Gentle Heart

Muffles were heard in the distance as she tried to keep herself conscious. Jane. Her thoughts immediately went to the human that was restrained by the god of mischief himself. Every bone in her body screamed out; protested to her immobility in hopes that a miracle would come forth and keep Jane safe.

Talen didn’t know what to expect when her grey eyes opened to see a familiar face in the room. “Miss Calloway! Thank goodness you’re awake! I was starting to worry about you.” The clean shaven face of her employee threw her for a loop. She didn’t recognize his facial features at first seeing that she was used to the facial hair he always had peppered on him.

“Ralph?” She lifted her head up only to have her head spin. Talen groaned as she lay back down, Ralph had a soft welcoming smile on his face.

A sense of relief filled his features, “Welcome back, boss.”

Talen smiled lightly back, gripping the forearm of her beloved friend. She was glad that he wasn’t hurt in the process. Then it all hit her like bricks, it was then she remembered what happened. Jolting from her bed, Ralph tried to contain her as she frantically asked, “Where’s Jane? Where is she?”

“Who’s Jane?”

“The woman—long brown hair, brown eyes…was here before with a former friend of mine.”

Recognition struck his face, “Ah yeah! Jane, I haven’t seen her. Why? Was she with you?” Talen’s stomach dropped. So it wasn’t a dream, everything that she imagined actually was real. Loki was here, almost killed her and took Jane, but why only her? He claimed that he was going to take her as well, so why didn’t he?

“Miss Calloway?”

If she knew what Loki did was a distraction in order to track her and Jane, it was only a matter of time before Thor and the others realized it too.

It only took a few minutes before a thundering noise shook the house. Talen sat stiffly while Ralph shared his concern until Thor came storming in. “Talen!” His long blond locks matted to his face, long tears ripped his armor leaving his muscled body in perfect view while his red cape was absolutely shredded to oblivion. “What happened?”

Talen pursed her lips as tears started to build in her eyes. She felt like an utter failure. The one task that she promised she would do, she didn’t complete. Getting on her knees, she bowed her head heavily in agony.

“I’m so sorry, my prince. I couldn’t—fulfill my promises.” She whispered.

Forget about her employee who was probably gawking at the god at the moment or the fact that her body was protesting her not to move. She failed. She failed the one person that she held close to her heart and she didn’t know if Thor could ever forgive her.

Thor’s boots thundered closer, shaking her whole frame. Her palms balling up into tiny fists as she felt the prince’s presence swallowing her whole. “Tell me everything.” He demanded. She could feel him seething and the dark clouds rolled in at the exact moment, thunder cracked the sky.

“I—I thought it would be best if I took her off the aircraft once I saw that the Zarroc were on board. I struggled, but I managed to escape with Jane successfully until…” Her throat squeezed at the recollection of what she witnessed. “until I saw that Prince Loki was waiting for us at my home. He incapacitated me and took Jane.”

Talen squeaked when Thor’s large fist smashed the nightstand by her bed. Painful roars emitted from his mouth as he destroyed her room. Talen only whimpered, hoping to contain her sniffles. When she looked up, she saw a few people that she recognized from the Avengers group try to hold the god down unsuccessfully. Thor pushed his comrades away before he took a step towards the goddess.

“I gave you one task—one measly task and you failed.”

“Thor,” Captain America as she recalled tried to intercept the blow.

“I was foolish to trust you with Jane’s life. Never would I make the same mistake again, if I ever get her back.”

Soft whimpers leaked out of the goddess’ throat as the door to her bedroom was smashed into small pieces. Right when he was out of her sight, Talen let her soft cries come through. Curling up into a small ball with tears sliding across her face and onto the comforter; a strong comforting hand looped its way around her back to pull her up against someone.

The strong smell of Old Spice made it known that it was Ralph holding her.

As he held her close, his dark eyes fixated itself among the small group in the room. “Mind telling me why the Avengers invaded my boss’ room? Or maybe why the god of thunder spoke to my boss like they were comrades?”

“That information is classified.” The red head spoke up first before she excused herself along with Hawkeye saying they had other things to attend to. Captain America stay in the room silently as he empathetically stared at the pink haired goddess in front of him.

The captain bit the inside of his lip not knowing what he should tell the man before him. Surely, he was very close to the woman he works for, but he only knew so much unlike Director Fury. “I’m pretty sure the reason why Thor spoke to her like they are comrades was maybe because they were.”

Ralph frowned, “I know that she knew Thor, but the level he was speaking to her was more personal than I expected…I always thought Miss Calloway was a bit strange, but she’s a gentle and kind creature to the point where I push passed my judgment. The pink hair I never understood, but now—it’s starting to make sense.”

Steve nodded firmly as he stated that he would stay behind in order to make sure that Miss Calloway was out of harm’s way. The group was notified of Loki’s attack and was filled in with the pendant that was stuck to the goddess’ chest. He could easily see that she wasn’t meant for this life; a life of battle and chaos. It broke her so easily and for Thor to actually have Jane’s life in her hands…she’s probably a lot more powerful than he assumed she was.

“Okay.” Ralph muttered.

He glanced down to see Talen cried herself to sleep; her hands tightly gripped his flannel shirt with huge wet spots. Taking her wrists and leaning down, he had her release him before he stood up with a tired expression. “I’ll show you to the guest room.”

Steve followed to see that it was only one door down from Talen’s room. “This will be your room for your stay—Mr. Rogers?” The captain looked up to see the worry lines etched on the man’s face. “Please keep Miss Calloway safe. I’ll do my part, but when she disappeared for all those months…I thought of the worst until now. I still don’t know what’s going on, but I just have this feeling that the worst hasn’t come to pass.”

“I promise to do my best.”

“Thank you.” Ralph smiled softly. “If you need anything, I’ll be out in the stables.” With that, he left the captain to his own thoughts.



Trees collapsed as Thor swung his hammer where he pleased. He didn’t care if he was causing destruction; he needed to vent out all the anger and despair he was feeling. His angry eyes glanced around wanting to find some clue that would point in the direction of Loki.

The little snake—

Thor roared as he slammed the hammer down, the huge pulsing wave destroyed the life form around him.

“Thor!”

The prince swerved around to see Sif and the Warriors Three all standing there with a grim expression. Sif took the first step, “We’ve heard what has happened.”

“Yes and surely we can find Jane in haste.”

“It’s not so simple, Fandral. Loki has made it impossible to track him; he has reinforced himself since the last time he attempted to take Midgard.” Thor stated.

“Is it true then?” Volstagg’s voice boomed. “Talen is here in Midgard?”

The four observed the tense stance of their prince as he heard the name roll off Volstagg’s tongue. All four frowned as Thor hissed with venom, “She is of no use to me and therefore will not be spoken of.”

“I beg to differ, prince.” Sif interjected. She was only one of the few that can withstand the anger seeping out of the prince at the moment. There was no fear drawing from her as she inched forward while the Warriors Three stood back quietly obeying what their prince has commanded. “Talen is essential to finding Jane-”

“She is not!”

“Yes she is! Whether you like it or not, she is! She has Brisingamen! It can locate the tesseract which Loki now possesses.”

Thor narrowed his eyes at the female warrior in front of him. “And how would you know about her predicament?”

“Freyja, my prince.”

The golden god huffed as he looked at his closest friends; the ones that he can truly depend on. Not some weak pink haired goddess who was filled with empty promises. He couldn’t bear the thought of being near her at the moment; he was beyond angry with her for not giving it her all. She hesitated, he just knew it.

“No, we will find Jane on our own.”

The four warriors nodded in respect of his decision as they started their own journey of finding Jane themselves.



When Talen’s exhausted body slowly got up from the bed, her throat felt particularly dry. From all the tears that consumed her it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Letting her weak feet touch the ground she padded towards her bathroom. As she turned on the light, she grimaced at the lack of luster upon her face.

Her cheeks weren’t as rosy as they used to be and dried tears stained her cheeks and nose. Talen looked completely haggard. Splashing water on her face she took solid deep breaths to calm herself from the memories that flooded through her mind. She didn’t know what would become of her now that Thor is furious with her; another little piece of her heart fell off just thinking about it.

Furiously she rubbed her cheeks to gain some color back with no such luck. Gripping the side of the sink her grey eyes glanced at the mirror that reflected the morning light outside. It came to no surprise that she slept through the night and with Ralph checking on her every so often.

Changing into her work clothes, Talen combed through her curls with her fingers leaving them off her shoulder like usual only to stop short. Curious grey eyes blinked at the brawny blond standing in the hallway.

Noticing that he had company, he stood up straighter like a soldier as he greeted her. “Good morning Miss Calloway. How are you feeling?”

“Er, I’m—I’m fine. Good morning.” She muttered.

Walking around him she stopped after a few feet before turning around again. “Is there something that you wanted, Captain?”

“I’m just here to help.”

Talen stiffly nodded as she remembered him being the one that tried to restrain the prince last night. Fidgeting with the edge of her shirt, she said her thanks while her eyes were somewhere else.

Steve found her a bit odd on how reserved and quiet she really was. “You’re welcome.” Her eyes didn’t meet his more than a few seconds and a small tint of pink flushed against her pale cheeks. He watched her turn around and hurriedly walked out of the home.

Only having met one Asgardian he assumed they were all the same with the way Thor talked about his kind. Arrogant, ruthless, short-tempered, blood thirsty gods that only cause physical harm to bring peace into their minds and yet she wasn’t any of those things.

He then remembered what Thor spat venomously to her last night, how he would never trust her again. Those words easily bruised the goddess before him watching her eyes filled with tears of despair. Thor shouldn’t have been so hasty; Loki strategizes his every move and he wouldn’t dare harm Jane before he got what he wanted. There was always a motive and it was brought to his attention that Talen was untouched when they arrived.

The pendant glowed brightly until their arrival. His cobalt eyes flickered over to Talen brushing one of her many horses with a warm smile lifted on her face. The sincere look on her face dashed the pain she was going through at the moment. There were small flickers of remorse.

When Ralph passed him, they exchanged looks. The younger gentleman threw his head back, signaling towards the pink haired goddess before pulling the red mare from the stables.

Talen muttered quietly to Daisy before she snorted upon someone’s arrival. Turning her head, she pressed her cheek at the nose of her horse with a sad smile. “Horses bring me peace. I guess you already know that huh?”

“I rather it hear it from you. It’s better from the source.”

“I’m the goddess of horses and healing, not the best title in the world. It’s something that we grow into, the title we are given comes from our true nature. Ever since I was a kid I would always tend to the horses, staying away from the other kids. I never fitted in; I was the smallest and weakest in the group. I always got picked on to the point where I hid. Then when I got older…when all the other girls grew into their bodies, I was still the same. It took me a lot longer to develop and yet I am still not as beautiful as what a goddess should be.”

Steve could relate on so many levels. He didn’t know she went through so much as a child, hearing her story was like looking in a mirror. Talen was the female version of himself. “I think you’re beautiful.” He blurted. Heat stung his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck.

Talen sadly smiled with a small blush, “Of course you would think that. You’re human and I’m a goddess. Compared to the others, I’m a yeti. My parents and siblings are painfully gifted and talented in so many ways it pains me to know that I am not the goddess that everyone expected me to be.”

She felt tightness in her throat caused her to stop as she threaded her fingers through Daisy’s mane. “I think you’re more talented than you give yourself credit for. You tried your best and was blind sighted by Loki; it could have happened to anyone.”

“But it shouldn’t have happened to me. Do you know why Prince Thor had so much faith in someone like me? It was because I am the offspring of Minerva goddess of war and wisdom and Aeron god of trust. All of those qualities were passed down to me. I was trained and educated by my mother and father, there was no possible way Prince Loki should have surprised me like he did.” Talen bit her dry lip as Daisy nudged her head towards her companion.

“We’ll get Jane back and clear up your name.” Steve landed a hand on the goddess’ shoulder.

Talen pursed her lips in doubt, “And how could we do that?”

“We use you as bait.” Black Widow cut in right before Steve could answer. “Loki won’t go far without Brisingamen and with Talen having it; he will surely come back for her.”

The goddess frowned at the suggestion. Being bait? She never was something that could lure something in. “I guess…that could work.” Her heart continued to pound inside her chest as her nerves started rising to the surface. “But what about Prince Thor?” Her eyes darted from the two in worry. With his rash decisions he will surely cause more trouble than needed.

“We’re keeping tabs on him. Don’t worry about him, worry about yourself.” Natasha responded coldly, “The captain will stay here to make sure that everything is being handled and I’ll pop in from time to time to see the progress.”

Talen jumped when she felt cold hands grab her wrist, her grey eyes widened in fear at the complicated gun that is held by the red head. The goddess squeaked when something was shot inside of her, “W-what did you do?”

“Keeping tabs on you.”

Talen gripped her wounded arm as she watched Black Widow walk out. Glancing at the blond man, she asked if she always acted like that. Steve sighed, “They all act like that.”