Chapter 3

Over week had passed by and Darcy had to busy herself packing her things. Her little holiday in Berlin was coming to a close and she would have to make her way to Stuttgart within the hour. During her stay in Berlin, she had acquired for herself some antiques and German products to take home with her for memory sake. She had never been out of America her whole life so she was intent to make the most of her mission/holiday.

However, she supposed she was still a little jetlagged, which was strange considering she had been absolutely fine when she arrived a week prior. Occasional little headaches plagued her throughout the day along with some fatigue. It made her feel quite lethargic really. But now she had to get her act together and so there was no more lying around and lazing throughout the day.

Zipping up the rest of her junk, she placed the few nicer and more expensive clothes carefully in a new suitcase. She had talked to Doctor Henrich over the phone, who for all intents and purposes, was one of the friendliest men she had ever met. He was even kind enough to inform her to bring 'formal' wear to his many dinners he would treat her to as well as purchase a nice ball gown for his exhibition next week. Shield had given her an extra bit of money for this diplomacy relationship, so she used the extra to get what she needed. She had never had the chance to dress up elegantly before.

Giving one last dash of lipstick to her face and adjusting her glasses, Darcy made her way to Stuttgart.

Henrich dressed quite formally to meet Miss Darcy Lewis although he didn't need to. However, being upper class and quite old fashioned, he felt compelled to do so. First impressions were everything and he was determined not to bodge this. Adjusting his cufflinks and his tie, Henrich peered over his desk at the picture of the smiling woman in the white dress.

His wife had died eighteen years ago, but he didn't stop thinking about her. Not for a moment. Neither her or their child. Which was why this was important to him. He had only seen Darcy once when she was a baby so he was quite curious as to what she was like now. Did she look like Michelle or that man instead? What were her interests? Her education? Her personality?

And more importantly, how would he go about approaching her with the truth and his intentions for her upon his death? He sighed. A tired sigh. He supposed he would muster up the courage to explain things to her when the time came for it, but right now he was more interested in making her acquaintance and making her feel as comfortable as possible.

"Sir, Miss Lewis has arrived," one of his servants said on the intercom. Henrich licked his dry lips. "Send her in to the sitting room and take her belongings to the bedroom I have arranged for her."

"Yes sir."

Taking a deep breath, Henrich took one last look at his wife's picture before leaving the room. Heading down the main staircase, he could hear one of the maids offering Miss Lewis some tea and for a moment he felt too overwhelmed to meet her. Would seeing her reopen any of those old wounds? Wounds that had taken almost eighteen years to heal?

It was too late to turn back now.

Fixing his tie, Henrich plastered on a generous smile and entered the room to meet the girl he hadn't seen for almost twenty two years. "Good afternoon Miss Lewis," he greeted her pleasantly, careful to keep his emotions and expression in check. But for the life of him, he felt even now that tears could well in his eyes. Both from relief and happiness. She was the spitting image of Michelle save for those big blue eyes of hers.

And by God he was thankful she resembled nothing of that man. "Good afternoon to you to Doctor Schafer. I hope all is well. You have a very nice home." She smiled at him and he felt his chest tighten with pain. Michelle's smile…

"I am well thank you," he said pleasantly as he took a seat opposite her. "Have the maids gone to get you anything to drink?" She nodded. "Just some water. It was a long trip," she explained. He nodded in return admiring her long dark hair and pale skin. If things had been different, she would have been raised here as his all her life, despite her parentage. But Michelle did not want to have it any other way and considering who Darcy now worked for, it was rather ironic how the future had twisted.

"I believe it was Miss Lewis. My staff are preparing your room so I am sure you will enjoy your stay here." Rubbing one of her eyes unconsciously, she nodded and smiled. "Just Darcy would do and thank you once again Doctor. I have a few things from Agent Coulson for you," she said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a few folders.

Graciously he accepted them, but would flip through them later. No doubt it was to keep him updated on the current events and his funding. However Coulson knew how important this mission was as well. It wasn't just about him explaining to Darcy the partial truth, but her future as his heir apparent. She would be in for a surprise, but he'd make sure she would have everything she needed to take it all in.

"Well I do not want to keep you from settling in. My butler Jared will show to your room and you can freshen up. If you would like a tour around the place, just ask Jared. Dinner will be at six. I look forward to seeing you there Miss Darcy." She thanked him humbly and like a gentlemen, he showed her out of the room and let Jared lead her all the way upstairs up to the nice abode he had prepared for her.

As he watched her go, he felt a deep ache develop in his throat. If only Michelle was alive to see her today.

As Darcy relaxed in a bath, she couldn't help but reflect on her meeting with Doctor Henrich Schafer. As she expected, he was a perfectly kind and well-mannered man, but his eyes had this gloomy sadness about them and he stared at her far too long. She wasn't sure what to feel about that, but she had her tazer just in case.

Resting her head back and closing her eyes, Darcy mused over her new found fascination with pretzels and peaches. It had only started a few days ago, but she couldn't get enough of them. The taste in Germany, although nice, was not what she was use to and not exactly what she craved, but they would make do.

Still though, as she relaxed in the bath, the craving for pretzels in particular became overwhelming. Grimacing, she raised her body up and wondered if she could have one of the maids bring it up to her. She frowned.

That would be a little rude and she didn't want to appear like she was indulging. Sighing, she decided she would inquire about the food later.

She placed on a nice sleek black dress to have dinner with Henrich and clipped back some of hair. She decided to forgo the glasses since she only needed them for reading and smiled at herself in the mirror. The dress around her bosom was a little tighter than she remembered when she tried it on, but she supposed it was a good thing either way. Heading downstairs and being escorted by a middle aged woman to Henrich's dining room, Darcy couldn't help but admire the many artistic pieces and sculptures he had adorning his hallways. No doubt they were absolutely priceless.

The door was opened to a sizably large dining room with pristine white walls, Grecian statues here and there and the occasional pot plant. The table itself was quite long and Henrich was sitting at the end of it. He smiled at her and in a friendly gesture, offered her a seat at his left.

Gingerly she sat down beside him and he poured her some red wine. "Thank you," she said and sipped it. It must have been some real upper class wine judging by its richness. But considering the extensive wealth of this man, she didn't expect anything less.

"So do you still do any medical work Doctor, or are you completely at liberty these days?" He chuckled and began digging in to his Alaskan king crab entrée. Darcy wasn't much for seafood, but the crab indeed tasted good. "I mainly give lectures at the university and I am currently planning to write a book about my time overseas dealing with isolated places in need of medical treatment." She nodded remembering the few facts she had read on his profile.

"Sounds interesting. Any place in particular that had some significant impact on your life?" It was a nice topic she supposed. Her life had been pretty boring until some Asgardian God had fallen out of the sky. Henrich's expression was thoughtful and he swirled his wine glass in contemplation. "I suppose the Red Cross work I did in Palestine would be the most memorable. Lovely people, but very destitute. So full of hope though. I was dealing with some emergency patients who had got caught in a terrorist attack-this was well before HAMAS was elected, and it was there I met my wife Michelle."

Curiosity piqued, Darcy raised her head to listen to the rest of Henrich's story. "She was a human rights activist working on building peace between Israel and Palestine. She was from America originally, but had always had an interest in Middle Eastern affairs. Anyway, while she was no nurse, since we were so short staffed, she helped comfort the injured and dying and even helped me and the nurses bandage and clean wounds. I suppose what struck me about her was her enthusiasm and never ending faith in work for peace."

Darcy couldn't help, but feel touched. It sounded like the perfect love story. Something out of a romance novel or a fairy tale, although doomed to end in such tragedy as she had read. "She sounds like a wonderful woman."

His smile was hollow. "Was a wonderful woman," he corrected and took a sip from his glass. He paused for a minute, a dark expression looming over his face before turning to her. "Unfortunately, she died in childbirth and the baby with her." Darcy looked down. She already knew this, but it was sad all the same.

She noticed Henrich gulped and was looking down at his plate sullenly. "I didn't ask you to come here specifically for Shield's diplomacy Miss Lewis." Darcy stared at him in bewilderment, feeling a little bit uneasy. "What do you mean?" She questioned wondering where this was going to lead.

Painstakingly, Henrich reached into his jacket and pulled out some old crumpled up papers. "I called you here to make acquaintance with you particularly. The last time I saw you, you were nothing but a pink squeaking little newborn. Just a little crying baby being held in the arms of my wife Michelle Lewis."

He looked at her. His expression soft, contrary to hers which was aghast.

"Your mother."

Of all the feelings Darcy could describe she was feeling at the moment, she supposed 'pissed' would take precedence. Although, she couldn't exactly say why. She was feeling a fucking tidal wave of emotions as she stared down at the crumpled papers of her adoption and her mother's picture. She supposed she looked like her, but besides that, Darcy had no idea what to think.

She had been in Foster Care all her life until she had gotten that scholarship into college and found herself a job under Jane Foster and now Shield. She had been curious about her parents in her teens, but all she knew was that she had a mother who had given her away in a closed adoption to Foster Care and that she would probably never find her.

Karma sure had a way of springing the phenomena of life back at you though. She had found out who her mother was, but she died way before Darcy could ever hope to meet her. Rubbing her eyes, Darcy took the pains to look through the few albums Henrich was kind enough to present her with. He also had the decency to leave her alone.

As he had put it, she had conceived the baby in Palestine from some unknown man and he had returned to America with her as a source of comfort until she decided what to do. It was sweet of Henrich to do that and he had told Darcy that he was so deeply in love with her mother that he never blamed her or judged her for her 'mistake.'

Henrich had proposed to her and offered to raise her child as his own, but she was adamant to give it away. She just could not raise it. Darcy supposed she could understand, but she couldn't help the feelings of resentment swim about. If she had married Henrich, the life Darcy could have lived would have been spectacular and full of happiness instead of the abuses she had suffered in the foster care program.

But then she may have never have met Jane, Erik or even Thor or made any of her other acquaintances in New Mexico. Darcy sighed. Henrich wanted to get to know her now. She had asked him why it had taken him all these years to find her, but he explained at first he hadn't wanted to go against Michelle's wishes and then she had disappeared within the Foster Care system.

It was only by sheer luck she happened to work for the organization he helped with finances. Loneliness seemed to be his main drive for wanting to form a father-daughter relationship with her and she could understand why seeing as she was the only 'part' of Michelle Lewis left in the world.

"If you want I can take you to see where she is buried."

She found herself heavily considering his offer. Looking at her mother's pictures sadly, Darcy tried to picture what kind of woman her mother was in life. No doubt she was strong and sure of herself to go to dangerous war torn countries and preach about the values of human rights.

Tracing her fingers over her mother's wedding picture, Darcy marvelled at just how beautiful she was and wished for a moment her mother had passed on at least a score of that beauty to her.

This is all too much for one day she thought and shut the album.

The best she could do was try to sleep it off, but she wasn't sure if even sleep would come to her that easy.

As Frigga sat upon Odin's throne and tried to meditate, she found herself struggling. Loki was hard to see especially in prophecy, but after the news Heimdall had revealed to them, Frigga had painstakingly tried to search for him. And now she could see him or at least, the possible futures he was contemplating and it made her heart sink in her chest.

"He's planning to overtake Midgard," Odin said, the hurt even evident in his voice.

"But he's alive," Thor muttered scarcely able to believe it himself. Frigga gave a weak smile to her son, but neither Odin nor she had told Thor of why else they were so worried. Loki wasn't a true Asgardian, so any child he sired, would have its soul come from the Valhalla of Jotunheim not Asgard. Still though, stranger things could happen. Maybe it was Loki or was there some Asgardian in a place where they shouldn't be?

Nevertheless, Odin wanted the matter investigated, but bringing Loki home was of more importance, before he did any more serious damage to Midgard.

"Midgard is under my protection," Thor said, looking at his father. Odin nodded remembering the mortal woman who was in his son's affection who resided there.

"Then you must go," Odin said quietly looking at Frigga who removed herself from his seat. He looked to her for confirmation before turning back to his son. "Stopping your brother and bringing him home is of the most importance, but Thor, there is another matter we need you to investigate."

Odin's tone was very serious and Thor strained his ears to listen. Whatever could it be?

"Valhalla has released an Asgardian soul. A child has been conceived, but this soul made its way to Midgard." For a moment, Thor's glance was puzzled until some form of realization struck him.

"Did Loki…"

Frigga cut him off, careful to keep her voice low and quiet. "It might be possible considering him being an Asgardian citizen, but you know he is not a true Asgardian by birth. Valhalla would have no reasons to consider him as such so any child sired by him would have its soul procured from Jotunheim," she explained softly. Swallowing hard, Thor nodded, very well understanding the implications in this. "You think there might be another Asgardian on Earth?"

Odin nodded and grimaced. "But we do not know who. Heimdall can't see him or her or them if they are both Asgardians. Your mother and Heimdall are trying to look in the present and future to see the child or its parents, but it is well hidden. However if we do find anything we'll let you know."

The situation was strange to say the least, but what was another Asgardian doing on Earth?

Darcy awoke the next morning, groggy eyed, with a big headache and a craving for pretzels. Jumping to her feet, she headed to the bathroom to make herself presentable for the day and deal with Henrich. As she observed her tired face in the mirror, she guessed she would visit her mother's grave after all.

But then came the harder part of it. Telling him she wasn't ready for this and needed some time to think. She'd gladly stay in contact with him, but after the series of events, this was just too much of an information overload, not to mention her now dark suspicions of Shield. Taking one last look in the mirror, Darcy headed downstairs to have breakfast with Henrich. Jared was kind enough to be her escort although she had familiarised herself with his foundation.

When she saw him in the dining room, for once he was dressed casually and seemed ready to go out. "Good morning Darcy," he said softly. She gave him a weak smile, if it could be called a smile at all.

"Morning," she mumbled back and took a seat next to him. His gaze was sympathetic as he pointed out to her the various foods for the morning. Scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, oatmeal, tea and coffee. Darcy didn't feel very hungry this morning, which was strange considering she always had an appetite, but for politeness sake, she grabbed some toast and eggs and slowly nibbled on her food.

"Did you sleep well?"

She supposed she did, but despite that she still felt weary. "I guess. Michelle…I mean my mother, she was very beautiful," she commented to let him know she wasn't going to ignore the situation. His own smile back at her was just as bland.

"I still don't understand why she gave me up." Henrich took a long sip of coffee and sighed. "She was never clear to me on her reasons and I could scarcely understand it myself, but maybe it was too painful for her," he paused giving her a serious look.

"Not that I mean to make you feel unwanted. But whatever transpired between her and that man in Palestine must have made caring and raising you too much to handle if you can understand that."

She could, but that didn't mean she felt good about it. "So then who is my father? Some Palestinian?" Henrich laughed.

"Judging by the way you look, I doubt it. I do not know who your father was. Maybe one of her fellow workers, a tourist, maybe a Palestinian. She never told me who and never specified it on your birth records," he lied, but it was for her own good.

Darcy huffed into her tea. A dead end it seemed.

She ate a few more bites and politely told him she wasn't hungry.

"Well I see no need to tarry. I can show you a few places around Stuttgart on the way to visit Michelle's grave."

Darcy nodded and stood up to follow him out, but couldn't stop the foreboding feelings welling up in the pit of her stomach.