Unexpected

VI

Sunday came by fairly quickly. Nina had spent the weekend with Bruce and Helen in the lab. She had allowed them to do some experimenting on her. They had been fascinated to say the least. She explained to them all of the dos and don'ts, all the things she could consume and those she couldn't. Bruce was especially in awe when she told them that she bad no problem with radiation. She told then time-tots used to play with radiation in the playground, it was no big deal.

She told them how her planet's atmosphere was very similar to Earth's, but while humans could live breathing pure oxygen for days, she wouldn't last hours before becoming dizzy and nauseous. It could be extremely dangerous for all those with a binary vascular system.

She did ask them not to do any scans of her brain. It was simply a bad idea. Humans weren't supposed to have a Time Lord body to their own, so she decided it was best to keep her brain out of it.

The party was on Sunday. Many people were invited, such as WWII veterans, friends of the Avengers, and some people Tony knew. They weren't his friends, simply acquaintances.

Steve took Nina under his wing as soon as she appeared into the party. She was wearing a dark blue, fairly casual dress. They walked to the bar. As soon as Thor noticed them, he started pouring some drinks from a small flask.

"I hate dresses," she mumbled as she grabbed Steve's arm. Steve laughed warmly.

"I know."

"Here, have this, Lady Jones," Thor said. Nina rolled her eyes. Thor hadn't stopped calling her a Lady. Ever since he found out she had Asgardian ancestry, he treated her like royalty. She didn't think it would be a surprise, to be honest. It was quite common. Their two races were sister-people. Many Asgardians married Time Lords and vice versa. Actually, Time Lords were prohibited to have any romantic attachments with other species, because usually a weaker body couldn't withstand a Time Lord brain. Yet, with Asgardians it was different.

The Time Lords that had a big Asgardian part of their DNA could usually live longer. Not because of the regenerations, but because each version of them had a longer lifespan. Some could live for hundreds of years with the same face. Nina wondered if it was the same for her. She had never aged in a regeneration. At least not enough so it was visible. Maybe her small part Asgardian wasn't as small as she thought. Needless to say, the two people were very close. Until Odin refused to help the Time Lords, that is. That had definetly pushed him appart. Especially because Gallifrey exploded.

"Don't call me that, Thor," she told him. "It's Nina."  Thor handed her a glass.

"As you wish, Lady Nina," he said. Nina rolled her eyes and sighed, but Steve was quite entertained by the exchange.

"What is this, anyway?" Nina asked, smelling the drink. It smelled really strong. One thing she hadn't gotten from the Asgardians was their alcohol resistance. She was definitely Time Lord in that aspect; she could get drunk fairly easy. Yes, she still had  much more tolerance than the average human, but for an Asgardian it was nothing. And the drink smelled so strong she was starting to believe even Steve could get affected by it.

"It is Asgardian," he answered.

"You gotta pour us some of that, blondie," said an elder man. He wore a hat that said World War II Veteran. He had a couple of his friends sitting on the bar stools next to him.

"This is aged a thousand years in the barrels built from the wreck of Grunhel's feet. It is not made for mortal men," Thor tried to warn him.

"Neither was Omaha Beach, blondie," the man told him. "Stop trying to scare us. Come on."

Thor shared a look with Steve and Nina, and they both shrugged. The man wanted the drink.

"Alright."

Thor grabbed little shot glasses and poured them a tiny bit of liquor. The men quickly drank up.

Two minutes later, the elders had to be helped home by the security, for they were unable to stand up.

To say the drink affected Nina was an understatement. She wasn't the type to get drunk, but that night she was. Time seemed to pass very quickly for her, which was weird. All she remembered was talking to a bunch of people she didn't know, sticking with Thor for the rest of the party.

By the end of the night, the Avengers sat around a table and talked. Nina sat down on the ground between Clint and Maria. She was still kind of out of it. She was almost falling asleep when Clint's voice woke her up for good.

"Ah, whosoever e he worthy shall haveth the power!" Clint's voice boomed in a Strange accent. "Whatever man, it's a trick." Thor laughed.

"Well, please, be my guest," he gestured to the hammer on the wooden table. A silence fell between them.

"Come on," Tony urged him. It was quite obvious that Tony also wanted to try lifting it.

"Really?" Asked Clint. Thor nodded.

"Yeah," the god told him. Clint smirked and gave Nina his drum sticks. She held them as the Avengers, one by one, tried to lift the hammer.

"It's physics," Tony insisted. Obviously, he was made fun of onc whe couldn't lift it either.

Once it was Steve's turn, both Nina and Thor tensed up when they realised Steve moved the hammer. He didn't pick it up, but it moved, and it made a noise against the table.

"Ha, ha, ha," Thir nodded awkwardly. "Nothing," he told Steve. This left Nina wondering if Steve hadn't been able to lift it or if once he realised he could do it, he simply didn't.

"Girls?" Bruce asked the two. They shared a look and laughed.

"Oh, no, that's not a question I need answered," Natasha told them. Their eyes fell upon Nina, sitting on the floor.

"I can barely stand up, and you guys want me to lift a hammer?" She asked them with a chuckle.

"What did you drink, kitten? Jesus," Tony exclaimed.

"Thor's thousand-year-whatever," she told them.

"Come on, maybe it's the race. Maybe it's because we're all human. We need you to try it out." Stark insisted. It was obviously not because they were all human. Nina knew that. She also knew there was no way she could ever lift the stupid hammer. Out of all of them, she was probably the least worthy one. Maybe not, maybe Tony was, he was an asshole. But either way, she knew she wouldn't be able to lift Mjolnir.

"It's not," Nina told them. "But fine," she said, earning a few cheers from her friends. He laughed, and stood up, leaving the drum sticks on the ground next to Maria.

She stood up straight and grabbed the handle. As expected, it didn't even bulge. Tony booed her, making the other laugh.

"As I said, it's not for the fact that we're obviously of superior species," Nina told Tony when she sat back down on the ground. The other whined, but still laughed.

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged," Tony stated.

"You bet your ass," Clint agreed.

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria told him. Nina laughed. She had heard the story. Steve looked between Maria and Nina and looked up at Tony.

"Did you tell everyone about that?"

"The handle's imprinted, right?" Tony quickly changed the subject. "Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints," Tony mocked.

"Yes, it's a very, very interesting theory," Thor said, pushing himself off the couch. "I have a simpler one," he said and grabbed the hammer, easily lifting it up. He even flipped in the air before grabbing it. "You're all not worthy." Everyone groaned.