AN: Just as a fair warning there is a mention of Rape/Noncon in this story. These things happened in the past and, while mentioned, will not be shown. However if this is a problem for you I would stop reading before chapter 3. If I end up putting in a flashback or more graphic references I'll give you a heads up. And, as always, I own nothing that is owned by Marvel.
"You Maniacs! You blew it up!" Iron Man screamed, falling to his knees on the roof of Avengers Tower.
"I swear, Stark, you make one more Planet of the Apes reference and I'm putting you in a cell with him," Natasha said, indicating the prisoner that S.H.I.E.L.D was carting off on the street below.
"Sorry, darling, but when you ask me to do battle against a genetically altered super gorilla, you take what you get." Tony said, flipping up the front of his helmet. "And is it just me or has the quality of villain been going way down lately?"
"You didn't enjoy fighting Steel Boy and Puck, last week?" Hawkeye asked as he did a quick inventory on his arrows.
"Now why did you have to bring up Steel Boy?" Tony groaned. "That little idiot rips off my idea, and doesn't even have the respect to do it well. Just because you can weld a few pieces of metal together doesn't mean you have armor. And who in their right minds powers a super suit with oil! The guy's lucky he only ran out of gas instead of blowing up."
Hawkeye laughed to himself as Tony's armor began disassembling itself. It had been days since their brief fight with Steel Boy. It had barely even been a fight, with Steel Boy causing more damage when he lost control of his suit than during the crime he'd been trying to commit. He was completely forgettable. Except for the fact that he'd tried to copy Tony. A fact which had been driving him crazy, and supplying Hawkeye with hours of enjoyment ever since.
"I don't know if you can call Puck a villain," Bruce said before Tony's rant could escalate to copyright laws. "He's a nuisance, sure, but he hasn't really done anything especially villainous yet. Although I'll admit that seeing Central Park swarming with ten thousand rabbits was a little creepy."
"I'm still wondering why anyone thought we needed to be involved in that one," Hawkeye said, handing Bruce a shirt.
"That, that right there. That is my point," Tony said. "What's Dr. Doom been doing all this time? Or any of the villains with a little self-respect?"
"Given that the last two years have included five attempts at world domination, I'll take any break the big guys are willing to give," Bruce said, pulling the shirt over his newly shrunken frame.
"I'm with Bruce. I could go for a vacation," Hawkeye said, pulling off his mask as they all began heading inside the Tower. "And bananas. For some reason I am really craving bananas right now." Clint immediately felt a sharp pain in his arm as Natasha smacked him.
"You're both idiots," She said, heading for her room.
"Come on, Nat, it was a talking gorilla," Hawkeye called after her. "Anyone want to watch a movie tonight?" He asked, when he saw she wasn't coming back.
"Only if Tony agrees not to break out his, Planet of the Apes, box set," Bruce said.
"Fair enough," Tony said. "Tarzan, it is."
"Hey, Goldilocks, enjoying a light snack before bed?" Tony asked as he entered the kitchen later that night. Thor looked at his sandwich, which was roughly the size of a Thanksgiving turkey, with pride and took another bite instead of answering.
"So how'd you enjoy the mission today?" Tony continued, sitting across the table from Thor and grabbing a chip from his plate. "I bet you don't get many super apes on Asgard."
"I am glad that you bring up Asgard," Thor said, putting the sandwich down. "There is something I have wanted to talk to you and Rogers about."
"Okay," Tony said slowly. This wouldn't be good. No one ever said they wanted to talk and then gave you good news. Tony waited to hear what bomb Thor was going to drop and tried to comfort himself that at least this wasn't a pregnancy scare; like his last 'talk'.
"Today, during our encounter with Mandrill I was not needed. The same has been true for our last several encounters," Thor explained.
"Don't worry, Big Guy, we're in a lull right now but you can always count on villains to come back sooner or later," Tony assured. "Cockroach cliché's exist for a reason."
"I know that they will. I have no worries on that front," Thor said. "But since the team is not in any great need of my skills at the moment, I was thinking that there is no reason that I couldn't be spared for a week or two."
"Hoping to spend a little quality time with Jane?" Tony asked with a smile. For a second he'd thought that Thor was about to quit the team.
"Time with Jane would be wonderful, but I was thinking of a trip home. It has been over six months since I've returned to Asgard," Thor said.
"Really, six months? I guess this explains why you've been watching all those Viking documentaries," Tony said.
"Do you think I could be spared?" Thor asked, ignoring Tony's joke.
"Thor, today we fought a monkey. I think I can speak for the entire team when I tell you to take a few weeks to visit your parents," Tony assured him.
Thor knew that the timing for a visit to Asgard was not ideal; his father had just entered into the Odinsleep and his mother would be busy ruling in his stead. But in the three years since Thor had joined the Avengers, there had rarely been such a large stretch of time between threats. Thoughts of finding the time to return home had been on his mind long before Barton had spoken of taking a vacation.
Not surprisingly his mother, though thrilled to see him, did not have much time to spare. As usually happened when his father was in the Odinsleep, his mother was all but overrun with subjects wishing for an audience. People who would never bring a complaint to the Allfather would more calmly approach the Queen, and some who'd had their requests rejected hoped to elicit a different answer from a gentler ruler. It wasn't often that the Queen's decisions on the throne differed from the Allfather's but the few times they did gave the people hope and kept his mother's waking hours filled.
While Thor didn't get to spend much time with Frigga the warriors three and Sif were more than happy to fill the gap in his time. Almost from the moment he stepped through the Bifrost his friends had been working to make up for lost time. They were all eager to train together and reminisce over past adventures. The Warriors Three had always been restless and it was no surprise when, only four days into his visit, Fandral decided that they should go on a quest.
The evening had begun with them in the grand hall, drinking and recounting stories of their finest battles. However somewhere on their third case of mead Fandral decided that he'd had enough of talking about the past.
"It's been too long since we've all been on an adventure together. People are going to start forgetting us," Fandral said. "I've even heard that there are rumors that we died."
"No one believes you dead Fandral," Sif interrupted. "They merely wish it."
Fandral waved off Sif's remark and continued speaking. "We need to remind the realms of who we all are. Remind them that we are the fiercest warriors to ever draw their weapons," Fandral waved his hand over the table to emphasize his point before remembering that he was still holding his drink.
"There is some truth to what he says," Volstagg agreed. "Your works on Midgard have been fine enough. But few other races truly care about what goes on in the realm. You should show that you can still stand against a real challenge."
"And where would you have me go?" Thor asked, refilling his glass. "What quest do you have that is worthy of the great Thor?"
Sif coughed into her drink and fought the desire to openly laugh at Thor's ever growing bravado. "Yes, Fandral, what is it you have in mind?" Sif asked.
"I have the perfect thing. We must go to Svartalfheim," Fandral said excitedly, completely oblivious to how silent the room had gone. "Packs of Varingar have been terrorizing the high city and its surrounding towns for a year. Rumor has it that they're ready to give their entire treasury to anyone who can clear them out."
"Fandral," Sif hissed.
"What?" Fandral said. "This is exactly the kind of adventure that we all need. If we could-"
"You know that I do not go to Svartalfheim," Thor interrupted.
"Still?" Fandral asked in surprise. "I would have thought that after-" Fandral was interrupted again, this time with a swat from Volstagg that nearly sent him to the floor. "That after so much… time you would have changed your mind."
"It has been a long time," Volstagg added. "And it's not as though you can change what happened."
"It has been a long time. Even still I would not go out of my way to offer them aid. Find another quest for us." Thor said, getting up from his seat. "Leave this one to others."
As Thor left the room, Sif quickly got up to follow him.
"Do you still plan to rule someday?" She asked, catching him in the hall.
"Of course," Thor said.
"Then I think that you need to come with us to Svartalfheim," Sif said. Thor began to protest but was stopped when Sif continued speaking. "What happened that day…It was terrible but it's done. Svartalfheim is in need of aid and they are our allies, even if the relationship has become strained. Show the realms that you can see beyond your own feeling to do what is right. Show them the kind of King you're going to be." Sif stood in the hallway and waited to see what Thor would say.
"No," Thor said, finally. "I won't go to Svartalfheim." Thor repeated, walking off. Sif stood, watching Thor disappear, until Fandral came to join her.
"Almost makes you miss the days when he would run into battle without question," Fandral said, into his glass.
"So should I go?" Thor asked his mother later that night.
"The people of Svartalfheim are our allies. I think… that your father would approve of the quest," Frigga said.
"And you? What do you think?" He asked. Frigga looked her son in the eyes but said nothing. "Auolies should never have been allowed to get away with what he did. We should have declared war on the realm!" Thor continued.
"Asgard has had a truce with Svartalfheim since before your grandfather was alive. Breaking it would have had dire consequences," Frigga said, sitting down. "Your father made the decision that he thought was right."
"Father trusted him, we all trusted him, and he deceived us. How can I help a man like that?!" Thor shouted, collapsing into a chair next to his mother.
"What King Auolies did was despicable. But it is a King's right to punish those who commit crimes in their kingdoms. He gave the…sentence that he felt the crime deserved," Frigga said, putting her hand on her son's. "You are a great warrior, Thor. And leaving Auolies people to suffer will not change the past." Frigga paused before she continued. "It also won't bring your brother back to us." She said gently.
"Loki was never the same after that. Perhaps if things had gone differently than Loki would still be here," Thor said.
"You could go mad trying to find the moment that your brother was lost to us. But that too is in the past and can't be altered," Frigga finished quietly.
"I feel that it is my duty to go but I…" Thor trailed off.
"Helping the people of Svartalfheim is the right thing to do. Go and make your peace with what happened there," She said. Thor kissed his mother's hand and moved to leave.
"Thor," Frigga said, stopping him. "I know that King Auolies is offering great rewards to his kingdoms saviors, but you shouldn't let your friends count on that too strongly. He won't want to part with that much gold. And he always finds ways to get what he wants."
AN: In the next chapter you will see Svartalfheim. I began writing this story a few months before Thor 2 came out so my image of the world is very different from the movieverse. Just think of the world as Asgard jr. Also, as you may have guessed, this story is cannon compliant through Iron Man 3. The events of Thor 2, and anything that follows did not happen.
Also I live for reviews, so... The button is right there.