Hey y'all! Before you scream at me for waiting sooooo long to publish this chapter, wait just a second. I got severe writers block and couldn't really figure it out. I had a basic idea but the concept wasn't quite right. I had to do some MAJOR tweaking to get this one done. Tacking that onto my sister getting married, then Christmas, then family vacations, then start of some programs I'm in, then school starting, plus church starting back up again... yeah, you get it. BUSY FREAKING LIFE! But, with all that being said, I'm excited to be presenting to you this next chapter! Enjoy!
Thor was by no means stupid. He could recognize a pattern when he saw one, and what his friends were going through was definitely forming a pattern. There was no magical presence in the room, so he could rule that out, but he still wasn't sure why Steve and Natasha were going through this. He was frustrated that he couldn't help, so he satisfied himself by staying out of Banner's way so he could help their teammates. He settled against the wall next to Clint, who also seemed frustrated.
"Have you ever seen something like this?" Thor asked quietly, rubbing the back of his neck in concern as he watched his teammates.
Clint shook his head, "this is new to me. The only thing I can think is some sort of drug or hallucinogen."
"Gods above, I wish Heimdall was here to explain this too me," the god muttered, running a hand through his tangled blonde hair, "he would help everyone make sense of this."
"It is not my fault you cannot see," a bitter voice spoke up next to him, "it is not my fault you are blinded by your care for these mortals."
Thor jerked, startled by the sound of his friend's voice, "Heimdall?"
His best friend was standing in the corner of the room, watching the events carefully, "you have been blinded to the true threat, Thor. Distracted, by these useless Avengers. You left us, Thor. Left us vulnerable. It's all your fault."
"Brother," Thor questioned, standing to his full height as he fought to hide the panic filling his heart, "what are you-"
"Thor," a hand landed hard on his arm and the god turned to face Clint, the smaller man's face was pinched in concern, "who are you talking to?"
"My friend, Heimdall," Thor gestured to his friend, "he is saying puzzling things."
"Puzzling things," Heimdall demanded angrily, tearing Thor's eyes away from Clint, "Puzzling things?! I'm so sorry, King of Asgard, am I confusing you?!"
"I am not king yet," Thor snapped, deaf to his Midgardian friends presence, "Do not disgrace my father in such a-"
"Your father is dead," Heimdall yelled, launching himself at Thor, who scrambled backwards in fear at the sudden movement, "your father is dead because you abandoned us! You left your home unguarded, for what?! For Midgard?! Thor, your father is dead, your brother is dead, and Asgard is up in flames! Our people are gone, decimated! And you let it happen!"
"No!" Thor yelled back, "you're lying! You're lying!"
***Line Break***
"Er... Pointbreak?" Tony stepped forward as the Avenger's watched the third member of their party panic, "you good there?"
As expected, Thor ignored him completely, continuing to yell at the wall, "I refuse to believe you, take me to Asgard and I will see for myself."
The large blonde man continued his angry tirade as the other's watched in concern. Banner cursed as he watched yet another of his teammates fall prey to whatever was happening. Tony stared, analyzing Thor's gestures and words, comparing them to the man's usual actions.
"He's drugged," the billionaire decided, startling Steve, who hadn't really left his friend's side since his episode, "look at his movements, and listen to his words. It has to be a drug of some sort!"
He stepped forward, very aware of the others tracking his movements carefully, "hey, Thor," he called, snapping his fingers a bit to try and get the man's attention, "it might effect his system differently than ours... maybe... no, not super plausible... they'd have... maybe..."
The man's vague mutterings would have aggravated anyone who hadn't seen him work through things before. The team, however, was very used to his method of figuring out a puzzle. The genius circled the god slowly, watching Thor's movements and occasionally ducking when the man's arms got to close.
"Hmm," Tony waved a hand in front of the blond man's face, causing the god to lurch backwards in surprise, "there he is. Hey, Pointbreak, you listening?"
"Man of Iron," Thor growled, his face darkening as he glared at the wall again, "get out of the way," lightening crackled dangerously, small bolts of lightening weaving their way between Thor's fingers, "Heimdall must pay for his treacherous words."
"Heimdall isn't here, Thor," Tony spoke more controlled than any of them had ever heard, "hey, why don't we focus on me, big guy. Come on, let Ole Goldeneyes yell himself out. You learned how to have civilized conversation right? Yeah, let's let him yell himself out and then you two can have a calm, civil conversation about everythi..." Tony's voice trailed off. The static in the air changed and the team felt their ears pop with the pressure change as Thor's face crumpled with grief.
***Line Break***
"They're all dead," Heimdall growled, his voice thick with tears, "Sif fell first. Then Fandral and Volstagg. Hogan was the last to be cut down. Odin was beheaded after the bodies were carted away," his voice turned venomous, "you could have stopped it all, Thor. The senseless slaughtering of innocents. Our friends deaths. Your father's death," he paused before continuing, "Loki's death."
"No..." Thor's voice came out a broken whisper as the lightening in him died, "I..."
"Thor," Tony's voice forced its way through Thor's painfilled vision, "what's happening? Talk to us. You're sparking pretty heavily there, buddy."
Thor opened his mouth to respond to his friend, but Heimdall stopped him, "your brother died a hero, you know," Thor froze, pain welling inside him and threatening to spill over, "he stood with Sif and the Warriors Three as a true warrior. He died just before Hogun did. Cut down by his blood father's own blade. The Frost Giants were merciless, even to their own heir. Loki was slaughtered by his own blood," Heimdall clenched his fists as tears poured from his golden eyes, "while you hid on Midgard and failed your own kin. Your brother died because you weren't there to save him."
Thor's vision tunneled as he fell to his knees, electricity flying out in waves around him as he screamed his pain to the world. Tears poured from his eyes as Heimdall's words cut him to the core. His brother was gone. Loki was dead. Heimdall reached forward and rested a finger on the god's forehead. Thor's vision blanked before clearing to see a pile of Asgardian bodies being burned in the fields. He watched as a sword pierced Sif's stomach from behind and as Fandral was frozen solid before being smashed to pieces. He sobbed as he watched Volstagg be cut down by a battle axe and listened to the screams of his people as Hogun was buried beneath rubble and burned to death by fire. His hands tore at his own chest, trying to relieve the pain there as Loki faced his death with his head held high. He stared as his brother was disarmed and a large ice spike tore through his chest, his skin turning blue instantly at the touch. His body was torn from the blade and carelessly thrown to the side, trampled by Frost Giants as they ravaged the city. Thor sobbed as the visions faded, his stomach turned as Heimdall smiled down at him, kneeling and allowing his finger to trace Thor's face.
"Oh, little hero," the Asgardian spoke gently, "I mean not to be cruel. But your actions..." he dropped his hand and stood to his feet, "have torn the world apart."
"No," Thor clambered to his feet, heartbroken and scattering with each footstep as he tried to chase after his friend, "Heimdall, please. I beg you! Tell me it isn't true! Heimdall, please!"
"I cannot control fate, Thor," the dark-skinned man replied as he began to fade from view, "I can only bring the news."
"Heimdall please!" Thor begged as he ran to his friend, banging his fists on the wall where the man had disappeared before collapsing to his knees, not bothering to remove his hands. His last silent plea came out only a broken whisper, "please..."
***Line Break***
Tony stood slowly to his feet, the blast having knocked him back into the wall. He scanned the room and checked over his teammates. Steve was helping the others out of the rubble, Nat seemed okay, Clint seemed to have taken another hit, and Bruce seemed a bit dazed, but other than that they seemed relatively intact. Tony met Steve's gaze and the blond nodded, they were all okay. The electric blast from Thor had... Thor. Tony switched his gaze over to his other teammate and his heart broke a little at the sight.
Thor was on his knees facing the wall, his hands still resting on it, bloody from where he'd hit the hard wall. The god's shoulders were heaving with heavy sobs and his hair draped across his face like a curtain. He was shaking violently and he seemed to still be out of it a bit.
"Thor..." Tony breathed in horror, "oh man, buddy, what the hell...?"
He crossed the room, wincing as the movement jostled his sore body, "Thor. Pointbreak. Buddy, come on," he knelt next to the broken man and rested a hand on his shoulder, "talk to me. Come on, I know you can. Just look at me, man."
Slowly, heart wrenchingly slow, Thor looked up at him, giving Tony a clear view of the tears streaming down his face, "Tony..." the mechanic was caught off guard by the use of his first name, "they're all gone. Heimdall said..." tears cut him off as his hands dropped into his lap.
"Aw, Thor," Tony felt something in him tear as he watched Thor grapple with whatever the hell he'd just seen, "come here," slowly, giving Thor plenty of time to pull away if needed, he pulled the other man into a tight hug, "you're okay. We're here. The team's got you, let it out buddy."
Thor, to the shock of everyone else, buried his head into Tony's shoulder, "they're gone. Sif an-and Fandral, Volstagg and Ho-Hogun... Loki," his voice broke as the god was faced with grief, "they're gone. Heimdall... he..."
Tony sighed and met Steve's sorrowful expression from across the cell, "hey, it's okay. It wasn't real, Thor. It was all a lie. Remember what happened to Nat and Steve? It happened to you too. That's all it was. A hallucination. Your friends are safe on Asgard. Loki is safe. Everyone is safe." except us, he thought bitterly, but out loud only sympathized, "you're okay."
"It was terrible, brother," Thor pulled away just enough to wipe his eyes, "I saw them die... all of them..."
Tony shushed him gently, completely out of character for the usually sarcastic and evasive man, "it's okay. You're safe. They're safe. It's over."
Thor leaned against the wall, bringing Tony with him, as he stared at the opposite wall in shock, "I hope so, brother," he whispered, "I hope so..."
Somehow, deep in his heart, Tony felt that this nightmare was just going to get worse. For all of them.
***Line Break***
Down the hall, the hydra officers finally managed to kick the power back on. They grinned triumphantly at their victory over the Asgardian god. The worried doctor silently picked up his scattered papers and set his seat back upright. He felt his heart ache at the pain being caused to Earth's mightiest heroes. He marked down a few more notes in his files and sighed as he set it on the opposite desk, leaving the file open to make additional notes as needed. As the cameras came back on, the small group watched as Thor slumped off into a fitful sleep, the strong emotions mixed with the discharge of powers as strong as that had exhausted the man. The doctor sat back in his seat and finally signed off on the paper, closing the file miserably.
Thor Odinson: Complete
Here y'all go! How was the chapter? I hope you guys liked it! Just leave a review and tell me what y'all think! Constructive Criticism is always welcome as well. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Love y'all!
- storyspinner16