#same damn dagger

Today, however, Sterling finally returned and with... a pair of crutches. He hated being injured. Everyone always made such a big deal about it. Still, it was hard to ignore even if he tried to hide exactly where the injury was with his suit. He would just have to sit most of the day and hide the crutches behind his desk.

But mostly because he was still in a lot of pain.

They hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms.

The last time Sterling had seen Loki he was driving a dagger into his thigh and letting him suffer, pinned to the spot by the dagger's blade embedded into the concrete below his flesh.

True to his word, however, Sterling had done what Loki had asked. He had investigated the kidnapping. How could he not? Phoeona was an innocent in all this. Just because she was Loki's child didn't mean she should suffer for it, even if he was sure that was her kidnapper's intention. His investigation took him first to the building where Loki had found her locket. The building itself had been sealed off since the explosion. Checking the reports of what had happened there had stated it had been the result of a gas leak. Three bodies were found at the scene. Sterling had stood where the charred outlines of the bodies had been. He stared at one in particular, remembering one of the names listed there.

He had been a SHIELD agent. He'd known him. They'd served together in the NY base before the fall. He'd been recruited by Agent Blake, a man Sterling looked up to a great deal. He never knew what had happened to him after SHIELD fell. They'd worked together to hold medical while it was under attack but Sterling had shortly after been assigned to an undercover op and he hadn't seen Blake since. That was about a decade ago.

One body hadn't been identified but the third he had to research. He certainly had a record and the file was pretty long. Hate crimes against powered people, petty theft, in and out of jail over the years. The thing that stood out to Sterling though was one of his known affiliations: The Watchdogs. This sent Sterling down a rabbit hole of research, requisitioning files, watching footage, and overall regretting a few life choices.

After a few days of looking into the incident, Sterling now stood before Loki. Sterling had discarded the crutch he'd been using while he recovered to not look quite as vulnerable and injured in front of Loki but he didn't think it was working. He was still in a lot of pain. The dagger blade had chipped his bone and surgery had to be done to collect the pieces that had broken off. Thankfully SHIELD's medical technology was top notch and the cast was barely visible and small enough to fit under his dress pants. Still, it didn't hide the pain or his limp or his need for a crutch.

The more Loki paced, the more he showed him, and the more he spoke Sterling could feel the anger leaving him again. Instead, his eyes became glossy from emotion. This was still Loki, he didn’t lose sight of that, but this was also a parent. A worried parent who was petrified for their child.

Now Sterling was too.

Fire Monster. Fuck, that was cold.

With a groan from the effort of movement, Sterling pulled out his phone and took a photo of the necklace.

“I need the address of the building this was found in, how long ago this happened, how long she’s been missing, and… a photo of her if you have it. She was about 3 or 4 when I saw her last but… honestly, I don’t know how fast Asgardians age and with her being half human I’m sure that also might factor into her age progression. Don’t fuck around. I need this intel or I can’t do what you’re asking and if this dagger stays in my leg two more minutes I’m keeping it as payment.”

It was clear Sterling was reaching a point where the pain was getting too much for him. He could see the blood slowly puddling under his leg and the effort to focus on gathering and remembering intel instead of the pain was nearing herculean and exhausting.

"You mean the stab wound?"

But where were you stabbed?

Sterling took a deep breath to calm himself down. The anger and annoyance slowly left his expression and shoulders. Perhaps it was August that had him on the defense. Perhaps he was just in pain. Either way, this wasn't like him and he didn't want to lose himself in this.

"What? Being STABBED?"