Layla sat quietly in the pod, looking out the front windshield at the vast emptiness of space. All she did was trade the comfy view she had on The Frigga for a smaller, more tense one. This was not the same ship filled with her friends and laughter. She was alone with Thor and two strangers now, left to worry about her friends and their fates quietly from her seat in the cockpit.

The small ship had been silent for some time now. In part because this was a serious mission and everyone was focusing, but also because she didn't know Rocket and Groot, and wasn't sure what to talk to them about. Not that she understood a damn thing Groot said anyway.

"I am Groot," the tree-like being muttered irritably, barely looking up from his hand-held game he had been playing the whole trip.

See. What the hell does that mean? Layla thought, growing more annoyed.

"Tinkle in the cup. We're not looking. What's there to see? What's a twig?" Rocket responded, just as irritated. "Everybody's seen a twig."

That answer did not make Groot happy. "I am Groot."

Thor didn't take his gaze from out the back portholes. "Tree, pour what's in the cup out in space, and go in the cup again."

This shocked Layla, and apparently Rocket, as well. "You speak Groot?" the raccoon asked.

Thor shrugged nonchalantly. "Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective."

Layla raised an eyebrow. Was there anything they didn't teach on Asgard?

"I am Groot."

Layla knew she was going to lose it before this adventure was over. She was apparently the only one who didn't understand this damn tree. She huffed out of frustration, but she doubted any of them heard it.

"You'll know when we're there. Nivadellir's forge harnesses the power of a blazing neutron star," Thor explained happily. "It's the birth place of my hammer. It's truly awesome."

Layla watched as Thor took a seat beside the window near the rear of the ship. His facial expression was very different than it was moments before. He almost looked sad. She frowned for a moment before she got up from her spot near the front of the ship to sit beside him. She bumped shoulders with him, hoping that would help cheer him up a little. He glanced at her and smiled slightly, but said nothing. She knew he had some things troubling him, but she hadn't seen him quite like this before.

Rocket looked away from the windshield, and looked at Thor before he sighed. "Okay, time to be the captain," he muttered quietly to himself. He got up, walking to a nearby console where he pressed two buttons. "So, dead family, huh? Yeah, that can be annoying. You said your sister and your dad?"

Thor nodded. "Both dead."

"Still got a mom, though?" Rocket asked, a little more sympathetically.

Thor shook his head. "Killed by a dark elf."

Ouch. Layla didn't know that's how Frigga had died. Then again, she never asked either. For some reason she had always assumed it was a natural, peaceful death. She felt kind of bad now. No wonder they had named their ship after her.

"A best friend?" Rocket continued.

"Back on Earth," Thor answered. "Protecting what's left of my people, the ones who survived my sister's wrath."

"So you've still got them, your gal, your team, and your brother," Rocket pointed out. "So it's not all doom and gloom. Are you sure you're up to this particular murder mission?"

Thor smiled widely, but Layla wasn't convinced. He had been through a lot, more than any one should. He hadn't even talked about it much, but Layla knew it had been absolute hell. "Absolutely. Rage, vengeance, anger, loss, regret... they're all tremendous motivators," Thor rambled on. "They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go."

"Yeah, but this Thanos we're talking about," Rocket reminded cautiously. "He's the toughest there is."

"Well, he's never fought me," Thor declared, seemingly confident in himself again for a moment. "And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget."

Rocket snorted. "Better be some hammer."

"You know, I'm 1,500 years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that, and every one would have rather killed me, but none succeeded," Thor stated, the rage building in his voice. "I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is the latest in a long line of bastards and he will be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so."

Layla knew Thor was old in comparison to her, despite not looking like it. It was just how Asgardians aged. But something about him being 1,500 years old seemed really strange to her. Suddenly her twenty-five years seemed incredibly insignificant. On the other hand, she would be lying if she didn't get excited at the thought of Thor slaughtering their enemies. She hadn't seen him fight off anything since Ultron, and she spent half of that fight trying not to gawk at him. It was difficult to not stare at the Asgardian during normal circumstances, let alone when he was flexing his muscles and destroying robots. Sue her.

Rocket broke her thoughts with a question. "And what if you're wrong?"

"If I'm wrong then... what more could I lose?" Thor answered gloomily. He sniffed and hastily wiped below his eye. He stood and sat himself at the front of the pod, beside Groot.

"Hey! You still have quite a couple people you could lose, mister!" Layla called out to him. She was going to have to have a serious chat with him when this was all over. Layla knew what it was like to lose family. It sucked. Truly it did. But that didn't mean all was lost. Especially not when a few were still alive.

Rocket sighed, and spoke under his breath, "I could lose a lot. Me personally. I could lose a lot." Layla watched as Rocket stood, reaching into his pocket and pulling out what appeared to be an eyeball. She felt her nose scrunch up in disgust. Who the hell just carried an eyeball around? The raccoon walked over to Thor. "Okay. If fate does want you to kill that crapsack... you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball."

Rocket handed Thor the eyeball, and it caught the God of Thunder off guard for a moment.  "What's this?"

"What's it look like?" Rocket responded, raising an eyebrow at him. "Some jerk lost a bet with me on Contraxia."

"He gave you his eye?" Thor questioned skeptically.

Rocket shrugged. "He gave me one hundred credits. I snuck in later that night and stole his eye."

"Ew, gross," Layla muttered.

Thor smiled sincerely. "Thank you, sweet rabbit."

Layla was further disgusted when Thor then proceeded to shove the eyeball into his empty eye socket. She could've gone her whole life without having seen what that looked like.

"Oh. I would've washed that," Rocket cautioned. "The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my-"

Luckily he was cut off by some beeping from one of the ship's sensors. Layla looked up to see that there was a planet in front of them. It was a welcome sight after the emptiness she had been staring at for most of the trip.

"Hey, we're here!" Layla called out, relieved that she could finally get off the ship and get her mind off the weird grossness this little journey had been filled with. That was until she realized something was very off about this planet.

Thor smacked his palm against the side of his head, trying to get the eye calibrated. "I don't think this thing works. Everything seems dark."

"It ain't the eye," Rocket corrected, staring at the planet in front of them.

Rocket was right. It wasn't the new eye at all. Nidavellir was as dark and motionless as the three rings around it.

"Something's wrong," Thor replied. "The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen."

Layla took a deep breath. Of course. This just couldn't go according to plan. That would be too easy. Something had happened to Nidavellir, and she was sure whatever it was certainly didn't mean good news for the dwarves that lived there or for their quest for Thor's new weapon. She could only hope things were going better for the rest of her friends.

******

Hi everyone. I am SO sorry it took so long for me to post this. I've had this chapter done for a while now, and I just keep forgetting to post, or when I have time to update, something is happening. Mostly it's because my 15 month old is now SUPER mobile- I mean she's practically running and she likes to climb the couch and do dangerous things she shouldn't. Ah the joys of motherhood.

I figured while I was sitting here waiting for iTunes to finish backing up my phone (already did this once today, but encrypted it without knowing the password, so yay technology) I should pop on and give you all an update!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday (for those of you who celebrate it) and hope you all are doing well. I'm gearing up for a busy holiday season both at home and work, so I hope I can get a few more chapters posted for you all in all my stories between all of that.

Thanks as always for your patience with me. It means a ton to me. Truly it does. Hope to hear from you all soon. :)

~arty_writes