Title: Spiraling into darkness
author: Cindy Ryan
notes and summary: see part one

Sirens were the first thing Jane heard when she and Barton emerged from the underground tunnel. Heat even from the distance they were was the second thing she noticed. Despite the danger of being shot Jane whirled around and looked in horror at all the buildings that were on fire.

"You call that a distraction?!"Jane asked angrily. "People could be hurt...businesses destroyed!"

Clint grabbed Jane by the throat slamming her back against the nearest building. Pain shot through Jane's ribcage at the impact. She clawed at the former S.H.I.E.L.D agent's wrists as she struggled for air.

"You are the only thing that matters to me right now."Clint replied his voice low but deadly cold. "That is only because you're my ticket to Asguard."

Jane nodded to show she understood her nails digging into Clint's hands. Finally he released her and Jane dropped to her knees gasping. Clint hauled her roughly to her feet shoving her forward. The young scientist focused on keeping one foot in front of the other. She'd survive this and see Thor again. Jane clung to that thought as she and Clint made their way through Roswell.


Thor paced the small living area of Stark's private jet. Tony sat on the sofa while Steve leaned against the right wall. Maria Hill was talking to Nicholas Fury through the video screen at the front of the living space. The demiGod half listened to the conversation all he could think about was how close Jane had been to those explosions. How reckless Barton had been with her life. If anything had gone wrong in Barton's escape Jane would've been hurt or...Thor squashed that line of thought before it could go any darker. Jane would be fine. She was strong and smart and would keep her wits about her until Thor found her.

"Thor."Fury called breaking Thor's thoughts.

Thor glanced toward the screen. "Have you located Jane?"

Fury nodded. "Hill tracked Barton to an area outside of Roswell. It's an abandoned bunker."

"Is she safe?"Thor demanded even though he already knew the answer.

"This just happened…..we need time to come up with a plan…."Fury began.

"I will free Jane."Thor stated as he stalked towards the plane's exit.

Tony started to intercept but Steve was closer and quicker and got between the demigod and the door.

"I know you're worried about her but we have to approach this cautiously."Fury commented from the video comlink.

"He had no problems taking out two city blocks."Tony added. "We were lucky there were only a few injuries and nobody killed."

Thor reluctantly stepped back looking at Fury. "Whatever your plan is it must include me talking to Barton. They do not know I am here. Perhaps I can give him some solace and explanation of what my brother has become."

"The tough part is going to be opening a dialog."Tony continued. "If Barton's unstable enough to use explosives in an urban area."

"We have to try…..he was one of us we just can't write him off."Steve argued.

"He has already put Jane in harms way…."Thor began but shook his head. "But in Natasha's honor I will do my best not to injure him."

"If this bunker was military who knows what kind of dormant security systems are waiting for us."Steve stated.

"They shouldn't be a problem for Jarvis."Tony replied. "I'm more worried about the traps CrazyHawk will have put in place. He's not going to make it easy to get to Foster."

"I'm working on getting schematics of the bunker."Fury reported. "You'll have them by the time you rendezvous with Hill's team at the bunker. Good luck, Fury out."

"What are the odds that Foster will succeed and get Barton to Asguard before we get there?"Steve wondered.

Tony shook his head. "Not good. He hasn't had that much time to set things up. Traveling with that kind of energy needs state of the art equipment and computers."

"Jane will give us time."Thor stated confidently.

Tony nodded exchanging an anxious look with Steve once Thor's attention was diverted. Ironman then instructed the pilot to take them to the rendezvous point.


Jane wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the chill of the underground bunker. Being down here you'd never know you were in a desert Jane thought wishing she had a jacket. She shrugged off the discomfort and looked at her new surroundings. The room was half the size of her lab about the size of a normal school classroom. She recognized her equipment set up on long tables. Jane turned scanning the room if Barton had moved her lab here then the energy source she'd been working with had to be here. Then she spotted it a familiar silver case thicker than a briefcase but the same size sitting against the back wall.

Jane walked towards the case all the while aware of Barton leaning against the wall by the door. She gingerly picked up the silver case and placed it on the center table. It had taken her months to find something that was even close to the Tesseract as far as energy was concerned. It'd taken the help of Erik Selvig they'd found this material in a large asteroid that had crashed in northern Utah at the beginning of the year, Jane remembered how excited she'd been when they'd examined the asteroid and found the light colored mineral in the left quadrant of the rock. The energy readings had been off the scale nearly blowing up her scanner. With Erik's assistance she'd acquired rights to the asteroid and began taking samples back to her lab to begin tests. It was another three months before she'd had enough of the mineral for a portal to start to form. But it'd been small and barely lasted a second. Since then she'd gotten one big enough for a mailbox to fit through and once she'd had a stable link to Asguard. It'd given Jane more hope than she'd had in awhile but at the same time she'd realized how much more work she still had ahead of her. Unfortunately Barton didn't want to hear any of that. He wanted results she couldn't produce. Some how Jane had to stall. She knew by now, especially after being so close in Roswell, S.H.I.E.L.D would find her.

"Was anyone hurt when you robbed my lab?"Jane inquired looking over at her captor.

Barton shook his head. "No and it's still standing."

"I'm surprised."Jane admitted as she turned on one of the computers.

"I'm not a killer."Clint snapped stepping away from the wall.

"You took out half the warehouse district as a distraction!"Jane countered.

"It was a means to an end. S.H.I.E.L.D was closing in."Hawkeye replied.

"Have you thought this through?"Jane asked. "Do you have any idea what or where Loki is when you get to Asguard?"

Clint shrugged. "Military is military no matter where. Same thinking; can't be that hard to infiltrate. Once I have the intel I need I can take the bastard out."

"You're assuming you can kill him."Jane responded as she pulled up the computer programs she needed. "He is part God."

"Everything has a weakness."Clint replied softly. "I'll find a way."

"Even if I can get a stable portal to Asguard there's no guarantee I can bring you back. It's most likely a one way trip."Jane explained.

"There's nothing for me here."Clint stated grimly. "Without Natasha doesn't matter if I come home. Doesn't matter if I live or die. Only thing that does is making Loki pay."

Jane kept her gaze on the computer screen. The anger,hurt and grief were coming off of Barton in waves. Despite the situation and danger she was in Jane felt compassion for Clint. He'd lost the love of his life in one of the worst ways possible. Along with that he'd lost his career and the only life he knew. However with his plan for revenge Clnt was endangering the man Jane loved. She knew Thor would do whatever he had to in order to protect his home, family and the people of Asguard. Jane had to do whatever she could to help him succeed.