Frostbitten

A Widow's Web

Sif watched the scene with an utmost feeling of dread in her stomach. Her insides twisted and turned and she felt bile rise up in her throat. "You traitor!" Sif screeched, lunging for Loki, her blade poised to slash at the sorcerer's icy heart. 

Almost as if he wasn't the least bit concerned, Tyr rolled his eyes.  Loki on the other hand, turned as fast as a whirlwind and fabricated a screen of energy, blocking Sif's attack. The impact forced her to the ground as her shield and sword clattered to the floor beside her. The barricade disappeared and Sif pushed herself up slightly. Blood was dripping down Sif's lip from her fall and the fury in her eyes could have equaled the fires of Muspelheim. "How dare you!" she spat. "You could have been saved...I guess everyone was right about you. I should of known. Frost Giant."

"Oh Sif, so naive." Loki cooed, then continued, "I am not ashamed of my lineage. Better yet, I simply plan to embrace it and with that kind of power, I will be unstoppable. Finally, under us, Asgard will fall." He smirked, "Farewell, princess." In a moment's notice, he and Tyr vanished in a cloud of emerald. Thus, Sif was left alone to watch as her allies continued to fight on, unaware of the treachery that had just taken place before her. 

As if on cue, the battle ceased only moments later. Tyr was wrong about one thing at least. The Jotuns were no match for her partners. To her joy, almost all of her comrades were accounted for. Some were wounded, but that was nothing too worrisome. Her satisfaction came to rapid halt however, when the remembrance of the previous moment made its way back into her head.

"Lady Sif, are you alright?" asked Steve, immediately coming over to offer his hand. Sif took it, not even caring enough that she was perfectly capable of getting up by herself. Now was not the time for stubbornness. 

Sif huffed, "Physically." When Steve raised an eyebrow signalling her to elaborate further, Sif motioned towards where Loki and Tyr were, just moments prior. "It's Loki. He betrayed us and took off with Tyr," she scowled their previous direction even though there was no one there to receive it. 

The Captain took an deep breath, clearly trying his best to keep his composure. "I knew that psycho would flip his wig eventually. Men like him never change." He patted Sif's shoulder in what he meant to be sympathetically, but it came out as more awkward than anything else. Sif faked a weak smile and walked off to go tell the others the news.

"That frilly-haired bastard!" Steve heard Tony's voice ring out above the crowd. He probably would've found himself laughing under different circumstances, but this was not the time. Steve knew they shouldn't have blindly followed the very man, if he even was that, that he and the team had faced off only a few years back. As he had said to Sif, evil never really leaves a person, no matter what they do to try and conceal it. 

Now alone in the once great fortress of Asgard, the group, along with a somewhat reduced number of Vanir warriors, began to lay rest as the night was upon them. After a day which seemed to have carried on over a lifetime, nearly everyone was exhausted. In spite of that, there was an exception. Sif,  who's mind was racing full of thoughts, had no desire to sleep and  was stationed on guard alongside Natasha. Being with her for a time, she began to wonder why the red head seemed far less concerned with mundane things such as sleep, yet her eyes told all. Maybe not the fine details, but Sif knew there was more to Natasha than just a simple spy. This was a woman with a long and painful history. 

"Look, uhh..., I don't know much about what was going on between you and the crazy one, but I am sorry. I obviously wasn't his biggest fan, but I know you saw something different in him, even though no one else did, so for that, I really do wish things could have turned out differently." said Natasha, breaking the ice with a shockingly caring tone.