I Thought You Were Different: Part 2

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"Second son of Rogers, you're not even giving it your best effort," Thor snickered at the infant that he had laid so carefully on the floor next to Mjolnir. "Your mother can wield it, therefore the likelihood that you might is great. But we will never know if you do not try."

"Thor, may I ask what you're doing?"

"I have explained the importance of this to both Brooklyn and Grant thus far, and this one gives me the same response. They don't even have to lift it," he sighed, "maybe just a little nudge."

Vision took a few steps into the nursery quietly, pushing the door closed gently but quickly behind him to shut out the loud music of Clint and Nat's reception. Thor, Vision, and Wanda had offered to watch the group in shifts so that everyone could celebrate, but Thor was finding his turn to be a failure thus far. "If I could assist you, these three human children have yet to develop the cognitive ability to understand language nor do they have coordination or muscle control required to purposefully attempt to lift the hammer."

"Hmm, you would seem to be correct," Thor agreed. "Perhaps I will have to wait until they are ready, but I'm not known for my patience. I had the hopes of gaining an answer before Steve would be able to find out, because he historically 'has no chill' according to Sam, though I have no idea what that actually means."

Vision sat motionless as he took the words and processed them for their meaning, picturing the Captain and attempting to correlate the phrase with his persona as he had come to know it. "Does it pertain to his body temperature in some way?"

"That could be a possibility." Thor leaned back and raised his hand to his face and slowly stroked the rough hair of his short beard. "According to the stories as I have been told, he was submerged in a frozen body of water for approximately seventy Earth years. That could be the chill in which Sam is referring."

"Ah," Vision perked up, "and because he has been free of his submersion for several years now, he is no longer struggling with that extreme shift in his thermal regulation. Therefore, he now has no chill."

Thor emphatically nodded in agreement with a sound slap on Vision's shoulder, smiling widely at their success. "We make a good team, you and I. The Rogers offspring are fortunate to be in the company of our combined wisdom."

~~~

As predicted, Clint and Natasha had their small wedding just as they had wanted and it had gone off without any tragedies, explosions or abductions of the groom; the reception had now been going on for hours with no end in sight. Even with the festivities surrounding you, to say that you were distracted would do a disservice to how you were really feeling, but thus far you thought that you had done a descent job in keeping it to yourself. Tony had kept a very close watch on you, as did Steve, but you would never allow the dark reality that you had been thrust into to risk ruining your friends' day.

Tony kept catching you when you were alone, sneaking quick conversations and sharing private moments between the camaraderie of a team that desperately needed to let loose. The two of you should have been joining in, and you did, but not as much as you would have liked; you had plans to make and no time to make them, so stolen seconds at the bar or as you watched your friends dance gave you the opportunity to work. Even the one dance that you shared together was filled with murmured talk of strategy.

"When will T'Challa be here?" Tony asked with a smile, doing his best to give the outward appearance of a partygoer. "We leave in two hours."

"Any minute now, but you know that when he shows up, this isn't going to be a stealth operation anymore."

"Great, your hubby's about to cut in. Should I let him?"

In an automatic reflex, you sucked in a tight breath and stopped, nodding after realizing that this might be the best time to tell him what you were planning with Tony; in a room full of people...and witnesses.