Power Within Her

After the funeral of the Queen of Asgard, Thor escorts me back to my chambers. I walk in and head towards the balcony. I lean my forearms against the railing and feel my shoulders slump. I hear the heavy footfalls of Thor's boots hitting the stone; I can feel the heat generating from his body.

"Does it get easier?" His voice is rough with emotion.

I turn slightly and peek through my hair, "You're asking the wrong person, bud."

He smiles lightly, "You lost your parents, Nikki."

"When I was a child. I have very little to no memories of them." Swallowing hard after the words are said.

"You have experienced more pain than every person I know, Nikki. You know the pain and what it is like to be lost." I put my head down as he talks.

I sigh heavily, and he turns his head towards me, "When HYDRA first took me, I would be locked in a cell or chained to a bed. I would cry for my mother or father to come and save me. Growing up, I had panic attacks because I couldn't control what was happening and was waiting for more punishments. I still remember all the needles jabbed into my skin, the chains biting my skin and rubbing them raw until they bled. I can still feel the cold surrounding me, the pitch-black walls of my cell."

"Nikolina, I had no idea."

I chuckle bitterly, "Why would you? I didn't want anyone to know. They don't even know what happened the last time I got captured."

"When were you captured?"

"Almost four months ago. I was on a mission. I got captured and experimented on me. They did something to me; they wanted me to be stronger, faster, and more ruthless. I escaped. I guess they got what they wanted because I killed everyone there."

Thor's jaw clenches tightly. I see the muscles tick in anger, "Can I see what they did to you?"

I sigh before turning my body to face him; he does the same, and soon we are standing facing each other. I look deep into his eyes before closing my own. I feel my teeth elongate, my nails grow to a sharp point, and I sense my eyes changing color. I open my now red eyes and look into Thor's ocean blue. I hear him gasp so quietly that I wouldn't be able to listen to it without my enhanced hearing.

I keep my eyes locked with his; Thor's hand comes up and cups the side of my head ever so gently. His thumb brushes my cheekbone before trailing down my jaw; I feel his thumb run over my fang. It lightly pricks the skin, but he remains unfazed; he sighs heavily before he looks down at my nails.

"Oh, Nikki. I am so sorry. What did they inject you with?"

"Multiple types of wolf blood. They thought it would be ironic seeing that my last name means wolf in Russian."

"They are cruel human beings. They got what was coming to them for what they did to you." He says strongly.

"Yeah." I chuckle slightly, "They made me train with my new powers."

"Come, I want to show you something." I quirk my eyebrow at him, and he smiles gently before taking my hand and pulling on it.

We travel down multiple hallways before we stand at two large doors. Thor pushes the doors open, and I see numerous weapons lining the walls, shields, knives, swords, bows, and arrows. He walks over a chest, flips the top open, and reaches in, and I see the muscles in his arms flex as he grabs something. He walks over to me and presents two beautiful swords.

"Thor?"

He smiles before holding them out slightly, "I had these made for you when I returned home with Loki. You have proven your worth by fighting side by side with my mother. I have told my people about your fighting and how you are a wonderful warrior. Sif has greatly admired you from the stories I shared; even the Warriors Three want a chance to train with you."

"Why would you tell them about me? I am a nobody."

He shakes his head, "You aren't a nobody. You are one of the greatest warriors I have ever fought with; I told everyone on Asgard about you because I wanted everyone to know about the new friend I made. I asked my father if I could have these swords crafted just for you, and he gave me his approval. This is some of the strongest metal in Asgard; these are made just for you."

I grab them from Thor's hand and hold them gently; I run my hand lightly over the blade. I run my finger over the wolf's head on the sword, twirling the sword around in my hand, testing the weight. I see a notch on one of them and a spike on the top of the other. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion before looking at Thor.

He gently chuckles at my look, "Here." I hand them back to him, he slams the two tops together, and I hear a click. I see they lock together to make one long staff; I grab it back from him in excitement. A smile spreads across my face as I look over my new weapon.

"Thank you, Thor." I turn the staff back into two swords, and Thor helps me place them on my back in their sheath. We have them on my back and strapped when there is a knock on the door.

"Sorry, Your Highness. I have news that Jane Foster is now a prisoner of Asgard." A guard says in a quiet but respectful tone.

I see Thor look at me with anger and nod his head. The guard disappears down the hall, and around a corner, Thor tells me he will find his father and return to my room. We part ways, and I make it back to my room; I sit on one of the couches and find a book to read.

I hear a knock on my door, and I get up from my spot and cautiously make my way to the door. I open the door with my hand on one of my knives, seeing Sif standing just outside the doorway. I walk out slightly and greet her quietly while scanning the area.

"Sif, what are you doing here?" She hushes me slightly.

"We are taking the Aether out of Asgard. We need you to meet Thor in the throne room. Jane Foster is already there."

"All right."

We make our way to the throne room when the three voices are conversing. "I'm Loki. You may have heard of me."

I reach them when I see Jane bring her hand back and hit Loki right across the face, "That was for New York.”

Loki chuckles and turns to Thor, "I like her."

"If you like her, then you are going to love me," I taunt the God of Mischief.

Loki spins on his heel, a look of horror on his face, "Nikolina Volkova."

"Awe, you remember me." A sickeningly sweet tone in my voice.

"Who can ever forget you?" I smile sweetly before my eyes flash black. He jumps back in fear, trying to put some space between himself and me.

Thor places himself between Loki and me, "We need to move." He turns toward me and whispers, "Not here. Not now." I nod slightly before looking over to Loki.

I hear two voices shout and a bunch of rapid footsteps, "There they are! Take them!" Another soldier says, "On my command."

Thor and I take a step forward; I reach my back to grasp my sword when Sif stops us. We look toward her, and she tells us to get on the ship. I nod my head in thanks as I follow Jane and Thor onto the boat. Jane walks around the center console towards the front of the vessel; I plant myself next to the console on the left side of Thor. A moment later, Loki wanders into the pit and walks up right next to his brother; Thor begins to push random buttons brutally and rapidly.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing." Loki probes Thor while I nod slightly in agreement.

"I said, 'How hard could it be?'" Thor shoots back.

I look out the window and say, "Uh, Thor, I think we should be moving things along. Soldiers are surrounding us."

"Well, whatever you are doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster." Loki is beginning to irritate Thor, annoyance writing on the older brother's face.

"Shut up, Loki." I snicker lightly into my hand, listening as they argue.

"You must have missed something."

"No, I didn't. I'm pressing every button on this thing." His hands are running over all the buttons.

"No, don't hit it. Just press it gently." Loki advises his brother while I am on the brink of hysterical laughter.

Thor slams his hands on the console, "I am pressing it gently! It's not working!"

I look up as the lights come to life. I hear Thor's cheer of triumph, "Haha!"

Thor's hands move to the side as he grabs the controls that fly the ship, the engines roar to life, and we begin to hover. Thor slowly rotates the vessel and, in the process, takes out all of the columns in the throne room; I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose as I watch everything crumble.

"I think you missed a column." Loki and I chime together.

Thor turns his head towards me before looking forward, "Shut up!"

The ship burst through the throne room's walls and out into the city of Asgard, "Look, why don't I take over? I am clearly the best pilot." I shoot Loki a look as he speaks.

"Is that right? Well, out of the two of us, which one of us can fly?"

I sigh at their sibling's squabble before speaking, "Can I try? I would do better than both of you combined."

They both give me an affronted look, I raise my eyebrow at them, and they shake their heads at me. I roll my eyes in annoyance before looking out the window. I see the city of Asgard below us; my attention moves towards Jane when she falls to the ship's ground.

"Oh, dear, is she dead?" I hear the insincerity of Loki's voice.

"Jane!" Thor asks worriedly before shifting his eyes to me in a panic. He wanted me to check on her, but I just shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm okay." The meek reply makes it past Jane's lips. We all jolt a little as a blast hits the ship.

Thor swoops a little too close to a building and chops the top of it up; I look over to Thor with my eyebrows raised and move my head in a 'Dude, seriously' motion. Loki goes to
open his mouth.

"Not a word out of the two of you."

I look out the window and see three Asgardian battleships chasing after us. "Uhhhh, we may have a slight problem."

Loki looks out the window, "Now they're following us."

The sounds of weapons reach my ears, "The slight problem has become a big problem." I tell Thor.

"Now, they're firing at us." Loki begins to annoy Thor even more.

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki and Nikki; it's not at all distracting!" The annoyance is evident in Thor's voice.

We swoop down towards a tunnel, and the ship's wing slices through a giant stone statue at the neck, "Well done; you just decapitated your grandfather."

"Dude, you suck at this," I say right after Loki. Thor throws me a deadpan look before focusing back on flying.

We dodge a couple more shots at us before we drop beside a bridge, "You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, the most obvious ship in the universe and escape. Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant." I can see that Loki's words annoy Thor before he finally snaps; Thor lets out a growl, reaches over, and pushes Loki out of the window.

I raise my eyebrows before shrugging my shoulders, "Is he always like that?" I point to where he was standing a second ago.

Thor shrugs his shoulders at me, "Fair enough." I say before I walk over to the window. Thor walks over to Jane and lifts her into his arms; he nods to me, and I jump out the window with him on my tail.

I land on my feet in a gold Asgardian ship with Fandral steering; I move out of the way just in time because Thor precisely lands where I was a second ago. "I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki," Fandral says, chuckling. I watch as the Asgardian ships chase after the Elven one while still firing at it.

"You lied to me. I'm impressed." Loki says to Thor, who is laying Jane down on the bench.

"I am glad that you are pleased. Now do as you promised and take us to your secret pathway." Loki bows his head, and he and Fandral switch positions. I watch Loki with wary eyes as his hands grab the stick, we begin to speed up, and the wind starts to whip around my hair. Thor and I spin at the sound of shots fired at us; we start making zig-zag motions to avoid being shot. Loki lifts the ship into the air, and we begin to fly.

"Fandral." Thor says; said man stands up at Thor's words, "Right. For Asgard." He grabs the rope on the side of the ship and jumps onto the Asgardian ship. He beats up the soldiers and salutes Thor and me, and we nod in agreement.

We move towards a small hole in the mountain, "Loki." Thor says in a warning tone.

"If it were easier, everyone would do it." He speeds up even faster toward the hole.

"Are you mad?" Thor grabs my waist and bends me down underneath him, protecting me, and he places his hand on Jane's arm.

"Possibly," Loki agrees; he brings the ship into the hole in the wall. I see sparks flying into the air due to us scraping the wall,

I see brief flashes of multi-colored lights before we are transferred to another world. We land in a barren wasteland that is black and grey.

"Ta-da!" Loki says as we fly through the planet.

Thor fixes the blanket on Jane, leading me to a bench for me to sit on while we travel. I sit there and look over the ship's side; I hear Loki and Thor talking about how Jane won't live forever and Thor will. They begin to fight because Loki was locked up, and Thor couldn't protect their mother. Thor shoves Loki against the side of the ship, and I stand up and pull out a dagger; Thor walks away from Loki, takes the knife from my hand, and places it back in its holster.

We end up flying to an empty field and exit the ship, Loki leads us up a hill, and we follow after him with Thor behind all of us. Thor and Loki walk ahead; I stay behind and guard Jane. I grab the swords that Thor gave me and pull them out of the sheaths; I point them at Loki when he throws Thor down the hill, I go to lunge at him, but he kicks me down the mountain.

Jane runs down the hillside towards Thor while I manipulate my weight and land on my feet. I sprint toward Loki when I see that he cut off Thor's hand; I run towards him, stand by Thor's side, and point the sword at Loki's face. I see fear creep into his eyes, and my eyes turn red. He throws his dagger into my shoulder, and I fall to the ground; Loki grabs Jane and hands her over to Malekith; he lifts Jane into the air using his powers and begins to extract the Aether from Jane.

Jane falls to the ground once the Aether is out of her body, the scientist yells to Loki, and the illusion falls; Thor's hand is still attached to his wrist, and the dagger isn't in my shoulder. Loki runs and tackles me to the ground, covering Jane and me with his body as Thor raises his hammer and electrocutes the Aether. There is a loud boom, and the loud explosion shakes our surroundings.

We slowly get out of our crouch when we see the Aether piecing itself together. It returns itself to its standard form, and then it enters Malekith. After it absorbs into Malekith's body, he slowly raises his head to look at us. I see his eyes are the same as Jane's; he turns to his fugly-looking minion and nod before walking away. As Malekith turns his back to us, the remaining minions move toward us with their weapons raised.

Thor walks forward and swings his hammer, knocking it into the soldiers. The biggest minion throws a weird-looking grenade at us, I receive a shove from Loki, and I take that as a sign to run. I grab Jane by the collar and drag her with me as I run. I spin around to see Loki being sucked into a hole, but Thor saves him, and they crash into the ground.

"NIKKI!" I turn to see Thor nod to the soldiers, and I bow my head in understanding.

I grab my swords from my back and walk toward the elves. As one approaches me, I swing my sword to the side, causing him to lean to the left to avoid being hit, but it leaves him wide open for my other sword; I bring up my left hand and jam my blade into his torso. I rip my sword out in a rough motion, and the dead body flops to my feet. I am greeted by two other elves running at me, I swing my left sword, and it makes contact, but I get hit by one of their swords in my ribs; I groan in pain before swinging my arm around my head and slicing off both of the elves' heads.

I look around to see Thor being beaten by the weird horn creature, and Loki and I make our way over to him. Loki slams a sword through the monster's body, and in retaliation, the
monster picks up Loki and impales him. I grab my sword and plunge it into his abdomen before dragging it upward through his whole body and out his shoulder, Loki is thrown to the floor, and I am shoved beside him, "See you in hell, monster." Loki says, and soon the creature is enveloped in a hole created by the bomb Loki set off.

Thor runs over to Loki and pulls Loki into his arms, "No. No, no, no. You fool. You didn't listen."

"I know. I am a fool. I am a fool." Loki gasps through the pain in his abdomen. I kneel over him, place my hand directly over the hole, and apply pressure.

"Stay with me, okay?" The desperate plea of Thor rings through the air.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." a gasping Loki says. Thor holds him ever so gently, "Shhhh. It's okay. It's all right. I'll tell father what you did here today."

The desperate gasps of air, "I didn't do it for him." Those are the last words of Loki. I watch as his skin turns a dark blue, almost black color, and his eyes slowly close as his head falls gently back.

"NO!" I can hear Thor's anguish and grief ringing loud and clear. He holds his brother in his arms as Jane walks up to us. We all make eye contact before Thor lays his brother on the ground and stands up. I kneel for a moment, take out a small dagger, and cut a piece of Loki's hair off.

I get up from my crouch and stash the hair away; I turn around and begin walking away. I peek over my shoulder one last time before I follow after Thor and Jane.

We still have another fight that's coming. And we need to be ready.

We make our way to a cave for shelter; I keep my swords in my hands as I stand in the mouth of the cave. I hear the sounds of boots crunching against the rocks; I see Thor come and rise to my left. I pivot my head and see Thor staring into the distance, his eyes taking in the landscape. I hear Jane sigh, and we both turn around; Thor walks toward Jane, and I stay where I am standing.

"We have to stop Malekith," Thor demands in conviction; he looks at both Jane and me.

"Do you know where he is going?" I inquire and make my way toward the two other people.

"No," Jane informs before standing and walking closer to both of us, "I know what Malekith is planning," I raise my eyebrow at her, suspicion in my eyes. "He's going to unleash it. Not just on Asgard or on a star. Malekith is going to destroy everything."

I take a threatening step forward, "And how exactly do you know this?" Thor puts his hand on my shoulder to prevent me from moving closer to the woman, "Is there something that you are not telling us, Jane?" My voice is as cold as ice.

She stares at me in fear before speaking, "I've... I've been having visions because of the Aether. At first, I thought they were nightmares or something, but... I saw him on Earth. Why would he go to Earth?"

Thor answers Jane, "The Convergence."

"Oh, God. None of this would have happened if I hadn't found the Aether." Jane says while staring desperately at the ground.

"Well, that's true," I say in a monotone voice. Thor looks back at me in disbelief while raising his eyebrows. I shrug at him, "What? It's true." I continue saying.

"Thanks." The sarcastic reply from Jane puts me past the breaking point, "I'm sorry. If you hadn't become desperate and traveled all over the world, butted your nose into something that didn't involve you in the first place, we wouldn't be here."

"Okay." Thor says, trying to break the tension, "Jane. Then Malekith would have only possessed it that much sooner." Thor comforts her.

"I only found it because I was looking for you." She whispers, but I still hear it.

I roll my eyes so hard that I am afraid they will get stuck in the back of my head, "Desperate." I shout, and they turn to look at me while I smirk.

"Jane." Thor raises his head to cup the side of her face ever so tenderly.

"Now, we are trapped here."

"Yup. So thank you for that." I say in a very annoyed tone. Suddenly, music starts playing in the cave, and we all look around in confusion. I walk towards a small hall built in the
cave and the music becomes louder.

"It's not me," Thor says, and I snort in amusement.

"Do you even know what a phone is, let alone how to use it?" I ask humorously, and he shrugs his shoulders at me. I chuckle lightly and motion them to follow me.
Jane answers her phone and follows right after me, "Hello? Richard? Where are you?" Jane asks into the phone. I look at the ground, notice multiple pairs of shoes, and furrow my
brows in confusion.

"Oh, my God. This is amazing." Jane says while holding the phone in the air and staring at the screen intently.

I hear him talk about lunch and see Thor watching Jane, "How am I getting service here?" Jane asks aloud while still wandering around.

Thor looks skeptical at Jane and reacts when she says, "No, no, no, whatever you do, do not hang up the phone." I nudge Thor with my elbow, and he turns to look at me in
question. He starts to pout a little and seems put out when they talk about having dinner next time.

"Oh my god." I see Jane reach down and grab a set of keys. I wander over in confusion and look to find my keys lying in the dirt. I clench my jaw, realizing that Darcy threw my car keys through the portal.

"Come on." Thor steps over a stone and grabs Jane's hand as they walk further into the tunnel. I follow closely behind them and hear Thor say, "Where are we going? Why are there so many shoes in here?"

I shake my head at him, and we walk into a portal. We end up in the middle of the parking lot right outside the abandoned building; Thor and Jane walk over to the piece of shit she calls a car when I stop them in their tracks,

"Yeah. No. I'm not riding in that piece of shit. I'll follow you in my car because, you know, I will actually get there in one piece." Jane glares at me as I insult her car while Thor nods, saying, "That's fair."

Walking across the parking lot, I climb into the driver's seat of my truck and start it up. I sit there listening to what Jane calls a "car" sputter to life in a very unhealthy fashion, and I watch as Thor crams his large frame into the tiny car. Jane backs out of the spot and heads to the driveway so we can turn out. I follow behind them, not too close, seeing as my car could engulf theirs. We drive for a short time, and we pull into an apartment complex, and I climb out. Jane walks towards the door while I watch Thor struggle getting out of the car.

We walk into the complex and up a few flights of stairs to a door. Jane sticks her key in and opens the door to reveal Darcy sitting at a computer; Darcy jumps up when we walk through the threshold. Thor and I ignore their conversation, and I watch as he hangs up Mjolnir on a hook, I snort in amusement, and he smiles a toothy grin at me.

"So..." pointing to the hammer on the hook, "does that mean that the hook is worthy?" Thor turns slightly in confusion before following my finger to his hammer. Recognition flashes through his eyes before he begins chuckling, turning away from me, and heading closer to Jane.

"Erik?" I look over to see Erik Selvig get up from the chair and rush to hug Jane, "Jane."

"Okay. I'm scarred for life. I can never unsee that. I'm going to throw up." I say the moment I see that Erik isn't wearing any pants. Thor looks at me and slightly nods in agreement; I bury my face into his arm, trying to rid of the mental image.

"Are you well, Erik?" Thor cautiously questions the man, the man raises his arms out wide, and I groan in disgust.

"Your brother's not coming, is he?" Wrong question, dude. Thor looks crestfallen when he answers, "Loki's dead."

"Oh, thank God." Gasps the relieved reply from Erik. I raise my eyebrow and look at Thor, "I am so sorry." Erik tries to cover his ass as he looks at our faces.

"Thank you." Erik walks forward and raises his arms, I jolt backward, trying to keep as much space as possible between the man and me, and he engulfs Thor in a hug.

"I'll be right back," I whisper to Thor; he nods his head silently, telling me that he heard me. I walk down to my car and grab a back duffle bag I keep in the truck's bed. I look through it quickly and zip it back up before returning to the apartment.

I walk into the door, Mjolnir flies into Thor's hand, and I hear Erik say, "I'm gonna go get my pants."

I watch as he walks off into a bedroom and disappears. I walk to an empty table and slam my bag on top of the table; I see Jane, Darcy, and Ian jump at the sound of my bag banging against the wood. I ruffle through the things I packed and various noises coming from the container.

"Wh- What's in there?" I hear Darcy's quiet voice.

"Toys."

I look over at them and smirk, pulling out various knives of all different sizes. I grab a gun and make sure that it is loaded, grasp the swords from my back, and place them on the table, and they clang loudly. All the humans jump as they see so many more weapons come out of the bag. I reach down to my ankles and place multiple daggers around my ankles, a thigh holster with a gun, and numerous magazines of ammo. I put two more pistols in the waistband of my armor, a knife in between my boobs, and I place the final gun on a clip on the back of my neck.

"What?" I see everyone's pale faces as they rake over my body and the multiple weapons now adorning my body, "Wimps." I say before grabbing the Asgardian swords and placing them in an X on my back. I walk away from the group and climb into my truck; I see everyone come out. Thankfully, everyone has their pants on.

"What are we doing?" I ask from my unrolled window; Thor strolls up to my car and leans against my door as Jane and Erik start talking. As they ramble about the plan, I shake my hand and silence them. "Okay. I'll stop you right there because I already lost interest in what you are saying, and I don't give a shit. Just tell me where we need to go."

"Greenwich." I nod my head once and turn towards Thor, "You wanna ride in a real car, or do you want to shove your gigantic body into that piece of shit other there."

"I'm with you." He says without hesitation and walks around the front of my truck, and climbs into the passenger seat. "Us too!" I watch as Darcy and Ian run past Jane and Erik, and they jump into the back seat of my truck.

"All right, we'll see you there. Hopefully, no one will be dead," I look towards the two in the backseat before continuing, "when we get there."

With my car now in drive and speeding out of the lot before Jane can say another word, music roars to life in the truck, and I begin to hum the tune to 'Thunder Struck by AC/DC.' I look over to Thor and wiggle my eyebrows at him as I sing the song at a standard pitch; Thor looks at me in amusement and shakes his head. Darcy and Ian are singing but are interrupted rather frequently, thanks to my car weaving through cars. It is around 2 in the afternoon when we arrive in Greenwich. According to a device, Jane directs Darcy and Ian to place some contraptions I don't care to remember in critical points with massive energy.

I look on the horizon, ensuring that no attack is happening at that moment. I see the water shift and rift as something moves across it. I run from the stairs I was standing on, make eye contact with Thor, and see the ship reach land and tear apart the ground. It approaches the main point of the convergence, and the vessel turns visible for all to see; Thor and I
ran towards the ship to stop the attack from doing too much damage.

I motion for people to run away when I see Malekith and his army come out of his ship. Thor walks ahead of me, and I see him, and Malekith exchange words before the dark elf summons the Aether and shoots a beam toward Thor, sending him soaring through the air. I watch his body fly past me before I look back to the elf; he turns towards me and motions for some of his army to approach me.

I run forward and grab a sword from my back; I slide in between one elf's legs and slice them out from under him. I spin and slam my sword into his body; I turn, using my momentum, and slice another elf in half. I see that five more elves are approaching me. I spare a glance and see Thor wiping the blood from his mouth.

"You know, with all that power... I thought you would hit harder." I look at him in disbelief.

"Really?!" Thor shrugs at me before turning back to Malekith and me to the elves.

I grab one of the elves' arms and swing his body into another elf; they both fall to the ground and drop their weapons. I pick it up from the field, staring at it in confusion, and move it from side to side, trying to find the trigger when it suddenly fires and kills two elves. I stare at them with wide eyes before turning back to the vast army, I walk forward with the gun raised and try to fire, but it doesn't work. I groan in frustration before I chuck it at the nearest elf, thus sending him to the ground in a heap.

I use my sword again and begin cutting down soldiers left and right. I see one approaching from behind me, and as I go to meet him, he disappears. I stop dead in my tracks and stare at the spot for a while; I look around the close vicinity to me and see that he is just gone. I shrug my shoulders before continuing to the next wave of elves. An elf charges at me, and we go flying across the ground into a portal; I land directly on him and slam my sword into his chest.

I pop my head off the ground and see many cars falling from the sky, and I quickly get up and sprint to the elven ship once more. I hear the aircraft flying above me and see fighter jets sending missiles toward the enemy ship. It misses, and then they go missing through the portal. I find my way to Jane, and I see both her and Selvig being chased by a group of elves; right as I attack, I see Jane twist the knob on her machine and see Darcy and Ian appear, kissing.

"Darcy?" Jane asks, trying to make sure what she is seeing is correct.

Darcy drops Ian while gasping out, "Jane!"

"Ian." Ian looks up from his position on the ground and exclaims, "Selvig!"

"Sorry to interrupt this, but you might want to look at the sky," I say, and I spin and kill five elves in one blow from my sword. Suddenly, Mjolnir flies in front of our faces looking for
Thor, "Mew mew!" Yells Darcy, and I raise my brow at her before leaving it alone.

We walk out of the hall and see the convergence starting, "We're out of time." She begins to run down the stairs, and I look after in before looking at Selvig.

"Jane. Jane!" He screams after her. I look at him and say, "Really? That's all you're going to do. Just scream her name as she runs away."

He looks at me in disbelief, "Useless."

I mutter before running down the stairs against the strong wind gusts. Erik finally runs after Jane and me, and we all sprint down an alleyway, I see Thor jog his way up a subway exit, and he joins us after seeing him. I use my finger to point at the doorway and shoot Thor a questioning look; his expression says, 'Don't ask.' I nod and then point to the massive cloud of red and black surges of the Aether.

"We're too late." Thor looks towards Erik, Jane, and I then look at the things Erik is holding.

"Can those things stop it?" Thor gestures with his.

"Not from here," Erik says while staring straight ahead.

Jane chimed in, "We can't get close enough."

"We can't, but a god can," I say while looking at Thor; they all spin to look at me. I walk closer to Thor, pull him to the side, and continue speaking only to him, "I know you have the same thought as me."

Thor nods his head, "I do. It is the only way to stop Malekith."

I nod and look at the tornado of power forming, "I just have one piece of advice for you, then." Thor looks at me with a silent question in his eyes, "Give them hell." Thor smirks at me and nods with great conviction.

I grab the poles from Erik's arms and thrust them into Thor's awaiting arms. He looks at me one last time before sparing Jane and Erik a glance; he runs straight into the storm and doesn't look back. Jane tries to take a couple of steps closer, but I put my hand out, preventing her from moving closer. I run and sit on top of an abandoned car and watch and wait impatiently. Suddenly, the storm of red and black disappears, and I see Malekith pinned to the side of his ship by one of the poles, Jane twists the nob on her device, and he vanishes.

Once everything clears, I run towards the courtyard and see Thor lying on the ground, unconscious. Jane runs over to him and flips him over, Erik calls her name from where he is standing, and I roll my eyes at him. I hear the ship's creaking getting more severe, and I run over to them and kneel on Thor's left side. I feel my eyes changing color, and as my power runs through my veins, I throw a force field up that makes its way around us, protecting us. As the ship falls, I brace myself for massive impact and strengthen my shield even more. The boat disappears, and I realize it went through a portal and is now crashing into another world.

I stand up from my crouched position and look at all the wreckage caused, "Well, shit."

I am currently sitting in my house; I just got back from a run and finished my usual workout routine when I hear a knock on my door. I am up in a second, gun in my hand, and I creep down the hallway to the front door. I see a group of people standing there, and I raise my firearm to point at the intruders as I swing the door open. The people on the other side jump at the sudden movement and freeze as they stare at my gun.

I sigh, "How in the hell did you find me?"

"I asked Heimdall where you live. He gave a general direction, and from there, I found your house." Thor sheepishly says while scratching the back of his head.

I look them over twice before moving to the side, "You might as well come in."

"Thanks for letting us in, like a normal person." Darcy's sarcastic comment makes me glare darkly at her.

Once everyone enters my house, they stand there staring at me, "Is there a particular reason you are here or not?"

Thor answers for everyone, "Yes. I came here to thank you for helping us in our time of need." I nod my head silently.

"Why were you in London in the first place?" Jane blurts out before I get a chance to speak to Thor.

"Classified." My curt reply before I go to speak again, but I am interrupted, "Hey Nikolina, what is this? It's amazing."
I look over to see Darcy shoving her mouth full of food, "That was my breakfast that you are now inhaling."

I motioned my hand to follow me into the living room, "Come on. We can talk in here."

They all sit on the couches side by side while I stare at them on a chair. I watch as they look around in wonder as I roll my eyes at them and wait for them to be done. I see Jane looking at a picture on the mantel; in particular, I look over and see that it is a photo of Moscow, Russia. I am barely in the photo with Clint; in the background is St. Petersburg, and Natasha is behind the camera.

I look back to the four people on my couch, "Well?"

All eyes in the room shift toward me, "How did you know where Darcy and I were?"

"We never lost track of you," I answer vaguely.

"We being?"

"SHIELD," I say in a monotone voice. "They sent me here with a mission."

"Why didn't SHIELD intervene when the portals started to appear?" Jane asked me.

I shrug to her annoyance, and then we are interrupted, "Oh my God! Nikolina, this is amazing."

I watch as Darcy shoves another massive bite of food into her mouth, "I know." came my dark reply.

"Does SHIELD know about you going to Asgard?" Thor asks me while I continue to stare at the food.

"I don't know. I haven't sent my report in yet." I say dismissively. "SHIELD more than likely sent another agent to try and find me, so I am certain there will be questions from Fury."
"Thor will follow me, please." He gets off the couch and follows me. We walk into another room, and I stand in the middle of the room.

"What, Nikki?" I sigh, walk towards a box, pull out two things, and hold them in my hands.

"Here." I thrust the objects into his hands; he furrows his eyebrows in confusion and tentatively takes the items.

"Is this?" He chokes out. I nod my head, confirming his thoughts silently.

"When you and Jane walked away, I cut a piece of hair from Loki and found a bead from your mother's dress."

His rough fingers run lightly over them, "I don't know what to say."

"Sit down." I point to the chair, and he obeys. I stand on his left side, gently take the simple bead and strand of hair, and weave it into a strand of his own. I tie it off, ensuring it never comes out, even with enough force.

"Take a look," I whisper and give him a mirror. I watch as he swallows hard and lightly feels the new addition to his hair.

"You didn't have to do this. I will never be able to thank you enough." His voice is grainy, filled with emotion.

"You don't have to thank me, Thor. I saw this as a necessity." He wraps his arms around my waist and hugs me tightly to his chest.

I pull away and smile lightly, I see a slight tear in his eye, and I reach up and wipe it away before it can fall anymore. I pull on his hand, and we rejoin the group of people, I see Jane glaring at me, and I raise my eyebrow at her. We all sit in silence, and I grab my cup of coffee and take a large gulp.

"What are your plans now, Nikki?" Thor asks after a couple of moments.

I chuckle bitterly, "Well, seeing as our little adventure took a while, my vacation time is almost up."

"What does that mean?" Jane asks in confusion.

I open my mouth, and my phone rings. I pick it up "Volkova." I listen intently to Fury's voice before I look around.

"Understood." I end the call and place my phone down on my table.

"I have time to do one more thing, and I already know what I want to do." I look directly into Thor's eyes.

"Why are you looking at me?" A dark smirk makes its way across my face, and I don't reply.

I stand up and grab my car keys, "Nikki?"

I drive Thor in my car, with everyone else following behind us. I pull into a large building with multiple people walking in and out. Thor has a confused look on his face. I meet his eyes and give him a toothy grin. I get out of my car, walk onto the sidewalk, and pull Thor through the door.

"Come on."

"Where are we, Nikki?"

"We are at the mall, Thor." A look of horror crosses his face, and when he looks at me, he swallows in fear.

We walk into men's stores, and I make Thor try on all sorts of clothes, jeans, t-shirts, jackets, and shoes. After the second store, Thor is reluctant to go into any other store. I drag him into every store and make him buy five articles of clothing in all the stores we walk into. When we are finally done, he sighs in relief, and I see all his muscles finally relax.

"Oh, relax. It wasn't that bad." I say to him when I look him over and motion to at least 50 bags.

"Not that bad? Not that bad! Easy for you to say, you weren't trying on all times of clothes for over 3 hours!" Thor exclaims loudly, and I chuckle in amusement.

My phone dings, signaling a message, and I read it over. "Where are you going?"

Walking away from them, and when I hear Thor call my name again, I spin, "Duty calls."