Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Forty-Five: Endgame-Asgard, 2013 and Morag, 2014

On Asgard, Rocket and Thor materialised in an alcove a few hundred yards away from the room Jane Foster had stayed in. Peeping around the corner, they could just about see her inside, brushing her hair.

"That's Jane," Thor whispered, staring.

Rocket nodded. "Alright, here's the deal, Tubby. You're gonna charm her and I'm gonna poke her with this thing and extract the reality stone and get gone, lickety-split." He showed Thor the extraction device.

Thor shook his head, turning to head in the opposite direction. "I'll be right back, okay? There's a wine cellar that's just down there. My father used to have this huge barrel of ale. I'll see if—"

"Hey! Hey! Aren't you drunk enough already?" Rocket complained.

A door opened across the hall, and they both hid, looking out to see Frigga walking away from them, accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting.

"Who's the fancy broad?" Rocket asked, seeing Thor's eyes follow her.

"She's my mother," Thor replied. "She dies today."

"Oh," Rocket's eyes widened. "That's today?"

"I can't do this," Thor realised. "I can't do this. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea."

"Come here," Rocket ordered, seeing him start to hyperventilate.

"No, no, no, I think I'm having... I'm having a panic attack. I shouldn't be here... this is... this is a bad—"

"Alright." Rocket slapped him, shocking him back to his senses. "You think you're the only one who lost people? What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Groot, Quill, Drax, the chick with the antenna, all gone. Now, I get you miss your Mom. But she's gone. Really gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone, and you can help them. So is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs outta your beard, make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants, and when she's not looking, suck out the infinity stone and help me get my family back?!"

Thor shrank back. "Okay."

Rocket narrowed his eyes. "Are you crying?"

"No... Yes!"

"Get it together!" he exclaimed. "You can do this. You can do this. Alright?"

"Yes, I can!" Thor agreed.

"Good." Rocket turned back to Jane's room. "Alright, Heartbreaker, she's alone. This is our shot." He turned back to Thor, only to find he'd disappeared. "Thor? Thor!"

***

Frigga smiled at her ladies-in-waiting, sensing another presence. "My ladies, I'll see you after. Go on." She watched them leave, then turned to her son, who appeared to be trying to hide behind a small column. "What are you doing?"

"Argh!"

She rolled her eyes fondly. "You're better off leaving the sneaking to your brother."

"Yeah, I was simply going for a walk and uh..." Thor trailed off, trying to hide his changed figure.

Frigga frowned, touching the fabric of his hoodie. "What are you wearing?"

He looked down at it, faking innocence. "I always wear this. This is one of my favourites."

Then Frigga took his face between her hands and took a good long look at him. "What's wrong with your eye?"

"Oh, my eye. That's..." He hesitated, scrambling for an excuse. "You remember the Battle of Haroquin? When I got hit in the face with a broadsword?"