The Widow's Daughter ✔︎

Chapter Four

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked Bruce, looking at the concoction he was brewing in his lab. It was fizzing and spitting bright embers and I was pretty sure that if I touched it, I would be six feet under before you could say 'idiot.'

Bruce grinned and held up the vial of ghostly blue light. "Kind of... 78 percent sure."

I frowned at him and fiddled with my safety goggles and pristine white lab coat. "Why 78?"

"I'm a genius, remember?" he said. "This is guaranteed to work. Kira, pass me the beaker of hydrofluoric acid, will you?"

I winced as I grabbed the beaker of dangerous liquid with my heavily gloved hands. I passed it to Bruce, who gave me a grin and merged the two chemicals together. The potion fizzed and spat even more embers and I took a massive step back. "What's this even for?" I asked the Hulk in awe.

"It's Thor's energy drink," Bruce said, shaking the mixture. "Helps him summon the most lightning."

I felt my stomach lurch. "Is he..." I broke off, not wanting to say anything offensive. "...OK in the head?" I decided.

Bruce laughed and winked at me. "That's for him to know and the rest of us 'puny mortals' to wonder." He grinned. "I think he's relatively sane at the moment, he's just a god. So our laws of chemistry, and pretty much anything else, don't apply to him."

"Hot diggity god," I said, gazing at the mixture in wonder. Bruce poured it into what looked like an obsidian flask and handed it to me. I swore and held it an arm's length away, wincing. "Why did you give it to me?" I demanded, feeling very much insane.

"Because you are my intern," he said. "And it is your job to assist me in any way I can, and I want you to give this to Thor."

I frowned and looked up at him. "So... will being your intern always involve giving deadly chemicals to an immortal god of thunder, or is that like, a weekly thing?"

Bruce laughed and gave me a gentle nudge towards the door. "Just give it to the loser," he said.

I gave him a salute and almost dropped the potion. "Will do." I said.

                           

I found Thor and the rest of the Avengers sitting at their massive table in the what-might-be dining room. I knocked on the door and they all turned to me, Steve and Tony raising their hands in greeting. "Hello, small mortal!" Thor boomed, standing up to greet me. He noticed the concoction in my hands. "Ah, I see you've brought my daily antimatter," he said.

I handed it to him and gawped as he downed it. "Daily?" I repeated.

Thor wiped his chin. "That's the good stuff," he said. "And yes. Daily."

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room. "God give me strength," I muttered.

"Gods, actually," said Thor, and the whole room, minus Natasha, who I was pretty sure had no existing emotions, chuckled.

I was about to walk out of the room when I noticed a massive hammer, looking a bit like a mallet, lying on the ground. I grabbed it by the hilt and picked it up, holding it out to Thor. "Is this yours?" I asked.

There was a stunned silence throughout the room. All eyes were on me, and everyone was gaping. Thor looked at me, and at the hammer, and back to me.

"What?" I asked, starting to feel a bit self-conscious. "This is your's, right?" I didn't get why everybody was staring at me.

"Hey, Kira, I need you to explode this piece of -" Bruce said, running into the room. He stopped when he saw me holding the hammer and whispered, "holy mother."