The Manhattan skyline glowed beneath him as Mark descended, weaving between towers until he leveled out above one of the tallest buildings. He touched down softly on the rooftop, the bag of pizzas still secure under his arm. Jessica was already there, sprawled half on her side against a metal vent, a half-empty bottle of whiskey balanced loosely in her hand. Her hair was a mess, her jacket wrinkled, but she looked right at home thirty stories up.
Mark folded his arms. "You know it's a little early for that, right?"
Without looking up, Jessica lifted her free hand and flipped him off.
Mark smirked and walked over, dropping down beside her. "Real classy."
She squinted at the bag. "Tell me you didn't fly all the way here with food again."
He pulled out a box and cracked it open. "Two words. Russo's Pizza."
Jessica sat up immediately, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "From Italy?"
"From Italy."
She snatched a slice and bit into it, then groaned. "Cold. You really brought me cold pizza?"
Mark raised an eyebrow. "I flew across the Atlantic with it. You want fresh, you can book a flight next time."
Jessica chewed, unimpressed. "You're Invincible. You telling me you can't keep a pizza warm?"
He gave her a look. "Pretty sure keeping a ship from sinking takes priority over reheating your dinner."
She grinned, satisfied at getting a rise out of him. "Depends on how hungry a girl is."
They ate in silence for a minute, looking at the city that stretched out in every direction. Eventually Jessica wiped her hands on her jeans and asked, "So, how's your day? Saving the world, kissing babies, that sort of thing?"
Mark shrugged. "Went to space. Stopped a guy from falling off a cliff. Kept a freighter from going under. Delivered pizza."
"Wow," she said dryly. "A real humanitarian."
He nudged her shoulder. "What about you?"
Jessica snorted. "No clients. Again. Turns out people don't like paying a PI who drinks before lunch."
"Maybe try a real job for once," Mark shot back.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Excuse me?"
"You know, something steady. Something where you don't spend half the day drunk on rooftops."
Jessica stood, dusted off her jeans, then casually kicked him in the side. The impact made him slide backward off the roof. He hovered just below the ledge, floating with his arms crossed, unimpressed.
She leaned over, smirking. "How's the view down there?"
He floated back up, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder. "Hilarious. Really."
Jessica plopped back down, tugging the whiskey bottle back into her lap. "You love it."
Mark rolled his eyes but sat again, reaching for another slice. They let the city noise fill the space for a while, comfortable in the quiet. Mark liked these moments with Jessica, the way they could just exist without filling every second with words, sharing cold pizza on a rooftop while the world spun on beneath them. It was their ritual, much like the ones he had with his other close friends. With Luke he had sitting on a Harlem rooftop to watch the sunset dip below the skyline while cracking open a few beers and trading stories about the day, or now with Darcy in New Mexico, stargazing from a desert ridge and talking about life's absurdities. Each one grounded him in a different way, a reminder that even with the weight of the world on his shoulders, there were pockets of normalcy where he could just be Mark, not Invincible.
He liked it.
Jessica chewed slowly, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "You've been quiet tonight. That's not like you."
Mark shrugged, tearing the tip off his slice. "Long day."
"Long day saving the world or long day brooding about your love life?" she asked, smirking before taking a swig from her bottle.
"Both," Mark admitted with half a grin, though it didn't reach his eyes.
Jessica leaned her head back against the metal vent. "You know, for someone who can fly across the ocean in under an hour, you've got this habit of carrying around more baggage than a 747."
Mark chuckled. "That's... true."
"Uh-huh." She glanced at him again, more serious now. "This about what went down out west?"
Mark's hand stilled on the pizza box. "Out west?"
Jessica nodded. "New Mexico. Don't look at me like that, it was all over the news. People screaming about some giant machine tearing through the desert, and guess whose name kept coming up?"
"Like jeez Mark me and Luke only sent you down there cause we thought you'd relax a bit," she said with a chuckle.
Mark sighed, setting his half-eaten slice back in the box as he leaned against the rooftop ledge. The city lights twinkled far below like scattered diamonds. "Yeah, New Mexico. It started as a trip to talk science with Jane. But it turned into... well, chaos."
Jessica arched a brow, taking another pull from her bottle before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Yeah I know that part get to the part where the giant robot shows up? Spill it, Grayson. Don't leave me hanging."
He rubbed the back of his neck, piecing it together as he spoke. "Okay, so I get there, meet Jane and her team. Erik, this old Norse expert, and Darcy, her intern. They're chasing these weird storms that pop up out of nowhere, leaving behind energy signatures that don't make sense. Turns out, one of them spits out this guy, he's tall, blond and built like a tank. They tase him, or more specifically Darcy taxes him."
Jessica snorted, nearly choking on her whiskey. "They tased him? Nice. And let me guess, he's not just some drunk hiker?"
Mark shook his head, grinning faintly at the memory. "Nope. Calls himself Thor... Yeah, that Thor, god of thunder from the myths. He was banished from Asgard by his dad, Odin, for being a hothead. Lost his hammer though it was thrown to Earth too."
"We bonded over beer, he learns some humility, but then his family sends this robot thing to wipe him out and cover up the mess."
She stared at him for a beat, then burst out laughing, slapping her knee. "Thor? As in hammer-swinging, lightning-zapping Viking god? Come on, Mark, did you hit your head out there? Or is this some elaborate prank to see if I'll buy it?"
"I'm serious," Mark insisted, though he couldn't help chuckling at her reaction. "The guy's from another realm. Asgard's like this advanced world connected by wormholes they call the Bifrost. His brother Loki tricked him into exile. We fought the destroyer in the desert. But while I was fighting it I got sucked into the Bifrost, ended up on Jotunheim, this ice planet, frost giants everywhere."
Jessica waved a hand, still laughing. "Frost giants? Now you're just messing with me. What, did you bump into elves and dwarves too? Or was Santa there with his reindeer?"
Mark leaned forward, his tone earnest. "Jess, I swear. Fought an army of them when they thought I was an invader. Then the Bifrost got stuck open on purpose by Loki. He was about to blow the whole planet, but I absorbed the energy to shut it down, damn thing nearly killed me. I managed to get to Asgard after, the Asgardians healed me up. Thor got his hammer back, we feasted. Mead that actually got me drunk. It was wild."
She wiped a tear from her eye, her laughter dying down to chuckles. "Okay, okay. If you're not bullshitting, that's the craziest story you've ever told. Asgard? Real gods? You're saying you partied with Vikings in space?"
"Pretty much," Mark said, shrugging with a grin. "Thor's a good guy. Arrogant at first, but he grew. His friends, the Warriors Three and Sif, they're like something out of a legend."
Jessica shook her head, taking another swig. "If anyone else said this, I'd call bullshit and walk away. But you've got that honest face. Still, gods and wormholes? Sounds like a bad acid trip."
"Trust me, I lived it," Mark replied, reaching for the bottle. "Felt real enough when I was getting blasted across the desert."
She passed it over, her smirk fading into something more thoughtful. "Alright, assuming you're not insane—what now? You buddies with thunder boy? Planning a playdate in space?"
Mark took a sip, handing the bottle back. "Something like that. He's got king stuff to handle, but yeah—"
*Bzzzt*
Marks phone vibrated before he could finish his thought. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and half-smiled.
Darcy: Hey space boy! You forget about our stargazing rematch tonight? Miss your arms already... don't keep a girl waiting. 🌌😘
Jessica leaned over, catching just enough of the screen before he tilted the phone away. "Ooh, who's got you grinning like an idiot? Let me guess, desert intern checking in?"
Mark rolled his eyes and slid the phone back into his pocket as he stood, brushing crumbs from his lap. "Darcy. The intern from New Mexico. We had plans tonight. Guess I lost track of time up here with you."
Jessica's smirk turned wicked. "Plans, huh?."
"Shut up," Mark said with a laugh, shaking his head as he picked up the empty pizza box. "It's just hanging out. Nothing like that."
"Uh-huh, sure," she teased, propping herself up on her elbows. "Go get her, tiger."
Mark grinned, leaning down to ruffle her hair. She swatted his hand away with a glare. "Noted. Catch you later, Jess. Try not to get into trouble."
"Like that's possible," she called after him as he stepped off the ledge and dropped to the ground before shooting upward, the city lights blurring below in a streak of gold and neon. He pushed westward at full speed heading down south towards New Mexico and hopefully an opportunity to get lucky.
(AN: So Mark is off to New Mexico to get his hands on possible one of my favourite pair of t— I mean one of my favourite girls. Anyway hope you enjoyed.)
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