Nor·mal

ˈnôrməl/adjective

Conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.

Normal is a word that should not be used to describe me unless the word not is in front of it. You see, I may come off as normal to some, but in reality nothing about my life has ever been normal.

My name is Eira Taylor. What makes me so not normal? I love a good mystery whether it is a simple puzzle or a person with an ugly past; most people don't like that complex thought process. Another clue, if you will, occurred when I was five I set my school's playground on fire just by thinking about it. That's when I learned that I could control fire, a reckless and destructive element. Oh, and did I mention that I can read minds. Telepathy, I was born with this gift or as I see it in most cases a curse. My skills caught the attention of an organization, I'm sure you've heard of them; The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division; better known as SHIELD. They recruited me at the young age of seventeen, trained me in various martial art forms and intelligence, they even got some researchers to help better understand my powers. Do I enjoy the thrill of a decent covert operation? Sure, but the only reason I'm with these people is because of my specific skill set. At times I feel used, just another card to be played to gain the upper hand; but over the years I have worked my way up through the ranks and now, now I am the second best spy they've ever had next to the infamous Black Widow.

I was twenty-four when the alien invasion on New York occurred, unfortunately I wasn't recruited for the Avengers Initiative nor did I see much action at all. When the helicarrier was attacked I should've died, the explosion it all happened so fast, I thank the Norns that Thor was there to catch me before I landed on my head. An impact that was sure to snap my neck. The "war" didn't last long but would go down in history, along with Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Director Fury trusts me with some of the most confidential material this agency has; the file that forever changed my life was on Loki, the one who tried to take over my home, the one who started this mess.

"Agent Taylor, I am sending you to Asgard to be an ambassador for our people and a negotiator between the realms. You leave at 1100 tomorrow with Thor and the war criminal and you are to stay there with Thor until the time when I request for your return. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir."

He tossed a manila envelope across the table; red classified stamps marked the cover and every page of the contents.

"I know how you are about puzzles so here, try to fit the pieces together on that one. There's also a small mission in there too. Good Luck."

With a nod I stood from the conference, clutching the information to me while pacing the metal halls of the helicarrier. Asgard, it was literally going to be an out of this world experience. Entering my small room I immediately threw myself onto the small bed, flipping through the pages about Loki. The small piece of paper would have gone unnoticed if it had not fallen out onto the white sheet. The sloppy handwriting belonged to the director himself. So that's the real reason, huh? Why am I not surprised in the slightest? While what he said about being an ambassador of the people of Midgard was true another primary aspect of my stay was to collect information, information on possible power sources, weapons and technology. At that realization I shut the folder and began gathering the few things I would be taking with me, stuffing everything into a standard issue duffel bag and sticking the file on top zipping up the contents.

The time passed by rather quickly, the numbers on the clock moving faster than what it usually felt like. At 11:30 p.m. my eyelids became heavy and sleep overtook me, sleep was the only time my mind could truly rest.

Morning came all too quickly as an obnoxiously loud knock sounded at the door; groggily I stood and wobbled over to the door. Cracking it the blonde hair, blue eyed God of Thunder was looking down at me.

"Do you have any idea what time it is Thor?" Crap, it was already 10 o'clock.

"I do apologize Lady Eira, but you have some people that want to say goodbye before we journey to Asgard and bring my brother back home." I sighed heavily and nodded that I would come, how could you refuse the giant teddy bear like God who had saved your planet?

As soon as the conference door opened none other than Tony Stark pulled me into a giant hug nearly squeezing the life out of me.

"I'm going to miss you too Tony." And I really was, I had lived with Tony and Pepper in my first years after joining SHIELD, he was practically my dad.

The other goodbyes weren't nearly as emotional as the one I had to say to Tony and the heartbreaking phone call to Pepper. The time was nearing, it was approaching much faster than I could have ever imagined and to be completely honest the whole idea frightened me.

Central Park was where we were dropped off; everyone was there, including Loki. Thor pushed his adopted brother forward, muzzled and chained at the hands. To say he was handsome was an understatement, it was the first time I had actually seen him up close, he was breathtaking. My thoughts were wiped away when I realized exactly who I was thinking those things about.

"Lady Eira, are you ready to see Asgard?"

Sheepishly I nodded and walked over to the awaiting gods, both of them towering over myself. The tesseract was placed in a glass cylinder, Thor holding one handle while Loki held the other, and I had hold of Thor's forearm unsure as to what the sensation would be flying across the galaxy. I took one last look around at some of my best friends and of my home, the twist of a handle and an energy charged blue light engulfed the three of us, pulling us up to the heavens. To Asgard.