The Peid Piper Part 2

Coulson wouldn't lie, he was feeling a little bit nervous. It had nothing to do with the current mission or the fact that they would meet Superman and the famous Lady Sif for the first time, nor it had anything to do with the fact that the alien they were seeking could control minds — even though that small fact didn't exactly put him at ease.

No, the reason why he was nervous was Natasha Romanoff.

To put it simply, he had lied to her. Not only her, but all the Avengers. They believed he was dead and he hadn't moved a finger to correct that misunderstanding, quite the contrary. And yet somehow, she had called him, directly, as if nothing had happened whatsoever. How? Did Fury tell her? Did everybody know he was alive? And if they did, what would they think about the fact that he faked his own death?

Coulson was an agent through and through, he understood better than most the necessity of lying during a mission. But that didn't mean he liked to lie to his friends and colleagues and no matter how professional they were, he still considered Natasha a good friend.

And now he would have to face her.

Before he could think about anything else, the doors opened, allowing the sunlight in. And right in front of him were Natasha Romanoff, Superman, Lady Sif and a woman he did not know. There was a moment of tension, when nobody seemed to know what to do.

Then Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, smiled to him.

"It's good to see you alive, Coulson. Really good."

Just like that, his worries evaporated; he smiled back, stepping forward to shake her hand.

"It's good to be back from the dead to see you too, Natasha," he answered. Then he frowned a bit. "But how did you—"

"Please, remember who you are talking to," she interrupted, rolling her eyes. "You are good Coulson, but not that good."

That was a real ego-booster, Coulson thought, sarcastically.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Clint does, of course, and I have no doubt Stark does too," Natasha answered, not sparing his feelings in the least. "How he didn't come looking for you, I don't know, but Pepper might have something to do with it. And if he knows, Banner knows as well, you know how those two are."

"So… everybody?"

She pretended to think for a moment. "I'm sure Steve and Thor are still in the dark."

That was a catastrophic intelligence leak, but he supposed it was expected, considering the people with whom he was dealing with. Holding that thought for later, Coulson turned to the other people present there.

Superman was just behind Natasha, looking every bit as impressive as he imagined, clad in his blue skinsuit and red cape. By his left was a woman who definitely could only be Lady Sif, given the armor she was wearing and the weapons she was carrying. And by his right was another woman who Coulson didn't know; that bothered him, but he supposed she wouldn't be there if Natasha, Superman and Lady Sif didn't trust her.

"Superman, it is an honor to meet you," he said, stepping forward and shaking his hand. And it truly was, he wasn't just being polite; it wasn't everyday you met someone willing to fight his own race, condemning them to extinction, to save another species, just because it was the right thing to do.

Kal-El shook his hand with a smile.

"The honor is mine, I've heard a lot of great things about you, Agent Coulson."

"Just Coulson, please," he corrected, turning to Lady Sif. "Lady Sif, it is good to see you again. I'm sure you don't remember me, but I've seen you battling the Destroyer in New Mexico. It was an amazing demonstration of your abilities."

"Thor said you perished at the hand of Loki," Sif said, as direct as only an Asgardian could be. "What kind of dark magic is this?"

That went well, Coulson thought. He hurried to explain when he saw her hand twitching in the direction of her sword.

"He was right. For a while, anyway. But Loki wasn't the only one with some tricks up his sleeve."

Project TAHIT was one hell of a trick, that was true, to bring him back after being stabbed in the back by Loki's Scepter.

"In that case, it truly is something to celebrate," she said, still eyeing him carefully. "Thor will be pleased to hear it. He considers you a friend."

"I feel the same," Coulson answered immediately, "which is why I'd prefer he hear from me, if that's okay."

"As you wish, Son of Coul."

That brought a smile to Coulson's face. He turned to the third woman, the one he didn't know.

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson," he introduced himself. "Might I ask who you are?"

She stared back at him for a long minute.

"No, not really," the woman answered, finally.

He was not expecting that answer, he had to admit. Still without showing any emotion on his face, much less the surprise he felt, Coulson looked at the others.

"You can call her 'J'," Superman provided, with a smile. "It's short for Jewel!"

Super-spy or not, Coulson couldn't, for the life of him, tell if that was a joke or not.

"She is trustworthy," Natasha mentioned. "And an enhanced. She can help us."

Raising a single eyebrow, Coulson glanced at the woman again; that was interesting. What was her relation to Superman? And why exactly was Natasha protecting her identity? Compartmentalization, Coulson reminded himself; everybody knew exactly what they needed and nothing else.

"J" it was, then.

"Understood," he finally said, turning back to The Bus. "If you'll follow me, we can start looking for that hostile Asgardian."

Coulson had a feeling this mission would be something to remember.

Coulson's aircraft, called "The Bus", was impressive, Clark admitted. Of course, it wasn't in the same league as SHIELD's Helicarriers and it wasn't an alien ship, but as far as human's aircrafts went, it was pretty cool. According to Coulson and Natasha's brief, but precise description, the Bus was a specialized Boing C-17 Globemaster III, heavily modified by SHIELD so it could act as a mobile command station.

In short, it had everything they needed to track Lorelei and to reach her before she could cause too much damage.

The explanation about the aircraft capabilities ended just when they reached the room where Coulson's team was waiting for them; Clark wouldn't lie, he was a little bit bothered by the intense staring he was subjected too as soon as he entered the room.

"Team, meet Agent Romanoff, Ka-El, Lady Sif and 'J'," Coulson introduced them as briefly and as professionally as he could, stopping in the middle of the two groups. He turned to them and pointed at his team. "Allow me to introduce my new team: Melinda May, Grant Ward, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and Skye."

Ma Kent had taught Clark not to judge a book by its cover, but it wasn't hard to know which people did what on Coulson's team. Melinda May was clearly a warrior. She was a serious-looking woman, with Asian traces, who reminded him of a cross between Natasha's fierceness and Maria Hill's brutal efficiency. Grant Ward, also, was a fighter, no doubt about that; not only he had the right body type — a big guy with trained muscles and the mannerisms of a soldier —, but Clark also noticed how he assessed everyone of them as soon as they entered the room, as if searching for the better way to defeat them.

Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz, on the other hand, were most likely scientists of some kind; Jemma was actually wearing a lab coat. She was a beautiful brunette, with a gentle expression, even when she was currently staring wide eyed at them. Leo Fitz, as Jemma Simmons, also didn't seem like a front-fighter agent. For starters, he didn't have the eyes of someone accustomed to combat, nor the body of someone trained for that. And there was also the fact that, next to the likes of Melinda May and Grant Ward, he just seemed as non-threatening as someone could possibly be.

And Skye… Clark really didn't know what to think about her. She didn't look like an agent at all. She was younger than everybody on Coulson's team, pretty, with dark black hair, very pale skin and eyes that seemed to radiate emotion. Skye didn't look like a warrior, but she had the wounds of one; she didn't seem to be part of the science team either, not the way she casually stood by the "fighters group", something that Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz didn't seem that comfortable to do. A consultant perhaps? She did look like a civilian.

"He is so much bigger than I thought!" Skye whispered to Jemma, excitedly, her eyes fixed on him.

Clark didn't really know what to say about that.

"And he probably can hear you whispering," Jemma answered, also whispering, a nervous smile on her face.

"We all can," Grant Ward stated, tiredly and loudly, from a few meters away from them.

She blushed, but to Skye's credit, that didn't seem to deter her.

"I'm sorry, it's just… I'm so excited!" she said, limping forward in their direction, eyes still fixed on him. "I'm a big fan, Superman!"

Clark grabbed her hand when she extended it, not only to be polite, but to hold her before she fell down; she really shouldn't be walking around like that.

"It's good to meet you too, Skye," he answered, smiling courteously. "Are you sure you should be up?"

"She shouldn't!" Jemma piped up.

"Nonsense, I'm fine!" Skye retorted, looking at her doctor and then back at him, the smile already back in place; she was still holding his hand. "Got shot a few times, part of the job, really."

"That's terrible!" Clark exclaimed; he knew she was wounded, but he didn't pry with his x-ray vision to find out how. "I hope you are recovering well."

"If it were up to me, I would be in this mission with you guys!" That was an obvious lie, but Clark didn't confront her about it. "I mean, you've been shot before, right?"

"Well, yes, but it's really not the same. I'm bulletproof." He looked at her, kindly. "You should focus on getting better, I'm sure you'll be back in no time."

"Yeah, in no time…" she repeated, eyes fixed dreamingly on his.

She was still holding his hand.

"Skye… hand," Coulson mentioned, seemingly avoiding a sigh.

"Oh, sorry!" Skye apologized, letting go of his hand; she was blushing a lot now.

Her team seemed embarrassed and exasperated at the same time, as they avoided to look at her. Jessica was incredibly amused, he could hear her holding a laugh. Sif was confused, frowning not unlike Thor when something weird happened. And Natasha… She was staring with an unreadable face at them, not a trace of amusement on her expression.

That's right, they were wasting precious time, he remembered, assuming that was the reason of the unfriendly stare.

"I'm sorry, she is heavily medicated!" Jemma apologized, grabbing Skye by her shoulders and helping her to move to a chair, as far away from him as she could without taking her out of the room.

"Shall we begin, then?" Natasha asked, raising a single eyebrow.

Clark didn't know why, but he thought that look on her face was blaming him for something.

"Of course, follow me," Coulson said, promptly, guiding them to a set of monitors. "Based on what you've told me, I've started a preliminary search on the west side of the country. We've been searching for anything weird, from energy readings to victims."

"Did you find anything?" Sif asked, getting closer.

Coulson nodded. "We think so."

He typed something and a picture appeared; a woman, still wearing her wedding dress, showed up on the screen. By the brutal marks on her neck, she had been choked to death.

Without realizing, Clark closed his hands into fists.

Lorelei was in a tavern of some sort. It was not even a good one, not anything like they had on Asgard, and the company was not any better. The man named Rooster had spoken the truth, he had men under his command. But instead of a general of some sort, as she previously believed him to be, he was clearly an insignificant bandit.

What had she done to deserve that, Lorelei thought, looking around the dark tavern. Where were the armies she needed? These men were not fit to rob even an Asgardian child crossing a road alone! And the comforts she so longed for were nowhere to be found; the chair she was sitting on managed to be even less comfortable than the furniture she had in her cell.

She needed to find her champion, soon, because her patience was at an end.

"My Queen, I brought you something!" Rooster yelled happily, entering the tavern with a huge black bag.

A gift? That improved her mood, even it just a little bit. She followed him with her eyes as he went to her, putting the bag over the table and opening it. Lorelei's smile dimmed and she frowned.

"Paper?" she asked. "Green paper?"

Was Midgard so primitive that paper was still considered an expensive gift here?

"What? No, this is money!" Rooster explained, visibly desperate to please her. "These are dollars, they are the currency of this land!"

Lorelei sighed; then she grabbed Rooster's face, holding him hard.

"Tell me, mortal, what use does a goddess have for money?" she asked, staring at his eyes. There was absolute silence in the tavern now, as everybody watched them. "Do you think I ever lowered myself to this? That I ever exchanged coins for goods?"

She pulled him even closer, her Asgardian strength making him bend with ease.

"I was worshipped! My subjects catered to my every need. Palaces were raised from the ground in all Realms, jewels were forged in Nidavellir to be gifted to me, clothes were brought from every land to dress me and the best foods of every planet under my command always filled my tables."

Her hand closed over the green pieces of paper.

"I have no use for this!"

Saying this, she released him, not gently; Rooster fell on his back, dizzy and in pain, but that was not the reason he seemed desolated. Lorelei knew the reason for his sadness and it was simple: he had failed his goddess.

Pathetic, she thought, not sparing a shred of kindness. Getting up and passing over him, she went to the counter of the tavern, grabbing a mug of that bitter and weak drink they served there. The silence in the tavern was still heavy.

That was probably the reason why her hearing focused on the only sound there, a tiny voice coming from a weird box on the wall, passing images on its glassed surface.

"… the bank robbery was foiled by no other than Superman himself!" spoke the woman on the screen, smiling happily. "And we were able to record everything for our viewers, even the daring rescue of a mother and her child!"

As she said this, the image changed. The woman was no longer on the screen and in her place there was a the footage of some kind of pursuit, involving several of those metal vehicles Midgardians seemed to like so much. The vehicles were running through a long street of some city, filled with high towers and people, something she had yet to see with her own eyes on Midgard.

And suddenly, the vehicle being chased toppled.

Lorelei watched with wide eyes as a blue blur appeared out of nothing, placing itself between the vehicle and the two mortals. That's when she saw him for the first time, Kal-El, the champion she was searching. The Kryptonian grabbed the vehicle with ease, showing all his superior strength, saving the mortals from certain death.

"Where is that land?" she asked, urgently, pointing at the box. "Where is Kal-El?"

The stupid mortals took too long to answer, confused, and the only reason she did not kill them all right then and there was because she needed an answer.

"T-that's New York," Rooster stammered. "This happened this morning."

This very morning? It was like her first thrall, Jimmy, had said: Kal-El ruled over a city called New York. That was obviously the seat of his empire.

"So this is Kal-El's capital…" she whispered, still watching the images as they repeated themselves.

He was even more impressive than she imagined. The quality of that box's image was lacking, but even there she could see how grand he was. Tall, handsome, strong; a fit champion to serve her.

"It might as well be," Rooster spat, looking at the box with anger; no, Lorelei realized, looking at Kal-El with anger. "Since that damn alien arrived, the Dogs of Hell are being screwed day after day! The N.Y's chapter is fucked beyond repair. They are so useless with Superman flying there every damn time that they managed to lose a bar brawl and get arrested!"

Usually, Lorelei would have ignored every word that came out of this mortal's mouth, but she was interested in the subject.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Your men are trying to usurp Kal-El?"

The idea was laughable, of course, but if it was true then why were any of them still alive?

"It was our city first!" Rooster complained. "He has no right to just appear out of nowhere and call the shots! What does he care if we sell guns and drugs?"

"He has every right to do as he pleases," Lorelei corrected the mortal. "What confuses me is why you are still breathing. Why did he spare your men?"

Rooster looked at her with a baffled expression on his face. "Superman doesn't kill anybody! He sure as hell doesn't like criminals, but he just takes them to prison."

That was unusual in a King, Lorelei had to admit. Odin captured people, but he had no qualms about killing them all until they surrendered themselves.

"He just goes around stopping crime and helping people," Rooster continued, pointing at the image box, where Kal-El was again preventing the vehicle from hitting the two mortals. "Like that. He does that shit all fucking day!"

Could it be? A merciful god? A god that had the strength to rule entire Realms, just interceding to solve small grievances from mortals?

"He just… helps?" she asked, the very idea sounding strange to her.

The mortal stared stupidly at her for a moment. "Well, yeah. People just shout 'Help me, Superman!' and he comes flying to save the day." He turned to the TV again, his face gaining an enraged expression. "They say he can hear anything that happens on this fucking planet and I'm starting to think it's true."

Unlike the mortal, Lorelei was smiling now. Maybe she would not have to chase Kal-El after all. Maybe he would come to her.

"She killed a bride?" Grant Ward asked, staring at the image of the dead woman.

"No," Sif answered, her hard eyes fixed on the dead woman as well. "She most likely ordered the bride's husband to do so. That is more like her. She is no stranger to sullying her hands with blood, but she rather use her thralls to do the dirty work, especially if she can prove to herself how much she is adored by forcing them to kill those they love."

There was a moment of silence as everyone thought about her words.

"What's her M.O?" asked Melinda May, finally asked. "What should we look for?"

Clark and everybody else in the room turned to Sif, as the Asgardian considered the question.

"Lorelei is cruel," she started. "And arrogant. She believes herself to be better than anyone and her actions show it. She plans to conquer this Realm, but first she will look for champions." Sif glanced at his direction. "I am certain she wants Kal more than anything."

"What about after that?" Natasha asked, already aware of that part.

"After acquiring her strongest champion, she will use him to find others. Then she will try to enthrall one of the rulers of this Realm, so she can use his army to bring down entire nations for her. Eventually, she will conquer every other land, either by winning wars or by directly enthralling their leaders."

"So right now she is looking for followers?" Coulson asked.

"Right now, Lorelei is probably learning how this Realm changed," she corrected. "It has been 600 years since she set foot on Midgard and this Realm changed much. The dead bride was simply a victim of convenience. She needed something, someone, so she took it."

Coulson sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"We need to secure the president," he said, eventually. "If she manages to enthrall President Ellis, we'll have a war in our hands."

"Already did it," Natasha replied. "I have female agents monitoring him and his staff, as well as the leaders of other key nations. If she approaches them, we'll know."

"She can only control men?" asked Grant Ward, frowning.

"Women are highly resistant to Lorelei's powers, even if they happen to feel attracted to her," Sif answered. "Lorelei does not use lust as the conduit for her voice, she uses the instinct every being has carved in their DNA to reproduce. Since she is a woman herself, her powers are weak against other women, but very strong against any other male, despite of race or even sexual preferences."

"That's why the ground team will be composed only by women," Natasha concluded, glancing at Melinda May. "Can I count on you?"

"Of course!" Melinda May answered immediately.

"Alright, hang on," Jessica interrupted, finally saying something; Clark wasn't used to her different voice or face yet. Everybody looked at her. "This is nice and all, but we are forgetting something important: that bitch uses her voice to control people." She pointed at Clark. "Superman can hear everything. How is that gonna work?"

Every pair of eyes was on him now and he couldn't exactly blame them. That was actually something he hadn't considered as well and, as Jessica pointed out, it was a pretty big deal. Was he truly putting all of them at risk just by being there?

"Maybe he can wait deep under the ocean," Natasha mentioned, visibly torn about not having considered that as well. "The water may block the sound if he goes deep enough."

"Or in space?" Jemma Simmons suggested.

"Can you really hear everything?" Skye asked, getting up and approaching them.

"Well, not everything, but I have a pretty good hearing," Clark answered, humbly.

"What if you just blocked your ears?" she suggested, putting her fingers in her ears to demonstrate.

"That wouldn't work, believe me, I tried," he sighed.

"I bet there are things you rather not hear," Skye said, touching his shoulder to show support. "You poor man…"

It was nice of her to be worried, but it wasn't needed, especially not right now. Before he could say that, however, her hands were not at his shoulder anymore; they were wandering all over his chest, and Clark was pretty sure that it hadn't anything to do with showing support.

"Skye… hand," Coulson said again, sighing.

"Oh, sorry!"

Jemma approached and gently guided her away again; whatever drug she took for the pain, it really did a number on her.

"That will not be a problem," Sif said, before anyone could speak about Skye being weird again. "Even if Kal can hear her voice from far away, it will be only her voice. Time and distance matter in magic. While Lorelei's voice can carry her magic, it will not carry far, not by itself."

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked. "When you say 'not by itself'?"

"There are artifacts that can be used to potentialize the user's magic," Sif explained. "Some kinds of magic are too strong to be sustained only by the caster's own body, so they require outside help. Relics, rituals, anything that can sustain the magic when the caster's own strength is not enough. Lorelei has none of that, at least not here and now."

"Wait a minute, all this talk about magic is getting weird," Leo Fitz interrupted. "Magic is just science we don't understand yet! Not all this hocus pocus!"

All eyes turned to him; he was visibly intimidated.

"Do not allow your Midgardian's sensibilities blind you to the real problem," Sif warned. "Lorelei is quite capable of doing everything I said, no matter what your beliefs. Call it 'magic' or a branch of unknown science, I care not, but do not disregard my warnings."

Leo Fitz shrunk under Sif's stare.

"We won't, Lady Sif," Coulson said, promptly. He glanced at his team member with a severe look, then continued. "Then we don't have to worry about Superman listening to Lorelei from up here?"

"Without any artifact to empower her magic, we do not."

"Well, that's something," Jessica whispered, relieved.

It was a feeling they all shared, Clark most of all.

"So how do we stop her?" Natasha asked; she looked at Sif. "You want her alive, don't you? How exactly can we capture her if she has a power like that?"

"With this," Sif answered immediately, grabbing something from her belt and putting it over the table. It looked like a metallic choker, Clark considered, as all of them watched the small object. "It prevents her from speaking and using any other power. She wore one for centuries while locked in prison. All we have to do is find her and put this around her neck."

It sounded so easy when she put it like that.

"Can't Superman just blitz her?" Agent Ward asked, turning his eyes from the magical choker to Clark. "I mean, we all know how fast and powerful you are."

The words were used as a compliment, but Clark didn't really hear a compliment on Ward's voice; he heard a challenge.

But it wasn't a bad idea. If he could end this fast, it would be better for everyone, wouldn't it?

"Absolutely not!" Sif thundered, immediately, when she saw the expression on his face.

"You don't think I can do it?" he asked. He wasn't offended, it was a legitimate question.

"I do not know! And I am certainly not willing to risk it, not while we have other choices!"

"She might be killing people right now, Sif! Every second we stay here, is a second she has to wreak havoc!"

"Do not speak to me as if I do not know that!" she countered, furious. "I, better than anyone, know what Lorelei is capable of!" She stopped for a second, breathing deeply to calm herself. "Kal, we will not risk this. Maybe you are fast enough to stop her, but what if you are not? Could you stop her before she utters a single word? Are you willing to harm and possibly kill any thrall that puts himself between you and her? Do not forget that she is an Asgardian, Kal, and you know better than most how fast we are. Do not underestimate Lorelei. Those who do, do not last long."

There was a very long silence after Sif said that. Clark didn't like it, but he understood her point. It was too risky and the consequences if he failed were too vast to even contemplate. Doing nothing, however, was almost physically painful to Clark, especially when his friends would be in danger.

Coughing lightly to draw their attention, Coulson brought up a map on the screen.

"It's mostly smalls towns around the location where we found the dead woman, Nicole Mackenzie," he said, moving past Clark and Sif's little disagreement. "I've issued a warning for their car, but nothing came up yet."

"Let's start looking for unusual activity within a few-hundred-mile radius from that area," Natasha said. "Burglary, theft, assault, murder... This is a woman used to rule empires, I doubt she knows how to be discreet."

Jessica had a headache that she could only compare to the pain of being hammered directly on skull. She looked around the airplane, rubbing her temples, ignoring everybody walking up and down the aircraft as they flew to the general area where their target was.

She didn't like this at all. Being there, in the middle of all those government agents, made her skin crawl. Now, she didn't have anything against them, other than the fact that they were nosy, but she just didn't mix with that sort of people. But more than that, she was participating in a mission with them, a mission meant to stop an alien bitch that controlled people with her voice.

As if they already didn't have enough assholes like this on Earth already.

It was a sick irony that she, of all people, would be there to help against such a threat, but life was nothing if not an ironic bitch, she supposed.

"Are you feeling alright?" Clark asked, in a low voice.

She didn't hear him approaching, but his voice was so low that she wasn't startled. Instead of answering immediately, she just kept her eyes closed while she massaged her temples; he sat by her side, on the floor of the empty room.

"I'm just… Stressed, that's all," she finally answered.

It wasn't a lie, she was very stressed. This new foe brought memories that she wanted to forget and the fact that she was here for her friend — her only friend — made all that worse.

"Why are you here, Jessica?" Clark asked; the fact that he so casually said her name told her that the cameras and everything else capable of recording them were turned off.

Her eyes opened as he said that; she looked at him. "Do you want me to leave?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he said. "It's just, this is not your usual method of handling things. I honestly thought I would never see the day when you worked with the likes of SHIELD." He stopped for a moment. "You seem worried."

She didn't answer for a long time.

"I've been thinking about something," she finally said. Clark leaned forward in anticipation. "Something that Sif said."

"What?" Clark asked when she took too long to continue.

"She said: 'Even if Kal was not attracted by women — and I know for a fact that he is — Lorelei could use that biological weakness against him.'" He kept looking at her, expecting her to go on. Jessica stared at him. "What exactly does she mean with 'I know for a fact that he is'?"

Whatever Clark was expecting her to say, by the shocked expression on his face, it wasn't that. He just kept staring at her, eyes wide; then he saw her lips trembling slightly as she tried to stop her smile.

"You are deflecting," he stated, pointing accusingly at her, absolutely sure.

"Yep!" she admitted, not wasting any time with denials.

"Fair enough," he said, nodding, and she was certain he would've stopped there; surprising her, however, he continued: "We slept together while I was on Asgard. We were drunk, we had a lot of fun, but we decided to continue only as friends."

Okay… She was not expecting that much information. Jessica didn't ask this question to hear an answer, she asked to make him uncomfortable and shut him up! What was this new-found confidence Clark had? Unless…

"You are hiding your embarrassment to move on with the conversation!" she accused.

"Yep!" he agreed, also not wasting any time denying the obvious.

Well played, Jessica admitted, well played. Breathing deeply to steel her nerves, she looked down and said:

"I'm worried for of you."

Clark was apparently shocked that his strategy had worked, because he wasn't expecting her confession.

"Well, you are worrying too much!" he countered. He stared at her for a long minute. "It's going to be fine."

This time she remained in silence.

Instead of insisting, Clark just nodded. They kept the silence for a long time.

"You don't have to tell me what's bothering you," Clark finally said. He touched her shoulder as he got up. "But I'm here if you want to."

Without looking at him, Jessica nodded. And with a brief squeeze on her shoulder, he left her alone with her own worries.

"So, how is your second life treating you, Coulson?" Natasha asked, sitting by his side in the control room.

Both of them watched the computer screen for a moment, seeing SHIELD's tools analyzing the patterns they hoped it would lead them to their target. Everybody else was preparing for the mission or using their skills to help with what they could while the airplane didn't reach its destination.

Coulson turned to her after a few seconds, smiling.

"I can't complain," he said. He stopped to think for a second. "Actually, that's not true, I have lots of reasons to complain, it's been very busy. But I wouldn't have it any other way, I suppose."

"I understand," Natasha said and she meant it. Their lives were filled with danger and responsibility, but she couldn't imagine herself doing something else. "What about your new team?"

His smile widened. "I like them, Natasha, I really do. And we are doing good work here."

"Ouch!" Natasha joked.

"No, don't be like that, you know that's not what I meant. I liked helping you guys, but here I can do more."

"Saving the world wasn't enough?" she teased.

"Oh, that was all you guys. I just helped a little bit," he answered, humbly.

"You helped a lot," Natasha corrected him. "You were the one who brought us together."

"Glad to know my death wasn't wasted!" he joked. "It's a pity my Captain America's cards were ruined, though. I'll never forgive Loki for that."

"I'll get Steve to sign you some new ones, when you decide to stop faking your death."

"Not up to me, you'll have to talk to Fury about that," he evaded.

Coulson's "death" was still a mystery. Natasha was embarrassed to admit that she hadn't found out about his return until he was back on duty, but even that much had costed her a lot of favors. Fury, for some reason, wanted to keep Coulson's return from the realm of the dead a secret and he was the best at what they did.

The reason for that, however, was still unclear. Maybe it had to do with the method they used to save his life, because there was a reason even she believed he was dead: Loki had been brutal when he wounded Coulson. There was no way a normal treatment would've worked. Whatever Fury used was clearly a game-changer in the medical field and secrecy was advised when dealing with such things.

Regardless, she wouldn't pry. It was enough to know that Coulson was alive. He was a good friend and she didn't have many.

"What about the rest of the guys?" Coulson asked, after her moment of introspection. "How are they doing?"

She thought about it for a second. "Busy, really. You heard of that whole situation we had in London with the Dark Elves?"

"Heard about it?" Coulson repeated, fake-outraged. "I was the one that cleaned everything up!"

Obviously, she knew about that, but it was fun to tease him.

"You made your choice, Coulson," she said. "You either save the world or you clean up after those who just did."

"I'll remember that, Natasha, you'll see," he joked. "Prepare your broom, you're going to need it when my team saves the world."

"It's on," she accepted the challenge. Natasha stopped for a second, thinking. "Despite our busy lives as heroes, things are mostly good. Steve is adapting. He started to deal with his situation better."

"When you say 'deal with his situation' you mean his private life or is this work related?"

"Both, actually. Professionally Steve never really had a problem, to be honest, he can absorb knowledge like a sponge. His private life, however, was non-existent."

"I remember."

"Then you'll be glad to know that he is making an effort," she said, grinning. "He, Thor and Superman actually went out for drinks."

Coulson raised both eyebrows. "You are kidding me."

"No, they really did," she confirmed, still finding the whole thing amusing. "They drank some beers, played pool, got in a fight… Got arrested."

The surprised expression on Coulson's face was unforgettable.

"I can't believe this… Things really have changed after I left. Not sure if for the better, if Captain America is getting arrested now."

"Oh, give it a rest, they fought a bunch of bikers. They had it coming." She stopped for a second, thinking. "Stark is the same insufferable man you remember. Well, maybe a little less now. Seeing Superman helping people actually inspired him to try to do the same. I don't know if it will last or if it's all just a silly competition for him, but he is doing a lot of good things now."

"That's good to know. I always thought he had potential," Coulson affirmed.

"You threatened to tase him once and watch Supernanny as he drooled into the carpet," she deadpanned.

"I'm sure I wasn't the only one."

That was probably true.

"Clint is doing just fine," she continued. "He found out about you not long after I did. I was very proud of him."

"It's good to know you take so much joy in destroying my work," he said, in that serene way he usually spoke.

"Professional pride is a powerful motivator, Coulson, you know that. It inspires us to do our best."

"I'm sure it does."

"Bruce is doing alright as well," Natasha went on. "Very calm and non-violent, if you can believe it, which means a lot, considering he is living with Stark."

"It's a wonder we haven't seen more of the Hulk in the streets of New York then."

"It's a wonder Stark is still alive," Natasha corrected him. "But I think Pepper keeps them in line for the most part."

Coulson smiled. "I always liked Pepper. How is she doing?"

"Still with Stark, if you can believe it. I'm suspecting Stockholm Syndrome or early signs of dementia for having to put up with Stark for so long, but it could be love."

"Poor woman, there is no cure for that."

"So I've heard," Natasha agreed. She looked at him. "What about your team? Just as unbalanced?"

That made him chuckle. "Well, we don't have Stark, so I'll have to say 'no', but almost there. Melinda May, like Pepper, keeps them in line for the most part."

Melinda May, AKA "The Cavalry"; she had heard of her. Good agent, trustworthy and an old friend of Coulson if rumors were to be believed. She was happy for him.

"Grant Ward is one of the best agents we have," Coulson continued. "Not as experienced as Melinda, but just as good. Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz are also impressive, it's hard to find bright minds like these."

"What about your young protégé? The one with the 'wandering hands'," Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, Skye…" Coulson sighed. "I'll make an agent of her yet, but she does not make things easy for me sometimes. I blame her age for that. The young are too impressionable."

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Still, I have high hopes for her," Coulson admitted, seriously now. "She is good, Natasha. One of the best hackers I have ever seen… And she is a brave one. Sometimes too brave."

"The gunshot wounds?"

"Yes. Too eager to accomplish the mission," he said, simply, but Natasha could see that Coulson had been worried sick for her.

It wasn't unusual to see someone taking an apprentice in their line of business, but Natasha didn't think Coulson ever would. Still, she was glad he had found someone to teach; he had a lot of experience to pass on.

"You always had an eye for talent, Coulson," Natasha said. "I'm sure she'll do just fine."

They remained in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, just watching the computer do its work. Then Coulson turned to her.

"What about Superman?" he asked. "How is he like?"

It wasn't surprising that Coulson was curious, most people were. Clark caused quite the ruckus when he decided to start flying around, helping people.

"He is a good man, Coulson," Natasha finally answered. "A truly good one."

Coulson stared at her for a while. "He must be, if he has you vouching for him."

Natasha didn't disagree. She was a cynic, she wouldn't deny it, and she tended to see the world through those lenses. So finding someone who truly desired to just do good was as unlikely as it was surprising; many claimed that, but there was always something else motivating them. That didn't seem to be the case with Clark, just as it wasn't with Steve.

No wonder Steve opened up when Clark and him spent time together.

Which was why the current situation was so grating. Natasha knew what Loki's mind-control had costed Clint. Being unmade… It was a feeling she knew too well and not something she wished on anyone. Clint had been forced to kill people who worked with him, people who didn't deserve to be killed, so he could help a crazy god to conquer the world. He was an agent, used to employing deadly force when needed, and that experience almost broke him.

Natasha couldn't even imagine what would happen with Clark if he was put in that situation.

Clark wasn't a killer, like they were. He couldn't bear to hurt an innocent and he took no pleasure when he was forced to hurt the guilty, even if he always took the utmost care to not go overboard. He used his gifts to help and that was all he did.

What would happen if this Lorelei took control of his mind? Could he even come back from something like that?

The consequences for the rest of the world would be dire as well. Clark was incredibly powerful. Probably the most powerful being on Earth right now, together with Thor and the Hulk. The amount of destruction he could cause if he was forced to… Well, Zod gave them a little sample of what would happen.

She wouldn't let that happen. Clark didn't deserve that.

"We'll stop Lorelei," Coulson said, interrupting her musings. He looked at her seriously. "She won't do what Loki did."

Natasha sighed. "I hope you're right, Coulson."

"I'm always right."

She smiled. "Yes, I had forgotten about that."

Suddenly, the door to the control room opened.

"Hey, Coulson, I think I found something!" Skye's voice came into the room before her. "I think… Oh! Sorry!"

His friend's protégé was holding a notebook and limping towards them, only to stop when she realized Coulson wasn't alone. Natasha evaluated her freely for the first time, not caring if it was clear as day what she was doing; the girl, Skye, was clearly uncomfortable, but she didn't flinch.

Coulson wasn't wrong, she was brave. Maybe she would become a good agent after all.

"I can come back another t–"

"No, come in," Natasha interrupted. "I need to prepare myself for the mission anyway." She looked at Coulson and touched his shoulder. "It really is good to see you alive, Coulson."

He smiled as she turned and walked out of the room, allowing him to properly mentor his student.

Grant Ward had a bad feeling about this mission. It wasn't a run-of-the-mill task to go after an Asgardian, especially one that could control people with a word, but it went deeper than that. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't actually take part in the mission, not against someone who could enslave men. Maybe it were the visitors in the Bus, something he didn't particularly like.

Maybe it was the fact that Superman, one of the strongest beings on the planet – if not the strongest – could eventually turn on them if they failed.

There was something about the fact that he knew he couldn't fight Superman, and win, that unsettled him. Something about standing by the side of such a powerful entity that made him feel small; Grant didn't like that. It reminded him too much about his past.

The fact that Skye seemed smitten with him didn't make things better.

So he went to do what he always did when he was nervous: check the armory for big guns. It made him feel better when he held a powerful weapon in his hands, even if he wasn't going to use it. Except that his peaceful moment was ruined when he realized that he wouldn't be alone there.

"Ward, you got here just in time to see my new beauties!" Leo Fitz greeted, opening his arms to show a vast collection of guns over the table in front of him.

He sighed. Not only Fitz was there, but Simmons, Melinda, the Black Widow and the cause for his grumpiness, Superman.

Regardless, he was still impressed by guns.

"These are all Night-Night Guns?" he asked.

"Night-Night Guns?" Superman asked; Grant forced himself to be polite.

"Tranquilizer weapons," he explained, "but highly effective ones. Nothing like those things that shoot darts."

The Kryptonian grabbed one of them, looking at it with an amazed face. "Why are these things not mass produced?"

They all looked at the creator of the guns, Leo Fitz.

"It's expensive," he answered, a little nervous. "And hard to make."

"Well, let's talk about this when this is over," Superman said, putting the gun back, "we'll see if there is anything in my alien ship that can lower the cost of production."

Fitz seemed honestly amazed when Superman said that; wonderful, one more person on his team smitten with the alien.

"I will!" Fitz exclaimed. Then, after a second, he remembered that there were other people in the room; he coughed, embarrassed. "To answer your question, Ward, no, this aren't Night-Night Guns. They are based on the same technology, but we are not calling them that anymore–"

"About time," he mumbled.

"–They are called ICERs!" he concluded, too happy with the new name for his tastes. "'Incapacitating cartridge emitting railguns!"

"Oh, great…"

"They are three times stronger than the Night-Night Guns," he explained, not even noticing Grant's mood. "They will put anyone to sleep, safe and sound, almost immediately. Quite useful when we are about to deal with people being mind-controlled."

He had a point there. Shooting innocent civilians wouldn't endear the world to SHIELD, that was certain. He reached for one of the guns, only to be beaten by Melinda when she grabbed it faster.

"Only girls today, Ward," she said, her expression completely serious, but her voice playful.

Oh, yes, he almost forgot about that; it was no wonder this day felt horrible.

Natasha grabbed one of the ICER pistols, testing its weight. She wished she had one of those when Loki attacked; "recalibrating" Clint's mind would've been easier, and gentler, if all it took was shooting him, instead of having to bash his head against a metal bar.

At least they had them now, she thought, glad that they wouldn't have to kill mind-controlled people.

"We have something else too. And this is for the boys," Simmons said, putting a few cases over the table. She opened them, showing a small circular device. "This is a 'Sonic Blocker', it's made to protect field agents against sonic and ultrasonic attacks. Fitz and I tweaked them a bit, so they completely block all sound."

"So we would be deaf?" Agent Ward asked, grabbing one of them.

"Essentially, yes," Simmons answered. "Think of it as a last-line of defense. If it all goes wrong, this should at least protect you from Lorelei's voice."

"We couldn't do anything about her touch," Fitz said, "but I suppose that if she gets close enough to touch you, you'd already be dead."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Ward deadpanned.

A feeling Natasha shared, but unfortunately, she had a pretty good idea how strong Asgardians were; Fitz was right. If she got that close, they would already be dead.

"Unfortunately, it probably won't work for you, Superman," Simmons said, looking at Clark with an apologetic expression. "It works for humans, but–"

"Not for super-powered aliens," Fitz completed.

"Thanks for trying," Clark said, making Simmons blush when he smiled at her.

She almost rolled her eyes. At least Coulson's protégé wasn't there to make things even worse, still talking with him about some clue she'd found using her hacker expertise. The incredible thing about all this was that Clark probably didn't even realize what he was doing to those girls. Natasha at least knew when she was using her charms, but he didn't seem to notice.

Natasha grabbed two ICER pistols and a rifle, seeing Agent May doing the same. It was good that she was here, her skills would be helpful; "The Cavalry" was famous inside SHIELD. Melinda May was a force to be reckoned with and right now they needed every help they could find.

The moment she thought that, Sif entered the room, followed closely by Jessica Jones.

Lady Sif was already old news to SHIELD's files, being one of the first aliens they catalogued. Natasha knew mostly about what she could do from reading the information and listening to Thor and Clark.

Jessica Jones, however, was an enigma.

She knew who she was, of course, she had personally researched everyone living in Clark's building; Clark was bulletproof, but friends took care of each other. Jessica was a neighbor who quickly grew to a be a friend. An orphan, only survivor of the car accident that claimed her family's lives, later adopted by Dorothy Walker so she could use this to advance her daughter's career as a TV Star. A normal, if sad life.

Or at least that was what she thought, before Clark revealed earlier that day that she was an enhanced.

For SHIELD, that would change everything. No matter who she was, Jessica Jones would be added to the Index, the list SHIELD kept about enhanced individuals and powerful objects. Depending on her powers, she would never be approached; but she would be watched forever.

For Natasha, however, it changed nothing and that was surprising for her.

Once upon a time, her will and SHIELD's weren't that different. And for the most part that was still true. She still believed they were the good guys, otherwise she wouldn't be working for them, but as Clark pointed out once, SHIELD was composed by a lot of people and some of those people weren't very nice.

She didn't trust the whole of SHIELD, but she did trust her friends, Clark being one of them. And for him, she was willing to disobey an order here or there.

Natasha could only hope Jessica Jones proved to be deserving of Clark's friendship; she had to admit that being there, willing to fight an Asgardian sorceress, was a good indicative that she was, but time would tell.

"Gun?" Natasha offered Jessica, giving her an ICER pistol.

Clark's neighbor raised both her hands as she refused it.

"Don't even know how to use that," she admitted.

"How exactly are you going in this mission, then?" Agent Ward asked, frowning.

Raising a single eyebrow, Jessica Jones slowly grabbed the ICER rifle from Ward's hands; and in front of their eyes, she twisted it not unlike a pretzel, the metal bending under her fingers like butter. Then, still staring at Ward, she just dropped the ruined gun on the floor.

"Like this," she answered simply, walking to Clark's side, leaving everyone gazing in shock at her and the weapon.

"That was… very expensive," Fitz mentioned after a while, looking dejected at the destroyed weapon.

Everybody else was just looking at Jessica, no doubt wondering about her abilities. They had been informed she was an enhanced, but seeing was a different thing.

Before the scientist could complain again or Ward could lose the shocked expression on his face, Natasha decided to bring the conversation back to the mission at hand.

"What can we expect when dealing with Lorelei?" Natasha asked, suddenly, turning to Sif. "Other than the normal Asgardian superior physiology and the mind-controlling magic, I mean."

"Spells," Lady Sif answered immediately; she could hear the scientists whine. "Fire, frost, electricity, conjuration… She can produce all those at will. Lorelei is also a very skilled combatant, even if she so often chooses to ignore that ability. She killed many with a sword and her bare hands."

"The ICERs probably won't work on her," admitted Fitz. "Asgardian physiology is largely unknown to me."

"Let me deal with her," Sif stated. "As long as you keep her thralls occupied, I can do it."

It was a sound plan, Natasha thought, but what would they do if Sif was somehow incapacitated?

By the look on Natasha's face, Clark could tell she had the same worry he did: if Sif failed, who else could face Lorelei? He knew there was no easy answer to that question. Asgardians were worshipped as gods in the past for a reason, after all. Maybe she wouldn't be as powerful as Thor or as deadly as Loki, but if Sif considered her that much of a threat, then he knew Lorelei was someone to be feared.

It was made very clear to him that he couldn't be there; but he could, at the very least, give them a hand.

"Kelex, are you close?" he asked, speaking close to the bracelet-form of his Kryptonian robot.

"ETA: ten seconds."

He looked up, ignoring for the moment the questioning looks.

"Could someone open the cargo hold doors?" he asked, already moving closer to them. "I have a package arriving."

The looks grew even more confused, but Leo Fitz nodded and walked to a panel, pressing a button. The doors of the armory, leading to the cargo hold, closed, to avoid losing pressure inside it; Clark, of course, wasn't worried about himself, so he just walked out to the cargo hold.

Slowly, the doors of the cargo hold began to open, the wind howling. Ignoring it, he walked past Coulson's red car – called "Lola" for some reason – that was stored in the airplane and waited by the opened doors. He smiled when he saw the Kryptonian escape pod flying in the airplane's direction, easily much faster than the Bus.

Kelex remotely flew the escape pod inside the Bus and, very carefully, it landed. Clark gave Leo a thumbs-up, telling him that it was okay to close the doors again.

"What is this?!" Leo asked, excitedly, eyeing the Kryptonian escape pod as if it was a Christmas present.

"Is this alien?" Jemma Simmons asked, then she blushed. "Of course it is, forget I asked anything!"

"What the hell is this?" Ward asked, eyeing the escape pod carefully. "Some kind of ship?"

"A Kryptonian escape pod," Natasha answered for him, no doubt remembering the time she escaped Black Zero in one of those by the scowl on her face.

"Why did you bring this here?" Jessica asked, knocking on the round escape pod's surface for some reason. "Is this plane about to fall?"

"Nope, well, I don't think so at least," he answered, opening the escape pod. "I asked Kelex to bring this here to help us. Or, more accurately speaking, to help you three. I have some stuff here that you'll want to borrow."

Natasha, Jessica and Melinda May raised their eyebrows in a synchronized fashion when he pointed at them. Deciding that showing them was better than telling, he turned the escape pod to allow them to see what was inside.

Clark knew facing Lorelei was dangerous and, since he couldn't be there, his Kryptonian technology would have to do. So he asked Kelex to grab a few useful things, things that would help Jessica, Natasha and now Melinda May to survive.

"This is a Kryptonian rifle," Clark said, grabbing the alien gun with a certain uneasiness. "I don't like guns, but you'll need something stronger if you are going to face an Asgardian. This thing here will hurt her, believe me."

He knew that for a fact, having been shot by a Kryptonian ship right in the chest before; the ship's weapons were undoubtably more powerful, but by the tests he made after he got his ship back, this rifle packed a punch.

Surprising no one, Natasha promptly grabbed the rifle from his hands.

"I've been shot at by these before, when I was escaping from Black Zero," she said, casually, handling the weapon with ease. "They are quite powerful."

"They are," Clark agreed. "So be careful. You can lower its power here, if you want, but I wouldn't shoot a human even in 'stun mode'. Even under a red sun, Kryptonians are sturdier than humans."

"The pistol works like the rifle?" Melinda May asked, grabbing one and studying it.

"Weaker, but faster rate of fire," Natasha answered immediately, also taking one.

Clark was a little bit worried by their enthusiasm. Sif, of course, didn't help.

"That is a sharp knife!" she exclaimed, taking a black knife from inside the escape pod. "May I have it?"

He nodded, seeing the Asgardian smiling happily as she put the knife in her belt; what use she would have for it, Clark didn't know, considering she had a bunch of other blades hanging from her waist.

"How fast can this escape pod fly?!" Leo Fitz asked, as he kneeled to take a better look at the propulsors. "It easily caught up with the Bus!"

"What kind of fuel does it use?" Jemma Simmons questioned, also looking marveled at the pod.

"Maybe you two should wait over there," Ward suggested, not so gently pulling Fitz to his feet and guiding him and Jemma to the armory. "Now is not the time for that."

Clark was a bit relieved when they obeyed him and stopped asking questions. Shaking his head slightly, he turned to the pod and took three circular cases, of the size of a fist, with the symbol of the House of El on their surfaces.

"These over here are going to be especially useful," he said, handing them to the three humans. They took them, looking curiously.

"What the hell is this?" Jessica asked, eyeing the small case.

"Touch the 'S'," Clark said.

Hesitating for a second, Jessica did it. Immediately, the entire case dissolved, enveloping her hands like liquid metal. Clark could see panic in her eyes for a second, but as he touched her shoulder with a reassuring smile, Jessica stopped fighting; she looked extremely uncomfortable, however. Natasha and Melinda May were watching the whole thing, tense, their muscles ready to propel them into action; their hands were twitching over their guns. Ward, Jemma and Leo were watching from a few feet away, eyes wide.

"Holy shit, it's going everywhere!" Jessica exclaimed, looking desperately at Clark. "What the fuck is this?!"

"Calm down, it's not going to hurt you and it will take only a second," Clark said.

And as he promised, a second later it was over. Jessica was frozen in place, eyes darting everywhere; she didn't dare to move. Without saying a word, Clark walked to her and grabbed her shirt; and without saying anything, knowing very well he would get slapped if he did, he ripped it off.

Jessica yelped like a little girl for a second – something he would never let her forget – before looking down; instead of seeing her own naked skin, Jessica's eyes widened at the sight of the same blue suit Clark was wearing.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" she turned to him. "Is this a Superman suit?!"

"It's actually called a skinsuit," Clark corrected her. "The 'S' on the chest is because this one belongs to the House of El, my House."

She looked down again, touching the tight skinsuit lightly.

"This is incredible!" Leo Fitz exclaimed, walking right back to where they were. "How does this work?!"

"It's made from something called Liquid Geo," Clark answered. "Almost every piece of Kryptonian technology is–"

"Is this how you get dressed?" Jessica interrupted, looking at him again. "I always wondered how you managed to fit into this tight thing so quickly! I thought you walked around with this shit under your normal clothes, because there was no way you could get dressed so fast."

He chuckled. "How did you think I got dressed? In a phone booth? This isn't the nineties. Kelex keep my suit stored for me and I can get dressed in a second when I need to." Clark could see her blushing even behind the Nano Mask. He turned to Natasha and Agent May, seeing them still holding the cases in their hands. "It's your choice to put this on or not, of course, but I advise you to wear it. These skinsuits are completely bulletproof, resistant to very high and very low temperatures, capable of enduring extreme G-Force, energy resistant and 'knife-proof'. They can even mend themselves if damaged. And I also brought the helmets."

Clark grabbed what seemed to be a metallic choker from the pod and walked to Jessica, who was still busy admiring herself, putting it around her neck; immediately, as if following his orders, the Liquid Geo formed the edges of a helmet, closing over her head with the transparent membrane that could, if Jessica wanted to, be darkened.

"There you go," he whispered. "Now you don't have to worry about being shot in the head." Clark stopped for a second. "Actually, since you are stronger than normal, you probably won't have to worry about getting shot anywhere by a normal gun, but you two," he added, turning to Natasha and Agent May, "should avoid the bullets. They won't pierce the suit, but you'll feel the impact. Might get hurt otherwise."

Natasha glanced at him for a moment, then touched the 'S' of her case; she closed her eyes for a moment, no doubt reacting to the slight cold of the Liquid Geo as it slid over her body; Clark fought a blush when that image played on his mind, something that didn't even occur to him when he gave the skinsuit to Jessica.

Suddenly, Natasha opened her eyes. And without warning, she zipped down her own black suit, revealing the blue skinsuit under it; Clark was absolutely sure he wasn't the only one staring at Natasha when she did that.

"It feels comfortable, but a bit tight," she mentioned, looking at her reflection on the glass. She turned to Clark. "How do I look?"

Clark actually took a few seconds to realize Natasha had talked to him, his mind frozen by the view; the image of her wearing that skinsuit was something he would never forget.

"Perfect! I-I mean, the skinsuit looks good, safe I mean!" he stammered, hoping that he didn't sound like the idiot he thought he did.

The slight smile on her lips told him that he probably looked exactly like that idiot.

"This was well thought, Kal!" Sif said, watching Melinda May shiver as she put the skinsuit on. "Lorelei and her thralls are dangerous, this should give them more protection."

"Don't you need one?" Ward asked.

Sif scoffed. "I have my armor and my skin. No Midgardian weapon can hurt me." She looked at Clark. "Kal also do not need it. Resistant clothing does not mean the same to us as it does to you mortals."

"What does it mean to you?" Jemma Simmons couldn't help but ask.

"It means they won't end up torn to shreds in the middle of a fight," Clark admitted. "The first time I tried to fly without this suit, well… Let's just say I learned pretty quickly how fast I could fly while wearing normal clothes."

"I would've killed to see that," he heard a small whisper from the stairs coming to the cargo hold.

There was a brief silence, then Ward sighed: "You are not really whispering, Skye, we can all hear you."

Her steps, and probably Coulson's, stopped for a moment; he could hear Coulson also sighing, tiredly. Then they got all the way down.

"We have something," Coulson said, looking proudly at Skye. "Skye was able to identify a pattern leading to a small biker bar called Rosie's Desert Oasis. It's a well-known meeting point between members of the Nevada chapter of the Dogs of Hell."

Clark groaned. These guys again?! Wasn't it enough to meet them in New York?

"That means armed resistance," Coulson continued. "If Lorelei enthralled the Dogs of Hell, they will fight to the death for her and they have experience to do that. Our goal is to neutralize them and stop Lorelei. Is everyone ready?"

Natasha, Jessica, Sif and Melinda May stepped forward.

"Then let's finish this!"

Jessica took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, as the black SUV they got arrived at the small town. It wasn't the imminent fight that was making her nervous, she was never really afraid of violence, but the possibility of failure. Things simply couldn't go wrong. This alien bitch needed to be captured and sent back to whatever hell she escaped from, far away from Earth and Clark.

She knew all to well what these kinds of psychopaths could do when left unchallenged.

The three humans were wearing their normal outfits, over the Kryptonian skinsuit Clark lent them. Except for her, of course, since Clark had ripped her shirt off just for the laughs; he would pay for that one. The alien weapons he let Black Widow and Melinda May borrow were holstered, as were the tranquilizer ones; her Thanagarian mace was retracted, dangling from her waist.

And Lady Sif of Asgard was fully clad in her plate armor, her hand already closed around her sword. Quite the weird view when she was still sitting inside the car, wearing a seatbelt.

They were ready for whatever that bitch could throw at them, Jessica was certain of it; Clark had even lent her Kelex, now in its bracelet form around her left wrist. She had no idea what use the little robot would have in a fight, but Clark didn't exactly asked her if she wanted it or not, he just ordered Kelex to go to her and help.

Being forced to stay back and watch was obviously not suiting Clark that well.

Melinda May stopped the SUV right at the entrance of the city; the four of them opened the doors and got out at the same time, looking around. What a shitty place, Jessica thought, seeing nothing but dry landscape and dust. The bar they were looking for, Rosie's Desert Oasis, was visible from where they were standing, the bikes parked in front of it; she wouldn't lie, Jessica was looking forward to punching these Dogs of Hell assholes again.

The town, if it even could be called that, was tiny. There was the bar, a single street with buildings on both sides and tiny houses built around the place, further away. Why would anyone choose to live there, Jessica didn't know, but she supposed that place was more of an outpost for illegal activities than a proper town.

There was just one problem: the whole place was empty.

The four of them were looking around, tense, searching for the Asgardian or her thralls, but there was nothing to see. Had she already left? Wasn't SHIELD monitoring the surrounding area with satellites? There was no way she could leave that place without them knowing, Lorelei had to be there.

"Deploying drones," Natasha said, pressing a few buttons on the device around her wrist.

As soon as she said that, the drones stuck on the ceiling of the SUV took off, flying high, in all directions of the town. Natasha and Melinda followed their progress through the screens of their devices, no doubt mapping the place and looking for hostiles.

"No sign of them," whispered Melinda May, frowning. "Not one person."

"Then she is certainly here," Sif announced, grabbing something from her belt.

Without explaining anything, she pressed a button and the metal cylinder in her hands grew, taking the form of what seemed to be a big spear; then she pierced the ground with it, her Asgardian strength forcing the dry soil to be impaled by the spear. A soft hum started to sound.

"Anti-portals ward," Sif said, as if that explained anything. "It will last for at least ten minutes and it should cover this entire area. She will not be able to flee through a portal while this is active."

Saying this, apparently without caring about their still confused faces, she started to walk towards the bar.

Natasha and Melinda May seemed alarmed for the breach of protocol for a second, but they probably knew there was no sense in arguing with Sif, because they simply grabbed their ICER rifles and followed her; Jessica, breathing deeply once again inside her ridiculous helmet, hurried to catch up.

"SHOW YOURSELF, LORELEI!" Sif screamed, opening her arms like a gladiator walking in the arena.

It was as crazy as it was badass and Jessica's respect for her grew at that moment; she would've even laughed, if bullets didn't start to hit them out of nowhere.

"They are barricaded in the buildings!" Natasha yelled, jumping behind a parked car for cover; Melinda May did the same, both of them returning fire.

Snarling in rage, Jessica also looked for cover, her instincts making her protect herself even when wearing alien body-armor. Sif, however, simply stood there, ignoring the bullets that hit her armor as if they were nothing more than raindrops; she didn't even flinch when one of them hit her forehead, falling pathetically on the ground as if it had hit a bullet-proof steel wall.

Which, considering the strength the Asgardians had, probably wasn't that bad of a comparison.

"Always using others to do her dirty-work!" Sif spat. "If you are not coming out, I will force you out!"

Saying this, Sif dashed forward. She moved so fast that to Jessica's eyes she became a blur; then she clashed against the wall of the bar. The wooden wall was simply no match to the armored Asgardian, breaking around her as easily as someone could break an egg. There were screams and gunshots and then a biker was sent flying, passing through the ceiling and falling over a car.

That snapped Jessica into motion.

Leaving Natasha and Melinda May shooting people behind, Jessica dashed forward as well, but not towards the bar; towards the groups of bikers shooting at them from the roof of one of the buildings. Yelling, ignoring the painful hits as the bullets hit her protected body, Jessica jumped, easily getting all the way up; the men seemed surprised for a moment, but they didn't exactly had the chance to do anything, as Jessica started to punch everything in sight, her superior strength sending them unconscious with one hit each.

Who said violence didn't solve things?

"Did you know she could do that?" Melinda May asked, aiming at a biker on the window; she dropped him with a single bullet to the chest.

"You mean Sif or 'J'?" Natasha asked, unbothered as the bullets flew over her head, hitting a man on the roof of a building on her left.

The sounds coming from inside the bar were frightening as Sif probably beat everyone in sight and Jessica Jones seemed to get a taste for it as well, jumping from roof to roof to defeat the bikers trying to snipe them. It was actually easy for her and Agent May to pick their targets when they were being forced out of their covers so efficiently.

"The human… Never mind," Melinda May said, dodging a bullet and reloading her gun.

No, Natasha didn't know Jessica Jones was capable of that, she thought without answering, but revealing that to a SHIELD agent was asking for unwanted attention. She shared Agent May's surprise at Jessica's power; Natasha honestly didn't think even Captain America had that much raw strength. Steve was still a lot faster and trained to exhaustion in every form of combat, but in a contest of pure strength he would be defeated, she had no doubt about that.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Sif broke another wall of the bar, falling in the middle of the street with an enraged face; Lorelei obviously wasn't there. Without stopping for more than a second, Sif clashed against another building, no doubt searching for her prey there. By the shooting and screaming, the place was full of hostiles.

"There are too many people here," Natasha mentioned, shooting three times consecutively and dropping three targets. "And not all of them are wearing biker's vests."

"Noticed that too, huh?" Agent May answered. "That's not good news."

No, it wasn't. It meant Lorelei had enthralled more than just the Dogs of Hell. But how many more?

"They are drawing all the fire, let's find high ground."

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Sif yelled, kicking one of the thralls so hard he clashed against the others behind him.

There was no sign of Lorelei, just hordes of enthralled humans attacking them nonstop. Just like she used to do in other Realms, 600 years ago; entire cities were drowned in blood simply because she forced them to fight against her enemies.

Dodging a bullet, even if the projectile was not strong enough to harm her, Sif punched the last human in the building and jumped out, using her own body to pass through another wall and fall in the next building. She was greeted by more mind-controlled slaves, fighting with all their strength to protect their mistress; they truly were lucky that they represented no danger to her, which allowed her to hold back.

That had not always been the case, especially when Lorelei conquered Realms more advanced than Midgard.

Not allowing her memories to surface now, Sif unleashed a storm of punches and kicks against her enemies, putting them down as gently as she could. Outside, she could hear Kal's friend, Jessica Jones, doing the same, even if in a clumsier matter. The other two humans, not possessing the former's strength, were at the same time more graceful and deadly, as they shot the thralls from the buildings with incredible aim.

It was fortunate that Sif had found such people to aid her quest, but all that would not mean anything if they were not successful.

Clark watched the whole thing playing through the screens inside the control room of the Bus. Coulson, Ward, Skye, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons were there with him, their eyes fixed just as his were, on the images the drones and the satellites were capturing.

He closed his hand into a fist, feeling useless.

The Bus had landed a few miles away from the town, close enough for the ground team to reach it fast, but far enough to keep him away from Lorelei's voice. He could, of course, hear everything going on, especially now that he was so focused on what was happening, from the conversations to the gunshots. His body was tense and he had to stop himself from flying there by reflex alone, but from this distance, according to Sif, Lorelei's magic couldn't control him.

It was torture to see all that happening and not being able to do anything.

"Do you think she got away?" Skye asked, taking his eyes from the screens for one second to glance at Coulson. "They should've found her by now."

"There were no vehicles leaving the town since we found it," Ward answered. "There is no way."

"She is there," Coulson said, his expression completely serious. "And she is planning something."

"A trap?!" Skye exclaimed.

"It's what I would do," Coulson shrugged, noncommittally.

It made sense, Clark thought about it, but he trusted the ground team to deal with whatever situation it might arise; he had no option, after all.

"Man, that gear you lent them is insanely strong!" Leo Fitz mentioned, as they watched Jessica being hit by a flurry of bullets and simply shrug them off.

"Or 'J' is the 'insanely strong' one," Jemma Simmons added, seeing her tossing two bikers through a window.

Both were probably true, he admitted. Still, strong suit or not, seeing his friend being shot at was not something he enjoyed.

Jessica bitch slapped a particularly big biker and then launched herself over the remaining one, tired of getting shot at; the wooden wall behind him broke and both of them fell inside a house. Getting up with a groan, she dusted herself, glad for the suit Clark lent her, since she would full of splinters all over if not for it.

That was when she realized she was not alone in that room.

There was no time to move before something lunged against her from the dark. Usually, Jessica was more than strong enough to stop an attack like that, her strength far greater than a normal human's; whatever hit her, however, lifted her from the ground and tossed her away like a ragdoll.

Jessica crashed against the wall and went through it, falling in the middle of the street. Shaking her head to stop the dizziness, she got up, ignoring the pain on her ribs, ready to fight whatever son of a bitch had done that. What came out from that house, however, was definitely not the run-of-the-mill son of a bitch, she realized.

Her eyes widened when a creature that seemed made entirely of stone walked to the street. What the fuck?!

The thing was taller than her, much wider, not unlike the Hulk would be if he was made of rocks instead of just green. It had a head but no face, just the general form of a strong human, the rocks pieced together by what could only be described as magic, runes glowing red all over its surface.

It was a mother-fucking golem!

The golem looked at her with its eyeless face and attacked, the ground trembling as it moved. Still too shocked to think, Jessica dodged at the last second, evading a punch from a stone fist of the size of her head. Roaring, she unleashed a storm of punches all over the creature's side, her knuckles hurting every time they connected; the stone under her fists, however, cracked.

Apparently, the thing felt no pain at all, because it just turned and hit her with its fist; Jessica was pretty sure she would've been unconscious if weren't for the Kryptonian helmet, she admitted, while flying away.

Things were escalating out of control, Natasha realized, seeing Jessica Jones flying after being hit by what she could only describe as a golem. First there were Asgardian sorceresses, then there were mind-controlled armies and now this? What was next? A dragon?

"Keep focusing on the humans," Natasha ordered a stunned Agent May, as she switched her ICER rifle for her Kryptonian one.

Aiming from the top of the roof, she fired, just as the rock-giant was approaching a clearly dizzy Jessica. The blue energy blast clacked as it left the rifle, hitting the golem monstrosity right in the head.

Clark was right, the thing packed a punch.

The energy actually melted the surface's rock from the monster's head, cracking it, and the giant thing stumbled. Natasha kept shooting, taking great satisfaction in seeing the hulking monster being pushed back; right by the side of a parked car.

It took her less than a second to realize that wasn't a good thing.

Ignoring the energy shots, the golem grabbed the car over its head and tossed it to the sky. The car made an arc, crossing the entire street from one side to the other, only to start its descent right upon Natasha and Agent May.

"Move!" she yelled, jumping from the building, Melinda May right behind her.

Twisting her body midair, Natasha fired a cable against the walls, the steel hook breaking the surface of the building to stop her fall; by her side, Agent May did the same. That was when the car hit the roof, the impact destroying it completely, as the whole thing caved in. They could hear the car breaking every single floor as it fell, the walls of the building cracking more and more. It wouldn't hold.

As she thought that, the walls where their cables were stuck gave in.

Jessica watched the building collapsing as Natasha and Melinda May slid down, both of them disappearing in a cloud of dust. She could only hope they would be fine, but there was nothing she could do; not when the golem turned its attention to her once again.

Snarling, Jessica got up, feeling her anger burning inside her muscles; her hand closed around the Thanagarian mace Sif gave her.

With one movement, she extended the weapon, seeing the ball of spiked metal clacking with energy. And, yelling, she advanced towards the monster. The golem started to run to her as well, lifting its arm to unleash a punch; she met the hit with one of her own, the mace clashing against the stone with unbelievable strength.

Whatever energy that weapon emitted, it clacked once again when it hit; the golem's fist cracked and its arm was pushed back. Every rune on its surface glowed red.

Without stopping, Jessica lifted the mace and brought it down, hitting again and again, the golem glowing red at each blow. The rock was cracking more and more, each powerful hit sending the monster back. Jessica just kept bashing it, yelling nonstop, trying to bring down that monstrosity.

Suddenly, without her even realizing from where it came, she felt blasts of blue energy passing by her sides, hitting the golem. Glancing quickly to her back, she saw Natasha Romanoff and Melinda May running towards her, their Kryptonian rifles firing a barrage of energy against the golem, breaking and melting it, making each blow from her Thanagarian mace hit stronger.

Then, there was a blur; they could only hear as Sif appeared out of nowhere, her Asgardian sword cutting the golem's legs in a single stroke. The big rock monster fell, only to be pierced by the Asgardian right in the chest. Every single rune glowed red, stronger than any time before.

And before they went out, Jessica Jones lifted her mace and unleashed the most powerful hit she could, right upon the golem's head.

BOOOOM!

The four of them jumped back, weapons still raised, as a cloud of dust lifted after Jessica's hit. It was dead, it had to be. She felt the rock from the head breaking and the weird runes weren't glowing anymore. That had to mean something, didn't it? Nobody said anything, just waiting, as the cloud slowly dissipated.

When it did, they all widened their eyes in shock; the golem was destroyed alright, completely broken. But it wasn't a golem at all. It was an armor.

Stuck inside it, there was a man.

Sif felt her body grow cold at the sight of the broken man inside the rock armor, his body glued together to the stone by the flaming runes. It was one of enthralled bikers, wearing a leather vest with a name tag on it: Rooster. What had Lorelei done?!

There was clapping behind them.

As if they were one, the four of them turned, fast, weapons raised to face their enemy. Lorelei had finally showed up, walking down the street towards them, her green dress flowing with the wind, her flaming hair fluttering. She was smiling as she clapped.

"Well done, Sif!" she mocked. "Well done!"

Sif would have attacked her right then and there, her arm trembling with the need to do it. She could see Natasha Romanoff and Melinda May aiming their weapons and Jessica Jones lifting her Thanagarian mace. But there was a good reason they weren't firing.

Between them and Lorelei, firmly held by her hands, was a little boy.

"What have you done, Lorelei?" Sif asked, the words leaving her mouth as if they were a growl.

"Oh, you mean Rooster?" she asked, glancing at the dead man inside the rock armor. She grinned. "He wanted so much to fight for me, that I granted his wish."

Her hands were caressing the child's hair, delicately, as if she was actually a caring mother rather than a monster.

"It is over, Lorelei," Sif said. "Let the child go and come willingly."

"Now, why would I do that?" she asked, smiling, but her eyes were dead cold. "600 years, Sif. 600 years in a dark cell, not able to utter a single word."

"You deserved worse!"

"Then strike me! Unleash that rage within you, Lady Sif! For once in your pathetic life, take what you want!"

Sif's entire body was trembling in rage. Her eyes could see only red. There was nothing Sif wished more than to kill her. But not at the cost of an innocent's life. Not against the orders of the Allfather.

"Take that sword of yours and stab us, right through here," Lorelei said, her voice soft, caressing the child's chest with a single finger. "Can you do it? Are you strong enough?"

"Put the child away and you will find out," Sif promised.

Lorelei just chuckled.

"All these years and you are still the same Sif," she mocked. "Doing as you are told, heeling at the feet of those who command you, never to get what you desire."

Her green eyes fixed on Sif's, a cruel glare burning in them.

"Do you ever wonder what could have been, Sif?" she said, her hands stroking the boy's cheeks. "If you were stronger?" She glanced at the child and smiled cruelly. "Do you think you would have a son of your own by now if I had not taken Haldor from you?"

Sif saw red. Without thinking, she stepped forward, pure fury guiding her body, her arm lifting the sword.

"Ah! I would not do that if I were you, not if you want this beautiful boy to have a head after this is all over," Lorelei threatened, grabbing the little boy's throat. Sif stopped, still burning with rage, but not advancing anymore. "That's better."

"You have nowhere to go, Lorelei!" Sif yelled. "No one else to fight for you. There will be no escape. Let the boy go and I will take you to Asgard unharmed."

"And if I do not?" Lorelei asked, raising her eyebrows. "You would never disobey the Allfather, Sif, we both know that! Do not bark empty threats at me!"

"The Allfather ordered me to bring you alive," Sif countered. "He said nothing about bringing you whole. Hurt the boy, Lorelei, and I will hurt you. I will take your limbs off, one by one, and watch you scream in silence as I seal your voice once again, THAT IS MY PROMISSE!"

Lorelei actually seemed surprised by her threat, no doubt hearing the truth in her words, but she masked it a moment later.

"It seems you changed a bit, after all, Sif," Lorelei whispered. "Still, I do not think it will be enough. No, deep inside, you still cannot keep those you care about safe, can you? Haldor was but the first. You know why I am here, in Midgard, do you not?"

To control Kal, Thor and every other champion in this Realm. But it didn't matter, she had failed.

"Kal-El is out of your reach, as is Thor, Lorelei," Sif stated.

"So you do know!" she exclaimed, happily. "Is that why you came to Midgard, Sif, to keep him safe? To keep him away from me? I have heard tales about the two of you during the Convergence Tournament."

Sif did not answer.

"Your silence is telling. That means, dear Sif, that you know where he is. Is he close? I doubt a merciful god such as him would bear to stay away from the fight, leaving it to the care of others. Close then, but away from my voice's reach?"

"You are beaten, Lorelei, learn to accept it!"

"But am I? You said I had no one to fight for me, but is that really true?" Lorelei asked, smiling. Then she looked around her. "Join us, my pets!"

Everywhere, from every single building still standing, people began to come out to the streets. Not bikers, not criminals, normal people. Innocent men. Men that were being forced to hold their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters hostage.

Sif, Natasha, Melinda and Jessica looked around, seeing the mass of people approaching them, encircling them, each and everyone under Lorelei's command.

"What is this supposed to accomplish, Lorelei?!" Sif screamed. "Kill those hostages and you have nothing! Order them to attack us and they will be defeated! You have nowhere to go!"

Lorelei pretended to think for a second.

"It seems that I will need assistance then, will I not?"

Saying this, Lorelei grabbed the boy in front of her and tossed him in their direction. Too many things happened at the same time. Sif moved, time slowing down around her, her arms raised so she could grab the child before he fell. Natasha and Melinda May raised their guns, aiming forward, but were unable to shoot with the kid still in front of them. Jessica prepared to throw her mace, bringing it backwards, but also having to wait for a better angle.

And all around them, Lorelei's thralls began to kill their hostages.

Sif yelled, feeling her heart beating painfully fast inside her chest, as their knives and guns went off. Sons killing their mothers, husbands killing their wives, brothers killing their sisters, fathers killing their daughters. It happened so fast, all at the same time, and none of them could do anything but watch as the blood was spilled.

Then, they began to kill themselves.

There was no hesitation, no fear, no resistance. Just as they killed their loved ones, every man in the city began to kill themselves, forced by Lorelei's magic to take their own lives. Guns were fired, blades slashed and the blood flowed, staining the ground.

During all that, Lorelei chanted, her magic flowing powerful. Runes began to glow on the ground just as the blood touched it and the very air was clacking with pure, raw power. When the kid eventually fell safely in her arms, Sif finally understood what was happening.

A ritual. Lorelei was drawing power from their sacrifices, their life-forces being used to fuel her magic.

Sif launched her sword towards Lorelei a moment after she smiled and yelled:

"HELP ME, SUPERMAN!"

The very sky thundered when the magic from Lorelei's voice traveled far away.

Clark's pupils dilated when he heard that divine voice, every single particle of his body resonating with it. His heart was beating faster than ever, he felt hot and cold at the same time, his mind numbed as the words penetrated his very spirit.

He barely noticed Ward and Coulson taking their guns when he took off, punching a hole through the Bus.

Sif's sword was already airborne, cutting the sky, when Natasha and Melinda fired their Kryptonian rifles and Jessica threw her mace. The air was still electric, burning their skin with the amount of magic in it, the entire place surrounded with corpses, blood and fiery runes on the ground.

There was a boom in the sky. Kal-El, the Superman, Savior of Midgard, had arrived.

He landed in front of Lorelei, hitting the ground so violently that the entire town shook, the ground breaking under his feet; just at the moment Sif's sword arrived to pierce Lorelei's heart. Moving with a speed only a Kryptonian under a yellow sun could, Kal grabbed her sword with his bare hand, his fingers avoiding the blade. The energy shots from the Kryptonian guns hit him directly in the chest, but he did not even react to them, allowing the energy to dissipate over his skin without flinching. And raising his other hand, he grabbed Jessica's mace, his hand closing around the spiked metal without any semblance of fear.

Silence was all they could hear for a long moment. Until Lorelei's hands grabbed Kal's shoulders from behind him, touching him like a lover would, her hands the only thing they could see as she hid behind him.

"Now, my champion… KILL THEM!"