So… I wrote this a while ago, after seeing Thor: Dark World, but forgot about it. Hope you like it. From Steve's POV.
Enjoy
(*)
It had been a relatively quiet day in Avengers tower when Thor had returned. Tony's music was only on at 50%, unusually, and both Clint and Natasha had disappeared to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters early that morning, instead of shooting loudly at targets in the basement. It had also been a Hulk free month, so there were no smashing sounds to be heard from Bruce's reinforced 'Hulk playground', as Tony affectionately called it.
In fact the only noises Steve could hear were the voices from the TV in the next room and Miss Pepper's angry tone from down the hall, where she appeared to be conversing on the landline to Agent Hill.
They had all seen the newsreels. In fact they had all been suited and booted, literately in most cases, to fly straight over to Greenwich, London, to assist Thor when Fury had informed them that the threat was over.
Except from the creature from Jotenheim, which Steve suspected was currently being dealt with by Agents' Barton and Romanoff.
There was no visit from Thor and after 24hours it was concluded, after Tony and Bruce had run some complicated tests that Thor had returned to Asgard.
Steve was therefore surprised when, a week after Clint and Natasha had returned, Thor landed, hammer in hand, on Tony's Iron Man Suit landing strip near the top of the tower. He looked bedraggled for someone who had once been worshipped as a God and there was a subdued, muted, look in his eyes behind the merriment.
He did not meet Steve's eyes, nor did he greet him in person. He offered a collective "Greeting's" to the Avenger's as a team, before retiring to the floor Tony had designed and built for him. Steve was perplexed, he and Thor had fought side by side valiantly in the battle of New York and a bond had been forged between them out of battle. He would even had said them to be friends.
Over dinner, Tony insisted on Shwarma for old times' sake, Steve noticed that Thor didn't eat as much as a man of his weight and height should, nor did he meet Clint's eye either or respond when the archer made a rare joke or comment.
So Thor was reluctant to meet both his and Clint's eye. Why?
There was no logical explanation, and Steve found himself determined to find out what was wrong with the Asgardian. It would not do well for there to be a schism between himself, Clint and Thor.
After they had finished eating, the majority of them declining Tony's offer to buy out a nearby ice cream shop for dessert, Thor went to sit on the landing space outside.
Tony gave Clint and Steve a meaningful stare before dragging Bruce and Pepper out for sundae's. Natasha signed something to Clint from across the room before she too left.
"What do you think happened?" Steve wasn't going to insult his or the archer's intelligence by pretending he didn't know what this was about.
"If it had just been me he was ignoring, I would have said something bad happened- Loki." Clint gave a shudder which only Natasha and Steve, with his super soldier senses, would have noticed.
"Hm, then why me?"
They stood in silence, pondering, staring at Thor through the sliding glass doors.
"I'll go talk to him. See what this is about and if he's guilty on Loki's behalf about what happened to you, I'll arrange a meeting between the two of you," Steve knew his out-of-time words sounded unnecessarily military like considering Thor and Clint where less that 100metres apart but he wanted this, whatever this was, to be solved with the least possible damage.
Clint nodded in agreement and, understanding this was a private talk, opened up the ventilation duct next to Steve's head and hoisted himself in.
"I'll be training with Nat, get Jarvis to keep me posted."
Steve took in a deep breath and stepped outside, he took in the changed skyline with both negative and positive feelings, change was one thing...
"Leave me, Brot... Comrade. I wish to be left alone with my thoughts." Thor's deep rumble was subdued and his shoulders were oddly slumped.
"Thor, the team is concerned about you. And myself and Agent Barton are overly concerned."
"This should not worry you," Thor said wearily with a hint of anger, his hand inching towards his hammer.
"This compromises the safety of Earth, you need to be ready to defend or avenge Humanity when the needs call. We need to be a team, Thor!" Steve stood resolutely at Thor's side, alternating his gaze from the Statue of Liberty to the profile of the Asgardian's face.
"I will be ready. Leave me in my mourning," Steve's brow furrowed and lowered himself to sit beside Thor.
"Who are you mourning Thor?" Steve knew that Thor needed the support of his fellow Avengers, Steve certainly wished that he had had someone to lean on when he had woken up from the ice to find his teammates had nearly all perished.
Thor did not look like he wished to answer Steve's question but he seemed to grow even more resigned under Steve's supporting hand on his shoulder.
"Loki..." the Asgardian choked out, burying his regal head in his dinner-plate hands. Steve didn't know how to react, although he never wanted anyone to die he couldn't say he was sorry that Loki, the same Loki that had destroyed New York, was dead.
Eventually he settled on -"It'll be okay,-"
"My brother is dead, defending the nine realms," Thor wailed, "It is not just!"
So Loki had died defending Earth? Steve was not sure on how to respond to that.
"He looked like you..." Thor brought his head up to meet Steve's gaze but quickly looked away, pain flashing across his bearded face.
Swallowing a sob he continued: "On his last day he took your form, in jest, to mock me. I look at you and think perhaps he is still alive, only pretending in yo-, in another, visage."
Steve rubbed his hand on Thor's back, in thought before clapping the bigger man on the shoulder.
"You have to fight for them, continue defending what they died for. I too have lost a brother," he paused and thought of Bucky, "and he died defending Earth and what was good in this world. Now I don't know about Loki, but if he died defending Ear...Midgard then he won't want you not to!"
To be honest, Steve privately thought, the Loki he had met would want nothing more than to see Earth fall but from what Thor had said it seemed he had changed, and Steve wasn't one to dismiss second chances.
"It hurts to think of the tainted name he has on Earth, forever they will remember Loki as a destroyer. They will not know of the sacrifice he made, the Hawk especially."
Clint had every right not to think honourably of Loki, his brain having been turned to scrambled-egg.
"Then we'll make it known, he won't be forgotten."
For good or bad.
(*)
Not entirely sure with the ending, or any of it really but what can you do.
I should probably say I do ship Steve/Bucky (Stucky) but for the purpose of this story they are simply bro's so that Steve and Thor could have a parallel.
Saltations!
whatkindofnameisvolta
