The Valkyrie Has Come

Chapter 3 – An Extraordinary Child

Flashback…

As Jane stood in one of the hallways of the great palace of Asgard, donned in an armored, dark blue dress, it was all she could do to keep her anxiety to a minimum level. This wasn't the first time she'd been here, though, the circumstances during her previous visit were less than favorable. However, all she could think about was how everything today might unfold, as she held the small bundle wrapped in a long white blanket against her chest.

Danielle. That was her name. How she and Thor were able to have a baby at all was still unknown to her, yet here she was, six months old, with a round face, a patch of blond hair on her head, and large brown eyes, about to be presented to the more powerful side of her family. While Jane did think it was a good idea, she still felt nervous, remembering the reaction she and Thor got when he told them that they'd married.

She jumped slightly when she heard footsteps coming toward her. She felt relieved when she saw that it was only Thor. He walked eagerly over to her, but slowed down slightly when he saw the emotion on her face.

"Are you well?" he asked her.

"Well enough," Jane showed a brief smile, "I just…I don't know about this. It just, feels like it's happening too fast."

"I will be with you the whole time," Thor assured her, "I'll go in and announce you, and you won't have to say a word. Trust me, all will eventually be well."

"You think they'll like her?"

"How could anyone not like this most beautiful of faces?" he asked as he looked down on Danielle. He then gave Jane a brief kiss and then walked back into the great hall.

Before long, Jane heard his voice echo into the hallway. "My friends, my family, as the Crown Prince of this realm, it is my duty to love and serve it well, even before I take the throne. I wholeheartedly regret that I did not demonstrate either by marrying the woman I love without consulting you. Let today be a day of reconciliation, for in the past few months, my wife and I have welcomed the most beautiful little girl into our lives, and I do not intend to make the same mistake I made previously. My people, please welcome Jane Foster, and our daughter, Danielle."

Everyone in the hall looked toward the doorway, and in walked a somewhat reluctant Jane who, with slight help from Thor, approached the throne of Odin. But what everyone focused on was the baby she held.

"Father," Thor said, "May I present to you, your first grandchild."

With some silent urging from him, Jane held out Danielle, allowing Odin to take her up in his arms.

Silence fell onto the hall as Odin beheld Danielle for the first time. As his one eye met her pair of eyes, he recalled – if only briefly – another time when he held a child who wasn't his, yet, in many ways, even now, was his. Still a frown crossed his face, until he remembered the purpose of this day.

He looked back at Thor and said, "My son, though you still retain some of your old foolishness, as evidenced by what you did just over a year ago, you were most wise to come here, and share with us, the joy of you becoming a father yourself."

Thor nodded. "I thank you, Father."

Odin nodded back. Then, as everyone watched, he stood up, and walked down the short flight of stairs and toward his people, still holding Danielle, with Thor, Jane, and Frigga following behind.

He then said in a loud, clear voice, "Let it be known, that from this day forward, I now acknowledge this baby girl as my granddaughter. Furthermore, she shall be included in the line of succession. Should my son ascend to the throne of Asgard, she shall be crown princess."

His people listened carefully as he continued. "In fact, she shall have a name from our own language, that she may be recognized by the people of this realm."

He then looked back at Danielle, to let everyone know that he was sincere. "From now on, she will be known here as, Thrúd – strength – the Lady of Asgard, and the daughter of Thor."

Finally, Odin returned his gaze to his people, and asked them, "Shall the words that I have just spoken be acknowledged by all in this realm?"

"Yes Sir," the crowd of people replied.

Odin nodded, and then turned around to give Danielle back to her mother, before turning back to address his people one last time. "Very well. Let today, then, be a day, not only of reconciliation, but of celebration too!"

The people quickly voiced their agreement, causing a smile to appear on the faces of Odin, Frigga, Thor, and even, to some extent, Jane.

To the surprise of both Thor and Jane, the day went forth a bit more smoothly than they expected. As Thor had hoped, the people were largely kind to Jane, though whether they were doing so out of respect for her or for him, he didn't know. Even so, both received repeated congratulations, compliments, even requests to hold the newly-titled lady, not just from the people gathered in the hall, but also from Sif and the Warriors Three.

"An infant worthy of her name," Sif said.

"What a beautiful baby," Fandral said before turning to Thor, claiming, "and she looks nothing like you!"

Needless to say, this gave him a teasing shove in the shoulder from Thor.

But later, after Jane had been approached nearly countless times by people wanting to see the baby, Danielle began whimpering softly, a clear indication that she was ready for a nap. Knowing what would come if she didn't get to sleep soon, Jane looked eagerly for Thor, until she spotted him on the other side of the hall, talking to two other people. She immediately strode in haste over to him, and he dismissed the ones he was speaking to as soon as he saw her.

"Yes?"

"Thor," Jane said with polite honesty, "She's getting tired and, honestly, so am I."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes," Jane nodded.

"Then I shall…" Thor stopped midway, as he had the sense that something was wrong. He was soon proved right when he saw a sinister-looking shadow stretch from the doorway. He didn't even need to turn his head to know where it came from, nor did he have to listen to the series of gasps that immediately came from the crowd. Still, he turned his head and saw the person he least expected to see: his adopted brother.

"Loki!"

As the god of mischief stood in the doorway, Thor could make out the smug smile that stretched across his face.

"My son," Odin said as he stood from his throne, "why do you darken my hall?"

Loki let out a droll chuckle. "It's wonderful to see you all too."

"Why are you even here?" Thor asked as he walked over to him.

Before Loki could reply, he went on to say, "If you have come to initiate a scheme, I assure you I will stop it before you can!"

"Oh, far be it from me to do such a thing," Loki said, "In fact, it wasn't even on my mind, at least until you mentioned it."

Thor was about to say more, when Loki interrupted him. "No. I am only here to pay my respects, as I am, in some way, still a part of this family."

"How can I know you're telling the truth?" Thor asked.

"I give you my word, brother," Loki replied in the least sarcastic of tones, "No illusions, no trickery, nothing."

At first, Thor didn't want to believe him. But after remembering all that they had went through growing up, and how much help he had recently been, he let out a sigh. "Then I will hold you to your word."

"Excellent," Loki smiled again, "Now, back to my reason for being here."

He then eyed, as though he was a snake, Jane, and the baby. "Of course," he said as he took small steps toward her, "The child."

Though Jane wanted to flee, she felt trapped. But one thing was for sure, she wasn't allowed to let this shady man scare her, no matter how much his eyes seemed to pierce her.

Loki stopped in front of her, the smile still on his face, and then, he held out his arms. "May I?" he asked.

Suddenly, it dawned on her. Loki wanted to hold Danielle. But rather than give in to his request, Jane held her baby even closer to her chest, hoping her anxiety didn't register with him. "Um, uh, I don't know," she shook her head.

"Oh come now," Loki pressed her, "I promise you, I won't bite."

Jane still hesitated. She looked at Thor – who'd followed him from behind – then at Loki, and then back at Thor again. He did say he would hold Loki to his word, and she knew him to be the first person to come to, not just her defense, but definitely Danielle's too. Even so, she waited a short while before reluctantly transferring the baby girl from her hold to Loki's.

In spite of the expectations of both Thor and Jane, Loki cradled her as gently as anyone else would.

"Ah yes," he said as his green eyes met her large brown eyes, "my brother-daughter." He then kissed her on the forehead, causing Thor and Jane to feel even more odd about the already strange sight in front of them.

"Just as beautiful as they come." He then looked at Thor and Jane and asked, "What's her name again?"

Jane answered, "Danielle," while at the same time, Thor answered, "Thrúd."

He looked confused at them, until Thor explained, "We call her Danielle but, Father recently gave her the name of Thrúd."

"Ah," Loki nodded as he looked back at her, "Thrúd, for strength. Not the first name I would think of for such a child but, it'll do."

Just then, Danielle started whimpering again, only this time it was louder than before.

"Well, not very well behaved now is she?" Loki asked, "Come now child. I'm only trying to be nice."

By now, Jane had had enough. Fortunately, she had a reasonable excuse. "It's alright, she's just tired," she said as she walked over to him, "Here, give her to me." She then quickly took Danielle away from Loki, and hastily walked away to the balcony outside, singing softly to her.

Trying to distract him, Thor took Loki aside. "Brother, why would you come here willingly? Is it merely because you wish to show respect?"

"So I'm not even allowed to meet my own niece?" Loki asked sarcastically, "And after I helped you defeat the Dark Elves."

"I appreciate it Loki." He then looked him in the eye. "But I fear my suspicion of you will never truly be gone."

"You still think I'm going to try and oppose you? Here and now? I couldn't do anything more foolish. After all, you are now a father, a position where one can be at his most powerful."

Strangely, Thor found nothing to say to counter him.

"Well then," Loki continued, "since I am obviously not wanted here, I shall be kind enough to depart."

He then put his hand on Thor's shoulder, as he once used to do so many times, and said, "I bid you good day, brother."

Loki then turned his back to Thor, and strode back to the doorway, without saying the same to Odin or Frigga. Not one person was not watching him as he left the hall, and the stares only turned away as soon as they were sure he was gone. Thor's, though, was the last to turn away, before he went over to be with Jane again.

The rest of the day seemed to pass slowly, until the sky above Asgard finally fully darkened. Inside the palace, Thor and Jane were in the room that they shared, putting Danielle to sleep. Thor held her above the crib, smiling at her innocent way of sleeping.

"My Danielle," he said before kissing her on the forehead. He then turned toward Jane and said, "Who knows? Perhaps one day this little girl will preside over the Nine Realms."

Jane smiled back, but then said, "That's nice but, don't you think it's a bit far-fetched?"

Thor only shrugged his shoulders. "Well, one can dream."

He then lowered Danielle into the crib, and turned to one of the ladies-in-waiting. "Thank you Sága," he said, "I'm truly grateful for your services."

Sága smiled and nodded. "I am delighted to do what I can."

Thor nodded back, and then turned to Jane. But before he could take her to what he wanted to show her, she hesitated.

"You know, I don't know about this," she said, "I mean, I've never left her with a stranger."

"It's alright Jane," Thor assured her, "Sága loves children. And it's only for a short while."

"And you deserve some time off," Sága added.

Still Jane hesitated, until finally, she nodded. "Alright, but only for a few minutes."

"That's all we shall need," Thor said as he offered his arm, "Come."

Jane slowly took it, but all she could do as she walked out of the room with him was look back at her sleeping child until the wall blocked her view.

She and Thor walked the halls together in silence, the guards bowing their heads as soon as they walked past them. Jane was seriously thinking of turning back, when Thor leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Close your eyes."

Despite wanting to return, Jane did as he said, until she was permitted to open them again. What she saw instantly caused her eyes to widen and made her gasp. She and Thor were in a large, domed room. The dome stretched several feet above them, and it was made of glass, allowing Jane to behold with awe the magnificent sight beyond it. The sky was completely black, yet all across it were hundreds, if not thousands, of stars. One group of stars, gathered together so it looked like a cloud, seemed to stretch across the sky from one horizon to the other. Jane guessed it was the Milky Way, though being in a different realm, she wasn't entirely sure.

What she was sure of, was that this was a sight more amazing than she'd ever seen on Earth. She walked to the edge of the dome and could see nearly the whole of Asgard from where she was.

"Is this an observatory?" she asked.

"Yes it is," Thor replied as he walked up beside her, "Do you like it?"

"It's…" All Jane could do was sigh, "Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you for showing it to me!"

"You're, more than welcome," Thor said, before he too let out a sigh. Jane turned to see that he was frowning.

"What's wrong?"

Thor pressed his lips together before replying, "I was thinking about earlier, when Loki arrived in the hall, and when he held Danielle."

"I know," Jane agreed, "I didn't like it either."

"Well, it reminded me of the more gentle side Loki used to have, before…" He trailed off, thinking of better days. Even so, he continued.

"I often wonder what would have happened, had I been there when he learned of his true origins, if I hadn't let my foolishness get the better of me."

In an effort to comfort him, Jane took Thor's hand in hers. "It's too late to change things now."

"Perhaps," Thor agreed, "But if you had met him before he fell into the abyss, you would have thought him a completely different person. In fact, we used to joke that if we had children, we'd try to make them fall in love with each other."

The mere thought caused both him and Jane to chuckle.

"But now," Thor frowned again, "I can't help but think that, everything Loki has done since then, was partly my doing. Yet, even with all this power, I cannot change the past."

"No," Jane shook her head, "But you can change the future."

Thor looked at her with questioning eyes.

"I mean, yeah, you may have lost a great friend but, look at what you've gained. We're married and, we have a beautiful little girl."

Thor nodded, feeling a sudden determination within him. "You're right. And you know, I may not know much about parenting, but I will see to it that she becomes a lady whom both Earth and Asgard can be proud of."

Jane took Thor's other hand into her own and looked at him with soft eyes. "We'll do it together."

Thor couldn't help but smile, knowing she was right. The two then leaned toward each other, and were about to kiss, when they heard a loud scream echo through the hallway outside the domed room. Recognizing it as Sága, Thor and Jane immediately rushed down the hallways as fast as they could, wondering desperately what just happened, until they returned to the room, where four armed guards had gathered and Thor found that Sága had been thrown against the wall.

"Sága!" While he went to her side, Jane hurried over to the crib, and to her horror, their baby girl wasn't there.

"Thor!" she managed to say, feeling as though she'd have a heart attack, "Danielle's gone!"

Thor's eyes instantly widened. He ran over to where Jane was, and instantly feared the worst when he saw the empty crib. He then went back to the lady-in-waiting and asked, "Sága, what happened?"

Sága was clearly shaken over what had just occurred, but through her heavy breathing, she replied, "He simply came in, and took her. I tried to stop him but…"

"Who took her?!" Thor demanded.

Sága took three deep breaths before letting out a single name. "Loki."

Once he heard that name, Thor's temper immediately went into overdrive. He felt as though he could fly into a rage and summon a lightning storm of cosmic proportions. "I knew this would happen! I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!"

"But what would he want with her?!" Jane asked, through the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks.

Suddenly, the guards came and knelt before Thor, ready to follow orders. One of them said, "Sire, simply tell us, and we will set out to find him!"

Knowing that he couldn't put Danielle's life in jeopardy, Thor replied, "No. It's too dangerous. I shall go, alone. You will stay with Jane and Sága, should he return."

Just then, a firm, hard-gripping hand grasped his wrist. He turned and was slightly surprised to see it was Jane, with her lips pressed together, and her eyes almost piercing into him. With a fierce voice, she said, "Thor, don't you dare come back without her!"

With the knowledge that he couldn't argue with her, and that he wanted Danielle back as much as she did, Thor gave a gentle, but firm, reply. "I give you my word."

Jane nodded, and then let him go. Thor then hurried out of the room and down the hallways, knowing if he didn't think of a plan fast, Danielle's life might be on the line.

First, he had to think of where Loki might have gone, and why exactly he kidnapped Danielle in the first place. Surely taking her could be considered an attack against Thor. Suddenly, that was when Thor remembered the very first place Loki opposed him, and he ran even faster when he realized where Loki most likely went.

Once he was outside the palace in the dead of night, he rushed over to the Bifröst Bridge. With his red cape attached to his shoulders and his hammer in hand, he flew down toward the domed room where, sure enough, he saw a man with his back turned to him, wearing golden armor, an unmistakable helmet, and a green cape stretching to the floor.

"Loki!" Thor shouted as soon as he landed.

Slowly, his foster-brother turned around, his finger to his mouth. "Shh," he said, "the baby's sleeping."

As he faced Thor, and let out a chuckle, he pulled back his cape to reveal what he had been hiding. In his arms was the sleeping Danielle, still wrapped in her white blanket.

"Oh if only your father could see this," Loki said to Thor, clearly referring to Odin, "How familiar it would seem to him. I really could simply take her to be my own."

"Well you can't!" Thor angrily countered, "She's mine! Now why have you taken her?!"

Loki was about to answer, when Thor went on to say, "If you have done anything to her, I will personally smash you out of this realm!"

"And how will you do that with your child in the way?" Loki asked him.

Though he still gripped his hammer firmly, Thor slowly realized that, as angry as he was at him, Loki was right. He couldn't attack him as long as he held Danielle, and it began to pain him.

"Therein lies the reason behind my taking of her," Loki explained, "Do you not remember when I said that when one is a father, one can be at his most powerful? Well, it can also be when one is at his most vulnerable."

Thor didn't know what to say, being confused – and almost a bit frightened – at his words. "Elaborate," he implored him.

"Gladly," Loki said. He then gave Thor his most serious expression. "Listen carefully, for I do not make such offers every day. I am offering you, a truce, for the coming years, so long as you agree to my terms."

"And what are your terms?" Thor asked, keeping his inner guard up.

Loki began to slowly walk toward him. "I will not oppose you, as long as you will not oppose me." Thor then watched as he made his way to one side, and then the edge, of the bridge.

"You try to come against me, and, I think you know what will happen."

By now, Loki was holding Danielle over the turbulent lake underneath the bridge. Thor's inner panic only increased all the more when he heard Danielle begin to whimper. An indication that she was awake.

"Loki!" he shouted, "Don't you dare!"

Loki immediately pulled her back as he said in frustration, "Oh of course I'm not going to drop your beloved offspring. And no! I have not harmed her nor do I intend to. That is, of course, as long as you keep your end of the bargain."

He then silently walked over to Thor, still holding Danielle, until he was only a few feet away from him. "What do you say, dear brother?"

Thor could only look at Danielle's eyes, which were now focusing on his, and he couldn't even begin to think about anything happening to her, not now or ever. He looked back at Loki, and said with the most serious of tones, "I just want my daughter back."

Loki only frowned in response. "Very well, she is yours." He then slowly, and gently, set her down on the bridge floor, and backed away from her, his fierce eyes on Thor the whole time. "But remember my warning Odinson!"

Before Thor could say anything else, Loki took the edge of his cape and, turning around, covered himself with it. In a split second, he disappeared from Thor's view. Whether he was merely invisible, or had teleported – which he never knew him to be able to do – Thor didn't know. Whatever the case, he quickly knelt down and tenderly picked up Danielle, and managed to calm her after shushing her and saying he was here. Only when he himself felt calm enough did he go back to the palace.

Meanwhile, Jane was doing all she could to keep herself from hyperventilating, assuring herself that Thor would keep his word, when she suddenly heard his voice call her name. She immediately turned around, and just as instantly felt elated the second she saw Thor holding Danielle. The slight smile on his face indicated, to her relief, that she was okay, and she wasted no time running up to him and taking her up in her own arms.

"Oh Thor," she said before kissing him, "I've never been so worried in my life!"

"You won't have to worry anymore," he assured her, "All that matters is that she is back, and that she is well."

Jane could only let out a sigh as she rested her head against his shoulder. To her further comfort, he put his hand on her shoulder. But as the two immersed themselves into the relief that Danielle was alright, Thor's own thoughts couldn't help but travel back to his confrontation with Loki. Why did he not want him to oppose him? Was he going to initiate another scheme, and use Danielle's safety as a shield? Ironically, Thor didn't want to concentrate on it. No matter what Loki did, he couldn't bring himself to hate him entirely. However, if he was ever going to threaten Danielle in the future, Thor would be the first one to keep harm from coming to her.

End of Flashback…

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