Artemis : The Seventh Avenger ➳ Steve Rogers [1]

04 [ 14 ]

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THOR

I made my way down the hallway of our headquarters, still fuming at what Stark has done.
However, there more pressing matters at hand at the moment than Ultron.

In a fit of rage, I've place Mjolnir I know not where. I've tried calling to it, but it has yet to come to me.

Nothing like this has ever happened before, causing worry to gnaw at the back of my mind. Was I no longer worthy?

"Oh, Thor!" A voice calls from behind me, "Are you looking for this?"

My eyes go wide at the sight of Lady Camille holding Mjolnir effortlessly in her hands.

"Y-you're worthy." I blurted.

She pauses, looking up at me in confusion. "I'm sorry, worthy?"

"Yes, you can lift my hammer." I reply, but it only seems to make her more confused.

"Am I not supposed to be able to? It's actually surprisingly light." She says, twirling my hammer in her hands.

"Well, I suppose you're no mere mortal. You are the great Artemis after all. I was told that means you are a Goddess in Greece, are you not?" I chuckle.

Her mouth falls slightly ajar at what I've just said, "Wait a second, you think I'm a Goddess?" She lets out a sigh in disbelief, "Thor, I'm not a Goddess. We've known each other for three years, you should know that."

"Why would people call you that if you are not a Goddess?" I ask.

"It's a code name." She replies, that only seems to have me confused as well.

"A name of code? I'm afraid I have not heard of such a thing, Lady Camille." I say.

"Yeah, Camille! That's my name." She exclaims, "Not Artemis."

I try my best to figure it out in my head but was unable to.

"I assumed that people on Earth had two names." I state.

"Yeah, well, most people do. They have their first names and a middle name. For example, mine's Adelaida-"

"So, it's not Artemis?" I clarify, "And you're no Goddess?"

But if she is just an ordinary mortal, what made her worthy?

"No," She says but pauses to think, "Well, Artemis is a Goddess in Greek Mythology. But I'm not her. It's just a name people call me."

"Is there a reason why they call you that?" I inquired further.

Normally, at this point, most people would get annoyed with my questions and just give up on explaining. But not Cam, she never got annoyed.

"Well, it's a long story." She says, the look on her face clearly shows that it was not one she was fond of. "Maybe one day I'll tell you, but for now, here's your hammer back."

She hands Mjolnir back to me and I graciously take it from her.

"Oh and Lady Camille," I fall out as she turns to leave, "You're not going to tell anybody about this, are you?" I ask, gesturing to my hammer.

"Not if you don't want me to." She answers, no questions asked.

"I'd like to keep this between us if you don't mind. It's just, not a lot of people can wield this hammer." I say.

She shrugs with a smile, "Wield what hammer?"

I open my mouth to answer but register the sarcasm in that comment.

I smile back at her, "Thank you, Lady Camille."

"Just call me Cam." She laughs, "And don't worry about it. What are friends for?"

***

The memory of our first proper conversation has always stood out in my mind and the question of what made her worthy.

Since then I've got to know Camille better and the reason why she was worthy was made clear to me. It was the way treated others with empathy. The way she loved and cared. And the simple things, like her constant willingness to explain things to me, when I didn't understand them.

Cam and I didn't get to spend as much time together as we would've liked, but still, she was someone who I had grown quite fond of.

Then I watched her disappear, right in front of my eyes and now, we've lost another. Natasha is gone too. Just as Loki and Heimdall.

I buried my face in my hands, thinking about this other family that we've built, one that I never knew I needed until I had them. Now that family is left in pieces, all because of my failure to protect them.

My failure that has cost me everything that I know and love. Since then, I've nothing but death and loss. But I will stop at nothing to bring them back.

"Do we know if she had any family besides Cam?" Tony asks, snapping me back to reality.

"Yeah," Steve replies, gazing down the lake with tear-filled eyes. "Us."

"What?" I raised my brows at Tony, a sense of anger filling up in my chest, "What are you doing?"

"I just asked him a question." Tony replies.

"Yeah, but you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead?" I fumed.

After all the things that we've seen in our time on this world and many others, I refused to believe that there is no way for us to get her back.

"We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" I say, "So stop this shit, we're the Avengers, get it together!"

"We can't get her back." Clint speaks for the first time since we've first got back.

I turn to him in confusion, "Wha-what?"

"It can't be undone." He answers, "It can't."

I let out a ridiculed laugh, "I'm sorry, no offence, but you're a very earthly being, okay? We're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive, don't you think?"

"Look, I know I'm way outside my paygrade here." He starts, "But she still isn't here, is she?"

"No, that's my point." I try to argue.

"It can't be undone." He stops me before I could say anything else, "Or at least that's what the red floating guy had to say. Maybe you want to go talk to him? Okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him!" Clint yells, on the verge of a breakdown, and he wasn't the only one.

My heart falls, the harsh reality soon sets in. Natasha Romanoff is dead and there was no getting her back.

I gaze down at my feet, my vision starting to get blurry with tears.

'I assure you, Brother. The sun will shine on us again.' Loki's voice echos in my head.

Then why does it feel like it never will?