A New Beginning

Chapter 40- I Have To Tell Him

"Thor!"

Noelle's heart raced as she ran through the wreckage of the explosion that had resulted from Selvig transporting Malekith away.

She knew couldn't miss him. His bright red cape gave him away anywhere.

Suddenly, she spotted him just as she heard a creaking sound above her head.

Malekith's ship was teetering, as it was still sticking up from the ground. But now, its foundations were beginning to falter, and it was about to fall right in line with where Thor was laying on the ground.

No!

Noelle had never run so desperately fast like her life depended on it, trying to get between him and that ship before it was too late. She almost fell on the ground beside him, but quickly regained her footing and threw up a Force-field even though she knew the rubble would crash on them anyway and they would be buried. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Everyone alright?"

Noelle's eyes shot open to see Erik standing behind her, gripping the controls to his devices. She wondered why he was grinning, until she noticed that the ship had vanished. She breathed a sigh of relief, and mouthed a silent 'thank you.' Then she remembered Thor.

"Thor!" she cried, dropping down on the ground. "Thor!"

There was no response from his lifeless body. Noelle felt panic growing inside her and her throat tightening. She shook him– not very gently, and listened for his heartbeat, but couldn't hear it underneath the thick layers of armor he was wearing.

Breathe, she reminded herself. Closing her eyes, she placed her palm on his cheek and called the Force to her mind.

I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.

Suddenly there was a gasp and Thor's eyes shot open.

"What... what happened?" He sat up, coughing.

Noelle laughed and threw her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she could. She felt Thor's arms encircle her waist and for a long moment they stayed there on the ground simply holding each other.

Thor looked somewhat surprised, yet he smiled at her as she pulled away, and he sat himself up into a kneeling position.

"We won," she said with a tired smile. "Are you ok?"

"Thanks to you I am. Yes." He smiled at her in a way that she knew he cared more about her than anything else in the world. She hadn't been able to feel it from him before when the Aether had incapacitated her powers, but she could now, and the feeling made her feel so overwhelmed with emotions. She smiled back at him.

She knew the answer now.

I have to tell him.

Noelle opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of a honking bus. She sighed. Every time. Just when something was about to happen between them, they were always interrupted.

The front doors of the bus flew open and Bern waved at them from the driver's seat. "You guys want a ride or are you planning to walk home?"

Despite her annoyance at the interruption, Noelle laughed aloud. "Since when do you know how to drive a bus? And where did you even get this?"

"I don't!" Bern called. "And it was abandoned."

"That's reassuring." Noelle exchanged smiles with the others.

"Hey, you don't know how to drive, period," Bern shot back.

~~~~~~

Bern took the scenic route to get home. She said she suspected the main way she usually took was going to be jammed with emergency traffic due to the incident and all the damage from the Convergence. No one questioned her, and for the most part they sat quietly on the bus for the next hour.