Broken Ribs
Thor wakes, breathless with the ache. He takes a moment to breathe as the pain in his chest slowly subsides. It’s taking a long time for the phantom pains of broken ribs to fade, so long that he thinks it might just be in his head.
But he had hit the ground outside of the Avengers complex with some force. And he had already been severely weakened by three weeks of-
He doesn’t like to think about it. His mind isn’t ready to process their time with Thanos.
Loki is asleep next to him, half on his chest, his breath whistling in and out of his nose as he slumbers. Thor gently shifts out from under him and sits on the edge of the bed. He has pause for a minute to breathe through the pain when he’s upright, but it fades quickly and he’s able to stand and make his way to the kitchen with only a twinge.
Tony is already there when he enters.
“Hey, point break, how ya feeling?” He says, sounding tired.
“Ah, I’ve been better.” Thor retrieves a glass for water from the cabinet.
“You’ve been worse too. You looked like shit when we scooped you up from the backyard, it’s a miracle you’re even alive right now.”
“Asgardians are not that easy to kill.” Thor fills his glass from the tap and takes a long sip. “Thanos was in over his head.”
Tony’s eyebrow twitches. “Right. Thanos.” Thor braces himself for further challenge, as all of their conversations seemed to be going lately, but Tony says nothing else. Thor sits opposite him at the table, wincing at the new movement sends a twinge through his ribcage. “Chest still hurting you? I can see if-”
“I’m fine, Stark,” Thor says quickly, to head off his concern. “It’s only occasionally, and really, I have had worse than a few broken ribs.”
“Have you?”
“Stark, I am over a thousand years old. If I cannot handle a bit of a crash landing...though, I will admit, I am glad I will never have to face travel by Tesseract again.”
“I guess that rules out that method for inter-galactic travel. Not that I had any successful plans. Nope, first Fury wouldn’t let me touch the stuff, then after the invasion you took off with it. I had some plans drawn up, but if it’s really lost this time…”
“Especially since I believe Thanos will have destroyed the Tesseract by now to get to the gem inside.”
Tony makes a face and rises. “Want some coffee? I’ll make some fresh.” He rinses out the pot.
“Speaking of the Stones, Stark, you said that the Vision is safe but-”
“Vision’s fine, he’s off on a little trip right now. Usually stays here but I figured it might not be safe with…” He glances at the doorway and Thor can follow his line of thought. He says nothing. “Vision needs a break from me now and then, anyhow. I think he’s got a girlfriend, if the way he comes back all wide eyed and embarrassed is any clue. I would…should be pissed off but I guess at least one of us should be getting laid.”
“What happened with Pepper?”
“She was…she couldn’t really take the work anymore. You know how it is.”
Thor nods. “Indeed, Jane and I-” In the split second before he says the words, he remembers the lie he told to cover his journey to Norway. “Jane and I…things have been strained. Each time I see her, it seems like we’re growing more and more distant.” That’s at least close to the truth. That’s how it had been, until she finally said she’d had enough and told him not to come see her anymore. “This is a lonely profession, Stark. Defending Earth.”
“You said it, point break. Not the easiest job for romance, especially with women who are too smart to put up with it.” The coffeemaker’s finished and Stark pours him a cup. “So, if the Tesseract is caput, and no more Asgard with the fancy realm hopping bridge…you’re stuck on Earth?”
“Indefinitely, I’m afraid. Our best option is to hope that as many of our people survived Thanos’s assault as possible and are continuing their journey here. Eventually they will arrive and at least we’ll have a ship, though it will be slow moving. Loki possesses the power and knowledge of secret pathways through the Nine that he might be able to use, but,” He glances at the door. Loki has not emerged. “His powers are diminished for the time being. Using the Tesseract at the best of times is difficult and dangerous for even accomplished sorcerers, and…neither of us were at our best at the time. He says he feels as though it will be a while to reach full strength again, and I feel the same. Even around the security measures you’ve built into the walls.”
Tony looks instantly guilty. “Didn’t realize you knew about those…”
Thor gives him a half smile. “Nice try.”
“It’s nothing personal. I put those in…”
“When Wanda moved in, I’m assuming.” There’s a sudden tension in the air. It’s like the building energy for a storm. Thor knows they won’t fight yet, but it’s coming. Each time the brush closer to the topic of Wanda, Steve, or the Accords the tension gets thicker. They will have to talk about it sooner or later, Thor will have to confront Tony about what he learned in Norway, but for now he still feels too tired, his ribs ache too much, and he’s not ready. He shifts the conversation away. “We’ve also been discussing how to contact them, whoever survived. It’s going to be difficult, but we need to make sure they know we’re alive, and figure out how many survived Thanos.”
“Could Jane help?”
“Possibly. I think Bruce could have done it, but I don’t know where he is now.”
“You said your friend - that Heimdall guy, sent him here?”
“That was the plan. He was supposed to come to Earth as a first warning. You’re sure…?” Tony has turned his back, busying himself with washing out his mug.
“Yeah, haven’t seen him since he took off with the jet.” Again, Thor thinks there’s something more Tony’s not telling him. A subject for another day. Weary, Thor tries to steer Tony onto more neutral topics.
“Tell me about this spider-person.”
Tony laughs. “Calls himself Spiderman, but he’s really just a kid, I designed him this suit-” Thor lets Tony talk about the tech, and his budding friendship with this Parker kid.
He feels how quiet and still the Avengers facility feels at this early hour. How empty so many of the rooms had been when they had been full and bustling before. But that just reminds him of the coming argument and makes his ribs throb so he pushes it out of his mind and tries to think of nothing.