A/N: Just wanted to write a quick author's note to offer my undying gratitude to those of you who have taken the time to favorite, follow and write wonderful comments on these stories - especially phnxgrl, FDWojo, and firedrakegirl. I read firedrakegirl's review of chapter 40 to my husband (who never seems to get around to reading my writings, but anyway...). This is what I told him: "If you ever wonder why I keep getting sucked back into writing fan fiction...comments like *this* are why I love to go back to my writing whenever I can." So thanks for everything, gang! And enjoy!

#

Beckett wiped a fresh layer of sweat off the back of her neck...for the third time. "Why in God's name did you guys have to pick a planet that was so...humid?"

Castle smirked at Beckett's comments, having experienced his soul mate's frustration but giving her enough personal space to not pry into its source. "Well, now that you've finally told me what's been bugging you..."

A gentle, cooling breeze wafted through the jungle, leaving relief in its wake. "Thank you," Beckett sighed contentedly.

May turned to Castle, confused by the connection between the 'wind' and the man in front of her. "That was you?"

"Climate control spell," Castle shrugged. "Tweaks the shields so that the layer of air between your skin and your shield is a little more comfortable."

Coulson smiled at May's slight eye roll, loving both how 'normal' the explanation felt to him...and how the explanation seemed to make May even *less* comfortable. He then focused his attention back on Beckett, forcing himself to keep his attention on the task at hand. "Which way?"

Sif frowned. "How could she possibly..."

Beckett shushed Sif, extending all of her senses as far as she dared. "This way," she directed the group.

#

Denarian Day's eyes widened, both at the implications of Esposito's words and the confidence with which the Guardian delivered those words. "You seem quite certain of this, Mister..."

"I *am* certain of this," Esposito insisted, cutting Day off without giving his name. "Now you can either get me to Nova Prime right now so that you have a chance to pull some sort of half-assed defense together, or we can stand here and argue until a battalion of Kree warships blasts this planet out of existence. Your call."

Day turned to Quill and Gamora, his body on alert and his expression glaring with a skeptical wariness.

Quill threw up his hands in a defensive posture. "Don't look at me!" he exclaimed. "That was the last thing I thought he was going to say!"

"But if he is correct," added Gamora, "do we really want to stand around here and argue while Xandar is rapidly approaching its potential demise?"

Day sighed, knowing that Gamora was right. "Follow me."

The group walked through the open atrium space, flanked on either side by elite Xandarian soldiers who saluted Denarian Day as he passed. Day turned and led the group into an alcove on the west side of the atrium, where a blond-haired woman seemed to be deep in consultation with a couple of older officers. She turned toward the group when she recognized Day, Quill and Gamora as its leaders. "Denarian," she greeted Day, "dare I ask who you have accompanying you?"

"Check your long range sensor array," Esposito ordered the woman, "with the gravimetric frequency set to 122.5.146."

The woman looked to Day, surprised by the direct order from a stranger. When Day shrugged, the woman turned to a soldier who was sitting in front of what looked to be a touchscreen computer monitor. "Open the long range sensor array," she ordered the operator, "and set the gravimetric frequency to 122.5.146."

The operator's eyes widened as soon as he carried out the woman's command. "Ma'am..." he exclaimed.

"I see it, soldier," the woman agreed. She turned her complete attention to Esposito and the group of newcomers. "What I would like to know is how *you* saw it..."

"Javier Esposito," Esposito introduced himself, offering his hand. "I'm one of the Guardians of the world that you know as Terra."

"Irani Rael," the woman replied, clasping Esposito's hand in an attempt to mimic Esposito's gesture. "Nova Prime of Xandar."

#

May sighed as her feet touched solid ground for the first time in an hour, forcing herself to set her mind in 'mission mode'. She turned to Beckett. "Why're we stopped?" asked May, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Two heartbeats about a hundred yards north," Beckett replied, her eyes never wavering from her focus in the direction of her 'target'. "Both not human."

"You can tell the difference?" asked Sif.

Beckett nodded, stopping to cock her head when she heard something that she wasn't expecting. "One of the heartbeats is definitely Asgardian, but the other..."

"Loki was not born of Asgard," Thor explained. "He is from a race known as the frost giants."

"Guess that explains that," shrugged Beckett.

Swords appeared on the backs of those not already carrying. "I can't take him on my own," Castle declared.

Beckett couldn't help but smirk. "Finally learned your lesson?" she teased.

Castle ignored the comment. "We need a plan," he told the group.

Coulson's eyes lit up. "I think I have one."

#

Nova Prime sighed wearily, abruptly cutting off the Kree emperor even as the being was continuing to deny what the planet's long-range sensor array had just told them. "If I had know that the fool was so useless," Rael exclaimed, "I would never have signed a treaty with him." She turned her attention back to Esposito. "The elite guard is coming, you say?"

Esposito nodded. "A three warship battalion."

"Even if our planetary defenses were at full strength we'd have trouble with an attack force of that size," said Raul. She punched a series of numbers into the nearest computer terminal, and her face fell as she read the results that those numbers returned to her. "We don't even have enough of a shield to fight off one warship right now, let alone three...I don't suppose that your intelligence includes how we're supposed to defend against this attack, does it, 'Guardian' Esposito?"

The mysterious group of strangers doubled in size as soon as Nova Prime finished asking the question. Esposito wheeled around and found himself face to face with Grant said Ward. "Doctor Foster said you guys could use our help," Ward told Esposito. "What do you need?"

Esposito let out a small smile when he saw how the jaw of the Xandarian leader dropped beside him. That smile lasted only a fraction of a second, though, as he replied, "looks like you two are going to get to test out your theory sooner than you thought."

"Thanos?" asked Ryan, eyes wide.

Esposito shook his head. "Kree. But they're trying to Pearl Harbor the Xandarians, so the more time we can give them to mobilize, the better."

Ryan nodded, immediately understanding what they needed to do. "We can be up and running as soon as we get the last piece of the puzzle."

Henry stepped forward, knowing that he was the 'puzzle piece' that Ryan was talking about. "I'm ready whenever you are..."

Ryan shook his head at Henry and nodded to his partner. "We need *all* the help we can get, bro."

The request could only mean one thing, and Henry and Esposito both knew it. "Nova Prime," Esposito told Rael, "we have a solution that can replace and possibly improve upon the shields you had before Ronan's attack. But there is one thing we require in order to get the job done. It's what we came here for."

A knot suddenly formed in the pit of Rael's stomach. "What do you need from me?"

Esposito unapologetically stared down the Xandarian leader. "The purple stone that Mister Quill and his crew entrusted to your safe keeping, We need it."

Rael instinctively recoiled at the idea of handing over a potentially planet-destroying weapon to a group of strangers...but finally surrendered when she realized that if she *didn't* trust this group of strangers, her planet was almost certainly doomed to destruction anyway. "Follow me, gentlemen."