Chapter Text
It was one hour after a party hosted by Tony Stark himself. It was also the first gathering of the extended Avengers team - the first time they were all hanging out together. The party was sort of a “congrats for making the team” event for Sam, Wanda, Rhodey, and Vision. But the after party (when all the regular people left) wasn’t exclusively for Avengers. Maria Hill, Sharon Carter, and Helen Cho were there too. Well, Maria invited the other two in order to make the event less of a “sausage party,” in her words.
Rhodey, Tony, Bruce, and Clint were hanging around the bar, while Wanda and Vision were having a quiet conversation near the stairs of Stark and Banner’s shared lab. Everyone else was by the couches. Steve and Sam were sitting on either side of Natasha, whose red hair had grown longer since the late spring. Sharon and Maria were attempting to perform a drunken rendition of the Honey Hot Rag dance from Chicago. They were failing greatly, but it was a sight to see.
At some point in the routine, the dancers are supposed to grab prop guns. Maria picked up a drumstick, and Sharon decided to go for Mjolnir, which was set in the middle of the coffee table. Forgetting that she could not lift it, Sharon stumbled into Maria. They both fell down, but they tried to brush it off.
Sharon blushed slightly and pulled herself up. “I totally meant to do that!”
“Sure you did.” Helen chuckled from her spot in an armchair.
“It was a valiant effort, though,” Thor was always amused when someone tried to lift the hammer.
Maria stood up and made a quick attempt for the hammer. She couldn’t lift it, of course, and masked her disappointment.
“Saw that!” Steve pointed at Maria. She stuck her tongue out at him in response.
“Ooh, we trying to life Mjo-Mjo again?” Clint’s voice chimed in. Soon enough, everyone gathered at the couches.
“Time for another round of ‘So You Think You Can Lift Myuhl-neer!’” Tony cracked his knuckles as Rhodey played the role of the Hype Man and massaged his shoulders. Tony made a move toward Mjolnir, but Steve threw a couch pillow at him.
“Not so fast,” he said. “Let’s give some new people a chance. Y’know, those of us who haven’t tried lifting it yet.” As he spoke, he glanced at Sam and Natasha.
When neither of them budged, Wanda slowly approached the hammer. She didn’t normally get involved in these silly team activities, but she figured it would be better to embarrass herself now than later.
She concentrated and bit her lip. The room was silent. At this point, the others had an idea of how powerful Wanda was. Some of them truly believed all of that power could allow her to lift the hammer.
Unfortunately for her, these beliefs were wrongs. When she tugged on Mjolnir with all her strength, it did not budge at all. Wanda sighed and tried to shrug it off, but she was obviously disappointed. However, a reassuring smile from Vision made her feel a little better.
Next up was Helen. She grabbed the handle with both hands and tugged, but Mjolnir remained still yet again. Bruce and Maria clapped after her attempt, and she gave a small bow. She then returned to her seat for Sam’s turn.
“Alright, lemme show you guys how it’s done,” Sam said with confidence, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to lift it anymore than Helen could. He looked back at Steve and Natasha for a bit of encouragement. Natasha nodded and Steve gave a double thumbs up. Sam reached for the hammer, and as soon as his fingertips touched the handle, he dropped his hand and backed away. “Welp, I tried.”
“Awh, what?” Tony watched Sam take his place beside Natasha. “You didn’t even try! What happened to showing us how it’s done?”
“I wasn’t feeling it, y’know? My arm is - it’s sore from all the flying.”
Tony rolled his eyes at the excuse. He then turned his attention to someone else. “Well, that only leaves one person.”
Natasha pretended to be oblivious and finished her drink. Steve and Sam were poking and nudging her.
“Get on up there, Nat,” Clint grinned. He offered a beer to Bruce, who sat beside him on another couch.
“The rest of us embarrassed ourselves,” Bruce added. “It’s only fair.”
“You embarrassed yourself, if I remember correctly.” Natasha’s reply would have been mean if she hadn’t been smiling. “I’ll say what I said last time: Knowing whether I’m… ‘worthy’ or whatever is not a question I need answered.”
“C’mon, just humor us!” Steve playfully nudged her forward.
The others began interjecting and encouraging Natasha to try. She managed to hold her own for a while until she met Thor’s gaze. He gestured to Mjolnir with this cocky smile on his face. It made her narrow her eyes a bit.
“Holy shit, fine!” Natasha shouted over the noise and pushed herself up. “If it’ll make you all shut up, I’ll lift the dumb thing.”
“It’s not dumb!” Thor whined at the same time Vision said, “Hey!”
Natasha shook her hands out. It was intimidating, she had to admit. Especially with her teammates all being silent around her. She didn’t notice how she held her breath when she leaned down and reached for Mjolnir. The handle was rested firmly in her grip. The question of her worthiness was definitely one she didn’t want answered. She didn’t know how Asgardians defined worthiness, but that did not matter. She surely didn’t feel worthy - not with everything she did and was forced to do in her past. The real salt in the wound would come from her failing to lift the hammer and confirming her doubts.
Natasha barely pulled her arm up when the unthinkable happened. Mjolnir was raised from the tabletop, not wavering at all. Natasha’s eyes went wide as they were fixated on the hammer. Sam held his arms out to his sides as if he was bracing for a fall. Tony nearly choked on his scotch and Wanda slapped her hands over her mouth. Thor sat as still as a statue. His jaw actually dropped when Natasha raised her arm even higher, still holding onto Mjolnir.
“Wh-what…” Natasha’s voice shook. She blinked a few times, then looked to Thor and Vision for an explanation. Neither of them said a word.
Suddenly, Natasha gasped and jumped back, like she was punched in the gut. With the hammer still in her grasp, she fell to her knees, and her body jolted and twitched violently. Steve and Sam rose instantly, but Thor stuck his hand out to stop them to make sure they did not get too close. Sparks of what appeared to be lightning emerged from Mjolnir and surged through Natasha’s body. She let out a short, painful shout. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground. The sparks stopped and she lied still.