Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.

This chapter will finally return to Oliver and Thor, who will be the focus of the next two chapters. This may also be a bit shorter, but hopefully it's not too bad.

Let's get to it. Sorry about the chapter title. It's the best I could think of.

Chapter 7- Space Travel

The Benatar's pod hurtles through space, heading in the direction of Nidavellir. On board, Rocket is steering the pod, with Groot next to him, and Oliver and Thor sitting in the back.

At the moment Rocket is trying to convince Groot to get over his embarassment about urinating. "Just tinkle in the cup! We're not looking. What's there to see? A twig? Everybody's seen a twig before," he says in exasperation.

"I am Groot!" Groot responds in embarassment.

"Tree, pour what's in the cup out into space and go in the cup again," Thor pipes up.

Oliver raises an eyebrow as Rocket asks, "You speak Groot?"

"Yes. They taught it on Asgard. It was an elective," Thor explains.

"Seriously, Thor?" Oliver asks skeptically.

"No, not really," Thor says in a lower voice, "As an Asgardian, I can use the Allspeak, which allows me to understand and speak every language."

Oliver just looks at him for a moment, then shrugs. He's seen stranger things.

Speaking up a bit, Thor says to everyone, "You'll know when we're close. Nidavellir's forge harnesses the blazing power of a neutron star. It's the birthplace of my hammer. It's truly awesome."

As Thor finishes, his voice grows softer, as if he's starting a trip down memory lane. Oliver and Rocket both look at him, a tiny bit concerned.

"Ok. Time to be the captain," Rocket whispers to himself before putting the pod on autopilot. He walks back to the two before saying,"So, dead brother, huh? Yeah, that could be annoying."

"Well, he's been dead before," Thor says.

That comment brings a smile on Oliver's face as he remembers an old friend. "Sounds like my friend Sara," he says.

"And you said your sister and your dad?" Rocket asks.

"Both dead," Thor replies curtly.

"But still got a mom, though?" Rocket asks.

"Killed by a Dark Elf," Thor replies.

"Best friend?" Rocket asks, hoping for a better answer.

"Stabbed in the heart," Thor replies sadly.

As Oliver listens to all this, he starts to realize just how much he and Thor are alike. They've lost the same people in life, and been through some terrible experiences, and fought enemies they thought were beyond them.

"You sure you're up for this particular murder mission?" Rocket asks.

Thor looks up at Rocket, tries to put on a brave smile, and says, "Absolutely. Rage and vengeance, anger, loss, regret...they're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go."

"I don't disagree with you Thor. Ever since I became the Green Arrow 6 years ago, I've done good wherever I can, but unlike some other heroes I know, I don't do it because of the light in me. Every time I learn a new skill or strength, it comes with a painful memory. I draw on a darkness every time I draw back my bow. I've lose so many people, and so much of myself, and I channel that loss and anger when I fight. But, at the same time, at the times where I have just experienced loss, when my anger and regret is at its strongest, I have more often than not made decisions I later regret because my anger clouded my judgement. I more than agree with yo that those feelings are motivators. But don't let them cloud your judgement," Oliver counsels.

Both Thor and Rocket look at Oliver as he says this. Thor in respect, and pondering the meaning of his words. Rocket with concern because of the underlying pain behind his words.

"You guys may be right, but Thanos, he's the toughest there is," Rocket counsels.

Thor looks at the ground for a moment, then back up at Rocket. "You know, I'm 1,500 years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that. And every one of them would've rather killed me, but none succeeded. I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is just the latest in a long line of bastards and he'll be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so."

"Bull****," Oliver says bluntly. Thor and Rocket both look at him in surprise.

"Sorry to burst that bubble, Thor. But I believe there's no such thing as fate. My friend Barry Allen is able to travel through time, and he says there's always a way to change the future. The future is never set in stone. And I have never believed that there is some force moving the universe, or multiverse if you will, in a specific course. You've always won because you were stronger in some way. You'll only beat Thanos if you can find the strength to beat him. And, as I've been forced to admit, sometimes the extra strength you need to beat somebody won't come from yourself, but from your friends and allies. You want to beat Thanos? Make it happen yourself. Don't just let fate do it for you," Oliver says before he stands up and walks towards the front of the pod to look out the viewport.

Thor and Rocket sit there for a few moments, pondering on his words. After a moment, Rocket says in a low voice, "I like that guy."

A moment later, Thor walks over to the front and sits down next to Oliver. He looks at him and says, "Queen, come what may, I am glad to have you alongside me in this fight."

Oliver looks over at Thor and nods. "Right back at you, Thor," he responds.

Rocket walks up to the two of them and looks at Thor. "Well, if you are gonna kill that crapsack, you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball," he says as he hands a cybernetic eye to Thor.

"What's this?" Thor asks.

"What's it like?" Rocket asks rhetorically before explaining, "Some jerk lost a bet with me on Contraxia."

"He gave you his eye?" Oliver asks skeptically.

"No, he gave me 100 credits. I snuck into his room later and stole his eye," Rocket explains, prompting Oliver to shake his head in exasperation.

"Thank you, sweet rabbit," Thor says gratefully.

"He's a raccoon," Oliver mutters out of the corner of his mouth.

Rocket hears this and glares at Oliver before saying loudly, "I'm not a raccoon!" Oliver just smirks, not ready to let this go.

As this is exchange is happening, Thor removes the eye patch over his missing eye, opens up his eye socket, and gently puts the eyeball in. As he positions it in his empty eye socket, Rocket groans before saying, "I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it up Contraxia was up my…" He's cut off by a beeping and says, "Hey, we're here."

Oliver facepalms again at what he knows Rocket was going to say. Next to him, Thor lightly hits the side of his head next to the new eye, trying to get it to focus, before he says, "I don't think this thing works. Everything looks dark."

"That's not the eye, Thor," Oliver says slowly as the pod comes into view of Nidavellir. A dark, cold Nidavellir.

And, I'll end there.

I know you'll be disappointed I cut off there. But I didn't want to do the whole scene in the pod and the scene in Nidavellir with meeting Eitri in one chapter, so I felt this was the best place to stop. Plus, I felt this might be a nice chapter to use to further cement the bond between Oliver and Thor. Next chapter will go all the way through Thor and friends meeting Eitri and getting him to help them. It'll probably also be a short chapter. It should be up within a day or so.

Alright. Until next time, please review and give me your feedback and suggestions, and stay tuned!