Worthy

Part 15 - Don't You Pay Attention?

"No way Kate," Bruce huffs walking into the lab. "I am not going to Asgard with you. Can't happen."

"Please Bruce," you beg him, following him as closely as you could. "I'm going to need some serious back up here, and you're the only one smart enough to know for sure if it actually is the Tesseract."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Tony chimes in, smirking slightly as you plead with Bruce. You roll your eyes at him, even Bruce lets out a little chuckle.

"I'm serious, I can't go up there alone."

"You're not going to be alone Kate, Thor will be with you." Bruce shrugs before turning and meeting your eyes. You stare deep into them, begging him to come along with you, hoping that the puppy dog look will work on him, as it usually does. "No," he half laughs, though determined. "Why don't you ask the kid again? Or Tony? Or Steve...or anyone else. Why me?"

"I for one would relish the thought of going up to Assplace," Tony smirks, patting you on the shoulder as you jump up on Bruce's desk, kicking the side of it with nerves.

"See!" You point over at Tony, "That's why I need it to be you Bruce. No smart ass comments, no show boating!" Tony glares at you as you stick your tongue out at him. "Just diplomacy."

"And if Loki turns out to be just as bad as before, you can Hulk out and throw him around like a ragdoll!" Tony mimes the action as he leans against the desk beside you, earning a punch in the shoulder from you. "Ow?" he mocks.

Bruce sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before taking off his glasses and throwing them on the table. "Fine," he rubs his face before grabbing his glasses again. "But on one condition. I don't want to get within two inches of Loki, ok?"

"Really?" You and Tony ask at the same time, before you jump down and give Bruce a hug. Shocked at the initial touch, he finally gives in and hugs you back. "You are a live saver Dr Banner," you kiss him on the cheek before walking out the room.

"You gave in so easily," Tony smirks, before pulling up the information from Danvers on the screen. "I didn't know she could wrap you around her little finger too!"

Bruce grins, Tony shrugs. "Yeah well, probably is best if someone goes along with them," Bruce stands next to him, looking over the data too. "Even if it is to spare Kate getting thrown into an Asgardian jail." Meeting Tony's eyes, the pair of them laugh.

For a while the two men search through all the data from Danvers; you had already given them all the information you could collate from the previous data packet, along with what Klaue had given you; now the Stones were in the mix, and Fury was sending you to Asgard, it was down to Tony and Bruce to try and gather more information, something neither of them were keen on doing without your input.

"Hey, you and Point Break are pretty chummy right?" Tony finally breaks the silence. "He ever tell you what happened between him and Kate?"

"Is this big brother Tony asking, or nosy Tony asking?" Bruce chuckles, not making eye contact.

"Maybe I'm just concerned about my friend?" Tony shrugs, prodding a pen into Banner's side, earning a dirty look.

"Well I thought she would have told you," Bruce rubs his ribs before looking back at the computer. "But no, he hasn't mentioned anything specific."

"But..."

"But," Bruce sighs, "I think she hurt him. I think she hurt him bad."

"How is that even possible?" Tony gives a dry laugh, thinking about your conversation with him the other day; frustration starting to build in him at the thought that Thor could be telling others about your past, even more annoyed that he would pretend it had been the other way around.

"Don't you pay attention to anything?" Bruce lets out a soft sigh before facing Tony. "The way he looks at Kate, when he talks about her. It's the same as when he talks about Loki."

"Meaning..."

"Meaning that the man is in pain. You saw him earlier right, when he was talking about what Thanos did to Loki. It's the only time he ever shows his true feelings, without the bravado. He looks at Kate the same way."

"Can't be possible," Tony walks away scoffing. "When I happen to know that..."

"So you do know?" Bruce marches over to him, grabbing his arm, a slight glimmer in his eye. "You know what really happened?"

"Now who's being nosy."

"Yeah yeah, I know," Bruce flaps his hands, "So what do you know?"

Tony laughs, knowing that he shouldn't disclose everything, but then again this was Bruce; besides the guy could use some information with the upcoming visit to Asgard. Plus, he needed to know your side. "All I know is that it's the other way around my friend," he places a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "If anyone is hurt here it's Kate. What he did was," he struggles to find the correct words. "It was cruel. And if I had known about it sooner, and well if the guy wasn't so damn resourceful." He laughs. "I'd have taken him to task on it."

"That bad huh?" Bruce stands shocked. "Can you be more specific?"

"Uh uh," Tony starts to walk away. "That's Kate's story to tell."

Trying to comprehend the facts, Bruce once again pinches the bridge of his nose before turning back to Tony. "It's a shame really," he sighs. "I think they'd be good together."

"Yeah, me too." Tony sighs too. "You think that maybe what Thor is feeling is regret?"

"No, it's pain. Trust me." Bruce gestures to himself, gritting his teeth. "That man has had his heartbroken." But he starts to think to himself; you had had that same forlorn look on your face whenever you were around Thor. And you had never really been the same since Thor's return from Asgard during the Ultron debacle. What had really happened between the two of you? Who was really responsible? Or was it just some big misunderstanding?

"Speaking of heartbreak, how are you going to approach the subject of your little trip with Natasha?"

"W-w-what do you mean?" Bruce stammers, not aware that Tony (and everyone) already knew what was going on between the two. "W-w-why would that worry Nat?"

"Oh, you know," Tony laughs before handing him his glasses, just as Bruce runs out the door, heading in Nat's direction. "Oh boy, is he screwed!" He laughs before deciding to come and check up on you.