Chapter Seven

When Thor came back after his meeting with The Avengers, Jane saw through his forced smile and jovial demeanor. She knew him well enough to tell when something was off with him. She didn't want to talk about it in front of Darcy and Erik, so she tried to divert his attention by showing him what she could now do.

"I still have to work on it," she said. "I did break a potted plant, but at least I'm onto something now."

"Yes, you have much to learn, and not just with magick, but with battle as well," Thor said. "It will take some time for you to hone your skills."

Okay, so that wasn't exactly what she'd expected from him. She was hoping for him to be a little happier, but it wasn't as if he was wrong. She did have much more to learn. Just…couldn't he have rejoiced with her small victories? Loki certainly wouldn't do that. Perhaps Thor and Loki were more alike than they thought.

"Everything okay?" she asked him.

"Yes," he said.

She wanted to ask him what The Avengers had to say, but that could wait until they were back on Asgard. They bid Erik and Darcy adieu, with the promise that she would be careful with Loki. It was hard to say goodbye to them, even though she knew she would be seeing them again. Her old life was gone though, and she felt the loss acutely.

It was with a heavy heart that she and Thor returned to Asgard. He walked ahead of her again and instead of giving into the sadness she already felt leaving Earth and her mortal life behind, she grew angry. She stopped on the Rainbow Bridge and called his name.

Thor turned and faced her, a quizzical expression on her face. "What are you doing?"

"Do you want to tell me what happened with The Avengers? Why you're being all broody and dare I say it – just like Loki when he's in a mood."

"He's always in a mood."

"Yeah, and if the past couple days are any indication you're headed there. What the hell happened?"

Thor sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "Nothing. They are…pleased. Worried, too, as I am about you."

"Can't you just tell me you're worried about me instead of acting like you can't get away from me fast enough?"

He sighed and looked down. "I seem to be apologizing quite a bit."

"Stop doing stupid stuff and you won't have to."

His smile was thin and it didn't quite meet his eyes. "I will try."

"Anything else? What exactly did they say?"

Thor pursed his lips together. He didn't want to tell her that his friends, his team, had asked if Jane could now be part of them. They had been worried about her, too, that was true. Worried about what it meant for Jane being on Asgard. Would she be a target now for the people of Asgard who didn't like the idea of a mortal having been gifted with powers? How would those on the other Realm take it – would she be in danger?

"How the hell is she going to live without her work?" Tony had asked.

"She's an even bigger science nerd than we are," Bruce had added with a chuckle.

"Wow, Thor, your girlfriend is kind of better now," Tony had quipped with a smirk. It had been a running joke between them both, a slight competition of whose girl was better – Pepper or Jane. Thor was ashamed of himself for not being happier about Jane's gifts. He tried to tell himself that he was over being covetous of Mjolnir and now he was just concerned for her because of all the things his team had brought up, plus Erik's concerns regarding Loki.

Then Natasha joined in the conversation by asking, "So, when is she going to join our team?"

Everyone looked at her in varying degrees of interest and uncertainty. "Come on, guys," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Jane was badass without her powers, but now? Can you just imagine it? Why wouldn't we want her on our team?"

The discussion had been opened and it had been decided that yes, she should be. Thor was the only one that had stayed out of it. He worked with mortals. His entire team was made up of them – so why was he having such an issue with Jane being part of it? Why did he feel that perhaps he was less than her? Why was he making this some kind of competition?

"They were as concerned as Erik was, as I am, for what this all means for you," Thor finally told Jane.

Jane seemed to accept that. "Yeah, so, about that…I was thinking…"

"Yes?"

"Loki told me he can feel my magick. He can feel it, smell it, and sense it."

This actually did concern Thor. "Oh?"

"Yes, he told me that…so, I was thinking that I could sort of practice away from him? Erik kind of freaked me out and I'm not sure I want Loki to be aware of what I can do until I'm stronger and can control it better. Is there anywhere I can practice where he won't be able to detect it?"

Thor furrowed his brow and then nodded. "Yes, there is. An iron chamber where we sometimes train. I remember my Mother told me once that she would train Loki there with his magick because it didn't hinder their magick, but it concealed it from those that might be susceptible to it. It's far enough away from the palace that Loki might not be able to detect it. Jane, why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

How did she tell him that Loki didn't seem to want anyone to know? She should tell him. She should be completely honest with Thor even if she knew he wasn't being completely honest with her. So, what was stopping her? Why couldn't she get the words out? She didn't know; she just didn't know. Perhaps it was because she knew the ruckus it would cause. Thor would no doubt have a canary and then he'd want to tell Odin and Frigga and the Loki would be pissed…

Did it really matter if Loki was pissed? Well, yes. A pissed off Loki was a dangerous Loki. So his devious mind that was probably already churning with ideas and schemes would then work overtime. No. It was best to just keep her mouth shut.

She shrugged.

"I'll take you there now," Thor said and this time he held out his hand to her.

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Both Jane and Thor were subdued. The both of them looked almost melancholy and that alone tipped Loki off that something had happened on Midgard. When Thor went to speak with Frigga and Odin about his meeting with The Avengers, Loki followed Jane as she made her way to her room.

"Everything go well on Midgard?" he asked casually.

She shrugged. "Yup."

Something happened. She wasn't acting like herself.

"Did anything of interest happen?" he asked.

"Nope."

Loki grit his teeth. "Be ready for me tomorrow morning. Like I said, I'll not go easy on you."

Jane nodded. "Okay."

His eyes narrowed as he fell back and watched Jane head to her room. It was probably seeing her friends that caused her to be a bit subdued. He knew Jane loved her friends and though he personally didn't understand her attachment to them, that didn't mean she didn't have them. He'd give her some time to adjust from visiting Midgard before he became too paranoid that something was amiss.

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Jane made her way to the iron chamber that night when it was clear that Thor wasn't going to visit her. No sexy times for Jane and Thor tonight. And here she'd thought they'd gotten to a better place since all of yesterday. It was strange how a day could change so much.

Once inside the chamber, which was utterly empty except for some weapons hanging on the walls, Jane pondered what she should practice. She didn't want to use the weapons yet. She looked down. Rocks. There was rocks on the ground beneath her.

She pondered the two big stones that were nestled together and wondered if she could separate them. If she could lift things and make them move, could she also separate them? She knelt down before them and did her handy dandy hand twist, this time with her middle finger and pointer finger together and said, "Lift." They lifted and floated before her. Sitting back on her heels, she cocked her head to the side and considered the best way to do this. She put her pointer finger and middle finger together and then moved them apart as though giving the peace sign and said, "Separate." They split apart. Jane's breath caught. She wanted to try it on people now.

Okay, now to move them around.

For almost two hours Jane practiced her magick. She was getting better, but still needed to work on it. As all things did, it would take some time and practice. But she felt much better about it now than she had that afternoon after working with Loki.

Loki. Another problem to sort out. She felt a bit guilty for just naturally assuming that he was up to no good, but considering this was Loki and he was usually up to no good, it was a fair assumption to have. The one time when assuming didn't make an ass out of you and me.

However, he had been nice to her thus far – when he wasn't training her anyway. He had made her feel better that night she was aching from her magickal growing pains. Yet how much of that was about helping her and not just an excuse to get closer to her magick? And when she thought back to how her magick had rubbed up against his, it was almost like hers and his were doing a little dance…like they were courting one another.

She wished she could understand her powers as well as she understood her work. She wished Thor and Loki and Odin and even Frigga were as easy to read as her science books. This was their world, not hers. Except now it was hers. She was thrust into this life and it was sink or swim time. She was nothing if not a fighter though. She'd fought the world of astrophysics when they doubted her, laughed at her, and judged her based solely on her sex. Now she was being called to fight again, and not just for Asgard, but for herself. For who she was and what she'd become.

She knew none of them thought her worthy.

Well then. She'd show them all.