chapter 11

He lays me gently on the bed. "Your Majesty, Queen of Asgard", he says, smiling, and it's the old Thor. The one I remember.

"My King", I add and he lowers himself on top of me.

I wrap my legs around his waist.

"Still too thicc?", he asks

"I said you were too thic to get my legs around, I never said you were too thic", I observe.

He kisses me. "Thank you. For loving me as I am. Gut and all."

"Come back to me!"

"I will..."

"Promise me!"

"It's a 3 week trip! We bested Thanos, we can certainly take on Ronin..."

"Promise me!"

"I promise", he answers.

"Make me forget you're leaving", I tell him.

His lips are suddenly between my legs and I scream out as lightning flashes between us.

*****

As morning light dawns, my stomach flips with dread.

Lying on the bed in a bra and panties while he changes his pj pants and tshirts for a body suit to wear under his armor, I crook a finger at him.

"Is there anything I can do to keep you from leaving me?"

"Goddddds", he moans, lowering himself on top of me, kissing every bare spot. "You have NO idea how badly I want to stay with you. But I have to save her. I'm the only one strong enough. You know that."

"I know", I moan. I take his face, which keeps getting rounder, in my hands. One clear cornflower blue eye blinks at back me and a lifeless glass brown one glares steadily. What will he lose next?

"I can't lose you. I just can't", I tell him. "I have a really, reallllly bad feeling about this one."

"Listen to me", he says, taking my hands and kissing them. "This was meant to be, all of it. How far I've fallen. Everything I've lost." He smirks. "Everything I've gained. Finding you again. It was all meant to be. We're going to save Captain Marvel, and come back. Then you and I are going to rebuild Asgard. I promise you. We're going to be together forever."

"Until you get tired of an old woman", I wink at him.

"Being an honorary goddess comes with marrying god", he corrects. "Your life will be prolonged too."

"Well that's one weight off my shoulders. But all of this is pointless if you don't come back", I bark, scooting away from him.

"You're angry."

"No, not angry. I'm not asking you not to save your friend. Okay, yes, I'm angry with Ronan and with the situation. That you're in danger. Again!", I yell.

"Three weeks", he promises me with a kiss.

Four Weeks Later

The little purple creature growling in my ear holds my face inches from Ronin's. His spaceship is cold, filled with life forms I never even knew existed, and I have no idea what they plan to do to us next.

"I almost thought they weren't actually going to go for it, but they went. Alllll that way to Nextron-4", Ronin says smugly, "They actually built a ship to make the journey! Did they really think I'd let them know where my most powerful and important weapon is?"

"Weapon?", I ask.

"The woman they call Captain Marvel. She is a marvel you know. And she's in a place your friends will never find her. Now earth is mine." He squeezes his fist tight. "Mine to...annihilate. But I thought it might be a good idea to hang onto a little insurance against those pesky superheroes. The good Captain's love is from another era, so I couldn't take her. The big green guy lost the pretty little girl with red hair."

I lunge at him and he laughs.

"The other little girl with red hair lost her cyborg. Colonel Rhodes has no one. Stark is dead. Running out of options here, but then the God of Thunder has two people he cares about on earth. But I really only need one of you."

He raises a weapon in my face.

"He'll kill you if you hurt either of us", I growl.

"Eh, I think he'll be more interested in bargaining to get one of you back. The brother he's known his whole life....or a woman he's known a couple of months? I'm betting on the brother", Ronin laughs.

"Then you'd be a fool", Loki offers, "He's in love with this one. You're talking to the Queen of Asgard. He married her. And she's carrying his child..."

"I am not!", I yell.

Loki sniffs me and wrinkles up his nose. "I can smell it on her. Another beefy blonde, just what the world needs." He rolls his eyes.

"You're talking me into jettisoning you into space, brother of Thor, are you aware of that?", Ronin asks Loki.

"Please hang onto us both for now", I say.

He seems to contemplate the situation. "For now", he agrees. "Take them back to their cell."

We're dragged off and flung into a dark cold cell. Loki takes his green leather jacket off and puts it around my shoulders.

"Thanks, Loki. For the jacket and the lie", I say with a deep breath, "We have to stay alive until he can get to us."

"Before he left me made me swear I'd look after you, that I'd protect you with my life. But that was no lie", he says. "You smell like him."

"Loki, c'mon, I'm not exactly 20 anymore, and my mother, well, I was a "miracle baby" as they say, it's just not possible", I comment.

"Oh don't worry about that. You're right, he is the All-Father. And that's kind of what All-Fathers do. I mean, you could be 80, he might even be able to knock you up if you were a man", he laughs, but I'm not laughing with him. "But really...they're kind of known for it."

"I wish I'd known that", I sigh.

"When you heard the word "father", what did you think was going to happen?" he asks, as if I'm dumbest person he's ever met.

"Not that I guess."

"Frigga was 2,500 years old when Thor was born", Loki observes.

"Oh fuck", I say, my head falling into my hands.

"It'll be all right, as his wife, you have a long life ahead of you", he confirms.

"What about Odin's first wife? Hela's mother? What ever happened to her?"

"Boy you do ask a lot of questions", Loki observes. "Supposedly she was a serpent..."

"Stop, stop, I'm sorry I asked."

"But the truth is that she was killed by the midgard serpent. I think Odin infused his horrible grief and anger into their daughter. But that's another topic."

"How come Thor's the only sane one?", I ask, pushing my luck.

"I don't know that I'm going to like having you for a sister. Give me my jacket back", he grouses.

I hand it back and minutes go by.

"Do you really like my brother?", he asks. "Even as fat as he is?"

"I love him I'm afraid."

"He loves you too. He's coming...I'm not going to get into why he looks like he does or why he should fix himself, but, I know this....he's coming. Wherever in the universe you are, he'll be there soon."

Nextron-4

Thor POV

"She's not here."

"What a genius observation", Rhodes grumbles.

"How did we calculate this so wrong?", Banner says, rubbing his forehead. "I couldn't have calculated it wrong."

"She was never here", Steve offers. "She's too valuable to risk, she's Ronin's secret weapon. This whole thing was a ruse to get us out here."

"And leave the planet I swore to protect vulnerable", I hiss. "By the gods!" I hurl a rock as far as I can and it goes sailing well out of sight.

"We can't go back without Carol", Sam insists.

"She's nowhere near here, she's probably on his ship", Steve observes.

"We don't know that."

"You want to stay out here?! By all means, search every planet in the galaxy!", Rhodes yells.

"Shut up, at least I'm trying to find her", Sam yells back.

"Enough", I pronounce. "We can presume he has them."

"Them?", Wanda asks.

"Carol. Loki. Sophie. The best hostages to have in your hand if you're trying to negotiate with the Avengers", I groan.

"I'm sorry, Thor", Steve says.

"Don't say that!", I yell. She's not gone. She's not. He wouldn't kill her that fast. Or my brother. Dead hostages have no use.

"I don't mean they're dead. We'll get them back", Steve adds.

"We have to change our coordinates back to earth", I shout, running full tilt back to the X-48.

"Where were you originally planning to go?", he asks.

"Planet G, at least that's what the earthlings called it when they discovered it. 'Tshirt weather in San Jose', is how they described the planet. Perfect to support human life. Perfect for Sophie. No terraforming or anything else required, ideal atmosphere. But I don't have time to go there and check it out, we have to get back to them", I state.

"I'm sorry, Thor", he says, "You'll get back this way some time. With your wife."

"If he touched a hair on her head...." I slam my fist into the control panel as our ship gets altitude off Nextron-4.

"Hey", Wanda screams. "We don't want to crash this thing."

"He will know pain unlike any of his ilk have known before", I finish.

"She's too valuable to kill", Steve says softly. "So is Loki."

"I worry less for Loki. The God of Mischief has gotten himself out of tighter spots. But Sophie is just a human. She needs me! It was not right to leave her."

"It sounds like you might be thinking about a change", Steve adds as the ship soars into the black cold of space.

"I promised to protect Earth. And my wife. I can't keep going on these missions that take me away from my obligations. I don't know if I can stay a part of this team. Can this thing not go faster?!"

Eyes look anxiously in my direction, but Steve holds up a calming hand. "He's just worried."

"Hey, we're all worried, we're not all damaging the ship", Rhodes complains.

I feel the control I had on my temper flow out of me like a stream of energy and explode.

"Look at these people! The looks on their faces! Banner worshiped Natasha! She's gone forever! Wanda loved Vision. Now he's nothing but a memory. Cap had the woman of his dreams in his arms and left her-- again. I lost my family, my brother, my planet. Yes, I know he's back, but don't ask me to lose anyone else calmly! Nearly everyone here has lost the love of their lives and we all lost two friends. The fact that I'm fat now doesn't mean I have no heart! If you can't understand that, just shut the hell up!"

I march out but hear