Blood of the Covenant |1| The Dark Waters Series (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Chapter Eight: The Well

"In ancient times, people believed the heavens were filled with gods and monsters and magical worlds. Then, as time passed, those beliefs faded into myth and folklore. But now we know the stories were true. Other worlds, with names like Asgard, do exist. And beings once revered as gods, like Thor, have returned. Leaving us with more questions and..." Simmons sighed, looking at the sheer volume of alien detritus surrounding her in the university building. "... an enormous mess to clean up."

Ward tipped a large box onto the ground, spilling out another load of rubble. "Don't say I never gave you anything."

Fitz sighed, starting to scan the bits and pieces. "Checking for alien spectrographic signatures one teeny rock at a time."

"Necessary precaution," Ward told him. "We don't want anything alien getting into the wrong hands."

"Still, this is definitely the type of work a monkey could easily do," Fitz pointed out.

Ward's lips twitched. "You're our little monkey."

Working at a table nearby, Simmons' phone rang. She pulled it out, checking the ID, then declined the call. When she looked up again, Fitz was giving her a look. She rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that look. I'll talk to them when I talk to them."

"Talk to who?" Ward asked, confused.

"Mum and Dad," Simmons clarified. "They want explanations and answers for... well, all this." She gestured to the debris filling Greenwich University. "But I don't have any answers. And more importantly, I haven't talked to them since I was ill. And if they knew that, they'd be even more terrified. So, you know..." She pulled her buzzing phone out, declining the call again. "Why waste any of our time, really?"

***

"You guys may think it's old news, but it's new news to everybody else," Skye pointed out, walking through the detritus with Coulson and Genevieve, who was carrying a large box. "So, Asgardians are aliens from another planet that visited us thousands of years ago?"

"Or more," Coulson pointed out, picking something out of the clutter and putting it in Genevieve's box.

"And because we couldn't understand aliens, we thought they were gods?" Skye checked.

Genevieve nodded as they reached where May was testing artefacts. "That's where our Norse mythology comes from."

"That's too crazy," Skye said, shaking her head. A thought seemed to occur to her. "Hey, do you think other deities are aliens too? Vishnu for sure, right?"

Coulson sighed. "You know, it'd be nice if, for once, Thor and his people sent down the god of cleaning up after yourself. They probably have a magic broom for this kind of thing."

"I just wish they'd left their alien ship behind," Skye admitted.

May raised an eyebrow as they drew near her. "So we can clean that up too?"

"So we could go inside, take a peek under the hood, maybe take it for a spin," Skye corrected. "Come on, you're telling me piloting an alien ship isn't on your bucket list?"

"I can't think of a single time when anything alien in human hands ended well," Coulson told her, adding another artefact to Genevieve's box.

Skye grinned. "Wouldn't mind getting my human hands on Thor. He's so dreamy."

Coulson made a face. "Sure, he's handsome, but—"

"No," May assured him. "He's dreamy."

Genevieve smiled, patting Coulson's shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry. I still prefer Steve. Amongst other things, he's a better kisser." She followed May and Skye over to the next collection of artefacts, leaving Coulson to frown.