Shattered
An Agents of SHIELD fanfic by Aisling Yinyr Ngaio

"Are you all right?"

Ward turned his head, surprised that the speaker would ask the question, and even more surprised at the gentleness of her tone. "I think so," he returned, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove. Somehow, he felt compelled to confide, "The last time I came in contact with something Asgardian, it didn't turn out so well either."

His companion nodded sagely. "Yes, I did detect something strange in you and in… Agent… May? There is something shared between you both, is there not?"

He tensed, wondering if she was alluding to more than Asgardian magics, but a quick side glance showed no hint of such knowledge. "It was a Berserker Staff left here centuries ago. We took it to keep its powers from being used by others."

"You must have great control for a mortal to subdue the effects of rage," she said appreciatively. "The staffs are no longer in use since before I started my training. I had heard that the Berserkers caused much strife when they returned home after the war on Midgard had ended, and the Allfather did not wish it to occur again."

He disappointingly asked, "So there is no way to er… cure its effects?" So much for hoping that another Asgardian might hold the answer to his condition. His companion merely eyed him curiously and replied, "Well, the effects were only for a decade at most…" Suddenly understanding, she ventured doubtingly, "I could ask our medics if… well…" she trailed off, discouraging him even further. Asgardians probably wouldn't bother with "mortals" like them, he knew, so he merely smiled and cut her off with a, "Thank you."

Lady Sif then lapsed into silence for some time, before taking him by surprise when she remarked, "It was rather astounding, the way you broke her hold over you. How did you do it?"

"I... do not know," Ward answered honestly. "I…" Pain. Torture. "I remember wanting her with every fiber of my being. To serve her, protect her. I did… I almost killed… And then I…" He broke off, as confused as his companion. He stole a glance at the back seat where the seductress lay, unconscious and fitted with an Asgardian power dampener for good measure. It had been so easy, obeying her every command. Just the thought of her power over him made him sweat in fear. He hated losing control.

Grant…

Resolutely he shut out the memory of his brother's pitiful voice and tried to concentrate on the road. Almost there. He couldn't wait to be rid of her. Even if sending them back to Asgard meant he'd have to return to the Bus, to face the people he'd tried to hurt. Again.

He didn't think he could sink to a new low after he'd touched the Berserker Staff. Oh, how wrong he had proven to be today.

"That girl… in the cracked glass," Sif's curious voice rouse him from his shame. "Who is she?"

"She…?" It took Ward a few seconds to recall the scene. Cracked glass… the shattered conference screen. Involuntarily, he smiled, "Her name is Skye."

"I do wonder, Agent Ward, whether it was her." He looked at Sif, startled at the bizarre turn in their conversation. Seeing his confusion, she clarified slowly, "That was the last thing I recall before you convulsed. Her calling out for you, and an… A.C.?"

Pain. Ward gritted his teeth against the fresher memories of mere hours ago. He wanted to serve Lorelei… knew he was happy to see Skye finally conscious… "persuaded" by his mistress to eliminate all who opposed her… realizing that something wasn't right.

"I don't know," he repeated again, more forcefully this time. He didn't know whom he was trying to convince. "It hurt. At that moment I felt… torn. I…" he swallowed, trying desperately to make sense of things. "Can she do that? Cause pain in others to force them to obey?"

Sif cocked her head to one side. "I do not believe so, Agent Ward. She has never shown such ability before, and in any case she never needed to. Her shattering the glass that held your lady's image" - Ward forbore to correct her misconception; Skye wasn't his lady - "was the only time I have ever seen her lose her composure." Looking at her slumbering captive, Sif mused quietly, with a tinge of bitterness, "Nor have I ever before seen any man able to resist her magic."

He stared at her in shock. That couldn't be right. "I… that's impossible. Didn't you say she was imprisoned on Asgard? Surely someone managed..."

"That is true…" the woman interrupted forlornly. "but why else do you think it was I the Allfather sent down to Midgard for her recapture? She cannot affect me. But I do wonder..."

Ward nearly squeezed the steering wheel too tightly as he waited impatiently for her to continue. At length, she said, "There were stories before, floating around the palace. It was said that there was one man whom Lorelei couldn't control. The Allfather."

Stunned silence filled the SUV for a moment. "Odin? Thor's father, he succeeded? What did he do?"

"Nothing, or so the story goes," was Sif's utterly inexplicable reply. "Though one would certainly expect the king of Asgard and protector of the Nine Realms to be able to resist such magics, it was said that he saw right through her tricks without even the help of the Queen. Or perhaps it was with her help that he triumphed, no one knows. But that was how Lorelei came to be imprisoned."

Ward silently went over the information as his contingent finally arrived back at the place Lady Sif had landed only a day ago. He bade her farewell as his escort watched her haul her captive into the marked sand and disappear in a column of light. Maybe he wouldn't ever understand what happened to him that day - which was saying something considering he worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. - but one thing to him was clear at least. He had to return to the Bus and apologize to his unfortunate teammates for wrecking such havoc, even if it was under the influence of another.

And he could finally visit Skye. She was awake.

- Finis -