Escaping Sakaar

Thor sat in the cockpit of the ship, the Commodore, Athena behind him, scouring the ship for any weapons while he was examining the buttons and controls, "Alright, I can figure this out. It's just another spaceship…" he flicked switch and the doors to the hanger began to open, "Hang on!" he called back to Athena as he leaned forward on the throttle, sending the ship zooming off.

"Loyal Sakaarians," the Grandmaster's voice rang out through the comms., Athena making her way closer to the cockpit to watch as they flew out, "The Lord of Thunder has stolen my ship and my favorite champion. Sakaarians, take to the skies. Bring him and Tina down. Do not let them leave this planet."

"If he calls me Tina one more time..." Athena grumbled, making Thor chuckle.

All too soon things grew serious as the two gods caught sight of the ships that were rising off the planet's surface and racing after them. Thor tightened his grip on the controls, about to begin evasive maneuvers as two ships caught up to them, only for them to be blown out of the sky as another ship approached. Athena leaned forward to see Warsong fly past, the Valkyrie and Banner within, taking care of the other ships.

"Alright down there?" the Valkyrie called through the comms..

"Fine," Thor responded, "Thanks!"

"Open the doors."

Athena nodded, patting Thor on the shoulder to let him know she had that covered as she moved to the back and began to open all the ones she could find, not sure which door specifically the Valkyrie meant.

"I hope that you're tougher than you look!" the woman continued to speak, though it didn't sound like she was talking to them.

"Why?" Banner asked in return, confirming their thoughts.

Athena looked down into the hatch at the bottom of the ship, seeing Warsong accelerate till it was just underneath them. A moment later something seemed to be ejected out of it, Banner's screaming on the comms. confirming what had happened only moments before he was shot up into the ship through the hatch doors, landing in a heap on the floor. Athena hurried over to him, checking to make sure he wasn't injured, that he was still calm and not about to turn into the Hulk mid-flight, and he gave her a thumbs up as he caught his breath.

They all looked up at the sound of a clunking noise to see that the ship was being fired at by another. Athena helped Banner up, the two rushing towards the cockpit to see.

"Shouldn't we be shooting back or something?" Banner panted.

"Yes, we should," Thor answered.

"There are no guns on the ship," Athena told him.

Thor looked over his shoulder at her, "What do you mean there aren't any?"

"It's a leisure vessel," the Valkyrie answered over the comm..

"What?" all three of them called, she had neglected to warn them of that when they went to steal it.

"Grandmaster uses it for his good times, orgies and stuff."

Athena grimaced, she did NOT want to think of that. Having the misfortune of having Aphrodite and Dionysus as family, she'd heard tell of more than enough of that and had the bad luck to walk in on one or two. She was sure it had scared her for life.

...maybe THAT was why it had taken her this long to find a suitable partner like Thor.

Thor and Banner looked around at the actual ship though, noting the ceilings made of mirrors, the floor covered in some sort of fancy rug…

Banner seemed to be a little green, though not Hulk green, as he whispered at them, "Did she just say the Grandmaster uses it for orgies?"

"Yeah…" Thor responded slowly, now looking at the controls he'd been touching very warily, "Don't touch anything."

Athena turned, hearing more clunking noises from behind them, followed by a small explosion above. She leaned in to look out the windshield, "The Valkyrie's been hit."

They watched as the ship began to fall, but still fly, just underneath them now. They could hear the sound of firing, of more explosions behind them and knew she'd taken out the rest of the ships that had gotten behind them. A moment later, her ship shot out from under them, flying straight out ahead.

"What's she doing?" Banner asked, the three of them watching, helpless, as it raced towards a very large ship that looked like part of the Grandmaster's palace ahead of them, hovering over the city.

A moment later Warsong smashed into the larger ship, right into the middle of a projection of the Grandmaster, exploding and knocking the larger ship off balance, sending it careening out of the sky and into the ground.

"No!" Thor shouted, seeing the wreckage, the fire and smoke, right before his eyes the very last Valkyrie was no more…

"Wait, there!" Athena pointed suddenly, at a speck of something in the sky, ejected from the smoke and hurting towards them.

They winced as the Valkyrie hit the windshield, sliding across it but managing to grab hold. She was laughing wildly, beaming at them, "Did you see that?!" she shouted at them.

"Alright, alright," Athena called, "Get inside!"

Thor had just gotten the ship out from the main city and over the other junkyards, well on their way to the wormhole. But it was clear there were more fighter ships racing after them, at least six of them.

"Valkyrie!" Athena shouted at the woman, who was bracing herself on the side of the windshield and grinning at the other approaching ships even as they opened fire.

"In a minute!" the Valkyrie responded, not even trying to get into the craft but running down the top of it and launching herself off.

Athena shook her head and moved to open a side door, leaning out it to keep an eye on the mad woman. She watched as the Valkyrie landed hard on one of the Sakaarian ships, tearing it apart with her bare hands, "One down," she called to the men.

"I should probably go and help…" Thor began to say, starting to rise, "Here, take the wheel."

"No!" Banner reached out to grab his arm, "I don't know how to fly one of these!"

"You're a scientist. Use one of your PhDs."

"None of them are for flying alien spaceships!"

"It's alright," Athena cut in, smirking, waiting till they looked over at her to pull out her sword, "Let us girls handle this."

She gave Thor a wink and pulled herself onto the top of the ship. Much like the Valkyrie, she ran down the back of it and threw herself at another approaching ship. She stabbed right into it as she flew past it, using the sword to both slow her momentum but also cut the ship in half as she went. Any chance she could get to be away from the orgy ship she would take. If Thor had gone to help, she would have been stuck piloting the ship and she was not touching those controls with a ten foot pole.

"Now that's more like it!" the Valkyrie shouted at her.

Athena looked over to see the Valkyrie mimic her move, but with the underbelly of a ship, "Does that mean you trust me then?" she called over.

The Valkyrie used her momentum to throw herself on top of the ship she'd just sliced, looking over at her, "For the moment," she offered, "I suppose I have to."

Athena could only shake her head, but it was understandable. At least they seemed to have reached something of a truce for now. She turned and jumped onto another ship, using her sword and her bare hands to take out the guns firing at the Commodore and crush the engines.

They made quick work of the six ships, even passing each other mid-air as they leapt between them, until there were only two left. They looked over when the Commodore suddenly veered to the side, avoiding incoming fire.

"Topaz!" the Valkyrie called to Athena, pointing at a quite fast ship that was racing after Thor and Banner.

"What's he doing?!" Athena couldn't help but ask when suddenly fireworks shot out of the ship with massive plumes of powdered paint streaking after it, followed by a burst of colorful confetti, "Well, how about that…" she murmured, watching as Topaz's ship flew right into the smoke and then ended up crashing right down into the ocean.

She looked over, hearing a thump, to see the Valkyrie had joined her on the very last ship, the other one she'd been on exploding behind them.

"Shall we?" the Valkyrie asked, clapping her hands and rubbing them in preparation.

Athena gave her a firm nod and the Valkyrie reached out and grabbed the cockpit cover, yanking it off with her bare hands. Athena reached down and grabbed the pilot, tossing him out and leaning in just enough to kick the throttle forward, speeding towards the Commodore.

The Commodore went high suddenly, pulling up above them. They looked at each other and nodded, leaping up and managing to jump right through the open hatch door, landing on the floor of the ship. Banner was at the side controls and was quickly shutting the door after them just as the ship they'd been on crashed straight down and exploded under them.

"Alright?" Thor called back to them, still piloting the ship.

Athena just made her way over to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek, "How are we doing?"

"Looks like we're coming up on the Devil's Anus!" the Valkyrie warned.

"Can we please just call it 'the Wormhole?'" Athena nearly groaned, it was a disaster of a name and utterly disgusting.

The Valkyrie shrugged as she and Banner crowded into the cockpit with them. They were truly frighteningly close to the wormhole, the ship starting to shake against it as they grew nearer and nearer, "Here we go!"

The small team braced themselves as the ship was sucked into the wormhole, violently jerking from the power of it. The computer systems shorted out, cutting off the lights so that the only source of illumination was the storm that was the wormhole. The hull creaked, struggling to keep intact under the strain of pressure.

"Almost there!" Thor cried as they ship seemed to near the end.

But the closer they got, the more they could see through to the stars beyond, to the debris flying past, the more they felt like they themselves were being pulled apart. It was all they could do to keep from screaming at the pain of it…

A moment later the ship was launched out of the wormhole, into the quiet stillness of space, the four of them falling unconscious from the strain…

~8~

Slowly the team came to, waking to the sight of Asgard in the distance, a flat city in the middle of an island just floating in space.

"Asgard," Thor breathed, smiling at the sight of his home.

The Valkyrie swallowed hard, staring at the realm, her face a mix of emotions, "I never thought I'd be back here."

Athena put a hand on the woman's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze as Thor hurriedly situated himself in the pilot's chair once more, directing the ship closer. They dipped below the clouds above Asgard and their hearts broke.

"I thought it'd be nicer," Banner remarked, "I mean, not that it's not nice. It's just...it's on fire…"

And indeed it was. Asgard was all but in ruins, fires everywhere, buildings utterly wrecked. And through the smoke it didn't appear that there were any people on the streets, those that they could make out as they went lower were all dead, just left there. It was a devastating sight to see.

"Thor…" Athena murmured, reaching out now to put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly to let him know she was there.

Thor was tense under her hand, staring down at his home, torn to pieces by his sister.

Athena had to look away the closer they got, closing her eyes but a moment to remind herself that this was Asgard, this was not one of her memories of the old days come to life. She shook her head sharply and forced herself to look up again, now was not the time to get lost in dark thoughts, Thor was going to need her.

"Here," the Valkyrie tapped something on a control next to her, bringing up a screen to show what a scanner had picked up, "Up here in the mountains…" a map appeared, a blinking red dot lodged within a mountain, the stronghold Heimdall had mentioned, "Heat signatures. People clustered together."

"It won't be long before Hela goes after them," Athena remarked softly.

Thor nodded, "Ok," he took a breath, "We go to the palace, I'll draw her away."

"And get yourself killed?" the Valkyrie gaped at him, though Athena was silent, knowing how important this was to Thor both as an Asgardian and also as the next-to-be-King.

"The people trapped down there are all that matters," Thor stated, "While I'm dealing with Hela, I need you to help get everyone off Asgard," he turned to look at Athena, regret and sorrow in his eyes, but also a pleading. He could deal with Hela, but he trusted her to help his people.

She gave a soft nod and he raised a hand to rest his on top of hers on his shoulder, squeezing it in thanks.

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Banner asked.

Thor smiled, "I have a man on the ground."

~8~

The palaces was in shambles. It was clear Hela had taken a special sort of pleasure in decimating certain areas of it. If she had never been there before, Athena was sure she wouldn't have recognized it now. And she knew it must have been so much worse for Thor, that he had lived there, grown up there, the only home he'd ever known, and it was so dishonored.

She glanced over at where he was loading a massive Asgardian blaster onto the Commodore, his face stony, but his body language radiating the pain and grief he was feeling. The Valkyrie approached, helping him get the last of the blaster in while Athena worked on preparing her sword for the upcoming battle, for it was sure to be a battle.

"Now the ship has guns," Thor remarked.

The Valkyrie nodded, "We'll take it from here."

Thor held out a bundle of cloth, placing it down on the edge of the ship, almost smirking at the recognition that passed over the Valkyrie's face at the white and gold color, "I found this in the armory," he told her, having grabbed it when he and Loki had picked up their guns. No one had touched it, remarkably, he doubted there were many female contenders that were humanoid in appearance. It had just been cast there, discarded, but he knew what Valkyrie armor looked like and it was time it found its way back to its owner.

The Valkyrie swallowed hard at it, before she gave him a firm nod. He returned it, moving to speak to Athena before they parted ways, when she called out, "Your majesty," waiting till he'd turned to continue, "Don't die. You know what I mean."

He only offered a smile, turning to resume his approach. Athena saw him coming and stood to meet him, reaching out to hug him tightly as soon as he was near enough. He turned his head, pressing a kiss to her temple, before he buried his face in her neck. He needed this moment, this quiet moment where it was just them. For so long Athena had been his rock, his support, his solace, much like his mother had been to his father. He just...needed her for one more moment before everything fell apart again.

"I do not wish this," he murmured to her, pulling away just enough to look into her eyes.

She gave a weak smile, knowing he was talking about separating, about facing Hela alone. They had always faced their enemies together, but this…this was different. This was family. He would have to face the one who took so much from him on his own, and she had been given a task to guard his people, to help them. She knew it wasn't just that though. Hela had proven herself to be powerful beyond anything Thor had faced yet, he wasn't just planning to distract the woman from his people, but from her as well. So long as she was with him, he would fear for her safety, for what Hela could do to her, what pain she could cause. One wrong move and she could just as easily become leverage against Thor. This was to ease his mind and keep it focused, to know his people and his love were safe so he could put his full might against Hela.

A sound strategy and a wise decision.

She hated it.

"I know," she tried to smile more, "But it is necessary."

"I would have you beside me, always," he told her.

"As would I," she agreed, before giving him a soft laugh, "I would not make a proper queen if I left my people alone in terror."

He smiled more earnestly now, "They will be in the safest hands…"

His sentient was cut off by a hiss of pain behind them, and they turned, still locked in their embrace, to see Banner had tried to hop into the Commodore's side entry and hit his shin against the edge of it, the Valkyrie trying to tend to it by offering him a bottle of booze to dull the pain.

"Yes," Athena deadpanned, "The safest," before she looked back at him, reaching up to touch his cheek, "I will keep your people safe, Thor, on one condition."

"Anything."

"You keep yourself safe too," she told him.

He reached up to press her hand more firmly to his cheek, turning to press a kiss to her palm, and holding her hand after, "I swear on Zeus himself."

Athena shook her head at him for that remark, though her gaze grew softer, squeezing his hand, "Did I ever tell you of the time my father's lightning bolt, his favored weapon, was stolen?"

"No," he gave her a questioning look.

"He thought he was powerless without it, that he was vulnerable and unworthy. But that was not so. He was still the god of lightning, the king of the gods, and my father," she looked up into Thor's eyes, "Do not let the loss of your hammer make you forget the strength and power you possess Thor. With or without your hammer, you will always be the god of thunder, the true king of Asgard, and the man I love with all my heart."

"Athena…" he breathed, touched.

"The hammer was a powerful object," she agreed, "But this…" she moved their joined hands to rest closer to his heart, "Is the most powerful of all. So long as this beats…"

Whatever she was trying to say, whatever surely moving and empowering words were to come, were lost as Thor surged forward to capture her lips in a searing kiss…

He awkwardly threw the nearest object he could reach, whatever it was, at the Valkyrie and Banner as they began to cheer and whistle from the side. He had forgotten they were still there but he was not about to let them ruin this moment. He did not want to think it, but if this was the last time he would be able to kiss Athena, he was not going to let it slip away.

More than a minute later they parted slowly, resting their foreheads to each other, their eyes closed.

"Come back to me," Athena murmured to him quietly.

He smiled at that, "Not even Hela is powerful enough to keep me away."

And, for the first time since the death goddess had destroyed his hammer, he believed it.

~8~

Thor did his best not to allow the devastation around him to affect him as he made his way through the halls of the palace. This had been his childhood, his home, and, he had once thought, his future as well. It would be a lie to say that he hadn't imagined a time where he and Athena would be ruling Asgard together. That, the handful of times he'd been in the throne room since the mess that had been his banishment to Earth, he hadn't pictured himself sitting on the throne with Athena beside him. A time or two, while they had been on their various quests, on the cusp of sleep, when he might have thought of ways to reconstruct the throne itself so that he and Athena might sit beside each other, ruling together. He knew it was no insult to his mother that Odin had only one throne, it was just the way of Asgard. But he was a different king than his father, or he hoped the chance to prove himself different, and he wanted the throne to reflect that.

This was his chance, he knew, to prove himself different. He was not going to cover this up, he was not going to hide his faults from his people. They had all seen his failings, they had known of his banishment, had seen him walk away from the throne, and would, by now, know he had failed to keep Hela from Asgard. Athena had made him aware that it was not his successes and his victories that made him who he was, but the ways and times he failed and struggled. From those he could learn, from the mistakes of others he could become better. He shouldn't hide his failures, but embrace them.

He had failed to stop Hela's destruction, but he could stop her now and prove himself a worthy king by stopping this danger to his people.

He shook himself from his thoughts, needing to stay focused as he made his way through the halls of the palace. He listened intently for any lingering guards or prisoners that Hela might have placed, but he could hear nothing but the sound of his own footsteps through the halls. He slowed his pace as he neared the throne room, taking in the destruction there as well. He could recognize various items from Odin's most secured vault scattered around the floor beside the throne itself. Moving further into the room, he paused beside a large clump of plaster on the ground and crouched down to pick it up. He saw his own face looking back at him and immediately looked up to where he knew the fresco it had come from to be. It was no longer there, instead there was a crumbling edge on the ceiling revealing a different one that had been hidden underneath.

And there, before his eyes, was a depiction of Odin and Hela, clearly conquering the nine realms, with Hela butchering everyone that opposed her all the while holding Mjolnir in her hand.

His jaw tensed at that, before he strode into the room, right up to the throne where Gungnir was just lying haphazardly. He shook his head at Hela's carelessness and grabbed the symbol of power, making himself comfortable on the throne. He took a breath and began to bang the end of Gungnir on the floor, knowing that its power would be felt across Asgard, Hela would surely sense it.

He didn't let up, just continued to tap it on the ground until he heard a noise off to the side, where Hela had just stepped into the room, glaring at him.

He smirked as he ceased the movement, "Sister," he greeted.

Hela smiled and sauntered into the room, completely at ease as she addressed him, "You're still alive."

He didn't elaborate more on how he was, just casting a glance around the destroyed room, "I love what you've done with the place. Redecorating, I see."

Hela paused by the fallen plaster to look up at the fresco just as Thor had done, "It seems our father's solution to every problem was to cover it up."

"Or to cast it out," Thor remarked, unable to help but think about himself and Loki. One covered up, never knowing his true heritage till it was too late to stop him becoming a monster, and himself cast out of Asgard for a mistake that, he saw now, could have cost his people everything. He took a breath and looked at Hela, "He told you you were worthy. He said the same thing to me."

Hela sighed, eyeing Mjolnir in the hands of her portrait before she focused on Thor once more, "You see, you never knew him, not at his best," she smiled, recalling the good old days with a fondness that disturbed Thor to hear her next few words, "Odin and I drowned entire civilizations in blood and tears. Where do you think all this gold came from?" she gestured around, "And then, one day, he decided to become a benevolent king," Thor could only shake his head at the way she sneered the last two words, as though the utter thought of being so was disgusting to her, "To foster peace, to protect life…" she sneered at him, nearly baring her teeth at him as she growled out, "To have you."

Thor's jaw clenched at that, at how much he was truly learning about his father, about the person he was, for he had no reason to doubt Hela's words as true. The evidence in the frescos, the absolute regret and shame that had been in Odin's voice, what the Valkyrie had said, it was proof. He wondered, briefly, how his mother could have loved a man like Odin if he had been that apathetic to others that he'd let Hela destroy them. He wondered, for a moment, if Athena would have wanted anything to do with him if he had turned out the same as Odin had, if she would have come to Asgard at all if she had known what Odin had done.

He honestly did not know the answer. He could imagine she would have come to Asgard even if she had known, because she had experienced being in that dark place and fighting to get out and be better, which Odin had done. But if HE had been like Odin, he could not say if Athena would have loved him unless he too had changed. He did not think she would have cared for him as she did if he had been so like his father, too much a reminder of what she'd become in her past.

But he had no reason to worry about that now. He was not Odin and Athena loved him as much as he did her. This revelation of Odin's past would not change anything except to serve to make him more aware of his own shortcomings and temptations, to be better.

"I understand why you're angry," he began, realizing that she blamed him for Odin's change of heart. Whether it was his impending birth that had made his father change, not wanting to bring a child into the world destroyed as it was, or whether it was Odin's desire for a SON to rule in his place that drove him to change, he didn't know. But either way, Hela blamed him, "And you are my sister, and technically have a claim to the throne. And believe me, I would love for someone else to rule. But it can't be you. You're just...the worst."

He truly did not have any luck at all when it came to siblings to lean on for support in this matter. Loki or Hela would either tear Asgard apart or let everywhere else fall to ruin, it HAD to be him.

Hela didn't appear to like that answer as she morphed her hair into her battle headdress once more, "Ok, get up. You're in my seat."

Thor stood, "You know, Father once told me that a wise king never seeks out war."

Hela nodded, seeing where this was leading, "But must always be ready for it."

There was barely a moment's pause before they charged at each other.

~8~

Athena and the Valkyrie stood at the edge of the ship, Banner hovering it just over the Rainbow Bridge as they looked down at it.

"Fenris," the Valkyrie murmured, nodding at the giant wolf that was stalking just out side the observatory tot he Bifrost, ready to block the path Heimdall was leading the refugees down, "Hela's beast."

"And I suppose that is her army of the dead," Athena remarked, nodding at the other end of the bridge, the very end, just outside the city, where she could see Skurge leading an army of what looked like blackened skeletons in armor.

"Aye," the Valkyrie agreed. She let out a breath, "At least it is not Hela herself. I do not envy Thor."

"I'm not scared of Hela," Athena stated absently, her gaze more focused on the army, "It's hard to be scared of anything after you've seen Hera in the mornings. I'm more concerned with her minions. They are unlike any enemy they've fought before."

The Valkyrie looked at her for her words, "THEY? Then you have faced similar?"

Athena nodded, still fixated on the army as they reached the bridge, "My uncle is a God of Death. I have faced down his soldiers. Dead men with swords, no will other than to fight, no weaknesses that hinder them. Almost unstoppable."

"Almost?" Banner called, having heard them talking.

Athena nodded, "Fire. Burn them and ash cannot be reconstructed into bone," she pulled out her sword and held it up.

The Valkyrie sniffed, smelling something odd before she grabbed Athena's wrist and pulled the sword closer, "Alcohol…you've doused your sword."

"One spark, and it will be aflame."

"I take it you are calling the army?" the Valkyrie asked, "And I the wolf?"

"If it could be any other way, I would wish for the wolf."

"Why?"

"Beyond our experience?" Athena glanced at her, reminding her that the Valkyrie had experience fighting Fenris while she had experience with dead soldiers. She shook her head and returned her attention, "These soldiers are tricky. They cannot be reasoned with, they show no pattern, they cannot be easily predicted, and they do not stop fighting no matter how much you hack at them. All my methods of battle, every tactic I have, all observation and calculation will be useless against them," her voice began to take on a distant note, thinking back to those she'd stopped in the past, "Instinct, power, focus…you cannot think, you can only act, and only those powerful enough can end them…" she swallowed hard, "I had hoped to never face such an enemy again."

The Valkyrie reached out then, for just a moment, and put a hand on her shoulder, hearing a genuine fear in the woman's voice, "For Asgard though."

Athena nodded, "For Asgard."

She looked back down and took a breath, before launching herself out of the ship and towards the bridge, hearing the Valkyrie firing the blaster at the wolf, right as she dropped down, landing between the refugees and the approaching army.

She stared them down a single moment, before swiping her sword at the Rainbow Bridge, igniting her sword.

A/N: I felt like the undead soldiers were almost 'too easy' to defeat, in the movie at least. They're dead. Chopping them in half or cutting off a head or stabbing them isn't going to do much damage, they're already dead. Logically, they'd keep fighting because of the magic in them, unless someone was really able to stop them stop them. Athena, given her uncle Hades having control of the dead, I feel like she'd have that experience and knowledge and be the one to face those soldiers. And if Hela is meant to be as powerful as the movie implies, I doubt her army would be cut down that easily.

Some notes on reviews...

I loved that story about the snake :) I had heard it was an impromptu add in, and I've got a very different reaction from Loki when Thor recounts it for Kona's story ;)