Glass Heart

After the meeting, Bruce found Thor in the above-ground training room. The training room itself was empty of equipment or mats. Thor was simply standing and looking out the window with his hands in his pockets.

Bruce came up quietly beside him and looked out the window as well. The view was a desolate one. Far across the desert, grey clouds were gathering. "Hey."

Thor inclined his head politely. "Hello."

There was a moment of companionable silence. Bruce weighed his words, wondering how to start, but Thor spoke first. "I appreciate what you have done for my brother. You treat him as an equal." Bruce looked at Thor. Thor's gaze was still fixed on the horizon. "It is rare for people with power over Loki to treat him in such a manner."

Bruce spoke carefully. "I was just being decent. We are all people, even . . . gods."

"And monsters." Thor looked at Bruce and smiled. "That is why you are here, is it not? To tell me that my brother is a monster, and that he should not be trusted."

Bruce swallowed. Monster. "You know him better than any of us, and you could still not predict what he would do. And he betrayed you, didn't he? Before we met?" Thor inclined his head. "But he is not a monster." Bruce looked at his hands. "Or at least, he should not have to be."

"What do you suggest, then? As you have said, I cannot know his mind."

"This actually isn't what I came here to talk to you about." Bruce paused. "Why did you say that you are not courting him?"

Thor sighed heavily. It sounded like frustration. He looked back at the horizon. "You would not understand."

"Try me."

"You cannot know what it is like to love someone who is despised by all and who has hurt those you love," Thor said darkly.

"I don't know what it's like to love someone like that. But I do know what it's like to be that person."

Thor looked at Bruce. His gaze was laced with sorrow and pity. "I did not know–"

"It's not important," Bruce interrupted. "It's obvious you care a lot about your brother. You would have to, to stick with him after everything that happened." He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He wasn't used to talking about this kind of thing. "Look, I know it seems like this is between you and Loki, and it is. It's just that right now, it's starting to affect the whole team. That doesn't need to be a bad thing. Tell me if you want me to go away, but . . . I can't help if I don't understand."

"Alright," said Thor. He sat down on a bench against the wall and put his head in his hands. "Alright. I will explain." Bruce sat down next to him and listened.

"I love my brother. The kiss, after he drove that car – it was me teasing him, perhaps, or joy, I don't know. But afterwards, just after, he said, 'You are my brother after all.' I knew it was a jest, mocking me, but it reminded me of the brother I had and the brother I lost. I do not want to lose him again." Thor laughed. "To you, it must seem simple. We are not related by blood, and I have reason to believe he returns my affection. He has been receptive to me, and we have 'cuddled,' as Tony said, as though we were lovers. But we are not.

"Here on Earth, it is simple. But on Asgard, it is complicated.

"My father, as you know, is king of the gods. I am his heir. To be with a man is reason for shame, but not unheard of. As a practitioner of magic, my brother is already disrespected by many. Once, I would have worried that more shame would be more than he could bear, but he has brought more shame on himself since." Thor sighed heavily. "To be with one's brother – how would you say that?"

Bruce wondered if he should lie. He did not want Thor to have to learn the hard way that it was not accepted on Earth either. "Incest," he said finally.

"Yes. Incest is punishable by . . . well, we would be disowned at least, if not exiled. I would bear it, though I would miss my home and family, but how could I do that to Loki? If he does not harm anyone on Midgard while we are here, he has a chance to redeem himself and regain his place as my father's son. If he is dishonored any more, he will be exiled regardless and he will never see Asgard again."

Bruce frowned. "But you aren't related by blood, right?"

Thor smiled. "Even so, we are family. When I was disowned–"

"Wait, you were disowned?"

Thor chuckled. "Oh, yes, but I do not regret it. That was when I first came to Midgard and met Jane." He smiled happily at Bruce. "During that time, we were not brothers, though I believed him to be still related to me by blood. But once my rightful place was restored, even when we believed that Loki was dead, he was my brother. If either of us are still sons of the All-Father, we will bring shame to him, and I cannot do that to my father. He would not accept us. Indeed, I do not believe that Asgard, or any of the nine realms, would accept our marriage."

Bruce's brain slammed to a stop. "Wait, marriage? Thor, what does courtship mean to you?"

Thor frowned. "After courtship, and asking for permission, the couple is married."

This had quickly gotten way out of Bruce's depth. "Okay," he said, thinking, be logical, be logical. "I understand why you would want to marry him, and you should if that's what you both want, but you don't have to. Not on Earth, anyway. Here – and by here I mean right here, because Earth is a big place – you can, you know, be in love without getting married. Tons of couples never get married, even though they may fully intend to spend the rest of their lives together."

Thor's frown deepened. "I had suspected, but . . ."

"All I'm trying to say is," Bruce said quickly, "that you should talk to him about this. You should tell him how you feel, because all he does is play games. He thinks that everyone else does too, and that's why he doesn't believe you when you call him 'brother.' He probably also doesn't want to believe you. I can tell you as a fact that he feels like shit – umm, not so great right now, and he needs someone to care about him. I understand that you need to think about this, but Loki needs you to be honest with him. And if you want to stay here with Loki, the whole planet needs Loki to be happy."

"Ah." Thor's face had cleared. "I have long suspected something like this. But I have told him that I love him, and he still does not seem to believe me."

"Yeah." Bruce rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I'm not that great at explaining this, and I don't know how to convince him either, and I'm sorry. I've just got one last thing. This is kind of an unpopular opinion, but . . ." He hesitated. "I think Loki is in love with you. And if you're in love with him too, you should let him know, because if you don't and something happens, he is going to be in a very bad place." Bruce gave Thor a sad smile. "I don't think that a gun is going to do it for him. He's the kind of guy who feels more like destroying a planet."

Thor stared at Bruce slack-jawed. "You really think–"

And then something exploded and all the windows on the floor above them shattered.