AN: Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well! As always, many thanks to MegaDiary123 for being a great Beta. I hope you all enjoy this light chapter. Until next weekend...

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Skye's POV

After that rollercoaster, our next few missions were pretty simple. Some retrieval of information here, some standard presence required there. Nothing too complicated, nothing too exciting. But then, Thor came back to Earth. And not simply like that, no. The God of Thunder had to bring a whole bunch of Dark Elves with him and spread chaos all across London.

As soon as what was happening hit the news I contacted the others. None of the other Avengers had any idea where he was, but he knew where we were. At least where the Avengers Tower was. If he wanted anything, he could just fly in.

But still, this was how the team was sent to Greenwich University to clean up the mess that the Asgardian left behind. But we didn't stay long there. For in Trillemarka National Park in Norway, something happened. Something that got S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention and our mobile unit was called there to assess what was going on.

Coulson, Ward and Jemma had gone on location to gather information from the eye witness and to examine the tree that two people had taken down and cut in half. I had to admit that hearing Ward taking care of Jemma and making sure she was comfortable with climbing on the tree trunk was… peculiar. I wouldn't have expected him to care enough to help her out with her caution towards heights. Turns out the robot had a slightly bigger heart than I expected. It didn't mean I would start trying again with him, but I could give him some more slack.

The rest of the team was working from the Bus, each doing their own thing, which was for Fitz to work on the Lab based on what Jemma found at the Park, while May and I were trying to find the people who did this. This turned out to be easier than expected since they weren't really hiding. They were instead causing havoc in Oslo, spreading violence and using fire to spell "We Are Gods" on the asphalt.

"Jakob Nystrom, 30. Girlfriend, Petra Larsen. Leaders of a Norse, Paganist, hate group" Ward laid out the information on the large screen in the Lab.

"Yeah" I chimed in. "And their numbers are growing thanks to what happened in Greenwich and the internet" I rolled my eyes. "Yay, the internet, she said sarcastically". I noticed the question in Jemma's eyes so I explained further on the 'Norse Paganist group'. "Ancestor of anything derived from Norse mythology. Stories of Asgard and… stuff" I added pointing to the half-formed 3D representation of what the two people had stolen from the tree.

Fitz took that as his cue to explain. "We scanned the tree from one side. Too much damage for complete reproduction" he said as if he expected us to say something about the thing being half-formed.

"But," Jemma pointed out, "see here? It is clearly broken from both ends"

"Awesome" I muttered to myself. "At least two more pieces to find".

Ward, who had taken the stuff on his hand and was examining it closer noticed that the surface wasn't completely smooth. "What about the markings?"

"Asgardian symbolism". All four of us turned around to see Coulson and May walk in, with the former explaining. "Hard to translate with our limited knowledge". Great, I thought. Thor would come in very handy right now.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigations are on the trail of Nystrom, and his followers," May said and then looked back at Coulson, who continued. "We're charged with identifying the object and find any other pieces before they do"

"How are we gonna do that?" I couldn't help but ask. When I got raised eyebrows from most of the people around me I rushed to expand. "Don't get me wrong. I believe in us, 'Go Team' and all that. But they seem to be at least one step ahead. They found this thing in a 150 square feet kilometres of a Norwegian forest. Inside a tree"

"Actually that's a valid point," Coulson said and I quietly said, "Thank you". "Which is why we're gonna go and meet our own expert" Coulson continued. "When we first found the hammer in New Mexico, I consulted one of the world's leading experts in Norse mythology. Elliot Randolph. A professor at the University in Seville. We'll leave immediately" he nodded at May who left to go to the cockpit. "Maybe he can tell us more about these markings"

We all left the Lab and got strapped in for the take-off. "England… Norway… now Spain" I started listing out as the plane left the ground. "Who knows which country's next?" I turned to look at Jemma looking at me from her seat next to me. "You know, I always wanted to do a Euro trip. Look around, travel a bit". I bit back a laugh. "Hopefully spend more than just a few rushed hours in each country"

I felt Jemma softly taking my hand in hers, a smile on her face. "Maybe…" she started and paused. "Maybe, at some point when we have time, we could do that together?" I couldn't help the happy, peaceful feeling that spread inside me at that suggestion and I nodded. So distracted was I, that I didn't hear May letting us know we could unstrap.

She tugged at my arm and only then did I notice that the rest had left the cargo hold and it was just the two of us there. And while we unbuckled ourselves, we didn't move from our seats there. Not really wanting to ruin the mood, but still needing to get this out of my chest I spoke. "I think, before we go on that trip, there are a few things that… you know. We are gonna have to talk about it eventually"

Jemma let out a sigh at that and looked around. Seeing that it was only the two of us in the whole floor turned back to me, a slightly more anxious expression on her face and her heartbeat elevated slightly as well. "I know…" she said in an almost defeated voice.

"Hey, hey" I quickly interrupted her train of thought. It would do no good for her to get lost in her head at that moment. With my finger, I gently lifted her chin, which she had dropped, so that she looked at me and not her hands. "Why are you so worried about this talk? I might or might not be terrified to have it, but I want to believe that there's nothing to worry about"

Her eyes were boring into mine. I could feel her heart slowing down as she relaxed, the corners of her lips also tilting upwards. "You're right. You always are"

I let out a small breath that sounded like a chuckle. "I think between the two of us, you're the smarter one"

She lifted her eyebrows playfully as if saying, 'Well, I can't argue with that', and whatever resident anxiety was in the room just disappeared. "I just don't want this to be awkward" she genuinely expressed.

I looked a bit to the side and tilted my head as if I was thinking about it. "I think we've passed the awkward part of this too many times already," I said with an easy smile. "But, if this is what you're worried about, don't. Jemma, seriously. Us and awkward, it just doesn't work. Not when we were in the Academy, not when you saw me in a hospital bed years later, not now, not ever. We don't do awkward". She challenged me with a look and I raised my hands submissively. "Fine, fine. We can do awkward, but we get over it pretty quickly".

She let out a watery exhale and let her head fall back onto the seat, looking up to the ceiling. "How did this happen?", she asked but I was almost certain she was talking to herself. That didn't stop me from answering.

"I think this is all your fault really" I said as I mimicked her position and stared at the ceiling as well. I could see from the corner of my eye that she turned to me with a baffled expression on her face. "Yup" I said popping the last letter for emphasis. "Definitely your fault, one hundred percent". She half-heartedly flicked on my shoulder so that I turn in her direction. 'Wanna elaborate on that?', was what her expressive eyes conveyed. "No, seriously. Think about it," I continued as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I just wanted my peace and some quiet, being left alone with my computer as I survived Operations. But then you, you had to come in and offer me a freaking granola bar because you noticed I had missed lunch. Totally your fault—"

"Oh, shush you" she interrupted and knocked on my shoulder once more. "If I remember correctly, which I certainly am, you were to blame for that" she playfully bit back.

I huffed. "How can that be true?" I challenged.

She pressed one finger on my chest. "You had to act like a knight in shining armour and prevent Ward from spotting me that first day at the canteen. You hadn't even spoken to me yet, not a word. And yet there you were, taking a blow for me so that I would have my lunch in peace. So…" she dragged out the word, "if it's anyone's fault it's really, and utterly, yours"

Well, shit, I thought. I had completely forgotten about that. I rubbed my face, hard, trying to think of something to say as a comeback but came up empty. "Fine" I threw my hands in the air and sat back on my seat. "You're right," I said and as I lowered my hands, the one closer to Jemma fell on her shoulders and I gently pulled her in a one-arm hug. She laid her head on my shoulder and linked her fingers with mine. "But you have to admit that you were at least partially at fault as well. Nothing would have happened if you hadn't been so darn thoughtful"

"Can't say you're wrong there" she replied as she eased even more onto my side. "You would never initiate a conversation for so long" she laughed at the memory. I could feel her relaxing even more. "So, what happens now?" She asked the question that I knew was going through her head for a while.

I tightened my grip in her arm, comfortingly. "Now, we take it one day at a time. As slow as we need to. We can just see what happens from now on. What do you say?" I smiled down at her and she lifted her head and smiled back.

"I would like that very much"