The meeting was almost wrapped up when a woman suddenly burst into the room and sprinted for the dais. Odin gave a shout, "Idunn, what is the meaning of this? What has..."

"Myrkr has taken an apple!" Father and son fell into stunned silence. Throw in the shocked Avengers, and all that could be heard was Idunn's labored gasps.

It took a few seconds to kickstart Thor into asking, "Father? This can not be...the Darkness is asleep. Mjolnir would surely react to its sister's awakening..."

Odin shot up with a speed that Thor had believed his father no longer capable of. "She is not awake. Not yet." All of the Avengers trailed after him as he hotfooted it to the doors. "Myrkr would shake Yggdrasil down to its roots if she were to finally find her mate."

And with that, the palace started shuddering.

~#~

Down in Midgard, an acerbic smile stole its way across a very recently escaped prince's face.

Myrkr had awakened.

The realms were being thrown into glorious chaos.

And he was damn well going to take advantage of it.

~#~

On autopilot Alice ate the apple. She guessed if she was going to die, at least it would be a yummy death. But, after polishing off the fruit in record time she didn't immediately keel over, she kind of started hoping that she would survive whatever horrible thing was happening. Until her body started convulsing. She was hit with such extreme pain, she sagged to the floor, the arm grasping the hammer tilted up awkwardly. After what she guessed had to be at least a few minutes, she deemed her death would be a slow and painful one. Luckily, the hammer started glowing, its soft golden light somehow eclipsing the physical pain, and sending cool relief washing down her arm and through her body. A sense of something entered her after that, swishing through her both physically and mentally. It wasn't exactly a cognizant presence, but an impression of immense power. It settled into her very being, clearing away the cobwebs of her mortality. She finally realized at least part of the frightening, terrible, wonderful truth.

'Ooooooooh shit. I am in SO SO much trouble.'

The hammer finally came free of its pedestal. Unprepared, Alice let her arm and gravity guide it violently down. The clang it made as it met the marble echoed beautifully around the room and she heard, 'Myrkr' whispered over and over in her head. The strike, like a stone hitting water, also caused the floor to heave and rumble outward.

Within moments, she registered the tromping of what she knew were Avenger boots. They entered the room at a fast clip, Odin in front. He ground to a halt, thumping his staff on the now shattered floor half in anger, half in shock. The rest of them fanned out, ready for action, but were met with the sight of one Alice Ward sitting forlornly in the epicenter of superhero-level destruction. She gave them all a halfhearted little wave and then hunched her shoulders in self preservation. It was then that they realized that she looked a lot different from when they left her at the doors to the audience chamber and that a hammer was stuck in her right hand. Collectively, their mental response to this was,

'FUCK.'

~#~

After much coaxing, they finally got Alice upstairs and into the throne room. Someone grabbed a couch and plopped her down onto it. Odin seemed to want to pounce right then and there, but Thor, surprisingly, held his father back. She was distraught and...changed.

In the span of a half an hour, Alice's hair had lightened from dirty blond to passably platinum. Her face had thinned out and her brown eyes had gone almost black. More importantly was the way she held the hammer - like she knew exactly how to use it. And she had armor on that rivaled Thor's. That little surprise popped into being when Cap tried to pick her up from the floor. In poofed a blue cape, rose gold plating, shiny black leather and a stunning helmet. All in all, it was very impressive. But then Steve dropped her. That armor sure was perceptive.

So, once she was settled on the couch they all retreated to a corner of the room and gave each other nervous glances until she finally waved them over of her own accord.

"Come on guys. I think I'm okay now."

The Avengers crowded around as Odin softly (scarily) commented, "You have a story to tell us, Alice Ward."

She looked terrified but related her end of things as best as she could. Apparently, the hammer had forcibly dragged her to it and made her its master. Odin seemed the tiniest bit happier about this - fate or an astronomically ancient and powerful object intervening was worlds better than a human consciously taking all that power. After assessing the low level of threat and registering the group's desperate need for clarity, he finally gave the humans an explanation about Myrkr,

"Myrkr was forged by Sindri, the same smith who forged Mjolnir." He ran his hand just above Myrkr's head. As if irritated, it shot a mini lightning bolt at him and he pretended to ignore the singed flesh. "After creating Mjolnir, Sindri was unhappy with its imperfections and method of creation and decided to make a perfect hammer."

Yikes, if Thor's hammer was prototype 1, then Myrkr was...horrifying.

Tony was looking a little green as he stared between the hammer and the girl. He was having a major guilt trip for loosing that Uno challenge. He was still going to teach her how to play Poker, but hopefully the hammer would be far, far away when that was happening.

"Instead of a forge, he used a dying star, molding the metal until Myrkr was stronger than any weapon made before or after. Just like Mjolnir, it can be used to fly, it comes back to the hand that threw it. But it doesn't call thunder. No."

He looked at poor, frozen Alice, "If its wielder wishes, it can hit with the same force that could be found in the heart of its womb. It has the power to control what Midgardians call dark matter."

Only Stark gasped like a kid at Christmas at the revelation. Bruce was eerily calm.

"It controls a colossal amount of gravity. To put it simply, it completely crushes any opponent. It is the perfect reflection of Mjolnir, just like Sindri wanted. But that is not the most terrifying power the hammer posses. It can take on any elemental power and amplify it."

His eye latched on to Alice's face as he said the next bit,

"Alice could freeze an entire city in the blink of an, eye. Raise an entire forest with a only a thought."

If she had a kitten, she would have looked like someone had just drowned it. Odin could see that the human was smart enough to be terrified. It was a small comfort.

"Though it was Sindri's greatest work and the mightiest weapon known to the realms, it was stowed away because of its power. However, Myrkr is a magical weapon and we all knew the day would come when it would recognize and demand its warrior, its mate - the person who could wield it to its full potential. Apparently, this girl is it."

Alice gulped as all eyes turned to her. "S...so, what does this mean, exactly?"

Thor solemnly said, "It means that you will be made to eat many more apples, Alice Ward."

~#~

Once Odin had made a cursory power play for Alice (which was shot down spectacularly by Myrkr), a token grumble about her being a puny human not worthy to handle the legendary hammer, assigned Thor as her babysitter, and then grandly swept out to give an announcement to his people about the earthquake, the Avengers and Alice managed to make their way back across the pretty rainbow bridge and down to earth.

Fury took one look at Alice and the sparking mallet in her hand and very uncharacteristically huffed out, "Motherfucker!"

He then, in a scary display of personality flip-flop, attempted to crack a pleasant expression and welcomed her to her new promotion within the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Avenger in training. The subsequent grilling (or slow roasting) of everyone about what had happened up above lasted well after they had packed up, flown back (all team members were confined to the chopper, regardless of anti-gravity ability), and reached the conference room.

As soon as possible, Alice slunk out and headed for her room. Unfortunately for the new junior Avenger, the Director was very, very through. When she found her keycard null-in-void and her room emptied, it was the last straw. She charged back into the conference room, glaring death and screeching like a banshee. Everyone but Fury jumped.

"Miss Ward, get a hold of yourself."

The hammer buzzed and the lights flicked off.

"Miss Ward!"

When Nicholas Joseph Fury took that tone, hell froze over. Alice's blubbering came to an abrupt halt and the lights obediently turned back on.

"Now, I suggest you return to your room and get some rest. Take tomorrow off." Alice figured it was better to scavenge the ship for her new room than speak up at that particular moment. Just as she turned for the door, Natasha strode in.

"Miss Romanoff, welcome back. Kindly escort Miss Ward to her room and then report back here." The Black Widow didn't even look surprised - she just nodded and about-faced. Alice rushed after her power-walk and followed her onto a deck reserved for the Avengers and high-ranked organization members.

"I thought I saw some crew going in and out of here before I left." She stopped in front of a nondescript door, "try your card."

Sure enough, the light turned green and she was met with the sight of cardboard boxes strewn neatly across a very large room. While she was ogling, Natasha disappeared. Finding herself finally alone, she sank down on the generically made bed. Myrkr was still in her hand and she experimentally let it slide through her grasp to the floor. It didn't reattach itself to her palm, thank god. A second later, the armor started disappearing.

As she watched metal and leather dissolve, Alice realized she felt...bad...and good. Combined this meant that she wanted to cry. However, what she did do was heave her self up, cautiously sidle away from the hammer, and start rummaging around the boxes for her toothbrush. By the time she hit the jackpot, she was back in her uniform and tears were silently dripping onto the cardboard. It stood to reason that there might be a bathroom attached to this kind of room and of the two doors she had to pick from, she hit the right one on the first try. However, when she caught her reflection in the mirror, the trickle of water turned into a flood.

She was different! It was a good change, she supposed, but she was upset at the change nonetheless. Hell, she was upset that she kinda, deep down, liked the change. She had been noticing little things in the few hours since she ate the apple. Her skin was utterly smooth. Her butt was rock hard. She could lift the S.H.I.E.L.D. chopper with one hand. Other things were slowly creeping into her awareness and so far, so awesomely cool. But she wasn't technically human anymore, and she mourned the threshold that was crossed without so much as a look back.

'Ugh! This is all Stark's fault.'

She let out a watery chuckle and brushed her teeth. She would become a total beast at poker. And if the resulting bastard-thrashing and Tony tears weren't enough, she could always put her hammer to good use. He would most likely keep mum if a gigantic hole inexplicably appeared in that shiny, expensive suit of his.

Yes. It was a plan.

~#~

For her day off, Alice engaged in a massive self-therapy session. This did not involve gargantuan amounts of gourmet ice cream and crappy soap operas. She HATED the combination of those things with a passion. Instead, she allowed herself a little bowl of ice cream from the mess hall, plugged her laptop into her room's audio system, and then danced her ass off as she made the space look as close as she could to her old one.

On her way to dinner, she ran into Tony and was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was feeling extremely guilty over yesterday's fiasco and that he was willing to extend the Stark equivalent of an olive branch. Unlimited access to Stark tower and limo services were mentioned. She just settled with dragging him along to the cafeteria and having him teach her poker. As soon as she got the hang of it, she honestly started giving Tony a run for his money. The duo waged a very impressive and very loud war that had half the helicarrier cruising past their table in curiosity. Then Steve stopped by. This bolstered their snack food jackpot to such comical heights that some of the observers were taking bets on the winner with their own rations.

Of course, with all that food being bandied about, Thor bounded into the cafeteria like a bloodhound and finessed his way in, too. Hours later, Alice had her whipped enemies carry all of her winnings back up to her room. The formality barrier had been throughly breached in the throes of the game, as well as any questions of Alice's insanity, so they all left with smiles and jabs at her dumb luck.

As she settled in for the night, she realized that she had thoroughly stepped out of her shy-box with most of the Avengers. This, in and of itself, was more than enough to make her fall asleep with a smile instead of tears.

The next morning saw her sitting in a smaller conference room opposite the Director. She was mercilessly informed that she was not allowed to wear the uniform she currently had on since her status had changed. What could she wear? Well, anything but that. Casual was discouraged but not totally out of the question. However, a nice black and camo based wardrobe had just been issued and would be worn for training.

Ah, yes. Training was, apparently, the only thing she was allowed to do as an Avenger Jr. Combat lessons with Captain America in the mornings, weapons and espionage by the Black Widow in the afternoon, and a rotation of gadgets and logic based training from Bruce, Tony and other key personnel. This was all contingent on everyone's availability since, aside from Natasha, and to a limited extent, Steve, team members had the annoying tendency to disappear at will. As a prime example, Hawkeye, who had taken a mini-vacation from S.H.I.E.L.D. after the battle with Loki, would be picking up her weapons training when he came back.

Fury was determined to turn her civilian ass into a fighting machine come Christmas.

There was also the small matter of her hammer. The gym had been blocked out each day for Myrkr bonding time. Thor, apparently, had signed himself up as teacher.

Fury handed her a hefty file for homework and dismissed her to the first one of these.

After changing and stuffing a knapsack full of some of her poker loot, she gingerly picked up the hammer and made her way to the gym.

Alice's junk food bribe had gone over better and worse than she had planned. Proffering the knapsack to Thor, he immediately plopped himself down on one of the training mats and patted the spot next to him. He tore into a package of Slim Jims and addressed her.

"Alice, when you came in you were holding Myrkr as if it were a serpent. Why?"

Grabbing a few things from the bag while she still had the chance, she meekly answered, "I don't like it."

"You are scared of it." When she didn't answer, he continued, "I was taught to never forget a weapon's worth but also to never be afraid of wielding it."

He dropped a Snowball wrapper into the trash pile. "Alice, Myrkr holds an enormous amount of power, but both my father and I believe that it can be controlled. It will not hurt you and, if you dedicate yourself to mastering it, it will not hurt others."

"But..."

"No. You cannot let your fear control you." He gave her a long look, "I have been put into situations that I did not like and could not control."

She loosely grasped the handle and then jerked her hand away as she felt a mental purr from the hammer. Thor reached over and tugged her hand back over the leather. "You have to face it. Myrkr is now a part of you. Dealing with this responsibility would make a lesser man quake, but running away is unforgivable."

Food forgotten, he knelt in front of her. "Lady Alice, I am going to teach you how to wield your hammer proudly and how to use your new abilities like a true warrior of Asgard. I will run you into the ground if I have to, but you must recognize the hammer's worth and your own capability."

Alice squeaked and Thor crawled back over to the snacks. They ate in silence. Although her appetite was practically gone, she got through a Snickers bar as she mustered up the courage to commit herself to two daily hours of mental and physical torture.

"Okay." Thor smiled around about five Twizzlers at her announcement. She poked him for his absurd eating skills. "But I will complain. I'm lazy and traumatized."

The Asgardian understood this bantering-around-emotions thing well, and soon the food had been polished off and he was facing her in the center of the room with Mjolnir in hand.

"Come at me."

"WHAT?" She backed away from the crazy warrior. "No way. I don't know what this thing does. I could kill you!"

Thor just chucked and reiterated, "Come at me. You won't kill me."

"No."

After realizing that goading Alice was a no-go, he finally just swiped at her. She blocked perfectly and reflexively attacked. Twenty minutes later the gym looked like a mini-meteor shower had hit it and Alice had realized that the hammer really was her friend. It wasn't a person in hammer form but it was smart and aware enough to pick up on her emotions and desires and execute what she wanted flawlessly. It also helped that when Myrkr had made her its master she had been pre-programmed to scary-level deadly. Alice almost felt like Neo as she watched herself do things that she only saw in Bruce Lee movies.

Sure, she was athletic before this had happened - a serious fencer, swimmer, and ice skater and an occasional archer, horsewoman, golfer, jogger, etc. - but she was by no means in tip-top shape. She considered biking off-road to be an extreme sport. The flips, twirls, and hammer-play she displayed as she battled Thor had been...waaaaay beyond extreme.

As they stood huffing at the edge of a crater, Thor clapped his free hand over his chest and gave her a short bow. "You are indeed a worthy opponent. I look forward to exploring the limits of Myrkr with you."

Crap. Even after that she had to do the training.

When Fury found out about the gym and Alice's prowess with the hammer, he moved any and all Myrkr battle to a land-based S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. All but one day a week would be spent in the helicarrier's gym (once it was fixed) learning about Asgard culture and her immortal state.

It took a week for Thor to teach her how to control her armor (it seemed as though the surprise appearance in Asgard was a one-time reflex) and another for Steve to help her grasp how to throw a punch correctly, but slowly, Alice made progress with her lessons and her teachers. They all came to look at her like an adopted kitten. A boisterous and deadly kitten.

Even the Director was pleased. When the holidays rolled around, Alice Walker was well on her way to becoming a contributing member of the Avengers team. Giving in to the Christmas spirit for once, he sent her what he thought was an extremely generous gift.

~#~

Alice came back from Tony-training to find a folder laying at the foot of her bed. Scooping it up, she flicked through it. Her first mission as a junior Avenger had come. She was to accompany the team for a mission on New Years Eve.