(A/N: I really can't stop writing Avengers stuff. I just can't and I don't know why. Regardless, I don't own the Avengers whether it be in whole or in part and I am fairly confident that I never will. So I have written quite a few different pairings, and I'm sure that I will think up even more before I am done, mostly because I don't think that I ever intend to be done. So this one has its main focus on Steve/Thor, but does mention the Tony/Loki pairing so if you don't like that then the door is that way just so you know. On with the show!)

Worthy of a God

How they had managed to wind up alone together, Steve could only guess. After all he had been expertly avoiding the situation for weeks and weeks. But even he knew that strategies failed and plans could go awry. So he was just going to have to deal with it. Even if he was having a nearly impossible time of accepting it.

"Thor, you are a God. You are the Prince of Asgard. What in all of your Nine Realms could you possibly see in me?" Steve felt his voice betray him, normally firm and commanding it had taken on the slight wobble of sorrow and fear. He stood with his back to the God, eyes trained on some point beyond the floor to ceiling windows that showcased the stormy world around them. Stormy because of Thor, because of him and his avoidance, he realized.

The main living area of Avengers Tower normally brought him a sense of comfort, of home and of family. It lost a bit of that effect when the tension between them thickened the air and made it hard to breathe. He really didn't want to have the conversation that they were about to have. It was to the point that, even without looking, he could tell when Thor was close to him, and that did strange things to his heart.

Their relationship had once been simple. Thor had respected Steve as a fellow warrior and they had bonded over battle plans and combat. It was fairly easy to understand from Steve's perspective; it was no more than a healthy partnership which bettered the team as a whole for its existence. But as years had gone by they had become friends, the best of friends. The spent their off the clock hours together, touring museums and attending baseball games, and though occasionally Tony, or Loki, or Bruce might join them (Clint had told them that Natasha wouldn't allow him anywhere a baseball game ever again) it was always Steve and Thor.

That relationship had slowly mutated into something that Steve couldn't understand. There were shy glances and secretive smiles that he recognized as affection after a while, and somehow that didn't bother him. But then there were tight hugs and lingering touches, and those he failed to understand the reason for, even as he craved them more and more. His confusion proved to be something of a wedge driven between them.

It all clicked into place with horrifying alacrity the first time that Steve saw Tony embrace Loki and kiss him. Steve's heart had done a running leap off of a cliff when he realized that that was what he had wanted with Thor. But it terrified him to think it. Tony was Tony and he would always do whatever he wanted and Loki was no different and so it was forgivable for them. To Steve, the fact that he wanted to do it, it was a mortal sin. He didn't like the fact that Thor had remained silent, but gave the man his time to think. It had been easier for Steve to bring up the fact that they weren't compatible based on his worth rather than his sheer terror at the things that he desired. He didn't want Thor to think any less of him for being so frightened.

Hell, he was still a virgin and the blonde God of Thunder was sort of intimidating for a first time, and he shouldn't have even thought that.

His body grew tense when he felt Thor's strong hands on his shoulders, slowly turning him away from the window. Miserable with his fear Steve tilted his chin up and tried his best to meet Thor's gaze. The God of Thunder looked absolutely broken and Steve added the fact that it was his fault to his pile of reasons to hate himself.

"You value yourself so lowly and I do not know why. I see so much in you. You are my friend, the best one I have ever known, and you are an indispensable teammate. You are more than a brother in arms. Yours is a true Warrior's heart, equal parts strength and compassion and you should be looked to with absolute respect for that," Thor ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "If it troubles you so, then I will say it. I feel no shame Steve Rogers, in having fallen in love with you. Nay, I am proud, honored to have the chance to love a man such as you," Thor whispered with such conviction that Steve felt tears prickle at his eyes and his heart break just a little more.

"Th…Thor, I'm not…" Steve sighed and looked away. "Even if you do think me worthy…This is hard to explain," Steve said, stumbling for words and finding very few.

"Tell me and I shall listen," Thor said, his large hands still resting on Steve's shoulders. The Super Soldier prepared himself to admit his weakness, his fists clenched against the mortification.

"I know, deep down that I am in love with you. I also know that I can never change that. But I am terrified of what that means. When I was growing up…this just didn't happen. Being…homosexual was one of the worst sins. People were beaten and killed for it and everyone told me that they would go to Hell for it. And I know that it doesn't bother Tony, and that Loki wouldn't care anyway, but my soul is the only thing that I have left," Steve choked slightly and shook his head to fight tears. "I don't know if I can make you understand, but I am so scared of it and I don't want to be. I want to be happy, and I want that happiness to be with you and that's where my mind complicates things," he finished with a sigh.

Thor embraced Steve tightly, pulling the shorter blonde against his chest and holding on for dear life. It was a few seconds later that Steve was hugging him just as tightly. While Thor's eyes were blessedly dry, he could feel Steve's tears soaking the fabric of his t-shirt and it made him hold on all the tighter.

"Your soul is safe Captain Rogers. No Midgardian soul has ever been stolen away to Hel or been denied Valhalla because of those that their heart would love. I will love you all of my days and yours and we will see each other again in the Golden Halls of Valhalla and we shall love each other for eternity 'til Ragnarok come," Thor said firmly and Steve's breath rushed out of him, his arms growing desperately tight.

It was Steve, still crying and trembling with sobs that first joined their lips in a kiss. The contact remained chaste and Thor did not seek to change it, merely shifting to hold the smaller man more comfortably. It was the bliss that he had expected but he was content to work with the Captain. Humanity had picked up many strange views over the centuries and the dark eye that they turned on homosexuality was one that Thor would never understand.

"I do not deserve you," Steve whispered softly as Thor wiped his tears away. The taller blonde just shook his head and pressed his lips to Steve's once again.

"You must never think that. I love you and that will never change," Thor assured gently, the fingers of one hand threading into the silken strands of Steve's hair.

"And I love you, no matter what, I love you," Steve responded, leaning into Thor's chest and feeling the weight lifted from his heart. Truth was that he was so happy that he didn't quite know what to do with himself. He was able to be with the person that he had fallen for, and he wasn't damned for it, and he was loved back, and it was all too incredible to properly understand so he didn't try.

(A/N: There you go. I hope that you like it. I rarely deal with the fact that Steve's mind is 70 years in the past, mostly because I tend to forget. Anyway, let me know what you thought because reviews are like candy and I love candy.)