A/N: Firstly, I am so sorry about how long it as taken to get this posted! Real Life has been absolutely chaotic for me! Luckily I'm taking a bit of a break and getting back on the writing bend. More updates to come, I do hope!

Six:

The Captain

Zora lay flat on her bed, arms stretched out on either side of her, blank stare more or less fixed on the ceiling.

I was hoping to court you.

Choose wisely.

I see, now, that I should've gauged your feelings towards me better, Captain.

Thor's heart would've taken him elsewhere.

Like a bad movie montage, snippets of conversation replayed in Zora's head, unbidden and frustrating. How could she have been so blind? So completely stupid? Barnes had suggested it, and then Nat. Loki had all but told her explicitly.

Thor… wanted to court her. Her. That longing she felt for him, which she had suppressed again and again, wasn't one-sided.

Fuck.

How could she be so stupid? So utterly blind? And how could she have gotten herself in such a messy, horrible, sticky situation?

The door to Zora's quarters opened almost silently, breaking up her pity party momentarily. She didn't hear any footsteps, so she knew who it was.

"Go away."

Natasha suddenly appeared over her, catlike green eyes blinking down at Zora, her red hair framing her face. "No."

"That's an order, Natasha. I'm serious."

The assassin's gaze narrowed. "No."

Sighing, Zora found she couldn't even muster the strength to glare at her best friend. It was useless, anyway. Nat was impervious to her death glares.

"How'd you find out?"

The smile the redhead afforded Zora was equal parts proud and wane. "It's what I do."

Great. So, somehow, Nat knew a little something of what happened. "How much do you know?"

"Not much," her friend admitted, sinking onto the bed beside Zora and mimicking the captain's pose. It would have been comical in any other circumstance – the infamous Black Widow, sprawled out like an angsty teenage girl. "Just that something… significant occurred between you and a certain alien king."

"Significant." Zora laughed at the word, but it was humorless. Shouldn't she feel happier right now? Like that time in seventh grade when she had found out her crush liked her back? Shouldn't she feel anything but scared? "That's one way to put it, I guess. Who are your sources?"

"You know I never give up my sources," Nat admonished. "But," she relented lightly, "I may have checked with Heimdall."

"He's literally all-seeing, so I can't blame the guy."

"True. He'd be a perfect spy."

"He is a perfect spy," Zora quipped, turning her head slightly to give her friend a thin smile. "He's your spy, now, isn't he?"

Nat's lips were upturned in the ghost of a smirk. "I have no idea what you're talking about. And you're deflecting." The Avenger turned her head, too, her loose red curls looking frenzied now. "Tell me what happened."

Well, why put it off any longer?

"What happened is that I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot in charge of a group of superheroes, which means I'm a dangerous idiot. I should resign."

Alarm crossed the redhead's face. "You're serious," she detected. Silent for several more beats, the assassin pondered this, her alarm growing. "Why? Why should you resign?"

Out with it, Z. Pinching her eyes shut, she admitted, "He… said he was hoping to court me."

Dead silence.

Dead silence for waaaay too long.

Peeking one eye open, she found Nat staring blankly at her, an eyebrow arched. "So? I thought you would be happy."

What?

"You knew? Well, I know you knew, but you do know what courting means, right? Like, in his culture? Courting?"

A roll of her eyes. "Yes," Nat said calmly. "I do. And yes, I knew that was his intention. Thor has learned subtly, true, but not as well as Loki, and certainly not as well as me."

Sitting up on her elbows, feeling more frustrated than she had in a long fucking time, Zora tossed her head back and groaned. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"Because I thought you'd be happier." The bed shifted as Natasha sat upright, crossing her legs neatly under herself.

Cradling her head in her hands, Zora couldn't help but agree. She should be happier. Well, part of her was, right? Thor, God of Thunder, King of Gods, had some sort of feelings for her? Or wait – did he? Was it just a political thing? Loki had mentioned his heart… But Loki couldn't really be trusted. Strategically, it would make sense to court the captain of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In a way. So maybe he didn't have any feelings at all, maybe –

"Stop thinking," Natasha said, swiping her elbow into Zora's rib. Zora suspected the assassin meant to be gentle, but fuck, that would bruise. "You're overthinking this. So he wants to court you – and you like him, don't you?"

That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? "Well… I have eyes. And he's a god. With lots of muscles. And he's a literal ray of sunshine. And he's… he's Thor. Of course I like him. He's…" Incredible? Tough? Sensitive? Kind? Perfect, was more like it.

"And he just declared his intentions to court you," Natasha recounted, as if Zora even needed reminding. Gods, was she in an episode of Downton Abbey, now? Who even said that? Declared his intentions to court you? Were they in 18th century England? "So, what's the problem? And why do you need to resign because of this?"

Zora needed to pace. Yes, she needed to move. Rolling off the bed, Zora landed on her feet and began to crisscross the room – left, right, left, stop at the window, walk towards the bed. She ran her hands through her hair and tugged on the ends, gritting her teeth.

How could Natasha not see the problem?

"Because he's a king," Zora finally said, stopping in the center of her room and daring to meet the assassin's steely gaze. "And I'm the captain of this team. He has responsibilities… and so do I. I can't afford to be distracted by whatever Asgardian 'courting' means, or by romance, or love, or any of that bullshit. Not again."

A sad smile of realization appeared on Nat's face. "Ah. So that's the problem. You're thinking about what happened with Nathaniel."

Even the name spoken aloud tore at Zora's heart. She never said that name. And if she could help it, she never thought of it either. It belonged firmly in her past. "My absentmindedness got him killed," she tried to say as clinically as possible, but tears threatened to form in her eyes. Clearing her throat, she steadied herself, continued. "And I won't let anyone on this team get hurt because I'm some lovestruck idiot."

"Firstly, you didn't get Nathaniel killed." And the look Nat was giving Zora begged the other woman not to argue. Zora bit her tongue, hard. "Nobody could've known that would happen."

"An entire facility blew up, Nat. Which means that explosives had to have been planted. Which means that someone knew it was gonna happen. Just not me."

Unfolding her lithe figure, Natasha stood and crossed her arms. "Fine. Someone knew. But you couldn't have known, and that's what matters. Secondly – our safety doesn't rest in your hands. Even as our captain, we don't give that to you, not entirely, and you know that. It's too much of a burden. For anyone."

"I lead operations. I make decisions on the fly. I'm at least partly responsible – "

"Yes, partly. But we all choose to be on this team. We chose you when Steve stepped down. If one of us thought you were making a bad call, or that your head wasn't in the game, don't you think we'd tell you?"

Ugh. Fair. Sam would certainly sit her down and talk it out with her, like he'd done for Steve near the end of his gambit.

Giving Zora a significant look, Nat crossed towards the door, ready to leave. "Look, I'm not saying you need to go running to him, arms wide open, right now. I'm just saying… you should be happier. And there's nothing wrong with being happy." Regret briefly pooled in Nat's eyes. "Trust me when I say that. You can't put aside your happiness for everything. Not every time."

And then the ex-spy slipped out the room in the exact same manner she had come in – silently, as if she'd never even been there to begin with, leaving Zora with more thoughts to sift through.

000

She had only allowed herself one night to lay strewn across her bed in a heart-torn mess of feelings, insecurities, and fear before she threw herself back into work. Work was Zora's best friend. Work never failed her. There was always so much of it to be done, and for her particular job… it was an amazing distraction.

"You're in early, ma'am," FRIDAY noted as Zora gently set her near-brimming coffee mug down on her desk and sunk into her chair with a sigh. "Your first meeting isn't until eleven this morning."

Zora chanced a look at the clock at the bottom right of her computer. 4:35 AM. Disgusting.

"I have some paperwork to catch up on," Zora half-lied, taking a hearty sip of the coffee and groaning in delight as it pleasantly filled her stomach.

There was a pause as Zora began sifting through emails on the computer.

"Paperwork," FRIDAY inquired in that sly, Tony-like way of hers, "or are you hiding yourself away again, ma'am?"

Zora glared at the ceiling. "I'm glaring at you, in case you couldn't tell."

There was a smile in the AI's tone. "I can tell."

"Good."

"I will leave you to your… paperwork." Ugh! How the AI could communicate so complexly and infuriatingly through her speech alone was truly a menace, sometimes. "Though I feel I must warn you… Prince Loki seems quite intent on meeting with you today."

Loki? Great. Another problem, to be sure.

"Awesome. Just awesome. Give me a heads up before his royal pain in the ass decides to show up here?"

"Yes, ma'am."

000

At exactly 10:15 AM, Loki suddenly appeared in Zora's office. Fortunately for the captain, she at least had some warning, due to FRIDAY's omnipresent protocols. Still, it was unnerving to watch the tall, raven-haired god simply materialize in the chair across from her, legs crossed regally, as if he'd been there all along.

She barely spared him a glance as she finished yet another report, hoping to relay a sense of I'm-very-uninterested-in-what-you-have-to-say-right-now. "Something I can do for you?"

Ah, but she could feel the glare. Loki, God of Glares. Seemed fitting, these days. "Is that any way to talk to your superior?"

"I take it you still haven't come to terms with the fact that we lowly mortals don't care much for your alleged superiority?"

The demi-god sighed deeply, as if he was drawing on a well – a very shallow well – of patience. Finally looking at him, she watched as he crossed his arms over his armored chest and tried for a less icy look. "We need to talk."

"The last time you said something like that, you ended up telling me the fate of New Asgard rests on my shoulders, and you know what? I don't sleep that well anymore. So, no thanks."

"If your one hope in life is to sleep like an infant in a warm crib, I'm afraid you've taken up the wrong occupation, Captain."

Loki, God of Sass. Worse than the glaring, Zora decided.

Signing off on yet another document, Zora reached for her mug, realized it was already empty, and felt an immense weariness settle over her. Eyeing Loki over the brim of her thick black glasses, she reluctantly asked, "What is it?"

"Thor."

Zora waited. Probably twenty seconds passed and all she received from Loki was a haughty, arched-brow look that seem equal parts accusatory and irritated.

"Look," she said, settling her elbows on the desk. "You're gonna have to give me more than a one-word answer. Not much I can go on with just 'Thor'."

Fuck, even saying the god's name was hard at this point. Wound her stomach up into tight knots.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Is that so? Did I not just hear your heart speed up at the very mention of him?" Shit, they could hear heartbeats? Why hadn't Thor ever mentioned that? Motherfucker. "You look nervous, Captain. Perhaps there's something you wish to discuss."

"Nope." She popped the 'p' as loudly and obnoxiously as she could. There was no way in hell she had the patience for this, right now. Getting almost no sleep, being out of coffee, and generally being exhausted from the paperwork she'd been using as a very effective distraction… no. She did not want to talk to the God of Mischief and Lies. Especially not about his very handsome, very perfect brother.

The prince clucked his tongue at her, amusement burning bright in his ethereally green eyes. "Fine. Then I shall. Thor is moping. Which means our king, who very much needs every working brain cell he has to be focused on securing land for our people, is distracted. Heartbroken, even." Loki splayed his hands out. "How shall we fix this?"

She could pretend for a while longer that, "I don't know, because I don't have anything to do with that."

The look the demi-god fixed her with was worse than condescending. "Playing stupid doesn't work well for you. And playing with my brother's heart works even less. Fix it."

Fix it? Seriously? Zora dropped the pen she'd been fidgeting with and stared open-mouthed at the prince. "Excuse me? What the hell do you think I can do? And who the hell do you think you are to come in here and make demands?"

"I'm Thor's most trusted advisor," Loki said in a clipped tone, canting his chin up just enough to be a prick. "I am his brother. And I am his prince. For the sake of my people, yes, I shall come in here and make demands. Especially when both you, Captain Haque, and my brother are being absolute fools. I know he finally confessed his intentions towards you, and I know you ran away with your tail between your legs like a coward."

Zora's teeth were gritted together so hard they ached. "You presume to know a lot."

The smile Loki gave her was sharp. "That's because I do know a lot, darling. And I know this – you are being obstinate. I already warned you that the fate of New Asgard rests in your hands as much as my brother's. Did you not understand what I was telling you?"

Fuck. Choose wisely he had said. She would never forget. Choose wisely… but choose what wisely?

"Maybe you could be a bit clearer about it," she offered, a little bite in her voice.

Loki, for once, looked irritated with himself. He pressed his thin lips together into a white line and gave a curt shake of his head. "That's not how this works. I've already interfered as much as I dare. I chance it now because we're in the thick of negotiations. If things go well, we could have land secured by the end of the week."

The end of the week? That soon? Shit. Shit shit shit. Zora tried very hard to tell herself she wasn't nervous at that thought – she welcomed it, right? It would kill two birds with one stone. Three, actually. The Asgardians would have a place to live, the Secretary would get off her ass, and she could put some much-needed distance between herself and the alien king.

Right?

"Ah. I see that my brother failed to mention that to you," Loki added as soon as he caught the expression on Zora's face. He even managed to look just the tiniest bit contrite. "So you see my problem."

"No," she managed. "Still not seeing how this is your problem at all."

A long-suffering sigh pulled from the demi-god's lungs. "Fine. Then consider it like this, Lady Haque. Thor is my brother. And to be a good brother… I must look out for his interests, must I not? His heart took him to Midgard against my advice. His heart still pulls him towards you."

"Against your advice?"

Loki actually smiled at her sympathetically. Oh, gods. How had she gotten to this point? "No, actually. But that's another matter entirely. The point is – you need to fix this, captain. And only you can do that. So do it."

And then he was gone, the chair once again absent a near-immortal pain in the ass, with Zora staring at it like it might hold all the answers in the universe.

000

"Get up, bicch," Clint said as he stepped into Zora's office and noted her lying prone on the stiff couch near the window, files in hand. "We're having dinner."

Zora barely spared the assassin a glance. "Y'know, I thought you retired."

"Oh, I did. But then Laura said the kids were too young to learn how to pierce someone's heart from 300 meters away with a bow and arrow and that knives were out of the question and that I couldn't name any more chickens after you guys, since it was so hard to kill Steve that last time. So now I'm un-retired."

"And does Laura approve?"

"Wholeheartedly."

Zora made a humming sound in her throat. She still didn't glance up, but honestly, staring at all this paperwork was starting to give her a terrible headache. And at the mention of dinner… her stomach growled. Loudly.

Clint cocked a hip. "Get up."

"I'll have someone bring me a plate. Lots of work to do."

The assassin crossed his arms over his chest. She could feel his glare. "No. Nat said you would say that, and that if I needed backup, I just had to call. So you can either join your friends for dinner of your own volition or be dragged to the dining room by two supersoldiers." Then he gave her a smirk. "Your choice."

A frown tugged on the captain's lips. Ah, so he meant dinner dinner. As in, dinner with everyone, dinner.

Did that include a certain Asgardian king with certain intentions towards her? Who she had been avoiding for a solid twenty-four hours, now?

Her heart flipped inside her chest.

"Like I said, I'll have a plate brought up."

Clint sighed. "Barnes," he called out, and not a second later, the metal-armed soldier appeared in the doorway, a determined set to his brow.

Zora sat upright immediately, on edge. Steve was right behind his boyfriend and the pair looked all too happy to carry out Clint's threat and drag her to the dining room.

"Uh, excuse me," she said, eyeing the three like the crazed friends they had turned into. "Remind me – who's the boss here?"

Steve chirped up happily. "Technically I was the boss first, so I'm going to pull seniority."

"And that's double seniority since he's literally a senior citizen," Clint added.

"A beautifully aged senior citizen," Bucky defended with a slight eye roll.

It was like the three stooges had arrived. And she was suffering for it. But going to dinner, this collective dinner with everyone, meant she was 99 percent likely to see Thor. And seeing Thor meant that she had to deal with her feelings and his feelings and what he had said to her and how she had run away…

She would really rather carve her own eyes out with a spoon.

"Friends don't pressure friends into awkward dinners," was her last attempt to get them to leave, and even she knew it was weak.

Clint grinned. "But really good friends do."

000

Zora sat stiffly in her chair, hands on her lap, every single muscle vibrating with tension. The others chatted amongst themselves like they didn't notice, but they had. It was all in the askance looks, the brief flickers of worry, the attempts to draw her into conversation. But Zora hadn't even touched the appetizer on her plate because she was painfully aware of the empty seat right across from her. She had the worst feeling that it wouldn't remain empty for long.

Everyone else was accounted for. Wanda and Vis down at the other end of the long table, probably playing footsies while they chatted, making bedroom eyes at one another. Tony, who was gesturing animatedly to Peter about some science thing while Pepper looked at the pair with a softness in her gaze. Rhodey in one argument or another with Sam over the newest fighter jet the US military unveiled. Steve and Bucky making bets with Doctor Banner about which of them could heal faster, with Bucky being characteristically, and weirdly, competitive about the whole ordeal. Then there was Nat and Clint – Nat on Zora's right hand side with Clint beside her. Both assassins were eerily quiet, having a conversation through their eyes alone. A conversation that was clearly about Zora.

The glass door to the Avenger's dining area opened and in walked the very man she hadn't want to see. As soon as the Asgardian king stepped inside, all went silent. She tried, she really did, to not look at him. But her chin lifted of its own volition and she found herself pierced all over again by those penetrating deep blue eyes, already focused intently on her.

He paused on his way to his seat. Zora wasn't the only one holding her breath – Nat was even stiller than usual beside her. For a moment, the Captain thought Thor would simply turn about and leave, and she wouldn't blame him in the slightest. Part of her hoped he did. Prayed he did. Those too-blue eyes were several different shades of hurt and confused and worse, resigned, and one of the idiots surrounding Zora had thought it'd be a brilliant idea to seat him right in front of her.

But Thor was strong and decent and kind – he was never one to be petty, and he certainly wasn't one to walk away from a tough situation. His jaw tightened, but he continued on his path, offered small smiles to everyone in the room, and took his seat. A king in every right.

Zora's chest felt like it would either collapse or implode. She suddenly found the fabric of the table cloth remarkably interesting and stared holes into it, willing the dinner to be over and done with. The appetite she'd had earlier had vanished not long after she'd taken her seat. There was really no reason to be here.

"Captain," Thor said to her kindly, and fuck, her heart clenched hard in her chest. "You look… well. How do you fare?"

Shitshitshit. So were they pretending nothing had ever happened? Was he just trying to be nice and diffuse the suffocating awkwardness in the room? Was he literally just being Thor and saw no other option or reason than to simply be nice? Probably the last. He was perfect like that.

When she said nothing, Nat kicked her under the table. Shooting the assassin a glare, Zora cleared her throat and managed to briefly glance up at the god. Norns, he was beautiful. And she'd walked away from that. How had she walked away from that?

Ah, right. In order to focus on her job. And how was that working out for her, now?

"I'm, um, well. Thank you." Another kick from Nat. Zora was close, so close, to elbowing her friend in the ribs. She coughed a little to hide her jolt and the lull in conversation, tried to look up at him again. "And you?"

The table had gone silent again. All eyes were on them. Which was great, just great, because apparently absolutely everyone at the facility knew about her and Thor now. Not that there was a her and Thor. They knew about the lack of her and Thor.

The smile he offered her in return was strained. "I'm… managing."

Gods, she couldn't do this. She couldn't. Fight aliens and monsters and ninjas in the dark? Sure. That was fine. But this?

Zora was standing before she even realized it. Panicking, like that one time in seventh grade when she'd had to get up in front of all her classmates and give a speech and she'd had no idea what to say or what to do or how to look. All eyes were on her and she couldn't look at a single person. Letting her body take charge, she fled. Out the doors, down the hallway, towards the communal living room…

"Zora, wait."

Thor. Of course he'd get up and follow her. Of course he wouldn't even hesitate.

Zora was suddenly frozen in place, like his command had been something she had no choice but to follow. But that wasn't true, was it?

"Zora, please…" Closer now. He stepped in front of her, in her field of vision, and in the same way she hadn't been able to look at him just moments before, she now couldn't stop looking at him. Such honesty in that face. So much kindness and understanding. "I see I've caused you distress, and I would like to apologize. It was never my intention…"

"I need to know," she cut him off, startling the god as his blue eyes locked on hers intently. It was entrancing, and she nearly forgot what she had been trying to say. Clearing her throat, she started again. "I need to know. What you said last night…" She couldn't say the words. She just couldn't. It sounded too ridiculous, and it made her heart clench up so much that she wondered if maybe Dr. Cho should take a look at her. "Is this just for some political gain? I would understand, of course. I mean, we come from different cultures, and you were raised to be a king, and it would make sense if you felt you needed better footing here on Midgard with all that's going on – "

"No," Thor answered resolutely, staring at her with such determination that she knew he was telling the truth. "It's a matter of the heart, Captain Haque. Politics has no influence."

Fuck.

She wasn't the only one uncertain about what to do. Thor even shifted on his feet, rubbed at the back of his head. It was adorable and at the same time, painful. Because if she could just let herself be happy about this, like Nat had said… she wouldn't be putting them both through all these flaming hoops.

"Is that… something you were worried about?" he finally asked, doubt lining his tone. Seeing the God of Thunder of all people bite his lip like that… It shouldn't be legal.

Ugh.

Zora had to force her eyes back to his. Stay focused. "Um… One thing, yeah." There, that was the truth. Was that so hard?

He clasped his hands in front of himself like he wasn't sure what else to do with them. "And the others?"

Glancing at her feet, she wasn't sure what to say next. Numerous reasons why she had fled the night before whipped around her head. Staying focused on work. Not getting distracted. Not getting anyone killed. The fact that she was mortal, not Asgardian. The ramifications of what 'courting' meant. Was he looking for a queen? A concubine? She didn't want to leave her job… It was her life. And more than all that… Starting with courting – it wasn't exactly natural. People needed to get to know one another first, and while she was definitely harboring intense feelings for Thor, she wasn't certain if it could bloom into something else. She just didn't know him well enough.

"There are just… there are a lot of things I'm not sure about right now, Thor. I need time. To sift through my thoughts."

The smile he gave her was strained. Once again, she felt like a horrible person for making Thor, God of Sunshine and Happiness, so stressed. "Of course, Captain. I understand."

This time, when she left, he didn't follow.

A/N: I just wanted to address the Thing. The Thing being that Zora isn't Happy and Automatically Jumping into the Beautiful God-King's Bed. Boy, would I love for her to do the thing [because I have so much I'm going to write for that], but she's super career-orientated, and we also learned a liiiiittle bit more about her past and why she's so hesitant in this chapter. Hopefully this addresses the Thing. And I promise – things are about to move a bit faster.

Next up… Jane Foster!