Chapter 2

A/N: Woooo, we're on Asgard :) Really excited about where the story is going from here. Review please!

"Is she quite alright? She looks a bit pale."

"Coming from you, brother? That is rich."

"Both of you, be quiet. She will be perfectly fine, she simply needs to rest. Midgardians have reacted this way to the Bifrost before in the past, she will be fine."

"Ah, but she is only part Midgardian, Mother."

"You do not have to remind me of that Loki, I am fully aware."

Lena's mind was spinning. Her whole body felt limp, she couldn't even open her eyes. She could hear though, and so far she knew that there were at least three people in the room with her, wherever she was.

What happened to me? She thought to herself. The last thing she could remember was being sucked up out of the ocean by a bright light and then everything moved so fast – so fast – and then there was the tall man with the sword and the strange eyes, and then… nothing. Just darkness. Did I pass out?

"Has Father been down here since she arrived?" One of the male voice finally spoke deeply, breaking the silence.

"No." A sharp voice replied – a woman. They both had accents that sounded English, but also… off. Lena couldn't quite pinpoint it. "He took one look at her when Heimdall brought her to me, then disappeared."

"And it is now your responsibility to care for the result of his infidelity while he neglects her?" A different male voice asked incredulously. "Mother, she is not your child."

"She's just a girl."

"A girl that does not belong here!"

"Loki," the other male admonished, "She is our sister."

"A sister whom we just found out about! Does that not perturb you in the slightest, Thor?"

"Of course it does, brother. But she–"

"Hush, both of you. She's waking up."

Sure enough, Lena took a deep breath, willing herself to feel each of the muscles in her body that she knew so well – to take control over body once again. Her fingers twitched at her sides, her hands curling into fists before relaxing. Her eyes opened slowly, blinking. Her entire body felt heavy, but her mind was starting to wake up.

Where am I? Who are these people? What happened?

Jem's voice drifted into her head. Always be aware, Lenny. Aware of what's going on around you, in front of you, and behind you. If you're in danger, you get your hand on a weapon. If you can't get a weapon, you use your fists. You know how.

Lena's eyes opened fully and she grunted as she gained more consciousness and control over the rest of her body. She was waking up quickly, her mind whirring as she turned her head to the right. She was lying on a table, the room around her huge and lavish, unlike any hospital she had ever seen. Gold curtains hung on the walls, shelves upon shelves of glassware with different colored liquids all around. There was a table about four feet away from her with various metal instruments.

Her body tensed at the unfamiliarity, but Lena willed herself to be calm as she turned her head to the left. There she saw the three people she had heard speaking. The closest to her was a tall brunette woman who looked to be in her 40s or 50s and was absolutely stunning, her hair pulled back in an intricate braid. She was wearing a floor length blue gown. Behind her was an incredibly tall man with shoulder length blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were bright blue, she could see that even from where he stood. But what surprised Lena the most was his attire. He was wearing armor. As in warrior armor she had seen in history books. Even stranger was the third person, a lanky pale man with slicked back hair as dark as a raven's feathers. His attire was equally as strange, a long green tunic of some sort that made him look stark white. While the other two looked concerned towards her, this one looked severely indifferent.

Lena cleared her throat, making the woman and the blonde straighten up.

"Are you wearing a cape?" She finally asked incredulously, making the blonde man burst into deep, hearty laughter. Which was just what she wanted.

"Did you hear that? The first thing she asks is if I–"

But he was cut off as Lena used his distraction to roll her body off of the right side of the table. She immediately reached for the table of metal instruments, her gaze going to the sharpest ones and grabbing them greedily. She spun around to see the three looking at her in shock – well, actually just the two. The one in green still looked bored, but there was a trace of amusement on his features.

Lena gripped the two makeshift weapons in her hands, holding them the way Jem had taught her.

"Stay the hell away from me," Lena hissed as the woman took a step towards her. The woman held her hands up.

"We mean you no harm, Magdalena," she said in a calm voice. "I understand that you may be very confused, but be rest assured that we only wish to help you."

Lena's jaw was clenched tight, her body coiled tight like a spring.

"Would you look at that," the man wearing green said, "The little Midgardian wielding a scalpel like a real weapon. How very interesting."

"It's sharp enough to gauge out your eyes, greenie," Lena hissed, making his eyebrows shoot up in offense followed by amusement.

"Loki, enough," the woman scolded him.

Loki? Lena thought, Who names their kid Loki? And what the hell is a Midgardian?

"But Mother, look at her." Loki pushed himself off of the wall and started walking towards Lena, who gripped the scalpels tighter. "She thinks herself a fighter. I say let the girl–"

But Loki never finished his sentence because Lena expertly flung the knife at him, aiming for his left shoulder. That would be enough to catch the three off guard so she could dart out the doorway only about fifteen feet away from her. And it would have worked too, had he not vanished into thin air just before the knife reached him.

"I… what?" Lena said breathlessly, staring at the space where he disappeared. "That's not possible."

"Oh but I assure you it is."

Lena screamed as his voice rasped into her ear, making her whirl around to see that Loki had reappeared behind her, his eyes quite menacing. Lena flailed away from him, tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground, scrambling away from him as fast as she could.

"Loki that is enough!" The blonde man roared, reaching Loki in just three strides and pushing him backwards. Lena was vaguely aware of the woman who was apparently their mother trying to help her up, but she remained frozen, staring at the man who had just teleported or… something, right before her very eyes.

"Oh come now Thor, I was just having a bit of fun. Besides, she threw a blade at me."

She heard Thor grunt something unintelligible and raise out his hand. Then, even more to Lena's disbelief, a huge metal hammer came flying from across the room into his hand. She made another noise of terror and scrambled away from all of them yet again, pulling herself to her feet only to find herself backed into a corner. Thor and Loki had both turned to face her as well.

"What… are you people?" She asked breathlessly. "You – you disappeared!" She shouted at Loki, who just smirked. "And you made that hammer fly into your hand! What are you?!"

"Please, Magdalena, calm down," the woman pleaded.

"My name is Lena!" Lena screamed.

"Your name," a new voice commanded from the other side of the room, making everyone turn, "Is Magdalena. Magdalena Freya Sullivan." Lena's mouth parted in shock as yet another tall man strode in, head to toe in armor similar to Thor's. He was an older man with white hair that painfully reminded her of Jem's resting at his shoulders, age wrinkles on his face. A gold metal patch rested over one of his eyes, but that wasn't what shocked Lena. What shocked her was his very presence – it suffocating the room, authoritative and commanding.

"How… how do you know that?" Lena asked, cursing herself for having such a shaky voice.

The man raised his chin at her as if he knew everything in the world that she didn't know – which wasn't far from the truth.

"Because that is the name I gave to you." He said matter-of-factly. "Your mother and myself."

Lena's eyes widened and her entire body went slack, her eyes staring at the man, still confused but also aware.

"My name is Odin," he continued, "And I am your father, Magdalena."

xXxXx

Lena had imagined meeting her father hundreds of times. When she was a little girl she would stay up late and night and imagine what he was like. She knew a good bit about her mother from Zeke's stories, but her father… he was a mystery.

Sometimes she would imagine that he was a fireman, or a policeman, or a doctor. Other times he was an astronaut, a racecar driver, or a teacher. It never mattered to her what he looked like, what mattered to her was that he was extraordinary. Someone so completely magnificent in whatever he did that she would have to be magnificent too since she was his daughter.

And in all of her daydreams of what meeting her father would be like, Lena always had an image of herself running into her father's arms, hearing him say how he was so sorry for never coming for her for whatever reasons that were of course excusable because her wonderful and extraordinary father would never willingly and knowingly abandon her, right?

And yet despite all those years spent imagining the very circumstance that Lena found herself in – face to face with her father – nothing prepared her for what would actually happen. She didn't run into his arms, she didn't cry, she didn't give or receive an amazing speech about love and the eternal bonds of family.

She laughed.

There was about a two second silence between when Odin said he was her father and when Lena burst into laughter. She doubled over, clutching her stomach and laughing. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and in the back of her mind she knew that she was reacting horribly to this situation that made absolutely no sense, but she just couldn't stop.

"I'm sorry…" she choked out as laughing tears streamed from her eyes, "I just… of course you're… my father… because… what else could happen today…"

"I do believe she's gone mad," Loki remarked offhandedly as Thor himself bit his tongue to keep from laughing at Lena's laughter.

Lena threw her head back and cackled as she thought about how horrible everything was. It was either laughter or sobbing at that point, and she had chosen laughter. As she stumbled back against the wall and tried to breathe through her chortles, she realized that June 12th was a horrible, horrible day. Her mother's death, Zeke's death, Jem's death, what was supposed to be her death, but was now the day where she had apparently been sucked into another universe (and yes she had finally accepted the fact that she was definitely not on Earth), only to meet her father while he was wearing a cape.

"That is enough!" Odin roared quite suddenly, causing everyone – Lena included – to look up at him. He looked furious, his one eye full of rage and frustration, though Lena wasn't sure it was directly aimed at her.

Lena finally managed to calm herself down, but she still had a shit eating grin on her face and her shoulders were shaking.

"Okay Pops, whatever you say," she muttered, which only made her break out into the giggles again.

"Odin, she is in shock." The woman walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She's very confused, I think that–"

"Oh no I'm not confused," Lena interrupted sarcastically. "Well okay maybe a little bit, but I think I can figure it out. I'm on another planet, you guys are aliens, –" Loki scoffed at that, "– and you're my father. What's confusing about that?"

"We're the aliens? I would hold your tongue if I were you, you little–"

"Loki," Odin said sharply, cutting him off. Loki fell silent immediately. "Leave us, all of you," he said to the other three. They all hesitated, but eventually did as he commanded.

Lena straightened up as the others left the room, every trace of her laughter gone. She looked across the room at the man who claimed to be her father with a solemn expression.

"Who are you?" She asked boldly.

"My name is Odin. I am the ruler of the Realm of Asgard, which you are in," he said bluntly, no trace of emotion in his voice though his facial expressions betrayed his anxiety.

"Wait back up," Lena raised her hand, "Realm? I'm in a different… Realm?"

"Yes, you are," he said, "And I can explain exactly why you are here and answer any questions you may have if you would only allow me."

"Well if you're the king here or whatever couldn't you just make me do whatever you ask?" Lena asked with an attitude. She thought she saw the corner of Odin's mouth twitch, but she couldn't be sure.

"After what I have done to you, my dear Magdalena," he said gravely, "I will not force you to do anything you do not wish to."

"Okay first of all," Lena spat, taking a step forward, "My name is Lena. And secondly, I'm not your dear, okay? I'm not your anything, I don't even know who the hell you are or where the hell I'm at. But I would like to know the answers to those things, so start talking."

"You are so like your mother," Odin said quietly, in a voice that would have broken Lena's heart in any other circumstances. "Camille was so spirited, so energetic. So beautiful. I loved your mother, I truly did. She was my greatest sin."

"What do you mean?"

"Asgard, the Realm you are currently in, is beyond the galaxies your world has knowledge of," Odin said gravely. "For the past 22 years you have lived on what we call Midgard – Earth. 23 years ago I left Asgard and travelled to Midgard, in search of an ancient artifact. What I found instead though, was your mother.

"Camille Beth Sullivan was an exquisite beauty," he continued, pacing. "You look much like her. She was younger than you when we met. She was a wanderer, desperate to see all that her world had to offer. Meanwhile I wanted to show her everything that the universe had to offer."

"So you knocked her up and then came back here to your real family?" Lena snapped. "Yeah, I noticed how that woman touched you before. She's your wife, isn't she? And blondie, he's your son?"

Odin sighed, pacing across the length of the room. "Yes, Frigga is my wife. Thor and Loki are both my sons."

"How could you do that?" Lena whispered. "How could you do that to your family?"

"I have been alive for a very long time, Mag – Lena. Beyond centuries." Lena blanched, but he continued, "And yet I have only experienced true love twice. I could not will myself not to love your mother the way that I did, she brought out a great weakness in me. And when she became pregnant with you I was thrilled."

"Until you remembered that you had a wife that might be a bit pissed that you cheated on her," Lena snapped.

"As I said, Camille was my greatest sin. I did not abandon her though. I made frequent trips to Midgard throughout her pregnancy. I was with her when she… when she died."

"So you didn't abandon her, you just abandoned me."

Odin looked as if she had slapped him, an odd expression to see on a man who obviously carried an air of authority.

"I wanted you to have the life that you deserved, I thought that–"

"You thought that if you brought me back here your family would find out what you had done?"

"No!" Odin roared, making Lena take a step back away from him in fear. It was silent for a few seconds as he collected himself. "No," he said in a much quieter voice, "That is not why I did what I did. Camille never wanted her child on Asgard, she wanted you to be as she was. When she died, your only living relative was your uncle. I sent Heimdall after him so that he would take care of you, keep you safe. I provided for you–"

"The money," Lena gasped. "That's how Zeke had all of that money. Is that your copout? That you sent me child support?" She asked incredulously.

"Your uncle had no money, no future, and no relationship with his sister. I provided for him so that he could provide for you," Odin explained. "I sent Heimdall with instructions and then vowed that I would never interfere with your life again. You would be a Midgardian and nothing more."

"If you weren't supposed to ever be in my life then why the hell am I here?" Lena hissed, hitting the heart of her frustration.

Odin hesitated. "Heimdall is the watcher of the realms," he said slowly, "He sees everything that happens across the entire span of the universe, and he knew of my indiscretions as I made them."

"Sounds like a peeping Tom," Lena scoffed.

"After your mother passed and your uncle took you in, I asked Heimdall to always keep watch over you. And if and only if your life was in immediate danger was he to interfere. He brought you here by way of the Bifrost when you were drowning."

"Bifrost?"

"A bridge between worlds."

"Yeah well your bridge is hella disorienting," Lena muttered, leaning back against the wall and raising her eyes to the gold dome ceiling above her. A few silent seconds passed. "So I'm not really… human?" She finally asked.

"Not precisely, no," Odin replied in his gravelly yet firm voice. "You are part-Asgardian."

"And you're the… king here?" Lena asked, anxiety creeping into her bones.

"Yes. And my wife and sons welcome you with open arms. They are aware of my indiscretions."

"Can I go home?" Lena suddenly asked. "Like, am I stuck here or does your bridge have two-way traffic?"

Odin smiled, though briefly. "You may return to Midgard if you so choose. Though…" he hesitated, "I do wish you would remain here. Allow me to get to know my daughter who I so terribly neglected for the past 22 years. Allow me to show you the world that you were meant to be a part of. Allow me to right my wrongs."

Lena was frozen. She stood stock still, staring at the man who was her biological father.

"This is crazy. Yesterday I was a semi-normal girl. I had friends, I had Jem… I had ambition. Then Jem died and I…" She looked up at Odin only to see that he was thoroughly confused, but choosing not to interrupt. "Never mind," she shook her head, "It's just… Everything I know is being flipped upside down and I don't know if I can handle it," she said honestly.

Odin took a cautious step towards her. "Lena I may have been absent all of your life, but I do know one thing about you. You are your mother's daughter, I can see it all over your face. You have her courage, even if you do not realize it. Camille Sullivan was able to handle anything, and I believe you have that same gift."

Lena took a deep breath. "Okay," she finally said. "But I have a few conditions." Odin raised his eyebrows but gestured for her to go on. "First, if I decide I want to leave, I have to be able to go back to Earth whenever I want."

"Of course. You are not a prisoner here," Odin said firmly.

"Good. Secondly, if I have any questions about my mother, you have to answer them honestly and truthfully."

Odin smiled at that request and nodded. "I will gladly do so."

"Thirdly," she took a deep breath, "You have got to tell me how greenie did that disappearing act."