A/N: Nope, still don't own them.
A/N1: Thank you so much for the follows/favorites/reviews! They make me so happy! Which is why I've decided to respond to a few before the start of this chapter.
Bemzi: I like using some of the characters dialogue when the fic has roots in the show to help the continuity flow. In the upcoming chapters there will be more in depth changes and totally new scenes because I'd really like to show more of the Avengers and interactions between the two groups.
A shout out to the very kind guest reviewers: 1) Yes! Nat and Clint will be making appearances. Those two are just too sassy to not be included. 2) I have some issues with Hand but, I do think she has her redeeming moments near the end of season 1. So I'm still working out what I'd like to see from her.
Dixie326: I may have incorporated your suggestion into the next couple chapters with my own spin. I think that each first introduction between certain characters and Coulson's team will be so much fun to play with.
Arwen9117, Lizze63293, SerenityKieraSilverwind, and Imnotsurereally: Thank you all so much! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
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Chapter Four
The team had been ordered to help aide in the clean-up process from Earth's latest adventure with the other realms. It was tedious work sifting through all the wreckage to separate the things that were alien before they landed in the wrong hands.
Ward pushed a large bucket of junk over to where Fitz was currently crouched digging through rocks and debris, then he dumped the new pile on the lot that was already there. "Don't say I never gave you anything."
Fitz grumbled looking at all the work that still need to be done. "Checking for alien spectrographic signature one teeny rock at a time."
"It's a necessary precaution. We don't want anything alien falling into the wrong hands." Ward reminded the techs in the room.
Ward tuned out the two scientist babbling when Coulson, May, and Skye's voices came close enough to make out what they were saying. Skye was still trying to process that Asgardians weren't actually Gods. "You guys may think this is old news but it's new news to everybody else. Asgardians are just aliens from another planet that visited Earth thousands of years ago."
"Or more." Coulson added. "That's where our Norse mythology comes from."
Wards rookie seemed to consider this for a moment, "That's too crazy. Do you think other deities are aliens too? Vishnu for sure, right?"
Coulson glanced around the room and then grumbled, "It would be nice if for once Thor and his people sent down the God of cleaning up after yourself. They probably just have a magic broom for this sort of thing."
"I just wish they'd left their alien ship behind." Skye said looking out the windows where the giant ship had once rested.
May snorted and looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "So we could clean that up too?"
Skye looked to May and elaborated, "So we could go inside. Take a peek under the hood. Take it for a spin." When May still looked at her skeptically she added, "Come on you're telling me that piloting an alien ship isn't on your bucket list?"
The older woman seemed to consider this for a moment before sharing a look with Skye.
"I can't think of a single time when anything alien in human hands ended well."
Skye looked at Coulson before saying, "I wouldn't mind getting my human hands on Thor. He's so dreamy."
Coulson scoffed, "Sure, he's handsome but-"
"No, he's dreamy." May interrupted. But then turned and flashed a very rare smile to Skye before teasing her, "And I thought since your little encounter at the Hub you'd be more interested in getting your hands on Captain America, Skye."
Ward looked up at that new tidbit. He hadn't been told about an encounter with Captain America but he could see how flushed Skye's face had gotten at just the mention of his name. Ward mentally groaned considering all the embarrassing things Skye could have done if she'd actually met the Avenger.
Skye attempted to try and mimic May's disapproving glare. When that failed she childishly stuck her tongue out at the agent. Since the Hub the two very stubborn women had been making more of an effort to get to know one another. Still watching this small exchange managed to shock the team into silence.
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Steve had been staying in the Avengers Tower that Tony built after the Battle of New York. It made sense for the team to have a base of operations in the same location even if not all were always in the residence at the same time. When he finished his morning workout routine, Steve made his way to the kitchen and found both Tony and Clint were already up and digging into a breakfast buffet.
"Well good morning, Gramps." Tony cheerily called out when he spotted Steve. While Clint silently waved his hand as a greeting.
It had taken Steve a fair amount of time to get past the vaguely insulting nicknames Tony called everyone. After it had sparked a particularly intense argument one evening Pepper finally stepped in and let Steve in on the secret. Tony only did that with the people he really cared for. Having grown up in house that Tony had, he had never really learned how to express his feeling like an adult instead of a teenage boy.
"Morning, Stark." Steve said as he moved to snag a few pancakes.
The three men ate in relative silence for a short time. This generally meant that Pepper was out of town so Tony had been up all night tinkering with the new suits he was putting together. It was a long process since he chosen to wipe them out after the incident with Aldrich Killian. Clint was usually fairly quiet in the mornings unless Natasha was also here teasing him about one thing or another.
There had been many mornings when Steve was here that he would have loved to enjoy his breakfast in this kind of peace. Today was different. He could really use the distraction of conversation to stop him from constantly checking or fiddling with his phone.
Simply put he was anxious to hear from Skye again. She had let him know that they were headed over to London to help clean up more of the mess Thor left behind and that she would try to let him know how it went. He received a few sporadic texts and two short phone calls. It was odd that in such a short amount of time Steve found himself really looking forward to their conversations but Skye was funny and had the ability to pull Steve out of some of his more dark moods without even realizing she was doing so.
Both Clint and Tony noticed that Steve seemed to be staring at his phone that placed on the table when he sat down before picking it up and fiddling with it. While most people wouldn't consider someone using their phone at the table a sign that something was up both men had heard Steve's rants against this generation's constant attachment to their 'new gadgets' many times.
Tony slapped Clint on the arm and signaled him to try and figure out what was up. While he and Cap had moved past most of the issues from their first meeting, he still couldn't see Steve opening up to him.
"Steve…Steve…Cap," Clint tried to get his attention but got nothing. Sighing, Clint reached to grab a muffin from one of the plates in the middle of the table and threw it at his friend making a direct hit to his forehead.
That worked, Steve immediately raised his head and glared at Clint, "What was that for?"
"We were concerned your hearing's going in your old age." Tony joked. "Robin Hood called your name three times."
"Oh." Steve looked away bashfully. "Sorry, what's up?"
Clint gave Steve a pointed look. "We were wondering the same thing. What's up with you?"
Steve paused for a moment to consider if he really wanted to share the more personal details of his life at the moment. With one last look at his phone, he decided a little advice on wooing girls nowadays couldn't hurt. "I, uh, I ran into Coulson after I got done with my last assignment."
"Nat told us he was back up and running. I guess Fury was too stubborn to let his man go." Clint mumbled around a bite of oatmeal.
"That seems to be the running theory, anyway. Fury yelled at Coulson until he decided not to die." Tony laughed picturing it in his head.
Steve cleared his throat before continuing. "Yea, well he's got this new team now and…."
"And…?" Tony pressed.
It was the archer that put the pieces together. "You met a girl!" He exclaimed pointing his spoon at Steve.
"Is it that obvious?" Steve groaned, put his face in his hands.
Tony and Clint both shrugged before Tony said, "All the signs are there. New obsession with your phone. Fidgety embarrassment. Yup, pretty obvious now that ya mention it." Stark commented to Clint.
"Did she turn ya down?" Clint questioned.
"What? No. I mean I didn't actually ask… We just exchanged phone numbers before she left to help pull some teammates out of an aerial assault." Steve defended.
The other men at the table laughed at their friend's flustered expression. "You've got it bad!" Tony continued laughing.
After they had gotten a few more jokes in, Steve filled them in on how he'd met Skye. Both of them took a few minutes to process the story before Tony finally asked, "Wait, this girl got around a SHIELD tracker and managed to hack into an active mission from a level 8 secure server? From inside the Hub itself? Using a laptop and decoy?"
Steve nodded and added, "In under three minutes."
Tony and Clint shared a look. And said at the same time, "We have to meet her."
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The team didn't have to stay in London for long before they were ordered to investigate an unnatural murder that had taken place in Norway. A witness told authorities that a couple had cut down a tree and when confronted by parks services a small woman carrying a silver stick threw a man four times her size over fifty feet away.
Simmons had been outfitted with a harness to climb up and get a closer look at the area that the stick seemed to be taken from. She was still a bit nervous to be up so high because of what happened a few weeks previously.
Ward tried to alleviate some of the scientists concern, "I can climb up there if you want. You would just have to talk me through what to do with the doodads." Glancing up to where the tree had been split, he added, "It's only about fifteen feet."
Taking a deep calming breath, Simmons looked over to her friend, "I'll be fine. Im just a bit more wary about the height thing since falling to a certain death."
He knew that was what was to blame for Simmons' hesitance. "You're afraid. Shaken up. It's normal." Reaching up a hand to offer a little more stability and comfort as she took a few steps forward. "But some feelings will take over if you dwell on them, especially fear. Now just keep your eyes ahead and focus on what you like to do best."
"Yep. Not falling." She said a little breathlessly.
"No research. You're a scientist. You like to figure things out." Ward corrected.
The two remained quiet as she continued up the tree and began scanning the site. Moments later her equipment started beeping confirming what the team already suspected. "Whatever was in here was definitely not from this world."
Through the comms Fitz added, "The spectrograph signature readings match reading from Thor's hammer. Whatever was up there was Asgardian."
"Oh I can see an imprint of what was embedded. I'll scan for three dimensional restoration." Simmons chirped when she discover the impression.
After a few more moments of discussion between Fitz and Simmons, she was ready to come down. Ward did his best to distract her, "Did you and Skye happen to run into anyone special at the Hub?"
Simmons looked at Ward a bit confused. She had assumed Skye filled Ward in on the assistance they had received from Captain America. "Yes, actually we did. Or rather, Skye did. I was off fetching May so I didn't actually run into him. He just walked Skye back to the plane and then distracted the controllers and temporarily disabled SHIELDs radars at the Hub so we could have a little time to slip out and get to you and Fitz."
Throughout that entire rant, Simmons still didn't say who the 'he' she was referring to was. "Who are you talking about, Simmons?"
"Oh Steve Rogers, of course. I really thought Skye would have told you." Simmons hopped off the stump and turned to face Ward. "He really was very helpful and kind."
Ward watched as Simmons walked over to wait in the car for the others to finish taking statements from the witness leaving him to wonder what really happened in the Hub while he and Fitz were out on the mission and how the Captain America came to be involved involved.
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After the team returned to the bus armed with at least an idea of what they were dealing with thanks their meeting with a Norse mythology professor, Skye stood alone in the command center of the bus digging into other possible locations based on the text that was riddled with clues.
There were a lot of places that the Vikings invaded so the list of possible locations was not a short one. She kept trying to figure out a way to narrow the search down. Her brain was sifting through all the information but the more she researched the more confused and frustrated she became.
Hearing her phone snapped her out of her daze and she answered it without bothering to check the caller ID, she assumed it would be either Coulson or Ward demanding answers, "Look, I'm doing my best here but the Vikings weren't exactly stay at home a knit kind of people."
"Well, that is an interesting fact. I will be sure to pass on your assessment to Thor next time talk to him." Steve chuckled.
"Oh God! I thought it was Ward calling to try and pry answers from me!" Skye rushed to explain the unusual greeting.
Steve would be willing to bet that Skye's face was adorably displaying how flustered she seemed right now. The mental picture made him smile, "I'm just calling to warn you that I may have told Stark about what happened at the Hub and now he's starting to demand a meeting with. I'm going to take this opportunity to offer my sincerest apologies in advance for when he makes that happen."
That was certainly not what Skye was expecting. The Tony Stark wanted to meet her. This couldn't be happening. "You're joking, aren't you?"
"Nope. Not joking. He keeps saying something about letting you have a go at his systems to make sure he doesn't have… to be honest, I don't know what he was saying but, I think he may be planning to fly over there and kidnap you if you guys take too much longer." Steve told her very seriously.
Skye laughed at the odd turn her life was making. A year ago she was a faceless hacktivist and now Captain America was warning her that Ironman was planning to kidnap her and let her play with his computer systems. She briefly considered pinching herself to make sure this wasn't a dream. "Umm I think were heading to DC once we locate the rest of this Asgardian magic stick. I overheard Coulson talking about meetings in the Triskelion."
Excitement rushed through Steve. If she was going to DC, he could try a swing getting that coffee with her. Then he considered everything else she'd just said. "Magic stick?"
It took her a few minutes to explain the situation that the team was dealing with and where they were planning to try and find the missing pieces of the berserker staff. When she finished her story Steve was quiet. A staff that made people insanely angry and more powerful sounded like a very serious issue. "I'll see if I can get in touch with Thor. Maybe he could help point you guys in the right direction."
"Oh! That would be fantastic!" Skye exclaimed. She had jokingly asked if Coulson planned on seeing if Thor could be of any help but she hadn't even thought to ask Steve. "I mean you don't have to but it would be great to have a little more to go on than what we have so far."
"It's not a problem. I'm happy to help you in any way I can." Smiling Steve added on, "As long as we get that cup of coffee you promised me."
There it was again. Skye was pretty sure that Steve was flirting with her and she couldn't help but notice that her heart had sped up with the thought. "Wait, you mean I get help and a coffee date? How can a girl refuse?"
"I'm hoping she doesn't."
Even though it was impossible for Steve to see her nodding Skye couldn't help it. "You've got yourself a deal."
Steve was elated that she'd said yes. He may not have asked her out for a traditional date but getting coffee was certainly progress. "I'd better hurry up and get that intel for you before you change your mind on me. I'll let you know when I hear back from Thor."
As soon as he ended the call with Skye he dialed Jane Fosters' number. Thor had been laying low with her since the incident in London and not many people could reach him. "Hey Jane! It's Steve, could you ask Thor about something called a berserker staff for me, please?"
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It only took Steve about half an hour to text Skye a less well known Viking raid site, she was pleasantly surprised to discover they were already in position thanks to Coulson's connection to the mythology professor. According to Thor one particular raid was actually led by Asgardians themselves so it would make sense to start the search here.
As she was pulling up more information Coulson and Ward made their way to the command center complaining about coming up with zilch from the good professor's suggestion, "Do you know what's not on Mt. Thor? Anything Asgardian." Coulson stood next to Skye and asked, "What about you? Any luck finding something to help?"
"Nystrom's message boards are just a buzz with psychos talking about ascending to become gods of death and destruction. People suck, sir." Skye led with the bad news. She thought it was important to know that the group that rioted in Oslo was only gaining more members.
Ward scoffed, "That's your progress? 'People suck'?" He had expected more from Skye.
She looked at him a little irked that he was impatiently rushing her opportunity to show and tell, "These people do." Shifting her focus back to Coulson, "There's also chatter about going underground."
Again Ward interrupted, "Could mean going incognito-"
"Or a clue about where they are searching for the next piece." It was Ward's turn to have his thought cut off.
If they were going to get ahead of this group they needed to figure out where they were headed, "Randolph said to check Viking routes. Have you managed to find any others?"
Skye nodded and pulled up the interactive map she had been tagging the locations that had the highest chance of being a match. "I did. There are some sites along the Volga River in Russia, others in Kiev, and funnily enough here. In Seville, Spain."
Both sets of eyes looked at her a bit shocked. "Here? In Seville?"
"Turns out the Vikings sacked Seville twice." Skye nodded and zoomed in on the city. "In fact, one of those raids was actually lead by Asgardians."
Coulson nodded, easily accepting her assessment. But Ward was skeptical, "How would you know that? Yesterday you were shocked that they weren't gods. Now you know they were in Spain?"
Ward's open doubt of the intel she gathered was a little hurtful but before she could say anything to defend herself May stepped in, "I'm sure she has her sources, Agent Ward." May immediately defended the younger girl. Skye had never given them bad intel, even if she didn't tell them the whole truth what she did tell them was always useful. "We found a specific promising location with Viking relics. El Divino Nino. It's a church built on the ruins of an 8th century crypt that was built on Roman ruins from 206BC."
"East of a river." Ward added.
"And lots of bones. Let's see what we can dig up." Coulson made contact with the agents in the room. "See what I did there?"
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The team decided that the church needed to be search as soon as possible. So it was Skye and Ward that were sent down the tunnels while May questioned the priest that ran the church. Ward was some what less than thrilled at the tight fit in the underground hallway. He kept having to duck his head to miss cob webs and other disgusting things. Through his ear comm Coulson asked, "How are you doing, Agent Ward?"
"Wishing I was shorter. Other than that. Nothing yet. All my readings are normal." He grumbled. The lack of a snarky comment from his rookie made him momentarily uneasy. "What about you, Skye? Any luck?"
"Well, I'm lucky my S.O. volunteered to take the super creepy hallway instead of the slightly less creepy dungeon room…place." Ward smiled and shook his head at her response. Leave it to her to make a joke while underground in a crypt, searching for a dangerous alien staff. "Other than that…I got nothing."
After a few quiet moments the device in Ward's hand started beeping and Fitz's voice sounded alarmed in his ear, "Ward, your spectrograph is reading something near you."
He began frantically looking around, "I don't see anything."
"Well, it's right in front of you." Still Ward saw nothing. "Oh wait, no, uh, ok hold on… It's moving northwest."
Ward whipped around and caught movement down another part of the hallway. "I have visual."
It took a few seconds for Ward to catch the figure that had been running away. When he pushed the man's body up against a wall and got a look at his face, Ward was momentarily shocked. Apparently Professor Randolph knew part of the staff was here all along and had attempted to send them on a wild goose chase. The smaller man raised his hands and stuttered, "I have a wonderful explanation."
Shaking his head, Ward started to fill the team and take possession of the piece of the staff clearly sticking out of the professor's bag. "I ran into something unexpected-"
The second his hand closed over the staff it felt as if Ward's entire body was engulfed in flames. And for a second he was back at his family home looking down a dark hole in the ground with his little brother's voice screaming his name. The image brought him to his knees and made his heart race madly.
Skye had heard the small groan in her comm and started moving to last point her tablet has displayed for Ward. She barely heard Coulson talking to her, "Skye, can you-"
"I'm already on it." She cut him off and rounded the corner to see Ward laying on the ground. She couldn't tell if he was breathing. Skye rushed to his side, "Ward!"
As soon as her hand touched Ward's shoulder he jerked back to consciousness clearly panicking about something. With his training he didn't think before he swung out, instinctually trying to protect himself from what his mind believed to be a threat. He didn't recognize Skye until it was too late and his elbow had already connected with her cheek with enough force to throw her back into the wall.
Still he looked around panicked, it took Skye's voice to really break through the haze, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Grant! Calm down. Please, just calm down."
Ward's eyes locked onto her. He took a few deep breaths trying to slow his pounding heart and kept his eyes on Skye. "The staff… Professor has it."
After a few seconds of silence Skye moved over to him while filling in the team, "Something is wrong with Ward." She shifted and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to try and help him stand. "The staff, he said the professor took it."
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Several hours after Steve had passed on the limited information from Thor he sat in his apartment trying to distract himself by reading. Usually he could bury himself in the words on the page and it was a brief respite from considering all the things he has missed. This evening it wasn't as effective though.
Since Thor had more clearly explained what the berserker staff was capable of Steve found it nearly impossible to shake his worry for Skye and her team off. They were going after a group that believed in destroying the world and were willing to use alien artifacts to do it. When his phone rang he grabbed it up hoping it was Skye checking in. He was a little disappointed to see Jane's name instead.
Before Steve could even offer up a greeting he heard Thor's voice instead of Jane's. "My good captain, have you any news about those foul humans?"
It wasn't surprising that Thor had also taken a personal interest in situation with the staff. After all these people were using Asgardian relics to terrorize Earth. "Nothing yet. I passed on your intel and asked for an update as soon as possible. Skye still hasn't checked back in yet, though."
"You sound worried, my friend. Do you believe something has gone wrong?" There was genuine concern in Thor's voice.
Steve sighed and began pacing as he spoke, "I'll be worried until I hear from Skye again. I think she has a habit of getting into trouble."
Thor laughed at his friend's explanation, "It would seem to me that many of us are guilty of that. Rest easy until you are given a reason to doubt her safety. Phil, Son of Coul has never struck me as a leader that unduly risks members of his team." Even though Thor was unable to see Steve's doubtful expression, he sensed Steve's disbelief. "He is more apt to place himself in harm's way than another."
Both men thought back to how bravely Coulson had confronted Loki. While it was true that Coulson may not be transparent with his plans, it was also true that he would never knowingly risk someone's safety if he could help it. "I know, you're right." Steve sighed.
"You care for the Lady Skye?" Thor broke the silence and asked his friend. Steve's loneliness was a topic that was much discussed among the Avengers. They all worried that he needed someone to care about and to care about him.
Taking a moment to consider Thor's question, Steve thought about how it had felt when he was holding her hand before she boarded her team's plane and smiled to himself. "Yea, I do. She's… different."
"Different is a good thing." Thor said as remembered think the same thing about his Jane when they had first met.