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I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world,

from turning into a monster eating us alive,

Don't you ever wonder how we survive?

Well now that you're gone, the world is ours...

~Monster; by Paramore

One year. No. . . .it's been a little over one year. That's how long it's been since I've seen Thor, since I've seen Darcy and Jane, and since I've seen Selvig. I—thankfully—managed to land a job in Philadelphia, not too long after what happened in New Mexico. Leaving Darcy and Jane had been somewhat tearful, with promises to keep in touch, though they were quick to mention the possibility of leaving New Mexico, too. As for Selvig, he managed to land a spot at S.H.I.E.L.D, helping them with a very specific and very classified operation. In other words, I couldn't say goodbye. But I knew he'd be proud to know that I found a real job and managed to find a decent apartment in Philadelphia!

The one thing that bothered me the most about Selvig working for S.H.I.E.L.D was that he was working for S.H.I.E.L.D! I didn't know a lot about them, only the vague information Fury told me. I was informed about the Avengers Initiative, with only small and very vague information on how it's connected to S.H.I.E.L.D. They were very secretive, I figured out that much.

Fury had told me that when my abilities were needed, I'd be contacted by one of S.H.I.E.L.D's agents and brought to their immediate location.

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about that, so I just nodded.

But, who was I to have a say in what Selvig could do? That secretive group of people had their reasons for needing him, and if working for them somehow benefited him in some way, then I was happy.

The one thing I found increasingly difficult to handle was the weight of knowing that Thor was still out there, wherever that Asgard place is, probably resuming the life he left behind. It frustrated me, knowing that I would get so bothered over Thor's absence. I kept reminding myself that I was above the petty, clichéd woman waiting desperately for the one she deeply cared for to return.

But then my mind would remind me that Thor promised to return.

Then I'd get angry at myself and this whole cycle would start over again.

Despite the fact that Thor had only lived on Earth for no more than a month before leaving, he had impacted my life in a way I wasn't sure I could comprehend. There was some kind of connection between us, I just wasn't positive if it had been just me assuming it was romantic or if he thought the same way.

So to distract myself from the nagging my mind would give me over Thor's absence, I would spend that time practicing my powers. I needed to gain more control, and since I was also on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar—at least until they needed me—I needed all the time to prepare myself for whatever was bound to happen.

My telepathy was already good—I could easily enter the minds of people without much trouble, even going as far as entering the minds of multiple people at once.

My telekinesis, however, is still a different story. I've never had good control over my telekinesis, and after the death of my brother, Damien, it felt like it got worse. I lost control after finding out my brother died overseas in the Military. I nearly leveled a city in Florida. I had been told my telekinesis had been strong enough to level a city, and despite my best efforts to control it, I pretty much proved that I could do just that. I had to keep up strong mental barriers to ensure that I only let out limited amounts of telekinetic energy at a time, lowering those barriers let out stronger waves of energy, and the stronger it got, the harder it became for me to control it. Even though I had spent a little over a year trying to gain some control over that aspect of my powers, I still had trouble controlling it.

Practicing my powers had been an easy outlet for distracting myself from Thor and also letting out built-up frustration.

Ever since what happened in New Mexico, I felt a sense of dread. Humans weren't the only beings in the Universe. There were other, stronger beings out there that had some form of travel to Earth. I wanted to make sure that I was at least somewhat prepared for any other kind of alien attack that might happen. It felt like nothing made sense anymore.

And I hated when things didn't make sense.

"You doing OK, Zel?" I briefly looked up and saw Riley sitting beside me in the break room. Riley was decent enough, she was somewhere in her mid- to late thirties, and friendly enough to talk to.

"I'm fine," I said, forcing a smile her way.

"You've just been acting strange lately." Riley's brown eyes sparkled with concern. "I just wanted to make sure. . . ."

"Really, Riley, I'm fine."

Before another word could come out of her mouth, Thalia, my boss, stormed in. If there was any person I could hate the most in my life, it would be Thalia. She had to be in her late forties or early fifties with the beady eyes of a rodent and a mouth so thin you'd have to look closely just to find her lips. Thalia's entire attitude was that of someone who hated her job but knew she had no other options in the job field.

"Benningfield, in my office now," she snapped.

Riley shot a worried look my way.

I tried for my best reassuring smile, but I knew that wouldn't ease up Riley.

Following Thalia into her office, I saw two sharply dressed men standing on either side of a smartly dressed woman. Thalia's beady eyes looked between the trio and myself, a slight scowl on her face.

"Ms. Benningfield," the woman began, "I'm Agent Hill. I need you to come with us."

Author's Note:

To begin, I am so, so, so sorry for taking this story down! There had been some complications on my part in regards to this story so I had to take it down. Hopefully you guys are still interested in it! I'm kind of rewriting the whole story because I felt like the first time around, I rushed it and it just didn't really feel right. If any of you are still interested in this story, let me know what you think and know that I'm really sorry for taking this story down.

The 'Avengers' will never be mine. I'll always own my OC's and my fillers.

I was thinking that once that X-Men Apocalypse movie comes out, I might try a crossover of Zelda and the Avengers with the X-Men. It's still an idea, so I don't know if I really want to do it or not. Let me know what you guys think!

Leave a helpful and kind review, please!

Thank you.

Susan Strong