Chapter 31) – Forgot To Breathe

Still staring at the hammer in her hand, Mara began to internally panic, [Shit El, how did this happen? I didn't even notice picking it up! I thought Vision said it was perfectly weighted, not that it weighed less than a feather!! What am I going to do now?!]

Feeling her heart beginning to race faster and faster, accompanied by the Adrenaline that started to make its way around her system, I tried to pacify my host, <It's going to be okay Mar, just breathe. In. Out. Just like that, keep that rhythm.>

Following my instructions perfectly, Mara began to steady her breathing which slowly calmed her racing heart.

As I absorbed the Adrenaline snack my host had unwittingly provided me, I set to work on reorienting Mara so that we could get out of the situation we found ourselves in, <For now Mar, open your hand so we can drop the hammer and we'll go from there. Let's take it a step at time.>

Non-verbally agreeing with me, Mara bobbed her head slightly and opened her hand to let the hammer fall to the ground.

Preventing us from taking our next step, the intruder on his knees, Thor, interrupted, "You… How?"

Not needing my assistance, Mara executed the task Coulson initially gave her by swiftly roundhouse kicking the kneeling man-god-alien-being – whatever thing he identified as – and robbed him of his consciousness.

Joining my host in the open area of the quarantine cube were the pair of Clint and Coulson.

Clint rappelled down from the nest we were previously in, and Coulson had made his way down from the raised metal framework surrounding the inside of the quarantine cube.

As I removed my host's facemask, Hawkeye was the first to speak and did so trying to keep the tone light-hearted - as he always seemed to do, "I didn't know Thor was a woman, but now I wonder how those old Scandinavian's got the imagery so wrong Mara. I mean sure, I can see the red hair, so that's pretty accurate, but I gotta ask; can you… Can you grow a beard? And can I see it?"

Appreciating Clint's jesting, while also finding it genuinely amusing, Mara giggled and replied, "Hehehe, I don't think I can grow a beard Clint, sorry. I'm also as stumped as you when it comes to the imagery. How they got my fine figure confused with an extremely hairy, podgy, middle-aged man is anyone's guess."

As my host and Clint were speaking, Coulson used his communicator to direct some agents to move all the injured agents into the medical facility. After that they were to carry the intruder – Thor - away to a secure area.

Taking the gap in the conversation between Mara and Hawkeye as an invitation, Coulson joined the conversation, "All joking aside, do you have any idea how you managed to lift the hammer Mara? Do you think there is any chance that you are actually some kind of reincarnation of Thor, or possibly 1 of his descendants? I know you've got no memories, but has Mjolnir sparked anything?"

Shaking her head, my host answered, "I've got no idea to be honest Coulson, on any of the questions you asked. I can't remember anything, and the hammer didn't jog my memory, so I've got no clue. I still think it might have been luck or something that I even managed to pick it up since it didn't weight anything in my hand."

Shrugging his shoulders, Clint stepped closer to the hammer as Mara took a step back, "Well, only 1 way to find out right? Let's see what all the fuss is about."

Bending down and grabbing hold of the hammer's handle with 1 hand, Clint tensed his arm and tried to lift it.

Needless to say, the mystical Mjolnir held steadfast. Not rattling even an inch.

Not taking the defeat lying down, the bowman bend down slightly and grabbed the handle with his other hand before trying again.

Seemingly pulling as hard as he could, Clint went red in the face and made various grunting noises, but it was to no avail as the hammer refused to budge.

Releasing his grip on the shaft, Clint stood erect and blew out deep breaths to recuperate.

In between catching his breath, Hawkeye spoke towards my host, "Well *phew* that's certainly harder than it looked. *phew* I thought you said it didn't weigh anything, not that it was glued down. *Phew* Did you do that on purpose?"

Shaking her head, Mara replied, "I wish. I didn't even realise we had picked up the hammer with how light it was. Do you want me to give it another go and see if it works again?"

Although the question wasn't directed to anyone in particular, both of the men nodded their heads unintentionally in sync with each other.

With Clint stepping back to his original position, so that my host could return to where she was stood when she dropped the hammer, Mara prepared herself to lift Mjolnir again.

Bending her back, Mara hunched over and grabbed the hammer's shaft with her right hand this time.

As we were paying particular attention to the attempt, we noticed that as soon as Mara grasped the shaft an almost imperceptibly gentle ripple travel throughout both of our bodies and the ripple caused us to hear a faint humming sound.

Not putting any strength into her right arm, Mara went to lift said arm as if she wasn't holding anything and the hammer easily followed suit.

There was no resistance and no fighting the weapon like Clint had. Just like the previous time, it was weightless and sat comfortably in my host's grip.

Waving it side-to-side, Mara then spun it in a spiral before catching it again. When she let go of the hammer to twist it, the faint humming noise was heard again, and the same happened when she caught it.

Realising that she was just playing around with the hammer, I locked the agent form and created a head to speak with Coulson, "What now, Coulson? Do you still suspect the intruder to be Thor or could the initial assumption that this hammer is Mjolnir be incorrect?"

Although Coulson opened his mouth to answer my query, it was Mara's voice that came out, "Woah what happened? El, did you do something?"

Redirecting my focus from the agent in charge, I turned my head towards my host, "Nothing unusual, no. Why? What happened?"

Swinging the hammer around in big arcs, as Clint took quite a few more steps away from my host, Mara replied, "It feels heavy now! Not heavy enough to hurt my arm or make it impossible to lift, but there's a noticeable heft that really makes it clear I'm holding something made for smashing. Are you sure it's nothing you did?"

Thinking of exactly what I had done in-between when Mara was effortlessly spiralling the hammer, to when it suddenly gained some weight, I only came to a single conclusion, "The only thing I can think of is that I locked the agent form to create a head in order to communicate with Coulson. Should I revert it for confirmation?"

Nodding her head, Mara replied, "Yeah, but do it in separate steps. Retract your head first and we'll see if that does anything. If it doesn't, unlock the suit. It probably is the locked suit, but it doesn't hurt to test it out."

Doing exactly as requested, I first absorbed my projected head back into the agent form, <Any change, Mar?>

Waving the hammer around Mara responded, "Nope, still weighty. Looks like the locking was most likely it."

Transitioning onto the next step, I unlocked the agent form and felt the gentle humming pulse from the hammer that I must have missed when I initially locked the agent form - due to not paying attention for it.

Almost immediately Mara spun in a circle and had to balance herself to prevent from falling over, "Woah, yeah that definitely did it. How curious. I wonder if the hammer classes us as 2 separate individuals El and that's why it becomes weightless? What if you lift it with a tendril, El? Can we try that next?"

Dropping the hammer to the ground, Mara took a step away from it as I affirmed, <Sure thing, Mar.>

Sending out a tendril from the right shoulder of the agent form, I coiled it around the length of Mjolnir's shaft up to the head of the hammer.

Once the tendril had wrapped around the handle a few times, and made it to the base of the hammer head, I felt the all-to-familiar humming pulse of recognition from the weapon.

Raising the tendril that was coiled around the hammer, I picked the weapon off the ground and retracted the tendril to bring Mjolnir closer to my host.

Whilst I was doing so, Mara asked me, "How does it feel El? It is weighty?"

Performing the same back-and-forth swooshing that Mara had previously, I confirmed my host's question, <Indeed it does. Like you said, is not overtaxing but also impossible to move like for others. A rather curious thing indeed.>

Although we were ignoring Hawkeye and Coulson in favour of our experiment, the 2 didn't seem to mind as they watched on in fascination from the side-lines.

Settling the query once and for all, Mara requested, "Okay El, 1 last test just for confirmation's sake. Lower the hammer until it is a few millimetres off the ground and lock the agent form. If you hold it high into the air, it'll probably rip the tendril off since the theory here is that the hammer should just drop to the ground."

Not seeing any issue with the request, I did exactly as Mara had directed.

Sure enough, as soon as the form was locked, the hammer fell the handful of millimetres to the ground pulling Mara's shoulder slightly with it as the tendril was still attached to the handle.

Retracting the tendril and creating a head to speak aloud again, I spoke towards Coulson, "As you've seen, it would appear that both Mar and I can lift the hammer. Additionally, when we're both holding it, it becomes completely weightless. There is still the question of if the hammer is meant to be weightless when 1 person holds it, and we're somehow split into 2 people, so the effect is halved when only 1 of us holds it. Or if it is meant to be weighted, and 2 people holding it at once is what causes the weightlessness. But unless we can find someone else that can lift it, there's no way to test which is correct."

Nodding in confirmation, Coulson was able to speak for the first time in a little while, "Agreed. It's a miracle you're able to lift it at all, so we'll have to perform some trials using you as a baseline for the time being. We'll also have to question the intruder to see what they know about it. For the most part, since we have nothing else to go off, we have to assume that it's still Mjolnir or at least the same type of weapon that the myth was based off. There's no clear reason why only you 2 can lift it, but once we're sure there's no adverse effects from you or agent Barton, we'll have others attempt to lift it as well. For now, could you place it back onto the makeshift pedestal."

With the both of us nodding our heads, I retracted mine back into the agent form and unlocked it.

As Mara was about to bend down to pick up the hammer, however, Mjolnir itself must have sensed our intentions as it flew up from the ground and into her hand.

Feeling the familiar hum, Mara looked at Coulson while she stated, "Well that's new. Guess that part of the myth is accurate."

Carrying the hammer over to the pedestal, Mara released the loose grip she had on Mjolnir as it dropped the short distance to come to rest in the same position where it initially sat.

Turning back around, we followed the 2 men out of the site after starting a conversation with Clint as he grumbled, "Why do you get the cool god hammer. You've already got superpowers, let me have something cool."

Patting the bowman's left shoulder, Mara comforted him, "Don't worry Clint, bows are cool."

Turning to face my host, without missing a step as he continued walking, Hawkeye asked, "You really think so?"

Giggling to herself, Mara answered, "Hehe oh I didn't say I thought they were cool. I'm sure someone out there does though."

Narrowing his eyes at my host, with an extremely obvious vindictive gleam in said eyes, Clint chuckled back, "Ohohoh, you're gonna pay for that missy. The first thing I do when I see May is recommend you have a few live combat spars with me. Then we'll see how cool a bow can be."

Flinching at the threat, Mara questioned back, "You wouldn't?!"

Speeding up his walk, which caused my host's arm to fall from his shoulder, the bowman broke out into a mischievous grin, "Oh I would. And the only way the session is going to end is when you admit bows are cool."

Knowing that May would definitely agree to Clint's proposal, Mara looked towards Coulson for assistance as the bowman practically ran away - most likely towards our handler.

Coulson, not providing the assistance Mara wanted, responded, "Don't look at me. May's your handler and she's not assigned to me currently. Even if I ordered her to reject it, she isn't obliged to follow the order. On the plus side, he probably won't kill you thanks to your abilities. That's not to say it'll be from a lack of trying though. Good luck."

With those words of encouragement, Coulson continued on his exit walk while Mara hung her head and trailed after him as I re-covered her face.

------

"Bows are cool, BOWS ARE COOL! I SAID IT! STOP SHOOTING AT ME!!"

It went without saying, but Clint followed through with his earlier statement and was thoroughly enjoying himself as he peppered my host with the various arrow types he had at his disposal.

To make matters worse, May had decided that Mara's head had gotten a little too big. What with her committing robot genocide relatively easily, taking down Vanko alongside the Iron Men without much trouble, and now wielding a hammer possibly from legend as well as being used by a god – although the jury was still out regarding the details of the last part.

As such, May had ordered that no powers be used during the duel, other than the obvious base physical enhancements which we had detailed as being permanent genetic improvements.

Due to the restriction, I was also prevented from getting involved unless I deemed a situation dangerous for my host. Clint had no problem with that either as I hadn't said anything about bows.

May's justification for the spar was that Mara needed to work on her foundations and not rely solely on her 'superpowers'. She was also told that any hit would count as a kill as the enemy could use unknown weaponry and that Mara would face punishment if she 'died'. This meant she couldn't just take shots and pincushion herself to force close combat.

Logically it would make my host stronger, so I had no qualms with the training. A stronger base host would mean my enhancements would be multiplied that much higher.

Even if it appeared that Clint was being harsh towards my host, it was evident that he was only acting as such while trying his best to train her as hard as he could.

The main reason I thought that to be the case was that with a name such as Hawkeye, there was no way he would miss my host by a hairsbreadth for 20 straight minutes if he was actually trying to hit her.

Instead, as soon as Mara would dodge by more than a couple of millimetres, the next shot would suddenly arrive exactly 1 millimetre away from my host's new dodging range.

If I was not informed by the man himself, I would have been convinced that Clint had superpowers with the accuracy of his shots.

I seriously considered bonding with him at some point to study the genetic data of his eyes to assist Mara.

The face covering of the agent form had been removed from the start of the spar as it was only the 2 of them in the training room, but the agent form was locked such that it was essentially just clothing.

After a further 5 or so minutes of shooting and dodging, Clint finally ran out of arrows from his back quiver and the multiple ground quivers that were slightly behind him.

Mara was still stood at the line she started the spar on, not having made a single step in advancement.

Throughout the fight, she only went side-to-side or back then forward to dodge, but never crossed the marked line on the floor.

Once Mara had noticed that the arrows weren't coming at her any more, she flopped down onto the floor spread eagle while she caught her breath.

Making his way over, seemingly without having broken a sweat, Clint looked down at my host's beet red face, "1 more time."

Although she had shouted it quite a number of times, Hawkeye clearly wanted to rub in his victory.

Unfortunately, Mara being Mara wouldn't take it lying down… Metaphorically of course since she was actually physically lying down, "*Haah* Bow's AREN'T cool!"

Narrowing his eyes again, Clint was about to retort when Mara sat up and continued, "YOU'RE cool Clint! *Haah* That was incredible, how are you *haah* so accurate?! You gotta have superpowers surely. There's no need to hide it now. I won't tell, I promise."

Chuckling, and appearing to be pleased with the praise, Clint raised his chin slightly with pride as he responded, "This is all-natural sorry Mara. Sure, there's a lot of talent from yours truly, but as far as my genetics show – no superpowers here."

Standing up from the ground, Mara asked, "But why do you only use a bow and arrows? I mean I can kinda understand that they're more versatile, but don't you want to carry around a few guns even for when you run out of arrows? Or better yet, you could use throwing knives or something to take full advantage of your accuracy?"

Not needing to think for long, Clint replied, "You make a good point and I do carry small firearms on me for missions but since this was just a light spar I didn't think I'd need them. I can use throwing knives; however, their main appeal is their ability to be used for range and close combat, but I'm better at close combat with my bow than knives. Knives are Natasha's thing. I have requested something like a wristbow from the brainiacs in R&D, but they've yet to get back to me for the time being. Apparently asking for the thing to have the same features as my back quiver, with its interchangeable heads, was too much for their packed schedule of trying to save some tin can's life. But since that's resolved, I think they'll pick up my request shortly."

As the door to the temporary training cube began to open, I swiftly covered my host's face to protect her identity from the new party.

I immediately realised that such action was unnecessary, however.

Walking through the door was our handler, May, who immediately got down to business while staring at Mara, "The intruder has woken up. They're refusing to say anything to Coulson or any of our agents other than that they'll only speak to the 1 who lifted the hammer. That would be you Mara, so let's see if he knows anything about the weapon or if he's just some nutjob that broke in not knowing what was held in here. He's restrained but if he tries anything you have permission to knock him unconscious again. Try not to kill him until we know for certain he's not just a crazy person."

Nodding her head, my host affirmed the order, "Understood. Lead the way boss."

Turning on her heels, May did precisely that as Mara and Clint followed behind her like 2 little ducklings.