Thor stood in the center of Main Street, Mjolnir hanging at his side, surrounded by his injured but living friends. Jane remained close, her hand resting on his arm as if afraid he might vanish. Selvig and Darcy hovered nearby, clearly uncertain how to behave in the presence of an actual god.
A soft pop of displaced air announced a new arrival.
Arthur Hayes appeared ten feet away, and he wasn't alone. Agent Coulson stumbled beside him, his face an alarming shade of gray-green. He grabbed a nearby lamppost to keep from introducing his lunch to the pavement.
"That was..." Coulson paused, swallowed hard, and straightened his tie with trembling fingers. "That was significantly worse than any turbulence I've experienced."
"You get used to it," Arthur said mildly. "Eventually. And it was necessary. You said you wanted to meet Thor before he departed. Walking would have taken too long."
Thor released Jane and strode toward Arthur, his expression shifting to one of genuine relief.
"Arthur Hayes." Thor clasped the other man's forearm in the warrior's greeting that Jane's group was beginning to recognize as Asgardian custom. "I feared the Destroyer had claimed you. When I did not see you coming back..."
"It takes more than a remote-controlled suit of armor to keep me down." Arthur gripped Thor's arm in return, noting the hum of divine power now running through the Asgardian. This was the real Thor, not the diminished mortal, but the God of Thunder restored. "Though I confess, I underestimated it. The thing struck harder than anticipated."
"I am glad you yet live," Thor said warmly. "Midgard would be poorer without its guardian watching over it."
"Flatterer." But Arthur smiled as he said it. His gaze moved past Thor to the injured warriors, who were helping each other stay upright. "Speaking of survival, your companions require attention."
Without waiting for a response, Arthur walked toward the wounded Asgardians.
Sif's hand went to her sword, or where her sword would have been, if the Destroyer hadn't reduced it to slag. She settled for a suspicious glare.
"What do you intend?"
"Basic healing." Arthur knelt beside her and held his hands over her injuries, white light gathering at his palms. "Hold still."
The effect was immediate. Bruises faded from purple to yellow to nothing. Cuts sealed as though time itself were reversing.
"By the Norns," Sif breathed, testing her weight on the leg. Full strength. No pain. "It is fully mended."
Arthur moved efficiently to Volstagg, then Fandral, then Hogun, repeating the process. Within a minute, warriors who had been battered to the edge of consciousness were standing tall again. Not at full strength, that would require proper rest, but functional. Battle-ready.
Thor watched with widening eyes. "You possess the healing arts? And with such speed. My mother herself would be impressed by your skill."
"I like to be well-rounded." Arthur dismissed the praise with a shrug.
Thor nodded, turning his attention to Coulson. The Agent tensed slightly under the gaze of the thunder god.
"Son of Coul," Thor said formally. "You and I have a matter to settle."
"We do?" Coulson asked, keeping his face neutral.
"You hold the possessions of Lady Jane." Thor gestured to Jane, who looked startled at being called a lady. "Equipment stolen from her laboratory. I would see it returned."
"We were actually in the process of packing everything up for return," Coulson said, lying with admirable smoothness. "Mr. Hayes already made that request. Quite persuasively. You'll have everything back at the lab by tonight."
Jane caught Arthur's eye and mouthed a silent thank you.
Arthur inclined his head slightly.
"Then we have no quarrel," Thor said, satisfied. He turned to address the group, his voice carrying the natural authority of a prince. "We must return to the Bifrost site. Heimdall awaits."
"That's a long drive," Darcy pointed out from behind an overturned car. "And the van is... kind of totaled."
"No need to drive." Arthur made a circular motion with his hand. Golden sparks swirled into existence. The portal expanded, revealing the red sand desert landscape of the impact crater miles away. "After you."
Thor looked at the portal, then at Arthur, his respect visibly growing. "You continue to surprise me, guardian of Midgard."
"I try."
The group stepped through.
—
The Impact Crater
The intricate burn patterns of the Bifrost still marked the desert floor, geometric designs of impossible complexity that seemed to shift when Jane viewed them from different angles. Her scientific mind itched to study them properly, but there was no time.
Thor planted his feet in the center of the pattern and raised his face to the heavens.
"Heimdall!" His voice carried across the empty desert, somehow amplified despite the vast open space. "Open the Bifrost!"
Nothing happened.
The sky remained clear. The sand remained still.
"Heimdall!" Thor called again, louder, commanding. "We are ready to return!"
Silence.
Thor turned to Sif, worry clouding his features. "He does not answer."
"He always answers," Sif said. "Unless..."
"Unless he cannot," Arthur finished. "Loki isn't foolish. If he intends to keep you stranded here, neutralizing the gatekeeper would be his first priority."
"Then we are stranded," Volstagg said, his shoulders slumping. "Trapped on Midgard while Loki brings ruin to our home."
The Asgardians looked at the sky helplessly. Panic began to creep into their expressions.
Arthur watched them. He knew this was the moment. He could let them figure it out, maybe wait for Heimdall to break free from the ice as he did in the movie. But that was a risk. Every second wasted was a second for something unexpected to happen.
"I can take you," Arthur said.
The group turned to him as one.
Sif's eyes narrowed. "You can travel between realms? Without the Bifrost?"
"I can open doorways," Arthur corrected. "The distance is irrelevant, as long as I have a clear image of the destination."
"What do you require?"
"Someone to visualize where we're going. The Bifrost Observatory, the palace, anywhere in Asgard that you know well."
Thor looked at his friends. Something unspoken passed between them.
"I shall do it," Sif said, stepping forward. "The Observatory is where I have spent the most time with Heimdall. My memory of it is clearest."
"Good." Arthur met her gaze. "Look at me. Don't resist."
For a split second, his eyes flashed with ethereal light.
Legilimens.
He didn't tear through her mind or rifle through her memories. He simply dove past the surface thoughts, and found the image she was holding forward for him.
Gold and bronze. Stars too close, too bright. The eternal hum of the Bifrost's power. Heimdall's watchful presence.
"Got it." Arthur raised both hands, and golden sparks began spiraling between his fingers. "Stand back."
The sparks coalesced, expanded, and a portal bloomed in the desert air. Through it, Jane could see something impossible: a domed chamber of burnished gold, filled with stars that seemed close enough to touch. The architecture was ancient and impossibly grand, designed by beings who thought in millennia rather than years.
And in that chamber, chaos reigned.
"Heimdall!" Thor's voice carried shock and fury in equal measure. "He is under attack!"
The situation through the portal was chaos. Frost Giants, Arthur counted at least a dozen, were assaulting the Observatory. Heimdall fought with devastating skill, his massive sword cleaving through attackers, but more kept coming. Ice crept across the golden walls. Bodies lay scattered across the floor.
"Go," Arthur said. "Now, before they overwhelm him."
Thor didn't hesitate. He charged through the portal, Mjolnir already swinging. Lightning crackled in his wake.
Sif followed immediately, weaponless but undaunted. Volstagg roared a battle cry and lumbered through. Fandral and Hogun exchanged a single glance and went together.
Arthur stepped forward to follow.
"Wait," Selvig called out. "You're going too?"
Arthur paused at the threshold, the golden light of Asgard illuminating his face. On the other side, he could hear the clash of steel and the crack of thunder as Thor rejoined the battle.
"I've always wanted to see Asgard," Arthur said, grinning. "It would be rude not to visit when I'm this close."
He stepped through.
The portal snapped shut behind him, leaving Jane, Selvig, Darcy, and Coulson alone in the silent desert.
"Well," Darcy said, breaking the silence by kicking at the sand. "That just happened."
Jane stared at the empty space where Thor had vanished, her heart aching but her mind already racing with the impossibilities she had witnessed. Other realms. Travel between worlds.
"Yeah," Jane whispered. "It really did."
Coulson pulled out his phone, his expression the carefully blank mask of a man processing information he wasn't sure how to report.
"Director?" he said when the line connected. "This is Coulson. You're going to want to sit down for this one."