The Rescue

"We need to move fast!" Thor shouted, running to the Helicarrier navigation room and wrenching the controls away from the startled pilot. "It's only a matter of time!"

"What's going on?" the pilot asked, but before he could wait for an answer, the Helicarrier took a sharp turn and he fell out of his chair. By the time he was able to stand, Thor had plunged the ship into a sharp nosedive.

"I was looking out the window on the main deck and I saw an emergency unfolding below," Thor explained. "We have a responsibility to help others in these kinds of catastrophes."

Again on the ground, the confused pilot turned to look at his equally-confused coworkers, also fallen on the ground, who were too stunned to return to their posts and simply stared at Thor in bewilderment.

Without warning, Thor pulled the Helicarrier out of its dive and leveled it skillfully. The pilot stood up and looked out the main window.

"I don't see anything," he said. "We're hovering over a city park."

"Exactly!" Thor said, and without another word he dashed out of the navigation room to the main deck, where he deployed the emergency ladder attached to the bottom of the ship. The ladder unrolled quickly and swung gently in the wind, positioned directly over a large oak tree.

"Thor, what is the meaning of this?" Agent Coulson exclaimed, brushing off his jacket. Evidently, the navigators were not the only ones who lost their footing when Thor had taken charge of the controls.

"No time to explain, Son of Coul!" Thor replied, climbing down the ladder and disappearing in the leaves of the oak tree. Coulson and the other agents on deck leaned over the opening in the bottom of the ship where the ladder was deployed. At first, they could see nothing but the tree and a few people milling about the park, but in a few moments they saw Thor climbing down the trunk cradling something in his arms.

"Is…that what I think it is?" Agent Maria Hill asked.

"Oh, Thor," Coulson sighed.

Thor awakened in his room early the next morning, still immensely pleased at the success of his mission the previous afternoon. He got out of bed and was about to leave his room when he saw a rolled up piece of paper in his mail slot. A memo from Director Fury. He picked up the paper and read it carefully.

"From the Desk of Director Fury,

It is the stated objective of S.H.I.E.L.D to protect the nations and people from all threats terrestrial or extraterrestrial.

Diverting the Helicarrier to rescue a kitten is not a threat to a nation or more than a few families. No matter how many times Loki says you have permission.

Failure to follow this directive will result in a deduction from any Agent's pay who issues or assists with said order to pay for the temp worker to straighten out civil flight plans."

"…Oops."