Somewhere In The Midst

By Serena

Summary: Jane plays matchmaker with the Avengers. However, she's got her own issues - like a flirty neighbor after Thor, and that little thing called being very pregnant.

A/N: I've decided to continue this story arc of "Somewhere In Between," "Somewhere In The Middle," and "Somewhere In The End." I highly recommend reading these in order if you want them to make complete sense. If you want a background of why Thor plays DDR, read Somewhere in Between.

NOTE!: THIS IS MY 100TH FANFICTION!

WARNING: The characters will probably be out of character... this story is a little random.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

NOTE: My YA sci-fi mermaid novel OCEAN OF EMPTINESS is available on: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple iBookstore for $0.99. Please see my profile for direct links to these sites.

Here's a short summary of OCEAN:

What do you get when you cross a runaway rich kid, a space mermaid, and a stuck-up teen commander with a bunch of pirates in space? ABSOLUTE CHAOS. Throw in a little hint of romance, a few starship battles, and a lot of yelling, and you've got yourself an intergalactic tale. Think Star Wars meets Little Mermaid meets Treasure Planet.

Also, if you'd like to be a fan of me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, links are on my profile as well, as well as a link to my Deviantart page.

"My love?"

"Yes, honey?"

"We have to talk about this."

I sighed. "I know."

"You can't keep putting it off."

"I know."

"They keep pestering me about the answer, and I'll have to give it to them sooner or later."

"It could be later," I muttered, flipping another "page" in my iPad.

"Dearest," my husband warned.

I sighed again and leaned my head back. Where it should've touched the headboard, instead was cradled by a muscular, warm arm of my husband, the thunder god and Avenger Thor. Soon to be daddy Thor. My very sexy husband Thor. Who hadn't had a real wife in a month since she was now the size of a whale.

"I don't want to hurt any of them," I whined. "They're family. They're all my brothers. Tony being the very annoying older brother, but brothers nonetheless."

"They'll find out eventually."

"I know," I groaned, rubbing my eyes.

Thor drew even closer up beside me in our bed, wrapping that arm around my shoulders. I rested my head against his shoulder, and our hands entwined. For some reason, he liked to play with my fingers. I didn't mind...

"So?" he rumbled.

"So?"

He tickled my side, and I giggled. "Don't keep procrastinating, Jane."

"Fine, fine," I muttered.

"You already know who you want," Thor said knowingly. "You just haven't told me yet."

"Yes, well..." I looked down at our hands. "The thing is... Tony and Pepper will be great parents. Tony would be able to take care of our baby with no problems whatsoever. But..."

"His attitude."

"Don't get me wrong, I love him to death. I trust him with my life. But he can be a little... off the wall sometimes."

"I know."

"But then again, you can too."

"What?" he squawked.

"Mr. War Dance of Revolution," I teased, poking him in the side.

"Yes, well..." he grumbled. "That's different."

"Mmm-hmm." I leaned into him, placing my free hand on my huge, swollen stomach. "I know who I want... but what about you? Any thoughts?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"What about Loki?" I demanded suddenly. "Haven't you two made up already?"

"Hardly," muttered Thor.

"Honey, he's over here every week for dinner and DDR," I said, exasperated.

"Yes, well," he fumbled, "That doesn't mean I want him to be the godfather of my child."

"Okay... fine. Let's both say who we want at the same time."

"Deal," he said, grinning in that way that made me melt every time.

"On three. One... two... three."

"Steve," we said together.

My eyes widened. "Really? You too?"

He nodded. "I was hoping you would think the same."

"I do... but seriously, honey, Loki's going to be devastated. Couldn't we make him a partial godfather in some way? He's really turning a new leaf."

"You like him too much," Thor muttered darkly. "You don't know what he's capable of."

"Honey, if he really wanted to harm us, he'd have attacked you instead of playing DDR that night, and he could've taken me and the baby a long time ago. I think you need to stop being such a grumpy-grump." I poked him again.

He caught my hand and brought it to his lips. Then, his eyes got that dark, stormy look that always made me very weak at the knees. Thankfully I was already lying down. He kissed my palm, then each of my fingers. My cheeks flushed, and he smiled wickedly. Leaning forward, he bent down and captured my lips with his. As I moaned and brought my arms around his neck, then trailing down his bare chest, one of his hands gently cradled my stomach.

"The baby," I muttered against his mouth.

He sighed, nuzzled my nose with his. "I know." He leaned down and pressed his lips to my belly.

"You be good to your mother, my son," he muttered. "And don't ever listen to your Uncle Tony."

I laughed, brimming with happiness. "We still don't know if it's a boy or girl, sweetie."

"It's a boy. I just know."

"We'll see," I said, running my hands through his thick blond hair.

But when I thought of Steve, and our wish for him to be our baby's godfather... I wanted Steve to have the same happiness as Thor and I did. Come to think of it, I think Clint was single, too. Maybe I could do something about that...

But then my husband kissed me again, and I thought nothing at all.

A week after Thor and I had agreed on Steve being our child's godfather, I decided to put Operation Matchmaker into action. While Thor and the Avengers were away helping some group called the Fantastic Four out in New York City, I invited over a couple friends that I'd met in S.H.I.E.L.D. to come over for a girls' day. Sharon Carter and Barbara "Bobbi" Morse were both secret agents. While Sharon was fairly new to the job, Bobbi had been doing this since she was eighteen, and had dubbed herself the "big sister" of the group. I argued the fact since I was currently the only one married and pregnant.

Anyhow, when I heard the doorbell ring, I waddled over in yoga leggins and a tank top and opened the door, ready to invite the girls in. However, unfortunately, it was only our next door neighbor, Lauren Spivak, a twenty-something journalist-wannabe who had a huge thing for Thor. While my darling husband could be a bit thick sometimes, I knew exactly what she meant by coming over here at all hours of the day in her tight, low cut shirts and booty shorts and miniskirts, asking for eggs, or for Thor to come over and fix her cable.

Yeah. Over my dead body.

Needless to say, when she saw that it was me who answered the door, her over-made-up face fell.

"Oh, hello," she said, managing a smile. "I just wondered if - "

"No," I said shortly.

She faltered. "I just wanted to see if Thor was home."

"No, he's not," I snapped. "And I'm having guests over, so please excuse me." I shut the door in her face. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again. Growling, I threw it open, snarling, "Beat it!" And was stared at by Sharon and Bobbi, who were both holding plates full of brownies, cookies, and carried gift bags on their arms.

"Nice to see you, too," said Bobbi dryly. "I see pregnancy hasn't affected your hormones at all, dear." Pressing a kiss to my cheek, she floated past me into the house, unfazed.

I sighed and sagged against the doorjamb. "Sorry, Bobbi. I thought you were someone else. Come on in, Sharon."

Sharon smiled and hugged me warmly. "You look beautiful, Jane. Don't let Bobbi tell you otherwise. We've brought some goodies for you. Aaannnnnd," she added, "We're going down to the spa in a couple hours to get you a massage."

My eyes lit up - I felt like crying. "You... really?" Tears welled up in my eyes.

"Yeah," called Bobbi from the kitchen. "Although I'm sure you'd rather have your hot husband giving you the massage..."

"Oh, quiet you!" Sharon laughed, while I giggled. "She has enough stress as it is. Speaking of which, did I just see some chick in shorts a size too small stomping off your front porch?"

"Yes," I grumbled. "Our stupid neighbor. She's after Thor."

"Let's kill her!" shouted Bobbi as she came out, wearing oven mitts and brandishing a spatula.

"OK," I said instantly.

"No, no, no," argued Sharon. "Don't get Janey riled up, Bobs, she's pregnant. She needs to relax and watch sappy romantic movies and eat lots of yummy food and get her mind off stressful things."

"What are you, the pregnancy Nazi?" muttered Bobbi as she shuffled back to the kitchen.

"DON'T EVEN!" yelled Sharon, bounding into the kitchen to likely pummel Bobbi.

"HEY, WAIT FOR ME! I WANNA KILL SOMEONE!" I wailed, and waddled as fast as I could after them.

Four hours later, the three of us were laughing our heads off at Keanu Reeve's comedic genius in "The Matrix" while gorging ourselves on all good sorts of junk food. Bobbi and Sharon were both wearing simple tanks, and Bobbi wore leggings, and Sharon wore yoga pants. We were all being incredibly lazy, but as it was nighttime, none of us felt like doing anything or going anywhere. We'd gotten massages, thank goodness, and I felt so unraveled that I felt nothing in the world could possibly go wrong.

Then the door burst open, followed by Thor's boom of "Jane, I'm home!"

"Get in here, you sexy beast!" shouted Bobbi, tossing a popcorn kernel at the flatscreen TV.

Sharon and I burst into laughter.

Thor entered the room, disheveled but completely gorgeous as always, frowning in confusion. When he saw the three of us, he straightened. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company over."

"Did I hear a sexy woman's voice?" shouted Clint from somewhere behind Thor.

"WHO IS THAT HOT DEVIL?" Bobbi yelled back. I think she might've had one too many apple martinis... Ah, well. She wasn't pregnant, she could drink.

Several pairs of thundered footsteps pounded down the hall, and seconds later, four men entered my living room. Clint and Tony, ever the twins parted at birth, were fighting to get into the room first, with Bruce and Steve, who'd formed an unlikely friendship, brought up the rear. When Clint and Tony saw that other female company was present, their eyes lit up.

"Helllloooo ladies," Clint said, his eyes falling on Bobbi.

"Ooh, sleepover?" said Tony, grinning mischievously.

Clint shoved him. "You're married."

Tony sighed. "Must you remind me, darling?"

"I do have Pepper's number, you know."

"Killjoy," muttered Tony.

Clint shoved him into the wall and came around the couch, plopping down beside me. "Hey, Janey," he greeted. "How's my little nephew doing?"

"You still don't know what it is yet," I reminded him.

"We didn't realize you had company," Steve said apologetically. "We can go somewhere else if you..." He faltered as his gaze locked with Sharon, who reddened. "If you want," he added faintly.

I grinned. "No, no, it's fine... it's fine, right girls?"

"Indeed it is fine," said Bobbi, exchanging sultry glances with a clearly smitten Clint. At her words, Clint grinned devilishly.

"Babe, you have no idea."

"Get a room," said Tony, slapping Clint upside his head. "You don't even know her name."

"Easily remedied," I said. "Guys, this is Bobbi Morse and Sharon Carter, both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. So no worries on identity. Bobbi, Sharon, you probably know who these guys are. Ever pains in my side..." I shot Clint a grin. "But they'll be wonderful uncles, I'm sure."

"I'm not," muttered Thor.

Tony punched him in the shoulder, then winced and shook out his hand. Thor smirked down at him. Poor Tony. He was one of the shortest guys in the bunch. No wonder he felt the need to be the smartest guy in existence. Even his wife Pepper was taller than he was.

"Well, don't let us stop you from your sexy PJ party," said Tony, leaning forward over the back of the couch to grin at me. I pushed his head back.

"We're just watching the Matrix. You guys can watch with us if you want."

"Nah," said Tony. "We were gonna play some DDR."

"Dance Dance Revolution?" said Sharon, jumping up to her feet. "I love that game! Janey, how come you didn't tell us you had it?"

I sighed. "For many reasons. These guys being the main one."

Midnight came. However, I was wide awake, frazzled, and overly hyper from the sugar rush, which I was beginning to realize wasn't the best idea. All of us were chanting on as Steve and Sharon were going at it head-to-head, and they were both acing it.

"Not bad, soldier," panted Sharon with a smile, as she jumped back on her mat and stepped forward several times. Sweat trickled down her neck, but Steve certainly didn't seem to mind.

He grinned, glistening with sweat himself. "You're doing pretty good yourself there, doll."

Sharon reddened.

"Yo, Archer boy," said Bobbi, who was sitting next to Clint and nudged him in the side. "Cap here is kicking your sorry ass."

Clint scowled over at her as Tony guffawed. "Shut up, Metal-head," he snapped to Tony. "He is not. He's got the speed, but he ain't got the moves, baby." He winked at Bobbi, who, to my surprise, grinned up at him.

"You talkin' dirty to me, hot stuff?"

Clint looked startled for a second, then broke into a wicked smile. "You know it, gorgeous."

"All talk, no action," she sighed, folding her arms over her chest.

I curled up closer to Thor and whispered, "My evil plan is working."

Thor, although he had no idea what I was talking about, chuckled and kissed my forehead. Then, of course, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," offered Thor, getting to his feet.

"No!" I shrieked, and yanked him back down. He stared up at me, bewildered, as I pushed myself to my feet and hurried to the door. If it was Lauren, I didn't want him, sweaty and flushed as he was from ten rounds of DDR, answering to her. For all I knew, she was wearing lingerie. I wouldn't put it past her... at this hour...

However, when I threw open the door, I found myself staring at my brother-in-law, Loki, and...

"Darcy?" I exclaimed. She had her hand in the crook of his arm, and for once, he wore earth clothing - a long, dark peacoat, a white collared shirt, and dark slacks. He looked rather dashing, I had to admit in my very hormonal state. "What the heck? You two are together?"

Darcy reddened. "We've been seeing each other for a week now."

"That was after she threw four cans of tomato soup at me," he said. "Then the cat."

"Yes I did," she said, looking quite proud of the fact.

"Poor Stripes," I said.

"Not really," said Darcy. "Mangy old thing."

"Are you entertaining?" said Loki, craning his neck to see most likely if the guys were playing DDR.

"Yup. Come on in, guys." I tried to smooth back my hair.

As they came in, Darcy hugged me tightly. "You look fabulous."

"Liar," I sighed.

Darcy grinned and hurried into the room, but Loki remained behind. When I shot him a questioning look, he took something out of his sleeve - a small box - and handed it to me.

"This is for you," he said softly.

"Oh, Loki, you didn't have to..." I opened the box to find inside, two matching metallic bracelets with a glittering stone set in the centers. "They're beautiful! Thank you!"

"They have magical properties," explained Loki. "When they wear these, you and your husband will know instantly where they are and if they're in trouble or not. A homing device, if you will."

"That's great..." I trailed off and frowned. "They?" I echoed.

His brow creased fractionally. "Yes. For your twin daughters."

"Twins?" I squeaked, growing pale.

Loki stared at me. "You didn't know."

"Nope," I said faintly.

Two months later, I came into the S.H.I.E.L.D. conference room on Thor's arm, heavily pregnant but very cheerful. My dear husband had no idea why I had the dark smirk on my face as he escorted me through the base.

"Is there a reason you insisted on coming?" he questioned, nodding to several agents who smiled at me and said congratulations.

"Yep," I said. "One, I'm about to have a baby. That means Nick Fury can't say or do anything to me. Mwahahaha. Secondly, every day I get closer to having the baby, the more presents and attention I get from the guys. I like presents."

"I give you presents," he said, disgruntled.

"Well, I like more. Plus, I'll get to see Bobbi and Sharon, and I want to know how they're doing."

"You mean if they're seeing my comrades," he muttered.

"Yep," I repeated cheerfully. I still hadn't told Thor about the twins... I wanted it to be a surprise.

When we entered the conference room, all of the guys got up and helped me to my seat - that is, except Nick Fury, who was glaring at me like I was the devil himself.

"How's my little nephew?" crooned Tony, patting my belly. "Got you another present, Janey!" He held up a smartphone-looking thing. "It's a high-tech monitor that checks the baby's body temperature and whatnot. I made one for Pepper already."

"Thanks, Tony," I said, rubbing my heavily swollen belly. "Appreciate it."

"Aren't you due soon?" said Bruce as he took a seat and ran a hand through his unkempt hair.

"A few weeks. Could be sooner, since Thor's Asgardian."

Nick Fury cleared his throat as Thor took his seat next to me. Steve sat on my left, as usual, and next to him, much to my delight, was Sharon. Around the table, Clint and Bobbi were sitting beside each other as well.

"Winning," I muttered with a smirk. Steve shot me a puzzled look, but I just waved it off and found Fury glaring at me, as usual.

"This really isn't the place for pregnant women," he snapped.

"This really isn't the place for bad-tempered, skinhead pirates, but here we are," I said with a dramatic sigh.

The guys started laughing, Tony most of all. None of us really liked Fury... except for maybe Black Widow, who had slinked into the room and was shooting Sharon a nasty look. Poor Natasha, I thought dryly. None of the Avengers would have her, not even Steve. Sharon, it seemed, had caught the Captain's attention, and I was more than thrilled with the prospect of having Sharon as a distant New York City neighbor. Then again, I was thinking very far ahead...

"I want a place in Manhattan, honey," I said to Thor.

"You may have whatever you wish," he said, rubbing my hand with his thumb.

Tony made a gagging noise.

"Listen up!" growled Fury, throwing his file down on the table.

"Yes, sir," I said mockingly.

Fury ignored me. "We've just received intel that Thor's wayward brother Loki was sighted by one of our agents near Thor's residence. I want security doubled around the perimeter of the house, and I want our base in New York to be a top priority. We can't have him risk getting the cube."

"No security," said Thor shortly. "I'm perfectly able to take care of my own house."

"Yeah, and that would mess up DDR nights," put in Tony. "Sides, I still have a rematch with Loki. He crushed me on the Lady Gaga song," he muttered, irritated.

Fury stared at him.

"I thought you beat him on the Jason Derulo song," Clint said with a frown.

"No, that was before they tied that other song - the Chris Brown song," Sharon put in. "But man, Loki's good."

"He's got serious skills," Bobbi said, grinning. "Some fancy footwork, there."

"He makes a mean creme brulee, too," I added.

"Just what the hell are you all talking about?" Nick roared.

We all fell silent.

Then, of course, my water broke.

"Oh, crap," I said.

"What?" said Thor, startled.

"The baby's coming," I said, trying to maintain my calm demeanour.

Immediately, all hell broke loose in the conference room. And, for the enth time, Nick Fury got nothing accomplished.

But when you've got five Avengers crowding around you trying to rush you to the hospital room, things can get a little hectic. OK - very hectic. Tony pushed at least four doctors out of the way, and Bruce, who'd turned into Hulk at all the stress and excitement, was ensuring we had a clean path to the nearest room. Thor was pale, even more stressed than I was.

At least there was no fear of breaking his hand when my contractions turned really bad.

Five hours later, Thor got the surprise of his life when both of his baby daughters were placed into his strong arms. I'd never seen anything so beautiful in my life. They had fuzzy white blond hair, and although I couldn't see their eye color, I had a feeling they had his blue eyes. Tears sprang to my eyes as he gazed down at them.

"Jane... they're beautiful," he breathed. "I can't believe these perfect angels are my daughters."

"I can," I said, wiping away tears.

He rose to his feet and handed one of the babies to me. We still hadn't named them yet - Thor had only picked out boy's names.

Of course, the Avengers waiting impatiently outside couldn't wait any longer. At least, one of them couldn't.

"It's a boy!" exclaimed Tony, throwing the door open.

Thor and I just looked at him, each of us cradling a baby in our arms. Tony frowned, inspected the scene.

"Wait, how come there are two? Did you clone them?" he said, excited. "I've been researching the technology, and - "

"THEY'RE TWINS YOU DOLT!" Bobbi hissed, and shoved past him, Clint chuckling behind her. Tony slapped Clint upside his head, and the two started to wrestle inside the room.

"Quiet," ordered Thor. "You'll wake them."

As the rest of the Avengers shuffled into the room, I was surprised and pleased to see Loki trailing in behind them. I first let Steve hold the baby, and he beamed as if she were his own daughter.

"Have you named them yet?" asked Loki.

"Not yet," I said. "Any ideas?"

"Tony," said Tony instantly.

"They're girls, you idiot," said Clint. Tony punched him in the arm.

"Antonia, then," Tony said.

"How about Freya?" offered Loki quietly.

"Our cousin," said Thor. "She's a lovely woman."

"I like it," I said. "Freya it is. And for the other... I've always liked Elena."

"Freya and Elena... Thor?" said Clint with a raised eyebrow. "Man, you've got to get a last name."

"I have a last name," said Thor with a scowl. "Odinsson."

"Um, no. Take Jane's name."

"Freya and Elena Foster," I said. "Odinsson Foster?" I shrugged. "We'll figure it out eventually."

"Probably not," said Tony.

THE END

So... I decided to make it more than a trilogy. :D Hope you all enjoyed! I might make another, not sure yet. I just have so much fun writing the Avengers. Yes, they're completely immature and more so than they're supposed to be, but it's more fun like that. :D

- Serena