-4-

It was Saturday. The day of the party. Riley was talking to Steve as they both walked down the same hallway before reaching the elevator.

"What's the party for anyways?" Riley asked him when the topic of the party came up.

"Well, since we found the Scepter, Thor is heading back to Asgard, so we're throwing a little goodbye party for him," he explained, pressing the button on the elevator.

"What? He's leaving already?" Riley asked, disheartened, the sudden holt of the elevator startling them slightly. Steve shrugged.

"He came here for the Scepter, and we got it," he said, turning his eyes to the floor number for a second before averting his gaze back to Riley.

"Well, at least we have a party. You gonna stay for long than an hour this time?" They joked, nudging the arm of the super-soldier, grinning. He rolled his eyes, readjusting his grip on his belt whilst the elevator door opened. The two walked out of the elevator before heading their separate ways.

Seeing Tony going the same way they were, they decided to catch up to him, wanting to continue socialising. Slightly jogging to be next to him, Riley put their hand on his shoulder to grab his attention. He turned his head to face them, the tiredness in his eyes prominent.

"You alright?" They questioned.

"Yeah, just been working on this project for ages and it's not been going well," he explained, trying not give too many details to them. Riley nodded, knowing how dedicated he was to his work.

"Well, you better suck it up 'cuz we have Thor's party today," they reminded him, gaining a dry chuckle.

"Thank God, I really need a party," he sighed in relief, the extrovert in him showing. Riley talked with him more, before finally reaching what they came to this floor for: their laptop that they left here this morning. "Still waiting to get an email?"

"Yeah," they admitted, their smile fading slightly as they saw no new emails that related to jobs. They groaned slightly, closing their laptop again in defeat, picking it up and holding it close to their body.

"I might as well get ready for the party to pass the time," they said, trying to collect their excitement for the event this evening they lost due to what happened.

"Okay, don't get distracted," he reminded them, both jokingly and as a serious reminder.

-

The party was amazing so far. Upbeat music playing through the speakers as groups of people chatted amongst one another, with cold alcoholic beverages in hand. Even people who didn't know each other were talking in groups as if they've been friends for years.

Sam and Steve were playing pool as Riley watched, changing who they were betting on winning as the game continued, not want to loose the money they (somewhat) jokingly bet on.

"Ooh! Whoo!" Sam cheered as Steve muttered 'alright, alright' to nobody in particular, taking his weight off of the stick. "Come back, come back, come back," he repeated. Riley laughed, taking another long sip of their drink, only for them to groan at it ending up empty.

"I'm getting a refill, you want anything?" They raised their voice so the two men could hear them over the music. Sam shook his head, pointing over to his and Steve's new drinks they haven't drunk yet. They nodded, holding up their finger, signalling they'll be a minute.

They made their way over to the bar, turning their body slightly to get by some of the guests. When they made it, they heard the conversation between Thor, Steve, and Rhodey.

"But, you know, the suit can take the weight, right?," Rhodey grabbed from the bar side, "So I take the tank, flying right up the the general's palace, drop it at his feet. I'm like 'Boom. You looking for this?'"

Tony awkwardly smiled, though Riley and Thor gave no reaction, not knowing where the punch line of the joke was suppose to be. They looked at each other with confused looks on their faces, before looking back at Rhodey.

His smile faltered. "'Boom. Are you looking for-' Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else, that story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor questioned, gesturing slightly with the hand he's using to hold his drink.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story," he responded, mumbling a little.

"Oh, it's very good then," Riley agreed, a smile on their face as he did so. They continued to grin as Rhodey rolled his eyes, "it's impressive."

He took a sip of his drink as Rhodey sarcastically replied; "Quality save." He moved the conversation away from this topic, "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?" A quick 'no' was all Tony responded with.

"What about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?" Maria joined in on the conversation, handing Riley their drink as they did so.

"Yeah, I thought Jane would of wanted to see you before you head off again," Riley added, a bit upset to be talking about their crush's girlfriend, but happy that he was with someone he loved none-the-less.

"Oh, Ms Potts has a company to run." Tony explained the absence of his significant other.

"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in," Thor admitted, "Her work on the Convergence had made her the world's foremost astronomer."

"And they company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth. It's pretty exciting."

"There's even talk of Jame getting a, um, Noble Prize," Thor bragged. Riley, Rhodey, and Maria all looked at each other with the same look of your faces.

"Yeah, they must be busy, because they would hate missing you guys get together," Maria joked, "Testosterone!" She coughed immediately afterwards, pretending as if she had come down with something. Her and Rhodey walked away, continuing the jag for a bit longer, leaving Riley and the two competitive men together at the bar.

"But Jane's better," Thor chuckled. Riley watched Tony try not to make a comeback or one up him.

"Aww, you guys are fighting like an old married couple! Have you broke it to your girlfriends yet?" Riley teased the two before talking another sip of their drink. They walked as they drank, finishing their sip when they were a feet away from the two men. Whilst they walked, they heard the end of the War Machine story being told again, this time being followed by loud laughed. They shook their head slightly as they walked away from the table.

-

The night went on, and so did the party. Nearly everyone had left, only leaving the Avengers, Riley, Rhodey, Helen (who was sleeping), and Maria. They were all sat around a couch, empty glasses and newly opened bottles of beer on the table. Clint was twirly a drum stick in his fingers, laying against the sofa.

"But it's a trick!" He protested, still twirling the drum stick. Thor chuckled, protesting a against this claim.

"No, no, it's much more than that." He claimed, defending his powerful hammer.

"Sure it is," Riley sarcastically agreed, gaining a playful grimace from Thor.

"Ah, 'whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" Clint accounted, mocking Thor's awfully, widely gesturing with his hands to help emphasise his joke. Thor laughed as he went back to his normal voice, "Whatever, man! It's a trick!"

"Please, be my guest," Thor prompted Clint, signalling him towards his hammer. Everyone stayed quiet, anticipating the next move.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Thor causally said, pointing to the hammer again. Everyone was now fully invested in what was happening, dropping their conversations and joining this one if they weren't already in it. Getting up, Clint held both drum sticks in one hand as everyone began to joke around.

"Oh this is going to be beautiful," Rhodey said.

"Be careful when you pick it up you don't fall back onto the couches," Riley warned as he made his way to the hammer. They were on the edge of the couch, next to Thor and right in front of the hammer.

"Clint, you e had a tough week. We don't hold I'd against you if you can't get it up," Tony joked as everyone laughed.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" He asked, not expecting or wanting an answer. He grabbed the handle of the hammer with his free hand only, trying his hardest to lift it up. He grunted as he used all the strength in his arm to lift it. He sighed, his smile causing it to sound like a tired laugh. "I still don't know how you do it!" He finally admitted.

"Smell the silent judgement?" Tony asked Clint.

"Please, Stark, by all means," he offered, going back to where he was sitting to allow Tony to try and lift the hammer. A few people spoke one another, expressing their thoughts of how Tony may try to lift the hammer. They all knew it was impossible, they just wanted to have some fun.

Like the over confident person he is, he strode up to where the hammer was placed. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," he said, wrapping the band at the end of the handle around his wrist, "It's physics."

"Right, so, if he lifts it, he then ruled Asgard?" Riley questioned as Tony prepared himself.

"Yes, of course," Thor agreed flicking his eyes to face Riley's for a split second before looking back at Tony.

"I will be reinstituting prima nocta," he declared. Unlike Clint, he had both hands holding the hammer; one near to the end of the hammer and one near the top. He prepared himself before attempting to lift it, groaning as he tried his hardest to left the weapon off of his table. He quickly took his hand out of the strap and walked away from the group, announcing he'll be back, and he was, this time with the glove part of his Iron-Man suit on his hand. The machinery whirred as Tony tried his hardest to lift the God's hammer.

When he ingenious plan failed, he got Rhodey to wear the glove of his suit as well so they could both attempt to lift the hammer together. He agreed, wanting to try and lift this power-wielding hammer. When he came back with this mechanical glove on and joined his friend in this task, he asked through straining himself, "Are you even pulling?"

"Are you on my team? Tony asked.

"Just represent. Pull," Rhodey didn't answer his question either as they both used all their strength to lift this hammer, their machinery getting louder as they did so.

After the two machine barring heroes failed, Bruce attempted to lift the hammer. He had both hands on the weapon and had one foot against the tablet to attempt to make it easier for him to lift him. As he finally let go of the hammer, he let out a 'roar' that sounded like he was trying to impersonate the hulk in some way. The whole group just awkwardly looked around, not saying anything. He got the hint and went to sit back down.

Now Steve got up from his space on the couch to have a try. Whoops from Maria could be heard along side Tony's (not so) encouraging words of reassurance. The Captain rolled up his sleeves as Riley took another sip of their drink, tipping it up all the way to get the last few drops. As they did this, however, Steve attempted to lift to hammer, Thor payed close attention to the top half of it. As he did so, a small squeak echoed through out the room, and Thor's smile dropped swiftly. Riley looked at him, after they finished their drink, with their eyebrows furrowed, confused at Thor's expression.

Steve let out a defeated sigh after trying again as he takes his hands off the hammer. Thor started laughing again, "Nothing." Steve laughed along, going back to his space on the couch.

"And? Window?" Bruce called out to Natasha, asking if she wanted to try. She declined the offer, taking another swig of her drink.

"That's not an question I need answered. Riley hasn't had a go yet," she pointed out.

"Oh no, I'm not going to embarrass myself trying. Plus, it's rigged," they stated, throwing their hands up in defeat before they vaguely directed their attention to the hammer again.

"You bet your ass it is," Clint agreed.

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria was quick to point out, making Steve let out a disappointed sigh.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" He asked Tony, knowing it was him who probably told everyone.

"The handle's imprinted, right?" He swiftly directed the topic of the conversation away from what Steve was asking about, "Like a security code. 'Whosever carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, a literal translation."

"Yes, that's a very, very interesting theory," Thor agreed, getting off the couch, allowing Riley to take his spot and to sit somewhere that wasn't the rough armrest of a couch and on an actual cousin. "I have a simpler one," he picked up the hammer with ease, throwing it in the air and catching it to show off, "You're all not worthy."

Everyone booed and groaned at this, before a high-pitched, scream-like sound interrupted their fun.