If She is Worthy…

The Destroyer turned away, its work completed. Thor, the fallen God of Thunder, laid dying yards away, his body broken even as his spirit soared. Long had the son of Odin thought of his death, of the glory it would hold…and all his dreams had never been as beautiful as this. They had been of battle, of war and valor. But now, he found a more noble death: He'd saved the woman he loved.

Jane sobbed, clutching him as his battered form drew in its last breath. She begged him not to go, and though he smiled in joy, knowing she was save, he did regret causing her such pain.

"You're safe…" He whispered.

"I don't care!" Jane pleaded, gripping his shirt in her hands. She looked up, watching as the Destroyer marched away, before being drawn to look at Thor. "Please…"

Overhead, thunder cracked.

"Sir, we are getting spikes of energy!" One of the SHIELD agents called out, the men and women buzzing about the hammer Mjolnir. The Earth trembled about them, the hammer shaking for the first time since they had found it.

"Keep a-"

The skies broke open and the hammer rocketed in the air.

"Jane, come on!" Dr. Selvig called out, grabbing her and trying to pull her away from the fallen God.

"No!" Jane screamed, even as The Warriors Three and Sif looked to the sky, watching as Mjolnir plummeted towards the couple.

"Jane, please!" Selvig pleaded.

"I'm not leaving him!" Jane screamed, wrapping her arms around him. "You hear me?" she whispered, "I'm not leaving you…don't you dare leave me!" She reached out, clasping his hands in her own, tears falling from her eyes as he squeezed back. "That's right, stay with him…"

Sif rushed forward, yanking Selvig away as the hammer descended.

Thor's eyes snapped open and with the last of his strength reached up, gripping the handle of his weapon as it flew into his grasp. His vision focused…and he looked into Jane's confused eyes. The both slowly turned, releasing that the hammer was pressed between their hands.

"Whoever holds this hammer, if they be worthy, they shall possess the power of Thor."

Thor rose to his feet, Mjolnir gripped once more between his fingers, his armor forming along his skin. He let slip a slight grim smile as he stepped forward, feeling his strength return to him. Even though it had been only a few days, Thor had forgotten the power he once held and marveled at the vitality that flowed through his veins once more.

The Destroyer turned, its metal plates shifting to once more deliver a blast of energy. Thor readied his hammer, looking forward to sending it right back.

The steel golem rocked back as it was struck, the Asgardian metal striking it full on and sending its attack of course. Thor frowned however.

It had not been his hammer that had delivered the blow.

"Get the hell away from him."

Thor turned, for the first time since his arrival finding himself awestruck. "Jane?"

Jane was dressed in armor that resembled a mixture of his own and Sif's. Her long hair billowed alongside her blood-red cape in the hard winds that whipped about her, her eyes like diamonds as she watched The Destroyer right itself. Her gauntlet-covered hand snapped out, catching the replica of Mjolnir as it returned to her.

Thor had little time to consider what had happened, realizing he needed to focus on the battle. He had been in enough battles where allies had appeared from seemingly nowhere to know how to adapt and use such events to his advantage.

"Distract it!" he called out, twirling his hammer and launching himself into the air. He watched as Jane lashed out, striking the golem again and again, sending energy blasts back at the Destroyer, causing it to once more wobble upon its feet. Thor raising his hammer, calling upon the winds, a cyclone forming around him and pulling the Destroyer and Jane into the sky. Jane's own hammer spun around her wrist before she launched herself into the air, Thor rocketing down.

Caught between the two of them, the Destroyer stood little chance.

The storm faded as quickly as it began, and the Warriors Three, Sif, Darcy and Selvig walked towards its ruined form. While Darcy and Selvig stared at Thor, unable to believe that the 'crazy man' had been telling the truth, Thor and his fellow Asgardians were staring at Jane.

"How is this possible?" Sif asked in shock.

"I do not know…" Thor murmured, moving towards the woman that had risked so much for him. "Jane…are you ok?"

Jane blinked, seemingly coming out of whatever trance she had been, looking down at her hands as if she didn't believe they were her own. "What…what…" She let go over her hammer, only for it to float back to her palm. "Thor…what is…why am I…uh…?" She stared at him, only to find him just as confused as he was.

Volstagg circled around the two of them, a grin slowly blooming on his face. "Why did you not tell us there was another of our kind here, Thor?"

Fandral nodded. "Indeed…though how a beauty such as yourself ended up here…"

Jane shook her head, the thrill of battle leaving her and causing the scientist to return to her more natural state and emotions. "I…I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not one of you…I'm human."

Sif frowned. "Only one from Asgard could fight as you did today…we all feel a kinship to you."

Jane turned to Thor, eyes wide with panic. "Tell them…tell them I'm…me!"

Thor nodded. "You are you. My friends, believe me when I say that Jane Foster is not one of us. I would have felt it." He focused on the woman he cared for, letting the other shoe drop. "Or…she was not one of us."

"Was?" Darcy asked. "You mean like she caught some crazy God VD and now she can summon lightning out of her-"

"Darcy, please!" Jane exclaimed.

Hogun shook his head. "Something has happened…to alter her." He reached over and tossed Jane a broken segment of pipe from a destroyed building. "Bend it."

Jane gave him a sour look. "I can't-"

The metal snapped with ease.

"See, one of us!" Volstagg said happily. "I told you so! Another warrioress to join our cause!"

"I'm no warrior…I'm a scientist!" Jane exclaimed.

Thor stared up at the sky, holding his hand for quiet. "This debate must wait. We must return to Asgard…I wish to have words with my brother." He turned to Jane and smiled. "The bridge…"

"I get to see it?" Jane asked hopefully.

"More than that…" Thor said, wrapping an arm around her, "you will travel upon it."