“At the expense of others’ safety?” Thor crossed the room to the window. He leaned an arm against it, looking out into the street. He knew in his heart that Natalia had only done what she had thought was right. He had made many foolish mistakes himself for what he believed was right. One such mistake had been the cause of his exile after all.
But he had learned from that, hadn’t he? He had been hot-tempered and brash, nothing more than a foolish boy who had thought conflicts would be best solved by using fists and weapons instead of words. He had been wrong, and it had nearly cost Asgard dearly. Serious decisions were not to be made lightly or rashly. He knew that now.
But Natalia… She had never seemed the type to let anger or fear cloud her judgement. She was always so calm and collected, far more even-keeled than he would ever be. Perhaps she was right, and it had been the only choice. He frowned at his reflection, brows knitted together tightly.
“How can you keep me safe? You are but one woman. We both know what SHIELD was capable of, and that there are far worse organizations out there than SHIELD. I was given a home and a job, because SHIELD considered me to be an asset–but what if they had deemed me a threat instead? What would they have done to me then? What might these other organizations try to do, now that they know who I am? I may be powerless, but I still have my strength, even without… They still have…” his voice trailed off, and his eyes went wide as he spun back around to face her.
“The hammer. Natalia, where is my hammer?”
She could talk on and on about sacrifices and the cost of them, they both could really, but it was beside the point. Talking wouldn’t change anything. What was done, was done. There was no going back and now the way forward had to be figured out, discovered… even if she didn’t like the idea of uncertainty. In truth her life felt a little aimless now, but coming here to him she felt she could find purpose. She could not feel like everything was falling apart.
“Right now things are… unsettled. I have a feeling they’re going to be for a while.” Or at least she hoped. “So taking you elsewhere, off the grid will be easier now than later.”
She had almost forgotten about the hammer.
Where it was had been a mystery, even she hadn’t had the clearance. But now that wasn’t an issue. She could find it, he could have it back. Only she wondered if he would actually be able to. Didn’t he have to be worthy?
“You can have it back. We can go get it.” It was brazen, it was reckless and stupid. But it wasn’t impossible, though she felt a lot of it depended upon him.
It was strange to have him still calling her Natalia. It was a name she hadn’t heard in a very long time, in a way she wasn’t sure if Natalia existed anymore except for him and even then it wasn’t the same. In truth Natalia was still in Russia, left behind like a snake skin. And yet it was all she had left in a way now, and so was he.
“It’s in a facility in upstate New York. Fury had asked someone on the private end of things to keep a hold of it, wisely it seems.”
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