A/N: Hey all, thanks for the great feedback so far! Keep it coming—I'm always happy to get constructive criticism as well as compliments. ;-) Just to make something clear that I hadn't already done: For the sake of this fic, there is no Jane. Lest you think that Thor is some kind of d-bag for apparently forgetting her, I'm here to tell you that Jane is just not in the picture. Apologies if that's heartbreaking, but hey, it's a Thor/OC fic, and this is purely a for-fun, "what if?" scenario—and after all, aren't fun "what ifs" what fanfic is all about?


Clara detached herself from Thor, again feeling embarrassed in the presence of the other Avengers. It didn't help that they were standing in a semicircle around them, making her feel as though she was about to be interrogated or put on trial. Or that she was just generally in trouble.

"Thor, what is she doing here?" Steve Rogers asked. "We need to protect people, not put civilians in danger."

"She has made a request to come to Asgard," Thor said.

"Uh, no, bad idea," Tony Stark said. "Thor, buddy, I don't know if she threatened you with Midgardian magic or something, but that thing is just a camera. She can't do anything to you if you tell her no."

"I didn't threaten him," Clara said. If the circumstances were less serious, she would have laughed at the very idea of trying to threaten Thor. "I just asked."

"Miss McKenna," Rogers said, "do you realize this man's identity?" He pointed to Loki, who could still do nothing but glare at him with contempt.

"Yes," Clara said, trying to keep her voice steady and the fear out of her face. "I know he's the mastermind responsible for this attack. But if this is my only chance to see a place like Asgard, and Thor says he can protect me, I want to go for it." She left it at that, figuring that she didn't need to explain also what an incredible opportunity this was for any photojournalist—especially an aspiring one.

"Fury isn't gonna be happy to hear this," Agent Romanoff said. "I think it's better if you stay behind. S.H.I.E.L.D. can't protect you there—"

"Agent Romanoff, I don't know what this S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be doing, but this is a decision I'm making for myself. I have that right. Come on, Captain America knows what I mean, yes?"

Rogers looked nervous when she appealed to him for a defense. "Ma'am, I don't know if you have a constitutional right to go to another planet with a known war criminal."

"Seriously?" Clara grumbled.

"This woman will be under my protection for as long as she is in Asgard," Thor said. "She will not be harmed."

"I can't believe you're going along with this!" Rogers said.

Clara saw Thor give him an urgent, almost pleading look. "I have my reasons," he said.

"Yeah, two guesses," Stark said. "Look, Princess Clara, I don't know what kind of Romeo and Juliet thing you think is going on here, but it ain't happening. I thought you were a smart cookie 'til you decided to skip town with James and the Giant Peach. This is a huge mistake."

"Mr. Stark," Clara said, placing a hand over her chest as though making a pledge, "like the rest of planet Earth, I am beyond grateful for what the Avengers did today. But you're not responsible for me as an individual. This is about my personal decisions, and I'd like you to respect that."

"Stark, you're arguing with a politician's daughter," Dr. Banner said, grinning, even as he appeared no less nervous than the others.

Tony narrowed his eyes at Dr. Banner for a moment, then turned to Clara. "Fine. Fine!" he said. "We wash our hands of you, lady. Don't come crying to the Avengers when you're stuck in Thor's castle and you can't get home."

"Well, if I can't get home, I couldn't come crying to you anyway, could I?" she asked. She tried not to smirk, but finally couldn't help it. Tony raised a finger and pointed it at her.

"Hey. Don't snark at me, sister."

"Enough of this," Thor said. "The decision has been made. Where is the Tesseract?"

"Here." Dr. Banner opened a large silver suitcase and extracted a cylindrical glass container with two golden, elaborately carved handles at each end. The cube encased inside it glowed an electric, unnatural blue. Clara nervously took a step closer to Thor when she saw it.

He looked down at her. "This will take us to Asgard," he said. "I will need you to hold on to me again while we travel."

Nodding, Clara hooked her fingers around part of his breastplate, but then felt him move away from her slightly.

"Not yet," he said.

She let go again and tilted her face up toward him. He was smiling—was he laughing at her? She pursed her lips to keep from having a chuckle of her own, but she almost couldn't resist. A little laughter would help the tense atmosphere, but it was far from appropriate.

Thor took the container from Dr. Banner, seizing it by one of the handles. His expression solemn once again, he held it out to Loki, who took the other end. Clara couldn't help looking at him again; she was not entirely sure, but she thought she saw sorrow and fear in Loki's eyes—no longer the pure loathing they had been emanating until now.

Clara glanced up at Thor again. When he gave her a solemn nod of affirmation, she grasped his armor. His right arm, holding the massive hammer, folded around her. Her palms were sweating and she almost couldn't breathe at all. She would have liked to think it was simply the feel of pressing her body against his, but she knew it was really a growing awareness of what she was about to do. Clinging tightly to Thor, she took another look around at the Avengers, almost hoping that they would make one final effort to stop her. If someone said something now, told her not to go, she might actually give in this time.

Finally, she caught Dr. Banner's gaze, but she couldn't read much in his dark, sad eyes. His expression shifted, as though he would speak. She held her breath and watched him expectantly.

"Good luck, Miss McKenna," he said.

He barely finished his words before Thor turned the handle of the glowing container, and they were bathed in a harsh blue light that seemed to come straight from the heavens. Clara felt her body dragged along with his, shooting upward into the sky.

She closed her eyes tightly again and pressed her face into him, bracing against the speed and a strange emptiness around them. Bright light burned against her eyelids, and then she felt…nothing. Nothing around her, nothing within her. Her hands were still grasping, but at nothing.

Panic rose in her chest, but she did not even have time to decide to open her eyes before the light was suddenly gone, and with it the hollow sensation inside of her. Blackness now enveloped her, and even half a second after that, she heard a rushing wind in her ears, and then the bottoms of her shoes slammed into a hard surface. She relaxed her fingers, let go, and fell sideways onto what felt like a cold, marble floor. When she finally managed to open her eyes, she realized that was exactly what she was lying on.