May 2010
New Mexico
The summer breeze whisked across the normally baron desert wasteland. However, something strange was going on. Tarps were pulled up, squaring up around one small area. Around the tarps, wire fences were constructed to keep intruders away. Every ten minutes, a truck would drive between the tarp and fence, patrolling for anyone who got too close. The locals were told it was radiation, but none of them knew what was really going on.
The sun was high in the sky when a dark blue convertible drove up to the unguarded fence. In the driver's seat, a young-woman with brown hair and sunglass sat. In the passenger's seat, a man sat with his head down. His long, black hair gelled back and had sunglasses hiding his eyes. In his hand, he held a smartphone and tapped at the screen as he played a game. The woman flicked a cigarette out into the desert around her and waved her hand. The fence opened for them.
A man in black suit ran towards them at the sound of the gate opening. He stopped when he saw the car, and the driver. He slowly turned back the way he came and grumbly walked back inside the tarp-walls.
"I love being able to do that," the woman smiled as she parked her car. She looked at the pale man sitting next to her and opened her mouth to ask him a question, then shook her head and laughed. "Never mind, I'll be right back."
He didn't respond. She grabbed a vanilla folder from the back and extended her arm as she walked towards the front tarp-door. The keys in the ignition flew towards her palm. Her lanyard was silver and dark blue. There were four keys hanging on the ring, along with two flash drives. One was red, with a blood smear on the metallic USB port. The other was a dark blue. She swung the keys in her head and quietly hummed.
The brown-haired woman lifted her sunglasses and rested them on the top of her head as she walked inside the tarp-walls. Her brown eyes were calm and patient as she weaved her way through to the center.
"Philoctetes, it's been too long," she greeted with a warm, but mischievous, grin. The entire room filled with government agents turned to face her and starred.
"Libby," Agent Phil Coulson said with a grimace. "What are you doing here?"
"It's been about six-and-a-half months, right?" she asked as she walked towards him. The agents in her path quickly parted and avoided eye contact with her.
"So what brought you out of hiding?" Phil asked. He left his pen on the desk as he turned towards her and took a half step in her direction.
"Oh, I'm putting together my team for my new assignment," she said. "And it just so happens that two of the people I want are here. Oh, and Phil, you need to do something for me."
"How much trouble am I going to get into for this?"
"Non," she answered with a laugh. "Just give Jane Foster back the things you stole."
"Borrowed. And no," Phil said.
"If you're borrowing it you should return it."
"I'm not done with it yet," he told her.
"I'll supply you with anything you need to replace her stuff," Libby told him. "Now give it back."
"I can't do that. I've got orders-"
"Fuck your orders," she told him. "Either give Jane Foster back her things in the next twenty-four hours, or I'll have you demoted to Wal-Mart Store Greeter. Understand?"
Phil's eyes were wide, and he nodded.
"I'll get right on that," he told her before turning away.
"Mm. Oh, and give this to Artemis," she handed Phil the vanilla envelope in her hand.
"So you want him on your team?" Phil asked.
"Oui," she said. "I'd prefer to have a team of people already know most of my backstory so I don't have constantly explain myself."
"I know your backstory."
"Patches won't let me have you," she said. "He wants you to go back to the Iron Man case when this is over."
"Who knows how long that'll take," Phil looked back to the screen. "Can you take a look at what we've got here?" She grinned.
"I suppose," she quickly removed her grin as Phil led her through the maze of tarps. One had a giant whole in the middle, and a clear mud-path trailing down. "How bad was the rain last night?"
"I've seen worse."
"Looks like you had company."
"Nothing we couldn't handle."
"Get a name?" she asked.
"Like you already don't know."
"Humor me," she laughed. They walked across the dirt and mud towards a hammer, gut in ground.
"Donald Blake."
"It's a fake," she told him.
"We figured as much."
"So, anything special about it?" she asked him. They stopped in front of the hammer. Phil watched as she circled it, her eyes carefully observing. Her hand motioned towards the handle, but she didn't touch it.
"It won't budge for anyone, or thing. You want to give it a try?" he asked her. She grinned. A mischievous look danced in her eyes as her hand reached towards the handle. Her fingers wrapped around it and she closed her eyes and slowly inhaled.
Phil watched her arm relax, and then a slight twitch of her arm. He wasn't sure if the hammer moved or not – though he thought he saw the slightest movement.
"No," she told him. "Not even me. These markings are Nordic, they read, 'Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.'"
"Who's Thor?" Coulson asked.
"Norse god, son of Odin and Jord or Gaea, according to mythology," she explained as she released her grip on the handle.. "He's the patron god of thunder, and a few other things I don't care to remember."
"What's he supposed to look like?"
"At least six foot tall, usually he's taller, and he's supposed to have a red beard," Libby said. "It's symbolic for his temper."
"Oh."
"So not your guy?"
"No."
"Well, you never know," she shrugged.
"So does this come from the same place as the Tesseract?"
"Hypothetically," Libby said. "It depends on the context."
"That doesn't help me."
"I tried," she said with a laugh. She looked at the hammer one last time before she slid her sunglasses back down her face and walked away. "Make sure you give that folder to Artemis. I need him on my team."
"What if he says no?" Phil took quick strides to catch up with her.
"Philoctetes, you should know better than anyone that no one says no to me."
She left him in her shadow as her pace quickened. She swung her lanyard as she walked and quietly hummed. Heads turned as she walked by, but she ignored them.
The heat warmed her skin as she stepped back out onto the dessert. Her passenger looked up when she walked past.
"Everything go well?" he asked.
"Perfectly," she jumped inside and grinned as she started the car. "You ready for this?"
"No."
"I don't think you have much of a choice," she told him. "Wanna ooga chacka?" The song had already started to play before he responded. He waited a moment before they both started singing along.
"I can't stop this feeling, deep inside of me," they sang together as Libby drove them away. They looked at each other as they sang the next line, "Girl you just don't realize what you do to me." They both smiled – a real, happy smile. "When you hold me, in your arms so tight you let me know, everything's alright. Iii-"
Whoosh!
Libby swerved the car as a circular dust storm appeared in front of her. Her glasses slid down her nose, almost off her face. The passenger gripped tightly onto the door, trying not to fall onto Libby.
"What the actual fuck?" she said, staring at the dust as it started to settle. She could make out four figures. When the dust started to clear, and the duo could see their faces, she quietly murmured to her passenger, "Talk about perfect timing." Libby pushed her glasses back into place and stood. "Uh, you guys need a ride?" The man beside her slide into further into his seat and tried his best to obscure his face.
The four warriors standing there stared at the car in surprise and shock.
"What is that?" the female asked. Her long, black hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail. Her amour was silver.
"A car," Libby responded.
"Who are you?" the female asked. The male passenger slicked further into his seat.
"Most people call me Libby, and this is a friend. And you…?" she smirked.
"Lady Sif and the Warriors Three," the blond one said.
"Then hope on in. I think I know who you're looking for."
The Warriors Three and Sif carefully climbed into the back. They awkwardly squeezed in the seats, sitting on each other and tried not to accidently stab their friend with their weapons. The four of them jumped in the back as Hooked on a Feeling resumed. It was a tight fight with the four of them in the back, and they all nearly sat on each other. Libby sang along like earlier, but her dark-haired friend kept his head down and said nothing.
"Hooked on a feeling, I'm high on believing that you're in love in me," Libby sang as she drove. She looked to her friend with a grin on her face, and behind her shades her brown eyes were full of mischief.
The four Asgardians in the back held on to the car as she speed down the dessert road. They looked at each other in fear as the wind whipped their hair back and the dust clouded their vision.
Some townies stared at the seven of them in confusion, some in shock. Libby ignored them. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, on the other hand, looked around at the new scenery.
The volume of the song turned down as Libby said, "Wave to the nice S.H.I.E.L.D. agents!" As they drove past, Libby and her friend in the passenger seat flipped their middle finger and didn't look in the direction of the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the roof.
"Yeah, she just drove by," one of the agents spoke into a walkie. "She's not alone either. Should we follow?"
Libby smirked as the radio turned up again and sang along.
"I said I'm hooked on a feeling and I'm high on believing that you're in love with me," the song faded out as Libby pulled up next to an old motel. "We're here." She looked to the man in her passenger seat and opened her mouth, and again laughed and shook her head. "I'll be right back."
Libby and her passengers in the back filled out. The mutant grabbed the last vanilla folder and held it tightly in her arms. The four Asgardians all stretched their legs and hips, thankful to finally have their personal space back to themselves.
"Are you joining us?" the blond Asgardian, Fandral, asked. Libby's friend shook his head.
"He doesn't talk much," Libby told them as she raised her glasses and rested them on her forehead. "Come on, this way."
The four Asgardians followed Libby to a glass door. They all smiled and picked up their paces when they saw the large silhouette of their dear friend, Thor.
"Friends?!" Thor shouted in shocked happiness. He embraced them in hugs as Libby walked over to Selvig. They side-stepped away from the other's and ignored their conversation.
"Libby, what are you doing here?" Selvig asked her, still in shock about seeing four more Asgardians.
"I heard about what happened and figured I'd help," she told him. "Jane's stuff should be back by tomorrow."
"You didn't have to do that," he told her.
"No, I did," she told him. "Besides, I was on my way into town. I have something for you." She handed him the vanilla folder. "I want to bring you in on an assignment."
Selvig flipped the folder open and skimmed the contents.
"The Tesseract is a thing of legend," he told her. "It's not real."
"No it's not," she told him. "I've seen it. I'm in charge of assembling a team to study it, and I want you. You'd be the lead scientist, and I'm giving you free reign over all over the other scientists you want to help you, as long as their on a S.H.I.E.L.D. approved list."
"But what about my work here?"
"I'll take care of it," she promised. "I want you because I trust you. Think of all the doors you can open for humanity if you take this!"
"I thought you hated humanity."
"Well, generally, oui," she agreed. "But this project could change the future. We'd be doing some serious good here! What do you say?"
"I don't have a choice, do I?"
"You do, but I can't guarantee what'll happen if you say no."
"I'll think about it."
"I'll be in contact with you about your hours and living situation."
"I haven't said yes!"
"Yet," she corrected him with a grin as she walked over and joined the others.
"And who is this tiny person?" Thor asked. He had a wide grin on his face and happiness sparkled in his eyes.
"Libby," she told him. "I'm a friend of Selvig's."
"The technopath-Libby?" Darcy asked. "Wow, I thought you'd be taller."
"Oui, technopath-Libby," the mutant faked a smile as she nodded. "Oui, everyone thinks I'd be taller in person."
"Wow, so you can control technology?" Darcy asked.
"Oui, that's what a technopath means." Jane, Selvig laughed, and Darcy laughed too.
"So like all technology or just-"
"All technology," the mutant nodded as she tried not to roll her eyes. "Nothing is too big or small."
"You helped my friends?" Thor asked her. Libby nodded. "That was kind of you, you did not need to-"
"I was on my way here anyway, it was no trouble," Libby told him. "Selvig, I'll get that information faxed her later today."
"I still haven't given you my answer."
"Which will be a yes," Libby told him with a grin. "You won't regret it, trust me."
"I don't trust you," Selvig told her.
"Well that's your problem," Libby told him with a shrug. "Just really look through it."
"Stubborn little thing isn't she?" Thor reached with his hand to ruffle the mutant's dark brown hair. Libby caught his wrist with her hand. Her grip was tight enough for Thor to release that she was being serious, but not enough to harm. Her eyes were dark, and they burned into his blue eyes.
"Don't. Touch. My. Hair," the mutant released his wrist and her hand returned to her side. "I hate it when people touch my hair." She crossed her arms over her chest. "What time is it?"
"Almost four, why?" Jane asked. "You have somewhere to be?"
"Uh, oui," Libby nodded. "Selvig, let me know when you read through that file. Oh, and Thor," she said as walked away from them. Her hand pulled open the door, while she turned her body to face him and pushed her sunglasses down over her eyes. "Good luck today, you'll need it."
I've published a version on this story on Mibba, but this one will be... well different. So here's the playlist I went ahead and made, go ahead and check it out: www .8tracks im7inchestall/gods-and-monsters-fanfic-playlist (remove spaces, as FanFiction likes to eat them)
And if you'd like to see the outfit I put no detail into you can view that here: www .polyvore im_high_on_believing_that/set?id=145547003 (again, remove spaces)