Chapter 2
Getting clothes was easier than Valkyrie had anticipated.
Some shops were abandoned, but stocked full as if they had just closed. She favored a hoodie the same color of her cape, that deep blue. It had holes for her thumbs — she deemed this useless but appreciated.
Midgard was not a step up from a falling Asgard. The people were in a panic, a state of shock, and the 'Avengers' were off the map. Valkyrie suspected that no one truly expected them to be able to prevent what had happened.
But they had still hoped.
Valkyrie got flashes, bursts of places she's never been. She felt her mind haze over, as if listening to the stars, and when she focused on their song, she could hear voices. Familiar voices in conversations that were not her own. One day, on her way downtown (or what was left of it), Valkyrie stopped. She heard nothing. She froze up, her eyes locked forward, her breathing halted.
There he was. She saw his jagged haircut, his heavy chest, his . . axe? Was that an axe? The red cape. She worked her mouth uselessly. She wanted to call to him. He turned to her first.
His eyes were . . different. He was blurry. They weren't blue. She couldn't make out — she couldn't — what the hell was going on.
"Heimdall?" Thor asked, his voice murky.
"No," she barked out quickly. "Your majesty." He was crying. He was far, and blurry, and distant but he wasn't gone, he was crying. "Where are you?" she asked, her voice cracking, betraying her.
"Wakanda. Where are you? Why can I . . Heimdall. Heimdall!" He was incredulous, holding his head in his free hand.
"Is he with you?"
A sob. "No, he's — no, he's not. Where are you?"
"Brooklyn." He was clearer now, closer. "We were trying to find a way to Norway. Or, uh, Iceland. They told me that's what feels familiar." He was right there now. Close enough to touch. She caught her breath.
"No, stay. Stay, please." he swallowed, his voice was full of terror and relief and pain. "I'll come find you. I'll find you." She nodded. Watched her arm rise just the slightest bit to touch him —
And then he was gone.