DISCLAIMER

This is purely a work of fiction. None of the characters, places, items, or events that will be read is mine.

THE THUNDER GOD AND HIS MAIDEN

SUMARRY: Iris Potter gave up on her life as a witch. She was no longer the Girl-Who-Lived, now she was Dr. Iris Potter, an accomplished astrophysicist who works independently. One day, Jane Foster asked her to take over her project since she could no longer dedicate her time and efforts in it. Accepting her friend's request, Iris Potter did not expect a Thunder God to fall on her truck.

CHAPTER 1: THUNDER ROARS AND LIGHTNING STRIKES

"Please, Iris, you're the only one I know who is responsible enough to take over this project for me." Jane Foster begged her friend.

"Come on now Jane, why don't you ask Erik to do it?" Iris sighed in reply.

"I love him like a father but he is not interested enough in my project, you don't know how many times he asked me to accept that position in NASA." Jane explained.

"And judging by the fact that you are here then you must have finally surrendered and accepted the position." said Iris in return "Just shelf the idea and come back on it after a few years."

"You know me better than that, Iris. Whenever I decide to shelf an idea, it never sees the light of day again."

"Well, that's true enough." Iris agreed.

"So please, please, please, Iris!" Jane said clasping her hands together in front of her and begging her friend once more.

"Fine!" Iris finally relented "But there better be a box of treacle tart waiting for me every month!"

"Consider it done!" Jane said, smiling at her friend "Now I'll just have to call Erik and Darcy and tell them you agreed."

"Don't bother; I'll be the one to call them." Iris told her friend, bringing out her cell phone from the pocket of her jeans "I have to talk to Erick anyway."

"Alright then, I'll be on my way now' I've got bags to pack and all those other stuff." Jane said picking up her bag from the couch where she dropped it "You wouldn't believe how many papers I have to hand it just to get past the door."

"Then you shouldn't have accepted the job then." Iris said, giving a teasing smile to her friend.

"Trust me, normally I wouldn't but the pay was just too good to pass up." Jane said, slinging her bag on her shoulders

"Money, the things we do just to get 'em" Iris teased while walking her friend to her door.

"Don't we know it." Jane said "Well, see you in a few months done. I'll tell you everything about NASA when we get a time to see each other."

"I'd rather you tell me about the cute guys working there rather than the effects of the gravitational pull of the celestial bodies to our planet." Iris and Jane shared a laugh as they bid farewell to each other.

"Expect two boxes of treacle tart on your way tomorrow!" Jane shouted as she neared the staircase of the apartment building Iris was living in.

"I expect nothing else!" Iris jokingly shouted back before closing her door.

She released a small chuckle before going through her phone's contact list to call Erik. She waited for quite a bit before the call was answered.

"Hello, Erik speaking." Iris heard a harried on the other line.

"Let me guess, your place is a mess and you tripped on your table when you were reaching for your phone." Iris said before letting out a small laugh when he heard the man curse on the other line.

"Thank God it's you Iris. You don't know how nervous I was when I heard the phone ring." Iris heard a few rustling sounds on the line caused by Erik who was arranging the papers that fell from his table.

"Darcy still trying to set you up on a date?" Iris asked, clipping her phone in between her ears and shoulder as she opened her fridge to get a glass of milk.

"Let's not talk about that, please. So why are you calling me, anyway?"

"You make it sound like I don't care about you at all." Iris said jokingly while placing her glass of milk on the table and switching the phone to her other ear. "If you must know, you are now talking to the new caretaker of Jane's research."

"You said yes to her then?" asked Erik.

"She offered me treacle tart, Erik. I never say no to treacle tart." Iris said before drinking her milk in one go and grabbing the envelope Jane left her. "She gave me all her notes on the wormholes. I'm reading it right now, actually."

"What do you think of it? I'm a bit doubtful since the numbers don't match up. You can hardly see any pattern in it."

"There is always a pattern in everything Erik, sometimes the pattern is just so messed up that it barely makes sense." Iris replied leafing through the ages of Jane's notes.

"Well, I can't argue with that." Erik said on the other line "So, do we start tomorrow?"

"Just go to Darcy's tomorrow, I'll ask her to take the truck. And take some extra stuff as well we will be spending the night at New Mexico."

"It has been a while since I've went on a road trip." Eric said on the other line "But do we really need to take Darcy?"

"Bye-bye Erik." Iris said releasing a laugh at the groan that she heard before hanging up.

Iris took his empty glass and placed it on her sink before sitting down on her couch and reading more of Jane's notes before picking up her phone once more to call her friend Darcy. Unlike Erik, Darcy answered her phone before the first ring ended.

"You've reached the beautiful and awesome Darcy. How may I help you Iris?"

"At least you look at your phone before answering." Iris said

"You called Erik, already? How come you call him before me?" Iris heard Darcy whine on the other line

"Age before beauty, Darcy." Iris said "And would you please stop setting him up? He's getting stressed about it."

"It's not my fault he's afraid of getting laid." Darcy replied "Besides you won't let me set you up so I must find my amusement elsewhere."

"I told you that I'm not interested in guys right now."

"When will you be interested then? At least Jane dates from time to time. But you? Nothing, zilch, nada, zero."

"Fine, I get it. How about this, I will date the first guy to fall from the sky and lands in front of me."

"Alright then, better remember that promise Iris."

"Darcy! I'm joking!" Iris exclaimed, not believing that her friend took her seriously.

"No backing out now. This actually makes it easier on me you know? I'll just have to push a hot guy out of a building as you're walking down the street."

"Darcy, he'll be dead once he lands on the ground. That's what happens when you fall from high places."

"That would be your punishment then, watching your one true love lying dead on the floor because you refused to date."

"That's morbid, and in a weird kind of way amusing as well." Iris said in between bouts of laughter "Alright, I'm way off topic. Could we take the truck, tomorrow?"

"Oh, you took Jane's offer then? Sure, I'll just have to fill her up if we want to reach New Mexico."

"And how did you know where we're going?" Iris asked Darcy, already knowing the answer.

"Jane left her journal open on the table. I was just being a concerned friend when I closed it for her."

"Uh-huh, I believe you Darcy." Iris teased her friend "See you tomorrow, remember to pack your bags with clothes and toiletries instead of food."

"Hey, I can live with the same clothes everyday but I would die without my daily intake of junk food." Iris heard Darcy say before hanging up.

Iris had a small amused grin as she put down her phone. She got up from the couch and stretched her body a little before taking Jane's notes with her to the bedroom. She placed the notes on her bed before opening her closet and taking out a travel bag.

She went through her clothes and grabbed some t-shirts and jeans along with a jacket and placing it on the bed. She then went on to her bathroom to take some toiletries from the cabinet. Lastly she went to her bedside table to grab her keys so that she would not forget them the next day. She was about to close the drawer of her table when she caught sight of a polished wooden box.

Iris hesitated for a little while before sighing and opening the drawer fully and taking out the box. She sat down on the edge of her bed. She placed the box on her lap and undid the lock on its sides. She then opened the box and stared at its contents.

Inside the box was her holly wand which she received when she was eleven. It had been years since the Wizarding War has ended and years since she last used her magic. After the battle has ended and their side is celebrating, she looked around the rest of the survivors. She gazed at the forced smile on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the anguish on George's face, the dead bodies of Remus and Tonks whom until death were with each other. To think that days ago she was swapping stories with the Weasley parents, planning pranks with the twins, and congratulating Remus and Tonks on their wedding.

Now that the adrenaline has faded, the pain that she was holding in burst through and she could do nothing but let her tears fall from her eyes. She remembered the lives that fought for their freedom, the friends who sacrificed themselves just so she can survive, and the family that was taken away from her before she can fully know them.

Magic is indeed a wonderful gift but magic was also the one who took away everything from her. It was because her mother possessed magic despite being born to muggles that she and her father met. It was also because of magic that Iris grew up without ever knowing them. It was because Iris had magic that she met people that she could truly call friends. It was also because of magic that she lost some of them and is forced to watch as those who remained are nothing but a mere shadow of themselves.

In the end she decided to leave the Wizarding World behind. She had everything in her trust fund converted to muggle money and left the rest of her family's money alone just in case she decides to once again return to the wizarding world. She had the rest of her belongings like her Hogwarts books and her invisibility cloak kept in the main Potter vault. The only thing she took with her was her wand. She may have decided to leave the wizarding world behind but she was still a witch and there are times when she wants to feel that warmth she feels whenever she was in contact with her wand, the very same warmth she experienced when Ollivander handed her the wand that chose her after so many wands that she had tried.

The last bouts of magic she did were to help her settle in the muggle world. She had Gringotts draw up certificates that would be legal in the muggle world. No one not even the brightest of muggles could see through it and she also made sure that her records were complete. A few confundus charms and certain schools were convinced that she attended their school for quite a while. After paying quite a hefty scum, the goblins of Gringotts made sure that any 'teacher' or 'classmate' she had would have a basic remembrance of her. Lastly, she bought several pepper-ups and wit-sharpening potions to help her learn everything a person her age should know about. After that she turned her back to the Wizarding World with nothing but her wand.

She did talk to some of her friends making sure that they know what she was doing. But like most friends who are apart, their conversations started to became less and less and farther in interval until they no longer took the effort to communicate with each other. Fortunately, she met Erik.

Erik was a professor she had during college. He had a physics organization in college that she attended during her time there. She became quite close to her professor and that bond only strengthened when she graduated and entered the same field as him. It was through Erik that she met Jane and Darcy.

Jane was a breath of fresh air to her. She was used to Hermione's aggressive attitude towards learning and having Jane's measured and calm attitude whenever they discussed quantum physics was a nice change. Darcy on the other hand is a political science major and a natural comedienne at that. It's not that she actively tries to make herself funny but it just comes naturally to her. She knows that she gets things wrong and more often than not her opinions on certain matters are too far-off but she just doesn't care and Iris has learned that just being in the presence of Darcy is one hell of a ride already.

She gazed at the wand that was inside the box. She took it and smiled at the sudden rush of warmth that spread through her, starting from her fingers. She gazed at the wand and thought about the life that she managed to build on her own. At first there were times when she asked herself if she made the right decision. Those times were long ago. She knows that what she did was something she needed. She needed to do something for herself. She needed to do something that she wanted to do instead of doing things that were just expected out of her.

With those thoughts, Iris returned the wand inside the box, locked it and returned it to her bedside table.

"Why did you bring us back?!" asked Thor heatedly as his father, Odin, brought them back to Asgard from Jotunheim.

"Do you realize what you've done?! What you've started?!" demanded Odin to his son.

"I was protecting my home!" replied Thor

"You cannot even protect your friends! How do you expect yourself to protect a kingdom?" Odin countered gazing angrily at the group of warriors in front of him "Go to the healing room now!" Odin ordered Sif and the Warriors Three.

"There won't be a kingdom to protect if you are afraid to act!" Thor said, his grip on Mjolnir tightening. "The Jotuns must learn to fear me just as they once feared you!"

"That's pride and vanity talking not leadership." Odin said "You have forgotten everything I taught you, a warrior's patience-"

"While you wait and be patient the Nine Realms laugh at us." Thor interrupted his father "The old ways are done and you stand there giving speeches while Asgard falls-"

"You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy!" shouted Odin

"And you are an old man and a fool!" Thor yelled back

They were enveloped in a tense silence as Odin looked down and Thor glared at his father.

"Yes, I was a fool" Odin said solemnly "To think you were ready."

"Father-" Loki, who up until then remained silent, tried to plead to his father in hopes to help Thor.

"Nay!" Odin shouted, his hands forming a fist to show that he would hear nothing about it.

"Thor Odinson, you have betrayed the expressed command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war." Odin exclaimed, taking hold of his staff and placing it to open the Bifrost.

"You are unworthy of this realm and your title! You are not worthy-" Odin said as he removed the cape and badges on his son's armour. "-of the loved ones you have betrayed."

Thor gazed miserably at his father as his entire reason for existence was ripped away from him. Loki was standing on the side feeling wretched that he could do nothing to defend his brother. And Odin gazed at his son sadly and disappointingly. Odin walked away from his son and approached his staff.

"I now take away from you your power!" Odin said raising his hand to grab Thor's weapon, Mjolnir.

Thor looked surprised as Mjolnir escaped his grasps and flew to his father's outstretched palms.

"In the name of my Father," Odin said raising his other hand making the rest of Thor's armour melt away "and his Father before; I, Odin Allfather, cast you!"

Odin thrust the Mjolnir in his son's direction letting the lightning it produced to hit Thor and shatter the remains of his armour. Due to the force of the attack, Thor was pushed back and he fell into the gates that his Father opened. Loki looked at his Father, feeling betrayed at his actions and went to the now barely open portal.

"He who shall ever hold this hammer, if he be worthy shall possess the power of Thor." Odin whispered to the Mjolnir before throwing it into the portal thereby closing it.

Loki could do nothing but watch as his brother and his brother's prized possession fell through the rainbow bridge.

Iris was inside Darcy's truck with her laptop open, trying to pinpoint the location of the sudden spike that they saw in their energy readings.

"When you said we would go to Puente Antiguo, I was not thinking of this." Darcy said from her position on the driver's seat.

"You and me both, Darcy." said Iris distractedly "It is ready Erik!"

Erik nodded and opened the roof of the truck, he took the small satellite from Iris' hands ad placed it on top of the truck. Iris joined Erik and looked at the radar that she was holding.

"Nothing's happening." said Erik

"I know, damn, Jane better make sure she has an extra box of treacle tart waiting for me." grumbled Iris

"Can I turn on the radio?" asked Darcy

"Normally I would say yes but seeing as I'm waiting for something that I doubt would happen then I have to say no." sulked Iris

"We can't keep on doing this" Erik said "Can't we just tell Jane that there was nothing to be found here?"

"Jane won't believe us." Iris answered going back inside the roof and looking at her laptop again "I should have reminded her that I'm a physicist and not some storm chaser." Iris said as she looked at several of the storm occurrences that were included in Jane's files.

"She believes there is a connection between all these atmospheric disturbances and her research." said Darcy

Iris and Erik looked at her disbelievingly.

"What?" Darcy said

"You actually sounded sane for a moment there." Iris said "You copied that from Jane didn't you?"

"Might have read it in her journal." Darcy shrugged

"Figures" Erik whispered

"Well we can't give up now." Iris said "We're already in the middle of sandy New Mexico and I am so not leaving here without something that would actually prove that I did not went out of my way for nothing."

"Iris?" Darcy said looking at her truck's side mirror. "I think you just got your wish."

Iris went and looked outside the truck's window. She felt her jaw slacken as the beginnings of an Aurora formed in the sky. She hurriedly went to the trucks open roof and gazed at the Aurora formation.

"I thought you said it was a subtle aurora?" Erik asked

"Ask that to Jane." Iris said "At least now we have something to do. Darcy, go nearer!"

Darcy started the truck and drove towards the aurora. Iris pulled her head back inside the truck and grabbed the video cam she brought and filmed the aurora formation.

"What is that?!" Darcy asked when she saw a flaming mass descend from the center of the aurora.

"Oh God!" Iris and Erik shouted as the mass made contact with the ground, creating shockwaves that caused the sand around them to fill up the air.

"I don't know about you two but I am not dying for this research!" Darcy shouted amidst the explosion that the impact made.

"I agree, go back!" Erik said as Iris closed her camcorder and away from the disturbance going on outside.

They were about to turn when a pillar of clouds appeared in their way. Darcy made to swerve the truck but before she could, lightning struck in the center of the pillar and the next thing they knew was that there was a man who crashed on the front of their truck and rolled into the sandy dunes of New Mexico. With his appearance the aurora slowly diminished and the foreboding storm halted.

Darcy and Iris exchanged panicked looks before opening the doors of the truck and going out to check on the man.

"This is not even worth the treacle tarts." Iris exclaimed

"Can't we just blame Jane and tell the police it's her fault?" Darcy asked as they neared the man lying on the sand.

"Just get the first aid kit!" said Erik as he turned the flashlight on to light Iris' way.

"Oh God, please don't be dead." Iris said, kneeling beside the man.

Iris was about to check the man's pulse when he visibly tensed ad stood up with a growl.

"Hammer! Hammer!" shouted the man

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's hammered. It's very obvious" Darcy commented

"Trust me, I'm thinking of getting hammered as well." Iris said as he watched the man shouting and going around in circles.

Iris pressed her fingers to her forehead and looked down with a sigh. She looked at the spot where Erik's flashlight was illuminating and decided to turn Erik's attention to it.

"Erik, look at this!" Iris exclaimed pointing at the ground.

Erik pointed his flashlight around the edges of the burnt image on the sand. He had been a physicist for years but never had he seen a lightning strike create such an image. Iris opened her camcorder and captured every bit of sketch that the light would be able to illuminate.

"Iris, I think we should take him to the hospital first." Erik said turning Iris' attention back to the man.

"Oh he's fine just look at him." Darcy said gesturing towards the man.

"Father! Heimdall! I know you can hear me!" shouted the man, earning him wary looks from Iris nd the others "Open the bifrost!"

"Mental hospital, more likely" Iris said, garnering the attention of the man.

"You," said the man pointing at her "what realm is this?"

"Uhmm, New Mexico?" Darcy said pointing her own flashlight towards the man.

The man's eyes narrowed at the conceived threat.

"You dare threaten me! You puny-"

The man was not able to complete his sentence since Darcy clicked the taser on her hands making it latch onto him and shock him until he passed out.

"Oh my God!" Iris exclaimed looking at Darcy and the unconscious man.

"What he was freaking me out!" Darcy defended herself

"God what are we going to do!" Iris panicked gazing at Erik for help.

"Hey Iris, you ready to date Mr. Insane over there?" Darcy asked pointing to the man's unconscious form on the sand.

"DARCY!" Iris and Erik exclaimed

"What! He fell from the sky!"

=TBC=

READ AND REVIEW