Author's Note: I also have this posted on AO3, if anyone recognizes it.
{ETA: This chapter was revised on 1/12/17.}
A spin on a not-so-new concept (with a twist on some comic book canon), but I'm meaning to keep this relatively short (fingers crossed) and a means for me to kick myself back into gear. I already have the roadmap for this planned out, so hopefully the chapters will just keep coming.
Set after the events of Thor: The Dark World. Partially AU. References to Thor comics and smidgen of Norse mythology. This is not beta'd. Any mistakes are my own.
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
I.
When Thor hears the news, he is uncertain of how to react. When he had left Jane she had been well, but it seems that she could not evade the frailty of a human life. He had been naïve to think she was different—an exception to the others around her. She was still as susceptible to the dangers that plagued her kind. Just because he loved her, did not mean she was immune to the ailments that cursed mankind. He was capable of saving her from destroyers, parasitic entities, and the dark elves—but he was incapable of rescuing her from the one thing that would slowly stake a claim on her mortal life.
"Are you sure it is cancer?" Thor asks as he tenses from the news. His brows knit together with frustration. While he did not know what exactly cancer was, he did know what it did to humans over time. It was, for the most part, an incurable disease. It troubled him that there was no clear explanation about how one could develop it.
"Aye," Heimdall answers.
Thor closed his eyes, as his shoulders tensed. He suddenly felt guilt wash over him. Maybe if he had stayed at her side, then maybe she would have been okay? He could not afford to lose another person so dear to him. Not now and not again. He had already lost his mother and he had almost lost his brother. Everything around him seemed to be hanging together by seams as the rift between the realms raged on.
"Do you know how long she has?" his words hang heavy in the air, as his blue eyes drift downward to stare into the twinkling abyss. The blonde warrior wishes he could see what the sentinel could. Heimdall shifts, his eyes never straying away from the woman in question.
"I do not know," responds Heimdall, "She is fine for the time being."
"But it will only get worse," Thor grimly points out. Suddenly, Loki's words of morality are ringing in his head and taunting him. It was foolish of him to think otherwise and he knew the trickster wouldn't even bat a lash at the news of Jane's fated demise. After all, his little brother had been right all along.
The blonde Asgardian ground his teeth and turned his back to Heimdall. This is not how Jane Foster should go. He is not so stupid to believe her life is as long as his, but her short life should not be any further shortened—especially when he has the opportunity to extend it.
Heimdall does not need to ask to know what the young prince is thinking. He could clearly see all the emotions swirling on the Asgardian's face. He knew that his love for the Midgardian was undeniable. That was certain, especially when he had been so quick to run to her aid when the Aether had infected her. Humans were such fragile creatures but they are capable of doing so much in the short lifespan they were granted. Dr. Jane Foster was a prime example of that and he admired it.
However, their tragedy was predestined as much as their faithful meeting had been. Thor will live for centuries and Jane will be lucky to live even more than a year from now in her condition.
"We are all victims of chance," Heimdall explained, "fate may weave our destinies, but chance gives us an opportunity to change it."
There is a pause, as Thor twists his head to stare back down into the abyss. "I wish to give Jane a chance to live."
"Then you know what you must do," the sentry claims, as he turns his gaze upon the warrior. Thor stiffens with acknowledgment. The grim expression on his face suddenly morphs into a determined one as he clamps a hand onto the sentinel's shoulder.
"Thank you, Heimdall," Thor said before he turned away and began heading back to the palace. The watcher of the Nine Realms shifted back into position on his perch. He can only hope the best for the young prince of Asgard, for his fate was of his own choosing.
Darcy Lewis kept her eyes glued onto the young Dr. Foster, as she pulled a chair out from under the desk for the older woman. She couldn't recall when her job as an assistant had evolved into playing nurse but was not going to complain about it. She was worried. Jane was restless and stubborn and would drive herself into a coma before she ever thought about not working. It was both frustrating and terrifying to deal with.
"Just give me one more moment to finish—"
"Jane," Darcy scolded, as she pulled and eased the workaholic into the seat, "You need to take a break. Remember what happened last week?"
The astrophysicist is about to protest when she sees her ex-intern's face. Instead, she sighs and takes the bottle of water from her. "Fine. Just for a bit."
The young brunette knew Jane was trying hard to put up a front. She was trying so hard to deny the truth, but at the end of the day reality struck her down. When the scientist wasn't trying to keep herself busy, she was an anxious mess. She tried so hard to keep that knowledge from Darcy, but nothing could stop Darcy from hearing the woman crying herself to sleep late at night. Her swollen and red eyes could not be hidden from scrutiny either.
It was utterly painful, but it had also been that long since they had found out. In fact, if it was not for Darcy urging her to get the lump in her left breast examined, that she would have never found out. Once the results had come in, it became evident what the problem was. It had been almost a month since Jane had received the news, but she had yet to decide what do about it. Instead, each day in the lab slowly turned shorter and shorter, and Darcy struggled to keep her composure as she saw the cancer slowly beginning to affect her friend. While the symptoms were mild at this stage, she would not have thought much of it if it were not for the fact that at this point Darcy knew Jane well enough.
She knew Jane's growing fatigue was a result of both the cancer and the strain she had been putting upon her body to continue working like nothing had changed. They had said it was breast cancer and there was a chance to combat it, but only if the scientist would act upon it. The sooner she did, the better the chances for survival was. It would seriously be for the best if the scientist would just shift focus in taking care of herself and getting the chemotherapy she desperately needed—but Jane, stubborn Jane, was adamant about it. She wanted to hold off on it and Darcy could do nothing to make her. This did not stop Darcy from urging the woman to reconsider. While Jane knew better, she chose the path of denial instead.
"You need to take breaks more often," the bespectacled woman reprimanded, as she unwrapped her boss' sandwich and placed it in front of her. Jane stared down at it as she continued to sip at the water bottle pressed against her lips. She really wanted to argue, but her body was throbbing with unbridled tension.
Instead, she took another gingerly sip and muttered once more. "I'll be fine."
Darcy wanted to argue. Jane can clearly see it on her face, but instead the young woman rips the foil away from her sandwich and bites into it angrily. The scientist knew she was concerned, but every single minute was crucial to her. Jane refused to become bedridden and allow all her research to just rot away. She was so close—she could feel it—and she had been working so hard that it would be a crime for her to just stop. She refused to allow the cancer to become an obstacle for her. While it was stupid to think the cancer wouldn't affect her, she was determined to take all her efforts and make her dreams come true. This was something she had dedicated for the last few years and finding out that she may need to drop her dreams made her sick in the stomach. It had felt like her entire world had shattered, but instead of letting it destroy her she decided to kick herself into overdrive. When she wasn't working, she felt the absolute worst. The work distracted her from her impending reality.
But she knew that none of this sat well with her friend and lab assistant. Darcy had become even more worried of her since the news came in. But Jane turned a blind eye to her friend in hopes that maybe today would be the day all her hard work would finally bring fruition—that she would finally create her own bridge to another world. She was no longer doing this for Thor, but for herself. The astrophysicist had given up the otherworldly prince months ago. He had broken too many promises; but part of her still ached to see Thor just once more. She did not know if she would beat him for the grief he put her through, or kiss him in order to soothe the burning ache in her heart.
Jane sighed and was about to ask Darcy to bring her notes over when everything began to violently shake and rattle around them. They both shrieked; Jane spilling her water bottle across the desk while Darcy desperately attempted to pull Jane to the floor in fear of an earthquake. The shaking only worsened, causing papers to fly off their worktable and something heavy to crash onto the floor on the other side of the room. Both women crouched down, covering their heads and fearing for the worst.
But as sudden as the earthquake had been, it stops. A moment later, there is a rumble and a blinding white light flashing outside. Jane freezes, her eyes glued to the windows of the flat as Darcy's arms tense around her friend's shoulders. She had been trying to shield the older woman from bodily harm—and while Jane would have smiled about the gesture under different circumstances this wasn't one. In fact, she was suddenly very pissed. The older woman knew exactly what was going on and carefully detangled herself from the protective grip.
"It's Thor," she muttered as she carefully rose to her feet and stepped toward the veranda. Jane would recognize such a bold entrance from anywhere.
"What?" Darcy asked. She slowly straightened her posture and glanced over her shoulder at Jane. She was still on her knees on the floor, looking less terrified and more bewildered now. Her glasses hung low on her nose as she tried to process the news.
It only took a few minutes before the aforementioned god of thunder stood at their veranda door, waving happily at them.
"I'm going to fucking kill him," Darcy mumbled half-heartedly, as she finally stood to her feet. He had no right to make such a grand appearance after breaking so many promises.
"Wait your turn," Jane remarked in return as she slid the glass door open.
Before Thor can even speak, Jane slapped him across the face. He stood momentarily stunned as Jane's hand hovered in the air ready to strike down again. Instead, her fingers trembled as she crashed her fists angrily against his chest and began to sob. Jane did not know what else to do. She wanted so desperately to beat her fists over and over against him, but the realization that he was truly back struck her with the force of a typhoon. Months of pent up frustration, anger, and heartache spilled faster than an overflowing sink and the only thing she was capable of doing right now was crying.
Thor's expression softened, as he gingerly took her small hands into his larger ones. He did not want her injuring herself on his armor. He pulled her into an embrace as she continued to sob uncontrollably. His bulky arms wrapped around her small frame as he buried his face lovingly into the top of her head.
"I told you I would come back for you, Jane."
Author's Note: I really, really needed to write something for tasertricks considering the frustration I'm having with updating existing stories due to some writer's block (however, I been researching to high hell and back on everything Thor, Marvel, and Norse mythology related and partially tempted to re-write stuff already). The title of this fic comes from the lyrics in State of Seduction, by Digital Daggers which I feel like fits for what is to come.
If anyone here has read or is reading the comics, (nurse) Jane actually has breast cancer in them. I'm exploring that personality and trying to mesh it with her MCU counterpart. The same could be said about everyone in this fic though.
But anyway, more details and information is to come as they story progresses. I can't deal all my cards at once. While this is indefinitely a tasertricks fic, there will also be Jane/Thor (as you can see). Promise there will be more tasertricks once the ball gets going though. Comments and kudos much appreciated. Thanks!