Page is born on the thirty-first of October – the October six and a half months after Thor spends a week in New Mexico. Which is why Page is Donald's and not Thor's, despite the six month discrepancy between Donald's departure and Thor's arrival. Darcy says her maths is off if she thinks Donald is the father, but Jane had to learn basic human biology like everyone else at twelve years old and there is no way Page can be Thor's unless Asgardians gestate for six and a half months.
Erik says this, the one time she gets to phone him and has a chance to tell him: "He's an alien, Jane. He could have hatched out of an egg."
Luckily, Darcy fielded Jane's calls, so Donald remains blissfully unaware of Jane's crisis. Unfortunately, so does Thor. Jane thought he would maybe be away for a few days and she was actually given hope in late May, a month after he left.
Jane had been writing in her journals – copying all her data in case SHIELD came again and confiscated her materials, so she could hide the four she'd bought and have paper back-ups, basically – when a girl stepped into her lab. By stepping through a portal. All her devices went ballistic and Darcy woke up from her nap on the sofa as the girl looked around, startled at all the sudden noise.
"Who are you? Did Thor send you?"
The girl – a young woman, maybe Darcy's age or perhaps a bit younger – looked over at Jane's sharp voice and cringed, soft blonde fringe falling over her eyes. Jane stood, taking the moment to look her up and down. Her hopes slowly faltered as she realised that the girl didn't exactly match the warrior-friends of Thor. In fact, she half-looked like she belonged to some oil company or engineering department in a black combat boots and a dark grey boiler suit with neon pink stripes on either side of her legs, foreign writing in neon blue between them. Her sleeves were pushed up to her elbows and frankly, other than her natural blonde hair both suiting and at odds with her pseudo-Chinese looks, Jane found the portal behind her more interesting.
"What is that?" she asked, stepping forwards to look. About the size of a manhole, the edge sparking and moving like electricity, it's fascinating. Through it, Jane can see a boy, his hands raised, brow furred in concentration. What's strange about him is his eyes – they're black, completely, utterly black, like a void. The girl steps in front of the portal, so Jane can see.
"I'm a time traveller and Thor didn't send me – his daughter did. I can't say more than that, but there's something I need to do, because she can't and if anyone except my significant other comes through that portal, they'll die of radiation poisoning."
"You're-" Jane started, eyes widening before Darcy jumped in.
"You're from the future? Am I alive? Do I have my Masters? Am I drowning in debt?"
The young woman glanced at Darcy, hesitantly smiling. "Hey, Aunty Darcy."
"Oh my god, are you my niece?" Darcy comes over to join Jane, hitting her arm. "Jane, one of my brothers has a kid in the future."
"Enough," Jane says to her, putting her head on straight. "What do you need to do, to keep the space-time continuum intact?"
"I need to hide you," she said, reaching into her pocket and taking out a folded piece of paper. "It's an adapting rune sequence. Basically, it'll show Heimdall what he needs to see. If he's watching now…" the woman looked up "Don't tell King Odin. He can't know, not yet. It's not treason, not when you're going to tell him eventually. Report it when the she refuses to be named." The time traveller looked back at Jane, smile becoming fixed. "Apparently, this will make you feel nauseous and then…well, you get into a bit of a tiff with me in twenty something years."
Then, she lifted up the piece of paper to her face, unfolding it and blowing gently, green dust falling off it and flying through the air gently to encase Jane. It had been like the girl said – Jane felt like she was going to be sick and then, she found herself on the sofa after feeling like the world had fallen out from under her.
"You fainted," Darcy explained. "Then she did the same thing to me. Said I'd need it for something else that's going to happen, but it won't be for any nice reason like you get. I saw her name-tag, by the way. Calista Johnson. She helped me get you to the sofa. You've got a concussion."
Jane thinks back to that day a lot. Sometimes, she wonders if Calista is her daughter, but nothing about her appearance makes sense. Jane hasn't ruled it out, but until her daughter is born – 'the princess' Calista talked about, being sent by 'Thor's daughter', she could only mean Jane's daughter, right? Unless Thor has other kids, her brain rudely whispers.
Jane doesn't rule that out, either, no matter how much she wants to.
Still, until her daughter- child, is born, Jane's going to think of them as their own person. She thinks up names for varying gender. Page for a girl, because she likes the name 'Page'. Zofia, for her Polish grandmother or Tilda, for her Norwegian grandmother. David, otherwise, or maybe Kefir, Natan, Erik…
"You should name them Darcy," Darcy herself advises. Jane rolls her eyes and pats her rounding belly.
"Don't worry, you're not going to be called Darcy," she tells them, smiling as she feels a kick.
At the six-month mark, Jane risks a trip to the doctor, aware that her baby is half…Thor. The doctor worries a little at her lack of previous appointments, but pronounces her due date in three weeks and oversees an ultrasound – Jane's first and last. Two weeks later – "It's a few days early, but it's perfectly safe with how close to being due you were" – Jane gives birth to a healthy seven-pound girl, her mothers, Matka Cristina and Mama Joelle, holding her hands.
"Page Zofia Foster," Jane decides, finger-spelling it in tegnspråk – one-handed Norwegian sign language, something she knows even better than Hebrew or Polish – for Mama Joelle, who smiles widely and rocks her granddaughter, Cristina leaning over to kiss her cheeks hard, happy for her. Darcy and Erik both come visit at different visiting hours, Erik making sure to come when Joelle is there, coincidentally arriving when their third sibling does, Jane's other uncle and Erik's twin, Elitzur-Chayil.
"Oh, she is beautiful, Yochana," Elitzur kisses Jane's forehead, who smiles at the use of her Hebrew name. Distantly, she remembers being called it when she was young, before her grandmother became ill and her school and mothers called her Jane. Having her uncle call her Yochana every time he sees her is…freeing. "Shimshona?"
"Yep."
"Have you scheduled a special Torah reading with your Rabbi? The Mi Sheberach?" Her uncle's enthusiasm is barely dampened by Erik's advice 'not to go through with all that nonsense'. "It is important, Eliram-"
"My name is Erik and your name is Erling," Erik snaps, ruining the mood. Jane goes to speak, but Erik drags his twin outside and that's the last Jane sees of him after that. Her mama asks what the hell just happened in tegnspråk, Cristina replying that Erik was being an ass. Jane says she agrees, despite knowing his attitude stems from the post-WW2 paranoia her grandparents instilled in her uncle from a young age – paranoia that never sat well in her Uncle Elitzur-Chayil and that her Mama Joelle, Yoela, grew out of.
The months after are alarming, as Page doesn't grow according to human standards. Every time Jane looks at the books about growing children, she worries. It's only through her mothers' constant reassurance and Darcy's unblinking attitude that she gets through the first seven months without having a full-on panic attack. Jane is constantly on edge and not only because Page is at least a few months behind other babies her age, but because Jane is just waiting for Thor to come back and see he has a daughter.
"Damn stars, damn rooftop-"
In retrospect, the people of Puente Antigo probably would have gotten a good show, if they hadn't been under that giant blanket.
Then Thor, of course, decides to appear on television, because he's in New York. Coincidentally – or 'coincidentally', as Darcy likes to put it – they're asked on urgent business to Norway. Jane appreciates the first-class tickets for two adults and a baby up until getting the footage of her daughter's baby daddy fighting aliens from outer-space. Her fury out-bubbles even her excitement at the activity she sees on various scientific equipment in the Mojave Desert, Germany and then New York itself, from the giant portal.
"Come to London," her Matka says. "We got a phone-call from SHIELD and then a house-call with an interpreter for Joelle. Erik was involved in the alien mess in New York."
As Erik puts it, he had 'a god in his brain'. Jane listens to him speak and what he says about this tesseract is fascinating, but there's a kind of mania she can hear that makes her hesitate. Jane doesn't think she can deal with it.
"I have Page to think about," Jane excuses herself from coming, feeling bad for using her daughter like that. Pressing the phone to her head, she looks over at her, being held up gently by Darcy to see if she can walk a few paces. "She needs me."
Page is blonde, but not the kind of blonde that Calista had. Calista was a medium-golden blonde and Page – Page is the sun and lives up to her name. Everything about her is bright and she looks so much like Jane, with the same shaped jaw and nose as her mother, yet every time Page smiles or blinks up at the birds, with gentle, childish wonder, Jane thinks of Thor. Small, bright blue eyes like lightning.
Well, he is the God of Thunder. Lightning's his forte, right?
On Page's first birthday, she finally organises a Torah reading with a special Mi Sheberach in the UK, not remembering – or maybe not ever having known – if it's late or even early. Her mother' Rabbi doesn't mind either way, though advises her to study more and the birthday slash kiddish party they have after is predictably Erik-free, which in a way makes Jane sad, but it's her religion. Her name is Yochana bat Yoela Segal and she is Jewish. It's her culture and way of life, the way she's always lived, even growing up in America. Even though she's forgotten some things she should know, let certain practices fall to the wayside, there are lessons and laws she acts on without thinking.
Jane's matka became Jewish to marry her mama, converting from Catholicism and leaving her country. Cristina barely retaining any contact with her family, up until Jane was born and Joella convinced her to invite her family to Jane's Torah reading. Her mother, Jane's grandmother Zofia, was the only one to come and the only one to emigrate to the US, to be closer to them.
When Zofia died in her sleep when Jane was seventeen, already attending university, her Polish aunts and uncles came for the funeral and mended ties with Cristina. Jane isn't very close to them, unfortunately, or their children. A year after the funeral, Jane moving into Culver University's dorms, her mothers moved to the UK, to London. Apparently, they make a point of hosting Jane's cousins, when any need to visit the English capitol.
In late April, only a mere two weeks after the two-year anniversary of Jane running over Thor with the truck, Erik invites her again to join him in England – and even though he deliberately avoided Page's Torah reading and still has that mania present in his voice that makes her skin crawl, Jane accepts his offer.
"I just…missed him," Jane says, when Darcy asks, WHY THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO SEE ERIK? "He was like a dad to me growing up-"
"You have two moms, Jane, you don't need a dad!" Darcy exclaims. "He might be a good guy, but he actively participates in religious discrimination and denies his own and his family's heritage-"
Jane can't give her friend a proper answer to her question, but she can still tell her to shut up. She does so, then decides it's about time that Page go see her grandmothers, so she can have a shower.
I can't believe I said I'd go on a date with Richard…
It turns out – as it happens – that Jane forgot that her mothers have actual lives. Both at work in a chemists and library, respectively, no-one can take Page but Darcy and while Jane trusts Darcy, the point about leaving Page with Cristina and Joelle was to make sure Darcy didn't find out that she was going on a date.
"I'm going to have to reschedule," Jane winces, hearing Richard's disappointed oh. "I- I suppose I should mention that I have a kid?"
"Really? What's their name?" Richard asks, sounding surprisingly happy with the revelation. Jane pauses for a moment, recognising the change in tone. "I mean, if you don't mind, of course. I've got a boy, Daniel, he's seven in May. Seven, can you believe it?"
"I didn't know you had a kid either. Seven, wow," Jane says, surprised and re-evaluating Richard as he speaks. "I have a daughter. Page. She's turning two on October thirty-first."
"A Halloween baby! That's adorable!"
Jane finds herself smiling without her permission, despite her little wince at the mention of Halloween. "Thanks."
"I suppose that means there's a previous relationship, then?" Richard says in a less jovial tone – but still accepting and fairly expectant, not unhappy.
"Yeah," Jane says. "He…he left. Went away. His brother sort of went on a murderous rampage."
"Ah. That's awkward."
"He doesn't- he doesn't know about Page," she finds herself saying, wanting to almost…warn him. "He said he'd come back. I…it's just been so long and I thought maybe I'd try something- someone, new."
"I think I understand, yeah." Richard says, amiable and understanding. Jane suddenly tries to imagine herself with him in ten years, when she's still getting lost in science. Would he take Page to school in the mornings? Would his son – Daniel – treat Page like she's his sister? All of a sudden, Jane finds herself imagining that she would treat him horribly, that she would still be waiting for Thor-
"Jane, your things are bleeping!" Darcy shouts, a loud bashing sound echoing through the loft. "It's still bleeping!"
"Uh, I have to go," Jane says to Richard. "I'll call you."
"Amazing. I'll see you around."
"Yeah, see you-" Jane hangs up, catching Page as she starts falling sideways from her kneeling position by the sofa. Putting her phone down, Jane picks her daughter up, then goes to where her makeshift lab is set up, Darcy making wowza noises.
When Jane sees what her machines are picking up, she understands why.
Jane has to bring Page along. It's just…well, she wouldn't say a nuisance, but Jane gets a certain change of perspective as they drive into an abandoned property, following the readings. This is what they do all the time and bringing a vulnerable child makes it a lot clearer to Jane that things about her life need to change. Page needs stability. Using today as an example, Jane won't always have childminders available twenty-four seven. In America, she had so many on-call options and in the UK, she has two – technically, three if she includes Darcy.
The kids ask her why she brought a baby, peering at Page in her sling. Jane says it's none of their business, only for Darcy to tell them the truth. Queue glaring at my intern, she thinks, before seeing the readings on her devices fluctuate. As punishment, she gives her intern – her actual intern – the task of following the readings.
Darcy doesn't come back for another five hours.
Jane is at her wits end by the time she appears. Ian would have phoned the police if Jane hadn't given him Page to hold, so she can scurry around properly, instead of just using the kids as scouts. Predictably, Ian – as a twenty-two year old university student – doesn't know how to handle kids and Page keeps him occupied long enough. When the children go home as well, it makes Jane's job both easier and harder. No police means no Feds, meaning no SHIELD and unwarranted access for them to work with.
She makes sure Ian knows this very well, by the time Darcy reappears.
At least, by the end of his pseudo-internship, he'll have some genuine inside knowledge about the system scientists live in – usually – have to work around or fully bypass and how to flaunt the loopholes.
Once Darcy returns, Jane gathers her in a tight embrace and makes her promise never to leave her side ever again. Darcy points out how that is impossible considering laws against people going through metal detectors together and they definitely need to get back to the US at some point.
Then there's weird rain.
Then, Ian gives Page back to Jane and punches Darcy on the shoulder good-naturedly, only to be flung across the concrete in a blast of red light – a blast which also knocks back Jane and subsequently, Page, who Jane barely protects from getting her head damaged.
"Is she okay?" Ian rushes over after realising what just happened, Darcy sinking to the ground. He helps Jane sit up. "I've got advanced first aid training for both adults and children." Page is crying and Jane, trusting Ian, gives her over.
Then, Thor offers her his hand.
"You," Jane says, letting him pull her to her feet, then summarily slapping him, before remembering- "Darcy."
Jane hurries to her intern's side, Ian not far behind. Jane takes back the crying Page from Ian, so he can check over her, before quickly rounding on Thor.
"Where were you?"
"Where were you?" he replies. "Heimdall could not see you."
"I was right here where you left me. I was waiting and then I was crying," abruptly, Jane thinks of Calista and it'll show Heimdall what he needs to see. "And then I went out looking for you…" she continues, as if she hadn't paused. "You said you were coming back!
"I know, I know-" you sound like you really believe that "-but the Bifrost was destroyed. The Nine Realms erupted into chaos; wars were raging, marauders were pillaging…I had to put an end to the slaughter."
Jane…takes a breath. "As excuses go, it's not…terrible." Understatement of the century, she thinks privately, before frowning. "But I saw you on TV, you were- you were in New York!"
"Jane, I fought to protect you from the dangers of my world but- I was wrong. I was a fool. But I believe that Fate brought us together-"
"Baby?" Darcy mutters, grasping Jane's attention immediately.
"Page is fine, Darcy," Jane takes her hand, before Thor lifts her up, carrying her prone body. Ian back-peddles away from them and later, Jane will thank the universe for her intern's interns fear of the Gods. Jane really wants to have another go in the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, though, when they finish swirling through a wormhole of rainbow light.
"We have to do that again," Jane says, before seeing the armoured man on the dais. "Hi."
He smiles and bows his head, before sparing a curious glance at Page, who Jane fixes in place self-consciously, putting the sling around her neck and arm, resting Page against her chest. They're all gods here. Are young children that unusual? Or does he – is this Heimdall? – see something different?
"Welcome to Asgard," he says, however and that is all he says, before Thor whistles sharply.
Jane winces at the pitch, half-expecting Page to protest, but mere seconds later, an eight-legged horse speeds into the Observatory. Thor shuffles Darcy in one arm and climbs up, settling Darcy in front of him before offering his arm. Careful of her baby, Jane lets him manoeuvre onto the horse. Less than ten minutes later, they're at the doors to the palace, a huge, golden, triangular shape that Jane can't look at for long, the sun reflecting off it too bright for her eyes. Even as they rush through the palace halls, Jane can see where Darcy is already sun-burned and ignores how the backs of her hands are reddened.
Darcy is eventually placed on a tall, seemingly stone pallet, the healers seeing to her. Jane takes her hand again, up until the healers tsk her.
"Jane's my medical proxy," Darcy says, cracking her eyes open and wrinkling her nose at everyone around her. "Do you guys know what that is?"
"I'd assume," starts the one in charge – Eir, Jane thinks Thor called her – with a certain tone of amusement, "it is a form of responsibility for your person in case you are either unable or mentally incapacitated and cannot make decisions for yourself."
"…yeah," Darcy agrees. "I mean, American legislation is a lot meatier than that, but yeah, bare bones."
The healers begin to do something and Jane's eyes widen as she realises what the hell Darcy is actually on top of.
"Is this a quantum field generator?"
"It's a Soul Forge."
"Does a Soul Forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?"
Eir glances at her, looking a little impressed. "Yes."
Jane grins, looking at Darcy. "Quantum field generator."
"This is not of Earth." Thor says, before asking Eir, "What is it?"
"We do not know." Eir says, "But she will not survive the amount of energy surging within her."
"I'm dying?" Darcy groans. "No, that's too much paperwork. If I die while I'm still Jane's intern, she will literally never get the paperwork done and get sued and probably lose custody of Page while she's at it."
"Don't say that," Jane says, "about you dying or Page. That's not nice."
"I'm a political science major," Darcy says. "I joined you for the actual science credits, but I'm going into politics once I'm sure you're alright on your own. You've got so much on your plate, Janey. At least if I die though, you get an actual, proper intern who knows astrophysics."
"Who was the one who first realised that storm was an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?" Jane questions her, reaching for her hand again. Darcy squeezes lightly and then an old man comes storming in.
"My words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely?"
Thor stands, "The Lady Darcy is ill-"
"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait."
"I brought her here so we can help her." Thor insists as Odin walks around the Soul Forge, banishing the projection of Darcy's body and scattering the healers to the walls, guards following him in.
"She does not belong here in Asgard any more than a goat belongs at a banquet table and neither does her companion," the old man proclaims. Jane stands straight, looking at Thor in disbelief.
"Did he just…" Jane looks to Odin, suddenly so very, very angry. "My intern is lying there, dying. Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I am Odin. King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms."
Jane stares.
He's Thor's dad. Crap.
"Oh, uh, I'm-"
"I know very well who you are. Jane Foster."
Jane's arm wraps around Page protectively without her permission, before Darcy forces herself to sit up.
"Okay, let me deal with this, Jane. So, King Odin, hi." Darcy swings her legs around, leaning heavily, swaying slightly in place. "I'm Darcy Lewis. I've got my Masters in Political Science. I'm kind of dying, but before you kick us out, I'd like to give my defence."
"I do not grant you an audience," he says.
"Too bad," Darcy replies. "You call yourself Protector of the Nine Realms, but when weird portals turn up on one of the most defenceless realms in your purview, you do nothing. I got sucked through one of those portals and now I'm infected with some kind of living alien energy that I got from the ass-crack of nowhere that looked something like a hole in the ground, or maybe a catacomb and I'm dying because of it. I'm asking you to see the bigger picture, here. Forget I'm from Earth, Terra, Midgard, whatever the fuck you want to call it – just remember that, according to your own words less than a minute ago, I'm your subject. I'm asking for help. Your crown prince is my shield-bro and he asked too. So, either help me out of the kindness of your heart, or help me because you fucked up by not providing adequate protection slash information so we poor people of Earth knew this could happen."
Darcy finishes and there's a long moment of silence before she slips sideways back onto the Soul Forge unconscious, head banging off it with a sharp oomph. Eir and Jane are quick to try help her, but Eir gets there first and as soon as Eir touches her, there's another explosion of red light. Luckily, Jane is right in front of Thor and when she's pushed back into him, he grabs hold of her and Page, bracing them against the fall.
On the Soul Forge, Darcy lies still and Jane struggles to get to her feet, Thor helping her again as Odin rushes to Darcy's side. Jane internally hopes it's because of Darcy's rousing speech and not because he recognises what the energy is.
Jane focuses on resettling the crying Page when Odin says, it's impossible. Because that can only mean one thing – it wasn't Darcy's speech.
After learning about the Dark Elves, Thor carries Darcy to a cavernous room with a giant bed, which he settles her on while Jane watches an Asgardian servant change Page for her, dressing her up in a patterned silver-blue dress with stockings, matching boots and a blue cloak to keep her warm. Thor then excuses himself so the servant – and another five who appear out of nowhere – can tend to Darcy and Jane, dressing them in seemingly appropriate manner for Asgard.
"This is…interesting," Jane fiddling with the silver chest-plate they put on her, glancing at Darcy, who sleepily comments as they dress her that the only reason she isn't shouting rape is because she's lucid enough to notice the matching uniforms. Jane feels a sharp pang of guilt, knowing that Darcy is dying because of a petty punishment for calling her out. Not even Page's cute attire can cheer her up.
Eventually, after Darcy finishes getting dressed and livens up after her 'sleeping beauty phase of illness', Thor comes back inside.
"She is a beautiful child," he says as he sees Jane helping her walk.
"Thank-you," Darcy says on Jane's behalf. "Born and made in New Mexico. She's a sand snake."
"I've already told you, no Game of Thrones references are allowed," Jane says quietly, before picking Page up, settling her on her hip. Unfortunately, Page just wriggles to get down again and with a sigh, Jane lets her, back aching as she bends to help her around.
"Let me," Thor volunteers and after a moment, Jane gives Page's hands over to him. Going to sit by Darcy – who's eating a piece of fruit from a bowl beside her – Jane watches Thor happily lead Page around the room.
"Her name means 'bright sun'," Darcy says through a mouthful of fruit.
"And here I thought, a 'page' came from a book," Thor quips back.
"Hey, don't knock her name," Darcy says, "and I meant her Hebrew name. At least, that's what Jane tells me it means. It's like, the only name other than Jane's I know. Jane's name is all about thinking, by the way. Hebrew names are cool – their meanings are supposed to dictate their future, at least according to the internet. I looked it up."
Thor glances up, "Really? Tell me more."
Darcy nudges Jane. "Tell him. It's awesome."
"Maybe another time," Jane shrugs awkwardly. It's not that special… "Page Zofia. What do you think?"
"A fine name," Thor says. Darcy hums in agreement, head tilting.
"Thor's right, Jane, that is one beautiful toddler you've got there. I'm lucky to have a niece like that."
"Thanks, Darce," Jane swallows, watching Thor stop where he'd standing, even though Page keeps moving. He stares at her, hair falling past his shoulders. Page looks up after realising they aren't moving, letting go of Thor's hand to reach up, tugging a long strand of blonde, identical to her own. Bright blue eyes, Jane thinks, trepidation rising.
Thor picks Page up off the ground, holding her like she's something so fragile, staring at her.
"Page Zofia…Foster."
"Yep," Darcy nods, before laughing. "What, did you think she was mine or something crazy like that?"
"Jane," Thor starts, not going anywhere. Page keeps tugging at his hair, before moving to his face, feeling his beard and practically punching his nose. Thor takes it all without a word, a smile slowly growing all the way until his teeth are visible. "Hello Page."
"Hey!" Page exclaims, one of the few words she speaks. "Hey, hey, hey, oh, hey, oh-"
Jane feels so full of frantic energy. Standing, she makes her way over to them, getting Page's attention.
"Page, Page…this is your daddy, Thor. Can you say hi and give him a kiss?"
"Hi!" Page says happily, before pressing her face to his nose and blowing a raspberry. Thor gives a deep belly laugh and it's like there's a switch flipped as he blows a small raspberry on her cheek, hugging her. Page, used to kisses and hugs from all those Jane considers family, squeals but doesn't protest.
As this happens, the doors to the room open, admitting an older woman in an elegant dress, most of her hair bundled up on her head.
"Thor, I see you have made a new friend."
Thor grins at the woman. "Mother! You must meet her – and her mother and dearest aunt!" Thor turns to face them both and Jane looks at the woman – Thor's mother, the Queen – in horrified surprise. "Jane, Darcy – my mother, Queen Frigga."
"Oh-" Jane starts, before Darcy wolf-whistles.
"Dude, your mom is like, smoking hot for her age."
"Darcy Anne Lewis," Jane twirls to face her best friend, mortified, but Darcy only grins, winking at her. "Oh, I hate you."
"You love me, you know you do," Darcy goads, before Frigga herself laughs a little. "See! Allqueen herself finds it funny – is that right? Cause, like, old One-Eye's the Allfather, so- wait, is it Allmother?"
"Allmother, but I prefer Queen Frigga – I am only truly mother to two, after all."
"And…" Thor starts, looking to Jane in a manner that screams can I tell her? Jane glances back and forth between them before sighing and giving in to it all, nodding. "And," Thor looks to his mother, turning Page in his arms to face her, "a grandmother."
At this point, Jane doesn't really know what to expect, so she's happy to find that Thor gets his pleasant, happy demeanour from his mother, the woman gasping dramatically before tearing up. Page wriggles about as Thor adjusts her so his mother can see her. Jane watches as she comes forwards, nodding when the queen looks to her for permission to hold her. It's nerve-wracking, but so pleasing to see her daughter's other grandmother accepting her.
"Her name is Page, Page Zofia Foster." Thor says as Frigga and Page meet. "The Lady Jane is her mother and my beloved, who I have missed dearly these past two years. As it turns out, admirably, she has been raising our child without my knowledge, alone."
"I had my family," Jane interjects. "We've already had a 'why were you gone' talk. Let's not have another. It's not like Heimdall knew to tell you, either."
At that, Thor frowns, looking to her. "But how? It is true, he did not see you."
"Magic girl Calista sorted us out before we knew about the princess," Darcy puts in. "We aren't allowed to tell you. Space time continuum stuff. Not that we know much to begin with."
"A portal opened in my lab," Jane explains quickly, meeting Thor's eyes. "A girl came through and said she was a time traveller."
"Was she telling the truth?"
"…I don't know," Jane says awkwardly. "In any case, she had a paper and sort of blew like, magic dust on us both and said it would make Heimdall sees what he needs to see. Obviously, it worked, because he didn't tell you I was pregnant."
"An adaptive rune sequence," Darcy adds.
Thor and Frigga exchange a weighty glance, Page on Frigga's hip, playing with a long tug of hair. Jane has a feeling that this isn't going anywhere good.
For the record, I am always right, Jane thinks as they come face-to-face with Odin again.
"What unauthorised words have you for me now, Lady Lewis?" he questions her, but Darcy raises her hands.
"Not me. If you've got a problem with seeing us, look to your own wife, dude."
Odin does indeed look to his own wife, eyebrow rising at the sight of Page in her grip. Frigga then looks to Thor, who looks to Jane. Everyone looks to Jane.
Sighing, Jane looks to Odin and tiredly explains. "Your Majesty, you're a grandfather." Odin looks straight to Page. Nothing gets past him, does it? "Also, someone who claimed to be a time traveller visited us – Darcy and I – before I knew I was pregnant and used something she called an adaptive rune sequence to hide us from Heimdall."
"…what is her name?"
"Page Foster."
"Her real name," Odin glares lightly at Jane, who frowns deeply, suddenly thinking of literature – of magic and the power in knowing a name.
"I'm not telling you."
"I order you to," he says and Jane narrows her eyes, stepping closer to him, standing right in his face, slapping back Thor's hand.
"Jane-"
"No, Thor." She says without looking at him, glaring at the King of Asgard, faces less than two feet away from each other, hoping she has this right. "I will not tell you my daughter's name. You have to earn it. You said you knew very well who I was, but you don't, do you? Doctor Jane Foster – except I just told you my daughter was called Page and you didn't believe me. You must have known."
"Your name is hidden, as is hers," Odin snaps. Jane grins victoriously. Whatever magic really is, I am really enjoying finding out its limits.
"Good. Until you become part of my family – not I becoming part of yours – you will not know her name, because my name means something and it defines who I am. The same can be said for my daughter. If you want it, you'll have to wait for it."
Jane has won this battle.
Odin knows it.
He breathes in deeply, his chest expanding, before he nods and steps back, bowing shortly. "Lady Jane."
"Your Majesty," Jane replies, looking to Thor and finding him staring at her in wonder. "Learn some Hebrew. Obviously, it's important for some reason to your dad. You already know what Page's Hebrew name means. Maybe I won't ever have to tell you myself if- if you do. Learn Hebrew, that is." She pauses, swallowing, before speaking firmly. "Don't tell anyone. Names are…power, I suppose, here. Don't tell anyone."
"I will never," he swears, before his hand snakes around her waist and he pulls her in. Jane reaches up, their lips connecting after little over two years apart. Jane hears Darcy whooping softly, clapping, wishing out loud that she has popcorn or rice to throw. When they part, Jane looks over at her friend seriously.
"If – if – Thor and I ever get married, you are not throwing rice at us."
"But it's tradition!"
"No, some people clap and cheer like normal people, some people who watch their friends get married in a church who throw rice gently and then there are people like you, who throw rice trying to get it down the bride's dress and in the grooms face."
Darcy's expression twists into one of offence, "Excuse me, I would never try to throw rice down your cleavage! You don't have cleavage!"
"I assure you," Thor says amusedly, "she very much does."
"Ugh, no, no, not listening to that. No sex talk when your parents are literally less than two metres away." Darcy wrinkles her nose. Janes flushes immediately, hiding her face. Even Thor looks a little abashed. "But in the interest of finishing the rice discussion, I still wouldn't. I'm going to be the person who sees someone doing that and punches them in the face."
Jane's heart softens, even though, under no circumstances would she ever allow rice at her wedding. "Really?"
"Totally," Darcy confirms, before stepping forwards, bringing her arms around both Thor and Jane. "Group-hug." Thor actively participates in the group-hug, looking very happy to do so, before Darcy pulls away and looks at Odin. "Hey, any chance I could like, do a proper political internship here? Like, having 'interned in the court of Asgard' would be pretty good on my resume and like, I have trust fund kids who someone passed the psych test to compete against."
Surprisingly, Odin is receptive to the idea, talking terms with her. Jane watches them haggle, leaning against Thor, feeling pretty proud of Darcy. At some point, her gaze drifts to Frigga, who is entertaining Page with a little magic lightshow. In her head, she spins theories about magic. Is it like the quantum field generator? Does she have some form of mental link with an unknown technology to produce this 'magic'? Or are Asgardians simply so advanced that their technology is inherit in the biology of their species?
Eventually, she's drawn out of her headspace by Darcy, who recognised the fact that she was in Science! mode.
"Can we officially wrap up my internship with you then, boss lady? Because I think it's illegal to intern at two different places at once."
"I'll be sad to see you go."
"Jane," Darcy rolls her eyes, "I'm your best friend. I have literally mastered Jane Fosterisms. You'll never be able to replace me. Anyway, you can have an actual science intern, like Ian."
"You're right. You're irreplaceable."
(Fifteen years from now, everyone in the UN will know the Lady Darcy Lewis, Official Ambassador for Terra. When they hear her name, it'll be to a tidal-wave of fear that puts them on edge the entire session. This is the person on good terms with the King of the Nine Realms. This is the Allfather's protégé and the Allmother's favourite living courtier. This is the person who finally made the world get their act together and introduced them to the universe.
But for now, she's just Darcy – who makes Jane roll her eyes ten times a day and lives on caffeine. That last part won't ever really change and in fifteen years, Jane will be immune to the signature Lewis Family Snark.)
When Malekith attacks, Jane, Frigga and Page retreat to safety while Odin takes charge of Darcy. Thor is already in the dungeons dealing with the attack from the inside. It terrifies Jane to see her friend – her infected, dying friend – going in the opposite direction, but apparently apprenticeship in Asgard includes a bond closer than blood.
Odin will not let Darcy die, nor let the Aether be taken.
"What we need is for someone to help fix this," Frigga says, when they find their way to a broken room. "These are the defences of Asgard, a magic more powerful than I can wield…alone."
"So, what? You need another, what? Sorcerer?"
"What I need, is the High Sorcerer of Asgard."
Jane waits until Frigga lowers the yellow prison wall to slap the smirk off of Loki's smug face.
"That was for New York."
"You will not leave my side," Frigga states.
"Of course, Mother – never." Loki smiles, until Frigga continues.
"Unless the life of my granddaughter becomes threatened. Then, you will protect her to your dying breath and her mother by proxy. Do you understand, Loki?"
Loki's grin disappears. "What?"
"This is Page," Jane introduces them in a bitter voice. "Unfortunately, you're her uncle." But as much as she hates Loki, after learning what had happened in New York, she can't help but approve of the way his eyes settle on Page, face morphing into one of stunned surprise and then defensive succour.
"I will protect my niece and her mother till my dying breath, my Queen," he promises Frigga lowly, before taking the knife she offers, stalking forwards to the exit.
Loki is calculating steel. What enemies they face – stragglers escaping the prison, Dark Elves in pale masks – he decimates. Frigga only ever has to involve herself when their enemies number over eight and they get around Loki's defence to the three of them. To be quite honest, Page's tired cries probably attract more bad guys than they might have faced without her being there.
Eventually, they find themselves back in the broken room, whereupon Frigga gives Jane her sword. Loki waves his hand, the doors slamming shut and barring themselves, circular locks twisting into place.
"Stay back," Loki advises her as he and his mother turn to the broken defences. Together, they make tiny golden runes light up, float into the air and begin to spin. The act itself looks like it strains Frigga, but Loki is in his element, basking in the golden light the runes give off. Eventually, they spin so fast that they move outwards, forming a sphere. Frigga drops to her knees and Jane rushes over to her, holding her up as well as she can while still holding Page. "Sister," Loki calls. "Jane."
"What?" Jane looks up at him, afraid for Frigga, who seems so drained by this all.
"We can only hold the defences together for so long. There is no anchor point. My mother will eventually lose control and fall into a regenerative sleep – faint dead away, as you might call it. Then it will be up to me and I will have to draw power from what magics I have wrought around the palace throughout my life. The first to go will be the protection on those doors behind us."
Jane blanches, looking over to them, hearing gunfire, the doors shuddering. "What do we do?"
"I made a secret passage, many years ago. That pillar over there will open, but only with my blood. It will lead to the Garden of Iðunn. When there, find the golden tree and take an apple from its boughs – give my mother half and no more than half."
"Alright, okay," Jane says, before Frigga surges from her grip, taking her sword back and slicing the palm of Loki's hand. He doesn't make a sound. "Oh my."
"Come," Frigga breathes heavily, taking Jane's free hand and leading her to the pillar Loki had pointed to. Jane looks back at him as Frigga wipes the blooded sword on the stone, seeing Loki shimmer and ripple, before his skin turns blue and transparent, his eyes red. Their gazes meet for a brief second and Jane thinks, he lied. The first thing to go isn't the door. It's his glamour.
It only makes sense the beings Thor called frost giants are made of ice.
Frigga leads her into the now-hollow pillar and once they're inside, everything goes dark, before they tumble out of an alcove onto grass. The air smells like smoke and Jane has barely a moment to process the change in surroundings before Frigga faints.
"Frigga!" she exclaims, before looking around for 'the golden tree'. In her mind, something about this nags at her – the Garden of Iðunn. Why is that so familiar? Hauling Frigga up, Page crying in her sling, Jane begins dragging the older woman as gently but as quickly as she can across the grass, going towards the centre of the garden- or rather, the orchard.
Trees bearing so many different fruits and flowers surround her. Jane can't even name them all. However, in the centre of them all is a tree with golden bark, golden leaves and golden fruit. Golden apples of Iðunn, Jane thinks, dragging Frigga's prone body over, wincing as her head lolls and Page gets bumped
"I'm sorry," she whispers, before it finally occurs to her that Erik was the one to tell her about Iðunn – keeper of the golden apples of immortality. "Oh. But…but what are they really?" Jane questions as she finishes dragging Frigga across the grass. Once they pass the circular cobble path round the tree, there's a flash of yellow that startles Jane.
"Do not fear," comes a voice. Jane twists her head around and sees a blonde woman who looks strangely like Michelle Pfeiffer, but with a squarer jaw. "I am Iðunn. Let me see her."
"Loki said to pick an apple for her and give her half," Jane says, laying Frigga down gently as Iðunn comes over, crouching by the queen and twisting a lock of hair behind her ear. "Is that right to do? Okay?"
"Perfectly fine. Half an apple will be enough to replenish her magical stores and heal her of any maladies present. Take an apple from my tree."
Jane hesitates, but gets up. She said it's fine, Jane thinks, reaching up and twisting an apple from a branch. It warms in her hand and Jane purses her lips, holding it out of Page's reach as she grabs for it.
"No," she says to her, before handing the apple to Iðunn. Quicker than Jane thinks possible, Iðunn slices it in half with a knife before squeezing one half to pulp in her hand, holding open Frigga's mouth so the juice can run into her mouth.
"My apples are cursed," Iðunn says, throwing the pulpy apple to the ground. Once it leaves her hand, it begins to decompose, turning black and shrinking until it's less than dust. "The juice is the cure, my elixir of life, but the fruit is the poison. Keep that to yourself, Yochana."
Jane's eyes widen abruptly at the use of her name, before she finds herself nodding and saying, "I'll keep it a secret." Almost immediately, she puts a hand to her mouth, horrified. "What did you do to me?"
"You were right not to tell Odin your name," Iðunn says lowly, before taking a handkerchief from her sleeve, wiping Frigga's face. "Come kneel by me, Yochana."
"Please call me Jane," Jane says with a grimace as she finds herself kneeling beside Iðunn.
"Call me Ahava." Iðunn instead offers and as Jane thinks her name, she finds herself bombarded with who Iðunn is – love, a river on whose banks Ezra assembled the Jews to prepare them spiritually for their journey out of Babylonian captivity back to Jerusalem. Iðunn is an ever-flowing companion, both a guide and a passage to eternity. In Jane's mind, she makes so much more sense suddenly, even as Jane herself wonders at the fact that names do have power here, in Asgard. Iðunn is the guardian of immortality and eternal youth, of life itself and she loves her disciples, her people.
Ahava is a name that if Jane uses correctly, could allow her to control Iðunn of Asgard, to make her do Jane's bidding and serve her-
"No!" Jane gasps at the realisation, denying it, holding Page to her body and feeling her daughter's warmth. She looks up as a black ship zooms with a loud buzz from a balcony into the golden defences of the palace. It explodes, two figures jumping from it at last minute, shot even faster as the explosion rings out. A red light emanates from one of them, like liquid floating around them and Jane makes the terrible realisation that it's the Aether. "No, Malekith- Darcy-"
"She is still yet alive," Iðunn says, hand running down her shoulder. "As thanks, for saving the Allmother, I offer you half an apple. I cannot offer you immortality, but I can still at least prolong your lifetime long enough so that Thor might become King and allow the first mortal in over three thousand years to drink a full dram of life." She squeezes the remaining apple half to juice and Jane makes a split-second decision as the precious liquid drips onto the grass, nodding.
Iðunn is quick to the mark and to Jane, it tastes so much of sugar and sweetness that she shudders. It trickles down her throat and when Iðunn throws away the pulp to rot and disappear, Jane feels a surging in her skin, from her heart reaching through her torso, arms and legs to the tips of her toes and fingers.
"Thank-you," she gets out after it fades, but before Iðunn smiles.
"It was nothing. Frigga will wake momentarily." And then she disappears, right in front of her eyes.
Frigga blinks awake, looking at Jane and smiling softly. "You passed her test. Well done, daughter."
"Test?"
Frigga sits up, but doesn't answer Jane's question, getting to her feet and pulling Jane up, too. "This is where we leave Page in safety, Jane."
"Leave her?" Jane questions, stepping back.
"It is safe here. All the children in the palace are in the Garden, can't you see them?"
Jane goes to say there aren't children there, but she stops as she does see them, hear them and feel them as one brushes past her, touching her elbow. Jane twists, speechless, looking around in wonder. There are dozens of them and she can see babies in bassinets near a plum tree, tended to by their mothers and siblings.
"I would leave you here with Page, but I have a feeling you wish to go to your friend, the Lady Darcy who Apprentices under my husband."
"…yes," Jane says, swallowing. A woman in servant's garb comes up to them and Frigga introduces her as Nani.
"I will defend the princess with my life," Nani says, before Jane tentatively hands her daughter over.
"She likes kisses and raspberries and she still needs to be held up by her hands when she walks," Jane advises, feeling bare and nervous at the sight of her daughter in a stranger's grasp. She wants Page back in her arms. Give her back, Jane thinks at the woman, before Frigga gently takes her hand, leading her away. They're on the other side of the Garden when she hears Page calling out for her.
"I can't-" Jane starts upon hearing it, before Frigga pulls her out of the Garden through an archway onto a stone path. Jane looks back, gasping upon seeing no archway whatsoever, despite having just passed through it. "How do we get back in?"
"We don't, not unless we can find another of Loki's pathways. My clever son – sometimes too clever," Frigga says. They walk down the path, but when they turn the corner into a square, they can see Thor, Odin, Sif and the Warriors Three fighting two beings. One is monstrous, a beastly fighting with horns and a thick hide while the other, a Dark Elf, wields the Aether. "Malekith. We must find another way around-"
"Darcy!" Jane exclaims, seeing her on the other side of the fight, arm pressed to her chest, blood all over her beautiful purple dress. "What happened to her?"
"We must go," Frigga tries to pull Jane away, but then there's a giant explosion – the defensive shield of Asgard blowing up and disappearing in a globe of green fire.
"Loki," Jane murmurs. The explosion makes the battle in the courtyard pause, however and Malekith takes advantage of the distraction, using the Aether to slam the Asgardian fighters around him back. Together, he and his horned companion rush out of the area, jumping off a ledge past where the barrier had been, landing on one of the Dark Elf fighter ships that swings around, just in the nick of time.
Thor gets up, throwing his hammer, but the ship disappears. Jane rushes across the courtyard to Darcy as Mjolnir comes flying back to his hand.
"Where is Page?" Thor questions after his daughter as Jane stops in front of Darcy, not sure where to put her hands.
"Safe," Frigga says, still staring up at the sky. "Loki has fallen."
"You released him." Odin grumbles.
"The defences needed to be raised," Frigga snaps at her husband, who huffs before coming to Darcy's side.
"I've not had a very good day," Darcy says to Jane weakly, before pointing to her arm that-that… "Norse Minotaur cut off my hand when Thor tried to pull me out of Malekith's grasp. He's got the red juice."
"I'm so sorry," Jane cries, hand going over her mouth.
"Nothing a Stark prosthetic can't replace. I've got connections, I'll be fine."
"What kind of connections gets you a prosthetic?" Jane questions as Odin picks up her friend, swinging her into a cradle like Thor had only a few hours earlier – how long had it actually been? It can't have been less time than that.
"My mom's cousin is Pepper Potts' mom. It's really awkward at Thanksgiving, because I like, totally idolise her. I once dreamed about being her PA, but I can do better than PA jobs with my pretty little Masters degree. I'm still so fucking proud of myself for that."
"I would advise resting," Odin interrupts. "Eir shall see to your arm, though I fear it will not be able to be reattached, considering the Kursed Dark Elf's poison blade. Where is my granddaughter?"
"In the Garden of Iðunn," Jane answers.
"Good," Odin says, "I would recommend you join her."
"She's safe there. I'm not leaving Darcy," Jane insists, barely believing what's coming out of her own mouth. Darcy looks at her in slight awe.
"You really care that much about me, Janey?"
"Of course I do, Darcy," Jane says to her quietly. "We eat ice-cream together and complain about Thor."
"Excuse me-"
"We're mayflies, lightning-bro," Darcy interrupts Thor's miffed beginning. "Two years is a long time. I'm never going to let you forget that. Ever. It's what sisters do."
Odin eventually takes Darcy to the Halls of Healing, Jane on his tail while the Warriors Three inspect the palace, guards and other defences. Thor, Frigga and Sif go to the broken chamber to find Loki. They arrive with him less than twenty minutes after Darcy gets set down to be inspected by Eir's apprentices. Jane watches Thor set his brother down, red cloak around him, preventing Loki's icy form from completely giving him frostbite – but Thor still has blue arms and fingers, when he lets go of him.
The sunlight streaming through the windows lets Jane see the steam rising off him. He's melting in the sun. Luckily, Eir herself seems to notice this, bringing dark curtains around him, hiding him from sight. Thor and Frigga disappear behind it, as well, leaving Sif to guard them.
"Lady Sif," Odin addresses her. "It is to my understanding that your relationship with the Lady Sigyn is…close."
Sif swallows, standing straighter. "By the laws of Vanaheim, she is my wife, Your Majesty."
Oh, Jane blinks in surprise for two reasons. The first, that Sif is only married to her own wife on Vanaheim and not Asgard and the second, because by that logic, Asgard doesn't accept same-sex couples. I hope Thor isn't homophobic. Jane loves Thor – she actually, really does – but if he keeps those views…I love my mothers more. I would choose them.
"I require a favour of her. If this favour is granted, I will grant you both lenience in matters such as attending court together."
Sif's eyes widen. "What is the favour, Your Majesty?"
"An arm, the finest she can produce in her forge, for my apprentice."
To be honest, Jane isn't sure whether to be more surprised at the progression in Asgardian LGBT rights or the fact that Odin is placing Darcy above disregarding them.
"It will be done, Your Majesty."
"By sundown," Odin adds, before flicking his hand. Above Darcy's body, another quantum field generated image appears, before miniaturising and zooming down to slam against a square disk by Darcy's bedside. Odin picks it up and chucks it to Sif, who makes sure to catch it. "You are excused to carry out this task, Lady Sif."
"Your Majesty," Sif hurriedly bows her head before literally running out the Halls of Healing, template gripped in her hand tightly.
In the end, they return to Earth. Well, Jane returns to Earth because she has the sudden realisation that the only reason Darcy ever found the Aether in the first place was because Erik asked Jane to come to London. Luckily, when she – and Thor – go to her mothers' flat, Erik is there, having been picked up by Ian.
"I saw him on the telly, heard what he was talking about," Ian says nervously. "Sounded like he might know what the hell's going on."
"It is the Convergence," Thor says, before Erik laughs and agrees, talking about all the signs. Jane listens to him and once she gets the gist, interrupts to explain the entire situation. Upon hearing that Darcy has lost an arm and somehow become the political apprentice of Odin Allfather, Erik loses some of his enthusiasm.
"Bright girl. Knows nothing about science, but bright, very bright…so, this Malekith, eh? Should we call the Avengers?"
"I rather think my comrades are not suited to face this enemy, my friend, unfortunate as it is. Even my own father and I working together as a team could not prevail in battle."
"That doesn't sound good," Ian notes.
"Yeah," Jane nods, before Ian frowns.
"Where's Page then, in all this? With Darcy?"
"My daughter is in safe hands," Thor says, before pursing his lips. "Darcy said she had a vision, before Malekith took the Aether from her. Midgard. Malekith would come here, where the Nine Realms meet-"
"-amplifying the weapon's impact." Erik finishes, before continuing. "For each additional world, the power will increase exponentially. The effect would be universal."
"Yes, but the alignment is only temporary. He must be in exactly the right place at the right time."
"Where's that going to be, then?" Ian questions.
"We follow the directions." Erik replies, before getting a map and clearing a table. Everyone gathers around as he draws, using a ruler and pen to map it all out. "This has happened before, thousands of years ago, and the Ancients were there to see it. All the great constructions, the Mayans, the Chinese, the Egyptians. They made use of the gravitational effects of the Convergence. And they left us a map. Stonehenge, Snowden, the Great Orme. These are all coordinates taking us…" the lines intersect. "Here."
"Greenwich?"
"The walls between worlds will be almost non-existent." Jane thinks out loud, shaking her head. "Physics is going to go ballistic. Increases and decreases in gravity, spatial extrusions…the very fabric of reality is going to be torn apart. Tomorrow. This will all happen…tomorrow."
"Indeed," Thor says lowly. "If I may, it would be wise to evacuate the area."
"We can't exactly issue an…alert…" Jane twists around, looking for Darcy's bag. She sees it on the table and moves, riling through it, finding a plain white card with a phone number amongst a myriad of other plain white cards, A.i-T written beneath it. Going to the landline, Jane calls the number. It rings for ages, before she clearly gets hung up on. Jane dials again, used to being hung up on – until New York, she was the crazy astrophysicist, after all.
Eventually, it clicks through. "Who is this and how do you have this number?"
"This is Doctor Jane Foster. You gave your number to Darcy. Her cell phone is in Asgard at the moment and so is she, without an arm. I need Greenwich to be evacuated."
"Asgard? No- start from the beginning."
"It's a long story."
"Well, get me up to speed then. Just give me a minute, so I can have my team listen in."
"Thanks," Jane says, waiting, speaker moving to her neck. Looking back at her audience, Jane shrugs. "Darcy has friends everywhere. Her network is kind of scary."
"You can say that again."
"Who are you calling?" Erik questions. "SHIELD?"
"Yeah," Jane shrugs again. "She doesn't talk to a lot of people about her friends. I'm special. This one, I've met though. So have you, Thor."
"I have?" Thor questions, before Agent iPod-Thief speaks in an urgent manner.
"Do not tell him who I am. He thinks I'm dead."
Jane frowns, looking away from her significant other for the moment, whispering. "Why does he think you're dead?"
"Call it Nick Fury's insurance policy. He owes me mint-condition Captain America trading cards – sorry, Skye. It's an emergency." The line clicks, before the agent speaks again. "You're on speaker."
"Great, thanks," Jane says, turning again to lean against the wall by the phone hook. "My name is Doctor Jane Foster. I'm an astrophysicist studying the Einstein-Rosen Bridge."
"The what?" questions a girl, before another – more enthusiastic and British – responds for Jane.
"It's a wormhole, like that one in the sky over New York! Dr Foster is one of the pioneering scientists in the field. She met Thor in the New Mexico Incident – Agent Coulson was there, weren't you, sir?"
"Yes. Thor broke into our base trying to receive the research we'd borrowed from Dr Foster regarding the event which led to Thor being dropped down to Earth."
"You stole my research. Thor was getting it back for me," Jane feels inclined to correct him. "You also took Darcy's iPod, which she never got back."
"Miss Lewis was fully compensated."
"I was the one who had to deal with her whining for the full year after, while pregnant. Compensate me, please."
"Can we get back to the situation at hand? Why are you calling us?" a new female voice starts, sounding vaguely professional and most definitely annoyed; and tired, Jane can hear it in her voice.
"Five thousand years ago, each of the realms aligned. A guy called Malekith tried to delete all the starts and basically kill the universe, so everything could be dark again, using the power of this…device. Anyway, Odin's father defeated him, confiscated the device and now, five thousand years later, the alignment is happening again. The point where the Convergence takes place is in Greenwich, London. Physics is going to go haywire and Malekith is going to show up there to destroy the universe."
"Wait, what? I thought you just said this Malekith guy was defeated?" another new voice starts, a man this time.
"Sort of. He sacrificed his armies so he could run away. The Aether, uh…" Jane trails off, biting her lip. There's a lengthy pause, before Coulson sighs deeply.
"You touched something, didn't you?"
"It wasn't me," Jane immediately replies. "It was Darcy. She got infected, the Aether used her as a host to get out of its prison. It's kind of sentient. Thor showed up and took us to Asgard and Malekith managed to wreck Asgard's defences. Things weren't good. We even had to let Loki out of his cell to help us – he's in a coma, now, or something. He wasn't doing too well. The Queen nearly died, as well."
"Shit," the first girl says, before the other girl – the enthusiastic one – questions Jane.
"What do you need us to do, Dr Foster?"
"I need Greenwich evacuated, before Malekith arrives and before the Convergence nears its peak. There are already portals in London, all around – it's how Darcy was transported away. Greenwich is the epicentre."
"At the Old Royal Navy College, most likely."
"The Old Royal Navy College, in Greenwich, is most likely the epicentre, apparently." Jane glances at Erik, raising her eyebrows. He raises a magnifying glass up for her to see.
"So, what you're saying is you need us to do the grunt work while you deal with this Malekith?" the tired professional woman questions. "What have you got there, an army from Asgard?"
"Just Thor," Jane says, "We just need to stop Malekith from using the Aether during the Convergence. That's our main goal. After…after, we'll figure something out." An idea sparks in her brain. "Hey, wait, you – the one who knew who I was – who are you?"
"Doctor Jemma Simmons, Doctor Foster. I'm a bio-chemist."
"You're a SHIELD team, who's your engineering?" Jane questions.
"Uh, that would be me. Sorry. Fitz. My name's Fitz," a nervous Scottish boy starts. "What do you need?"
"A containment module. The Aether needs something to go in, if we can get it out of Malekith, at least until we can lock it away properly with Asgardian tech. It's fascinating, really. Their hospitals make use of quantum field generators-"
"Shut up," he says, in awe.
Jane grins. "I know! It's amazing and I think that their 'magic' must be some form of biological or mental control of energy or matter-"
"Doctor Foster, you're getting off-track. So you want us to make a sealed container for this 'Aether' and evacuate Greenwich for the next, what, day?"
"It'll probably become a bit damaged," Jane says apologetically. "They were in a space-craft, the last we saw them, as tall as the Eiffel Tower. The smaller versions can easily break through ten-foot pillars without taking much damage."
"Right. How big does this container need to be?"
"Enough to contain something about…" Jane thinks of what she saw of the Aether, flying out of Malekith to hit Thor and Odin, floating around him. "Six hundred galleons? A bit less? It's…weird. It sort of floats in the air like oil on water. It needs a sucking mechanism."
"By tomorrow?" Fitz questions, groaning. "Simmons, I'm going to need your help."
"Of course, Fitz. We should get started, so we can have it finished by tomorrow. What time of day do you need it by, Doctor Foster?"
Jane looks to Erik, "When should the Convergence finish?"
"Approximately five o'clock in the afternoon. Twenty past five, or thereabouts. Or two pm."
"Right, got it," Jane returns to the phone call. "Either two o'clock or five."
"Let's go for noon," Fitz says.
"Got it," Simmons replies.
"You're excused," Coulson tells them, before picking the phone up. There's a short beep. "Thank-you for the heads up, Doctor Foster. We'll see you tomorrow."
"Try not to get caught up in it all," Jane says, before hanging up. She looks to Thor. "We're good."
"Good," Erik says, before blinking rapidly. "Sleep. I think we all need some sleep. You should get some, tonight, at least, Jane, what with no screaming child." Erik plods off to his room, just as the front door opens, admitting Jane's mothers chatting in tegnspråk. Upon seeing Thor and Ian – or maybe just upon seeing Thor – both Cristina and Joelle stop in place.
"Jane, who are your friends?" her Matka questions in Polish, just as her Mama signs 'who the hell are the blonde men?'
"Matka, Mama, meet my new intern, Ian," Jane signs as she talks, before motioning Ian forwards. As he walks, he grabs a backpack from beside the sofa.
"I'm just leaving. Going home. Sorry – I'll see you both tomorrow at the college," Ian says, waving awkwardly before neatly dodging a bullet, manoeuvring around Cristina and Joelle out of the door. Jane is then left with the awkward moment of introducing Thor to her parents…without Page as a shield. I shouldn't have left her on Asgard.
"Jane," Cristina says sharply, switching to English. "Who is the strange, unnamed man in our apartment?"
"I am Thor," Thor introduces himself, stepping forwards to take Cristina's hand, bending to kiss it. Joelle snorts, signing, 'he has better manners than the last one.' "Who might you both be? Friends of Jane's?"
"Her mothers," Cristina says, slightly flummoxed. Thor's eyes widen, before he smiles.
"I have long wanted to meet you both! Has Jane told you of how we met?"
"How you met…" Cristina copies, before narrowing her eyes, signing to Joelle obviously. 'No. You made a mistake. He is the last one.' "Excuse us," Cristina says to him coldly, before signing to Jane angrily. 'Kitchen. Now.'
Jane winces, watching her mothers walk through the apartment, Thor frowning as they walk past him. "Thor, my mothers think you abandoned me and Page-"
"Jane!" Cristina calls for her.
"Go to them," Thor says solemnly, looking away. Jane swallows, hesitating. She glances at her waiting mothers before going forwards, reaching up to his face and directing it towards hers. "They want to speak to you."
"I love you," Jane replies in a breath, so her Matka can't hear. Thor's solemn look brightens slightly, before he kisses her. Jane kisses him back shortly, running her hand down his neck before pulling away, going to the kitchen where her mothers wait. Once there, her Mama signs 'You have puppy eyes when you look at him up close.'
'Shush,' Jane signs back. 'A lot of things have happened. After he first left, the B-I-F-R-O-S-T wormhole was destroyed and there was a lot of alien fighting. Rebellion. War. T-H-O-R is a prince. He was assigned to go stop it. King O-D-I-N banned him from coming to Earth.'
'Well that is shit,' Mama Joelle replies. 'Does he know our names? That I am deaf? Does he only speak English?'
'I don't know.'
'Go find out, then,' her Matka interjects. 'Silly little girl who calls herself a scientist. Gather information. Learn more about your loved one. Is he space Jewish?'
Jane snorts with laughter. 'I doubt he is space Jewish. I promise to ask, however. Will you come meet him, now?'
'Yes,' Mama Joelle says, linking arms with Jane and leading her towards Thor again. 'Where is P-A-G-E?'
'On another planet. A-S-G-A-R-D.'
Joelle's eyebrows rise up, before they stop in front of Thor. Thor then bows deeply.
"Madam Foster."
"Her name is Joelle – Joelle Selvig. I call her Mama Joelle. I get the Foster from my other mother, my Matka Cristina," Jane says, signing what she says for her mama's benefit. "My mama is deaf. She's hear. Do you know Norwegian sign language, tegnspråk? I'm using it right now, so she can understand our conversation."
Thor glances at Jane's hand. "It is…familiar. I can understand the barest of words. It has evolved much in a thousand years." Thor bows again, nodding his head. "It is an honour to meet you, Lady Joelle."
'Thank-you, handsome,' Joelle replies after Jane finishes translating.
"She says, thanks."
"She says, thank-you handsome," Cristina corrects. "Jane is a prude," she says, coming forwards. Thor raises an amused eyebrow at Jane, who briefly glares at her matka. "I am a lesbian, so I don't see it, unlike my wife. Do you have bisexuality on…Asgard?"
"It has become less ostracised," Thor says, inclining his head. "The common folk may do as they wish, though those of more established prestige encounter hazards. My dearest friend, the Lady Sif, is married to her beloved, the Lady Sigyn on a foreign world, yet not her own."
"You'd think that long-lived aliens would be past all that," Cristina says, before stepping forwards and reaching up, taking his face in her hands. She inspects him, before patting him gently. "Page takes after you both well. Do you look like your mother?"
"I have her hair," Thor says. "It an honour to meet you, Lady Cristina."
"Shush, call me Matka," Cristina steps back, waving him off as she makes her way back to the kitchen. "Jane, ask your mama if she wants a salad for lunch tomorrow or chicken."
"Yes, matka," Jane asks, getting a huff from Joelle, who signs to Jane quickly before heading over to talk furiously at her significant other about having eaten both salad and chicken day in and day out for weeks now and how she would like to have rice instead. "Mama says to call her mama, as well."
"They approve of me?" Thor questions quietly.
"I don't know. You have a pretty damn good excuse, to be fair." Jane comes close to him again, revelling in the fact that they're together again. Her eyes shut as their foreheads collide and it just feels so- so completing to have him by her side. "I miss Page," she says though.
"Aye. But we shall see her again soon."
"Unless the world goes dark," Jane feels the gentle press of his lips on hers and reciprocates slowly, eyes fluttering open when he pulls out of her grasp.
"We shall see her again soon," he repeats and Jane believes him.
(The happy family reunion will be two days later, when Thor brings Jane and her mothers to Asgard. Asgard is still smoking in places and Loki is handcuffed to his bed in the Halls of Healing, but the universe is safe with Malekith defeated for good and the Aether locked away in the Jigsleosaw, Leo Fitz's compact vacuum box that is a far better at keeping the Aether inside than the container Odin was to have forged. Instead, the Jigsleosaw is stuck inside another box, made to skew and distort the frequency the Aether puts out, to keep it from being found.
It is still given to the Collector for safe-keeping.)