Work Text:
“The very first time I remember you, you are blonde and you don’t love me back.”
Through the window, Bruce stared wistfully at Thor Odinson—star athlete, most popular guy in school, and straight as the board he was supposed to be writing on. Thor’s blonde hair shone like gold in the sunlight, and Bruce fell a little more in love each time he saw him.
“He doesn’t even know who you are, you know.” The cruel words stung, but they didn’t kill him inside anymore.
“Yeah, I know.”
—
“The next time you are brunette, and you do.”
Thor threaded his right hand through his boyfriend’s dark hair, loving how the curls bounced in between his fingers. Bruce hummed a tune as he sat in Thor’s lap, curling his arms around his neck.
“What is that?”
Bruce inhaled Thor’s scent. He hadn’t changed out of his hospital clothes yet, and the smell of antiseptic still lingered. “It’s something my mom used to sing to me before she died.”
“Ah.”
“Don’t ‘ahhh’ me. You’re still not off the hook for driving that bike of yours so damn carelessly.” Bruce demanded, “Now make it up to me.”
Thor smiled into his kiss, thinking the accident wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
—
“After a while I give up trying to guess if the colour of your hair means anything.”
The scrapper that came into the bar had long blond hair with the tips dyed blood red. As he turned his head, Banner saw that one side was shaved, with zigzag patterns crossing his scalp.
“New haircut, Thor? It suits you.”
Thor grinned, razor sharp.
“Lost a bet.”
“Alright. What’ll you have?”
Thor reached over the counter to the bartender and tugged Bruce towards him with minimal effort. Bruce tried to hide his smile.
“You, of course, as usual.”
—
“—because even when you don’t exist, I’m always in love with you.”
Thor looked down at his hand, where his red string dangled limply from his finger.
Roaring at the sky, he mourned the soulmate he could never find, and never had a chance to love.
—
“I remember fondly those lifetimes where we get to grow up together.”
Bruce giggled as he swatted Thor’s palm away from his food. “You have your own!”
Thor grinned at his best friend. “Yes, but you get to have Aunt Rebecca’s cookies whenever you want. Come now, share with me!”
“Yeah, but now you get to have them all the time, too!”
Bruce shrieked as Thor lifted him over his shoulder. Neither boy could stop his laughter. “ Thor! ”
Sitting at a bench watching their boys on the playground, two women smiled fondly at them.
“I’m glad you left him and came to live with us.”
“Thank you again, my friend.”
—
“—when you share your secrets and sorrows and hiding places with me.”
“What are you afraid of, Thor?”
Thor threw a rock into the lake, and it made a plop as it sank into the water. He groaned. “Why can’t I do this right?”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
Thor huffed and sat down next to Bruce, and looked around their “secret” spot hidden amongst the trees. He fiddled with his hands.
“That they’ll make me go back. She is his firstborn, but she abdicated the throne. If they made me leave you…”
Bruce looked to the prince, his friend, his love, and put his hand on Thor’s.
—
“I love how you play along with my bad ideas.”
“A bilgesnipe? Are you daft?”
Thor grinned roguishly. “Come now, Bruce. Surely you’ve grown tired of your life on Midgard, which is precisely why you agreed to accompany me to my home. It is tradition for warriors to slay the beasts!”
“Oh no, no, I’ve heard the stories from your brother,” Bruce backed away. “I treat ailments, Thor! Do I look as though I’ve ever slain anything ?”
The Asgardian prince and the Midgardian commoner: it was a strange sight, to say the least. They argued and argued, but then again, Bruce never could say no to his beloved, could he?
In they end, they went on the quest, bringing home the bilgesnipe’s hide. After a glorious feast, they coupled long into the night.
—
“—before you grow up and realize they’re bad ideas.”
“I don’t care how much of a turn on you find it, Thor, we are not making out on my desk.”
About an hour later, twenty teenagers found Mr. Banner and Mr. Odinson making out on the desk in their classroom.
—
“(And in our times together I have many many bad ideas.)”
“I’m sorry, Doctor.”
“Shut up, Thor, we’re going to stop the bleeding, okay? Stop talking.” Bruce’s fingers, slippery with blood, tried to stem the blood flowing from the numerous bullet wounds. “Stay with me. Oh god…”
“Bruce, I feel cold.”
Thor’s fingers felt like ice.
“Thor! ”
His lips under Bruce’s did, too.
—
“When we meet as adults you’re always much more discerning. I don’t blame you.”
The man bounced his leg in an unlikely show of anxiety. He shifted in his seat, bit his lip, looked outside the window and shifted yet again.
Bruce couldn’t see this, in the light; Joe and the Doctor did, however.
Immediately Joe tried to seize control, but the Doctor didn’t allow it. Robert looked curious but continued fiddling with his hands, saying nothing. The Hulk remained asleep, as ever when Bruce wasn’t in trouble.
Joe thought he looked like a sleaze, but the Doctor saw differently. The man was clearly nervous, and in any other situation this would be a red flag, but no—he looked more eager than anything.
Bruce slid into the seat across from him and the man lit up, exclaiming, “Doctor Banner! I’m so glad you decided to see me.”
Bruce smiled shyly, and Rick thought it was cute how nervous he was, too.
The Doctor and the others took the backseat, resolving to let Bruce enjoy his date for now.
—
“Yet, always,”
“I do,” they said in unison.
The crowd cheered as the newlyweds kissed.
—
“—you forgive me.”
Thor sat on their shared bed.
Bruce was behind him, cradling him in his arms. He rested his forehead on Thor’s shoulder.
“I’m so, so sorry Thor.”
Thor imagined the hands in his grip caressing someone else. Did they look anything alike? Had they been so much kinder to his husband? How did they hold him in their arms—
“It was a mistake.”
Thor wanted to believe him.
He swallowed his hurt and said, “We’ll work on us. Together.”
—
“As if you understand what’s going on, and you’re making up for—”
His mother and father had always warned him not to fall in love with a human.
“They will take your skin, Thor, and keep you to themselves. Humans are greedy and vain, and you will be nothing but a trophy to them.”
Yet somehow, Thor knew that the man wearing the oilskin coat would never harm him.
—
“—all the lifetimes in which one of us doesn’t exist,”
Bruce leafed through the pages of the book, absolutely fascinated.
He didn’t expect to get this interested in Norse mythology when randomly choosing a class to fulfill a humanity requirement. The stories reminded him of the myths and legends his mother had told him as a child, full of wonder and magic and countless possibilities.
He stopped at a page, running his hands over a picture. The hammer Thor held in his hand was beautifully detailed, and Bruce thought of the rainstorms he loved so.
The bell rang, so he packed up his things and headed to class.
—
“—and the ones where we just, barely, never meet.”
Thor smiled at the stories shared over a round of drinks. He felt...lonely, a deep ache for companionship. And while he had his friends with him, he couldn’t help but feel a little melancholy.
“Shit, sorry.”
He was distracted, and didn’t notice someone stumbling into his brother as he got drinks for the table.
“It’s quite alright. Just watch out next time.”
His brother returned to the table, and Thor barely smiled the rest of the night.
—
“I hate those. I prefer the ones in which you kill me.”
The champion of Sakaar had grown bored. There was no challenge in this, and there had never been. What sort of life had he expected, running away from Earth to the land of lost things?
But oh, he had been so very, very lost.
His opponent had fierce blue eyes, and for a moment, he almost faltered.
But Bruce had stopped hesitating the moment a part of himself died in the accident.
He closed his eyes, and when they opened again he saw green.
Another day, another death.
—
“But when all’s said and done, I’d rather surrender to you in other ways.”
Bruce hid under his bed, trying not to make a sound. He heard footsteps and shook with fear. Clamping a hand over his mouth, he tried not to cry.
It was always worse when he cried.
Bruce was gone, caught in the rabbit hole.
Bruce.
Brian was coming, he could feel it. He heard a snarl, and felt hands closing around his ankles—
Bruce, please! It’s not real.
He screamed.
Come back to me, my love.
Thor pulled him back up, through the cold recesses of his mind. He gasped for air, and suddenly he could control their Jaeger again.
Thor would always bring him back.
He smiled shakily at Thor, and looked into eyes full of love and understanding. Acceptance.
He surrendered to the drift. No kaiju stood a chance against Lichten Berserker.
—
“Even though each time, I know I’ll see you again, I always wonder—”
“Bruce?”
“Thor, oh my god!” He exclaimed, standing up from his seat to give Thor a hug. “Hey, man, you’re playing Chris? I can’t believe they didn’t tell me.”
Thor grinned cheekily at him. “Well, my dearest Mark, I asked them to keep it a surprise. Besides, we didn’t need a reading; they know we work well together.”
“Still, this is amazing! I loved your last film, by the way. I laughed the whole time.” Bruce’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “You looked great with that haircut!”
Thor chuckled at his enthusiasm. “Thank you. It’s good to work with you again, friend.”
—
“—is this the last time?”
“This’ll be my last macchiato here, I’m afraid.” Thor, as Bruce had always written on his cup, said with a sad smile.
Bruce faltered. “I’m sorry?”
“I’m going away, you see. I must take over my father’s business, and the head office is in Oslo.”
“Oh.”
Bruce gave him back his change, disappointed.
“Would you like to go on a date with me?”
Bruce’s mouth dropped open.
Thor smiled again, although this time it was shy. “I’m transferring headquarters to here in New York. But I’ll be living in midtown, so I won’t be able to come here everyday.”
Bruce beamed at him, and when Thor got his coffee he had a number written below his name.
—
“Is that really you?”
The shifts were growing worse, and came far too often. In one moment, Devil spit out cruel, senseless words while the next Bruce stood there looking horrified and afraid.
Thor knew all of them; from Rick, the kind and chatty lab tech, to Joe, slick and snarky and all too fun to rile up, to Rebecca, who held a memory so painful that she allowed Bruce to function.
Then there was Brian, the literal green-eyed monster that threatened the safety of all the alters with his self-destructive tendencies.
Bruce climbed into bed beside him. Snaking a hand around his waist, Bruce laid his head on Thor’s torso.
“Bruce?”
“What is it, Thor?”
“...nothing.”
—
“And what if you’re already perfectly happy—”
Bruce and Thor hugged their new child, the teenager who had seen far too much for such a young girl.
Bruce had loved her from the moment they met all those years ago, when he was still on the run. He couldn’t adopt her then because he cared about her safety more than anything. They both wanted so, so much—but when had either of them ever gotten what they want?
Then Thor came, bringing light into their lives.
They had signed the papers, becoming a family once and for all.
—
“—without me?”
It had been months since they had broken up, but seeing the invitation in the mail still tore Bruce apart.
It could’ve been them. It should have been them.
Bruce cried for the life they could have had.
—
“Ah, but I don’t blame you; I’ll never burn as brilliant as you. It’s only fair—”
Bruce listened to his doctor through the fog in his brain.
He loved the sound of Dr. Odinson’s voice. He had an air of sophistication but remained approachable. The nurses adored him, and so did his patients.
Bruce loved him.
He would never tell Thor that, though; because how could such a brilliant man love someone as broken as he?
—
“—that I should be the one—”
He got through security and ran like a madman to the airport terminal.
Seeing his lover, he shouted, “ Will you marry me?”
They couldn’t kiss the smiles off each other’s faces.
—
“—to chase you across ten, twenty-five, a hundred lifetimes until I find the one where you’ll return to me.”
Thor and Bruce—fellow Avengers, brothers-in-arms, friends, lovers, soulmates by choice. They looked at each other and remembered .