I sat beside Cierian's unconcious form, seeing him hooked up to many different machines, a nurse maid standing in the corner. I stroked his curls, looking down at Theia as she pressed herself against my chest and held her brother's hand. Halea had been absent ever since our fight- but I could not concern myself with her and her lies, not when my children needed at least one parent who cared. "Papa, papa, bede for me, ask the gods to watch over me as I sleep in your embrace underneath the great Worlds Tree. My All-Father, cast your runes on me so protected from all harm I will be; Frigga sings a song for me and holds me in her arms, warm I will be," Theia sang, her brother's eyes flicker. Despite his condition, I knew that he could hear us and joined my daughter, reciting the lullaby I had sang to them many a time. "Giant winds blow so merrily for they rock my crib so gently. Ama ask for Valhalla to wait for me till I am old and asleep I will be. As I way for day to come, the worlds will sleep along with me…"

Standing, I bent over Cierian to press a kiss to his forehead, allowing Theia to do the same before leaving him to sleep.

"I want to stay with you papa," Theia said, clinging around my neck.

"Come sweetheart. We will go and count the stars," I replied, smoothing down her hair.

We went to stare out of the windows, finding Steve already there, his face showing that he was deep in thought. "Sorry. Have we disturbed you," I asked, my daughter looking at him shyly from underneath her lashes. "No, you're fine. I've heard tales of this little one and her brother running around the ship. Hello Theia- you're quite beautiful, just like your mother," he smiled, reaching out to tickle her playfully. "Say hello and thank you to Steve, darling," I said as she blushed and turned away from him.

"Everyone is sleeping- except you," I noted, stroking Theia's hair and pressing a kiss to her crown. Steve only shook his head and leaned against the railing before us, "I've been asleep for seventy years. I think I've had enough rest."

"I know how you feel, all too well."

Standing there in silence, I replayed the day's events in my head, rocking Theia and humming quietly to myself. "I don't know how you do it, being a father and trying to defend an entire world. Your son is sick and your wife is lost in her grief-"

"She is lost I am sure, but in what I have no idea," I corrected, my daughter whining sleepily.

"You already have so much on your shoulders- why are you doing this," Steve asked, looking at me evenly. I pondered his question before looking into Theia's face, swallowing, "Look at this child. In her face is innocence and beauty that only a child born of true love can have. In this world exists many children such as this one and I know that for every child, there is a father, a mother who would do anything to destroy which tries to harm them. But not every man or woman has the ability to defend their children from the things that this universe holds- and yet I do. It is my duty to protect these children, this innocence and so I sacrifice, for them."

Steve looked at Theia and sighed, tucking her curls behind her ear.

"We're here to help you Thor. All of us want the same- we know that your little boy is dying and we're doing everything we can to stop it," he said, his words a comfort to me. I nodded and kissed my daughter's head again, shifting her in my arms.

"I should get her to bed. Goodnight, friend."

I left him to return to the twins' quarters, letting Theia down so that I could get her ready for bed. All I had ever wanted was for her to have as normal of a childhood as was possible for her, without all the regalities that I had been pushed into as a boy. I helped my daughter change into her nightgown before assisting her in brushing her teeth, my daughter meticulous. "Come papa, come. Come," Theia said, jumping on her bunk and holding out her brush to me. I smiled with a sigh and kicked off my boots, sitting down so that she could crawl in my lap. I brushed her long, dark curls until they hung around her face, smooth and knot free. When I was done, I looked down at my daughter's face and she actually seemed to be sleeping- I prayed that she was. As I sat there, time seemed to run away from me. Being in Theia's presence gave me some small amount of comfort and I rested peacefully, letting the stress of the day evaporate. I moved to hold her tenderly in my arms for a moment before allowing my eyes to close as well, settling in for a sleepless night. A strange numbness swept over me strong and leaving in its wake from all that it touch, panic. It crushed my lungs- the realization that I was losing everything I loved stark in my face as dark thoughts and queries swirled around my brain like murky water rippling in a black, fathomless lake. The strongest thought eating away at my brain was still and would always be- until he was well again, my son Cierian.

And then my mind was consumed with thoughts of Halea, my chest aching as a wave of despair washed over me. She was the one ally I had had in all of this insanity, my wife and I accepting once that neither would or could live without the other. And so we had decided to march into battle together…

Yet, now it seemed as if I were all alone.

The odds had always been against us, from the day that Halea had been born. In the realm of Asgard, one such as myself had been meant to take another of royal birth as a wife and queen, but I had chosen Halea, a daughter of one most hated in our world and in our family by my father. I had never seen the meaning in choosing for politics and not for love, and so I had followed my heart to make a queen out of her. And then my own selfish pride had led us both to be banished from our home, to be banished to Midgard and the throne ripped from underneath me. Loki had meant to kill us and our unborn children- but we had still come to beat all of the odds. But then again, we had done it together.

We were stronger together than we ever would be apart.

Theia shifted against my chest and I watched as her eyes fluttered open, a soft cry breaking from her lips. "Papa," she said, pressing her face into my leather to whimper softly. I pressed my hand to her head and spoke to her in a soothing voice, "I am here sweetling."

"Do not ever leave me. Please papa," Theia cried, seeming to relax into my touch even as she shook and sobbed. I held her until she was asleep again, turning when I heard soft footsteps in front of the door. Halea entered the room and her eyes flickered to my face, pain and emotion burning in her gaze. Her forehead was creased with worry, giving her the look of someone who had suffered a lot more than she should have- for the first time, she looked as if she was truly a millennia old. The suffering she had sought to hide from me was finally shining through and I hated to see it, even though I knew that she could not be strong forever. I wished to take her in my arms even despite my anger towards her, and protect her, as if she needed it and kiss all of her sorrows away. Her… intense emotion- one of which I had no word for- made her look as if she were carved from stone, every line and surface on her body sharply defined. Halea's eyes flickered to Theia and then she was swaying on her feet, "Had to see her… one more time."

She collapsed and I moved my daughter onto the bed, going to her mother.

I took Halea into my lap, prying one of her eyes open to see a milky, unhealthy-looking shade of blue. "Damn," I said, hoisting her up into my arms and carrying her to where Cierian was. They immediately started asking me questions, but I had no answers for them, Halea stirring with lots of provocation. "Thor, I am freezing," she said, her teeth clicking together as she shook. I wrapped my arms around her the best I could- Halea had suffered naught until Loki had arrived, my anger building in me like a storm. I fought to keep the clouds in my head from materializing in the healing alcove, looking through the thin curtain to see my son's tiny body. "You are making yourself ill-"

Despite her condition, my wife threw me a rather impressive glare, "I would not."

They attempted to discover the cause of her illness, but it became an ongoing struggle, Halea seeming to fight with herself to heal. "We are too strong for happenings such as this," I murmured, my hands on her shoulders to hold her down from the violent shaking. That night was the worst but I stayed by her side, along with the helpless nursemaids and healers, who lent their support. She would alternate between screaming and crying, begging for mercy. I watched as she slipped in and out of lucidity, my hand always on her forehead. The worst moment was when Halea suddenly gripped her stomach, shudders still racking her body and dry heaved, as if she was trying to dispel something intensely distasteful. "Oh, just get out. Get out," Halea breathed, her eyes on me.

"I will not leave your side," I vowed, my wife looking at me pitifully.

It was then that what ever gripped her let go, Halea going limp as she attempted to catch her breath. Battered just as if she had fought battle, she rolled over and grasped my hand. I stroked her forehead, kneeling down beside her as I watched that sickly color in her eyes retreat and dissipate. "My Halea. Oh, how I wish I could return you to Asgard so that they might find the cause of your… discontent," I whispered, swallowing softly. I felt weary and moved to press my forehead against hers, hearing her breathe for a few moments.

"Then let us return to Asgard," Halea whispered, my eyes flickering up to meet hers. "We fight a losing crusade here my love."

"You know that is not possible."

Halea nodded and licked her chapped lips, closing her eyes once more "And yet, how I wish it was so."


I sat at breakfast and watched over Theia, seeing how well-adjusted she was becoming to everyone. She laughed and talked with some of the soldiers who took turns looking after her, pressing into my side. I kept my hand on my daughter's curls, knowing that it was a comfort to us both.

"Thor."

Nick strode towards me, my daughter's hand wrapping around mine as I regarded him respectfully. "Can I have a word," he asked, all the people sitting at my table turning to him. I nodded and pressed a kiss to Theia's cheek, sighing, "I will not be far sweetheart. Stay here."

We moved to a private corner of the dining hall, the director looking over at where I had sat before turning to me. "A lot has happened in this past week and a half, Thor. And I'm wondering how much more you can take before you become a liability to this team. My mind is already made up on Halea and her status here-"

"What are you saying Fury," I asked quietly, my arms crossing over my chest.

"Countless hours of manpower have been afforded to the medical care of your son and your wife as well as the overseeing of your daughter. Now, if you are not an asset to this team, that means I've wasted my time and government money trying to help you. I need to know if you're still with us," Nick said, looking at me evenly. I reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear, "I stand by my word to protect this realm from all who would harm it. You should not hold me in doubt of that."

I then turned away from him, scooping up my child and taking her back to her room. It seemed that we were spending the majority of our time in our quarters as we searched for the Tesseract and interrogated Loki- which was proving fruitless.

Halea was still in bed when I passed through, Theia wanting to stop and hug her mother. My wife's response was listless, as if it were a burden to hold the child that she had given birth to. "I love you ama," she said, kissing her mother's cheek. "Go now," was Halea's only response, my daughter's eyes confused. I took Theia and laid her down for a nap, stroking her hair, "Do not let it bother you, my little bird. Your mother finds herself ill." She nodded and turned over to stare at the wall, her arm on the place where her brother had lain.

I went into the room I shared with her mother, closing the door and looking at her evenly. I tried not to raise my voice so as not to disturb Theia, "What is the matter with you?" She looked at me with disdain before turning her attention to her fingers, shrugging. "Leave me alone Thor Odin-son. I find you irritating in my weary state-"

"That child, you just crushed with your passiveness," I spat, motioning to where our daughter slept. "You see, I can handle your melancholy and your unkind words but Theia is still just a baby! You cannot just dismiss her like that!"

Halea got out of the bed, her presence seeming as if it were burning as she turned on me.

"My heart feels as if it is a dead weight, and its… killing me to breathe. I feel numb and frozen, cold inside," she said even as she tried to keep her voice low, pressing her hand to her chest. "I look at Cierian and I want to feel the need to cry, to reach out and hold him. And I look at Theia, wishing I could find it in my heart to pick her up, to play games with her. How, I wish I could be a mother- the mother I used to be… but strangely, I do not want to."

"You love those children," I whispered quietly, Halea only looking at me.

She struggled to utter her words, looking helpless before her decision was made, "But… I do not."

I crossed the room to where she was, brushing her hair back from her face. "Loki was right: I do not know you, this woman that I married. The woman I impregnated with my seed, who carried my children, who I swore to honor and respect! And protect- and love! Those vows that I took with you," I said as my voice rose steadily, finding only apathy in my heart. I did not have it in me to be angry anymore and simply shook my head at her, "For all these years that I have loved you and for all these years that you have not been true to me-"

Halea looked ill again, clutching her own midsection as if my words harmed her. "Stop it-"

"No, I want you to know how I feel! I have held my tongue long enough! I stood there and was prepared to give up everything for you, my birthright, my destiny- because I loved you, this stranger-woman. And I laid beside you every night, making love to your flesh, your spirit, your mind! Shared my bed with someone I had no clue could deceive me as thus-"

My wife was doubled over, breathing heavily as her entire body shook. I could see her breaking out in a sweat, veins transparent underneath her increasingly pale skin. "Halea," I asked, seeing her struggling to control… something. I took a step towards her and she held her hand out to me before coughing, releasing herself from the confines of her tight jacket. The air around her began to darken, shadows swirling around her form. "Thor, get out," Halea hissed, her entire body contorting. I did not move however, taking another step towards her. She was shaking violently now, all of the bones in her spine standing in relief as the snaps coming from within her body became audible. "Halea!"

Her head snapped up and her eyes bored into mine, almost pleading as she pressed herself back against the wall. That crystalline, almost opaque blue color was seeping into her eyes again and electricity sparked from her gaze, radiating both sadness and complete evil- and what humanity was there was fading fast. "Take our daughter and get out- now Thor," she shrieked, looking more like one of her valkyries than I had ever seen her. I rushed back into my daughter's room as I heard Halea scream, picking up Theia and pulling Mjolnir off of my hip. It felt as if the air around me began to roar as Halea attacked, the valkyries swarming around me. I shielded my daughter and looked at the soldiers around me, turning to look back at my wife as she stood before me, eyes now fully black and her teeth bared. Theia was screaming at the top of her lungs and all the noise around me deafened into silence, my eyes locked with that of my wife's. I could feel someone braving the storm around me to wrap their arms around Theia's, turning to see Steve's face. "Give her to me Thor! I have her," he shouted, throwing an elbow at one of the screaming shadows. Relinquishing my hold on her, he moved and I felt the valkyries attack, clawed hands ripping and scratching at me. I dropped Mjolnir, walking towards her through the blackness surrounding me, "Halea, stop!"

I moved, every step excruciating until I brought her into the storm with me, faintly hearing all of the alarms going off.

"Stop! Do not let this darkness control you," I shouted over the storm, taking her in my arms.

Halea seemed to surface for a moment before inhaling as she tossed her head back, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. It terrified me to see all of the darkness and shadows being consumed by my wife, even her valkyries flying down her throat. She looked at me once it was all over, her voice hoarse, "I do not let the darkness control me, Thor. I am the darkness.

"Remember what you promised."

She then went limp in my arms and I fell to my knees, a sudden emptiness filling my entire being. I felt empty and incomplete, feeling as if my wife had died in my arms for I knew that she was no longer here.

People surged forward to surround us, pulling Halea from my arms and whisking her away.

I sat against the wall, seeing nothing and hearing less, allowing my head to fall forward into my waiting hands. All that I had fought for- all that I had a reason to fight for- was dying, fading before my very eyes.