "You haven't told us what Amora can do, either, on her own."
She grabbed for the conversation like a lifeline and said, "Amora, on her own, is a strong Enchantress and, on her good days, she can be a pain for me to handle, but not impossible. She is best with spells that alter the senses, seduce, and muddle the mind, but when she has a...companion…then it is best to deal with that individual first. Amora has never seduced a male that is not astoundingly powerful and useful to her. Skurge is…" she trailed off and her eyes flitted back to the screen. "Skurge makes it difficult for both Loki and I to handle her, especially if she steps into insanity."
"'Steps into insanity,'" Steve repeated. "Is that one of those modern sayings I don't understand?"
Sigyn smiled weakly at the Captain as she shook her head. "It is meant to be very literal. Her grasp on sanity is looser than a whore's chastity belt and that is where she draws her strength from. The further she slips from reality, the more dangerous she becomes."
"Tell us about Skurge," Natasha said and Sigyn tensed. "What's the connection between the three of you?"
Her green eyes darkened as she favored Natasha with a look. The Spider was probing for information, looking for a weakness that could be exploited later. Well, in that case…let her process the truth and make of it what she would.
"I have a daughter by Skurge, Hela, but she was not a child conceived willingly. Amora ensnared my mind and held me hostage against my husband for an artifact. When that did not work out as expected, she…I was impregnated and then released. I believe she had hoped to ruin my marriage with the act and the resulting child, but it did not." Her eyes returned to the screen and, though she didn't know it, her gaze and features had hardened with memory. "Loki did not abandon me, but that did not stop Odin from sealing my girl into an alternate dimension where the dead reside for her own safety.
"Skurge was supposed to have been taken out of the cycle of rebirth, but he's alive and here and on Earth. So, that means Odin lied…again. Big surprise, that," she said and couldn't help the bitterness that flavored her voice. "That is what you seek, Spider, is it not?" she asked, leaning in Natasha's direction. "The knowledge of what you can use against me in battle at a later date? Well, give it up as a bad idea. You cannot touch the children I have left. One is a wolf that will sooner maim and eat you than let you touch him. His mind is that of an animal's, courtesy of Odin. My girl is beyond my reach, beyond the reach of any mere mortal no matter how different from your kind you might be. The horrors you think you can dream up for me are nothing compared to the reality which I have lived with for more than a thousand years. The only person you might be able to use against me is Loki and look how well trying to contain him turned out for you last time.
"Skurge and Amora are here, on Earth. For what ends, I cannot fathom, but if her capture of Dr. Banner is anything to go by then she knows who you are and what you are capable of. So, tell me, little Spider, what is it that you fear? Because she most certainly already knows and will not shy from using it against you," she finished, breathing hard.
Tony eyed her speculatively and continued tapping absently at the tablet that he still held. There was a noise-like the clearing of a throat-and everyone looked up to see Bruce and Thor. Thor was staring at Sigyn like seeing her for the first time and she turned her head to hide her face from him. Bruce, though, was studying her curiously as he cleaned the glasses Jarvis had provided for him with the sleeve of his new shirt. "Well, that pretty well clears the air on that. As far as I can trust my memory, the one that caught me wasn't prone to…ah…levels of emotion like that and I would say that your reaction to her companion was a genuine one. I'd apologize for the damage that the Hulk did, but you seem none the worse for encounter," he said and she smiled only a little.
Tony held out the tablet to his friend and lab partner with a grimace. "SHIELD has no files on collecting you or even sending agents to collect you," he said and Bruce took the tablet to look at the files Tony was offering him. "Those are the last records they have of you, which makes no sense as they seem to have been updating the records daily since the invasion. Even more curious about this is that Fury seemed convinced all of you would be here within the week."
Bruce flipped through screen and then handed it back. "Their files are not only incomplete, but they also seem to have been compromised. I was collected by a set of three agents about five days ago right before the moment where I would stop trusting my memory. The date on that record is wrong."
Steve rose from his place on the couch and reached a hand for the tablet, which Tony relinquished easily. The Captain didn't ask about Tony hacking the classified files. He knew better than that by now and trusted Tony enough to know anything that was discovered wouldn't end up in the news within the next hour. "If I might borrow this, I'll go into SHIELD and have a chat with Director Fury."
"One of us shall accompany you," Thor said, his gaze finally sliding from Sigyn. "If Amora has changed your files, then it is likely that she has eyes in your SHIELD itself. Extra protection shall not go amiss with regards to this particular foe."
"Well, I'm going to requisition Bruce and Sigyn-with their permission-and get to creating a device that can tell the difference between friendly casters and hostiles," Tony said, glancing at the two in question. Bruce nodded, though he was careful not to look at Sigyn.
Sigyn smiled fondly at Tony and laughed. "You will have my help in this endeavor, Anthony," she said. "Within the limits of my understanding and ability to contribute, I will do what I can."
"Nat and I can go with you, Captain," Clint said. "It might be a good idea for us to all have a chat with Fury and clear the air on a few things."
Steve glanced at Tony who had bent his head towards Bruce to engage the man in quiet conversation. Bruce's gaze seemed to occasionally flick towards Sigyn and he still seemed a little ill at ease, but so had everyone else when they had first met her. Thor seemed content to engage his sister in brief conversation about something he was sure he wanted to nothing of and that settled some part of his mind with regards to a topic he wasn't sure he had a right to understand about her. Clint and Natasha were waiting for him and, so too, was this duty. They had to find out how far this breach went.
After a day spent in the company of the two scientists, her head was crammed full of knowledge that she had not previously possessed and terms that she was still digesting. A new set of clothes from the wardrobe Pepper had ordered for her were sitting on the edge of the bed and she was taking a shower with the steam rising over her head. Her hands were pressed flat to the wall as she let the warmth of the water soothe the knots from her muscles and contemplated all that had occurred that day.
When her skin began to prune, she washed her hair and rinsed the soap from her face before shutting the water off entirely. The towel was soft as she sponged water off of her body and wrapped it around her. She was just beginning to dry the mirror off of the fog when someone knocked at her door…her bathroom door. Her hands froze in their movements.
Rap-rap-rap-pause and her heart picked up-smack. The sound of a palm slapping against the wood of the door. Her breath caught in her throat as she yanked the door open and Loki's green and gold frame filled the doorway. She squashed the first impulse to jump at him as she recalled Skurge and Amora. "That fates of our children?" she asked.
He smiled a sad sort of smile, his lips curving only slightly. The familiarity of the gesture made her take a step forward. "Narvi and Vali reside with Hela, taken out of the cycle of rebirth until Odin has passed. Hela rules the dimension of the dead and Fenrir enjoys nothing better than to howl at the passing of the full moon," he said gently, taking a step towards her.
There was barely an inch of space between them and her eyes devoured every detail of his features hungrily. Startling blue eyes, high cheek bones, lips thinning into an amused smile at her continued silence. His skin still had a pale quality to it, but he no longer looked as unhealthy as she remembered. "Clone or illusion?" she asked, raising a hand to almost touch his face.
He pressed his hand to hers and brought it to his cheek. "Neither?" he offered and her resistance crumbled.
Her free arm curled around his waist as he closed the distance between them to bring her flush against him. She rose onto her toes to kiss him. She was glad, in that moment, that he had forgone the armor in favor of something a little more comfortable as she became aware of every inch of her body molding to fit against his. His hand slid to her hair as his other splayed against the middle of her back. The fingers in her hair tightened and tugged her head back, exposing her neck, and his lips drifted down the white expanse of skin revealed to him.
With her senses scattered and heart pounding in her ears, she managed, "Not…good idea. Questions…"
His eyes flicked to hers, amusement written into every line of his face and the curve of his lips. "Can they not wait, love?" he asked, breath still hot against her skin.
"Sure," she managed and was lost with him.
When she woke the next morning, she sighed and curled lazily into the form beside her. She nuzzled her chin into the crook of his neck and tucked her foot beneath his calf before she was finally awake enough to recall the events of the night and had to smile against his skin as she tucked her head beneath his chin. Loki's fingers drifted lazily down her spine and she felt, more than heard, him chuckle. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you missed me," she said, tone both musing and a little teasing.
He hummed and threaded his fingers through her hair, combing out the strands and tucking them back behind her ear. "Perhaps I was just bored," he offered and she just laughed.
"If you were bored, you'd have left your plans to make mischief somewhere else," she pointed out. "Not come to see me."
"True," he conceded.
She blinked and looked up at the ceiling, suddenly realizing something. "Jarvis?" she called.
"The machine's ability to see and hear what transpires in your room, for the moment, has been disabled. If they cared enough to look at the files, they would see only that you sleep," Loki said, but she pulled away from him slightly and frowned.
"Machines are inanimate objects that perform a single function. Jarvis is no such thing," she said.
"Perhaps not to you, love, but at his core, he is machine," Loki said, smiling apologetically. "A very advanced machine, but one nonetheless."
Her frown deepened, but she filed it away as something to ask about later. For the moment, Loki was with her, but that wasn't going to last and there were other things that she wanted to ask. "Are you siphoning my magic?" she asked, settling herself on his chest again. By the way he tensed beneath her and the way his eyes searched her face, she had her answer. "I noticed, love, believe me I did. I won't ask what you're up to. You've never made ill use of me or led me down a path I would not have followed, anyway. But I must ask that you let up a little on the siphoning in case I have real need to defend myself beyond the latent spells already woven into my skin."
She could feel when he started tracing the still healing scratches and bruised. He didn't ask and she offered nothing. "Of course. I can release one or two of the lesser spells to allow you more access to your own magic without damaging anything," he murmured.
He paused and she saw the question in his eyes, felt the words that he did not know how to ask in the tensing of his muscles. She touched his cheek and felt him lean ever so slightly into it. "You are my Loki in whatever form you choose. Blood is of no consequence and neither is gender. You know that," she said softly.
Loki shifted and she sat back on her heels to allow him to sit up, her hands still resting on his shoulders. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and gently disengaged himself from her. "I do…know that, Sigyn. It doesn't stop me from wondering, from time to time," he admitted as he rose from the bed.
She smiled. "And every time you wonder, all you need do is ask to receive the same answer, love."
His gaze was narrowed and amused when he glanced at her just before his armor shimmered into existence. "Lovely as this has been, I did come with a warning," he said. "Look closely after Thor's human woman."
"Amora?" Sigyn guessed with a sigh. "Yes. She dropped a little…ah…gift off yesterday by way of saying hello."
"Another reason you wish more access to your magic?" he asked, looking a little guilty.
She rose from the bed as well and threaded her fingers through his loose hair. "You have always had my permission to siphon what was needed for your plans, but I do need a certain amount in order to do what is necessary. Just see to it that you release those spells by the days end and I will be able to determine whether or not there are any residual gifts waiting in store."
He captured her mouth in one last kiss before he grinned and said, "Done, then," and faded from her room.
As with all their partings, she sighed and turned to pick up the cadence of her life once more.