Thank you for the kind and unexpected response to the first chapter. Next up is Thor just because it was requested. It would mean an awful lot if you would review this, tell me how I did and what to do better next time, and if you enjoy it, a favourite would be great too. Oh, and tell me who you'd like next. Thank you very much for reading this and enjoy!

THOR

Thor Odinson was still a young being in his home world. And yet, here on Earth, he felt old and weary compared to his fellow Avenger warriors. The follies in which his young compatriots were involved in seemed so little or 'petty' as he had previously called them. And yet, those he knew and cherished seemed to suffer so greatly, go through such pain that he was reminded too often of his wayward brother. Not that he would ever voice this view; the scars left by Loki had only made the Avengers suffer even more. And he would always feel guilty for that.

So on late nights such as these, when nothing would quell the ancient weariness that made him miss his younger days, Thor would find comfort wherever he could. On Midgard, everything seemed so alien to him, so strange, and his Jane was one of the only anchors. But alone as he is, he walks around the building Stark built, magnificent and modern amongst the high buildings, and aches for normality, for something he may recognise. And without a thought, he is on the roof.

He can taste the charged electricity in the air, gravitating to him. It tastes like earth and sky and every other element, and he loves it. It's like stepping out of a smoky room into the freshest of air.

He closes his eyes as the doors swish behind him, and steps into the darkness. He knows he should be sleeping, or training, but it's impossible to walk away from an opportunity such as this. He would yield Mjölnir and bring lightning down from the heavens if not for the consequences. He has learned the hard way, when half of the vast city of New York was plunged into darkness and Stark was running around like a headless beast in panic that an unexpected lightning storm was not, in fact, a blessing.

Speaking of the mechanic, as Thor walks around the roof, he sees him, standing close to the edge, peering into the abyss of twists and turns below him. The young god would usually leave him to his thoughts and privacy but the look on Tony's face is not contemplative, but troubled.

And so, he wanders over, quietly humming an ancient Asgardian tune, to relax both Tony and himself. He cannot lie, he is worried. Thor has seen this look before, been in this situation with the Avengers. At the end of a battle, with huge civilian losses, a woman climbed to the top of an old building. She had lost all of her family in this latest attack, and she saw no hope. The clean up was almost over, and so the police asked for an Avenger to catch her if she fell…or jumped. And she did. No amount of coaxing or gentle speaking convinced her, and Thor was only just in time to grab her before she hit the pavement. Applause surrounded them, but Thor could only hear the quiet and desperate "why?" she whispered. A woman so without hope that he felt ashamed of his own happiness when suffering such as this was in the world. His consolation? That woman is better now, and he sometimes goes to a shop for coffee to chat with her. She smiles a lot more now. So does he.

Now Thor thinks about it, he hasn't seen Tony smile in the time he's known him. Sure, there's the cocky bravado smirks he hands out like tickets, but not once has Thor seen a true smile that reached from his heart outward. Thor doesn't know if he can change that, but he does want the desolate expression on his young companion's face eradicated.

"Brother Stark? What troubles you this night?" he mutters quietly. His voice still carried in the wind though, so it may not have been as quiet as he thought. He is still not used to the timid ways of humanity, and he may never be.

Tony says nothing, does nothing, just keeps staring down or to somewhere Thor cannot reach - a distant memory, a troubled corner of his darkened mind. Thor was not truly expecting an answer, so when he received one, he tensed sharply, hand flexing as if to call his hammer.

Unbeknownst to the god, Tony had learned from his previous encounter with Natasha; he might not be able to hide his expression, but giving a coherent answer would distract them from seeing beyond Tony Stark, and hide Tony forever, because the thought horrifies him. If they truly knew what was underneath his skin, his broken shell of life…well, nothing good could come of it. So Tony responds.

"I sometimes think she was right y'know?"

Thor had been witness to the argument he and the Widow had had earlier that evening, when she called his foolish antics in front of the camera - again - selfish and detrimental. Though Thor might agree (might), her tone had been sharper than the blades she was fond of, but there was a fierce protectiveness there, as though Stark's actions were hurting only himself, and that was what was angering her.

"Man of Iron, the Widow was exhausted and battle-worn, as were we all. She did not mean to be to be so venomous, despite what her name alludes."

At this, Tony turns to look at Thor with a perplexed expression and a raised eyebrow, which changes to disappointment and lowered ones in a heartbeat. The Asgardian missed something, but what, he does not know.

Finally, he says "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." He turns back to the skyline.

Thor caught very little in the gaze Tony gave him as he spoke, but he does not like what he saw. There is a distance, that makes Thor's thousands of years feel like days. Only days. He cannot name the emotion, nor can he empathise, but he can support.

"My friend, I know not what eclipses your mind so, but there is a saying on Asgard. Even the darkest of nights cannot dampen the heat of the warmest sands. Take comfort in that."

Tony smiles at this, but it is not the one he had hoped for. It is not light, and happy. It is cruel, and self-deprecating, and full of agony.

"Right."

His gaze is swept back, and there are tears in his eyes - barely - but there, in both his and Thor's.

He feels helpless to alleviate such a blackness in the Avenger's mind, so he does what he can. He grasps the man's shoulder, frowning at the severe flinch it causes, and looks deeply into his eyes.

"You are made of galaxies, and stars, and iron, my friend. Not your suit of metal, but you. Your very existence was formed in such odds we cannot calculate. The world is better for you being in it."

There is nothing more to say, he knows, but he cannot walk away from his friend and this night. So Tony walks away instead, one last glance over his shoulder at the ground below, almost longingly. Not for the first time, Thor is scared for the safety of his teammate.

And then, as quickly as it happened, it is over. Tony Stark is back (Thor had not realised he had gone until then) and full of movement, like an electrical current from his own Mjölnir is being passed through him, forbidding stillness.

He saunters over to the door back to the lift, and stops just before leaving. Thor only just catches what the man says.

"Y'know, I don't know what the weather's like back on your planet, but I always found deserts to be one of the coldest places in the world."

It is cryptic, and Thor knows he is not meant to decipher its meaning, but he does feel a shiver down his broad back all the same.

And then he is gone, back to tinker with his robotics and life.

Too late, Thor understands the first words Tony had said in their conversation. It was not Black Widow that Tony agreed with, it was that woman, the one they had almost lost.

Thor understand now, just a little, and he aches so badly it takes his breath away. Suddenly, the air out here isn't so clear anymore. And neither is the world.