Chapter Text
2011
"We need to get closer!"
"Are you crazy?" Dr. Selvig screamed at his colleague, Jane Foster. "We could die!"
Jane simply ignored him as she raced the car closer to the storm that seemed about to reach the ground, almost like a tornado. I sat in the back of the car by Darcy, her intern. However, Darcy did not look as nervous as I felt about this. I held on tightly to whatever I could find that was sturdy enough to keep me somewhat stable as the van started to shake violently. We were approaching the storm. Closing my eyes, I prayed that I would get through this incident unscathed or else my parents would kill my Aunt Jane, and even though we were close to possibly dying, I enjoyed visiting her for the summers.
Darcy looked at me with wide eyes. "Dana, hold on!" she screamed.
Suddenly, our van stopped with a big thunk, and it felt as if we had hit another car. Come to find out, what we hit was no car at all, but a god.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How old are you?" the strange man asked me. It turned out his name was Thor, and he was from a different planet. Thor had just finished explaining his world to my aunt, and she quickly fell asleep in her lawn-chair after such a long day, leaving the god and I to ourselves.
I looked up from Jane's journal where she had just scribbled as much as her fingers could muster to relate all of what Thor had told us. "Thirteen," I replied.
"So young!" Thor exclaimed with a widespread grin on his face. "What reason do you have for being on this scientific journey?"
I laughed at his funny but welcoming demeanor. He made me extremely comfortable around him even though I had just met him a few days earlier. "I actually have no reason to be here," I teased. "Jane is my aunt, and I like to come out here to visit her when I can since she lives so far away."
He nodded in understanding before saying, "Your parents let you come all the way out here just to visit your aunt?"
"They know I like space stuff so they thought it would be good for me to learn from my aunt since she is an expert in space."
"An expert in space?" he laughed.
"Yeah," I responded, giggling at my own stupid explanation of her job. "There's a fancy name for what she does, but I don't remember it."
Thor smiled at me as I went back to studying the journal. The wind was picking up, and both Thor and Jane were covered with blankets. Even though New Mexico is known for its simmering hot weather, the nights can get chilly. "Do you not need a blanket?" Thor asked, concerned.
"No," I said while shaking my head. "I don't get cold that easily. I'm fine right now."
Thor continued looking at me with something different in his eyes. He almost looked sad, but I couldn't understand why. I know he was just banished from his home and his family and friends, but it seemed he was remembering or thinking back on something. I closed the journal, setting it beside me on my lawn-chair, looking pointedly at him to which he smiled at.
"I'm sorry," he finally said, "it's just... you remind me of someone I know." The sad look in his eyes returned.
"Who?"
One side of his mouth lifted into a small smile. "My brother," he answered. "You're both so filled with curiosity and the need to learn. He also did not mind the cold."
I shifted closer and put my small hand on his shoulder like I've seen Dr. Selvig do to Jane when she was upset. Thor turned his head to me and chuckled. "What was he like?" I asked. It was a random question that just popped out of my mouth before I could think. I just felt an urge to know more about this other god.
Thor sighed. "Well he's a prankster for starters," he began while he rolled his eyes, making me giggle, "but a master of magic."
"Magic?" I cried out.
"Yes! Magic! He could shift into any form, move things with his mind, create illusions, and all other kinds of magical things." Thor continued to describe his intelligent, raven-haired brother to me, sharing funny stories of him shape-shifting into weird animals to prank his family. By the end of our talk, I could see mentions of his brother brought a smile to his face. He adored his brother. However, before I fell asleep in my chair, I saw a few tears roll down his cheeks.
~~~~~~~~~~
Screams became muffled in my head as I tried to process the ruin and destruction before me. A large metal creature came towards us, blasting fire from where its face was supposed to be. Jane and Selvig were helping survivors onto trucks and cars, Darcy was supporting an injured man to a nearby truck, and Thor's space friends were trying to attack the creature, but they were failing. The creature continued to come closer before Thor stepped into the monster's sight and dropped a heavy shield to the ground, making a resounding bang throughout the town that had suddenly fallen silent.
I could see Thor walking towards it, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I could only make out the word "brother." Was this his brother? The one I reminded him of? It couldn't be. The way he described their relationship, they seemed to be as thick as thieves.
The world fell deadly silent for a moment before Thor was thrown back a few yards from a hard hit by the giant creature. He fell to the ground, and blood came from everywhere. He was dying.
We all ran to him. Selvig tried to yell at me to stay back, but I didn't listen. I knelt down by the man who had changed Earth as we knew it and brought laughter to our little trailer. Tears were flowing from my eyes, and I could hear Jane sobbing right next to me. Then, I stood up and turned around to face the monster who had killed my friend. I glared straight at him and clutching my fists together, but my tears betrayed my strong attitude.
The metal giant just simply stared back. It did not move for a few minutes, only staring back at me. I didn't back down either but kept looking through the eye holes- almost as if I could see him. The intelligent, raven-haired god. Loki.
Before I knew it, a loud crack of thunder came from behind me. I turned to see Thor up and healthy, in a weird-looking costume that matched his friends, with his hammer in his hand that he talked so much about. Thor flew right at the monster and destroyed it. He then carried Jane to the site where we first met him, while Selvig drove Darcy and me. He said goodbye to them all before kissing Jane. Then, he turned to look at me. "This is not him, something must have happened," he said determinedly, as if he was convincing himself and not me.
After Thor and his friends were brought back up into the sky, I felt a burning sensation on my wrist. I finally rolled up my sleeves to reveal a dark pattern carved into my skin. I pulled up my other sleeve to see if I had been hurt there too, but there was nothing. I wasn't hurt anywhere else. I only had this... mark. A mark that I couldn't figure out for years. Why did it appear? What did it mean? Afraid to worry Jane over me potentially being hurt, I pulled my sleeve back down and kept the mark a secret for years. Until I finally met him.