~Asgard~
Yellow pupils scanned the cosmos for any threat to the realm lying behind him. The eight-foot tall guardian stood stone-still, in the golden armor which protected and signified his station. Even though the sacred Bifrost and its transportation hub had been broken and lost to the starry yonder, Heimdall remained at his watchful post. The politics of Asgard and Odin's rule was all – literally – behind him. Of course, his realm-scanning eyes allowed Heimdall to watch the scenes unfold when Odin sent his son, Thor, to Midgard when Loki reappeared – taking in every minute detail of the alien invasion of which Loki instigated. Thor's allies on Midgard were a paltry interesting bunch of mortals, all of whom fought valiantly against the malicious Chitauri Horde.
Heimdall reported all of that his sentry eyes saw to Odin; all of Loki's schemes, manipulations and movements; all of it including Loki's interactions with a young female who masqueraded as human. She was far from human. Both Heimdall and Odin were shocked to learn that Loki had found a female of an extinct race from an extinct realm: a nereid-type being from Xanohime. Those who had once lived on Xanohime were hunted down and used to build the Bifrost. Since Thor had broken the Bifrost to save Jotunhime, the nine realms had fallen into war. Thor begged Odin to find a way to travel to Midgard, so that he could return with Loki. Thor did return, with Loki and the Tesseract; but not with the young female who would be most vital in repairing the Bifrost, and bring order to the nine realms. So now, it was a waiting game, to see what the young female would do next.
"How fares the Lady Star?" Thor's voice echoed from behind Heimdall. Odinson had been highly concerned for the young lady, who had been hidden, at first, by Loki on Midgard, before being found by her allies. The series of events before and after were slightly worrisome for Thor and Heimdall, given how one of her own allies had mistakenly sent her into a coma.
"She has regained consciousness and is moving around." The dark-skinned guardian murmured to Thor. Behind him, Odinson exhaled in relief.
"You do realize that she has the potential to repair the Bifrost." Hiemdall turned to face Thor. "Also, she has a place in Loki's heart."
"I know." The blonde god of thunder smiled. "My father forbids my brother any solace on that account. He refuses to bring her here just for Loki."
"She knows her allies sent her talisman here. Lady Star will search for a way to find it." Heimdall stated a fact.
"Her diamond shard is tainted with Tesseract energy, father is working on a way to remove it from the diamond. Then, maybe, it can be returned to her." Thor stepped up next to his friend and frowned at the dark inkiness of the stars beyond the jagged edge of Bifrost. "I would bring her here if my father allowed it. Like you said, she had the blood to fix the Bifrost. The other realms are in disarray."
"It will only be a matter of time before Lord Odin decides to set his sights on her." Heimdall nodded to Thor and turned his yellow eyes back to the stars. "I am most interested in meeting the young lady."
"Indeed, she is very energetic and carefree." Thor agreed. "She will love it here on Asgard."
"Indeed she will."
XXXX
Two Weeks Later
Malibu, CA
Shopping for new clothes in another dimension was certainly an experience to put on a person's list – doing so while recovering from a four-month long coma and only a week's worth of freedom post-discharge was even better. Shopping while using a credit card which belonged to one of the world's billionaires put the event in its own tier of unique. Everything Jiru could possibly want or need was within her price range. Not that she was wasteful, greedy or superficial; far from. The clothes she did buy, she wore and the other stuff: got used.
Having been discharged from whatever super-secret facility S.H.I.E.L.D. had her in, Jiru Star was now living in Malibu, California. The idea of her staying with Banner was an idea vetoed by more than one person, so Jiru was left with refusing Stark's offer (and effort) to get her into his place before she chose a modest, one-bedroom apartment tucked away on the edge of Malibu. Having only a day to settle in before Tony Stark started harass/stalking her, it had taken two days to drive her bat-guano insane, threatening the billionaire with charges. Virginia Potts acted as mediator to get the obsessed man off her back. For everyone's peace of mind, Stark had assigned his previous body-guard, Harold Joseph 'Happy' Hogan to be her shadow. So that was where she was now, using the rather stuffy bodyguard as a shopping chaperon.
"Are you quite done or am I going to have to buy the whole bookstore, Superstar?"
"$%&$%! " Jiru cursed reflexively as an all too familiar voice wormed into her ears. She had been standing at the new sci-fi books section for a good five minutes. Mr. Hogan had been kind enough to allow her out of the apartment for a shopping spree. It had been forty minutes since she thought they had given Stark the slip. Apparently, asking her extension of J.A.R.V.I.S. to not tell Stark didn't work.
"I mean really, how does someone take an hour to look for a book?" the haughty, high-handed voice of Tony Stark inquired. Jiru opted to ignore her nosy stalker and continued to browse the shelves.
"Seriously? Just buy the latest shit in electronic wi-fi reading devices." The genius followed her. "I mean you haven't come anywhere close to digging a dent in my account, Sparkles."
Her annoyance sparked to life as she kept her eyes on the book titles sitting on the shelves.
"This is what, your third trip to a bookstore and you've got no time to read because you're supposed to be recovering from your coma." Her eyes caught movement when Tony reached out and snagged a random book off the shelf, flipping it open like it was going to tell him something. "This stuff is crap anyway; dime-a-dozen alternate-realities. Why do you want to read something you can live through?"
"Tony…" She muttered. "Go away, I'm busy here."
"No you're not…well busy maybe trying to ignore me." She could almost hear the smirk on his face. "Which, by the way, you are failing epically."
"What do you want, Stark?" she whirled around to face the billionaire stalker. "I thought you had a restraining order in place."
"Nope, that won't stop me." His eyes locked onto hers and his hands deftly replaced the random book back in the wrong place; only furthering her aggravation. "Tell you what, Superstar, you should totally go to Stark Expo next week."
Jiru was saved from answering her rather-late-in-rushing-to-the-rescue bodyguard swooped in and hassled Tony bodily away from her. The tall, five-foot five man, brown hair and brown eyes was quiet possibly the worst kill-joy man she'd ever met. He certainly was the most paranoid.
"Hello Happy." The genius Iron Man frowned as Mr. Hogan frowned back.
"Hello Mr. Stark. What are you doing here, assaulting my client?"
"You ought to relax, Happy, I was just inviting her to Stark Expo." Tony answered back calmly.
"You're not supposed to be within five hundred feet of Miss Star." Hogan scowled back, coming to stand between her and Stark, his hands clasped together in front of him.
"Mr. Hogan, it's ok. I've got this under control." She smirked at Stark from behind her 'bodyguard'.
"You sure?" Hogan asked from over his black-jacketed shoulder. "Because I have the legality to physically remove Mr. Stark from the premises."
"No, it's fine, trust me." Jiru felt her smile slip from her lips. Happy was a total kill-joy, even when he joked.
"Good, because you should totally come to Stark Expo next week." Tony had sidled up next to her and draped an arm around her shoulder. "It'll be a surprise…for your…arm."
"Oh gee thanks." Her sarcasm meter kicked up from one to twelve. "I was so totally unaware of my missing left arm that you had to point it out…in public."
The conversation between, her, Stark and Hogan had begun to draw a crowd. People pointed and started getting excited by seeing the billionaire talk to her.
"Mr. Hogan…" Jiru used his last name. "I think we should leave now, Tony Stark is drawing a crowd."