Chapter 4

"I'm sorry." Jane said as she stood between the two blondes, "But I can't take you."

Thor gave a slight frown and nodded his understanding. "Then this is where we part." Valerie watched him take her hand in his. "Farewell, Jane Foster." He kissed it gently and Jane giggled like a school girl. Valerie rolled her eyes as Thor turned to the rest of the group and nodded. "Erik Selvig, Valerie, Darcy."

Erik nodded in return while Darcy called her goodbye to him. Valerie watched him leave with mixed feelings. She knew she didn't trust him completely but that nagging feeling at the back of her skull returned, telling her that he was important somehow. She didn't believe is destiny or fate, but she did know she should trust her instincts. She kept telling herself she stuck with the group to protect the scientists from this stranger but she found herself questioning her actions again.

It felt like she had been nothing but a confused wreck since Vegas. Everything had been so simple and now she felt like her brain had been tossed into a blender. She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath through her nose. "Wait." She called into the air. The words left her lips almost without her consent but it seemed her brain had made the choice for her. Both retreating groups stopped and turned to her. "I'll help you."

"Valerie!" Erik's shocked voice was the first to cut in.

She turned to him slowly, "It's okay Dad. I can handle this guy." She paused for a moment. "Plus it's not like I have anything better to do. At least with this is can be doing... something."

Erik's lips tightened into a thin line. He didn't like the idea but he nodded, understanding his Daughter's want to be useful. After a long moment he finally nodded again at his daughter in reluctance before leading the girls back to the lab.

Valerie turned back to Thor. He stood tall and proud several feet from her. She sighed and walked to and then past him, slapping his arm on the way by, "Common big guy, there's a car rental place a few blocks from here."

He nodded gratefully to her and fell into step beside her. The two walked in silence for several minutes, it becoming increasingly awkward the further they went. The tension between the fighters was thick, neither knowing what to say. Becoming uncomfortable Thor was the first to break. "Lady Valerie, Darcy tells me you are a mighty warrior."

"I was." She answered simply, not wanting to get into it.

Thor raised an eyebrow. "Was?"

Valerie sighed again. It seemed like she'd been doing that a lot recently. "I retired." She hoped her short answers would get the point across that she didn't want to talk about it.

"A warrior does not simply 'retire'." He scoffed. "Were you beaten in combat?"

She shook her head. "No. I won the match by knockout at one minute, six seconds into the first round."

His brows knit together. "Then why retire?"

Valerie stopped, her companion doing the same. He looked down at the young woman. She let out a long and slow breath through her nose. Slowly she licked her lips, preparing herself to answer but refusing to meet his gaze. "Because I killed my opponent."

Silence once again settled between the two. Refusing to say anything else Valerie carried on, the car rental office in sight just down the road.

"There is no need to fret, Lady Valerie." Thor proclaimed as he followed her. "Death is most common in combat."

Valerie sneer before turning on her heel and shoving her hands against his chest, shoving him back. Dark clouds began to roll in the distance as her anger spiked. "No it's not! Not here! I trained to fight in a fair arena! Not on some battlefield!"

Thor raised an eyebrow, "There is no need to be harsh, I am merely stating a fact of combat."

"For you maybe!" Valerie countered. Lightning snapped behind her and the change did not escape the God's notice. "I killed someone! That's something I can't take back! And now I have to live with the consciences!" Having voiced her feelings aloud to someone other then her father for the first time a wave of simultaneous relief and guilt washed over her. "And now I'm totally lost." She admitted. Valerie dropped her head, defeat settling in. "Common." She said lowly before turning and heading on her way.

Thor watched her for a moment. His gaze bounced between the young woman's retreating back and were the lighting storm that was fading back into blue sky. There was something different about that girl. He had felt that since he had laid eyes on her but now it was like another puzzle piece had fallen into place. Slowly he was filling out the jagged edges but the main image was broken into a thousand pieces that he had no clue how to arrange.

Valerie's grip on the steering wheel was tight. Her knuckles white and arms tense as she drove. Her jaw clenched as she tried to control her bubbling emotions. Anger, sadness, fear, hurt, confusion but mostly anger stirred deep inside her mind. If she had to pick one general term to sum herself up at the moment it would be seething.

She was angry at herself for her outburst and loss of control, over her behaviour, emotions and the general control over everything. Her life as an example of everything. She was also angry at the hulking blonde in the passenger seat. She couldn't pinpoint why she was angry at him but she was. Maybe it was his casual address for her ending her opponents life, or his lax attitude in general. She always prided herself at being that way but as everything slipped through her fingers these past few weeks she was loosing that.

Her nostrils flared as she let out a slow breath. With one last squeeze of the wheel she loosened her grip, tried to roll away the tension in her neck and squared her shoulders. It was time to take control of her life again, move on, and find her path. Starting with this stranger.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was almost a growl. She cleared her throat and spoke again. "I'm sorry for what I said back in town. I've just been frustrated as hell recently and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Thor gave an easy smile. "There is no need to apologize Lady Valerie. The path of a warrior is never an easy one."

Her jaw clenched. "It's not just that." She mumbled, her voice gaining strength as she spoke. "Last month I had it all. I was the top fighter in my division. I had a great apartment in Vegas, friends, a bright future. When I... when I killed Ana,". She licked her lips and shifted in her seat to try and force herself to relax, "I lost all that. My friends avoided me like I had the plague. No one stood by my side other then my Manager and my Father. I lost all my sponsorship, including my apartment and car. My career was effectively over. Everything was gone in a matter of days. I've never felt so... lost before."

Thor frowned. He took a moment to scratch at his beard and survey the area of desert they were driving through as he thought of what to say. "I wish I could offer you words of comfort My Lady but I cannot. My path was always set before me until recently, however this is merely a small set back. Once I have Mjolnir back I will be able to return to Asgard and right everything with my father."

"Okay," Valerie began with a smirk, "First off its Val or Valerie, no more this 'My Lady' crap. Second. Mjolnir? Asgard? You don't actually expect me to believe that you are THE God of thunder?"

"Believe it or not Lad-Valerie, it is true." His smirk was cocky. "I am Thor Odinson, God of Thunder and future King of Asgard."

Valerie snorted. "Ya, and I'm actually a fairy princess."

Her deadpan humour went over the God's head. "I know many a Fair Folk and you most certainly are not one."

Valerie tried to keep a straight face but quickly found herself laughing. Her laugh was deep and joyful. Thor eyed the young woman for her outburst but slowly found himself chuckling with her. Slowly their laughed died and the air around them fell into a comfortable silence for the first time. How long had it been since she'd laughed like that? She had no idea but it felt good.

Thor smiled at the woman beside him as she focused on the road ahead with a soft smile on her lips. He wasn't in denial about how similar their looks were, if he was honest when he seen her at the hospital for the first time it had froze him in his tracks. Perhaps she was some trick of Loki's? Unlikely. There was almost something otherworldly about her. She wasn't like the other mortals he had encountered so far. One would almost assume she was of Asgard. The gears in his head began to turn. Were other pieces falling into place? "Valerie?" Thor spoke with caution as he began. She glanced at him with a raised brow, urging him on. "Might I ask you something?"

"Sure." She shrugged easily, turning back to the road.

Thor cleared his throat. "Have you ever noticed anything... odd about yourself?"

"Odd?" The word rolled off her tongue like a sour candy. She thought for a moment, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel as she formulated her response. "Ya." She finally mumbled. "I've always been different. Stronger then those around me. Higher pain threshold. I heal fast. I can't get drunk."

Thor nodded along and was quick to step in when she paused. "While those things do set you apart from other mortals they weren't what I was meaning."

"Then what are you really asking?" She whispered. Her conversation with her father the day before playing in her mind.

"Even if they'll take me back I won't go, not until we find out what's wrong with me."

Was this was she had meant? Had this strange guy, who claimed he was a medieval God nonetheless, noticed something others had failed to? Did he know something about her she didn't? Were her gut feelings right about this guy?

"Back in town, when you were angry with me, did you notice anything change around you?" Thor began slowly. "Did you feel anything different? Power?" She shook her head. Thor frowned, if it had been her she was unaware of her effects on the world around her. He bit his lip and decided to take another chance. "What about the weather?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What about it?"

Thor spoke slow and careful, not wanting to upset or startle the young blonde. "Do you ever feel like it reacts to your emotions? Especially stronger emotions like joy, sadness and anger?" She didn't say anything for a long moment and the silence between them began to grow thick. He watched as she shifted her weight again as a look of knowing and fright danced across her features. Thor licked his suddenly parched lips, he wasn't good at reading people, not like his brother was, but it was clear his statement had hit her hard. "I know because I was the same way when I was young. When my power was growing and I struggled to learn control."

Valerie processed his word for a moment and snorted, a sneer settling on her lips. "So what?" Her tone was harsh again, "You're saying I'm a Thunder God or something?"

"Honestly," He began with a sigh, "I don't know."