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The soft whistle of the blade slicing cleanly through still air was the only sound breaking the early morning silence in the rarely used small training room. Long years of practice had created muscle memory that made the potentially deadly maneuvers resemble a carefully choreographed dance, albeit with a weapon not associated with women and not used for hundreds of years. The weight and length of the falchion made it a challenge to control, but the connection to the past made Lauren feel more grounded and strong than she had in quite a while. A medieval weapon such as this was impractical in the modern age of warfare; bringing a knife to a gunfight, no matter how big the knife, was still a less than optimal idea. Regardless of how obsolete it was, Lauren preferred to practice with it occasionally. There seemed to be a strange sort of power that flowed through her as she spun and lunged at an imaginary enemy. In fact, she almost felt as if her European ancestors channeled themselves through her body as she swung the blade with practiced strokes, switching hands effortlessly and bending her body through the rhythm of her practice.
Lauren rarely took the time to pick up her blade since being assigned to Avenger’s Tower. The team had all seen her handle modern weapons. After all, she was not much different than any other SHIELD agent. Had even seen her handle knives on occasion, but this weapon and this skill, this was something private, and she wanted to keep it that way. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her talents with weapons such as this, it was just that she needed to feel that at least one thing from her past life remained and belonged solely to her. It was a connection to people who had once loved her, before it had all gone to hell. Everything else, she thought regretfully, was either created by SHIELD or covered so well that no power on earth could ever find it. “This one thing, though… I can hold onto,” she whispered to herself.
Drills Lauren had practiced since childhood were repeated over and over, so long that she had lost track of time and place and retreated to an almost trancelike state. Sweat dripped from her face and her long hair, pulled back into a ponytail at the back of her head, stuck to her neck and shoulders, but even those annoyances ceased to exist. It was not until she heard a familiar voice behind her that she knew she had been there far too long and her housemates were now awake and starting another day.
“My Lady Lauren, why did you not tell me you were practiced with a blade? I would have enjoyed a worthy opponent from time to time.” Thor’s voice boomed with barely contained joy. “Perhaps if you are not spent from your training, we might enjoy some sport?”
“Good morning, Thor,” Lauren huffed, almost irritated at being found out, but not able to hold it looking at the excitement in the big man’s open face. “I haven’t crossed blades with a real opponent in a long time, so I don’t know how much of a fight you’ll get, but if you promise to go easy on me, we can give it a try.” Lauren moved to the side of the room as she spoke, picking up the leather shield she had abandoned earlier in her practice.
“I will return in a few moments with a suitable weapon, my lady.” The Asgardian nearly bounded from the room, making him look even more like a large golden retriever puppy than normal. He nearly broke into a full run as he made his way to his quarters to retrieve sword and shield he had brought from Asgard but had sat neglected since then.
On his way back to rejoin Lauren, Thor passed a few of his teammates who were on their way to their own workouts or training sessions.
“Hey, big guy, where you off to?” Steve pointed to his weapon.
In his excitement, Thor forgot his proper manners and strode past him mumbling something about a “worthy opponent” and “honorable combat” but not explaining further. Clint, Bucky, and Steve stood staring after his retreating form when Tony approached from the opposite direction.
“Where’s Point Break off to in such a hurry? And was that a sword he was carrying?”
“Yeah, it was a sword and a shield. He said something about meeting a worthy opponent…” Steve trailed off. “You don’t think…no, that’s impossible…could someone from Asgard be paying us a visit? You don’t think Loki’s…They did say he disappeared again…”
Alarm flashed across all their faces. They had come to terms with the fact that most of Loki’s past actions on Earth, much like Bucky’s, had been driven by a force that took control of his mind and will, but none of them was quite able to forgive and forget and start trusting him any time soon.
They followed in the direction Thor had taken, asking FRIDAY to give them his exact location as they moved. Bucky and Clint pulled knives from their hiding places and Tony twitched his wrists, making sure he could call a suit at a moment’s notice. As they approached the training room door, they heard the distinct clang of metal on metal and the grunts of combat from inside. Steve eased through the door, holding his shield in front of him ready for an attack. What they saw brought them all to a complete stop on the threshold. There, in the center of the room, stood Thor, face to face with the much slighter figure of Lauren, swords locking together for an instant before one of them moved to either counter or retreat. It only took a few moments for them to see that she was holding her own with him, in spite of the differences in their size and strength.
“She just had to be different, didn’t she?” muttered Clint. “She couldn’t just be a normal agent, she had to be a total Game of Thrones badass too!”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Bucky gave an awed whisper, eyes locked on the pair who continued to spar in the center of the room. They watched as Lauren parried Thor’s next attack and spun into her own. “She shouldn’t be able to counter him like that.”
“She’s using his weight against him,” Clint added helpfully. “Watch how she doesn’t meet his swings directly, she deflects and steps to the side. She’d never win quickly that way, but she might last long enough to make her opponent tired enough to make a mistake.”
“I’m finding myself very turned on right now.” Tony interjected. “That’s not weird is it? I probably shouldn’t be this turned on, should I?”
Bucky snorted a short laugh and shot the smaller man a knowing look. Steve just stood silently, watching as the pair matched one another’s movements. Thor’s otherworldly strength and stamina meant that Lauren’s tactics wouldn’t really work, so neither of them ever gained an upper hand. After several minutes, noticed that they had an audience and signaled Thor to break off their simulated combat. The big blonde looked more pleased than they had seen him in a long time, a huge smile on his sweat stained face, while Lauren looked equally sheepish and irked by their presence.
“Friends, why did you not tell me there was a shieldmaiden among our company? I am sorry to have paid her so little attention since my return to Midgard. Had I known of her skills, I would have had us entertain one another in this way before.” Thor clapped his hand on Steve’s shoulder almost painfully, even to the enhanced super-soldier, so happy that he had difficulty containing it.
“Somebody’s been hiding something from us,” Tony teased, approaching Lauren. “It’s not nice to keep things from your friends… especially things that are sexy as hell.” He accompanied that last statement with his trademark eyebrow waggle.
“You know, genius, you say the most remarkably stupid things sometimes,” Lauren countered, lowering her blade toward his chest and taking a purposeful step forward. Seeing the danger, Tony quickly stepped to the side as Lauren’s strides carried her toward the door. The look in her eyes was enough warning to make the rest of the men part ways and allow her to pass without further comment. They stood in silence as they watched her disappear around a corner and for several minutes afterward, all thinking very different thoughts they would never share with the others.