Hello, all! Welcome back! For today, we have a healthy serving of confidence and anxiety. Do enjoy! Before you do, though, remember that I'll need at least ten reviews for today! And in case this wasn't clear last time, that's meant in total! You're at six right now...

Thank you to those who review/ed!

Univerce


Asgard

For some reason we're driving out to New Mexico for this little trip of mine. Clint and Steve are in the car with me and my Uncle, the three of us non-directors sitting in the back two rows of the jet black SUV. Thor, Stark and Bruce are in the one right behind us, apparently with the last member of the Avengers driving. Originally, Thor had wanted me to ride with his group, to get to know me, but he let me go with my uncle when my puppy eyes came out full force. What can I say? I wanted to spend my last few hours on Earth with the people I know and love. Yes, all three of the people in the car with me, whose names are known, count.

"Make sure to take some pictures," Steve grins. "I want to see what this place is like."

"Of course," I smile at him. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Maybe the camera doesn't work," Clint chuckles. "You'll probably break it before you can take a single picture."

A smirk crosses my face at his lack of faith. "Good thing the good doctor gave me one of Stark's then. Acts like a pair of half sunglasses. Fits around my ear, latches into place, indestructible and has a screen and camera attached. I can watch movies while I'm there."

The agent's grin falls dramatically into a frown as he mutters under his breath. After a few more hours of driving, in which there is constant teasing and slight bickering, we pull over and everyone climbs out. Strangely enough, there's a couple girls working on something here as well, although only the one actually moving around seems interested. And if my memory serves right, and Uncle Nick's little infomercial minus the 'mercial' part isn't wrong, that makes her-

"Jane!"

Yep. That's her alright.

"Thor!" she grins, handing her notebook and pencil off to the other girl.

While those two hug out whatever their feels are, my direction keep me following my uncle, Clint and Steve on either side of me. Why does this feel like they've currently got me under high level security? All three of them stick close to me as the god of thunder lets got of his girlfriend and strides over to us. Absently, my eyes examine the circle we stand on, memorizing every detail for future reference. That is, assuming referencing the thing would be necessary in the future. Anyway, everything from the Nordic symbols to the strange feel this circle gives off.

It's all cataloged.

"Are we ready?" Thor asks, his face set in a serious expression as he joins us on the magical circle of magic.

Heh.

"Yep," I nod. "Unless anyone has anything they'd like me to know?"

Bruce is jogging up to the circle, just in time to stop Thor from shooing away my uncle and 'security team.' In his hands is… that choker necklace… and my suitcase… Whoops!

"You almost forgot this," the doctor smiles holding out the necklace to me.

"Thanks, Doc," I grin. "This is why I love the color green."

Hilariously, he freezes up while my fingers fasten the choker into place, watching as Bruce also hands the thunder god some weird bracelet to slip on and my suitcase. While he explains how that toy works, which is simply 'a vibration means save her, you dumbass!' or something similar, my eyes take in the sky one more time. My sky, the very sky that my mother always told me was not the limit. Your limit is far past that, even further than the stars.

Always optimistic.

"Very well, then," are the words from Thor that drag my attention back to the ground. "Are you ready, Lady Lyra?"

His smile is slightly infectious, pulling a nervous one onto my own face while nodding. Steve hands off a familiar briefcase and a carrier, which gives of a soft meow, as he and Clint give me a quick hug. Uncle Nick settles for a pat on the head, making me whine and swat his hand away. Chuckling at me, my uncle and security team back up from the circle, taking Jane's advice as she calls out from a 'safe distance.' With everyone over there, including an unnamed ginger agent standing next to Clint, Thor's booming voice has me flinching, wishing it was possible to cover my ears.

"Heimdall!"

And the colors of the rainbow dance before my eyes.


"I did not think this would be a problem," Thor explains guiltily, picking the girl up from the platform. "Her uncle explained to us her mutation – it should have been perfectly safe."

"Do not fear, my prince," Heimdall assures him with a pat on the shoulder. "She is fine. All that must be worried about is waking her. The healers can fix whatever may have gone wrong."

A soft grumble has the two men looking at the girl in Thor's arms. For a moment, it had sounded like she said something, although they brush it off as sleep-talking considering her condition. Heimdall's stare returns to the vast stars as the thought is pushed from his mind.

"All she will need is some rest."

"I don't 'rest,' dammit!" she snaps, jumping awake. "No Fury ever needs rest!"

Thor, out of shock, nearly drops her. The jostle alerts her to his presence, along with the fact that he's currently carrying her bridal style. Stiffening, she carefully climbs from his arms, him gently placing her back down. A soft cry has her gaze snapping to a cat carrier as a shaking kitten peeks out from her safe haven of blankets.

"Oh, I'm sorry Aolani! I still love you!" the girl panics, rushing to the carrier.

Almost immediately, the cat starts to purr, reveling in her master's touch as she's freed from her carrier and placed on the girl's shoulder. With a light giggle, the girl picks up both carrier, now locked once more, and briefcase of equipment. Turning back with a grin, she looks absolutely healthy, nowhere near as pale as she had a minute ago nor seeming close to death. Both men feel a slight confusion at this, although Heimdall's all-seeing nature clears it up for him as her uncle's voice reaches him.

"Your uncle wishes you luck, child," Heimdall informs her, keeping the rest to himself. "As does the rest of Asgard."

And truly, as gossip of the now criminal prince's 'reform' spread, people had been looking for the telltale arrival of the poor girl to deal with him. From the view at the Bifrost, far down the rainbow bridge, it seemed like no citizen had missed the scene of their crowned prince's return. It would be even harder for them to miss the girl that would be walking with him.

Luckily, hordes of people won't be a problem. As the two of them stride down the bridge toward Asgard, both with smiles on their faces, a set of figures stops their advance. Standing there, and waiting on them, is a group of warriors, only one female. The imbalance of women in the group has the girl frowning slightly as Thor laughs and quickly moves ahead. Slightly more wary of this bunch, his charge moves a little more slowly.

While the god of thunder embraces and speaks happily with the men there, the two girls stand in front of each other. All they do is stare into each other's eyes. That's it, just stare. And from just that, the two smile and, after a briefcase and carrier are put down, embrace.

"Pleased to meet you!" the girl giggles. "Nice to know I'm not the only girl who kicks ass."

"It is a pleasure for me as well," the woman laughs. "For a moment, I had thought the girl we would be relying on would not know a weapon's feel. You are a very pleasant surprise!"

The girls grins widely, letting her new friend go and smirking at the sight. Aolani has climbed between the two, resting on the woman's shoulder and snuggling into her neck. A chuckle escapes the warrior as she strokes the kitten's head before handing the small animal back to her owner, who snuggles the kitten happily.

"A fair friend, you have," the woman laughs, watching in amusement. "I am Sif, warrior of Asgard."

"The name's Lyra," the girl grins, kitten climbing onto her shoulder. "Ass kicker of Earth."


Pleasantries, growling stomachs, a couple slaps to a womanizer's face and a silent stare down with a Japanese looking man leads me to walking with the entire entourage. Thor is happily spewing out nonsense about Asgard to me, while Sif actually keeps me interested by letting me know where all the important stuff is. Things like the blacksmith, which none of these people use since the palace apparently has its own, and clothes shops, mostly. Every so often is a place that has a stall of jewelry set up in front of it, all of which catch my eyes. All of these things would be perfect gifts for the few girl friends from back home.

"I see you're not just a warrior," Sif sighs. "Try not to be too distracted while we walk."

As it turns out, the boys barely notice the two of us falling behind slightly as my eyes take everything in. They keep their pace, Thor leading the way loudly still with my suitcase in hand as we attempt to keep up with their widening strides. While Sif could probably keep up with them, clearly they don't realize that someone who isn't used to this pace is trying to also. At least she's kind enough to stick back with me.

"They need to slow down," Sif hisses, eyes flickering back and forth.

"Why?" I huff. "Clearly they're having fun. I say leave them be if they want to dance to a different tune. It's been forever since someone normal has talked to me."

Sif chuckles lightly. "You call me 'normal?' That is something not many would say."

"Normal to me," I shrug. "You do know that both my parents were adamant about martial arts, right? And that my uncle runs a government agency that specializes in something similar to what you do?"

"Yes," she hums. "I believe Thor said it was called… shield? A strange name for any gathering of people."

"Not really. SHIELD is an acronym for something that my brain said 'screw it' to remembering. In fact, I don't think my uncle even knows what it means," I laugh at the thought.

"Really?" she says absently, eyes still flickering.

My nerves start to wear at the action. "Is something wrong? Should we be going faster than this?" I ask quietly, my own eyes moving about curiously.

The good things about being a tourist.

"I am unsure, to be honest. Not everyone is happy you have come," Sif explains back, just as quietly. "It would be best if we hurry."

She takes the carrier from my hands and switches it the far arm, quickly taking my now free hand to pull me along faster. As we move forward, my eyes only now catch the stares and moving mouths around us. Each one is either curious or cruel, but not one shows any form of kindness you would expect to be shown toward someone attempting to help. Clearly, Sif was right and not everyone feels a form of relief at my presence, if anyone at all. Well, this might complicate things a bit, won't it? So much for exploring Asgard…

"Sif?" I ask quietly, trying to keep my feet beneath me as we hurry. "Why aren't they happy with me being here?"

Her quiet sigh has me cringing, somewhat expecting what's about to come out of her mouth. Loki is an intergalactic terrorist – no doubt some people would rather him be dead than given a second chance. And what's more, they brought an outsider into the midst of it all to hopefully give him that second chance as well.

"Surely you can think of a reason," she replies quietly as the boys come back into view.

Thor's eyes land on us as he frantically searches the crowd, the panic in his eyes disappearing almost immediately. Sif gives them all a glare, one that I don't have enough in me to imitate as they all flinch and give soft apologies. With the group gathered back up, we start our trek towards the palace once more, only this time the boys stay close enough that we girls aren't racing after them. Carrier back in my hand, after giving Sif a blank look as she attempted to give me unnecessary help, my smile has returned, albeit weaker. When you know that people don't like you, it tends to put a damper on things, especially if you only just got there.

"This is it, Lady Lyra!" Thor proclaims, gesturing to a number of steps ahead of us.

Holy crap, we have to walk all of that!? Who the hell designed this place? Sif's chuckle has me turning a light glare to her, and while she attempts to choke back her laugh, the smile still makes it through.

"Don't laugh at my pain," I grumble. "It's not nice… and very unwise…"

While the boys shiver, Sif only clenches her eyes shut, shoulders shaking. This is why being me sucks so much. People see me and think 'adorable!' with my shining eyes and childlike appearance. No, I'm not that small – my face just maintains my youth very well. In fact, I'm pretty well developed, to be honest, and that's me going by other people's words. Thanks to Photoshop and magazines, it feels like I'm not developed enough.

At least that hasn't inspired me to get implants. My mother actually set aside an account if that ever came true – Graduation present…

After much climbing, and refusing to let the others help me while my kitten climbed on her own as well, we reach the top. Well, almost all of us do. My kitten is still a few steps down after having boldly kept up with us to the best of her ability. On the second to last step, she flops down on her tummy and meows in protest to moving any further. With a soft 'aww!' I can't help but skip back to the step and pick up my kitty, placing her back on my shoulder. She meows a few more times, not even moving as she digs her nails into my shirt and bra strap. Adorable!

"She's so cute," I giggle, picking my things back up.

Well, I would have if Hogun, the Japanese guy, and Fandral hadn't grabbed them.

"Hey!" I whine.

"Lady Lyra, please," Thor laughs. "You still need energy to meet with my father!"

Oh no. "Do I have to? I feel like a nap would be a better idea right now," I sigh, fighting back a yawn. "And my body says so, too."

"It will be short, I promise," Thor assures me, patting my unoccupied shoulder.

Aolani meow softly into my ear, purring quietly in content as my feet trail after the boys, Sif chuckling at my side. Okay, if anyone every goes out into town with me, it better be her and no one else. These boys will probably demand me to go easy and ask me to play princess while out and about, and that is not happening.

"Too much walking," I grumble, doing my best to ignore Sif's laughter. "Stop laughing at my pain!"

One thankfully short walk later has us standing in front of a pair of large, ornate doors. A pair of doors that Thor looks at with slight nervousness. From mere guessing, this is either where his father, Odin, is or someone else really important. Or he just looks nervous because he's weird like that – definitely a possibility.

"Well?" I ask him, face blank. "What's the matter?"

My little kitten mews from her perch, and out of pure nonsense in my head, my arms raises toward his shoulder. Aolani quickly scampers along it, my limb shaking a bit from the sudden movement of weight, and pounces onto his shoulder. With a jolt, Thor's eyes turn to said shoulder and the kitten perched there, purring. It's such an endearing, sight, I just can't help but pull that awesome camera from my belt and slip it on. A few seconds later, the sight of the thunder god grinning at a kitten on his shoulder is captured, along with a laughing trio of men behind him, before quickly turning to capture Sif laughing.

Feeling much better now that my camera has been used, the gear is slipped onto my belt and the kitten collected. With a grin to Thor, who seems to be much more confident now, I gesture to the door. While a small amount of nerves reappear on his face, he takes hold of the handle.

"Ready?" he asks with a glance to me.

"Born that way," I sing sarcastically. "Please, Thor. You never know if you're ready for something. You just try and find out."

With a weak chuckle at me, he pushes the doors out of the way. Sif quickly pulls the suitcase from his hand and gently nudges me forward after him. With the two of us on the other side of the threshold, the doors shut behind us with a loud, echoing 'boom.'


"What do you think, then?" Sif sighs, setting a suitcase down.

"Far too innocent," Fandral announces instantly. "She may be equipped like a warrior, but she has no feel of a seasoned fighter. If anything, she is dressed only for intimidation."

Volstagg, somehow having retrieved a leg meat, grins at the female warrior. "I don't think so! She may lack the air of a seasoned fighter, true, but there seems to be something about her that calls for battle! Like an innate draw to it. You saw that glare of hers!"

With a sigh, Sif nods slowly. "True, very true. And yet… something still feels off. While she does not feel so innocent as a pure child," she muses, giving a pointed look to a frowning Fandral, "it also does not feel like… oh, what is it I'm thinking?"

Still staring at the door, the final man speaks up. "She does not feel accountable enough."

The four of them looks to each other before their eyes return to the door. 'Accountable enough' fits the description she was looking for, but Sif still doesn't feel that it fits quite right. While the girl feels innocent, she also feels somewhat… resigned, maybe? As if she had something weighing on her, much like their criminal prince, but not to where it would bear down on her harshly.

"Close," Sif relents slightly. "More like… Maybe empathetic… but not tolerant…"

Hogun nods, returning to his silent demeanor as he turns back to Sif. The two have a slight stare down before their eyes move back to the door.


"Father!" Thor calls out happily, striding up to another set of stairs and kneeling. "I have returned with her, Father."

"Very well," an aged man nods.

At a much slower rate, my feet carry me forward towards the annoying steps. Like my father had taught me, my eyes take in everything about this one-eyed man. The only difference between him and my uncle, which feels like a slightly off comparison, is that this guy has a thrown and is decked out in armor. My uncle, on the other hand, would prefer a gun, possibly sniper rifle or RPG, and a fair amount of grenades. Who needs armor when you can be a badass like my uncle and just walk like you own the place? Which he usually does.

"Pleasure to meet you," I say simply, face remaining blank as I bow. "I'm going to guess that you already know who I am."

"Lyra Fury, daughter of the director who asked my son for assistance… correct?" he replies back slowly, eye narrowing.

"Very close," I nod. "His niece, not daughter. And you left out temporary agent of SHIELD. Although that can't really be blamed, since even I didn't know until a second ago. That was around the time that I felt this in my pocket on the walk up here."

My hand pulls out a leather casing, inside of which lays a badge for SHIELD. No ID is placed in the slot, but it's obviously mine since in the ID's place is a slip with my name on it. Clearly my uncle decided this was worth placing me amongst his ranks of awesome assassins and spies. Life loves me right now, doesn't it?

"I see," the old man nods. "An agent of SHIELD, then. Before you do any more, tell me something. Why did you accept this task?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean handling Loki, don't you?" I chuckle. "To be honest, my uncle said that the information pertaining to this all was highly classified, to keep the public safe. He's always been 'one for the good of the many.' But it felt pretty clear when he kept stressing the 'no' option to me. Family is family, after all…" I trail. "But if I was to pick a single reason… It would be something my mother once told me.

"We pick our battles and our friends; that is purely our own choice, no one else's," I quote her carefully. "But you never pick who gets a second chance. Even the worst may surprise you. So either give everyone a second chance, or no one. And usually choosing no one ends up in an existence of solitude."

The man on the throne stares at me for a moment and just for one second, it feels like my uncle is up in front of me, only he'd have a smirk on his face. He always did say that my dad was lucky to meet her first. Then again, Uncle's lucky he wasn't my father, too…

"I can understand that," Thor's father nods. "Proceed with this task, child. But remember, Loki is not to be trifled with. His power has grown since he fell from the Bifrost, and not even I could lock it all away."

A smirk crosses my face at the ever repeated warning. "I'm going to go ahead and tell you something I've told everyone else that says that," I grin.

"He can act as godly as he wants. I still won't kneel to him."


Aolani purrs contently on the bed, basking in some of the failing light for the day. Dinner is in a few minutes and in my suitcase is nothing but casual clothes. Having seen a few women wandering around with more women trailing silently behind them, it was made clear that this place expects… ugh, dresses. Don't get me wrong, a dress now and then isn't so bad, but something tells me that it isn't just a once in a while thing here…

"Lady Lyra!" Thor booms, slamming open my bedroom door. "I am here to guide you to the dining hall!"

"I'm right here, Thor," I whimper, fingers plugging my ears. "Please don't yell."

"My apologies," he grins. "I am merely excited for you to meet my mother. She wishes to speak with you before you meet my brother tomorrow."

My eyes roll at the thought, muttering, "Here I am, finally meeting a guy's family, and we're not even dating. My roommates would be so proud."

"What?" Thor asks innocently, head cocked to the side.

A wave of my hand brushes it off. "Better focus. I don't have any dresses to wear."

His brow furrows as he stares at my suitcase. "Are you not a warrior? Warriors wear their armor as formal attire for feasts and dinners…"

"Oh… Awesome!" I cheer, pulling open the briefcase on my bed and pulling out my armor.

Black, stylized like Clint's and with regular cargo pants over some spandex armor, it is by far more acceptable.

"Would you wait outside for a few minutes, please?"

"Of course!" Thor laughs. "You might hurry, though. Dinner will begin soon and neither of us should be late."

A few minutes is all that's required. Slipping everything on took only one, and the combat boots only took two. Everything else was slipped on in what could only be record time as a moment afterwards, while placing Aolani on my shoulder, Thor knocks. He really did only give me a few minutes, unless my camera thing is wrong. Seriously, this thing needs a name or it might drive me crazy.

"Are you ready?"

"Yep," I laugh, opening the door with all my equipment in place. "Let's go eat!"

"Wonderful!"

Skipping alongside Thor, we run into the other warriors and join them on their trek. Strangely enough, Sif is wearing a dress as well, her hair done up in a braid with silver threading. For some reason she seemed concerned when she saw me, like something was wrong with my outfit or something. Maybe Thor was wrong and female warriors still have to wear dresses as well. Or maybe she's just upset because she thought I would be wearing a dress and therefore would comfort me on top of it with her own. Then again… Why bother about that?

"Welcome, Lady Lyra, to the Asgardian Feast," Thor grins, pushing open a vaguely familiar set of doors.

On the other side is a large room filled with long tables and benches, at the front of which is a single long table with chairs sat on one side. People mill about, chatting happily with one another, while others look for seats with their friends or colleagues. This feels like high school all over again, only this time there's people with me, too.

"Thor?" Sif calls over the noise. "Is she to be introduced tonight?"

"My mother wishes to, so it is possible," he returns with his grin. "She shall be fine sitting with us tonight, Lady Sif. My mother intends to speak with her after dinner!"

That clears that up, then. With a slightly more controlled demeanor on my part, we all follow Thor towards the front of the room. Absently, my ears catch whatever whispers make it to them, some of them making me frown.

"What is she thinking?"

"Why is she alongside our prince?"

"When did another warrior join them?"

"What is she wearing?"

Questions raised but unanswered as Thor pats me on the shoulder and pulls me to the seat next to him. Pushing the annoying gossip form my mind, like always, a grin takes over my face while sliding into the seat between Hogun and Thor. When another question– "How did she get so close to them!?" – reaches my ears I can't help but smirk. These kinds of things are always fun to tease people with.

"I don't think the women here like me," I chuckle.

"Of course not," Sif sighs. "You wore something other than a dress."

My head cocks to the side, earlier confusion slightly cleared. "But Thor said that a warrior's formal attire would be their armor… This is my armor…"

"That definitely sounds like Thor," the womanizer sighs. "While that is true for us… both you and Sif are the only female warriors on Asgard, therefore it has remained tradition that all women continue to wear dresses."

"So, then," I muse, "they're all being sexist?"

Sif chokes on a random drink she pulled from a passing server, laughter replacing her coughs. Fandral and Volstagg give me strange looks while Hogun smiles and Thor laughs loudly, leaning on his arms. So they are sexist, then? Well, they're all about to have a large culture shock to their systems. No one is putting me in a dress against my will if it isn't required.

"Something wrong, Sif?" I ask coyly as she reigns herself in.

"No, no," she coughs out. "I only swallowed wrong."

"Really?" I ask, a grin spreading over my face.

She covers her mouth, still coughing yet smiling all the same. "Stop that! Honestly, you-"

A large thud echoes over the room, all sound dying out as people scurry to find places to sit. As the sound's echo fades, everyone just barely manages into a seat, strangely enough leaving the six of us plenty of room despite squeezing in wherever else. People from everywhere must have gathered in this hall – this can't just be people who live here in the palace to have stuffed every table nearly full. Although, this place is pretty big, and Thor did tell me not to wander too far from places that I remember without one of the five warriors around me. Probably more to do with unhappy people and 'unfair' punishments. So long as no one takes a shot at me, no part of me cares enough at the moment.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," a familiar aged voice calls out, making my ear ring and eyes turn. "We have a brave and honorable guest amongst us tonight. Please help welcome her to our home alongside my son in his return," Odin almost demands.

Cheers go up, although whether they're for the celebration, the unnamed guest – me – or Thor's return, hell if I know.

"Please, stand!" a woman at the front calls out, looking at me specifically with a smile. "We would like to truly welcome you, after all."

This won't be good. With a nudge from Thor and a look to Sif, my body climbs up to my feet on their own, unable to refuse. Once up, a protesting Aolani left with Hogun, and stepped back from the table, my ears catch a few disbelieving gasps along with a few annoying whispers slipping up and down the tables. Most of it sounds like women being jealous/petty about the 'guest,' but some of it sounds almost… disgusted? What the hell?

"Please, join me for a moment?" the woman up front smiles, stepping around the table.

What is she doing!? My worried glance to Thor does nothing but show his supportive grin, and earn me a slight push from the only person behind me. Why, oh why, must the silent man turn against me as well?

Slightly shaky, and with a hard swallow, I step forward towards her, taking the couple steps up to where she stands. Now up on the raised dais, as it appears to be, she turns me around, in which my eyes get a little turned about, vision spinning as the attention starts to get to me. Please don't let this be like Public Speaking freshman year of college – my first speech ended with me puking my guts out.

"Go on," she whispers. "Introduce yourself."

Bad idea, bad idea!

"My name," I call out as calmly as possible, "is Lyra Fury. A pleasure."