Seren woke up with some clear goals the following morning. She took a quick shower, put on some fresh clothes (another official pantsuit she hated) and headed out to the base. On her way there, she managed to sneak a glance at the two agents Coulson placed to tail Thor. The poor souls were bored out of their minds.

At the base, she came across not Coulson but their prized sniper, Clint Barton, first.

"Hey, look who's back?" With Clint, Seren never knew if he was joking or not. "Agent Soul has her bearings back?"

Seren playfully rolled her eyes at him. "What are the rumors?" Of course no agent would be able to keep their mouth shut about her go with Coulson last night.

"'Agent Soul's a softie for the alien'," Clint said immediately then thought for a second. "That's one of the nicer ones I can think of."

Seren shook her head. "They can all kindly go to hell. Or—" she put on a big smile for Clint, "—if they're that interested in me, I welcome them to say something to my face."

No one would dare to. Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. knew it was futile to pick a fight with Stardust. Sheer biology and her long experience with S.H.I.E.L.D. guaranteed her victory.

Clint pretended to shudder. He knew it too. "I pity the fool that's dumb enough to try."

Seren ended up smiling at him. "Where's Coulson?" She asked a moment later. The man was nowhere in sight.

"Last time I heard, he was tracking some strange signals."

"Ah, and Winters?"

"She's on her way to God knows where. Well, Fury knows where."

"What?" Seren frowned. "Fury sent Chloe away?"

"Her skills were deemed no longer necessary," Clint said.

With a sigh, Seren nodded. That was always how it went with Chloe. "I have to talk to Coulson."

"What about?" Clint went after her down the tunnels. Seren said nothing but her face tightened. It took very few minutes for Clint to understand. "That guy? You know he left our people in pretty bad shape."

"I know and I feel for them but don't you wonder why Thor would do all this for a hammer that wouldn't even come off the ground?"

Clint shrugged. He hadn't.

"I was thinking about it all night—"

"Instead of resting like Coulson told you to." Clint was soon subjected to a glare. "Sorry, I heard that too."

Seren wouldn't even waste time on that. "I realize that this hammer belonged to him but something happened and now he's not 'worthy'."

"What?" Clint stopped walking, leaving Seren a few steps ahead of him.

She sighed and paced back and forth as she came up with the right way to explain what she meant. "Chloe said that the Hivemind picked up on a detail about the hammer. Only people who are worthy of the hammer can lift it. What if Thor used to be worthy?"

"I...really want to understand but it all sounds...crazy…"

Seren groaned. "C'mon Barton, work with me!"

"I will once you start talking English with me," Clint said then winced when he heard himself. Seren's expression fell into a deep glare. "Sorry, that was a poor choice of words."

"I know it's weird and it sounds like gibberish but I just know that if we stop treating that hammer and Thor like threats, we'll get somewhere."

"Sounds a lot easier than all this, I'll give you that, but how are you going to do it?"

"I'm going to talk to Coulson. We need to talk to Thor again and maybe that Jane Foster woman."

Clint's expression would've been comical if the situation wasn't so dire. "Talking? That's your big plan? Just talking?"

Seren started backtracking from him. "Yup! Wars can always be contained if people just talked!" She smiled ever so cheerfully.

"Aren't you friends with the man who literally drowned himself to stop a war?"

"He didn't die, he was iced, and I know that he would be on board for the same reason! Avoid fights and death!" Seren nodded firmly then turned to finally go find Coulson. She found the man near one of their monitoring rooms.

"Ah, Agent Soul, are we better today?" Coulson asked as soon as he spotted her coming his way.

"Yes, I'm sorry for last night but we seriously need to reconsider our strategies here!"

Coulson was genuinely bemused with her persistence of the same topic. He always found Seren to be reserved and quiet which was why he was bemused that this mission had her doing a 180. "And what, pray tell, would you have in mind?"

"We need to bring that man in again — Thor? He has all the answers we need. We just need to ask."

"We did," Coulson reminded her.

"No, we interrogated, which is fine because that's what we do but if it's not working, shouldn't we try to see what does? Do what works?" Seren posed a good, albeit challenging, question but it was the fact that she was doing it with a clear head that persuaded Coulson to listen more. She was a good agent, always had been, and she had one of the best (and most extensive) training under her belt. She knew what she was talking about.

Coulson gave her a small nod. "I guess. How do we proceed?"

Seren beamed. "We need to go back to the town and find Thor, along with Jane Foster. And who was that guy with them? The one who picked Thor up?"

"That would be Dr. Selvig. We've had some run-ins and he happens to know an old colleague of ours."

"Seriously?" Very few people knew about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence and those who did usually did because they'd been in contact with them. "Who?"

"Dr. Pym."

Seren's eyes widened. "Really? The same Dr. Pym with the miniature…" she mimicked small particles with her fingers.

"The same one."

"And you just let him take Thor like that?"

"Not without eyes in the background."

"Yeah, your 'eyes' were having breakfast on top of a motor shop roof."

Coulson shook his head. "Those idiots."

"Let me go talk to Thor, Jane and Selvig," Seren put her hands together.

"How do you know that they'll want to talk to you?" Coulson asked her, and a fairly good question too.

"Because I'm going to go alone, without the threatening goons behind me."

"Oh, right, because you're not the most dangerous agent around here?" Coulson smirked at her flattened expression.

"Well, it's my luck that I'm small and appear non-threatening," Seren announced with her own smirk. She adjusted her blazer and turned on her heels. "I'll be back!"

"Keep me posted!" Coulson called after her.

~0~

Seren took her own ride back to the town. She meant every word she said to Coulson about appearing nonthreatening. She had to be on her own to gain at least a 2 minute entry with Thor and his group.

She walked through the town, arms on her sides and eyes ransacking every practical corner of the streets. She stood out, no surprise. People would throw her suspicious glances that she plainly ignored. That came with the job unfortunately.

She came up to the motor shop roof where the two agents were. How did she stand out just by walking the street but not them on the roof?

"Hey," she called to them, startling one of them into dropping their drink. Seren calmly stepped to the side when the drink rolled off the roof. With a flattened face, her eyes flickered up. "Where are they?"

One of the agents, Garrett, pointed towards a building across from them. Seren turned in the direction and walked forwards. As she approached the building, she could see Thor's distinctive figure through the glass doors. Taking in a breath, she knocked two knuckles on the door.

All four of them froze like statues. Seren raised her hands to show she came in peace. While the humans took their time deliberating her entrance, Thor stepped forwards.

"Please?" Seren tried her luck. "I'm alone. I only came to talk."

Thor looked away from her to the group. He seemed to tell them something quietly and it was apparently the right thing because the next second, he was opening the doors for her.

Seren beamed and stepped inside before they changed their minds. "Thank you," she said, hands pressing her blazer down. "I'm, uh, Agent Seren Soul…"

"We know," Jane said, rightfully sour.

"Why is she here?" The smaller woman in glasses asked Thor.

"I do not know…" Thor said slowly as his eyes fell on Seren, clearly trying to work that out himself.

"I wanted to pick up where we left off before Dr. Selvig took you away. You don't really think we fell for the ruse that you're an astrophysicist?" Seren said, smiling when the humans stiffened. "But kudos to whoever doctored the DMV license. That takes some serious work."

The smaller woman grinned and raised a hand, identifying herself as the mastermind. "Darcy Lewis, keep that in mind for future internships. I may be needing a new one…" Her eyes flickered to Jane who sighed wearily. For a moment there, Seren was reminded of her relationship with Chloe.

"If you knew the identity was fake, why'd you let him go anyways?" asked Selvig.

"Because we want to know things, obviously. I'm trying something new here," Seren gestured to her very presence.

"And what would that be?" Jane raised an eyebrow at her.

"I just want to know what happened," Seren said plainly. "Why are you here, Thor? Why is the hammer where it is? Why...couldn't you take it back?"

"And you just expect him to answer that?" Jane said before Thor even thought about answering.

Seren shrugged. "I'm listening and if I can, I'd like to help. Earth isn't your home so I can imagine you'd want to leave."

Thor's eyebrows raised as a bittersweet smile crossed his face. "Home is somewhere I can never go back to."

Seren felt the heavy feeling of those words. It was the same way her grandmother used to talk about Celessia. "Why not?"

"Because I have been exiled." Thor met her gaze to see her sympathy filling each of her features. She was genuine, alright.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. She glanced at the others. None of them had heard that yet. They were too shocked to fake it. "Okay," she said after a moment, her mind racing to come up with some solutions, "Okay, um, we can...we can try to help you regain access to your hammer…"

"Mjionir is lost to me," Thor said with a heavy sigh. "I am not worthy of it."

"You keep saying that but what does it mean?" Seren begged him for a clear answer. "What changed?"

"It's not a matter of changing, it is because of who I am and who I am is not worthy of Mjionir."

Seren would hold her tongue to keep in her 'that's still vague' comment because the look on Thor's face wasn't one to prod more to. "Listen, whatever the situation is, if you're staying...let me help you."

"Why would you want to help him?" Jane was now curious over the woman. The way Selvig talked about S.H.I.E.L.D. left little room to believe that one of their agents would willingly help relocate an alien.

Seren half smiled. "Let's just say I know what he's going through. I've heard it and because I'm a product of what happens when it works out...I'm confident that I can help you, Thor."

Thor matched her smile with his own. "I thank you for that but right now I am not sure what I—"

He was interrupted by a loud bang against the door accompanied with an equally loud "Found you!". The group jumped in their spots, save Thor, and looked over to see an interestingly dressed trio of men and one woman happily staring at them.

Thor was the only one who reacted positively to the group. "My friends!" He raced towards the doors to greet them.

Seren's eyes were wide with the spectacle but like Selvig and Darcy, she was wonderstruck.

"I don't believe it…" Selvig struggled to say his words coherently.

"There's more," Seren's lips stretched wide in a smile. She couldn't help the jittery feeling that was blossoming over her chest.

"Who are they?" Darcy's voice pulled Thor from his momentum with the armored clad group. They stepped outside to see them better.

One of them, Volstagg, stepped towards them with his arms held open on either side of him. "Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Surely you've heard tales of Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing, and I, Volstagg the Svelte?" At his last description, Selvig sharply looked at his figure, forcing Volstagg to rethink. "Well, perhaps I've put on a little more muscle since I was here last."

"That would have been a thousand years ago?" Jane said from the top of her head. It apparently didn't stump the group because they simply nodded. "Northern Europe?" She tried again and still, they nodded.

"Exactly! Those lovely herring people. They worshipped us!"

Thor grinned and slapped a hand on Volstagg's shoulder. "My friends, I've never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come."

Another warrior, Fandral, cocked his head at Thor. It was easy to see that none of them were expecting Thor to say something like that. "We're here to take you home."

"You know I can't. My father is dead because of me. I must remain in exile."

Seren thought it weird that he would have to explain that to them. Shouldn't they already know?

The only woman of the group, Sif, stepped towards Thor, wearing a similar puzzled face as the other. "Thor... your father still lives."

There was no reason to disbelieve her and even if there was, Thor didn't consider it. He latched onto her words the moment they left her lips. His face darkened as something donned on him, whatever it was the others wouldn't know.

"Umm, what is that?" They heard Jane's voice. She had turned away from them and with good reason. Clouds were swirling in the distance, making it like a storm was brewing.

"Was somebody else coming?" Darcy liked to be optimistic that not everything was dark.

Unfortunately, Seren had plenty of experience where that was not the case. The ginger took a few steps towards the storm. "I need to get over there."

No sooner had she said that when the storm released a tunnel-like structure down to the ground. It was strong enough to rock everyone on their feet.

"What the hell is that?" Selvig exclaimed when they saw fire explode from the distance.

"Now that looks like a threat," Seren sighed. She pulled her phone out to call Coulson.

"Is that a robot?" Darcy laid eyes on a figure moving its way towards the town.

"That is Loki's doing," Thor said, making Seren turn sideways. Coulson wasn't answering her calls. He was probably at the sight right now.

She put her phone away in her back pocket. "And that would be…?"

"My brother." His grim response alerted her that this Loki wouldn't be as forthcoming as Thor.

"How much danger does he pose to this town, Thor?" Seren was already making calculations of the town's population. There were children and that alone churned her stomach. "Thor?" She called him again, more urgently.

"They need to leave the town," Thor finally answered. He could see the creature, the Destroyer, nearing them. It was fast.

Seren nodded. "Evacuation," she resolved then turned to Selvig, Jane and Darcy. "We need to evacuate the town as fast as possible. My contacts aren't answering me which means we are on our own for now."

"The Lady of the Stars is right," Thor nodded, missing the odd looks the others sent Seren for his name.

"Lady of the...stars?" Jane gave Seren a scrutinizing look. "What does that mean?"

"She is a Celessian," Thor said as if that would explain everything to her. To her comrades, however, it did.

"A Celessian on Earth?" Sif gave Seren a similar look like Jane, though hers was more curious. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, dammit!" Seren almost slapped her forehead. Her eyes flickered to Thor. "That's on a need to know basis," she said with a tight-lipped smile. Thor had the decency to be sorry for it.

"You're-you're an alien?" Darcy's eyes were wide as dinner plates.

"Never mind that! We need to act now!"

"Yes," Thor agreed, turning to Jane again. "Leave this town now. Get yourself and your friends to safety!"

Jane was horrified at the idea. "What about you!?"

"I'm staying here."

"Thor's going to fight with us!" Volstagg cheered but Thor shook his head.

"My friends, I'm just a man. I'll only be in the way, or worse, get one of you killed. But I can help get these people to safety."

"Lovely plan," Seren agreed, already stepping back from them.

"Well, if you're staying then so am I!" Jane declared and behind her, Selvig and Darcy agreed with her stance.

"More hands, the merrier!" Seren shooed them to help start the evacuation. These people were very slow!

"Celessian," called one of the warriors, stopping her before she disappeared with the humans, "Shall you not stop and fight with us?"

Seren swallowed. "Me? With you? I…" She glanced at Thor as if she waited for his opinion on the matter. "I have never fought something like that, especially something not from this world."But this is what you've been training for. This is why S.H.I.E.L.D. took you in as a child.

"Loki is from Asgard and as such, our responsibility," Thor declared. He could see the uneasiness in Seren and after what she'd done for him, for what she tried to do for him, he could spare her a fight that did not belong to her.

Seren appreciated his attempt and for the moment, she would focus on getting everyone out of the town. The warriors headed to meet the Destroyer head-on.

"Where's the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D.!?" Selvig demanded from Seren as they hurried towards the nearby diner.

"Probably wondering what the hell is going on too, doctor!" Seren huffed. As much as they wanted, they couldn't possibly know everything!

People were brought out from their buildings and shuffled into their cars. The Destroyer arrived with fire in its trail. The warriors would take it in some strategic move but when Seren saw the biggest warrior get thrown over to a car, nearly impaled, she had to wonder if this would really pan out in their favor.

"Agent!" she heard Jane. Seren whirled around to see her grouping a family on the back of a truck.

Seren then noticed a lingering mother and child two buildings down from the truck. "Oh, c'mon!" She dashed towards them, ignoring the rumbling of the ground from what she presumed was another attack towards the warriors. ""Ma'am, we have to go!" she pulled the mother's arm towards the truck, forcing the child to come along in the process.

"But what is that thing? Why is it attacking us!?"

"Petty disagreements, I can only guess." Seren abruptly stopped when she heard a blast far too loud to ignore. She looked back and saw the warriors being blasted from each other. From the corner of her eye, she saw Thor race towards the scene despite making it clear that he was a regular mortal now.

"Mama…" the child with them tugged on his mother's arm, reminding Seren that she still had a job to do too.

"Go! Go! Go!" she ushered the pair towards the truck then turned back to the scene. She sucked in a deep breath and stepped forwards.

Thor had reached Sif and was trying to rouse some sense in her. They had to fall back. The Destroyer was getting ready to fire at the pair but before it did, a new attack hit its back. Thor was quick to send Sif out of the scene and only then he was able to see the source of the new attack.

Seren was shooting from her balled fists with what she would later say were her star bolts. They were bolts of colorful flames that struck the Destroy one after the other without rest. The Destroyer slowly turned around to face her and though she was reasonably nervous, Seren felt more anger than the former. She was not backing down.

From their spot, Darcy was the first to bellow an incredulous laugh. "She really is an alien!"

Jane would elbow her on the side to shush her. This wasn't the time...even though it was quite the sight. A poised agent in a pantsuit shooting alien bolts from her hands? That was permanently seared in her head.

The creature struck fire towards Seren, engulfing her in it for a second. She gritted her teeth together as she felt the stinging of the flames on her exposed skin. She pushed back with a large sphere of star matter that bought her a few minutes to catch her breath, as well as her balance. She'd been rocked back from the first attack.

The creature started stomping its way towards her, head igniting with a new flame that would soon strike her way again.

"BROTHER!" Thor's voice roared in the air.

The Destroyer paused in its spot, allowing Seren to exhale heavily. She felt a terrible ache on her cheek.

"Brother... for whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am sorry," Thor took several strides towards the Destroyer until it would face him. "But these people have done nothing to you. They are innocents. Take my life, and know I will never return to Asgard."

The destroyer turned completely around to face Thor. The man was waiting for its attack, arms stretched to his sides. It then struck an arm against Thor, sending him flying across the open streets.

"Jane, no!" Selvig cried when Jane bolted to Thor's body.

Seren wouldn't even try to stop her. She heard the feeling in that call and she was no one to get between them. Besides, Thor looked pretty defeated. That type of fall for a human was deadly, proving that he was indeed human.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a roar from the sky. Another storm was starting up. What more can there be? That was a stupid question. There was plenty more that could come their way and she was there without backup. Something cracked in the distance and before they knew it, it had rushed through the town.

Seren had a fairly good idea where it was headed. "No, no, no, no, no!" She ran for Jane and Thor and grabbed the former's arm. "Gotta go! Gotta go! Gotta go!" She easily pulled the woman with her despite the thrashing and struggles. Her strength was no match for Jane.

The two barely escaped the lightning crashing down from the sky. It encapsulated Thor's body, throwing the Destroyer a good distance away in the process.

Seren held onto Jane tightly in case the woman got the idea to run into the circle of smoke but the truth was that both of them were stupefied with the scene. When the smoke cleared, Thor stood tall and proud in armor holding his hammer, Mjolnir.

"Oh. My. God." Jane was breathless.

Thor shot straight into the sky. It was then that Seren would come to understand the commanding powers of the hammer. With it, Thor gathered storm clouds and winds then came hurling down towards the Destroyer which was already enacting its own attack if a fiery energy blast. It collided with Mjolnir and lost.

Seren was left flabbergasted when it proved strong enough to send the attack right back to the Destroyer! Thor rammed Mjolnir in its faceplate until the power was too much and it exploded. Whatever pieces remained on the ground were buried by the debris from the calming storm. Thor returned to them without a scratch on his face.

"So, is this how you normally look?" Jane still blinked at his new appearance.

"More or less," shrugged the man.

"...it's a good look."

Seren very awkwardly stepped to the side. She brought a hand to her cheek, soon regretting letting her finger graze it. That would definitely leave a bruise.

Thor did not forget about Seren. He looked at her with the kindest eyes. "Lady of the Stars, thank you for your bravery. You live up to your family's name indeed."

A soft smile spread across Seren's face. "I didn't exactly do much here."

"Yes, you did," Thor gave her a levelled look, urging her to take pride in her work. "You were the only person who offered me solace as what I was. You fought a battle that was not yours. For that, I thank you deeply. Consider me a friend for whenever you might need me."

Seren beamed like a child. "Thank you!"

Before anyone could say something, the sounds of cars drew closer. They turned to see several S.H.I.E.L.D. cars stopping near them.

"Oh, now you show up!" Seren exclaimed as soon as Coulson stepped out. "Woah," she blinked at his disheveled appearance then noticed that other agents seemed worse. "What the hell…?"

Coulson raised a finger at her. He'd rather not relieve the last half hour. "Donald," he sarcastically called up to Thor. "I don't think you've been completely honest with me."

"Know this, Son of Coul," Thor said, "You and I, we fight for the same cause, the protection of this world. From this day forward, you can count me as your ally if you return the items you have taken from Jane."

"Stolen," Jane promptly corrected.

"Borrowed," Coulson shot her a look.

"No, we stole it," Seren said, earning a sharp look from Coulson. "What? You said it was protocol. That's what it was."

Coulson rolled his eyes at her. He met Jane's expectant gaze. "Of course, you can have your equipment back. You're gonna need it to continue your research."

Jane beamed.

Thor curled an arm around her waist, abruptly pulling her up to his side. "Would you like to see the bridge we spoke of?"

Jane was all smiles. "Sure!"

"Wait, I need to debrief you!" Coulson was left shouting as they soared into the sky.

"Don't look at me, I'm driving there," Seren said with hands raised in front of her.

Darcy did a double-take on her. "Can you...can you fly?"

Seren chuckled. She quite liked the girl. "C'mon, I'll drive."

~ 0 ~

They arrived shortly to the sight of the "portal". Whatever the Bifrost was, Seren understood that it was the access point for Thor and his warriors to return home. However, they had difficulty re-opening it.

"Something must be wrong," Thor quickly deduced. "He would open it if he could."

"Is there no other way to go home?" Seren asked him. "A-another portal or something?"

"Heimdall can open it but...I do not understand. Heimdall!"

Suddenly, the same tunnel force blasted down on the ground. Thor grinned. It was working again. He turned around, meeting Jane's gaze. "I must go back to Asgard but I give you my word, I will return for you. Deal?"

Jane only thought about it for a minute before lunging on him for a kiss. "Deal," she would say afterwards.

Thor stepped over the runes along with his warriors. They disappeared in the following minute.

"About that research…" Seren started, forcing Jane to tear her gaze away from the brewing storm, "I think it goes without saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. will be fully sponsoring you from here on out. Isn't that right?" she checked with Coulson.

The man agreed. "If that's alright with you, of course," he said to Jane.

She nodded. After what would happen in the next few minutes, she would be fully taking it and Seren would personally make sure she got everything she needed.

Author's Note:

Well of course Seren was going to be fighting in these scenes! It was her moment and I'm so happy for her *sniffs* my girl's growing up! We'll see Thor again when it's time to get the Avengers together ;)

P.S. As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

For the review:

Wonderwomanbatmanfan: I really forsee Seren having a special kind of relationship because for Seren, he's the first person she meets who is more like her than anyone else she's met in her life. At the end of the day, yes Steve does know about her but he's still human. There's some things he'll come to see that make Seren very different from others and it's troubling.