Every Villain is a Hero

Chapter One

Norse proverb: An ill-tempered, unhappy man, ridicules all he hears, makes fun of others.

Chapter One

Lisa tried to remember why she had agreed to do this but right now, none of her reasons sounded very convincing.

“Lady Mason, are you ready?”

She looked into Thor’s eyes and he smiled as reassuringly as he could. It didn’t help.

“No.” her voice sounded small and weak. She hated the sound of it. “But I will be.” She tried to inject more feeling into her words than she felt but was only partly successful.

Thor however, obviously fell for her bravado as his smile widened. While everyone else around her was nervous, Thor was completely relaxed. Did he really not foresee the numerous possible difficulties?

“Good.” He clamped a hand to her shoulder which although meant to be a comradely gesture, almost knocked her off her feet. “Take my hand.”

She looked at the hand he held towards her, much as she might if it were a venomous snake.

“You don’t have to do this,” Natasha spoke up.

“She’s right, you don’t,” Clint agreed.

Erik Selvig, stepped up behind her and leaned in.

“I would echo their sentiments, but I know that you believe you must do this,” he said softly.

“It’s the only way,” she told him, looking back over her shoulder.

He nodded in understanding. “You’ll be back here soon; Jane and Darcy will be waiting for you and Thor will look after you.”

She gave him a grateful smile. “You think I’m insane, don’t you?”

“Doesn’t matter what I think, what matters is what you can live with.”

She nodded, considering his words. “You’re right, thank you.”

“It’s just cold feet,” Stark quipped. “Don’t worry, I’d be nervous too if I were marrying a genocidal demi-god. In fact, I’d be worried about you if you were looking forward to this.”

Lisa glared at him.

“It is not a marriage-” Thor began to explain but Stark cut him off.

“Empathic connection, blah blah, whatever, same difference.”

“Maybe someone should go with you,” Natasha suggested.

“No, no need for that,” Lisa said, taking Thor’s hand, she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone. “I’m ready.”

“Hold tight.” Thor pulled her in closer and wrapped a hand around her waist. Looking to the sky, he called, “Heimdall?” and a bright light enveloped her.

The sensation was rather like a rollercoaster, where she was pushed, buffeted and turned around so often that she hardly knew which way was up, so it took her a few moments to regain her footing once they landed. Thankfully, Thor’s strong arms held her upright.

Had it not been for the upcoming events, she might have enjoyed the ride but now, it just made her feel queasy.

Once she had her bearings, her eyes alighted on Heimdall. She had done a lot of reading in preparation for this but even if she hadn’t known his true nature, she would have seen the wisdom in his kindly eyes.

“Welcome to Asgard,” he said in a loud, deep but oddly soothing voice.

“Thank you.” She managed to say but her dry mouth meant it came out as more of a squeak.