Fond Farewells

Thor nearly jumped out of his skin when the door to the room he'd been assigned by SHIELD in one of their bases opened suddenly. He didn't even have time to turn before he was tensing at the tone and voice behind him speaking.

"Did you think you could hide injuries from me?"

He let out a breath, hanging his head as though a child scolded, "No," he admitted, turning to face Athena as she rested in the doorway, leaning against the frame of it, her arms crossed, her expression a cross between amusement and worry for him.

"Then why even attempt it?"

"I did not want you to worry during the battle."

"I worried more," she remarked, pushing off the door to walk towards him, "I always worry when you hide injuries instead of tell me. I never know how badly they hurt you, how deeply they've cut without you telling or showing me. I was more worried about you because of it."

He inhaled sharply as she lifted a hand to gently press around a spotting of bruises on his side, by his ribs, but it was more from the sensation of her touching his skin and muscle than a pain from the wound. Athena always took care to tend to his wounds with a gentleness…sometimes. If he were injured in trying to prove something to someone or for an arrogant, self-serving reason, she could be vicious in how she tended to his wounds, making a point that he deserved an extra bit of pain for being a bull headed troll. But now, with these wounds having come from a battle well worth having, she was as gentle as ever.

"You know it only counts as foreplay if both shirts are off, right?" came the insufferably smug and teasing voice of Tony, who had peeked his head into the doorway when he saw Athena enter it, intending to tell her she should shut the door if she had any wicked plans for Thor, only to walk in on the sight of her feeling up Thor's chest.

"Get out Stark!" Thor nearly snarled at him for disrupting the touching and intimate moment they had been having, feeling even more angry when he saw Athena's cheeks start to pink and her posture grow more rigid in discomfort.

"Alright, alright," he held up his hands in surrender, backing away, "But if I were you, a sock on the door would help give extra warning, or you know, hang Mjolnir on the handle. NO ONE would dare open it then and…"

"OUT!" Thor glared at him, Athena's face now bright red, refusing to turn to face Tony now that he'd continued with the innuendo into something they both understood the intent of.

"To be young and in love," Tony reached in to shut the door for them, though they could hear him shout from the other side, "I expect to be the godfather!"

"Stark!" Thor huffed, Athena now with her hands on her face, hiding her mortification as he wound an arm around her to comfort her.

"Or at least an Uncle!" Tony just HAD to add before he finally seemed to leave.

Thor let out a huff, shaking his head and tugging Athena closer to him, "I am sorry for him," he ran his hand up and down her back, his other hand resting over her hair on the back of her neck, "He does not know when to stop."

"Next time he even starts, I am cutting out his tongue," Athena mumbled into his chest.

Thor chuckled at that, "I'll hold him down," he could feel Athena smile against him for that before she pulled away, looking up at him, "I love you," he told her, just feeling the need to repeat that to her.

She smiled more, "I love you as well," she stepped back though, "I do not love when you are injured though," she added, "Sit down," she gestured at the bed, moving to pick up a small bag he hadn't noticed her leaving by the door to his room. She set it on a dresser, opening it and taking out a few roles of cloth, a mortar and pestle, and a few jars of salve.

"From Apollo?" he guessed, the fragrant smell of healing herbs filling his nose as she began to crush a few and mix them

"Aye," she nodded, her back to him, though she felt her cheeks pink, almost feeling his gaze resting on a lower region of her body, "He wasn't willing to take chances, not with the omens he had been seeing. He prepared this for me before we left, incase we would have need of it."

They hadn't been badly injured in a long while, not even during their quest for the scepter and raiding of other HYDRA bases. This was the first in a time that one of them had actually been injured enough where it was necessary for the healing salves. Thor wasn't as badly injured as he could have been, she could tell just from pressing on his ribs as she had that he hadn't broken them, but they were soundly bruised, Ultron had seemed to take a special delight in targeting his chest, likely aiming for the man's heart she would guess.

He would also be exhausted from using that much power, directing that much lightning into the key and core of the city. She was exhausted and she had only managed to catch a few remaining bolts and redirect them. How Thor was even standing now was a feat.

She wasn't going to use much of her supplies, just enough to sooth the bruises and relieve his pain, then perhaps something to help him rest, but that would be all that was needed. The small cut on her own leg had already healed, hardly a noticeable scar to speak of. Woe was her for that, she had been hoping for a more telling battle scar from this.

Still, at least she was alive to tell the tale of the scar on her leg. Others hadn't been so lucky. Wanda had broken down on the way back to the Tower, the full impact of it hitting her. Apparently she had gone after Ultron and ripped out his heart, the same way hers felt it had been ripped out when her brother died. She shuddered to think about what that would feel like, feeling guilt settle in her stomach for more than one reason.

She never had to experience that, not like Wanda had. Oh she had lived through the loss of her half-siblings before, the true-demigods, the ones that had human mothers or fathers. Not all of them inherited immortality, like Dionysus had, or were bestowed it for their legacy, like Hercules had been. Some grew older and died on Earth, she had experienced what that was like. Even those that had died in battle or been cut down by others through nefarious means. She knew what it felt like to lose a sibling.

But it was still different, because she wasn't as close to those of her family as she was her full-immortal siblings. The demigods remained on Earth, often were raised by their human family, had barely any interaction with the rest of the gods till they needed help, and still stayed on Earth to the end. Once a quest was over, they might get a prayer of thanks from those they helped, a sacrifice or two here and there, but those siblings never lived on Olympus. She never grew with them, saw them every day, got used to them being there to the point where it would devastate her to lose them.

And her other siblings were immortal, so she had no risk of losing them, especially not now that they had cut ties to the Earth and most of the other realms. There was no risk to them, no danger.

Alternatively, she also felt guilt because, in the Dark Days, she wouldn't have cared if her siblings died. It would have just been one less enemy, one less betrayer, one less person aiming for the power of Olympus. For all she knew of herself back then, she might have even killed one or two herself if it came to it, and not shed a tear till centuries later. At her very worst, she would have been glad for the death of her siblings and that was terrible.

Wanda was suffering a terrible loss, and she felt so guilty for it, because she knew she'd never experience something as painful as that and, at times, she wouldn't have cared enough to feel anything.

Athena stiffened, stilling in her efforts, when she felt Thor's strong arms wrap around her from behind, "Your thoughts grow dark," he murmured in her ear, kissing the hair just above it.

"How can you tell?" she wondered, resuming her mixing at a more sedate pace.

"I know your body," he tightened his hold on her in a gentle squeeze, "I know how you tense in different ways when different thoughts strike you. I know your expressions, which ones fit for different memories and ponderings. And I know when your hands shake," he reached out to place one of his over hers holding the mortar, "That you are thinking about the Dark Days."

It was a tell for her, as much as how he acted when he was injured was a glaring sign to her, her hands only really shook when she was lost in very dark thoughts about her past.

Athena took in a deep breath at that, "I sometimes hate that you know me so well."

"No you don't," she could feel his smirk against her ear, "You love that I can read you so you don't have to actually SAY what you are thinking or feeling, just that I can know and come to you to help. So," he softly pried the mortar from her hand and placed it on the small dresser, taking her hand with his to turn her to face him, "Banish your thoughts of the past, and look instead to the present, to the future, to how different it will be from those days."

Athena couldn't help but smile at that, he really did know her well. And after this entire situation, she could understand his thoughts on them marrying. It really had proven to her as well just how much they did need each other, how much they knew each other, and how much they were each other's strength and support. They relied on each other, not in a dangerous, co-dependent way, they were both individuals, and they both had obligations and duties, other people that relied on them, that kept them going as well. But they were united in a way that…she had never felt before. He had cared for her so dearly when she was suffering from Wanda's vision, he knew exactly what to say, what to do, to make her feel better. Just as she knew what troubled him and how comfort him. They made each other better, they balanced each other, and, together, they would be even better with the lasting tie of marriage between them.

Not only would it unite them in every possible way, it would unite their people, their kingdoms as well.

It was funny, that thought, that realization that the realms of Olympus and Asgard would forever be united and allies through her marriage to Thor. Because it should have been one of the first to strike her when Thor brought up marriage. It was a wise move, it was an expected move ages ago, to unite kingdoms and form alliances through wedding a 'princess' of one to the 'king' of another. It happened quite often in the past, and it should have been where her mind went first as the logical reason behind marrying Thor.

But she hadn't even considered it in that light, because that wasn't the only reason, that wasn't even A reason, why Thor wanted to marry her nor she him. She thought on his love for her, hers for him, their bonds, their friendship and loyalty and care and connection. She thought on every other reason to wed him, because SHE wanted to wed him, instead of why it would be good for others if she did.

And that told her all she needed to know.

She loved Thor and she wanted to marry him, and that was the simplest, most important reason, for them to wed in the end. It didn't matter who else benefited from it, she would be happy as his wife and he as her husband and that was ALL that mattered.

Thor felt himself smile as well, feeling her hands ceasing their shaking in his hold, knowing her thoughts had turned to a more positive realm. He was even more certain of that when Athena stepped closer to him and leaned up, pressing her lips to his in a welcome surprise. He couldn't help but grin even more into the kiss, he could almost feel her happiness and love in it.

Athena pulled away, "Thank you," she whispered to him.

"You need not thank me," he lifted his hand to brush a lock of hair behind her ear, his knuckles ghosting across her cheek as he did so, delighting in how she closed her eyes in contentment at his action, "I would do anything for you."

"As I would you," she agreed softly, reaching up to grab his hand, lowering it as her eyes opened to look at him, a determined glint in her eyes, "Including stopping this," she told him, "Because you are injured, and I have yet to tend to you."

Thor chuckled at that, nodding his assent and moving to sit back on the bed, watching her pour the fine powder she'd cursed into one of the salves, stirring it for a few seconds before turning to him once more. He watched her, his eyes locked on hers as she grew closer, till she was kneeling before him, dipping her fingers in the salve and reaching out to lightly rub them into his bruised flesh.

He hissed, this time not from her touch but from…

"Cold," he muttered, the salve was freezing!

Athena smirked almost evilly at his reaction, "Serves you right for getting injured and hiding it from me," she shot him a teasing look…though it also held a warning in it that he had best NOT do that again.

"I think I have learned my lesson," he muttered, wincing as she kept adding more cold salve to his skin, even though it warmed up quickly, relaxing his strained muscles, it was still very startling when she added a new glop to another bruise.

He took a moment as she worked, her eyes trained back on his body, to observe her critically. She had noticed he was injured, but he hadn't seen any sign that she had been. He HAD looked, but he still wanted to be sure she wasn't displaying any of her tell-tale signs of injury, for if there was he would be sure to tend to them himself in return. But her face was relaxed, her lips weren't pursed, she was breathing easily, and the fact that she had been able to kneel down and move her arms with the ease she had told him she was truly fine.

Which had him releasing a breath of relief.

Athena glanced up at that, giving him a questioning look.

He merely offered her a smile in return, "I am glad you are not injured," he replied in answer.

She nodded, resting her hand on his thigh, squeezing lightly to use as leverage to stand, hiding a smirk at how his eyes had darkened hungrily at her teasing action by turning her back on him to walk over to the salves, putting the one in her hand away.

"Ironic, isn't it," she mused, putting the rest of the items back, "My armor covers less of me and yet I hardly get as injured as you."

"You are a skilled warrior," Thor's voice answered, before it grew as equally teasing as her touch had been, "You could wear nothing at all and still come out unscathed," she blushed, just KNOWING he was smirking now, "But, that would have nothing to do with your skill in battle."

"And everything to do with the enemy being so distracted it didn't see my sword coming at them," Athena tried to recover, though she was sure her voice gave away her blush.

Thor laughed, "Aye."

Athena cleared her throat, pulling a scrap of bandage off the supplies she'd brought and placing the rest in the bag, turning back to him when she was sure her face had returned to normal, "But I am not so uninjured as you think," she told him, returning the conversation to a safer topic.

Thor frowned, "Where are you hurt?"

"It is not so much a hurt as a weariness," she offered, kneeling before him again and gently wiping the salve off, smiling as she saw the effect the healing herbs of Olympus were having on his body, the bruises had basically disappeared already, in just moments of being covered with the salve.

It was funny, Asgardian medicine and healing technology were useless on her, but Olympian healing and medicine worked on Thor.

Thor began to nod, understanding what she meant, "It was a trying battle," she was tired, who wouldn't be? So was he now that he thought about it.

"You must be twice more exhausted than I," Athena reasoned, "You used more energy than I did, were dealt more blows…though they should feel better now, yes?"

Thor looked down at his abdomen and chest, his eyes widening to see the bruises were gone and his body, while feeling slightly warm as a result of the salve, felt more relaxed. It still amazed him the wonders of Olympian medicines.

"Aye," he agreed, returning his gaze to Athena, "In fact," a playful smirk began to grow across his face, "I am so tired, I don't believe I can get off this bed again."

Athena nodded, missing something in his words and tone as she began to stand, "Then I shall leave you to your rest…"

Thor quickly reached out and grabbed her hand, "Oh," he put on a mocking frown that had Athena lifting an eyebrow in confusion, "I seem to be too weak and tired to move my arms too. My hand is too weak to open."

Athena started to smile at that, shaking her head in amusement at his antics, "Then how shall I retire to my room to rest myself?"

"I fear you will not be able to," Thor told her, serious, as serious as he could be with the wide smirk growing across his face, "There is but one solution."

"And that is?"

Thor's smirk was full-blown now as he let himself fall back onto the bed, his grip on Athena's hand forcing her to be pulled suddenly with him, falling on top of him with a small oomph though she started laughing as Thor rolled to the side, his back to the door so that she would end up on the other side of him, needing to get past and over him to get off the bed now.

Athena shook her head as she looked at Thor, the two of them on their sides now, facing each other, "You could have just ASKED me to stay," she told him.

"You would say no," he replied easily, "Propriety and all. NOW though," he smiled at her, "Now you have no choice but to stay."

She let out a playful sigh, "I suppose I don't."

He gave a light chuckle, "What's this? The Wise Athene outsmarted?"

Athena reached out and shoved him lightly on the chest, the two of them laughing at his remark, "Perhaps I saw your ploy coming and allowed it to happen," she suggested.

"Hmm," Thor hummed, considering it, "No, I don't think you did."

"Your hand was 'so weak' that you couldn't let go?" she snorted at that, giving him an incredulous look, "Even you could do better than that Thor. And if it was so weak, I would have easily been able to pull away from it," she poked him on the chest for that one, "Maybe I wanted this," she mused quietly, sounding more serious than she had been only moments ago, looking at Thor's eyes with a thoughtful gaze, "Maybe I needed to rest beside you this time. After all that has happened, all that others have lost…"

Thor reached out, taking the hand that Athena had poked him with to entwine their fingers, "I needed this as well," he admitted, "I fear I could not rest so easily if you were not beside me, not after all we have endured on this quest."

Athena gave a light nod at that, "I love you Thor."

Thor smiled at that, they had said it mere minutes ago yet he knew he would never grow tired of hearing her say that to him, "As I love you," he lifted her hand he was holding to press a kiss to the back of it, "Rest well, Athena," he said softly.

Athena hesitated only a moment, before shifting closer to him, Thor tensing, unsure what she was doing, till she rested her head on his chest, just above his heart, listening to the gentle beats of it, allowing it to lull her to sleep as Thor wrapped his other arm around her, holding her close, allowing her warmth and scent to do the same to him.

~8~

Thor and Athena, dressed in their armor, came across Steve, still dressed in his Captain America uniform, and Tony, now in a black shirt and jacket, a coffee in hand, in the hallway, having been directed there by a passing SHIELD agent. They had guessed though, that those two would be the only two remaining available at the moment. Banner had remained the Hulk at the end of the battle and taken the jet Ultron had been using to flee, Natasha had seemed determined to try and track him down which was what she was probably doing at the moment. Athena was saddened to know she wouldn't be able to bid a proper farewell to her friend, but when Natasha was on a mission of sorts, she knew the woman would appreciate no distractions during it. And she doubted this would be the last she saw of the Avengers or Natasha in the long run anyway. Barton had, of course, returned home to his family the moment he could, something about seeing Wanda breaking down, having to be the one to hold her in his arms as she sobbed, had made him think of what she'd lost and what his family might have lost had Pietro not made the sacrifice he had. Wanda, as far as they knew, was spending time with Vision, the robot seeming to have gravitated to her, wanting to ease her pain, proving to all of them that he was truly NOT a child of Ultron, but something far better. Which just left Tony and Steve to sort out while the two of them had been resting up from their injuries before the time came to return home.

"Well there you two are!" Tony smirked as he saw them enter, "You know," he eyed them, "You two look remarkably well rested, is it that godly stamina?"

Thor glared at him for the innuendo, Tony just sending him a wink as he took a sip of his coffee.

But it seemed that, in that particular moment, Athena was either in too good a mood from her rest, or it had gone completely over her head, for she responded, "Well, we did sleep together."

Tony spat out his coffee in the middle of deep, wracking coughs as he nearly choked on the beverage, his eyes wide as he looked at Athena, clearly NOT having anticipated her to admit to what they'd done so bluntly, especially when he had really just been teasing them and didn't actually think they'd done THAT.

"Come again?" he gaped, his voice weak and scratchy from his near choke.

"We had an excellent nap," Athena stated, giving Tony a look that clearly told all the men there that his innuendo had, in fact, gone over her head, that she'd assumed he meant their stamina from the battle.

"Right, a nap," Tony nodded, "Of course you were napping. I knew that."

Steve just chuckled, patting Tony on the back, shaking his head at the man. This was something he would have to tell Pepper about, how the somewhat-crude Tony Stark had nearly choked on coffee at the thought of two gods doing the deed.

"Yes," Thor gave Tony a hard look, telling him NOT to make another remark like that again, "We are rested and ready to return to Asgard."

"We will need a wide, open space," Athena looked to Tony, "Unless you think SHIELD would like a compluvium…" she gestured above her, at the ceiling, indicating they could open the portal right there and send a hole through the ceiling.

"No, no," Tony shook his head, tossing the coffee into a nearby garbage can, "They'll probably take it as a sign of attack and well, attack."

"The front lawn is big enough," Steve glanced out the glass walls beside them at the expansive field just outside the base.

"Come on, it's this way," Tony turned to head down the hall, Thor beside him, with Athena on Thor's other side, Steve at the end of the line.

"So what are you going to do about the Mind Stone?" Steve asked. The two seemed to be able to leave, but they hadn't confronted Vision yet, as far as he knew.

"We have talked about it," Athena remarked, "And we shall entrust it to Vision," she couldn't help but smirk, "He is, after all, quite a worthy guardian, do you not think?" she glanced at Steve and Tony, both had sour looks on their faces at the reminder that they hadn't been able to lift the hammer but Vision had.

"Yeah but the rules have changed," Steve argued.

"We're dealing with something new," Tony agreed.

"Well, the Vision's artificial intelligence."

"A machine."

"So it doesn't count."

"No. It's not like a person lifting the hammer."

"Right! Different rules for us."

"Nice guy, but artificial."

"Thank you."

Thor couldn't help but chuckle at the two men, they really were very determined to come up with some way to make what Vision had done not, well, what Vision had done. It did remind him of himself though, he had had his own bout of doubt about himself for Vision lifting Mjolnir. He could imagine that the other men were even more confused and felt a little less sure of themselves as a result.

But it couldn't be helped, Vision HAD lifted Mjolnir, and that meant he was worthy, to protect the Mind Stone at least.

"If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone," he stated, a determination in his voice.

"And to remove the Mind Stone is to kill the Vision," Athena reminded them all.

The Mind Stone was truly what brought the being to life, what made it as intelligent and in control of itself as it was. She could see that now, possessing the Mind Stone seemed to have made Vision more compassionate and good, more human, while being affected by the Mind Stone and created from a replica of the programming in it, had made Ultron psychotic. The Mind Stone needed to be full and complete, it had to be the real thing, or else they would risk Vision becoming like Ultron, it balanced Vision's artificialness with his realness, she thought.

"It's safe with the Vision," Thor added, "And these days, safe is in short supply."

"But if you put the hammer in an elevator..." Steve continued, making Thor and Athena chuckle at how dead set the humans were on explaining how Vision lifted the hammer in any other way besides him being worthy to do it.

"It would still go up," Tony reasoned.

"Elevator's not worthy."

"I'm going to miss these little talks of ours," Thor chuckled patting Tony on the back as they reached a door to the outside.

"Well, not if you don't leave," Tony glanced at them, "Really, both of you. You're welcome in Stark Tower, any time, we have the room."

"We must," Athena shook her head sadly, thankful for the offer and very touched that Tony seemed fond enough of them to not want them to go, "The Mind Stone, in the last few years, it is the fourth Infinity Stone to appear, to be placed into the path and hands of humans. It cannot be coincidence that all of them are coming together now at once."

"Aye," Thor agreed, having thought the same, it was infinitely suspicious to the both of them how the gems just kept appearing after having been thought to be lost, "Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position..."

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony guessed, though his tone implied that he knew it was serious and dangerous a thing to happen.

Steve frowned, "You think you can find out what's coming?"

"We shall endeavor to try," Athena responded diplomatically.

"Besides this one," Thor patted Tony on the chest jokingly, "There's nothing that can't be explained."

He held out a hand to Athena, the two of them walking a few paces away from Tony and Steve, turning to face them to offer one last smile of goodbye, before Thor wrapped an arm around Athena's waist and lifted Mjolnir high above them, activating the connection to Asgard and sending them home.

Now they could only hope that they could indeed find out what was coming and stop it before any other innocents were endangered or harmed.

Between the two of them though, they were certain that no enemy stood a chance.

To be continued…in…TBA.

A/N: So the next story, I have two titles in mind, but till I see the next Thor movie, I can't say which one it will be, hence the TBA for the moment ;) I hope to get it posted about two weeks after the next Thor movie, so probably in 2017 ;)

As for this chapter, I hope you liked the little recovery moment for Thor and Athena :) I feel like it would be something they do now, help tend to each other's wounds after a battle, sort of a way to show they care :) But Tony, oh boy, I think that man has a death wish when it comes to teasing the gods lol.

One last note, to anyone reading my Once Upon a Time, Hook/OC (Lyssa) story, that will be resumed today, probably in about 10-12 hours and then will be updated every other day ;)

And to end, I just wanted to thank all of you, anyone that's read/reviewed/favorited/followed/anything this story. It really means a lot to me that you've enjoyed it and Athena so far :')

Some notes on reviews…

I was debating having Athena save Pietro, like how she saved Frigga, but in the end, I couldn't see her being separated from Thor a second time and she was just too far away to do it :( No wedding in this chapter just yet, but there's always hope for the next story };)

I loved Pietro too, he was a great brother to Wanda and a very amusing and lovable character :) I think it's mixed about how Pietro died, I've seen some responses about him using his body and others about why couldn't he doge the bullets, and it just confused me because he was moving a car, not even he is fast enough to do both unfortunately :(

Oh he's definitely the teasing bag I agree :) Though Tony seems to love teasing the gods too lol :) WWTW2 is the shortened title of my first Doctor Who crossover story Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey where I crossed over my three OC stories and characters Angel, Evy, and the Professor. I plan to do a sequel to it, a part 2, of it in October, so I've taken to calling it WWTW2 :) And no worries, I understood ;) I plan to get through all of Steve and Bucky's stories through to the current movie when I post them. So for this year, we'll get Steve's OC from the first Captain America movie through Civil War (it should be out in theaters by the time I get to Steve's OC). And then I would continue into another show/story once I finish Steve's :) The same would be true for Bucky, but his OC won't be posted till probably next year though :)

We might see a wedding in the next story ;) If nothing comes up to disrupt it }:) Thor does seem to have bad luck with important ceremonies in his life actually happening though }:) We'll have to wait and see ;) And no worries, I actually had to double check the chapter to make sure I had put that note in or if I'd just completely forgotten lol :)