Guardian

Chapter 54

(Liv's POV):
Thor and I walked in silence across the rocky planet, but there was nothing to say. We knew we had to keep going, find some way to stop Malekith, despite there being nothing we could do stranded on Svartalfheim. I didn't know what Thor was hoping to find on the abandoned planet, perhaps some sort of ship that we could use to get to Earth and stop Malekith?

At this point, I wanted no more than to return to Asgard and lock myself in my chambers, ignoring the outside world while I mourned. It was different from when Loki had left me on Earth, this time was so much more permanent. Before I was angry with him but now I just felt numb and the more I thought about it, I grew angrier with myself.

I was supposed to protect him and I failed. His death was my fault, I should never have let him get so far away from me. Did I learn nothing from the death of Audun? I had killed the only two people that I loved in my long life, not to mention Loki's mother. I didn't deserve the title of Valkyrie. Not when I failed at the duty that they were most known for on Earth: protecting a chosen soldier on the battlefield.

"Liv, your phone," Thor nudged me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I furrowed my brows in confusion upon realizing that my cell phone was ringing. That didn't seem possible, not when we were on a different planet. I mean there was no way that humans had managed to get a cell tower this far into space.

There had to be a reason for it, perhaps one of those pathways that Loki knew about. This mission would be so much easier if he were still with us, neither Thor nor I knew what we were looking for.

I finally answered the phone before it rang out, hoping that it would help us figure out what was going on, "hello?"

"Is this Elizabeth Lovett?" Cape the voice in the other end, slightly garbled by bad reception, not that I should have been too surprised by that.

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who is speaking?" I replied, taking a few steps forward to see if the call would cut out.

Instead I received the reply, "this is Debra from The Bread & Butter Bakery calling to inform you that you got the position."

"Really? That's wonderful!" I put on a cheery facade as I knew she would expect of me, but in reality I didn't even know if I was going to survive past today. And, if I did, I would either return to Asgard or have to go into hiding for a bit for my own safety. That was if Thor and I ever got off this planet. "When do you need me to start?"

"Does next-" the call cut out as I took another step and a immediately changed direction, heading the last few words. "For you?"

"Sorry, I didn't catch that, I have really bad cell reception at the moment. Can you repeat that for me?"

"Next week?"

"Brilliant, thank you so much for this opportunity. I'll see you then," I spoke, having to restrain a gasp when I noticed the floor littered with cans and bottles. Definitely from Earth and I had a good guess where on earth they originated.

Debra said her farewells, but I wasn't paying much attention anymore, hanging up the call and following the trail of litter. Thor wore a confused expression on his face as he followed me, but seemed to trust that I knew what I was going.

"I take it congratulations are in order?" He finally spoke as I continued followed the trail.

"Hmm?"

"You got a job, yes? That must be something worth celebrating."

"Yes, well, we'll see if I'm even still around to start working."

The trail stopped abruptly and I rose from the ground, quite confused as to why it stopped. Hesitantly, I stuck my arm out before me and smiled as it disappeared through the portal.

"Come on, Thor, I think it's time to make Malekith pay."

I stepped through the portal, trusting Thor to follow and almost breathed a sigh of relief when I came out into the abandoned building that I was scoping out before this whole mess started. Thor emerged a moment later, asking, "where are we?"

"London. It's where I found the Aether," I explained, leading him out of the building. "We know that Malekith is going to attack Earth, but we need to figure out where. Perhaps the Avengers can provide an assist."

"Yes, I am sure they would be very capable, but it would require them finding out who you are. I know someone else who may be able to track Malekith's movements, I know she has been studying the Convergence and lives in England as well. It would be the easiest way to assure the protection of your anonymity."

I was surprised that Thor would be willing to go to such lengths to protect my identity, especially since I would be surprised if the world did not know my face by tomorrow morning given what we were about to do. Still, if he knew someone that may allow me to protect my identity from SHIELD at least for the time being, then I certainly wasn't going to turn down the offer.

Thor led us up to a flat that Heimdall had told him about and knocked on the door, hoping that this Jane Foster would actually be there. The door was opened by a blond haired man, who seemed quite excited to see Thor, but I assumed that that was a common occurrence given that he was a hero. Whereas his fellow Asgardian lived on the run so that she wouldn't be caught and experimented on.

"Dr. Foster, I think you have a visitor," he spoke in a British accent and I tried to guess at his relation to her. He clearly was from this country and by referencing her by her formal title I could assume that he worked for her in some capacity.

My thoughts were interrupted by a gorgeous brunette emerging from around the corner, her eyes widening upon seeing Thor. I took a step back so that they could have a moment, but watched amused as she slapped him.

"Where were you?" She demanded and I immediately realized that she and Thor must have been close. Based on her accent she was from the United States, which meant either he met her in New York or New Mexico, either way he hadn't been able to come back to Earth to see her in quite some time.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to come back, but the Bifrost was destroyed. The nine realms erupted into chaos. Wars were raging, marauders were pillaging. I had to put an end to the slaughter. And now that that is contained, we have been thrown into another battle, facing an even greater threat. And we need your help to stop it."

"As far as excuses go, that's not terrible," she reasoned, noticing me lurking behind him. "I see you've brought company."

"Yes, we are looking for a Dark Elf named Malekith who we believe is going to be attacking Earth in order to turn the universe into one of darkness," I stepped forward to explain. "Thor said that you might be able to help us find where is going to attack through your work studying the Convergence."

"Was that Thor I heard?" A male voice spoke, an older man walking into view, not wearing any pants. He then hesitated and asked, "your brother's not coming, is he?"

The atmosphere of the room shifted as Loki was brought up and I averted my gaze to the ground while Thor answered, "Loki is dead."

The man breathed a sigh of relief as he exclaimed, "oh thank god."

Power immediately began to swirl around my hands as I glared at him, anger at his comment accelerated by my build up of emotions that I was already trying to repress as a result of Loki's death. Thor placed his hand on my shoulder in an effort to calm me down and the man looked uncomfortable as he corrected himself, "I-I meant, I'm so sorry."

Jane turned to man and ordered, "Erik, I'm going to need all the work you've been doing on gravimetric anomalies, everything."

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(A/N): And we're about to go into the final battle. Ah, I'm so excited for a Thor 4 and to see Jane take on the mantle of Thor! (Also Taika if you don't include the cancer storyline there will be hands thrown I love you but I will fight you). Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!