The Upper East Side of New York City was known for its elegant brownstones. Clustered together to form a great wall of brick and stucco, accented with windows and little staircases. They were best known for being the homes of the social elite, people the mortals treated like modern-day gods. But they would never consider the brownstones a place where a goddess would reside.

Goddesses were supposed to live in grand palaces or hidden hovels in the woods. Not common townhouses in New York City. It was hard to picture one sitting on the back patio with her feet popped up on the bistro table, a book laid across her lap. Enjoying a cup of tea in the crisp fall air. It certainly wasn't a balcony overlooking the grand waterfalls of Olympus but the patio's high brick walls, cascading greenery, and marble fountain were just as good.

The house was a gift after all, and who was the great goddess Athena to reject gifts when there were so few to be had. And she needed somewhere to enjoy her days off.

After her fall, S.H.I.E.L.D. offered her a proposition since she was stuck on Earth for an indefinite amount of time. S.H.I.E.L.D. would help her find a job and housing and help her assimilate into human life and Athena wouldn't cause any trouble. She raised a little ruckus with the townhouse ordeal but, in her defense, it was an unused safehouse excluded from any of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records. After she sweet-talked Fury into letting her inhabit the property, his superiors weren't the happiest.

It was a five-thousand square foot masterpiece. Two floors were dedicated to master bedrooms, one of which Athena turned into a private museum of sorts. And the rooftop terrace was perfect for gazing at the night sky and wishing for more stars. She could host fabulous parties if she wanted to. But for parties she needed friends and Athena was short on those.

For the time being, she enjoyed having a big place for herself and her books. The one she held in her hands was an old favorite. The worn, aged pages felt familiar against her fingertips. The ancient script scrawled along them made her miss her home.

Golden sunlight streamed down through the clear November sky. Birds chirped and flitted from the little house concealed in the foliage. The only way the day could get better was if it was a little warmer. She took another sip of tea from her still warm mug before she retired back inside.

The book found its place on the shelf once again and the mug to the sink in the upstairs kitchen. She went up another flight on the spiral staircase and into the bedroom that she turned into a little museum. It had an old Victorian glamour hidden behind her collections. Birchwood parquet floors, a marble fireplace, and a cream color scheme. Pottery from private collectors and hundreds of books from libraries. Handwoven tapestries hung about the walls.

Athena had made it a hobby to collect things that reminded her of home. Little statue horses and paintings of muses and gods. A few ottomans and settees and even potted olive and citrus trees.

Athena's bedroom was the only room that resembled an actual home instead of a museum. After staying with a host family for so long, Athena had gotten used to modern styles. Mahogany wood paneling, glass tiled floors, and a bathtub large enough for two that faced a fireplace. Of course, she couldn't forget about the King-sized bed with more than enough pillows. In Olympus, she slept with a thin sheet to cover her. Now, she couldn't fall asleep without a heavy comforter pulled up to her chin. Unlike in the summer with her host family.

There was only one window air conditioning unit for the apartment and it was in the living room. When the bedroom fans didn't provide enough circulation, Athena and her brothers would set up camp in the living room. Making forts out of the couch cushions and pillows and staying up much later than Lydia wanted them too. It was great to feel like a kid without responsibility, something she missed during the war in Olympus.

The Manikas was first-generation Greek Immigrants with ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. And they accepted a strange woman from a strange land with open arms. Lydia and Kostas Manikas had three sons who were rowdy and kept Athena on her toes. There was once a prank war lasting three weeks, it was only stopped by The Great Christmas Truce of 1989.

Christmas was coming soon. And with the Manikas' huge family it was always a big festivity. They rented out a community center for the party and hosted a mini-Olympics. Athena thought about offering up her house as a fee free alternative but other than the basement there wasn't enough room to fit all of the uncles, aunts, and cousins that came along with being a Manikas. And the kitchen certainly wasn't large enough to hold all the food.

As Athena picked up the hamper from her bathroom, her cell phone rang, the symbol for S.H.I.E.L.D appeared on the screen. She set the basket back down and answered it urgently. A call meant an emergency that Athena's inferiors couldn't handle.

"Doctor Pallas, we know it's your day off, but we need you to come in. We have a special case for you to look at," a nurse stated, a hushed urgency to her voice.

Athena sighed and made her way back down the stairs, "Alright, I'll be there as soon as possible."

She was not dressed to be anywhere near the medical wing. Her oversized sweatshirt, jogger sweatpants and fuzzy socked feet didn't exude medical professionalism. She shoved her feet into a pair of athletic trainers and squeaked across the green marble floor of the entryway, grabbing her coat and keys on her way out the door. No one on the street cared to look at the woman in the trench coat climbing into the Suburban on the side of the road.

It was only a quick drive from the townhouse to the Triskelion on Roosevelt Island. Clouds rolled in as she traveled, blocking out the comforting sun and bringing bitter winds with them. She left her car in the S.H.I.E.L.D authorized parking lot and took the ferry to the dock of the Triskelion like she would on any other morning.

But unlike the usual morning routine, the medical wing swarmed with agents and doctors all talking over one another. Mortals would never change. All Athena heard was "attacked agent" and "lucky to be alive".

"Stop talking!" she barked, "Your words won't help him. Either show me where he is or let him die."

They pushed open the door to reveal the unconscious agent.

"He was attacked at a surveillance point and started seizing when he came into contact with epinephrine. There are no obvious wounds on his body and we have no idea what caused it," Athena's colleague stated.

"Are you sure you didn't find anything?"

"Well here are his blood test results, you can look through them and tell me if you see anything unusual."

He handed Athena a manila folder and she flipped through it. Unusual didn't begin to describe it. Strange symbols decorated the page, printed in strange lines and overlapping in places. Athena recognized none of them and she knew several languages that used characters instead of the Latin alphabet.

"Is this a joke?"

The doctor adjusted his glasses, "No. The machine went haywire. Beeping and shaking. Every button flashing. It spat out those results before completely breaking down. Maintenance is working on it right now, but it may be a loss."

Athena took a pen out of her co-worker's breast pocket and found a blank page. She sketched what symbols she could pick out of the mess. They still looked unfamiliar.

"Whatever happened to him was alien. There's no way it's from Earth."

The doctor gaped, "But… that's impossible. We're at peace with Asgard."

"That doesn't mean we're at peace with every alien race. Thor isn't even on Earth as far as I know," Athena sighed and snapped the folder shut. "I'm going to figure this out. No one disturbs me unless there's another incident."

The colleague nodded and she threw herself back into the corridor, expecting a crowd of expectant professionals awaiting her. Instead, the hall was empty, save for the two orderlies meant to attend the victim.

"I want eyes on him 24/7. If anything changes you let me know."

X|X|X|X|X|X

Athena's office had a wall of windows that faced south. Observing the waters of the East River until the bend was swallowed up by the East Village and Green Point. Seeing as it was a place Athena spent a lot of time, she acquired the necessary items to make it more "homey".

A bookshelf with a few quick reads, a simple glass vase that housed fresh blooms, and a couple of rugs for texture. And for late nights, the bottom drawer of her filing cabinet hid a cozy blanket and small pillow. It was a shame she couldn't get curtains, or at least blinds, for the massive wall of windows.

Two hours later, Athena sat at the holo-table in her office with various figures hovering in the air. She narrowed down the languages. The symbols weren't Norse, Asgardian, Chitauri, Greek, Olympian, hell they weren't even cuneiform. But she knew they were part of a spell. Magic and technology didn't mix, especially old magic.

S.H.I.E.L.D's archives held no information about alien races besides the Chitauri. She wished she could take the file home and work, she had more resources there, but S.H.I.E.L.D was touchy about what information they allowed outside the walls of the Triskelion.

A few minutes passed and she found herself flipping through Agent Stone's file. Married with a child and another on the way. Employed during the battle of New York and worked on the evacuation effort. The S.H.I.E.L.D Academy scouted him because of his high standardized testing scores and brute physicality.

Someone with such a high understanding of complex problem solving and biomedical engineering wasted their talents in the field. Maybe after the incident, he would retire to the bionics department and help create new tech. If he stayed alive.

Using old magic on Earth was tricky. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Athena had experience with a few choice cases. Like with Arachne… well, that was personal and the outcome was desirable either way.

She sighed in defeat and tossed another piece of paper onto the holo table. It passed through a cuneiform tablet on its way, causing it to shimmer and wave. Athena's chair scraped back as she stood. Maybe paying another visit to the victim would help her.

If a spell was used against this man, there would be an identifier on his body. All spells left a trace behind. Something that could be used to find either the caster of the spell or which spell it was. And that would be enough of a clue.

Agent Stone's body was serene. His chest rose up and down with the steady beep of the heart monitor and soft whoosh of the ventilator. Athena lifted his arm and checked for a brand, an insignia, anything. There was none. She checked every part of his body for something that might give her a clue as to what spell the attacker used, but her searches were futile. Only the pinkish-purple hues of the bruising. If someone was using powerful sorcery, why were there so many marks of a physical fight?

She decided that her visit was futile and got up to leave, but Agent Stone started moving. Athena turned, expecting to see him awake and incoherent. Instead, he thrashed. His wild movement shook the bed and machines around him.

Athena rushed to his side. The heart monitor picked up speed and his breathing was erratic. As Athena watched him shake, his hand seized her neck, squeezing. Agent Stone's tremors ceased and he sat straight up in the hospital bed.

"He's coming…"

In an odd state of panic, Athena clawed at her attacker's hands. He only squeezed harder. Athena's vision grew hazy then bright white as she firmly placed her hands on Agent Stone's arms. Against her own will, Athena muttered ancient words with her choked breath. Golden light surrounded her hands, creeping up Stone's arms and to his neck. His eyes reflected the gold light. His arms went slack and he fell back against the pillow.

Agent Stone's body stilled, the heart monitor returned to its regular pattern. Athena's knees collided with the floor, her hands caressing her throat. From above Agent Stone let out a hoarse whisper.

"Ares…"

The one word struck fear in Athena's heart. Her brother, God of Chaotic War, usurped her throne and tried to kill her. He knew she was alive and he was pissed. So pissed he forced a mortal to do his bidding.

Athena used the bed rail to pull herself up and look at Agent Stone. His head lolled to the side, jaw slack, eyes unseeing.

"How do you know my brother?"

No response. Ares wouldn't dignify himself with dealing with mortals. One of his henchmen would have done it. Which meant they were still in New York City and Athena alerted them to her presence.

Using her healing powers put a burst of energy into the world, like the way phones put out GPS signals. Except Athena's GPS signals were undetectable to mortals and their technology, only other Olympians. And Asgardians considering the two were closely related. It was a risk to the safety of Earth and Athena, but it was worth the risk. That man had a family that he needed to return to and Athena knew that she would have a little time before Ares came for her. And that was enough.

A gaggle of nurses rushed into the room, meaning to attend to their distressed patient, but became confused at the sight of Athena on the floor and their patient in a deep sleep.

"Doctor Pallas? Is everything okay?" one of them spoke.

The use of magic exhausted Athena. That was new. She reached her hand out as a coughing fit took hold. She looked like a mess. Strands of dark brown hair loosened from her braid, face blushed from fighting off the cursed agent.

Another nurse helped her up and into the plastic chair against the wall. Her breath was still ragged as she tried to explain what happened. She realized there was no way to explain the events.

"Just a coughing fit," she assured them as she finally caught a steady breath, "Bet you didn't know I was an asthmatic."

Athena tried to laugh it off. The nursing staff gave her uneasy smiles.

"He'll be awake soon," she warned before dismissing them and heading back to her office, hoping she could lock the door and take a nap. Hopefully, the walls were thick enough no one would hear her snoring.

She unlocked her office only to find Maria Hill sitting in the desk chair.

"You look like shit," the agent commented.

Maria Hill and Athena had entered the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy at the same time. They were sparring partners and despised each other to the bone. Athena was a natural at combat, she had the timing, strength, and stamina. Maria was slower but she had fire and Athena respected it.

One night Athena found Maria in the training room past curfew, fighting an automated bot and getting her ass kicked. Athena stepped in and offered to go easy on her when they fought. Maria made a face and told Athena to give it all she had. After giving her pointers, Maria had Athena pinned. Of course, Athena let Maria win as a confidence boost. But the two were thick as thieves afterward.

"I've got a case stranger than Roswell," Athena said.

She slumped into the leather armchair across from her desk and threw her feet up.

"Really?"

"Really."

"So I suppose that means you won't be up for a little fun tonight?"

Athena considered it for a minute. She had an odd case that she was desperate to solve, was just attacked by a patient with a connection to the brother trying to murder her, and was exhausted from her use of magic.

"That depends on what you have planned?"

"I'm having dinner with this really nice guy I met in alien research and he's got a friend, so I said that I'd bring a friend for his friend and I was hoping that you would be the friend for the friend," she rambled.

Athena blinked. A double date? With some random guy? Was Athena really that desperate to get away from work? If she did go home it would probably be another History channel night. Nothing but Athena, a bottle of wine, and incorrect documentaries about ancient history. And that would spiral into Athena returning to the case and staying up until the wee hours of the morning in the depths of mania.

"Is his friend nice?"

"He's from communications technology. Jason told me he was a really nice guy. Just got out of a committed relationship so he's not looking for anything. This is a one-time thing and I'll never ask you for anything this important ever again. Just … please?"

Athena chewed her lip and stared out the window. Rain streaked down the spotless glass, and the cloudy sky gave no clue as to where the sun was. Only grey and rainy.

"Is he hot though?"

Athena had always been a little shallow in her lovers. She was used to being surrounded by people with perfect features and it showed in her pickiness. It also showed in the fact that she was still single despite working in a hotspot of men looking for something to fill the void.

"Christ Ana, I don't know! Will you just do this for me?"

"If he's ugly, you'll never hear the end of it."

"I figured as much. So you'll do it?"

"You've worn me down."

Maria burst into a flurry of 'thank you's before she hurried out of the office. Athena would have to stop at home to grab suitable clothes for a date. She doubted sweatpants and athletic trainers were allowed through the doors of the fancy restaurant Maria named. At least her evening still involved wine and good food.

She did feel bad for abandoning the case, but she was too tired to fall into a manic episode and stay up all night researching ancient languages. Agent Stone and Ares would have to wait until tomorrow morning.