"That's not even possible" Trip muttered, more to himself than to the group of agents stood around him. "She would have been killed by the impact."

Fitz and Lance both nodded simultaneously, agreeing in silence to his words.

"Sir," Ward called, taking a few steps closer to where Coulson was observing the scene in front of them. "With respect, I think we need to consider the idea she came down with the meteorite."

"Agreed" he murmured in response.

"I would suggest sending a tactical team in to subdue her as a precaution."

Coulson turned to face him, and shook his head. Skye wandered over to join them both, tying her hair up behind her to stop the wind blowing it into her face.

"She currently is showing no signs of being a danger," Coulson replied, gazing once more into the distance, where the woman seemed to be watching them. "We currently have no need to subdue her. But I agree with the precaution, we need to know who she is, what she wants, and whether she poses any threat."

"Send in the welcome wagon" Skye murmured, back on her tablet ensuring no more headlines had appeared.

"Agent Morse" Coulson announced, turning back to him group of agents, who gathered around him, the heat of the sun not putting them off their mission.

"Yes Sir."

"I want yourself to join Agent Triplett and I in making first contact with her."

Bobbi nodded in response, and Trip opened the boot of one of the vehicles. "ICERs or guns, Sir?"

"Take both, but hold ICErs as a priority. We don't want to harm her unless there is a serious endangerment to life."

Trip nodded again, and set about sorting through the weapons they had in the back of the SUV; he handed a couple to Bobbi, put a few aside for Coulson, and chose his own.

"Fitz, Simmons," Coulson continued, turning to the younger scientists. "I want you to start running every analysis you can of the area. The ground, the remains of foliage, air quality, everything. Get the results backed up to HQ as soon as possible."

The two agreed, and headed to the other vehicle.

"Agent Ward, take the other car, run the perimeter... take Hunter with you. Make sure nobody comes within five miles of this site. Any intruders, send them away."

Lance jumped into the car beside them, followed by Ward, who revved the engine before they drove away at speed.

"And Skye, keep the press at bay, dig into past files about this location, similar events in SHIELD history, and everything Fitzsimmons come up with... help them if they need it."

"Cool."

Coulson turned back to Bobbi and Trip, the latter of who handed him two weapons - one lethal, which he put the safety onto and slipped into the waistband of his trousers, and one non-lethal, which he held onto tightly.

"Let's go."

"She hasn't moved much since we arrived, has she?" Jemma commented, as she swiped across the tablet in her hand to open up the camera. "You think it's shock?"

"If she was hit directly by a meteor -" Fitz started, squinting at the patterns trailing through the sandy ground beneath them.

"- the meteor that doesn't seem to exist -" Skye added absentmindedly.

"- Then she would be dead." he continued. "But if she was hit by shockwaves, at a close enough range…" Fitz shrugged, looking again back across the plains to where Coulson, Bobbi, and Trip were making their way over to the woman.

"If she was directly hit by shockwaves at a high enough level, she could be suffering from extreme internal injuries, such as bleeding, damage to her lungs," Jemma finished for him, taking a photograph of the pattern in front of them.

"She looks pretty much unharmed though" Skye commented, watching warily at the scene unfolding below them; she trusted her dad, knew he was the best agent they had, and knew Trip and Bobbi were exceptional too, but there was still something nerve-wracking about watching them heading over to greet a potential… alien?

"Physically, there wouldn't be visible damage unless she had fallen to the floor or been hit by shrapnel" Jemma replied, adding more photographs into the database, as Fitz opened up the case containing the DWARFS.

"But I mean, if she did come down, then she must be either Hulk-strong to survive that drop, or she landed like the Asgardians do?"

"Guess we'll find out soon enough."

Coulson walked towards the woman with purpose. He didn't want to appear intimidated by her, or afraid of what they might find, but he couldn't deny that he was a little apprehensive about the upcoming encounter.

The last time he'd greeted somebody like this, they had been an Asgardian God.

Trip walked to his left, and Bobbi on his right, and the three headed across the sand towards the lone woman, who had yet to move from her position.

The sound of their footsteps crunching through the sand was the only soundtrack to their journey, the anticipation of who they were meeting and where they had come from, flowing through their veins.

"Do you think she's okay?" Bobbi murmured, breaking Phil out of his lapse in concentration, and causing him to look back up to the woman in front of them. She was looking across the floor for something, moving cautiously around and peering amongst the sand for some unknown object; she seemed unbothered by their arrival.

"I don't know" he replied honestly. Physically, she looked okay; from their position about ten metres from her, he could see no visible signs of blood, no limping or observable trauma. "But we're about to find out."

She was facing away from them when the three agents reached a spot maybe five metres from her. Coulson coughed slightly to get her attention.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?"

She spun around to face him, dark hair sweeping around her face, and standing in a warrior-like pose, hand automatically reaching for her sword. Coulson swallowed, reminded instantly of the moment he had come face to face with Lady Sif and the warriors three, when they descended from Asgard to join Thor.

She was definitely a warrior, of some kind.

The clothing she wore spoke of battles; boots laced up her calves, trousers so tight they looked painted on, and shimmering silver armour across her torso. She held a grip over her holster, and Phil could sense immediately by her attire that she was someone of importance.

But the clothing was not reminiscent of Asgard. It was different, somehow, in a way he could not word.

The woman stared through him, as though Phil wasn't even there.

"Are you okay? Are you injured?"

She flicked her gaze back towards him, molten brown eyes interrogating his soul. There was something in her look, something deep within her eyes that spoke of darkness, of past trauma. She had the appearance of somebody who had seen things many should not have to witness.

"This place" she murmured quietly, the words falling from her lips and trailing away in the wind. "What is this realm?"

"Earth" Trip replied, keeping one hand firmly on the ICER by his side. "You not from here?"

She shook her head. "I was called here, from Stormhold."

"Called?" Bobbi asked warily, shooting glances around them at the scene of devastation.

Phil made a mental note to tell Skye to search for any previous mentions of this "Stormhold" in the SHIELD databases; in all his years of active duty, he had not heard of such a place.

The woman looked at Bobbi, before tilting her head up a little, indicating her agreement to the previous question.

"So," Coulson nodded, trying his best to make her feel at ease - he could almost visibly see the tension radiating from her. "Any idea why, or how, you were… called?"

She paused, fingers absently tracing the handle of her sword, as though mentally working out whether she was in danger from the people before her or not.

She apparently decided she was safe, for her hand removed itself from the handle, but Coulson had a pretty strong feeling she'd be able to take it out and attack within seconds.

"I know only that I seek a stone."

Trip glanced at Coulson with a frown - they both knew exactly which stone she was after.