Thor's question made Jane's heart sink into her stomach. She could tell from the way he asked that he had an idea of what her answer would be, and that it was not what he wanted to hear. Still, she could not lie to him.

"He's dead, as is your mother. They both died protecting me - protecting the nine realms from something called the Aether. It was going to be used to destroy the whole universe." She reached up and touched his cheek, hoping that he would not be able to see in her eyes all of the guilt she carried from those events.

"I'm sorry. But that's just in my time, in my reality. Yours could be alive and well and someday you may get to go back to them."