I wasn't sure what to expect from Aria.

She wasn't giving anything away with her facial expression. Tony and I waited side by side.

"It's been a long time," I said gently to Aria, who watched me suspiciously. "This isn't some mind game they're playing with you. I'm really here. He," I gestured to Tony, "is Iron Man. You've heard of him, right?"

"Whispers," Aria finally said quietly. "When you're stuck in a cell, you're lucky if you can hold a conversation with anyone."

I don't understand. Why is she here and not in Asgard? "Well, you're not in a cell anymore. You're free. How did you get here?"

"It's not something up for discussion." Aria tossed her head. "Truthfully, I'd like to be out of this hellhole before anyone tries to stop us."

"Did you knock the rest unconscious?"

"I did." She looked over her shoulder. "But I believe one is still awake. He's injured, so I doubt he'll get very far."

"I'll take care of him," I said to Tony. "You get Aria out of here and back to the jet."

"Can I trust him?" asked Aria.

"I trust him. Is that good enough for you?"

"For now, I guess it will be. All right, Metal Man, lead the way."

"It's Iron Man," Tony corrected her. "Geez, you're an Asgardian all right." He waved her forward. "The fighting should be done outside by now. You sure you want to stay behind, Kia?"

"When I find the straggler, I'll meet you," I said. "Send someone in if I'm not back within fifteen minutes."

"You got it."

As Aria kept her distance but followed Tony out of the base, I stepped over unconscious HYDRA bodies. I lit a small flame in my hand. When I heard subtle movement, I closed in.

I bristled when I saw him. Blood dribbled down the side of his face. He held his left arm close to his chest—he probably broke it when Aria tossed him around like a doll.

"Well, look what the wind kicked up," I said steely.

Seth Joyce sputtered, eyes twinkling at seeing me. "I thought you would've left."

"Little bird told me there was a straggler still in here. I guess that's you." I took my slow time approaching.

He used the wall to sit up. "Come to take me into custody again so I can break free?"

I knelt down in front of him. "It is tempting, Seth, it truly is. But," I grabbed his neck, hoisted him off his ass, "I might have a better plan."

"Gonna kill me, Kiara?" he hissed. "Is that what being an Avenger is now?"

"We protect people from monsters like you."

"You're no better than the evil you fight." He coughed. "You say you save people, but you kill innocents. New York, all those casualties. D.C., all those bodies. The Pentagon."

"The Pentagon was all you," I snarled. "Don't pin this on me or my friends."

"You let it happen, though, all of you. You can blame me, and the aliens, and HYDRA for who became collateral damage, but all that blood is on your hands." He chuckled. "You don't want to face that fact."

"Shut up!" I shoved him harder into the wall, holding a flame close to his face.

"You sacrificed their lives! How is that saving everyone?"

I gave a yell, and now Seth was screaming. My hand that held his throat was heating up, I could see his skin becoming red. "You took peoples' lives. You made them into bombs. You tricked them!"

"They volunteered," he rasped.

"Liar!"

"I'm n-not!" He gave out a loud cry of pain. "They were in the same boat I was. Down with S.H.I.E.L.D." He smirked. "It looks like the Avengers are next."

"We're not that easy to dismantle."

"Who's to say it won't happen? Who's to say it's not h-happening now?"

"You listen here," I said in a lethally calm voice.

"I'm listening."

"Scum like you aren't going to win."

"Y-you think so? There are a lot of us, Kiara. You'll see. Some you won't see coming."

"I'm coming in, Kiara," I heard Steve in my earpiece.

"You hurt people. You hurt me." My lips trembled. "Your kind don't deserve to live."

"The world needs to c-change. It starts with us." Seth started to choke, his face was becoming red. I didn't let him go, I watched as his face turned colors.

When he stopped struggling, I dropped him in surprise. His body collapsed, eyes unblinking. I checked his neck for a pulse. I stumbled back into a wall, horrified, glancing down at my hands. I did that. I...I...

"Kiara!"

"I-in here," I coughed, turning my head to see Steve, in his Captain America suit, coming towards me, armed with his shield.

"Is that Seth?"

I swallowed. "Mm-hm."

"Is he...?"

"Dead, yes." I cleared my throat. "The impact must've done it. Sharp crack to the head." I exhaled. "Everyone's okay?"

"Minor scrapes and bumps, nothing we can't handle." His blue eyes held concern. "Are you okay?"

"I...Yeah, I'm fine."

"We got a stowaway on board."

"Aria." I nodded. "She's a long lost friend of mine, from Asgard."

"I figured as much. She didn't know who we were, and her speech patterns are...abnormal." Steve moved towards me, gently moving me out of the hall. "Tony joked to leave us behind if I didn't come back with you."

"You two better not be getting busy in there, because that's just wrong," came Natasha's voice.

"Gross, Tasha," I told her. "We're on our way back now."

* * *

Once we got back to the Avengers Tower, most of the group debriefed Aria, trying to see what her story was exactly. I opted out, heading for my room that I'd shared with Steve since Tony allowed us to move in.

I chewed on my thumbnail, seeing Seth's blank stare imprinted into my brain. I had killed a man. A man who most definitely deserved death, but not necessarily by my hand. I killed him. I killed Seth Joyce. He's with his partner in Hell now. At least Seth didn't know who killed Kasey Clark. Or did he?

The sun was setting now, and it looked beautiful out through the window. I wore one of Steve's long shirts, the sleeves were much too long for my arms. I needed to feel comfortable right now. Anything to ease the anxiety in my brain.

When I was summoned for dinner, I didn't go. I remained in the room, sitting on the bed, cross-legged. I played with the shield charm on the necklace Steve had gotten me all that time ago. I was sure the team had their suspicions about my behavior. I could bet they were trying to figure out who was best to handle me in this state of mind.

I could tell who entered the room, just by not knocking. I looked up to see Steve, a little sheepish, carrying a foiled plate. He shut the door behind him.

"Let me guess: you got the short straw," I joked.

"I volunteered, everyone just went with it." He sat on the bed, putting the plate in front of me. "Might be a little cold."

"I can change that." I sat the plate on my palm and used some power to slowly warm it up.

"What's going on with you, Kiara?"

"Hmm?"

"Everyone's noticed."

"I can't believe he's dead. To know that he won't be hurting anyone else ever again...I thought the day would never come. When he slipped through our fingers during the HYDRA chaos, I wasn't sure what he would do."

"Kiara, I know he didn't die by a blow to the head."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw how he looked. The skin on his throat looked a little melted." He looked at me softly. "He didn't have a bad head wound."

"H-he was alive when I found him." I sniffled. "I should've just shut him up and took him into custody. But he egged me on, Steve. I was only hurting him, I-I never intended..." I closed my eyes. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Nobody knows what happened."

"You didn't tell them?"

"You're not in the best state of mind right now. Did you want me to pile on that?"

I shook my head, opening my eyes. "Thank you."

"We can keep it our secret, if you want. It's not the best one you'd want to keep, but as far as they know, Seth Joyce is dead. Case closed."

I nodded, removing the foil from the plate. Steve handed me a plastic fork, and I began poking my food around. "What's the story on Aria? Did she talk?"

"She opened up to Thor when she couldn't get to you. I guess things got worse in Asgard, so bad that she decided to leave, like you did. HYDRA took advantage of her naivety, so she ended up in their care."

"I'll bet Seth lured her in. He's very...persuasive." I frowned. "Well, he was, at least."

"Not sure, she didn't say. But they'd kept her in captivity since then. She mentioned something about the death of the Queen, and Dark Elves."

I stopped chewing. "The Queen? Like, the Queen of Asgard? Are you sure that's what she said?"

"Thor told us what she told him. He confirmed her story."

Queen Frigga was dead? I felt a little sick to my stomach now. "I—I didn't know. Oh, my god. Thor must be devastated."

"He didn't tell us anything beyond what Aria told him. You can try and get him to open up, but good luck. He doesn't seem approachable about the topic."

What else happened on top of his mother's death? I couldn't imagine how Thor felt, or King Odin. Did Loki even know of his adoptive mother's passing?

"I wouldn't do it tonight, though, it's been a long day for everyone," Steve went on.

I nodded.

"I can stay if you want."

"Please. Your presence helps me, as cheesy as that sounds."

"Not so cheesy," he teased me. I smiled.

We ended up cuddling in bed, me chomping on food, while Steve flipped through the channels on the TV. For now, my mind was at ease.

**Oh, Kiara, my poor Asgardian pup. 

[whispers] I am slightly happy that I killed Seth off. I didn't want him to just disappear and never be heard of after Unleashed. At least he joins Kasey Clark in Hell.

Early thoughts on Aria, though?**