Author's Note: So a lot of you wanted to see Jane's super hero costume, and I'll do my best. I started out as a Art Major but realized that I was nowhere good enough to make a career out of it. Qilin and I are working on starting a DeviantArt and we'll see where that goes. I don't have a tablet so none of the artwork will be properly colored, but we'll ink them and scan them and hopefully give them decent enough backgrounds with photoshop. So, please be kind when we put them up, even if they suck. And if any of yall's is better at colorin' stock photos than we are, feel free to have a go at them. Yep the little girly is Hel, Norse goddess of the underworld, btw. If you've ever read the Lenore comics (they're gross, but horrendously funny), that is where I got the inspiration for her. Well ladies and gents, here it is, I hope I deliver on the drama (^_-)
Anyway, sorry it took me so long to update. I had intended for my lovely break to be filled with productive writing and skiing, but all I did was play Skyrim and lurk on Reddit. I regret nothing. Did you all have a good Christmas? Hope the holidays rocked for you all!
Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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Chapter 25: Reunions and Koi Ponds
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Jane followed Psylocke up the ancient stone staircase, heart thudding like a hollow drum in her chest. Beast ambled along next to the blue clad ninja and was quietly arguing a point of mutant rights with her. Both seemed entirely unconcerned with what they all were about to do: launch across the universe in an ancient device to an unknown destination. Ahead of them Darcy and Jarvis walked side by side, Darcy's cheeks still decidedly pink as the two went over Jarvis's introductory speech. Jane could hear War Machine tromping up the steps beside her, the slight metallic creak of his armored body barely discernable over the cold whistle of the mountain wind.
The frigid gale that licked around them tossed her brown hair around her face, tangling it into long ropy strands. Jane brushed it back from her face, cursing that she'd been too busy to get it cut; it was usually kept in a manageable length, but with the craziness of the past few months she'd neglected to do it.
She kept taking deep breaths of the cold crisp mountain air. Cold rain that was more sleet than water pelted her pink tinged cheeks like lilliputian missiles.
It was almost autumn in Norway and Sweden, and Hafrstadr was located smack in the middle between the two countries.
The mountain they were climbing were dotted with brown and gold and red scrub flora that was stunted by the constant wind. Jane's boots crunched on the ancient stone and the wind lifted the leather tails of her cloak up, twisting and turning them in the gusts like ominous black death flags in her wake. She was insanely glad she'd worn her black spandex under-armour shorts underneath the cloak dress ensemble: even though the wind was annoying and kept trying to give War Machine a good look at her ass, at least her modesty was secure.
A structure gradually came into view as they climbed the stairs. Jane could see that the archeological team that had been allowed to continue to work on the structure had since cleaned off all of the debris that had covered it since its discovery. A sphere of burnished bronze-like metal rose sharply out of a stone dais with a gleaming triangular needle pointed straight up, as though it would skewer the sky if it could. A dark opening in the sphere yawned like a beast's maw. Jane's breath caught in her throat. Soon, she would be walking in there to places and monsters unknown. Her brain made some snide comments about virgin sacrifice and Jane promptly shut that line of thought down.
Fury stepped up and shook each one of their hands in turn. Jane had the distinct impression of a general saying goodbye to his troops before a final fruitless battle. He didn't say anything, and soon they filed one by one into the dark of the sphere. She looked back to see Fury standing in the circle of light of the opening before the door slid over, closing them into the solid darkness.
Jane didn't have time to reflect on how freaking dark it was before things started happening.
Light boiled around them. It seemed like the entirety of the universe was roiling around them in a violent tempest of stars and color. Jane was so enthralled by what she was seeing she almost didn't notice the pain. But it hurt though, dear god did it hurt. Energy flooded the little room and she gritted her teeth. No one else was screaming, so dammit she wouldn't either.
Light flooded down from the ceiling and Jane's final thought before she was disintegrated and blasted all the way to the other end of the universe was now she finally knew what it was like to be in the center of the event.
.x.
She felt like she was coming back to life, or finally coming out of the woods after wandering after an eternity.
All she could think was, 'Holy shit.' That and she wanted to barf.
There was gold everywhere, everything glittered like it was forged out of the sun. She had to force herself to walk normally and not stumble her first few steps on an alien world. The group moved forward towards the figure standing on a platform waiting for them. He was a giant of a man standing clad head to toe in gleaming armor and clutching a sword taller than Jane. He could have been carved in stone except for his eyes.
Jane swallowed when his eyes, like wheels of orange fire, speared her like a kid holding a bug under a magnifying glass. He knew exactly who she was and that she was not supposed to be there. For a second Jane thought he would call her out. He stared her down for a long moment and then a wide grin that was very nearly a smirk slid across his full mouth.
"Welcome, travelers."
His voice was deep and warm, and Jane couldn't really explain it but she liked him instantly. You could tell a lot about a person from the first meeting, and Jane had a feeling the big dude was the sort of person one could share a beer with on a Sunday afternoon, even if he was clutching a sword big enough to take down a wooly mammoth in one swing.
There was a clatter armored footsteps and Jane got a glimpse of Sif striding towards them in a flowing white gown with a platoon of soldiers in armor that threw more light around than an angel choir. Jane tucked her head and flipped her heavy leather hood over her face. If she kept her head lowered, only the lower half of her face would be visible and she seriously doubted if Sif could recognize her from her nose and mouth and chin alone.
Still, she stepped back into War Machine's enormous shadow just in case. They had to be accepted. If she got them thrown out of Asgard before they could meet with someone and see about help she would never be able to live with herself. Her hand rested on the pommel of Godslayer and she felt a tickle in the back of her mind that was the sword's presence. Fury had had the doctors give her an implant on her last medical checkup. She'd thought it had been something to do with injections against possible infections in Asgard, but she now suspected it was something to do with a telepathic connection with the sword so that it would create wormhole tears when she wanted it to. It was weird being able to think at her sword, and that it would do what she told it.
Sif stopped in front of them and Jarvis immediately stepped toward her, hand outstretched. "Lovely to make your acquaintance, Ms- ?"
"Sif, Thor's betrothed and future Queen of Asgard," she said smoothly, shaking his hand, "And who are your companions?"
Jane felt her insides freeze. Betrothed. Blech, she didn't want to even think about it.
Jarvis smiled, gesturing back at the little group, "Psylocke, one of the emissaries from the Xmen and Beast, her partner. The metal golem is War Machine, a representative of the US armed forces, and-"
When he got to Jane he faltered. He couldn't just say her name but he couldn't leave her out either. Jane saved him by stepping forward and offering a little bow, careful to keep her face low.
"Reaper," she said.
Psylocke turned around, arched a slender purple brow and skewered her with a subtle 'seriously?' look. Jane shrugged. She'd just slammed out all six seasons of Supernatural on DVD before they left, it was all she could think of on the fly. Psylocke rolled her eyes and Darcy's shoulders shook as though she were trying to keep from laughing. Jane sighed, exasperated. She traveled with friggan comedians, the lot of them. It was not her fault that they hadn't sat down and discussed proper super hero names.
"Well met," said Sif after looking over their dysfunctional group again, "If you'll all follow me please."
The ragtag band followed after their ethereal guide, and Jane wasn't surprised to see the soldiers flank them as they walked. She wouldn't trust armed strangers either, even if they were there to ask for help. Jane for her part ignored the soldiers and the statuesque Asgard woman leading them and instead concentrated on the things to be seen. Asgard was freaking huge, and there was technology being displayed that humans probably wouldn't be capable of for another thousand years.
Sif led them through a winding wide street paved with white stones surrounded on both sides by elegant buildings that sent their golden spires curling lazily into the pink and gold starry sky. There were people everywhere: elegant ladies in sweeping gauzy jewel colored dresses and men in bright armor. Kids were darting in an out of the crowds squealing and laughing; some were playing some form of game that involved a bright red leather ball, and some seemed to just be chasing each other for no apparent reason.
The road curled up and round the central hill of Asgard. A huge golden building perched on the hill's crest, its many cylindrical towers formed a triangular shape that seemed to sweep effortlessly towards the sky.
The group followed Sif and her soldiers through a high arching entryway into a central hallway. Compared to the cheerful chaos outside, it reminded Jane of the inside of a church. Everything was quiet and the few people dotting the vaulted echoing hallway seemed to be of a higher caliber. Their dress was more important, and Jane wasn't an anthropologist but she noticed the formal deference the soldiers surrounding them treated everyone they came across, further cementing her suspicion that the building they were in was the central place where Asgard made all of its decisions. She couldn't picture it as a castle, so her money was on palace.
Sif stopped in front of a heavy wooden door decorated by Yggdrasil and Nordic knots.
"This suite and its rooms are where you'll be staying. For now I ask that you not leave them. I have to confer with my lieges, and from then decide on a course of action," Sif said, assureing them into the room, "I hope you have a pleasant stay."
.x.
Thor massaged his temples and reread over the revised treaty for the Frost Giants he'd been working on. A headache was pounding merrily away inside his skull, reminding him most painfully that he hadn't slept in three days, and hadn't had a proper night's rest in weeks. The Frost Giants had quite naturally been furious with the Asgard when the peace party had arrived in their destroyed ice world. They hadn't known the circumstances, but they did know that the Asgard were responsible for single handedly obliterated much of the planet, making the entire world unstable.
Thor was a little surprised the Frost Giants hadn't attacked on sight. They'd wanted to, certainly, but then even the Frost Giants could see that their race couldn't survive without help. Jotunheim had grudgingly accepted Asgard's assistance; they'd had no choice.
Their list of demands was extensive and between hammering out the contract between the two realms, sorting out Asgard's political drama, dodging Sif and his Father, and worrying about Jane and his Terran friends, Thor was nearing the end of his rope.
He stretched, realizing with the crank and pop of his joints that he hadn't been out to the training facilities in ages and the soreness in his body was making him realize it. Thor got to his feet and pushed the contract across the table away from him. He needed to stop looking at the damn thing; his eyes were swimming and threatening to pop out of his head. He walked over to the window, glancing longingly at his bed as he walked past.
The four posted monstrosity was huge, and he knew from personal experience that the goose down mattress was insanely comfortable. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into the sheets and shut out the world for a few hours. Thor raked a hand through his shaggy blond hair. There was no way he could get into that bed. Sif's scent was in the sheets and her shampoo was in the pillow, and it would remind him that his life wasn't his own and that the woman he loved was not the woman he could stay with.
Thor growled in frustration, picked up the chair that had been supporting his sore backside for the better part of a day, and hurled it into the wall where it splintered into a thousand pieces.
The chair carnage made him feel marginally better. At the very least he needed to bathe. His mood would improve after he'd cleaned up and had something to eat. Thor entertained the idea of sneaking off to the little nook with a cot that had been serving as his temporary bedroom, but decided against it. There was too much to be done.
The Thunder God unlaced his armor and let it drop with a muffled clang, where he nudged it into a corner with his foot. He peeled his shirt up next, wincing as he drew it up over his shoulders. One of the first things Sif had done when she'd moved into his quarters was add a mirror near her clothes trunk. Thor moved in front of it. It was roughly the size of a small serving platter, but it served well enough to show him that the bonk he had received from an annoyed Frost Giant wasn't healing as fast as he'd like.
The vivid purple and yellow, with black spots marking where the giant's knuckles had made contact, stretched from the top of his back down to his shoulder blade.
He sighed. Once upon a time he would have gone to war over a punch thrown in frustrated anger, but now he sympathized with the Frost Giants. They had been viewed as a lesser race by the Asgard and the other worlds for millenia. Now, with their home planet virtually destroyed, they had to accept the Asgard's help or face destruction. Thor had to admit it was a hard place to be in: accept help from a race that had won wars that decimated their people, had better technology, better living, it would be degrading. So Thor had taken the advice Odin had given him so long ago, and brushed off the Jotun's action, albeit rather painfully.
So lost was he in his thoughts that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him, and almost jumped out of his skin when a small hand lightly touched his bruise.
"That looks painful," Sif said softly.
"Aye," Thor agreed, reluctantly stooping to reach for his shirt. The bath was out now, with her there.
Sif looked hesitant, tucking a strand of black hair over her ear. He wondered briefly why she was wearing her official court gown.
"I was wondering," she said, eyes flitting up to meet his and a light blush staining her cheeks, "There's an official court meeting this afternoon, and I confess that with all the meetings yesterday I didn't get enough rest last night. I was wondering- I mean, perhaps you might join me in sleep? Just for a bit?"
Thor allowed his face no expression, but inside his thoughts clamored against each other. She wanted to take a nap with him? It was harmless and yet it set his stomach churning. Thor fixed his face into what he hoped was a passable smile.
"Unfortunately, my friend," he was careful to enunciate the word friend, "I still have a lot of work to do. Enjoy your rest and don't let me detain you."
With that he fairly fled from the chambers that used to be his, good mood entirely gone. Not for the first time he raged over the fact that his life was not his own. Thor knew he was being a baby about it, but damn if he didn't just want to murder something right now.
He strode off towards Indun's Garden, pace quickening when he heard Sif calling after him.
.x.
Jane spent all of two minutes sitting restlessly in the high backed brown chair she'd picked as her perch before hopping up to prowl nervously around the room, poking at the furnishings.
She was too nervous to sit still. Part of her brain knew that she was standing in an archaeologists/anthropologists' wet dream, but she couldn't get past the holy-shit-Thor-was-so-close circles her head kept running in. Jane knew she was being ridiculous, but she just couldn't help it. This thing with Thor haunting her thoughts would finally end, one way or another. She had to know if she was being silly, or if they had a chance. She needed to hear it from his own mouth if he wanted Sif, if the thing that they'd had was just that: a thing. Or if he really did want her. She had to know.
The rooms Sif had given them were extensive. There was a separate bedroom for each of them, on top of a deep fire pit in one room where Jane supposed they were to cook meals should they want to. She wondered what would actually go in a pit that big. Not the average cheese burger, that was for sure. Perhaps a cow. One further perusal one of the doors was revealed to open up to one of the loveliest gardens she'd ever seen, and not just because it was a garden on an alien world.
"I'm going to poke around a bit," Jane called as she scampered out the door, ignoring Darcy's muttered "long as its not Sif's eye."
Jane bypassed her 'bedroom' and headed for the garden. It was connected to their chambers and so she figured it wouldn't be too horrible if she looked around for a bit.
The garden was gorgeous. There were a lot of flowers and plants that she recognized, and some she didn't. It was spectacular in its simplicity. The warm sunlight highlighted the golden colors of the dying grass; autumn appeared to be setting in in Asgard as well as Earth. Some plants were still living though: bits of green dotted the scenery like gems, and flowers waved their bright heads in the slow breeze.
A winding stream meandered lazily through the garden. Jane followed it, hopping from rock to rock, till the steam ran into an ornate koi pond. Pale green lily pads dotted the surface of the water and she spied the shadowy bodies of koi as they moved beneath the flat plants, giving themselves away as bright flashes of color that rippled the surface like ropes of diamonds.
Jane was mesmerized by the peacefulness of it all and for a moment she forgot where she was.
Shouts interrupted her and she glanced up just in time to see Thor hop down from the golden rampart he'd been running along, completely bypassing the stairs. Sif came running out after him, red and gold dress tangled up in one fist to better help her run. Thor threw a glance back at her, and then to Jane's utter astonishment he jumped straight into the koi pond where the lily pads hid all signs of his entry.
Well. The pond was certainly a lot deeper than she'd imagined.
Sif skidded to a halt on the rampart. Jane looked up at her, glad that she'd left her hood up.
"Um," Sif called, "Did you happen to see someone run pass here?"
Jane remained mute, knowing her voice might give her away, and merely pointed farther down the rampart.
Sif gave a preoccupied little wave of thanks and sprinted away shouting, "I know you don't like it, but dammit we are going to talk about this!"
Jane raised an eyebrow. Trouble in paradise?
When Sif was safely gone Thor popped out of the koi pond in a spray of water, lily pads, and annoyed flopping koi. He heaved himself out and shook like a dog, then straightened and began picking lily pads and koi out of his clothes, muttering angrily to himself. Jane watched him, her heart felt like it was about to vault straight out of her body propelled by nervous adrenaline.
A nervous little laugh escaped her. Even covered in pond water and plants he was still adorable, and for some reason she wanted nothing more at that moment to be in his arms, and damn the consequences. Thoughts of asking him what the hell was up with Sif, thoughts of the war with Loki, the Avengers, everything, that all took a hike.
She broke into a run.
.x.
Thor pulled a wriggling koi out of his shirt, grimaced at its wildly popping eyes and gasping mouth, and tossed it back in the koi pond.
He couldn't believe he'd just hid in the freaking koi pond. What was he? A man or a mouse? Hogun and Volstagg and Fandral would never let him live it down when they found out. And Sif would be hurt. Thor sighed. He supposed that they would have to talk, eventually. He just wished that she would accept the fact that his heart just wasn't in it. If he couldn't have Jane...well, being alone was a pretty miserable way to live, but dammit it was his choice.
A strangled laugh jolted him from his thoughts, and he looked up holding a struggling koi by its white gold tail just in time to see a cloaked figure running straight at him.
His first thought was 'Assassin'.
Thor dropped the koi, vaguely hearing it land with a plop back in its habitat. He balled up a fist and hammered right at his attacker's side. To his complete surprise a slim gloved hand caught his wrist and yanked him forward. The woman's booted foot curled around his ankle and he felt himself tipping forward. Thor rolled them so that he was on top, but she clamped her legs around his waist and rolled them again.
Thor grunted when she sat on his stomach. She put back her hood and warm familiar brown eyes stared into his own.
Jane Foster waved at him from her perch on top of him. "Hi!"
.x.
To be continued...