Chapter 18 - Preparing for the Decimation, Part 2
It was only two hours later that Jane felt the ripple of Loki returning from New York. She watched him step through the portal of green and gold magic, dressed in his traveling clothes. Promptly though, he changed back into casual Asgardian attire of thick slacks and tunic shirt. Jane breathed a sigh of relief that he was home safe.
"How did it go?" She asked as he stepped up next to where she sat studying her star charts in preparation for the night's observations.
"Smoothly." Loki replied quietly. "He will do his part, but I have a feeling it will be no more, no less."
"At least he will do that." Jane slipped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer to her on the stool. She sent warmth and comfort to him in waves along their bond, soothing the ruffled feathers of her raven. "Maybe in the years between, he'll grow a heart."
"Perhaps." Loki brushed a kiss to her lips before looking at her charts. "Are we stargazing tonight?"
"Yes, the night is forecast to be clear and there will be a meteor shower as well." Jane smiled, excitement for their night building. "We may even get lucky and have a meteorite come down nearby."
Unfortunately, to Jane's disappointment, there were no meteorites that fell that night. It didn't diminish the beauty of the night. She loved sitting with Loki in the starlight, soaking up the knowledge that he poured into her. She learned so much those nights; about the stars, about him, about magic, about the woman she was now that her soul was bound to that of the Trickster. Even though they were closer than anyone could ever imagine, each night in the glimmering darkness brought them more in harmony. There was a fullness to her heart that gave her a peace she never knew she was looking for.
Early one morning two months later the sound of the TV being turned on woke Jane, drawing her downstairs. Before the large plasma on the far wall of the lab, Loki stood, hands clenched into fists, wearing his full Asgardian armor, including his helmet. The screen showed a large round spaceship hovering over New York, orientated like a wheel in the sky. A chill swept over Jane. It had begun; Thanos was beginning his attack. The Decimation was upon them.
Taking a deep breath to quell the sickness in her belly, Jane moved next to Loki, cradling one of his clenched fists in her own hands. Coldness radiated off him, his pale skin growing slowly bluer as the TV droned on. Together they watched the news coverage in silence, seeing the Avengers fighting aliens and defending innocent people. Oddly though, the Hulk was noticeably absent. Distantly, Jane wondered if Bruce managed to find a cure.
"How much time do we have until the Decimation?" Jane finally asked, voice quiet.
"Not long. I don't know the exact amount of time that passes between the arrival of the harbinger ship and the actual Snap." Loki sounded troubled. "The book Odin kept with Frigga's prophecy didn't give specifics."
"What did it say?" Jane, even though she was afraid, felt that she needed to know in order to prepare for what was to come. Inside her, she felt her magic stirring, a warm amber red glow, ready to do what needed to be done to protect themselves and the world around them.
"Thanos will get his hands on all six Stones. He will simply Snap his fingers, and half of all life existing will fade away like ashes in the wind." The voice coming from Loki was almost monotone, eyes unfocused, tone distant as the world began to react to seeing that New York, one again, was under attack.
"Do you know who survives?" Jane wondered at how much knowledge Frigga had left for her son.
"No. Only one person does, and that is Stephen Strange." Loki shook his head, the battle worn gold of his helmet reflecting the light from the TV in front of them. "That is why I had to go to him, to warn him. Everything is now in his hands and the hands of the Avengers."
"Do we wait here on Earth, or do we need to go off world?" Jane asked crossing her arms across herself, afraid that she would turn to dust at any moment. Loki looked down at her sadly and gathered her into his arms, pulling her as close as he could while wearing his armor.
"There is no place safe, not from what is coming." She felt him press a kiss on her forehead before his voice lightened.
"You and I need not worry. We will be safe."
"How can you be sure?" Jane whispered, looking up into the face of a man who lied for a living. Now that they were bound though, Loki was unable to lie to her, their bond going far beyond the reach of anything that had happened before.
"I'm not 100% sure, but I do have a theory." Loki lifted their joined hands and in them, their magic shimmered to life. Amber red for Jane, green gold with flecks of blue for Loki.
"You and I have both been touched by an Infinity Stone. We have both wielded their powers for extended periods of time. I kept the Space Stone with me for years while I ruled Asgard as Odin. You were possessed for the Reality Stone for weeks. Magic that powerful bleeds out, and seeps into the people and things closest to it. The closer the interaction, the stronger the bond to the stone."
"Basically we have an immunity to their powers?" Jane was floored. She knew that she had an echo of the power from the Reality Stone still inside her, but she never dreamed it would be one of the things to keep her safe.
"Yes, but there is more." Loki nodded, lifting their joined hands to kiss her knuckles. "Our Bond. It is unique and forged from something more ancient and powerful than the Infinity Stones. I believe that those two things combined will keep us safe from the Decimation."
"I guess we will just have to wait and see." Jane replied numbly. "I just hope the wait isn't too long."
For several weeks Jane and Loki kept up with the news, but there seemed to be very little information regarding the alien invasion. Had Earth become so numb to otherworldly encounters that the media just stopped reporting? Jane decided to hack the dark web to see if she could glean more information. As she was snooping around, a chat window popped up on her screen with the face of Pepper Pots looking back at her.
"Miss Potts?" Jane asked surprised, drawing Loki over to her with a wave of her hand. "What are you doing on the dark web?"
"I could ask you the same thing Dr. Foster." Tony Stark's right hand woman replied, her eyes shifting to take in Loki. "Hello Loki. Tony said that you might be with Jane."
"Did he now?"
"Yes, he relayed to me that Thor believes you to be dead, but that Stark satellites had picked up your energy signature in New Mexico. He also told me that no one was to know you are alive. Why is that?"
"Strange must have told him." Loki muttered before addressing Pepper. "In order for the timeline to remain in tact, it is imperative that no one knows I am alive until it is time for me to reveal myself to them."
Pepper nodded, seemingly perfectly fine with such an explanation. She then turned her focus to Jane.
"You need to stay in New Mexico Jane. Tony says that out of all the scientists in the world besides him and Bruce, you need to remain safe. Something about how your Einstein-Rosen technology could help end the war that is coming. Whatever you do, stay there until -"
The screen as well as the entire building went dark. Lightning flickered in the sky outside, pulling Loki and Jane to the windows to watch the world shift before their eyes. A wave of multicolored shadows rippled over the landscape, stripping away half of all the vegetation and disintegrating animals in its path. Even buildings didn't escape the damage. Everything that was destroyed shifted into fine ash and was blown away on the wind. It was over in a matter of minutes, and once the wave passed, the power came back on. Pepper was still in the chat window, but now she was looking away, her hand over her mouth, tears in her eyes.
"Pepper, are you ok?" Jane scrambled back to in front of her monitor. The other woman nodded, tears streaming down her face.
"I am, but all of my staff just disappeared before my eyes."
"Then it happened, Thanos Snapped his fingers. The Decimation is over." Loki said sadly, leaning over Jane's shoulder to speak to Pepper.
"What do you need from us, Miss Potts?"
Pepper sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"Keep Jane safe. I will be in touch soon."
With that the line went dead, but in the background, the chaos was only beginning.