Chapter Text
To no one’s surprise, Bucky Barnes and the Mexican surfer named Hector Derecha move on to the semifinals of the Stark Banzai Pro. There’s a break to let them rest before the next heat, but Thor remains down by the water, not looking up to where he knows Bruce is.
Bruce stands, stung by Thor’s turning away from him. He can barely tolerate the idea that he caused the pain in those beautiful blue eyes. Pain that had made Thor turn away not to reject Bruce, but because he believes Bruce has rejected him. Bruce has to get to him. He has to explain, to tell Thor how he really feels, and try to begin to make up for the hurt he’s caused.
But every time he breaks away from one, he is waylaid by another young hopeful surfer, old friend from the circuit, fan, or surf-company flack who wants to sign him to an advertising deal. It’s the whole reason he doesn’t usually come down here when competitions are going on. And now it’s keeping him from the one thing he wants more than he’s ever wanted anything.
Finally, Bruce manages to break away from everyone, only to look up and find that Thor is no longer standing on the shore. He looks desperately around, scanning the beach for him, and is dismayed when he can’t spot him. There are so many people and so many temporary structures set up that it’s impossible to tell where he might have gone. The house he’s staying in is close enough that it’s possible he might even have gone there for a moment.
Bruce refuses to give up. He rushes from place to place, being stopped with infuriating frequency by people who recognize him. He’s just trying to get rid of a surfer who’s already been eliminated from this competition when he hears the speakers from the judge’s pavilion crackle to life.
The semifinal heat is beginning. The Pipe has really turned on at the moment, and the organizers want to take advantage of the great waves, so they’re not waiting any longer.
Steve Rogers and Hector Derecha are assigned to the first heat and make their way into the water. It’s too late to talk to Thor now. Bruce will have to wait until the semifinal heat’s over.
But since he’s right here, the surfer in Bruce can’t resist finding a good vantage point to watch.
Hector catches the first wave, and it’s fast. He catches it late, but drops in successfully and gets a second or two in the pit before the wave rolls over him. It takes a backside rail-grab pump, which is one of the most difficult technical maneuvers in surfing, but he manages to hang on and emerges from the foam still standing. It wasn’t much to look at from the shore, but Derecha’s 8.83 score reflects the technical feat he’s just achieved.
Steve next catches one that looks promising, but dumps on him once he gets into the tube and he goes down. Surprisingly, once he gets back into position, he takes the very next wave, which forms a nice little barrel and he pumps a couple of times to get a good ride, coming out before the tube collapses. Steve’s ride earns him a 7.03.
It’s not clear what Derecha’s waiting for, because Steve catches the next good wave, too. He pops up very late, and it’s looking like he’s going to get blasted by the front end of the tube when it forms, but he drops down and manages to bank off of the face and get into the barrel for a few moments. When he kicks cleanly out of it, it’s clear that his score for this wave will knock out his initial low score.
It takes a few minutes for the competitors to see another good set, which gives Bruce a chance to scan the beach for Thor. This time, he spots him.
Thor is standing a couple of yards from the water, with his surfboard stuck in the sand beside him. He’s not looking toward Bruce but out toward the surfers, arms crossed and powerful legs apart, listening to something one of his coaches is telling him. Since Rogers and Derecha are currently just waiting for a good set to arrive, there’s nothing to distract Bruce from the beauty of Thor’s silhouette until his attention is caught by a flash of sunlight.
It’s a reflection from Bucky Barnes’s metal arm. Bruce turns to look at him. He’s pumping the arm in triumph at the announcement that Steve’s last wave earned him a 7.97. It’s a good score, and Bucky’s obviously very happy about it.
Bruce smiles a little, seeing that. Bucky’s closely watching the two men out in the competition zone, but his body language clearly shows that he’s not focused on them as his own competitors. He’s cheering on his best friend, his husband. Bruce has heard that he and Steve are almost happier for each other’s wins than they are for their own, but he’s always thought that was PR. Watching Bucky now, Bruce thinks he might have been wrong about that.
There’s a lull for quite a while as the time grows short in this heat. Derecha needs to have another good ride if he wants to catch Rogers. But he fails to catch the next wave he paddles for. Rogers seems content to wait him out. If he has another good wave, then Steve will need to have a better one. But at this point, Steve’s in the lead and seems to be conserving himself for the final heat.
It turns out to be a good strategy, because Derecha’s last wave is just okay. He does get into the pit for a short time, but there’s nothing spectacular about the wave itself, and his handling of it doesn’t demonstrate a lot of his skill. Time runs out on the heat, and the beach gets a little quieter as everyone waits to hear what Derecha’s score will be. The anticipation isn’t as charged as it sometimes is, especially for a final round, because it seems pretty clear that Steve’s won. When Derecha’s score comes in at 4.27, that expectation is confirmed.
Bruce watches with everyone else as the surfers come in to shore, and he can’t help the painful twinge of envy as he sees Bucky go bounding into the shallows to throw himself into Steve’s arms. Bruce notices that Thor looks away from them. It hurts, because Bruce knows why. Something about the way the husbands laugh joyfully together, celebrating Steve’s advance to the finals, and wade out of the water holding hands, strikes a deep chord of longing in Bruce. He imagines that the same is true for Thor, and Thor believes that he’s just lost a chance at that.
Bruce wonders what it would be like to have what Steve and Bucky have together. From what he can see, it seems to be worth the risk.
Then it’s time for Thor and Bucky to paddle out for their heat. One of them is about to be knocked out of the competition. They fasten their tethers to their ankles and pick up their boards, Steve gives Bucky a kiss for luck, and the two competitors walk side by side into the water. Both Thor and Bucky have long hair, but where Thor’s is blond and somewhat wild, Bucky’s is dark and silky, rippling in the sea breeze. They smile as they say something to one another, then both dive underneath a big roller to get outside of the break.
Thor has first priority and quickly sees a wave he likes. He gets up, but he’s too high on the lip of the wave and, rather than slide down the face into the pit, he falls through thin air, landing hard. He can’t hang on, and gets tossed headfirst from his board. Bruce knows that score will be terrible.
Very soon after that, Bucky catches a big one, dropping quickly into the pit to get a long, long ride through a perfect tube. The crowd gets a glimpse of his perfect stance and his left arm gleaming when the overhead section thins out. He briefly grabs his rail with his other hand, but stays where he is. He doesn’t emerge from the tube yet; instead, he sticks that shiny left arm into the wall of the wave and squats to check his speed. As he moves forward along the face of the wave, the tube thickens up again, giving him a gorgeous double tube ride that has the crowd on the beach screaming.
Bruce’s eyes automatically turn to Steve Rogers at that moment. Steve bends backward, howling his joy to the sky at Bucky’s spectacular run. And there’s another outburst from the crowd as the score comes up: a perfect 10.
Out on the water, Thor paddles over to Bucky with a smile that can be seen from the beach and the two surfers high five one another. Bruce’s heart clenches with a painful tenderness as he watches. Once, he might have dismissed the congratulations as mere good sportsmanship, but he knows Thor now. He knows that Thor is truly that happy for Bucky’s success.
The Pipeline is producing perfect wave after perfect wave right now, so Thor doesn’t have to wait long for his chance to answer. He sets up to take what is shaping up to be a monster wave, catching it perfectly and floating gracefully down the face as it develops. He uses his body, including a powerful arm in the water, to position himself just where he wants to be, letting the tube form over him. After a moment inside, the end of the tube narrows to a waterfall, which Thor slides through to stand tall, briefly looking at the tail of the wave. Then he drops into a beautiful surfer’s crouch and cuts backward, up the sheer wall of the wave, and rises into the air. Once airborne, he’s initially upside down. He grabs both rails and rights himself while rotating a complete five hundred and forty degrees before landing, still in complete control, on his feet behind the wave. From there, he merely lowers himself back down onto his belly on the board.
Bruce knows, long before the judges announce it, that he’s scored another perfect 10. He wants to howl like Steve Rogers had done for Bucky’s run, but that’s not really Bruce’s style. Instead, he simply stands, shaking his head in wonder, with an expression on his face that shows clearly how bewitched he is.
“That your boy?” he hears, close to his ear.
He turns to see Sam Wilson standing there, tilting his head toward the water and grinning.
“I sure hope so,” Bruce answers with absolute sincerity.
Sam seems to simply accept that, giving a slight nod and turning back to watch the surfers.
Bucky’s next wave is mushy and never forms a surfable tube, so he gets a good-looking ride but the score isn’t much. Thor then takes another big one, but it drains on him and he goes down in a mountain of white foam. It’s Bucky’s turn to get dumped next, but he follows it up with a backdoor trip that has him inside a deep barrel for a long time before he gets spit out in a shower of foam, whipping the water from his long hair and grinning hugely. That one gets him an 8.43.
The heat is more than halfway over now, and Thor needs a good run. He gets one, choosing yet another monster with a nice, gentle rise that lets him ghost diagonally across its face on his way to its base. He looks like a statue of a surfer, poised in a way that shows his power, while thin sheets of spray drift across the scene. He disappears deep inside a perfect barrel for what feels to Bruce like several seconds, before emerging. He’s relaxed, standing almost upright, and he’s not even done surfing this wave. He catches some air for a little alley-oop at the end, looking for all the world like he’s just out for a day on the waves, rather than in the semifinals of one of the most prestigious professional surfing competitions on Earth. The judges reward him with a 9.0.
Bucky’s next run looks a lot like Thor’s had, except that his wave is just a bit lower and slower, and the tube collapses a bit earlier. Bucky hangs on through a thorough dousing with whitewater and it’s almost as pretty as Thor’s ride, but with a less challenging wave, he only scores an 8.93.
That leaves Thor with a healthy score of 19 for the heat, and Bucky at 18.93. If Thor can just hang on, he’ll win. Bruce is mesmerized by what’s happening, almost drunk on the feelings of awe and pride he feels at Thor’s skill. He doesn’t even realize he’s moving toward the water until he hears Steve Rogers yell, “Get it, Buck!” and realizes that they’re now standing fairly close together. Rogers is smiling ear to ear, unable to stand still as he watches the dramatic shootout that could result in him competing against his husband in the finals. It wouldn’t be the first time, and they’re often quoted as saying that it’s their favorite situation, because they bring out the best in each other.
Thor and Bucky both have their next tubes collapse on them, so those low scores are thrown out and the total remains the same. Then Bucky drops a bomb. He catches a good wave at the perfect spot, right under the lip of the wave on his takeoff, which means he’s deep inside the tube when it forms. He stays inside for what seems like forever before sliding cleanly out of the collapsing end, pumping his shiny metal arm in glee. Steve’s shout of, “Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!” is loud enough to hurt Bruce’s ears a little, but it’s not over. Like Thor had, Bucky catches air off of the tail of the wave, and launches himself into a beautiful rodeo flip. He lands it, and Steve’s inarticulate shriek of joy is only part of the deafening noise from the crowd on the beach.
The 9.58 score Bucky earns is a formidable challenge to Thor. He’s going to need to earn at least that high a score to win this heat. Still, his booming voice can be heard congratulating Bucky from the waves. Bruce shivers a little, hearing that. Among all his other outstanding qualities, Thor is extremely generous.
Time ticks away as Thor and Bucky wait for another good set of waves. Bruce sees the next set at the same time Thor does, and isn’t surprised to see him getting into position. He wonders why Thor rejects the first wave, but as it travels in, he sees that it is actually kind of funky. The second wave, however, is epic. Thor uses all the power in his arms to grab for the speed he’ll need, and catches it. He drops a long way into it – it’s at least double overhead – and the force of the wave is tremendous, throwing up a boil of foam as it curls over itself. Thor’s hidden behind the huge wall of water until the barrel’s just about collapsed, and Bruce gasps. If he’s fallen into it, a wave like that will pulverize even a man as big as Thor, thrashing him around like he’s in a washing machine.
But he hasn’t fallen. Thor shoots out the end through a sparkling shower of spray, and Bruce nearly collapses in relief as the beach goes wild. The crowd’s been treated to an astounding show, and they scream their appreciation. Now it all comes down to this score. There isn’t enough time left in the heat to do more, and Thor and Bucky are already side-by-side on their boards, sharing a hug.
As they paddle in, the judges’ score is announced. It’s a 9.47. A great score, and well-deserved. But not enough to beat Bucky’s 9.58.
Bruce suddenly becomes aware that he’s standing on the beach directly in front of the competition zone. He sees Thor notice him. There’s a moment, just a flicker, where Thor’s face lights up. His happiness almost instantly dims, though, and Bruce can imagine what he’s thinking. Bruce smiles broadly at him, trying to send a message, but at the same moment Sam Wilson paddles over to Thor, Riley and his floating camera setup beside him, and Thor looks away before he sees it. He sits up to give an interview astride his board.
Unlike Thor, however, Bucky doesn’t stop for an interview. Instead, he keeps going toward the beach. Steve runs out into the water to embrace him, as Bucky had after Steve’s win, but Steve actually throws himself at Bucky, who drops his board and stumbles a little as he finds himself fully supporting Steve’s weight. With his husband’s arms and legs wrapped around him, Bucky laughingly trudges the last few steps onto the dry sand.
Steve and Bucky are immediately surrounded by reporters. Bruce is left feeling stupid and left out, with no one paying any attention to him and nothing to do but wait to speak to Thor. But he’s not going anywhere. He stands a bit away, watching and listening as Bucky, still breathless, begins to answer questions with Steve firmly tucked against his side.
Every few minutes during the interviews, he takes a moment to turn his head and smile at Steve, who takes the invitation every time and kisses him. There’s an intimacy and raw love there that, Bruce realizes, he’s never experienced. He’s never met anyone with whom he could be that in love.
Until now.
Because it’s just possible that the tall blonde just approaching the beach with his board under his arm is the one he’s been waiting for. And Bruce wants what Steve and Bucky have with as much fervor as he’s ever wanted to win a surfing competition, or anything else. He wants it with Thor.
Thor smiles a little shyly in thanks as people cheer him for his tremendous performance. As he reaches the sand, the crowd that isn’t surrounding Bucky and Steve begins to coalesce around Thor. The throng of shoving bodies pushes Bruce with it, and he surrenders to the forces – both physical and emotional – propelling him forward.
Bruce’s eyes lock with Thor’s as he approaches. He sees the confusion in Thor’s face, and finally, finally gets the chance to ease his discomfort. Bruce mouths, “I’m sorry” as they stand, momentarily in their own universe together, and Thor breaks into a tentative grin.
“You had a great heat, Thor, congratulations,” Cody Burke begins shouting into his microphone, and into Thor’s face. Bruce sees Thor flinch a bit at the rude yank back to the present, but turns a friendly face toward the man behind the SurfPlanet.com microphone.
“Thank you, I feel good about it,” he says. “I am beyond pleased for Bucky, though. He is a more-than-worthy opponent, and his victory is well-deserved.”
Thor’s gaze is back to Bruce as soon as he finishes answering.
“It’s gotta be tough, though, to get this close and miss it by such a slim margin. There’s always discussion of the judges’ scoring. Do you have any thoughts about whether the way they scored you versus the way they scored Bucky—”
“No,” Thor answers firmly. “And I am truly happy for Steve and Bucky. Their final heat will be something to behold.”
“Oh, well… So, let me ask you. You have several years more competition under your belt than they do. Do you think that’s a bonus at this point, or…?”
Thor actually laughs at that, and as he answers, he’s not looking at Cody Burke. He’s looking at Bruce.
“It is both a blessing and a curse, like many things. They are younger than I, and I’m fully aware of the limited time of a surfer’s career. In fact, I’ve recently connected with someone whom I respect immensely, and we have talked some on that subject.”
Thor then takes a step toward Bruce, who mirrors the movement so that they’re now only feet apart. The crowd becomes aware of the unspoken communication happening between them, and shifts so that suddenly, Bruce and Thor are standing together.
Thor then turns back to Cody Burke. “Do you know, I actually do feel some jealousy toward Steve and Bucky.”
Burke pulls the microphone toward his own mouth and squeaks a shocked, “Really?”
“Yes, but it is not for their youth and skill, or the years of surfing they have yet ahead of them. What I envy Steve and Bucky for is their relationship.” He looks down into Bruce’s deep brown eyes. “I would like to have what they have.”
Bruce is thinking of nothing but Thor, his words, and the love shining in his eyes. He has no idea that his own face is glowing with adoration. When he reaches out his hand, he meets Thor’s larger one, reaching for him at the same time.
“Oh!” Burke blurts, seeing smiles of recognition blooming throughout the crowd surrounding Bruce and Thor. He tells his audience, “This is, of course, Bruce “Hulk” Banner, who’s won this event several times. Won the Infinity Gauntlet, uh, four times?”
“Five,” Thor corrects, looking nowhere but into Bruce’s eyes.
“Are you two, uh… an item?”
“I hope so,” Bruce answers quietly.
“Definitely,” Thor answers, and leans down to kiss Bruce softly. The kiss lasts longer than is usual for a sports broadcast, but not inappropriately so.
* * *
EPILOGUE
There is a famous photograph of the lovestruck look between Bruce and Thor that follows that kiss. Every article and story about either of them after that seems to use that picture when discussing their romance. But Bruce doesn’t mind that everybody’s seen it. It’s still his favorite picture of them, and it’s the first thing he and Thor changed about Bruce’s house when Thor moved in.
A small, framed copy of that picture sits on the white granite kitchen countertop, where Bruce sees it several times a day, and smiles every time.
The picture is only one of the many colorful, homey things now scattered about the kitchen. Bruce likes to complain about Thor’s tendency to leave things laying around, but it’s a complete sham. Sometimes, when Thor’s out of town competing, Bruce even leaves things on the counter on purpose, just to remind himself how much fuller his life is now that Thor is in it.
But Thor is not currently out of town. He’s standing, admiring the warm tropical colors he helped Bruce paint on the walls of the living room while he waits for Bruce to pull on his knee brace. They’re on their way to the beach to surf, like they do nearly every morning. Once the brace is fastened, Bruce stands and takes Thor’s extended hand.
As they make their way down the lava-rock steps descending the low cliff the house sits on, they’re talking about their upcoming day. They’ll be in the Surf Shack together most of the time, but Thor will be very busy. He has meetings with several people to work on aspects of his surf school.
Natasha has found him several investors, and there’s a meeting with an architect to sign off on Bruce’s plans for the building. Then there’s yet another meeting with members of the Pupukea City Council and a meeting with some officials from the State of Hawaii. They still haven’t agreed to grant Thor a zoning variation to build his surf school next to Hulk’s Surf Shack on Ehukai Beach. But they will.
Bruce has no doubt that he’ll make them fall in love with him just as Bruce has. He is sure that the surf school will happen, and that one day, when the time is right, Thor will retire from professional surfing to run it. But as much as he’s looking forward to that, he’s kind of enjoying the way things are now.
Whenever he can be, Bruce is on the beach cheering Thor on as he continues to dominate the surfing world. He’s also there afterward to massage the aches and commiserate when things don’t go well.
The two have become partners in spreading Thor’s message about surfing safety. Once Bruce had mentioned it in his interview with Sam Wilson, reporters began asking Thor about it and he began to have myriad opportunities to make his point. Bruce gets interviewed quite a bit himself, using his own injury to illustrate the dangers of surfing even in reasonable conditions. Bruce and Thor both know that hard-chargers and headstrong grommets will always take unwise risks, but they think they’re getting the message out.
The surf today is respectable, and Bruce and Thor spend an hour trading waves and sneaking kisses between runs before heading in to the Surf Shack.
As Thor begins his long day of meetings, Bruce is delighted to look up and find Natasha sitting at the Snack Bar. She’s sipping a Pitaya Thruster, of course, and toying with the straw. Bruce notices that it’s the appropriate straw. It always is nowadays. Since switching suppliers, Bruce can count on one hand the number of problems he’s had, and even those have been immediately remedied.
Natasha is smiling indulgently at him. M’Baku, leaning on the other side of the counter, is also looking in his direction.
“What?” Bruce asks with a defensive chuckle.
“Just you,” Natasha answers. “Happy looks good on you.”
Bruce hears a “Behind you,” and instinctively moves aside to let Clint by. He sets a steaming plate of something that smells delicious in front of Natasha, then turns to Bruce.
“Well I hate it,” Clint announces.
“Why? You love Thor!” M’Baku challenges him.
“Yeah, but you know me. All this love and domestic bliss? Ugh. Give me a good screaming match once in a while. Maybe throw shit at each other. I like things messy.”
~~ The End ~~