If He be Worthy [MCU/Thor]

Thor sat in the white room silence all around him when suddenly it was broken by an enthusiastic voice calling out: "Donny, Donny, Donny! There you are. You're going to be all right. I'm taking you home now."

Dr. Erik Selvig burst into the room, holding up an identification card as he approached Thor. His demeanor shifted between concern and relief as he spoke with Agent Coulson. Selvig kept trying to defend him over how he was so mad at the organization for stealing his research and how he could defeat their warriors through the power of some strength enhancing drug (Steroids)

"Just keep him away from the bars," Coulson said dryly as it appeared that Erik had convinced him of Thor's innocence.

"I will!" Selvig assured him with perhaps too much enthusiasm.

As they walked out of the facility, Thor turned to his ally. "Where are we going?"

"To get a drink," Selvig replied with a slight smile, already leading the way to his vehicle.

On their way out, Thor noticed Jane's notebook among the confiscated items. Without hesitation, he reached out and took it, knowing how crucial it would be to her work.

The drive back to town passed in tense silence, the desert night stretching endlessly around them. Thor's fingers drummed restlessly against his leg, his thoughts dwelling on Loki, on his father, on the looming threats that even now gathered at the edges of the Nine Realms. Thanos was out there somewhere, collecting Infinity Stones, while the realms remained blind to the danger.

They pulled up outside a local tavern, and Thor followed Selvig inside, knowing this talk needed to happen but perhaps not exactly as before. As they settled at the bar with their drinks Thor stared contemplatively into his glass. "You know," Thor began, his voice carrying a depth that made Selvig look at him sharply, "I had it all backwards. I thought strength came from power, from being feared and respected." He paused, remembering the crushing weight of failure against Thanos. "But true strength... it comes from knowing your weaknesses, from admitting when you're wrong, and from being willing to change."

Selvig studied him carefully before responding, "Anyone who's ever going to find his way in this world has to start by admitting he doesn't know where the hell he is."

Thor nodded before saying "The thing is, Erik" his voice carrying the weight of his vision, "My mind is clear. I've seen what's coming, and I know what I must do." He turned to face the scientist fully, his eyes holding an ancient weariness. "I fail and my enemies prevail. Innocents die as fodder in a battle they did not choose, cities fall from the sky, Asgard burns, everything and everyone I love turns to ash."

Thor leaned forward, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "But there is hope, a path through the darkness. A way to prevent it all. Yet I must gain strength and find allies to see it through."

Something in Thor's tone made Selvig pause, his usual skepticism still there, but the god of thunder spoke with such conviction, such terrible certainty, that it sent chills down Selvig's spine.

"Thank you for what you've done, I'm not sure how I would have gotten out from the fortress without your help" Thor said sincerely.

"No, don't thank me. I only did it for Jane," Selvig replied firmly. "Her father and I taught at university together. He was a good man, but he never listened."

"Neither did I" Thor admitted softly. "My father was trying to teach me something, but I was too stupid to see it."

Selvig's expression grew serious. "Thor, I don't know if you're delusional or if you're pulling some kind of con, I don't care. I just care about her." He paused, his voice growing softer. "I've seen the way she looks at you."

Thor met his gaze steadily. "I swear to you, I mean her no harm."

"Good," Selvig said, signaling the bartender. His voice carried the weariness of someone who had seen too many charlatans in his time. "In that case, I'll buy you another round, and you leave town tonight."

Thor studied the man before him, the visions had shown him how Selvig would come to believe through violence and destruction when the Destroyer arrived. But there had to be a better way. Thor noticed how the man carried himself, the particular way his words emerged with that distinctive northern lilt. This was no ordinary Midgardian scientist; this was a son of the North, whose ancestors had once raised their voices in prayer to Asgard.

"Tell me, Erik Selvig," Thor said, his voice taking on a gravity that made the scientist pause mid-drink, "you speak with the cadence of the North. Where do you hail from?"

"Stockholm," Selvig replied, a flicker of surprise crossing his features at the sudden shift in conversation.

Thor's eyes lit with recognition, and for a moment, he looked less like a delusional stranger and more like someone recalling a cherished memory. "Ah, Stockholm. The city of waters. I remember when it was nothing more than a collection of wooden houses, huddled against the cold Baltic winds."

Something in Thor's tone made Selvig lower his glass slowly. Thor continued, his voice carrying the weight of centuries. Selvig's skepticism remained, but there was a new tension in his shoulders, a reluctant fascination in his eyes. "And I suppose you were there?" he asked, trying to maintain his disbelief despite the strange certainty in Thor's words.

"Your ancestors, the Birka were a brave people, though they faced threats beyond mortal understanding. Raiders from distant shores were the least of their concerns." His eyes grew distant, lost in the past. "During one of those nights the draugr, the vengeful dead, rose from the depths, seeking to drag the living down to their watery graves."

Thor's grip tightened on his glass, the memory becoming vivid. "A boy yelled out to the heavens for me, his pure faith reached Heimdall's ears, calling across the realms." His voice roughened with old grief. "But even thunder cannot always outrace tragedy. When I arrived with the bifrost, the draugr had already claimed him, though he died saving his sister."

As Thor recounted his fury unleashed upon those creatures and his subsequent stay at the chief's request where he spent the next years teaching them to hunt, to trade and how to survive, Selvig's skepticism visibly wavered. Thor grabbed a napkin from the bar and began sketching what Selvig recognized with a start it was the exact layout of medieval Stockholm's earliest settlements, drawn with the certainty of someone who had walked those very streets.

"In the heart of what would become Stockholm, we raised a runestone for that boy," Thor continued, his voice softening. "His parents, Torsten and Frögunn, carved words that all could read: 'Torsten and Frögunn had the stone raised in memory of their son.' The runes speak of the boy who called upon the god of thunder, and how I answered, though too late for him, but in time to save his people." Thor paused, his fingers tracing invisible runes in the air. "But I knew they needed more than just remembrance. I petitioned my father, Odin, for permission to grant them lasting protection."

"The Allfather himself came to that stone, and together we added a second inscription one that would reveal itself only if the city ever neared destruction again, to call me back when needed."

Selvig's hands trembled slightly as he lifted his beer. "That stone... I know it. It is in Old Town, but we've only ever been able to read the first part about Torsten and Frögunn. The rest has always been a mystery to scholars."

"Because it was written in two tongues," Thor replied with a sad smile. "One for mortals, and one in the language of Asgard. Even now, they say when lightning strikes near the old city, strange symbols can be seen glowing in the stone."

As the night wore on, Thor and Erik continued sharing drinks and tales. Erik's skepticism gradually melted away as Thor regaled him with more stories of ancient Scandinavia, each detail too precise, too specific to be mere fabrication. The mood lightened considerably as they ordered round after round, their laughter growing louder with each passing hour.

"Another!" Thor called out, his voice booming through the bar, though he no longer smashed his glass to the ground. Erik matched him drink for drink, until his words began to slur and his stance grew unsteady.

"You... you really might be him..." Erik mumbled before slumping forward onto the bar, consciousness finally deserting him.

Thor couldn't help but smile at his drinking companion. With gentle ease, he lifted the unconscious professor and carried him out of the bar. The cool desert night air greeted them as Thor made his way back to Jane's home, Erik's form hardly a burden even without his godly strength.

Thor carried Erik's unconscious form into Jane's home, where she met them with a look of concern.

"Oh my god, is he okay!?" Jane asked, her eyes wide with worry as she watched Thor gently lay Erik onto the bed.

Thor's lips curved into a reassuring smile. "He's perfectly fine. We shared drinks, told stories he honored his ancestors well this night."

As Erik snored softly on the bed, Thor found himself standing close to Jane in the cramped space of the mobile home. The air felt charged between them, and he couldn't help but notice how her eyes kept meeting his before darting back to her bed.

"Are these your chambers?" Thor asked, looking around the room with curiosity.

Jane fidgeted slightly, suddenly very aware of their proximity. "It's more of a temporary living situation," she explained, gesturing vaguely at the converted building. Her usual scientific confidence seemed to waver as she added, "I never have guests here"

The weight of the moment pressed in around them, making the small space feel even smaller. Jane's cheeks flushed even more as she stammered out "I'm sorry." She took a steadying breath before suggesting, "Can we go outside?"