Chapter Four

Thor stared down at the red-painted magic circle drawn on the dirty warehouse floor, arms crossed across his broad chest. This place had once been a storage facility for something that needed to be packed into anonymous wooden crates and stored in stacks here and there across the main room. What was in the crates? He had no idea—Adela had said some agents came when the scene was fresh and looked inside them but he couldn't remember what they found.

Sunlight struggled through the thick coat of dust which encrusted the windows high up near the ceiling. This place was long abandoned, which made it the perfect place for their mysterious culprits to do whatever it was that they planned to do. A metal balcony outlined the upper rim of the entirely old brick room, held up by flimsy looking metal chains and opportune points.

Across the circle from him stood Adela with her hands on her wide hips, her green eyes locked on the circle. He could practically see the gears in her mind turning as she tried to make sense of what was before them. Even though she had investigated this particular scene before she was ever the dedicated agent, trying to decide if there was something she had missed. He doubted it. She seemed like the type that would have already combed over every inch of the building and perhaps even those surrounding it.

"I don't understand," Adela said at last. Thor wondered when she would next speak. "What are they trying to summon?"

"You said their symbol was associated with a medieval cult, didn't you? Are we so sure that isn't what's happening here?" he nudged a rock with his boot. "Perhaps they really are trying to summon vampires."

Adela snorted. "If only. Vampires we can handle. I'm just worried about what will happen if its more than that."

More than that . . . she meant the possibility that it was something cosmic. Something spanning multiple realms. Something that could cause rampant destruction if given a proper avenue to do so. Thor thought of the creatures his brother had attacked New York City with not that long ago. Was that what these cultists were thinking themselves? Did they plan to attack the city with something that had no right to be there?

Despite the frustration of not having any answers to the multitude of questions building up in his mind, Thor had to admit he enjoyed the chase of it. Especially given his appealing partner.

Every time Thor caught himself admiring the shapes and curves of Adela's body, every time he thought that she had a cute face, or that he found her antics and dedication to her work fascinating, he kept going back to Jane in his mind and an aching pang needled into his chest and made him turn away from such fancies. The break up had been mutual—Jane wanted to focus on her Ph.D—or, at least, that's what Thor told himself. In truth it was Jane who had dumped him, probably for the sake of her education in part. But Thor also suspected that she couldn't handle him being away in Asgard so much, rather than in Midgard with her.

So he would do well not to let such feelings commence for the lovely S.H.I.E.L.D agent across the magic circle from him. He would not allow another Jane to occupy his mind, only to have it end the same way.

"Have Sabrina and Loki found anything out on their end?" Thor asked. It was a glorious entertainment to see his brother working with Adela's pink-haired best friend. Loki had been so annoyed when Kaufmann handed him over to Sabrina that Thor almost couldn't contain his laughter. From then on it seemed to be one irritation after another between them—Loki commented every time the two brothers were together that Sabrina was always scowling at him and that she rarely gave him anything productive to do. She didn't trust him to look at the files and Thor couldn't say he blamed her. He could see that look in his brother's eye, though. As irritating as he found Sabrina, he was also fascinated by her.

Adela shook her head. "Nothing. She's got him looking up these symbols." She pointed at the circle. "And she's doing research on the Ouroboros. If we can just figure out what specific cult is doing this, then we can use the artifact we found to try and find whatever it is they're trying to summon. From there . . ."

As she spoke, Thor nodded. It really would be helpful if they at least had some idea of what kind of cultists they were dealing with.

Thor snuck glances at her when he was sure she wasn't looking. The frustration grew within her until it reflected through her face like a window. Observation alone told him that she was the type of person that enjoyed a challenge, but when she thought the challenge was about to overcome her she would get angry. He saw it happening as he looked at her.

"Come," Thor said, waving her over. She followed him out of the warehouse with an eyebrow raised.

"Where are we going? And you can't just tell me to come like I'm a dog."

"Noted. I thought we could get something to eat—I'm personally starving, and we're not finding anything new at the scene. We need to regroup and think about our next move." If he was correct thinking what he did about her, he understood what it was like to feel that way. Thor himself rather enjoyed being presented with a new challenge. Anything too easy was hardly worth doing. But when the challenges became too overwhelming . . . well, sometimes the best thing was to get away from it and think.

I sound like Loki Thor thought with a sour chuckle.

He and Adela walked down the street until they came across a small burger place. There were a modest amount of people inside. Not too many, but they wouldn't exactly have the place to themselves either. They walked in and, after ordering a feast to split between them on S.H.I.E. dime, found a nice quiet booth to sit at in the back of the restaurant. The large clown statue in the center of the dining area unnerved him. It was a hideous creature. Did children really find it entertaining?

Windows made up the entirety of the restaurant dining area. Bright, early afternoon sunlight lit up every inch of the space. Tile peeled in a few places to the photographs of the original restaurant that started the chain back in the forties adorned the wall by the suspicious smelling bathrooms. Other customers ate quietly at their own tables, minding their own businesses.

"We don't have food like this on Asgard," Thor said after the food had been brought to their table and they began eating. "We don't have meat on bread like this—and these things." He held up a fry. "We only have potatoes in the form of potatoes. Not greasy hot sticks."

She chuckled. "Then that's hardly a life worth living. I love fries." She took one out of its red container and popped it between her teeth.

"Why do you think I enjoy coming to Midgard so? The food here is dangerous. If I'm not careful I'll grow fat from it."

"I can't imagine you fat." Her smile, small as it was, caught Thor's eye in a way that even he couldn't deny. She was really a very lovely little creature. Short, but well endowed in all the areas that mattered most. Seeing her smile made him smile too. "That doesn't seem right."

He laughed, loud and booming. "It doesn't, does it?"

They made small conversation while they ate. He learned that Adela enjoyed action films, and when she heard that he hadn't watched many movies since his first arrival in Midgard years before she insisted that they watch a few of her favorites together at some point. He made a show of interest but made no concrete plans.

"So, I'm curious," Thor said. "What's your story?"

"My story?" Adela asked, mouth full of cheeseburger.

"Yes. Who were you before you joined S.H.I.E.L.D? For two people who are working together, we actually know very little about one another. I mean, you probably already know about me but—"

"My story doesn't matter." The sharpness in her voice was enough to push him back from questioning further, but in turn had made him twice as curious. He let it drop and the two ate in silence.

"Oh!" Thor tried again. "Loki told me about your—oh, what are they called? You know, that thing with the little foam bullets?"

"Nerf guns?"

"Yes! That's it! He told me about your nerf gun fiasco in the archives room the other day. Absolutely hilarious! He told me on your way out you promised that if he misbehaved you would coat the other end in syrup and get it stuck in his hair?"

Pride beamed through her face in a bright, glorious light. "I did."

"I bet the look on his face was priceless!" Thor laughed. "Are you really going to do it?"

"Who knows? I did, however, make an appointment with the agency barber—you know, just in case." She grinned as she took a big bite out of the fry between her fingers. "I'm a wildcard. You never know what I'm going to do next. Though in this case it is entirely up to your brother behaving himself around my best friend."

"Oh so you are going to do it then. Loki behaving himself is the least likely thing I can think of." He nodded. "Okay, good to know. I'll start preparing my jokes at his expense now, then. I appreciate the heads up."

"Hey, what can I say? I'm a very considerate person." She really was lovely when she smiled, and when she did it was infectious. "I trust I have your permission to torment him, since you're his big brother and all?"

"Oh absolutely. As long as you don't hurt him—I don't know why I feel the need to add that, but it seems important that I do."

"Eh, its better to err on the side of caution. Especially since they call me Agent 626 at work."

"Agent 626?"

Adela nodded. "Yeah, you know. Like from Lilo and Stitch. Stitch was called 'Experiment 626,' and he was a chaotic mess." She pointed at herself with an overabundance of pride. "That's me."

She was certainly . . . different from Jane. That much was for sure. The more Thor heard her talk about this Lilo and Stitch film, stating it as one of her favorite movies, the greater the rift between her and Jane became. Jane was serious almost all the time—but Adela was walking madness who knew how to laugh and make others around her laugh as well. Being around her didn't make him wonder, on some small level, if he'd done something to make her angry. With Jane he couldn't always tell. But with Adela it was much easier. She wore her emotions plainly on her face.

From films, they floated over to other subjects. How they landed from one to another was a mystery to him but he enjoyed the ride nonetheless. Their meal was half gone by the time they got to the subject of Adela accidentally sending text messages meant for Sabrina to senior agents. Thor was practically in tears laughing when she told him the Steve Rogers story.

"And so I said 'Steve Rogers is fucking delicious and I'm glad he's single because I would climb that like a tree'—exact words, swear to God—and I thought I sent it to Sabrina. Well, I didn't hear back from her for a long time so when I checked my messages to see if I maybe just missed it I realized I sent it to fucking Nick Fury! Nick-fucking-Fury, who works with the Captain himself, knew I wanted to fuck Steve Rogers! I seriously almost died from embarrassment."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes!" She paused, thought about it, then looked away with a blush on her cheeks. She put the straw of her soda to her lips and drank until nothing remained but the ice. "Though I just remembered that you know him too so if Nick Fury didn't already tell him, you're probably going to, aren't you?"

Thor gave a shrug, grinning. "Who knows? Maybe I will, maybe I won't." He wouldn't. Firstly because it would be cruel, since she was clearly embarrassed by the whole situation, but also because it made him feel odd thinking she would want to be intimate with someone he knew. A friend. It was just best that the whole thing remained between the two of them.

"You're the worst!" She smacked him on the arm, but the smile upon her lips betrayed her true feelings.

"What can I say? I've gotten in with bad company lately. It's rubbing off on me."

Without looking at him, Adela muttered "I'd certainly like to—" then whatever she was about to say must've occurred to her, because she looked at him with her face bright red. She coughed. "I mean, y-yeah probably. That's what I do, ya know. Sabrina was so much more innocent before I corrupted her with my bad influence powers!"

"What are your powers, if you don't mind me asking."

"Well . . . okay, how to best explain this . . ." She thought about it. "I can connect with the spirits of nature, and sometimes they lend me their powers if I need them. Like, for example, I can commune with trees and they'll talk back to me and if I need their power they'll let me use it, which in the case of trees usually means using roots as spikes and making my skin so much tougher. Though to be honest I don't really like talking to the trees—they're always asking if I'm eating enough and if I'm dating anyone. They want me to marry a doctor." She rolled her eyes. "It gets to be kind of a lot, so I try to stay away from trees."

That was . . . certainly not what Thor had been expecting. What he'd been expecting, really, he had no actual idea—he just knew it wasn't that. He couldn't very well consider it odd or unbelievable that she could talk to the spirits of nature. After all, was he not the God of Thunder from the Asgardian realm? He was in no position to disbelieve much of anything.

"So do you . . . hear voices from nature around you all the time?"

She laughed. "No, no, it doesn't work like that. I have to open myself up to specific natural elements to hear anything. Like, if I'm talking to the trees I won't just hear the wind or the grass jabbering around me. I have to seek them out specifically. Otherwise, I think I would go insane!"

"Oh well that's good then!"

They finished their meal and threw the mountain of wrappers and containers in the trash.