Chapter Twenty-Five – Day 185

If this was death, Jane thought, then she wanted a refund.

A slight breeze drifted over her face – which meant she still had a body, that was kind of neat – but every inch of her hurt. There was an intense burning sensation in her muscles. Her backside ached worse than when her best friend had accidentally pushed her off a trampoline mid-jump when she was twelve. There was a rumbling in her chest, weighing her down like someone had set a dictionary on it.

Something brushed repeatedly against her forearm, swishing against it to create a tickling sensation. Grumbling at the irritation, she tried to swat at it with her other hand but found that it only moved a few inches before the sharp sting of cold metal halted its movement. That was weird. Puzzled, she shook her hand around. The harsh clank of metal against metal registered in her mind, finally pulling it from its fog. Since when did death involve handcuffs?

Carefully peeking open her eyes, Jane tried to take in her surroundings. The bright light overhead burned her retinas, but the rest of her already felt like it was on fire anyway, so what did that matter. Her head tilted a few degrees to each side in turn, the muscles of her neck trembling from even that small motion. There appeared to be medical equipment on either side of the bed, which itself was lined with metal bars. A quick glance down at herself revealed the source of the rumbling; an orange cat was sitting on her chest. Its green eyes watched her intently through narrowed slits, yet the purring continued. She could only stare back. This was turning out to be a very odd death indeed.

The squeak of a door hinge finally broke her gaze, though she could not see who had caused it. A deep voice called out, "Goose, scat!" The cat blinked its eyes languidly at her before it pushed itself up and sprang down, causing Jane to hiss in pain at the sudden focalized pressure of its paws on her sore ribs. What had she ever done to deserve this torture?

"Welcome back, Dr. Foster. You are a difficult woman to find."

Jane lifted her head as far she could to look at the speaker. A bald, dark-skinned man in a long, black coat approached the end of the bed. An eyepatch added to the severity of his stern expression. Jane let her head fall back with a sigh. Had she missed the memo on eyepatches coming back into fashion?

Processing the words he had said, she tried to think of an appropriate response. "I'm sorry? I didn't know anyone was trying to find me." Ugh, even her throat hurt.

The man made his way to stand by her shoulder. "You didn't think someone would notice when a fringe theory scientist on the brink of a major discovery disappeared from every tracking system in the world?" His skepticism was obvious.

Jane sucked in a sharp breath as her shoulders attempted to shrug. Movement was a bad idea. Forcing herself to stay calm and still, she stated, "As you said, I deal with fringe theories – not conspiracy theories. Who would want to waste their time and surveillance on me?"

Even if she had wanted to move, his singular dark eye would have held her in place with its intensity. "The government can't afford to not track people like you." Jane shivered involuntarily at his dark tone. "Especially as you seem to have proven your theory on… what was it called again?"

"The Einstein-Rosen bridge?"

"Precisely."

"… And how have I proven my theory? It's been a while since I've made any progress with it." It had been so long since she had thought about space travel, truly thought about it from a scientific standpoint. A lot of her former priorities had needed to take a backseat lately, what with the prospect of dying from magic and all. Not to mention having to deal with her increasingly tangled feelings toward a certain mercurial alien god. If she got through this, maybe she would have to change that.

"You tell me, Doctor. Disappear and reappear in any strange places lately?" He watched her patiently, arms crossing in expectation of answers.

A sudden feeling of indecision caught Jane off guard. Would it be safe to tell this unknown man what had happened to her? It seemed like he might believe her story, but what right did he have to make her tell it? A voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Loki told her that she should never give up information for free. He certainly never had.

Instead of responding to his question, Jane tried to get a better look at the man. There were no distinguishing features on his clothes, no medals or stars to indicate that he was in the military. Yet another weird detail in this non-death of hers. "Who are you?"

He tilted his head at her redirection but decided to answer her. "Director Nick Fury, the head of SHIELD."

"And what's that?"

"A department within the United States government dedicated to counter-terrorism."

Jane stared at him in increasing confusion. "Then why are you talking to me? I'm not a terrorist," she questioned, entirely baffled. "And how did I even get here?"

The man sighed in irritation. "You disappeared from London six months ago. Since then, you have only been caught on security systems three times, twice in Puente Antiguo and once in New York. That kind of disappearing only happens for those whose traces are being actively hidden by their governments. Since we are not hiding you, you must be working for someone else."

Jane let out a laugh at the absurdity of it. "I'm not working for anyone. I live off of grant money."

He eyed her disbelievingly. "Then why were you trying to break into a top-secret government base?"

"I wasn't! I don't even know how I got here! Or where 'here' is!" she cried back in exasperation.

Fury's good eye narrowed as he studied her. "If you insist on being difficult, we'll just have to ask your partner."

"Partner?"

But the man had already walked off, ignoring her completely as he left the room. Jane let her eyes clench shut in frustration. What the hell was going on?

Loki felt dizzy even as he rested on the throne, the weight of Gungnir heavy in his hand. He twisted it back and forth between his fingers, watching the flickering light reflecting from its golden shaft. The staff was a curious thing: a weapon befitting of royalty, a magical relic that obeyed its king without fault. Far more obedient than his subjects – only an hour as king and he had already seen the look of dissension forming in Sif's eyes. But that hardly mattered now. For this brief moment, he could envision all that he could achieve with this power. It was a dream he had never dared dream, one that had languished within the deepest depths of his heart since childhood, and now it had come true.

She must have fallen asleep at some point, as the next time Jane opened her eyes, the room around her had changed. Gone were the medical machines and semi-soft bed; instead, she was in what looked like a prison cell, see-through walls on three sides locking her in against solid brick. The only thing missing from her déjà vu was an overabundance of white.

Lying around would do no good; she needed to assess this new situation. Her muscles complained as she forced herself to sit up on her cot, spreading her now-dirty blue skirt around herself. It had been built like a bench against the real wall, giving her a panoramic view of her cell and those beside it.

There was movement on her left. A familiar head of blond hair grabbed her attention as the man in the cell beside her paced away from her. "Thor!?"

His head whipped around at her call, face lighting up as he shouted, "Lady Jane!" and rushed back to their shared wall. "I was worried you would never awaken."

She shook her head, her vision turning momentarily black. "I think I'll be fine." She blinked a few times to clear the splotches from her sight. "But how are you here? I don't even know how I'm here."

A look of despair filtered over his features. "I… I was banished." His head dipped in shame, blue eyes gleaming with sorrow. "Father said I was unworthy to be king."

"Oh." Jane struggled to think of what to say to that. A faint memory of Loki saying something about needing to stop Thor from doing something stupid flitted through her mind, but it looked like he had failed. "What happened?"

The despair hardened into lines of anger. "I battled my way through at least a hundred Jotuns, but there were too many for us. Father believes I broke our peace, but they had already destroyed it by sneaking into Asgard in the first place!" His fist slammed against the acrylic barrier, making Jane jump in her seat. "He didn't understand that a display of force was necessary to prove that I will be just as strong of a ruler as him."

Thor's fist slid down the wall to drop to his side, the burst of rage seemingly burning him out. Wearily, he finished, "Now I'm trapped here as a mortal, unable to go home."

Jane's heart went out to him. It was the first time she had ever seen the prince without his confident swagger. Stripped from his armor and cape, he looked diminished. Though she knew she had no understanding of the politics involved in the fight Thor had started and only a vague understanding of what a Jotun even was, it was hard to believe that it could be terrible enough for him to deserve being banished like this.

She refused to succumb to the same hopelessness. There were too many things she wanted – no, needed – to do to spend the rest of her life confined to a government cage. "Well, if you can handle waiting a few days, we could try busting out," she offered.

His eyes were still despondent. "To what end? I've been cast out; I have nowhere to go."

"You'd rather just stay here?" Jane gestured emphatically at their spartan surroundings with a wince. "No, if your father said you were unworthy, then you'll just have to show him that you are worthy."

"How?" His tone was still depressed, as if he believed her idea to be impossible. She needed to fix him, fast.

Trying not to dwell on how this was definitely not her area of expertise, Jane fought to find anything that might instill some hope in him. Striking inspiration, she pointed at the fissures in the acrylic from where he had hit it. "You're still crazy strong, so you can still fight. A king would man up and find a way home so he could protect his kingdom. You know, save the day because you love your people and your family, not because you like fighting. That sounds pretty worthy to me."

Thor seemed to rouse a bit from her speech, so she continued, "And if I can figure out how I got here, maybe I can reverse it so we can go back. Loki was so sure that I'd never be able to do stuff like teleportation, so I really just don't know what happened." With her luck, her magical explosion had forced open another one of the Convergence portals and dumped her fifty feet above the ground; it certainly felt like it had.

Thor looked at her speculatively. His words came out slowly, as if his idea was only forming as he spoke. "I might know how you ended up here. Do you remember our visit to the big city?"

Jane nodded. How could she forget that day? The call of the green magic had haunted her dreams for weeks after and still lingered just under the surface of her mind.

"Well, there is another parasite in this place. It could have called to you like the other one did. I only tracked it to as far as the building, but you might be able to find it the same way. And perhaps it could help us leave."

Another one? How much magic was there on Earth anyway? With Thor's hopeful eyes pressing on her, Jane nevertheless focused inward to find the red light. It sputtered dimly as she nudged it, its movement through her more like molasses than the fire she was used to. But at the edge of her mind, she felt the gentle brush of a new siren call. This blue energy's song had a higher pitch than the green and the red, but it resonated just as insistently in her head.

The call faded away as her grip on the red loosened, her head suddenly hitting the bed as her body went limp. Thor's frantic calling of her name kept her from letting her awareness slip away entirely, but she wished he would shut up. She had already said that their prison break would have to wait a few days. She needed a break.

But the heady feeling of power did not last long. The staff stilled in Loki's fingers, the dancing reflections losing their appeal. It was empty, the sacrifice too great for the reward.

That was the price of the evil inherent in his soul. The monster within him was his only true birthright; everything else was a fabrication to cover the truth that could no longer remain hidden.

The next days were filled with constant questions from a stream of various agents, their bland suits and faces all blurring together after a while. Jane had only belatedly realized that they had monitored every word she and Thor had said to each other, and they were very curious about how she thought she would escape. The only relief she felt was that they never tried to touch her; with her magic as on the fritz as it was, she was unsure if it would react to them the same way it had to Thor initially.

But after two days of the unrelenting interrogation, Jane decided that she had had enough. Her patience was stretched thin, and Thor's own agitation was feeding into hers. He constantly paced his cell, barely speaking as he too had realized they were being observed. The caged sensation would drive them both insane before long. So, even though she still felt like death warmed over, it was better than the pure death from when she had first awoken. And she wanted out of here.

Silently signaling to Thor that she was ready to go, Jane forced herself to stand. A bit wobbly, but she could manage. A vicious tug at her magic sent it flooding through her veins; this was no time to be gentle. A moment of concentration was all it took, and the acrylic walls transformed into clouds of iridescent bubbles. Feeling lightheaded, a giddy giggle made it past her lips; it was still her favorite trick to do, no matter how much Loki and Frigga disapproved.

Thor's hand was suddenly in hers, pulling her along urgently as alarms started to blare. The call of the blue light washed through her mind, and she directed Thor to turn and descend as it guided her, the sound growing louder and more insistent with each step. Jane tore down chunks of the stone walls as they ran, cutting off the path of the guards on their tail. She would have to thank Loki for teaching her that valuable skill once they got back.

At last, they reached a dark, cavernous room. Pieces of complicated equipment were scattered around, but the only source of light seemed to be from a glowing cube suspended in a circle of metal. The blue light was hypnotic as it pulsed and swirled like a storm in a box; the song in her head amplified to nearly a scream. She could see Thor's mouth move, but the words were lost beneath the power of the call. His hand held her back as he saw her take a step forward.

The room was devoid of people; oddly enough, the only thing guarding the cube was the orange cat from the medical room, its green eyes watching her with disinterest as it lazed on the table next it. Thor pointed at the cat with a look of fear, but Jane shook out of his grip. She was not going to let something as nonthreatening as a cat keep her from that cube.

The cat ignored her approach, licking its paw with utter indifference toward her. The light burned brighter as she neared it, its energy sending off sparks like the ones her own light made after being suppressed for too long. It wanted its freedom, wanted her to free it. Without further thought, she reached out to touch it.

The music stopped. She could suddenly hear the blaring alarms and Thor's shouting, but they were a gentle buzz of white noise in comparison. The light seeped into her skin as she held it aloft, her body's aches fading with each second that passed. She brought the cube closer to her face. It was mesmerizing, the way the blue shimmered through its container. What powers would this parasite give her?

The pressure of Thor's hand on her arm brought her back to the present. "We have to go, Jane." His eyes bore into hers with urgency.

Giving a jerky nod, Jane took his hand with her empty one. He dragged her further into the room toward the other exit, but without her connection to a destination to guide them, they were walking blind. As she looked back, she noticed the cat had decided to follow them, jumping off the table and sprinting to catch up.

They made it through a set of doors and into a stairwell, Thor deciding to go farther down to her confusion. "Shouldn't we be headed up? We're already underground."

He kept going, only replying, "That's where they would expect us to go." He shot a glance back at the prize in her hand. "I recognize that cube. It used to reside in the halls of Asgard."

"Really?" Jane looked it over with renewed interest. If the blue light was from his home, then surely someone would be able to solve the riddle of her own light with it.

"It's the Tesseract. It was used to build the Bifrost eons ago."

"So, it's used to get across space?" Jane's mind whirled with the possibilities. Tugging at Thor to stop for a second, she said, "Find us a room we can barricade in. I think I know how to get back."

At the next level on the stairs, Thor pulled them through to a dark hallway. Brimming with renewed energy, Jane brushed away the first door they came to into a heap of scrap metal, reforming it after they entered the next room. Thor looked at her in awe, but she had no time to explain. The cube was starting to burn in her hand; she could feel the red and blue energy fighting for dominance within her.

"Okay, my power is based on transformation," she started, pacing the room as she tried to piece together her plan. "I can make pretty much whatever I want as long as it doesn't give me an aneurysm, but I can't move stuff. This tessa-thingy-majig's whole deal is that it moves stuff. So, if I decide I want to make a portal to Asgard…" she trailed off, remembering her very first lesson on imposing her will upon the universe. She would have to rely purely on magic for this; with her theories on wormholes still unproven, using science to guide her mind through the process would only add to the danger of what she was about to do.

Damn Loki for being right so often.

Desperately hoping she could put mind over matter, Jane held the cube out in front of her, picturing the world she longed to return to. It took almost a minute of concentration, her heart hammering in double-time from the effort as the cube grew heavy in her hand, but she could feel the tear she was making in the fabric of space. It was as invisible to the naked eye as the ones Loki had used to take her home, but with her magic unbound, she could sense the silvery edges of the hole.

"Let's go, Thor." She held out her other hand to him, but he backed away, doubt clouding his face.

"If I go back now, I'll be sneaking in like a coward."

Her jaw dropped as she looked at him. "I'm ripping a hole in space, quite possibly destroying the universe for all I know, and you're complaining about it being a cowardly way to travel? We don't have time for this!"

The sound of echoing footsteps grew louder from the hall beside them. Thor's desire to avoid the guards eventually outweighed his fear; he grabbed her hand just as the cat leapt onto her shoulder, its claws clamping down into her skin.

"I guess we're adopting a cat." Really hoping those would not be her last words, Jane led them through the portal.

Loki's thoughts continued to twist down that dark path. There was still so much more evil out there, a whole world of it, stinking with its foulness. The taint of it had clung to him all his life unawares, the reason for the misery of his existence.

But perhaps these new gifts could fix that. A throne and a spear might not be able to remove all evil from the universe, but his evil… that was a possibility.

And there would be no turning back.

A/N: So, were any of you surprised by what happened to Jane? Goose was my favorite thing about Captain Marvel, so I just had to work her in there somehow lol.

Anyway, this chapter was another experimental one for me. Originally, it was only Jane's POV, but I really enjoy exploring Loki's frame of mind, and it seemed to work to throw in little bits of his contemplation of power and what to do with it while Jane dealt with the consequences of her own power.