21
ROUND TWENTY-ONE
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In response, the door slid open and Clint stepped through. “Thor?”
“Here,” the voice boomed from within.
Clint followed it through, finding the demi-god with damp hair, dressed in jeans and a wife beater. “Get dressed,” Clint said. “We’re going out.”
Thor looked at him skeptically. “Have you been released for such activity?”
Clint rolled his eyes, then promptly coughed into one of the omnipresent tissues. “Yes,” he said after he cleared his throat.
“We will have one of Tony’s drivers take us,” Thor said, his tone brokering no argument. “And I will decide when we return.”
“Sure thing, mom,” Clint drawled.
Thor paused in pulled on a dark blue Henley and fixed his stare on Clint. “I only wish for you to continue healing.”
“I know,” Clint responded, “I just hate this.”
“I understand,” Thor said, finishing getting dressed. “You have been ill and you are injured, and you are not used to being idle. But if you push too hard now that you have been given permission to begin again, you will only end up worse.”
“I know,” Clint pouted.
Thor laughed. “You are not a child, Clint, and that expression hasn’t worked for me since Lo-my brother was a child.”
Clint’s grin softened. “You can say his name, Thor. He’s your brother, but I don’t hold you responsible for what he’s done. Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”
“And to where are we venturing?” Thor asked as he grabbed a jacket in deference to appearance.
“I think I promised you a trip to the library. JARVIS?” Clint asked as he led Thor out.
“Mr. Hogan will be waiting in a car downstairs,” the computer responded. “Sir has put him at your disposal.”
“Thanks, JARVIS,” Clint responded.
Happy was waiting at the curb when they arrived in the lobby of the tower in one of the plain black sedans that Pepper preferred. The short walk from the elevator to the car had left Clint a little tired and slightly breathless, but he covered it. He gave Happy directions, and sat back to watch the city go by.
“Truly, you are well?” Thor asked, his voice gentle.
Clint looked over to see Thor studying him curiously. “Well enough,” he assured, though he had a feeling that Thor would be more inclined to believe him if he hadn’t spent so much time downplaying his injuries.
“Then I am looking forward to this outing,” Thor said, turning away from his study of Clint’s face to the city crawling by through the car’s tinted windows.
Clint was, too. It was the first time he’d been out of the tower other than to check in at SHIELD medical since his return from that last mission. And since he was benched for the time being, maybe he could revisit some old favorite books that hadn’t been converted to electronic format. “You start that list of other things you want to do?” He asked.
“Indeed,” Thor responded. “There are many famous sights, and Tony suggested that I also think about new food to try.”
“We can do that,” Clint agreed with a nod. He’d had his favorites from his time in San Francisco, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to really explore the city for replacements. They could all cook to some degree, and probably ate more take away than was strictly healthy. But Clint could do with some subtle food exploration (though really, if he couldn’t exercise the way he was used to, he was going to have to watch it; his metabolism was fast, but he was also used to burning most of the calories he consumed in the gym or on the range).
“I look forward to it,” Thor said as the car pulled up to the library Clint had directed Happy to.
“Call when you’re ready to be picked up,” Happy said.
“Thanks,” Clint said, sliding out of the car behind Thor. He looked at the steps leading up to the building’s entrance with a small sense of dread.
“Come, my friend,” Thor said warmly, placing a large hand at Clint’s back. “We shall go slow and find epic tomes from which we shall share stories and be entertained.”
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Or so he thought. He was breathing heavily when they reached the top, and he stopped to catch his breath, Thor waiting patiently at his side. It seemed to take awhile, but at least he wasn’t coughing on top of it. “Okay,” he said, when he got his breath back, and led Thor inside.
Clint got no small amount of joy watching Thor just take in the atmosphere of the space. It was one of the smaller libraries in the city, but Clint got the distinct impression that Thor was honestly impressed. “You don’t have places like this where you’re from?” Clint asked.
“You say this is a small one? And there are many such places in this city alone?” Thor asked, his tone hushed in reverence as he glanced around.
“Yup. Though they probably have a lot of the same things,” he responded. “We can check out others. If you like this, you’re going to love the main branch,” he said, clapping Thor on the shoulder, already making plans for when he was closer to one hundred percent.
They stopped first at the desk and they both filled out the paperwork for new library cards. Based on what Thor had already been reading, Clint led him off toward the appropriate section. “There’s a more technical way to do this,” Clint explained, waving toward the computers that contained the library catalog. “But I like it this way. Just browsing through to see what catches my eye. If you don’t find anything, we can try it the other way.”
Thor nodded and they set off to browse the stacks. Eventually, they got separated, but Clint wasn’t worried about either of them getting into any real trouble. They both had phones provided by Stark (which Clint had reminded Thor to put on silent), and it wasn’t like Thor was hard to find.
Clint found a section that contained several of his favorite authors and settled down on the floor, pulling several books from the shelves to review dust jackets and covers. As he did, his breath caught, and he did his best to muffle the resulting cough in his elbow. He started to panic when it didn’t seem to stop and he couldn’t catch his breath. He fumbled with his phone, but before he could even get it unlocked, Thor was kneeling at his side.
“Clint?”
His eyes were screwed shut in pain, but he felt Thor’s hands on his shoulders. “Your lips are turning blue, my friend. I think we should go.”
Clint nodded, fighting back panic. “SHIELD,” he gasped.
“Indeed,” Thor agreed, and Clint felt himself being lifted. If it had been anyone else, if he hadn’t been so close to overwhelming panic and in immense pain, he’d have protested, vigorously. But as he couldn’t catch his breath and was beginning to feel dangerously light headed he let himself be carried.
“Mr. Hogan, we require your services,” Clint heard Thor say, and then the world went black.
**
Clint came to with an oxygen mask covering his face and the familiar tug of an iv in the back of his hand.
“And he awakes!” Thor declared softly. “How do you fare?”
“Crappy,” Clint rasped. “What happened?”
“You over did it,” Bruce said flatly, and Clint glanced over to see him holding onto Clint’s chart at the foot of the bed. “You passed out in the library.”
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She muttered a few curses and called him a stupid idiot in Russian while rolling her eyes and crossing the room. “They’re keeping you overnight. You’ve got a low grade fever again and you aggravated your ribs, so they want to keep you as immobile as possible for a day and help you relax. Steve’s bringing over a set of clothes and your tablet, and we’ve ordered in lunch,” she said, perching on the edge of his bed.
“Nevertheless, you are to rest,” Thor said. “Tony will be here later, as well, and he and Steve together will not cause a restful environment.”
Bruce snorted indelicately, which made Clint smile. It was kind of the understatement of the year.
They were interrupted by the nurse coming in to check on Clint, and he found himself drifting slightly on the tide of exhaustion and pain meds. “Once your sats come back up we’ll be able to get rid of that mask,” the nurse advised, and Clint nodded slightly. “But the iv stays in,” she said pointedly. “I know how you are with pain medication, and obviously you’ve been living up to the hype.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Clint mumbled.
She patted the hand that didn’t contain the iv and let herself out.
“I have a meeting,” Natasha said, sliding off the bed. “Try to stay out of trouble for a few hours?”
Clint just rolled his eyes and nodded as Bruce replaced his chart in the rack. “I need to go too, but I’ll be back for lunch,” Bruce said, following Natasha out.
It was quiet in the room for a few minutes, until Clint shifted to look at Thor. “You don’t have to stay,” he said.
“No,” Thor agreed. “But I don’t need to be anywhere else.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t get your books,” Clint said.
“Ah, but I did,” Thor said. “Mr. Hogan went back once we had been delivered, and he gathered the stacks of books we had both made and taken them back to the tower. Except for one,” Thor said, holding up a battered paperback.
“Wha’s that?” Clint asked, his eyes drifting shut.
“James and the Giant Peach,” Thor read the title. “A children’s tale, I’ve gathered, but it sounded most excellent. Have you read it?”
“Long time ago,” Clint responded.
“Then let us pass this time together in story,” Thor said, as he opened the book and began to read.
Clint laid back and let Thor’s deep voice and story-telling cadence weave the story.
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Clint, then, returned the favor by showing Thor the different film adaptations of the books. Thor enjoyed the animation of James and the Giant Peach, and a double feature of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory led to an hour long debate over which film was better (Clint had fond memories of the original from his childhood, a rare trip out to the movies from the orphanage, but the Johnny Depp version was truer to the book).
Once he had a full week without a fever under his belt, medical cleared him to leave the Tower again. He still had a couple of weeks before he’d get the cast off his arm, but the bed rest had helped his ribs continue to heal. Once Thor had been convinced that yes, medical had released him, they went over their lists of places to visit. Thor’s list also included various things that he’d heard of via Tony or the television, like nightclubs, performance venues, and retail outlets (Clint made a note to never tell Tony they were going to the Apple Store, at least, not until the billionaire really pissed him off).
Thor, taking medical’s instructions seriously, insisted on short outings at first. It took them nearly three weeks to get through the Museum of National History; Thor would only allow them to hit one exhibit per day, followed by a late lunch based on the list of places that Clint had drawn up (Thor was pretty much up for trying any type of food). Afternoons and evenings were spent lounging around the Tower, or, once Clint’s cast had come off, doing PT. As Thor become more convinced that Clint wasn’t going to pass out somewhere (and barring emergencies that required them to save the world once Clint was fully cleared for duty), they starting planning longer outings.
One particular trip was when the entire team ended up at a nightclub. Clint’s memories of that night were a bit hazy, though he recalled dancing with Nat, Thor, and somewhat surprisingly, Bruce.
After that, at least one other of the team would regularly join Thor and Clint as they continued to explore their new home city, or took it upon themselves to introduce Thor to various aspects of life on Midgard. Natasha took Thor to the ballet, since Clint, though capable of sitting for hours upon end in a nest for a target, had little patience for that particular art form. Steve accompanied them to the MOMA, and Clint had needed to practically drag the super soldier away with promises to return.
Bruce introduced Thor to the concept of farmer’s markets, which led to each of them taking a turn to cook their favorites (except for Tony, who ordered his favorite take out). They would trade stories over plates of Clint’s mushroom risotto, Natasha’s macaroni and cheese, Bruce’s Thai style curry, and Steve’s meatloaf. Once Thor mastered working the appliances, he treated them to what he called a “roast beast” dinner, which JARVIS had helped him to plan and prepare.
Thor and Steve went with Clint to pack up his apartment outside San Francisco, over Tony’s protests that he could just have someone do it for him. There wasn’t much he wanted; he didn’t have a lot of furniture or clothes, but he had a few precious items from his past that he wanted to hold on to. He figured his landlord could rent the place furnished. Tony gave in, but only after Clint agreed to take one of his private jets instead of a SHIELD transport as he’d planned.
Slowly, they were merging into more than just a team.
[end]
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