Book 1: Mirage [Thor]

Chapter 11

Waking the next morning Anya's eyes fluttered open to focus on the fabric she rested against. Shifting the young woman glanced up to realize the god hadn't moved from his spot. In fact, Thor fell asleep at some point in the early morning, slumped against the pillows. She couldn't help but smile, slipping out of his grasp and moving into the bathroom. A hot shower was much needed, easing the tense muscles in her shoulders and back. The young woman never wanted to leave.

A knock to the door startled the agent from her thoughts.

"Anya?"

Breathing in relief, her head shook. "Yes, Thor?"

"Are you alright in there?"

"Just taking a shower. I'll be right out."

Drying off and redressing Anya walked back into the room to find the Asgardian looking at the top of the small dresser on the far side of the room. Quietly walking over she peeked around an arm to find him staring at the only picture frame in the space.

"I see you found my only prized possession on this ship."

He jumped, startled having not heard her approach. She grinned widely when Thor glanced down.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"My parents." Though smiling there was a sad look in Anya's eyes.

"Do you miss them?"

"Every day..."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

A small laugh escaped her lips and it confused him. "My parents are still alive... But when they heard of our capture in the desert both lost hope that I would be found living."

"How could they abandon hope?" She didn't answer, staring at the photo. "How long were you kidnapped?"

"We thought it was a few days, weeks at most... But all of us had been holed up in that cave for nearly four months. It was hard to tell without sunlight and when the soldiers told me how long it had been..." She sighed heavily. "Words cannot describe the emotions that ran through me. And the knowledge that my parents thought I was gone, held a funeral and everything when the government told them and other loved ones who waited for us to come home that there was no hope for anyone to return alive given the brutal history that group is capable of displaying. They mourned and tried to move on."

Thor allowed the young woman to take the frame from his grasp, thumb caressing the glass.

"I am thankful we did try to escape because that was the day the Taliban finally made contact with the government and told them that no amount of money would get us home. We were to be executed as an example that the war was not over. Everyone died in the end, but at least we fought." A weak smile came to her lips. "I never told them... that I'm alive..."

The statement made Thor's brows pinch in confusion.

"And never will. Some wounds are too great to reopen when they have already mourned and accepted that I will never come home."

"But you love them, and they you," the god stated.

Nodding in agreement, the young woman placed the picture back on the dresser. "While my sudden appearance could bring joy it can also lead to other emotions that could break them," Anya said. "I don't want to put them through that again if something were to ever happen to me working as an agent. If I were to actually die in the line of work, they wouldn't believe it and would never be able to cope with the loss a second time."