Trust Me, I Know (Universe 3,608,661)

Chapter 12

Thor's POV

Thor was dead.

He knew it.

But why was it so painful?

Typical, he thought, I get killed by my crush.

Voices rushed in and out. Sounds attacked his ears and retreated.

Thor always thought that when he died, he would go to Valhalla. It seemed to beckon him, inviting him closer.

Until he heard Mantis call:

"Wake!"

                                                                        ***

Pyre's POV (quick warning, you will see a lot of Pyre for a while)

Pyre was confused. Where the hell was Ash-Tia?

She clearly said to meet her at the Kostanie place... but where was she?

Occupying herself with a graphic novel, Pyre's thoughts drifted back to her failed mission.

She rubbed her back, the spot where Gamora's pocket knife had hit her was still sore. Thankfully, it had missed her spine, but had lodged itself into Pyre's rib bone.

That wasn't what worried her though. It was more the fact that Thor knew her and caller her 'Carol'.

Pyre's memory was a bit of a mess. She remembered stuff like flying space ships and old friends. There were humongous gaps though. It was like someone had cut them out and removed them, only for a few to be dropped.

Pyre thought she liked something called... Star Wars? She remembered watching it obsessively with faceless friends. Next time Pyre was on whatever planet that was on she had to watch 'The Rise of Skywalker'.

"Hi V... Pyre."

Yelping, she almost threw her graphic novel into Yon-Rogg's face, who was sitting across from her, looking extremely calm at the idea of scaring her.

"The next time you want to find me, please let me know, or you will get attacked at whatever I'm currently holding." Pyre sank back into her chair.

"I was actually wondering if you knew where Ash-Tia was. Her communicators are not responding and I can't find her anywhere."

"Oh... she said to meet me here around twenty minutes ago, but she hasn't showed up yet." Pyre explained. Why did Yon-Rogg  look quite anxious about this news? Ash-Tia had once been gone for a week.

"When I find her, she is so grounded for the rest of the year..." Yon-Rogg said, shaking his head as he walked off. 

Pyre didn't think it was necessary to mention it was nine days until the new year. 

A sudden memory flew in her mind:

"Hey new girl, everybody here is about the superhero life, and if you don't mind me asking, where the hell have you been all this time?" A skinny, black man asked her.

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe, and unfortunately, they didn't have you guys." A longer Pyre rolled her eyes. 

He shrugged.

Behind Pyre, a guy stood up. She thought she heard Natasha call him 'Thor'.

'Thor' walked in front of her, obviously trying to intimidate her.

He summoned a large battle axe. It flew towards him, missing Pyre's face by millimetres. 

Pyre narrowed her eyes at him to try and calm the faint flutter in her chest, showing no expression other then faint humour at his feeble attempt to scare her.

"I like this one."

                                                                     ***

Thor's POV

"...and then Gamora threw her knife at Carol. It must have hit one of her ribs because she ran off and lasers started firing whenever someone tried to follow her." Rocket finished what seemed like a ten hour explanation which deserved a PowerPoint Presentation.

"How long have I been out for?" Thor wasn't used to feeling so weak.

"Roughly... fourteen hours." Gamora counted with her fingers.

"Actually, thirteen hours, forty two minutes, and nineteen seconds." Nebula interrupted.

"How on Earth did you know that?"

"It's called math Gamora. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only person father taught it to."

"Math is useless."

"So, what made me this useless?"

"Only on Tuesdays."

"It is Tuesday."

"Exactly."

"Sorry to butt in ladies, but I don't feel like a sword fight breaking out, so if you don't mind, you can be quiet now." Quill started, but caught one of Nebula's infamous death stares.

Was Thor listening? No, not really. Thor was too busy planning how he was going to ask out Carol.

"...Thor, are you listening? Thor? Helloooo? Are you in there buddy?" Quill helpfully waved his arms in Thor's face.

"Oh... er... what?"

"What did Carol act like?"

"Oh, well she was fighting with swords-"

"Oh, it's Captain Obvious and Captain Marvel we're shipping now? Two peas in a pod." Rocket snickered.

"-and she seemed kind of confused when I called her Carol. She insisted her name was Pyre."

"Anything else?"

"No, not really."

"No change in fighting style? No change in looks? No changes in attitude? No flirting?" Mantis grinned at the last sentence. 

"Woah, woah, woah. I... I-"

"Oh, it's okay Mantis. Thor doesn't want to share how he wept dramatically with relief when he saw Carol alive." Drax laughed.

"Oh yeah. Don't forget when they kissed like ten times and Carol started telling him how handsome and strong he was." The entire room fell victim to laughter at Gamora's 'helpful' comment.

"Nebula! You smiled!" Gamora gasped, "Jeez guys, stop surprising me! First Thor loses in a fight and now Nebula's smiling!"

More laughter.

"I am Groot." Groot looked up from his Nintendo DS and smiled.

"Groot! You're right! Gamora doesn't know that Thor's Fortnite name is 'ILoveCaptainMarvel27'!" Rocket smirked.

Gamora almost choked on her tears of laughter, collapsing onto Nebula's lap.

Thor felt that his presence was no longer required and retreated to his bedroom. Facing the window, he traced the constellations with his fingers.

It wasn't the bruised ribs or stiff muscles that bothered Thor. Secretly underneath all his strength, he was nursing a broken heart.

"I promise I will get you back Carol. I swear on my life." He muttered to himself, meaning every word.