A New Beginning

Chapter 24- A Phone Call

Noelle took a deep breath as they approached Central Park.

Today was the day, the day Thor was to take the Tesseract and Loki back to their home on Asgard. All of the Avengers were gathered there in Central Park, including Dr. Erik Selvig. It was a day of finality. By seeing Loki sent off in chains and the Tesseract safe in the right hands, Noelle hoped could finally feel a little bit of peace.

Out of the back of a large van provided by S.H.I.E.L.D., Dr. Selvig pulled out some kind of metal case to house the Tesseract.

Noelle had been surprised that Fury was actually allowing this, but she was also pleased.

"Humanity is not ready for the power of that thing," he had said. "I know that now."

And for once, Noelle agreed with him.

Bruce Banner opened the metal suitcase the Tesseract was encased in, and safely transferred it into Selvig's metal device.

Noelle avoided making eye contact with Loki. It was difficult given that his mouth was covered with a metal contraption and his eyes were the only part of his face visible aside from his nose. How miserable he looked was really amusing to Noelle, but she tried not to focus on gloating over it.

Thor spoke several words of farewell to each of them, starting with Dr. Selvig. Then he thanked Dr. Banner, said goodbye to Natasha and Clint, then Steve and Tony, who he both shook hands with.

She wondered why he had saved her for last.

"I hope to see you again," he said.

Noelle nodded and gave him a half smile. "You too."

Thor opened his mouth slightly, looking like he wanted to say something more and staring at her a second longer than normal, but nothing came out so he just returned her smile.

He started to turn away, and Noelle felt like something was missing. She felt like she should say something to him, but she didn't know what. It was almost as if there was something unresolved between them, and she couldn't place it. She just knew she had to say something before it was too late and she didn't see him ever again.

"Thor! Wait!"

He turned back around.

"May the Force be with you."

Thor didn't look like he understood what she meant, but he nodded and gave her one final smile before turning back to Loki and the Tesseract.

Noelle swallowed. Her eyes were glued to the spot, as she and the rest of the Avengers took a step back away from the Asgardians, and the blue energy of the Space Stone whisked them away. She stared at the empty space for quite a long time.

Now what?

"I've taken a job here in New York, so I don't know when I'll be coming back, aside from visiting during the holidays."

That was what Noelle had told her family over the phone after making the decision to stay with Tony and work for him.

It wasn't truly what she wanted to do, or where she had planned to use her skills, but it was a generous offer and she didn't have many other options.

Earth didn't work the way other worlds did when it came to keeping a low profile. Noelle was also tired of being homeless in addition to the fact that she couldn't even afford to rent a place with what little money she had saved up. Tony was the best option she had, and she greatly appreciated it.

"Noelle?"

Her head jerked up to see Tony gesturing for her to get in the back of his red Acura.

~~~~~~