" there are no accidental meetings between souls. "
It was pouring down with rain, Ash had the hood of his jacket pulled over his head as he walked to his house's front door, the short, ten-year-old Josh, who was holding a little bundle, followed behind him guiltily. Ash opened it and let Josh in first. He closed the door and crossed his arms. His son shuffled awkwardly and looked at the bundle in his arms.
"So, a fight, huh?" Ash said, raising an eyebrow.
Josh didn't play with the other kids at his school, he liked to be on his own. He was autistic, it affected his day to day life and he got bullied frequently. But he was okay, even if his father had to come into school and deal with it.
"He deserved it! He hurt a kitty..." Josh frowned, showing a black kitten.
Ash sighed and smiled, he ruffled his son's hair.
"Alright, you get away with it." He said.
"YES! We must award his valour!" Nicotine shouted.
Ash chuckled and the kitten let out a tiny meow.
"Can we keep the kitty?" Josh asked quietly.
"Of course, are they a boy or girl?" Ash asked.
"Um... Boy!" The child grinned.
"Okay, what are to going to name him?"
"Mr Meow-Meow!"
Ash laughed and Josh held up the kitten in triumph. Nicotine grinned as he emerged from his host's shoulder.
"A name that strikes fear into the hearts of many!" He yelled.
Josh laughed and ran upstairs, Ash chased him and the boy went into the bathroom, putting the bath's tap on.
"I'm gonna clean Mr Meow-Meow." He smiled.
"Okay, we have to be careful though. He might have fleas." Ash chuckled.
Josh nodded and put the kitten in the tub, turning the tap off and watching his father cleaning Mr Meow-Meow. It turns out he was covered in dirt and fleas. Josh frowned and when he was thoroughly cleaned he was swaddled in a small towel.
"Can we get him some things today?" Josh asked, holding the bundle happily.
Nicotine looked at him and pouted.
"Please!" He whined.
"Alright, okay." Ash smiled.
"Yes!" Josh grinned.
Ash rolled his eyes and drained the bathtub of the dirt and cleaned it. He and Josh then went downstairs and out to the car. The boy climbed into the passenger side, still holding Mr Meow-Meow. Nicotine retreated into Ash shoulder, he started the car and drove to their nearest pet shop. As soon as they arrived, Josh quickly opened the car door and got out, making sure not to hurt Mr Meow-Meow. Ash smiled and followed him, locking the car and Josh looked around excitedly.
"What first?" Ash asked.
"Uh... A collar!" He grinned.
"Lead the way, good sir." Ash chuckled.
Josh giggled and looked around for the collars, he found them and grinned. He grabbed a yellow collar and held it up.
"This one, I like this one." He smiled.
"Okay, so we have the collar, what next?" Ash asked him.
"The kitty food!" Josh concluded, marching off happily.
Ash nodded and smiled, following his son and watching him lead the way. The boy found them and pointed at the one for kittens.
"This one?" He smiled.
"Yep! I know that because there's a kitten on it!" Josh grinned.
"That's my boy." Ash said, ruffling his son's hair.
After getting the things they needed, they went to the car, Josh had been splashing puddles while he held Mr Meow-Meow gently. Before they could go home, Ash's phone pinged, he checked the notification and found that it was a text from Agent Coulson saying he was needed in New Mexico.
"Do you have work?" Josh asked.
"Yeah... I'll take you to Auntie Nat's and she'll babysit you, okay?" Ash smiled.
He nodded and smiled, Josh liked to go to Natasha's and Clint's. Ash wondered what was in store for him.
***
Ash found the New Mexico weather painfully annoying, as soon as it reached night and rained, he was praising whatever was in the sky. He was amazed at what had been causing the disturbance. A hammer. He had been led to it by Agent Coulson and looked at it in wonder.
"Do you know anything?" Coulson asked.
Ash shrugged, walking over to it and kneeling down. He traced a finger along the metal and looked at it, he immediately recognised the symbol inscribed on the weapon. The Triquetra, which was mostly associated with the Norse God Odin.
"This is the Triquetra, it's associated with the God, Odin." Ash explained, standing up and crossing his arms.
"What is so special about a hammer?" Nicotine grumbled.
He rolled his eyes and looked over at his colleague.
"Right... Does that mean this thing is owned by a God? How do you know that?" Coulson questioned.
Ash shrugged, walking back up the stairs and into the tube, "My son is obsessed with Percy Jackson, he's loves with all kinds of mythology."
Coulson nodded and joined him, they walked together until they found Clint.
"Have fun watching the hammer?" He smirked.
"What do you think?" Ash chuckled.
Suddenly, alarms started going off and it began to rain. As soon as Coulson gave the order, Ash and Clint ran to the armoury, grabbing their weapons and going to separate cranes to take out the target attacking.
"If this is a bad guy, can we eat him?" Nicotine asked.
Ash sighed, "Yeah, whatever."
Nicotine laughed in triumph.
"Barton, Stark, talk to me." Coulson said.
"You want us to slow him down, sir? Or are you going to keep sending him more guys to beat up?" Clint smirked.
"I'll let you know." Coulson replied.
Speaking of the Devil, the target was seen fighting an agent in the mud and won.
"Better call it, cause I'm starting to root for this guy." Clint said.
"Same here." Ash smiled.
They watched him walk to the crater and stand in front of the weapon. Ash and Clint warned Coulson, but he stopped them, wanting to see what he would do. He tried to lift the hammer but failed, dropping to his knees and screaming. Ash felt his emotions and found himself being curious, the man was feeling anger and sadness, as if the weapon was greatly important to him. He sighed and walked to the cell block after the man was taken away.
"Coulson, what's up that guy?" Ash asked as he walked into the room.
"Well, I don't know. Do you know anything? Does he have an alien with him?" He said, asking questions of his own.
"No, if he had a symbiote all the agents you sent would be dead or eaten." Ash explained.
"Good to know. This guy also has a visitor surprisingly." Coulson told him.
"I am bored. I want chocolate." Nicotine demanded.
Ash sighed and took a bar of chocolate from his pocket, biting into it. He walked over to the entrance and looked at the visitor, Dr Erik Selvig.
"You have a sketchy friend, doctor." Ash said.
Selvig chuckled nervously, "He was distraught when he found out you'd taken all our research. That was years of his life, gone! You can understand why someone would go off like that. A big faceless organisation like yours coming in their... Jackbooted thugs and-... That's how he put it." He explained.
Ash narrowed his eyes, Selvig was lying but the man in their cell was distraught that's for sure. He could feel the pain.
"That doesn't explain how he tore through our security." Coulson said.
"Steroids! He's a fitness nut." Selvig replied.
A tech called for Coulson's ear and they found that the ID was fake.
"Says here he was an MD." Coulson told him.
"He is! Or he was, switched careers. He became an physicist, a brilliant one. He's a wonderful man, he's a man in pain." Selvig replied.
Ash certainly agreed with the man in pain part.
"Is his wife dead or something?" Nicotine deadpanned.
Ash ignored him and looked over at Coulson as bit into his chocolate.
"Should I get the guy?" He asked.
His colleague nodded and he walked away to the cell. He opened the door and tapped on the glass.
"Hey, you're being let go." Ash smiled.
He nodded and stood up, walking out of the cell. He couldn't stop looking at Ash, who'd felt a small twinge of admiration within the man.
"Your eyes are beautiful, it's like watching the birth of two stars at the edge of the galaxy." He finally said.
Ash blushed and cleared his throat.
"Uh, thanks. You have nice eyes too." He smiled.
The blonde chuckled and Ash led him to the door, trying not to explode in the process.
"This man is right for you. Marry him now before it is too late!" Nicotine shouted.
Ash ignored him again and watched as the man who just flirted with him walked over to Selvig. The pair started to walk away, Coulson didn't seem to notice them snag a book but Ash did. Except he didn't say anything. Speaking of Coulson, he walked over to Ash and called out to Selvig.
"Doctor Selvig! Just keep him away from the bars!" He exclaimed.
"Will do!" Selvig replied.
The pair headed off and Coulson turned to Ash.
"Did he just flirt with you back there?"
***
The next day, something strange happened in the desert. Something crashed into the ground, they went to the site to investigate and found what looked like a machine. Ash stared at it in confusion, Coulson talked to it when Nicotine piped up.
"That is alien. It is not from Earth!" Nicotine exclaimed.
Ash's eyes widened and he turned to Coulson.
"That's not from Earth! It's one of theirs!" Ash shouted.
He turned to him in shock as the machine powered up an attack. Fire built up inside it and Ash stared at it in fear, he was paralysed and Nicotine acted quickly, a tendril protruded from his back and pulled him backwards. He crashed into the ground and he panted heavily. It blasted again and walked past him.
"Oh my God!" Ash whispered.
Images flashed in his mind of the explosion, feeling his body be burned and torn apart, listening to Nicotine's screams, his own, Frenzy's, Cassidy's. His shuddered in fear, it was like he was reliving it all over again, he felt his body burning and he felt tears welling in his eyes.
"ASH!"
"Listen to me! We are not there, we are safe! Do not panic!"
Ash couldn't breathe, he felt his throat tightening as if it was filled with smoke and debris. He was in agony. Suddenly, a stinging pain surged in his face, Nicotine slapped him and he panted heavily. His eyes were blurry and he felt himself being lifted up.
"Let's get out of here. We need to tell Fury everything." Coulson said quickly.
They immediately got out of there and went to the town first, finding the same blondie but in a pretty odd get up. Ash, still recovering from his flashback, shuddered at the sight of the machine that nearly killed him as he and Coulson walked over.
"I don't think you've been completely honest with us." Ash said.
"Know this, you and I 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've taken from Jane." He said.
"Stolen." She corrected.
"Borrowed." Coulson said.
"No, I think it's stolen." Ash told him.
"Who's side are you on?" Coulson sassed.
Ash shrugged, "Anyway. I'm guessing your name is Thor, right?" He asked.
"Indeed. I hope to see you again, Ashton." Thor replied.
"How did you...?" Ash questioned.
"It was on your shoulder." He smiled.
He realised that a badge had been sown onto his jacket by Natasha and Josh a few weeks prior and he nodded.
"Cool... Well uh- See ya round." Ash said awkwardly.
Thor smiled and took his hand, kissing it, to which his face blew up in red.
"Farewell, I hope to see you again." He said, stepping away and flying off.
"Wait! We still need to debrief you!" Coulson shouted.
Ash stood there dumbfounded and his associate sighed.
"Barton and Romanoff are gonna have a field day with this." He smirked, walking away.
"No! Don't tell them!" Ash yelled, chasing after him.
"You are getting married!" Nicotine shouted giddily.