A squeal pierced the air as Darcy ran down the hallway, nearly toppling Jane when she tackled the woman with her embrace. "Jane!" Darcy exclaimed joyfully, "I'm so glad your okay!"

"I should be saying the same to you," Jane agreed, pulling away from Darcy only long enough to give her mentor a hug. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine," Selvig reassured her. "But where exactly are we? And how did we get here?"

"It's called the Network," Jane explained. "They're friends of Thor's."

Darcy cast a leering glare at Steve. "So I heard..." she purred appreciatively.

Jane couldn't help but notice Alexis' reaction to Darcy's 'appreciation' of the Avenger. So she steered Darcy's attentions to safer waters. "You'll never guess who I met down here," Jane told the younger woman.

Darcy's mouth dropped open when her eyes followed the direction in which her 'boss' was pointing. "Oh...my...God," she exclaimed. "Is that...Richard Castle?!"

Jane chuckled at her friend's excitement. "You wanna go introduce yourself?"

Darcy's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. "You think...you think I should?" she asked in a nervous whisper.

"Go on," Jane whispered back, nudging Darcy in Castle's direction.

Darcy accepted her boss' prompting, suddenly at a seeming loss for words. "Mister...mister Castle?" she greeted Castle hesitantly. "I'm...I'm such a huge fan..."

Castle smiled, in his element and relishing the rare opportunity for his worlds to collide. "It's always nice to meet someone who's read my books," he replied proudly. "What's your name?"

"D-d-Darcy," Darcy stammered out, her nerves still clearly evident.

"Well, Darcy," Castle announced, gallantly offering his arm to the younger woman. "Would you like me to give you the grand tour?"

The grin on Darcy's face seemed to threaten to split it in half. "I would love that!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Castle's as the older man led her down the hallway.

Jane kept the smile on her face until Darcy and Castle turned a nearby corner and ducked out of sight. It was then and only then that Eric leaned down to talk to his 'protègé'. "Jane, these people were just comparing notes about who's immortal and who's not. What's really going on here?"

"It's...complicated," Jane admitted. "Unless...have you ever heard of the Guardians?"

Eric shook his head. "Sorry."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance?"

Jane gasped at the familiar sound of the voice behind her, then her smile returned as she turned around and wrapped her arms around the cool metal of her beloved's armor. "It's good to finally see you," she greeted Thor.

"Forgive me," Thor apologized. "I was unavoidably detained fighting off an army of fire demons..."

"Which explains that smoke," Beckett chimed in, her and Jim's faces wrinkling in response to what they smelled coming off the Asgardian.

Thor nodded in the direction of the hypersensitive Guardian. "Forgive me, Sentinel, Mistress Lièrén."

"I don't smell anything," Eric muttered.

Steve chuckled quietly, sympathizing with the younger man. "I know the feeling."

Thor ignored the exchange. "Heimdall connected with Master Mùshī as soon as I returned to Asgard, and Master Sìfāng brought me here."

"Which is why your entrance was so much quieter than normal," Jane teased with a smile.

Thor chuckled at that. "Aye," he agreed.

Eric watched the exchange between Jane and Thor, stunned into near-speechlessness. "You know these people?!" he exclaimed.

"Aye," Thor replied, nodding. "Once I learned of this place of refuge and its protectors, I made arrangements for them to watch over you when I could not." He gently pulled Jane's wrist up to point out the bracelet. "Mistress Crusher helped me create this bracelet for you, Jane. 'Tis the reason I knew that you were in danger, and that the spell had pulled out of that danger."

All eyes in the room fell to Alexis. "Cap told me about your relationship with the big guy over there. He's got a similar spell on him."

"Th...thanks," Jane stammered out, awestruck and grateful. Alexis nodded.

Eric started to appreciate Agent May's frustration at feeling 'out of the loop'. "Spells?!" he exclaimed. "What in God's name are you people talking about?"

Castle and Darcy reappeared at the entrance to the 'launchpad' room. If anything, Darcy looked even more amazed than she had when she left. "Oh. My. God. Jane," she exclaimed. "Can you believe Richard Castle is a real-life wizard?!"

Jane simply chuckled...but Eric looked like he had been sucker punched. "A wizard?! An actual, honest-to-God, spell-casting Wizard?!"

Fallon broke in, taking charge of the conversation before Eric let things get too sidetracked. "I have a feeling most of your questions will be answered very soon, Doctor Selvig." He then turned to Thor. "The danger that was threatening Doctor Foster has not lessened, Thor. We could really use your help."

Hearing that Jane was still in danger caught Thor's attention in a way that nothing else could. "How may I be of assistance, Director?"

"SHIELD is gone," Jane explained to Thor. "In its place is this group called HYDRA..."

Thor nodded. "I am familiar with this group..." he told Jane.

"They're who came after us," Jane snapped back at Thor, cutting him off. "They were trying to hold us hostage until Eric and I would agree to help them."

Thor looked horrified. "Why would they go after you?" he asked. "Was it because of me?"

"In a sense," Jane replied. "They had an Asgardian weapon, some sort of spear or scepter..."

"It was a scepter," Coulson explained. "The one your brother had in his possession when he led the Chitauri attack."

Thor's eyes widened when he recognized, for the first time, the man who had chimed in to the conversation. "Son of Coul...?" he exclaimed. Coulson nodded.

"How dangerous is that scepter?" asked Fallon, pushing to keep the conversation on track. "Can anyone use it, or is it tuned to your brother?"

"I know little about the scepter," Thor replied. "It is not Asgardian in origin, despite what HYDRA believes. So beyond what Eric has told me of his experience with the weapon, I know little more than all of you."

All attention moved to Jane's mentor. "Loki...stabbed me with it. I felt the point break the skin and hit my rib cage, then I felt...nothing. From that point on Loki had full control over my mind."

Esposito offered his hand to Eric. "With your permission, Dr. Selvig, I would like to take a look at your experience for myself."

Eric looked at Esposito's hand like it was radioactive. "Jane?" he asked nervously. "What is he talking about?"

"I have a gift, Dr. Selvig," Esposito replied. "I can go into your memories and look at them as if I lived them myself."

His eyes widening in panic, Eric turned to Jane for reassurance. To his surprise, Thor was the one to speak up on Esposito's behalf. "I have experienced this gift for myself, Eric. It's quite helpful."

Eric's eyes went back to Esposito's hand as his mind went elsewhere. "You want me to let another total stranger into my head? Believe me, that's not an experience I care to repeat. Ever."

Esposito understood the reason for the man's reluctance. He also knew the quickest way to overcome that reluctance. "May I?" Esposito asked Thor.

Thor caught on immediately. "Of course, Master Xiānzhī," he agreed, handing Mjölnir over to the Guardian without hesitation.

Esposito picked up the hammer effortlessly, casually tossing the weapon in the air and catching it by the handle a few times for emphasis.

Bucky frowned as he watched Esposito. "I don't get it," he told Steve. "I mean, clearly he's stronger than he looks..."

Steve cut off Bucky's question before he had a chance to ask it. "The hammer's magic," Steve explained. "Only someone who the hammer considers worthy to rule Thor's planet can lift it." He then leaned in and whispered, "last time I tried to pick it up, I was barely able to get it to move half an inch."

Bucky's eyes widened as he began to fully understand the meaning behind Esposito's demonstration. "Wow," he exclaimed.

The scientist's eyes were just as wide as they watched the rise and fall of the weapon in Esposito's hand. When the Guardian finally returned the hammer to its owner, Eric was staring at Esposito in awe. "Do you trust me now, Doctor Selvig?" asked Esposito.

"Y-y-yes," Eric finally stammered out, "yes, of course, absolutely..." He thrust his hand out without any further hesitation, anxiously waiting to see Esposito's true 'gift' in action.

Esposito shook Eric's offered hand, trembling as the scientist's memories made connections that the Guardian wasn't expecting. "This isn't about the Tesseract," he gasped, stunned by the conclusion he uncovered. "This is about the infinity stones."

"The infinity stones?!" Thor exclaimed. "By the gods, are you certain?!"

Esposito nodded. "Think about the legends your father told you. The space stone is housed in the Tesseract. And Doctor Selvig's experience matches the powers of the mind stone."

"Wait," Steve broke in, "what are these infinity stones?"

"They are the remnants of six parts of the ancient universe that were compacted into six stones at the creation of the nine realms," Thor explained. "A single stone, used for evil, is enough to destroy a planet." The god then offered his own hand to Esposito. "But my brother is dead, Master Xiānzhī," he insisted. "Loki could not possibly be behind this."

Esposito grabbed Thor's hand at the wrist, updating his copy of the God of Thunder's memories. "I'm sorry, Thor," Esposito insisted, "but what happened at Svartalfheim hasn't changed the truth. It confirms it."

Thor stared at Esposito in clear disbelief. "How?!"

"Thor, think!" Esposito exclaimed. "The Aether matches the powers of the reality stone. Isn't it possible that Loki used those powers to make you think he was dead?"

Jane could feel her mentor start to shake as his panic grew exponentially. "Loki's alive?" Eric asked, his voice trembling.

Esposito nodded in grim agreement. "Loki has had or has tried to acquire three of the six stones. And I think the explosion that killed us was Loki taking the mind stone back."

Ryan frowned as he watched his partner argue with Thor. The god's stubborn belief in what he believed to be the truth was warring with Esposito's firm belief in the truth that he was seeing...and the juxtaposition between the two beliefs was starting to give Ryan a headache. "Javi," he asked his partner as he massaged the bridge of his nose, "are you sure about this?"

"I am," Esposito declared.

"I'm not," countered Beckett. When all eyes fell on her, she turned to Jim. "Remember that odd smell we noticed back at the base?" When Jim nodded, Beckett continued, "I just figured out what it was. The Kree."

The name got Coulson's attention immediately. "Alive or dead?"

Beckett shrugged. "I can't say for certain. But the concentration was much stronger than it was at the Guest House, that much I am sure of."

"So there might be more than one other group interested in getting these stones?" asked Fallon. When Beckett nodded, Fallon returned his attention to the Norse God. "Hypothetically, what would happen if your brother is able to get all six stones?"

Thor forced himself to get over his shock and disbelief and focus on the question he had just been asked. "Hypothetically? If someone were able to acquire all six stones, they would be able to rule all of the nine realms. Including Earth."

"Loki would finally get what he's always wanted," Coulson muttered under his breath.

Thor nodded grimly. "Aye."

"Do you think that's what the Kree were really looking for all along?" asked Blair. "The mind stone?"

"A Kree delegation asked us for help finding their missing 'brother'," Ryan explained, putting air quotes around the family relationship. "According to them, this brother was spying on the Chitauri and followed them to Earth."

"We never believed that that was all the Kree wanted," Steve added.

"As well you shouldn't," agreed Thor. "There are many among the Kree who are robbers and thieves, without conscience or loyalty to their kind...or to anything other than wealth and power."

Coulson carefully considered everything he was hearing. "If Loki was an ally of the Chitauri, and the Kree knew that the Chitauri possessed the scepter..."

"Then it makes sense that the Kree would know that Loki had the scepter," Beckett concluded. "And they would follow it here."

"We have to stop Loki from getting the other five stones," Fallon declared.

On that point, the group was in full agreement. "Which means we need to find them," said Skye. "But how?"

Ryan was struck with a flash of inspiration. "You guys haven't met Doc yet, have you?"

#

A/N: I'm baaaack! Since it's been a while since I've updated this story, I feel like I need to remind/inform you guys of a couple of things:

1) This story is AU to both season 2 of Agents of SHIELD and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed in both the movie and in SHIELD's second season. SHIELD and Ultron both buried most of their potential awesomeness under a truckload of self-absorbed navel-gazing. I ain't having that. So in this story: Trip is alive, Ward is at least going to try to be good, Skye has a very different set of parents, and Coulson's dreams won't be taking him to Puerto Rico unless he wants to go there on vacation when this is all over. Oh, and everything that happened to Banner and Romanoff in Ultron will not show up in this little alternate universe. Ever.

2) The die-hard fans of this universe have probably already guessed this, but for those of you who haven't: Doc is coming over from "Blood Moon", one of the stories that was written during this story's long hiatus. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you might want to check the story out on my author page. Or you can just wait until the next chapter. I'll explain enough that the rest of you will probably be able to catch up. ;-)