Thor was only delighted to get a phone call from Steve.
Unfortunately though, Steve sounded rather distressed. Outright flustered actually.
"You-Your majesty." Steves voice sounded in the phone. "Listen, I am so sorry. I didn't mean."
"Calm down Steve." Thor spoke in a calm voice. "Take a breath, just tell me what is wrong."
Steve at the other end swallowed. "Listen, I erhm… I am in the employe of this organisation."
"Shield, yes. I am aware." Thor replied. "And they are part of the US government."
"Oh." Steve sounded surprised. "Okay, well. When they found out I had gotten an invitation from your personally. To go to New Asgard… Well they."
"Ah." Thor nodded. "I assume your boss want entail from an inside man, he is sending you to 'spy' huh?"
There was silence, stunned silence.
"Am I incorrect?" Thor asked.
"No… You are right." Steve replied stunned. "I am not really into all that… Spying stuff. That's not." he sighed. "I rather want a open honest relationship. I just wanted you to know that… That's what he asked of me. And… Please believe me. I didn't tell them that Bruce Banner is at your city! Somehow Nick Fury already knew!"
"Nick Fury?" Thor asked pretending it was a question.
"Ah erhm, the director of Shield. He gives all the orders and… Somehow he already knew that Doctor Banner is with you." Steve informed. "And our top priority is to… Asses Doctor Banner."
Thor nodded. "Shield does have eyes everywhere. Of course they knew, it's what they do."
"You… You are not mad?" Steve asked.
"Oh I should like to have a word with Director Fury for spying on my city which is its own sovereignty." Thor replied. "But I am not mad at you Sir Rogers." he assured.
"Oh… Okay. That's fair… Actually I wasn't supposed to call before we arrived. They kept telling me not to… I may be demoted for life." Steve admitted.
"Oh so you're coming?" Thor asked. "Any idea when?"
"Eeerh… About ten minutes from now." Steve admitted. "Aaaand, it's not just me. We are a couple of Shield operatives."
"Ah." Thor nodded. "Well, you can tell who-ever you are with. That if Shield wanted a tour of New Asgard they could just have asked." he stated. "I do not appreciate spying on my people. And you can tell them the only reason I will allow them inside is because you, Steve Rogers, were so kind to actually call and be honest about the entire thing. You are honest towards me, so I shall be honest towards you."
Thor could actually hear Steve sigh relieved. "Honestly, I am just glad you're taking it this well."
"We fought alongside each other in battle." Thor stated. "I know you are a brave and honest warrior. You and Shield are not the same, I know this. I shall look forward to be seeing you, and your Shield colleagues may also look forward to a proper Asgardian welcome. I shall expect you to stay to feast and drink with us tonight. Perhaps then they'll know, we mean no harm."
"Thank you, your majesty." Steve breathed. "Well, I'll see you real soon."
"Please, as I said we fought alongside each other. It's Thor." Thor replied. "The others though, yes it is king Thor or your majesty for them. Thank you."
"All right. Thanks again, see you." Steve replied and finally hung up as Thor shook his head. Well he should probably have seen this coming.
As promised, about ten minutes later a small jet landed. Thor already stood ready, alongside Loki.
Tony had a great dislike for Shield, so he had just made himself scarce together with Pepper and Bruce the second they heard who were on their way.
So it was Thor, Loki, and a group of Asgardians as the jet door slowly opened and out stepped a man wearing a professional looking suite.
Thor blinked, for a moment stunned. He actually hadn't really seen this one coming, he probably should have. It was just… He remembered this man, it just seemed so long ago. His stature which seemed unassuming on the surface, but he still was one of Nicks most trusted agents.
"Greetings, King Thor. Your majesty." The man greeted Thor then bowed formally. "My name is Agent Phill Coulson. Shield operative." he informed and stood up again. "I apologize for such a sudden visit. I could hear from your phone call with Captain Rogers that you weren't pleased."
"As I said back then, if you wanted a tour you could just have asked." Thor replied.
Just as the man himself, Steve rogers exited. Wearing very casual jeans and a shirt, smiling a bit apologetic.
"Yes." Coulson replied. "Forgive us your majesty. As it happens though, we know you stole a very powerful objective known as the Tesserect from our vaults about eight months ago." he pointed out.
"Oh..." Thor suddenly remembered. Right… Here in the secondary timeline him and Loki had gathered all the infinity stones by themselves to safe the collapsing universe. And that included the Tesserect which had been in Shield custody at the time. And then Loki had stabbed Clint in the shoulder...
And of course just as Thor thought about it the bow wielding himself stepped outside looking apprehensive at Thor, right behind him the final member… Natasha, whom most likely knew of Clints story.
Well… Ups. Thor had been lucky to get a good start with Tony, Bruce and Steve in the new time line. This…. Might be a bit more tricky to become friends with them again.
"Not only did you steal the Tesserect." Coulson spoke calmly. "But you are also currently harboring a fugitive. Doctor Bruce Banner is internationally wanted, top priority."
"You're not taking him." Thor stated firmly.
"We don't intend to." Coulson replied. "The truth is, not even Shield has cells strong enough to contain the Hulk. We kept an eye on him for a couple of years, made notice of his every movement. But decided that as long as he didn't cause harm we would not interfere. We knew it the moment he set foot unto New Asgard. We merely decided not to act. If you can control the Hulk for us. That is a victory for us as well. Our interest is the safety and well being of US citizens. If that means just leaving the Hulk alone. That is what we will do. Until it is proven that is no longer optimal."
"Oh… Okay." Thor hesitated. "That's… Good."
At that Clint stepped forward, then crossed his arms as he looked up at Thor. "Well. Hello again. Your majesty."
"How's the shoulder?" Loki asked casually.
"Oh you know, what is a stab wound between friends?" Clint snorted back at Loki. "You were a lot less blue back then, weren't you?"
"Oh, so your eyes seems to be working. That's nice." Loki replied. "For your information what Thor told you back then was true, we were in the middle of saving the universe. And we actually did it. So well, you're welcome."
Clint shrugged. "So you say, but all we got is your word for it."
"That's not quite true." Natasha informed as she stepped forward. "We saw the stars vanishing, planets were recorded to vanish. Then suddenly we seemed to vanish for what only felt like a second. Then everything was put back. So who knows, maybe it is true." she glanced up. "Maybe." she stated. "But we wont ever be able to know for sure, so let's just start a fresh. A blank slade?" she suggested. "Greetings your majesty." she bowed gracefully for Thor. "My name is Natasha Romanoff, I hope we can be friends."
Thor smirked, he knew this woman. She was doing the best to use her charms on him, butter him up so to speak. The ironic thing was that she didn't even need to. Thor already knew what kind of person she truly was underneath it all. A kind person. Even if she didn't even know it yet. And so he took her hand, gracefully brought it to his own lips and kissed it. "It is indeed a pleasure, Lady Romanoff."
Natasha smiled a bit amused as she got her hand back, then Thor stepped back.
"Welcome to New Asgard." Thor presented them. "We shall prove to you that we bear no ill will. You are invited to look around at your own leisure and to join us for a feast tonight. All I ask is to treat the Asgardians and my other guests with kindness! This is a safe heaven for them, I shall not allow you to ruin that for them or us." he informed crossing his arms. "If you are not aware. Tony Stark and Patricia Potts are here as well."
"We are aware." Coulson admitted.
"Of course you are." Thor sighed deeply.
"We shall leave them be." Natasha assured. "Well, I might just say hello. I did have the pleasure of meeting Tony Stark just ones before."
"Oh… that's good." Thor replied, though he was a bit unsure right now.
"It would also be very interesting to talk to Doctor Banner." Natasha commented.
"You are free to do so." Thor sighed. "Just remember, he is here to find peace. You may not know this, but he is a peace loving man who doesn't wish any trouble. If anyone starts to antagonize him, I shall indeed be cross."
"We wont." Coulson assured. "We will only talk."
"Good." Thor nodded. "Then I see no issues."
