"Welcome to New Mexico," Coulson announced as he hopped out of the shiny black Jeep with Christie following close behind him, tightening the belt of her long white coat riddled with anxiety. She surveyed the dry deserted surroundings before shrugging to herself - she had at least expected something a little more extravagant. It was hardly the massively high budget operation that she was expecting. There were only a handful of S.H.I.E.L.D agents in the near distance fiddling with gadgets. None of them were recognisable; there were a few odd looking pieces of equipment resting on a tripods and one item in particular was being held in a large holding device and giving off a brilliant blue glow. But Christie had no idea what any of the equipment did, let alone what they were called.

Okay, so perhaps this was a massively high budget operation, and she was just ignorant.

"Great. So where's Asgard?" Christie called out to Coulson, folding her arms tightly.

"We're working on reopening the portal as we speak. We've spent a lot of time on this project, you know - months in fact, and God knows we've ended up in some weird ass predicaments whilst testing it out. Once we manage to get it open, you need to stand underneath the opening in the sky. Hopefully - don't look at me like that, Christie, accidents happen - hopefully you'll get sucked up and we'll shut it again. I just hope you land in the right place," Coulson explained with a grim smile as he watched the S.H.I.E.L.D tech agents get to work. They were shouting confirmations to each other over the helicopter propellor-like noises that were slicing through the air. Christie nibbled on her bottom lip, tying her snowy hair up in a quick bun as she and Coulson began to approach the scene.

"Ah, this is starting to sound like a real party. Am I getting paid for this? If so, I'm gonna need a brand new apartment added to that invoice and those two panthers that I've been asking Fury for since last November," she demanded firmly, squinting her eyes so that she could see Coulson without the sun blazing glaringly in her eyes.

"It'll be on your S.H.I.E.L.D cheque at the end of the month, if that's what you mean. I'll see about that new apartment - you can literally forget about the panthers though, it's not happening," Coulson muttered back. Suddenly, there was a rush of noise from where the agents stood and a strange endless stream of a harsh blue light shot into the sky. "Look, the portal's opening. It's your time to shine, Chris."

"Oh for goodness sake. Give Fury the finger for me, okay? I still can't stand the man," Christie sighed bitterly. She walked over to the edge of the portal a little hesitantly, before turning to Coulson one last time to see the pleasant salute he gave to her.

"Good luck!" he shouted with a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"Whatever," Christie rolled her eyes. She took her final step into the designated glowing area of the portal and, before she could properly figure out what was happening, was suddenly sucked up with a roar surrounding her.

Then everything went dark.

…

"Jennie, be careful of how you touch her! The poor girl looks ill," came a soft voice from somewhere in the distance.

Christie's entire body felt disturbingly numb, her eyes were still closed so she saw nothing but darkness. She counted to five before forcing her eyelids open the best she could. Her vision was blurred, but she could just about make out a beautiful woman in a stunning blue robe towering over her, various women alongside her who were peering down at Christie in awe.

"It worked," she gave a weak mutter under her breath.

"Child? Are you alright?" the sweet voice of the woman asked delicately. Christie's eyes finally began to focus properly so that she could see the features of her face. She had kind features, although they were currently woven together in concern, and her hair was done in a way that Christie hadn't seen before.

"Um…sorry, do you mind… do you mind telling me where I am exactly?" Christie blinked slowly, propping herself up by her elbows to find herself in a large brightly coloured room, intricate patterns on the walls.

"You're in Asgard, my dear. Where are you from and how on earth did you get here?" the woman responded in wonder. Christie felt her heart rate begin to accelerate as she rubbed her eyes.

"Asgard? Oh my go…a-are you the Queen?" she asked quickly, falling straight into her character. It was now or never - she had made it this far, it would be painful to mess up.

"I am indeed," the lady nodded graciously, those kind eyes growing increasingly concerned at this point. "Please, call me Frigga. Are you…born of…a neighbouring world?"

"Yes, ma'am. I came from Midgard…I ran away from a life I couldn't bear to live anymore. I don't know how I got here but I don't want to go back - and I would be truly honoured to work as your maid and take refuge if you would so let me. I am your humble servant," Christie bowed her head as meekly as she could muster. Frigga appeared a little taken aback at first, glancing at the girl closest to her in brief uncertainty - but her expression soon softened as she went through the speech once more in her head.

"Oh, my dear child, I'd be more than pleased to have you as a maid in my home once we have you checked thoroughly, for disease, weapons and so on so forth," she smiled affectedly. "What is your name?" Christie paused to think for a second. Does she lie? Does she tell the truth? Or better yet-

"I have a Midgard..ian name. I'd be honoured if you gave me an Asgardian name so that I can truly leave my old life behind me," she answered, dropping her gaze once again. Frigga's eyes fluttered to the ceiling for a second, thinking.

"How about….Annerledes?" she suggested lightly as she looked back at Christie for her reaction.

'Strange,' Christie thought. 'But decent."

"It's perfect, thank you," she said out loud with a thankful smile. Frigga looked beyond pleased, holding out her hand to help Christie sit up properly.

"Well my dear, I'll let my head maid Jennie here show you to your quarters. She had a similar beginning to you, she's a Midgardian refugee also, perhaps you can bond. Please, settle in for the rest of today. Your work can begin properly tomorrow," she told her briskly before sweeping out of the room to record yet another Midgardian refugee on her premises. As soon as she left, a sweet faced brunette girl that was standing amongst the maids approached Christie immediately, her face flushed red from excitement. She seemed to be in her late teens/early twenties, similarly to Christie, and her eyes were frighteningly doe like.

"Miss Annerledes?" she practically sang with those sparkling autumn-brown eyes.

"Y-yes?" Christie answered hesitantly, trying to get used to her new name whilst eyeing the girl up and down.

"My name's Jennie, but please call me Jen. I'll take you to your quarters now, follow me! I'm sure you'll love it," she grinned. Christie stood up awkwardly and followed Jennie down the winding hallways that were bursting with colours. She ran her fingertips over the beautiful patterns on the walls as she walked, some of them appeared to be glistening as if they were painted with real liquid gold. Everything around her was stunning and a lot to digest, but Christie didn't have time to take anything in, Jennie was walking with purpose. Suddenly, she came to an abrupt halt outside a door. She began fiddling with the lock, humming a tune to herself before successfully getting it open and stepping aside so that Christie could enter. The room itself was circular shaped, which was rather peculiar. Towards the furthest end of the room up a few steps stood a large queen sized bed, decorated with plush satin-cased pillows and an unnecessary number of quilts. There was homemade unused bookcase towards the lefthand side of the room, and parallel to that bookshelf stood another door, leading to an ensuite bathroom. On the right hand side of the room next to the bathroom was a small compact kitchen unit consisting of a singular stove with two cupboards both above and below it, presumably for food storage. The light pink carpet felt incredibly soft under her feet and the room was toasty, despite the lack of any visible heating system.

"Here you are Miss Annerledes, we will commence work at the crack of dawn tomorrow. The guards will be with you shortly to take you through to testing. I bid you good evening!" Jennie gave Christie a polite curtsey before leaving the room, making sure to shut the door behind her. Christie stood there in the silence Jennie left behind and took another look around, rather impressed.

"Out of all the missions, this one has to be the comfiest," she muttered with an arched brow.

I think when I originally wrote this chapter, it was 500 odd words long. How I fit all that in, I have no idea!

- J x