Worthy

Part 17 - You're Both Wrong

A feeling of dread reaches your stomach as you walk silently behind Frigga along the immaculately decorated halls of Asgard. Thor and Bruce managed to slip away from you, the latter giving you a shrug of the shoulders as you separated. Frigga finally stops at a balcony overlooking the entirety of the city. The view is breathtaking; you gently pinch at your arm, just to make sure it's all real. Never in a million years did you ever imagine you would get to see what life was really like on another planet.

"Beautiful, isn't it." Frigga sighs, leaning on the balcony. "But of course, I am biased." She smiles as she looks over at you as you smile at the view; your face glowing in the sunlight. "Of course, it's not just the physical things that make it beautiful. The people who inhabit a realm have an ability to make it better, don't you think?"

It takes a moment for you to answer the question; brain catching up. "Yes," you stammer out, earning a smile from her. "Your majesty." You blurt it out, feeling foolish after not being so courteous with her husband.

"There's no need for formalities with me Kate," she places a gentle hand over yours. "Especially when you're not used to living in that way."

"I didn't mean to disrespect your husband," you sigh, somehow feeling free to talk openly with her; there was something about her. "It's just, he reminded me of..."

"Loki," she nods and gently taps your hand again. "I know. My husband's ire can light a fire within anyone. Especially when it is not warranted. And he wonders why his sons have the same fire, though in different ways." She lets out a small chuckle.

"You said we had much to discuss," you look over to her, but she gives a small smile.

"In time my dear," She turns and walks back towards the halls. "But first, you must eat." As she says this your stomach begins to grumble.

"How did you?" You question as she gives a small chuckle.

"We haven't had many Midgardians visit us here, but those that do always have an appetite that could rival any Asgardian. Including my son," she chuckles again. "We think it has something to do with the Bifrost. Either way," She gestures for you to follow her, linking your arms together as you get close enough, before steering you in the direction Bruce and Thor had went earlier.

***

Frigga leads you to a small tavern on the outskirts of the citadel; as you reach the door you can hear the stereotypical noise that would accompany any bar in New York; what you're not prepared for is the silence that accompanies you and Frigga's arrival. Part of you imagines that it would be quite an experience for Frigga to arrive unannounced at this place; but when you enter the room, all eyes are on you, not her. The only friendly face in the place is Bruce. "Go. Join your friend. I need to speak with my son, we will talk later."

Feeling completely uncomfortable at the amount of people staring at you, you slide in next to Bruce. "Please tell me you've seen the tesseract and we can get the hell out of here," you whisper to him; he doesn't answer straight away, but simply drinks from the tankard in front of him.

"Nope," he picks up some food from his plate, before stuffing it in his face. "Thor brought me straight here for a drink first." He manages to spit pieces of food out in between words. "This place is something else, right!" His eyes are full of wonder and excitement; a small part of you is delighted to see Bruce this happy, the only other thing that has ever made him smile like this has been Nat. "You need to try some of this," He dangles a piece of meat in your face, before piling up a selection from his plate onto another and handing you it.

Despite the constant looks from other patrons, you can't deny how starving you are, and tuck in. Bruce was right; the food was amazing. Not wanting to draw any more attention to yourself, you don't dive in like Bruce has, you simply pick at your plate. "Ah, Lady Brooks, we meet again."

You look up and straight into the hypnotising orange eyes of Heimdall, no longer wearing his golden armour; how had you never noticed the beauty of his eyes before. Bruce reaches over and taps the bottom of your jaw, making you realise you were staring at him. "Yes, nice to meet you again, uh, Heimdall was it?"

He gives a small smile, before gesturing to the seat in front of you; two tankards in his hand. You nod to him while he sits, passing over a tankard to you before raising his in a toast. "To new friends," he leans over to Bruce who raises his, before nodding at you; you mimic the action before taking a sip, tasting the most delicious ale you had ever had, but still slightly put off by the sudden kindness from him.

"Why the sudden change of heart? When I first arrived you were, less cordial." You sigh, pushing away the tankard in a fit of stubbornness. Bruce, trying to be sneaky and failing, gently pulls it towards himself. You can't help but throw him a look, accompanied by a small smile.

"My apologies," Heimdall bows his head slightly. "But I was not prepared for the Queen to take to you so kindly after what happened with our Prince." He looks over his shoulder at the bar, as Thor and Frigga are in a deep discussion; Thor's face contorted with anger, Frigga trying to comfort him. "If our Queen can forgive you for what transpired, then why shouldn't we."

"Excuse me?" You almost smack the table in anger, but Bruce manages to grab your hand in time before it happens.

"Woah Kate, keep calm ok. There's a lot of people watching," you pull yourself away from his grasp.

"I don't give a shit," you turn back to Heimdall, "What do you mean forgive me?" You spit out. You look over at Thor, who still has an aggravated expression on his face. "If anyone should be looking for forgiveness, it should be him." You point over at Thor, drawing the attention of many around you; Thor included.

"I mean no disrespect M'lady," Heimdall leans over the table. "But we all know the story." He takes a drink, but you're even more aggravated now and you swipe it away from his hand before it reaches his mouth.

"What fucking story?" You yell, gaining even more eyes on you; looking up you see Thor and Frigga making their way over to the table, you stand and walk over to meet them. "What the fuck have you been telling your people Odinson?" You push him in his chest.

"I simply told them the truth," he replies through gritted teeth, infuriated that you would cause a scene in front of his friends, his mother. "I told them what you did."

"What I did?" You push him again. "More like what you did," Bruce tries to jump in between the both of you, a hand placed on both your shoulders, trying to keep you apart. "You're the one who left, you're the one who broke me. I trusted you completely, I told you everything!"

"LIES!" Thor roars out, pushing Bruce completely out of the way, before Heimdall steps in to take his place. "You used me! You made me fall in love with you, just so I could give you the information you needed on my people, on my world! You spat me back out when you had gotten your fill."

"Bullshit!" You spit out, knowing you'll never get past Heimdall you still try to push him out of the way. "I was just a tool you used to entertain yourself after your father exiled you!"

The argument continues for a while; Bruce and Heimdall trying to pull both of you away from each other, neither one succeeding. Meanwhile standing back, watching all the chaos, Frigga looks on, taking in every word from both of you with curiousity. This turbulent relationship of yours had been on her mind for some time now, and finally seeing you both together she understands. She knows.

"STOP!" She bellows out with such force it is enough for the entire room to almost freeze entirely. Walking over to you both, she gently takes one of your hands, before reaching over and grabbing Thor's hand too. She tries to guide both of your hands towards each other, but sensing the hesitation from you both she stops. "You're both wrong," she sighs, looking at you with sympathetic eyes before turning to Thor. "We need to go talk to your brother."