June 25. SHIELD's West Coast Operations Base. 10:30 AM.
If anyone had told Leah Channing that one day she would be perusing a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul, she would have erupted in a mocking laughter. And yet, there she was, lying on her stomach with a pencil in her hand, scribbling furiously on the margins of the book with a look of extreme concentration.
In the ten days since the small conspiracy had started, SHIELD's vigilance had not relaxed a bit, especially since the news of the 'alien virus' had reached certain levels. Tony and Bruce had been busy designing and perfecting a plan, and their way of passing her information had to become more creative. So, she faked an interest in self-help books that Tony would get custom printed, replacing one or more pages with the data she needed. Who Moved My Cheese had her travel itinerary printed between pages 16 and 19; The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari contained a long list of Dr. Foster's professional achievements, and the Chicken Soup one was giving her a few insights on basic interdimensional travel and particle physics.
As an unexpected side effect, Leah's therapist had never been happier.
A quick rap on the door interrupted the silence, and Tony Stark appeared carrying the customary two cups of herbal tea and a big cardboard box that he threw on the desk. She was beginning to like the tea, although she still missed her morning coffee, mostly for the simple reason that she wasn't allowed to drink caffeine anymore.
"How you doing, honey? Any nausea, any headaches...?" asked Tony.
"No, just the constant sneezes", she said signaling to the almost empty box of tissues on her nightstand. "For all we know, they could be the Asgardian version of morning sickness."
"So, are you ready for your big day tomorrow?"
"If by big day you mean the day I get out of here and embark in the most stupid adventure of my life... then yes, I am", she answered, tossing the book to the floor.
The millionaire frowned. "You're very moody today. What's wrong?"
"Doctor Wade finally let me read newspapers this week. I've been reading about New York, and the battle."
"If you ask me, your therapist is a bit of an idiot for letting you see that so soon."
"I would have seen it today, or tomorrow, the moment I got out of here, Tony. I needed to know exactly what happened."
"And now you're having second thoughts about the plan."
"Not exactly, but this thing I'm going to do... It feels like I'm running towards Loki over the corpses of the hundreds of people who died in the battle, over the debris of their destroyed homes."
"You're not only doing this for yourself, honey."
"No, I'm doing it for the little alien... at least in part."
"And do you know what the survivors of New York would do to your kid if they found out? Revenge is a very strong instinct, Jersey girl. You need to get away from Earth, and I think your little alien will benefit from being born in a place where nobody will chase him with torches and pitchforks."
"I really hope you're right. And hoping is not exactly my strongest suit, you know. Anyway, whatever I choose, I'm sure it will end up leading back to him: if I stay, sooner or later Thor will be back and he will know of my... state, and he'll probably go back and tell Loki."
"And if you go, you'll probably be stuck with him for the rest of your life. It's not like you can take the Asgard Express back here if it doesn't work out."
"I know I'll have to say goodbye to a lot of things if I go. But still, I hope it's better than staying and being a lab rat." She picked the book and put it back on the nightstand, and then started to inspect the contents of the box. "What's all this stuff? Is it for me?"
"For starters, your purse and your shoes. I'm afraid the suit you wore on the day of the battle was in a terrible state and they threw it away, but I asked Pepper to get you new clothes."
"Nice, I'm dying to get rid of these tracksuits they make me wear here. SHIELD may be the most powerful secret organization in the civilized world, but their fashion style sucks to high heaven. Who's Pepper?"
"She works for... and she's also my... well, she's Pepper."
Leah let out a little laugh, the first in several days. "I'm glad that you have a 'Pepper'. She must be really something if she puts up with you... and the clothes are perfect", she said, uncovering a tailored white shirt and a pair of black slacks. "Very nice, very Carolina Herrera-ish."
"I'll pass your compliments to her and her personal shopper."
She opened the purse and found her wallet. "Hey, why are all my credit cards missing? And my driver's license isn't here either... Tell SHIELD that they have a pickpocket in their midst, Stark."
"That's one of the things I came to talk to you about. Okay, there's no easy way to tell you this, but... Leah, you're dead."
"I'm what? What's this then, a low budget version of The Sixth Sense?"
"What I mean is that the person known as Leah Channing is dead. SHIELD included your name in the list of the New York casualties, because your identity was leaked to the press after the Stuttgart thing. There's no way you could be an anonymous citizen again after that."
"So they decided to kill me... how rude."
Tony Stark handed her a thick envelope full of documents. "Everything you need is in there. Passport, credit cards, Social Security number, all with your new name. And you have a perfectly clean record now, not even a parking ticket."
"I had a perfectly clean record before, I wasn't exactly a criminal."
"Mostly, yes, but the Social Services in New Jersey had a lot of information on you concerning your mother's addiction problem, and there were a lot of reports from your school detailing your situation of potential neglect. All of that has disappeared, you're a completely new person now."
Leah looked at her brand new driving license and pulled a face. "It says here that my name is Nancy Anne Zemeckis. Nancy? Seriously?"
"Nice to meet you, Miss Zemeckis of the horribly un-fashionable name."
"Did you choose it?"
"As if I didn't have better taste than that! No, some agent in the PR department did. If you ask me, it kind of sucks... but you'll have to get used to it, at least for a while."
"So, according to this, I was born in Magnolia, Texas." Leah's eyes roamed over her birth certificate. "I'm going to need a map, I'm not that familiar with the South Central part of the country. Oh, nice, I'm thirty two years old! At least they made me one year younger... thank your boss for that."
"That was actually my idea. I wanted to put twenty eight but they didn't let me... You're welcome, doll."
"Please tell me I won't have to dye my hair or wear trashy colored contacts."
"Only your name was on the news, not your picture, so you can do without the crazy dyed hair. But I'd strongly suggest that you stay away from New York; the people who worked at the Cub Room may remember you. And, of course, showing your face in Stuttgart again is completely out of the question, because all your colleagues think you're pushing daisies. The people from your law firm organized you a very nice funeral, though... I can get you pictures if you want."
"That's a bit tasteless and extremely creepy."
"Okay, no pictures."
"But what of my apartment in Stuttgart? The mortgage was paid, and all my stuff is still in there!"
"Your things have been transported to a storage unit in Berlin, of which I have a key that will be given to you as soon as you leave; the real estate division of Stark Enterprises sold your apartment two weeks ago." He handed her a bank statement. "As a result, Nancy Zemeckis has a very nice savings account with three hundred and fifty thousand euros in it."
"Great price, especially in this economy."
"I told my people to sell it well. You're welcome again."
Leah sat on the bed and memorized her new Social Security number. "It's going to be weird, getting out of here after all these weeks. Good thing that I don't have any family, I'm guessing SHIELD would have had to tell them I was 'dead'."
Tony squirmed a little in his chair and extracted another folder from the box. "That may not be exactly true, sweetheart. There's something else they haven't told you."
"Oh, no." Leah's smile disappeared. "I hate that sentence. Every time I hear you say there's something else I cringe in fear."
"SHIELD has found your father." He raised a hand, signalling the woman before him to keep calm. "Don't get your panties in a twist, it's standard procedure on cases like this."
"Has there been any other case like this before?"
"Not exactly, but you know what I mean. And they haven't told him anything, the protocol just states that all immediate family members have to be located, just as a precaution." He handed her the folder, that contained a few paper sheets and several pictures. "May I introduce you to Mr. Benjamin Goldman, formerly from Newark and currently residing in Los Angeles."
"Goldman? Funny, I always thought I was Italian on both sides."
"Mazel Tov."
"Fuck off, Tony." The woman that should have been called Leah Goldman, but wasn't, looked closely at the pictures and tried to find some resemblance of herself in the man's features. "What does he do for a living?"
"It turns out the lawyer stuff is a family thing: he owns a very successful divorce law firm. Several B-list movie stars have been his clients in the last few years." Tony looked at the tips of his shoes and cleared his throat a few times before speaking again. "Honey... Goldman has no idea that you exist. Apparently he left New Jersey before your mother realized you were on the way, he moved to California and got married to another woman twenty five years ago. No children."
"Oh." Leah's face was completely devoid of expression.
"And now I have to ask you if you want me to contact him, maybe break the news as gently as possible."
She stood up and put one of the photographs in her purse, storing the rest away in the brown folder. "I don't think it's a good idea. I may not be long for this world - and, by world, I mean planet - and it would be useless to shock the man to death and then disappear. No, Mr. Goldman should continue with his life as normal. I have no right to involve him in the circus that is mine."
"Fine. I have to leave now, so you can get ready to leave. An agent will pick you up around one... Do you need anything else?"
"Now that you mention it, I need a Martini. Very dry."
"You know I can't do that."
"Of course I know. But you asked if I needed anything, and I can't deny what I need", she answered, getting back to her original prone position on the bed. "How am I going to face the normal world again, Tony?"
"You won't be on your own for long. Dr. Foster will keep you company and stop you from doing anything stupid. Until then... my personal, useless advice is that you try and be strong. See you later, honey."
The woman on the bed grabbed the cup of herbal tea and went back to reading her book, trying to keep her mind occupied and not think of what the future might bring.
Asgard. Three days after summer solstice. Morning.
Exactly on the same moment when Leah was trying to push away some depressing thoughts, her lover was occupied in remembering her in a very different way.
Lounging on his bed, with his gaze lost in an imaginary horizon, making the Einherjar outside believe that he was just about to fall asleep... Loki was completely silent and immobile, but his mind was buzzing with an incessant activity. He did this often, and at this point every second of the week he had spent with Leah had been replayed in his head hundreds of times. Some days all he could recall were sad memories, others (not too many of them) moderately happy. He didn't even have to conjure an image of her: the picture on his mind was too clear, and several weeks of being apart couldn't erase the memories of her few days and nights together.
On this particular day, he was reminiscing over certain extremely satisfying nighttime activities.
The imprisoned Prince closed his eyes and sent his thoughts over the long distance that separated his home from Midgard. He wasn't a telepath, of course, but somehow the sensation was increased if he concentrated and tried to picture the place where Leah lived.
One after the other, little fragments of the erotic scenes they had played together started to take shape. It was easy once he concentrated, because someone who could potentially live for thousands of years needs to forget, else he would go insane. But the minds of those who dwelled in Asgard had ways of making the journey back to a specific point in time, as if they were digging in a mine that contained layer after layer of images. If he searched long enough, he could remember any event from his long existence. Such a perfect memory was both a blessing and a curse for the Aesir... and also for him who, although not belonging to the same race, seemed to share some of their features.
He didn't have to dig very deep this time, because the little details he was looking for were forever engraved in his mind. Like the way her breath used to hitch for a second every time he ran his tongue over the hollow of her throat. Or the slight stinging sensation of her short, red nails raking over his back; of course she couldn't hurt him with her limited mortal strength, but it was enough to evoke a thrilling sense of danger, and he thrived on that sensation. She also liked to feel his heartbeat, with her hand splayed over his chest... and her touch was somewhat healing, as if he could feed off the heat of her palm on his cold skin...
All of a sudden Loki opened his eyes to the cold whiteness of his cell and sat up, with his heart racing, muttering a curse under his breath. His beautiful, regal hands clutched the bedcovers under him, and he could feel how the pleasant, calming thoughts floated away.
For the last few days, it had been impossible for him to concentrate well every time he sent his conscience towards her Midgardian lover. It was true that the images were clear - the kind of images no well bred man would describe in polite company - but there was something else that bothered him. Sex may have been the reason why he took her in the first place, but it had changed in their brief time together. Those intimate moments were always on the top of his mind, but they weren't just the memory of the physical act.
The real reason why those thoughts were constantly troubling him was that, in the throes of passion, when Leah's cheeks blushed with excitement and her voice broke while repeating his name in a hoarse whisper, he could feel that she was happy. And she was willing. Every time she laughed in bed (it had taken him a while to accept that her laughter was not a mockery, that she did it out of pure bliss), it fueled the illusion that he had not taken her by force from her life, her friends, her safe little corner of the world. It blurred the memory of the blackmail and the veiled threats he had used on her at first.
Because if he tried hard enough he could even believe, just for a short moment, that Leah had belonged to him on her own free will.
June 25. SHIELD's West Coast Operations Base. 2 PM.
Nancy Anne Zemeckis, formerly Leah Channing, was officially released from SHIELD's custody at forty-five minutes past one.
Right after lunch, an agent she had never seen before escorted her out of the room she had occupied for thirty four days, and led her through a maze of underground rooms and corridors. Tony and Dr. Banner were waiting for her near the exit, outside a small storage room.
"We'll take it from here, Agent Butler. Thank you." As soon as Butler had disappeared back into the net of white passages, Tony produced a key card out of his pocket and and opened the door.
Leah did her best to stifle a gasp, because the room was filled with all the things Loki had bought (or maybe stolen?) for her during their week together. Everything had been cleaned and organized: clothes to one side, in garment bags, jewels and cosmetics to the other, and the books in a neat pile on top of a table. She didn't react for a few seconds, so Tony gave her a little nudge towards a suitcase next to her.
"Director Fury says that you can keep whatever you want from here. It's supposed to be evidence, but everything has been already examined and decontaminated."
"They're just things", she muttered, trying not to choke on the words while her mind registered all the memories those just things were bringing back. "And they don't really belong to me, I shouldn't have them."
"You could pick just one thing", said Bruce, surprising the others, because he had been completely silent until then. "Something that doesn't bring bad memories... or maybe something practical that you can use."
"What of all this can be considered practical? The clothes are too flashy unless I'm going to an awards gala, I never wear jewels, and... oh, wait!" Leah walked towards the bags of clothes and picked one of them. "I can have a use for this. Not now, but maybe in the future."
"Good choice", agreed the millionaire while she put the garment bag into the small suitcase. "Well, in that case, this is goodbye, doll. One of SHIELD's drivers is going to take you to the airport.
Leah rolled her eyes. "Please, not to Newark."
"Of course not, that's also on the list of places where you can't go in case someone recognizes you. You'll be flying from JFK. Banner and I have managed to persuade Fury that the best thing for your recovery would be a long vacation, preferably on another continent, so they booked you a flight to London. From there, you can go... wherever you like."
As they got out of the storage room, Tony signaled with an almost invisible head tilt to one of the cameras that surveyed the corridor. That and the inflection in his voice told Leah that there would be no more talk of their plans, at least not within SHIELD's premises. Once they reached the gate of the complex (disguised under what looked like a Coca-Cola factory), she prepared to say her goodbyes to her newfound allies.
"I will miss our talks, doll", admitted Tony with a tight hug.
"So will I... except maybe fifty percent of the time, when you're a jerk." She looked at a small package, wrapped in brown paper, that Tony was holding. "Is that for me?"
"A parting gift."
She unwrapped the book and started laughing so hard that she had to wipe out a small tear, because it was another self-help book: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.
"I tried looking for the Men Are from Asgard edition, but it was out of print. By the way, you know that the offer to work for me still stands, right? I'm always in need of good lawyers. And when I say good, I mean heartless."
"Then I may not be the right choice for that anymore. Thank you, Tony, for everything." Then she turned to Dr. Banner and held out her hand with genuine affect.
"Goodbye, Miss Channing... I mean, Zemeckis. And don't worry, everything is going to be alright."
"I wish I had your optimism, doctor..." she whispered, "but you're not carrying a potential monster inside of you."
The scientist gave her a quick hug so that she wouldn't see the sudden burst of pain on his face, helped her put the suitcase in the back of the car, and waved her goodbye without a word.
"Do you think I should have told her about the other guy? I mean, it's only fair", he sighed in Tony's direction.
"It may have been fair... if you had been in the mood for a scream match and a scratched face", answered his friend. "Trust me, it's much better for everybody's peace of mind if she doesn't know that you're the one who beat her boyfriend into a pulp. Besides, you're also the one who's helping her get reunited with Rock of Ages, and that cancels out the other thing. Sort of."
"I'm not sure it does, but, as Leah always says... Whatever."
"Then let's go back to the lab and check those calculations again. I emailed Jane Foster yesterday with the last data approximation, let's see what she thinks of it."
"I just hope we're not sending that woman to her death."
"That would be a shame, she has exactly the kind of sense of humor that I like."
June 28. Fiumicino Airport, Rome.
The young police agent who was on passport control duty at Fuimicino gave a wink to the pretty American tourist, greeting her in a heavily accented English. "Welcome to Rome, signorina... Zemeckis. Have you been to Italy before?"
Leah took a deep breath and grinned, determined to keep the officer's attention away from her fake passport. "No, but I'm really looking forward to it. You see, my grandmother... la mia nonna era italiana."
"Ah, then you are almost like family!" The man's smile widened, and he closed her passport without even looking at it. "Have a great time in Rome, bellissima."
Everything was easier from there, because some stereotypes are based on truth, particularly the one about Italian men being prone to flirting. When she finally arrived to her hotel room, having given her widest smiles to the cab driver, the receptionist and the bellhop, her cheeks hurt a bit from all the grinning, but she finally felt safe and anonymous... Just another tourist in the loud, chaotic and crowded city that she loved.
She had been to Rome before, several times, so she was happy to see that the Italian city was her meeting point with Dr. Foster. That same morning, she had received an email from the doctor's assistant, asking her to choose a place to meet, and she had quickly made a reservation in her favorite restaurant. La Gatta Mangiona was a gorgeous little place in the middle of the Trastevere, and she was really hungry for some local delicacies.
Before leaving the facility, Banner had given her a very long list of the medications she couldn't take (no painkillers or sleeping pills, among others) and the foods she couldn't eat (sadly, prosciutto was absolutely prohibited), and of course she hid the wine menu under her napkin to avoid the ever present temptation. But, apart from that, there were many things she could enjoy, and she was determined to live her last days on Earth as if she was really condemned to death. After refusing the wine for the third time (una bottiglia de acqua minerale non gassata, prego; grazie mille), she ordered some stuffed zucchini flowers and a plate of crostini as an appetizer, because Dr. Foster's intern was running late.
About fifteen minutes later a brunette girl in jeans, obviously American, arrived in a hurry and almost out of breath to the door of the restaurant, and looked very relieved to see her.
"Hi! Wow, I'm terribly late... are you Nancy Zemeckis?" she asked, dropping her heavy bag on a chair.
"No... I mean, yes!" Leah almost stood up and hugged the intern, but reminded herself just in time that this was a professional meeting."I was starting to think you had bailed out on me."
"Sorry, the traffic was awful and I've been looking for a parking space for half an hour."
"I see you've never been in Rome before... a bit of advice, don't try to drive here. These people are brutal behind a wheel, I always take the tram instead". She pointed to the chair across her and pushed the plate of zucchini flowers towards the girl. She decided that she liked the young intern, and besides it would be really nice to have someone to socialize with while the doctor did all her scientific stuff. "You must be Darcy, right? How long have you been working for Dr. Foster?"
The girl's smile became a little forced, and she bit her lip for a second before answering.
"I am Jane Foster."