THE INCARNATION

Chapter 4: Month Six - Visitors

Jane's computer glowed in the dark lab and cast a flickering light on her pile of printed papers. She supposed she could have turned a light on, but when Darcy had first called, it had still been light outside. It had been a few weeks since Darcy had been able to come visit and so they had more to catch up on than usual. Jane nursed her lukewarm cup of coffee in her hands and barely noticed the pencil precariously balanced behind her ear.

"I just don't know Darcy," she said to Darcy's image on her screen. "What's the point of any of this? I know I am right. Why do I need to work myself to death proving what I already know? Obviously, there is some big, bad, secret government entity that will swallow up my evidence as soon as I have it, even if I managed to get some more. I suppose you can say I'm having a midlife crisis. I've worked my whole life towards one goal and what's the point of any of it?"

"So, what have you been doing then? Every time I call, you haven't answered. I assumed it was because science ate your brain, but you don't sound like you usually do when you are all scientificated."

"I took a break," Jane answered. "You'd be proud of me. I just got so frustrated, I decided I needed to get out. So, we drove out to La Cruces and hiked Pine Tree and then camped out there for a few nights. Then we went out to Albuquerque to see the balloons. I haven't done anything useful for nearly two weeks and it's been perfect."

"Yay! Go you! You probably have like twenty years of vacation time coming to you," Darcy said. "So, by 'we,' do you mean you and Luke Skywalker?"

"Yeah. He was pretty depressed for awhile there. He spent most of the day watching T.V. and going to the bar in the evenings. He's doing better now that he is actually getting out of the lab and seeing more. I figured – what the hell? who knows how long he's gonna be here? I should take the time to show him around and be a proper tourist before he goes back to doing whatever alien royalty does."

"Makes sense. The guy can't go back to space without experiencing a proper bizcochito."

"Right? When he tried a chile relleno, it was pretty much love at first bite."

Darcy laughed. "Has E.T. been able to phone home yet?"

"Not yet. It's really bothering him. Sometimes I catch him on the roof talking to the sky like they can hear him. I don't know. Sometimes I really wonder if I'm the crazy one for believing him and maybe he is just a lost exchange student from Norway with amnesia or something, but I don't know. If I've come this far believing him, why pull out now?"

"I was there. In the desert with the car. You aren't crazy… ok… you are a little crazy, but not for that part."

"I'm thinking about taking him to Santa Fe in a few weeks. If we come up, I'll let you know."

"You better. I won't let you live it down if you don't."

When the call finally ended, Jane half-heartedly sifted through her stack of papers and sighed. Her emails were full of what she expected. Nothing. No new grants. No new funding. And a stack of monthly bills that were getting harder and harder to pay.

She would need to bite the bullet and come up with a "Plan B," just in case.

ooooo

Jane was startled awake by the sound of a door slamming open and someone entering her trailer.

"Surprise!" came a familiar voice. "I brought coffee and scones and, oh… sorry. I should have knocked. I'll, uh, be in the lab. Waiting. Ok. Bye."

The door slammed shut again and Jane groaned. It was much too early in the morning for this. At least, she thought it was. She tried to reach for her phone on the counter but she couldn't reach it. A large, warm human barricade was between her and her phone.

"Lady Darcy has come?" he asked, his voice gruff with sleep. He was no better than she was in the morning, she had found, now that he had taken up permanent residence in her trailer.

"Yeah. She brought food."

"Mmmmmm."

A muffled snore followed and she knew he was out cold again. She struggled to extricate herself from his arm and leg and climb over him to reach the floor. She tumbled onto him instead, but he didn't so much as twitch. She righted herself and searched through the floor for her t-shirt and pants. She quickly brushed her teeth and splashed water on her face and then stumbled out the door and into the frigid morning air. She shivered and wished she had remembered to grab her jacket.

She found Darcy eating a scone and watching cat videos on Youtube. Darcy barely looked up when she came in but kept chuckling at regular intervals.

Jane eagerly imbibed her coffee and ate half a scone before sitting in the chair across from Darcy. She finished the rest of her scone before Darcy turned her phone off and looked up.

"Hi."

"Hi. You, uh, came? Thanks! It's really great to see you again."

"Yeah. I had a class cancelled and a work shift called off so I figured - what the hey?"

They each watched the other for a moment before Darcy shrugged and grabbed another scone.

"You look good, Boss Lady. The new intern is working out. No dark circles under your eyes. Your hair is both washed and recently brushed. You've even added weight. For most people that would not be a compliment, but for you it is. I'm impressed."

"I figured you'd appreciate that. Thor's gotten pretty good at cooking. He's spent a lot of time watching the Food Network lately."

"I can tell. Even alien Fabio has filled out a bit."

Jane sighed. "His divine abs have lost just a bit of their divinity."

"Oh, he is still cut, don't get me wrong. It's just, I noticed a change. Sorry about that, by the way. I guess I shoulda knocked. I, uh, didn't think… When I told him he was in charge of 'putting Jane to bed,' I didn't think he'd take it that literally."

"Yeah, uh, that was my fault," Jane said. She could feel herself flushing. "He was sad. He's happier now."

"I'm sure he is."

By the way Darcy twiddled with her coffee spoon and pursed her lips, Jane could tell she was upset. This made Jane feel defensive and she decided to speak first.

"I'm surprised. Weren't you the one wanting me to find a man and trying to set me up with your cousin?"

"Yeah. You did… you do… need a man. And he is quite the man, I gotta say, but I'm not sure this was the best idea… or timing. My cousin is a professor of biology and got his doctorate studying functional morphology. He knows more big words than I know 80's movies. I thought you two would enjoy basking in each other's brilliance.

"If Thor was a regular guy you met at Isabella's, I'd be all for it. I mean, I don't think it's necessarily your shared passions and intellectual acuity that drives you both together, but I am all for you doing something other than science and having a personal life. I just think motivation and context is important.

"Look, the guy is cut off from everyone and everything he knows and you are his only source of food, clothes, and lodging. As long as you are his meal ticket, it's kinda sketch."

Jane frowned. "He was willing. It's not like he hasn't had his choice of women in the past. He's a prince."

"I'm sure he has. I don't want to rain on your parade, but what would you think if roles were reversed? Let's say you managed to open up your own wormhole and tested it on yourself- because that's totally something you would do- and you stumbled onto Thor's planet. Then, he nearly hit you with his chariot or long boat or flying carpet or whatever. He takes you home with him and you find out you can't get back to Earth. You are stuck. You are completely alone and Thor is your only friend and ally on an alien planet. Then he wants to get into your pants. Its awkward.

"If he had other friends or his own external source of income, I would say, 'go you' and make you give me a play-by-play, but you said yourself that he was depressed and vulnerable. Then there's the whole 'interspecies' thing. Did you, you know, talk about your relationship or discuss what the implications of all this is?"

At Darcy's knowing expression Jane deflated. "You know I'm not good at that kind of thing. I didn't exactly think about things ahead of time. I just… he was sad and he's so pretty and I wanted to cheer him up… and got a little carried away. Then, we both rather liked getting carried away. Then, did I mention, he's gorgeous?"

"You might have. Once or twice. A day. That's my point though. Would you have been so drawn to him if he, say, looked exactly like your ex or couldn't speak your language? If he was Yoda, you might not feel such an instantaneous connection. Yeah, you'd still be curious and would hound the man for information, but you wouldn't be so ready to jump his bones."

"Are you saying I am shallow?"

"No, I am saying that… ok… fine. I'm saying your being shallow in this… not that that's necessarily a bad thing or an abnormal thing. I just think you might have tried to find more about him before you elevated him to become your personal bed-warmer, if he wasn't so easy on the eyes. Don't get me wrong. I think it goes both ways. I don't think he is drawn to you purely for your impressive intellect or that he enjoys your research as much as he enjoys your ass."

"Darcy…"

"Then, there's the fact that you both are from literally different worlds. You know, I had a friend once who studied abroad and then fell madly in love. She married this guy only to find out he had three wives already. He didn't understand why she was upset and thought she was totally unreasonable for divorcing him. Her whole mantra of 'he completes me' and 'he makes me happy' was kinda stuck in a blender and she couldn't understand what happened. We are talking about two people from the same freakin' planet. Throw in aliens who live thousands of years and travel through wormholes and give birth to snakes and eight-legged horses and I think you should ask more questions upfront.

"Do they lay eggs or give birth to live young? Considering the myths, have you even stopped to wonder in you might knock Thor up? You just hit the sack with the Norse god of fertility… what kind of crazy alien mojo does he have going on?"

Jane's mouth fell open and she shook her head. "First off, he's completely human now. Secondly, I am an adult. I do think some things through."

"Fine. Let's talk culture then. In Thor's worldview, are they polyandrous or polygynous? Are you now bound to him forever through some mystical alien soul bond or is this just alien sex tourism? Does he consider you his temporary 'friends-with-benefits,' his long-term earthling girlfriend or his eternal love and someday queen?"

"We are on the same page, I think. We've talked about some things, you know."

"Well, better late than never. Jane, I'm glad to see you out of your head and out of your lab. I'm glad you are doing other things and getting to know people, even if it's just alien Prince Charming. And I do like him, a lot."

"So do I."

"I'm glad."

"So, you, uh, mentioned he had a job interview. How did it go?" Darcy asked, giving Jane a rush of relief at the subject change.

"Yeah. SHIELD has been courting him rather seriously for a job," Jane explained. "One day, those black suits showed up here asking to talk to him. They have been sending him through all manner of tests since and have spoken about possibly hiring him on. He'd have room and board but would have to travel extensively. He likes the idea of being a 'Midgardian warrior' and having his own source of income. He's been much happier and more confident since they began conversations and he's been able to get out of here more."

"And he's okay with the idea of you staying with Erik in New York till you find a teaching job? I mean, have you talked about if you are gonna break up or try a distance relationship?"

"We haven't gotten that far yet. I'm waiting to hear back from some possible consulting and teaching positions and he hasn't been offered an official job yet. When we have more set possibilities before us, then we can make some decisions."

"But you aren't considering bringing him with you to Erik's?"

"I hadn't, no."

"And if he doesn't get the SHIELD job?"

"I don't know. Don't look at me like that. He's been adjusting pretty well. It's not like I signed up for this indefinitely."

"But you kinda insinuated you are in a relationship."

"Yeah. And it's been great. It really has. I just… I don't think I'm made for longer term relationships."

"In other words, he's not as sexy as science."

"Stop trying to make me feel guilty."

"I'm not trying to make you feel anything. I'm just trying to understand where your head is at."

Jane threw up her hands and groaned.

"My head is trying to figure out how to make ends meet once my grant runs out. Soon, I won't be able to feed me, let alone, the bottomless appetite of a Norse god. I don't want to make Erik take both of us in, but I don't want to kick Thor to the curb. I have no idea what I'm doing, Darcy."

"Got it. Hence the 'enjoy each day as it comes' mantra."

Oooo

Thor sat in the same room he had once been a prisoner in, now as a free man. His outlook on life had improved exponentially in the past month as he not only understood he relationship to Jane better, but also saw potential for finding a Midgardian place to offer his services and gain a wage to bring back to his house.

He had not been overly surprised when the Midgardian warriors had sought him out. He had felt their eyes on him ever since their first conflict over Mjolnir and he had noted them keeping constant vigil of his movements ever since. He did not mind. They did not interfere in his affairs and they stayed clear of Jane and so he let them remain as they were. When they did approach him, he did not bother to hide his pleasure in their address.

"Dr. Donald Blake?" the Son of Coul had said. "We are interested in seeing more of what you are capable of. Would you be willing to come with us and undergo a series of tests for us? We will pay you for your time, of course."

All Thor heard was the offer of a challenge to publicly prove his skills and the possibility for his own acquisition of funds and so he immediately agreed.

Twice a week, he was picked up in a black SUV and taken to various locations – sometimes deep underground in a massive fortress, other times he visited the tented city around Mjolnir. Then, they asked him questions or required him to perform different tasks for them. Sometimes, they wished for him to spar against their warriors. Sometimes, they wished to ask him about his background and his interests and his knowledge of Midgard. Other times, they asked for him to speak with their healers and allow Midgardian technology to take pictures of his body. He was not entirely sure what it all meant, but every time he complied, they paid him well. This pleased Jane and so he was only too happy to repeat.

Of late, there were discussions about him staying in the underground fortress for longer or possibly traveling to another location to continue assisting SHIELD in their work. There were more promises of "compensation" and Jane was only too willing to encourage him to accept. If such work made her estimation of him rise, then he willingly agreed.

Now, he sat eating Midgardian food for what they called "lunch" and rested himself. The sparring session had been particularly strenuous and his entire body felt as sore as if he had fought five warriors instead of only one. He realized how lax he had been in not continuing his training exercises and just how quickly his Midgardian form forgot its strength if not maintained.

Before he could complete his sandwich, a uniform guard entered the room. The door closed and as soon as it did, the guard charged at him. The table toppled over, his meal spilled onto the floor, and Thor barely had the chance to react before he felt a solid fist in his temple. In three moves, the guard had him pinned to the floor with a hand at his neck.

Then, in a shimmer of light, the guard transformed into the visage of his brother, grinning so smugly that Thor was tempted to strike him in the face just to erase it.

"It is not often I have the chance to best you with only my fists, Thunderer," Loki said. He stood and released Thor. Then he extended his hand to help him stand upright. "However, that was a poor performance, even for you."

Loki took a moment to look him over from head to toe, his grin widening at the sight of the bruise blooming on Thor's cheek.

"I would never have believed it. It's true, then. You truly are mortal. Mjolnir's power has nearly entirely dimmed and you are as any other Midgardian."

"As you see me," Thor said, feeling his embarrassment rise. He leaned over to set the table upright, but before he could manage, the room flashed with light and Loki righted everything in it as if the confrontation had never happened. Thor sat down and continued eating his sandwich. Loki wrinkled his nose.

"How can you eat that? It smells foul."

"I am hungry and it is food," Thor answered.

Loki gave an exaggerated sigh that clearly communicated starvation was preferable to such fare. Then he materialized a chair across from Thor and sat in it, one leg crossed over the other and his hands carefully nestled in his lap.

"Have you come to bring me home?" Thor asked. He knew he shouldn't hope and, even more, he knew he shouldn't let Loki see his hope, but he failed on both counts.

"No, brother," Loki said. He had the decency to at least feign disappointment and sincerity over the fact. "Unfortunately, our father insists your banishment must continue indefinitely until whatever nebulous lesson he intends you to learn has been learned. Before you ask, no he has given me no more details than you and not even mother can pry out the qualifications for your return, and it is not for want of trying."

Thor felt that little wellspring of hope now turn to lead and it sank deep into the pit of his stomach. He no longer felt like eating and he pushed his sandwich away from him.

"Why are you here?"

"What's this? You do not wish for a little cordial visit from your favorite brother?"

"If I believed you were here only to inquire into my well-being, I would rejoice wholeheartedly and welcome you properly. However, by the hesitance with which you speak and the manner of your arrival I do not presume your visit is without a task."

Loki chuckled. "Shrewd, brother. You surprise me. Though, it is not for a lack of desire to seek you out that I have remained away. Technically, I am forbidden to be here at all."

"So, you have not been avoiding me from shame?" Thor asked, genuinely surprised.

Loki's laugh turned genuine. "Oh, what a question, brother! How am I to answer that? I will leave you to surmise the answer however you wish and let it torment you that I did not say otherwise. No, our father forbid Heimdall to allow any on Asgard to visit you here."

"Heimdall has disobeyed?" Thor asked.

"Our staunch as an iron statue gatekeeper? Of course, he has not disobeyed the All-Father! No, I did not travel by Bifrost. It has taken me this long to find another route to Midgard, one which technically leaves the All-Father's prohibition in place, but permits mother to speak with you."

"Mother?"

"It was she who bade me to seek another way to find you. You should have seen her expression when she realized that Father had cursed you to a mortal form! She was willing enough to bide your banishment, out of submission to his lofty wisdom, until she discovered that little detail. When she , discovered you were left without any weapon, protection, or your Aesir strength, she was downright livid. I've never seen her so angry. Father would insist on remaining as stubborn as a dwarf about it all and so Mother and I have worked tirelessly to find a way to communicate with you that does not technically count as treason."

Thor was genuinely ingratiated by the gesture. He leaned forward to clasp his brother's hands and he met his gaze as earnestly as he could. "I am glad of it," he said. "Thank you. Seeing you, hearing of mother, it does my heart good and revives some of my spirit. I was quite forlorn believing myself to be scorned and abandoned by those I love."

Loki waved his hands away and clicked his tongue. "None of that, none of that. As you surmised, I am here on a mission, and one that involves more than making you overly sentimental."

"What is your aim?"

"First, to clean up the mess you've made. Thor, do you ever think before you act or do you insist on falling headfirst into blunders?"

"I do not understand."

"No, I don't suppose you do. First off, what have I told you about believing the best about people and giving way to flattery? Here, Midgardian warriors say a few words of praise and you willingly abide by their wishes, no questions asked. Thor, you must be wiser than that, if you are to survive long on this realm."

Thor cocked his head to one said and looked over his brother's shoulder and through the door to where Midgardians milled about in the halls.

"These are not honorable warriors?" he asked.

"Some of them may be. I know not their hearts nor their motivations entirely, only the warnings Heimdall gave to our mother. Thor, why do you suppose they have invited you here? No, it is not to admire your battle prowess or bask in your extensive intellect, as you seem to think. Thor, they wish to study you as an anomaly. They have been watching you since the first time you were fool enough to fight your way in here to take Mjolnir by might. You still had the strength of an Aesir, then. They have your lover's documentation of the opening of the Bifrost and your presence in that opening. Each time you have visited their healing rooms, they have secretly confiscated data on your physical form so they can study you. Then you were fool enough to imbibe in Midgardian ale like a drunkard and allow your loosened lips to speak of your true home and identity. Truly, Thor, have you no sense at all?

"I have spent the better part of this morning erasing their records and those of the healing rooms you visited so there is no longer evidence of how entirely not mortal you still were when you first arrived. Now, the lingering traces of Aesir magic have dwindled enough that you should no longer be such an aberration and you should appear as any other mortal, but you were not at first, and these warriors know it. They fear you and they wish to run experiments on you to test your limitations. There are those who also wish to use you for even more nefarious purposes."

Thor felt like he had received a solid kick in his stomach and he rubbed at his temples with his hands. He had always relied on his brother's greater attunement to the motivations and sense of character of others and while Thor was prone to believe the best, Loki tended to believe the worst. However, as soon as he heard it, Thor knew Loki to be speaking the truth.

"As the crowned prince of Asgard exiled on Midgard and trapped in a fragile, mortal body, for the sake of Yggdrasil, do not speak of your identity to everyone you meet. Try to restrain yourself. To speak as you have only makes you seem to be a fool or lunatic at best or puts you in danger at worst. What do you think the enemies of Asgard would do if they hear tell that Thor Odinson is currently mortal? Please, try to keep it a secret. I know, I know. You are absolutely worthless as a liar, but in this case, you are simply forming a new identity and not creating a false one.

"Now, since you are utterly hopeless in looking after yourself, even on a realm so inferior as Midgard, Mother wishes to speak with you"

Loki set a small circular object engraved with runes on the table between them and began conjuring a spell. Then, Frigga materialized before them. Her visage was slightly translucent and did not appear anywhere near as sound as Loki's projections normally were, but considering the distance between Asgard and Midgard, Thor was impressed.

"My son!" Frigga gushed, holding out both her hands for him and that familiar all-encompassing warmth filling her features.

"Mother!" Thor said. He stood to his feet and would have thrown himself into her arms if Loki hadn't stopped him.

"Restrain yourself, Thor. You cannot reach her here and I have enough to do maintaining the projection and hiding us from Heimdall. I would appreciate it if you grant my spellwork some reprieve."

Thor nodded. "Of course. Mother, how do you fare? How is Asgard?"

"There is not time, Thor. We are all well and you should not concern yourself with us. We love you and miss you terribly."

"And I, you."

"For your own health and well-being, Thor, I wish to give you some advice and I pray you heed it."

"Speak, Mother."

"You have spent your time thus far seeking to escape your exile rather than embracing it. You have let your fate be entirely determined by the will of others. Thor, are you the prince of Asgard or aren't you? If you are to be exiled on Midgard, what can you do to seek the good of Midgard? You must turn your gaze away from Asgard because Asgard is far removed from you, for now, but your feet are on Midgardian soil. How can you learn to live there? What is it you can learn from them? How can you learn to be there? It is not your physical strength or the power to summon the storm that makes you Thor. Those gifts may emerge in an Aesir form, but you are still Thor, even in a Midgardian form. You still have gifts, they simply may manifest differently. You are still gifted with the ability to create and foster life. You still draw others to you and impart strength and confidence to them. You are gifted to nourish the spirits of others and hallow the spaces in which you dwell. Do that, wherever you go, rather than setting all your hopes on being where you are not."

"I will try, Mother."

"I know you will, darling. Now, I have some gifts for you. I leave you in your brother's care and know that I will be here for you, whenever you need."

She flickered then and disappeared. Thor already felt the weight of her absence before she had even gone completely. He turned then to his brother. With a wave of his hand, Loki produced a golden necklace with a pendant of Mjolnir. He handed this to Thor.

"Mother was furious that you neglected to wear this on your coronation."

Thor's expression turned sheepish. He had forgotten.

"She said to remind you that when she gives you a gift on a day as important as your maturity, she expects you to treat it with more care."

Thor took the pendant and placed it around his neck.

"This is more than a pretty bauble, Thor. She enchanted it, as you should have surmised, it being Mother. Even in your mortal form, it is still powerful. As long as you keep it on your person, it will provide a certain amount of protection from harm. It also enables her to find you with her magic and provides a means to communicate with her in return. Finally, she wanted me to remind you that you are more than Mjolnir or Aesir. You are still a son of Odin and Frigga."

"I am grateful. Tell her so."

"You will tell her yourself, idiot, or weren't you listening to any of the instructions I just gave you? Don't answer. I do not wish to know."

With another wave of his hands, Loki produced a pair of identical daggers. They were the length of Thor's forearm and their hilts were engraved with scarlet gems and the symbol of Mjolnir.

"Ceremonial daggers?" Thor asked, one eyebrow raised in question as he studied one of the daggers.

"My reaction was similar," Loki said, a smirk crossing his face and making Thor flush. "Especially seeing that they are a pair and you only fight with one. I did not wish to enquire just what trouble you have been getting yourself into on Midgard that you would require the rushed production of ceremonial daggers, but Mother said you need them both."

Thor felt the heat rush to his cheeks and he looked away from his brother. He hoped his brother did not ask any further questions or notice his reaction, but he knew Loki was too shrewd to miss it.

"Mother also enchanted these. She was furious that Father neglected to send you with a weapon or armor. She said these are as much for your protection as the necklace and to keep them with you always. The gem on the hilt with make them retract into the form of a small bracer."

Thor nodded.

"Now, brother, I do not know when I will be able to return to call upon you next. Do try to stay alive until then. I know, I ask much of you, but please, do your very best. I do not wish to spend as much time trifling through mortal vaults to cover your tracks in future."

"Thank you, Brother. I will eagerly await our next visit."

In a blink of light, Loki was gone. The bruise on Thor's cheek remained.