Archive of Our Own

Before Hulk, Bruce always wore a watch. It stressed him out to be anywhere and not know what the exact time was.

He was still learning to adjust to being okay with no sense of time as the Statesman flew back to earth.

The void of space made it beyond difficult to have a sense of time. There were Asgaridans who knew how to track it but he’d decided against being a pain and asking every few hours. Instead, he let his own body clock figure out its own schedule.

The Asgardians were a people he wasn’t sure how to describe. When he transformed back to himself from Hulk, they were definitely surprised. He wasn’t sure if they’d believed him when he’d told them he was human after being asked what planet he was from. After saving all of their lives they accepted him as one of their own regardless. Bruce had to guess approval from their king had also helped his case.

Bruce wasn’t sure how he’d describe his and Thor’s relationship two years ago. They were friends in the way you were friends with a coworker you were close with. That’s what they had been at the end of the day.

Now though, it was hard to explain. Being stuck on a planet together put them in a position that forced them to get to know each other. Maybe not on every intimate detail but they learnt to work together as a team and as something seperate from the Avengers. It was hard to put into words but something was different between them.

The Statesman had a number of rooms aboard. Enough to house all of the Asgardians. Thor had claimed what had formerly been the Grandmaster’s rooms as his own, while he pushed Bruce towards one of the second biggest rooms. Bruce had to guess it was for those higher up in Sakaar’s government.

Bruce spent most of his time in his room. He hadn’t had the energy to really see the whole ship. He wasn’t completely over the fact he wasn’t on earth. Every time he looked out into the wider outer space he felt so in awe it was overwhelming.

He hard a knock at his bedroom door. He sat up from his bed and stared at the door. He pushed himself off his bed and walked to the door. “Coming!”

When he opened the door he was met with Thor who was smiling at him.

He couldn’t help by notice how different Thor looked. Somewhere in the chaos of everything he’d lost his eye and now wore an eyepatch. He looked like a man who’d seen war. Though Bruce was sure he’d seen many. He looked kind of withered and he was probably exhausted from the whole experience.

His shorter hair had been its own surprise. There had been something so regal about Thor when he’d had long hair but he did kind of really like his hair cut.

He’d seemed to be recovering slowly. They’d stopped for supplies such as food, fuel, and new clothes for Bruce on a planet before resuming towards earth. Thor himself also took it as a chance to clean himself up a bit a blood was still caught in his beard. Brunnhilde had her own money – units, as the planet called them – and it was more than enough to cover everything.

“Banner, hi. I was passing by and thought it would be best to see how you were coping so far. I am aware this is your first time on a spaceship and I was only now realising this experience for you may be overwhelming.”

“Um, thanks.” He gave him a small smile. “I’ve been good. Mostly I’ve been sleeping everything off. It’s definitely a lot but I’m good at adapting to new environments at this point.”

Thor smiled back at him. It made Bruce’s grow slightly more. His smile was always incredibly infectious. His entire face would light up and he’d flash impossibly white teeth. “I’m glad to hear that. I realised you’d been through quite a lot. Not just the past few days but the last two years.”

He’d kept forgetting he was stuck as Hulk for two years. He hadn’t had trouble going back to himself like he’d feared but he still wasn’t sure why he got stuck there. He had no idea what Hulk had even done on that planet and he’d decided for himself it was best not to know. He’d guessed for himself it wasn’t anything good after the wary look Korg and Miek had given him when they saw him with Thor after initially transforming back.

He gave him with a shrug. “I don’t remember any of it. It was like passing out for two years.”

Thor’s face fell slightly. He swallowed. “Right. I forget. Hulk… he doesn’t like it when I use your name.”

He was well aware of that. Hulk was both him and not him. It was something that didn’t have an easy answer because that meant talking about deep rooted mental illness he couldn’t even begin explaining to Thor.

“Well, uh, just call him Hulk. He kind of hates me.” He said it in a lighthearted tone but he was starting to realise he’d never had a conversation like this with Thor. The past few days was the most time they’d spent alone together, even when he included everything before Sakaar.

Thor’s face softened. “I have wanted to ask actually; what exactly is Hulk? Was it how you were born?”

His shoulders slumped slightly. “It’s… it’s a really long story.” He was used to most people knowing about it from the news or from their own research. He’d found out that his story was being taught in school along side Cap’s own origin. He had a lot of worries how the teacher’s own biases affected the lessons.

“I have time, Banner.”

He stared at him for a moment and decided to give in. “Come on in then. You might want to sit down.”

They sat together on his bed. Bruce had to wonder how such a rich dictator lacked so much on basic furniture, even for his higher ups.

Thor gave him an expectant look. “Whenever you’re ready.”

He nodded slowly and stared at his lap. Thor felt like an easy person to talk to, and something told him he may be able to be completely transparent around him. “It was 2001. I was one of the leading scientists in gamma radiation, I–“ he cut himself off when he felt two fingers on his chin that lifted his head up. Thor was giving him a small smile.

“You can look at me, it’s okay.”

He paused before continuing. “I was thirty-one. I was working on my third and fourth PhD’s, I was a struggling scientist. Then I get an email from the military asking me if I could help recreate the super solider serum– that’s what Steve was given. They had a theory that gamma might be the key and they wanted my help. There was a fat contract in it too and it would be the reason I wasn’t eating nothing but raman noodles anymore.”

He took a deep shaky breath. “Here’s the thing you should know though; I hate the military. I despite it. I hate that they exploit other countries resources, I hate that they terrorise civilians in those exploited countries, I hate that they trick vulnerable people into joining and making them think they can help them get somewhere, I hate that most of the countries taxes go into it instead of things that could actually help the country. I hate all of that shit. But I threw it out because there was enough zeros on a cheque and I hate myself more for it.”

Sometimes, when he was in his darkest moments, he’d blamed that for one of the reasons Hulk came into existence. Some sort of punishment or karma for going against his personal moral compass all because a cheque had enough zeros.

“I’d had a boyfriend at the time too. He had a job he loved and long distance would’ve been too hard so we broke up. We’d been together for four years. I don’t know if we ever would’ve gotten married. We’d talked a little about it being long term but clearly not enough to at least think about making an effort to be long distance. Or even for me to stay and reject the contract altogether. But I didn’t so I left him behind and haven’t spoken to him since.

“When I got to the university it was all going to take place I just threw myself into the work. I researched it for so many hours a day while also teaching. Nuclear physics and biochemistry. I have no idea how I didn’t burn out or go into some stress induced breakdown from it. It was all too much work but I still did it. I think I wanted to be some sort of hero in the science field. I wanted to make some kind of difference. I just wanted to do good, even if I made the choice to support unethical institutions while doing it. I thought it was the only way I would have enough money and resources to do something meaningful.

“It took four years of extensive work. I was basically running on caffeine and two or three hours of sleep a night. I worked myself to the point I was in pain just to prove I could do it. And I didn’t do it alone, I met a woman who was the daughter of the general who oversaw a lot of the research. She was – or is I guess – second to me on gamma expertise. We were probably on the same level when we met. Her name… was Betty. We were together for a while. She was my first relationship after the ex I’d left behind.

“After the four years I thought I’d done it. I really had thought I’d done it. There weren’t really many ethical ways to test it so I tested it on myself. I wasn’t scared, I’d thought I’d done it. I was fully expecting to just get abs in an instant and receive accolades for my breakthrough. But instead, in the instant, Hulk came. He destroyed the lab, the building, and I ended up injuring both Betty and her father.”

His voice started to break. All the memories and trauma were coming back to him at full speed. He hadn’t ever set everything out to someone like this. Thor was so easy to talk to that telling him every detail felt easier than he’d expected. He hadn’t told anyone about leaving Eric behind before yet he felt almost compelled to let Thor know about him and the sacrifices he’d made.

“Bruce, you don’t need to keep talking about it,” Thor said, putting his hand on his knee and giving it a squeeze. “I understand now.”

He shook his head. “There’s more. I need to get it all out.” So much of what had happened got lost in the media frenzy and people’s own conspiracy theories. He wanted at least one person to know every small detail of truth. Possibly even more details than Jennifer had or even Rick. Even for the only family he had left, he’d left things out.

“I couldn’t stop it. So I hid out for a while. A grad student I was friends with helped me out. He also helped calm Hulk down, he was weirdly good at that. He helped me get a fake ID and passport to leave the country.”

Rick Jones was always someone he’d be thankful for. They’d met when Rick came to him asking if he’d help him and some other students start a campus queer centre. He’d seemed convinced a professor backing them up would make it easier for them to start up and get resources. They’d become best friends long before Hulk and he was the only person who stuck around when things got more serious and intense. He’d helped him hide for the first month while the fake identifications were being secured. Ross had put a target on his head and no one questioned him, making him the most wanted man in the country.

He’d missed him. He was the first person he’d contacted after the battle in New York after Jennifer. His cousin easily came first but Rick was his best friend and he was desperate to hear from him again. He knew for sure the feeling was mutual when he heard Rick’s received voice on the other end of the line and when he spent a full minute talking about how cool he looked on TV.

“I was on the run for five years. I hid in mostly South America. I had a fake name, I learnt how to control Hulk, I looked for a cure. I’d lost everything but I still tried to regain my life in some sense. It was hard. I kind of did it I guess. I tried to do good. I got my goddamn medical licence in hopes I could really help people. But the military still came after me. The military wanted to use my blood to create a weapon, that’s what they saw Hulk for and it backfired on them.

“Before the Avengers, I’d only been free for two years because I agreed to fight the monster they’d created. That’s how I got freedom I should’ve always had. But they were also so determined to turn me into a weapon that it didn’t come as easy as it should’ve. Kind of ironic I had to fight the monster they’d created from my own blood.”

Breaking from the shackles that Ross had put in place had been both a weight put off his shoulders and a punch in the face. As long as Ross could show he’d somehow been the reason something good had happened then he wouldn’t let him suffer anymore. If he’d never gone back to Virginia he’d still be hiding in a different country while trying his hardest to not let anyone know his real identity.

He took a deep breath and sighed. “Okay, I’m done. That’s my tragic backstory.” Part two of it at least but Thor didn’t need to hear another layer of trauma. Bruce was already worn out form telling him that story.

Thor stared at him blankly. Thirty seconds must’ve passed before he’d responded. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what to say. I had no idea anything like that had happened to you or that you’d been keeping it in for so long.”

“It’s fine,” he replied hollowly. “I mean, I don’t exactly like dumping it on people but you’re a good listener,” he added sincerely. Thor was the kind of person who he felt would truly empathise with his trauma. He never looked at him with judgment as he told him everything about his past with Hulk. He didn’t even seem to flinch.

“I’m actually getting kind of tired,” he said. “I think I’m going to go to sleep.”

Thor opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more but he closed it and slowly nodded. “Okay.” He stood up and brushed himself off. “Sleep well, Bruce.”

He smiled at him, enjoying the sound of his name in his voice. “You too, Thor.”

“Do you have a plan for when we land on earth?”

Thor had been asked that question countless times ever since the Statesman retreated from the burning Asgard. Heimdall seemed to be almost begging for a clear answer.

The truth was, he had no idea. He had no idea how to negotiate land, especially with Midgardians. He had doubts the Asgardians would be accepted onto the planet at all. Even if Thor himself was hailed a hero among the people of earth.

“I will discuss with humans I feel will be of assistance,” Thor told Heimdall.

The room they were occupying was mostly empty. Thor’s best guess it was previously a strategy room. All of the soldiers were lost in Hela’s first attack, including Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandrall. The deaths of the Warrior’s Three was still something he was getting used to.

All there was in the strategy room was himself, Heimdall, Brunnhilde, and Loki. Thor decided it was best for the rest of the Asgardians, and now Korg and Miek, to not be told anything until it’s certain. He wasn’t sure if it was the best idea but he also didn’t want to worry them. Choosing to put on a façade that he knew what he was doing was easier than the truth.

“That’s not very promising,” said Brunnhilde, crossing her arms. “How well do you know these Midgardians you speak of?”

“Well enough that it will likely help us get land we can settle on.” He hoped so at least. Part of him was holding onto Stark helping them buy land but the negotiation part was still up in air.

Heimdall let out a long sigh. “I really hope you know what you’re doing. I don’t know where else we could go if it doesn’t work out.”

Neither did Thor. The thoughts of what could go wrong put anxiety in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t ready to be a king before his father’s death and now he felt even less prepared for the role.

“What about resources?” Brunnhilde asked, sitting up straight in her chair. “How do you plan to feed your people? I know for a fact they have their own form of currency and I highly doubt the Midgardians would be completely sympathetic.”

He held off a sigh. “I understand but these are problems we can figure out once we land.” Even he didn’t believe himself.

He stood himself up, his palms on the table. “It’ll work out, I’m sure it will. I’m am not going to allow my people to be wayward.”

Loki had been mostly silent for the duration of the meeting. Thor was still trying to figure out how he was going to deal with him when the returned to earth. Public opinion would still be against him. He was pretty sure Bruce was still wary of him. Although Loki seemed far from forgiving him for Hulk slamming him into the ground during the Chitauri Invasion. Needless to say it was going to take a long time before they learnt to get along.

“Meeting adjourned.” He tried to make his tone sound more authoritative as he stood up straighter. “I will see you all at dinner.”

He stepped out of the room and into the corridor. He walked into the direction of where his rooms were. He kept his head high as he walked.

He was worried people were starting to notice how unsure of himself he was. He doubted anyone trusted him in the role. He didn’t even trust himself.

The route he took to his rooms was in the direction of Bruce’s room. When he got to the doors he stopped for a moment and looked.

Bruce had barely left his room. He still didn’t fully understand the concept of a spaceship being overwhelming for someone.

He was still thinking about Bruce telling him about his past. It made him realise how little they knew about each other. He hadn’t even known about Bruce’s fugitive status. It made the reasons of his lack of trust in S.H.I.E.L.D. make a lot of sense.

Because Bruce had barely left his room, it also meant he ate meals in his room over the dining hall. He wanted to see him more than he had been.

He knocked on his door and Bruce answered it quickly.

Bruce smiled at him when he saw him. “Hey, didn’t expect to see you.”

He smiled back at him. “I wanted to ask if you were coming to dinner tonight or if you’d prefer to stay in your room.”

“Uh, sure. Yeah. I think even I am getting sick of being alone, which is a feeling I’m not very used to.” Bruce leant against the door. “How was the meeting?”

His smiled faltered. “As good as it could, I would say.” His voice didn’t give much faith and he didn’t really feel like forcing it. “There’s a lot of uncertainty. If know it would be difficult for my people to adapt to a new home. It’s likely going to take many years for everyone to get completely settled.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, it would. I’m not sure where you could go that would allow you to have the same kind of status as you did on Asgard.”

He nodded. “Indeed.” His position as a prince was occasionally humoured while he was on earth but for the most part, his position was only slightly more respected than it had been on Sakaar.

“I don’t know much about monarchy to be honest, so I wouldn’t even know if you’d be recognised as a king. I wasn’t even sure you could rule without a queen.”

Thor gave him a fond smile. “No, I do not need one, although it’s preferred. It’s really my choosing if I have a queen– or a prince consort.” He added the last part with ease.

He’d learnt from Jane same gender lovers were taboo in some parts of Midgard, even forbidden depending on the region. He hadn’t known what to think of the information as Asgard did not have qualms of those kinds. Knowing of one of Bruce’s former lovers made him aware he wasn’t the sorts to react in horror over those kinds of relationships.

Although his own surprise was unexpected. He blinked and gaped at him. “Oh wait, you’re–“

He nodded. “My affections aren’t restricted by many things, including their gender. I’ve had as many men as lovers in my time as I’ve had women.”

He paused for a moment. “You just never mentioned it.”

“Neither did you,” he said pointedly, tilting his head to the side.

“I never really talk about it. I don’t talk about relationships much anyway. That and I haven’t dated in a really long time.” His tone softened, like he was thinking about his past.

“It’s funny that I don’t,” Bruce continued. “In college I was really open about it. I guess as the years went by and I was away from that I just changed and only talked about it when I felt like I had to.”

“What’s different about me?”

“Guess you’re just really easy to talk to.”

A short silence passed between them. The fact that they still didn’t really know each other well became more apparent. They didn’t really have anything at all to talk about to each other. Part of Thor really wanted to change that.

“And please, at dinner, feel free to sit next to me.”

The dining hall’s layout was multiple round tables with one rectangle one in the middle with chairs that had a more regal design. Thor sat there with Heimdall, Loki, and Brunnhilde. There was always one chair left empty as if it was meant for Bruce.

He smiled at him. “Wouldn’t consider sitting anywhere else. I’ll see you tonight.”

“You too, Bruce.” He’d picked up the habit of calling him ‘Bruce’ over ‘Banner’. He’d decided to do it initially as one step closer to forming a friendship between them. When Bruce hadn’t reacted completely opposed to it, he’d decided to continue it.

Bruce’s eyes seemed to go brighter when he did call him his name, motivating him to do it even more. He remembered how depressed Bruce had been when he’d first met him, and how that had carried out to Ultron. Any positive impact he could make on him was something he was happy to make sure he continued.

He felt like he’d do anything to make Bruce happy.

The dining hall reminded Bruce way too much of the room in a hotel that would host work Christmas parties. It wasn’t the most inviting space but the smell of the food put him at least a little at ease.

He’d forgotten the name of the planet they had gotten their food from. He could tell it was alien meat and plants. The part of his brain that cared about science wanted to save his rations to study on earth. The more sensible part of him ate it before he could even think it through properly.

“I’m assuming you like it?”

He looked at Thor who was smiling next to him. Bruce had already eaten half of his meal which consisted of the alien meat, the vegetables so far untouched. He thought they were vegetables at least since they looked like they were just parts of plants. Maybe he should get another PhD in botany and use it to research alien planet life.

He nodded. “I’ll take all the food I can get honestly.”

Typically after Hulk outs he was hungry. His best guess was Hulk took a lot of energy out of him. He had to eat a lot to make up for it but since the food was being rationed so thin he was hungrier than he usually was.

“Not becoming of a royal guest?” he asked after he swallowed his mouthful.

He was still overwhelmed by the position in the room. It felt too regal and that too much attention was on him. He knew that Thor had been a crown prince but being around the Asgardians made him realise Thor was well and truely a king.

Part of him was still thinking about their conversation earlier that day where Thor more or less came out to him. He’d done it in such a nonchalant way that it made him wonder how it functioned in Asgard. He should’ve been able to at least guess Asgard would likely not be exactly like earth when it came to those kind of things.

He’d been out himself since he left for college. He never really had a chance to tell aunt Susan. As thankful as he was to her for taking him in, he had always been skeptical if she’d ever gotten passed outdated ideas on it.

But aside from that, he hadn’t been shy about it. It was as easy as just mentioning a boyfriend if he had one at the time or casually tellings the women he dated that he was bisexual. It was in of itself, simple and easy.

Jen had come out as a lesbian to him when she was sixteen and he was eighteen, which was when he’d told her he was bisexual. They’d always been close but something about having that in common made them closer.

Rick himself had been casual about being bisexual when he’d come to him asking for assistance to start the queer resource centre. Rick was only a little over a decade younger than him yet he somehow was more confident in himself than Bruce had been at his age.

Nowadays, it only came up if someone else had brought it up. He didn’t avoid it entirely by any means. Tony knew because he’d casually asked about ‘exes’. Steve didn’t, entirely because he wasn’t sure how much of his thoughts on the world were stuck in the 40s. It never came up around Clint, Natasha knew because she said she was a lesbian and dating agent Hill, and he and Thor never had had a conversation alone together before he woke up in Sakaar.

“I can excuse it,” Thor said and he squeezed his shoulder. “Royal pardon.”

They weren’t the only ones sat at the table. Loki was sat on the other side of Thor with Heimdall next to him while Brunnhilde next to him. He was probably the least important person at the table.

He was still getting used to being around Loki. He trusted Thor but he definitely didn’t trust Loki. Thor’s confidence wasn’t enough for that.

Loki regularly gave him dirty looks but he had an air of something Bruce was used to; fear. He remembered during Loki’s imprisonment on the Helicarrier he was ready to turn Hulk into a weapon against S.H.I.E.L.D.. He was also aware of how Hulk body slammed him into the ground. Any attempts of positive feelings between the two of them was going to take a long time if at all.

Brunnhilde and him were becoming closer and closer. She already had a fondness for Hulk and that feeling of already knowing each other. He’d kept the explanation of Hulk brief, simply telling her it was a failed science experiment. She seemed to accept that and didn’t ask much else about Hulk.

He hadn’t had any alone time with Heimdall. He’d expressed his gratitude to him for saving everyone on the Birförst but not much outside of that.

For the most part, Bruce felt like an outsider, almost a stowaway. He shouldn’t be there, it felt like he was just some accidental tag along.

He tried to not think too much about what would’ve happened if Thor had never landed on Sakaar and he continued to be stuck as Hulk. If Hulk had let him back out and he had seen where he was, he would’ve probably swung right back into Hulk before the panic attack could come.

He held onto how if it weren’t for him, the Asgardians wouldn’t be on this ship in the first place.

It took time but slowly, Bruce started to leave his room more and more.

The mere fact of being in space was hard to deal with. It gave him a headache to process. But once he got over it, he’d realised that the breathtaking view he could see was something he’d never see again in his lifetime.

After a short self directed tour, he’d realised there were a lot of bay windows. One’s that were perfect enough to relax at and watch the stars slowly go by. He may be in the void of space but he was happy to find ways to enjoy it.

He relaxed at the way window, his knees drawn to his chest. Every now and then an Asgardian would pass and smile at him or give a small gesture of acknowledgement. It was going to take some getting used to since he was used to strangers and passerbyers who recognised him tensing up.

He’d met up with Rick not long after the New York attack and when the Avengers was all over the news. They’d only gotten lunch but he could see people sneaking glances. Some were bold enough to pull out their phones to take a photo. He’d pretended he’d hadn’t noticed but he’d hated he had to make Rick uncomfortable when they were meant to have been finally catching up.

“Are you this distant from everyone on earth too?”

He glanced over to see Brunnhilde walking to him, a smile on her face He smiled back at her. “Used to it. Long story.”

She nodded. She gestured to the empty space across from him. “Mind if I sit?”

“Go for it.”

She sat across from him, lounging comfortably. She looked out the window. “You’re really not used to this, are you?”

“Not many people really go into space on earth. Technology isn’t there yet for us. Those who do go through intense training.”

“Weird how space travel is normal for the rest of the universe. I guess your primitive planet just needs time to catch up.”

A small smile tugged on his lips as he rested his head against the window. “It’s a lot to take in, I guess, But I guess I have my own surprises.”

“Yeah. No offence but I really didn’t expect some random guy Thor picked up on Sakaar to be. Well. Hulk.” She cleared her throat. “Sorry about the whole, capturing you. I don’t think I ever really said that.”

Finding out Brunnhilde was the reason he’d come into the Grandmasters possession had definitely been one of the bigger surprises. He couldn’t think of anyone outside of Thor who had at least a chance of taking down Hulk. Maybe it was an Asgardian thing.

“It’s fine. I know a lot about doing what you can to stay alive.” He gave a small shrug. “I’m leaving all of it behind. I just… I really want to get home.”

He’d never been more homesick in his life. He’d liked living in Stark Tower. He’d like the security. He’d liked being a scientist again. Tony just tacking on a research division for him to have an excuse to hire him was something he’d never deserved and would never stop being grateful to him for.

“Yeah, that makes sense. But I will admit I’m never going to be over seeing Hulk just come out of you.”

“I don’t think anyone who’s seen it is.”

She gave him a small smile. “You probably don’t wanna jump off spacecrafts again though. You almost gave me a heart attack when you jumped out of the Commodore.”

“You sound exactly like my ex-girlfriend when I did it in front of her.”

There was still four months until the Statesman was due to land on Midgard. That should be more than enough time for Thor to at least attempt to finish patching things up with Loki.

The unfortunate part was that Loki and Bruce were still far from getting along.

They mostly ignored the other’s existence which was better than anything but he’d noticed a certain amount of hostility between them during dinner. Mostly Loki watching him as if he was going to hulk out any second and Bruce occasionally side eyeing him. He was likely the only thing between them and yelling at each other.

The thing was, Thor was pretty certain Loki was scared of Bruce. He didn’t like being overpowered and here was someone who could do it like it was nothing. It would be funny if they weren’t all stuck on a spaceship for the next few months.

Bruce was coming out of his room a lot more and he would usually see him resting by windows. He looked so entranced by the sight it was like he could barely move. Thor couldn’t stop the smile he’d have when he’d see him. He was aware Bruce didn’t really know peace and being able to see it made his stomach warm. Bruce was been making him feel that way a lot lately.

Loki still frustrated him most of the time. He was holding out on nothing but hope that he wouldn’t change his mind about leaving his villainy behind him. When he’d tried explaining that to Bruce he’d given him a skeptical look and had pointed out his brother was the God of mischief. He’d seemed thoroughly convinced he’d turn at any point. Thor couldn’t blame him, all things considered.

Even so, it would be nice if they had at least tried to get along.

“For the billionth time, Hulk won’t come out if nothing triggers him,” Bruce said, his arms crossed over his chest. He and Loki were stood in a corridor that held both of their rooms. With the way it was set out, it forced them to cross paths when either wanted to get to the common area. “And if he does come out, he won’t hurt anyone if you don’t do shit like shoot at him.”

Loki was glaring back at him. “I did nothing of the sort when he’d acted needlessly violent towards mean,” he shot back firmly.

“You were attacking New York!”

“Yeah but not you!”

Thor held back a sigh. He had to intervene before things got any worse.

He stepped forward, clearing his throat to alter them of his presence. The need to be formal was unnecessary. He hated it in the first place but it sure as Hel wasn’t going to extend to his brother and a close friend.

“Might I ask for you two to fucking stop? I don’t want to have to listen to you two argue. Loki, he’s already told you he won’t hulk out. Stop bringing it up or I’ll make sure Hulk does smash you next time he’s out.”

Loki gave him an annoyed look. “Why are you taking his side?” he gave a sharp point right to Bruce’s chest. Bruce didn’t so much as flinch in response. “You know what it’s like to get flung into the ground by that thing.”

In that moment, the colour drained from Bruce’s face. “I did what?”

“It was during the fight I told you about, it’s no problem,” he quickly assured him. It had hurt a lot. It would’ve probably broken every bone in a Midgardian’s body.

Bruce looked at him then looked back at Loki. “I done with this argument. Besides, I think I have better reason to be cautious of you. Not the other way around.”

Loki clenched his jaw. His face had a tinge of regret to it. “I seem to recall the Hulk causing his own damage. Maybe worse damage too. I’d love to find out what you do to yourself to create such a monster.”

He waited for Bruce to at least tense up with green. Even if it was just his eyes or his veins. Instead, he seemed almost paler.

“I’m done with this conversation.” His voice wasn’t angry or desperate or even panicked. It seemed distant if anything.

He turned and walked back to his room and closed the door. The small echo of the deadbolt ran through the corridor.

Both he and Loki stared at the door. If there was one thing Bruce definitely wasn’t, it was erratic. He had more expected Bruce to calmly end the argument and go to his room or maybe find a window to sit at. But he seemed so distant when he’d responded. Like he was hardly there.

He turned and looked at Loki. “Now look what you did.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I fail to see how that was my fault. Your Midgaridan friend is very argumentative when he wants to be if you hadn’t noticed.”

Thor had noticed that. He was the type who held grudges and wasn’t opposed to holding people against their previous wrong doings. It was going to make any attempt for Bruce and Loki to get along all that much more harder.

“Just don’t approach him on the topic of Hulk again, okay?” He wasn’t a fan of pleading but he was desperate.

“Funny how you assume I approached him.”

“Well did you?”

“Yes but it’s besides the point. What if he does let the beast loose and attack our people?”

“He won’t. I know that for sure. He saved our people on the Bifröst.”

Loki gave one more skeptical look before sigh in defeat. “What if the relationship between you and the mortal anyway?”

“He’s a friend. You know that.”

“I know. Just wanted to check again.” He walked passed him in the direction of the common area. As he walked further away Thor stood there wondering what he could have possibly meant.

After failing to fight off an anxiety attack thanks to the fight with Loki, Bruce napped for the rest of the day. It was typically the only way he could at least slightly recover from them.

He woke up around dinner time so he made his way down to the dining hall. It was still a little earlier so most people hadn’t arrived yet.

He sat in his usual spot next to Thor. Thor smiled at him as he did before continuing his conversation with Loki. Bruce tuned himself out and fiddled with his napkin.

Food was made by the same royal cooks on Asgard. Bruce always forgot to ask what kind of food there was on Asgard. He should get around to asking Thor. He didn’t know much about the real Asgard. He wasn’t sure how accurate the books of Norse mythology were anymore.

When he’d met Thor he’d bought every book on Norse myths he could find. While he did recognise some parallels he was unsure how many of the stories were real or were simply made up. He also had to wonder if Asgardians were truly gods or if they were aliens who were deified.

Heimall and Brunnhilde arrived and dinner was served soon after. It was, as usual, meat and vegetables he’d never seen before. He happily started to eat.

“I wanted to ask, were you okay?”

He turned to Thor and saw he was giving him a concerned look. His brows were drooped low and he had a small frown.

“I just noticed you ran to your room quite quickly,” Thor continued.

“I’m fine, really. I just needed time alone.”

Thor leaned in a bit closer. He ignored how nice it was to have him that close. “I’m sorry about Loki.” His voice was barely a whisper as he said it.

“It’s fine,” he replied, matching his tone.

“Really, I could tell you were upset. I don’t want you to have to deal with that.”

“It’s fine.” He replied that time a little firmer. He didn’t need or want Thor feeling bad for him. If it weren’t for Joe he would’ve probably stayed to argue with Loki longer.

Thor pulled back, his brows furrowing together. “How are you liking your food?”

He smiled at him, thankful for the change of subject. “I like it. Tastes kind of like beef.”

“Well good. That seems to be the main course for most of our meals until we land.”

He nodded. “How long is left at this point?”

“Four months.”

He frowned. “Feels like we’ve been here for a year.”

Thor had told him everyone thought he was dead. A fair conclusion if you’re M.I.A for over two years. Thor had told him he had left soon after Sakovia for his own mission. It made him wonder if he’d had a funeral and who had attended. Did people search for him for a long time? He doubted there was any kind of massive search that time for him.

The thought of Jen and Rick having to live with not knowing where he was made him feel sick. Missions were classified for civilians most of the time and they were probably more in the dark than the Avengers. He’d have to call them the second he landed.

“Don’t worry,” Thor smiled. “It’ll be over before you realise.”

He could only hope.

“Where are you taking me?”

Thor smiled at Bruce as they walked down the corridor. When he had free time, Thor looked around the ship as much as he could. Given its size, it was taking time to see absolutely everything.

In his exploring he’d found something that he took one look at and knew Bruce had to see.

“Do you want me to spoil the surprise?” he smiled at him.

“Did I ever tell you I hate surprises?”

“You’ll love this one, I promise.”

Bruce’s lips tugged into a small smile. “Okay, fine.”

He lead Bruce to a staircase behind a door. Bruce stared at it for a moment. As far as Bruce knew, they were already on the top floor.

“Thor.”

“Just trust me.” He did his best to reassure him with a smile. He noticed Bruce visibly relax and together they walked up the stairs.

“How big if this thing anyway?” Bruce asked a few steps ahead of him. The staircase was a spiral one and was pretty narrow.

He gave a small laugh. “No clue. Guess we lucked out getting the biggest ship possible.”

“Better than the orgy ship.”

They both laughed. They got to the top of the stairs and finally to where Thor wanted to take him.

“Oh. Wow. Thor. This is… incredible.”

They walked into the room and Bruce looked in total awe. It was a room with a windowed ceiling and most windowed walls. Thor’s best guess it was a room specifically for looking at the stars and space.

“I knew you liked watching it from the windows. Thought you’d like this view better.”

He smiled at him. “It is. It’s the best view I’ve seen so far.” His eyes went back to the ceiling as he stared again.

Thor watched Bruce as he looked at the stars with a bright face. His smile was wide and he looked positively mesmerised.

Thor had a small smile on his face and his stomach went warm. Something about Bruce’s face was so endearing and wonderful to see. It made Thor feel absolutely wonderful.

Then Bruce looked at him with his absolutely in awe expression. “Thank you, Thor.”

Thor’s smile grew a little. “You’re welcome, Bruce.”

As Bruce looked back at the stars, the fluttering in Thor’s stomach intensified. Only one word was in his mind.

Gorgeous.

That thought was followed by one simple word.

Fuck.

He cleared his throat. “You want to be alone?”

He looked back at him and shook his head. “No. You can stay if you’d like.”

So he did. They sat on the floor together, close enough so their knees were touching.

“I used to do things like this all the time when I was younger. Minus the being in space stuff,” Bruce said, staring towards the ceiling. “In college after exams my friends and I would celebrate by driving out and camping out. We’d watch the stars, get drunk on cheap beer and get high.” He let out a long sigh, his eyes going to his lap. “I miss it.”

Thor watched him for a moment. He took his hand to squeezed it. “You’ll be on earth soon enough and you will be able to do all those things again.”

He turned his head to him and let out a laugh. “I’m too old for all that now. I haven’t seen those friends since my late 20s. This is just making me nostalgic for it.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I feel like there’s so much I don’t know about you.”

“And I’m not sure what’s myth and what’s reality for you so I guess we’re even.”

He laughed. He wasn’t sure how earth had its own versions of Asgard tales but they were plentiful.

“There’s many inaccuracies. For example, they tend to make my hair red,” he grinned and stroked his beard.

Bruce smiled. “That’s one thing. I’m sure I can think of more.”

“We’ve got plenty of time to learn more about each other.”

“Yeah. I guess we do.”

Bruce hadn’t been in love many times in his life. He could count those times on one hand.

First was Chloe, his first real relationship right after college. Before her, all he knew was infatuation and dating people for only the fun of it.

After Chloe, he’d met Eric. That was his first real relationship with a man. Things were different for those kind of relationships when they had dated. As out as he tried to be in his every day life, back then he would’ve never dreamed on holding his hand in public. Not without worrying a slur would get thrown at them. He wasn’t sure if it would be different if he was in the situation today.

The last person he’d been in love with was Betty. She had been the one person he was able to see himself spending the rest of his life with. She had been perfect in every conceivable way. They had been right for each other. Almost perfect. Only for it to crumble down right in front of him. He hadn’t seen her since he had fought Blonsky. He’d found out she’d gotten married to a man named Glenn.

He’d mostly given up on love after that. That was at least before his feelings for Thor started to change.

He’d always found Thor to be attractive. It had always been in this almost superficial sense. Now that they had the chance to get to know each other a little more, seeing how caring and considerate he could be, it was becoming something else. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do about it.

Bruce has given up on dating a long time ago. Even after he’d learnt to control Hulk he’d decided it was better for everyone to keep to himself. It wasn’t worth it. He could never give anyone a real family, a real life.

He’d learnt to live with it. With that came learning to being okay with it. That part never really came.

This weird attraction he was developing for Thor that was deeper than that superficial sense was something he absolutely could not deal with. Not when Thor had a lot on his own plate. And even if he didn’t he’d never reciprocate those feelings.

People like him, who’d played god, who’d got punished for that, who’d hurt people, didn’t get rewarded with those kind of things. They didn’t deserve them.

He did appreciate their time together in the observation room. Thor was an affectionate person and sometimes Bruce had some suspicion there was something else to it. He knew better than that though. He had his own suspicions Thor had feelings for Brunnhilde. And if not her, there were plenty of Asgardians worriers he’d be much better suited for than him.

“Do you go anywhere else on this ship?”

Burce looked in the direction of the voice and saw Brunnhilde walking towards him. He was resting on what had become his go to bay window to watch the stars pass.

He smiled at her. “Easier on me since this thing is so big. I try not to think too much about how this things gives oxygen to the ship.”

“Yeah, I don’t know either to be honest,” she said and sat across from him on the bay window. “You should check out the commons though. Everyone kind of loves you for saving them on the Bifröst.”

He was aware of that and if anything, it was overwhelming. It was one of the reasons he did keep to himself. He only went down for dinner because Thor had asked him to. It was the only time he was social with more than one person on a day to day basis. Most days were talking to Thor when he came to say hi to him or Loki giving him the stink eye until it became too much for him and he snapped at him asking what was wrong now.

“What’ve you been up to then?” he asked.

She let out a small sigh. “We had another meeting about what to do when we land. Thor seems… a little too confident.”

“Yeah, he can be like that. I haven’t told him this but a lot of people and country’s governments on earth don’t even like refugees from the same planet. I’m kind of nervous how they’d react to a whole planet.”

Bruce wasn’t sure where Thor’s plans began or what country he was going to try and live in. While many people did love Thor he knew for sure it wasn’t going to extend to the rest of the Asgardians.

Brunnhilde gaped at him. “Maybe you should tell him that.”

He shook his head. “No. He already has so much on his plate. I don’t want to freak him out even more. I’ll just worry him.”

She frowned. “How far is that whole, saving the world from Loki and killer robots going to get him anyway?”

“I don’t know. Both of us haven’t been on earth for over two years anyway so we have no idea what our old team is even doing anymore. But one of our friends is a billionaire and billionares can get basically anything.”

She watched him before nodding slowly. “Okay. At least you’re a little optimistic.”

“I’m not about to say they’ll be kicked off the entire planet. I try to not constantly be completely cynical.” Not something he was completely great at but he was a realist. He couldn’t let optimism blind him to reality. Part of that reality was a billionaire backing up refugees did deal them better cards.

She let out a small sigh and leaned back. “I’ve never actually been to earth before. I’ve heard mixed thing before.”

“Yeah, actually I wanted to ask; how do you speak English anyway?”

“I don’t. It’s all-tongue. In short, when I talk you hear your native language.”

He stared at her for a few moment before he laughed. “Jesus. All this time I just thought Thor was speaking English.”

“Yeah, hate to break it to you but he doesn’t. But it makes communication a whole lot easier.” She gave him a smile. “But anyway, as I was saying, I’ve only heard about earth. A lot of mixed things but I’ve always thought about going to at least look at it and see what it was like. It’s mostly water though so I wasn’t sure where to go.”

“Yeah, countries can be so different to each other so I don’t even know where I would suggest going. I was on the run from the military for a while due to the experiment that created Hulk so I saw a lot of places I’d never been to before.” It was mostly South America, then Canada and then parts of South Asia when he got his freedom. He’d been on the move for a while and doing that while hiding his identity had been difficult. He’d like to see more of the world eventually, especially if he’d been on a whole different planet now.

“Where’re we going anyway?”

“It’s a country called the United States, and the city is called New York City. It’s okay. I mostly stayed there before landing on Sakaar because I was offered a job and my cousin and best friend live there. Otherwise, I don’t know where I would’ve been between those couple of years.”

“Place sounds big. That’s how earth had always been described to me.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’d say so.”

They sat in silence after that, both of them watching the stars slowly pass them.

After maybe five minutes, Brunnhilde said, “I know I keep asking questions about him. But Hulk, he was my friend. How much would that extend to you?”

He turns and looks at her. She had a concerned look on her face. It made him wonder just how much Hulk had bonded with her. “Aren’t we friends?” he asked.

“I mean, yeah, sure. I like you. I just want to know if you feel any of the friendship between me and Hulk.”

He paused, trying to think of the best way to answer. “No. Hulk isn’t me and I’m not Hulk.”

“But how does that work?”

He took a deep breath. He’d always hated this part. “You’re aware of when people can develop different personalities? Like, ones completely detached from themselves?”

She stared at him blankly. “No. But continue.”

“It’s like that. It’s not just my body changing, it’s the part of my brain that is me switching off and allowing Hulk to… well, exist.”

He’d rarely talked about it but Bruce had been diagnosed with some form of Dissociative Identity Disorder long before Hulk had existed. It was usually described as fits of rage that seemed to be completely detached from himself. His therapist was only able to come to that conclusion after he’d finally told her about his childhood abuse.

When Hulk came, it was like it was amplified. Or modified. Maybe he’d always been that angry and Hulk just took things to a million.

That’s how he’d always understood Hulk though. A symptom of his DID. Just a version different from most people who’d had it. He’d long ago let go of the hopes of peacefully living with an alter or a few and instead learnt to figure out how to live with Hulk.

“You don’t make a lot of sense but… I think I get that you’re not who I knew for the past couple of years,” Brunnhilde said after a long pause. “But I still like you. So it’s fine.”

He smiled and gave a small nod. “Hopefully you’re around the next time Hulk is out.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Thor spent maybe four hours looking around the ship and making sure everything was orderly. Between talking to the Asgardians, making sure the children were taken care of, and they still had enough food to last them for the next three months, he didn’t have all that much time to socialise. Or think about how he was starting to develop feelings for Bruce.

He hadn’t known Bruce all too well for a long time. Now it was like this forced proximity had changed everything. Even more so, now Bruce was all he could think about when he was free to think about other things.

He’d always admired Bruce. He considered him to be stronger than most people he knew. He’d also considered Hulk to be by far the greatest thing that had been created on earth. Even if it was all an accident, Bruce had still created him to an extent. Even if Bruce had a certain hatred for him for a long time.

He couldn’t really remember when Bruce had gone from Banner to Bruce. Banner was a person he’d only known in context with the Avengers. He was someone who mostly kept to the lab and only joined the battlefield with reluctance.

Bruce was someone who’d risked his life for his people. Who knew the risks of becoming Hulk but did it anyway because it was the right thing to do. Who flew a spaceship for him.

It was a side of Bruce he was unfamiliar with. Seeing it had changed the entire way he saw him.

Loki said a long time ago Thor fell in love all too easily. Maybe he was right. He wasn’t sure. But he knew for sure that was how he was starting to feel about Bruce. He was getting there and getting there fast.

Maybe another time it would’ve been fine. But he knew a responsible king put his people first, not potential lovers. He was already worrying about what he was going to do when they landed. There were no guarantees so far. He couldn’t fail everyone so greatly so quickly. He had to do without distractions for a long time.

He saw Bruce at the bay window he was always sat at. He felt the flutter in his stomach that seemed to now permanently show up when he saw him.

“Bruce, hi!” he said with a smile, walking closer to him.

Bruce looked at him and smiled back. “Hi. Having a good day?”

He nodded and sat across from him. “Good as it can be. Things have been going slow.”

He gave a small frown. “You’re unsure about this whole thing, right?”

He nodded slowly, staring at his lap. “I am. I wish all of this was easier.”

Bruce was silent for a moment. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, I really don’t know what to say.”

He met his eye and his stomach buzzed at the warm brown eyes watching him. “It’s okay. It’s a complicated situation,” he assured him. “I knew this would be hard. But I don’t think even my father would know what to do in a situation like this.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied sinisterly. Bruce was really good at things like that.

He shrugged at him and gave a small sigh. “It is what it is. Nothing I can do about it.”

Losing his mother was the most difficult thing he’d gone through. Then to watch his father literally whittle away right in front of him had been crushing.

That made him wonder about something he’d realised he’d never thought of asking before.

“What about your father? You never told me about him, or your mother.”

He immediately noticed Bruce pale at his question. He knew immediately he’d stepped somewhere he probably shouldn’t have.

Before he could take it back, Bruce spoke. “You really wanna know? Because, it’s kind of a lot. For earth standards at least.”

He swallowed. “Only if you want to tell me.” His mind came up with all the horrific possibilities. As far as he knew, Bruce had never mentioned family outside of his cousin. Even then he’d only heard about her recently.

He took a deep breath. It was shaky and shallow. “Can we talk about this somewhere else? In my room? It feels kind of exposed out here.”

The only people who would come down there was Loki, Brunnhilde, and Heimdall but he nodded anyway. “Yeah, of course.”

Only three people knew about Bruce’s childhood. Jen, Rick, and his old therapist. None of them knew the whole story though.

As he and Thor walked into his room, he’d realised Thor might be the one person he could come clean to about the detail that had been weighing on him for years.

They sat on his bed and Thor watched him. Bruce tried to pull himself together. If he was going to breakdown while talking about this it wasn’t going to be before he had told him anything.

“You ready? Because, well, there’s a lot.”

Thor nodded. “You’re aware of what happened to my own parents and of my brother and sister. I think it may be hard to top.” He gave him a smile, like he’d thought he was being helpful.

“Well, it’s definitely not on the level of you. I’m an only child so no siblings who killed anyone who looked at them wrong. But like I said, it’s pretty bad on earth standards.”

Thor squeezed his knee. “I’m listening.”

He gave him a small smile before he began.

“For as long as I can remember, my father abused me and my mom. Mentally, emotionally, psychologically, physically, all of it. He was an absolutely horrible person. He’d hated me. I never really knew why. It only got worse as time went on.”

He took a deep shaky breath. “It was Christmas and I was four. I made this model thing my mom had gotten me. It was a metal set and it’d be hard to come by a four year old who could do it at all, yet learn to do it as quickly as I did. People would probably say I’m a genius or a prodigy. Most parents would be proud. I guess my dad didn’t see that. He’d started yelling at me, telling me it was impossible to be able to do something like that at my age. He’d kicked it down and then my mom came. He hit her. At that point she’d had enough of his abuse. She got the keys and ran me to the car. We didn’t get in. Before we could get away he… he slammed her head into the driveway. She died right away.”

He was already shaking. His eyes were welled up with tears as the memories went through his mind.All he could remember was how he didn’t understand why him mom wasn’t moving and why there was blood on the pavement. He remembered whispering “mommy, mommy, mommy” over and over as if it would wake her up and they would be able to finally get away from his father as he towered of him like a monster.

But she never woke up and all he could do was hug the stuffed animal his mom had given him when he was a baby. He cradled it in his arms and protected it like she had done for him.

Thor was gaping at him. “Bruce… I…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “And I’m far from done.”

Thor closed his mouth before slowly nodding. He then felt a hand over his own and saw Thor was now holding his hand. When he looked back at Thor, they kept eye contact as Thor gave it a squeeze.

He took one more deep breath. “He went to court, and after I told the police he’d hit me and my mom he guilted me out of testifying against him. It was already unusual to have a four year old as a witness in court but I was the only witness so they didn’t really have a choice. He was still found guilty, I guess they could guess I was a kid guilted into saying something else. He wasn’t sent to prison, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital. I was raised by my aunt after that.”

He realised Thor intertwined their fingers. It was a nice comfort. It wasn’t going to stop him for having his inevitable breakdown but it prolonged it enough to keep talking.

Now there was the part of the story he’d kept to himself for over twenty years at that point. Something told him he could trust Thor with that information.

“He was released a couple decades later. I let him into my home because he had nowhere else to go. I felt a responsibility to him I guess. I went to see my mom at the cemetery, it was the anniversary of her death. He was there too. He mocked me for being there and… fuck, he called me a monster. He did it when I was a kid too. Never learnt why because…” he trailed off. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready to actually admit to it. But they way Thor was watching him eased him a little. He could trust him with this.

“You see. I pissed him off. And he attacked me. I fell to the floor and he came for me again. I don’t know for sure if his goal was to kill me. But as he came towards me again, as an instinct I kicked him. He fell back onto my mom’s gravestone. He cracked his skull and died instantly. It was an accident but I did it. I killed my own father. A horrible bastard but still my father. I’ve never told anyone that.”

He was shaking at this point. The rain was pouring on him as he sat in the graveyards mud and he tried to not look at the blood that now stained his mothers gravestone.

All he could remember after he’d realised his father was dead was screaming and laughing. A feeling of both horror and absolute relief, while trying to numb himself from the situation.

Thor was still watching him, his expression unchanged.

“I went home and the next day, I reported him missing. Rain had washed away my footprints and the police just wrote it off as a random mugging. So I walked free and no one ever suspected it was me. I was questioned obviously but I guess the police just didn’t care enough to find out the truth. But I should be in prison for it. That’s how it works most of the time. The killer goes to prison regardless of whether or not they really deserve it or not.

“For so long I was scared he’d come after me. Just to finish the job or revenge or something. It thought I deserved it. And it really didn’t help when I was suicidal. Part of me blamed it for when Hulk came. Like I finally got punished with something worse than prison. The fucked up part is that I don’t regret it. He’d deserved it. But I don’t know what that makes me.”

Thor squeezed his hand. “It makes you someone who did something by accident but got an abuser out of your life for good.”

When had he’d started crying? He was shaking as the snot and tears ran down his face. Thor still held his hand as he pulled him into a hug. He tensed for a moment but then Thor started to rub his back with his free hand.

He took a deep breath. “Sorry, this is all heavy. You definitely weren’t expecting any of that.”

“It’s okay, Bruce” Thor said against his skin. “It’s more than okay.”

They stayed like that, Thor gently rocking him in his arms. It was a comfort he’d needed. He was never going to fully recover from the whole experience and all he wanted in response was someone to hold him.

He wasn’t sure how long they were in that position for. Thor’s arms were so large and strong that they felt safe. He felt so small compared to him but he kind of liked it. He felt safe.

“I don’t know if you really want to hear it but it sounds like it was the only option you had,” Thor said, rubbing his back. His voice was low and soothing. “I think you did what you had to.”

“I just think of what my mom would think of me. If she’d hate me.”

Thor ran his fingers through his curls. “I wish I could give you that answer, Bruce. I really do. I will say I think the bastard got what he deserved. Even if you didn’t mean for it to happen.”

Bruce wanted to believe that. Part of him used to think if he’d really felt remorse he would’ve turned himself inn. He was still trying to figure out if he was a bad person or not. Accident or not. He’d still committed patricide, a crime many might consider irredeemable.

Instead of saying all of that, he said, “Thanks, Thor.” His tone was hollow and forced. The look Thor gave him made it obvious that he’d noticed but he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he pulled him closer into his arms.

It did feel kind of nice to have finally told someone, even if it didn’t lessen the guilt he felt in his stomach. He was going to have to live with it for the rest of his life, that was the only part he’d made at least some peace with.

The next three months went by in a blink. Most days after Thor went through his daily duties was spending that time with Bruce.

After Bruce had opened up to him, they’d spent far more time together. Most of that time was spent in the observation room at the highest point. He was happy he’d shown it to Bruce. He really did seem to love it.

In those last three months, he’d fallen even harder for Bruce. He knew at that point he was in love with him. He still had no idea what he was going to do about it.

“We’ll be landing within the next week, what’s your plan?” Brunnnhilde asked, resting one foot on the table with her arms crossed over her chest. They, including Heimdall and Loki, were having one final meeting on the ship before they landed. Thor was relying on nothing but hope Tony and earth’s own graciousness would get them a new home. He wasn’t expecting a new country but anywhere they could call home was more than enough.

“I’m going to ask for my friend.” He kept his tone confident. “He’ll help give us clearance to land.”

“And then?” Brunnhilde raised a brow.

He felt swear prickle the back of his neck. “I’ve told you, the friend should help us at least a little.”

She didn’t look convinced so he turned to Loki who looked even less convinced. “Don’t give me that look.”

“I’m not giving you a look,” he said. “You just don’t seem to have anything together at all.”

He was right. He was pretty sure they all knew that. But he needed to keep his front that he at least knew a little bit of what he was doing.

“I have a plan. I’m sorry I can’t guarantee anything,” he said, not stopping the frustration in his voice. “I’m doing my best, okay? We don’t have many options in the first place.”

“I say we hope for the best,” Heimdall cut in. “There’s worse situations we could be in and this is better than anything.”

Loki clenched his jaw, looking at Heimdall. Then he looked back at Thor. “I hope for your sake things work out.”

He glared back at him. “And I hope for yours the Midgardians are okay with your inclusion.”

“Okay,” Brunnhilde said standing up. “Meeting over. I don’t want to hear you two argue all over again.”

“Me either,” Heimdall agreed and stood up. The two of them walked out of the meeting room and closed the door behind them.

Thor slouched in his chair and let out a long sigh. “I mean it. I don’t think you’d be given a warm welcome.

“I’m well aware of it, brother. I truly am. I think your teammates, or friends if you want to go that far, would be included. Even the mortal who’d stowed away hasn’t warmed up to me.”

“He’s not a stowaway,” Thor said, firmer than he’d intended to.

He cocked his head to the side. “No need to raise your voice to me. I am aware you two have been spending a lot of time together.”

“Yes, we are,” he said, not doing away with the firm tone. “I care about him. He’s had a troubling two years.”

“I’m well aware of that. But I didn’t think of you two as close.”

“We weren’t prior to Sakaar,” he said honestly. Loki wouldn’t know the full context of everything but as far as he knew, Thor and Bruce had only met through the Avengers. He didn’t even know about Sakovia which was another chance to grow closer. They hadn’t, but Loki didn’t know the depth of their friendship.

Loki was staring at him, brows furrowing together. He crossed his arms on the table and leaned across the table. “You feel strongly for him, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“You think you’re in love with him?” His tone was almost accusatory. Cold even. There were many variables that would cause that reaction, Thor realised.

He hadn’t realised his shoulders had tensed. He wasn’t sure how Loki was able to guess for himself but there was no point in lying. “I know I am.” It just made sense at that point. Hearing another person say it only solidified it even more.

He, Thor Odinson, son of Odin and King of Asgard, was head over heels in love with Bruce Banner. Nothing else made sense at that point.

Loki sighed, leaning back and shaking his head. “I don’t understand how you keep falling for mortals.”

He gave a shrug. “The ones I do tend to be a little more than extraordinary.” Jane was the greatest woman he’d ever known. Their breakup had been crushing but he’d understood she’d needed someone that didn’t visit and leave before there was a real chance of reunion.

Bruce was his own kind of extraordinary. He was one of the smartest people he’d ever met, probably would ever meet.

He was kind, selfless, strong, resilient, funny… so many things. Now that he’d had a chance to get to know him it was hard to picture himself not falling in love with him.

“Were you planning to tell him so?” Loki asked, caution in his tone. He wasn’t sure if it was worry around Thor’s ability to rule if he did turn to romance or if he still feared Hulk.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “I’ve definitely thought about it.”

Loki watched him for a solid thirty seconds. The silence was stiff. He was ready to tell him about how he had more important duties than the matter at hand.

“Please just don’t hurt yourself in the process,” Loki finally said. “I know how you get when you’re in love, and when you’re rejected too.”

He stared at him. Of course he was worried Bruce didn’t feel the same way. He wasn’t sure how bearable it would be if he did reject him. It wouldn’t be the first time for it to happen to him. But he still held onto hope.

“I won’t let anything distract me from being a good king to our people,” he said sincerely. “Whether he feels the same way or he rejects me.”

Loki still looked skeptical. “Fine. It’s your life anyway, even if you are king.” He stood up and walked out of the meeting room, not looking back at him as he closed the door behind him.

Thor sat in place for a while, thinking things over.

He did want Bruce that way. The way he’d fallen for him felt so natural. He was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner.

Bruce was such an incredible man. How had he not seen it before?

Telling him seemed like the only sensible option.

“Did I ever mention I got a PhD in astrophysics?”

Bruce was laid down next to Thor in the observation room. It had become a routine for them. It was a nice way to have alone time together. Bruce wasn’t sure if the Asgardians were even aware of it. He’d prefer to keep it that way since it was a pretty small room, barely enough for both him and Thor.

Thor laughed next to him. “What exactly do you even have PhDs in?” he asked. Bruce turned his head to him to see he’d turned onto his side to look at him.

“Well, aside from astrophysics there’s radiophysics; that’s the discipline gamma radiation falls under. There’s also nuclear physics and biochemistry, I taught those actually. Both mechanical and electrical engineering. And medicine, with being a medical doctor and all. That’s all of them.”

Thor stared at him for a moment before smiling. “I have to actually find out what a PhD is,” he said with a small laugh.

He gave him a small smile back. “I’ll tell you later.” He looked back at the stars. He’d realised a while ago that he was seeing constellations that no other human had seen. Any other time he’d probably sit and study them. The absence of a pen and paper he could use allowed him to stop that and actually enjoy it in the moment for what it was.

Thor made it all that more better. The observation room he’d shown him was the perfect place to watch the stars go by. He could fall asleep up there if he wasn’t careful.

“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we land?” Thor asked and he noticed how their fingers bushed together.

“Call my family,” he said with a small smile on his lips. The simple thought of seeing Jen and Rick again made him beyond excited to land. “Or shower once we get back to Stark Tower. Then call them.”

Thor let out a small laugh. “You talk highly of them,” he said. “I hope I get a chance to meet them.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’d like to meet you too.” He’d decided against reminding him most people would call it a privilege to meet Thor and not the other way around. They both used to jokingly ask him if they could meet the Avengers. He only ever said no because he hadn’t been as close with the other Avengers. It felt weird bringing people who had no business there in the first place to Stark tower. He was able to get their names in as people who could come into the tower as his guests or as emergency contacts at least.

Then, Thor sat up. Bruce looked up at him from his laid down position. “What you doing there?” he asked, still smiling at him.

Thor was staring down at him. He realised how nervous he had gotten all of a sudden.

“You good?” Bruce asked sitting up himself.

“Yes. Great, even,” Thor said, nerves tinging on his tone. He was gripping his ankle so hard his knuckles were turning white.

“Thor?” he asked again, placing a hand on the one gripping his ankle.

Thor seemed to relax a little. Bruce watched him as Thor chewed on his lip, as he looked him in the eye. Were his eyes always that blue? Even with the patch the single blue eye was the kind that always calmed his own nerves.

“Bruce I…” he cut himself off and took a deep breath. “Bruce. You mean so much to me. I guess I realised that after we’ve been spending a lot of time together. Even back on Sakaar and everything that followed before we left Asgard on this very ship. I am so grateful you helped me through everything with Hela. You’re… you’re amazing, Bruce.”

His heart was beating fast in his chest. His tone was so tender, and it made his entire body hot. This couldn’t be leading to what he thought it was.

He didn’t get a chance to say anything since Thor kept talking. “Bruce. I’m in love with you.”

That’s when it felt like his whole stomach had dropped. He almost asked him if he had heard him correctly but hearing it again would probably make it so much worse.

If he were someone else or it was a different time, maybe he would’ve said it back. Then they could’ve figured out the logistics of everything after they were overjoyed with that love and embrace each other in ways Bruce hadn’t done to someone in over a decade.

Except his life wasn’t that easy. He made choices as a direct consequence of the bad things he had done. He wasn’t a selfish person and in reality, Thor had more important things to do than focus on him.

“Thor,” he took a deep breath and swallowed. “I’m sorry. I don’t… I…” he trailed off. He couldn’t bear to lie to him. But he had to. “I’m sorry. I don’t… I don’t feel that way about you.”

All the colour drained from his face and the guilt set in on him. Maybe he shouldn’t have lied to him, and instead told him he wasn’t ready for that. Even knock some sense into him about how he can do so much better than him.

Before he could even really consider telling him that, Thor let go of his hand and pulled away. “Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… I didn’t mean to cross any boundaries.”

He already missed his touch. “You didn’t.” His voice came out awkwardly, catching slightly in his throat as sweat prickled on his forehead. “Thor, I–“

“No, I shouldn’t have assumed, I’m sorry, Bruce.” There was now so much space between them. More than there had been in the entire trip.

He wanted to tell him he wasn’t the one who should be saying sorry but it was like the words were stuck in his throat.

Thor stood up. He looked up at him and saw he was staring down at him.

“I’ll see you soon. We’ll be landing in less than 72 hours.”

He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. “Okay. I’ll see you at dinner?”

He seemed surprised by his words but still nodded. “Yes. I will see you then.”

Without another word, Thor walked to the door and closed it gently behind him. Bruce could hear him walk down the stairs, the creak of each step he took becoming the loudest thing in the room.

The next three days will be the longest in his entire life.

The next three days were far more dreadful than Thor could have predicted. He’d attempted to distract himself with his usual duties but it had proven to be difficult.

He didn’t except or assume that Bruce returned his feelings. He’d learnt a long time ago to never assume such things. But he’d hoped Bruce had ended in the same place he had in the many months they had spent together.

Maybe it was foolish or too idealistic. Maybe all Bruce wanted was to go back to earth and never leave his lab. Even Thor wasn’t sure what he’d fully wanted out of Bruce. A long lived relationship, he wasn’t sure. The thought was nice and imagining the possibilities would better his mood.

It still hurt. Jane had been the last person he’d fallen in love with and to break his heart.

Both of them were so different, extraordinary in their own ways. It was possible Bruce didn’t want someone who he’d thought would slip away so easily just the same as Jane. Maybe leaving was the only thing Thor was truly good at.

Maybe he simply was just not good enough for him. Maybe Bruce’s desires laid elsewhere. Maybe he did assume wrong and should have never told Bruce of his feelings. This could easily make things with the Avengers less than ideal.

“You seem a million miles away,” Brunnhilde said, nudging his side. They were sat in the commons area of the ship. It was where many of the Asgardians spent their free time when they weren’t in their rooms.

Thor had most definitely been staring into space. In the next few hours they would be close enough to earth to make contact and their clearing to land would be able to pend. Thor had never been so desperate to land on earth. Even with the anxiety of land negotiations was over his head constantly.

“Sorry,” he said with a sigh. “A lot going on.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I really hope it doesn’t take too long to land. I need to get off of this fucking thing.”

He nodded. The landing and eventually finding a lace to live took up about half of his stress. Bruce was far from the only thing on his mind but everything happening at once made everything feel even worse.

“Is anything else wrong?” she asked with a small frown.

He looked at her, contemplating tell her about Bruce. They still barely knew each other at this point, and talking about his love life with her made him feel kind of awkward. He didn’t even want to talk to this with Loki. He’d probably tell him he wasn’t surprised or that Bruce was sensible. Anything that would most definitely not help.

He shook his head. He felt his heart race in his chest as the memory of Bruce’s rejection ran through his mind. “No. It’s just stress around the Asgardians and ruling.” His voice came out weak. Brunnhilde went quiet. Across the room Thor could hear the children laughing as they ran around the commons area.

Part of getting over Bruce’s rejection is overanalysing everything that had happened between them from him waking up on Sakaar to the last night they had seen each other. From Bruce complimenting his haircut to the smiles he’d give him when they were in close proximity, to the absolute trust of him telling him about the darkest parts of his past.

Maybe that was just the way Bruce treated close friends and he was foolish to think it was something else. There was no point in hoping for something else.

Besides, his focus should be on ruling. He was sure he’d find someone else soon enough and he could hope his friendship with Bruce could mend.

At that point, he was desperate to get off of this damn ship.

Bruce was in his room when the ship landed. According to Brunnhilde it took seven hours to get clearance after Thor was able to get into contact with Tony. They were able to land in a big field outside of the Stark Warehouse that had been converted into a base for the Avengers.

Bruce was more than ready to get off the godforsaken ship. The mix of missing his friends and the awkwardness around Thor was enough to make him contemplate jumping to the ground for they’d landed. He could do without a Hulk out right now though.

The ship landed with ease and from the sky Bruce could see a small crowd around the landing point. Bruce could see the green camoflage uniforms from a mile off. He knew he should’ve expected to see the army there but it still made him feel sick.

He looked at Thor who was sat in a chair that Bruce could easily tell was the captain’s chair. He sat strong, with an air of authority around him.

He’d never looked more like a king.

When the ship finally hit the ground, relief ran through him. Thor stood up from his seat. Bruce then noticed how tense his shoulders looked as he walked to the part of the ship that was opening.

As the Asgardians separated to allow him to pass he stopped in his tracks for a moment, Bruce only four people deep in the crowd from him.

He turned his head in his direction. “Bruce, you should come with me.”

He mentally slapped himself. Yes, of course they’d want to see him.

Those who were in his way quickly parted to allow him to pass. Hastily he walked to Thor’s side and together they walked down the stairs that lead onto the grass.

Bruce hadn’t had the chance to ask him if he’d told Tony he was on the ship too or if he’d gotten straight to the point. He tried to predict the kind of reactions there would be, considering everyone had thought he was dead for so long.

“Holy fuck, Bruce!”

Well, that answered that.

Tony was charging towards him as he stepped onto the ground and threw him into a hug. Bruce hastily hugged him back. He was pretty sure that was the first time they’d hugged.

“You’re alive!” Tony said when he pulled away, gripping onto his arms as he stared at him wide-eyed.

“Yep, I’m alive,” he nodded. He’d noticed quickly the people who had also been waiting were Nick Fury, Nat, Agent Hill, a blonde S.H.I.E.L.D. agent he didn’t recognise, a few soldiers, and to his great dismay, Ross.

“Where the hell were you, Banner?” Fury asked, looking more confused if anything. “You too, Thor. What are the full details? How did you two even end up together?”

“Long story, sorry,” Thor said truthfully.

“Yeah, and Hulk kind of broke the Quinjet. Sorry about that too.”

“It’s also many many light years away on a planet that was ran by a tyrannical dictator.”

“Yeah. That too.”

Fury looked between them then huffed. “We need the two of you to explain everything, that includes why there is a ship filled with Asgardians.”

Bruce glanced at Thor and saw he gave a curt nod. He must’ve mentioned that part when getting clearance.“Right. I can explain everything.”

Fury wanted to question them separately. He took Thor into a seperate room which left Bruce with everyone else who had been waiting for them. They were sat in the living room that the field to where the Statesman had landed lead to.

The blonde S.H.I.E.L.D. agent introduced herself as Sharon Carter, Agent 13 and did indeed have relation to Peggy Carter.

Ross eyed him for a good ten minutes before saying anything to him. Bruce would’ve preferred for him to say nothing.

“Space, huh? You of all people would’ve ended up there.”

He glared at him. He was gripping the coffee mug he’d just got from the kitchen tight enough to turn his knuckles white. “Not really my choice.”

“You’re lucky that alien prince found you then.”

He almost spat at him that Thor was a king like a weird desire to defend his honour. “I am. What are you doing here anyway?”

“I’m sure Stark can catch you up on Captain American going rogue.”

He looked at Tony who was sat on the couches with Nat, Sharon, and agent Hill. “What happened with Cap?”

He paled for a moment. “I’ll tell you later, just focus on relaxing and know he as well as the Falcon are in Wakanda.”

He blinked. “Why would they be in there?”

Nat gave a snort. “Trust me, you’ll find out,” she said and leaned into agent Hill who had her arm over her shoulders.

He turned away from them to look back at Ross. “Guessing you graduated from general?”

“Secretary of State.” He almost said it like it was a challenge. That at least gave a little more reason for him to be here. Even with the context if felt like it was some kind of torment. “I do have a grandson now though.”

He felt a lump in his throat. He reminded himself that he was purposely trying to rile him up. Maybe even get him to Hulk out so he could have reason to arrest him and lock him up; probably in that cell Loki was put into that was made for him.

“Well that’s good,” he said cooly. “I’m glad Betty’s happy.”

That part was true. Betty had what he couldn’t give her and for that, he hoped she got to live the amazing life she deserved. But he knew it was reason for Ross to throw it in his face. The man never liked him even before Hulk. All he saw in him was dollar signs.

He moved away from Ross and sat next to Tony on the couch. “So what happened with Cap?”

Tony glanced at Nat for a moment and then back at him when she gave him a nod. “He had a friend from childhood who was taken control of by Hydra. He tried to save him after who we thought to be him killed the king of Wakanda. It almost turned into a civil war of sorts.”

His eyes widened. “I go M.I.A for a couple of years and then this shit happens? Really?”

He laughed. “Yeah. I guess. Probably a good thing because I know you wouldn’t have been on my side. Since there’s also these accords that basically regulated us and S.H.I.E.L.D. under the UN.”

He squinted at him in confusion. “Regulate how?”

“A lot of ways, it was a long document. You for sure would’ve probably gotten the worst of it since out of all of us, your power isn’t as easy to control. Plus, you would’ve had to wear a tracking bracelet as well as give your DNA samples to the UN.”

He gaped at him. “Yeah, no fuck that and whatever these accords are.”

Nat gave a shrug. “I told him that.”

“So what about Cap? And this fucking civil war you just mentioned?”

Tony stood up straighter. “His friend had been brainwashed and had the super solider serum. He wanted to fight to protect his friend. Somehow we came to our senses and talked it out. In a German airport but still talked it out. Didn’t help when he’d told me his friend was the one who’d killed my parents. That almost set me off.”

Bruce thought about that friend. Maybe he was someone who understood doing bad but having no control over it. Being brainwashed by Nazi’s sounded like the absolute worst thing that could happen to you.

“After we talked, he did whatever it was he was doing and T’Challa – the new king of Wakanda – took his friend in to help get him un-brainwashed. He went there now to support. Falcon too.”

Bruce decided against asking what Wakanda could do. Clearly there was even more things he didn’t know about.

“Okay, I’m glad things are good. This sounds like it could’ve been a hell of a lot worse.”

Tony nodded and looked down at his lap. “Yeah, that’s for sure.” He cleared his throat and looked back at Bruce. “You gonna tell me what happened to you?”

He shook his head. “I’ll wait for Thor, a lot of it you should hear from him. But I was stuck as Hulk on a planet for two years before Thor found me on accident. That’s all you really need to know.”

“And you somehow survived that?” Tony asked, gaping a little.

He nodded. “Yeah. Right now though I need a shower and clean clothes since that ship does not have plumbing.”

Tony gave a smile. “Yeah, you stink actually. Anything else?”

“Actually, yeah,” he sat up a little straighter. “By any chance, has a Rick Jones or a Jennifer Walters tried to contact me?”

“Yeah, actually they did,” he said, sounding a little confused. “Their names were down at Stark tower so J.A.R.V.I.S. let them in. They’ve spent the past two and a half years asking if you’ve been found. They didn’t even give you a funeral since they were so sure you were alive.”

He smiled a little. That sounded like then. “Well, when Fury is done interrogating me I need to get to Stark Tower so I can change and showed and then them.”

“Of course,” Tony nodded. “And sorry, when this happened we weren’t sure if you had any family.”

“They’re the only one I have,” he said. “I guess Jen having a different last name made it more difficult and Rick and I aren’t blood related anyway.”

“Oh yeah, about that; he claimed to be your best friend which I find insulting.”

“He is my best friend. And I thought Rhodey was your best friend.”

“He is. I just thought I was your best friend specifically.”

And he laughed. He hadn’t realised how much he’d missed Tony during those six months.

Thor didn’t come out of talking with Fury until an hour later.

Thor stepped out and he looked a closest to relieved as he’d had for the entire time they’d been on earth.

“How’d it go?” Bruce asked straightening up. He didn’t miss Ross glaring at Thor from a across the room. He was no doubt close to demanding to know why the ship was full of Asgardians.

Thor sat on the arm chair that face all of them but had his back to Ross. His shoulders were tense and his fingers intertwined between his separated knees. After a few moments of silence he looked up.

“Fury said he’d help find us a location to settle.”

The utter relief in his tone was enough to tempt his to go and hug him. If things weren’t currently weird between them he might’ve entertained the thought a little more.

“That’s… great, Thor.” And it was. S.H.I.E.L.D. being on his side would definitely get them somewhere. Exactly where they were going to live was the real question.

Thor had a small smile on his lips. “Fury wants to see you now.”

He held back a sigh and nodded. “Figured.”

He walked into the room Thor had come from. It was a meeting room he’d been in once or twice in the past. For some reason he’d pictured Fury wanting to see him in a place akin to where people were questioned in police stations, complete with a two way mirror.

“Well, I can say it’s good that you’re alive Banner,” Fury said, leaning back in a chair.

He sat across from them. “Happy to say I feel the same.”

He seemed to miss what he had implied, or maybe just didn’t care. He leaned forward on the table. “What happened?”

“The Quinjet crashed on an alien planet. Hulk took himself there and didn’t let me come out for two years. Thor crashed on the planet. I’m not entirely sure how. But I was with him from when he found me on the planet, not much to tell.”

“And the Asgardians?”

“Yeah, the planet was destroyed. Some prophesy thing. I’m a man of science so I’m not sure how true that was but the planet was destroyed and it had something to do with his sister he didn’t know about. That’s all secondhand though since I had to Hulk out.”

He squinted at him. “When about’s did you Hulk out?”

“Had to stop a giant death dog killing the Asgardians. After that I came to on the ship we came here on.”

“So not much to tell.” He stated it rather than asked it.

He shook his head. “No. And it’s probably best to hear the Asgardian stuff from Thor.”

“But Asgard was in fact destroyed?”

“Yeah, that’s a definite. I doubt they’d rather be here than their homes if they could.”

“And as for you, remaining as Hulk would not be a problem would it?”

“Shouldn’t be. And you’re not gonna stick me with a tracker like I should be on house arrest, right?”

Fury’s jaw clenched. “Glad to see your smart ass hasn’t changed.”

“Never.”

“And no, you don’t. We need to refine the accords since parts of it were deemed an infringement on human rights. So far we’re not sure how to function in a world with enhanced individuals. For all we know there’s more like you out there.”

Bruce considered that. Not outright Hulk’s but people with powers, ones that go beyond the super solider serum, out there somewhere. Powers like him, if you could call it that, or ones that the mind stone created like with those twins.

That was honestly scary. He had a suspicion people would not only struggle adjusting to that, but might outright refuse to. History had a way of repeating itself like that.

Fury let him go and the first thing Bruce had asked Tony was to take him back to Stark Tower. After a long shower, clean clothes, and the fattest cup of coffee he could have, he was going to see his family again.

Nat came along with Bruce and Tony as they went back to Stark Tower.

Things that had happened outside of the almost civil war during Bruce’s absence included; Tony and Pepper getting engaged, a new teen super hero that went by the alias Spider-Man, and another new superhero who went by Ant-Man, occasionally joined by the Wasp. Bruce really hoped naming yourself after insects and arachnoids wasn’t a trend that would stick.

Returning to New York City was still complicated. He’d never really felt at home there. While he did live in Stark Tower, it wasn’t a home. It was fulfilling a favour. Part of his job if he was being kinder to himself. But not a home.

All things considered, he did kind of miss his room in Stark Tower though.

He walked down to the main foyer where Tony said he’d meet him. After showering, he’d gotten himself a cup of coffee. He was already starting to feel a little better. Now he just needed a familiar bed. As comfortable as the one on the Statesman could be there was always something nice about familiarity.

“You already look bright eyed and chipper,” Tony said as Bruce walked to his side. “How’s resettling going?”

“Well it’s only been an hour. But god I needed that shower.” He stretched the hand that wasn’t holding coffee over his head and then rubbed his eyes. “I’m more excited about the coffee.”

“Of course,” Tony smiled. “Hopefully you’re not too out of it though.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Mister Stark, the guests have arrived,” J.A.R.V.I.S’s. voice said.

Tony looked almost gleeful. “Send them up!”

“Tony?” he asked, almost carefully.

Before Tony could answer the front doors opened.

“Let me just take that,” Tony said, taking his coffee from him.

Normally he would’ve been annoyed at someone for taking his coffee but he decided to make an exception when he saw exactly who had arrived.

“Bruce? Fuck!” Rick almost shouted.

“Bruce? You’re alive!” Jen said, barley containing her own yell. Within seconds Bruce was crushed in a hug by Jen, instantly followed by Rick. He did his best to hug both of them back.

“Guys, I’m happy to see you too but you’re crushing my lungs,” he coughed out.

They let go, a little hesitantly. They both stared at him, mouths gaping open. “You’re alive,” Jen said, so much relief in her voice.

“And your hair’s grey!” Rick added, pointing right to his head.

He ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck it is?”

“You don’t know?”

“I haven’t looked at myself in a mirror for six months, add the two years I was stuck as Hulk.”

“You were what?” Rick asked, looking almost shocked.

“I’ll explain later, I promise.”

Jen nodded. “You better. But I think first you should have a well deserved lunch.”

He gave her a thankful smile. “Thanks, I need it.”

“And I can cover it,” Tony interjected. Bruce had kind of forgotten he was still there. “As long as you don’t yell at me this time.” That comment was directed towards Jen.

She shrugged at him. “He’s back and not in a body bag, that’s more than enough. Especially since I don’t think you did anything.”

Bruce laughed. “You can thank Thor, it’s all because to him.” Even the thought of him made him smile. The euphoria of seeing Jen and Rick again made him forget for a moment about things between him and Thor being weird.

The fact that Thor was in love with him, and that he was more than certain that he felt the same way, didn’t feel real. A relationship with Thor was something a teenager would imagine themselves in. He and Thor weren’t on the same level, they couldn’t have a relationship like that. He didn’t deserve something like that. He didn’t deserve Thor like that.

He reminded himself now was not the time to think about that. He finally had his family again, that mattered to him more than anything.

“Great,” Jen smiled. “Does that mean we’ll finally get to meet Thor?”

“We’ll talk all about it at lunch.”

Tony was able to get them lunch at a fancy hotel restaurant. Jen said she’d already been there since she’d had work parties there, probably the benefits of working for a big law firm.

“We are so underdressed for this,” Rick said, looking down at his hoodie and ripped jeans. Bruce had just grabbed a sweater and jeans while Jen wore short overalls and a t-shirt. If they didn’t already stand out because of the fancy car or Bruce’s presence in of itself, they definitely were now.

Jen shrugged. “Who cares. They’re not going to kick us out when we have Stark’s credit card.”

Bruce smiled. “Exactly. And imagine going out with a more popular Avenger, you’d be top priority without Tony’s help.”

“Bruce, what did we say about the self deprecating jokes,” Rick said, crossing his arms.

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, I won’t make any more. Let’s just go ask for our table.”

The host didn’t seem to recognise Bruce until he saw the reservation under his name. Bruce half expected him to blurt out something inappropriate but professionalism seemed to take over instead. He’d have to remember to give him a big tip.

“You gonna tell us what happened then?” Jen asked after they ordered their food, all three of them damn near passing out at the prices of the food. Thank god Tony was a billionaire.

He sighed, leaning back against the chair and staring up at the high ceiling. How much was that massive chandelier? Why would they put so much money into that?

“Bruce,” Rick said and poked his arm with his finger. “Come on, we spent years wondering what happened to you. You’re lucky we’ve waited this long to interrogate you.”

He looked back at them. He poured himself a glass of water and took a sip.

“In Sakovia I was on this spacecraft called the Quintet – well, Hulk was. He – I–“

“You’re doing the third person thing again,” Jen pointed out with a small frown.

He stopped himself from sighing again. Neither she nor Rick knew about his dissociative identity disorder or how it transferred into Hulk. That was the one thing he could never bring himself to share with them entirely because of the stigma around it.

“Anyway,” he continued. “I crash landed on this planet. I was stuck there for two years. I don’t remember anything, I just woke up and Thor was there. Then a ton of shit followed that which involved Asgard getting destroyed.”

Their jaws dropped. “Wait, what?” Rick asked. “Shit that’s horrible for them.”

He nodded. “Yeah, Thor’s barely handling it. After that we spent the last six months riding back. And, well, now I’m here and back.”

“Wow,” Jen said. “That’s a lot.”

“What was the planet like?” Rick asked.

He paused for a moment. “Honestly? Overwhelming. I was pretty much constantly one poke in the hip away from hulking out.”

He’d surprised himself that he’d made it as far as he did. He hadn’t had a Hulk out since he came to on the Statesman. He had entertained the idea of letting Hulk just because more and more. He just wasn’t sure how to go about that other than making sure no one shot at him.

“And Thor?” Jen asked, tilting her head to the side.

His mind immediately went to his love confession. Goddamnit, he had to stop thinking about that. Especially at the simple mention of his name.

How was he going to manage ever being alone with him if he could barley hear his name without considering telling him the truth?

“Bruce?” Rick waved his hand in font of his face.

He blinked and shook his head. “Sorry. Uh, Thor is good. We’re better friends than we were that’s for sure.”

Jen watched him. “Anything else?”

He opened his mouth to speak but as he was about to, a waiter came with their food. They thanked him as he walked off.

Of all people, Rick and Jen were the best to tell this. They understood where’d he’d been and why he’d have such hesitance around it. Even if it was just to vent.

“I fell in love with him. And… he also told me he loved me.”

They both went silent. The kind of silence that would follow a statement not shocking or surprising but still unexpected.

Rick was the first to speak. “That’s awesome, man but why are you here and not with him then?”

“Yeah,” Jen nodded, her brows furrowing together. “I mean, that’s great news.”

Right, he’d forgotten the important part. “I meant to say, I fell in love with him but when he told me how he felt I turned him down and he thinks I don’t feel the same.”

Another silence went over them. Jen was the one to break it. “But why? I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“Really? After everything I’ve done I deserve a relationship? No less one with Thor? It’s not even about him being a king or a borderline god. It’s that I’ve done bad things I don’t deserve a relationship at all.”

Jen gave him a sympathetic look. “It’s not about deserving a relationship Bruce. You don’t lose the right of someone loving you because of your past. You especially aren’t even the bad person.”

“So what am I then, the victim?”

“Arguably,” Rick shrugged already half done with his food. “It’s not like you wanted any of the things that had happened to happen. And then what? Ross turned you into the bad guy so he wouldn’t lose his job.”

“And look where that got him, he’s the fucking secretary of state.”

“And you’re an Avenger,” Jen said, pointing at him with her fork.

“One that people didn’t look for hard enough and it caused me to be stuck on a planet for two years.” His tone had turned bitter. The more he’d thought about it the more he’d realised he was left for dead and it was like he was the only person realising that.

He was an Avenger but no one saw him that way. He didn’t get priority reservations at gaudy hotel restaurants or even so much as people waving at him. He was a threat people were ready to lock in a cage and nothing more.

“Okay, this is getting depressing,” Rick grumbled. “The way I see it, Thor loves you, you love Thor. I’m sure most people would kill to just to hang out with him and you’re at the very least his actual friend. You can’t spend your entire life denying yourself of any happiness all because of Hulk.”

“Are you going to spend this whole lunch trying to knock some sense in me?” he asked. Mostly because it was starting to work.

“Look Bruce, we all know you’ll never completely recover from everything and that’s okay. But please, stop denying yourself of happiness,” Jen said.

He met her eye. She of all people knew how a lot of his life had been hard. The first they’d met was after his mom had died and he was living with their aunt Susan. After that they had typically spent summers together and Bruce could easily say those days had been the highlights of his childhood.

She knew about leaving Eric for the job. She knew about leaving Betty and never going back to her. Even when he had the chance when he’d gained his freedom. He had a long history of self sabotaging his romantic relationships. Even friendships sometimes.

“I wish it was that easy,” he said softly. He needed to think about it more.

Maybe there was some sort of chance for him and Thor. He wasn’t going to let his judgment be clouded by how others saw him. The public didn’t see past the royal ‘god’ status. Unlike most people, he saw the man who was oh so caring, more than easy to talk to, and not the absolute perfect version the media had painted him out to be.

He preferred that. He hated perfection. It was only a mask to the flaws that existed. He didn’t want a person he was in love with to hide those imperfections. Thor had more than plenty of his own. He was headstrong and impulsive and Bruce still found himself loving him despite those things.

And the total opposite of a flaw about him was that he loved him knowing about his past and knowing about Hulk. As far as he knew he wasn’t even scared of Hulk. He hadn’t met many people who fit that criteria.

Maybe Jen was right and he should stop denying himself happiness.

The rest of their meal was enjoyable. Jen talked about a girl she was dating while Rick told him about his new EP demo. It was a certain amount of normalcy that he hadn’t had in so long. Here, he wasn’t some tortured scientist who was living with the burden of a lab disaster. He was just a middle-aged man having lunch with his family. He could pretend to be a normal person for at least a little bit.

They had dessert to, and after around two hours they were finally finished with their food.

“Is this how the rich always eat?” Rick asked, leaning back in his chair.

He smiled. “Probably.”

Jen laughed. “I’m glad we did this. Make sure to leave a huge tip.”

“Already planning. Maybe twice of our whole meal would be enough?”

Rick’s phone buzzed on the table. He glanced down at it and his eyes widened as he snatched it up.

“What’s wrong?” Jen asked with a frown at Rick frantically unlocked it.

He was staring down at his phone, his expression blank before his lips pulled into a smile. He looked over his phone at Bruce. “You’re already on social media. All of us, actually.”

“What?” Bruce asked, giving him a confused look.

“My friend just messaged me asking why exactly I’m hanging out with ’The Hulk’.”

The three of them looked at each other before Jen took out her own. The last time Bruce had his phone it had been in Sakovia but he hadn’t had a chance to ask about it. He should probably get around to getting a new one.

“God, my coworkers are flooding me too, damn. I knew I should’ve told them we were cousins.”

“So what, there’s pictures?”

She held up his phone from an article and saw a picture of the three of them waiting to be seated and another of them actually sitting down. It looked like it had been taken after they sat down and they’d ordered.

It was weird seeing himself for the first time in two and a half years. He’d looked a little withered and his hair was greyed, like Rick had said. That made him realise he was closer to fifty than he had been before hulking out in Sakovia.

He also realised he was smiling. Like he hadn’t proceeded into that frankly depressing conversation they’d had. Rick and Jen’s faces were clear, which helped make sense of the texts. The pictures were decently flattering at least. They did look like family meeting up and he kind of liked that.

The title of the article was. “Dr. Robert Bruce ’The Hulk’ Banner Spotted in Manhattan Restaurant After Two Years of Being Missing in Action”.

“Mind if I read it?” he asked.

Jen nodded and handed him her phone. He began to read it.

“We are all aware of the Ohio born gamma scientist Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, also known as his alter ego, The Hulk. In 2015, after the Battle of Sakovia that left the country in shambles, Banner disappeared. Witnesses say they saw the green rage monster board an aircraft of unknown origin.

Banner was deemed missing in action following the end of the battle that left Novi Grad in destruction, with many casualties and many more civilians displaced. The United States Army did their best efforts to find Banner, which he is no stranger to. Little is known on the full history between Banner and the United States Army.

After two and a half years, today Banner was seen alive and well in a Manhattan restaurant with two unidentified individuals. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet on his whereabouts during the almost three years.

There’s suspicion that Thor Odinson had something to do with his return. The alien prince’s own absence has yet to be explained.”

He looked up from the phone and handed it back to Jen. “Well, I’d call that the nicest article written about me to come out after Hulk.”

She smiled and tapped on her phone, probably responding to her coworkers. “Good. You need more good things in your life.”

He really did. He’d been written out before. Mostly high praise articles or ones that talked about his record of PhDs. Nowadays Hulk clouded all of his previous accomplishments.

Rick was still looking at his phone with an amused smile. “My friends are freaking out in our group chat. Mostly of why I never told them we were friends.”

He laughed. “It’s not like I’m Tony or Cap or anyone interesting.”

He punched his shoulder lightly. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. People like you. You’re still an Avenger. And we said no self deprecating jokes.”

He smiled at him and rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just let your friends know to not ask for any favours, okay?”

“That I can agree to.”

Rick dropped his phone on the table. “Anyway, what was space like? You need to tell us about that because that’s fucking incredible.”

He smiled. Maybe a little abnormality to their conversation was something he could live with.

Fury had taken it upon himself to find a place that would allow the Asgardians to settle. Due to Hela, the population had dwindled significantly. Thor blamed himself for that. If he’d just been able to initially beat her or get back to Asgard sooner, maybe more people would be alive.

He was learning quickly enough that part of being a king meant you had to learn that some things were out of his control.

Most of the Asgardians remained on the Statesman. A few came into the compound now and again simply to get off of it but everyone still slept on the ship, even after Stark offered all of them to stay in a hotel. He did provide a hearty amount of food though. And not just small rations.

Predictably, the reactions of the Avengers to Loki were about as good as Bruce’s. Because of that, Loki remained mostly on the Statesman as most of the Asgardians. It’d probably take months for him to gain even a small amount of their trust. He didn’t even want to think about the public’s perception.

He was dealing with the stress a lot better than he’d had. He at least knew now they had a chance of rebuilding Asgard. He’d take anything at that point really, he just needed his people to be safe and secure.

As his father said, Asgard is not a place, it’s a people. He’d believed him, when he’d said it. Now was the part of accepting it fully for himself.

Cap was due back within the next few days. Apparently his friend had recovered from what had happened to him. He wasn’t sure on exactly all the details, a lot of it seemed to require some sort of prior knowledge to earths history.

He’d been updated on the battle that had almost happened. Thor was left mostly confused but what he cared most about the explanation was that things didn’t turn out as bad as they could’ve had.

They’d been back on earth for a week and Thor hadn’t had much chance to talk to Bruce. He went back to live at Stark Tower and Thor didn’t really leave the compound’s grounds. Maybe it was for the best to keep it like that until Thor had sorted out his feelings. He didn’t want to lose the friendship they had because he fell for people all too easily.

“What do you think of earth so far?” Thor asked Brunnhilde as they sat in the common area in the compound. It lead right out to where the Statesman had landed and some of the Asgardians were sitting around it in the sun.

Brunnhilde was drinking a soda. She’d switched it out for liquor. She’d claimed it was too hard to get drunk on Midgardian liquor anyway and thought the soda didn’t make a difference.

Bruce had taken her into the city the other day. She came back appearing to have enjoyed herself.

“This region of it at least is pretty different,” she shrugged. “The people, the architecture, it’s definitely all different to what I’m used to.”

He nodded. “I felt the same when I first came to earth. Have you tried coffee?”

She nodded and grinned. “It’s delicious. I think I almost like it more than the liquor on Sakaar.” She took another sip of the soda. “I haven’t seen Bruce around much.”

He stilled. “Uh, yeah. He’s busy with his own things. Probably back to work or something like that. He really missed his family.”

She smiled and nodded. “Jennifer and Rick, right? I met them. They’re nice.”

He still had yet to meet them. He did genuinely want to. Tony had showed him pictures of Bruce that had been taken. He was having lunch with them on their first day back and Bruce had looked happier than he’d ever seen him.

“You care about him, don’t you?” Brunnhilde asked.

He nodded. “A lot.”

She took another sip of her soda. “You have feelings for him, don’t you?” She said it almost casually.

He felt sick in his stomach. “What makes you think that?”

“The way you look at him. You kind of wear your heart on your sleeve. It wasn’t hard to tell.”

He watched her for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Yeah. I do.”

“Were you going to tell him?”

“I did.” He replied it hollowly, hopefully enough for her to make her own conclusion.

She frowned. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Well… that sucks.”

“I know. Can we talk about something else?”

She paused before nodding then started talking about how amazed she was by the internet.

He listened, but the tension in the air stayed. He had no idea how things with Bruce were going to get even remotely better.

Bruce had spent a lot of his time back in his lab. He was ready for his life to go back to as normal as it could be. Even if the Avengers were in the background. He could pretend he was only a boring scientist for as long as he liked.

Jen and Rick, being them, were trying to get him out more. He’d let them take him out to lunch every now and again, especially on days he’d skipped lunch. Jen would usually text him on her lunch breaks and they’d go somewhere together.

Tony was taking it more easy. He kind of enjoyed working with him and as long as he didn’t come up with ideas like Ultron again.

It had mostly to keep his mind off of Thor. He tried to not think too much about him in general but he was still trying to figure out if he should tell him how he felt. It would change so many things to tell him and the only thing he wanted was to be sure.

The doors to the lab opened and he saw Tony come in. “How long have you been cooped up in here?”

“Only a few hours,” he said.

Tony gave him an annoyed look. “I swear you’ve been in here for a few days straight. Take a break.”

“I had a two and a half year break.”

He gave him an annoyed look. “Bruce, please be serious. You went through so much I don’t think overworking yourself is a good idea.”

“I like working, it’s fine.”

“What? Are you trying to avoid something? You always overwork more than usual when you are.”

His expression dropped and he payed way too much attention to the notes in front of him.

“Oh damn, what happened?”

He looked back at Tony and saw he was giving him a concerned look. Like he really was interested in hearing him vent about his problems.

Bruce let out a sigh, closing his eyes. “Thor told me he’s in love with me.”

A beat passed and Tony remained expressionless, probably processing the information.

He finally answered. “What the ever loving fucking even happened on that planet? You two were barely friends last I saw.”

In another instance, Bruce might’ve laughed or made a joke. “I know.”

“So, what? Do you feel the same way then?” Tony asked, tilting his head to the side.

He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

He took a deep breath. “I didn’t say it back and I’ve already had this same conversation with Jen and Rick. I’m not the kind of person who deserves a relationship. For maybe a second I thought maybe I do but… Tony, I’ve hurt people.”

He looked at him and then let out a sigh. “I know we haven’t really known each other for that long but I think we both know that you and Hulk are different.”

“I created him, Tony. I played god and got punished for it.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t not date because of it. It’s pretty big for Thor to tell you he loved you.”

“You think I don’t know that?” he grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back against the table. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Every time I think about telling him I think of reasons why I shouldn’t. It’s… it’s complicated.”

Tony looked at him for a moment before he sighed. “I can’t tell you what to do. I don’t know what it was like for you on that planet or that ship, and I sure as hell don’t even know what has already happened between the two of you. But my advice is that I know you can’t deny yourself of happiness for your whole life because of one mistake that I wouldn’t even call a mistake on your part.”

He rolled his eyes. “Next you’re going to tell me to follow my heart or some bullshit.”

“I will if it helps,” he smiled.

He pressed his forehead to his thumb and forefinger.

Maybe he should at least just tell him. It didn’t have to mean a relationship. It would feel nice just to be out there. If they were able to have more they could figure it out maybe.

He was figuring out quickly he’d rather that than it be permanently weird between them. A chance at real happiness was tempting him more than anything.

“By the way, your cousin and friend are just outside in the living room. They wanted to treat you to lunch.”

He smiled. “Okay, maybe I’ll take a break for them.”

“Better be quick, Jennifer has already told us about your childhood nickname, Doc.” He finished it off with a smug smile.

He sped out of the lab and straight to the living. “Jennifer whatever you’re doing, stop it right now!”

Stark Tower looked basically exactly the same as it had when Thor had last saw it.

He had gone to Stark Tower alone. He mostly just wanted to get off of the compound for a few hours.

The only people currently in were Tony and Rhodey who were busy with their own things. He’d been hoping Bruce would still be in but of course the only time he went in was when he was out.

Thor grabbed himself a coffee and sat in the living area. One of the things he really did enjoy about earth was their theatre and how he could access it so easily.

He had considered now and again coming in but he still had a sense of responsibility to his people. He was always going to prioritise them but part of him felt he couldn’t even have time to himself. He’d tripple checked everything was running before leaving. He was pretty sure people were becoming frustrated with how overbearing he was being. He just wanted to be a good king, he could mess it all up so easily.

He was halfway through his movie when the lift doors opened. He glanced to it and saw Bruce walking in with two other people.

They were mid conversation as they walked in and for a moment, they didn’t seem to notice him.

“Oh, hey Thor,” Bruce said mid sentence, looking at him across the room. This was the closest to being alone they had been since being back on earth.

He smiled at him and stood up. “Hey.”

Unless he was imagining it, the man and woman exchanged a look. Before he had a real chance to question it, the man stepped forward and held out his hand. “Hey, I’m Rick.”

He shook his hand. “Thor.”

“Jen,” the woman said. “I’m Bruce’s cousin.”

He then realised they were the family Bruce had told him about, the same people from those pictures Tony had shown him. That would explain how much he was beaming before he’d noticed him sitting there.

“We just got some lunch,” Bruce said casually, slipping his hands into his jean pockets. “And you’re wearing earth clothes?”

His attire were simple jeans and a hoodie. He tended to dress down when out in public on earth but people did still recognise him now and again. The eyepatch made him more recognisable to the public but he found the clothes comfortable.

“Anyways, Jen and I were just off,” Rick said casually, looking at her. “We just wanted to get this nerd out of his lab.” He pointed at Bruce with his thumb with a teasing smile.

Jen smiled too. “Yeah, and I have to look over a case for work anyway. It’s probably going to keep me up all night.”

Bruce looked kind of disappointed. Thor wondered if it was the fact they were leaving so soon or that he had to be alone with him. “Okay. I’ll see you guys soon right?”

“Can’t get rid of us that easily, Doc.” She nudged him with her elbow then smiled at Thor. “It was nice meeting you, Thor.”

He smiled back and gave her a nod. “Likewise.”

The two of them walked to the life and Bruce watched them as they did. They were soon in the lift and out of sight as the doors clothes.

Thor was about to suggest that Bruce probably wanted to go back to his lab. The air between them was tense and Thor wanted to go back at and pretending telling him how he’d felt about him had never happened.

Before he could, Bruce turned back to him. “Thor? Can we talk?” He chewed his lip as he asked.

He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He was tempted to say no because part of him wanted to absolutely avoid any awkward conversation with him.

“Okay,” he said before he could stop himself.

Bruce stepped forward, his hand gripping his own bicep. He was gripping hard enough for his knuckle to turn white. “Uh, I wanted to say, about what had happened on the ship between us–“

“Bruce, I really am sorry if I have ruined anything between us,” he said sincerely as he could.

He shook his head. “No. Thor, I– I love you. I love you too. Have for a while.”

He gaped at him and stared, wondering if he’d heard him correctly. “What?”

“I lied to you. I guess you should know at this point I have my own issues and I was convinced I wasn’t someone that deserved to be loved. I’ve only been in love three other times. It’s hard for me to really admit I’m in love, even to myself. I’m so sorry I lied to you but I do feel the same way.”

Silence fell between them. Bruce was looking up at him with gorgeous brown eyes.

Thor would admit he was hurt that he’d lied to him. But he knew enough about Bruce to know it wasn’t malicious. Thor had to show him he was worthy of being loved.

He stepped forward to him so they were less than arms length apart. “Can I kiss you?”

Bruce smiled and nodded. “Yeah, do it.”

He took him by the hips and pressed his lips to his. He heard a small sigh from Bruce before he held his face in his hands.

The kiss was deep and quick; one he’d needed for so long. Bruce was so easy to hold into his arms. He could probably fit in his arms so perfectly, and he’d never want him to leave.

Bruce kissed like he needed it to survive. It was deep and desperate and definitely completely inappropriate to do in a living room.

Thor pulled away first, panting slightly. Bruce was looking up at him with wide pupils. “Sorry,” Bruce said but Thor had no idea what he was apologising for. “It’s been a while since I’ve done anything like this.”

Thor smiled fondly down at him. “You have nothing to apologise for, my love.” He brushed his lips against his cheek. “You’re perfect.”

He felt Bruce shiver in his arms. “Okay, we’re taking this to my room before we do something we regret and completely inappropriate.”

Thor laughed and together they walked to Bruce’s room hand in hand, Thor’s movie still playing and completely forgotten.

Cap, Sam, and Cap’s friend were due back that day. Bruce quickly noticed how tense Tony was with how he was pacing in the main foyer of the compound when he’d arrived.

Bruce really hoped things were better between them like he’d said. Whoever the friend was, he’d clearly been the reason things had gone down hill between him and Cap. Bruce would rather stay out of their conflict. He didn’t want to choose sides but something told him he’d be on Cap’s if he’d been on earth when it had all happened.

Bruce had been spending a lot of his time with Thor. He usually went down to the compound to do so. Tony had bought him a motorcycle to make getting around easier for him. Bruce was happy to take it over some fancy car, especially those fancy self driving ones Tony was working on. A plus side to the motorcycle was that he could wear a helmet and pass through the streets undetected.

He’d been showing up more and more in the news. Once the first article came out even more had come. It was part of the reason he’d barely left Stark Tower unless Jen and Rick forced him out. Pictures had been taken of him before but the feeling of someone waiting behind a bush to snap an unflattering photo made him uncomfortable enough to not even leave alone for a coffee or lunch.

Thor was still sorting things out with Fury. The compound was a private area so the Asgardians presence was completely unknown to the public. Bruce was wondering exactly how long they could keep that a secret for. He had a suspicion Thor was thinking the same.

Thor walked into the living area of the compound with his shoulders slumped. He had been in his meeting with Fury for two hours, leaving Bruce to watch way too many episodes of some Netflix show. He turned to him on his place in the couch. “How’d it go?”

He fell on the couch with a sigh, slumping to Bruce’s side and resting his chin on his shoulder. “He’s talking to other nations. America doesn’t want us to settle at all.”

He frowned and pressed his lips to his forehead. He wasn’t surprised by that at all. “I’m sorry, babe. That sucks.”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “Some Scandinavian countries are considering it.”

He almost made a joke about how it made sense for the Nordic countries to want to take the people from their myths but he decided it was best not to. “That would be nice. Those are good countries.”

“Mhm. My father called Norway home before he passed. Maybe it’s best to go towards there.”

Bruce rubbed his nose against the top of his head. “That’s sounds good. Soon enough, you’ll be more than settled.”

“I think they’ll miss the gold palaces though.”

“I’m sure they’ll get used to it.”

He heard the sound of footsteps and turned to see Tony coming in. Tony had quickly found out about their relationship with how affectionate Thor could be. He didn’t say anything in the moment but he did high five him when Thor had returned to the compound.

Tony walked into the room and sat on the second couch. “Just got a call from Hill. Cap will be back in less than an hour.”

Thor didn’t move from his positon so Bruce had to twist his head awkwardly to look at him. That reminded him to tell Thor about maybe holding off on his affection until he told Cap and maybe his friend too. The best reaction he was hoping for was an understanding things were different these days and he should be okay with that.

“Okay. You good?” Bruce asked.

He shrugged. “Things aren’t going to ease up any time soon between us but… I guess we can try at least.” His voice sounded defeated as he slouched in place. “How’s resettlement going, Point Break?”

“We’re getting somewhere,” Thor replied, still resting his head on Bruce’s shoulder. “Might take a few months or even years before we’re actually settled somewhere else.”

“Well you’re all welcome out here for as long as you need to be. And my offer to buy up and empty building and letting you all live in there for free still stands.”

Thor smiled. “I’m sure eventually my people will be happy to move. They all need time to adjust.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, understandable. Just let me know when you need me though. I’ll leave you two love birds alone.”

Tony stood up and left the room. Bruce smile and let out a happy sigh, pulling Thor closer to him.

“Hey, just so you know,” Bruce said. “When Cap’s back, maybe lay off on the affection for a moment? I don’t know how he’d react.”

Thor looked up at him and gave him a small nod. “Of course, whatever makes him comfortable. How soon would you like him to know about our coupling.”

“As soon as possible really. I think it’ll got fine but I do think there’s that small chance it won’t.”

Thor tilted his head up and kissed him softly. “I understand, my love.”

Bruce smiled against his lips. The ridiculously corny nickname somehow sounded so natural coming from Thor.

It took a lot of thinking before he’d actually decided to tell Thor how he’d felt. It was both Rick and Jen, as well as Tony pushing him to do something that would make him happy. And so far he was. Thor was able to make him feel so loved and cherished in a way he hadn’t in so many years.

He’d told Rick and Jen not long after Thor had left back to the compound on the day they had gotten together. The two of them blew up his phone for hours. They were insistent on all four of them meeting up to get lunch together.

That had made Bruce remember there was still the factor of coming out publicly. He knew he didn’t have to do it if he didn’t want to but he knew if he and Thor went out in public together and they had a lapse of judgement and showed affection that someone got on camera then there was no running from that. He’d have to figure that out when people he knew were out of the way and if he even really wanted the public to know.

Rick had told him about the various bets around which of the Avengers were dating. Bruce mostly laughed it off and was surprised to see most bets on him was with Tony, although that wasn’t close to what it was for Cap and Tony or Nat and Cap. The odds were pretty against him and Thor and he wasn’t quite sure what he should make of that but he was able to see the humour in it. Not so much though that he let Rick or Jen make anonymous bets on it when they’d asked him if they could.

Cap arrived around the time Tony had said he would. Bruce and Thor met him in the foyer with Tony.

Bruce wasn’t sure what he’d expect from Cap’s friend. He didn’t expect a white man with a metal arm made of something called vibranium. It was then it really hit him that Wakanda wasn’t exactly what he’d thought it was. Tony had recommended just googling it later on.

“Bruce, you’re back!” Cap gaped at him when he seemed to realise he was there too. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Oh you know, typical things. Went to space, got stuck as Hulk, and Thor found me.” He gave Thor a playful nudge with his elbow next to him. “Normal things.”

Sam and Cap’s friend both laughed at his comment and Cap gave him a small smile. “Well, glad you’re okay. We were all really worried.”

“Good to know.”

Cap introduced his friend as Bucky. Bruce noticed how reserved he seemed to be but gave him as friendly of a smile as he could.

Agent Hill, who was standing with Nat, said she’d show him to the room he’d be staying in. Predictably S.H.I.E.L.D. had their own role in integrating Bucky. Bruce wasn’t sure on the legal consequences that would be involved. Hopefully being brainwashed by Nazis was enough to get him off the hook at least a little. Bruce knew too much about how it felt to be punished for things out of your control and still feeling at fault for it yourself.

Tony cleared his throat awkardly. “Uh, so what’s the plan from here? Are you going to go back to DC?”

Cap looked at him. He shook his head. “Uh, no. Was actually thinking to stay here if that was fine? I just don’t want to leave Bucky alone.”

The two of them stared at each other. Part of Bruce worried he was going to say no.

“Do whatever you like,” Tony finally said in a bitter tone. He turned and left the foyer. Steve stood still in his spot as Tony walked to the elevator.

“You good, Steve?” Nat asked with a concerned look.

“Uh, yeah,” he nodded and put his hands in his pockets.

Sam looked at him for a moment. “Right. Anyway I fly back to DC in a few days. Where do I sleep?”

Natasha smiled. “C’mon, I’ll show you where.”

The two of them left leaving Cap, Bruce and Thor alone.

Cap smiled at the two of them, the tension of the air gone. “Great to see both of you back though. Things weren’t the same without both of you.”

Bruce laughed. “Well, we’ve had a long six months. The entire remaining population of the Asgardians is in the backyard.”

Steve stared at him like he had three heads then to Thor. “What happened?”

Thor gave a nonchalant shrug. “Long story, we can tell it later.”

Cap’s brows furrowed together. “Fine. There’s definitely a story there. And wait– what do you mean ‘we’.”

Thor looked at Bruce with a smile. “Bruce was there.”

“Okay, you two better tell me what the hell happened, including what happened to your eye,” Cap said with his arms crossed.

Thor smiled. “Will do soon,” he said. “I need to go see how things are managing. I’ll see both of you soon.” He turned and walked to the backyard, disappearing behind the doors.

Cap was smiling at him. “Anything else I should know about? Feels like a lot happened when I was gone.”

Bruce paused, giving himself a moment to think about it. He’d never heard a bad word about queer people from Cap, and he’d been around him enough that it could’ve possibly come up at some point. He didn’t want to constantly second guess himself in the compound himself.

“Well, Thor and I are dating now.” He said it as casually and nonchalant as he could but he did feel tense.

Cap’s reaction wasn’t disgust but his smile did turn into a confused look. “Oh, really? That’s nice.”

He felt the tension disappear. “Clearly surprised though.”

Cap gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’m still getting adjusted to the twenty-first century. I slip sometimes. I’ve never had an issue with it, I’m always just thrown off when people are so open about it. But I really don’t have any problems. Nat told me about her and Maria so it’s not like you’re the first person I’ve met.”

“It’s fine,” he assured him giving him a smile. “I didn’t grow up in the most accepting time anyway so I can second guess things from time to time.”

“Okay good. But that’s great! I’d like to know how that even happened though since I don’t really remember you two being close before now.”

“A lot happened I guess. Alien planet, orgy spaceships, killing his sister, we got close.”

He gave him a wide eyed look. “For the love of god you are both explaining what happened as soon as possible.”

The months went by quickly. Thor regularly saw Fury for updates on where the Asgardians stood in the process of find a new home. By the look of it, the only place that was willing to have them was the Scandinavian countries. They weren’t exactly giving him a chance to pick and choose. He’d just have to wait for full confirmation from Fury.

The Asgardians still chose the Statesman over apartment buildings from Stark. He’d given up on trying to persuade them to move at that point. They seemed pretty happy to stay on the ship. Thor wondered if they would even want to move when they did eventually have a place to settle.

His free time was spent mostly with Bruce. He’d had a chance to go to one of Bruce’s lunches with Rick and Jen. He’d enjoyed his time with them and Bruce seemed happy to see all of them get along so well.

He public found out few months into their relationship. Bruce had posted a picture of the two of them in June and the reaction had been mostly positive. Bruce had explained to him why June had that significance, and he smiled and nodded. He didn’t really care when Bruce chose to let the public know. Thor had let him know a while ago he was ready whenever he was. After they made it public, they showed affection in public a lot more.

Thor sat across from Fury for their usual meeting. Fury had a lot less paperwork set in front of him than usual.

“I have good news,” he said. “A village in Norway is prepared to take you in.”

He stared at him. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “The village is called Tønsberg. It’s a not very glamorous place but as there’s only a few hundred of you they were happy to take you in.”

Tønsberg was a place he’d heard of before. Many centuries ago it had been invaded by the frost giants in an attempt to take over earth. His father had battled against them with the Asgardian army.

It was almost too perfect. “Is there a catch?”

He shook his head. “You can still rule over your people but you will also have to abide by the laws of Norway and the European Union. They’re willing to grant you those rights as well. You just have to cooperate.”

He paused before nodding. “Okay I can work with that, thank you.”

He stood up and gave Fury a nod. “I shall let them know. How soon can we leave?”

“A few months give or take.”

He nodded again before turning to leave. He always felt like he was suffocating during those meetings.

When he returned to the common area he saw Bruce watching a movie with Rhodey and a man named Scott he’d only recently met. Scott was a very enthusiastic person, one Thor had decided quite quickly he’d liked.

“How’d it go?” Bruce asked, turning to him.

He smiled. “Norway’s willing to take us. It’ll take a few months to finalise but we officially have a home.”

As he sat next to Bruce, he smiled. “Really? That’s great!”

“So, what, you’re gone for good after that?” Rhodey asked from the other couch next to Scott.

“Well it’s not like I’m never going to come back,” Thor said. “But yes, the Asgardians will be on earth permanently.”

“Still can’t believe you’d lost your whole planet,” Scott said.

Thor shrugged. “Yeah, it was hard. I don’t think we’ll ever be over it. But, the goal is to make it a new home.”

Bruce smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “It’ll be a home soon enough, I’m sure.”

Scott and Rhodey left the room when the movie was over. Thor kept his arm slung over Bruce’s shoulders as a thought occurred to Thor.

What would happen between him and Bruce? He hadn’t really thought about that.

Bruce turned to him. “What?” he asked, brows furrowing together.

He hadn’t realised he’d been staring at him. He gave him a smile. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”

He stood up straighter. “About what?”

“I guess I didn’t consider what would happen when I leave.”

His face dropped. “Oh. Right. I guess I forgot about that when we got together.”

Thor paused. A thought came to him. Ones that’s completely ridiculous but it was the only one he had. “You can… come if you want.”

Bruce paused then let out a small laugh. “You sure you want to keep me around?”

“Of course, I love you. But I know that you don’t really want to leave your family.”

He shrugged. “I don’t really. But also, I guess it’s not like I will never see them again. And, well, New York’s never really been a home for me.” He shuffled closer to him. “I think that maybe you can be that for me. So, yes, I’d like to come with you.”

Thor smiled and brushed his nose against his forehead. “As long as you’re sure.”

Bruce looked at him with so much love. He pressed his lips to his jawline. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

The Asgardians weren’t moving to Norway until a few more months. That was enough time for Bruce to get his own paperwork into order. The Asgardians luckily didn’t have to go through it but Bruce was still a regular human who needed a visa and a real passport. Tony had jokingly said he should try to use his personal relationship with Thor to get passed it all but Bruce decided to go with the honest route.

“So you’re really moving?” Jen said, tilting her head to the side. They were meeting up for their regular café runs during her lunch breaks.

He nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. “You know I never really liked New York. If I could live off the grid in a secluded cave I would.”

She rolled her eyes. “You really would. So, what, you’re going for good?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s the right choice. I’ve never been to Norway, I think it’d be a good home.”

She smiled. “You seem happy. I like it. Looks good on you.”

He smiled back at her. “Yeah, I think I do too.”

“As long as you text me all the time. I barely got you back and you’re already planning to leave.”

“I promise I won’t accidentally blow myself into space again.”

“And make sure you invite me to your wedding.”

He sighed with a small laugh. “You’re lucky you’re my favourite cousin.”

She held up her mug and grinned. “The best.”

Loki had barely left the ship in the last few months. Thor had been too busy to really talk to him but he took the chances when he could.

“You’re really going to bring him to where we’ll settle?”

Loki’s arms were crossed over his chest and he was glaring at him.

He sighed. He’d been able to keep it from him for a while. It was going to be a frustrating conversation no matter when they’d had it.

“Yeah. I asked him to.”

Loki shook his head. “First it was Jane who you brought to Asgard and now you’re involving another mortal where he doesn’t need to be.”

“I love him, Loki. He and I have already talked about it and he’s coming.”

He stared at him. “You’re really stuck on him, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “Guess so. He feels right. You can talk to him as little as you’d prefer. I know you don’t forgive him for what he’d done to you but you’re lucky enough earth is somehow giving you a second chance.”

Thor wasn’t exactly sure how he’d persuaded any government on earth to trust Loki. It was all hanging by a thread and if he got even a toe out of line all the Asgardians would face the repercussions. It was a step in some good direction at least.

The same couldn’t be said for any of the Avengers. They were all skeptical to trust him, and Bruce was one of them. He had to hope things got at least slightly better over time.

“But you do know if you take this any further he’d be prince consort?” Loki asked.

“It’s far too early for that,” Thor said. “And are you just mad he’d have a higher status than you?”

Judging by how his face screwed up it was a yes.

“How about say something like, ‘I’m happy for you, brother’.”

He gave a dramatic eye roll. “I am happy for you. I just want you to be sure about it.”

“I am. I wouldn’t have asked him to come if I wasn’t.”

“Fine.”

“And can you at least try to get along with him? No more sour looks at him?”

“He needs to do the same.”

“Loki.”

He clenched his jaw. “Okay. Fine. I’ll try.”

He gave a relieved smile. “That’s all I ask. Thanks.”

Maybe it wasn’t perfect yet but he could tell this change in Loki and in their relationship was going to be permanent.

The last night before leaving for Norway was spent on the Statesman. Bruce’s suitcase was left in the compound as he joined the Asgardians in their celebrations.

The Avengers as well as Jen and Rick had also come to join in the celebrations. Rick and Jen mostly stuck around him since they were kind of overwhelmed by everything. From the Asgardians to presence of the Avengers. It took that for Bruce to realise that he’d gotten used to it all. He saw the Avengers as regular people but he’d sometimes forgotten it wasn’t the same for most people.

Tony was with Pepper, Nat, and Maria while Cap, Sam, and Bucky were on the complete other side of the room. Things were clearly not going to be patched up for a while between Cap and Tony. Bucky was able to get cleared as S.H.I.E.L.D. ultimately decided he was a victim. Tony’s reaction to it wasn’t anger or happiness, just simple acceptance from what Bruce could tell.

“How big is this thing?” Rick asked, looking around the room. They’d all gathered in the dining hall as it was the biggest room on the ship and easily fit everyone. It was so incredibly regal after actually being decorated even a little.

Bruce shrugged, taking a sip of his beer. “It’s really big. That’s all I know for sure.”

“So you were really stuck on this thing for six months?” Jen asked, holding a glass of wine.

He nodded. “Yeah. I guess it could’ve been worse.” Something the size of the Commodore with just him, Thor, Brunnhilde, and maybe Loki would’ve made him lose his mind quickly.

He felt an arm go around his waist. He smiled and looked at Thor. “Hey, babe. Everything holding up good?”

He nodded and squeezed his hip. “Surprisingly yes. I think everyones ready for a stable home.”

“Yeah, I’d bet.”

“Norway’s much colder than Asgard, I’m sure,” Jen said. “Hopefully they get used to it.”

Thor shrugged. “It’ll happen, I’m sure.”

“Well good. Just don’t keep Brucie away from use for too long,” Rick said.

“Can’t get rid of me that easily, Rick,” he smiled, lightly punching his arm.

“Well, do you mind if I steal him for now?” Thor asked, taking his hand into his own.

Jen gave a wave. “Go on, lovebirds.”

“Be gay, have fun,” Rick added with a grin.

Bruce laughed and rolled his eyes. “See you guys later.”

Thor took him across the room and out of the doors. “Where are you taking me?” he asked with a smile, pleasantly reminded of when he’d shown him the viewing room to get a better view of space.

When the were in the hallway Thor turned to him and smiled. He bent down and kissed him on the lips. “I just wanted a moment alone,” he said, rubbing their noses together.

He smiled and pulled him so Thor was pressing him against a wall. Thor laughed as he held him by his hips and kissed him. Thor went on his toes to make it easier to kiss him back.

The kissed for a while and when Thor pulled away, he kissed the corner of his mouth.

A thought came to Bruce and he couldn’t help but laugh.

Thor pressed his nose to his cheek. “What?” he asked, affecton in his tone as he brushed his lips to his cheek.

He grinned. “How scandalous might it be for the king to be seen in such a position.”

Thor laughed softly and pressed his lips to his neck. “They like you, I think. The Asgardians.”

He hugged his hips and smiled. “Good.”

Thor pulled back and looked at him with a soft smile and a complete look of adoration. “Do you think anyone would mind if we left temporarily?”

Bruce felt his entire body go warm. “I don’t think so.”

They walked hand in hand towards Thor’s room. Bruce could hear the party in the distance growing softer as they went down the hall, never letting the other go.

Part of him had been second guessing moving the day after Thor had asked. But he also thought about the chance of happiness and how Thor was going to give him that. It was all the happiness he hadn’t allowed himself to have for years.

He was ready to find a real home.