Chapter 8

Thor fell to knees before Mjolnir, his trusty hammer. He stared at it, devastated. He noticed the new glowing runes on the side of his hammer, and he immediately knew what his father had done. Only those who were worthy enough could wield Mjolnir, wield the power that was once his. This only saddened him further. He had failed. He was unworthy. He had failed his father, failed Jane, and failed himself. In that moment he was grateful for his mortal body for he wished he could die. Thor heard men coming toward him, but he did not care. He let the men restrain his hand and take him in. He was quickly seated, hands still tied behind his back. Thor just sat there wanting to hide from shame and disappointment. He heard someone come into his containment room, but he did not look up.

"It's not easy to do what you did. You made us look like a bunch of underpaid mall cops. That's hurtful. The men you so easily subdued are highly-trained professionals, and in my experience, it takes someone who's received similar training to do what you did to them. Would you like to tell me where you received your training?" The man across from said.

'Where you received your training'. This only made him think of Asgard and how he had failed everyone. He could see Sif and The Warriors Three frowning in sorrow at him. He could see his brother, Loki, knowing he could not talk Thor out of this one. He saw his mother, tears running down her face. And worst of all, his father. His father looking down on him in shame, disappointment, and sorrow. Odin had been right. Thor could never be a king. Not even an inkling of the king Odin is. He missed Asgard dearly.

"Pakistan? Chechnya? Afghanistan? Then again, you strike me more of the soldier of fortune type. What was it, South Africa?" The man continued his questioning and Thor let him not listening or caring at all at what he was saying.

"Certain groups pay well for a good mercenary. Especially HYRA." Could the man not leave him alone to grieve in isolation.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Thor thought about the question. Who was he. At one point he had been known as Thor Odinson, Son of Odin Allfather, Prince of Asgard, God of Thunder. Right now, he was none of these things.

"Just a man." Thor finally said.

"One way or another, we find out what we want to know. We're good at that." The man said before leaving.

He was now alone and he desperately wished to see Asgard. To see his father, mother, Loki, Sif, The Warriors Three and all of Asgards citizens. He found himself also wishing to see Jane. To apologize for everything he had brought down onto her. He knew this 'SHIELD' would now turn their wrath on her and her two companions, knowing that they associated with him. He heard the door open again and expected immediate questioning again.

"I thought he'd never leave." An achingly familiar voice said.

Thor looked up to find his brother, Loki, standing there with a frown on his face.

"Loki? What are you doing here?" Thor asked. Had he come to take him home? Thor could only hope.

"I had to see you." Loki replied. Thor's heart lightened a little bit knowing that Loki, his dear brother, had come to Midgard just to see him. But he realized that there must be another reason, all of Asgard would have visited him by now.

"What's happened? Tell me! Is it Jotunheim? Let me explain to father—"

"Father is dead." Loki said cutting him off.

Thor sat there stunned not believing what he had just heard. This couldn't have happened. His father. Dead.

"What?" Thor said.

"Your banishment, the threat of a new war, it was too much for him to bear." Loki explained.

No. His father couldn't be dead. He realized that he had caused his fate. If only he had acted as he had been told there would be no banishment, no new war, no dead father. As if Loki sensed his thoughts he said, "You mustn't blame yourself. I know that you loved him. I tried to tell him so, but he wouldn't listen."

"It was cruel to put the hammer with your reach, knowing you could never lift it." Loki continued. With that Thor sunk deeper into the abyss. This should not be happing. He should be dead, not his father.

"The burden of the throne has fallen to me now." Loki said.

He did not care about being king. He just wanted to go home and apologize to everyone. With Loki king, maybe he could allow it.

"Can I come home?" Thor asked, finally speaking.

"The truce with Jotunheim is conditional upon your exile." Loki explained.

"But could we not find a way to—".

"Mother has forbidden it."

Of course mother was angry with him. He had caused the death of her lover, her king, her husband. He understood mother not wanting to see him ever again. He too did not think he could ever see his mother or any of the Asgardians again. He would die of guilt and shame.

"This is goodbye, brother. I'm so sorry." Loki said.

Thor looked down, tears prickling his eyes.

"No, I am sorry. Loki… thank you for coming here." Thor said voice breaking slightly.

"Nothing could have stopped me." Loki said. Thor was grateful that he still had a brother.

"Farewell, brother." Loki continued.

"Farwell." Thor replied.

"Where are you going? I just got back." Thor looked up to find Agent Coulson standing there.

"Now. Where did we leave off." And with that Agent Coulson continued his questioning.

He fixated himself for what he knew was going to be several long hours. He desperately wanted to get out of there and jump off a ridge.

Jane sat on the couch in the empty lab, wrapped in a blanket. She could not believe what had just happened. This man called himself Thor. She knew that he was known for his hammer. She knew he was incredibly strong. She knew he was the God of Thunder. This man had proved all these things. She saw him use his amazing strength. SHIELD was the top government agency, few know much about them, so they must have recruited only the best of soldiers. This man went through all of them like they were just flies that needed to be swatted. She remembered seeing a large hammer lodged into the ground. She now knew why SHIELD did not just take it away back to their headquarters or whatever. No one could lift it. That sounded so familiar. Like something she heard long ago. But, no, it couldn't be that hammer. And the way the thunderstorm reacted was unnatural. It was as if Thor was the cause of it. The way he sensed the rain, the way the storm got louder the closer he got to the hammer it was…unreal. The pieces connected together so easily, it just couldn't be true. Jane remembered that he was still in the SHIELD base, probably being interrogated. This man, whether he was the so-called god or not, had risked everything just to get her things back. Just to make her happy. And now because of her he was in danger. She had to help. This time it wasn't just because she owed him. This time was different. She felt genuine concern for him. She couldn't just leave him like a lamb to the slaughter.

"We have to go back, I can't just leave him there." Jane said.

Erik looked up from the book he was reading. "Why not?" he questioned.

"You didn't see what happened." Jane replied. She was about to explain until Darcy jumped up.

"Hey! Myeu-muh!" Darcy said while pointing to a picture in Erik's book.

Jane walked over to Darcy and saw a picture of a hammer with 'Mjolnir' written underneath as a caption. The hammer looked very similar to the one she just saw hours ago. She flipped to the cover of the book. It was titled, "NORSE MYTHOLOGY: Gods and Goddesses". She looked at Erik. She finally understood how much he wanted to believe.

"Where did you find this?" Jane asked.

"In the children's section. I, uh, wanted to show you how ridiculous his story was." Erik replied.

Jane was unconvinced by his excuse. She knows he wanted to believe.

"Aren't you the one who's always told me to chase down all leads, all possibilities?"

"I was talking about science, not magic!"

"Magic's just science we don't understand yet. Arthur C. Clarke."

"Who wrote of science fiction."

"The precursor of science fact."

"In some cases."

"If that's really an Einstein-Rosen Bridge out there, then there's something on the other side. Advanced beings could have come through it before."

"Jane…"

Darcy decided to interrupt.

"A primitive culture like the Vikings might have worshipped them as deities."

Both Jane and Erik looked at Darcy, surprised by her unexpectedly insightful input.

"Yes! Exactly! Thank you!" Jane said grateful for the support.

"Jane if you do this, you'll find yourself in a situation that I won't be able to get you out of this time." Erik pleaded.

"I'll help you." Darcy said.

Jane looked gratefully at Darcy. Eric just sighed seeing no way to stop them.

Jane told them all about what happened, so that they could come up with a plan to save Thor.

"Well, from being at the hospital it looks like Thor isn't anywhere in the United States records. Or any records in the world for that matter." Darcy said.

This just further confirmed her suspicion of Thor's origin.

"Well, I guess we just have to make one." Darcy said.

Erik and Jane turned to look at Darcy.

" You mean forge illegal documents?!" Jane exclaimed. What did they teach in that school?

"Jane, this is SHIELD we're talking about. If they find out that this so-called Thor isn't anywhere listed in the WORLD they are only going to keep him longer." Darcy explained.

She sighed. "You're right. Okay what name should we come up with ." Jane said.

"Umm…what about Donald Blake. I mean he was already wearing the guy's clothes." Darcy said.

Jane slightly grimaced at giving this man Donald's name. Her ex-boyfriend was the best doctor in town, but he was too wrapped up in his job to notice anyone else. After the break up, he moved to New York to pursue a more professional career in the Big Apple.

"Sure, that's okay." Jane said.

After a whole hour they finally had 'Donald Blake' put into the system with his whole past and present.

"Alright, who's going to pick up Mr. Big and Tall." Darcy said.

Jane was about to go but something was holding her back.

"Umm…can you go Erik?" Jane asked.

"Why me?" Erik asked.

"Well, uh, you and him really don't have the best of relationships." Jane said.

"But…fine." Erik said giving in.

Erik picked up his coat and the keys to the van. He was out the door. Jane glanced at the book that was left behind.

"Well, I don't about you, but I need to get my beauty sleep." Darcy said. And with that she left the room.

Jane picked up the book that was left on the counter and flipped open to the first page.

Asgard: Home to the Gods and Goddesses.