Chapter Fourteen - Jane's Unexpected Visitor

Jane had returned to New Mexico. She had tried gamely to throw herself back into her work but everything she worked on had Thor written all over it. Her notebooks spoke of him, the stars shone with his light, every bit of her homemade machinery thrummed with the depth of his voice. She returned to her trailer, locked the door, turned off her cell phone and crawled into bed where she remained. Nothing tempted her to leave. She felt miserable from the inside out, miserable right to the depths of her soul.

She ignored Darcy hammering on door and windows, shouting up at her to let her in. Jane remained nestled in her duvet. There was a tea stain down the front of her pyjama top and crumbs in her bed. Jane did not care. Who would see her? She was glad she had never given anyone a spare key. Smart. Perhaps the only smart thing she had ever done. She let her eyes close. The day before she had slept for almost eighteen hours. She was going to beat that today. She would take pride in it.

When a voice spoke, she thought at first that it was a dream come vividly to life.

"And you wonder why I have nothing but disdain for your kind..."

Jane was sure she recognised the speaker and realised that her thinking was bringing her away from sleep. She held the duvet over her face, her chest suddenly tight. If the speaker had not been part of her dream then he must be...

"It's okay, I can wait."

Jane slowly withdrew her face from the tangle of blankets. Standing by her bed and viewing the disarray spread over its surface, was Loki. She blinked at him, refusing to believe the evidence of her eyes. Loki looked different, his hair was longer and smoothed down and he was dressed in a perfectly tailored suit but his hands still bore deep, blue-black bruises and there were three nasty puncture marks across his forehead that stood out lividly against his pale skin. But how could he be in her trailer? No, no, no, her mind was playing tricks. When he looked up to find that she was watching him he gave her a small smile which was more threatening than kind. His eyes were sharp as cut glass.

Beneath the covers she gave herself a hard pinch desperately hoping that she would wake. When that did not work she asked, "Are you real?"

Her voice came out as a squeak.

Loki's smile widened so that she caught a glimpse of his straight, white teeth. Instead of answering he picked up the pot of her favourite face cream which she had left open on top of her chest of drawers. Loki raised it to his nose and sniffed delicately.

"Humans," he said, shaking his head. He placed the pot back down and cast his eyes around the appalling mess that spread throughout the trailer. Clothes covered the floor. A glass of water had been knocked off her bedside table so that a large patch of carpet was damp with its contents. There were plates and the remnants of poorly prepared meals scattered everywhere, a smell of neglect hanging over the whole ensemble.

"I see you have been making good use of your time," he said dryly.

"You're not here," said Jane, flinging aside the covers so that the top half of her was free of them. Her scalp itched. She had not washed her hair in a few days. She ran a hand through it so that it was pushed from her face. When she looked up, Loki would be gone. Her heart was thumping hard as she forced herself to look back to where the chest of drawers stood. Loki was still there and he was beginning to look irritated. Jane wondered if she should reach for the lamp. It was the only thing within reach that might serve as a weapon. But what good would such a thing do against a demi-god from Asgard? She would just have to keep him talking and hope that Thor was on his way.

"How did you escape?" she asked, heart in her throat.

"I didn't," said Loki simply, "I am there and I am here."

Jane felt ice slip down into her stomach. She remembered Thor explaining the nature of Loki's powers. What word had he used? Shape-shifter. So no one knew that Loki was here in her bedroom because he was also where he should be, held captive at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. He was free to do whatever he wanted to her and no one would know.

"There is no need to look so alarmed," said Loki with a bored sigh, "I have not come here to harm you."

"Then why did you come?" Jane demanded. It was hard to present a fearsome defence when she was wearing teddy bear pyjamas but she tried her best, pulling her top down to cover her stomach.

"I grow tired of witnessing Thor's misery," said Loki, "It makes him such dull company."

Jane felt a flutter of hope in her chest.

"Thor is miserable?"

Loki looked up from examining a half empty bottle of whisky that she had left half buried in unwashed socks.

"No doubt it was your intention," he said airily.

Jane hugged her chest. Her heart was bursting. She wanted nothing more than to run back to where Thor was waiting. She wanted to feel his arms around her and lose herself in the strong warmth of his kiss. But even if she did, nothing would have changed. Loki would still stand between them, his brother, his enemy.

Loki was watching her. He was still holding the bottle.

"You believe his allegiance to me is stronger than his for you," Loki said matter of factly, "You are wrong. He never wished to leave you. My actions led him to destroy the Bifrost and ever since he has searched for a way to return to you. I have been useful to him, that is all, and being useful made him feel guilty enough to help me."

Jane swallowed. She was fighting hard to hold back tears.

"How did you find me?" she asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Another smile, brief as a heartbeat. Loki unscrewed the lid of the whisky and drank. A thought occurred to Jane, a sudden burst of illumination.

"You love him too."

Loki sealed the bottle again and threw it onto the bed without acknowledging Jane's words.

"You are a human," he said disdainfully, "You are weak and pathetic and mortal yet Thor seems to have grown attached to you. Do you not think this a miraculous thing? Foolish to the point of idiocy but, from your point of view, miraculous. Asgardian women throw themselves at his feet desperate for his attention but you, who have his heart, scorn him. Overcome the limits of your stunted race and realise what is being offered to you."

Jane did not know what to say. She felt insulted and reassured at the same time. Loki, as if to separate himself from the words he had spoken, was casting his eyes around her caravan again.

"Does Thor know you're here?" she asked finally.

"Of course not," said Loki, his blue eyes returning to fix themselves on her, "Do you think he would willingly allow me to be alone in your company?"

He smiled again and before Jane could say or do anything to stop him he had disappeared leaving her staring at the emptiness he had left behind, her heart hammering at twice its normal speed.

Loki lay, head spinning, the taste of whisky in his mouth. The return of his second self from such a distance had been - in a word - forceful and he felt shaken by the effort. Walking the corridors no longer posed a threat to his energy, he could appear and disappear within the confines of the base at will, but distance was still much too hard for him to sustain. He had been with Jane for such a short time and still he felt wrung out. The edges of black despair pulled at him from all sides. What was he without his powers? A nasty inner voice supplied the answer:

Pathetic. Mortal. No better than the humans that surround you. If they were to use their weapons against you, could you cope? Or would you fall?

Loki could not answer. The voice surrounded him, taunting him, taking advantage of his weariness to overwhelm him.

Do you think Thor will thank you for bringing her back? He will kill you if he finds you have grown even this strong. They plan your death already. One word from the mortal woman and you are dead. You are in her power.

Loki would not listen. He would close his mind.

Too late for that, Loki. Far too late. You could have torn the mortal's heart out. You could have made Thor hurt the way you have been hurt. You have grown weaker than I ever imagined.

Loki felt pain creeping up through his chest. No. He would not allow it. He was stronger than this. The breaking point came when he heard them chanting, their voices snaking through his veins like poison.

"We will find you again, God of Mischief, God of Lies.

"We will take your tongue out first and then pluck out your eyes."

It was quiet, only the faintest of whispers but they were still there, still hunting him. Loki tried to shut them out but their voices wrapped themselves like snakes around him, poison dripping from their open mouths.

Bruce was watching the monitors closely. Measuring Loki's vital signs was almost useless. They did not read like a normal humans results and they had nothing to compare them to in order to draw meaningful conclusions. Having drawn evidence from observations and his own estimated calculations, however, Bruce believed that he was beginning to understand some of what the numbers were telling him. He did not think it was a good sign that the readings were constantly changing. Sometimes Loki's heart rate was staggeringly high and at other times it reached a plateau that would have killed a human. Then there was the fact that Loki did not seem to be noticeably distressed by his confinement. Most patients, whatever the reason for their restraints, grew frustrated and upset as they grew stronger. Most patients wanted to be free. Loki, however, lay unmoving and unconcerned day after day. What inner reserves did Loki possess that would enable him to submit so peacefully to a state of utter dependency? Bruce did not like it.

"Dr Banner?"

Bruce turned to see Agent Hill holding out a cell phone to him. He took it, his eyebrows raised in slight surprise.

"Stark," she mouthed and Bruce smiled.

"Hello Tony."

"No small talk," came the response from the other end of the line, "Does the creature live?"

"Yes, he does," said Bruce as he shifted his gaze to the monitor which showed him Loki lying still, eyes open and staring at the ceiling.

"Unfortunate for all concerned," said Tony sharply, "I have been working on the Stark Transporter."

"The what?"

Bruce could not suppress a laugh. Had Tony really named their invention after himself? The ego!

"It needed a name," said Tony unapologetically, "And it needs work. Are you planning on returning to assist me at any point in the near future?"

"I'm not sure I should leave while Loki is still..."

"Seriously?" Tony's voice cut across him. "You're still babysitting? Am I the only one who wants to get Loki as far away from this planet as possible?"

"No, you are not," said Bruce calmly.

"Then come back and help me get this done."

A slight smile was tugging at Bruce's lips.

"Are you saying you need me?"

There was a significant pause.

"Because if you don't need me," Bruce continued, "I'll stay here and..."

"All right," said Tony tightly, "I need your help. Happy?"

"Ecstatic," said Bruce with a smirk, "I'll see what Fury can do about getting me on the next plane out."

When he ended the call and looked back at the monitor in front of him it gave him a little start to see Loki looking directly at the camera, right at him.