The only sound left on the street was Jane crying. She knelt in the dirt, pressing her hands against Thor's chest, begging him to wake up. He was completely still.

  The Destroyer paused at the edge of town. Its programming registered the primary target as neutralized. It turned, starting the slow walk back to the desert.

  I stayed exactly where I was. I didn't step forward to check his pulse. I just kept my eyes on the sky.

  The barometric pressure plummeted. It wasn't a weather front. The grey overcast began to swirl inward, pulling into a tight, unnatural funnel.

  Then the sonic boom hit.

  It sounded like a fighter jet snapping the sound barrier right above the rooftops. A blur of grey metal tore across the sky from the west. Mjolnir didn't strike the machine. It banked hard, arcing high before diving straight down into the dirt. It nded perfectly in Thor's outstretched, lifeless hand.

  Lightning didn't just strike; it anchored.

  A continuous, blinding pilr of white-blue electricity fallen into the street. The shockwave kicked up a wall of asphalt and dust. I raised a hand, casually expanding my barrier just enough to shield Jane, Darcy, and Selvig from the flying shrapnel.

  When the light cleared, the blood-stained fnnel was gone. Thor stood up, cd in silver armor and a red cape. His injuries were gone.

  The god of thunder was back.

  He didn't waste time on a speech. He spun the hammer by its leather strap, the air practically vibrated with voltage, and unched himself at the Destroyer.

  It wasn't much of a fight. The Destroyer fired its thermal beam, but Thor didn't even flinch. He used Mjolnir to split the heat, unching himself into the air and pulling the machine up into a localized vortex. I watched quietly as Thor dove straight down through the eye of the tornado, driving his hammer directly through the machine's open facepte.

  The internal energy core destroyed with a pop. The molten light flickered out. The massive Uru shell crashed back down onto the pavement, completely dead.

  The storm clouds broke apart almost instantly, letting the desert sun shine through the settling dust.

  Thor nded. He walked over to Jane with a soft smile. They spoke quietly, sharing the kind of hushed, hurried conversation people have when time is up.

  A convoy of bck SHIELD SUVs rolled into town, tires screeching as they blocked the intersection. Phil Coulson stepped out of the lead vehicle. He took in the ruined street, the dead alien weapon, and the man in the cape.

  Thor didn't wait for them to approach. He walked straight over to the agent.

  "Son of Coul," Thor said. "Know this. You and I, we fight for the same cause. The protection of this world. From this day forward, you can count me as your ally. If... you return the items you have taken from Jane Foster."

  Coulson looked at the glowing hammer, then up at Thor. He kept his calm perfectly intact, not even blinking at the threat of an angry thunder god.

  "Not stolen," Coulson corrected. "Borrowed. She'll get her equipment back."

  Thor gave a satisfied nod.

  Thor turned back to his people. Sif and the Warriors Three were gathering up their weapons, battered but grinning. It was time to go.

  Before he called down the bridge, Thor stopped. He looked over at me, standing near the wrecked pickup truck.

  He walked over, his heavy boots crunching on the broken gss, stopping a respectful distance away. The arrogance he had carried into New Mexico was gone. The biological fear he felt earlier in the street was gone, too. He was just a king stepping into his role.

  "I owe you my thanks," Thor said, his voice deep and sincere. "You shielded them when I had no power to do so. You bought me time."

  "You bought your own time, Thor," I said evenly.

  Thor looked at his weapon, then back at me. "I do not even know the name of the man I am thanking."

  "Adrian," I said simply.

  Thor gave a slow nod, committing it to memory. "Adrian. I have to return to Asgard. My brother has taken the throne. I do not know what I will find when I cross the bridge."

  I knew exactly what he would find. A broken bridge, a falling brother, and a war that would eventually spill onto Earth. But warning him wouldn't change the timeline.

  "Then do what you have to do," I said, slipping my hands into my pockets. "But remember the lesson you learned in the dirt today."

  Thor nodded slowly. "I will."

  "And Thor," I added, holding his gaze.

  He paused.

  "Family is the only thing longer than immortality," I told him. "Go fix yours."

  Thor stared at me for a long moment, letting the words sink in. He gave a nod.

  "Thank you."

  He turned and walked back to Jane, pulling her in for a final kiss. Then, he stood with his warriors and looked up at the sky.

  "Heimdall!" Thor shouted. "Open the Bifrost!"

  The sky tore open. A massive pilr of rainbow light smmed into the desert floor, swallowing the Asgardians. A second ter, they were gone, leaving behind a complex, burning scorch mark on the asphalt.

  The street went quiet again.

  Coulson walked over to me, looking down at the runic symbol smoking on the ground. "So, that's it? He just beams up?"

  "He went to war, Agent Coulson," I said, turning away to walk toward my car. The Rolls-Royce was miraculously untouched by the debris. "Send the bill for the street to Stark. He can afford it.".

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