(A/N: Another Avengers fic. This one is another request fill for angelxofxmine and is more platonic romance. It features Straight!Thor/Asexual!Clint established relationship with some definite sadness but that sort of happy sad. I don't own the Avengers and I never will, but if I did, there would probably be more fluff than villainy and Marvel wouldn't like that, no matter how progressive they decide to be with having gay super heroes. Anyway, I should also mention that his features Human Avenger Loki, though he does still have his powers to a smaller extent. Also, if you know nothing about Thor's alter ego in the world of comic books, this might confuse you some.)
Love Can Fall out of the Sky
"You doing okay Clint?" Bruce looked concerned from behind his black eye and split lip. They had been training with Bruce, teaching him as much as they knew about hand-to-hand combat techniques. It had become a startling trend for people to try to cripple the Hulk by rendering him Banner, and they needed the doctor to be able to fight his way out of danger. Tony was engineering a cure for the most common methods that people used to affect the Hulk, but it wasn't going to take care of it every time.
"I'm fine. Physically at least," the archer said, trying to make a joke of it as he looked meaningfully between his own uninjured frame and Bruce's battered self. But he couldn't quite put the smile on his face so he turned back to replacing his combat gear in the locker with his name on it. SHIELD was regularly offended by the fact that he and the rest of the Avengers team stayed at Avengers Tower rather than HQ. But the simple fact was that Tony had provided far more comfortable accommodations than the government had come up with and it was more conducive to a team environment.
"You're missing him pretty badly then," Bruce's voice was sympathetic, his gentle tone not matching with the state of his face, and once Clint might have laughed. But it was true, and it was tearing away at him. He toyed with the ring that he wore on a chain around his neck, the gesture had become subconscious, a sign of stress.
"He has been gone for a month. It doesn't take a whole month to sort out an arranged marriage. I swear, the not knowing is what's going to kill me," Clint whispered, afraid of anyone hearing him. He had sworn that his relationship wasn't going to impede his performance as an Agent and thus did his best to pretend that he was unaffected.
"You've been together for six years. He's going to come back to you, no matter what," Bruce assured in a soft tone and gave Clint a quick, tight hug. The archer closed his eyes and sighed.
"Yeah, but I can't give him kids. I mean, we don't even…you know…He's got people who expect things from him," Clint said with a blush, his eyes dropping away from Bruce. The doctor was not normally the one that Clint discussed such things with, but neither his team leader Steve, nor his pseudo brother-in-law Loki was around.
"Relax Clint. He loves you," Bruce said firmly and the archer nodded albeit a little grimly.
"I do know that. The question is, is he allowed to?" Clint muttered, the ring biting into his palm as he squeezed it more tightly. Bruce couldn't answer, instead hugging Clint again and carefully unwrapping the archer's fingers before he could hurt himself.
Three days later Clint was in the kitchen with Loki, making them some sandwiches for lunch when the sky darkened. Loki went instantly tense, his hand wrapping almost painfully around Clint's forearm.
"Something isn't right," Loki whispered, his voice was hoarse with tension. He and Clint stood rigid, not breathing as the sky opened up.
"What do you mean?" Clint dared to ask, his hear thrumming with fear. He hadn't liked the tone of Loki's voice at all. It took a great deal to unsettle the former God and Clint did not want to think about what it could possibly have to do with Thor.
"He doesn't feel the same anymore," Loki replied and Clint at last realized that he could feel Loki's magic, a pale shadow of its former self, was crawling over his skin. And when Thor rocketed to the ground, landing with one leg crumpling beneath him that magic flared with rage. Clint was suddenly the one grabbing onto Loki's arm, restraining the taller man enough to keep him from doing something stupid, but as he did so he moved both of them hurriedly to the helipad where Thor was struggling to his feet.
"Thor!" Clint called out, afraid of the truth, afraid of what might have happened. It would have been his fault; anything that happened to Thor would have been his fault because he was selfish and could not stop loving the God.
He was met with tired blue eyes and messy blonde hair, a man half the size that he once had been with a pronounced limp was suddenly wrapped around him. Without a thought Clint hugged back, his hand dropping away from Loki's arm as he wrapped both arms around Thor's middle. Beside them Loki dropped back a couple steps and shook his head in disbelief.
"I am glad to be back with you at last," Thor's voice was quiet, soft, so very un-Thor that it brought instant tears to Clint's eyes. He remembered a mortal Thor, years ago, trying to lift a hammer that would not have him as its master. That Thor had still had his bulk, his Asgardian strength scaled down but still there. This Thor felt breakable and frail. He couldn't forgive what had happened to the man he loved.
"They…they've ruined you," Loki said at last and both Thor and Clint turned their heads to see the dark haired former God in tears. Thor kept an arm around Clint to help support his weight and he carefully reached for his brother. Swallowing thickly Loki stepped into the half-embrace and pressed his hands together, trapping them against his own chest so that he could not reach out and accidentally harm Thor. Clint did not begrudge him the embrace, Thor and Loki had been brothers for centuries and though he was loved, he also knew that that made Loki no less important to Thor.
"I am only human brother. I am told that I shall not be welcome again until such time as I can forget the one I love," Thor said and it drove a knife straight into Clint's heart. It was his fault. He couldn't understand then why Thor was only dragging him closer, holding on as tightly as his frail arm would allow.
"I trust that you informed them that you would never forget such a thing?" Loki asked, carefully transferring Thor's embrace to Clint. The green eyed man shifted his hands, a dark shade of energy between them. With a few twists of his wrists and an extended sweeping gesture he conjured a walking stick and passed it to the archer. Even such small magic looked like it had taxed Loki's energy.
"I told them that I would happily die a human. Odin did not like my tone," Thor said with a smirk, some of the old luster coming back to his eyes as he accepted the walking stick from Clint and tested his weight on it. Though he did not let go of Clint he did stand on his own and they made their way back to the rest of the tower. They could see the rest of the team gathered in the kitchen, staring openly in fear and confusion.
"How can they do this to you though," Clint asked, he had found his voice but it was still shaky. Thor looked sideways at him with a bit of a morbid smile, carefully planting a kiss against Clint's cheek. The familiar motion sent a flood of warmth and reassurance through Clint's chest.
"The can do whatever they wish to. They considered, for a time, imprisoning me until the span of your days was at a close, thinking to demonstrate to me that your heart would falter. But even so far away, they could feel your devotion," Thor sighed as he sat at their dinner table, "Eventually, when they determined that nothing could sway my resolve, they decided that I should be banished. But that wasn't enough, because it was truly what I wanted. So they made me human, a frail mortal man. They thought it the best way to show me that our love could not survive a trial of any real gravity. Mistakenly they believed that my weakness would be cause for you to turn your back on me, or for me to grow to resent you," the former God said, his eloquence more than a little unusual, toying with the cane that Loki had given him.
"I couldn't leave you. Though it feels selfish to stand by and allow you to suffer so, I know that you could have easily renounced me if that had been what you truly wanted," Clint said, his fingers meshed with Thor's, their hands resting on the table. In the background Tony and Bruce were arguing in low tones, Loki was watching them steadily, ready to help with any tests they might need to run to ensure Thor's health.
"I will never give you up," Thor's hand tightened around his own and Clint smiled at the ferocity. Even when he had the barest trace of strength left in his body, Thor was still in possession of a powerful spirit. He carefully returned the grip and allowed his head to drop against Thor's shoulder, showing the other man that nothing about them had changed.
(A/N: Well, that's that. I think I'm just in a sad fic mood because I've been so incredibly tired lately.)