True to his word, Tony Stark sets up a secure connection in the corner of the lab, complete with video so Jane can see Darcy. It takes only seconds before her intern's face pops up on holoscreen. Jane breaths an audible sigh of relief, then looks over her shoulder. Stark and Banner have made themselves scarce in the opposite corner of the room, actively discussing something about 'unilateral charge.' Feeling satisfied enough that she can talk to her friend discreetly, Jane focuses again on the screen.
"Are you okay?" she asks, leaning forward, her voice lowered.
Darcy flips the phone around, the camera revealing a calm, cerulean ocean and palm trees waving over a white sand beach. She turns the phone back so her face fills the view finder. "Yeah. I'm doing good." The genuine smile she offers lends credence to her words.
"Looks nice," Jane affirms, a thread of envy running through her. What was she expecting? Darcy to be locked in a cold, forlorn SHIELD tower waiting for rescue? Maybe hunkered down in the little Nome cottage hurling her typical sardonic curses at Jane for pursuing research in such an inhospitable place? Even more alarming, did Jane want Darcy to be happy, especially when she felt so far removed from the emotion? Shame claws at her insides.
A clearly masculine arm reaches into the camera's view, proffering a fruity drink to the intern. Darcy shoos away the drink and unknown companion.
"Yeah," she continues, as if there was no interruption, "arctic weather really wasn't for me. Wish you were here."
Jane gives her best 'of course I'm ok' smile, though it is strained.
"Me too," she says. "I would do anything to get off this ship...carrier...thing."
Darcy's brows furrow. "You're imprisoned?"
The physicist shrugs, attempting to remain casual. "Depends on your definition."
Darcy takes a sip of her drink. "Well, don't be too hasty to judge." There's an awkward pause, and then, "SHIELD might be alright after all." Darcy pulls up a small silver device in her other hand. "They returned my iPod!"
Jane pauses, registering Darcy's words. Frustration bubbles to the surface. She leans forward, brow furrowed.
"Are you kidding me?" she argues, struggling to keep her voice quiet. "You actually think it is a good idea to stay around and aid these people, after what they pulled? Remember what happened when we were last together?"
Darcy plays with the umbrella in her drink. "I think you can help a lot more there than you could in a shack in no-where Alaska," she says.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" The physicist winces as she remembers she is not alone. Fortunately, Dr. Banner and Stark seem intent on ignoring her.
"Jane," Darcy resumes, her voice calm and level, "I'm on your side." She pauses, switching tactics. "How's the recovery going?"
Still indignant, Jane folds her arms. That's all it takes? SHIELD gives back an iPod and her intern jumps ship?
"Recovery?" the physicist grits. "From the tranquilizer dart SHIELD shot me with?"
Something flashes across Darcy's face. She knows something, Jane realizes. Calm down, and maybe she'll talk. Jane releases a long breath. "Darcy, please. Just tell me."
The intern shrugs. "Well, you've been having headaches and stuff."
"Yeah, so?"
"You throw yourself into your research. Mental strain and what not. Could be serious."
"I don't follow."
Darcy sighs. "Do you remember that I took a flash drive from the observatory with me, right before the 'men in black' showed up?"
"Vaguely."
Darcy continues, her voice quieting. "It's surveillance video. SHIELD took it. Watch it."
A muffled masculine voice speaks in the background. Darcy smiles sadly. "I'm sorry, I gotta go. I'll see you soon, ok?"
The screen goes black before Jane can protest.
She leans back in the chair and sighs. So that's that.
The physicist doesn't need to look over to know that Stark and Dr. Banner have reached the end of their discussion and have cast several curious looks in her direction. Swallowing what pride she has left, Jane rises from the terminal and waves over the billionaire genius.
"Mr. Stark, I need some help."
"It's Tony, and how may I serve?" The arrogance is gone from his voice and she believes that his offer is genuine.
She gives him her a weak smile. "I need to see confiscated surveillance video footage from my time at the observatory. My hacking skills aren't up to par, I'm afraid, and I have a feeling your familiarity with SHIELD firewalls is to my advantage."
"The lady is correct," Tony says, and steps in front of the holoscreen, his hand making sweeps across the screen.
"J.A.R.V.I.S?" he says.
"Yes?"
Jane covers her grin with a hand. Of all the voices, Tony Stark would choose an English butler.
Tony pauses, looking at the screen, then asks, "why is mundane surveillance footage from an observatory in Nome, Alaska under 'restricted'?" He quickly glances at Jane, despite his question being directed at the AI computer. "No offense," he says to her.
She shrugs. "None taken."
"Does this pose a challenge, sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. taunts, his pleasant bionic diction filling the lab.
Tony smirks. "A welcome one. Give me a minute."
Jane glances over at Dr. Banner, who is sitting before another holoscreen of a (human?) brain on the other side of the lab. Clearly absorbed, his shifts his hands, rotating the hologram organ in three dimensions. He sees her gaze and gives her a drained smile. He wears it often, Jane realizes, and for a moment, wonders how much the burden of the 'green rage monster' has to do with it.
Before Jane can ask him what he's up to, Tony interrupts. "Here you go. Looks riveting," he comments, seeing a few seconds of the fuzzy black and white camera footage play out.
Jane agrees, leaning forward. What do you want me to see, Darcy? she wonders.
"Thanks, but this will take a while," she tells the billionaire. Knowing a dismissal when he hears one, Tony leaves her alone.
Hour after hour, Jane scans through the footage. Completely absorbed in her task, she doesn't notice Dr. Banner, and then Tony, leave the lab for the night.
Her fingers dance over the panel. Play. Stop. Fast forward. It's odd watching her life played before her, becoming a casual observer to those stress filled moments leading up to the climax of discovery.
She watches inside of the observatory kitchen. The footage has a time stamp, and sped up, reveals glimpses of Jane, Darcy and Aaron moving around. It's no surprise that Jane only sees herself in the footage for the early hours of the morning. She remembers the mind numbing weariness she felt at that moment, and even now, with the sharp pangs of another migraine drilling at her skull, she is almost willing to give up.
"Is this some joke? What's the point of this?" she hisses, smacking the holoscreen panel much more sharply than she intended. The image wavers from the abuse, then comes back. Suddenly, onscreen, Jane watches herself fall to the floor.
"Wait, what?"
She pauses the video, lost in her thoughts. "Can't be," she murmurs. Pressing rewind, Jane watches again, in horror, as she turns at the kitchen counter and holds a conversation...with no one. And then she collapses. The video continues until Darcy and Aaron find her on the floor hours later.
It's an affront to her memory. Thor. Thor was with her that night. Wasn't he?
This can't be real—SHIELD edited the footage, they got to Darcy...
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she can hear Erik gruffly reminding her, "Jane, don't over complicate this. Remember Occam's Razor. What makes the most sense?"
The physicist swallows. The simplest explanation—and likely the correct one—is that Thor was never there at all. It was all in her head. All those moments, those precious moments with him...
Jane feels sick to her stomach. Her vision swims.
"I'm...delusional?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
Somewhere in the painful silence of the room, she hears echos of yes.
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A/N I can't tell you how much I appreciate the reviews, folks. There have been some very thoughtful ones and they have really encouraged me to continue this. Hugs!