We have a lot of choices to make, but one never gets to decide what type of existence they're born into.

Regardless, everyone has a choice on how they want to carry that existence.

And for Skye, that choice had already been made when she realized she could a part of a greater purpose.

The Rising Tide.

"'The Rising Tide?'" Jemma quoted.

"Yes, they're out there, trying to make government intel public," Ward said disgusted.

"Well, they're successful," Agent May responded her quiet voice managing to hold so much authority, so much strength, Ward didn't know if he should be professional, or, well, fangirling.

After all, Agent May was the Cavalry.

"Alright team," Coulson entered the lounge area, "Let's gather up, we've got our first mission."

"The coordinates?" May asked, already moving.

"Already programmed," Coulson smiled.

"Wheels up at five then," May replied, face void of any emotion. Awkwardly, Coulson side-stepped out of her way.

He regarded the rest of his team, the two scientists with little to none field experience and Agent Ward, a man who could pass for a sociopath.

Coulson shrugged away his thoughts and threw his file on the bar ready to begin when Fitz raised his hand.

"Yes Agent Fitz?"

"Uh," the Scotsman looked around the room, "Before we start, can I have a quick snack, I'm feeling a bit peckish…"

Ward gave him a disapproving look and Coulson just stared.

"Fitz," Jemma mumbled warningly under her breath.

Phil didn't know what to say.

"Skye could be a solid asset," Ward commented.

"She'll need a SO. Someone sharp, someone with experience," May pointedly looked at Ward.

He nodded quickly. He was sharp and he had experience. He could be her SO.

"Okay, yeah, sure," he agreed. Skye had been abducted from her residential van when Coulson and Ward found her, one of the hacktivists working for the Rising Tide. To have her working SHIELD was a risk, even for the small team. But Coulson wasn't the Coulson he had been.

"You sure about this?" May had checked with him, her rare concern forcing Phil to rethink.

"Positive. She knows things we don't, and she has that street perspective, she could turn out to be useful…," he pondered.

Ward observed the hactivist in front of him, the lack of care in her walk but the defensive look on her face, her calculating eyes making him eager to see what would become of her.

Getting up, he turned to May, "When you said that, you were talking about me right? As Skye's SO?"

Agent May walked away before he could finish.

In a different realm, change had occurred at a similar pace it seemed.

Only two months had passed. For Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis, it didn't seem like a long time, in the context of larger things at least.

And to people who have a forever to live, it's not.

Midgardians had always been a little clueless to the magical world. But it wasn't their fault they were oblivious. As they say, oblivion is inevitable. Unfortunately, oblivion is also unsafe.

Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD, a secret government organization designed to preserve the innocence and oblivion of the said Midgardian knew the price of it all. Oblivion had cost SHIELD lives. Not to mention humiliation.

When a rebellious agent, who was hired as an impulsive decision, managed to demean the best covert operatives in the entire mortal realm with the help of unprecedented divine intervention, worries in Fury's mind flared. Midgard was getting more and more visitors, so many they couldn't handle. But the hosting was a tough job considering that they were all at a severe disadvantage.

Because the other side not only had weapons beyond human comprehension and knowledge far above human intellect; they also were a mystery. SHIELD, who seemed to know everything never understood why and how that day, their rebellious young agent escaped their professional team in a matter of what felt like seconds to them. Nick Fury still remembered the mortification he experienced when he found his team had been transformed into gingerbread men, decorated with sticky sweet items, jokingly turned into a human forest of treats.

The master mind responsible for this was now hanging upside down from a tree.

"Darcy this isn't normal," Jane scolded, her hands on her hips.

"Your mom isn't normal," Darcy shouted back. Somehow her glasses were resting on her chin so Jane had a hard time deciding where to make eye contact.

"You have to stop doing this."

"Your mom has to stop doing this."

"You're crazy."

"Your mom is crazy."

Jane threw her hands in the air in complete exasperation and sat down angrily, not even bothering now. This had been Darcy's behavior for the past month. Jane figured out quickly on her own that time passed much more slowly in Alfheim than it did on earth. This month was just a month. When Darcy complained that they had been in the pleasant utopian realm, she wasn't exaggerating.

They did accomplish a lot in the two months of their stay. The Forbidden Fruit was easily acquired and just like that Jane and Darcy were free from their mortality only to now face the ultimate flaw of immortality; boredom.

Though their life seemed to have been frozen, the sky was just as active as it was before. A month ago Heimdall was successful in tracing back the Asgardian princes and he collected them to take them back. The hurry was the near fall of Asgard. Apparently Dark Elves were trying to overthrow the king, causing chaos and havoc, something Jane knew was not part of Asgardian tolerance. Even change was hard to be accepted in that realm made of gold and perfection.

But the two ladies had not heard of their beloveds since they had left. Vague messages were delivered but only to remind them that Thor and Loki were still alive.

"I haven't said 'I love you' to someone for so long," Darcy considered, her voice breaking in remorse.

"You didn't say it much to Thor anyway," Jane pointed out. Darcy and Thor's relationship was only at the brink of entering a romantic one when war stole Thor from Darcy's life.

"I need to say it though. I'll say it to this tree. I love you, Tree," Darcy mumbled.

"You could have said to me," Jane joked.

"Hey, I just think Sylvie hear needed to hear that."

"Sylvie?"

"The tree. Her name is Sylvie," Darcy said as if it were obvious. The glasses on her jaw shifted and fell and gracelessly, Darcy followed, crashing on to the ground.

"That's it," Jane declared, "We're not doing this anymore." She got up from the rock she was on and walked over to Darcy, offering a hand which Darcy high-fived away with no motivation to get up. Jane sat next to her in the green meadow they had been stuck in for the longest time ever.

"Darcy, we have to leave," Jane said firmly. She had been toying with this idea for days but now all her reasoning pointed that this was the most logical thing to do.

"But I don't want to go back inside," Darcy whined.

"No, I don't mean we go back to the cabin. I mean we leave Alfheim."

"Uh, if you haven't noticed, there's a war going on."

"Not everywhere," Jane pointed out, watching Darcy's reaction.

"I'm…not following," Darcy looked at Jane, trying to understand her best friend's thought process, which she never really did.

"Home, Darcy. We need to go back home."

Jane paused, waiting for hell to break lose. And it did.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Darcy yelled, standing straight up, shoving her glasses on her face almost taking out her eye.

"No, well, possibly, but I can't live like this anymore."

"Oh and jail is better?"

"We don't have to go back to jail…we can figure out another method. Plus they can't kill us, what's the worse they can do?" Jane asked.

"Um, put. Us. In. Jail?!"

"Darcy, we could help people. Since we can't actually die, we can travel around, do philanthropy, research to a large extent, anything. Plus we've been gone for almost two Earth years, I think they'll loosen up a bit," Jane reasoned.

"The boys wouldn't allow it. They won't let us go. Jane, think, Loki, good god you know what he'll do to me if he found out?"

"Well we can't waste our lives here, waiting for them to come back. I mean we're useless here and even if we get a forever to live, isn't it worthy when we live it to the fullest?" Jane exclaimed.

Darcy sighed heavily, running a hand over her face. "I do miss poptarts."

Jane bit her lip to prevent smiling like a lunatic and she moved closer to Darcy to await her response.

Darcy noticed Jane's excitement and rolled her eyes.

"Eh, let's do it. Why not?"

A/N: It's been awhile since an update, but I blame school because….school. Though I love learning, studying isn't always a blast. So, there you go, I will put up ch. four as soon as I can, in the meantime, truly thank you for reading and do stay tuned. Feel free to leave a review, those are always helpful and motivating too. Enjoy your day :)