Um, I know there are plenty of stories about these two, but I really like them together so I thought I'd try my own version :) hope it doesn't seem too cliched.

Prologue

"Expelled?" she cried, surveying the paper in dismay.

It was still written there, in black and white.

"This can't be happening."

But it was. The official notification had made it clear she was not going to be allowed to finish her masters degree. Which, okay, she wasn't that attached to, but it still meant a lot to her parents and probably, future employers.

The world no longer looked kindly on a crummy English BA. She needed something extra if she was going to get a job. And she did not want to be a teacher. No way, no how. Her and kids were a bad idea.

It was pretty frustrating that she was being cut off from graduating right at the end.

Why had she been expelled, you ask?

Well, let's just say she'd missed a couple of assignments, failed most of the exams, skipped all the seminars and she'd yet to finish her dissertation which was due for presentation ...in a week.

When put in that perspective, her academic activity didn't look very flattering, but, she argued, her professors didn't know she'd been working with Dr. Jane Foster, Erik Selvig and S.H.I.E.L.D. on the discovery of the century, if not, the millennium. They had no idea she'd been part of a life-changing experience, I mean, it's not every day you meet Norse Gods, is it? And that has a great impact on your life, your beliefs, your faith in humanity, it shakes you up and makes you question -

Oh, all right. So she hadn't been that affected. And her life hadn't changed that much.

But it still counted for something, didn't it?

Her professors would excuse her lack of involvement if they knew about Thor and Asgard.

"But they can't know," she groaned, putting her head in her hands.

She had signed a non-disclosure agreement and Jane had almost sworn her to secrecy. True, she hadn't heard from either her or Erik in months, but they were very busy trying to find a gateway to Asgard. She couldn't exactly blame them.

Still, what good was it to meet a god if you couldn't even use it for school?

What if she name-dropped S.H.I.E.L.D. anyway? That might turn some heads.

As she was rummaging for a way out of her current predicament, her phone started ringing. She silenced it quickly, not in the mood for distractions.

It started ringing again, more persistently.

It was her mother.

Oh boy.

"Mom, I'm kind of busy right n-"

Her mother's shrill voice invaded her ears.

"Mom, calm down! What? I'm in my room, where do you think I am?! Yes, my flat. Yeah, mom, Willowdale. I'm still in Virginia, if you were wondering. No, I'm not online right now, I just got in, I was at school -"

Her eyes widened as she heard her mother's next words. She moved the phone to her other ear and grabbed the remote from her bed. She turned on the TV.

The first channel was already broadcasting it.

"Holy shit," she gasped, dropping the phone entirely.

New York was under siege. Buildings were on fire. Weird creatures were flying in the sky. General chaos everywhere. Reports were talking about the reemergence of Iron Man.

A battle was taking place. She could see the fighters.

And...was that Thor?!