Chapter 9: Return
Jane Foster looked up when the door of her office creaked open, and a rush of concern temporarily smothered the giddy high she had been riding. Darcy looked very pale, and far more tired than she had in the conference room. She smiled when she saw Jane, some of the weariness leaving her features.
"Everything okay?" Jane asked, rising from her desk.
"Yeah, fine. It's fine. Just a paperwork thing, like Stark said. Coffee?"
Gesturing to the pot as she came around the desk and leaned back against it, Jane watched as her assistant set about fixing herself a mug of milk and sugar with a touch of coffee in it. She was trying hard to act as though nothing were out of the ordinary, and doing a terrible job of it. Jane sighed, wondering what she was supposed to do. Once upon a time, Darcy would have been standing there, chattering on about all of her troubles, whether Jane had wanted to hear about them or not. Now it seemed that something was up, something which had apparently drawn Stark's attention and which neither party wanted Jane to know about. Oh golly, whatever could that be about?
She wasn't angry, or even hurt. Whatever had happened, whatever Darcy had done, Jane knew that she had done it because she wanted to help. Because this day was so important no one wanted to spoil it for her. Well, what was she to do about that? Jane was a brilliant scientist, the best in her field… but when it came to people she wasn't always on firm ground. She didn't have a trial-and-error system to base these kinds of situations on, and so didn't have the slightest idea how to proceed.
Did she let it go and save it for a different day, or confront it now and get it over with? What was best for Darcy?
The situation with Donald was a little out of hand. Okay, she admitted, it was a lot out of hand and she hadn't exactly managed it in an effective manner. Maybe Stark was right and she had been too gentle and reasonable in her rejections, but screaming and yelling hadn't worked on Donald three years ago and she saw no reason why it would now. The fact was that once he got an idea into his head, he became viciously single minded about it. She had seen that trait take over before, and had misinterpreted obsession for initiative and, well, here she was.
Maybe the right course was to let Stark step in, but Jane was quite discomforted with the thought of letting someone handle her problems for her. And maybe there was a part of her, a small part, which figured that if someone were going to run her ex-boyfriend off, he ought to be Thor. It was only natural, she supposed, for a woman to want her man to protect her.
Darcy turned around then taking a long sip from the utilitarian white porcelain mug the cafeteria stocked her office with every morning. Her color was back up, but she was giving Jane an odd look. "Something wrong?"
Guilt was written all over her face and, for some reason, it made Jane laugh.
She decided then that she would let it go. Right here and right now was all that mattered. Later she would drag the truth out of her wayward assistant. Later, after she and Thor had a chance to talk and he knew about the situation with her ex, they would decide what to do about it.
"It's perfect" she replied, "Everything is absolutely perfect."
Darcy grinned set her mug aside and scampered over, taking Jane's arms. "I have wanted to say this for, like, two hours now…. I so totally told you so."
"He's really back. He came through… I still can't… I can't wrap my mind around it."
They ended up squealing nonsensically and dancing around like children. It was a wonderful feeling, refreshing to strained nerves, soothing
It was a wonderful feeling when the rush of giddy excitement to take their mugs and sit at their usual places around Jane's desk. She needed the touchstone, they both did. Jane caught Darcy up on what she had zoned out on during the meeting, and specifically the details about the following day's training exercise that Fury was insisting on.
"Seriously? You just got him back and Fury's already stealing him away for three days? Thor's okay with this?"
Jane sighed, "I like to think that he'd rather have more time with me, but the rational part of my brain keep reminding me about who he is. The Avengers might barely be formed, but I understand the idea of what Fury is trying to create. It's important, and it's something that I'm just going to have to accept if I want to be with him."
"Makes sense, I guess" Darcy said, sipping her coffee reflectively. "Sucks though. You guys are probably going to want privacy when you get-"
"You're having dinner with us" Jane said firmly "I know you have class early tomorrow so you have to go back to the dorms, but this is a big day and I think that we should celebrate. We'll get take out and we'll eat out on the patio."
Darcy's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and it was Jane's turn to look nervous. "Jane…" she said, drawing the name out musically, "Are you… avoiding being alone with Thor?"
"No" Jane replied instantly, and winced "I just need a little buffer for a while. Look, I've been waiting for this for two years and I'm just… I don't know what happens next."
"Should I give you a hint?"
"That's not what I meant. "
"Draw a diagram?"
"Darcy!"
"Maybe sing a dirty limerick or two? What rhymes with 'there once was a man from Asgard?"
That did it. Jane snickered, and then Darcy snickered, and before long the two of them had dissolved into laughter once again. When composure was regained and coffee refilled, Jane sat back and sighed,
"I was thinking we'd get pizza."
"You know all my weaknesses." Darcy giggled, "You know you're going to be alone with him at some point, right?
"I'm not avoiding anything. It's just that… he and I have some things to sort out, or at least I do, and I have no idea how to go about that. I don't know what we are to one another, and that scares me." She set her coffee cup aside, glanced at the pile of books on the shelf behind her desk "You've seen the prime example of my bad judgment."
"Thor isn't Donald" Darcy replied gently.
"I know. But I feel like… like this is all crazy, like I'm rushing into things and it's just going to end up like before. I don't know what Thor's expectations are, or my own for that matter."
She didn't add, because she knew Darcy understood that she was still in a bit of disbelief that Thor had actually returned. Though she had always wanted to believe that he had always intended to keep his word, another part of her had simply wondered why he would bother. She was just Jane Foster. There was nothing special or magical about her, why would he bother to think of her again. Why would he care about her?
Now he was here, and he was looking at her as though she were the most spectacular thing he had ever seen.
"Look, you and Thor… I saw it happening right from the start. From the minute you started bossing him around, and pestering him with all those questions." Darcy smiled fondly, eyes distant as she recalled the memory "You didn't see it, or didn't realize it, but he couldn't stop looking at you. I mean he spoke with me and Erik, but his eyes would always turn right to you. I don't know if this is destiny or if the two of you are soul mates or whatever, but I know that you've got the real deal here, Jane. Just relax, and try not to over think everything."
Jane laughed "I'll try not to."
A quiet tap at the door heralded the delivery of the initial data collected on the portal's opening, and the end of the conversation. As Jane began to rifle through the collection of printouts, Darcy automatically collected both mugs and refilled them before setting up the tri-folding, tinted glass panels that were mounted to sliding rails at the far end of the room. Jane thanked her as she set out a small stepstool in front of the leftmost panel, and a small selection of brightly colored pens in small cups that were magnetized to the metal frame of the boards.
The next few hours were spent in the unique rhythm of work and conversation that Jane and Darcy had steadily developed over the last few years. Jane stood in front of her boards, with one dry-erase marker stuck behind her ear, another in her hand, and a third in the back pocket of one of her jeans, capped this time. Meanwhile Darcy was carefully sorting through the pile of papers Jane had set aside, methodically attaching them to metal clips and tying the clips to color-coded strings which she then hung from the ceiling in pre-arranged groups.
More papers were delivered, assessed, and hung or pinned. The dark glass panels became a bright, endless pattern of notes and formulas. Three pots of coffee were consumed.
There were far fewer personal questions about Thor than Jane had expected. Perhaps the rumor and speculation had never been seriously considered. It had become mere office talk; a way to take pot shots at a project head who, many felt, was far too young and under-published for her position. Thor's entry through the portal alone would have shattered through the assumptions of most of the skeptics.
She supposed the lot of them were either still in shock, or a little intimidated. It wouldn't last, she knew. The questions would come, and they would likely range from extremely personal to outright insulting.
But it was worth it.
"Somehow, I doubt that smile has anything to do with… whatever weird thing you're scrawling there."
She glanced back at her assistant, standing in a small cloud of hanging papers, and felt heat rising into her face. She began to reply when another knock interrupted, and she instead called out permission for entry.
"Hello, Dr. Foster. I hope that I am not interrupting." The figure of a small young man slipped through the doorway, and Jane smiled fondly at him.
"Not at all, Ryo. What do you have for me?"
She stepped down from the stool, capping her pen and sliding it into her back pocket with the other one. The young man offered her another manila folder "Mr. Stark asked me to deliver this to you. It is the data extrapolated from the Stabilizer prior to it's… ah… unfortunate demise."
Jane laughed "Thank you, I've been waiting for these files. Have they extracted it yet? The stabilizer, I mean, just how damaged is it?"
"It is irreparable, I'm afraid and Mr. Stark is having quite the disagreement with the technician about how it might be removed. As it is fused to the box on one side, I believe they will have to remove the entire section."
"Fused? There is no way that thing got hot enough to melt molded adamantium. Not without destroying the whole system, box and all!" Jane replied, mildly alarmed. The young scientist shook his head, which set her at ease a little.
"No, no. The adamantium and vibranium components appear to be intact. Removing them from the rest will be… difficult, but they suffered no damage in the meltdown."
"Small favors" She replied "At least we have that going for us. I believe Tony already has some ideas for an upgrade, at least this will give him an excuse." Jane set the files aside and studied the young man before her.
Ryo Akado was a funny little man. Four inches shorter than Jane, he had a round face that looked much younger than its twenty six years, and hair that defied the laws of gravity no matter how he tried to pat it into place. His lab coat seemed to be perpetually rumpled, his tie was askew, and he was utterly brilliant. Fresh from college, Jane had handpicked him due to a series of rather impressive papers that had led Jane to believe he wouldn't be as skeptical as some of the older, more experienced scientists that Coulson had offered for her to choose from.
He was also the only person aside from Stark that could decipher her shorthand notes and her system of hanging papers.
Darcy drifted forward offering the young man a gleaming smile that caused a blush to rush over Ryo's face, handed Jane some papers, and drifted away again. For several moments, Dr. Akado could not begin a sentence without stammering. She would have to tell her assistant not to tease the scientists… again.
"I b-believe that the adamantium-vibranium ratio used in the stabilizer's creation was correct and that the error was that we did not anticipate the difficulty the subject would have crossing through, or the need to keep the portal open longer than two minutes. While the adamantium and vibranium were specifically used due to their ability to withstand extreme heat without breaking down, it never occurred to anything that we might need to isolate and protect the surrounding components."
"Yes, I'm sure Tony's kicking himself for that one, but you're right; we had no idea how difficult it would be for Thor to cross over." And she absolutely refused to consider what might have happened to him if Tony hadn't been able to keep everything running.
Ryo hesitated, a little crease forming between his brows and his face became contemplative and he said, "Dr. Foster, may I pose a question to you?"
"You're wondering why the stabilizer melted, despite the fact that the temperature in the hangar was extremely low."
"Indeed. The thought has already crossed your mind, I see. I had only just thought of it."
Jane smiled warmly. She liked the boy more than most of the others, though they had the least in common. He was a pleasure to talk to on days like this when he was at ease. There had been times when she had feared that, despite his brilliance, he was simply too young to handle the pressure and stress that came with a project of this magnitude.
It sometimes seemed like Ryo's only fault, was that stress turned him into a nervous wreck. He would become jumpy, skittish, and would barely sleep. Always he would come out of these stages just before it became necessary to let him go, and always he seemed to bounce back quickly, but it wouldn't be long before it happened again.
"The best theory I can offer is that it is a product of the portal itself. We are compressing two points in space together, there are bound to be some strange effects. I expect we'll know more when the analysis of the residue left in the ring is analyzed. The new samples were delivered to the lab, I hope?"
"Of course, Dr. Foster, I delivered the sample myself, along with your… ah… request for expedience with the results. The reply was rather rude, and I refuse to repeat it."
Jane laughed, and was grateful that she had sent Ryo with the sample, instead of going herself. The lab squad was probably tired of her haranguing them, and would be glad to have her off their backs for a while. She could just imagine what sort of response Ryo refused to repeat.
"Ryo, while you're here, would you do something for me?" Jane asked.
"Of course, I would be glad to be of assistance."
"Well, Darcy and I are hoping to be ready to leave as soon as Coulson is done with Thor. Now I figure that I can be done in plenty of time, but Darcy has so much paperwork to sort through, and you're the only one I can think of that knows my system as well as she does."
Ryo looked startled and very nearly afraid, glancing back at Darcy, still quietly sorting through paperwork as though she weren't listening in, and then back to Jane. She realized that she wouldn't be giving Darcy that lecture about teasing the scientists. "I… well, that is… of course I would be happy to help Miss Lewis…"
Jane thanked him, then glanced over at Darcy and leaned close to Ryo, whispering loudly to him, "And it would be best to sort through those papers very thoroughly. There's no rush."
She smiled, patted the blushing man on the shoulder, and turned back to her panels, trying to remember where she had been before the interruption.
The son of Odin moved through the sterile halls of what had been rather affectionately nicknamed 'Hammer Base'. So named for the fact that it had been erected just a few miles from where Mjolnir had landed several years before. It was more than an hour's 'drive' from the village where Jane made her home, and well hidden, though the village was at least partially aware of its existence.
The son of Coul walked at his side, and Thor found that he had to continuously check his stride so as not to walk at a pace that the shorter man could not match. This was difficult, as he was at last released from the tedious process of choosing a Midgardian name and was eager to be in Jane's presence once again. He regretted that his duty as a defender of this realm would take him away so soon after returning, despite that it was only for a short duration.
Coulson had been silent through most of the walk, speaking only to direct him down this corridor or that one. Once or twice he felt compelled to remind Thor about the use of the 'cell phone' that he had been issued, and it's maintenance. At last they rounded a corner where, in the middle left side of the wall a door stood ajar, warm light pooled across the anemic, gray lit hallway and he noted the sound of feminine laughter.
"I didn't do anything!" Darcy's voice, amused and indignant rose over the sound of Jane's laughter. "He was out of here so fast I didn't even get the chance to thank him. Doesn't really do much for my confidence if the geek-squad runs away from me… stop laughing, it's so totally not funny!"
Thor paused at the door of the room and turned back to Coulson. "I owe a debt to you, Son of Coul, for your attention to Jane's safety during my absence."
"Just doing my job" Coulson replied, though he seemed pleased. "We will have a security detail for both of them until you get back. The last few weeks have been quiet, but I don't feel that the threat level has fallen enough to stand down just yet."
"I agree with you" Thor murmured "If I am interpreting my mother's vision correctly, a death comes in the wake of my return. I would caution you to be vigilant, son of Coul, I would not wish that death to be yours." The large man hesitated a moment before reaching a hand into the small pouch affixed to his armor beneath his cloak. By touch he identified the correct item and brought it out; a small flat circle contained in a small red velvet pouch. "A gift, consider it a token of friendship."
The small man seemed surprised as he took the item from Thor's hand. Without reply he loosened the leather strap that kept the pouch closed and carefully pulled from it a silver medallion, about two inches in diameter, intricately and beautifully embossed with runes.
"This medallion is worn by the honored Einherjar, the elite warriors of Asgard. Each medallion is crafted specifically for the warrior who has earned the right to wear it. These runes here," Thor indicated a series of runes that ran down the center of the circle, "are your name; Phil the son of Coul, and these here tell of your courage and dedication as a protector of your world."
The agent stared at the gift silently for a moment, before taking the leather cord in both hands and placing the item around his neck. "Thank you." He replied sincerely, "I am honored."
The choice of gifts had been difficult for Thor as there was only so much that he could, in all practicality, bring with him. As he watched Coulson examine the item, he decided that he had chosen well.
The hum of voices drew his attention, and two long strides carried him to the open door where he knew Jane awaited him.
The office wasn't what he had been expecting in this maze of white washed walls and gleaming steel. It was a large, rectangular space with a row of narrow windows at the back wall and a thin, rough looking carpet covering the floor. To the left of the room, late afternoon sunlight spilled across an L shaped desk piled high with paper stacks and open books. Darcy stood working intently at a small circular table placed near the middlemost window; she had not yet noticed his presence.
His eyes took in every detail of the room; the coffee maker on its little trolley that was placed exactly between Jane's desk and Darcy's table. The jacket tossed haphazardly across the seat of a chair. The piles of cords, wires and gadgets that lay here and there in piles of precisely ordered disarray. The spicy, floral aroma of Jane's lotion clung faintly to the air; he breathed it in, the scent of his elskling, and felt his blood warm with desire.
He remembered vividly the last morning he had spent with her. How she had emerged from her chamber refreshed, rubbing the fragrant cream into her skin. He remembered how it had mingled in the air with her natural scent, intoxicating him with every breath. He had been filled with a deep, primal urge that he had never before experienced. Not merely the desire to ravish; but the need to claim and to be claimed.
He had vowed then to stand as Jane's protector and companion. In that way would he prove to Erik Selvig, and to himself, that he was a worthy husband for Jane Foster.
He turned his gaze toward the source of the scent and nearly laughed at the sight that greeted him. Drifting at different heights, either clustered together or set apart, pages of paper hung in the air like small square clouds. It was a strange and remarkable sight and spoke of both Jane's method of organization and Darcy's creativity. Heimdall had described it to him, but he had not been quite able to imagine it accurately.
The cloudbank curved very precisely around the far end of the room, where set a triad of opaque panels and a woman standing beside a small ladder, diligently painting the darkened glass in bright, curving script.
Darcy looked up as he moved further into the room, and grinned when he raised a finger to his lips. There was an innocent mischievousness in the smile that reminded Thor of a very young Sif, from a time before Loki took enchanted shears to her hair. He looked back to Jane. She seemed deeply focused, and he hoped that she would not see his reflection in the glass as he could see hers.
She took a step back from her work to study the writings above her head and he watched as she lifted one slim hand and rested it on the panel's frame. The other deposited an uncapped pen into a small cup attached to the other side of the panel and then lifted to rub wearily at her eyes. He heard a soft sigh escape from her and thought; how tired she looks.
She had worked so fervently for so long, charging forward like a warrior on the battlefield. It was though her fire and passion that he had been able to return to this world, to the place and people that he had come to love, and did she rest after her success? No. Not Jane. His blood was already hot for her and now a new warmth suffused him; swelling through his chest. He felt at once proud and humble, lightheaded and steady.
Silently he stepped up behind her, gently covering the hand that lay on the panel frame with his own. The other he wrapped around her waist, bringing her back to rest snugly against his chest. His armor prevented him from enjoying the warmth of her against him, but she was solid and real and he could feel the way she relaxed in his hold. Her head turned to look at him, and Thor pressed his lips to her temple and held there. Her right hand lifted, trailing fingers across the line of his jaw.
"I missed you." She whispered. He knew Jane wasn't referring to the time that he had just spent with Fury and Coulson, sorting out the details of his existence on Midgard.
"As I have missed you, min elskede" he murmured against her skin. He felt her breath hitch beneath his hand and it made him smile. "How long I have dreamed of holding you again."
"You weren't the only one dreaming" she replied quietly. A small sound drew his attention to the rest of the room and he glanced behind quickly to notice that the son of Coul and Darcy were putting on an unconvincing show of nonchalance. "We have an audience."
"So it would seem" he chuckled, and bent to brush her lips with his own. Control, he reminded himself, and pulled back from her slightly. This apparently did not suit her, as she merely turned to him and, putting her arms lightly about his wait, stood to her toes to give him a quick kiss.
"Are you all set?" She asked "Identity all settled?"
"A name has been chosen, yes. Although I must confess that I do not quite understand the… necessity of it."
"You never know." Jane smiled "What name did you choose? I never saw the list."
"I have chosen Kain Saether as my Midgardian title." Although he didn't understand the need, there was a part of Thor that found the prospect of human identification interesting. He was eager to learn more of this world and its strange customs. It could also be contrived as a sign of respect, as Jane's suitor he was showing that he would gladly become a part of her and her world. As she would one day become a part of his.
He watched as Jane pondered the name for a moment, and found that he was absurdly anxious to know whether or not it pleased her.
"I like it" she said finally "It suits you, but it's not pretentious. The point is to blend in, after all."
"I am glad it pleases you" he replied, although what he really felt was relief. "However, it is my wish that you continue to use my true name."
"Of course" she laughed "Kain Saether is just for sometimes, you know, like keeping a low profile when the Avengers make their public debut. It'll make it easier for you and I to live our lives without tripping over TV cameras everywhere we go."
Thoroughly amused, and having no idea what a TV camera was, Thor said, "I shall take your word for it."
"Hey lovebirds, quit whispering sweet nothings to each other so we can get out of here. I'm starving."
Jane peered around his him to make a face at young Darcy who merely laughed in response and replied that Jane had promised something called pizza. The woman in his arms sighed but wasn't, he believed, truly annoyed. "If we don't feed her soon, she'll never stop whining."
Thor grinned, "She has something in common with Volstagg, then."
It took less time for the pair of women to prepare to leave than he had expected. Actually it was only a matter of placing loose paper pages in small, pale yellow files and gathering up the assortment of personal items. Coulson had to assure Jane several times that the cleaning crew knew not to touch her glass screen before she was satisfied enough not to have Darcy fold them into the wall.
Jane lifted the strap of a small side-pouch over her shoulder and appeared to be surprised when Thor offered her his arm, hesitating a moment before looping hers through. He didn't speak as he watched Darcy rush from one end of the room to the other searching for something called an ipod, which she had apparently lost. He dare not, for fear of laughing.
"Why on earth would it be under the coffee pot?" Jane asked, exasperated.
"Things end up in weird places when I'm tired. One time in high school," she said as she crawled beneath Jane's desk, "I lost my glasses right in the middle of finals week. A month later I found them in a tupperware container in the fridge." She sprung up from the floor triumphantly waving a small, bright red object in the air before promptly stuffing it in her pocket. "I still don't know how that happened."
Jane shook her head. "You are so strange sometimes."
They proceeded through the gray halls at a leisurely pace. They passed many people in white frocks, who stared at him in fascination. As the son of Odin and the temporary king of Asgard, Thor was accustomed to being gawked at in both fascination and fear. However, he was grateful that the onlookers retained their distance. He was eager to be away from this place, eager to see Jane's home.
They passed many closed doors as they walked. This part of the base, Jane explained, mostly consisted of the recreational facilities such as the mess hall and lounge. There was also a small fitness area and shooting range, the latter of which was only used by S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Coulson pointed out one small door as leading to 'Armory 3'.
Suddenly Mjolnir, which had hung at his side silent since his emergence through the portal, began to hum. It began so abruptly, in fact, that it startled Jane away from him with a small cry. Whisking his cloak aside, he touched the hilt of the hammer, feeling the anxious pulse emanate through his fingertips.
"Is that normal?" Darcy ventured to ask.
"It is a warning" Thor replied, lifting the weapon from his side and turning so that he could glance up and down the passageway. It was empty but for the four of them.
"What kind of warning" Coulson asked, steady and calm as he took from his suit jacket a slim, black object.
"Danger." Said Thor, moving cautiously forward in the passage toward the only open door; Mjolnir's hum pulsed strongly for a moment, and then began to fade rapidly. By the time he looked into the empty room, the hammer had fallen silent. It remained so as he moved through the room before returning to Jane's side, and did not react similarly as they made their way swiftly and silently out of the corridor. No one spoke until they were beneath the open sky.
"What just happened?" Jane asked, visibly anxious.
"I do not understand it myself. Mjolnir reacted as though it were sensing a danger. Yet there was none but us in the corridor, and nearest room appeared vacant."
"Weird." Darcy stated, "Cause the door was open, and it's only ever open if someone's in it. The shooting range is so close," she explained, "that you can hear the gunfire from it pretty clearly in the lounge. So if the door is open, the agents just have to poke a head in and let anyone there know that they're going to hear shots, so no one thinks that the base is under attack or anything."
"It's been left open before" Coulson stated. "Thor cleared the room, it was empty, and it only has one entrance. It must have been further up the hall."
"Mjolnir reacted to something that was in that room, son of Coul. I am not mistaken in that."
And yet there had been nothing overtly threatening in the little lounge; A few small tables, cushioned chairs, viewing screens. Neither had there been a second exit. It was perplexing. He said as much when Darcy's head perked up suddenly,
"There is too another way out. There is a little, like, supply closet in the back corner. You can hardly see it because it's between two bookcases and one of them is partly overlapping the frame, but it doesn't matter because the door opens inward, not outward. Some of the couples use it for a quickie."
"I did not see this closet." Thor admitted, and found that the fact was a little alarming. He had checked the room very carefully, and should have noticed another doorway, even one that was partially hidden.
"It's easy to miss, like I said, but the thing is there's this little ventilation duct on the floor in the corner. You know Shelly from the computer lab? She was telling me that when she and Ben-the-janitor were in there, the cover on the vent just fell right off. She had figured they'd, well, been responsible for it."
Coulson immediately took out his communication device, dialed a number, and became quite focused on the conversation he began with the one called the Black Widow. Darcy looked quite pleased with the information that she had imparted, laughing when Jane demanded to know why she wasn't being kept up to date on the local gossip.
The small agent closed the device with a click and said, "We're looking into it. Go ahead and go, I'll inform Director Fury of the situation." And with that, he turned around sharply and strode back toward the base.
For a moment, Thor considered following him. It was possible that Mjolnir would react again to whatever or whoever had disappeared from the room. Jane shifted in his arms, however, and he relented. The son of Coul was a warrior, and perfectly capable of handling this situation. If Thor was needed, they would contact him.
Jane seemed to agree, for she shifted away from him, taking his hand in both of hers and led him across the fenced yard to the same vehicle with which she had twice struck him. Darcy wandered over to a smaller contraption, the same bright red as the ipodshe had sought earlier.
"I ordered the pizza while you two were flirting" She said, grinning "I'll swing through town and pick it up. I hope take-n-bake was okay, I didn't know how long you two would be staring longingly into each other's eyes."
"One of these days, Darcy, this is all going to come back to bite you" Jane replied. Climbing into the seat beside her, Thor reached out and briefly caressed his fingers down her cheek. He was charmed by the blush that spread across her face. "If you do that while I'm driving, I'll run us off the road again."
"I shall attempt to restrain myself, Elskling." As they began to move away from the base, Thor turned his focus to the small mirror, watching as the S.H.I.E.L.D soldiers hastened to close the gate. He thought of his mother's prophecy and wondered if Mjolnir's reaction had been to the murdered or the murderer.
Agent Phil Coulson stood in the break room lounge. Around him, six agents moved systematically looking through every cushion, magazine and book. The microwave had been taken apart, the bookshelves torn down and disassembled. Every item had been taken out of the supply closet to be catalogued and tested. After a month-long absence Person X, the Prankster, had evidently returned.
At least that is what Coulson believed.
It was the only thing that made sense. What other threat could Thor or, rather, Thor's hammer have sensed from an empty room except for the one person that had actively plagued, and inconvenienced the efforts made to open the portal to Asgard? Who but the very person whose actions had resulted in the injury of Jane Foster?
"Boss?" Coulson glanced over at the agent who had appeared at his side. Samuel Deryn, one of his best, a man possessed of a snarky and sometimes macabre sense of humor looked utterly grim. "I think you should see this."
He followed Agent Deryn across the room to a low counter beneath which rested a row of cupboards. Deryn tapped a set of cupboards with latex-encased fingertips and said, "I don't know how he did it but… well, take a look." Apprehension prickled over Coulson's skin as he pulled the pressboard doors wide open.
He closed the doors almost immediately, eyes darting to Deryn and then back. He opened the doors again and, this time, studied the thing inside. He'd thought the bacteria in the cafeteria that had caused everything, including the sealed canned goods (punctured in the side with a nail, sealed with tape and then expertly covered by the label), had been a stroke of sick genius. This, however, this was just sick.
It had been a dog, once. He didn't recognize the breed, though he thought it might have been some kind of spaniel. All that remained now was the head, neck, and a few inches of bloodied spine. It had been roughly skinned, and posed on its side, lips peeled back over teeth, bloodless tongue hanging out grotesquely. A red collar remain was attached tightly over the fleshy part of the neck.
"Check the tag" Deryn said quietly.
There wasn't anything particularly unique about the tag; it was the generic bone shape that you acquired out of engraving machines at pet stores. He lifted it delicately, turned it over and felt his stomach clench. Engraved on the cold metal were the words Where is the rest of me.
"Deryn" Coulson said slowly, "Get your team together, and search every inch of this base, room by room."
"What are we looking for?"
"The rest of her." He said, taking his phone in his pocket and rapidly dialing a number he knew by heart, "Hello, this is Agent Coulson. I need a Code 17 security team on the Foster properties for the next three to four days, please. Thank you."
Author's Comments:
Update: This Chapter has been beta'd
La la la. I don't really have much to say except that this chapter didn't at all go quite the way I expected it to.
So Thor's human moniker is a bit of a joke I had with myself. Because this is the meaning for Kain that 20000-names .com gave me: Greek form of Hebrew Qayin ("acquired, possessed"), but meaning "maker; fabricator," or literally "smith." and the surname Saether is an Americanized version of Sæther, from a list of Scandinavian surnames that are common enough to be the equivalent of having the last name Smith.
Thanks be to all-in-the-past for being magnanimous enough help some translation work I very desperately needed for this chapter, and the next, to come out the way I wanted them to, as well as for providing the list of last names.
