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The Avengers Compound had never been this quiet.
Thor hated it.
He hated the hallways.
He hated the fluorescent lights.
He hated the distant mechanical hum of Stark’s machines continuing to function as though half the universe had not simply ceased to exist.
Most of all, he hated that nobody seemed to know what to do with him.
They had returned from the Garden hours ago.
Perhaps longer.
Thor hadn’t asked.
Time had stopped meaning much somewhere between lifting Stormbreaker and watching Thanos’s head fall to the ground.
He had done it.
He had finally killed him.
And absolutely nothing had happened.
No burst of light.
No reversal.
No triumphant return.
No Tris.
Just a body collapsing into the dirt.
What did you do?
The same question Thor had once screamed at Thanos now lived permanently inside his own head.
He sat alone in one of the compound’s common rooms, elbows braced against his knees.
Stormbreaker rested against the wall several feet away.
Thor hadn’t touched it since they returned.
He didn’t particularly want to look at it.
There had once been a time when holding a weapon made him feel powerful.
Now every weapon he had ever carried seemed like proof of something he’d failed to do quickly enough.
The door opened behind him.
Thor didn’t turn.
Footsteps.
Uneven.
Not Rogers.
Too heavy for Romanoff.
Banner tended to hesitate at doorways now.
Stark didn’t.
Tony appeared beside him and dropped heavily into the chair opposite.
He looked terrible.
Still too thin from whatever had happened to him in space. His face was sharper than Thor remembered, exhaustion carved beneath his eyes, one arm still held slightly differently because his body had apparently not forgiven him for nearly dying.
Thor stared at the floor.
Tony stared at Thor.
Neither spoke.
Finally—
“So.”
Thor’s jaw tightened.
Tony leaned back.
“That went well.”
Thor looked at him.
Tony lifted one hand.
“Bad phrasing.”
Thor returned his eyes to the floor.
Silence again.
Tony lasted approximately fifteen seconds.
“You planning on sitting here forever?”
Thor’s voice came low.
“Perhaps.”
“Okay.”
Thor glanced up.
He had expected an argument.
Tony shrugged.
“Not like there’s a schedule anymore.”
Thor looked away.
Tony’s eyes dropped toward Stormbreaker.
“You know, traditionally, when you cut off the bad guy’s head, there’s at least some closure.”
Thor’s jaw flexed.
“Do not.”
Tony stopped.
Thor’s voice became rougher.
“Do not speak of him.”
“Fine.”
Another silence.
Tony tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair.
Thor could feel him thinking.
That had always been dangerous.
Then Tony said—
“She was pissed at you.”
Thor froze.
Everything inside him stopped.
Tony watched him.
Thor did not move.
“What?”
“Tris.”
Her name.
It had been weeks since anyone had said it to him casually.
Not carefully.
Not with that slight pause beforehand as though everyone had agreed her name had become something breakable.
Thor slowly raised his head.
Tony’s expression had changed.
Less sarcastic.
“She was really, really pissed at you.”
Thor stared at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“When she got here.”
Thor’s brow creased.
Tony leaned forward.
“When Heimdall sent her down.”
Something painful tightened beneath Thor’s ribs.
He saw it instantly.
The Statesman.
Thanos.
Heimdall bleeding on the floor.
Tris beside Thor, refusing to leave even as the ship died around them.
Thor remembered grabbing her.
Remembered her realizing what he intended almost before he did.
No.
He remembered the fury in her face.
Thor, don’t you dare.
He remembered Heimdall’s eyes finding his.
Thor hadn’t needed to say anything.
The last Bifrost had erupted across the ruined ship.
Banner vanished.
Tris with him.
Her scream had followed Thor until Thanos crushed the life from Loki’s body.
Thor looked down again.
“She hated me.”
Tony frowned.
“No.”
Thor laughed once.
It was ugly.
“She told me she would.”
“Yeah, well, she also threatened to stab Strange, so I wouldn’t put a lot of weight on everything she said that morning.”
Thor’s eyes snapped up.
Tony almost smiled.
Almost.
“You didn’t know?”
Thor shook his head slowly.
“No.”
Tony leaned back.
“Right.”
For a moment, he looked like he was deciding whether this was a story Thor actually needed.
Then he exhaled.
“Banner landed in the Sanctum first.”
Thor knew that much.
“Big green meteor through the staircase. Very dramatic. Destroyed some furniture. Wong was thrilled.”
Despite everything, the faintest ghost of familiarity passed through Thor.
Tony continued.
“Then about thirty seconds later, there’s another blast.”
Thor went very still.
“She landed standing.”
Of course she had.
Tony’s expression shifted at the memory.
“Barely.”
Thor’s fingers tightened together.
“She was covered in blood.”
His stomach dropped.
“Whose?”
“I don’t know.”
Tony paused.
“Some of it was hers.”
Thor looked away.
Tony immediately continued.
“Nothing life-threatening. Cut on her head. Shoulder looked bad. She was limping.”
Thor swallowed.
He could picture every piece of it.
Too easily.
“And she was holding that spear of hers.”
Tony gestured vaguely.
“Magic glowy thing. Looked like she was about two seconds from murdering the room.”
Thor’s mouth twitched despite himself.
Then Tony said—
“First thing she said was your name.”
The almost-smile disappeared.
Thor stared at him.
Tony looked down at his hands.
“Not Banner. Not Thanos. Not Asgard.”
A pause.
“You.”
Thor stopped breathing.
“What did she say?”
Tony’s eyes lifted.
“Where’s Thor?”
Something in Thor’s face cracked.
Tony continued before Thor could speak.
“Banner tried to explain.”
Thor could imagine Bruce.
Panicked.
Confused.
Barely understanding what had happened himself.
“He told her Heimdall sent both of them to Earth.”
Thor nodded faintly.
“She knew that.”
“Yeah. She wasn’t confused.”
Tony’s mouth tightened.
“She was furious because she understood exactly why.”
Thor’s eyes closed.
Tony’s voice became quieter.
“She kept saying you made him do it.”
Thor opened his eyes.
“Heimdall.”
“She said you told Heimdall to save her.”
Thor didn’t respond.
“Banner told her you were trying to keep her alive.”
Thor laughed bitterly.
“That was the intention.”
“She didn’t appreciate the gesture.”
“No.”
Tony leaned forward, forearms against his knees.
“She said—and I’m cleaning this up significantly—‘He doesn’t get to decide that.’”
Thor could hear her saying it.
Every word.
Tony glanced toward him.
“Then she demanded Strange send her back.”
Thor’s head lifted sharply.
“What?”
“There we go.”
Tony pointed faintly at him.
“That’s the part I figured you didn’t know.”
Thor stared.
“She tried to return?”
“Immediately.”
Thor’s chest tightened so violently it almost hurt.
“Strange told her he couldn’t.”
“He could open portals.”
“Not to wherever you were.”
Tony’s expression darkened.
“Nobody knew where the hell that ship was.”
Thor’s gaze dropped.
“She argued.”
“Obviously.”
“She threatened him?”
“Repeatedly.”
Thor almost smiled again.
It vanished just as quickly.
Tony continued.
“She wanted him to try anyway.”
Thor looked at him.
“She said she’d figure out the rest once she got close enough.”
A breath escaped Thor.
Almost a laugh.
Almost a sob.
“That sounds like her.”
“Yeah.”
Tony’s mouth twitched.
“Whole lot of confidence for someone who had no idea what planet she was trying to reach.”
Thor’s expression softened with pain.
“She would have found me.”
Tony looked at him.
Thor wasn’t boasting.
He simply believed it.
Tony nodded once.
“Probably.”
Silence settled again.
But it felt different now.
Thor’s eyes had gone distant.
Tony watched him for a moment before continuing.
“Then Banner said Thanos was coming.”
Thor’s hands curled together.
“And everything shifted.”
He knew what came next.
New York.
Ebony Maw.
Strange taken.
Tony going into space.
Tris eventually heading toward Wakanda with the others.
But he had never known what happened in the hours before that.
He had been drifting through space then.
Half-conscious.
Bodies around him.
Eventually the Guardians finding him.
Rocket.
Quill.
Gamora.
Everything that had led him toward Nidavellir.
While Tris had been on Earth trying to get back to him.
“She asked Banner what happened,” Tony said.
Thor looked up.
“He told her.”
Tony’s expression sobered.
“He told her about Loki.”
Thor’s face closed.
“He told her about Heimdall.”
Nothing.
“He told her what Thanos did to you.”
Thor looked away.
Tony gave him a moment.
“That was the first time she stopped moving.”
Thor swallowed.
Tony remembered it clearly.
Tris standing in the Sanctum, blood drying along one side of her face, chest rising hard from fury.
Then Banner saying Thor’s name.
Saying Thanos had left him behind.
And everything about her going still.
“She asked if Banner saw you die.”
Thor’s eyes returned to Tony.
“Bruce said no.”
A beat.
“She said, ‘Then he’s alive.’”
Thor’s throat tightened.
“Just like that.”
Tony snapped his fingers softly.
“No hesitation.”
Thor stared at him.
“Banner tried to say he didn’t know.”
Tony shook his head.
“She wouldn’t hear it.”
Thor looked downward.
“She knew.”
“Apparently.”
“She always knew.”
Tony studied him.
There was something almost unbearable in Thor’s expression now.
Love.
Grief.
Guilt.
All of it tangled together.
“She spent the next couple hours trying to get back to you.”
Tony’s voice had lost nearly all of its usual sharpness.
“She asked Banner about Bifrost technology. Asked Strange about sling rings. Asked me whether any of our ships could track whatever energy your ship gave off.”
Thor looked up.
“And?”
“And no.”
Tony’s jaw tightened.
“We had nothing.”
Thor nodded slowly.
His gaze went toward Stormbreaker.
Tony followed it.
“Then we got busy trying not to get killed.”
Thor’s face tightened.
“You went to Titan.”
“Yeah.”
“She stayed.”
“Not willingly.”
Thor frowned.
Tony smiled faintly.
“She wanted on the ship.”
Thor looked at him sharply.
“The Q-ship?”
“Yep.”
“No.”
“That was my reaction.”
Tony leaned back.
“She was ready to jump through the hole after us.”
Thor almost looked offended on behalf of past Tony.
“You stopped her?”
“I told her somebody needed to stay on Earth who actually knew Thanos.”
“Banner knew him.”
“Banner was having performance issues.”
Thor’s brow furrowed.
Tony waved it off.
“Long story.”
Thor almost smiled.
Tony continued.
“And honestly?”
His expression became serious again.
“I think she realized if you were alive, you’d come to Earth.”
Thor stared.
“She said that?”
“More or less.”
Tony looked toward the darkened windows.
“She said, ‘If Thor is breathing, he will come for Thanos.’”
Thor’s eyes burned.
“She was right.”
“Yeah.”
Tony paused.
“You showed up in Wakanda like a thunderstorm with anger issues.”
Thor gave him a faint look.
“That sounds redundant.”
“There he is.”
The flicker of humor vanished.
Thor’s gaze fell.
“And then I failed.”
Tony’s face hardened slightly.
“Don’t.”
Thor’s eyes lifted.
“I had him.”
“Thor.”
“I had him.”
His voice broke.
“I buried Stormbreaker in his chest.”
Tony said nothing.
“I looked into his eyes.”
Thor’s breathing had changed.
“And I wanted him to know.”
Tony knew exactly what he meant.
Revenge.
For Heimdall.
For Loki.
For the Asgardians.
For Tris.
For all of them.
“I wanted him to suffer.”
Thor’s eyes glistened.
“And because of that—”
He stopped.
Tony’s jaw tightened.
“Because of that she died.”
“No.”
Thor looked at him.
Tony’s tone sharpened.
“No.”
Thor laughed bitterly.
“Do not lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“You saw what happened.”
“I saw a purple lunatic with six magic rocks wipe out half the universe.”
“I should have killed him.”
“Yeah.”
Thor flinched.
Tony leaned forward.
“Yeah, you should have.”
Silence.
“I should’ve stopped him on Titan.”
Thor looked at him.
“Quill should’ve kept his head.”
Tony’s mouth twisted.
“Strange could’ve done something different. Parker could’ve pulled the glove harder. Maybe I should’ve built a better suit.”
Thor stared.
“We can do this all day.”
Tony tapped one finger against the armrest.
“Everybody gets a turn deciding they personally killed half the universe.”
Thor looked away.
Tony’s voice softened again.
“But I’m telling you this because there’s one thing you seem to have gotten wrong.”
Thor didn’t respond.
“Tris wasn’t angry because you sent her away.”
Thor’s brow drew together.
“She was furious.”
“Oh, absolutely.”
Tony nodded.
“Borderline homicidal.”
Thor gave him a flat look.
“But she wasn’t angry because you didn’t love her enough.”
Tony paused.
“She was angry because you loved her enough to send her away while staying behind yourself.”
Thor went completely still.
Tony looked directly at him.
“There’s a difference.”
Thor’s eyes lowered.
“She said she’d rather die beside me.”
“I know.”
Thor looked up sharply.
Tony shrugged faintly.
“She mentioned it.”
A strange sound escaped Thor.
Almost incredulous.
“Of course she did.”
“Several times.”
“She was always dramatic.”
Tony stared at him.
“You literally arrive places with lightning.”
Thor’s mouth twitched.
“Fair.”
Tony looked down.
“She said she would’ve chosen you.”
Thor’s expression changed.
Tony continued quietly.
“That was the thing she couldn’t forgive in the moment.”
Thor didn’t move.
“You took the choice away.”
Thor closed his eyes.
“I couldn’t watch her die.”
“I know.”
“I had already watched Heimdall.”
His voice became strained.
“Loki.”
Tony stayed silent.
“I knew what Thanos would do.”
Thor’s breathing became unsteady.
“I thought if one thing survived that ship—”
He stopped.
Tony understood anyway.
Let it be her.
Thor looked down at his hands.
“I thought I had saved her.”
Tony’s gaze dropped too.
For several seconds neither man spoke.
Then Tony said—
“You did.”
Thor looked at him.
Tony’s face tightened.
“For a little while.”
That hurt.
But Thor didn’t look away.
“You bought her time.”
Tony continued.
“You got her off that ship. You got Banner here. Without Banner, we wouldn’t have known what was coming.”
Thor listened.
“You didn’t know Thanos would get all six stones.”
A pause.
“You didn’t know she’d be taken anyway.”
Thor’s eyes burned.
Tony leaned back again.
“But if you’re sitting here thinking the last thing she felt for you was anger…”
He shook his head.
“It wasn’t.”
Thor barely breathed.
Tony looked toward the floor.
“The last time I saw her before I went through that portal mess, she was standing in the street watching that ship take off.”
Thor listened.
“She looked like she wanted to tear the sky open.”
That was Tris.
Tony glanced at him.
“And she said something.”
Thor’s heart seemed to stop.
“What?”
Tony hesitated.
Not because he had forgotten.
Because he’d remembered it too well.
“Banner told her again that you might be dead.”
Thor said nothing.
“She looked at him like he’d insulted her.”
The faintest trace of affection touched Tony’s mouth.
“Then she said, ‘You don’t know Thor.’”
Thor’s lips parted.
Tony continued.
“‘He’ll come.’”
Thor’s eyes filled.
“I did.”
“I know.”
Tony nodded.
“You did.”
Thor looked toward the windows.
Outside, darkness covered the compound grounds.
For weeks, Thor had replayed Wakanda.
The axe.
The stones.
The flash.
Tris beginning to disappear.
Her hand in his.
He had thought he remembered every second of it.
But now another image existed.
Tris arriving on Earth bruised and furious.
Demanding portals.
Threatening sorcerers.
Refusing to entertain the possibility that Thor could be dead.
Trying to get back to him.
Thor pressed his hand over his mouth.
Tony pretended not to notice.
After a long silence, Thor said—
“She was angry with me.”
“Oh, very.”
Thor looked at him.
Tony nodded solemnly.
“Like, impressively angry.”
A broken laugh escaped Thor.
“Good.”
Tony frowned.
“Good?”
Thor nodded.
“She should have been.”
His smile vanished again.
“But she was alive.”
Tony’s expression softened.
“Yeah.”
“For a few hours, she was alive and angry with me.”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
Thor stared down at his hands.
It was strange what grief could make precious.
He would give anything now to hear Tris shouting at him.
Anything to have her pacing across a room telling him exactly how arrogant he had been to make the choice for her.
He would happily endure a thousand years of her anger if it meant she existed to deliver it.
“Did she…”
Thor stopped.
Tony waited.
Thor tried again.
“Did she seem afraid?”
Tony thought carefully.
“Yes.”
The answer clearly surprised Thor.
Tony didn’t soften it.
“Terrified.”
Thor’s eyes lowered.
“But not of Thanos.”
Tony paused.
“Not really.”
Thor looked at him.
“She was afraid you were somewhere dying alone.”
Thor stopped breathing.
Tony continued.
“That was the thing.”
His voice became quieter.
“Every question came back to you.”
Thor’s eyes closed.
“Can you find Thor?”
“Can Strange reach Thor?”
“Did Banner see Thor die?”
“What direction was Thor’s ship?”
“Would Thor come to Earth?”
Tony looked at him.
“She wasn’t trying to escape what you sent her away from.”
Thor opened his eyes.
“She was trying to get back to you.”
That did it.
Thor bent forward.
His elbows hit his knees and one enormous hand covered his eyes.
Tony looked away.
He did not offer comfort.
Not immediately.
Thor did not need someone touching his shoulder and telling him everything would be fine.
Nothing was fine.
Instead Tony stayed.
That was all.
After a long time, Thor lowered his hand.
His face was wet.
He didn’t bother hiding it.
“I should have let her stay.”
Tony looked at him.
“Maybe.”
Thor’s brow creased.
Tony shrugged.
“I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear.”
A pause.
“If you had, maybe she dies on that ship.”
Thor’s jaw tightened.
“Maybe you both die.”
Tony leaned forward.
“Maybe Thanos kills her in front of you.”
Thor flinched.
“Or maybe somehow you beat him there and none of this happens.”
Tony spread his hands.
“We don’t get to know.”
Thor stared.
“You made the decision you could live with at the time.”
Thor looked down.
“No.”
Tony frowned.
Thor’s voice was barely audible.
“I made the decision I thought she could live with.”
That silenced Tony.
Thor looked toward Stormbreaker.
“That was the mistake.”
He finally understood it.
Tris had told him.
Repeatedly.
She would rather stand beside him in death than survive because he had sacrificed himself for her.
Thor had heard the words.
He had simply believed love gave him the right to disregard them.
His mouth twisted painfully.
“She would be furious that it took me this long to understand.”
Tony considered.
“Definitely.”
Thor laughed quietly through the grief.
“She would call me an idiot.”
“Probably something worse.”
“Yes.”
Thor wiped at his face.
Tony stood.
His joints protested slightly.
He took several steps toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Thor.”
Thor looked up.
Tony’s hand rested on the frame.
“She loved you.”
Thor’s face tightened.
“I know.”
“No.”
Tony shook his head.
“I don’t mean generally.”
He searched for the words.
“I’m saying—when she hit Earth, when everything was going to hell, when she had no idea if you were alive…”
Tony held Thor’s gaze.
“There wasn’t anybody else in the room for her.”
Thor’s eyes burned again.
Tony looked away first.
“Figured you should know.”
He left.
The room became quiet once more.
But not quite as empty.
Thor sat there for several minutes.
Eventually his gaze found Stormbreaker.
He stood.
Slowly.
Walked across the room.
His hand wrapped around the handle.
For the first time since the Garden, he did not see Thanos.
He remembered Tris.
You don’t know Thor.
He’ll come.
Thor closed his eyes.
His forehead lowered against the handle of the axe.
“I came,” he whispered.
The room offered no answer.
His voice broke anyway.
“I came, my love.”
A long silence.
“I was simply too late.”
And for the first time since the snap, Thor allowed himself to cry not for the universe—
not for Asgard,
not for Loki,
not for failure,
not even for revenge.
Only for her.
For the woman who had landed on another world bleeding and furious and immediately tried to turn around.
For the woman who had never wanted him to save her by leaving her behind.
For the woman who, even believing Thor might be dying somewhere beyond the stars, had refused to accept a universe in which he would not find his way back to her.
And perhaps that was what broke him most.
Tris had been right.
Thor had come.
He always came for her.
This time—
she simply hadn’t been there long enough for him to bring her home.
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