Worlds Apart

Chapter 31

After speaking with Loki, Max found herself feeling a bit melancholy.

It hurt her, to not be able to say or do anything more for him. She knew that it was the right thing to do for the good of everyone in this universe, but that didn't make it any less painful for her to see him like that. Max knew that going to visit his cell had been a longshot, but she only hoped she hadn't made things worse.

A couple of hours passed and Max found herself sitting in a random, empty conference room aboard the helicarrier, with only her thoughts to pass the time. She wasn't exactly sure what parts of the aircraft were going to get damaged when Hawkeye attacked, but she sincerely hoped that she'd picked a safe spot. Unfortunately for her, the only rooms in the movie that they showed during the attack were places that had some sort of danger associated with them. The room she'd picked didn't look familiar, so she hoped that would be good enough.

Max didn't know exactly how long she was in the room for, but eventually, the door opened and Max looked up from the table. In the door frame stood Thor, and the sight made Max's heart rate spike. She'd obviously been in his presence before, but this was different. They'd never officially met in Puente Antiguo. They'd never exchanged words. And here he was, standing in front of her in all of his Asgardian glory, looking like he was going to start speaking to her any moment now.

"Oh, uh...h-hi," Max greeted him. She internally scolded herself for letting her stutter return and took in a deep breath to ground herself. After having met and talked with two Avengers now (she didn't count Natasha because they never actually spoke to each other), Max thought she'd be better at the whole thing by now. Apparently not.

"Hello," Thor greeted. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

"No," Max replied. "Y-You're not interrupting anything. Can I...help you with something?"

Max was honestly genuinely confused as to why he was there. There was nothing in the room besides her, a table, and some chairs, so unless somebody somewhere needed some chairs specifically from this room, she had to assume that Thor was there to talk to her. The question was: why?

"I do not believe we have been formally introduced," Thor replied. "I am Thor Odinson, of Asgard. You helped me and my friends evacuate the town the last time that Loki attacked Midgard, and I never got the chance to thank you for that."

A small, slightly nervous smile rose to Max's face. "Oh, uh...I'm surprised you remember that."

"Of course," Thor said. "You may look different than last we met, but it is not everyday that I see such bravery displayed from a person who is not a trained warrior. One tends to not forget people such as that."

Max could feel heat rising to her cheeks and she turned her head a bit in an attempt to hide the blush that had appeared.

"Oh, uh...thanks," she replied awkwardly, unsure of how else to respond to that.

"How are you feeling, by the way?" Thor asked. "I heard that you suffered some sort of liver injury?"

"I got some more pain meds, so I'm feeling better, thanks," Max replied. "And it wasn't all that serious; I just bruised my liver. At least according to the on-board doctor, the bleeding had stopped on its own and wasn't bad enough to warrant surgery, so I think all things considered, I lucked out there. That easily could've been way worse."

"Well regardless, I am glad that you are alright," Thor replied. Max nodded in thanks.

A brief silence fell between the two of them, before the god spoke back up.

"If it is not too much to ask, I was wondering if I could discuss something with you," Thor said.

"With me?" Max asked, looking back up at the god. "I mean, sure; I'm just a little surprised is all."