"You're telling me that's he's coming here!"

"No, of course not," the man with the eye patch chuckled as he spun on his feel to face a frenzied Stark. "That would spell catastrophe for the entire planet. I'm very well aware that the last time Loki of Asgard or wherever the hell he's from tried to conquer the Earth and enslave all of humanity. That's why I'm dispatching an envoy."

"An envoy?" Rogers piped in. "I don't understand, if you pardon my interjection, sir." This earned an eye roll from Stark. "What is the bother with involving Loki in the first place? He was in a cell in Asgard's dungeons half a universe away. What's his connection to all of this?"

"I don't know," Eyepatch Man shook his head. "Asgard isn't exactly the best at communication. They've got sticks so far up their galactic assholes that they think that all worlds within their 'jurisdiction' will answer a summon without question."

"Well I've got questions," Romanoff snarled, jumping to her feet. "And I'm not going to walk to the throne room in Asgard like a servant whenever Odin decides to ring his dinner bell."

You remained in a transient state, your eyes floating from person to person. The migraine had been short, nothing as long as it had been two days ago. But there was always a sort of buzz that tended to follow like a really bad hangover, the feeling that your mind was not entirely connected, two different consciousnesses existing inside the same skull. You knew it was because you had been idiotic enough to use your 'Friends without benefits,' let your emotions get the better of you. 

It wasn't like you did it on purpose! You were like a closed soda can with a whole box of Mentos dumped into it, ready to explode but kept at bay. It was hard to sneeze and not set the entire Stark Tower flying. Every second of every minute of every hour could you feel the energy coursing through your veins, a constant state of heightened awareness that never left. Trying to fall asleep in under an hour was a real challenge. It had been a temporary slip up, the news of Thor's death had ripped the lid from the soda can and your emotions began to run your mind, allowing your 'Friends without benefits' to come pouring loose like a flood, nearly ripping out the whole floor and endangering the lives of your friends. 

You could see it in the way they looked at you, the way that even Stark kept his distance, though you knew he probably didn't do it with intention. It was rooted within their DNA, even yours. Powerful, dangerous things, no matter what intentions they may have, would always be feared. Fear was the instinct that had preserved the human species for millions of years, to shy away from the unknown and hide in a corner to live another day. You lived with several individuals that had less fear than your average Joe down the street, but they were human nonetheless and every human was afraid of something. You thought sometimes that you were afraid of yourself, afraid of the power that was inside of you, afraid of the migraines and the consequences that might await if you dared explore your abilities even further. 

"You alright kid?" 

Your eyes flitted upwards to meet Barton's, briefly wondering why he even bothered to involve himself with the Avengers Initiative. You knew he had a family, a hidden life somewhere in a remote corner of the planet. You hadn't read his mind to figure that out, it was obvious if you knew how to read a person. The way he always cast anxious glances over his shoulder, the way he seemed to take threats towards loved ones a lot more personally. 

"I'm fine," you replied with the trademark phrase, indicating that you were anything but that. "I just had a slip-up and let my emotions get the better of me. It won't happen next time."

"You don't have to act like that's a bad thing," Barton frowned. "Your powers are still new to you and you haven't figured out a way to put a lid on them yet. But trust me, you will. We all were in the same position as you at one point." When noting your sarcastic eye roll, he replied, "Well, I mean we weren't all zapped with an unknown space laser, but you get the point. What I'm trying to say is that you don't need to feel like you have to bottle yourself up all the time."

"I haven't had positive results with expressing myself," you muttered, casting a glance at Banner who was engaged in a deep conversation with Eyepatch Man. Barton followed your gaze and his jaw clenched. 

"Banner, your father - " You visibly winced at the f-word. "Whether you like it or not (Y/n), he is your father. He's not the best when it comes to expressing emotion or showing any kind of sympathy. You have to realise that if he lets his guard down, if he gets too attached to something and then that thing is ripped away from him, it could trigger the other side of him that we don't want to see. That's why he treats you like an experiment, like something from his lab. I know it's not the picture-perfect version of parenthood, but it's the way he keeps you safe."

"He didn't keep me safe enough to prevent this," you muttered, allowing enough energy to surge forth to the tips of your fingers to allow blue electricity to crackle before dissipating. 

"That was a mistake, you're right. He got so caught up in his desire to replicate the Super Serum that he forgot about the risks attached. But that Banner died when he injected himself with the gamma radiation and turned into his green-coloured friend. The Banner now has to be the way he is in order to protect you. You might not see it now, but you will."

"I guess," you muttered, but didn't want to admit that Barton was right. Your ego wouldn't allow for that. "What's Asgard, anyway? I know it's the place..." Your words drifted off for a moment, still trying to process the recent death that was hanging over everyone. "I know that it's the place that Thor is from, but other than that I've never heard anything else about it."

"Well," Barton frowned. "Thousands of years ago when the Nordic Vikings were tromping all over Europe, they worshiped a certain banner of gods such as Odin and Hel. I'm not sure about all the Nordic gods, but a lot of them were real in the sense that they were real beings. Perhaps not gods as in the creators of the universe, I'm not sure we'll ever get a proper answer to that. But they appeared as a governing force back in the ancient times and the Nordic peoples worshiped them. Asgard is the place where they're from, though it's actually a planet. The people there - "

"Live in the past and the future," you finished, your mind combing over the strange dreams of the worlds you had visited during your migraines. Though you did not see during your migraines, you could see during your dreams. "I think I've been there before," you explained to Barton, but then realised that probably wouldn't make any sense to him at all. "It doesn't matter," you replied, though your mind was still racing a mile a minute. 

The strange world with the floating lights and people that dressed like they were in a history book but lived a culture entwined with technology that was so advanced it almost seemed like magic, the place you called Tomorrowland from that one movie you didn't really remember. But what was the connection, why of all the thousands and millions of places in the universe did your migraines take you there the most often? You didn't know the connection, but you were certain that whatever force or consciousness had sensed you during your longest migraine was there, some secret buried at the epicentre of it all. 

"I want to go there." You stood up suddenly, catching Barton by surprise. The man with the eyepatch was now directing his gaze towards you. You didn't know much about him, but you could sense that you reminded him of someone, someone from his past long ago. He didn't seem to fear you and your abilities like the rest of the Avengers did, even if they didn't want to admit it. You almost would have sworn that he had seen similar abilities before, but how someone could have powers similar to yours, you did not know. 

"I want to be the Envoy," you replied firmly and knew right away that Banner was going to interject. 

"You can't!" He insisted, which wouldn't have angered you had it not been the first thing he had said to you since your last argument. "We don't know what the hell is out there, but it surely is dangerous if it would wreck a whole region of the universe and kill Thor like a bug on a windshield. Plus, we don't know what Odin wants, or why Loki is involved with any of this. I don't know Loki that well, but the last time he was here, he tried to enslave humanity and pretty much wrecked New York City. I don't want you going anywhere near him, especially with your migraines - "

"I can handle myself," you replied coolly, not letting your anger get the better of you. You had a feeling that if you let your emotions take the front seat of your brain, you would end up torching the place and getting an even nastier migraine than before.

"No, that's the problem," Banner spat. "You can't handle yourself. Your powers, your abilities, you can't even use them without being incapacitated for a short period of time. And one slip up is all the enemy would need to kill you."

"Thanks for the support," you snarled. "But I don't see anyone else volunteering for this. Does anyone else want to go to an alien planet and talk with some ancient Viking gods?" Your eyes surveyed the crowd, all of whom avoided eye contact. "I'm the only one volunteering so I don't see why there's a problem."

The Eyepatch Man continued to say nothing but regarded you with the same look as he did before, like he wasn't seeing you but rather a figure from his past, though you did not know who. You felt the same temptation to search his mind but then remembered the nasty cockroach encounter and decided that it probably wasn't a good idea. If cockroach minds were noisy and overwhelming, you couldn't imagine what it was like inside a human consciousness, though you could probably search Rogers's mind with relative ease. 

"Fury?" Banner turned towards the man with the eyepatch, looking for his input. 

"I think they should go," Fury concluded at last, pushing past Banner to type something in the device on his wrist. "(Y/n) would prove more beneficial as an envoy than any of you. Legally, they're not affiliated with the Avengers Initiative and thus serve as an unbiased party. I think going off diplomacy options, this is the best bet."

"Stark?" Banner looked towards the child-minded millionaire. 

"Going to an alien planet and getting to hit up some space chicks? Count me in." This earned a disgruntled noise from Pepper Potts who had conveniently walked in on that comment. "Sorry," Tony immediately apologised, his ego exponentially shrinking as he turned towards his sort-of-but-not-really-girlfriend. 

"You're volunteering for this alongside (Y/n)?" Fury cocked an eyebrow and would have cocked his other eyebrow had he not been wearing an eye patch. "Asgard requested the presence of only one envoy, meaning that we cannot have two delegates sent forth."

"Well frankly I don't really give a shit," Stark shrugged. "Plus, when do we let aliens tell us what to do? The last time an Asgardian walked in wearing a crown and asking us to suck his dick, I recall that we had a disagreement that ended up flattening New York City."

"Language," Rogers reprimanded. 

"Don't choke on your words, Cap," Stark winked suggestively and hopped down from the step he was standing on that had acted as a metaphorical representation of his intrinsic ego. "So are we all in agreement? Plus, it'll help Jeckle and Hyde sleep a little better, isn't that right?" He patted Banner on the back who seemed to reluctantly agree to the arrangement. "Plus, if anything goes sideways and (Y/n) has to do a little light show, at least they'll have someone to back them up."

"Sounds perfect," you nodded, just happy to get out of the god damn Stark Tower for once. You hadn't been in New York City when the showdown with Loki had happened. The man with the eye patch was certain to make sure you were out of the grand scheme of things, tucked away on a cruise that happened to be halfway across the world at that given point in time. You didn't know Loki nor had you ever seen him besides the media footage, so you didn't know quite what to expect during the summons to Asgard. 

"They're already waiting for you on the first level," Potts piped in. "That's what I came here about. They're dressed like they came from a Medieval Festival so I figured they're probably with you guys."

"So soon?" You looked at Fury. 

"Odin doesn't like to be kept waiting," Stark added. "So I suggest when we're in the throne room, we walk slowly as possible. What do you think?"

"Sounds good," you nodded. You took in your friends for a moment and wondered when you would see them next, or if this summons to Asgard was part of some larger cosmic scheme, the same kind of cosmic force that had driven the energy that now ran through your veins, a plan that seemed to have been set in motion since the dawn of the universe. Your dreams, your trips to Asgard during your migraines weren't just a coincidence. You didn't know who or what had sensed you during your migraines, but you knew that they were on Asgard and somehow related to whatever entity was terrorising the cosmos, whatever creature had killed Thor that you were determined to lay waste to. 

As you turned towards the elevator, you began to wonder if you should pack first, but then realised there would probably be clothes on this planet. But then again, it was only a meeting right? So why did you feel like you would be staying longer? 

Before the elevator doors shut, Banner slid in and stood next to you. "This won't be awkward at all," Stark hummed as the three of you rode down in silence. As the doors eventually opened at the ground level and Stark walked out, Banner pulled you aside. 

"I want you to know that I'm sorry," he muttered. "I wish you had had a normal life, that you were in college right now studying whatever the hell you wanted. Not a minute goes by that I wish I hadn't involved you in my research and endangered you in the first place. I - " 

You didn't know how to respond but instead hugged the awkward scientist. You were sure that there were still unspoken resentments between the two of you, this hug wasn't one of forgiveness. It was the kind of hug that a parent gave their child when they went off to war or college, when they knew they wouldn't be seeing each other for a very long time. Except you were the one giving the hug, not the other way around. "I know," you replied, forcing a smile as you stepped back, beholding two rather intimidating looking men. 

"Odin, king of Asgard and protector of the Nine Realms has requested the presence of an Envoy from Midgard to discuss recent happenings in Vanaheim," a man recited gruffly, sporting a rather bushy looking red hair and tanned skin. 

"That would be us!" Stark raised his hand and then took your hand in his, raising your arm for you.

"Odin requested the presence of only one."

"Well, they're my plus one," Stark insisted and something seemed to change about his tone. It still rang with its usual sarcasm, but had changed to one of more malice and coldness than his usual familiar tone. "That won't be a problem, right?"

The Asgardians exchanged a glance with one another and decided it was best worth to agree than make matters more complicated. "It shall have to be," the other man nodded. Unlike his companion, he donned jet black hear braided back with a wispy mustache and beard outlining his features. 

You turned back to face your father and he opened his mouth as if to say one more parting phrase, but you would never get to hear it. The world around you was illuminated in a heavenly light and you were eerily reminded of that time back in the laboratory when you had stood on the antimatter beacon as the cosmic rays had flooded your entire existence, illuminating your world and ripping your mind into a million pieces. 

You wondered if you would ever know what Banner had tried to tell you or if you would ever see him again. Off to war, it felt like. Wasn't that what they had called you, an envoy?

They hadn't used the term diplomat or some other formal title. They had chosen envoy, as in the term used for an individual that communicated messages during times of war. You hadn't thought about that before, but now it seemed to be the only thing on your mind. 

But now you were closer, closer to Tomorrowland, to getting answers about the strange world that haunted your dreams and your migraines, to finding the entity that had noticed your presence of all the trillions of life forms in the universe. 

You were going to Asgard and you were determined to find the secrets hidden within.