A/N: My sincere apologies for the delay between chapters. If you checked my profile while I was away, I posted a note about my younger step-sister. We did indeed lose her, and her death has been difficult for the family to deal with. I appreciate your patience between chapters. Right now, family is my priority.

That being said, I do have a new chapter for you. It isn't one of my longer ones, but it's something. I am working on the next bit as I have time. I hope you enjoy the story and that it's worth the wait between chapters.

As always, italics are nonverbal communication.

Chapter 24

"We'll be getting close enough to be seen, soon," Romanov said to Jane and Loki; they all sat in an open-sided Jeep, the better for invisible companions to be able to get out of. The others would come in a couple of SUVs; the kind often used by SHIELD to transport both people and material.

"Very well," Loki replied. He wove his magic into a protective shroud, covering himself and Jane and hiding them from mortal senses. Jane felt his power settle over her like a warm mantle and smiled just a little. She could still see him, just a little, and she expected that would continue while they were in physical contact; his presence in her mind was far more solid than what her eyes perceived, and she relied on her sense of him instead. It is done, Loki said silently, and Jane relayed it to Natasha.

Romanov glanced in the rearview mirror and nodded shortly. "Good," she said aloud. I suppose I ought to get used to this way of speaking, though, she continued silently.

It can't hurt, Jane replied. Their close connection meant that Loki did hear Natasha's mental voice, but Jane kept that knowledge to herself. She still had to relay Loki's words for Natasha, so there was some degree of separation. I don't have much practice at this. I have no idea how you sound to each other.

It is strange to hear you send me Loki's words, Natasha answered. I hear it as if you were both speaking the same words at the same time.

I can allow you to hear each other directly, Jane said. If that would make it less peculiar.

I'd rather deal with the strange, if it's all the same to you, Natasha replied dryly.

Jane sighed but didn't argue.

I don't blame her, Loki told Jane, who picked up on the fact that it was meant for her only and did not relay it. I would imagine it's difficult enough for her to trust you, let alone trusting me.

Jane considered that for a moment. You're probably right. But that doesn't mean I have to like it, she told him alone. She couldn't see him smile, but she felt it in her mind.

You have a forgiving nature and a willingness to trust people, Loki replied with a soft mental caress. Some of us, the Agent included, haven't had the luxury of that sort of outlook for some time.

I think that's a little sad, Jane replied in a quiet voice. We should all have people in our lives that we can trust. Loki's only reply was to shake his head slowly. While they were speaking, the Jeep pulled up to a gate around a building. Natasha leaned out and punched in a code; the gate slid open silently and allowed them through.

Inside they found the usual bustle of a SHIELD compound. Natasha found an out of the way space to park and pulled to a stop. She took her time in checking the vehicle over, giving Jane and Loki time to get out as well before she headed towards the nearest entry to the building.

This door also opened for them, with a swipe of Natasha's ID card. She paused in the doorway to show her card to the agent stationed there, deliberately keeping herself where the door would remain open. She felt a brief touch against her arm as Jane slipped past through the entry and a second, lighter touch as Loki followed. When the agent waved her through, Natasha continued into the base.

We're in, Jane silently told Tony and Thor. We'll be in touch.

LJLJLJLJLJLJ

They moved through the base without any challenge. Natasha stopped in a couple of areas, just checking up on people; Communications was operating normally, Security had no problems to report. But as they moved into the lower levels, where the labs and special divisions were, they noticed a problem.

Shouldn't there be more security down here, if they're working on the portal project? Jane asked silently.

There should, Natasha agreed, her mental tone dark and suspicious. There's no sign of Barton or any other high-level protectors here, either. They approached what should be the main, secured, lab and there were only a pair of agents stationed at the doors. Natasha slowed down and paused, then began to turn away. Before she could start back up the hall, one of the guards grabbed her wrist.

"Let go," she ordered, her tone flat and her voice laced with steel.

"I'm sorry, Agent Romanov, but you're not allowed to leave yet," the guard said in a similar tone. His grip only tightened. "You must come inside and see what we're working on."

Go with, Loki said quickly as he pulled Jane closer. We're right behind you. Let's see what we may learn.

I've walked into worse, was her only reply as Natasha narrowed her eyes and allowed the guard to tug her towards the door. His partner swiped a card through the slot beside the door and it slid open.

Loki, they seem strange... Jane murmured into his mind, though she allowed Natasha to hear it as well. Even keeping herself within the protections of her own mind, Jane began to feel and see the signs that more mind-control was at work here. But it didn't quite feel the same as before.

I see it too, Natasha replied. Their movement isn't natural. As she approached the door, Loki pushed Jane up so the two women were side-by-side. He pressed against Jane's back and they all made it into the room before the door began to slide closed.

And they looked around.

What they found was certainly not what they'd expected. It was a lab, but it looked more like a chemist's lab than a physicist's. Or a medical lab; people in white lab coats were working with test tubes and the air in the room had an odd, chemical tang. Jane felt more strangeness from the people in the room, though.

Natasha watched the people working for a few moments, resisting the guard's tug at her wrist. The scientists working on their projects moved with very focused purpose, while those who had been distracted by their entry moved almost clumsily until they returned to their work. Definitely signs of someone coerced, though the means were not yet clear.

"It's a lab," Natasha said to the guard, pretending innocence at least on the surface. "So what?"

"It's what the lab produces," the guard replied in a rather vague way. He pulled her over towards one of the lab tables; Jane and Loki kept close behind her, alert for any chance that they might be separated. The table held a number of sealed medical vials, in addition to syringes and other tools usually for administering medicine.

"Oh, really?" Natasha asked, her tone too smooth. But the guard didn't react, another indicator that he may be controlled.

Can you pick up one of those without being seen? Loki asked Natasha.

I can try, she replied. But if you don't want us separated by a fight, we may need a quick way out of here. I'm not about to let them put whatever that is into me.

Understood. Leave that to me. Loki assured them both.

Keeping the guard between herself and an approaching doctor, Natasha looked over the items on the table. The chemical, drug, whatever it was, sat in little vials. The liquid was a vivid blue color, not something that looked healthy in the least. Most of the vials were on a rack, but there were a few resting on the surface. She reached out towards the rack, but pulled back at the last moment without touching. When Jane looked again, there were fewer loose vials but no indication that Natasha had touched anything.

"Really," the guard replied, his tone somewhat detached and distracted. He still held her wrist in a tight grip, but he seemed to be waiting for something. "We were told to expect you at some point," he continued. The doctor reached the table and began to load up a syringe with the blue substance. "It's best if you join us."

"I don't think so," Natasha replied in a cold voice. She twisted her arm until the guard's grip broke and she shoved him backwards into the doctor. Time to go! In an attempt to confuse the issue as much as possible, she flipped her wrist and pressed something there.

Without waiting to see what the guard would do, Loki took Jane's hand as well as Natasha's. Jane heard his voice in her mind, muttering an arcane formula to himself. She took the moment to reach out to Thor and Tony. They're not here. We'll meet you back at the airfield; do NOT come to the base! she called out.

Just as Jane finished, Loki's magic enveloped them again and they were transported out of the base. When they reappeared at the airfield, Jane noticed that the invisibility spell was gone. "They didn't see us, did they?" she asked, just to be certain.

"Of course not," Loki replied with a hint of affront in his tone, though his expression softened as he realized that Jane just needed the reassurance. "We simply no longer needed it once we left." He turned his attention to Natasha. "That was clever, making them think you had a way to teleport yourself out of danger."

While Loki spoke to Natasha, Jane heard Tony in her mind. What happened?

They were going to use some kind of drug on Romanov, Jane explained. We had to teleport out of there. But the lab there is experimenting with chemicals; the Portal machine and missing scientists are elsewhere. She felt Tony's assent and knew the group had already turned around.

"SHIELD is always working on new developments," Natasha replied to Loki. She clearly knew she wasn't telling them anything they didn't already know, but Jane knew better than to ask any further questions.

"So now what?" she asked instead. A glance at the clock on the wall showed that the other group had probably been getting close to the base. It would be a while before they returned.

"We contact SHIELD to give them an update," Natasha replied. "And see if we can't analyze this stuff." She held up three vials of blue stuff for a moment, then whisked them back into hiding. Jane had no idea where they were hidden. She waved towards the chairs off to one side of the room; as Jane and Loki moved to sit down, Natasha pulled out a cell phone and headed into the side room.

An hour later, the two teams had regrouped at the small airport. Jane dropped the connections to Tony, Thor and Natasha with a sigh; maintaining multiple connections for hours on end had left her drained and with a vague headache. She focused her attention, determined not to allow the agents to see her as a weak link. Natasha and Jane filled the others in on what happened at the base. When they finished, silence reigned for several long minutes as people considered what they had learned.

"So, what next?" Tony asked. "I assume SHIELD has something else we should try."

"I think the first thing we need to do is find out what that drug is," Jane put in.

"So we know what we're up against, and if we can counter it," Tony agreed. "Maybe we should talk to Banner? It's not quite his area, but he's closer than I am."

Natasha frowned, then shrugged. "I've been asked to send the samples in for testing and identification. We have plenty of people with the skills to analyze something like this."

"May I see one for a moment?" Loki asked quietly. The others all looked at him suspiciously, but Jane nodded reassuringly and Natasha handed one over. Loki studied it silently, probing gently at it with his magic. "This is not of Chitauri origin," he said at last. "Nor is it magical in nature. This must be something developed here, on Midgard." He handed the vial back.

"Good to know," Natasha replied as she tucked it away. "I guess we 'mere mortals' must be good for something after all."

"I'm not sure I want to try to devise a way to analyze a drug partially made by magic anyway," Jane quipped. "Can you imagine the variables in something like that?"

"I can," Tony replied dryly. "But I don't think I want to try to solve them."

"How shall we find Erik Selvig and the others of SHIELD?" Thor asked.

"We can run some traces, find out where resources are being diverted to," Natasha said. "But it will all take time. Why don't you all return to New York and I'll be in touch when SHIELD knows something?"

"It would seem prudent to keep us all together," Loki replied smoothly.

"I suppose I can put everyone up in the tower," Tony said reluctantly.

Natasha nodded. "Good. We'll be in touch as soon as we have something to share."

"In my experience, SHIELD doesn't share well," Jane muttered, just loud enough for those with good hearing to catch. She sighed and ignored the sideways glances she got from Thor and Loki. "Alright, back to New York I guess."

I know you don't have the best experiences with SHIELD, Jane, Natasha said quietly, her attention so focused that Jane couldn't help but hear her. But I will do my best to keep you in the loop as much as I can.

I know, Jane replied silently, a little surprised that someone other than Loki could reach her without an active connection open on her end. Or maybe he shields were slipping in her fatigue. Thank you.

Without further dissent, Thor, Loki, Jane and Tony boarded the plane for the trip back to New York. After a brief pause to get her clothing from Loki, Jane stepped into the restroom to change. The SHIELD uniforms were useful, but not particularly comfortable. Clad in jeans and a sweatshirt, Jane emerged into the cabin and settled into the seat beside Loki.

Thor and Tony were still discussing options when Loki held a finger to his lips and slanted a glance at Jane. The young woman was buckled into her seat on the plane trying to pay attention, but fatigue was making it difficult for her to keep her eyes open.

Tony smiled and lowered his voice, then settled into a seat on the opposite side of the plane. Thor's voice also dropped to a low rumble and Loki watched Jane fall asleep to the low tones murmuring nearby. With a gentle smile just for her, Loki tucked Jane against his side and held her while she slept.

TBC...

A/N: I don't know for certain when I'll have the next chapter up. I will try not to keep you waiting too long.